I have been an active gigging musician since about 1992. This section of my website contains posts related to making music rather than consuming it.
13 Handy Rules for Bass Players
Originally published in Beat Motel issue 3 Always head for ‘A’ when lost, since there’s bound to be one along in a minute. Boiling strings instead of buying new ones saves money for more important things, like cheeb. Don’t worry too much about being in tune, it’s not kicking over yr beer that’s the more…
Telefunken
Telefünken was born somewhere between the swirling metropolis of Ipswich and the dark pre-industrial wilds of Suffolk and got lost somewhere in between. Their music speaks of modern frustrations, the joy of the big wild world and revels in the social commentary of the likes of Ray Davies and Bill Bryson after a few gins.…
Ableton latency even with no plugins loaded
Ableton latency problemI am posting this here in the hope that when I solve this latency problem Ableton others will find this post and be able to also solve the latency problem for themselves.I have exhausted the knowledgebase on the Ableton site and the user help section is now closed. I’m at the stage that…
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If you play in a band the world shrinks
This short article was originally published in ‘Lights Go Out’ zine in January 2016 When I was fifteen or sixteen I played in a band with my best mates in the village I grew up in (Wickham Market). Somehow, despite not knowing any other bands, we got a gig supporting a band called The Red Dress…
The Failure Men live at The Smokehouse in Ipswich
It has been a while since I’ve posted about one of my musical projects, mostly because I post about them in plenty of other places. But I’m particularly proud of this video I made of my band The Failure Men. It was shot in one of our local venues, The Smokehouse, here in Ipswich. I…
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How to sync Korg SQ-1 to sequencer Bastl Kastle synth
I’ve been tinkering around with my Bastl Kastle synth for about six months now. This tiny little semi-modular synth is great fun. It has been designed in such a way that it’s impossible to patch it up wrong. I’m still new to the world of synthesizers and mucking about with patching the Bastl Kastle has…
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Guitar FX pedals and other bits for sale
I’m having a clearout of gear I don’t use any more. While I love collecting anything musical I live in a tiny hovel and need more space. So if you fancy buying any of these pedals get in touch. All the pedals have lived in a pedal board when in use, so are in good…
Digitech Bass synth wah bass envelope filter FX Pedal – FOR SALE
I’m selling this Digitech Bass synth wah bass envelope filter pedal. It has several unique sounds, ranging from boingy bouncy synth to a sound not unlike a sub-bass (well it’s ‘OctaSub’ technically). I was playing a lot of fairly funky music when I bought this pedal (for about £80!) but these days I’m playing far heavier…
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How to get your music into iTunes and onto the Amazon MP3 store the RIGHT way.
I seem to have written far too many zine columns about the fact that nobody really needs to get signed to a record label these days. Admittedly getting signed to a label will definitely open doors for you, but on the whole why would you want to give away 95% of your royalties to a…
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It all started when I heard ‘Then’ by The Charlatans.
This is a column originally published by Lights Go Out zine. When I was a teenager I was all about the fey breathy vocals, silly wide trousers and jangly indistinct guitars of what was then know as ‘indie’ (but has long since become ‘mainy’). Oh how I mocked the dumb thunky musical nothingness of Heavy Metal.…
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Junk Culture tour diary – three days eight idiots – Day 3
Swindon – Megabowl Sunday 21st March 2004 Best of Enemies Second In Line Junk Culture As if we weren’t dubious enough about playing in a bowling alley our doubts were confirmed when we were informed that tonight had been relabelled as a battle of the bands contest. We kill time by making the most of…
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Junk Culture tour diary – three days eight idiots – Day 2
Newbury – Waterside Youth Centre Saturday 20th March 2004 Second In Line Junk Culture The Griswalds Sidewalk Riot It’s always a pleasure to bump into the cheery Griswalds folk, and today is no exception. We find ourselves is a pretty bloody great venue with what is probably the biggest stage we have ever played on.…
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Junk Culture tour diary – three days eight idiots
I realise this post will be of very marginal interest, but I just stumbled across a tour diary I wrote during the last few dates that my old band Junk Culture played. Kidderminster – Sutton Arms Friday 19th March 2004 Junk Culture Weak 13 Second in Line Before I start I should explain that this…
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Arts Centre case studies – Ipswich Arts Centre
These case studies on other Arts Centres is archived from the Ipswich Arts Centre website which is now closed. Norwich Arts Centre Information very kindly provided by Amy Wragg with some information taken from https://norwichartscentre.co.uk/ Norwich Arts Centre is a small, independently run venue with charitable status (Charity No: 274803) situated close to the centre of…
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Ipswich Arts Centre – the media coverage
This list of media coverage is archived from the Ipswich Arts Centre website which is now closed. Media coverage 19th February 2012 IP1 Zine IBC is proposing turning the Town Hall intoa community arts centre. For it to work, IP1argues, it must be credible.. 12/01/12 Evening Star Town arts centre gets my support …
Electronica kit for sale
In what was perhaps a moment of miss-guided enthusiasm I managed to amass a bit of electronic music kit. The fever has passed, and I have an M.O.T to pay for, so grab yourself a bargain. This equipment has hardly been used, and has never left my study. I have the boxes/ instructions for everything.…
Why the death of the music industry will make you a better musician.
Picture is unrelated Originally published in ‘Lights Go Out’ zine. A while back I was having a cheery chat with a friend (Edd from the ‘Last Hours’ anarchist collective) and he jokingly told me that life was a lot simpler when he was a fifteen year consumer focussed only on winning the national lottery. I…
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Introducing Mr.Grunty by PickleTech
If you’ve come to my blog for my writing please feel free to skip over this post! I’m really not much of a music gear geek, in fact I’ve barely deviated from the same set up (Musiman Stingray + Trace Elliot GP12) in about a decade, but occasionally I fancy something a little bit different. …
ZEEB? Third album reviews
FROM – 21/02/10 https://www.ultimatereviewer.co.uk/review78zeeb.html FOUND – 21/02/10 Two years in the making, the third installment from ‘Zeeb’ is a sure-fire winner, with creativity taken to another level and no experimental stone left unturned. Before we discuss the music, I might take a moment to praise the artwork of Indonesian, Danny Tremor – something which is…
CornDog Records
CornDog Records has existed now for more years than I care to mention. We haven’t been terribly busy recently so we’ve shut our website down and moved to this blog. Over the years we’ve put out some really nice releases from the likes of Los Salvadores and ZEEB? But rather than trying to explain all…
Why should anyone pay to hear your band’s new album?
Originally published in Ipswich 24 Magazine February 2010 edition. When a new band forms there’s tons of fun to be had choosing a name, having photos taken and of course writing brand new songs – works of musical craft that wouldn’t have existed in the universe if you and your friends had created them. When…
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How to play an electric bass with a bow
‘Playing my electric bass guitar with a bow can’t be that hard’ I thought to myself a few weeks ago, and it turns out I was right. With just a couple of pointers you too can pretend you’re some kind of prog genius by making odd screeching noises with your bass guitar. Actually in all…
Are singers an endangered species?
By Andrew Culture When I was a teenager I was a fan of the most insular type of music known to the times; ‘indie’ music. Being a fan of this genre at the time dictated that you and your friends were only allowed to like a very narrow group of bands – everything that fell…
Junk Culture biography
I’ve just found the biography my old band Junk Culture used to send out to people, we were really proud of it at the time! JUNK CULTURE Band Biog. Junk Culture were formed in the summer of 1995. At the time drummer Jon Aldous was looking for a guitarist to start up a ‘punk’ band.…
Dom’s stickless drum solo
I seem to be posting a lot of drum stuff at the moment, and this post is no exception! Filmed at the Bigger Picture practice rooms in Ipswich, this is ZEEB? drummer Dom practicing his stickless drum solo for the charity heavy metal covers night we played. The song you can hear us playing just…