Loopy

Gig Alert - Sunday On The Glebe

2011-07-08T17:30:00.002Z

Loopy will be playing this Sunday on the Glebe Field in Stockcross, near Newbury, off the A34.

Gig Alert (mp3)

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Street Party Practice

2011-04-26T13:22:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Dom, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Newbury

Eg doesn't have a hernia after all. Though he's still got enough discomfort to use as his excuse to avoid heavy lifting. Ad, remembering his own pain management issues, readily concurs [*lumber-rub, lumber-rub*].

Jeff Albertson

Bit of a microphone stand shortage tonight. Jamie, the nice chap behind the computer screen in reception who looks a bit like Jeff Albertson, unsuccessfully tried to find some extras. Though he did manage to provide the boys with parcel tape which was generously wound around a broken stand and a microphone shaft.

In view of the street gig next week Dom managed to hire the drum kit from the studio - they should be able to deliver the drums at the venue too. Marvellous stuff.

There was a well-paced rendition of 'Sparkle and Shine' and a complete collapse of composure during 'The Sky Above My House' due to an arrestingly wonderful drum fill from Dom.

Fea breaks a string. Eg nearly drops Ad's bass during 'Centre of my Universe'

It's great being in a band.

Post-Practice Pint Pub Prattle
The mean number of legs on a human is less than 2, and other creative uses of the three main averages; what to do with pets when trying to rent a house; a general lack of surprise met the news that Winchester's First Inn Last Out, the pub where Loopy used to enjoy the Post-Practice Pint, appeared on TVs 'Hotel Inspector' as the first B&B in which the 'expert' has refused to stay the night; Tom's ground-breaking house-management advice "always carry something when moving from one room to another"; job applications and the worthiness of putting one's hobbies down, especially ones enjoyed in a group; and if we lived on an island how would our economy work and evolve?

A drummer turns up

2011-03-21T23:55:00.012Z

Present: Ad, Dom, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Newbury
A drummer turned up, improving the output of our four lovable regulars 100 fold. The spring had certainly returned to the collective Loopy step thanks to Dom. Loopy have played with Dom on a number of occasions, and always with great results.
Listen!
Not surprising, considering Dom is the only person that Loopy know who still receives the odd PRS cheque thanks to his late 80s / early 90s stewardship of the skins with The Chesterfields.

The evening progressed with eleven candidates for the new album. Much work was done.

Post Practice Pint Prattle
Listen!Eg's new Android phone; Sziget or not Sziget; Tom performing Postman Pat and the Pink Panther at his Grandmother's Jewish funeral while he and the rest of his family (led by Mr Vamos Senior) wear yarmulke's made from rolled up Speedo swimming caps - it seems Mr Vamos Junior's past cartoon farcicals are indebted to the genes he's inherited from Dad;

Spring plans are springing

2011-03-07T23:30:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Rehearsing in anticipation of the recording session to be scheduled after a rehearsal with our guest drummer Dom. Some handheld recordings of the new songs were taken for preparation.

Thoughts turn to a photo shoot of the boys wearing simple white open neck shirts. Yet to happen.

The Loopy boys are also preparing material for the festival season with a potential headlining slot at the world famous 'Stockfest'. Also once known as 'Jazz on the Glebe'.

March recording session for backing tracks of new album "Chubby Little Losers" on the cards.

Post-Practice Prattle over a Pint in the Pub

Eg's new job. That Eg would fire self-confessed 'unmanageable' Tom. Probably due to his poor musical timing.

The 2010 Loopy Christmas Do

2010-12-21T00:40:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Strada, Newbury

Tom late, Eg early. Ad and Fea on time. A beer while awaiting Tom. Christmas Crackers supplied by Santa (Minty) with a very exciting Bingo theme.

Twas the practice before Christmas...

2010-12-01T01:35:00.002Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Head Teacher's Office, Winchcombe Primary School, Newbury

More run throughs of the latest collection of songs with an emphasis on structure.

The new acoustic bass has arrived, a semi-acoustic - which was a nice surprise - Fea tries to nick the supplied battery for his tuner. Ad tucks in to it while Tom gets out his rather nice looking new keyboard. He places it on the rather low coffee table and spends the rest of the evening bent over it, experimenting with the buttons.

Yes, Tom was fiddling with his organ in the grounds of a primary school again.

Post-practice Pint Pub Prattle:

A cheap round this evening; the price of flights for a family travelling to New Zealand; the race to find the phone number of Newbury's Strada restaurant; would you stay in China for a year and not take the kids?: how much are family members actually worth in the pay-to-visit stakes - Eg fares poorly; and 'unfair' cleavages - is it ok to glance?

Is it really though?

Re-entering Broken Boiler Territory

2010-11-23T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea

Venue: Winchcombe School Headmaster's Office

Tom's absence is due to his boiler breaking down. At which news, Fea's eyes light up as Eg and Ad glance at each in near panic.

Post practice pint prattle at the pub is now a terrifying prospect.

Another well marshalled practice taking the three attendees through the latest offering ensues. The staff room iss locked but Fea manages to cobble together some hot drinks via the coffee machine on his desk.

Photocopying facilities are used to copy all the song lyrics for each person. Paper clips were used. Ad shows Fea that his desire to use a shared Google Calendar for his staff is possible from his school desktop computer but is probably going to be thwarted by proxy server restrictions. Fea's mind wanders to Broken Boilers.

Fea locked up the school - apparently it was his first time carrying out this rather important task so he seemed quite nervous about it.

Post-Practice Pint Prattle At the Pub
Phoebe's singing; what it might be like to go to a Talent School in London at the age of 16; sewing machines; Christmas presents; doing a voiceover artist's website; the difficulty of being considered Posh with short vowels, impossible.

Bass-icly it's a toy

2010-11-17T00:52:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Winchcombe School Headmaster's Office

Apart from an unblogged practice with Eg, Tom and Fea two weeks ago, this was the first Loopy practice for two months.

There are reasons, of course, for this lack of pop-making. And these reasons include a trip to Africa, a trip to Scotland, a very ill mother and moving house. Now it's up to you match the excuse with the band member.

In the meantime, it is probably sufficient to say that it was good to have everyone in the same room again, guitars in hand, melodica in mouth, ladies practising self-defence in the assembly hall down the corridor etc.

A new album is taking shape. Working title: Chubby Little Loser. Don't worry, working titles always get changed. Usually at the last minute.

And the boys (Tom and Ad sporting non-Movember inspired beards) ran through all the song candidates.

Twice.

Post-Practice Pub Prattle

Fea found someone at work who's having boiler problems; Tom's been off work to commit crimes against DIY; Eg's been getting those computer virus scam phonecalls; Loopy purchase acoustic bass for Ad to use from eBay via Tom's mobile phone - post-purchase analysis of the description seems to indicate it's a child's toy; New Zealand; where to hold this year's Loopy Christmas Do.

Deep, Posh and Sexy

2010-06-29T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Seems to have been a week of bad news. Which makes this weekly occurrence of pop purveyance even more significant in the lives of the lads.

While they record the Portugal v Spain World Cup match in their respective homes for later viewing the Loopy boys turn up to endure the hot, hot, hot sweatiness that is the studio. Half way through a break was needed in the cooler air outside for a while.

Ooh, it was hot.

Post Practice Pint Piffling Prattle:
The Willow Tree had closed early again tonight so the boys begrudgingly trudged up the road to the First Inn Last Out and sat out on the pews in the garden.

"You can ask at the bar for the Bibles" called one jolly lady.

Eg recounted his Glastonbury experience - The National were the ones to see apparently; Fea's radio interview; England's miserable showing at the World Cup; It was Rhodri, not Rodney; Sziget being eagerly anticipated by everyone accept Fea who hasn't done his homework and won't be coming even though he won't actually officially say it - probably makes him feel he's still part of it; Ad is off to Zimbabwe then Zambia; And finally, causing most of the laughter for this evening...

...according to Tom, he's got a deep, posh and sexy voice.

Or so he's been told.

So much so that he's actually signed up with a Voice-over website.

The England Flag and the Barmaid

2010-06-22T23:55:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Ben's found the band a potential drummer to help out. The details were handed over whereupon nothing will happen until the paper on which the details have been written turn up disintegrating in a pocket of a pair of Tom's newly washed jeans.

For some strange reason the Willow Tree pub, now famous in the local press for having an enormous England flag draped over one side, has taken to closing early on a Tuesday night leaving our boy band gasping for refreshment before toiling home. Tonight their luck was back in.

The barmaid that was befriended last week was awarded a copy of Doing Somersaults [sourced by Tom, presented by Ad]. This seemed to make her evening. She'll be on holiday next week. Going to Cornwall.

'Just make sure you switch off the lights and the water fountains before you go.'

Post Practice Pint Piffle:
The stress of work and looking for new jobs. Fea's forthcoming radio interview - something to do with his school. Nobody cares.

Drag Me To The Liberty Ballroom and get served by a former pupil

2010-05-18T23:55:00.034Z

Present: Ad, Fea

Venue: Head Teacher's Office, The Winchcombe School, Newbury

Uke and a guitar, that's all you need.

Fea discovered some lyrics in his Loopy folder on his laptop. Neither Ad nor he knew where they had come from. So, based on some chords mined from World Party's 'Put The Message In A Box', they came up with a brand new song.

A second new song was born with the words 'Drag me to the Liberty Ballroom'. Before going down the pub which the band used to frequent when they regularly rehearsed at Fea's first Newbury School.

They walked in on a Pub Quiz and were served by one of Fea's former pupils.

Where Do You Go when it's Tom's Birthday

2010-05-06T19:32:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom [later]

The evening was dedicated recording a new song called Where Do You Go.

Ad laid down the guide ukulele and vocal and Eg added a piano intro before putting down his lead vocal.

Fea added guitar using his niece's 'baby acoustic'.

Birthday boy Tom and Bex [still both unmarried] turned up after their celebratory meal in Winchester.

Tom added a distinctly non-choppy piano to the proceedings and Bex refused to add her backing vocals which had earlier been heartily cocked up by Tom and Fea.

Eg and a double-tracked Ad saved the day there.

Overall, a rather good evening's work.

Mini Audience stimulates Practice

2010-04-20T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea and Tom

Guests: Sarah, Joe and Hannah

Joe took over some bass playing, Ad on broken drums, Hannah hit a tom tom and Sara tambourine

Post Practice:
Fea convince Sziget attendance, Flight cancellations, Ad Thai

Kingmaker

2010-03-17T11:37:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios

This evening involved mulled wine, as warmed in the filthy microwave in the rehearsal area while listening to some band playing a great rendition of Phils Collins & Bailey's Easy Lover. Tom jigging around so much he nearly spilled the wine down the back of a stray amp.

It also involved the recording of a track called Kingmaker. Supposedly an album filler, but with the Loopy perfectionists on hand it turned into a bit of an opus.

Fea laid down his rhythm guitar to a click track. Always a bit of a hit and miss exercise but success was achieved in three takes.

Probably.

Eg put down his vocals. Ad his bass. Then came Tom's dodgy guitar, Ad's dodgy backing vocals and Eg's rather fine new Toy instrument, the melodica.

More backing vocals later and there was something resembling a mixable track for the boys to take home and assess.

Someone's Here, Not There, in The Sky Above My House

2010-02-25T23:55:00.052Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Venue: Winchester

The plan was to continue recording. Experimenting with Sky Above My House and seeing if Ben could find that old tension-relieving recording of Someone to finish. Also managed to get a brand new song finished: Here Not There - written by the Noizees, fronted by Eg's youngest daughter Jessie, aged 10 - started with Tom struggling to keep obedient to the click track and ended with his low and laid back voice beautifully fleshing out the rather jolly harmonies.

Does Tom buy a ukulele and a cheap banjo? Or just a ukulele? And can Eg's tambourine skills keep up with the click track? Bottle of white wine to help the creativity flow and Ben's been thinking about buying yet another Cortina. He's also only gone and cleaned half his mixing desk and half the studio. Something's half in the air.

Ben's Foster Child in the Sky Above My House

2010-02-09T23:55:00.007Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Time for some more recording.

With the lack of regular drummer the boys are left with the desire to just Do Some Recording. Hence this evening.

Tom has lost his voice, or rather, seems to have found it behind a dusty old shed, in the dark, gravelly back yard. Everyone is unsure if it's as sexy as it should be. Singing is out for him this evening, however. Which possibly explains the light mood all round this evening.

Fea and Eg turn up with Eg providing the cheap German 'Champagne' in order to celebrate Fea's Fortieth, last week. Tom gives the group the benefit of his tasting experience by critiquing it.

All the more funnier due to his loss of voice. For example...

Ben informs that his new son, born two weeks previously, is called Foster.

Loopy inform Ben that the track for this evening, born some time last year, is called 'Sky Above My House'

The recording is actually started by working out how the evening should pan out. The initial idea begins with laying down a click track. Fea puts his guitar down and tries to keep in time with the robotic, perfectly paced 4/4 high-hat hit that Ben's desk generates.

It's not as easy as it might sound and after Ben does some jiggery pokery with his editing skills the guide track, with an Eg guide vocal, is laid.

Ad puts his tenor ukulele over the top of that and adds a simple bass line. Eg adds a confident vocal on his second run through and leaves a pleasing impression on the promise of what could be a nice evening's work. Ad harmonises, somehow, and Fea shouts tunefully thereafter. Tom rasps out some rather nice harmonica before midnight strikes and everyone scuttles home, pleased with the outcome so far. Ideas are flying around about how the recording can be developed. Cello, Choir, Brass?

Being in a band is a good thing.

Loopy Christmas Do

2009-12-22T23:55:00.001Z

Venue: The Sweet Olive, The Chequers Inn, Aston Tirrold, Didcot

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi and Tom

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It was snowing and fogging. Tom picked Ad and Fea up from Newbury. Tom keeps his music equipment in his car because he has no room in his house to keep it. Ad got in the back with a large and heavy keyboard on his lap. The phone call came through that Eg needed picking up too. He squeezed in the back with Ad meaning the vertically placed guitar had to be laid flat on top of the keyboard across both back seat passengers' legs.

Fea would have been giggling in the front had it not been for Tom's 'interesting' driving.

Gi was already at the restaurant when the steamed up vision of Tom's car appeared, snow-crunching its way into the car park.

Starters, Mains and Desserts.

This year's Cracker Special provided by 'Santa Claus' contained mechanical Brussel Sprouts and a racing circle in the form of a drawing of a plate. The sprouts needed to be wound up, placed in the middle and let go. The last sprout Out [off the 'plate'] gets knocked out.

Fea won.

It was Gi's birthday too.

Rare December Rehearsal.

2009-12-08T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Low key rehearsal involving some new songs, some current songs and some oldies. Held in the old control room at the back of the original unit. Huddled around the sofa at the end, sitting on amps and stools. Ad gives Tom the chords to one of T's favourite Fountans of Wayne songs 'Leave the Biker' Tom sings it to Ad and Fea. It remained unrecognisable.

Ben has finally moved into his flat in Winchester.

Post Practice Pint Prattle: This Year's Loopy Christmas Do; Google Latitude;

The Halloween Gig at Rowledge, Sue's 40th Birthday

2009-10-31T23:55:00.019Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom and Dom

Venue: Rowledge Village Hall, Rowledge

It was Sue's 40th Birthday. And Rowledge Village Hall has no real distinguishing features other than two large bay windows at the front. Very much, in fact, like all the surrounding houses in the village. Which is why Eg ended up zooming past it, Ad only got as far as the village Pub and Fea sat around waiting for help in a nearby layby. Miraculously, inexplicably and somewhat suspiciously Tom and Dom pinpoint it precisely. [Tom confesses later that he had actually been there before.]

Ad, Dom and Tom arrive earliest and set up. The organisers finish their setting up and leave telling the boys to help themselves to the booze while they're gone. Two speeding humanoid blurs desert Tom during one of his many sentences, cometting to the bar.

Eg and Fea arrive wondering where the beers came from.

Tonight the performance took place on a proper Town Hall style stage with footlights and overhead theatre lights. The banner was wonkily taped up above the drummer's stool by Tom and Dom, while Eg assembled his brand new microphone stand - one with a circular weighted

base, one with which he could dance. Everyone had a play. The Sound check was made and while Loopy waited for the guests to arrive they sang 'Love The Way' to pass the time.

An interesting start to Mustang Sally caught Ad off

guard while Eg forgot the ending altogether for Back For Good. Is She Really Going Out With Him won the audience over again.

Happy Birthday was sung when the birthday cake was brought out in between sets and a healthy amount of pretty ladies danced at the feet of the boys for most of the night.

The Buffet

Three types of home made curry were available; vegetarian, chicken and beef. These were accompanied by shop-bought small naan breads and little bhajis.

A well laid out and comprehensive completion of catering configuration that couldn't fail to conquer one's palate and one's appetite.

Bravo.

Overall score: 7 out of 10. After being negotiated down from an initial eight - due mainly to the number of peas in the chicken, the lacklustre [shop-bought] naan, the ever-so slightly watery vegetarian option and the fact that it repeated itself rather unnecessarily on both Ad and Fea later on. A new way of scoring buffets is proposed to make it more like Strictly Come Dancing.

The gig finished with most guests remaining on the dancefloor shouting for more.

Between Set Prattle:

Eg's arrival in a Nissan Micra with flowers on it; Tom doesn't like people who play golf; when does not paying for something change from 'an oversight on the part of the cashier' to 'outright thefty shoplifting'; the unhealthiness of hankies; the repeating curries; the guest appearance of SuperNanny; a full set of Humax owners; the repeating curries; the revelation that Fea managed to copy a file from Humax to his computer without Ad's help; the repeating curries forcing Fea to repeat in the gents; two drunk ladies plotting to give Tom more female attention than ever before; Dom buys tickets for his family to go to a Christmas Strictly Come Dancing adventure just as his kids start to prefer The X Factor.

Set List

Set 1

Happy Days
Somersaults
Best Friend's Girl
Mustang Sally
Tainted Love
Evel Knievel
So Lonely
Corner Of Your Mind
Wonderwall
Just Can't Get Enough

Set 2

Is She Really Going Out With Him
All About You
Shakin All Over
Too Late
Help!
Saw Her Standing There
Kids In America
Teenage Kicks
Town Called Malice
I'm A Believer

1st Encore:

Back For Good
Take On Me

2nd Encore:

Ever Fallen In Love

Final Practice Before Halloween Gig

2009-10-29T23:55:00.002Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Boundary Road, Newbury

Dom joins the boys on drums.

Apart from the usual rehearsing of covers and poppy originals required for the gig on Saturday, three new songs were worked through again. 'Sparkle You', 'Lie Detectors' and 'Sky Above My House'.

Dom went home before the rest of the boys headed down the Hog's Head for their Post Practice Pint.

Pub Prattle: House hunting; how 'mature' many of the punters were in the Hog's Head; extending one's house only to move home immediately afterwards; charging for the album

Penultimate Practice Before Halloween Gig with Random Guest Drummer, Jamie

2009-10-20T23:55:00.007Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Newbury

Expecting a full practice with Dom on drums, the band turned up only to be told by Tom that Dom was ill and couldn't come. The disappointment reflecting the desire to play with the highly talented ex-Chesterf!elds drummer [pictured], of course. While awaiting the studio room to vacate, the album boxes were distributed and the cover was pawed over. The accidental omission of cellist Rufus's name being the most obvious disappointment.

Rehearsal began with a run through of some of the covers that will be expected to make an appearance at the gig next week. Then with a knock at the door, a young looking lad asked if he could sit in on the vacant drum kit and join in. His name was Jamie. He was 19 years old. After an initial uneasiness we did a couple more covers including 'Just Can't Get Enough' - much to Jamie's amusement.

New songs 'Lie Detectors', 'Sparkle You' and 'Sky Above My House' were worked on with the last two enjoying Jamie's drum accompaniment.

The evening ended down the Hog's Head for the...

Post Practice Pint Pub Prattle: Fea's former pupils serving him in a pub; Loopy [not] entering X Factor; Self-congratulating over the album, Doing Somersaults; The forthcoming Loopy Christmas Do; How lucky the band have been with stand-ins; Rick the Hungry Drummer; Oxford Magnets being a corporate leaf off a branch off a much larger parent company tree.

You Tube Loopy

2009-10-18T22:48:00.003Z

Loopy start polluting You Tube with their own amateur emissions. Starting with Eg's footage of the A34 Schools Tour...

http://www.youtube.com/LoopyTheBand

http://twitter.com/LoopyTheBand
http://facebook.com/LoopyTheBand

You lucky, lucky people.

Picking Up The Album

2009-10-16T17:00:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Tom - but separately

Venue: Unit A, Lutyens Industrial Centre, Basingstoke

Ad and Tom don't quite meet at the venue. Tom gets there first and leaves a box for Ad to pick up when he turned up 10 minutes later. The excitement palpable in both.

Was there a thumbs up for the cover quality?

Oh yesh.

Ad flogs four that night.

Practice for the Gig Later in the Month

2009-10-15T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios. A very busy Valley Studios.

The threesome ran through some of the favourites they cover for private functions including their pop favourites that always get an audience up and dancing.

Had a lengthy mid-practice break talking to Ben, interrupting his DVD viewing. He's on the verge of setting up a new studio in a new building 2 miles up the road, whilst keeping the current set up as rehearsal space.

Post Practice Pint Pub Prattle: Fea's fundamental demands of his children as they grow up; a possible hung parliament potentially changing British politics forever; Dom's drumming; Dom's flask of coffee he brings with him to gigs; picking up the new album tomorrow; being exhausted at work; competitive parents at school events;

Practice

2009-10-06T23:55:00.011Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios

Worked on the new songs and deliberated over the logistics of rehearsing with new part-time drummer, Dom. And the gig at the end of the month.

Eg produces USB stick with band photos and footage from the A34 Schools tour. Ad wrestles it off him.

The CDs of the album will be physically available later this month. Actual release is to be scheduled with iTunes availability.

Post-Practice Pub Prattle: Painful foot massages; flying long haul in economy seats; looking for new jobs; the 1970s father on average spent 20 minutes a week with their children compared with 2 hours today; mobile phones for children; the disastrous Dingwalls gig; the website; Gi's son's new band - The Dead Jerichos.

Practice

2009-09-29T23:55:00.009Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios

A three person rehearsal developing and practising the new songs for the next album. Ad's Italian Job story is long and boring while Tom continues as Ben's tobacco mule.

Post Practice Pint Prattle: The Friday gig; the house viewing hobby of Fea; Tom's searching for a new house...

A Miniature Version of the Album Cover for Corrections

2009-09-01T23:55:00.008Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester

Ad arrived early and added a backing track to 'Love the Way' before getting Ben to master it. All in preparation for the album master disc to be sent off for pressing.

Tom brings a miniature of the mocked up album cover. The rest of the boys think it's because he wants to make it really difficult for them to spot any mistakes.

That done, red ink all over the shop, the loopy boys went through some new songs with an eye on the next recordings. 'The Sky Above My House', 'Sparkle and Shine', 'You Are The One', 'Lie Detectives','Gallery of You', 'Wild End', 'Whatever Happened to Sunday'...

The landlord of the Willow Tree welcomes us with a "Where have you boys been all summer?"

Post-Practice Pint Prattle: Fea reckons that Angelina Jolie is quite an attractive woman, Ad points out that she looks a bit like her Dad; there's a potential gig in Octobe; Fea repeats a story we've all heard before; planning the Loopy Christmas do; band money; Ad's Italian Job; Duty free tobacco

Schools Tour

2009-07-10T18:00:00.029Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venues: Stanmore Primary School, Winchester; Winchcombe Primary School, Newbury; Hagbourne Primary School, Hagbourne; Rehearsal Studios, Newbury

An early start for a gig saw the band turn up at Stanmore School for 0900hrs. The boys made their way straight to the assembly hall while teachers made cups of tea and coffee as a welcome. There they hung around for the children to file in before being introduced to the school. The rapturous and enthusiastic applause was a bit of a surprise, but set the boys up for the rest of the day. Though it was very worrying to hear, and quite difficult to play through, some very out-of-time clapping by a few hundred children.

Oh, and by the way kids, no. It's not a violin, it's a ukulele.

For the next venue [Felix's school] Dominic joined up with the show to play drums. The band set up with plenty of space and when the children came in and settled Fea turned the whole show into a lesson of music and of co-operation. Nice. As an example of how awful not cooperating can be, he [seemingly off the cuff] asked each band member at a time to play a song that was different from what any of the others were playing. The cacophony got the point across before the set was embarked upon.

The children were so excited they were becoming 'unsettled' and the teachers who were sitting next to their classes, down the sides of the hall, were often making incursions into the crowd to get variously excited kids to sit down properly and behave.

The applause and cheering after each song was loud, appreciative and uplifting. It was as if Loopy were a proper pop band doing a proper gig to proper fans. Not that any of the band members would have admitted this, of course.

And onto Hagbourne. Eg's wife Shelley's school. Again, a similar reaction to each and every song. There was one kid who sat in the middle of the crowd with an amazing hair do. Like a white man's afro. One little boy came up to Tom afterwards and started talking 'Guitars'. One girl came up to Ad and looked up at him to ask if he was Scottish.

Not all the children in the front rows enjoyed the experience all of the time [front left].

The day ended with a rehearsal at Uprising Studios, Newbury - in preparation for the Gig at the Bear. Every one tired, exhausted and realising they couldn't possibly be a proper band doing proper tours.

Final Practice before the Schools Tour

2009-07-07T23:55:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom and Dom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Boundary Road, Newbury

Ran through the songs to be performed at the three schools this coming Friday. All written on the lovely, fresh-smelling whiteboard. Using the pens with the unloseable caps.

Dom bought the boys a can of pop each during the break, seeing as they had behaved themselves so well.

Eg went home to write reports. Dom left at the same time. Ad, Fea and Tom went to a local pub for their post-Practice pint. They talked about the album cover; the arrangements for Friday's giglettes; Loopy-influenced nostalgia for the WAGs and Ad using North Moreton's The Bear as a kind of launch party venue. Tasteless.

Tobacco Mule, Kevin Whately for drummer and Massive TV Screens

2009-06-23T23:55:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Lots of out of tune guitars this evening. Eg's scribbling down of all the wrong chords didn't help matters.

Eg's return from Dubai sees him playing Tobacco Mule for Ben. Ad and Tom's estimations for the non-duty-free price are way off Ben's reckoning. Eg wishes he'd charged him more.

Post Practice Pint Pub Prattle - Vegetable bar snacks; Loopy the Musical; Loopy television show ideas; how Eg could use Facebook; putting letters after your name; Job titles on business cards; massive television screens on back of aircraft seats - try not to be put off by what your neighbour is watching; Massive television screens in small hotel rooms; Eg's MBA presentation; Tom's busy work schedule; new Loopy T-shirts; the Chesterfields; which actors would play the band in Loopy The Musical - Tom imagines Kevin Whately would play Gi - Ad hopes for Jake Gyllenhaal for himself - Eg proposes Graham Norton for Fea.

Assembly Sessions Mixing and The Tommy Cash at Fulsomski Prison Gig that never was

2009-06-09T23:55:00.009Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

While Eg is nomadically roaming India marketing his merchandise to the membership of the Mumbai Magnet Massive it's time to mix and master the Assembly Sessions.

[Hmm?]

Problems encountered included things like;

Ad, having tried to compensate for his backing vocals' volume by moving away from his microphone, has left Ben trying to compress them without picking up the rest of the noises in the room - something like that anyway;
a very squeaky piano pedal halfway through the tracks;
a terrible & rushed rendition of 'The Smile'.

Remarkably, Ben managed to remove the popping distortion of Fea's over-enthusiastic intimacy with his microphone during 'Hearts Pumping'.

Still, the intention continues to be one that foists this output upon the band's unsuspecting fan base. Whoever she really is. Or he.

Ben rightly points out that these 'Assembly Sessions' should be released after the album is ready/released/available/'out there'. Otherwise people will associate the songs with these versions rather than the actual superdooper studio versions. The boys reluctantly concede this point.

Ben's always right.

Git.

While Ben mixed and mastered, the three Loopy attendees scuttled off to the back room to rehearse for the Schools Tour on Friday 10th July. They think they've licked that tricky middle eight in 'Just Can't Get Enough'. Well, Tom thinks he's licked it at any rate.

'Sky Above My House', 'Sparkle You', 'Kingmaker' were also worked on. Interrupted by red wine and Tom's recollection of the time he was invited to play for a Polish Prison Warden at his prison in Gdansk. The Tommy Cash at Fulsomski Prison Gig. Perhaps.

Ben and the boys also tried to work out why there was a consistent 'dropout' at 4m 21secs on the 'Hearts Pumping' recording when it doesn't appear in the original Multitrack Session. To be continued, no doubt.

Some 'Karaoke' versions of the tracks were mixed for popcast bedding music purposes.

Other Practice Prattle: Loopy Number Plates; Deputy Head interviews; £36.30 a week for two people to live on; M&S bean salad that everyone could enjoy a little while after Tom had eaten it; Coach Trip on Channel4; putting on gigs with kids; pregnant ladies and their heightened sense of smell; ukulele'ing a campire sing-a-long.

[pictured - Coach Trip Tour Guide Brendan: Felix in 10 years]

The Assembly Sessions

2009-06-03T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

You're ten. At school. It's morning. Before lessons.

You 'single-file' into the Assembly Hall for the usual morning's mediocre musical moments with a resentful teacher on the piano. The head teacher spends the next 20 minutes trying to whip up a bit of enthusiasm for yet another feebly voiced rendition of 'All Creatures Great and Small'.

Well, as a treat, as a taster of the forthcoming album "Doing Somersaults", and as a gesture towards the forthcoming 'schools tour', Loopy spent this evening recording their own 'Assembly Sessions' while Ben was in the control room mastering the real thing.

These recordings will be freely available to visitors of the Loopy website.

Tom added some trumpet sounds to 'Corner of Your Mind' and a minor adjustment was made to 'Hearts Pumping'. Eg and Fea popped out to get some beer but were too late and returned with a bottle of Ribena and some tic-tacs. Ad and Tom recorded a small interview with Ben which will be available in the next Loopy Popcast.

Newbury

2009-05-26T23:55:00.012Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Guest Drummer: Dom

Venue: Uprising Studios, Newbury, Berkshire

Scheduling issues meant that a room wasn't ready for us so the first half hour was spent going through the structure of songs with Dom practising on a coffee table in the foyer.

Eventually made it into a very clean rehearsal room.

Don't tell Ben at Valley Studios but this studio knows how to kit out a rehearsal room. Guitar brackets on the walls, neatly arranged guitar amps, whiteboards with pens that have attached pen tops, and, in a move to quite literally dispel the image of studios being full of smelly boys with guitars, the offer of a burst of air freshener to banish any lingering presence of the band practicing before us.

Oh yes, and lights that work.

Truly giddy making.

Dom stands in as drummer to cover the upcoming schools' tour and manages to make his first rehearsal since, well, the last time he played with the Loopy boys in Southampton some years ago.

Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough' was worked on whilst the lads also ran through 'Evel Knievel', 'Too Late', 'Corner Of My Mind' and 'Somersaults'. Dom has to leave early but as he gets up to go he is easily enticed back on to the drummer's stool by a rendition of Teenage Kicks.

Dom finally leaves with a couple of rounders' bats handed to him through his car window in the car park outside. No euphemism there: he actually leaves with a couple of rounders' bats. They were Tom's. He needed to borrow them.

Found a pub called the Hog's Head in the centre of Newbury to prattle in, post-Practice. By the canal. Topics of Conversation: Microsoft Bar Codes for the album cover; the forthcoming popcast; using one's children to experiment with nominal determinism; overhauling the loopy website.

Twits

2009-05-22T10:16:00.002Z

If, for some reason, you are twangling yourself up in the twebsite that is twitter then feel less like a lonely twool and add us to your posse of tweeple.

http://twitter.com/LoopyTheBand

Who knows where it might twake us?

Twoodbye.

Olives, turkey burgers and a black leather jacket

2009-05-19T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

A bunch of girl guides were hanging outside the studios this evening: something to do with a recording that Ben had let himself into.

Meanwhile, back in the darkness - one bedside table lamp attempting to feebly light up the rehearsal room - songs were worked on. Lie Detectors, Gallery of You, Sparkle and Shine. Plus a rare visit into the Ska magic that is Startin' Out.

Post Practice Pint Prattle at the Pub: Olives were bought; Eg likes Ad's jacket and wore it with the scarf - he managed to perfect the round-the-neck scarf-flick with some artistic elan; Anchovy stuffed Olives vs Garlic Stuffed ones; Tom's Turkey burgers; Fea's new room in his attic; Chris Powell & Martin Potter's slightly less than magnificent support performance all those years ago - TWP and their fans legging it; there will be eyelashes, and lots of them, in your computer keyboard; Fea threatens Ad with a South Coast while Ad awaits a Half-term Whiskey Evening invite from Eg.

Eg reluctantly gives Ad his jacket back.

Practice

2009-05-12T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Eg wisely brought a music stand this evening in order for him to better place the enlarged lyrics he had been given for the newer songs.

Rattled through the album and rehearsed Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough for the schools' tour in couple of months. Practiced 'Sparkle and Shine' and worked hard on 'Gallery of You' while also getting a better feel for new numbers 'Lie Detectors' and 'Sky Above My House'. Revisited 'Startin' Out' in honour of the recent Ska revival.

Tom had had a vegetarian meal earlier.

Post Practice Pint Pub Prattle: Fea's got a hole in his budget; Tom went to Brighton for a saucy weekend and watched three cracking birds on the beach [they were cracking crabs open by dropping them from great heights]; Ad got a new podcasting client; Eg went to Centre Parks with the family and slid down a zip wire the right way while cursing the other parents; Eastern European cigarettes; Eg will be getting Tom to translate the Sziget Festival gig guide before marching off on a well planned festival foray while Ad will follow the one that looks like they know what they're doing - the flat is further from the festival than first promised; Tom getting rollocked on a hospital balcony by the wife of his fellow smoker who had just had a heart attack and had promised her he had given up; photos of the old days

2009-05-05T23:55:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Tom

Venue: Smash Towers

In spite of a mysterious and misinformed text message from Valley Studio Manager Ben that claimed the band had a particular room already set up with four microphones etc. Practice this week occurred in Emsworth.

Eg's had familial birthday duties to attend to and Fea was off presenting The Rayner Cup to some poor low-achieving, unsuspecting, uncooperative pupil who still doesn't know what they must have done wrong to have deserved such a playground taunt-earning gong.

Little Ash was there when Tom turned up and, after fixing a string to Ad's seemingly unplayed acoustic, played on the first ditty. And then left. Rightly so.

The rehearsal focussed on the School's tour coming up in July with Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough' covered. The presumtpion being that the very young pupils at these schools will be too young to even remember 'It's All About You' by McFly.

The evening's music playing was curtailed by the two non-Rayners talking about old times [image below: debut gig], previous bands, the lovely Aimee Rose, the Angry Maisie Moo and how good it would be to have the loopy mail coming through Gmail's interface. Ahem.

Oh and Manchester United beat Arsenal in the Champions League Semi-Final - Ad n Tom raised a sympathetic toast to gooner, Eg: Ad with a can of lager, Tom with a cup of Lapsang Souchong. Or was it peppermint tea?

2009-04-28T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

New stuff, old stuff. The boys ran through the 8 track album, a neatly packaged pop effusion, with Fea picking up the bass rather well on 'Love the Way'.

Someone; Starting Out; Sparkle & Shine; Fiat 500; Sky Above My House; TV All Day; Extraordinary Day [a rather wordy number which Fea attempted after Ad's failed effort in a previous rehearsal]; Lie Detectives; Where Do You Go.

The boys tried to remember Skydiving, Rollercoaster and some other numbers they never got round to recording in the early days.

Post Practice Pint Prattle: the Sziget festival to which Ad, Eg and Tom are going thanks to Tom's parents' flat in Budapest; the album cover; Tom's band task list; Ad's podcasting possibilities; Fea's losing his deputy; Eg's got Shell's birthday coming up; Tom's Birthday will be a BBQ and rounders - and none of us can attend.

Mixing and Finalising tracks

2009-04-21T23:55:00.002Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

The new album is nearly complete. Decisions made on track listing, cover art, sleeve design, names to be thanked. One trumpet needs to be added to the opening track and one song ending needs to be finally chosen. Eg adds a new vocal to Hearts Pumping.

Ad brought in a load of song books he saved from being thrown out for everyone, Fea brought in his Ofsted inspection report - one of them is in tune with the context of the evening; Ben brings up the, as yet unwritten, Loopy Musical, Eg suggests commissioning Ad to write it; Eg's support act story of the gig in Portsmouth he went to - Goth guy wailing at a keyboard while a chased [as opposed to chaste one can only assume] semi-clad girl rubbed baby oil over herself; Ben's car fetish and the time he sold his convertible BMW to a dodgy bloke who needed to withdraw money from multiple cash machines before midnight and how Ben didn't want to turn the engine off cos it wouldn't start again; Ashes to Ashes, Red Riding, Humax Changed My Life, not receiving BBC channels and selling songs to Girls Aloud, Take That and anyone who might take them.

Tracklisting:
Corner Of Your Mind
Somersaults
Found By You
The Smile
Twenty-One
Secrets And Lies
Love The Way
Hearts Pumping

Practice

2009-04-15T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

First room on the right. One lamp, two acoustic guitars, a bass and a ukulele. A few covers and six new songs introduced. Come On Eileen [cover: murdered], Hold Me Now [cover: GBH'd], Extraordinary Life, Where Do I Go, Totally Completely, Sky Above My House, Fiat 500, TV All Day. Signs of age; the typeset is too small for Eg.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: should budget airlines charge extra for heavier passengers? Personal experiences of sitting next to 'heavier passengers'; Tom's 'compulsory atendance' at Driving School, Ad gets all the questions right; Eg's discovered he can play mp3s on his car stereo, and that he has draws under his drivers' seat.

Mixing

2009-03-31T23:55:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Ben's excellent mix of Hearts Pumping only needed a few tweaks before being accepted by the boys as complete. Love the Way took a bit longer to slim down the over-enthusiastic additions that had been made over time leaving the lads with two possible final mixes with slightly different endings. Twenty-one was more straight forward.

While Ben knob-twiddled the basic mixes, everyone else used a back room to jam and practice new songs.

Tonight's work seemed to decide for us that the new album was indeed to have eight tracks and that album art ideas were needed soon.

A very productive evening. Eg gets Ben to give us just the ending of Secrets & Lies for ring tone purposes.

We love Ben.

Gig: Mark and Catrina’s Wedding

2009-03-21T23:55:00.010Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Venue: Cain Manor, Churt Road, Bordon, Hampshire GU35 8SR

Interesting one this one. The Bride and Groom were big fans of the band. And especially wanted the boys to play at their wedding.

News came in late that the band was a drummer down. Wedding Guest Tom left the proceedings to organise a replacement via Ben at Valley. Nice young man called Rich took on the task. He motored all the way from Winchester to Cain Manor with a make-do drum kit cobbled together by Ben and stuffed into the back of his car.

Awaiting Eg and Fea, Ad verbally took Rich through the songs on the set list. Subtly muting himself whenever a wandering guest came within earshot.

So, with no rehearsals, no idea what songs he was going to play, a few loopy originals thrown in for good measure and only Ad’s mumbled beat-boxed drum rhythms to go on, Rich was looking a little nervous.

He was also incredibly hungry.

With the wedding speeches over, the kit was set up and arranged. A small plate of sandwiches magically appeared for a trembling Rich. The rest had to wait for the buffet later in the evening.

Within the first couple of songs it was clear that the band was ‘Going To Be Alright’. Rich was a steady drummer and managed to relax enough to play some fine fills – especially in many of the covers that were played – and to start and stop, pretty much well enough for no-one to notice that much.

Two sets later, with an a capella and a couple of drumless numbers [Too Late, Take On Me] thrown in at the beginning of Set 2, Rich was Loopy’s New Friend.

In fact, you could say he was the band’s new buddy, Rich.

Buddy Rich?

No?

The Groom, also stepped up to play a very quiet guitar along with Tom while Eg sang a specially requested Simon and Garfunkel number.

The Buffet consisted of most of the usual quiche, sandwich, pizza and satay chicken on a stick options with the interesting inclusion of asparagus spears wrapped in salmon.

The Bride looked beautiful, the Groom handsome and both had apparently had a rather good day.

Other stuff: Small kids in front of the band dancing; Fea keeping his calm while talking to the Offensive Mad Midget who wasn’t a head teacher after all; Tom MC’ing. Bride’s sister using Ad’s mic in the encore to sing along to Take That’s ‘Back For Good’ while Ad sings ‘Want It Back, Want It Back For Good’; Eg getting the Maitre De to bring coffee for him, Ad and Fea; Ad getting his leg felt up; Ad performing the Kids From Fame’s ‘Desdemona’ in the lobby before leaving.

Pre-Gig Rehearsal: Curry Night at the Willow Tree

2009-03-10T23:55:00.014Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Ploughed through a bit of everything this evening. Covers and Originals. All in the hope that the wedding guests on Saturday week will be too drunk to notice the inevitable balls ups.

More importantly though...

Rolling up at the Willow Tree at the usual Few Minutes to Closing Time the boys were greeted with the exquisite delight of a pub that had just finished a Curry Evening.

With leftovers.

Landlord offered four plates.

Say no more.

Nom, nom, nom.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: The curry, the curry, Giles missing out on the curry and the curry.

Practice: The Loopy Groupie Wedding Approaches

2009-03-03T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

Parking hell at Valley Studios. Rain, wind and more rain. The boys run through as many of the old covers and past loopy faves as possible in preparation for the wedding in a few weeks time.

Post Practice Pint: This year's festivals, the USB stick, Hungary trip this August.

Recording: Rufus and his cello

2009-02-24T23:55:00.007Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Special guest, and lovely man, Rufus was with the boys tonight [he from 'Friday in Firenze' fame]. He and his cello were added to four tracks this evening: Hearts Pumping, 21, The Smile and Love The Way with intentions to use him on a further track that the band needs to re-record from scratch [Wild End].

Mulled wine was raised to congratulate Ben on his Gretna Green marriage and Fea on his new Head Teacher post. Commiserations were forthcoming however to Tom who's Eg-given USB key from the previous week turned out not to be 360GB after all. The tech boys at his work put it through its paces to discover that it was in fact 2GB. And a rather slow 2GB at that.

The making of cheese is discussed. Tom's going to give Fea a book on it. It's all Rock n Roll down at Valley Studios this evening.

Practice: Monkees Song and USB Key

2009-02-17T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

Had recording planned for tonight but Ben couldn't oblige. So the cellist and violinist were cancelled.

Eg has recently returned from China and brought with him a USB key that claims to have 360GB of memory. No-one believes him. Tom gets the spoils to play with.

The Monkees songbook provided the lads with an opportunity to learn Daydream Believer. Passers by would have been forgiven for thinking that this opportunity had been spurned.

Eg drops guitar and loses jack socket. 'Want You Back' - well remembered. 'It's All About You' - not so. Was that 'Dream A Little Dream' we heard on the ukulele?

Upcoming gig dates were discussed including a Schools' Tour. Basically that just means the band plays in three schools - an assembly and a couple of music workshops. And a wedding - of two Loopy Groupies - approaching fast.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Loopy download profits declared: $15. 'Then She Said' topping the Loopy charts along with 'Ben & Jason'? What is China's currency, actually? Shooting a video of the band doing a dance routine and put it on You Tube.

Birthday at Band Practice

2009-01-27T23:55:00.009Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Along with Ben the boys celebrated Ad's birthday with four muffin cakes, some microwaved mulled wine, party hats and hooty blower things.

They all, uncertainly, guess his age to within a year or two and, as with every year, work out that he is, indeed, still the youngest member of the band.

Tracks Secrets & Lies and 21 were painstakingly mixed; Ben spent the first hour doing the basics while the three band members went into a side room to work on songs new and old.

Take On Me was rehearsed while potential new songs, Live This Life, Kingmaker and The Sky Above My House, were worked on.

Ben secretly recorded Take On Me with one of the microphones in the room that was patched through to his desk.

Recording

2009-01-20T23:55:00.006Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

Ben's moved his control room again. This time to a different building. Into some loftspace over an adjoining unit.

Cosy.

Ad brings notes on previous recordings, Fea brings wine, Eg brings Fea [and Ben's tobacco], Tom brings cold and his own peppermint teabags plus universally loved Big Red chewing gum.

The team work on Secrets and Lies [Vocals], Hearts Pumping [ukulele], Love the Way [Vocals], 21 [Vocals, Ben Cymbals] and discuss violin/cello/trumpet usage.

Also discussed was how to release the current batch of recordings. Two 6 track albums?

More discussion/bribing/negotiations required.

Loopy Christmas Do

2008-12-09T23:55:00.011Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom

Venue: Bella Napoli, Abingdon

The annual Christmas backslap involving the entire band and some poor unsuspecting small restaurant near one of the band members' houses. This year it was Gi's turn to source, book and disown the subsequent food quality of the eaterie he had chosen.

It receives the thumbs up from all.

Teetotal Tom gets roped in as Taxi driver for Fea but can't quite make it to pick up Eg. Ad scrounges a sofa off Gi for the night.

The Christmas crackers, as supplied by Minty again, fail to top last year's football themed cracker snapping bonanza. This year, each cracker houses a santa sitting on different coloured sleighs that zoom along the table after a short pull-back. When all the other diners finally leave, the restaurant owner and his wife look on bemusedly as the Loopy boys set up the cardboard race track and jostle for the perceived best lane.

One race. Winner claims glory.

All sleighs crash into each other in the middle of the track apart from Eg's whose outside missile zooms past the finish line and into the wall to take the podium.

Great food. Great company. Appalling crackers.

2008-11-27T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Gi, Tom

To warm up, the boys managed a few old favourites including Small Town Boy, Starting Out, Change, Someone, Some Summer's Day and Blue Cortina. Couldn't remember OX4 though.

Tom used a new pedal sound, Ad had to tune for the first time in months and Fea & Ad's voices were shot to pieces by the end of it. Edgar audibly missed, of course.

Secrets & Lies, Corner Of My Mind, Smile and Doing Somersaults were all brought out for a polish and progress was made on the jammed song which is on the way to being titled This Life or Beautiful Day or something equally Loopyish. Sparkle You continues to grow promisingly.

Post-Practice Pint Pub Prattle: Gi needs a Humax; Tom is rescued from airport hell by the latest Smashcast; Ad has bought some new shoes; Gi's daughter's, Polly's, Birthday today; Fea's 'Guess The Name of the Bear' guess was 'Polly', in her honour - she's 22 now!; Being unnecessarily competitive; BBC Licence Fee, is it a subscription?; Tom doing things to married ladies on coaches around Eastern Europe while their husbands' best friends are the driver; Fea's Ofsted inspection; Ad rescuing a scruffy acoustic guitar from a local amenity tip for the price of five pounds - a new set of strings later and it's as good as 'almost new'; Martin Potter worked for Unipart not Unilever; Work Christmas Dos; The Loopy Christmas Meal in Abingdon in two weeks time and Tom defenestrating himself into the snow, followed by his clothes, when a highly protective unexpectedly father returns home. He was fifteen and loved the excitement.

Practice

2008-11-18T23:55:00.001Z

Present: All

Ad returns from Zambia, Eg returns from China. Apparently both trips had nothing to do with secret international trade negotiations. Fea has the Ofsted Sword of Damocles hanging above him. Tom has a sickly daughter [and has to leave early to tend to her] and Gi gets a high hat clamp cross-threaded onto his cymbal.

'Sparkle You', 'Gallery of You' both successfully worked on.

Post-Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: the Hungarian music festival next year; the Loopy Christmas Do in Abingdon; Eg's accurately pessimistic estimates of band members' ambitious Home Improvement plans; Fea has never been to Tom's home - he hasn't been invited.

Returned to studio to pay the previously absent Ben and to return the high hat clamp still attached to Gi's Cymbal. Cymbal subsequently freed from clamp using Ben's tool. Because....

...he got pliers,
Going in
He got pliers
Coming out of his skin...

Recording: Rescuing last week's session

2008-10-14T23:55:00.013Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Gi and Tom

Bass fixes completed on 21 and entire bass line re-recorded on Hearts Pumping.

Gi's percussion completed on Wild End. Started off with adding some Cowbell. But it quickly became clear that it wasn't really the sound we were looking for.

Tom's guitar on Secrets & Lies along with a Gary Numan style keyboard sound for the chorus. He's firmly told by Eg to not bounce.

Gi suggests tuba for Wild End bass riff. It's liked.

Beer provided by Eg

Recording: Phoebe joins her Dad

2008-10-07T23:55:00.010Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom and special guest, Phoebe, Eg's daughter.

Recording can be really boring when you're a 13 year old Loopy groupie as the beautiful Phoebe Rayner was to discover this evening. It was either that or an evening being babysat by the grandfather. And we can all see the appeal of choosing the recording studio with Dad over that. So thank the lord for Nintendo DS, the teen pacifier.

And who could blame poor Phoebe as the only other entertainment on offer was watching Uncle Ad and Uncle Fea go into one recording booth while Uncle Gi was in his own with the drums. Eg was providing the guide vocals via microphone from within the control room where Phoebe and Uncle Tom twiddled fingers.

The priority was to come away from this session with the drums recorded, but Ad and Fea weren't exactly making the job easy for Gi. Neither of them seemed to be at the top of their game with Ad forgetting how the songs were structured and Fea playing, well, really badly.

Fea had to be forcibly removed from the studio and Tom had to be asked to not try out his backing vocals during the recording. His presence eventually being employed to silently conduct Ad through 'Secrets & Lies'.

Eventually managed to come away with drum and dodgy bass for 'Wild End', '21', 'Secrets & Lies' and 'Hearts Pumping'.

Eg tried to use his learned Management Tools to diffuse the potential stress of the situation by requesting we record a simple, and inevitably slick, version of the old Loopy classic, 'Someone'.

Which we did.

But it didn't.

Interesting to see how a bored teenager and a tired and frustrated drummer show remarkably parallel behavioural deterioration patterns.

Open track surgery had to be performed by Dr Ben in a few places. [Cheap] beer provided by Ad.

Job done.

"I want to go home"

Practice: Pre-Recording

2008-09-30T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

Gi not present due to an interview the next day, Eg not present due to him needing to wear a tie in another foreign country.

Songs were practised with a view to recording them next week. 2 new songs jammed into a better shape. Work done on Secrets and Lies, Gallery of You, 21, Wild End, Sparkle, Take On Me, Hearts Pumping.

Post-Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Job Interviews, Fea's new word that he almost doesn't know how to pronounce - it means being a headmaster when you're not a headmaster. The releasing of small mini-albums being better than traditional ones. Tom on Jonathan Ross's Radio Show on Saturday. Lots of website hits. He urges the others to do the same.

Full Practice

2008-09-23T23:55:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom

Fea turned up in his £10 suit that he wears for work and Tom had to read out the 'Thank You' note from the Bride of the wedding from the previous gig to each of us as we turned up.

Hearts Pumping, Secrets and Lies, Gallery of You, Take On Me, 21, Wild End.

Fea learns the correct way to pronounce 'Flautist',

Post-Practice Pint: Much self-congratulatory back-slapping over the last gig's conditions with which the band marvellously coped. Gigs from the past; St Cross College, The Jericho Tavern. How many tracks make an Album as opposed to an E.P. Eg thinks 7. This Year's Band Christmas Do. The blog being A Good Thing. The Sziget Hungarian Festival next year where Tom will try and get us a slot. New covers to do. WOrking 9 till 5 and Morning Train being particularly good ones.

The Jeremy Irons Gig

2008-09-13T23:55:00.000Z

Venue: Barn, in the middle of nowhere somewhere perhaps around Winchester.

Well, it was when Tom confessed that it wasn't actually Jeremy Irons's Niece that was to marry, it was his Step-Niece, if there is such a thing. So, no, Jeremy was not there. Everyone booed Tom.

The Sound's the Limit

Now in the past, the band has played venues with sound limiters. Where once the noise levels have reached a certain point the power for the band cuts out. Usually, these sound limiters come in the form of a small 'traffic light' box in the roof or on the wall. Once it hits red, you know you have a few seconds before the power will be cut off. Well, at this venue the power cut off without warning. All of the time. The limiter was set to 60dB. Even the bride apologised to the band.

The rest of the evening was spent with the amps sometimes being off, sometimes being on but the Loopy show carried on regardless. Gi's drumming could be heard throughout and the crowd were drunk enough to just sing along and not really notice that our amps had stopped working every now and then.

Girls who suddenly think it's a Karaoke

And talking of drunk crowds. Ad had to suffer, yet again, a determined stage 'presence' grabbing at his microphone. This time Eg had his hands full too with another one. But she wasn't as drunk. And neither was she an oddly shaped Irish girl [or was it the way she was standing/just about the fall over backwards]. Her hips deadened the bass strings, and her saliva splattered over the cheek, but, like real pros, the band carried on.

Gi wasn't too chuffed with the sandwiches and lack of Champagne making it stealthily into his bass drum.

The Catering Staff. The Sandwiches. Big Red. The Girl with her iPod. Mike Davis and his new Girlfriend. Fea and Eg borrowing Ad's jackets. A ukulele session out of the boot of Ad's car while awaiting the start of the show. Man falling over. The full moon. Fea's chocolate chewing gum. Cokes for the way home.

Set
included

Mustang Sally
Best Friend's Girl
Happy Days
All About You
Tainted Love
Meet Me In The Corner
Too Late
Saw Her Stand there
Shakin All Over
So Lonely
I'm a Believer

Practice for the 'Jeremy Irons Gig'

2008-09-02T23:55:00.005Z

Present: All

And the winner of the "Who Can Keep Their Woolfire Festival Artists' Wristband On The Longest" competition is won by Ad.

The practice was dedicated to preparing for the Jeremy Irons Gig. Plenty of the usual covers and Loopy's very own pop classics.

Ad splits his nail.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: What TV/Home Phone/Broadband package Gi should sign up for. Humax [the joys of] and Eg's inability to download and install the latest software for his. Why the Live Popcast idea just wouldn't work. The forthcoming album was also mentioned at some point.

The Woolfire Festival

2008-08-31T16:00:00.006Z

Present: All

Venue: Woolfire Farm, Somewhere off the A33 in the Hampshire Countryside about 15 minutes from Winchester.

A few rain drops and a cloudy sky did not dampen the new experience of playing at a proper festival on a well equipped stage, with tents in the distance, and a handful of audience members.

Eg's earring. Fea's earring. Ad's leather trousers. Tom's weather map cloud T-shirt. Gi's nice Marks & Sparks sweater that he probably got for Christmas one year. The Liars from Stoke. Gi casting a critical eye over the catering facilities [two old ladies and a BBQ] and judging that they would have been far better off with a buffet. The Shed with the instruments in it. Daphne legging it for the free CD that Ad had tossed onto the empty grass in front of the stage. Eg using a Penguin wrapper that he found at his feet on stage as a link to the Found By You song. Then discovering it had belonged to the Sound Engineers behind us. An interesting start to The Smile by Fea and Ad. Eg using the stage. The woman doing the crossword in the picnic chair. The two ladies massaging each other's heads. Ad implying they were lesbians. One of them was Daphne.

An overall sense that perhaps more practice might have been better.

Set List:
Somersaults
Some Summer's Day
Ordinary Life
Evel Knievel
The Smile
Meet Me In The Corner
Found By You
Too Late
Teenage Kicks [not on set list -wooo]

Woolfire update: Loopy now playing on Sunday (August 31st)

2008-08-27T14:42:00.003Z

After a lot of shilly-shallying we now have a slot at the Woolfire Festival. Loopy will be on the Main Stage at 12.30 pm on Sunday (August 31st) ... a perfect lunchtime slot (bring a picnic).

For directions etc ... got to http://www.woolfire.co.uk/

Squeeze Another Practice In Before The Gig

2008-08-19T23:55:00.003Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

Eg turns up in work clothes, looking very smart.

It turns out that after endless emails asking for the time of the Loopy performance at the Woolfire Festival next week [where we also said that we couldn't really do Friday] we finally hear that we've been booked for 5pm on the Friday to open the festivities.

It doesn't look great.

Still, at least we've got what is rapidly becoming known as the Jeremy Irons Gig.

Post Practice Pint Topic of Conversation: Did I lock it? Going back to check the door. Eg's popcast idea [a live streaming of the band]. A festival in Hungary - we five can stay at Tom's parents' flat. Gi's Killer B-Sides again. Tom embarrassing his mother in front of other mothers on a walk in the park when he was young.

Pre-Gig Practice

2008-08-12T23:22:00.005Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Gi, Tom

A quiet time in the Valley. We were the only band playing tonight, even the Taxi firm opposite seemed a little quiet this evening. All the better for the band to use this time to prepare for the end of the month gig at Woolfire Festival. Oh yeah, and the wedding in September that we're supposed to be doing. Jeremy Irons' neice's wedding.

Of course he'll be there.

Tom had a list of songs for us to practice. Always tricky without the cues from the lead singer but Ad and Fea did a good enough job of sorts to get through the evening. Interesting to hear the 'off the top of the head' words used when the actual lyrics aren't remembered.

We went through the songs again in batches of three.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Radio 4. Smoking in front of parents. Poor memory. Short-sightness plus long-sightedness equals good-sightedness. Trevor MacDonald's infamous blooper and that it wasn't about Josie Lawrence's attempted murder. Because Josie Lawrence is a comedienne. Poor memory. Dungeoness. Deal. The Evolution of the B-Side. Gi's theory on the shape of table that makes the best buffet's at gigs - not ones that are stuffed in the corner [clogs up the flow of food-gatherers] but the inverse of that. Tom tries to describe a chevron shaped situation. And poor memory.

Recording Somersaults and Love the Way

2008-07-22T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Guest Musicians: Ed, Ben

Ed graced the boys with his presence and produced some rather superb Sax work on 'Somersaults' with Tom conducting.

Meanwhile Ad and Eg fiddled with 'Love the Way' in a practice room.

Recorded 'Love the Way' with Ben on bass, Ad on ukulele and on Ed's banjo ukulele. Tom plonked about on what Ben had been informed by its maker as a 'belaphone'? We thought is was a marimba or glockenspiel.

A wooden xylophone at any rate.

Tom wanted more tracks again.

Recording went on till way past midnight as more and more tracks were used up on impulsive instrumental and vocal harmony inspirations. Reassuringly, this will keep the band busy for months to come during which they shall be stripping out everything they whimsically crammed in.

Latest Betting

Tom to try a new slightly different harmony [5-1]

Eg to re-record flat vocals [6-2]

Gi to want to beatbox the bridge [1,000-1]

Fea to ignore the need for input by talking about his boiler/job [evens]

Ad to be the one to write the blog post [betting suspended]

Practice

2008-07-15T23:55:00.002Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Tom

First time practice after Ad's back operation and Fea's school inspection. Both events refusing to inspire the mining of any decent seams of conversation.

A-Ha's 'Take on Me' successfully given an outing, while two new potential songs were jammed into existence.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation:

Speed limits, school inspection, mobile phones [Tom's new whizzy courtesy phone Vs Fea's faithful original he bought in 1974 - which he still doesn't know how to use].

The Horrible Harmonies Episode

2008-06-07T16:42:00.001Z

A new Loopy Popcast has been released and is available here.

It includes the Edgar Interview and some exclusive recordings; a ukulele special and a Rihanna cover among them.

You'll also hear the latest Loopy News and Loopy Before Loopy.

Gig: Philly's Phortieth, Winchester Rugby Club

2008-05-10T23:55:00.007Z

Venue: Winchester Rugby Club, Nun's Road, Winchester

Present: All

Directions, directions, directions. Down the back of a side street after a private road, behind some mobile units, next to a cricket pitch that you can't see.

We give thanks for mobile phones.

No problems for Eg though. Honest.

Bex nearly has to choose which band member she'd rather be with than her own beloved Tom. She asked to see our wallets. Tom would have won that little contest anyway.

With a healthy supply of cheese, pasta, sausage rolls, bread and lentils, a rating of 8 Gi's were happily awarded to the Buffet by the most senior of Rayner brothers while the barmaid was possibly awarded 9 Fea's. The pre-performance pint topics of conversation included the fact that Tom can't remember how much we're getting for the gig; the number of GCE's and CSE's we achieved with Ad casually mentioning he took his Maths a year early; whether to push for Tom and Bex to get married; not practising on a Tuesday.

And then on to what was quite probably the most fluid set Loopy have ever had the opportunity to chop and change. Well, the preliminary observations of the arriving audience seemed to shake Eg's confidence in his carefully constructed set list.

The second set was preceded by a rousing speech from Blair, Philly's partner, thanking everyone and requesting much dancing from the crowd. We kick it off with Philly's "special request" 'Saw Her Standing There'.

The last two songs prove a muscle spasm too far for Ad's back as he plays out the set rammed up against a storage cupboard door.

Eg, Gi and Tom are recognised for packing up.

Set
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
It's All About You
So Lonely
.
.
Some Summer's Day
Somersaults
Ordinary Life
Too Late
.
.
Wonderwall
.
.
Town Called Malice
I'm A Believer

Practice: Pre-Gig

2008-04-28T23:55:00.002Z

Present: Ad, Fea, Gi, Tom

With a gig looming this practice was a necessary run through the old favourites and covers. The lack of lyrical cues caused a few issues but the chance to sing lead for Ad, Fea and Tom was taken with glee in spite of not knowing any of the words required to make a complete performance.

Valley Studios' very own Ben brought news of his proposal of marriage to a disbelieving Jeanie. All happy there.

Post Practice Pint Topic of Conversation: Lead Balloon, Gavin and Stacey, the actual population of Austria and how come the wife didn't know?

Practise 22nd April - sax workout

2008-04-23T08:51:00.005Z

Present: Ed,Eg,Felix,Susie,Tom
Venue: Ilsleys Primary School
Songs: Somersaults, Hearts Pumping, Meet Me On The Corner, Sparkle & Shine, Wild End

With more recording imminent it was time to workshop the brass section in the shape of Ed and his saxophone. With wife Susie giving encouragement from the sidelines (well ... a comfy chair at the back of the staffroom) Ed initially struggled with, but manfully overcame, some tricky fingering to pull off Tom's slightly dodgy brass lines on Somersaults, though was happily unphased by Meet Me On The Corner and Hearts Pumping. After recording a piano version of the Somersaults brass line on Eg's phone, Ed promised to do a bit of practising before the next recording session (after Eg's worked out how to get stuff off his phone and onto a CD).

Down the pub ...
Topics of conversation included:

Horse riding (and post-op challenges for Eg)
Ed and Susie's horse (called Flub) who isn't ridden anymore but was once well-trained. Doesn't like men though.
Upcoming gigs: possible David Soul feature
Future projects including: A34 tour, M4 tour, schools tour, foreign gig / tour

Practice 3rd April 2008

2008-04-06T13:52:00.003Z

Eg took control and led from the front. The next four songs to be recorded were practiced - 21, Heart's Pumping, Secrets and Lies plus Wild End. Fea couldn't remember the chords to 24 hrs but did better with Change. Adam spent most of the night playing the bass whilst crouching to the ground - an interesting rock stance.

Topics of discussion down the pub - different diary formats, Tom's Germany trip, Fea's new job, possible title for new album Second Hand Groove Machine, how easy it is to add entry to the blog!

Adam and Eg give me marks out of ten please.

Thursdays coming

2008-04-01T17:55:00.002Z

Four songs:
Secrets & Lies, Heart's pumping, Wild end & 21

Plus:
Gallary of you, Hold on, Sparkle & shine
Change (fea, remember chords), 24Hours (ditto), April30

Adam - put it in the car now!!!

Eg

Practice

2008-03-25T23:55:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom
Venue: Valley Studios, Winchester.

Ad's back still playing up. Tom is off with the fairies. Ad gives Eg the task of extracting from the band the four tracks that should be practised for recording purposes. He sort of succeeds. Though this band's blogger can't remember them if he had been told.

Post-practice pint prattle included: Eg's got a hard drive with loads of gig details from the band's early years. The Loopy Gig Google Map. And 'why don't we make the next album cover out of wood'.

Stupid, stupid boys.

Popcast Workshop

2008-03-19T18:22:00.004Z

Present: Ad, Eg
Venue: Emsworth

Eg interviewed for forthcoming loopy popcast. A few songs were recorded acoustically including 'Gallery of You', 'Love the Way', 'Umbrella'.

Expected release time: soon. Cough.

Practice

2008-03-18T23:55:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

Eg's been doing his homework on new song 'Gallery of You'. Practised the EP songs. Briefly tried to remember '24 Hours' and worked on '21'.

Ad's bad back causes a lying down in the middle of the studio incident.

Topics of conversation
The wonders of Reversing Sensors and Cruise Control in a car. Tom's Marriage, Tom's Children, Tom's never driven a car with Cruise Control. How clear are European Roads? Tom ruined a car by travelling very fast for a very long time on a very foreign road. What to do for the podcast. Gi's now got his own boiler story though he kept it short which was a popular thing to do.

Recording: Rescuing Somersaults

2008-02-26T01:00:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Tom

Minor re-records for backing vocals on 'Found By You' and a decision to re-do the start of 'The Smile'. Somersaults was pulled apart and pieced back together again one backing vocal at a time. Added more voices to middle eight.

Recorded a piano version of the song which will be put on a forthcoming and overdue popcast. Also to feature will be a recording, secretly kept by Ben, of certain people trying out different falsetto harmonies. Highly embarrassing, yet essential, listening.

More Recording: The EP

2008-02-13T01:19:00.009Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea [late] and Tom

Fea was late because of the Future of Education.

Added Tom's guitar to 'The Smile', 'Corner of My Mind' and 'Somersaults'. Harmonica to 'Found By You'. Backing vocals to Somersaults with a controversially fun, yet completely unnecessary Beatles reference to be argued about.

The beginning of The Smile was redone with Eg on piano, Fea on acoustic guitar and Tom on Itchy-To-Do-Something-o-phone. But as this is probably the only place where individual instrument credits are given we can say that he played the very last piano chord on the song accompanying himself with a just-about-audible snigger. Oh, and just to make sure you heard correctly, that was Edgar on piano at the beginning of The Smile.

An almost vertical Ad's ukulele made a daring, yet unrecorded, appearance while poor Engineer Ben had to work with the noise of a mini-acoustic jam behind him. Sorry Ben.

More 49p Pringles and an interesting bottled beer selection by Tom. Eichbaum, mit tiefer Dankbarkeit, Herr Vamos.

Recording

2008-02-05T23:55:00.000Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Tom

The continuation of the 'Doing Somersaults' EP [Working Title]. Vocals/backing vocals have been added to 'The Smile', 'The Corner of my Mind' and 'Found By You' [previously referred to as 'Lay Your Table'], Tom added the Rhodes to the tracks as well.

Eg nipped out to buy some Pringles [40p a tube!] and a cake as a happy birthday to Fea. He also bought some beer in what can only be a happy birthday gesture to Ad for the previous week.

Ahem.

Recording

2008-01-15T23:55:00.000Z

Present: All

The evening was spent recording four tracks for the new E.P. This is the first time we've used the new recording set up at Valley Studios with Ad and Fea in one room [with Tom miming his part], Gi isolated with his drums in another room and Eg cueing us with guide vocals in the control room with Ben. All in contact with each other via room microphones and headphones.

Tracks laid down:
Lay Your Table - drums, guitar [Tom], bass
Meet Me In The Corner of Your Mind - drums, guitar [Fea], bass [with issues]
Somersaults - drums, guitar [Fea], bass
The Smile - drums, guitar [Fea], bass

Topics of Conversation: Ad's recent health issues. Being mugged. Next album name.

Loopy Christmas Do 2007

2007-12-13T23:55:00.000Z

Present: All

Venue: The Chestnut Horse in Easton

Armed with crackers with footballing snowmen in them [thanks to Minty], the Loopy boys managed to clear the pub with an impromptu table top soccer match.

Actually, that didn't happen. The Loopy Boys waited for all the other diners to leave before they dared to get the footballing snowmen out and even then they were scared they'd get told off.

Set List:

Ad - Avacodo & Bacon Salad, Chicken Supreme Forestiere
Eg - Avacado & Bacon Salad, Steak with Peppercorn Sauce
Fea - Moules, Scallops with a risotto
Gi - Avacado & Bacon Salad, Rib Eye Steak
Tom - Salmon and Prawn parcels with an Avocado Purée, Scallops with a risotto
Extras: 'Jenga' chips, unordered (but happily accepted) Fries, a couple of salads
Desserts: Brulées, Chocolate Fondant and some cheese + coffees

[From left to right: Felix, Eg, Tom, Ad, Gi]

The bill was paid with Loopy funds thanks to the Wootton Bassett gig in August. Ad was going to be denied a starter due to the missing of one of the year's gigs. But rapidly earned it back when he pointed out that he had been the link that got the Wootton Bassett gig.

Topics of Conversation: How to choose a wine [check it's the cheapest], the general deportment of the waitress, plans for next year [EP], the science behind getting the best seats on flights,

Gig: The Bear, North Moreton, Oxon

2007-11-05T17:37:00.000Z

Order of Play: Loopy, Elvis Wannabes, Loopy

The Bear. A pub in North Moreton. It receives the CAMRA's Pub of the Year Award for 2007. What better way to celebrate than to get Loopy to pop out some banging toons.

Only to be sabotaged by four very different impersonations of Elvis Presley by the boys. Well, Giles, very sensibly, opted out of this latest piece of baffling buffoonery while the others each sang a song from the Elvis discography.

The first set suffered a little from guitar-string breakage and the fluidity of the set collapsed. But Eg was on home turf and the locals seemed to enjoy watching, as if at a zoo, the five pop gods stand around looking embarrassed. Ad's Purple Platforms and Hot Pink Leather Flared Hipster Pantaloons seemed to keep their eyes focussed.

Plenty of people watched and as the evening drew on more ventured on to the dance floor.

Then the four Elvi went on. At first it looked likely to be cancelled due to a skipping CD Walkman until a local lad stepped in to nip home and get his. Like a Lamb to the Slaughter.

Felix began with Always On My Mind. Ad howled out Heartbreak Hotel. Tom camply savaged The Wonder of You and Eg saved the whole idea by swivelling his hips in the direction of two young ladies who immediately rose to the challenge and danced to his interesting rendition of Suspicious Minds. It was almost as if they had been paid.

The second set continued with a full dance floor until the end. Many appreciative folk thanked the band afterwards. Which is nice.

Oh yes, and there was free beer. And food.

Gi's car battery, the Pair of Pants joke, Firework Night, Phoebe, Jessie and Shelley running out as Father and husband Eg, started his Elvis song. Shocking.

Set:
Whatever came to mind at the time.
Elvis set - to be available in a forthcoming popcast.
Fea: Always On My Mind
Ad: Heartbreak Hotel
Tom: The Wonder of You
Eg: Suspicious Minds

Pre-gig Practice

2007-10-31T23:55:00.000Z

Present: All

Eg had a prepared set list to run through. Amazingly. Though the gig on Saturday is being held at his local. He's got more to lose than the rest of the band.

Tom's delayed, something to do with the wrong type of Bex on the tracks.

Amp volume issues are discussed in a lively manner.

Felix leaves before pub-time.

Post-Practice Pint Topics of Conversation include: Tom's holiday from which he has just returned. The buying of a new pedal. The pathetic late night fight between the full bladder and the desperate desire to continue sleeping and it's inevitable victor. Ad sets off a burglar alarm in quiet Boxford whilst trying to let a coughing cat out of friend's seemingly light-switchless and very dark house earlier this week. The position of the coin that needed to be placed on flexi-discs. Tom's pornographic flexidiscs. Gi's fleece, the difficult-to-reach headlining band of the previous gig and the major Tom/Ad faux pas [unwittingly warning the wife of the lead singer of the next band that his band was awful]. The difficulty of sleeping on long and short haul flights. Eg finds it easier to sleep on short haul. Fancy that. The Elvis performances this Saturday.

Gig: The X, Exeter Hall, Oxford.

2007-10-12T23:55:00.000Z

Order of Play: Cyrus, Loopy, Non-stop Tango.

We had an audience. Which is always nice. Though Non-stop Tango managed to drive them out onto the street a short way in to their set after us. Earlier, during the sound-check, Ad, Gi and Tom witnessed this experimental electro punk group do a sample of their thang and remained open-mouthed until they realised it was their turn to set up.

Leo was on hand to help. Eg turned up last.

We were blessed with a Sound Engineer called James [who claimed to recall seeing us at The Point twelve years ago] and a compère, Richard [who booked Loopy to play the Zodiac at the end of March last year].

Cyrus, one man and his guitar, had a nicely comfortable and relaxed stage presence. He apologises for his short cover of Dancing Queen.

Quote of the Gig: Sound engineer to Eg during the set regarding his active use of the microphone stand. "It may be rock n roll to you but that stand is 45 quid to me"

Eg puffs out his chest in pride.

Faux Pas of the Gig: Ad comes off stage and garrulously informs a friend and her female companion about the awful experience awaiting them with the next band. Yes, the female companion was indeed the wife of the lead singer of that next band.

Second Faux Pas of the Gig ('Pas de deux'): Tom comes off stage and urgently informs a friend and her female companion about the awful experience awaiting them with the next band. Yes, the female companion is STILL the wife of the lead singer of that next band.

Post-Performance Pint Patter: The Elvis impersonations each Loopy member must do. Fea's upset he can't do Always On My Mind. Gi claims he doesn't want to play. The butter nut squash incident.

Set
Somersaults
Someone
Blue Cortina
The Smile
Better Off
Lay Your Table
Kids in America
Meet Me In The Corner
Too Late
Evel Knievel
Wonderful

Audience wanted more? Check.

Full Pre-Gig Rehearsal with an Audience

2007-10-09T23:55:00.001Z

Present: All

We had a guest this week in the tall, looming shape of Big Dave. Friend of Ad who had nothing better to do this evening.

Full pre-gig rehearsal continued under the mellifluous influence of Tesco's value lager. 2%. Gi informs everyone that 'they can't call it beer' because of it's alcohol value.

Dave owns up to having given his copy of This Year's Evel Knievel to his maid in South Africa, who loves it. Then makes up for the unwitting faux pas by asking to buy a copy later.

Fea left before the pub. Three and a half month old newborn Edith needs feeding back at home.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: The forthcoming gig at the Exeter Hall in Oxford. Where should the Loopy Christmas Do be held this year. The Mexican food served up at the Mongolian Wok, not. Eg's ideas for the next Loopy Popcast - each band member do an Elvis impersonation and we all judge a winner. Tom to get the backing tracks.

Big Dave isn't quite sure this is real.

It Must Be Love Under An Umb-er-ella

2007-10-04T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

A clutch(?) of four songs has become staple practice process recently with our shared desire to release them as a CD maxi-single type EP thingy. Maybe that should be the collective noun.... an EP of four songs. No. Sounds terrible.

Four songs. We practice them regularly. Want to release them. Corner of My Mind, Lay Your Table Bare [Tom's Song], Somersaults and The Smile.

Ad introduces his new Zoom H2 handy recorder. Eg brings along the music to Rhianna's 'Umbrella' and Madness's 'It Must Be Love'.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Tom's [Diner] Kitchen - Eg's pessimistic prophecy that it would be ready in the summer turns out to have been an optimistic one. Disney Land - paying to have your photograph taken with Minnie Mouse. High School Musical - it's a cross between Grease and Kids from Fame [Ad perks up, Gi looks bemused], the kids love it [Eg's Jessie and he have scripted the next two films - bedtime stories aren't what they used to be].

Download and Listen to this month's Gig Alert

2007-09-18T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Gi, Tom

Tried a new song - Not Too Late and another stab at making You Are The One a bit more universally enjoyed. Ben left Tom with the key to the studio as he left early and there was no-one else in the place.

Post Practice Pint at the Pub Topics of Conversation included: Gi asks 'Do fish sleep? - Eg thinks so, Ad reckons that they must 'sleep-swim'. The success of the previous weekend's gig. Spraying essence of Basil over your meal in a restaurant. Eg's superior Gig Negotiation Skills by allowing a venue owner to barter up our gig fee from an initially acceptable £0.00 to £250.00. The outrageous invariability of the shape of your average supermarket tomato.

Fattened Up Practice

2007-09-11T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom and Paul

Stand-in bass player Paul has his final practice with the band before Saturday's gig. Odd having two bass players on the go.

Car park unusually jammed this evening.

Fea has to leave before the Post Practice Pint.

Post Practice Pint Topics of conversation: pensions, Gi leaving his job, Eg's terrible idea for a television slot on an Ant 'n' Dec Saturday night TV programme, Fea gets a puncture on his way home and phones Eg for help, while everyone is talking about Pot Noodles. Ad remembers using his collection of empty Pot Noodle pots as a spare bed leg back at University. Paul didn't get a cold till he was 16 years old thanks to him being breast-fed. Remarkable

Practice, yes, slimmed down, yes,

2007-08-14T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Fea, Tom

Practised playing songs without vocals with the view of speeding up our recording sessions later. 'The Smile', 'Somersaults', 'Found By You', 'The Corner of your Mind'.

We also tried 'I Can See Clearly Now' and played 'Change', 'Sparkle and Shine'.

Fea went home before the post practice pint at the pub leaving Tom and I to talk nonsense at the bar.

Topics of conversation for the evening: Tom over-estimating the size of his eldest daughter's school after claiming she was the best in the school at 'x', Ad should be a primary school teacher but always looks deflated when that is suggested, the podcasting business and to improve one's product. Rock and Roll.

Gig: Wootton Bassett

2007-08-05T23:55:00.000Z

The Wootton Bassett Carnival. Or Street Fete, or whatever.

Two sets. One at 1245hrs and the other at 1545hrs.

Elvis supported us. Weather fantastic. Small thronglette of support.

Wayne the village 'character in the street' was our Bez.

Cricklade was mentioned a few times.

Lots of people requesting CDs afterwards. Which is always a good sign. Apart from the woman who desperately wanted an Elvis CD not a loopy one. Ad informed her that he believed Elvis already had a couple of albums in the shops. She slapped him with the back of a loopy CD and walked off saying that she was Cricklade too. Odd.

Thanks to Wendy, Jan and Ash for the help with the photos.

Set
Kids in America
Corner of my mind
Someone
Somersault
Ordinary Life
The Smile
Wonderful
Lay your table
Town called Malice
I'm a believer
Saw Her Standing There
Mustang Sally

Full Practice: at The Ilsleys

2007-08-04T13:00:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom

Squeezed in before the gig the following day. Gi looking refreshed from his Spanish Holiday. We met at 10am. We set up in Fea's classroom. And enjoyed the space. We cracked on through Eg's initial set list and, worryingly, it all went rather well.

We had a halfway break in the staff room. With no milk. Ad and Eg continue to display some sort of thought harmony by both appearing with those travel mugs for the day. Topics of conversation included Academic Qualifications and what they really mean. Fea tried to interest everyone in his school's achievements. Eg vowed never to send his children there.

Slimmed Down Practice V: Gig Approaching

2007-07-31T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Tom

Ad arrived four hours early. Talk about one extreme to the other. Ben's looking a bit tired thanks to his slightly overweight baby boy. It also appears that someone has pinched the sound desk from the room we've been using. Eg hands over some Big Red from Chattanooga for Tom whose car is overheating. We find out that Fea's guitar, with which he's been lovingly playing for years under the impression it was a Fender, is actually a Squire. Fea's mortified. Ad is back from South Africa.

This evening was spent going through the songs we were planning on playing for the following Sunday's Festival in Wootton Bassett.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation
Tom's concerns over people's false sense of Self during Karaoke - thanks to the clamouring of wives and girlfriends [although not his]. Public performance liability insurance. The Loopy Facebook group. Eg's changing rooms. Podcast possibilities. Leaving copies of Evel Knievel in places around South Africa and the US. Someone asking us to stop sending them our mailing list emails. Webstats telling us we have a Chinese audience out there. In China.

Slimmed Down Practice IV

2007-07-10T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Eg, Tom

With Felix on paternity and Giles unavailable the only record we're spinning tonight is the number of consecutive 'Slimmed Down' practices. Which is very 'exciting' seeing as we're rapidly approaching another gig. August 5th. Wootton Bassett. Festival. Which probably means it's a village fête or something.

Tonight we were in the back room again. And in view of the recent spate of Pub Last Order Failures, Eg brought some tinned Tanglefoot. Genius.

Songs of note: 'I Can See Clearly Now' cover.

Oh. And Studio Rehearsal fees have gone up.

We did indeed make it in time for a pint at The Willow Tree.

Post Practice Pint Topics of Conversation: Ad finds out he's lost money on shares in MICE. Fraud Squad involved an' all. Eg's off to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tom's weekend street gig. How to do a management buy out. Grooming young boys to sing our songs.

Slimmed Down Practice III

2007-06-12T23:55:00.000Z

Present
Ad, Fea, Tom

Another three out of five evening.

Started off with Ben filling us in on his new born and how big he has already grown [Arlo, not Ben] in just eight days. We set up in the back room, the old 'control room'. There's still that massive duvet in there. Or is it a futon?

Muscle memory is a wonderful thing - we churned out some oldies tonight. Emma Wray, Naked, OX4[failed] and 'Someone' into 'Startin' Out' again. 'April 30' and 'Change' soon followed.

Tom added some subtle and strategic piano to 'Sparkle'.

We nearly missed last orders at the Willow Tree, our new favourite post-practice pint pub, and enjoyed it in the suprisingly spacious garden at the back. Round tables and parasols, a warm evening, great company and as Fea pointed out, it felt like we were on holiday.

Topics of conversation included: GoogleGroups. Tom misses the way the Alsatian used to greet him at the other pub. How Good We Really Are. Squeaky cigarette butts. Tom's Bex going to see George Michael at Wembley for free because she's a nurse. Gi helping Tom learn to ride a motorbike. Ad being sure that everyone was there when he, sitting on Eg's front door step in 1996[?], had to phone Viv, our lovely ex-backing singer, that she was no longer required and was in fact, from then on, an ex-backing singer.

Oh the memories.

Another Slimmed Down Practice

2007-06-04T23:55:00.000Z

Present:
Ad, Eg, Fea

Well, what's going on? This week it was Tom's turn to join Gi on the list of absentees. This time we were in the old recording studio. Ben had his son, Arlo, last week and is currently enjoying that glazed look that new fathers seem to get soon after child arrival.

Fea discovered he had lost some metal thing that goes under his strings off his guitar. The very moment he noticed it, Ben said that he had found it last week. A successful impromptu attempt at covering 'I Can See Clearly Now' [after Eg had picked up the words and music off the floor from another band's rehearsal] went rather well. Easier to learn than the newly attempted loopy classic-to-be 'Gallery of You'. Progress made on 'Sparkle' and another great 'Someone' into 'Startin' Out'. More accurate remembering of '24 Hours' too.

Panic ensued as our attempt to find that End of Night Pint was thwarted by the early closing of the three nearest pubs. What's going on? So we ended up sitting by the river, on a bench enjoying the Emergency Beer Supply that Ad keeps in the boot of his car. The teenagers skateboarding over on the other bank looked awfully envious.

Topics of Conversation: The gig that will clear our debt to the North Moreton auction that Eg committed us to. How many GCSEs is a degree worth? Religious schools advertising for teachers with their specific faith: is it legal? Having a beer with your daughter. The naivety of new cooing new fathers and the smugness of the listening older fathers.

Slimmed Down Band Practice

2007-05-30T23:55:00.000Z

Present:
Fea, Ad, Tom

Location:
Valley Studios

Newer songs practised. Enjoyed reviving 'Someone' and 'Starting Out', plus we tried to remember '24 Hours'. And failed. Ben [Mr Valley Studios] was practising with one of his bands, passing the time while he was waiting for his girlfriend to give birth. Indeed, her waters had broken at 2pm. But no contractions. By tomorrow he should be a father. Bless him. Paid him for both the night's practice plus the short notice cancellation of last week. D'Oh!

Finished off with the usual pint at our new favourite local. Topics of conversation: Loopy blog, an inability to cope with technology, being on a stag weekend, an over-sensitivity to narrow-minded people.

Band Practice Cancelled: Bloody Rayners

2007-05-22T23:55:00.000Z

We are family. And indeed we are. We haven't seen the absent Rayners Bruce and Tobin for ages. Tobin's still banging on about a certain bass player needing a new bass and a certain bass player looking more rotund than when he last saw this certain bass player. But there he was looking as emaciated as ever. Exactly.

We all met up in the Queen's Head in Newbury Market Square. Talked about names for babies, ebay, the girl who kept trying to take our empties, Bruce's partner's dressing gown [Where did it go?] and mobile phones making that annoying shutter noise for when they take pictures ['it's The Law' according to Eg] ['Really?' gasps everyone else]['No it's not, you plonkers' according to Ad].

First time in quite a while that all Rayner brothers were in one place at one time. Yawn. Must be nice for one family to share such a responsibility for the World's overcrowding. There's always Tom and I to keep it real. As ever. Though we clearly missed the opportunity to reduce the Rayner genetic footprint that evening.

Anyway, all this meant Ben at Valley Studios had to go without our rehearsal noise. So at least someone's happy.

Present:
Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi, Tom,
Luisa, Bruce and Tobin

The Hobbit, Southampton

2007-05-11T12:36:00.000Z

Fruitbat screeching behind the bar, the awkward parking, the paddling pool to get through to the urinals in the gents, the late night three setter. No changes back at The Hobbit then.

This time we had Oxford's very own Shirley to kill off the first set for us.

And how good were they? Tight, poppy quality songs. We loved them. With our old pal Alan on guitar. I think this was when Eg decided we were going to get Alan to do a turn on stage with us. Teenage Kicks would do.

So our 2 set performance was the usual mélange of Loopy old and new with plenty of covers thrown in. And whilst Shirley were clearly the 'musicians' of the night, loopy - as headliners - were always going to enjoy the audience at their drunkest. Though I have to say, after we had called Alan from the audience for his Teenage Kicks stint, thereafter the audience shouted 'We Want Alan' after nearly every song. Very funny. Perhaps.

Quote of the evening:
"I've just worked out why we're all acting so happy: it's the band" girl at the bar, heard by Tom during the break after the first set.

Support:
Shirley

Set:
Mixture of classics ... and other [popular] classics.

The Railway, Winchester

2007-05-09T12:22:00.000Z

"This is our last gig, cos in a few months time we're all going our separate ways to University" was what the fresh-faced lead singer proclaimed before launching into the last number. I'm Widely Spread. That was their band name. There were a lot of them on stage too. They were indeed widely spread. And they were supporting us. Though to be honest, we should have supported them. Good songs, a good feel and, most importantly of all for these small venues, a good following.

It was Fea who was the first to break his silence. How he longed for that youth again. And, to be honest, they were a seemingly good advert for it. Bastards. And let's face it. Fea is getting on a bit.

When I'm Widely Spread left the stage, so did their fans abandon the floor. Leaving seven of ours old faithfuls looking somewhat embarrassed at their shoes. We've had lower attendances but the years have made them seem few and far between, and this was one of the funniest. So we treated it as a band practice with friends. Which is always nice.

Sound Engineer:

Isaac - often seen at Valley Studios.

Support Acts:

I'm Widely Spread
Parcel Force

Set:

Hearts Pumping
The Smile
Ordinary Life
Wish I Was Someone Else
Wonderful
You Are The One

Photos:
Catrine Barry

Gig: The Furniture Project

2004-12-17T23:55:00.001Z

Present: Ad, Eg, Fea, Gi and Tom

Venue:

This gig was organised via Fea. Luisa works for the Furniture Project charity in Newbury. This was their Christmas Do.

Live at the BBC

2004-05-08T18:30:00.004Z

Venue: BBC Studios, Brighton

Present: All

Well, a few weeks previously, the band won the Southern Counties Radio Juke Box Jury style programme with a record breaking 29 out of 30. Penance for such a feat took the form of having to perform live on air. A new addition to the Loopy CV.

So, the boys plus groupies, travelled all the way across to the BBC studios in Brighton.

Interviewed by the presenter Phil Jackson, the boys managed to get across that in spite of their age they were still just as prone to sounding cheap and tacky as the rest of the younger models of pop wannabes. At least they didn't sound delusional.

The evening ended with a pint back at the Sussex Brewery in Emsworth.

Gig: Old Fire Station, Oxford

1997-05-02T23:55:00.001Z

Venue: Old Fire Station, George Street, Oxford

Set1:
Someone
Small Town Boy
Loaded Gun
Town Called Malice
OX4
Evil Kenevil
Good Enough
Rollercoaster Ride
I’m a Believer
24 Hours

Set2:
Mustang Sally
Starting Out
Emma Wray
Wonderwall
Change
Learning to swim
Lazy Days

Gig: Dingwalls

1996-07-01T23:55:00.003Z

Venue: Dingwalls, Camden Lock, London

Tim Henman plays Semi-final, even the sound engineer had a TV set on. Ad had had an enormous garage bill for his Lada and Eg was in agony with his teeth.

Audience was small.

Supporting: Lime+

Gig: The Point, Oxford

1996-06-15T23:55:00.001Z

Venue: The Point, The Plain, Oxford

Supporting: Jon Otway

Mark Howe helped us with this one.