Meet The Band

This blog began as a one man vehicle on a well worn road to that vastly over-populated metropolis, rocknrollstardomville. In a rare moment of thinking something through a little further than my old nose, foresight granted me a momentary glimpse of a future where I wasn't competing for top billing with any number of skinny trousered, pencil thin tie wearing 5 piece indie bands with little more than a piece of wood, some strings and an almost orthodontic harmonica brace to keep me company. Yes, The MüVs were born as a one man band but the idea was always to recruit more musicians, otherwise I'd have had to come up with a famous sounding name - most of the best ones have gone:

1. Ronald McDonald
2. Audrey Hepburn - damn it I wanted that one!
3. Tom Cruise
4. Penelope Cruz - and that one!
5. Orlando Bloom - amazing
6. Michael J. Fox - the secret's in the J.
7. Billy Bob Thornton - the secret's in the Bob.

So then this man came along after a gap of around seven years and that's when it all started to go right, The MüVs were a 2!














Barney & I are now writing together and making great noises and bad jokes, for more on this you can see Podcast 4 at www.themuvs.co.uk

Finding a good drummer is somwhat akin to finding your first girlfriend, lots of interest from unsuitable parties and not enough from the ones you really like. The internet has made the search for a mate easier, you get a chance to see pictures of your potential future spouse and time to think over what you'll say before you open your gob - great! What we didn't know was that the holy grail of rhythm was also available via thinterweb but avid reader, I can now confirm that this most coverted of prizes is now available online. Cue Steve Grainger, downloaded like a Thai Bride:
A now famous gig at the Progress Bar brought some deep n' dirty bass, via a hot-dog suit to The MüVs complete with obligatory bass name, meet Duff:
The MüVs played their first rehearsal as a four-piece and started to put together a warm fuzz ball of bluesy rock n' roll. We left with anthems in our head and strong odours of success (and other more basic odours born in a small room brimming with testosterone).

This is Simon, the new and brilliant guitar player who has completed the warm, fuzz we can now REALLY call The MüVs.
And then there's me, Jonny Bob J. De La Cruz. Sporting a pair of drainpipe jeans and seriously considering a purchase of a rather fetching skinny tie.
Now the real question Ladies, which one do you fancy? Answers in the normal fashion. Next gig is 10th June affter England beat Paraguay, we're at The Lark in The Park, Islington.

The rest of the photos from Monday's rehearsal can be viewed here, courtesy of Dave Phunk, thanks again for all the airbrushing etc...

Metro

Tuesday 9th May, The Railway Tavern: Another top night, welcome on-board to Duff - new bass player for The MüVs. We now have a rhythm section and things are looking up. Photos courtesy of resident picture man, Dave Phunk (slideshow) and MüVette, KT.

Chav Song has made a re-entry into The Pulse Rated chart and will be on air 6pm Sunday 14th May. The show repeats Tuesday (16th) 6-8pm, Thursday(18th) 6-8pm & Friday(19th) 4-6pm and can be heard by clicking on this lovely link. Fans of The MüVs can vote for us via this even more lovely link (apologies for the bad links you got via email, if you didn't get one then you're not on the mailing list which you can put right by clicking this; the last and most lovely of the lovely links).

I was in Covent Garden waiting for my Mum to try on a skirt, taking in the infamous street theatre:
These are real people painted and dressed as statues which is fine, whatever floats your boat. What I'm wondering is what they do when the shift is over, more specifically what facilities are available to the street thespians to change their costumes, wash off the make-up and get out of character. Surely gold bike man doesn't cycle home, silver warrior can't feasably be expected to take the bus and wind up fuzzy hat fella I'm sure doesn't tube it. Maybe they sneak in a swift half after work - most of us do - but if they haven't adequate changing facilities they would undoubtably attract the wrong sort of attention. I was keen to hang around and find out but the skirt fitted and we were obliged to move on. I left the theatre of the street wondering if these guys were in a union.

Metro. The free paper millions of commuters use to crowd out the impeding sense of dread associated with the forthcoming days work is a revelation. Everyone knows their favourite bit, the 60-second interview, the fact of the day, celebrity gossip, sport, science...it's got the lot.

Personally I zip straight to the letters page for a bit of opinionated argument between the more pro-active members of Metro's readership. Tuesday 9th of May I came across this:

This is a question The MüVs have been asking via The Chav Song for some time now. Readers, I call on you to write in to Metro and direct as many people as you can to myspace where we'll be offering Chav Song as a free download for a very limited time only - but only if we can get printed or a minimum of 10 myspace friend requests as a result of this post. Now go to work people, we love you x.

The Modesty Zip

Well, this is a novel experience. I’m on the train to Wakefield (a research project to establish the spread of Chav culture north of Watford and me old man’s birthday) whilst online, typing to you avid reader. The wonders of wi-fi have come a long way indeed although it has yet to face up to that sternest of railway tests and scourge of the mobile community, the tunnel. Time will tell…

Wednesday 26th April, Progress Bar Tufnell Park: These pages are no stranger to the phrase ‘best gig yet’ and some may accuse your author of a long breath into his own polished brass instrument. A baby grand piano, longer than usual set, impressive turnout and wild banter were the perfectly proportioned ingredients to (yep, you guessed it) The MüVs best night to date. You can catch a glimpse of the set and soak up some of the atmosphere by becoming a friend on myspace and clicking to view videos – it’s easy and a lot of fun to join, well recommended.

Whilst we’re (slightly tenuously I agree) on the subject of ingredients I must say a massive thanks to Steve & Gina for looking after us recently. Particularly Gina for excelling in the kitchen with her speciality dish, complete with secret ingredient. In the hope of making these pages more interactive, I’m inviting readers to send in their own secret ingredients - or recipes if you’re not ready to give up Grandpa’s marmite and apple crumble secret just yet. Budding Gordon Ramseys should post a comment or email via the Podcast pages.

Another seamless link, another chance for The MüVs to plug our latest e-gig; the latest cast features new song ‘ButterFingers’ and highlights of the Progress gig. And for anyone who thinks I’m getting too big for my boots, pay particular attention to my modesty zip, another example of how humbling life can be.