0207

Well well well, what a week it's been eh?

At the start of it, I made any record I had any involvement in pay-what-you-want to try and raise some funds to go play a festival next month. But why do that? I hear you cry, well it's sort of complicated, and sort of not at the same time. Y'see, to play festivals (and gigs in general tbh) it costs quite a bit of money - petrol, food, hotels, etc. and normally I'd be ok with shouldering that cost, but this year's been fairly tough financially, and so I had to take a warm-up gig nearby the day before my slot to offset some of the costs involved.

And then you can guess what happend next.

The gig ended up getting pulled, and my fee for it evaporated. It wasn't a lot, but it would've covered a few bits, and I didn't mind singing for my supper. So then what do you do in that situation? For me, I had little option but to do the world's saddest flash sale, which brings us to today.

The bandcamp pages have been mostly free since Monday, and my god have you guys absolutely smashed it out of the park. I was only hoping to cover that small-ish fee, but I've somehow ended up with over 5 times that amount, as you all chipped in and were so generous with your donations. I absolutely, 100% cannot thank you all enough for that, and it's genuinely heartwarming to know that this little community based around my silly little tapes can do something as crazy and as awesome as that. So to show my gratitude, and to say a massive thank you again, today I put together an EP called 0207 and shoved it on my Bandcamp for you all:

It's pay-what-you-want, and will remain so after the flash sale ends on Monday, but please don't feel like you have to pay anything more if you've already chipped in! It's just a simple thank you, and I hope you enjoy it. 

Gavin

Glass Infinites

ALBUM NO. 10 IS OUT NOW!

Glass Infinites, my little modular synth/ ambient baby, is out in the world now:

Very much hope you all enjoy it. Here's some quickfire background on some track titles: 'Choppers' is a nickname I had as a child, as apparently I would make a mad chomping motion with my mouth everytime food was near. Yes, I was a portly child lol. 'Say No To Yes' is from this poster that does the rounds on twitter every now and then. Almost called it 'Say Pizza To Drugs', but thought better of it. 'Öxlinni' is Icelandic for 'shoulder', and I just love how the word looks so used it. 'How Does It Feel, What Do You Think? Are You Happy?' is a line from this HEALTH song. 'Boomkat Industrial Complex' was just a funny phrase to poke fun at their seemingly vice like grip they have on any underground music. I was gonna do a big graph, like the one on the back of Yanqui UXO by Godspeed, with all these labels and blogs pointing to Boomkat, but just couldn't be arsed in the end. 'Zyklus' is perhaps the most badass word in the world, and is German for 'cycle'. 'Rejected Ambient Works' is, obviously, a bit of fun with an Aphex record.

Endless Hum 2 pics

Not often I get nice live photos of me, or reviews for that matter, so here are both from Saturday's exploits in Shipley:

That sea of cables and plugs on the floor was very stressful

Look at that grip! holding onto that keyboard for dear life lol

Looking very serious - probably stressing about pedals

 And there's a great review of the night over at Louder Than War here:

https://louderthanwar.com/the-endless-hum-2-the-kirkgate-centre-shipley-live-review/

Community (it's important)

At the weekend I played for The Endless Hum's night at the Kirkgate Centre in Shipley, and it was really, really nice. I mean, the gig itself was class and the fact there's a cool night like this literally walking distance from my house, is worth shouting about if nothing else, but there's always something very important about getting involved in a community.

Me, onstage in Shipley

Like, when I was young, and growing up next door to Shipley in the Tory toy town of Baildon, I would've laughed if you'd have told me that Saltaire and Shipley were gonna be a hive of musical community, but that's sort of what's happening, and it's really really great. 

In the early satan days, we'd make a habit of turning up to nights we wanted to play, CDs in hand, and collaring the promoter to give us a shot. It didn't always work, but it got us out and about, and we met people in and around the scene in Leeds, which obviously helped get our name out there.

That's a very under-rated and still very important thing to be doing as a band, I think. Find your scene and get into it. The internet is all well and good, but there's still no substitute for turning up to a gig with some like minded people and just enjoying a night of music. 

I'll never understand why people don't do this more. Back in the day, I knew so many bands and artists that ran off down to London only to get swallowed up and they ended up quitting all together. If you live somewhere with a community hall, or a bar that does events, fucking get in there. You aren't retired yet! A community these days is probably the best thing you can wrap your music around.