bew - gig info

Friday's set times!

8 - 8.30 - deadman
8.30 - 9 - iso9
9 - 9.45 - the vichy government
9.45 - 10 - deadman
10 - 10.45 - brian robinson
10.45 - 11 - iso9
11 - 11.45 - bew

27 Jul 07 @ the Black Box
8pm. adm £3.

Sadly the Black Box website's "forthcoming events" section says nothing about the show.

Just put together two new tunes for this - I hope people are in the mood for fast (180 bpm) electronic music. One's a Dubby number using a few 'Prince Jammy' samples the other is a bootleg re-hash of local techno-rock messers 'Alloy Mental'. Ready to rumble.

Saturday gig details!

Oh Yeah Computer, July 28, 2007, 8pm £7

1. Airbag –* The Jane Bradfords*
2. Paranoid Android –* Barry’s Electric Workshop*
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien –* Iain Archer*
4. Exit Music (For A Film) - *Conor Mason*
5. Let Down –* Driving By Night*
6. Karma Police -* Joe Echo / Ciaran Gribben*
7. Fitter Happier (Polish version)
8. Electioneering - *Angelfall*
9. Climbing Up The Walls –* Amy Mc Garrigle*
10. No Surprises –* John DÂ’Arcy*
11. Lucky – *Lotion*
12. Tourist –* Catoan*

I have been told that it is to be an all ages show, so I expect there to be no alcohol. As far as I know each band/artist will play a song from the album with a short break between 'sides'. Other songs may be played from the different acts own repertoires after the album has been played. Ex-Cecil's Flea Circus brothers Peter and Steven Quinn shall be providing visuals. Should be interesting.

Both of these gigs are thanks to Trans Belfast.

Gigs on the horizon

BEW with 2 microphones - 13.07.07 - Photo - Tim Redfern - More Mantua pics

The Mantua festival went well - I had to change my position on the bill as I missed my slot before the Digital Mystikz (I didn't have a watch - D'oh) - but a great, bass-heavy time was had. Super thanks to the Alphabet Set. Great to work with them again.

More shows coming up in the near future thanks to Paul 'Iso9' Moore. He and his Diston connections have offered me a few slots at different shows in Northern Ireland.

The Vichy Government – Elvis And The BeatlesI'll be playing with deviant synth ranters The Vichy Government at The Black Box Belfast thanks to Trans Belfast and Flykkiller, who have dropped out for some reason. Also playing will be Brian Robinson doubtlessly weaving his gentle dreamscapes, along with Diston residents Deadman and Iso9. That will be on the 27 Jul 07 - tickets reduced to £3.

I'll also be playing the following evening with a collection of bands.
Oh Yeah Computer: A Radiohead Celebration, July 28, 2007, Oh Yeah, The Outlet Building, 15 Gordon St, Belfast, 8pm, admission £7

In August BEW'll be playing at Home Made Jam '07 in Armagh with a huge amount of others.
" Now in its second year, Homemade Jam is Northern Ireland's only free music and arts festival. Held at a secret location near the village of Derrynoose, Co Armagh, this year's event promises to be an eccentric mix of indigenous sounds and vision.

In 2006, posing as a small, rural producer of traditional fruit preserves Homemade Jam unleashed a barrage of live music, art and design on a 400 strong crowd.

One year on, and the Jam is back. The recipe remains the same - a little bit of oddity, a whole lot of DIY and a face full of non-conformity – but this year we have moved beyond our little cottage industry to bring you an event which is bigger and better than before.

The sites natural ampitheatre is the perfect venue for a night of unique music and innovative design. Food and drink, sourced from local vendors, will be available to all from are fully licensed bar and mega barbeque. Camping and toilet facilities are also available.

Homemade Jam is a free event before 2pm with ticket, or a five pound donation thereafter unless in fancy dress along with ticket. "

Click here for free tickets! - http://www.homemadejam.eu

Homemade Jam Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/home_made_jam

Above info taken from the Diston forum.

I'm currently working on finishing remixes of my older (noisier) tracks for the web label the3rd2nd. I've found it feels a litle like when you look at an old diary when you listen back to old compositions. Renick Bell wants to release things from the audiopaint ep (a track of which was previously available on the Acroplane compilation album VA - Directions) and the harsh missed ep (previously unpublished). I hope to have these finished and ready for publishing asap.

BEW – Audiopaint 05 Cbsm b n w 01

bew - marvin the paranoid android

I've moved to Dublin (Sutton) a week earlier than planned - thus puttin a limit on the time I can dedicate to my version of Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android'. It's taking shape. Slowly but surely. More info about eh 'Oh Yeah Computer' project can be found here and here.

Another youtube post. This little clip doesn't have much in the line of visual information (I like working in dark places sometimes...) but it offers another glimpse at the 'calor gas soundsystem' that Nicky Keogh built. The video is taken from the streets of Belfast, shot by Dave 'Filaria' Baxter or his mate Kev (sorry I can't give accurate credits) on New Years day/morning 2007 shortly after being told by the police to turn it off and move on.

I quite like the the fact the boys on the street were ready for a little dancing to the electronic noise we were making. Eyo.

BEW live

Had a look through some files and folders whilst doing a quick clean up of my computer and found that there was a video clip of Chris "Lotion" Allen and my brother Peter playing with me in the Pavilion Bar at the Birds of Delay show.

The picture is very dark and it's hard to make out any details at all, but it replaces the links to the mp3's from my earlier post about the show, which were on yousendit, and which have now expired.

Goodtimes.

CD - OhYeah

I've recently got some new CD's from dodgy stereo artists that have moved on from releasing recordings on cassette tape to signing with other labels.
Danny "Cashier No.9" Todd gave me;
Alloy Mental - We Have Control (Skint)
Cashier No. 9 - Untitled Album (demo)Phil "Weakling and King" Porter gave me;
Dry County - Unexpected Falls (Lazybird)
All three discs are fantastic and I advise you to listen to the tunes linked below. If you like them support these artists and buy the records, get in touch via their myspace pages or go see them in concert.

Alloy Mental – I Gotta Love Weakling & King – Feel It MoreIn other news Phil and I got back together in his Dublin based home studio and started work on some new material. As per usual the dodgy stereo attitude of disregard for genre was in place and several different flavours were blended to make what is likely to be the next The Translucent Knees release. I'll post up links to results as soon as the tracks are mixed and mastered.BEW has recently accepted a commission to make a cover of Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android' for OhYeah. They plan on celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of the band's 'OK Computer' album by having a host of Irish musicians perform and record versions of songs from the album to make something called 'OhYeah Computer'. It's hard work.

My brother has already warned me that no one will like it, and will say that it's an insult to the original, and that there was no need to meddle with something that as great as it was/is. Should be interesting when the feedback starts.

Artist 2.0

kinn – leuchtende

Most of the readers of this blog are probably pretty media-savvy and have plenty of experience with curating an online identity. I know a few are involved in creative industries in some shape or form.

This article may be of interest to to you.

After reading I thought the most interesting pieces mentioned were the references to;
managing yourself,
being responsable to your audience/staying true to yourself,
censoring yourself.

Not being able to dedicate myself to my music full-time I found some of the stories interesting and informative, giving suggestions as to how to make the most of the technology I have at my disposal.
Managing yourself is what everyone starting out does and has done for a very long time. I think that the ability to be flexible and know how to manage your time is essential, as is the willingness to talk to people about what you do.

The relationship between the artist and audience is one that fascinates me. In a way the problems with communication between someone on stage and the people who pay attention to them is similar to those who are together holding a conversation (obvious differences include who directs the discourse by means of installing or removing barriers to two way communication). The politics of presentation and how we maintain credibility in the eyes of our peers are fairly universal in these situations.

As for placing restraints on what you do or don't say in certain situations; isn't that what we do all the time? Subconsciously editing our thoughts and choosing which to express out loud in public?

So; Artist 2.0...valid?

Is it possible to have a successful music career without the support of 'old' media? If so can everyone do it, or is this only for a few who have "the mental discipline of a ninja"?