BRISTOL MUSIC

> MY ANSWER..
(Sorry about the spelling, you know the deal by now).

I'm sat in my bedroom thinking about my tme in this city. I can only really give you a personal view, i don't wanna be the man who gets the facts and figures wrong. I've been living in Bristol for 9 years now and i'd say that it for me it's been a game of two halves.

For the first four years in Bristol (while i was at university) i pretty much ignored music made in Bristol. I really don't know why? No logic to my thinking i'm afraid. I kinda thought nothing good could be made on my doorstep (even though there was good music being made inside that doorstep,over time i lived with 6 friends who made great music in their bedrooms..one of which became a bandmate). Maybe there was good stuff made during that time? I don't know? Obviously there was a whole load of special stuff back in the early to mid 90's. I'm not gonna look back now..well i am actually, to the last 5 years that i've spent here in the city.

I remember being up on top of a hill having a bonfire with some friends i met and became to know through Fence Records (probably my favourite label). These were Rozi Plain, Rachael Dadd & Sam Romanhead. They had another friend up that hill, well..they had about 50. But that friend i mentioned was called Rose Kemp. She was/is a great big powerful lady (ha!) who i was/still am scared of. She has a great voice. She made it rain howling mud at Glastonbury a few years ago when i saw her and SJ Esau perform a few years back. That night on the hill she torched me on the fire for admitting i knew nothing about the local music scene and that i wasn't that bothered. SSSSORRY!!? She was really angry with me, she got all hyped up and began reeling off a list of band names and singers i'd never heard of (one name i remember was Team Brick)..some of which were sitting around us drinking tins of pop, eating spuds and such like. After that night i thought i'd better get more involved and take notice what was around me more. BUT i didn't. At this time me, my brother and a friend had decided we might have a go at this music game. None of us were any good really. I was/still am COMPLETELY useless. We started by setting up an (online) radio station called OLO Radio. So around this time i was more interested in a whole load of other music being made around the world (except Bristol it would seem).

I hop from job to job hoping one day something will happen. Nothing has. I joined Fopp back in 2005 wher i began working as a slave in their warehouse being forced to listen to hours and hours of death metal. Probably the ONLY genre of music i can't handle. One of the chaps who liked the odd bit of Slayer was a young fella called Steve Kerrison who played in a band called Safetyword. We became mates and he gave me a copy of their 1st EP (with him on board, they were a three peice before). It took it home and played it to death. It was AMAZING! It was pretty odd too. I asked if i could have a go at making a video for them and he said yes. I never did. I never do. It's just something i ask every musician i ever meet. It does'nt matter how big they are, i'd ask Bono!! This year i am suppost to be making videos for about 10 different Bristol acts. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

Anyway, i'd go and see Safetyword ALL the time. In total i saw them more than any other band i've ever seen. Steve continued to burn me new EPs until eventually his generosity ran out and i was forced to buy their album. They split up in 2008 leaving alot of locals very upset. They helped my band (OLO Worms) by giving us a bit of confidence at our first gigs. Before they split when i used to go to the live gigs i'd notice quite a few faces that would pop up again and again. These people also made music in Bristol. I got to know a few of them, mainly through Safetyword tipping them off to me. People like SJ Esau, Team Brick, Freeze Puppy. All of which i'm big fans of and go see when i can. It's like a chain reaction where everytime you see a local band you like you seem to find out about 2 more new ones. Everyone plays with each other all the time.

So i began to know more about the interesting music being made in Bristol and some good local festivals (Venn being the best). There was also alot of music i hated. I still hate alot of local bands. Not naming though, i'm a puny yellabelly who'll get kicked in when they put down those guitars and girls. Thing is a lot of the people i really like and respect like the bands i dislike which kind of brings me onto my main feeling about Bristol music. On the hole..EVERYONE LOVES each other, well pretty much. Even if people don't like each others music they are still nice to each other and support anything made locally. I'm pretty sure there are people i know who really can't stand the music we make, i see it when we play, i see the pain in their eyes. But still they are willing to buy you a drink or not buy you a drink for your own safety and well-being no matter how much you beg (thanks). I don't live in other cities, so i'm not sure if that's the same case anywhere else but it is here. It's quite a small city too so you see the same people all the time. I'm quite good now at avoiding the Larry David 'stop and chat'.

Another very very nice thing about Bristol is that there doesn't seem to be a single scene or one popular type of music (thank god! I can't wear clothes that belong to others or that are tight or that aren't made out of flannel). Everyone's pretty broad-minded and willing to try different stuff out. There seems to be loads of great nights going on. Sometimes i'm sober enough and with it enough to get a bit of a kick out of them. Most of the time i'm not. Now, a confession..i'm being honest here. You see rather than going to good local gigs and club nights, (and there are loads! and without sounding like an idiot youth TV presenter, i have been a big fan of emirG & petsbuD..Bristol's finest sounds of the last few years) i'd rather spend my very little money i have with my mates getting pissed watching X Factor. Most of my friends don't wanna go to these nights and gigs so i don't. I don't wanna be where it's at, i HATE being at a place where it's suppost to be cool or whatever (cue lots of laughing and ribbing). I always feel like i'm soo boring. I'd rather be angry and annoyed by other normal boring guff and try and use that energy for my own creative good. I wanna battle others in the game, not join forces with them. Musicians are wierdo's, i'm not keen on hanging round with them, they bring me down. At the end of the day i have no real connection with Bristol or the people who make music here. I live here, like most of the people, but i could be anywhere. It's good fun city, it produces some of the most original sounds in the whole country..blah blah blah. Come and visit, just don't knock for me if you're involved in music.