Blogging from My Space Only From Now On.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Over the past few years we have been adding to this blog on a regular basis, giving you updates on what goes on in the world of Tinyfish. We're a little prog band, we don't want to shove this stuff down your throats but we often like to share it with you in the same way a stranger might introduce himself and then ask you to sniff his finger.

At the moment, the vast majority of our contact with the outside world has been through the Tinyfish My Space page which also has a blog facility. I've been trying to replicate my blogging on both sites for a while but after recently returning from the Summers End festival and adding an entry to the My Space Blog (which took three hours to do when you include hunting out all the band links and adding photos). I've decided to give this page a rest and continue blogging only at our My Space portal as it just takes up too much time to maintain both.

Admittedly, My Space is not the best place in the world and the code that runs it sucks balls in a major way. That said, we get huge amounts of feedback from the people that use it so it's a bit of a no-brainer really.

I'd love to say that this is a sad moment as we've been using this site for over two years now. Unfortunately, I don't give a monkeys as the Blog will continue at My Space so yah boo sucks!!

Please switch over now and we shall never mention this sordid business again.

Myspace.

More Mixing - This Time With Sexy Pictures

Another rainy evening in the Crow's Nest and here is proof that we aren't just sitting around surfing the net for porn.

Here's Rob surfing the net for porn.


And Paul also surfing the net for porn.


And finally Simon, watching Rob & Paul surf the net for porn.

In truth this was an evening spent 'saving' some of our guitar tracks from the artistic dumpster with Rob doing a sterling job of taking the hiss out of Jim's guitar bits.

Paul is dealing with the many comments and suggestion thrown our way from this myspace page.

Simon is just posing for the camera so ignore him.

Many such nights as this are endured for the sake of a better sounding album and it's what we do when were not posting blogs.

More piccys of us in interesting positions as they occur.

Paul, Simon & Rob (Jim is hidden under the patio).

PS. I'm astounded at how much music relies upon computers now. I think our mice get more use than our guitars. Such is life.

Mixing It Up And Riding With The Ghost

Simon writes;

It’s been a while since any of us posted something on the blog (band looks at floor, shuffles feet and mumbles an apology) which is primarily because most of what we have been doing over the last few weeks is astoundingly tedious and not really worth taking about.

I’d really love to tell you that between blog posts, we are flying around in our private jet, knee deep in groupies, living the bacchanalian lifestyle to the full and yelling ‘Yeee-haaaaww!’ The truth however, is far more prosaic as we’re merely battling with the task of mixing the whole album down into one big sexy mass of Prog.

Talking of a big sexy mass of Prog, Jim is now back with us and for the first time in a little over two months, all four band members are back working together. Most of our evenings/weekends are spent gathering a studio tan and attempting to make sense of all the music we have made so far with the eventual goal of punting it on to anyone out there that might want to listen.

On a personal point, I’m currently reading Neil Peart’s book ‘Ghost Rider’ which is proving to be one of the most singular books I’ve encountered in the past couple of years. For those of you who are unaware (or have just come back from a hiking trip to Pluto) Neil Peart is the Drummer of Rush and during the late 90’s, had to endure the death not only of his daughter but one year later, his wife too. To combat this almost unimaginable loss, Neil decided one day to get on his motorbike and ride (he didn’t return for 14 months). The book is a journal of his time spent travelling both the US and Canada while slowly rediscovering a life made utterly alien by grief.

Such a book you would think, would be chock full of depressive ramblings but it even the most introspective moments I found to be coherent and very readable. This is not Neil the drummer that we are discovering but Neil the father, the traveller, the observer and ultimately the one who was left behind. It would be a crushing experience if it were not for Mr Peart’s lucid focus and self observation which drives the narrative along and leaves you thirsty for the next page.

It would be wrong to say I was taking pleasure from this book but it does leave you with a special feeling inside to see such a man claim the victory of hope and continuance from seemingly insurmountable loss.

I’m not sure I could have done the same in his position.

The Do's and Don'ts of Prog and Rock

Jim burlbles...

It occured to me the other day (and I can't remember why) that there are an awful lot of songs in the world choc full of advice for a full and enriching life: "Have A Drink On Me", "Get Down, Make Love" and "Agadoo" spring to mind. But there are an awful lot of songs that overflow with negative advice, telling us what not to do. And so I searched my iChoonz for the word "Don't" and was shocked at how many musos out there are trying to stop me doing stuff. Here's just a few that leaped off my screen to chide me for my thoughtlessness:

Don't Believe A Word - Thin Lizzy. Why? Who's lying to me? IS it that Simon? I'll 'ave 'im!

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey. Alright, one of you has to be wrong. Believe? Don't believe? Huh?

Don't Cry - Seal. It's MY party and I'll damn well cry if I want to.

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen. C'mon - you're likely to do yourself a serious damage if you carry on like that.

Don't Tease Me - ZZ Top. You can't possibly expect me to pass up the chance to mock those beards?

Don't Wait For Me - Thunder. But I don't know how to get to the party so I have to wait for you so we can go together.

Don't Stand So Close to Me - The Police. But you smell so lovely...

Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult. Well generally speaking, skeletal dudes in black cloaks with great big fuck-off scythes are widely regarded as being pretty scary so... I stick with crapping me'self if it's all the same to you.

Don't Hurt Yourself - Marillion. Oh! Thanks h - good advice disguised as bossiness.

The End

Hey Tinyfish, Show Us Your Pants?

Over the past few months our visibility in the prog community has increased considerably. Initially we had planned to keep ourselves to ourselves until we had an album to throw at people. However, the prog world being what it is, coupled with our big mouths, it appears that the Tinyfish underpants of secrecy are now hanging out to dry upon the washing line of truth for all to see.

With the launch of our MySpace page, we have begun to field an increasing number of questions about the band and its music which we are always very happy to answer (although we didn’t expect this amount of interest so soon). Most have been on three main topics so let us take this opportunity to answer all three of them in one go:

Question 1: When is your album due?

Answer: We really, really, REALLY, want it to be completed by the end of September (the recording will have been two years in the making by then and we are really keen to see what people think).

Question 2: Why has it taken so long to record?

Answer: Being poor and having day jobs, we decided that this project would be produced entirely ‘in house’. We built a studio in a loft and learned how to work the recording equipment by reading loads of manuals and looking over the shoulders of the other children in our class to see what answers they had written.

Question 3: Will you be playing live?

Answer: We are planning to play live in the future but we have no gigs booked as of yet, largely due to the fact that we have no drummer. Fortunately, our singer/guitarist Simon also knows what he’s doing behind a drum kit and has been able to fill in for the duration of the recording. We can confirm that Tinyfish are actively looking for a drummer to complete the line-up.

Watch this space for more underpants as they appear upon the line.

Also Eden

One of the nice things about enjoying Progressive music is it's a fairly inclusive genre for both fans and bands alike, which is rare thing to witness in the music world.

Prog gigs in my part of London are fairly rare occurrences so imagine my delight when I hear that Galahad were due to play a show with fellow proggers Also Eden in support at the Cartoon in Croydon, South London (which just a bus ride away from my doorstep). All looked rosy for yours truly until Galahad anounced that they have had to pull out of the night for some reason which left support band Also Eden out on their own.

Fortunately, the Eden boys refused to bow out and are now headlining the evening in their own right (yay!). This means that I still have a prog gig to go to this evening and an opportunity to kick back, relax and mix with fellow proggers.

Full power to the band for performing tonight.

Simon.

Underground Gossip

I found a great website today run buy a guy who notes down quotes he overhears in the Tube in London. I thought I’d share a few personal favourites with you.

Wing mirror injuries have increased exponentially.

No way can the guy from Frasier be in the X-men.

From now on I'm putting my name on all the staplers and hole-punches.

Chewing gum makes me really farty.

She never smiles. I don't think she has the muscles.

No way am I volunteering. Do I look like a volunteer?

He looked at me and then sniffed his fingers.

You can't tie someone up with nylon.

I found a white feather this morning. Maybe it came from an angel.

Russell Square. The home of a man called Russell.

What's a terrorist? It's just a soldier with a beard.

My jumper smells of burning.

Where did you buy your diaphragm?

The woman in the flat upstairs has stopped using broadband, so I can't get on the net anymore. What a bitch.

Horus and Anubis. I can't think of any more right now.

Raisins are shit.

Nobody in Hollywood wants to tell the truth.

Imogen, would you CALM DOWN!

I think my mum likes cucumbers.

My arms feel radioactive, you know? They feel like they're throbbing and glowing in the dark.

I'm having a cheese flavoured moment.

Penguins are birds too.

Je vais manger sur une etoile.

Dreams are like emails from your subconscious.

Can you tell me why you're angry or is that cheating?

There are three keys on my keyring and I only recognise two of them.
How can it be a genuine apology if it's a recorded message.

You're a gynocologist? Hasn't it put you off vaginas?

Money can't buy me gloves.

I was born in the year of the............ sandwich.

Wagamamas can lick my sweaty balls.

I'm not going to end up being the anonymous sperm donor for a lesbian couple.

I'd give it three stars. Out of a hundred.

If you're going to waste my time, I'm gonna piss in your ear.

I wouldn't rely on a guy called Anonymous Funkster.

Are you ready for a new kind of salad? A salad made entirely of beef.

You see? The sum total of all human knowledge can be found on the London Underground and these are just a tiny proportion of the quotes on the site.

If you want to see any more, click here. Trust me, it’s compulsive reading.



Simon.