Monkeys VS Pigeons

This week there is a new EP being released by the excellent Brighton based artist The Organ Grinder's Monkey.

It is called 'ShoWery matter' and is a bit unique in that it features remixes by and for TOGM.

I remixed their track 'Sylent Winter' and then, they in turn did a remix of 'Sanity? Check!' taken from Get Amongst It.

There are also 3 other tracks on there and I very much recommend having a listen and downloading it.

You will find it residing on The Organ Grinder's Monkey BandCamp page on a 'name your price' basis.

Hello Autumn Falling Leaves

I am currently sat at a desk watching the sheets of rain storm across the city and feeling very glad I am inside.  I think it is fair to say that Summer is over and Autumn has kicked in.

My last blog post about 'Where I belong' was one of the most read posts I have ever done and I wanted to say thanks to all the people who read it and contacted me with their views.  It made me realise how important your views are and it's always good to have third party advise.

I am working on a few things at the moment and just wanted to 'think out loud' about a few things.

Firstly - I just wanted to say keep an eye out on the ATP Facebook & Twitter feeds around the time of Halloween. Also if you have not yet 'liked' or 'followed' why not do do now?

Next up is a little update on the next proper release - I am working on a new EP and really hope that this will be released before the end of the year. Originally I thought it would be a 6 track, then a 5 track release ... But it now looks like it will be just 4 new tracks.

There is a reason for this and it largely involves my plans for next year .... I've talked about this a bit so far, and will again, but in short - my aim and focus for 2013 is to release a series of singles only.

No new album - no new EPS - Just 3-4 singles .... Most likely released in Spring - Summer - Autumn and Winter.

Three of these are already well in progress and the plan is to spend longer on each individual song than I ever have before and then work my arse off promoting each one to the best of my abilities.

I am always thinking ahead and planning & plotting for the future .... I know it's easy to say this now (and in a way I say it every year) but I really have a good feeling about 2013 and everything it holds for ATP.

Finding where I belong...

The weekend is over and it was enjoyable.  I did two very different gigs on Saturday and Sunday and it has left me thinking where exactly do I fit into the live music world.

I'll rewind 48 hours and I was preparing for my set at this years Southsea Fest.  A one day music event in Southsea, Portsmouth.

My slot was at 1pm in the Social Club, not the normal time or place for a electro-dance set, but I had fun.  Although it was a tough crowd to play for I gave it my all and came of stage sweatier than I have ever been before.

At the end of my set there was at least a dozen people who came up and talked to me saying how much they enjoyed the show and went away with CDs.

I give my all to my live shows - I lose myself in the music, dance around stage like a madman and even if one person appreciates what I have done - I leave happy.


Then last night, Sunday - I played at The Green Door store in Brighton as a musical interlude as part of the Brighton Digital Festival.  It was a 'flash fiction' night and I played to a room of people who were sat down and largely there to hear short stories.

Again I had fun and before I played the compare read my press release which states 'ATP defines a sound that only they fit into'.  This made me think about my music and where I do belong.


At heart I am an electronic music producer who loves playing live shows and taking my sound out to as many people as I can reach.


In my mind I should be playing as support to acts like Orbital, The Chemical Brothers and other such acts.  I should be playing in late night clubs and dark rooms where people come to dance.

I want to be on festival line ups after the midnight hours and allowing my beats and swoops to fly through the night sky.

I want to make people dance and have as much fun as I am having on stage .....

I plan to keep working towards this dream .... I will never stop.  I don't sit in my shed for hours on end to just make tracks, I want them to be heard LIVE on stage.

I would play any gig, anywhere and happily sit on a line up with rock bands, acoustic artists and electro acts alike. 

Empties - New Video

Empties is the third single to be released from 'Get Amongst It'.

It features the very excellent Chris T-T on vocals and will be released on 17th September.

You can buy the single from -

iTunes  - single track - 79p
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/get-amongst-it/id503601578

Bandcamp - featuring 3 extra tracks - £1
http://amongstthepigeons.bandcamp.com/album/atplp2-single-3

September Shows ... with an Olympic twist

I am largely taking August off from doing any ATP work.  But will be returning in September with a few shows for your to come along to.  Both shows are in Hampshire (where I seem to be spending a lot of time at the moment).

01.09.12 - So Co Music festival, Southampton, Urban Stage - 5pm / £free
15.09.12 - Southsea Fest, Southsea, Hong Kong Gardeners Stage - time TBC / tix

There will be more ATP:LIVE shows coming up in Autumn so keep an eye out.


Also - I can't not mention the London 2012 Olympics - and in particular the opening ceremony last Friday which featured Frank Turner opening the whole show.

As most of you are aware Frank did some vocals on my first album for a track called 'Larkin About' - based on a Philip Larkin poem called 'Pigeons'.

It was a prod moment watching Frank sing away to 80,000 in the stadium and a worldwide audience of billions - he has worked his arse off over the last 6 years and it's great to see it all paying off for him :).

If you are new to ATP and have not heard the track below ... Here it is:

 

You can buy the track from my Bandcamp site

Blissfields - full set on Youtube

This is the FULL 1 hr set I did at this years Blissfields Festival.

In reality I don't really expect anyone to watch the whole thing - But if you do, let me know.

Enjoy ...

ATP:LIVE Video of Brighton gig

Here is a little video with the opening half of my Pav Tav gig from last week. This is the first 4 songs of the set before the sound went bad.

I will also be editing together footage of my set at Blissfields over the next week, so keep an eye out for that.

Post-Bliss Come-Down

Wow - last week was amazing.  It all kicked off on Monday with the release of 'Jaffa Clown Dog' which you can still download for free from Band Camp.

Then on Tuesday I did a set at The Pav Tav in Brighton with the excellent Tanka & BitBin - great chaps and you should check out their sounds.  Sadly the Pav Tav PA was not really up to scratch and the speakers died during my set.

Move on to Thursday and I played at the amazing Blissfields festival.  I kicked things off in the Hidden Hedge at 8pm.  It was early, it was still light but I had a great time and managed to get some of the early evening ravers to dance madly.

I stayed for the whole weekend and got to see some excellent acts over the festival.  Really enjoyed a lot of new music and meeting a whole host of random people.

I recorded both sets on video and will be editing together some of the footage over the next few days and getting that up online for everyone to view. 

I was updating my 'past gigs' page on my site earlier and it occurred to me that I have only done 16 Live gigs as ATP ... Not bad considering some of them have included The Great Escape, Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Blissfields and some excellent support slots.

If you are reading this and book bands for shows (or know people that do) - please do get in touch as I am looking to book more gigs from September onwards!

The other thing I wanted to let you all know about is a remix I did last week. In between everything else going on I made a remix for Decadnids.  This is actually something that came about via Twitter.

The remix I did is available via Pathmusick as a free download.  The label has a whole host of excellent tunes on the site and I thoroughly recommend you having a listen.

So that was last week.  This week I will be editing together footage from the gigs and continuing to work on the next ATP EP - I already have a title and 4 nearly finished tracks ... It will most likely be a 6-7 track release.

Fun with Titles - single, gig, festival, demos

Next week is quite a busy one in the ATP Camp.

The new single 'Jaffa Clown Dog' is released on Monday with an exclusive B-Side called 'BOOM!' - You can download both tracks for free from Bandcamp.

Then on Tuesday I am doing a gig in Brighton with Bitbin and Tanka - It kicks off about 9pm and is free to get in. This takes place at the Pav Tav - details are on Facebook.

Following that I head off to Blissfields on Thursday where I am playing on the Hidden Hedge stage between 8-9pm. I am really so excited to be playing there, it's going to be a great weekend.

After that - things will go a bit quiet until September .... But fear not!

I have been starting work on some new songs - the plan is to release a new EP by the end of the year / or early in 2013.  This will be the first of a few stop gap releases until the 3rd ATP album is released.


As a special treat to those who read this blog I am going to put up a secret link to hear 3 of these new tracks.  Two of the songs are already in the latest live set!  Please remember they are demos and will most likely change a lot before they are released properly.

To listen to them - simply click here.

Jaffa Clown Dog - Video

The second single to be taken from 'Get Amongst It' will be 'Jaffa Clown Dog' and it is released on 25th June 2012.  To view the video just click on the Youtube clip above.

The single is available as a £free download from My Bandcamp Page along with a new track called 'BOOM!'.

Alternatively you can download the track right now from iTunes.

In the week that JCD is release I am also playing a couple of live shows :

• 26th June - Brighton @ Pav Tav. 8pm
• 28th June - Winchester @ Blissfields festival, Hidden hedge stage : 8pm

 Hope you enjoy the song, video and can make it to a show.