Scarlet BLONDE’s blog

We are sick and tired of the music industry in its current form and no longer wish to be a part of it. The desperate scramble up the slippery ramp by band after band and artist after artist, with the fool’s gold of fame and fortune and the lie of the ‘DIY Success’ dangled like a carrot, when in truth the only way is to be part of the clique or go to expensive stage school , no longer interests us. It’s a sad, disgusting, pointless business that sucks out your soul and makes you forget why you make music in the first place and we will have no more of it.
From now on we will: -

1. Make music purely and solely for the enjoyment of the creativity and will be honoured if others enjoy our music too.
2. Make music with no thought of business, labels, sales or promotion other than to keep those who have expressed an interest updated.
3. Endeavour to only play shows that are a little bit special, preferably with artists we admire.
4. Give any profit made from music after expenses and minimal costs to a good cause- negating any chance of reverting to the chase for money.
5. Only appear directly in magazine articles and publications where a fee has been agreed which is to be paid, after expenses, to a good cause of our choice. Unless the appearance is itself in order to publicise a good cause.

From now on we will not: -

1. Pucker up to labels, agents, promoters, managers or anyone else in the industry. If you are interested by all means get in touch, but it will be on our terms entirely and do not expect to find a desperate artiste here, you will be disappointed.
2. Do any gigs or recordings that will be an unpleasant experience. No more being jammed between a punk band and an indie band simply to make up numbers and no more “bring X number of people or else”. We will inform all those who enjoy our music about our performance and do our best to publicise but we also expect promoters to bring at least “X number of people” too. If you can’t sort your end of promoting the night out, we won’t be playing it.
3. Not do anything at all we do not want to do, under any circumstances. You will not be seeing us turn into a Ladyhawke clone (no disrespect to LadyHawke but we are not she and she is not us-it should stay that way).

From now on it will be about us enjoying the creation and performance of our music, and not the fame and wealth, the pursuit of which seems only to depress artist even if when they succeed.

Dawn Firth/Richard Godbehere

‘It’s daylight robbery!’ I hear someone say. It certainly is and Britain has got a name for itself for it now. Only, it’s not so much Britain as London generally. It’s a Dog Eat Dog world in London, every man for himself. You really have to watch yourself. People get away with so much. They can’t seem to police anything down here. There’s rarely any prices shown on items in the shops, so they can try to charge you whatever they want and what’s worse is they’ll say 50% off, but with no price tag, so how do you know if it’s 50% off or not? I once came to London and went to a McDonalds when I was younger and asked for one of the ice-creams. They had prices on the board, but he still tried to charge me more for it. I think he thought because I was a kid he’d get away with it, but he didn’t, I just didn’t buy it. Don’t you think that’s disgusting though? Trying to rip off a kid? You would think that some of the larger companies wouldn’t do this. But they do. I was under the impression that after a certain amount of money spent, it capped on the underground. This is not so, as I have found to my horror a few times not to mention this weekend. But everyone in London knows of the awful, incompetent morons who are Transport For London. I swear to get a TFL job you have to take a test and fail it. It doesn’t matter what it is, people in this city and in Britain as a whole, they will try and con every penny they can out of you. They will try to get blood out of a stone. Especially the banks! I can’t believe that they are still trying to rip people off. I swear that they have systems that recognise when you are going to have no money in your account and wait for the opportunity to pounce. Isn’t it funny how cheques can clear normally, but when they can see money is coming out they don’t allow it to clear until you have no money in the bank so that they can charge you. Also companies with Direct Debit set ups like to cancel your direct debit and then tell you, you have a charge because they didn’t get paid, because they cancelled your direct debit! The thing is they get away with it all too often because they know that there are too many times that we go through this and that we don’t have time to go through all the companies that do this. It would be a full time job if we did! And that is where they get us! It’s a terrible situation at the moment and something needs to be done about it. But I suppose it will be left aside for someone else to deal with.

I can’t even remember the beginning of last week now. So it can’t have been that eventful. I think I did a couple of short runs, but I’m really struggling to keep up with it at the moment, with everything that has been happening lately. I just don’t seem to be able to get my head around doing it. But, I’m going to set myself some goals, which should encourage me to exercise more often. I’ve done some song practice, but not as much again this week for much the same reason as with the exercise. I just wasn’t feeling much like it at all. I was feeling down most of last week, when I think about it and that always leads to me not doing very much. So I spent a lot of time, just trying to rest. The weekend was good though. My mum came to visit me from Sheffield. We visited the Museum of London and Greenwich on Saturday, had a lovely meal and a nice walk on Saturday. On Sunday we visited the British Museum, although we didn’t stay long as it was getting warm and frankly we’d done enough wandering around on Saturday and we were all quite tired. So we walked over to St James Park to see the London Marathon and to sit in the sun for a while. It was a lovely atmosphere and in some way quite moving. All of these people running in order to help out other people. It made me want to do it even more. I’ll need a lot more training for that though! After that we attempted to get to Westminster station (stupid idea I know) and as usual, when anything happens in London, we were made to go the long way around the block. But we got there eventually and took my mum back to Kings Cross. After all that we were exhausted. Me & Rich came home ate and fell asleep. So the weekend was a very enjoyable one. It was nice just to get out and do something else. I don’t remember the last time we did that. But it makes me think that we should do it more often, as I think my head was feeling clearer, even though I was very tired when we got back. This Week I have been Listening to/watching/Reading: Listening to: Scarlet Blonde – Acerbic (Album) ABC – When Smokey Sings Watching: The X-Files Family Guy – New Series Muse – various videos on You Tube Eurythmics – various videos on You Tube No Doubt – various videos on You Tube Reading: The Robots of Dawn – Issac Asimov

People have some strange opinions with regards to technology in all walks of life and technology in music would appear to be no different. There are a lot of people out there that go on about how they don’t think technology and music should go together. These people don’t like anything that is new and in this decade or the last it’s digital that they really don’t seem to like. Or maybe these people just don’t like progress. It’s something I don’t really understand- although I know that some just find it difficult to adapt to change- but I love it when new technology comes out (of any type), but even more so in music. Anything that can help to get the best and the newest sounds in music is ‘music to my ears’ (ooh, sorry!). Anything that enhances the sound or makes things easier for the musician and the listener has got to be better in my humble opinion. It’s never been any different. There have always been these types. In the 70’s & 80’s people stuck there noses up at synthesizers. In the 50’s & 60’s they had an aversion to distortion added the guitar sound. Before that, even the mere thought of an Electric guitar was just too much. Seriously, the acoustic guitar is technology. There is a lot of science in the building of any instrument and to ‘hate technology’ is just Luditism, or worse, it’s trying to be cool. A couple of things I should point out are 1. Music recorded on Analogue tape in a top studio DOES NOT sound better than recorded digitally. If your studio can run to the top end of its converters then digital actually sounds better. “But it’s warmer” I hear. That ‘warmth’ is a fake addition which comes from the tape distorting the sound and personally, I can’t stand it. I love that clear, precise Digital sound where a pin dropping sounds like a pin dropping- not a warm muffled pin dropping. 2. Analogue synths sound wicked- some of the time. The rest of the time they are out of tune, impossible to programme, heavy, always on the verge of breaking down and noisy. If you can afford a good one then good for you, but if you can’t, you’ll either have something nowhere near as good as an emulator or a digital synth, or you’ll have a monster. Also, a guitar isn’t good simply because its old and all beat up. Some old guitars are amazing, properly fantastic. Others are the worst piles of crap in the world and should be avoided at all cost. Don’t get it just cus’ it’s old. I’ve seen people shelling out in excess over £1000 for a guitar that was regarded as firewood in the 60’s just because it is from the 60’s. Don’t do it! What I’m saying here is that people don’t seem to realise is that you can’t get away from technology. It’s all around us. Your Guitars, your analogue effect pedals, your amplifiers, it’s all technology! It’s just a little older than the newer stuff. So if you don’t like technology, then you’d better get back to the cave and start banging those rocks together! Actually, don’t use the rocks either, because then you would be using tools and that too, is technology. You’ll just have to slap yourselves. DawnyVic

Wouldn’t it be nice if things just worked? Is it just me or does anyone else find that things in general never seem to just work? Is it just me who feels that everything seems to be hard work? I’m not meaning that I’m lazy, but some things really don’t need to be such hard work, some things you just don’t need to make a meal of. I suppose it can't be only me that thinks this because there was recently a car ad that said 'Isn't it good when things just work' and also I saw a video of Seth Godin who did a lecture he called ‘It’s broken’, which explains very similar situations to what I’m saying here. I’m talking about everything here. In our case, we buy a lot of equipment for our band and sometimes things just don’t work. For instance we bought an item just recently and all it had to do was work. Plug in and owrk. Instead, 2 long days deciphering the incredibly complex manual, followed by a day of finding out the manual is a total work of useless fiction ensued. It works now, and it’s fantastic, but for Christ’s sake! We’ve got a washing machine and it washes, but all our clothes come out with bits of fluff on them, so I have to spend time pulling them off with bit’s of tape. Buses (in London) won’t take money anymore (probably, because some of the drivers are incapable of counting). They’re always late and when they’re late they make everyone get off the bus until the next one comes, because it’s late! (?) We seem to have to 'mend' an awful lot due to things that have happened because it wasn't done right in the first place. You can’t just phone up a company and talk to someone if you have a problem you have to go through a number of stupid automatic systems, mostly of which, don’t seem to work and all of which cost you a fortune, just to get through the bloody things! And then when you get through to someone they can’t answer your question because ‘computer says no!’ Then there are procedures! Who came up with this wonderful idea? Most procedures I come across are just there because, somebody needs to find themselves something to do or because somebody gets off on creating them. Mostly, there’s no need for them. It wastes everybody’s time in most cases and it often wastes money. It’s all red tape, just for the sake of creating red tape. Some people just can’t live without it, but it always seems to hinder things. I understand that there are certain jobs where it is important to have certain procedures in place, but most companies just go too far with it. In many companies now (I’m speaking of my experience now with a number of companies I have worked for) we have certain departments. I won’t mention which departments I’m talking about, but most of us who have worked for a few different companies will know what I’m talking about. These particular offending departments, love procedure and seemingly love to cock everything up. And yet for all the procedures and little bits and bobs they put in place to make them look professional and like a real company NOTHING WORKS! The equipment doesn’t work, the procedures don’t work, the systems don’t work. Everything in this country at the moment just seems to be a bit, if not a lot like crap! If the bankers are anything like the people in some of these departments, no bloody wonder we’re in a recession. I could go on and on all day with the problems that we seem to make for ourselves these days that really don’t need to be a problem. But I’m not going to, because I have to go and solve some of those very problems I've been speaking of.

Well, this week started off well with a day off work for Easter Monday. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the rest of the week. Various things happened or didn’t happen, but I won’t bore you with the details. However, we have been rehearsing frantically all week and get the live set nice and tight. We spent most evenings and the whole weekend doing this, so we’re pretty exhausted now. Ditch even more so than I, as he spent time in the daytime getting all of the settings and sounds and levels all sorted out. I started out quite well last week on the exercise again, but with everything that was going on, I ended up putting that to one side and just focussing on the rehearsing. So the rest of the week when I wasn’t at work or rehearsing, was just trying to relax and watching TV or Listening to music, except for a brief period on Sunday, which was spent having a stroll in the park and grabbing an ice-cream with all the bits and sauce on, which we haven’t done in ages. They don’t seem to do that in London so often. This Week I have been Listening to: Ghostbusters! – Ray Parker Jnr. Depeche Mode – Wrong Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls Kings Cross- great new band, check 'em out- http://ping.fm/l8o3B Watching: Quantum of Solace (anyone else think this is just a long last scene from Casino Royale? There's almost no plot, even by Bond standards!) Robert Llewellyn’s Car Pool (Llewtube) Time Team The X-Files Family Guy – New Series (Hurrah!) My Name is Earl Henry Viii: Mind of a Tyrant Reading: The Robots of Dawn – Issac Asimov

...how did we live without it? I remember, some time ago now, Trevor McDonald on ‘And Finally…’ on the News, talking about the ‘Information Super Highway’ and how it was coming sooner than we thought. Now it’s well and truly here and has been for almost 10 years for the everyday man on the street. And most of us use it on a daily basis, often for most of the day. It has become like TV, the microwave, the telephone and even the mobile phone, all things once we lived without and yet now we can’t imagine how we would manage without these things. When I lived at home with my parents, we had many books and I remember thinking that that was quite good to acquire information for my homework, but how frustrated I was when I couldn’t get the information I needed, so I would go and see if there was anything at the library and even then I couldn’t always find what I needed. Now I can find any information about anything all at the tips of my fingers, all from one central station. You do have to sieve through the crap and stupidity but I think anyone with a touch of savvy can do that. Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter etc. are all things we could never have imagined would have existed. Gone are the days of pen pals, of waiting for someone in a far distant land to receive your letter and for them to reply and send it back, which could take up to a couple of months. Now we can talk to another person on the other side of the world instantly. As someone who is quite shy and finds it difficult to strike up a conversation with people in person, it has opened up a whole new world. It’s never been easier for people like me to make friends and to network. Then there’s the little films we see on the Video sites such as You Tube, amazing, funny or moving images that we never got to see before. Music is easier to find. You can ask someone or you can look it up on Google or another search engine and it’s there, right away. It’s really quite amazing when you think. We’ve entered a whole new way of life, way of thinking, learning and communicating and although we were expecting it, it has actually sneaked up on us a little. I honestly don’t know now what I would personally do without it. It has allowed me to do so much and I think that goes for most of us. Many people don’t like the idea of technology, but I don’t know many who don’t use the internet regularly. Maybe that shows just how much we now take it for granted.

This week was a short week work wise and weekend wise a long one. I wish every weekend could be a 4 day weekend! I don’t remember what I did at the beginning of the week other than going to work. I think I spent time exercising and getting bits and pieces together ready for rehearsals. But Friday for us was a long day, which is nice when you don’t have to go to work. We got up to go to rehearsals at 7am and were there until 3pm. We managed to get loads done and we’re well and truly on the way to having the full set rehearsed up nice and tight. Later on after the rehearsal we went with Chris our new Drummer back into London to meet with Sarah our new manager. We only managed to get to see her for an hour, but she’s really nice and we had a good laugh between us. After that we had some chippy chips and then we moved on to a party in Holloway and eventually we got home at about 1am on Saturday morning. The rest of the Easter weekend we spent at Ditch’s Brother’s in South London with a house full of Ditch’ nieces and nephews running around, so we had a nice fairly relaxing though quite noisy, non-work based Easter which was great for a change. Now we only have a 4 day week at work again (Excellent!!) And then soon enough it’ll be May Day Bank holiday! This Week I have been Listening to/watching: Listening to: Adam and the Ants - Ant Music, Prince Charming, Stand & Deliver Nine Inch Nails – Fragile (album) Eurythmics – There must be an Angel Soft Cell – Tainted Love Human League – Don’t you want me Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb Watching: Red Dwarf Easter Special Dr. Who Easter Special Get Carter Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Robert Llewellyn’s Car Pool (Llewtube) Time Team

Hello, Ditch here for once, giving dawn a break and getting something that is really pissing me and Dawn of our chests. Recently, yet again, those who have decided to use religious views to justify their bigotry and evil have raised their ugly heads and I am quite frankly sick of the pick and choose, overly righteous pigs spouting rubbish about Leviticus calling homosexuallity an abomination etc, so I have a few questions I need clarification for (and I thank the west wing and other sources for getting me started: - a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? b) I would like to sell my niece into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to the Scottish, but not the Welsh. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Welsh people? e) Our manager insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states she should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill her myself? f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I am short sighted. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die? i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play rugby if I wear gloves? j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) k) So often I hear of you telling us that a nuclear war is predicted in the bible in both Daniel and Revelation. As we both know the Bible is the absolute true word of god and should be taken as the literal truth, can you show me the page that mentions the nuclear missiles, war heads, atomic explosions or similar literal references as all I can find are references to a star (Wormwood) falling to Earth which, obviously means a star will fall to Earth, not a missile, as the bible is the literal truth is it not. Thank you again, religious right, for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging and that the bible is the literal truth and should be adhered to completely and without exception. Why I oughta! Ditch

Listening to: Wham! - Wake me up before you go go Ultravox - Vienna Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) Devi- Get Free (album) Jo Jo Mayer and Nerve Watching: Heroes Sky at Night The X-Files Family Guy The Mentalist Start Trek: Deep Space 9 (last series) Reading: The Robots of Dawn - Issac Asimov Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince