Blog: A Mighty Storm Is Brewing

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Off to Derby for me last night for BAND PRACTICE - as with last time, I stopped off in Leicester on the way for some TEA, and had some Indian-style Mexican food, which was ODD but NICE. It's always a little strange to be told you have PANEER on your BURRITO, but i guess that is the beauty of a COSMOPOLITAN place like Leicester.

I hopped back on the train, went to the Brunswick Arms for my traditional pre-practice pint of PEDIGREE (which was DELICIOUS) then went to the practice room where i was AMAZED to find all Validators (with the exception of Emma, who is POORLY) already there!! I am nearly always the first to arrive, so this was a bit of a SHOCK.

We got set up, discussed topics relating to the new single, and then BURST into an extremely organised and PRODUCTIVE SESSION. We ran through Do The Indie Kid with EASE (we know it now!) and then had a GOOD couple of goes at My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once - last time it felt like we'd run it into the ground a bit, but this time we slowed it down a tiny amount and generally played it BETTER (technical term) and we were back on track with it. Then we had a Proper Practice of Best Behaviour - when i say PROPER i mean we went back and re-did things, tried out different ways of doing stuff, and were generally THOROUGH about it. It's even got a proper worked out ending, GET US!

It was also at this point that i got set my HOMEWORK - to finally learn how to play BARRE CHORDS! I can do the E minor shape FINE, at least as far as a F or F// minor goes, but that's about IT, and as complaints were raised BOTH about the way I play B flat AND C minor, I resolved there and then to put some EFFORT in to get it RIGHT.

During all this PROFESSIONALISM I'd broken a string, and once again it took nearly 20 minutes to change it, as my guitar, lovely though it is, has a LUDICROUS system of String Management that makes it INCREDIBLY FIDDLY to get broken string out. That done we went through the SURPRISE HIT of the last practice, We Can Start Having Fun, which sounded GOOD, tho the lack of Emma was ESPECIALLY noticeable.

Happy with our work we then had a go at learning Dress Sexy At My Funeral, the song we're doing for the SMOG gig in a couple of weeks... as discussed previously I had intended to WRESTLE this one to the floor but it turned into an ALL OUT WAR - and one that I think we WON. Further to my own adaptations we gave it a THOROUGH going over, changing the key, then the tempo, then the entire structure, until it was a) EXTREMELY ROCKING b) VERY DIFFERENT INDEED. I think we got at the GOODNESS of the song (especially Tom, who makes it RECOGNISABLE!), but it will be interesting to see how People Who Like Smog take it. I am picturing GLARES!

By now we were MOTORING so decided to have a go at Do More, Eat Less. It wasn't really working in the scratchy, jerky kind of way I'd written it, but then Frankie unleashed a MASSIVE bassline which made it all work in a very different way (although he may regret DOING so, as the PAIN of playing it could be felt on the other side of the room). We all joined in on a version that was QUIET and oddly DYNAMIC, ESPECIALLY on the BRIDGE which previously had been a bit crappy and embarrassing but which now The Rhythm Section have made into an understated thing of JOY. It is DEAD GOOD - and the song will be even better when the ILL-ADVISED GUITAR SOLO that emerged, groaning, towards the end is replaced with VIOLINS.

With all that done we had a quick attempt at The Stores Of Not To Be, which didn't really go anyway, before falling into discussion of recording and practices - here Tim's years of experience came into play as he made one of the BEST suggestions we've ever had in these sessions: "Shall we talk about this in the pub?"

Thus we DASHED back to the Brunswick, getting in JUST as the last orders bell was going, for a bit more chat and a bit more BEER. We left full of THORT and PLANS, ready to meet again TOMORROW to bring some of them into the light of GIG!

posted 4/4/2007 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

"Shall we talk about this in the pub?"

Sign of a true professional, there ;)
posted 4/4/2007 by CarsmileSteve

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