Monday, 8 July 2019
George the first
Friday 5th July, Doc Brown's. A gig for Goosed records. George's first. My Fender amp's first too.
Sunday, 7 July 2019
George's Revolving Shed You Tube version
"In shattering sunlight here's the shelter where I write dramas helter skelter."
-George Bernard Shaw
This is about the third attempt to do this, so I've decided to be brutal. They are literally thrown together. Enjoy.
Track one - Critics of the Old Guard:
https://youtu.be/hsnQsTMqC7g
Track two - Close to the Outside Edge:
https://youtu.be/gQRTUU_bbkc
Track three - The Rain in Spain (falls mainly on the northern coastal regions):
https://youtu.be/qM5S_aY6wKQ
Track four - Pale Neurotic
https://youtu.be/S_ja4yhigaw
Track five - The Ring of Madness
https://youtu.be/TLpr32IJofE
Track six - The Grotesque Mistake
https://youtu.be/8OJdfqr4LQc
Track seven - Thousands of Days
https://youtu.be/bAKUiP2zDRQ
Track eight - The Soul of Masque
https://youtu.be/WBsEFkyQWfs
Friday, 28 June 2019
Friday Jam & McCormick update
McCormick are now a 4-piece. George has joined us on bass. Rehearsal two is set for the 2nd July with the next gig at Doc Browns on the 5th.
Friday Jam continue to rehearse, latest one on the 28th June. Another song (sans vocals) tried out-Shaking Hands with the Holy Ghost.
I am slowly de-cluttering to Unit 10. Don't tell anyone.
Friday Jam continue to rehearse, latest one on the 28th June. Another song (sans vocals) tried out-Shaking Hands with the Holy Ghost.
I am slowly de-cluttering to Unit 10. Don't tell anyone.
Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Day and Night
I dived into the archive and decided to finally do something with DaytoNight from 2008. After trying out some of the files (some of which I realised, had been used for Onamatappear) I found a delightful piano track for an unfinished song from 2012 called Make Some Noise. It was thoroughly tweaked and played with and the results merged with SAW. Quite pleased with it. The full thing lasts 1 hour 52 minutes. I liked it so much I chopped it up into Bandcamp-sized chunks and up it went. I decided to keep the title (sort of).
Thursday, 6 June 2019
Appearance
While remastering the archive, I found a Soundscapes album, Onamatappear, parts of which sounded quite good. Therefore I mercilessly butchered it and made this album, which immediately went up on Bandcamp. So there:
Friday Jam it is, then.
Just to keep you up to date here, rehearsals have started for a new venture. The band has been christened FRIDAY JAM for now, and will possibly stick as no-one seems to object.
Along with myself on guitar, we have Cowboys Joe Brown on guitar, Joe Ritchie on drums and George Stead on bass and vocals. First rehearsal (drummerless) was on May 17th. Joe joined us from May 24th onwards. Further rehearsals on May 28th and June 6th, so far.
Songs nailed so far: Time and Soul Kitchen. Alive is ok instrumentally, however George has yet to add vocals.
So far, so good.
Along with myself on guitar, we have Cowboys Joe Brown on guitar, Joe Ritchie on drums and George Stead on bass and vocals. First rehearsal (drummerless) was on May 17th. Joe joined us from May 24th onwards. Further rehearsals on May 28th and June 6th, so far.
Songs nailed so far: Time and Soul Kitchen. Alive is ok instrumentally, however George has yet to add vocals.
So far, so good.
Wednesday, 1 May 2019
PG on Bandcamp
I've finally decided to put my old albums up on Bandcamp.
If I had known it was as easy as this, I would have done it sooner.
Anyway, on May 1st I knocked up this compilation:
The rest as follows:
(nb - The individual Soundscapes albums were too long to upload, even in 16 44 files, so the "excerpts from...." will have to do for now. Some tracks on Morganic were too long too so I didn't upload that one.
If I had known it was as easy as this, I would have done it sooner.
Anyway, on May 1st I knocked up this compilation:
The Mind Leading the Mind (a retrospective 1997-1999)
The rest as follows:
(nb - The individual Soundscapes albums were too long to upload, even in 16 44 files, so the "excerpts from...." will have to do for now. Some tracks on Morganic were too long too so I didn't upload that one.
https://petegifford.bandcamp.com/album/excerpts-from-best-kept-secret-collect-safe-inside-light-play
Shame is yet to be remastered. I'm not sure if I want to put it up anyway. I might do a Wineflies album.
As the SBC 30th progressess, some re-releases might be in order.
How about:
1. The Blues Band cassette, with about an hour's worth of bonus live material featuring that line-up
2. The No Butter on my Biscuit cassette, again with appropriate live material
3. Not an Overdub in Sight - as it is.
4. The SBC CD, with maybe bonus tracks of the alternate versions.
5. "This Is Not A Exit Out Thank You" (a retrospective 1989-1999). Best leftover material. Most of the good live stuff from the early line-ups will be used up, but there should be plenty.
Sunday, 7 April 2019
...and then there were three
....another gig to add to update the list, however another line-up change. Ste, Hughie and Catherine got together again on Sunday 17th March (I was unavailable) however prior to the next rehearsal on March 24th at the Boom Boom Room to get ready for Whole Latte Love, Catherine unexpectedly quit.
McCORMICK
Steve McCormick - vocals/guitar
Pete Gifford - bass
Hugh McGouran - drums
739/001 20170128 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
740/002 20170512 McCORMICK Music Lounge, Stockton
741/003 20170603 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
20170622 McCORMICK BBC Tees Bob Fischer live interview
(to promote the GOTB EP. No live music played)
742/004 20170723 McCORMICK Georgian Theatre, Stockton
20170810 McCORMICK Metro Radio, Newcastle
(recording two acoustic tracks and Alan Robson interview, broadcast August 29th)
20171120 PETE Bishop FM Michael Patterson live interview
743/005 20171124 McCORMICK Whole Latte Love, Stockton
McCORMICK ACOUSTIC TRIO
SM - acoustic/vocals
PG - acoustic
HM - congas/cajons
744/006 20171215 MAT Whole Latte Love, Stockton
745/007 20180203 MAT Georgian Theatre (Nine Below Zero)
746/008 20180223 McCORMICK Vinyl, Stockton
20180306 STEVE Chat & Spin Radio live interview
20180310 STEVE Chat & Spin Radio live interview
747/009 20180331 MAT Room 21, Stockton Calling
748/010 20180407 McCORMICK The Deacon, Darlington (Caribbean Cowboys)
749/011 20180421 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
750/012 20180505 MAT The Vault, Stockton
751/013 20180526 McCORMICK Orange Pip Market, Middlesbrough
752/014 20180601 MAT/McCORMICK Whole Latte Love
753/015 20180720 McCORMICK Music Lounge, Stockton
754/016 20180907 MAT Whole Latte Love. Stockton
755/017 20180909 McCORMICK Georgian Theatre (Battle of Stockton)
756/018 20181222 McCORMICK Whole Latte Love (BQSL xmas bash)
McCORMICK QUARTET
SM - acoustic/vocals
PG - acoustic
HM - percussion
CATHERINE McGUINNESS - keys
(This line-up is in its infancy. There are plans to introduce technology and stuff. Catherine can also play the cornet. Anyway, this is how it started out.)
757/019 20190208 MCQ Music Lounge, Stockton
758/020 20190214 MCQ Whirling Dervish, TSone, Middlesbrough
759/021 20190329 MAT Whole Latte Love (Checkout 7)
760/022 20190413 MAT Egglescliffe Community Centre
759/021 20190329 MAT Whole Latte Love (Checkout 7)
760/022 20190413 MAT Egglescliffe Community Centre
Thursday, 7 March 2019
no time at all
The bulk of the tracks on this album were taken from a
single improvised guitar performance using a 1979 Fender Stratocaster played
through three Peavey Ultraverb II effects units. Some sections of the
performance are presented here exactly as played. Others have been treated (or
punished, depending on how you look at it).
The Morganic series of keyboard loop experiments were
inspired by Morgan Fisher.
https://youtu.be/eugyzOq7VrA
https://youtu.be/tgC1_RGEGuk
https://youtu.be/fczo_02lweE
https://youtu.be/dEiB3Jy8VVc
https://youtu.be/k0s3R1l3N4M
https://youtu.be/uVS6PJAL8Nk
https://youtu.be/oelXjVBHQz0
https://youtu.be/KYfBIbO2JQY
https://youtu.be/xAiHCP9aFRI
https://youtu.be/Y9aYaX_dK-4
https://youtu.be/jSwYfFqa6PY
https://youtu.be/RY3v5hHITtk
https://youtu.be/H_7BB61NsvE
https://youtu.be/hFWMtVVfsdo
https://youtu.be/1HXHQcWNQmE
Saturday, 16 February 2019
Gig update
It might be worth updating my gig list at this point:
McCORMICK
Steve McCormick - vocals/guitar
Pete Gifford - bass
Hugh McGouran - drums
739/001 20170128 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
740/002 20170512 McCORMICK Music Lounge, Stockton
741/003 20170603 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
20170622 McCORMICK BBC Tees Bob Fischer live interview
(to promote the GOTB EP. No live music played)
742/004 20170723 McCORMICK Georgian Theatre, Stockton
20170810 McCORMICK Metro Radio, Newcastle
(recording two acoustic tracks and Alan Robson interview, broadcast August 29th)
20171120 PETE Bishop FM Michael Patterson live interview
743/005 20171124 McCORMICK Whole Latte Love, Stockton
McCORMICK ACOUSTIC TRIO
SM - acoustic/vocals
PG - acoustic
HM - congas/cajons
744/006 20171215 MAT Whole Latte Love, Stockton
745/007 20180203 MAT Georgian Theatre (Nine Below Zero)
746/008 20180223 McCORMICK Vinyl, Stockton
20180306 STEVE Chat & Spin Radio live interview
20180310 STEVE Chat & Spin Radio live interview
747/009 20180331 MAT Room 21, Stockton Calling
748/010 20180407 McCORMICK The Deacon, Darlington (Caribbean Cowboys)
749/011 20180421 McCORMICK Toft House, Middlesbrough
750/012 20180505 MAT The Vault, Stockton
751/013 20180526 McCORMICK Orange Pip Market, Middlesbrough
752/014 20180601 MAT/McCORMICK Whole Latte Love
753/015 20180720 McCORMICK Music Lounge, Stockton
754/016 20180907 MAT Whole Latte Love. Stockton
755/017 20180909 McCORMICK Georgian Theatre (Battle of Stockton)
756/018 20181222 McCORMICK Whole Latte Love (BQSL xmas bash)
McCORMICK QUARTET
SM - acoustic/vocals
PG - acoustic
HM - percussion
CATHERINE McGUINNESS - keys
(This line-up is in its infancy. There are plans to introduce technology and stuff. Catherine can also play the cornet. Anyway, this is how it started out.)
757/019 20190208 MCQ Music Lounge, Stockton
758/020 20190214 MCQ Whirling Dervish, TSone, Middlesbrough
Friday, 15 February 2019
The ides of February and all is well
Oh dear. I did warn you somewhere near the beginning of this excursion that I may neglect my blogging duties from time to time. The last post was in November. You could be forgiven for thinking that activities had ceased. Blogging activities certainly did. But no, life trundled on. I will divide this post into categories, I think. It will probably make it easier to follow than chronological notes.
So firstly I think, what happened with the solo EP x3 + LP plans? What happened with phases one and two? Fuck all, basically. The vids are still available on YouTube and one or two (literally) people have viewed them. No probs. There has been no subsequent solo recording. As of now, I have revised my plans. When I do finally get down to making some music up in the HBTS loft I think I will concentrate on making noises to share with Ron.
Secondly, updates on the studio recordings discussed in the last post:
I don't know why this wasn't mentioned because it had happened, but never mind. After listening to Jamie's preliminary mixes we decided some tweaking was necessary. The four of us convened at the college on Friday November 16th and in the space of a couple of hours had two class mixes. Make it Count (MIC) was a little later (19th) given the "radio edit" treatment, effectively cutting it by about a minute.
Make it Count currently sits in the can. The Girl I Knew Before (GIKB) should be released on all digital platforms by March 8th. Our mate Patto has already played it several times both on his Big Drive Home show on Bishop FM and his Friday morning slot on Darlo Radio.
Some early artwork, ditched because of the poor resolution of the original pic. Shame. We liked that one:
Now an update on McCormick rehearsals (I tell you what, it's a good job I never deleted the McCormick group chat).
December 5th, band rehearsal at Lorne Street. December 16th, combined rehearsal and video shoot at Whole Latte Love.
The next rehearsal was an acoustic one at Hughie's PoW on January 15th. It marked the first appearance of Catherine McGuinness (Cat) on keys*. I met Cat for the second time only at the first gig! The other two met with her a couple of times (19th & 27th ) at Northwood.
McCormick video activity:
As mentioned above, the first video shoot was at Whole Latte Love on December 16th. Both GIKB and MIC were mimed to and filmed several times using the tripod camera and three phones.
Then on December 30th Ste and I met at Seal Sands, then went on to Seaton Carew to shoot some footage for MIC. This footage remains in the can at time of writing.
I started working on the promo for GIKB on January 2nd. The first released version was circulated briefly of YouTube before it was generally decided that a remake was necessary. The final version was posted on January 20th and, as of date has had 123 views and one comment of "outstanding".
McCormick live activity:
December 22nd (electric) at Whole Latte Love. BQSL's xmas bash. We were on first.
February 8th, Music Lounge. The debut of the acoustic quartet. Cat came on for the last four numbers, as lack of rehearsal prohibited more at present.
February 14th, the Whirling Dervish at TSone, Middlesbrough. Salsola headlined and James Lewis Mockett opened. Cat up for the last four, as before. I snapped a string for the first time!
*A video recording was made of some of this rehearsal by myself on my iPhone. I downloaded it onto my PC, however didn't get around to putting it in the back-up HDs, so when I had my PC crash a couple of weeks ago I lost it. As far as I can recall, this is the only raw file I have lost. Some of the things I was working on I have backed up the raw files, so can just start again. I was working on some audio and video for solo material, but nothing was nailed and, to be honest, most of it was mindless blithering, so it is probably just as well that it no longer exists. I can start afresh with a new project.
So firstly I think, what happened with the solo EP x3 + LP plans? What happened with phases one and two? Fuck all, basically. The vids are still available on YouTube and one or two (literally) people have viewed them. No probs. There has been no subsequent solo recording. As of now, I have revised my plans. When I do finally get down to making some music up in the HBTS loft I think I will concentrate on making noises to share with Ron.
Secondly, updates on the studio recordings discussed in the last post:
I don't know why this wasn't mentioned because it had happened, but never mind. After listening to Jamie's preliminary mixes we decided some tweaking was necessary. The four of us convened at the college on Friday November 16th and in the space of a couple of hours had two class mixes. Make it Count (MIC) was a little later (19th) given the "radio edit" treatment, effectively cutting it by about a minute.
Make it Count currently sits in the can. The Girl I Knew Before (GIKB) should be released on all digital platforms by March 8th. Our mate Patto has already played it several times both on his Big Drive Home show on Bishop FM and his Friday morning slot on Darlo Radio.
Some early artwork, ditched because of the poor resolution of the original pic. Shame. We liked that one:
Revised artwork, variations of:
Now an update on McCormick rehearsals (I tell you what, it's a good job I never deleted the McCormick group chat).
December 5th, band rehearsal at Lorne Street. December 16th, combined rehearsal and video shoot at Whole Latte Love.
The next rehearsal was an acoustic one at Hughie's PoW on January 15th. It marked the first appearance of Catherine McGuinness (Cat) on keys*. I met Cat for the second time only at the first gig! The other two met with her a couple of times (19th & 27th ) at Northwood.
 |
| Northwood December 19th |
McCormick video activity:
As mentioned above, the first video shoot was at Whole Latte Love on December 16th. Both GIKB and MIC were mimed to and filmed several times using the tripod camera and three phones.
Then on December 30th Ste and I met at Seal Sands, then went on to Seaton Carew to shoot some footage for MIC. This footage remains in the can at time of writing.
I started working on the promo for GIKB on January 2nd. The first released version was circulated briefly of YouTube before it was generally decided that a remake was necessary. The final version was posted on January 20th and, as of date has had 123 views and one comment of "outstanding".
McCormick live activity:
December 22nd (electric) at Whole Latte Love. BQSL's xmas bash. We were on first.
February 8th, Music Lounge. The debut of the acoustic quartet. Cat came on for the last four numbers, as lack of rehearsal prohibited more at present.
February 14th, the Whirling Dervish at TSone, Middlesbrough. Salsola headlined and James Lewis Mockett opened. Cat up for the last four, as before. I snapped a string for the first time!
*A video recording was made of some of this rehearsal by myself on my iPhone. I downloaded it onto my PC, however didn't get around to putting it in the back-up HDs, so when I had my PC crash a couple of weeks ago I lost it. As far as I can recall, this is the only raw file I have lost. Some of the things I was working on I have backed up the raw files, so can just start again. I was working on some audio and video for solo material, but nothing was nailed and, to be honest, most of it was mindless blithering, so it is probably just as well that it no longer exists. I can start afresh with a new project.
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