cheddatom

The Tivoli in Buckley on Saturday. If you play there and go to the back stage room, you'll notice a little piece of cardboard with the words "Mind your head Tom" written on it perched just above the doorway. That's from last time we played there in November when I walked into the door frame with the top of my skull which sent me to the floor and gave me some dizziness and a lasting headache. Well, I didn't notice, and I did it again, even worse. My head still hurts today! Anyway, I played OK. We were supporting The Men They Couldn't Hang who have a big following, but I reckon there were less than 100 in, which feels pretty empty in "The Tiv" which is a huge room. It was quite reassuring that the crowd for the headline act was basically the same size as for us.

Rescue Rooms in Nottingham on Sunday. This is one of my favourite venues to play, just great in every way. It was an early start - doors at 5, we were on at 6, then The Men They Couldn't Hang on at 7, all done for 9pm. The room was packed and we went down really well. Loads of compliments, loads of merch sold etc. so job well done.

I thought this photo was cool, even if I do look a bit confused. I'll blame that on the concussion

Tuesday night we played the Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes supporting Theatre Of Hate again. We packed the van so exceptionally well I had to take a photo.

We usually have another couple of big plastic boxes full of merch, so maybe that's why it went in easier. It felt like it took forever to get there, but the venue is very cool. There were plenty of people in for us, and we went down really well. I'm not sure I like the music of Theatre Of Hate but they're good players. Either way I had to wait until the end of their set before we could pack the merch up and get on the road. I got to bed at 3AM and had my alarm set for 6:30AM to get up for an important meeting on Wednesday morning. I'm still tired now!

Ey Up Mi Duck festival near Doncaster on Saturday night. We were last on and they went absolutely nuts for us, singing along so loud I could clearly hear them over the on-stage racket. This was the view while the previous band played at the other end of the tent.

Sunday night at the Castle and Falcon in Birmingham supporting Theatre Of Hate. There weren't many in, and the response seemed a little lack-lustre, especially when compared to Saturday night, but we won some new fans and sold some merch so that'll do!

We've got loads! Our gig list is here but there are loads more that haven't been announced yet https://headsticks.co.uk/gigs

EDIT: There have been a few cancellations due to low ticket sales. That seemed to start last year. Nervy promoters in my opinion as every gig that's gone ahead seems well attended to me

14 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Also I think I did quite alright just using my experience and ears composing, programming, playing/singing, recording and mixing this piece:

 

I just listened to this whole piece as I'm bored at the office in my day-job. It's not to my tastes as it doesn't really go anywhere, just a solid hypnotic groove that randomly crosses the bar about half way through (the most interesting bit for me) but I know people who would like it.

If you'd like any constructive criticism I could give you a paragraph or two. It'd be based on what I've heard and I wouldn't use any music theory terms as I hardly know any

11 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

That doesn't however mean that you can't hear stuff in your head and play accordingly, simply based on experience.

 

You actually quoted me saying "If you've been using your ears to build up your own "theory" of which notes will work and when, in a sort of trial and error fashion..." which is basically the same as what you've written there, but confusingly, at the start of your sentence, it reads like you're disagreeing with me. 

12 hours ago, ambient said:

No, your ears will only tell you after the event...

This is obvious isn't it. Your ears can only hear sounds, and no sound is made until you play a note, so your ears cannot be involved in that note choice

If you've been using your ears to build up your own "theory" of which notes will work and when, in a sort of trial and error fashion, then your ears were involved in a way, but not in a literal one. 

3 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

Red light fever?

Maybe! However, he absolutely nailed the first song, which was much simpler, but still, he was looking/sounding pretty confident. It was pretty bizarre! 

Great young newish band in yesterday. The drummer can't play a beat and I'm wondering why he's trying to play it, when he clearly can't. I offer advice from a drummer's POV - he was struggling with the bass drum so I suggested adjusting the height of his stool, and adjusting the pedal. It got to the point of "we're going to have to simplify the part", but the guitarist said "hold on, let me play the demo". They'd recorded a decent demo of the song some months back, and the drummer was playing the beat in question perfectly! That left no choice but to go over and over until he got it. A frustrating hour and a half but worth it in the end.

They actually gave me their demo, less the drums, to use as a guide track and that saved a lot of time. I suggest this to a lot of bands but these are the first to ever do it!

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

Back to studio etiquette, and I would say that asking the engineer-cum-producer ( @cheddatom - how do you refer to yourself?) to give an opinion of your band is bad form. If the opinion is offered, fair enough (after all, they're not going to say you're shit so if they give an opinion, it's going to be good).

If someone asks my opinion, I'll generally be nice, but will often say "I wouldn't choose to listen to it personally, but it's good stuff" or words to that effect

I'm an engineer or a producer, it depends what people want really. I prefer to get really stuck into the creative side of it, helping with instrumentation or extra hooks etc, or sometimes even writing most of it... but I do need the money so I'm also happy to STFU and just engineer

12 hours ago, diskwave said:

So way before "digital" this and that on all those old jazz records Motown cuts the guitar/bass players are out of tune?  I started playing bass in 1977. I tuned to whoever was the dominant player, guitar, keys...horns, whatever and I was always in tune. As a much lesser cello player I use a tiny pitch pipe...never fails me..ever. 

It's common to add virtual instruments to songs so it's important to get everyone in tune with the computer 

1 hour ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

Do exactly what the client/producer asks you to and tune up before every take.

You wouldn't believe the number of people that don't or even can't tune up using a digital tuner. I reckon I tune an instrument for the player in at least a third of my sessions

2 hours ago, WinterMute said:

...Good musicians are worth their weight in gold, good drummers doubly so.

Absolutely! The worst session of my career so far was down to a drummer. It was pretty straight forward rock music. The guy only knew how to play a sort of bouncy indie beat, which worked for one track, but none of the others. I tried to get him to play appropriate beats. I'd sort of beat-box the beat to him on the talk back, he'd say he got it, then when I hit record he'd play the same beat as before. I'd say "no, that's not it" and go show him the beat on the kit. He'd say he got it, and then do the same again. Over and over we went until I gave up and accepted the one beat he could play. Unfortunately, as the guide tracks were to a click, and the guy started drinking white lightening at 9AM, to get him anywhere near in time took a hell of a lot of editing. The band sacked him that night and I played the drum tracks for them the next morning - 6 songs in an hour.

Obviously when he turned up with literally no gear (no sticks even) I should have cancelled the session, but again, I needed the money!

2 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

Just out of interest, and I expect the answer is "turnover", but why would you accept a booking from a band that ill-disciplined a second time?

Yep, I needed the money!

Something common to loads of bands/sessions - people in the control room start singing or playing along the to the song, which I'm inevitably going to stop before it gets to the end, giving those awkward moments when people carry on playing or singing for a couple of beats after I've hit stop. I get that you're excited to hear your songs, but think of the poor red-faced engineer!

The band from the first post were in again this weekend. The "boss" told me that they were only doing a couple of straightforward rock 'n' roll numbers and it should be easy to get them done in the day. I breathed a massive sigh of relief. It turns out his definition of "a couple" is actually 4 songs, and once again, they rushed, and didn't get everything done. 

Everything I suggested, he repeated as though it was his idea, but everyone could hear us both

Every time he played or sang, he told us all "that was pretty much perfect". Every time he said it, I said "even if you do say so yourself". The other band members giggled, but it didn't phase him a bit

Working on drum tracks, I would stop the drummer and start talking to him over the talkback mic, but we'd be unable to hear each other because "the boss" was loudly exclaiming how perfect the drumming was. I had to wait until he'd finished complimenting the drummer, before I could explain what was wrong with the drums, which felt very awkward indeed

They brought a non-band member to the session. He just sat in the control room the whole time and said nothing

We did the Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday night. I've been having some serious stress recently and was really looking forward to a few beers, a curry, and playing f|_|ck out of the drums.

Google maps directed us to the wrong side of the pedestrianised high street. 20 minutes of manoeuvring and bickering about signage and fines later, we got to the back door of the pub. The load in was punishing and I was drenched and out of breath by the end of it. Our roadie stood on a bench to hang up some merch, and the sound engineer immediately told him to get down. Apparently it was a health and safety concern. A little alert went off in my head and so I opted for my quieter, dampened snare drum, just in time for him to start telling us that we'd need to keep the stage volume down. There are only 2 monitors, one at each edge of the front of the stage. Our guitarist doesn't use an amp, and all 4 of us sing, so it was quite a challenge to get a sound. 

The engineer insisted our bassist turn down to almost zero, but then fed a load of bass through the stage monitors, making them work far too hard, and making it weird on stage with no low end. We play a lot of gigs, so we're used to compromise and the occasional sub-par PA, but this engineer was talking to us in a very patronising manner, as though it was our first gig. I'm sure he sensed the frustration as after our sound check he tried to win us round "That was amazing guys, is that song on spotify? I love it" etc. 🙄

The support bands turned up, and we start discussing kit share and stage space between ourselves, which is all pretty normal, but then the engineer started speaking to the whole room, over the PA. When he realised we were still talking to each other, he turned up, and literally said "lend me your ears for just a minute" in a tone that I can only describe as "caricature of bingo caller". He wanted to tell everyone the stage times, and the very strict load-out times. Obviously you'd usually get this info from the promoter/rep before hand, and maybe on the night too, but I've never had it announced at top volume over the PA by a sound engineer. It was all very bizarre

Anyway, we trudged off through the rain to find a curry. We failed. I got some chips. I don't think I've ever been that grumpy getting on stage before, but as usual, the crowd cheered me right up. Ace gig, and by all accounts the sound was excellent, so I guess the engineer knew what he was doing (although our bassist turned up quite a lot, and I switched to my louder, un-damped snare drum). 

Nightmare load out through a wasted crowd but paid and home before 1AM

On 10/03/2024 at 02:57, StingRayBoy42 said:

TONIGHT!
The Meathead's Arms in Wolverhampton (a fight every night or your money back) with 5 piece girl singer pop music band!
(We go out under different names because of something something different agencies something... I don't like to ask)
Dep singer, lovely lass, worked with her before, ex-bandmate of the others, she's basically one of the lads.
Unfortunately, she'd not got the memo about no dress code, so she was was dressed up like (her words) a high-class prostitute and the rest of us were in scruffy T-shirts and jeans.
The football was on when we got there- the smell of testosterone, Ben Sherman shirts and poor quality cocaine made for an electric atmosphere.
Load in and setup all pretty normal, nice big stage area so I set up next to the drummer to keep him company.
A fair few people in, mostly ignoring us and waiting for Match of the Day to start so we treated it like a paid practice.
First set we played really well apart from Toxic which we messed up worse than Britney messed up 2007, luckily no-one was listening so we got away with it.
Second set had a couple of dancers and a few tables at the back seemed to be enjoying it.
The drummer and I had a great time while the keys player was frantically doing FOH sound, sorting out clicks, cueing the singer and occasionally playing some keys.

Highlights were the two Dua Lipa ones (Levitating and Don't start now) which are a blast to play, Murder on the Dancefloor (new one which we all complained about but now love) and Crazy in Love/Crazy mashup which I've FINALLY sussed out (It's really very simple, it goes 6, 4, 2. 8, 8, (4) 8, 10, Crazy, loads, 4(*), ending. Simple.) The drummer loves that one and plays it like he's getting paid by the note.

It was the first public outing of my new improved enormous pedalboard (NIEPB) which sounded fantastic - the SA C4 patch for Toxic is brilliant (shame we totally buggered the song up, but the Bass sounded great), the EBS Multicomp gives the sound a fat, round, warm punch in the guts but in a good way and I'm fairly sure the two metres of retina-destroying pink LEDs make it sound extra fabulous.
(It's not quite finished - when a certain online retailer who shall remain nameless bothers to post me the stuff I ordered over a week ago, I can hook up the patchbay AND have all matching red patch leads. Obviously, you can't tell they're red, what with the two metres of retina-destroying pink LEDs, but still...)

Played the 5 String 'Ray which is still a work in progress - I did find myself reverting to using the B as an expensive thumb rest when I switched to autopilot, but Rome wasn't burnt in a day and all that.

Second outing of the weekend for the rainbow Converse, foot fans!

Paid cash, shipping forecast on the way home, back about 1 for last nights curry with a pint of Westons Reserve (8.2% ABV), an Old Fashioned (Lots of ice, much bourbon (usually Maker's Mark but Four Roses tonight), sugar syrup (use maple syrup for a really good one), Angostura Bitters, lots of stirring and a twist of orange peel over the top) and most importantly of all, desperately seeking validation from strangers on the internet.

Cheers. Same again, please.

You did char the orange peel right?

19 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

The last time I played there I got a parking ticket behind the 100 Club. That was the first time I ever saw a warden back there!!

I think you have to wait until after 5 or 6pm to park there? We've never had a ticket anyway

When we play in London we all go in one van, pay the congestion charge and any parking fees. We never seem to have a problem loading in, or finding somewhere nearby to park. It always seems fine to me!

Burslem is pretty much dead. I doubt this will do anything to help but but if it's going to attract Rayman all the way from Macclesfield you never know! 

54 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

Sorry to hear that. We have exactly the same problem. We can get a fairly decent crowd locally, but outside of our "area" we're pretty much unknown.

 

Still, at least those 50 people will have enjoyed it and hopefully will get some interest coming your way in future.

Yeh we definitely won some new fans. It would have made sense if we'd picked up another gig in London, which was on the cards, but didn't happen in the end

We drove from Stoke to Margate on Saturday. 5 hours with a couple of stops. Olby's Soul Cafe is a brilliant venue! Great PA and the engineer was brilliant too. Unfortunately the choice of some unknown band from Stoke to headline a night in Margate didn't work out so well. The old story of a local support band bringing most of the crowd, then taking them with them after the set. All that way, writing off two full days, to play to less than 50 people... still, at least we got paid and had a laugh

Duffy's bar in Leicester on Saturday night. It was rammed and super sweaty. I'd annoyed the sound engineer yet again! This time I moved the drum monitor before he'd arrived. It turned out this monitor was knackered, and rather than fix it, he'd found just the right angle to balance it on a bar stool and keep it working. It'd been working for months apparently! After the show I politely recommended that if he didn't want to fix it, he should put a "do not move" sign on it. 

Anyway, I played without a monitor and it sounded fine on stage. Great gig!

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Can't have been too bad then as quite a decent sized crowd and they look as tho they are well into it.

Sound Engineers are a hit or a miss and this guy sounds as tho he doesn't really know what he's doing.

Just move on and if you return there either take your own SE or just accept its gonna be a difficult sound check again. Maybe whoever he was on the phone to could come along and do the sound for you. 

Apart from the fact your vocal mic was muted i'd put this down as a successful gig.

Dave

Yeh it was definitely a successful gig!

This soundguy normally works at the other local venue, which was his excuse for all the problems, although both venues have the same desk... Anyway, issues with the bar and door staff mean that our fans would never go to this venue again (even longer story!), so it's not going to be an issue for us in the future