Birds In Flight: At the Joiners

So last night was a trip to The Joiners for the second time for me this week. I left my house with high expectations of the night to come. Although I have herd little of all 3 bands that played last night, before the show, I had herd nothing but good things about the bands from others than have been to see them in the last few weeks. The band that I reviewing today, is Birds In Flight.

Birds In Flight

Second on as The Joiner, were Glenn Hampson's “Birds In Flight”. The band are made up of Glenn Hampson on the drums, Theo McDonald on the Bass, Luke Allen on the guitar and with lead vocals Jess Gibbons (Apologies for any spelling mistakes with the names). All four members of the band are on the course with me at Solent, Jess is in the 3rd year and Glenn, Luke and Theo are all in the second year. Their influences include Incubus, Biffy Clyro, Paramore, Deftones, Chili Peppers. With plenty of stage presence and energy from the whole band, including Glenn, Birds In Flight made sure that everyone in the Joiners knew that they had arrived right from the off, and put on a really powerful performance from start to finish.

Sound

I really liked BIF's sound, I have always been a fan of heavy riffs, and Luke has written some brilliant heavy riffs that have a really interesting modern sounding attack on them which is very exciting to listen to. With these heavier riffs, the sound reminded me a bit of how Incubus sounded when they released S.C.I.E.N.C.E, heavy riffs with a distinct taste of funk underneath. The songs were, for me, engaging because they didn't go where I expected them to go, often, tracks would take a turn in the feel or the dynamics of the song which had a really good impact on the music, and kept us, as the audience, very much on our toes. This is a sign of a good band because in music, you can be excellent musicians, but if you're boring and predictable then nobody is going to buy a ticket to see you play. The group have obviously put a lot of thought into the sound and structure of their songs. Although the tracks didn't do what I expected them to do, they still flowed nicely between sections which is a mark of both good song writing and lots of rehearsal.

The band opened with a couple of really heavy and energetic tracks that immediately caught everyone's attention, before moving on to some more chilled out tracks with some lovely groves. Something else that was really nice to hear was having a female voice over heavy riffs. I have always preferred the heavier stuff myself, and its very rare that I come across a rock band with a female singer and the band doesn't sound exactly like Paramore (as much as I like Paramore). So this was really refreshing to hear and its a sound that works really well for the band. As well as the heavy stuff, the band also had some softer tracks. Unfortunately, I don't know the names for any of these songs so will have to bare with me when I say, I really liked the 3rd track! I did really like the 3rd track they played, for a couple of reasons. The band set a really nice groovy feel, which had a great contrast to their first to tracks which were very hard hitting and full on. The track also had a great pulse with a solid tempo which makes for a really good song to dance to, if your the dancing type. What was also nice about this song was the contrast in Vocals. In the first two tracks, Jess had applied herself well to singing with the energy and aggression of the songs, and this song really brought out another side of her voice and showed that her, and the band are very versatile musicians.

Performance

I could not fault the band on their stage presence last night, all four of them used as much of the stage as they could, particularly Theo, and it was clear to see how much they were enjoying themselves. One of the things that I have always said is that if you don't look convinced by your own music, then how are you ever going to convince anyone else by your music? On the whole, the band were very tight, there were one or two areas where Glenn and Theo needed to be a bit more together, they weren't out of time with each other, but in one or two places they were playing very different rhythms which, for me, didn't quite work. Other than that the band were very accurate and dead tight, particularly on the stops where they all stopped together and started together which sounded very professional. The vocals were very good too throughout the set, it is very difficult to stage in tune when playing live as everything is so loud it can be difficult to hear yourself. One of the highlights for me was when they performed a cover of Lady GaGa's “Bad Romance”. I loved their version of this because they were really imaginative with it, they put a completely different grove and feel onto the track but when the chorus came in with a really big sound that got everyone singing along. Jess also sang this in a more inventive way than the original track and Glenn and Luke sang some good backing vocals that really padded the chorus out nicely. Glenn also put a brilliant drum break in the middle which I absolutely loved, so on the whole it was a great cover and a great performance.

Verdict

Overall, Birds In Flight put on a fantastic performance, all of the band used the stage really well, interacted with the audience well and had some really good and well written songs. Considering they are a young band (only formed in the summer) they were very impressive and I look forward to hearing more of their work as time goes on. If you are a local in Southampton, they are playing at the Talking Heads tonight and I believe they are playing Hamptons on Thursday, though I could be wrong about that, but they are well worth checking out anyway! I would certainly go see them again.

Alice Avenue at The Joiners

its been a while since I last payed money to watch a gig, the last few gigs that I have been at I've either been playing or its been free entry. Tonight I went to see Alice Avenue play at The Joiners Southampton and it was a show well worth the admission fee of £5. Alice Avenue are a 3 piece band made up of Mike Wyatt on guitar and lead vocals, Jordan Easby on the bass and ALex kemp on the drums, all of which are in my year on the Popular music course at Solent. The band were formed over the course of last year and Joiners gig was one of their first "land mark" shows. (Though Im sure it didn't match up to playing The 100 Club last week).



Performance

Now that I've given a little bit of background, lets focus on the performance of the night. For me, it was probably the best show I've seen since I was at Bliss Fields earlier this year. The set was filled with blistering guitar solos, great bass fills and excellent drum beats from Alex, everything was dead tight and rehearsed to perfection, (as it Mike's way). The band also have, I don't want to say chemistry it sounds too weird, but they do have a great understanding between them. A great understanding certainly of music but also a great understanding between the three of them. Jordan and Alex were locked in dead tight, and the groves between the bass and the kick drum were well thought out and accurately played. Mike was great on the guitar, some really good licks as well as some fantastic solos that fitted the music really well, he also sang very well and was a very good front man despite the broken leg! There are few, if any, areas where I could really fault them on performance, so I'm not going to! There is such thing as being too picky!

Music

Alice Avenue has a really individual sound that really appealed to everyone in the room tonight. Their sound is difficult to describe, as is the case with most bands, but if I had to pick a style for them, I'd say that they were a fusion of Blues, Funk and Rock. I'm fairly sure that they would all disagree with me on that as very few bands like to be pigeon-holed into a set genre. One of the things that I most enjoyed about the band is that although each member puts in their own feel and personality into the music, they are very carful about doing it in such a way that it compliments what the other band members are doing. This is very refreshing to see as many band members try to either take over the much with too many licks and fills, or just don't put any personality or extra feel into the music at all. With Alice Avenue, this is not that case. The guitar solos were played in such a way that they added to the music, rather than took away from it, the fills on the drums and the bass were well placed and tasteful. Its great to see young musicians playing music that is well thought out and rehearsed and being enjoyed by the musicians and the band.

Conclusion

All in all, a great performance. Great music, well played, profession, fantastic! If I was going to be very critical then i would suggest that the band could use a few more members, perhaps some keys or brass? However this may take away from the feel that the band already have as a 3 piece, but still worth considering. Even staying as a 3 piece though, more could be added to the sound with the use of some backing vocals from Alex or Jordan. There is some room for some really nice vocal harmonies. But thats just me being very picky. Well done guys, keep it up!

you can access Alice Avenue's Myspace Account here

http://www.myspace.com/aliceavenue

You can't beat experience, in any field

As I may mentioned before, I am now working in a pub round the corner from my house in Southampton. One of the best things about working in a pub is the people you get to meet, of course, that does exclude the ones who have had a few too many pints and hurl glasses at you. But still, when working behind bar you do get to meet some really interesting people. Around two weeks ago, I was working the bar at said pub, and I guys came out to chat to me whilst he smoked. As we got to chatting he told me he worked as an engineer on the railway, after asking what I did, I told him I was a student studying music. It was at this point that he said something very thought provoking, that has been playing on my mind ever since that evening. He said “I don't have any qualifications, I learnt my trade on the job, and now, people hire me on my experience because they know that I have seen it all and I know what I'm doing. You can't beat experience, where ever you go”. That statement has really stuck with me these last few weeks, particularly the last bit “you can't beat experience, where ever you go”.

Before I go any further, I should point out that I am by no means trying to argue that qualifications are redundant! I am thoroughly enjoying my degree and I have learned so much from studying at Solent, I wouldn't be anywhere near the standard that I am at without uni. Qualifications also say a lot about a person, they will tell us how committed somebody is to their field, how hard they work, what they are good at, what areas they are knowledgeable in. However in saying all this, one could also argue that experience of one's field will give them an advantage over somebody with qualifications but little experience. This may not be true for all industries, but it is irrefutably true for the the music industry. I'm not the only one who say's this, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, one of my tutors, Pat, voiced the question “what will you do when you finish your degree? Because you can hardly walk up to The Rolling Stones and say, I have a degree in Popular music, can I be in your band?”. I believe that Pat has hit the nail on the head with that Rolling Stones comment, because that is what the real world is like. As much as my degree will help me improve my playing, and greatly improve my understanding of music and the music industries, it can only prepare me so much, for life in the real music industry. The people who really know what they're talking about are the people already out their doing it, working the sessions, doing the tour, “living the dream” as we budding musicians like to call it. And it is these people, who will get the work, because they have done it before, they will know what to do, and more importantly, the record label/sound engineer/ promoter will know, that they know what to do.

This is not to say, that people on degree courses in music, will not make it in the music industry. Our degree actually gives us a huge advantage in the sense that we are being “trained” for life in the industry. So when we do go out on our own, we will at least know, to a certain extent, what to expect. My point in this article is that, as much as I am going to score as highly as a can, a degree in popular music is going to do me loads of favours in the music industry in terms of qualifications. But what it does do, is prepare me for the really music world, and gives me a broad knowledge of music, and just a little bit of a kick start into my career. Which is why I would recommend further education to anyone, no matter what your field.

Interesting Stuff

Like most students, I started back at university this week, and the first thing that I can say is that it is great to be back and studying music again after 4 months! The second thing I can say however is that I have certainly got my work cut out for me this year. But that's not a bad thing as I love what I do and I love studying music, and I want to get good grades and in order to do that I have to work hard! I'm also paying 3 grand a year to take this course so I would expect it to be quite challenging anyway!

All that aside, what I really wanted to talk about today was something that' has been playing on my mind all week. On Tuesday I had my first proper lecture of the year and was briefed on my new assignment. In this lecture, Pat (my tutor), said something that turned about to be very thought provoking. He said “when you have all finished this degree, how are you going to start your lives in the music industry? Because you can't very well go up to the Rolling Stones and say 'I've got a degree in popular music, can I be in your band?'”. This is a sentence that I have been dwelling on all week, I have of course thought about what I'm going to do once I finish university. For quite a long time I thought I'd spend a year at Drum Tech, an option still open to me. But recently I've been starting to think that maybe I don't want to spend all that money there learning things that I've probably covered whilst doing my degree anyway! The other thing about going to Drum Tech for a year is that it means I'll be in the classroom for another year! Could I maybe learn more about drumming in the music industry by actually going out and doing it for myself?

Teaching

Obviously, the dream is to be a full time session drummer, always in the studio and on the road, I target which is not unreachable but certainly quite high up there! And before I even get close to making it as a full time drummer, I am probably going to have to teach for a few years in order to make a living.
Teaching is something that I have often considered doing. Its not something that I'd want to do full time, but it does bring in consistent money and I do have to make a living. There are also lots of different options available to me in teaching, I could teach privately, I could teach in a school, I could teach adult learning, I could even teach on a B-tec course like the one I took at OCVC. There are plenty of different options and the chances are I will end up doing most of those things at some stage. One idea that I did have was that I'd set up my own teaching business once I've finished uni, teach privately in my home town Bicester. Right now that's just an idea but you never know where things are going to lead.

Journalism

One of the main reasons I started writing this blog was because I would love to one day write for a drumming or music magazine. And when I say music magazine, I mean Magazines such as Rhythm, Drummer, Sound On Sound and so on. Magazines that write about musicians not celebrities. I'm not at all interested in writing for NME or Kerrang where I can write about what ever the Magazine thinks is popular, and I certainly don't want to be dictating to people what they should listen to. I want to write for musicians, I want to write about something that another drummer would be interested in reading, even if they don't agree with me! One of my all time biggest dreams is to write for Rhythm magazine and for people to read my articles about the latest drum kits or interviews with famous drummers, not about their personal life's, but about their drumming techniques, where they learnt to play, what equipment they use and so on and so forth!

The Real Thing

Of Course, there is always the possibility that I get lucky, get behind the right act and work incredibly hard and some how make it as a professional player. Its not entirely unrealistic, it would take a hell of a lot of work, and loads of self believe, but it is doable, it has been done! And there is nothing to stop me writing and teaching as well to keep the money coming in. I have always liked the idea of being on tour with a band as a drummer and tour manager. Often people don't have the money to be able to hire a tour manager on top of a band, and I really feel like I could fit the bill! Part of me would really like the band I'm with at the moment to make it, The Lauren Bannon band. They are all hard working guys with a lot of talent and some decent potential. Lauren has some great songs, I'd really like to record an EP and go on a toilet venue tour next year to kick start the band's career. I would also like to film a music video to put on youtube, just to get our name out there a bit. I'd really like to see Lauren Bannon make it, but there will be so much work to do before that! You never know what will come along.

Hopefully, I will be able to make it as a professional player, but the chances are I will also have to do a combination of teaching, management and journalism as part of my musical career. But I think if I did all those things, I would be very happy!

Unrelated

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to add that I am on a course with some fantastic musicians. Ever week we have a music workshop where everyone has to individually learn a track and then on the workshop day, a band has to go on stage and play it. These sessions are great because we always learn so much from them. But I would just like to mention that this week's track was Pinball Wizard by The Who, not an easy track to learn for the first day back. They guys that went on stage nailed it almost first time which, needless to say, takes a lot of skill. So I would like to say that I work some some very skilled musicians, and I hope its not too cheesy to say that I feel Privileged to do so!

C7's and Bang Tail Feather

Yesterday evening, I was back home in Bicester watching my younger brother's band, The C7's, perform at one of their first big gigs. They were supporting Band Tail Feather who are an already established local Jazz band. The C7's are a quartet consisting of piano (Dan Crook), Bass, Drums and Sax. The band write their own music and, even without considering their age, were absolutely brilliant. And I'm not just saying that because they are my brother's band! The band were dead tight, very imaginative and were very talented as a group and as individuals. Each one of them stood out and every part was essential to the sound, none of it was obsolete. Last night made me think back to when Dan first got the band together and how they very quickly clicked as a group and started writing to killer jazz tracks. Of course, being the older brother, I never mentioned this to Dan, but I found it impossible not to be impressed listening to them practice all those years ago. And to see them live really brought out the talent and hard work that all of them had put into their music.

Material
As Bang Tail Feathers are a cover band, I can't really say very much about their material because they don't write their own. So I'm going to look at The C7's material and what it is about them that makes them so good. Most of the songs they played last night were lead by the piano. I love listening to Dan play because he has a very particular style of playing that I rarely hear anywhere else. It's kind of a mix between blues, jazz and fusion with plenty of swing thrown into the mix. For as long as I can remember, Dan has loved to play the piano and particularly jazz, and he has always loved to swing, even if he's not aware of it almost everything he writes is very heavily swung. This is going to sound odd but that is Dan's personality coming out through his music. To me, Dan's is one of those people who just plays what they feel, what they think is cool. He's never written for a particular audience, he just writes what he feels which is very refreshing.

Performance

So that's where, I think, the inspiration for the music comes from. But what about the rest of the band? The music wouldn't be anywhere near as good with out the bass, drums and fantastic lead lines from the sax. Unfortunately for Lewis (the bass player) the stage was poorly lit, and he was stood in the darkest part of the stage making it quite difficult for us to see him, but that certainly didn't stop us hearing him! He had some really cool bass lines which really filled the gaps between the drums and the piano and laid a great foundation for the Sax. He walked freely around the bass making some really interesting bass lines that suited the songs perfectly. Considering Lewis is a self taught bassist, he had a great understanding of music and dynamics and performed very well.

Gemma, the Sax player, played really well. She had lots of lead lines that worked nicely with what Dan was playing on the piano. Her sax sound was clear and had a really nice tone. Gemma improvised really well and Dan had obviously written his music with lead lines in mind for the Sax. She has an excellent understanding of music and a really good understanding of how their style works.

The C7's regular drummer James, who I happen to know is a really good drummer, was unavailable to play at the show last night. Instead the band had Jesse fill in for them. I've known Jesse for a number of years and he easily one of, if not the best drummer I know and I always learn from listening to him play. I met Jesse whist playing in a youth Jazz band in Oxford and in Kidlington. I always loved listening to him play Jazz because he would put a fantastic grove onto everything we played with lots of exciting and clever fills as well as some really tasty hi-hat work. Last night was no exception to this, Jesse was tight and very musically aware. Considering he said he didn't know the set very well he played beats and groves that suited the music brilliantly. I imagine that James has gone through he songs with him before as he played fairly similar stuff to what I've her James play, but it was none the less a very impressive performance.

Best of Luck

The performance from both bands was fantastic, and nobody should ever underestimate the difficultly of being able to play covers well so I give all credit to Band Tail Feather. However I have never been more proud to be Dan's brother than when I saw him get on that stage and play like he did. I would also encourage him to sing more, as last night was the first time I'd ever really herd him sing and he was fantastic. The C7's as a whole put on a remarkable performance and I genuinely they continue to play together and produce more material. I would also like to add that these guys are all only 16-18 years old, I think we can expect many more great things to come from these musicians.

Gig number 3

So I had my 3rd gig with Lauren Bannon on Monday night, at The Winchester pub in Bournemouth. The night got off to an interesting start, its always interesting when you turn up to a show having been told to only bring your breakables and then the promoter says to you as soon as you're through the door “We need your drum kit on stage asap”! Unfortunately for us, the headlining band had dropped out and we were to replace them as headliners which meant we needed a kit, the promoter had left us a message on Lauren's Facebook, informing us that we needed to bring a kit, but we hadn't checked it. If we had, we might've been able to say that my drum kit lives in Bicester, and there was no way I'd be able to get it there! Luckily, the only drummer playing that evening lived locally, and was able to have somebody drive in his kit, this did of course mean that the gig got off to a late start, and considering it was supposed to start at 9, meant it was going to be very late by the time we played!

Once the gig did get started however, it turned out to be a really good night. First on was an acoustic act, female singer and her guitar player. I wasn't sure of her name but we had played a gig with her before and I recognised her remarkable voice. The first time I herd her sing, it took me a while to get it, she sings in sort of a ballad type way and uses a lot of minor keys and odd guitar tuning. She has a big voice that fills up the room and her lyrics are just a little bit dark, one of the more memorable songs being “Murder Ballad”! But she was very good and I enjoyed her set, the only thing that I would maybe suggest is possibly having more instruments behind her, maybe some strings and a piano? But that''s just my opinion.

The next act on seemed like a bit of a reunion. I was told before turning up to the gig that we were playing for the 10th anniversary of “Solid Air”. I've not herd of them before but that is probably down to me not being local. Solid Air, from what I gather, are a promotions company who run regular gigs in Bournemouth and get plenty of local bands to play for them. The main guy, not sure of his name, was playing with this group and said a few things about Solid Air, there was also a very good birthday cake. The band were pretty good, considering they hadn't performed as a group before, and their music was really enjoyable and brought a great atmosphere into the pub. I really enjoyed their set but by the end of it, I was itching to get on stage.

Our Set

It was about 10 past 11 when we got on, so sadly, the pub and mostly emptied, but there were still about 15 patient people who sat through our set, and to be fair to them, made a fair amount of noise between songs. I felt the set went very well, and certainly the rehearsal time put into it really paid off. Me and Kris were much tighter and put together a much better grove. I still really feel the need to expand the band, and certainly we missed the presence of the bass player! It sounded good to me, Lauren sounded the best I'd ever herd her so that was really good. I still think they we are looking at these as practice gigs, trying to build the band and make it tighter before we start pushing the band as far forward as we can take it. Our next gig is on Saturday, in Bournemouth, not sure exactly where though, but it is during the day. I'm dead excited for that one!

Last Train Home...

So I was listening to Lostprophets earlier today, and I got to thinking about how their drummer, for the “Start Something” album, creates a really good example of brilliant musicianship and creativity for drummers in that album. The three main things that Mike Chiplin (Lost Prophets 1997- 2005) demonstrates are:

Great use of accents and tap strokes

really good use of the high hats to change the feel of the track

expertly performing to a click track

These are all things that are really important in terms of musical drumming. And what I mean by that is drumming that adds to the track, that gives it just a little bit more personality with out over powering the rest of the band. More importantly he executes these things with 100% accuracy, I really want to stress the importance of being accurate with your playing, its no good being able to throw in lots of licks and ghost notes if it throws you and everyone else off the beat. The most important thing is the grove. So I'm going to look at those three things in detail so that I can explain exactly what I mean.

Accents and Tap Strokes

The track that inspired this title for me is Last Train Home (hence the post title). Listening to the drumming in the verse, you can hear the use of tap strokes and accents clearly on the snare drum. Chiplin starts by accenting the off beats before moving the accent around, still using semi-quavers, but playing a syncopated pattern with the accents to change the feel of the grove. Pay attention to how he uses doubles and tap strokes in the verse, they are quiet and controlled which means his accents don't need to be loud, as they sound load anyway in comparison to the tap strokes. My uni teacher said to me once that “ghost notes should be felt rather than herd”. Obviously you can hear ghost notes, but they should be so quiet that it seems more like a feeling than a sound. This is something that is really important to think about when drumming musically. Remember that good control over all your strokes allows you to be as creative as you want with your drumming.

Hi-Hat feel

To really get an idea for how to get a great hi-hat sound and dynamic range, you should listen to Chiplin's drumming on the track “I don't know”. Here he demonstrates how you can use the high hats to sound tight and metronomic and then washy and loud, as well as throwing in lots of great hi-hat licks. So the track opens with a clean, electric guitar, and Chiplin uses an up tempo beat, opening and closing the hi-hats to accent the guitar rhythm. He also throws in some short licks on the closed hats to give a cool and controlled feel. When the verse kicks in, Chiplin then uses a closed hi-hat sound and plays a straight solid beat occasionally opening the hats for fills. This changes the feel for the whole song making it sound crisper and even. Already we have a great demonstration of how to use your hi-hats to instantly change the feel of the song. A simpler example of this in rock would be using closed hi-hats during the verse and then using open hi-hats in the chorus to make that load, washy rock hi-hat sound that we all love. Going back to the Lostprophets track, in the pre-chorus, where the track goes into a half time feel, Chiplin gradually goes from closed hi-hats into open so that by the end of the pre-chorus he has created a great Crescendo to go into the chorus and ride on the crash. This is a great tool for any genre, but it particularly common in rock music.

Click Track

Performing to a click track takes loads of practice, and there isn't really loads of advice I can give you about that other than to keep listening to yourself and make sure that your feet and hands are in sync and dead on the click. After that its just practice practice practice! You should be aiming to get to the point so that when you are playing a grove, you can't even hear the click, that's how in time you are, and then you can start concentrating on pulling in all your licks and fills in time with the click too. On all of the tracks in this album (Start Something) you can clearly hear how tight and accurate everything that Chiplin plays is. This is partly because he will have been given plenty of time to get a perfect take in the studio, but it is also partly due to hard practice, again and again to a click.



Conclusion

Its fair to say that I am a big Lostprohets fan, so I could be a bit biased. But I do really believe in everything that I've written and I have personally learn just from listening to all of their music because they are, as a whole, very clever and talented musicians and they are well worth listening to. They also put on an amazing live show :).

And the Student Life Begins again!

As you can probably guess from the title, I have now moved back to Southampton ready to start my second year on the Popular Music Performance (Hons) degree at Solent University. And I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited to be back. I have moved into a student house along with 5 other guys, which will be interesting in itself! And I have finally unpacked all my things and set up my precious Yamaha DTX in my room ready for silent practising! So all in all I'm pretty settled, and revved up for another full on year in Southampton. I have already said that I am going to try to attend more local gigs while I' m here, and so far have spotted 2 or three that, on the condition I have the money to, would like to attend, Frank Turner and Sum 41 at the Guildhall being the main ones coming up. I am also looking to fit in at least 2 hours of practice a day, which is easily doable at the moment as uni has not yet started, but I am starting a new part time job next week, that, coupled with my lectures, uni work, and (hopefully) a social life may prove to make 2 hours a day a bit of a challenge. I like a challenge! I'm beginning to think that the best course of action is to make a strict schedule for my week, noting in my practice and work time so that then hopefully, I can get everything done and still go out for a quick drink at the end of the day! That may be slightly unrealistic but I'm an optimist!

Gigs

I mentioned last week that I'm now playing drums for Lauren Bannon, and on Monday I have my first rehearsed gig with them. I say my first rehearsed gig because I have already done 2 gigs with them with no rehearsal at all, something that I am not very comfy with! But somehow they seemed to come off quite well. But now we have rehearsed the set to perfection, in one rehearsal, a few weeks ago! Fortunately we are having another practice tomorrow just to run through everything. Me and Kris have slightly different ideas about how a band should practice, I'm the kind of guy that like to practise every inch of the set to absolute perfection and be completely anal about regular rehearsals before I even think about playing a gig, and Kris has the more laid back attitude of “I know the songs, you know the songs, it will all be ok!”. Somehow, when you put the two together I think you get the perfect mix! So on Monday (6th September), we have our first rehearsed gig together, and I'm really hoping that the thought and practice that me and Kris have put in to the drum parts will pay off and it will be a really good show. Its in Bournemouth at a put called the Winchester. I have no idea where that is but if you do, and fancy a good evening of live music (there are other bands playing too) then please come down as the support would be great.

Well that just about raps up summer then!

September is fast approaching, and my second year of Uni will soon begin. I can't wait! As much as I have enjoyed the summer, there has been far too little to do these last few weeks, and I can't to throw myself back into my busy life as a student in Southampton (not sarcasm intended!). I really can't wait to be studying music again, to be playing with the uni bands again and to have new things to practice and to push my playing. One of the things that I love about Southampton is that there is so much going on, there are always gigs and shows going on in plenty of the local venues, and not not band nights. I've been to a fair few open mic nights and comedy nights that have also been really good. I love going to support local acts be it music or comedy and its certainly something that I didn't do enough of last year.

But aside from all that, I have actually had a really nice summer, I've spent a lot of time focusing on the techniques I learnt from Kev, Pete and Pat over the last year. I've spent a lot of time listening to my own playing, and trying to hear what they hear when they listen to me play. Over time I have discovered the importance of listening to tracks, trying to pick out as much as I can about the track, the feel, tempo, style and homing in particularly on the rhythm section, listening to the relationship between the bass and the drums, as that is the foundation of almost any pop/rock track.

Things I've learnt

I'm going to take a moment to think about the last year and the things I've learned, especially in the summer months. The big thing that I have learnt this year, that has completely changed the way I play, is the importance of coordination and control when playing. This mainly applies to the relationship between your hands and your feet, insuring that they are completely in sync or anything that you play is going to sound untidy. This is something that has been pointed out about my playing a number of times by various people and it is often something that I have just brushed off as rubbish. However, this year I actually sat down, and listened to my own playing, and I immediately understood exactly what they were talking about. It was Pete who really explained what was happening, and it was mostly across beat 1 of every bar. My kick was always either slightly before or after my hi-hat on beat one. This is a much bigger problem that it sounds because not only does it mean that I was flaming my playing, (which sounds very untidy) but it also meant that when ever I was playing with a group, the bassist and I were never quite in time, which is a huge problem. Of course, coordination and control doesn't just apply to your feet, you need to be able to have full control over your hands as well ensuring that they keep a steady beat, as the groove is the most crucial part of drumming! I addressed this issues by practising the same beat again and again to a click and really listening to my kick, hearing when it was even just slightly out of time. This really helped me to control my playing properly and has allowed me to be more creative with my playing as I have more control.

Accents and Dynamics

Something else that I have learned this year and have been practising over the last few weeks in the importance of dynamics and accents in drumming. This is what gives your playing personality, accents especially make your playing stand out. Dynamics and accents are what allow drummers to play musically. With good control over your accents, as a drummer, you can create any musical illusion that you want. For example, something that I have learned recently using accents is that you can create a ¾ poly rhythm just by using accents and playing the same rhythm on both hands. You can do this play playing single stroke semi quavers in 4/4 time accenting every 3rd semi quaver. If you accent the beats with your hi-hats you can hear how the accent then gets thrown all over the place, even though you are still only playing 4/4 semi quavers! This sounds really cool and is great when used around the kit. The way I practice my accents is my practising my tap strokes over and over, and then accenting by throwing in gentle down strokes. If your tap strokes are quiet enough, your down strokes should stand out really with out you having to put in any effort. But remember, the quiet notes are the most important, with out them, there is nothing to accent!

Networking

I can not stress the enough just how important networking is. Its does not matter how amazing you are at playing, if nobody knows it your not going to go anywhere! It is crucial for professional musicians to promote themselves as much as possible. This will probably mean, as I have discovered, doing plenty of unpaid favours for people, like recording the drums for their uni project. Although you don't get paid for these kind of jobs, they are really good to do because it build your experience and knowledge up, and believe it or not, people remember you if you turn up on time, do a good job, work hard and be easy to get on with. Its by doing those kind of things that you start to build up a network and a reputation. The more people you know, and more significantly, the more people that know you, the more likely you are to get work.

My Plans for the New Academic Year

So in this new academic year, I plan to make the most of the time I have as a student, I have now got a part time job in a local pub so I can save up some money so that should take up a lot of my weekend. I'm going to get back into my routine of practising 2 hours a day and I'm going to do my best to get involved with every musical project that I can. I am also going to get into the habit of going to more local gigs and seeing more local talent, as well as making far more time for my lovely and very tolerant girlfriend! If I can, I'll be writing in my blog twice a week and I'll be desperately trying to keep up with our ever changing music scene, both locally and nationally (I'm not ready for globally yet). Hope you enjoy reading about my crazy adventures to come!

My New Project

I've titled this entry as “My New Project”, but this isn't really my project, and although it is new for me, the group have been together for over a year. However, the project is new to me and I'm quite excited about it, its a project that will need a lot of work and it will need to be pushed hard but its a project that I think has potential.

So what is this new project? Well before I explain what the project is, It is important that I explain how I got involved in it. The reason for this is that for as long as I have been studying music and the music industry, everyone as always said to me that networking is the most important thing which is something that kind of went over my head a bit, I thought that really when put into practice the only thing that matters is that you are the good at what you do. Boy was I wrong about that! Of course it is important that when you are asked to do a job that you do it right and play to your best, but I have discovered that you are far more likely to get work in the music industry if you are hardworking, committed and if you take advantage of every opportunity.

About 8 months ago, I received an email from my course leader (an email that everybody got). The email was forwarded from a 3rd year student on the record production course asking if their were any drummers available to lay down some drum tracks for his project. I replied as soon as I got the email, very eager for some recording experience. Although (in my opinion) I didn't play that well on the recording the guy seemed pleased with it. One of the guys recording me was Steve, another 3rd year. I got on well with Steve and he seemed to think I wasn't a bad drummer. After the session I didn't see Steve at all, until I went to do unpaid work experience at Bliss Fields. Steve was the stage manager on the stage I was working on so we spent the weekend back stage loading and unloading the stage. It was there that Steve told me he needed a drummer for a one off gig in Bournemouth the following weekend. So I took the gig, there was no rehearsal, I was just given a CD and told that I needed to learn the set from it. After listening to the CD I felt that the music had great potential, the gig went a lot better than expected and I was asked to stay on as a permanent drummer. The reason I am telling this long winded story is that I think it is important to take every opportunity presented to you, regardless of how trivial it may seem.

The Project

So I am now working for a singer/songwriter Lauren Bannon, she is signed to Midtone Records. But most of my work is with her boyfriend and guitarist Kristian Pearce, as he is the main song writer and I rehearse with him. Its hard to describe the style of music that they play, it is not typical singer/songwriter style, there are some elements of indie rock, blues and swing in their music. Lauren has quite a deep voice with a really full and round tone which works really well with Kris's guitar playing. As they haven't had a drummer before, I have had to write my own drum parts for them. I try my best to write to the song, but I have to remember that it is their music, not mine, I'm just trying to add to their sound. Often, Kris will tell me to change things if its not quite how he wanted it to sound, this does mean that we have to have a good working relationship because I am there to add to his music, and if he wants it different then I have to respect that.

We've had two gigs so far and we've got our next one on the 6th September, so ill write about how that goes! Im not sure what will happen with this group, I'm hoping that it will go somewhere good and I'll get plenty of work. Although its not down to me in slightest, I would like to re-record the EP, with a bigger band, I would add another guitar, I would like Sander (the bassist) to play electric bass on some tracks, and double bass on others to give variety, I would also like to add a keyboard player to pad the sound out a bit. A string player would sound great too, on the EP on the myspace there is a cello on most of the tracks, unfortunately he left the group, but the cello sounds really good. You can check out Lauren Bannon at www.myspace.com/laurenbannon, none of the records on here have me on them as I joined the group after the recordings were done. If you see her playing at a venue near you I would encourage you to show, would be worth your while! Ill give more up dates as things progress!

Brotherhood of drummers

After spending a week at Drumtech (which I will talk about another day) I have been thinking a lot about the sense of community that I get when Im with or around other drummers. And I feel that this is not just common interest, there is something about the way that drummers are with each other that is different from any other musicians. I have noticed over the years that as soon as somebody tells me that they're a drummer, there is an instant connection and the conversation quickly flows between everything from favourite drummers and artists right through to comparing stick grips and snare drum heads. And this is one of my favourite things about being a drummer because it makes me feel almost like I belong to a big family that stretches across the globe! And I'd like to think that all drummers feel the same. So I think it is important to look at why drummers have such a community, what is it about drummers that makes us different.

Comradeship

Comradeship is a very strong word, but I genuinely feel that this applies to drummers. Comradeship certainly applies to musicians that have been playing as part of a group or a band for many years, and have built up an understanding, but with drummers there is comradeship there without even knowing each other directly. In order to illustrate what I mean, Im going to use Buddy Rich as an example. There are next to no drummers who will not have herd of Buddy Rich, and he has influenced almost every drummer in some way. This is not uncommon, there will be few guitarists who won't have herd of Steve Vai or Jimmy Page. What I think is different about the way people look at Buddy Rich is that he is far more of a role model for so many people. He was always encouraging towards young drummers and he really brought drumming to life for so many people. The Comradeship that I have been talking about comes in when I look at the memorial show that was put on for Rich after his death and the drummers that featured on it, Neil Peart, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Gregg Bissonette the list goes on. They all put on incredible performances along with the Buddy Rich band, but it wasn't just the amazing performances, it was something that Bissonette said that really struck me, “It is a great honour to be able to be here to pay tribute to the greatest influence for me, Buddy Rich”. That statement really highlights what I'm trying to say, all of these great players are putting on brilliant performances, and playing their hearts out to pay tribute to a man that was a huge influence for all of them. And I get a slight feeling of loss with all of these players, they all shared some kind of a connection with Rich, even if what just that of listening to him and being inspired. There was a sense of loss with all of them and that is what I mean by comradeship, all of them turned up to show their respect to someone that was not at all related to them, but because they all share something in drums, that someone becomes family.

Sharing

Something else that I love about drummers is that we love to share. Im not talking equipment, as very few of us are prepared to lend out our precious cymbals and snare drums, but I'm talking about playing techniques and styles, ideas about tuning and drum sound, techniques for the stage and the studio, anything excuse for drummers to talk and share their ideas they will take it. This is something that I feel is fairly exclusive to drummers, that may be because I've not researched enough about other instrumentalists but I do know an awful lot of guitarists, bassists and singers, and the connection isn't quite the same. So many times I've had other drummers come up to me and ask about my snare drum sound and I've explained about how I tune it, what head I use and what the drum is made of. And there have been plenty more times when I have seen somebody do something that I've not seen before, maybe a certain lick, or fill that I have not herd before and I've had them explain it to me. And more often than not drummers are eager to share these sorts of things.

The best example I can think of drummers sharing is Drum Clinics. This is something that seems to happen all the time, I am forever seeing drummers going on tour with clinics, far more than I see guitarists or bassists doing clinic tours, again, this may be because I am neither. But when I see Steve Gadd do a clinic tour, it sells out everywhere because drummers know that he is great and will travel to hear him play, to take advice to ask questions and to be around other drummers. That is something that I really don't see as much with other musicians.

Influence

In Gregg Bissonette's DVD, he uses the phase “one of my favourite drummers” about 400 times! Each time about a different drummer. I feel like this is significant because pretty much everyone has their favourite players and they always love to talk about why they like them so much. For example, one of my favourite drummers has always been David Silveria. Partly because I am a big Korn fan, but mostly because I love listening to his solid funk grooves played on a deep, clinical sounding rock kit, that worked perfectly underneath Korn's funk metal sound. And listening to Siveria play makes me feel like I know him a little bit, just from knowing his sound and style. And I think that that is something that all drummers feel about their favourite drummers. This again adds to the comradeship and brotherhood of being a drummer.

Conclusion

It is important to think about other drummers, and to take advice and influence from them. It is also important to share you ideas with other people, so that they can try them out for themselves and learn themselves. I love that I feel like apart of a family when I'm around other drummers, that makes such a difference to me and makes me love the face that I am a drummer and that I can feel a part of something like that. It is my hope that anybody reading this, that may not have looked at drumming like that, might start to see what I am talking about when they are around other musicians and particularly drummers, because music is such a sharing thing, and should always be kept that way. Don't keep anything to yourself!

Bliss Fields

Many weekends ago, I did some unpaid work experience as a stage hand and Bliss Fields Festival 2010. Bliss Fields is a very young festival and also a very small one, I'd certainly never herd of it before I was given the opportunity to work there, but never the less, I jumped at the chance for some experience for any experience in the live music industry. And this turned out to be a well worth while decision as I will go on to explain later in this article.

Atmosphere

If I am completely honest, I went to this festival with low expectations. I was going by myself, none of my friends or family had ever herd of this festival, and I was beginning to wonder if this wasn't going to be a bunch of country acts, playing under a small gazebo, in somebodies back garden!. OK that was a bit a bit of an exaggeration but I was very pleasantly surprised by the festival. There was a wide range of performers and styles with some incredible talent and the commitment to the music was clear from every one of them. The atmosphere at Bliss Fields was relaxed and cheerful, everyone was just there to chill and listen to music, everyone was supportive of every band on the second stage as well as on the main. Having a capacity of only 1,200 meant that the whole site was had more breathing space, less people running between stages, less adverts and less queuing for the toilet. This actually makes a big difference when you compare it to bigger festivals, where you have to fight to find room for your tent, there are adverts and flyers thrown in your face everywhere you go and there are thousands of people everywhere you turn. A lot of people would argue that this gives the bigger festivals their atmosphere but it is so much nicer to go to a smaller festival where you can just listen to the music without having all the sponsor ship and brand names pasted all over the place.

Music

Bliss Fields gave a huge variety of music from heavy metal to acoustic folk right through to instrumental alternative rock. Because I was working on the second stage, I didn't really hear many of the acts from the main stage but the acts on the second stage were fantastic. Headlining the Friday night was Beans On Toast. Beans on Toast is one man, his guitar and his impressive backing band. BOT' filled the tent when he came on, and his set was filled with witty lyrics, upbeat, country songs and plenty on banter with the audience. Instantly BOT engages the audience with his light hearted, slightly tipsy spirit and quickly puts everyone in a good mood. These are the kind of acts that are great to see live, its so easy to relax and enjoy the music along with everyone else, even if you don't know the songs. I would certainly pay to see Beans On Toast again.

On the Saturday, the second stage tent was completely packed with a great atmosphere, which was surprising considering Stereo MC's were headlining the main stage. Giving the task of competing with Stereo MC's on the second stage was the 4 piece group Polly and the Billets Doux. The group already have a large following which was clear by the way they packed out the second stage despite the major act of the weekend being on the main stage. The band have got some great upbeat songs with a country/blues feel and really know how to get a room moving. The drummer in particular was really impressive (although that may just be because I am a drummer myself).

Subsource are a band that I have to mention. Working back stage, we weren't quite sure what to expect with this group. Like many other bands had done, Subsource had sent us details of everything they needed in order to play their set. We knew we were going to have our work cut out with this group, purely from the amount of equipment they needed to use, not to mention the bottle of rum that we didn't have! When they arrived however, we could see how professional they were, they we quick to load in and move equipment onto the stage, and no complains about the lack of rum! Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties that I couldn't even begin to explain or understand it took 45minutes for Subsource to get all of their equipment set up and running. But once they finally did get running, we could see why it was worth the wait. The band are a live dance act with actual musicians rather than laptops and create an incredible atmosphere. Their set was filled with fast, electrical groves and plenty of energy from start to finish. The only thing that would've improved their set would be if it had been later on in the day and they could've had a light show to go with their music. But overall they were incredibly tight and the atmosphere in the tent for their set was amazing.

Some of the other top acts of the weekend included ska punk act Dub Pistols, Six Nation State, 2 piece rockers Science of 8 Limbs and Turbowolf. I would also like to make special mention of Headstone Down. These guys were really nice to us and really easy to work with, they are an up and coming metal band with plenty of promise and I hope to see them again and I would like to see them do well. They had a brilliant crowd considering the festival seemed to mostly consist of hippy's and folk lovers, they were tight and energetic and put on a great show. A fantastic way to open the second stage up.

Conclusion

Bliss Fields was a great experience for me, I met lots of great people and saw some brilliant acts. I would recommend it to any music lovers, though if you prefer more mainstream acts then you would be better off going to Reading or Glastonbury. But for a small festival, Bliss Fields offers a cheerful and relaxing experience with a huge variety of underground music to go with it.



picture- Headstone Down along with the second stage, stage crew

World Cup Kick Off Concert

I'm pretty sure that more of you who watched it last night will agree that the World Cup Kick Off Concert was fantastic, and i can not think of a better way to start what is possibly the biggest competition in the world. Those of you who watched the whole program will have seen the FIFA president say "football is not only a game, football is connecting people" which I think is very true. This can be said about all sports of course, everybody loves to get involved with sport, whether its football, athletics, cricket, tennis the list is endless, and they all bring people together. But the world cup is something different altogether. The world cup brings everyone together, every country wants to be involved, people travel for thousands of miles to support their country and the atmosphere around a world cup is like nothing else. And that was so clear in the concert last night, with the people of Africa celebrating the world cup finally coming their way, the pride and excitement was clear to see on everyones face. I also loved the variety of acts that the concert had, and the incredible musicianship that every act showed. Everybody put on an excellent performance, and I'll say something else, it was really refreshing to watch a show where all the acts actually had backing bands, who were really playing. The amount of hard work and rehearsal that everyone had put in was obvious and made for a great performance from everyone.

Atmosphere

I have already mentioned about how the World Cup in itself brings with it an incredible atmosphere. But in all the gigs, concerts and festivals I have watched and been to in my life, I have never seen so many people jumping and dancing so jubilantly. Africa really know how to celebrate like nobody else is the world. The vibe that I got from, unfortunately, watching on my sofa at home, is that this is one of the most exciting things to happen if Africa's history. Now I now that Africa has a huge history, and many incredible things have happened there over hundreds of years, but last night, I don't think that any of that was on anyone's mind. All that anyone was thinking about was that people were coming to their country, from all over the world, to watch the greatest players in the world compete for the biggest trophy in football. And that was the feeling that was driving everybody last night.

Performance

Every act was amazing, but the top performers for me were Angelique Kidjo, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and K'Naan. Its easy to say that everyone put on a great performance, because they really did. And i find it almost impossible to chose my favourite acts from the night because they all stood out in their own way. So I'm going to highlight a few of the acts which I really liked. Angelique Kidjo really stuck out to me, I've not listened to her before, but she has a really amazing voice, powerful and deep. The music that she plays makes it very hard not to smile, its up tempo, with plenty of percussion high in the mix which always puts a fun vibe on the sound and gets everyone moving. The backing band, particularly the brass in hers and John Legend's cover of "Move On Up", which was a highlight for me. I also was surprised and myself when I found that I was really enjoying the Black Eyed Peas set, a group which I haven't warmed to before. I found myself getting into their music as they were playing, I think this was mostly down to the fact that it was a real live performance with really musicians playing, not just them singing to a backing track. They really had a way of building the atmosphere all around the stadium and did very well.

There were also plenty of more traditional, African pop acts who I thought were excellent, none of which I have herd of before which made me feel very ignorant but acts which I really liked. The rhythm sections for these groups were just incredible, and the focus, for me, was more on the congas and percussing players than it was on the kit players because they really were incredible.

Another one of my top acts from the night was Juanes, a latin American player who is second in record sales to Shakira. I really liked this guy, his music had a really nice layed back feel and the band were really tight. This is the kind of music I would love to spend my life playing. You can clearly see that his band are his regular band, and have put in alot of time and effort into their performance. And to do that for a living would be my dream come true!

The whole thing was also very well organised and the stage crew were great. The sound was perfect, you could hear exactly what everyone was doing and the mix was perfect. Of course, this could just be because I was watching it on telly, the sound at the concert might not have been so good, but I like to think that it was! The on stage sound must have been good to as every band was very tight and therefore, could hear them selfs and each other properly.

Conclusion

For me, this was everything that a major concert should be. Real players, putting on a great performances, and the whole show had so much diversity and variety. They had acts that come from traditional african roots right through to major pop and rock starts and everyone got an incredible welcome. It was clear that everybody enjoyed performing and that the amazing atmosphere was felt by everyone in the stadium. And that is how every concert should be.

Drumming techniques- Singles

Those of you that have been reading my blog will have been getting used to me posting band reviews, and not really talking very much about drumming! well I am going to continue to write band reviews, but i feel i should also write about some of the things that I have learnt whilst playing drums, not to appoint myself as some kind of drummer guru! But maybe to share some points on playing that some people of a similar standard of playing may find helpful. Most of this is stuff that I have been taught by drum teachers before so it probably won't be new to anyone! I am going to try to make a "Drumming Techniques" post about once a week, and comments from drummers of all abilities are welcome, whether you find what I write helpful or maybe you'd like to correct me on something you don't quite agree with. Feedback is always gratefully received!.

Singles

So this week I'm going to start by looking at singles, mainly in fills. Singles are great to play around with because the movement is very natural (RLRL). I've had a lot of fun, and a lot of free time, messing around with singles and experimenting with quavers, semi quavers and sextuplets.

The first excise is really basic, but very nice in fills. A 4/4 bar of semi quavers. This exercise is good for practicing consistence and timing. Its a good idea to practice this in front of a mirror so that you can watch your hands and make sure that the sticks are hitting the drum from an equal hight to get a really nice consistent sound.



Around the Kit

This next exercise is more like a written fill. All that I have done is taken the semi quaver exercise above and moved the sticking around the kit. I've put the notes in a order that I know sounds good as an example, but you can do this is any order you like and put accents anywhere you like and it will sound good. This particular sequence has the beat accented by the snare drum witch works nicely. The best thing to do is to keep going around the kit with these semi-quavers in any order that you like and find some sequences that sound good for you.



I have also been trying out some mixes between semi quavers and quavers and found some sounds that worked well. To start I tried playing four quavers followed by eight semi-quavers on the snare drum, which is something worth practicing to a click track to improve accuracy with your strokes. I then I tested this technique around the kit. Here is some notation of a sequence that worked really well for me, and the basic snare exercise.





Lastly, I've also made some great sounding fills using semi-quavers and sextuplets. These two rudiments work really nice together, again, probably not news to most experienced drummers but it is something that is loads of fun to experiment with. Because of the notation program i use, I had to write the '6' in myself so it doesn't look that neat but its readable! the exercise starts with 8 semi quavers, before a set of sextuplets on beat 3 and then just a crotchet hit on beat 4. So here is the exercise just on the snare drum.



This is the exercise around the kit in a sequence that I actually thought of in the shower! Having tried it out on the kit i found that it sounds good, it gives the fill that quick, but tight feel, especially with the last accent being on the snare drum. It is important to get the RLRL sticking right on this exercise, and to start by practicing it slowly to get it tight before slowly increasing the tempo. This is another exercise that is really good to practice to a click track. If this fill is messing it will sound awful, but with practice and accuracy it sounds really good.



So go and have fun with these sequences! This is the first time I have ever written anything like this, so any feedback would be great. I'm always looking to improve my writing.

Inme- A lot has Changed over the years

The UK based band Inme, lead by front man Dave McPherson, have been a band that i have listened to again and again over the last 6 years or so. Having said that, I've have only today realized that I am a little bit behind the time as, with out me noticing, they have released a new album and they appear to have gone from a 3 piece act to a 4 piece and then back again to 3 piece in the time that i haven't been paying attention! Most people reading this will be thinking that this is old news, as their latest album "Herald Moth" was released in September 2009 and I'm sure that the line up changes was no secret to anyone that has been following the band. The band also has a significance to me personally, as they were the first major band i went to see live. I saw them when i was 14/15 in Oxford at, what was then known as, The Zodiac. So I am not going to talk loads about the new album as I have only heard a few tracks off of it, instead I am going to talk about the 3 albums that I do have (Overgrown Eden, White Butterfly, Daydream Anonymous) and how their sound has changed across those three albums.

The Sound- Overgrown Eden

Inme are quite a diverse rock rock band, and they certainly have a sound that is very distinguishable as Inme. But even between albums you can hear how the band are still trying to change and evolve their sound to greater horizons. Overgrown Eden was Inme's first album, and my personal favourite. I have always loved the dirty, unpolished sound that is used in the tracks on this album. After releasing this album, Inme were labeled by some as 'emo', and they might well have a reasonable case when you listen closely to McPherson's lyrics, particularly in tracks such as "Wounds" and "Her Mask" where lyrics like "i am bleeding eternally for you" probably didn't go down well with the critics. But i think that the music far and away makes up for any dramatic lyrics. The riffs in this album are so hard hitting that it would be hard to argue with them. Listening to "Mosaic" the high tempo riff coupled with the dirty and raw distorted guitar give the track a very violent and aggressive feel, which is a sound that is uncommon in most emo songs. It could just be me, but i think that it some of the tracks there could be an element of sexuality in the lyrics, certainly the name "Inme" suggests it. I won't quote, but listening to the lyrics of "Natural" and "Underdose" you could argue that there is a strong element of sexuality in there. But i suppose that is open to interpretation! In my opinion this album is excellent and very different from anything else that was coming out at the time. It is well worth listening to.

White Butterfly

If I'm honest, the first time i listened to this album I was disappointed. This album has more of a pop-rock feel to it. I think that maybe the band were trying to go in a more commercial direction, I'm not too sure, but when I first listened to it I really missed the raw sound that Overgrown Eden had. However, as I listen to the album again, and get used to the sound. I find myself liking it for what it is, and not comparing it to what they have released before. It is still easily definable as Inme, McPherson's voice is almost unmistakable, but the sound, and the riffs have a very different feel. This is not necessarily a bad thing as many bands with try to change their sound between albums, either to avoid becoming repetitive or because the record company wants to take the band in a new direction. The guitar has a cleaner, edgier sound to it, which works really well in tracks like "7 Weeks" which opens with the main guitar riff. The guitar sound works well in this track because it is sharp and fast, which immediately sets an energetic feel to the track. This album also has a few tracks on it that a slightly more commercial. The best example of this would be the single "So You Know" which has a very pop-rocky and commercial sounding chorus. I actually really like the drum sound for this song, it sounds like it was recording to a click so its very tight and drum have a really nice, controlled rock sound to them which works really well on the track and across the album. There are also much more use of vocal harmonies in this album which is a really nice touch, again very pop-rocky, but noe the less it sounds realy good. So listening to it in context, it could easily be said that this album is an improvement on the first, I personally still prefer Overgrown Eden, but thats just my personal taste. White Garden is a great second album so if you are a fan of the band it is worth getting.

Daydream Anonymous

I can remember buying this album a few years ago when it first came out, and being very quickly hooked on it. Again, like the first to albums, "Daydream Anonymous" is easily recognizable as Inme, but having its own qualities and personality. The very first thing I remember thinking when I first listened to this album is that it is a very polished album. Unlike "Overgrown Eden", every not on the guitar is clear and cutting so that the listener can hear exactly what is going on. Tracks like "In Loving Memory" and "Myths and Photographs" both have really nice guitar riffs that use complicated fingering patterns so it is really important that the guitar is clear so that the listener can appreciate the track. I really like this album because, to me, it sounds exactly how modern rock bands should like. There are some really good guitar riffs which build up to some nice chorus's which have been well layered to give the track a heavy, rock feeling chorus. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into the writing, recording and production of this album. The guitar sounds, bass sounds and drum sounds have all been carefully recorded and then polished to perfection making a really nice sounding rock album. I think that even if you were not a fan of the band, you could still respect the craftsmanship and effort that has gone in to making this album. It is well worth listening to.

Herald Moth

I am not going to write much about this album, as i have not yet brought it and only herd a few track off of it. The impression I get is that the band are trying to go in a different direction again. From what I have herd it sounds like a really good album and well worth buying, its next on my list of things to do! When i do get around to buying it, ill post a proper review of it and try to do it full justice!

Thank you all for reading, if you are already a fan of the band and agree/disagree with anything I'm saying, or wish to correct me, then please leave a comment. If you haven't listening to the group before then I would recommend buying any of these albums. I am going to leave you with a relatively recent single of theirs, "I Won't Let Go".

Cheers

Yamaha DTXplorer

I thought i would take a break from writing about bands, and briefly write about a product for a change. I am aware that most of you reading this will be wondering why i am writing about the DTXplorer as it is, as electronic kits go, cheap and unsophisticated. And you are right to think that. Most of the electronic kits that have been released even in the last 10 years are more advanced, so why review this old and out dated model? Well its mostly because... thats the one that i have! But there is more to be said about the Xplorer that you would first imagine. Im going to be honest, the reason i bought it was because a friend of mine had one, i decided to have a shop around and quickly discovered that the Xplorer was going to be the best i could afford. But it turned out to be a much better investment that i thought.



Set Up

To start, lets look at the set up of the Kit. It is basic at best, a small computer attached to one of the arms that controls the mix, sounds and has all the inputs for the triggers, five identical pads to represent the snare, toms and hi-hats. There is nothing very much out of the ordinary there except that the pad for the hi-hats is the same shape as the other bands, most of the new kits have different designs for the hi-hat pads to make it more distinguishable from the other pads, and to give it s more realistic feel. However, this does not really matter in terms of practicalities, its just a nice feature to have. The kit only comes with two cymbal pads, (Ride and Crash). The cymbal pads are as basic as the rest of the kit, hard and triangular, but they do the job. Also included is the bass drum pad (with a stand and kick pedal) and a hi-hats pedal. The kick pad is great for using a single pedal, but struggles when i double kick pedal is attached, i doubt that is was designed for double kick use but i practice with it anyway!. The hi-hat pedal has a very light feel, it doesn't feel like a really hi-hat pedal as there is little resistance or control of how you want to the hats to sound. Its pretty much just open or close, with a small about of give in-between. The whole kit is held together by what is essentially, light, plastic scaffolding. Alot of what I've said there does sound very negative. But it isnt, the kit is what you pay for. This is not an expensive kit, so by not paying much you get a basic package, but it does do the job required!

Sound

Now I think that we should address the triggered sounds that come with this kit. The computer comes with 32 different pre-programed kits, as well as space to set your own kit sounds up (something witch i haven't got around to messing around with yet). Alot of these are just for fun and are not really practical, but the sounds for the acoustic drum kits are actually pretty good. It is obviously that the sounds for these were recorded from a real drum kit in a studio, although these are not the kind of sounds I look for when going to play a gig, but for practicing this is exactly what you need. The sounds on this kit give you a realistic idea of what your playing would sound like on an acoustic kit with out reaching the volumes of an acoustic kit. This is something that is very useful, as any drummer will tell you, because as much as everyone loves playing on a real kit, it can become difficult to hear yourself, and to fine tune your playing so that everything is tight and accurate. The DTXplorer allows you to do this.

Feel

For most drummers, including myself, this is the most important thing when looking at an electronic drum kit. It just isn't the same unless you feel like you're playing a real kit. Unfortunately, you are not playing a real kit when one the Xplorer, and it is very noticeable that you aren't. The bands are firm, and offer some bounce but not loads, the cymbal bands hardly move when you hit them and certainly don't give you the satisfying feeling of smashing a live crash cymbal, and the hi-hat pedal squeaks!

But despite all this, The Xplorer was a brilliant buy. It is great for practice, using my explorer and can practice to click tracks, and use the groove check to see that I'm in time, and sort it out if im not. It takes up little space and folds down so even in my small uni room there is plenty of space for it. I can play at anytime (with in reason) because the pads are not too loud and I can plug my headphones in. The clear and controlled sounds that the triggers give allows me to clearly hear my playing so that i can tighten up my hands and feet and lock in with the groove and click track. The aux-in means that I can plag my ipod/laptop in and set the mix so that I can play along to tracks and hear myself and the track.

Budget

Most drummers reading this will argue that most electric kits can do all this and much more. Most new electronic kits do have mesh heads on now witch give a much more authentic feel, i know, ive tried them. But what i will argue to that is that they are expensive, and that the Xplorer is considerably cheaper. I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. I myself have a lovely acoustic kit that i saved up for which, to me anyway, sounds beautiful and fantastic. I uses it for recordings, gigs and rehearsal. So for me, spading loads of money on a really fancy, real feel kit with all the bells and whistles on it sounds like a waste of money. But that is not the same for everyone and it depends on you're situation and what it is you want out of the kit, it may well not just be for practice.

Bottom line

I have been playing drums for a few years now. And i need something to practice on for hours during the day, and in my house, at home and in my room at uni. My acoustic kit is only available when convenient for everyone else. So the Xplorer serves its purpose for practice only, and it is great for that. However if you need an electric kit for a band, gigs or recording then look else where.

Riverside

I've spent about a week working out what I should write in this post, I've wanted to write about this band for a long time, so hopefully I do them justice! Any comments on my writing or on your own opinion on the band are welcome!

Riverside
Similar Bands include Porcupine Tree, Wolverine, Spoke's Beard


Formed in 2001 by Piotr Kozieradzki and Piotr Grudziński, Riverside are a polish, progressive band who have released 3 successful albums and have made a great impression on the progressive rock scene. However, although they have clearly made a big impact on most of Europe, I have seen very little of them over here is the UK. So I've decided to write a little bit about them in the hope of promoting them over here a little bit.

History (Referenced from Official website, http://www.riverside.art.pl/en/biography)

Riverside currently consist of Mariuzs Duda- Bass, Vocal, Piotr Grudzinski- Guitar, Piotr Kozieradzki- Drums, Michal Lapaj- Keyboards. Riverside released a self titled EP in March 202, the recording and issue was self funded. This EP consists of some of, in my opinion, the best tracks the band has released including “Out of Myself” and “The Curtain Falls”. This is where the band started to build an identity for themselves and developed a very individual sound. They then went on to release their first album “Out of Myself” in April 2004 through Mystic Production and Laser's Edge. “Second Life Syndrome” was released in 2005 witch was followed by “Rapid Eye Movement” and then “Anno Domini High Definition” in 2009. The band have also released several singles and EP's over the years including “Loose Heart” (2003) and “Panic Room” (2007).

Both Piotr Grudzinski and Piotr Kozieradzki were part of small time metal bands for many years before they decided to form Riverside in 2001. Both men had ambitions to play music that were more melodic and ambitious but still with some metallic sounding groves. Mariuzs Duda has a very broad taste in music, and has never believed in restricting himself to one particular style. Duda joined Riverside with an impressive musical portfolio, having previously played keyboards in progressive band Xanadu, Duda was also skilled on the Bass, guitar and had an excellent singing voice. As soon as he demonstrated these skills the band new that he would be an invaluable asset to them. Mariuzs Duda also has his own solo project, "Lunatic Soul" witch is definitely worth checking out.

Music

Riverside have a very distinctive sound. There is never a time in any of their tracks where an instrument or part is redundant. Even if they are not always in the fore ground, everyone of the musicians knows their place in the music and how they fit and, and each part is equally as important as the next. The band have experimented with many different styles ranging from quiet, ambient, instrumental pieces to angry, emotional and melodic metal tracks. This is certainly a mix that is uncommon in today's music scene, but Riverside have found a way to make this unorthodox mixture work in an incredible fashion. Every album taking you on an epic emotional adventure starting with anger, moving to despair before taking us to hopefulness and joy. And this is why I think they are a band should have more promotion in this country, they are an excellent band with some crazy and yet brilliant ideas about music.

Second Life Syndrome is one of my personal favourite albums. This is because the music in this album is so diverse, and emotional, not just in the lyrics, but in the music, in the sounds used and the vocal technique. Every track in this album tells its own story, and when you listen to the music you feel like you are a part of that story, that you are there with the band, sharing their experiences, their angry, their sadness and their happiness. This is something that is common with many other progressive bands, bands like Rush and King Crimson also use music to tell stories often folk story's and ancient myths. What separates Riverside from these bands is that although the band took influence from these bands, Riverside do not sound like these bands. I think that this is mostly down to modern technology, and the bands own personalities. Riverside use a very clear and electronic sound on the guitar during their heavier songs, along with a hard but distinctive distorted sound witch gives them their edge and aggression. The keyboard sound is very modern and flowing, often used as an atmospheric background to some of the band's more sinister tracks, but also taking some amazing lead lines in some of the tracks. I really enjoy listening to Second Life Syndrome as a whole album, one of the harder tracks of the album “Artificial Smile” really demonstrates what I am trying to get across about the anger and aggression in some of Riverside's tracks. The track opens with a fast tempo guitar riff before the whole and join in to make a huge sound to almost a violent feel to the song. Although Duda started the track with a melodic vocal line, the emotion is clear in his lyrics and as the track continues his voices hardens into a furious growl. In the middle of the track there is a soft instrumental part where Piotr Grudziński takes the lead. “Conceiving You” is one of the softer tracks on the album. It starts with a slightly eerie sounding piano line with Duda singing over the top. The song appears to be about someone or something that causes the character great pain, but and the same time, loves them very deeply. The track gives a very ambient feel, and it is very easy to just sit back into this track and to just feel the music.

Conclusion

In my opinion, Riverside are a unique and very talented band, they are well worth listening to if you are a fan of prog- rock, or are just in search of something new to listen to. Ill leave you with this music video of “Panic Room”. This track will give you a feel for the band better that I ever could! Enjoy.

Faith No More

Faith No More have been one of my favourite acts for years, so I've decided to write a bit about them, and the reasons why I like them so much and why I think they are well worth listening to.

Dubbed the God Fathers of nu-metal, the band have pioneered their own sound, a heavy mix of metal and funk. Releasing 7 albums over 12 years, and several successful singles such as “Epic” , “Evidence” and “Ashes To Ashes” the band were a long standing hit. They were well known for their eccentric live performances witch were often off the wall. Towards the end of the 90's, the members started to become more involved with other projects, before the band eventually spilt up in April 1988. The band went off in their own directions, but after 11 years, the band decided to get together again, reform the band, and go on a world tour.



One of the reasons that I love Faith No More is that they are so different from any other band, you only need to listen to one track to notice that. But it is not just individual tracks that set them out from the crowd. Over the many albums and singles that they have release, FNM have covered a world of completely different styles, covers and originals. For example, one of their biggest ever hits, was “Epic”. A heavy metal song with a slow grove, heavy distorted guitar, Hard hitting drums, old school rapping and, for want of a better work, an epic chorus. However another one of their biggest hits was “Evidence”. This song is more of a pop funk feel, with tasty guitars licks, a relaxed grove between the drums and bass, and with Mike Patton singing in a deep soft tone. If you listened to the two tracks one after the other, you wouldn't believe that they were the same band. And this is what I think makes FNM so special, because nobody else is doing anything like that.



FNM are best know for their heavier tracks, so I really think I should talk about them. Their heavier tracks are certainly very different from anyone else's. There is much more grove, and a sound that not many other bands use, witch is the mix of distorted guitars, and an electric keyboard. This technique creates a big wall of sound which is almost deafening live but it brings the music to life and everyone listening can feel that. Some of the tracks that they use this technique in are “Everything's Ruined”, “Kindergarten” and “Epic”.

One of the other things that set FNM apart from other metal groups, it that they heavily incorporate the use of Dynamics and grove in their music. A really good example of this, and one of my all time favourite tracks, is “Ashes to Ashes”. The tracks starts with a distorted guitar, on its its own, playing the main riff. The guitar drops out after 4 bars, as the band come in to start the verse. Consequently the volume goes right down and a mellow grove comes in. The keys sit underneath the vocalist, who is singing softly anyway. The guitar comes in during the verse, quietly echoing the main riff. And the pre-chorus comes in, the whole band start to crescendo and the heavy riff comes in before hitting the chorus where everyone plays as loud as they can making a big sound and then dropping down again for the verse. This makes the track so much more exciting, and interesting to listen to. And live it builds up an incredible atmosphere and then climaxing in the chorus's.



I had the pleasure of seeing FNM live at Download festival last year, and it was one of the most electric and energetic shows that I have ever been to. Even though it had been eleven years since they last performed, they still managed to get everybody moving, the atmosphere was incredible and FNM's performance was excellent and the band defiantly still had a sense of humour.. Possible the best show I have ever been to.

There is so much i could write about them, so much more that i want to. And i probably will. But for the moment, im going to leave you with this video of them performing "Caffeine" at download when i saw them.

Sonic Boom Six

Ive decided to start reviewing some of my favourite bands, of course this will be my own personal opinion of the groups, and it will be based on the material i have (i only have 2 Sonic Boom Six Albums even though i know they have released more than that). So im going to start by reviewing sonic boom six, I am going to review one of the albums that i do have, im not going to talk about every track, just some of the tracks that stand out to me, and why i think the album is really worth buying.

Arcade Perfect, Released October 24th 2007

This album is one of my all time favourite albums, I can listen to this album again and again. I love this album because each track is very idividual and has is own character but at the same time they are all unmistakably Sonic Boom Six. The band have a sound like no other band that i know of, they have mixed a heavy modern punk sound, with rap, reggae and electronic. This is so refreshing to here, particularly with todays music scene.

"While You Were Sleeping" is one of the heavier tracks on the album. the track starts with a dirty sounding punk riff on the guitar before the rest of the band join in on the accents making a really impacting introduction to the song. After that energetic intro the band then settle into a really nice clean grove and the vocalist comes in. I love this song because the music really fits the emotion in the lyrics and the story that is told in the song. Well the vocalist opens with "while You were Sleeping" in the first verse, the grove is soft and the vocal tone is quite gentle, almost although the band are trying to put you into an uneasy sleep. As the verse progresses, the track becomes more layered building up towards the heavy chorus. When the chorus comes in the heavy guitars come in and the vocalist becomes much louder and angrier as the true nature of the track is revealed. This is a track that really goes down well live because it goes from having really high energy to a chilled out verse giving the audience a chance to get into the track before the energy returns and people can really start jumping. The second verse is double time and the lyrics are a darker "Whilst you were sleeping, they riffle through your draws, While you were sleeping, was no concern of yours". The band reflect on this with distorted guitars underneath the lead vocals and slightly sinister sounding backing vocals underneath before leaping back into the chorus.

"Mean While Back In The Real World" starts with an epic introduction with a load horn section, distorted guitars and some great drum fills. The verse is really upbeat with a ska feel and rapping from the vocalist, accenting the last few words of every verse with horns and cymbals. The track is filled with really nice groves between verses, some really good skanking guitars and some very heavy sections. This song is clearly very angry and political and that is shown in the music and the lyrics. There is a really good horns break in the middle witch works really nicely. This song is really fun to play along to on the drums and if you've herd it a few times, it really hard not to sing along with the lyrics.

Sound Of a revolution is another that stands out from the others. This tracks starts with rapping from the lead vocalist over a grove between the drummer and the bassist underneath. And the track takes off with the famous punk rock phrase "F*** You I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME". The grove continues with horns being added on the off beat giving the track more a a ska feel before the distorted punk rock guitars come in to make a heavy chorus. In the second verse one of the other member s of the band takes over on the rapping witch gives the track some good variety. If you are a ska/Punk fan this a really good track to listen to and i would definitely recommend giving this band a try.

Conclusion
It is very difficult for me write about the album as a whole because every song is different but i am going to attempt it!. This album has a very distinctive sound, it ranges from a very modern and tight punk sound to a mellow reggae sound right the way through to rap and electronic. And yet, the whole thing put together makes a surprisingly brilliant sound. This band arn't for everyone, but they are worth trying, and they put on a fantastic live show and are certainly worth seeing.