3 months sounds like a long time to be working on a 5 minute video, but that’s nothing compared to the amount of time and effort Tom Gee Band have put into their debut album, ‘Swapping Stories’. I’d first heard of blues artists Tom Gee Band a while before their EP ‘Better Things To Do’ was released last year and I was excited to be asked to come along to film some behind the scenes of the new recording.  I caught up with them in the studio at the start of February when they already had a large portion of the hard work done, and even without vocals, brass or a finished guitar track it already sounded like the best work they’d written yet.  I really enjoyed the couple of days I spent there, trying to stay out of the way and be as invisible as possible with my camera so I’d catch the real atmosphere and creativity of the process.  David Sudall the drummer, who was first to lay down his parts for the album, didn’t let that stop him from coming back into the studio regularly to help make decisions and did a great job at capturing even more footage of those memorable moments. After the long days in the studio came the organisation of the album launch party.  The HiFi Club in Leeds is a great venue and suited the occasion perfectly.  Tom Gee Band’s set that night was probably one of the best I’ve ever had the chance to record.  The crowd was loving it, the band were clearly enjoying themselves, and it was so great to hear the songs I’d heard be changed and played a million times over in the studio finally be revealed to the public.

Since the album launch the band have been busy travelling the country, playing their new material for hundreds of people.  Having been to Cheltenham Jazz Festival before I knew I had to bring my camera along to capture the completing footage for my trailer.  The afternoon acoustic set they played in the Woods drew quite the crowd, but their set that evening was really what they had been looking forward to.  The audience loved the new material, even providing the band with a standing ovation at the end.  Seeing this really made me understand why they put so many months of long days and late nights into recording the album.  The hard work certainly paid off and I’m glad the album is getting the recognition it deserves. After all those weeks of getting in the way with my camera, sitting down to create the Swapping Stories video trailer proved tricky as I had so much to work with it was hard to know where to start. I wanted to showcase the talent and variation the album contains to make people want to hear more, but also show the personalities of the band and make it enjoyable to watch. Between trying to choose mere clips from 11 tracks of catchy riffs and runs (Matt’s saxophone solo was a tricky one to cut short but I just had to use as much of it as I could) and sifting through the hours of footage I’d managed to gather up over the months, keeping this video short was not easy! One thing I did notice in this edit (apart from the abundance of hidden dancing talent the band should really bring to the stage) was just how tight they are as a band, especially considering there are eight of them.  As I was syncing live footage to tracks from the album recordings I really wasn’t expecting it to fit as well as it did, but there were some clips that just landed perfectly in time – couldn’t have planned it if I’d tried! I’m really happy with how it turned out and I think it shows the relaxed nature of the band and their blues artists talent as well as giving you a taster of what the album has in store!

Now onto the next big project… which single needs a music video?

Buy ‘Swapping Stories’ from our online shop.

More Tom Gee Band videos can be found on our official YouTube channel here.

See more of Clarissa’s work on her YouTube channel here.

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You see, although originally being called just ‘Tom Gee’ was never a contentious issue for any of us in the band, it seemed more of a problem for venues and new listeners to get a grasp of. We were being billed on acoustic sets – thinking Tom Gee was just one person…which although may make perfect sense to the untrained viewer, you don’t see the likes of John Mayer or Bon Jovi needing to add a suffix to their name. However, others do use them – such as Dave Matthews Band or the John Butler Trio. And so, we decided to change to it too.

But more than this, moving to the new band name also represents a progression in the way we work as a unit. Tom, naturally comes up with all of the new songs. They are his lyrics and his ideas. But when he brings them to the table, they get somewhat morphed when put in front of the rest of the band. Take the ‘Superman Song’ for example (which if you haven’t checked it out yet – you should, here! ) This song Tom first showed me on his acoustic guitar. No sooner was he into the first chorus and this piece just screamed gospel to me! We knocked it out in the next full rehearsal, where the horns came up with a stonking line for the chorus, and the girls made their stunning impact known in the middle breakdown section. Not to be over-looked – I should also point out Gav’s subtle but funky keys riffs over Jim Jamm’s swaggering bass line which just locks the whole thing down…Can you tell we like this tune?!

So there you have it – we’re now the Tom Gee BAND, and things are shaping up nicely! We’ve got a string of gig bookings – including one in London on 5th May where anyone who fancies a free trip down to the big smoke should let their voices be known on the facebook page! It would mean a great deal to us if you could lend us a day of your weekend…its quite simply an important gig, as we’re being scouted by an agency down there…

Finally, check out the second track of the Peak Sessions tracks, ‘On My Way’ – its being pre-released TONIGHT to anyone who’s already signed up for the free downloads – and it will be with the rest of you very soon!!

Anyway, m’off – stay sharp, stay cool – and keep listening to the Tom Gee Band

Thad

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Well, it’s afternoon technically but I don’t really care. I’m very pleased to announce that we are Tom Gee Band and we are 8 beautiful people strong; David Sudall, Jim Jamm, Gavin Stevenson, Joe Roughton, Matt Newby, Laura Popperwell and Bridie Burkinshaw. And me, but yeah. Sort of goes without saying doesn’t it?

We have a gig at the Library with our good friend Richard from the 360 Club. It’s 27th January a Friday night in Leeds. Get down for a chance to be on the Suzie’s Rendez-Vous video! AND our 2 new tracks will be available. AND it’s the first full band gig. AND it’s going to be awesome, fun-filled and groovy. One last plug, please please please like the fan page on facebook if you don’t already. If you do already muchas gracias. The new year looks exciting and hopefully we can make it as good as last year. Not much to follow is it really? UK & Ireland tour, 02 Arena, new EP….just casually. Crack that one out again? You bet. Here is a video of our misdeeds at the O2 last year. Thanks for your support from 2011 and as for 2012? (Cue cool sign off line in Lethal Weapon style) I’m gettin’ too old for this… doesn’t really work does it?

Schmeh (there’s an underrated word, yes it’s word) I’ll leave you with this gem, courtesy of Mr. Jamie Moore. Enjoy and See you soon.

Hasta luego

TG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZpEDKwPUQ0

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So fresh from the EP Launch we ventured over the border, well Manchester. The Night & Day to be exact, a cracking music venue. This was one date Dan couldn’t make so after bumping into Mr Dawkins at the 360 gig we asked him to step in – “Yeah man, I’ll vibe it,” he said – so that was a yes then!

It was good crowd, happy to make plenty of noise which is always good. It’s nice to know your audience is actually listening.
We must mention Jonny on the door (top man) and a particular thanks to Joe for working wonders on the sound desk – cheers guys.

I really like the feel of ‘The Night and Day’ we really must go there when we’re not gigging – it’s that sort of place. The feel to the whole place just works somehow.

We altered the set a little and tried a few things out and they worked. Then it was back in the van and back to Yorkshire.
You can check out the video blog so far [here]

Next stop Liverpool!

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Okay there were no rocket-propelled grenades but we did launch the EP, sell CD’s and get recorded by the BBC! Yeah really – the performance was recorded for BBC Introducing and will feature on Alan Raw’s show, which goes out on BBC Radio Leeds. Alan is a well known supporter of new music. He had us on the show previously for the launch of the ‘Speak Easy’  E.P. and we’ll be back for an interview next Thursday – don’t miss it!

It was a top night with three other great acts: Neve, Nigel Passey and Love of the Brave [There was something familiar about the guy on the semi-acoustic but I can’t put my finger on it!]. The 360 club is just a proper music venue which attracts a real appreciative and discerning audience who thankfully seemed to love it.

We played all four tacks from our new E.P. ‘Roots’ and they went down a storm and exclusive, hot-off-the-press, CD’s sold really well (thanks Karen and Chris). A massive thanks and well done to Dan, who really was the man, stepping in for Jamie and keeping the Get Out of Bed Tour alive!

Thanks to Richard for promoting the evening, we appreciate it, and to Pete on the sound desk for making us sound so good!  It was great to see Chris Dawkins and Kenny Higgins in the room. A really big thanks also to everyone who came to support us on an epic night – The E.P. Launch, the official start of the Tour, and our last home-county gig for months!  Yep, now we’re off! First stop Manchester. Tonight we’re at the Night ‘n’ Day, Manchester if you’re about pop in and see us. Sunday we head for Liverpool (Django’s Riff a brilliant venue) then it’s off Darn Sarf!

We’ll keep you posted here and in the picture Gallery.

Following last night ‘Roots’ is now available on iTunes. So check it out on the music player below then mozy on over to iTunes and get your very own copy, why don’t you?

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However – On Sunday we shot and edited a promotional video for our E.P. Launch. On Monday after getting the EP mixes back from Roni I took them down to Warwick Pilmer & Tony Bonner at Clipstore in Kirkstall to do the mastering. Took all afternoon but really pleased with the finished product. 

Left the boys at Clipstore to do the copying and printing of the CD and went home to upload the tracks to iTunes ahead of the launch on Friday.  Finalised the design for the inlay and passed to printer so everything in place for Friday.

In between all this we were setting up the rehearsals which are pretty intense all this week, getting up really early (9ish) and playing all day at Bluewood Studios.  Sounds great, everyone moaning, laughing and eating pizza! 

Tickets for the EP launch at the 360 Club going well so should be a good crowd.  First gig on our “Get Out of Bed” tour when we are promoting our Live-and-Unsigned Grand Final performance at the O2.  So with me somehow doing all this at the same time I just can’t be a “Real Man!”

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When the bard penned the immortal words ‘All the world’s a stage’ I wonder if he had the White Horse in mind. You see there isn’t one! But that’s fine – we like it like that. One week on a pitch in front of 14,000 people the next at the end of a room with 100 or so in your face.

It was a great atmosphere you really know whether your audience likes you or not when they’re so close you can tell what aftershave they’re wearing. Feedback is fairly instantaneous when people are two feet away.

So it’s somehow all the better when an intimate crowd like you, especially when they’re a Yorkshire crowd. A county renowned for forthright views and demand for value for money echoed in the Yorkshire Mantra you can hear across the county – “How Much??”

The reaction to the new tracks from the ‘Roots’ E.P. was particularly satisfying. When it came to an encore the crowd asked us to play ‘Broken Bridges’ again – so they definitely liked it then.

All-in-all another great local gig at the start of the tour before we venture out of the Shire!

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Then the phone rings, it’s 2:15am, it’s Jamie, he loves the mixes. That’s a pleasant surprise thought I was the only one awake. It’s pretty grim I’ve got to be up in 5 hours. Then I get a text from Smokes, he loves it as well. Everyone except Dave then… My phone vibrates, 1 new email. It’s Dave, he’s happy, except he’s convinced his kick drum could be phatter. (Yes, phatter.)

When we did the Live and Unsigned area final at Dewsbury we met James Grover, he contacted me afterwards, said he rated the band and told us about his studio in Bradford. And so began the strong working relationship with Peak Studios; top man Roni spreads his time between the Chicago and Bradford studios and when we agreed he would do the mixing it worked out that he would be in the States whilst working on our new EP Roots. Had a few e-mails during the week with his ideas and with the feedback form the band he’s done a fantastic job. We received the final final mixes in the early hours of this morning and we’re all very pleased.

EP is nearly ready for launch next Friday at the 360 club in Leeds, just finalising the mastering and artwork. The launch is going to be awesome. There’s a facebook event and everything [Visit Facebook Event] . You can still get tickets just click [Get Tickets Now].

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