Our last show of 2009 will take be Upstairs In The Attic, Auntie Annies, Dublin Road, Belfast.
Also on the bill are Strait Laces, and there’ll be a free compilation CD for every punter!

This will also be a bit of a celebration, cos if everything goes to plan, we’ll be more or less finished the bulk of our studio sessions by the time we play this gig! We’ve also been adding dates for our February tour with John Shelly and the Creatures, including Galway, Derry, Navan, Mullingar and Dublin. Full details to follow!

Don’t forget, if you wanna join into the Escape Act google wave… email me your username

rich

Tags: gigs by rich
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I’ve been playing about with Google Wave over the last few weeks, and i thought it would be a good place to discuss some of our plans for next year. Many definitions exist of what Wave is, and what its for, but broadly speaking, its whatever you want it to be.

I’ve introduced some topics covering ideas about Video, Release Formats, Gigging, Collaborations, and the discussion has wound its way round all of them with some very interesting thoughts on packaging, compositions, iPhone apps and story-telling.

With most of the hard work on album number two coming to an end, we’ve been pondering our approach for next year. First on the list is definitely engagement. As we’ve grown and evolved as a band we’ve realised that we have achieved most when working together, initially just as a band, and latterly with inspiring and creative folks to generate results that are greater than the sum of their parts. Equally, we’re not afraid to test out some new disruptive ideas for delivering our music into the ears of music lovers. The Wave is a good spot for putting those ideas out there and getting perspectives from a range of people.

If you have a Google Wave account and you’d like to join in, just search Wave for ‘with:public escapeact’ – otherwise send me an email with your account name and i’ll add you.

Tags: band, friends, wave by rich
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If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise.*

And, if you go down to the iTunes store today, you’ll find Cabin Fever and Sullied Behave for the Moon have been re-released by 17 Seconds Records!

To celebrate the release, we’ve created a very limited edition screen-printed version of the artwork….

Sold out!

This will be the last in the series of the Loosely Based on Fiction physical products.

^{* Escape Act takes no responsibility for any surprises you might find in the woods today.}

Tags: releases by rich
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Greetings from chilly Belfast. Brr. Brrrrrrr! Sorry, time to unpack the long johns i think….

So all sorts of fun has been happening since my last post. You may have caught up with some excerpts via our twitter feed…

We had three excellent inaugural gigs with Michael behind the drum kit. Our HWCH Dublin show had a great atmosphere and a warm, attentive crowd. We had a chance to bump into many good friends in Dublin, and make a few more new acquaintances. All in all it was another cracking festival, kudos to the HWCH/FMC for all their hard work. We also had a chance to chat to the nice ladies of the InkyWrists blog, read all about it here…

That was quickly followed by a Radar show at Queens Belfast. It was another step up performance-wise. Then it was on to the 13th Note in Glasgow for a 17 Seconds label show with Chris Bradley, X-Lion Tamer and The Dirty Cuts. We had a lovely time, particularly since it was my first, and long overdue show in Glasgow. The set got a nice mentioned on the Girls Sold Out blog too.

.

So this weekend, we’re back in Scotland, this time for 2 days of recording. We’ve more days booked in later in the month for mixing, and, well, we aim to have album number two in the can by Christmas! Plans are already afoot for next year. In fact, we need your help! If you have a Google Wave account, and are interested in shaping some of our release plans for next year, please get in touch.

Finally, the guys at 17 Seconds are re-releasing Cabin Fever on iTunes etc next week and we’ll have some very limited edition screen-printed artwork to mark the occasion… More news on that shortly!

Tags: band by rich
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Come along and check out the new line-up at these gigs:

Firstly, we’re proud to be playing the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival in Dublin. We’re playing the ‘4 Dame Lane’ venue (map) at 8pm on Saturday 17th. Check www.hwch.net for full details and ticketing. Over 100 bands play throughout the weekend, so its worth every penny!

Next up is an excellent line-up for Radar at Queen’s Speakeasy on Thursday October 22nd. Headlining are our favourite melody merchants Cutaways, with Dublin’s Robotnik bringing some electro-tunefulness to the mix.

Lastly and by no means least is an exciting 17 Seconds Records line-up at Glasgow’s 13th Note venue, on Friday 30th October. We’re be playing alongside Aberfeldy’s Chris Bradley, X Lion Tamer and The Dirty Cuts.

Hope y’all can make it to some of these shows!

Rich

Tags: friends, gigs by rich
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Hello folks,

Time for an update methinks! Sorry for the radio silence, i’ve been off on my honeymoon, but fear not, we have been busy!

Firstly the bad, and good news – Alan has had to move on from the drum stool to pastures new, accepting a shiny new job in Leicester. Needless to say, we’re sad to see a founding member of the band leave, but thankfully he won’t be forgotten, as I still owe him a tenner….. No seriously, Alan will still be playing an important part in our group by continuing to work on the many interesting visual aspects of the band, so expect more of his work to feature in upcoming releases, stickers, teapots etc.

Since Alan broke the news of his departure our network of spies has been scouring the countryside, and the, erm, cities for a suitable replacement and that man is Michael Sampson. We’re excited to have Michael on board, and in true Escape Act style, there’s little time for sitting around, and Michael’s first show will be in Mid October at HWCH in Dublin. (more on that in a near-future post).

Recording sessions have been going on throughout the summer, and its fair to say that we can see the end of the tunnel. We’ll have a full report and pictures to bring you up-to-date shortly.

So, the summer is over, autumn is just round the corner. In just another couple of months we’ll have completed the recording of album number two. We’ve got so much exciting music for you to hear, and many plans in the offing for bringing Escape Act to a living room near you, so please stay tuned!

Rich

Tags: band, pics by rich
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Back in the cold, dark depths of winter Rory McConnell from BBC Radio 1 – Introducing asked us to come in to record a session for his show. We recorded three tunes which were broadcast at the time, one of which was ‘Burning Sand’. We also shot some video footage, and our good friend Will McConnell has edited it into the opus you see before you…

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goHEXNXauwc

as you can see, this was recorded before Ross joined the band, but we love the live version, and the edit, so we wanted to share it with you. the song itself is Burning Sand, a new tune we’ve been developing in recent months, among the others that are being recorded. we’re really pleased with how it’s turning out and can’t wait to share the recordings too… more news on that as it develops…

please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Tags: new music, videos by rich
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This just in: Rocksound have reviewed Loosely Based On Fiction in their latest issue, awarding it 8 out of 10 and describing it as ‘genuine, genuinely affecting stuff’!

Look out for this issue to read the full review:

Thanks Guys!

Tags: reviews by rich
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hey folks, a little Belfast music industry related news that’s quite close to my heart….

after organising Unconvention Belfast, the folks at the Trans festival asked me to help deliver a mini-conference event, and the result of that is happening this Thursday 9th, 3pm at the Waterfront Hall. It’ll take a ’speed-workshop’ format, following on from the highly successful speed-networking at Unconvention. It means that folks will have the chance to speed time speaking with mentors in various areas including Touring, Recording, Marketing & Promotion, Labels, Music Management, and Publishing & Synch. [Trans Website]

The July Music Meetup happens directly afterwards at the Waterfront, so there’ll be plenty of time to have follow-up chats with mentors and other attendees. [Facebook Meetup Event page]

In Escape Act news, stay tuned for details of another release on 17 Seconds, pictures and notes from the recent session at Chem19, and also some video stuff too.

Rich

Tags: belfast music, friends by rich
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As previously advised, we spent some time with Will McConnell down at Belfast’s smallest bar The Spaniard, recording an acoustic version of a brand new song called Salt In Your Eye….

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l86kQVK8_LI

Will plans to record a series of songs under the ‘In Stores Now’ banner, so keep an eye on bandwidthfilms.com/instoresnow for more.

Enjoy!

Tags: friends, videos by rich
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