Gig flyers

I love drawing gig flyers!

Slagheap

Last night we went to The Victoria in Dalston to see Slagheap from Bristol and Nervous Twitch from Leeds.

Nervous Twitch are C86 style with a hint of surf.

Slagheap are my new favourite band! Gav said this gig was the best show we’ve been to this year and I agree. Slagheap sound like The Slits but are better musicians, more funny and more danceable. We bought their LP at the show and played it as soon as we got home. I hope they play in London again soon.

The Schizophonics

We went to the Lexington last night for an incredible and fun show by The Schizophonics from San Diego. The guitarist was all over the stage, doing moves like he was at Wigan Casino, all the time playing groovy fuzzy guitar. It was hard to believe that the band are just a 3 piece. The energy and fun of The Schizophonics is off the scale. My new favourite garage punk band! Can’t wait for them to play in London again!

Chew

At the Victoria, Dalston. Their first show in London.

Pussy Riot, Hagar The Womb, Hetze

Friday 20th May 2022, Het Depot, Leuven, Belgium.

This gig was a dream come true for me. After 6 months of intense learning I got to play guitar on stage with my favourite band at an amazing show.

First band of the night was locals Hetze. They are like a tornado; fast and in-your-face heavy punk, with short, tight songs that are full of energy and aggression. Hetze are coming to London in September to play Chimpyfest 2022, do not miss them!

Next up was us! I joined Hagar The Womb last September and have spent months learning to play their songs on guitar. The Hags were my favourites when I was a teenager, at that time the punk scene was completely male dominated and Hagar The Womb were one of very few bands of the time that I could relate to. I still love them and it is amazing to be playing with them.

We put on a lively and fun show and we had a great time playing. Karen and Ruth made it very clear what the band thought of Boris Johnson and Brexit, Mitch was in full-on show-off mode and the audience seemed to love it.

The lights went out and we were in darkness and then it was time for Pussy Riot. It was the first time I had seen Pussy Riot and I was completely blown away. Their show, Riot Days, tells the story of the Punk Prayer performance and their arrest, trial and imprisonment following it. Visuals including English translation of their words were projected behind them and the packed venue was captivated and in awe. Pussy Riot’s show is one of the most empowering and strong performances I have ever seen. Their strength and conviction is incredible, and it felt especially important to me (as a Brit) as our government is in the process of making protest illegal.

After Riot Days the group returned to the stage for a shorter performance in solidarity with Ukraine and to give a declaration of their opposition to the Russian invasion. Half of the merch sales for this tour will be donated to a Children’s hospital in Kiev.

Rabies Babies gig

Punk women, taking up the space we deserve.

Today we had a fun pre-gig practice with Mike (Dinosaur Skull) who is standing in for Tabi on drums at the Queens Head tomorrow. We are so excited about this gig, we’ve been playing gigs for almost 23 years and for most of that we’ve been the ‘token girls’ in a man’s domain. This is the first time we have played on such a female centric line up (Mike will be the only man on stage all night). 23 years ago we could only dream of this line up happening. Mike organised this gig, and when he was choosing the bands for the night he said that it didn’t hit him until the line up was fixed that he would be the only man on stage all night, and he said that he wants to wear a ‘token male’ T-shirt to the gig, (so I drew him wearing it).

Merry Xmas!

I realised that i haven’t posted for a while, i’ve still got a load of Euro football pics to put up, or maybe it’s too late now… Anyway, i did this the other day, a festive pic of Rabies Babies, for a Loud Women xmas gig flyer.

Lockdown 3 – Mogwai in our living room

Mogwai played an online gig in our living room. It was our first online gig. It was great. We got the screen and projector out for it and hooked up the sound to the stereo. In between each song I clapped and Gav whooped.

the pros of online gigs – no one talked through it, no queue for the bar or toilets, I wore my PJs, no journey home afterwards.
the cons of online gigs – the atmospehere wasn’t as great and it wasn’t as loud as it should be (I’ve got upstairs neighbours so can’t put the sound on as loud as a usual Mogwai concert)

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I Fought The Floor And The Floor Won

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Lyric zine for a Rabies Babies song about a messy night out.

Rape is rape, even if the rapist is in a band that you like.

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Illustrated lyrics for a zine to go with a song that I wrote about how men in punk bands seem to be able to get away with sexual assault.

I also used the drawings to make a lyric video for the song.

Glastonbury

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I’m a bit late putting this one up… my favourite Glastonbury for years.

Rabies Babies zine

I’ve started making a lyric zine for the new Rabies Babies record. All of the band members are illustrating songs, here’s a sneak preview of one that i’m doing….

Postcard for Juniore

Last year I saw Juniore play at the 100 club, i did this drawing and posted it on twitter. The band saw it and asked if they could use it on a postcard to be included in the vinyl release of their fab new album Un Deux Trois.

 

 

 

gig poster

I made a gig poster out of an old crisp packet.

 

birthday gig

I made a poster for a Loud Women gig (line up was part-instigated by myself and Rabies Babies drummer Tabi), celebrating many birthdays and anniversaries, with our dream line up.
Can’t wait!

guitar hero

Testing out a new approach – i did a pencil sketch, scanned it then traced in illustrator using a wacom.

Rabies Babies Tour!

I’m a bit late adding this one up… our oystercards did us well on saturday and we will top them up in time for the next gig back at the Hand in Hand on 13th April.

Ela Orleans, The Pastels

Cafe Oto, April 15th 2018

This was my dream gig. I hadn’t seen the Pastels play before, and I have loved their music for more than 30 years. For them to be playing with Ela Orleans promised to be the best thing ever. I was not disappointed. Ela Orleans did a ‘greatest hits’ set which was amazing, and then The Pastels took the stage and I thought I might cry because it was so beautiful.

Gwenno

Hoxton Hall 12 April 2018

I hadn’t been to Hoxton Hall since the mid 90s, I played there and it was falling to bits. I remember that a lot of the building was boarded up because it was unsafe, but now it’s been done up with lottery grants and is a fab place. Gwenno was perfect to play there. We saw her a while back at Moth Club and she was great, but this gig was outstanding. She tried to get everyone singing along in Cornish to her cheese song, but our London ears are unused to Cornish words so we mumbled along awkwardly.

In the day time I went to the North Korean graphic design exhibition at House of Illustration, and thought it’d be fun to attempt to draw Gwenno in the style of the North Korean poster art.

Emergency Bitter

March 23 2018 Basingstoke Irish Centre

Rabies Babies played a gig in Basingstoke with a few bands, including Emergency Bitter.
To be honest, from the look of them I thought that they would play boring old style punk, but they were really good and funny. I absolutely want to see them play again. I hope we do more shows with them. I was very impressed with the look of their fantastic shoes and leads, so this is what I drew.

Cambodian Space Project

R.I.P.

Hollywood Sinners

Hollywood Sinners at the Finsbury.
A proper good fun Dirty Water Club night out.

more Hollywood Sinners

HERE LIES MAN

The Moth Club 7th March 2018

Dingy Skipper

My band Rabies Babies played at the Hand in Hand in Brixton, with Dealing With Damage, Slow Faction, PCF and Dingy Skipper.
Dingy Skipper turned out to be my very old friend Dick Ugly, formerly of Hackney anarcho punkers Ugly Beat, a band who I shared many a bill with back in the 1990s.
I love Dingy Skipper – sort of like if Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie were Durham miners. This was his first gig, hopefully there will be many more.