Joycopter Diary

Thanks for Wakefield and Accrington

2006-04-17T13:24:00.000Z

Thanks very much to all the folks who turned out last week for our shows in Wakefield ( The Bedroom) and Accrington (The wonderful Attic).

Especial kudos to Chris and Eve for driving over to Wakefield ( and staying sober)

Also Nel the backdrop designer (sparkly !), Simon of the many volume pedals, Sarah from Internet radio and Michelle's mom ( Hi !!) for coming over to join the usual suspects in Accrington. It was a loud loud night and some of us are still wincing when we walk past a PA speaker !

Both gigs were only short 40 min-ish sets, being multi-band (or in the case of the Attic - multi day,. multi-band festival) gigs.

We look forward to bringing you our 90-minute plus full set again as soon as we can persuade enough promoters that Joycopter's "weirdcore" sound will help you dance your feet and bang your head with equal abandon (though not at the same time)

Later

The Joycopterers

45 Minutes of Fame - Chester

2006-01-27T19:11:00.000Z

A fun gig in Chester last night at the Frog & Nightingale.

Many thanks to Josey Jo Jo for setting this up originally, Martin and Ian for all their help and support, and Tony for hosting the event at the Frog. It was a fun collaborative event - with many video cameras, dry ice machines, and tons of drinks ! check out http://www.fifteenminutesoffame.co.ukfor more details
Kudos to the support acts - inc some very fine folk singers !
Also Padge for pointing out when weren't pointing, Nel, Linz and Annie for not heckling, Phil and Paul for Drum & Keyboard roadying, and Kate for shouting and fiscal management.

Look for us playing at the Frog again very soon

Ps - Girls, Anthony is still single - so start sending those emails and requests for a date!

The Joycopterers

Welcome to Leeds and Glossop

2006-01-19T17:31:00.000Z

Hi folks- fresh from two recent gigs so thought we would post an update.

Leeds - The Mixing Tin
Last night we Joycoptered at Leeds' Mixing Tin ( Albion Street) - a great venue with a great PA - once you find your way around Leeds' fabled 1-way system ! (Michelle parked in Halifax and walked). Many thanks to Neil for organising the event and Ben the soundman. The onstage sound was excellent - and the Mackie PA very impressive.
We did a 45-min set with no major mishaps - apart from the stage ceiling height being a bit tricky for db's upright electric bass.
We got a good reception - though a small crowd - hopefully we didn't scare anyone too much !
We hear good things about the Leeds music scene - even that it is starting to rival Manchester ( can this be true?) - so we may well be over there again very soon

Glossop - The Globe

Well it certainly was a night to remember at the Globe! Big respect to Ray in the rafters, framed by a purple frog, who gave us top notch sound and to Pete and Jo for helping set us up in this fab live music venue.
The revelation of the night came in the guise of three music muskateers namely the gorgeous Janet, the lovely Lise, and also Chaffy, who'd checked us out on the internet and reckoned we were worth taking a look at. This terrific trio bopped their hearts out and also revealed that there is a big Joycopter fan lurking in the animal world. Chaffy's African Grey parrot Manson loves our track Brilliant Pebbles and bobs along to it in his cage whenever he hears it! We take this as a huge compliment since African Greys are no feather brains!
Chaffy bought one of our new Joycopter vests and was dancing on the table tops, and took to the stage while Chelle had a boogie with the audience. There was plenty going on band-side too as Anthony fielded a deluge (well one or two) approaches of an amorous nature when Chelle kindly revealed to the crowd that he was young, free, and single, and open to offers.
Kudos to the guys behind the bar for excellent air guitar work on various household implements during "Angels". Next time you can take the solos !
An honourable mention too for Colin the trombonist and his admirably principled decision to buy no less than five !!! of our CDs. Thanks to him and several others who offered tips and advice on how to spread the Joycopter word far and wide.
And, as ever, to the sixth "hidden" member of Joycopter, the lovely Kate, for catering, merchandise, and public relations services, above and beyond the call of duty.
Top venue - top people - we hope to be back very soon!

The Joycopterers

Thanks to the Towler

2005-08-28T14:29:00.000Z

Many thanks again to the staff and management at the Hark To Towler, Tottington ( nr Bury) for another fun night last Friday 26th Aug - plenty of good feedback (from the audience that is), great sound, interesting smoke machine, and just that home-spun friendly atmosphere !

Ant & Steve were having a trilling contest
There were some firsts -

Playing Free At Last live for the 1st time ( 3 years after recording it - it took that long to learn how to play! - let's face it - playing one odd time-signature can be tricky - but 3 at once is fairly scary - for musos amongst you - Stu & Dave are playing in 7, Ant is playing in 7 and in 4 at the same time,whilst Michelle is singing in 4, ands Steve is playing various parts in 7, 5 and 3. It provokes some interesting effects on your inner ear - don't try this at home folks!)

Also Pteradactyl ( with a silent pee ) was premiered - only a few weeks after Stu and Michelle put the format together. Check out those french-sounding Keys/Gtr harmonies !

Last but not least - Stu & Dave carried out their Drum 's'Bass mega duel on stage for the first time. The vibrations nearly lifted the bar off its hinges !

Happy Birthday to Dave the bass - more pilsner all round !

The Joycopterers

2005-07-31T11:19:00.000Z

Many many thanks for an excellent gig at the Attic , Warner St, Accrington last night.

First a bit of history...
Paul the owner set it up from scratch three months ago is an all round nice guy. Great sound, great stage, great venue. Blake is the sound man. He's also a bit of a nifty bass player himself !
Thanks also to Karma and 2city records for setting up the gig in the first place. Great to see you again guys www.2cityrecords.com

Thank you to everyone who came along - especially everyone who came up and said hello after the gig. We received a very warm welcome and Accrington has to be one of the friendliest places we've ever been to. The lovely Natalie and friends had some groovy moves and added to the great atmosphere with some fab dancing.

Well done to the lady who spotted us "Orb-ing in" some vibes from Little Fluffy Clouds

A big thankyou to all those ladies and gents who bought a CD and/or one of our new t-shirts and promised to spread the Joycopter word far and wide.
(The lovely Kate did a sterling job coping with the deluge of demands for merchandise and kept a smile on her face at the same time! )

Dave the bass was also happy to thank Michelle for chauffeur duties - as it meant he could perfect a hands-off upright bass-playing style, and the ability to work on his first post-gig hangover

We hope to be back with you at the Attic very soon !!!
Please check out our news page for other upcoming gigs in the Manchester/Chester/Liverpool area

The Joycopterers ................email: joycopter@hotmail.com

Tornado in Oklahoma

2005-05-12T18:46:00.000Z

Steve reporting here from my birthday trip - my good ol' drinking bud Karl and I went over to Oklahoma last weekend to check out the spring Blues Fest - with Eric Johnson, Johnny Hiland, Anthony Gomes and the Arc Angels. Kudos goes out to Anthony Gomes for being the most entertaining guy at the whole weekend show- also to Arc Angels for absolutely blazing through a superb set. How many other bands have two singer/guitarists of the calibre of Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II playing for them ? None I think !
The Vortexan himself , EJ was pretty darn flying too.

A big thumbs up to the Oklahoma weather (85 deg and no tornadoes), OKBlues nachos, American Airlines and the guys at the Guitar House, Tulsa ( "you can't even afford this - you know why ? - its an 18 yr old Taylor...and besides that ....its mine !")
A big thumbs down to BBQ brisket sandwiches ( says Karl - "tastes like cat food")

Now that's how to spend a weekend!

Stevie Joycopter

Jabez and the Towler

2005-05-01T10:00:00.000Z

G'day and welcome to the latest instalment of the life of JoyCopter. We had a couple of very different gigs during the past week.

The first was a Two-city Records showcase at Jabez Claggs , along with another couple of bands. The crowd was small but appreciative - although we had ahem.....quite a few challenges with the onstage sound. That being said - its always a pleasure to work with the father/son team at Two-City.

The second was show at the Hark To Towler, near Bury. A fantastic show with a very appreciative audience, and an excellent sound man. The Towler isn't the biggest venue in the world but it has real soul - and there's an excellent Italian restaurant just down the road - what more could a band ask for ? ! It was our first opportunity to play two full 45 min sets and it felt fantastic. Now we know why people talk about the Towler vibe with a smile on their faces. Here's to the next gig there!

In other news - Steve is also proud to announce the arrival of his latest new baby - a Parker Fly Mojo - which apparently cuts the mustard for Keith Richards and SRV impressions (er - isn't that blues?).

More gig dates to follow shortly - watch this space

The Joycopterers

Living Life Loud at the Limelight

2005-03-01T18:56:00.000Z

Hi - we had a fun gig last week at the Limelight - although not as well attended as usual rock/indie nights there - was it the snow keeping people away?
It was especially fun for Michelle - as due to a mix-up - the curtain went up when there were only us 4 guys on stage - we proceeded to fill in the time until Michelle came hurtling into view by a funky improv - which seemed to go down well.
Well we do have jazz leanings - so a bit of improv is not an issue - esp as Ant has been itching to do a full bore piano and poly 800 solo onstage !
The band who took stage after us were excellent in their own loud, in your face and funky way - "209" check them out www.209noise.co.uk
Our esteemed bassist DB is now on holidays in a place far far away ( and warm) - so the remaining Joycopterers are beavering away on the expanded set and some new material - next stop - 2 gigs in April ( it seems so close already !)
If you need a live fix - go see Gary Husband and the Life Cafe in Manchester on March 7th - cracking band! www.garyhusband.com - or for a bit more aggression - we can heartily recommend The Mars Volta in Manchester on 12th March

The Joycopterers

Welcome to 2005

2005-02-04T13:10:00.000Z

Welcome to the New Year!
The band have been busy rehearsing a longer set ( with a few new songs and some surprises!) - in preparation for upcoming gigs around the NorthWest ( see News page for details of the gigs)

Anthony (keys) has also been trying on his new stage gear ( watch out ladies !)
Dave (bass) has made a few improvements to the website - including some new song downloads, and putting each band member's bigraphy online. You can now see what books Michelle (vox) reads on Desert Islands, and what inspires Stu (drums) to eat so many Wotsits.

The website is now getting hits from around the wrld - as a result of Dave and Steve's (gtr) efforts to get Joycopter well known on worldwide band sites. There is also a possibility of some radio play upcoming on several US internet radio stations.

Stev and Michelle woudl also like to recommend that anyone who is anyone get down to see The Mars Volta at the Manchester Academy on March 12th . Stu recommends Rammstein at the MEN this weekend - but I fear this is already sold out.

Anthony is now also giving piano/keyboard lessons to several folk - having recently passed his Grade 8 exams - nice to see the torch being passed on dude !

We hope to see a few familiar faces (and some new ones) at the Crewe Limelight on Tues Feb 22nd !!!

The Joycopterers

Dry Bar Gig Story - Dec 14th

2004-12-18T17:37:00.001Z

Memories of the Dry Bar - Dec 14th - a real Spinal Tap night. Turning up for the soundcheck only to find the headline band - Black#5 had decided to take their gear and leave ( some kind of heckling situation we believe) - the gig was left without a drumkit. Congrats to Vuz and the other bands that a kit was sourced in time. Stoner man was also wandering around the places asking everyone if they had any acid - what is this - the Hacienda again?
Anyhows - we managed to get on stage just after 9 with no soundcheck - but engineer Graham Gallimore burning_rain_promo@yahoo.co.uk doing a fine job in difficult circumstances. We played a short set, despite several people trying to scald Ant's hands with coffee before the show!
Kudos to Paul, Russ, Helen , Zac and their mates for coming over from Chester to cheer us on. And this time there wasn't even a free minibus !
Thanks to all who bought one or more of our CDEPs - we have nearly run out - time for the next batch!
Thanks also to the Harem Pilots myweb.tiscali.co.uk/harempilots/index.html for closing the night in hilarious fashion - the spirit of Christmas is alive and well!
Now to book some more gigs - in advance of our show at the Crewe Limelight - coming your way on Feb 22nd !

The Joycopterers

Hello and welcome !

2004-12-13T16:18:00.000Z

Welcome to the JoyCopter band diary. This will tell warts and all background stories from the band - how nervous we are at gigs, how the new songs are coming along, what new gear we have bought - and what exciting Xmas presents we all received !!

The News Blog will contain more urgent info such as upcoming gigs etc

Check back soon

The Joycopterers