November Newsletter

Recent gigs

We've done some great support gigs recently, one with the might Focus at The Factory in Porth, and a great gig with Solstice at The Peel.  Both bands were phenomenal as you'd expect.
Over the weekend we played at The Robin 2 with The Reasoning.  Even though they're a fellow Welsh band we had not yet had the opportunity of supporting them.  It was the first time we'd caught them live and we were not disappointed; they put on a great show and we were given a warm welcome from their loyal fans.

The Aristocrats Tour - March 2012

We've been given an amazing opportunity to play with new fusion band The Aristocrats.  For those of you unaware, the band comprises guitar, bass and drum virtuosos Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minneman.  It's fair to say that each of these musicians are hugely respected and are personal influences of each member of Godsticks, so you can imagine how much we're looking forward to this tour.  Click here for a list of tour dates.

Album and EP Special Offer

For the next 3 months you will be able to buy both the album and EP for £12. Click here for details.

New Album "Death To Tuesday"

We're pleased to say that all 10 songs have now been written.  The new album will be called Death To Tuesday and is scheduled for release in May 2012.
We're very excited about the material on this album.  You can expect an eclectic mix as always, but we've also resuscitated our dormant metal gene, so a few of the tracks will be heavier than you may have come to expect from Godsticks.  Full track listing to follow in January.

Thanks for reading!
Darran, Steve and Dan   

Sunday, May 8, 2011

May Newsletter

Sunday, January 11, 2011

January Newsletter

Robin 2 Gig - 6th February 2011

To celebrate the forthcoming digital release of 'Spiral Vendetta' we've teamed up with Source Audio to give away a phase/flanger pedal and also a copy of our album and EP.  The competition will coincide with our gig at the Robin 2 on February 6th.  Just enter your name and email address on a form at the door to be in with a chance of winning.  This gig will feature our first full set, which will include a few surprises!  You can buy tickets here.

Riverside and Pineapple Thief

We've been lucky enough to be included as support for both Riverside and Pineapple Thief during their brief appearances in the UK in the first half of 2011.  Riverside are embarking on their 2011 anniversary tour and Godsticks will be supporting them at their CRS gig at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth on the 15th of May 2011; you can buy tickets here.  We'll be supporting the fantastic Pineapple Thief at the Underworld, London on the 19th of March 2011; tickets available here.  We're really looking forward to playing with these two great bands.

Live Recording Giveaway

Currently we're in the process of mixing a few songs that were recorded live at a recent gig.  We'll let you know when they're ready, as we'll be making them available for free download from our website.

Electric Garden Festival

Don't forget that there are still tickets available for the inaugural Electric Garden Festival in Blackpool on the 21st of May 2011.

New Album

Writing has begun for the new album which we're hoping to begin recording in January 2012.  Four songs are already nearing completion and we'll hopefully be introducing them into the live set in the next few months.  Keep your ears open at upcoming gigs! 

Prog Awards

'Spiral Vendetta' has recently been nominated for best debut album at the Progawards site.  Check out the site here; we're in some pretty good company.

Happy New Year!
Darran, Steve and Dan

Monday, November 1, 2010

November Newsletter 

ProgBury/Go-Prog Festivals

Recent weeks have seen us travel to Bury St Edmunds, and Gouveia in Portugal.  At ProgBury we were onyl the fourth band to ever play this brand new venue - set in a newly-constructed retail area of the town centre.  This really is a fantastic new live venue with a great sound; hopefully it will become a permanent fixture in the Prog festival calendar.  Great organisation and run by some very passionate music fans.

Go-Prog was also a fanstastic event featuring an extremely eclectic line-up and some incredible bands.  Stand-outs for us were 'Senogul' (well worth checking out http://www.senogul.com) and the amazing Mats Morgan Band who stole the show with their unique brand of Zappa inspired avant-garde jazz (and we thought we were difficult to categorise!).

Darran carried a cold for both of these gigs but nobody seemed to have noticed.  Don't know whether that is a good or band thing?!

Roadhouse, Birmingham gig - 25th November 2010

The next gig will be on the 25th of November at the Roadhouse in Birmingham.  We intend to include a few acoustic numbers into the set, including 'Clinical' and 'Unravel'.  Both these tracks will involve Steve making the long and lonely trip from drum stool to keyboard stool, and 'Clinical' will feature a specially written piano etude (by Steve).  We're also working on a new cover by Chick Corea called 'Majestic Dance'.

Electric Garden Festival

On the 21st May 2011 we will be playing the inaugural Electric Garden Festival in Blackpool.

"The Electric Garden Festival will (for the first year) be a 2 day celebration of Progressive Rock in May 2011.  Starting on the Friday night we'll have 8 of the best UK and Overseas acts to entertain you with an excellent sound system and convivial atmosphere.  The first acts have been announced but more will be added so please sign up for our mailing list to be kept up-to-date about the latest news.  Tickets are on sale at a hefty advance discount and will also entitle you to a free programme for the event.  We hope you will buy in advance and help make out inaugural festival a runaway success."

Spiral Vendetta distribution

'Spiral Vendetta' has now been internationally distributed by Voiceprint, and you can now purchase the album from practically every on-line store including Amazon, Play, HMV etc (although don't forget that it can also be purchased here).  If any of you wish to promote your writing skills (and our album!) we would encourage you to post a review of the album on any of these sites, good or bad!

New reviews

Check out the reviews page for new reviews of the album, including one by Michael Sharkey for Prog Archives.  We were also lucky enough to be featured in 'Album of the month' in Guitar Techniques, which is a bit of an honour as this magazine is hugely respected by the band.

Interviews

Keep an eye out for an interview we've recently done with Bob Mulvey and Jez Cook for DPRP.  We'll twitter news of this when it goes online.

Thanks for your support!
Darran, Steve and Dan

Tuesday, September 13, 2010

September Newsletter 

We're delighted to announce that we will be playing at the new prog-rock festival, 'ProgBury'. We will be the opening act on Sunday 17th October, playing alongside the likes of Wishbone Ash and Focus.   The festival will be held at 'The Apex' - a wonderful new venue in Bury St Edmonds.  Details of the venue and tickets can be found here.  Hope to see you there; it promises to be a great weekend.

We organised two local warm-up gigs in Cardiff this month at the Buffalo Bar and the Earl Haig Club. The opening gig, in which we performed 80% of the material for the first time, went very well. This was also Dan's debut gig with Godsticks, and those who attended will agree that he put in a fantastic performance. Our material is very challenging to play live, and requires a certain amount of concentration (as is so often the case with this kind of music). However, the intense rehearsals really paid off and we had a lot of fun.  We can't wait to play the upcoming gigs at The Peel with prog-band 'Parade', and Riffs Bar on the 30th September. For a list of all our upcoming live performances click here.

We've teamed up with Favored Nations once again to release the first track on the album, 'The Offer Still Stands', as a digital single. As always, the ever-creative Chris Maguire provided some stunning and eye-catching artwork: 

 

We recently featured in the 'On the threshold' section in issue 70 of the excellent magazine 'Classic Rock Presents Prog'. Anyone who subscribes to American publication 'Progression Magazine' will see a Godsticks interview in the next issue.

Click here for a list of reviews of Spiral Vendetta. We've been quite overwhelmed at the positive response we've been getting. Look out for reviews in Guitarist Magazine (issue 334), Guitar Techniques (issue 184), December's issue of 'Guitar Player', and November's issue of 'Bass Guitar Magazine'.

The very successful advertising campaign on Planet Rock radio has just come to an end. Ten copies of the album were up for grabs, along with two Boss guitar pedals. Congratulations to the overall winner, Philip Quinn. For those of you who didn't win, the album is available to buy here.
 
Thanks for your support!
Darran, Steve and Dan

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

August Newsletter 

We've recently been interviewed by David Elliot, aka 'The amazing Wilf, for 'The European Perspective'.  You can hear the show here.  Whenever we speak to David, he never fails to bring our attention to other great bands out there, and the show is definitely worth a listen if just for that reason.

The guys from DPRP who reviewed our EP last year, Bob Mulvey and Jez Rowden, have been the first to review the new album and you can read the review here.  Any fan of progressive music that isn't aware of this site should really check it out - it's hugely respected and a great resource for progressive music.  Look out for a DPRP interview in the coming weeks too.

Godsticks will feature in the 'on the threshold' section in the next issue of 'Classic Rock Presents Prog' (look out for a review of the album too).  For those unaware, the magazine has been growing in popularity since its inception, and it's now bi-monthly.  If recent articles in the 'Guardian' and 'Independent' are anything to go by, then prog is coming back into musical fashion - stranger things have happened we suppose!

Look out also for a review in Guitarist Magazine and its sister publication Guitar Techniques.  CRS and Summer's End organiser Stephen Lambe will also be reviewing the album for the 'Classic Rock Society' magazine.

The 'album launch' gig has been moved from August to Thursday 30th September.  This will be the first gig in the current 3-piece line up.  Rehearsals are going very well, and we're looking to line up some more gigs over the next few weeks.

For any fellow 'gear-heads' interested in the guitars used on the album, check out the new 'Gear' page, which features some great pictures taken by a friend/photographer Pete Hurley.

Thanks to everyone who has bought the album so far!  Plenty more news to come in the next few weeks, including more gig details, so stay tuned.

Darran, Steve, Dan

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

July Newsletter 

Well, it took 16 months of writing, 4 months of rehearsals, and 2 months in the studio, but we've finally managed to complete our debut album, 'Spiral Vendetta'.  We're really proud of the material on this album and it's as varied in style as the EP we released back in 2009. The album track listing is as follows:

The Offer Still Stands (2:47)
Unnerving Allure (6:00)
Timshel (5:36)
Norman (6:00)
Put Seven in Bold (5:47)
Withdrawn  (5:15)
Traverse (2:30)
R.R.R. (5:30)
The Continuation of Livid (4:30) instrumental
Unravel (5:00)

This time around we recorded the entire album at 'Mighty Atom Studios' with Joe Gibb - the producer and professional perfectionist that we worked with on the EP. Even though it was very, very hard work we had great fun working with Joe again; he really is one of the best producers in the business and cares as passionately about our music as us.

Some of you may already know that there was a line-up change at the beginning of the year. Jason Marsh (our original bass player) left the band to pursue more fusion-inspired instrumental music with fusion musicians Dann Glenn and Baba Elefante; you can check out their new material here.

Taking over bass duties on the album was Bryan Beller; a player we have admired for many years for his work with Mike Keneally and Steve Vai. It was a real pleasure to work with Bryan as we share many of the same influences, and as predicted his style complimented the Godsticks sound perfectly.

The new band line-up has also seen the arrival of bass player, Dan Nelson. Although still very much a young pup, he plays with maturity that belies his age, and hearing him play with the band the very first time was a real treat - a naturally gifted player with a big future ahead of him. As such, the live set-up has now been condensed into a 3-piece with Darran taking over all vocal, guitar, and keyboard duties.

Over the next few months, check out Classic Rock Presents Prog which features a Godsticks interview, and also look out for an album review in Guitarist magazine in the coming months. Hopefully we'll be playing in your local area within the next 12 months so please visit our website and sign up for our newsletter that will contain gig and news updates.

If we receive even half the amount of support and accolades in a year which culminated in us being voted 5th best band in Classic Rock Presents Prog, then we'd consider the album a success. At the moment, the album is only available to buy from the shop on this website.

Thanks for reading!

Darran, Steve, Dan

Monday, February 15, 2010 

Godsticks - Jason Marsh leaves/New album/Bryan Beller

It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of Jason Marsh: bass player and one of the founding members.  He has made no secret over the years (despite us trying to censor him) of his desire to perform more fusion-inspired instrumental music, and he feels the time has come to pursue this particular musical direction.  It can never be underestimated the musical influence he has had on both me and the sound of Godsticks;  I'm personally very sad that he's leaving but have the utmost respect for his decision.

Some of you may remember that Steve left back in November: well, that parting lasted all of 3 weeks until we realised that we couldn't live without each other.  Yes, this is a very dysfunctional band but that's part of its charm!!  Both Steve and I have been working extremely hard rehearsing the 10 tracks for the forthcoming album.

In contrast to the sadness expressed above, we're delighted to announce that none other than Bryan Beller will be taking over bass duties for the new album.  Both Steve and I are huge fans of Bryan and we're really looking forward to working with him.  He is one of only 2 bass players we think compliment our style (the other being Jason!).

We're working with Producer Joe Gibb again for this album, and begin recording at the beginning of April.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Godsticks voted 5th best new act in Classic Rock Presents Prog

GODSTICKS have been voted '5TH BEST NEW ACT' in the lastest issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine, on sale now!  Thanks to all those who voted.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 

Aaron Evans 1976 - 2009

It is with sadness that we announce the death of our very first drummer, Aaron Evans.  Aaron had been suffering with many issues for a number of years, and died of a heart-attack, aged just 33.  I say this not through rose-tinted glasses, but Aaron was the most naturally-gifted musician both Jason and I have ever played with.  We began this band with Aaron back in 2005 where we were playing covers of complex progressive music by Zappa and others.  This wasn't Aaron's background but the speed in which he was able to musically converse in these styles was astounding (although we were used to him surprising us!).  Even though he was self-taught he was renowned for being able to play practically any style of music, with his own original twist.

It was with Aaron that we began writing original material, and as Aaron and I grew up together we had a bit of a weird telepathy going on when it came to playing together.  We were always able to anticipate what one another would play, and he is one of the few technically-gifted players that always played for the song rather than their ego (which I think we're all guilty of sometimes!).  He was a true original and will be missed by those musicians he played with.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Summers End 2009

Having just returned from the Summers End Festival, its fair to say that we had a great time.  There's no better audience than a crowd full of proggers, and we couldn't have asked for a better reception.  We met some great people/bands and the atmosphere was fantastic.  We also sat down to do an interview with Aural Moon radio too, so keep your eyes peeled.

We hope to see many of you (or all of you, if its possible!) at our gigs in the future.  Thanks to Stephen and Huw, who's efforts to create an eclectic and smooth-running festival were appreciated by all.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Jason Marsh in 'Bass Magazine' issue 45

GODSTICKS bass player Jason Marsh features in the latest issue of 'Bass Magazine'! August 2009.

Sunday, July 05, 2009 

Godsticks interview on 'The European Perspective'

Check out the Godsticks interview on 'The European Perspective' hosted by David 'Amazing Wilf' Elliott.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Godsticks interview

Godsticks interview online at Notreble.com

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Godsticks update

Just a quick update to tell what Godsticks have been up to recently.  We're featuring in July's Guitarist Magazine (out 8th June).  Many thanks to Editor Mick Taylor for all his support over the last few months.  We're currently in rehearsal and aiming to be out on the road from August onwards.  Sales of the EP have been incredible, and we want to thank everyone for the support.  A quick note though: Myspace no longer allow external links to Paypal. 

Not to worry though - you can buy the EP from our online shop page.  Hope to see you all at a gig in the near future!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Guitar Player Magazine EP review

"Godsticks is a three-piece band from the U.K., lead by guitarist, pianist, and vocalist Darran Charles. The five quirky songs on this EP fall roughly into the prog camp, though some of the changes, guitar tones, vocals, and vocal harmonies are more akin to Steely Dan, tamer Zappa, and '70s pop-rock than they are to, say, Genesis or ELP.  Lots of inventive turns of phrase, clever arpeggios, and other little touches combine with the jazzish grooves and hooky melodies to keep things interesting." [Barry Cleveland]

Sunday, April 12, 2009

EP review by The Progressive Rock Files

"Hailing out of South Wales are a new outfit calling themselves Godsticks, who have released their first CD, a five-track EP that displays their rather unique prog slant. The band is a trio of Darren Charles (vocals, guitars, piano), Jason Marsh (bass) and Steve Roberts (drums). For the EP they also employed the drumming skills of Aaron Evans on three of the five tracks. Godsticks formed in 2006 and for the most part played covers of all sorts of progressive rock music. I can't imagine how tough it must have been trying to land club gigs! Still they decided they had more to offer and started working on their own material.

The thing you notice right off with these five tracks is that they're all quite short; all in the four-minute+ range, but the interesting thing about Godsticks' musical style is that they don't seem to need long tracks to provide an arena of musical display. They pack lots of musical twists and turns into small packages. But these musical change-ups are not of the dramatic kind, instead these songs, made up of a variety of musical parts effortlessly slide from one feel to the next and while it didn't seem that the song changed much, on further listens you come to see that you actually went through four or five different bits.

The musical style bears a subtle jazzy feel, coming mostly from the fretless bass, but you also notice it in the way the guitar is played from time to time. Vocally I'm reminded slightly of the work of Echolyn, sometimes in vocal tone and other times in the layered arrangements. The only keyboard present is piano but that doesn't seem to take away from the varied nature of these pieces as Charles goes from acoustic to electric guitars to change the overall tone. 

This five-track EP is a wonderful tease for the music of Godsticks and I for one am looking forward to a full CD release in the months ahead."  [Jerry Lucky]