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| Richt Hoat Chillies Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band. Website: www.myspace.com/rhcpscot I play: Bass. I tried several basses, mostly a Warwick Corvette $$ and a Tanglewood Warrior, but I seem to have settled for a OLP MM2, Musicman Stingray type of bass. It's a beautiful bass to play and it sounds great despite the low price (£130, second hand). It was passive originally, but I bought an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp for it, which will be installed any day... as soon as I lose the fear to my wood router! Other gear: Usually just my Korg Pitchblack tuner, into a MXR 10-band EQ and a Boss LMB-3 limiter. Sometimes I may add a MXR bass DI+ unit (both as a preamp/distortion), or a Digitech Bad Monkey for some mild overdrive, or a Digitech Bass Synth, but rarely. For amplification I use a small-but-powerful TC Electronic Rebelhead RH450, into whatever cabs I have available. I have a TC Electronic 2x10" cab, but if I can avoid carrying it I will. History: This band started in October '08 with Kenny (drummer) and I, after playing together on and off for a year in another covers band, found we really really really loved the RHCP and playing their songs... so we thought "let's just do RHCP songs!". The search for a guitarist ended in January '09, when we met Andy. His guitar playing was fantastic, as were his backing vocals. He made us sound good. The search for a singer took a bit longer. We had been rehearsing with Myke, a great guy but his vocals didn't really suit the RHCP style. We tried a lot of singers, and when we were about to lose hope, Rich arrived. With him, the quartet was completed. We had a solid drummer, a great guitarist, powerful singer who could sing ballady songs, hard ones, and rap, beautiful harmonies... and well, me on bass. The idea of choosing to play 'Flea' as a way to improve my bass playing as a relative newbie was certainly a bit naive, but nothing like a bit of pressure to get your ass in gear. We were not sure what to call ourselves. A few names were considered, with The Red Hot Jalapeños coming close to be our name, but in the end we went for the Richt Hoat Chillies, which we thought had a bit more of a Scottish flavour... and here we are. Demo recording: On the 13th of May 2009, the band went to the xxxxxx College in Glenrothes, where we recorded our first demo as a symbiotic collaboration between us and xxxx, a student doing a project in sound recording and mixing. We recorded "Dani California", "Fortune faded", "Give it away" and "Can't stop". Gigs: On the 17th of May 2009 we played our first gig at The Ark in Edinburgh. We played a 45min set (insert link) after two acoustic numbers: James McKay (site) and The Rain King, Andy's project. The place was almost empty, but we were happy to get the first gig out of the way. We filmed it and put a video on YouTube. 18th June, The Ark, Edinburgh. 5th July, The Ark, Edinburgh. Conscious Route Style: funk/rock/blues/hip-hop Website: www.myspace.com/consciousroute I play: Bass. I started using the Ibanez SR400, early 90s model, active with 3-band EQ. I put a set of Rotosound flatwounds (SM77, gauge 40-100) and it sounds just right, classic and punchy. Lately I've been using more and more the OLP MM2 Stingray I use with the Richt Hoat Chillies, and my Warwick Corvette $$. Other gear: Just the bass into a Korg Pitchblack tuner and the MXR Bass DI+ unit and a Boss LMB3 limiter. For amplification, the TC Electronic RH450 head. History: As I was searching the classified ads looking for singers for our RHCP project, I came across an ad by Mosman. Unusually for these type of ads he included links to a few videos in Youtube from his previous project, Fugazirum. I loved it. It wasn't my usual style, but it was really good. They were looking for a bass player. I thought "nah, they're too good, they'll never have me"... but I sent an email, and in early March '09 I joined them for a jam. Mosman doing main vocals, Sam on guitar (funky!) and Arron on drums. I had a blast despite being sick that day, and we left with the usual "I'll call you"... They wanted to try a few other people, fair enough, so I focused on other things. Finally in late April I get an email: "the gig is yours if you want it". I guess there are worse bassists in Edinburgh! ;-) I joined them for an acoustic jam, just Mosman, Sam, and Donna, a backing singer. I was handed a fretless 5-string acoustic bass. Shit. I didn't even know the songs! But I plodded along... we had another acoustic rehearsal on the 11th of May (this time I brought my Ibanez bass and a small Behringer BXL450A amp)... and the next day we had our first gig as a band! Also my first real gig ever. At that gig we met Gary, a drummer, with whom we jammed a bit. He will be sharing drumming duties with Arron, as he is often unavailable due to other commitments. Gigs: On the 12th of May 2009, we had our first live experience as a band, very under-rehearsed, and very nervous, but in the friendly atmosphere of the Forrest Cafe in Edinburgh. I totally forgot how one song went and without being able to hear the guitar well I did what I could to not sound totally out of place. Most people had had enough beer and wine by then to care too much. They cheered and no vegetables were thrown, which I guess meant it didn't go all that wrong. Clips... 29th May, Bannermans, Edinburgh 4th June, The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh 19th July, Inverleith Park Tree Festival, Edinburgh. 25th July, Bannermans, Edinburgh. Coming up: 1st August, New Skateboard Park, opening festival. Eyre Place Park. @16:30 23th August, The Ark, Edinburgh. @23:30 27th August, Citizen Smith, Rose St., Edinburgh Some other bands/projects I have been involved in: Purple Noise This is the name under which I have been recording noises for years... Some very old clips here. Website: www.myspace.com/purplenoise68 Maderos Light My very first "band", in 1986, where I played drums (a collection of boxes and other objects that could make a sound when hit) while my school friend Vicente Gonzalez played guitar and sang a bit, and Jose Maria Alcañiz 'Burding' played guiatr and keyboards... with the help of 'Pablito', who would just hang out, pull faces, help us record and generally entertained us with his presence. (Clips coming soon) Maria Stella My very first experience "onstage", in 1996, supporting on guitar my friend Maria Stella, who played guitar and sang. It was a one day thing, playing for a group of old age pensioners. They gave us a bottle of wine at the end... (Some pictures coming soon) Seven Deadly Sins My first band playing bass. I decided I needed to join a band to practice and learn properly. I responded to an ad by Wojtek, a Polish drummer and joined him and Peter in this metal band. This was June 2007. It was truly dreadful, but it allowed me to start the switch from pick to fingerstyle and it was there that I met David Sharkey (singer, later in Moebius), and Paulo (singer, later in Soul Edge). David only played 3 weeks with us, and Paulo came for an audition and left early as he couldn't stand it. It was mainly the guitarist's fault. One of those guys who need to play as loud as the amp would go, with al the mid frequencies removed and boosting bass (to make sure it muddies up when playing with a real bass) and treble (to make sure you just hear white noise, until your eardrums have been pierced and shot to pieces). Good riddance. It was enlightening, and it helped me build a bit of confidence on bass. Pictures Clips Moebius Whilst enduring the Seven Deadly Sins, I met David, who joined us as a singer for a couple of weeks. He quit, but he and I started to meet to write songs, and soon were joined by Adam. This was August 2007. Adam is a guitarist who has known David for years and together wrote a lot of stuff. We tried to make it work as a band, rehearsed regularly, but never had a proper drummer. We found Shamey, a great drummer and fantastic guy... but he quit after a month due to "disagreements" about the guitarist. We continued drummerless and booked studio time to record a demo CD, using a friend of Adam and David's as drummer. We called ourselves Moebius. The music was mostly good, but after a while the guitarist was getting on my nerves too. I went along because I loved many of the songs, and I wanted to have the experience of the recording and a few gigs with them... but a month before recording was due to start I was informed that Adam and David decided to proceed alone. They then recorded the demo, in September 2008, under the name Psyrenz, and that was the end of it as far as I'm concerned. They have some interesting stuff in their site 'though. Pictures Clips Last Orders While I was with Moebius, we barely rehearsed with a drummer and I missed the full band sound, so I joined a covers band. Eventually we called ourselves Last Orders. We played covers by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave, Stereophonics, The Cult... I was with them from November 2007 until May 2008, when I decided I'd rather focus on Moebius, as the rehearsals with Last orders were fun, but were going nowhere. Kenny Jackson was the drummer in Last Orders, and when I got the boot from Moebius, I got back in touch. Things hadn't gone well, and the band was about to be dissolved. Then we tried to reform it, with the original guitarist (Mark), and a new singer, Paulo. I had met Paulo briefly when he came to audition for the Seven Deadly Sins, I came across him again now, he was bandless... and we joined for one rehearsal. After that, Mark said he didn't have time to play in a band after all, and we called it a day. However, Kenny and I went on to form a Red Hot Chili Peppers covers band (Richt Hoat Chilies, see above), and I started meeting with Paulo to play music with a more metal edge, and that lead to another project called Soul Edge (see below). Grim Riffers / The Voodoo Conspiracy Before Moebius existed, in August 2007, a guitarist contacted me through an ad I had placed, and came to meet me and david, the singer. His name was Chris McLeary. He was just starting out, so it didn't work out... but he was a nice guy and we stayed in touch, later became friends. He tried t put a band together, and I said I'd join on bass. The name was The Grim Riffers. There was another guitarist involved, and later a drummer. Chris wrote a few songs and we jammed a bit, but it was a slow process and we didn't get much done. Eventually I was becoming busier with other projects, and it was sort of mutually decided that they needed a dedicated bass player. They then changed the name to The Voodoo Conspiracy. website clips Soul Edge I had met Paulo, singer, briefly while at the Seven Deadly Sins, and when Last Orders were reformed he joined us, for that single rehearsal we did. Last Orders died there, and then Paulo and I would start meeting to jam in November 2008 and write stuff. This project was a bit eclectic, with funk influences, but firmly based on metal. Several months went by, and we started looking for a guitarist. Until then Paulo played most guitars and I played some too. We tried a few, and eventually we went with Manuel Cicca. He was quite an interesting guitarist. Unfortunately, his personality and mine were quite opposite and eventually I said enough is enough, and about 10 minutes into a jam session I decided to walk out. It is a shame, as I think we had some cool ideas there, but we weren't going anywhere and I wasn't willing to tolerate the guitarist's attitude anymore. Maybe I'll still do something with Paulo, who remains a friend, but the project died for me on June 20th 2009. clips Diego In early 2009 I came across an ad from the band Diego, who were looking for a bass player. Their former bassist had moved to play lead guitar, and they needed a new bassist. I liked the song in their website, a simple punk-rock ala Green Day song with a nice feeling and good vocals... and I got in touch. I had a few rehearsals with them. Good people. Their singer/guitarist and main composer was really good. The drummer adequate. The lead guitarist... not very competent and with a total lack of understanding about what makes a guitar cut through the mix (and the use of a guitar tuner). At first I had fun, I liked the songs and I saw us gigging in no time. But the rehearsals went from bad to worse, at ridiculously high volume that made it impossible to hear anything in detail (and what is the point of the rehearsal then, if you can't hear the music properly?)... I brought it up politely, and initially it was met in a positive fashion. But nothing changed and I started feeling I was clearly the odd one out. The guys knew eachother for a long time and were friends, I was the newcomer who was trying to change something... I was not happy, and it was obvious to them that I wasn't happy. So we parted company. But this is a band I would definitely go to see live. Good uncomplicated catchy songs, with a very competent vocalist. website The Rain King This is Andy's band, the guitarist with the Richt Hoat Chillies. They disbanded in June 2009 due to conflicting schedules, and Andy decided to reform with different members. He asked me to play bass, and I happily accepted. Got a bunch of songs to learn, and we don't have drummer and singer (Andy moving from singer/guitarist to lead guitarist)... but The Rain King will rise again. website |
Last updated 26 July 2009
