January Newsletter

 

Me, after having some of "it"

Hello my little gyozas - hope you are all well! Dripping with soy's sauce... yummy 😋 

January is a desolate winter month when hardly anything grows - the trees are bare and cancerous and the sun seldom shines. Despite this we were able to do a pretty solid chunk of behind the scenes work at Four Blokes to kick off the new year. I woke up on January 1st with gnarly elbow wounds - I had fallen off my bike in a drunken state of bewilderment. After little to no medical care, I went and worked the last shift of my Tesco's Crimbo Contract... 

Screenshot of it all

The freedom of unemployment gave me ample time to tinker with my keyboard and I made a little arrangement for a song I'd written a few months ago called "I've Settled On Molly" - it starts off housey with a four to the floor beat on a Roland TR-909 drum machine. The bridge goes a bit ambient, and from there on it we're into wicked Jungle territory, breakbeats and dread bass and all. Now, as much as I enjoy Frankie Knuckles and all his contemparies, I am not a expert at making Electronica. I thought it would be best to enlist some specialist help for this particular track so I gave Aston James a bell, sent over my notes on the song and said "have at it young man!". I think it is nearly done, I've recieved back some pretty "sick" sounding clips of the song, and maybe one afternoon I'll buck up the courage to politely ask for the Mp3... if the powers that be are on my side I'll include that with the Feburary newsletter - Four Bloke's jungle song.

Bumped into my former "guitarist"

I also wrote a couple new songs for the 2nd album in January - one cold and frosty morning I caught the bus into town and started writing "Off The Drink" on the top deck. The words came to me in drips and draps throughout the early afternoon before I sat down in a display living room in John Lewis and finished it. A small excerpt -

Evening comes, the barman calls

Sweat ferments, drips down the walls

A scream within, when silence falls

Their peace is an illusion

I crave their company, alas

The time has come to say "i’ll pass"

No more blood from broken glass

No more mornings of confusion

What a little rocker. I plan to pop into Planet Sounds and record it in February  if I can conjure up the funds. 

Programming the ceremonial bell!

That Sunday, me and my wife popped down the local Catholic Church for mass - I renewed my Baptisimal vows. Don't worry, I haven't gone all religious on you; I've delighted in sin for many years now and I don't plan to stop. As much as I enjoyed being splashed with holy water, and it was lovely to see people of all creeds and colours come and pray together, I was there for research purposes as well. As I knelt in the pews, listening to the Priest's sermon, I was taking in inspiration for my new record - tentatively titled "Tesco Hymn". I wrote the words on the train to London - I find motion conducive for writing - and then took a colour-coded copy of the lyrics to Maisy's house for recording. After limbering up with a "Freeform Jazz Cigarette" we were ready to chant like Monks. Thanks to Tiago and Maisy for doing the harmonies - special thanks to Tiago for adding the ceremonial bell. 

Making that demo... lookin' good!

In addition to writing those two songs, I also made a Demo of "Murder of Crows", which had previously only existed in my head, as well as writing "Xylazine Addiction" in the Isle of Wight at the end of the month. Special thanks to Ava for helping me research the song - she has a wealth of knowledge on the Xylazine Addiction issue in Kensington, Philidepliha.

Two new recruits...

That's another about boring shit like writing and recording - you want to know about LIVE MUSIC! GIGS YOU CAN GO TO ! GET PISSED!! TAKE DRUGS! DANCE AND SING! Well, I have good news for you... a date has been booked. There is a specific time, on a specific day, in a specific place, that Four Blokes will play in the near future. I want the official announcement to come as a delightful suprise to you lot on the mailing list, so I will keep the details vague for now. You may think "you need band members to do a gig, don't you?". And you would be correct. I'd like to reassure you that once more Four Blokes HAS Four Blokes in it. Three new members were signed on loan from Cherry Waves in the January transfer window and we rehearsed for the first time on Blue Monday. 5 songs down on the first rehearsal must surely be Four Blokes' finest! I am very excited to be working with Oscar (guitar) Reagon (bass) and Tiago (drums) for the duration of their loan. Yes - it is THAT Tiago. Woohoo!!

Welcome back, old friend

And finally, to summarise the events of January in a short list (I am undiagnosed and love lists): 

• "Off The Drink", "Tesco Hymn", and "Xylazine Addiction" written for 2nd album

• "Tesco Hymn" recorded, "I've Settled On Molly" currently being made by Aston

• Oscar, Reagon, and Tiago joined Four Blokes on loan - first rehearsal a success

• "Mango" mastered for 1st album, taking us up to 6/14 songs ready for it's release

In Feburary, we shall rehearse more (especially excited to tackle the new material), record more, and write more - if Finn Darke is willing the debut album will also crawl a few tracks closer to release.

Anyways, in the meantime, look after yourselves. It is always a delight to have correspondence with you.

All my loving

Harry

My harmonisers