Ou7shined

Lama riding??? I didn't see any Buddhists the last time. The Balmoral is great diggs. Me and Matt had the top floor rooms above the archway. Pretty knackering hauling all our gear up through the maze of stairs to our rooms like.

[quote name='Hutton' post='636172' date='Oct 25 2009, 04:06 PM']I agree that SUBs and Rays don't sound exactly the same. That's why I sold my Ray and kept my SUB![/quote] Unexpected post of the year - love it.

Yep I have already asked the drummer (who is the contact with them) to ask for a copy of the release form.

Well we had the induction meeting yesterday (went with singer and drummer) everything panned out as per what we've gleaned about them online. We got to meet the other bands from the competition ( one of which is called Devil's Testicle ) and they all seemed as equally bemused as we were. The lead organiser explained that each band were expected to bring their own gear (drums will be provided) and also said that they expected a 5 minute turnaround between songs - I piped up about the likelihood of this happening but he stood firm and that hoped we would be able to stick to the plan. Right at the end of the "workshop" he added that on the night of the competition we will be asked to sign documentation that allows them to use all recorded/video material for promotional use.... drummer and singer turn to me and say "go on say it".... but I didn't, the smile on my face said it all. Seeing as our band seems committed to doing this I will have a bloody good look over the release forms and make sure that we are just allowing them to use the material and not own the rights to it. If it turns out to be the latter I will refuse to play regardless of what the other guys think.

I agree with everyone that SUBs are great (I totally loved mine) but to be honest SUBs and 'rays don't sound the same. Granted it is close but the fact the the pups are wired differently is a big factor. Stingray pups are wired in parallel while Sterlings and SUBs are series. The one on the left is from my 'ray the other from a my S.U.B.

[quote name='Mikey R' post='635087' date='Oct 24 2009, 08:52 AM']heres a dumb question to those who know - Christian rock is a big genre, arent Christian rock events normally marked in their advertising? In the same way that metal events are obviously metal and folk events are obviously folk? Otherwise, it seems a little nieve to assume every unsigned band in Scotland of every genre would want to write religeous songs.[/quote] +1 I said this to the guys. There's no mention of god bothering in the ad at all - the guys are happy that it was omitted so as not to put people off. Our singer has come up with some new lyrics for this. He can be guilty of cheesy lyrics at times but OMG these take the biscuit - not because of their content but because they sound like Sunday school lyrics. He's done one about Judas and is in the process of converting a song of ours called "Man in Demand" to be all about god. I asked him not to be so literal about the wording because (and I honestly don't want to offend anyone here but) religiously minded people are happy to interpret stuff to fit their beliefs. I've asked him to be less obvious about the lyrics (perhaps do stuff about wonderment etc.) and leave it up to the listener to make the connection.... but I'm just the bass player.

Thanks Jon. Yeah I found the JH webby last night but without the backing of the band I'm just gonna have to let it lie. If it does go wrong then I get to do a big "I told you so". We have an "induction" meeting tomorrow so maybe I can glean more info - maybe even get someone to see my side of it.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='634919' date='Oct 23 2009, 10:29 PM']Crap looking bass! [/quote] Shows what you know then... It's a Telecaster.

Cheers Gordo. More food for thought.

I don't have a yootoob for it so I thought I'd do it in pictorial form.... Still waiting for him to come back and take over.

I sanded my infills down with a sanding block... but then again I love sanding (dunno why - to me it's kinda like meditation but with sore hands) The only thing I say is give the glue a few days to go off properly as mine retreated a bit after sanding down too soon and you could see the glue line. I was left to fill it with successive layers of primer and paint.

[quote]Seen batter days...[/quote] I know you can batter a cod or a haddock but can you batter a stingray?

Just found this on the venue's website. [quote]Aberdeen is a city known for its Oil and Gas; amongst other things, it is the heart of Scotland and is highly esteemed by its residents. The music scene in Aberdeen is growing, and is a very essential facet of growth in this society. The Battle of the Bands Aberdeen 2009 is an event organised by a local Charity “Jesus House”. This event will pull bands primarily from Aberdeen and then from all across Scotland together, to channel their creative energies towards creating and performing skilful music to an expectant audience. After this 2009 inaugural competition, from 2010, the competition will now be organised on annual basis as "Scotland Battle of the Bands" and will be open to music bands from across all of Scotland. The sponsors are open to having other organisations join as co-sponsors The primary objective of this competition is to reach out to Aberdeen and positively impact lives through good music, showcasing the best bands that Scotland has to offer. The sponsoring charity will offer a prize of £1000 to the most successful band, performing on the night. Local music retailer “Bruce Miller” will also co-sponsor the event by offering runner up prizes to the other two most successful bands. The event will take place at 6.00 pm on the November 8 in The Lemon Tree Lounge. Judges for the competition will include a former Music Executive, a local Music Artist and other qualified individuals, who will judge the competition based on band creativity, performance and synergy within the groups. This competition will be a blast, so let’s make some good music![/quote] I've spoken separately to 2 of the band members about my concerns and they just think I'm being a mental case thinking anything shady is going on.

Zero f/b. ZERO get it

[quote name='thedonutman' post='633621' date='Oct 22 2009, 06:03 PM']I vote walk away too. As a side note, my band is considering entering a local BOTB too. Apparently to enter we have to write and record a song about AIDS (Awareness, obviously ).......[/quote] Do it like the one in Team America... you'll win for sure.

You want something like a Korg Pandora PX**. They sometimes pop up on here for 40-50 quid. They seem about a tenner dearer on ebay.

[quote name='OldGit' post='633350' date='Oct 22 2009, 12:33 PM']Ask for the contract and get a Musicians Union lawyer to check it for you - or at least tell them that's what you are going to do. I suspect all interest in your band will dry up very rapidly. Also ask for the rules of the "battle" BOTB's always have some in my limited experience. It's usually "biggest crowd wins and sod the talent" but that's by the by... This is a "15 minutes of fame" type thing - you are seduced into doing something you would never ordinarily do for the chance of being on telly somewhere .. Run away, and fast.... +1 on leave out the religion discussion. I don't think it has any relevance here[/quote] I can assure you we are 100% not being seduced by the chance to be on the telly, although publicity of that ilk would be great for the band (if a little embarrassing given the theme). However we are probably very hopeful about the £1000 (even though we won't win) as we have some great songs that need recording. We would only do this as a chance to benefit the band. The rules do seem a little unusual for a BOTB. I'm a little hazy on the details as I stopped listening half way through but.... 6 bands get up one at a time and do a song each then 2 bands are eliminated by the panel of 3 judges (one of which is the musical director of The Lemon Tree (the venue - a sort of council funded arts centre) and a representative from the music shop sponsor) Then the 4 remaining bands go up for another song each, 2 are again eliminated then the remaining 2 go up for a final head to head. The bands will be judged on lyrical content, song structure, commercial appeal, band chemistry and instrumental ??? - I think the language barrier came in to play here but we all nodded like we knew what he was saying. I think they mentioned that it is a charity run thing too (didn't catch any charity name) but £1000+ seems like a lot for a charity to give away.

[quote name='observer' post='633213' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:54 AM']In my opinion, first you should ask them about some writen rules of the competition, specialy what they can do with recorded videos. That's strange there's nothing about it on the website.[/quote] I think you're right.

[quote name='Hutton' post='633212' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:54 AM']For the OP: As regards the BOTB. My son's band was involved in a similar escapade. My advice for what it's worth is to have nothing to do with it. You will be exploited and possibly find yourselves in a situation where you are persuaded to take part in the activities of a dubious pseudo church.[/quote] Very interesting. Could you give me more details about this so I can discuss this with the band. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[quote name='OldGit' post='633166' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:03 AM']Run away..... Spend the time getting real gigs. Oh and send that first post to the shop ....[/quote] I'm going to phone them to see what their take on it is. Apparently the judge for "technical ability" is a representative from the shop.

[quote name='The Funk' post='633119' date='Oct 22 2009, 07:25 AM']Don't do it. You're giving them free video footage and free songs.[/quote] Yep this does worry me. They did mention that one of the points that the bands are going to be judged on is how "sell-able" they are. Whether there are plans to take this further or it is just a piss-ant category to pad out the criteria and be a bit Simon Cowell I don't know. I am scared that we inadvertently sign away the rights to our best songs because I don't know where "we want you to write 3 new songs for the competition" becomes "we commissioned 3 songs from you for the competition now they belong to us". We probably won't win as we're not a commercial sounding band. I don't know what we are, sort of GCSE math rock with catchy melodies and lyrics based on real world experiences, heavy but not metal. I can't see that our music would have a wide enough audience to be considered viable to promote their religion unless they want to draw in hedonist and satanists (which is possible now I think about it). I suppose the lyrics (which will be submitted for judging) could be pinched but then again, it's not material we would choose to write normally or wish to be associated with so personally speaking (I'm not the lyricist) they could have them.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='633093' date='Oct 22 2009, 02:26 AM']....Apparently their school chaplain (who seems quite fond of year 9 girls - guess the religion!) has decided to break the school's historical support for Amnesty International recently because of a position they took in support of an African woman who wanted to have an abortion. So now he's started printing out form letters and giving them to year 7s (11-year-olds) to sign and mail off in support of some more-appropriate "charity" that doesn't waste its time on things he considers immoral in his tiny little religion-addled mind.....[/quote] Woah that's fairly unsettling for a number of reasons.

True, but given the short time we have until the final we are just going to change the lyrics to existing songs. I guess we proceed with our eye wide open. If they do a bunk with the takings then it's no biggy - you don't expect to get paid for a BOTB anyway.