Good god, another year over. What a predictable exclamation, but no less earth shattering each time. Last Christmas I drew up a list of all the venues I’d played at in London and gave them a short review from a performer’s perspective. I suppose I could do the same again for this year, but I’m not quite in the mood for such detail right now.
I will however point out a few highlights and low-lights of the year. Probably towards the start of the year, there was one weekend where we played 3 gigs: Passing Clouds, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, and Nottinghill Arts Club. All paid, and we were all laughing over the luck of it. If only we could be paid to do it every night, it would be financially viable, alas…Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club was for me a fantastic show, as the audience were looking wide eyed up at me and practically rubbing my erogenous zones. That’s really all there is to me.
Then followed a rather depressing period throughout the summer where the term “residency” was bandied about as if it were a ticket to Shangri-La. I hate Camden at the best of times, and this spate of empty rooms did nothing to help it’s cause. My poor band, the trials I put them through that summer. I can’t apologise to them profusely enough.
As Autumn crept up, a blizzard of change was brewing. I had to part ways with two sterling chaps, much to my dismay. The idea was to step up a gear in terms of musicianship. I had no idea if it was the right thing to do, perhaps I was getting above myself etc. I wasn’t particularly relishing the coming months of bandlessness, as periods of inactivity always get me down. Nevertheless the break was made.
This grand network of musicians I’ve been unconsciously cultivating helped me out of that hole rather quicker than I’d anticipated. Two new sterling chaps joined my band in the last month. They learned the whole Marmaduke repertoire off their own back mostly within two months. I was astounded, and pleased that I had indeed made the right decision.
This new line-up proved their mite at probably the best gig of the year, just the weekend past, at The Victoria. Professional to a tee but not irritatingly so. Just as it should be. What a grand pub that is too. I’d recommend anyone stopping in for a session.
So what on earth do I have to show for the past year? Materialistically speaking: not a lot. We did a few recordings this year, I hated them instantly. Now i’ve given them 9 months to fester, there’s a certain charm to them that I quite like. Next year, I promise, they will be in the public domain on download, stream, and vinyl. It will be an album of 10 songs from the last few years. It will be out at the end of March.
Alongside a great deal of soldering jack leads back together, that’s the general plan. See you at the launch party. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
A Summary of 2009
Good god, another year over. What a predictable exclamation, but no less earth shattering each time. Last Christmas I drew up a list of all the venues I’d played at in London and gave them a short review from a performer’s perspective. I suppose I could do the same again for this year, but I’m not quite in the mood for such detail right now.
I will however point out a few highlights and low-lights of the year. Probably towards the start of the year, there was one weekend where we played 3 gigs: Passing Clouds, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, and Nottinghill Arts Club. All paid, and we were all laughing over the luck of it. If only we could be paid to do it every night, it would be financially viable, alas…Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club was for me a fantastic show, as the audience were looking wide eyed up at me and practically rubbing my erogenous zones. That’s really all there is to me.
Then followed a rather depressing period throughout the summer where the term “residency” was bandied about as if it were a ticket to Shangri-La. I hate Camden at the best of times, and this spate of empty rooms did nothing to help it’s cause. My poor band, the trials I put them through that summer. I can’t apologise to them profusely enough.
As Autumn crept up, a blizzard of change was brewing. I had to part ways with two sterling chaps, much to my dismay. The idea was to step up a gear in terms of musicianship. I had no idea if it was the right thing to do, perhaps I was getting above myself etc. I wasn’t particularly relishing the coming months of bandlessness, as periods of inactivity always get me down. Nevertheless the break was made.
This grand network of musicians I’ve been unconsciously cultivating helped me out of that hole rather quicker than I’d anticipated. Two new sterling chaps joined my band in the last month. They learned the whole Marmaduke repertoire off their own back mostly within two months. I was astounded, and pleased that I had indeed made the right decision.
This new line-up proved their mite at probably the best gig of the year, just the weekend past, at The Victoria. Professional to a tee but not irritatingly so. Just as it should be. What a grand pub that is too. I’d recommend anyone stopping in for a session.
So what on earth do I have to show for the past year? Materialistically speaking: not a lot. We did a few recordings this year, I hated them instantly. Now i’ve given them 9 months to fester, there’s a certain charm to them that I quite like. Next year, I promise, they will be in the public domain on download, stream, and vinyl. It will be an album of 10 songs from the last few years. It will be out at the end of March.
Alongside a great deal of soldering jack leads back together, that’s the general plan. See you at the launch party. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Marmaduke