I have given my website a long overdue redesign and now with added ‘Song Trivia’ section where I give an insight into some of my lyrics.
Check it out…..
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A Few Dates…..
March 2013
Fri 1st EDINBURGH Forest cafe
with Breagh Cuinn and Brian Curran 7PM FREE ENTRY
Sat 2nd YORK Fulford Arms
with Stolen Embers 8PM FREE ENTRY
Sun 3rd BRADFORD 1 in 12
This is still to be confirmed
Mon 4th MANCHESTER Thirsty Scholar
8PM FREE ENTRY Great vege/vegan bar menu!
Tues 5th LEEDS Milo Bar
with Robin Leitch (Random Hand) 8PM FREE ENTRY
Wed 6th STOKE Rigger
Thur 7th TBC
Fri 8th LONDON The Grosvenor (Stockwell)
with Proud City fathers 8PM £3 ENTRY
Sat 9th TBC
Posted in Gigs, Music
Tagged 1 in 12 club, bradford, breagh cuinn, brian curran, edinburgh, forest cafe, fulford arms, gig, grosvenor, leeds, london, manchester, mark ayling, milo, proud city fathers, random hand, rigger, Robin Leitch, stoke, stolen embers, thirsty scholar, york
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Happy New Year
Looking back at 2012, I’m grateful to have been invited to play some really enjoyable gigs. I’ve loved them all but personal highlights are (in no particular order);
-Playing support to 999 at Drummonds which was good fun.
-Playing off the beaten track in Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Hebden Bridge which opened my eyes to the fact that playing ‘cool’ city venues often doesn’t mean they are the best for gigs or crowds.
-Playing at Milo in Leeds was when I finally got back on the proverbial ‘orse after having throat problems for the best part of 4 months which shattered my confidence and made me more nervous than I should have been.
-Getting a slot alongside Paul Carter and Joe Solo as part of the Hebden Bridge Punx Picnic was amazing (as was watching The Mob the night before at the Trades Club) and I have really fond memories of the few days spent in Yorkshire with friends, old and new.
-Being asked to play at the Aberdeen Trades Council Social Club back in April for the Hope Not Hate gig. The club closed down not long after and will be sadly missed.
-I have good memories of playing at The Bay in Glasgow, another free venue with a good atmosphere that has also sadly closed down. Maybe I’m the kiss of death?
-Putting my first gig on in Aberdeen at Cellar 35 with Billy Liar and Brian Curran. Great guys, great musicians, expect to see similar gigs in the new year.
-Last but not least, getting to tour Europe with Brian Curran. My first gigs in Europe as an acoustic singer/songwriter were fantastic, playing Belgium, Holland and Germany. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t wait to get back.
Anyway, new year is about looking forward and not dwelling on the past so in the next few months I’ll be playing my first Edinburgh gig (with Brian Curran & Breagha Cuinn), playing alongside Billy Liar in Aberdeen, heading off the beaten track to Banff where I’m chuffed to have been asked to play at the first concert held by the Kelpie Cafe at Banff Castle. For the first week of March I am currently booking a short UK tour with Leeds, Manchester, Bradford and Stoke currently confirmed. London and Chichester will hopefully be confirmed soon and I’m still looking at a few other places to play.
Beyond that? Hopefully Brian & I will be heading off to Europe before the summer and I really must get my second album finished. It’s been written for years, the guitar parts are all recorded, I just need to get off my **** and get it finished!!!!
Thanks for all your support, and special thanks goes to Morag for making most of this possible.
Happy new year
www.markayling.net
www.facebook.com/markaylingacoustic
Posted in Gigs, Music, News
Tagged 999, acoustic, acoustic punk, banff castle, billy liar, breagha cuinn, brian curran, joe solo, kelpie cafe, mark ayling, paul carter, punk, the mob
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Upcoming Gigs…..
OCTOBER
3rd – Fox & Goose, Hebden Bridge with Brian Curran & Cayn White
5th – L’Île Aux Trésors, Liege, Belgium with Brian Curran
6th – Crowbar, Groningen, Netherlands with Brian Curran
7th – Rehearsal Space gig TBC Berlin, Germany with Brian Curran
8th – Alter Bahnhof, Trittau, Germany with Brian Curran
9th – La Datscha, Potsdam, Germany with Brian Curran & Frustration (Seattle)
26th – Blue Lamp, Aberdeen, Acoustic Session TBC
28th – Perthsire Amber Acoustic Festival, Dunkeld
NOVEMBER
10th – Cellar 35, Aberdeen with Billy Liar & Brian Curran
TBC – The Forest Cafe, Edinburgh with TBC
Posted in Gigs, Music
Tagged acoustic, acoustic punk, billy liar, brian curran, cayn white, frustration, gig, mark ayling, punk, singer songwriter
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What Would Joe Strummer Do?
I got an email earlier about Strummercamp, with the title “What would Joe do?
Reading further, I discovered that there are more and more people wearing T shirts printed with the same question…..
WTF?
I remember reading a story about Joe Strummer being approached by some school kids backstage at a Clash gig (in the bogs, I think) and they asked him how they could ‘be more punk’. They were all wearing punk badges and ripped shirts etc and Joe basically told them that he’s not going to tell them how to live if they can’t work it out for themselves, they had no place trying to be more punk (or words to that effect).
That about sums it up really.
I’m sure of this though; Joe Strummer would NOT be fan of all the Clash tribute bands around at the moment and, though possibly flattered, I’m sure he’d much rather listen to something new than a rehash of the same old nostalgia trip (his band or otherwise).
And if he were to go to a gig, I’m also sure he’d listen to the lyrics coming from the stage and NOT be sat with his back to the band, talking loudly through their set whilst drinking as much beer as is humanly possible.
Punk eh?
Posted in Music
Tagged cover bands, joe strummer, mark ayling, nostalgia, punk, the clash, tribute bands
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Pay To Play…..
There’s been a lot of talk in Glasgow recently regarding bands being made to ‘Pay To Play’ gigs. A couple of the promoters that were targeted were NOT actually making bands pay them money to get a gig.
The deal is this;
-Accept the gig
-Get X amount of tickets to sell to your fans
-Pay the promoter 50% of what you earn from ticket sales
If you don’t sell all your tickets, you don’t have to pay money to the promoter. If it was Pay To Play, the musician would have to buy the tickets from the promoter and hope to sell them all to recoup their costs.
So it’s not.
Anyway, with all this in mind, it really irritates me that there are so many Pay To Play ‘opportunities’ online that everyone seems happy to pay for.
I recently signed up to Sonicbids
I signed up with them for a free trial period, just to see what it’s all about. Basically, you upload your details/music/videos etc and they give you a nice Electronic Press Kit (which you simply MUST have, apparently). After the month free trial, you have to pay them between $4.99 and $6.99 a month, depending on whether you pay it all upfront or not. This is for a service, so it depends how much each musician feels they need an online EPK. Then, the musician can use their EPK to get gigs with promoters that have signed up with Sonic Bids.
This is where my real issue is;
Each available gig opportunity costs from $0 to $20 to apply for. The $0 will still cost one ‘token’, of which you get a limited number but can buy more. The gig application is just that, there is no guarantee you will get the gig. So, it’s not even Pay To Play, it’s Pay To Be Considered To Play! The promoter is supposed to give each musician feedback as to why they didn’t get the gig but, from what I’ve read, they don’t even bother doing that.
Potentially, it’s a nice little earner for little work and open to abuse.
Reverbnation also have an EPK available costing $5.95 a month or $59.95 a year. Again, this is for a service so each individual has to decide whether they need one or not. I don’t need one, and don’t care if they charge $1000 a week for it if bands want to pay it.
BUT, I am signed to Reverbnation (for the Facebook player thingy) and every week I get an opportunity in my email inbox. This can be anything from a gig to radio airplay. FREE TO ENTER (with a Reverbnation Electronic Press Kit) So, not really a free opportunity. I viewed one of these web links this morning and it said “Free with Reverbnation EPK OR $10 entrance fee to cover administration”.
Again, all for a band/musician just to be considered.
No guarantees.
No refunds if you’re unsuccessful.
No explanation.
Why on earth are musicians the world over signing up and, more importantly, paying for these kind of deals?
Who can afford it? Not me, that’s for sure!!
This Place……
Recently, as everyone knows, some posh-daughter-of-a-millionaire got 2 years in prison for driving some hoods round during the London riots so they could loot shops.
Also, as everyone knows, a couple of chavs got 4 years each for trying to incite a riot in a field or village somewhere via Facebook.
So, please explain this………………..
Mother smiles as she walks free from court after being spared jail for killing thirsty son, 2, who mistook her toxic cannabis plant food for fruit juice – as she slept
- Aaron Booth died 11 days after drinking the toxic liquid
- Judge says he died a ‘prolonged and frankly horrible’ death
- The dehydrated child hadn’t had a drink since the previous day
- He suffered agonising internal burns and a collapsed lung
- His 23-year-old mother slept with her boyfriend until lunchtime
- Jury hears she had turned his room into a cannabis factory to ‘make money
?????????????
Posted in News, Politics
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Upcoming Gigs…..
28/29th July - Fox & Goose, HEBDEN BRIDGE Punx Picnic (with The Mob, The System, Autonomads, Total Bloody Chaos, Lowlife UK, Captain Hotknives + More)
31st July - Milo Bar, LEEDS TBC
11 August - Harbour Lights, PETERHEAD TBC
More to come…….
Posted in Gigs, Music
Tagged acoustic, acoustic punk, autonomads, captain hotknives, distorted truth, elizabethan, fraserburgh, gig, glasgow, harbour lights, hebden bridge, leeds, lowlife uk, mark ayling, milo, peterhead, punk, punx picnic, skizofrenik, splinter, the bay, the mob, the system, total bloody chaos
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Do It Yourself…..
Watching an episode of The Good Life last night, I realised how much we’ve lost as people in the way of skills and survival instinct.
We have become useless at survival. Everything is put in front of us at the supermarket. It’s all too easy. The first verse of Circle Of Life was heavily influenced by an old couple I witnessed in the supermarket moaning at the lack of choice for bog roll. There is over half an aisle given over to this product. These people were old enough to have been born during (or possibly just after) the war. Surely, even having one option for wiping their bums would be a luxury?? Obviously not, and it shows just how far we’ve slipped.
Gardening has become the domain of Anarchists and hippies. My Dad (as many people did) used to grow vegetables. It’s nothing new, so why has it become such an ‘alternative’ past time? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, and I’m happy people are rediscovering how to grow produce, but it’s sad at the same time. Face it, most of the veg in supermarkets is utterly tasteless, over-priced, and full of chemicals.
Same goes for alcohol. Expensive, often fizzy and tasteless, full of chemicals and a bulk of the money goes to the government.
I don’t garden (due to lack of space/Scottish weather/living in a rented house/general laziness) but I do make beer & wine. Gallons of the stuff. I worked out yesterday that I have paid for roughly 12 bottles of beer so far this year. I generally don’t drink in pubs as I’m performing, or driving, or both. The rest is home-made, very tasty, natural and best of all, CHEAP!!
I started a blog ages ago and it highlights just how cheap it is to start up making beer or wine. Start-up costs for beer HERE and wine HERE show just how cheap it is to produce something very drinkable, even with the extra cost of buying everything from scratch. Obviously, the more you make, the cheaper it becomes.
Come the revolution, backs against the wall, bop bop bop etc I’ll be swapping some of my alcoholic beverages for some of your carrots and cabbages, or bread and cakes.
But before then, we can be smug in the fact that (in a small way) we are taking profit away from the supermarkets and tax away from the government, whilst being kind to the environment.
Posted in Health, Uncategorized
Tagged alcohol, circle of life, gardening, government, home brew, home-made, self sufficiency, self sufficient, the good life, vegetables, wine
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Fat Bloke, Thin Book by Arturo Bassick
(Or My Life Of Total Glamour & Untold Riches In The Entertainment Industry)
Buy this book now.
It’s short, it’s funny, it’s entertaining, it’s a great insight into the punk scene of the late 70′s, it’s no bullsh*t, and it’s published by Arturo himself in true DIY spirit.
Oh yeah, and I couldn’t agree more with the section about tribute bands…..
For more info and to order -
http://www.thelurkers.co.uk/news.htm
Posted in Music
Tagged 999, arturo, bassick, book, fat bloke thin book, punk, the lurkers
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