david ell’s blog

just catching up belatedly on the vox blog. we had our first experience of a proper heckler when we played at Bannermans in Edinburgh back in June. some nut job, out her face on drugs no doubt, started having a go at deano the bass player for  what she described as "self indulgent shite". deano has what we like to call bass player's tourettes. he just can't stop himself playing that thing. to be honest i thought it was a bit over the top, poor lad was just tuning up before we started our set. things threatened to spill over when one of the proper fans started telling her to shut the f*ck up etc, if she didn't want to listen why was she there etc. from the relative safety of the stage it was all quite amusing stuff. harsh words were spoken.....

 

Following our musical journey around the more interesting venues in Glasgow, we play the Renfrew Ferry on 6 June. Very excited about this one, lots of great bands have played here. Yes it's a boat and yes I have been prone to the occasional bout of sea sickness in the past but it's permanently docked - we should be ok. Maybe if we make a big enough noise and jump around a lot we will make the boat wobble. Hope I don't heave ho if you get my meaning...Decided to focus on Glasgow gigs for the time being before targeting Edinburgh and beyond later, Glasgow is just more vibrant and there is a good music scene there again for the first time in a while, with bands like Fratellis really getting the place fired up. Make Model are another good young band doing really well with a catchy sort of sound. The songs just stay around in your head for days. Good luck to them, fellow Cava users. We have been doing our practice at Berkely 2 where anyone and everyone who ever played has rehearsed, very good large rehearsal rooms and great gear but it can be hard to get evening rehearsal slots so we ventured over to the Practice Pad off Maryhill Road last week where Biffy Clyro did some stuff and we found that pretty good to use. So we are going back there again this week and I think we will stick with it, it's a bit more friendly and accessible. Also got chatting to a nice lassie who was helping out there and it turns out she is a classically trained musician, violin, piano, oboe etc. So I asked her if she wants to practise with us and see what it sounds like, a bit of electric violin on the Wreckingball tracks will work very well I think in live shows. Who knows maybe she will come along and show us how it's done! Otherwise I do the odd open mic around Edinburgh, it's a good way of testing out new songs and it is liberating just standing up and belting out a tune on the acoustic guitar. no band, no drums, no bass, nowhere to hide! But I always feel good songs work equally well when pared down and the more folky songs i have written seem to be going down pretty well. so maybe i will do some more open mics, band rehearsals are great but it's good to be able to just stand up and sing every once in a while. i don't tend to hold back too much with the vocal.....

me and the band will be playing a gig at Soundhaus, Hydepark Street, Glasgow. this is a weird but very cool music venue. I went to see a gig here once a few years back and it's one of those venues that is dedicated and devoted to music and bands. i dont think it's ever used for anything else. when you go in you are greeted  with a very long almost subterranean it seems entrance corridor, a bit like an entrance to a boxing ring. and then you get into the main gig room itself, a good stage and with a dance floor with completely uninterrupted views of the stage wherever you happen to be standing. great venue, great stage, it's a going to be a great gig...

gigging new material at Break out the Jams, 8.30pm. Famously where Fratellis played their first gig...

My name is david ell and I am here to promote my album called Wreckingball, written, produced and performed by me in Scotland over the past year or so. This is my first studio album, eleven very carefully arranged songs that are honest, emotive and soulful - music that I hope you will agree has depth. That's what a growing list of fans who have heard it tell me anyway. They tell me that my songs needs to be heard. I hope you take the time to listen and decide for yourself.  Tell me what you think.  But this is just my beginning. All the album tracks are up on my vox page but I have dropped a couple in here, Wreckingball (the title track) and Deepheart. Don't stop there. Please visit my page and listen to the others

Thanks for listening

                                   

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   

am finally getting the hang of the boring business side of things and all the tracks from the debut album are now available for download on I-Tunes, Napster, CD Baby and a host of other sites. CDs are also available for purchase. hoorah!

this is my very first blog post on vox! and what better way to kick off than to post a blog about my debut album called Wreckingball which i wrote a while back and finally got round to recording and mixing at cava studios in sunny Glasgow, Scotland over the past year or so. i gazed on in awe while bands such as the fratellis, make model, isobel campbell etc dropped in and out whilst i modestly went about the business of making my own record under my own steam. i am working on material now for albums two, three, four etc, in fact I barely stop writing for long enough to promote the material from the first album. but maybe i should say something about this album

it's a little bit indie, a little bit rock and roll, a little bit alternative, a little bit accoustic, a little bit melodic.my friends all say it's good. but they would say that wouldn't they...? happy to let the world decide for itself as I have put all eleven tracks up on vox for anyone to have a listen. because i am a technophobe the songs are uploaded in reverse order, the first album track is there last, the last album track is up first. you get the picture.

ps according to the seemingly unchangeable profile on vox, i am a US resident. this is decidely not true. i am a UK (Edinburgh) lad. i'm not patriotic. that's just where I happen to live and breathe and work and play.......well for now at least....