Cat Burrito

Pretty much echoing what everyone else said here; prompt payment, friendly comms, no worries. Thanks Tony.

Arrived at The Bell in the picturesque Wiltshire village of Great Cheverell (are you ready to rock Great Cheverell, said literally nobody ever) for my Goth duo's little stint at the Open Mic. We met early for a quick run through at my musical other half's 85yr old Mum's place. It looked like Mrs. Kersch's home in Derry (It reference!) where we drank lukewarm iced coffee out of wine glasses ("lovely hospitality Mrs. Fletcher") and showed Nick's Mum how to send an email from her phone (I don't mock, it'll come to me before I know it!). Funny how a 50yr old friend reverts to a teenager when Mum is about! Worst load in ever and a very posh NIMBY came out to talk in a loud patronising voice about protected verges - Nick's Skoda, not my impeccable parking three counties away! No pictures of the show but I did send a quick selfie to my good lady to let her know that I had safely travelled the hour journey... and as pictures maketh the post on this thread, um, enjoy?!? Thankfully it was a mandolin gig for me, so no heavy amp or cumbersome bass guitar to load in. We opened and closed the night. I sang the female vocal part of the Human League's Don't You Want Me to a room full of brilliant singers, who politely nodded and no doubt blessed me for "having a go". Then we followed this by the usual "no it's not a guitar" and "I'm actually a bass player" type conversations with people who were seeing us for the first time. Actually thought we played quite well and we seemed to be fairly well received. One chap spoke to us in detail about the bands we covered, recommended loads of venues that we should play (there seemed to be a story involving a fight at every one!) and then insisted on me finding him to add on Facebook. I did and 19hrs later he's still not accepted me. Not sure what that was about!? 😸 footnote - I wasn't really working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you. I was probably just lurking around the classifieds on Basschat!

Carpet tape, is what I have used in the past.

Aside a phase in the late 90s where I briefly took 2, I only ever take 1. I put a bass through its paces but aside breaking a string once in the late 90s (why I started taking two), I didn't feel the inconvenience of taking two could justify the chances of something going wrong. Back then, I never bothered to get instruments set up and had a poor technique. I'm not saying I'm right, ultimately do whatever works for you.

I've definitely been quieter on the gig front recently because we are concentrating on finishing our album, but yesterday we were out at my local pub in Aldbourne for a very nice outdoors gig. All acoustic, all gothic and it saw me playing bass, mandolin, mandocello, tenor banjo, bodhran and even singing some lead lines. We found out the day before the Aldbourne Brass band were doing a concert as we finished so a decision was made to start earlier. A decent turn out and as our set continued, a very elderly audience started showing up for the Brass band. They positioned their deckchairs facing away from us whilst we played to a packed beer garden. I was then approached afterwards about playing some local festivals. Apparently he loved us but all the Brass band fans had been complaining that we played "miserable music". I might use that on some promo! Generally we were well received and played well. Nick had been struggling with his voice but thankfully he did a brilliant job. We did a fair few new songs and they all went down brilliantly. I must say that I do find 2 hours playing as a duo to be very hard work. I'm shattered today!

I remember in the later days of the old Bassworld forum and the early days of Basschat, loads of people raving about Fender Japan. I don't think Fender USA liked this and it's interesting that they aren't as accessible these days.

My gothic duo with my friend launches a second single today. It's out on Ray Records and streaming everywhere. We cut another video with my good friend of nearly 30yrs at Haunting the Atom. Unashamedly dark synth pop.

That's awesome, we used to watch all the Nephilim videos constantly in the 80s. Coincidentally, the wife of one of my oldest friends used to go out with one of the guitarists and she is STILL very goth. I have a few friends from Stevenage who knew them well too and are now very normal looking.

I think I have a foot (or paw) in the three on the left!

As @bartelby mentioned, "The Season of the Witch" by Cath Unsworth too. The Mission's Wayne Hussey has just done a second autobiography (this one on The Mission and the last one on his Sisters days). There are also a couple of books on the Sisters released in the last year too. A fine time for people with an interest to read on the subculture. I was looking for a book a couple of years ago and there was nothing that wasn't out of print. Post lockdown, it's all changed!

Plenty of great new bands around now. Shameless plug for my own band who also release a single this Friday. Promo for New SIngle!

I know there's a few of us on here, both past and present. Here's a few classics from back in the day that conquer up memories of me high-jacking the car stereo on family holidays.

From the perspective of not having to transport them, I loved my Orange AD200B and associated rig, along with the Ampeg SVT paired with the 8x10. From the perspective of portability with some compromise, the Orange Terror head Mk II and the Ampeg portaflex range. More recently I have been enjoying the Blackstar use of built in effects. I find every amp has strengths and weaknesses, which is great for those with GAS!

I'm in a Goth band so I look like Camila Parker Bowles, dressed in black & drenched in smoke!

Internally, nothing springs to mind but I would change the amount we earn! Not looking to rival Mick Jagger but a circuit of paid gigs where I didn't have to put so much effort in each time would be ideal. As I have a second change, I'd have a roadie that carried the gear, staffed the merch and didn't hang around with the band to mess up our dynamic. They work for free btw! I don't want much.

If I got a room with everyone who said that to me these days, I'd prove my age by not having the energy!

I only turned 50 a couple of months ago but my teens was spent thinking more about how I looked rather than my playing and it is a trait I am embarrassed to say continued into my 20s. I started getting more serious in my 30s and over lockdown I actively started practicing every day - and continue to do so. I think I have a good reputation both locally now and on the circuits I play on, usually get good feedback after shows. All of this is offset by my own personal crippling self-doubt but I guess that is just typical of a lot of musicians. I definitely subscribe to the view that anyone who does something for a long time gets better at it.

Pete bought my Orange AD200B head. Paid straight away, came the same day, had a cool chat about all things bass and the Wiltshire music scene and was easy to deal with. A stand-up fella and one I'd happily recommend.

At a slight tangent and without getting too paranoid about things, I do think musicians tend to be increasingly easier targets. There are plenty of tax avoidance scams that go on in business and at the very top, where as I know a fair few bands who have been hit with huge tax bills because they played some festivals and couldn't prove their small or non existent fee - so got told what they should have earned and been charged for that. We've had conflicting advice from airlines whilst on tour and been hit with charges for instruments at the last minute when they have us over a barrel, and then there is the Ulez charge for bands on tour. Obviously, I can only go on the article in the original post and perhaps there is another side to the story but generally it does seem harder these days. I always chat to my neighbours and encourage them to let me know. There is a wider problem with mental health and if you have a difficult neighbour, they can make life very difficult. Thankfully, I've only had that once over the years and it was about her imaginary parking allocation on a public road.

I was in two minds whether to post this but as we were live in public thought it fitted this thread; last night my duo Deadlight Dance played on Don't Stop the Music Show on Swindon 105.5FM. As part of the hour long special they played our last single and interviewed us but we got to play five acoustic songs on air, going out live. It was quite daunting because you just don't know who is listening. Because there it was 100% acoustic, I decided to do my performance on the mandolin as I thought the bass wouldn't cut through. At the time it felt relaxed and the feedback was great. I've since listened to the show and over analysed the fun out of it a bit more but, no, it was good! I could tell that Peggy-Sue really liked us and she was great at putting us at ease. I felt the conversation was fairly effortless and we are definitely keen to come back once we have finished our album.