Christy Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 I always thought Edgar Prais were due for big things, they toured all over and were being courted by B-Unique Records. Shame it didn't work out for them because they really were ace.It's a miracle we achieved as much as we did. given the choices we made. If we had 'played the game' so to speak, I have no doubt that we would have certainly amounted to bigger things than we ultimately did. No wonder Jamesy was tearing his hair out. I can't imagine managing Kris, Steven and me being an easy job.When all is said and done, though, we toured as main support to Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic (aye, when they were a big deal, ken), Noisettes, Good Shoes (see 'The Automatic'), The Rifles, The Pipettes....plus more that I can't remember. We had a debut single that got rave reviews, and an album (that we never completed) that was hotly tipped. We played plumb slots at TiTP, Belladrum, RockNess, and my personal highlight was playing Club NME on a Friday night to a jam-packed Koko in Camden (the very venue where Steve, Kai and I, under considerable influence, decided to form a band. Then Kai went down so we got Kris.) Easy game.In short, I spent my early twenties making ace music around Britan with my two best friends. We made some decisions that most bands would sell their souls for, but we stuck to our principles. I am fiercely proud of what we achieved, and we certainly could have gone onto achieve a bunch more.Thanks for indulging my wee trip down memory lane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Nice thread and a nice post by Christy in particular. I remember chatting to Jamesy just as it looked like things were starting to take off for EP and then the next time I spoke to him (as I recall) the lineup had changed and the direction altered and I remember thinking 'fucking hell Jamesy, how do you cope!' I think that the problem is that so few people have ever been around and seen a band go from playing Drakes type places at 14 to headlining the Saturday night at Glastonbury that when a band that you do know from point A starts to take off, the presumption is always made that it'll lead to point B when in so many cases, that just doesn't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster Zero Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Local bands doing 'big things' typically means releasing some sort of recording which is of better quality than the standard slightly dodgy sounding demo and playing gigs outside Aberdeen. Which isn't really 'big' in the grand scheme of things if we are honest about it. It just shows a bit more desire.To become 'big' needs dedication from an early age that music will be your life and a bit of luck that your music will strike a chord with enough people to allow continued income. Having enough songs to earn from royalties helps by all accounts. I think this sort of success is becoming a thing of the past with the whole downloading debacle.Having generous parents to fund equipment and such like has to help as well....Colonopenbracket were dreadful. Total gimmick fuelled by folk who are easily impressed by a bit of image. Watching Robert Palmer videos gave much the same effect except the birds were decent looking and more legal. The fucking music was better as well, which isn't saying much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gold Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 I didn't realise that I'm the only person in town with a weighty major label record deal. What a bunch of slack bastards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Want to cite some examples?I suppose Reuben fell into that category.What's interesting is that a lot of people posting here (and I include myself) have been in bands that either "nearly made it" or have (from an outside perspective at least) had a decent level of success, yet everyone has a "real life" job. I remember frantically organising time off my work so I could get away to go on tour supporting Idlewild, but always on the understanding that there was a job to go back to. I reckon the holy grail of being in a self sufficient band perhaps isn't everything it's cracked up to be (unless you're in fucking Coldplay or similar).As it is now, my view and expectations have changed completely. I am under no illusions that I will be able to quit work and go out on the road forever, but, importantly, I don't want to. I love my job. I love being in a band. My band managed to make a record and get a lot of people to hear it without panicking about how we were going to pay for petrol or find our next meal. No, we can't go off on tour for months on end but equally all decisions we make about our band are based on what we want to do and when, rather than financial necessity. I think that's actually quite a pure thing. If our jobs pay our bills, our musical endeavours are not coloured by the need for money.Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded, but I think having complete control over what you do musically is worth a lot and having a job as well as a band is actually almost more "punk rock"/ethically sound than not. Yes, there are (sometimes severe) limitations but at the ripe old age of 30, I'm not sure I'd have it any other way.Unless you've got a multi million pound record deal in your back pocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gold Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Darn fine post Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 we toured as main support to The Pipettes.8oI hope you had a with one of them. Well with Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam 45 Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 When i was first getting into local music in Aberdeen, The Little Kicks seemed to be a fair tip. They had quite a catchy poppy sound that reminded me of The Thrills, a band and a sound that were pretty popular at the time. A couple of sold out Lemon Tree shows also showed that people around here were fairly into them as well.Financially, without record label support touring can be really hard. There are a few things that if bands are on the ball with what they are doing can save themselves some money. For instance, putting on your own shows in your home-town can be a great way put some money away for the tour. Im pretty sure i remember the xcerts and copy haho doing this on a tour last year at Drummonds, managing to pay themselves and good amount and cover the likes of van hire for the tour ect. Merchandise is an absolute must as you'd be surprised that there are still people out there who enjoying leaving a show with some new records ect. I saw at a Meursault show in Edinburgh that Phil was selling some Debutant demos that probably didn't cost much money to put together. Whilst i'm sure sales weren't soaring a little bit from each show can go a long way, even if its just paying for essentials like food ect. Also if taking crew on tour, look for people who can consolidate jobs (ie) a sound engineer who can also drive and TM (THIS WAS NOT A HINT, ACTUALLY IT DEFINITELY WAS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Caz Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Bonesaw so far this year: Small self financed "tour" of Ireland.Two split 7" vinyl releases through various independent labelsSelf financed EU going from Italy - Spain - Holland ( no particular order ). Plus a couple of weekend jaunts around Scotland with various bands fron out of Great Britain.All whilst "rehearsing" every week and writing for album number 2, in between our full time jobs.Our jobs pretty much pay from 12k upto about 15/16k I reckon so there isn't much leeway after living expenditures.All though it can sometimes be awkward and not the best situations, I would rather keep this way as as someone has said earlier, you have complete control over every action/decision made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigsby Posted February 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 It's a miracle we achieved as much as we did. given the choices we made. If we had 'played the game' so to speak, I have no doubt that we would have certainly amounted to bigger things than we ultimately did. No wonder Jamesy was tearing his hair out. I can't imagine managing Kris, Steven and me being an easy job.When all is said and done, though, we toured as main support to Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic (aye, when they were a big deal, ken), Noisettes, Good Shoes (see 'The Automatic'), The Rifles, The Pipettes....plus more that I can't remember. We had a debut single that got rave reviews, and an album (that we never completed) that was hotly tipped. We played plumb slots at TiTP, Belladrum, RockNess, and my personal highlight was playing Club NME on a Friday night to a jam-packed Koko in Camden (the very venue where Steve, Kai and I, under considerable influence, decided to form a band. Then Kai went down so we got Kris.) Easy game.In short, I spent my early twenties making ace music around Britan with my two best friends. We made some decisions that most bands would sell their souls for, but we stuck to our principles. I am fiercely proud of what we achieved, and we certainly could have gone onto achieve a bunch more.Thanks for indulging my wee trip down memory lane.Good post. I'd have loved to have done all that.BUT I can't help thinking that having achieved as much as you did, it's a shame you didn't make just that final push into "the big time"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 The Cuts were almost signed too, weren't they?No that's officially not true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Aye, Edgar Prais were really good I thought.Were Coast (mid-90s around Britpop time) not from up here? I thought they'd go somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paime Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I suppose Reuben fell into that category.What's interesting is that a lot of people posting here (and I include myself) have been in bands that either "nearly made it" or have (from an outside perspective at least) had a decent level of success, yet everyone has a "real life" job. I remember frantically organising time off my work so I could get away to go on tour supporting Idlewild, but always on the understanding that there was a job to go back to. I reckon the holy grail of being in a self sufficient band perhaps isn't everything it's cracked up to be (unless you're in fucking Coldplay or similar).As it is now, my view and expectations have changed completely. I am under no illusions that I will be able to quit work and go out on the road forever, but, importantly, I don't want to. I love my job. I love being in a band. My band managed to make a record and get a lot of people to hear it without panicking about how we were going to pay for petrol or find our next meal. No, we can't go off on tour for months on end but equally all decisions we make about our band are based on what we want to do and when, rather than financial necessity. I think that's actually quite a pure thing. If our jobs pay our bills, our musical endeavours are not coloured by the need for money.Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded, but I think having complete control over what you do musically is worth a lot and having a job as well as a band is actually almost more "punk rock"/ethically sound than not. Yes, there are (sometimes severe) limitations but at the ripe old age of 30, I'm not sure I'd have it any other way.Unless you've got a multi million pound record deal in your back pocket Nailed it on the head. As long as everyone in the band has the same attitude then thats fine. The problem is that some people live in a dillusional world where music pays for a lush lifestyle and don't appreciate that others need an income to live, mortgages, bills etc cost money. I would've loved to forge a career in the music industry but i wasn't going to sleep on floors and eat cold beans out of a tin to do it. Some might say that i didn't have enough ambition or didn't want it badly enough but i say i was just being realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Jack Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Aye, Edgar Prais were really good I thought.Were Coast (mid-90s around Britpop time) not from up here? I thought they'd go somewhere.They were, saw them a few times, usually in the Pelican I think. Always seemed to play with 18-wheeler, and the two of them seemed to get their names mentioned a lot around the time of the whole Creation buzz. I think McGee liked them. Can't say I was a fan, nice chaps though, if my admittedly porous memory serves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 They were, saw them a few times, usually in the Pelican I think. Always seemed to play with 18-wheeler, and the two of them seemed to get their names mentioned a lot around the time of the whole Creation buzz. I think McGee liked them. Can't say I was a fan, nice chaps though, if my admittedly porous memory serves.Wasn't Stanley's drummer in Coast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest idol_wild Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I remember seeing a band called Verbal in the Pelican circa 1998, and I remember being stunned at how great they were. I expected to hear more about them but never ever did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Being 34 with a wife and kid, the idea of a record deal sounds hellish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Being 34 with a wife and kid, the idea of a record deal sounds hellish...Local lads Pallas were first signed to EMI in 1984 and went pro... they toured extensively in the UK and Europe and released two albums... it was all short lived though and after three years it was all over... or so they thought. The band never split and after a wee break (13yrs) they wrote and recorded another album, got signed again to Inside Out, they have released several more albums and regularly play all over the world, they have just released their new and best album to date and are now signed to Mascot and are playing High Voltage in the summer. They all have jobs, and do the band thing in their spare time and holidays and it has to finance itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Didn't they have a gig sometime recently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Didn't they have a gig sometime recently?Aye apparently a wee while back. Sure I saw it advertised somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Didn't they have a gig sometime recently?Played a packed out Tunnels a couple of weekends ago, The Peel in London the following night...Playing Classic Rock Society Awards show in Rotherham 5th March and The Cathouse Glasgow 13th May... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigsby Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Played a packed out Tunnels a couple of weekends ago, The Peel in London the following night...Playing Classic Rock Society Awards show in Rotherham 5th March and The Cathouse Glasgow 13th May...Wish I'd known about The Tunnels gig. Hopefully they'll do a bit of advertising on this site in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Hopefully they'll do a bit of advertising on this site in the future.Probably not after the reception to their previous advert... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Jack Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Wasn't Stanley's drummer in Coast?I believe you may be right but I wouldn't like to say for 100%.*paging Lord Summerisle*(or you could nip downstairs and ask him...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbroken Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 most of the bands mentioned here enjoyed success while the music they played was fashionable, then disappeared once it wasn't.driveblind being the exception - actually, their name came up recently as I was on a trip away with one of the members' brothers the other day. not sure what the ultimate status of the band and members is, but his bro's still in LA now, working as a sort of freelance musician/jingle writer type.Weapon didn't pack it in because the music became less fashionable. It still isn't technically done and dusted...Other priorities came up, and that was that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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