Well….what a couple of weeks it’s been….I’d use the term ’emotional rollercoaster’ but I’m not really a fan of that particular theme park ride so I’m going to go for….er…..what else has twists and turns? Perhaps a Paul Hollywood plaited loaf? Emotional loaf. That’s how I feel.
So. Against all odds (more of which in a mo…) our second album is finally out. To buy. On vinyl. Doesn’t it look purdy?
Tremors & Nosebleeds: The Melodies of a Malady
It’s £9.99 and comes with a free download code – you can purchase it here: http://thebofthebang.bigcartel.com/ (you can get it from iTunes, Amazon and all that too but it doesn’t look as nice as this does…)
Basically (and to cut a very long story short) we were originally promised the album was going to be baked (like Hollywood’s loaves again…), pressed and delivered the week before Record Store Day and in more than enough time for our album launch.
How wrong we were.
On the delivery date we were suddenly informed by the European pressing plant (I shan’t mention any names…) that we wouldn’t be receiving the records for another month! This pretty much rendered the whole shebang a wee bit pointless and, as might be expected, many swears were flung into the surrounding silence….
BUT
Up stepped a hero of a man, who did an absolutely Herculean job at wrenching us – battered, bruised and weeping – up from the gutter. Tim at Sound Performace. What an absolute legend. He worked tirelessly non-stop for us and pretty much cut, pressed and manufactured a record in a week. Outstanding. Our gratitude to him is endless. Many, many phone calls, emails, favours, handshakes, winks and secret nods were deployed and….Friday night (the night before Record Store Day) the band were in production plant mode gluing labels on, popping inlays in and printing off download codes left right and centre at our Pie & Vinyl Headquarters. DIY til we die. I want to thank all the P&V staff there for their help in the matter too…we couldn’t have done it without you. Steve, Rob, Rob, Roberta, Lydia & Kirsty. Thankyou.
No sleep and plenty of worried hours meant that things were pretty fraught in the camp for a while….a happy ending was much needed and by jingo we got it. First with the success of RSD at P&V where we played an instore acoustic set alongside Band of Skulls…(followed by an ace evening at The Registry where the documentary Last Shop Standing was shown featuring our own Pie & Vinyl peeps…)
The queue outside Pie & Vinyl whilst we played…
then….at our album launch at The Wedgewood Rooms on the Sunday night. It couldn’t have gone any better. I won’t forget that gig for a long time. We’ve played that particular venue a fair few times over the years in various bands but we’ve never actually headlined our own night there so it was a definite tick off the list. Cheers to Geoff at The Wedge for his help. The support bands were all absolutely incredible too. Revere, Hall of Mirrors, Billy Vincent, The Boy I Used to Be and Rich Keam. All of them friends from the last few years of touring around the UK. Everyone mucked in to help us make the place look nice and turn it into a bit of a different event than your normal, everyday gig too…
Amongst good company…
My incredible wife and her incredible cakes…
Roberta (of the ace band Curxes and P&V fame…) sold some of her excellent prints – she did the RSD and launch poster designs n’all…
TBOTB & TBIUTB. Some Bangers chat to Ed of The Boy I Used To Be…
Nothing like last minute preparation…the band & chums assembling our vinyl…
The marvellous Rich Keam and his self assembled ‘glimmer curtain’…
The aforementioned TBIUTB bringing the magic…
Lovely London folksters Billy Vincent…
If you haven’t seen Hall of Mirrors, I suggest you do. Soon.
Sorry Revere – I didn’t get a photo of you in action as I realised I’d left a lead we needed for our visuals at home! Here’s one of my wife’s cakes instead. (Rest assured Revere were amazing)
We played the new album in it’s entirity plus a few choice cuts from our first album and EP’s. Including a ridiculous, comedy Jools Holland-style ‘introductions segment’ where we all played the worst possible thing we could. Not entirely on purpose. Keef’s Jurassic Park solo was a highlight.
Here’s one of our new album tracks ‘Something is Holding Me Down’, filmed by the splendid Ryan (Revere’s visual fella and helper of me-not-knowing-what-I-was doing-with-a-laptop)
A massive thank you to everyone involved once again. Friends, family, staff and random strangers who all assisted us in creating what we hope was a unique and special night. It was to us anyway. HERE’S TO THE NEXT ALBUM EH???? (Hopefully it will be easier than this one…)
Wit & The B of the Bang
xxxxx
ps – as an aside, Mr Rich Keam who opened our show, has made it through to the final 25 applicants out of 600,000 in ‘The Best Jobs in the World’ competition. As part of this, we became his backing band ‘The Tastebuds’ for one night only last week…please have a look at his blog here and give him your support. He deserves it. http://richkeam.wordpress.com/
The B of the Bang 