tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59348930488885863952023-11-16T02:55:38.592-08:00a complete history of not very muchin which Ben Marwood, singer-songwriter and failed music journalist, says things and presses enter.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-44968830015143935002018-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:002018-06-21T12:10:21.996-07:00Ben Marwood? Well, he's no Randy Newman.Hello blog,<br />
<br />
Where to even begin? The sun is out, we're at the start of Summer and life is rumbling along. You know where it's good to be between May and August? Outside all the time. I would happily play no shows every summer if it meant more time looking for bats, bees, butterflies and other names of stuff that fit this alliterative model. If only hornets were called bornets. But, alas. Balas.<br />
<br />
But, you know, sometimes you have to sacrifice evenings and hole yourself up in a rehearsal room with a band and then play some gigs. On my drive to hit forty shows in support of latest album <i>Get Found</i>, I offer to you the following shows for June/July:<br />
<br />
<br />
#34: Sat 23rd June <b>FROME </b>All Roads Lead To Frome (all dayer)<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/594620210929960/">fb event</a> / <a href="http://www.cheeseandgrain.com/event/all-roads-lead-to-frome-2018/">tickets</a><br />
<br />
#35: Thu 12th July <b>2000TREES FESTIVAL </b>Main Stage<br />
#36: Sat 14th July <b>2000TREES FESTIVAL </b>Forest Session<br />
<a href="https://www.twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk/">line-up, tickets etc</a><br />
<br />
#37: Sun 15th July <b>READING </b>Readipop Festival<br />
<a href="http://www.readipop.co.uk/readipop-festival/">line-up, tickets etc</a><br />
<br />
Everything is set to lead up to show #40, which should be the Fulford Arms on October the 20th in York.<br />
<br />
<b>Other stuff:</b><br />
I was interviewed for issue #49 of <a href="http://www.stencilmag.co.uk/">Stencil Magazine</a>. Here are some highlights:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAr0BCzZyh303XWR1mJcIUNdHfbHeOLrz4iyaLs3bv2niIEcsX6gj_AKkPof82hYU8kNjLSWm4EUQoENm9C4IcqmCzjLVpK3ONNm5IWetJjk11nOg9nlXGq1ZwInaTX79rNOTIoXl66bE/s1600/violin.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="83" data-original-width="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAr0BCzZyh303XWR1mJcIUNdHfbHeOLrz4iyaLs3bv2niIEcsX6gj_AKkPof82hYU8kNjLSWm4EUQoENm9C4IcqmCzjLVpK3ONNm5IWetJjk11nOg9nlXGq1ZwInaTX79rNOTIoXl66bE/s1600/violin.PNG" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Or maybe<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASfL7qXm3bfW-VgYf5cT7MnvGlDrH0anDOXUsTMEe5_INa885ArK8TGBvyFcMR3kAGy0LL1aNC0qv1Wey6zpDSnBxGAFcowfYK8oBLuWr0z2DmKNT1qd3PxFI3FxDW2Pnu8ouUzkVhGvH/s1600/pb.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASfL7qXm3bfW-VgYf5cT7MnvGlDrH0anDOXUsTMEe5_INa885ArK8TGBvyFcMR3kAGy0LL1aNC0qv1Wey6zpDSnBxGAFcowfYK8oBLuWr0z2DmKNT1qd3PxFI3FxDW2Pnu8ouUzkVhGvH/s1600/pb.PNG" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We do talk about other things too. The full (gigantic) mag is <a href="https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue49">here</a>.<br />
<b><br /></b>
Other than that, the best album I've heard lately has been by brand new up-and-comer <b>Randy Newman</b>. 'Dark Matter' is out now and well worth a listen. Suspend your disbelief! The man is like a musician who accidentally swallowed a showreel.<br />
<br />
I'll leave you with his recent <a href="https://www.npr.org/event/music/555845548/randy-newman-tiny-desk-concert">Tiny Desk Concert</a> for NPR.<br />
<br />
Stay suncreamed.<br />
xBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-1089468266361305602018-03-02T13:40:00.000-08:002018-03-22T15:38:42.839-07:00Additional tour dates confirmedIn the words of 2003: hey ya.<br />
<br />
We've confirmed two more shows for April's run of UK dates, so here's the final list:<br />
<br />
APRIL<br />
5 <b>NEWPORT </b>Le Pub <a href="https://lepublicspace.gigantic.com/ben-marwood-le-pub-2018-04-05-19-30"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
6 <b>NOTTINGHAM </b>JT Soar <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/430700"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
9 <b>SOUTHAMPTON </b>Joiners <a href="https://joiners.vticket.co.uk/product.php/1182/ben-marwood"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
10 <b>BRISTOL </b>The Exchange <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/invisiblellama/events/2018-04-10-ben-marwood-exchange"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
11 <b>LONDON </b>The Monarch <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/username-taken/events/2018-04-11-ben-marwood-at-the-monarch-the-monarch"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
13 <b>CHELTENHAM </b>Frog & Fiddle <b><a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/432965">tickets</a></b><br />
14 <b>LEEDS </b>Singleshot (matinee show) <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/432393"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
14 <b>MANCHESTER </b>Aatma <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/430638"><b>tickets</b></a><br />
<br />
Support TBC any day now, honest.<br />
<br />
Hope you're staying safe in the snow.<br />
xoBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-82397039312372938862018-02-15T14:14:00.001-08:002018-03-02T13:35:06.458-08:00Three Benboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriSure, I could photoshop some billboards to go with the heading - Three Billboards is a good film, incidentally, and if you like watching good films then Three Billboards is a good film you could see - but life is short and time is precious so here is some news, not in billboard format:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>1. UK Tour in April</b><br />
Barry is hard at work routing a UK tour that a) hits as many places as possible in nine days and b) makes sure I'm in Reading on Wrestlemania evening, or else various members of my family are going to decapitate me. So far we have these dates:<br />
<br />
APRIL<br />
5 <b>NEWPORT </b>Le Pub <a href="https://lepublicspace.gigantic.com/ben-marwood-le-pub-2018-04-05-19-30">tickets</a><br />
6 <b>NOTTINGHAM </b>JT Soar <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/430700">tickets</a><br />
9 <b>SOUTHAMPTON </b>Joiners <a href="https://joiners.vticket.co.uk/product.php/1182/ben-marwood">tickets</a><br />
10 <b>BRISTOL </b>The Exchange <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/invisiblellama/events/2018-04-10-ben-marwood-exchange">tickets</a><br />
11 <b>LONDON </b>The Monarch <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/username-taken/events/2018-04-11-ben-marwood-at-the-monarch-the-monarch">tickets</a><br />
14 <b>MANCHESTER </b>Aatma <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/430638">tickets</a><br />
<br />
Supports are TBC and I suspect there'll be two or three more shows to add to that before the next week rolls around. Unfortunately we can't get to Scotland this time but plans are afoot for some informal whisky tasting evenings disguised as gigs later on in the year.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2. 2000Trees #mainstage</b><br />
I know, I know. Thursday 12th July I'll open the main stage at last, and it only took years of people yelling it in crowds. It's a good job they weren't shouting "car park".<br />
<br />
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<br />
It'll be a great pleasure to finally get to step out onto the main stage since this is the work of tireless years of espionage, counter-espionage, bribing, vote rigging and playing every other stage I could find. Apart from the busking one next to the silent disco. Who wants to busk when you can silently disco?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3. 2000Trees warmup show</b><br />
I'm honoured to be invited along to this year's All Roads To Frome at Cheese & Grain, Frome. It'll be on the 23rd of June, which just so happens to be the exact day I'll be playing a gig in Frome for the very first time. What are the odds? 1.<br />
<br />
I couldn't find a ticket link so here, have this <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/594620210929960/">Facebook event</a>.<br />
<br />
Y'all take care now.<br />
xBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-80794248633366206992017-11-29T15:55:00.003-08:002017-11-29T15:56:32.250-08:00Safe Mode: a demo for a very limited timeYo!<br />
<br />
I'm always a little bit weird when it comes to releasing demos before the actual finished songs are available - many is the time a younger Ben Marwood has been disappointed by studio versions simply because they aren't the demos he was used to, but then again young Ben was quite the idiot.<br />
<br />
For the past few weeks, a demo of Safe Mode has been available on Bandcamp even though a studio version won't follow for a while, and we had some t-shirts printed too.<br />
<br />
<b>Safe Mode demo</b>: <a href="https://benmarwood.bandcamp.com/track/safe-mode-demo">https://benmarwood.bandcamp.com/track/safe-mode-demo</a><br />
<b>Safe Mode tees</b>: <a href="https://warriorstateapparel.com/products/ben-marwood-safe-mode-tee">https://warriorstateapparel.com/products/ben-marwood-safe-mode-tee</a><br />
<br />
And lo, at roughly midnight on the 1st of December, the Safe Mode demo will come back down for a while. I'm a sucker for a holiday special, so perhaps it will be back for Christmas Day. Can't have you getting too attached though.<br />
<br />
Thanks to all new friends who came out to the German tour. I am still so full of food. How do you people walk around having eaten so much so regularly?<br />
<br />
My final show of the year is at the Rising Sun Arts Centre on 16th December, a holiday blowout with my good friends <b>Non Canon</b> and <b>Band of Hope</b>. Come on down, there are still some <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/416350">tickets</a>. It's in Reading.<br />
<br />
I'm off to learn some Christmas songs.<br />
bBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-65376376857368365592017-10-30T14:14:00.001-07:002017-10-30T14:14:42.746-07:00Autumn for Benjamin in GermanyHello neighbour!<br />
<br />
The clocks have gone back, did you notice? Of course, you did, because we've been stumbling around in the dark all day in tears, bumping into things.<br />
<br />
This Saturday I play in Bolton at the Alma Inn. The show is free, it's an all-day thing, and it's the first time I've ever been to Bolton so, hey, there's that.<br />
<br />
Since it's so dark over here, my good friend <b>Nick Parker</b> and I are off on a Science Mission to use some Science to work out whether it's darker here, or darker in Germany (and once, Belgium). Our results will be published in secret and never revealed. EVER.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here are the dates:<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>NOVEMBER</u><i> (w/Nick Parker)</i><br />
17 <b>Leefdaal, Belgium </b>House Show<br />
18 <b>Rulle, Germany </b>House Show<br />
19 <b>Hannover, Germany </b>House Show<br />
21 <b>Langenberg, Germany </b>House Show<br />
22 <b>Duisburg, Germany </b>House Show<br />
23 <b>Marburg, Germany </b>Molly Malone's<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
I'm pretty excited about all this, because I get to sample the famous Belgio-Deutsch* hospitality first hand in people's actual houses, able to speak none of their native language, and I get to hang out with Nick Parker. Oh and hot on the heels of having never been to Bolton, I have also never been to Germany. Or Belgium. Or, come to think of France. Or Ireland. Or..<br />
<br />
Enough! I'm looking forward to some time on The Mainland and perfecting the art of the European House Show. I'm a huge fan of a songwriter named Will Johnson (you can hear his work <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZgFhiXYIj0">here</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4THn7gSrCI">here</a>) and playing house shows in Texas are pretty much how he spends his time and hey, if house shows are good enough for him..<br />
<br />
If you're in the area and you'd like to come to one of these shows, please contact us on Twitter or via Facebook and we'll do our best.<br />
<br />
Alles klar, etc<br />
b<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*not a wordBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-10102625237006041672017-10-10T05:15:00.002-07:002017-10-10T05:15:28.099-07:00Nights onstage, and Nights on a bus.Hi all!<br />
<br />
Tuesday is currently in full swing, and by that I mean it exists and we're alive. Fun! Tonight I'm at Camden Monarch alongside my good friends Quiet Quiet Band, but I thought I'd take a moment to plug a couple of charity shows I have coming up:<br />
<br />
OCTOBER 14th<br />
Reading Oxjam Takeover @ Oakford Social Club<br />
Reading, <a href="https://www.oxjamreadingtakeover.co.uk/venues">info & tickets etc</a><br />
<br />
NOVEMBER 4th<br />
Alma Inn w/Joe McCorriston & Dave Giles<br />
Bolton, free show<br />
<br />
There you go.<br />
<br />
Also, back in May we recorded a version of Nights on a bus at the back of the Roundhouse. Xtra Mile have collected up all the sessions that happened that weekend onto a nice easy compilation:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Here it is in the <a href="https://www.xtramilerecordings.com/Shop/DownloadDetails?rid=XMR_RE_240">XMR shop</a>.<br />
<br />
Toodles!<br />
bBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-41843345672955642742017-08-30T14:21:00.000-07:002017-08-30T14:21:48.544-07:00Got FoundYes, yes, I know. Months and months and I don't write and I don't call.<br />
<br />
I could say I was out planning something huge for your next birthday, but eventually you'll find out that I've just been down the chip shop for five months and I've only come home in search of ketchup.<br />
<br />
Oh, that and <b>I finally released my third album, Get Found.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Don't believe me? Here it is:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/21ZNB94ONRhWUkDmIbbW1b" width="300"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's been out now for four months and twenty-three days<b><span style="color: red;">*</span></b> and just to prove to myself it still exists I'm listening to it right now. As a single piece of work I think it's up there (maybe better than) things I've done before, even if it is probably one song too long. It's always been one song too long - problem was, every time I dropped a song, it suddenly felt one song too short. This is how men go mad.<br />
<br />
What else happened? Oh yes, I hit the road to promote the album on a ten-date UK tour, with four of those sold out, making it the Most Successful Ben Marwood Headline Tour ever. I could pretend like that was anything to do with me, but it was probably something to do with my excellent touring friends and opening acts <b>Non Canon</b> (aka Barry) and <b>Helen Chambers</b> (aka.. Helen). We had excellent fun heading to places I personally hadn't been in a while and then it was Easter Monday and it was over and Barry and I went to an Asda and left with armfuls (quite literally) of cut-price Easter eggs for our loved ones.<br />
<br />
Barry also made me this video, which is precisely fuck all to do with the tour but has everything to do with the album:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zf8qS8fV8VA" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Is that it? Probably not. I also played the Roundhouse as part of Frank Turner's Lost Evenings festival (ta, Frank), played at 10.30 a.m. - yes, 10.30 a.m. <span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">in the morning</span> - to some very hungover faces at this year's 2000 Trees Festival and probably some other stuff I've forgotten.<br />
<br />
Life continues to be interesting and occasionally admittedly a bit of a struggle, mostly from a limited mobility/maximum exhaustion standpoint, but I'm delighted that I have 15 shows under my belt this year without being even slightly dead. 15 shows! Sure, you punk kids can do that in a week, but for me it's more than the previous two years combined.<br />
<br />
I have some more shows coming up, but more on that another time.<br />
<br />
I hope you're all well,<br />
b<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">*</span></b>(no matter how many years we get past 1990, describing any period of time still puts the start of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-EF60neguk">Nothing Compares 2 U</a> in my head)Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-59391839870569163122017-03-25T13:59:00.000-07:002017-03-25T13:59:17.385-07:00Bury Me In The Pantheon. Twice.Hi all!<br />
<br />
We're now less than two weeks away from the new album and tour. Come and join us!<br />
<br />
<b>APRIL</b><br />
Thu 6th<b> HOVE </b>Brunswick // <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/390319">tickets</a><br />
Fri 7th<b> LONDON </b>The Monarch // free entry<br />
Sat 8th <b>SOUTHSEA </b>Afternoon Show @ Southsea Sound // <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/394033">tickets</a><br />
Sat 8th<b> SOUTHSEA </b>Evening Show @ Southsea Sound<b> // </b><span style="color: red;">sold out</span><br />
Mon 10th<b> BRISTOL </b>Crofter's Rights // <span style="color: red;">sold out</span><br />
Tue 11th <b>NOTTINGHAM </b>Bodega // <a href="http://www.alttickets.com/xtra-mile-tour-the-bodega-2017-04-11-19-00">tickets</a><br />
Wed 12th <b>YORK </b>Fulford Arms // <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/390191">tickets</a><br />
Fri 14th <b>EDINBURGH</b> Opium // <a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/ben-marwood/opium/1069725">tickets</a><br />
Sat 15th <b>GLASGOW</b> Hug & Pint // <a href="http://tickets-scotland.com/events.html?event_method=viewevent&event_id=ec4c00f6-eee8-11e6-9ba4-22000b2080a0">tickets</a><br />
Sun 16th <b>MANCHESTER </b>Gullivers // <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/390176">tickets</a><br />
<br />
Thanks everyone who snapped up tickets - we had to add an extra Southsea show due to demand, Bristol is sold out too and London looks to be busy. In all honesty, I've lost track of it all slightly amidst the promo activity for the album, but somewhere in amongst it all we released a second song from Get Found called 'Bury Me In The Pantheon', included below for your enjoyment:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FddmQRSF_Zc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FddmQRSF_Zc</a><br />
Bury Me In The Pantheon, from 'Get Found'<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSI3hIYAmTQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSI3hIYAmTQ</a><br />
Bury Me In The Pantheon, live in session at Reading's Rising Sun Arts Centre<br />
<br />
It's a bit weird seeing my face in HD, but I'm getting used to it. The video at the RSAC was one of a few shot by Ben Morse with a new toy he'd borrowed from Panasonic, and the results are pretty neat.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.theocelot.co.uk/review-ben-marwood-is-back-with-new-album-get-found-heading-out-on-tour-with-non-canon-and-helen-chambers-this-april/">The Ocelot</a> was amongst the publications who had good things to say about Get Found, John Kennedy spun the previously unheard 'The Church of No Commandments' on (don't-call-it-xfm) Radio X plus I sat down and answered questions for PRS' <a href="http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/features/interviews/interview-ben-marwood/">M Magazine</a> and the excellent York bunch <a href="http://www.oftr.co.uk/ben-marwood-interview-march-2017/">One For The Road</a>.<br />
<br />
So there. Now we're up to date, my room is stacked high with new albums, t-shirts and other little trinkets to sell and all that remains is to say: see you out there.<br />
<br />
xxBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-33088036904616164802017-02-17T16:13:00.000-08:002017-02-17T16:13:25.365-08:00Tour dates: an updateHey all,<br />
<br />
I'm writing this late at night on Friday, February 17th and tomorrow I have a hometown show, my first in six months. It'll be a try-out show for some of the songs I'd like to play on tour and there'll be favourites too, all part of my mission to make this upcoming tour the Best Tour Ever.<br />
<br />
I figured now the album announcement is out of the way, I might give the tour a little extra push. Here's a reminder of the dates and an update on ticket links etc:<br />
<br />
<b><u>APRIL</u></b><br />
<br />
Thu 6th<b> HOVE </b>Brunswick // <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/390319">tickets</a><br />
Fri 7th<b> LONDON </b>The Monarch // free entry<br />
Sat 8th<b> SOUTHSEA </b>Southsea Sound<b> // </b>sold out<br />
Mon 10th<b> BRISTOL </b>Crofter's Rights // <a href="http://www.alttickets.com/xtra-mile-tour-crofters-rights-2017-04-10-19-00">tickets</a><br />
Tue 11th <b>NOTTINGHAM </b>Bodega // <a href="http://www.alttickets.com/xtra-mile-tour-the-bodega-2017-04-11-19-00">tickets</a><br />
Wed 12th <b>YORK </b>Fulford Arms // <a href="https://www.wegottickets.com/event/390191">tickets</a><br />
Fri 14th <b>EDINBURGH</b> Opium // <a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/ben-marwood/opium/1069725">tickets</a><br />
Sat 15th <b>GLASGOW</b> Hug & Pint // <a href="http://tickets-scotland.com/events.html?event_method=viewevent&event_id=ec4c00f6-eee8-11e6-9ba4-22000b2080a0">tickets</a><br />
Sun 16th <b>MANCHESTER </b>Gullivers // <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/390176">tickets</a><br />
<br />
All shows with Non Canon<br />
All shows with Helen Chambers exc. Scotland<br />
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For those of you who missed out on tickets to Southsea - I feel your pain. Tickets sold out within a few hours for it, so we're working on a solution. I'm told that if you want to register your interest/stay up to date with things for a potential extra Southsea show: usernametakenmusic@gmail.com is the address to email.<br />
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Other than that, the amazing Banquet (my favourite indie store) now has 'Get Found' up to order. I've added that link to the previous post, but here they are again:<br />
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Xtra Mile Recordings: <a href="http://smarturl.it/GetFound-XMR">http://smarturl.it/GetFound-XMR</a><br />
iTunes: <a href="http://smarturl.it/GetFound_iTunes">http://smarturl.it/GetFound_iTunes</a><br />
Banquet: <a href="https://www.banquetrecords.com/ben-marwood/get-found/XMR130CD">https://www.banquetrecords.com/ben-marwood/get-found/XMR130CD</a><br />
<br />
Stay tuned for more gubbins,<br />
bBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-55325169217489776062017-02-08T04:03:00.000-08:002017-02-12T16:00:12.685-08:00NEW ALBUM KLAXON!Ladies and Gentlemen and Gazorpians,<br />
<br />
It is with great pleasure that I, Benjamin Marwood, announce at last my third full-length album, herein referred to as <i>Get Found</i>.<br />
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<i>Get Found </i>is out on 7th April 2017 on CD/download via the good people at Xtra Mile Recordings, who continue to put up with my shit.<br />
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<i>Get Found </i>has thirteen songs on it, and at forty minutes long is at the absolute maximum of my musical attention span:<br />
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Tracklisting begins<br />
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1. Punched In The Mouth (Part 1)<br />
2. The Church Of No Commandments<br />
3. In Black and White<br />
4. Enraptured<br />
5. DNFTTTS<br />
6. Nights<br />
7. I'm Wide Awake It's Boring<br />
8. Bones<br />
9. Baby You're A Mess<br />
10. Bury Me In The Pantheon<br />
11. Kick Out Kick On<br />
12. The Devil Makes Work For Jazz Hands<br />
13. Friends, Close<br />
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Tracklisting Ends<br />
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All songs were written by me, except for Baby You're A Mess which was written (and initially recorded and released) by Tom Crook/Band of Hope. Naturally, the one I didn't write turned out to be the best one and you can hear it on Soundcloud right now:<br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/benmarwood/baby-youre-a-mess">https://soundcloud.com/benmarwood/baby-youre-a-mess</a><br />
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You can order stuff right over here:<br />
Xtra Mile Recordings: <a href="http://smarturl.it/GetFound-XMR">http://smarturl.it/GetFound-XMR</a><br />
iTunes: <a href="http://smarturl.it/GetFound_iTunes">http://smarturl.it/GetFound_iTunes</a><br />
Banquet: <a href="https://www.banquetrecords.com/ben-marwood/get-found/XMR130CD">https://www.banquetrecords.com/ben-marwood/get-found/XMR130CD</a><br />
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I have various things to say surrounding the writing and recording of this album but that's for another day or maybe never (or, at least, for the liner notes). Suffice to say, I'm incredibly proud of this album and what it represents - so much so, that I'm actually going to try and take to the road for the first time in three years:<br />
<br />
<b>APRIL</b><br />
Thursday 6th <b>BRIGHTON </b>Brunswick*<br />
Friday 7th <b>LONDON </b>Camden Monarch*<br />
Saturday 8th <b>PORTSMOUTH </b>Southsea Sound*<br />
Monday 10th <b>BRISTOL </b>Crofters Rights*<br />
Tuesday 11th <b>NOTTINGHAM </b>Bodega*<br />
Wednesday 12th <b>YORK </b>Fulford Arms*<br />
Friday 14th <b>EDINBURGH </b>Opium<br />
Saturday 15th <b>GLASGOW </b>Hug and Pint<br />
Sunday 16th <b>MANCHESTER </b>Gullivers*<br />
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All dates are with Non Canon<br />
*dates are with Helen Chambers too<br />
Tickets are hopefully available already, from wherever places normally do tickets.<br />
<br />
Thanks massively to the XMR gang and to Barry Dolan for getting the record & tour off the ground.<br />
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Hitting publish on this post and actually telling people about it marks the end of a long road for me, though hopefully not the kind of road that your sat nav guides you down, swearing blind that this is the way to Leeds and all of a sudden you're in the sea. Hopefully at the end of <i>this </i>long road, there'll be ice cream.<br />
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To ice cream,<br />
BenBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-35322317123736780492016-11-20T12:15:00.001-08:002016-11-20T12:15:15.883-08:002016: Two shows to end the yearNovember is here and nearly done.<br />
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As soon as the temperature drops and the nights draw in, time flies by, as if time exists in proportion to sunlight. Still, in a couple of days my (gigging) year really will be over, as I play the final shows of 2016:<br />
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Tuesday 22nd Nov: Joiners Arms, Southampton (<a href="http://joiners.vticket.co.uk/product.php/750/northcote-jon-snodgrass-8-50">tickets</a>)<br />
Thursday 24th Nov: Upstairs @ the Garage, London (<a href="http://thegaragehighbury.com/listings/upcoming-events/39034/northcote/">tickets</a>)<br />
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Both shows are alongside Xtra Mile's own <b>Northcote</b> and <b>Jon Snodgrass</b>, both of whom I'll be gigging with for the first time. Exciting.<br />
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Generally, the year has been good. I mean, the aim was to release the album and maybe do one or two shows, but instead I've managed to get into double-digits for shows and accidentally neglected the album.<br />
<br />
The album is done, named and hopefully there'll be real, actual news on it soon. I could, and will, write at length about it once I can tell you more (otherwise I'll just be writing vague nothings) but for now let's just say this: I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out, and I'm working hard to find it the right home. See. Vague nothings.<br />
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Take care<br />
xoBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-88022727510707654772016-09-10T16:58:00.000-07:002016-09-10T16:58:31.065-07:002016: the year of the musicHello friends,<br />
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I write this on Saturday, which as everyone knows was voted Day Most Likely To Be Awesome in its school yearbook. Tonight I'm off to see PUP in Kingston with my friend Emma D, and during the day I'm sifting through a longlist of 51 songs for this week's (40/45 minute) podcast over at <a href="http://editradio.org/">editradio</a> due on Tuesday, which is a new podcast record. Fifty-one!<br />
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Anyway, Emma and I were also trying to see PUP yesterday (London) and Sunday (Southampton), but both those shows sold out. I'd like to see Pinegrove, a new band I'm really into, on Tuesday in London but sure enough that's sold out too. So instead, I thought I'd start this blog by hailing how excellent 2016 has been for music so far, highlighting the kind of thing that's been filling my ears over the past nine months (though admittedly, some of it was from the tail end of 2015) and generally enjoying the annual rebirth of the music industry as another festival season gets the fuck out of the way, new music starts popping up again and our favourite acts hit the road to play venues which are clearly <i>just too small</i>. Not that I'm any one to talk.<br />
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If everything's gone to plan, there'll be a Spotify playlist at the bottom of this page. Listen, enjoy, shuffle it or don't do any of that. But there, I've done my bit to keep recorded music alive for another week. If you like any of it, I encourage you to purchase it.<br />
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Of course, what's really been in my ears these past few weeks is the new album. I finished recording my parts in July, all the other stuff got done in the first week of August and we hotfooted over to <a href="http://www.oldblacksmiths.com/">Old Blacksmiths</a> on the outskirts of Portsmouth to start the mixing process with the emphasis on getting it right instead of just getting it done. A month later and it's all coming together and the artwork is in progress (well, kinda - trusted artist Cat has decided to give birth to a little human which not only takes up her time, but who she also refused to name either Naismith or Lukaku, a blatant sign of disrespect). Once the mixes are done, we'll sort out the track order, cull the worst bits and send it off to be decorated with cream and berries or whatever actually happens during the mastering process.<br />
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I'm not unhappy about the prospect of the album not being here yet - as we've already covered, 2016 has had its fair share of excellent records and there are plenty of other shows to go to so I'm not bothered about delaying releasing, touring and generally promoting an album for a little while longer. The general state of my day-to-day life is OK, but deteriorates quickly if I don't look after myself, so the prospect of daily travelling, late nights, hard floors, irregular meals and a forty-plus minute nightly stage workout is something which I will happily postpone if I can. I'll get there, though.<br />
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Album (still unnamed) is sounding great although the events surrounding this one mean it's the actual act of recording and releasing it which is significant to me, not how the damn thing sounds. I could overdub it with screaming goat noises and still be happy with it though I should highlight that fans of screaming goat noises will probably be disappointed on first listen.<br />
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In the meantime, after one show in 2015 my goal for 2016 was ten shows, and I'm up to nine right now with two more to be announced shortly, so I guess we hit that goal. Give me a huge hello if you see me in any of the following places this Autumn:<br />
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SEPTEMBER<br />
24 <b>Bristol </b>Louisiana (SOLD OUT)<br />
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OCTOBER<br />
16 <b>Southampton </b>The Joiners (<a href="http://joiners.vticket.co.uk/product.php/723/the-xcerts-ben-marwood-ducking-punches-9">tix</a>)<br />
24 <b>London </b>Tooting Tram & Social (<a href="https://billetto.co.uk/strummervilletooting">tix</a>)<br />
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The other two shows will be in November and will be announced shortly, though anything outside of the South won't be happening until next year now.<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone who has made the shows so far so special, including an incredible (if technically inept) 2000Trees set, a roasting Reading show back in June and some fun under the railway arches at House of Vans with Frank Turner, Sam Duckworth and Ben Morse (thanks folks).<br />
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In the meantime, here's fifty minutes of my favourite songs of 2016 And The End Of 2015, for your Spotify ears. Athankyou:<br />
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<a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/benmarwood/playlist/5H7lHVTfl3hZfi0ar3eQFa">https://open.spotify.com/user/benmarwood/playlist/5H7lHVTfl3hZfi0ar3eQFa</a>Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-32422727836983106122016-04-16T15:12:00.000-07:002016-04-16T15:12:05.254-07:00Two whole shows!Rejoice! Rejoice! We have survived the potential frostbite of another winter, and the death by chocolate of another Easter. Spring is here, summer is coming, life is good.<br />
<br />
The other day I got an email from Kyle MacFarquharson, who reminded me that:<br />
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a) I haven't posted here lately<br />
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and also:<br />
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b) Kyle MacFarquharson has a really cool name<br />
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Anyway, here's a blog post about a couple of shows I have coming up.<br />
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<b>Shows:</b><br />
23.04.16 READING Are You Listening? festival <b><u><a href="http://areyoulistening.org.uk/">website</a></u></b><br />
05.05.16 LONDON Camden Monarch <b><u><a href="http://www.monarchbar.com/events/events/5-may-16-ben-marwood-the-monarch/">website</a></u></b><br />
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<b>Oh you want posters? We have posters:</b><br />
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<b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Obligatory album update:</b><br />
Drums? Done!<br />Bass? Done!<br />Acoustic guitar? Done!<br />Electric guitar, vocals, piano and assorted gumpf? Ehhh, not yet.<br />
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xxBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-72162527891107511872016-01-30T16:01:00.001-08:002016-01-31T16:03:56.956-08:00OTAC is 5 today (and yours for free)"Hey, Xtra Mile?", the phone conversation began, "It's me, Ben Marwood. <i>Outside There's A Curse</i> is five years old at the end of January and I'd like to give it away for free."<br />
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Actually come to think of it, this was all over email. I'm rubbish on the phone. Anyway, after some discussion about what kind of 5th birthday party I was going to throw it (a superhero party was agreed), and after I had overcome the sudden, inexplicable urge to eat jelly and ice cream, Xtra Mile gave the go-ahead, and here we are.<br />
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Today, 31st January 2016, my debut album from 2011 is entirely, spectacularly free from Bandcamp for the whole 24-hour UK time period.<br />
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<i>Outside There's A Curse</i> is, as far as Ben Marwood albums go, pretty popular. It was my first Xtra Mile release, it was reviewed in <i>Kerrang! </i>which in my eyes makes an Actual Album, it has '<i>Singalong</i>' on it, it has the Postal Service cover on it and even as a man who is often sick of hearing his own songs in recorded format before they're even finished being recorded, I can listen to <i>OTAC </i>all the way through without accidentally clawing my own eyes out.<br />
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I'm very proud of it, but apparently not everyone in the world has heard it. If you don't own it already, this is your chance.<br />
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Go get it here, and spread the word:<br />
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<u>Outside There's A Curse (link expired)</u>Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-80604461725576072882015-11-30T14:14:00.001-08:002015-11-30T14:14:42.774-08:00Gimme ShelterAbout six years ago I played Union Chapel with Frank Turner and a host of others. It was Christmas. Frank got stuck in France and had to <strike>be airlifted in</strike> arrive late. My family stayed out late in the bar whilst I ran for the last train. Here we are:<br />
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Look at us there, all sprightly and young.<br />
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This Christmas, it will be my pleasure to join Frank at Union Chapel, this time with the aim of raising thousands upon thousands upon thousands of pounds for one of our favourite charities, <a href="http://www.shelter.org.uk/">Shelter</a>, the housing and homelessness charity. I've known about this for a while and not been able to tell anyone, so I'm glad to finally get this news out there.<br />
<br />
I spoke to Frank a few weeks ago and made an off-hand comment that I would be looking to do a show or two in 2016, and all of a sudden this was dropped into conversation. I ummed and ahhed before realising that if I turned down the chance to play the Chapel for Shelter alongside Frank, a huge part of my soul would have shrivelled up and died.<br />
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The show is on <b>Saturday 19th December </b>at, you guessed it, London's <b>Union Chapel</b>. Tickets are balloted only, £30 a piece (for a great cause etc), Lewis Bootle opens and you can apply right over <a href="http://email.shelter.org.uk/k/Shelter/frank_turner_gig_ballot">here</a>.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-61931902262153185192015-10-30T07:24:00.001-07:002015-10-30T07:24:10.266-07:00health, 2.0Readers!<br />
<br />
It's been ten months since I threw my musical toys out of the pram and went off to do other things, and whilst normally we get to October and ask each other where the year's gone as if we don't know, it's my duty to report that 2015 at Marwood Towers (two bedrooms, rented) has felt about four years long. To boot, looking back at the blog posts in a year which has felt not unlike being stuck in motorway traffic, it seems I've treated you to the following delights:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>An announcement that I was curating some shows in Reading last March</li>
<li>A post asking everyone to vote in May's UK elections</li>
<li>A link to an Ask XMR article where I gave dodgy life advice</li>
<li>A rant about the government</li>
</ul>
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<br />
I think it's fair to say that those things are probably not why people come to read this blog - it's certainly not why I set it up, anyway - and so it's probably about time we had a real update on the last ten months' happenings beyond the social media sprinklings that I've been dishing out willy-nilly.<br />
<br />
That said, you should probably also know that I started drafting this update in July (yes, <i>July</i>) and so in order to get this finished and posted I am restricting myself to just five succinct points. After all, this <u>is</u> still the intro; a full-length unedited update would probably take up all remaining space on the internet.<br />
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So here goes.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">1. I'm alive</span></div>
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If you had to study my life's works so far, one of the things they'd all have in common is that I've been alive for all of them, and I'm delighted to say that will continue. This might seem like a completely redundant point, but when I put everything on hold last year I was being tested for all manner of Terminal Bastards to try and get to the bottom of things in a setting where such things as The End are discussed particularly frankly and at least one person definitely didn't rate my chances. By the end of January I'd seen a stream of specialists and the one thing they all agreed on is that while no-one has any idea what is actually wrong, it isn't serious. You could argue that being that certain about something you can't identify defies logic, but LA LA LA LA I can't hear you.<br />
<br />
If the hiatus post seemed overly emo, I will readily admit that I was resigned to my impending death, and it was a source of great embarrassment between me and everyone I confided in when I didn't die after all. Only joking about that last bit. Mostly.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">2. Mental health is important</span><br />
In the end, we arrived at a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which, whether correct or not, drastically reduced the amount of time I had to spend being prodded by the medical world which was absolutely fine by me. What became clear pretty quickly was the total lack of solution to the CFS problem as it is, in essence, not so much a precise diagnosis but more of a checklist of criteria the patient's condition satisfies. As a result, two people diagnosed with the same illness can have two entirely different sets of symptoms that have progressed in different ways, from a slow decline to a sudden plummet into Illhood, meaning that what helps me might be useless for the next person.<br />
<br />
What people do seem to agree on is that the mental outlook of the patient does have a part to play: I'm not saying that thinking you're going to get better means you'll get better, but resigning yourself to a lifetime of illness and despair at the hands of this beast will probably help you get there. Being serious about mental health, admitting defeat when you need to and keeping a positive attitude has been key to recovery and to that end..</div>
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<span style="color: red;">3. Everyone is great</span></div>
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.. it was largely possible thanks to a network of friends who remain a brilliant mixture of the optimistics, the straight-talkers, the relentlessly-attentives and some plain lunatics. I had cards, messages, emails and on one occasion a fucking <i>binder</i> full of well-wishes and it was all deeply touching once I repressed the feeling that I had become some kind of strange charity case. Incidentally, you shouldn't repress your feelings. I hear it will make you ill.<br />
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There are too many people here to thank, so let's not do that here. You probably already know who you are, but if you think you're borderline, flip a coin.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">4. Playing/hearing/watching music is getting easier</span><br />
At first I was afraid. I was petrified. Also I felt very sick whenever I tried to play guitar, the combination of trying to stay balanced coupled with co-ordinating my fingers being just too much, and don't get me started on trying to project vocals under those circumstances.<br />
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Unhilariously, the problem also extended to going to gigs, where standing up whilst listening to loud music in the darkness presented me with a problem for some reason (normally Where Does The Floor Keep Going?). A list of quirky symptoms still remain, some of which are truly hilarious, keeping me away from doing shows, although I'm sure it won't be long. I can string five or six songs together in a row, and I no longer go jelly-legged whilst walking down staircases, so before too long I guess I'll be able to play short shows even if the stage is at the bottom of a giant flight of stairs.<br />
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That said, cutting out the music stuff did do wonders for reducing my stress levels, but..<br />
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<div>
<span style="color: red;">5. I have begun work on album three</span><br />
.. as much fun as laying around not doing any music was (and for a while, it really was), by the end of the Spring I was in the process of upgrading my studio for the first time since I bought it in 2002. Out has gone the trusty Tascam 788 8-track which I used to record most of <i>This Is Not What You Had Planned</i>, <i>Outside There's A Curse</i> and, on reflection, not enough of <i>Back Down</i>, and in has come a Tascam DP-24, with such mind-boggling features as SDHC capability and a USB connection. I'm living in the future/not so far in the past.<br />
<br />
There's not much exciting information I can give you at present, other than recording started a few weeks ago, rhythm section rehearsals to pull the loud parts together are due to start in the last days of November and none of the songs are about Trevor McDonald.<br />
<br />
There are your five points. See you in ten months!*<br />
b<br />
<br />
<br />
*<i>mostly joking</i></div>
Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-36655218298460730842015-07-11T09:13:00.003-07:002015-07-13T02:30:15.534-07:00South Street Arts Centre, and the ongoing struggleThe hiatus is nearly seven months old and I've been terrible at keeping people filled in. I owe you an update, really, but this is a slow-moving target and so there's always tomorrow.<br />
<br />
There are other things which are perhaps more time sensitive, and that's why I want to talk about that thing that arouses us all: that's right, we're going to talk about the recent UK budget and the threat to the needy. And the arts. Which isn't the same.<br />
<br />
Phwoar. Right?<br />
<br />
I know, I know: we all know it. The Tories hate the arts because there's not a lot of money in it and funding theatre, shows and activities for us plebs to do has never been high up on their list of priorities. "<i>Get off your soapbox Ben Marwood, Reading's Sexiest Bachelor 2002</i>", you all say. Quite why you felt the need to invent an award for me is beyond me, but I'm flattered all the same.<br />
<br />
This Government is the pits, but I am actually going somewhere with this, albeit somewhere heavily Reading-centric (sorry).<br />
<br />
In this latest wave of cuts assigned to austerity and balancing the books - fine, whatever, let's not get into that here - Reading Borough Council's funding that isn't ringfenced (eugh, that term) is being cut by a third, and so the council has started doing the legwork ahead of their big meet on July 20th, planning what cuts might happen and by how much. There's a big list of depressing numbers over <a href="http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/reading-council-spending-cuts-7m-9628223"><b>here</b></a> if you're interested, among them heavy cuts to learning disability services, mental health services, extra care housing and so on. So far, so Tory.<br />
<br />
However..<br />
<br />
(Sorry. Recently Michael Gove, living <a href="http://www.bogleech.com/halloween/nf-pob.jpg"><b>Pob puppet</b></a> and somehow Secretary of State for Justice, circulated a memo that asked MPs to stop starting sentences with 'However'. I couldn't let that go without mentioning.)<br />
<br />
<b>However</b>, I know nothing about the state of those services to defend them, though I will happily jump on that bandwagon when someone smart fills me in. The thing that stood out to me the most was that the council are reviewing the use of their buildings in Reading and typically the one which is facing the axe (aside from underused libraries) seems to be South Street Arts Centre, a two-roomed venue (one 80-100 cap, one 200-250) specialising in theatre and live music and ideal for those moving through the grassroots of the entertainment industry.<br />
<br />
Now, I can't claim to have always enjoyed going to South Street - I had a string of very average shows there, though in recent years it's been much better - but to close it would be a terrible shame for the lovely people who staff it and the fantastic acts who pass through there and aren't me (like the wonderful Alex Horne, who is there in September). The suggestion that South Street's extensive portfolio of acts and nights could be relocated is bonkers: the other council venues in Reading are the Hexagon (much, much bigger than South Street), the Town Hall (the same size, but with a schedule already just as busy if you include wedding receptions) and the 3Bs, which is so without definable use that I didn't even know it was still open despite walking past it every day.<br />
<br />
So, if you've ever been to South Street and would like to go again, you could probably do worse than sign this petition:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.change.org/p/reading-borough-council-do-not-close-south-street-arts-centre">https://www.change.org/p/reading-borough-council-do-not-close-south-street-arts-centre</a><br />
<br />
Will it change much? Who knows, but staying silent would just be to give up and given that South Street is a council venue, I don't expect the staff there can make much noise to defend themselves (as council employees in a council venue).<br />
<br />
Safeguarding entertainment in Reading is important to me, and hopefully to others too. I do not want to forever spend my evenings in front of prime time ITV. If towns are judged by their individuality, Reading would be one step closer to a chain store-only wasteland without places like South Street Arts Centre, or the Rising Sun Arts Centre just up the road.<br />
<br />
These are the first cuts of many. If cuts like these aren't happening in your area already, they probably will be soon. The Conservative Austerity train is heading to your town and whether you like it or not as a country it's exactly what we ordered in May. The Conservative Party are businessmen if nothing else (and so often, nothing else) and will run the country as such. Perhaps all we can do at grassroots level for the next few years is to identify the causes we hold most important and the things we don't want to lose, and then fight for them. This is the way things might have to be, short of some global revolution, which - and let me put this bluntly - isn't ever going to arrive if your figurehead is Russell Brand.<br />
<br />
In Reading, the fight for the arts starts here.<br />
<br />
<i>Footnote:</i><br />
<i>All this probably seems pretty trivial in the week where George Osborne mostly <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33463864">punished the poor</a></b> just for being poor, raising the income tax threshold to benefit the employed whilst abolishing tax credits and benefits for hard-up families. I get it, really I do. There seems to be this idea among some of the financially-secure employed that the low-earning families are there because they don't work hard or they have five children and dine out on your taxes and exclusively <u>your</u> taxes, but that's bullshit isn't it? We could all work our bums off every day forever, but if you only get paid an hourly rate and it's low, you take home that low pay no matter how hard you work. If we really have to balance the books here and we're all in it together, perhaps we should all have taken a percentage income cut together, employed or not. But that won't get you votes, will it?</i>Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-6533700787389551172015-05-21T13:15:00.003-07:002015-05-21T13:15:45.215-07:00Take life advice from Ben MarwoodI think it's been long enough now since the election to come out of hiding. The people shouting across Facebook have settled and will go back to the e-petitions, normal petitions, protests and word-spreading whilst we wait for the next General Election to roll around a few years down the line. I'll be honest - I was saddened by the result, but in no way surprised.<br />
<br />
You're due a health update, I guess. That'll be along soon, but if we're catching up on news we may as well start with me being a temporary agony aunt over on the XMR Hub a few months back.<br />
<br />
See me answer questions such as:<br />
<b>What happens if you put a werewolf on the moon?</b><br />
<b>What is your favourite irrational number?</b><br />
<b>What is the capital of East Timor?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Neat eh? You can find it on the <a href="http://www.1.xtramilerecordings.com/ask-xmr-xtra-mile-answers-your-questions/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Ask XMR</a> page, dated 05/04/2015.<br />
<br />
b. xBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-45000203373404289352015-04-19T07:17:00.001-07:002015-04-19T07:18:41.879-07:00Vote.Today is the 19th of April 2015, which means that unless Russell Brand accidentally rips apart space and time with his alternative to the current system (which I'm sure is due any day now), tomorrow is the deadline for registering to vote in the UK general and local elections.<br />
<br />
To me, voting is pretty important, a chance to have your say in who represents you day in, day out for the next few years. I appreciate that not everyone feels that way, but if you're someone who intends to vote but hasn't yet registered and is dragging their feet, the link is right here:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote">https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote</a><br />
<br />
As if you need any further opinion on the matter, me and some rock stars recently let Punktastic know why we consider voting to be a priority. You can read all that over <a href="http://punktastic.com/radar/punk-and-politics/">here</a>, and they even used my quote in the header. Totally famous.<br />
<br />
Good luck, UK.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-29363835686725780392015-03-02T11:55:00.000-08:002015-03-02T11:55:02.799-08:00Not cured, but curatingHi!<br />
<br />
Admittedly, I may be no closer to playing shows of my own, but that doesn't mean I can't give the fine people of Reading, UK some shows to go to.<br />
<br />
Starting tomorrow, I'm the guest curator on Tuesday nights at the Purple Turtle on Gun Street, a bar where me and a great many of my friends have staggered blindly around wondering which way is up. Since those days it's had a huge makeover and these days puts on some decent shows, and for five Tuesdays in March my aim is to not completely destroy that reputation.<br />
<br />
These shows are FREE and 18+. Come on down.<br />
<br />
MARCH<br />
3rd: Oxygen Thief + Matthew Greener<br />
10th: Grant Sharkey + Buildings On Fire<br />
17th: She Makes War + Seasons In Shorthand<br />
24th: Retrospective Soundtrack Players + Damien A Passmore & the Loveable Fraudsters<br />
31st: Quiet Quiet Band + Bruce Neil.<br />
<br />
See you there!<br />
xBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-43659752166021889772014-12-23T11:14:00.000-08:002014-12-23T11:14:21.889-08:00Exit music (for a ben)Season's greetings, fellows!<br />
<br />
First up, thanks to all of you who've been checking in with me over the past few months to see how I'm doing and keeping my spirits up. There've been a bunch of you checking in weekly, even daily, and putting up with me in all moods which is a quite remarkable feat of human perseverance. Thank you one and all, even whoever anonymously tried to post on this blog "<i>please don't get your hopes up about being well again</i>", which as far as get well messages go is impressively obscure.<br />
<br />
And indeed, in a move which has alarmed the world of Homeopathic Medicine, all these positive vibes haven't actually made me any better, and as a few people have begun to ask what my plans for 2015 are with that unspoken air of expectation, I figured I can no longer postpone the following announcement:<br />
<br />
I am hanging up my musical boots for the forseeable future.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure what it is I dislike about the expression 'indefinite hiatus'. Maybe it's because normally when you hear it, it's out of the mouths of big touring acts who mean "we are bored, but we'll be back when we want some more of your money". That is not why this is happening. I don't even <i>have </i>musical boots to hang up, come to think of it, and this place is rented so I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to hang stuff up anyway.<br />
<br />
Since the last update (whenever that was), I've been prodded by a number of specialists and treated to a variety of consultations and tests which ranged from pleasant conversations to some kind of heavy petting. Result: this - whatever <i>this </i>is - doesn't seem to be ear-related after all, if it ever was, and I'm being tested for everything from the trivial to the terminal. As the year approaches its close, with my general outlook getting more depressing and the tests getting a bit more invasive, my inability to stand up, play guitar and sing (or indeed, do any of those three individually for any extended period of time) has proven to be the final frustrating nail in the coffin that I sometimes feel I'm headed for, hammered in with all the commitment of a recent graduate on a zero hours contract.<br />
<br />
So, there you go. There's a huge part of me that can't quite believe this is happening, even though I've known for quite a while that a proper, long term break is my only real option. In much the same way that it is the fear of many humans that they'll be forgotten after they're dead, it's the egotistical fear of many artists that they'll be forgotten whilst they're still alive, and I'll happily claim to be no different. I have poured countless hours into this for many years, and to see it end even temporarily on anything other than my terms is pretty heartbreaking.<br />
<br />
Still, I leave you in the capable hands of my friends and peers. Oxygen Thief recently converted his one man solo show into a much heavier trio, Frank and the Sleeping Souls are somewhere in the stratosphere and Beans On Toast is enjoying incredible success, Retrospective Soundtrack Players reached new heights with their latest album, Jim Lockey is reinvented (again) and holy moses, have you seen how hard Billy The Kid works? If I can't give 100% to this musical adventure, keeping up is going to be near impossible.<br />
<br />
But this isn't the last you'll hear of me. I won't be far away, hanging around on social media, filling up your timelines with Mountain Goats songs and other such nonsense and hey, it's not all bad, at least since I've been unable to make it to my own shows no-one's asked me to play Party In The USA. Plus - important news - I have all the songs written for a third album, and even if the bastardly stars align and I can never bring myself to go near a recording studio ever again or I choose tomorrow to fall under a bus, I do at least have a handful of demos that will make their way out into the open someday and they're ones I'm particularly proud of to boot.<br />
<br />
For my part, I'll keep you updated on the news whether it's good or bad, and in the meantime I keep with me a lot of excellent memories, from hundreds of shows with friends and clubnight afterparties in York, to those unforgettable <i>2000Trees </i>sets and standing on that hill at the Olympics, all of which I can barely believe I deserved, especially that last one because it wasn't really anything to do with me.<br />
<br />
Stay well, stay safe, and stay great. I'll do my best to be back.<br />
<br />
And if not? Well, it's like the old artistic adage: always leave them wantiBen Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-84158288237062303652014-12-10T13:27:00.003-08:002014-12-10T13:28:36.157-08:00No man is poor who has friends(Prologue: I've been meaning to update my blog for ages with regards to my health and The Future, but this post is not that update. I've been waiting on some news before I post anything, and it doesn't look like that news is coming anytime soon. I will have an update before Christmas though, guaranteed.)<br />
<br />
For now, I'm here to tell you about the new album from Retrospective Soundtrack Players, seasonally titled <i>It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol</i>. Are you looking for a present for the music lover in your life, but they already own Lorde's <i>Pure Heroine</i>? Well then, it sounds like you definitely need this excellent third album from The RSP, everyone's favourite Rock Band Who Record Concept Albums Based On Films And Books that I know of.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/49k5eBbNpjWupg0VyhuKAS">Why not take a listen on Spotify?</a><br />
<br />
If you need any convincing or you just don't want to take my personal word for it - and, why would you, I haven't been to work properly for nearly six months at this point and nine of my last ten shows were cancelled - consider that this is the only album ever recorded that features the legendary trio of Chris T-T, Frank Turner and I as the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future in no particular order. If there's anything to be said for the three of us together it's that we have, at one point or another, all lived in Hampshire.<br />
<br />
Enjoy.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-7068972039825870202014-08-29T07:34:00.000-07:002014-08-29T08:10:01.234-07:00a health lotterySo, here we are. Those of you who have tried to see a show of mine recently will probably have noticed they have one defining characteristic: I rarely actually make it. As much as I can write endless jolly blog posts about my health and cancellations and how sorry I am - I've recently had to say it so often that it's begun to sound disingenuous - it's about time we actually had a proper chat about it.<br />
<br />
I am Not Very Well.<br />
<br />
The long and short of it is I have a problem with my inner ear on one side or the other, leading to balance problems (I get to feel quite drunk, without spending any money on alcohol), nausea that not even ginger can shake and often hot flushes for that added menopausal feel. My hearing on one side can sometimes cut out, feel clogged, or generally be replaced by tinnitus. Add to this I can't walk for any great distance, be on my feet for longer than twenty-five minutes at any one time or be in a noisy environment for longer than a few minutes and the picture is more or less complete. Ben Marwood is a broken human being.<br />
<br />
The interesting thing about the inner ear, and by interesting I <i>do </i>mean ridiculous, is that unlike when you hurt your arm it generally heals itself once you re-set it, once you damage your inner ear it'll never get better. Neat, eh? Instead, to recover, your brain has to re-learn how to read the brand new signals from your inner ear, restructured like the house on a home improvement show, only one where the Before was fine and the After is ruined.<br />
<br />
How did this happen? What has attacked my beloved lughole? I don't really know. I was similarly ill in February, but I first knowingly went down with this at the end of May and start of June (Cardiff, Derby and Durham fell victim to my cancellation spree), but bounced back fairly quickly. It struck again in the first or second week of July, meaning I spent the day before and after my 2000Trees show curled tightly in a ball wondering what was happening to my body, and it's been downhill since then. I got signed off work, stayed with my parents for a while, and cancelled a fundraiser show in Reading whilst feeling like a dick.<br />
<br />
I'm on some pretty neat medication which essentially dulls the signals from ear to brain and takes care of the nausea so as long as I don't stand up or do much in the way of activity I make a passable attempt at normal life, albeit the life of someone who has to work from home, is a bit lop-sided and has to avoid loud noises. For this reason I thought I might take a stab at doing the Cardiff show sitting down, with my monitors turned off and some earplugs in (no, no laughing, I'm being serious), but a meeting with the specialist this week finally put paid to my masterplan - in order to get better I need to restore the signals from ear to brain, and this involves coming off my great medication.<br />
<br />
As someone who doesn't even like taking paracetamol, that's fine by me, but the last time I tried coming off this stuff and restore my natural state, it was particularly messy in a 'lie on the bed and cling on for dear life' kinda way. So, doing a show is out of the question as for the next few weeks I'll be staring into the mouth of the beast and, as with most rehab, forcing my body to do stupid things it desperately wants to not do. It's not all bad news though - I'm told that once I kick my habit (two to three weeks) and start my rehabilitation, I might see some improvement from two weeks onwards, which puts us right on the doorstep of my London and Birmingham shows four weeks from now. The chances of a recovery by then, although slim, are not none. I'll keep everyone posted where I can.<br />
<br />
In the meantime I'm also being rewarded with an MRI. I'm hoping I get a sticker if I'm a really good boy in the machine and do everything the experts tell me to.<br />
<br />
This has been a horrendous six or seven weeks which has affected a lot of people in my life, from the gigs and gig-goers to the people I work with in my day job who suddenly have had more work to deal with, and have done so without being anything other than supportive. It's affected me most, obviously. I was due to go into the studio at the start of October to work on new material which now won't be happening quite yet, I also got brave and booked myself a holiday to New York which is now up in the air (which just goes to show, time off just doesn't suit me), I've had to close the webshop until this is over and I feel like an idiot a lot of the time, not least when the specialist asked me to march on the spot with my eyes closed, and my ears rotated me to face a different direction entirely. The medical professionals tell you this signifies there is an imbalance in the inner ear. I will tell you I am just no good at marching.<br />
<br />
But, rest easy. I assume this can't last forever and I'll be back one day. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the network of family and friends who check in with me regularly, some of them every day. I'm in the best possible hands, and it's worth mentioning that this healthcare is largely paid for by the day job that people are always telling me I shouldn't need.<br />
<br />
So that's it for now. Thanks for the cards and the well-wishes, and I'll keep you updated on my next two shows when I can.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-85411073781435167562014-08-28T12:47:00.002-07:002014-08-28T12:47:27.554-07:00Cardiff is cancelled.. againDue to continued poor health, I'm unable to play the show in Cardiff next Saturday, 6th of September.<br />
<br />
I'll have more information for you on refunds when I know more myself, as well as a proper update on my health.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934893048888586395.post-29846197950422247242014-07-31T11:32:00.001-07:002014-07-31T11:32:24.362-07:00Here is the horizontal newsHello blog!<br />
<br />
This blog post is brought to you by the angle 90 degrees, because that is my general resting position at the minute. Eight weeks in and my labyrinthitis didn't have the courtesy to bugger off, plus I've been signed off work for the past week with one more week to go and all this together is making me slightly nervous that I've chosen to promote my rescheduled shows in the following manner:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI6uCfd3N7NvFXkVzU8NLgSFKoeHH0hkDKxhyphenhyphenVCnBsbrmrYaZmZBQ75kldPGB3zndJ8kMs2F78xV0KaFLUHuqm3K3Thx9epVSwpnMQxX-THYL10WYoF2fA0JvGaGHkXs1Obp3aLGC_N82/s1600/rescheduled+tour+poster+96dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI6uCfd3N7NvFXkVzU8NLgSFKoeHH0hkDKxhyphenhyphenVCnBsbrmrYaZmZBQ75kldPGB3zndJ8kMs2F78xV0KaFLUHuqm3K3Thx9epVSwpnMQxX-THYL10WYoF2fA0JvGaGHkXs1Obp3aLGC_N82/s1600/rescheduled+tour+poster+96dpi.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But enough about me and the adventures of my inner ear, I'm here to tell you about two particular things that are either out now or about to be out soon.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><u>Relive the Marwood/RSP tour in style with the RSP live EP!</u></b><br />
This past February, my good buddies the Retrospective Soundtrack Players and I joined forces for a brief tour of the UK. One of the nights in question, at the fabulous Joiners Arms in Southampton, was committed to tape - or whatever you call it when the thing you're recording to is digital - including 'Singalong' performed full band in all its glory.<br />
<br />
Full tracklisting is:<br />
<br />
<i>Send Me The Hell Back Home (live)</i><br />
<i>Real Cool Hand (live)</i><br />
<i>Smart Girls for Talking, Morons for Dancing (live)</i><br />
<i>Don't Let Me Disappear (live)</i><br />
<i>Singalong feat. Ben Marwood (live)</i><br />
<br />
You can get the live EP from RSP's Bandcamp <a href="http://therspuk.bandcamp.com/">here</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Also, Xtra Mile have a new compilation out on August 11th!</u></b><br />
The fifth mile high compilation, <i>Smokin'</i>, is due out on August 11th on all digital formats and features too many brilliant acts to list them here, but includes the likes of Jamie Lenman, Oxygen Thief, Franz Nicolay, Chris T-T, Mongol Horde and more. The theme is signed vs. unsigned, though I don't think anyone's actually going to fight. Instead, those on the active XMR roster were invited to bring an unsigned buddy along for the ride, and my choice is Quiet Quiet Band. Their debut album is done and out later in the year, but for now I invite you to pick up the compilation and check out their song '<i>Hunter's Moon</i>'.<br />
<br />
Here's what I said about them when they had a gun to my head:<br />
<br />
<br />
"<b><i>If I had to describe Quiet Quiet Band in one word, that word would probably be 'run'. Six people comprising one living, breathing beast, their claws twisted tightly around various murder ballads, Quiet Quiet Band's name is about as misleading as their intentions for your heart. Hunter's Moon is a stand-out example of what they can do – a tale of violence cutting from a driven, lyrically-defiant folk rock assault to twinkling percussion, handclaps and viola – the pretty conclusion to a dark opening typical of a band who, lyrically at least, can often be rewarding you with one hand whilst making a stabby-stabby motion with the other. These are some of my best friends. I have no idea how things turned out this way. Send help.</i></b>"<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
To find out all you need to know about the Xtra Mile compilation, there is a wealth of explanation <a href="http://www.1.xtramilerecordings.com/behind-the-compilation-xtra-mile-high-club-vol-5-smokin/">right over here</a>. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
That's it for me, for now. I'm off to perfect my balance in the face of silly male despair.Ben Marwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13656371606891579085noreply@blogger.com0