December 03, 2008 \\ Pellethead break into Czech Top 40!
Well, sort of... We headed back to Pilzen last month in the Czech Republic to play a gig with one of the Czech Republic’s biggest punk bands VISACÍ ZÁMEK who have been around exactly 10 years longer than us. Our good friend Jan Patera had managed to have a word with the promoter to get us on the bill and his band Perky Perks slinked in to take the third slot. It was our second gig in Plzen this year. The first gig was really good but a touch on the quiet side, so we were hoping we would get a bigger crowd this time. As the gig got closer Jan told us that they had already sold 150 tickets in advance – now sometimes Jan has been known to exaggerate so a certain member of the band interpreted this news as ’15 tickets’. Still, the beer over there is extremely lovely, so there was always that to look forward to. WEDNESDAY Now I (Alan) was already over in Prague working so was due to meet the rabble at the airport with Jan on the Wednesday before the gig on the Friday. As usual in these situations I was a nervous wreck thinking that they would miss the plane or forget a passport or summat. But thanks to a lift to Newcastle Airport courtesy of Darren Moore the boys showed up safe and sound apart from having to share the plane with a bunch of borderline-racist Aston Villa fans on their way to a match against Slavia Prague in the UEFA Cup. So phew! Shauno was sporting yet another new hairstyle this time a number 1 all over except a little bit at the front – “I was after a junior rhino but he fucked up” Shauno explained cos his mate had cut it and neglected to make the “junior rhino” anything close to a horn and more like a patch of thicker hair. Still it looked good. Gillham was a bit under the weather but everybody was in good spirits. We headed for our new up-market hotel – up-market referring to the fact that we got breakfast. They gave us a room with 5 beds but promised that we would get another room on Friday when Sallie (my wife also working in Prague) arrived. Next stop was for food. So Jan dropped us at a pizza place near to a ‘crazy rock club’ while he went home to kiss his daughter goodnight. So we had pizza (which was very nice in fact) and then trepidatiously ventured into the ‘crazy rock club’. It was a pub with a big screen that showed rock videos and we were the only customers. We grabbed some beers and settled in the big corner table (ignoring the ‘Reserve’ sign) and watched Iron Maiden rock out on the big screen. Jan comes in and it turns out that the club is owned by his friend who also owns the hotel we are staying in. Oh and the “Reserve” sign was for our benefit. We then drank many beers and one Fernet Stock ( a medicine-like liquor brewed in Plzen) on the house and watched a complete Iron Maiden concert (you can see why the owner was Jan’s mate) followed by Faith No More followed by The Rolling Stones. By this time we were pretty pissed and retired back to our hotel accommodation. The owner saved Gillham’s life by running after him with his baseball cap that he had managed to drop due to the fact that he had developed a new habit of wearing his hat on this knee when he was sat down – which is fine as long as you remember it is there otherwise you stand up and leave your hat on the floor. Anyway more on that later... Richie didn’t react well to the Fernet on top of x pints and as a consequence didn’t sleep too well and couldn’t handle breakfast in the morning. We had ordered “scrambled eggs and sausage” with the plan of me and Richie giving the meat-eaters the sausages. Turned out it was chopped up ham rather than sausage so I spent a lot of time picking ham out and giving it to Shauno. Gillham managed to eat his and Richie’s breakfast. As we left the breakfast room Gillham did his previous trick of depositing his hat on the floor. This time nobody noticed. Much more on this to come... Now I was supposed to be working on this day and required internet access to do so. So Jan had found a “Non-Stop Herna Bar” with internet – so he came to pick me up to take me there while the boys slept except Shauno who had been helping me assemble some CD jewel cases – which are fiddly bastards to get all the covers and shit in as anybody who has tried will know. Shauno reckoned he’d have a go at finishing those while I was away ("yeah right!" I thought). So anyway me and Jan got to the “non-stop” bar and it had apparently stopped – totally shut. So then he said I could use his internet at his house but his young daughter was scared of all men except him and his dad so it might be a bit fraught. Sure enough she stared at me for about a minute and then started crying. So I was quickly shoved into the ‘office’ and the door shut. I then had to work in there for a few hours as quiet as possible. His wife was also in trauma because she felt that she should give me a proper lunch (a BIG Czech tradition) but only had soup and grapes that was veggie, which to me was really nice. So then we head back to the hotel in a taxi with the intention of going to the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a tour. So we got back and they are still relaxing in the room but Shauno had managed to assemble 30 CD cases perfectly – well one was shagged but I was well chuffed.Then we all head outside to wait for Gillham to get washed up etc. 10 minutes later I decided to go see what was keeping him and found that he was frantically searching for his baseball hat. He figured out thet he must have dropped it in the breakfast room so we head downstairs only to find it locked and no staff members around. He was really quite upset about his hat that Richie then decides to christen “hattikins”. Still more to come on that... Anyway we hop on a tram and about 30 minutes later we are at the brewery and did the tour. It was really excellent. They certainly take their beer very seriously at Pilsner Urquell. They still brew some of the beer in the traditionally big wooden barrels in underground tunnels so that they can compare the stuff brewed in the new high(er) tech method to make sure it is still as good. The tour takes you down into the tunnels and an old dude who appears out of nowhere as though he lives down there gives you some of the beer from the big wooden barrels. This beer is unfiltered, unpasteurised and unmessed with and is therefore meant to be the best beer in the world (or at least in the Czech Republic). It was delicious in fact. After the tour we headed to a pub that is the only one that is allowed to sell the unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell beer in the world and had a few more pints there. Me and Gillham then headed back to the hotel (Gillham was still a bit under the weather and was also keen to get “hattikins” back) leaving the rest to a night out in Plzen. Me and Gillham then found out that the bar at the hotel shut at 9pm (it was 9.05pm when we got back) – so no hattikins. Shaun arrived back before 11 and it looked like we’d make it into gig day with no hangover. The next day we all went down to breakfast and Gillham (armed with the word for “hat” in Czech) finally got hattikins back – he was well chuffed. We consumed the brekky and then I did some work while the boys slept and then alter went out for a couple of bevvies. The bevvies were purchased in the pub 2 doors down the road and was the home of the grumpiest barman in the world. At 5 o’clock Sallie arrived courtesy of a dude that I work with in Prague called Pavel Jurik – he lives in Plzen and so had kindly agreed to give Sallie a lift the whole way from Prague to the hotel in Plzen. When he got there he then translated for us while we tried to get the extra room. Catastrophe – they denied all knowledge of it. They also were full up. So Pavel then came with us to a hotel next door and asked if they had a spare room – they did and we were sorted. Unfortunately we had to pay cash in advance and were now almost skint. No worries we thought – we had enough for taxis to the venue and then we could get cash out of a nearby cash machine and some food at some takeaway there too. So we dragged the boys out of the grumpy pub, grabbed the CD’s, got the hotel lady to order us 2 taxis and headed to the venue. It was miles away and as we got closer we began to realise that the cash machine/fast food combo would likely be a non-runner because the venue was a ‘cultural centre’ – sort of like a big community centre thing – in the middle of a housing estate, all houses, no shops, no cash machines, nothing really. This also got us more worried about turn out because it was miles from the centre of town too. We couldn’t see many traipsing out to the middle of nowhere for the gig. The only hope was that it was a Friday night and peopl wuld want to get out for a drink 'n' tha'. Anyway it looked at least that this place would sell food. It turns out they do but the kitchen was closed. Finally after being grumpy English primadonnas Jan sorts us out some cheese and bread – which turns out to be cheese with oil and chilli and was delicious. We then also discovered we were allowed free beer all night. Double result! The building had a couple of bars with seating and a backstage/kitchen area and the actual hall was pretty damn big – and still had the orginal 60’s lighting dangling from the ceiling as you can see from this picture off their website:
Perky Perks equipment was being loaded in and at this point we noticed that the venue (or at least the promoter) had roadies and they moved everything for you! Nice! So we started drinking the free beer while Perky Perks soundchecked and after a bit we were joined by a fellow called Patty due to his surname being Patera (no relation to Jan as hewas keen to point out) who was the drum tech for the night. Drum tech! Unbelievable. Patty turned out to be a really nice guy who worked for all the top Czech bands and who started teaching me some Czech to allow me to chat up women - whilst my wife was sat next to me. Ha ha. He also taught me to say “We love you!” in Czech so I could use that on stage in the full-on stadium-rock style. Of course that would require an audience. Hmmm.
Anyway after quite a while I wander off to see when we would be soundchecking only to find out we wouldn’t be. There wasn’t enough time now. Typical.
About this time we started to notice that a fair few people were starting to come in – maybe 50 or 60 at this point – so there was hope yet. An hour later there must have been 200 already there when Perky Perks hit the stage. Perky Perks, for those who missed their UK appearance earlier this year, play classic rock. They like bands like Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Led Zep as well as Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine. They were strutting around the big stage in a manner we hadn’t seen since the video of the Iron Maiden concert 2 nights back. Seriously. Plus 2 of them were wearing shades. Nice!
They got a decent reception but most punters were still in the bar rooms, with maybe up to 80 in the main hall.
Visaci Zamek had rolled up by the time we went backstage to put on our spandex etc. I introduced Pellethead to Visaci Zamek and then we stood around embarrassingly waiting for the Perks to finish. As is their norm they went on for another 20 minutes past the time we were meant to be ready to get on stage.
Finally it was our turn. We hit the stage with our latest free pint – got Shauno set up with the 4 string bass that Jan had garnered from a local music store. The story is that the Perky Perks are extremely kind and lend us ALL their equipment, everything. Gillham brought some sticks and Richie brought plectrums and that was all we needed. Richie got to play a Fender Strat, I got a lovely Gibson Explorer and last time we played with them over there Shauno had to use the bass player Tonda’s 5 string bass – which is a pain if you are used to a 4 string – so this time Jan had talked to his contact who worked in a music store and managed to borrow a bass with the price tag still on it! Good ol' Jan. Shauno was told not to scratch it! The one thing that Shauno did love about the Tonda is that he also has a wireless system. Shauno LOVED that thing. It was a big stage but he could go wherever without worrying about getting tangled up or ‘caught short’.
Anyway next thing I know Shaun has spotted my pint and has started pouring it into his glass! Bear in mind that the beer was FREE. Of course he thought it had been left by the Perks but embarrasingly poured it back when I started yelling at him.
So we were just about ready. The room looked like it had over 100 in it now and more were wandering in as we started making a bit of noise trying everything out. Then we started playing and people started pouring in. Within a few minutes the room was full front to back with 400-500 people. And they were going MENTAL. We’re not used to dancing, but we had half the room jumping around. Seriously. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. Plus they went beserk at the end of the songs. I started saying “We love you” in Czech and they were yelling back “We love you too” in English. It was incredible.
Shauno, of course, was in his element. He spent most of the gig stood right at the front of the stage towering over his multitudes of fans. It was a great gig. Of course there were the traditional Pellethead cock-ups – including me totally butchering “It” and not even realising – ha ha must have been the beer. And I misread the setlist and we ended up missing a song. Must have been the beer. Sorry boys. But what the hell – it was great. After we finished people were screaming for more songs. Brill-ee-yent it was.
After the gig Visaci Zamek were praising us, their guitarist was telling me how he liked our "choreography" with a smile on his face (the bits where we jump up and down at the end of a song) and I told him straight faced that we practiced a lot to achieve the effect. After he looked very puzzled I then told him I was joking – I hope he understood!
People were then coming up to us to have their pictures taken with us like thse 2 here who sent us copies:
Richie had an explicit offer from a groupie! I ended up just giving away CD’s to people. Nuts.
Visaci Zamek then played to even more people and even more madness and then we drank beer for another hour or 2. Patty loved the gig and mentioned that he was trying to arrange a festival located between Plzen and Germany next summer and he wanted to know how much we would charge. Easyjet + bed + food + no money = deal I said. So hopefully we will be back over there.
Pavel Jurik sorted us out taxis and we headed back to our hotel at about 2:30am or something. And the boys were due to get a lift from Jan at 10am. He showed up on time and we found out that he was still at the venue until 7am!!! Still he managed to get them to Prague Airport on time and they got the flight back and Darren was there to take them staright home. Success.
Jan Patera deserves a lot of thanks from us for getting us on the bill. THANKS JAN!!!One of the best gigs Pellethead have played in our 15 year history. No lie.
Anyway we are expecting some photos back from some people who were snapping during the gig. And Gillham got a roadie to video the gig on his camcorder. Unfortunately he did it from the side of the stage so you can’t see the people going mental. But I will put a youtube or 2 up and some photos when they arrive.
Anyway that gig was back on November 7th. Then last Friday (28th) Jan called me to say that Beat Radio – the biggest rock radio station in the Czech Republic – had put Defending Too Deep in at number 35 in their “top 40”. It’s not a proper chart, just the radio stations own choice of ‘top 40’, but we were there at number 35 and getting played twice a week nationally as a result. It turns out the Visaci Zamek bass player had sent them a CD and recommended us. Of course we might have slipped out of the ‘charts’ by now but it just adds to the complete surrealism of the whole shebang.
- posted by :: pellethead ::
January 29, 2008 \\ That’s your job ünlaut, baby
It's been a while since our last blog and this is because I (Al) have been busy getting married! And yes indeed, Pellethead played at my wedding - photos will follow! So thanks to Sallie for indulging me on that one. To be fair we went down quite well and the site of Nick slam-dancing with my parents(!) will never leave me. And Melanie even sang on the final song, Food Giant, thanks Mel! Speaking of which the record label unlabel have been kind enough to include Food Giant on their annual compilation - this year called ünlaut. A double-CD with 30 tracks from as follows: Disc A Lakes - 'Capt. Fidanza'. Joeyfat - 'Meal Moth'. Death of London - 'Ex Heavyweight Champion of the World'. Klaus Says Buy The Record - 'Linen Cloth'. Hunter's Loaf - 'Red Adare'. Honey Ride Me A Goat - 'Varicose Jibs'. Sandy Finlayson - 'Until'. Chain Street (& 4th) - 'Pictures and Words'. The Durells - 'The Anti Durell'. Pellethead - 'Food Giant'. Collides In Arc - 'Whispering Is An Overture'. Box - 'Terry'. Headquarters - 'Shit Got Instrumental Demo Blue Tongue'. Kevin Tomkins - 'Violin Loops Retard'. Black Black - 'A Song 2 Die 2'. Disc 1 Kyote - 'Roman Candles (D. Bateman Mix)'. October All Over - 'Nightwatchman'. Cove - 'Autumn Leaves'. Tom Williams - 'Fuck It I'm Doing Spoken Word'. Die Munch Machine - 'Diekruntmaschine'. Pipecleaner - 'Stab Vest'. Jet Johnson - 'Håvard Hedde'. Elks - 'What Hit The Ceiling?'. Belt Motel vs. El Fin - 'Strike Gently Away From Children (Round 1)'. Zettasaur - 'Stegasaurus'. Matra - 'Lights Low'. Deadboy Racer - 'Champion Theme'. The People's Choir of Berlin - 'Harbour'. Last of the Real Hardmen - 'The Great Kentwood Road Drum-Off'. I, Coelacanth - 'Untourage'. We are very excited. It is available mail order from unlabel here: ünlaut page It should lso be in good retailers very soon. I am hurredly trying to secure us a Prague gig to go with our Pilsen gig in March, so tonight I will be going to the Vagon Club in Prague to a punk gig to try and secure a slot there. Fingers crossed. The local squat venue, Milada, was going to put us on, but they have a strict Fri/Sat/Sun only policy and they had already booked the Saturday and Sunday after our Pilsen gig already. They promised they'd get us on next time. I am also trying to get a tour together for later in the year (May maybe) in the UK, so if you are a promoter reading this then please get in touch if I haven't already bugged your arse. If we cover costs we will play (and we have a very efficient little diesel van). Our royalties and PRS money is plenty sufficient to cover our debauched lifestyles. Right, best go, the wife is calling! Cheers, Al
- posted by :: pellethead ::
August 02, 2007 \\ Happy Birthday To Us, Happy Birthday To Us...
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It seems only 15 years ago that Pellethead played their first gig downstairs in Doc Browns in the Boro, and that is cos it was. Because of my bad memory I'm not sure when exactly, but it was near as damnit 15 years ago in September.
We were very nervous, though Shauno said he wasn't due to his thespian training - then when we started playing he froze in one spot for the entire gig, he he. We had been practising for months and months in Studio 64, mainly because when we started we couldn't actually play our instruments. Well, Richie had been tinkering on keyboard for a while, writing songs for Shrug, and I had been teaching myself guitar. But Nick and Shauno were chosen for their personalities alone (plus we thought Shauno would be good for lyrics seeing as how he was a poet).
It had taken us months just to pick a name. "Flowers in the Fridge" was one option that didn't last long; "Rocky Zero Zero" almost happened; "Bundy" was quickly rejected. In the end "Pellethead" came from Shauno's brother who had it as a nickname due to being shot in the head with an airgun in his youth.
So anyway, the day came, it was actually an afternoon. We were playing with a fellow by the name of John McGee. It was his first gig too, but he was on his lonesome and so was suffering even more. To the point where he did songs twice because "I know I can do it better"!
So then the time came, we had suitably dosed up on the Rocky Zero Zero to calm our nerves and on we went in front of a reasonable sized crowd with a lot of friends: Sarah and Catherine were there of course and also luminaries such as Nicky Peacock and Anthony, Rob Shrug and of course, the one, the only Lord Kevin Wall.
We stumbled, we played too slow, we made a ton of mistakes, we said bugger-all between songs, but people clapped and afterwards they said they really enjoyed it. Of course they could have been (probably were) lying. But as a result we got the buzz and we still get the same buzz to this day which is why we continue too inflict ourselves on unsuspecting audiences to this day. We continue to do it – with not any 'proper' success – because we have such a good laugh. We meet people who are sound, in places we would possibly never venture to otherwise, and we just have a laugh. How else would we have met characters like: Bob Mince, Daniel Bibby, Goober Patrol, Evan Knauer, Alycia, Brian Dean Richmond, Pete Dale, Lauren Laverne, Emperor Ming, Brian Stephenson, Oli, FYRers, Henry DARTZ! etc etc?
So on September the 8th in another venerable venue – the upstairs room at The Tavern nee Empire in Middlesbrough - we will celebrate our longevity. We will be giving away CD's of our latest release "Sleepwank" and we have other surprises in the pipeline. And cos we are running the gig we are even going to do a set where we aren't cut short – possibly for the first time in our history! So get yourselves down cos it will be an outstanding evening. And like the legendary Music Collectiive gigs that took place in the same room back in the 80's, the line-up will have 3 bands that sound absolutely, bloody nowt like each other. And that is how we like it! We have special guests and good friends Idiot Savant in their newish expanded luxurious line-up and the brand new power packed, punchy, The Plague to bring us hardcore goodness and ensure that the bottom and top-ends of the spectrum are catered for.
It'll be good, so miss it only if you are a bloody-minded, masochistic fool.
Cheers,
Al P-head- posted by :: pellethead ::
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