Hello folks

First of all I'd like to thank everybody who came out to King Tut's the other night. We had a great laugh once we got over the major nerves caused by playing for the first time in a few months with new songs in front of a sold out tuts! Credit to DF Concerts for a good bill and good macaroni & cheese before-hand! Thanks to Odeon Beat Club and Jack Butler for raising the standard for us to drop. Thanks also to anyone who bought our hand-made ltd edition tuts27dec07 cd-EPs - and to Adi and her boyfriend (our part-time guitar-tech) Mark, who hand-made the covers the night before. Our Michael (who did the text on the back) did however neglect to mention that the recordings were funded by the Scottish Arts Council with National Lottery support! So there!

I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who has supported us over the last year. It's been eventful and fun and fucking exhausting at times, but thank you for your part in it!

We're still writing away... speak to you soon

Happy 2008 when you get there!

Damo & the Pops x

PS. The Phil O'Donnell news is unbelievable! A hero of mine when I was a kid. I don't know what else to say on this, but just thought I'd mention it.

Hey hey,So it's been a while since our last 'proper' blog, and though you may have been relishing in the silence, here comes the latest.

First up, the only direct plug: we're playing at King Tut's in Glasgow on Dec 27. Right after Christmas n'all that, a great night to head out for a gig and a piss up. Should be a good one too. We're playing with Odeon Beat Club and Jack Butler - bands that have given us a right-good run for our money whenever we've shared stages with them before, so we should be on our toes methinks. Anyway, we'd love to see as many friendly faces there as possible with Santa hats on etc. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/venue/190152 and at the bar in Tuts.

Apart from preparing for that potentially corking show, we've just been happy to be in Glasgow for such a consistent period of time without touring. We've finally finnished and mastered the first album (thanks to the support of the lovely Scottish Arts Council). We're all really happy with it after such a long time in the making, and we're pondering over how to get the thing into the shops. AND, whatsmore, we've been writing some tunes again. This has been really nice. We've moved into our own rehearsal space (with lovely room-mates Das Contras) and we've just been doing what I think we do best - wasting away the hours getting excited about the sounds we make.

Also, we're going to be on the telly - STV Dec 18 (only the Scottish folks for the telly version I'm afraid, though I'm sure it'll make it online somehow). It's a documentary on Scottish music and features performances from 'up and coming' Scottish acts - us (ha-ha-ha), The Law and Amy Macdonald. Tune in - right before Coronation Street or some other pish!

You should all check out this ridiculously excellent animated 'Lucy, What You Trying to Say?' video that the wonderfully talented Rob Zywietz made for us:

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

It's one of the nicest things I've ever seen, though every time I watch it I think about the brief conversation I had with Rob about the video before a gig of ours in Edinburgh (I'm a right nervous prick before shows mind) and wish I had been slightly more charming. In reality I think I was a bit more like the wrong character in the video...

Final thought... it would be nice if Malcolm Middleton could be Christmas number 1 so that at last there might be a band-wagon for us to get on -'mon the Malcy! You'll never die alone with us on your back!

Love

Damo & the Pops x

Hey heySo I'm kind of picking up where I left off a wee while ago. My commitment to keeping our stream of blogs slightly more human has perhaps drifted a little, but better late than never etc.

Plenty has happened since I last wrote, but in this particular little memoir, I'd like to skim over our trip to Amsterdam a couple of months back. What a fucking mental trip that was! We got there the day of the show. We played at the Paradiso along with the cream of Scotland (Malcolm Middleton, 1990s, De Rosa, Mother and the Addicts, Bricolage, We Are The Physics). As if this wasn't nerve-racking enough, we had to play last! I was speaking to Malcolm Middleton before our set, explaining how nervous I was. It would seem that the dry Mr Middleton is not the best motivator in the world:

Me: I'm fucking shittin myself!

MM: Why?

Me: It's a big gig, lots of great bands on before us...

MM: Just think about the history of the venue

Me: I know, Nirvana, the Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols...

MM: ...Malcolm Middleton! (pause, no smile) Do you rehearse?

Me: Well...

MM: Then you'll be fine. (Mr Middleton exits stage left and walks towards a less tedious source of conversation)

Anyway, we were fine. I think. We weren't sure when we came off stage but we saw the gig online afterwards (www.fabchannel.com/popup) and we liked the sweat. Sorry if I come across as particularly obnoxious in that performance, but I was very tired and nervous. I react to those emotions by being a bit of a cock. However, all nerves were settled soon afterwards in the comforting bosom of Mother and the Addicts dressing room. End of.

However, the Amsterdam trip only started there. Because of our limited budget, the cheapest way for us to get there and back was to fly in on friday and back on monday. So we were left with a whole weekend in Amsterdam. For a start, I have never seen so many beautiful women in my life as I did in the Paradiso and in Amsterdam's lovely parks - but sadly there are no interesting stories of that type to report. On our second night, our manager's son (Sebastian) who lives in Amsterdam and who was very kindly playing host to us all, took us on a tour of Amsterdam's red light district. After half a legally purchased joint and single-file trek through a five foot wide window parade, all of our casuality towards rock'n'roll decadence died in a great big hurry. Personally I couldn't even speak for about 3 hours afterwards. Seb took me to a nice watering hole and pulled us back to life by showing us how to build houses out of beer-mats. I took pictures of my beer-mat houses and of nothing else...

Anyway, otherwise we're fine. album still 'nearly' done, festivals great, playing shows meeting lovely people, no money in pockets - the usual Popup.

Love

Damian x