Hello all,
I hope this finds you well.
This is a general update of what we (IBB) have been up to over these last couple of months. Many of you have been pondering what has been going on in our camp, so here it is:
For the past few months we have been playing up and down the country relentlessly, which has been great fun and the crowds have been amazing. We did our first UK tour in April, which went down well and have had some fantastic shows back home as well including a sell out club NME show. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us.
We hit the road again in October with a big UK tour, and should be able to announce the dates within the next month.
Three new songs have been recorded and they are sounding amazing. The tracks are currently being mixed and mastered, so bear with us. Realistically you wont be able to hear them much before September but trust me they are worth the wait.
If you have been coming to the shows you will have heard us playing them live.
One sounds quite Doors-like with a psychedlic middle eight, another sounds like “white room” with a Friendly Fires ending and the final song is a good old slow sad one that brings a tear to the eye.
There is also a remix being done by Player Player DJs of one of the tracks, so you have that to look forward to as well.
Merchandise is also going to be a focus point in the coming months and as I type we are having some ideas made up for our T-shirts, however if you have any amazing ideas and a way of getting them to us please let us know and it could be your design on the October tour’s shirt.
Festival season kicked off with a bang for us, playing a rammed tent at Secret Garden Party, having to turn down another slot the following night to play the main stage of Farm Fest which was equally enjoyable.
Below is our fantastic bassist Harry Stevenson’s account of the experience with some photos of us hanging out to accompany it. There aren’t to many of us playing live because we though that you would be sick to death of bands doing that, these shots are more of us just larking about. Having said that we will probably just stick up some live shots as soon as we get them through!
Anyway enjoy: 
As I type to you now dear reader, I am ensconced in a fine wing back, swilling a balloon of brandy and drawing gently upon my softly burning briar, a far cry from the mud and blood of last weekend, where I reached the very depths of depravity, and you know what, dear reader? I really rather enjoyed myself.
It was on the morning of Thursday the 23rd at approximately 9.44am, we set off for fair North Cambridgeshire, for Secret Garden Party, I thought it might indeed be a civilised affair, tea on the lawns, a few beat-combos after dinner then perhaps a mug of Horlicks before bed. As you can perhaps imagine, I have never attended a music festival in my life.
When we arrived, after travelling for about 650 years on the M25 that had for no good or bad reason broken again, we decided to make a perfunctory search of the grounds. This was of course after we stocked up on cheap beer and bananas, which then led to an amusing anecdote involving the woman handing out the wristbands, which I will exchange for a well-mixed gin.
So, onward through the campsite and into the heart of the festival. After seeing the entire thing in about 20 minutes, we thought it prudent to return to base camp and consume an eye-poppingly large amount beer. However, on our journey back, we noticed the ‘come and play’ tent, and using my well established blagging skills and offering a caddish wink to the gentleman organising the afternoons freak show, we blagged another set; hurrah!
So we played, at just after 5 to the soundman for about two songs, before we persuaded the fair public to come inside and have an intimate moment with us fledglings (I say, steady on chaps!)
So endeth the first chapter, we retired to our tents and got very very very merry, Sam disappeared at this point with my glorious coat, which wasn’t very nice, so I had to freeze all night as I had neglected to bring a sleeping bag.
This led to me waking up at about 7.30 in the morning and playing cricket with some complete lunatics! Marvellous! More like a garden party by my reckoning.
So Friday for Peter and George began with me waking them up and declaring “I’m BORED, no-one else is up) so begins the madness that was Friday.
Rob the Rich showed up, along with young master McGurn, collectively the rob the rich boys must have been carrying the worlds supply of transform-a-snacks and various other tinned foods, every food stuff was beige, like a gastronomic old peoples home. Healthy, impacted colons all round.
So, Pete and George decided to go for some breakfast, it was all right actually, I’ve had better; the mushrooms did taste a bit like brogues, but it was fodder none the less. It was here that we found young master Denniston, sporting a rather pleasant overcoat, (hang on, the son of a bitch is wearing mine,) but he appears to be accessorising it with a very rueful face. Silly bee.
So the Friday consisted of us drinking beer, stealing badgers and in the evening watching rob the rich, who were excellent as per usual and then getting on afterwards to rock out to a very very packed tent, (if that was you I death screamed at, im very sorry for any resulting medical issues i.e. sterility.)
We played well all things considered and Sam was mobbed by people claiming to have enjoyed his performance, I in the meantime escaped, but not for long, people tried to pour beer down my throat and the lovely people and Madame Geisha thought I needed feeding up a bit more and gave me another curry, hurray!
So eventually we all went to bed, sweet sweet bed, and awoke early to make the lengthy drive to Somerset for the Farm Festival, which was okay for 22 minutes until we got on the m25, which for no good reason or bad one, had broken. Again.
This meant we were late, and were bullied by some idiot from another band who thought it was amusing to say that we had effectively ruined his afternoon by arriving late. Never mind, there are dickheads everywhere.
And the complete exception to that is the ExLovers, who loaned loads of gear, because we couldn’t fit any in the flying green machine; beer had taken priority.
I enjoyed the performance, and the sound has been some of the best to date, and we’re looking forward to more open-air performances.
Funny I should mention that, did you know we’re playing Beachdown, and White Air? Of course you did, you saw that coming, it was an obvious turn around for a plug, but I enjoyed it, didn’t you? Tea anyone?
Sorry, rambling now.
Yes, we all enjoyed ourselves, from the badger episode, to Sim standing up manfully against overwhelming alcoholic units, a big thank you and a cup of tea and cucumber sandwiches go quite rightly to the lovely lovely people at Madame Geisha’s who looked after us, and to all of you lovely people that were there.
Come see us soon,
Yours
Harry
x