Writing on the Bus
Hi there,
Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, but I’ve been so busy with my band, The Hedrons, that I don’t know where the time has gone!!
I’m writing this on our tour bus as we travel through southern Ireland on our way to Galway. We’ve been on the road for six weeks now touring Scotland, England, Wales, and finishing up in Belfast on Friday. It’s been a real roller coaster ride of a tour. We released our second single (I Need You), at the start of the tour, and it reached number 5 in the UK Independent Charts!!! We were all really excited about this chart position, and it gave us a real lift.
During the tour, we put on a live virtual gig on an internet site called Second Life. We were the first band in Europe to do this. Second Life is a virtual world on the internet that you can join and create a character of yourself, buy virtual property, and go to virtual events with virtual friends!!! We got a venue built for our gig, which was called The Hedro-dome, and the virtual promoter publicized the gig for us. We then got avatars created for each one of us. They were very life-like, and did look a lot like us – mine’s even had my pink converse boots!!!
For the gig, we headed to a studio in Glasgow and performed our set live. The music was streamed, in real time, to Second Life’s server, while our avatars were being controlled by it’s creator to move / dance / perform in time to our music!!!! It was all very strange; during our performance we could see a computer screen with our virtual characters performing and the virtual audience in attendance!!
I have been away from Glasgow and Scotland for so long now that I don’t know what’s been going on!!! There have been some great gigs that I’ve missed when I’ve been away … Fionn Regan and New York Dolls to name a few.
One of the maddest gigs on the tour took place in Moles Club, Bath, England. I had gone into the crowd during the last song of our set and was dancing around with the audience, when suddenly a girl pulled down my top!!! I was standing there in shock and didn’t know how to react. I quickly got my dignity back together and jumped back on to the stage to figure out how I could get her back. I spotted my bottle of beer sitting next to my amp, and quickly lifted it. I then went back in to the crowd looking for the girl. When I found her I held the beer bottle above her and covered her in beer … hehehe … that’s what she got for pulling my top down and revealing me to the audience!!!!!
During the tour, we supported a new Scottish band called The Fratellis. They’re doing really well in the UK at the moment… so much so, that their albums are flying off the shelves. The gig was amazing; we went on before them and had a ball – see the photograph of me in the audience!!
We managed to get two nights in Glasgow when we played at the famous King Tuts venue (www.kingtuts.com). It’s always really special getting to play your hometown, especially at King Tuts!!!! We recorded a live e.p. at this gig, which is available to buy from our website … www.thehedrons.com
Glasgow’s very famous Kelvin Grove Art Gallery opened its doors to the public in July, after a huge refurbishment. The gallery is about 2 minutes walk from where I live and looks fantastic. The local government suspected that there would be around 500,000 visitors in the first year, but they’ve managed to reach that after being opened for only a few months!!! This will be one of the first places I visit when I get home.
When we get home, we get to have a few days off. Then we go back into the studio to work on some new songs, then back to London for the first week in December. After that, we have a three week break over Christmas and New Year. I think I might go on holiday, lie on a beach all day and listen to my iPod!!!!!
Until next time…
Take care…
Tippi xxxx
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