HA!

Hello all Quadrophobians (like amphibians but more Quadro-like). I’m going to spoil the surprise right now and say that we did not win the Jack FM final (sorry guys), BUT we did put up a good fight. Onwards with the actual write-up though.

For those of you who have not kept fully up to date with proceedings in the Jack FM comp up to this point I shall fill all of you in now (I’m a gentleman like that). The first I heard of it was Jim sending an email round saying “oh yeah, by the way, I’ve sent of an mpg of Super Badger to Jack FM to apply for this contest”. We weren’t really expecting to hear much back, but hear back we did. Oh yes. It turned out that we were shortlisted as semi-finalists based on this one “demo” (the idea was to send off a little demo of us. We went for overkill and sent off about £300 worth of studio and mastering time efforts. Seemed to work). Having been chosen in the top 20 out 127 bands (127? 140? 60,786? not sure of the exact figure) we were starting to take this quite seriously, especially given the prize at stake. For those of you unaware of the prize at stake, it was a place at Wychwood festival and a £2000 recording session. Not too shabby.

This next stage of the contest we had earned was an opportunity to record A SINGLE song (much discussion was had over which song to record before we settled on Super Badger once again) under “live” conditions (so I had to try and get it right first time rather than taking my usual 6 attempts to get one bit correct). We were invited along to the quite swanky (yes, I said swanky, not wanky) SAE studio to make said recording. A real pleasure it was – nice big open plan room in which to record, with the only downer being that we could not see the drummer throughout (he smells so much that we had to put him into another room to record (teehee)). Actually, I think he was there because the volume of his drumming would have spilled all over the other microphones and made a huge mess. I think :s

On completing our recording, again, we were uncertain of our chances of getting to the next stage – we hadn’t quite nailed it as we would have hoped (despite practicing the dam song to death and then beating it into a pulp just to make sure). But the call then came in the form of an email: we were a finalist! AHHHH YEEEEAAAAAH. We were ready to battle it out to be Oxford’s officially recognised “Next Big Thing” (I don’t believe in fancy official titles as I’m all about the music of course. And I’m certainly not bitter).

The gig then (the bit you’ve all been wading through the drivel above for): We had elected to be first on – figuring that we should be the ones to set the standard for everyone to beat (and a high standard we set, but will comment on that later). This also meant that we could actually have a drummer for the soundcheck (playing first = soundchecking last) and also some keys. Plus keys had to shoot straight off after. So I guess you could say that we eleckted to play first because of logistics rather than tactical advantage…. (ramble ramble ramble). The venue: I’m sure you are all familiar with the O2 Academy (having ALL come and seen us there the last 2 times we played there :p ) but for those who aren’t; we were playing on the upstairs stage covered in all the Jack FM advertising that exists in the world and , to be fair, an awful lot of expensive sound gear. Soundcheck was very simple – given that 4 other bands had tested out most of the equipment before us it meant that we could just adjust our own volumes and that was that. Have to say it all sounded pretty impressive.

THE GIG THEN (rather than soudcheck): Quadrophobe was ready and waiting, I was bouncing around like I was about to walk out into the World Cup Final and the crowd was RAMMED. Lots of peeps had come out to see us (good work peeps:) ). And after some stalling and general chat form Jack FM we were finally on. The reception we got was AWESOME. We were all pumped with adrenaline and ready ready. We had put a lot of thought into exactly what we should play, as well as the order, and I really think it paid off; strong start (Tibet), more relaxed second tune (Penguin), old favourite (Evelyn), updbeat tune (Few Last Words), and the big finale (Super Badger). As I said, the reception we got after every song was HUGE – especially after “Few Last Words” – could barely hear what Rich was saying the crowd loved it so.

The standard of our playing throughout the entire set I thought was immaculate: I could not pinpoint anything that was wrong; it was tight, the energy was awesome and all the vocal and solo work really showed what we are about: personality, fun and musicianship. I really think peopele walked away thinking “that was an entertaining and enjoyable live show”. I certainly did! So we had indeed set the standard we wanted to – a very high one. Someone was really going to have to be good to beat us.

Other acts playing were Beck Lanehart, Echo Boomer, InLight and Witches. All displayed how they got to this stage of the competition: all were obviously very talented and competent at what they do. I still felt we had an edge though – the energy we generated on stage and in the audience was second to none. And, as I said, our performance was immaculate.

And so the results came around: Lots of suspense and tension (given that they gave the results 30 minutes after they said “results in 10 minutes”). We formed the Quadro-huddle and….. we didn’t win:( Witches from the typical “headlining” position had earned the honour of “Officailly recognised Next Big Thing in Oxfordshire”. Plus the money. And the festival. Good for them.

I may sound disappointed (and very bitter) but I think this contest has really been a testament to the development of the band (certialny since I have been in it) – not only did we beat over 120 other bands to this spot, but we showed that we deserve to be amongst this sort of company AND that we can provide great entertainment with our unique brand of music. Practices have been aplenty in this band and we are really going somewhere now. Keep an eye out – you will see us achieve greatness soon. On this particular occasion I guessthat the judges had in mind what sort of act was going to win, and so we were unable to achieve the win striaight from the off. But we really showed what we are about, and that is the most pleasing part of all. Oh, and not to take anything away from the winners: they put in a solid performance and earned their accolade.

So in conclusion I give this gig an “A”. That’s right, we have achieved that elusive “A” finally! As I said, despite us not having won, we were immaculate. No dodgy timings, no split notes or wrong chords: the music was as good as it could be. Previous problems of “rambling” in between songs had also been erradicated and the flow from song to song was perfect. Now we have set this new standard though it is going to be much harder to get an “A” in future. But we will.

Finally, a BIG THANKS (look – it’s in capitals so it’s bigger) to all those who supported us throughout the Jack FM competition – your support is what drives us to greatness (tears stream down my cheek as I clasp my Oscar more firmly), and we hope to provide equally excellent gigs and music for you in the future.

And another thanks: thanks to the organisers and the other bands involved: you made this a great competition to be a part of and we thank you very much for the opportunity to be a part of it!

Laters dudes

Adam

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P.P.S F*&k me I write a lot of sh$t