The Picture Show: We Live... again....
We Live... again....
It feels like quite a while since we've updated the world of the comings and goings on planet Picture Show!
There's a lot to get through in this post so I'll try and be as concise as I can be (which is normally not very concise at all).
The website
We mentioned before Christmas that we were looking at ways of making things a bit more efficient with our various websites and all that jazz. I've personally been maintaining the main site for a few years now and it's not been a great system to be honest. I'm not a web-designer and it means that if anyone else wanted to say something, there was a looooong, boring and very slow process to get the news and views up there. In general, it was a massive "meh-fest" for the four of us as we're far too busy living our rock'n'roll lives to grapple with ins and outs of Dreamweaver.
Anyway we've tried various ways of getting everyone access to the site, but it just hasn't worked, so we've decided to scale the main site back and embrace Myspace and Facebook a bit more, as well as a couple of other blog type things. They're easy, quick and accesible by all of us, so it just makes sense.
Our site www.thepictureshow.net is still there and if we've got anything major to announce, we'll do it on there, otherwise, we're going to use these other channels. The main site will also still be the only place you can hear and download all of our songs for free as Myspace and the other sites have limits on how many songs you can upload, etc.
The gigs
We've played a few gigs since our last update, the most notable being last Friday at Tommy Flynn's. We took January off to write and recuperate so it's always nice to see so many people turn up for a gig and enjoy themselves. It's always a fun night at Tommy Flynn's and what the place lacks in airs and graces it certainly makes up for in intimacy and vibe. If they can just sort the toilets out a bit, I'll be a vey happy man.
It would also be remiss of me not to mention the fact that a slightly frenetic and excited vibe was helped greatly by the fact that Gail Porter and her brigade were right in the front dancing away throughout our set! She's now the proud owner of a couple of our CDs, so I like to think she'll be listening to us right now whilst she's no doubt enjoying her Sunday roast.
Anyway, thanks as always to all of you who came down and made it such a great night! Hopefully we'll see you at the Purple Turtle on the 26th of the month.
New songs
As I mentioned above, we took January off to write new material and to tinker around with what we already have. It's always hard to try and improve on a set which you've dedicated yourselves to for months on end. You become so consumed and immersed in the songs in so many ways and have so many associations and memories linked with them that we had no idea what to expect from the month...
We ended up renting a cottage right out in the middle of nowhere in Kent (during the snow) and sett up camp in the tiny living room of a converted granary with only some sheep and a handful of rabbits for neighbours. You hear bands say this alot, but it's always such a positive experience to re-connect in a raw way and get back to basics, strip songs down and write news ones together. Unless you're on tour, you never really spend as much time together as you like to, so it was a nice opportunity to get away from mobile phones, internet and the gloom and doom of the recession.
The upshot of the whole thing is about four new songs, two of which we're hoping to have gig ready by the end of the month (but don't hold me to that!). There is much debate as to which songs they'll replace, so if anyone out there has any favourites they want us to keep then give us a shout!
What's coming up next?
The next big thing is a gig at the Purple Turtle in Camden on the 26th of February. Beyond that we're looking at another weekend away to write, hopefully a couple more gigs in March and recording one or both of the two new songs in the next couple of months, time willing.
Hopefully a few new photos from the various gigs as well!
Anyway, that's all for now folks! Alexei out...
There's a lot to get through in this post so I'll try and be as concise as I can be (which is normally not very concise at all).
The website
We mentioned before Christmas that we were looking at ways of making things a bit more efficient with our various websites and all that jazz. I've personally been maintaining the main site for a few years now and it's not been a great system to be honest. I'm not a web-designer and it means that if anyone else wanted to say something, there was a looooong, boring and very slow process to get the news and views up there. In general, it was a massive "meh-fest" for the four of us as we're far too busy living our rock'n'roll lives to grapple with ins and outs of Dreamweaver.
Anyway we've tried various ways of getting everyone access to the site, but it just hasn't worked, so we've decided to scale the main site back and embrace Myspace and Facebook a bit more, as well as a couple of other blog type things. They're easy, quick and accesible by all of us, so it just makes sense.
Our site www.thepictureshow.net is still there and if we've got anything major to announce, we'll do it on there, otherwise, we're going to use these other channels. The main site will also still be the only place you can hear and download all of our songs for free as Myspace and the other sites have limits on how many songs you can upload, etc.
The gigs
We've played a few gigs since our last update, the most notable being last Friday at Tommy Flynn's. We took January off to write and recuperate so it's always nice to see so many people turn up for a gig and enjoy themselves. It's always a fun night at Tommy Flynn's and what the place lacks in airs and graces it certainly makes up for in intimacy and vibe. If they can just sort the toilets out a bit, I'll be a vey happy man.
It would also be remiss of me not to mention the fact that a slightly frenetic and excited vibe was helped greatly by the fact that Gail Porter and her brigade were right in the front dancing away throughout our set! She's now the proud owner of a couple of our CDs, so I like to think she'll be listening to us right now whilst she's no doubt enjoying her Sunday roast.
Anyway, thanks as always to all of you who came down and made it such a great night! Hopefully we'll see you at the Purple Turtle on the 26th of the month.
New songs
As I mentioned above, we took January off to write new material and to tinker around with what we already have. It's always hard to try and improve on a set which you've dedicated yourselves to for months on end. You become so consumed and immersed in the songs in so many ways and have so many associations and memories linked with them that we had no idea what to expect from the month...
We ended up renting a cottage right out in the middle of nowhere in Kent (during the snow) and sett up camp in the tiny living room of a converted granary with only some sheep and a handful of rabbits for neighbours. You hear bands say this alot, but it's always such a positive experience to re-connect in a raw way and get back to basics, strip songs down and write news ones together. Unless you're on tour, you never really spend as much time together as you like to, so it was a nice opportunity to get away from mobile phones, internet and the gloom and doom of the recession.
The upshot of the whole thing is about four new songs, two of which we're hoping to have gig ready by the end of the month (but don't hold me to that!). There is much debate as to which songs they'll replace, so if anyone out there has any favourites they want us to keep then give us a shout!
What's coming up next?
The next big thing is a gig at the Purple Turtle in Camden on the 26th of February. Beyond that we're looking at another weekend away to write, hopefully a couple more gigs in March and recording one or both of the two new songs in the next couple of months, time willing.
Hopefully a few new photos from the various gigs as well!
Anyway, that's all for now folks! Alexei out...