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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Good to be home...
Current mood:

aroused

Hello there!

Finally we are all back in one country. Brian has returned from the West, and I, the East. And plunged straight back into music we were. With only an hour between returning home and getting on the road headed for Middlesboro, it's no wonder life has turned into a swirling blur of builders breakfasts and social clubs.

That said, the tour was an awesome experience for all. Van Blanc held out very well and we all enjoyed ourselves. Our first stop was the Westgarth Social Club in Middlesboro, which treated us very well. The highlight of the evening was of course the raffle. We were extremely grateful for a warm bed that night at Andy F's parents house accompanied by confusing crosswords and copious amounts of wine.

Next stop, Sheffield! Personally, the best city on the tour. Playing the Plug (the O2's identical twin) was a somewhat sobering experience, with the crowd being made up mostly of drunk Oxfordians. But still, drunk hide and seek in a graveyard and a good dose of the Talking Heads is more than enough to make that night an unforgettable one. Many thanks once again must go to the parents of Ella whose magnificent house was the next place of rest.

Headed slightly south, we reached Leeds and the Brudenell Social Club. The support groups there were stunning and the crowd was attentive. After our builders breakfast the next morning we came back to Oxford all tired and needing a shower. Can't wait for the next leg!

In other news. We are all extremely excited after recent developments that have led to us being invited to play on the Later show with Jools Holland in a few weeks! Our recent Maida Vale session is now available to watch here.

And for those of you who havent yet grabbed your Sheldonian ticket for the 30th, they are going fast so get em while their hot.

A last point now and I promise Ill leave you alone. You may have noticed that we have put some new songs up here on this MySpace, one of which is a demo of a reasonably new song The Coldharbour Road. We hope you like them!!!

Anyways

Cheery-Ba yous lot

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Monday, September 28, 2009

UNFAITHFUL!
Current mood:

rejuvenated
Category: Art and Photography

You may have noticed that today is 28^th September. That means we can officially announce the release of our single 'Unfaithful'! You can now download it from iTunes, 7Digital, Play.com and Amazon, but if you prefer those wax disc things, a limited edition 7” is available from independent record stores (Rough Trade and hopefully your nearest independent dealer). The song was produced by Craig Silvey (who’s worked with the likes of Portishead and the Coral) and features violinist Rahul Satija. The B-side is ‘You Don’t Know Anything’. As with the previous single, Matt Halliday has produced some stunning artwork for the sleeve (which makes the physical copies worth going for!), and, as you will see below, there’s also an accompanying video on YouTube (created by Ollie Steadman and Gina Hood). The song has already been given 4/5 stars from The Mirror!

In other news, you might have spotted that we have had a couple of reviews of last week’s single launch gig at the ICA from Michael Hann in the Guardian and Lisa Verrico in The Times…Thank you to everyone who made it such a special one.

Last but not least, we are very excited about our gig at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on 30th October (the penultimate date in next month’s tour), where we will be collaborating with the magnificent Oxford Millennium Orchestra! Tickets for this are now available to buy at WeGotTickets at the following location: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/60317

see you soon!

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Lots of news and movements!
Current mood:

angsty
Category: Automotive

So, my second blog!

Indeed there have been lots of goings on recently. Some of you may remember a mention of our trip down to Dorset to go Zorbing but where is the evidence? Well you can have a look right here and see why everyone in their right mind should do it.

Another piece of cool news is to mention that we have our first ever remix! You can check out the Here Comes The Blackout rejig on the MySpace page.

In previous blogs the others mention the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) which we will be playing on Monday 21st. This is gonna be an awesome setting made all the more incredible by the presence of Dr Krishna Rhagavenga, an expert veena player who will join us for one or two numbers and visa versa! Unfortunately for some all the tickets have disappeared into thin air and the entire thing is sold out

. However! For those of you who wont be able to make it, you are allocated a second chance! October 30th is one we are all shaking at the thought of. For we shall be attempting to fill at least a few seats at Oxford's mammoth Sheldonian Theatre! After some negotiations and many discussions with some hardcore Classicalists, we have been granted the enormous privilege of playing there. A more in depth and interesting description is this:

"Stornoway will be playing in Oxford's foremost concert hall, the Sheldonian Theatre, Christopher Wrens first design. Stornoway have been putting on unusual nights of unusual music in unusual venues in their home town since January 2008. Playing the prestigious 800 capacity venue will be the bands biggest show to date. Support on the night will be from the Oxford Millennium Orchestra (OMO) who will also join the band for their set."

But as is the case with most exciting news, there is a sadness that lurks in all our hearts, and that is the end of the festival season. We had a wonderful time as you may know at the various festivals we went to. Highlights personally for me were Glastonbury (obbers), Greenman, Truck and Radio One's Big Weekend. In other words:

"Earlier this year they released their first official single; the critically acclaimed ʻZorbing'. They were booked to play an unprecedented 4 stages at Glastonbury Festival 09. Radio 1 asked them to headline their ʻIntroducing Stage' at their Big Weekend and they are one of only a few bands that both R1 and 6 Music have agreed to collaborate on, granting Stornoway a shared broadcast session from the BBC's prestigious Maida Vale studios (this session is due for airing on Huw Stephens' and Tom Robinson's shows in October)."

Once again, you may have read our weekly articles in the Telegraph, which updated our progress through the festival season and described the various hilarious moments, and actually got us a free van! The last of these articles can be read here, where you can also read the rest if you haven't already.

It was only yesterday we had another great outing to the Big Smoke, Charing Cross/Leicester Square to be precise. Here we were booked into the amazing XFM studios in which only a couple of weeks before Just Jack had recorded a live session! Well, that was great. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that it was the fastest recording we have ever done! In only a bit over two hours we had 4 tracks done (most of this miracle having been down to an absolutely incredible engineer who had an awesome talent when it came to mixing desks and microphones). The session will be broadcast on September 24th on John Kennedy's show.

The trip wouldn't have been a proper Stornoway outing if what happened next hadn't happened. With the new van carrying a large number of instruments and people, we had to find parking and where better to do it than in a maze of an underground car park, drenched in rain, in the centre of China Town! Anyway, we ignored the height restrictions and entered being far too optimistic for our own good! Half way down a spiral slope we nearly embedded the vehicle in a concrete roof and so began to reverse back up the weirdest slope on earth! Probably the worst part of it all was the presence of a very expensive car behind us, whose owner admitted that he did not know how to reverse. Obviously, not wanting that sort of responsibility none of us offered to reverse it for him. So after about half an hour of creaking axles and burning hand brakes, we got out, turned around and sped off before we could be beaten up by the car park attendants!

I suppose I should finish up now so just a few more things to mention.

Our second single "Unfaithful" will be officially released on the 28th of September and will sort of mark the beginning of our first UK tour! The dates for which can be found on the myspace and down below.

We say chow4now to Bri who heads off to America with brother Adam for a little bit. But as for the rest of us we have some preparations to be doing for when we get on the road!

Nice speakin' te y'all!

Rob

UK TOUR DATES:

Fri 18th Sept Exeter Acoustica Festival
Mon 21st Sept London ICA *SOLD OUT*
Fri 16th Oct Middlesbrough Westgarth Club
Sat 17th Oct Sheffield The Plug
Sun 18th Oct Leeds The Brudenell Social Club
Thu 22nd Oct Bath Moles
Sat 24th Oct Cardiff SWN Festival
Sun 25th Oct Bristol Louisiana
Wed 27th Oct London Roundhouse Proms
*Fri 30th Oct Oxford Sheldonian Theatre*
Sat 31st Oct Wolverhampton Newhampton Arts Centre

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Friday, August 28, 2009

"Ungrateful threw knee" - the old adage
Current mood:

aroused
Category: Friends

D'yer 'all, wha' cwinsidince bringin' us together again...

Congratulations to Ollie and Rahul for making it back in one piece, over the hills and precipices of the Welsh southern vales, after the saga of Ollie's driving:

In the Telegraph blogs we declared

The great envy with which we were red:

That the Travelling Band,

With their massive blue van,

Were intimidating, and quite feared.

But a most gracious Stornoway fan,

In the form of a most kindly man,

Known as Patrick (or Pat)

Had a vehicle that

Could out-rival those rascals of Man.

So from Green Man in Brecon we rode,

To his warm and welcoming abode.

There the deeds were transferred -

Now for e'er shall be heard,

That great truck with Storno's on the road.

Thankyou to Pat! For some photos of the weekend please see the new gallery...

Now you may have seen a second change in the myspace banner. Using Matt Halliday's beautiful creation we are keen to let you know about the release date for our single Unfaithful, being 28th September. A week before that, do come visit the ICA where you'll be treated to some exquisite sounds from Django Django and Krishna Raghavendra.

In other news, we have just announced some October TOUR DATES. Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Wolverhampton will each play host to a headline show. We are very happy to be travelling out to these beautiful places - now you see why Pat's deed is so timely and welcome! We'll hope to see you there.

Keeping in touch since August 6 2009,

Beast,

Storno

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Wednesday, August 05, 2009

we’re just brutes clowning ‘round in cahoots
Current mood:

crunk

Someone scarpered....

Here's to one exact month of Stornowayage since the last myspace blog. Things have been happening rather fast!

Bob and Ollie have been out to Grecan lands to top up a tan, before joining the rest of the band in Dorset for a jolly old Zorb, all caught on film here and at several other sources.

This, and a marathon day recording sessions at BBC's Maida Vale studios, neatly rounded off the Zorbing single celebrations for us, and we now eagerly await the release of our second single, Unfaithful.

Thanks to all who have already bought tickets for the recently announced gig at London's ICA, to celebrate this awith us. Tickets are limited for this very special night, so grab yours while you still can by clicking RIGHT HERE!

Perhaps you may have noticed the change of our myspace banner? This artwork in paint n' pastel has been limited to the promotional copies of Unfaithful, so if you like it you may have to *hurry* for a hard copy... But something even better is in store! Another design is on the way, from artist and fellow Oxford musician Matt Halliday, who not only designed our Zorbing artwork but also, as you may have seen, joined the band for a set at Cornbury Festival in mid-July!

A spot of slightly more unusual news is that Stornoway have recently obtained a new, red, van, with tiger print leather seats and a DIY double bed in the back. This was actually donated by our sympathetic and very thoughtful friend Pat, after he read our blog for the Telegraph about Larmer Tree Festival. For this, and for some quality photos he took at Wychwood, Pat receives our highest honours this month.

That will be all, and we hope to bump into you before long on the streets of Cowley... or perhaps on tour at latitude 53, 30N (shh!!! for now)

Currently listening:
Devils Haircut
By Beck
Release date: 1996-06-19

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Monday, July 06, 2009

the simple mind simply boggles
Category: Quiz/Survey

Hello!

Despite listening to Sean Keaveny almost every day on 6Music, I somehow managed to miss him play our current single ‘Zorbing’ this morning. If you did too, it's on the iPlayer over thisaway. In further Zorbing-related news, we've been reliably informed that said song was amongst the Top 200 downloads last week, which is nothing short of fantastical…but I can’t find any way of proving this is true so you will just have to believe me!

We’ve just got back from Stamford Riverside Festival, where we played a set in the acoustic tent. We had to bang our instruments and stamped our feet a bit harder than normal to compensate for the absence of Rob (busy celebrating the end of school. For. Ever.) Aside from our recent trip to York and Middlesborough, expeditions north of Oxford have been few and far between so far, but we're hoping to do more.

Last weekend we were at the legendary festival-of-festivals that is Glastonbury, where we played a myriad of gigs over four days (five of them were on Thursday!), including a slot on the Acoustic Stage and at the Queen’s Head as part of the Emerging Talent Competition. One or two performances from the weekend have been captured for posterity: the first of these was on a Winnebago roof and the second was live on BBC2 at about 1.30 in the morning! For those who didn’t catch it on TV, it was included in the highlights on Sunday night. In addition to all these excitements, the festival saw new developments in Rob’s burgeoning TopMan © modeling career, the strange death of Rahul’s violin bow and Adventures with Ollie's Double-Bass in the Rain. I learnt a few tricks from the Cockney Awkestra (just by the Insect Circus)...

We've started a festival diary on the Daily Telegraph website, which is over here. The first piece is about Glastonbury - hard to sum up in c.400 words, but hopefully you’ll get an inkling.

Next stop is THE LUMINAIRE in London on Thurs 9^th July, with Magic Arm and Shona Foster in support. The address is 311 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR. We're on at 9.30-ish, doors open 7.30, £6 via WeGotTickets or £7 on the door.

Currently reading:
Spoons 1650-2000 (Shire Album)
By Simon Moore

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Monday, June 22, 2009

GLASTONBURY STAGE TIMES!
Current mood:

nervous

We are looking forward to Glastonbury, with much trepidation and excitement about playing our biggest ever shows! Please come along and show your support, we're playing at the following times:

THURSDAY
11.00 AVALON CAFE STAGE
15.15 WORTHY FM ACOUSTIC SESSION
17.35 QUEENS HEAD STAGE

SATURDAY
13.00 ACOUSTIC STAGE

SUNDAY
11.00 AVALON

Love Stornoway

Currently listening:
3 Rounds and a Sound
By Blind Pilot
Release date: 2008-07-15

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Friday, May 15, 2009

ZORBING release party @ ISIS FARMHOUSE - Friday 12th June
Category: Parties and Nightlife

We are very excited to announce the release of our debut single ZORBING (sample now on player). It will be available on limited edition vinyl from independent record stores and on iTunes from Monday 8^th June. The B-side will be “On the Rocks”, and the limited edition vinyl will feature some radical artwork by Matt Halliday.

Michael Hann, Film and Music Editor from the Guardian, has just described it as his "favourite single of the year"!

To celebrate the arrival of Zorbing and (hopefully) the arrival of the summer, we have cooked up a treat…This will be an outdoor mini-festival at the ISIS FARMHOUSE, Oxford on Friday 12^th June.

So what’s in store? Well, the music starts 7.30pm, but come down early for local beer and home made food! The Isis Farmhouse is by the river, at Haystacks Corner, The Towing Path, Near Iffley Lock OX4 4EL.

First up, the legendary JALI FILY CISSOKHO has the most infectious smile in music. Fily is a virtuoso kora (African harp) player and praise singer who hails from Ziguinchor in the beautiful lush region of Casmance, Southern Senegal . He was first invited to Europe in 2002, to tour with the family group Jalikunda. Recent UK appearances have included the WOMAD, Glastonbury and Larmer Tree Festivals. He also performed on David Attenborough's BBC TV Documentary "Elephants" (music by Will Gregory of Goldfrapp fame). www.myspace.com/jalifilycissokho

Following a set by Stornoway, DEATHRAY TREBUCHAY will whip things up into a frenzy…Described as 'a vodka party in the middle of a hurricane', these mind-bogglingly talented and versatile musicians, have come together to form an electrifying collective, reworking old Balkan and Romani folk songs with a blast of turbo punk, sung in Welsh. They are playing at Glastonbury , Secret Garden Party, and Bloom festivals this year. Their gigs are an experience which could best be described as feral. You will be forced to dance. www.myspace.com/deathrayband

What’s more, THE FLYING CARPET djs will be playing free range music from all over the globe - both inside and out the venue through the night. Have a listen to their podcast.

TICKETS: You can buy tickets for the pathetic price of £5 from HERE: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/49904

or from the Isis Farmhouse. Get them soon to avoid disappointment.

We hope you can join us!

Love,

Roy Watson

P.S. WOOD festival starts today!

Currently watching:
Zelig [DVD] [1983]
Release date: 2002-08-19

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Monday, May 11, 2009

A big weekend a n d other / ting

It has been a phantasmagorical five days in the world of Stornoway.
Eating muffins while you play is a tricky thing to accomplish, as any feller worth his onions will tell you. But we almost did just that, courtesy of Kick the Plug, on Wednesday at the Wilmington Arms in London. Since then, we have found muffin-free gigs to be a bit politically correct, but have soldiered on regardless.

On Thursday, we played a Britain's Got Talent-style miniset/freakshow to ASCAP back in London at the Regal Rooms at the Distillers pub. This gig featured Ollie's beautiful new double bass, Bertha. It is important to state here that somehow Ollie has learnt how to play Bertha in a matter of days! Bass guitar and bertha just ain't the same thing, as any feller who knows his beef and onions will surely show you. Then, on Friday we played a gig in Oxford's Holywell Manor to Asher Roth & friends. (uh?_ERROR&U^%^&UNTRUTH$%^& )

And then lastly, and mostly incredibly, on Saturday we headlined the BBC Introducing Stage at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon! The Big Weekend was totally cooking.
We were ready for battle at precisely the same moment as Basement Jaxx and Kasabian, so we gave them what for. Have a look at the videos and photos from our performance here, and if you have a moment, please leave us a comment or two...!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bigweekend/2009/artists/stornoway/

Following on from this excitement, yesterday was spent in a small box with aeroplane controls a bit like the picture below. We are hoping that something will emerge from the box at some point soon.

So what comes now? Well, next up is the splendid Wood Festival (Brazier's Park, Oxfordshire) this weekend! This was our favourite festival last year and we are very excited to be headlining on Saturday night. There is a bicycle powered reggae tent (we are going to do a bicycle-powered miniset here btw), hot saunas with people neither we nor you know, serene gong showers, tai-chi and other vunderful verkshops, and composting tofu toilets. What is more, Wood is small enough that you bump into your friends again very soon if you get lost (which in itself is not very likely). There will be amazing music, such as the brilliant duo Spiers and Boden, Brakes, Karine Polwart and Jim Moray. Tickets are only £55 for the whole weekend from here:
http://www.thisistruck.com/about-wood-festival.aspx

Oh, and if you're free tomorrow night (tuesday) why not pop down to the Rusty Bicycle in Oxford for a Wood warm-up, featuring Dusty and the Dreaming Spires, and a few acoustic songs from 2 or 3 of us.... It's free and I think there'll be music from around 8.30.

With love,
Buffalo, Stavr0s, Groggy, KFC and Shipman.

Currently listening:
Bad Timing
By Jim O'rourke
Release date: 2001-01-29

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