EofE BBQ

You might remember me mentioning this band called EofE in a blog post I did about summer tunes here but unless you went to the McBusted tour you probably won't have heard that much about them. So they are a 4 piece band with a couple of pretty good singles out, Kiss Me Like You Mean It and Lust, they toured earlier this year as one of McBusted's support acts (one of the best support acts, I actually remembered their name and searched them when I got home which rarely happens as I'm normally guilty of wishing the support act off stage) and they have just announced their first tour, details can be found here (I'm getting pretty good at this serious blogging technical linking business)

Introductions over, this blog post is actually about the fact that they came to my friend Katie's house to play some songs and chill for a couple of hours because Kirstie won a competition that they put on. To be honest with you I think that this competition is a brave idea on their behalf, so firstly good on ya lads for going for it. The day went a little along the lines of 5 ever so slightly merry teenage girls answering the door to a band, some music, some more drinking and eating and a lot of banter. It was a really lovely day. Music wise they played some of their own songs, Fall Out Boy's "The Take Over, The Break's Over" and a Beatles song (at Beth's request because they are her all time faves). The songs were performed well, it's always nice when a band can actually play their songs without any added help in an acoustic setting, and despite screwing up the words a tiny bit, Tom did a good job as temporary Patrick for Fall Out Boy (we were all praying that they wouldn't kill the song, there was a lot of pressure as they performed Fall Out Boy to a load of Fall Out Boy fans)

The rest of the time was spent standing around and chatting and just chilling I guess like you would with any other people. It's nice for everyone when there is just regular conversation and minimum fangirling in my opinion. EofE are a really lovely bunch of lads, once they were settled in (to be fair to them I would have been a little out my comfort zone in some girls house) they were really chatty with us as we discussed gig experiences and tour stories and how Dan doesn't eat potato skins unless he's in the right mood (apparently there's a difference between starter potatoes and other potatoes) and how Luke has a funny rocknroll photo pose which never really seems to change. Oh, not forgetting the little surprise water gun attack. They took that pretty well too, they even continued playing music for us while we all competed for the best aim while watching (I definitely got the most on target)

We all really enjoyed ourselves, personally I can't think of a better way to spend my day than with food, cider, my best friends and a band that play great music and make me smile, I couldn't have asked for a nicer couple of hours. I predict and really really hope for good things for these guys, their music is on point, they can play live and very neatly (except for the lyrics ey) and work very well together. I'm super excited for tour and to see where these guys can go, but either way they will have my support. 

PS you should all tell the band you want me to be their professional blogger and polaroid photographer and that they should take me on tour x hint x

I hope whoever wins the next dates has as much fun as we did, pick a good song for them to do and that the rest of us will want to hear, and make sure the day is all chilled, Tom feeds off those vibes x

Here is the video from our day, you should give it a watch x

Music For Youth and the end of county (but not forever I hope)

So mostly in this blog I tell you about all the gigs I go to and bands I see and things like that, but I can't ignore the fact that this is the diary of a musician and I do actually play music myself, so let me tell you about what has been happening this week.

Thursday: I went to Birmingham with my fellow quintet members (we're called Gone with the Wind I think it's ridiculously cheese but they seemed to love it) to take part in Music For Youth. In case you don't know what that is we call it National Festival, it's sort of a huge music competition where you go and play and get judged and try and beat everyone else to get through to the next round (they will tell you it's not a competition and they aren't judging you, you aren't even allowed to call it adjudication anymore you have to say 'feedback') So anyway we got the train to Birmingham to play, a very underrehearsed slap together quintet all melting in the heat or suffering from various injuries in the case of our french horn player and then we played. It actually went pretty well. Our pieces were good and the hall we played in was lovely. During feedback they had pretty much nothing negative things to say about us which made us very happy and their 'next steps' advice was just to play it faster.

(Gone with the Wind Ft. The legend that be Mr K)

Friday: Typical musician life. Eat sleep travel play repeat. Friday featured yet another trip to Birmingham but this time with the Northamptonshire County Youth Concert Band. So we went and we played our super epic piece and worked our magic. Feedback was incredible and they told us how amazing we are. We also got the 'Innovation Award' (We won) Another fabulous day at Music For Youth.

Sunday: Sunday was probably the saddest day of my musical week because it involved my last ever county concert with Concert Band. I have been involved in the county music service since I was 11 years old and just a tiny year seven. Having completed 7 years there I can safely say that auditioning for county music was one of the best things I have ever been forced into doing. Yes my first year was a little bit of a nightmare, everyone else seemed to be so much better than me, and to know each other, I pretty much had no friends with the exception of about two people, who still remain some of my best friends. County has given me some of the most amazing experiences I could have asked for, from playing in the Derngate in year 7, to playing multiple concerts in incredible venues in Spain, like the prettiest bank I have ever seen. After my first year I noticed how much more confident I was on the flute and my sight reading improved dramatically. After my second year I was super confident (maybe a little too confident) and playing in concerts regularly became second nature, and I didn't even care that my evenings and weekends were filled with county commitments because being in a music school means being surrounded by people with the same interests as you, and it meant that the people I was spending all my time with would become my closest friends. It's so easy to just click with people who are equally as band-geeky as you. County became a place where I felt in my element, and cheesy as it sounds the people there made me feel normal and happy and welcome and everything I needed. The 'teachers' there know everyone, everyone is important and is made to feel that way, and mostly make you smile, and put their all into what they do. Concert Band is so noticeably driven forward and encouraged by Smalley's clear commitment to conducting the band, and he gave a totally emotional speech about everyone leaving on Sunday (sobs). BUT this isn't the end of my time at NMPAT, noone ever really leaves NMPAT.

PS you should all probably check out the NMPAT Facebook page, this place is pretty special:

https://www.facebook.com/NMPAT/timeline

Summer Tunes

It's been ages since I've had time to sit down and give my blogs any attention, but you know I've finished my exams, I'm not quite sure what to do with my life, so I have bags of time to sit and write now. My summer officially started on 23rd June and since then I have been doing not much at all really, but that's the purpose of summer ey? Chillin, cruisin, partyin. So as we approach weeks and weeks of kicking back, I have come to that task again of putting together a playlist to accompany my summer. Music is a VITAL part of the summer, there's always new summer tunes that become huge, and of course, as I write this you and I will have certain songs in mind that bring back summer memories, the song that was playing as you drove around, the song that was playing as you stayed up all night.

So, where do I begin with my summer playlist? There are a few songs already there, some of them I don't even particularly like that much but as I say it's about what you heard when you were doing what as well as songs that you love. Here are my summer picks SO FAR:

1) Fancy - Iggy Azalea This is the one that I don't really like that much BUT at Alton Towers the other day my friend kept singing it, as we cruised past all those people refusing to go single riders "I'm in the fast lane"

2) Can I put down the whole of Multiply? No okay, well here are my top 3 from the new Ed Sheeran album:

Sing - one of those songs that gets everyone singing along (because even if you don't know the words EVERYONE is capable of screaming 'OOOOHHHHHHHH') , got a good beat to it, some super funky chords.

Tenerife Sea - in my opinion a super underrated song from the new album. It makes you feel happy and the stripped back sound of Ed and a guitar and some lovely harmonies makes it perfect for sitting in the sun in the late afternoon or evening with your friends or whoever.

Thinking Out Loud - not as underrated as Tenerife Sea, again it's for the chill out times. It's nice to hear Ed really going for the singing on the album. This song is kinda cheesy, but I guess that's probably what draws me to it. 

3) Okay back to the beats and jumping around songs, Heart and Soul - Twin Atlantic I love these guys, (I have a bit of a thing for Scottish people it seems) and am very very lucky because I'm going to see them at Reading for the second time this year, score. This song is on my summer playlist because you can belt in out in your best (worst) scottish accent AND it has lyrics that just make you want to forget about any responsibility and have a lot of fun

4) You're probably gonna see many a RandL acts on here, how can they not feature in my Summer Playlist? Snap Out Of It - Arctic Monkeys - I'm not even sure why this has become one of my fave tracks off AM but it just has? Weird. I can't really give you an explanation. 

5) Pretty Visitors - Arctic Monkeys - I know this one is old now, but it's crept its way back into my playlist of summer. I literally can't stop listening to it. The tempo change between the verse and chorus gets my every time, it's amazing. 

6) Lust - EofE A band that you have probably never even heard of. I saw them first on the McBusted tour, then again on the McBusted tour. They are so underrated as a band. Never ever ever have a loved a support act as much as I loved these. Lust is so catchy, and it has some naughty yet incredibly relatable and honest lyrics. I can't help myself. They're great lads too. 

7) Kiss Me Like You Mean It - EofE A lovey kinda song that doesn't sound soppy. Deffo will be a jam for during the day or car journeys or other journeys, one of those songs that makes traveling fun. Also brings back awesome memories from the gigs I have recently been to. 

So this is where I've started, but I would really really really love it if people could comment here with some summer recommendations, doesn't matter if the artist is well known or not, and I'm open to pretty much any genre of music! 

Thanks guys,  have a good summer! xx

My Mad Fat Diary Playlist

Are you following it on Spotify? Are you? ARE YOU? If not, why not!? Ahh the 90s. I was born in the 90s, in fact I turned 18 yesterday (Score!) And recently I have discovered that 90s music is my thing. God I love it, I absolutely love it. And the two Spotify playlists are loaded with the best picks from the 90s.

Updated every Monday, the MMFD playlist takes all of the songs from the absolutely fabulous E4 TV series and places them conveniently into one super epic playlist. The songs are all selected to enhance our viewing experience and are all authentic 90s tracks to go with the setting of the series.

90s is coming back. Everyone knows it. I own a polaroid camera. So do many many others. Oasis are marking 20 years since Definitely Maybe. Films like Spike Island are out. Books set in the 90s are out. People are wearing dungarees again. It's time we got some good music back.

There's just something so so so brilliantly wonderful about 90s music. It's the perfect balance of cheesey rubbish and meaningful reflective tunes. I find it really great music to do my work to. It's not in your face and it doesn't squeak at you and it's not the sound of whining 15 year olds. It's not over edited. It's beautifully simple. The melody lines, the tunes and the lyrics. Perfect, no mess, just music.

Tell me that this screen shot doesn't excite you and I will give you a Sunny D and various other 90s treats.