Six Days in France

The Spasm Band just spent six days in France touring and recording our first music video. The tour started in Paris with a showcase at Fnac (record shop), and then a gig at the legendary New Morning. The show was sold-out which was a real bench-mark for us and such a buzz when we were on stage. The vibe at the show was really extatic verging on hysterical!

The next day we drove to Angouleme to play at La Nef - a great venue, with really excellent food. After that was Nantes to play the Nuits Zebrees show for Radio Nova. We played to another sell-out crowd, and the gig was broadcast live as well.

After Nantes we headed to the coast to play at Run Ar Puns near Brest. On the way we stopped off by the sea for fresh mussels. Run Ar Puns is an awesome venue. It's a converted farm essentially - the stage is the old cow-shed. It had a great spirit, and it was uplifting to see a place like it - constantly promoting leftfield music in the middle of the countryside.

After an epic drive from Brest (and some tasty crepes) we were back in Paris for the filming of our music video for 'Robberman'. I don't want to reveal too much and spoil the surprise when it's ready, but it was loads of fun and very hard work - it will definitely look amazing when it's finished. Here's a photo from filming anyway:

Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes

I recently played on the soundtrack for a short film by George Wu, based on the new book 'Nocturnes' by Kazuo Ishiguro.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2009/mar/30/kazuo-ishiguro-nocturnes

Agen and Marseille

This weekend the Spasm Band was in France for shows in Agen, and Marseille. Agen was new to us. A very cool little town, where everyone wants to shake your hand. The venue - Le Florida - was great too, a 1920's music hall than now also acted as a community centre. The vibe was great, with lots of kids hanging around in soundcheck, and a few young people getting experience with the sound crew which is a spirit I sometimes find lacking in UK venues..

The next day we took an epic 5 hour train ride to Marseille. The Spasm Band unplugged their ipods and closed their books, and dicussions flowed on revolution, politics, religion, spirituality, rock n' roll.. and on and on..

The gig in Marseille was a return to the Bol De Funk festival that we had played 2 years ago on the first Spasm Band tour. We were really looking forward to the gig as Marseille crowds are insane. They didn't disappoint us either, with a sold-out crowd waiting with anticipation. The reaction we got was one of the best we've ever had.. almost Beatles-esque! The gig was incredible, with plenty of rock n' roll antics, and a full-on stage invasion at the end.

Terrordactyl live at Cafe Oto

Here's a live shot from the Terrordactyl gig a few weeks ago at Cafe Oto.
One of the most intense sets I've ever done! A track from the set is available to download here.



photo by Valerie

Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland

This weekend the Spasm Band played our first gig in Switzerland at the Cully Jazz Festival. The set went down really well, with the band getting called back for 2encores - it reminded me of the first gigs we did in France back in 2007, when the audience didn't know quite what to expect! Cully is a beautiful town set on the shore of Lake Geneva, with mountains all around.

Earlier in the day we weren't sure if there would be a gig at all.. All the flights out of City Airport (which is a total shit-hole) were cancelled. Luckily we got put on one later in the day that went to Zurich. This meant a race cross-country to make our soundcheck, but we would be there in time. We all got on the plane, but Christian was missing! We landed in Zurch without our guitarist wondering what to do. Then we got a voicemail saying he was on the next flight an hour-and-a-half later. He arrived and we made it to Cully just in time for our set 14 hours after we set off from home.

Land Of Kings

Just confirmed a gig at Cafe Oto in Dalston as part of this cool looking new festival: www.landofkings.co.uk

I'll be doing an improv set with Mark Holub (drums) and Toby MacLaren (keys), who both play in Led Bib.

Haven't arranged the support act yet, but I'm really excited about this one!

www.cafeoto.co.uk
www.ledbib.com