The guilty pleaseures of a decent GIG

Hello to all

Well tonight i am drumming for a band called Mother of Biffa, a Jazz soul blues band, in newcastle upon tyne, i am looking forward to it as it should be a decent gig.

Gigging is a drug, its a release from life, it takes away the stresses and strains and allows you to be yourself.
I am unsure how everyone else feels about it, but as a musician, i dont feel my self unless i am on stage, now i am no way a show off or a big head, being in the lime light does not appeal to me, so why do i love gigging so much.

I think its due to all those long hours practicing songs and techniques and then funally putting them to practice, it allows all the hard work you have done to finally see the light of day.

Now i have seen bands who are not the best rehearsed, who dont have a clue what each other is doing, BUT do they look like they are enjoying themselves, YES.

If you are a musician, and you aint been on stage before GO FOR IT.
It will turn into your drug, allways wanting more, and its a lot safer than Crack cocain.

Peace

Stressing out

Good afternoon everyone

Lets talk about about stressing out for a little bit

Couple of questions come to mind
Why do we stress out?
Why cant we think positivley about things?

now when i talk about stressing, i am talking more on the lines of cant get something to work, or work related stress, and stuff like that.

I stress out all the time, when things dont always go my way, i believe i stress becouse my enviroment allows me to stress, no one will tell you its wrong to stress, as they love the drama of stress.

people will take weeks and months off work due to stress .
How wrong is that, is it only me that thinks thats wrong, when i stress, i scream maybe punch a wall, but thats it, i could not justify taking time off work through stress.

People love a drama and they love to here all the problems in your life, we live in a world where stress is a convienient way to be in a bad mood.
Just be in a bad mood, dont claim to be stressed.
I claimed to be stressed at the beginning of this article, but i am not i am in a bad mood, thats all.

People of Great Britain
CHILL

The Blame Game

Well.
I was just reading a popular News site, lets call it the cbb, and there was a story on there about Neglet of a child, which i am not going to name, BUT it got me thinking.
The parents of this child failed as parents resulting in the incedent that occured.
So why is society blaming the social workers and such like.
We are now turning into "it your fault not mine" society, which is an outrage.

Lets stop blaming people for our wrong doings, The social Services should not be blamed for any wrong doings.
what you should do is Ban that mothers fanny from ever giving birth again.

Would you blame the Mail Man if you spilt coffee on your letter prior to opening it up.
Would you write an article on how the mail man failed in his job as he should have sat down with you and made sure the letter was safe whilst you opened it.
NO is the answer. Stop blaming people, blame yourself for spilling coffee on your letter you doylum.

I understand that child care is different, BUT it still outlines the society in which we live now.
A pilot crashes a plane and kills all passengers aboard, the plane went down through technical problems, The Pilot and Engineer are in court for murder or manslaughter.
THE PLANE CRASHED, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, SOMETIMES SHIT BREAKS.

Have you ever had a kettle or TV or computer, that has broke, you may take it back to the shop and get it replaced however, you would not take the bloke that made it to court for failing in his job.
Would you take currys to court for selling you a kettle, that when you touch the hot steam coming out of the top of the BOILING kettle it melts your skin. No what you need to do in that situation is, pour yourself a glass of larger, take a gun and call it a day, if you dont know how to use a kettle you need to be taken out of the Gene pool.

Britain can be great agian, if we allow it, lets us stand proud and say we live in GREAT BRITAIN, lets stop blaming each other and work together.
We can combat violence, abuse, neglect, In the home at work, or any where else, but we do it together and as a union, Not in the court house, where we blame everyone else except, those who actually commited the crime.

LETS MAKE BRITAIN GREAT AGAIN

Thick Skinned Podcast

Well, we are coming to the middle of the year now and, after auditioning Suzi, she is fitting in very well with the Band.
We are still looking for a guitarist to join the lineup so, if there is any one out there that fancy's a shot get intouch, it should be a giggle.

Anyway down to busines, When we released the 3rd podcast episode, it deemed to be very popular, So we will be releasing a new podcast very soon, withmore New Gags, alot of humour and some very good music.

I will keep intouch via the website and blogger.

Sponsor The Drummer Appeal
If anyone fancies sponsoring me to run the Great North Run, Please go to
http://www.justgiving.com/Michael-Hutchinson
I am running for the NSPCC which is a Great Charity helping Children all over the UK

Michael

Welcome Suzi to Thick Skinned line up

Thick Skinned would like to welcome Suzi as our new lead singer
Suzi came to the audition with a sense of humour and fantastic vocal ability.
We know she will fit in well and we look forward to getting back out on the road very soon

Suzi’s Pictures and Biog will be on the site soon so look out for that.
Speak to you all again soon

Singer and Guitarist Auditions

Well to start, Thick Skinned Frontman and guitarist, Steve Mayes, has left the band.
Steve has left to pursue other opportunities and We wish him the best of luck.
Steve has dedicated 5 Whole years to Thick Skinned and all I can say is a Big Thank You.

Now down to the beef of things.
We are looking for a Female singer with the attributes laid out above, To start Must have a good sense of humour, Dedication and Commitment , and Excellent stage presence.
If you think you have what it takes, get in touch at
info@thickskinnedband.com

We are also looking for a guitarist between the same age range 18-30.
Again good sense of humour is a must, and good gear and own transport.
We will be advertising separately for a guitarist, so do not worry, but if you are reading this and you are a guitarist and seem like you could provide a solid Riff, get in touch using the email above.

Well just to Rap up
Again a Big thank you to Steve Mayes, and hope to here from you soon

Cheers
Hutchy and Tony

Latest Review of the New Ep Black 'n' Blue

Thick Skinned Black ‘n’ Blue EP Review

The EP opens up with ‘Killing Me’. A great opening song that shows the band can write some top notch rock songs. Following on from that is probably the best song on the EP. ‘Night on the Town’ is typical Thick Skinned, punk/pop at it’s finest with a sing-a-long chorus and even trumpets. Track 3 sees things slow down slightly with a ballad. ‘Private’ has beautiful lyrics, and an acoustic guitar show the softer side of the band before the guitars are turned up for ‘Always Tell You’ another great rock song which brings us to ‘Time’s Up’ a fine song to close the EP with, another superbly written rock song, which quietens down for the bridge before exploding back into life for the big finish.

Overall this is another outstanding EP from Thick Skinned, which proves they are great song writers and should go from strength to strength.

Simon Colling, The Rock Show
Visit Simon and the rock show at
http://www.myspace.com/ne1fmrocks

Thanks to Simon for taking the time to write such a fantastic review

It is good to here from you, so if you have listened to the music and think you could write us a review please feel free.
We will publish all reviews, Good and Bad.