Leonard Smalls

Party on, bubba! And spot the serious playas!

Just watched Nova Twins. Everyone else should just give up. Rock'n'roll! Some bass player!!!!! In awe....

Just got back from the first Weeds gig in 8 years (but we have been in existence since 1984 with various members, some famous and some not (like me!))... It was actually at a big house party in Sheffield where the band was also staying. I took my full 2k PA to add to the drummer's monitors and we spent all of yesterday rehearsing - as our singer and rythm guitarist couldn't make it we'd prepared a backing and vocal track and we were going to use a click track for sync. Singer was replaced by a blow up Johnny Rotten. And a DJ was going to spin samples and run tracks for us. So the house was packed, maybe 80-100 people so more than I'm used to 😁. And most of 'em danced! Some even came up and said "Now then. That weren't too bad!" So now we're ready to take on the world, we may even finish our long unfinished recordings and do another gig! Here's a tiny snatch... VID-20230625-WA0011.mp4

I'm playing tonight in my other band who haven't played for 8 years. A few weeks ago we discovered that our singer wouldn't be able to make it, nor would rhythm guitarist. So we hastily assembled a rhythm backing, sent it to the singer who recorded his bits. So we've been rehearsing all day with click and backing/vox recording, which is going to be messed about with lots by a DJ as we play. And we've got a blow up Johnny Rotten as front man 😎 We're on at 2200!

Tonight, in Sheffield. Our singer and rhythm guitarist can't make it so they've been replaced by sample triggering DJ. And it's click track! We've got a cardboard cutout of the singer to front the band...

For rehearsals, I walk. That's the easiest way as we rehearse at my house... For gigs, we've got an in-progress feet-n-weed machine (i.e. Vauxhall Vivaro with diy seats in the back, and a soon-to-be-attempted window.).

Always wear something cool and memorable. You're The Band, not a bunch of scruffy punters! Though if you're rubbish standing out makes it easier for disgruntled audience members to find you...

Looks like I did a funky thang for that one too! Also featuring some beautiful vox by me... BTW, not this month's entry too...

I had piano lessons up to about age 17, got as far as grade 7 but never really enjoyed it. Then took up bass, sort of, at uni by twanging on the bottom four strings of a mate's acoustic guitar, then within a couple of months of playing along to Bootsy on this battered old thing I borrowed a mate's Gibson shortscale and I was in a band - which is still in existence (gig this Saturday!). I wanted to play funk, so I taught myself in the way I assumed it worked, never having seen a funk bass player close up... So I now have a very odd right hand technique involving thumb-strumming with a sort of slap, and three fingers doing a similar thing. Works for me!

From what I've seen over the years, any sort of music beyond the simplest boy/girl band stuff is a minority interest! The majority of people I know, as opposed to actual friends, don't seek music out; they quite like a tune that's easy to hum but if they find one they won't necessarily look for more by that artist, they'd be happier with a "Now That's What I Call Music" comp as they will often conjure for them a mood of the time. They don't really want to sit there listening to great playing, or to seek out what's "advancing" music - music is largely a background thing. As a result of this, the majority of mainstream music follows a simple formula and is musically inoffensive. All of which I think is a shame, and is probably the fault of a decline in music education in schools. Funnily enough though, if you go to the continent there's a large market for more challenging music; frinstance I was in the tiny town of Marciac in the south of France a couple of weeks ago. It's got a population of just 1200, but has a dedicated music venue - the night we were there was a "slam poetry" show, following night was a Colombian folk group and the next was an electronic noise duo. But more importantly, it has a world-renowned jazz festival which is hugely popular and has far more experimental out-there stuff than we'd get at Cheltenham of Birmingham's alleged jazz fests! Frinstance, last year had Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog playing; they also played in Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Norway, all to great acclaim, though London only got a night of Ribot solo. However, the previous 4 European dates had no UK dates... Similarly, Suicidal Tendencies haven't played the UK since 2018 with 1 date then and 1 in 2017. But on those same visits to Europe there were gigs all over France and Germany. And I don't think it's all to do with The B Word (!) as their last UK tour was 2016, but very little before that despite tons of European dates every year.

Indeed! Though judging by the number of covers bands I see playing the same-old same-old there's definitely a market for it! Personally, while her playing is pretty amazing (especially on one of those daft kiddy-basses) I would also have preferred her to do something different with the choon (though in Donna Lee's case, do another one entirely. Cucumber Slumber praps? with a reggae feel and a theramin?). But whenever any jazz is mentioned, or bass solos or any sort of awe-inspiring playing we get the same old refrain of "too many notes" etc...

There's nowt worse than someone who can actually play... It's just showing off, isn't it? I always find music to be far more interesting if it has no more than 3 notes, especially in the bass department. And there mustn't be any jiggery-pokery past the 5th fret either! As for that jazz, it's only weirdos in polo necks that like it.

Keys? Sax? Noseflute?

We had a rehearsal today which our guitarist couldn't make... So we went ahead anyway. And bizarrely, it sounded great with 2 basses, drums and vox! All was tighter, no widdling between songs and spending ages getting "The Sound". Any other bands with just 2 basses and no guitar? Hmmm...

Here's the thang wot I done! I felt the pic needed summery discofunk with a housey piano and lots of funky clav. So instead I did this experimental piece based on Derek Bailey and Steve Lacey's freejazz improv classic, Company 4. It features a vocal sample wot I found on the net, plus me through a vocoder plug-in. And me on bass, and me on lots of different keyboard sounds mainly from Iris 2 and BassStation. Drums mostly by EZ, with fills programmed by me. All has been varnished and glittered with Ozone 9...

Crazy shee-it!

Mine worked for many years using Lumley valve monoblocks, a Rotel integrated, a Radford and a beast of a Bryston with nary a shower of sparks between 'em!

I ran a pseudo surround set up for years in my hifi, called a Hafler Circuit. In effect it puts a difference between left and right channels signal into a pair of rear speakers. It gives a surround experience for any stereo recording, though some were more successful than others! But it doesn't have to be a surround recording... You wire your front speakers as normal. Then you put a 2nd set behind you listening position - if they're more sensitive than the fronts you'll get more from them, they also do't need to go very low as bass is less directional. You get a single bit of wire from amp R+ to 1st speaker R+, then from speaker R- to other speaker L-, then from R+ back to amp L+.

Biggest gig so far for us, Rebellion!

I've got p-lenty of that - often produced for the BC monthly compo compo, though unfortunately I'm yet to score a nul points And a jazz-classical crossover attempt at the Christmas number 1...

This is my other band... Formed nearly 40 years ago with no actual success apart from playing with Mikey Dread at the Warehouse in Leeds back in 1985. However, the drummer went off to form the Utah Saints via MDMA, one guitarist went back to the USA and played with the Rollins Band, other guitarist is now with successful Goth band Cassandra Complex (top 10 record in Germany last month) and keyboard player was Jay Rayner! Only little 'ol me had no stardom! This is what we (unsuccessfully!) produced after reforming for drummer's wedding (we're still playing!) - vid shot in my garden and edited by me...

From perhaps 1991... Audio and performance video all recorded live (to DAT and Umatic)in our rehearsal studio, which was a back room in a Harlesden terrace. Our nearest thing to fame was a tour supporting Gaye Bykers on Acid, plus another tour supporting Carter, and 2 headlines at the Marquee...

In our band we have a policy of either above or below the belt buckle, if worn... With sparkley trews like this though it would be rude not to show 'em off!

We always have 2 basses on stage, with 2 amps/cabs and 2 sets of FX. If we only had one of everything what would our 2nd bass player use?

On the occasion of my mother's 70th birthday I thought I'd treat her and take her to Vienna to see something exciting at the Musikverein; she'd never been and was desperate to see the beautiful Golden Hall. As she's a piano teacher I got tickets for Someone Or Other (can't remember who) playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. We'd gone for a 5 night break, and on the 2nd night I discovered a lovely little microbrewery just round the corner from our hotel. We had a number of pints of very fine beer to wash down our schnitzel mit kasspaetzle, and at around 930pm mother got worried I'd lost the tickets. I got them out to show we were sorted when I realised the concert was that night, and would be just about finished... So that was £130 wasted! But in order to make up for my duff calendar-keeping I rushed round to the concert hall in the morning and found they had tickets for that night's performance of a little known Liszt organ work, so we went to that instead, which was nice!