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  • Maths, News and Links Galore

    Current mood:geeky

    Okay, so incase you missed it - yesterday (3rd March 2009) was Square Root Day. The Earth had a close encounter with a meteor or something; however I'm told this is unrelated.

    If you don't find that the least bit interesting, I do not blame you. But I do. You might be struggling a bit to get your head around it, so I will express yesterday's date like this - 03 (x) 03 (=) 09 - and hopefully it will be very apparent that there wont be another for around 7 years. I do wonder if another celestial body might get a little closer next time.

    I digress, you may have noticed that I've uploaded a couple of new tunes to my page. These are Vinyl Play tracks that are available on their debut recording "Big Fat Liar EP". It's a limited edition print, so if you are keen to have one please get in touch via myspace or get yo ass down to the next gig before they're all gone!

    On the subject of Vinyl Play, we are writing for the forthcoming album at the moment and there are some great tracks in the works. A few new ones were unveiled during our last show supporting ROSCO at Nice 'n' Sleazy last week, and they went down really well. While I'm at it, please check ROSCO out, they completely blew me away at Sleazy's and I think they warrant your attention.

    Vinyl Play will be back at Sleazy's on Friday 5th June, but look out for some gigs in the interim where we will be premiering new material. Keep yourself updated here or on Vinyl Play's myspace page.

    Indigo Blue are currently doing Thursday nights in the Clutha on Stockwell Street, and other less regular slots at the Scotia Bar in Glasgow and Reverie in Edinburgh. If you are free a night we are playing, or looking to go out for some drinks and good music - please come and check us out. All we charge is applause and occasional dancing, which is really an inevitable consequence of the tuneage we throw out.

    There is another project in the works, a funk/fusion quintet featuring Sam Firth - formerly the bass player for The Nimmo Brothers. It is still early doors, but the players are all great (including VP keysist Davie Cowan) and the tunes are by and large very challenging - which means I am having great fun. Updates on this further down the line, but looking forward to getting gigging with it!

    Finally, Jonathan Carr is through to the second round of the Live and Unsigned competition, due to be held at Royal Concert Halls on Saturday 14th of March. If you fancy coming along (it is a competition after all, and we could use your support) then please get in touch here for ticket details.

    That's all for now,

    Andy

    ps the "What I'm Currently Listening To" function isn't working just now, so if you are interested: Prince - Sign 'O' The Times
    1:06 AM

  • Updates coming soon...

    Hello all!

    Hope everybody had a great new year, and that you recovered from it slightly better than I did. It's been a while since I last blogged, largely because I haven't had much to shout about for a while. There were a lot of ups and downs last year, but I've come out the other end a lot stronger from it.

    I turned 21 just over a month ago, and the whole responsibility that comes with this defining statistic has really hit home. I'm determined that this year will not only see a increase in the number of shows that I'm doing; but also a much greater creative output.

    Writing is really important, I studied (even taught!) it last year - but ultimately just wasn't doing it enough. So this year, I will be writing (and recording) lots of stuff. I have a few things in the works already: a couple of singer-songwriter type things that may or may not ultimately feature my vocals; some bossa-type jazz stuff; and something a bit funkier. I'm having fun with Logic Pro at the moment too so I might even have a go at a couple of remixes, let me know if you have any suggestions.

    So, gigs! January was quiet but you'll see plenty of stuff coming up on my page. Indigo Blue are working again(!), doing some sexy acoustic covers in a pub near you (if you live near a pub where we play). We do a pretty good range of stuff, with a broad rock/pop theme, so if you're nearby - come and say hi!

    I'm now working with Glasgow singer-songwriter Jonathan Carr. He's just back from studying at Berklee College of Music and is currently gigging around Glasgow with his new stuff. I played with him for the first time on Boxing Day last year, his stuff is really cool - kinda soul/rock/jazz infused pop. Check out his tunes for yourself at www.myspace.com/jonathancarr88 or better yet, come and see us live!

    Finally, I've been playing with Vinyl Play for quite a while now. They are a great bunch of musicians in the Clydebank area, and have some great funky rock tunes. Next month we have a support slot at Nice 'n' Sleazy with Rosco. I think they are made up the constituent parts of Madaleine Pritchard's band - who I saw support the Average White Band last year at the ABC and absolutely loved - so that show is definitely worth a punt!

    So expect some updates soon,
    I'll keep you posted!

    Andy Chiz

    ps - I'm also promising to do more open-jam type things with some other top notch young guys, I'll be sure to let you know where were going to invade!
    12:45 AM

  • That time of the year...

    It would seem the festive season is upon us already.  I know this because my Nana has already finished her Christmas shopping, the canny minx, and because my busy season is well and truly underway. 

    Funkshake (the moniker of the moment for my soul covers band) are putting the finishing touches to their set for the upcoming run of 'Soul Train' themed Christmas parties to be held in Paisley Town Hall.  In an interesting turn of events, they will be sharing the stage with Maeve O'Boyle this Friday at a private function in Kirkintilloch - a prospect which is exciting and scary to me in equal measure!  The politics of gear-sharing and payment aside, this is going to involve two-and-a-half hours of constant backing vocals, ranging from a comedically low verse of Kool & The Gang's 'Ladies Night'; to a high Eb in Maeve's own 'Facing Home', a mere tone from the top of my range.  So as to minimise the risk of any embarrasing notes - I may have to forgo heavy drinking, recreational drugs and anything past second base with the groupies until the aftershow party.  Bollocks.

    Earlier this month, Maeve played her first headline gig at Maggie May's in Glasgow.  To our delight it sold out a full three weeks before the show!  The response we got on the night was just amazing, and there are plenty of photos to be found on her myspace if you care to check them out.  The next headline gig hass now been announced for February 28th at Oran Mor (top of Byres Road).  Those more discerning readers will realise that this venue is several times the size of Maggie May's, so it's all set to be an amazing show.  If you fancy it then tickets are available at a mere £5 on www.ticketweb.co.uk, you'd be a fool to miss it!

    I'm long overdue updates on my main page, but expected soon should be a live video from the Maggie May's show, a rehearsal studio cut of Funkshake, and slightly further in the future a live video/recording from Soul Train.

    Hope you have a great festive season, please subscribe as I'll be updating this right through December!

     

    Andy Chisholm

    4:01 PM

  • Cincinatti Soul Revue, travels and triathlon

    To the assorted masses,

    My blog hasn't seen much love for a while.  For that I have no excuse, but I apologise anyway.  Since breaking free from full-time education, things have gone from strength to strength.  I am now a permanent fixture of The Maeve O'Boyle Band which has seen me gigging in both of Scotland's largest cities in the last months.  It feels good to break free of the Glasgow scene from time to time - you can sometimes feel like you're playing to the same crowds over and over again.  The coming months will hold my furthest travels to date, seeing me play in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and - perhaps most excitingly - London.  I am very thankful that Maeve has been loyal to me despite the fact I was originally just a temporary member.

    After finding it difficult to make in-roads into the function band world, together with the ex-Pimiento Groove guys (the funksters in the videos) I have taken the reigns on a band of our own.  I started by bringing in my favourite flame-haired female vocalist Rosie Bans, and with the line-up as it is we are now making great progress and taking bookings for the Christmas period as 'Cincinatti Soul Revue'.  We would have had new videos up already, but we've just been having too much fun in the studio to worry about filming.  We are currently looking to hire a 2/3 piece horn section.  If you are interested or if you know anybody who is - please get in touch.

    In other news, the triathlon season is coming to an end, and I don't really feel very fit.  I competed in London and Kelso last month with a bare minimum in training.  My swim has been consistant for the last year, but while I feel my bike ability has heightened; my run has fallen away moreso.  Most of my recent training has gone into the bike, but I never feel the urge to spend time on my run.  Hopefully I can find myself some new confidence over the winter and I'll finally make some progress and pick up some junior medals before I hit 21.  Anyway, Eyemouth is this Sunday and it is a bikers course, so maybe I'll find some speed on the off-road run to bring home a respectable time.

     

    Red Amp are playing this Saturday, at least I think they are!  Maybe catch you there,

    Andy

    2:24 PM

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