Apr 9, 2014
Science And Things From The NPR Science Desk
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Science And Things From The NPR Science Desk
The Wave Pictures
After making my way over from the outdoor arena which was still coated with The Understudies, I queued up for a quick cup of coffee. Within minutes The Wave Pictures appeared, clearly tired...they had just been in Germany you see. “It went really well. It was a fun festival full of beautiful German Hippies. We haven't really slept a great amount since then, but it was really fun,” drummer Jonny 'Huddersfield' Helm proclaimed before he brushed his eyes and sipped on his sugary tea, “it was a local festival, HunsrÃck Open Air, I think it's called.” You see The Wave pictures are a much travelled independent alternative rock band (and I am sure they will despise that definition as much I hate writing it), who have played numerous shows in places ranging from dark streets of Paris to electric nights in New York. “We did play Benicassim once, just before Peaches. Someone called Kings of Leon were on the bill that year too. It was cool,” lead singer and guitarist David Tattersall recalled. And as glamorous as that all sounds, it’s not just about that. Let’s not forget they need money as much as the next bloke and opportunities to play in front of a blossoming new home crowd do nothing but help. “It's important to play in front of a new bunch of people. Festivals are where you play to these new people and they are useful for bands like us as well as being a load of fun. Most festivals are full of horrible people and huge adverts but here it is different. It’s relaxed,” Jonny went on. “They're just a good thing. Any festival that is not booked out by a single kind of big booking agency is a really good thing. We probably could not survive without events like these. It's essential, we don't have a booking agent or manager as we are as independent as you can be and that sort of thing leaves you out of a lot of festivals. So it can be incredibly difficult,” Dave added. On their crisp pop sound they cite a number of different influences ranging from Rory Gallagher to The Four Brothers, and it’s this eclectic inspiration which they harbour their distinct sound from. “I love Rory Gallagher when I was younger and when I got a bit older I heard Modern Lovers and I thought I wanted to produce records like this, and I wanted to put that rock twist to the sound of it. And that is what Wave Pictures is all about,” Dave advised. “I mean I have been listening to a lot of music, in particular African music. It’s the only way I have found practicing drums to be fun. You can't play them at home in your flat and they can be boring to practice. But I find playing away to some CDs of The Four Brothers to be excellent. It’s been an absolute revelation,” finished Jonny who by now was looking pretty warn out. I don't blame them. I would be. So full of the cheap cider, I made the ten minute walk over to the festival arena again to take a gander at the band. After the chat I had with the guys earlier, I could see their escapades in Germany, had caught up with them, but I still held out a large amount of optimism, like a professor does when he takes on a hoard of fresh faced university students at the beginning of a new semester. I, however was justified in mine. The professor teaching a popular music course? Not so much. Kitted up in chequered attire, the band ripped through their setlist and after they completed it, were unable to let me know what they had actually played. They never use setlists you see. But I can tell you something for free, their opening track was electric. They play a standard sort of brand of indie music, a loud vibrant guitar which played havoc with the bulging bass and off beat steady drums. It made for very easy, happy go lucky listening. But lead singer David’s voice is the key in bringing the band up to another level from local pub rocking to main stage at an underground festival. It’s unique in his accent and tone, and filled the grassed space well with his long reverberated notes and short staccatoed phrases. The grooves the three piece were creating were upbeat and sounded really well oiled especially on 'Spaghetti', a piece of western infused guitar music, where the resonant tone of David's was met by drummer Jonny's deeper sounding voice to blend harmoniously. Oh and Jonny did a drum solo. Complex but interesting. It wasn't like some solos, where the player is expecting all the plaudits, it was surprisingly low key, but entertaining nonetheless. Not quite Animal from muppets, but hey, who is in this modern day? 'Come On Daniel' had a distinctly softer streak to it, with a gorgeous acoustic introduction which sounded almost like a folk band had hijacked their bodies, albeit just for three and a half minutes. With an ever present set of backing harmonies, bass player Franic Rozycki would move and slight his bass lines to allow breathing space for the rest of the ensemble. Extreme reassurance. Their set was full of the normal indie pop stuff, fast pointy lines from the guitar and punctuated vocal lines. You know the drill (God Bless). David was incredibly charismatic joking fluently with the audience who were becoming more and more depleted as the rain started to hammer down. Shame. Finishing up with 'Never Go Home Again' the band ended the set with this rockier number which collided effortlessly with the saddened mood of before. And we needed it, because by the time this well travelled band had completed their set, it was carnage. Mud was flying and people were slipping. Brollies were pointless because of the wind. So as the band attempted to chat away to their endearing fans afterwards, before they made their long wet free trip back to London for a long nap, I had other plans. Time to find some warmth...
-Clive K Hammond
SEESOUND
An Evening of Film with Live Sound.
In November 2010 I took part in the Seesound event at the Guesthouse coinciding with the Corona Cork Film Festival.
I collaborated with Noise artist Paul Hegarty on the project. We screened our collaboration live on the night.
The evening was a huge success and soon after we were asked to produce a short video showcasing our work on the night. The video was to be produced for a DVD release by the Guesthouse.
In 2011, as I geared up to screen a new project directly for the Corona Film festival, I was contacted to say that the DVD release of last years production would again coincide with the Film festival.
(find my blog post on the 2011 event here)
I received two copies of the DVD recently and now I am sharing the project to give you an idea of the content and dedicated effort of those involved to make the release a reality.
Important mention for Mick O'Shea, Claire Guerin and Paul Hegarty.
Click here to watch the final piece.
Details of the event which took place November 13th 2010 can explored by clicking 'read more'.
Seesound | An Evening of Film with Live Sound
The Guesthouse will present Seesound on 13th November 2010 3pm – 10pm coinciding with the Cork Film Festival.
SEESOUND is an annual event where a selection of sound and moving image makers are invited to collaborate and create new audio visual works that explore the dialogue between sound and image. This event will present improvised sound, improvised video performances, composed sound and composed video works in a series of 12 audio visual screenings.
Entrance is free. RSVP: [email protected]
SEESOUND SCHEDULE
First Floor Screenings and Performances 3:30pm James Mc Cann……….....Mick O’Shea 4:00pm Dave Grannell……….......Ed Grannell 4:30pm Rory Mullins………….......Dan Guiney 5:00pm Arthur O Regan…….......Paul Hegarty 5:30pm Irene Murphy……….......Irene Murphy 6:00pm Jeff Weeter……………......Danny Mc Carthy 6:30pm Max Le Cain……….......…Karen Power 7:10pm Claire Guerin…………......tenpastseven 7:30pm Maciek Klich…………........Sunfish 8:00pm Catherine Harty…….......Francis Heery 8:30pm Collette Nolan……….....…John Godfrey 9:00pm Alex Rose…………….........MERSK
Second Floor
Video installation by Andrew Wood
that gig last night went okay except for the fact that I couldn't hear myself and sang flat and broke my voice and hat broke the A string (on her custom Gibson Melody Maker) and had to play a Squier strat (shudder). And the cymbals were so looooud. and the bass was so loooooud. And the band after us had a bad male singer and also played a Squier and had clearly recently formed. Not that I'm bitter at having to go on first all the time or anything.
But we got burritos after and I ate so much I nearly burst which hasn't happened since I was a kid, and I'm a big eater.