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SPEKULUS



Last Updated: 12/17/2009

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December 10, 2009 - Thursday 

Current mood:  virginal
Category: Games
We've been busy, which is why a lot of you have been getting responses to messages a few weeks late. It's been worth it though, I'll explain.

The last few weeks we've spent a lot of time and money going to a big studio in sheffield with the songs we composed over the last couple of years in an attempt to finally spit out an album. Without any record company backing we're funding it ourselves so it's taking time; however, it's worth it.

In the last two months we've put finishing touches to and polished up 5 of the 12 songs set aside for out debut release. Quite a few of them have been on our page in various forms over the last two years but now they're never to be touched again and the final results are, even by my nitpicking standards, fantastic. While it pains me slightly that 2009 won't be the year of our first release, the next couple of months should give us time to finish the remaining songs and send them for pressing. Then you can all hear what three years of experimenting and learning sounds like. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised

In between studio visits we've spent more time composing and gigging. This back half of 2009 saw us taking on gigs properly and we've had a great time so will be looking forward for a load more come 2010. With some potential new management and live musicians you should be seeing a lot more of us up and down the country. While a lot of the material played at these gigs will be from our first album, we've got a few new ones for you to enjoy and we think you'll like the direction our material has taken in the last few months. Apparently I got pissed off, the result is a few new live favourites.

And so, check back here in a week and I'll get something good for you to listen to. Anyone who's about in Leeds and isn't going to see PiL next week, come over to the Primrose and we'll serenade you
10:50 PM 
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October 13, 2009 - Tuesday 

Current mood:  cooky/wacky
Category: School, College, Greek
Just a quick update really to let you know how things have panned out since the holiday break. On saturday we did a great gig at The Primrose pub in Leeds. It was a strange experience playing in my hometown but we got on and thanks to an excellent sound mix we did a wonderful job that was enjoyed by many. A massive thanks to Felix for all his hard work

We had the pleasure of playing with Death Emitting Diode again - always a treat, and a slightly different experience in the folky earthy tones of Tsar Nicolas III and The Exiles. It reminded me a lot of The Doors so a winner in my book, just totally different to anyone else we've ever played with but then again originality is always a plus. Look forward to seeing them again one day

Last week we took 'Dirty' into a big ass studio for mastering. The result is amazing and I can't personally wait to show everyone the sonic quality on display. More time in the studio tomorrow, hopefully we'll be bringing this album along quickly

Next stop Knaresborough!
7:16 PM 
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October 2, 2009 - Friday 

Current mood:  fabulous
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Holiday's over now. As many of you know I suffered a bereavement this month and needed some time to deal with it. As with any death there's always a great excuse for a piss up and with relatives visiting from Australia that's precisely what we've done. Now everyone's gone home again and it's time to focus our attention on the band for the next month - and what a month it's going to be. My apologies to anyone who's tried to contact us this last week or so but I'm responding now so it's all good.

This last month gave us a good opportunity to finish the recording of our first album and we've done it. Finally, after 3 years of writing, re-recording, learning how to produce properly blah blah blah it's actually here and it sounds fooking great. Everything's now going in for mastering and we're going to release a pre-album EP so you can get a good glimpse and keep your appetites whetted for the final thing. More on that later.

We've also taken on a live bassist, a good friend of ours who has played with us before and will be joining us for a few shows. We've got a show in Leeds on the 10th with good friends Death Emitting Diode at the Primrose. A poster will follow shortly with details. John Merrick's Remains were joining us however Bob is currently in hospital so be sure to leave him a get well soon message

So now we've got plenty to look forward to. New songs in the works, especially now the album's finished. Keep watching for news!
12:01 PM 
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August 31, 2009 - Monday 

Current mood:  enlightened
Category: Quiz/Survey
"It's amazing how much noise you can make for a two-piece!"

Saturday was a lot of fun. Despite some personal problems I soldiered on, got through sound check etc. and then just as we're about to get on stage Death Emitting Diode and more showed up to give us some support and presents. It gave my mood a great boost and I can't thank them enough. We now have a very pretty photo album with pics from the Persecution gig sat in our studio, its the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for us as a band to date and we both thank them all for making the gig a little more memorable.

Music wise we did a decent job, didn't screw things up. We finally said goodbye to 'Xenofon' - while it will be on the album I don't intend to play it live anymore as we've been doing it for too long. Won't be too much of a problem though as this month is our time to put new songs in to the setlist and preparing for some great shows for the back end of the year.

Zeitgeist Zero were amazing and put on a great set. I can honestly say we'll be seeing them again some time soon.

A massive thank you for Kev, all at Floorshow and The Charnel House for getting us on stage. Hopefully we'll be working together again in a couple of months.

And now its time for a break. One month to finish the album, no arguments, no delays, just work work work. We'll be back on stage at the beginning of October with Death Emitting Diode and one or two others. New songs, new stage show, new synth player - it'll be worth waiting a matter of weeks for
1:25 PM 
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August 28, 2009 - Friday 

Current mood:  angry
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers
We're headed up to Newcastle tomorrow for the final show of this mini 'places further north than Leeds' tour (also known as the 'barmaid' tour) and we're hoping its going to be a blast. I'm taking my noise, my team mate and my Bat-ling and hopefully I won't get off stage til I've broken something cos I'm in a foul mood. Tomorrow's the last time you're ever gonna hear one particular song too cos I've had enough of it and it can fuck off. Rather looking forward to seeing Zeitgeist Zero do their thing though; I've heard all good things 

This week I did something very strange. Rather than finish the album and hurry recording the vocal tracks (although VGF is done and it sounds amazing!) I wrote and performed a power ballad for use with the next album. While I've got something up my sleeve, its rather beautiful and pretty and pisses on anything from Evanescence and in all honesty shows my ability to be a soppy fucker AND pop producer all in one go. Confusingly I also wrote something called 'The Ballad' that isn't actually a ballad at all - kind of like 'The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix' or 'The Ballad of Michael Hutchence' Oh the foolish mind of a teenage boy.

I'm off to listen to Pantera and line my guts for the enslaught of locally brewed good stuff. See you in Newcastle
4:00 PM 
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August 23, 2009 - Sunday 

Current mood:  adored
Category: Art and Photography
Good day everyone! Just want to tell you all what a great time we had in Stockton on Friday. We couldn't have been treat any better than we were and everyone was so nice we were made to feel very welcome and will be returning some day very soon. A massive thanks to Ferg for everything he did for us. According to the pics we really did look 'Bonnie as fook!'

Death Emitting Diode were excellent, really great on stage and great guys to sit and chat with after. We'll be playing with them again in November but we're not going to wait that long if we can help it - we had so much fun we're going to pull our fingers out and get something organised sooner. Anyone who hasn't got them on their myspace pages should get them added now

We had a few issues. First of all we were knackered after going out at 2am to pinch a road sign for Nexus. Armed with a pair of pliers we pilfered a big yellow direction sign pointing to the Nexus Housing Estate and presented it to him on stage. I expect to see that sign again mate!

It took us 5 hours to get from here, through Leeds, to York then on to Stockton so our set up was a bit rushed and as such we had a few technically problems and ended up missing our Intro completely, going straight into 'One Nation Under God'. It didn't help that as I set the backing off I accidentally played 'Like A Stone' by Audioslave Fucking ipods! Anyway, we pulled it together and had a great time.

Thanks a lot to everyone who was there, helped us out, cheered us on or commended us after the show. Next time we'll start as we mean to go on
Those of you who asked for the album, leave me a message and we'll get that deal worked out

Studio Update

A lot of people have been asking about our album this last month. Those of you who have been waiting since Spekulus' inception will know about the hassles and tribulations we've had since 2006 but all that time has given me time to craft and hone and now the final list is done. I've taken stock of everything the album needs to record and there's 2 vocal tracks; thats all. When we do them (in an hour from now) we'll do final mixing and send it to Sheffield for mastering. And then its DONE! The final track order has been decided, now we're ready to put this thing out, especially when we played something off the next album on friday


Artwork is now in production for our inlays, with numerous artists collaborating for the fold out, it's gonna look sexual Those of you who've been waiting will have something sat in your inbox very shortly along with a big thank you from both of us for your patience and support.

Haze

Sadly we've had to say goodbye to Haze due to work and travel conflicts. Absolutely no problem with her and if anyone is looking for a good, hard working bass player then get in touch with her. The only reason we can't have her is because she lives so far away and its proving difficult to keep going; kind of like a long distance relationship I suppose. We both miss her terribly and will treasure the time we created music together on and off stage. We both want to say thank you for coming and working with us for the last few months and we hope we'll be seeing you again very shortly dear

There's going to be a few changes going off around here but you'll have to wait and see about it for now; can't give all our easter eggs away at once

And so, after this essay (you probably need a coffee so get one) we'll go record and be seeing you in Newcastle on saturday.

Dan xxxxxx
3:12 PM 
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August 10, 2009 - Monday 

Current mood:  accomplished
People of York! (Yorkies?) We just want to say a massive thank you. We couldn't have rented a better crowd and the positive vibe in there really made us feel at home. Everyone was so supportive, we're looking forward to returning some day soon.

Everyone who handed their email address in, thank you very much and the song is on its way to you shortly

A big thanks to the lovely lady who took pics of us all night. We've tagged them so get on and have a look and leave her some love

Dyonisis were absolutely amazing and couldn't have been any more gracious as headliners. We really appreciate the way they treated us and hopefully we'll be supporting them again one day.

We just want to say a massive thanks to Donna for getting us the gig and to Jared for putting us on. It was a nice feeling to finally get paid for doing something we love and we had a great time doing it.

We also want to thank all the lovely girls who got up to dance for us. You're officially the first so take that honour with you as a badge

Our setlist:

Intro
Angel
One Nation Under God
Violent Gothic Fantasy
Xenofon
Wish You Were Her
Little Miss Vanity
Dirty
Fade To Grey

I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did. We'll be back again for drinks and hunting scottish people soon
7:41 PM 
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July 12, 2009 - Sunday 

Current mood:  triumphant
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural
We had a lot of fun last night in Mansfield. A big thanks to Mark for organising it and putting us on and a massive thanks to Jagged and John Merrick's Remains for being so nice to us. We had a couple of issues with sound (sound checking in front of the crowd is never fun) but we got through it ok and judging from the video we took there's bits that sounded fucking sweet.

We played;

INTRO S.T.F.
ANGEL
ONE NATION UNDER GOD
LITTLE MISS VANITY (new song)
XENOFON
DIRTY (personal favourite hehe)
FADE TO GREY

We took a lot of pictures too so look out for them when I've found my USB lead.

Since we had so much fun we're booking gigs this week for the next coming months. Keep your eyes peeled and we hope to see you all there.

Last thing; there was a 'problem' with someone that has been dealt with. If you know what I'm talking about this is my apology on behalf of that person and rest assured there won't be a problem again

See you in York next month
Dan xxx
10:34 PM 
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July 11, 2009 - Saturday 

Current mood:  determined
Category: Games
its been a torturous 3 years. I sat there one day, creating a noise with a software synth and the LM7 and I thought 'hmm, maybe I should put a voice to this'.

Lets face it, we've had a lot of shit to put up with since. I'm not going to start bitching but it's not been fun. Kids eh?

And so we pass into what I call the 3rd age. Tomorrow night we're gonna get onstage and give the crowd this line up of Spekulus with the hope that this is the one that takes us forth. For the first time in the last 3 years I have the faith in my bandmates I've always wanted and the faith in my music that I knew I'd get once I finished toying around and made something worth listening to. With the work ethic of 'if I can pick fault it's not good enough' I feel I've finally got somewhere as a writer and a producer. This month the proof will be in the pudding

Wish us luck. Keep your fingers crossed and keep hold of that rabbits paw. And if you're anywhere near mansfield come and stomp along to us for the purposes of which I wrote it
1:17 AM 
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June 30, 2009 - Tuesday 

Current mood:  electric
Category: News and Politics
Just want to extend birthday greetings to our former lead singer Kirsty. While I doubt very much she'll actually bother reading them, it's the thought that counts

If you know here and you've forgotten; naughty naughty! Make sure you send her love
3:07 PM 
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