00044 // 15/04/11

april started with a gig in aid of the benjamin foundation in king's lynn on the first, which for various reasons ended up being a solo gig. props to lindsay and matt of primakova for putting on the gig and for consequently raising money for this excellent cause. i played:

now the geeks have a union

first song on the setlist

wwf

dirty words & dusty corners

beautiful mental patient

chelsea hotel #2

just like pigpen

happy birthday, richard hell

there's no smoke without you

if you see her, give her hell

nowadays we are so very different

marty feldman eyes

now for some big business. since our 7" single was so well received we are desperate to get another record pressed. this time it will be an extended player rather than a single. the only problem is this: we are broke. our trip to sxsw cleaned us out. that said, we still want to put out physical records, and the solution i've come up with is pledgemusic. basically, by preordering the record you will help fund it. and your name will appear in the liner notes!

and if you want to go a step further, there are various exclusive bundles & experiences including (among other things) a day out with the band, limited edition framed cover artwork, a gig at your house and the chance to be the subject of a future tumbledryer download EP.

the whole thing kicks off in the next few days. during the two months of fundraising there will be downloads and other giveaways exclusive to pledgers to make it all the more pleasurable for you to help us fund this. remember, without your funding we can't put out the record!

keep up with pledge progress on facebook (/thetumbledryerbabies) and twitter (@tdb_andrew) and look out for tumbledryer gigs coming in the summer.

00043 // 23/03/11

we just got back from playing sxsw in austin, texas. we got to see a little bit of austin and tonnes of great bands, including some of my absolute favourites in the shape of jad fair, mike watt and daniel johnston. also we got to see the likes of cults, la sera, dum dum girls, das racist, bearsuit, fever fever, etc etc etc etc etc. and we got to meet a lot of very interesting people. it was heavy going but so fun.

it was stressful leading up to the gig, what with it being a real chore to get our visas sorted in the first place as well as our first ever overseas gig, but dave and all the staff at the velveeta room were really friendly and helpful and kind which helped a lot. nevertheless i was terrified. but it went ok. the setlist went like this:

forget the past #6

now the geeks have a union

first song on the setlist

man obsessed

tell me what to do

wwf

dirty words & dusty corners

retail therapy

beautiful mental patient

ugly babies

happy birthday, richard hell

just like pigpen

i can't see the stars

there's no smoke without you

if you see her, give her hell

nowadays we are so very different

marty feldman eyes

big thanks to everyone who watched us play, especially the sweden and boston contingents! if you happened to see us on a whim or by happy accident while you were in austin you can download the majority of our back catalogue for free from our bandcamp page. hope you like it. our next gig is on friday the first of april at bar red in kings lynn. this is to raise money for the benjamin foundation and we are happy to be involved.

more news soon.

00042 // 11/02/11

because it's february i am currently recording an album for the rpm challenge (between sorting out visa stuff for sxsw and other headaches & traumas that is). so far i have written and recorded two songs for the album. it will be available for download as soon as it's finished, so some time towards the end of the month. you can download last year's effort for free from here.

we have had a couple of gigs since the last blog entry; on the last day of january i played solo at shangri-la with one of my favourite southend bands, son of buff. i played lake of fire by meat puppets on a whim, it was a bit ropey. here is the setlist:

wwf
now the geeks have a union
lake of fire
just like pigpen
if you see her, give her hell
beautiful mental patient
chelsea hotel #2
man obsessed
marty feldman eyes

next we opened for the lovely eggs at the railway hotel. they were so great live and their new album cob dominos has been on very heavy rotation on our stereo ever since the gig. plantman and ten tigers also played so it was a very nice lineup. we would like to thank culture as a dare for letting us play. we played:

first song on the setlist
tell me what to do
man obsessed
now the geeks have a union
wwf
i told him it was wrong
just like pigpen
happy birthday, richard hell
there's no smoke without you
if you see her, give her hell
beautiful mental patient
nowadays we are so very different
marty feldman eyes

last night we played goo nite at the wilmington arms. thanks to everyone who came along. we played:

first song on the setlist
tell me what to do
man obsessed
now the geeks have a union
wwf
dirty words & dusty corners
just like pigpen
happy birthday, richard hell
there's no smoke without you
if you see her, give her hell
nowadays we are so very different
marty feldman eyes

the next tumbledryer appearance will be the twentyeighth of february at 93 feet east. we really liked playing there last october so we're glad to have been asked back. then we are off to austin for sxsw. keep up with us in the lead up to that on twitter (@tdb_andrew), facebook (/thetumbledryerbabies) etc.

00041 // 06/01/11

happy new year to you all. we want to make this year the year of the tumbledryer, which means lots of free downloads, more recording with other people, lots of gigs and a general good feeling towards all those we encounter on our travels. we started the year by releasing a new album on the first called oneoneoneone. you can download it for free from bandcamp. then on the fourth we were back at 12bar, this time for a blang records night supporting television personalities. also playing that night were sgt buzfuz, who played lots of songs about popes, and the guitaranddrummachine playing a.r.s. hellden. our set went something like this:

first song on the setlist

tell me what to do

if you see her, give her hell

now the geeks have a union

turbulence

just like pigpen

wwf

happy birthday, richard hell

nowadays we are so very different

my true geology is not stone but fear

beautiful mental patient

dirty words & dusty corners

there's no smoke without you

marty feldman eyes

we always love playing there. thanks to blang and to everyone who came along. next up is shangri-la at the railway hotel in southend, then a few gigs in february in the lead up to sxsw in march. more dates will be announced soon. in the mean time, keep up with tumbledryer announcements and mindless inane comments as they happen on twitter, download the new album for free from bandcamp and be nice to each other.

00040 // 20/12/10

now that myspace is virtually unuseable i have had to transfer the blog to here. if, for some reason, you want to read old blog posts you can find entries 00001 - 00039 here.

i was sad to hear of captain beefheart's passing this weekend. he is a very important and influential figure to the tumbledryer babies and safe as milk and clear spot are absolute masterpieces. as a tribute we have recorded a cover version of 'too much time', which you can listen to by visiting our facebook page.

i played at the beatles convention at the railway last night. i was very nervous about it, given how bad i am at remembering the words to songs. i'm bad enough at remembering the songs i've written, yet alone the words to other people's songs. anyway, i played:

i'm a loser

i'm happy just to dance with you

if i fell

i'll cry instead

thanks to everyone who was there for being patient with me and not booing when i messed up. that was the last tumbledryer gig of twothousandandten. next up is the blang records night at 12 bar on the fourth of january where we will be opening for dan treacy (television personalities), then a few gigs in february as preparation for sxsw in march. next year is set to be an exciting one for us.

finally, our new album will be released on the first of january. you'll be able to download it for free from bandcamp. hope you like it. see you next year.