Unsaid Things

It's been a McFly couple of weeks.

Publicity has been picking up since the release of their new autobiography Unsaid Things and for the future release of their Greatest Hits album this year, so Sophie and I have been a couple of teenage fan girls. Making sure we watch every interview and buying magazines to see photo shoots; there's just no other band I want to do that with!

I just want to say right of the bat, I love this band. And it's not just because they're really hot (but that helps). I've loved them right back from the days they toured with Busted, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have seen them nine times. In fact I'm actually quite proud of myself! They are a pop group who work hard to write their own music and perfect their instruments (don't be naughty) and I have so much respect for that. I get a load of stick for being a fan. But not as much as they do for just being themselves. So when I learned they were doing their second greatest hits in ten years I groaned with disappointment. And it sounds silly, but I groaned because I knew how hard it was going to be to stick up for them! I'll admit it, I thought it was a bad idea. A greatest hits does not need to be done and I'm much of preferred them to speed up the release of their next album. But I do have sympathy for them. After their last Greatest Hits album McFly parted from their record label because they were unhappy with the decision, and were open about not feeling ready about releasing the album so early into their careers. Maybe the same thing has happened again.

But this week I have been reading their autobiography. My trusty Sophie was there at the bookshop on the day of release and had polished it off in a couple of days. Then it was my turn. I'd read half of it in the first evening and that is really impressive for my concentration levels. It's amazing. The book is filled with shocking revelations about drugs, alcohol and psychological disorders. It's astounding to think that all the times I've seen them live when they are laughing and joking around that half of them were probably drugged up or deeply depressed. Bums me out. There's something really uncomfortable about reading musicians admit that some of their music is not what they wanted to be. And even sadder that I agreed with them!

But there is hope still. They're new single is adorable (I was singing it whilst doing the washing up today so I know I love it), just release the video already!! They've returned back to the old logo and their old style which me feel 12 again and I love it! I really hope it does well for their sake, they deserve more respect than they get. For me, artists get respect for complete effort and writing original music. Call 'em fame whores if you want, I'd call them hard workers!

Dusting Off the Fender

Two weeks ago I was asked to fill in for the bass player in my friend's band.

I said yes immediately. I love performing, and the bass is something I tend to forget about when I'm at uni when I spend my time reading for seminars/watching television (more of the latter). Also playing bass by myself just isn't the same. It's an instrument that needs an accompaniment - or more likely, needs to be an accompaniment to something! - so I loved being able to help out at the gig for a chance to play again.

I hadn't performed in over two years. And the last time was in school for the Big Band!

As I said before, I agreed immediately a mere 4 days before the gig, without it even crossing my mind that I didn't know how to play any of the songs. And in true Katy style, I waited until the day before to learn them. I dusted off the old Fender Jazz and listened to the tracks and tried to work out the chords in order to just make it up as I went along. The day of the gig, I finally got the lines down and I was bricking it. In school I was much more confident, but years without performing had taken its toll and I was terrified of messing up.

On stage, my nerves started to make me wonder whether I had true rockstar potential. When singer Dan acknowledged me as the fill-in who had only just learned the songs hours before, and asked me how I was feeling. Playing gigs all the time, I'm not sure if he was even a slight bit nervous, but he definitely didn't sound it. I responded "I think I'm going to be sick". It was supposed to come out as a joke but it definitely didn't sound like one, I reckon people might have took a couple of steps back just in case.

Anyway all went well, the more we kept playing the more comfortable I began to feel and it all started to feel natural again. I didn't cock up massively and I'm not gonna lie, I felt pretty damn cool.

And what would I be writing this and not giving the band a plug? The guys are called The Arkhamists. They're a trio from Walsall who gig regularly despite being separated in different cities most of the time. What a bunch of talents, Dan is an amazing song writer and I wish I was any good at writing songs so I could write with him. They've got a grunge kind of thing going on with hot riffs.

Check them out!:

http://www.facebook.com/TheArkhamists

http://soundcloud.com/thearkhamists/

Oh Love

It's funny how your love for things can be re-ignited when you've otherwise forgotten about them.

Between the ages of about 10 and 15 Green Day were my most favourite band in the world.

Even through all the phases of cheesy pop stars and boy bands I still hold memories of certain songs, when hearing one reminds me of particular holidays where my brother convinced my parents to have our music on in the long car journeys. 

(Thinking about it now it probably would have been really awkward but I was too young to realise how rude some of the songs were.)

I have my brother to thank for the majority of music I love today. As a child you often aspire to be like your older sibling, so whatever Richard would listen to I would often follow. Our childhood was filled with music by Blink 182, Linkin Park, The Offspring and Limp Bizkit. And Moby? Well it was the 90s times were different back then. Completely oblivious to all the messages they conveyed through offensive lyrics and being smacked off their tits most of the time, I was just into music where guys played guitars loudly.

This week I downloaded Green Day's new album, ¡Uno!, and the Green Day love came flooding back. It is the Green Day that I loved as a teenager. There's a blank spot in my memory of their music after American Idiot. Something about them changed around 21st Century Breakdown and I was put off. The first song I heard from Green Day's most recent work was 'Oh Love', and I thought "this is nice". Very American Idiot. Then I saw them perform 'Let Yourself Go' on the MTV VMA's and I thought, "YES!!!". I was so excited, it was the 90s punk sound you barely hear these days.

Then I heard the new album. 'Someone Kill the DJ', 'Fell for You', 'Troublemaker'. Oh my Goodness. THIS is Green Day, stripped back to simple 3:30-4:00 punk songs saying "fuck you" to the mainstream, completely unthreatened by other overly popular genres that fill the singles charts. What a trio of babes.

Not only did this album restore my faith and re-ignite my love for Green Day, it even inspired my topic for my American Studies dissertation where I plan to unpick the evolution of the Punk counterculture in American music. I've been listening to ¡Uno!, Dookie and and Warning to and from uni all week.

And to top it off, I got a ticket to see them in London in June. I was umming and ahhing about it because it's far to travel to, it's quite far in advance and general money troubles, but hearing ¡Uno! convinced me. If only Jen had known she wouldn't have spent so much time trying to give me reasons why I should go and just pressed play!  

Billy Joe, please get over your substance abuse problem and give me a kick ass show, because I've been waiting almost my whole life for this.

Gettin' Old

It's been a week since my 21st birthday so we're a bit delayed here, but better late than never.

I am feeling right old.

Mainly because people keep telling me they "can't believe I'm 21!". My friends say that because we've all known each other for such a long time now, but other people I who don't know are just amazed I'm that old. The other night a lady put my age at about 17. Come on, 17?! At least put me at 18 or 19, I can't even remember being 17 it was so long ago!

Anyway, the birthday celebrations began on Saturday with the joint birthday party I shared with my best friend Jenny. Even though the venue had been booked months in advance, all the preparation seemed to be done in the few weeks before. Stressful! Nevertheless we pulled the thing off, and I got to spend the evening with all my best friends and some family I haven't seen in a long time.

Our amazing custom design cake!

Me and the other birthday girl

A selection of party dresses from the girls!

Me and my lovely boyfriend Mark not looking at a camera

The birthday celebrations continued on Monday the 10th, the day of my birthday. The day consisted of a lovely birthday lunch with my mum, brother and Grandma followed by drinks with a couple of friends. We then spent the evening bowling, because how else are you supposed to celebrate your 21st?  I spent the entire week bigging up my bowling skills and how I was going to beat everyone and come out on top, but the result was not what I expected. Apparently not bowling for about 6 years takes its toll, and I lost. Full on last place, with like 40 points. I swear to God I used to win all the time! 

Celebrating my one and only half strike in style

Waiting our turn...

Here's to the next 21 years!

Devastated it's the end of the Chris Moyles show on Radio1. But this definitely cheered me up!

There Goes My Hero

Friday night I found myself at Leeds Festival for the second year in a row. Buying just a day ticket, I was there for one thing only, the absolute love of my life, Dave Grohl. After hearing rumours all year, I was so excited to find out my favourite band Foo Fighters were headlining Leeds on the Friday night.

Accidentally a little hungover, Rachel and I got the train up that day and saw a few shows that afternoon, like Gas Light Anthem, Kaiser Chiefs and The Black Keys, but I couldn't stop counting down the hours until the Foo's came on stage. This was the third time I've seen Foo Fighters, the last two shows have been practically the same. The same jokes, same guitar solos and almost the same setlist. Not that I'm complaining! At the end of it all, I absolutely freakin love this band and there's nothing better than getting to hear (I'd say 'see', but I was too small to see anything) your favourite songs played live on stage in the mud and the rain!

Me and Rachel sporting our almost matching Foo's shirts!

Back Where it Belongs

So happy to see John Stewart back on our screens now The Daily Show has been picked up by Comedy Central Extra. It's all I've been watching after a backlog of two weeks worth of episodes since I got back from the US. Which is pretty ironic really, considering I've been catching up with American news that I missed... whilst I was in America. But let's face it, it may be satire, but The Daily Show is one of the only American news sources I can trust. Even though it's completely biased towards the left, it doesn't, well, lie like all those pro-Romney ads I saw on Fox in America. And what can I say, I just love it when crazy radical American men cock-up! (May I just divert your attention to this gem I saw on the news today - what an idiot... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19319240 - I could go on for hours about this one, but we all know what's wrong here so there's no need to tire my fingers out banging on about it).

Anyway, I was gutted when they reduced this show to once a week on More4. Shoved into some late night, once a week, "global edition" I was not getting the information I needed to look like I knew what I was talking about in my American Studies seminars. I mean come on, More4, what were you gonna show, more episodes of Four in a Bed or Come Dine With Me? And don't get me started on the schedule of that last series of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Silly channel!

But more to the point, I'm so excited The Daily Show is back almost every night. It deserves recognition in the UK. And there's no way I would have as much interest in the political situation in the US if I didn't have someone to make me laugh about it. Now I can get back to uni and be like "POW POW POW I'm a 2012 campaign pro". Until I get completely out of the loop because I can't get Comedy Central when I'm at uni. Damn...