» Listings for April 2010

1. Robotic break dancing guy

   Posted on 10:40am Friday 30th Apr 2010

   Hi all. Haven't got much to say this week except that I've bought some kicking new 1k bass bins that'll add extra punch to the show. And on Monday I'm doing a Marquee gig with my old .6k bins and the new ones combined to see if I can't beat that "dead sound soak up" that you get in a large tent. But you don't want to hear about that!
   
   Instead, check out this amazing video of a bloke who went on an American game show to win $25,000 dollars if he did the best lip sync to a song. I have to say, I don't know whether he won (although I suspect he did) but either way he's good!
   
   Check out his dancing and movements here.
   
   See you all next time and have a great bank holiday weekend.
   
   Mike.

2. Glittering 10th anniversary blog!!

   Posted on 1:01am Thursday 15th Apr 2010

   Well hello there again. 10 years in business as of this April 5th 2010. Yep that's right. It made it easier with the tax returns to start right on the button!
   
   I can still recall what I went out with to my first few gigs. An 'iccle musician's PA system and about 25 CD's. I did have a pro set of CD players (of the time) and it sure was difficult to beat mix when you could only launch in the next track/song on the first beat and then hope for the best, as control was fully relinquished from that point onward. I'm surprised at how well it went considering.
   
   I used to love having a fag whilst I was working and for some reason my frequency doubled during a gig. I'd come home having to plan each breath about 5 seconds before I took it, such was the asphyxiating effect. I eventually gave up for two years. Nothing happened. I didn't feel any better and then my smoking girlfriend Becky came along, so I thought what the hell? I'll never forget the look on the woman at Tescos face as I announced. "I want to take up smoking again so I need all the stuff" (papers, baccy, lighter but no filters - I'm not a poof you know. Not that there's anything wrong with poofery. See what I did there? Now everything's cool.).
   
   Back when I started in this business the guy who got the most work was the guy (flash git) who could afford the biggest advert in the local Yellow Pages. I recall one "big cheese" saying he paid something like 10 grand for a full page ad. The most I ever shelled out was around £500.00 and that used to pull in quite a steady flow when I was in Brighton and Hove. (bigger market see.. Would I want to live there again? Never! Damn ruddy traffic wardens and huge fixed penalties. Anyway. I was born in the country and you can park in the country without having to take a bus from the parking space to the gig). I used to have around 5 deejays covering work that I couldn't do and paying me commission. I don't really do that a lot now as I value my customers and my heart health. I recall one DJ who was working for me on the Saturday and I called him up for a Friday gig that came in that day. I called and called and called but got nowhere. I never did find out what happened to him. One other agent says he thinks the dude got sent to jail but I can't confirm that. Mind you, I always suspected he was a bit of a "funny" bugger. Covering his gig was a mad scramble at such late notice. Another DJ always wanted paying in cash as he didn't have a bank account. Christ I was so green in those days and I'm not talking ecological either (although I try to do my bit). Needless to say if I ever send anyone out again I'll check out their "use by" date first.
   
   I have though, had some great times over the years. I've backed comedians, strippers, magicians, sword juggling unicyclists and a Ricky Jervais lookalike who was so like the man I swear to god it may well have been Ricky Jervais. Not to mention Clint Eastwood. Though being Clint (fist full of dollars look), he naturally didn't do jokes. I once did a wedding where all the blokes stripped off and ladies and gentleman, that wasn't such a good one for me. Luckily I was behind them so I didn't have to experience the full glory.
   
   I've done some (quite a lot actually) wild gigs where it wouldn't have been out of place to see some dude swinging from the chandeliers naked. Actually that reminds me.. By the way, I did a gig once where the host was so unpopular that no one turned up at all. I have to say on balance though, given the choice, I'd prefer the former to the latter most every time.
   
   I did a gig once where they only wanted 50's and 60's music. I wouldn't have minded, but the songs were so short there was no time to go to the toilet!
   
   Well I suppose I'd better stop waffling on for another week. I'll just end by saying thank you so much to all my customers so far. All have been thoroughly nice folks. It's true. You get back what you give out. It's taken me ten years to well and truly confirm that, but I'm confirming it now. Be nice. Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself (unless you're a masochist) and you'll be happy and fulfilled or even filled-full of decent food with the resulting success.
   
   Take care and until next time enjoy some more classic comedy:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFTT4Ve8-BE
   

3. Bookings, accommodation and Big nights out survey

   Posted on 7:07am Wednesday 7th Apr 2010

   Hi all. Well I'm getting booked up to the gunnels this year with wedding gigs and birthday parties but of course there's still enough space to fit you in somewhere if you just give us a bell or fill out the enquiry form. you never know...
   
   Well Becky and I are looking for a bigger place to operate from. This maisonette is just too damn small! We looked at an idilic place for rent in the countryside near here the other day. We didn't have an appointment with the agent yet but we had the address so we went and had a look. We drove for about a mile up a very bumpy track with more pot holes than the Roux brother's kitchen, at which point I was thinking about the possible long term vehicle damage that may occur should we go for it. We eventually found the place. It needed a lot of work and rubbish clearance but it had all the space we were looking for and I psyched myself up to the task. Also when we looked at the sat nav we discovered that the exit was just a couple of yards from the main road so no long track full of exhaust-wrenching divets! I finally managed to contact the agent on Tuesday and alas, They said "Which web site did you see it on? It's been reserved already for some time". Pah! Might have known it was too good to be true. Damn those buggers who don't update their sites! Never mind. We'll keep looking. I dream about having a garage etc. where I can load up the DJ Console hard drives without having to block off the front door and only fire exit in the process. Having enough space to keep a spare set of bass bins etc. and have an office space for both of us to set our desks up next to or opposite each other. Becks has been very good about it, Setting up her humble laptop on the dining room table with her printer underneath. The great thing about having an office of course is that it's seperate from the lounge so when you finished work you can go out of the room and concentrate on relaxing instead of constantly going back to the dreaded 'puter..
   That being said; is it me or is TV barely worth watching these days? I've bought a freesat HD box but I've got to the stage where content aside, I can hardly tell the difference any more. Oh well, We'll soon have to sell the bloody lot and buy a 3D set up anyway. We'll all be sat round the living room with hideous glasses on all evening. Hmm... trendy 3d glasses. There's a growth market if ever I spotted one! Take heed entrepreneurs!
   
   Well if you haven't already done so and you want somewhere to go out in the Chichester area, Please fill out my surveynow. You could win a meaty sized (storage) Ipod classic just for a one page questionnaire and the only writing you have to do is your email address. Deal or what?
   
   Until next time, Here's some classic wedding related comedy:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW1tjCI4w7E