Drummer Lusted

Drummer-lust, my wife called it, as I fixated on John Bonham's drumming during a clip of Led Zep's debut live appearance on Danish TV in 1969 shown as part of BBC4's Heavy Metal Britannia the other night.

The Beast & Probing Cranks at The Libertine: http://ping.fm/aUAkk

The Beast & Probing Cranks at The Libertine

I'm always disappointed by my favourite bands when they allow their songs to be used in TV adverts. To be fair, maybe they don't even have a say in the matter these days. On Saturday afternoon then, while watching The Railway Children for the umpteenth time with my seven year old daughter and daydreaming that my name was David and after a walking trip with my friend on the Yorkshire Moors, in which we are both attacked by a wild animal, I had been woken in my hospital bed by a nightmare only to see Jenny Agutter rushing to my bedside..... where was I?.....Oh, yeah, so on Saturday afternoon More Heroes by The Stranglers, albeit without a vocal, is advertising, of all things, bread; baked for you by Hovis. No more heroes? Too right.

No more heroes, apart from Probing Cranks, of course, who, judging by those gathered at The Libertine to support them on Saturday night, are treated as such on their own little scene in SE-Whatever-it-is. They however, will never get the chance to 'sell out'. They will never be faced with the moral dilemma over whether to licence their music to advertise margarine or marmalade or muesli. This is both good and bad; good because I don't want to associate Probing Cranks with my breakfast, or vice-versa; and bad because Probing Cranks deserve the commercial success that might face them with such dilemmas. I get the sense though, that they are beyond giving a damn about commercial success.

When spooning the aural casserole that boils on the Probing Cranks' hob, one is reminded of quirk-mongering bands such as The Pixies, The Fall and The Wedding Present. Of songs like Love Buzz by Nirvana. Skip Steps 1 & 3, by Superchunk. It's music produced by Steve Albini. It's the sound of a band supporting Jesus Lizard or Sebadoh. Probing Cranks also remind me a lot of the band I was in in the early 90s, called 67. Heavy, quirky, intense and edgy. So that's nice, for me, anyway.

The Beast may be penniless, but what they don't have in their pockets, they make up for in noise, passion and classic-rock riffola.

Toby Nuttall's voice rises and squeezes Brian Johnson-style between the down-beating AC/DC guitar riffs. John Grant on drums and Beanz on bass provide the Led Zep-style backbone.

Having lent my amp to my namesake for the night, I had the pleasure of his company during a lift to the gig. It was a chance to hear another version of the Carol Street squat story - one I love. About Camden in the late-70s. I do wish I had been there. Even earlier. '68 would have been good, in time to see the Doors at the Roundhouse. But '76 would have been just fine; in time to see The Ramones there, and The Stranglers, for a couple of quid.

I empathise with Toby. Not just cos we share the same first name, which incidentally causes some confusion during the evening. No, he, like me had a band on the verge of 'something'. And it came to nothing. Tonight, I feel the release he gets from unleashing The Beast. You sense his regression to the twenty (something) year old version of the same person. One with fewer worries. The untouchable one. The one with nothing more money-wise, but all that a young musician needs, that is: a bunch of hippy-punk friends, a squat scene, some booze, hash and acid, a 1960s Stratocaster and an AC-30.

Squat and drugs and rock and roll.

Thought for the day

I've just decided, from now on, I'm only promoting gigs for bands that have signed up to the Bands, Fans & Industry network. I can't be bothered anymore with those that aren't 'in the club'.

Michael Caines (Times Literary Supplement & Spirit of Play) writes his monthly music-book review for R-T-Y-D: http://tinyurl.com/yfuzewv

The Phantom of the Factory

So, since our drummer exploded I have had to get the old the Phantom Limb out. The drum machine. I been enjoying using it again, actually. Probably because it involves the process of de-constructing the songs I've recently written. Which is always fun. It also calls for decisions on arrangements, that can otherwise be put off.

Mike and I rehearsed with the Phantom Limb at The Arts Factory, opposite Holloway Prison on Wednesday night. I rehearsed there for a while back in the early 90s when I was teaching my girlfriend at the time to play the drums. We had a White Stripes thing going on. The place hasn't changed much. New amps. Looked like the same old drum kit, though. Small rooms, but good value at nine quid an hour. If you have a loud drummer, or you are a loud band, though, it isn't a suitable rehearsal space for you.

For two old gits who live equal distances north and south of it, who want to sit down and get some new songs together with a drum machine, however, it is perfect.

Happy Birthday to me

I'm 43 tomorrow. Bit of a crap age, 43.

However, to make up for it, after working at the school for three or four hours and then picking up my daughter from school, we will be rendezvous-ing with my wife for a birthday burger and chips at The Diner in Camden. (Stylish - Ed). After that, I'm off out to rehearse with Mike and the Phantom Limb.

As I am making some money again, I recently treated myself to a couple of new Boss guitar effects pedal to add to my Boss collection of Chorus, Flanger, Digital Delay, Compressor, Overdrive, Distortion and Acoustic Simulator. So I am looking forward to trying out my new Dyna Drive and a Phaser pedals, both purchased on E-bay for 60 quid a piece. (Not bad - Ed)

Being that it's just me and Mike again for a while, I recently dug out my old pedal board in a flight case that my mum and dad bought me 25 years ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work. It use to hold and power 6 pedals. Shame. I could have got it fixed - probably still will - but in the meantime, and as I am making some money again, I bought a new 6-way power supply, and a canvas pedal bag/board thing (See below), which is great for stage use and for transporting in my bicycle pannier when I cycle off to rehearsal with my guitar on my back.

When I discovered the Boss Dyna Drive, I had to have it. Basically, it's the overdrive pedal I should have invented. It's one which reacts to the intensity of your performance. It will perfectly suit my playing, I am sure. I tend to need a clean sound when I pick and strum through verses moderately hardly, and a over-driven sound when I strum harder through choruses and so on. I want this, without the glaringly obvious switch from clean to fuzz which sounds so clumsy, even when Cobain did it.

I bought the Phaser, just cos I've always fancied one.

To add to this, I dug out an old Zoom multi-effects pedal unit that I had stored away, and I've stuck that in the mix so I can utilise it's wah and volume pedal, and tuner, and whatever else isn't covered by the Boss department.

Expect to see my pedal set up in Pedal Power next week.

I have also done a bit of admin. on the Phantom Limb's drum tracks and deleted any obsolete patterns and songs, to make way for new ones. In the process, I have also reminded myself how to use the blasted thing. This is fits in pannier number two.