My tiff I had with Billy Bragg

Have you ever had a relationship where things ended on a pretty bad note. There was an incident and it was the deal breaker for you. They cheated, you cheated, they thought Star Wars Episode I was an ok movie. You know, stuff that you couldn't find your way back from. You split up and go your separate ways and life seems to move on. But then you both find your self at some social gathering and things seem really good again and you're flooded with all those amazing memories of the good times and suddenly you can't quite remember why you were ever so angry with them, they smile at you and suddenly you wish you were on the best of terms again. But things can't be the same and even if you think you might be able to forgive you can never quite forget.

So where do you go from there?

This is the situation I have created inside my head with Billy Bragg. Of course he has no idea about this, or who I am asides from another random goon in a crowd who he smiled at. But this has been a raging issue for me since yesterday lunchtime. For the sake of writing a blog I'll start at the beginning and the good times.

Billy Bragg has been an idol and an inspiration to me for the best part of 10 years. Tazz and I used to listen to him whilst recovering from whatever shenanigans the preceding days had thrown at us and he gave us both the idea of picking up acoustic guitars, renaming CJD to Red Rag Front and doing it acoustic style. To Have Or To Have Not has been one of our regular renditions (as much from loving the Lars Frederikson and the Bastards cover as the original) and one of the last videos of Tazz and I together is us walking down a street in Shoreham singing that song. Billy Bragg has always been a part of that side of my life and he is one of the people that I looked to when I thought that I couldn't pick up an guitar and do this whole band thing again. So all in all he is a pretty big deal in my life.

But then the deal breaker came. He writes articles these days for The Guardian and the breakup article in particular was about the South Bank undercroft. Writing pro demolition of the spot, Billy Bragg took

something I hold dear to my heart and took an awful (in my eyes) view on the situation. Saying that catering to up and coming (mostly rich) entrepreneurs rather than saving 40 years of British counter-culture history was the right thing to do. WHAT! How could someone I look up to so much have such a jarringly "wrong" opinion on something I have an opinion on too!! What an arse
hole. He clearly doesn't deserve my admiration or respect for being just so wrong about this! etc etc. Basically this is how I felt (feel) about what he wrote, and I'm not the only one. So there you have it. How totally irreparably damaged is that? Billy Bragg was unliked on Facebook (SHOCK!) removed from my Spotify playlists (TERROR!) and spoken of badly to all within earshot when discussing the South Bank situation (ERMARGERD!)

Which brings us to the present (or very near past since I'm talking about yesterday). So I'm reading stuff on
Frank Turners profile and it just so happens that he's been hanging out with Billy Bragg. Not only that but they are both campaigning on behalf of Shelter UK. So here is another folk/punk idol of mine and he's hanging around with this celebrity I totally despise right now. but they are both getting involved with another cause that I care about, and this time on the same side as me. Not only that but they were doing a spontaneous busking session in Kings Cross just fifteen minutes from my office at lunchtime. A quick trip to Franks twitter for the location and I was set on going. Let's face it, these are two artists that sell out arenas and they were about to play totally unplugged on a street corner, I'd be mad to miss it.

I got there a little late because of work commitments and only got to see them perform about four songs but goddamn it was awesome. Frank taking a bit of a reverent back seat to Billy whilst belting their own songs and some more generic covers for the hundred or so crowd to sing along to. Watching Billy up on the crudely erected stage singing away brought back all those great memories of when I thought he was the greatest and watching him and Frank being such genuinely good friends, laughing at each other and the
oddness of their current situation made my brain think that Billy wasn't actually the total waste of space clunge trumpet I thought he was a day before. The clincher came when I was about to walk away whilst Frank was singing one of his hits off Tape Deck Heart. Billy had snuck away to have a little strum away from the crowd and I looked over at him and he at me. He gave me a nod, wink and smile and carried on playing away to himself and in that moment I was the ultimate Billy Bragg fanboy all over again. Forgetting whatever trivial thing I might have been annoyed about and just wanting him to autograph my forehead so I could go get it tattooed on me.

And so here I am, the morning after. I don't really know what to do about the fact that actually I'm still pretty mad about the whole south bank thing but also pleased to have seen him perform in real life in such an awesome capacity and more than that for a billiant cause that I can totally get behind. Watching him have fun with Frank Turner and wow a crowd thirty years after his heyday makes me feel like maybe I was the one who was an arse hole for judging him so harshly on one topic we disagree on without taking into account the ten years of history we have had together. and so once again I liken it to a relationship. I think I may just forgive him and put New England back on my folk/punk playlist. Does that make me a bad person? maybe. Will people look down on me for once again being a Billy Bragg fan? probably. But I don't care as long as it make me happy. Every one deserves a second chance.

Once again for clarity this whole situation is entirely in my mind and Billy Bragg has no idea whatsoever who I am or the way I feel or ever will know me other than as a generic fan he nodded at one time.

A space we all created.

FUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!

So I know I kind of said I wasn't going to do gig roundups anymore and I know I wasn't going to go on about how great shows are going anymore and probably some other things but it's my blog and if me from the other day doesn't like it he can jog the goddamned hell on because punk bloody rock that's why!!

So this may get a little long because it's a little difficult to squeeze 12 hours of punk into less than 500 words

but again, my blog, my ever changing rules!!

I am of course getting overly excited about the More Of This!

Fest all dayer that I recently had the privilege of being a part of. The New Cross Inn was the venue and basically everything that is good and right with the world was the order of the day. As punk rocker we have (probably) all been subject to prejudice, abuse and negative judgement before and it always strikes me as odd that in turn parts of the punk rock community is equally as elitest and judgmental. I guess it just goes to show that those kids with mohawks 30 years ago really did grow up to be just like their parents and they inspired a whole new generation to think it's ok to act harshly to someone because they are wearing the right band shirt or have enough studs on their leather jacket.

That scene was no where to be..um, seen, at New Cross. Instead a huge group of friends assembled (some past, some met brand new on the day) and set about sharing their love of punk music with each other in the best way possible - By smashing glasses on the dance floor and throwing people onto it (but picking them back up afterwards). No, well sometimes, but mainly just by being totally super awesome people and getting along without any of the aforementioned judgement or bad attitudes. This feeling of friendship is an awesome thing to find at a show, but for it to be there for a whole twelve hours (some people managed the whole day!!) is pretty much unprecedented and a wonder to behold.

Of course nothing would or probably could have been possible

without the monumental efforts of one Steve

Todd (aka CEO and founder of Thirteen Stitches) and the Demon Smiles crew (and affiliates). He was the keystone to everything and really the entire day was a beautiful reflection of his personality. Showing him to be in equal parts an awesome friend, a thoughtful and caring person, total epic punk rocker and completely destructo batshit insane. Good mix for a great guy.

So onto the bands I'll try to be brief, also apologies now to

Slow Faction. Unfortunately I had to eat at some point in the day and my try to the greatest knock off chicken pizza joint in the universe had to come during their set. I caught about 30 seconds of the end of it and they did sound totally awesome but that's about all I can say.

First up were Kraft Check and Flow (spelt with crazy capitalization). I love bands that break from the tradition of doing acoustic folk rock in the "Bragg" manner and these guys certain threw that stereotype out the window. Using a mix of hip-hop/folk/punk/country they made something that I can truly call unique and I really dug it. in parts Professor Green, others New Model Army, others Janis Joplin, all cool. At the same time they fit in no-where and everywhere stylistically and every different style complimented

the others. Also helps that they were awesome guys too!

Well what can be said about act number two? nothing really because it was us. I will say though that it was one of our best sets, I think because of everyone watching being totally into the songs. It was an uplifting experience and if I could do MOT! all dayers for the rest of my days I would be a happy man indeed. We got a lot of very kind feedback from all who spoke to us which is pretty much the life blood of the band so that was totally brilliant.

After us came Chapter Eleven. who is in the main part Asher Baker, a fellow blogger/acoustic punker/Demon Smiles fan boy that I can't believe I only met on the day!! Turns out he's a bit of a legend, and his songs are really great, whether he's being poignant, or comical, or angry or happy he can really capture an emotion of a crowd by picking topics we can all get behind and creating poetry to plant the

perfect images in our heads. I'm really looking forward to being in the crowd when he's playing again.

Number four was Harrison Wilde, an odd case in that he was an unknown act who everyone knew and was playing a set of brand new

old songs!! A veteran of the punk scene he played tunes that, I think without exception, covered a misspent youth partying the way everyone should while their sanity and liver can withstand it!! Having shared what seems like a pretty similar past I really connected with all the tunes and greatly enjoyed the set. laughing my ass of at the cleverly worded lyrics and the memories of eviction parties and living with Tazz that he gave back to me.

After that the acoustic start to the day was over and we were onto the the loud stuff. and loud it got when old friends Recluse

Club got down to business. I have a particular love of these guys, having played with them in Worthing before and man if anything they've gotten faster and tighter!! I love me a bit of blisteringly fast punk rock and these guys deliver in spades. One of the funnest (is that a word) bands of the day for me

and a joy to behold.

Another set of friends came on stage after, and Not Pennys Boat once again knocked it out the park. There's this amazing likeability to everything about them, their songs are tight and catchy, the tunes all rock, the vocals are awesome, the whole band looks like their having the greatest time on stage and also

their are all excellent people to have in the vicinity. I had an even better time rocking out to them this time since I had the benefit of checking out their songs first and could have myself a bit of a singalong. although I've only seen them the once before this was their best performance mostly, just belonging on the stage. I was a little sad when they finished.

I know I'm basically gushing about my friends bands right now but that was the beauty of the day, and The Vulgarities are pretty much gonna get the same treatment!! They were down a guitarist

but to be honest I hardly even noticed because I think Hannah was turned up to 11. They have brilliant energy on stage and kick the screaming hell out of their tunes in the absolutely best way possible. Out of all the bands playing they could so easily have been the ones who might fit into the elitest crowd, straddling the gap between straight up Oi and more melodic street punk but they never once seem aggressive or highly strung at the crowd or the eclectic assortment of music fans in the crowd, quite the opposite. Their aggression is finely channeled into their songs where it belongs and made for a brilliant set. They owned the stage too like no one else!!

--- Interlude ---
Seriously everyone should go to the chicken shop round the corner

from the New Cross Inn, even if you aren't seeing a band there. Two 9" pizzas with four toppings each for a fiver!!!! just brilliant. and they sell turkish Mountain Dew. That place rocked my mouth!!

after missing Slow Faction and being a little sad I got to witness something even more unique than the KC&F set from the start of the day. If you've not seen an aquatic themed hardcore band before with 40 second songs, all of which are bad sealife puns ("Shamu and conditioner") then I don't blame you because i think

Mussels are one of a kind. I'm not normally a fan of hardcore

stuff but I certainly am a fan of hilarious music in anyform and these guys definitely delievered there. The front man had a fantastic moustache for a Movember attempt and his trusty sidekick (or is it the other way around, I couldn't be sure) managed to make skipping on stage cool and possibly a little bewilderment at being on stage made funny songs off the charts great.

The Apostates are not your typical punk rock band, if they can really be called punk in the strictest sense. Instead I'd try to label them as melodic, post progressive, post hardcore....something, fuck it, they can't really be put into a bracket, what they are is incredible. They make beautiful, powerful, moving music that had me in a trance from start to finish. I wish I could have jumped around and danced more to them but honestly once each song started my mind ran away with me and I had to recollect myself at the end and remind me what the hell was going on. Their music affects some deep and childlike and lets imaginations sore as they effortlessly rock the stage. They have the biggest sound I've heard off a three piece act and I could spend all day watching them own a stage.

I really seriously have the biggest punk rock

music boner for Demon Smiles. I love them, plain and simple. I know all the words to all the songs they have recorded and I'm love with every new track they play. Despite some technical difficulties their set was every bit as energetic and fun a I've come to expect and of course it was made even better with a bit of crowd participation (myself and fellow DS connoisseur Asher doing the "Joe" bits for S.O.S.) and all the round excellent reception for the stars of the day.

I went through a stage in my younger years of not liking Ska-Punk. If any of those feeling still existed Lead Shot Hazard took them and beat the crap out them and left me skanking like it was

the only function my body knew!! I wish I could write something more about their musicality and the kickass vocals (from Asher Baker, checking in his second set of the day) but to be honest I was just too busy dancing my freaking ass off to the best ska-punk I've heard since I saw Capdown play the Brighton Conchord 2 about seven years ago!!

Since being lucky enough to share a stage with Mug back in July they have become one of my favourite UK punk bands as well as a great set of friends. They totally killed it during their set,

replete with odd looking dancing drunks, plenty of skull duggery (drinking from a skull named Dug, not actual skull duggery), crowd surfing front men and epic tunes from beginning till end. Mug know how to get a crowd going (feed them alcohol) and how to deliver a tune (fucking loud and fast) and
they along with many other acts gave the best set I've seen so far. They make it seem like it's the easiest thing

in the world to play so well so consistently and once again it was my great pleasure to have been on the same bill as them.

When I decided on a whim to check out the Top Buzzer album out last month before the show I never expected them to become one of my favourite new bands. They rock my world pretty hard (so hard

in fact there was blood all over the bass!!) and were totally brilliant entertainers. Maybe the least known of the top three acts, that didn't stop them from having everyone going berserk and jumping around (even up on stage with them) and at one point pretending to be animals!! Great bands can hold an audience in the palm of their hands and Top Buzzer manage that without seeming to even try.

Oh Jesus Drones CRUSHED IT!!! The crowd was pretty much shell shocked for the first couple of songs, probably from disbelief at

the quality of hardcore punk they were witnessing and then went absolutely arse over tits ballistic for the rest of the set, there was destruction and crowd surfing guitarists and more moshing than you could shake a stick at (whilst ducking a windmill fist coming for you) and all throughout Drones just kept piling on the power and the quality. This was getting pretty late and a lot of people had been rocking out for more than 10 hours when Drones came on stage but they absorbed every last bit of energy left in the room and let it out in wave after wave of awesome tunes.

What comes up, has to come down and come down it did. Not the quality of the punk rock, which was still up in stratosphere when

Middle Finger Salute took the helm but by half eleven even the hardcorest punk rockers were pretty shattered! The good thing though was that MFS got to take over much more of the room (even tables) to end the night with a nuclear bang!

All in all the day was a success in even more ways than anyone had originally thought. Not only was an incredible line up put together and not only did every band give incredible sets and not only was everyone well received and enjoyed but we did some bigger in scale that day that can't be quantified. A new scene was born, free from prejudice and judgement. A counter counter-culture where a shared love of the people making music in front of you is all that's needed to be a part. the drunk in the bomber

jacket and the metal-head who didn't leave the dance floor for 12 hours were equally at home with the punks with giant mohawks and the burgeoning hardcore superstars. collectively we made a place we all belong and now it belongs to us, but all are welcome. It's a honour and a privilege to have been there to see it happen and I hope it keeps on unhindered for generations to see how people should react to each other.

A year and running

The new EP has just landed, but I don't want to talk about that, and we had a pretty stonking gig recently in Harrow but

I'm not much of a gig reviewer and I'm sure no one cares that everything went as well as the last show. The shows themselves are going pretty well these days and as much as I'd like to gush about how great I'm doing it's not very fitting with the point of this blog, which is looking at what isn't working so well and trying to improve upon that.

It has occurred to me though that it has been a year now since the ASBO Retards played their "last" show. Two things of note

other than the ASBOs farewell happened at that show. The first was that it was the sparking point which created the irredeemable Demon Smiles. The second is that it was the first time I had ever stepped up on stage by myself and played guitar to a bunch of people in earnest. I had previously played at Tazz's funeral  but that was just a couple of covers and a reworking of an old CJD song so it didn't count. The show a year ago was the real first for me. There is even a blog about how it went, and reading it back, it really didn't go anything like how well these recent ones have. I've managed to reach a level of confidence that I haven't had since being in "proprer" bands. I think in part it's because Drew in on board now and I'm not so totally exposed but also it's just that I kinda got my mojo back after a difficult first few months.

Things have come a long way since that show. Of the 15 minute set i played nothing is left in the set today, I hadn't even started to write the more "classic" RRF tunes like punk police and 99%, let alone anything we play now.

Adding Drew to the mix seems like a no brainer these days but that was the biggest decision I think I've had to make so far as Red Rag Front. I listen to a lot of acoustic punk, and everytime I hear of an acoustic act I  check out whether there is something I can listen to online. The thing I've noticed about Red Rag Front now compared to other acoustic acts is that we are so much more than other acts that could be lumped into this odd little genre. That's not to say that we're better, because that isn't really the point, but we have progressed beyond the billy bragg esque thing and become our own sound, which is something I never imagined doing. I find it hard to say who we sound like because I genuinely don't know of another band right now, pro or unsigned that sounds the way we do. That is probably what I'm most proud about for the band, the

band is just a perfect reflection of both mine and Drews personalities and I wouldn't want it any other way.

So a year on I've managed to control my nerves and hold together a professional sounding set and write songs I really enjoy listening to, I've also found my place in the punk scene right where I always wanted and I'm perfectly happy there, so now I need to think about what's next? Well I still need to learn more of the management side of things, my booking skills are still fairly dismal and I'm heavily reliant on friends to put us on, Drew and I have also taken our first step into the world of promotions and I'm pretty sure that the nothing we know about it all so far will need to be vastly improved to keep it alive. Now we've got the playing songs bit down ok I'd like to try and start up a collection of merch too which means learning how to be a

salesman too. Maybe act a little in a video. These are the higher level skills I'll be looking to build now that I've gotten back with the basics of it all.

There's some pretty exciting plans on boil for next year already but that'll have to be a blog for another time.

I should also say that this blog is now a year old too and with thousands of page views I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who takes time out their busy days to read about the evolution of one scared guy with a crappy acoustic guitar to the acoustic punk-pop troubadour I think I am today. So cheers, and here's to a much more exciting and more
readable second year.

5 Things to keep in mind when Recording a garage EP

Normally this blog is a narcissistic ramble giving thought only to what is going on in my head but today I'm gonna try something different. I've Just finished recording a new EP for the band and whilst I have been recording EPs and demos and odds and ends for the best part of fifteen years it was Drews first time in a recording situation. This meant that I became slightly fatherly and doled out all of the sage like advice I could think. I'd like to share that Advice for anyone else who might be recording for the first time or for anyone who feels they are struggling to get something sounding just right. It might be useful, it might be a pile of drivvel. Let's find out:

1. Keep it simple.

I know a lot of people say this when giving advice but it is something to definitely take to heart. You can layer something as many times as possible so there is no need to try and do something needlessly complicated in any one track. Being overly technical can be a point of pride in many musicians (I'm looking at you lead guitarists) but play your guitar with your boner on stage, when recording keep things to the path of least resistance. It's best to think of a recorded track as the blueprint for your song, going nuts is for the crowd.

2. If there's doubt then there's no doubt.

If that title sounds like corporate bullshit it's because I stole it from a recruitment agent that came to a company I worked for, but it's pretty apt all the same. It's tempting to just accept a track as "good enough" especially after the 20th take and you're goddamned sick of playing the same 10 seconds over and over, but try to remember that you should still want to listen to your songs in 10 years time. If there is a niggling mistake or bum note then you need to push through and make sure you're definitely happy with it. I don't mean things need to sound clinical, but you need to be sure that the sound you have captured is exactly the one you want to hear. Remember that mixing is not magic and although many wonderful things can be done to a song in production what you played is what you played and it isn't going to change. One great resource for deciding whether a track is good enough is asking whoever is recording you. Although they may not "know" your song in the way you do they will know what works on a recording and will give advice whether another take is on the cards.

3. Be representative.

Does your band have a twenty piece horn section when you play live? Does it have a speedcore drum track? No? Then try not to throw it into your recording. It's really tempting to stick a bunch of extra stuff onto a recording because you think the bigger and more epic something sounds then the better the result, but often you can end up spoiling the original intention of the track. This isn't to say that the string track you want to use or the gang vocals in the chorus shouldn't happen, but what you record should represent what you sound like as a band when you play on stage. For an exclusively acoustic punk-pop band having three distorted guitars  on each track, screamo vocals and and orchestral arrangements would mean that anyone who came to listen to us would be at best confused and at worst really pissed off that the songs they have heard on an EP or album don't come across in a show. Re-workings and different live arrangements are the things of famous bands with classic songs. Lemmy can play Ace Of Spades differently because there isn't person at his shows or within a 1000 mile radius of that show who doesn't know it but for your breakout EP or album keep it sounding like it is when you play it on stage.

4. Sing like you mean it

This is really for singers so all you other superfluous musician types can probably skip this. Singing on stage to people who aren't paying attention is weird and can affect the quality of your vocals. Doing the same thing to a wall and then doing it another three times for luck is even weirder. It's really difficult trying to bottle up that feeling of playing an incredible show and letting it out in such a deliberately sterile environment. What makes it worse is that a lot of the time you're the only thing making a loud noise at that point and (if you're anything like me) you fucking hate the sound of your own voice when it's recorded. These are all natural psychological barriers that all singers, from the lead guy to the odd part backing singers need to deal with. In that moment you booming your three word backing vocal line can sound stupid and unimportant but it's important to remember that it's just one piece of an epic whole and that the more conviction you can give that bastard mic the better. To those who aren't musicians the vocals are the most important thing in a song and the more energy you can put into it the happier you'll be with the result.

5. Be Happy

This sounds a little stupid and in all honesty I didn't think of 5 reasonable things to talk about before I started writing this blog but after a little consideration I think this is a totally valid point. It's pretty easy to fall into a habit of phoning in each part of a song when you're recording. You become conscious of not fucking it up, this becomes especially prevalent when you get past four or five takes and you start to just make sure those notes are being hit rather than grabbing the song by the balls and kicking it in the face twice like you originally intended to do. The problem with not attacking the song with the same energy that you start out with is that it comes out in the record, even if you're not singing or banging drums which are the most susceptible to sounding lack luster. Recording a track is almost like taking an acting class, and you need to have the mind set of playing to as large a crowd as you like whilst ignoring the damping of your surroundings.

Cool I actually talked about five things. It's probably safe to say I didn't take my own advice on a single one of these points over the weekend but then again the amount of fucks I give are equal to the amount of perfectly recorded EPs I have ever done.

Shed acoustics and all the Maidstone best.

Bit mental really looking back on it but Red Rag Front as the dynamic duo we are these days hadn't played a full set together before Saturday. The last show at the birds nest Drew had managed to learn a few songs but of the few he did know we only got to play a couple because the set was cut short. That meant that some serious practicing was needed to make sure we had a half hour of almost all new material for our next show almost three months away.
Of course we procrastinated until the beginning of October before getting into gear and with Autumn closing in I had to clear some extra space in my shed so we could get down to business. I gotta say too that the sound in that shed is pretty great. I can hear everything that is going on at just the right levels and the ever so slight echo gives everything the perfect amount of reverb. From now on that is the sound I'm gonna be aiming for whenever we play a show! So new songs abounded, harmonies were learnt, cover choices were made and a set list formed from ash and sweat and blood.

Ready we were then to face playing a show I've personally been dreaming about since I started this band around this time last year. I've always massively looked up to the River Jumpers, being a band who really really passionately love what they do and have gone about making sure that they have done everything in their power to make the band as big a success as they can, and fuck me if in my eyes they've made that success. I don't know too many other bands in the Brighton scene who can boast overseas followings and a multi-coloured vinyl collection!!

So being that I have a pretty huge band crush on them I may have given Drew a little more shit than was strictly necessary in preparation but it did mean that we turned up on Saturday ready to crush it! after getting to the venue and getting a little more excited than we should have over our name being on the board outside we went inside and hung out for a while. Gaz (of ASBO Retard fame) runs this particular establishment and was super welcoming to us and he and his family made us feel like VIPs while we waited to go onstage.

That start was a tad later than we expected due to the unfortunate pulling out of The Liabilities, a case of gigantisism not allowing them to be fit for the show! so at 21:00 we went on stage and barring some slightly shonky sound that we tried and slightly failed to set up ourselves the show was pretty good. As a duo I think we're pretty in sync with each other which is great, and it definitely took some work to get there. All our hard work cramming into a dark cold shed seemed to pay off and nobody walked out the pub in disgust so overall another win for Red Rag Front.

River Jumpers were fully awesome, and I'm not just saying that because I love them and know all the words to their songs and screamed along like a tween girl the whole time they were on stage.... ok maybe I am biased but that doesn't stop them being totally awesome and the best! Much drinking and hilarity ensued and even though disaster loomed in the same of a spilt pint and some expensive looking pedals they showed just why they are the best band in town.

So all in all a great night spent with good friends old and brand new. Things are looking fairly rosy in camp right now and I think it's time to look into doing something to put us out of our comfort zone like doing a tour next year. We'll see.

Next up for us is recording a new EP. We still don't have anything official with the both of us on it so this should be really good for us. We have the tracks ready and practiced and we're looking to go all out in order to make sure it's something people will enjoy on their stereos. Good things seem to be in store for us and our rapidly growing group of excellent friends is who we have to thank.

Not having the knack but being lucky anyway.

I am a pretty lucky guy. I mean that in a lot of ways but today I'm going to focus on one particular way in which I'm lucky. Having played in bands for just over 15 years, most of which ranged from shoddy to awful I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of excellent people. Most lucky of all though is that some of these people have gone on to promote and put on punk shows as a side part of their everyday lives. As well as being an awesome thing to do in general it's also allowed me to carry on gigging, not only that, but carry on gigging with some really great bands at shows where the atmosphere is also excellent. The reason this is so lucky for me is that without these friends I would have absolutely zilch in the way of upcoming shows at the moment!!

I don't know what it is about trying to contact promoters and venue owners by myself that I seem to be doing so wrong but I really suck at the whole thing. I know I said I would rather only play the odd shows here and there rather than get sucked into the Monto Culture way of things but fuck I'm not telling the promoters that! For some reason eliciting any kind of response from people that do this sort of thing for a living is just beyond my powers, and the only people willing to acknowledge I exist outside of my circle of friends are the people that are coming at me with a contract and a demand for at least 20-30 fans who will state that they came to see me!

I wonder if I'm too polite in emails, maybe the problem is that I'm sending emails? has the counter-culture not quite caught up to this method of communication yet or does it spurn it as sending an email is not punk enough? How many times is too many when sending them another message? Will I incur the wrath of the punk police if I send more than three requests for a single response? Maybe the problem comes back to being in too niche of a musical genre for promoters to be able to fit me in to most gigs?

I love my friends for allowing me to play at shows that have numerous other acts that could take that slot. The thing is though I don't want to become a burden on them, asking over and over for them to have to make extra effort on my behalf so I can play more shows. There has to be a knack to this whole thing and unfortunately I'm falling short of the mark. I think I should talk to the guys in the Demon Smiles crew since they're practically drowning in shows these days and are clearly doing it right.

I am eternally grateful to those friends of mine that put me on at shows, because without you I literally wouldn't have a musical career.

Never thought I'd see the day. An over-saturation story...

Every now and again I'll blog about more than just how the band is doing and this is going to be one of those times. I was pretty shocked at my own reaction to something this morning and it really got me thinking. So here are those thoughts:

This video is one I took of Mike Herrera on the 27th April 2012. For anyone who doesn't know he is one of my all time heroes, and this was the first time I'd seen or heard him do anything solo acoustic before. I was blown away!! Not only was this hero doing something I had just started to do myself but he had this awesome re-working of one of my favourite MXPX tunes (we're talking top three here!!). I was so impressed that I don't think I had another topic of conversation for months after.

So excited as I was I put the video on my Facebook and set about seeing if there was any other videos of him playing acoustic stuff on YouTube. and goddamn if I wasn't dissapointed! There was a series of songs he'd done for Dying Scene and Secret Weapon was amongst them. Brilliant. This was from sessions he'd done a month before in March 2012. Later in the year he did some work with Guitar Centre (quite a few artists seem to have including another hero Tim Armstrong) and Secret Weapon appeared there too. Sweet. Another video of my idol playing one of his greatest tracks. Also there was another video for Doing Time, another great MXPX track that comes across very well acoustically. There are also other videos on YouTube including the cardinal sessions all of which are great. Then at the beginning of this year in
Feb Mike did a StageIT show, for those not tech savvy it's a way artists can do live shows and charge a small fee to see an acoustic show streaming over the web, like Skype specifically for musicians, I bought a ticket to
watch the show, but due to babies and sleep deprivation I missed it. Bugger!! what an opportuinty, but luckily for me Mike put it on his Bandcamp for download, I now own this acoustic album and it's great. Secret Weapon is the last track on there.

Then Mike also put on an old acoustic session album he had recorded way back in 2011 that had gone out of print. I thought i's have a listen, it's pretty good, a little tumbledown heavy for my liking but a good album all the same. Probably may as well mention Secret Weapon is on there.

So today I was nicely notified that Mike has released another StageIT album, which again I paid to see and again I missed (show times at 00:00 because of the time difference). I went onto his bandcamp and listened to a bit of a few tracks and then just didn't bother with it anymore. An example of why is that once again Secret Weapon was there on the tracklist.

So let's round up that timeline: - 

• 6/04/2011 - Live from the basement released on CD
• 12/03/2012 - Dying Scene sessions recorded
• 27/04/2012 - Mike plays a solo show at Banquet Records
• 11/08/2012 - Guitar Centre tracks recorded
• 4/02/2013 - StageIt show, recorded and released on Bandcamp
• date unknown - Live from the Basement released as digital album on Bandcamp
• 27/06/2013 - Mike Herrera Live released on Bandcamp

That's a lot of times that Secret Weapon has become available as an acoustic version. It makes me feel like

I'm being force fed something I used to enjoy but now I'm kind of fed up with. Self marketing over the internet has become a wonderful tool for artists, hell it's only way I get any exposure, but is Mike an example of someone who's gone too far? Should I be more grateful that I let to listen to Mike play stuff so often or was it better when I had to work to find gems like an official acoustic version of a song. When I was originally into MXPX 15 years ago I had to trawl every record store in London to find albums like Teenage Politics and Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo. But now I can find whatever multiple times and I don't even need to do any effort to find it.

Am I just a fossil now reminiscing about trudging 30 miles in the snow for one Bad Religion album, and how it was better for me, or is there really an issue of over-saturation by artists we now have too much access to? 

Community, Unity and probably some other nitys...

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, since I already have to anyone within earshot of me for the last two days. Best.Gig.Ever.

There, it's out there, and I stand by it at least until the next show. These are the reasons this Saturday was the greatest thing to happen in my musical life so without too much of a pre-subject ramble lets dive in there:

Well I can't begin a gig round-up without first mentioning the flying success that is Red Rag Front: Acoustic Duo. A lot of people have been very positive about the expansion, including a random dog walker in the park we practice in!! Also since we needed a quick pre-gig warm-up we decided to have a practice run though on the central line and ended up with a crowd of spectators who cheered and i think took photos and videos. So all in all things were going well before we even got there. I generally don't believe in omens but that would definitely have been a good one if I did.

Turning up led us to meet a few members of Not Pennys Boat, MuG and Cat from Demons Smiles. Traffic woes and crazy last night shenanigans not dampening anyones spirits and as the rest of the band members arrived all helped get things set up and ready for the night.

So we went on first and since Drew and I have only had a couple of weeks to practice I decided to split the set into a first half with just me and a second much better half with the both of us. First thing that happened was about three seconds into the first song I decided I didn't like the sound my brand new stompbox was giving off so that got almost immediately left by the wayside, one of the disadvantages to practising unplugged is that some things are impossible to gauge when up on stage and mic'd up.
Still the first half was passable even though I began to melt onto the stage with the heat in the place feeling more like the gates of hell than Deptford on a cloudy day!! Drew then joined me for the second half and not only did we manage to crush it on new songs, old songs and two covers (small missteps notwithstanding) but the reaction we got from the people watching was truly an honour. There is just nothing greater than hearing great praise for something we have worked so hard for and we are both so so grateful to hear that it went down well. If you ever get the urge to go back to the beginning of this blog and see how I felt playing my first few shows you'd see I was a goddamned nervous wreck but now I feel like everything has fallen into place. The songs, the style, the extra band member, it's all working just how it should be and I've never been more excited about what the future holds.

Of course we were only the first act on (and with a shortened set to boot) and if we were the only great thing about the evening then I doubt I could go around saying best show ever!! Not Pennys Boat were on next and the guys from Norwich were outstanding. I love it when I'm listening to a band at a show and I think this is just the sort of thing I would have on my stereo if I weren't here. To me they are like early Ataris, awesome melodic good time punk rock and having a band full of sound as fuck guys helps put them in my top ten favourites from now on.

The Vulgarities were next and I think it would be safe to say they were the most properly punk rock band of the night, thumping tunes with a shit tonne of attitude but not a single whiff of pretentiousness made it a really brilliant act to see. When Cat the lead singer stomped her boot of the stage the entire pub trembled!!! Awesome!

The penultimate act was Demons Smiles who managed to all be there despite a serious amount of shenanigans and arsehole landlords trying to prevent it. I'm pretty bummed I missed them in Slovenia at punk rock holiday but good god damn they made up for it by being super awesome. I haven't ever seen them tighter and more on the ball than last Saturday and they are really becoming a top class band. Listening to them now it's extremely hard to remember that they have only been an idea since November and that Cat hadn't even picked up a bass before then.

MuG were headlining and I entirely blame them for the stiff neck I have now!! They really were incredible and I went a bit ballistic dancing around to their stuff, but then again so did everyone!! Again they played the kind of stuff that I love to listen to and they absolutely crushed it!! Everyone in the house was going mental and a wicked time was had by all the whole time they were on stage. Playing a show with such talented guys and them being totally sound to boot makes every empty room and shitty line up I've played worth while.

More than just rocking bands though was an air of friendship and community that was there from the second Drew and I walked through the doors. You just can't buy that atmosphere, it's a one of a kind feeling, like every person you turn around and talk to is going to be an excellent person and just by being the same space that you're now a better person too. I honestly cannot wait to do this again and hopefully with at least some of the same faces around, you never know what the future holds but I can't help but think whatever it is it's going to be bright if things keep going this way.


 

The mother of all good ideas...

field of rock!

You know when sometimes you do something and you wonder why the hell things haven't always been that way? Like the time when you spilled caramel ice-cream on a peanut butter and nutella sandwich, well that's how I'm feeling right now with the acquisition of Red Rag newcomer Drew MacLaughlin. I had my doubts about getting another band member in general, but of course  that seems like it was more to do with my own complacency than it being a bad idea. I think the band may now make that special leap from being something I like to listen to to being something other people wan to listen to as well!!

In true Red Rag fashion we have taken to practising in Ruislip Gardens playing fields, it's a definite step up from my shed (although the spiders all look lonely down there now) and I like to think we delight the ears of all those random Ruislipians that wander past finding a place for their dogs to crap.

As for the songs, Drew just kind of goes, "you know how that average arsed song you wrote goes well why don't I go like this <insert musical magic here>" and BAM! the song is super awesome. Things have been progressing along those lines now for a couple of sessions and I think we're onto a winner. I can't believe I toiled on for six whole months now by myself when I met the perfect compliment to my stuff on the fourth show I ever played as RRF. Hindsight, as with most things is a wonderful thing but better late than never is also a great place to start.

So what now? Well due in part to my complete lethargy when it comes to teaching songs to people we are gonna half and half my next show, with Drew coming in later, I think as well as easing into life as a duo it'll also be kind of a nice farewell to my life as a soloist, especially since it will be obvious how much better the second half of the set will sound. Apart from that I guess we'll need to discuss recordings and whatnot since I still have this idea that I'll (we'll) get a full length demo out before the end of the year. Maybe a video too. I guess I'll just roll with the punches and see where things end up.

Next show is with Demon Smiles and others in London on the 27th @ The Birds Nest in Deptford. Be there or be somewhere better!!!!

Expansion and the awful thought of social interaction.

For those of you that read the Red Rag Front small print you will be well aware that the band actually formed in 2004/5 (I don't remember which exactly because I was drunk for those years) when my best friend Tazz and I decided that playing punk songs on acoustic guitars could work since we both liked Against Me! and it seemed to be awesome for them. Now Tazz died a year ago and I originally started this all back up as a tribute to him, it's also been my main reason for not wanting to be any more than a solo act. Somehow in my head I have convinced myself that it's not a fitting tribute if I replace him.

A year on and, well, I'm beginning to think that my sense of loyalty is a little misdirected. Maybe instead of limiting myself and not being able to progress and better the band because I think that the ghost of Tazz may be offended for some reason (which of course he would not), I can make the leap to the next level and expand the empire, therefore making everything better. I have given some thought before to having more members in team Red Rag. I would quite like a drummer and I think an excellent starting place would be another guitarist/backing vocalist. From there the sky is really the limit but I can't see myself wanting to stretch to any more than four members max. With a bigger contingent on the rosta the songs I already have could be fleshed out to be more intricate and having more people to write new songs with would mean better variety and more substance than I can manage on my own. On paper having extra people in the group is all win, however to be honest I'm not really sure that adding permanent members is totally the right thing to do. Being a solo act does allow me a hell of a lot of freedom to take things in my own direction and to keep decisions, travel and practice to the minimum effort needed. I don't need to arrange practice slots, or organise times to get to a venue or teach anyone the new songs. It might just be that my real reason for not wanting other members in the band is that I've got this music thing on easy mode and I'm just too lazy to step things up a notch.

Well far from me to back down from someone calling me lazy, even when I just called myself lazy!! I'm gonna make a few preparations and trial having extra people join the Red Rag Front. Will it go well? Will I become a horrendous dictator? Only time will tell. Now if only I knew someone who was awesome and played acoustic punk rock.....

Putting a foot down to get a leg up.

Do you know what sucks? the holocaust that's what sucks. Also on a slightly unrelated note playing to a bunch of people who don't care that you're there sucks. During my earlier months my plan was to get out and play whatever gigs I could so that I could get exposure and experience doing this solo thing. Amazingly now I feel much more comfortable on stage on my own, the almost crippling fear I was feeling having to be the sole person desperately trying to hold a crowds attention has dissipated now that I have done it enough times to find myself a rhythm I'm comfortable with, and thanks to some rather kind feedback from friends I have a good idea what works and what doesn't.

That means that those earlier shows were in no way a waste of time but now I need to start paying my reputation attention again. I think begging for shows each month and playing to crowds who aren't really into the kind of music I play is gonna be damaging for Red Rag Front as the loss making enterprise that it is. I don't expect people to know all the words to my songs, but I expect people in a crowd  to maybe own a Chuck Ragan album or the like and to have an appreciation for the style of music I play. These were excellent lessons I learned playing in Worthing last month and I have come to a decision regarding my gigging future.

No more will the Red Rag Front be darkening any generic acoustic evenings, it was by pure luck that I had one acoustic show with Andrew Maclaughlin which turned out to be excellent due to our similar taste in awesome punk and playing with real punk bands made me understand that that is where I belong full time. I'm fully willing to only play a few shows in a year as long as each of them are as fun and rewarding as that Worthing show.

I put this sentiment out there via Facebook this week and was truly happily surprised to get a response back from the Recluse Club guys. They are super awesome and people should go check out their Bandcamp if they don't believe me. This is the type of thing I wanted to be doing when I started Red Rag Front. I don't want to have my name in bright lights or to have a huge following, I just want my punk rock friends to know that they have a solid fun opening act for their shows any time the space is available.

So here goes the next stage in my Red Rag career. Will it all fall to pieces around me? maybe, but I've kept myself going for a while now and I'm gonna enjoy all of it whilst I can.

The return of the great white hope for the Red Rag Front

So before I get right into things I'll just quickly mention the fact that I haven't written anything in a while, also my last post was a bit of a downer. That's mostly because as an artist, I can't help but want to feel some recognition for what I'm doing and previously was descending into a spiral of silence and unappreciated shows. Watching the fact that no one is listening to your music is a tad disheartening and it seemed to me like it was already time to call things a day in the Red Rag camp, that camp being me sat on my own in yet another venue!!

The tale of my redemption and subsequent reignited love for what I do started last Saturday and a small slightly smelly practice room on the polar opposite end of London. It was there that I had a super awesome jam with the musical loves of my life Demon Smiles. I've been threatening to do so for a while now but what with things getting in the way hadn't gotten around to it. Almost immediately after the practice phone calls were made and I was added to a bill for a show down in Worthing and as fate would conspire I could make it so it was on like Donkey Kong!!

Even a cancelled acoustic night the evening before and some truly british summertime rain couldn't put a dampner on my mood as I made my way down, full of beans and ready to rock. Not only was I about to play my own set, but I had also ingratiated my way into a couple of DS tunes too.When I turned up things were a hell of a lot different to my usual story (in a good way) and because of these key differences I am back in love with gigging (and i guess blogging).

Firstly a serious shout-out needs to go to Recluse Club, who as well as being the third act on also engineered the night and were responsible for me being there in the first place. Now usually when I turn up for a gig I spend around thirty seconds sound checking (no change there) and then sit on my own for the remainder of the time waiting for the show to start/someone I know to arrive (big change here). Instead of that though the RC guys and I had an awesome time getting to know each other, being that one of them had a Blink hat that I own (always the consummate conversation starter) and from there out it transpired that we also had everything else in common. I forget sometimes playing alongside such wildly different people from myself usually that there are people out there that do the same as me that also share the same interests I do.

Second on my love letter to the Worthing punk scene are the punks who populate it. This was the first show that I have actually played to my target demographic and let me tell you it has made me realise that I would rather only play a show a year at a punk gig than carry on playing to people who don't really want to listen to me. The crowd, although mostly made up of other bands and the few people drinking in the bar anyway, really got behind the set and it made a huge impact on my peformance, then went knocking out my covers (a 5 songs in four minutes rancid medley and my ever favourite Dammit cover) i couldn't actually hear myself playing over the rowdy singing of the crowd. That is an experience I've dreamt of ever since I first watched the Dashboard Confessional unplugged dvd and saw it happen to him. It was everything I dreamt of an more.

Last and by every means best were my DS collaboration songs. I played on two of their songs and I was pretty much the nuts!! I have missed playing with a full band and to play with a bunch of people I like and admire so much was a dream come true for an old punk like me. Playing with them is like the most obvious thing in the world. When I walked into the practice studio it was like I'd always been a part of the band, and because we are so close outside of the musical world I guess I have. We click musically extremely well and it was a pleasure and a joy to share a stage with them. This having worked so well opens up a world of opportunity for us both and the possibilities are huge for us.


So there you have it. Welcome back to a positive and enthusiastic me. Let's see where this leads me now.....