So I was surprised to have a twitter conversation with a representative of a national MS charity, saying that they wouldn't be able to RT one of my last blogs because as a corporate charity, they need to protect their brand.
Fair enough - I'm the brand and grammar fascist where I work so I can appreciate where they're coming from.
Anyway - thanks to the MS Trust (amongst others) who did retweet it, swears and all...!
Back in the days when we were playing in various bands and writing songs, I held the valuable position of recordist. Out of all of us, I'd had the most experience of using 4-Track Studios - I know, it seems so bizarre to think that now I've got a 4-Track recorder, a 16 track studio, and GarageBand ON MY PHONE but still.
Rather than going out and getting wrecked, we would stay in, think up a band name and write and record songs for them as quickly as possible. It was great experience and really helped me to learn how to get good sounds from some cheap and crappy bog-standard equipment. And working within the limitations was a really good way of working.
Listen to the Shithouse Masters for what I think are the best examples of this stuff. But eventually everything Johnny Domino released was recorded in my home, which is pretty cool.
I'd also record things for friends, and one of those was my old friend Brian. He was the mental drummer in one of our old noisy bands but he also had a taste for the twee-er side of Indiepop - the kind that was typified by bands like The Field Mice and the rest of Bristol's Sarah Records label.
It wasn't really my bag but I used to record their stuff - and as other members came and went, I ended up assisting with arranging songs and playing a variety of instruments.
Brian was always really plugged into the international network of fanzines and cassette labels (pre-internet, obviously) and through various friends and contacts, that band - Peru - has had a bit of a second life. Two years ago, a label in Canada got in touch wanting to press a CD of songs so I was given the task of 'remastering' them (the guy pressing up the CDs really spanked them so they sound pretty dire despite all my work - but these files sound just peachy).
Anyway, Brian put together a new line up of the band which has been playing to audiences ever since. A couple of months ago he got in touch to say that they'd been asked to play a festival in Nottingham and their new bass player had double-booked himself. As I'd recorded and played on most of the songs that are in the set, Brian asked me if I'd be willing to fill in.
I was chuffed beyond measure to be asked, so next week I'll be taking yet ANOTHER opportunity to show off!
And unlike the intense rehearsal process for my appearance at IndieTracks two years ago, we'll be lucky if we manage one run through before the day...
No bother!
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oof. Quite the MS blogging celebrity. Nearly. Get you, etc.
ReplyDeleteMy own experience of this sort of thing was restricted to a guest post on the MS Society website that was supposed to be a regular thing, but they took 12 months to put it up and then didn't tell me when they had, so I only sort of found it by mistake. Since then, most people won't even have me as a link. Perhaps I'm not the right *kind* of MS blogger?
i don't know if i'd want to be the 'right kind' of MS blogger, anyway - i certainly don't want to spend too much time thinking about my crappy health - and i feel guilty now that i could be seen to be whoring for an RT.
ReplyDeleteand if you cast your eyes eastwards, you'll see that you're linked on THIS site and have been for AGES.
Ah, but Steve... you're not most people.....
ReplyDelete