Has it really been almost a month since we last chatted?

That’s ridiculous but just goes to show how time flies when you’re working hard and partying even harder!

So, I feel that an update as to what the lads have been up to these last few weeks is in order – what do you think?

That was a rhetorical question by the way – I’ve cranked up this computer so it’s going to get used!

Now then… where should I start…? (yet another one of those rhetorical things).

Well; Rob, Rom, Jay and Arran all took a trip to the south coast (granted, Arran was already there) to record some brand new SUBSET material. I realise that I am ever so biased but the rough mixes sound huge! RR&J would like to thank Arran for not only providing his most excellent skills as a drummist but for being the perfect host. Thanks also to Debi and Blyth for sharing their home with the terrible trio.

The fruits of their recent labour should appear early in 2012 but, as I said, the tracks do sound promising even though their temporary names are as silly as you’d expect from this lot.

The Diverse FM showcase went down a storm and the lads came away from the stage buzzing (and drinking). They knew it was going to go well when the bus driver on the way from Luton to Dunny asked for a CD! Many CD’s were handed out and the Three Amigos met and chatted with as many SUBSETTERs as they could – sorry if they didn’t get to you.

Thanks to all of you that made it to the show at Go Bowling in Dunstable – especially Daz for constantly feeding the guys with beer!

As the Chief Web Monkey mentioned last time, SUBSET are back at the Arc this coming Friday (11th November) and will then be playing some tunes at The Hideaway’s first Grunge Club Night. That’s right – SUBSET and their friends have been allowed to share their music collections in public! Come on down and check out their floor-fillers

It then goes a bit experimental with a host of Unplugged sessions at North 19, The Boogaloo and the Horatia but, come November 18th, they will all be back at full volume to help good friends Calling All Astronauts celebrate their debut single release at Nambucca!!!

Naturally, CAA will be headlining this special night and, as well as SUBSET adding some fuzz rock to the proceedings, Byron and Tribal Riot feature on the no-holds-barred line-up! After the live tunes have finished there then will be a club night with DJs from Teenage Kicks, Unbelievable and Beautiful People playing Alt Rock, Heavy Indie, Post-Punk, Emo, Industrial, Goth and Nu Metal favourites.

Add you name to the Facebook Event list here.

Click here for the £3 advanced tickets

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November 25th will see the lads back down on the south coast – this time at Felpham Community College in Bognor Regis helping to get the ‘Raise ya Hands’ event noticed and heard. Let’s face it, if there’s anyone that can make themselves heard it’s this bunch of mother-fuzzsters! This charity event is to raise money for deprived young people overseas – a VERY worthwhile cause.

November will be nicely rounded off the day after (that’s the 26th folks) with a special night hosted in SUBSET’s secret hideout – The Fuzz Cave!

As always – the full gig details can be found on the Gigs Page of the official SUBSET website – anything else you need to know, just hop on to the Facebook Page, the Facebook Group, squirt them an email or say hi on Twitter.

Sorted.

Wollop.

Hello SUBSETTERs!

It has been a while aint it?

It’s actually been over a month since we dusted off our futuristic typewriter and punched out a few words to be displayed on the interweblogosphere so it has fallen to me, Chief Web Monkey, to attempt to throw a few words, sentences and, should I be brave enough, paragraphs together in order to service an update to you – the mighty army of SUBSETTERs!

~there really should be some soul-stirring music right there but hey, we’re on a budget remember!~

Anyhoooo……

SUBSET Need a Permanent Drummer

What’s been happening at SUBSET HQ lately has been the continued quest for a drummer. We’re even getting to the point where talk about letters to Santa are being taken seriously.

They have assistance – Dan has been tremendous and Arran has been mind-boggingly supportive. You see, we are based in London and yet Arran, a music student, travels all the way from Chichester on the south coast on Saturday morning to spend 4-or-so hours with the lads in the Fuzz Cave only to then head back home. This is a round trip of 6 hours folks!

Now, if a fan, SUBSETTER and friend can do this surely there is a more local drummer that would enjoy touring with Rob, Rom and Jay? Is there?

SUBSET is a democracy – everyone has a say in what music is written and released. Everyone is free to bounce riffs, rhythms and rhubarb back and forth and the band already is actively seeking festival slots for next year.

This year it was planned to beat the 2010 achievement and hit the magic 100 gigs in 1 year – the fuzzy foursome were on target but as the three amigos are having to plead with drummers that are already busy doing what they do, unfortunately, some shows are having to be rescheduled.

RR&J hate having to give back-word to those hard working promoters and gig-setter-upperers but, lets face it, SUBSET wouldn’t be SUBSET without those pounding beats.

Still Planning

The lack of a fixed drummer does not mean that the fuzzy threesome have been sat drinking Sancerre in the Autumn sun – no way José!

There are a few new songs being prepared for the live shows and there are plans afoot to have a SUBSET drum-kit which will live in the Fuzz Cave so that the lads can release their inner Lombardo, Carey, Grohl, Benante, Freese or Bonham. Chances are it will sound more like them releasing their inner Animal though The upshot of this is that they can continue to write and record new material for the upcoming EP/Album without having to order in a take-away drummist every time.

Still Gigging

SUBSET do have some shows coming up too!

The nearest being a Halloween Special in Dunstable being thrown by Diverse FM featuring big friends of the fuzz: Dutch Order and As Daylight Dies. The party is happening at Go Bowling! and should be plenty of fun!

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The lads then head down south for gigs in Plymouth, Ivybridge and Gloucester before returning to The Arc in Angel, London.

The last time SUBSET were at The Arc they packed the place and so have been asked to come back to see if it was actually just a fluke. Come on down as it’s free to get in and the pizzas are amazing – so’s the deals on Jagermeister

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SUBSET are especially proud to have been asked to help with a charity fund-raiser down in Bognor Regis. The ‘Raise ya Hands’ event will be taking part at Felpham Community College so, if you’re in the area, please come along and see how you can help.

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Well, I hope you feel suitably updated and that I haven’t been too rubbish – I’m kinda out of practise with this kinda thing. I usually have my underlings perform such basic duties.

Oh, well – it’s what team work is all about I suppose.

Until next time SUBSETTERS – Drink, Dance and Burn!

Hey there you sexy SUBSETTER you!

All here at SUBSET HQ have managed to stay well clear of the recent riots in the capital – to be honest, we passed out on Friday night and woke up this morning feeling a bit 28 Days Later.

As we got the bill to renew our domain name today it reminded us that another online year has been and gone which marks the second year of the fuzz rockers official online presence at this address.

Now, we’d normally have some jolity, some drinking and some dancing bears…. errrm… dancing bare naked women – but we find ourselves having to wave a cheerio to Hitman Higgs a.k.a. ‘Lovely’ Steve.

Steve’s world has changed and he feels that he is unable to juggle both lives as SUBSET steams ever forwards – the lads are all still good, close friends – let’s face it, they’ve lived in each others pockets and on each others floors for two-and-a-bit years so those bonds are going to be difficult to break.

‘Lovely’ Steve will still be gigging with SUBSET until a permanent replacement is found so make sure you drop by one of the next shows to give Higgsy a big hug!

There will be a roster of drummers covering some of the shows Steve can’t make so we ask you make Arran (Sassy Judys) and Joao (London sessionist) amongst others that shall be introduced to you all very welcome.

If you know of a drummer or, if you are indeed a drummer yourself and fancy jumping on to the fuzz train, then slip the lads a message on facebook or click the ‘mail’ icon at the bottom of the page or even use the ‘book SUBSET’ form on this site and let them know.

Their music can be found on Soundcloud but chances are you have it already.

The next two shows are:

Aug 12th: Top Bell Leighton Buzzard

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Aug 19th: Hat Factory – Luton Aid

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All the other gigs can be found on the Gig Page

Hello there you lovely SUBSETTERs you!

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed a new page tab atop this very site cunningly called ‘GIGS‘ – guess what that shows you when you click it?

And, on the subject of gigs, once you have allowed your peepers to be pleased by the informative page, you may have spied that there’s a glut of gigs being held in the wonderful capital city of ours – London.

No fewer than six shows over the next few weeks shall be hosted by this future Olympic city so there must be ample opportunity for you to drop by a SUBSET show or two.

Live outside London – why not make a weekend of it?

The Fuzztastic Four are even spreading the love around – hitting as far south as Streatham and lingering a while around Camden, Tufnell Park and Holloway.

Don’t worry though. They do pop out for a visit to Dunstable and Newport Pagnell amongst all of that

So, London is defintely calling – hopefully you’ll answer with a “yes!”.

Here’s the when and where’s:

• May 27   The White Lion – Streatham
• Jun 18   The Hideaway Bar – Tufnell Park/Archway
• Jun 26   The Dublin Castle – Camden
• Jun 30   The Wheatsheaf – Dunstable
• Jul 14   The Boston Arms – Tufnell Park
• Jul 15   The Queens Head – Brixton
• Jul 16   The Fuzz Cave – Holloway
• Jul 22   The White Lion – Streatham
• Jul 23   Parklife Festival – Newport Pagnell

Remember to keep an eye open for the Facebook Events that pop up on the SUBSET FB page – facebook.com/SubsetBand

That’s right SUBSETTERs – the lads are bringing the fuzz to the south coast on Friday May 6th!

This will be the crazy quartet’s first gig in Brighton and their first University show of 2011 and to say that the guys are excited about it is an understatement.

“Uni’s are where it’s at – let’s face it, these people are supposed to be the clever ones so if they like you how can you argue with their considered opinion?” muses Jay.

“We’re glad we’ve managed to get our friends The Sassy Judy’s on with us at The East Slope Bar – it’s going to rock hard, rock heavy, rock animal!” shouts Rob.

The place to be on Friday is:

East Slope Bar
Sussex University
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9QF
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If Brighton is too far for you to get to on a Friday how about a Saturday in lovely Luton? The fuzzy foursome are playing a show on Saturday May 7th at The Castle.

The Castle
1 Castle Street
Luton
LU1 3AA
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Calling all SUBSETTERS ………..

We’ll be playing the Saracens Head in Dunstable on Thurs 12th May with local heroes & all round nice guys LOZ JONES.

Get down there ………. ’cause you know we love seeing you

Drink, Dance & Listen to Subset!

Cheers & Beers

Rob, Rom, Jay & Steve

So, it’s another Spring day in London – that means it’s raining.

The lads are pumping themselves full of coffee in order to numb the reminders of the weekend’s indulgences.

Even though they’re looking like they’ve been sleeping rough for the last few days (I’m afraid to ask just in case some of them actually have been) the mood is good here at SUBSET HQ.

The fuzzy foursome (quite literally this morning as they appear to have all dodged the razor as well as the iron today) are joking around and don’t look like a band that has spent the last four months holed up together and been forced to be creative.

In fact, talking to Rom, there was no sign of being forced to do anything:

“We’re constantly writing and recording ideas, this is why we sent 14 tracks to Expats when we only needed 5 – then we let the SUBSETTERs choose their 5 favourites”.

The guys are also bouncing around like excited kids as they are back doing what they love best – playing live!

“Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy working in the studio with this lot” says Jay, “but my whole point of being in a band is to play in front of a crowd and SUBSETTERs are the best crowd to do this for”.

Rob adds: “and our first few shows are on home turf for me and Steve so they’re going to feel more like ‘welcome back’ parties even though we’ve been keeping the bars warm here when we’ve not been in the cave”.

I asked Steve, who has spent the last 20 minutes trying to convince the others that it must be “beer o’ clock by now” (it’s not even 11:00am yet!):

“it’s been a blast getting the new songs recorded and then, over the last few weeks arranging them for live but I want to see how the new tracks hit the crowd. ‘Av it!”

If you want to see how these new songs sound then you only have to wait til Thursday April 7th when they hit The Four Kings in Dunstable (or Funstable as the Fuzztastic Four have re-christened it) and then, so that everyone gets a piece of fuzz ‘n’ roll, SUBSET are doing a gig for 13-17 year olds at Grove Corner on Sunday April 10th.

Keep you eyes on the listings as there will be more shows added now that they boys have tasted freedom…

… you have been warned

Hey hey hey SUBSETTERs!

As you know, we’re a fairly interactive playful bunch in the SUBSET gang and we also know that you lot have impeccible taste – well, you must have as you’re here for a start

We are planning to be getting out and about fairly soon and as we’re just fine tuning the 5 special tracks that will be making it onto the EP we realise that you might want to hear our new creations played live, up close and raw.

Unlike most bands we are about to give you all access to our rough drafts and ideas which we sent over to Expat Records so that you can see what we’ve been up to since December and….

… you get to choose which songs you’d like us to add to our 2011 set list!

Obviously and ideally we’d love to play them all but, to be honest, we’ll need to relearn them and arrange them for playing live and also rehearse them a little bit too

We are totally looking forward to partying with you all in the summer – can’t wait!!

Here are the 14 tracks (13 seemed to be too much like asking for trouble) – feel free to let us know what you think about them as well as picking what you want to hear live.

Expat EP Songs by SUBSET

Greetings snow-bound SUBSETTER’s!

As we survey the icy tundra of darkest North West London from our secret bunker it warms our very cockles to know that the lads have been selected for another achievement.

The fuzzy foursome have found themselves on the front page of The Indie so that’s a pretty good way to start the last month of the year isn’t it?

It has been a very fast but very good year for SUBSET as they’ve had a lot of good press as well as a decent amount of airplay in 2010 including BBC Radio 6 Music and a BBC live session. Not bad for their first full year together. Anyhow – it’s not time for an end of year round up just yet!

The Fuzztastic Four are out and about again this weekend starting with a jaunt to Newport Pagnell on Friday 3rd to celebrate a nudie calendar release! Yeah – nakedness and SUBSET seem to go together somehow and the guys couldn’t turn down the opportunity to join in the rawkusness at The Cannon. A ‘making of’ the calendar can be watched and enjoyed by clicking here.

Others on the bill at The Cannon are: TrashMonkey, Project Noise and HARDFINGER! The calendar is to raise cash to keep this venue going so it’s to support live music which SUBSET are totally behind – obviously. The Facebook event page is here.

On Saturday they return to The Flag in Watford where MMG have put together another full line up to enjoy for free! The boys will be joined by Who Shot Cupid, Ell Kendall and Shellshock. Click here for the FB events page.

in other news – the SellaBand shares are still going well:

Feel free to buy another share instead of sending the quirky quartet a Christmas card

So here’s where you can find The Cannon:

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And The Flag is next to Watford station:

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Checking out the goods on the stall

Hey ho SUBSETTER’s!

It’s been……OooOooo….. weeks since SUBSET tore up the stage at The Gaff so they’re due to return this Thursday – that’s the 28th October

Entry will be a fiver but the booze is cheap and the vibe is priceless – besides, bands need to be paid every now-and-then so please come along and support your local Fuzz Rockers and your live venues as more and more seem to be closing down.

The lads will be looking after a merch stand that will have SUBSET t-shirts, CD’s and posters all at bargainous prices so drop by, say hi and buy

The running order will be:

• 20:45 – Traitors
• 21:30 – SUBSET
• 22:15 – Rise to Reason

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See you there!

SUBSET