Cat Burrito

My goth duo did an acoustic showcase in Calne, Wiltshire last night. Some really good acts on the bill and we played well, pulling a few in ourselves, in what was effectively new territory for us. A bass free show; I was on mandocello and mandolin.

I'm sure most of us do. That and time. I was branching out and expanding my playing a lot over lockdown, playing different genres to challenge myself but I'm back to focusing on what I like now. Again, probably like most older musicians, I have a range of tastes so I don't find the limitations too constricting. I think if I had spent 35 years listening to one genre it would be more problematic.

They got "Bela Lugosi's Dead" performed on two mandocellos and "She's in Parties" on a bass and a mandocello.... hopefully better than a kick in the eye, so to speak!?! A couple of the locals complain about us "turning the pub into a youth club" - considering Nick and I are both 50yrs old, I am tempted to use that quote promotionally!

Great fun with a welcome return to my local pub. A bad start in that 1) I managed to forget my mic stand and 2) we showed up to two musicians thinking it was open mic night and telling us that we had five songs! Luckily we were able to explain that it was OUR show and they got a booking of their own. Two hours of acoustic gothic tunes, ranging The Cult, The Cure, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and the, un, Monster Mash finale! Oh and a couple of our own, for good measure. We're back there in January.

Divorce 🤯 I went from 30 to just two Squiers! No regrets. Now I am back up to a sizeable but reduced collection. The Squier stage of my life was seriously brilliant and I am not precious about kit these days. I have stuff because I can but I wouldn't be upset to reduce it again.

This Sunday in the Wiltshire village of Aldbourne (as featured in Dr. Who's 1971 The Daemons)

Bought an Octave pedal from Andy. Very decent chap to deal with. Another textbook Basschat transaction.

It's a Hofner long scale Verythin. I bought it new in 2016 and it's been all around Europe and maybe 6 tours of the UK. Probably one of my cheaper but most used basses.

I nearly missed this one - Friday I played at The Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton. It seemed like a lot of effort for such an early slot but I really liked the venue. the three piece has only done a couple of shows this year (singer moved away) but three days of spending my evenings playing along with a Spotify playlist and I think we were as prepared as we could be. I had a few issues with the effort vs reward of this show but always good to catch up with old friends.

Our latest collaboration with Haunting The Atom is a 3 minute gothic synthpop tribute to the Velvet Underground. That album was massive to us back in Sixth Form (admittedly 20yrs after it was released) so we filmed a homage to the days of growing up, our teenage years in Marlborough, Wiltshire. Records cost a fiver and life was simple. It's not a single, it was one of two covers we did on our record but as always, I had fun, surrounding myself with friends I have known for 30yrs+. It's a Bass VI line btw and I tried to play it close to the original, as nothing else is on that recording! Ironic that the first cover we've filmed is actually the most personal video. The opening shot is outside where we first rehearsed back in the 80s and every location has meaning. Hopefully a few of you will like the music or the visuals. Worth watching until the end as my favourite bit is the end scene.

We supported 80s Goth legends Ghost Dance last night at the fantastic Chapter 22 Roots and Records. I've been a fan of GD since Sixth Form and was looking forward to this. The venue is a record shop that also sells plants and I spent the evening of my 50th there. We had the call a couple of weeks ago and jumped at the chance. A beautiful, intimate setting. The soundman was really on it. The venue made us feel most welcome and even presented us with a Black Succulent afterwards and everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Our set was pretty slick - it didn't feel it at the time but watching back footage afterwards, we were really on it! A near perfect night. I rock the mic like a vandal! Our band with Ghost Dance and the promoters. I might be the first person to post on this thread to get a plant as a bonus for playing!

It's been an amazing 7 days for my little gothic duo Deadlight Dance. The album came out a week ago and we had some surprise radio play in France ("un groupe darkwave d'Angleterre" - or as my partner rechristened us - "The Sisters of Merci" 😂 We have our biggest show to date tomorrow so decided to venture down to the open mic night. Armed with two massive effects pedal boards and two mandocellos, we seem to be accepted by the locals like the strange teenage kid of the friends who is going through a phase. Nick's vocal is so strong that people can't help but watch us - I am not convinced that means they are all liking it but we certainly seem able to captivate. That appeals to my punk rock spirit. We recently opened with Joy Division's New Dawn Fades which kinda bombed recently in a rival village pub. The decision at the time was we shouldn't open with it again - a couple of weeks had passed and we totally ignored our own advice to much more success! We then did our current single "Infectious" where audience members were shouting about Spotify and YouTube - "our Bentley is outside" I replied! Finally ending on The Cult's Revolution, it was just a very brief but fun outing. My one grumble about open mic is the musicians who arrive late, expecting to play and those who play early and disappear. I'll add those who outstay their welcome onstage. I appreciate that people have busy lives and there can be legitimate reasons for having to go but some people here are posting on their own social media about friends not supporting local venues and then not really walking the talk. Minor rant.

I keep the old cuttings from the big magazines (Melody Maker, Kerrang!, The Big Issue, Making Music etc) but all the old flyers / posters are long gone. I have framed all my old CDs that I played on and they are above my stereo. Bizarrely I do have a few fanzines from the early to mid 90s but maybe 10% of what we appeared in.

Having only owned it for a couple of weeks, I did my first gig on the mandocello! As part of Swindon Shuffle, we played The Beehive in Swindon. I wasn't sure if our brand of original acoustic gothic songs would be played to an audience of nobody or people wouldn't get us but against all odds we won loads of people over. We even sold a CD which opening for a 5 band bill of original acts in a backstreet Swindon pub was never on the cards!

The paradox of goth was always you had to deny being a goth to be a goth etc. So I never know how to answer this! We did a radio interview this week and discussed humour and goth music. I think there is loads in the early stuff (Eldritch singing "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme a man after midnight" etc) but ultimately the scene started to take itself a little bit too seriously. I like a bit of humour in everything I do, often intentionally so!

I have social media predominately to promote music. I wouldn't say it's misleading but a lot of friends have asked if I quit the day job so it must be unintentionally misleading. I'd say my content is 90% music, usually upbeat and with a bit of (often self-mocking) humour. I offset this with the occasional family post. Facebook is the only one with that slither of personal stuff. I use FB to keep up with friends as well, Twitter to view humorous takes on current affairs too and Instagram purely for music. If people want to know about any negativity, ask me face to face. I don't do "U OK Hun?". I am painfully aware that my upbeat muso stuff makes me look like I live my best life when the reality is that my life is just as mundane as everyone else's.

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!

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.

I have three coming up as our album comes out of Friday; Sat 16th September SWINDON (Shuffle) Beehive (onstage 7.15pm) Thurs 21st September MILDENHALL Horseshoe Sat 23rd September BATH Chapter 22 (supporting Ghost Dance) I'm chuffed about Ghost Dance as I liked them at school.

I'll add my name to the "sometimes gets recognised" list that a few of you are on. When I met my missus again (we were at school together in the 80s), we went on a mini break down to the coast and I was stopped for being the bassist of the band I was in at that time. We'd not been together long and she was really impressed. I was recently having coffee with my Dad and I was approached again. I like it because it's not a regular inconvenience and when it does happen, it gives the day a bit of a lift. Admittedly it is rare that they know my name but it's fun.

As an up and coming musician for 35 years now, I fail to understand the question!?! Seriously though, I hit 25 in the late 90s, realised I'd done three bands that hadn't quite gotten as far as I hoped and then at 26 got married. I decided shortly after that, that I needed to grow up (I'd ran the three bands so wasn't far down the career ladder / mortgage route, compared to friends). I had a forced halt on music for 4 years to try and catch up, but missed playing. I now feel that the pressure is off, I have enjoyed the last 20 years more than ever. My father was pro in the 60s, playing music he hated which ultimately made him quit music permanently. I've never been full time but have always played music that I am passionate about. So, in many respects, I feel I have had the most success.

I just think gear manufacturers need to stop looking at sales when giving endorsements and adopt a 2023 approach of "the band isn't particularly big but I see that the bass player posts a lot of Basschat"!

Not very of the time but in 1985 I was 12 and often found myself stuck upstairs in the houses of my parents' friends and their slightly older children, who would play with stuff by The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. The parents were teachers and would be partying downstairs. I'm afraid my "walkman" would have been a Matsui. And my 7" Gatefold single of The Cult's "Rain" would have been blasting out of a mono dansette, but I've gone slightly off tangent there.

I believe £20 - £40 but it all goes wrong with the more specialist instruments. My Bass VI was about £60 and the upright £140. Most I have seen upright bass strings for sale for is an eye watering £600.

Bass is my main instrument but I've played mandolin since 2005. Although tuned down from that, it's similar. It took me 30 years to fully appreciate the old cliche that the trick to everything is to practice. I get the occasional brain fog but if I have practiced the part, it's not an issue. I believe it's 24 - 7/8ths. Although that's noticeably shorter than a bass, it's also noticeably longer than my mandolin so it's not really an issue.