I returned to Derby on the 10th December to rehearse with DelightHouse for our Nottingham gig the next day. In the six hour session, we organised and practiced the setlist of songs we were to play. The first half hour would involve original material, the second all cover songs. We did a few audio recordings of these:
- http://www.esnips.com/doc/9a2e107f-9ed0-499c-ba05-487099c3117e/Listen-Angels-Sing-10th-December
- http://www.esnips.com/doc/024ccb6d-b816-4990-90b9-a90141dc210b/Drive-10th-December
[6 hours]
We did spend a few more hours on the Sunday going over our set again before we left for the Nottingham Polish Club in Roman's car with all our equipment. There were two other bands playing at this charity gig, each would get an hour to play. After them, we had half an hour with which to soundcheck before our set, to start at 18:00.
However, whilst we were soundchecking one of the event hosts told me that we would have to end at 18:15 because the owners had told them at the last minute that they would have to relinquish the property three hours earlier than they had planned, meaning they had to be packed up and out by 18:45.
This angered us, since we had put so much time and effort into preparing for this gig only to be told our slot had been shorted to fifteen minutes. The few songs we did play went down well and people told us how good we sounded.
[2 hours]
When we returned to the Derby Polish Club that evening, we looked at some of the videos and photos we took, and then decided to do an impromptu gig there for all the friends etc who had come to see us and not got to see a full set. So we set up all our equipment in the hall and played the set we had planned to roughly twenty people, mainly for the pure enjoyment of ourselves and our fans. It was also good stage experience for the band. There is a video of us playing Lighthouse on youtube - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0HxAPkG0Ykk
[2 hours]
The following week on Friday we spent the late evening 9:30 till 12:00 rehearsing for the Live and Unsigned Acts 2009 song competition in Sheffield, working with our two strongest songs to make cut-down versions viable for it, ie under two minutes. Eventually we decided to play "Listen Angels Sing", since we felt it was more distinctive, interesting and memorable. It contains all the main elements of our sound, that is Anna's voice and acoustic guitar combined with my harmonies, the ambient guitar effects and counter-melodies and the heavier outro chorus with the fast guitar solo.
[4 hour 30 mins]
We had to meet early the next morning at 8:30 to quickly refresh memories of what we were going to play. Leaving at 9:15, we set off in Roman's car for Sheffield which took about an hour. Our slot would take place between 11:30 and 12:30, so we made sure to register our act well before then.
When we were called, we were told that we could not use Petr's electric drumkit we had brought, since there were so many acts to get through there would definately not be time to set it up, as I had warned the others. However, Petr coped well on the acoustic kit and although we only got to play 50 seconds of what we had prepared we were told that we got through to the next round.
[3 hours]
This will be a show at the Memorial Hall in Sheffield on the 8th March where each act will get 3:30 to perform a part of a unique cover version and a sample of an original song. Our next rehearsal will focus around which songs will do for this. Anna mentioned a Luther Vandross song that may be possible for us to produce a more rocked-up version, with potential for her to interact with the audience more, as well as room for parts that would suit my voice too.
This week we have been searching for a studio to record our first demo EP before Anna moves to Spain for a period of time. We checked out Honza's friend's studio which weren't very impressed with due to its shabby layout and cold atmosphere. We also visited Snug Recordings, which had very good feelings about, mainly stemming from its professional attitude, wide variety of equipment and a setup that was not too complex - going through a single Control 24 mixer for ProTools.
The other studio that showed promise was Dubrek Studios, who although a lot more laid back than Snug, also seemed to have a diverse range of equipment and experience. They clearly had dealt with lots of different styles of music just like Snug, and yet for a cheaper price (£19 an hour for 10 hours).
Although we decided on Snug, they were not available on the dates that we were and so we booked a session on Saturday 31st at Dubrek. Anna, Honza and I discussed how we would arrange our recording, and we decided we would do some live takes of the five songs, and overdub the vocals and guitar solos. A suggested tracklisting could involve:
Sleeping Walkers pt I
Sleeping Walkers pt II
Lighthouse
Listen, Angels Sing
Breathe 4 U
Honza had also been working on a possible artwork for the CD:
On the same day of the Sheffield trip, I visited Matt and Jon from The Brewery Tap in the evening to discuss my first tasks as a University liason for the pub, for which they are going to pay a small amount, although I am mainly looking for experience.
This included:
- Spreading the word about the Monday student night, emphasising the open mic and paid live music acts, plus drinks offers and free food
- Finding an act to play at the Student Night on 2nd March (possibly upcoming band (PulseFire)
- Communicating with the SU about liasing with other universities in finding budding comedians for a comedy night The Brewery Tap hopes to start, including sketches and comedy musicians
- Ideas for a mini festival that they plan to host in the summer
[2 hours]
- http://www.esnips.com/doc/9a2e107f-9ed0-499c-ba05-487099c3117e/Listen-Angels-Sing-10th-December
- http://www.esnips.com/doc/024ccb6d-b816-4990-90b9-a90141dc210b/Drive-10th-December
[6 hours]
We did spend a few more hours on the Sunday going over our set again before we left for the Nottingham Polish Club in Roman's car with all our equipment. There were two other bands playing at this charity gig, each would get an hour to play. After them, we had half an hour with which to soundcheck before our set, to start at 18:00.
However, whilst we were soundchecking one of the event hosts told me that we would have to end at 18:15 because the owners had told them at the last minute that they would have to relinquish the property three hours earlier than they had planned, meaning they had to be packed up and out by 18:45.
This angered us, since we had put so much time and effort into preparing for this gig only to be told our slot had been shorted to fifteen minutes. The few songs we did play went down well and people told us how good we sounded.
[2 hours]
When we returned to the Derby Polish Club that evening, we looked at some of the videos and photos we took, and then decided to do an impromptu gig there for all the friends etc who had come to see us and not got to see a full set. So we set up all our equipment in the hall and played the set we had planned to roughly twenty people, mainly for the pure enjoyment of ourselves and our fans. It was also good stage experience for the band. There is a video of us playing Lighthouse on youtube - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0HxAPkG0Ykk
[2 hours]
The following week on Friday we spent the late evening 9:30 till 12:00 rehearsing for the Live and Unsigned Acts 2009 song competition in Sheffield, working with our two strongest songs to make cut-down versions viable for it, ie under two minutes. Eventually we decided to play "Listen Angels Sing", since we felt it was more distinctive, interesting and memorable. It contains all the main elements of our sound, that is Anna's voice and acoustic guitar combined with my harmonies, the ambient guitar effects and counter-melodies and the heavier outro chorus with the fast guitar solo.
[4 hour 30 mins]
We had to meet early the next morning at 8:30 to quickly refresh memories of what we were going to play. Leaving at 9:15, we set off in Roman's car for Sheffield which took about an hour. Our slot would take place between 11:30 and 12:30, so we made sure to register our act well before then.
When we were called, we were told that we could not use Petr's electric drumkit we had brought, since there were so many acts to get through there would definately not be time to set it up, as I had warned the others. However, Petr coped well on the acoustic kit and although we only got to play 50 seconds of what we had prepared we were told that we got through to the next round.
[3 hours]
This will be a show at the Memorial Hall in Sheffield on the 8th March where each act will get 3:30 to perform a part of a unique cover version and a sample of an original song. Our next rehearsal will focus around which songs will do for this. Anna mentioned a Luther Vandross song that may be possible for us to produce a more rocked-up version, with potential for her to interact with the audience more, as well as room for parts that would suit my voice too.
This week we have been searching for a studio to record our first demo EP before Anna moves to Spain for a period of time. We checked out Honza's friend's studio which weren't very impressed with due to its shabby layout and cold atmosphere. We also visited Snug Recordings, which had very good feelings about, mainly stemming from its professional attitude, wide variety of equipment and a setup that was not too complex - going through a single Control 24 mixer for ProTools.
The other studio that showed promise was Dubrek Studios, who although a lot more laid back than Snug, also seemed to have a diverse range of equipment and experience. They clearly had dealt with lots of different styles of music just like Snug, and yet for a cheaper price (£19 an hour for 10 hours).
Although we decided on Snug, they were not available on the dates that we were and so we booked a session on Saturday 31st at Dubrek. Anna, Honza and I discussed how we would arrange our recording, and we decided we would do some live takes of the five songs, and overdub the vocals and guitar solos. A suggested tracklisting could involve:
Sleeping Walkers pt I
Sleeping Walkers pt II
Lighthouse
Listen, Angels Sing
Breathe 4 U
Honza had also been working on a possible artwork for the CD:
On the same day of the Sheffield trip, I visited Matt and Jon from The Brewery Tap in the evening to discuss my first tasks as a University liason for the pub, for which they are going to pay a small amount, although I am mainly looking for experience.
This included:
- Spreading the word about the Monday student night, emphasising the open mic and paid live music acts, plus drinks offers and free food
- Finding an act to play at the Student Night on 2nd March (possibly upcoming band (PulseFire)
- Communicating with the SU about liasing with other universities in finding budding comedians for a comedy night The Brewery Tap hopes to start, including sketches and comedy musicians
- Ideas for a mini festival that they plan to host in the summer
[2 hours]
Total: 19 hours 30 mins
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