SO. where to start. it's been a fair while since writing anything on here. sorry about that, really. we've been putting off writing on here for far too long. truth is, we weren't really sure what to write. i'll start where we left off and try and keep it short... 

SO we went to america and recorded a five song EP with our friend and producer nathan johnson. there are plenty of blog posts about what we got up to there and how awesome it was. we felt we made some really great music and we had a incredible time doing it. we learnt a ton and working and hanging out with nathan was a really great time. we were also insanely lucky enough to have ryan hewitt mix the songs. i know this isn't a 'cool' thing to say or anything, but ryan has mixed some of my favourite albums ever, and to have him mix our stuff was a bit like playing football with whichever footballer you had a poster of in your room (i didn't. i suck at all sport.) both ryan and nathan did an amazing job with our EP and we're massively grateful to both of them for working so hard and putting up with us. 

anyway (get to the point aaron)... we came back, and things in london were a little less easy. for a bunch of reasons that aren't really explainable (partly because it's unfair to explain them and partly because i wouldn't know how to explain them) tom decided he had to leave the band. obviously this was a bit of a blow for the rest of us. tom felt he had to do what he needed to do, which was call it a day... something the rest of us didn't feel we needed to do.

SO we took some time out. everyone needed a little breather. last year was a really intense year for us. we all moved houses a ridiculous amount of times and things were a bit up and down all year. (UP = sitting on a roof in brooklyn listening to mixes ryan was sending from malibu. DOWN = rehearsing four days a week in a basement so infested with sewage that it had no insurance.) a little bit of time was what everyone needed. 

SO here we are after that little bit of time. Joe and myself are continuing to record and release stuff as zut alors. in april we went into the studio and recorded an EP of new songs, with neil (of sixstarhotel) playing drums and daniel (peterson) playing a whole host of percussive things. we're just waiting to mix the tunes now, then we'll get them out there and start playing live again as zut. this time round, things will look a little different with a whole host of people playing with us live. but more on that at a later date...

SO the EP that we did in america is mastered and ready to go out to whoever would like it. there were a bunch of people who supported us in lots of incredible ways and it's hard to explain how grateful we were/are over a myspace blog post. but thankyou... your support in both the band and the recording of the EP was hugely appreciated and something none of us could of expected before hand. we hope you're not pissed with us for any of this news or the way in which we've dealt with it.

we'll be sending out the EP in the next 10 days to everyone who helped us get the project going, and we'll let anyone else who would like a copy get one after that. ALSO we'll stick up some details of the new songs and whats coming next SOON (this time it really will be)... 

we're looking forward to getting things rolling again... 

aaron.

p.s. while we were in america with nathan, he played us the score to the film 'the brothers bloom' he was working on at the time. well... the film opens pretty soon (now in the US, soon in the UK) so i recommend catching that if you can. (make sure you stay through the credits and catch nathan's song 'the fabulist'... something we heard a lot of in the states, and loved.)

FIRSTLY, sorry. we've been way too quiet over the past month. since getting back from america things have really changed for us, and we've been working out those changes and been busy getting things sorted.

SECONDLY, once again, thankyou. to everyone who helped us in any way make the EP project happen. it's a cliche, but we honestly would not have even left heathrow without your help.

OK. so, in the next few days we're going to upload the new EP and explain where we've been and what's going on. sorry it's taken us so long. in the mean time, we've just uploaded the second track off the EP, 'no way out'. hope you like it.

i'm looking forward to getting the EP up, and hearing what you think.

only a few days now.

speak soon.
aaron x

howdy.
sorry for our lack of bloggage this last week. we've all been busy trying to earn money and generally trying to get some normal life back on track.

so... we have our e.p.
which is nice.
we are picking the final mixes and stuff at the moment and then getting it mastered. next wednesday we are having a big 'master plan for world domination' meeting together with our managers and then after that we should have some news about a release date and what not. its kinda nerve racking to have people waiting to hear it. i hope you'll like it.
its also exciting to be playing back at the water rats next thursday. its a cool venue and both times we've played there we've thoroughly enjoyed it. hope to see some of you there. we are gonna be playing the new songs off the e.p. some of which you will of heard at previous gigs but also some completely fresh and new shizzle. it should be fun. we haven't had long to work em out for live but i reckon its sounding pretty cool. obviously you'll be the judges on that one.
anyway its nice to be back.
america was great. we learnt loads and made some great new friends.
come to the gig and we'll tell you all about it.
we're gonna post recording stories and general things we got upto up on here very soon. until then...
ta ta for now.
joe

hey.

we've been pretty slack on staying
on top on this whole blog thing. we
have good excuses. joe is in cardiff
writing some music for a play, tom
is in london working + holding the
fort while me and dave take some
time in the midlands. now as much
as we miss our americana pals, we
actually are enjoying seeing friends
and getting stuck back into normal
stuff. today, i was out with chez, a
good friend of ours who's a photo-
grapher...(he's took some band suff
in the past), we took some pictures
then played basketball untill it got
dark. it was nice. so there you go.

soon, we'll have a bunch of news
and dates to do with releasing this
EP, and we'll put some more videos
up of our american adventure when
we can. i've been staying up all night
this week working on the artwork.
tonight will be no different. it's close.

much love. aaron.

i just got home.

we had a crazy and busy time in new york, hence our blog slacking.
i promise we will fill this with pictures and stuff in the next few days.
we have a lot to show, just had no time to stick it up here.

thankyou to everyone for donating and supporting this trip.
we're very proud of the music we've made and can't wait for
you to hear it. very exciting. thankyou so very much.

so much more soon, but for now, i must sleep. it's been a while...

aaron.

hi.
after the last minute stress/excitment of the final few days of recording in new haven, it's really nice to be in NY. the last few days were quite mad, doing the rough mixes, re-writing entire lyrics and vocals for one of the songs. then on the last night nathan made us all a cocktail and we listened to all 5 songs in order for the first time. we felt pretty happy.
thanks to everyone who came to our show at the knitting factory, our first ever gig in america, was great. really like the venue. the sound engineer was actually nice..


The next day we sought some musical inspiration in central park.........

thanks for reading, speak soon.
tom.

word to your mother.
its 8.56am and it is our last day in new haven.
no one is really up yet and the house is completely silent but in about twenty minutes we will start the finishing touches on the last song and the fun will begin again. this will be the last time we spend a day working on this e.p which is strange. its been a busy month.
i like last days because they make you appreciate what you've been doing and you tend to make the most of them.
looking forward to nyc tommorrow too though.
the first few tracks are currently being mixed in malibu in a house overlooking the pacific ocean. would be nice to go there but don't think the budget would quite stretch that far.
anyway not much else to say. just felt like a good point to write a blog.
safe safe
j

hey there amigos.

we now have two songs left to put the finishing touches on and then recording is officially done and its over to phase 2 (mixing).
boom.
i love it when it starts to get towards the end and your getting close to the finished fashnizzle. its exciting.
i'm really grateful to everyone who has helped us get here and record this.
i'm hoping you'll like it.
anyway, chicken taco time now.
safe safe
joe

we sent our first song to be mixed.





a.

today we are putting the final fashnizzle on two of our tracks so we can they can be sent for mixing. we are extremely happy to be able to tell you that Ryan Hewitt is mixing our e.p.
we feel we are on a very similar page to Ryan and from the contact we've had he also seems like a really good bloke and we are very happy to be working with him. you can find out a little bit about him here.

anyway so he is in L.A and we are in Conneticut and he is gonna do mixes and then we are gonna listen to them and then we are gonna speak on the phone for a while and then its round 2. nice.
the rest of the tracks will be sent on tuesday.
basically its pretty exciting that we are almost done (also a bit nerve racking) and i wanted to share my excitement with you.
speak soon.
j

goodnight.

here are some video's we have been watching...

jon found this and sent it our way. jon is the skills behind our photos and website and stuff. jonheslop.com

"learn to do this if you want your band to succeed..."





the other day our good friend nick was passing through this end of america and came over for some good times. we watched this, and now we are hooked. a.

i saw this video and thought of you.
joe. x

hello.

so this is monday of week four.

this week we'll be adding overdubs, vocals, and finishing off the magic.

then it's off to be mixed.

it's going to be a busy week, we still have alot to do. tom's just finishing off his lyrics.

we're playing in new york next week. i just realised how soon it is.

oh - and a date for your london diaries...
we're going to be headlining water rats on august 21st.
this is going to be good. really. tell the world.

we had a nice weekend. saturday was a proper day off. we went to the beach.
caught some rays. (not reays).

more later.
first, breakfast. a.

heck yes we did.