WE ARE THE CHEEKY (BEER GUZZLERS)

Thursday 21st May, usually a practice night for us, but tonight we are recording grand piano for our new tracks at UCLAN's Media Factory. At the same time at Source bar, our good friends We Are The Mighty (WATM) and The Uncomfortables are playing.

It was WATM's debut gig and a chance to test out their new material in front of a live audience. In a bid to support our friends (and nothing to do with wanting to sneak off for a cheeky beer), Martin and I headed across the road (thanks again to Vicky Lyth for putting us on the guest list)

That first beer is always the best ha ha ...
So what about the bands? Well, I have to say I was impressed by WATM. I have seen the Baker brothers in many different guises over the years, and this time they seem to have found a musical style and set up that really works for them.

In my view, they have completely shaken off the sound of their predecessors, The Idanos. With the introduction Sam on bass, and by bringing forward Jon as an out and out front man, it feels much more structured and dynamic.

To describe their sound by way of comparison, I would say that there are elements of The Feeling, The Hoosiers, and dare I say Scissor Sisters (especially with the groin thrusts boys)? Plus, a bit of something else that I can't quite put me finger on. It was tight, energetic, engaging and entertaining, and as a debut it has to seen as a great success.

As WATM finish their set I get a call from Andy: "Hey Paul, we have finished getting the grand piano down, do you fancy recording a couple of unplugged songs? Just vocal and piano for the MySpace?"

Now, at this stage I had had a few pints and was feeling pretty pissed, I couldn't think of anything I'd like to do less! But we agreed to give it a go with the get-out clause that if it sounds like the ramblings of an old wino we wouldn't put it on the MySpace!

We headed back, which meant missing The Uncomfortables set, sorry guys. We recorded three tracks – Smash & Grab, Checkmate and Alibi. Surprisingly they sound pretty good, we are just arguing between ourselves now of which one should go online. So watch this space (not this space actually because this is the blog...watch MySpace).


P.S Our next gig is at Coda, Preston this Friday 29th May!

Jelly's in the Studio

In a week when politicians grovel, Obama U-turns, Green Day release a three act emo concept album and Andrew Lloyd Webber prepares for Eurovision, its of no great surprise that Jellys Last Jam barricade themselves inside a room to escape the horror and record some new tracks.

Last week it was bass and drums. Myself and Martin constructed a mini sound booth in the room. Which collapsed! This week Paul built the exact same booth for the vocals. It collapsed! A nine-foot partition shattering everything underneath it and narrowly missing Rob. Buster Keaton, he ain't!! Paul, whilst sucking vocalzone throat sweets, complained the key of one song is too high. Aww bless! Rob, being an arsehole, refuses to lower it. After Rob and Paul have a brief discussion regarding ''interpretation'' vs ''singing whats been written'', we get a fair portion of stuff down. Not all there yet, but its almost in the can.

Next week, its grand piano time. Lets hope we don't drop a nine-foot partition on it! If we do, we'll follow the current trend and put it on expenses!!

LAZY MAD FERRET IN LAST CONN

It's Friday 8th May and we return to our spiritual home, the Mad Ferret Preston. On the same day across the road at 53 Degrees, the NME Radar Tour is in town.

We arrive at the Mad Ferret at around 6.30pm for sound check. We are met by the sound engineer and Uncomfortables front man Richie 'The 'Tash' Lomax. It was going to be a challenging night for Lomax as he had the unenviable task of mixing the experimental/medieval/ jazz infused/progressive rock/seven-piece, that is The Laze!

The line up for the night was:

Pencil In
The Laze
Jelly's Last Jam
Gideon Conn

Unfortunately, Pencil In couldn't make it. It got me thinking; maybe that isn't the name of the band after all? Maybe they just said "Pencil us in, and we will let you know!". Hmmm.

After sound check Andy gets onto the phone to his sister Victoria, who just happens to be marketing supervisor and show rep at 53 Degrees. Visit Victoria's Blog.

"Vicky, do you think that it might be possible to get Paul and me on the door for the NME Radar Tour tonight?" There is a long pause as he listens intently, then finally bursts out with "Great! Thanks Vic."

Andy turns to me with a massive grin on his face, "Fancy watching the Chapman Family? Eh? They're on in a minute and Vic has put us on the door."

I had seen the Chapman Family a couple of years before at the Kolor bar and they were outstanding. Now they're on the NME Radar Tour and are obviously getting the national recognition that they deserve. "Yes, I'm definitely up for that mate."

The Champman Family's set was absolutely brilliant. An extremely theatrical, high-energy show that included; guitar smashing, bass playing with a with a beer bottle, and strangulation! I mean, what more do you want? Their heavier-than-expected sound uses extreme distortion and strong, aggressive vocals to force the audience stand up and listen.

Feeling fired up and ready to go, it was back to the Mad Ferret to get ready for our set. The place was really filling up at this point. On stage The Laze were setting up. They have unique sound that is mainly instrumental, it playfully and skilfully transcends jazz through to progressive rock. An extremely tight band, they draw you in, then take you off to surreal fantasy world. Although not to everybody's taste, they certainly won over the crowd on the night.

We were up next, and by now the place was packed out. We had two new songs in the set, and to be honest I was little anxious to see how they would be received.

Here's the set list:

The gig went really well, and the crowd's reaction was fantastic. Lots of positive feedback mixed with the odd gripe about not playing some of the old favourites, but that's to be expected. Thanks to those of you who came to support us on the night; Mike, Claire, Natalie, Gerner, Antonia, Rachael, Barry and Penelope, to name but a few.

The final act for the night was a real favourite of mine, the stunningly unique Gideon Conn. Trying to describe Gideon is a difficult task. He stood alone with just his guitar in a bar packed full of people, mesmerising the crowd with his particular brand of comic hip hop folk music. He invites you to join his surreal world of 'pylons and wires', making child-like gestures that you can't help but join in with. Then I turn away for just a couple minutes, and who is up there accompanying him on drums? Only our very own Andy Lyth! What is he doing up there? The cheeky monkey. I had to take a picture...

Gideon had asked Andy prior to his set to accompany him. Andy, having never heard the song before said in usual Andy Lyth style "Yea why not?", made it up as he went along and got away with it! Talented b*stard, I hate him ; )

A fantastic night had by all a big thanks to Ed for having us.

Due to the cancelation of Thurday's Manchester gig, our next gig is at Coda, Preston, on Friday 29th May. Hope to see you there!



And remember freddie is watching you...

A Return To Wigan

1st May, 2009: The Tudor House, Wigan

I am, as usual, first to arrive at the venue (though followed very closely by Martin and Rob, who attempt to enter via Wigan Bus Station). Loading into the Tudor I am reminded of my days of playing in Wigan bands (Cava, Strange Weather to name but two), and wondering why we have left it so long since Jelly's last graced a Wigan stage.

Once we're loaded in I start setting up the Wigan Music Collective drum kit; a battered old thing which I last played over two years ago, but which after all this time still manages to sound decent. It is obvious that someone has maintained this kit with loving care!

Paul arrives and we then proceed to perform the sound check. I cover the drums with electrical tape (we didn't have any Gaffa tape to hand) to stop the ringing, and we're struck by the quality of the sound. Also the stage looks great, with a blue velvet curtain covering the sides and back... however this means tonight will be a hot one...

We soundcheck with two new tracks, Closing Shadows and Monochrome Memory, tonight marks the first live performance of the latter, so we need all the last minute practice we can get. Then we make way for fellow Prestonians Boy Genius who soundcheck while we nip into town for some food... avoiding all pie shops we end up guilt-ridden at the nearest McDonalds.

Returning to the Tudor, the lads go to find a cash machine whilst I chat with Chazz and the rest of the Boy Genius boys about Jack Penate's new look, then we gather around the pub quiz machine. Pretty soon all members of both bands plus the sound engineer are gathered around the small machine, and I am occasionally chipping in with the wrong answers.

Then I see Karl, my former band mate from the Cava days; we spend a while catching up and before we know it Boy Genius have taken to the stage. They play a pretty awesome set to a fairly small crowd, but everyone who is there loves it!

We're enjoying the gig when two girls in front of us turn around and unashamedly take a picture of Paul, Martin and myself. Martin plays it icy-cool, whilst Paul and myself turn to each other bemused.

"Fans?"
"I think so, why else would they be taking our picture?"
"They must recognise us from our pictures on Myspace!"
"Maybe it's that girl Penelope that emailed us about the last blog!"

Then the girls turned away and carried on dancing to Boy Genius. Strange, they didn't even say anything.

Eventually one of them turned to Paul and came out with "Don't take this the wrong way, but...", (which you always know is a bad sign) "...you look just like that guy from the Big Bang Theory".

In the Jelly's Last Jam camp, the jury's still out, but what do our blog readers think?


Paul was pretty mortified. He has just got one of those faces, I guess. Like Ben Stiller. The girls take one more picture of us, with Karl (on the right), then I get to say a quick hello to my Aunty Kath and her partner Dave, who have just arrived, then it's time for our set.

Setlist was:
Parasite
Undefined
The Past and I
Alibi
Closing Shadows
Monochrome Memory
Smash and Grab
Checkmate

Closing Shadows and Monochrome Memory are both new songs, and they both sounded great at this gig; I'm looking forward to introducing them to our home crowd at Preston's Mad Ferret this Friday (8th May). The set went down well, though it seemed that half the audience was listening from the bar. The people that were there, however loved it! We got a lot of response via email and myspace, and sold a fair few CDs. Once we had packed up (and I had cooled down!) it was time to go; I had arranged to stay over at my parents house in nearby Leigh, so Paul and myself nipped to ASDA for some post gig booze and ended up watching a film until the early hours.

All in all, had a pretty ace night and will definitely return to Wigan pretty soon!