How I almost gave away our bassist.

At sometime in mid-2009 I find myself drunk at a bar with Greg who puts on shows in South London under the name Staying South. He's a very good dude who has put us on a few times in the past and always puts on well promoted, well attended shows. I think it was a Bomb The Music Industry show, but I have no idea really. Greg is telling me he wants to start a band and do I know anyone interested in joining. PJ (from PJ and Gaby) had been telling me a few months earlier that he really liked our band and if we ever wanted a bassist he would be that guy and would tour the world with us. I turned him down. Politely, of course. I said we were happy being a two-piece (when we wern't really, but hadn't discussed getting more people involved) and that if our situation was to ever change we would let him know immediately. I told Greg to speak to PJ as PJ always wants to play, is rock-solid at pretty much every aspect of being in a band and was looking to join another band that he could do more shows with than was possible within PJ and Gaby. PJ was, absolutely, the guy he needed.

Anyway, they formed Rooftops, with Jugs on guitar and Pook on drums. Awesome.

A very short period later and things have goten so bad within our band that we decided we had to get more people involved, a drummer and a bassist. Josh saw PJ first and asked him to join our band on drums or bass, whichever he wanted. PJ had just joined Neil Sutherland and Friends filling in on guitar and was practicing and playing bass in Rooftops frequently. Needless to say, he was a bit pissed off and we felt like assholes. He said to leave it with him for a while but I wasn't keen on waiting. At some point I found myself running through an Asda car park at PJ as he was leaving to a show with Neil Sutherland mid-tour yelling "join our band!". He gave in and now we share PJ with Rooftops. It's working so far and whilst PJ probably has very little time to himself, both bands are that much better. But, how do you share a bassist with another band when you both want to tour?

YOU TOUR TOGETHER!

Officially announcing the Rooftops/AIHN UK tour from 1/4/10 to 9/4/09

I would have been better if I announced this when all the dates were finalised and the tour flyer was done, but whatever, I have tons of stuff to post here over the next few days and (including studio photos and a real-life video). Here's a photo of Greg wailing to tide you over till April.

Dan.