HEY GUYS, BOOKING TOUR FOR JUNE.

CAN ANYONE HELP OUT? 

OJ WARD AND THE DTS
OJ Ward and The DTs features singer/ song writer Oliver John Ward and the rhythm section of London Punk Rock outfit The Apostates. It is a heavy, passionate show of melodic punk rock. Oliver has been touring hard for the last year as a solo artist building a fan base, the full band version of this act is the next, exciting step.
New release coming in September 2011.

www.oliverjohnward.co.uk

THROWING STUFF
Manchester’s latest product, short fast blasts of melodic hardcore, think Minor Threat or Descendents after they’ve downed a bottle of Vodka and Sunny Delight.

http://wearethrowingstuff.tumblr.com/

June 4th- Lincoln Arms, Dorking.
June 5th- Crap Shack, Southampton.
June 6th-
June 7th- Santiago’s, Leeds.
June 8th-
June 9th
June 10th-
June 11th-
June 12th
June 13th
June 14th
June 15th
June 16th

June 17th- The Wenns, King’s Lynn.

June 18th- Punk Rock House Crawl, Norwich.

Hey, the Mrs, Miss Shell Watts…

 was asking about my infamous Vegan Shepherds Pie recipe, so I thought I’d do a blog for it. Now this serves maybe 6 people so that’s a band, merch guy, driver, you know, 3 of these would really fix up a whole DIY punk show, and it’s tasty as FUCK!

Equipment:

Cheese Grater

Large Sharp Knife

Large Oven Dish

Wok

Large Boiling Pot

Wooden Spoon

Garlic Crusher

Potato Masher

Tin Opener

Ingredients:

Vegetable Oil

Tomato Ketchup (Branston ‘aint vegan)

Tins of Chopped Tomato x2

Tube of Tomato Puree x1

Garlic x1

Large Onion x1

Large Carrot x2

Large Flower of Broccoli x1

Bag of Tesco/ Linda McCartney Veggie Mince x1

Large Potato x2

Marmite

Salt

Pepper

Pure SUNFLOWER Spread

Directions:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.

2. Peel and chop the potatoes, the smaller you chop them the quicker they boil.

3. Grate the carrots.

4. Chop the broccoli into bite size pieces.

5. Chop the onion into small chunks.

6. Put the potatoes on to boil.

7. Heat a little oil in the wok.

8. Crush a couple of cloves of garlic and throw it in the wok with the onions.

9. Open the tinned tomatoes and poor them in the wok.

10. Now dump the entire bag of mince in there.

11. Now squeeze a whole tube of tomato puree and a big dollop of ketchup in the mix.

12. Then throw in the carrot and broccoli with some salt and pepper to taste.

13. Allow to simmer for 10 mins or until thicker, you know a bit more solid, just keep  stirring it, you’ll know.

14. Pre- heat the oven on full heat or just under.

15. Check the potatoes by sticking a fork in one of the little chunks and seeing if it falls  away, if it does and they’re nice and tender, drain.

16. Throw in a large spoon, maybe two, of the Pure Sunflower Spread and a large spoon of  Marmite or any other vegetable extract with some salt and pepper to taste.

17. Mash!

18. Pour the contents of the wok in a large oven dish, level out the top so it’s flat and  spread the mash over the top evenly, how well you mashed it will effect how well you  spread it.

19. Put in the oven and bake for about half an hour, or until it’s crusty on top and  bubbling out of the sides.

20. Bon Apetite!

Yeah! This is my best food. Make it all the time and feed all your friends!

Day 2:

I got up at about 9 am and got typing. I had two fucking deadlines at 4pm, a lecture at 3pm and a train to Peterborough at 6:10pm. I got all my uni stuff done and dusted and went to my lecture, not with my laptop or note pad, but with my guitar and sleeping bag.

I managed to trip over a step as soon as I entered the room, so the cool lecturers and my peers could see my first fuck up of the day. It doesn’t really matter what my class mates see after a year, I’ve managed to jerk up more than enough times now for them to have made up their minds.

The lecture was really interesting, it was a lady from a thing. I didn’t take any notes and I lost her card so I can’t remember who or what. We got set a task, to come up with an imaginary event with a £2000 budget. I totally missed the point and began inventing a massive cancer awareness campaign mixed with extreme sports and punk all dayers with drum n bass clubs and charity raves. Got up there and felt like a dick a bit. Some peoples ideas sounded like things I’d hate to go to, but that’s probably because I’d have to queue and everyone would be more attractive than me and the bands would be really bad but still getting £100 to play for people that don’t understand music so much that they buy the CDs too. I liked my idea, I’m going to try and follow it up!

I remember getting the train afterwards and feeling a bit space out and down on my way to King’s Cross, I think it was thinking about the cancer thing. I know why I chose that and so would most people that know me, and I do tend to think about Dad more when I travel because I loved telling him about it, he thought it was cool.

Spent £3.85 on a packet of crisps and a can of Heineken and there was nowhere to sit. Fuck. East. Coast. Trains! Only 45 minutes to Peterborough though. 

When I got to P town I done the usual running between offies and cash points because they either don’t take card or have what I want. I get my vodka.

I roll in and get a nice big hug from Jordy, the main guy, he runs the shows and plays all the music in Peterborough and we all love him for it. This is he…

Now this show wasn’t meant to be on the tour either. An old friend, Annabelle…

suggested I go and this rad guy I met in Leuven, Belgium, called Mark…

was playing. So it made sense to stop on my way to Leeds and kick it with these guys. Also, the next thing Jordy said was ” do you want to play a few songs?”. Stoked!

First up was The Hendo Sans Project. I’ve know the drummer a good few years, he’s Jordie’s house mate and he used to play drums in the legendary Evil Macaroni. These guys were intense, I could here some Sparta in there and their songs were real adventures. Unfortunately it was their last show. I’m glad I was there.

Next up were String Finger. They were sick, mixing punk and hip hop, obviously pretty popular. Only saw a few songs because I was chatting and setting up.

I played in smoking area because the place cleared after String Finger. I think generally people wanted a bit of a break from music but generally people were polite, and I had some good friends excited to see me. I played about 6 songs I think, I took the time to explain some of my songs which was nice, I feel people get into it more if they can feel where I was at when I wrote it. Mark from Belgium filmed me. When he sends me the vid I’ll put it up. He said he’ll help me out in Belgium too. Good guy.

Beverly Kills were next. They get better every time I see them. Tight Riot Girl meets Tilt and other melodic punk rock. I’ve known these guys for time too so it was good to hang with them too. They endured a lot of my drunk drivel later on.

Last on were The Octopussy’s from Belgium. They were like Strung Out, Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and loads of other loved bands from my youth. Loads of energy, so tight and a lot of proficiency and talent in that band. Great song structures too, and Mark was playing with a broken ankle too.

After the bands I pulled a wicked trick. You know Dumb and Dumber when they make Seabass pay for their dinner and drive off, I got one drink out of the management, and nice expensive double vodka at nearly £6. Then I tried again at the bar, the guy said to ask the management, I do this at just enough distance so he good see but couldn’t hear. Lots of positive body language and a bare face lie to the bar staff later and I’ve got £12 of free booze out of the bar =D.

I bought chips and made a big drama about how I was getting back to Jordie’s after the show. I always do that at this venue, because Jordy lives just out of town. The Lovely Andrew Cream 

gives me and Mark a ride back.

At Jordie’s we drink ‘till 4am, Jagermeister, Jupiler, Jack, and we make plans, big plans, to see the world. What’s better, teaching snowboard in one great place or playing music in hundreds of great places. I swap an Octopussy’s mesh hat for some Rooftops CDs.This is how we were living

I wake up on a fold out with Mark and a shot of Jager in my face. Where that Jager took me you will have to find out in the next instalment when I hit Leeds.

Thanks for reading,

Love 

Jugs x

Get involved with Jordy and friends in Ptown!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Gods-No-Managers/116207965083124

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59722135001

http://www.myspace.com/ptowndiy

Check out his music

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Great-Notion/132239303468502

http://www.myspace.com/agreatnotionuk

http://www.myspace.com/gosammysfatalmistake

The Hendo Sans Project

http://www.myspace.com/thehendosanproject

String Finger

Can’t find their site :s

Beverly Kills are great follow them around.

http://www.myspace.com/beverleykills

The Octopussy’s are my boys

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Octopussys/71004749158

http://www.myspace.com/theoctopussys

I’m pretty annoyed at my first blog already because I just deleted the first draft. I’m sitting crossed legged, naked on my bed, black and blue all over, wondering how and why I’m like this. I’ve been hobbling around the room in the bleak coldness for a straight 24hrs now and I think it’s time I started recording what I do do and getting some advice or help or something because I feel fucked.

Some people might dig this and might wanna come to my shows from reading this but if I record these things then it’s there in black and white and I can’t pretend everything’s fine because it doesn’t feel fine right now.

Day 1:

My phones broken and I’m finishing a deadline for uni. I like my phone being broken because I can ignore things and hide away, turn off chat on Facebook and I’m all alone, playing guitar or writing, maybe some drawing from time to time. Sometimes though I worry I’m missing something, but that is what Facebook is for. Which is why I suppose Adam left a comment on my wall saying “Come on, we’re going to Watford!”.

It wasn’t my intention for this to be a tour, just two shows in Leeds, but that’s the handy thing about playing solo, you can just play anywhere and whenever you wish.

I met Adam at Harrow and Wealdestone Train Station. I felt it necessary to pick up a can of lager for the journey, God forbid I should do anything sober after dark. Adam is tall and has a kind of a cool version of Russel Brand vibe around him, kind of eccentric but sure of himself, a recovering addict, maybe the connection. Very smiley, friendly and rad to hang with. We chat about bands, shows, tours, girls and anything else that may be on our minds. He told me that on his way to the station he bumped into a neighbour and she wanted to arrange a rape scenario sex meeting with him later in the week, you know cutting and choking etc, I was jealous for a moment but being attached cancels those feelings out.

In Watford we are lost but the venue is close so it isn’t a problem. When we get there I recognise the promoter. Adam had introduced us before but I remember getting tanked and laying into him about not paying Adam a fairer cut of the bar money from a gig, I didn’t know how to feel so I pretended I hadn’t recalled and was as polite and courteous as one can muster on a cold Wednesday in Watford at an open mic.

Interesting character. Short, fat, pock marked, a bored, bitter, local. I fell into his shoes, I’d been there, when I was young. It was an immature way of dealing with your emotions. This was his manor and there’s a new group of people, performing, taking his attention, even in this small bar, where he pumps most of the disability allowance he could’ve risked on a dating agency, or showing someone he cares at least, but there’s guarantees with booze. He knows the landlord needs his financial support like a wife worn down, and in return someone looks and listens. He peacocks. He uses the superficials, aesthetics, and various light hearted isms to divide and conquer us. He mistakes awkwardness and nervousness for admiration. He asks me where I’m from. I tell him Norfolk, it throws him so I take the opportunity to leave.

There’s some cool guys at the show. Ads introduces me to two guys from the wrong ‘uns. We talk some funny shit and they know about punk music so it was cool to hang. We watched some of the other guys play some covers, some more bluesy, some more reggae. The promoter asks me of I’m cool on next and says I got 4 songs, I’m good with this.

I start with a couple of jokes. I welcome them to the first date of my UK tour and the first song I lay is that one about my brother. I find it tricky sometimes because my songs are very dark, very personal and if it’s an open mic night with the lights on it’s a little hard to get the atmosphere and I think my stuff loses a little potency…especially when the lead up to a song about my Dad dying is a joke about sucking off a dog and a 40 second thrash song about the economy. Sometimes I feel like a real dick head.

Another guy does some covers and I’m starting to get pretty drunk. Adam’s up next. His stuff rules. He’s also the lead singer in The Apostates and it’s kind of like that but it’s almost heavier with less instrumentation. He uses a lot of great imagery in his lyrics, I love the way he organises his words. His voice hits the right timbre and tone every time and his guitar playing is fluid, rich and deep. They all come together with imaculate style. Here’s a link to the video for the song he dedicated to me that night.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=407763170237&ref=mf

We watched the promoters uncle rock out to Jeff Buckley then went and got high with The Wrong ‘Uns in this park over the way. I was getting trashed, Adam doesn’t drink anymore and I felt my madness being amplified by this a little. Adam told us about a t-shirt he made that said “FUCK HARROW” on the front and “AND ALL THE CUNTS IN IT!” on the back. I was amazed and couldn’t hold my excitement and began rambling about it. We also decided that Rancid 2000 was the best Rancid album that we are going to start a new band that just sound like that album, called either Raoul Moat, after the jordy cop maimer, or FUCK HARROW AND ALL THE CUNTS IN IT. We’re meeting next Friday for our first band practice.

We went home laughing about our great trip to Watford, here are some pictures of us getting home! =D

Thanks for reading,

Love

Jugs x

Adam plays drums in Wonk Unit, guitar and vocals in The Apostates and goes under the solo guise of Adam Stone, his name.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=456211600237

http://www.myspace.com/thedubchild

http://www.myspace.com/wonkunitband

http://www.myspace.com/theapostates