#Roundabout Bass

[ericblackmonmusic]

ROUNDABOUT Bass Guitar Tutorial YES @EricBlackmonGuitar

[horror-aesthete]

having a totally normal time watching Van Helsing (2004)

[gwynndolin]

everyone talks about the guitar in Roundabout, and its fantastic of course, but i think the bass is what actually carries the song

[arogustus]

Splatband Analysis - SashiMori

(Disclaimer: This analysis is based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don't be a jerk about it.)

SashiMori. The band best known for several things. Giving us the dopest trailer of Splatoon 2, having Da Boy, Paul, as a member, and of course the ever present mystery of the mysterious former lead singer. Let’s talk about them.

The band

SashiMori started life as a loud rock band, Ryu-Chang, Karla and Taichi alongside the mysterious vocalist. According to Taichi’s descriptions, it seems he’s the one who founded the band in the first place, but lost control of it to their self-centered, authoritarian vocalist. We have yet to learn the identity of this strange, mysterious person… but we’re pretty sure it’s Pearl. Like, it’s mentioned in Karla’s section in Haikara Walker that the vocalist of the band before SashiMori (the context here either means a different band they were in or SashiMori itself before they took on the name, it’s vague) had vocals so strong only they were capable of handling it. We know Pearl was a death metal artist who wrecked her venues a lot, and it’s not a guess to say she was probably a lot more domineering before meeting Marina. They actually asked Nogami himself about this fact, and said it was up to our imagination. That’s just a roundabout way of saying “yes, but we’re not gonna tell you that.”

Eitherway, the other three kicked their vocalist and stuck together as an instrumental band before deciding to search for a new one. Clearly the three were close enough that they willingly stuck together and united against a common foe in order to keep playing without problems. So, they put out an application of fish Twitter, and that’s where Paul comes in. They laughed at first, seeing such a smol bean trying to join the big leagues. But once he wowed them, they made him the centerpiece of the band's sound, and SashiMori was born.

They also got to make an appearance in the White Day artwork, chilling with the homies of Bottom Feeders and Hightide Era. Well, all but one of them. You’ll see why in a bit.

Ryu Chang

Our big man Ryu is first. He’s a carp who grew up in a prestigious home at the base of Mount Nantai (another Pearl reference, seriously), who became a punk during his teen years and an established drummer after that. He was 35 in Splatoon 2, and that back in 2018, meaning he should be at least 41 by now (we are growing ever older every day). There isn’t much of a description of what he’s like now, but he did have a rebellious teenager phase at least, so it’s likely all that punk ideology stuff has carried on into adult life. He illustrates as a hobby, and created the little mascot you see in SashiMori’s album art, Mr. Wasabi. Wonder what the little guy is about.

He’s got a Rainmaker team going on with Kuze and Blow, Underpass Bass Drum, so he’s active in the Turfing scene. And as we established, the two also showed up in the Deep Sea Metro concert to perform for a bit. One thing I wanna note is that it’s considered an impromptu performance. They didn’t plan to perform together at the place, which begs the question: what were they doing in the Deep Sea Metro? Were they simply attending and got dragged on stage… wait, actually that makes sense. 

He’s kinda hard to read in the White Day Art. He’s sitting with Blow and Taka, and we know he’s friends with Blow. The only other thing to tell is that he’s very much watching Finn and Tangle fight, but his eternal fish face makes it hard to tell what he feels about it. Concern? Annoyance? Attraction? Who knows.

Karla

Karla is a mystery. They’re very quiet, their age is a mystery, and no one even knows how they eat! Well, actually, according to science, the Scaly-Foot Gastropod doesn’t eat at all, but rather relies on symbiosis with bacteria living inside them to get nutrition. Sooo, yeah, lady just doesn’t eat anything. Neat. 

That’s what their description focuses on, being very quiet and mysterious. Doesn’t even respond to questions during interviews, just goes “...” and that’s it. Obviously no indication that they outright can’t talk, just that they rarely do. They’re the silent type, maybe out of shyness, maybe because they just don’t have much to say, or maybe a third thing. At least it’s stated they don’t have bad intentions, so you know, they’re not evil. 

Fun fact, Karla’s design is actually reused from an old concept for one of the Denizens of the Deep that would show up in the train. While that is concept stuff that didn’t make it in, and doesn’t mean that them being from the Metro is true, the evidence does point to it being a possibility. Would certainly explain their quirks.

Out of the four, Karla doesn’t show up in the White Day artwork. Finn is there, and she’s (evidently) female, so that wasn’t really a reason to stop them from showing up. Maybe they were hiding out of frame? Maybe they took the picture? Or maybe they’re just asocial and didn’t want to come hang. 

Taichi Sawaberu

Taichi is, as can be inferred from the text, the founder of the band. He created SashiMori cause he wanted to add singing to his music after mostly being an instrumentalist, which as we can tell didn’t end well. Is the most experienced member of the band, being an experienced studio musician and all, so he’s been in the business for a while. He also has a lot of activities outside of the band. Hobbies most likely. You know, stuff like surfing, competitive knitting, high stakes bingo, whatever other kinds of hobbies exist. He must get out a lot. 

Compared to the other two, he wasn’t fond of Paul at first. He thought he was, to quote, “tiny and awful.” Now, it’s hard to say if this actually applies to Paul for real, as from what we see, nothing really indicates him being an awful kid in any way. He did change his mind after a while, at least, so maybe he was just projecting onto him? If the Pearl theory is correct, it would actually make sense that he was projecting onto Paul his last experience with a small person. His opinion must be a lot more positive now.

We see in the White Day artwork that he’s having a spirited conversation with Nishida. Far as we know, Nishida is pretty introverted, so Taichi must have somehow gotten through to him. What they’re talking about is unknown, but let’s just place this as Taichi x Nishida friendship (wow!)

Paul

Autism be damned, that octo boy can work a turntable. Paul is the highlight of SashiMori, a ten year old octoling who’s the replacement of the previous singer. Instead of singing, though, he provides vocals by remixing them from whatever sources he’s got, including ancient human vinyls. He’s a DJ like most octolings, but he’s actually labeled a particular type of DJ. A turntablist, to be precise. 

I’m gonna give thanks to @porubiteki, a moot of mine who knows a ton about DJ stuff and did all this research well before I decided to do this series. A Turntablist is a type of DJ specializing in manipulating music in real time. It’s basically the record scratching you see TV DJ’s do, but far more focused on compared to other forms of DJing. You actually hear that a lot in SashiMori’s music, which features it far more than any other of the Splatoon DJ’s. It’s also a well respected title in the DJ world due to how difficult it is to master the technique, and considering how Paul is highlighted as highly talented to the point of wowing three experienced musicians, it's safe to say he’s worthy of the title. 

Personality wise, we don’t get too much. What we know is he remixes from a lot of other DJs, meaning he’s a fan of any DJ’s work. As highlighted above, he is very talented, which can only come from extensive work on his craft, especially for someone his age. Taichi thought of him as “tiny and awful”, but if the Pearl theory applies, it’s likely he was projecting onto Paul for being small. We see him playing chess, and humiliating his opponent Jawn in the process, so his smarts extend outside of DJ work too. Also, it’s well known that child prodigies tend to be a lot more mature for their ages, so it’s likely he might have some of those traits.

And now for the big question. Are he and Acht related or not? It’s a common question asked due to the fact he wears a beanie with a tag that has the same logo as DJ Def1sh, a crude doodle of an octopus face. Haikara Walker itself brings up the question, in the same paragraph as Acht’s potential relation to Marina. Specifically, they might be blood relatives, or just follow the same brand. Side Order revealed the Marina thing to be true… and it didn’t reveal anything about Paul. You had one job, Nintendo. 

While Karla is the one with the “mysterious past”, Paul here is probably the one where the trope fits the most. It’s because his existence raises a lot more questions than it answers. Regardless of what his relation to Acht is, it’s clear from that that he’s from the domes. So, what’s a kid his age doing on the surface? When did he get there? The fact he had a Squid Twitter account implies he’s been around long enough to get familiar with all that stuff. Why is he even on fish Twitter anyway? Doesn’t he know that shit can traumatize even adults? Does he have parents? If not, has he been homeless the entire time before meeting SashiMori? Cause a kid doesn’t just show up to a band audition without at least some implication of family having taken him there. Questions and questions. Where is he now? Nintendo, please, tell us where our boy is, WE BEG Y-

—

And that does it for SashiMori. We are now left with three bands. Hightide Era, Chirpy Chips and ω-3. 

[pressplay-if]

Hi I’ve played the demo like 5 times already and with the same MC LOL its so good!

my MC is named Penny and she is totally not a carbon copy of Penny Lane from Almost Famous…haha…haha… anyways… 100% going for Stevie’s route. I knew as soon as i read the intro it would be Stevie and I am pleasantly unsurprised it stayed that way. Right when I saw her intro “she plays bass” started playing in my head.

Penny comes from a rich family and dresses as dramatic as possible. She craves attention lol. I always see her in sunglasses, big coats, drowned in jewelry. She is very aware of Stevie having a crush on her but also sort of unfazed? It’s made clear that despite Penny being offputtung/odd that she somehow always manages to make it work/look good, so I think she always brushes off stuff like that as “it’ll pass”.

She’s blunt, a little sarcastic and flippant, but her happiness levels are…dipping. I also remember the Wild stat being pretty high.

The writing in this is so immersive like i caught myself kicking my feet and giggling while MC is being gushed over by the cast. That’s all though! I love this story and pray you continue it 🙏🙏🙏

Okay "She plays bass" is actually a killer song! Thanks for the roundabout recommendation haha

Ngl the need for attention is really relatable given the family background you picked. The "It'll pass" thing is rly sad tho, my poor girl Stevie... Even though Stevie also thinks it'll pass lol.

[bargainoriley]

Practiced bass today again after a bit of not practicing! I’m gonna learn Roundabout’s bass line… very excited! It’s already been pretty difficult ngl

[dustedmagazine]

Ty Segall — Three Bells (Drag City)

Ty Segall has never been shy about his affinity for King Crimson . His heaviest band, Fuzz, covered “21st Century Schizoid Man” a decade ago, amplifying its stately complexities to an airport tarmac roar . His latest album, the double LP Three Bells, hews to a quieter folky sound, but you can hear a homage to the prog godfathers in its tricky chord changes and multi-parted compositions.

Consider, for instance, the shimmering jangle that kicks off the title track, Segall warbling plaintively over a mesh of folk-leaning guitar play . But the melody takes a half-step, jazzy turn, breaking out of what you expect into jazzier, more free form trajectories, but that’s just a taste. A mid-cut break slips further out into the stratosphere, quickening the pace, fracturing the vocals and layering heavy metal guitars with pristine folk-derived harmonies . It’ll remind you not just of Crimson, but related bands and their prog rock opuses—Yes’ “Roundabout” or Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Lucky Man.” 

That’s quite a turnaround for an artist who cut his teeth on brief, incendiary garage stomps like “The Drag” but Segall’s influences have always been broader and deeper than skeptics acknowledge . He’s as deep into kraut rock as he is in mod 1960s psych, as committed to arena-style rock and metal as to Cavestomp primitives . His last few albums have thrived under limitations—no guitars for First Taste, a fixation on Harmonizers for Harmonizer, a home-taper’s acoustic fuzz for Hello, Hi .  Three Bells is not one of these conceptually defined albums . Recorded mostly solo, with Segall on guitar and drums, it pushes classic guitar rock into complicated corners, with choral motets sidling up to blistering guitar solos, noodle electric keyboard textures glittering atop blasts of pared down percussion .

Segall brought in his wife Denée to assist on five of these tracks, including the fuzz-bombed highlight “Eggman” where multiple guitars saw in from all angles as Segall chants in monotone . It’s hard to overstate how bouncy and marvelous the drumbeat is or how infectious this brutally stripped back song is .  And yet even this one disappears into a vortex, swamped by noise like the end of “A Day in the Life.” 

Emmett Kelley also played bass on a few . You can hear Kelley bobbing in and around the chilled, fusion jazz drum break of “Denée,” holding down an increasingly free-form exploration of rhythmic transport . Or grounding the swaggering Motown pop string section in the sweeping “My Room.”

The most entangled and intricate cut on this disc, though, is likely “Move” the one track credited not just to Segall but the whole Ty Segall Band (Ben Boye, Mikal Cronin, Emmett Kelly, Charles Moothart and Segall himself.)  Denée chants in a cool deadpan, as all manner of guitar-based ideas zing off in the background . The tempo changes—as well as the temperature, with metal and rock flaring out of krautish repetition—but the song bangs on . It’s complicated but in no way unreadable, a pleasure for all its multiplicity.

Jennifer Kelly

[dust-n-roses]

Just got back from seeing Rick Wakeman and it was amazing 💜 the first set was Yes classics – Roundabout, The Meeting (ABWH), Wonderous Stories, South Side of the Sky & And You And I – and was great; the second was Journey to the Centre of the Earth which I wasn’t as familiar with beforehand but is epic and the English Rock Ensemble did a fantastic job. They were so enthusiastic too! Also, I didn’t realise that the bass player is Lee Pomeroy who played with ARW but I recognised him from the clips I’ve seen (he’s so good – he did a great solo during the outro jam to Starship Trooper in the encore. Speaking of the encore, the rendition of that was fantastic – I didn’t want it to end! Rick and Adam also came to the front with their keytars which was fun, and nice to see Rick fully since he was trapped in the keyboards for most of it, lol). Overall I had a great time – just wish it could’ve gone on for longer!

(I didn’t get many pics bc he was sometimes obscured by guitar guy and I was focussing on the music but here’s some)

[epic-song-lyrics-showdown]

Epic Song Lyrics Round 1, Wave 2, Poll 3

“You're one, yes, you're the star / We need you back on bass guitar / You're fabulous (I'm fabulous) / You're fabulous (I'm fabulous) / You're the one we all can see / It's all about you (it's all about me) / You're fabulous (I'm fabulous) / You're fabulous (I'm fabulous)”

-Fabulous, Bobbi Fabulous and Phineas Flynn

“It's getting late / Look a complete and utter state / She pops out the blue and says / Doesn't matter mate / See this girl she's been around / Bet you a pound / She pulls right up to my ear and says / Whatever you do / Don’t turn 'round / My entire life it's running away too fast (my whole life, it won’t last) / Watching everyone I've ever loved walk past (merry make me love forget the past) / Never really quite getting the knack of (I’m not telling, but you can) / Knowing no one will not (fuck off if no one will) / Ever come back for you (come back for you) / Roundabouts and washing lines / We do each other's laundry in our hearts sometimes / Come back (come back) / Come back / We don't have time to fuck around / Abouts and washing lines / We do each other's laundry in our hearts sometimes / Come back / Come back / We don't have time to fuck around”

-Pruning Shears, The Amazing Devil

Fabulous-Bobbi Fabulous and Phineas Flynn

Propaganda:

It makes me feel fabulous, do I need to say more?

Submitted by @the-reblogging-fish

Pruning Shears-The Amazing Devil

Time Stamp: 2:23-3:27

Propaganda:

I really like the layering and repetition here, also it just sounds very nice

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

This is reposted as I messed up the length of the poll.

[siberian-khatru]

I thought it would be enough to learn it, but alas. I need the bass line to Roundabout engraved in my brain.

^^^me when Roundabout does the. does the bass line. yeah

[theyellowroseofsodor]

Traintober 2023!

So excited to be here! I’m going to be writing this for the next month so it may be a bit for the next Yellow Rose update, but don’t think that it’s going away forever! It’s being written too! Enjoy!

Day One - Free Day!

Gordon was surprised to say the least when he returned to Tidmouth Sheds and the adjacent manor that night. When he first left the manor that morning there was nothing out of the ordinary. Now? There were cobwebs hanging across each doorway of the roundabout shed. He slowed to a stop at the turntable, letting his driver and firemen out, who looked equally surprised. He shifted to his human form and rolled his head, a light crackle of his bones feeling excellent after a long day, and he waved goodbye to his team. As he approached the manor’s door he could hear music getting increasingly louder, till he opened the door was blasted with a loud bass. He winced, growing irritable at the sound and it was making him increasingly cross at the assault. The manor looked the same as always as he walked through the door and found himself following the sound as he walked up the steps to go upstairs.

Spooky scary skeletons

Send shivers down your spine

Shrieking skulls will shock your soul

Seal your doom tonight

As Gordon reached the upstairs living room, he found Camille dancing by herself to the music as she placed a few skeletons on the mantle of the upstairs fireplace. With her back to him, he found the Bluetooth speaker and began pushing the button rapidly down to a lower volume. She quickly turned around as the volume died and she grinned at him.

“Gordon! You’re home!”

“And my ears have never been so assaulted in all my life. What on earth, Camille?” He looked at her admonishingly.

She only grinned back at him and held her arms out to the room, “It’s spooky season!”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, “Spooky season?”

“Yeah, you know, Halloween.”

He looked at her not understanding, “Halloween is one day and it’s at the end of the month. Today is only the first.”

She walked over to him and took his hand, spinning herself though he found himself aiding her, “But it’s my favorite time of year and there’s no harm in decorating now.”

Gordon looked over at a small tote of decorations and rolled his eyes, but her smile was contagious. He smirked down at her and shook his head, “Fine, but keep the volume down at least. For me?”

She tiptoed to kiss him and he leaned down to his lips, “Of course. I know you like to watch the news or crime shows when you get home. I lost track of time. I’ll turn my music back to my earbuds.”

Gordon grunted in response and moved to his favorite blue recliner to turn on the TV. He eyed the little box once again and shrugged. There had never been many decorations for the Halloween holiday at Tidmouth or anywhere on the island that he could recall. A few decorations could do little harm.

The next day, when Gordon returned home, there were skeletons in the yard and hanging around the sheds. Some were full sized, some were small, others were just bones placed around the yard strategically with a few grave stones. Where on earth had she found those? He ignored them as he walked up the path to the house.

The day after, Gordon began to look around in an almost frustrated awe as there were gooey window stickers to spell out the words “HELP” or “BEWARE” with red blood decorating them. There were even a few bloody handprints and he found that on some of the sidetracks that weren’t used in the yard there was caution tape and cones around some fake blood and a dismembered limb.

He chastised Camille about her poor taste, but James and Thomas defended her and talked about how great the décor was. There were even little odds and ends inside the house, including but not limited to skeletal animals (a dragon, raptor, unicorn, and gryphon to name a few), sugar skulls, a few venus flytraps and piranha plants next to Henry’s plants in his indoor garden cabinet lit by their warm lights and also a few decorative orange and black lights, table clothes with spiderwebs and decorative towels, and this was all just in the main room! She had replaced his own blue mattress set for a Halloween themed one. There was a little “trick or treat” block on his desk and a Halloween countdown calendar as well.

But the last straw was when he came home one day and found a tall animatronic witch on the front porch, by the door. She was the stereotypical green, warts and all, in all black clothes with the pointed hat and the broomstick in hand. He glared at the witch and she looked blankly ahead.

Gordon sighed and went to walk right past her when she moved and started cackling in a high pitched laugh. He about jumped out of his skin and turned to scowl at the robot who continued to laugh.

“Hiya, sonny! How about a kiss?! Eeeeeehehehehehehe!!”

Gordon had never wanted to punch something so badly. He looked the witch over in disgust and stomped into the house as she continued to cackle.

“Camille!!”

“You love me!!” She said laughing from the upstairs.

Gordon shook his head as he removed his shoes and work jacket.

This was going to be a long month.

[telltalebatman]

heather sunlians: woe is me for i cannot kill the part of me that cringes.......... my thoughts are locked inside my head.......... and i am too afraid to unleash them..............

me (bass boosted): THE ANTAGONISTS FROM THIS 2016 BATMAN GAME LOVED EACH OTHER IN THE MOST ROUNDABOUT WAY POSSIBLE AND ALSO HERE IS MY INCOMPREHENSIBLE THEORY REGARDING THE LORE OF CRINGE GACHA MOBILE GAME HONKAI STAR RAIL

[keanuquotes]

What do a grocery store, a diner, and The Matrix Resurrections have in common? We can thank all of them for Dogstar's origin story and comeback.

Keanu Reeves, Robert Mailhouse, and Bret Domrose's rock band formed in 1991 after a chance encounter in Southern California's supermarket Gelson's, when Reeves saw Mailhouse wearing a Detroit Red Wings top and struck up a conversation with him. The two bonded over their shared love of hockey and became fast friends.

"It turned out that we lived in the same neighborhood," Reeves tells EW, "and then we started to jam together, and then we started to write songs, and then we played the first shows as Dogstar not that long after."

Doghouse members Robert Mailhouse, Bret Domrose, and Keanu Reeves

| CREDIT: BRIAN BOWEN SMITH

In their early days, bassist Reeves, drummer Mailhouse, and original singer and guitarist Gregg Miller (who left the group in 1995) would play in Reeves' garage. "It was fun," Reeves recalls. Until Miller's amplifier broke.

So he reached out to Domrose for help. "I was bartending with [Miller] when I first moved to Los Angeles, and I happened to have a similar amplifier to his," Domrose says. "So I went over to the house to help him fix it, and that's where I met these two guys. I just thought I was going to help some guy fix a piece of equipment. I didn't know I was about to change the rest of my life."

Reeves and Mailhouse were instantly impressed by Domrose's guitar skills — "Bret's a shredder, man," Reeves says — so a few days after watching him play, they invited him to join them at the iconic Los Angeles venue Troubadour. "I just wanted to go and drink beers and watch you guys," Domrose recalls. "I didn't realize I was going to be on stage."

"That set the tone for us from then on," Reeves says, rubbing his hands together. "Jump into the deep end. Man, that's us. We are not afraid."

Much like with that first serendipitous meeting in a Gelson's, food, at least in a roundabout way, helped lead them to a musical collaboration — this time, their return, which includes a tour and their upcoming third album, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees.

"There was a premiere for Matrix 4 in San Francisco, and the next morning we had breakfast," Reeves says. "That was the initial spark." While the band never officially went on hiatus, they hadn't recorded or released new music in more than two decades, playing together only every few years in basements or at smaller gigs nowhere near the size of their old concert venues. But what started as a post-Matrix Resurrections chat about equipment turned into a full-fledged plan for them to reunite in L.A. to start working on fresh material.

"We got excited, one thing leads to another, and then we all took it extremely seriously," Mailhouse says. "It wasn't going to be another one of those casual get-togethers. You could just tell. It was like we were on a mission."

Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees is full of anthemic, sweeping, beautiful, and rousing songs that embody what the band is today. "The inspiration was three guys wanting to have fun and reconnect and be honest with our emotions, and so that's what you get," Domrose says.

If the music is different from their earlier, post-grunge records, it's all by design. "There's a maturity," Reeves says of their sound today. "The most challenging day [recording this album] was when I played 'Dillon Street'" — a track on the new album — "really basic when we were writing the song. When we get into the studio with the guys, I'm just playing it very simple and holding it down, and they were like, 'I think you need to do something more.' I tried to come up with the bass line in the moment, and it moves around a little more than I usually do, and so it was pushing me."

Reeves continues, "It was scary making stuff up in the moment with all ears and eyes on me, but everyone was cheering me on — just like, 'Dude, you got it. Let's go, Reeves.' So it was challenging, but also a fun moment."

The trio have never felt prouder of an album, and they can't wait to finally release it to the world. "We should have the record release party at a Gelson's, the one in Beachwood Canyon [where we met]," Mailhouse jokes to Reeves.

Adds Domrose with a laugh, "They do have a bar now!"

Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees is out Oct. 6.

[96theater]

3 15 20 28 for the music ask :3

3: A song that reminds you of summertime

. c. crab rave. its got crabs what can i say

15: A song that is a cover by another artist

someone in a server im in showed me the allagaeon cover of roundabout and it goes way too hard. the bass on this is crazy

20: A song that has many meanings to you

many meanings, as opposed to a song that means a lot...i think the song that first comes to mind for me is "unknown scent" by iyowa. the first time i heard it i cried, not knowing what it meant but it's a very quiet, calm moment in an otherwise fairly chaotic album. it felt like letting out a breath, it felt like mourning. later i found lyrics and thought it felt like a pair of kids going on a fun outing together, or nostalgic. another part of me thinks that in the broader context of the album, it feels like a dying person's comfort to their lover (last journey comes Right after it in the tracklist)

28: A song by an artist with a voice that you love

this might sound kinda goofy because it's not really a traditionally "pretty" voice but /looks up his name/ josh ramsay's voice scratches my brain. this is what i wish i sounded like. you may also notice one of my favorite utau voicebanks (shikirine kuroku non-monster) kinda sounds like this and that's not a coincidence.

(cw for themes of disordered eating)

thank you for letting me talk about funny sounds

[freakingoutthesquares]

Ten Years In A Jumbo-Collared Shirt Words: John Mulvey, Photographer: Peter Walsh Taken from the New Musical Express, June 1992 Transcription: Acrylic Afternoons

"Pulp is... being an anachronism of any kind... living in a dream world... being totally unrealistic... making contact with beings from other planets and snogging them... it's not being different for the sake of it - that's immature... it's all of these things and more - but most of all it's about you and us, and what we can get up to together - OK? - alright, here we go..." (Pulp propaganda)

Today, Pulp is... trying to be superstars in your hometown... organising party games for drunks... loving Des O'Connor and not having to say you're sorry... being fantastic... being mundane... being fantastic and mundane at the same time... dreaming of space-age Sheffield...

"Sheffield's full of half-assed visions of cities of the future that turn into a pile of rubbish," Russell Senior reflects, standing on the biggest traffic roundabout in Europe. "We grew up reading the local paper and seeing 'Sheffield, city of the future,' with a map of how it's going to be and pictures of everyone walking around in spacesuits, smiling. But we're the only ones who took it seriously..."

"When I was younger I definitely thought I'd live in space," says Jarvis Cocker ruefully. "But when you realise you're not going to, it colours your life; you can't think, 'It's alright if I'm signing on because I'll be on Mars soon', you have to try and get it down here." So what are you getting into at the moment? "Cooking. It's very good. Cooking for your friends is very therapeutic, and they always say it's nice, 'cos they're just pleased they didn't have to get out of their seats to help."

Pulp - singer Jarvis, guitarist/violinist Russell, Nick Banks (drums), Steve Mackey (bass) and Candida Doyle (Farfisa, Korg and Stylophone) - are sitting in a dressing room at the Sheffield Leadmill with a pointless prop - a large, silver, faintly sinister head - for company. It is a special day. In the afternoon, hundreds of balloons have been released to mark the debut of their new label, Gift, a perverse indie spin-off from local Techno-vendors Warp. Later, they will play a dizzily great set of twisted disco melodrama. For now, though, they have a long ten years - and extraordinarily unsuccessful career to explain.

"Music's the only thing that can keep you going," says Jarvis, reassuringly clichéd. "If you're not getting paid loads of money and not getting loads of girls sayin ' You're smashing', that's the only thing to fall back on. When I was at school I had specs and bad teeth and was a bit lanky, and so no girls were really interested, but I thought that if I was in a group they'd think I was good... So on that level I've failed miserably. But that's why all sad kids do it, innit? Standing on the stage is like wanking off in front of a mirror. People in bands are social misfits aren't they?"

Looking at Jarvis - still wearing specs, still lanky (I didn't check his teeth) - and the rest of Pulp clad in a hundred shades of brown, a bit of lamé and countless other '70s synthetic atrocities, it's hard not to conclude that they're proud to be social misfits. Russell, meanwhile, is musing on how a band who haven't released an album since 1985 have kept going. "A band that's been together for a decade and has never sold any records is either very, very crap indeed OR they've got something strong keeping them together. I can't make up my mind which of those two it is yet."

"It's about not being able to make it in the real world," reckons Jarvis, back on his misfit tack. "I haven't got a City & Guilds certificate or anything, I haven't got a skill." What about film work (he and Steve are fully trained and occasionally practising video-makers)? "Oh yeah, I have got that," he admits bashfully. "But that's why I went to college, 'cos you do see sad characters walking around who used to be in a band about five years ago, and they always look like a dog that's got lost."

Pulp are currently busier, in bigger demand, than ever before. There's a frantically groovy new single, 'OU', about someone woken up by the sound of his girlfriend leaving him and wondering whether to chase after her or stay in bed; plus there's an album recorded in 1989, 'Separations', finally set for release on their old label, Fire. Both are tense, funny, fizzily danceable and flamboyantly out of step with most of the world, let alone the music scene.

"I like the light entertainment, Des O' Connor feel more than the greasy 'I'm on Highway 66, man' feel," says arch-crooner Cocker. "It's something that's going to die out. You listen to radio 2 - well, I do anyway - and they play Matt Munro, Engelbert Humperdinck and stuff that doesn't really get made anymore. It's a bit clichéd, and that's why people think it's cheesy. But the reason why people performed in that way is 'cos it's quite effective; if you can break through the cheese barrier, you can make contact..."

And so they go on. About people who find their balloons will be treated to a night in with Pulp, to listen to sports themes and BBC Radiophonic Workshop records, and play Stereo Ker-Plunk. About how Choppers are better than Grifters, and how Russell once smashed up the Leadmill dressing room in a fit of pique, only to be caught the next morning sneaking in to replace the bulbs he'd broken.

The last I see of Jarvis, he's standing on the bar at the after-show party, trying to organise the drunken liggers to play musical statues for a can of beer, while 'Nevermind' stops and starts incongruously in the background. It is, like a knackered redcoat struggling to bring culture to barbarians, not a pretty sight. The last I see of Candida, she's leafing through the Leadmill's visitors' book. Amidst pages of revealing scrawls - Spiritualized's inscrutable squiggles, Sultans Of Ping FC's unfunny cartoons - Pulp are there again and again and again; strange, sardonic, not all there but always bloody there. Whoever said all good things must come to an end was a useless liar.

[gunslinginnhogtyin]

❤️🎸🎶

MISC. HEADCANONS // @calebron

❤️ - How did your muse come to realize their romantic and sexual orientations? Was it difficult to accept? Are they proud of who they are?

Butch came to realize his attractions weren’t conventional somewhere in his early teens; whether this is due to some negative experiences he’s had is unknown, and there unfortunately were plenty. Men didn’t exactly jump at the opportunity back then, repressed by cultural expectations and all, and flirting would often end in a violent exchange—eventually he just started taking it in stride, taking what he could get… though that was years after strictly sticking to women for a long while.

He began to view sex as sex and attraction as just that, attraction. He found that he had “types” but they weren’t at all limited to gender. Though this took quite a while for him to fully grasp this part of him. Often times, after the fact, shame is still present but he’s not open about any of it. Ever.

It was very difficult for him to accept considering the time period he’s from and the heavy expectation from his father who was very toxic and one note about masculinity and how life was “supposed” to be. Live, work hard, make a family, and encourage the next of kin to do the same.

I wouldn’t at all say he’s proud of who he is; there’s a lot of self hatred and disgust intertwined with how he goes about his affairs and relationships with others, it’s just easier to ignore in the moment.

🎸 - Can your muse play any instruments? Do they play them often, or rarely? How actually skilled are they at playing them?

Butch’s main instrument is the guitar, though because of this, he can play near any stringed instrument within reason. A banjo, a bass, and a ukelele being main ones… he’s real good with his fingers! Man can play Roundabout by Yes near perfectly if ever given the opportunity if that tells you anything, lmao.

🎶 - What kind of music does your muse listen to? Do they have a favorite genre? Do you think the aux cord would be taken away from them?

Since entering the 21st century and catching up on everything he’s missed out on, you can imagine his mind was blown when he learned he didn’t have to physically go somewhere to see a live band to hear to music. While he has tastes for all kinds of music, his favorite no doubt are cheesy over dramatic 80’s classic hits. He's a sucker for old country and country rock too, but theres something about the passion in those 80's hits that gets him.

aux cord would definitely be taken away; mans the type or person to put the same song on REPEAT 10 times because it gives him the same level of seretonin every time.