Louvaine 16th December 2007

Louvaine 16th December

We playing at a bar in South London in a week or so. And the bar's closing, so we get to drink it dry :)

Scuzzbuckets

Scuzzbuckets

A photoshopped "Guitargeek" style layout of the equipment I've been using. I'm sure after a few more gigs and a record deal Guitargeek will want to do their own official version, but in the meantime... ;)

I can live without the wah wah. I used to play with various Boss pedals back in the day (delay, octave, another distortion, chorus, flanger, compression), and another no-name distortion pedal that could sustain till the audience went home, had kids, raised them, introduced them to live gigs, and then those kids came to see us. They'd find me still holding that note. Anyways, life's simpler now. And the planet waves tuner (as recommended by Devin Townsend) is a life saver.

Equipment

Never listed my equipment, because I'll pretty much play with anything. Only thing I'm picky about is the guitar. But here goes, for what it's worth.

Guitar

Currently gigging with a Gibson Les Paul. It ain't perfect. The neck is wonky and the E and A strings buzz between the 9th and 12th frets. But it sounds fucking great. But may swap to a Tokai Les Paul because it's the second Gibson Les Paul I've had with a crappy neck. I also practice with a Fender Strat and my first second guitar, a fantastically heavy no-name strat copy I fitted out with Seymour Duncan and Carvin pick ups, a graphite nut, and an Alembic Stratoblaster thing. Own a Gibson SG and a cheapo Mex Telecaster. And a Tokai Strat copy. If I had the cash, I'd have more guitars (must... resist).

Strap

Using an old Ernie Ball strap with Schaller strap locks - a must with any guitar, but more so with the weight of a Gibson. You don't want to snap the head of a Les Paul when the strap slips off. Have Schaller strap locks on the Gibsons Fender and no-name Strats.

Amp

For years, I played and practiced through a Sessionette 75 (since gone it a bit flaky on me, needs a service). Currently practicing and gigging with Marshall stacks. No idea what they are, but they sound great.

Pedals

I use a Boss DS-1 distortion pedals to fill the sound out during solos and add some sustain. Been considering picking up a Keeley modded version. Used to have an array of pedals, but they all got pinched. Still own a couple of wah-wah's (Morley and Colorsound). Might start using them again, but I ain't that great with them.

Tuner

Broken two guitar pick tuners (a planet waves and an early Strobopick - which I loved). Poised to buy a Planet Waves Chromatic Pedal Tuner after the disaster of the last gig. And probably some locking machine heads for the Gibson (my Fender Strat has them, and they are a god send). Have a pitch fork that's never let me down (A).

Strings

Ernie Ball Regular Slinky. Used Dean Markley custom lite's back in the day, but had trouble finding them of late. Never really used a light gauge, but have tried some obscenely heavy gauges in my time (till the bassist threatened to quit because I was making him redundant...). Have a slightly lighter gauge on the Fender Strat.

Cables

Whatever. Currently a mixture of Ernie Ball and Fender.

Post Arch Aid

Simon (drummer) has quite a philosophical approach, and after this gig he said "Well, it's all a learning experience". And I learnt that sitting outside for an hour (we were supposed to play at 7.30, but didn't go on until 8.30) meant that my hands froze. And while Simon quickly realized he couldn't spin his drum sticks, I quickly realized I was having trouble playing at all.

And things got worse: my guitar went out of tune during every song. I've no idea why, but first the A string, then the E string, then the B string. I would play a power chord, discover that it sounded shit, guess which string was playing me up, and quickly shift to playing that chord in a different position. Which would have been ok had my hands not been frozen.

After four songs (we were playing a short set - there were seven bands due to play), I was glad it was all over. I thanked the audience, my guitar strap came off, the leads came out, and I looked up to see the rest of the band staring at me. We had another song to go. Sheeesh. Plug back in, strap back on, and we knock out 'Too Drunk Too Fuck'. In this case I was too cold to play. And slightly too wired. But since a disastrous Inn On The Green gig I've learnt to play it cool with getting wasted before playing. Now I've learnt too stay warm too.

As for the Gibson going out of tune, well, that I don't know about. I was weighing up between taking the Fender Strat and the Les Paul before the gig, and Kirk (my son) recommended the Gibson because of the sound. Which was a good call - it sounded great. Just wish it had stayed in tune too. Perhaps locking tuners are in order.

Arch Aid

Scuzzers

Karim (from Firemouth) is trying to raise rent after Railtrack repossesed their studio. We're playing in place of a band that dropped out. If I can get a babysitter...

Gig details here

Post gig rehearsal

I didn't quite manage to get the Foo's 'Times like these' together in time for this practice, but brought along Bowie's 'Hang on to yourself', the Damned's 'New Rose' and 'London Calling' by The Clash, all of which we got into fair shape. We also played 'Pump It Up' by Elvis Costello, which is a keeper. And the Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen' just for the heck of it.

Shattered when I got in, the wide awake till 3a.m, which had an impact on a competition at work...

Well, I enjoyed it: Scuzzbuckets play Hydro

I don't look forward to gigs. In fact, I hate playing live, but it's better than not playing live, and tonight was good one.

A few days before the gig I changed to a fresh set of strings because I was expecting another guitarist to use my guitar, and didn't want a string breaking mid set for either of us, but in the end he had his own guitar. The new strings gave me grief, though, and I ended up having to tune the B string in the intro to 'Can I Sit Next To You Girl...', and fought to keep them in tune for the rest. Ah well, shit happens. The rest of the gig was great, with a good turn out, and the other four bands rocked. and the only thing that could have made it even better would have been if a certain someone had turned up, but c'est la vie (although I do have to say thank you for the DVD).

A bit too much...

Scuzzbuckets

A long long Friday night, a lost Saturday, a very heavy Sunday, and then a practice tonight which felt like the whole weekend again squeezed into three hours. Not sure I can keep this up.

But the set is a lot tighter, and Gary was on form, getting the sound together and tweaking the arrangements. We were beat by 9pm, and I was a bit gutted we were going to call it a night without adding anything new, but pestering Gary to show me the bass line for Elvis Costello's 'Pump It Up' meant we ended up giving it a go (after plugging everything back in), and I while I doubt we'll get a chance to practice it again in time for the next gig, I'm sure it'll be in the set soon. Probably sounding somewhere between the original and The Wildhearts version.

Been lusting after this guitar...

I had a look in a couple of guitar shops in the States for a Gibson BFG, but they weren't shipping yet. Mores the pity, as the usual £ = $ price hike in the U.K means that I can't justify buying one for the foreseeable future.

But I love the look of this guitar. When you hand over your Les Paul to another guitarist who's broken a string you end up worrying about the pounds being knocked off by his belt buckle. Hand over a BFG and he'd be adding character.

So I'm blogging it here to get it out of my system. And in case anyone gets a sudden urge to buy me a surprise present ;)

(photo courtesy of Gibson Germany)

Practices for upcoming gig

A couple of practices under our belt, with a couple of new songs (including one I wrote many years ago currently getting reworked as a Scuzzbuckets song) in preparation for a gig on the 23rd of September.

Boys Are Back In Town

Well, almost. My hike in the States for a month, Jamie's work/holiday in Brighton and the States, and Gary's trip to Spain has meant we've all had an extended break and are itching to get back gigging.

Gary's due back in a few days, so hopefully we can hit the studio again and get back to speed with some new songs (covers and originals).

But family in Australia mean Gary will only be back for a short while, so chances are we'll only squeeze in a one gig somewhere.

Inn On The Green - Video

Inn On The Green - Dance video

Here's a video of us playing Motörhead's 'Dance' at the Inn On The Green, 1st of June. It's 30Mb, so you might want to pause it when it starts and let it download a bit before watching.

I love that Jamie has a piece of paper with the words on, and throws a bottle in the air that hits Gary on the head.

Even professionals...

Great view of a recent Vancouver gig from a humble Stewart Copeland

Inn on the Green, Second time around

As we come off, the guitarist/singer from the next band says "How do we follow that?" and that's as much praise as you could ask for. Sure, we weren't a 100% (finishing on a song we had only recently learnt wasn't wise), but we were a 100% better than last time we played here, and more importantly: I enjoyed playing this time. The songs were tight and even if Si had been drinking all afternoon, he's still too good for it too really show.

Chris came with a couple of cameras and filmed us, so it will be interesting to look back and see how we perform. I tend to enter my own world, concentrating on not screwing up, and it's easy to forget to look up every now and again and smile. After all, people have paid to be there. Gary and Si have that down, and Jamie is a stage presence unto himself.

With the offer off a lift back home (well, back to a local pub) I pop back stage to get my stuff as the band that followed us on is coming off. I've missed their entire set. The guitarist asks me if he sounded in tune, obviously worried. "You sounded fine," I lie. "Great set." It ain't easy getting up in front of a crowd in place you don't know, so anyone that does it deserves a pat on the back, but I still feel bad I didn't hear them.

Highlight of the night? Their music may not have been entirely to my taste (my Michelle Shocked days are long gone), but the Siskin Sisters showed how to entrance an audience with some of the finest cleavage I have ever seen. Highly recommended, especially if you catch them in a Jazz bar where they aren't followed by the Scuzzbuckets...

The evening before...

Tear myself away from a leaving do at work (and a girl called Isabelle) for a pratice before our Inn On The Green gig tomorrow. Aziz*, a friend of Si's comes along and seems to enjoy things as we belt through our set. I'm a bit worse for wear (free tab at the leaving do), but only 'Sheena Is a Punk Rocker' which was great last time sounds week. We may drop it. If we can't get a three chord Ramones song right, well...

Being drunk makes every song seem a minute long. Strange. I keep track of where we are in a song (just), but find myself surprised as each song ends, and struggle to remember whether we even played some of them. Must resist when we play tomorrow night, although I learnt a valuable lesson last time when the wait before playing meant I over indulged before hand and wasn't at my best (understatement!).

*As we make our way home in the van it turns out that not do Si and Aziz share the same birth date (to the year), but so does Jamie. Aziz works out he odds, and they're slim.

Completely unmusical

I'm writing a blog on writing over at writer-guitarist-coder.blogspot.com. Just so you know. I'll try not to mention it again. ;)

Post practice

A tiring practice tonight. Warm up with three or four songs, add The Ramones 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker', practice Motörhead's 'Dance', Arctic Monkeys 'Bet that you look good on the dancefloor', and Green Day's 'American Idiot', then work out a set for next Friday. It goes something like:

Blitzkrieg Bop
Pretty Vacant
Song 2
Dance
Bet that... Dancefloor
Live Wire
Too Drunk To Fuck
Anarchy In The U.K
Sheena is a punk Rocker
American Idiot

We tear through it in rehearsal, and it all works well. 'Live Wire' I either get of fluff up badly enough to consider dropping it. But it's a great song, be a shame to lose it. By the end of the set I look as though I've run a half marathon. Having to bring a towel to practices (and a change of shirt to gigs). Supposed to go to a housewarming, but it's gone 11pm and I just wanna crash.

Scuzzbuckets next gig

We return to the "Inn on the Green" in Ladbroke Grove next Friday. We wanted to play first, but I think we're second in the line up. Hoping to have Chris bring some cameras and film it.

www.iotg.co.uk

Practice practice practice...

A practice tonight without the bass player (who is in Spain). I've tried that in the past, and it's been a bit crap. I tend to play off the bass a lot more than the drums, and a practice with just a drummer can be too freeform to be useful. But we play 'Bet that you look good on the dancefloor', 'American Idiot' and 'Dance', and every song sounds a lot tighter than before. The singer has obviousy learnt the lyrics, the drummer and I have the song structures down, and playing without a bass gives me a chance to focus on how the guitar sounds (you can't hide when you are on your own). Very useful, and great fun.

We have a practice on Friday which might be our last before the gig on June 1st. Hopefully we can add another couple of songs then.

Current set list

As a reminder to myself - I always forget 'Song 2' and don't get the chance to tune down the E string, which kills my fingers.

Currently performing:

• Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
• Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
• Kaiser Chiefs - Everyday (weak, may drop)
• Blur - Song 2
• AC/DC - Live Wire (weak, but goes down well)
• Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk Too Fuck
• Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK
• Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen (makes for too many Pistols numbers, so never performed)

Currently practicing:

• Motörhead - Dance (working well after changing the structure - one less guitar solo)
• Green Day - American Idiot
• Arctic Monkeys - Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

For the near future:

• AC/DC - Riff Raff (love this)
• Supergrass - Richard III (don't know this one)
• Elvis Costello - Pump It Up (love bass on this)
• AC/DC - Can I Sit Next To You Girl
• Ramones - Sheila Is A Punk Rocker

Don't work:

• Clash - Should I Stay...

(the list layout above - meh. will play with the CSS at some point)

Solo songs

Gary emails over an mp3 of Elvis Costello's 'Pump It Up' as a possible song to cover, and so I hit the web to get the tab, lyrics and video and discover it's about masturbation. Which gets me thinking: it'd be amusing to do an entire set of songs at a gig that were dedicated to self pleasure. But I can only think of two others (The Vapors classic 'Turning Japanese' and Ivor Biggun's 'The Winking song (misprint)'), so I send out a request to the 'ilovedark' google group*, and here's some of the songs they've come up with. If you know of more, let me know!

Just to clarify: not songs you wank to (or have wanked to), or songs that sound like they're about wanking but obviously aren't. I'm after songs that artists have penned about the act itself.

Orgasm Addict - Buzzcocks
Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun
Ivor Biggun - Wanking Your Blues Away
Ivor Biggun - Winking Song
Green day - Longview
Undertones - Teenage kicks
Billy Idol - Dancing with myself
Prince - Jack u off
Britney Spears - Touch of my hand

*a closed group for a place I used to work at. I suspect every company has a dodgy email list.

Oooops...

We're playing in three weeks at the Inn On The Green on June 1st, not May 25th as I mentioned in a previous post.

You lucky, lucky bastards

Hammersmith College, 1986
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

I've created a label on the wonder that is Last.fm* and uploaded a song I recorded with my first band, which was known as 'Pubic Dandruff', 'Diarrhoea', 'The Course You Can Brothers', and finally 'Dibbles Dimpled Nibbled Nipple' (you want to try saying that on stage to a crowd. 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash' it's not).

The Course You Can Brothers – Emma

Anyways, in a fit of generosity it's free for download. Play it, love it, hug it, share it, and cringe at the second guitar solo; yes, I should have stopped and thought about cutting it down to a couple of minutes, but what the hell. I was young and couldn't play.

Also, a thank you to Scarlet Rose for licensing her "I'm not a gothic girl !!!" photo under a creative commons license, which allowed me to use it to create the album cover. The dodgy result is down to me, not her. =)

*although last.fm won't let me combine my old school 2003 account with my more recent 2005 one that contains all my stats, so they're "minor wonderful with corporate greed rising" at the moment :(

Gig details!

After a flood of emails*, here's some rough details of our next gig. We've been asked back to the 'Inn On The Green' despite me being so wired last time that the only recollection I have is of me playing our tightest song** wrong, and playing another at a different tempo to the rest of the band, who were obviously wrong and just getting me back. =/

So... Friday May 25th June 1st, 'Inn On The Green'. We're one of three bands, and we're pushing to go on first (before playing: less time for me to drink, after playing: more time for me too drink = win win).

The other two bands are a couple of girls on keyboards (alriiiiight) and The Dead; which is impossible to find on MySpace, so I've no idea what they're like. Probably freakin' awesome, though.

Expect flyers soon, as I've offered to knock some up.

*a comment to my last post
**Dead Kennedys - 'Too Drunk Too Fuck'

Post practice

I love rehearsing. If you're playing live, you can hardly smile at the end of a song and say "That was fucking awesome - let's play it again a few more times!" The crowd (I use that term loosely...) expects you to play a set. Go figure. But in rehearsal, you can do a song till you nail it, or just play one you love. And it's better than any cd/mp3. It's all down to you. Either play a safe solo and enjoy the rest of the band, or shred the hell out of it (again, I use that term loosely in my case!).

So tonight was a blast. We added "American Idiot" and "Bet you look good on the dancefloor" to our set, with an eye (ear?) to adding Motörhead's "Dance" next time around. And possibly another Ramones song.

Three weeks til our next gig. Hopefully we'll have more than a handful of songs to play.

Marvin video

Here is a video I shot (while dancing) of Marvin playing at Pile On.

Re-appraising the Gibson Les Paul

Another Gibson
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

My first guitar was a Les Paul copy by Hohner, which I subsequently did a Pete Townsend on playing at a party. I played Strats (no-name copies and Tokais) from that point on. Recently, when I finally had some cash, I bought a Fender Strat and then, after a long search, a Gibson Les Paul.

I took the Les Paul to Chandlers to be set up, and was gutted when they pointed out that not only was the neck no good, but that it had more twists than a series of Lost. I took it back to the shop, and after faffing around, they swopped it for another. The new one didn't have the beautiful tiger stripe finish of the first, a tone knob was loose, and I wished I'd bought a Tokia Love Rock instead. I wrote a scathing review of it on Harmony Central, and it sat unloved on a guitar stand.

Then the band came together, and hearing that there were Marshall stacks in the studio, I took the Les Paul down to try it loud. And I haven't played another guitar with the band since.

The sound through the Marshall amps is something to behold. Power chords crunch, the sustain is a long sexy scream that descends to a sexy sigh, and when you palm mute with your right hand you are a one man rythmn section waiting to rip loose. Would I buy another if it was lost? Tough decision. I'd look long and hard at the Tokia's. But I'll never finish a cover of 'My Generation' with it as Townsend does.

The Wildhearts, Koko, Camden

Wildhearts, Koko, Camden
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

Caught The Wildhearts at Camden with Sam last Sunday. One of those bands that I wish I could go back in time and discover earliar (even though I heard them for the first time a couple of years ago, they already dominate my last.fm played list).

Scuzzbuckets, Evershot, Dorset

Scuzzbuckets play Evershot, Dorset
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

Evershot was great. Gary (bassist) and I caught a train down on Friday morning. This is after practicing Thursday night, and then me rushing off to catch a French band called 'Marvin' playing on a barge on the Thames near Vauxhall, who were amazing. They were a drummer, guitarist and the cutest French girl on Keyboards playing at a venue organized by a friend from work who put me on the guest list to see them play. And they rocked. A combination of heavy metal and jazz.

Then a few hours sleep and down to the studio/ex doctors surgery to pack all the gear in the van, see Simon (drums) off in a van, and then a lift from Gary's Mum to the station. Quick pint before we board the train. Two hours later we check in to a hotel in Yeovil (the closest we could afford to stay in near Evershot), when Simon and Jamie (singer) arrive, we head off to Evershot to set up.

The hall was something else. Old school play sets on stage, a bar out back, and if someone had set up a bake sale in the back of the hall it wouldn't have been out of place. Jamie and I head off to the nearest pub (an old local with a ten pin bowling lane and Polish staff, natch) because the singer and lead guitarist really shouldn't be worrying about the sound and lights and plugging stuff in. And we happen to be totally imcompetant and get in the way. But we'll learn. Who knows? One day there might be someone in a pub who can clue us in.


Fame!

Having learnt the hard way a week back playing the Inn On the Green in Ladbroke Grove, I know I can't play if I'm too wired, so I take it easy. Doesn't help the nerves, though. Especially as 'Something Blue' are playing great. The hall is fairly full, a strange mix off Mum's and daughters - including one in a prom dress - and local kids out for the night, as well as some old Jazz heads.

We're on for the middle set, and our meagre six song set is going to whip by. But we're on form, the kids are dancing and cheering, and the only song that trips me up slightly is AC/DC's 'Live Wire'. I just haven't got the timing on the opening nailed. And my finger's give out before the solo (we're playing the whole set at a faster tempo that normal). But when the set's over the kids are begging us too stay on; they've had their fill of blue's, I suspect. They even want to have a vote as to whether we stay on or 'Something Blue' come back. But I convince them that the next half will be great, and we get off.

And now I can drink!

Marvin

Marvin
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

Marvin playing on the Thames (well, a barge on the Thames, but I've forgotten the name of the venue...)

thursday practice...

So we're suppsed to practice before the Dorset gig , which is on Friday night. But the bassist has been sorting out provisions and rushing around getting our amps and PA and mikes and mixing desk and drum kit from the last place we played (on Sunday night) and is absolutely trashed. And he's having a slight paranoia attack. This is normally the point at which he would disappear until he recovers, but we need to practice. I was hoping we could add an Arctic Monkeys track to our set, and add a song to our set we need to, as if we're a bit hyped we can quite easilt tear through out 7 song set in 15 minutes.

The drummer coaxes him out and we meet down our studio. And have to cart the equipment in from the van and set up. Our bassist does an admirable job of co-ordinating things, helped by our drummer who desrves a medal for having the patience of a saint.

Me and the singer are little more use than a condom machine in the Vatican, but what the hell, we're new to this.

We get the drum kit PA and Marshalls in place, and go through some of the songs that have been giving us grief, mainly AC/DC's "Live Wire", which I screw up the timing on the beginning chords every fuckign time, and the Kaiser Chief's "Everyday", which is lacking arrangement wise given that we're covering the keyboard and guita parts on one guitar, and the singer isn't that confident with the song.

And then we try the Artic Monkey's "Bet that you look good on the dance floor", and after I tear a nail off playing it (ouch ouch fucking ouch), we decide we won't have it tight enough to play tomorrow. Shame. We bring "God Save the Queen" back into the set, which given we're already playing two Pistols songs means we're in danger of turning into a Pistols tribute band. Here's hoping there are some Pistols fans in Dorset. It's their lucky day...

We call it quits at a reasonable hour, and pack the gear into a car and a van, and I dash off home to drop off my guitar before heading out to try and catch the band Marvin. I arrive in time, a bit worse for wear, and meet a bunch of people from work who are even more wrecked than me, and catch an superb set by the band. And their keyboard player is to die for, and it's her birthday. Their set is cut short by our crappy licensing laws, but I pick up a cd (it's ripping now).

So all in all a good night. Now I just have to wake up in time to get to the studio tomorrow before heading by train to Dorset.

anarchie pour le salon

anarchie pour le salon
Originally uploaded by wetwebwork.

21 years ago, when my guitar playing really was punk....

It started a couple of months ago...

A couple of months back, a friend rang to see if I was up for trying out in a punk covers band they had put together round a singer who could belt out some Pistols songs. My friend plays bass, and I met him and the drummer at a studio. Well, an old Doctors surgery - imagine the drumkit where the Doctors desk would be, the bassist standing where the patient would sit, and me playing exactly where the Nurse would stand if she had just popped in with an x-ray showing my ego smaller than it should be, then fill every other available gap with Marshalls, mixing desks, PA's, and the like. We tore through "Pretty Vacant", "God Save The Queen", and "Blitzkrieg Bop". Too much fun. With a couple of gigs lined up, saying "yes" was easy.

It started years ago...

Inspired by a competition at work, I'm blogging again. On blogger. It's been what, ten years since a "What's New" page (as they were called back then) turned into a blog, which moved to blogger for a while, before becoming a link log under other domains? Time flies.

But a link log won't do for a this competition at work, so here I am blogging on blogger, and given that I'm back playing guitar in a band again after a break of almost fifteen years, why not make that the subject matter for the posts here?