Now Streaming! Two New Songs by 14 Carat Grapefruit

Now streaming! Two brand new songs - 'Tamara Never Comes' and 'Let's Get Fuckin' Pissed' - from the Grapefruits' 'difficult' second album - if it ever comes! Follow this link to the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-RECORD-SHOP to have a listen.

The band play The Dublin Castle in Camden, London, this coming Wednesday. On stage at a sensible 8pm.

14 Carat Grapefruit & Glamweazel play the Dublin Castle, Camden, this Wednesday 4th May

http://rock-til-you-drop-records.com/fr_14caratgrapefruit

http://rock-til-you-drop-records.com/fr_glamweazel.cfm

Video: Glamweazel at the Dublin Castle

Jerry T. Jones, AKA Lushi Lee of 1980s band One The Juggler, these days goes by the name of Glamweazel or at least when he is performing his own songs. On Thursday night, he performed with his band at the Dublin Castle, Camden - a gig I had a little hand in setting up - and which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The turn out was very good, and I was touched by Jerry dedicating the last song Tangled Leads to me (a video of which is above). It's an anthem in a 70s rock-stylee for all of us that continue to live the rock 'n' roll dream - if only in our heads.

Rock 'til you drop, Jerry!

The 2009 ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP Awards

2009 is the first full year of ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP's existence. For those who didn't know, it all started one autumnal evening early in October 2008. So it only seemed right that we celebrate the scene we have created for ourselves by presenting a series of awards for bands, venues and studios voted for by members of the network.

The presentations were made at The Hope & Anchor in Islington last week midway through the Xmas-Rock-Til-You-Drop gig. My good friend, AXE-FM DJ and respected RTYD member, Colin Gillman opened the envelopes, announced the winners and presented the awards.

There were five categories: Best Band, Best Song, Best CD, Best Rehearsal Studio and Best Venue. The winner in each category was to receive a solid oak coffin-shaped award with engraved plaque.

Ben Ellis collected the award for Best Rehearsal Studio on behalf of The Joint in King's Cross.

The award for Best Venue went to The Dublin Castle and was collected by Bugbear employee Marcie. Sorry, no pickie of Marcie.

The award for Best Song went to Punks Not Dad for the excellent and hilarious In Me Shed. Unfortunately, due to a severe weather warning that night in Wales the band were unable to play the gig. But Otto Pthrugg of 14 Carat Grapefruit was happy to accept the Coffin on their behalf, if only for the opportunity to publicly slag them off for being frightened of "a little bit of snow".

14 Carat Grapefruit won the award for Best CD with their brilliant LP Long Time Coming, which they have been generously distributing free to those who have attended their gigs this year. You can listen to some of it at the ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP-RECORDS store here.

The award for Best Band went to London covers-band Creak. Paul Rodger and Paul Stansfield, singer and drummer respectively, stepped up to collect the award on behalf of the whole band. Creak's line-up which was in a state of flux ealier this year has settled to include (another!) Paul on guitar, Vladi on lead and Pete on bass. The boys have worked very hard on the live circuit this year and are reaping the rewards now. They are even getting paid to play the occasional gig! I had the pleasure of seeing the boys play for RTYD earlier in the month and they certainly do put on a good show.


Next year, more categories, more awards, and sponsorship.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Toby

Have flyers, will flyer

18 years ago you would have often found me, and my very supportive partner at that time, standing outside the Camden Falcon in all weather, handing out A5 photocopied flyers to promote my band's gigs around town.

In the next few weeks, you may well find me again with hand outstretched, bearing a flyer (full colour, these days! - Ed), though not outside The Falcon, 'cos like many venues of the early-90s, it has since been turned into flats (that's another blog - Ed again).

This month I'll be mostly flyering the Punk-Rock-Til-You-Drop gig at the Dublin Castle on Wednesday 16th September.

Now, there's a series of punk gigs at the Underworld in the next couple of weeks, which would be good to flyer. There's one tonight, but the wife's out, so that ain't gonna happen. Never used to have that problem, of course, 18 years ago; the 'wife' then would come too. That 'wife' and I, though, didn't have a 6 year old daughter.

I'd like to get out to see more gigs, flyer more gigs, meet more people, and bands, but there just isn't the time there used to be to do such old fashioned things.

Did get out to see The Gowletts the other night in Willesden, and I'm going to see Magic Ship at the Half Moon in Putney on Saturday night. But more often than not, I am duty-bound to stay in and forced to promote Rock-Til-You-Drop to the outside world, like this. And I fucking hate the pressure to blog, too. That Colin Gilman is a natural. Not me.

I will have already spent bloody hours doing god-knows-what and appearing to achieve very little, before I get round to the matter of the blog. I also feel too guilty to spend too long at the computer. I spend a lot of time with my daughter at home, and I don't wanna give her the impression that being on the computer is most of what I do. Or more importantly, what she should do. I'm sure that's a modern-parenting hang-up; it used to be watching too much TV, now it's spending too much time on the computer that is the concern. It's probably my fault that my daughter is already working on her own website and .com business. Thankfully, though, she also likes drawing, and is already showing an interest in making music.

So I get back on it (the computer, that is) when she's in bed, and by 11:00pm, my hands ache, my back aches, my eyes are burning, my head is spinning. Like now. I have to stop. But there's still so much more to do. Like the links on this blog. Then the wife comes in, in a loquacious mood after a few too many, and wants to chat. And I can't listen, cos I just wanna get this fucking thing finished.

I'll shut up about it now.

Anyway, the next punk gig at the Underworld that is worth flyering is on a night that I am rehearsing with my band - so that's out, too. Another is on a Sunday night. Great! Going out at 10:30 on a Sunday night to flyer a fucking gig.

I hope you enjoyed the blog, anyway.

Ramping up the gigs

It strikes me that the only way forward is to ramp up the rock-til-you-drop gigs come September. I think that I'm gonna move the emphasis away from promoting to mature musicians and mature music fans, and marketing these nights as networking opportunities for 'older' musicians, and instead focus on appealing to a wider audience. As we've discussed before, no one cares about age, they just care about watching good music performed by experienced musicians. So where it said 'mature', insert experienced. I think the obvious thing to do is to drop the whole 'Rock-Til-You-Drop-Night' thing and reduce 'Rock-Til-You-Drop presents' to small-print.

I have agreed to promote a series of Saturday night gigs, and Sunday afternoon acoustic sessions at the Libertine in Borough, beginning in September. I have two nights at the Fiddlers before Xmas, October and December, and the Dublin Castle punk special on 16th September. And hopefully, one or two more, here and there. This should step things up over the autumn and early winter.

I still find the difference in bands' expectations about payment for gigs disconcerting. I wonder why some even want Rock-Til-You-Drop to promote them. I suppose it's that they need to play away from home from time to time, to move forward. One guy I spoke to recently about the possibility of a RTYD gig, said his trio which comprises professionals, could get 200 quid a gig at his local. They don't play for nothing. This is intimidating to me, cos I can't guarantee his band or any band even 40 quid, so I would shy away from booking such bands until I felt confident I could pay them. I don't want to let people down, I just want to give bands opportunities to move forward, to move out of their neighbourhood and comfort zone, to build a fanbase beyond their friends and colleagues, 'cos without this they will struggle in the long run. You cannot continue to rely on the same people to come out and see you. You can easily get stuck in a local venue rut too, playing the same place month in month out.

I think eventually I have to decide who it is I want to promote more specifically, cos I dunno about these blues-rocks bands? They can pretty much, pitch up in any venue in any town, say they play the blues, and get a paid gig. I didn't start RTYD to help bands that don't need helping.

Mates. Who needs 'em?

I went to see I, Thalamus at the Dublin Castle in Camden on Friday night. My good friend Dove Jones was sitting in on keyboards. Now for those of you who didn't know, I first booked I, Thalamus at the Dublin Castle for a Rock-Til-You-Drop night. They pulled a good crowd that night and consequently the venue's own promoters Bugbear offered them a weekend slot.

I, Thalamus were headlining on Friday night - for what that slot is worth these days - it certainly isn't anything prestigious, as you may have picked up from my previous blogs on the subject. It is a warm night and the pub is busy inside and out when I arrive. I chat to the band and miss the first act on, but catch the end of the second act - a singer/songwriter/guitarist. Nothing special. Can't really hear him over the talking. But he has a lot of mates.

The band that follow him are 'landfill indie'. Tight jeans. T-shirts. No charisma. Shoe-gazers and boring. So fucking boring. They have loads of mates too. It doesn't matter that they talk all the way through the set. When they finish, as is always the way at the Dublin, they all file out of the live area into the bar, never to be seen again.

It's in this half-emptied room, that I, Thalamus take to the stage. Grant Gordon who has recently lost his father and his rehearsal studio is clearly honouring a booking and not really in the mood. The band, who have had their usual one pre-gig rehearsal move through a familiar set, with the addition of a cover of Green Day's When September Ends. I could imagine this version being a bonus track on the Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues album. Anyway, they alternate up and down tempo songs and a few of the females in the audience show their appreciation with a little jig here and there. The visual highlight comes when Dove Jones recovers spectacularly with a bit of a 'Keith Emerson', after his keyboard falls off the stand and hits the deck.

Unlike the youngsters, I, Thalamus can't rely on their mates to come out and see them any more. Sure, occasionally, they will come out. But not every time. But while their audience need not be older, their mailing list probably is.

Many of these people will not continue to support live music at this level once they reach marriage and parenthood. Some might. But not many. That's for sure. Why? Because many of them aren't there for the music. They're there for the atmosphere and because their mate's mate is playing. Which is fine. The more the merrier. But these aren't loyal supporters. They will not still be coming to see the band in 5 years time. Unless they're playing Brixton Academy.

What we need to do then, is get some of these late-20s/30-somethings on our mailing lists. Maybe a trendy pub like The Libertine is a place to begin picking up some younger support?

Second-to-last is the new last.

This is not good. I have spent so much time recently administrating my sites, that I simply have not had the mental energy to blog. Thankfully, Colin has been blogging away enthusiastically over the last few days.

So what's new? Well, my band has a gig in a couple of weeks (Saturday 4th July to be precise), which I'm looking forward to. It's in a boozer in Borough called The Libertine. Its run by a bunch of nice late-20s/early 30s types, who have tastefully 'trendified' it with the odd chesterfield sofa, DJs and a pizza oven - you know the type of place. It is free entry, too, so it will be interesting to see how this works out. And how the bands sound in there. The live music has to stop at 10:30 so this is perfect for all those bands that refuse to headline. There is no headline! The night ends with the penultimate band. Perfect!

I'm hoping it will become a regular venue on the RTYD circuit that I map out in my dreams at night. The Dublin Castle is nice to have but I need a bunch of smaller venues scattered round Greater London around which to circulate bands. To put on two local acts and one visiting band.

I'm starting to see a few genre-ised nights like Blues-Rock-Til-You-Drop and Punk-Rock-Til-You-Drop, too, which is exciting. Though a complementary mix of band-types is always enjoyable too.

Like Colin, I need to lay off this computer and pick up the guitar in the evenings again. He's right about the long gaps when the band is doing sod-all. It's always been hard for me to find something to fill these gaps too. For years, I'd be in my room most nights playing and writing but since the demand for new material waned, I have always found myself having to fill these 'voids' with projects. Rock-Til-You-Drop is one of those projects. It's just taking over more than most. As my wife will tell you.

My life as a promoter

Need to make a decision this week about the bill for the next Rock-Til-You-Drop night at the Dublin Castle. Got a few bands in mind. Waiting to hear whether a band called Last Man Standing can headline it. Steve, who DJs the Rock-Til-You-Drop nights at Dublin Castle, knows the lead singer and has run it by him. He's checking his band's schedule, so we'll see? I notice from their myspace page that they are playing the Lovebox Weekender in Victoria Park in July - so they look like they've got their shit together. They appear to be semi-professional part-timers and therefore probably don't need a Rock-Til-You-Drop gig at the Dublin Castle on a Wednesday night, which is likely to make them no more than the cost of a few beers. They may however, approve of the cause/ethos/mission of R-T-Y-D. I have a feeling they won't do it, but that's probably me catastrophising again, right? If this is the case, I'm gonna have to book 4 bands instead of 3 to get more punters through the door. I didn't want to do this 'cos it means 30 minute sets, and more hassle on the night. But when you got 3 bands and one doesn't bring anybody, you are fucked.

Also waiting for a couple of bands to confirm their places on the Guildford bill in late June.

Mr Pound

So, a few weeks ago I was talking about my frustration at not writing songs as much as I used to. I signed off informing you that I was off to try and write a song about Woolies closing down to get the songwriting juices flowing again. Well, I just finished it. It's been a while in the making but that's how I like it. It's called 'Mr Pound' and comes with verse, bridge and and a very catchy chorus. I toiled over the arrangement for about a week. Singing it this way. Singing it that way. V-B-C, V-B-C, Mid-8, B-C or V-B, V-B-C, V-B-C, Mid-8, B-C. the latter is a favourite of mine.

It talks about the last days of Woolworths, the stalwarts 'gathering to pay their last respects' and 'the children arriving to scoop their last pick n mix'. It mentions 'Sheila' who 'worked the record counter' of the Woolies in my home town and mentions the chequered vinyl floors of 'the Woolies that time forgot'. The chorus is me coming to terms with weekends now spent browsing the aisles of the likes of Mr Pound, Poundland and Poundstretchers.

It's been a labour of love over the last couple of weeks. I will miss it. This is how I used to feel. The song now has to be released into it's natural habitat, the public domain. I don't like the pain of letting it go, I love it. But first, the band will play their part and add their flourishes and further hooks and refrains. I look forward to this too.

We have three gigs lined up for the first half of 2009, which is great. In February, March and May. February is another 'Wunderstock' gig, this time at Tommy Flynns. March is the Rock-Til-You-Drop night at the Dublin Castle and in May were playing outdoors at a mini-festival, which sounds like fun.

Right. To work on the next song...

Ordered down from the Gumtree

So here we go again. It's cold - as usual this time of year. No one's got any money - as usual this time of year; though this year there's the fear and anxiety about losing jobs, homes, pensions, money invested, and more High Street retail favourites. When my daughter loses her scarf and gloves, as she did today, I'd normally pop down Woolies and by another for 4 quid or something. Hey-ho.

Hey-ho, let's go. We need hope. We need optimism. We don't need money. We don't need things to own. We need things to do. Things to cheer us up that have real value. Like experiences. Memories. Music. I know, let's start a club. And let's make it our own. Let's give mature music fans, musicians and bands an outlet. Let's hear some of this new music being made by older rock musicians. Let's give older musicians looking to meet others in their age-group a chance to do so. Let's give those with responsibilites and commitments a regular time and place to get out and talk music. Hear music. Watch music. Play music. Let's call it ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP.

So the good people at Bugbear, who promote gigs at the Dublin Castle have offered me the opportunity to do just that. I will keep you posted.

In other news: I have been banned from posting ads for the website on Gumtree. Apparently, I'm not allowed to post duplicate ads to different gumtree sites. This is a pisser.