colleya

I'm only going for the wrestling!

We've got a Sunday afternoon slot at Ellesmere Port Summer Jam on 3rd August. Not played this one before, looking forward to it.

First time at Matchbox in Warrington. Absolutely huge room. Sharpening up the short set for our appearance at Ellesmere Port Summer Jam on 3rd August and messing about with phone cameras to try and get some clips for the band socials. https://youtube.com/shorts/3K7Fehhf_To?feature=shared

My current band is Tea Time Funk Club, based between Manchester & Liverpool. We're a covers band playing chilled out, funky versions of 90s RnB, classic soul and pop - a similar vein to Scary Pockets and Couch. It's completely different from anything I've done before, a real workout as I have to be much more precise and considered in stripped back arrangements. Four piece - Bass, drums, keys & vocals with hopefully a sax player on the way We've been together about a year - started gigging last March but getting the ball rolling has been slow going. We've done two gigs with another in August but we're still trying to find the right venues for the stuff we do and then get our foot in the door. Videos:

I know it's harder for some folk, but at the end of the day we're the entertainment. It's our job to convince people that they're having a good time (and hopefully to buy more drinks etc). If that happens then everybody wins and we hopefully get rebooked. For me that starts with looking like I'm enjoying myself. I'm lucky enough to be able to gig as a hobby, so it's supposed to be fun, otherwise why would I bother?

Raye is bossing it. Band are excellent.

Was that a subtle nod by Alanis' bassist - using a Flea Sig jazz? Also, Blossoms bass tone is my new target sound. Bloody great!

YouTube to the rescue! https://youtu.be/VF2WohQkJlQ?si=icOL6PLkokIfCtSy

Thanks very much Blue, appreciate you taking the time to say so. We've had enquiries about a festival slot next month and a 2026 wedding at a very posh venue (it's been used as a film/TV set quite a bit) already, so hoping they both pan out.

Yep, turns out the account is private. Balls.

Cheers John, Yep, we're very lucky to have her. I've found a longer clip on an instagram feed. Edit - no it doesn't. Account is set to private. Hopefully this link works.

Thanks Blue. Yep, she's a find, I got lucky with this band. Still early days but I think we'll get some great gigs once the ball is rolling. Hope your ankle heals up quickly.

TTFC's second gig last night at The Garden, Chorlton. Venue used to be Font Bar but has just changed hands, so all the signs still say Font. They're just getting live music up and running, so there isn't a ready made audience there yet. Fortunately it's a local gig for two of us so we brought quite a few people, to the extent where I knew almost everybody in the place! It's got a lot of potential once it gets a reputation and people know there's music on. Bar staff were super chilled and helpful, always a bonus and never taken for granted. We played well, although I made more little mess ups than I should have. The drummer is fettling the recordings, so I'll be able to agonise over them at my leisure soon despite being the only one who noticed on the night. Two 1hr+ sets and 30+ songs (most of them new to me) that haven't all embedded into the muscle memory yet. Gear was Fender Japan Kazuki Arai Jazz 5 -> HX Stomp -> GR One 350 -> PA. Footwear was Vans classic lace ups. A couple of phone clips from friends. If anyone can figure out how to let me resize them please shout up! WhatsApp Video 2025-06-07 at 00.13.50.mp4 WhatsApp Video 2025-06-07 at 00.13.48.mp4

My new band's second gig this Friday (6th June). 9pm - midnight three setter at The Garden (formerly Font Bar), Chorlton, South Manchester. Really looking forward to it after a year or so of spinning the band up, rehearsals and trying to get our foot in the door at venues. Playing live is where it's at for me.

'Silent' rehearsals with my band. Must sound really odd to those outside the room. Drums, vocals and some clacking from strings & keys. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJwbBK8sX3g/?igsh=cHliZG81NGtzc3M4

The only reason I'm in my current band is because their JMB advert was clear, had punctuation and laid out what they did and what they were looking for. Ads like that were a rarity when I was looking.

Aside from a couple of 30 minute pickup bits & pieces, last Friday was my first gig for nearly 18 months. Fully agree with you, I'd forgotten how much of a buzz it it. Congrats on the new band.

The desk recordings have just landed. Pretty chuffed with these: Survive I Try/Millionaire

The desk recordings have just landed: Survive I Try/Millionaire

Sound clip update. Here's a bit of go pro footage from Friday's gig. Hopefully I'll have something a bit clearer once the keys player settles the recordings from the desk. Bass -> GR one 350 -> desk. No cab. Bass settings: bass boost about 20%, mids left at centre, treble cut 90%. Amp set flat. VID-20250329-WA0015.mp4

Very first gig for my new band last night at the Shed & Garden in Chorley. Great little place with a postage stamp of a stage, if you look carefully in the clips, you might just spot the keys player sat off the stage on the right behind the speaker. As first gigs go, it was absolutely excellent. Three setter 9-midnight. It's always nerve racking taking the car out of the garage for the first time. Will everything work? Will I remember the songs with all the extra distractions of a live show? Will they like the song choice (I was worried about this as the set isn't your usual weekend evening stuff, and very different from anything I've done before)? Where do I park? How many sockets are there? Will any of the others have a complete personality change when they get onstage? It was as good as first gigs get IME. Everything nice and pretty tight, no tech gremlins. We played well and the crowd got into it . Some quality dancing and an increasingly enthusiastic response. The keys player ended up with someone almost in his lap a couple of times, and the door staff went and stood in front of the singer for the last set to prevent deliberate or accidental crowd encroachment. We came off stage absolutely buzzing with lots of ideas about how to take things forward. My setup was my new Fender Japanese 5 string into a GR 350 class D head and then FOH. Wired IEMs through a Behringer P2. No cab, which was lucky as there wouldn't have been room for it anyway. The drummer took up almost all the stage, but his sparkly red kit did look lovely under the lights. If you're eagle eyed, you might spot that I've got a glove on my left hand. No, it's not an SBL tribute. This is down to pretty severe eczema which means that the skin on my fingers is paper thin and rips wide open very easily. To prevent bleeding all over my lovely new bass I took a chance on a glove from Amazon and it works pretty well. Excellent feedback from the owners, they've just taken on a new bar in South Manchester and we're looking at dates to play there. the singer is delighted, as it's walking distance form her house Right, a couple of rough phone clips: WhatsApp Video 2025-03-29 at 12.20.27.mp4 WhatsApp Video 2025-03-29 at 11.52.18.mp4

They had a black version of this at BassBros too, but it was listed at 4.5kg. Think if it had been the same weight then I'd have just about gone for black, but the blonde looks great too.

TL:DR - I've bought a new bass. It's very nice. I've been hankering after a jazz for a while to fit with the vibe of my new band. Thought I wanted another Sandberg, a Vincent or really push the boat out and get a Lull. However, I fell in lust with the blonde Fender Japan Kazuki Arai signature jazz on the Bassbros website. It was 4.5kg however, so not for me. Then they got one that was listed as 3.8kg on their site. I messaged them to double check. It was actually 3.8kg. I was in trouble. Being away from Thurs to Sunday guaranteed that this would happen on Thursday afternoon (pic whatsapped to my by my delightful and not at all surprised by another big box arriving other half). Had to wait until Sunday to open it, it played nicely straight out of the box, but a swap to my preferred strings and lowering the saddles by a quarter turn really made a difference. The I plugged it in, oh my, these noiseless vintage pickups really are something. It's the sound I've been chasing for ages. The low B is fabulous. It's gorgeous and not at all 'signature-y'. An engraved neck plate is the only giveaway, and it comes with a plain one too, nice touch. I've got my first gig with my new band on Friday. Everything sensible says I should play my Sandberg as it's a known quantity. I won't though, can't wait to hear this thing in the mix. If anyone's bothered enough then I'll try to get some video and update this post at the weekend. Or, if you're near the bright lights of Chorley then pop along and check us out at The Shed and Garden.

A bit of a schlep over to Liverpool last night for what seemed like the only available rehearsal room in the north west. 30 miles in 90 mins 🤢🤢 And it was totally worth it. We've got our first gig next month so there's some added focus. Plus we're finding our style and getting used to playing together more. Finally, the new songs we brought last night just seemed to fit. Silent (ish) practice with everything through the desk lets us record and listen back. I've never done that before and it's great to be able to be objective about what worked and what didn't. For the gear spotters I took my Sandberg Cali VM5 into a HX stomp, then a GR one 350 head (I seem to get a better sound than just with the stomp straight to the desk). No cab. Here are a couple of the new tracks we tried. Raye into Prince. Got to have a bit of fun with chorus & octaver towards the end. This was only the second or third time through so be gentle. Worth It - IWBYL.mp3