Cat Burrito

First show of my 50s and my Goth duo Deadlight Dance did a Saturday afternoon slot at The Barge in Honeystreet. We played some of our favourite 80s tunes by The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and The Banshees etc, along with a few of our own from the forthcoming album. I don't think the landlady liked us (her opening gambit was "are you doing to be loud?" which was a strange thing to say to an acoustic duo) but she acknowledged we'd gone down really well so wanted to book us for a Saturday night. There was supposed to be a collection for the band that sadly didn't happen, despite several audience members asking but the headline was we did a 2hr set and played really well. Afterwards I posed for some selfies with a woman celebrating her 40th - she couldn't believe I was 50, which was sweet and one guy was impressed that I could play bass, mandolin, banjo, mandocello (he did have to ask what it was), sing and play a drum "to a high standard". A case of smoke and mirrors but you get it where you can! Nick (not pictured, the other half of the duo) and I did our first show together back in '89 and it's a genuine thrill that here we are in our 50th year. 

17 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Thanks for the nice comments. Where are you playing with Gothzilla?

 

Maybe have to do something with your band and Hurtsfall if you fancy a trip to Nottingham?

The Pub in Lancaster on Good Friday. Down in Wiltshire there is less of a scene. Nick, other half of the band, has a lot of commitments that prevent touring but Nottingham could be cool. Lancaster will be our 2nd bigger road trip with this band. 

I have work commitments at the moment which is preventing me from going to any shows. I really like the In Isolation stuff I heard on YouTube and have been streaming the albums too. Playing with Gothzilla myself next month, so it's annoying because I'd be all up for this tour were I not committed elsewhere. 

I started learning in the late 80s and picked bass as it was always the "cool" instrument. It's funny to me now that it seems to have reverted back to being the instrument a lot of people play as a second choice / the bass player being the awkward one. In the 80s bass was definitely king! 

I am not much of a fan but the video was interesting. I liked his approach to bass and listening to the history. I thought it sounded pretty rubbish though. 

In order of how busy they are;

Deadlight Dance - 80s Goth inspired duo. It was a reference to Pennywise in "It" and I love the name. We've hit a few snags with people calling us "Dead TIME dance" accidentally, DAD like dance (deliberately) and one comparison to Dead Can Dance. You can't win. I like it so it won't change. Generally it's well received. 

Slyder Smith and the Oblivion Kids - Not wild on the name but it's not my name. The album is great but my preference was for a band as I already had a somebody and the something project...

Richard Davies and the Dissidents - Moderately better. This one came first and we were more involved in production etc so I feel slightly more invested. I generally don't like these sorts of names though as it isn't clear if we have a band or a solo project. 

Last Great Dreamers. They existed in the 90s and I was a fan. As a name I actually don't like it but I liked what the band was so the name gets through on merit. On hiatus currently.

The Jimmy Sixes - 60s R&B style trio. I love the name but we are the laziest band on the planet. Imelda May complimented us on the name. It's a car engine. 

I had to click on this thread as I used to own a 1978 mocha P-bass with a rosewood fretboard. It's not my old one (I did wonder) but mine was one of the better basses I've owned. GLWTS.

Cheeky little Monday night appearance at The Lamb in Marlborough last night. I used to underage drink here but a few days shy of my 50th, I was quietly confident that'd I'd smash the Think 25 policy that they now have! Another outing for my Thunderbird and I loved the night. My boss came down from my regular job and loved it, plus I must have known about 50% of the people there. We played well and a few locals looked us up on Spotify, which was cool.

Doubly cool was that my stepson turned 16 and is a big fan of this band. We got him a band hoodie. Nick, the other half of the band, is also his teacher so I have the dubious honour of actually being his second favourite member of the band!

13 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's always handy to know the Blackstar amps are ok.

Like the look of a T bird but having had an Epi version the neck dive was a bit ridiculous even when i moved the strap pins. Are the Gibson ones better. They do have a distinct sound, deep and solid.

There's a lot of talk about neckdive on Thunderbirds but the trick is where the strap lock is. Gibson moved it to the back of the neck about ten years ago and bam, problem solved. On the old ones, if you stick the strap button on were a neck plate is (cheaper Epiphones actually have a neck plate, otherwise it's where it would be), problem solved. My Gibson one is really loads better than the three Epiphones I have had. I've had Squiers that are 90% as good as a decent Fender, I think my Gibson really was worth the money.

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

So how did the Blackstar amp and T'bird do.

Sorry, yeah, I missed that rather important bit off! The Thunderbird has always been my best sounding bass. I did a bass comparison video over lockdown and it was the one everyone singled out (bass sound samples on iphones must be gospel, right?!). So I knew the Thunderbird would sound amazing. Mine is surprisingly light too. The Blackstar was really good. I like the portability (coming from an Orange stack previously) and looks, but tonally it was brilliant. I use a lot of chorus and distortion with the duo (having previously not really used effects on the bass much before) and it does exactly what I want it to do. 

And thanks. My look is pretty much the same 24/7. I maybe tone it down by about 30% for the day job but otherwise I am dressed the same whether onstage or shopping in the local supermarket. I think my Dad gave up on my phase a couple of decades ago! 

I had one. It's supposed to be like a guitar but an octave lower, so E to E. However, you can tune it however you want, so long as it is set up to cope with any adjustment. 

Not one but two shows over the weekend. My little 80s goth duo loaded up the car with our surprisingly large amount of equipment for a duo and headed back out to The Barge in Honeystreet...

I was pleased because I had also decided to dust down my Thunderbird and bring it back out of retirement. In addition, my Blackstar amp would be getting its first outing in a live setting.

The Honeystreet set was a lot of fun. We took the slightly ambitious punt on doing the Jim Steinman produced Sisters of Mercy classic "This Corrosion" as a duo. Against all odds, I think the audience picked up on us meaning business so it went down well. 

Saturday was an old school friend's 50th and having cleared half the pub with the loudest intro music ever (must check the levels next time!) - from the Lost Boys soundtrack's Cry Little Sister, we set about playing a load of original stuff from our forthcoming debut. Playing to the few people who were really getting into it, we then slowly won the crowd over with a few well chosen covers. We then dropped the kit back home, went for a curry and drank our own bodyweight in lager. The highlight of my night was being approached by a guy off his head on cocaine who told me I "dressed like a pimp". Apparently now if I have any problems in Devizes, he will sort them out for me. To be honest, I wasn't anticipating any problems but it's great to have that one in reserve. 

I take a spare cable in case my wireless dies and a spare battery for my tuner. Anything else is too heavy when offset against the chances of using it. Some cases have spare strings too but I haven't broken a string onstage since the mid 90s. 

I returned to the pub I had my wedding reception in for the first time since 2018 last night. It was a lowkey acoustic set as the main part of a newly establishing open mic night (we had the long main set). As with a lot of Wiltshire pubs, a couple of all day drinkers in there who had long gone beyond the point that they should have stopped. I replicated my bass parts on a mandocello and took some lead on the mandolin too. I sung some lead lines and did a lot of the onstage banter. It was just a fun evening. My missus came down to support us and I was amazed how many people remembered me from 5 years back. The pub has a Dr. Who theme due an old John Pertwee episode being filmed locally in 1971. Here we are just before going on. The Dalek didn't come in. There are steps!

Some of the locals...

At soundchecks in recent years, I've taken to playing The Cure's Close To Me. Aside the fact that I think I play it well, it covers a lot of the lower register notes so it means I can tweak my amp to suit the room. I can play more complex stuff but I'd rather get the most out of the sound, than show them what I can do. Equally on stage, I don't feel the need to show off. I practice a lot more in recent years and get more compliments these days without having to try to impress. I wouldn't say I was brilliant but I am pretty decent these days.

Testing the mic at soundchecks, the soundman tends to get a comedy skit about this being "the main mic" and "can we get spotlights on stage left?" Incredibly I've never been fired from a band in 35yrs but I've annoyed a lot of singers.  

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Like that a lot!

 

Any plans to play in Nottingham?

Would love to. The scene all seems north of here so we're certainly looking at options for when the album is finished. 

We played our studio engineer / co-producer's birthday bash in the rock n roll capital of NE Wiltshire (drum roll.....) Mildenhall last night! What made the event extra special for me was my old drummer from two of my recent bands made the trek all the way over from Wales to surprise us. We also got to jam with Cozy Powell's old keyboard player - not particularly my bag but very talented player and a sweet guy. 

Should probably add that this was also an informal launch for our debut single "Missives from the Sisters" which I'll unapologetically post here despite having posted it earier in the Share Your Music forum. Partly to make up for the rubbish phone snap! 

Really pleased with this one. Nick and I did our first proper band / gig together in 1989. We revived things over lockdown. Very much a partnership, writing and producing together. One to be avoided if you hate drum machines, synths and fuzz bass!

I had a Zoom multi-effects unit back around 1999/2000 and loved it. I've often thought about buying one again. As with all these things, 80% of the effects weren't for me but the sounds I did use were great. I had no idea that these things weren't rated. 

My Dad was a pro Jazz drummer before I was born and I didn't like any of his music. I think he tried forcing it on me too early so I now take a dislike to jazzy stuff, even though I am sure I am missing a trick with it. The only Jazz I like, he classes as rubbish.

My Mum was a different story. She was into rock n roll, country and soul. Three albums that had a massive impact were the That'll Be the Day Soundtrack, Black Magic (a Stax soul compilation) and With the Beatles. I'd add Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Rolling Stones, The Animals and Dusty Springfield.

My own tastes came through the older sons of their parents friends - punk, New Wave, alternative and rock bands of the 1980s. I still like all of that eclectic mix. You're just unlikely to get me into Art Blakey now. 

Away from the bass, my duo Deadlight Dance played a low key spot at The Barge in Honeystreet, Wilts. Nick (other half of DLD) used to live next door and this was a regular haunt for us three decades ago. Very alternative-y vibe. Got told off by one member of the audience for looking far too young for my age (the photo doesn't support this view, mind!). "Do you take illegal drugs?" she enquired. "No, I'm quite healthy living" I replied to which she started pointing at me, shouting "see!" Quite surreal. Another bloke asked to sit by me "because you look really cool", only to then undermine my brief moment of being flattered by detailing a long history of mental health concerns. 

We did a mix of Cure and Sisters of Mercy songs (on the mandolin and mandocello) before doing our new single "Missives from the Sisters" (shameless plug alert, streaming on all good - & bad - platforms via Ray Records from Friday). 

I hope this is the most recent Feedback thread for the good Doctor, but Dave bought an EHX pedal from me. Friendly no quibble comms and a smooth transaction that followed. Trade with confidence. 

59 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

I shared a funny cigarette with Norman Watt Roy once!

I gigged with him a couple of times but I obviously look less rebellious! 

2 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

Not as cool as your story, but I managed to get Patricia Morrison to sign my copy of Floodland.

Snap, sort of. I have a signed Floodland ad from her on the wall. Never met her mind. 

In thirty five years of playing I have been fortunate enough to gig with a few people I grew up listening to. I've also gotten to meet a fair few away from my own playing. Just a cool story for you all; growing up in the 80s we all got into the bands of the time. The Cure were massive for our group of friends. Over lockdown I started listening to all that Goth / 80s alternative stuff again and reminding myself why we all thought bass was the coolest instrument originally. I've spent the last couple of years playing in a little Goth duo. At a recent open mic I discovered one of my fellow musician friends was friends with Simon Gallup. I felt a bit cheeky but asked him if he'd get me Simon's autograph. He was happy to do so and equally Simon also said he was happy to sign it. I had a framed picture as I have a lot of music pictures in my house so I popped it over to my mate Phil. I then waited for them to catch up.

Fast forward to today and I picked it up. I was pleased he personalised it as it isn't one to sell. I went into my mate's music room and was admiring his kit. Funnily enough when I picked up his acoustic bass it turns out it is the one used one The Cure's acoustic hits album. I bust out a few of my Cure bass lines on it which was pretty cool, and manged to upstage playing my friend's Ric 4001, which happened to be my YOB bass. 

Any cool stories from you?