Dear diary:

Last Friday saw the final Crash of term, and with it Protocol{insert arbitrary number here}'s 3rd ever gig, playing on the marketplace stage. The gig was good fun: we screwed up a new song but nobody seemed to noticably notice, which makes it less embarrassing. Having to lug all of our gear (and we have a lot of it!) offstage and up two floors as soon as we'd finished was a bit rubbish: we need more roadies, preferably dressed in silly hats (more on that later).

Photos (courtesy of Ollie and Chaz)

OOOoooooooooooooooh, pretty lights… we look like the blimmin Chemical Brothers in that photo, supercool!

If you were in the Graduate on Friday and couldnt find a free stool to sit down on, we can but apologise.

This lord was The Modern's introducer/roadie/dancer. He was a bit odd, and besides: a grey top hat with a black 3-piece suit? Foolish honky! Silly hat indeed.

As for the Modern, they had songs about discotheques and such like. As for their singer: before soundcheck I bounded across the marketplace floor towards who I thought was Amy (our singer) but, halfway across, realised it wasn't actually Amy at all, and that it was too late to pretend like I wasn't bounding towards her like a proud, wet labrador with a freshly retrieved stick. To her credit she was friendly and pretty down-to-earth.

Err, yes. Yet more glowsticks, constructed into a chain that puts even Mr. T to shame. But it's all about putting them in your laces:

Oh yes, the promise of silly hats. I'll even throw in Ollie's Ibanez Jamitar and a few glowsticks for good measure. Here ya go:

Cheers Milly

: 12 Jun 2005 03:18 |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

What to do when left with several hundred grams of unwanted coriander at the end of the night…

Follow-up to Gramophone Karaoke from Pablo's Blog. Yes indeed.

Hehehe.

Photatoes

: 03 Jun 2005 22:31 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Gramophone Karaoke

Today I was privileged enough to pick up a copy of the all-new, shiny, cellophane-wrapped-incase-of-yoghurt-and/or-overexcitement Unreal Coriander EP. You should buy it. It will make your life better, and your ears will want to kiss you, and they would, if it weren't for their lack of mobility and being permanently attached to the sides of your head. So do your ears a favour and have someone else kiss them.

The official launch party is tomorrow night (thats June 2nd) at the Jug and Jester, featuring Interlooper (The Carter ManHoover/Interloper 2 man set), The Soft Verges (duffelcoatbeardmandolinacoustica) Slybob (Awesome, awesome band, with the best male singe this side of Jeff Buckley AND they're named after a dog who cunningly saw fit to empty its bottom into someones shoe) and of course Unreal Coriander (show drummer Alex a spatula and watch his eyes light up like an excited nine year old whos just seen his first pair of boobies. Not his, obviously. Somebody elses. Of the XX persuasion).

Apparently its FREE to get in, the first 10 people to buy a CD get a free yoghurt and if you ask me nicely I might do some juggling, just for you. And the beast that is the newly expanded Bandsoc PA (currently £2,400 worth of Behringer knobs, dials and tweeters) will be getting its first outing. So you'll be getting a free spine massage into the bargain too.

Here's a picture of Charles to tempt you:

Whilst we're tenuously on the topic karaoke, myself, RichD and Hywel (the Replica X axemen) sang God Gave Rock n Roll to You at the dog and trumpet last night. Apparently we weren't that bad. Apparently.

: 01 Jun 2005 22:22 |  Comments (9) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A cunningly devised ploy to get more people to look at my photos…

I've had my pbase account for a year and a half now, and in that time I've managed to fill it with 3500 photos of bands, hats, otters and the occassional attempt at what some might describe as photography. Alledgedly thev'e been viewed over 100,000 times. (And yet only 37 comments, 3 of which were insults.)

This simply won't do. There must be a better use for this vast resource of slightly blurred pictures of guitarists and prop-related shenanigans. Thankfully, funk house resident Ric Shelton has devised the following:

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-
The Bandsoc Drinking Game !

You need:
1) Alcohol. Lots!
2) A computer + net access
3) for maximum fun (read, drinkage), be affiliated with bandsoc, pref in a band

Righty: the rules! First get your drinks sorted, then go to:
link

Everytime you refresh the page, you get 4 random photographs. Each time you refresh the page you start a new round of the game. Click on each pic in turn, and drink when any of the following are in one of the pics:

1 Finger (for each!) for
—————————————

Ollie
Glowsticks
Otter
A Female
A member of a band who have won Botb

2 Fingers (again for each) for
—————————————————

Otter in glowstick ball
Yourself
BandSoc Presidents (past & present)
A half-naked guy (either half is fine )
Swedish flag(s)
Lycra
Chainmail

Consume for
———————-

Yourself performing
Pablo
Your boyfriend/girlfriend/someone you've slept with

For health reasons, I recommend that Ollie or James from Interloper/TCM do not play hehe (Pablos collection is 50% Ollie, James also seems to come up loads).

If there's any disputes, everyone drinks. Peeps can refill between rounds. Enjoy!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

I've not yet dare attempt this (a trip to the hospital tends to hamper revision somewhat) but it sounds like immensely drunken fun. For example, in 3 refreshes I've got:

Pablo (so thats myself, Pablo and president of Bandsoc all ticked)= 1 drink+4 fingers
Glowsticks= 1 finger
RichD of Replica X (winner of BotB)= 1 finger
Ollie x3 (who is also a winner of BotB)= 6 fingers

Total of 1 drink and twelve fingers.

Week 10 should be fun $:¬{o-

Please feel free to leave a comment on any of the photos!

: 01 Jun 2005 16:48 |  Comments (6) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

NUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR….......

So yeah, a recent hard drive error led to 20 gigs of music, almost all of my photos and some precious Photoshop artwork being erased. Boo.

Whats even more rubbish is it deleted most of the music that I actually listen to. However this has led me to actually listening to a lot of the stuff I downloaded on a whim and never had the time/inclination to listen to, until now. Circumstance is introducing me to some gems I never realised I had.

Now, I hate stereotypes as much as the next person but if it hadn't been for flouncy scarf-wearing indie types (the types who reckon Bright Eyes is actually anything other than moping depressive droll) raving about how My Vitriol "filled the void left by Esoteric Handbag Sandwich" (or other such obscure indie bands I've never heard of) I would have been more inclined to give them a proper listen. 'Always your way' was a cracker and 'Grounded' was so-so (though the video was cool) then they kinda disappeared for many a year, and after a few occassions of seeing their album and reminding myself that I should buy it sometime they slipped from memory. Which is a shame cos they're actually pretty darn decent.

In other news I have a new otter. He still needs a suitably Viking name like Vårklaad, but he is filled with rice and makes a half-decent shaker.

I need a hobby. A proper one.

: 21 May 2005 02:37 |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Helllo…

It's come to my attention that people actually look here and read stuff I've written. Go me.

So I thought it was time I added some more things for your general entertainment/perusal. Theres a few more pictures. They're quite fun.
I'm guessing most people will have read/ be aware of Mr. Carter's banned work, and probably picked at its edges a bit. I just found it funny and reassuring that I'm not the only one who is galled by the general suckiness of the vast majority of others. (disclaimer: this is of course subjective and depends on the individual point of view, the self/other duality etc.). But what I found funniest was the fact he was practically giving a police-match description of one of my housemates. I'll get a pic of her bedroom at some point. I was never aware of some of the tack the Winnie the Pooh merchandisers have churned out over the years but sure enough, most of it seems to have gravitated to her shelves. I mean, a novelty phone? We can't even make outgoing calls on the landline!

Bah. Don't mind me, I'm in a rubbish mood. I'll put something slightly more constructive/informative up here sometime soon, hon-est

: 02 May 2005 02:49 |  Comments (26) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Battle of the Bands Final

Fuck yeah! Battle of the Bands final was last night and theres a grin still superglued to my face!

It was, simply put, one of the best nights I have ever had, ever. Infact the only two occassions I can think to match it were Radiohead at FIB2002 and a very romantic Valentines Day two years ago. (we broke up six weeks later, but hey. I've only been single ever since :s )
The atmosphere, the bands, the sound, (the alcohol!) everything was just so off the scale I struggle to find superlatives to relate it to. And whats more Bandsoc made a killing on the door takings too… mmmmm money, sweet, sweet money!
For anyone who doesnt know, Replica X came out as worthy winners, their set just blew me away. These guys are better than the Darkness, all they need more catsuits and spandex. And Pink Spider, I now see why you get all the praise you do and I agree; you spaz out hard on stage and your really quite good music backs it up! The afterparty at Chateau Lego had all the right ingredients for a great party: groovy people, LOTS of glowsticks, a game of Casperoo involving every pair of shoes in the house, a trip to Tesco at 3am to buy nine pizzas and six litres of Coke and, the secret ingredient to any self-respecting shindig; Swedish neo-classical melodic speed-metal!
I didnt go to sleep and only managed to catch 3 hours kip before getting back up to sort out the photos from the night before and make it to the Bandsoc meeting for the new exec elections, which quite ingeniously was moved three and a half hours later than usual to accomodate for post BotB-Final hangovers. I'm now the new Bandsoc president! Awesome; who needs a degree anyway?

I'm having serious doubts over what I want to do when I leave, every careers e-mail I get seems to be from some bank or other looking for "leaders of tomorrow" or "highly motivated go-getters with a passion for investment". A career in Investment Banking or Chartered Accountancy doesnt seem something I want to do with my life. I saw a programme today following six college kids on a trip to Cambodia; it costs £110 to send a child to secondary school FOR A YEAR. Yet thats impossible if you're families income is only £4 a week. Many of the girls end up working in sweatshops, living in terrible conditions for a slave wage, or are forced into prostitution at a horrifically young age. There are tens of millions of children in the world without access to education, and it would cost £3.4 billion to send them all to school. Thats the same as the UK spends on health and beauty products in a single year.
I'd love to do something to help this, rather than sit in a bank wondering how to make rich people more money, albeit driving a Porsche and living in a trendy appartment. Religions are always arguing about the existance of their God and their God alone, and to get into heaven you must follow these rules and do say these words, blah blah blah… fuck that shit. Its about karma; you live a good life that changes the world for good or you live a bad life only interested in what you can get out of it. God, whatever form the sole source of light within all of us may take, will reward the good and punish the bad, regardless of what animals you ate or what colour/race/gender/sexuality you are. Organised religions can get off their soapboxes and take a fucking good luck at themselves. Sorry to offend anyone, if you have faith you are one of the lucky ones,; just use it for good and the good OF ALL.

Hmm. I appear to be rambling. Better get back on track.
I am the new commander in chief of Bandsoc. My president of vice is James Ellis of Interloper/The Carter ManHoover fame, my lovely Secretary is Miss Claire Bowden (I shall be expecting an intercom system to be installed by the time I get back, cups of tea on demand and 60 words per minute dictation skills!), Extortion and Rackeetering is the job of air guitar leg-end Casper, my chief publicist is Mr Ollie "X!" Curnick and the master of the digital domain is Pink Spider's "I dont care how much this guitar is worth, I'll still throw it around more than a drunken fat girl at a disco" Ya. We'll have a hard time topping last year, but I'm adamant we have an incredibly dedicated and passionate and above all absolutely fucking lovely group of people on the Exec this year. I'd give my spare kidney to any one of them.
I'm well looking forward to my term in office, there's some cool stuff in the pipeline like the tshirts, more free entry gigs planned for Surfers and the Bar, new equipment (drum rack ahoy!) and even possibly the purchase of an inflatable dragon mascot or an acre of Sweden. I personally would pledge £4.63 of my own money towards either.

I went to see the Mars Volta tonight- got there at 8.30pm and they'd already started, whoops. Apparently they'd started around 8pm. They wound up at about 10pm so we still got to see a good hour and a half. The Mars Volta are very subject to opinion; my housemate who I went with adores them, some people find them good in places but just a little bit weird and I know some people who just plain hate them. I've always thought they were pretty darn good and I'm also a big fan of ATD-I's work. Tonights performance was staggering; in the whole set the music never stopped. Cedric only spoke to the crowd once, to tell them that this country's media idols treat them like idiots feed them terrible music, which was met by cheering and applause. Their percussionists, the conga player inparticular, were out of this world. Cedric is such an amazing frontman, enigmatic, great voice and when he spazs out (which he only did 3 times) he spazs out hard! Their drummer is quite astounding too. It was quite a strange gig, lots of people just standing around transfixed and listening to the wondrous noises.There was some frantic activity at the front for some of the faster/heavier sections, but all in all it was wonderfully spaced out. Groovy man

: 10 Mar 2005 01:35 |  Comments (6) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Battle of the Bands Runners Up Heat

So, after coming second in our heat on Thursday, Protocol played their second ever gig tonight, in the runners-up heat of Battle of the Bands. With no practice in the two days between we were a bit hesitant as to our chances. Matters weren't helped much by a sketchy soundcheck and leaving the disk with all the samples I actually use at home. Being made to run around Rootes field in vest and pants was suggested, but luckily I was able to scab a quick roundtrip to Ealsdon to collect the forgotten disk. Crisis averted! The process of calming frazzled nerves could now begin, and what better way than with beer?

For some strange reason (week 10 deadlines most likely) the Graduate Club was only about half full at the start of the night, which was a little crap as the atmosphere was lacking somewhat compared to that of the previous heats which all sold out to capacity. We were on fourth out of five, so had a while to mentally prepare for the gig. Its actually really difficult to get into the right mindset standing in the crowd watching the other bands thinking "that'll be us up there in a minute". Hence a swiftly called band meeting on th back entrance about nothing in particular, mainly disagreeing as to what number we're going to have after our name, and me being banned from playing congas with a Snarf spatula. I swear they never let me have any fun!

Our set went amazingly well, all things considering. Apparently Gav managed to step on his cable and unplug himself not once but twice, and Rob claims to have screwed up a few bits in the last song.
Having a fully miked up set of congas to play with was a bit worrying for me- despite playing congas with Big Band for over a year, I still suck immensely at them and infact any percussion other than drums. Add to this the fact we'd only practicised for 40 minutes in a full band situation and I was one slightly nervous Pablo.
Okay, so I had them at the heat but they werent miked up that night, so you couldnt hear them anyway- which in a way was brilliant as I didnt have to think about playing something that sounded good and so got to showboat/dance about/headbang for most of the set.

I must say I love playing a sampler in a band, it really is the most piece of piss thing ever (press the right buttons 3 times in a song) yet everyone is always really impressed, generally just by the fact you have one. Its kind of like a racing driver being complemented on how cool his car looks. I'm still trying to perfect the whole Chemical Brothers look of intense concentration whilst fiddling around with knobs and settings when in fact all I'm doing is trying to look busy inbetween playing samples. Love it. Slowly justifying the massive cost of the thing by making me look cool and like a proper musician!

I don't know where we finished overall and I dont really want to know- so we didnt win, so what we still got that far. Where we were placed seems a little irrelevant especially given how bloody good everybody was tonight. And yes, nobody likes to come last, even if its in the semi-final round. I bloody hope we weren't last.
Pink Spider came out as winners- we foresook most of their set for our band meeting, but from what I saw they're a very adept, passionate and entertaining band and whats more they're quality guys to boot. Problem I have is having seen way too many emo/hardcore/metal bands back home (every local gig is bloody emo/hardcore/metal and very rarely anything very far from it) I've grown a little used to and bored of the music, which is a shame as everyone else assures me Pink Spider are amazing. I'm yet to be convinced, but I'd like to be.

Right, time to get some sleep. I may add some more to this, I dunno. Cheers to everyone who came along and likes our band, it means a lot.

: 07 Mar 2005 02:56 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

VIKINGS!!!

It could happen.

Yeah.

Be afraid

: 15 Feb 2005 02:53 |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Ummm…

…hello.

Blogging eh?

Hmm.

Can't think of anything.

Rubbish.

: 10 Feb 2005 12:47 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem