clivemurray.com

I’m actually playing a gig! Last year the first line-up of Thunderhead played exactly one (1) gigs, and promptly exploded.

This year we are back with a new line-up (in actual fact it’s the line-up that used to be Panik Attakk), and this coming Saturday we will play as many gigs in one day as we did all last year. Yes! One!

We’re opening for Hastings stalwarts of old, The Lost Boys, at Phoenix Arts Centre in Hastings. We’re first on of three bands, and we’ll be kicking off around 8:30pm.

Should you be in the area and wish to come along, get advance tickets here and find the venue here.

It has literally been a long time since I rock and rolled, and I for one intend to have a fucking blast.

Get on it,
–c.

Funny how life can appear to go round in circles, innit?

I’m originally from Eastbourne, down there on the south coast, and it was there and in the neighbouring town of Bexhill that I grew up and got into my first band, aged 17. When that imploded I managed to tag onto a more metal band with the drummer from the previous one, and the bassist from that band on vocals. Damn good fun, that was. Anyway, the bassist for this new band was in fact the drummer’s postman – one Stuart Ranger. We rehearsed in Polegate and played a couple of gigs in Eastbourne, but that was more or less it.

Roughly 14 years later – this coming Sunday in fact – I will return to Eastbourne to rehearse for the first time with a newly-forming covers band that is yet to have a name, by the invite of Stuart’s brother, and long-time cm.com reader, Dan.

Personally, I can’t wait.
–c.

I’ve been down lately, due to my lack of a band. Little Monkeys/Crashstars has finally collapsed properly – the last gasp re-union Beach Concert was obviously not to be, and I’m fucking done with it now. The one thing I’ll say about that – and this is a direct appeal to Jon E. Crash himself – is that we still have a half finished amazing sounding album, and one day we need to finish that. Not this year or next, fair enough, but it must be done one day. That is all.

And the covers band has stalled before it even left the rehearsal room due to lack of being bothered from another quarter, and meh. Whatever. And I am getting fucking sick of this fucking attitude across the board.

So. What am I going to do about it? Bitch and moan? Nothing? Call everyone fuckers and complain about my lot?

Fuck that noise. I am going to take the positives from all this and do something new. Something on my fucking own, that no-one can fuck up for me.

The one positive thing that came out of the JackBarrel covers attempt was that I discovered I can sing lead vocals. Not amazingly, and I’m totally inexperienced at it, but I can do it. So I hereby announce that my next recording project is going to be an album or EP of original vocal rock songs written, played and sung by me.

It will be called “If You Want It Done Right” (or similar) because ultimately I have come to realise that this is the only way anything will get done: I have to fucking do it myself.

So. Bollocks to everyone else (Jon, you’re mainly excused from that as the recent collapses weren’t your fault), I’m going solo. It will probably be under my glam stagename Tommi Starr, and it certainly won’t see light of day until at the very earliest middle of next year, but there it is.

So what do you think about that?
–TS

Apparently being in a band and even doing one gig a year is too much to ask. The whole thing’s gone tits in the air again.

For anyone hoping to catch Little Monkeys at this year’s Hastings Beach Festival, I can only apologise on the behalf of others. I was fully up for it and now it’s all fucked.

Seeing as that was the only opportunity I was going to have to play live this year, you can probably imagine that I’m pretty pissed off about it.

Bollocks.
–c.

So, I’ve been replaced in Claytown Troupe, and the first I knew about it was by looking at the MySpace page today.

True, it’s been on the back burner for a year and a half now, but I still counted myself as a member of the band until today. The band went on hiatus around Christmas 2004 for the singer to go off and have a baby (his wife, not him… duh) and then he had some nasty heart operation complications which thankfully he seems to be over now.

True, also, that I had been busy with my other band, but I’d always quite looked forward to CT getting back on the road. The gigs we did were great fun and I got on well with all the members.

So last September I received an email from the singer to all members of the band. This is an excerpt:

All said and done, the band we rebuilt in 2004 is as close to my heart as is the LDL cholesterol, I’d love to have a rehearsal to see how it feels on the ticker, who wants to have a night, either at my work as we did last time or perhaps Bush studios as we treated ourselves to before Whitby.

Let me know if you’re in or out, if you feel the moment is gone I’ll understand, but if you’d like to get together I’d be extremely pleased.

- Christian Riou, 11/9/2006.

Here is the crux of my reply, dated 2 days later, again to the whole band:

Yep, I’m still in if everyone else is! My time’s a bit more busy at the moment what with having just changed jobs and stuff, so I can’t do this weekend – or the two weekends after that!!

But I’m in for it once we arrange something.

- Clive Murray, 13/9/2006.

Then today one of the best tracks we played came up on random and I thought to check out the site and see if anything has changed or moved on.

It seems I have moved on.

And this year (2007) there have been stirrings of more new material and possible shows with Christian teaming up with Ben Christo (current Sisters Of Mercy guitarist) for rehersals. Check the bands myspace site for further info.

Oh well. It was good while it lasted and it would have been nice to resume it. Even an email to say “Sorry man, we’ve got someone else in, hope you understand” would have been alright.

Still, I wish them luck.

–c.

Emergency first: I need to borrow a 4×12 guitar speaker cab this weekend, to collect on Saturday or Sunday and return Tuesday night. Can anyone who reads this help? It’s worth twenty sterling to you if you can. Mail me on “stuff” @ this domain.

Now the reason for this: my band are playing two gigs this weekend! Here are some details:

Sunday 27th May
Bar Monsta, Camden
on stage just after 9pm (headlining)
entry is £6

Monday 28th May (Bank Holiday)
The Fountain, St. Leonards, Sussex
on stage around 4pm for 2 hours!
entry is free

Hope to see you at one or both!
–c.

They’re like buses. Yes, really.

Waiting a year, then 2 at once.

Yes, really.

–c.

Always, more cowbell.

I can confirm, btw, that the band’s forthcoming album does indeed contain more cowbell.

–c.