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?