Sad news friends. After 3 years Kazooee has ceased. We would like to thank you for all your support during our time and hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did.
The split is fully amicable and we hope you join us in wishing each member the best in all future projects.
Heart felt thanks again.
Much love
JQ, Ben, Andy and Steve.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Quality Performance
Hey,
Having finally worked out the technology of dvd capture I have a little treat for you all. Below is a video of Kazooee playing Bad Vibes in London earlier in the year. It was filmed by the venue, with quality sound and lighting as standard. Enjoy it, we did!
xJQx
Having finally worked out the technology of dvd capture I have a little treat for you all. Below is a video of Kazooee playing Bad Vibes in London earlier in the year. It was filmed by the venue, with quality sound and lighting as standard. Enjoy it, we did!
xJQx
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Halloween Voices Whispering.....
shh....don't tell anyone I was here....its supposed to be quiet time.
Yeah right, like its ever quiet being in this band. I thought I'd just pop on and say hi and that we are still beavering away behind the scenes. No gigs do not mean no action in the Kazooee camp and we are hatching plans for fun that I can hopefully tell you more about soon.
Something I can tell you about is that yet another new song is being put through its paces in rehearsals, the rather ominous "Don’t Look Back". It’s big and it’s loud and I'm looking forward to unleashing it on you all in 2010.
Until then watch this space....
Yeah right, like its ever quiet being in this band. I thought I'd just pop on and say hi and that we are still beavering away behind the scenes. No gigs do not mean no action in the Kazooee camp and we are hatching plans for fun that I can hopefully tell you more about soon.
Something I can tell you about is that yet another new song is being put through its paces in rehearsals, the rather ominous "Don’t Look Back". It’s big and it’s loud and I'm looking forward to unleashing it on you all in 2010.
Until then watch this space....
Monday, 28 September 2009
Ringing out the (gigging) year at the Old Bell
Much to my own shame, I had never been to the Old Bell in Derby before. It’s a great venue, the stage is in what must have been a ball room at some point, giving it a striking and impressive set up and to its credit the attached pub also has character and atmosphere, I will be going there again.
We were informed that we were to headline the gig on our arrival so we duly negotiated our set up to a comfortable 45 minutes form the standard 30 of the support bands, letting us play all of our favourites and some of the new songs to boot.
The gig was fun it was good to have a both lighting and sound man and a good size stage to stomp around on. Given the size of the stage Andy impressively managed to hit me square in the forehead with a drum stick which ricocheted off me onto Steve’s head before disappearing into the audience. I think we have mentioned before that you can tell how good a gig is by the injuries sustained by band members and with that in mind it was a great gig, fitting for our last one of 2009.
Keep checking up on us in the coming months as although we will not be gigging there are plans a foot for videos, new songs, random fun and Kazooee related side projects. Expect a big push in 2010 and thanks for your support in 2009.
Much love
xJQx
We were informed that we were to headline the gig on our arrival so we duly negotiated our set up to a comfortable 45 minutes form the standard 30 of the support bands, letting us play all of our favourites and some of the new songs to boot.
The gig was fun it was good to have a both lighting and sound man and a good size stage to stomp around on. Given the size of the stage Andy impressively managed to hit me square in the forehead with a drum stick which ricocheted off me onto Steve’s head before disappearing into the audience. I think we have mentioned before that you can tell how good a gig is by the injuries sustained by band members and with that in mind it was a great gig, fitting for our last one of 2009.
Keep checking up on us in the coming months as although we will not be gigging there are plans a foot for videos, new songs, random fun and Kazooee related side projects. Expect a big push in 2010 and thanks for your support in 2009.
Much love
xJQx
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Flourish at the Fleur De Lys
Nuneaton. Now be honest if you didn’t have Google maps handy could you tell me where it was? Didn’t think so. I was impressed to find it was not to far from Leicester and seemingly (only getting to see it from the car) is a decent midlands sort of town.
Exciting tit bits from the evening, do I here you ask?
Well I inadvertently flashed to a good number of locals by getting changed in Steve’s car. He has blacked out windows so usually I get away with it but I forgot that at night if you leave the internal light on to see what you’re doing, then the tinted windows count for naught. I got 2 waves and a honk before I realised. Hey ho, least I didn’t get arrested. As for on stage action, there was the usual windmillng from Ben, hard hitting from Andy but Steve got tired in the last song and having attempted a rather rock-stance, back to back with my good self, ended up flat on the stage, still playing, I was proud he didn’t miss a note. I don’t know if he was being cool or if it was just his age stopping him getting back up! Ha ha.
It was another big set from Kazooee tonight, a whole hour of us rocking out just about every song we have. The best thing about that is we get to play the new and not so new songs that are headed for the next album;
Fishnets & Eyeliner
Negative Attraction
Unaided
Assassin
It sucked to have to cancel the Leeds gig but when a pandemic strikes you don’t get to say no. With that said something productive did come out of the week Ben and I had swine flu in the form of another new song called You Have Me, don’t worry its not about being ill.
We have one more gig, in Derby on the 25th, before we take some well earn time off to sort out the plan of attack for next year. New album, a short tour in Europe and many many more UK gigs. I’m looking forward to it and hope to see you soon.
xJQx
Exciting tit bits from the evening, do I here you ask?
Well I inadvertently flashed to a good number of locals by getting changed in Steve’s car. He has blacked out windows so usually I get away with it but I forgot that at night if you leave the internal light on to see what you’re doing, then the tinted windows count for naught. I got 2 waves and a honk before I realised. Hey ho, least I didn’t get arrested. As for on stage action, there was the usual windmillng from Ben, hard hitting from Andy but Steve got tired in the last song and having attempted a rather rock-stance, back to back with my good self, ended up flat on the stage, still playing, I was proud he didn’t miss a note. I don’t know if he was being cool or if it was just his age stopping him getting back up! Ha ha.
It was another big set from Kazooee tonight, a whole hour of us rocking out just about every song we have. The best thing about that is we get to play the new and not so new songs that are headed for the next album;
Fishnets & Eyeliner
Negative Attraction
Unaided
Assassin
It sucked to have to cancel the Leeds gig but when a pandemic strikes you don’t get to say no. With that said something productive did come out of the week Ben and I had swine flu in the form of another new song called You Have Me, don’t worry its not about being ill.
We have one more gig, in Derby on the 25th, before we take some well earn time off to sort out the plan of attack for next year. New album, a short tour in Europe and many many more UK gigs. I’m looking forward to it and hope to see you soon.
xJQx
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Lots of fun at the Rising Sun
It was a first for us to have the stage all to ourselves. No support bands, just us, a pub full of people and an hour of our finest chosen songs. Due to a rather creative period in the band our catalog of song is always growing steadily so you never know when we will pounce a new song on the masses.
My guitar pedal, oddly enough attracted the most attention in the opening songs from a group of guys at the front, I was told that the sound produced was “emence”, what can I say, it does exactly what it says on the tin, it’s a grunge pedal. The set went down well, the venue catered for the more rock-metal crowd so the heavier songs were met with the best response, new song Assassin seems to be a winner, no matter who's in the crowd.
Its good to play to an enthusiastic crowd and Coventry were certainly that. I had SO many good conversations as I went round with the mailing list. There were lots of interesting people and stories heard but my favorite has to be our very own Motor Bike gang member. His club was called the Coffin Scratchers and he was so taken with Kazooee that he asked to swaped badges, I now own a a very very cool ‘Coffin Scratchers M.C.C’ badge. He also had an awesome beard, this makes me happy.
Thank to everyone who came and said hi.
xJQx
My guitar pedal, oddly enough attracted the most attention in the opening songs from a group of guys at the front, I was told that the sound produced was “emence”, what can I say, it does exactly what it says on the tin, it’s a grunge pedal. The set went down well, the venue catered for the more rock-metal crowd so the heavier songs were met with the best response, new song Assassin seems to be a winner, no matter who's in the crowd.
Its good to play to an enthusiastic crowd and Coventry were certainly that. I had SO many good conversations as I went round with the mailing list. There were lots of interesting people and stories heard but my favorite has to be our very own Motor Bike gang member. His club was called the Coffin Scratchers and he was so taken with Kazooee that he asked to swaped badges, I now own a a very very cool ‘Coffin Scratchers M.C.C’ badge. He also had an awesome beard, this makes me happy.
Thank to everyone who came and said hi.
xJQx
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Hope Anchors to success
Kazooee rocked the Capital. We had our first gig in London on the 3rd and it was hell of a fun. The car was loaded with as much equipment and ‘Kazooee’ as it could possibly be and we road tripped to take on the bright lights.
It wasn’t just us on the invasion in London that night, we had company from Take That at Wembley and Blur in Hyde Park but still managed to fight off the big boys to gain a good crowd in such a nostalgic Venue. I was impressed at how tiny the stage was in the Hope and Anchor being as it has been graced with the likes of Madness and The specials, neither of which are short of band members for a 2 metre square bit of wood!
First on was Paraphernalia, a London based 3 piece. I was proud to witness both a female bass player/singer and female drummer rocking it for the women along with a very unlucky guitarist, who broke not 1 but 2 string during their short set. Paraphernalia’s sound was straight out of early punk and I liked them a lot. ‘Make tea not War’ should be in more people’s vocabulary.
We were next up and if you can judge a gig buy how much the band hurt themselves then we totally killed it with both Ben and Andy coming out with impressive injuries. The gig was filmed for a DVD by the venue and we will pop some up on youtube ASAP. Then you too can see and hear the fun that was had including me recounting the story of having to use the back seat of Steve’s car as a dressing room. No comment on car backseats. I’m warning you.
Ziodberg won the award for the most men on a stage for the evening. Everywhere you looked there was a guitar poking someone else in the side but they all crammed on and gave us a good show. Their music was indie but with a little classic rock thrown in for luck and they were a great bunch of lads. In fact they were so nice that they didn’t mind that their lovely photographer man developed somewhat of an interest in Kazooee and was seen snapping pics of us during the set. He was rewarded with a badge and some JQ attention; we felt it was well deserved.
To mark the first Kazooee attack on London we made a tour video. Granted it wasn’t a tour, it was one gig but if you imagine that the video is just repeated 20 times just with different venues and service stations then it'd be pretty bang on.
Here's 11 minutes of the private Kazooee world. Warning, there is explicit language and you might realise how cool we really are.
It wasn’t just us on the invasion in London that night, we had company from Take That at Wembley and Blur in Hyde Park but still managed to fight off the big boys to gain a good crowd in such a nostalgic Venue. I was impressed at how tiny the stage was in the Hope and Anchor being as it has been graced with the likes of Madness and The specials, neither of which are short of band members for a 2 metre square bit of wood!
First on was Paraphernalia, a London based 3 piece. I was proud to witness both a female bass player/singer and female drummer rocking it for the women along with a very unlucky guitarist, who broke not 1 but 2 string during their short set. Paraphernalia’s sound was straight out of early punk and I liked them a lot. ‘Make tea not War’ should be in more people’s vocabulary.
We were next up and if you can judge a gig buy how much the band hurt themselves then we totally killed it with both Ben and Andy coming out with impressive injuries. The gig was filmed for a DVD by the venue and we will pop some up on youtube ASAP. Then you too can see and hear the fun that was had including me recounting the story of having to use the back seat of Steve’s car as a dressing room. No comment on car backseats. I’m warning you.
Ziodberg won the award for the most men on a stage for the evening. Everywhere you looked there was a guitar poking someone else in the side but they all crammed on and gave us a good show. Their music was indie but with a little classic rock thrown in for luck and they were a great bunch of lads. In fact they were so nice that they didn’t mind that their lovely photographer man developed somewhat of an interest in Kazooee and was seen snapping pics of us during the set. He was rewarded with a badge and some JQ attention; we felt it was well deserved.
To mark the first Kazooee attack on London we made a tour video. Granted it wasn’t a tour, it was one gig but if you imagine that the video is just repeated 20 times just with different venues and service stations then it'd be pretty bang on.
Here's 11 minutes of the private Kazooee world. Warning, there is explicit language and you might realise how cool we really are.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Animals and Artists @ the Angel
It’s been a good while since we played the Old Angel in Nottingham, so long in fact Andy had never even been. It’s not changed much; tiny stage with stuffed deer head suspended above it and boarded up windows. The description doesn’t do it justice, it’s actually a cool little place, somewhere I like to frequent for cheap beer.
Steve and I stood in the dark dingy gig room and reminisced about our first meeting there during a battle of the bands, it seems like an age ago but it’s only been 2 years. I guess time flies and all that. Anyway back to the now.
We were on first, playing out a fresh set list, a nice balance of old and new songs. We brought it together well and it’s the most fun I’ve have in a while. There was dancing and shouting from both me and the amassed punters and the vibe was a positive one. To quote Andy directly “We F—king Rocked it”. He’s very to the point.
Le Chat Noir were up next aka Teddy and Eileen. Had a darn good chat to the both of them prior to our set and they were top people. Eileen and I bonded over our love of Janet Weiss from Sleater Kinney, The woman’s a legend. Le Chat Noir gave it their all. Teddy threw himself around the stage like a mad man and Eileen beat her drums harder than any woman I’ve ever seen. A real spectacle, if you haven’t seen them you should. You should also lend them your shower; I was told it’s the one thing you miss if you live in a ford transit for weeks at a time.
Raphaelites topped the bill for the evening. Amy is one of Nottingham’s best in my opinion and this is her first full musical venture since Monkeys of the High Seas. Raphaelites are a one man and 2 woman melodic but hard driven punk band. Sharing vocals with her bass player the band introduced us to their new sound; it was good to see that nothing keeps a good musician down.
xJQx
Steve and I stood in the dark dingy gig room and reminisced about our first meeting there during a battle of the bands, it seems like an age ago but it’s only been 2 years. I guess time flies and all that. Anyway back to the now.
We were on first, playing out a fresh set list, a nice balance of old and new songs. We brought it together well and it’s the most fun I’ve have in a while. There was dancing and shouting from both me and the amassed punters and the vibe was a positive one. To quote Andy directly “We F—king Rocked it”. He’s very to the point.
Le Chat Noir were up next aka Teddy and Eileen. Had a darn good chat to the both of them prior to our set and they were top people. Eileen and I bonded over our love of Janet Weiss from Sleater Kinney, The woman’s a legend. Le Chat Noir gave it their all. Teddy threw himself around the stage like a mad man and Eileen beat her drums harder than any woman I’ve ever seen. A real spectacle, if you haven’t seen them you should. You should also lend them your shower; I was told it’s the one thing you miss if you live in a ford transit for weeks at a time.
Raphaelites topped the bill for the evening. Amy is one of Nottingham’s best in my opinion and this is her first full musical venture since Monkeys of the High Seas. Raphaelites are a one man and 2 woman melodic but hard driven punk band. Sharing vocals with her bass player the band introduced us to their new sound; it was good to see that nothing keeps a good musician down.
xJQx
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Hi there, hello, it’s been a while.
I have been busy, I know, I could have called; I could have wrote, I didn’t, I feel the guilt and I take the shame.
*Notice the boys didn’t leap into action and keep you up to date, Nuff said, Its probably for the best.*
On the Kazooee front things have been moving along. We’ve had gigs in Wakefield, gigs in Nottingham and have booked gigs in London and Coventry; we’re getting around a bit. I will blog about the Nottingham gig later own, it deserves its on entry, it was super fun.
In the last few months musical things have been happening in all shapes and sizes. Extra curricular non Kazooee adventure has been had by both Ben and I and this is always a good thing, keeps the inspiration following.
Ben is now producer extraordinaire at subway (http://www.myspace.com/studiosubway), Vaughan is letting him loose in the studio and people are paying for the privilege to work with him, I knew that boy was a catch! So if you’re interested in the mighty Powell recording your tracks you know where to go.
As for me, I have been making live videos for Beck Stacey (http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwcombeckstacey).
Nothing up on the web as yet but keep your eyes peeled, it will be soon, either on hers or I might find somewhere to show them off. It was great fun doing them, Beck is super talented and I can’t recommend her music enough, bloody nice woman to boot.
Anyone for GIN?
In addition to videoing and recording etc I have also been donated a drum kit. It is the loveliest thing I have ever seen (in a rock way of course) and I, with help and support for Andy have been attempting to bring it back to life. It’s a 1960s Sonor tear drop Kit and it was more rust then drum kit before but now it’s getting there. I will take a pic and put it up for you soon. I might even let Andy play it at a few gigs, hell I might play it at a few gigs! Ha ha. Freak everyone out, including the boys!
So there you go shameful excuses for not blogging but I will attempt to make up for it from here.
Love and rusty drum kit parts
xJQx
*Notice the boys didn’t leap into action and keep you up to date, Nuff said, Its probably for the best.*
On the Kazooee front things have been moving along. We’ve had gigs in Wakefield, gigs in Nottingham and have booked gigs in London and Coventry; we’re getting around a bit. I will blog about the Nottingham gig later own, it deserves its on entry, it was super fun.
In the last few months musical things have been happening in all shapes and sizes. Extra curricular non Kazooee adventure has been had by both Ben and I and this is always a good thing, keeps the inspiration following.
Ben is now producer extraordinaire at subway (http://www.myspace.com/studiosubway), Vaughan is letting him loose in the studio and people are paying for the privilege to work with him, I knew that boy was a catch! So if you’re interested in the mighty Powell recording your tracks you know where to go.
As for me, I have been making live videos for Beck Stacey (http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwcombeckstacey).
Nothing up on the web as yet but keep your eyes peeled, it will be soon, either on hers or I might find somewhere to show them off. It was great fun doing them, Beck is super talented and I can’t recommend her music enough, bloody nice woman to boot.
Anyone for GIN?
In addition to videoing and recording etc I have also been donated a drum kit. It is the loveliest thing I have ever seen (in a rock way of course) and I, with help and support for Andy have been attempting to bring it back to life. It’s a 1960s Sonor tear drop Kit and it was more rust then drum kit before but now it’s getting there. I will take a pic and put it up for you soon. I might even let Andy play it at a few gigs, hell I might play it at a few gigs! Ha ha. Freak everyone out, including the boys!
So there you go shameful excuses for not blogging but I will attempt to make up for it from here.
Love and rusty drum kit parts
xJQx
Saturday, 25 April 2009
The Learn to Breathe Video
Making videos is fun. Tiring, cold and a little odd but fun.
To prepare for 8 hours of filming the band quite responsibly stayed up late drinking the night before, then proceeded to sleep on the front room floor of the videos location. Both also occurred after filming had finished because well, we like to be consistent.
It was a new experience for the boys to have to ‘perform’ without the safety of their instruments but I think they did very well. They embraced the idea of being menacing and all got into character by letting their stubble grow, apparently gangsters don’t shave.
In keeping with the godfather theme I gave the boys new names:
Ben “Crazy Eyes” Powell
Steve “Death Stare” Elliot
Andy “The Joker” Naylor
I’d like to say these names where based on evil doings but it was more their acting ability; Ben couldn’t keep his eyes still, Steve just didn’t move and Andy kept smiling!
I didn’t escape renaming; I’m now JQ ‘The punisher’ which I think is a fair assessment. I will say in my defence, if I'm having to sing an entire song in a cold dark room, having to start again and again cause someone laughed, I’m eventually going to hit them with the rather handy whip I've been given. Its cause and effect.
The actual filming of the video went very smoothly (with big thanks to Leon), after the initial awkwardness of having to do some rather disturbing things to a very nice girl called Shelly; everyone seemed to settle into character. The day went quickly and we were all duly a little mentally and physically exhausted by the end. Thankfully Shelly escaped the day with only minor grazes.
So the first Kazooee video is done. Now I’m hungry for more.
Ideas on a postcard,
No Porn.
xJQx
To prepare for 8 hours of filming the band quite responsibly stayed up late drinking the night before, then proceeded to sleep on the front room floor of the videos location. Both also occurred after filming had finished because well, we like to be consistent.
It was a new experience for the boys to have to ‘perform’ without the safety of their instruments but I think they did very well. They embraced the idea of being menacing and all got into character by letting their stubble grow, apparently gangsters don’t shave.
In keeping with the godfather theme I gave the boys new names:
Ben “Crazy Eyes” Powell
Steve “Death Stare” Elliot
Andy “The Joker” Naylor
I’d like to say these names where based on evil doings but it was more their acting ability; Ben couldn’t keep his eyes still, Steve just didn’t move and Andy kept smiling!
I didn’t escape renaming; I’m now JQ ‘The punisher’ which I think is a fair assessment. I will say in my defence, if I'm having to sing an entire song in a cold dark room, having to start again and again cause someone laughed, I’m eventually going to hit them with the rather handy whip I've been given. Its cause and effect.
The actual filming of the video went very smoothly (with big thanks to Leon), after the initial awkwardness of having to do some rather disturbing things to a very nice girl called Shelly; everyone seemed to settle into character. The day went quickly and we were all duly a little mentally and physically exhausted by the end. Thankfully Shelly escaped the day with only minor grazes.
So the first Kazooee video is done. Now I’m hungry for more.
Ideas on a postcard,
No Porn.
xJQx
Monday, 6 April 2009
Odd and Creepy, Talented and Unnerving
Tuesday was our night to have some fun. We were up first on a bill with some impressive talent so we took great pride in kicking the evening off with gusto. Ben was seen to windmill, Andy hit skins like a man possessed and Steve and I, well we continued to play the game of who can bite the other first without being seen. I won. I always do.
I proudly gave a debut to my brand new, sexy as hell, knee high lace up boots. I have never loved a pair of boots as much as I do them. They are gorgeous. The set went well, we got some hell yeahs from the audience and even though we were in Leicester we were the most local band on the bill with the others coming from Brighton and Wales respectively. Suffice to say the Kazooee massive were as welcoming to the other bands as they were to us.
Your Army, a very energetic band were the highlight to Ben and Steve’s night. It was torture for them to watch another female fronted band jump around on stage for 30 mins doing some stella, be your own pet inspired pop rock.
Alas my favour was for once aimed away from my usual gender bias towards women by the very wonderful, The Drip Dry Man and The Amazing Glitterdome. These guys rocked. Refreshingly odd and creepy in just the right amounts, talented and unnerving and totally lovely guys to boot. They shared a love of gas masks and a quick CD swap later we were on our way back to Nott’s listening to
“Posh and Dirty”.
Ahh men after my own heart.
xJQx
PS.we made a music video for Learn to Breathe last weekend. Its being edited together as you read and will be up asap along with an account of the goings on for that day. Here are a couple of teaser images.
I proudly gave a debut to my brand new, sexy as hell, knee high lace up boots. I have never loved a pair of boots as much as I do them. They are gorgeous. The set went well, we got some hell yeahs from the audience and even though we were in Leicester we were the most local band on the bill with the others coming from Brighton and Wales respectively. Suffice to say the Kazooee massive were as welcoming to the other bands as they were to us.
Your Army, a very energetic band were the highlight to Ben and Steve’s night. It was torture for them to watch another female fronted band jump around on stage for 30 mins doing some stella, be your own pet inspired pop rock.
Alas my favour was for once aimed away from my usual gender bias towards women by the very wonderful, The Drip Dry Man and The Amazing Glitterdome. These guys rocked. Refreshingly odd and creepy in just the right amounts, talented and unnerving and totally lovely guys to boot. They shared a love of gas masks and a quick CD swap later we were on our way back to Nott’s listening to
“Posh and Dirty”.
Ahh men after my own heart.
xJQx
PS.we made a music video for Learn to Breathe last weekend. Its being edited together as you read and will be up asap along with an account of the goings on for that day. Here are a couple of teaser images.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Bleeding Authentic Rock Show
Well I know I am a naughty girl for not blogging about the Nottingham Old Sal gig until now but I was waiting for photos to be delivered and a little writing inspiration. Both have now arrived, patience is a virtue.
I was excited for the Old Sal gig for 2 reasons.
1) I got to see Helliquin. I have a soft spot for neon painted, scantily clad screaming, heavily tattooed rock men.
2) The stage has a massive window behind it so as you play you can be seen by the traffic going past on Maid Marian way and also wave at people at the bus stop outside! This amuses me greatly. I am a simple woman.
Sherrif Fatman kicked the gig off with some shouty punk jumpiness, they had a lot of energy. I’m sorry to say that I missed most of their set due to technical issues on my part so cant say much else about them.
We were loud, Very loud. So loud in fact that the set was like a great big glorious car crash of noise. Don’t get me wrong, we played well but due to acoustics we couldn’t differentiate the subtleties of our performance so gave it a kicking to make up. I played my guitar so hard I bled. No really, I managed to rip open my middle finger and by the end of the set ‘Beast’ (yes that’s my guitars name) looked like a CSI crime scene.
A local photographer Chloe Atkin took some pics, sadly pre-injury;
Helliquin, all war painted up played a great set, including an impromptu acoustic song. Being a generous lot they also gave out a free CD, I have enjoyed it on a number of occasions since the gig.
Well done guys.
I was excited for the Old Sal gig for 2 reasons.
1) I got to see Helliquin. I have a soft spot for neon painted, scantily clad screaming, heavily tattooed rock men.
2) The stage has a massive window behind it so as you play you can be seen by the traffic going past on Maid Marian way and also wave at people at the bus stop outside! This amuses me greatly. I am a simple woman.
Sherrif Fatman kicked the gig off with some shouty punk jumpiness, they had a lot of energy. I’m sorry to say that I missed most of their set due to technical issues on my part so cant say much else about them.
We were loud, Very loud. So loud in fact that the set was like a great big glorious car crash of noise. Don’t get me wrong, we played well but due to acoustics we couldn’t differentiate the subtleties of our performance so gave it a kicking to make up. I played my guitar so hard I bled. No really, I managed to rip open my middle finger and by the end of the set ‘Beast’ (yes that’s my guitars name) looked like a CSI crime scene.
A local photographer Chloe Atkin took some pics, sadly pre-injury;
Helliquin, all war painted up played a great set, including an impromptu acoustic song. Being a generous lot they also gave out a free CD, I have enjoyed it on a number of occasions since the gig.
Well done guys.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
It’s where the action happens
Here in the Kazooee camp we like to make life easy for you. Most bands would have you go all over the net, clicking this and downloading that, where as we bring it to your feet, your special you know.
Just for enjoyment we have added a new music player to the main Kazooee website this week to allow you to hear 30 second clips of all the W.I.H.A.W.S tracks while you potter about on our site looking at the sexy things we provide you with to peruse and you will even find below a nicely lifted clip of our recent mention on the Leftlion Alternative podcast.
Alt:lion -Left Lion Podcast (clip)
See you need go no further then here. We’d like to thank Jon at Leftlion for his support and we are glad that the guys at Leftlion have such good taste in music, in fact the track played straight after us in the podcast was ‘Child with a Gun’ by The Other Left. I was helping out at Subway Studios the weekend they recorded this song for their EP and I’m so glad that they are getting a heads up too. Jo, Dave and the others were fun to hang out with and have played gigs with us since, good bunch and hell of a talented.
Right back to the important people, as I promised a couple of weeks ago I have picked out some photos sent in of badges and their varied locations. I thought I’d pick out a comment in your emails, just for the grin, rather than put your names, I’m sure you will recognise your pics anyway.
Entry comment: “Full of Pride”
Entry comment: “it’s where the action happens”
Entry comment: “I’m smiling so hard my face might fall off!”
Don’t forget if you want a badge to come down to our next gigs, March 1st in Sheffield and March 5 in Nottingham. Would be great to see you.
xJQx
Just for enjoyment we have added a new music player to the main Kazooee website this week to allow you to hear 30 second clips of all the W.I.H.A.W.S tracks while you potter about on our site looking at the sexy things we provide you with to peruse and you will even find below a nicely lifted clip of our recent mention on the Leftlion Alternative podcast.
Alt:lion -Left Lion Podcast (clip)
See you need go no further then here. We’d like to thank Jon at Leftlion for his support and we are glad that the guys at Leftlion have such good taste in music, in fact the track played straight after us in the podcast was ‘Child with a Gun’ by The Other Left. I was helping out at Subway Studios the weekend they recorded this song for their EP and I’m so glad that they are getting a heads up too. Jo, Dave and the others were fun to hang out with and have played gigs with us since, good bunch and hell of a talented.
Right back to the important people, as I promised a couple of weeks ago I have picked out some photos sent in of badges and their varied locations. I thought I’d pick out a comment in your emails, just for the grin, rather than put your names, I’m sure you will recognise your pics anyway.
Entry comment: “Full of Pride”
Entry comment: “it’s where the action happens”
Entry comment: “I’m smiling so hard my face might fall off!”
Don’t forget if you want a badge to come down to our next gigs, March 1st in Sheffield and March 5 in Nottingham. Would be great to see you.
xJQx
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Here’s to you Mrs Elliot…
It was late and dark outside the Boardwalk venue in Sheffield and the temperature gauge on the giant co op shop across the road said it was only 2 degrees. Kazooee were cold. Due to unforeseen issues (Steve getting his car locked in a public car park over night, having missed the sign saying it closed at 10pm) we were stood on the street awaiting rescue and to Mrs E’s credit she arrived at gone midnight like a knight in shining armour. There is a new rule within the band now, Steve can drive to gigs but he is not allowed to park, his tally so far is one parking ticket and one lock in; we need to save him from himself.
The gig went well, the Sheffield bands welcomed us southerners into their city and so did their audience. My highlight was Left Ajars renditions of Billy Idols ‘Rebel Yell’ and Foo’s ‘All my life’ both of which I could be seen singing along to a bit to heartily. The venue was great, think it’s the biggest stage we’ve been on yet and Ben made the most of that throwing himself around it like a good ‘un.
We would especially like to thank the die hard Kazooee fans that braved the cold wintry night to come up to Sheffield to see us. Their woots and hollers audible throughout the gig were more than welcome but did I heard someone shout ‘freebird’?
Null, our freelance photographer friend, I believe also took some sexy photos during the gig that I will share with you soon as I can.
All in all I have to say;
good gig, good night, bloody cold car park.
xJQx
The gig went well, the Sheffield bands welcomed us southerners into their city and so did their audience. My highlight was Left Ajars renditions of Billy Idols ‘Rebel Yell’ and Foo’s ‘All my life’ both of which I could be seen singing along to a bit to heartily. The venue was great, think it’s the biggest stage we’ve been on yet and Ben made the most of that throwing himself around it like a good ‘un.
We would especially like to thank the die hard Kazooee fans that braved the cold wintry night to come up to Sheffield to see us. Their woots and hollers audible throughout the gig were more than welcome but did I heard someone shout ‘freebird’?
Null, our freelance photographer friend, I believe also took some sexy photos during the gig that I will share with you soon as I can.
All in all I have to say;
good gig, good night, bloody cold car park.
xJQx
Friday, 6 February 2009
Podcasts, badges and photo opportunities
Being one of the online generation and also a wee bit geeky I have captured the podcast clips about us on LeftLion and Trent FM for your audio pleasure.
Trent FM New Music Podcast (clip)
Left Lion student Podcast (clip)
We have been booking more gigs for the Feb/ March and are now road tripping to Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester with some others in the pipeline in the larger cities of the UK later on in the year. Its ace going out and playing in new cities, there’s so many new people and every now and again I come across a new favourite band, something I’m in been in need of lately, suggestions on a postcard.
Speaking of which I had an idea. When all you lovely people come to gigs we give you free stuff, well badges to be exact and having had a few pictures sent in of people showing them off, I thought I’d put it out to you all to email in pictures of what you did with your badge. Is it worn ‘pride of place’ on your coat? Do you hide it like a dirty secret on a pin board in your bedroom? Or is it somewhere more interesting? I’m dying to know. Email a photo in to mybadge@Kazooee.co.uk and I will pick out some to put on the blog and if they are ‘clean’ photos I might even put some up on our myspace/facebook. If you don’t own a badge then get down to a gig and claim it!
Don’t forget that we will be playing the Boardwalk in Sheffield this coming Tuesday the 10th of Feb, so if your in the area we’d love to see you.
Wintery, snow covered Hugs,
xJQx
PS. Here’s me wearing my badge
Its ok you can read it...it’s not like your looking at my breasts...are you?
Trent FM New Music Podcast (clip)
Left Lion student Podcast (clip)
We have been booking more gigs for the Feb/ March and are now road tripping to Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester with some others in the pipeline in the larger cities of the UK later on in the year. Its ace going out and playing in new cities, there’s so many new people and every now and again I come across a new favourite band, something I’m in been in need of lately, suggestions on a postcard.
Speaking of which I had an idea. When all you lovely people come to gigs we give you free stuff, well badges to be exact and having had a few pictures sent in of people showing them off, I thought I’d put it out to you all to email in pictures of what you did with your badge. Is it worn ‘pride of place’ on your coat? Do you hide it like a dirty secret on a pin board in your bedroom? Or is it somewhere more interesting? I’m dying to know. Email a photo in to mybadge@Kazooee.co.uk and I will pick out some to put on the blog and if they are ‘clean’ photos I might even put some up on our myspace/facebook. If you don’t own a badge then get down to a gig and claim it!
Don’t forget that we will be playing the Boardwalk in Sheffield this coming Tuesday the 10th of Feb, so if your in the area we’d love to see you.
Wintery, snow covered Hugs,
xJQx
PS. Here’s me wearing my badge
Its ok you can read it...it’s not like your looking at my breasts...are you?
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Gig at Nottingham Trent Students Union
Fridays gig went well. 1000miles away (formally the 7.21s) were up first and yet again I was captivated by the sheer height of their lead singer, the tallest person I think I ever met. The Ambassadors and the Burt Bacharach Fight Club also played fun sets but alas I’m here to talk you through Kazooee time.
Finally a proper stage, a proper sound man and a proper venue, it felt good. We kicked off the set with Bad vibes making sure it came across that we meant business, heavy rock business and the crowd gathered in response. It’s so much fun to be in the moment with the band and I know the boys feel the same so together we stormed through some of our favourites. Thanks to Leon (dude you rule) the entire set was captured on film some of which you can see on our youtube channel. As seems to be our style we worked ourselves up into a sheer frenzy by the time we ended with Now with both Ben and Andy giving it everything they had in end of set excitement, if they weren’t so cool I think they would have smashed their kit up. In fact here’s the proof:
Mark from Trent FM kidnapped Ben after the set to get a quick interview and said he hopes to play us soon on his new music pod cast. He’s a honey. In other podcast related news we were also played on leftlion. They kicked off their show with Bad Vibes and said we were “awesome” so thanks to Rosa for her support.
Finally a proper stage, a proper sound man and a proper venue, it felt good. We kicked off the set with Bad vibes making sure it came across that we meant business, heavy rock business and the crowd gathered in response. It’s so much fun to be in the moment with the band and I know the boys feel the same so together we stormed through some of our favourites. Thanks to Leon (dude you rule) the entire set was captured on film some of which you can see on our youtube channel. As seems to be our style we worked ourselves up into a sheer frenzy by the time we ended with Now with both Ben and Andy giving it everything they had in end of set excitement, if they weren’t so cool I think they would have smashed their kit up. In fact here’s the proof:
Mark from Trent FM kidnapped Ben after the set to get a quick interview and said he hopes to play us soon on his new music pod cast. He’s a honey. In other podcast related news we were also played on leftlion. They kicked off their show with Bad Vibes and said we were “awesome” so thanks to Rosa for her support.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Ask Kazooee Part 3
What were your initial influences when you first started and how have they carried through to your current style of music?
JQ: My influences started with a lot of alternative bands like greenday, nirvana, silverchair and The offspring but then I discovered garbage and the whole riot girl scene containing the likes of Sleater Kinney and L7. My style of writing and playing is identifiably inclined to 90’s grunge but my influences expand as I find new music, people like the Dresden dolls, the gossip and Tegan and Sara.
Ben: I learnt to play Therapy's “Troublegum” almost in it's entirety. I think that album, along with Hole's “Live Thru This” and Green Day's “Dookie”, epitomizes the early/mid-90s rock sound that was a huge influence on me both musically and personally
Andy: Early influence was bands like nirvana, soundgarden and hole. I got wrapped up in the whole grunge scene. It was a way of life. You were only allowed to like one type of music! It’s like from then to now I've gone full circle. I’ve been into all types of music in between but I’ve ended up playing drums in a grunge band! Grunge is back!
What kind of thing frustrates you as a musician?
Ben: Other musicians!
Andy: the same things that would frustrate me if I wasn’t a musician, everything! (I’m a grumpy old goat!)
JQ: The idea that music is a route to fame and not a form of expression.
What are your top-five favorite books???
Andy: In no particular order, Michael Marshall Smith, spares. Banksy, Bruce parry, tribe. Chuck Palahniuk, fight club. John King, England away.
JQ: 1)The trick is to keep breathing by Janice Galloway, 2) The doctor and the soul by Viktor Frankl 3) And I don’t want to live this life by Deborah Spungeon 4)The heart is deceitful above all things by JT Leroy 5) Any music biography, ever.
Ben: To tell you the truth I find many books to be too bloated and I often don't finish them. Martin Millar tells a really good story and his books have many characters I'd actually like to meet. I'd recommend Good Fairies of New York or Dream of Sex and Stage Diving as a starting point.
JQ: My influences started with a lot of alternative bands like greenday, nirvana, silverchair and The offspring but then I discovered garbage and the whole riot girl scene containing the likes of Sleater Kinney and L7. My style of writing and playing is identifiably inclined to 90’s grunge but my influences expand as I find new music, people like the Dresden dolls, the gossip and Tegan and Sara.
Ben: I learnt to play Therapy's “Troublegum” almost in it's entirety. I think that album, along with Hole's “Live Thru This” and Green Day's “Dookie”, epitomizes the early/mid-90s rock sound that was a huge influence on me both musically and personally
Andy: Early influence was bands like nirvana, soundgarden and hole. I got wrapped up in the whole grunge scene. It was a way of life. You were only allowed to like one type of music! It’s like from then to now I've gone full circle. I’ve been into all types of music in between but I’ve ended up playing drums in a grunge band! Grunge is back!
What kind of thing frustrates you as a musician?
Ben: Other musicians!
Andy: the same things that would frustrate me if I wasn’t a musician, everything! (I’m a grumpy old goat!)
JQ: The idea that music is a route to fame and not a form of expression.
What are your top-five favorite books???
Andy: In no particular order, Michael Marshall Smith, spares. Banksy, Bruce parry, tribe. Chuck Palahniuk, fight club. John King, England away.
JQ: 1)The trick is to keep breathing by Janice Galloway, 2) The doctor and the soul by Viktor Frankl 3) And I don’t want to live this life by Deborah Spungeon 4)The heart is deceitful above all things by JT Leroy 5) Any music biography, ever.
Ben: To tell you the truth I find many books to be too bloated and I often don't finish them. Martin Millar tells a really good story and his books have many characters I'd actually like to meet. I'd recommend Good Fairies of New York or Dream of Sex and Stage Diving as a starting point.
Friday, 2 January 2009
EG Review
Whilst tinkering about the internet looking for music, as I do when I have a cold and am too poor to go out on a Friday night, I came across this little gem on the EG Magazines myspace.
"Kazooee: Wish I Had A Wolf Suit
Coming together nearly two whole years ago, this quartet have slowly but surely been constructing a reputation for themselves through a radiant collection of directly easy pop rock creations. With a non compromising alternative rock feel, accompanied by a throw yourself around grunge sound, from the very beginning this is a blazing and detailed debut that manages to spark attention. From the sinister bass lines of Feet First to the beautiful hooks of Not The Devil, this quartet's severe focus and dynamic finish make for a solid offering. While the band fire on all cylinders courtesy of some creative and catchy instrumentals, lead vocalist and guitarist JQ appears out of place with her gentle voice never quite capturing the bands intensity. Despite this, Kazooee are winners in almost every way."
Matthew Smith EG Magazine Myspace
Some nice comments I think you'll agree and bless him he thinks my voice is gentle, the boys would disagree with that for sure!
Here's Hoping your New Year hang overs are receding.
xJQx
"Kazooee: Wish I Had A Wolf Suit
Coming together nearly two whole years ago, this quartet have slowly but surely been constructing a reputation for themselves through a radiant collection of directly easy pop rock creations. With a non compromising alternative rock feel, accompanied by a throw yourself around grunge sound, from the very beginning this is a blazing and detailed debut that manages to spark attention. From the sinister bass lines of Feet First to the beautiful hooks of Not The Devil, this quartet's severe focus and dynamic finish make for a solid offering. While the band fire on all cylinders courtesy of some creative and catchy instrumentals, lead vocalist and guitarist JQ appears out of place with her gentle voice never quite capturing the bands intensity. Despite this, Kazooee are winners in almost every way."
Matthew Smith EG Magazine Myspace
Some nice comments I think you'll agree and bless him he thinks my voice is gentle, the boys would disagree with that for sure!
Here's Hoping your New Year hang overs are receding.
xJQx
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