16/12/2011 01:28:37
It's Christmas!!!
from John
Looking forward to the new year and stuff. Been lazy with the website recently, but some new exciting stuff will be on here to go with all of the new material the band have been working on this year. Can't wait for Rosyth and the Gothenburg!
05/06/2011 15:46:42
The new RSS feed is now available - now if only we ever have anything interesting to say......
04/06/2011 23:46:28
Wheatsheaf in Kirkcaldy
from John
Lazy Snake dancing in the streets of Raith at last!
Thanks to the management, staff and punters at the Wheatsheaf for a great night last night.
We usually do well the first time we get to a venue, but last night was a bit special. Everyone made us welcome and showed appreciation above and beyond the call.
The rapport we built with the punters was excellent to the extent that I think we enjoyed the gig more than usual. Thanks again to you all!
A special thanks too, to the two lovely ladies (sorry we didn't get your names), one of whom told me that they had enjoyed the band, and that they would recommend us to another venue. You know who you are girls. We hope we see you again in Fife!
30/04/2011 19:07:43
Commie Amazon ...
from John
... Arra Chucker!
Canny wait until tomorrow in Sauchie. There's some Russian Woman darts Player doing a Bank Holiday Exhibition thing before we go on!!
How in God's name can we follow that?
Strikes me that woman darts players - well it's just not right is it?
Of course if she's as big as they say, I'll deny all of this.
Still can't wait...
11/04/2011 20:53:29
Bank statement....
from Sean
Yes , alright . As puns go , not one of our best . But it could have been worse . An ''account'' of our last gig ? Some ''change'' in the ''notes'' we played .? The whole night being ''on the money'' ? Grim , eh ? So be thankful . And no mention of Johnny Cash either , despite the fact that a guy in the audience was wearing a t-shirt with the man's pic on it , and the simple word ''Cash'' below . We kid you not .
All of this is of course , a reflection of the fact that Saturday last saw us playing in The Bank , in Alloa . An architectural gem it is . And in its current incarnation , a cracking place to play . LOTS of room to set up , a good , very mixed crowd , and a balmy spring evening all contributed to the Snake delivering a set which was at once both powerful and relaxed (who writes this stuff...?) . Great atmosphere generated by a genuinely friendly and up-for-it crowd in an acoustically tasty room . The set continues to expand , while a few of the old warhorses are being quietly put out to grass...step forward The Joker (Steve Miller Band) , The Last Time (Rolling Stones) and one or two others which may or may not be reprieved . The new stuff continues to hit home , and LS now go into a couple of weeks rehearsal to bring even more fresh material to your lugholes and the soles of your Adidas-es....es ?? Very large thank you very much-es to Jim and his lovely staff who plied us with liquid sustenance for the evening , and run an excellent hostelry . You should check it out ! In fact , mosey along on the afternoon of Sunday May 1st . Bank Holiday vibes and guaranteed sunny-ness will see the sounds of great rock , pop and soul drifting out of the Bank onto the cleverly named Bank Street between 2pm and 5.30pm. Once more , dear listeners...it might get loud !!!!
05/04/2011 20:29:05
Bear with us once more , gentle reader , as we regale you with more tales of the Snake's peregrinatons...
To the esteemed Burnside Inn , Menstrie on Saturday 26th March . A fine , rocking hostelry , which has been good enough to host us before . We were up for a great night , especially when we realised htat the place was packed to the gunwales , due , not only to ourselves, but also to the Jacobite-esque shindig going on through the door in the main lounge . Yep , in between the sounds of LS giving it loads , floated the unmistakeable strains of Scottish traditional music from the adjoining room , and very nice it was too . In fairness ,there perhaps wasnt the amount of cross-cultural exchange that we had hoped , except for the odd kilted bloke wandering in , standing bemusedly , pint in hand , and no doubt wondering how the Corries had lost their way so radically.....Still ,it was nice to see them , and be reminded that , although rock , soul , funk , pop and blues remain the greatest forms of music on the planet , other brands are , as they say , available .
Those present in our half of the arena , who gave the folk vibes a body-swerve , nontheless had a grand time , giving us a great welcome and cutting plenty of rugs as the evening wore on .So a big thanks to everyone who came and gave it plenty , and who engaged us in some entertainig conversation afterwards . These folk really know and enjoy their music , and we could've stayed chatting all night . The craic was mighty ! Only blot on an otherwise grand night was the absence of Derek , who booked us in the first place . The great man was called away to Glasgow , so we didnt catch him . However , he has once again been kind enough to ask us back . So , Saturday 30th July at the Burnside Inn. Loads of new stuff to hit you with . Be there ! IT MIGHT GET LOUD....!!!
20/03/2011 02:10:15
Smile at Sammy's!
from John
It was great to be playing in Glasgow again on Friday evening. Sometimes Glasgow crowds can be hard to please, but the folk at Sammy Dow's were quite the opposite. They were just there to have a good time, and were astonishingly appreciative.
Stevie lost a couple of pounds mind you with all of those lights bearing down on him - and Sean - well I couldn't even SEE him at the end!
Lots of shouting, cheering clapping and headbanging in time with the music was great to see and hear.
We should all be thankful to snake fans, Gemma, Christine, Isabel, Meg, Lindsay, John, Allan and Martin; they all travelled tens of miles to come and see us. I hope we lived up to their expectations.
01/02/2011 18:37:02
Brilliant Burnside...!
from Sean
What's that rustling of leaves underfoot..? The glint of a beady reptilian eye ? The insistent flickering of a forked tongue.....good , this , aint it ? Yes , the Snake emerges from the long hibernation of winter And what a winter its been. As our esteemed colleague Mr Cole alluded to earlier on this site , the weather put a stop to all sorts of stuff , not least our gigging and rehearsal schedule . So , it was a decidedly rusty LS who reconvened a couple of weeks ago to run through the set and , gulp , tackle a few new ones. So long had it been since we had hooked up , that I wasnt entirely convinced that Mr Cole was in fact the real article , rather suspecting him to be a cleverly engineered replica , created and planted by the CIA. Convinced that the man himself was buried under a snowdrift somewhere in the region of the old Hoover factory at Cambuslang , no doubt surprised by a sudden avalanche whilst perusing Engels' ''A history of the British Working Class'' , I quizzed this apparent replicant closely on his knowledge of Scottish football , politics and the cultural significance of variations in the choice of Friday night fast food across the Central Belt , and quickly realised that he knew nothing of any of these things , paricularly the football. . Moving on to music , his concession that REM were ''pretty good'' , coupled with his previous responses , finally made me sure that indeed we had an impostor amongst us , until Steve pointed out , with flawless logic , that all of the above were actually the ultimate proof that our much-loved plank-spanker was definitely before us in the flesh.
So , with that sorted out , we were able to move on to the business of learning and re-learning . There was no little urgency involved , as the good folk at The Burnside Inn at Alva were good enough to give us a gig , and so there we took ourselves last Saturday , 29th January . Alva is `a delightful wee place at the foot of the Ochil hills , just east of Stirling , something of a new territory for the 'Snake . After Saturday , we wish we had come this way years ago ! A great night , after a quiet-ish start , The good folk there assembled were really appreciative of our efforts , with a significant number clearly knowing their rock music , and getting well into the stuff , both the well-known , and the more obscure . Jet's ''Cold Hard Bitch' sounded great on its first outing , and Queens of the Stone Age's '' No one knows'' goes from strength to strength as a number that folk instantly groove to. Two encores , finishing - unusually- with Pink Floyd's ''Comfortably Numb'' saw the evening off some time after midnight...and we had a mountain of stuff still to play !! Still there's always next time , which is 26th March . Be there or be square . Oh , and if you were among the folk who gave us such a lovely welcome on Saturday night , thank you and tell your friends . Better still , bring 'em next time . The Snake will rock your socks off ....!! Oh and not forgetting a huge thank you to the excellent Derek , a real stand-up guy who gave us the gig on such short notice , stayed to see us play , gave us a great welcome , and most importantly , booked us again . The Snake salute you , sir . Its a real shame there arent more of your calibre around. See y'all soon....!!!
31/01/2011 22:33:28
What a brill place the Burnside is! Very knowledgeable audience who are on the ball with their music.
Gig was really jumping - especially at the end of the evening. And this despite my bloody hand-cramp! Could it be my advanced years?
We'll be back in March. Can't come quickly enough.
13/01/2011 22:04:55
Fife - and drums!!
from John
Good to break new ground for the band. Now that Sean has relocated to the East, he has opened up new opportunities for the Snake. I can't wait to get to the Burnside in Menstrie. We also have some new songs to play as well.
Hopefully we will be a bit of a contrast, add something different to what the regulars in the Burnside are used to. Power Trio rock! Now there's a marketing plan :-)
10/12/2010 18:21:52
This is getting a bit ridiculous. Practices, gigs coffee evenings all cancelled because of this stuff.
Gotta end soon !!!!!!
11/09/2010 11:24:45
At last! After all the disruption of the summer, we can get out and play again. Looking forward to showing off Stevie to the crowd at the Oakie on the 25th.
The fact that we have some new surprises song-wise for the punters is also something to look forward to.
Great to be back in the saddle; and there's also an additional guitar to make her debut. New Les Paul Goldtop 1956 Reissue with P90 pickups.
It might get loud :-)
28/07/2010 01:23:03
Great to have the new guy on board. Welcome to Steven Leonard. I won't give too much away since we're still waiting on pics and so forth, but the Snake drummer saga is finally over.
We will beging rehearsals in earnest next week in preparation for late summer gigs - which will all be posted soon on the site.
Boom Boom!
06/07/2010 01:05:42
Bitter Sweet Weekend
from John
A really awesome night at the Oakie on Saturday. The crowd were on their feet most of the night, and it was a pleasure to play. Even the 2.00am closing wasn't too oppressive for yours truly. I had an absolute blast and I can't wait to get back to Sandbank in late August.
Of course the euphoria was tempered a bit by Gerry's inevitable decision to leave. After being together for so long, particularly in Sean's case (they've been playing together for 15 years), this is a very sad situation and in some ways the end of an era.
Having said that, thanks for everything mate and good luck for the future. Replacing you will be tough, but it will give Sean and me something to so over the summer!
So boys and girls, if you think you've got what it takes to pound on the old Snakeskins, let us know by clicking the 'Contact' button at the top of the page.
14/06/2010 22:58:20
How to kill a guitarist..
from Sean
Ah well now , dear reader....here's what you do. Present him with a tiny car park complete with badly parked Dutch holiday coach , so that he cant get anywhere near the door of the venue,,,
Next , add a couple of flights of stairs with fiendishly placed mezzanine floors to cause extra confusion and fatigue...
Turn up the heat to classic British hotel maximum...
Observe......
Yep , such was the scene presenting itself to us at the otherwise delightful Esplanade Hotel last Saturday night. It really is a lovely little hotel ...well , quite big actually , and we got to play in a cracking big room with sprung dance floor and french windows onto a huge terrace with stunning views up the Clyde. Highly recommended .
The occasion was a birthday do for a lovely chap of Scottish/Welsh origin , who lives in Ireland , but whos Irish partner wanted him to celebrate in the Esplanade. Confused ? We were...Great choice of venue , and of course , great choice of band ! The Snake had a grand night , and John's back is coming along nicely ....
All the best and big thanks to Hannah and Davie ''Toddie'' Todd....
See y'all at The View , Sat 26th June .Its a World Cup Theme Night at this renowned Dunoon hostelry , in honour of which Gerry will be demonstrating his breathtaking ball skills...
26/05/2010 21:37:24
Back in the Groove
from John
Be glad to get back playing this weekend. Gerry is working in the States at the moment, but I'm sure he'll be happy to get back to Dunoon on Saturday!
Whilst he's been over there, Sean and me have been recording at my home studio, cleaning up the stuff on the demo.
Oh yes ... the coalition. They still there?
12/05/2010 14:36:32
Have now taken over the country. Very disappointing that the Liberals have chosen to enter into a Faustian Pact with Cameron and his chinless cronies.
Dunno about the budget defecit, but the intellectual defecit seems about as bad to me.
Ashcroft will have to get his millions back of course. Wonder how they'll manage that :-(
I really hope for the good of the vast majority of prdinary people, that those people will turn against the Liberals for this sellout.
Brown was no friend of mine, but at least he had a) a poltical intellect, and b) correct intentions and the common good as the focus of his thinking. Those in charge now have very little of the first of these and only the opposite of the second.
05/05/2010 10:00:18
A long-haul weekend ended up well. The Sundowner was as usual, brilliant on Saturday - and the Exxon do at Inverkip was great fun also.
My new Dr Z Maz 18 amp got a try out over the piece as well. Definitely a bit more versatile and very much more organic than the Blackstar. Overall, well chuffed.
Now that we've got the master tapes from the studio, I've started to sort out the tracks. Some new vocals and overdubs are set for this week and next. It's a pity that we were booked in the studio when both Sean and I had serious manflu problems :-( However it will be sorted for the better soon.
Unfortunately it looks as though the Tories will win the election. Live music will suffer badly under their plans, so the next few years could be difficult for the likes of us.
26/04/2010 20:12:44
Eddie Offord Part III
from Sean
Greetings , Pop-Pickers....... Well , it seems the euphoria over the Snake's demo cd was perhaps a little , shall we say , 'previous' ? For those of you who have checked out the sounds thereon , well ,we here at Snake City were sadly forced to conclude that , vocally at least , all was not well....
How to explain...?Bear with me here.... Well , there will be those of you out there who remember the glory days of the music that dared not speak its name. A one-time veritable leper among those who swam in the cool waters of well , cool... A musical form that , ironically , is now becoming very name-checkable among the hipsters again. Radiohead , Muse , Florence and the Machine , Dave Grohl....yes , they're all declaring their undying love for..whisper it.. Prog Rock ! True proof for the old adage that there's nowt new under 't sun.
Now , I like a bit of prog as much as the next chap. Meself and Gerry , our esteemed drummer , are both sole members of the Firth of Clyde Ian Anderson Appreciation Society , and bow to no-one in our admiration of the thinking-prog fan's pipe smoking hero.
We have spent many a long car journey teasing out the interplay between bass and drums in the first ten minutes of Yes's 'Heart of the Sunrise' and agreeing that its among the funkiest shit that we've ever heard. Prog is full of such little gems , and , although the aforementioned percussionist's first loves remain jazz and soul , and I have an unassailable affection for the raucous and untrained (everything from The Fall to Napalm Death) , it remains true that prog is a venerable form to be respected and enjoyed, rather like a decent churchwarden-full of Whiskey Flake or Virginia Leaf. As I said , bear with me , I'm coming to the point.....
HOWEVER , it does have its cringe-making moments. Our particular fave is a few minutes into the 20 minute epic that is 'Hemispheres' by the otherwise excellent Rush. After an exhilarating intro , full of stop-start dynamics , breathtaking changes of pace and the BEST EVER use of a triangle in a rock tune , the music reaches a crescendo , pauses teetering on the edge of a glorious peroration and then......Geddy Lee launches into the vocal with the opening declaration , 'When our weary world was young......'Oh dear. The next few lines bring a new meaning to the word.....what is it ? Oh yeah , 'screechy..' Not pleasant , unless you enjoy the sound of a man shredding his own larynx with a vocal that is tantalisingly just an eighth tone beyond his ceiling. Find it , listen to it..you will wake up sweating for days. Gerry and I ? We just p*ssed ourselves when we first heard it..(on a car stereo heading along Corstorphine Road in Edinburgh ,as I recall. Seems strangely appropriate , really. Dont know why , it just does).
Which leads me to The Snake's CD. The vocals , or at least some of them ,are like that , only worse. Long story short , mes enfants , we are gonna do em again. Not up to the standard required by your scaly friends , so Prof Cole , who is good at all that tech stuff , is kindly going to re-do them with your humble correspondent here.'New and improved' is the phrase , I think... And Gerry will still get to laugh.....
21/04/2010 12:38:52
....And all that nautical stuff. To Inverkip Marina on Sunday May 2nd ; The Chartroom , to be precise , to entertain the good folk of a large energy company ( you'll know them , honest) ....hope they've got plenty of energy , cos we will be FIRED UP from the night before at The Sundowner. We are told that these people like their rock , so they've come to the right place. Thanks to Kevin for the gig. See y'all there ! (Wee clue there !)...
19/04/2010 21:08:44
Eddie Offord Part II
from Sean
Ah well , now...the Irish , eh ? What a grand race of people. Oscar Wilde , James Joyce , St Patrick , Michael Flatley , Graham Norton , Father Ted , Bono..all gifted , amusing , inspiring people.....except Bono. Now , to that list we must add Phil the Engineer. If you're in Glasgow and you want to record anything , AN-Y-THING , he's your man ; and he's a native of the great city on the Foyle , to boot. Replacing John Hume , Phil Coulter and Feargal Sharkey as the greatest living Derryman , step forward Phil. You did a fine job , sir , restoring our belief in studio wizards in the course of a single day. What a shame that even your quietly professional genius couldn't make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that was this writer's attempt at singing 'Message in a Bottle'. Nevertheless , to our own personal Eddie Offord , thanks again. We shall return. Go Go Studios , Glasgow.....they rock , dude !
18/04/2010 22:52:41
New songs recorded today at GoGo Studios in Glasgow are now on the site.
Sean not happy about vocal on one of them :-)
I think that the songs pretty much capture the band as they sound live - so not a bad day's work at all at all .....
J
18/04/2010 21:11:49
Great day in studio cant wait to hear tracks.. where are they john???
14/04/2010 13:50:28
Got a nice email about 'Getting Better'. The writer thought it was about Snakeoil :-)
Actually the narrator in the song is George Bush - or Tony Blair I suppose - and he's talking about Iraq.
10/04/2010 21:06:32
more gigs coming soon.. when we can free ourselves from other commitments/ recording schedules
09/04/2010 12:06:42
Eddie Offord......
from Sean
......Martin Hannet , Phil Spector , George Martin , all great engineers/producers , to name but a few. Often these guys (and sometimes gals , though presently I cant think of any) , are the unsung heroes behind what you hear on your 45 or 33 or CD or download or virtual thought-controlled ethereal soundbyte or whatever it is the young folks are using these days. How often have we marvelled at the massive wall of soul-drenched sound coursing towards us like a great Californian breaker , courtesy of gunsmith , wig-model and sound-sculptor extraordinaire Phil Spector ? Remember those smoky bedsit evenings when we would try to tease out just exactly what Eddie Offord had done to get that odd texture into the third movement of the second mellotron solo on Side 4 of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' ? Where DID George Martin get the inspiration to introduce a young Paul McCartney to the intricacies of the string quarttet and its possible application to the mary-jane -fuelled noodlings of the early concept album ?What was the source of Martin Hannet's uncanny ability to get a bunch of half-arsed Manc non-players to create a rain-drenched , gloomy industrial soundscape to light up our rain-drenched , gloomy , industrial lives ? It just shows that behind every band's sound lies a great engineer/producer , the true unsung alchemist of the recording studio. We dont know an engineer like that.....
04/04/2010 20:36:15
Oakie Last Night
from John
Great stuff last night. It's really good to get a big crowd at the Oakie - and they were a great crowd as well - I thought the roof was gonna come off when we finished Comfie Numb.
It was all hard work of course, but also very rewarding for all that.
Can't wait until next time!
30/03/2010 20:48:02
i love you guys
29/03/2010 19:58:47
Ahh , he's nicely spoken , he loves to speak and he loves to be spoken to...problem is , Nigel doesnt know when to stop. Remember those whirly roundabouts (now THERE'S a great song....Roundabout , Yes , Fragile , opening track....can we do that one ?)....sorry , those roundabout things in playgrounds when you were a kid..? 'Course you do . Those concrete playgrounds covered in glass shards and swings 'n' rides capable of severing a seven-year old's limb. The haunt of snot-nosed kids in plastic sandals waiting to rob you of your dinner money , and of dodgy old men in unneccessarily long raincoats..in JULY?? Those elysian fields of fun that were cheerily chained up on Sundays. Sorry , that was just Belfast. Anyway , my point is this; those roundabout things , remember how , once you got on 'em and up to a certain velocity , and you decided that you wanted to get off , and then realised that you COULDNT. You would wait and wait and wait for the appropriate moment to launch yourself at the glass- festooned tarmac , and it just never seemed to come...? That's 'Making Plans For Nigel'. Once you're up to speed on the fecker , you cant get off. Now , Colin Moulding has a lot to answer for ; that suspiciously luxuriant barnet that he sported all the way thru XTC's punk-fuelled glory years , the buck teeth (not his fault , I know , but I'm making a point here) , the jumpers (honest , check the footage. You have YouTube , so there's no excuse..) , his rather insipid vocal delivery , and the utter abominations 'Bungalow' (from 'Nonsuch') and 'Standing in for Joe' and 'Another Life' (both from 'Wasp Star-Apple Venus Volume II and both vomit-inducing) , but to write a song that's impossible to finish playing ? Well , that's just cruel. I know that coming from Swindon is probably grounds for nursing a deep hatred of the world , but it doesnt justify cruelty of that order. Shit , the chorus is coming around again..must dash...
29/03/2010 11:28:20
Rehearsal was much better. In fact it was excellent. The new rendition of The Last Time is almost like a new song - and the two Cars tunes are evolving very nicely; as was Rebel Rebel and Nigel.
I think the success was perhaps a consequence of having to check in my Crucifix and Rosary beads at the door, substituting them for Tallit, Kippah and Prayer Mat.....
..... oh, and the guy below: he's the drummer :-)
28/03/2010 11:37:45
aw see you two, with your politics... yawwnn!!! its a load of crap... who cares about Obama or what happens, i have quite a few friends in Kansas City and in Chicago who would very much like to meet him.. dont think he would like to meet them tho.... "drive on there boy" if you know whats good for you!
24/03/2010 22:18:56
... has a lot to answer for.
Of course, having a whole day with nothing to do is dangerous for a bass player.
:-)
24/03/2010 10:16:48
Who was that ?!
from Sean
Hi to all you fans of the order 'Squamata' , family 'Culobridae' , sub-order 'Serpentes'. Next get together for Les Sepentes Indolents is Fri 26th March , for a run thru of the set. You know what I'm talkin' about.....And by the way , who was the redneck weirdo and how did he get my log in details...?
23/03/2010 21:35:14
The puritan four stringer
from Sean
Ahhh , guitarists , eh..? Never met one who wasnt a bleeding-heart liberal. Now , back where I come from , in Bassville South Carolina , where Dusty Hill is regarded as some kind of pinko Harvey Milk-type , and jazz-funk popping and slapping are positively capital offences , we take a dim view of Washington dinner-party types dictatin' to us on things like how we should look after our sick..Let me give y'all a f'rinstance , an example , if you will. Suppose I'm out loaded for bear , and , unbeknownst to me , the critter is hiding behind a tree , all VC-like , and he jumps out and rips my arm clean off.. . Well , that's MY PROBLEM dude ! Do I go cap in hand to other hard working taxpayers to shell out their hard-earned dollars to keep me in bandages , i-o-dine and prosthetics ? The hell I do not !! Allow me to put it to ya this way..Health care ? I f you aint healthy.....WE DONT CARE !!! (For a more in-depth analysis and consideration of the above , see '' Welfare Provision in the Political Culture of Advanced Capitalist Economies-A Study in Social Symbiosis'' , S McCartan , Harvard 2009)
22/03/2010 10:21:27
Square bass drum
from John
From a Maths point of view, it seems to me that 16" x 16" is a square. Most bass drums I've seen so far are decidedly round. Canny wait to hear it ....
22/03/2010 10:18:03
Good for Obama. Convictions politicians are rare nowadays, and whilst I don't think he and I would agree on very much besides, the basic humanitarian principle of universal health care is something he has fought for - and he should be applauded for that.
Still can't understand why some Americans have a problem with it. The religious right especially are full of contradictions, and all of their anti- healthcare bill rhetoric is one big red herring.
Be interesting to see how the opposition to the bill is maintained when the benefits have manifested themselves.
21/03/2010 10:14:48
Know your limits!!
from Gerry
After speaking to a friend also in a Band and sympathising with them hearing the Band are currently auditioning singers.
I remember Sean and I hiring Berkeley rehearsal studios in Glasgow a couple of years ago for same purpose.
We placed ads in a few publications for a vocalist and were surprised with the high number of responses that we got compared with a couple of years before when faced with the same vocalist predicament.
It soon became aparent that most of those who were appearing for audition had little or no experience of being in a band nor playing with any musicians whatsoever.. but had been TOLD they had a good voice OR were great at Karaoke??
But they thought they would bluff thier case by wasting our time and insulting us by trying to put themselves on a par with people who were commited, dedicated musicians who had been painstaikingly trying to make a living for years.
I think we have idiotic programes like that X factor and the numerous other so called talent shows for "cabbageview" prime time audiences.. these are intended as "entertainment" making big tony from Bolton or Jade from Bristol think they can become fully fledged musicians with the respect and admiration of all those within the music industry?
Its a sad day indeed when false hopes and bullshit is lavished on someone with little or no talent and leads them to believe they have done overnight on a stupid television show, what some aspire to in a lifetimes hard work.. tony and jade.. dont tell your boss you wont be back at the supermarket... cause when you come to try and work with real musicians, when all those in "cabbageland" forget who you are you will be back at "Pesco's or Trainsbury's" all too soon
20/03/2010 11:15:31
Hmmm an interesting week.. Rhehearsals looming and gigs coming up fast!!
Cant wait to try my new Sonor 16x16" bass drum and gig with my new reassuringly decadent and extremely expensive SQ2 snare Drum!
At that price i cant afford a skin,so any old cling film you are disgarding throw it my way..
seriously though.. it will be nice to go back over to Dunoon once again and see all of our friends from the Oakie.. and Malky from the Downer!
to all my fans!!! .... i love you!! he he he
17/03/2010 21:27:05
The web guys have installed a cool new player - er, SnakePlayer!
Quite nifty...... It's on the home page. We'll be posting video stuff soon as well, so it'll be quite useful.......
J
16/03/2010 16:17:01
Hmmm.....bit of a parson's nose of a session last night. As JC said elsewhere , the room wasnt the best-sounding , something unusual for the generally estimable Berkeley 2 ; but that's really only part of the story. All of the Snake were somewhat lacking in match-fitness , which is understandable , since they've been away from the coal face for some weeks now. In any case , you cant turn talent of such magnitude off and on like a tap , now can you...? Of the new stuff , Pinball Wizard was sounding robustly do-able , as does everything by The Who , and , despite the poor-ish sound and aforementioned 'rustiness' , the older stuff varied from 'wtf was that??' to really rather good . Interestingly , the Foo Fighters' ''Everlong'' , a tricky blighter at the best of times , and one which has been both resplendent and rancid in concert , acquitted itself rather well in last night's run through. You just never can tell.... Less fortuitously , recording of the demo cd this weekend (20th March) is looking somewhat wobbly. Firstly , the songs slated for recording are and have been fine for gigging purposes , but need to be tightened up for the unforgiving environment of the recording room , and there's precious little opportunity for them to be brought to the necessary level before then. Secondly , there's the small matter of Nick the Elusive Engineer.. They seek him here , they seek him there , the Snake seek Nicky everywhere . They've no idea where he could be. I think he's in Narnia...probably. On a more positive note , the sliced pork ho-fan in the Hong Kong noodle house in Sauchiehall Street was flipping historic...More from Herpetopolis soon..
16/03/2010 09:07:02
Practice Last Night
from John
Oh dear! Rusty rusty rusty!
Not the best ever, but it was getting a lot better by the end. Definitely didn't like the sound of the room last night, but I suppose that's what rehearsal is for - smoothing out the rough edges.
Be better next time :-)
On the bright side, Gerry should be posting something today :-)
15/03/2010 13:29:30
Really looking forward to rehearsal tonight. A couple of new covers on the agenda - Pinball Wizard and High & Dry.
Last rehearsal before studio time at the weekend, so we need to make it effective.
12/03/2010 20:45:47
Lazy Snake Etymology
from John
Today, someone asked me if Lazy Snake is a metaphor for body parts of non sexually active old people?
Well?
12/03/2010 20:41:53
Re: Snakes Alive
from John
You would think, would you not, that at twenty to eight on a Friday evening, a normal person would be watching Coronation Street. After all, Gail is just about to get wrongly nicked for her husband's murder - even although he had died in an accident and was being hotly pusued by a homicidal loan shark........
Not Sean though. Sean was trying out the new blog tool.
12/03/2010 19:42:01
Snakes alive....!!
from Sean
STOP PRESS.....Scottish band reveal that they are neither lazy , nor snakes. ''A lot of people have got completely the wrong end of the stick here'', said guitar legend John 'No , not the retired unionist t.v political pundit ' Cole. ''We are hard working and not at all lazy...well . , apart from the bass player who is as idle as a Siberian ice cream salesman , obviously. I mean , just look at him. '' John added passionately , ''and while we're on the subject , neither are we snakes , literally nor metaphorically... As you can see from the photy , we are clearly human..again , apart from the bass player , but even then , he's clearly some sort of higher primate. Ok , primate , then . So we are clearly not reptiles , and definitely not serpents of any kind .And metaphorically we are quite the opposite of snake-like . We are very upfront and trustworthy. Clearly this doesnt apply to the drummer who would nick the gravy from your mince , but you get the picture.'' Musical irrelevance and well known snake botherer Alice Cooper was last night said to be ''confused''..
11/03/2010 22:22:14
Rehearsal on Monday
from John
Busy weekend for me. I've got a gig in Grangemouth with a jazz singer on Saturday, and I've got two songs and two solos to get sorted for rehearsal on Monday.
.. and it's bloody Mothers' Day on Sunday !!!
Not to mention being the only person so far to contribute to this blog!!
11/03/2010 21:49:04
Lazy Snake Blog
from John
Welcome to the blog. The Snake are keen to involve everyone in the process of putting a band on the road, and we hope to build a musical community in the UK.
First of all though, we will have to ejukate the Snakes themselves in the use of Eye Tee!
Happy weekend!