I'm In Captain Dangerous

Recent shit...

2011-12-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

My name is Adam Clarkson and I play in a pop band called Captain Dangerous. As well as the standard guitars, drums, and bass we also have a violin player. Sometimes we add cello and viola players and we’ve been known to play ukuleles and occasionally a French horn. We specialise in pop songs with big arrangements. A famous man once described us as “Brit Pomp”

This is my brief run down of the last 12 months and what we’ve been up to.

Adam

The year began with a New Years Eve show at Camden Proud in London. This came about after we’d played an opening slot on a Thursday night earlier in 2010 and the big boss who’d seen us play instantaneously asked us to top the bill at their New Years Eve event. Who are we to turn down a show at a very cool and trendy Camden nightclub? We jumped at the chance, and it was a success. In fact it led to a residency at the venue later in the year. Good start to the year then.

Just before Christmas we’d signed a deal with I’m Not From London records in Nottingham and agreed to release a single “Forgive us we’re British” through them in July 2011. As a result we spent the rest of January and February finishing off the aforementioned single in preparation for the 3 month press campaign that was to follow. The single itself was self produced and actually recorded in Miles house although I would call it more of a Chateaux than a house. Picture a grand haunted looking mansion but instead of the Loire Valley plonk it in a village near Southwell and reduce the size by 2 thirds. Anyway my point is it’s big enough to set up a studio and do a proper job. Recording went very smoothly which is rare for us.

With everything in place the “Forgive we’re British” campaign was launched within in the same week in April with shows in Nottingham and London. The next 3 months was spent doing loads of press and playing lots of shows. Reviews wise the response was overwhelmingly positive with a large amount of national publications championing us including our first appearance in Music Week which gave us a very encouraging recommendation. I spent a lot of time doing interviews during this time and I felt the press interest was a blessing because I could finally explain what the point of my band is and talk about themes, my own politics and my outlook on the world. I think it’s important that people know where I’m coming from when I write.

At some stage in this period I made my first and last inroad into the world of promoting by unifying forces with Mr Alex Hale to bring the Wave Pictures to Nottingham and putting them on at the Chameleon. Support unsurprisingly came from Captain Dangerous. Although the concert sold out and the Wave Pictures were phenomenal I think the stress of promoting is not something I fancy experiencing again in a hurry. Big Red Bear Concerts existed for one night only and is now hibernating for eternity somewhere in a cave in Nottingham city centre. The experience of promoting left me with a new found respect for anyone who does it and also a feeling that they must be a bit mental.

Following the release of the single something a bit odd started. The B-Side of “Forgive us we’re British” “Everything Beautiful Reminds me of you” started being used on TV a lot.

The first time I heard us on TV was on Channel Five during an advert for Greys Anatomy. I don’t care what anyone says hearing yourself on TV for the first time feels great and also gives you a quick reference point to talk about when “more successful” family members ask you annoying questions about your band at weddings. Following that initial bit of syncing we popped up on Hollyoaks this time bizarrely in a scene in which an obese teenager enters fat camp and is teased by his mate for being a virgin. You can imagine the conversations being had in the edit suit:

Editor: “Oi Ron…got any fat virgin teasing music?”

Sound Designer: “You know what Colin I have just the song”

Over the next few months this kind of thing continued to occur loads and mainly on “youth” dramas. At this point I’ll say a few words to those of you who might have the words “Selling” and “Out” on the tip of your lips. So here goes.

Television syncing works in such a way that if your music is published then your permission isn’t automatically needed for your work to be used on any of the mainstream channels. This is due to the blanket agreement between the big channels and the PRS. The result is you don’t necessarily get informed if a sync has occurred and you don’t have much control over it. So before all the Anti-Flag fans start crying into their keyboards and shouting “corporate whore” at their vegan decaf lattes please remember that the same thing could happen to your favourite bands music too. In the old days this sort of thing may be considered selling out, but readers, when did you last stream, burn or download a track rather than buy a cd? You’re not alone! Most bands end up giving away the cd’s they’ve spent money producing and because of this, many labels big and small are folding as we speak. Sync deals are one of the very few revenue streams left to pay musicians and bands a wage.

I personally welcome the exposure and think it’s cool to have my bands music taking on a life of its own. “Selling” and “Out” to me are words used by men in their 30’s who wear shorts in the winter time, and ride around on tiny bicycles. In my case I can say it was more a case of “Oh…what a nice surprise it is to be on the telly”

Things continued to progress and around August we were approached by a rival publisher to the one we were working with and ended up signing a licensing a agreement with Lime Pictures for the use of the same song on their new channel 4 programme “Fresh Meat” the song was used in episode 6 and following the success of the show the DVD of the first series is on sale world wide featuring the music of Captain Dangerous.

The bizarre TV buzz around the track continued a month or so later when the song was picked up by ITV and used on advert for a string of Brazil football internationals.

Strange how things go.

So…back to gigs. My favourite show this year was probably our show in April at the Rescue Rooms. This was our biggest hometown headline show to date and was very very close to selling out. I think 30 tickets shy if I’m correct. We played as a 12 piece that night, and there was a feeling satisfaction I’d not felt before.

More highlights include securing a Friday night headline residency at Proud Camden which we’ve just finished and “Merrow Song” being chosen as a desert island disc by a writer I really admire. Both of those things were really cool. Oh and festival season this year was fun in parts but mainly shambolic and mainly my fault. Next festival season will be much more polished I promise.

Onto recording…On top of the single, it’s launch and it’s campaign we also recorded a live acoustic album Live at JT Soars with Phil Booth which we promoted by busking throughout the UK and we are half way through album sessions proper with Andy Wright at First Love studios. The album will be out in June 2012 and a tour is currently being put together in support of it which we’re due to announce in January. Most of the dates are confirmed already but we’re going to announce them all in one go. One small bit of news that I will give away is a show at the Union Chapel in June which I’m insanely excited about. I’ve wanted to play there for a very long time.

Overall 2011 has been a strange and busy year. We’ve played a lot of gigs, done a lot of press, had our music used on TV a lot, and recorded close to 1 and a half albums. It’s certainly been a hive of activity. On a personal note I’ve really enjoyed being in a band in Nottingham for the first time since I moved here 5 years ago. Attitudes between bands are just a lot friendlier and there seems to be a real sense of people willing each other on to succeed.

We’ll be seeing in 2012 this year by playing at the Maze alongside label mates Baby Godzilla who are Matt a handsome bearded Rumplestiltskin lookalike, Tom who looks like a young Jimmy Nail and still uses words such as “Rad” Johnny a truck driver from Beeston and Paul a man who looks a bit like an English Tommy Dreamer (Google it). They play ferocious screaming music that’s really good and they’re our friends. Furthermore Hot Japanese Girl are playing who are Ali, Dave, and Jay they also label mate and friends. They have amazing riffs and sound a bit like Clutch if Clutch were English punks living in Seattle in the 90’s. They’re great. Also playing are Maniere Des Bohemiens who are our very own violin superstar Rob Rosas band. They are the best gypsy swing band I’ve ever heard.

It’s going to be fun times all round.

I feel ambitious about 2012 and I hope the momentum we’ve created over the last 12 months continues.

Here’s to the next year!

You all smell of British

2011-07-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon...

It's been a rather busy few months in the Captain Dangerous camp and I thought I’d bring everyone up to speed.

We've been doing absolutely loads of interviews in the press for the single "Forgive us we're British" and it has been received amazingly well. We were also really pleased to be featured in Music Week recently too.

We now have a brand new agent in the shape Jody Rothera who we're very happy to be working with her and as a result we have load of new dates booked. Jody previously worked for Popworld, Mean Fiddler and Barfly. We're also about to book studio time to record out debut album proper due out March 2012. In the interim period we will be releasing a very very limited edition acoustic album online and on strictly limited edition CD. It's being mixed as we speak so watch this space.

Below are a few of the reviews we recently got in the good old UK press about the single.

Music Week – The Panel Captain Dangerous – Forgive Us We’re British

Britpomp, anyone? Hailing from Nottingham via 1843 – if the sleeve artwork is anything to go by anyway – Captain Dangerous capture a proud strain of Britishness from blasts of war-time brass belligerence to the melodic clout of 21^st Century alt.pop. Onstage they cut a smart, besuited figure and on record they exude a suitable intelligence, as this seemingly simple love song hints at lines drawn between modern invasion and the barbarism of the Empire: “Our leaders kill children in foreign lands… It’s all about power/The state, it disgusts me… the empire continues”. Dangerous? Let’s hope so.

MARK BEAUMONT

http://entertainment-focus.com/music/articles/captain-dangerous-forgive-us-were-british

http://www.thisisnotascene.com/2011/captain-dangerous-forgive-us-were-british/

http://www.rhythm-and-booze.co.uk/?p=2347

http://www.withguitars.com/single-roundup-2/

http://www.whisperinandhollerin.com/reviews/review.asp?id=8142

http://www.shout4music.com/single-reviews/captain-dangerous-forgive-us-were-british/

Below are a few features. There's a lot more if you Google:

http://www.rhythm-and-booze.co.uk/?p=2283

http://www.misformusic.com/index.php/2011/06/captain-dangerous-interview/

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/features/article.php?contentID=25173

And new live shows!

We've just announced a new headlining residency at Proud Camden plus a lot more dates for the rest of the year including a performance at Headstock Festival where we will be performing along side Echo and the Bunnymen and Tunng.

See below...

July 30th - Nottingham Pride Festival

August 5th - Jam Cafe Nottingham (Adam solo show)

August 20th - Waterfront Festival Nottingham

August 28th - Gatecrasher Nottingham

September 4th - Macmillan Festival

September 10th - Headstock Festival

October 7th - Proud Camden London (Residency)

November 11th - Proud Camden London (Residency)

December 2nd - Proud Camden London (Residency)

So that's what's been going for the last few months...

This is the link to the last video...

http://vimeo.com/25957402

Thought I’d wait and write all this in one go rather than speculating.

Thanks yo,

Adx

Grown men dressed as children on push bikes

2011-05-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Bloody hell nearly 3 months of radio silence...i'm back.

I'm not sure if this is all over the country or just in Nottingham but what the fuck is going on with grown men dressed as children riding push bikes? It's so bloody weird. I just don't get it.

I suggest you all keep an eye out and make a note of how many you see per day in similar vein to community service crims counting traffic or geography degree students doing another pointless survey of how many catalytic converters they can spot as research into their pointless dissertation on climate change that no one will read before they get a low paid "work experience" position as a dogs body for a researcher at a university in the hope that doors will open which inevitably they won't before settling into a job as an admin assistant in an office of a power company with an attitude of "I’m better than you losers" before finally and fundamentally giving in and becoming a geography teacher. So yeah similar to that.

I think a survey on how many grown men dressed as children on push bikes is a much more interesting survey than that undertaken by wide eyed geography undergraduates.
More fun is the game I’ve devised.
You score points depending on what type of grown man dressed as child on a push bike you happen to spot.

Firstly a grown man dressed as a child bit is basically a man dressed in a sports tracksuit, similar to what a child would get for Christmas from his parents that he's not allowed to go to football training in because it "would get ruined" normally an Umbro, a Reebok or an adidas. I for one had a Scotland "leisure tracksuit" which was Umbro (standard) as a child (despite not being from Scotland) that I wasn't allowed to wear to football training. Instead the tracksuit was used as an almost ball gown like piece of clothing that was only wheeled out for special occasions such as Christmas, Friends birthday parties, and general showing off. God forbid it ever being used for its actual purpose of sport.

The game is one of spotting and point winning. It should last an hour whilst walking round an English city and there should be a point keeper.

The criteria is as follows:

Man dressed as child on a push bike - 1 point
Man dressed as child on a push bike with a girl walking by his side - 2 points
Man dressed as child on a push bike with a jumper over the top of his tracksuit - 2 points
Man dressed as child on a push bike with a spliff on the go - 3 points
Man dressed as child on a push bike swearing loudly down his phone (the phrase "oh my days also counts) - 3 points
Man dressed as child on a push bike talking loudly down his phone in some sort of muddled patwa (words such as "bumbaclat or razclat) - 4 points
Man dressed as child - Having an argument with another man dressed as a child on a push bike by his side - 5 points.

That's the rules but like scrabble the best scores are the combination scores.
For example a man dressed as a child on a push bike with a girl walking by his side, with a spliff on the go, swearing down his phone in muddled patwa whilst arguing with another man dressed as a child on a push bike by his side would score you a whopping 14 points.

So there you go. Fuck Angry Birds.

Well Captain Dangerous stuff...I haven't bothered updating for a while because i decided to wait until I had some proper information. I.e. Facts. I'm tired of smoke up my arse so here are some actual facts...
Single is out July 4th... video is almost finished, we're headlining Proud Camden on July 8th, and been doing loads of interviews. We're recording the follow up single on July 3rd.

More live shows announced soon...enjoy the game.

RIP Macho Man

adx

2011-03-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...

TICKETS FOR THE RESCUE ROOMS SHOW ARE AVAILABLE BELOW ONLY £3!!!

APRIL 1ST 2011. CAPTAIN DANGEROUS LIVE AT THE RESCUE ROOMS NOTTINGHAM

SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY. ADVANCED CD SINGLES AVAILABLE WAY BEFORE RELEASE!!

FORGIVE US WE'RE BRITISH!!

http://www.seetickets.com/Event/CAPTAIN-DANGEROUS/Rescue-Rooms/538121

The Vortex

2011-02-24T08:52:00.001-08:00

I've had very mixed 7days. It all started last Thursday where me and the other fellow cast members of the ongoing saga of disappointment, joy, disappointment, joy, elation...is.. it... about... to...no...it hasn't...repeat etc headed down to Hotel Deux in Sherwood which is actually across the road from my home to play some songs. I have a mixed relationship with the place. I think the owner is a lovely man but I’ve also made a plonker of myself a few times in there. It's the sort of place that is mostly filled with (and not saying they are not talented) ageing blues men. You can picture them, a bit over weight, dark jeans, dark blazer, white or denim shirt, no tie, loud socks, goatee, good at chess, read Kerouac. The type who play 12 bar blues on very very expensive acoustic guitars, drink red wine, and tell stories of how they once got drunk with Model T Ford in a bar in Kentucky when they opened for Robert Plant i.e the guys who didn't quite make it but had a small measure of success. The sort of guys who hate people like me and don't tolerate any sort of antics fucking with their equilibrium. The guys who I will no doubt turn into expect I’ll be banging on out Blur songs and talking about the time when Mark shat in Carl Barats urinal and how brilliant Helen Love were. I basically felt out of my comfort zone playing there. I once did an open mic night and I was told i was shit so you can see where I’m coming from.
Anyway in a shocking turn of dramatic phrase i had my mind changed on Thursday night and really enjoyed myself, the fellow musicians and the vibe of the night. I think our show (at least in my head) sustained some sort of rebalance between me and the bar. I'll happily go in there now and enjoy a drink without the baggage of what came before. I think it was a good challenge to play in that environment and people were actually dancing which is something i've never seen in there before. It was a good show and I’d play there again if asked.

Friday was a wonderful day. I met my good friend Sam who was visiting from London and we talked, drank and played table football all afternoon. The evening was spent at home continuing the festivities until the early hours. The mistake came on Saturday when we decided to go straight to the pub at lunch time. By the time Sunday came I was a hollow shell of a man and did the clichéd paranoid soul searching of a broken person and vowed never to drink again, messaged my friends in a hysterical panic thinking the world, his dog, and all their friends hated me more than i hate the guy who made the website about me. I felt like i was about to be tied up and beaten into a small ball and kicked around like a slow seeping pigs bladder on it's way to footballing purgatory. I was a Nii Lamptey only instead of dreams of being the next George Weah my memories were off whooping, falling over, insulting a man, being chased by a taxi driver, being too honest with my words and being kicked out of pub. These stories of excess if written by Charles Baudelaire they would be seen as a romantic account of decadence, when written by me it’s much more Baz the skinhead poet, even worse it’s Boozed up Britain: The needle in the side of the NHS.
In reality there’s no poetry in being pissed. There’s just being pissed. Being pissed is something that people do because they like it. Just the same as I like eating mackerel. There’s no difference in my eyes if Baudelaire had named his famous poem Get Drunk, Eat Mackeral or Do something that you like. So there.

Monday was spent feeling mentally rubbish, Tuesday feeling slightly better, Wednesday pretty good, and today pretty good.
I’m playing a solo show next Thursday at the Golden Fleece in Nottingham. This will involve me singing songs from the musical I’m writing, and playing the piano. I will also play some Captain Dangerous songs on a guitar and one on a Piano. My stage name is Red Bear. It’s like a clever bit of word play about the colour of my hair. Oh how I laugh.

adx

Fish that eat shit off fat peoples feet.

2011-02-09T12:25:00.001-08:00

Phew...hectic weekend indeed.

The weekend just gone we got back into the swing of playing live again and it felt good.

It’s funny how my fitness suffers the minute I have a break from playing and how quick it comes back. I felt wrecked after Fridays show but by Saturdays show I felt back to normal and by Sunday I’d lost half a stone.

It's the best exercise you can do.

I think the government should face the obesity dilemma in the UK by forcing all the fat people to start bands. The Victoria centre in Nottingham would no longer be full of fat shits all day. Plus the revolting "let fish eat the shit off your feet" shop would be penniless because the oily fat fucker nipping in for a Tuesday afternoon treat market would be obliterated as they’d all be at band practice.

You can imagine the telephone conversation now:

"Kim mae ducky, you still up for the usual Tuesday afternoon treat?"
"Nah sorry Shaniqua babe I’ve got band practice"

So Friday was our first gig of 2011 and took place at London’s Proud Galleries in Camden We seem to have a good relationship with the agent there as they keep asking us back for more gigs. This was our first proper headline show at Proud and was really really busy. We were slightly plagued by technical problems, my guitar amp decided to gate at a certain volume which may or may not have been the fault of the support band I’d lent it to or might just have been one of those unfortunate things. Either way it was sorted out by song 3 in the set and we continued on our merry way. This was the most excited and fluttery I’d felt for ages before going on stage as we were standing waiting to go on looking at 500 odd people in the audience and a stage bathed in smoke and blue lights. We played Everything Beautiful first and even slipped in Merrow song. I enjoyed the gig and the audience were very appreciative.

We like Proud.
We'll be back there for a single launch gig on April 8th this year.

After loading out through possibly the most hectic club on earth we headed back to Nottingham and some rest. I always enjoy a little day out to Camden town.

After the high pressure of our biggest London headline show yet Saturdays show was a totally different gig and the first time we'd played a secret show in Nottingham. The gigs location shall remain a secret but those of you who attended will remember what a great party it was...very D.I.Y.

A huge piece of string led the audience to the gig. Beginning on the outskirts of town it quickly took a turn around a corner, down a road, up some stairs, round another corner, into an old factory, up some stairs, down a corridor, into a room with a sound system, and then into a homemade bar that sold nothing but pints of lager and balloons of nitrous oxide at very reasonable prices.

Inside the bar was a stage of audience height and on that stage later in the evening 5 bands performed to a blissful crowd.

Each band that played were really great and the atmosphere was pretty electric.
Granted the sound wasn't great but I the vibe made up for it. I loved playing this one.

First up were Devils Tongue who were heavy as fuck and sounded like Kyuss shagging Clutch, then followed Boduke, followed by label mates Hot Japanese girl (always brilliant) us and the again label mates Baby Godzilla who were also great. It was immense to play a gig where all the bands really got on together and made an effort to do so. It was a brilliant underground party!

I spent the rest of Saturday night drinking red wine with Dick Venom and Jenni. Sunday I watched the Torres debut for Liverpool he was turd.
One thing I can now 100% now confirm is our Single launch gig at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms. This is our biggest headline slot in Nottingham yet. I'm excited and support will come from Will Jeffrey and Dick Venom and the Terrortones. Even better is we've kept the tickets as cheap as we possibly can at only £3 plus booking fee. If you show your advance ticket on the door you get a free CD single. If you buy a ticket on the door the cost is £5 but you'll also receive a CD. This all goes off on April 1st and will be the first date of our April tour which will eventually take us as far as Amsterdam. Full details of the whole tour are coming very soon.

That's pretty much it at the moment. I want a new guitar, and I hate the dirty fish eating shit off your feet shop but I’m fairly content now it seems I’ll be busy again over the coming months. It's needed to keep me sane.

Bye for now and please get your Rescue Room tickets ASAP we want this one to sell out!

adx

Forgive us we're a call centre of music

2011-01-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

The Prison Diaries of Donny Osmond

1/ Today is the first day I finally concluded I’m not getting out until I’ve served my time. 14 months, and a week. 433 long hard lonely days to be precise. Must keep focused, and look forward, forget the past. Today i am just another cog in someone else’s machine, another maggot ensnared in the system. Home for me is now Big Tiger aka Bankwang Jail, Bangkok, Thailand, South East Asia. The old Donny is dead.
Nobody cares who I am here. Just another foreigner, an American abroad, a yank unwanted in a place for the unwanted, an Mormon American yank unwanted in a place for the unwanted in a country that don't want me. Every morning they swarm looking for weakness like vultures waiting for their victim to give in. I won't give in. This is me now. Must focus, must stay strong. Must get my prison face on.

2/ They say the first weeks are the toughest and after that if you survive the madness, and violence aimed at a new foreign inmate you kind of become part of the furniture. I know the inmates are coming for me and I’ll be ready. Must fight, must be strong. I am Donny Osmond.
I am a winner. Today I started lifting weights fashioned from books stuffed into my pillow case and I could feel a little strength returning. You see I’ve always kept in shape during all the years of touring. It was drummed into me. My manager used to tell me “Tan and tone Donny, Tan and tone” “You’re not getting any younger Donny and you have to compete with the young ones coming through”
Those words were hard at the time but now I’m glad I listened.

3/ Today I got a cell mate. His name is Chaa a rapist from Chiang Mai. He speaks a little bit of English and claims he was set up by his sister over a family debt. But as the old saying goes everyone is innocent in the big house.

4/ I’m starting to worry if Chaa has been sent by one of the other inmates to find out my crime. My lawyer told that sometimes the older inmates pay off the guards to arrange a younger venerable inmate to share a cell with a foreigner. The information would be passed back to the older inmates and used for ammunition to taunt me. It’s irrelevant anyway as I’m not talking about why I’m here to Chaa or anyone else. The thing that worries me is that I’ve been told in extreme cases foreigners are stabbed as they sleep by their cell mates. The cell mates aren’t paid anything but threatened with death if they don’t do it. I’m sleeping with one eye open. I don’t trust rapists.

5/ Chaa’s behaviour was very bizarre last night. He spent the whole night rocking back and forth on the edge of his bed and whenever I went near him he just gave me a strange longing look. The more I think about the more I believe Chaa will come for me in the night. I have to keep strong and ride out this storm. If Chaa comes I have to be ready. This is not Friday night at the MGM grand this is Jail. I’m no longer the entertainer I once was, I’m no longer loved by millions I am now a parasite. I am prisoner number 56325486.

6/ The most dangerous thing about Bankwang is that of it’s 7000 inmates 900 of those are on death row. That’s 900 people with nothing to lose. The reality of death row in Thailand is that you are told only 2 days before the fateful day. That scares me. I’m still unaware if Chaa is on death row or not. I’m still waiting for an attack. Chaa has said no more than 5 words to me since we became cell mates. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s just plain crazy or just pretending to be plain crazy to unnerve me. Either way it’s working and I feel something is going to happen. I’m probably physically tougher than than Chaa but it’s a shank that worries me.

7/ I got a visit from my brief yesterday and all my final hopes of an appeal have been finished off. They authorities wanted to make an example of me as they do with most Americans who find themselves in the belly of this beast. They call Bankwang “big tiger” because it is a man eater. Some say it has a personality of its own and that personality is as close to the devil as I’ve met so far in my life. We are woken just after sunrise around 5am but that’s only a guess. There are no clocks here. Then it’s downstairs to the dining hall where I sit alone sucking up the dirty looks from the yabaa heads that mostly congregate by the far end of the hall looking painfully thin and desperate with a violent look in their eyes. Yabaa is a potent mix of Methamphetamines and caffeine which causes madness, and worse violent outbursts.
I try to eat breakfast with consists of mostly oats and water. The bare minimum for survival. I try not to mix too much hoping the gangs will lose interest and accept me as part of the fixtures. I spend the rest of my day reading, trying to forget the past and exercising keeping in shape for when the inevitable attack rears its head. We are allowed showers once a week on a Wednesday. I’m yet to take up the offer and feel it wiser to try and stay out of the way of the general prison population as much as I can.
Sometime in the evening a piece of bread each is slide under our cell door sometimes accompanied by a piece of fruit. Often not. Sunlight is a walk round the yard 30 mins Tuesday, 30 mins Sunday. I try to keep moving realising an attack is most likely in this environment. If you’re lucky you get to deliver books to inmates, work in the laundry or the Kitchens. I’m yet to get those breaks and prefer it that way. Other wise it’s 20 hours lock down per day. This is an average day in Bankwang. This is hell.

8/ Last night it happened. I was reading in my bunk just before lights out and assuming I was asleep Chaa shot out of his bed and went for me with a blade. Luckily my reactions were such that I managed to knock the blade out of his hand jump down out of bed, pin him down and punch him a few times. After I’d managed to get Chaa under control beneath the sink I noticed the shank glistening, I managed to reach over, grab it and throw it through the cell bars and out over the top level. At that point I noticed my hand was bleeding but not enough to warrant a trip to the infirmary.
Chaa sat down put his head in his hands and began to cry, it was then I found out Chaa could speak English all along.
He started whimpering: “I’m sorry Mr Donny, they made me do it. They made me”
The old Donny would have shown compassion but the old Donny has gone now. That little ass hole cock sucker tried to kill me. I did the only thing possible in that situation. I showed no mercy. I hit again this time harder with a right cross. This promoted more tears. I climbed back onto my bunk, lay back the adrenaline still pumping and drifted off to sleep beneath the slow, shallow sounds of a grown man crying in the moonlight.

9/ Despite my better judgement I had a shower this morning. It isn’t something I’d recommend in a hurry or an experience I want to particularly repeat but at least I’m clean. The showers in Bankwang is where most of the business goes down. I’m talking drugs and ass. If you want it you can buy it. Money talks. Those who find themselves addicted to Yabbaa without money trade their bodies for a fix. Some trade their bodies for the money. Junkies with money blow it the minute they get it and then trade their bodies for a fix. Some do it for free because they’re bored. I feel like I have enemies at every gate. Bankwang is a monster.

10/ Chaa has tried to open up to me over the last couple of days explaining that he never had any personal interest in harming me and that he was instructed by one of the main prison gangs to kill me. He explained that the killing of new American inmates in Bankwang is to promote and environment of fear of the gangs. I’m not so sure if he’s trying to find weakness by drawing me in and will potentially try again. Must keep my head. He has also said that he now fears for his own life after some of the older inmates discovered his tried and failed attempt at my life. If they get him they get him. Life may be cheap here but I value my own more than his. Sometimes it’s dog eat dog in the big house and my bark has to be louder than Chaas.

So that was 2010....

2010-12-21T03:04:00.000-08:00

On Friday we found ourselves in a warehouse in Hackney for a Christmas show for the Rock the house festival guys. With heavy snow covering most of London it seemed we were already battling against something before we’d even arrived. The 5 hour journey didn’t really help proceedings and everyone turned up a little disgruntled, drained and hungry. We hoped the gig would explode us back into life but unfortunately it didn’t and that was 100% down to the most incompetent soundman in the history of the globe. I really don’t like to criticise people these days but this guy apparently did not know how to turn things up or down and have a solitary idea about balance. It was either really really really loud or silent. When it was really really loud we were met with an ocean of feedback that has actually caused me to seriously worry that I might have the beginnings of tinnitus. I had a 48 hour ringing in my ears and the ringing was very much the sound that people with tinnitus describe. I’m a little bit worried. After an hour long sound check in which he basically damaged our ear drums we left the stage with monitors that had delay on, and also shot horrible torrents of noise back and forth but with some sort of usable live mix on stage. Things finally seemed ok but we were questioning why this bloke had a job. Playing with us was a band called Hooligan something which was a band fronted by a woman who sang about sex a lot and wore her pants. Their drummer was really fantastic. I think maybe I might wear croutchless boxers and sing about my dick at our next gig. Also there was Mr B who is a parody hip hop guy who dresses like an old English gent, I thought he was ok but the act did wear a bit thin after a couple of songs and I think Prof Elemental does this a million times better. I felt a bit sorry for Mr B who was also dogged by the crap sound man and was onto an uphill battle from the off. He did manage to pull it off which should be commended and seemed like a nice bloke. Comedian Will Hodgeson completed the line up and was great. He was also a nice bloke and told some stories about John Cooper Clarke who I’d seen him open for a few weeks earlier. When it was finally our time to play Will Hodgeson introduced us and passed me the mic. Unfortunately this simple arrangement somehow resulted in a huge wall of feedback blasting us in the face and back out at the audience which is not the best way to start a gig. After an awkward 30 seconds or so the feedback stopped but so did all my vocals both out the front and in my monitors, I spent the entire gig asking the sound guy to turn my vocals up which he ignored. I have no idea how I sang but I was told they were barely audible anyway so it didn’t matter. I hate these situations because if you moan at the soundman you look like a pre Madonna to the audience. After 5 songs I gave up and we did our best. The audience were dancing so it can’t have been that bad.

I felt a bit deflated after this show as we’d be on an upward curve of shows for the last 3 months, each one seeming to get better and each audience being gradually more responsive and bigger. This show felt like a slight slump and it was a shame as the promoters are great people, and were really trying to put something cool together with the line up. Such a shame that an incompetent sound man brought a downer on the whole thing and that he has maybe given me tinnitus. The tinnitus part I’m actually angry about. On the up side I caught up with some old friends who came to the show.

After the gig Mark and I were headed back to our parents for the weekend along with our girlfriends who had already travelled back to the shire and were at Marks girlfriends Sarahs parents place awaiting our arrival. We got back about 2:30 and feeling like a pair of returning world war one soldiers back from the front to see our sweethearts, it was nice. We were greeted by two smiling almost drunk girls and plenty of wine. Our war stories were of useless soundmen, snow and a woman wearing her pants on stage which I think is much better than tales of our friends perishing in the frozen fields of Northern France. On the Saturday i went to my mums house for a Christmas dinner as I’m spending it in Nottingham this year. It was a really good day and I feel relaxed having spent some time at home. My brother, his girlfriend, my mum and my dad were there and it was fun.

The Independent have listed our New Years Eve show as the 3rd best New Years Eve party in London. Not too much pressure there then!!

Also we’ve confirmed new 2011 shows but I want to post them all together once the whole tour is confirmed so I’m holding my horses for now. Updates will come soon.

Finally as it's heading towards the end of the year I should really re-cap or do some sort of lists:

Top 10 things I’ve listened to this year (songs or albums)

1/ If you leave it alone - the wave pictures (song)

2/ We show up on radar - Anchors in my heart (song)

3/ 'Allo Darlin' - 'Allo Darlin' (album)

4/ The Fall - Our future your clutter (album)

5/ The Haunted - Tresspass (song)

6/ Blonde redhead - Misery is a butterfly (album)

7/ Public image LTD - Albatross (song)

8/ Raulo Badding - Paratiisi (song)

9/ The Wave pictures - Instant coffee baby - (song)

10/Darren Hayman - Calling out your name (song)

Favourite gigs I went to:

1/ Los Campesinos! - Y not festival

2/ John Cooper Clarke - The Forum

3/ Silver mount Zion - Rescue Rooms

4/ The Fall - Rock City

5/ We Show up on radar - Spanky van dykes

6/ Mystery Jets - Y not festival

A few cool Captain Dangerous related things:

1/ Obviously Roberto von Rosa joining the band.

2/ The Y not festival for being a brilliant weekend, drinking amaretto with Los Camp, watching Mystery Jets from the side of the stage, playing on the BBC introducing stage, drunkenly painting with Tube lord, not having a shit for 3 days. Going for a slash and then coming back to find my girlfriend getting interviewed by the BBC backstage pretending to be a violin player. Brilliant. Just a shame Mark wasn't there.

3/ Rock the house festival - Despite the ridiculous rain and all of us having drank and smoked all day it was our finest hour performance, atmosphere, and sound wise. The videos are proof.

4/ The Rock City show. First time we played as a fully augmented 10 piece and having Fists and Lisa DeVille in support. Also realising at the last minute before the posters went to print that they read Captain Dangerous fists Lisa De'Ville. We changed it.

5/ 1st and 2nd Proud Galleries gigs in Camden.

6/ Hockly hustle - Despite dog shit sound it was a brilliant gig!

7/ Watching Greys Anatomy and Everything Beautiful reminds me of you turning up on the soundtrack.

A couple of shit Captain Dangerous related things:

1/ Despite the previous 2 singles selling out our former label and management decided to ditch our normal press agent in favour of a totally shit company that managed to get a total of zero reviews for the everything beautiful reminds me of you single, no press, no one heard it, no one bought it. Momentum lost. Hundreds of physical singles without a home. We're not with them anymore. I nearly jacked it all in.

2/ Me getting so drunk before a Central show that i forgot to put a shirt on prior to the gig, couldn't remember the songs, thoroughly looked like a bell end and pissed off my band mates. Finally ending in spilling a pint over the crowd and walking off before the end of the gig. Not proud. Shambles. Lesson learnt.

Things I’ve discovered:

1/ I hate Mods
2/ I hate students unless I’m related to one (despite formally being one)
3/ I hate irony
4/ I hate Paul Weller
5/ Getting drunk once a week helps me be calmer.
6/ Coke is bad
7/ I can now play the Ukulele
8/ Meaow meaow is really bad
9/ Champagne makes me rowdy
10/ I like X factor as an entertainment show.
11/ I secretly like the Twang.
12/ I'm more impatient than I realised
13/ I'm no longer jealous of other peoples success
14/ I really like the Fall
15/ having an undercut makes your hair straight.
16/ I can play the piano again and can write songs on it!
17/ I like power tools
18/ you can't trust everyone
19/ John Cooper Clarke is amazing
20/ If you drink too much you feel depressed.
21/ Playing gigs really drunk is stupid as you can't play very well.
22/ If you play with American bands they do weird things like ask to borrow you guitars for their shows. Imagine travelling to a gig in a foreign country and not bringing any guitars? Weird.
23/ I still hate the Verve.
24/ Living with a woman results in a man eating better.

Favourite Captain Dangerous s$hows:
1/ Rock the house festival - August

2/ Proud Galleries Camden - October

3/ Y Not festival - August

4/ Rock City - January

That's it for the year. A real mixed bag. Beginning with a triumphant Rock City show in January, followed by the Everything Beautiful reminds me of you single debacle that very nearly made me give it all in. Recruiting Rob Rosa full time. Recognising that we can actually regularly pull off playing with a string section and create something really quite special. Parting company with our management and label, swiftly playing some amazing venues such as Cafe de Paris, Wansworth Palais, and Proud Galleries. Enjoying the festival circuit for the first time, getting picked up by I'm not from London records/management for a single in 2011, agreeing a syncing deal, being booked to headline Proud galleries on New years eve 2010, plans afoot for a European tour in April 2011.

Tough year that got better from the summer onwards.

We're entering 2011 positively.

Merry Christmas and thanks for those who've supported us throughout it.

Phew 1805 words…must be a recent record.

adx

Knibbs a Kimbo

2010-11-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

I've already had enough of these cold, dark and miserable mornings waking up in a cold house and trudging to work to be met with an office full of low moral. These are indeed uncertain times and the earmarked Tory spending cuts means my workplace feels like a sinking ship. Oh well it's just the way I’m feeling today, I’m sure I’ll perk up again once a glimmer of weekend lightens my peripherals. And I could always join in with the rest of the plebs and say things like it's nearly Christmas and there's a Royal wedding coming! I can't wait! That will obviously sort everything out.

A royal wedding definitely cheers up the country unless you're an average private sector business who will lose heavily from the extra bank holiday or a tax payer who will foot the bill for the level of security needed to stop one of the Al Fayeds taking revenge. Also does no one else think it's a bit creepy to propose using your dead mothers ring from an ultimately unhappy marriage full of infidelity? It's likely that Diana had worn that ring whilst sucking off James Hewitt for god sake! But of course no one will say such things about the "people’s princess" or mention the rampant infidelities because it's fine for certain people to sleep around within marriage if the media tells us but not for others such as Wayne Rooney. They'll just blame it on the loneliness and the sadness of an unloving marriage not that she actually really quite fancied a bit of the old in-out in-out high treason with a ginger toff from Derry. No one mentions that Rooney might not get any at home or that he might find his missus to be a boring, manipulating bully. We'll never know. Who knows he may even chuck himself down the stairs and have an eating disorder, it happened to Prescott remember! Stupid England.

The last week or so I’ve played one gig (was a great sound on stage) which I enjoyed at the Bodega Social with Penguin Prison (excellent band) went to a stag do, which was great apart from a couple of ignorant "Ginger whoaaahey" comments from men in their 40's, thought my girlfriend had gone missing, kidnapped, or fallen down the stairs (she was asleep due to Irish cream) wrote a new song for my musical (I'm the sixth Beatle) and saw John Cooper Clarke live which was probably the best thing ever.

Soon I will write down a run down of my year in order to create a time capsule of 2010 in case I ever feel like reliving the youth of that year. I've only managed to make a total tit out of myself once this year so far which is a record. I'll put down to having a stable home life rather than the chaotic party filled, daze of wrongness that have been with me for the years previous. I wouldn't change it or my current situation. I feel like I’m getting older and more responsible finally. I also for the first time in my life want a car, what’s next life insurance?

Gigs then....I’ve already mentioned the news year’s eve extravaganza at Proud which we're now headlining. This will be our biggest headline show yet and will have a capacity of 700. This makes me very happy and proud (no pun intended) that it feels like a bit of recognition is coming our way. The December 17th show is in Hackney and a BIG warehouse party. Will Hodgeson is on the bill too, very funny man and supported John Cooper Clarke the other week when I went to see him. This location is still a secret but will divulge details when I can. I will do a mail out about this show before the weekend.

That's it...I’m off for a cheese sandwich, a packet of wotsits, a game of angry birds and a moan about the weather.

At least there's a royal wedding coming!!

Bye

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This is the song for the unknown bear.

2010-11-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Good morning. I'm feeling pretty awake today which makes a big change for a Monday morning. The weekend just gone was great so today I’m feeling positive despite the worst weather in living memory.

Friday night’s show was one of my favourites and by far the best on stage sound we've had, the sound crew at Camden Proud are the best I think we've ever worked with they just seem to absolutely nail the sound each time no matter what band is playing. We enjoyed the show a lot and hopefully those who hadn't seen us before enjoyed the gig too. It was a good crowd and we were well received as far as I could see. Thank you to everyone who made the trip out in the shitty rain to watch our show. I can't wait to play their massive New Years Eve party! We opened with Executing Elliott for the second time in a row and seems to fit perfectly first. We’d been opening with the Terrorist for over a year and it was starting to feel a bit samey.

After the show I hung around for a bit, watched the future shape of sound, drank some cider and had an annoying conversation with a drunken student who seemed obsessed with asking me how much our fee was for the gig and called me a gay insinuating that I was in cahoots with my friend Sam. Weird. I gave him a CD and he left still asking how much we got paid. What weird arse hole behaviour. It was cool however to catch up with some old faces and some folks from other London bands we've previously played with including Ali from the since disbanded Everyone's straight but Kate (it's a shame they were a good band) It was Marks unfortunate job to drive home as he was accompanied by 3 wine swiggers two in the back one in the front. On arrival back to Nottingham Jamie, myself and GF continued drinking wine to the early hours back at mine. I went to bed feeling happy.

I woke on Saturday afternoon feeling totally fine which is rare for me considering I now suffer from brutal hangovers, my GF and drummer weren't so lucky. Jamie had to drive to Leeds to drum tech for Earthtone 9 the poor boy, when he finally got out of bed he looked like one of those beaten caricatures from Street fighter 2 which appear when it asks you if you want to continue normally after being flattened by M. Bison. "You Lose"

In the evening I went to a fire works display in my friends’ garden. I somehow managed to get roped into lighting the fireworks duty. There was no maiming thankfully. Sunday I ate a roast and that was the weekend. I'm going to see John Cooper Clarke next week which I’m excited about oh and Christy Moore was absolutely amazing by the way.

I've finished a new song for the musical too:” This is the song for the unknown bear" I think it sounds great.

One final thing is our December 17th show. This is now confirmed for a secret location in East London. I’m not allowed to announce it just yet but keep your ears and eyes peeled. That will be our second last show of 2010 and will be then followed by News years at Proud.

Time to regroup, finish off the E.P and get ready for 2011, I hope it’s a good one.

Bye for now.

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I don't care if your name sounds exotic

2010-11-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

In the last week or so I’ve realised that I hate burlesque dancing. I just suddenly clicked into my head that i think it's annoying. I don't want to offend any burlesque dancers because I actually know one or two but I do want to talk about why I think it's annoying.

My main gripe with burlesque is that it won't admit what it is. Essentially it's stripping dressed up as art and it's not even good stripping. It's the channel 5 porn of stripping but censored, like watching the red show diaries where the women keep their bras on.

I just wish it would admit that's its stripping and a really really weedy form of stripping where you get to see hardly any flesh. I don't frequent strip clubs but if I did I’d like to see naked woman not fat girls stuffed into corsets who dance with feathers and nipple tassels whilst a crowd of punks with neck tattoos dressed in top shop suits watch on in faux admiration in the hope that one day one of the dancers might just might have sex with them. In return they're generally greeted with a look which says this "I will rip your dick off"

In other news the Hockley hustle was wonderful. Two shows in one day and both very different. I really enjoyed the homemade show playing outside fully acoustic with extra strings. It was fun despite the cold. The Broadway show went even better, and it was completely rammed full of drunken dancers which for me is the perfect crowd for us to play to. Other highlights from the festival were Royal Gala, Dick Venom and the Terrortones, Ali Powers, and Manieres.

Last Saturday which did our first Saturday busking trip to Leeds which is one of the friendliest places on Earth, Richard joined us on Violin making it a 6 piece and we did very well. I find busking a bit strange these days, sometimes I really really enjoy it and other days i feel like a total bozo. Saturdays trip to Leeds was the former...I loved it despite my completely ruined hands and a hangover (fought off by sipping wine in a coffee cup) i think we definitely made some new fans, it's a shame that Nottingham our home City is a bit weird about busking, having said that a chav walking up to Mark and asking him:

"Excuse me are you a Twat? Well you fucking look like one"

Pretty much made me laugh out loud.
Not sure if we'll do another full tour again like we did to promote the Terrorist but I’d certainly like to do a couple of hours in the places we're playing in the evening on the tour tour next year.

Next show is a biggie at Proud Galleries in Camden this Friday.
This is one of the best venues in London and we're excited. We'll be on at 9:15 and we'll bringing a mega mix off strings again. Can't wait.
Hopefully no burlesque dancers or punks in suits will have read this and picket the gig with placards stating things like:

"Burlesque is ART"

Or

"WE are not STRIPPERS. We are ARTISTS"

haha...that would probably make my day..

See you Friday,

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I'm totally wired

2010-10-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

Good morning.

I've been in the wars a little bit of late and also been away on holiday but now I’m back and ready to dance if only if I wasn't on crutches. The last few weeks have been rammed full of commotion and as a result I’ve been very slow with updating this blog. I certainly don't find it boring to write but do sometimes get side tracked. I'm going to do my best to write as often as I have something half decent to talk about.

A few weeks ago I visited Corfu and the quiet town of Nissaki for a well deserved break away from the cold toil of the British Isles. I have to say I’m much rested and spent the bulk of the time eating, swimming in the sea, sleeping, drinking and lying around in the sunshine. There was the odd bit of thunder but overall I’d quite like to live on a Greek Island but not for a few years. We visited in the quiet season so there wasn't loads of boozed up brits abroad where we stayed but there were a few stragglers at the airport sporting burnt bold heads and wearing union jack shorts. It was also a quiet town in the middle of an olive growth and being high up the views were amazing. I made friends with a couple of brothers from Transylvania who were working at our hotel and I saw a sea turtle. I was also bitten by a poisonous spider which made me vomit all the way back to England. I've never been bitten a poisonous spider before and I don't want to be again. I felt sorry for the poor stranger girl who had to sit next to me on the plane whilst I vomited through 2 full sick bags. I felt like Karen Carpenter.

Just before I went away we played a show with Sky Larkin who was very nice and i managed to complete all my vocals for the forthcoming EP in February they're sounding good! Let's hope the final result is good and well received. On returning to England i either broke my foot or damaged the ligaments and am currently on crutches. I find out for sure once I set off walking without the sticks tomorrow. The test is if it doesn’t hurt its ligaments and having been rested for over a week it will be weak but sufficiently healed enough to get on with my life. If it does start hurting it's likely to be the beginning of a stress fracture and it means 6 weeks in plaster. I'm crossing my fingers for the ligaments damage. I'm already sick of crutches and the novelty of old ladies’ giving up their seats on buses for me has long worn off. It hurt like fuck and it's a total mystery to me how I’ve done it. I just woke up last week and couldn't walk on it...I did find the hospital visit for an x-ray mildly entertaining however possibly due to the Codeine in my system and the feeling of going somewhere new...I only wish they'd given me a lollypop. I'm hoping I can play Sunday’s shows without crutches.

We'll playing the Broadway at 11 pm as past of the Hockley hustle festival and earlier in the day we're doing an acoustic slot (1:30pm) at Homemade cafe. This was a brilliant festival last year and we're excited especially as we're playing as a 10 piece in the evening.

Yesterday I accidentally gave myself an undercut...oh dear.

That's me up to date and I will write again after Sundays hustle!

Bye, bye…

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CATS ARE GAY

2010-09-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

I have this week been struck down by a mistery illness which is most likely the flu or "flu like symptoms" it really sucks arses as i've been sitting in bed alone now for 3 days, i'm bored shitless and feel like death. My days have been filled with watching comedy, sleeping, sneezing, drinking lemsips and that's it really. I really shouldn't complain as i rarely get ill. This has however given me the chance to start listening to some new music again or at least stuff i've been meaning to listen to for a while whilst i lie there slowly fading away. Grizzly Bear, Blonde Redhead, and the newest Lightspeed Champion album, and i've even revisted Yo la Tengo again. So that part has been good. Annoyingly though it meant i had to miss studio time to do vocals and now have to do them next week and also missed the we show up on radar gig i'd planned to go to. Nevermind not too much time has been lost. One thing i do hate is when women say things like "you've got man flu" the idea of man flu really annoys me. It's almost like as being a man you're not allowed to feel ill, even once a year or so and ill women are much much iller than ill men. I also think it's rubbish that men don't even have the tear weapon that women can unleash at any point. Men jsut aren't really allowed to cry in front of their girls. A man unleashing a tear attack gets branded a total wimp especially during arguements, for women this is totally normal and a great guerilla tactic in making a man feel terrible. So on that basis i think men are allowed to feel ill every now and then.
So...well we played a show with Sky Larkin last firday and she was very nice, then on saturday we played for a few hours in Stratford which was kind of ruined by my mum going missing without a phone and not turning up to meet me when she said she would, it was a worried and couldn't concentrate and therefore didn't enjoy it really. But either way it was a million times more fun than the weird street party of the week before which i'm still not sure actually happened, it was too odd and wouldn't be suprised if someone had spiked me with the latest herbal high and i'd imagined it. I felt like i was in the Devils house.
Sunday we did a new photoshoot out in the countryside with ballons. I'm excited to see the pictures and the photographer Cam was ace to work with.

Thats it this week got ill after that. Sorry can't be arsed to spell check, or check. I'm due another lemsip.

see you

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Yesterday i visited purgatory.

2010-09-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Imagine in your mind what purgatory would look like. In my mind purgatory would resemble a never ending 1950's style street party in which you had to play music to middle class people who don't care. Imagine getting shunned by 95% of people there and those people also backing further away from you the more you play. Then imagine that regardless of nobody wanting to watch you play you have to fulfil an obligation of playing more and more songs each one becoming more painful and awkward.

Old ladies begin staring disdainfully whilst slowly moving their chairs away as if Stalin’s red army are on the march through their hallowed territory piercing you with their gaze like a Grant Wood painting. Unhappy children, patronising 40 something’s, cake, union jack bunting, barking dogs and still you continue to play. Yesterday we played a gig in purgatory which turns out is a strange road in Stratford upon Avon and it was weird. I don't really want to go back to purgatory or have people asking me to play the Scissor Sisters. I don't think i liked purgatory very much.

Anyway after that peculiar encounter with the afterlife we drove straight back to Nottingham tired and admittedly a little hung over from Saturday night and went straight to sound check at the Golden Fleece for our evening gig. I feel exhausted.

The gig that followed actually went very well, slightly subdued crowd due to the fact it was a Sunday night but gracious all the same. I enjoyed this show and Bruce the sound man always does a sterling job with sound in there. I also really enjoyed the support band Fun fun who were really interesting and good. I'd like to see them again.

I’m exhausted today but I have the night off from recording so I think I’ll go home, watch a film and go to bed. More studio time tomorrow, busking Saturday and a photo shoot on Sunday.

Thanks!

TTYS (yes that is a reference to Paris Hiltons BFF and I don't care)

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We Two

2010-09-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Things seem like they are finally springing back into action again and it feels like an exciting position to be in. We're currently working our tits off in the studio to get everything ready for marchs release and been given a deadline of the end of October to get everything almost ready. We're also having our pictures taken in the next two weeks and i'm searching for a jumper with a Pandas face on it and a Bowler hat.
I hope i can find both.
Thankfully the recording process has been going pretty well even though we're currently doing the boring bits or what i'd call the boring bits. I find recording the basic drums, bass, and guitar tracks really quite dull and always look forward to adding the pepper to the tracks in the way of extra (often improvised) arrangements. I like the singing part too because i don't have to do anything with my hands. Last night Mark and I were in a seperate room together playing guitar and bass away from Miles and Jamie and the four of us were doing the job of grinding out the basic drum tracks. This mainly involves playing the same two songs over and over again whilst we search for the perfect take, once that take is found we use it as a backing track, ditch the guitar and bass tracks and build the recording round it. Easy! Mark and I spent the recording sitting on the floor drinking red wine and trying to make each other laugh. We acheived our goals and muffled the laughter in a manner of naughty boys in church. I really had a good time and we played our instruments to a decent enough standard for Jamie to successfully nail the drums in time and paced properly. It was a successful evening and i left with a good taste in my mouth. It's a happy camp at the moment.
I haven't mentioned Rock the house festival in Grantham that we played a few weeks ago. This was one of my favourite shows we've ever done and i hope they have us back next year. I'm told the festival is growing and that next year there will be even more stages. There are plenty of videos on youtube for anyone who wishes to watch a few songs.
Last Thursday we played Proud galleries in Camden at the first Club remix night which is run by Bryn from the Holloways and XFMs Eddie something. I love this venue! I think we impressed enough to be asked back so i will update when we have something booked. Teenagers in Tokyo were really good and the atmosphere of the night was very nice indeed. The Roger Sargeant exhibition was on too which was a bonus.I want to move to Camden more each time i'm there and am determind to do so within the next 2 years.

That's pretty much it at the moment just giving a heads up. We'll be playing at the Golden Fleece this Sunday after a private show during the afternoon apart from that it's more recording.
I'm really glad Paul Weller didn't win the Mercury Prize...the "modfather" was the favourite there for a while and winning that prize would have given mods even more of a reason to suck his dick.

I saw a man mcing to his baby yesterday. No other adults were around. Baby looked very confused.

Busy! Promise to try and write more...just been recording lots and lots.

Ahhwwoooooo.

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I HATE MODS = adam clarkson

2010-08-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

I hate Mods.

There are five types of Mods and i hate them all.

1/ Fat "lad" Mods - ie. The worst kind of mod. Normally in the early to mid thirties, settled down with the "missus"

from school (a former school beauty who has since let herself slip), loves Paul Weller, and the V festival. Frequents wanky pubs on Mapperley top and was hard at school. Is now too fat to get into his fred perry but still wears it.

The sort of cunt who'd bring up you pissing yourself on the mats in primary school at school reunions.

Probably sells cars.

2/ Mods in bands - The sort of Mod who claims his band is like "nothing you've ever heard before" before blasting into a perfect Oasis/Paul Weller tribute song with different words. Not as bad as Fat "lad" Mods but is incredibly smug about his god given gift for music and likes smoking "pukka" weed. Calls Paul Weller "The Modfather" and hates every other kind of music apart from his own, other mod bands, northern soul and Paul Weller.

3/ Arty Mods - Like mods in bands but with the smugness ramped up to a million. They are almost always photographers who take photographs of mods in bands. Will usual wear the new clothing line designed by Liam Gallagher because it's "a bit Weller" has a punchable look on his mug like he knows a secret no one else knows.

4/ Acid Mods - The sort of mod who smokes loads of weed, was once a potential fat lad mod but took a different road. Started taking acid in his late teens and now loves acid jazz as a result. Pretty harmless really still likes a listen to northern soul now and then, owns a parka and will quite happily sleep in a skip if he has to. Basically a crusty in Mod clothing. The nicest kind of mod. In previous years listened to Paul Weller in his car before he sold it as a result of losing his job in Wickes for being stoned on the job. Sometimes stays with his mum for a couple of months between rented accomadation. In fact lives with his mum.

5/ Mod Mods - Fucking serious Mods. Basically a military mod. A soldier Mod. Would've done well in the falklands. Listens to Paul Weller, calls him "the modfather" and bloody well means it. Really not much fun at all. Sells drugs and rides a scooter. This mod is very serious about his mod uniform, his hair cut and having the best kind of scooter. Normally a skinney phsyco, you don't see him with girls very often. Hangs around in small groups with other mod mods who also sell drugs. Probably has a strange fetish that no one knows about like wolf bagging.

Captain Dangerous stuff...

I again have been lazy with writing recently but i wanted to wait until everything was in order.

We now have a new label "I'm not from london records" and recording an E.P for release in January which will have a UK tour to support it. The lead track for the e.p will be "Forgive us we're British" and will also feature a new version of "A little bit of home" (last seen on the mega limited edition album "The House that Jack Hayter built")

"I am the wind" "If god exists" and maybe one more. The E.P will be out in physical form and the single from it will be "Forgive us we're British" We're currently getting ideas together for the video which is going to be a wrestling theme used as a metaphor. I'm personally very excited about making this video and getting to work with the new label. I need to thank Chris Webb for all his hard work over the last two years or so we've now mutually parted company and still good mates.

Pastures new for us now though!

So what else has been going down?? There was Y not festival which was brilliant and we had an amazing time. We met and hung out with lots of people, saw some great bands - Los Camp and Mystery Jets were my favourites and we played a pretty storming energetic show. It was great to be back playing a show for the BBC introducing stage again. We also got to camp with Fists and Royal Gala who made the whole festival feel like a big friendly party of familiar faces.

Tomorrow we are headlining Rock the House Festival in Grantham. I’m very excited about this.

The festival takes place in a wood amongst the trees. We're bringing extra musicians too and Manieres are also playing so most of them will almost inevitable end up on stage with us!

So yes...things are really looking up again after a tough period with the band and parting company with Danqua and the management. Good times ahead and i'm writing freely again. I'm currently trying to learn the Rauli Badding song Paradise in Finnish, nailed the piano part already so now just the words to remember. I really want to record a version of this.

I still hate Mods.

Adx

Atari! Attack!

2010-07-22T03:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks so apologies. It seems to get harder to blog these days...time and all that. So that gig we were supposed to play with Razorlight in Brixton a couple of weeks ago turned into the bass player and the guitarist playing CDs.
I think it's impolite to charge obscene ticket prices for something like that especially when it's billed so big. Anyhow a bit frustrating and we actually made a loss on the gig which hasn't happened for years. The gig was essentially really good apart from the early stage time we were faced with but it was a splendidly sunny day which made up for it.

Then there were the bouncers… they were extremely heavy handed and were rifling through our bags without asking. In hindsight I categorically should not have told the head bouncer to "Fuck off" especially at a fairly rough venue in Brixton that searches folks for knives on the way in. He nicely responded by promising to "Fuck me a thousand times" not sure if that was a direct threat of rape or just something hard people say in Brixton. Either way the prospect of a six foot something muscular snarling Israeli man inserting his penis into me with force a thousand times didn't really appeal so as every first-rate wimp would do when faced with the menace of rape in a strange city I apologised A LOT.

That gig came and went and I caught up with a few friends in Elephant and Castle and drank pints...this was an error because I was then soon to be spotted running through central London in the early hours of Sunday morning attempting to reach my "fun fair" at Victoria bus station.

Fucking fun fairs...they lure you in with cheap tickets sneakily laughing in the understanding that you will either miss the bus or worse be faced with a task worse than Jesus carrying the cross of running through London with a hangover. Fucking funfairs.
I did actually make it this time but my body was broken and I felt like I’d just stared in a real life scene from hostel or like Jesus circa Golgotha or like I’d just been raped by the Irish bloke with aids from Hollyoaks.
I didn't realise how much i hated the national express till now.

So...then there was last nights show at the Central which was bloody brilliant. We had the honour of playing the indie tracks festival warm up show with the Brooklyn bands Onward Chariots, and Boy Genius and also a Swedish band I forget the name of (sorry) These bands play exactly the sort of brilliant twee, lo-fi pop music I absolutely adore and unfortunately don't get the chance to see live very often. Lovely people and great music. Thank you to Alex the promoter who did a great job. It felt like being in the side room of the coliseum all over again back in the glory days of proper indie discos This show was my favourite we've done for ages and ages and I felt we were really firing on all cylinders. It felt good. I bought 2 Boy Genius albums and I’m thoroughly looking forward to hearing them. We also debuted a new song last night which is loosely based on something I wrote a couple of years ago but it has no lyrics as such yet so I made them up...I’m excited about this song. We played:

Executing Elliott
I miss you cos it's Monday
The Terrorist
A little bit of home
I am the wind
Forgive us we're British (New)
If God Exists
Everything Beautiful reminds me of you.

Oh and in good news...we've sorted out our next label. Announcement etc coming very soon we're sorting the details. There will be 2 singles out this year for starters which unfortunately has possibly hindered the re-release of Everything beautiful in August through Danqua but it doesn’t matter. We have a much more positive feeling about this new lot. They're on the same wave length of us and are passionate. Exciting times ahead!

Next show is next weekend at the Y not festival! I can't wait...have borrowed a 6 man tent for me and my girlfriend so it's going to be camping in comfort. Los camp, darween deez, mystery jets, futureheads and lots lots more people playing. I love playing festivals as they give you free weekend passes for the band and our friends.

Right that's it...feeling positive about the coming months finally.
It really went quite badly towards the end with our last lot and I almost threw in the towel.
Glad I didn't now.

I'll write again after Y not.

Cheers,

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The squid and the cold

2010-06-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning from a sweaty boy.
Being British is probably good to mention the weather so i will it's hot and sunny.
A bit close.
A bit "Make sure you put sun cream on your moles Adam, you'll very fair skinned" etc etc.

Things we've done in the last week...well i had five days off from the world and apart from getting drunk on Sunday did nothing but sleep and eat good food. I feel refreshed and full of energy again. The rest was needed. It was excellent to do nothing.
Things I’ve learned this week is you shouldn't be allowed near the internet when you're alone and drunk as I spent Monday morning deleting various internet posts I’d posted the night before. Well nothing bad really just a bit soppy or naughty "Mina olen tuhma pieni Mayra!"
I have also accidentally become addicted to the 90's/early 00's series "Cold feet" I literally cannot stop watching it and have been watching it from season 1 all the way through. I'm currently on Season 4 and i don't even bloody like it just can't stop watching it. It's basically heroin.
All that ever happens in cold feet is someone cheats on their GF/BF gets caught and is then forgiven, someone has a baby, the person who recently forgave their cheating partner then cheats themselves, they get drunk and a secret gets out, someone has a baby, someone cheats, someone else cheats, some else cheats, someone has a baby, you see the Irish mans skinny arse and then someone cheats. Bunch of slags. Especially that Rachel she's the worst of the lot and she looks like Jill Dando pre bullet. I just have to watch them until the end and then i'm free. I feel like a lost fan but without the social credibility and also a bit like a rag and bone man without any rag or bone because I’ve sold it all for Cold feet DVDs or Heroin.

We've been recording a completely new song this week and last week for the forthcoming "I'm not from London" compilation. "I'm not from London" are the best D.I.Y promoters, events organisers, producers, artists in town and they have very kindly asked us to contribute to their new compilation. We've offered up a completely new song which is so new it doesn't have a name and been busy in the studio. It's sounding grand so far and we've got as far as guitars, bass, drums and a lead vocal which means the fun bits start soon! Well next week.
Arranging the extra bits is pretty much the only part of recording i enjoy apart from doing vocals and things have gone great so far and it's been a pleasure working with Phil, Danny and Matt on the recordings. "I'm not from London" also officially has a record label now which is a great thing and hopefully we can work with them some more in the future.
In the meantime we're still re releasing "Everything beautiful..." at the end of August. I think that might be it with Danqua and us and we'll most likely be releasing stuff through someone else following that.
We've got a few options anyway.

More stuff - Y not festival we'll be playing on the Sunday if anyone's going.

Razorlight shit - Tickets are available for a tenner so please follow the link on our facebook page.
I've had to buy 20 tickets myself in advance so please get them from me.
Miles has set up a ticket buying link in the Captain Dangerous shop, i then get an email confirmation of payment and then i post you a tickets. Easy :) Cuts out the middle man and you get the tickets sharpish! It's JULY 10TH!!!!

We'll be playing our street busking musicaaaaaacaaa in stratford upon avon tomorrow so if you're in the area please pop down and say hello.

That's basically it...tonight we rehearse, tomorrow we dance.

R.I.P Frank Sidebottom.

adx

It's a shambles!

2010-06-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

I’m very sorry I haven’t written in a while it’s just been stupidly busy, hectic but lot’s of fun. Today is the day England announce their final world cup squad and Theo Walcott has been left out of proceedings.
I have an image now of Theo Walcott’s girlfriend leaving him and leaving him today because he didn’t make the cut. What will now follow is Theo’s world spiralling out of control.
A year down the line Theo is sweeping the streets; an old man asks:
“Don’t I know you?”
A fearful faced smoking and bearded Theo replies:
“I used to be a someone…a long time ago”

Theo’s ex girlfriend then hooks with Cesc Fabragas and moves to Spain because “she has to think of HER future”
Theo finally rises again but never quite rising to the same level forever stuck in the quagmire of lower leagues Championship football after a year in the wilderness getting only a glimpse of glory at the play off finals with Yeovil town as a substitute which inevitably Yeovil lose.
In the intervening time as Mr and Mrs Fabragas enjoy red carpets, Theo trudges onto the team coach observing from a distance, no longer angered by his lost love but now planning revenge on one man, Fabio Capello. The man who ruined it all.

In other world cup stuff Emile Heskey has been picked despite only scoring about 1 goal all season for Villa. I can only assume Heskey has been picked to make Rooney look better and will play the role of lanky disco dancer, a bit like when the nice looking girls invite only their lanky fat ugly girlfriends out on a night out so they look more attractive. Darren Bent has been left at home presumably because he plays like he’s got bow legs when he puts on an England shirt. I’m actually glad Joe Cole has been picked because I genuinely believe he has skill. But if you were picking the team on form I don’t think he should have been picked. In all probability Cole was included after Fabio Capello was visited in the night by a dodgy Essex gangster type called something like Jimmy the Hammer threatening to cut his legs off if he didn’t pick “our boy” Cole.

(Knock at door)
Jimmy the Hammer – You better pick our boy Cole or I’ll send Jimmy the Hatchet round to cut your legs off.
Fabio – Ok.
Jimmy the Hammer – Thanks.

Right…so band stuff as this is a Captain Dangerous blog. The last week and a half we have been busy bees. Last Sunday I played my second solo gig which went very well despite the worse hangover in living memory, seriously you could take out whole armies is you could bottle the hangover serum that was racing through my body.
Then again if you should to hang about up drinking rum till 7am of the morning of an early evening gig you only have yourself to blame which I do. I managed to play 4 songs and had a good response, I like being out of my comfort zone and singing and playing piano is still something I’m not completely at ease doing.
On Monday we recorded a very enjoyable interview for Left Lion and a few session tracks. Out of the 4 we recorded 3 of them turned out brilliantly which not a bad ratio for one take…I’ll post a link as soon as I have it. In fact I would quite like to release this session somewhere down the line as a small live ltd edition release. There will be a full pod cast appearing soon which I will share here!
Saturday was a great day in London. We had a gig at the Stags head in Dalston as part of the I’m not from London epic alldayer. Arriving at midday on Saturday on a bank holiday you’d expect a boozy headline slot but I managed to keep myself fairly level and the gig went well…was my first crowd surfing experience whilst singing too. Mega. We played with Hot Japanese Girl again who were great as usual.
The bus on the way home saw an almighty sing song with various bands playing acoustic. It was a really nice day and great that all the bands got on so well together. Maybe Nottingham isn’t such a dreadful environment for camaraderie after all.
Sunday I watched the abysmal England vs Japan world cup warm up game which was shite and ate a roast.

On Monday we took part in Nottingham’s City Pulse festival. It was good to be part of this and be asked and given a fairly high billing. Although the guy who comparing the stage somehow forgot the name of our band (I suspect on purpose) which I found really quite insulting and rude, seemed like an attempt to make us look crap. Aside from that everyone involved in was incredible forthcoming and the organisers overall were a great bunch. It’s also worth mentioning we played with the string quintet for this gig which was a battle for the sound men who still pulled it off.

So that’s us up to date then…we’re giving a track to I’m not from London’s compilation which will likely be a brand new song so keep your eyes peeled we’ll be recording this very soon.

Next gig is Sunday at the Boat Club in West Bridgeford and we’ll be a doing a radio session in Hull in the evening.

Don’t watch sex and the city 2 it’s garbage.

Thanks,

Adam

The The

2010-05-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

Monday morning again and an old familiar feeling creeping its way through the ether.

I had a very good weekend but I did undeniably drink too much booze and I can tell this not from my body (because it does get adequate rest these days) but from my nebulous skull.

I'm just tired.

I played my first solo show on Friday night and it was a daunting episode but I did enjoy it and with all things considered I think it went pretty well, not many mistakes.

It's the first time I’ve played the piano and sang at the same time in public and the entire thing was made easier by having some recognizable faces in the audience, I value my friends supporting me.

I played - The Terrorist, Merrow songs, my name is Kieran (for the first time) Polly, and Boozehounds.

It was probably the most anxious I’ve been for ages, and it felt like a job interview.

After the gig I hung around to see my friend Wills new band "Dick Venom and the Terror tones" It was there first gig and I thought they were utterly brilliant. I think this lot will do really well. After that I went for a drink in the Broadway and then a few individuals came back to my house for some additional drinks...it was a really good night and I appreciated the support.

I really should have left the profound drinking to one night but in typical weekend fashion and it being 2 of my friends birthdays I decided to hit it and hit it hard. In fact I had Charlotte Church/Oliver Reed levels of drunkenness in my blood stream. I feel full of embarrassment today and have vague flash backs of the evening...including taking part in a rap battle with Ricky. For starters I cannot rap, secondly I was drunk, thirdly there were strangers there and fourthly there might be footage of it. My head is hung firmly low...why do I think it's a good idea to these things? I'm just praying there were others present who were also riding the drunken train. Horrid. Sorry to anyone who had to witness my crimes against humanity...or crimes against hip hop. Oh dear…you’ve done it again Clarkson.

Right I suppose band news is something I should talk about...well it's looking almost 100% that Everything Beautiful is getting re-released at the very end of August and I am the Wind will follow in October and that's our releases for 2010 done.

That's it...strings on I am the wind are done and they sound amazing! Rob did a sterling job...I’m looking forward to the festival season and would like a holiday sometime soon again.

I think I may have to invest in an electric piano bad boy. I enjoyed it!

Time to be positive and quit rapping!

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Legends of the Fall

2010-05-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

I went to see "The Fall" on Tuesday night for the first time and it was the most demented show i've ever seen. I loved it i think but i'm still not sure, one thing's for sure and that's the fact that Mark E Smith is truly mesmorising, frightening, utterley rubbish and utterly brilliant at the same time. In fact i did love it i've decided. I have also never seen a band actually completely scared of their singer in the way that his much younger and incredibly tight band were scared of him. Mark E Smith IS the nutter on the bus and it's not an act. I'm glad i saw him perform and would definately do so again.

Right very quickly...tonights solo gig is at The Jam Cafe, Heathcote Street, Hockely Nottingham.
This gig is 100% free and i will be on stage from 9:30. Expect some new songs, reworked songs, songs from a musical and old old songs which haven't been aired in public for the best part of 2-3 years and i will be playing nothing but a piano and singing. I'd appreciate the support as it's my first gig on my own for many years and you might like what you hear too which is always a bonus.

Other stuff Captain Dangerous have been added to the City Pulse festival bill in Market Square Nottingham too on May 31st 2010 hilariously Boney M are playing the same festival which i'm personally excited about. Oh and it looks like "Everything Beautiful reminds me of you" may be re-released before "I am the wind" as a single at the end of August now.

This is because the single wasn't given a fair chance and the promo was wank so it's going to be done again but properly this time.

Following that "I am the wind" will be released shortly afterwards as another single and that's why we're working on it now and getting it completed months in advance...strings are getting recorded tonight. So basically that's it. I'm hoping for a tour to push these singles which is all very possible as well.

Thanks to all who came to our gig at the Bodega Social on Saturday.
It was my favourite show we've done for a while and i think the best we've played for a while too...the band really felt great to be part of saturday. It was exciting to debut the new song too, which is still so new it still doesn't have a name. We played:

Terrorist
I miss you cos
Little bit of home
I am the wind
New song (unnamed)
Merrow Song
Great having you around
Everything Beautiful reminds me of you

Right see you tonight remember i'm on stage from 9:30 and it's a free show!

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Hitlers hidden gold

2010-04-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Hello...

It's been a bit of a stressful week so far but things are finally looking up and I’m looking forward to the future having taken stock of everything. I really have a lot of good things going on in my life so i should never take them for granted or be negative. Also being temporarily broke gets me down too (this is a very short term problem but makes me feel like less of a man and a right lost soul - and as my mother says "woman don't like broke men" which always echoes in my head especially as right now i have a good one. Then again it's my own fault for spunking cash on velvet jackets, and suede brogues...but i fitted a new toilet seat on Tuesday and used a hammer, a saw, 2 screwdrivers and brute strength so i can't be that much of a pussy plus my GF will get treated how she deserves in a couple of weeks if she doesn't take stock of my mothers subliminal messages drifting through the airwaves from Kenilworth with a face of thunder.

Last weekend i went to Wales with Mark and our respective girlfriends. It was really good to get out of the city and walk up a mountain and feel completely in the middle of nowhere, it makes me want to live in the countryside in a village with a cat (if i wasn't allergic) and a piano. Maybe one day. The place we stayed was really great and I especially found the village shop amusing. This shop was run by a guy I decided to call Hitler because he exterminates your wallet with prices that probably won't be seen anytime before 2050...a definite smiling assassin who managed to wangle all the cash from your grasp whilst giggling and divulging stories of large breasted women whom he once asked for ID from. In fact his giggle was probably the sort of giggle Hitler used to give to August Kubizek whilst planning his next move! The smiling assassin’s mistress was definitely sterling and we paid his prices so he won unlike Hitler.
Right few new gigs to announce first up...this Saturday at the Bodega Social club which you know about.

Then I’ll be playing a solo show at The Jam Cafe Nottingham next Sat on May 7th...i’m trying to borrow a piano and may play some songs from a musical I’m writing and if not I’ll definitely play some old songs that haven't been aired for a while (including Booze hounds) and some new songs...either way it'll be different from a usual Captain Dangerous show so might be worth popping down.

We're also playing at the brand new Spanky Van Dykes venue in Nottingham on July 21st supporting the very excellent US bands Onwards Chariots and Boy Genius. This venue is bloody brilliant and next to Rock City. The venue has already hosted Lovvers.

Might as well say it now as it's all over the forums we're also playing the Y Not Festival with Los Campesinos, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The Futureheads, Subways and loads more. We're not officially officially announced yet but we'll be playing on the BBC introducing stage. This is over the weekend of July 31st and in Matlock. Google it for the full line up. This sold out last year so get in quick if you want a ticket! Talking of more festivals there will be more but they're just not confirmed yet so i can't say.

I've finally got my writers block out the way and working on lots of new material...we'll play a new song on Saturday i promise.

Thanks.

Bye.

Ps...I love Gordon Browns latest gaff...what a bozo.

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If you don't mind i will treat you for myself.

2010-04-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

I thought Saturdays gig despite lots of good responses was a bit of a shambles...sound was a bit rubbish and i had some guitar problems, i find it pretty difficult to cover technical problems sometimes and doing so often results in looking like a bit of a twerp. Anyway the rest of the boys played well and these things happen sometimes but overall i didn't particularly enjoy the show. I had also decided to dress a little ridiculously too which you can only pull off if you have a really solid gig so theres a small twinge of embarassment there too, good job we weren't on till 12:30 so i'd imagine the crowd was hammered anyway. Basically i snapped a string on the first bar of the terrorist then because my spare was unavailable i used miles which kept cutting out and in an attempt to balance the sound again the guitar went from too loud to too quiet. This show reminded me a lot of the Rthym Factory show we played a few years ago it was just as shambly and probably my fault well my guitars fault and lack of spare. Oh well you live and learn and sometimes shows don't go well...Hot Japanese Girl were really good though i thought!
Not really much to report today apart from we'll be announcing a load of dates very soon including some festivals which are looking very exciting. Oh and my writers block has lifted and i've written a new song which i hope we can debut on May1st at the Social but depends how much rehearsal time we can get in between now and then...i hope we can play it, i really like this tune and it's a very bouncy little number. What else? Well thinking of buying an electric piano to play live but not till June/July have to pay off my amp first...and i've also finished the piano song so i have 2 new songs now!
I'll wait till i've got confirmation on all the forthcoming gigs and festivals and will announce them then.
Apart from that please come to our show at the Bodega Social on May 1st...theres still tickets available from all the normal vendors. Been mostly listening to piney gir recently! That's it...

Cheers!

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spiders

2010-04-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

Good morning!
I’m feeling very positive today, my diet is working which was prompted by a medical that said I was apparently 8-9pounds over my ideal weight so I’ve been eating with the help of my lovely girlfriend soup, mackerel, rye bread and eggs. I’ve almost completely cut out alcohol as well and I feel incredibly energetic and lost half a stone already.
I think maybe I’d just been getting consistently drunk for far too long. Things like my ability to write songs have come back with not drinking which I’m very happy about, in fact I finished a new song this week and started a new one just last night I think the overall clear headedness is a welcome change and also who wants to watch a fat singer? Not I and I haven’t done since watching the fat tosser from NOFX. I feel like the fog has lifted and I’m determined to keep positive about everything, at this point I’m probably sounding like someone with bipolar and you’ll probably all excepting some depressing update tomorrow filled with doom and apocalyptic prophecies. So from now I’m not going to complain about what doesn’t get done and problems with this and that and why this wasn’t done and why the pope Is catholic and why I will vote for the lib dems even though they won’t get in. My weekend was cool apart from two things firstly my horse coming second in the grand national which I’d backed to win not each way and Aston villa getting raped by Jack Tweed sorry Chelsea. On Saturday morning hangover free I put Lonnie Donegan and Kenickie on and me and the GF painted some pictures and smoked fags. I think this is a much better use of time than nursing a hangover. It’s strange but all my paintings almost always seem to end up looking much the same. I don’t know if this is a particularly good thing or not but the plan is to fill our house with paintings done by our own hands. Well I say fill, maybe we’ll paint a few more. I do think that any sort of drawing or painting in adulthood is a great thing, it’s something that seems to be lost after childhood.
Sunday morning we went busking in Sheffield which was fairly successful but there wasn’t many people about really, once again I got chatting to the homeless which I think is something important to do because I’ve seen too many people treat them like animals which I find absolutely disgusting. One of the sadist things a bloke said to me is that he hates his life, wants to die but isn’t going to kill himself because he doesn’t want to end up in hell. I thought was an incredibly sad way to feel. Sheffield was fun but I wished it had been a bit busier.
Right next gig is this Saturday and we’re playing as part of the massive I’m not from London extravaganza, we’re on in room 2 at 11:15. Then it’s the Bodega social club on May 1st. We’re just finalising new dates for the some summer festivals and dates leading up to the next single release at the end of August. I’m recording guitar parts tomorrow night we’re also very excited to have Lisa De’Ville singing on the track and there will be some monster string arrangements…the B-Side will be “If god exists” which is my song about Palestine.

That’s it for now,

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blur

2010-04-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Feeling positive! I actually wrote a blog today but it won't let me post it! It's probably too dangerous.ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Bed now will do it in the morning, i'm tired and sitting in just a towel.
Night fuckers!x

Turnaround...every now and then i get a little bit tired.

2010-04-08T04:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in a little while because we've been busy recording "I am the wind" and i went to Paris over the weekend and feel refreshed.
"Everything Beautiful Reminds me of you" came out as a single last Monday to very little fanfare but it's there and out to buy...think this one will be a slow burner and we've been told the next single after this will be pushed much more strongly which keeps my mind at rest. It's been a bit rubbish this whole campaign. You can imagine how frustrating this is from the point of view of the artist having spent hours of blood sweat and tears recording the single and preparing a launch party with a full string quintet. Basically it felt like we'd done our job and been let down with the other parts. A real kick in the teeth. Anyway we have to move on and make sure the same mistakes and lack of enthusiasm aren't replicated again by the same elements, I sometimes think what's the point in writing songs if they don't get pushed and heard properly...it pisses me off and gives me writers block. This are definitely about to change and I think I need a new guitar to start writing again or to get my battered old acoustic fixed that hasn't been played for years, I wrote almost all of my early output on this bad boy.
One cool bit of promotion we did was a BBC session for Dean Jackson which despite me being a bit crokey went very well. The link is posted on our facebook page and getting a shit load of hits on youtube. There’s also a Night flight session now on line and we'll be doing a left lion pod cast very soon, this is nice because we've been largely ignored by the publication until now as we've never really been in the cool gang. It's always a good read mind.
Anyway next single news is that Lisa D'Ville is featuring on the record and it will be a duet between me and her, we are also using a full string section and it's going to be bloody epic. This single is out after the final weekend of August and will either be on Danqua or a different label we're just deciding who now. This date will not change and our management have given us strict deadlines plus we've been promised a much bigger push for this coming single. I have to say I’m feeling positive as dates are already in the process of being booked in the run up these include a few festivals, 2 of which or pretty big and have a lot of big names playing too. Can't announce them yet because the final line ups aren't out. I'd also expect to see a number of very good London dates jotted in there too which are being finalised. So that's where we are. I've been left very frustrated in the last few weeks but now feeling positive...this single is going to be great and with the right dates and PR we can continue doing cool stuff because at the end of it all I’m not in this for money I just want to get my songs and our music out and play to as many people as possible. That's all I ask. New dates to be announced soon...

Thanks,

PS I’m writing a musical about a Panda and a Bear

See you

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Take off all your clothes

2010-03-18T07:56:00.001-07:00

What's wrong with the sound of silence sometimes. Every single day i have a pointless conversation with a woman who resembles a readers wives reject with a face that looks like she's smoked 200 cigarettes every day since the womb. She honestly looks like she popped out her mothers nether regions puffing on a Richmond Superking and she has a hair cut like that of a 12 year old boy going to a disco, all gel and spikes. I don't know what happens to woman of a certain age that somehow makes them think it's cool to start spiking their hair like yazz and the plastic band. Everyday i have to listen to a running commentary of every movement.

Making tea goes along like this:
Me - Hi
Woman - Making Tea haha
Me - Yes
Woman - It's hot isn't it?
Me - Yes
Woman - You'll need milk in that
Me - Yes i probably will
Woman - And you're stiring it.
Me - Yes i am

In a lift:
Woman - Best make it go down
Me - Yes
Woman - We're in a lift after all, pressing the buttons
Me - Yes
Woman - Out we get.

I wish she'd just not talk.

Not smoking is going well, i'm beginning to cough up all manner of strange things from my lungs which obviously means they're being cleansed. Big test will be Saturdays gig, think i may avoid the booze so i'm not more tempted.

Saturday we're on stage at 11pm...it's going to be rammed so get there early this is a tiny venue!

these are the sounds of the wickedness

2010-03-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little bit more alive today and decided to quit the fags once and for all. I think the main problem is that i've been binge smoking for the past 2 years, it's very rare that i actually smoke more than 10 cigs in a week if i'm not partying at the weekends so i think the best thing to do is learn not to smoke when i party or cut down the party.
I can quite easily not smoke for a whole week and then without realising smoke 30 cigs in one night on a saturday. It's really not a good thing to be doing, i have decided i don't want to die from a smoking related illness and i think now is the time to quit, i'm also planning to take up swimming and smoking will make that harder.
I often think that there's something wrong with me in that i always seem to need vices in my life or at least a little bit of poison now and then. It's in control but i just sometimes think i like getting wrecked a little bit too much...i need to start looking after myself more.

So...band stuff. Well there is nothing to report at the moment but things are as usual going on behind the scenes as i mentioned last night. I hope this means festivals, better gigs, bigger audiences, better promotion etc. In fact all the stuff you'd hope would come. The problem we've been having recently is that we've been playing the same venues to the same crowds for over 6 months now...it's seems like we've more than proved ourselves in Nottingham and i feel like things need to step up which i'm told will happen very soon...i'm still totally puzzled as to why we haven't got a booking agent secured yet despite selling out large venues, constantly getting great live reviews and easily holding our own amongst our peers. Yes i'm frustrated again and sometimes feel our potential is not being fulfilled because opportunities are being missed. These concerns also seem to be zapping my creativity. Then again you can't be positive all the time and fears are as much a human emotion as excitment. I just really hope things step up. 3rd single is out on March 29th and the 4th on at the end of August. I just truly hope the promises we've been made come to fruition. On another note the girl currently sitting next to me fucking stinks...i don't understand how some people smell so bad, honestly just have a bloody wash and spray some deoderant on, it's that simply oh and wearing clean clothes could help as well.

I read another piece of brilliant journalism in the Sun newspaper today where the front page screamed Miaow Miaow kills 2 in Lincolnshire: Ban this killer drug! Inside the article mentioned in a small sentence that the pair also had access to Methadone on the same evening to bring them down...umm...maybe it was the heroin substitute that killed them which most people know is deadly when mixed with any other substance. I guess Methadone just doesn't sell papers these days and just proved that the Sun if a man would be a right cunt. I only bought it because i needed change for my bus...next time it'll be chewing gum.

It stinks round here so bad...want to move to London, need a holiday.

the end.

uh...

2010-03-16T14:06:00.001-07:00

I get ill far too much...i spent all day in bed today..
I've started a health kick today encouraged by my girlfriend, i'm determined to be more healthy and stop getting ill every other week. Doing too much, not sleeping enough and not looking after my body.

Don't have much news really...apart from we have a tiny gig on Saturday at Nottinghams Jam Cafe. We did a session of Everything Beautiful and I am the Wind on Sunday (see youtube) and we'll be recording a BBC session next wednesday which will air on the following saturday.

I'm still feeling a bit frustrated but i have been told things are happening and i can only put my faith in those who i have decided to trust.

Lets hope all is going to work out and i have something exciting to tell next time.

Right thats it from me.

Night night

See you saturday and don't forget the single is out on march 29th.

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stop me stop me

2010-03-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Frustration is a word I’d use to sum up today I think. After a splendid birthday party and as positive feeling around band stuff last week and the weekend the feelings have been replaced with the disheartening unknown. I need something to fucking happen!

I don’t know how long I can continue with this emotional roller coaster of maybes and close calls without totally losing my head.

I did however get tickets to see the Fall for my birthday and am also going to watch Silver Mount Zion in 2 weeks as well as a trip to Paris at the end of the month so that’s good.

That’s it today. I’m happy at home but not in other aspects. I don’t like relying on other people I’ve decided.

Hope you lot are positive today.

R.I.P. Mark Linkous. I think Mr Sparklehorses death is really tragic.

I have lots of memories of the first Sparklehorse album and it formed an important part of my introduction to music as a teenager. I remember frantically trying to track down the Rainmaker double CD single box at record fairs in Birmingham and Leamington Spa on Saturday mornings and Homecoming Queen being one of the only songs I love today as much as the day I first heard it. Very sad

Thanks,

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Put your hands up if you secretly love the wombats

2010-03-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Good morning...

I'm seriously bored today looking at the clock and awaiting a weekend of parties for my birthday. Feel much more relaxed now that tuesdays camden monarch showcase went very well and that my mind has been put at rest over a few niggling things that have been stressign me out recently. I've been very healthy this week so feeling ready to punish my body with excess in a typically english way because that's what we do...i don't think i ever stood a chance being born half English half Irish.
I think the English drink essentially to keep warm and because they're shy and the Irish drink because they need escapism. That's my thoughts anyway.
Yes so the past week...well saturday last we spent time playing in the streets of Sheffield, befriended some homeless people Titch and Carl who had lots of interesting stories, did some MCing and wrote poetry. Titch in particular had had a very tragic life and had just left prison, wasn't sure if Carl actually homeless but he was definately pissed and seemed to know Titch pretty well. They were nice people...i drank wine with them in between singing.
Then on Tuesday we did a showcase in London at the Camden Monarch which is somewhere i've wanted to always play mainly because of it's 90's indie connections. I really enjoyed this show and despite the fact we were playing for a booking agent and industry people it felt like a normal gig, sound was perfect and done by the Crocketts and The Crimeas sound man who was a very smiley pot smoking aussie with a pierced nose and a kind face. He was an excellent sound engineer and kindly shared his green after the show, i always find people who are talented at what they do are often much nicer people than those with no talent at all. I enjoyed this show a lot and really needed it after our last show with DOGs at gatecrasher in Nottingham left me feeling deflated due to appaling sound on stage. So overall a successful week...we have a LOT of legal stuff going on at the moment which at times can take the joy out of being in a band so i've decided to just get on with playing a writing and not worry about the rest of the stuff.
I had a thought today and it might be strange but i've noticed that when i use public toilets i automatically go for the middle cubicle out of 3 as a matter of reflex...i wonder if this has some sort of meaning to it like i'm indecisive or something...anyway. That's it for now apart from that we've jsut added another show on May 1st at the Bodega (the social) haven't played there in a while and from what i remember it's a pretty nice venue depending on which soundman they use.

Ok...enjoy your weekends. I'm becoming increasingly drawn in by Swound...fucking wicked band and from nottingham

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this is the song for the 4 am alcos

2010-02-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone...

I'm writing this after finding a rogue glass of white whilst listening to the the horrors who are the fall with pop songs. I've realised that people aren't so bad. I have realised this, i love my girlfriend like the apples miss the trees and wrote a new song...fandangdo! It doesn't happen very often...love often equals creative anthax and yes ive had that for many months but i cant stop playing the piano now and have written a classic. I think a lot of people around me are idiots but i love them. I just sometimes think those shitdogs should understand that i'm an older soul. i also understand that the thoughts are mutual. (Don't like you very much but i do love you) WE JUST MIGHT NEED EACH OTHER Simply as that i don't mean no harm. ...ps We're really good x

Hi...i'm James and i'm a nice guy

2010-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ahh...this week has been a weird one. In attempt to get myself healthy and lose weight. I've been left without energy and feel weak. I've been punishing myself with a diet that soley consists of porridge for breakfast, eggs or beans for lunch and soup for dinner booze is replaced with Green Tea. It's not much fun but i think it's good to set yourself goals sometimes to prove that you have some sort of strong will. I'm trying to get myself skinny which might sound odd considering i'm not fat in the slightest but it's a personal thing and i'm a closet fattest.
I just seem to be able to identify with music and clothes better if i'm skinny. Weird i know but it's true.
This week has been a bit of a soul searching one as well and been feeling a strange panicky feeling which i think happens a few times a year to everyone where you keep questioning what you're doing with your life... i think it's a clear hangover from being a kid i think. That was a very insecure time at times and it's only human nature to feel shitty sometimes. Anyway i'm trying to not be a moaning bastard it's not attractive. I'm excited to be playing again tomorrow night and we'll also be in Stratford on Saturday morning too.

I went to the Darren Hayman covers night last friday which was a lot of fun and probably the closest i'll come to seeing Hefner songs played live for a whole evening again, i was slightly upset i didn't win the raffle for "a better friend" put all's fair in love and war. Rob Dangerous and i played "Punk rock's gonna die" and "Hello Kitten" and it was a lovely atmosphere. Later on i joined Andy (WRUOR) and Rob (red show diaries) with my Uke for a rousing rendition of the "Greedy ugly people"
This was twee indie heaven and reminded me of the grand days of the side room at the coliseum in Coventry. I wish there were more indie lo-fi twee nights on offer and i'd be there in spades. Yesterday I started filming the video for “Everything Beautiful” it’s a stop frame animation combined with cartoon footage…should be interesting. I’ve done the drawings.

So...my goal is to play a stomper tomorrow, to try and cheer up, make money on Saturday, and enjoy Sunday with my girlfriend. It’s all achievable. I'm going to eat some proper food as well that mainly includes lots of meat! I'm also going to give the new Los Camp album another go...i just think it's a bit shit on first inspection but i will revisit. I want to rediscover my song writing sparkly again.

Haven’t written ten things I like this year yet so here goes:

I like Jenni
I like The Fall
I like eating meat
I like smoking fags
I like gypsy swing
I like Guinness
I like my new house
I like grizzly bear
I like the central
I like confessions of a call girl

Bye then

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I love only you

2010-01-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

I find it so annoying that I often go through different stages of being good at stuff and as a result see other aspects of my life and the ability to do things well suffering... I wish I was good at everything. You see when I’m in a good song writing stage I’m generally a miserable bastard, skint, drinking too much and generally self loathing.
I suppose if you're fed up you have no care about what people think of your output and you are solely doing it for yourself because you’re trying to drag yourself out of some sort of crap, so writing songs without caring is a natural way to write quality. I suppose the good thing about being unhappy is that you're naturally aspiring to better yourself and as a result writing is your personal way of dragging yourself through mud and out the other side. For me anyway...and of course everyone wants to be happy. The problem lies in the fact that when you are in fact happy your ability to write is still there but you're aspiration isn't, you have no mud to drag yourself through in order to reach the point. That's the only way I can explain it...I’d much prefer to be happy and I am very happy in my personal life at the moment, I’m working on ways to write good quality stuff and be happy. I think the way forward is escaping into a story and detaching myself from any narratives...I’m going to try and be an observer rather than be the subject. I’m only young and I’m still learning so I’ll see how it goes.

Thank you to everyone who came on Saturday, it was another packed show.
That’s two in a row now hoopla!

I have some dates to announce to correspond with the release of Everything Beautiful Reminds me of you so here they are:

Febraury 6th - Stratford Iibrary
February 12th - Gatecrasher Nottingham (with DOGS)
February 13th - Sheffield Town Centre
February 20th - York City Centre
February 27th - Bristol City Centre
March 20th - Jamm Cafe Notingham
March 27th – Horse and Jockey Sheffield
April 3rd - London (venue TBC)
April 17th - The Central Nottingham
May 29th – London (venue TBC)

One final bit of news is that Rob Rosa has officially joined Captain Dangerous on Violin, and Keyboard. We’re very very happy about this as Rob not only sports a brilliant line in garish jumpers, and is a thoroughly great guy he is also one of the most talented musicians we’ve ever met.

Captain Dangerous is a 5 piece! A bit like when Jack Hayter joined Hefner

Cheers and bye,

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War Bastard

2010-01-20T00:30:00.000-08:00

Fridays Rock City show couldn't really have gone better. The gig was a handful of people away from selling out, the sound was brilliant, Fists and Lisa DeVille were great and the after show party and atmosphere was perfect so thanks for everyone who came down.
The gamble of hiring the string quintet definitely paid off and the songs sounded really beautiful. It really does finally seem like we're getting support from our home town now after years of being treated like the annoying younger brother. It's actually been quite nice being the underdog for so long 'cos we haven't had to rely on local press and clicks to champion us, I do honestly think we're one of the most hard working bands in town. Everything about friday was positive and was a real pleasure to play with Lisa and Fists. On Friday we played:

The Terrorist
I miss you cos it's monday
A little bit of home
I am the wind
Everything Beautiful reminds me of you
Be careful who you lend your heart to
Terry Steele
Merrow Song
Great having you around

Encore
She still loves you

After the after party I went home had one more drink and smoked some industrial strength weed. The latter was a mistake, despite being a former pot head in my younger years i very very rarely smoke weed anymore and with a belly full of booze and excitement from the nights goings on i teetered on the edge of a whitey before falling asleep, and just about managed to hold it together. Saturday me and the GF drank some wine and had a visit from my brother and a few friends, we also listened to an awful lot of early Suede. My biggest mistake of this weekend was eating some out of date bacon which despite being only a couple of days out of date decided to come back to haunt me yesterday morning with a lovely bout of some 24 hour food poisoning. I had to spend all day in bed feeling nauseous with only a lap top for company. I watched the Lukas Moodysson film "hole in my heart" which was nasty but effective. I think if you're going to make a film about the darker side of human existence then it should disturb and that's exactly what it did so well done Lukas, after that i needed to watch some old Motley Crue footage to get my head straight which is always enjoyable because i love Motley Crue. Next i watched 4 episodes of "Banged up abroad" then a documentary from the 90's about the Bosnian war, a few episodes of Ross Kemp on gangs and then a documentary on Bulgarian gypsies. Actually aside from the sickness a pretty decent day.

So that was it...my weekend and my monday. Today i feel a little better, have read a lot about the bot fly and am still hating winter. I've been writing songs on my piano too, they're more orchestral than anything i've written before and more uplifting, i need to find some subjects to write about now because i'm happy. I do think it's harder to write when you're feeling happy so i'm currently trying to write more fictional story based songs and trying to take on narratives that are a world away from what i am (see "i am the wind" as an example) i'm enjoying the challenge.
I have a real need to visit lots of places this year...wonder where I’ll end up...and i'm determined not to work in an office anymore, i just want to write kids books, and music.

In the next blog I'll announce our full tour details in the next few days for the next single.
We'll be doing mainly street gigs again.

Bye bye,

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Yeah...yeah...yeah

2010-01-07T05:30:00.001-08:00

So that was christmas done and gone and it went very quick. I actually had a good time this year apart from the usual sibling rivalry bullshit i have to go through every single time i go home and being told off for drinking too much (despite not even being drunk) but then again that's standard. So the usual family christmas then. It was good to get home for a couple of days and away from the mean streets of Nottingham...although a lot of the Kenilworth "youths" seem to now think they were raised in South Central by the way the skulk around and talk like they've spent the last 20 years in the state penitetiary for gang banging. I think selling a few eighths of soap bar at castle shouldn't automatically qualify you to walk around like Tupac and change the way your talk from a middle class warwickshire accent to that off a 17 year old St Anns crack dealer. It's hilarious to see these "youths" acting like they do. Starting fights in the Virgin and Castle in Kenilworth isn't exactly Britains Roughest Pubs now is it. It was also encouraging to see a road full of Kenilworth "youths" brawling in the street on Christmas morning too, they're almost certainly trying to toughen up in readiness for their next stink in county. Prison faces are earned so i think a good old fashioned street brawl on the mean streets of Kenilworth prior to sneaking in trying not to wake your mum is probably the closest a self confessed homie will come to lock down in the big K.

Christmas day was the usual fest of food, and drink and a good time.

Boxing day in Kenilworth sees one of the oddest things i've ever witnessed which is the annual duck race. The whole town gather at a glorified stream and race 1000 plastic ducks down it for a mile or so. The winner wins £100 and it costs £1 to buy a duck. My duck didn't win. It's up there with Morris dancing, chasing a cheese down a hill and a shin kicking contest for general british ecsentricy.

So that was Christmas. Overall it was good. I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of this week and weekend before the 2 week pre Rock City show monster slog of rehearsals. There is a hell of a lot to sort out mainly due to the string quartet we'll be playing with but i'm confident it's going to be a really great show.
I'm hoping i rediscover my writing spark soon again...i'm due another song. It's been 2 months since i've written anything i'd judge as worthy of playing to the boys. Mostly it's been piano and Uke stuff coming out of me in the last few months but nothing particularly striking to wrote home about...aw well i always get these fears and have done for the past 3 years.

It's been an interesting week or so...the whole of Britain seems to be welcoming the cold weather like it's the ushering in of a new ice age, i feel completely drained again and i was a victim of street crime. I went from relief (managed to smash one of the 4 muggers in the face with an umbrella and get away without them nicking my wallet, phone and girlfriends bag) to anger. I seriously would like to see these four little pricks raped. Imagine you're walking home about 11 o clock on a tuesday night, just you and your girl and 4 hooded little cock suckers think they have the right to steal your possesions. Anyway not going to let an attempted mugging ruin my mood, i'm in a good place at the moment.

Big news is that Everything beautiful reminds me of you is out finally on March 8th. There will be a much larger run of CD singles this time due to the selling out of the last two singles. We'll be definately selling advanced CDs singles at next fridays Rock City show on January 15th. I'm happy with how it sounds but it was definately the toughest recording we've done to date, felt like we'd been pushed hard with the arrangements. Like anything you've just finished i have no idea how it will be recieved.
We started rehearsals for the Rock City show on Monday, the quartet has now been beefed up to a quintet. So it's us and five of the best strings players around on stage together...it's ambitious but it's good to be ambitious. Overall it felt good to be back in the studio again together after a 6-7week hiatus but it's been a bit tough. First jam together sounded pretty good but we're obviously a little rusty...second Jam sucked balls even though we were tighter, the third one is tonight and i hope attitudes are more respectful and we can actually get down to playing and getting tight rather than discussing every small detail. I just can't seem to take any sort of conflict at the moment because thinking about it, that mugging has really dented my confidence. On the up score is sounding brilliant and I'm sure it's going to be a good show.

I hope to confirm the Rock City after show party venue tomorrow.

Sorry about my wank grammer i'm writing this in a hurry.

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Lovers and Clowns...

2009-12-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon,

It's been a bit of a whirlwind recently and i'm feeling really happy for the first time in ages. I think after Christmas i might give up getting really drunk...you see when i get really drunk i forget things, take stupid things, smoke too much, end up playing my own songs on the nearest intrument to me to whoever is willing or un willing to listen (horrible) and spend too much cash. I'm not saying give up booze totally, i just mean don't get tramp pissed anymore. I'll see how far i get after the christmas period. But it's a good thing to make these plans i think. Having said that the weekend i just had was a lot of fun. Had a house warming, bought a christmas tree and Miles and I were involved in the Dealmaker Christmas Carol in the centre of town...this was rather a flash mob style guerilla performance of 8 fellow singers and about a 100 strong choir singing an alternative christmas song to the tune of the 12 days of christmas. The lyrics were written to protest against our lovely and rather misguided Labour government, an odd experience but something that could only really take place in our times. I think this was definately worth while and organised to perfection. In fact a group of 100 or so singers holding candles decending on the city looked like a witch hunt or a scene from Gangs of New York.
Later on i had a house warming at mine and the GFs new place which was generally a lot of fun apart from i played my own songs again on the piano like some sort of drunken liberace without the skills, peaked a bit early on the booze, and had a hazy 2 hours or so in the middle with little memory (hope i didn't upset anyone during this period)
The rest of the party was cool and was cool to hear a gypsy swing band playing in my front room thanks to Rob and pals. That's basically it for this year...so i should really try and write some new year resolutions and or hopes for 2010.

1/ Try not to feel embarrassed for a whole year (the worst emotion)
2/ Not lose so many of my clothes and possesions
3/ England to win the world cup.
4/ Don't die.
5/ Learn the Violin.
6/ Get better on the piano.
7/ Aston Villa to qualify for the Champions league.
8/ Keep my girl happy
9/ Don't dress up like a wildthing and go shoplifting in the middle of the night in service stations.
10/ Actually 100% quit smoking.

I don't want much really.

Oh one final thing we have an unannounced show at the Central in Nottingham on January 23rd...we're headlining. So if you're about post Rock City please come and see us play again! I think it's been a good year overall, i've only flew off the rails on about 2 or 3 occassions which is good if you compare it to other years, and i just hope 2010 brings all the stuff that's been promised for a long time.

Happy Christmas

Adx

A Christmas message...

2009-12-18T03:11:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I suppose it's far enough into December to wish everyone a happy christmas. For the last couple of days i've been entombed in my house, feeling a bit rotten with the winter flu, a couple of days in the warm and i'm fine again and ready to enjoy the christmas festivities beginning tonight. One thing i wanted to comment on was a small creeping contempt from a few other Nottingham bands towards us in the local music press again. I really do not know where this all comes from having never slated any other musicians from Nottingham and always trying our best to be polite to anyone else we come across. It really is pathetic. All i can really say is that by continuing to slate us in a childish manner you only continue to give us a platform and to get our name more widely known. I refuse to lower myself to pointless, faceless mud slinging at other bands in this city, i'm not even going to name names. It's just a shame that this is still going on and something i thought was disappearing, we should all be pulling together to make this city the best it can be musically and supporting one another. So feel free to leave you're childish insults in response...i bet they'll be along the lines of "you're shit, you're arrogant, you're ginger" there you go i've done it for you, it might be better to spend your time writing songs, actually playing gigs, building a following, working hard and trying to bring some positivity. This is the problem with Nottingham, too many talkers and not enough doers.

Merry Christmas.

Adam

2009 - a winters tale.

2009-12-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a strange old year really...Ricky left the band last November and was replaced by Ben, who stuck with us and worked really hard before leaving the band in the summer...despite all his effort he just wasn't really into our musical direction which is completly fair enough...more of a D & B and punk at heart. Jamie joined and slotted in perfectly.
This year we released 2 critically acclaimed singles, did a killer tour for The Terrorist, played a few big festivals, got semi courted by most of the big labels, turned down crap publishing deals and recruited Jamie and Rob. There has also been a lot of booze and strange substances consumed as well, overall it's been a good year and we've got really tight. In fact the first year as a band where we've managed to stop being naive and stick with honest management and a small label that actually lets us do what we want (including art work and videos) 2010 is looking good and it makes such a difference to have people around us we can trust rather than fat bullshitters with dodgy stomachs who make us release shit records with football references in the title...uhhh....that song still makes me shudder. We finish this year with a positive feeling in our bones and as this weekend sees our last shows of the year i thought i'd do a run down!

Best gig watched - Blur Hyde Park

Favourite band played with - Kabeedies/Ash

Favourite Album - Pram Town - Darren Hayman

Favourite Dangerous gig - Splendour Festival

Favourite Takeaway gig - Sheffield/Stratford

Oddest moment - Randomly going to Bahrain to sing session stuff/playing in the same band as Fruitbat from Carter USM

Regrets - Making a drunken prat out of myself on more than 3 occassions. Lexico splitting up. Missing Darren Hayman live AGAIN!

Tips for 2010 - It's really nice to Marina (Marina and the Diamonds) finally getting the credit she deserves. If you remember i blogged about her a couple of years ago after she played only her second gig which was with us at the Rhythm Factory. She was brilliant then and really nice. We spent a whisky fuelled evening with her and she came to see us play at a shockingly bad Purple Turtle show in Camden where we were far too drunk to play properly. I hope she gets all the success she deserves...it's certainly looking good. I also hope Andy Wright (wsuor) gets bigger than Nottingham...he's just so talented and by far my favourite artist in town. Also Gregor and the Martians I love! and not just because the talented Mr Walker plays in the band. I'm really excited for the new Los Campesinos album too. Finally... avoid "Meow Meow" it's bad for you!

I need to get out of here! Some wine at rehearsal tonight i think.

Oh and one thing i really owt to ask is this:
Does anyone else think grunge music is generally a bit shit? This seems to always encourage lively debate amongst people of a certain age...but i'm gonna put it out there, Grunge is shit.

I also think Paul Weller (post Jam) is shit and also pears. I don't think i've ever met anyone who generally likes pears.
More shit things are:

Going to work, being cold, slugs, fat people, people shouting "ginger cunt" at me from cars and Gary Wilmot.

Thanks,

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Cardboard headman and the winter party.

2009-12-08T04:22:00.000-08:00

Winter was a particularly difficult time for Cardboard head man, the chatter of the thrush, the gargle of the starlings and the scratching of the feared grey squirrel had long sauntered off into the zephyr filled horizon.

“What will I do with my winter?” he thought to himself.
“What will I do?”

Having woken up early one morning in late November due a particularly ferocious whistling wind Cardboard head man stumbled upon an idea to fill his lonely head and his lonelier tree.

“If I can’t have any real friends over I shall make my own and have a party” he pondered.

Trying hard not to get damp, Cardboard head man began fashioning a whole host of guests he could invite.

There was Peter Van Bommel a dutch explorer made from beech leaves and frozen blue berries, Margaret Pennywhistle an affluent young photographer made from a chickens funny bone, Candy Ramos the salsa teacher fashioned out of spiders webs and a pencil and finally the guest of honour Alan Walker a brave American astronaut made from snail shells and blackberries.

“This is going to be one hell of a party” Cardboardhead man said out load.
“A real cracker”

As the guests began to arrive they were greeted with a glass of cuckoo spit and honey, a real delicacy in the forest and something cardboard head man saved for only his favourite guests.

“This is the real stuff” said Peter Van Bommel
“A really really really splendid explosion of taste that kisses my pallet like buttery furnace of joy”

“Not a problem my friend” replied Cardboard head man.

About an hour or so into the party with music swinging from the foundations, Candy Ramos wondered in.

“Wanna dance?” she asked Cardboard head man

“I dunno, I don’t think I can” he replied.

“Come on I’ll show you” she smiled.

Taking him by the hand Candy Ramos twirled him round and back again in time to the beats of the music.

“We’re dancing” Cardboard head man exclaimed.
“We’re dancing”

This was the first time Cardboard head man had ever danced and he was enjoying it in fact he was a big ball of glee.

As the song reached its climax Candy did a big jumping spin and finished with the splits. Everyone clapped and Cardboard head man smiled like a fantastic happy person.

“I’m proud I’ve pulled this off” he thought.
“This really is the party of the century”

Just as the party was getting into full swing the guest of honour arrived; Alan Walker.
Cardboard head man felt slightly nervous, he’d never met an astronaut before and this would be his big chance to find out whether or not it rained in space.

“Hhhhhello Aaaaallllannn” he said
“Welcome to my humble home, tell me what does it take to be an astronaut?”

Alan replied: “Well…to be an astronaut you need to be above all fit, brave and have a real sense of adventure, that way you’ll be ready for anything”

Cardboard head man pondered for a small moment before thinking: “I have all those attributes”

“Do you think I could be an Astronaut?” he enquired.

“Yes…I think you could”

As the evening continued Alan and Cardboard head man spoke at length about the wonders of space and this filled Cardboard head man with a joyful commotion. Alan told stories of moon merrows, beautiful shelly coats and a friendly wulvers all of which he’d meet on his travels. This sounded like a perfect dream to cardboard head man and he promised himself he would fulfil his dreams of one day reaching space.

Meanwhile Margaret Pennywhistle and Peter Van Bommel were getting on famously, dancing around the tree, laughing like children and slurping like gannets.

“Great party” Margaret said before launching herself into a dozy doe.
“I’ll shall come again”

This line filled Cardboard head man with happiness. He didn’t get many visitors and the visitors who did visit rarely came back. Not even the intrepid Crow he had helped in the summer.

“Thanks Margaret, that’s really made my winter”

The party finally came to a close around mid-night and the guests left, Cardboard head man was full of ideas and excitement about becoming an astronaut. Then it dawned on him…

“Cobble sticks, I didn’t ask Alan if it rained in space” he thought annoyed with himself.
“That’s set me back at least another few weeks, Alan’s off to the moon on Tuesday and I won’t have chance to ask him now”
“Drat”

“I know what I’ll do” he thought
“I’ll have another party and invite Alan again, then I can ask him”

As Cardboard head man drifted off to sleep that night he dreamt of friendly wulvers, moon merrows and beautiful shelly coats.

“Maybe I will make it to space” he thought
“Maybe just maybe”

Prittle Prattle

2009-12-08T04:21:00.001-08:00

'Ello!

After a mere 1 hour sleep after consuming far too many odd substances on Friday night i was awoken to the prattle of a car engine outside my bedroom window, threw on the nearest clothes and pelted it to stratford complete with the disgruntled faces of my band mates... i over slept you see. Anyway all was soon forgotten as we made it to Shakespeares own country before 9:30am and proceeded (complete with wine in coffee cups) to play a very very enjoyable 4-5 hour set on the streets of ye olde dainty england. This was a particularly good day as we haevn't played any street gigs for a while now and we got to try out some new songs which went down particluarly well.

That's basically it regarding ze Dangerous of late...new single is finshed and being mastered, art work is being down tonight and as you know our next big uber gig is Rock City on January 15th with Fists and Lisa D'Ville.
Tickts on sale now! This is a really great line-up if you ask me.

Oh and we'll be back in Stratford this weekend again...saturday and sunday.

That's all for now, we're kind of winding down for Christmas...

I'll do my usual lists of the year in a week or so. So much has happened and it's good to reflect sometimes.

Ad.

Rock City tickets on sale now!!! Friday January 15th 2010

2009-12-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

Tickets for our show at Nottingham Rock City on January 15th 2010 are now on sale and available from the following vendors listed below or from the Rock City's box office. We've tried to keep the price to an utter minimum so £5 (plus evil booking fee) will get you a gig and a ticket to the after show party.

This will be a very very special show because we've hired a string quartet to play with us for one night only and we will be selling limited edition numbered (150) CD singles of "Everything beautiful reminds me of you" at the gig a full month before it comes out in the shops.

We will announce the very excellent support bands and after show party venue very very soon, you won't be disappointed. In the meantime tell all your friends, bring your enemies and purchase a ticket. Our last show at Rock City sold out so i'd grab a ticket sooner rather than later.

Thanks,

Ad

http://www.seetickets.com/see/price.asp?filler3=id1safe&code=442904
http://www.gigantic.com/gigantic/search.aspx?mp_inifilter=c&d=
http://www.aloud.com/tickets/captain+dangerous
http://www.nme.com/tickets/artist/captain-dangerous

Guess who's back...?

2009-12-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon,

It's been a very busy week or so for me...mainly been trying to move house which has pretty much destroyed my ability to stay awake, trying to finish off the mixing the single and planning the last few dates before christmas which incidently are this saturday (Sheffield) next Saturday (Stratford) and next Sunday (Stratford) we haven't done any busking gigs for a little while so thought we'd squeeze a few more in before christmas. I'm honestly feeling so tired and burnt out again but a few more days and i can finally chill out. The single is sounding great. Well i think it definately sounds like a Captain Dangerous records now anyway. This single has honestly been a killer to record mainly due to struggling with the vocals and really not knowing what sounds good or bad...anyway it's signed off and with Dallas Simpson for Mastering. He's very good so i'm confident of the results. This record will definately be ready and on sale (advanced copies don't you know) at the Rock City show on January 15th, i'm still waiting on confirmation for the possible support band and hope they can make it because this band are ace. The string quartet is a definate goer to play with us and we're doing our very best to keep the tickets down to the most minimum possible price. Currently between 5-7quid...will confirm when in finally know.
Regarding the next label we go with it's still all under discussion but i can definately confirm there will at least one more single out through Danqua after "Everything Beautiful..." and it will be "I am the wind" so that's where we are at the end of 2009. Lots to look forward to.

Oh and my new place has a piano in it...i'm very happy about that. I think it'll take about 3 months to get up to speed again.

Finally...about a year and a bit ago i started to write kids stories and i thought i'd print them up here again for your reading pleasure. Please remember these stories haven't been proof read, were often written in a hurry, and my grammer is worse than a man without eyes. I'll stick a few up as the week goes on. This is the first one...not the best but sets up who "cardboard headman" is.

Cheers,

Ad

Cardboard head man and the Intrepid Crow.

Cardboard head man was a strange little man who lived inside the cut out bit of a big tree in the middle of a forest, next to a fence. He hardly ever left because he feared above all things, the retched rain. How the rain used to pour and how he used to cry.

Cardboard head man dreamt of one day leaving the forest and becoming an astronaut but was always troubled by the question of whether it rained in space. To combat his fears cardboard head man used to make up stories about space stations and flying machines, Cardboard head man was lonely you see and longed for a friend. Visitors were reserved for special occasions.

One day after a particularly lengthy downpour an intrepid crow wandered into the tree and began to talk at a very fast pace almost frantic.

“I’m injured” said the crow.
“I wonder if you could help”

Cardboard head man was startled as this was the first visitor he had had in at least 2 months.

“How can I be of service?” he answered in a rather nervous hushed tone.

“It’s my leg” Said the Crow…
”I think it’s broken, I was wondering if you could go to my nest and tell my husband to rescue me, he won’t mind just tell him I sent you”

“Bbbbbuttttt what if it rains” an increasingly nervous Cardboard head man said.

“It won’t rain…and…well…I’m scared…I’m scared I won’t be able to fly up to my nest again without my leg in full working order, who will feed my chicks?” The tearful crow responded.

“Ok, I’ll go” Cardboard head man said.

After a few directions and nip of Irish scotch and many deep breaths Cardboard head man began his journey. He tip toed out of the tree for the first time in a long time, looked left past the fence, beyond the shinning glen and put his first cardboard foot onto the soft forest floor. He wasn’t comfortable and was absolutely terrified that a summer shower would come and soak his body to within an inch of its life. This wasn’t going to be easy he thought to himself.

After walking for what seemed an age Cardboard head man finally reached an old tired looking weeping willow tree, peered upwards and saw a family of worried looking Crows.

“Excuse me, Excuse me” shouted cardboard head man

“It’s your wife, sh..she’s injured, if you come with me I’ll take you to her”

“Who goes there” shouted back an angry sounding Alpha Male Crow

“It’s me Cardboard head man, I live by the fence, next to the shinning glen, beyond the beech trees just past Bodach alley. You’re wife is safe but injured and resting within my tree, she wants you to rescue her”

“I will come right away” said the now friendly yet concerned crow.

Cardboard head man clambered aboard the Crow and they flew back to Cardboard head mans tree. Inside the injured crow was weeping like a painful break-up.

“You brought help” she sighed through a tear stained pallet.
“How will I ever repay you?”

“Just be my friend” said Cardboard head man
“And visit me when you’re better”

With that the large Alpha Crow shunted the injured Crow on to his furrowed back and flew her back to the safety of the nest for some well earned rest. In a strange round about way Cardboard head man wished the injured crow was still injured sitting in his tree that way he wouldn’t be so lonely then. One things for sure though, he wasn’t as scared of the rain as before and his dreams of becoming and astronaut we’re still very much alive.

“Maybe I’ll have a water proof space suit” Cardboard head man thought to himself.

Maybe…just maybe”

The dream was alive...

THE END

Banged up abroad

2009-11-24T01:58:00.001-08:00

Morning...

Thanks to everyone who came to see us at Wandsworth Palais on Saturday.
It was a really great venue to play in and i think the sound was especially great...probably my favourite gig we've since Splendour festival. Slight shame one of my guitars decided to pack in during Merrow Song but it was all good. Always good to be heckled by a support band too (rock and roll cliches don't die do they) shame cos they were great. After the gig i got stoned and went home. It was good to catch up with some old friends on saturday and my brother.

We played:

The Terrorist
Miss you cos it's monday
A little bit of home
Everything Beautiful reminds me of you
I am the wind
Merrow song
Great having you around

Something very strange happened yesterday in that there was an internet rumour that i was in jail. Apparently somebody had then emailed our manager to find out the latest and i received a panic stricken phone call at 11 last night. This is really quite hilarious so for the record i am not in jail, or banged up, or making a shank to stick one of the lags over a snout debt.

Anyway this pretty much brings an end to our gigs for 2009...it's been very very busy and we need a rest and i need to move house. I've also aquired a piano.
We'll be doing a couple of street gigs in December but until Rock City (Jan 15th) that's it.
I'd imagine we'll be doing our next load of gigs around the next single release on February 1st and obviously promoting heavily. We're in the final mixing stages of the next single and it's sounding great and advanced limited edition singles will be available at the Rock City gig. In fact more mixing tonight. We've been offered some very exciting support slots next year and i'll announce them when i'm allowed along with our other plans.

Oh and get well soon Darren Hayman...shame about your kicking in Nottingham. I've never really liked him that much as a person when i've met him at gigs but nobody deserves an unprovoked beating...so i hope he makes a full recovery soon.

Not long till christmas now...that's it for now apart from check the band "Gregor and the martians" that's my advice and i can't stop watching "Banged up abroad"

Winner,

adx

I'll pray for you my darling...

2009-11-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

I've been really lazy recently with updating this blog so for that I’m sorry...I'm feeling good at the moment though and in a very positive frame of mind. Just suffering some crushing mouth pain as a result of a tooth extraction last Thursday.
The dentist took an hour to rench out my tooth and I feel like somebody has carved a arse hole into my gum and used a 10 inch dildo on me. I'm very soar and the combination of codeine, paracetamol and Ibuprofen is making me feel really sick.
I shouldn't moan...apparently it's very unattractive.

A few quick bits...The release of "Everything Beautiful" has been put back until January 18th and it gives us just enough time to get it all finished. Although it's starting to sound good this has been a difficult single to record. Vocal wise I’m just not sure what style to sing in and we have done many retakes in different octaves. But now we're at the mixing stage and with a bit more time it's going to sound great...I always find recording a bit of an ordeal anyway, I tend to get bored very quickly and want to move on to something else. As a result the Rock city show has been shifted back 'till January 15th. I'm still trying to confirm some wonderful support act to play with us.
The single will be backed with "Great having you around" which has somehow managed to sound a bit Jesus and the Mary chain but more poppy. I think I like it anyway. Anyway this single will be out digitally and on limited edition CD format of 150 copies...I’m just getting the art work together now.

The next single after everything beautiful will be "I am the wind" which will be out in March.
After that we're going to have to decide how we'll release records going forward.
We're currently in discussion with a few of the big boys so lets see if we manage to jump over to one of them. It's all very much up in the air at the moment and i can't predict what will happen other than the fact there is chatter. 2010 could be a very interesting year. Just have to wait and see.

I haven't actually written since our cafe de Paris gig last Friday which despite the smallish crowd it was a really good show. Rob played with us again on violin and we played "I am the wind" last. As always with writing new songs that I rate I get an enormous sense of relief, I think most writers worry that the last thing they write might be their last. I'm actually really happy at the moment and about to move in with my GF so I’m hoping I find the time to keep writing.
I've already insisted on a piano so I’m on the look out for one. It feels now that Jamie has fitted in and we're tight again so we I can concentrate on writing again and getting better.

The night after Cafe De Paris we played on the Spooky bus which was "I'm not from London’s" brain child. This was basically a London bus that drove around Nottingham dropping people off at various points with us playing on it.
Despite it not really going to plan I had fun and we played well and partied afterwards which was a lot of fun.

Next gig is this Friday at The Jam Cafe in Nottingham...this is completely free so please come down. We still have a few limited edition CDs single left of "i miss you cos it's Monday" as with the Terrorist we're expecting these to sell out so grab one quick.

Don't forget if you're in London next Saturday come and see us at "punk" at Wandsworth Palais. This will be an awesome night...it's another Micky P promoted show so I’m expecting a good night.

More studio time tonight...i have to sing despite my self pitying tooth ache. Bit of codeine should do the trick.

All the best!

Adx

Why so sad...?

2009-10-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hello from a really irritable feeling me.

Despite the great weekend that involved lots of drinking, eating, hanging out with my GF, lots of music and an especially fun show at the hockley hustle i feel like a wave of doom has washed over me even 3 days after the end of the partying. I get really annoyed with human brains sometimes...how can you feel mentally like such a piece of shit after a good time?

This is just a quick one really.

Just to say thanks for everyone who watched us on Sunday at the Hockley Hustle. Shaws was so busy people were getting turned away at the door. It felt like there was a real air of anticipation in the room before we played and it felt great so thank you. Also cheers to Rob for Synth and Violin work. We even aired a completely new song. I managed to nearly break my ankle jumping from the stage and chipped a front tooth but it was worth it!

The set was something like this:

The Terrorist
I miss you cos it's Monday
A little bit of home
Everything Beautiful reminds me of you
Merrow song
I am the wind (NEW SONG!!!!!)
She still loves you
Great having you around

I think i missed one song out...sorry boys and girls.

Right must go...promise to be more cheery next time.

See you over the weekend at Cafe De Paris (London) on friday and the ghost bus tour in Nottingham on Saturday.

I finally got to see Los Campesinos on Wednesday last who were brilliant and i might go and watch Darren Hayman a week friday too if my dentistry doesn't rinse me too much! Won't bother meeting him though he doesn't like me from what i gather and well i don't really like him much from past meetings but he is a musical genius and that's what matters. I bet Joseph and his amazing technicolor dream coat wasn't a very nice bloke either. I bet Joseph and his amazing technicolor dream coat was a right womanizer down the pharaoh's house and probably had a proper ego. Why am i comparing Joseph to Darren? I don't know.

Sorry about the writing it's not very sharp. I'm tired.

The end.

Bye,

Adam

Verbal!

2009-10-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday:

I woke up this morning feeling lonely and cold which is not the best way to start the day but overall I feel happy at the moment. I’m preparing for a complete lack of sleep now and pretty much all the way up until December. We have a mere 2 and a bit weeks to reach the deadline for the next single and get it all recorded, mixed and b-sided, then promo and gigs. I haven’t even thought about art work yet but the sessions are going well. We’ve gone for a different recording approach this time and enlisted the help of a really good and patient producer…these sessions have been split between our rehearsal space and the home studio. The drums are already sounding massive. I just really really hope we don’t lose the slightly charming lo-fi edge that have been apparent in our previous recordings. So far Drums, Bass, and Guitars are already done on both “Everything Beautiful reminds me of you” and “Great having you around” tonight it’s a big old vocal session. I hope my throat picks up; it’s a bit horse at the moment. I have to be honest and I’ve said it before I really don’t enjoy recording that much…I’ve got a short attention span you see, like a fish made of gold.

We played an odd couple of gigs over the weekend. Friday was definitely a tough crowd but pretty cool and Saturday was a more relaxed party type of gig. We’d all had a skin full of wine but not so much it affected the performance.

Fridays gig was at the Nottingham beer festival and we’d made the mistake of going for a stripped down performance rather than a full band thingy. To be honest the crowd was too big and in too much of an open space to 100% pull it off. We really should have insisted on going for a full band set. I think we won the crowd over eventually despite the boozed up nature of the collective audience. It was a toughie as we were sandwiched between two covers bands. The latter being a bunch of total cunts. In fact the ageing guitarist really thought he was in the Rolling Stones by the way he was acting and with his threat of “punching our lights out” apparently because we were taking our time clearing the stage (despite the first band running over and therefore causing the timings to overrun) He really made himself look like a twat particularly after Miles quickly returned the threat and he walked off head hung low. Jamie also made me laugh by wishing him luck in not “breaking a hip” It was good to see him put in his place but what a bell end.
One thing about this gig was the fact that there was a woman on stage lip reading and doing sign language for the deaf audience. Odd.
Post gig we went back to my friend’s house, ate some amazing steaks, drank loads of wine and smoked some weed. It was a really good night.

Saturday was a great day. I spent all day with my GF slept late and slowly drank wine all afternoon and listened to music. Then off to sound check about 6ish.
It was a very enjoyable show despite the broken mic stands. We had an impromptu gathering at my friends restaurant after works…more wine. Good weekend.

There’s going to be a single launch party for “everything beautiful” this will be in mid December and is almost confirmed and at Rock City. We’ll also be throwing an after party at a venue somewhere in the city and entrance to this will be part of the entrance fee. We’ll do our best to keep it as cheap as possible and good value.
I’m currently trying to confirm a very exciting second band to play with us too.
This will be a really good night and we will definitely be bringing some extra musicians to play with us as well. For now pencil in December 11th. I’ll try and confirm this bad boy this week as well as the other band that I’ve got in mind to play with us.

Oh and we’ve confirmed a return Jam Café gig on November 13th as well as a new date at Wandsworth Palais (please check the my space for the confirmed date)

Wed:
Recording went ok last night although I was in pretty poor voice, I’ve got a bit of a cold you see. Anyway we managed to get the vocals on Great having you around done but I still need to write a monologue for the ending.
Will attempt to nail Everything Beautiful tonight and act with more enthusiasm than last night. I’m tired and in a bad mood today. Miss me woman and my sleep. It was another long day yesterday.
Looking forward to the weekend to totally relax. I’m really desperate to work on the new songs too. It’s that short attention span of mine again.
I think art work this time will take a Royal Blue colour scheme; best get cracking on that and think about the video as well.

I’ll be more cheery next post, just tired.

Adx

I've got 21 mintues to go...oxide calling.

2009-10-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

I actually have nothing in particular to write today I just seem to found myself with a spare 20 minutes, my motivation has all but dried up so I think a few minutes of pointless writing will do the trick.
The best thing that happened to me this week is that I’ve found myself a flat. Yes I’m going solo into a world of naked sofa wanks (if i really want to - just because I can!) cooking what I want, watching what I want and probably into a small little pit of occasional loneliness. It feels exciting and it means I can spread my shit (not literally) about wherever i want...and hopefully I’ll be able to write more as well.
I always get really self-conscious trying to write songs when i know there's people in the house...I think this comes from a hatred of people getting guitars out at parties and subjecting those sat around to their terrible songs. I shouldn't really moan about this because when very very pissed I’ve often subjected those sat around at parties to terrible versions of my own songs too. It's a strange feeling waking up in the morning knowing you've subjected people around you to your own songs even if they haven't asked to hear them.
It's not cool and something I hate doing but seem to do anyway. I think getting a guitar out at a party is basically like getting your knob out and asking the collective uncaptivated audience to sit and watch you humiliate yourself through continuous gravy strokes that never quite reach orgasm. It's like pissing with your pants on. Unsatisfying for all. You can always see the potential knob shakers in the room, waiting patiently for enough booze to kick in before asking the party thrower: "excuse me mate, can I have a quick go on your guitar?" you know it will probably start with a standard version of "cum as you are" before nose diving into the inevitable "i wrote this one myself" moment. Anyway i can't complain because I’ve got my metaphorical cock out on more than one occasion and am always left unsatisfied by the outcome. The moral of the story is think before you wank.

The End,

Thanks,

Ad (that killed 15 minutes)

Ghost!

2009-10-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon…it’s been another hectic few weeks in campo dangerouso.
I miss you cos it’s monday has been released as a single and has been pretty acclaimed in the press. A lot of these rags seem to be tipping us for great things which is rather exciting, There’s a selection of reviews knocking about on our website.

I have said before that I try not to read reviews but I think I just can’t help it. I’m nosey and want people to like me; this is probably because I’m from a broken home.

We have started recording the next single which is due out in the 2nd week of December (just waiting for the confirmation date from Danqua) This is the first time we’ve recorded anything with Jamie and the first sessions since the “House that Jack Hayter Built” this time last year. It’s the right time to do new songs and re visit older ones. The next single will be “Everything beautiful reminds me of you” a title nicked from Tim Ten yens album of the same name, I really liked the title so I wrote a song by the same name. It’s as simple as that.
We’re in the early stages of organising a Christmas Party probably to be held at Rock City…I will let you know when I know. This will be great as we’ll be able to pick the line-up. I know who I’ve got in mind to play with us…!

This will be backed by a revisited version of “Great having you around” which seems to be developing into a big wall of sound type thing. I knew there must have been a reason why Miles has such a big box of pedals when he plays, I thought they were just for show but then again what do I know. I have no idea about guitar FXs apart from my new amp has an inbuilt loop pedal which I can’t use. It’s probably wasted on me.

We started the new sessions on Saturday night and it went pretty smoothly and felt relaxed. I little drop of wine, a few beers, 5 cigarettes and a few takes and we got what we wanted down. I’ve got a good feeling about these songs.

CD singles of “The Terrorist” have no sold out so if you still wish to buy a copy you best bet is ebay or if you wish to download it I-Tunes.

CD singles for “I miss you cos it’s monday” are still available. I think they’re limited to 150 so be quick if you want one. We should have some copies available to buy at this weekends gigs. We’re expecting these to sell out pretty fast so get one while you can.

Few more quick updates/Confirmations regarding gigs this weekend:

Friday 9th Oct – Nottingham Castle (beer festival)
Saturday 10th Oct – Chameleon arts café (Nottingham)

Umm…they’re happening.

No more really excitingly wild stories to report this time…apart from I’ve got myself a brand new girlfriend. This is good and I’m excited.

See you at the weekend gigs then…

Adx

Safety in numbers/danger in words

2009-09-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Good morning.

What a bloody hectic but great weekend. I've caught up on sleep enough now to write about it.

I don't know if i mentioned before but I was asked to help out a couple of my friends on a photographic exhibition and inadvertently ended being one of the models for some of the pics. Anyway i turns out they used my face and hands in the final exhibition in 4 of the 7 chosen pictures. As a result i was invited to the launch party in Shoreditch on Friday.
What i didn't realize was that this exhibition was such a big deal and part of the designers block thing taking place at Earls Court this week. Anyway there were various fashion folks, models, a cat walk show, free pims and umm...Ok magazine covering it. Not what I’d expected but it was actually really fun. Having walked in and seen a massive portrait of my face hanging on the wall in a gold frame i decided the best option was to nip outside for most of the night, drink as much pimms as possible and smoke until my lungs bled. It was a really good night and i think the whole thing was a success and hopefully the start of bigger things for my friend. Also and quite hilariously Ok magazine took my picture.
Can you imagine if my mugs in OK magazine next month?
I honestly don't know how i get myself into these situations sometimes.
I spent the rest of my night drinking wine and had a really great time.

Feeling slightly tired (in fact very) on Saturday morning I set off to meet my friend who was driving us home. There’s something really immense about walking round London in the morning sunshine still slightly pissed in search of breakfast. I think a bacon roll from a London cafe is exactly what's needed sometimes. Managed to get back to Nottingham where I literally jumped into another car and was driven to Banbury and by this point i was starting feel delirious with tiredness. Probably not the best mind set to play a radio session and do an interview. Anyway Miles did most of the talking and i think the playing part went pretty well. The interviewer wasn't the finest but that's the way things go sometimes. I'm still not completely used to talking to journalists and often do come across as a ball bag. I just think i need to stop cracking jokes.
Keep an ear out for the session anyway...I’ll do a pod cast or something when it's done. There's a very interesting version of No good times intended we performed with Ukes.
On Saturday night Marks parents cooked the whole band an amazing feast in Kenilworth and then it was off to the pub for some drinks and for me bed (the others continued partying elsewhere) Good times.
Sunday we woke up still tired and headed to trusty Stratford to earn some dollars to pay the man and continue promoting the next single (out next Monday people!) We did a full takeaway busking style show with an extra Violin...i think it was one of the best takeaway shows we've done. Sunday afternoon i headed back to Nottingham, had a couple of Guniness' in the sun and collapsed about ten after a really great but hectic weekend.
I'm talking to the evening post in a bit and will do my up most to not do any silly accents or jokes...lots more press this week too. I do like doing interviews.
Roll on this weekend...! I'm feeling good this week.
Adx

Captain Redbeard

2009-09-17T07:50:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that still in this day and age it seems socially acceptable to call a red haired person a name because of the colour of their hair. Why in so many corners of the world is red hair celebrated and in "multi cultured" Britain is it constantly berated. When somebody gives me abuse about being a red head i take it as a direct insult to my heritage and my family. I can't believe this is still allowed. I honestly find it disgusting that abuse in such spiteful and ignorant tones is not seen in the same light as the N or P words. It's fucking racism and seems to be the only form of acceptable racism alive and kicking in the UK today.
Last night I was abused openly in a chip shop by a pissed up girl for no reason. The fact that a trigger reflex somewhere in this girls brain ticked over and thought it fine to randomly abuse me just shows how ingrained in British culture it is to feel it fine. It's not a joke.
And on responding to this ignorant bitches comments (admittedly with bite) I was branded a trouble maker and looked at with distain by my own friends for causing trouble. I felt like i was pushed to embarrass myself and made to feel isolated. Bloody arguing in a chip shop...how bloody British is that. Britain is shit sometimes.

Anyway...i got a copy of that interview we did. We're on the cover. It's pretty funny but some stuff was taken out of context plus sarcasm, and play acting weren't printed as such especially the stuff about prostitution. I have nothing but sympathy for those caught up in prostitution and have memories now of doing an impression of a Victorian pimp (as you do) so they're weren't my comments but those of a character (that sounds weird doesn't it, maybe i should start referring to myself in the third person like Kayne West or the Rock while I’m at it)
It's all a learning curve though and I should know by now that journalists don't do context or jovial natured off the cuff sarcasm. Oh well... apart from that i think it was a good, honest interview and i was knackered and jet lagged when I did it. I think if people take stuff the wrong way then they can. No doubt it'll wind some corners of Nottingham up the wrong way but my conscience is clear.

That's it really. Nothing more to say to be honest. I'm excited about going to London tomorrow...I’m gonna put on my best suit and gel my hair.

Kind regards,

ad

Panda eyed

2009-09-16T08:56:00.001-07:00

I'm assuming these blogs are getting a bit samey at the moment but i do feel like it's my civic duty to write about every gig we do because i've heard on the grapevine that a fair few people now read this here bloggy and even (coughs...) look forward to it.
I know i for one got a bit hooked on benni beards blog until he unkindly started to not write them. Boo Hoo! Write more blogs Ben i bloody miss them! They get me through the week in the same way i wait with baited breath for holy moly and popbitch every Thursday and Friday. I need them!!

I'm feeling upbeat today. This is a good thing.

So i suppose i should come clean about our drummer situation. You may have noticed that we've been playing with a mystery man on the drums for the past 2 shows. This is because Ben has left Captain Dangerous to pursue other dreams and been replaced with a guy called Jamie who is doing just fine. So it's business as usual... that's about it really. It's shame Ben had to leave but it was a decision out of our hands and we've got to respect his wishes and wish him luck. So...Ben Good Luck and Jamie Welcome!
It's always quite strange playing with a new band member and takes time...i would liken it almost to sleeping with someone new for the first time after splitting up with a long term girlfriend...exciting but also a little bit strange. For the record none of us were having sex with Ben nor are any of us planning to have it off with Jamie and well the deciding factor is none of us are gay. I wonder which one i'd chose if i was though. Maybe it's time to shut up now.

Right so...

Saturdays gig was a right old raucous affair but then again that's Loggerheads for you. The sound wasn't the best to be honest but that's the lay out of the place and you can rarely hear vocals. I do like the atmosphere in loggerheads though and we had a sizable and from what i gather drunken crowd to contend with. This was a very energetic gig and as we only had a 20 minute slot i thought we might as well burn ourselves out within the first 2 songs. one big shitter was going through 3 separate guitars in 6 songs. String snappage and broken straps galore! All good fun at the fair though. This gig was being filmed for a future documentary about Nottingham music so keep your eyes peeled.

We played:

The Terrorist
Miss you cos it's monday
Terry Steele
God Exists
She still loves you
Merrow Song

I've got more gigs to announce in the next week including dates a big date at Cafe de Paris (London) before the end of the year. We're also in discussions with lots our people about various very exciting things. I have to say that "these people" are really making us wait but i hope i can confirm stuff very soon. I feel like we've been waiting 6 months for a first kiss with a woman who is sending out all the right signals (i seem to be loving the sexual metaphors today)

One final thing...there are literally about 25 copies of the Terrorist CD singles left and they're selling like hot dogs in a famine. Once these are sold there will be no more and they will forever doomed to the vaults of limited edition rarities. So i urge you if you want one now is the time to order (from our website)

Feeling Icke Icke Icke!

2009-09-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

I’m in a much better frame of mind now! And feel back to my old self.
I seemed to have been crashing a bit recently both mentally and physically. It’s just being too busy and having hardly any sleep consistently for the last few months. I know when it’s coming and it’s a result of having glandular fever as a teenager. Every time I’m run down I get the symptoms again with particular bite for a about 4-5 days. My own father actually asked me if I was a drug addict that’s how shit I’ve felt recently. I must have looked like a junkie. Luckily for me I don’t smoke the horse apart from when I’m visiting the odd opium den, absinthe and poetry in hand and occasionally when I’m strolling round Victorian London.
Also can’t really be arsed worrying about being let down by folks anymore. It’s just people show their true colours sometimes and sometimes those colours aren’t what you hoped they’d be. It doesn’t matter in the big scheme.
I think I went through a little period of depression there for a few months but I’ve come out the other side thankfully.
I had a bloody splendid weekend in London and Sheffield. Café de Paris is one of my favourite places I’ve ever played in…it felt like walking into the Moulin Rogue complete with its hint of debauchery and a general feeling of mischief about the place.
Unfortunately we arrived late for sound check which always places me in a stressed mood so I decided I had to un do all my good work and buy some fags…this de-stressed me almost instantly…the gig itself was acoustic but went great. It’s the first time we’ve ever taken our “takeaway” sound and electrified it up. I think it worked very well.
I’m going to say it Café De Paris is my favourite venue we’ve ever played.

Afterwards the gig I milled around with some great company drank a little bit of wine and then swanned off back to Nottingham for a 4 hours sleep before waking up for Sheffield at 8 for a full day of busking.
Great fleeting visit to London. I felt really happy for the first time in ages….
Busking in Sheffield was a lot of fun and we pretty much sold out of the remaining CD singles of “The Terrorist” I think there’s about 25 left now in the whole world so if you want a copy be quick. We’ll be doing the same with the “Miss you cos it’s Monday” a limited run of 150 CDs.

Keep an eye out for Night Flight magazine out this Friday. We’re on the cover…I’ll be honest I’m a bit concerned about the interview because I was tired and jet lagged from Bahrain when I did it and I can’t really remember what I said apart from the fact I was a bit loose tongued and ranty. Having said that if you rant at a journalist you’ve got to expect them to print it…ah well I’m sure www.whatabunchofcunts.com will have a field day and probably call me an arrogant ginger twat or something. Maybe they’ll even say something really biting like my band is shit before retreating to the safety of cyberspace.
Who knows…? Who knows…?

I’ve been reading about David Icke recently.
I wonder if Miles is a shape shifting Reptilian Humanoid. Not sure if I want to find out. I don’t particularly want the global elite to bump me off like they did to Jim Morrison when he found out now do I? Nice one Dave…

“You don’t comb the mirror you comb your hair and the mirror changes”

See you on Saturday at Loggerheads…FREE GIG!!!!! FREE GIG!!!!!

adx

Just...

2009-09-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon. How are you all?
I'm currently sitting in my mums kitchen listening to we show up on radar with a glorious pint of water in my hand. I've just been to the dentist which along with flying and well pain in general is one of my least favourite past times. My mouth feels under the weather and they've told me i've got to go back in four weeks time for some evil action involving drills. Bonus!

So... a lot has been going on recently band wise and personally.
Personally i'm getting a bit of cabin fever in Nottingham and i feel like my recent stress levels have been un natural for me and sometimes i crave a space where i can be a bit more incognito. There seems to be about 3 degrees of seperation in this city of ours but having said that i think i'd be lonely starting out somewhere new again. I've definately been partying too much recently as well so i'm attempting a sober month and that includes no fags. I think a few people have disappointed me quite a bit in the last month or so i've just really disappeared into a bit of a mental downward spiral. I'm cool though now...sometimes stress makes you act in different ways...clearly want my last girl back though.
I think i need to get myself hooked on something like being in love again (with someone new might i add!:)) (the wsuor stuff is amazing by the way especially "spider on a thread")

Band wise we've been very busy with build up to the single, been doing loads of press stuff so keep an eye out for various articles in the next month) and the gigs recently have been really cool. By the way fridays show at Cafe de Paris is acoustic...we don't play many of these kind of shows very often but as we're on earlyish and i've just had evil dental fucking it makes more sense singing wise for me to sing a little softer. I hope nobodys disappointed who was coming to see us. We honestly make a proper effort at acoustic shows so they're will be violins, steele guitar, glock, double bass, mandolin and loads more! We're treating this as a full show so don't you lovely london folk show any concern. Think of the show as an intimate rare performance. My mouth should be up to full capacity next week (Jesus that sounds horrible)

OK well...Fridays running horse show was a fun old event. It was a rather drunken affair and by that i mean band and audience. Not the tighest we've ever played but energy wise and vibe wise it was a cool show. Had a very house party feeling to it.
Thanks to everyone who came down.

I've been writing lots of female/male duets recently...i'm pretty excited as to how they're going. Oh and sorry for calling the scottish girl in my last blog "mad" i meant it in the nicest possible way and didn't mean to offend...i should have just written pissed and happy :) Trouble with blogging you can't show what you're face is saying or capture any sort of context.

So anyway...the band rides on.

See you on Friday - Cafe De Paris (London) next show after that is following Thursday and Saturday in Nottingham.

Nowt much more to say for now. See you in London on friday.

KISS

adx

And the view's so nice...

2009-08-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings...

Again apologies i've not been writing so frequently recently. It's just been extremly busy and again drama has been following me around again. No suprises there.
Looking back on these blogs i really seen to be looking at the negative sides of life and really should concentrate on the positive. Then again the more people i find out read this blog and indeed look forward to reading this blog the more self aware i become. I also know that my spelling is often a lot to be desired so i'm sorry if it's not all written in beautiful flowing pros.

Right Captain Dangerous shit.
We've started the promotion for our next single, art work is done, we've been doing a bit of press and friday just gone we started the gigs leading up to the release on September 28th.

Friday Jam Cafe Nottingham:
Friday was an odd sort of gig and i feel a bit bad for the owners of the Jam Cafe for the rowdiness of the crowd we brought. Having said that they probably cleaned up at the bar. We we booked to play a couple of sets and the first went pretty quietly to a distinctly uninterested crowd. Then about 40 mins later we came back on for another 40 minute set and the place turned into an excitable mass (i say mass the cafe was tiny) of sing alongs, dancing, drunken kissing and even a spot of attempted undressing (those who were there will know what i mean) Very strange gig but very fun. After the gig the notably drunk audience disappeared into the night whilst i was left to cope with a completly battered mad scottish woman...it was strange.
I ended back at my friends place drinking gin. It was a good night and really nice for me to see we're getting a proper following in Nottingham these days. Also great to see some faces from the past including our original drummer Rick and old driver Andy. Still a pair of funny bastards.

Saturday Good Ship Kilburn:
This gig was one of my favourites this year and the first time i tried out my new Vox amp and Mark his spangly new P bass. This gig just sounded great in terms of sound and by the time we reached the stage the crowd had been well warmed up by the excellent support bands and really went for it. I must apologise for scaring the man at the front who was very clearly stuck in a terrifying K Hole. I don't understand why people take Ketamine especially at gigs. It's a bloody horrible drug. Ketamine should be left to horses and annoying dread locked jobless cyber hippies at free techno parties desperatly trying to hold on to their youth with the promise of free head massages. Cunts. Post gig we piled back to the hotel with gin and wine. I fell asleep in my clothes and have vague memories of putting a bin on my head. The end. I loved this gig.

Sunday Dublin Castle Camden Town:
After a very little sleep and a full english hotel cooked breakfast Mark, Marks GF and I headed to swiss cottage park for some more sleep in the sunshine. It was a glorious day in the park.
After soundcheck i wondered up Primrose hill with a couple of friends for some wine as the sun began to set. It was a great way to prepare for a show!
The gig itself was solid but we were all a bit tired.

We played on both nights in London the following tunes:

Everything beautiful reminds me of you
The Terrorist
Miss you cos it's monday
A little bit of home
She Still Loves you
If God Exists
Terry Steele
Great Having you Around

That's not in any particularly correct order but almost right.

It was bloody good to get back to gigging and i think the whole weekend was a success. plenty more gigs coming up too so keep your eyes peeled on myspace daily for more updates of shows.

Big news coming soon...

Ad x

When in Bahrain...

2009-08-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hello eveyone...

It's been a very hectic week or so for me.
Last week in a daze of activity i was asked to moonlight with another band as a backing singer.
Fast forward a few days and i was on an Emirates Flight to Dubai for a stop over on route to Bahrain, flying over Iran getting drunk on Chardonnay to combat my fear of flying. Life is bloody odd sometimes plus i'd never been to the middle east before so i thought why not. I'd also never been plonked into a band full of session musicians before so it was all a new wide eyed experience for me and well i was in the fricking middle east. I suppose you've got to take these unexpected things in your stride sometimes and the band were seriously good.

My job over there was basically to lead a couple of tunes and drift into the background doing a few uhhs and ahhss...it was a new experience and the first time i've felt nervous on stage for a very very long time, i think i pulled it off.
On arrival in Bahrain the strangeness continued as we learnt the band had been booked to play the most famous Irish bar in the country. Yes an Irish Bar in the Middle East!
To be honest considering where we were (an Islamic Kingdom) and the strict licensing laws the people of Bahrain really enjoyed a party and drank like dockers on payday. The gig and the venue had a really great atmosphere and we were treated extremly well by the Lebanese owner Tony and all the staff in the venue. Incredibly hospitable people.
I was suprised how liberal the behaviour of the punters was and the various potions on offer (although the offer of weed was something i turned down as i didn't particularly want to leave the country 40 years later and as a pensioner) we all drank far too many free spirits post gig. In fact i'll be the first to admit i was very sick as were all my musical colleagues for the evening. But umm...when in Bahrain...

The rest of the trip in was spent recovering, eating, swimming, watching sports and hanging around. That pretty much concluded my 3 days in the middle east a cool experience and one i won't forget in a hurry. I'd like to go back and do a little more exploring.

Right Captain Dangerous Stuff...

First of all the New single I miss you cos it's Monday backed by Shoot Deserters and a new takeway version of Terry Steele is out on September 28th and we're playing various dates in the coming weeks (see myspace for details)
I saw the final cut of the music video last night which involves me well basically loooking miserable and drawing a big picture on my wall in marker pens. I like it and it was shot by our good friend Raj Pathak who's currently in the country
having a break before he returns to Hollywood to start work on a number of features and a TV show.
Search his name on IMDB. He's very talented and i'm sure he'll become a household name in the next few years so keep an eye out.

That is pretty much it for now.

See you at the next gigs :) !

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Boom Boom Pow

2009-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Feeling pretty spritely today actually, it was a good relaxing weekend after a massive twat of a week.
Friday night went for a few early drinks and met some more friends later on and was home by 12…good stuff.
Saturday was also good. Although it did turn into to a bit of a random day after a while.
Saturday started off with a game of crazy golf (very rock and roll) and then I found myself in a strip club, completely sober at 8pm in the evening. It was fucking weird. I don’t really like strip clubs at the best of times because well, they’re a bit weird.
A naked woman dancing in front of you is all well and good but I just don’t like the fakery of women pretending to like you so you give them dosh. Pointless, they don’t actually like you plus you tend to get some very odd people in those places who generally seem to believe that the women dancing in front of them actually want them. Anyway it was a friend of a friends stag do but I knew no one really…I’d just kinda tagged along because I was in the same pub. They were nice chaps it’s just when I woke up on Saturday morning I certainly didn’t expect to see a man stripped to his boxers getting whipped by a leather belt and being led round on a dog lead, sober as a judge by 8 in the evening. The girls (admittedly pretty) looked bored out of their skulls apart from one dancer who was getting well into it and had a very large six park. In fact she looked a bit like that little kid from the documentary about the worlds strongest child (not seen it?...thought not)
After the offer of a “lesbian show” for £35 (which I declined) I decided to leave and head into town and check out some music at loggerheads. It was a really fun night with some ace bands playing, lots of really nice people too and a plethora of familiar faces. It was one of Jez and Wills nights and they never disappoint, good eye for decent music those boys!
After loggerheads I headed to Wax bar with a couple of people and it was again fun although slightly marred by the worlds biggest prick serving drinks. Any bar man who thinks it’s clever to be rude, obnoxious and generally a cunt towards customers doesn’t deserve a job and to be honest he’s lost my custom for the place. Wanker.
Finally went back to a mates for some wine and headed home. A very enjoyable evening was had.
On Sunday I nursed a small low level hangover with immense food, Jason Statham (death race) and Anvil. It was a nice chilled out weekend, I also had to keep an eye on my flat mate who got savagely bashed in by chavs on Friday.
Feel really sorry for him, he looks a bit of a state and I just hope these little shits get caught, charged and jailed.
He could easily been killed and having been on the end of a savage kicking myself before I no how much it can shake you up.
Poor lad.

Not much band stuff going on for the next 3 weeks I’m afraid. Mark is in America. Reviews of Splendour have been really good (Check out the videos on You tube) Just looking forward to playing again. I think we’ve all deserved this 2-3week rest away from Captain Dangerous…definitely feel like the batteries are getting recharged although I would definitely like another holiday somewhere warm.
I’d love to go back to Valencia again but not the zoo…when I was a kid a gorilla shat in it’s hand and lobbed it at me through the bars, the dirty primate.

That’s it really…no massive plans this week apart from eating food, sleeping, going to work. If I get bored I might start a revolution or military coup.

Sorry there’s not much to really write about this week. I’m just glad my serotonin has been restored to its normal level and I’m feeling like a human again. I’m desperately trying to decide what art work to have for the next single or draw it anyway.

Danny Dyers Deadliest men is on tonight. Booya! So might have a naughty Monday like Craig Charles on his way to London after shooting coronation street or maybe not.

Bye for now.

adx

Splendour 2009

2009-07-21T04:12:00.000-07:00

Good Morning…

Still feeling a little bit fragile after the festivities of Splendour Festival and a little melon collie this morning but I really enjoyed myself. The festival went very well indeed and I think our show was one of my favourite gigs we’ve ever played. Good stuff indeed. Having said that I just had a little look at the pictures and I wish I’d had a shave and haircut as I looked like a tarmacer at a wedding, never mind though one of the reviews described me as “looking sharp” 1 out of 3 isn’t bad now but I think the tash is one of those tashes that scares of women and children and the type that can only normally be sported by a pissed old Irish man at a wake or a 1920’s English gent in an opium bar. I think a moustache at my age is a little too much and tonight it will leave my upper lip, probably a good idea if I ever want to have sex again. So despite sporting some whopping upper lip growth we played a pretty storming set to a packed crowd who stayed in the tent even after the rain finished. I feel like we won quite a lot of people over on Sunday so in that respect I’m a happy. Maggie and Darren did great jobs on Violin, glock, Juno and mandolin. I wish they could play with us all the time. If you’re interested there are a few songs from our set already on you tube and the reviews I’ve read so far have been very good. We finished with a totally new song. One we’ve only tried out once before, I think it’s gonna become a favourite and despite my initial claims that the song is not about anyone or anything in particular listen to the lyrics and it’s pretty obvious. Fuck it I don’t care, you might as well express yourself with your songs and rant about how you’re feeling. Wonder who it’s about? (or partly) Answers on a postcard folks  !!! Whoahahahaha!
The title is nicked from Tim Ten Yen though. Anyway I’m tired of pursuing that situation now anyway. There’s only so much rejection a man can take. I’m sure there’s plenty of tarmacers wives who’d be more than interested in umm…looking at my ummm… drive way (What!?) Jesus that sounds like I’m talking about my arse now.

Anyway…

We played:

She still loves you
The Terrorist
I miss you cos it’s Monday
A little bit of home
If good exists
Merrow Song
Terry Steele
Everything beautiful reminds me of you.

Post gig I did a couple of interviews and set about enjoying the rest of the festival. The feeling of coming off stage when you’ve done well is a really strange one, it’s a feeling of elation but there’s also an inevitable adrenaline dump a little while after, I never really no what to do with myself. In this case a mooched around for a bit and chilled out with one of my friends for an hour or so in the backstage bit drinking wine, whilst listening to Love ends disaster (they were good) and watching a really amazing band from Mali. It was nice. I nipped off to watch Imelda May at some point too and she was one of the highlights for me. Immense double bass player and I love her voice.
After that I went off to watch the Fun Loving Criminals who were bloody awesome, smoked a couple of spliffs bizarrely with Natty (who was very nice) and Joss from dog is dead (a friend anyway) and sunk even more wine and lost my friends. Next up I headed back to the big tent to watch Ash from the side of the stage.
I thought Ash were bloody wicked. Still completely full of energy and a brilliant festival band.

After Ash played one of my friends came back and she’d be punched in the face by another girl…a bit of a shitter so I spent the first part of Madness trying to stop a slightly concussed girl from falling over and generally keeping an eye on her.
I think she was ok but it’s pretty wank getting punched at a festival and would probably put a bit of a downer on it. After a while we lost each other so I watched the last bit of madness skanking around with strangers. Madness were absolutely brilliant, I’ve never really seen them as a festival band before but for me they were worthy headliners. It was too dark and boozy to find any of my friends at this point so I continued bouncing around the field wrecking my suit until madness had finished, grabbed my stuff and high tailed home for a couple of post festival beers then bed. I was pretty drunk at this point but not incoherent, it was good to go to a festival and remember every moment. I hope next year we can play the main stage.

Overall it was a really cool and friendly festival despite the small violent incident. Having said that I suppose you get twats everywhere you go and she was probably just unlucky. I’ve been smacked a few times for no reason so it happens, either that or they were just jealous of my model type looks (without a tarmacers moustache haha)

I think at every festival there’s a magical moment in the early evening when you’re just drunk enough to be tipsy, you’re surrounded by good friends and you’re enjoying the great music. I got that somewhere between Imelda May and the Fun Loving Criminals. It’s the moment in a festival before everyone inevitably gets wasted. Good times.

Thanks to everyone who watched us play…feeling a bit preoccupied today. Want something to look forward to again now and some affection.

That’s it…

Marks now away now for 3 weeks so we’ll be out of the loop for a couple of weeks. We’re doing a south of England tour in September so I’ll confirm all the dates as soon as I’m allowed.

Cheerio!

Adx

It's not fair!

2009-07-09T03:31:00.001-07:00

Ps...that Lilly Allen song about her man spunking his load too quick is horrible. "It's not fair..it's really not ok"
I tell you what Lilly Allen if he wrote a song about you being shit at blow jobs and released that there'd be uproar. Said band or solo artist would be absolutely ridiculed for being chauvinistic pigs.

For me "It's not fair that you're allowed to release such a stupid song and get away with it" so there.

Apart from that i like Lilly Allen.

Yeah!

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Meet Python

2009-07-09T02:39:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning having had some really vivid and quite horrible dreams. I wonder where these fuckers appear from...what's strange about dreams is that they seem to leave you with a feeling for a few hours after you wake up and the actual pictures form the dreams seem to fade...I woke feeling pretty weird. It felt like the end of something. That’s the feeling I got anyway. Stupid dreams…having said that I get good dreams too sometimes like the time I dreamt I was boning Tera Patrick. So I suppose its fair game.
Reoccurring dreams are the worst…When I was a small kid I used to get 2 reoccurring dream which was seriously fucked up. The first one is so odd it’s impossible to explain it properly. It just used to make me wake up feeling tired and sweaty… and kind of involved me being strapped down on a never ending strip of light and racing other people side by side as far as the eye could see who were also strapped to never ending strips of light. It was frightening because the race never seemed to end.

The second reoccurring dream I used to have was really weird. I’d be in a Jungle as part of a troop of soldiers being pursued by some “baddies” it’s probably the only dream I can fully remember. At some point I would fall over and break my leg…then with the “baddies” fast approaching the soldiers would leave me behind because I was moving too slow and slowing everyone down. Left on my own the “baddies” would then capture me and take me to a clearing where they’d produce a wooden box and from out of the box a strange man with a long tongue and a kind of gimp suit would appear to which the “baddies” would say “Meet Python” Python would then dance around a tied up me and lick my face with his long green tongue. Suddenly I’d wake up terrified. I wonder what the experts would make of these dreams… fucking weird. But also funny as fuck. “Meet Python” Jesus.

Thought I’d share that with you…

We have rehearsal tonight and I’ll brave drinking a couple of pints tomorrow…it’s taken my body all week to recover from the weekend. I’m getting older…must be!

I’m sorry about the tone of these blogs recently… I’ve just had a lot of chaos following me around recently and very little time off to relax so really this is my outlet to have a big massive brain shit. I’m fine and not gonna pull out any Kurt Cobain style moves just yet…

10 things I like today:

I like Painting walls
I like Jarvis Cockers new album
I like Carbon/Silicon’s album
I like Kopparberg
I like Growing stupid beards
I like Mash Potatoes
I like having the Internet on my phone
I like my new song
I like having more friends in Nottingham that I did a year ago
I like Valencia

See ya later,

adx

the cat that ate the cream

2009-07-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

I’m feeling a bit weak today…I don’t know if it’s the onslaught of summer taking my energy or the shear terribleness of my Saturday just gone that’s provided such a mentally draining experience (and all self induced) So here lies another blog about making a tit out of myself. Well partly anyway, that’s now twice in three weeks! And to think I was doing so well this year so far. Anyway my plan was to only wake up 3 times this year feeling shear embarrassment and now I’ve taken 2 of those chances so let’s see how things go for the rest of the year…Saturday was the first time this year I’ve really hated myself.
A horrible, agitated, and well frankly weird side of me reared its head and I somehow transformed into some sort of slimy, weird, angry, issue ridden, angsty alter ego of myself. For those of you who know me you’ll know that this is out of my character and for me personally (complete with the massive black spots & friends filling me in with very embarrassing information) you have to question where this comes from. I hate embarrassment more than most emotions and I absolutely hate the feeling that I’ve lost my dignity. So there we go…nice one Clarkson. Let’s hope you can get over the Catholic guilt and salvage some dignity for the rest of the year. That’s the plan…Faux Clarkson is not a good Clarkson (even if that statement does sound the Rock talking)

So…let’s not talk about Saturday…it’s too embarrassing and I’m ashamed. My only advice is don’t mix Ale, Scrumpy Cider, and Red Wine it might turn you into a vampire version of yourself or well just a cunt. There. Makes you want to shout “OUT DEMONS OUT” from the highest roof top (answers on a postcard folks)

So anyway….The big news for Captain Dangerous is that we’re playing on the same stage as Ash and urr…Natty at this years Splendour Festival in Wollaton Park on June 19th. This is a really big show for us because we’ve been upgraded to a bigger stage from last year’s smaller courtyard stage. It’s also actually pretty cool to be playing with Ash who I loved growing up.
Also on the bill are our mates Dog is Dead, The Pogues, Madness, Fun Loving Criminals, Kid British and Imelda May. I’m not a massive fan of some of the acts but it’s still great to be part of the festival…we’re planning to put on a bit of a hoo-ha of a show complete with violins, Sax, Synth and Glockenspiel… a fully augmented Captain Dangerous.
We’ll be on stage about 2pm. Very excited indeed!

We debuted a new song at our gig on Friday night “Everything beautiful reminds me of you” it’s actually not about anyone in particular I just like the title and as it’s the title for Tim Ten Yens album (which is where I pinched it from) yes I’m an indie Geek! I think this song sounds a little bit close to What Los Campesinos were doing on their debut album but not close enough to sound like a rip off. Especially not with middle 8 anyway. I don’t find anyone particularly beautiful at the moment so might as well make up the words about a make believe relationship. I’m finding it easier to write like that currently because you can be completely detached and not hold back because you’re just telling stories and not complete truths. Nope don’t find anyway beautiful and don’t love no one at the moment apart from maybe my ex a little bit still but that’s all. I think I’ve been too damaged to start looking for anything at the moment man! Awww….
The gig we played on Friday in Southwell was quite an odd little event but I did enjoy it…in typical chaotic fashion (I don’t do these things on purpose) I managed to clumsily slice my hand open during the first song, I don’t know how this actually happened but I managed to gush blood all over the floor. Spicy…after a brief bandage up job we bashed through another 7-8 songs and an acoustic interlude. The new song went across very well indeed and we bashed it out as an encore. It’s very lively. Just got to think about the arrangement now. We’ll play it at Splendour for you.
On Saturday morning before the demons came out Miles, Ben and I played a few acoustic sets at Southwell Beer festival. I think the problems started with the free Ale but the gig was really fun and enjoyable. I’m enjoying the acoustic gigs at the moment…after the beer festival it all went down hill and that’s all I’ll say.

So I awoke on Sunday morning with very little memory apart from pictures on my mobile phone of places I’d apparently visited during the afternoon and evening…its bloody terrible finding pictures and having zero memories of those pictures and the places in the pictures. God!!! It’s just so fucking embarrassing. I’m cringing writing this…and cringing from the things my friend told me I was doing and saying. Urgghhh…
In a thoroughly self loathing mood and feeling even worse after the blunt text messages from friends (confirming my gut feeling that I’d been a cunt) I received a call reminding me that I’d be shooting the video for “I miss you cos it’s Monday” that afternoon.
To be honest my mood perfectly fitted the mood of the video as I’d woken up feeling like the lowest human to ever walk the earth and the song is about feeling shit. The general concept for the video is that I wake up and take a long slow reflective walk, very simple stuff but with fairly inventive camera work. The majority of the video is shot in close up of my face with long tracking shots…so yes I get up, look sad and take a long reflective walk through the streets of Nottingham. This video required me to grow a beard and will be in black and white…it’s solitary and involved teary eyes. The teary eyes were achieved by (I know this sounds horrible) rubbing chopped onions in my eyes and a bit of goading by the director! The onions in the eyes hurt like fuck and so the tears were fairly real. I’m excited to see how this one turns out as it was fairly improvised, which is exactly the way I like to work. It was a long day but worth it…I felt like out of the ashes of Saturday night at least some sort of genuine emotion was captured on the tape. Every cloud as they say.

We’ll be shortly announcing a Tour to promote “I Miss you cos it’s Monday” this will be towards the end of August/early September. It’ll be a short south of England tour (about a week) I’m not allowed to confirm the dates yet but will as soon as I can.

I went to see Blur in Hyde Park last Thursday too and it was utterly magical.

I’ll try and be more positive next time I write…having said that other people’s misery and mistakes are generally more entertaining than “Oh everything is great” why else would be watch documentaries about terrible disasters. Its human nature but I do hate the way I make myself feel sometimes, makes me sad to my bones.

See you all at Splendour for some positive energy manifesting itself from a big fuck off stage.

Thanks,

Adamx

Fear the GIN FOX

2009-06-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry I’ve been unable to write for a week or so…my internet connection has been sadly down.
Few things really. Firstly the not from London filming on Saturday was a lot of fun and the website guy did the sound,
To be honest he was lovely so I don’t want to continue any stupid feuds.
He’s not a bad guy and it was a long time ago, so all is forgotten. Can’t be arsed making enemies and to be honest when we did work with him we were shite anyway so maybe some of the criticism was slightly justified. Remember we were recording the (in my opinion) worst song ever written and I say that despite writing the song myself...I almost feel guilty collecting royalties for that tune (it’s rubbish) hahaha! So let’s put that one to bed.

So anyway the whole vibe of what they were trying to do is great and I’m hoping it all turns out great (I’m sure it was) I think our song went pretty well and was nice to catch up with some mates in other bands too who were also involved, was good to catch up with Dog is Dead who were recording just before us. In fact there were a number of familiar faces knocking about. Everyone was really nice to each other…and I hope this atmosphere continues in Nottingham as a whole. It’s only a small city and I think in the past very silly back stabbing went on.

We recorded I miss you cos it’s Monday which makes sense because it’s the next Captain Dangerous single. We also did an interview for the film and it was a really fresh change to get someone who was a challenging interviewer...I wouldn’t say he grilled us more that he extracted information from us that hadn’t been extracted before and we had a good laugh with him too. I felt like I could be honest with him. Wonder if it makes the final cut of the film.
My memories of Saturday evening have filled me with dread…I decided to have a big BBQ/house party after the filming and lots of people came. In fact it was a great party during the day…but at some point I decided to pull out/encourage heavy Gin abuse among the various revellers. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure everyone was wasted but I have a worrying number of blank spots and sporadic memories…this hasn’t happened for a long long time and I don’t generally like getting that wasted because I always get a horrendous feeling of embarrassment and self loathing for at least a week afterwards…all week I’ve been getting embarrassing flashes of things I was saying/doing… I’m sorry is all I can say. BLAME THE GIN FOX and don’t let him anywhere near me again please. I’m pretty sure I’ve upset some people. So for that in all my glory…I apologise. Let’s hope I’ve not wrecked friendships. Boo Hoo…

What’s the best thing to do if you’ve pratasized yourself in public?
You need to get up and drink Kooperberg all day in the sunshine, don’t allow the self loathing to kick in and generally keep the wolf from the door… Not good. Well anyway the Kooperbergs did indeed keep the metaphorical Gin fox from biting me until Monday morning and we played a triumphant acoustic show in the Caves of loggerheads.
One of my favourite gigs this year I’d say. It was just really intimate and the sound in the caves was immense.
Someone has put the gig up on Youtube so have a look for yourselves. Ricky (our former drummer) popped down unannounced too and he was very nice and into the show. It was good to see him again. He seemed happy.

So that’s it really…I spent most of last week feeling like a mental failure…recorded vocals for the “I miss you…” b-sides. We’ve done an ace version of Terry Steele but acoustic with lots of violins etc. It sounds really lovely. Then I perked up mentally about Thursday…went for a couple of drinks on Friday (nothing spicy) and saw my brother on Saturday. Yesterday I watched some Danny Dyers hardest men (ridiculous programme) and pissed myself laughing at Psychoville.
Tonight it’s a rehearsal and I hope we can finally nail my new song…and play it properly at Fridays gig.
I’m going to see Blur in Hyde Park on Thursday! I can’t bloody wait!

Nothing new to report apart form I want some more stability in my life…(does that mean I’m getting older?) and that we have a massive (massive in the fact that the gig has been requested by a certain major label) London show booked for August 15th at 93 Feet East, Brick Lane. Please Please Please do your best to make this a special night. We’re also in the process of booking lots of dates around the Sept 7th Single release. Will let you know when the dates are announced.

Ok…well that’s it from me for now.

Keep happy and stay away from Gin Foxes…they bite!

adx

Good morning here's the news...

2009-06-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again...i'm feeling just about back to normal following the weekend which was a little bit mental to say the least. Can't really write down exactly what happened for fear of getting in trouble (not that trouble doesn't seem to follow me around anyway) I just keep finding myself in very silly situations that can only really be laughed at in hindsight. So really by writing what i've just written i've actually wasted approx 100 words on saying absolutely nothing. Pointless...anyway i had fun.

Saturday we played a very odd gig but a very enjoyable one. We'd been booked to play a private garden party, this was a really lavish event with lots of lavish food, champagne, waitresses, and people with lots of doe (all being kindly donated to a good cause i must add) It was a fund raising thing for lots of charities and we were booked as the entertainment. In all honesty we'd originally taken the booking purely for the fee but i'm very glad we did because the whole vibe of the place was really cool. It involved playing about 3 sets (about 45mins each) on a terrace to lots of folks sitting around drinking champagne. It was lots of fun and we met some very nice and good people of all ages. We played a slightly bigger version of what we do on the takeaway shows, more of a full drum kit basically. We played a few sets based around these songs.

Terry Steele
A little bit of home
The ballad of Phillip
Miss you cos it's monday
If God Exists
Care in the community
She Still loves you
Shoot Deserters
Wipe the tears from your eyes
No good times intended
The Terrorist
Merrow Song
Be careful who you lend your heart to

After the show we headed home (including a rather refreshed Miles and I) and went out to the hand in heart and Junktion 7 for the I'm not from London film fundraiser. I bumped into a few familiar faces and got myself massively drunk along with Mark and his GF Sarah. I saw James from Fists who informed me that they'd been booked for Glasto. I'm really happy for them. Also bumped into Jezzer (you'll know him from my past blog about Dot to Dot 2 years ago) he's a lovely boy.

This Friday we'll be live in the caves of Loggerheads and taking part in the I'm not from london filming on Saturday. This is a really good event for Notts music and fridays gig is a fundraiser so please come down. They do a lot of good stuff and are supportive of what we do. I'm a little concerned that the sound is gonna be done by Mr Website (it may not be) but i'll be perfectly polite and expect nothing more than two facedness and probably some really witty comments about me on the internet post filming. In fact probably something involving ginger cunts and how shit we are...The organisers have worked really hard to organise this whole thing and it would be massively unfair to cause any sort of problem for them, i'd just prefer not to work with this bloke ever but it's not always up to me.

What else is going on? Well...we're struggling to find a booking agent. It's really annoying and it's the only thing we seem to be lacking at the moment. Financially the band is self sufficient, we have a good lawyer, are releasing music, have a good press agent, manager and distribution. I'm hoping one's in place for the next single (Sept 7th) so we can get out there and promote and tour it's release. No ones biting and i'm not sure what else we can do to get a good one. The takeway tour was fun but i'd like to do a conventional tour for the next single.

Oh we'll be recording new stuff soon...I'm really happy with the new songs.

What else? Well check out Carbon/Silicon if you haven't already. Awesome album. Dead Clashy sounding. Recently been listening to Louldon Wainwright 3rd too and the new Jarvis solo album. All great. I can't believe it's a whole year since last midsummer in Finland, a lot's changed but it's come round quick. It does make me a bit sad looking at the pics to be honest. Ho hum...i'm fine!

See you on Friday at Loggerheads...

See you

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BASTARDS!

2009-06-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

I can't bloody pin down the structure of this new song...doing my head in. I think i'll get it sorted at some point in the next few days. This is going to be a great one i can feel it in my bones. Pretty dark lyrics but very upbeat...in fact it's just a song about disappointment and well having nothing left apart from photos and images in your head. It's not about anyone in particular just a bundle of experiences and feelings.... umm... man!
After being in Spain for a few days i've got a massive amount of unspent energy...hence the ranty nature of todays blog entry.
I wanna do something fun and hang out with girls and drink Rum.
Can someone have a party please? - Jesus i'm starting to sound like Asher Roth. Although i didn't LOVE college in fact college for me was pretty much shit.
As a result of being called a ginger cunt everyday for 5 years at school, i didn't really have much self belief when i started college, nor did i have any cool clothes or any skills when it came to the ladies. So unlike Asher Roth i didn't spend my time getting laid in the back of a car...nor was a rapper. No i spent my time in college wondering how my fellow 16 year olds could afford to buy great clothes and cars. I also spent time teaching myself how to smoke fags, discovering weed (and lots of it - smoked alone generally) and well generally sitting on a particular bench in a particular park getting stoned at lunch times. I was seriously uncool and only had one mate (we used to go for beans on toast sometimes at the Asda Cafe and talk about Clockwork Orange) Brilliant. The second year was marginally better. University on the other hand was great. But the point is i'm not like Asher Roth because i didn't love college, if i was Asher Roth maybe things would be a bit different. I'd probably be hanging around with Busta Ryhmes smoking blunts during the week, fucking bitches rather than living in a house in Sherwood watching Danny Dyers deadliest men and smoking roll ups. I paint such a glamerous picture of life in the Clarkson domain (note to self again - I am not David Icke or The Rock stop, talking in the third person and refering to your home as your domain people will think you're weird) Booya!

Nothing new to report from my world today really...i'm a bit confused about a lot of things and trying to make head and tail of a few things. Last night i watched the football, embarked on a solo rum adventrue and tried to finish off my new song...i'm considering buying wine with my last 10 quid tonight...my logic is that i get paid for saturdays gig so it's only 1 day of skintsville. I'm bored when i'm not doing band stuff...i need suggestions.
Maybe i should start a new political party called the party party. Asher Roth could be the foreign ambassdor he seems to like partying and keeping him busy would probably stop him banging on about loving college.

I quite like Asher Roth by the way...but i fundamentally can't relate to his song "I love college"

The end

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Donkey

2009-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Apologies for not blogging in a while it's been a heavy and busy few weeks that's seen us nip to Cambridge, not quite making milton keynes, then Mark and me to Spain, myself getting more worried about recieving a kicking and finally arriving in Derby on monday in a hale storm of arguments and in fighting. Apart from that i feel pretty good and the good news is that the band is feeling the best it ever has musically. I think we'll survive. The live shows are blasting with energy at the moment and have a much more punk rock feel to them. Bens fitting in perfectly now and i feel like we've found our feet playing together now. Sometimes i just need to take a break from everything and do my own thing. Good news is i'm writing again and the words seem to be flowing out of me at the moment, i hope it continues well into the summer. I'll probably do something rubbish like fall in love and not be able to write anymore knowing my luck...although i think me and love have fallen out of love in a big way for the meantime. I'm just really tired of investing so much time in relationships and not having anything to show for it. I hope this changes or i meet someone who blows my socks off. Actually i'm fairly happy on my own at the moment, i can drink rum to my hearts content and romance whoever i want when i want. Trouble is it's a really strange feeling trying to relate to those who are settled in their homes with their girls...good luck to them i say but we tend to drift apart.

I think getting away for a few days gave me some perpective on stuff too in that i really shouldn't keep stressing out about the negave things and concentrate on finding my own feet in this world, i think we're all a victim of our own prior experiences and it's time to find myself again...that's what i've decided and to the judgemental twat fairies...well they can get fucked as well.
I'm generally talking about clever dicks really...the sort of folks who'll ruin your fun by saying things on a night out like:

"God you're wasted, hahaha look how drunk you are"

I hate that shit. It's so high and mighty.

It's like me saying:
"God you're ugly, hahahha look how fat your are"

I just woundn't...

Ok...well

What's been happening recently?

Well Good stuff:

Went to Spain - Slept under the stars for 2 nights, Drove through the mountains listening to the Clash very loudly.
Hired a bike and rode around Valencia
Played a great show in nottingham
Played a great show in Derby
Discovered white Rum.
The backlash against the BNP (hopefully this will force people to vote in the general election)
Discovering Big Audio Dynamite

Bad Stuff:
Cambridge (tight fuckers)
The BNP getting into europe
Gareth Barry leaving Villa
Nearly getting decked by Cubans in Spain...actually pretty funny. A loss of translations saw me calling one bloke a mother fucker accidently. He wasn't happy. Haha

I suppose the next big announcment is that the next Captain Dangerous single will be:

"I miss you cos it's Monday"

This will be out on September 9th 2009. It's likely to be out on CD and download, probably a ltd edition CD of 150.

Oh one other thing is that we still have some copies of "The Terrorist" available on CD from the labels website (or follow the links from www.captaindangerous.com) For those of you who haven't seen the video it's really cool and on youtube and various places around the web. I'm not sure if the music channels are playing it, i know they have it anyway. The Terrorist/Merrow Song overall got fantastic reviews in the music press...there's a selection on our website.

We're currently trying to get a decent booking agent on board for the next release so fingers crossed on a full UK tour towards the end of August.

Next notts gig is Loggerheads next Friday...unplugged. I'm excited.

Tonight i will drink Rum alone, Watch football and try and finish my new song...It's really good i reckon, lyrics pretty much reflect my current mood. I've also started a sequel to "a little bit of home" i want it to be a duet with my mate Lisa...have to ask her about that.

Remember love is like a paper cut!

Bye,

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tell me more TELL ME MORE

2009-05-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Sorry it’s been over a week since I last wrote and updated you. It’s been completely crazy and busy recently but a lot of fun.
The takeaway tour landed in Bristol and Bath on May 16th and 17th and then London on the 23rd swiftly followed by a festival in Blackpool (24th) Notthingham (25th) and a few bits of promo for the single including a session for Balcony TV in Camden (26th) It’s been a lot of fun and we’ve been getting on well as people which has been great. Also the official promo video for “The Terrorist” is up to view on YouTube now and I’m really happy with it. It’s all shot in super 8. Check it.

Bristol was a lot of fun despite us pissing off the homeless and Bath was a complete wash out (in terms of shitty weather) but it was still an enjoyable and friendly town to visit. We’ll definitely go back to Bristol and Bath. We also managed to catch up with some old pals in Bristol too which was great, get stoned and watch Eurovision. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time and I think Norway were deserved winners although I had a soft spot for Armenia and of course Finland.
I seem to be being rather positive today for a change…rather than ranting like Kerry Katona after 5 lines of coke and a long island ice tea like I normally do in these blogs.

The rest went something like this:
London was good but hardwork (we settled in Islington) and Blackpool was weird although we played well and paddled in the sea and very maturely drew massive cocks in the sand.
Nottingham on Monday was largely a loud, and raucous affair.
Tuesdays TV shoot was probably my favourite day this year.

Tuesday was so much fun because all the other guests were lovely people and super talented…it was an eclectic mixture of styles and nationalities. My favourite was probably a guy from Germany called Peter and an American musician who had worked on David Lynch soundtracks (I forget his name) Once shooting had stopped a few of the musicians (including ourselves) were invited to play an impromptu unplugged set on Camden lock. It was a lot of fun and there’s footage on you tube now. There was a lot of wine consumed as well – mainly by Mark and I. Good times.

More news – The Terrorist came out on Monday 25th May (this week) so please but if you can…it’s getting good reviews as well. We’re also holding back a 150 CD singles which will be available from the Danqua Wedsite shortly as well as out in “all leading independent record shops” (do these still exist?) Anyway do us a favour and jump on I-tunes and download it it’s only 79p. Thanks. Despite my best efforts not to I’ve been reading reviews of the Terrorist and they’ve generally been very good…I can’t help myself. I guess it’s the inner ego pining to get recognition.

What else? I’ve written a new song…I think it’s great.

The takeaway tour ends on Sunday and then I’m off to Spain with Mark for a few days. It’s needed…I’m exhausted but all the activity is keeping the blues away. Hope to see you all at the weekend in Cambridge.

Peace…

adx

ASBO youth!

2009-05-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

I NEED A FOOKING HOLIDAY. I’m feeling completely mentally exhausted at the moment. We’re completely full up with gigs and promo all the way up till the end of May, this is not a bad thing it just makes me a bit tired and doesn’t leave much time to mentally switch off. I should start smoking pot again maybe? Although me and pot fell out about 4 years ago plus the pot makes me lazy and hungry, so it’s only been a passing dalliance since then. I do like getting stoned though sometimes just not the stuff that goes with it. Pah! I NEED A FOOKING HOLIDAY. Well actually I’m heading to Spain in 3 weeks with Mark to chill out for a few days after the “Terrorist” comes out. We’re planning to play a few small dates while we’re out there. I’ll put them up when I know them.

I was thinking about the nature of writing blogs yesterday. They’re a bit fooking weird if you ask me. Painstakingly writing about yourself and what you do day to day is an odd thing to do and it’s strange why anyone would want to read blogs at all.
My main reason is to vent generally and it helps me because I’m generally cheery so to get some of my negative energy out in such a way is a faceless way of moaning without pissing off the people close to me. I don’t like moaning at people because I don’t like moaners. I thought about it a bit more and really those who write blogs probably have an element of an ego (me included) we want people to read about our pointless woes with the world, what goes on around our lives and in our heads and we want people to respond to them. Plus for me blogging is therapeutic as I mentioned before. That’s it. That’s why people blog. FACT

So I better write something about what I’ve been up to then in true blog style then!

It was our first weekend off Captain Dangerous business in ages and I got into trouble as usual…small bits of trouble follow me around. I’ve always been the person who accidently gets punched (mistaken identity) or gets his nose broken (a stranger fell over and elbowed me in the face whilst is was eating chips once and broke my nose) so falling over after being hugged by my friend shouldn’t have been unexpected. Anyway I’ve got a nice cut and a black eye now after smashing my face on a table. Brilliant. I look a bit like a gypsy bare knuckle fighter and I’ve got a ginger beard this week so I probably look like an Irish tarmacer as well… I’m still handsome though (if that’s what you’re into) in a Man on the roads, pint after work, fight at the weekend kind of way…some women just like their men looking like navies. I know I would if was a homosexual which I’m not.

I also found myself on Saturday ridiculously having to talk myself out of getting an ASBO. I swear the police in this country are total wankers. Not only do they beat the shit out of peaceful protesters like it’s east Germany in the 60’s but they also walk around showing no common sense. I found myself sitting in the sun in a massive open park in the centre of Nottingham on Saturday, after a few hours I naturally like most human beings needed to pee. The public toilets were closed so I thought the only sensible option was to find a hidden bush, climb inside and stop myself from pissing my pants. As I came out of said bush a police man ran up to me almost excitedly and began to write out an anti social behaviour order which also came with a spot fine of 80quid. What a tit. I was completely hidden and had no choice. After he bollocked me for 5 mins about indecent exposure and made me feel like a criminal I spent a 10 minutes or so trying to talk my way out of the ASBO…a fucking ASBO! Well luckily it worked and I was let off with a warning and a quick police record check. I haven’t recently been twocing cars or raping prostitutes so I was let off. Fucking police, what a waste of time. The thing that annoyed me was that if he had written out what he was originally going to do then I could have faced court and a record.

Luckily this bloke wasn’t completely unreasonable and for that I have to be a bit thankful…but it wasn’t as if I was pissing on a grave or shitting in the queens tea pot. I had a slash in a bush because the public toilets were closed. Waste of police resources if you ask me…and more reason to open public toilets in the day in a park. Just stupid.

The reviews of the Terrorist have been really positive so far so I’m gonna post my favourite…this is from a dieshellsuitdie magazine:

The Terrorist/ Merrow Song – Captain Dangerous 9/10

This is it, the very first in a seemingly rare occasion that I literally can’t think of a single negative thing to say. Simply and unprofessionally put, Captain Dangerous are awesome.
This wasn’t what I was expecting though, the CD arrived like all the others and besides the great name (a breath of fresh air considering the last review I wrote was from a band with the most generic and cliché name possible) nothing really struck me. Perhaps this helped slightly I mean, I was vaguely interested until the music won me over proving it’s unquestionable strength and great ability to leave an outstanding first impression.
So instead of me fawning over my experience (although that’s kind of the point of a review) maybe I should tell you a little about the tracks and let me make this point right now, the two tracks are completely different yet strangely familiar, perfect for showcasing variety in material yet not sounding like a ’Now That’s What I Call Music’ compilation.
The Terrorist kicks off the CD with an eclectic range of sounds all put together in a charming ramshackle kinda way, it’s unique enough to stand out but never loses direction, at heart is essentially a 3 minute pop rock song, although it definitely doesn’t come across as average as that description sounds, parts of the song sound like a soundtrack to an 80’s video game on acid.
So flip the coin and we have Merrow song which sounds like a track specifically written for the finish of an album although I very much suspect there was never any predetermined mentality behind the constructing of this track, it’s far too beautiful for that. It reminds me in parts of ’Butterfly’ by Weezer with fantastic strings and lyrics that feel completely genuine and delivered with precise passion.
It’s apparent right now that I’m sounding sycophantic but I can only be honest with my review, everything about these tracks screams a band who know exactly what they’re doing and what they are, but there also something innocent there that implies to me this could all just be a happy side effect of just simply being talented.

Pretty nice!

Right that’s it I’m off to tarmac a drive, smash my other eye up and shit in a Hydrangea bush. See ya,

Adx

Regaining my glue

2009-05-07T01:55:00.001-07:00

Alright blood bloods,

I is in a much better mood today…good side of bed innit.
The women in the sausage shop gave me free Tea. Aww…

Rehearsal tonight…and my beard is coming along nicely.

I’ve made some startlingly realisations in the last 7 days.

Cheap market leather jackets

2009-05-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

I’m feeling so fooking frustrated today. I definitely think there’s something inside me that creeps out of the woodwork sometimes and pounces like an unexpected tiger.
I hope I don’t sound mental when I say this. Some days I think I genuinely wake up on the wrong side of the bed and get enveloped by evasiveness. I don’t feel like I’ve got any direction today, worry about the future and I feel really bloody lonely.
Does anyone else get this sometimes? And then also I get more frustrated because I’m being negative and moaning. I hate moaners and feel guilty for moaning or guilty for feeling shit. This has to be Catholic guilt. Catholic guilt is a really fucking weird thing, and very hard to understand if you’ve not come from an Irish immigrant family or in my case grown up in one. I think it comes from being around people who constantly apologise for their behaviour…It’s probably a historical thing caused by the fact that those immigrants who came over in the 50’s and 60’s were seen as second rate citizens so apologising was part of a daily routine and was essential in order to get by. They basically had to kiss arse to survive really and that’s not good for a proud human to do. It’s about never being completely comfortable in your own skin. Being ashamed of kissing arse made feeling ashamed part of everyday life and I think these emotions are passed down the generations and that’s why people like me feel guilty a lot of the time. God this has turned into a rant.

Anyway I don’t feel my best today and sometimes I feel like my heads going to explode. Need to lock myself into my room I think and do some voodoo or something. I’m glad this isn’t an everyday feeling but I’m craving more stability…the party life style is losing it’s appeal (well it has been slowly over the past few years) and I need to get me a wife (not in a desperate 40 something divorcee way, someone decent. I don’t think I’m a bad catch) I wish I could explain myself more clearly and I don’t think I really mean a wife more like a new girl I give a shit about.
Think I’ll start work on Holly’s soundtrack tonight or try and finish my painting that’s been staring at me for the past 2 months but then I’ll probably feel guilty about it not being good enough. Whoahahaha!

No real need for this nugget of rant but it passes the time…I just feel doomed sometimes…I’m starting to wonder if it’s this city.

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Losing my glue

2009-05-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I’m very glad we had the bank holiday yesterday because Saturday and Sunday were gruelling…
The takeaway tour hit Sheffield on Saturday and Manchester on Sunday.

Sheffield

I have to say that Sheffield is probably my favourite town along with Leeds that we’ve played on this tour; the people are just so nice and so friendly. What a great place!
Things went extremely well until we were moved on for causing a public disturbance apparently people were blocking the road to watch us which is great in a way because of the volumes of people watching but it also caused the city wardens to move us to an isolated spot on the edge of the city centre. The last hour was rubbish. It was funny to see the crowd booing the decision of the wardens though…
I like the spirit of what we witnessed.

In literally every city we’ve visited on this tour we have always encountered a mad person who almost always latches onto us and stays most of the day, sings along, smokes fags, drinks, grunts and dances. In Nottingham we had the Russian as fore mentioned in previous blogs and in Sheffield we had the grunting mute. I think these characters are great.
The grunting mute danced like one of the evangelical born again Christians at the exact moment the devil is cast out of them. He honestly looked possessed.
I’m not sure Ben particularly enjoyed being grunted at all day but I enjoyed his dancing all the same.
Sheffield got me thinking and I think I wouldn’t mind moving to Sheffield at some point in my life, it’s very friendly and the city is very open to people trying to do stuff. You don’t find that in some cities or well in our own to a certain extent. Thank you Sheffield!

Manchester

Manchester was a strange one. Actually not as friendly as I thought I might have been but it was still fun all the same. We rolled into Manchester exhausted from the previous day and were greeted with an icy wind. I’d say in Manchester we had a bit more of a sporadic crowd spread throughout the day.
At times we had a large crowd watching us and at other moments songs being greeted with almost stony silence. Strange. Having said that I’m glad we could play for the people who were interested. As always we got latched onto by a nutter; well actually he turned out not to be a nutter. He was just slightly nuts in the morning and I think this was due to his chemical intake the night previous and his lack of any sleep. This chap Daz turned out to be a nice bloke and was happy to listen for the majority of the day. I think the beauty of doing these kinds of tours are the characters you meet, it’s hard work but it’s worth it. The day was generally good about from a few kids trying to rob our takings on about 5 occasions; these kids were the worst thieves I’ve ever seen. I think nicking off a performer is fucking low.

We have next weekend off and then it’s a massive onslaught of gigs and street shows leading up to the single release on May 25th. “The Terrorist” is getting some decent airplay now and “Merrow Song” has been picked up by BBC 6music who have been very complimentary of it and playing it. I have to be honest I’m still nervous about reviews because I can see myself taking them to heart; maybe the best thing to do is just not read them.
I’ve been working on a new song too I think it’s going to be a really good one…quite sad subject matter mind.

What else…Miles and I have been working on a soundtrack for the forth coming short film made by Holby Citys Holly Lucas. It’s called “Where is my mind” and I think it’s really good. They’re using “Merrow Song” and “Be careful who you lend your heart to” on the soundtrack and she has asked Miles and I to compose some original ambient score. It’s an exciting thing to be doing and something I’ve never done before. We’ve also been working on the video for “The Terrorist” which is almost done…it’s been shot on super 8 and I’m looking forward to seeing the results. Should be ready in time for the single release. Also Mark and I are heading to Spain to play a few shows together…venues to be confirmed but we’ll be in Spain from June 3rd – 8th. We’re likely to be playing along the east coast somewhere, almost certainly the Costa Blanca.

After the hectic weekend I spent the bank holiday at home, few folks round for cider and cards. It was like a camping holiday in Rhyl in my front room last night.

I feel like I’m losing my glue a bit today, I know why but there’s no point in moaning about it here…it’s me own fault.

The recent 10 things I like:

1/ I like Tim Ten Yen
2/ I like Sonic and Mario at the Olympics
3/ I like Sheffield
4/ I like Blonde Redhead
5/ I like Johnny Flynn
6/ I like my new suit
7/ I like getting unexpected text messages
8/ I like Camera Obscura
9/ I like the people in the band Fists.
10/ I like the film the Baader Meinhof Complex

Right that’s it…

Is it boring talking about the band all the time? I wish I had some exciting things to say other than we went here, we did this, we worked hard, we ate here, we played well, we played bad, this is coming out…blah blah. Maybe I should write a kids story again or do something more exciting, like climbing up big rocks without a harness. Bah! I wanna run away sometimes, I really do.

See ya fookers!

adx

Carrots

2009-04-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hello! I’m back in Nottingham now after a well needed break from the City. I spent the week in Lancaster and Morecombe with original Captain Dangerous member Benni Beard. I feel refreshed and positive again which is great because I’ve really not been myself for the past month or so or at least not feeling comfortable in my own skin anyway. Ben and Mitch were great hosts so cheers you’ve sorted my head out!
The main reason for the trip was to play guest guitar in Lexico, Bennis (really great) band. We were supporting Jim Bob (from Carter USM) and Tim Ten Yen, it was a brilliant night! Also playing Bass in Lexico was a very special guest in the form of Fruitbat also of Carter USM fame. It was very strange for me to be playing in a band with one half of one of my favourite bands. Fruitbat is a really nice man too and it’s always good to meet some you admire and find out they’re nice. This cant be said for a certain singer in a certain band I love unfortunately. It was also great to meet Jim bob who seemed a little shy at first but again was a very nice chap.
He was also fricken awesome and I loved his new songs too.
Also Tim Ten Yen needs to be seen live, he’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Literally amazing…I hope he goes far. Anyone who can be that good with just an MP3 player, a microphone, and a robotic cat deserves respect. Amazing dance moves too. After some Gin and Chips it was time for bed. It was a great week.
Saturday I got straight off the train and straight till rehearsal for our gig at the Running Horse in Nottingham…it was our first headline gig in Nottingham since Rock City and it was fun. It was good to have a break from the band for a week because the songs felt fresh to play again and I can feel us getting tighter as a unit as well. Bens fitting in really well now it was also really good to play with our friend Lisa D’Ville who was awesome; she’s just really really good at singing, great to see her with a guitar player too who was equally as good.
Our gig was an energetic affair and really fun, most fun I’ve had on stage for ages.
I really like the running horse as a venue too, and I’d definitely like to play there again soon. Hopefully they’ll ask us back. We had quite a few friends down to see us so overall a great atmosphere …probably should avoid attempting live drum and bass as an encore though.

Note to self Clarkson “you neither a Drum and Bass MC or shaggy” I have the rapping skills of a dead horse getting fucked by a clown in drag.

Post gig went to my friends for a solitary glass of wine then home…was a good evening although I need to avoid sending text messages when semi drunk. There was quite a few that made little or no sense or were just a bit ‘ahem’…desperate.
I don’t care really. I was wearing a nice suit so that’s all that matters.

We played:

If God exists
She Still Loves you
I miss you cos it’s Monday
The Terrorist
A little bit of home
Be careful who you lend your heart to.
Great Having you around
Terry Steele
Merrow Song

Encore:
Stupid drum and bass thing

That’s it…

Cheers

Ad

Note to self

2009-04-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

NO MORE DRUNKEN BLOGGING CLARKSON!!!!

And another thing...i'm playing guest guitar this friday in Lancaster with Lexico. Also in the band is Fruitbat from Carter USM and the headline act is Jim Bob from Carter USM. It's a Carter USM wet dream...

It's at Lancasters Yorkshire House and doors are 7:30 so if you're around the Lake District pop in because it's gonna be a brillmega evening.

NO MORE DRUNKEN BLOGGING CLARKSON!!!!

I blame the sandersons

2009-04-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

Yep...might have been a bit drunk last night and was on the sandersons throat specific. Has strange side effects but clears your throat problems up in a second.

There's leaves on the Line

2009-03-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,

I’m feeling somewhat knackered after the weekend’s festivities, although it was almost completely alcohol free so at least there’s no quagmire of self loathing at least to deal with.
It’s been another strange week for me, I’m definitely feeling like I’m going through a weird period of my life, and it all seems a bit uncertain. I think everyone goes through strange transitions throughout their lives but I seem to be in a place that’s fairly isolated in comparison to my pals and it’s a bit lonely. Having said that I’m taking a long hard look at myself and in reality it’s the first time in years and years that I’ve been on my own or at least mentally on my own. I’ve been proper single now for 6 months, the longest ever has been 8 months and that was well over 3 years ago so it’s a weird period. I feel like I don’t have a safety net but I don’t want no woe is me shite because things are not bad, they could just even out a little and not manifest themselves as small 2 weekly crisis’s. I’m tired today but I’m good tired.

So the tour?
This tour is obviously to promote “the Terrorist” coming out on May 25th as a single and the art work looks absolutely great thanks to Nat. In fact she is the mystery girl on the cover. I’ll post the cover when I’ve got an electric copy. I’m glad this single is coming out physically.
I’m guessing the limited 100 copies will sell fairly sharpish, just got to remember to keep one for myself this time.

Saturday - BIRMINGHAM Academy 3:
We rolled into Birmingham to discover the tickets for the gig were £9 as we were supporting some guy who’s big in Australia. Ash Grunwald. He was your typical surfer, acoustic, stacked, dreadlocked aussie troubadour, probably bangs a lot of women at surf competitions and attracts an army of “chilled” out hippie/surfer fans. Basically the sort of people you see at arts cafes with painted faces, with meat and dairy free diets. Basically a bunch of annoying cunts that spend more time perfecting their hippie look and hippy caricature than actually being actual free spirits. Fippies I suppose umm….meaning fake hippies.
To be fair to Ash he was quite a nice dude, and his music was good for what it was but he turned up 4 hours late for sound check looking like he’d just smoked 20 buckets. I’m guessing his tour manager had also smoked 20 buckets with him because 4 hours late is just rude when it results in the support acts only getting a line check. This lack of sound check resulted in our slot being sloppy, and loose sounding. Ben had nothing in his monitors, I could hear nothing but reverb from the front monitors and the crowd reacted to us like we were the only gay donkey in a field full of really fit female donkeys horny for a donkey fucking. It was a strange booking decision; Ash Grunwald and Captain Dangerous just don’t go together. It was like an old man turning up to an under tens sunday league football team try out and being shunned by the other parents sad in the knowledge that his own parents were long dead.

Sunday - Leeds
Sunday in Leeds was much much better, probably because people from Yorkshire are just really nice and genuinely seem to have a love for live music.
We managed to perform in the city centre in glorious sunshine for the best part of the day. I’m starting to think that our manager booking us a UK busking tour to promote the single was a good idea despite my initial thoughts. It’s knackering but I like the punk rock Clash style ethics of just standing up and getting on with it wherever you are. The songs have nowhere to hide and if you’re shit the baying crowd will ignore you or at worst just laugh at you. Thankfully we had a great response from the people of Leeds. It’s a really friendly town.
Also playing street gigs lets you meet lots of strange and wonderful people; Leeds was full of these sorts of characters. My favourite chap yesterday was a guy called Gary who hung around all day, tried to sell me a watch and a pair of shoes and even did some MCing along to our music. He was a nice guy and even insisted on doing some sort of strange dancing in the street. Brilliant. Also thanks to the kids who fed us with cream eggs. Leeds you’re a great town!

That’s it for now,

adx

Sweet dreams sweet cheeks

2009-03-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon!!

It’s been a busy busy week for us in the Dangerous camparooney.
Very fucking busy.
I’m still suffering from wild mood swings and feel like a bit of an incomplete human being at the moment. Fleeting between hopeless insecurity, and rampant fits of confidence and self assurance. Why can’t things be somewhere in the middle? Well I suppose it’d be a lot more boring if they were but seriously something seems missing all the time. Good job I’ve got this band innit! And I joined a gym like a proper muscle head. Training to be the new rob van dam or something, or Paul McGrath or one of the fricking mcgann brothers! (what!?) Why don’t I just write lol like a teenage girl. “Stacy fancies Lenny lol I.D.S.T” for example.

So…news news! “The Terrorist” is out in the shops on Danqua Records on May 25th 2009.
It’ll appear in the following format:

100 ltd edition CDs a/The Terrorist b/ Merrow Song

And

Full digital release.

I’m happy about this, it’s a one shot deal with this label, the distribution is really good and they seem much better than those absolute jokers who put out that bag of cock spanners song about Man Utd over a year ago. And…we’ve a few maybes for the album but deciding after this single or the next who to go with.
All in good time you good people! We want to make sure it’s all done properly.

Our tour started on Saturday in Stratford which was eventful to say the least, it involved an argument with a Peruvian pipe band and a man dressed as Shakespeare spray painted white. I think it’s the one and only time I’ve ever said without irony “Fuck off Shakespeare” He was miffed before we were performing our street gig in his usual spot. He was one of these statue chaps who stands there all day scaring kids like a rotten child molester without morals or life goals actually that’s a bit harsh he’s probably alright but he acted like a total baby even telling me “to get a real job“and setting his plinth up directly in front of use when we started playing hence the “fuck off Shakespeare”
Then bizarrely a Peruvian Pipe band started blasting out some hefty pipe beats at ear splitting volume, so loud in fact that the cops got called. A funny day indeed.
Then in the evening I went to see my friend Lisa D’Ville play and got turbo pissed on red wine, it was hazy but good times. She’s really really good. Also Darren (sometime sax and synth dangerous man) was playing bass for a blues guy. I thoroughly enjoyed him playing too.
Sunday our tour hit the mean streets of Nottingham for a home gig. It went well despite the filthy wine hangover, the street sellers were surprisingly nice and made us feel welcome on da street. Next up the tour hits Birmingham academy 3 on Saturday and Leeds on Sunday. Banging.

Oh and some of our music is being used in a film apparently I met the girl the other day who’s making it and I think she’s going to use Merrow Song. In fact the girl I met was in Holby City. It’s a bit bizarre because I actually watch it. She’s the scruffy doctors daughter. Anyway her film sounds great.

That’s it for now apart from saying “Pram Town” by Darren Hayman is probably the best album I’ve ever heard.

And first list of the year:

1/ I like Pram Town
2/ I like my Uke
3/ I like Richmond sausages
4/ I like Red wine
5/ I like mash potatoes
6/ I like snogging
7/ I like generation Kill
8/ I like Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks
9/ I like south Park
10/ I like donkeys

Ahh wild mood swings…why oh why? Fuck Donkeys! That’s it. Bye.

adx

Yoga anyone?

2009-03-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I've had such a mental few days...in fact total fucking turmoil. My heads feels like someone’s eaten it and I’m craving affection.

Anyway thanks to everyone who came to the Camden show on Friday. In my opinion it was probably our best show ever, just felt tighter than a umm...a really tight thing.
It was good to play with Dazatron on Sax/Juno 6 and Mags on violin, and its really cool that lots of people came out to see us after a year or so off not playing in the smoke. In fact i think that was our biggest crowd in London so far ever in the world.

I spent the rest of the weekend, getting angry, saying, and doing stupid things and generally being as drunk as possible I’ve decided to try a different approach of not boozing and replacing partying with exercise. God I’ve definitely used up one of my embarrassing me moments this past weekend. (if you remember I think that feeling embarrassed is the worst emotion and my plan was to only embarrass myself 3 times this year, i've managed 2 so far including Saturday...cringe!) NO MORE CLARKSON!

Anyway I haven't joined the red hot chilli peppers or become a member of the straight edge lot (fucking hell imagine if i turned straight edge?) i just think getting fit is gonna be a good life style change and apparently good for the brain.

One thing that got offered at this gym was free "yoga" now call me a naive bell end but what the fuck happens at Yoga classes?

I honestly don't have a clue and I don’t think I’ve met anyone who can actually describe what it is apart from a few mumbles about stretching and how you feel enlightened.

Yes but HOW and WHAT actually happens?

Can anyone please shed some light?

I think its some sort of secret society like the masons and you have to eat a stone from a deep pond or something, or eat a bag of roasted blunt nails or even run across a busy motor way and survive to be in the gang.
I seriously think its like a gang and you probably can't leave unless you die or take a long period of leave in a gulag.
Yeah that’s probably what happens in yoga class Clarkson, almost definitely.

What else?

Well the terrorist is coming out on May 11th as a single...and we've got a tour starting on Saturday. Check the myspace for dates...

Finally... I’m NOT annoyed about that stupid cunt website anymore...its quite funny really and sorry to anyone who saw me over the weekend i was a bit of an emotional wreck (just like Johnny Borrell in that video where he wears a coat)
Also I admit I’m not the best at painting and I do like doing it but why would you in a drunken stupor deicide its a good idea to paint a massive X 4 in the middle of the painting, i woke up to this on Monday morning...and it looked fucking shit. I have no idea why and what meaning it has...never mind...I think I’ve fixed this evening by painting over it.

That’s it for now..

See ya,

ad x

He only done and gone and a written a load of cods wallop

2009-03-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry i haven't written in a while had a few computer issues and a birthday to celebrate and well we had to sort a few official details out regarding the drummer situation. Anyway...it has to be said and is now officailly said that Ben is fully signed up Captain Dangerous drummer. Ben is a thoroughly great chap and a very good drummer and we've clicked pretty quickly. In fact i think me and him took the longest to click out of the lot of us and i'm really glad we have now.
It's given the band a new lease of life and we've resurrected old songs and playing and writing new ones. We'll be recording "if god exists" very very soon.

I found out who created that horrible hate website

www.whatacuntofdoom/yourbandisshit/ihategingers/hessoarrogant/i'mtwofacedandhidebehindaurl.com

or whatever it was called.

All i'll say is i'm disappointed and just a bit upset it was made by someone who i counted as at least a passing friend. Shame people say one thing to your face and another to the world wide web of endless information in order to get cool points from a people who have never met us.
All i'll say mate is please take your website down. It's not big and it's not clever. It's fairly amusing but have some balls and don't pretend to be friendly to my face if you don't mean it. I bear no grudges, i have no problem with you in fact i thought you were quite nice. If not feel free to insert some clever insult at the bottom of this post... It'll be really cool, honestly people who have never met me will laugh. Great eh? In fact why don't you call me a ginger it's a cutting edge insult or a something about being able to give it out but not take it very well. I've heard it all. Anyway enough of that...POSITIVE thoughts!!! but really i have no problem with you just do the honourable thing.

Ok...we're about to announce a full UK takeaway tour...keep you're eyes on the myspace. It's going to be massive and will be a huge street gigs tour.

Secondly "The Terrorist" is coming out as a single in about a month and a halfs time. It's going to be a one shot deal with a small indie label (dankwa) and be backed with "merrow song" as a double A-Side. It'll be out on CD 100 only very limited edition and on all the normal digital distributors. This is the first release from the album...please bear with us, we're still deciding on who it's coming out on...ITS TAKING FUCKING AGES!!!

And...first london show of the year is this friday in Camden - Dublin Castle - we're on early at 9:15 because we've got a couple of potential suiters coming to see us and they wanted it that way. I hope to see you lot down there. It should be very busy as we've not hit the capital for bloody ages. Our management have sorted out a mega bus for friday too...its got a playstation in it and a table. I'm excited.

Right thats me done! See ya friday

Sorry about the terrible grammer i'm in a rush!

Ad x

Prat

2009-02-23T06:12:00.001-08:00

I hate it when you try to apologise to someone and you end up digging a hole even bigger than you first were in leaving yourself looking like a tit. This happened to me on Saturday.
Having spent a fun evening at my friends birthday party I attempted to apologise to some writer I’d accidentally insulted a few months previous.

Basically before chrismas I’d been invited to a book launch with my friend and made the mistake (because of being nervous and full of free Red wine) of somehow (I don’t know how this happened) of accidentally questioning the books motives. Now I’d read about 2 pages of the book and was making conversation with some stranger about these launches and how they are nerve raking and people are networking and I wasn’t comfortable and thought book launches were all about back slapping and networking rather than creativity. Trouble is the person I was speaking to was the author. Anyway she looked at me like I’d arranged for a gang of silver backed gorillas to kidnap her whole family drag them into the jungle and fuck them. Just embarrassing and I was rightly ostracised from every other conversation for the rest of the evening and probably known for being “the drunk twat” caning all the free wine.
Anyway I saw this author on Saturday again and thought I’d apologise for being rude…I was shunned and it all came out wrong again. In fact a simple apology ended up sounding like a crack head offering blowjobs for crack. Anyway I was met with a stern mountain gorilla face again and she probably called me a dick head as I walked off.
I don’t now why I care but I’ve always hated feeling embarrassed and creative types/ cool people always think I’m a bell end. If I worked in that industry I’d probably never work again. So good job I don’t haha!
That’s the first making a prat out of myself in 2009. My aim is to make a prat out of myself less than 4 times this year. 2 more prats left.

Speaking of prats I read that the former nine inch nails drummer is offering unique experience packages for cash. Check this out below. This man must be skint.

$7
-Digital download of 'Since 1972' (solo album) including 3 videos

$15
-CD/DVD double-disc set
-Digital download

$50
-CD/DVD double-disc set
-T-shirt
-"Thank you" phone call from Josh for buying 'Since 1972'. You can tell him what you like about the record that you purchased, or what you thought sucked. Ask whatever you want, like "Is Maynard really THAT weird?" or "Which one of Sting's mansions has the comfiest beds?" or "Are DEVO really suburban robots that monitor reality or just a bunch of dads from Ohio?" or "Why don't the Vandals play more stuff off the first record?" It’s your 5 minutes to yack it up. Talk about whatever you want.

$250 (limited edition of 25)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Signed drum head and drumsticks
-Go on a lunch date with Josh to PF Changs or The Cheesecake Factory (whatever you're into)

$500 (limited edition of 15)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Signed cymbal and sticks
-Meet Josh in Venice, California, and go floating together in a sensory-deprivation tank (to be filmed and posted on YouTube)
-Dinner at Sizzler (get your $8.99 steak and "all you can eat" shrimp on)

$1,000 (limited edition of 10)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Signed cymbal, drum head and drumsticks
-Josh washes your car OR does your laundry…or you can wash his car
-Have dinner with Josh/[b] aboard the [b]Queen Mary in Long Beach, California
-Get drunk and cut each other’s hair in the parking lot of the Long Beach courthouse (filmed and posted on YouTube, of course)

$2,500 (limited edition of 5)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-Get a private drum lesson with Josh, or for all you non-drummers, have him give you a back and foot massage (couples welcome)
-Pick any 1 member of the Vandals or Devo (subject to availability) to accompany you and Josh to either the Hollywood Wax Museum or the lunch buffet at the Spearmint Rhino
-Signed DW snare drum
-Take 3 items of your choice out of his closet (first come, first serve)
-Change diapers and make bottles with him for an afternoon (after hitting the strip club)

$5,000 (limited edition of 3)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Josh writes a song about you and makes it available on iTunes
-Co-direct a video with him for the song about you and throw it up on the YouTubes
-Josh[b/] gives you and a friend a private tour of [b]Disneyland
-Get drunk together. If you don't drink, we can go to my dad's place and hang out under the "Tuba tree"
-Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam will send you a letter telling you about his favourite song on Since 1972

$10,000 (limited edition of 1)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Signed DW snare drum from A Perfect Circle's 2003 tour
-Josh gives you a private drum lesson OR his and hers foot/back massage (couples welcome, discreet parking)
-Twiggy from Marilyn Manson's band and Josh take you and a guest to Roscoe's Chicken 'n' Waffles in Long Beach for dinner
-Josh takes you and a guest to Club 33 (the super-duper exclusive and private restaurant at Disneyland located above 'Pirates Of The Caribbean') and then hit a couple rides afterward (preferably the Tiki Room, the Haunted Mansion and Tower Of Terror)
-At the end of the day at Disneyland, drive away in Josh's Volvo station wagon. It's all yours … take it. Just drop him off on your way home, though, please.

$20,000 (limited edition of 1)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-A signed drum from the 2008 Nine Inch Nails tour
-Maynard James Keenan, Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo and Josh/[b] take you miniature golfing and then drop you off on the side of the freeway (all filmed and posted on [b]YouTube/[b])
-[b]Josh/[b] gives you a tour of [b]Long Beach[b/]. See his first apartment, the coffee shop on 2nd Street where his buddy paid [b]Dave Grohl $40 to rip up tile just weeks before joining Nirvana. See the old Vandals rehearsal spot, the liquor store he got busted at using a fake ID when he was 17 (it was Dave from the Vandals' old ID). Go check out Snoop Dogg's high school. For an extra 50 bucks see where Tom and Adrian from No Doubt live. For another $25 he’ll show ya where Eric from NOFX and Brooks from Bad Religion get their hair cut.
-Spend the night aboard the Queen Mary and take the "Ghosts and Legends" tour (separate rooms…no spooning)
-Josh writes two songs about you and both are made available on iTunes and appear on his next record (you can sing back up on 'em, clap, play the drums, triangle, whatever)
-Drum lesson OR foot and back massage (once again…couples welcome and discreet parking available)
-Pick any 3 items out of Josh's closet

$75,000 (limited edition of 1)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download
-T-shirt
-Go on tour with Josh for a few days
-Have Josh write, record and release a five-song EP about you and your life story
-Take home any of his drum sets (only one, but you can choose which one)
-Take shrooms and cruise Hollywood in Danny from Tool['s Lamborghini OR play quarters and then hop on the Ouija board for a while
-Josh will join your band for a month … play shows, record, party with groupies, etc.
-If you don't have a band he'll be your personal assistant for a month (four-day work weeks, 10am to 4pm)
-Take a limo down to Tijuana and he'll show you how it's done (what that means exactly we can't legally get into here)
-If you don't live in Southern California (but are a US resident) he'll come to you and be your personal assistant/cabana boy for two weeks
-Take a flying trapeze lesson with Josh and Robin from NIN, go back to Robin's place afterwards and his wife will make you raw lasagna

Can this really be true? Well even if it’s not I think I should offer some unique fan packages for the right price of course!

So here’s my take on this unique and exciting fan experience…

For the following amount of money you can do the following (for the sake of this I’ll write in the third person/ I don’t think I’m the Rock or anything)

£5
A limited edition album complete with hand designed sleeve from Adam.

£10
Share a greggs sausage roll at one of Adams favourite hangouts, Ride maybe?

£15
Come round to Adams house, eat sausage and mash and enjoy the luxury of not doing the washing up.
Choose a pair of Adams boxer shorts to take home.

£20
Stay over at Adams house (not in the same bed)
Choose a pair of Adam boxer shorts to take home
Eat Gammon and potatoes cooked by Adam

£50
Come over to Adams house and spend the whole afternoon dressed in really big tracksuit bottoms, then stuff each others tracksuit bottoms full of pillows in order to resemble Lenny Henrys massive fucking arse.
Get a signed picture of the above event.

A pretty unique fan package if you ask me…much cheaper than the NINs one and you get a pair of my pants as well.

On Sunday we did a photo shoot out in Southwell in various spots. It was fun and I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

And by the way things with Rick are fine…he wishes us luck for the future and we do him.
Ricks arms been fucked for ages and he can no longer fully commit to a band which should go full time fairly soon. Again good luck mate.

Hope to see you all on Friday at the newly opened Seven. This gig is free as long as you buy a big issue on the door. So it costs less than 2 quid. A fricking bonus!

See ya,

Adx

hello

2009-02-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Yeah bit drunk last time i wrote on here but there we go...

Will post properly soon. I'm watching the Brits...just saw Take That miming on TV. Rubbish. Gary Barlow can actually sing as well so whats the point.

Anyway not much to say...

see ya x

sweet dreams and GOOD NIGHT

2009-02-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

Friday, 13 February 2009
sweet dreams and GOOD NIGHT

Hello,

I'm writing you from the most honest and truthful situation an english man can be in.

A man in his twenties is often a very empty yet full vessell...right now i'm totally alive. i have to tell you whats been going on. And i know you haven't really been reading much of this blog recently and thats because its been boring. It's been boring because i've been trying to pay my respects to Rick.

Ok i'll say it...

Ricky has now left Captain Dangerous. I'm sad about this but this is the fact. Ricks arm is fucked...Rick can't play gigs because of his arm. Rick hasn't played a gig with us since June. Rick...you're our brother....you'll always be our brother. I'm sad but this is the way things have happened and if you read this just remember i love you. You're family to me. Anything you need call me (i mean this despite your anger)

Ok so...well whats been going on?

Well.........CAPTAIN DANGEROUS is now a four piece rock and roll band.

Ad, Miles, Mark, Ben...........

Me?...Well. Since we last spoke i've got obsessed with Los Campesinos, started to hate lady gaga, been happy marrina and the diamonds got signed, broke into my own house, got really into the kabeedies, met a great female friend who is beautiful but i don't fancy, Felt horrificly depressed at the death of a relationship but felt finally ok in the last 2 months...JUST. Re made friendships, got back into blur and the cure, missed bob and mark and julia, snogged a celebrity (quite a famous one at that blood) enjoyed fish (pollock to be exact) bought a telecaster on credit, cried over my grandad, said a prayer for my ex's mum despite not being religious, made the best debut album ever (at least lyrically in my eyes) and.........realised your twenties should be spent drunk and reckless and making the mistakes you're not allowed to make in your 30's. Felt very proud of Raj pathak, got really angry at the state of gaza, learnt the uke, sold out rock city basement, thought my dad was cool and realised my brother is my best friend xx

Thats it...

ad

xx
Posted

The show must go on

2009-02-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

I’m seriously pissed off today. I’ve got no fucking voice…I mean it’s completely gone and we’ve got a show tonight. Plus the medication I got at lunch time has given me the strange side effect of feeling like a tearful child. Seriously the last time I felt like this was when I took codeine for a rumbling appendix, also this stuff isn’t really working so I’m anxious about not being able to perform. I feel like I’m trapped in some sort of space age bubble and I can’t cry out for help. Then when I feel sorry for myself I feel selfish for doing so with all the bad stuff that’s going on in the world, the terrible plight of the people of Gaza, those who are dying in the fires of Victoria, kids with serious illness, people getting killed and tortured in war zones. Bahh……..

Ahhh……….. What is a man without a voice…Nothing.

I should talk about all things band on this blog really but I can’t be bothered today because what’s on my mind will only get me in trouble. All I’ll say that things are sounding tight, new songs are being and have been written, that things have changed, great things are promised and a new great chemistry is coming together.
I’ll also say I never wanted to upset anyone and I’m sorry the way things ended up in some ways. Thank you for the music (a dubious ABBA quote but quite heartfelt all the same)

I think I’ve finally shook off the new year blues and looking forward to the future now…it’s been tough for me mourning a relationship but I think things are starting to turn for the better and my brain certainly isn’t all over the place as much as it was in December and January. Having said that a break up hurts all over again for one party if the other party starts to see someone new before they do…unfortunately meeting new people or getting over people doesn’t happen at the exact same time as their previous significant other. You could call it the great love race with the prize being less heart break.

I’m going to attempt to play this gig tonight…even if I mess it up I need to try. We’ll be playing a new song I wrote a few weeks ago about Gaza…it’s about the absolutely terrible shit that’s going on their and certainly better than writing songs about chip shops. Then again who am I to judge what makes a good song? I’m not God (or maybe I am…Mwuhahahahhahaha!!!)

Sorry I haven’t written much recently. It’s been out of respect.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Stratford acoustic show. It was brilliant fun and my favourite show for a long time, an electric atmosphere in fact (ironic considering it was acoustic! Boom!)

Ok I’m off. We’re on stage tonight at 9ish at Nottingham University and my telecaster is fixed.

Bye

adx

Lenny Henrys Arse

2009-01-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

Sorry I haven’t written in a while I’ve been doing a lot of sorting out and not really had much to vent my spleen at until now. I’ve decided I fucking hate comic relief. Not the whole charity part, charity is obviously good. No it’s the great BBC wankathon I can’t stand…every year they pat themselves on the back and spend shit loads of our TV license cash on charity events. Surely all the money spent on programming would be better spent as a donation to comic relief instead of getting all the “faces” of BBC television and radio in one place to metaphorically wank each other off in the name of charity. “Well done Chris, Well done Vernon, nice job Fern, pass the coke Lenny”
Wouldn’t it be easier if these great human beings stuck to their day jobs and made a nice contribution from their wages each month? That for me is how charity should work not the BBC spending millions of pounds on programming or flying celebrities to far flung corners of the globe to figuratively wank each other off.
I doubt any of these celebrities really give a shit.

Then there’s Lenny Henry who everyone was sick of 10 years ago. He is so so so unfunny, the sort of comedy your piss head auntie puts on on Christmas eve when you’re a kid dropping presents off with your family just after she’s got sick of Brian Connelly’s latest video. You’re forced to sit their with your brother drinking heavily watered down shandy while the adults smoke fags in the kitchen and your dad pretends he’s not pissed and perfectly fine to drive to granddads before midnight mass.
Actually their quite fond memories… but… comic relief is where the unfunny go to die! Lenny Henrys big arse really winds me up too…I don’t want to see Lenny Henrys big arse rolling around a hammock in a rainforest all in the name of charity, I bet his bum smells. It’s big enough. All you see when Lenny Henry comes on tv is his big arse.
In fact I think I might call our next album Lenny Henrys big arse. It’s fucking massive!
Seriously…I reckon if you did an arse to man ratio Lenny Henrys arse would make the record books. His fucking arse area is massive.

One very strange thing that happened to be last weekend was that I woke up with the words: “If only my name was Karen” written in permanent marker on my right outer thigh…I literally have no idea why that was written there

Right…

On Saturday we’re playing at Stratford Picture house in Stratford upon da Avon.
We’ll be selling 20 LTD edition hand made albums numbered and marked for one night only…these will be the last last last limited edition pre release albums before it comes out so get them while they’re hot. The last lot sold out so there are literally 20 available to buy in the world at the moment… we’ll be selling the usual T-shirts and stuff as well.

This gig is free…and going from last nights rehearsal it’s gonna be very special and intimate. We’ve resurrected some old songs and will be debuting new ones all completely stripped down in an intimate 50 capacity venue. I’m excited. Expect steel, Ukulele, Violin, mandolin, old school Casio keyboard, glockenspiel, and reworked songs…

Ok I’m off to think about Lenny Henrys big arse,

Bye

adx

The album got leaked ALREADY!

2009-01-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hello and greetings from ME.

One bit of news you'll probably be interested in (especially if you're abroad) is the fact the album has been leaked already, apparently by someone called Richard. Someone who bought the pre release album at Rock City. I just found this out...
This album still doesn't have a release date because we're talking to various Ari Gold type power dancers and don't know when it's gonna come out yet. Having said that it is DEFINATELY coming out this year probably sooner rather than later.

I thought a lot about getting "Richard" done by the GRS and considered getting rid of the link but after much thought i thought fuck it and leave it. File sharing has existed since the internet was born and i don't really care. I'm getting sick of the red tape and those who want the album complete with artwork will buy it anyway. The quality of the illegally leaked album isn't 100% as it should be (it's not quite but nearly full quality MP3) but it gives a taster and is pretty good. We ain't the Darkness.

Anyway be kind...if you download the album and like it please also buy it when it comes out if you want us to continue making music.

More news soon...I'm off to bed. Just watched "Porn a family business" Has anyone seen it? Imagine running a porn company with your dad...no? Me neither. I think i'd rather run a brothel with Gary Glitter.

www.throughthewoodlands.blogspot.com (don't know HTML so copy and paste this link)

Those in the Stratford area...Saturday is the night!! Tiny (and i mean tiny) gig at Stratford picture house, think it's free...

Cheers,

See ya later,

Ad x

Fuck off January blues!

2009-01-13T15:09:00.001-08:00

Ahh...........

I'm getting tired of feeling in despair because it's fucking January...honestly. It's so dark first thing in the morning, and so cold in my bed and fucking dark when i get home. I'm bloody fed up. I hope it passes soon. Really. Just feeling crap and lonely. I probably need to do something or go on holiday for a bit, considering pissing off for a weekend soon to somewhere warm. Hate January and everything around me is getting me down. Just turn on the fucking news...

On a slightly positive note i've reaslised i've become spider man. Over the last weekend i managed to lock myself out of the house and had to climb up the roof and through the attic window. Probably not my wisest move but still it needed to be done and at least i now know i have superior climbing skills.

By the way watch slumdog millionaire it's great...just been to the cinema with my mate Chris.

I've been asked to play Guitar on part of the next Jimbob tour (former carter usm singer) and gonna design a suit out of paper mache in 2 weeks time when i've got more dosh, might be some sort of hawk based suprise (whatever that is?)

Lots of Dangerous news soon, loads going on so give me a week or 2 and i'll be writing regularly again.

News years resolutions:

Don't make a tit out of myself anymore than 3 times this year (This year i managed under 5 and that was the plan) Still hate feeling embarrassed :)

Don't say live on sunday afternoon TV that i have a penis like babies arm (ha ha! Don't regret that the presenter was a bell end)

Don't get spiked with Acid (that was a strange night)

Try and 100% give up fags. I'm doing well at the cutting down bit.

That's about it...

adx

Total Recall.

2009-01-05T14:49:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone,

I'm currently sitting freezing my balls off wearing a scalf in my house "Watching Worlds toughest towns" It's actually quite interesting as this week it's about Prague and the underworld that controls it. It's quite odd because a year and a half ago we played a festival that definately had a very dodgy egde to it in Prague. In fact as you may or may not recall the four of us ended up down a nuclear fallout shelter in the redlight district with some dodgy mafia fuckers trying to sell us women. It was a strange trip.

It's January 5th and i appear to be stuck in the January slump. .Ie. I feel a bit bloody depressed and anxious about the coming year! I just want stuff to work out as it should and i'm feeling lonely. Christmas was a good time overall but i know i definately don't belong in Kenilworth anymore. It seems to have changed quite a bit and there's a few old faces i can't be bothered to run into and ex girlfriends with shit manners. Nottingham is my home for now but i wouldn't mind trying the big smoke if the chance came up! We'll see what this year brings.

I suppose i should do a run down of 2008. Or a brief one.

Favourite Album - Hold on now youngster (Los Campesinos)
Favouirte Single - Please Come back Home (Glasvegas)
Favourite Dangerous gig - Dec 12th Rock City
Favourite person/band we played with - Light Speed Champion (splendour festival)
Favourite Notts band - We show up on radar and Dog is Dead
Biggest regret - All of my shit breaking at Splendour Festival, ahem getting spiked (happens too often) and losing my GF.

That's it really...i hope 2009 is better than 2008 although 2008 hasn't been that bad really. Apparentely the music business comes back to work next week so as long as we're not being messed about with lies i should have some proper exciting news within the next 2 or so weeks.

So far i've only been called a ginger cunt once in 2009 which is not bad but the ginger abuse drives me mental, where do people get off shouting at strangers for no reason in the street. People are just stupid sometimes. Luckily the abuser was a fat girl on a hen night so i quite rightly called her fatty. Hope it ruined the fat pigs night.

That's it,

Bye

Adx

The night before Xmas eve.

2008-12-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

Greetings from a slightly ropey feeling Mister Clarkson. I can't seen to shake this fucking bug that's going round. Or i recover for a day or so, go christmas partying and end up with a fucked immune system again or a what feels like 3 day hangover. It's not fair...having said that the whole country seems to be ill.
Maybe it's somesort of zombie desease and we're all going to turn into the undead and sabotage christmas by eating our own mothers at the dinner table? No pants and socks this year! I'm currently sitting in my Nottingham house watching the Sopranos (AGAIN) and trawling the internet because the National express coach back to Cov had sold out! I thought no one used the national express anymore. I made the age old mistake ealier of reading reviews for Captain Dangerous shows which is something that i promised myself i wouldn't do and haven't done for over a year. It's not that they're bad generally but a mixed bag. It's the internet after all and not everyone is going to like your music...i take bad reviews to heart especially if they insult me...and i don't want no upset near Christmas plus it's put me in a bad mood but not that bad! I just be home in Kenilworth.
This blog is about nothing really...Christopher died! And Tony did it! Pah! Happy Christmas Everyone...

See you in the new year, there's loads of exciting stuff coming up!

Adx

I miss you cos it's tuesday

2008-12-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

I feel slightly lost now! We’ve finished the album and the launch party was a roaring success…nothing to be apprehensive about now for the short while…All the limited edition albums sold out as well so I’m afraid the rest of you will have to wait till next year to buy it in the shops.

So Friday…Friday for me was my favourite ever atmosphere at a Captain Dangerous gig. We seemed to have acquired quite a lot of fans in the time between doing the album sessions and the last time we played a show. I really enjoyed the gig, sound on stage wasn’t perfect but I’ve been told out in the crowd it was spot on. The whole atmosphere at the show was celebrity and the crowd were in fantastic spirits. So thanks to everyone who made the effort to come, we really enjoyed it and thanks to the session players Darren, Elliot, Maggie and Andy who helped us out on trombone, sax, violin and Juno 6.

The show started with we show up on radar playing a really great intimate set…I absolutely love his music and anyone who hasn’t checked Andy out yet you really are missing out. I thought he was superb and would always be my choice of support because I get to see him play for free.

By the time we reached the stage the crowd was rammed in against the barriers and the booze seemed to be flowing which made for a very warm audience. This really did feel like a homecoming show and it was great to see so many old and new faces in the crowd which included lots of family and mates.

We attempted to play the album from start to finish…unfortunately we had to miss out “no good times intended” due to me losing my voice (I’d had a throat virus all week so high notes were difficult) Then a 3 song encore.

It went something like this:

The Terrorist (with Andy Wright)
She still loves you (with Elliot and Darren)
A little bit of home (with Maggie)
I miss you cos it’s Monday (with Elliot, Darren and Maggie)
I Admit Defeat(with Maggie)
Shoot Deserters
The Ballad of Phillip (with Andy Wright)
Terry Steele (with Maggie)
Merrow Song (with Maggie)
Booze Hounds
Other Man
Kill That Fucking…

After the show it was off to Ride for the after show party which was loads of fun…I took it fairly easy on the booze until the end of the party and then loads of us pilled back to Marks flat to carry on the party where me and mark smoked a lot of weed and played hefner and the French songs. Ride was really loads of fun…great djing as well (thanks Johnny) it was the first time I’ve heard a DJ play Rage against the Machine followed by the Pet Shop Boys.
It really was a great night…in fact one of my favourite nights this year. I woke up feeling happy on Saturday morning…

Thanks to everyone who made it a great night!

A couple of end of year things to report now:

We’ll be busking in Stratford this Saturday outside the main library so please come down with your pennies and festive cheer!

Secondly we’re doing a stripped down show at the Golden Fleece in Nottingham this Sunday. It’ll be a laid back charity affair and our last show of the year so again please come down and lend your support. Apparently we’re on early so come down and have beverage it is Christmas after all…

Oh and I’ve become a bit obsessed with Los Campesinos! I just think they’re superb…see you Saturday or Sunday for those who are popping down.

Ad x

I wish i was a Dog

2008-12-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hello there and greetings from a bloody exhausted young man.

The good news we’re on the final sprint to finishing the album, about a day away from finishing mixing and then 4days or so of mastering. It’s all finally coming together. I’m just so worn out. It’s been a gruelling few months and I’m glad we’re reaching the finished product.

Anyway a few bits.

Miles and I are on the BBC on Saturday night on the Beat (Dean Jackson’s show) we recorded a long, very truthful interview with Mr Jackson last night about Nottingham, where we’re going and talking about the record. It was a really good chat.
Dean will also be playing exclusively the first ever play of The Terrorist which is the first single of the debut album. The show is between 6 – 10 and the Kings of Leon are also on it so it’s worth a listen.

Follow that there link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/local_radio/beat/

Another thing tickets for Rock City are selling fast so my advice is to get them in advance. They’re available from all the normal online ticket sites and from Rock City box office.

Finally we’re doing one final busking takeaway show of the year in Stratford on December 20th and an unplugged gig at the Golden Fleece (Nottingham) on December 21st. They’ll the final shows of the year…then I’ve got a full 2 weeks off. A week in Kenilworth and then a week in Finland. I’m desperate for a rest.

See you at Rock City December 12th…

adx