Garage Sale

As you may know, in recent months I relocated from a vast palace in Nottingham to a pigeon hutch on a Holloway rooftop. As such I need to jettison some of my life. I figured I'd offer these delights up to y'all on here before putting them on eBay. Email great-men@hotmail.co.uk if you're interested in any.

Marshall B65 Basstate with Celestion speaker. Could use some TLC.

Fender Dual Showman 4x12 cab on wheels with outward angled front

Fender Dual Showman 100w valve head, twin channel with reverb. Beautiful and loud. Battle worn around the country with Swound! and Great Men and will do you proud.

Marshall JCM 1960 2x12 cab, used live once (An Evening With Great Men)

Jackson Performer Dinky Reverse from 1997 with Dimarzio Evolution pickups

Kay through-neck

Jackson Kelly Professional with GFS pickups - coil-tapped bridge humbucker and neck P90.

Things I've learned from the Cycle Superhighway

I was in a pub in London last night (really) and saw this poster about Transport for London's new Cycle Superhighway scheme. In just a few seconds it taught me more about this metropolitan 21st century life than I could ever learn from free papers or chick flicks:

1. People of all genders and races can own and ride bikes.
2. Black people are safer than white people.
3. Black people are faster than white people.
4. Black people are more vibrant than white people and reflect this in their choice of vehicle and outfit.
5. Women have baskets on their bikes, probably for make up, shiny objects, shopping and babies.
6. White men have the most important jobs and dress accordingly.
7. White men are so busy at their important jobs they can't even afford the time to change into suitable cycling clothes.

I hope having read this you are now as enlightened as I am.

I hope it's unnecessary to write this but just in case let it be known that the above is satire.

Return of the Son of the Space Octopus

Well it's been a busy week in Great Men's registered office here in Holloway.

We had our first high volume practice in months, then followed it up with a gig at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Thanks to the folk that came along (including you Frank Skinner)! No photos have surfaced yet but I'll let y'all know when they do.

On Friday we sadly waved off The Fabulous H-Town Savage as she has gone to conquer the Australian music scene. We dealt with it in our own ways: Regan overcame his fear of heights and climbed to the top of some trees at Kew Gardens (rumours of faeces flung at passersby have yet to be confirmed or denied). Then we went and hung out on a wall in Hackney with that Scottish one from Ulterior and ate sausages.

The natural way to follow a night spent sitting on a wall was to hang out in a cemetery. Here's the proof:




The weekend rounded off with some CD shopping at the mighty Music Video Exchange in Notting Hill with Hugh Grant and that naked guy. Then we went to see Obzerter, Regan's very first metal gig. I'm not saying it was a revelation, but here's what he looks like just one day later:



By the way, did you know we have a YouTube channel now? We'll probably get shut down soon so have a look while you can.

Back Off Boris

After one too many traffic contraventions, the penalty charges have become too much and Boris Johnson has insisted I repay my debt to the red lines, traffic wardens and box junctions of London with some community service. I only know how to do 2 things: guitars and maths, and London long since stopped making things add up, so in the name of justice Great Men will be appearing as follows:

Thursday June 2nd 2011 - Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Courtesy of Criminal Records, along with Guitars Have Ghosts, Othereyeswise and Enteric. We're on at 8:45. The Dude abides. Facebook it here.

Friday July 1st 2011 - New Cross Inn. As part of Chamber club night, along with Pet Scenes, Plantagenet 3 and The Party Faithful. Facebook fun within.

Remember Rocktober? In between rocking Camden, Nottingham, and the Science Museum, we popped into Shazam's Live Lounge and played a spot of music. Here's some proof:

See you on Thursday kidz! And remember, Twitter us with any setlist requests.

Open Season

Having spent the early part of this year doing things like writing new material, releasing an EP (I've got a handful of copies left here cluttering the place up if you or your loved ones don't have one yet), mixing an album and moving house, we knew there was something we'd forgotten: playing live! On behalf of Great Men everywhere, I do hereby proclaim the 2011 gig season to be open, with the first rounds to be fired on Friday July 1st in London. We're delighted to have been invited to play Chamber Club in New Cross, which promises to be a lot of fun. Bring your friends, we'll have a brewskerino.

Any other offers for sweet rocking, anywhere on this planet or beyond, will be welcomed and considered with great alacrity. Also since we're now in the bewildering position of having more material than we can reasonably play at any one gig, if you have any requests for particular tunes, go ahead and tweet them in our face, @Great_Men.

I suspect we'll be selling some t-shirts at the gig, but to be sure we have your size it's probably wise to order online because we are pathetic weak men and can't carry much (barely even a tune, ZING!).

Great Men

No Fear Of Humans (MCG mix)

Spectators at an Execution (Live in London EP)

Press & Bookings: Shaq Tap Promotions

Other Enquiries: Great Men HQ

It is a far far better thing he does…

C-Bomb has always reminded me a little of Dirk Bogarde…nice hair, matinee idol good looks… fondness for the company of young men… and this resemblance has been highlighted by his pulling a Sydney Carton and leaving this earthly (midlands) plane and heading for heavenly holloway.

Fear not noise fans we shall endeavour to continue. Great Men now will have two base camps and plan to cut a swath across the riff landscape based on a Nottingham-London Axis of evil. Or more simply – London isn’t that far, email exists and we can still get stuff done.

Besides, we’ve just gone international with our first review by some Fabulous French Femmes at Cellophanesoundsfanzine.

If the translation is to be trusted – it seems they liked our modest attempt and promise further releases in due course so we can’t stop now! Hats off to Mdme Schroetter for the translation:

When the guys who recorded with Ulterior, and who admit to have Generation Terrorists on their car stereo sent us their EP this march, we thought they were nice and took some time to listen to their first release called Live in London.

Great Men, 2 guys from Notts, don't describe themselves as a band but instrumental rock essayists, and when we listen to the album, we quickly understand why.

Do not look at them for easy tunes or the sacred structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus, the three tracks on Live In London are pure musical experiments.

Even if classic in principle (drum, big bass, noisy guitars), the music surprises, especially the total absence of singer, as much as because in the history of rock, the number of good bands who are purely instrumental can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

It's then easy to recognise the musical creativity of our two friends: the virtuosity of the bass competes with the solo guitar, and none of the tracks falls into the trap "17 min prog rock song to listen under heroin".

We especially enjoy Lady Cakes, the most successful and feverish track, with which the band clearly shows his taste for dark rock à la Sisters Of Mercy. The album, recorded in Shoreditch should be in store very soon.

Until then, we will read their blog, which proves that for an instrumental band they also have much to say.

Many Thanks to Cellophane Culture Sluts - Cloe T & Magali PF