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.