Live @ The Constitution, Camden - Saturday 4 Febuary

It's time for our first gig of 2012!!! It's been sooo long since we've last played, we're really looking forward to this one.

The night is being run by our good friends The Standards, who we first met at the London leg of last year's International Pop Overthrow festival. We were actually meant to play this gig back in December, but the gig was cancelled due to The Standards' lead singer being unwell. Also on the bill at a band called Mad Staring Eyes. Haven't heard any of their stuff, but their lineup includes a pedal steel guitar and a flute, so it's going to be a weird and wonderful evening.

The Constitution is situated right alongside the canal and we're playing in the cellar bar, which always seems to give a better atmosphere - plus the door entry is FREE!!! We are headlining this one, which means we'll be on stage at about 10pm. We're planning to debut at least one new song as well which is something we're particularly excited (and nervous!) about. Please come along and join us for an excellent night. More details can be found via our facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/243436715723538/

Radio Airplay - and Launch of 286 YouTube

It's been a busy week in 286 land, here's the latest.

Radio Airplay

We've made some great new friends in Hoxton FM, a new radio station based in East London's capital of cool. Spencer 286 caught up with the Hoxton FM crew for an interview on 6 January whilst they were on the road with their Hoxton Live show, in Shoreditch's Electricity Showrooms, as they played 'Hello' from our debut EP 'A Victory For Battalion 286'. Expect to hear more from Hoxton FM in this blog - hopefully we'll be working with them again :)

The radio trail continued last Sunday (15 January) when 'Hello' was played on regional radio station KMFM (formerly Invicta FM) in Kent. DJ Adam Dowling played the track on his Sunday afternoon show just after 2pm which was great exposure for us. Thanks for Adam for doing this, particularly as we are 'borderline' in belonging to Kent. Hopefully we'll be back on the airwaves once we release more material.

286 TV - Youtube Account

We've set up our own YouTube account! Here you'll be able to find all the official 286 videos going forward, plus special guest videos which which we like. To visit the page follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTwoEightSix

Back In The Studio

This weekend we are back in the studio looking to put some string tracks down for new songs. Recording is taking place in in Stepney Green, in the studio of Mile High Music owner, Christy Fry. Looks like it's going to be a long day...

That's it for now, we'll be back in a few days with more information on our next gig at the beginning of February - can't wait!

Interview on Hoxton FM tonight!

Some last minute news for you all! Tonight, Spencer 286 will be interviewed live on internet radion station Hoxton FM (http://hoxton.fm) as they broadcast from Shoreditch's Electricity Showrooms (http://www.electricityshowrooms.com). Hoxton FM will also be playing 'Hello' from our debut EP 'A Victory For Battalion 286'. If you are in the London area and fancy coming down, it's all kicking off between 6pm and 8pm.

For more information check out the following facebook link or check our tweets on http://twitter.com/the286

http://m.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130849743698079&refid=0

Happy New Year

It's a Happy New Year from all of us in The 286! And what a year it was!

2011 - the year that was!



Last year was an amazing year for us. First of all we recorded and released our debut EP 'A Victory For Battalion 286'. We are really pleased with the results and dead chuffed with the promotional video filmed for Hello. If you still haven't bought the album you can buy it directly from Mile High Music for an ridiculously cheap £2.49. Click on this link to hear the songs and buy the EP http://the286.bandcamp.com/



We also set up our own live music night, in partnership with the Bonjour Mosquitos DJs, Terry and Mickey. The aim of the night is to get some great bands together, keep the door entry down to a minimum (at the moment it's FREE ENTRY!) and basically recreate a party atmosphere in a live music scenario. The first night, at The New Cross Inn in SE London went down a storm. Ably supported by The Wild Hunt, The Greater Good and The Fruitful Earth, we put on a great show, which included a snow machine and Christmas decorations!! I've been down to the New Cross Inn quite a few times and I can't remember it being that busy for a long time. Pictures from the night can be found on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150504403414553.419466.244161049552&type=1)

What's New In 2012?

We're hoping that 2012 has even more to offer than 2011. We'll be posting more information on future gig nights very shortly, plus we'll be back in the studio looking to work on our next release. Expect to see a 286 website on the horizon shortly, plus some new songs at future gigs and some more promotional videos.

For now that's it from us - see you all soon

Alley Cat Club Review and Nathan's Drums

Nathan 286 writes:

Hello and Happy New Year to our followers. All 286 of you. It's me, Nathan writing this. Now some of you have written in complaining that everytime I write a band blog, it always ends up heavily edited or censored. Some of you even claim my blogs aren't even written by me at all. Well this one may get a bit technical and 'drummer geeky' so by the end of it (if you're still reading!) you will be in no doubt.

We have kickstarted the New Year with a really enjoyable gig at The Alley Cat Club in Soho Sound. Yes, the basement of one of Pop History's most iconic recording studios!


Our great mate Tom H. Wing from the amazing band The Roves organised it and was gracious enought to ask us to play. I snobbily said "only if I use my own kit and no-one else touches it". Well, imagine my astoundment when the middle band Fallen Heroes (absolutely terrific musicians and really nice guys) turned up and their drummer (my new best mate Emil) pulled out a Vintage Ludwig 20" bass drum with a mounted cymbal arm, rivet cymbal, Acrolite Snare, etc etc etc. He even had a high stool like me and a jubilee clip holding his Vintage Premier Hi-Hat stand like mine! It had the black footprint-shaped pedal and everything! The first thing he said to me was "is that a real Hayman?".

I will never forget that for the rest of my life. Yes, I was using my Metallic Blue Hayman with 18" bass drum and 14" floor tom (both rare as hell), also with mounted cymbal arm, Cosmic Beverley 21 snare, 15" Hi Hats, Zyn ride and vintage Premier stool with the red top and white piping. HEAVEN.

Oh yeah, the gig! I forgot sorry, I drifted off for a mo just then. Seeing as this was the last gig I will ever do with a microphone (yes folks, I'm quitting singing to focus on this new double bass drum setup I intend to use in The 286... I tested it at rehearsal but the stage was too small to bring it to the actual gig), I brought along a sound effects box for a laugh and belted Sophie Sands as if it was the last time I will ever sing it...

...which it was. Too bad if you missed it but there is more than enough surviving shaky Youtube footage of this song if you need to see what it was like. You will also see exactly why I NEED to quit singing and drumming at the same time.

Spencer's new song "Walk In The Sky" was a thorough JOY to play and got everyone dancing like MAD. Ash came back and played amazing piano as always. But for "Lisa Part II", he went into the audience and Becky played her original piano part for that number. Emotions.

Special thanks go to Dennis for filling in that night. Special medal goes to Adaq for squeezing behind the piano. And Liv and Alex, well, what is there left to say?

I'm off now to write some instrumentals for the band.

Bye!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011 (plus gig this week!)

Spencer 286 writes:

Well we're back from our Christmas fun and ready to kick off the year with a gig! For those of you who live near London we are headlining at the Alley Cat Club in Denmark St, Soho on Thursday night (6 January). There are two reasons that make this gig that little bit more special:

1) We're debuting our brand new song (Take A) Walk In The Sky - Walk In The Sky has already become a firm favourite with those outside the band who have already heard it and Liv tells me that she's pretty pleased with the string arrangement for the song as well.

2) Nathan will be unveiling his full mega kit! - Both bass drums, both floor toms - the lot!! We're not sure how we will all fit on the stage at the moment, but I'm sure we'll get by!

It's a fiver to get in and should be a fantastic night with a line up full of awesome bands. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday 6 January 2011

Venue: The Alley Cat Club
Doors: Open 8pm, on stage 10pm
4 Denmark St, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 8LP
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road

A Christmas Message from The 286

Spencer 286 writes:

Hello 286ers!!!

Just a quick message to all our fans wishing them all an absolutely fantastic Christmas and a happy New Year. Christmas wouldn't be right without presents and we're all looking forward to waking up to see what Santa Claus has bought us. Speaking of the big man, I found this picture of Father Christmas holding a cello and thought I'd include it with this blog entry. He's a bit creepy isn't he? Anyway, despite the fact he's verging on looking like the creepy doll from the Saw movie series (but just with a beard), he's holding a cello, so that's good enough for me to include in the blog!

I've was given an early Christmas present today - a musicians joke book. You will all have heard at least one guitarist or drummer joke in the past - there are millions of them - but this book has a whole chapter on classical musicians! How great is that?! So, in true Christmas cracker style, here are a few violinist jokes for you to savour (sorry Adaq!)

Q: How can you tell if a violin is out of tune?
A: The bow is moving

Q: What does a violin and a lawsuit have in common?
A: Everyone is pleased when the case is closed

Q: What is the difference between a violinist and a dog?
A: A dog knows when to stop scratching

...and I couldn't let our cellists get away scot free could I?

Q: Why was the cellist staring at the orange juice bottle?
A: Because the label said concentrate

Q: How do you get a cello to sound beautiful
A: Sell it and buy a violin

So that's it from us for 2010! For those of you who live near London our first gig of the year is on Thursday 6 January in the basement bar of 4 Denmark St in the West End (the Alley Cat Club). More details can be found on our band page tab on our Facebook profile. It'll be great to see some of you there.

A 286 Message To Santa Claus

Dear Father Christmas,

I hope you and the elves are well. All of us here in The 286 can't wait for Christmas. Ash has been driving everyone in the band nuts by playing Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody non stop on his toy Casio keyboard and Alex has been out every night carol singing around South East London. Harry's even been out roasting his chestnuts on an open fire. So, it feels about the right time to drop you a short letter giving you our 286 Christmas wish list!

We have been very good musicians this year - we've eaten all our vegetables every day and have helped numerous old people across the road. Nathan even gave up drinking tea for a week, that's how good he's been. Anyway, with that in mind, we have a whole stack of things we'd love to open on Christmas morning:

If you've been reading our blog you'll know how much Adaq wants a SSL4000G+ recording cosole (http://the286.blogspot.com/2010/10/286-recordings-update-andy-wallace.html). If it fits down the chimney, he'd love you to get him one.

Liv is getting bored of her current cello and would love a brand new Stradivarius, if that's not too much bother. Only a few years ago a strad violin sold for $3.5m http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12824291/ns/today-entertainment/ - if you could get her the cello equivalent she'd be a very happy girl. Just in case they are in short supply, she'd settle for some more rosin for her bow as she keeps dropping hers on the floor...

Turning to the rockers in the band, Nathan has specifically asked for a drum sponsorship deal with Hayman. You would've thought that after all the years he has been playing them they would've given him an honoury sponsorship, but there you go.

Spencer would like the 286 bus to run on time for once. He's been catching it a lot lately and it's never running on time. Maybe one of your reindeer could be on stand by to give it a helping hand when it starts falling behind time.

Becky got her Christmas pressie early, when she got her beloved Micro Korg synthesiser. If you could arrange for her to magically become an expert on it overnight, then that would be grand!

Finally, as a stocking filler a nice little record deal for this little unsigned band wouldn't go a miss!!!

All of us in The 286 wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. If you're looking to take a break from it all in January please drop by one of our gigs

Love,

The 286

PS send our love to Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer crew.

x

Why The Cello is SO Rock & Roll!!!

Spencer 286 writes:

For those not familiar with The 286 we are a little different from most indie rock bands. Not only are we twice the size of a normal band, our line up includes 2 cellos and a violin, which play a massive role in our sound. With this in mind I thought I'd write about how cool I think the cello is for this week's blog!

There's something really special about the cello's sound. It can switch from playing real earthy notes in its lower reaches, and then switch to playing some incredible notes at the other end of its scale that are reminiscent of a weeping whale. Have I ever heard a whale weeping? No. But I'm if I did hear one, it would sound just like a cello. Work with me on this one... The cello is rhythmic, melodic and harmonic - and it's great to play!!

When picking out something to learn to play at primary school, my instrument of choice had to be the cello. Whilst others kids in my class followed like sheep and plumped for the violin (you know the type I'm referring to - the same kids that tried out the recorder the year before only to get bored with playing that after just a few weeks...), I fancied trying something different.

Between 10-12 years old I sawed away trying to get a tune out of the old thing. Admittedly I wasn't a great one for practicing, preferring to run through the scores of my favourite Beatles tracks as opposed to the exercises in my cello book, but I had great fun all the same. I guess that's where my link between the cello and rock started and, looking back, I now realise that many of my favourite songs feature the cello. In fact I'd go as far as saying that the cello is a bonafide rock instrument. Unconvinced? Well here are five reasons to convert you...

1. Tuned for Rock & Roll!
Cellos are tuned to fifths, rather fourths like a guitar. For non musicians I'm getting a bit technical here, but because of this, the cello is perfectly tuned to play your standard 12 bar riff. Essentially anyone who can pick up a bow, play two strings together whilst adding a finger on the thinnest of the two strings can pick up rock & roll riffs quicker on a cello than you can say Marc Bolan...

2. A Fifth of Beethoven.
The first rock riff was definitely created by Beethoven - and it was played on a bunch of cellos! Anyone who has heard the opening notes to The Beet's Fifth Symphony will understand what I mean here!

3. By All Means, Stand Me Up!
There's something very rock & roll about standing up whilst playing the cello. Playing an upright cello is far more cooler that playing a guitar sitting down. Period.

4. It's Only Rock & Roll...If You Do It Right!
There's a story that one of the cellists with 70s rock band ELO, Mike Edwards, had a famous party piece where, during each gig, he would fill his cello with explosives and blow it into pieces during a solo. Now THAT'S rock & roll! When famed drummer (and supposed epitome of all things rock & roll) Keith Moon did the same thing with his drum set, he managed to permanently damage the hearing of Who band mate Pete Townsend. That's not rock & roll - it's just plain stupid. Edwards used to also play his cello with a grapefruit. Fortunately Moon stayed well away from all things fruit based...

5. Respect From Rock.
Some of the best rock musicians reckon the cellos is pretty cool. Jack Bruce, Cream legend and collaborator with Eric Clapton, once said that Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the greatest bass lines ever, whilst other acts (Muse and Sting to name a couple) have recently recorded albums featuring fully orchestrated versions of their songs. If it's good enough for them, then it's good enough for me...and The 286!

So there you have it - the cello is definitely a rock instrument. Case dismissed!!! If you can think of any other reasons then, by all means, drop them by as comments, join the debate :)

Baby 286 and Montague Arms Gig Review

Alex 286 writes:

Meet the newest addition to the band! He/she is a bit small at the moment to join in but will be ready to join the 286 from around the end of April 2011. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping an eye on him/her to make sure he/she learns all of the songs! Various members of the band have already got bets on as to what instrument the new band member will play: Liv favours the sax, Harry the trumpet, and I reckon, with that belly, it’s got to be a tuba player! And as for names, if the baby’s a girl, she’s spoilt for choice: Sophie Sands, Lisa, Louisa...we could even go for Molly Pitcher. Yes...Molly Pitcher Jackman has a certain ring to it!

In other news, we had a great gig on Friday at the Montague Arms in New Cross. What a fab pub! If you’ve never ventured there, in the immortal words of Bill Bryson, take my car and go. Voted the best boozer in Britain in 2008 by the Rough Pub Guide, it’s an olde-worlde pub (featuring a human skeleton perched on the bar and an embalmed zebra amongst other oddities) that looks like it’s been teleported out of the countryside and into the wilderness between New Cross and Peckham. The land lord has been running the Montague since 1967 and I understand from Spencer 286 that he told him he's seen it change from a gangster pub (frequented by The Krays no less) to one of the longest continuously running unsigned music venues in South East London.

It was a fun-filled gig and we even got some of the older gentlemen in the pub boogieing along to Lisa Part II (no mean feat). It was possibly the latest gig we’ve ever done – we didn’t finish playing till nearly 12.30am and so we were a bit worried that Nathan was going to turn into a pumpkin by the time we finished as it was waaaay past his bedtime.

It was also great to see Tom, our former violinist, who came along to support us and made us all very jealous by announcing he was off to Andorra for six months to ski.

The Montague Arms marked our last gig for a while as we get back into the rehearsal studio to learn some new songs and record some of our current material...oh yes, and we’ll be celebrating the wedding of Spencer 286 and Natalie in December too. Hooray! We’ll be back in the New Year (if not before) as we hit the festivals as well as doing lots of other gigs.

286 Recordings Update, Andy Wallace, Radio Sunlight & Montague Arms

Adaq 286 writes:

Hello, dear followers! I'm Adaq (that's pronounced add-ak...). I play the violin. I like tea, coffee and Andy Wallace. Wikipedia him, he's a genius and has a very nice SSL4000G+. I'm a bit of a music production geek – I do it for my day job and in all of my spare time, so it's my pleasure to be working on The 286 recordings, even though I don't have a very nice SSL4000G+...

This weekend Spencer and I had a session working on Sophie Sands. We're going for a richer and more contemporary sound. Key to any mix is (in many ways) using the right compressor. If you alter the dynamics of any element in a mix then you affect the perception of the entire track – this isn't rocket science of course!

Whilst you're not actually changing what was recorded you can radically change the feel of the track. Find the right compressor and you can make a recording sound solid, pushed back or in your face, or punchy, fat, heavy or bouncy... anything you want! I currently use a Universal Audio 2-1176 twin vintage limiting amplifier. It does a great job, but there's still work to be done before we're happy with the mix of the song...but we'll get there!

We're also in the beginning stages of working on a website (http://www.the286.com/) starting with the design concept and layout template. We always love to get feedback from fans etc, so if you have anything you would specifically like to see on the website then do let us know! We'll update on our progress here on the blog over the coming weeks/months.

Finally, here's a photo that Spencer took of us whilst we were waiting to go into Radio Sunlight's studio for the live session. As Harry said in the last blog entry, we had a great time and played acoustic versions of four of our tracks, as well as a lenghthy interview. You can hear recordings via the links on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/The-286/244161049552)

Next up for us is our gig on Friday, at the Montague Arms in New Cross Gate. We're on stage at 10.30pm. We'll make sure to post our experiences from the gig in our next blog entry!

Alladin Medway (Radio Sunlight, Bowie & New 286 Songs)

Harry 286 writes:

Hello everybody, Harry here (you know, the bassist, I tend to end up hidden behind PA stacks so you may not have seen me). This week it is I who shall be in charge of the Blog entry so plug yourself in and steady yourselves.

I should probably start by introducing myself.

I'm Harry (hello), I've recently finished my Masters in Composition, I've been doing the band thing on and off for 10 years and have an unhealthy obsession with David Bowie. Actually, I think it's rather healthy, the man is a genius! I'll respect anyone who can work with such diverse acts as John Lennon, Brian Eno, Arcade Fire and Nine Inch Nails, continuously (bar a slightly odd patch in the 80's) pushing the sonic boundaries of Pop music. If you want any questions answered on Mr Bowie, give me a call. I'm also obsessed with India for similar reasons... I'll stop there before I go off on a tangent.

Introductions aside, here's the rub on the continuing story of Bungalow Bill... Sorry, I mean The 286. Well we are officially flying in the ether of Kent's airwaves (a fact I am particularly happy about, Kentish Man that I am). Last night we all convened in Gillingham at the Sunlight Trust (Radio Sunlight) to play on Fizzer's Radio Show (http://www.fizzersradioshow.com/) - we all thought it was brilliant! Nathan even managed to get some swearing in, you'll see what I mean once we get the recording up online.

We're also heading back in to the studio soon to record some more gems for you all and all going well we should be getting some new material going in the near future. It's all very exciting times!
It's Rock and Roll!

H

Upstairs At The Ritzy - Just...Superb (Plus ELO)

Nathan 286 writes...

Well, we have just got back from playing a lovely unsigned venue in one of my three home towns called "Upstairs At The Ritzy" in Brixton, South London.

If any gigging bands are reading this and are put off by the tiny stage then don't be. The night was superb, the crowd were superb, the sound was superb the other acts were superb and best of all, the whole darn thing finished well before 11PM so the trek home was not so much of a trek! More a "sojourn". To sum up, I belive the word is "superb".

Keen eyed fans of the 286 will have thought to themselves "my, doesn't Alex look like Petra?" and they'd be correct as Petra very kindly depped for trapped-in-a-ski-lodge Alex at very short notice and we are pleased to report that Alex has found the spare cabin key and will be returning to us in time for Saturday's show. We are thrilled to have her back. Superb! Have I said that already?

Next, we're off to Grays Theatre in deepest Essex on Saturday to entertain fans of the tribute band "The ELO Experience" in the foyer prior to the concert, can you guess whose songs they do? Joking aside, they are (here comes that word again...) superb, really authentic and the "Jeff Lynne" even wears a false Jeff Lynne beard! What? It's a REAL beard? OK, now I'm jealous!

So we'll see you all soon. Oh, and check out current underground R 'n' B sensation R. Pubes, we're all massive fans of his work......and not because his name is an anagram of......SUPERB!!!

Unsigned and in Brixton...Plus ELO Experience

Spencer 286 writes:

Well, last Friday's gig in Brixton was fantastic. We play in The Babalou Bar, which is based under a church in the former crypt! Amazing venue and a really good crowd there. Our good friend Jonathan Eng came to a 286 for the last time (he is returning to Canada) but managed to take some fantastic pictures yet again. Check out his work on http://www.xenosynergy.com/. We'll be posting some of his shots on the internet soon, however if you made it to the gig you'll be getting some exclusive photos as a 'thank you' from the band. This is something we'll be doing again, so make sure you get to the next 286 gig!!!

Speaking of which, the next gig is again in Brixton, this time at The Ritzy cinema, above the picture house on Thursday. We're on stage at 8.30pm. Should be another great gig, although Nathan checked the place out a few weeks ago and reported back that the stage is tiny. Should be interesting getting seven people on the stage then! Following that, on Saturday 2 October we are playing in the foyer of the Grayes Theatre, Essex, in advance of The ELO Experience headlining that night. Having seen The Experience before it's going to be a great night and Liv tells me that they are really nice guys as well.

Writing about the ELO Experience reminds me of a film I just watched. It was called The Invention of Lying, starring Ricky Gervais. Strange film (if not quite funny) but what interested me the most was that it featured what sounded like a re-recording of My Blue Sky by ELO (or probably by just Jeff Lynne). Why did they/he did it I've no idea - but it was interesting hearing a different recording of the song by the original artist - check it out anyway!!

Welcome to The 286 Blog!!!

The first ever blog for The 286!! If you're reading this for the first time - then WELCOME!!! This is where you'll get an insight into the band, hear our views on music, life and much more besides, not to mention gig news and updates on new songs. So...thanks for reading and please mention outr blog on your own blog, facebook or twitter!!