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Erm, time for ‘Plan B’!?! |
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Written by Stee J
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Thursday, 05 August 2010 22:34 |
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To say recent months haven’t exactly gone to plan, might be a bit of an understatement. You may remember that the start of the year saw us pretty much all set to release the album. We could barely contain our excitement at what 2010 had in hold for us... all poised, only to be hit by a number of minor disastrophes... but worry not there is light on the horizon. :) With my adventures under the surgeon’s knife behind me, we were back out and gigging in the Spring (when the shows weren’t cancelled on us that is, which was a bit disappointing), only to have to call a halt as Sonny found himself regretfully having to call it a day. He said that “I’ve really enjoyed playing with you guys and its sad to leave now”, however changes at work and other commitments meant he couldn’t commit the time anymore, which had become apparent in the preceding weeks, so although a surprise perhaps not completely unexpected. On a happier note we’ve had a good refreshing break for a couple of months, and are gearing up to make the most of the second half of 2010. Those that know me won’t be that surprised to hear that I spent a fair chunk of June and July over in South Africa for the World Cup. Less said about the football the better (as an England fan that is), but what an amazing country. As expected the bollocks the media spouted in the build up to the tournament turned out to be just that, and I had a great time out there. The scenery was as beautiful as I’ve seen anywhere, and the wildlife was something else. I’ve still got to sort through hundreds of photos that I took of lions, zebras, giraffes, rhino and various other animals that I came up close to in the wild. Amazing it really was; and with England knocked out (and Jorge Larrionda struck off my Christmas card list), I finally got some time to work on some new tunes. Speaking of new tunes, whilst we’ve been hunting a new bass player, Marc, Rob and I have been getting together knocking up demos of some new songs. We’re not sure that all of them are quite the right vibe for Dear Acetate, so we may polish-up some of the recordings and stick them up online, possibly under a pseudonym at some point, we’ll see. Meanwhile Shane’s been pretty busy himself, recording and producing other bands in the studio. To bring you back up to date, the four of us got together the other week and discussed just what our ‘Plan B’ was going to be. So far it’s looking pretty promising. Shane’s back off holidays soon, and we’ve had some interest in the bass player department. We’re due back in the studio the week after next, and fingers crossed we can start making plans for gigs and the album launch before we know it. Hope you’re all enjoying your summer (or winter if you’re down that end of the planet). Look forward to seeing some of you at a venue near you soon!
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Last Updated on Thursday, 05 August 2010 22:52 |
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Written by Stee J
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Friday, 19 March 2010 23:50 |
Greetings for the first time in a while from the DA camp. Last time we updated you, we were all excited and busily making plans for the album release, and then... my body decided to throw a bit of a curve ball. Talk about timing! I'd been ill for a bit, crazy abdominal pains which had left the docs scratching their heads, and knocked me sideways. After various tests and scans (fortunately avoiding the rectal-cam) they sussed that I had gallstones, and needed an op to remove my gallbladder!! Apparently I didn't exactly fit the profile of a typical gallstone sufferer. Not that that was much comfort. On one hand I was glad they'd sussed what was causing the random excruciating pains, but it left everything up in the air not knowing exactly when I'd go under the knife and how long it'd take to recover.
I managed to get through the Belushi's gig in Jan, but we didn't dare make further plans and risk disappointing with no-shows. I eventually got a date for the surgery, and I had the operation last month. It left me pretty sore, zonked out, and I couldn't do much for a while. I was going off my nut stuck at home addling my brain with daytime tv and pills, laid back in comfy clothes that would've seen me locked up by the fashion police. I'm now up and about, and not too far from being back to normal which is a relief. It's taken longer to get right than I hoped it would've done. I'm looking forward to getting back down the studio with the rest of the band soon, and being in a fit state to hurl myself around stage.
I've not got much band gossip to share with you, as I've not seen much of the rest of them of late; though we did meet up recently round at Marc's place, where we chilled out, ate pizza and they had a few beers (I'm back on the beer now though). Shane and I shared the veggie pizza, whilst much to Rob's displeasure, he and Marc tucked in to a Hawaiian, apparently the only one Marc likes, whilst Sonny hoovered up the left overs. I tried my best to put them off their dinner by flashing my wounds, but they turned away. I haven't sussed out yet if they're squeamish, or feared I was in danger of stripping off. We stuck a few tunes on, punctuated by the odd shriek from me as I managed to forget that I was still a bit knackered, and attempted something crazy like sitting up or reaching for another slice of veggie perfection. Perfection it wasn't, but it was great to be able to eat what I wanted again without fearing the consequences. You wouldn't believe the fun I had in the preceding weeks trying to eat veggie stuff whilst avoiding fatty, greasy or oily stuff; so my diet pretty much consisted of anything Sonny would turn his nose up at.
So I suppose you're wondering when the album's going to be released and what happened to the tour dates we were planning? Good questions, I'd like to know the answers too.  In all seriousness, we're going to get our heads together soon and start working out when we can get the album out, and spend some quality time on the nation's highways. All of this re-arranging not helped by my planned trip to South Africa for the World Cup, and others' hols later in the summer. So apologies for the delay, couldn't be helped I'm afraid, I'm still pretty gutted that our plans haven't (yet) come to fruition, but watch this space! We're talking to a few promoters about shows in the coming months, but want to venture out a bit further afield. Let us know where you'd like to see us play. Give your local/favourite promoters a nudge, or get us over for your party/wedding/barmitzvah/ball.
Thanks for all the get well wishes.
Stee J.
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Written by Stee J
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Wednesday, 31 March 2010 08:40 |
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I'm writing this the morning after the night before.... I'm currently speeding my way back up to the Midlands on one of Mr Branson's super high-speed trains, ready for my day job which has seen me up in Solihull for the last couple of weeks. Last night things were decidedly less zoomy on this same route. I was sat at Birmingham International station with the departure board showing delayed and cancelled, and the tannoy ringing out the news that a vehicle had hit a bridge and trains in to London were suspended. Great. With the show due to kick off a few hours later ('Snuffed It Sets Sail' @ The Gaff), it was a bit of a twitchy moment, not helped by the one member of staff I could find saying it could be sorted in 5 minutes, could be 5 hours! I had visions of landing at Euston as the gig was kicking off, grabbing a cab to the venue and joining the band midway through an instrumental set. As luck would have it, it didn't come to that. I missed sound check, but had time to try out my pirate look, which consisted of peacoat, head scarf and eye patch, aided by the untamed follicles on my head and face, which all said was apparently pretty convincing. Maybe I'll keep my eyes peeled for a part in 'Pirates of the Caribbean - the rock opera'. In case you were wondering, I hadn't suddenly had the urge to mimic Captain Jack Sparrow; the night had a pirate theme, and we thought it'd be fun to join in. Rob had a Jolly Roger draped across the keyboard stand, whilst Sonny was wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt and his ever present hat which conveniently fitted in quite nicely. The promoter had made a decent effort to make the night a bit special, which saw the place decked out with skeletons, candles and various other garb to set the scene, whilst some of the punters had dressed up for the occasion, in pirate-esque garb or as glamorous wenches. Or at least I assume they had. As you may know if you've been following us over recent months, I'd been out for a while after my op. The lads had been rehearsing without me whilst I got myself fit, so last night was a bit of a cobweb-blower-offer for me. We'd been a late addition to the bill, having snapped up the show at short notice, safe in the knowledge I was finally fit to throw myself around a stage again. I felt a bit rusty, especially having missed soundcheck, and landing at the venue last minute, but it didn't take too long to get in to the swing of things, and I'm pretty sure we all had fun. We met some cool new people that had enjoyed the show, and snapped up some pre-release copies of the debut album. We hung around after our set to watch the other bands, and took part in a bit of tom foolery whilst stood at the bar, mostly at Sonny's expense. I somehow ended up kissing Sonny's hat, which was somewhat disturbing for both of us (me and the hat), with Rob and Marc later conspiring to prove the hat wasn't surgically attached to its somewhat bemused owner. Our train journey home seemed to be the source of some amusement to our fellow passengers who seemed up for a laugh. The hat was safe this time, but Marc learnt the hard way not to trust your band mates where toilet doors are concerned. We're due back to Holloway Road on the 20th of May, this time to play the Rocket Complex at London Met Uni -- details under the shows section. We're waiting on confirmation of the details, but we're hoping to also announce a London show for late April at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. We'll add the details once we have them. p.s. there were a few pics taken at the show, so we'll hopefully get some of them up on the facebook/myspace soonish
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 22:01 |
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Written by Stee J
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Friday, 01 January 2010 22:57 |
Well another year, and another decade. Out of the noughties and in to the err teenies, err tweenies, err? (answers on a postcard, or comments below please )
Hopefully you've all had amazing nights and you're not suffering too much from the excesses of new year! Marc and I headed out in to Watford to catch up with mates and watch some bands. We'd been asked to play, which would've been cool, except Shane was off sunning it and playing volleyball against Dappy from N-Dubz at the time! We're waiting on the spike count. 
We're hoping that 2010 will be a big year for us. We've certainly got a lot to look forward to, and if the last couple of weeks are anything to go by, things are going to be pretty busy. Our debut album 'Lost Days & Nights' is complete, and we're busying ourselves with all the stuff that needs to be done to get it out there and get it heard. Tell your friends, spread the word, ta muchly. 
Here's to a happy and prosperous 2010 to all of you, hopefully catch you on our travels as we take the show on the road.
Stee J. x
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Last Updated on Saturday, 02 January 2010 13:01 |
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