3V17C

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1348175402' post='1810572'] im not doubting you at all but how come they're your bass lines and not Harris's?? Cheers. [/quote] no probs man... Basically, many moons ago (around 2001 ish) I was part of a band with the singer and one of the guitarists off this British Lion album. They already had connections with Harris and he was putting up the money etc for us to record an album at his studio. Literally the day before we were meant to go down to start recording Sanctuary music pulled the plug on the project. Shortly afterwards I left to do other things but Richie and Dave continued writing and recording together and the project gradually morphed into this Steve Harris solo record. A few of the songs on the album are from the original writing/recording sessions I did way back when and they have changed very little (if at all) - Harris has played the exact same bass parts that I originally put down... if that all makes sense?! cheers C

just listening to this now on the Metal Hammer site - very weird hearing my childhood bass hero Steve Harris playing my basslines!!! I played bass on the demos for a few songs off this new album of his.. nothing spectacular bassline wise but he's pretty much kept to exactly what i played so i must have been doing something right! [url="http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/steve-harris-british-lion-full-album-streaming-exclusively-on-metal-hammer/"]http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/steve-harris-british-lion-full-album-streaming-exclusively-on-metal-hammer/[/url]

haha not sure what to make of this!! Stick with it.. theres some hilarious bits (not the playing so much..... just him!) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdAOsY-mnE[/media]

had a similar thing this week... i'm normally a rock player but was asked to step in at short notice with a 9 piece 70's funk/soul band - very little time to learn the songs and half a rehearsal later i only really dropped the ball once. Made a very nice change to play some of those kinda basslines, and the band were impressed that i played all the twiddly bit in Sir Duke... their regular bass player just drops out for that part apparently!!

I worked on this project when it first got underway about ten years ago! Wasn't a Harris solo album then but a band that was gonna do an album for Sanctuary music - unfortunately the plug got pulled literally the day before we were due in the studio. Guitarist/vocalist/drummer from that are now on this British Lion album as are a lot of the old songs... be interesting to hear Mr Harris playing some of my bass lines for a change!! If its not changed too much then its nothing like Maiden, more classic rock - I have a bunch of the original demos somewhere.

cheers guys.. [url="http://www.ronsayer.co.uk"]www.ronsayer.co.uk [/url]is the band - nah, Paul Jones wasn't there when we did the session, just his producer and the engineer... although whispering Bob Harris popped in while we were mixing.. which was nice!

heres a bonus track of ours that wasn't broadcast on tonight's BBC Radio 2 blues show: [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00w1n0h"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/p00w1n0h[/url] sneaky bit of two handed tapping from me in there too! Guess the rest of the show (another 3 of our session tracks) will be available to listen again on iplayer somewhere if anyones interested?!! C

so.. our promoter fella wants us to put together an EPK to send out - anyone else done one or got some good examples? Any pointers? Back in the day they seemed to be a good idea.. some kind of multimedia presentation with pics, audio, video etc on CD to send out but I dunno..... is it really necessary these days when the website contains all that kind of stuff? All the promotional material is already up there online so would just be duplicating that?.... thoughts, comments etc on the back of a five pound note to the usual address..... cheers C

spot of random jamming yesterday - warts n all! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mgx5NdeM0[/media]

just posted this on the attitude FB page: The post that was removed was in my opinion totally relevant to the Attitude bass,,, the colour scheme and inlays of the Fender looked more than a little inspired by the seafoam Attitude and the thumbnail pic even looked like an Attitude at first glance...the Attitude being of course based on a Fender P in the first place... Lots of pics of 'the wife' on here too containing 0% Yamaha. Karl getting blocked for posting said Fender pic seems completely OTT as he has previously contributed lots and is an Attitude player himself. He wasn't trying to promote anything and was just posting info he thought would be of interest to fellow Attitude fans.. it was to me. I like a good P from time to time!

only just saw this Karl... does seem a bit ridiculous.... hmmm may have to say something on the FB page......

cheers dude. As it goes the bandleader mentioned the other night that he's not been playing to his full potential the last few gigs which coincidentally ties in with the amount of times the kids have come along so we're going to suggest that its maybe the extra pressure of having the kids there thats causing his playing to suffer. I think that may make him realise its not such a great idea and is a way of raising the issue without making it personal. We've got no gigs now for a month anyways so hopefully things may get resolved. In summary, they're not bad kids, or bad parents but there is a just a question mark over the wisdom of bringing them on the road. peace C

[quote name='Starless' timestamp='1337468553' post='1660635'] Wow, fame at any price eh? I just hope I never meet the OP, the urge to punch him in the face for his part in the abuse of innocent kids would be just too strong. Unbelievable. [/quote] WTF? ..whats more 'unbelievable' is your attitude right here. Yes the situation is not ideal, but never, despite my feelings on the situation, at any point did i say the parents were a***holes and being a parent myself I would of course step in if anything really bad was happening towards their kids and the matter is of course going to be raised within the band. The whole point of this post was just to highlight the absurdity of them bringing the kids on the road and the awkwardness of us, the band members, complaining about it without risking our position in the band. 'The abuse of innocent kids' as you call it is far too strong a way of putting it! I don't know who you think you are and I don't normally rise to these things but you've pissed me off if I'm honest so anytime you want to meet face to face feel free to bring it on. I guarantee you would not come out on top. Mods... feel free to close this thread. I wanted some genuine advice/thoughts on how to handle the kids/band situation which of course I have recieved from the usual helpful contributors along with the usual dose of humour. I didn't want or expect personal abuse or threats of violence from some idiotic forum troll. Starless? Brainless more like. Idiot. C

haha and to cap it all... at yesterdays gig they didn't just bring the kids.. they also brought the family dog!!! Seriously!!.. I could not believe it!!

Cheers for all the input... seems i'm not the only one who thinks bringing the kids is a bad idea!! At the moment the opinion amongst us three band members is that the whole bringing the kids along thing will implode in on itself anyway. Fingers crossed its only going to be a matter of time before the parents realise that its more trouble than its worth having the kids there and that being on the road is no place for them. We'll see! I think we're gonna have to wait it out and hope they see sense. At the moment I don't want to rock the boat (I already did that the other day!) and I don't want to jump ship just yet as the band does have potential (we've just been booked for a BBC Maida Vale session and are getting some dates in Europe etc) so I don't want to shoot myself in the foot over this issue! Will have to see how it goes!!....

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1337000528' post='1653724'] I'd say this is the key point and a lot will depend on how formalised this arrangement is. Are you really part of the band or just a hired musician? A subtle but important difference. If the former, then all members should have a say in touring matters and conditions etc. If the latter then, frankly, it's their band and you have to do as they say (or leave). As for the wisdom of taking kids on tour, I'd steer clear of that discussion unless expressly asked. They're not your kids so they're not your responsibility. Suggesting to parents that they are not doing a good job (whether it's true or not) is a recipe for disaster and not really any of your business. [/quote] Well.... it is meant to be a 'band' rather than us just being hired hands as this has been discussed between us before but we go out under his name as his name has a small amount of previous recognition from stuff he has done in the past. And yes, questioning their parenting skills is of course very shaky ground which is one of the things making it awkward to address the issue. I should point out that at the moment we (the band) are making no money from this. We get a small food budget/a lot of our costs are covered and we do sometimes get a cut of gig money but a lot of stuff at the moment is unpaid supports. We're looking at it as a long term thing that may or may not end up as a career but meantime we're giving up our time etc pretty much for free, so as someone mentioned above we need to try to keep it enjoyable at this stage. If i was being paid a wage or whatever I would tolerate more.

[quote name='keyproduction' timestamp='1336999259' post='1653694'] Firstly congratualtions on finding enough work to be on the road a lot. I don't think taking the kids along all the time would be good for them if it is permanent like you say. A few trips for the experience now and then but a permanent fixture does not sound good for the band or kids. [/quote] I agree taking kids to the odd (maybe more local) gig is totally fine, or maybe to any festivals etc where there is stuff for them to be doing.

[quote name='ZMech' timestamp='1336996635' post='1653639'] Just a couple of follow up questions. Are these gigs always at weekends or are they often on weekdays? Do you often end up staying overnight near the gig location? And lastly do the children ever end up missing school to come with? Just as these answers quite significantly change the impact of their parenting decisions. [/quote] Gigs are often weekdays and yes we stay away overnight sometimes 3 days in a row and soon to be more than that. Us three band members have own hotel room so not having to share with kids thank goodness!... at least not so far! Children missed 2 days of school on this last outing for starters.... apparently they only go to proper school 3 days a week anyway and are home schooled the other two days.

Settle in for a long story, but I need a rant!! I play in an originals band which is very much the singer/guitarist's project (we go out under his name so essentially myself, the keys player and drummer are the backing band). All the musicians are of a very high standard, we get on as people and things are going reasonably well with some good album reviews in national press, radio play on local stations/Radio 2 etc and lots of gigs starting to come in both nationally and in Europe so a good project to be a part of with lots of potential. The album we recorded recently featured the bandleader's wife on backing vocals on a few tracks (she is a very good singer in her own right) and recently she has been coming along to gigs and getting up to do a few songs with us and also to support him as he's been having confidence/depression issues of late. Fair enough (although I must admit I don't get on with her particularly on a personal level - thats another story which I may go into some other time but I will always try to keep it professional) and of course it has altered the dynamic of the band as a whole a little bit but we can live with that.... or so i thought. Problem is, for the last couple of gig trips away they have now started bringing their two kids with them (aged 8 and 10) and now there is a definite 'them and us' split within the band. The van is big enough to accomodate them so thats not an issue but of course we now have to watch our language/band banter/risque jokes etc the whole time and generally be on our best behaviour and the whole travelling side of things (a big part of our day) is now like a family day out. Rather than having music etc on we now have Disney films playing on the way to gigs and we're barely allowed to stop for cigarette breaks etc. Also, speaking as a parent myself, the kids aren't particularly well disciplined and seem to be allowed to do what they want including sometimes being quite disrespectful to us in the band (by all accounts both children have some behavioural issues meaning they've had to move schools etc). Its already got to the point where myself and the other two guys are talking about travelling seperately to gigs. Obviously its a really awkward situation to address. My concerns are that its causing a split between us band members and the 'family unit'. Also I do question the wisdom of bringing them on the road in the first place. Aside from niggling things like them getting under our feet while we're unloading etc to my mind its an adult environment... surely they should be in school? All the travelling and very late nights makes them bored and irritable and when we're onstage who looks after them? We did a 2 hour radio session the other night and they were just left outside in the van by themselves with instructions to text if they needed anything. Certainly not something I'd do with my own daughter. Maybe its just me but it does seem like an unusual situation and from what I can tell they are going to continue coming to most gigs we do.... any thoughts/similar experiences on this?..... Peace C

used to have a bass at work all the time... small office, only three of us... one other fella had his guitar there too so used to have odd jams here and there! as well as playing at lunchtimes i could also get away with noodling about during work hours while computer was busy rendering