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It's just over a week until the listening party for my album. Join me (please!) at 8pm BST on the 29th July to listen to the album in full, chat with me about it, and...err...meet all the amazing celebrities who will also be there (he lied, convincingly). mattkik.bandcamp.com/merch/eponym...

@theapplauseband.bsky.social have a new song out today. Listen Up is a rocker of a track with fantastic vocals and a great guitar solo. Go and grab it...in two weeks! (on the next Bandcamp Friday, which is what I'm going to do 😁). theapplause.bandcamp.com/track/listen...

The front cover of my album shows all my guitars and pedals out, but when you flip the cover over, you see everything in the same place but in their cases. Standing all the guitars on a rack that's not designed to hold them like this was truly terrifying.

A better Superman than Dean Cain.

It's just one month until the release of my Eponymous album! Click here (mattkik.bandcamp.com/album/eponym...) to like, follow, dare I say pre-order? And in the meantime, listen out on the indie radio stations as I sent the second song to them today!

In less than four hours! 👇👇👇👇

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Ruin a book's title by replacing one word with "butthole": A Tale of Two Buttholes

Remember when I posted a few weeks ago saying "Gee, I've not changed my pedalboard in 18 months...I'm cured!" I wasn't cured. Here's the latest iteration of the board. Gone are the noise killer and Boss RV-3, welcome the Mosaic and Fart Pedal! (Two gag pedals on one board now!)

News from Matt! 👇

On the way to town we drove towards a digital sign that simply said "save lives". I though "well sure, I'd have a go if the opportunity presented itself, but I don't think I need a sign to prompt me". As we passed, the words "seat belts" appeared above it.

My acoustic guitar, a Fylde Falstaff, bought by my Dad in the mid-seventies for around £275. When he died I flipped it upside-down as I'm a lefty, and this is the only acoustic I play today. I still refer to it as my Dad's guitar, and it is the most beautiful instrument in the world (to me).

From my personal account...

Want to feel happy? Here’s the @Bandcamp playlist for you! CTC @mikeyjmusic.bsky.social UncleFunkbeard @nathalieweider.bsky.social @portobelloexpress.bsky.social @stormofcrows.bsky.social @brianjin.bsky.social @exorzm.com @truckdog.bsky.social bandcamp.com/chuckytradin...

Holy crap, it's been over eighteen months since I last changed something on my pedalboard. Could it be that Version 6.0 is finally "the one"? 🤔

An advert in Cornwall. I'll send a CD to the first person to find it. Take a photo of yourself with it! 😁

New Pedal Day!

This is live now. Come on over and hear the new album!

I have copies of all of this stuff. It's good stuff. Buy his stuff!

It's #BandcampFriday! "Who cares?" I hear you shout. "I do!" I reply. "Well what should we buy?" you enquire. "How about checking out our debut album, Twenty-Five Years?" I suggest. "Is it any good?" you wonder. "Ask no more, check out this video to find out why it's so flippin' good!" I yell!

I decided my first electric needed a refresh so I bought a new scratch plate, knobs, switch, and pickup covers. That was this morning's project, and I think it came out okay!

I started watching this guitar channel a while ago. Paul from Milehouse Studios is a luthier, a colourful character, and a joy to watch, and his latest video is a blinder. You won't believe just how bad this guitar is That he's reviewing, not that he's built!) youtu.be/afz_upOjk0I?...

I recently started watching M*A*S*H for the first time. I've seen one or two before, but only in passing. I just started season 4 last night and it's already one of my favourite shows of all time. The writing and the cast are both superb, and I'm so happy there's still so much left for me to watch!

Working with my new (old) mandolin today.

For years I've been recording parts for songs and then dragging them backwards slightly to the right place so they're in sync with the rest of the mix. Today is my first time recording on the new computer. Everything is already in sync where it should be. So...this would be normal then? 😂

I just bought a new old mandolin!

I got a new PC from quietpc.com. Thankfully it's not as big as the box suggests but damn, it's SILENT! This'll make recording acoustic guitar a hundred times easier!

The new album by @chuckytrading.bsky.social, A Sky of Hopes, is now available for preorder on Bandcamp. I play their first album all the time and love it, so I jumped straight over to Bandcamp to grab the next one. Three tracks now, and the rest in May! chuckytradingco.bandcamp.com/album/a-sky-...

Why don't I make notes!? I record a guitar part, listen to it a few times, decide what to improve, and then when i come back to it spend the next few days trying to work out the exact combination of guitar, preset, and pedals to match the tone. Just make notes Matt, you flaming eejit!

Kid crush, go!

My Friday Bandcamp pick is the live EP “Lost in a Strange Land” by @Stormofcrows.bsky.social. With Alison Johnson. Memorable music and images, with a sense of humor as well! Give this band a listen and you may find you need them in your collection! stormofcrows.bandcamp.com/album/lost-i...

Behold! My lovely Sire Marcus Miller M5 bass! No, I'm not a bassist, but I fancied one a few years ago and figured I'd grab a five string. Every so often I go through a stint of reaching for that instead of a guitar. It's fun to noodle one. Makes my guitar feel puny when I go back to it afterwards.😂

It's the Tannon Butthead. You might not be ready for it yet, but your kids are gonna love it.

If you know me at all you'll know I simply cannot resist this pedal. Will I play it live? No. Will I record with it? Probably not? Will I find some way to put it on my board, even if it means taking off something far more useful? You're damn right I will. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ste...

In twenty-eight years of playing I've never once taken a guitar in for a setup. I can just about do it myself (I think, having tried to learn on the one I built) but I've not tried it on any of my other guitars. Well today I've sent my ES-335 in for a setup. I get it back tomorrow...🤞

The Applause @theapplauseband.bsky.social have a new song out today (at bloody last!) It is rocky, it is guitarry, it is great. I'm listening to it on LOUD! Check it out (and get it on Bandcamp, guys!) open.spotify.com/track/6srxoi... Don't make us wait years for song number three, okay? 😁

Make a band meatier. The Meatles

I've pulled the trigger on leaving Twitter. The account still exists so no scammers take it over, but it's locked, and the app is deleted. Hopefully we can get a few good years out of BlueSky before some dickhead finds a way to destroy it too.

You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who's coming to save you?

It's a good job I don't give a toss about Spotify streams. You're all listening to your CDs and downloads though, right? 🧐

Kinda got out of the habit of posting these, though we are now nearing the end. Up next in Storm of Crows history ins the behind the scenes video for our One Day shoot. Once again we had Alison with us to help out, and even grab a cameo in the video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=unFy...

TONIGHT!

About six months ago I bought four tickets to...something, but didn't tell my family. Tonight we go to see...something, and hopefully they enjoy the surprise!

Now that Making a Song is over (again), we go to the one video we filmed for the album. This is Matt's song One Day (though Paul sings it as Matt was self conscious about his voice on it) which we filmed in Mama & Leonies in Sheffield, where Jimmy worked at the time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxLI...

It's the last one! How I (and probably a lot of other people) mix their songs...in the car! I give Will You Remember Me a listen, decide (eventually) that I like it, and pack it off towards the album, which was finished just a few weeks later. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP-N...

I'm not necessarily saying my Dad had a ridiculous number of sets of strings for his guitar but he's been dead for fifteen years and I've just now put on the last new set he had in his case.

The penultimate part of our Making a Song series was the second part of the mix. Part one saw me importing all Pauls parts, now you get to see how I've worked on...one of them! Okay, I did work on them all, but you don't get to see any of that bit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=laZ5...

Part 9 in our Making a Song series took us back to the studio. Well...the lounge and the conservatory actually, where Matt and Jilly recorded their backing vocals for Will You Remember Me. youtu.be/hD1T3EwLD0k