2011 - The Year Of The… Everything
Bedlam Six composer/singer Louis Barabbas looks back at the past year…
2011 has been one of those BIG years. I cannot recall another year in my lifetime that has been so packed with political/economical/social/environmental activity. The Arab Spring, UK riots, Japan’s tsunami, the Anders Breivik murders in Norway, Thailand floods, New Zealand earthquakes, the deaths of Bin Laden, Gaddafi and Kim Jong Il, the Occupy movement, Eurozone crisis, Doctor Who getting married… the list goes on and on and on.
In the field of music alone we’ve got enough stories to keep the conference circuit humming for years: the PIAS fire, the UK music market being bumped down from third to fourth largest in the world, the rise of Adele and her record-breaking 21 album, the changing of licensing regulations for small venues, Universal buying EMI, The Stone Roses reunion, the Spotify royalties controversy, the death of Amy Winehouse…
It all rather dwarfs the comings and goings of a not-very-well-known rock band from Manchester. And yet, on our own little scale, this has been a pretty momentous year for us, one in which we have enjoyed great leaps forward as well as debilitating personal setbacks.
So here is my Bedlamcentric 2011 round-up (get yourself a drink, it’s quite long!)
January was spent as all Januaries are spent: grossly behind schedule on packaging, promoting and pressing the new record (2012 looks set to be exactly the same by the way). But what a launch party it was come 5th February! It was the biggest show we’ve ever organized and featured a special guest appearance from my hero John Otway. We sold out Manchester’s beautiful Dancehouse Theatre and performed three sets (including one as Otway’s backing band). It was as exhausting as it was exhilarating and, after a few edits became a seventeen-track live album that we’re all pretty thrilled with. The event was also documented by the BBC here. The only concern we had was how the rest of the year could live up to such an auspicious beginning.
We needn’t have worried. The Get Religion! record we’d launched with such fanfare was well received, even deemed “outstanding” by the lovable cynics at Drowned In Sound magazine (it is available to buy here by the way). Later that month I was offered a place on the advisory board of Un-Convention (a post I accepted immediately) and, back at Bedlam HQ, we finally bought ourselves a proper touring van (eight seats, table, microwave, hot water system, plug sockets, ample storage and flashing lights on top: Van O’Bedlam - aka Bessie).
March saw us take the Get Religion tour across the sea and into mainland Europe. We had enjoyed breaking into the comparatively new and enthusiastic live territories of Scotland and Ireland but nothing could prepare us for our experiences in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - we have quite simply NEVER been so well looked after by promoters. Great food, comfortable hotel rooms, exhaustive riders, long and thorough soundchecks, excellent equipment, intelligent marketing and a decent pay packet at the end of each night. The live circuit in that part of the world is, quite simply, a different animal entirely. If you’d like to read more about our experiences on the tour there is a daily journal on this blog (just scroll back to the March entries) and a video montage here. Also, thoughts on the differences between the various live territories are a fairly constant theme running through the articles on my own blog Keyhole Observations (particularly in the four part Broken Circuit series).
Upon returning to the UK we settled back into a more relaxed touring schedule that featured lesser-gigged locations such as Carlisle, Birmingham, Devon, London, Bradford and Sheffield. Manchester folk in June were also treated to my ugly mug on the walls of shops and bars as my month came up in the Beards Of Manchester calendar. I apologize for any distress caused!
It was around this time that Ali suffered a number of health problems that would result in her being in and out of hospital on a regular yet unpredictable basis for the remainder of the year, causing us to temporarily become “Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Five” for most of festival season with Ali joining in when possible. We would like to thank audiences for their support at the events we played as an all-male skeleton crew - we understand that the shows can be a little exhausting when my rather relentless barking is not tempered by the talents of a proper singer. We also thank those who sent Get Well Soon messages to Ali via the label, she was very glad to be in people’s thoughts even when unable to join us on stage. Ali is now undergoing a new treatment and the early progress is very encouraging. She looks set to be back with us full time in early 2012.
After completing the mixing and mastering of the Dancehouse recording we turned our attention to the next studio release. This time we wanted to strip it back to basics and concentrate on the natural band dynamics rather than the production/orchestration. Get Religion had been an enjoyable process but one somewhat lacking in risk. Making the live album had taught us that we needn’t rely on endless overdubbing to achieve a big sound on record, that when we are all together in the same room and playing at the same time there is a natural chemistry more effective than fancy production values. It may sound obvious but it can be hard for a band to trust in this sort of naked simplicity.
So we gutted Dan’s studio in Alderley edge, then gutted Biff’s studio in Salford, begged/borrowed/stole as many microphones, cables and whatnots from friends at other labels/groups, threw it all in the van and drove down to the South coast to build our own recording setup in a big house that would comfortably fit both the band and a constantly active studio. It was a great experience, the time spent living together being as valuable as the material we laid down. During that period we rose early, played music all morning, took meals together and recorded all afternoon and evening. It was a busy and productive time. By the end we had eight songs we were happy with. A diary of events can be found on this blog (starting here) with a video montage here. It will be released as two EPs in March and July 2012. We are indebted to our two Aides De Camp Bryony Anderson and Sara Harris for doing most of the cooking and errand-running while we were making so much noise.
Upon returning to Manchester (via a few more festival shows) we got stuck into plugging the live album. The launch was at the Ruby Lounge and featured special guests Liz Green and Kirsty Almeida standing in for the still absent Ali. Richard Barry also made an appearance between our two sets (with me accompanying on spoons). In total we played twenty songs before matching that number with an equivalent quantity of drinks afterwards. All in all a great night. The album “Live At The Dancehouse Theatre” is available here by the way (see if you can spot the spelling mistake in the liner notes of the CD).
Have I forgotten anything? Oh yes, we were on TV advertising cheese. Well, how else does a penniless band that builds their own studios and gives their albums away make enough money to buy a van? Yes we recorded the soundtrack for this advert for Butlers Blacksticks Blue. They originally wanted to use the Tell-Tale Hound with altered lyrics but we said no and offered to write a new piece (without dogs) that wouldn’t compromise the original. They accepted our terms and the rest is TV history (sort of). It was a fun project and we’ve since eaten A LOT of cheese!
We finished the year with a Christmas single. A creepy re-working of the classic carol Away In A Manger. You can watch the video here and download it for free here.
Then, just as we thought everything had been said and done we received a message saying that our music video for “Hold On To Me” (Get Religion’s closing song) won best video of 2011 in the Underclassed Idle Ideas blog awards. Congratulations to director Joe Mannion from Sleepingstate Films for all his hard work, not forgetting actors Rita Davies and Peter Church for their captivating performances. You can watch the video here.
And that’s it. 2012 looks set to be another busy year with at least two new records, another European tour as well as possible shows in Greece and the Balkans. I’ll also be going to East Africa with Un-Convention to make a record with local musicians in April/May. Then it’ll hopefully be another busy festival season.
En Avant!
THANKS: This year would not have been anywhere near as successful without the help and support of those who attended our shows, helped spread the word, circulated the videos and shared the tunes. We could also not have done it without the local assistance of independent promoters/labels like Neil Guerin, Valliard and Jack Of Diamonds (Dublin), Chris Carney (Theshold/Mixnot, Liverpool), Matthew Young (Song By Toad, Edinburgh), Anthony Chalmers (God Don’t Like It, London), Bridie Jackson and Arto Polus (The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle), Pete Hogg (Wandering Word, Bristol), The Coal Exchange (Emsworth), Wordlife (Sheffield), Fuel Cafe and The Dancehouse Theatre (Manchester) and our super excellent European booking agent Dennis Adler from Burning Eagle Bookings, Berlin.
We’re also grateful for the continued support of BBC Radio Manchester (particularly producers Chris Long, Emma Goswell, Euan Doak and Michelle Hussey and presenters Sam Walker and Andy Crane) and All FM (most notably longtime supporters Caroline and Ursula). Legends all.
See you in 2012…
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