One Shot Farewell

the past month or two all of my best writing hours have been filled with replying to e-mails, sorting out promo, adjusting print templates, power reading contracts, generally everything about being in a band and putting out a record that doesn't actually directly involve music. fortunately in recent weeks the rest of my time has been spent finally getting and out playing shows and seeing copies of our debut EP 'One Shot Farewell' exchange hands in crowds.

it's been an absoloute blast and i probably wouldn't wish any of it had worked out differently, even discovering my arch nemesis at the printing plant was a learning experience. many years back now in all my naivety i'd attempted to start a label, with a string of good intentions that lasted about a year before i realised i probably couldn't actually legitimately put out records aged 16. in the past two months i've probably done 100% the amount i did in that year and then some.

on the flipside, the live shows have all been a lot of fun and completely different to anything before now. i've found myself getting a lot more nervous before shows than i used to. i think i've decided its a good kind of nervous tho, it just seems to mean more now and i want our bands live show to live up to any expectations we've set for ourselves. it was good to go back to Horsham and Hythe the week before the EP was "officially" released, and sell the first batch of copies, then the last minute slot in Southampton we had last weekend was a surprise success and as for this weeks iBar show, that was insane. i've never seen the room so packed. it was cool to do something a little unique for that show, going out and playing the EP from start to finish for 15 mins of condensed mayhem.

although it feels a lot to me like the end of a cycle now the EP is finally out there, it spins on.. from here its more shows to pave a name for our band outside of our current stomping ground and hopefully more press/reviews etc. to start to get some feedback on how well we did this time around.

help a brother out, pick up a copy from http://www.canada-water.net

Manchester

back in March, our good friend Heps left for pastures new (namely a job promotion) in Manchester. two weeks later he was home.. for the weekend at least. in fact, there hasn't been many weekends between then and now that he hasn't been home. this weekend a handful of us finally made the journey up to him instead.

there was no heavy drinking (but perhaps there should have been at those Northern prices!) instead we had quite a civilized stay in the fair city, of which we mostly saw the nicer more suburban areas on the outskirts closer to where Heps lives and works. the centre of Manchester itself actually bared a lot of resemblance to another city, as you'll see below..

our two night stay probably could've benefited with an extra day to see more of the place, but in our short time we managed to.. drive out to Knutsford and have a guided tour (in the car) of the place where Heps works, be convinced that Knutsford town centre is basically Dorchester, take a tram ride from Sale into the city centre, pace around an art gallery, window shop in the centre, have dinner and drinks at the unusual indoor street that is 'The Printworks', see a guy be literally thrown out of a bar, experience Adam's surprisingly good breakfast cuisine (twice), stop for a photo outside Old Trafford football stadium, be in awe of the enormity of the Trafford Shopping Centre, brave a burrito for the first time (with mixed results).

in conclusion, the first Heps-Northern-Fest was worth going the distance, but maybe next time an extended stay may be in order..

New Units

so i've just completed my first two week rotation of this terms timetable at Uni and i'm definitely feeling this year a lot more than i did first or second. i think its largely due to the fact this year i was able to chose three out of my four units (not including the dissertation "double unit"), each choice was a gamble in its own right, but i'm pretty sure i got it right.. at least i know i did with Interactive Media Strategies and Marketing The Media, Creative Analysis could still go either way for me.

i made some bold statements in the second half of last year that i was confident i didn't want to go into the so called advertising industry when i complete my course, but coming back to Uni after a summer in the public sector, the whole subject area i study feels refreshing. i don't think i'll be going back on my statement anytime soon, i know for sure that i'm not built for the cut throat ad agency world, the way those people operate isn't in my DNA, but i'm definitely more determined to utilise my degree in someway that makes these three years worthwhile.

there seems to be a big emphasis this year on embracing web 2.0, partly because of my chosen units. Mike Molesworth, my lecturer and seminar tutor for Interactive Media Strategies has been driving home the importance of blogging. of course i couldn't agree more, but i think an issue occurs when people are forced into writing. the first post you'll read always seems to center around some underlying resentment, which always makes for a great read. the second post, if the person ever makes it to this stage is more often than not an apology for not keeping up regular posting and the good intentions generally fizzle out from here.

what we're left with seems to be an internet full of barely started, half finished blogs that exist only to link out to equally empty accounts on pages like twitter and LastFM. i think what it comes down to is the age old case of peoples intentions to start with. i firmly believe that you'll only ever keep up something you genuinely want to do or actually enjoy. its for this same reason that i can neither skate nor play guitar despite at some point in my life trying to learn. so in conclusion my message to trial bloggers is this.. only go ahead and sign up for that Wordpress or Blogger account if you really have something you want to say or write about and to coin an old phrase "write what you know", for me Woody Allen will always be the patron saint of this rule.

Wake Me Up When October Starts.

date: Monday 30th August

location: Wigmore Lane, Reading Festival

time: 9:00am

another Reading year was committed to memory, sealed with the long and winding walk from our campsite to the drop off / pick up point at Wigmore Lane, where today a notably fresh Tom Macleod was parked up next to Adam, who'd already moved his car from the festival parking. our camping bags were loaded into Adam's car to return to home, and we loaded into Tom's car to make the journey back to Harrow, London. the five of us had an EP to finish and now was deemed a better time than any.

date: Tuesday 1st September

location: Kari's House, Brentford

time: 9:15am

i woke up back in the same room at Kari's house where we'd stayed less than a few weeks ago when we were last in London. the idea of coming straight back to London directly after 5 nights camping in a field, without even having a chance for shower wasn't the most appealing set of plans we've ever made, but if needs must. staying at Kari's was the closest we would get to going home after our first day at the studio, and weirdly enough it did actually bring us the home comforts we needed to survive a second day, a shower, a mattress etc, but i think it was seeing our empty bottles from a heavy night there a few weeks before that really made us feel oddly at home.

date: Saturday 5th September

location: Stanstead Airport

time: 6:30pm

despite our best attempts to make up for time lost stuck in traffic due to an unexpected junction closure, we'd missed baggage check in by little more than four minutes. unwillingly to travel with just hand luggage, we weren't going to board the plane to Nice. while the guys debated our options, i decided to go sit outside and take a few minutes to myself. having since told the whole story time and time again i have little want to repeat it all again. in summary, it was a casually arranged trip that had a number of flaws in the plan which i'd overlooked by being so tied up in everything else i'd been doing in August. my opinion is that it was a blessing in disguise and i'll never look back in regret at missing that flight, just forever remember that it was only by four minutes, and that the technicality is the making of a good anecdote.

date: Thursday 10th September

location: Wookey Hole Caves

time: 3:00pm

after missing the flight to France i decided that what might be better for me than disappearing off anywhere else, was a week at home and how right i was. i had time to catch up on everything i left on wayside last month and come out each day feeling truly refreshed, or in the case of this particular day of the week, in awe of the inside of a cave. a small part of me did wonder if perhaps i'd have a similar reaction to that which i had at the shock of being so high up at Wembley Stadium a few weeks ago. today the only uneasy feelings i had was the hangover from a drinking session the night before which saw, quite possibly a new record number of cocktails thrown back courtesy of half price happy hour(s) at Mai Tai.

date: Tuesday 15th September

location: my bed, Hamworthy

time: 1:15am

since finishing the last of the EP on Sunday with Frankie, everything else has suddenly come into play again, artwork, merch, shows, press.. we had a band meeting of epic proportions tonight that left me feeling a little wired. coupled with the tight feelings in my chest i was struggling to let myself fall asleep. i sat on the end of my bed, with my head in my hands trying to figure what to do, i ran through options and skipped to the slightly overdramatic end, it was time to admit defeat. these unexplained symptoms have been going on for far too long now, i need answers.

date: Wednesday 16th September

location: Doctors Surgery, Poole

time: 6:00pm

after i finally fell asleep sometime between 3 and 4am, i woke up feeling a little better than i did the night before, i decided it was still best to make a long overdue doctors appointment to discuss how i've been feeling. yet when i got there the focus shifted completely from any other recent symptoms to the intense pains i was feeling on the left side of my body from about 4pm. i walked away reassured that this was a muscular inflammation, and probably the reason for the tight chest i was experiencing the night before. i still had no explanation for the other unexplained symptoms.

date: Friday 25th August

location: Becky's new house, Southampton

time: 10:30pm

i'd been trying to explain to people how i've been feeling fragile and that i'd be taking it easy tonight, "taking it easy" not being a term you'd necessarily associate with a night at Jesters, but its hard to really sum up what the dizzy spells and lightheaded moments actually feel like.. one minute i'm fine, the next i'm sat in a room surrounded by people and yet i feel some how out of sync with what's going on. yeah, the doctor didn't quite get it at the appointment i'd had earlier. confused they told me to book a blood test.

date: Monday 28th September

location: Upton House

time: 9:45am

perhaps i'd taken a risk with two nights out drinking at the weekend, even if i had only had a couple of units each night, but i was determined that i wasn't going to let whatever the hel it is thats up with me keep me confined to my room with repeats of the same shows i've been watching all summer. surprisingly i'd actually been ok over the weekend and i'd even go so far to say that getting out actually did me some good. for some reason this morning it had caught up with me and my unfamiliar, slightly surreal surroundings were only spacing me out even more. the door to the conference room opened and the somewhat inspiring character the four of us had met earlier this summer walked in. i'll write more about was planned here today later this year..

date: Wednesday 30th September

location: Poole General Hospital

time: 2:15pm

i'd arrived 20 minutes early. it was either 20 minutes too early or 20 minutes too late. since i'm starting to take my a health a little more seriously i opted for the early option. i've never been terrified of needles, but i always get anxious about anything that defies the logic we carry in every day life. in this case, the idea of piercing your skin and drawing out blood. the 20 minutes seemed to last forever, countless names being called before me. in keeping with how my minds being working of late i started over thinking irrelevant things, but mostly, i wonder what the nurse will be like? 10 minutes late, what could only have been meant as my name was called.. "Liam Toombs?" - time to take another step in figuring all this out.

Reading V

five years in and for most of us Reading has become more a national holiday than standalone event, it just happens nowadays. if there was any clarification required for that statement this year was a fine example, everything just falls in to place with minimal effort. we don't make half the mistakes we might have done in previous years, simply because we've been coming for so long. to put it simply, we've got this festival down to a fine art. 

its safe to say that i don't get quite as excited about it as i might have done a few years back, showing up on the Tuesday night hoping to get in before anyone else (for the record, according to security we were the first people who tried) but despite that, i still love this festival. with the addition of some best friends and new faces joining us for the weekend for the first time it almost definitely topped last year for me, but possibly the best addition of all this year was Greg's genius scavenger hunt on the Thursday night that resulted in Ed getting the band initials CW branded on his body for life. 

the bands. (rated in L's as suggested by Greg)

Friday.. Sonic Boom Six (LL) its undeniable that its good to see a band that has worked so hard in recent years finally make it to the main stage, they give it an enthusiastic attempt but its debatable whether they pull it off, the heavy downpour works against their favour also.. Manchester Orchestra (LLLL) the set is everything i hoped for in a live show on hearing the record, its perfectly executed despite some initial sound problems, thrashing through cuts from latest record 'Mean Everything To Nothing'.. New Found Glory (LLL) the band get off to a strong start opening with All Downhill From Here, unfortunately as the set goes they sound tired and the ever poor main stage sound volume bleeds any energy left from the set.. Jack's Mannequin (LLL) an incredible crowd response for the former Something Corporate frontman's second, equally successful band, the Festival Republic tent is rammed and the atmosphere makes for an enjoyable set even for those unfamiliar Andrew Macmahon's new material.. The Aggrolites (LLL) although i only caught a very little of the set, the band play unbelievably tight and i'd highly recommend the band to any old school ska or reggae fans.. Fall Out Boy (LL) the first big disappointment of the weekend, the band appear burnt out and it generates a lack of enthusiasm, a poor choice of set list also.. Bouncing Souls (LLL) another solid set from the 20 years young punk rock vets with a set list drawing from a good mix of their long spanning discography, surprisingly, the newer tracks shine brighter than any.. Kings Of Leon (LL) what appeared to be a fairly good headline performance was tarnished entirely with a cliche rock stair hissy fit towards the end of the set.. Billy Talent (LLL) an incredible live band, they do justice to their headline slot on the Lock Up stage, bashing out all the hits back to back, when they do break the inbetween song stage banter is drowned out by continuous crowd chants of 'Fuck The Kings Of Leon!!, Fuck The Kings Of Leon!!". 

Saturday.. Polar Bear Club (LLLL) possibly one of the most underrated bands emerging from the states at the moment, they play both aggressive and tight, most stand further back appreciating a fine set, but the die hard fans are at the barrier lapping the whole thing up.. Chuck Ragan (LLLL) another great offering from the Lock Up stage, Chuck plays alt. country with a punk rock influence in a similar vein to Frank Turner with a live band consisting of some impressive players.. The Rakes (L) the 22 seconds i caught of them on the mainstage was alright (see what i did there?).. Metric (LLL) a beautiful and majestic sounding set of light electro, vocalist Emily Haines holds her own as frontwoman on the sizeable NME stage.. Set Your Goals (LLL) a triumphant performance with countless circle pits and sing a longs, unfortunately its the sing a longs that provide the only audible vocal parts in the tent, this makes for a somewhat difficult set to appreciate.. Them Crooked Vultures (LLL) who cares what the hel they played or how good it was, that's DAVE GROHL on drums!.. Rival Schools (LLLL) the Lock Up deliver once again with a reunion show from this previously disbanded act, if you like your Bleed American era JEW this is a band to get familiar with, the new material shows much potential.. Maximo Park (LLLLL) the only band of the weekend i saw on the main stage that truely appeared to make good use of it, Paul Smith is an entertainer through and through, the added feature of a brass section was charming, cuts from all three albums sound stunning.. The Bronx (LLL) a little bit fucking terrifying, but in a good way.. Glasvegas (LLLL) playing a similar set to that of their support slot to U2 at Wembley Stadium two weeks ago, it goes to show how much difference venue can make, at Wembley the set drowned under the enormity of it all, here on the NME  stage it all works very well, perfect melodramatic shoegaze for a melancholy Saturday evening ahead of a night of drinking.

Sunday.. Kids in Glass Houses (LLL) coming bounding onto the stage from a slightly different angle, opening with a heavier track from debut album 'Smart Casual' and playing it with a more aggressive streak, its debatable whether they pulled it off but for the most part the set is an enjoyable one.. 30H!3 (L) a lot of people show up at the Dance stage to enquire as to what all the fuss is about, honestly there really isn't a lot to fuss about and most (including myself) move on.. Lethal Bizzle (LLL) always an entertaining set, Maxwell gives as good as you'd expect from any London grime star claiming his set to be "the best fucking set of the weekend" its welcomed as harmless and probably regarded as not far from the truth when comparing the set to many acts of a higher callibre who will inevitably fail to match the crowd response Mr B gets.. Frank Turner (LLLLL) it was dubious whether Frank, every man's best kept secret would be able to put on quite the same show to such a large audience, of course he pulls it off by quite some extent, its an utterly fantastic set, there aren't many that can play a set thats comprised almost entirely singles and still make it feel so so good.. Grammatics (LLLL) possibly a new best secret to keep, but then maybe hindered by personal preference, either way if you're into the bands sound there's a good chance, like me, you would have really enjoyed this set.. The Gaslight Anthem (LLLL) seemingly managing to shake the Bruce Springsteen associations they were met with upon first receiving coverage from mainstream radio, its apparent that people are into this band based on the strength of their material rather than just because "they sound like The Boss".. La Roux (L) in all my years i have never seen the Festival Republic stage so busy, the crowds stream out into the main field of the arena, i give up within the first minute of her taking to the stage.. Lostprophets (LLL) the sound falters somewhat with the absence of a second guitarist but their number of sing a long hits makes for a good festival closer.

since it went down so well last year i will be posting a video of festival highlights again sometime soon when you least expect it. 

2010 tickets are booked, bring on Reading VI..

London Is The Reason

i'm pretty sure that by now i've told every last story about our short, but eventful stay in London to anyone remotely likely to be stopping by losingsleepandsight.com so i'm posting to the Canada Water blog as well, if only to give some explanation to the barely legible footage in the video update above..

after much delay, for probably a good few years, due to every possible set back and new start you could ever imagine, the latest and greatest incarnation of our band has started tracking for our first ever official release. it's been a long time coming but i'm more than confident that this our first set of songs ever worthy of committing to tape. through circumstance more than out of choice, we've had a fair few chances to play our recently written material live, so its likely anyone whose followed the band over the past year will already be familiar with 3 of the 4 tracks, the remaining track comes complete with a few surprises of it is own.

we got in contact with the effortlessly cool Mr Frankie Torpey earlier this year to enquire about recording with him after hearing a few EP's he'd produced, namely Mimi Soya's Four Penny Trembler and The Auteur's Nightcap. we'd considered enquiring with a few other names but Frankie seemed perfect for this, our first release. Frankie is an absolute pro, a charming guy and a calming influence. we highly recommend him to any other bands currently looking for a producer to work with. aside from his studio set up, 'The Rock Factory' also boasts a kick ass back garden, with a sun lounger that became my home for the duration and rolling entertainment from Frank Snr. who never fails to fascinate with stories of his rock and roll years and general good life advice.

London turned out to be surprisingly good choice of location to record. by chance Tom managed to score us guestlist for the U2 360 show at Wembley Stadium, my initial reaction to our position in upper tier of the stadium as my fear of heights kicked in was "wow, i'm just about ready to pass out" - somehow i managed to get over this. to say the show was epic would be an understatement. speaking as someone who wouldn't consider themselves a fan of the band, i actually really enjoyed the show. i think the only possible explanation for this was the sheer enormity of the production, completely succeeding the band to the point you forgot you were even watching U2. 

for our first night in the city we stayed with our good friend Tom Clarke at his friend Stu's place (thank you both). we got up mega early the following morning and went out onto the roof of the building for a photoshoot with TC. to get the roof we had to climb a tiny ladder that led to a hatch door which we'd need to climb through. this was all ok, but the real kicker was the height of the drop within the apartment down a number of flights of stairs if you were to fall from the ladder. finally up on the roof i actually felt ok, apart from a couple of shots we took that needed us to climb further to a level i can't even begin explain to you. 24 hours into our London stay and i had fully contended my fear of heights.

for the rest of our stay we were fortunate enough to have a floor (or two) to crash on courtesy of Kari, who put us up 100% of the goodness of her heart and fully saved our collective asses at very short notice. i think if i've learnt anything since playing in bands or putting bands on its that having a floor, no matter where it is, to sleep on is a real god send and makes the lives of tired hopefuls an unbelievable amount easier. we showed our gratitude to Kari and her friends the only way we know possible.. first of all we did the washing up, then we proceeded to get very drunk in an evening that saw everything from us climbing out windows and heckling with the adjacent M4 to Ed riding down the stairs of the house in a buggy. 

with only good intentions Frankie is a perfectionist, and settles for nothing less. we inevitably over ran and are now looking at when possible to head back to finish up on lead guitar, keys and vocals for 2 of the 4 tracks. what i can say is that we're all really pleased with how the tracks are sounding so far, with a few subtle changes and Frankie's input i think we've brought the best out of our songs. 

more news real soon x

Dusk and Summer

right back in April i posted a blog detailing my plans for the summer ahead, looking through the list now, i think a good half of the list can be checked off, with the other 50 or so percent about to take place, almost back to back in the next four weeks. intense.

a video update from Canada Water

nevermind the competition to count the number of times Ed's purple cardy appears, how about the number of more times you see Tom Clarke than me in my own bands video update! sweepstakes aside, the recording session is upon us. i will of course be blogging and tweeting throughout..

shooting stars and battle scars

it might just be me but i never feel like i've done summer justice until i've spent a couple of nights out under the stars. following an epic conversation into the early hours that took place on a wooden pirate ship last weekend in Newquay, me and my new partner in crime (..and conversation) found ourselves out on the decking at George's place Friday night after the life of the house party died out, talking about everything and anything under the sun as it slowly rose in the distance. much like the shooting stars i caught that night the concept of conversation fascinates me. some people i know better than most i struggle to string sentences together for when in their company, yet with others i'm tripping over myself with things to say. good conversation is priceless. 

running down on memory lane

an suggested alternate route for a bike ride on Sunday evening led me to an unexpected hour of nostalgia and deep contemplation. i stood against a metal fence in shock as i looked on at a demolition site of torn apart memories where a temporary structure once stood at the lower end of our old school. i was taken back by the realisation that the only visual cues for countless anecdotes from school are now low resolution photos and mental images. as we paced the rest of the site, passing critical judgements of the other changes made, all that i could really think was how far removed i feel from this place and those times. it had been 3 or so years since i was last here and more than 5 years since i attended. good perspective is also priceless.

to London..