Birobox launch night

Last night i got home from work to start packing up some of my things before i move when i received a text from a mate asking me to go to an Audio Visual installation by some guys that previously worked with hexstatic and squarepusher apparently, 20 mins later i get Todd telling me that Origamibiro are playing the Malt Cross and all of a sudden it all clicked that it was the same thing, 5 mins later yet another text about it.....my minds definitely made up, fuck packing i'm heading to the Cross.

Ash had introduced us to Origamibiro a few months ago and had shown us their videos and got us all really excited about them, we arrived at the Malt cross (a venue i really don't visit often enough) and got a drink, there were quite a few people already filling the place out and it was really chilled and candlelit bringing a friendly vibe to the room!

It turned out that this was the Launch of a new bi-monthly audio-visual event in Nottingham called THE BIROBOX WORKSHOPS. The night showcases contemporary music and video performances along with a variety of installations, projections and exhibitions.



The night kicked off upstairs with an installation from VASTIK ROOT it was described as "Vastik root plays god, creating artificial life with a Nintendo DS, where bass lifeforms discharge a mutant maelstorn of randomised beats, honks and bleeps in an unrelenting generative sonic ooze" basically it was a guy creating glitchy beats and another guy taking photographs of the screen that was displaying the visuals, it was a bit bizarre to watch but definitely interesting with some cool beats!

Next it was back downstairs for the brilliant Origamibiro,we got our seats and relaxed as Tom (Origamibiro) and Jim (joy of box) began their performance consisting of looping riffs with ripped paper,mics,typewriters,books,guitars and synths and a whole array of other toys creating gorgeous soundscapes and a constantly evolving sound, as Tom built up the music Jim was focusing on the visuals using both archive footage as well as live visuals created in real time and looped on a projector behind them, their whole set was amazing and really drew the whole crowd in, everyone gathered round enticed and nodding heads!

Dan Tombs & Luke abbott rounded the night up with a circuit bending set improvising Dance with Electronica accompanied by glitched out circuit bent videos created using old sega games consoles, ah it took me back to my childhood playing glitched versions of supermario on my NES just for the laugh :-)

Tonight is gonna be a similar sort of vibe with the Wire and Wool Launch night, i've persuaded Venetianraj to play a few songs tonight and may possibly do an improv set with Stoney (apparatus of sleep) if we have time!

Doors are at 8pm and there are gonna be burlesque dancers, firebreathers as well as a whole host of other goings on so come along or like i said in the previous post get yourself down Creative Blocks!

in a bit,

M

Wire and Wool ---- Creative Blocks

I've been convinced into playing a short acoustic set at the Wire and Wool launch on Friday 30th January 2009 at The Loggerheads in Nottingham...should be interesting as it's been a while since i've played my own songs!

Wire and Wool has been set up to provide a platform for the emerging creative talent from our city and beyond. On the last Friday of each month they'll be taking over The Loggerheads and staging live performances from a selection of Nottingham's finest acoustic artists as well as playing host to exclusive, unplugged sets by established acts from around the country. On top of this we’ll be screening exciting short films, animations and audio-visual art onto the cliff walls that frame the venue, all carefully picked from a selection of Britains best motion artists. We're even going to set up an old school 1960's psychedelic oil and light show for you to feast your eyes on while you lap up the nights music and visual treats.

And all for FREE!!!

wire and wool

Line up so far:

Yunioshi - http://www.myspace.com/yunioshi
Curtis Whitefinger - http://www.myspace.com/curtiswhitefinger
Electric Baths - http://www.myspace.com/electricbaths
Apparatus of Sleep - http://www.myspace.com/apparatusofsleep
Den Johnson - http://www.myspace.com/denjohnsonbleeckerstreet
The Amber Herd - http://www.myspace.com/theamberherd
Will Jeffery - http://www.myspace.com/willjeffery
Paul Walker - http://www.myspace.com/paulwalkersolo
Jake Manning - http://www.myspace.com/thisisjakemanning
Marty ATC - http://www.myspace.com/alrightthecaptain
Jonathan Beckett - http://www.myspace.com/jonathanbeckett
Brynley G Jones - http://www.myspace.com/bgjmusic
Bruce Myers - http://www.myspace.com/brucemyers
Satnam’s Tash - http://www.myspace.com/satnamstash
Apples For Faces - http://www.myspace.com/apples4faces
Essex Pub Orgy - http://www.myspace.com/essexpuborgy1
Jimbo Henry - http://www.myspace.com/jimbohenrymusic

Come along it's gonna be fun!



If you find yourself in the Derby area instead you should check out Ash's monthly night Creative blocks in Big blue Coffee shop!



Heres the Blocks lineup...

Xtag
Mables Husband
Rebel soul Collective
Mark Cunliffe

Big blue can be found on Sadler Gate, Derby, DE1 3NQ
Telephone: 01332 608619


Marty

FEB

Here are the flyers and posters for our February gigs! We've been rehearsing flat out and getting some new songs together hopefully in time for the shows...we'll see how it goes!

BBC introducing

Finally this long ass month is drawing to a close and it's payday tomorrow :-)

this month has been spent

* being poor
* rehearsing
* writing new songs
* booking shows
* partying lots despite being poor
* organising a new monthly club night...(watch this space)
* planning a move to Derby so i can save some pennies


We've also been introduced on the BBC's Derby site this month here's the link.......

www.bbc.co.uk

I'm not from London - That fucking tank!

Last night Ash and I headed down the Chameleon for the I'm not from London gig, we got a bit held up as we've both turned into "The Wire" junkies so we missed GI Joe unfortunately.
As we approached the venue we were wondering what the turnout would be like as the Chameleon can be a bit hit and miss sometimes but it was pretty packed so happy days! Cuban crimewave were setting up as we arrived but we got held up chatting to mates downstairs and only caught their last few songs which were pretty rockin!

Next up were Hiroshima rocks around from Rome, they were a noisy, bluesy, post-punk kinda band with a sax, they tore through their half hour set jumping in and out of the crowd wildly, the drummer weirdly licking his cymbals and generally destroying everyones ears (in a good way), it did get a little bit too much to handle towards the end of the set, given that we were standing right beside the speakers so we went for a cheeky smoke before the headliners!


I've been listening to That Fucking Tank for about 2 years now but have never had a chance to see them as anytime they were playin nearby we'd be playing or some shitty reason would pop up but at last i'd got the chance. By the time TFT come on the nights already running well late but everyone sticks around and moves in closer as the 2 piece assault the crowd with repetitive riffs and danceable grooves, there were bits and pieces of tunes which reminded me of Battles but heavier and the whole set was just really catchy and fun, can't wait to see them again sometime soon!

The whole gig was recorded for a future I'm not from London compilation DVD which we were kindly asked to be a part of before setting off to get some pizzas and watch some more of The Wire, told ya we were turning into Junkies :-)

in a bit!

M

Captain's Blog ..........

This month is dragging so bad there seems to be fuck all going on so i'm gonna blame it on the recession with more venues closing their doors or going into admisintration, although it ain't all doom and gloom, Junktion 7 in Nottingham closed its doors on NYE but i was told yesterday that its reopened under new management and will be known as SEVEN from now on and will still be a live music venue :-) so hopefully there'll be good news for some of the other venues in this situation!


I've been trying to finalise the dates for the Tapasia tour for March so we can crack on with promotion and posters, we've also been writing some new tunes and finishing up with the EP for release in Feb and booking more shows and festivals for the year ahead, we've applied for the Great escape festival in Brighton and also Truck festival, we did this through Sonic bids so fingers are crossed on that one as i'm a bit sketchy about it really cos we've to pay to apply and we're a poor DIY band :-(

MORE FEB GIGS.....we're playing a charity show for Native American Indians in Somercoates on the 14th Feb @ The Black Horse inn (i'll put more details up as soon as i know more) and waiting for a confirmation on the 15th with Beyond this point are monsters! so things are gonna get busy busy again soon :-)

Tomorrow night i'm gonna go see THAT FUCKING TANK in the Chameleon which should be a good one, i think this will be my first gig of 2009, will post about it later in the week!

in a bit,

Marty

ASIWYFA dates!

We're very happy to let ya know that we're joining the lads in AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR and Lafaro for an extra date on their tour now so the shows are...

16th feb - THE MAZE, NOTTINGHAM
17th feb - THE ROYAL, DERBY
18th feb - BAR 1:22, HUDDERSFIELD




In a bit!

09 update!

January...it's fucking freezing!!!( I feel colder than ever before although i'm sure i say this every winter so fuck it!) The Captain have no gigs now until feb now so i've been busying myself with booking more shows for the rest of the year and also working on a little side project with Paul (lo-ego) and Thom (First signs of the aftermath),which is sounding pretty cool so far, we're thinking we're just gonna have 2 guitars, drums and alot of loops and probably vocals and see how it all goes :-)

In Captain news we've uploaded a few videos from the New years eve gig to youtube, I'll post the link later as youtube's blocked in work!

We're also finally getting round to putting down the last few guitar parts this weekend before we start mixing everything we've recorded and we're aiming at having it ready for release at the end of the month in time for our shows in Feb with Norn Iron's finest AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR & LAFARO on the 16th and 17th when they come over for their tour.

Also if anyone actually reads this and wants to help us out by signing up to Beatcasttv.com and joining our group, we may well be in with a chance of having a professionally recorded live set sometime this year which would be ACE!

just follow the link below and sign up it takes 2 mins and we'll love ya forever!

http://www.beatcasttv.com

in a bit,

M

Happy New Year!

Last night @ brownes was alot of fun, we brought our mate Perry Jackson along to play some sax for us and also to do a bit of mc'ing which worked really well, our set seemed to be over really quickly tho and we had to drop a few songs and improvise instead cos Todd broke a bass string :-( (i had a gut feeling earlier in the day it would be me) but we carried on as usual and had fun!


After we'd played we hit the Buckfast and proceeded to get smashed into the night dancing our asses off to The Money and Old Basford before hitting the Market bar for a boogie :-)

next thing i knew it was 5.30 and theres 10 of us in my flat clueless as to how we just got there then continued chatting into the wee hours of the morning!

Got up today feeling sorry for myself, could've been worse tho, Ash had to go move his car at 8am after about an hours sleep :-(
dossed about for a bit then went to the pub for the hair of the dog, will start 09 afresh from tomorrow!

Night,

M