Urgh, my voice. Yesterday was Lexapalooza, a wonderful charity all-dayer run by some friends of mine which is worth the suggested donation of £5. I shouted all day, including through my set midway through the day, then I spent all my money, spent everyone else's money, and took the opportunity to take in some of the best small acts the UK has to offer, both loud and quiet, including Mark McCabe, Oxygen Thief in a rare full-band show, Retrospective Soundtrack Players and one of the final gigs of superhero six-piece cock-rockers Justice Force 5, which really did have to be seen to be believed. Thanks to all of you who came, I am truly suffering.
It was lovely to catch up with everyone, which in turn has reminded me a) that my tour this year is going to be a lot of fun, and b) i should really get around to letting you know full details about the tour. So here we go. I'm excited to be heading out on my first headline tour for eighteen months, and finally finally finally get the second album out. I'm delighted (yes, delighted) to be joined on the road by a collective of friends and more-talented musicians and I wanted to include so many of them on the tour that there was no way I could confirm any 'official' tour support. As a result, the line-up is different for every single show (though London supports are tbc as I type this) but every night is guaranteed to be either entertaining or, failing that, totally free.
Hey, you get what you pay for.
BEN MARWOOD BACKS DOWN 2013 all shows 18+ unless specified
MAY
17 LONDON Camden Monarch - free show!
18 READING Rising Sun Arts Centre (w/Oxygen Thief, Jay Newton) - tickets
JUNE
1 LEICESTER Cookie Jar @ Crumblin' Cookie - (14+)
2 BIRMINGHAM Bright House - free early show! curfew 9pm
3 YORK Black Swan (w/Helen Chambers, Jonny Gill) - tickets
4 DUNDEE Cerberus Bar (w/Dave Hughes) - free show
5 EDINBURGH Pivo (w/Dave Hughes, Mark McCabe) - free show
6 MANCHESTER The Bay Horse (w/Helen Chambers, Mark McCabe)
7 CHELTENHAM Frog and Fiddle (w/Oxygen Thief)
8 BRISTOL Louisiana (w/Oxygen Thief) - tickets - (16+)
'Under Lock and Key' is the first single from my new album Back Down, and represents the very first time I've ever made a 'proper' music video.
It was directed by Ben Morse, who is super at making videos, shooting me in the face with cameras and putting up with my shit. As someone with strange hair and messed-up teeth, I wasn't entirely sure how I would look on the internet when I wasn't being filmed drunk and in an empty bath, but I'm happy to report that I.. look like a total murderer.
So, here we go. It's been a long time coming. Today's the day.
Well, 13th May is more like the day, because that's when my second album Back Down is out on Xtra Mile Recordings, followed by a UK headline tour (well, England and Scotland) to celebrate. More details on that to come further down the page.
Album spiel! Recorded over the space of eighteen months, largely in my hometown of Reading, Back Down is for the most part an actual, real studio album, in that the majority of it wasn't recorded on my bedroom floor at 2am with me sobbing at it going "why won't you WORK?!". Instead, the sobbing this time happened in a markedly more well-furnished studio with Matt Bew at the helm. We laughed, we cried, we ate a shit-ton of pizza and then had to wait a while to be able to move again before waddling back in. Thinking back, perhaps this is why the process took eighteen months.
Joining me for some of the tracks were a whole bunch of incredibly-talented and mostly free ne'er-do-wells often from my local scene. I roped in good friends (and sexy hunks of love) Scott Painter and Jay Newton of Quiet Quiet Band and Kurt Hamilton returns from Francis Pugh & the Whisky Singers to bring that pedal steel sound which helped the first album suck so much less. I even roped in my own brother Rick for some ukulele action, and as a result he is moving to Canada to escape the inevitable paparazzi invasion that will follow. Early on I took the decision that no click tracks or metronomes nor other crazy timing wizardry should be involved in this album, and boy, was that a stupid idea when you have up to nine different people playing songs they haven't rehearsed together. Thankfully, it all came together. Will I be doing it this way again? No fucking way. Do I like it in the end? Fuck yes.
Sweary Wednesday.
Many exciting things happened this time around, including actually shooting a video for 'Under Lock and Key'. You can find it along with a sweet piece on the album on Rocksound right here. The video was shot by Mr Ben Morse, he who makes me look sexy in pictures and also made videos for buddies Frank Turner and Retrospective Soundtrack Players. You can read yet more stuff about everything here.
Oh, and before we get to the tracklisting and to the shows, you Londoners have a GREAT opportunity to hear some of these songs if you come along to Lexapalooza at the Boston Arms in London on Easter Sunday. It's an all-dayer for a great cause, the line-up is killer and you can find more information about it here
Those tour dates:
BEN MARWOOD BACKS DOWN more dates to follow inc. London MAY
18 READING Rising Sun Arts Centre
JUNE
1 LEICESTER Cookie Jar @ Crumblin' Cookie
3 YORK The Black Swan
4 DUNDEE Cerberus Bar
5 EDINBURGH Pivo
7 CHELTENHAM Frog and Fiddle
8 BRISTOL Louisiana
Info on supports and tickets to follow. Sadly for those of you who are not yet old enough to legally smoke or drink until you vomit, I expect these shows to all be 18+.
The songs, they are so:
BACK DOWN out 13th May on Xtra Mile Recordings on CD/download
1. For the Skin and the Bone
2. These Are the Days When You Can't Go Home
3. The Soundtrack to the Trailer For Your Miserable Christmas Special
4. Under Lock and Key
5. This Industry Eats Its Young
6. I Promise You That It Will Be Okay
7. An Escape From Yeehaw Junction
8. We Are No Longer Twenty-Five
9. Demons
10. Don't Call It A Comeback
11. Murder She Wrote
12. Lake Wales
The following is taken from the ben marwood mailshot. You can join the party by signing up at benmarwood.com -----
All!
This may be the first mailshot of 2013, but I do feel like it's a little late to still be wishing people a happy new year. Instead, let us celebrate the wonder of February, which has already given us my Mum's birthday and King Richard III being found underneath a Leicestershire car park. He was bound to turn up eventually.
So far this year I've been hard at work doing all the stuff for the new album that I always forget needs doing - working out the design, writing the liner notes, trying to remember who played what where, and other such fun. I'm delighted to announce that I still can't tell you anything about it, and instead this news update was going to consist almost solely of SuperbOwl jokes, until I looked just now on Twitter and they're still being made at a rate of about 100 per hour.
So with a heavy funny bone, here's some real, disappointingly-serious news about two new EPs and some shows, including the return of the world's greatest charity all-dayer, Lexapalooza, on Easter Sunday (31st March). Rejoice! But not too loudly because it's an important religious holiday and not just an international chocolate day.
Two new EPs out today (and a launch show, this Thursday)
Yes, this week sees the release of the first properly-new material since 2011's Outside There's A Curse album, and it arrives in the form of two digital EPs; one called Demons containing just me, and a split EP called Ben Marwood and Quiet Quiet Band Lay Low. I'm sure you can guess the name of the band who appear alongside me on that one.
To celebrate we're having an EP(s) launch party at South Street Arts Centre in Reading on Thursday night, to which you are cordially invited. Some tickets remain, at £5 plus booking fee, and I believe the Quiet Quiets have some CD-R promo copies of the split available from them on the night.
Thursday, February 7th
Double EP launch party @ South Street Arts Centre, Reading
Both Demons and ..Lay Low are available from all decent digital retailers, probably in fancy formats. You can also hear them on Spotify, if that's your thing, or a couple of my efforts are up on my Soundcloud page. Artwork for both was painted by the immensely talented Cat Holt, who did the artwork for Outside There's A Curse too.
Now is probably a good time to also mention that the free Incidents/Accidents EP is still up on Bandcamp for your downloading pleasure.
A Southampton gig is also happening
Saturday, March 9th
Bent Brief, Southampton
w/Rob The Liar & more
free show! 18+
And finally, the return of Lexapalooza - Boston Music Rooms, Easter Sunday, London
Yep, I'm excited about this one. For the uninitiated, Lexapalooza have previously given me the pleasure of playing alongside the likes of Frank Turner, Get Cape, Chris T-T, Jim Lockey, Oxygen Thief, Beans on Toast and many more, all in aid of raising money for Breast Cancer Campaign as well as being a really good excuse to dance, eat cake and enjoy a beer. I haven't played a Lexapalooza in ages, and I'm delighted that it's back.
There's plenty more acts to be announced but currently I'm sharing the stage with Jim Lockey & the Solemn Sun, Oxygen Thief playing a full band show, Retrospective Soundtrack Players and many more. There are no tickets in advance so just turn up on the day. If you'd like to read up on it - and you should - head over here.
So, I think that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and stay warm.
Yep, it's a brand new year and if the Mayan prophets are to be believed it's the year of the new album, presumably a new setlist and also, finally, the year of the first ever Ben Marwood music video. Relunctantly pro.
But more on that another day. We can't do these things (albums, gigs, media) from a standing start or we'll pull a muscle, so to celebrate it being a new year and me having more songs recorded than I know what to do with, this February will see the release of not one, not two, not three.. wait, actually yes two new EPs available digitally, one my very own work and one shared with my friends Quiet Quiet Band, containing my ex-Broken Tail cohorts Jay Newton and Paul Smith.
Both EPs are released through the fantastic Josaka Music label, a couple of people who I'm proud to be associated with. Back in the days of Broken Tail they let us use their digital and physical distribution deal to get our releases onto iTunes, Amazon and into the shops, and I'm happy to be involved with them again.
Here's the info:
---
Release #1: Ben Marwood and Quiet Quiet Band Lay Low
Released 4th February 2013 through Josaka Music
Cat No. TSK12, available digitally through all good stores
Ben songs: Run Home, I Promise You That It Will Be Okay (EP version), A Bedpost Mostly Notches, Come All Ye Unfaithful QQB songs: Homemade Pistol, Fudge, Town & Country, Sutterton Roundabout
I've been hoping this one will come about for a while. QQB are one of my favourite bands, and a breath of fresh air in much the same way Heartwear Process were in 2007/2008, especially in Reading. Three ex-Heartwear members make up half of Quiet Quiet Band, and now they're slowly conquering the South one gig at a time.
Of my songs, 'A Bedpost Mostly Notches' and 'Come All Ye Unfaithful' were considered for the album right up until the last minute, and a version of 'I Promise You That It Will Be Okay' will indeed crop up on the new album. 'Run Home' is played on piano and I got Quiet Quiet's Jay Newton to help me out with that given that I'm as good at playing the piano as I am at playing Von Rothbart in Swan Lake.
The artwork for this record is by Cathy Holt, and is one of the alternative covers from first album Outside There's A Curse.
Release #2: Ben Marwood - Demons (EP)
Also released 4th February 2013 through Josaka Music
Cat No. TSK13, available digitally through all good stores
Tampa International
All Teeth On Skin
Demons (EP version)
You Can Run Away For Money
Daria
Tampa International (demo)
To complement Lay Low, here's an EP I made all by myself. Largely comprised of songs that didn't fit on the album, it features two versions of a song involving my favourite airport, two songs that were written during recording sessions for album #1 ('All Teeth On Skin', 'You Can Run Away For Money'), a cover of one of my favourite Cake songs ('Daria') and a song called 'Demons' which will feature on the forthcoming album and contains a ripping guitar solo from Paul Cardno of Damien A Passmore & the Loveable Fraudsters, Reading's tallest comedy country band.
The artwork for this record is also by Cathy Holt, and is another one of the alternative covers from first album Outside There's A Curse.
---
So, there you have it. More to come tomorrow - I haven't got any new noises to offer you today, so instead here's a video from Beans on Toast.
Honestly, this is the last time i'm going to mention this EP, but the results of it were this:
a) i stopped counting yesterday when it sailed past 400 downloads
b) the money raised has paid for the mastering of the new album
c) the masters are at my house RIGHT NOW
and,
d) after 24 hours, the EP was #5 in the Bandcamp chart (#1 in folk, just pipping Sufjan Stevens)
i screencapped it just for posterity, and because i find it entirely unbelievable.
so, thank you once again. i hope you all have a merry christmas and a fantastic new year, i'll be back in January with some new show announcements, details on the two new EPs and general messing around.
I feel like i've been assaulted viciously with inappropriate generosity and I think someone touched me on the bum. Sure enough, after offering up an EP for free for the first 100 people who could be bothered to stumble across it by Facebook, Twitter or just by chance at 11.08, by 11.45 I hit 101 and extended it to 200, and now at 12.14 I'm paying Bandcamp using the money that you crazy, generous fools sent me to extend it to 5000 because, you know, the interest is ridiculous.
I'm touched, and you're all crazy. What this means is the people who aren't sat in front of their computers at 11am on a Sunday will have the opportunity to leisurely log in after Antiques Roadshow (I don't know why I'm aiming this comment at my Dad - he treats the Internet with suspicion) and still enjoy free stuff at Christmas.
So, here's to listening to free stuff until we're all exhausted and stuffed full of free music until the mere mention of an mp3 blog will cause us all to spew music from our mouths.
