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Screama Diaries # 14 - Bad Thoughts. Big Plans.

Why are you so far away, she said?

It's cold. So damn cold we can see our breath and we're inside the venue. Inside a room where the floor feels like it might give way at any moment. We're headlining. It's going to be a long night.

We're tossing a coin to decide who gets to sleep on the way home and who gets to stay awake and make sure Charlie doesn't fall asleep at the wheel. There's no glamour in being in an unsigned band. We work hard and usually have to fight pretty hard just to get enough money to pay for the petrol to get home.

We're heading into our 2nd summer of being a band. The 2nd year of being Screama Ballerina. We've had ups and downs. A man overboard. Losses and gains.

Cover up the scars, Put on our game face. We're on a journey.

Little things have led us to better things. A random back yard meeting with a punk that we have grown to love took us Blackpool to play Rebellion festival. A booking agent from Germany saw us play and booked us for our first proper tour. Gigs in Germany and Czech Republic for 2 weeks.

We'll be back soon and we'll have stories. We've already forgotten to bring sleeping bags. Luckily we're not used to luxury. We just want to play.

We're Screama Ballerina and we've been here all the time.

[edenmusic-blog]

Screama Diaries # 13 - Fifty Shades of Screama Ballerina

We'll chew you up, spit you out. Pull your hair, force you down.

Oh. Wow. What a difference a year makes.

It's been a year since our first single Rich Kids was released.

2011.

It was the first time we recorded as a band. The first time we made a video. The first time we gigged together.

This past year has been the best of times and the worst of times all rolled into one dirty, punk rock adventure.

There were days when the windows were rattling inside Number 37 and we were cold even wearing our coats. We were so hungry we ate food from the bin. We had to sell things so we could travel to gigs.

We kept looking forward. If we argued, we dealt with it. If one of us had money, we shared it. We learned a lot of important lessons. We learned how much cider we could we drink in one night.

We learned how to be Screama Ballerina.

2012.

This time last year one of us was carrying drinks for The Fall and looking after them before they played a gig. This year an ex member of the band and their album producer was down the front at our gig.

People used to compare us to Xray Spex, this year we've recorded one of their tracks and it features an actual, real-life hero of ours.

Last year we looked at photos by our favourite photographer Mark Baker at an exhibition. This year he took our photos.

We struggled to get gigs. This year for the first time we got gig offers and we got paid. Christmas AND birthday. Right there.

We got asked to support Feeder. OK. Fine. Last year none of us were sitting around mulling over how much we love Feeder, but we're excited. We want to drink cider from a lemon with them.

Our new tracks are being taken on a little road trip to be played on the radio in LA.

We can't wait to get on stage at Rebellion Festival. Same stage as the Buzzcocks and Rancid AND we get to party with On Trial? It's all too much.

This August we release Magazine Nation and in the Autumn we'll release our track Animal. Matt at White House Studios has done us proud. It's raw, dirty and well, it's an ANIMAL. We'll be having a party like we've never had before. We'll be dressing up. You'll be dressing up. There's going to be new photos and a new video.

There WILL be cider and there WILL be kissing in corners.

Be afraid. We're Screama Ballerina and we're coming to get you.  If Animal doesn't get there first.

www.screamaballerina.com

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Screama Diaries # 12 - Society's Tease.

'An artist should know all about love and learn to live without it - Anna Pavlova, 1885-1931, Russian ballerina.'

Yes, we're a band.

Yes, we have fun and we love putting on a show.

We don't love it when we travel 80 miles for a gig and the 'local metal band' on ahead of us take 2 hours to sound check then won't lend us a drum felt. Yep, a drum felt. Our boy uses toilet roll instead. We smile. We say nothing but they've made it on to our shit list.

No, we don't love not getting paid.

We don't love people downloading our music for free. We refuse to accept that it's game over and that no matter how much time and money we spend creating our music people will still steal it and give it away for free. Labels are going bust and 60 per cent of bands are now rich kids and music is changing fast into a posh kids hobby.

We're Screama Ballerina. We're not rich and this isn't our hobby. Show us some love. Not just to us but to all the bands and musicians that are out there doing their thing.

We have a new track out this week called Papercuts. Now that we DO love. We worked really hard. The guys at the White House Studio worked really hard. Mark Baker the photographer who takes our photos worked really hard and our DIY label works really hard to get our music heard. So we think it's ok to ask you for 59p when you download our track.

This our job. We love it and we want to keep doing it.

http://soundcloud.com/edenmusicpr/papercuts-by-screama-ballerina

www.screamaballerina.com

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A clip of Papercuts the new Screama Ballerina single.

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Merry Christmas from Screama Ballerina. FREE download for one week only!

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Screama Diaries # 11 - Love gets Dangerous.

We fly the black flag everywhere...

Screama Ballerina were in town last weekend for a gig with local punk poets Smokey Bastard. It was the last night of their tour and we'd been promised a party. We like a party. When we get to the Blagrave it's already pretty busy and by 9 o clock the crowd are spilling out on to the street (nothing to do with the cider but more on that later).

The band are nervous. Looks like it could be a tough crowd. LOTS of shouting men and Charlie has a particularly tiny tutu on.

They never turn up to a gig and assume they're going to own it and they're really hard on themselves if they fuck it up. At one show Richie's guitar wouldn't tune and an industry guy said 'just play it out of tune. Sting would play it out of tune'. Well, Richie Jay wouldn't. I'd bet my life on it that he'd rather walk off stage than put in some half arsed, bad performance. Right now we're trying to build an army so every show needs to be something special. They kill it. The sound man takes his hat off so he can swing his hair properly. The guy that turns up to every show now knows all the words to every song. Smokey Bastard come on after and they're amazing. The crowd love them. This is how a gig should be. Bands watching bands. Showing their support. We've got no time for the arrogant shits that play then leave, taking their fans with them. Making music isn't about being in a dirty little clique, we're all in this together. That's why Screama Ballerina watch every band they play with. Good or bad. Show over and we party until 4am. We drink a river of cider, make some new friends and Team Screama manage to escape with only a few minor casualties. A cut knee, a bruised arm, a trashed mobile phone and a spectacular falling over 3 chairs incident. We'll be doing it all again this weekend. Thursday night in Brighton and Friday in Reading. Buy us a cider...? We're Screama Ballerina.  Living proof that you can live on love alone. NEAT VODKA? Why the hell are you drinking neat vodka? You're not Russian. I fancy him. But I've already been making eyes at him. Well, stop making eyes at him 'cos I want to make him a casserole. I am totally A Sexual. Mate, why are you dancing like that? It's not Ghostbusters! If you ever need a beer or a place to stay just shout (Blagrave manager) Oh wow! You're ever better than that inn keeper dude off the bible (Screama Ballerina)

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Screama Diaries # 10 - Behind Your Hands are you Laughing or Crying...?

Last week I watched a film about some men who were prepared to risk everything. Men who were strong and brave and prepared to fight for the things they believed in. They died trying. I couldn't stop thinking about them in the days that followed. What's the point? May as well just give up, stop fighting, you'll never be able to change anything.

Then I got inspired. I got angry. I got hopeful.

I heard about a group of people who had been tirelessly fighting Westminster council so they could feed the homeless and they'd won. They said if you fight for what you believe in others will join you. If everyone sat back and did nothing that's exactly what would happen. Nothing.

So, we march on. We build our army. We don't have to sell our souls. We're going to change the world. You can't stop the movement.

Rant over. Back to the band. These are the Screama Diaries after all.

We've made a video for Skeleton Army. 

I could at this point start another rant about how many sick and depraved websites I found online that are pro-anorexia. Full of advice on how to starve yourself to death, but I won't.

Back to the Skeleton Army video...

As always there was no budget, the video was made with love in the bass players living room in Brighton. We have no money. We have a lot of love.

  "Skeleton Army is sending out an important message to young men and women.

It's a song for the girl I knew who surrounded herself with photographs from magazines of beautiful stick thin models and looked in the mirror and sobbed.

She got so thin she almost died.

Extreme dieting is dangerous and crushes self confidence yet every glossy magazine has a million diet tips. This is a protest from the bottom of my heart. This is NOT right. We must stand up and say I don’t want to be a skeleton.

I want to be a woman." Watch our video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zBIS4YzBdY&feature=youtu.be

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Screama Diaries # 9 - Scream at me until my ears bleed.

  'She should play the keyboard. But she can't play the keyboard..? Backing track it darling, it would be sexy and sex sells.'

'She needs to show more flesh. It's not about the music it's about the skin.'

'They need to write a pop song. It's what you have to do if you want to play the game.'

NO.

When you're in a band you meet the best and the worst the music industry has to offer. Some days it would be easy to just walk away and keep walking.

We've been pretty damn lucky to have met enough of the good guys this year to give us hope that we can do this without having to change who we are and what we believe in.

When we started this band we knew it wasn't going to be easy. People weren't going to believe that we really did want to break the mould. That we really do have windows that rattle with the wind, a mattress on the floor and vodka in our pockets. We were never doing this to reach the pop market or to play 'the game'.

We're doing this because we love it. We love every gig, every road trip, every recording session.

So, to the producer that makes us sound how we want to sound and stays well away from the autotune and pre-sets. To the guy in Stoke with the radio show who wasn't afraid to play Rich Kids twice, even if it did have the word arse in it. To the photographer who's worked with some absolute legends yet is one of the most humble and unpretentious men we've ever met. To the Screama army who got involved and helped us to make a video on our budget of thin air. To the DIY label that releases our records and has believed in us since day one.

YOU are the reason we do this.

We only want to write songs about things we feel passionately about. The size zero culture taking confidence away from women, magazines spewing out irrelevant bullshit, rich kids with more money than sense taking everything and giving back nothing. OK, Animal is about rough, dirty sex but we like to play rough.. So what?

Sweetheart, honey, babe, darling, mate, kids, dude, the band.

That's NOT our name. We're Screama Ballerina. Show some respect.

[edenmusic-blog]

Screama Diaries # 8 - I don't want to be a skeleton. I want to be a woman.

Listen to Skeleton Army - http://snd.sc/oPI1KV

Screama Ballerina are back with their 2nd single Skeleton Army. Recorded at White House Studios it's more than just a follow up single. With moments of punk, grunge and full on rock it refuses to be put in a box, it defies genre and that's just the way they like it.

Skeleton Army is sending out an important message to young men and women.

Front woman Charlie O'Connor says 'when I was growing up all I saw on the TV and in magazines was the only way to success and beauty is through starvation. I had friends whose self hatred was so huge it sickened me. Skeleton Army is a song for the girl I knew who surrounded herself with photographs from magazines of beautiful stick thin models and looked in the mirror and sobbed. She was so thin that she nearly died. Extreme dieting is dangerous and crushes self confidence yet every glossy magazine has a million diet tips. This is a protest from the bottom of my heart. This is NOT right. We must stand up for reality and say I don't want to be a skeleton.'

Skeleton Army is a statement of intent. Screama Ballerina have upped their game. Schemers, dreamers, freaks and outcasts look out - the Screama Army needs you.

www.screamaballerina.com

[edenmusic-blog]

Screama Diaries # 7 - What if punk never happened.

This is for the outcasts, the freaks and the schemers, This is for the last of the dreamers.

Our first headline gig. Love Music. Hate Racism. Coalition. Brighton.

As we make our way to the venue on the seafront, it's raining and it's windy. Not just any old rain. It's raining like the world is going to end. We arrive freezing, wet and with make up running down our faces. I haven't seen Screama Ballerina for two weeks and now we're all back together there's enough love and warmth in the room to dry up a river, screw the rain.

Rousing, angry speeches about fascists and racists. Murder the government. A call to arms. Fighting spirit. The band wear their Cameron mask. He takes some abuse.

A crowd has started to gather front of stage and as the band come on the venue comes alive with chants of Screama. I can't get near enough to take a photo as the crowd has got so big. This is new.

The band play the set of their lives. It's a coming of age. The kids in the crowd go crazy. During Magazine Nation they rip up trashy celebrity magazines and a mosh pit kicks off. Security hate us. We've made a mess and we're getting the kids excited. Our band owns the crowd. They own the room.

After the gig the band are animated and they seem genuinely surprised every time someone tells them they were amazing. My Kings and Queens of the anti-cool have no time for egos. They get as excited about a 15 year old boy posting a cover of himself playing along to their song Rich Kids on Youtube as they would if it had been Brian May playing it at Wembley arena.

They film a video interview about anti-racism. Then we go home. We've upped our game, we don't drink before gigs anymore. We drink after. Whiskey, vodka, wine, plant food, glo sticks, mattress raving and kissing in corners. The more random the better. We don't care. We're celebrating.

We're recording Skeleton Army. We'll be releasing it on Halloween with launch parties in London, Brighton and Reading. It's our statement of intent. It's time to change the world.

Join our Skeleton Army.

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Screama Diaries #6 - I only have eyes for you.

It's been a while. I lost the will. I couldn't write about our revolution when my head was full of mindless anarchy, a lack of humanity and chaos on the streets. Then out of the blue I got inspired, the fire came back and it's burning brighter than ever. We're still building our army. We're still going to change the world. In 25 years time I want people to be talking about the things we did.

I saw a band the other day. They were bad. Out of time, out of tune, flat. Although I'll never get that hour of my life back it did make me realise how lucky we are. We're a proper band, we've got songs, we know how to put on a show and we've got love and that little epiphany more than makes up for a lost hour and an ear raping.

Our Screama army is growing. We're starting to see familiar faces at every gig. The beautiful boy with silver vampire teeth, the Victorian steam punk and the girl with hair like candy floss. Anything goes.

We've had some more gigs in Reading, Brighton and Stoke. We've had an interview on 6 Towns Radio, with Chris Nash. We we're on the BBC news busking in Stoke. There's a video.

We had an email from Johnny Rotten saying we're doing good. This made Charlie cry. It was her birthday.

On 10th September we'll be headlining an anti-racism gig in Brighton.

We had a photo shoot with Mark E Baker, he's taken photos of some proper legends like Malcolm McLaren, Carter USM, Alice Cooper and Micheal Jackson and some other musicians like Pete Doherty. Mark is amazing to work with and has some great stories like the one about being beaten up by night club bouncers and still managing to get a perfect shot of Johnny Rotten just after.

Speaking of Malcolm Mclaren, on our next photo shoot the band will be wearing clothes from A Child of the Jago which is owned by Joe Corre, Malcom and Vivienne Westwood's son. Right there, a link back to people we consider heroes.

We've recorded a new song with Matt Bew called Paper Cuts and we'll be releasing it in a few weeks. We're going to make another video, this time with film director Caleb Lindsay.

We've learned some lessons. A few days on the road or in a hotel room separates the men from the boys. It's not easy and we've still got a lot to learn but at the end of the day if there's tears or dramas it won't last more than 5 minutes. We're a band. We need each other. We're Screama Ballerina and this world is ours.

So, you couldn't decide which boy to get with so you got with both... interesting.

Can we have a bath..? I don't mean all of us, like a band bath, I mean just me. Having a bath. On my own.

Just to let you know naked loony man has just made an appearance.

Well. We we're pissed off. Oh shit. I'm not meant to swear on the radio am I?

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Screama Diaries #5 - We made a video.

  There's nothing glorious in dying. Anyone can do it - Johnny Rotten.

Sometimes it feels like there's nothing but bad news. Bands breaks up and someone that shouldn't have dies. With the music comes the casualties.

There are labels that rush out an average album just to make money. The music press that build the bands up just to bring it all crashing down a few weeks later with a vicious slating.

Where's the honest music journalism gone? What happened to just writing about music because you love it, because your passionate about it? And you all know what I think about the promoters that suck the life out of live music like money hungry vampires.

.... Woah, got a bit lost there, sorry... Forgot that the point of this post was to tell you that we made video.

Everyone else was doing it so we thought we'd give it a go. We didn't want a big shiny movie with the band pretending to play while a bunch of sexual terrorists gyrated in the background. We just wanted to make something honest and real. Something that cost about 80p, as that's how much we had in our collective pockets.

In typical Screama style it was absolute fucking chaos on the morning of the shoot. A combination of a heavy session the night before, Richie's hair looking way more opera singer than he would have liked, Charlie's car blowing up, keys getting lost and one of our 'Rich Kids' getting sick and pulling out and then Ben's train was late. Ciaran said things like 'shit happens' and kept us all calm. We powered through and after a few ciders it all just fell into place.

We shot the video at White House Studios with Paul Hamer and Caleb Lindsay and we think that what we've got is pretty cool. Our video shows a band having fun.

We know that this might not last forever, so we're going to make every day count.

We don't play dirty and we got the love.

We're Team Screama and we're going to change the world.

You can watch our Rich Kids video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hUg4X1PHls

[edenmusic-blog]

Screama Diaries #4 - Staring at the Rude Boys.

A voice shouts loud 'we'll never surrender', a voice in the crowd 'never surrender'

This edition of the Screama Diaries comes to you from a very quiet, empty house. The band have gone home after staying with me for a week. My bathroom looked like Glastonbury and the kitchen floor was permanently sticky but I'm already missing my kids.

There are a few reminders left laying around like golf clubs from the video shoot, countless guitar picks, broken guitar strings and Richie's wet towel but at least Charlie hasn't left me her retainer this time.

Yesterday when Charlie woke up she had no voice. Kind of a shit day for this to happen as we have 3 gigs lined up. There's a lot of gargling with salt water going on and I've never seen her so quiet. We're worried.

The first gig is in the Purple Turtle and it's acoustic and they've never done that before. Charlie looks really tiny up on stage with no tutu's and no Ben and Ciaran but it sounds great and her voice is holding out. One down.

By the time we get to the Coopers Arms for their 2nd OI Festival gig, Charlie is in pain and she's just found out that her bastard landlord has helped himself to an extra month's rent so she's completely broke. Ten minutes before the gig sees us sat on the floor in the corner with Charlie in tears. Someone tells us that Amy Winehouse has died.

I wanted this gig to be amazing for lots of reasons. I've told what feels like a million people that my band are going to be the band of the festival and that they are amazing. We're not even on the flyer. We're the underdog, we're the working class heroes and it feels like we've got something to prove.

As we walk down the stairs to the stage we can see a sea of people waiting for them to come on. Charlie whispers to me that she feels sad but she's not going to let anyone know, she's going to give it everything. A few minutes later I'm watching my band set the room on fire and the crowd are loving it. Ryan, who I've been working with comes up and tells me I'm right, they are amazing, he sounds surprised. He comes back and tells me again 10 minutes later. Result. We sell 25 CDs and get rid of all the stickers. Charlie's voice is pretty much just a squeak now but she's still smiling.

We decide we'll go to the gig in Maidenhead to support to our friends On Trial UK but they won't be playing the 3rd gig.

I change out of my work clothes in the toilet. My ex boyfriend's new girl walks in and catches me in my bra. Damn.

Our 12 strong Screama army takes the train to the the Anchor. We keep our Kings and Queens of the anti-cool thing going on by not being able to find our way out of Maidenhead station and despite the 'don't slip or fall' sign Ciaran does a pretty spectacular slide down the banister with his bass on his back.

The pub is rammed with bikers and crusty punks and they're all staring at us. We're little red riding hood and they're the big bad wolf. The band decides to do one song.

Jonny Wah Wah  introduces them.

This band are on tour. It started at about 2 o clock today and it ends now. Show some love to Screama Ballerina. The.next.big.thing.

They play Rich Kids and a punked up instrumental version of Magazine Nation. The crowd goes mad. There's a crazy stage invasion and Charlie's dancing with Rat who's dressed as a jester. There's shouts of 'more' for a good few minutes after and I can see the boys don't want to stop but Charlie can't sing so for today, less is more.

It's all good. It's all punk rock.

We stick around to watch On Trial UK. It's a great show, ending with Jonny face planting the bass. Blood everywhere. 

We drank a lot, we danced a lot. Ciaran spent a lot of time kissing in corners. Richie has some incredible dance moves. The bikers and punks loved Charlie. Ben was doing lunges and also got carried like a baby by Tank, the drummer from On Trial. The whole Screama army got involved selling the last few CDs and badges and making us some new friends. Big love to Bob, Helen, Alex, Patrick (Joe) and Matt 'Laden' Lee.

Wow, Ben you're really bendy. I am, I am REALLY bendy. Look I'll prove it with my bank card... BEN D MILLER.

Eurrrgh. That guy you were chatting up was rough. I hope you run your business better than you pick your men.

MATT LEE NEEDS TO GO HOME. NOW.

We reluctantly leave at 4am.

What else can I say? We're Team Screama and we know how to party and we're going to be doing it all again in about a week.

JONNEEEHHH!

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Screama Diaries #3 - All I can do, is try my best for you....

You're not a politician and without a thought you would build a fort to defend what you are.

The band are staying with me for a week. A whole week.

We're recording a track at White House, making a video to go with Rich Kids, playing 3 gigs in one day on Saturday and have a gig in London tonight which I am NOT going to go off on one about, no definitely not. Got to stop taking people on, we can't change the world until people are listening to us. Wait until the revolution.

Doesn't matter that my band work their arses off, why should they expect to be paid? That's how it works right? I think some promoters should try going to work and not getting paid, but I think too much.

We're proud of ourselves this week, we've made our own CDs and stickers, we've planned our first video, on a budget of a about 50p and I've had 3 David Cameron's and a Margaret Thatcher in my living room. When Margaret dances she gets dirty. It's pretty special. The Cameron's love it.

I've seen naked pogo-ing and a deck chair swallow a boy thanks to Richie our guitarist and Ciaran can make any moment into an emo classic. Like for example eating marmite - 'I feeeeeel so alone in this love'. Ben has comedy voices.

We're lucky, we've got love. If we didn't we'd have killed each other by now.

The band are sleeping, Charlie crawled in with me late last night when the mess and the boy smell got too much in the other room. While we were talking in the dark we decided that if we ever got rich we wouldn't know what the hell to do with it and that we'd give it away and make things better for other people. If we had some right now we'd help the famine victims as that makes us sad and also grateful that we had dinner.

I'm up early, before I go to work I have to make little packs of sandwiches for the kids to take to London and make sure the pocket vodka is packed.

It's going to be a long day but at the end of it I get to see my band play and that right there is why we do this.

[edenmusic-blog]

Understanding Caleb Lindsay.

I'm waiting for independent film director Caleb Lindsay. I've heard rumours that he is reclusive and he doesn't like talking. This should be fun. We head to my 'office' which at the moment is an empty, slightly beaten up room in the 17th Century Coopers Arms. First impressions as we climb the shaky staircase are that Caleb is an unassuming, quietly modest man. He suddenly becomes animated when we get upstairs. There are rooms, doors and corridors with peeling paint and holes in the floor to explore, he clearly likes my office. It's all going to be fine. We sit in the middle of the room on 2 paint splattered garden chairs. We start by talking about Caleb's 3rd film - Understanding Jane. It's being shown as part of the outside:inside festival at the Goggleheads film festival on 16th July in his home town of Reading. Caleb explains he has known Ian Manson from Goggleheads for years and Ian in turn introduced him to Paul Hamer. It's not the first time the film has been shown. Understanding Jane won the audience award at London Film Festival and was shown at the Mannheim film festival won best feature. He admits these are the only ones he knows of and the film has probably been played all over the world. Understanding Jane features John Simm (Human Traffic, Clocking Off, 24 Hour Party People), Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting, Dog Soldiers) and Andrew Lincoln (This Life, Love Actually). Caleb goes on to explain that he wanted to work with John Simm after seeing him in The Lakes and as chance would have it another film he was working on fell through. John introduced Caleb to his friend Andrew Lincoln who thought it would be great to aggravate his agent by working on the film and they sealed the deal after John made a phone call to Andrew who was in the pub up the road.

Caleb describes it as a 'nice little under the radar film'. A romantic adventure between two girls and two boys, set against a gritty English city backdrop. The boys answer a personal ad made by two unemployed and fun loving girls, and then embark on a journey through emotional and sexual conflict.

He gets very excited as he talks about cameras and equipment, and explains that he has set up a production company 221 Films at home and is ready to take on Hollywood: Let's face it ,they're not going to give me a break so I may as well give myself one and take them on. I don't care about board meetings, and I've been doing this for 18 years and I don't have pot to piss in so it's not about the money. I just want to make some good films and I dream of trying to buy a ticket for one of my films and it's sold out. If all the independent film directors got together they could help each other, they could kill the apathy, big things could happen. Oh... Do I sound like an arrogant shit? No. He sounds like a man on a mission. Full of passion, life and commitment to the cause.

I ask if he's got any new film projects coming up. He does... A horror film with a warped serial killer, a throwback to the '80s who loves electro music. The main character is a messed up guy who is 'vaguely' based on Caleb himself. Apart from the serial killing of course - though he says that may come later. When I close my note book and put down my pen, there is a sudden rush of stories and anecdotes. Some of them are painful, violent and terrifying, others are just funny, especially when he recounts his drinking days. He talks with great love, emotion and respect about his parents, Lindsay and Elizabeth Shonteff. His film director father died on the last day of production of his final film Angels, Devils, and Men. I don't want to go back to work, it's way too easy to listen to Caleb Lindsay talk which is strange considering he is supposed to hate talking. He shrugs his shoulders and says that he's been quiet for along time, was lost in the wilderness, but now he's in a good place and it's time to shout and scream. Caleb Lindsay is punk rock and he's starting his own independent film revolution. I'm in. Are you? You can find out where and when you can see Understanding Jane and the other films featured in the Goggleheads Film Festival on the website : www.goggleheads.co.uk

[edenmusic-blog]

NEON - a common element, but rare on Earth.

Saturday night and I'm going to see The Neon Mile for the first time.

Sid and I signed them and up and have just put out their debut single on Eden/Velocity but we've never seen them play live.

We couldn't help it, it just sort of happened that way. We heard Weight in Gold on Myspace and it felt like a headbutt. It chose us. A song to get crazy about. So we got crazy.

I'm late out of work and late for the gig, finishing getting ready in the back of the taxi. I know, nothing new there.

As I pull up at the venue, Sid's outside. He's laughing. The Neon Mile make him happy, thinking about it, I've seen him properly laugh more times in the last few months with The Neon Mile than I have in years. They're enchanting, they don't try to be cool and they're not scene. That's why I want them in our army, they are our terribly polite punk poets.

Oh SHIT. I forgot that our boys, our desolate, dream pop boys are playing with Peers. Peers are fucking brilliant, they're filthy, they're beautiful, they're animals, no joke the world should kiss the feet of these slightly awkward teenagers.

The Peers army are out in force and they're 17 years old they're the cool kids and we're going on right before them.

I arrive just in time to see the Neon Mile going on stage and just in time to brush Tom's hair which is even more mad professor than usual.

Kids at the front and older music fans at the back. I tell myself if they can keep the kids happy we'll be ok . Two songs in and my clenched fists have left finger nails marks on my hands, quick look round and the kids are not only still with us but they're dancing and holding phones in the air and I can hear people talking about the band.

They sound like Hot Chip. Fuck off they do.Their sound is more 60s. Nah mate, they're a bit like Divine Comedy. Joy Divison. Depeche Mode. Spandau Ballet.

They don't look like a band but the second they got on that stage they became a band.

On the way out I hear 2 kids singing Weight in Gold.

It's all good, another little victory for Team Eden. Well apart from the Spandau ballet thing, I'm not down with that.

Sometimes you just have to get on with it, people will tell you're wrong or they won't understand but the whole point of the revolution is to bring on a fundamental change.

Kings and Queens of the anti-cool - look alive, we can change the world. These walls can't contain us.

.

[edenmusic-blog]

And Out Come the Wolves...

It's been a big week for Eden/Velocity. When we first started all this we joked about a revolution and about starting fires but we had no idea that people would actually give a damn or want to join us, but they do and the support we've had has floored us.

We're just about as DIY as it gets but we know how to have a good time and it turns out we know how to build an army.

We got into bed with White House Studios, well it made sense so why fight it.

We tried denying our feelings and fighting the chemistry but in the end we gave in and made a record. That record was Rich Kids by Screama Ballerina and it has a life of it's own, we made it as a demo to get some gigs but it came out as single on Monday.

White House Studios are punk rock, they just do their own thing and when no one was looking they got really bloody good at it.

Last week they made a record with Ben Marwood and 2 hours later it had been delivered to Xtra Mile.

Ben Marwood doesn't play with the players, he plays his own game, works hard and in the words of Velocity's Sid 'he is GOD'.

The producer that worked with the Vampire Weekend got in touch to mix some of their tracks and now Dave Chang is working out of White House.

Our English gents Neon Mile are all over the place too and did a BBC Introducing live session last week.

We're making a summer dance anthem with Jemma Willard and a talented new producer.

We've joined forces with The Music Exposure Awards and Tourdates.co.uk which is pretty damn exciting.

We also reviewed the new TV Smith album which we've attached, because we can and because he's an inspiration and knows more about musical revolutions and changing the world than we do.

We don't want to bore the crap out of you, brag or show off, it's not our style. So, if you want to know more about Screama Ballerina, Neon Mile, White House Studios, Eden, Exposure Music/Tourdates, Velocity or you want to interview TV Smith just ask and we'll sort it out.

If you want to help us then keep buying our records, come to our gigs, keep reading our blog, buy us a vodka and check out Music Exposure and Tourdates once in a while.

Punks, emo kids, rockers, psycobillies, metallers, Kings and Queens of the anti-cool join our army of misfits - you can't stop this movement!

Artist: TV Smith

Title: Coming In To Land

Record label: Boss Tuneage

Last time I saw TV Smith was in the grotty back room of a pub in Stockwell thrashing out acoustic 

versions of Adverts songs as the warm up for Hard Skin and Fucked Up. 

The fact he could still get away singing "Bored Teenagers" 

goes to show the power of his performance, so I was looking forward to hear his new work.

The CD, with a cover that looks like a companion painting to 

Propaghandi's "Supporting Caste", opens up with "Worn Once", one of the many songs 

which encapsulates the current economic uncertainty and throw-away attitude 

of today's commercial culture. 

Several tracks, notably "Probably" and "Man Down" have that laid-back-but-pissed-off-with-the-state of-things vibe reminiscent of Joe Strummer's later solo stuff, which is definitely a good thing.

"Complaints Department" showcases the jaded anger of having to battle through 

call centre queues to get your point across, with a little Half Man Half Biscuit style 

exasperation thrown in.

The theme of the sad decline of individualism and expression in the face of the 

ever increasing drive of commercialism and the "have a nice day" culture is covered 

in the lament "Us And Them", with its refrain "What's so wrong with some 

communication, between us and them"

The general sound is kind of acoustic with-band, a little like some Frank Turner stuff, which gives more power to the 

songs in a way that a simple acoustic arrangement would lack. 

Those expecting a raucous punk racket may be initially disappointed but stick with it

 and you'll see how good this can be. Tracks like "Deactive Autoslave" and "Trouble To Yourself" still pack some punch, and restraint where there could be 

over the top anger actually gives more power to the message. I might be sounding old here but 

the "you can actually hear all the words" aspect is a benefit, as he has a lot to say 

and it deserves to be heard.

All in all a very good collection of songs with something powerful to say about the state of

the nation.