3/28/2010

THE REEL THING



So, a pure sublime return gig @ The Albert on Saturday. Thanks to Kev, Deb, Stu Cakes and This Mono Galaxy for all their support.

I wasn't sure about the idea of playing as a trio. But we did it, and it worked.

I was fully prepared to call it a day if it didn't go to plan. With this in mind we felt it was important to go back to basics, and so we played the whole set as a three-piece with no guest vocalists or musicians. Just guitar, bass, a bit of baritone guitar on a couple of songs, DJ Ruse on electrickery and fx.

I think that's the first time in over a year that we've played Brighton without a guest singer for us (me!) to hide behind. I love to sing but I'm not into the idea of being The Singer. I managed to reign in my tendency towards ludicrous volume and the whole thing was way more consistent. It felt to all of us that we were playing in sympathy with one another.

And it was effortless frankly. No hassles, no complications. General consensus was that's the best we've sounded in a long time.

Let's just say that the last time we played Brighton was utter, utter chaos and confusion. Lack of sleep, money issues, no time to eat, sexual tensions and chemical abuse left some of us in no fit state to perform. So this was a case of make or break.

We played a version of Don't Eat the Sweets with a longer, free-form intro, followed by High Tide, Sumni, and a fresh version of Now You Know, which is now called Now You Know You Know. ;^)

The set was much more representative of the way we want to sound than before. With songs like You're The One Who Started It there was often a tendency to sound a bit too rock. We've now got a set which has all the right ingredients - the bass, the beats, the drones and the right kind of guitar (fucked up / white noise / reverse-reverb / fuzz-wah strangled and tamed).

A brief look at the photographic evidence = me looking as pale as an ice-berg and as thin as a rain, the boys having a jolly ol' time going with the flow. And no fits of giggles this time. Hopefully we'll get some more snaps up once they've been cleared by MsDee.

Well. I guess we still have a few tricks up our sleeves.

The Mekano Set

3/12/2010

NAKED

Well the gigs are certainly coming thick and fast lately. We're doing three things this week...

Details coming up next but also, there is a new newsletter on the way so drop us an email if you would like a copy.


Starting with Wednesday 24th March: I'll be conjuring up Train of Thought with Jo Staples @ The Cowley Club in Brighton for the Club Zygotic experimental / noise / dark ambulant evening. www.cowleyclub.org.uk

On Friday 26th The Meks are going to be DJ'ing @ Instant Mash @ The Cowley Club. All proceeds go to getting the infamous bar / cafe / meeting place a new sound system. Expect a fine blend of pop, post-punk, found sounds, location recordings, sex noises, one hit wonders and vintage TV theme-tunes!

Then we're reassembling for hair of the dog @ The Prince Albert for another Sweetbox Saturday Matinée! Marvyloose medicine from 2pm onwards.



---

What else... Mmmm... well I've been quite sociable lately. But I'm a seriously solitary person at heart. I like my space. I've always been like that. I think I've got maybe four people I'm friends with that I'm really close to and really respect. That's partly to blame for the fact that this has never been a conventional band (I'm just not willing to schmooze and if I meet someone that can help me out, I'll go out of my way to avoid them out of some warped sense of honour). The other reason being that what we do is too unconventional / not unconventional enough.

Anyway, hoping for a quiet weekend off / indoors, I ended up at Club Zygotic on Saturday staring at the combination of two posters I'd never seen before, side by side...







Having spent the last few weeks obsessing over new songs Now You Know and High Tide I've been having a break, just listening to music and getting out and about to see some bands. Met up with Nigel who's currently living in New Cross of all places.

Going through a serious Comsat Angels / Magazine phase at the moment. Still loads of nourishment to be had from Punk / Post Punk. Still a bit dazed when people think punk is nothing more than The Clash or Greenday.


"I will think of you, when I'm tired and out of it, when my bones ache, when you're fucked and falling down."

"I'm not overly fond of the use of popular song as soapbox. I tend to think that it undermines the innate power that music has to dig deep into the subconscious." David Sylvian interview @ http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=35231&pg=4

Sudden flashbacks to last weekend. Meeting the Alpha Women... Like a Masonic initiate. Or should that me Matrionic? And I met Zara! Even though I was too pissed to converse. Smirks.

Milk
xxx


The Mekano Set

3/07/2010

A BEAUTIFUL BLUR



I love how I get over-emotional when I haven't slept in days. Makes me feel almost human.

Anyway, hello. I'm back from a wonderful blur of a weekend in London. Brave Exhibitions on Friday was a very very good thing. Really eclectic music and acts, really good crowd. Nice to hang out with Sara again and even Alice turned up (and fell asleep).



Our first gig in a while as a trio. We basically just set up and got on with it. No hassles apart from the weird monitors making everything sound really warped (not just my imagination). No hassles though. Lee and DJ Ruse decided to head back to Brighton from Finsbury Park, at 4 am Saturday morning. Hopefully they made it back in one piece, well two pieces.



Two hours sleep then I was off to Brixton market (which is a feast for the eyes!) to meet Jo Staples (Beatnik Soup) and do our live soundtrack thing in ARTINAVAN's 'tiny cinema / artspace'.














That was great fun. Then off to the pub with Nigel. NIGEL!!!!! The man responsible for the crazed 'what the hell is that sound' melody on Reel to Real. Great to catch up with the boy and hopefully we'll get him down for a session soon.




Then off to Wrapped in Plastic @ Dublin Castle with MsDee, Sara and the Alpha Females.

Right, not time for a nap. Entirely at the mercy of whatever song comes up on random play in iTunes.




Milk
xxx

The Mekano Set

3/03/2010

TRAIN

It's going to be a busy weekend. We've got the Brave Exhibitions gig on Friday night @ The George Tavern in London. We're on about 10.00 pm. Really looking forward to it as our mate Sara Proxy will be DJ'ing before and after our set. Groovy. www.myspace.com/braveexhibitions

05 Mar 2010, 20:15 - BRAVE EXHIBITIONS CHARITY EVENT
The George Tavern, Commercial Road, London, E1 0LA
Brave Exhibitions Night @ The George Tavern for AIDS Research 20.10 - 03.00 am !




I'll also be performing with Abstinence & Sensibility on Saturday. We'll be doing Train of Thought (visuals and live soundtrack) at 13.00 and 15.00. Entrance is free and there will be free popcorn. www.artinavan.co.uk

Saturday 06 Mar 2010, 13:00 + 15.00 - ARTINAVAN
72, 4th Ave. Brixton Village Market, Brixton, London




Then we're off to see Wrapped in Plastic @ Dublin Castle: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=498639300576




Phew.

Milk
xxx