JW's 2011 blog!

Hey all!

It's my turn to blog :)
Lots has been going on in the ML camp and we have been working really hard behind the scenes to get our music to industry - with great feedback I must tell you!
In the last 3 months, I've sat in more swanky west London offices than Alan Sugar, shared coffee with industry bigwigs and chewed the fat about some of the most exciting ideas since Thomas Edison invented the self lubricating jockstrap.
We've been on the radio, won a place in an 'Indie artist of the year' award with Somojo magazine and have been recording some new tracks too - How it Ends, which is a favourite at our live shows and Wake Up which is very much the future of our sound.
This year, we are getting out there again and will be touring in the spring so keep an eye out for some dates - we'd love to see you at one of our shows!

We have also reached the regional finals of a competition called 'Live and Unsigned' which is a national music showcase, which is exciting!

We have come so far with your support and for 2011, we are going to see just how far this can go...

In the meantime -

I get asked a lot about my guitar rig so I thought I'd 'blog on' about it too... BEWARE - GEEK ALERT!

I recently changed my main guitar from a Taylor Solid Body to my beloved Gibson Les Paul Custom Classic.
This is a hell of a guitar, I can tell you and with those '57 classic pickups, it really sings with a lovely vintage tone.
I still use the Taylor, but prefer to keep the changes to a minimum on stage.

I am an endorsee of Rotosound strings and have no hesitation in stringing all my guitars with them - check them out!!
www.rotosound.co.uk

A good cable makes a big difference - think about it - the signal from the guitar runs through the cable to the amp, right?
Why spend ££££'s on a guiar and amp then put it through a £5.00 piece of copper??
A chap called Pete Cornish who makes equipment for the likes of David Gilmour and Brian May graced me with the honour of making me one of his special cables and I will say - you can tell!! Thanks Pete!!

This runs to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Limited Edition 'White Lightning' which has a great smooth overdrive.
If I want to ramp it up a little, I'll use my Marshall JMP1 preamp, which bypasses the preamp on the Fender and just goes through the power amp stage - it sounds BIG!!

Delay is a big feature for my ML sound so I mix in a TC Electronics G Major. This baby has some GREAT modulations and reverbs too and has true bypass, meaning that when it's 'off' it's 'off' and not still affecting the pure tone.
The TC has a remote switch feature too so it controls my Fender amp and as it's MIDI controlled it's perfect to use with my Tech 21 Midi Moose footboard. No tangled leads or pedals at the front of the stage, just one 5 switch box. Tidy :)

All of this wouldn't be possible without my RJM 'Effects Gizmo' - which is a MIDI switchable loop unit. With one push of a button I can select ANY sound I like - A clean Fender tone with chorus or a full on Marshall scream with tons of FX!!
I'm proud to be an endorsee of RJM too and can totally recommend their products for any serious musician.
www.RJMmusic.com

If you are a geek like me and we happen to meet, feel free to speak to me in 'geek tongue'.


See you later,

JW