Old News: January - June 2001

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3rd January 2001
Happy New Year! As with last year, i am still being FREAKED OUT by the very date, although this time it's a bit more SPOOKY. Last year the MEDIA was packed with fools going "Golly, 2000AD eh?" this year it keeps creeping up on me unawares. I have yet to date a cheque, but when i do you can bet i will be GIBBERING in shock.

Apologies for lack of update over Christmas - i note a TON (well, Several anyway) of people came by over the festive period. In my defence, i must say that the reason for the lack of update was simply that i was far FAR too busy going out and getting pissed ridiculous the whole time. I knew you would understand.

One particular session of Pissed Ridiculous NESS was the RW Fleay Birthday weekend, a joyous wobble around London, during which i a) had a LARF b) may have upset people i oughtn't upset by shouting loudly about The Sexual Manipulation Of Dolphins (o my) c) looked at GURLS and d) witnessed Rob being SO hungover it actually caused his NOSE to bleed. Yes, it really WAS that good a weekend.

Also over the festive period i played the Need To Know Christmas DO, which was GRATE fun, even if i did BALK at paying £3 for a bottle of Becks. My favourite thing was the HILARITY of "Slimboy Fat" (oh yes!) the - GUFFAW - Fatboy Slim tribute, who said "I am a Fatboy Slim tribute - aha! - Slimboy Fat!!!", and then put on a CD. Then went home.

Darlings, it was a CONCEPTUAL MASTERPIECE... i think. The rest of the evening was a LOT of fun though, i thoroughly enjoyed myself, so all JOY to everyone involved in the LEAST LONDON-style London event.... EVER.

What else then? Well, i DID go into the studio to do some more vocals. Some were Quite Good. Some, i fear, were BLOODY AWFUL. It didn't help that we tried recording in The Control Room. Kev has only ONE set of headphones (hey, it is LO-FI), so he sat pretending to read the paper while i BELLOWED at him unaccompanied. The Reverb CHARM was pushed to the limit when we got round to trying (and failing) to do "World Go Blind" - "i think you have set yourself a challenge there." Yes Kev. While there, we DID however LAY DOWN the track for the Sorted Compilation, which turned out not to be a searing dissection of the European Debate, but rather a reworking of "Leave My Brother Alone", which sounds BLOODY GRATE. The two of us sat NODDING out heads for quite some time, and were pleased.

That is all the ROCK that there is to report, but what, you doubtless ask, can we espect from the House of Hibbett (and The Shed Of Validators) this year? Here is a brief rundown, as i see it today:

1. "You Will Be Hearing From My Solicitor" WILL be out as a single, hopefully in the Spring. A CD perhaps? I do not know.
2. The Validators WILL be doing some more gigs, though not many. The only SURE thing at the moment is Pop-A-Go-Go, in February.
3. I WILL be doing LOADS of solo gigs, as it is FUN. I'd hope to have some sorted for next time. If all goes to DAYDREAM, these will include places i've not played before, especially Peterborough.
4. ALBUM sessions will continue/commence (depending on how you look at it). Working title today is NANPANTAN.
5. There will be a deal more WRITING coming out too, just as soon as i've sat down and sorted through it.
6. An increase in HARE-BRAINED SCHEME output is promised. HBS's already in place for 2001 include: a production of "My Fair Lady"; a trip to The Edinburgh Festival; republication of "The Curse Of Voon" with EXTRA writings; more more more solo singles. It's only 3 days in though, so these will IMPROVE.

These are my thoughts as we stand on the brink of another year. Will they come to fruition? Only time, dear reader, can tell.
15th January 2001
You find me POISED on the brink of some ROCKING - for LO! i have held true to promises last time and actually sorted some stuff OUT.

First of all, we FINALLY enter the studio in a couple of days to finish off some tracks, some of which will be released as a SINGLE in the very near future. After quite literally MONTHS of deliberation, i have now formulated the PLAN of ACTION. The single will be "You Will Be Hearing From My Solicitor", backed not JUST by another BRAND NEW TRACK (probably "Graffiti on the Cenotaph") but ALSO one of the remaining Say It With Words refugees (either "Praise The Traffic Warden" or "Missing The Misery") AND something else Rather Special... this single will in fact be the first EVER Internet Enabled Single... on VINYL! "But Mark", you puzzle, "How could this work? What on earth can you be thinking?" FEAR NOT gentle reader, all will become clearer at time of release. Be assured tho, it will a) WORK and b) be GRATE. The Futuristic Multimedia CAPACITY of the single will allow purchasers access to SECRET AREAS of Interweb, where you will be able to download EXCLUSIVE tracks... and probably some other stuff too, if i can think of it. THRILLING? oh YES.

Meanwhile, MORE GIGS are ahoy. The first of these is very impending, being at the Silver Rocket Club, upstairs at The Garage in LONDON this coming Friday, while another is back at the lovely Jug Of Ale in BRUM in February. Others will arise, and of course there's the long-awaited Pop-A-Go-Go, still to feature The Validators. We're actually having a PRACTICE for this, not once but TWICE, and if all goes to plan we'll be LARNING UP some new songs, ready to get back into the studio and record the next ALBUM. This week's proposed title: "This Is Not A Library."

Talking as we were of new songs, there is another New Song in the ... er... new songs section, do take a look eh? I am VERY CHUFFED with it, as i think it is Quite Good. Also currently In Development is "I Thought Fat Was A Feminist Issue", a SEARING DEMOLITION of current trends towards BODY FASCISM being applied to Gentlemen. Or at least it will be when it's finished. It has GAGS, Deep Political Insight, and some PHAT RHYMES too. According to me anyway, it might be rubbish when it's finished, i never can tell.

In other news, i have been taking DELIGHT from my web referalls thing. TOP ONE at the moment is from Google - someone searched the Interweb for "Ace Rockage", and found us here - whoever you are, WELL DONE. Perhaps a little less LAUDABLE, we've also had people coming to us after pages for Dave Lee Roth, and also THE SISTERS OF MERCY. We are a broad church here though, so you are LET OFF. In your honour i write this now wearing Spandex Trousers and a dusting of TALC on my head, to look as if i am a ROCKER emerged from THE CRYPT. Honest.

That's yer lot for now - next time we should have some recording updates, hopefully some more new songs, new gigs, and LORD knows what else ... do pop back won't you?
29th January 2001
Who would of thought, in the first years of the 21st Century, that millions of millimetres away minds IMMEASURABLY similar to our own were watching us, planning, waiting... er... to finish off their single.

BZANG! For that is what is occurring - we DID go into the studio the other week and LAY DOWN some extra tracks on the already recorded ones. It was ACE. Loads of violins (electric and otherwise), gallons of trumpet, ROCK EUPHONIUM, guitar solos and backing vocals all became immortalised. Favourite bits for ME were a) Tom FEEDING BACK, and him not understand what was going on b) Rob FREAKING OUT whilst playing Jazz Trumpet, Daddio c) the implementation of ROCK EUPOHONIUM, and d) being able to DEGRADE Rob and Tom COMPLETELY - we set to record backing vocals for "You Will Be Hearing From My Solicitor", as Rob had insisted we do "harmonies". The three of us stand ready, and Tom and Rob commence singing LIKE GURLS. After a good deal of "discussion" and "experimentation" we eventually did SHOUTING HARMONIES which sounded BLOODY GRATE, even tho messrs Fleay and McClure looked like someone was removing their fingernails, with sandpaper.

It all sounded ACE anyway, and i am DEAD EXCITED. I was meant to be in last week to MIX IT UP BIG STYLEE, but Kev Blew Up His Tweeters, so couldn't. Also, he was out buying Limes for Andy Williams. As you do. SO i am IN tomorrow (Tuesday) night, when as well as mixing down "Solicitor" and "Graffiti on the Cenotaph" for the single, adding "Missing The Misery" and RECORDING "Futuristic Mulitmedia" (featuring - oh my - a homemade DRUM LOOP) i shall, time allowing, get "BBC2" and "World Go Blind" done too. It's almost TOO much excitement isn't it?

And if THAT isn't enough for yr ROCK PALLETTE (five quid for three, all kosher, left over from a ROCK BUILDING SITE), we're also having the first of TWO(2) practices this week, in readiness for Pop-A-Go-Go but mostly to LARN UP even MORE new songs. I JIGGLE with thrills. There is TALK too of another Validators gig, sometime in SPRING in LONDON with the FIGHTING COCKS, but i shall dish out the DEAL on this one when i Actually Know What Is Occurring.

In other news, i played at The Garage last week, it was SMASHING - as ever, MY review (The Only Truth You Need) is, as ever, in the Gigs We Have Known bit, suffice to say it was Really Nice. In FACT, possibly one of the least ROCK gigs i have done Down south (e.g. pre-gig ANTICS consisted solely of me sitting in the back room, quietly reading a Book), leaving me feeling WARMED by standing around talking to Nice People all night. Oh, and my Daft Brother, who turned up 40 minutes late and said "You've finished? I thought you would still be on the encores." BLESS.

Rightio then, HIE yrself back in a fortnight's time (please), for news on the single release date (hopefully) and cover stuff (probably), some gig dates, new songs learnt, and, who knows, maybe even some MORE HARE BRAINED SCHEMES!
12th February 2001
Let's get GOING shall we, for there is MUCH to speak of. Firstly, the single is now DONE. Mastered, sequenced, doobried and wotsitted to the MAX - i spent a Very Merry night last week with Mr Reverb, in which we spent a whole TWO(2) hours mastering THE SINGLE. There is a LOT on it. Towards the end, i ventured to suggest that the Electric Gtr could be a bit louder. "No", says Mr Reverb, "i think it's just being hidden by the acoustic guitar. And the lead guitar. And the bass, drums, 3 violin tracks, 3 backing vocal tracks, the lead vocal and the EUPHONIUM." I was expecting it to sound LOUD and DIRTY, but much to my surprise it came out sounding Dead Classy... you shall hear it for yourself soon enough, as indeed will you also hear "Missing The Misery", "Graffiti on the Cenotaph" and "Futuristic Multimedia", this last recorded there and then with DRUM LOOP done by ME, and the Fantastic Sound Of Chicory Tip, enacted by combining GTR with FAKE CELLO. It's ACE. AND it was all shunted through a Multi-Band Compressor. I don't actually know what that means, but it's dead posh. No release date yet, and i still haven't finished the cover, but it's going off at the same time as the new Frankie Machine single, and that's all finished now too, so shouldn't be long my dears. Enough excitement? HARD CHEESE, because there is MORE. We had the first of our TWO(2) practices for Pop-A-Go-Go last week, and i am sorry to report that there was not much practicing getting done. No. WE LEARNT SOME NEW SONGS INSTEAD! AHA! First of all we did "Easily Impressed" which Only My Great Humbleness prevents me from saying was BLOODY GRATE. OK, all right, it was BLOODY GRATE. As far as i am concerned this will be the NEXT single, then all other records after that can just sod off. Next we did "Merchant Ivory Punks", a song with an intro, 3 verses and 3 choruses, which we played in 53 SECONDS. Oh yes. AND finally we did the BRAND new "Fat Was A Feminist Issue" which i must report is a BEAT POEM. Oh golly yes, VERY different from its one performance in-gig, it is near enough JAZZ. But GOOD, obviously. It was all most enervating. We're in again tomorrow night to sort the set out, so may have some MORE new stuff done too, and with any luck we'll be back in the studio soon to LAY THEM DOWN. I am also planning to do a few more built up from a click track (like BBC2(A New Hope) has been... but then yr not likely to have heard that, so the comparison doesn't help really does it? Sorry.) INCLUDING this year's BEST HARE BRAINED SCHEME YET - we are going to record "One Last Party" with a MARCHING BAND! AHHAAA! It will be BRILLIANT, despite the worried looks Other Validators keep giving me. We may also be doing a COVER version at Sheffield (hopefully both Pop-a-go-go on the 17th and my SOLO gig on the 28th), here is a CLUE: Sheffield University recently BANNED someone. What song would appear to be LUDICROUSLY DAFT to recreate, by that artist, and be the one we'll be doing? ANOTHER CLUE: There is no point writing in with yr answer. And STILL the News Flood continues unabated... on Thursday i'm recording a radio session for a Cambridge Station - doing it Chez Fleay, so will doubtless be BITCHIN. Also looks like we might be doing a mini-festival in AUGUST, but is a bit Vague there. AND, here on the site, please welcome a MUCH revamped version of the DISCOGRAPHY, now with added NOSTALGIA. I was going to put cover scans on too, but to be honest couldn't be bothered. I might soon though. Rest easy friend, that really is your lot for now. Keep fit though, next time there'll be some GIG reports, some recording scheduling, some release dates (maybe), and OH YES i full expect MORE HARE BRAINED SCHEMES! So until then, KEEP TRIM.
6th March 2001
Has it really been three weeks since last we spoke? Time seems to be FLYING at the moment, and i appear to have gone all LAX on the updating front. A thousand apologies.

But anyway, what has been occuring over these longs wastes of time? PLENTY MUCH. Lots of GIGS for starters - we played Pop-A-Go-Go as a Mighty BAND, and LO! it was Quite Good. "Easily Impressed" went down really well, and most of us went on to have a GRATE day of wandering around saying hello to people we'd not seen for ages. Truly, Pop-A-Go-Go is the start of the INDIE SEASON.

I say most of us, because Poor Old Mr Fleay has been REALLY poorly just lately, aah, bless, etc. This had IMPLICATIONS for us as we didn't have the second practice before Sheffield (hey, not that we needed it! Er... much), and i didn't get the Cambridge Radio Session done - FEAR NOT tho, Rob is all better now, and I'm going in to do that session TOMORROW, when i visit Mr Reverb for a new session, hopefully to mix some of the remaining stuff, and Lay Down some other tracks tooo. Noing!

But we are getting ahead of ourselves, there were OTHER gigs occurring. First up was in Birmingham at the Jug of Ale, which was quite the most enjoyable gig for the actual GIG bit that i've done in AGES. Not sure why, but it was, and "Easily Impressed" went down really well AGANE. Sheffield University _wasn't_ much fun for the gig bit, tho is always nice to see the Sheffield Lot, and i DID do "Stan" by Eminem, as BANNED by the University Union. Unfortunately nobody seemed to have told any of the students about this, and they continued to ignore me as nobody came and dragged me offstage for breaking the THORT EMBARGO. A security guard looked a bit worried tho, apparently.

Main DECISION of the last few weeks has been to NOT release the "You Will Be Hearing From My Solicitor" single after all - GRATE tho it OBVIOUSLY is, i noted that people's reactions to the finished product were a little on the lukewarm side - people LIKED it, but i didn't see it being something i'd be happy to sing FOREVER AFTER. Add to this the continued Everybody REALLY Liking "Easily Impressed" (and me also being dead chuffed with it), and you get the final (ish) decision to wait until THAT is recorded, and do THAT as a single instead. Maybe. We'll see anyway - we've got a BAND MEETING tonight (except for Tom who is BOOKED until May - really!) when we should be sorting things out. Hopefully we will also LEGITAMISE my THORTS on hitting the studio again and getting going on the next chunk of the album, piles of new stuff and all.

If i remember I'll get a couple of new songs put up here soon too, and will try my DARNDEST to update this in two weeks time as usual. Over these two weeks i expect MANY things to occur - the aforementioned Band Meeting and Recording, the FINAL confirmation of the next gig in London (with The Fighting Cocks, HOLA!) and with any luck some more STUFF scheduled. If you promise to come back then, i'll promise to have something for you.
15th March 2001
It's an EARLY UPDATE! Much as i hate to risk life threatening EXCITEMENT in you, dear readers, i felt it was necessary to CHANCE IT, so as to inform you of a couple of THINGS which are occurring.

The most immediate is for anybody a) in Cambridge or b) not worried about telephone bills, for LO! there is a SESSION by ME going out on Cambridge University Radio tomorrow night (that's Friday 16th). I was in with Mr Reverb last week, and recorded 6 tracks (Bands From London, Payday, three *NEW* songs, and my INIMITABLE version of "Stan") for the John Kell vs Satan show, which goes out at 9pm. I'm not sure which ones he'll play, but if you go to their webpage (at http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cur/ then you should be able to listen in. Should you wish to. Which, let's be honest, you probably do.

Also while in The Studio, i recorded the BASIC TRACK for "One Last Party", which anybody who has spoken to me over the last couple of months will know as "that bloody marching band one." For LO! i am dead excited about this one - we're going to record it using euphonium, drums, clarinets, flutes, recorders (i have been ARRANGING FOR RECORDER this week, it is a New Experience), glockenspeil, feet, and the male and female armed forces. OH YES. The ARRANGEMENT is all in my BRANE, and i have enlisted the help of the very wonderful Chemistry Experiment to fill out the sound. Maybe it will come out sounding rubbish, maybe it will be FANTASTIC and NEW, only time can tell... we're in the studio again with the BAND on the 29th, so that'll be the start of it.

We'll be recording some new songs TOO that night - "Easily Impressed", "Merchant Ivory Punks" and "Fat Was A Feminist Issue" are on the AGENDA, as we skip lightly through the new sessions. These were part of the DISCUSSIONS when we had our BAND MEETING last week. Actually, that was pretty much IT - Tom couldn't make it, and someone asked us if we wanted to play the pub quiz, so we did. We came second, thanks for asking, and Rob and I were TERRIFIED by Tim's mastery of CHEMISTRY. Right at the end we hurriedly said YES to more recordings, and YES to SOME gigs.

The first of THESE is going to be at the Bull & Gate on May 11th, with the Fighting Cocks, which is pretty much almost definitely FINALLY confirmed. HOORAH! I look forward to it IMMENSELY, and shall be making a big effort to blackmail people into coming - if you are lucky, gentle reader, you may be one of them.

The OTHER big news of recent time is something the EAGLE EYED may have spotted from the top of the page - after literally YEARS of prevaricating, i finally bought www.mjhibbett.com! The site is still stored on Tripod and everything, but if you use the PROPER NEW NAME then, should anything change in the future, you need never have to lose touch. Isn't that reassuring? I'm excited about it anyway, and look forward to showing off my fancy pants domain name at the first opportunity.

Other than that, you'll find the discography, gigs and old gigs sections updated slightly... er ... and that's pretty much it! There ARE some new songs hovering, and I'll include them in the MIGHTY SONG DATABASE when i have a moment. Hopefully next time we CONVERSE I'll have a report for you from the next SESSION too, so do come back won't you? You are always welcome at WWW.MJHIBBETT.COM! AHA!
4th April 2001
A happy SPRING to one and all - as i look out of my window, i see the buds on the trees and the hurricane style wind trying to blow them off... aah, doesn't it make you glad to be alive?

But enough Bucolic Bliss, it is time to speak of ROCK, for LO! there has been some lately. As mentioned last time, The Validators HIT the studio last week, and it was BLOODY GRATE. We lacked Tom ACTION, but the rest of us laid down funky backing tracks to "Merchant Ivory Punks", "Easily Impressed" and "Fat Was A Feminist Issue", as well as putting the drums onto "One Last Party". It all, i must say, sounded ACE, and as we recorded we noted our Equal Competence in PUNK, OLD SKOOL INDIE, JAZZ and BIG BAND stylees... EQUAL levels of ability displayed across the genres, hem hem. Amazingly we broke a Band Record, doing no less than EIGHT full length takes of a song (previous record: two). It was "Merchant Ivory Punks" and its only 56 seconds long, but still, we were surprised.

I've got a Big List of Stuff To Do to finish these all off now, and have been having a couple of GLEEFUL nights at home with the 4 track working out some BITS, not least of which is the RECORDER SECTION on "One Last PArty" which sounds like... er... some recorders. Thankfully i have just today bought "Resolute", by The Staff Band Of The Women's Royal Army Corps (Capt. Ena Forster, of course, directing music) so should get a few more ideas soon. NEXT tho for the band, we have the practice(S?) for the London gig, when hopefully we'll be a-LARNING UP some of the songs which will involve the vocal stylings of MRS PATTISON, not least of which is our "long" "awaited" full-band cover of "STAN."

BE AFEARED.

Not much other thrills lately I'm afraid - i've been to some Good Gigs (Pala, Los Planetos Del Agua and Rusk), but am MOST excited about seeing Broadcast this week. It's EXCITING. Simon from Voon was over for the weekend, and we had a small reunion, in my living room, pissed, all failing to remember the words to "Hit Me Baby One More Time" - check EBay for the bootlegs, but be prepared to SPEND.

Hopefully there'll be more to tell you over the next few weeks - should almost DEFINITELY have some more recording news, and who knows what else? It is a crazy world of ROCK out there, and to try and second guess it is the way of the FOOL.
19th April 2001
You find me CAREWORN and TIRED as i am a) a bit poorly and b) knackered from going to the GYM after an Easter of BEER and FOOD. Ah me, the problems of the 21st Century Man, do they never end?

ANYWAY, let us leave this things behind, as there is news of ROCK. I was all of an excitement earlier this week, preparing for a MIGHTY SESSION - Tom was all lined up to go into the studio with me to finish off all his violin parts for the work so far, and The Chemistry Experiment were driving over to do clarinets, flutes and who knows WHAT else on "One Last Party." Yes, that's right, THRILLING eh? HOWEVER all went a bit awry when Lee from the Chemistry Experiment's car broke, meaning none of them could come over, and Tom fell ill, so he couldn't either! Undeterred i ventured in alone, and did all MY bits instead, and it was GRATE. GTRS were done, JAZZ PIANO was done, and SINGING was gruellingly undertaken, not least of which a COMPED VOCAL (i.e. doing it line by line until i got it as near to OK sounding as i was likely to get) on "World Go Blind", which largely involved Kev going "No, sing it like THIS" and then singing like A Grunge Sinatra. It was ACE.

Even MORE thrilling was listening back to what we'd done before, ESPECIALLY on "World Go Blind" which sounds like nothing else ON EARTH, i had forgotten the MAD TRUMPET and ELECTRIC VIOLIN on it, and was very very impressed tho i say so myself as shouldn't. Also, it had slipped my mind quite HOW very jazz "Fat Was A Feminist Issue" turned out - my dears, i fear that when the album is complete people will turn up their noses and say "No, look, you're just showing off aren't you?"

The next PHASE commences soon also, as we go back and have another practice to larn up some New Material, this time with the long-awaited arrival of Mrs Tim in the band. We shall have to be on best behaviour, with tomfoolery and horse play curtailed and an embargo on playing the giddy goat. This is also in aid of the GIG which comes soon, on May 11th at - of course - The Bull & Gate. It's with the FULL BAND, and also with THE FIGHTING COCKS so, dear reader, do come along if you have the chance, it will be BRILLIANT. Also, while i think about it, anyone down London way on May 4th might like to come along to Upstairs at the Garage, where myself and other groovers shall revel in FRANKIE MACHINE. It will be ACE, and i shall probably CRY.

In other news, I've had a bit of a sort out on the New Songs section, as a couple of rejected ones had their music changed and thus their designation also altered, PLUS i finally added a couple of new songs. My keyboard has been returned to me of late too, hence a LOT of new recordings will be featuring the featherlight finger skills of ME, and there might even be a PIANO BALLAD written, if i think of one.

That's about the lot for now i think - i am off JETSETTING next week, so i will try and bring back some Anecdotes de le ROCK from there, and until them au revoir mon cheries, au revoir!
14th May 2001
This time i am SHEATHED in ROCK, as a direct result of last week's gig - three days on and i am STILL all chuffed and happy about it, really, it was Dead Good and MANY thanks to you if you came. If you didn't, here are the Edited Highlights of the evening:

The gig itself, you know, the music bit, was pretty good i think - we did LOTS of new songs, Emma singing was a RELIEF - i kept saying to her "Don't worry about what it sounds like in practice, when you sing LIVE it will all be fine." I was just saying it, but it turned out to be TRUE, especially when i a) forgot bits or b) lost the power of VOICE, it was GRATE having someone else to bellow instead. And of course, the rest of THE VALIDATORS rocked MIGHTILY, we sounded DEAD GOOD, a credit to the TWO practices we have had. This year. The BEST bit about the gig itself was doing an ENCORE - and it was a REAL encore too! That people seemed to WANT! Started off on the intro to STAN, i came to the mic to SHOUT to find out we were out of time - yes, THE MAN had pulled the plug, so not only did we get an ENCORE, we also FOUGHT THE POWER and ALSO didn't get the opportunity to disappoint any expectations by being RUBBISH.

Cool.

Other excitements included The Drummer From Ween appearing and saying it was good, and me getting briefly confused and thinking he had drummed in Wings; a long conversation which i think might have involved me going becoming the 21st Century Richard Stilgoe, and singing on TV's Newsround... really... i am still unsure about how REAL this might be, but we shall find out one way or the other. Sold some RECORDS, drank some BEER, revelled in the joy of lots of lovely people who turned up - what could be better eh?

Meanwhile, other things that have occurred included one of the aforementioned Practices (the other was in February i think), in which we LARNED UP a WHOLE NEW SONG! New to the band anyway, it was "The Girl Who..." which we did last week at the gig, and sounds GOOD. Hopefully, riding the wave of post-gig enthusiasm, we can get back into the studio, FINALLY finish the remaining songs and then get on with some new ones, including this one. This is something i intend to Implement at my earliest opportunity.

In other news - i saw Frankie Machine, they were dead good, then The Warm Jets, who were shit, and i made this clear, also saw another rubbish band, who were rubbish and got upset about my heckling but i can't remember their name. ALSO have been JETSETTING - Montpellier the other week, next week GREECE! WORLD! FEAR MY ROCK!

Let's have some more FACT about all this next time when i get back, until then, thanks for popping by!
1st June 2001
Fasten yr seatbelts, i am EXCITED. Why? Because last night we were in the STUDIO, ALL of us, and MY! what a night it was!

This was the final session to try and finish off everything we've done so far - we didn't quite manage that, but GOLLY did we get a lot done, and had a LARF and a HARF to boot. First up Emma and Rob did backing vocals on "Easily Impressed", then we ALL did the "Oi! Hibbett!" bit. This sounded ACE. Next we all did the "Here They Come" bits on "Merchant Ivory Punks", and so far so Reasonable and Normal.

HOWEVER. THEN we set to work on "One Last Party", and my dear we had some FUN, not least from the range of expressions on Kev's face... we did mass backing vocals on the chorus. Then Tim (in his first LEAD VOCAL EVER!), backed by Tom and Rob did the MAN'S ARMY sections (you'll see what i mean when you hear it), and we LARFED. Then Emma, again backed by Tom and Rob, did the WOMEN'S ARMY - and my WORD it was a) ACE b) HILARIOUS. THEN! Then we did the RECORDERS, and as Mr Reverb so TRULY said, "It's amazing nobody else records this sort of thing." There was no irony in the statement AT ALL. FINALLY, Tim played Cymbals (and clanked around with them like a clockwork monkey) while the rest of us MARCHED. Again, Mr Reverb looked a bit stunned by the proposal, only to say "I've got a slab of marble somewhere for recording this sort of thing", and Tom ended up on LEAD FEET. It was all BRILLIANT, and i think may well DO IN a few heads.

At the very end we recorded all Tom's violin parts, and all was DONE, and i was HAPPY. I shall be getting BOOKED to go in soon and start MIXING, as we now have FIVE songs finished and un-mixed (with "Solicitor" and "Cenotaph" already done), then next month i shall drag Mr Fleay in to finish up "One Last Party", and we shall then be OFFICIALLY halfway through recording the new album. Exciting huh? MEANWHILE we're all in practicing in a couple of weeks to start working up the NEXT lot of songs. After the KER-RAZINESS of this spat of recordings, i am a little worried that the rest will seem a bit NORMAL, but I'm sure we can get round that.

In other news - the Bull & Gate gig is now on TELLY! SORT OF! If you go to http://www.onlinetvuk.com and search for "Mark Hibbit And The Validators" (yes, i know) in the BAND SEARCH section, you should be able to see the whole of our GIG, except for the aborted encore. You'll need to sign up or something, but it's Quite Good, at least in terms of sound. The pictures appear to be a documentary about my FACIAL TICS as there are quite a lot of close-ups, but still - lots of NEW SONGS too, if anyone's really interested.

Other giggage is coming in the shape of the "Havock Junction" launch gig on June 29th at the Charlotte - this is just me on my lonesome, but the other bands should be GOOD. I actually have a COPY of the album now, and there's some DEAD good stuff on it, especially an unreleased Prolapse track called "Dunblane Hydro", which is GRATE. I'm not sure when it's actually out yet, but will of course FACT you, dear reader, when i know.

Otherwise, most of these past few weeks have been taken up with JETSETTING - my week in GREECE was ACE thanks for asking, i got all excited about all sorts of Health Informatics Issues AND spent a lot of time in the sunshine and in the pool, so i can't complain there. Next thing is a trip to Tokyo! I can't quite believe this is true, but it looks like it might be!

Anyway, that's it for now - next time there should be some NEWS on the new songs we're learning, a Possible Large-Scale Band Gig, and of course the ongoing MIXING IT UP. Seeee you then!
25th June 2001
It's been a long! time! Now! I'm! er... updating the webpage. Hmm, maybe something's actually aren't all that more exciting in the FUTURE.

ANYWAY, let's get it on shall we? I just got back to work after a week OFF, which was very nice thank you, one of those Weeks Off where you think "Right! I shall get sorted, tidy the house, arrange my finances, write songs, finish the album, solve minor physics problems and Read A Good Book." I read a good book. Ooh, and did the washing up. It was GRATE.

Not to say there haven't been ROCK events - i went into the STUDIO the other week and mixed "BBC2" (even more FANTASTIC than i remembered), "Easily Impressed" (i was MOVED) and "Merchant Ivory Punks" (slightly LESS fantastic than i remembered). A couple of days later the mighty Validators converged on a very small practice room and LARNED UP not one, not two, but FIVE brand new songs. We are nothing if not good at learning up new songs - "Post-Subsonic Bass" (ROCK!), "The Only Thing" (a revelation due to some GRATE drumming), "Last Orders" (can't spell the word it is - as like to something from Hawaii), "It Could Have Been" (er... needs work) and "This Is Not A Library". This last was most exciting, as we WORKED IT UP from one chord and a vague idea i had - now i see why Certain Bands play that sort of thing all the time, because it is PEASY. On calm reflection later in life/the week i had the IDEA to rework "Symbol Of Our Nation" (which certain people [called Rob] refuse to play in current form because it is "similar" to another tune - can you IMAGINE?) to fit over it. With "This is Not a Library" chorus over it too. THEN i had three OTHER GRATE IDEAS which I'll not go into here, suffice to say they are to do with making a CONCEPT ALBUM.

OH BABY.

Anyway, we then decided to try and do a few more gigs, i'm off in the next week or so to tidy up some things and start some others ("Nothing In Common", on PIANO!) and then when Mr Fleay returns from FRANCE we're going to go and do part TWO of the album - exciting eh?

And talking of exciting things and GIGS, we have one BOOKED now! Being a Cheeky Monkey i asked Pete from The Regulars if we could go and play with them sometime as a) they are lovely lads and b) Birmingham is ACE. And the man from the Regulars he say YES! Hola! August 3rd marks our return to the live arena, do pop along if you can won't you? It could be Interesting, as i don't see much of a window for Actual Practicing between now and then. Hey, who needs it eh? Also of course this Friday coming I'm playing the Havock Junction launch at the Charlotte, and will be doing a Mystery COver Version. "Mystery" because I'm not wholly sure what it'll be yet.

In other news... um, i saw a play the other week, saw NASTY NICK on a platform, had my BIRTHDAY, and went to see Half Man Half Biscuit in Leeds. Coming up is that gig, me going to see Shed 7 (no, i can't quite understand this either) and Lambchop (ZANG!) and hopefully a STAG DO too... oh, and i do hope to see some mixing going DOWN too, but pop back in (i honestly intend) a fortnight, and we'll see won't we?

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