Our add on kerrangradio.co.uk has turned out well, have a look for yourself and try the link – its quite fun. If you don't see it right off refresh the page a couple of times and it will appear.

 

 

 

 

The Live Rooms/LOFT - Preston & Soundhouse - Bolton

Mucho excitement as barkerhound hit the road for their first gigs outside of the Midlands, particularly on my part as we were heading to Preston, the scene of most of my drunken nights out from the age of 16 - 18 before I moved to Coventry.

The Live Rooms was a cool little venue, but it was a good job my fantastic Northern friends turned up to witness barkerhound live for the first time - otherwise we'd have been playing to the bar staff!

Then we headed over to Manchester for the night to stay with friends Tom & Claire. Friday day was spent trekking round Manchester on foot avec SatNav to pop some press-packs to people & venues - hopefully something will come of this. If not, always nice to have a tootle round Manchester.

Friday night we hot-footed it to Bolton Soundhouse, with Tom & Claire in tow. The sound was great at this gig, a really good venue and a decent sized crowd who had a good ol' bop to our tunes - love to watch people try to dance to 7/8 :)

Our home for the night was Tom & Claire's flat in Manchester, and then we hit the road on Saturday to head back to sunny Coventry, having completed our first (very) mini tour!

Sunday, we had a meeting with some lovely folks to discuss creating a video to go with our single Hatch a Plan - more on that as and when!

Thursday 29th may: the bar academy – plus a review and a photographer
 
This is the one we’ve been working towards recently, to show ourselves off in a good birmingham venue and get a crowd in there. Our lovely fans did their bit and came in force, tooled up with whoops, wolf whistles and vocal chords at the ready.
 
We had Mel Jones http://www.myspace.com/1writeupyourstreet  there reviewing the gig and Dean http://www.myspace.com/deanosphotos taking shots of us givin’ it beans.
 
I’ll leave the comments on the gig to Mel and will post up photos as I receive them.
All in all it was a great night, audience feedback was very positive, Mark got to play a lovely Gretsch drum kit, the sound on stage was great and out front was said to be 'top notch' - cheers sound crew.
 
Next we travel up north for gigs in  Preston and Bolton, then London at the end of the month - good times!
 
ta ta for now
 
WIll

The gig:
 
‘barkerhound have a really meaty and distinctive resonance, comprising a blend of pulsating drum beats, mesmeric guitar hooks, velvety smooth basslines stunning organ keys and quirky vocals.’
 
‘Musically, Barkerhound are as tight as one of Joan Rivers’ facelifts and all four band members are remarkably creative and talented in their musical abilities. The complex changes and breakdowns in their music are breathtaking and inimitable with the unpredictability of where their sound is going to take you next keeping you thrillingly hanging on a rope constantly.’
 
‘…standout tracks from the set included the stunning anthem, The Things that Scare You and heartfelt belter  Injuries’
 
‘This is a band that has worked hard to craft and perfect their sound and their live performance proves their abilities as passionate and accomplished musicians. After watching them live, you’ll be desperate to get your hands on a copy of the album because they are a band that you will want to see and hear again and again.’
 
For the full review, and others of upcoming and major acts go to - http://www.rock3music.com/rock-music-artists-reviews/4448-barkerhound.html

 
Sunday 25th May: The Golden Cross – the gremlins return.

 

The Cross again, it feels like our 2nd home sometimes, it’s had a lick of paint now and a bit of graff work done and mostly looks better for it. Seems to me the wall space balance of a few of the musicians immortalised there is a little off kilt though.
 
Anyway we had the first slot, were feeling ready to rock off the back of a rehearsal just hours before with plans to air some new material. A reasonable audience (more than the usual handful) trickled in and we got on with it.
 
 Now! - we have a history here with gremlins in the system, some kind of ethereal force it seems that is determined to scupper our best efforts to rock. Mark and myself have had our time as has Rog, so, as form suggested it was Hazels turn to burn. Her wires were acting up, sounds were not triggering and at one point when I looked over to see how she was fairing I saw her playing a line with her right hand, her left hand was frantically holding in or adjusting wires all with a big smile on her face as she took control of the alleged ‘Cross Poltergeist’.
 
Never give up, Never Surrender! And so it was, we came off stage to some great feedback and enthusiastic encouragement. The new ones went down a treat too with ‘The Things that scare you’ picked out as a set favourite by a number of fans.
 
On to the Bar Academy on Thursday
 
Will

 

friday 16th may: coventry student's union and I Tunes

 

After the non-event of The Phoenix last week (notice there is no blog entry! Although we might have some live tracks to play you from it…) it was nice to play a gig where the sound was good, the venue was full and we were back on form with the boys in the band fully recovered from the ‘man-flu’. With a few exciting gigs on the calendar (the Soundhouse in Bolton, the Kasbah in Coventry and Bar Academy in Birmingham) it’s all looking good for the summer so far. On this topic; you can get tickets for our Bar Academy gig from midnight records in Coventry Market if you’re interested. 
  
Aside from the usual bread-and-butter gigging we have just released our album, friend / enemy (delete as applicable), on a host of digital outlets including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and Amazon MP3. It is being processed as we speak and should be available on all of these within the next month, so keep checking back. We’ll be promoting the online release over the summer whilst we get to work on raising the capital for the hard copies. We’re still on the phone trying to enlist support for the barkerhound cause, and we’re still looking at a number of options to push the band on further – we’ll keep you posted if we commit to anything.  

Anyhow, take care. See you out and about
 
Rog
 
 
friday 2nd may: barkerhound in the shops

 

 

So there’s a little bit of barkerhound being played round

Coventry City centre now. If you want to seek us out go to Bubble - a fine purveyor of all things alternative on Ironmongers Row down the Burges, the staff are lovely there and will soon be selling our album your friend/enemy (delete as applicable) for us.

 

Also Forbidden Planet, a little further up the road on the same side, are playing our album, so listen out if you’re a Sci - Fi or comic book head that shops there, we might be the sound track to your retail therapy. 

 
 
And there’s Midnight Records at the back of the indoor market - a fine independent record and memorabilia stall. From May 14th you will be able to purchase tickets for our upcoming Bar Academy gig on May 29th at the price of £4, They will also be stocking our album on release.  
 
 
friday 11th and saturday 12th april: double crossed
 
Two gigs in two days at two different venues, both with the word ‘Cross’ in their title… The Cross Café in Mosley and The Golden Cross in Cov (CovFest). 
 
The Mosley gig was cool, although it was a last-minute gig; we had little time to get folks down, so the audience was a bit thin. CovFest was cool too, but the unfortunate rhythm section had a bit of a ‘mare with sliding drum kits and farting bass amps! Will’s coordination skills were stretched to the limits, using one foot to trigger his distortion pedal, the other to stop Mark’s kit from moving every time he hit the kick drum, whilst using his third foot to give the bass amp a kick when it decided to push out freakish, sub-bass noise at inappropriate moments during our set. We nonetheless gave a good account of ourselves before me and Will had to run off to other gigs with our respective ‘money bands’. 
 
Rehearsal was fun on Sunday when I realised that my guitar hadn’t come into the van after the Saturday night gig, cue desperate phone calls and a speeding Volkswagen. Luckily no crimes had been committed and my precious axe was safely in my arms once more. I think it was Atomic Kitten who said “you can make me whole again”, an apt lyric in this situation from one of Britain’s greatest girl groups...
 
Anyhow, here's a pic from Covfest:
  
Rog

 

                            
 

       
saturday 29th march 2oo8: the dog and trumpet; are you well endowed?
 

The glue-sniffing skinhead (“I only like drum and bass”) walking around with his ‘john-thomas’ out, antagonising various band members, trying to cadge a drink, a cigarette, generally looking for a rise, pushed it too far when he found himself in front of our drummer. Mark was a picture of calm until he threatened to "bang his missus". Cue THE RAGE. 
 
Now, bear in mind our drummer is a 6ft 3inch Aikido blue belt and built like an ammunition battery, it’s probably fair to say that the scrawny tracksuit had ‘met his match’. But fair play, the solvents must have given him some warped sense of judgement because the fact Mark stood a full 12 inches taller didn’t seem to phase him in the slightest, even when Mark bellowed (and I mean bellowed) “WALK AWAY NOW!” bringing the whole venue into silence, the little malnourished fella still yapped around like a demented terrier. It wasn’t until the drummer pushed him in the neck sending him flying a few feet onto his arse that the situation came to a head. The bar manager eventually rounded them up and chucked them out, and we went about our business. I suppose the moral of the story is… if you’re gonna walk around with your cock out high on Araldite you better be certain that you’re well-endowed. 
 
Anyhow, the gig was pretty gig good, apart from Will’s bass amp having a fit. We played a heavier set bringing out the big riffs and the audience responded with a bit of the ol’ head-banging and Will’s rowdy Nuneaton friends helped restore a more friendly vibe to the venue. It’s good fun being in a band, innit. 
 
rog 

 
saturday 1st march 2oo8: golden cross all-dayer
 
A buzzing night at the Golden Cross with a really good line-up, Pete did a grand job on the desk pulling it all together and all the usual Cov suspects were out in force. Here are some pics for your delight (thanks to Androo Stain for his sharp-shooting): 
 

 
                         

 
The gig was wicked, no drama. We're looking at getting in at the Colly (or Kasbah if you're that way inclined) in the near future, think we might be on the bill at the Dog and Trumpet on the 29th March and we're also on the bill for CovFest at the start of April. See you soon! 
  
rog 
  
 
friday 29th february 2oo8: the oak; a battle with fate
 
This is a gig we won't forget in a hurry... aside from the fact we had to sort out the PA and engineer the night ourselves (not one of the seven sound engineers we know were available), we had to contend with the elements. The gig was in the big 'bouncey-castle' marquee outside, and yes people could have a cigarette whilst they watched us play! The gale-force winds constantly threatened to blow everything away, with tarpaulins knocking our gear over until we found a 'safe' place for it.   
 
We started playing, with all of three people in attendance, and got to the first verse of Yeah! before Will broke a string on his bass - however, fate wasn't finished there, it happened to be a string that Will didn't have a direct replacement for; improv' was called for. We continued playing and Will joined in half way through our second song. After the third song the rain came. It dripped through the ceiling of the marquee onto my microphone and stage monitor and Hazel's keyboard. Stop! House music on. We checked everything and moved the electrical gear out of the way of the wet. We WILL play this f**king gig. GO! People started to filter in, we had an audience and all looked rosey. 
 
As the water started to trickle around the mains cables we decided to play one last song and not push our luck. We played Fraud (If Ever I Saw) and at the moment when the big riff kicks in near the end fate turned the wind on 'full', he blew the shit out of us! It was like having an industrial wind machine, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I felt like Slash in the November Rain' video; it was wicked!

rog 
  
 
friday 22nd february 2oo8: the hope and anchor, coventry 
 
As the second band (Little Girl Screaming) finished their set we begin to tap our feet with the usual pre-gig anxiety that kicks in about now. shock! Horror! As we're sitting by the door we get a front-row seat as our audience begin to file out one by one until we're left with an empty room, the promoter looks distraught, we remain philosophical. So, we play the gig and slowly but surely an audience appears from nowhere and what was turning into a mild embarrassment evolves into a decent show. 
 
So you can win them all then...
 
Next week sees us playing two gigs in Coventry, the Oak on Friday 29th and the Golden Cross on Saturday 1st. We're looking at getting out and about the rest of the country after these so you should head over if your local!
 
In a bit
 
rog
 
 
monday 11th february 2oo8: listen to our shiney new stuff
 
For a long time now we have been 'all talk and no trousers' when it came to our new album, but finally we can deliver a couple of tracks as evidence that we haven't been skiving off (honestly boss). You can have a listen on our myspace. 
 
These are two tracks we're considering as 'singles', at the moment the thinking is that we will simply distribute these digitally and do an all out shop-fest for the hard copy of the album (the design is finished by the way, just sifting through the quotes from printing companies).
 
Other news: We're looking to get on the Barfly circuit, we played a gig there last month and they dug our tunes, just need to find time to get in touch. We're also ringing various music agents and letting them know we exist.
 
Aside from this we're still putting together our record company and trying to convince the people with the cheque books to get us out of our jobs. Busy busy... 
  
Anyhow, take it easy!

 
rog   
  
 
sunday 13th january 2oo8: coventry students union, birmingham barfly 

Yes, we supported Alike Cooper! A jolly old night was had by all, although we didn't sell our usual ratio of CDs due to the price (£3) equating to 3 beers at the SU bar. Kiss would have trouble selling merchandise with competition like that. Here we are....

                                      

 

                                 
 
 
 Then off to the Barfly for tea and crumpets... This was all good too. You can see some pics on Adam Hale's myspace (there is a slide show in his 'who i'd like to meet' section): 

http://www.myspace.com/adamthale 
  
Adios,
 
rog
  

monday 17th december 2007: the queen is dead long live the queen

 
Hello little fella!

 

 Just a quick update to tell the world (or the four people that might stumble across this post) that we have finally finished the album, although this is simply the begining of a whole new world of album design/artwok shenannigans that we need to work through before we can release it upon the world! We have the main theme for the packaging and all of the raw materials, we just need to sit down with the designer and give it a good old 'one-two' in the face until it "canne tek ne more". We're gonna punch it in the face!

 

 2008 is (possibly) gearing up to be the year for barkerhound, we have teamed up with a manager and a PR company etc and it's currently proving hard to keep our feet on the ground. We keep on coming out of meetings bouncing off the walls because of the the weird and wonderful things they have planned for us, it seems like everything is a possibility. There's talk of us all leaving our jobs and doing this full time come July, even talk of us moving in together (although the Lion has a tendency to be very territorial, so we're assessing the practicalities of this)..... It could all amount to nothing, but at least something positive is happening.  

 

 Some tracks from the album should hopefully reach some sort of digital distribution (we're undecided on how we want to play it at the mo) sometime in the new year, with manufacture of a hard copy hopefully reaching us by February.With the wind in the right direction there should be an official album launch in April, we're drawing up the schematics as I type.

Rog

 
monday 29th october 2oo7: the album that time forgot

 

Hopefully this will be the last album 'update'.......

Just a few tweaks and a few bits that need re-recording, the tracks should all be finished early November. Once this is done we need to focus on the design aspects for the cover and whatnot, we have the raw materials (thanks to Carl for this), just need to get on and do it. We've set a realistic date of March for a 'release party' (cus this needs organising as well!). We'll get something on-line ASAP so you can hear what all the fuss is about.

 
Apart from this all is well in the barkerhound camp. We're writing some new material, and getting our act together on the organisation side of things. We'll be booking some shows at some point so keep your eyes peeled.
 
Anyhow, job done, take it easy

rog