Kazooee's Diary

End of a Era, The End of Kazooee

2009-12-23T20:03:00.000Z

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.

Quality Performance

2009-11-08T13:34:00.002Z

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

Halloween Voices Whispering.....

2009-10-29T18:47:00.005Z

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....

Ringing out the (gigging) year at the Old Bell

2009-09-28T16:04:00.001+01:00

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

Flourish at the Fleur De Lys

2009-09-06T14:16:00.001+01:00

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

Lots of fun at the Rising Sun

2009-08-13T16:24:00.002+01:00

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

Hope Anchors to success

2009-07-07T23:08:00.014+01:00

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.

Animals and Artists @ the Angel

2009-06-29T14:54:00.005+01:00

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

Hi there, hello, it’s been a while.

2009-06-27T17:06:00.005+01:00

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

The Learn to Breathe Video

2009-04-25T13:43:00.002+01:00

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

Odd and Creepy, Talented and Unnerving

2009-04-06T19:50:00.009+01:00

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.

Bleeding Authentic Rock Show

2009-03-12T22:40:00.004Z

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.

It’s where the action happens

2009-02-22T16:10:00.006Z

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

Here’s to you Mrs Elliot…

2009-02-12T19:29:00.003Z

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

Podcasts, badges and photo opportunities

2009-02-06T18:29:00.009Z

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?

Gig at Nottingham Trent Students Union

2009-01-25T21:20:00.001Z

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.

Ask Kazooee Part 3

2009-01-09T22:17:00.001Z

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.

EG Review

2009-01-02T22:01:00.004Z

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

Ones to watch 2009

2008-12-27T19:24:00.003Z

Ho Ho Ho I'm Santa....

Here's hoping your Holiday season was adequate and that you survived with good cheer. Among the presents Kazooee were please to receive for Christmas was a mention on Trent Fm's 2008 end of year review podcast, they say we are the band to watch out for in 2009. Their new music podcast will be featuring us in the new year, something both they and us are excited about.

As I'm feeling festive and a little tipsy, here is so some sneaky info about the coming year just for you:

We will be playing Trent Uni Union on 23rd of Jan, its a friday, so get your partying socks on.
Music videos for both Learn to Breathe and Badvibes are planned in early 2009 and you could also get the chance to star in one yourself, details of how to follow!

Now I really can't say anymore, or type for that matter so I bid you a happy and prosperus new year.

xJQx

Shockingly Spinal Tap

2008-12-22T17:20:00.004Z

Last night was the charity gig at The Loft in Nottingham with bands raising money for Queens Med children's ward. We arrived in time to enjoy a confident set from Satnams Tash and were excited to take the stage at 9 ish. It was due to be 30 mins of Kazooee goodness, which it was, but with a few comedy moments thrown in.

Andy had the most fun, chasing the venue drum kit, each kick drum hit pushing it further across the stage, before finally peaking during a particularly nice drum roll when his tom fell off. Like the trooper he is he didn't even stop playing whilst re-attaching the offending drum during Steve's bass solo, what a hero. I would say the rest of the band were helping out but such antics were unknown to Ben and I as we were busy dodging death, singing in to microphones giving off electric shocks. Steve was the only one not in mortal danger by the end of the set inspite of all the randomness we all enjoyed ourselves finding it festive and some what funny. We wont forget it any time soon.

We have a well earned 2 weeks off over Christmas filled with parties, birthdays and hangovers but worry not we shall be back in force in the New Year. 2009 is the year we intend to take over.

Happy Holidays everyone, see you all soon

xJQx

Bongo's in a Grunge band, who'd have thought it?

2008-11-29T17:01:00.003Z

Having been added to the Maze 'Grunge night' rather late on in the planning stage, we were happy enough to be the starting band. Providence however decided that we should be the headliner and never shying away from an opportunity, we duly obliged.

Zadkiel, Our Last Confession and Dead Souls joined us on the bill, everyone giving a good showing. Special praise has to go to Dead souls singer Michael for his Cobain style wailing voice, very much enjoyed by myself and for having a bongo player in the band! Well actually it wasn’t a bongo it had a proper name but I forget.....you get the idea.

We took the stage at the staggering time, for a school night, of 11pm. Being ever ready to kick ass and get people rocking the lateness didn’t hold us back. As our usual style we woke up those starting to nod or think of home time with repeated blasts of loud rackus ROCK and personally I think we won over the lateness. People cheered and the mailing list and badges were in demand after the gig, so the desired impact was made.

It's occurred to me lately that it doesn't matter if there are 6 or 60 people in front of you, who's on before or after, where, when the gig is. If you go out there with good music that you personally are excited about, then the vibe rubs off. The band is really getting into that grove at the minute and its making me a happy bunny. My favorite part of the gig at the Maze was Andy in the closing notes of our final song. He went nuts; I've never seen him explode out of a drum kit with such a smile. We are all getting that way. Kazooee is hitting its rhythm and you need to come and witness it.

xJQx

Ask Kazooee Part 2

2008-11-22T17:09:00.004Z

Here are some more ask Kazooee answers. Don't forget we are playing the Maze in Nottingham this comming Thursday (27th). Full account of the gig in all its glory will follow. Come and make it a good one.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

JQ: Feb 1998, Doncaster Dome, I was 15 and saw garbage for the first time; I went in a fan and came out wanting to BE Shirley Manson. Moloko warmed up then Garbage just blew me away. It was the first time I had seen a female musician command a band and audience with such poise and power. It really lit a fire under me.

Andy: oooh loads to pick from but ill go for faith no more at rock city on their final tour. Met them beforehand as well which was nice.

Ben: It would have to be the Wildhearts. Those guys are untouchable when they are on form and they seem to keep getting better with age.

Have you named your instruments? And if so what?

Ben: I named my ice queens (guitars) “Kirika” and “Talena”. And no I am not telling you why!

JQ: Yes. I have Beast, Bandit, Kay, Kit.…. I could go on. I have been told that I shouldn’t get so attached to things.

Andy: yes. my drum kit is called drum kit.

Do you remember the first cd/vinyl you purchased?

Andy: think it was some pet shop boys record. how camp!

Ben: The first single I brought was Erasure's “Sometimes”. And no I don't still have it!

JQ: It was Meatloaf; I’d do anything for love. I was 10 and I know that’s not an excuse but in my defense it was cause I loved the voice of the women singing at the end. It just sounded so Rock, I think I still have it somewhere.

xJQx

Ask Kazooee Part 1

2008-11-14T14:39:00.003Z

We get questions sent in all the time from you lovely lot so we thought it was time we answered a few, we will be posting more in comming weeks.

Where does the name Kazooee come from?

JQ: A special place in our young minds but it does mean you won’t mix us up with anyone else, you can find us straight away on Google and we are extra cool for having a Z.

Ben: We wanted a name that was easy to mis-spell just for the comedy value. We've seen a few 'interesting' variations!

What is feet first about?

JQ: It’s a pretty creepy story taken from different influences in my head. It is not, as someone ask once, about anal sex.

Ben: That all depends on how perverted you are!

Andy: Think it’s about getting in the bath? No?

What sounds do you love? What sound do you hate?

JQ: I sound like a total girl but I love the sound of someone you love breathing next to you. I hate the sound of babies crying and pointless repetitive music.

Ben: I love the little sound a beer bottle makes when you pop the cap. I hate the sound of people eating

Andy: I love the sound of a miked bass drum (how sad!) I hate the sound of my alarm clock signaling the start of another day.

xJQx

Wish I had a Wolf Suit reviewed by Sandman Magazine

2008-11-08T14:16:00.003Z

The album has been reviewed by the lovely people at sandman online magazine.

We think its a pretty dam good review and there will be many more!

xJQx

An interesting 3 way....MERP!

2008-10-30T20:43:00.004Z

Our ears are still ringing with the success of Manchester and now I'm sure you'll be glad to know that 2 more dates in Nottingham are being worked out before Christmas so there is still lots of gig fun to be had.

Highlights from the Kazooee camp this week are:

Kazooee members mash up. The many hidden talents of the band were apparent with an impromptu performance of The Hunt, with a difference. Andy on guitar, JQ on drums and Ben taking the vocals. surprisingly it was a pretty respectable performance by all involved!

Zombie world record. Kazooee members will be in attendance at the world record attempt of the greatest number of zombies in one place this Halloween in Market Square.

Happy Halloween every one!

xJQx

2008-10-21T18:52:00.002+01:00

Manchester fuck yeah!
What a gig. What a night.

It was an eclectic mix of bands at the Rampant Lion on Saturday night and we are proud to say lots of money was raised for oxjam.

Fat Elvis, 5 friends usually in 4 different bands, including our Ben, really started the night off well in their own style, which I’m told is called ‘Melodramatic popular song’. Ben’s fast fingers where in action as always as Fat Elvis mixed covers and originals to both mine and the crowds delight. It was Jelena the Fat Elvis singers first ever gig and I am so proud of her for rocking it the way she did, especially on her birthday.

Minescape, Beadle and Straylight gave a musical backdrop to the evening with each bands own brand of instrumental music but then ….then it was time for Kazooee.

It was so much fun. I’m very proud to say that yes, we did actually manage to stay reasonably sober until our 10.45 slot and exploded on stage with what has to have been our best gig yet. As Ben said “we walked on like motherfuckers” ha ha. Between songs, the crowd were rallied into a chorus of happy birthday for Jelena; they clapped along with us over our new spectacular start to Learn To Breath and even shouted for an encore.

Drinking and merriment commenced throughout Satnams Tash rocking set and the night ended, I think, with some over exuberant and slightly too excited dancing by ‘drunken Kazooee’ and friends due to the DJ playing ‘Girl Anachronism’ by the Dresden Dolls as the last song.

Pictures and videos will be tracked down and put up on the website or myspace etc so you can see the fun for yourself.

x JQ x

Shhh its a secret

2008-10-16T23:33:00.002+01:00

Kazooee have been schmoozing with the stars. Ben and I met Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls recently at a seminar on the Music Business in Birmingham. She is now the proud owner of the Kazooee album and yes even a 'Wish I had a wolf suit' t-shirt. You too can own one of these beautiful shirts if you get in touch.
Also I probebly shouldnt be telling you this but I will just sneakily say, the first live playing of our new track Fishnets and Eyeliner will be at the Oxjam Event at the Rampant Lion in Manchester this Saturday the 18th October.

xJQx

Fishnets and Eyeliner. Listen to clip now.

2008-09-27T22:00:00.004+01:00

We have been busy bunnies. Gigs, Song writing and even a little bit of demo recording of some new songs. Just to wet you apetite for more Kazooee goodness we thought we would put up a clip of one of the new songs we have been working on. Its called Fishnets and Eyeliner and it will get you dancing.

10 reasons why CDs are better than downloads

2008-09-22T19:07:00.004+01:00

1. You can't use an MP3 as a drinks coaster.
2. A CD makes a far better frizzbee.
3. If your computer breaks you don't lose your entire music collection.
4. A rack full of CDs looks far more impressive than a long list of song titles.
5. You will still be able to play your CD collection long after the iPod is discontinued.
6. On CD the cymbals don't sound like they were recorded in a swimming pool.
7. You can't use a WMA as an impromptu shaving mirror.
8. The excitement of waiting for the post to arrive far outweighs the instant gratification of downloading.
9. You don't get a 12 page glossy inlay when you buy an album from iTunes.
10. You can compress a CD down to mp3 but you can't polish a turd.

Long live the Compact Disc!

Ben

Kazooee's Diary is now officially up

2008-09-04T21:13:00.003+01:00

It’s true, we totally went THERE....well here actually, the open space of Blog land.

Now you have the chance to read about us, or more accurately probably predominantly me (JQ) cause my lovely boys are a little on the lazy side, love them as I do, I'm a realist. If you’re lucky Ben may pop on and tell you about some super funky music equipment he has bought, then sold, then bought again and as for the other 2, well close your eyes and hope real hard and maybe just maybe they might say hi.

x JQ x