I’ve not posted anything here for a while and I haven’t got any gigs coming up, but I have been reasonably busy. In the interests of brevity, here’s a quick roundup of what’s happened so far in 2010.

• I played guitar on a couple of tracks from the new Billy No Mates album, which I think is going to be called “Duck, Duck, Goose“. The album’s not mixed yet, but I’ve heard a rough mix of all the songs and it’s really good. Definitely one to look out for. I’ll update here when it’s finally released.
• Unfortunately the planned Billy No Mates tour in Germany fell victim to a bit of punk rock organisation and is no more.
• My new punk band, Liquidman, had a couple of really good reherasals with our new bassist, Damion Rice (formerly of The Killerest Expression). Rich switched from bass to lead guitar and it’s sounding great. We had a few potentials on the gig front, but they all faded away…then we all got busy and now it’s mid-May. Hmmm. Maybe things will pick up later in the year? Maybe I should schmooze more and go to gigs?
• The biggest news though is the fact that I’ve started work on a new Big Ray album. Yep, you heard that correctly. Let’s face it….the history of rock’n'roll is littered with pointless gestures, so what’s the problem with one more? The idea is to plug away and get it all finished by the end of the year. Over and above that there are no plans, but hopefully the process will get me off my arse and out there playing more acoustic gigs in 2011. I’m recording the acoustic guitar & vocal backing tracks with Rich Matthews in his studio in London and will then get the rest of the cast to add their material on top either in person or via the wonders of the Internet. So far lined up to play on the songs are Big Ray regulars Reado (drums), Paul Duncan (bass) and possibly John Ruscoe (guitar). In addition two of my favourite musicians, Michael Hampton and Dave Derby, both from New York will be continuing their Big Ray associations by sprinkling their own brands of fairy dust over the music from their respective home studios in the Big Apple. Michael in particular had a huge impact on “Business Class” so expect more of the same from him. Additionally I hope to rope in Mickey Trenter, Clive Watling, Li’l Lost Lou, James Allen and possibly some others to round things off. I’ll probably post odds and sods from the recordings as we go along before making the final thing available here for free as always once it’s done. In that spirit here’s a very ‘early days’ version of one of the new songs, “Shimmy“. Check it out now and then wait to compare it with the finished version in early 2011.

 

 Shimmy (work in progress): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thursday 17th: Liquidman

The Birds Nest supporting STFU
32 Deptford Church Street,  Deptford, SE8 4RZ
FREE GIG

• http://www.myspace.com/deptfordbirdsnest

I assume we’ll be opening up proceedings at this gig because Kev kindly agreed to slip us in at the last minute. That means we’ll be onstage at 9PM sharp.

Friday 18th: Billy No Mates

Wat Tyler
+ Billy No Mates
+ Ted Leo
+ STFU
£5 on the door. No advance tix.

• http://www.last.fm/event/1096866
• http://www.thegrosvenorsw9.co.uk/

Saturday 19th : Liquidman

The Portland Arms in Cambridge
Ciarafest 14 with Karmadillo, Puncture Repair Kit & The Pony Collaboration.
We’re on 2nd from last and will kick off our set at 9.30.

• http://www.theportlandarms.co.uk/mbbs2/calendar/event-view.asp?eventid=2226

 Just back from a Billy No Mates gig at Kanalrock 09 in Horten, Norway. We had a great time (once the rain stopped and I shot my usual load of pointless footage in and around the event. Sadly there aren’t yet any photos or video of us actually playing, but I suspect they’ll appear online sometime soon & if they do I’ll link to them.

For now here’s what we have available:

• A link to all the shitty videos I filmed with my phone: http://qik.com/videos/public_search?query=Billy+No+Mates
• Slighty better quality video of everyone eating chilli backstage: http://vimeo.com/6134942

Time for a quick summary of upcoming gigs…and a note to self about getting some sort of calendar sorted out for this website. Noted.

• 5th August: Billy No Mates at The Old Angel Inn, Nottingham supporting SNFU - More info
• 15th August: Billy No Mates at the Kanalrock Festival in Oslo, Norway- More info
• 22nd August: Acoustic gig at the Cally Fest, Caledonian Road, London- More info
• 27th August: Special gig playing some punk covers (+ probably a few Sink songs) at The Portland Arms, Cambridge. N.B. I know we’re billed as ‘acoustic opener TBC’ on the venue’s website, but we’ve agreed with promoter, DS, that we can do a 30 minute band set instead. The plan at the moment is that I’ll be on guitar with Rich Matthews (from K-Line) on bass and his mate, Tom, on drums - More info

Also in the pipeline, but currently unconfirmed, are acoustic gigs at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston and a venue in Sittingbourne, Kent; both supporting Duncan Redmonds. Moreinfo on those gigs as I get it.

My first gigs with Billy No Mates went really well. Thanks to my new band mates for making me feel so welcome & to all of the promoters who put us on and the other bands we played with: Tyrannosaurus Alan, 7 Day Conspiracy, The North Pole, The Tommies, The Beverly Kills, Jason Welt, The Great St. Louis, Helen Chambers, Serf Combat & The Cut Ups. I think we have a few more gigs/potentials lined up for August, but for now things are a bit quiet on the Billy front…time to concentrate on photography again plus the odd acoustic gig. John & I are playing Ipswich with Duncan on Friday 22^nd May, but more about that in a separate post.

Billy No Mates in Brighton. L-R: No Name, The Claw, Billy, Skylord & Waterboy