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The
Little Buddha Journal : September 2004
Chapter
7 : London, Baby!!
Got
ready – final mix downs of backing tracks/loops
for Mackie for live work… Switching sample
rates went to Grant's head… I think
he's going insane… Should be an EXCELLENT
trip!
London
was FAB… The Borderline was busy!
We felt very much at home there…
The
Little Buddha Journal : September 2004
Chapter
6 : In The City, Manchester 2004
ITC
was, in short, brilliant – exhausting – but brilliant!
Departure
:
The
need for some form of people carrier became apparent
to us as we crammed equipment and luggage and ourselves
into the Omega and headed off to Manchester…
Fugue
has a extreme distaste for jazz… As he was
the last LB member to collect, Kev, Grant and I
subjected him to some hardcore jazz – just for the
sheer Hell of it… He replied, cool as ever
– “Get tae Fuck wi' the jazz, man! Get some
NIN on!”
We
like to wind him up… ;-)
Arrival
:
The
drive down was quick and relatively painless.
A little cramped perhaps, but enjoyable…
We arrived in Manchester around 9 and spent another
hour driving around looking for the Radisson Edwardian
Hotel – where we were staying. Where it was
all happening this year! After a couple
of wrong turns with a hint of comedy as we took
a wrong turn and ended up spiralling up the entrance
to a NCP Multi-storey car park… Monty
Python couldn't have done it better!
We
arrived at the Hotel – dumped our stuff in our room
and freshened up – yes – we all shared one room.
And one bathroom.
We
hit the bar and hooked up with some industry people
Grant and I met last year, and schmoozed with some
new ones. Armed with copies of our
specially-made Promotional CD-ROM in really funky
space age packaging, we circulated and worked that
room. We sometimes hunted in packs,
sometimes spread out – like whores on double time!
A
lot of contacts were made on our first night – and
we have maintained business relationships with them
and they have all been true to their word and have
been helping us climb another rung of the ladder.
It's
all good – watch the LITTLE BUDDHA CHAT section
for press release…
Here's,
in short, what really happened that weekend – both
good and bad, happy and sad, sublime and ridiculous
– warts n all!
- Grant
had an interesting chat with Beyonce Knowles'
father in the elevator – about the beds being
too short… Mr Knowles is very tall.
- I
kicked Van Nistlroy in the shins – with my big
fuck off Judge Dredd boots on… Man Utd
were staying at the Radisson Edwardian for their
Team Talk with their boss before playing Liverpool…
I said “Oops – hope I didn't injure you for tonight!”
He said “Oh that's cool… God, they're big
boots yah?” To which I replied “Yeah… slightly!”
- The
waiters had a bad ass attitude – but looked like
The Hives – very surreal…
- Met
up with Kim Fowley – he quizzed me on our new
material and asked if any songs were about anal
sex and substance-abuse. I told him
to come to our gig and find out.
AND HE DID…
- The
general consensus of opinion was that the delegate
packs were not so fruitful as last year.
- Alec
Downie, NEMIS, got cornered at the bar about why,
as paid up members of NEMIS – with an ITC showcase
– were not featured on either of the promotional
NEMIS CDs even although we were told we would
be… Fugue chewed his ear off for an hour
or two and Grant went for the jugular…
- Did
an interview for a Mexican magazine…
- Kevin
got very drunk – lost his wallet and asked the
Head of Sony Publishing ‘if he would like to see
a picture of his friend shagging a sheep…'
(Nice one Kev… Looks like we'll not be
offered a publishing deal from Sony then…)
- Met
Seymour Stein – the legend that signed Madonna…
Talked to him about fish tanks and cars.
- Shook
hands with Sir Alex Ferguson, met Giggs, Rooney
and Rinaldo (who, sorry to disappoint you girls,
is not so pretty up close)
- Met
some guy from Blur and chatted with him at the
bar – discussing how odd it was to be served by
‘The Hives' (as the waiters became affectionately
known as)
- FOOT
LONG!!! (practically lived on Subway's
foot-long specialities)
- Kevin
and I spent Saturday at the Urbis Centre – attending
all the ‘FREE' workshops and seminars and met
some interesting and influential people.
Got brilliant feedback on promotional CD-ROM and
current EP
- Our
GIG – (at Squares on Sunday 19 th September) went
really well… Totally rocked out!
Plenty red-tag badge bedecked industry people
there – including the LA svengali, Kim Fowley.
Got LOTS of good feedback and generated
a lot of interest. Big thanks to THE BAND
AGENCY and WAR CHILD… Nice one! Alec Downie,
NEMIS, was there too apparently.
- Chilled
after gig – with a few rounds of Squares Bar's
very own MOLOTOV COCKTAIL… Lethal
– hit the spot with deadly accuracy!
- Grant
celebrated his birthday – got very drunk in the
afternoon with Pedro (from NY based digital distribution
company, The Orchard) – we all, including Pedro
and Grant's folks, went out at night! Went to
the Finnish and Australian showcases.
- We
all slept in the one room. Grant and I
on the kingsize (and still too small for Grant
and Beyonce's Dad) bed; The Fugue unfurled
his purple sleeping bag at the end of each day
and slept in the hallway by the door; Kevin –
being Kevin – fell asleep whether he crumpled
at the end of each night!
Had
a great time at ITC 2004 – the GIG went really well…
Thanks
to everyone who helped us in the past and stayed
with us through to this stage – and thanks to those
who will be helping us in the near future…
Thank
you Manchester – for being so well-received, your
architecture and trams, your passion for new music
and drama…
Returned
home, tired, skint and hung over…
Love
n Peace
Kat
x
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