The Bristol Hum
Paranoid Pop-Rock, Funk & Live Dance
Also here - myspace.com/thebristolhum
2005 - 2007 (hey, where did everyone go?)
This outfit was until recently my main outlet of musical enterprise. I'm the bass player. We were together for a couple of years and in that time our primary focus was argueing about the name. Musicians, eh? The wierd thing was we never really split, people just stopped turning up to rehearsals...
That aside, we were actually better than I like to give credit for, but you can judge that for yourself. We've put together a rough demo (which got us a gig at the Ashton Court festival) so here's some songs for you to listen to. We were definitely a live band, but you'll get the idea...
Counting the Days
This song grew out of a jam with me and Bongo (our illustrious drum beater) and as such is a personal favourite. It's one of our more down tempo songs, anyone who knows me will know I tend to prefer my music on the slow and somber side. Still not sure about the slightly coldplay-esque middle sections...
Dirty Roll Up
D'n'B influenced tune. A lot of fun to play this one.
Hello Soldier
Some songs seem to have been around for a long time...
El Cubano
You know when a band tries to write a song in a completely different genre? This is our latin number. Again, it's definitely a live tune. Once you've got everyone on stage with percussion in their hands chanting away it kind of comes into it's own. And gets about twice as fast.
P4FT
Pop Punk Wannabes, RIP
For more info - www.p4ft.co.uk
2001 - 2004
Happy Days! Some things just make you smile, like remembering the time you supported Bill & Ben the Flowerpot Men, or when the drummer quits the band half-way through a song at a punk festival by throwing his sticks at the audience and telling the guitarist what he thinks of him. Rock and/or Roll...
These tunes were from our one and only release, which only became popular after the split. Ha!
Mike is still making music, check the link above, and one of these days me and Scott will get the ball rolling again...
Benny Profane
Bristolian Art Pop
1998 - 2001
Too beautiful to live, too diverse to get on, too stoned to care. I joined them around '98 when their bass player went travelling. He came back to be told that he couldn't be in the band anymore. The band finally split a a couple of years later. We released this 3 track CD when the Bristol Sound was at it's peak. The local Venue magazine had a run down of it's favourite CDs of the year, Massive Attack's Mezzanine was number 3, we were number 2. That must have been some good grenola they had. When we did finally split a few of us got together and carried on for a while (as Benny Profane and briefly as The Flies - which I still think is a great name) stumbling over songs before finally calling it a day.
I got a great musical education from being in this band. It was Steve that got me into Townes Van Zandt when I'd previously been on a diet of solid rock. I got my first taste of being in a professsional studio. They also opened my eyes to exactly how slack musicians could be...
Trad Jazz
Inspired by the Jazz Festival at the Old Duke so I believe.
Superstition
How laid back?
Under The Streets
I never really worked out when to come in on this one.
Maz
Some of my own stuff
1977 - 20??
I've dug through the archives and found a selection of stuff in various states of disrepair. One of these days I'll play it live. And it's not like I've been saying that since 1995 or nothing.
Enter The Good Guys
Who doesn't love vocoders? I was getting into Alabama 3 at the time. I think it shows. Maybe a bit teenage but the anti-government lyrics still seem relevent.
Will You Be Mine
Same old story. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy never tells girl, girl leaves the country to live in Japan, boys friend tells him that girl always fancied him, boy gets really really drunk.
Silly Love Songs
Well this one took a long old time to write. Its one of many that are about the loss of (non-particular) love as opposed to being about specifics. (Yeah, chinee rackon). Anyhoo its here for the new band members to listen to the structure really , before we rip it apart and completely rearrange it.
Victim
'Tis a jolly tune this. Heroin and relationship break-ups.
Hangover
I was writing music with an old friend. I was a Rocker, he was a Funker. We ended up in a cloud of smoke producing song after song, never finishing any of them. Some were pretty bad, but some were rather good. This one might not be the best but it was probably the closest to completion.
The Point of it All
Good Ole' Fashioned Country Music. If you've got nothing to say why not say it over and over again?
Skip On
Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a little boy all of seven years old. He'd been home from school ill and when he returned he discovered to his horror that his name had been submitted to represent the class in the skipping race at the schhols sports day. Sports day was the next day and he couldn't skip. Mortified, he went home that evening and cried. When his mother asked him what was wrong he told her of his plight. A piece of rope was found and that very evening the boy was taught to skip by his mother. After a couple of hours he was skipping like he was born to it and went to baed that night feeling a whole lot better. The next day he went to school and damn well won that skipping race. Thanks mum.
Whistle in the Wind
A microphone, my trusty old guitar and a rainstorm. Add an excessive amount of delay and a Roger Whittaker fetish and this is what I got. Sometimes the simple things are the sweetest.
