Spent 3 days in the searing scorching heat of rural France last weekend - it was the first time they had had sun in a fortnight so I was lucky enough to burn my pen moel (bald head to you non-Welsh) heathens. The barbecue smoked, the Crudlets and Frenchlets played and the Jack Daniels flowed (wine drinking is a myth, the French are strictly hardcore!) -
Celine had her iPlayer on random, rattling out all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds, until something very familiar pulsed across the Gallic countryside, 'I know this... what is it?' I enquired.
'You should do, it's The Racketears.' She replied, well, perhaps not in such good English, but I understood. She had heard them on my podcast and downloaded as much of the Colwyn Bay band as was legally possible.
The power of radio...
Let's hope we all go out to see, not only The Racketears, but whoever Blood & Lipstick promoter Steve Rastin puts on at the Zu Club in Rhyl. We need to support this new venture and do so regularly; not just those who live in the town, but the bods from Colwyn Bay, Holywell and inland. The opening night is on September 10th (Wednesday of course!)
Zu Bar
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Globally Parasitically Correct
Thirteen years ago today Martin Wilding, Steve Sync, Robin Hemuss, Steve Jones, Cumi Pants and myself alighted the stage at The Vlietpop festival in Den Haag as the Sons of Selina. So it was quite fitting and warming to read another Colwyn Bay band's plight of entertaining our Dutch cousins earlier this month.
Global Parasite have been making noises on the scene for a little over 18 months and have worked their way up to heady heights of the modern punk scene.None of this was by being in the right place at the time, it is through sheer hard work and total determination - 'have band, will travel' - they play anywhere and everywhere, and remarkably without their own transport.
Global Parasite spawned from The Cox who were the punk heroes of their own backyard and released the absolute classic single Nailbomb The Dancefloor, a semi-jocular assault on the disco club culture 'I'm gonna sign up to the Al-Qaeda... DJ die you fucking cunt.' It certainly was an assault on the senses and a doctored version was played many times on BBC Radio Wales by Adam Walton.
The Cox were doomed because of Leigh's phobia; the guitarist had a reluctance to travel, which handicapped the band and tied them to a short stretch of the North Wales coast. Global Parasite are a progression of The Cox; Ste, Matt and Dave dedicate themselves to the cause, with strong politically-anarcho-punk beliefs and the ability to pen more stomping anthems such as the single Smash The New World Order, and more importantly, the ability to take their message to any town or city they choose. Chances are they'll play in a town near you, go and see them it'll be worth the fiver's entrance fee. In an age crammed with old punk bands in their mid-forties playing the same combination of three chords, it's refreshing to see a young punk band playing more dynamically progressive tunes and crowd surfing their way to the front of the scene.
http://www.myspace.com/globalparasite
Global Parasite have been making noises on the scene for a little over 18 months and have worked their way up to heady heights of the modern punk scene.None of this was by being in the right place at the time, it is through sheer hard work and total determination - 'have band, will travel' - they play anywhere and everywhere, and remarkably without their own transport.
Global Parasite spawned from The Cox who were the punk heroes of their own backyard and released the absolute classic single Nailbomb The Dancefloor, a semi-jocular assault on the disco club culture 'I'm gonna sign up to the Al-Qaeda... DJ die you fucking cunt.' It certainly was an assault on the senses and a doctored version was played many times on BBC Radio Wales by Adam Walton.
The Cox were doomed because of Leigh's phobia; the guitarist had a reluctance to travel, which handicapped the band and tied them to a short stretch of the North Wales coast. Global Parasite are a progression of The Cox; Ste, Matt and Dave dedicate themselves to the cause, with strong politically-anarcho-punk beliefs and the ability to pen more stomping anthems such as the single Smash The New World Order, and more importantly, the ability to take their message to any town or city they choose. Chances are they'll play in a town near you, go and see them it'll be worth the fiver's entrance fee. In an age crammed with old punk bands in their mid-forties playing the same combination of three chords, it's refreshing to see a young punk band playing more dynamically progressive tunes and crowd surfing their way to the front of the scene.
http://www.myspace.com/globalparasite
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Chewing The Gum
A new law has been passed in Denbighshire; it is now illegal to spit chewing gum on the pavement. This is a momentous occasion and it is warming to see hundreds of youths being carted off in cattle trucks to be administered their punishments.
Of course the new law is more the result of one councillor’s crusade after stepping in the sticky discarded stuff one time too many and will do little, if nothing to tackle the problem of the chewing gum mosaic pavements we have in the county.
Unless I’m terribly mistaken, it is against the law to discard waste onto the streets and yet a walk down Rhyl high street is more of a wade as you’ll find yourself knee deep in litter. How many times do you open the paper and read of a prosecution for littering the streets? One look at the swirling array of crisp packets and McDonalds cartons will tell you not very often.
It’s fine to spend time and money passing laws that will prove completely useless in the face of volleys of chewed up gum, but perhaps a different perspective on the problem should be taken – Chewing gum is obviously resilient stuff, it sticks to the pavement forever. Why not use it to tarmac the roads instead? You could even go as far as passing a law that only dark grey coloured gum is allowed to be sold in the county and therefore won’t show up on the streets!
Of course the new law is more the result of one councillor’s crusade after stepping in the sticky discarded stuff one time too many and will do little, if nothing to tackle the problem of the chewing gum mosaic pavements we have in the county.
Unless I’m terribly mistaken, it is against the law to discard waste onto the streets and yet a walk down Rhyl high street is more of a wade as you’ll find yourself knee deep in litter. How many times do you open the paper and read of a prosecution for littering the streets? One look at the swirling array of crisp packets and McDonalds cartons will tell you not very often.
It’s fine to spend time and money passing laws that will prove completely useless in the face of volleys of chewed up gum, but perhaps a different perspective on the problem should be taken – Chewing gum is obviously resilient stuff, it sticks to the pavement forever. Why not use it to tarmac the roads instead? You could even go as far as passing a law that only dark grey coloured gum is allowed to be sold in the county and therefore won’t show up on the streets!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Worming Books
I may or may not come as a surprise, but I have spent the last five months writing a book on the History of The Alternative Scene in North Wales. From the rudimentary beginnings of The Alarm to the present day bands and people.
What began as an idea to simply collate the information I have at hand on the link2wales website has become a mammoth task of interviewing and emailing countless people involved in the scene. Some have ignored my requests, but most have been more than helpful; excellent in fact, with a whole host of stories that'll make you laugh, gasp and read in disbelief.
It was a difficult decision to go ahead with the book - one publisher had offered me a far better deal if I had included the whole of Wales; but it was a deal not worth giving up work for, which is what I would have had to have done to take on such a task. Plus North and South Wales may as well be on opposite sides of the world. So North Wales it is - I'll probably be lucky to sell 500 copies, but it is something I've always wanted to do, something I've held close to my heart and something you'll really enjoy reading - when it eventually comes out...
If anyone has an idea for a title - please let me know...
What began as an idea to simply collate the information I have at hand on the link2wales website has become a mammoth task of interviewing and emailing countless people involved in the scene. Some have ignored my requests, but most have been more than helpful; excellent in fact, with a whole host of stories that'll make you laugh, gasp and read in disbelief.
It was a difficult decision to go ahead with the book - one publisher had offered me a far better deal if I had included the whole of Wales; but it was a deal not worth giving up work for, which is what I would have had to have done to take on such a task. Plus North and South Wales may as well be on opposite sides of the world. So North Wales it is - I'll probably be lucky to sell 500 copies, but it is something I've always wanted to do, something I've held close to my heart and something you'll really enjoy reading - when it eventually comes out...
If anyone has an idea for a title - please let me know...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Democracy Phone In
I was reading in the local rags a couple of weeks ago about some councillor or other and then a letter from a disgruntled Rates Payer moaning about the huge bill of 'expenses' our councillors run up.
Let's face reality here, anyone, and I mean anyone (over 18) can be a councillor if they have enough friends. I'm not certain of the figures but it would not surprise me in the slightest if some councillors are voted into their seat of power with fewer than a hundred votes. This is hardly representing the people of their ward, and I doubt that even 10% of a councillor's constituents could tell you the name of their representative (I couldn't!).
Why? Simple, dogs fouling pavements, planning approval for a new shop, Grading buildings, setting speed limits etc. Not really rivetting stuff is it! Apathy has for many years been at the heart of the British democracy. The general public don't really care, it doesn't concern them if Gordon Brown is running the country or if Gerry Forbisher is planting a token tree on the Ffrith. A 36% turn out at the last General Election and 40 of your mates to get you voted onto the local council. So along with democracy, fascism and communism, you also have Apathy as a new and very popular kind of politics because people would rather sit at home and watch TV.
That's the answer! TV! Political Big Brother, vote your worst MP out of the House; the public love doing things like that, and they'd even pay the premium phone-line rates to do so. I'm A Politician Get Me Outta Here, Play Your Councillors Right, Councillor Fortunes, Council Idol, Councillordown, The Weakest Link, One Man and His Councillor, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Councillor, the list is endless and it would make voting far more fun!
Let's face reality here, anyone, and I mean anyone (over 18) can be a councillor if they have enough friends. I'm not certain of the figures but it would not surprise me in the slightest if some councillors are voted into their seat of power with fewer than a hundred votes. This is hardly representing the people of their ward, and I doubt that even 10% of a councillor's constituents could tell you the name of their representative (I couldn't!).
Why? Simple, dogs fouling pavements, planning approval for a new shop, Grading buildings, setting speed limits etc. Not really rivetting stuff is it! Apathy has for many years been at the heart of the British democracy. The general public don't really care, it doesn't concern them if Gordon Brown is running the country or if Gerry Forbisher is planting a token tree on the Ffrith. A 36% turn out at the last General Election and 40 of your mates to get you voted onto the local council. So along with democracy, fascism and communism, you also have Apathy as a new and very popular kind of politics because people would rather sit at home and watch TV.
That's the answer! TV! Political Big Brother, vote your worst MP out of the House; the public love doing things like that, and they'd even pay the premium phone-line rates to do so. I'm A Politician Get Me Outta Here, Play Your Councillors Right, Councillor Fortunes, Council Idol, Councillordown, The Weakest Link, One Man and His Councillor, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Councillor, the list is endless and it would make voting far more fun!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Casting The Crud
The quest is on this year to push the Crud Cast online radio show to more listeners – I launched the CrudCast myspace page last week and response has been good, and unlike the last few years, the effort needs to be sustained with a weekly show (rather than when I could be arsed).
Last year, each show had more listeners, but only because there’d be a month (usually longer) hiatus between each episode, thus giving people longer to source the show. This year I’ve done it weekly – it’s decreased the number of listeners to each show, but the task is now to increase the awareness and bring in more listeners.So who exactly sits down and listens to what is really a specialist show? Probably the bands that are on it and other bands! When I say specialist, it’s not really that – it’s not like an hour dedicated to Brutal Hardcore or Back Street Colwyn Hip-Hop. Someone once described me as John Peel’s alter ego, and I guess Peel’s eclectic bent is there simply by the fact it was he who moulded my musical tastes through those influential teenage years.The length of the show was also a factor – there’s enough music at hand to go and on, but my time is limited and so is yours! So an hour a week is more than enough I think and it’ll fit nicely onto your iPod. The aim is to now establish CrudCast through the medium of myspace and link2wales and with flyers at gigs, and then eventually by advertising it in the music press.Let me know what you think…
http://www.myspace.com/crudcast
Last year, each show had more listeners, but only because there’d be a month (usually longer) hiatus between each episode, thus giving people longer to source the show. This year I’ve done it weekly – it’s decreased the number of listeners to each show, but the task is now to increase the awareness and bring in more listeners.So who exactly sits down and listens to what is really a specialist show? Probably the bands that are on it and other bands! When I say specialist, it’s not really that – it’s not like an hour dedicated to Brutal Hardcore or Back Street Colwyn Hip-Hop. Someone once described me as John Peel’s alter ego, and I guess Peel’s eclectic bent is there simply by the fact it was he who moulded my musical tastes through those influential teenage years.The length of the show was also a factor – there’s enough music at hand to go and on, but my time is limited and so is yours! So an hour a week is more than enough I think and it’ll fit nicely onto your iPod. The aim is to now establish CrudCast through the medium of myspace and link2wales and with flyers at gigs, and then eventually by advertising it in the music press.Let me know what you think…
http://www.myspace.com/crudcast
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Blu Was The Colour
Bar Blu in Rhyl town centre closed its doors one final time last Saturday (19th Jan), not only depriving the community of a nightclub, but more importantly (in my eyes), also ending 5 years of gigs at the most unlikeliest of venues.
We all raised a collective eyebrow when local promoter, Steve Rastin announced he was to put on gigs at Bar Blu. We all raised the other eyebrow when he said it was going to be on a Wednesday night.
Gigs? In a one horse town like Rhyl! On a Wednesday night? It wouldn't last... Well it didn't, but 5 years of entertainment, good nights, average nights and poor nights was a good run. We took the rough with the smooth and enjoyed and endured whatever and whoever Bar Blu hosted.
The venue, for all its bad points (bad sound, wrong shape etc) allowed three bands a week, every week to play. That's around 750 performances from touring Canadian professionals like Zeroscape, to the barely out of school locals like The 4 Sticks. Add to the list the live debuts of Gintis, Jives Room and Der Bomber amongst others who went on to release albums and record BBC sessions and you may see how vital this place had become to the local music community.
Times have changed though over the last twenty years; Rhyl used to boast more nightclubs than Jordan's had boob jobs, and most of them were open 6 days a week (the clubs, not Jordan's err...). Things seemed to turn over the millennium, maybe by coincidence or by public conscience. Tired of being charged high admission prices, even by pubs on New Years Eve, people discovered the fun of partying at home with friends, and also the financial and safety benefits of doing so. The clubs felt the pinch and one by one they began to disappear.
On a positive note, by the time you read this Steve Rastin will have struck a new partnership to continue his tireless work in promoting new music in the area.
We all raised a collective eyebrow when local promoter, Steve Rastin announced he was to put on gigs at Bar Blu. We all raised the other eyebrow when he said it was going to be on a Wednesday night.
Gigs? In a one horse town like Rhyl! On a Wednesday night? It wouldn't last... Well it didn't, but 5 years of entertainment, good nights, average nights and poor nights was a good run. We took the rough with the smooth and enjoyed and endured whatever and whoever Bar Blu hosted.
The venue, for all its bad points (bad sound, wrong shape etc) allowed three bands a week, every week to play. That's around 750 performances from touring Canadian professionals like Zeroscape, to the barely out of school locals like The 4 Sticks. Add to the list the live debuts of Gintis, Jives Room and Der Bomber amongst others who went on to release albums and record BBC sessions and you may see how vital this place had become to the local music community.
Times have changed though over the last twenty years; Rhyl used to boast more nightclubs than Jordan's had boob jobs, and most of them were open 6 days a week (the clubs, not Jordan's err...). Things seemed to turn over the millennium, maybe by coincidence or by public conscience. Tired of being charged high admission prices, even by pubs on New Years Eve, people discovered the fun of partying at home with friends, and also the financial and safety benefits of doing so. The clubs felt the pinch and one by one they began to disappear.
On a positive note, by the time you read this Steve Rastin will have struck a new partnership to continue his tireless work in promoting new music in the area.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Money Money Money
I was listening to Roley's Dark Compass podcast, and he complained that he's skint. Too bloody right, where has all me cash gone? Have I spent that much on beer? Does taking a week off work to celebrate the birth of our (ahem) Lord Jesus Christ mean I'm gonna be brassic for the next month? Well, yes basically. Self employment means no work, no money and definitely no holiday pay! I had two grand in the bank just before the Pagan Festivities; I unlocked the safe last Wednesday and I'm five hundred quid overdrawn! Where the fuck has it all gone? Ok, ok a grand has gone on the mortgage and maintenance, but £1500 on Christmas!? One thousand five hundred English pounds..! Jesus! (him again!). Yes I bought the Crudlets and family presents, yes I had a few scoops with my friends, yes I went to a couple of gigs, I bought some merchandise, couple of t-shirts and CDs, but fifteen hundred smackeroonys? Perhaps I've been cyber-raped - I'll have to check.
Back to the mortgage - why do we do it? To own our home? It's dead money, renting, they'll tell you; and yet on the continent it's what a larger section of the population do. You can tell people you've got a £100,000 mortgage, but the reality is you have a £250,000 mortgage because that's what you'll be paying back to your fat greedy mortgage lender over the next two decades. And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul if you fall behind with your payment. Perhaps you should look into the meaning behind the word 'mortgage' -
Mort is Latin for Death, and Gage is near enough to Gauge. Yes, you've got a £100,000 deathgauge - you work hard all your life, you own your own house and then you die. Was it really worth it....
Back to the mortgage - why do we do it? To own our home? It's dead money, renting, they'll tell you; and yet on the continent it's what a larger section of the population do. You can tell people you've got a £100,000 mortgage, but the reality is you have a £250,000 mortgage because that's what you'll be paying back to your fat greedy mortgage lender over the next two decades. And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul if you fall behind with your payment. Perhaps you should look into the meaning behind the word 'mortgage' -
Mort is Latin for Death, and Gage is near enough to Gauge. Yes, you've got a £100,000 deathgauge - you work hard all your life, you own your own house and then you die. Was it really worth it....
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