the musical chairs of tour dates continues:
AUGUST
13 READING Oakford Social Club
14 DEVIZES Bell By The Green
15 BRISTOL Mother's Ruin
16 CHELTENHAM Slak
17 WEDNESBURY Castle Addis BBQ & House Show
18 LEEDS Elbow Room
19 YORK City Screen Basement Bar
20 NEWCASTLE Trillians
21 HUDDERSFIELD The Parish
23 PORTSMOUTH Drift Bar
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Saturday, 1 August 2009
tour news is poor news
Sometimes, things aren't just meant to be.
The business of the tiny touring acts - for, along with Jim Lockey and Oxygen Thief that is what we are - is often prone to general drama. This August's Exclamation UK tour is no exception. Over the past week or so, the Devizes Corn Exchange has announced it won't have re-opened in time for the 14th. That gig has been shifted down the road to previous stomping-ground The Bell By The Green. It's by a green, you know.
At almost exactly the same time, the promoter at Homestead in Southampton broke the news that Sonic Boom Six had booked a show nearby that night, so our show was to be pulled so as not to compete for a crowd, and shortly after Birmingham's Island Bar show fell too, a victim of the venue's cutting back of live music, before Stourbridge's Starving Rascal went the same way, although i'd spoken to Pete Stanley of Porpoise the week before who resides in Stourbridge, and he confirmed that he'd never even heard of any live music happening there anyway.
These are the risks we take.
Barry Thief was understandably irked by this cancellation nonsense, such is his desire to gig every day of his life, but I still didn't think eight gigs in ten days is a bad result, and then the king of the Midlands, James Richard Addis of Addistock, opened up his house for a house show/BBQ on the 17th. I'd tell you where it is, but I have no idea the specifics of where his house is. Ask me if you want to know, and I'll make a direct line of enquiry. It's somewhere in the Midlands though.
Those final dates in full:
AUGUST
13 READING Oakford Social Club
14 DEVIZES Bell By The Green
15 BRISTOL Mother's Ruin
16 CHELTENHAM Slak
17 THE MIDLANDS Addis' BBQ Adventure
19 YORK City Screen Basement Bar
20 NEWCASTLE Trillians
21 HUDDERSFIELD The Parish
23 PORTSMOUTH Drift Bar
The business of the tiny touring acts - for, along with Jim Lockey and Oxygen Thief that is what we are - is often prone to general drama. This August's Exclamation UK tour is no exception. Over the past week or so, the Devizes Corn Exchange has announced it won't have re-opened in time for the 14th. That gig has been shifted down the road to previous stomping-ground The Bell By The Green. It's by a green, you know.
At almost exactly the same time, the promoter at Homestead in Southampton broke the news that Sonic Boom Six had booked a show nearby that night, so our show was to be pulled so as not to compete for a crowd, and shortly after Birmingham's Island Bar show fell too, a victim of the venue's cutting back of live music, before Stourbridge's Starving Rascal went the same way, although i'd spoken to Pete Stanley of Porpoise the week before who resides in Stourbridge, and he confirmed that he'd never even heard of any live music happening there anyway.
These are the risks we take.
Barry Thief was understandably irked by this cancellation nonsense, such is his desire to gig every day of his life, but I still didn't think eight gigs in ten days is a bad result, and then the king of the Midlands, James Richard Addis of Addistock, opened up his house for a house show/BBQ on the 17th. I'd tell you where it is, but I have no idea the specifics of where his house is. Ask me if you want to know, and I'll make a direct line of enquiry. It's somewhere in the Midlands though.
Those final dates in full:
AUGUST
13 READING Oakford Social Club
14 DEVIZES Bell By The Green
15 BRISTOL Mother's Ruin
16 CHELTENHAM Slak
17 THE MIDLANDS Addis' BBQ Adventure
19 YORK City Screen Basement Bar
20 NEWCASTLE Trillians
21 HUDDERSFIELD The Parish
23 PORTSMOUTH Drift Bar
Friday, 24 July 2009
ben marwood vs edit radio
i was recently invited by surely my oldest friend - in terms of time that we've been friends, at 28 and a half he's not that old - Kevin Lawson to guest present an episode of new-fangled podcast Edit Radio.
since i was a nipper i enjoyed daydreaming about DJing, and whilst i've guested on various shows, from pirates to the BBC, today marks the first day i've been allowed to do things unsupervised.
the end result is 77 minutes of the best in alt/indie/folk, from new records from Brendan Benson and The Thermals to classics from Grandaddy, Weezer and Dead Prez; from Fight Like Apes to Future of the Left; from Johnny Flynn to Jim Lockey and other things which don't fit into this alliterative theme.
You can download it now, here:
http://web.me.com/ktal1731/%5Bedit%5D_Radio/Home_files/%5Bedit%5D%20radio%209.mp3
One more childhood goal: completed.
since i was a nipper i enjoyed daydreaming about DJing, and whilst i've guested on various shows, from pirates to the BBC, today marks the first day i've been allowed to do things unsupervised.
the end result is 77 minutes of the best in alt/indie/folk, from new records from Brendan Benson and The Thermals to classics from Grandaddy, Weezer and Dead Prez; from Fight Like Apes to Future of the Left; from Johnny Flynn to Jim Lockey and other things which don't fit into this alliterative theme.
You can download it now, here:
http://web.me.com/ktal1731/%5Bedit%5D_Radio/Home_files/%5Bedit%5D%20radio%209.mp3
One more childhood goal: completed.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
drama drama drama
A quick apology to anyone waiting for their copy of the record: the initial supply of the EP is now officially sold out, but more copies are on the way to the distributor as we speak. It's a shame that your reward for supporting the record is a frustrating delay, but sit tight, if you have an order in place it will be with you before long.
If you've ordered the record online and you're still waiting for it to arrive, forward your order confirmation to me (there's a contact option on benmarwood.com), and i'll get mp3s out to you asap.
See, told you it would be quick.
If you've ordered the record online and you're still waiting for it to arrive, forward your order confirmation to me (there's a contact option on benmarwood.com), and i'll get mp3s out to you asap.
See, told you it would be quick.
Monday, 6 July 2009
hey you!! Let's Wrestle!!
excuse the excalamation marks, i just thought you might like to know i'm supporting Let's Wrestle (suddenly) this Wednesday at the Oakford Social Club. free show, as far as i'm aware, doors 8ish.
they're good friends of Pete and the Pirates, which makes them alright by me.
x
they're good friends of Pete and the Pirates, which makes them alright by me.
x
Thursday, 2 July 2009
free mp3 with the new EP
yeah, yeah, another EP reminder.
Exclamation at Asterisk Hash is out on 13th July, and whilst I pointed everyone last month to Amazon and HMV, I neglected to mention my independent friends at Townsend Records, so here's a revised set of buy links..
Townsend: http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pType=1&pId=6750130
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exclamation-Asterisk-Hash-Jim-Lockey/dp/B002CPD4YK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246486922&sr=8-2
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Exclamation-Asterisk-Hash-Marwood-Lockey/dp/B002CPD4YK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1245281528&sr=1-1
HMV UK: http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1;-1&sku=991054
oh yeah, and if you order it you get a free mp3
yep, i've been hard at work finishing demos for The Future, so i'm offering up a free demo of beard-growing, foot-stomping live favourite 'Singalong' to anyone good enough to pick up a copy of the EP between now and the end of August. this is an exclusive deal - it won't make it to last.fm, nor to myspace so you can steal it with your cheeky browser plugins.
great, how do i get it?
easy. once youve ordered, take a screengrab of your order confirmation or account screen or whatever (uninitiated - you probably have a prt scrn button somewhere on your keyboard, the results of which you can bung into Word or Paint or something), and then ping it over to brokentailrecords@gmail.com with the subject line BEARDS. alternatively, wait til it arrives and take a cheesy picture of yourself with it. see, easy. any questions?
Sunday, 28 June 2009
june
Today is a good day. I could feel it was coming in my bones. My first true day off since the month began (did you notice my silence, blogworld?) comes near its close, and is spent duly doing nothing but watching some football, getting up at a disgraceful hour, putting finishing touches to a demo and, as dusk arrives, going for a run in an ongoing attempt to keep the scales from creaking mercy.
But, you have missed a lot. I've been a whirling dervish of activity, trying to promote the new record to all and sundry, making tireless arrangements for the next record (the curse of the musician forced to work within the strictest and smallest of budgets) and going to Real Life Work. In between I did some gigs, and came to the realisation that this summer's Exclamation! tour may well be the best fun ever. In Swindon, Jim Lockey, Oxygen Thief and I meet together in the same room for the first time - a fact which makes our split record even more remarkable, in my eyes - and all goes well. The crowd are warm and fuzzy, and out for both a good time and a post-set celebration. We sign photos, t-shirts and converse with people; I get offered a job teaching guitar to children and wonder if London can top it.
It can. A couple of days later, Lexapalooza 09 is a sweaty gathering in a dimly-lit goth venue, where hardcore bands mix with acoustic wonderment, all in the name of charity. Barry dares the crowd to be better than Swindon in terms of crowd participation for his cover of 'Gold' and they duly oblige, Jim excels with his collection of persistently catchy numbers ('Morning Wake-Up Call' and 'The Boat Song' a real highlight) and I myself am surrounded by friends and stangers. I meet James Richard Addis, general hero and Frank Turner fan, as well as the mighty Phil Makepeace and 'The Chipper' Chris Chip, and Kev and Jay are in attendance too, and later preside over mine and Barry's illegal wedding in the little Lexapalooza chapel of love, with Jim as best man. I also meet Paul Hawkins of Paul Hawkins and Thee Awkward Silences, who I reviewed back when I wrote for DiS. He looks nothing like I imagined. We get lost on the way to the gig after being overexuberant with our celebration of 80s Phil Collins anthem 'Easy Lover' so I manage to miss a lot of Chris T-T's set, but soon all this is forgotten, and I hope Evan's tireless efforts in putting the show together are worth it. Shattered but happy, we arrive back in Reading after midnight.
And so, given the unexpected highs of both Swindon and London, there was always a risk that perhaps the remaining two dates might struggle to match the heady highs of the first shows in this short stint of appearances designed to drag me into the future and August's Exclamation! tour, a solid string of dates which will either be the sole defining point of my musical life foreverandever or reduce me to a husk of a man. Or both.
And they did. Reading was a mess. No, excuse me, Reading was a fucking mess, a shitstorm of anger to make up for the one that didn't arrive (well, here), the culprit a combination of underage drinkers shrieking loudly to each other at stage left endlessly, some sound issues and a four-act night mixed with the humidity meaning the crowd just werent ready to come in and watch acts with such regularity when they could be outside with a cigarette and a beer. I bite my tongue for six or seven songs, and even though they really are just having fun, I have to dispatch the kids with a sharp ultimatum, though I choose to do it at a point where two people who I have no problem with are leaving the room, and they later find me, enquiring as to what they could have done to incurr such wrath from I. Someone at the back mutters "that was harsh" post-dispatch, and earns another slice of rant pie.
But by now, I'm angry at them and at myself for having reacted, and probably at everyone else for not reacting, and whilst I struggle on things lack the magic that I know Club Velocity can provide. I head out on the town afterwards after Oxygen Thief heads home to Bristol, unaware that I'm expected to do a 50-minute set in Bracknell the next day. The all-day family-friendly festival is very, very warm and relentlessly humid, gagging for a storm which still doesn't (and won't) arrive. It soon becomes clear that angsty-folk is not suited to a happy, sunny family festival, but the crowd are generous with polite applause, and what they lack in enthusiasm they make up for in not being a bunch of drunken idiot children. Acknowledging their friendly-faced patience, I cut the set short on thirty five and spend a couple of hours wandering amongst the children with painted faces and the parents pushing buggies, and at least a few people here have the sense to pick up a copy of the mini-album.
But there's a lesson to be learned in here, despite the troughs. It's always good to catch up with Aubrey Dye and I'm never, ever sad to see Oxygen Thief, plus it was good to finally meet opening act Jemma Willard after a few months of on/off Myspace banter. Similarly, Bracknell led me into the path of some young guy in a Funeral for a Friend shirt, and a foreign pair who were genuinely appreciative. As time goes on and the inevitable thoughts creep in - of how long I can keep spending all my time and money on music whilst my friends get married, buy houses and have kids and whether it is, after all, me and not them who is wasting their lives - these people, and the support of the people who constantly give up their time and money to indulge me in this pursuit, are more important than ever.
And now, in front of the Glastonbury highlights, as Lauren Laverne gets on my nerves again for no reason other than she seems to be the next Jo Whiley, and Jo Whiley herself looks more and more like a hippy-witch-cat-lady with every passing year, I bid you farewell. Roll on July; RIP Michael Jackson.
But, you have missed a lot. I've been a whirling dervish of activity, trying to promote the new record to all and sundry, making tireless arrangements for the next record (the curse of the musician forced to work within the strictest and smallest of budgets) and going to Real Life Work. In between I did some gigs, and came to the realisation that this summer's Exclamation! tour may well be the best fun ever. In Swindon, Jim Lockey, Oxygen Thief and I meet together in the same room for the first time - a fact which makes our split record even more remarkable, in my eyes - and all goes well. The crowd are warm and fuzzy, and out for both a good time and a post-set celebration. We sign photos, t-shirts and converse with people; I get offered a job teaching guitar to children and wonder if London can top it.
It can. A couple of days later, Lexapalooza 09 is a sweaty gathering in a dimly-lit goth venue, where hardcore bands mix with acoustic wonderment, all in the name of charity. Barry dares the crowd to be better than Swindon in terms of crowd participation for his cover of 'Gold' and they duly oblige, Jim excels with his collection of persistently catchy numbers ('Morning Wake-Up Call' and 'The Boat Song' a real highlight) and I myself am surrounded by friends and stangers. I meet James Richard Addis, general hero and Frank Turner fan, as well as the mighty Phil Makepeace and 'The Chipper' Chris Chip, and Kev and Jay are in attendance too, and later preside over mine and Barry's illegal wedding in the little Lexapalooza chapel of love, with Jim as best man. I also meet Paul Hawkins of Paul Hawkins and Thee Awkward Silences, who I reviewed back when I wrote for DiS. He looks nothing like I imagined. We get lost on the way to the gig after being overexuberant with our celebration of 80s Phil Collins anthem 'Easy Lover' so I manage to miss a lot of Chris T-T's set, but soon all this is forgotten, and I hope Evan's tireless efforts in putting the show together are worth it. Shattered but happy, we arrive back in Reading after midnight.
And so, given the unexpected highs of both Swindon and London, there was always a risk that perhaps the remaining two dates might struggle to match the heady highs of the first shows in this short stint of appearances designed to drag me into the future and August's Exclamation! tour, a solid string of dates which will either be the sole defining point of my musical life foreverandever or reduce me to a husk of a man. Or both.
And they did. Reading was a mess. No, excuse me, Reading was a fucking mess, a shitstorm of anger to make up for the one that didn't arrive (well, here), the culprit a combination of underage drinkers shrieking loudly to each other at stage left endlessly, some sound issues and a four-act night mixed with the humidity meaning the crowd just werent ready to come in and watch acts with such regularity when they could be outside with a cigarette and a beer. I bite my tongue for six or seven songs, and even though they really are just having fun, I have to dispatch the kids with a sharp ultimatum, though I choose to do it at a point where two people who I have no problem with are leaving the room, and they later find me, enquiring as to what they could have done to incurr such wrath from I. Someone at the back mutters "that was harsh" post-dispatch, and earns another slice of rant pie.
But by now, I'm angry at them and at myself for having reacted, and probably at everyone else for not reacting, and whilst I struggle on things lack the magic that I know Club Velocity can provide. I head out on the town afterwards after Oxygen Thief heads home to Bristol, unaware that I'm expected to do a 50-minute set in Bracknell the next day. The all-day family-friendly festival is very, very warm and relentlessly humid, gagging for a storm which still doesn't (and won't) arrive. It soon becomes clear that angsty-folk is not suited to a happy, sunny family festival, but the crowd are generous with polite applause, and what they lack in enthusiasm they make up for in not being a bunch of drunken idiot children. Acknowledging their friendly-faced patience, I cut the set short on thirty five and spend a couple of hours wandering amongst the children with painted faces and the parents pushing buggies, and at least a few people here have the sense to pick up a copy of the mini-album.
But there's a lesson to be learned in here, despite the troughs. It's always good to catch up with Aubrey Dye and I'm never, ever sad to see Oxygen Thief, plus it was good to finally meet opening act Jemma Willard after a few months of on/off Myspace banter. Similarly, Bracknell led me into the path of some young guy in a Funeral for a Friend shirt, and a foreign pair who were genuinely appreciative. As time goes on and the inevitable thoughts creep in - of how long I can keep spending all my time and money on music whilst my friends get married, buy houses and have kids and whether it is, after all, me and not them who is wasting their lives - these people, and the support of the people who constantly give up their time and money to indulge me in this pursuit, are more important than ever.
And now, in front of the Glastonbury highlights, as Lauren Laverne gets on my nerves again for no reason other than she seems to be the next Jo Whiley, and Jo Whiley herself looks more and more like a hippy-witch-cat-lady with every passing year, I bid you farewell. Roll on July; RIP Michael Jackson.
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