The Misery Of The Honeymoon

I'm sitting here listening to Ben Thompson's weekly radio show on Resonance FM (www.resonancefm.com). Cracking programme. Bashing through pre-production work for 2 forthcoming tours in October and November. The King of Logistics is waving his wand over rough ideas and shambolic planning presented to him by record labels and booking agents alike, and spinning a delectable web of control that captures all disparate ideas/plans and hauls them to central reserve where he makes dreams come true!!! Sound pompous? Well you gotta know what crap gets piled on my plate and what I have to put up with.

It is now 30 September....4 days after I started writing the above. It's my birthday!!!! Tonight we play in Amsterdam....The Bent Moustache take part in the Amsterdam Underground Festival......I'm really looking forward to this show. We are literally playing under a bridge! It used to be an old prison, and the Paradiso has chosen 3 different underground venues to put on a festival of music and art. We have Bob and Ditmer guesting. Some other very good bands playing too...."Blues Brother Castro" and "Malle Pietje en de Bimbo's". Afterwards, its onwards to the Westergasfabriek to see the "Stukadelics" bombing their way through a no-wave post-funk set. Chocks away......................

Another Nice Mess on Tuesday 19 September 2006

amigos........Marcelle van Hoof will be spinning some excellent records on her radio show tonight, straight out of her living room in Amsterdam between 1900-2200 (CET).
She will also broadcast a live concert by THE BENT MOUSTACHE recorded on Saturday 14 January 2006 at "De Groote Weiver" in Krommenie, The Netherlands.
Be sure to tune in (www.dfn.nu) and check out her website (www.anothernicemess.com) to be able to hear this and other shows from the past, all over again.

Some Lovely Buns (In The Oven At The Bakkerij)

Friday night pogo action at the Bakkerij in Castricum. Many thanks to the "medewerkers" there for looking after us, and to "Zea" and "Persil" for being such nice people to hang out with. But a special thanks goes to the public in Castricum who came out to the show with no pretensions and just boogied on down to all the bands. The kids had cycled in from as far away as Limmen and Uitgeest...cultural zero-zones....and pranced about with cardbard boxes on their heads!

2 shows this week....in Nijmegen and Tilburg. Oi Oi.

I got my mittens on a Digi 002 this week, and so recording of the new "The Bent Moustache" record will begin in earnest very very soon.

Clog rock!

Transformed Dreams

many many thanks to "Zea", "Persil" and the "Suicidal Birds" for being such nice people to work with for 2 "Transformed Dreams" evenings in Utrecht and Den Bosch respectively.
Excellent bands, good people, and in Marcel, a fine label head honcho.
Much needed post-Molina.

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The Bent Moustache play pop!

hip-hoppers, pill poppers, snot gobblers, THE BENT MOUSTACHE are revving up for some downright heavy heavy live action in the coming weeks.
This Friday 15 September, we are playing in the Bakkerij in Castricum. Its an excellent lineup of bands too..."Zea" and "Persil"...both bands were beloved of John Peel, and both bands come out of the excellent stall that is the Dutch label "Transformed Dreams" (also check out slimmed-down 2 piece "Suicidal Birds" on the same label.....at last some decent Dutch bands).
The Bakkerij is an old squat venue in Castricum (down by the sea) and is where The Ex played their first ever gig 26 years ago...fact fans.

We'll have special guests playing with us and cowboy shirts will be expected from one and all.

Don't Whine At Me Argentina

Life on the road may sound like one grand cocktail of glamour, excitement and good times but beyond the bright lights is a world of hard work, long journeys, alot of waiting around, bad food, and little sleep. And if you're really unlucky, you are accompanied by an artsite who is an angry, sour-faced, never satisfied egomaniac, who has seen better times.
Such was this writer's lot recently when he agreed to accompany Juana Molina, an Argentinian singer/songwriter. What began as an ideal work situation - 2 people on the road for 2 weeks, playing shows mostly in the UK, supportive label and promoters to make life just bounce, enthusiastic audiences who paid out hard earned cash to be entertained - turned into a heavyweight contest of mind games and petulant artistic behaviour. I entered the arena as sound engineer, tourmanager and driver, and ended up tagging on new additions to my job description: merchboy, whippingboy, slave.
Too many stories to regale, but I won't waste my energy on the ins and outs of it all right now.....buy me a Guinness or two next time you see me, keep the home fires burning, and I'll recount all the war stories.
Somebody told me that she used to be a famous comedian in Argentina. Nobody told me that she was the joke.