No one cares about your creative integrity.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

HERE IS FRIDAY 7TH DECEMBER’S TOP 5 ALL THINGS AWESOME.

LET'S GET INTO IT...

1) Track of the week.

Rival Schools - (live) The Five Spot Philadelphia,Pa 6.01

2) Video of the week.

Mac Miller - Jet Fuel

3) Quote of the week.

“No one cares about your creative integrity, all that matters is that you’re here, working.”
- Marc Rebillet

4) Interesting thing of the week.

How to make Prodigy's legendary track "Smack My Bitch Up" in Ableton. Video describes, which samples were used by Liam in this wonderful track. Reworked by Jim Pavloff.

5) Gig of the week.

Pieces with Glam Racket DJ’s.

Local legends Pieces play louder than hell and do it well, with Glam Racket DJ’s to finish, guaranteed to be a busy one so get in early.

Speak to you next Friday,

One of them is called something.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

HERE IS FRIDAY 23RD NOVEMBER’S TOP 5 ALL THINGS AWESOME.

LET'S GET INTO IT...

1) Track of the week.

Official Promo Video for Radiohead's "Pyramid Song".

Another fantastic song from Radiohead, forget just how much amazing music they’ve put out over the last couple of decades.

2) Video of the week.

DJ Jon1st performs an impromptu set for Boxout.fm.

3) Quote of the week.

“One of them is called something and the other one, likewise, is named as well.”
- Bob Mortimer

4) Interesting thing of the week.

I’ve had a hectic week this week so haven’t read much at all, any suggestions?

5) Gig of the week.

Collective Vinyl Sessions - Aidy West & Rich Bee, Sat 24th Nov

A very interesting new club night at Maule Collective. Awesome beer, awesome music.

Speak to you next Friday,

Josh

I Wish.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

HERE IS FRIDAY 16TH NOVEMBER’S TOP 5 ALL THINGS AWESOME.

LET'S GET INTO IT...

1) Track of the week.

Download at iTunes Skee-lo I Wish (EP) : http://tinyurl.com/cyn2e3o Download at iTunes Skee-lo I Wish (Album) : http://tinyurl.com/conjur8 Stream with Spotify ; http://tinyurl.com/m89p5o5 [p]1995 Sunshine Entertainment under excl. license to Altra Moda Music. "I Wish" is a hip-hop song by rapper Skee-Lo released in 1995 as the first single from his debut album of the same name.

2) Video of the week.

This is the track 'Harmony' taken from the Secret Records DVD 'Hundred Reasons: Live At Freakscene' available now. Filmed at The Lemon Grove, Exeter on the 23rd November 2004 and features many of their most popular songs 'Answers', 'What You Get', 'Soapbox Rally', 'What Thought Did' and 'Silver'.

3) Quote of the week.

“Nothing good ever came from your comfort zone.”
- Ross Edgley

4) Interesting thing of the week.

WW1 guns fall silent.

5) Gig of the week.

Charlotte Carpenter, Alessi’s Ark, Beth Monroe live at The Playhouse, see you there.

Speak to you next Friday,

Josh

Strange things happen in the nighttime hours.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

HERE IS FRIDAY 2ND NOVEMBER’S TOP 5 ALL THINGS AWESOME.

LET'S GET INTO IT...

1) Track of the week.

More Bounce featuring Tranzformer, Grey Era and Spray Money. Scratches and cuts by Dj Mark Ski. Filmed, produced and edited by J-Sci Films.

More Bounce featuring Tranzformer, Grey Era and Spray Money (with cuts from Northampton’s finest Mark Ski),

2) Video of the week.

"The first full length album by Alexisonfire completely embodies the sound of late teens and early 20's. Full of dumb confidence and lacking in concentration. Hundreds of parts and riffs strung together in to a fun little hodge podge. We were living and writing freely. Sometimes too much freedom isn't always a good thing."

Alexisonfire - Documentary. A great look into the highs and lows of musical success.

3) Quote of the week.

“Everything's sh*t, so f*ck off.”
- Anon

4) Interesting thing of the week.

Thom Yorke performs Unmade live at Maida Vale studios for BBC Radio 6 Music This track was written by Thom Yorke as part of the score for the horror movie Suspiria & is featured in Mary Anne Hobbs' 6 Music show on Sunday 28th October.

Thom Yorke - Unmade, Live on BBC 6Music.

5) Gig of the week.

Wolfmania - S.G. Wolfgang/Future Love/Pieces/Howlin' Owls

Speak to you next Friday,

Josh

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

HERE IS FRIDAY 26TH OCTOBER’S TOP 5 ALL THINGS AWESOME.

LET'S GET INTO IT...

1) Track of the week.

"Juicy" by The Notorious B.I.G. From The Notorious B.I.G. album "Ready To Die" (1994). Download on iTunes: http://bit.ly/Havuw2 Listen on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/HGeoal © 2011 WMG

Notorious B.I.G - Juicy.

2) Video of the week.

The Clash Belle Vue Elizabethian Suite, Manchester, UK 15. November 1977 Capitol Radio : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VPkYzc1nE Janie Jones : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgwuwzfyvQ What's My Name : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YX4EBf93pU Garageland : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPTBP53xdDM This was a specially arranged full gig which was recorded by Granada TV, of which 4 songs have only ever been broadcast on the So it Goes shows.

The Clash - What’s My Name, Live 1977.

3) Quote of the week.

“Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis
When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this
50-inch screen, money-green leather sofa
Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur”
- The Notorious B.I.G.

4) Interesting thing of the week.

Music venues create communities too, but this is exceptionally articulate in explaining a problem we have in Northampton at the moment.

5) Gig of the week.

Big Lad/Sleep Beggar At The Lab.

NOT TO BE MISSED. This will live, loud and lovely (?). Get involved.

Speak to you next Friday,

Josh

I'm sorry I missed your birthday.

Audio Works turned 6 years old on Sunday, 16th April 2017. I only realised 5 minutes ago. I'm sorry.

It's hard to believe that we've been going for 6 years. You get so lost in the day to day running that you don't think about the past, just what's on today's to-do list.

In the beginning I set out trying to make a space for bands to rehearse with 3 simple but important features in mind;

1. Reliability
2. Professionalism
3. Friendliness

I've repeated those words so many times in the last 6 years, partly to remind myself that I need to maintain standards, but also to put out there what we offer so people that want those features know where to come.

I didn't want Audio Works to be the cheapest place (in any sense of the word), I also didn't want to create a space for huge stage rehearsals at thousands of pounds a week to hire. I had used rehearsal spaces before, some were great, some were terrible, so I had a good idea about what I thought was important. So, I borrowed money, then borrowed money against that money and got cracking.

6 years down the line and I think we've got the balance right, it requires daily work and constant improvement but Audio Works is in a good place.

• Our Reliability rate is 99.9%. I made mistakes on 2 bookings a couple of years ago (out of roughly 8,500 total bookings (both bands got free sessions as is the policy)).
• Professionalism and Friendliness go hand in hand. While we want people to feel comfortable in this creative space, we also want people to feel that their time and money is being taken seriously, both are usually in short supply. Less dodgy warehouse, more recording studio.

Obviously, we'd be nowhere without any of you guys, so...

THANK YOU!

In business, like music, you always ask yourself 'will anyone want this?', and the answer for lots of people is no. Not everyone wants the same thing, but fortunately there are enough like minded people to enable different things for different people (both business and art). I like to keep Scroobius Pip's advice in mind...

"We might not be for you, and that's OK."

Thanks again for your support, here's to many more years and hopefully we'll see you soon.

Josh.

Free video, desk concert, life improvement & podcast. You're welcome.

Happy Friday!

Here is Friday 17th March's Top 5. It's a cracker this week, feel free to share it around.

1) Video of the week.

Burn The Fleet - River Song

It's an oldie but a goodie. They've got tracks on both YouTube and Spotify, check them out.

2) Track of the week.

Pinegrove: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Another excellent instalment of Tiny Desk Concert. What a voice too.

3) Quote of the week.

“You can improve the fuck out of your life.” - Joe Rogan

4) Podcast of the week.

The Five Film Death Punch Podcast - Meg Amirghiasvand

Hayley and Mo's podcast provides another thoughtful insight with special guest Meg Amirghiasvand, whom you may know from OhBoy!, Future Love or Crazy Talk.

5) Gig of the week.

Lucky Shivers & Nikolas Gray

Two great local acts. You can also catch Nik Gray on this weeks Audio Works Podcast HERE.

Speak to you Friday,

Josh

(blog image found here)

How to make 50 podcast episodes.

We're fast approaching episode 50 of The Audio Works Podcast and I'm not quite sure how that happened. It's actually the second attempt at running a podcast, the first one was more of a live session with a chat after, but the process of setting up, recording a session, then recording a podcast was way too time consuming. It took a team of three of us and about 6 hours of work, it wasn't sustainable.

The second time around I made it simple. I bought a mic and literally met up with folks and recorded our conversation. So much more mobile and fast, and only required myself to produce.

The Audio Works Podcast

With any small town you soon find out that everyone knows everyone. Particularly in different scenes, wether that's music, rugby, fitness. These circles are small so you inevitably meet everyone involved.

If you're not involved in these scenes it's easy to not know of their existence at all. I knew that if I simply recorded some conversations with the plethora of interesting people in this town, it would make for interesting listening.

We've had musicians, doctors, business owners, exercise coaches, all sorts of diverse, successful and driven people and on hearing their attitudes and achievements I have pushed myself a little further, which is an excellent bi-product of communicating with them. Northampton is culturally rich, and this podcast is the tip of the iceberg.

So, feel free to give the podcast a listen, and maybe look at some of the guests work too. Let them know where you heard about them and I'm sure they'd love to talk to you.

Thanks for reading (and listening), and please leave a comment if you have any questions or opinions.

Speak to you Friday,

Josh.

The one upgrade to rule them all.

If I just get that piece of kit everything will be fine.

I've thought that a lot over the last 6 years, mainly because starting a business means all funds go to that and any personal purchases need to be REALLY justified. I often think that this extra piece of kit, this upgrade, or this new thing will make my mediocre thing exceptional, and that's rarely the case.

I put off starting a podcast for 2 years because I was waiting for the money to setup a professional broadcast quality studio, I finally realised it's more important to get it going, than get it perfect from the start (which is nearly impossible).

I bit the bullet, bought a budget all rounder microphone (Zoom H2n) and got cracking. I'm so glad I did because I've got to have long conversations with people I really respect and am intrigued by. If you haven't heard it treat yourself to an hours listening, CLICK HERE for iTunes or here to listen in your browser. Pick one at random and if you like it subscribe. There are so many amazing people, and they're all around us. It could be better sound quality, it could be more polished and produced, but I'd rather have it in it's current form than not at all.

It's the same with this blog. I was holding out for some kind of approval that I had interesting stuff to say, but in the end I knew I had to stop making excuses and get going. I'm not a great writer, and maybe I'm not interesting to you, but as with anything some of you will like it and some of you will hate it, and that's OK.

So, stop making excuses and get going, it's far better to get started and adjust along the way than it is to postpone for the ever-evading perfect moment.

If I can help you with what you're doing please get in touch josh@audio-works.co.uk.

Speak to you Friday,

Josh

I've found the perfect title for your autobiography.

Friday 29th April's top five is;

1) Video of the week;

Billy Lockett - Burn It Down.

Billy is a local boy done good. His quality of work is fantastic, and after our chat on The Audio Works Podcast #29 it's clear to see he's well on the way to a fulfilling and hopefully successful career. Check him out and get his music.

2) Gig of the week;

The Jackall Nine EP Launch at The Black Prince.

The Jackall Nine EP launch is tonight. Stalkers Studio are heavily involved and any gig at what used to be the Racehorse is fine by me. Get down and support them.

3) Quote of the week;

"Everything's sh*t, so f*ck off." - Anon

I used to work in a call centre (like most of us) and a colleague said she'd call her autobiography this. It never fails to make me laugh.

4) Article of the week;

The Not-To-Do-List.

I must admit, I am something of a follower of Tim Ferriss. You can't deny his ability to break down daunting topics into something easy to understand and carry out. This article is a small example of that. Subscribe to his podcast for extra knowledge.

5) Thing of the week;

NASCAR on YouTube.

NASCAR upload their races in it's entirety a few days after each event on YouTube. I can't think of any televised sport or event that does that. It's great. I watch it from time to time and it's great that we get this much free access. I think a lot of other events can learn from this, rather than holding onto each event and releasing the DVD or subscription service. I'm more of a fan because of this than any other reason. Go NASCAR!

See you next week,

Josh.