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sinceileftyoublog · 4 years

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Bettye Lavette Interview: The Quiet I Can Be

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Bettye Lavette has had, as she calls it, two careers. The Detroit-raised soul singer-songwriter cut her first record at just sixteen, achieving early success with charting singles and touring with Atlantic Records-signed artists like Otis Redding and members of The Drifters. In the music world, initially, she was never front and center for long periods of time, even giving up recording in the mid-70′s for a six-year run on Broadway to star in Bubbling Brown Sugar. For all intents and purposes, her second career--the one that brought her both critical and commercial success as a solo artist--started in 2005 with the Joe Henry-produced I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, a collection of songs written by female artists like Lucinda Williams, Roseanne Cash, and Fiona Apple. (The title is taken from Apple’s “Sleep To Dream”, which appeared on the record.) Hell started a still-going series of albums of songs written by others, each based around a cohesive theme, like 2010′s Interpretations, covers of British rock artists like The Beatles, Elton John, and The Who. But it’s been her fruitful collaboration with drummer and producer Steve Jordan and legendary jazz label Verve Records that’s produced perhaps her two best albums yet: 2018′s Things Have Changed and the upcoming Blackbirds (August 28th, Verve).

Things Have Changed was a collection of Bob Dylan songs, many lesser-known, that Lavette made her own, to say the least. It helped somewhat that Lavette didn’t have much of a longstanding relationship with the tracks. “[Interpretations tracks] and Bob Dylan songs were not played on black radio a lot,” Lavette told me over the phone from her home in New Jersey in April. “They’re just songs. If you can sing, you should be able to sing them, whether they’re gospel songs, or blues songs, or British songs, they started out words on a piece of paper,” she said. The songs on Blackbirds, however, span different eras and genres, and they’re predominantly written by women of color, many of whom were and are Lavette’s peers. And her relationship to these tracks is more complex. Unlike many soul singers from her era, Lavette didn’t start out singing in the church but in her parents’ home, opting to perform R&B and country and western songs instead. When it was suggested to her in the 60′s by her manager Jim Lewis that she learn standards, Lavette was at first reluctant, wanting instead to learn tunes that were popular at the time, and then admittedly intimidated by the prospect of singing songs by such powerful voices. “While Dinah [Washington] would wait for you in the alley and kill you, her voice was just magnificent. And Ella Fitzgerald’s voice was like an instrument,” Lavette said. Years later, Lavette has found a way to make old songs sound personal.

Lavette credits Jordan with a lot of why Things Have Changed and Blackbirds sound so good. For one, he’s one of the only black producers she’s ever worked with, and she describes her experience singing old songs with him behind the boards and the drum kit as discovering what it would be like had she had someone like him when she first started her career. “One thing Steve knows about me that maybe others don’t...most musicians don’t know the quiet that I can be,” Lavette said. Indeed, their working relationship allows Lavette’s voice to shine. Lavette picks and sings the songs and sends her vocals to Jordan, who will arrange with her and their keyboard player, around her voice. At that point, Lavette, having established such a sense of trust with Jordan, doesn’t hear the arrangements until it’s time to record. The results on Blackbirds are astounding. She’s gentle, yet forceful on Nancy Wilson’s “Save Your Love for Me” and upfront on “Book of Lies”. The songs you might expect to sound stern or sad, like Nina Simone’s music industry olive branch “I Hold No Grudge” and “Blues for the Weepers”, are funky and upbeat, while ones you might expect to be somber, like “Strange Fruit”, are slinky and anthemic.

As much as the songs on Blackbirds, often by their very inclusion, are reflective of Lavette’s incredible career and her place, she prefers to look forward and often gets frustrated by fans and journalists stuck in the past or the mundane. Fans, especially overseas, want her to play old material without understanding the importance of it. “The thing that annoys me about fans--and that’s in air quotes--is just the love without the knowledge, or not wanting to know about it or where it came from,” Lavette said. Or interviewers who ask questions like, “What’s your favorite color?” For the author and now Blues Hall of Fame inductee, it’s a shame, because she wants to talk. When I told her how much I loved Things Have Changed, Lavette said, “Well why didn’t you call me? I have never been more accessible in my life!” Indeed, Lavette was careful to toe the line between re-imagining old songs and being faithful to their spirit. “I certainly did not want to be disrespectful in any way to these tunes,” she said. “I didn’t want to do the disco version, unless it was adaptable.”

“Adapt” is the key word here, and not just in describing how Lavette fit the songs to her voice and how Jordan and company subsequently arranged and played. Lavette, with every word and tone, applies her experience as a black woman, a singer-songwriter and performer for over half a century, to tunes that themselves offer a narrative history of important American music. It’s worth noting that when we finished talking, she signed off, “And by the way...my favorite color is black.”

Read my interview with Lavette below.

Since I Left You: Blackbirds is different from Things Have Changed, since you’re singing songs that were written and performed by a wide variety of different artists and songwriters. Do you change your approach when you’re tackling songs from different people and eras than from the same person?

Bettye Lavette: No, I treat them all as songs. I don’t care where they came from. I think the most unusual thing I’ve ever done in my life was when I did Bubbling Brown Sugar. That was totally out of my wheelhouse. I hadn’t done a play or anything, so I had to approach the whole thing theatrically. But I still approached the songs the same way vocally. My attitude at this stage, the theater, if the song is, “ahhh,” they want, “AHHH!” [laughs] The endings are a little unnatural. But the scenes may have to be ended that way.

But doing these songs in Blackbirds, these were songs I heard as a very young girl, most of them, and did not think I would ever sing them. For one thing, when I was younger I didn’t like them. But then as I learned to respect who these people were, I thought, “I will never be able to sing like that.” That was before I learned, “Just sing it how you sing it! Maybe it is like that.”

SILY: What music did you like when you were younger? What did you grow up listening to?

BL: I liked The Drifters. I’m so glad that I’ve gotten the chance to work with many of the people I grew up listening to. The first time I went on the road was with Clyde McPhatter and Ben King who were both lead singers for The Drifters. And you talk about a groupie! They couldn’t come out of their dressing rooms without seeing me! [laughs] But I always liked to dance. The difference between blues and rhythm and blues was that you couldn’t dance to blues, you could just cry. With rhythm and blues, you could cry and dance at the same time. My voice fell into that kind of music.

SILY: And you elude to that when you perform “Blues For The Weepers” on this album. In the liner notes, you talk about how you could perform that song in a number of different places--a bar, a lounge, a big stadium--and everybody can feel it.

BL: Well, I’m not sure everybody understands it as well as you seem to. People seem to want you to do either what you did before or exactly what they expect you to do. I have a great many fans in England, and they like these songs I did from the beginning till about 1975. They’ve just really collected that period of black music. They hated my album of Interpretations. It’s in my contract that I have to do [the older] songs. I joke that if they didn’t love me before, I would not do this show for anybody else. This is what I’m trying to grow to be, not what I’m trying to relive. To do a whole show? It sounds like a grown person singing silly songs. [laughs]

SILY: At the same time, when you sing a song like “I Hold No Grudge”, at this point you’ve come to accept and even embrace certain things about being a singer and musician and about the music industry.

BL: I want you to be my spokesperson! That’s exactly how I feel. The songs I sing now have so little to do with love affairs. They have more to do with what you just said: Where I’ve come to be at this point in my life and my career.

SILY: In general, on Blackbirds, it’s striking to me how different the arrangements and instrumentation are between original versions and your versions. How do you go about, from an instrumental and arrangement perspective, whether to remain faithful or stray from the original?

BL: I don’t have anything to do with that. Here’s what I do. At this point, I call Steve Jordan, the Bettye whisperer, because he understands what I’m saying. This is the first time I’ve had a black producer since early on in my career of any kind of note. I did one album with one black producer, but he was a black producer who had been producing Norah Jones. It was completely different. But Steve Jordan played with James Brown and loves Motown. What he does is take how I feel about the song and arrange the music accordingly. I usually get just the keyboard player...when I choose the tunes, I sing them the way I want to sing them, and [Jordan will] write it in the way that I’m singing them, as opposed to making an arrangement and I adapt to the arrangement. I sing the song, and he fashions the arrangement around what he’s heard me sing. He comes over to the house, and we sit on the floor of the living room, and he listens to the recordings that I’ve made with my keyboard player. He brings, usually, the keyboard player, who I hope for the rest of my life who will [play with me]. You know, there aren’t a lot of black musicians, and black musicians my age, that I can get to. Most of my contemporaries are millionaires, and I don’t have their telephone numbers. [laughs]

SILY: To what extent are you involved in the mixing and production decisions? Like on “Book Of Lies”, the arrangement has you start out a capella, but throughout that song, your vocals are really upfront in the mix.

BL: I appreciate that. That is absolutely a compliment from any sound engineer and producer, that he makes it all about me. Especially someone as arrogant as Steve. [laughs] He pays very close attention to the words that I’m saying because I pay very close attention to fashioning them to make you hear them. The Billie Holiday song [“Strange Fruit”], most of the younger singers I’ve heard approach this tune, they have great regards for what it’s about, and great regards for Billie Holiday, and being almost 75, I have great regards for me. I wanted all the lyrics to be distinct. I wanted you to understand what it is that happened. It’s not a song; it’s a protest. It’s a jazzier protest. I’m a rhythm & blues singer. And because Steve was born and raised in Harlem, he hears James Brown singing these songs. And that’s what you need to hear if you’re producing. In a recording, it has to be fashioned around me.

I’ve had some brilliant producers and loved so much of what they’ve done that I’ve felt completely comfortable with fashioning myself around them. But this one and [Things Have Changed] are quite different. The last one was the first time Steve and I had ever worked together. He understood exactly what I was saying so quickly. He read back to me an arrangement exactly as how I sang it. I didn’t want to lend myself to the lavish arrangements they had on originally. I told Steve on the Bob Dylan album, “I don’t want to recognize any of these songs.” He pretty much knows that’s the way I work now. I say, “You know we have to leave this lavishness out. I’m not lavish, I’m pretty basic!” I thought he did such a wonderful job when I went to the studio and heard what they were going to play. Because after he and I work on it, I don’t hear it any more until we get to the studio. There’s not a whole bunch of rehearsing. I do the whole album in 4-5 days.

SILY: It’s interesting that you said you don’t want the songs to be recognizable. That’s the approach Bob Dylan takes when he plays his own songs live!

BL: [laughs] He didn’t recognize any of the songs until they got to the chorus. I took that as a total compliment!

SILY: [Dylan] said that to you?

BL: No, he said it to my manager.

SILY: As much as these are songs on a single playing field, it’s interesting and meaningful that something like “Strange Fruit” and “Blackbird” are two songs that so many people know, whereas something like “One More Song”, which is pretty recent, is a standout among more-known standards. Why did you feel it was important to include that one on the record?

BL: The answer is so simple and ridiculous: Because we just liked it! [laughs] Sharon Robinson, she wrote [Patti LaBelle’s] “New Attitude” and a song for me called “The High Road”. She was Leonard Cohen’s writing partner. When Leonard died, they did a tribute to him in Toronto, and I went and did one of his songs. His family actually requested that I come and sing. That was the first time I ever met Sharon. I had heard “One More Song”, and I told her, “I’m going to do this tune.” Same thing with “I Hold No Grudge”, when I met Angelo Badalamenti. I thought, “I’m going to do this song,” 10 years before I met him.

We submitted [the list of] songs to the company, and they thought [about “One More Song”], “Oh, this is new,” but I said, “We’re gonna do it because we like it!” I think it’s one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. You could just be playing the music and it would make me cry. I love this song. She is such a fantastic writer. Listen to the lyrics: Have you heard “The High Road”? She wrote the song for [I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise], and I just thought the lyrics were so great. I thought, “Well, she’s black, and she’s a woman. She’s a blackbird, so...” [laughs] She was so flattered when I called her and said I did it. When I sent it to her, she was just so thrilled with it. And Angelo Badamenti, who is now probably 90, when we sent “I Hold No Grudge” to him, he said, “I can see a big grin coming on Nina’s face.”

SILY: Another thing that seemed to be really meaningful is including “Romance In The Dark”, because it’s known for being performed by Dinah Washington [“Drinking Again”] and Nina Simone, who you also cover on this record. It’s almost like the whole record is coming full circle.

BL: I really did. The manager that made this singer you see before you today is named Jim Lewis, and my book [A Woman Like Me] is dedicated to him. When he first met me, he said, “You’re cute, you got a small waist line, but you got nothing to sing. You may not become a star. If you don’t become a star, and you still want to become a singer, you’ve got to learn to sing!” So he brought me all these songs by Dinah Washington. I have worked for 57 years because I learned to tap dance and sing [songs like] “Sweet Georgia Brown”. Those are songs that none of my contemporaries knew because they weren’t fashionable. Jim made me learn these songs that nobody else knew that I didn’t want to learn because I wanted to be a star. I’ve worked everywhere I imagined working. He told me I could do that. But even when I said, “I’m gonna be a star,” he said, “Calm down, honey, you may not be.” He talked to Norman Granz and the Verve label because they helped so many black musicians. Many black musicians played with the Jimmy Lunceford band. [Lewis] was the 6th trombonist. If he weren’t already dead, this would kill him. Verve, and these songs, and a black producer? This would kill him.

SILY: Looking back at it all, it’s got to be pretty unbelievable.

BL: It is unbelievable. I thought I was going to die broke and obscure, but now I’m just gonna die broke. But everybody knows me! [laughs]

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ceechalla · 6 years

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The Sims 4

At the time of writing this, a Sims 4 announcement will be revealed later on. Most, if not all Simmers, are hoping it will be the announcement of The Sims 4 Seasons Expansion Pack.

I've been a simmer from the birth of The Sims. I was there, held it in my arms & have grown up along side it, celebrating each birthday aka iteration of the franchise. I feel The Sims 4 has aged up badly from The Sims 3 due to poor parenting. (Remember when that was a thing?)

The Sims 4 is like a fine looking human with little to offer other than eye candy. Within the 1st week of launch, I felt the game wasn't finished. Fast forward to now & I still feel the same. Stuff Packs, Game Packs & Expansion Packs just momentarily distract from the fact that the game is weak from the core.

A.I.

I made a post about the whole 'Smarter Sims' dream we were sold from the start and how, in reality, the A.I. is a nightmare. Sims prioritise the wrong Needs, always have to multi-task and rarely make logical decisions. This is why I play with autonomy off. I asked if Simmers play with it on or off & 98% plays with it on. I take my hat off to you & your patience. I tried earlier & was playing with the Kim-Lewis household. I got Alice a job & you know what she did when she got home? Nothing. She stood outside the house like a blade of grass, smiling cheerfully whilst her Needs depleted. I go into more detail about the A.I. in my 'Smarter Sims' post/rant.

Interactions

Rinse and repeat. Slap on a different name, use the same animations and call it a day. For example, give a Sim the Unflirty trait. Have that Sim perform a Romantic interaction. See the names given to those interactions? They're called lies. Your Sim Angry huh? Have it go take an Angry poop. Looks no different to any other poop does it? What did it do for your Sim? What did it do for your gameplay? Nothing. One of my pet peeves is 'idle chat'. It basically sums up The Sims 4. Visually pleasing but has no real meaning. Have Sim 1, tell Sim 2 how it's mum looks like a Llama & see how Sim 2 reacts. During the interaction they may react negatively, but in comes 'idle chat' and they smiling and bobbing their heads as if the previous interaction never happened.

Interactions between Sims is lacking in general. Remember when Sims could play games like Red Hands? Children Sims could play tag? Or how Sims would spoon during sleepy time? Ah, the good ol' days.

Features

Whims. Sims wanting to own a 1x1 pool. That isn't a pool boy, that's a tile! When the Vampire Gamepack was released, every Sim and their culled family tree wanted to research about them. The Whim system is whack. This bothers me alot because my favourite save ever with this franchise was my Sims 3 Wishacy Challenge save. That challenge changed the way I played the game. I played with Free Will on, wasn't allowed to micromanage my Sim unless it was to complete a promised Wish. My Sims had personality because traits actually meant something in the game and they were smarter. It was like I was playing through a story my Sim created through their Wishes, not through mine. I can't do that now. Personally I think TS2 Wants and Fears system is the best. We needs it back.

An attraction system. Why we don't have this, only Morgan Freeman knows. I like the Turn On and Turn Off system TS2 had. Throw in Zodiac signs so that compatible ones gain relationship faster and not so compatible ones struggle.

I should have known the game wasn’t gonna be great when they had to PATCH IN FAMILY TREES FOR A LIFE SIMULATION GAME! They are also the worst in the franchise. Have you checked the Achievements tab? Have a 26 generation legacy etc. How long before your founder gets culled?

In-laws? what’s that?!

City Living has assignments wanting you to get to know your co-workers but we have no co-worker tab in the relationship panel.

Not only that, but toddlers and pools weren’t available from the start. Didn’t get a games console item till how many years after release? Not even a remote car or plane. No train set or ball to play catch. Still we have no Bunk beds, but icons for them are in the game. Should have come with the Base Game, should be patched in, hell, could have featured in Kids Bedroom Stuff or Parenthood! Same goes for alarms. What is the point in the smoke alarm in this game?

Traits

What's the point. Sims are run by the Emotion System. Traits mostly only offer different buffs that don't really do anything anyway.

You know what it is? This game is just too predictable. I think The Story Progression mod I used in The Sims 3 has spoiled me. Things seem so static in The Sims 4 unlessed forced. That's okay if you like, but I'd like choice. Like we did in The Sims 3 with Free Will. I'd like a low level of autonomy which has my Sims only perform interactions to fill needs that give off a negative moodlet or has a red bar.

I know I've spent the majority of this rant complaining, but The Sims 4 does have some play value, hence why I make posts.

It's nice to look at...

Oh, Build mode CAS and The Gallery are awesome!

Thanks for reading and happy simming!

#the sims 4 #ts4 #rant

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thedogsled · 7 years

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QOTD - reference

Pre-season 13

The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn’t even think to ask – Jeff Johnson

Forget what we became, what matters is what we’ve become, and our potentials to overcome - Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved – WJ Bryan

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings – Lao Tzu

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing – Elbert Hubbard

Anger: an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured – Mark Twain

Education is the kindling of a flame not the filling of a vessel - Socrates

Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide – Marva Collins

13.01 - Lost & Found

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone – Harriet Beacher Stowe

Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life – Bertolt Brechy

Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve – George Bernard Shaw

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end – Seneca

We must travel in the direction of our fear – John Berryman

Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope – Epictetus

A traveler is really not someone who crosses ground so much as someone who is always hungry for the next challenge and adventure – Pico Iyer

13.02 - The Rising Son

Cease endlessly striving for what you want to do and learn to love what must be done – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The most authentic endings are the ones which are already revolving towards another beginning – Sam Shepard

If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun – APJ Abdul Kalan

History is a vast early warning system – Norman Cousins

I don’t like to commit myself about heaven and hell. You see, I have friends in both places – Mark Twain

To succeed in life you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone – Reba McEntire

13.03 - Patience

Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age – Jeanne Moreau

Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wears you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe – Mohammed Ali

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once – William Shakespeare

Indifference and neglect often do more damage than outright dislike – JK Rowling

Too many people know the price of everything and the value of nothing – Oscar Wilde

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a ride!” – Hunter S Thompson

13.04 - The Big Empty

It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious – Oscar Wilde

The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned to momentum – Frances Willard

Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward – CS Lewis

Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul – Victor Hugo

One can never creep when one feels an impulse to soar – Hellen Keller

In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to have a positive impact – Les Brown

13.05 - Advanced Thanatology

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny – Christopher Markus

Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them – Henry David Thoreau

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope – Dr. Seuss

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm – Willa Cather

The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you’re made of, not the circumstances – Unknown

The hardest thing in life is to learn which bridge to cross and which to burn – David Russel

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower – Alexander Den Heijer

Bravery never goes out of fashion – William Makepeace Thackray

13.06 - Tombstone

Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly – Morticia Addams

A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for – William G T Shedd

The roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, and that made all the difference – Robert Frost

Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway – John Wayne

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future – Oscar Wilde

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that – Martin Luther King

13.07 - War of the Worlds

Remember that just because you hit rock bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there – Robert Downey Jr

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on – Franklin D Roosevelt

Never love anybody who treats you like you’re ordinary – Oscar Wilde

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision – Helen Keller

To thrive in life you need three bones – A wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone – Reba McEntire

We build too many walls and not enough bridges – Isaac Newton

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds – Albery Einstein

13.08

Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality – Lewis Carroll

Practice like you’ve never won. Perform like you’ve never lost.

We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us – Charles Bukowski

Life has a way of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once – Paulo Coelho

13.09/13.10 - The Bad Place/Wayward Sisters

Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow – Helen Keller

Beware of monotony; it’s the mother of all deadly sins – Edith Wharton

You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them – Shanda Rhimes

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back – Maya Angelou

Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials . You need something scary to overcome – Maragaret Atwood

I would rather wait with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light – Helen Keller

The further we’ve gotten from the magic and mystery of our past, the more we’ve come to need Halloween – Pata Guran

I desire the things which will destroy me in the end – Sylvia Plath

I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself – Chimomanda Ngazi Cidichie

Maybe who we are isn’t so much about what we do, but rather what we’re capable of when we least expect it – Jodi Picoult

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are – Anaois Nin

Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to pick up the pieces when it’s all over – Octavia Butler

If your dream is only about you, it’s too small – Ava DuVerney

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any – Alice Walker

#spn qotd #speculation #spoilers #s13 spoilers #spn spoilers #quote of the day #i realized i needed all this information in one place #because in retrospect they're even more exciting #so excited #season 13 #quotes #resources #i probably misspelled some of these #what is and what will be

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poklina · 7 years

Note

for the au prompt- jimon #40

hey pal i don’t know why this is 3k words but it is lmao

thanks fr the prompt i had a Party writing it

enjoy:)))

bump in the night-3k

The bar was just like any other seedy Brooklyn bar at 1 in the morning; stale beer, a faint undercurrent of weed, and the quiet sound of long days being drowned out in shots of whiskey. It wasn't as crowded as it has been when Simon got here, and the noise level had stabilized quite nicely, leaving him alone with all of the other alcoholics and mistake-makers Brooklyn had to offer.

Home sweet home.

He sighed as he looked down into his beer, something that they had on tap that he'd been halfway drinking for the past 3 hours. He was only on his 2nd glass, considering that most of those three hours had been spent looking blankly at his phone and making forced small talk with the people that came up to try and take him home.

Simon wasn't really sure where his day had started to go so horridly wrong, but he suspected that it may have had something to do with the fact that as soon as he stepped outside this morning, it had started to rain. If that wasn't a sign of terrible things, then he didn't know what was.

The domino's just kept falling from there. First, he was late to work, then he realized that he had left one of his client's files on his counter, followed by a spectacular incident of spilling his lunch down the front of his shirt, which all culminated in him being called into his bosses office, and after a short speech about "company downsizing" and "having to keep the reputation of our clients," he'd been laid off and sent home with 6 months of severance the only thing that would keep him afloat for the coming months. He'd already started mentally applying for jobs anywhere he could find a "Now Hiring" sign in the window.

And after all of that, he'd ended up here, and hadn't left his seat since.

The worst part of this whole thing was that he couldn't even call anyone to come and join him in this pity party, because they were all either sleeping or having a grand old time with someone that actually cared about them. Clary was off on a date with Izzy, Magnus was staying at Alec's house, and Raphael...yeah. No sense in going down that path again.

"Hey, we're gonna be closing up here pretty soon. Can I call you a cab?" The bartender came over with a rag as she wiped down the counter. Her nametag read Maia. Simon would definitely be interested if it was any other night but tonight, but he just sighed and pushed the mostly full glass of lukewarm beer towards her.

"No, thanks though. I think I'm going to just walk home tonight. Clear my head."

"Are you sure? Don't want you getting mugged or anything." She looked up at him, her warm brown eyes looking straight at him, almost seeing right through him, filled with pity.

"Yea, it's okay. I only live a couple blocks away. Thanks, though. Appreciate it." Simon rubbed his hands quickly over his jeans before digging out his wallet and handing her a 10.

"Um, you've already paid for your drinks tonight, I don't-"

"It's your tip. Thanks for not kicking me out 2 hours ago." Simon smiled quickly, his heart not in it to keep it up.

"Oh. Um, thanks. I hope-well, I hope you have a good night, sir."

"You too, Maia."

He dug his hands into his pockets before shouldering the door open and walking into the cool grey of an early Brooklyn morning.

This was Simon's favorite time of day. Usually, he was asleep by now, exhausted from a day of accounting and such, but when he did find himself awake at the careful moments between midnight and the sun starting to rise, he would just stand at the one window in his tiny, shoe box apartment and breathe it in. The city noises, still alive and breathing even now, the quiet flickers of what stars he could see through the light pollution, the small line of grey just on the horizon, letting him know that there will be another day, and another, and another.

If he could live in this in between world for the rest of his life, he would gladly accept.

He was so caught up in the feeling that his eyes actually slipped shut, which of course lead him to walk straight into a brick wall.

Simon stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet and landing flat on his ass on the sidewalk, hands launching out to catch him, but only achieving scraped wrists in the process. He let out a groan internally as he scrambled to his feet again, already letting out a rapid fire apology.

"Shit, I am so sorry, I totally wasn't looking, please don't hurt me, I am-"

His words died a quick death in his throat as he looked into the blue brown eyes of the guy he just ran into.

Shit.

Of course, he thought bitterly,of fucking course this is how my day ends. I'm a good person, what on Earth did I do to deserve this?

They stood in silence for what seemed to be an eternity, when it was actually probably only about 30 seconds, before Jace cleared his throat and spoke to him for the first time in 4 years.

"Hey. It's...it's been awhile."

"Yeah, yeah. You could say that." Simon muttered, his hand nervously coming to scratch the back of his neck. Jace had broken up with him 4 years ago over text, and Simon immediately blocked his number and never looked back. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea for them to get together, seeing that they were just so different, but Simon had felt that Jace...Jace was something new. Something exciting. They had been together for 2 years before it started to fall apart. However, it had taken him just as long to get over him.

Simon looked at him again and as their eyes connected, he could feel every wall that he had carefully constructed around what they once had coming down with incredible efficiency. He knew that he never really got over Jace, but seeing him here, right in front of him, just made those feelings come screeching back to he front of his mind.

"So...uh, how're you?" Jace looked at him, face twisted into something that looked like either pity or regret or sadness, Simon couldn't tell.

"I've been pretty good. I mean, up until today, but, you know. What about you?" Simon forced out between gritted teeth, cursing his brain for the lack of a filter.

"I've been better. Like, a lot better. But yea." Jace hadn't taken his eyes off of Simon this whole conversation, glittering with something that looked a lot like sadness and hell. He'd had such a shitty day, there was no one else that was going to talk to him, and he'd already made plenty of bad decisions that day, so what was one more?

"You know what's great for shitty days, seeing that we both had one? Milkshakes. Right now. I mean, if you want to join me, that's be really cool, but I know we haven't seen each other in years and I totally get it if you just wanna pretend that this never happened but you know I'm just feeling pretty lonely and you look like you are too so-" Once the floodgates had opened, the torrent of feelings almost swept Simon off of his feet with how much there was for Jace, once again cursing himself for the lack of a filter. Jace broke in quietly, but with just enough power to make him stop talking.

"Si. I'd love to. I know a great little diner a couple blocks away, unless you had another place?" Jace trailed off as Simon felt his heart rate pick up a tiny amount just from hearing that old nickname slip out of Jace's mouth like nothing was wrong. Simon was very glad it was dark outside, because he was pretty sure that he was blushing right now, and that is not something he could easily live down.

"No, no, uh. Lead on."

As Jace turned around and started walking, Simon could've sworn that he saw a smile flash across his face.

Jace pulled open the door and gestured Simon through, as he laughed mirthlessly at the name.

"Happy Days Diner. Wow, what a fitting name for today." he muttered under his breath as he walked inside and waited for Jace to follow and show him where to sit. He walked all the way to the back corner and slid into the booth as if he'd done it 100 times before. Simon did the same, the vinyl protesting slightly underneath him before settling. He looked down at the table, tracing the swirls of the wood with his eyes and drumming his fingers on his leg before he heard the approaching of shoes.

"Jace! Been awhile, my friend. Who's this?" The waiter approached their table with a giant grin on his face, and Jace mirrored him, smile breaking out.

"Hey Luke, good to see you. This is Simon, he's...he's-"

"A friend." Simon cut in, sensing that Jace was obviously struggling to pinpoint exactly what they were right now.

"Yea, he's a friend."

"Well, what can I get for you guys? Do you need a menu, or..?"

"No, we're good. Can we just get 2 milkshakes?" Jace replied, looking to Simon for confirmation, and Simon nodded back.

"Alright, 2 milkshakes coming right up." Luke scribbled on his pad before disappearing back behind the counter. The diner was mostly empty, save for one or two people scattered around, picking at their burgers and whatnot. Even though it was mostly empty and fairly dark outside, Simon still felt...comfortable here. Like he was coming home.

Maybe it was the beer.

(Maybe it's Jace, a voice whispered in his head.)

Yep. Definitely the beer.

"So, what happened to you today? No offense, but you look like shit." Jace leaned across the table and crossed his arms against his chest, leaning his forearms on the table and looking intently at Simon.

"Well, um. I got laid off today. So, there's that." Simon muttered, hand coming to tangle in his hair, watching as Jace's eyes followed the movement and stopped on his lips.

"Oh, dude. That sucks, man, I'm so sorry. Still doing the accounting thing?"

"Yeah, but maybe this is a sign that I need to, you know, not do that." Simon said bitterly, and was surprised when Jace let out a soft chuckle in response. It'd been so long since he heard that, he'd forgotten how nice it had sounded.

"That's it. The universe is sending you a sign, Lewis. Don't fuck it up."

"Well, fuck up is my middle name, so we'll see how that goes."

This time, they both laughed, and Simon felt his defenses fall down faster and harder than before. All of the things that he had so carefully tried to forget when he blocked Jace's number were coming back in full force, from the way he liked his coffee (black, no sugar because "sugar's for pussies and grandma's, Lewis."), to his favorite kind of cereal (Raisin Bran, for some godforsaken reason), to that once spot right on his collarbone that made him go completely weak in the knees-

Before he could continue down that road, he was interrupted by Luke reaching their table with the 2 milkshakes in his hands and setting them down.

"Two chocolate milkshakes, because you both look like you need some sweetness in your lives right now." Luke grinned down at them, half jokingly, half completely serious (he wasn't blind, you don't get those eye bags without going through some serious shit).

"Thank you so much, Luke." Jace answered, grabbing the one closest to him and ripping the paper off of the straw.

"Yeah, thank you."

"Anytime. Well, if you need anything, just holler." Luke said, and walked away, back behind the counter and into the small kitchen once again.

Simon watched as Jace eagerly stuck the straw into the milkshake and started drinking, cheeks hollowing out, Adam's apple bobbing with each swallow. He didn't let his train of thought go any further, for fear of what he may think if he did. Finally, Jace came up for breath, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Simon jolted out of whatever strange trance he'd just been in, returning to the current conversation.

"So, uh, what happened to you today?"

At that, Jace seemed to shut down, eyes growing darker as he remembered whatever had happened to him, visibly upset at the memory.

"Uh, well. I guess...I got fired too. And then I got in a pretty bad fight with my roommate...so he kicked me out. I didn't even grab my charger. Or any clothes. So...um. Yeah. Pretty shit day." Jace spoke in halting sentences, eyes downcast and completely focused on the patterns on the table. Simon felt his heart break a little at the sight of him, curled in on himself and looking so much smaller than the larger than life character he walked in here with. Before he could stop himself, Simon opened his mouth and made yet another probably very, very bad decision.

"You can stay with me." Jace glanced up slowly, some of the life returning to his eyes.

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to like, intrude or anything-" he stuttered out, hands twisting together nervously before Simon interrupted.

"No, no it's totally fine. I can sleep on the couch for a night or two."

"Simon...I-thank you. So much."

The way Jace said his name made Simon reconsider every decision he'd made in the past 4 years, starting with blocking his number. The way he was looking at him, the way he said his name, all of it filled Simon with something that he hadn't felt in 4 years, not even with the assortment of dates and relationships that had filled them. It was something that he had only ever felt around Jace. It started in his chest and expanded, cutting off his air and pressing his heart against his ribcage. It was warm and comforting and so, so good.

Simon felt a smile grow on his mouth, looking at Jace over the top of his glasses before quickly sliding back to his milkshake.

They sat there for what seemed like forever, quietly sipping and tossing jokes and bad puns back and forth. It was...nice. For the first time that whole day, Simon felt like he wasn't at risk of massively screwing anything up. Behind them, the night slipped slowly into dawn, grey light filtering through the trees, preparing for the beating sun to come back out.

Simon noticed the time around 3 am. It certainly didn't feel like they'd been there for 2 hours, but Simon...well, he wasn't complaining. Jace let out a wide yawn across from him, and he chuckled.

"I guess that's code for 'I'm exhausted, take me home, Prince Charming.'" Simon smiled from across the table and slid out of the booth, stretching his arms out above his head. Jace followed, stepping out of the booth, before digging into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. Suddenly, Luke called out from where he was cleaning the counter.

"Jace, don't worry about it. On the house tonight."

Jace smiled. "You sure Luke? It's no big deal-"

"Jesus, Wayland, take the free milkshake and go." Luke grinned back, laughing at the same time.

"Thanks, Luke. Have a great night." he said as they started walking toward the door, Simon following close behind Jace.

"Yea, you too."

Jace pushed open the door and waved Simon through, before following him into the cool Brooklyn morning.

They walked side by side in comfortable silence, punctuated by occasional jabs and soft laughter. Simon hadn't done anything like this is forever, and he was 100% sure he wanted to do it a thousand times more.

Finally, they reached Simon's brownstone building, and he buzzed them both up and opened the door to his apartment. He walked in and started to try and collect some of the dirty dishes scattered around, dumping them in the sink while giving a rushed apology.

"Sorry this place is such a mess, it's been a really weird week, and I wasn't expecting company-"

"Simon, it's fine. I'm just grateful that I don't have to sleep on a bench in a park somewhere."

"Nah, you're too pretty for that. Someone would've picked you up way before that."

They both laughed at that, and Jace stepped into Simon's space, barely a foot away from him. Simon felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked Jace up and down, taking in the way his hands rubbed together nervously, how his eyes glittered in the low light of the moon from the window, how his lips looked so perfect and they were just right there. They stood like that for a split second, before Jace cleared his throat, and the moment was broken.

"Well. Um, I'll take the couch. Thanks, again. For...everything."

Even though Simon wanted to argue that he could take the couch, because what kind of host lets their guest sleep on the couch, but the way he said it left no room for argument.

"Oh, um. Okay. Well, night, Jace." Simon said before turning and walking to his door, but right before he stepped in he turned around again.

"Hey. I...I had fun tonight."

Jace looked back up at him from where he was sitting on the threadbare couch and taking off his jacket to serve as a pillow, a half smile breaking on his lips.

"Yea, I did too. Night, Lewis."

And with that, Simon walked into his room and shut the door.

#jimon #abloodneed #userbritt #claryfightwood #my fic #this is one of my faves.....like really #i hope yall like it #Anonymous

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nikkifinnie-blog · 6 years

Text

Bogans share their music full of spit, spirit, hilarity and energy.

BOGAN-Australian/NZ word: An uncouth or unsophisticated person regarded as being of low social status: some bogans yelled at us from their cars/my family are culinary bogans.

Bogans are an energetic punk band from North Wales consisting of Adam Wright on vocals, Joe Reynolds on lead guitar, Jimmy Wright on rhythm guitar, Tom Hamblett on bass and Lewis Jones on drums. They are an absolutely hilarious bunch whose music is uniquely their own full of spit, spirit, hilarity and energy and reminds me a bit of a mash up of Anti-Flag, NOFX and Rancid with a sprinkle of The Bouncing Souls thrown in. I was lucky enough to speak to these lads before they took off for a few dates in Finland and of course, hilarity ensued..

Erin: Well hello there! Adam: Sorry, my dog is trying to hump anyone he can at the moment, and is currently getting intimate with Joes arm. I guess that’s probably an interesting way to start off an interview? Erin: Oh please, totally normal! How are you guys? Bogans: We’re good. We are happy to have an interview! Erin: I know you guys have some shows coming up. Bogans: Yes, we have quite a few including 2 in Finland. Erin: I saw that on your Facebook page! Bogans: Yeah, we’ve been quite lucky with that. Actually, funny enough our second gig was in Finland. Erin: Really? Why Finland? Bogans: We stayed in touch with a few friends that had come over years ago and I mentioned that we had a new band that started and they asked us to come over, so we did! Erin: How’s the punk scene over there? Bogans: It’s awesome! Absolutely awesome! They definitely like the drink over there, which to be honest so do we! Erin: That’s my kind of country! Bogans: Last time we were there, we got rather destroyed before we went on stage and it went down as an absolute blast and everybody loved it. I think we’re doing better in Finland than we are in the U.K. to tell you the truth! Erin: That’s so crazy! Bogans: Yeah, it’s weird but we’ve made a lot of friends out there and discovered a lot of amazing drinks like long drink and salmiakki. I would drink that stuff till my face falls off! Erin: What the hell is in that? Bogans: It’s like a salty, licorice vodka. It sounds absolutely disgusting but I swear if you try it, it will blow your mind! Erin: So when did your dream of starting a band begin? Bogans: Well, with us guys it started off when Lewis here, basically approached me about starting a band. When he was younger, like one of his college courses, he had to put on a gig and he got in my old band, SmackRats. Do you want to describe how it ended up? Lewis: I had to put a gig on for our final, so exam I suppose, project. So I asked Adam’s band and I was in a band with Joe as well at the time, basically we got banned from the venue. Erin: Why? Lewis: Adam doesn’t know how to stay grounded for one, so he’s walking over people’s tables, kicking pint glasses off. The microphone got damaged, it was good though! Adam: I ruined his project. Lewis: I did pass though! Adam: It was a messy one and a lot of drinks got ruined that night. Lewis: Still to this day he’s walking all over bars! Adam: Yep! Well, it’s a challenge-you gotta go for it! If there’s a bar there and you can get your head behind it and over the top and try to get a few free drinks while you’re playing. It’s a potluck game, sometimes the bar staff laugh, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you get beer, sometimes you get a facefull of line cleaner. You just have to take the chances. Erin: Nothing wrong with that! So after that you ended up forming the band and playing together? Lewis: No, that was going back 10 years ago. We had other bands prior to this band and there was nothing really much going on. Adam: I was getting a bit bored, like normal life was getting to me a little bit. So I needed a bit of fun time, really to vent out the frustration. And then I bumped into Lewis here who was up for the band and that’s how we carried on really, you know? A good way of blowing off steam. Erin: I know you guys are kind of skate punk but then I hear a bit of hardcore influence. Who are your major influences? Adam: Everyone’s a bit different. We all have our own taste in punk. To be honest, I don’t think we sound like ANYONE really! Lewis: We all like Bad Religion and NOFX and Pennywise. Adam: Yeah, I’d say we’re quite influenced by American punk bands and quite a bit of Australian punk bands. Erin: What Australian punk bands? I’ve spent some time in Melbourne, St. Kilda. Tom: (speaking to Lewis,) That’s where your mum’s from! Adam: Oh yeah! The Aussie bands reflect a little bit in our music. The term “Bogan” itself is like an Aussie redneck. We do look up to a lot of the Aussie bands. It would be nice to get there one day, but to be honest, for us it would be a bit expensive. Erin: It is expensive to get there, but once you’re there the live music scene is INSANE. Lewis: About the live music scene, I was over in Australia and literally every bar there’d be a band playing. And Helsinki as well. I think of this other time, this festival we were playing, something small, but people will actively go out and watch a band. Where like here, in Wrexham, there’s tons of bands, there’s a few venues, and when they play no one goes to watch. Adam: We make the best of what we get and if the crowd is small, that’s the best time to put on more of a show really! I do have a tendency of rugby tackling people. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always end well! I broke me ribs a few gigs ago. Lewis: Second song in. Adam: Second song in, managed to break me ribs. I was crawling around on the floor and someone decided to jump on my back and suddenly my ribs go “POP”! I swear I felt each of my ribs pop out. it was agony. Erin: Did you finish the set? Adam: Well, yeah! (We all start laughing.) Just kept myself inebriated and plodded on! A few whiskeys made it a bit easier! Erin: Whiskey always does! So, how did you all end up playing the instruments you do? Tom: I just liked bass. Erin: When did you start playing? Tom: About 15 years ago. I started at school. Adam: Yeah, a lot of these guys all went to school together. Lewis: Drums were the only thing I could play! I just like simple, fast punk beats, so I started with that and then just carried on doing it! Adam: In all fairness though, when we started the band, you (Lewis) did learn to play some guitar to try and write the songs. Lewis: There was a couple of years when I wasn’t really doing anything and I sold me drums and then our friend from college, John, left his guitar at my house. That was 10 years ago and he still asks for it back! Taught meself basic chords and then just came up with some ideas. Then, I was drumming for another band and you know how you can hear riffs in your head? But I could never play them to the other band. Then that band didn’t go anywhere and I sort of started the basis of the first 2 tracks of the Bogans EP and then took it to the practice room and there you go! There’s always ideas coming out of the brain. Adam: This is Jimmy, the newest member of the band, since January. Erin: Wow that is new! Hi Jimmy! Adam: Jimmy has been awesome! He sort of jumped in with like, both feet. And this is our main guitarist and part time dog romancer Joe. Erin: Hello Joe! Joe: My mates brought a guitar over when I was like 15 or 16 and I enjoyed messing around on guitar so I went and bought one the week after that. That’s how I started. Erin: You just fell in love with guitar and you went from there? Joe: Yeah. And I just play all the time. Adam: He pretty much just thinks and talks music. As for me, I have no actual talent! I have no rhythm or singing ability actually! But I can run around and rugby tackle people. Erin: And kick over pint glasses! Adam: Yeah! Being a front man gives me that option! Rugby tackle people while on stage and get away with it! Rugby tackle people when you’re not on stage, you get your face bent in! Erin: Do you have any successes you’ve achieved since you guys have been together? Lewis: People like us more in Finland more than home! Erin: Why do you think that is? Lewis: People generally go out to watch a gig! I think that’s it. The problem here is, people go to a gig just to watch the headlining band. Like 3 people will actually turn up and watch the entire gig from openers to headliners. I kinda like the nonchalant clap people do at the end of a song. Is it because we suck and people don’t get the music? I’d like to think it’s both. Adam: Personally, I think the British nightlife has been murdered really, because the pub industry is being killed by Wetherspoons which is KILLING live music. Pubs have all gone a nice safe shade of light beige, Nightclubs are all very, very generic and the price of alcohol going up as well as the smoking ban has really sort of killed off a lot of the British scene. I mean, people are becoming hermits and won’t leave the comforts of home,but when we GET them out and they come to a gig, they have a blast at our show. I just think it’s a shame in our country. A few years ago, you’d get a lot more people out before the smoking ban and booze was cheaper. It’s just bloody expensive! Even drugs are more expensive! I think we got to try and bring it back a bit ‘coz if you don’t try, what’s the point? Erin: So then would you say your biggest success is building up a fan base in Finland? Adam: Yeah probably. I’d say that is definitely one of our biggest successes. Lewis: The EP as well, people seem to like it so I think as far as successes go, we haven’t released a crappy thing! Erin: You’ve gotten a lot of good reviews on the EP so that’s definitely a positive. For me, having grown up not exactly in Los Angeles, but outside in Huntington Beach which is home for surf and skate punk, so listening to your music is kind of that same thing I grew up listening to, so it’s familiar to me. I grew up listening to the Adolescents, the Vandals, NOFX even though they were from up north, all those bands. You guys have fun with it, don’t you? Adam: Definitely. I mean, you can tell we enjoy what we’re doing. I think it comes across in the music, that and the general frustration of life. It’s a catharsis really, you know. It’s going on stage and playing music as just a way to blow off steam really. I mean, I really needed it anyway! I was going mental before I was in the band, with my humdrum repetitive computer based job and I was just fucking miserable really. It really sorted it out for me and I think that really comes out in the music. Lewis: I just like the idea really, of having all our influences rolled into one and people can relate to it. I find it difficult to listen to new bands that define themselves by a subgenre. I can’t really relate to it. We’re a punk rock band but I think other people might try to put us in a subcategory if you know what I mean? We just want to sound like us. Play the music we like to play. So I find it quite hard to listen to new bands who aim for a particular set style in the way they sound. Yeah we are influenced by what we grew up listening to, but the final product is different. The music is just us expressing ourselves. Although, I sort of like the idea of the next generation saying, “that’s what I grew up listening to bands like THAT”. Hopefully someone might include us in their list of influences one day, but I doubt it. Adam: I think if you dissected our EP musically it might sound like what we were listening to when we were kids, but as a whole I can’t say we sound like any of them. The influence is still there at the EP’s heart though from allsorts of bands we listened to growing up. Erin: Like the Queers, Adolescents, Vandals, where you’re not taking yourself too seriously. There’s not too much politics or all that bullshit in it, you know what I mean? Adam: There’s a bit of politics in it. We do introduce politics. It’s weird. I think we sound like everybody and nobody at the same time. It’s all the people we love and none of them at the same time. It’s weird ‘coz we get mentioned in with U.K. ’82 and I don’t think we sound like the U.K. ’82 bands. At the same time, maybe we’ve got a bit of skate punk going. Erin: It’s a mishmash of all of it but you’ve developed your own sound and your own way of doing it. Adam: Definitely. It’s our way of doing it. Lewis: But with each of our own influences. Adam: I think each of us brings our own little bit to the table. Erin: Do you have a funny story of when you were on the road or something crazy that happened at one of your shows that you want to share? Something that’s just like ridiculous? It can be as obscene or obnoxious as you want! Adam: Basically we managed to play this gig which is referred to as “Mad Friday,” which is the last Friday before Christmas and everybody is absolutely smashed! We’re going back and the petrol light goes on. And we drive past the petrol station, we’re talking out into werewolf country, like full on American Werewolf in London, no lights for miles. No one on the road because everybody is drunk! And, the car DIES. So, I leave these guys in the car and walk in the pitch black to get some diesel, which you never paid me for by the way Lewis! Lewis: And he comes back, puts the diesel in the car and we find I’ve drained the battery watching Simpsons videos in the car! Erin: Oh shit! Adam: So, we got petrol and now can’t start the car. Erin: And no one is out driving so it’s not like you could get a jump start from anyone! Adam: Exactly! So in the end I’m like, I’ve had enough! I go down this dark county lane again, walk miles to the nearest town again in the pitch black dark and there I call a taxi because it’s the nearest location I can say is a landmark, sorry the dog’s humping Joe again! So, I call this taxi and it never comes and in the meantime these guys managed to get the engine fixed, so I’m left there, freezing by the bloody cold river, must’ve been 4:00 in the morning. They came back to get me a couple of hours later. I’d say yeah, that’s probably one of our disasters along the way! Joe: Or the photos… Erin: Photos? What photos?!? Joe: We were staying in a hostel in Finland and it was 5 in a single room. We were all going to sleep and I was naked and I decided to put my legs behind my head and blatantly exposed everything. That photo is now everywhere! Erin: Well at least you’re flexible! Adam: He’s the only one in the band that doesn’t really drink! He just does stuff for a laugh! Erin: Those are the ones you always have to watch out for! Adam: At least we have an excuse when we do stupid shit! and don’t forget the video of him eating caramelised onion hummus from his bumcrack. I must’ve sent that video to every promoter I could find. It may have put me off the smell of hummus for life but it may have helped us get a few gigs. Poor promoters didn’t expect that. Erin: Vinyl, tape, CD or digital music? Joe: Vinyl. Adam: I don’t know. For collection purposes, vinyl is awesome. But having said that, I’m cheap and generally can only afford CD’s! Lewis: I prefer mini discs! I think it would be cool to have stuff released on vinyl but then again it just comes down to funds. I can’t even burn a CD on my laptop anymore because it doesn’t have one! For me at the minute, it’s digital! Adam: I think digital has given us the freedom to get our music to more people easily and at less cost. So that has its benefits. But it’s still not the same as being able to actually hold something. When you bought a record or CD back in the day, you spent more time with it. Before you even got home you’d be looking through the book, ready with anticipation. I think we’re maybe missing a little bit of that nowadays, really. Erin: You can’t get that on Spotify or iTunes. Adam: It sort of carries on with the whole “I want everything now” image that our generation is getting. Our attention spans are shrinking. You don’t listen to an album with the same love. You don’t get to learn to love the track 7 that you didn’t like the first time you heard the album. When you spend money on buying an album you bloody well make sure you listen to it to death. When it’s digital and you’re streaming things, you’re not really listening to the whole thing. It can become background music or you’re just skipping from song to song. I listen to a lot of music in me car so I don’t always get the option of skipping tracks, so I still have that same passion for albums. Erin: So when can we expect your next EP? Adam: We don’t know about a release date yet but we’ve got a recording date. Lewis: The end of summer I’d imagine. Adam: That being said, we’re still trying to raise the money for the last one! It’s fucking expensive! So we’re all feeling a bit of that. Except for Joe. He feels nothing. Erin: Joe, are you dead inside? Joe: No, I’m good! Adam: He’s very dead inside! Erin: So what other plans you’ve got in the immediate future? You’ve got some recording time. I know you’ve got shows coming up in Finland, then also Macclesfield a couple more in the UK? Lewis: We’ve got quite a bit going for us. Focus Wales, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it? Erin: No, I haven’t! Is it a festival? Lewis: It’s a 3 day festival (10-12 of May in Wrexham, UK.) and they showcase bands from all over-Canada, Japan, Wrexham, everywhere! They’ve given us a pretty decent slot which is really cool. Adam: It is a rather big thing, especially for Wrexham. Lewis: Loads of people come in packs. Adam: We live in North Wales and Wales isn’t really known for being a hot spot of music. Any decent bands normally have to travel to Manchester. It is a big one, especially for our home music scene. Erin: What’s the best thing you think comes out of playing your music? Joe: I think it’s meeting nice people! I don’t think we’ve met one dickhead at a gig! Adam: Yeah, we are the dickheads! It is literally getting out there and meeting new people. That’s what this band is about; us having a good time. If we weren’t enjoying it we wouldn’t be doing it! In a way I need it just to blow off steam. I work in a library nowadays! I need the contrast. Erin: What’s the band’s favourite song to play live? Jimmy: I’m gonna say “To What End” because people seem to know about it! Adam: I don’t know. I personally like “Bucking Bronco” because I know Lewis absolutely hates playing it! And he has to sing backing vocals at the same time as playing superfast. Lewis: Any of the faster ones. Joe: I like “Cattle Battle”. It’s my favourite. It’s more technical. Jimmy: It’s one of the new ones. Adam: I let you introduce it live just because of how you say it! Say it again. Joe: “Cattle Battle”. (Sounds very prim and proper and we all have a laugh.) Erin: What about venue? What’s your favourite venue to play? Adam: We played the New Cross Inn (323 New Cross Road in London,) the other week and it was an awesome atmosphere. The venue is exactly what you want. Although Atomic in Wrexham definitely holds a big place in my heart because it is the perfect kind of dive bar and some of the crowds really get into it. I’m sure there are holes in the roof there from where I had a someone from the crowd on my shoulders and they were just punching holes in the roof. Great times, just avoid the toilets. Erin: I think that’s about it guys! Do you have any questions for me about anything? Lewis: What was the best gig you went to growing up? Erin: For me, are you familiar with the Los Angeles band Fear? It was right when they released “Have Another Beer with Fear” in like 1995 and I saw them when I was 14 at a place called Old World in Huntington Beach, California and it was the last gig they played anywhere near Orange County for like 20 years or something crazy because some racist asshole started shit with one of the band members. But, they played absolutely amazing that night. I had never seen anything like it. And it was a big deal to me because I had recently discovered the Los Angeles/San Francisco punk bands like Fear, X, the Screamers, Dead Kennedys and I was so amazed to see one of those bands play live. That and the fact I snuck out of my mom’s house to meet up with my friends at that show! I’ve since seen them several times and they always put on an amazing show, but as one of my first punk shows, that one really burned into my memory. Adam: Cool. That is what punk should be about, creating awesome memories and having a great time. People need to do that more. I’m sure the world would be a better place if we all just lived life a little bit more. Erin: Thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with me! I’m gonna try and see you guys play when I’m over in the UK this summer! Good luck on your Finnish dates! Bogans: Thank you! 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