This speaker needs more...

...knives.

Sunday service.

Jeb is asleep in the van. I am half asleep in the van. Seryn is silent in the corner of the van. Trewin and Ed are giggling about wee. In the van.

We're on our way to 'London world of Olympic adventures TM' to play at and support the International Youth Arts Festival.

We left at 9am. Today. Sunday.

Now, there are various rules surrounding the sleep patterns of 'musicians'. These are the same rules commonly adhered to by Philosophy undergraduates and those the KJB would describe as 'the wretched'.

These rules do not, as you may have assumed, involve what is happening right now, which is being awake.

And so, with a tired spirit, pure and without the prop of brown drinky or papery leafy lovely stimulants, we shall crawl with grazed knees to deliver our sermon.

'...and lo, they did fall asleep on stage, though the charity and art and things were pretty good and worthwhile until then.'

That's the best I can do, for now. Still...paints a picture, yeah?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

My face.

I'm spending my time this morning trying to look past Bill Turnbull's Debenham's suit to see Phoria appear on BBC news. My face is going to appear on national television. Think about that. Think about how deep the recession must have hit for the yellowing hole in my face to be allowed to flap around on the BBC.

The interview itself went very smoothly (thanks solely to the professionalism of the team filming us) but was incredibly stressful. So much so that I've only just built up the strength to write about it.

'What's that?'
'Oh that's just a glistening, soulless black mouth that eats time and light. We'll just point it at your face.'

It's a big leap from stalking the streets shouting at parked cars to suddenly being asked to give the country a succinct account of why you moved to Brighton (Trewin), what's the deal with all these projections? (Jeb), and what do you think about the cultural side of the Olympics? (Me). It was difficult, dry-mouthed, but still friendly and fun. The team dealt well with the three stuttering radio faces they'd been lumbered with.

We were told it would be broadcast this morning, hence my early hours being spent with the eerily cheerful BBC breakfast news team. Frankly I don't need this first thing in the morning; I need a reflection of me, not a denial of it. I need to see someone sprawling awkwardly across a grubby sofa, hacking and groaning and shielding their eyes from the horror of it all. The horror.

So now, the morning line already having ran, I'll be glued to News24, waiting to catch a glimpse of the horror of it all. The horror.

(Don't forget- FREE gig at The Green Door Store in Brighton this friday! Get down here!)

Tim.
(As seen on TV)

Beebie jeebies.

We're being filmed by BBC World today as part of their Olympic coverage; they're going to be asking us about the work we've been doing towards the ICCI 360 event in Weymouth. We're also being visited by the good people of Brighton Noise who are going to be covering the BBC's coverage.

That's all fine - Jeb can answer any questions about the videos and music or band or whatever. I trust him.

What I need to know is: which conditioner is going to give my hair the right shine to compliment my crushed velvet armbands?

As if I didn't have enough to think about!

Tim

NB. I don't mind saying that I actually find this whole television interview thing quite nerve wracking and that sometimes, when nervous, I make silly jokes. There's one above (you remember, the one about Jeb being able to answer simple questions) that I'm not going to point out to you...but then there are two other hilarious gags right there, neatly hidden inside my exposition of another joke.

So, yes...if over the next few hours you see me making any silly jokes (above), it's just nerves, so you would be well advised to ignore absolutely everything I have to say on any subject.

Oh lord.

The television are coming.

Close that door!

We come and go. Think of it like an oven - if you keep opening the door to check if your meal is done, it'll never get cooked.

So every now and then we just pop the little light on for you folks and let you know if our cheese has nicely browned.

Right now there's a small gathering in Trewin's attic, appraising his latest 'work'. We like it alot. Needless to say it's thrown the EP plans into disarray - what do we leave out now? What do we protect you from? How much more bass guitar does it all need (lots)?

These are the questions that we face.

'Rest, Neo; the answers are coming.'

They're not, though, are they, Morpheus? Your bad sequels confirmed that for us.

And so we remain quagmired in quandry.

We'll listen again. And again. We'll find our favorites, don't worry. Seriously, calm down. Come on. Don't cry! Please! If you do then we will! Oh no.

So yeah, we'll sort it out and see you on 7th July at The Haunt in Brighton, supporting Active Child. Get in touch or check facebook for discounted tickets.

I'm turning the light off, now, mother.

Tim

The End Is Nigh

I thought I'd write my first blog and let you guys know that I'm just putting the finishing touches on the visuals for our 360 show for the Olympics.

It's been a very long and square-eyed couple of months but I'm really excited about how it's going to look on the big screen(s). Each of these videos is going to be 6 metres tall and 62 metres around... it's going to be mental.

Here's a sneak preview -

I fully recommend you come and see it in action on the 9th of August in Weymouth, where we are performing as part of the 'At The Edge of Everything' event, curated by the Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival, with the fantastic Nordic Giants, Cate Ferris and Andy Walker.

You can get tickets here - https://weymouthpavilion.purchase-tickets-online.co.uk/public/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=100   for only 10 of your finest pound coins. It'd be a crime not to.

Jeb x

P.S. I just got introduced to the delectable sounds of Baths, it's incredible stuff. Give it a whirl!

Hello-lands.

Well, well, unwell. We returned from Meadowlands four days ago...not that it feels that way for me. I've only just been able to crawl out of my quilt after a nasty bout of I-dunno-wot-itis. The time? It was good.

Tim Key's performance in the spoken word tent was a particular highlight for me. Portico Quartet, of whom I have been a fan since catching them on some long forgotten late-night jazz-o-lantern TV trauma many years ago, were also a keen contender for my 'Where did I put my mind?' award.

It's difficult to describe how good so many of the acts were, so I won't. Except the guy who put the firework up his bum. He's worth a mention. Yeah. Alas: no photo.

We believe our set went well! The crew were great- it's been a while since we had such a relaxed gig. We did a little interview for latest.co.uk, spent some quality time with The Management and co., and saw fellow Brightonians Nordic Giants put on an awesome performance (perhaps the best I've seen them) despite intense sleep deprivation after their single launch only a couple of days before.

All in all: good festival, good time.

Pleasantness abounds.

Except for Jeb. The 360 visuals are due and he spent last weekend slacking off in some field or other.

Tim

Posture!

It's Saturday. We're filming visuals for the 360 degree show. Time generously donated. See also: cameras, dancers, lights, space. Hot outside. Sunny. Close the curtains. More when complete.
My chocolate bar has melted.
The price of art.

Summer

Hello again fellow homo-sapiens. 

Summer is upon us! I can smell the freshly cut grass outside - festival season is nearly here. I hope wherever you are, you are getting as much sunshine as we are down in Brighton. I, however, got a bit too excited, ran around in the sun for far too long and gave myself heat-stroke! Plus I was attacked by seagulls.

Here they are squabbling over bits of my body

We are preparing for our first festival of the season - MEADOWLANDS. Extremely excited to see LAMB and ACHORSONG song again, as well as our good friends NORDIC GIANTS.

In the meanwhile, we have all been very busy with PHORIA things: Jeb has locked himself away for the last month creating 360 degree visuals only to emerge to drag us all to interesting locations with 7 cameras. For example: if you happened to be in Stanmer woods at 01.00am last Tuesday, you would have caught sight of 7 weirdos standing in a circle, shuffling and flashing cameras. Jeb assures me that it will all be worth it...

Trewin is finishing the final mixes of the 'Bloodworks' EP. I am told killer vocal takes cannot be rushed.

I have been transcribing string parts for another special project on the horizon - any good string players out there?

I need to lie down now.

I leave you with some Vaughan-Williams - because I'm cultured and stuff.

Ed x

Something prog, something new, something really massive and round, and nothing blue.

It used to be that I would wake up in the morning (read: afternoon), stumble over to my mess of a desk, and give my laptop a good old boot into the punctuated pit of the world-wide-web.  I had immediate and unbridled access to two things: new music and information. OK, let's be honest, three things.

It used to be that I was that guy in pub-tabled conversation:  'Have you heard the new bootleg-EP pre-release fan-fiction leaks from The Super New Underground Great Sound band?  No?  Oh man it's great you have to hear it blablabla...'

I haven't had consistent access to broadband internet since 2009.

Wipe the tears from your eyes, dear telecommunicative reader - I know it's upsetting, but we can get through this together.  You can start a facebook support group for each another while I make a collage of what I imagine that to look like.  I'll make it from scraps in the corner of my mud hut.

What all of this means (finally, a point) is that, unlike the rest of the 'cool', fully-wired Phoria crew who are inevitably on the cruising edge of the 21st century's bubbling musical pot, I have become something of a backwater fish.  

So, what are my habits then, when, after years without and for a limited time only, I do have access to broadband?

I indulge in old 70's Anglo-German prog with crazy sci-fi psychedelic album art, and get so consumed with pleasure that I feel compelled to share it on a collective blog:

Others may provide you with the new and the cool - I'll merely provide you with my own ugly truth.

Alas, there is little news from 'The Phoria'.  Most of us have been tucked into our little beds, sneezing and wheezing away.  It's convenient that this little spate of illness has been well coordinated.  Another winning idea, lads.  It's yet to be seen whether this initiative will improve our productivity. (NB. It won't).  That's government money saved.

We even, regretfully, had to cancel our appearance at the 'Festeaval' festival last weekend, where we were scheduled to appear alongside Bastille, one of my favourite new bands of the moment (thanks, Radio 6, for keeping me umbilically attached to the mainstream).  It's all quirky beats and bassy synth-arpeggiated fun,  so what's not to love?

Our much-promised EP is currently being rested (to be approached again with fresh ears) and we're focussing our efforts on preparation for the Olympic 2012 gig in Weymouth.

Here's a great example of what can be achieved using the set-up we're working with:

Good lord.

Wish us well.

Tim

Photoshoot-Festival Weekender

Greetings fellow earthlings! What a weekend we've had. Friday began with a photoshoot with new mentor Ciara in and around the lovely town of Frome.

Here's some shots I took from the first spot we found ourselves in - an awesome old attic space interspersed with rather odd artifacts...

Trewin is happy!

Friends

Stuffed mongoose and snake fighting - the usual

Jeb prepares his "photo-shoot" face.

View from the attic's rather disquieting door to nowhere

"If you go down to the woods today..."

Later on in the day Ciara took us to a derelict iron works situated by a river deep in the woods. The place was just beautiful, only to be ruined by 5 irksome musicians. Never-the-less we had a brilliant time and soon the shoot itself shall appear. We only hope we're as pretty as we pretended to be.

Saturday started with the predictable pre-gig hangover which was soon shook off and replaced with excitement for the imminent Festival of Art for Brazil in aid of Ephermal Brazil.

Nordic Giants set up

The night was a great success. A big thanks to everyone involved, including Nordic Giants and Andy Walker, who were both excellent.

Big plans for the future. Stay tuned!

Ed 

x