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Oct 30, 2012 Teeth & Tongue By Teeth & Tongue

Tuesday 16th October: Williamsburg Park, Brooklyn, NY. 12pm

<Photo Above>

It’s the first day of CMJ but instead of hanging around the Kimmel Centre getting free earplugs

and compilation CDs we’ll never listen to, we head off to Williamsburg Park to film a couple

of “live acoustic” numbers for Pollifax Wandering Sessions. The lovely Kevin is at the ready with

his fancy camera while I channel my inner Ani Di Franco (ahem, not) and bash out a few

numbers, ruining the tranquil surrounds. You can see the wonderful view of Manhattan here, but

you can’t see the gaggle of 12-year-old schoolboys who were sneaking up on us just out of shot.

The smart little buggers wanted to interview me. “Do you, as an artist, have any thoughts to offer

on the increasing gentrification of Williamsburg?” one asked me. America’s school curriculum must

be more comprehensive than I realised.

Wednesday 17th October: Ludlow Guitars, Lower East Side, Manhattan.

More live filming, this time for Brite Revolution. Two lovely (and rather good-looking, just quietly)

boys from Nashville charmed the normally-aloof staff at Ludlow Guitars into letting us take over

their acoustic room. Earnest Eliot Smith types kept peering through the door wishing they could

get in there and play that nice Taylor cutaway one more time. Alas, no. We had another take to

roll. I got my pick of guitars for the filming though. (I was ‘testing’ them.)

Thanks Ludlow guitars!

Saturday 20th October: Bedford-Styvesant, Brooklyn

This is Marc and Damo looking swarthy on the stoop of our Brooklyn brownstone as we wait

for a car to get to one of our two shows tonight. We’re actually staying pretty much in the

basement, so that nice big wooden door that looks like a set from “The Nanny” isn’t really

applicable to our situation. These two boys have been sticking together so much that Damo

says he feels like Whitney Houston to Marc’s Kevin Costner.

Saturday 20th October, Leftfield, Lower East Side.

I think I can safely say that this is oddest gig we’ve ever played. Our “official CMJ showcase”

took place at a venue that didn’t exist until the evening prior and was beset with shambolic

production issues. Apparently the sound engineer “peaced-out” during the set of an earlier

band and disappeared, meaning we had to do our own sound using a PA that wouldn’t have

passed muster at a local open mic night. But it actually turned out to be one of the most fun.

We drank enough to make it sound okay on stage and then played a reverb-less,

sampler-less, bell-and-whistles-less garage set. Nothing but the music, man.

Monday 22nd October, East Village Radio, East Village, NYC, 2pm

We’d played a show at Rockwood the night before, after which I got invited to come in and talk

about myself (everyone’s favourite topic, right?) on the wonderful East Village Radio, which is

set up in a tiny shop front on 1st Av. It’s even better that the adorable Andy Rouke (that’d be the

bass player from The Smiths, by the way) is the host. So charming.

That’s Marc and Damian lurking around outside.

Monday 22nd October, Pianos NYC, Ludlow St, 11pm.

I probably shouldn’t leave you with this photo but…

We were hanging around outside after our show at Pianos and a gentleman came past selling his

fine one-off artworks. He must have had some Freudian obsession going on, because every single

piece had at least three penises in it somewhere. The one he’s holding is titled ‘Alcoholic Dick’, and

the others are just too rude to mention. Let’s just say he has a way with words, and every orifice

was covered, one way or another.

(teethandtongue.com)