a manifesto of sorts
I wrote this once when I couldn't sleep and I think I may be onto something. Your thoughts?
I am no visionary and the ensuing dreck is by no means a manifesto of any coherence, nor real importance.
However, I have a few decent ideas kicking around in my head and the most gifted rhythm section I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
What's in a name? Pretty much nothing, but we call it...
WHISKEYTHIEVES
The whiskey comes from the obvious McInfluences, the thieves comes from the fact that we'll be flagrantly ripping off everyone. Good art imitates. Great art steals. We'll be somewhere in the middle, I'm sure.
AVOID BECOMING JUST ANOTHER [xxx] BAND
================================================
Folk metal (Ensiferum et al - tho their cover of Lady in Black is amazing...)
Celtic punk (Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Pogues et al)
Celtic metal (Cruachan et al)
Cover (the cover list is just so we play off each other well enough to write together)
SOME SOUND IDEAS (har dee fucking har)
================================================
Upbeat, irreverent, aggressive Celtic rock with instrumental virtuosity. Think Maiden if they'd been Irish instead of English and Bruce Dickinson hadn't been such a fucking amazing singer. Perhaps less heavy (dear god, did i just say that!?) with more wooden instruments, or "chairs." (i'm losing my mind i swear)
- violin vs. guitar duels
- Three- or four-part vocal harmonies
- SICK RIFFAGE, but with a bit of meat, not super metal distortion
- Guitarmony, but not to Swedish death metal levels
- Gang vocals - TASTEFUL.
- Singalong choruses - nothing like an audience full of drunks to round out your sound
- More than just standard drumbeats and basslines - a bored, underused rhythm section is wont to become embittered and quit
- Departures from traditional arrangements of covers - DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT BUT FAMILIAR
STAGE PRESENCE and IMAGE
================================================
Not as drastic an image or a "look" as 30 Seconds to Mars or their ilk. I mean seriously, who has that much time to do their hair? I sure as shit don't. If you've got a kilt, wear that shit. If all you've got is jeans and a plain t-shirt, wear that. Whatever.
An overall tongue-in-cheek stage presence is a must. Nothing as pretentious or audacious as scripted dialog between bandmates, but general through-lines help guide the set and keep the audience interested and keep us from looking like presence-challenged amateurs at best and complete jackasses at worst.
All members should possess some kind of stage charisma and be able to work a crowd, or at the very least, talk a little bit. SEE ALSO: The Ziggens' live record, "Tickets Still Available." That is fucking banter at its best.
Sign below:
I, the undersigned, was not raised in the slums of Limerick or Dublin and do hereby swear not to talk or sing in a fake Irish accent, because that shit pisses real Irish people off and a pissed-off Irish person is nothing to be trifled with.
X__________________________
QUASIPHILOSOPHICAL PISSINGS
================================================
Every band is just another copy of a copy of a copy of another band. Rock music has been around long enough that this is our fate, and we have to accept it, but we can accept it on our own terms.
I want to do something different without being The Mars Volta, but I'd also like to get paid every once in a while and have tens of adoring fans. After a careful survey of what this town and its surrounding environs have to offer, I've deduced that the preceding is our best bet at playing out and drawing a decent crowd.
PERSONNEL LIST/ENDBITS
================================================
Indispensable:
Guitar 1/Vocals: Tommy O'King
Guitar 2/Vocals: You, your mother, anyone who can actually farking play and sing
Violin/Vocals: ...help?
Bass/Vocals: Gavin Hadley
Whackybuckets: Jason Tobin
Optional:
Lead Vocalist (...they tend to be divas... except Neil. Neil is awesome.)
Mandolin
Banjo
Dulcimer
Whiskeythieves is all one word, no "The."
I am no visionary and the ensuing dreck is by no means a manifesto of any coherence, nor real importance.
However, I have a few decent ideas kicking around in my head and the most gifted rhythm section I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
What's in a name? Pretty much nothing, but we call it...
WHISKEYTHIEVES
The whiskey comes from the obvious McInfluences, the thieves comes from the fact that we'll be flagrantly ripping off everyone. Good art imitates. Great art steals. We'll be somewhere in the middle, I'm sure.
AVOID BECOMING JUST ANOTHER [xxx] BAND
================================================
Folk metal (Ensiferum et al - tho their cover of Lady in Black is amazing...)
Celtic punk (Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Pogues et al)
Celtic metal (Cruachan et al)
Cover (the cover list is just so we play off each other well enough to write together)
SOME SOUND IDEAS (har dee fucking har)
================================================
Upbeat, irreverent, aggressive Celtic rock with instrumental virtuosity. Think Maiden if they'd been Irish instead of English and Bruce Dickinson hadn't been such a fucking amazing singer. Perhaps less heavy (dear god, did i just say that!?) with more wooden instruments, or "chairs." (i'm losing my mind i swear)
- violin vs. guitar duels
- Three- or four-part vocal harmonies
- SICK RIFFAGE, but with a bit of meat, not super metal distortion
- Guitarmony, but not to Swedish death metal levels
- Gang vocals - TASTEFUL.
- Singalong choruses - nothing like an audience full of drunks to round out your sound
- More than just standard drumbeats and basslines - a bored, underused rhythm section is wont to become embittered and quit
- Departures from traditional arrangements of covers - DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT BUT FAMILIAR
STAGE PRESENCE and IMAGE
================================================
Not as drastic an image or a "look" as 30 Seconds to Mars or their ilk. I mean seriously, who has that much time to do their hair? I sure as shit don't. If you've got a kilt, wear that shit. If all you've got is jeans and a plain t-shirt, wear that. Whatever.
An overall tongue-in-cheek stage presence is a must. Nothing as pretentious or audacious as scripted dialog between bandmates, but general through-lines help guide the set and keep the audience interested and keep us from looking like presence-challenged amateurs at best and complete jackasses at worst.
All members should possess some kind of stage charisma and be able to work a crowd, or at the very least, talk a little bit. SEE ALSO: The Ziggens' live record, "Tickets Still Available." That is fucking banter at its best.
Sign below:
I, the undersigned, was not raised in the slums of Limerick or Dublin and do hereby swear not to talk or sing in a fake Irish accent, because that shit pisses real Irish people off and a pissed-off Irish person is nothing to be trifled with.
X__________________________
QUASIPHILOSOPHICAL PISSINGS
================================================
Every band is just another copy of a copy of a copy of another band. Rock music has been around long enough that this is our fate, and we have to accept it, but we can accept it on our own terms.
I want to do something different without being The Mars Volta, but I'd also like to get paid every once in a while and have tens of adoring fans. After a careful survey of what this town and its surrounding environs have to offer, I've deduced that the preceding is our best bet at playing out and drawing a decent crowd.
PERSONNEL LIST/ENDBITS
================================================
Indispensable:
Guitar 1/Vocals: Tommy O'King
Guitar 2/Vocals: You, your mother, anyone who can actually farking play and sing
Violin/Vocals: ...help?
Bass/Vocals: Gavin Hadley
Whackybuckets: Jason Tobin
Optional:
Lead Vocalist (...they tend to be divas... except Neil. Neil is awesome.)
Mandolin
Banjo
Dulcimer
Whiskeythieves is all one word, no "The."