Girls Are Meaner Than Boys

I thought I shall start writing about the stories behind the songs on 'Act Of Defiance'. Where they came from. What happened in the studio etc... I could do this in two ways ... In the order of the album or in the order they came ... Well roughly. My memory is not always the best. I thought I'd better start from the beginning.

Track 10 - Girls Are Meaner Than Boys

I wrote this song in May 2006. I remember coming home from work on a nice sunny afternoon. I remember being in a bit of a mood but also quite jolly. I sat on my sofa and picked up my guitar and bashed out the chords Am G C E to a pacy rhythm. I don't know! Something must have got my goat that day ... But I just started chanting 'I Say Girls are Meaner Than Boys Alright!!!!' over and over and over ... I started to smile. I didn't know why girls were meaner. Possibly Clare who I was living with may have annoyed me but I don't remember anything significant at the time. I used to have a little sleep on an afternoon after work if I had been on early shift. However on this day I sacrificed it. I got out my 8 Track recorder put a beat down and recorded the chords and the chorus straight away. It was pretty much the same musically as a previous song called '42nd Street' I didn't let it distract me. I had cheered up a lot at this point ... and felt in a humorous mood. So I thought of an imaginary gang of girls that terrorised old ladies and bullied young boys. Happy slapping was all the rage at the time. I wrote the two verses pretty instantaneously ... and for the third verse I used a sample of a lady on the news who was a victim of happy slapping recounting her story. I was surprised months later that at all the newspaper headlines on a daily basis with 'Girl Gangs' written everywhere ... I started to realise that I had a knack of picking up on what was going on around us.

Below are the lyrics.

"I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright!!!

I took a walk the other day
And this is what I found
A gang of girls chinning this lad
They beat him to the ground
They took his money and they took his phone
They took his bus fare so he couldn't get home
He was crying and they all laughed at him

I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright!!!

I read the paper ... the evening post
Some old lady got attacked
They filmed her cry on their mobiles
She was happy slapped
They called her a bitch ... they called her a tart
The lady is bruised she takes it hard
Now she darn't leave her house again

I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright
I say Girls Are Meaner Than Boys Alright!!!"

I pretty much wrote and recorded the whole demo in the space of 2 hours and had it on myspace straight away ... I was getting a lot of good feedback from it ... people claiming it was the best thing I'd done so far. So I knocked up a few copies on CD with some help from my mate Scotty who was a printer. I nicked the artwork idea off the Blondie single 'Rip Her To Shreds' which I had on 12" and it was hanging on my living room wall. Pockets from Strummerville picked up on it and I also got picked for 'Leeds Bright Young Things 2007' on the back of it too.

In January 2007 I was in Touchwood Studios in Hyde Park re-recording the song for the Bright Young Things compilation CD. I was proud of the finished recording but still it has never sat right with me. I think I preferred my guitar sound on the original demo. It was my first time in a recording studio so maybe I was a little daunted. It was also my first time playing bass guitar. The song was generally well received. I was pleased.

I recorded another version or two of the same song in 2008 but with another girlfriend of mine singing it. It's a brilliant version. However I don't like her thus decided not to let anyone hear it ... Plus by this time I was in The Yalla Yallas and concentrating on that.

When we formed The Yalla Yallas in Dec 2007 ' Girls Are Meaner Than Boys' was naturally the first song called upon to run through. It is a good pop song. Obviously we dropped the dance beats and the guitars got meatier. It became more punk and chantier. Which is sort of what I always wanted. Some people still argue that the original version is better. To some degree I still agree. It's just this version is different. It's a great live song and I love playing it. The girls in the crowd love it. Some days I hate it. When you've been constantly working on a song for over three years and its still evolving it can do your nut in a bit.

When we recorded it for the album in February 2009 it was such a fun weekend. Stressful but fun. We were nearly at the end of the recording of the album. We recorded all the drums for 'Girls' on the Saturday and the music for 'Rock n Roll Kid' but we over ran somewhere which left us lots to do on the Sunday. We had already invited all the girls down to come and sing backing vocals so we needed to have all the music recorded before they arrived plus my guide vocals. Musically I think it might be my best performance on the album. I added a lot of little guitar bits in that song ... As did Will ... We layered it up really well I think. We wanted it to be pop again after the blistering punked up live versions. When everyone came to the studio I was nervous as hell. We had been holed up - Just the five of us for what seemed like forever. Nobody had heard anything we had done. We stocked up on food and beer for our guests ... It was such a great atmosphere ... and everybody got really involved. We recorded the rest of the vocals and thus finished the song ... Jenny Reynolds also joined me in the vocal booth for a little breakdown in the middle. Eva(Grant - Our Producers Daughter) and Alex(Matt - Our Drummers Son) were both in fantastic voice ... You can hear them loud and clear on the finished version. As we were packing up we also had time to record an impromptu live acoustic version of the song which will be on the iTunes/MP3 release.

However for some strange reason with this song I still don't feel like its finished with ... I reckon there's already six or seven versions of it ... Danny Pig (A local DJ-Remixer) and myself want to do some remixes of it too ... Unlike the other songs I don't feel like it's reached its potential yet ... I don't know why ... I just doesn't sit right. Maybe I'm not meant to sing it. I have always had this image of someone like Girls Aloud, Sugababes, or Lily Allen doing a cracking version of it. Some ballsy female pop star. I think it should be played in nightclubs.

Ah well ... Rock n Roll!!!!

Time To Relax!!!!!!

It's safe to say we have hammered the gigs lately. We are on form. However I'm now excited at the fact that I have the next couple of weekends off. It isn't often that this happens ... Which in a way it is a good thing ... I'm chuffed to hell that I'm in a band that can play most weekends. Anyway what will I do with my time off from the band? Knowing me I'll pick up my guitar and start thinking of new songs for the band. I'll spend some time on some artwork or posters for the upcoming gigs and generally fill my time away from The Yalla Yallas with band stuff ... Defeats the object really doesn't it?. I really do need to learn how to relax. I can't switch off though ... I love the fact I'm a focused driven person ... but it does do my nut in. Haha!!!

Ah well!!! I've been thinking about the track listing for the 2nd album a lot lately. I don't know why I have been doing this. As the next album is a long way off and as of yet we have no plans ... There will be another album that is inevitable but we've only just released the first ... I guess these thoughts are only natural. Anyway seeing as these blogs are achieved I reckon I could refer back to it one day and see how my thoughts and track listings change. Here are a few song titles for inclusion.

Under Attack
Come Home
Getting On With My Life
Living In The City
Smash It Up
Represent Me?
The Effects Of Alcohol
Everyone Back To My Place
Like A Diamond In Dirt
Walkaway
Say No
Lost Control

Well that's 12 to be going on with ... I'll probably write a few more in the next few months ... Lets see how many make the final cut.

London Baby!!!!!!!

As I approach our forthcoming gig in Camden this weekend ... I cannot help but get a bit sentimental. It is 3 years to this month since my first London gig. Oh, and how things change. I'm in love with London. Really fascinated by it. However I don't want to live there ... I do though, Enjoy a ride out every other month to the capital. I remember the first time I went there as an adult. It was for my gig at The Lark in the Park in Islington. I was doing my solo electro project then. Things had started to progress as an artist for me. In June 2006 I remember giving up on music ... Any hope of progress had started to wane. I had just finished a new demo called 'Girls are meaner than boys' it was a re-write of one of my old songs called '42nd Street'. I uploaded the demo on Myspace and thought nothing more. Early August 2006 I get a message from Pockets at Strummerville. Rob, Your music is great ... We want to help you ... I'll be in touch ... Send me your number!!. I had read about Pockets ... I knew he was Joe Strummer's close friend. I knew about Strummerville. They found me ... I never sent a demo out. In fact up until recently with The Yalla Yallas I had never ever posted a demo out for review or consideration to anyone. Anyway I was obviously delighted with the message ... I remember sat in my apartment thinking 'Shitting hell this could be good'.

Rightio, Now with a sense of purpose I thought I better get gigging. I booked three Leeds gigs and a London gig for September/October. The Islington gig was a great weekend ... Myself, Clare, Pollock and Dempsey all went down. Pockets couldn't make the London gig but some other people turned up on his behalf. At the time I wasn't getting many plaudits in Leeds ... In fact probably a lot of criticism. So doing this gig was the chance to get some honest feedback. I went and I played pretty well ... Probably at the time it was one of my best gigs. The band who went on after me announced that I was the most 'Rock n Roll' act they had ever seen and dedicated their gig to me ... Ha ha nice touch!!! At the time I was buzzing with dreams and ideas ... I had recently lost all confidence and now I was thinking about doing an album, playing festivals, and getting real fans. I was in love with a beautiful girl. I had my own place. It couldn't have been more perfect. Cheers Pockets (Even though at this stage he hadn't done anything - Just say he was going to help me - Ha ha).

I came back from London and entered 'Girls are meaner than boys' into the Leeds Bright Young things competition. Strummerville had put a link to me from their sites ... and I had an enormous sense of victory after the Islington gig. I then find out I was selected as one of the winners of Bright Young Things. All of a sudden I was doing interviews, recording in a studio, photo shoots. I spent 2007 playing gigs, doing festivals, interviews, getting my own radio show, BBC News 24 did a feature on me. I started getting people writing to me from all over the world ... I was hanging out with some of my heroes. In November 2007 I had played my last solo electro gig and had nearly completed the demos for my solo album. I didn't know it at the time but I was to just leave it all behind - Still to this day I have no plans to go back to it. My head was a mess ... Me and Clare were not best of friends and hadn't been for a while. I went to Amsterdam with Pollock and decided now was time to form a band. I was fed up and tired. By the time I got the line up together ... Matthew Dempsey on Bass, Will Grinder on Guitar, and Kevin Bellwood on Drums it was December 2007. I was turning up to the rehearsals crying my heart out because of my break up with Clare. I swear this is why our songs developed an angry energetic feel... I just had to get it all out of my system. The Yalla Yallas played their first gig on the 5th Anniversary of Joe Strummers death.

Time goes by and I think as to what we've achieved since then. Playing fantastic gigs nearly every weekend ... Meeting so many beautiful people. Recording at Mick Jones' Rock n Roll Library. Playing at Glastonbury. Bradford Mela. Recording and releasing a fantastic debut album that were all so proud of... and having our music played all around the world. It doesn't get much better than that. So this Sunday at Belushis in Camden I for one will be celebrating ... and I hope things will keep progressing for us so we can keep playing gigs, and enjoying everyones company ... Rock n Roll!!

Defying iTunes!!!

I've mentioned in previous posts that I have a band called The Yalla Yallas. Anyway we released our debut album in July. It's called 'Act Of Defiance' and was written by yours truly. I'm obviously very proud of this record. The initial release was just a small run of Cd's to sell through our website and at our gigs. It's sold well in my opinion ... I'm happy with the sales sheet. That's all that matters to me, oh that and the fantastic reviews we have received. As a result we have decided on releasing the album through iTunes and Amazon. Admittedly it's not something I'm entirely happy about ... But living in this digital age somewhat forces my hand upon the thought of selling mp3's. I don't know ... I prefer having the whole package. But I guess some people just prefer the digital format.

It does frustrate me a little having to entertain people like iTunes and Amazon though. I'd much rather people buy our music from us. Not that I want to make money. Income for the band is good though so we can afford to make more records. However thinking about it ... iTunes and Amazon are doing absolutely knack all to support us. They don't give us an advertising budget to promote the record. We still have to promote it ourselves. So basically we get a small percentage of album sales coming back to us. While iTunes and Amazon reap in a big percentage and also benefit from a band like The Yalla Yallas telling everybody to go to Amazon and iTunes to buy our music - Free promotion for them. It costs them nothing. They also pass the set up costs onto us too. So what stops us from saying hang on buy our music from us?. Well nothing really. However ... Don't get me wrong ... I don't want to be famous or to sign to a major label, But I do dream of making a living and would like to attract potential investors to fund our cause. We want to do bigger tours etc... release more albums ... it's all got to be paid for. So in order to do that we need our music featured in magazines or on websites, and to do that we need to have an 'Official' 'Chart Eligible' release in order to avoid being placed in the demo section and to be taken more seriously. We need to look like a professional outfit. Tick all the boxes. It's not my ideal situation but I hope you can all appreciate where I'm coming from. I want to keep The Yalla Yallas D.I.Y. I want to keep us in control and to keep our artistic integrity, but I still want to attract people to work with us, booking agents, labels, etc... Obviously they will be vetted. I won't just work with Johnny Anybody because he used to manage Kings of Leon and he can make us famous. That doesn't interest me. I do have plans and ideas and more will come to light at a later date.

Anyway on Monday 16th November 2009 'Act Of Defiance' will virtually hit the online stores. We would love it if you bought it ... We would love it even more if you bought it from us from our website. The CD version will remain cheaper than the digital version that will be sold at those stores. Either way you'll be still supporting The Yalla Yallas and we thankyou very much for that.

Rock n Roll!!!!!

Silence Is Approval!!!

For those of you who have come to see The Yalla Yallas live recently you may or may not have noticed that our song 'Retaliation (Doesn't Make It Alright)' has acquired an extra verse. I did not write this extra verse. I borrowed it from one of my favourite acts of the moment. Alt Track from Bradford. The have just released a fantastic debut album called 'Silence Is Approval' ... and on it is a track called 'No More'. It's my personal highlight but they are other belting songs on it. Alt Track are an Electro/Trip Hop/Punk outfit ... and for those of you who may or may not remember my solo work. I touched on this idea a few years ago ... and when I watched Alt Track live I was astounded. I thought YES!!!!! this is it ... This is what I wanted to achieve. They are getting the message across with beats and guitars. My words were 'These are the most punk rock act I've seen in ages' ... Although they don't sound like a punk rock act. They deliver the whole ethos and sentiment. They remind me of 90's Leeds act Bedlam ago-go. They are even doing a 'Pay What You Want' scheme for their album 'Silence Is Approval'

Anyway here are some links

Myspace http://www.myspace.com/alttrack
Buy the Album Here http://www.alttrack.bigcartel.com/

Dancing Barefoot!!!

I spent an hour earlier on today picking glass out of my feet as a result of Saturday nights gig at Rios in Leeds. Now I was thinking to myself 'Why the hell am I doing this?' ... Why do I bother? ... All to fufill the rock n roll fantasy of having an image. I am renowned for playing my gigs barefooted ... and there are many reasons as to why I do this ... not very good reasons but reasons none the less. Over the years I have give various explanations as to why I do it ... I don't think I've ever explained the real reason why. I've probably said "It's because it's comfier", "I see the stage as sacred ground and so I don't want to take my muddy boots onstage", "I play barefooted at home so it just feels more natural to play barefoot onstage" ... These are not lies but they are certainly not the truth. The truth is plain and simple ... because of Patti Smith. I don't know exactly what drew me to her look ... but I adore her as an artist ... as a performer and a poet ... Maybe the barefoot thing is an expression of truth and honesty ... Thats what I take from it ... Maybe it was a hangover from the hippy look with Patti ... I don't know ... all I know about her image is that she modelled her look on Keith Richards. I know Patti Smith didn't always play barefooted ... but I just picked it up from some fantastic photos of her like the one I've posted here. People ask me all the time about glass and stuff ... and playing in the venues we do, some of them are not the cleanest! ... so I often cut my feet. I never let it put me off though ... maybe its what keeps me on my toes ... like playing russian roulette with the floor ... every jump off stage could end in disaster ... Most times I'm lucky ... others I'm not. Thats just the way the rock rolls I guess. So anyway I potter off to work with a bit of a limp and I'm thinking about this weekend and what happened ... Flashbacks galore ... Oh god what did I say that for ... Who do I think I am? ... Haha ... ah well just the usual monday morning. It was a good weekend though in all honesty ... The rios gig was good ... The Yalla Yallas were on fire. Apart from some dodgy mics we played ace and had a good time ... we made loads of new friends. Goldblade were as good as ever. I spent most of the early part of the night sat on the merch stall ... Its a weird place to sit all night ... but it's a good place ... I've never really done it before but I think it makes you a little more approachable ... I had so many great conversations with our new friends. I think that what we normally do is stand in a big group at the bar and have fun and if someone is a bit shy then they may be afraid to approach you, but sitting behind a merch stall there is plenty of ice breakers and a bit more of a level playing field ... People are not feeling like they are intruding on a group of mates stood in a bar. I had so much fun. Afterwards myself and Matt stuck around and snook Coz from Cyanide Pills into the free bar at the clubnight ... Got a bit messy ... Pole Dancing, Evading the law with an open container of alcohol outside, lock in at a local boozer, and returning home at 6.30am - Forgetting I had a gig to do in Settle.

Sunday Morning 10am BOOOM!!! ALARM!!! WHAT THE HELL!!! ... oh no ... time to get up ... 10.05am better ring Will ... "Yo Will, Fucking hell man, errr I'm up train is at half twelve, Rock n Roll!!!". I was surprised at how with it I was. However train was actually at 1.15pm ... Still pissed evidentley. 2.15pm we arrive in Settle. "Rightio, wheres the organiser ... We're the Yalla Yallas", "Yalla Yallas ... You Guys cancelled the other day, We've replaced you" ... "No No, I said our drummer couldn't do the gig but were all here" ... I'm thinking ah well, Probably not a good idea to play in this state anyway. Anyway fella comes back to me. "Right, Your on" ... I'm thinking 'No I'm not .... I'm having a pint before I do anything'. I said "You can wait". "Pint of cider and a double bourbon please love!" ... Thats nice just what I needed ... "Will is my guitar tuned ... We're on!!!" ... In all honestley we shouldn't have played ... We were in no fit state. I was rolling around laughing during 'Under Attack'. Will doesn't play much acoustic guitar and is phrasing his chords as if the distortion pedal is switched on. I'm forgetting words left, right, and centre ... and to top it all ... please forgive me big guy ... we crucify a Johnny Cash song ... Why? What were we thinking? ... However I really really enjoyed the gig it was really good fun ... we followed it with another marathon beer session and some fisn n chips. Doesn't get much better really does it?.

What have I learned from this weekend. Probably nothing!!! ... I will still play barefooted and cut my feet up again ... Possibly worse next time. I will still get blasted night before a gig ... and I certianley will still play my heart out and party hard afterwards ... Rock n Roll

Here is a link to a Patti Smith song called Dancing Barefoot ... Enjoy!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KYJcGN7BvQ

Love and Destruction!!!! - Part 1

Part 1

This is my very first blog!!!! I hope you enjoy it. Rightio I better introduce myself. I am a 26 year old from Leeds who sings in a rock n roll band. I also have a day job as a postman. My writing style can be a bit loose ... however stick with it and we shall overcome this problem.

I guess that I thought I should do this as everybody else appears to be doing it ... I'm not usually a follower of trends but this is one thing that particularly got me thinking. So what I shall do is use this space to talk about anything and everything that I feel like I need to get off my chest. I will recount some stories from my present and my past (I won't go too much into detail on some though) ... I'll write about my opinions on news stories and talk about music or whatever needs to be talked about ... I would like this space to be a two way medium. The way I see it is some of the best stories come from when people remind you of things ... The smallest thing can trigger a memory, an emotion, or a reaction ... and I love it when that happens ... It's what keeps me going ... Yeah!!!!!!!!

I called this first post 'Love and Destruction' I don't know why ... I just think its a fantastic combination of words. They pretty much go hand in hand. Love is seen as a positive good thing ... However ... think about it in the terms of 'Being in Love'... Love actually cuts off alot of things from your life ... it changes some people ... It changes me... Admittidly it also offers alot of other things too ... I'm not in love right now ... well not in the relationship sense ... I'm in love with other things like the world, music, art, people, friendships ... But I'm not in love with anyone inparticular ... and that allows me to be the person I want to be ... I go around doing my thing ... sometimes I get lonely ... but I've been in love before and sometimes it's the lonliest place in the world. I guess I'm just thinking that if I was to meet a girl now at one of my gigs with no intention of getting involved but things develop and we go out on a few dates ... shes impressed by my band and all that ... Impressed by my persona ... all that stuff ... and then we fall in love ... and that's when comprimise(and destruction) kicks in. Suddenley I'm encouraged not to do as many gigs because we haven't had a quiet night in for a while and X-Factor is on. I comprimise once or twice because it could be nice ... and then it starts becoming the norm ... and music falls by the wayside ... but I've still got the desire to play and meet new people and to drink etc... so my character, my confidence, my swagger and all that becomes a little bit dipleted and I become a different person - Destruction!!!. However I probably become a little more organised ... I probably cook a little more ... I'll watch a bit more telly ... I'll wear nicer clothes and all that ... Nothing wrong with any of that ... Nothing at all!!!!! However its not for Rob Galloway. So gimme my guitar ... Turn my amp up to 8 ... I always start on 8 (I'll explain in a minute)... pass me some bourbon and get out ... I'm not the man you fell in love with ... yes I have changed ... you changed me ... not that you mean to ... Love just destroys the way I liked to live ... and for that one single reason love and destruction in my eyes go hand in hand. One day maybe I'll want to destroy my lifestyle and thats the day I'll look for love to help me do it.

What do you think? Love and Destruction!!! I'm going to type them words into Youtube and see what song comes up - We get this by Warrior Soul http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG_WnXI7s1A

Rock n Roll!!!!!

Oh Why do I usually start on 8? ... Well 8 is usually loud enough isnt it? and if it isn't then theres always 9 and 10.