My Own Trumpet

12/06/11
I am currently sitting on a leather armchair which I have occupied for the past few hours, as Olli Daffarn works hard at straightening out Mike Sykes' vocal take. This weekend, as well as playing host to an annual footballing event (which this year had a particularly unfortunate result), has seen the Red Dragon Diamond Club's first ever recording session take place. The band has camped out at HL Studios in Totton (just outside/inside of Southampton) since Saturday morning, recording what will be our first single and b-side release. All terribly exciting, especially with so many of the Club having never experienced recording before.

You can see highlights of day 1 by clicking here! Pictures so far from both days can be perused by clicking here!!!

As Olli bravely forges ahead with his mission, and Tim and Lib venture out to try and procure late night snacks and supplies, I am left to sit here in what I imagine is very similar to a nuclear/anti-zombie bunker and muse about musical matters, especially since I am too tired and hungover to do anything useful.

I have been involved with a modest number of musical projects over the years. Today is a day which teeters on the brink of the future, and so is an opportune moment to look back in retrospect at these projects. The hangover is always a vehicle for introspective backwards glances. Backwards I glance then, to the very first musical misadventure...

Frankie Solo
With a name pilfered from a pub sandwich board, this was the infamous vocal quartet that set the corridors of Ash Manor Secondary School ablaze, with a propensity to steal and manhandle other peoples' songs with a vicious abandon unheard of until the arrival of the X Factor. The original line-up; Frankie, Solo, DJ Franko and Duck Tiny, mainly performed a capella with a Rolf Harris vibe and released a single album, Streetwise, on cassette. The line-up was trimmed down with the disappearance of Duck Tiny but boosted by musical instrumentation in their live performances. The legacy of this quartet lives on in a series of videos on youtube taken from their career-defining performance at La Casa de Hawkins. I'd like to think that this group has lived on through each of my subsequent musical projects.

 Here is a video of one of our original songs, complete with dance routine. It is both informative and entertaining.

Philanthropy
This is where it started to get a bit more serious. 3/4 of the original Frankie Solo lineup joined with Graham Pether on bass to form a band. Early on Duck Tiny was replaced by Dan Hertogs on drums, and it was from this that I first got a taste of the murky world that is the gigging circuit. Starting off focusing on an alternative rock side fuelled by a love of the White Stripes, Ash and the Datsuns amongst others, we eventually moved towards a style that was more reminiscent of Radiohead and Portishead (at least I think we did), expedited by the addition of Olli Daffarn into the mix when I moved away to uni. He was originally there to cover for me when I was in Exeter, and to beef things out when I was back but he soon became a very important and integral member of the band; his technical skill and sonic gadgetry proving to be key in the band's progression. We recorded a couple of albums and played gigs at exciting venues such as the Kentish Town Forum and the Garage. You can listen to our albums here and watch a live video for the song Rapport here.

21/06/11
This post is taking quite a while to write up it would seem...I have since returned to Brighton. Both RDDC tracks have been successfully recorded. All that is required is mixing ahead of our eventual single release in September. Jollification.

2-Shay
2-Shay started when myself and former Frankie Solo colleague, Steve Kelly, began to write immature political raps during our free periods at college. These intellectual seeds flew in the air like those of the dandelion, until one Philanthropy practice saw the melding of said lyrics to a RATM aping guitar line. A full track was born and unleashed to great surprise at a Philanthropy gig a few months down the line. Fuck The 3World received its first airing an a legend was born. From time to time the ugly head of 2-Shay would rear itself; slipping into Philanthropy recordings and performances here, leaping about at parties there, but never was the 2-Shay project fully realised. Recordings of several tracks have been made, with some available to listen to here! One day, I am sure we will see the full potential of this political hip-hop monster unleashed and unmatched, but until then we will have content ourselves with shouting, "UHHHHHHHNNNHHNHN," really loudly.

SmoothGay
This is the real deal. Upon leaving for university I fell in with some real scoundrels. The best kind of scoundrels it turned out, and I was very fortunate to have encountered them. SmoothGay was the band I formed with my university pals, fuelled by the '8 cans of Castlemaine for £5' deal at the nearby 24/7 Esso garage. Our early output displays this influence quite explicitly, but it was only once I signed us up to perform at an Indie Society gig in 24 hours time, without much of a catalogue of music to draw from, that we really took off. After writing a set within the time limit, we performed with critical acclaim to a receptive crowd. It really looked as though things were going to take off, but at our second gig we fell flat. Perhaps it was the formal surroundings (an Indie Society formal event...), perhaps it was our overexuberant imbibing pre-gig, whatever the case, the magic had gone and that was that. Despite the death of our commercial career we struggled on gamely, eventually recording the genre-defining album Do You Remember SmoothGay? over the course of a day (naturally) and holding a launch party the same evening. The album has gone down in history, and can be heard in all its lo-fi glory here! This summer, me and Mike will hopefully be reconvening to record the follow-up sophomore release. Keep your ears peeled...

The Sneaky Frog and the Scoundrel
Named after a piece of music from the FFIX soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, this was the band myself and Tim of Philanthropy formed once ensconced within the surrounds of Brighton. The band consisted of the two of us, teamed up with two fellows Tim had come to know through his humanities degree, our overall friendship cemented through our 5-a-side football team. Understandably, the songs were usually to do with humanities or football, or indeed at times a wonderful mix of the two. The music this time was of a more poppy, indie stylised nature, perhaps reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian or the Arcade Fire or Talking Heads? Possibly not. Anyhow, it was nice and accessible. We performed a couple of gigs and recorded a 5 track EP, Me Too, I'm A Painter! with Olli Daffarn. This release is easily the most profitable record I've ever contributed towards, as somehow we managed to sell one at a gig for £40. Sensational. You can make your judgement on whether or not it was worth the cost by listening here! Sadly, as Tom and Ed both opted to leave Brighton following the end of their MAs, we were left without a band once more, and a wonderful song about Dick Van Dyke unplayed. Perhaps...one day...

The Red Diamond Dragon Club
And so we come to the present... Kanye would be proud. Taking on electro and folk and injecting something of a party vibe, we have ourselves the RDDClub. Two gigs down, a third coming on Saturday. It is, quite literally, all go. I think that so far we have managed to work the 9-piece thing without sounding too much like an Arcade Fire rip off, or a Polyphonic Spree rip off, or a Slipknot rip off for that matter. I think we need to explore the nu-metal territory at some point though, sooner rather than later.