What's New, Magnum Myers?

Don't worry, we're not dead!



Here's some things that have been happening:

We finally perfected our new track Magnum Myers, and if you're the kind of folk that want reference points it sounds something like Lalo Schifrin, John Carpenter and The Cure.

Instead of our usual process of documenting tracks with a demo for prosperity, we're going to cut straight to writing another, then record a live EP of the new material (and maybe some old favourites if we fancy it). This will essentially be an open-door recording party to which you're all invited. We've got a sweet venue lined up; details to follow in due course.

Speaking of live EPs, it really is all action at Great Men HQ as we have in our possession the mixes of 3 tracks we recorded live in London last year, and I've just polished off the CD artwork. There'll be a limited edition run printed up in the near future, watch out!

Then last night we had our first ever radio play, thanks to The Fabulous H-Town Savage on the Down The Nile Backwards show on ILL FM. Avid listeners will recognise Number 6, but won't recognise this exclusive sneak preview mix from our album! While the album is still under wraps, feel free to listen to our demo version of the song on Myspace, or if you're really geeky the original Widdleman version.

We'll speak again soon friends, but in the meantime why not keep up with us on Twitter and buy a t-shirt for everyone you've ever met?

Harry Potter and the Newfound Respect For R-Man

Last Saturday I was once again invited to play bass with Ginkinta, supporting The Peacocks at Camden Underworld. I pulled out pretty much all the stops: learned which key the songs were in, put some new strings on my bass, and drew a picture of Peregrine the Easter Bunny on it (I'd recently bought a new 4-pack of Sharpies). I kind of think of playing bass as a bit of a holiday from my usual guitar+machine duties, however I didn't anticipated the amount of ache and pain my hands would be suffering by the end of the set. For this I hold a newfound respect for Regan and all the bass players out there. I will now be endeavouring to practise more bass, or I'll never be Bootsy.

I mentioned the other week that we had a new track underway that was bigger than U2. Well it's still underway and we've now got another one as well which sounds like a cross between Lalo Schifrin's soundtrack to Dirty Harry, and John Carpenter's soundtrack to Halloween. It's tentatively titled Magnum Myers.

Maybe because I've spent too much of my life watching films with cool soundtracks, or maybe because I'm a grown up, I've not read the actual book that the new Harry Potter film is based on. For others of you that may also be contemplating tackling the marathon experience of this film with a similar lack of preparation, here's what to expect:

Scene 1: Voldemort says he needs a new wand.

Scene 2 - Scene 986: Harry and his pals dick about looking for the plot.

Scene 987: Voldemort gets a new wand.

In hindsight it's a mash-up of Cash In The Attic and a Hollyoaks omnibus, set entirely at night.