A Whole World Of Exciting

  Good day to you,

  It seems so long ago that I was smack-dab in the middle of an existential crisis.  It was a couple of years, now that I think about it - directionless, frustrated, and somewhat alone.  I knew what I wanted, but didn't know how to get anywhere close to it.  Bit by bit, that frustration and solitude have been beaten back, and I didn't realise until now.  (In fact, I had pretty much forgotten that period altogether, until the night before last.)

  I was playing the occasional open mic, and had been pointed towards a radio session with Moorlands FM (thanks to Paul, who is now playing bass in the band), which had played a massive part in properly reigniting my passion for music, and I started writing songs again.  I started to reconnect with myself, and the songs came fairly regularly.  I wanted to record again, I wanted to play shows, I wanted to really get my stage legs back.

  As the songs came, they started to fit into a theme, which was one of optimism for the future mingled with sadness at the immediate past.  These songs persisted, and would begin a process of me writing potential tracklistings for an album that I would never get around to recording, bar a couple of demoes.

  More songs came, superceding older, less articulate ones, and lists were rewritten and rewritten until it started to get ridiculous.  By 2012 I had about 30 songs, some more relevant than others, and still no demoes.  I also had regular bouts of listless near-depressions up until then (I hesitate to call them depression, although it was close - I have seen depression up close, in myself and in others, and am not keen to trivialise it), and regularly felt like I was in a catatonic limbo.

  What it came down to was that I had a glut of ideas, for albums, for EPs, titles, videos - you name it, I was thinking of it - but no good outlet for any of them.  My ideas had outgrown my scope to make them into a listenable thing, music was the one thing I could do, and I was fast struggling for ways to make it creatively satisfying.

  Cue Angela Lazenby, Paul Hancock and Matt Tyrer.  The band assembling was a first step - my songs became exciting again, the company and friendship was a tonic, and their ideas and talent were like a spark.  Then Angela & Paul got studio time at Tremolo sorted, and that first day in, last Saturday, opened up a world of possibilities.  Ideas that I have can be passed among the band members, and going into the studio means we can try them.  On Sunday, it dawned on me that the one thing that had been dragging me into a fug of nothingness was that I could think of, say, an introduction to the Record I Would Never Get To Record Properly, and there would be no way of making it.

  Today, I can text Matt and say "What about putting trombone on 'The Tallest Tree', and he can reply "And how about full brass section and a choir on the last chorus?"  This is a whole world of Exciting, isn't it?

John xxx

Day One...

  Happy Monday, Blogwatchers!

  On Saturday, we went to Tremolo Studios in Silverdale, Staffordshire, to begin our debut record.  Everyone was shattered, as the night before we played our debut headline show at Bad Edit venue in Burslem.  (It was such an amazing night, thank you if you were there and enjoyed our set - there was dancing, good-natured shouting, and we enjoyed every single song.  I woke up on Saturday morning stiff of leg after a very boisterous night, it's safe to say I was highly elated, as were we all!)

  Being in the studio was an amazing process.  As I wrote this in my notebook, I was listening to the rough mixes of the day's work.  We recorded bass, drums and guitar tracks for three tracks, and then recorded proper vocal tracks for the one of those three, including harmonies.  The other two songs have guide vocal tracks, which were made during the drums and bass takes for Paul and Angela to follow.  For those takes, Paul, Angela and I essentially played live, with my guitar and vocals done as guides, and then my guitar and vocals got replaced with proper, polished takes.

  We've set a high standard, I think, both musically and personally.  One song, 'Don't Tell The Folks Back Home' had their tracks recorded in one take, and the work we did on all three songs was pretty swift, good-natured, and accurate.  And laughing - so much laughing.  We are a jolly band.  We're back in next week to do the vocal takes for the other two songs, and add more detail to everything, and then a month later to get more basic tracks done for the rest of the record.  Dan Rowley, who runs the studio, is a great guy and it's an absolute joy to work with him, I'm really enjoying this.

  The really hard thing is going to be keeping a lid on all this work until it's ready to be released, because we're so excited about it, it's sounding amazing already.  I've never been so excited!  I can tell that the record does have a title, and a set structure, but you'll have to wait to find out what it is!

Have a lovely week everyone, stay happy!
Love,
John xxx

The time is almost upon us...

  So, tonight will be our first headline show at Burslem's Bad Edit.  I'll be honest, I can barely sit still, I'm bobbing up and down in my chair.  I really can't wait to see Frank Cerioni and Delamere, and REALLY can't wait to play for you all.  Matt, Angela and Paul have worked so hard, and I ask you to give everyone who takes to the stage your attention, applause and love.  Everyone is amazing.

IMPORTANT BIT
Tickets will be available on the door at Bad Edit, but the Buy One Get One Free offer was exclusive only to tickets from us personally.  Please don't expect the venue to run the same deal, the tickets are £5 each.

Finally, our tickets have all but sold out (there is a tiny handful left from us, if you want them), and from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for supporting us, and helping us on the road to making our debut record.  We love you for it, and will do our level best to give you a show you'll enjoy.

See you tonight,
John xxx

Finally, I believe that I am happy...

10th February, 2013.  L-R:  Paul Hancock (bass), Angela Lazenby (drums, vocals), John MacLeod (guitars, lead vocals), Matt Tyrer (keyboard, synth, accordion, melodica, vocals)

  There has never been a better time to get back on the blog "horse" than now, has there?  So much happening, so little I can actually say.  Not because I am legally obliged to keep schtum, you understand, but because you know how it is.  You tell everyone you are going to do a thing, and then things change.  Always the way, like the day before you have a week off and someone asks what you are going to do with your time.  You tell them "Well, I'm going to record some demoes, maybe have a trip out somewhere for a day, tidy my house, see people, y'know, do the things I don't get chance to do normally."

  Those words don't half come back to haunt you on the first Monday back, when you recall spending at least half each day in bed, and the other half moping around the kitchen, eating toast and forgetting to do the shopping.

  I was very glad, then, when I returned to work from a week off that had been very, very productive and fun.  The first couple of days, I didn't see anybody, had a massive amount of me time, and that was enough.  From Wednesday onwards, I busied myself with band business, we all went to Folk Club at Keele, where I pogoed circuitously and did two revolutions before I had to start singing again, and where Angela knocked my pint over with her face and managed not to get herself any injuries whatsoever.  The glass didn't even break!  As she said the following day on Twitter: "Drummers are so hard, we glass ourselves!"

  The following night we had our first full electric practice, where we went through songs we hadn't played as a four-piece, ironed out creases from songs that we hadn't yet been able to fully realise, and just gave our repertoire some welly.  We talked over ideas for recording, among other things, and by the time I went to bed, I was so excited I couldn't actually sleep.

  We had a gig in Birmingham on the Sunday (which is where the above photo was taken, by one Lewis Bloor), which was an acoustic set, and we had a lot of fun playing it.  Every time we've played, we all seem to have a transcendent moment during 'Six Bodies, Strange Noises' (which I can't wait to play on Friday night - more on that later), where the music just happens, almost unconsciously.  And thus ended my week off.

  Last night we all went to see the incomparable Nerina Pallot play at The Glee Club.  The Pallot is, seemingly, a regular character on this blog, but then she is also a big source of the heart of what I do.  Oddly, I am unsure of whether her musical fingerprint is audible on my songs, but emotionally, she's there.  One or two songs of mine are direct responses to hers, and with the advent of her new EP, 'Lonely Valentine Club', I think another song has seeded itself in my brain.  As yet unwritten, but I know it's there.  This was the first time I'd gone to a Nerina show with folk, and so there we sat: Angela and her husband Dan, Paul and his partner Marlz, and Matt.  This was a solo acoustic set, preceded by the stylings of Samuel Taylor, a regular pre-Pallot performer whose solid guitar playing is complimented by a steady voice and a clear lyric.  

  Nerina arrived onstage and launched into 'It Starts' a song about finally being happy and finding true love, and listening to the lyrics, I found I was thinking "That's how I feel about the band now!" which I am fairly sure is a good thing.  Anyway, the show was a joy to be present for, as ever, and there was a rather emotional moment partway through, when her husband Andy popped up to the stage to tell her that their son was okay (he hadn't been very well), which lead to a few tears of relief from Nerina, and the acknowledgement that "I was really worried, because he's the love of my life," (a sentence that stood out amongst all others) before composing herself and playing the best rendition of 'Human' that I've ever heard her play.

Nerina Pallot meets The John MacLeod Band, smiling ensues.

  And that brings us to now.  We are on the home stretch to playing our first ever headline show, four months after starting to play together.  I would never have said it would be possible, but two things brought us here - love & enthusiasm.

  At this point, I would consider breaking out a few choice epithets on the nature of life, love and happiness, but I really can't be arsed.  Like with the gig, I dreamed up some ill-thought-out offers on tickets to try and cater for people who may only want odd numbers of them (oh my, the hare-brained ideas I have, and valiantly try to put into practice, while all around me watch with mute pity), and it got to the point where I couldn't be bothered to repeat them all ad nauseum, so have just kept it to "buy one, get one free".  That's all it needs to be.

  One more rehearsal to go, then it's Bad Edit, Burslem, this Friday.  We have support from two great acts, and the whole night should be lovely.  I'm eager, really.  We go to the studio the day after, to make a start on what will be our debut LP record, and there are other ideas floating about in the ether, as mentioned earlier, that I am desperate to talk animatedly about, and at length, but for now, be content in the knowledge that we are as excited as I hope you are.

This Friday - we want YOU to be there.  Make it happen.

  I will sign off now, in the hopes of retaining some of my composure.  Lots of love to you all, if you're reading, and yah-boo V-signs if you're not reading, which, if that is the case, you won't know about.

Um, yes.

John xxx