Chimp Spanner goes live! Kinda. Next year. Hopefully.

Well it's been a long time since I updated this thing. The Winds of Plague tour with Monuments was absolutely killer, and has given me some invaluable live experience not to mention some extreme fun-times! The new album is progressing slowly, but with a new POD to tinker with, no doubt inspiration will strike eventually.

In the meantime, however, I'm going to want to be playing a few select shows next year. Perhaps one or two UK tours, and eventually (if I can get enough of you guys behind me) some dates in Europe and perhaps even the States. However, I'm getting ahead of myself as first of all I need...

...a drummer! I'm not looking at doing show after show after show. It's the kind of set that will need a certain audience, playing with certain bands. So the aim, at least initially, is to do fewer better shows, rather than a ton of not so good ones.

As some of you might know I'm based in Colchester, so 2-3 hours travel time would be ideal.

So, what I will do is after the weekend, I'm going to release two drum-less tracks (with metronome) from the album. If you need the original full songs, please get in touch with me using the Contact link and I can send you the tracks privately.

In the meantime, if you have a YouTube account showcasing your drumming, please send these to me! You can either use the contact form, or post it on my wall at www.facebook.com/chimpspanner

I think that's it for now. More news after the weekend!x

Euroblast

Well, Euroblast has come and gone, and what else can I say except...what an amazing weekend! It was great to see so many of you come from near and far to check out all the music on offer (and there was a lot of it), and even better to finally get to meet some of you in person!

Also major congratulations to both Uneven Structure, and Aliases, both of who played their first shows, and totally tore the place up in the process!

Thanks must go to John Sprich for organizing the event, and the team of wonderful people he put together to see to everything from sound and lighting...to soup and chili. I couldn't have felt more welcome in your country, so thank you all!

Next up it's the Winds of Plague tour playing second guitar in Monuments. No doubt I'll see some of you again in Cologne. Now to mentally prepare myself for 6000 miles of van ride...

Chimp Spanner tee's now available!

Well, enough of you asked for it! So, thanks to the good folk at Basick, you can now get your hands on some official Chimp Spanner tee shirts!

http://basickrecords.bigcartel.com/artist/chimp-spanner

And to pre-empt your question...yes, they ship world wide!

Basick's 5th Birthday Party

Hey all! Apologies for the silence of late - as I'm sure some of you know I've been practicing for my first ever live show at the Basick Records 5th Birthday which took place this Saturday just gone.

Firstly I've gotta say a HUGE thank you to everyone who turned up. The atmosphere and vibe was incredible, and it meant the world to know that you guys and girls were right behind me and Monuments. It made us play better for it, and it made the night something really special. So thank you!

The reaction to the set has been fantastic too. I know there's a lot of work to be done, and it's given me a whole new perspective on my own music, and on what so many other musicians are doing out there day in, day out. But for a first show, I couldn't be happier. There will be video...and there will be clangers. But it'll be something amazing to look back on when this thing is really rolling, and I'm thrilled so many of you were there to be a part of that first step!

So until I've managed to edit, here's a short clip that's doing the rounds on the 'Tube. First song. First show. Crazy times.

Chimp Spanner and Monuments jamming The Mirror

Hey all! Here's a little something for the weekend - me and the guys from Monuments jamming The Mirror. It's the first jam of the day so, a little rough in places. Still need to get channel switching sorted but, it's all coming together! More videos to come soon :]

Album update, and live monkey business!

Figured this place was looking a little stagnant so I'd best update you guys on some important goings on!

First of all, I may have been a little eager in suggesting I'd have an album out by the end of this year ;] But come on, who didn't see that coming?! As some of you might've noticed there has been a steady-ish stream of WIPs so, it does exist! I just haven't had the time to work on it solidly lately because...

...I've been living up at Studio 33 with the lads from Monuments rehearsing for my first two live shows, as well as their Winds of Plague European tour which I'm helping out with in return for them letting me borrow an entire band! As to where you can catch the Chimp set:

• September 25th @ Luton SU (Free event - contact Basick Records on Facebook to find out more)
• October 23rd @ Euroblast Festival in Cologne

This will literally be my first time out live guys so, I don't know what to expect but I'm going to have fun, and I hope anyone that comes along will do too! These are first, not-so-baby steps towards, perhaps, a full time live band. We'll see...

A huge thanks to everyone who has been buying the album, joining in the Facebook fun times and generally showing awesome support. And hopefully I'll get to meet some of you soon!

Harvey Wallbanger - the TAB!

Figured I would share this with you all as I know there are a lot of people who have asked for tabs of this track, and it's pretty fun to play! It's guitar only, and just rhythm. I also haven't made TABs before so, if there are any goofs well...just let me know! But I think it all checks out :]

Download Here

Have fun - hopefully the whole album will be available in time and it can find a home on the website!