Giggedy Giggedy

The gig at the Grey Horse, Kingston was awesome. The three bands we supported gave their all and the night flew by. 6 Rounds at Sundown, a band from the ACM, were armed with a fistful of AC/DC guitar hooks played by the guitarist with a 12'' Mohawk and sung by the front-man with an Axl Rose bandana. Hayloft followed them, with their set of simple catchy teen rockers. They are a two-piece with the look of the White Stripes (if Jack and Meg White had swapped places). Magnatone headlined, although the audience had since diminished. The band comprises pleasant-looking young men who closed their eyes and immersed themselves in an interesting orgy of guitar symphonies that echoed Pink Floyd (shit pun intended). Good stuff. Thanks to our fans for attending, you made it brilliant.

I have assumed the role of band manager, to find and book the gigs. Every month we plan to play one gig that is just within our reach, in attempt to expand our horizons as quickly as possible without tripping over ourselves. We were offered a big one at the Watershed in Wimbledon on 23rd September, where we will support Acoustic Ladyland (who's second album was the Jazzwise album of the year) and Chik Budo.

As a part of my duties, I have made a list of all the music venues stretching from London to the South coast and started a catalogue of contacts from newspapers and radio stations. I have never drunk so much coffee. Especially not the lethal strength that the Joysons brew – I may have to staple my eyes closed to get any sleep tonight. But that all depends on how engaging Steve's stag do will be this evening (shit pun intended).

Flags The Plan...

Why do so many people live their lives, happy to be unhappy, to spend it doing a job that they either hate, dislike, or think is okay? I would guess the main answers are money, responsibility and commitment. Fortunately for us, we have neither responsibility nor commitment (unfortunately we have no money). We are wild young things that are willing to grasp life by the lapels, swing it over our heads and shout 'Freedom' at the top of our lungs. We want to live life for the fun of it, we want to enjoy every day, and when we're old, deaf and secrete the associated unpleasant odour, we want to look back on life without regrets. Naïve? Idealistic? Perhaps, but then again, there are some people out there who've found their happiness. We want to be like them.

So, about two years ago, when we were all still stuck at university, we hatched a plan to pursue our dream to make it in the music industry. The plan was simple enough; once we'd finished our courses, we would spend four days a week working in the band, and spend the rest of the time supporting ourselves with part-time jobs.

Over the last year we've written some great tunes, built a studio to record them in, and have finally managed to get our heads around producing a decent mix. The date that we’d been waiting for finally came at the end of May when I finished uni. Since then it’s been non-stop; we’ve played and booked some awesome gigs, have got some innovative ideas for promotion, and are just putting the finishing touches on our EP.

Our time is now here; we’re at the start of the rest of our lives. Here we either fight our way up the ladder to successful happy blissfulness, or slide down into a cesspool of miserable despair working the 9-5 rat race of unhappy yet secure gloom.

Time will tell...


(Apologies for the OTT clichés and metaphors in this one.)