The Ship

September 3rd 2010

- Setlist:
- Gravity
- Care
- My Bumper Book of Lies
I went to the open mic at the Ship in Kennington. After all, it's local and I like the idea of an open mic I can walk home from (yes, obviously, I can walk home from all of them eventually). Nice evening, everybody was very good and I got a free slice of pizza, which is something that's never happened before, at least not at an open-mic, and not without just grabbing the pizza and running.
There were a lot of cameras. Not all going at the same time, but that was quite an instructive thing. In fact there's now a video of me on YouTube, singing Care, which is where most of the bummers I made are. I've linked it, anyway. Instructive, in a horrific way. Shoulders look terrible - all hunched. Perhaps not the most flattering look, but I'm not sure what that would be short of total darkness.
If you do watch the video, there's a bit of banter at the beginning - a bit NSFW, by the way, I didn't know at the time it was going to be put on YouTube - and what I'm talking about is an area of ceiling plaster that had fallen off, which I was standing under. Everywhere else there was still plaster on the ceiling, so it could, theoretically, fall off.
As usual, it was a very informative way of discovering new mistakes and things that escape my attention - a couple of "where on earth am I?" moments, and I have a clearer idea of the sorts of songs I need to have, though whether I can write them to order is another issue entirely.
Still, free pizza.

The Ship
171 Kennington Road
SE11 6SF

A Lick of Paint.

August 31st 2010

I've been thinking for a while - since Another Time was released last December, actually - that the site should match it, so here it is. There have been rejiggings, and the downloads have been whisked away.
In particular, after many years of trying to roll my own audio-playing, I've given in to the urgings of sanity and am currently using Bandcamp - there's only Plucked, The Secret Agent's Dream and Another Time on there at the moment, but I'm sure all the other stuff will creep back at some point. How could it not?

The Virtually Acoustic Club

August 27th 2010

- Setlist:
- Gravity
- The Secret Agent's Dream
- Learning to Crash
- My Bumper Book of Lies
- Logodaedalus
- Bagatelle 3
- 100 Horses
- Iodine
Another very nice evening at the VAC. If it seems that I only play at the VAC these days, that's because ... well ... I only play at the VAC these days. Essentially, if I ever come out of hiding (such as to go to the pub to celebrate David's birthday, as happened last week), I get booked. Which is really nice, actually.
Tonight I'm on first, supporting Teppei Tanino and Jude Edwin-Scott, which means that after my bit I can have a beer and enjoy the rest of the show.
The proper classical still being down (I've addressed this problem since, and it wasn't the loose wire everyone thought, but something stranger), I took the Godin and the VG88. On the one hand this was a bit excessive for the room, on the other hand it did sound very nice and gave me access to things like reverb and effects - mild for Iodine, strong for Learning to Crash, over the top for Bagatelle 3.
Also, the concert was streamed, so theoretically people around the world could watch (or at least hear) the proceedings. Some of them - from as far afield as Wales, Scotland and Camberwell - did so. How very Modern.
One problem I had was sweating on the ends of my fingers - just enough that they stuck to the strings. This often happens, but I'd left my talcum powder in my other bag, and didn't remember until I'd started playing and found the stickiness occurring. What then happens is that I need to play with the tips of my fingers rather than the nails, which can make the faster passages trickier and a bit drunken, and of course distract from the other places that need attention (like singing, lyrics and left hand). It's curious that the things that go wrong, and the chords or lyrics that I forget, are never the things that go wrong in rehearsal. Always, on stage, I'm faced with a completely new set of difficulties. I suppose that's why I do it. That and the adoration, of course.
Special mention should go to Janeen, who struggled up from Sussex and reached the venue when I'd just finished.

The Perseverance
11 Shroton Street
Marylebone
London, NW1 6UG

Phil Jeays Xmas Extraganza and Raffle

December 9th 2009

The Battersea Barge
Nine Elms Lane
(behind the FedEx building)
London, SW8 5BP

I should admit that...

December 4th 2009

... not only have I not uploaded anything for a couple of weeks, but I won't be uploading anything for a while as there's nothing finished, and I'm really busy at the moment.
There is the Jeays gig on Wednesday (I should put an entry for that, actually...) and a new CD of my favourite of this years uploads around the same time. Check back for details.

The Virtually Acoustic Club Showcase

October 16th 2009

- Setlist:
- Déjà Vu
- Care
- Gravity
- Iodine
Lovely evening, everybody on top form - Caroline Dexter (with Lyall on mandolin), Leonard Ng, Mette Bille (with Jez on harmonica), Spekki Chris (with classic Electro-Harmonix pedal) and me. I played Deja Vu and Care in the first half and Gravity and Iodine in the second. General hurrahs, then.

The Perseverance
11 Shroton Street
Marylebone
London, NW1 6UG

Philip Jeays: London album launch

July 1st 2009

- Setlist:
- Gravity
- Nothing But Green Grass
- Learning to Crash
- River Rise
- Iodine
Begin something like 20:30 - I do Gravity, Nothing But Green Grass, Learning to Crash, River Rise and Iodine. There's a forlorn cry for The Things You Get, but I tell them to hang on until Christmas. Goes quite well, I think. I forget slightly less of the bridges in Nothing But Green Grass.
Lot of fun - very supportive crowd. I go fully a capella for the first verse of River Rise, and they seem to be with me.
I do a lot of mad banter. I wish I could remember half of that nonsense. Also plug the track-a-wee-upload concept. Perhaps I'll get downloads from someone who isn't a Chinese search engine bot. I seem to be very popular with Chinese search engine bots, though I doubt they count as an untapped market.

The Battersea Barge
Nine Elms Lane
(behind the FedEx building)
London, SW8 5BP

It's all fixed, I think...

June 4th 2009

OK, after a weird phase, it seems that the download link is fixed, the RSS feed for the new tracks is fixed, and it plays nicely with iTunes. Unless I'm dreaming it, which probably explains why whenever I run I find I can't move my feet.
I hadn't realised they weren't working until someone mentioned it in passing. And whenever I fixed one thing another went haywire, a bit like trying to level out the legs on a table by sawing bits off.
So, even if they haven't worked for you before, what the hell. Give it a try.

The Virtually Acoustic Club

May 16th 2009

I'll post a review of this soon, and a recording! I set up my Zoom H2 on a Gorillapod on a table and plugged my minidisc player into the mixing desk, and both recordings mixed together sound pretty good. However, I'm going to cheat a bit and cut out some false starts and crappy banter. It still won't be 100%, but still. Audio demi-verité.

The Perseverance
11 Shroton Street
Marylebone
London, NW1 6UG

You could say hello if you wanted...

April 22nd 2009

I realised that there was no email address or other way of contacting me on the site, so I've added one (the link to the right, under where my name is. Contact Me. That's it)
Don't know that I expect many people to use it, but it's there now. So.