It's back... again... I should stop setting deadlines for these, until I can afford to make music/film/writing/etc. my full-time job then people can expect these two crop up online randomly at best. Sigh.
QUACK SPOUT - SEPTEMBER 2010 mp3
Playlist:
Smallgang - Cockpit
Human Wave Attack - Big Empty Sky
The Waxing Captors - Jaywalkin' Out Your Heart
Sweet Baboo - I'm A Dancer 2
Second Head - Starglow
Sister Mantos - No God
Mickey Gloss - Jesus Don't Want Me Anymore
Connan Mockasin - Egon Hosford
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Green Man 2010
My review of Green Man 2010 can be read online here:
http://godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=4617&type=Features
http://godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=4617&type=Features
Sunday, 6 June 2010
BAANEEX
In lieu of May's podcast I'm going to witter on, somewhat selfishly, about myself. Well, not about myself, but about myself and three other people who all make musical noises at the same time.
When I was living in Cardiff I started writing for the website God Is In The TV (still do, I'm sub-editor there) and in early 2009, maybe late 2008, a CD came my way by a London based band called Muarena Helena. I reviewed it on the 15th January 2009 and said nice things about it. As is usually the case I befriended the band via my MySpace profile and also through my own musical MySpace profile, which didn't previously admit to any 'human' presence.
To my surprise, Muarena Helena - more specifically singer and lead guitarist - Joel began sending my musical profile messages via MySpace, and we can began a dialogue that ultimately lead to me sending him a CD of my some songs. In return he sent me a cover version of one of these songs (Song to Self) and eventually suggested we collaborate on something...
So, it began by him e-mailing me some musical ideas, I'd put stuff on top, e-mail it back, and the whole relay would continue until we felt we had something. We ultimately came up with 7 tracks and put them up on MySpace under the name Neuschwanstein.
In late August I moved from Brighton, where I'd been living since February, and so it was somewhat inevitable that Joel and I would meet face to face. We had a drink and he suggested we meet up and jam somewhere, potentially with Andy who had been playing bass in Muarena Helena. After I met Andy in late October this was all confirmed and we had a three piece session on November 12th. What was ultimately decided was the need for a drummer.
Sometime in late 2009 Joel and Andy got Rosie to drum, but I didn't return to the fold until a rehearsal on February 12th 2010! At this point they'd got three songs together (Magic Square, Saskatchwen and The Punk Song) and I did my best to slot my keyboard playing in here and there. Over the following sessions we came up with another five songs (Weird Dance, Football Round-Up, Hoovering Concrete, Jumpin' Chinese Restaurant and Weird Dance II) and started discussing playing live sometime in the Summer.
And so, on Wednesday 2nd June 2010, we had our first gig - and my first ever gig - as BAANEEX at the Buffalo Bar in Highbury & Islington. We wound up head-lining and eventually went on stage around 11pm, it was very nice to see that people had stayed on till the end of the evening, so we got to play to a full room who were very receptive towards our songs. I can't really judge how it went, but - currently - you can hear some recordings taken from the Buffalo Bar gig on our MySpace.
We've got another gig booked for late July, so check the MySpace regularly to find out the details as and when and we'll hopefully be playing some more dates and going on a little tour before the year is out...
When I was living in Cardiff I started writing for the website God Is In The TV (still do, I'm sub-editor there) and in early 2009, maybe late 2008, a CD came my way by a London based band called Muarena Helena. I reviewed it on the 15th January 2009 and said nice things about it. As is usually the case I befriended the band via my MySpace profile and also through my own musical MySpace profile, which didn't previously admit to any 'human' presence.
To my surprise, Muarena Helena - more specifically singer and lead guitarist - Joel began sending my musical profile messages via MySpace, and we can began a dialogue that ultimately lead to me sending him a CD of my some songs. In return he sent me a cover version of one of these songs (Song to Self) and eventually suggested we collaborate on something...
So, it began by him e-mailing me some musical ideas, I'd put stuff on top, e-mail it back, and the whole relay would continue until we felt we had something. We ultimately came up with 7 tracks and put them up on MySpace under the name Neuschwanstein.
In late August I moved from Brighton, where I'd been living since February, and so it was somewhat inevitable that Joel and I would meet face to face. We had a drink and he suggested we meet up and jam somewhere, potentially with Andy who had been playing bass in Muarena Helena. After I met Andy in late October this was all confirmed and we had a three piece session on November 12th. What was ultimately decided was the need for a drummer.
Sometime in late 2009 Joel and Andy got Rosie to drum, but I didn't return to the fold until a rehearsal on February 12th 2010! At this point they'd got three songs together (Magic Square, Saskatchwen and The Punk Song) and I did my best to slot my keyboard playing in here and there. Over the following sessions we came up with another five songs (Weird Dance, Football Round-Up, Hoovering Concrete, Jumpin' Chinese Restaurant and Weird Dance II) and started discussing playing live sometime in the Summer.
And so, on Wednesday 2nd June 2010, we had our first gig - and my first ever gig - as BAANEEX at the Buffalo Bar in Highbury & Islington. We wound up head-lining and eventually went on stage around 11pm, it was very nice to see that people had stayed on till the end of the evening, so we got to play to a full room who were very receptive towards our songs. I can't really judge how it went, but - currently - you can hear some recordings taken from the Buffalo Bar gig on our MySpace.
We've got another gig booked for late July, so check the MySpace regularly to find out the details as and when and we'll hopefully be playing some more dates and going on a little tour before the year is out...
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Delays...
I'm really sorry there hasn't been an update in over a month. There is a new Quack Spout ready to go, it's been ready for a while, but I'm having trouble with my usual file hosting site, I've tried alternative means, but haven't had any success as of yet. I finally have a day off from work tomorrow, and will try to plonk something online before the day is done.
Hope all's well with you. x
Hope all's well with you. x
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Showreel 2010
Here's my film-making show-reel for this year, comprising clips of music videos for Attack + Defend, Los Campesinos! and Threatmantics, along with films screened by the BBC Film Network and Radio Cymru, ITV, Channel 4 and the Swn festival.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Quack Spout MkII: Number Five
Borderline May's podcast, this is, in fact, April's, and May's will be along probably in October!? Fingers crossed, ay...
QUACK SPOUT 2.5 - MP3
Playlist
Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia - Fly
The Black Acid Band - Wunji the Destroyer
Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina - In The Evening
The Exhibition - Bright New Worlds
Jouis - Miss Monroe
Cheapskate - Trees
Air To Achilles - If My Heart Stops Beating
Lasse Brawn - Itch
Gus Garcia - Colleagues
Pope Joan - Mattias
Phantom Theory - Trancedog
Olympians - North Sea
QUACK SPOUT 2.5 - MP3
Playlist
Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia - Fly
The Black Acid Band - Wunji the Destroyer
Chris Brokaw & Geoff Farina - In The Evening
The Exhibition - Bright New Worlds
Jouis - Miss Monroe
Cheapskate - Trees
Air To Achilles - If My Heart Stops Beating
Lasse Brawn - Itch
Gus Garcia - Colleagues
Pope Joan - Mattias
Phantom Theory - Trancedog
Olympians - North Sea
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Fast Forward
Here's a rarity, a post about my actual life... (Though, saying that, any activity on this blog is a rarity!)
I was feeling incredibly optimistic on Monday, I suddenly got a wave of e-mails through for job interviews, and not for awful food service or retail jobs, no, for jobs within areas I actually care about. One inparticular had me excited, I'd sent a speculative e-mail to a film production company, as their website has a section encouraging 'creative' people to send them their C.V. to a random jobs@ address.
So I did, I wrote a covering letter introducing myself and sent a C.V. that highlighted my film-making experiences.
Lo and behold, almost a month later, on Monday, I got an e-mail from them with the heading 'Interview' and an invite to meet their Head of Production.
The following day I woke up, went to the North Side of Soho, and dawdled about, my eyes brimming with the hopes and possibilities of this part of town. I stared into delicious looking cafes and cake shops, day-dreamed about where I'd go for lunch and then looked into a music shop window, imagining saving up my regular wage and maybe treating myself one day in the far flung future...
11am came and I went to the office, the receptionist called up to the Head of Production and after a short wait she came down the stairs. There was something peculiar about her attitude from the off, as if I had arrived out of my own insistence. She said she was going to make a tea as I was five minutes early, I could take a seat in the interview room. When she came in eventually she said that this would be an informal chat, prior to a proper hour long interview in the future. Which was fair enough, but her questions didn't feel informal or chatty, instead she seemed to be regarding everything I said with an air of quiet suspicion and harsh judgment. I felt like, rather than talking about my work history, I was giving an alibi to a lawyer who was just waiting for me to admit I was guilty.
It was excruciating, and this continued for ten minutes, until finally she asked;
'So, what made you apply for the role of promo producer?'
I had to stop, sometimes I perhaps would have tried to pretend things weren't awry and would've seen what would happen if I continued trying to lie my way around a baffling statement like this. But, I wasn't enjoying the interview enough to attempt that. So, I just asked out right;
'Sorry, what position?'
'Promo producer. What position did you apply for?'
I didn't want to be rude and say something along the lines of 'I didn't apply for any position, I sent you a speculative e-mail like your website suggests.' Instead I sort of chewed some words and shrugged a bit until she finally added;
'Because you're under-experienced for that role.'
'YES!' I wanted to say loudly and dryly, 'I know I am, I didn't apply for that role!'
She continued. thumbing idly through the papers she'd been scribbling notes on, she mentioned something about there being some confusion and something written down somewhere that was perhaps the apparent root of this mess. But, never did she apologise for their mistake, nor did she take the misunderstanding with even an ounce of good humour, because my first reaction was just to accept that they'd got things wrong, shake my head and smile. Her reaction was to skirt around acknowledging the mistake, seemingly attempt to make me feel like I'd made the error, before acting in a snide, belittling fashion; ultimately showing me to the door, which she opened, turning her entire body away from me, barely saying 'Goodbye' and limply letting it close quickly behind me.
What most rankled me was that this was like re-living my entire first attempt at living in London all over again, in fast-forward. The optimism decline, coupled with the awful mentality that some people in the Soho area have succumbed to, was all too familiar. I had, naively, hoped that things had changed, that I had changed, that they had changed; but it was like going to a school reunion where the bully still beats you up, the girl you fancied still wants nothing to do with you, and you still can't grow a proper moustache.
Anyway, rant over... It's been almost a week since this interview and I've only thought about it sporadically, unfortunately there is a peculiar hierarchy with certain people in the industry, and an inquisition-like way of phrasing questions that I think belies their own insecurities more than anything. I, perhaps, think that it's my self-deprecating nature that causes certain bouts of paranoia and discomfort when having to deal with these egos, and the knowledge that one day, if I make something of myself, that they'll be dancing around kissing more arse than Billy Bottomlips Champion Rump Smoocher of Arseington, New Buttock, on National Bum Snogging Day.
Ta ta. x
I was feeling incredibly optimistic on Monday, I suddenly got a wave of e-mails through for job interviews, and not for awful food service or retail jobs, no, for jobs within areas I actually care about. One inparticular had me excited, I'd sent a speculative e-mail to a film production company, as their website has a section encouraging 'creative' people to send them their C.V. to a random jobs@ address.
So I did, I wrote a covering letter introducing myself and sent a C.V. that highlighted my film-making experiences.
Lo and behold, almost a month later, on Monday, I got an e-mail from them with the heading 'Interview' and an invite to meet their Head of Production.
The following day I woke up, went to the North Side of Soho, and dawdled about, my eyes brimming with the hopes and possibilities of this part of town. I stared into delicious looking cafes and cake shops, day-dreamed about where I'd go for lunch and then looked into a music shop window, imagining saving up my regular wage and maybe treating myself one day in the far flung future...
11am came and I went to the office, the receptionist called up to the Head of Production and after a short wait she came down the stairs. There was something peculiar about her attitude from the off, as if I had arrived out of my own insistence. She said she was going to make a tea as I was five minutes early, I could take a seat in the interview room. When she came in eventually she said that this would be an informal chat, prior to a proper hour long interview in the future. Which was fair enough, but her questions didn't feel informal or chatty, instead she seemed to be regarding everything I said with an air of quiet suspicion and harsh judgment. I felt like, rather than talking about my work history, I was giving an alibi to a lawyer who was just waiting for me to admit I was guilty.
It was excruciating, and this continued for ten minutes, until finally she asked;
'So, what made you apply for the role of promo producer?'
I had to stop, sometimes I perhaps would have tried to pretend things weren't awry and would've seen what would happen if I continued trying to lie my way around a baffling statement like this. But, I wasn't enjoying the interview enough to attempt that. So, I just asked out right;
'Sorry, what position?'
'Promo producer. What position did you apply for?'
I didn't want to be rude and say something along the lines of 'I didn't apply for any position, I sent you a speculative e-mail like your website suggests.' Instead I sort of chewed some words and shrugged a bit until she finally added;
'Because you're under-experienced for that role.'
'YES!' I wanted to say loudly and dryly, 'I know I am, I didn't apply for that role!'
She continued. thumbing idly through the papers she'd been scribbling notes on, she mentioned something about there being some confusion and something written down somewhere that was perhaps the apparent root of this mess. But, never did she apologise for their mistake, nor did she take the misunderstanding with even an ounce of good humour, because my first reaction was just to accept that they'd got things wrong, shake my head and smile. Her reaction was to skirt around acknowledging the mistake, seemingly attempt to make me feel like I'd made the error, before acting in a snide, belittling fashion; ultimately showing me to the door, which she opened, turning her entire body away from me, barely saying 'Goodbye' and limply letting it close quickly behind me.
What most rankled me was that this was like re-living my entire first attempt at living in London all over again, in fast-forward. The optimism decline, coupled with the awful mentality that some people in the Soho area have succumbed to, was all too familiar. I had, naively, hoped that things had changed, that I had changed, that they had changed; but it was like going to a school reunion where the bully still beats you up, the girl you fancied still wants nothing to do with you, and you still can't grow a proper moustache.
Anyway, rant over... It's been almost a week since this interview and I've only thought about it sporadically, unfortunately there is a peculiar hierarchy with certain people in the industry, and an inquisition-like way of phrasing questions that I think belies their own insecurities more than anything. I, perhaps, think that it's my self-deprecating nature that causes certain bouts of paranoia and discomfort when having to deal with these egos, and the knowledge that one day, if I make something of myself, that they'll be dancing around kissing more arse than Billy Bottomlips Champion Rump Smoocher of Arseington, New Buttock, on National Bum Snogging Day.
Ta ta. x
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