3/21/2005
And / So / Yeah
So Thursday 10th March we ended up doing an impromptu set @ Brighton's Pav Tav. It was a little quiet from our point of view, and we really weren't in good health, but we did stay on afterwards for the Tavern Club {see - we're not completely anti-social} and had a groove to the likes of Joy Division, New Order and Electric Six! Wicked!
Saturday 19th we played @ The Providence in Brighton. Despite one or two technical glitches {Patrick our 'guest bass person' was using the other band's dodgy amp which decided to start making noises of it's own half way through the set; and their drummer also decided it would be cool to play furniture with his sticks during our set, completely out of time with what we were doing - sorry folks!} I had a really really great time. Really pleased with how it went and the fact that I got completely wrapped up in the music most of the time. Singing jibberish during the soundcheck is a real booster.
I think it's also shown me I need to trust my own sense of judgement a bit more - we didn't need to go down the 'vintage amp' route in the first place. Getting a balance between going with the flow and knowing when to row...
Possibly there may be some photos of the evening?
I understand that people {musicians at least} do still get offended by drum machines and sequencers. In our defence, for a live band it doesn't make life entirely easy because it puts extra pressure on the live instruments to provide dynamics. Yeah, it means we're not a 'proper band' but we're obviously not attempting to be one. Also, the same people who wanted to ban drum machines {The Musician's Union for example} also didn't want real drummers to be recognised as 'real musicians' either. It's worth remembering that once upon a time amplification and electric guitars were considered unprofessional, uncool, and unnatural too.
On another level, a lot of our ideas start with the beat first, because we love drums, and as non-drummers ourselves, it means that we can approach ideas in a way that is less about our own egos and more about the sounds. And because the beat and the sound of each drum is so integral to the track, I don't think it would be fair on a real drummer to demand of them that they play exactly the way we want them to. The drummers that we know {see - they're not all afraid of us!} all have their own styles, and again, we don't want to resort to 'session musicians'... Blah blah...
So back to Saturday. Sorry if I was a bit anti-social before, during or after, I have to set all that junk up myself {not because I don't trust anyone else, it's more that I don't trust anyone else to be horrified when they see that I have everything connected up in a really abnormal way} and it's totally, totally distracting! Right now I can't afford to replace one bit of kit, so everything needs to be present and accounted for at the end of the night as well...
We did a couple of new tunes this time {Come On Behave and AllWords} which were fun to do. The sound guy and the organiser were total pro's {we're still a bit surprised when people let us put pretty much everything through distortion and delay}. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come and see us!
Anyway, it can't have sounded that bad up-front because they're having us back on Friday 1st April. So there. And then.
The Mekano Set
Saturday 19th we played @ The Providence in Brighton. Despite one or two technical glitches {Patrick our 'guest bass person' was using the other band's dodgy amp which decided to start making noises of it's own half way through the set; and their drummer also decided it would be cool to play furniture with his sticks during our set, completely out of time with what we were doing - sorry folks!} I had a really really great time. Really pleased with how it went and the fact that I got completely wrapped up in the music most of the time. Singing jibberish during the soundcheck is a real booster.
I think it's also shown me I need to trust my own sense of judgement a bit more - we didn't need to go down the 'vintage amp' route in the first place. Getting a balance between going with the flow and knowing when to row...
Possibly there may be some photos of the evening?
I understand that people {musicians at least} do still get offended by drum machines and sequencers. In our defence, for a live band it doesn't make life entirely easy because it puts extra pressure on the live instruments to provide dynamics. Yeah, it means we're not a 'proper band' but we're obviously not attempting to be one. Also, the same people who wanted to ban drum machines {The Musician's Union for example} also didn't want real drummers to be recognised as 'real musicians' either. It's worth remembering that once upon a time amplification and electric guitars were considered unprofessional, uncool, and unnatural too.
On another level, a lot of our ideas start with the beat first, because we love drums, and as non-drummers ourselves, it means that we can approach ideas in a way that is less about our own egos and more about the sounds. And because the beat and the sound of each drum is so integral to the track, I don't think it would be fair on a real drummer to demand of them that they play exactly the way we want them to. The drummers that we know {see - they're not all afraid of us!} all have their own styles, and again, we don't want to resort to 'session musicians'... Blah blah...
So back to Saturday. Sorry if I was a bit anti-social before, during or after, I have to set all that junk up myself {not because I don't trust anyone else, it's more that I don't trust anyone else to be horrified when they see that I have everything connected up in a really abnormal way} and it's totally, totally distracting! Right now I can't afford to replace one bit of kit, so everything needs to be present and accounted for at the end of the night as well...
We did a couple of new tunes this time {Come On Behave and AllWords} which were fun to do. The sound guy and the organiser were total pro's {we're still a bit surprised when people let us put pretty much everything through distortion and delay}. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come and see us!
Anyway, it can't have sounded that bad up-front because they're having us back on Friday 1st April. So there. And then.
The Mekano Set
// posted by Milk (The Mekano Set) @ 10:07 AM 
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