Hooting Yard: The Fan Art Movie.

I took a couple of Mr. Frank Key's drawings and, via a process involving witchcraft, coffee, cigarettes and swearing, made them into this animation.

I created the title sequence based around the Hooting Yard 'Implausible' logo.
The component parts were finished in January but I've only just joined all the bits together today as I'm hoping to have the film included in Resonance 104.4 F.M.'s 'ResOvision' project.
If all goes well it will also be included in the Frieze art Fair but I don't know much about that as I'm not an 'artist' I'm  *"just a bloke that does stupid stuff on a computer".

(* quote used with kind permission.)

Beheld: Our First Gig. Wukulele Festival 2010.

So, our first gig then.
Filmed by Linda (who hasn't quite got the hang of her phone camera yet) featuring brief extracts from:

• Disabled toilets and unsightly trousers.
• In The Smoke.
• This Small Stone.
• Poor Wayfaring Stranger.
• A nice bow tie.

I'll go into a bit more detail in a future posting.
Suffice to say that it all went well and nobody had to die.

This Small Stone (Demo Version).

I wrote This Small Stone in July and haven't really been happy with the demo versions I've recorded until this one featuring St. Anley on his concertina.
The concertina adds just the right amount of melancholy to what is essentially a song about causality.

  This Small Stone by Outa_Spaceman

The overall sound takes me back to my childhood when I had to 'look after' my father's garage.
Late Sunday evenings I would sit by the petrol pump on the off chance that someone might want fuel listening to 'Sing Something Simple' on the radio.  Radio One stopped broadcasting at around 6 o'clock and Radio 2 took over to see out the weekend in the most soporific way possible.
It obviously had a deeply profound effect on me.
The only other music I remember from those endless Sundays was by Wildman Fischer played on the Alexis Corner Show.

Jimmy Pritchard. A Man You Don't Meet Everyday.

Post rehearsal I went for a wander into Bognor.
I was walking down the London Road precinct when this wonderful bloke hove into view:

I asked him his name and if he would allow me to take his picture.

This is Mr. Jimmy Pritchard.
He rummaged about in his pockets and gave me an A4 piece of paper with a photocopy of an article from the local newspaper that, more or less, detailed his whole life as a song and dance man.

We discussed the great comics of days gone by. Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Ronnie Barker.
He told me about working in 'Stars In Battledress' with the likes of Harry Secombe (a really nice bloke) and Spike Milligan (mad as a hat).
People who made us laugh before the university boys took over.

I said 'It's been a pleasure to meet your sir'.
'Why do you call me sir?' he replied.
'Because anybody who can walk through Bognor Regis wearing a pink stetson deserves the greatest of respect.' I told him.
'Call me Jimmy' he said.

Beheld. The Song.

Here's a hastily written song to celebrate the naming of our band.
I'm also trying to impress St. Anley with the speed and efficiency by which a song can be written, recorded and delivered into the public domain.
  Beheld by Outa_Spaceman
So there you have it.
An hour from concept to delivery. An hour that included a trip to the bank, letting St. Anley into the flat, making him a cup of coffee and explaining in tedious detail all the ins and out of the process.

(St. Anley tells me he's impressed. Job done.)

So, Beheld It Is Then.

Anyone whose ever had anything to do with musical collectives will tell you that one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the 'getting the act together' process is finding and agreeing on the name. I've known potentially exciting combos that never got out of the rehearsal room because they couldn't agree on what to call themselves. Looking back across my involvement in music I've always been reasonably happy with the chosen titles (the ones in bold are my own efforts):

Dr. Syn: The village band I was a part of during my teenage years. Playing covers of popular hits during the time of Glam.

Wet Licks: A band I was recruited into from the nearby town of Harrogate. Playing Dr. Feelgood type R&B tunes.

625 Lines: The punk band I formed after seeing the Anarchy In The U.K. tour.

Neural Circus: The post punk electronic band I formed after the demise of 625 Lines.

The Mighty Red Fish: Four guitarists and a drum machine. I'm told we sounded similar to the 3 Johns (whoever they were).

Moo: The last 'serious' band I was in. Playing complicated Jazz Fusion type tunes around York while I shouted in tune over the top of them.
The rest of the band wanted to be The Meters. I wanted to be The Pop Group but we ended up being compared to Talking Heads mainly because I insisted on wearing a big suit I think.

The Interceptors: A Rock n' Roll revival band that stopped me writing my own songs for two years and ended up falling apart in acrimony.

I still use both 625 Lines and Neural Circus for various sonic experiments.
Which brings me to the new ensemble I've helped create.

Beheld: A vehicle for my most recent songs and The Girl On A Wire's love of Alt. Country songs by the likes of William Oldham (she may want me to adjust that description but it's the best I can come up with).
St. Anley is a died-in-the-wool fokie and a little confused about what's going on at the moment which doesn't matter in the slightest as the contribution he makes with his concertina sets the backdrop for The Girl On A Wire and myself perfectly.

After the Wukulele Festival has passed I hope to put together an E.P.
This will come as a surprise to The Girl On A Wire and St. Anley as I haven't told them yet but the most important thing is we're all happy with the name.

(Should I add the definite article I wonder?)

The Shoe Shop.

For one reason and another I've been feeling a bit glum today.
I've cheered myself up no end by watching this:


I would have liked to include the "Two Soups" sketch but all the YouTube versions I can find have had the pay off censored which sort of spoils it for me.

I feel much better now.
I really do.