Zombie Night Stories

Hi there everyone!

It's been a while since my last blog (who's got time to blog?) so I'd like to take some time to tell you some stories of what's been going on with us.

Last Friday, we played a concert in Paris with my old friends, Zombina and the Skeletones. It was great to see them again after all this time.

I first met Zombina 12 years ago when I used to live in Liverpool. They were playing a concert at Guinans which was a pub that all the punk bands used to use until it got turned into a cocktail bar. They were clearly something comletely different on the Liverpool scene. The first thing I noticed was they spent way more time on make up than on the soundcheck!

Even back then they had a great sense of stage craft and to back it all up.... they had really great songs! Songs that took into consideration the fabulously rich history of bubblegum rock'n'roll and pop punk. Yes! You could see they were something special.

I tried and failed to record a demo for them with my 4-track. My digital hardcore band of the time, Dummycrusher finally got to play with them and a great electro band called Kling Klang (they went on to release a couple of great records on Mogwai's record label) at a bar called Magnet for the halloween concert. Obviously THE special concert for Zombina! Everyone in the audience was dressed up specially for the occasion. I, like a lazy idiot dressed up in aluminium foil which disintegrated and went everywhere! The rest of the band had equally lame costumes but Zombina.... great threads guys! They rocked the house too!

So 11 years later and we're playing together once again at the Klub in Paris. They hadn't slept for days and this concert was the last of the tour for a very tired band. They still had great clothes and have really become one of the greatest live bands in europe. It was great joking around and talking shite with Zombina. Exchanging stupid stories and stuff was really good for me. I can say that it was one of the best pre-gig experiences. The years dissapeared and it was difficult to believe we've all grown up and become old rockers!

We were really happy to be asked to play the Manic Depression night (thanks Lionel!),
most of the band really likes goth nights. It was pretty fun. The costumes, the make up, strange contact lens eyes, leather etc.etc.... Of course, any parisian audience is difficult to move but goths are notoriously difficult to please....

I couldn't hear anything on stage and I made a ton of mistakes (as usual) but we had a good time and quite a few people we didn't know danced which was very nice. I can say that I was pretty happy with our performance and our new songs are developing nicely. I goaded the crowd with our new 90s hip hop rock fusion songs (is there anything less fashionable and less cool in the entire world?) so obviously we didn't please everybody. The great guys from Manic Depression recorded the concert and will release it so everyone'll be able to hear for themselves.

Then Zombina and the Skeletones rocked the house, totally cracking the cool veneer of the parisian goth population. Great set. During the encore, Zombina cracked a load of fake blood in her mouth and freaked out a Swedish girl. Rocking!

Our next concert is an acoustic set at Planet Mars on the 20th and then we're supporting The Stiff Little Fingers at Elysee Monmartre on the 29th March. This is a great honour for us 'cos obviously the entire world is in awe of their first album, Inflammable Material. They've promised the promoter, William Wall Street Destroy, that they'll play loads of old songs! Hell yeah!

I definately didn't get into rock music so we could play enormous venues like this but it'll be an experience. I generally against big concerts and I definately don't like the way supporting acts are usually treated in these kind of places in terms of limiting the soundchecks and stuff. As if it was actually hard work to soundcheck supporting acts properly as well as the main act. Sorry guys, it's actually quite easy.

Well, we'll see how it goes.

We've got enough songs for a new album and we'll be starting to record it soon. I think it'll sound fucking incredible. It goes from rock rave, to folk pop, to gabba hardcore, to hip hop, to kid's songs. It should be one noisy head fuck of a record.

The rest of the band doesn't really like our last album, Lullubies for Mutant Monkeys which is a great shame 'cos I love it despite its shortcomings. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I think we'll try to get another 7 inch EP out of it and then I'll give it away for free. Sad really but you can't win them all.

Keep rocking until next time,

Josh