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Having made music with my friend Nick since 1989 (first proper band / gig together), we've finally made an album. No hard sell but if anyone wants to check it out for free on Spotify / Amazon / whatever your preferred streaming platform is, "...Beyond Reverence" by Deadlight Dance is out today. Probably filed best under 80s Goth but it has enough layers to hold the interests of anyone who isn't expecting "Mega Party Mix Anthems 37". Of course I played bass on it but I also co-wrote all the originals, co-produced, co-arranged... as well as doing some mandolin, electric drums, acoustic drums, singing and Bass VI. If anyone is REALLY keen, search us out on Bandcamp and support the band but I'm certainly happy with a few of you checking us out. This was only supposed to be one jam once lockdown restrictions eased! We're performing the album acoustically on mandocellos (as you do!) Sat 16 Sept - SWINDON Shuffle onstage at The Beehive in Old Town at 7.15pm Thurs 21 Sept - MILDENHALL, WILTS The Horseshoe Sat 23 Sept BATH Chapter 22 (supporting Ghost Dance). And any follows across any of the social media platforms is always appreciated.

After being made aware of some special pricing, on a thread here on BC, from those lovely folk at Thomann, I pulled the trigger on 40th Anniversary Squier Precision in trans(ish) blond, at £285 (28.5% off list), it was rude not to. It arrived today and straight out of the box, it screamed keeper. Everything as you’d expect from a well put together P, but at a price that seems impossible for the quality. It weighed in at 3.8kg, but I had a spare set of Hipshot, lightweight tuners, so fitted them straight away and that weight is reduced to a very acceptable 3.67kg (lighter than my Mustang). The 40mm nut width was also most welcome (the same as my Mustang). Matt body, satin neck make it pleasant to handle. The sound: a proper, full on P, with a very usable tone control. The nut was a little rough in places, but a nail file soon put that right. A bit of fret buzz on the G string around the 12th fret area also needed a little polish to the frets to remove that. I’m pleased, very pleased. I’ll update with more pics when I’ve fitted the tort guard I’ve ordered along with more thoughts after a few days of ownership.

Today the VB arrived, I played for 2 hours, then I changed the strings to EB flats cobalt 50-105 and played for another 2 hours. this machine is amazing and better than the F.player I used to have. my Squier family

Quit all social media in 2016. Best thing I ever did. Wanna talk? Let's meet down the pub and catch up over a white wine spritzer.

It was The Belfort International Festival of University Music. It was musician's from all over the world playing at various venues in the town of Belfort. We were a guitar punk pop band like Ash, Stereophonics, Manics etc. and played on the main stage. This was our backdrop, a gigantic Lion that looked over the courtyard. We got to meet up and watch Jazz musicians from Canada, marching bands from France, traditional bands from Portugal, Croatia, punk bands from France and soul bands from the UK. The whole town became a 3 day festival and it was absolutely brilliant. This was our backdrop

I think it would only be fair that Thomann pays me a commission for pushing some of these sales! I would happily accept a DR P just for company for my VB. Just weighed mine and the P is approx 7.5lbs and the J approx 9.5.

We also get really annoyed with people who talk (more like shout) to each other right through a gig. Nearly always women. My Mrs has regularly told them that we paid to listen to the band, not them, and if they want to carry on, maybe they should f*** off outside.

Saturday gig almost upon us, The Petty Thieves. So called because almost 1/2 our setlist is Tom Petty covers, which of course, being a covers band, we stole. Sit. Rep. on Sunday

Maybe if you've had a couple of million selling albums, then you can afford to try lay down the law about how your audience should behave... I realise perfectly well that at the majority of gigs I play, my band are probably not the one most people have come primarily to see, and therefore it is unrealistic for me to expect them to shut up and attentively watch/dance (as appropriate for the music I'm playing). I'll settle for them not leaving while we are on and hopefully by the end of our set we'll have made some new fans. Also at the sorts of gigs I do anyone with their phone out is just as likely to be taking photos and/or video which will be posted on social media, hopefully with a few kind words about how much they enjoyed the band, as they are to be scrolling through Facebook. Many of the live shots I post in the "How was your gig last night?" thread are courtesy of someone in our audience who happened to think the band worth worth photographing and then posting and tagging. I'm not complaining.

Yeah, I'll put pics up as it progresses

On first impressions I'd put my 50p on that being a hand-made one off. That bridge/tuner system appears to be basically two 4-string bridges mounted together, maybe a replacement for a missing/broken & unobtainable original part: One similar to this: ...and something like this, modified as string retainer/tuner: The string clampling solution is perhaps a little inelegant, but that's otherwise a great improvised headless system.

I keep wanting to get one of these, but I have a 40yr old Squier already 😂 GAS - the silent killer…

Just arrived. 3.8kg (very manageable given the good balance) and a 40mm nut (perfect), very playable straight out of the box. Happy days!

One thing I'm so surprised about is the build quality, it's amazing. Out of the box they are so playable that I would be happy to gig it with no adjustment and they sound absolutely amazing. I've only ever had one Squier before which was the Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz which was ok but the build quality was a bit iffy. I actually had to take one back as the neck was warped and the replacement was better but not great but this 40th Anniversary is on par with the US and Jap Fender's I've had or got. They certainly pushed the boat out on these basses and I'm kind of tempted to pick up either one of the blue or black gold editions or the 40th Anniversary Jazz.

Stray cat strut - Stray cats

Got the Satin Red P delivered yesterday and loving it. Amazing bass for the money. Cheers to all on here for the heads up!

I'm playing tonight with The Tim Shez Band at The Login Lounge in Camberley. Its fantastic new venue that's a mix of a cafe/jazz club/wine bar. It has an amazing stage and sound and does craft beers and I'm super excited to be playing there.

I was at a gig of my Niece's band. She plays loudish rock and the venue had about 150 to 200 people there. I don't usually video bands that I go to see but decided I'd video one of the songs as a memento. After about 20 seconds some guy behind me asked me to stop videoing because it was spoiling 'his view'. I attempted to explain that I was videoing my niece and was only planning to video one song but he was having none of it. He could have stepped a foot to the left and he would have had a perfect view of the band. At that point I realised he was just being a total d***head and I felt I had no choice but to tell him to **** off! and have a nice day.

Yep, absolutely and so many fabulous memories and life experiences. Waiting at Dover to cross into France, challenging the girls British Netball team to a game of netball and then football and being totally destroyed by them 😁 Being in France playing at a huge international music festival and getting into a huge food fight in the food hall with a Spanish trad band 😂 Miming in Dundee shopping centre to promote our latest single and coming out to perform to find our roadies had set all our gear up back to front and upside down 😂 Getting a visit from the Welsh Police in the early hours of the morning whilst recording an album due to our drummer get very drunk and walking back to the studio from the pub the night before with a gate which in turn let all the sheep out to roam around the village the following morning 😂 Playing at a festival in Reigate on a beautiful sunny day being buzzed by the Red Arrows mid set and everyone coming up to us afterwards asking if we'd arranged that which we took credit for 😂 So many more amazing memories, loved every minute of it.

Jam them where exactly? I have ideas on that.

But, you're clearly all wrong and they're no good because they're not made of alder and rosewood...

Finally arrived .... my Headless Bass Bridges from manufacturing 🙂

I honestly think non-musicians don't know the difference. At least they probably make allowances. I guess a lot of my friends who come to see the band aren't necessarily there because we are awesome (although of course we are), it's more because it's a good social event with live music. When I was 17, we'd get practically the whole school along to a pub gig, I can't belive they all liked rock. That would have been through word of mouth and photocopied hand drawn flyers. My gut feeling was they loved to see mates in a band and were able say "I know the bass player" etc. Let's face it, to anyone who can't play an instrument it all appears extremely highly skilled and magical. Maybe it is and we have done it for so long we take it for granted.

You had me with "80s Goth"... I'll check it out later!

Ha, bloody audience on their phones. I once bought a car on eBay between songs at a gig I was playing. 😂 I was keeping an eye on a car for my wife that ended that evening, I forgot to bid before we started and suddenly remembered during the gig. My phone was on my amp which is usually kind of beside me when I play doublebass, I quickly opened ebay at the end of a song and saw the auction ended in a couple of minutes. Shouted at the guitarist to do a double length intro to the next song while I stuck a bid in. Checked ebay in the break to find my wife now owned a new convertible. 😁

Feline Groovy ～ Simon & Carbuncle

We've had Sisters or Bauhaus meets Depeche Mode before and Nephilim all suggested before. Funny thing was neither of us knew DM *that* well but we've been really getting into them since the comparison. Cool. I'm pleased you posted as I thought Bandcamp updated automatically and it turned out they don't! I manually put it to live. We're doing the All That Is Devine IV next March (30th) in Camden at The Fiddlers Elbow. We're opening a great bill. Today. I have shipped around 25 a bit early so it's out now. I had to manually change the settings to reflect this, but hadn't done so at the time of posting. I only knew Paradise Lost as a metal band but checked that out (both wikipedia and Spotify. Looks like they had a phase of playing in a similar style - the points of reference are the same as us! Genuinely humbled that so many of you have taken time to check us out and in a lot of cases, comment too!

The screens are very distracting for anyone sitting near you. As has already been said, you go to watch the stage, not the surrounding audience members' phones. It's the same when there is a TV in a pub, people will be continually turning their attention to the TV screen. When we run dance competitions we allow recording under 2 criteria, your child is in the performance and you stand at the back of the hall. Standing at the back of the hall allows us to monitor who is videoing what, but mainly allows the judges to concentrate on the performances. It's a domino effect, one person does it and all of a sudden everyone is doing it.

The guy was making a point, as his view was not spoiled by my videoing. I'm not sure what point he was making?

That's asking a lot of drummers

Removed MXR Bass overdrive and replaced with Bassrig '64

Phones don't seem to be much of an issue for us. And since we no longer play late night pub/ bar gigs audience behavior is always cool. Blue

I only go to metal and punk gigs. No one talks because the music is so loud it would be hopeless. At the front, where I like to spend the evening it would be near impossible to hold up your phone to video it as 50 people slam in to you as they mosh. As for fans getting lost in the music, that's up to the band to take us there, grab us by the throat and keep going until the end. The only rules in the pit at metal shows are never intentionally hurt anyone and if someone falls down, pick them up (or if they need help then help them)

An occasional swoosh across the crowd from a giant blade like the one at the end of Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade should keep the phone-holding hands down.

Some of these artists need to do a gig at the Dog and Duck where the audience is either a man and his dog, or the entire pub empties as soon as your drummer starts sound checking because it mean the football has definitely finished. If someone is videoing your show, it's free advertising, unless it's theatre and then it should be all phones off as you enter. Not sure where I stand on the talking part. If you're there to chat to your mates with some live music, stand at the back. Although I've done enough jazz gigs, dinners and fetes to realise that sometimes you're just background music. All gigs are different.

Don't know what I'm doing in this thread, coz I actually "made it". To me, "making it" was: - composing the music I liked, - recording and playing, with good musicians who were also nice people, - my own and others' music - to tiny but receptive audiences. I did that, and before anyone thinks I'm boasting about my audience numbers: those audiences twice were the building's caretaker, who had to be there. 😃 In practical terms this was left behind when we chose to live in rural Norway, where I needed to do "proper" work to survive. So in '84 I realised I wasn't going to "make it" anymore.

It's the whole "going to something you don't really want to be at, in order to be seen to be there" thing that really has me scratching my head.

My version of the Matchless DC-30 preamp (EF86 channel only):

Finally succumbed and ordered a dakota red P plus a set of HB flats and a gig bag. Dakota red and Daphne blue are my two favourite Fender colours so it was an easy choice between the red and the blonde

It's been a while and this groove is too infectious not to share!

That’s exactly what I was thinking, just as you posted 😂

Liking it a lot. I’d go and see you if you play in London or Nottingham.

Just added a Boss DD200... lovely creative box. Everything snuggly fits on a metro 16 Amazingly (Messy wiring)

Took the Euro LT to a rehearsal last night. I absolutely love this bass. The tone is really growly, seems to sit perfectly with just a small boost of treble and bass. Compared to my Warwicks the Spector just has a bit more bite and attitude to the sound. The way it responds to your playing and just the way it feels to play, I found myself suddenly doing some doug wimbish type techniques 🤣😅. It's like like it pushes back against you in a really good, satisfying way! So happy.

I loved the circus life, absolutely love it, travelling across the country, venue to venue, playing in a new town or city, meeting new people, playing a gig which might be absolutely amazing or go disastrously wrong but still having a laugh along the way. It was one giant adventure and I love every second of it. Some people used to moan about it and say its really boring, they hated it, hated all the travelling etc. so I would just say to them then stop if you don't like it then go and get a regular job but this is a gift, to be on tour, to play music, not everyone gets this opportunity or life style so you make the most of it, make it work for you but if this is too much hard work and you'd sooner be working in a shop, or a factory or an office then you crack on but doing this is my dream and I am going to love every second of it. Most seemed to get it after that and enjoyed it but not all.

I was certainly prepared to do that: drop everything and go. My GF/Wife had talked about this and she could handle the mortgage, but an income from being a musician simply had to raise its head at some point. otherwise it would have been unfair. Security was more important to me, I must admit. Being an artist living in penury wasn't an attraction to me. But I knew guys who packed their jobs in, went on the dole and got housing support (in those days you got 70% of your rent paid) and got some level of success and recognition, albeit short-lived. Or found nothing beyond the local and Uni circuit. Proficiency aside, I understood the need to make contacts to get a call if I was between bands but there was a feeling of treading water. As for moving to London, it took one visit (for an audition) to convince me that city was not for me. My audition (for a signed, male singer guitarist) time was attenuated by other bassists still doing 'the sell' as they were leaving the rehearsal room. One even brought along his keyboard-playing pal and did 'the sell' in front of me, which reeked of desperation, as with the guy who turned up in full Confederate uniform at the end of my audition: he had already had his time but returned for another attempt at 'the sell'. The audition went well but they asked me to come back next week for another one but I really couldn't afford it, and the knowledge that I'd have to get digs quick in London if I got the gig came into sharp focus. I refused the second audition. If I couldn't make it up north, so be it.