Hands up!

Who wants to see a really, really stupid picture of Anil and I in a field?!

Well, there you have it...that was probably the most unproductive, spur-of-the-moment photo session that has ever occured. This photo reminds me of the sort of promo shots you used to see in those American, So-Cal pop punk band albums about ten years ago. You know the stuff, the silly stuff we always used to listen to like Blink 182 (that's pronounced one eighty two, true fans ;-) ) and pre-Idiot Green Day.

ANYWAY this post is not really up just to show you an embarrassing, yet somewhat amusing, photograph. Anil and I are pleased to announce a new permanent addition to the Arcady Bliss line-up in the form of one bassist, a bassist to rule them all, Pete Snowdon. He's what David Cameron would probably call a "bloody nice bloke".


We're really happy to have Pete on board and look forward to all of the gigs and festivals we'll be doing with him this summer. Check out the Arcady Bliss Myspace page now for details of all our upcoming shows. The first show will be this Friday the 14th of May at The Great Escape festival in Brighton. We're playing early at half past midday in The Basement on Kensington Street. So, if you're around, come down and kick out the jams with us and welcome Pete into the Arcady fold!

Until then, you stay classy, San Diego.

Charlie
xxx

P.S. It's not my hat in case you were wondering.

Hands up!

Loads and loads...

...and loads of stuff. Well, ok maybe not LOADS but I'm doing my absolute best to put off doing boring, pointless coursework for as long as possible so I'm gonna write about a few things. Here goes...

1.) Arcady Stuff

We did a couple of full band gigs last week and one solo show which was really cool, plus we met and hung out with some nice people which was even better. Neither were particularly well attended, but folks at each gig who'd never heard us before had wee natters with us about how much they dug our set so it was totally worth it. I don't care if we ever do gigs to two people in the future, so long as at least one of them leaves a bit better off for the experience then that's our job done...and if they end up coming to another gig and buying some of our future wares then so much the better!lol

So yeah, those were the last gigs for a while as we're taking some time out to finish up some new songs and make some of the old ones a little bit better...cutting off the fat as it were. I also plan to steal my telecaster back from Anil and start playing it live. This, Bliss fans, means that I plan for our sound to get a little heftier and I'll be able to fully rock out the way I want to.

Here's a picture of me playing solo at Field Recordings night at The Enterprise in Chalk Farm last Tuesday, kindly taken by Brad @ UBPICS

We're going to record our first EP in September, that's the main reason we're taking some time off. As well as this Jake is really busy with his dissertation and other commitments and Ben is keeping occupied with his other band, but more of them later. I want to concentrate on doing some other songwriting too for non-Arcady projects which I may tell you about in the future, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes ey?

If you, or anyone you know puts on gigs in London and the South please get in touch with us as we want to start booking a load for early next year when we'll be releasing the EP and also for this Autumn and Winter. Just as importantly we're also looking for a hip young artist to collaborate with us on our visuals, primarily on artwork for the EP, our MySpace and website. Sort of like a 5th member I guess...the Stanley Donwood to our Radiohead. Please get in touch with me at chelwess@gmail.com if you can help.

Thanks again to everyone who's supported us so far this year. Please keep spreading the word, keeping in touch and being as lovely as you all invariably are. We couldn't keep doing this all without you, and your continued support means more to us than we could ever put into words. You know who you are :-)

2) Other Bands I Want To Plug

Those of you who know me, know I'm a total music obsessive and I love nothing more than discovering bands old and new and shouting about them. So here are a few I'd like to share with you:

Cubrik
Shouty, frenetic God-damn-fucking-amazing live band from round our way. Tom, the lead singer/guitarist is not only ridiculously talented but also a very nice fella.

Deadlight
Ben's other band (we saw him first though!) who are rising so fast they're almost a blur. The songs are epic Rage-y, Linkin Park-y, Incubus-with-a-sprinkle-of-je-ne-sais-quoi-y goodness. They may be our mates, but I wouldn't put them up here unless I thought they really were the dogs bollocks. They are.

Los
These lot played with Deadlight last Saturday in Epsom and absolutely blew me away. Effortlessly cool indie/grunge (though don't let that put you off)/bluesy alt. rock. I can't really describe the adequately enough in words or how much I dig them. Put it this way - I'll be out and about wearing their t-shirt as soon as it arrives through my door. Oh and I got a setlist off of Chris their guitarist after they finished. Fanboy? Pffft...well, yeah, actually.

8Fold
Funky, crazily fun "Gyp-hop" straight outta London. I saw these guys live at Beach Break Live and they were just one of the tightest, most entertaining bands we've seen in a long time. Their debut album, "Poet's Cottage" is out now on iTunes and it's just great. Do yourself a lemon and get it, yeah?

Checking Pulse
Another set of my mates, but again, I wouldn't post them if they weren't worthy. They make un-ashamedly catchy, commercial electro punk-pop and once they really get out there on tour the kids are gonna freakin' love it. Ooh, I'm a sucker for disco high-hats!


Johnny Foreigner
I realise they're already fairly well known and whatnot but I have to plug them just because their music make me feel that good. Also, they've just released a free (well, for the price of an email address) EP entitled "Feels Like Summer" from their website. Go get it now and worship at the altar of JoFo. It's here that I'd also like to declare my undying lust for their bassist, Kelly...I doubt she'll ever read this so I guess it's all good :-s

Right, procrastination and vomit-inducing gushing over. I'm hitting the sack.

Love and that.
Charlie.

Loads and loads...