Air Traffic

Arggg.

That took much longer than I anticipated. Thank God for my ‘B’ in GCSE Computing. It seems I.T skills are more necessary than musical talent to be in a band these days…

But some of you should have a little audio surprise waiting in your inbox. Hope you like.

Hi Everyone,

So it seems like my summer came and went with little consequence and I feel, as I’ve felt every autumn for most of my life, kind of surprised about the whole thing. Maybe even deflated? But also weirdly determined to get things done. I think it’s an echo of school institutionalisation that I just can’t shake off; September still says “this year i’m going to get better grades and keep my books tidy.” Hah. So I find myself sitting in our little studio in the countryside in the pissing rain, considering the whiteboard scrawled with song titles good and bad that are itching to get out, thinking “this year…”

We found this place a few weeks back and it’s really starting to make sense. Since we recorded ‘Fractured Life’ some three years ago (oh god) I don’t think we’ve had a single practice that wasn’t all about preparing for a show or something. It’s been quite enjoyable just coming in a couple of times a week with no pressure and having a mess about with stuff. And so I think the plan is to get album #2 to a point where we can get into a studio and unfold it by Christmas. Tick tock…

Keep your notebooks tidy!

Much love,

Chris

hi… we’ve spent the last few weeks making our selves comfy in our new digs. after months, or possibly years, of searching for a space that was “just ours”, I think we’ve found it.

basically the last couple of years our gear has been frustratingly locked up in a “cage” in london. not only was this method expensive but its not exactly creatively the best thing… long ago were the days we could just plug and play an idea… we’d have to book a rehearsal room, book transport for the gear to get there, then spend half the day setting up and dealing with the moron ‘technicians’ more interested in lighting up another splif than getting the vocal to come through the PA. hmm. that turned into more of a rant than I planned. oh well.

so now we have taken over this old building in the middle of no where. its pretty run down but it does the job. all our gear is set up. we have a pool table. we have an old hi-fi.

the most important thing is we can just turn up at any time and play. just like we used to. no fucking around. somewhere between 3 years ago and now, we forgot how songs came about. especially when living in the capital city and having major record label budgets at our disposal. so i’m glad we’re away from all that now.

jim. x

hello belgium, thanks for having us back again.

time for us to hide away now and get back to work.

i’ll leave you with photos of the trip.

some home-made eurotunnel entertainment:

quack beer poured tourist style / grand place by night:

dressing room antics / shoes and sandwiches:

moments before walking in-front of 45,000 people, slightly bricking it:

pukkelpop show:

(big versions)

in the studio.

key hell:

somewhere we like:

centre piece of the Air Traffic tour production:

ready to go.

At Dover waiting for the chunnel now. On to Brussels! I’m sure a report will follow.

jim.

@ optimus alive! 09, lisbon, portugal

not exactly T In The Park, is it?

From last year… Outside the Bluebird Theater in Denver, CO, for our first show on tour with Elbow in the States.

(klik2mkeBIG)

suffering the obligatory post tour misery. wish we were out for longer, but totally accept that we’re not ready to be and there are other things we need to focus on. Thanks everyone for coming and showing love, it was greatly appreciated.

Manchester was a laugh as usual, just wish we could have stayed out all night instead of having to drive home. Next time we’ll make it a thurs/fri and show big hands the activity it deserves.

on the plus side we found a greek(?) typewriter and a japanese ‘pocket’ (yes that’s what it says) dictionary on the street:

view from ‘hands:

Hyde park tomorrow – should be a laugh. maybe see you there…

x

Currently sat in the back of the van heading down the A1 for tonight’s show in Manchester – possibly slightly on the wrong side of the speed limit due to us breaking down (no tour would be complete without) in Newcastle this morning – but we’re all good now – just overtook the Astro Firs bus much to our amusement (I couldn’t possibly divulge any details) About to run out of battery, but I just wanted to say the shows have been great – looking forward to topping it off with the final show of this tour tonight at The Deaf Institute – which is now sold out! Party at Big Hands after!