SILVERSUIT
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Diary Entry # 38
A hastened attempt at crooked poetry, its something American, not very good, but helpful in ways.
No time is ticking on my clock this here clock this morning, I feel a need for investment in cheap batteries is required before I sleep in, and how could I justify that, it wouldn't be very fair on everyone and me, well I'd be a little dark eyed and starried, its so quiet now, was so loud but I just get on by like a folksy soul requires to, it's not thet it's painful anymore because I've found happiness in many alternative pursuits but there is still a butterfly within that makes me nerved to confess, it's been so long and I don't know how long I can resist, but she's back around, knocking on doors, tapping on windows, hanging round the streets, in the rain like a London town festivilian, old doors I'm not convinced exist any longer, I don't want those open again, I don't know where the key is, are they locked, I hope, I do, they were heavy and took too long to close and I can't stop them up again, my arms are tiring, and so I'll stop typing, a rant, at something, no one in particular, just random, but necessary for what's needs, who's needs, these.
JP
Diary Entry # 37
At long last the sun has come to shine! Had a very busy and entertaining month, headed over to the oxegen festival in Ireland and witnessed some fantastic new bands as well as catching up with Dogs Die In Hot Cars who once again really impressed me. It's an exciting time, finally we're going off to record (after this Friday's gig and DJ thingy). Should be fun to get some of the newer material down, sorry it's been so long, a year since the band entered the studio but you know all the changes and gigs, they take time, and lots of energy! Still morale is fantastic and we're busy working on new material, we may possibly play one on Friday but you'd have to be there to know!! Anyhow, it's my precious lunch time and I'm gonna grab myself a prawn sandwich and a can of vimto - who says rock n roll is dead??!??
JP
Diary Entry # 36
Time has been shared more recently between the needs of the many to the ears of the few, there is a thick smoke in the air and no need to scream FIRE for we’re careful in our incitement of panic and chaos. Musically productive and with more ideas than a European Union think tank this has always been a channel for the more random and illusive thoughts and it’s conclusion amidst too much orange light and shivering drizzle, the weather has changed and the summer may actually arrive on our good ship, Angleterre.
The past few months have been incredible, with more highs than previously experienced. We sold-out a bit and it’s been fun to do so, the newer songs make the old ones feel so immature, they still have a youthful naivety which keeps them close to hand, but they’re no more than a healthy fruit ledge. The setlist of recent has grown to be our fondest:
Sold
Next week we’re busy, hopefully you’ll come share some enjoyment with us suits, with a show at ‘Getaway’ on Monday in Birmingham which will be cheap drinks and us on around 11pm, kinda like a club night with bands, then there’s ‘The Social’ in Nottingham which is a fantastic venue all played at by The Strokes, Libertines,. Hope of The States etc on their dizzy rise to fame and fortunes, and lastly next Friday in Wolverhampton at ‘Xtra’ which, considering Subway City is not on, we pray you shall be up for attending, we’ve heard great things about this indie night in Wolves, hope to see you there.
Until then. JP
Diary Entry # 35
I'll harbour my thoughts for this present need for confluence, here is a
call from the monkey cage and all the walls of this putrid land. There is an
unjust grace in all this existence I might add and it's not simply the after
affect of too much salt on the brain either. Forever swimming in the fog.
Times aging by pace within the camp, it's the first time we've reached the
auto-pilot method of working, there is a consistency in our performance now
which breathes a wind of assurance but still tints with a resistance to
become complacent or lazy. Sleep is for the dreamers of this fair land.
Performances are funny things I must add, for to watch a band fills you with
joy and respect at how the same planks of wood with strings can produce
something so different, so impressive, I'm as ever astounded by the Program, they
fill my soul with so much glory and each one of this adventurous musical
collective has my greatest of respect and admiration. I am in debt to their support
for our small unit of allies in combat.
In terms of the band's progression from here onward there is no reliable
battle plan, for the rules continue to change in time with the barometer on
the wall. Today is fair, any meteorologist will guide you away from rain and
snowfall if you want, but sometimes the challenge is within the elements we
face. Being in a band is as glamorous as you allow it to be, equally it can
be the opposite if we keep feet on the ground and ears to the walls,
straining to listen out more.
With some luck and some money we'll deliver a record soon, it's planned to
enter a garden in the spring to achieve this, playing our tunes to the beat
of butterfly wings and the buzzing of wasps for the beehives have all gone
and a darker more resourceful sting is approaching, how far can this
metaphor go on, I do not know, I hate wasps!
So then, sufficiently confused you may feel now this entry was nothing but a
need to raise a hand and say "hello we're still here", we won't forget you
if you remember us, so thank you for the love, it's a pillow we employ on a
regular basis.
Diary Entry # 34
Contrary to popular belief, Aberystwyth does not boast more sheep than it’s human population, a population vastly made up of English people in fact, all of which have travelled over the Cambrian Mountains for good times, sex, drugs, rock n’ roll and perhaps an education. Students rule this small town, but thus far the town is proving frustratingly allusive, must be something to do with the lane of traffic in front of us and the painfully slow progression of a tractor on this thin A44, a road not built for this kind of workload.
It’s already been a long day and its 7pm now, Selfie is at the wheel of our bright red rental van, our new drummer is dropping off asleep and the van rattles in time to the Cooper Temple Clause at maximum volume. The idea of doing a gig in a seaside town made sense a couple of hours ago, I mean the lyrics are obvious in their affection for this region and it makes so much sense to test the material on the walls it admires. But this tractor hasn’t fuckin moved out of the way and we’re an hour late for soundcheck, to cop it off we have no signal on our phones so no one bar us knows where we are. Still it wouldn’t be right if things ran smoothly!
The Bay is situated on Aberystwyth’s seafront, and its freezing, I’m the only band member with a coat on and I feel cold, we simply hope a few whiskies will help warm us up for later. Inside The Bay is your typical indie venue, and no expense has been witnessed in the new paint job, that said the old place has character and memories soon flood back from days long gone watching Crocketts and Murry The Hump in pre-record deal action, inspirational times.
Four Kings and Halflight are supporting and both are impressive. So listen out for them. Having at this stage began to feel a little warmer and drunker we took stage at 11pm and played one of the best gigs we’ve had, considering this was technically our 5th gig since changes in personnel it was loud, energetic and a great laugh. I thank the charismatic aber audience who inspired us to perform at the height of our game. The highlight being the generous reactions you gave to the material and especially the dancing to Cuban, a sight I am not likely to forget for some time!
And after an all day drinking session with friends (cheers Matt for the floor, come to Birmingham soon) as well as the nicest Kebab in Britain (Selfie thought it was 'fuckin awful' for some reason!!!) and lastly following a hungover drive back on Saturday morning we now return to prepare for this Friday’s gig, some newer material and older classics to mix into a healthy broth of enjoyment with luck, thanks again to all who support us so well, it means a hell of a lot!
JP
Use your stereo effectively, listening to: ‘Sumday’ Grandaddy, “See This Through And Leave” Cooper Temple Clause, “Life On Other Planets” Supergrass, as well as Hope Of The States/Pavement/Snow Patrol
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Diary Entry # 33
What a month! What a way to start the new year! It's been hap-hazard to say the least! Anyhow the mood has returned to calm and happiness has been restored. With two huge gigs this month, any paranoia as to the purpose of this business has vanished. The Jug of Ale was especially enjoyable and reaction to the new song 'Power Hungry' has been overwhelming, the next couple will be loud too! So cheers to everyone who came and helped us return to the fold.
We've been out and about watching the music and it's been as ever impressive. While we wiped the tears away of the news that our friends and peers 'Sundown' had called it a day we travelled to our gig in Nottingham and discovered a fantastic three piece band called 'The Tommies'. Really sound lads and great band, we're aiming to drag them down our local venue soon and you'd be a fool to miss them. Other than that look out for a new band from Cardiff called 'Halflight' who in my opinion have the best female vocalist in unsigned-ville (not for long I reckon). On top of all that there's new Birmingham band 'Bluestar' who are clearly flying the pop flag too, good songs and much to offer in my view. And that's about it, a few hot tips for the cold coming months. It's been great to bury bad feelings with ex members, it was hilarious how messageboards tried in vein to get us punching and nearly won but we all proved our maturity in the end I think. All I care about now is the future, this band has it's strongest ever with so much going on and so much more to tell you about over the next few months.
See you all at the Zutons' gig on the 10th February, get some tickets cause it's going to be a busy one! Take care, JP
Listening to Grandaddy, Idlewild, Pavement and The Zutons.
Diary Entry # 32
New years' greetings and all that has passed and it's time to greet normality with a thump! Tired eyes and empty wallets. It's been a continuation of the normal bits and bobs that this band has been met with recently but hey it was Christmas. I'm really chuffed at how the live shows went over the festive period, the two acoustic gigs went down so well and we gained lots of new fans due to them. Also the all dayer gig at the Flapper & Firkin in Birmingham was a massive success, I was shocked at how packed that place can get, especially at 5pm on a Saturday.
I do however feel I'm counting my luck! It was the strangest of days, me and Dan from The Program were rehearsing when we heard that Alan had suffered an injury preventing him from playing that evening's gig but with less than just 2 hours till stage time it was impossible to pull out with dignity in tow. And so the unbelievable occured and thankfully our mates My Dad Hitla kindly granted us their drummer Phil Bunford to play the gig. I haven't been so nervous of a show in years but I think we got away with it, well, all the copies of 'Hanging With The Beehives' were sold within ten minutes, a joy to behold it was. Anyway, hopefully things will return to normal soon for our gigs at the end of the month and of course the debut of our new bass player. All we need now is the horn section! No we ain't going ska, not yet anyways! Well I better go and get on with rehearsals, no time is better than the present.
Listening to Cooper Temple Clause, Grandaddy, 35 seconds and The Keys
Diary Entry # 31
Yep, it's amazing isn't it, just incredible how so long can pass before this page is updated, I mean it's been far from my own fault, I write everyday but most of the last couple of months I just would have set too many fires off to put out and there's only one bucket to go round.
For the first time I'm writing directly onto the site, no one to go through and no one to fuss over. Seems wierd this but I'm going to be honest, I'm the happiest I've been. Us and Matt? Well, what happens happened and if he is happy then he is, am I? Doesn't matter cause he's missed the boat .......it wasn't rough! It was on the fairway and I'm lining up the 5 iron to the green where the real deal is, that's the analogy I'll settle with.
Great things lay bare ahead, God bless bravery and good songs, the days are here to come and I'm of one percent of one hundred of what is going to happen, undeterred, more happy, content, focussed and now with one of the most inspiring people I've ever met playing for us on bass, the days are long and sunny! (It's only December!!) Happy Christmas all!)
Listen to..............Pavement, Grandaddy, Cooper Temple Clause, 35 Seconds
Diary Entry # 30
Our harbour is fed by the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol. The town is huddled between the hills and is focused around a seafront with two gritty beaches, some castle ruins, a pier and a harbour. Of the three hills: Pendinas to the south guards us all by its remains of an ironware fort and a monument to Wellington. To the north on Constitution Hill a cliff railway for those not up to the 110m ascent up the zigzagged path to the summit slowly descends towards the seaside coffee shops and home brew of the Glengower Hotel. And it’s a peaceful climate; there are no tourists, driven out by the alcohol yielding twenty-somethings in short skirts and glittered eyelids.
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas described Aberystwyth as ‘the perfect town for the unambitious man’, a description that defines why so many of us leave to new and bigger places to digest our muse. But it’s a place that oozes inspiration, it’s so easy to write here, there are memories on every road, in many of the multi coloured seafront terraces, it haunts you when you are not near. And yet to the modern technological world that clambers at its gates daily this town is simply a haven of simplicity. No one stresses about careers or money, neither are essential components of living here but it takes not long to swell you up and forget that there is another world out there. If I’d stayed I may have written some songs, on my battered acoustic on the pebbled beach near the stone jetty, the venue for many a debauched evening of fishing, whisky and illusive girlfriends. But although these are missed memories the city has encapsulated the same method of mind as Aber once did, and I feel locked within its hugeness.
It’s never been so important to travel with the music, there are places we are going to, big cities, places that shatter illusions and dreams but its the passion of it all that keeps us playing the game, I’d be so lost without it, without Alan putting up with my mood swings, my almost uncompromising will to achieve, I am proud of us, and them, I only hope that a lunatic is allowed to be in every band, a loony in the loosest form, I know my boundaries, most of the time. And so to the next stage, lots of little gigs and lots of road hours, even some air miles justify why some people find it necessary to be a little bitter, on web sites of all places, in masked aliases and cropped words they can eat away at you, but it’s the rejection of them that’s satisfying, and that’s the end of it, I have a singing lesson in an hour, something to do with breathing from the bottom of the chest engrafted with Latin words and art school snobbery, I won’t go, its just not right.
JP
Stereo hoggers:
El Goodo, The Keys, 35 seconds, The Thrills, Super Furry Animals
Diary Entry # 29
16th September 2003
I’ve been spending much more time at home recently in a bid to give my weekends a greater sense of worth and I’ve discovered the joys of television in the process. Most of its rubbish but some of it’s really quite fantastic. That intertwined with the acquiring of a membership card at Blockbuster Video Rentals is helping me to rest my liver, which needed a rest. Since last July I’ve nursed my self with going out six nights a week and having nothing to show for it but what now appears to be a perpetual hangover but I’m not moaning, I enjoyed it greatly! I’ve just had a realisation that worrying about things counts for nothing when all the cards are in the other person’s hands.
And so to business, the point of really having a diary, the news. The band is getting on grandly. Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms welcomed us with wide-open arms and was a fantastic night. It’s a brilliant venue, big and loud and with two floors and for one drinks in the happy hour none of us bar Crossy who had to drive was complaining. That said he didn’t complain either, what a fine job he did. Especially considering we had to deal with the hardest city to navigate since the one-way lunacy of Worcester a few months ago. Can’t wait to return to Notts in December especially if we get the hundreds we had last time. Oh and especially if this time we get a map before we go.
Ireland is all set up and confirmed. We’re playing the lavish Voodoo Lounge in Dublin City on the 30th of October so finally our ever-supportive Irish fans can get to see us. We’ve sold a few records over there now so it’s going to be a great show and with the licensing laws stretching to the early hours throughout Dublin the party will continue for some time after. Then we’re performing an acoustic session for Newstalk radio the next day which will be nice, will no doubt get the single played a few times there. To round off for anyone who can’t get to the gig on the 30th we’re playing a set instore at Tower Records (Wicklow Street, Dublin City Centre) followed by the Irish release of ‘Hanging With The Beehives’ and a signing session. I can’t describe my excitement about that. We can only thank the fact we’ve finally acquired our selves an Agent in Ireland and it’s looking like we’re getting one in England too who has a roster that would shock you it’s so impressive. If anyone fancies the trip over to see all of it then you are more than welcome, flights are so cheap these days too.
Last of all we’re looking forward to the gigs in and around home over the next three weeks. More than any this Saturday at the Flapper will be great fun. It’s always a pleasure to share a stage with bands such as 35 seconds for whom we hold the highest respect and admiration. I hope you can all make it along to join in the party.
As for the coming weeks things are continuing to get busy as we plan to go back in the studio to record the next single ‘Chemical Reaction’ and also travel to play a few dates in Wales including with luck the pub where the Silversuit dream was conceived in Y Cwps (The Coopers Arms) in sunny seaside Aberystwyth. Last of all just a quick thank you for those of you who travelled to the Cornwall gig, you are greatly valued, and also a big thank you to our friends in the North ‘The Lanes’ who have taken us under their wing and out of Birmingham at last.
All dates until Christmas will be finalised within the next month so keep and eye out, with luck we’ll be playing our debut London show in January 2004 in what will be a make or break year, the home fires are burning bright but it’s time for them to spread.
Cheers
Diary Entry # 28
28th August 2003
So, why do moths fly towards light and why do they only come out at night?
“Moths navigate using the light of the Moon as a steady reference point; they fly in a straightish line keeping the Moon on one side. When a bright artificial light is present they try to do the same thing - but to keep it in a fixed position they end up flying round in circles. The brightness of the light disorientates them and their orbits get smaller and smaller until eventually they hit the light. Moths became nocturnal during evolution; this is a behavioural adaptation that avoids daytime predators, which are more numerous than their nighttime counterparts. To allow communication in the dark, many moths’ species have pheromonal ('smelly hormone') systems whereby individuals can detect each other from distances of several kilometres.”
That’s pretty useful to know! I’ve been inspired by our nocturnal visitors to write a song about them. Insects, for no particular reason other than how the world seems to get on around us as we destroy it, fascinate me. Burning oil wells and friendly fire are of no concerns to the world around humanity, of what humanity that still exists. Chris Martin writes on his hands in a bid to make the world a better place, I hope his quest is a success but it’s hard not to think the wall is too difficult to climb. I’m not giving up on worrying about things, I believe we’re a bit too far gone to make much difference now, economics lead us to our body bags and caffeine fuelled addictions to television and self gain. Art is dying, slowly like the trees, and I think I may think too much.
That’s all so wonderfully pretentious too, but it doesn’t matter. So I had a dream right, about moths and what they do and where they go. If I’m mowing the lawn in the day they’ll scuttle about confused by the sunlight, I was curious as to what they may have going round their little brains i.e. ‘what the f**k do I do now? Fly everywhere?’ which sort of made me laugh. And it’s so simple, which makes a change! So I’m going to embody our Moth song into a synth glazed punk number for our gigs, which in all essence will be fun to do.
That’s that anyway; remember ‘Help A Moth’ will be launched soon. If you see one of them torturing their poor weak wings against the burning heat of your bedroom lamp give them help outside to let the Moon guide them. Come on, butterflies are so 1999!
On the stereo:
Diary Entry # 27
16th June 2003
I think I’ve just seen a crop circle, either that or the track marks of some pretty symmetrical orientated joy riders on tractors. Whatever it is it’s the most interesting part of this flight yet. I’m on a plane, somewhere above North Wales en route to home. The guy next to me is asleep and talking to himself. He was drunk when he got on and he keeps blabbering on about the state of the railways. You know I’m sure I’m on a plane.
It’s been a weekend to remember over in Dublin promoting our forthcoming single to everyone I can. I’m already bowled over by its response and it’s kicked all three of us into working towards its release. It’s amazing to think you can release these things by yourself and by pass the record labels altogether. Currently things are looking good for it to be available in several independent stores so even our loyal followers in Cardiff and Aberystwyth can get hold of this one. And you’ll be glad to hear that come October we’ll be playing down by you soon, just need to sort out the right venue and that’ll be confirmed.
Our first gig out of Birmingham since February has been confirmed in Nottingham thanks to our friends The Lanes who supported us over a year ago and never forgot about us, they’re cracking lads and a great band. They like the Super Furries so that’s enough to convince me alone.
You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m quite excited. But I have so many reasons to be, most of which boil down to the progress of the band. It’s coming about subtly at the moment; the explosion is near at hand! I’ve also stopped worrying about the past and risen to the future. It’s one of the best feelings to leave things behind and move on, to find a new purpose and positive in everything around. Someone dear to me always says that everything happens for a reason. At first I was convinced by this in the negative, yes everything happens to annoy you and test you and although that holds some truth, even the most difficult things must bring a positive to mind.
I’m smiling and we’re about to land this plane so I better go!
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Murdoch EP’ - Murdoch
Diary Entry # 26
I was doing well, so well I had almost forgotten but I’m back on the roller coaster again. You know when you are climbing you cannot keep going forever, for it is inevitable that a dip is coming along, or if you’re lucky a minor plateau around the turn before a fall, just to set you up in preparation. I’m waiting for another climb because I’m tired of falling and the excitement has long worn off. I starting to believe I’m not built for this, relationships and me don’t seem to be my forte. I allow myself to feel too much, to think I never would let myself be open to such a thing for so long, when I did finally open the door it didn’t stay open for long enough and now I’m simply confused, still, why has this been around me so long, I’m tired of asking questions cause I’m bad at finding answers, and so to sleep and the dreams again.
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Peloton’ – The Delgados
‘I to Sky’ – JJ72
‘The Remote Part’ - Idlewild
Diary Entry # 25
18th June 2003
What a day! How warm and beautiful the city can be in the sunshine, even the shadows lounge with a comfortable sense of humidity. Everyone has somewhere to go to, a reason to leave the shelter they grasped onto during the winter months, it’s summertime at last, and everyone loves the heat on the back of their necks. Romantic snapshots are everywhere, a couple hand in hand walking by the canal side, sitting with a paper and a cold pint of beer outside a pub, going out at 9pm at night with the sun still shining, it’s a strange but beautiful time of year. You wonder why people don’t sing about this so much, but perhaps it’s the inevitability that rain will come again, not too soon I hope. That said it’s a typically English view of things, we always dwell on the worst, I’m a severe victim of such a crime.
The best half of the year is nearly complete; when the days are getting longer it’s always a pleasure to wake up, even at six in the morning, forced to do so by the bright beam of sunlight that has fallen across our pillows. Its when the days begin to get shorter again you think the summertime is like the years’ weekend, something you spend the rest of the year waiting for and working for, and when it’s gone it’s back to the same dreary dull England and to the memories of summers gone that drive you on till the next. Some of my happiest memories are held in the sunshine, I’ll never forget travelling to Europe a couple of years ago in the sun, it was the most incredible time, I have a book full of smiles still to use from that time, and then there’s the time when school ended, when college ended, the month of June has always had a sense of release and freedom about it unlike any other time of year, I feel it strongly. I didn’t a year ago, but that’s old news.
It’s our stage, this is, this weather, this feeling of escape, happiness, carefree and uncomplicated grace, a bit like the music. It’s not been an easy time to be in Silversuit, changes have occurred but they were done with good nature and hearts I hope are still strong. In the camp now there is three of us, all matching each other with a determination unmatched previously, and the dream hasn’t waned, it bares no signs of doing so either. New songs are still popping up out of our control, mind you writer’s block has never been an issue in this band, for only three of us there are so many ideas it makes rehearsals everything but long enough. It seems right that apart from our next gig, we’re hitting the great outdoors for a couple of shows. The James Bindley Pub in Birmingham hosts a two-day Robannas festival on July 19th and 20th. We’re headlining the Sunday night, it’s a ten-hour day of music so if you’re there then forgive us we may be a tad drunk, but in a good way I assure you, I think we’re allowed. Then it’s on to Cornwall in August for the highlight on our calendar, everyone is welcome to come down, it’s going to be one fun drive that one!
Other news comes in our first proper tour due for October/November of this year. Some dates with luck will be with one of our favourite bands from Wales, but things are still being organised, we’ll announce dates in August. The band are also reorganising the sadly postponed Dublin gig for this time also and will be releasing a new single to coincide with all this in either August or September.
Last but by no mean least I as well as the rest of us would like to say thanks to everyone for the support you keep giving and with luck we’ll get the prize, it’s going to be an eventful summer and Matt will continue to update you all on the news page as things get confirmed. Till the next time, take care and we’ll see you at the gigs!
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Hail To The Thief’ – Radiohead
Diary Entry # 24
15th May 2003
I’ve bowed to my inhibitions and swallowed my pride, the day is a grey one, the rain bellows down like time is running out for it to do so, hours feel like days, the clock is a catalyst to that awful “is it working cause it sure ain’t movin’” frame of mind, time just doesn’t move sometimes. I’m in good spirits I’m quick to restate, for the future is full of journeys more exciting and creative than any of their earlier counterparts.
Well the new songs are going to challenge you as much as us, they are filled with a new direction and new style, away from the pop of past onto something with more grace and room for error. A chance to sit down for me, it’ll make sense I promise.
I’ve spent several evenings down the local recently; I must look quite strange sat down with a pensive look writing in a ragged notepad whatever ideas spring from conversations. For as long as I remember I’ve been fascinated by people’s behaviour when they drink too much. When I used to collect glasses in my uncle’s hotel at eleven, to working in a bar for six years, to Uni and finally snobs! Probably because it’s the only opportunity I get to see what I’m like sometimes, I hope not as bad as some of these. The men seem to volley abuse at women as a flirtatious toy. I never did understand why the nice girls at school were attracted to the brute yobs that kick footballs at them.
Being quiet and arty at the age of fourteen was never attractive I guess. But it’s still in existence, you begin to think what do you have to do to get anywhere in anything. Do you need to be aggressive and uncompromising? Do you get further if you break the rules? I regarded that as a short-term folly, not the map towards success. I’ve sadly I admit followed the rules along the way and whenever I’ve deviated from them I’ve always been well aware of the route backwards so I could get a taster and escape when I felt I was losing control. Maybe that’s the inherent problem, control…stability, I’ve somewhere come up with the theory that those things are more important. Maybe if everything was a little more spontaneous I’d be more enthralled to try, as it happens I feel I need to set up myself for each fall instead of them coming as a bolt from the blue, must be unlucky that way.
Anyhow for now, I just needed the ramble, I don’t think any of that can be taken too seriously, I just needed a subject area but I’ll probably think about it more during the day.
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Think Tank’ – Blur
Diary Entry # 23
24th April 2003
It’s been really strange recently; I’ve felt quite confused to be honest. I have this safety valve that comes on when things are going right and I begin to doubt whether I should be doing something different. But I’ve now realised that I’m just excited about what we have. Four musicians in one room, in our new relocated studios (which are much bigger and nicer), with so many ideas. We’ve began to infiltrate new instruments to new songs and new styles of music, we’ve got the punk songs, and the pop songs, so look out for some more folk-country inspired music as well along with some seriously electronic music. Indie guitar driven drum and bass maybe! Along with the current batch of songs the Silversuit idea is finally nearing realisation, to be playing a set with more musical genre variations than a Mercury Music Prize shortlist…could we get on that please…. oh better record an album first!
I don’t listen to the music played in Snobs anymore, maybe that’s why I enjoy going sometimes, a gentle reminder mixed with vodka of the music that got me here. But I think since I’m in a position to write music and perform it I should try and extract my influences from more corners than a rubix cube. (Didn’t they annoy you!) I listened to some classical music over the weekend; I’ve fallen in love with the beauty of a violin, the feeling that a cello inspires, the sheer mightiness of over forty people playing one piece of music. But I’ve also become a keen fan of basic ness and simplicity, the recent folk albums by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci or the classical sound of Bob Dylan, I’ve found you don’t need a distortion pedal to be powerful, so long as there’s melody. It’s an idea I’m intent on exploring. There are always new songs, I’m overwhelmed at the response we’ve had to our new set opener ‘Hit & Run’. In fact the last Jug Of Ale gig was a real pleasure, Holster were back and stronger than ever and Murdoch can’t fail if they knock out songs that good. We’re in good company, hope to see you at the Academy 2 on the 15th May, tickets are £3 advance and Alaska who are headlining are a must see before they get too big!
Cheers
JP
On the Stereo:
‘The Strength of Strings’ – The Keys
Diary Entry # 22
9th April 2003
Twenty one days of watching a war on TV and the internet has left me feeling a bit dazed, like it’s not actually happening or that it’s some kind of Age of Empires-esque computer game. With the colourful maps and animation of battles and conflict on every major news website this is truly a new dawn of warfare. I wasn’t decided about the political justification for it all, to be honest I’ve worked overtime to avoid it, I don’t really believe it’s anything us mere small people can do anything about, so we can simply brand it as a substitute for bad reality television which in essence is really sad. I know a family whose son is out there; he’s the same age as me, and to think I was worried about my amp working last night! Everything in perspective, everything is normal or at the very most a tad surreal.
I’m just back from our gig with Ooberman at the Old Railway. Thanks to all who came, we had a great time, you were all ace and I was really pleased with our performance. It’s comforting to know the new material we have is more than capable enough of sitting within the current set. There’s more to come. Thinking about it, My Cuban Friend is nearly a year old now and when I watched Ooberman playing ‘Tears for a Willow’ last night it dawned on me, they’ve been playing that for six years…………wow! And they all looked like they were playing it for the first time, the dream hasn’t faltered, the passion in their pupils is still clear to see. What a great bunch of people they are! We look forward to supporting them again soon.
Now we can get properly excited about the next stage, Murdoch and Holster with us at the Jug Of Ale! Get saving your money now! It’s going to be one huge night for us all! As ever, I hope to see you there, something tells me you will be, it’s nice to feel content for once. Everything is running smoothly, probably for the first time since I began this diary all aspects of life are at a peak of happiness, just in time for the sun to begin shining, bliss has arrived………………
JP
On the Stereo:
‘The Sophtware Slump’ – Grandaddy
Diary Entry # 21
25th March 2003
They’re moving a pool table into the café in Tescos downstairs. It amuses me a bit to think why anyone would want to play pool next to the Pensioners eating liquidised food and the tramps from Five Ways Island begging for a cigarette end or a coffee. Still, it looks like a very nice table all the same.
There are only a few days until it’s summer. The clocks change on Sunday and the sun shines bright. Lunchtime no longer has to be confined to the smoke stained room on the ninth floor and everyone is scrambling for the ten by ten metre piece of grass outside that overlooks the beauty of Broad Street. Well, nearly.
Inspiring at least the music has reflected the time of year. This time last year we were still finding our feet, not many people really knew who we were and quite a lot of those that did thought we were from another city. The summer has retained a little sparkle in our songs throughout the winter. Even throughout all the paranoia, the insecurity and drunkenness of each raining Friday night we’ve remained focussed upon what this band represents: The summer days, good feelings, holding hands with a beautiful girl, sipping ice-cold lager by the canal side, not having to wear a heavy coat on a night out, lying in a field in the country, trips to the beach, the blue skies, friends who have been there for what feels like forever without question or grumble, home and another series of big brother (oh God help us). Placed on a sheet of paper with a smiling face painted in the middle it’s simply rewarding to read it, the winter froze the demons and now the angels have come out to play hopscotch on dewy lawns, there’s a grace of comfort encapsulating all around. Somewhere anyhow…
The summer gigs are mapping a fascinating path through the country that take in the beautiful sunsets of Cornwall and Aberystwyth as well as the vibrant cities of Dublin and Bristol. And the new songs are filling us with an uncompromising optimism and we all greatly look forward to taking this little journey with you, thanks again for all the support and see you at the gigs!
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Parklife’ - Blur
Diary Entry # 20
14th March 2003
I know I said I was giving this page up but I just couldn’t stay away! What else am I supposed to do at work! That’s where I am, brilliant! (sarcastic undertones I assure you). Well we’ve been busy, busy and more busy since my last entry. Morale is still high which is great although Worcester was a bit of a reality check in comparison to the Jug Of Ale, or maybe it was just playing with Dawn Parade, we tried to be nice but its frustrating when a band who are on John Peel more times than hot dinners fails to pull in a crowd. Still we had fun driving there (one hell of a one way system in Worcester! For God’s sake who designed that?), getting used to the bit of travel is something we’re all adapting to now especially considering we will be flying to our Dublin gig! Incidentally we’ll be paying for it all ourselves, not quite that lucky yet.
The last couple of weeks we have been in the studio in Selly Oak working on lots of new projects, most of which will be debuted on the 28th March at the Flapper & Firkin. There are some new songs (which we are really enjoying – its happy go lucky pop man!), only a couple just to complete the current set and then we’ll be sticking to that for a while, we’re all confident we are writing at our best so working on new stuff has proved to be a really enjoyable experience. I think it’s the first time that everyone has felt comfortable enough to speak their minds and the respect within the group for each other has increased ten fold. One of the new ones is about this kid in Japan who was doing this mad record attempt at eating hundreds of boxes of cereal. Sounds ok enough until you find out he was eating the boxes, not the cereal – mad! He collapsed! The song? It’s called ‘Special K’, lyrics should be up in advance.
What else is there, oh yes our drummer Alan is soon to become a proud father and we all wish him luck, drum lessons begin at two yer know. Paul’s extraordinary organising skills are about to realise themselves with a charity gig at O’Neills on Friday 21st March, we’ll be playing an acoustic set of our songs which will see me doing something on stage that I’ve never done before (and it’s not rude and yes it is legal). Apart from that we’re just excited about playing the Academy and meeting Donna from Elastica (if she talks to us).
So that’s all for now, keep an eye on the forthcoming gigs page as we’ll be announcing new dates for South and Mid Wales in June (including one finally back in Aberystwyth) as well as a London date for July with some friends from Cardiff and lastly but by no means least more Birmingham dates. Till next time carry on poodle rockin!
JP
On the Stereo:
‘Spanish Dance Troupe’ – Gorkys
‘Anthology 1, 2 and 3’ – The Beatles
‘Triumph’- The Hiss
‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ – Blur
Diary Entry # 19
18th February 2003
It’s all transcending into one direction now, everything is beginning to fit together and run in motion with each other for the first time. My thought pattern refuses to relent to negativity and bitterness and my driven ambition has been fuelled by some positive signs that are so welcome that I’ve underestimated their powers. It’s time to summarise and close this chapter I feel.
When I began writing this diary page over five months ago it’s purpose was simply to accommodate my rants and ravings on the message board. From when I was very young I have always found comfort in addressing my fears in writing. Some people take drugs to numb whatever demons are gripping their soul in a bid to revitalise some regular human behaviour whilst undeniably murdering what humanity they have left. I’m not the best writer around, people have told me that they sometimes struggle to understand what I mean. But it is nice to be able to do this now and again. Whatever the impression you get as a reader this has really helped me. I can’t imagine people thinking this is anything but grossly pretentious, it’s laughable to even consider anyone actually reads this but I know that some do. For anyone that has then I just hope you aren’t confused, it’s a desperate state to be in.
And so I’m signing off now, it’s been a roller coaster of emotion over the last half a year. It’s a far tougher world than I’d even dared to envisage and I put that down to a severe lack of experience, but as the band goes from strength to strength, we are warned of the comedown to come, but we do not falter, there is only our dreams and aspirations that could stop us now, the comedown will never be allowed to settle in our land, and though it may be a long road - I’m sure as hell looking forward to it.
Thanks for listening and goodbye
JP x
Diary Entry # 18
10th February 2003
I think I’ve entered a bubble, it’s really good actually. It’s what occurs when you surround yourself with commitments, gigs to do, studio time, rehearsing, radio shows it’s all becoming a realistic prospect for our future. It’s never been so good. The set is tight and varied; I dare even say if it were made into an album I wouldn’t mind a copy. We are so busy, every one of us is occupied by the band for different reasons and it’s the first time I’ve experienced a collective pull in one direction.
It’s fair to say that this is make or break time, time to escape the city, re-locate our selves to a quieter place to record and talk and plan. It’s like a military operation. It deserves the utmost commitment and planning. It requires bravery; a willingness and determination to succeed that override all practical and normal thinking. Logic isn’t present here, it never should be. The way one should react to current conditions is to grace an image compatible with the single buying public but that would be false and unreasonable. We aren’t actors, music isn’t about fitting in, never has been. In fact the bands that do well never fit in. It’s a major factor to their success, they are so different, they offer something I or we couldn’t envisage and subsequently we pay money to experience. I’m intrigued most of the time, I listen to a radiohead album completely baffled at how anyone can have such a three dimensional perspective of the world whilst I can also listen to a Less Than Jake album and wonder how the hell they can be so happy! The point is that none of these bands do well over a long period of time by standing still or by adapting to the current trend because longevity is found in variety and invention. Bands that do not stick to their manifesto and instead change their image or sound to fit in can be exciting but only for so long as the change captures you. Once the new image becomes the norm the interest falters. This is why Blur recorded ‘Song 2’ one year after ‘Country House’ or why ‘Pyramid Song was written a few years after ‘Creep’. My conclusive point is that bands that stay the same bore the hell out of me. This is why when you come to see us we play ‘Absent Minded’ which is our Muse meets the Vines punk song and then we play ‘Chemical reaction’ which is Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci meeting Coldplay you will be thrown around a bit but I’m hoping that’s’ exciting and not a sign of a band lacking direction. It’s not like that one single bit, I spend hours looking out of my window and feel utterly content with the game plan.
Some news for you all comes in further label interest for us Silversuit people. I’m not going to give details should this come to nothing but I was in Dublin to meet with a label that has expressed ‘genuine interest’ in us. Though I feel this will not yield immediate results, we will definitely be playing a gig in Dublin some time in May for as part of a showcase night. Also we will be returning to BBC WM radio to play an acoustic session in the near future. We play with Radio1 approved The Dawn Parade again this time at Worcester Marrs Bar very soon. Also as per the charity gig if anyone wishes to get involved then please e-mail Paul on cubanfriend@hotmail.com who is doing a fantastic and quite amazing job organising this high profile event. Hope to see you at our gigs, its getting exciting now- whoop!
JP
On the stereo:
‘Gurl Next Door’ – The Keys
Diary Entry # 17
27th January 2003
How old are you? If you can remember then it’s a pretty good start. What do you do? What do you want to do? Feeling under pressure from others to fulfil their expectations and aspirations? Have they got ideas that inevitably will contradict with your own? You live in a bubble of stability until the paranoia kicks in and suddenly you think : what if they are right and I am wrong?…………....Is this a panic attack?
I was reading about this in ‘Generation X’ yesterday. It’s a warning to those who are stable and institutionalised, well at least those who think they are: (The mid twenties breakdown) -
“A period of mental collapse occurring in one’s twenties, often caused by an inability to function outside of structured environments coupled with a realisation of one’s essential aloneness in the world. Often marks induction into the ritual of pharmaceutical usage”
The passage is frighteningly accurate. I think it’s what I’ve been feeling over the last eight months. Don’t get me wrong now, I’m ten thousand yards away from any sort of ‘breakdown’- that somehow thwarts the idea into being some kind of mental dysfunction, I’m quite sane, trust me. I believe the above condition can be felt quite mildly and I think I have experienced a dose of it. Since university, since returning to Birmingham I have been battling a taboo between ambitions in my head and career orientated success and stability. I still read a lot, more now than ever and I watch films about obscure parts of Welsh history (Branwen’s battles in the north and the Chartist Intrigue of 1839 are my favourites). But of course there is the fact that I’m in this band which coupled with the actual songs is really, above all else, driving me. It worries me that I spent three years in an institution, the same place that put me in thousands of pounds worth of debt in exchange for a nice certificate so that I can put letters after my name. It seems so ill fully pretentious to say that so I decided just to re read that. I thought for five minutes whether I should delete it. The truth is I have haven’t really grown up until now, as I stood in my favourite nightclub on Friday I found I wasn’t very happy (and I’ve been very happy lately). It wasn’t anyone’s fault; it wasn’t mine, just this voice in my brain saying ‘you know you should be at home, writing letters to the banking sector for a career’. That’s probably why I had a bad night; they are rare these days though.
The undeniable truth of all this is that despite the fact that I’m 23 and really should be doing something else, something more normal I suppose or stable at least - I can’t. After last Saturday I was on such a high that I didn’t sleep until 3am. It should also be considered that I didn’t drink a thing on Saturday night. I haven’t had such a clear recollection of events on stage in so long and it’s great! I was so happy doing this that the voice in my head just faded away for an evening. Now, still on top of the game, sat at a desk, earning my wage, planning the next campaign, keeping my head high and focussed I can dispel many elements of that mid twenties breakdown because of one reason- I can justify why I do everything I do. I may not be able to justify it to anyone else, but so long as I know what I’m doing then it’s worth a shot. And a shot in the dark can sometimes work. Thanks for coming on Saturday, see you all again soon, very soon!
JP
On the stereo:
‘Out Spaced’ – Super Furry Animals
‘Songs Of Ignorance’ – Murry The Hump
‘Arc Noa’ – Topper
‘Mwng’ – Super Furry Animals
‘Casanova’ – The Divine Comedy
‘Gurl Next Door’ – The Keys
Diary Entry # 16
13th January 2003
Sometimes situations can be easily made over complicated, beyond their stress level requirement. Such situations deserve some form of re-evaluation, a change of angle, a new perspective or point of view. Whether you are in a band, or sat at your office desk the following few words of wisdom below can be applied to as many scenarios as you can be unlucky as to experience. But one thing for sure holds true and that is to just laugh it all off:
‘What does a squirrel do in the summer? It buries nuts. Why? Because then in the winter he's got something to eat and he won't die. So, collecting nuts in the summer is worthwhile work. Every task you do think: would a squirrel do that? Think squirrels. Think nuts’
‘Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.’
‘If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.’
‘If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.’
‘Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and never quit are idiots.’
I found enlightenment today (no it wasn’t in a pub) and I’m feeling good. I was thinking about the subject areas I feel a need to address on this page. I like this page, writing has always made things easier. A form of therapy I suppose but that seems overly serious! I’m not worried about anything, I’m not unhappy. I’m surrounded by good people, the best people, I couldn’t be more lucky is my conclusion. I know non-Birmingham residents reading this may shriek with laughter but I’ll say it anyway, this city has a great music scene. I went to a gig last Saturday and apart from the fact that some of my best friends were playing I have to say it was the best musical experience I’ve had in years. I was smiling, most of the weekend I smiled, with burning pride at what I had witnessed. It wasn’t just good, it made me feel honoured to be associated with the scene. It’s all healthy! I must be eating well, well I am incidentally and pretentious as it all may sound I cannot wait for everyone else to discover what I have discovered. In a way I’d like to keep it all for myself but that wouldn’t be much fun after a while, so for now you will all have to wait but you can feel content in the fact that you’ll know about it all soon enough.
Bring on the 25th January!
JP
On the stereo:
Diary Entry # 15
4th January 2003
Happy new year one and all! It’s a funny time all round at the mo, going into stores and writing cheques whilst forgetting to date them as 2003 really stresses me, I’m in a state of perpetual embarrassment. As for the festivities themselves, well they matched my expectations, graced with a serious loss of memory, the final hours of last year are an unknown drunken journey, seems right it should end that way really. That and the fact that I missed my plane because I was too intoxicated to wake up to my alarm I have been of pensive mind as to my January resolutions. If I go and see a dentist, I'd rather he was sober. If I go and see a band I like to think that they've tried to spank the limits of their minds. Everyone needs a mask. You put all of yourself into your persona and try to remember which one is the real you. People in the public eye can become the monsters they invoke I suppose, even at our tiny level and its an uncomfortable stance to maintain if for any reason but your bank account. They keep writing me letters in brown envelopes, you know it’s something other than a statement when they get the dark envelopes out. I'd sit alone at a bar watching myself drink a pint of lager or maybe a Jack Daniels if I’ve been paid. There'd be a roar all around me from the sound of successful and busy people relaxing. Everybody would be there. It would have been easy to strike up a conversation with anybody I wanted. I was pleasantly, discreetly wasted, enjoying my thoughts. Relaxed, contented, and steeped in alcohol, looking forward to whatever might occur if I put my dreams into practical action. Incidentally that is hard to muster on 9 pints. I would patiently a wait whatever was to occur next whilst not being particularly bothered if anything happened at all.
The secret of being a really good drunk is to make sure that there is always one person in the room who is drunker than you are. Many people become more charming in drink. It is a dangerous sport, like Formula One racing or downhill skiing. To be really good at it you need to dedicate time to it. Some people have a natural flair for it and some are ugly car crash victims. The car crashes really have no idea quite how ugly they are, even in the pit of their despair. The amusing drunk has only where he was and who he was with as a yardstick for his charm and effectiveness, but these can be misleading. A drink is a short cut to happiness but there are an infinite number of ways of getting there. 'You will lose everything if you don't stop drinking’ they say. You know that. Who wants a red face and an extinct liver anyway?
I’ve been taking positive action and I love it. It's pointless to overanalyse. If you spend time talking about your problems they will gain too much reality. We could all spend an hour a day talking about our problems, but if you spend an hour a day doing anything you like doing, your problems will get smaller, I promise. We'll all have problems for the rest of our lives and the inevitable doesn’t deserve you standing still now. Even when things are out of control in your head the reality is that within a day and a phone call you can put it to rest, forget, move on, start something new with no aim to replace but simply to re ignite some interest, maybe a hobby, something a bit more creative than how much money I can spend in one pub but nothing so mundane as to make it feel like the wrong decision. I haven’t chosen a hobby yet but I am shopping round.
For now I can’t sleep for excitement at playing new songs on the 25th. They are all so impersonal I feel my exorcism of negative thinking has finally taken place, especially our new one about Batman and Robin. I’m hoping you’re intrigued. I’ve seen the other bands we’re playing with too, it will be a night of variety, and with a bit of luck we’ll be there to remember it. See you then.
JP
On the stereo:
‘Spanish Dance Troupe’ – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
Diary Entry # 14
23rd December 2002
I was casually chatting to Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer in McDonalds the other day about Silversuit. He says we have a good name, that’s quite nice really, what a decent fellow he is too. He even took one of our EP’s (which incidentally will be a rarity now). So we’re all on cloud 9 in exchange for some superstar recognition, cheers Mr Peel.
So this is Christmas and what have we done? Another year over and a new one…… Well whimsical as it sounds 2002 has had it’s lows but most of all it’s been a high. From our debut gig in January to the album launch party last week, from our drummer leaving to recruiting the best two lads I could have hoped for, to the support and friends we have had and have, to the memory of Joe strummer who I’ve just been told has sadly passed away, to the bands in this city that have proved the Christmas number one just doesn’t matter any more, to my closest friends near and far away, for the experiences and the challenges, the tears of joy and the tears of reflection, to you, all of you it’s been emotional.
Next year bodes well already and with the prospect of our London debut very soon (when you cry!). Plans are currently being made for us to retreat back down to Cardiff in the coming months to record a full studio EP as we are simply underselling ourselves with the sessions in Selly Oak. Some more famous faces may be on the cards with guests from Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Murry the Hump contributing to the production and recording of our Summer EP. I bid you no lie. The New Year will be a celebration to behold and we look forward to playing some new stuff too. It’s gonna be a pop record, because we are a pop band, we are happy people all in all, well I am at least.
So, for this year and to the future let’s do what we do best and get drunk. Cheerio!
JP
‘The Remote Part’ - Idlewild - lads, you saved me, thanx.
Diary Entry # 13
5th December 2002
I can’t believe how nice a day it is today. It’s icy and fresh and the bright cloudless blue sky above me makes everything seem so natural. Winter in the sun, it’s fantastic, everyone hugging their coats and scarves and taking shelter in the pubs. Oh how much I would love a real fire, in a cottage pub in the country, I’d like to be there now with my friends steadily getting drunk, propping up the bar with no thought for tomorrow.
I’ve elected to be informative in this diary entry. I decided to re-read some of my posts from over the last 3 months and I came to a valid conclusion- I’m better now. I went off the rails for a bit I admit, we all have (I think), the band has suffered yet it has also gained. We all drink too much, you don’t have to be in a band to do that, but when you sit at home at 9pm on a Monday night and get a smile from the realisation that this is the first Monday night you’ve stayed in on for 4 months then the alarm bells ring.
It was all compensation at the end of the day, a lacklustre attempt at veiling the sober thought pattern. I think that was a good idea at least in hindsight it was. So, the point is that as a band we feel we’ve reached our 2002 summit, as the year that saw our first gig in Birmingham, our first gig in Cardiff at the Barfly, the changing of members, the building of a decent reputation and popularity and a contract with solar Creation records, we enter 2003 with a wealth of experience and we’re going to be far stronger for it. We have new songs to write, new ideas to envisage and big plans to develop in time for the coming year. Following the album launch on the 14th December at the Old Railway (ticket only!) we’re going into hibernation to polish what we have got and to create something new. Then we will return with a headline slot at the Flapper & Firkin on Saturday 25th January. After that you’ll have to wait until Friday 21st February to see us again when we play the Jug of Ale in Moseley. We’ll also be playing far more out of town gigs next year when we debut in London as well as Liverpool in March.
So in essence I’ll summarise our year- ‘back of the net’.
JP
On the stereo:
‘The Bends’ - Radiohead
Diary Entry # 12
20th November 2002
Ever felt like banging your head against a brick wall? You probably have but always logically came to the conclusion that such behaviour isn’t particularly good for you. That’s why we won’t. You have to accept in whatever you do with your life, in any profession, if you do what is most important to you, something that is more than any thing or person, when someone doesn’t ‘get it’ then it hurts. But it only hurts because you feel frustrated, not necessarily angry, just frustrated. And like all situations in life you can easily sink into feeling sorry for yourself, weighed down by a mountain of regret and second thoughts when in essence the views of a couple of people with a pen and a supposed ear for music really don’t make any difference.
I am of course referring to a couple of reviews us lot have been granted lately, two reviews that can be summed up in one word - insignificant. Actually there’s another word - bollox. “A Brit Pop tribute band playing only their own stuff”???? (Have you heard Absent Minded?) a singer “lacking energy in his performance”????? (Have you seen us play Absent Minded?) Have these people really got their finger on the pulse of new music - seems doubtful. What they are lacking is any real capacity for constructive criticism, which is the point of music journalism. It’s not a case of just writing what you think, these people are a medium for new music to cross over to those who are unaware of it’s existence, they are advertisers, I know because I am one as well but despite my rooted dislike of some bands because I don’t ‘get it’ I always reserve a line or two to acknowledge that there is no such thing as an uncreative band or anything to the sorts- get a dictionary and look up ‘creative’ and you realise who isn’t being creative here. The scene in Birmingham does not require criticism, it does not need your opinion even but it’s a reliable source of exposure and when we leave this city one day you’ll still be here, a comforting thought for us, inevitable for you.
In a way it’s all quite sad, but I’ll retain my sympathy.
JP
Listening to-
’22, Got My First Bad Review’ - Half Man Half Biscuit
Diary Entry # 11
12th November 2002
It seems mindlessly stupid to cultivate any romantic illusions that we will make it through to the end- or am I just being cynical. I’m reading a really good book called ‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus. I find him notoriously difficult reading unless I’ve got something to worry about, his wistful tales of the baron Algerian landscape and his character’s psychological minefields create an aura of escapism I wish I was as skilful an interpreter of as he was.
It’s kind of nice to read about somewhere far away, somewhere you’ll probably never go to but will always be aware of as existing. I find myself drifting into thoughts of far away places but something deep inside keeps my feet firmly on this island. The music probably does it, you don’t get decent indie bands in Africa- or do you? That would be interesting. Maybe one day, perhaps in a decade, I’ll pack up and hot air balloon it with my bashed up Tanglewood acoustic and travel, hoping to find some lavish tribe that’s prepared to invest in our music. Or maybe I’ll find a tribe to voodoo all the major record label’s bosses into giving us a six figure record deal with a decent disclaimer. That too would be quite fun.
For the moment though I’m settled, retired to the inevitable fact that being in a band and being in the UK go hand in hand. I possess an uncontrollable admiration for those (especially close to me) who have done or will do the lands and places I’m dreaming of but we must follow our hearts if we are to maintain our soul- and for me they are all here.
JP
On the stereo:
‘Rush of Blood to the Head’ - Coldplay
Diary Entry # 10
1st November 2002
The clocks have gone back and now it’s time to realise that we must walk to and from our commercially wonderful work places within a blanket of darkness. When it’s raining it’s horrible and depressing. If it has stopped raining then the red and orange lights of the road begin reflecting with a graceful beauty. If a hard frost or even snow has come then we rejoice in the purity the world can have with something so effortlessly simple that can make everything, even with their jagged concrete walls and chromed over window ledges, transcend into a postcard - from me to you -I wish you were here………………………
JP
On the stereo:
‘I to Sky’ - JJ72
Diary Entry # 9
21st October 2002
I’ve been in remarkably good spirits lately. I think it’s this month, it’s one of my favourites. Other than the obvious reason it’s the turn of autumn and the knocking of winter. I wouldn’t say I particularly look forward to this time of year but I do enjoy it when it arrives. The Browning leaves, frosty mornings, wearing a big scarf, the reds, greens and morning dew. Most people I’ve talked to hate it but I think it’s the classic English picture. I can’t wait to go out to the country and walk around for hours letting the cold air freeze my face. It’ll make me forget things. Forget about summer. Relax.
Winter serves as preparation for a new beginning, the spring. If that’s what happens then this is surely a happy time. It’s the start of something new. I’m a bit bored as I’m sure you can tell. I’m sat with little to really think about which is nice.
The 29th is closing in upon us, I can’t wait for that gig. We are planning to do a CD to sell at that gig and from future gigs, just a live recording but nay bad at all. Until then I’m aiming to write lots which is what I am doing every day. I used to always write music first and then fit words around the melody. It was very easy but sadly allowed for some suspect rhyming. Lyrics in general as some may remember were often spontaneous at gigs but now I’m settled in the role I’m enjoying having something to actually say, a reason why I bother at all. So I find myself writing poetry and reading books and getting drunk and reading with a hangover. I’ve so many ideas and so many ways to exploit them. I hate that word, ‘exploit’ I feel like I’m persecuting my thought pattern. I assure you I’m not. So many ideas and so much time, I like this. I like you.
Support your local poet.
JP
On the stereo:
Diary Entry #8
1st October 2002
I recently spoke to a promoter based in Cardiff and we got on to the subject of Birmingham bands. What was frustrating about our chat is that this city still suffers a really poor press around the country. No one comes to review gigs here (unless a band from London plays the Flapper) and few seem to even acknowledge Birmingham bands as anything more than either ‘the next Black Sabbath’ or ‘the next but better Ocean Colour Scene’. That’s what he said! To which I told him Cardiff bands all sound like Catatonia, I ran away.
When you look at the local scene there is such diversity of styles on offer thus quashing any suggestion of the above from my Cardiff friend. Holster, Helicon, Ego So-So, Alaska, Distophia, The Starries, Kinaro, (am I allowed to say Silversuit?) are all names that dispel this myth! Birmingham has an amazing music scene and it’s destined to become something huge over the coming twelve months. Why? Because we’re the only one’s who seem to have noticed its existence so far and nothing this good can stay quiet for long. Manchester had their time, Liverpool theirs and Cardiff theirs. It’s about time they see what this city has to offer! Thankfully some (still not enough) are giving the scene the attention it deserves with some excellent small labels (Solar Creations, Bearos,) and promoters (Rob Frost, Zoot, Arthur Tapp). I’m confident with so many decent bands around the time is near and we’re rather excited at the prospect!
Completely contradicting everything I just said about supporting the local scene we are off to Cardiff very soon to record ‘My Cuban Friend’ for Solar Creation Records. It will be produced by Curig Huws formerly of NME favourites Murry the Hump. Aptly it’s the very same studio where Curig recorded the song ‘Silver Suit’ in 1999 with his former band, which was released as a single on Prim & Proper Records and is the true origin of our band name. It’s a fantastic song (the 7” is a pink vinyl!) if you can get a copy of it. ‘My Cuban Friend’ is set for release as part of a Solar Creations compilation album on December 14th. This will include tracks from the outstanding ‘Helicon’, the hard-hitting ‘Holster’, Autopia, Alpha Alfa, “Singles” and a host of other Solar Creations artists. For info on all these bands and future gigs go to www.solarcreations.net. Can I have my money now Scott!
Till another time! JP
On the stereo:
Diary Entry #7
19th September 2002
How do you stop thinking about things that you have no control over? Answer is you get on with something you do have control over. I’m constantly knackered at the moment. The day is made up of me sat at my desk at work doing the things that get me my weekly wage whilst also scheming ideas and opportunities for the band. After all that is where the heart is. It’s all looking good at the mo though and above all else the prospect of recording in Cardiff is driving us on at full speed.
The one thing that is causing me a great deal of strain and heartache at the moment is all this lark about Graham Coxon leaving Blur. Now I’m biased, I have all his solo stuff and he is in my view the best guitarist of our generation, but if I walked into the studio and told the lads that they were lucky to have me cause I’m so great and my cartoon shitty garage band had sold millions but I’ll still help you lot pay your bills by recording an album then each in turn would beat the life out of me. Solo projects are bound to break up bands. A band is a collective uncompromising unit and anything else simply shows lack of commitment. So, if Graham’s left cause a certain person is too head struck with his solo success then good on him. Still gutted though, I never saw Blur live and its doubtful I ever will now. Visit www.transcopic.com, its crazy.
Oh well, we’re still together! No reason why we should not be so there and cheerio. JP
Listen to:
Then……..
10th September 2002
I keep having the most disturbing dreams lately and it could be because I’ve chosen to quit drinking and everything else that can further harm my voice before our next outing on Saturday at the Sanctuary. It’s failed to recover from the last one, but it was worth it by far.
Anyway these dreams, a quite misguided affair (as dreams tend to be). I’ve basically developed a rather warped Albert Camus-esque view of how my brain is working lately. The mind, this thing I choose to abuse oh too often, is as much my biggest enemy as it is my most faithful of companions. It’s an archive of good times as well as the bad and each wall of the mind is lined with cabinets, each with individual doors decorated by exaggerated brass security locks and clock faces representing the time that memory was granted and stored. A single key, the memory, can access each and every one of the thousands of locks and thoughts on offer. I can easily choose to open those that relate to comfort and make me smile, these boxes are very high up in the sunlight and are shining polished and treasured.
However, some perverse and uncontrollable lust sways me in the most testing of times to unlock the dusty boxes I try so desperately and repeatedly to forget about. These boxes don’t belong to the wall, as they are not from natural sources. They predominately are merely twisted fiction feeding upon the grandest demon that sits at the back of the brain on a dark throne, his name: Paranoia. Those thoughts of what ‘may’ happen, what ‘could’ happen and suddenly without reason ‘will’ happen simply eat away the good positive boxes: the summers, the lazy days, the feelings of belonging and comfort. As each paranoid thought seeps upward towards the sunlight from the dark cold bottom we begin to forget the things that really keep us alive.
It’s a deadly place but by no means uncontrollable or beyond reason. It’s a brave journey to tackle these negative thoughts that get us all down. The future, looking forward, being hopeful, optimistic, making new plans, new journeys and challenges are as grand a set of tools as any you can dream for against those visions that hit you when you’re alone in bed at night. I for one am set upon beating it and dramatic as it sounds the battle was bloody.
The imagination is as compelling musically as it is each time we dream. Nevertheless, the limitations of what comes into our heads as we silently drift across the early morning hours are nothing in comparison to the true delight of having a medium in the real world for all this frustration. It is that diversity that this band is acknowledged for. We may be messing with your head as much as the thoughts we battle but it is sure to be a more rewarding journey, its only just starting as well. The next few months will see more new songs as we infiltrate the additional talents of our two newest recruits. Exciting times no doubt await me as well as you.
I’m sixteen feet and falling but the truth that somehow breaks through it all as the sweat runs and the brain tires to restless sleep is that they will always talk to me. JP
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Tuesday 24th August 2004
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Something About Mary
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My Cuban Friend
Monday 8th March 2004
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Tuesday 16th December 2003
21st October 2003
JP
On the Silversuit stereo:
‘Love Your Sons And Daughters’ – The Keys (Single – Too Pure)
‘The Sophtware Slump’ – Grandaddy
‘Phantom Power’ – Super Furry Animals
‘Mow The Lawn’ – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
‘Phantom Power’ Super Furry Animals
‘Vehicles and Animals’ – Athlete
‘Burden Which engine’ – Mr Nobody
‘Peleton’ – The Delgados
‘I Should Coco’ - Supergrass
‘Shopping’ – Mr Nobody
‘Strength Of Strings’ – The Keys
‘We Love The City’ - Hefner
‘City Pop’ – Murdoch
‘The Fat Controller’ – Grandscope
‘We Love The City’ - Hefner
‘The Sophtware Slump’ – Grandaddy
‘Barafundle’ – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
‘Blur’ - Blur
‘Hey Petrunko’ – Ooberman
‘Barafundle’ – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
‘Up The Bracket’ – The Libertines
‘Spanish Dance Troupe’ – Gorkys Zygotic Mynci
‘Hits’ – Joni Mitchell
‘Northern Soul’ – The Verve
‘City Pop’ – Murdoch
‘Time for Heroes’ – The Libertines
‘Triumph’ – The Hiss
‘Clocks’ – Coldplay
‘The Drugs to Take Music To’ – Helicon
‘Screaming From The Capital’ – Various
‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ - Blur
‘Mwng’ – Super Furry Animals
‘The Hefner Brain EP’ – Hefner
‘The Kiss of the Morning’ – Graham Coxon
Album of the Year according to my stereo:
‘Radiator’ - Super Furry Animals
‘Up The Bracket’ - The Libertines
‘A New Day at Midnight’ - David Gray (Trust me this is so goo
‘Blur’ - Blur
‘How I Long to Feel That Summer’ - Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
‘MTV Unplugged’ - Nirvana
‘Songs of Ignorance’ - Murry the Hump
‘Blur’ - Blur
‘The Coral’ - The Coral
’25 Yards of Dental Floss’ Half Man Half Biscuit
‘The Remote Part’ - Idlewild
‘The Colour & The Shape’ - Foo Fighters
‘Kiss of the Morning’ - Graham Coxon
‘Highly Evolved’ - The Vines
‘I to Sky’ - JJ72
‘Solder Girl’ - The Polyphonic Spree
‘Delinquent EP’ - Holster
‘How I Long to Feel That Summer’ - Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
‘JJ72’ - JJ72
‘The Remote Part’ - Idlewild (never has an album connected so well with life)
‘Crow Sit on Blood Tree’ - Graham Coxon (Transcopic 2001)
‘The Golden D’ - Graham Coxon (Tanscopic 2000)
‘The Sky is too High’ - Graham Coxon (Transcopic 1998)
‘That sodding Gorillaz album’ - Albarn and someone who can draw
‘Big Beats written by someone else but I can mix it man’ - Fatboy Slim
‘Mali Music’ (Flamin’ heck) - Albarn & friends
