Really?!

Wow - not used this for a while - Will get something good on here soon, I promise.

D

Still rubbish at updating this

Two fething months since I updated this. Really letting the team down aren't I? No not really.

This is mainly because gigs dried up and bands ended. Sack Sabbath are very rarely busy through the Summer months because there aren't that many festivals for tribute bands and if they do the spaces get taken up very quickly. Lordaeron split up so that stopped any gigs dead too! 

Still it isn't all doom and gloom as Sack Sabbath did get on a Rock & Bike festival which was superb and we had a great time playing and drinking our way into oblivion. Some more than others. Bill I'm looking at you.

I have done a few gigs with singer/songwriter Gary J Armstrong who I strongly recommend you check out over at http://www.garyjarmstrong.com. We've got a lot coming up towards the end of the year so be sure to check us out.

From August onwards I will be helping out Onirica. I am really excited to playing with these guys as they rock and their style of metal is right up my street. A broad mix of doom with some death thrown in for good measures. http://www.myspace.com/onirica

So once Summer is out of the way it is back to business as usual and hopefully some more interesting happenings to write home about. Check out my new blog over at http://dbassminiatures.blogspot.com for some ramblings about my other passion, miniature wargaming. Guys gotta nerd out sometimes.

dB

Hmph!

Nothing much has been happening really!

Lordaeron split up which is really shit and quite a big shock to me personally but people had their reasons so I can't argue with them. 

However - joining a band called Onirica in August who are very Novembre/Opeth/Katatonia/Porcupine Tree-esque and I am already excited about that! The tracks I've been working on are suuuu-perb *jazz hand*

Helping out an old friend for a few festivals over the Summer too which will be a laugh as they normally = pissed up tomfoolery 24/7.

Wizard!

Dan

A Bass Perspective: March update - Website, gigs and gear.

A Bass Perspective: March update - Website, gigs and gear.: "Welcome once again - To the Blog that no one reads. So the last time I graced this page was after the 1st leg of the Lordaeron..."

March update - Website, gigs and gear.

Welcome once again - 

To the Blog that  no one reads.

So the last time I graced this page was after the 1st leg of the Lordaeron mini-UK tour which was incredible fun mixed with part pain/cold. However the few days break we had was a welcome relief and allowed us to clean up and all that jazz. Although in the less Rock n Roll lifestyle of myself, I went back to work for a few days. Joy.

The 2nd part was more fun, crazy, shitty, and smelly. Literally. The gigs were a lot better too and as a unit we became very tight on stage, and off. Between all the bitching of course! Although that was probably just me telling Mike to turn down at every gig and everybody else to chill out. Phil. It gave us all a small insight in to what a "real" tour would be like and I would love that opportunity now. Being on the road is like nothing else in the world. Despite the lack of sleep, hygiene, money and food it just feels great. Really hard to explain. I have never been in to the whole "bedroom" guitarist syndrome that seems to be so viral now. Never seen so many Steve Vai's or Marcus Miller's on YouTube as now. 

My place is on stage or in a van. Nothing beats playing a gig, even the rubbish ones still appeal to me. I would rather be out there playing than stuck inside watching TV or playing on an Xbox. God I sound like a right cynical git. I am. 

Anyway - my new website is up and looks lovely courtesy of Eugene of Sun Studios. I will be updating it with all manner of goods soon. Including the PDF version of a music book I wrote during college. I will be trying to get more pics on there and more content too. It's a slow process as I have done away with my home PC as it was the only sure way to stop playing online games. The downfall of humanity! 

Got a new bass cab too - the EBS Proline 4x10. It is a god damn beast and I can't wait to play my 2nd gig with it. Just got to try and sell my Mark Bass 610 cab now. Shame really but such are these tough times.

On that note I will wrap up this blog and prepare a fresh one just for The London Bass Guitar show I worked at over the weekend. 

Cheers.

Destroying the UK tour (or Line 6 heads!) Part 1

So the first three shows are well and truly behind us now but I wanted to write a small piece on what they were like and all that jazz-core-metal.


The first gig was in Alton, a small town north of Portsmouth in a community centre that looked 100% un-metal. It was a very bizarre venue but we were well looking forward to it anyway. We even managed to get sausages, chips and beans before the show. Grittles managing TWO portions. Madness. The highlight (or not) was Mike blowing both his Line 6 amp heads up within 10 minutes of each other. We are still unsure what happened but in a strange way it has worked out for the best with him using Bloodshot Dawns Peavey 5150 head, which simply sounds immense! 


Next show was back up in Leicester at the Sumo Bar. An all day (ish) event with 5 or 6 bands (?). I lost count after the 100'000'000th blast beat. It is a great venue with a great PA however we had the displeasure of having the infamous "FEEDBACK PHIL". Somewhat of a legend on the music scene. The usual obnoxious mid-50's balding sound guy who thinks he knows a lot more then he does. The gig had been hamstrung by some competing promoters apparently so the crowd was a lot less than it should have been. Never believe Facebook Event invites. Night ended up in Beths flat drinking some Polish lager and watching American Idol. Metal. 


Last show was in Bristol and was by far the best of the three shows. Great venue, great town, great food and all round nice people. Brilliant crowd reaction to all the bands playing and we went down a storm. I even represented my football team on stage. Shame we lost 5-0. 


On to the next leg of the tour tomorrow so will attempt to bodge up a blog soon.


Cheers

So what will 2011 bring...

This is my New Years blog post albeit nearly a month late!

I'm feeling positive for 2011.

Despite the utter doom and gloom perpetuated by the UK Media, I believe this year will force people to work together more and support one another. Even more so in the music industry. 

A lot of the time it is every man/band for themselves whilst proclaiming they support the local scene and other musicians. I find this very rarely happens around Nottingham. It seems as exposure for Northern bands is less likely there is a more cut-throat attitude harboured by bands. Especially in the Metal scene in which I am heavily involved in. There are very few people I know of who are in bands but actually support other unsigned/small bands. Most see each other as competition. Even I have and still do in some circumstances which saddens me but is mostly caused by the other bands stepping on our toes and trying to pry our assets away from us.


How can we change the views of a musician? 

The one difference I have found is with solo artists. The ones I know and interact with support and promote other local acts greatly via many different out puts. Steven Lawson for example often promotes solo acts and bands he loves via Twitter and his Blog (www.solobasssteve.co.uk). So whilst being a great solo artist himself he doesn't "castle" himself up and disregard other artists around him. How can more bands take heed from Steve and support their peers?