Priviet (or something)

Yup, currently in Moscow havign a blast. I've been through Latvia and Finland thusfar, and also played last night in St Petersburg, had a great time. This country is certifiable, but in an adorable way. Jamie's got my back, and my camera, which means that the diary I'm planning for this trip is going to kick arse.

The other thing to mention is that Gabby Young, who I toured with extensively, has had some really shitty news. My thoughts are with her, I'm sure she'll be a-OK. Das vi Daniya (or whatever).

Toil and Peaceful Life

Just finished an uber-stretch of shows and am now back in Winchester enjoying the first of a mammoth three days off. Thanks to everyone who came down to shows, as ever, it was fun, if tiring. Thanks also to Rachel, who accompanied me to a bunch of the shows filming for a little documentary piece thing. It should be great. And big up to PRE and SOFS for our little mini-tour... FREEDOM!

I'm off to Eastern Europe on Thursday, which I cannot wait for, it's going to rule. Expect another diary report. Jamie's coming with me again, possibly with a video camera this time. Mayhem awaits. Oh, and Room Thirteen have put up the next two installments of my French diary now, which you can find here. Enjoy.

Writers Wanted

Always fancied yourself as a journo? Really? Christ. Want to get some stuff up online anyways? The good people at We Want The Airwaves Back are looking for new writers, reviewers and so on. Sample work should be sent to Ed (of Pizza Express fame, natch) at this email: thecaptain@airwavesback.com.

I am killing time in Birmingham, oh joy.

My New Career Highlight

So there we were, Tiernan (off of TV's Public Relations Exercise), Ed and myself, in Leicester, looking for somewhere to go eat. We decided to hit Pizza Express in the town centre, and walked in on them doing a photo shoot for a new publicity / advertizing drive. We enthusiastically offered our services, eager to prove our love for all things pizza express (and tempted by their offer to pay for lunch, as well as the general hilarity of it all). So the long and short of it is that we were the centrepiece models for their new advertising campaign. Look for us on a billboard near you soon.

In other news, part one of my French tour diary is now up online through the wonderful people at Roomthirteen.com. You can find it here. The rest will follow shortly. Also, for anyone planning on coming down to the Barfly show in Camden in August, I'd advise buying tickets as they're starting to go pretty fast. Which is nice.

The Day Of Rockoning

In Leicester chez Public Relations Exercise, preparing for the trip to Manchester today. I don't know what it's like where any of you lot are, but the hot weather just majorly broke here and it's raining, lightning, thundering like crazy. Awesome. I feel like I'm in a Lordi video or something. Anyways, tour is going well, great shows in Salisbury, Bracknell, York (and NOT Leeds, sorry) and Nottingham (to name a few) recently. Many more to come, and let's not forget the filming shenanigans that will be going on from Monday to Friday next week (Birmingham, Glasgow, Huddersfield and Exeter).

Two more quick things. Firstly... Underground music scenes survive through cooperation and communication. The whole principle of punk / hardcore was that we can't and shouldn't rely on other people to do things for us. But it is important to share information about venues, promoters, bands, labels and so on. If people do a good job then word should be shared, and if they suck then likewise, so that people can build reliable networks. So, for example, the guys who run Salisbury's Dirty Boots night are great, they do things for the right reasons and are to be highly recommended. Conversely, the show in Nottingham last night went well despite the efforts of the promoter. He totally fucked the show around (because he was on holiday?!), and I'm reliably informed that this isn't his first misdemeanour. So here's me doing what I consider is right by "tha scene" and advising bands against working with Striking West in Nottingham.

Finally, after months of me giving him shit and badly covering his songs, my friend Jay, a.k.a. Beans On Toast, a.k.a. the finest songwriter in London, has finally got a myspace page. Listen and weep.