Cut To The Chaser
It's been a bit quiet round here over the last couple of months but
there's a good reason for
that: we've been putting the final touches to songs for the second album
and then up in Path
of Condie recording them...
A week in tpot studios with Robin Evans is always a pleasure and the
resulting twelve tracks
are sounding great! Anyone who's heard the OTR set at recent gigs will
have a fair idea of
what to expect but Daz's experimentation with walls of guitar combined
with our melodious pop-vocal
sensibility has certainly been taken to exciting new extremes.
During a rare evening off from the "sonic laboratory", we became
reacquainted with some old friends
from our previous stay at tpot and met a whole load of new ones in the
"charming village of Dunning"
situated over the hill from the studio. A big "HELLO!" to you all. Many
"black beards" were quaffed
and many a song was sung.
It was really great to meet The Law in the studio too, just before they
headed off on a twenty-date UK
tour supporting The View. Loads of exciting bands coming out of Dundee at
the moment via tpot and
Two Thumbs! We
definitely recommend checking them
out. See you at the bar!
Here Comes the Summer!
Well, so far it's already been a bit of a scorcher, with some top notch gigs which really sent temperatures rising. The 3Bs gig went off with a bang, giving the band a chance to play a set of all new tunes. Somebody actually thought Panda was playing with a coat-hanger in his mouth he was that happy. We'd also like to say hats off to The Sand Creek Massacre boys who are quite simply an awesome band and fantastic drinking company.
The Come Together festival proved to be an equally enjoyable experience. With plenty of space on stage to move around the boys put out a high energy late afternoon set of passion pop classics.
At the moment, OTR are busy honing the new tunes and writing lyrics etc. There is talk of the next album being recorded in September. We'll keep you posted on that one.
Of course, OTR always like to keep active in the gig department. There is an intimate gig at the Six Bells in Warborough as part of the festival. A Friday night at The Purple Turtle sometime over the summer and a classic car rally down near Winchester to name but a few. Watch this space for further details.
Tim and Daz will be heading down to Reading Community radio this weekend for an interview which will outline all the current and future OTR news and plans for the new album. They will also be hanging out with top friends Aluminum Babe and hopefully sorting out another visit to the Big Pineapple in the near future.
And finally, thanks to everyone who is still clocking OTR on the Channel 4 advert. Good on yer!
That's all for now. Please keep checking in for updates and if you fancy a few cheeky bevvies, OFFTHERADAR will be drinking in a pub near you! And remember,
"... the summer's right here and it's time to come out, time to discover the fun is about..."
Greetings Ra-darlings!
So far, 2006 has proven to be a highly gratifying year for OFFTHERADAR. As well as the C4 and Virgin Radio stuff, the band has enjoyed a steady flow of top gigs, top swigs and top shindigs. From practically taking up residence at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford on Tuesdays (big up to Cowboymod), through to return trips to PoP in Soho, and some choice shows in Reading. The RADAR calendar has been filling up nicely.
If you've been lucky enough to catch OTR live recently you may have noticed a number of new tunes in the set. The boys have been very busy writing material for their second album, which they are super keen to air live. There has also been a rumour that three people disguised as Daz, Tim and Panda played some RADAR tunes acoustically at a low-key venue in Wallingford. Rather mysterious!
So, if you fancy checking out some new RADAR tunes, still loving some old favourites, or just want a few cheeky beveragios with the ThreeMustgetBeers, then these upcoming gigs may be just the ticket.
On the 10th May, OTR are teaming up with those fine lads The Sand Creek Massacre at the 3B's, Reading Town Hall. Come along to see two awesome Reading bands with no door fee!
Then on the 13th May OTR are playing at the Come Together festival in Henley. This has all the makings of a fantastic couple of days on the riverside. OTR will be onstage at 5 p.m. and after performing will be heading straight for the beer tent. This is also a free event where you can check many other top local bands and loads more. Mustn't Grumble!
That's all for now, over and out.
C4/Music - Spreading The Word
The trailers have now hit commercial radio and are airing nationwide, including XFM and Virgin Radio... thanks to Geoff Lloyd of Virgin for bigging up OTR on his show!
Keep your eyes peeled for the big C4/Music posters on bus stops in cities all over the UK - they're interactive, so you can stick your earphones into the socket coming out of the person's head and tune into the OTR and the other bands featured in the ad campaign.
If you spot anything in the press, on radio or TV that mentions OTR, please tell us about it here.
And, seeing as this is where it all came from! have a look at our page on Slash Music here
OTR on C4 - check out one of the trailers
Channel Four now have one of the trailers up on their website - www.channel4.com/dontmiss
OTR on C4
Tune into Channel 4 and catch the trailers for their new music website Slash Music (www.channel4.com/music). The boys are featured in the ads, so listen out for Yeah Yeah, Out To Dry and V838Mono. Next time there's an ad break, don't go off to the kitchen for a cuppa, stay in front of the telly and get a dose of OTR for the masses!
More live stuff coming up in March (see Gig Dates for more details). 31st March should be a blinder, as it's Club Velocity's 3rd birthday party. Come down and help drink the bar dry!
All sunny at The Outlook
A most gratifying night for the boys as they helped to break in a brand new venue in Reading, with support from The Race and Audio Runway. A special word
goes to the Pru Crew for swelling the crowd. A sold-out gig! And big it up for Matt The Landlord for his great hospitality. Let's see more gigs at the Outlook very soon!
Review of the night, courtesy of Linda at the Beeb is here
Meanwhile the boys have been getting more press in Italy, with a review of the album from Michele Casella at
Rockerilla. Grazie!
Ascolta Italia! more news of airplay in Italy, this time from:
Radio Base Popolare Network (Padova, Venezia, Treviso) Radio Wave (Toscano) Radio Popolare Verona (Veneto)
Ciao tutti, e mille grazie. Ci vediamo presto, speriamo...
Feel The Love and closer to home, catch the boys live at the Jericho Tavern In Oxford on 14/02/06.... another music night from James at CowboyMod. Forget the flowers, teddy bears, table for two and all that cheesy shit. Spend your money with us at the bar instead.
e grazie a Radio Digitale (Torino) for more OTR airplay.
Live at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford
The Jericho Tavern gig was a blinder, thanks to everyone who turned up and packed out the place. Nice on! Read Cowboy Mod's take on the night on his blog here www.cowboymod.com
Watch out for OTR in Reading at a post-Christmas 'ooh we just got paid' party at the Outlook pub in Reading, on January 25th, courtesy of Greatfruit Promotions.
Or, if you fancy 'a bit' earlier than that, OTR are at the After Dark Club in Reading on Jan 19th.
Ciao Italia! and gimme some ham...
Seen From Space has been playlisted on K-Rock Radio, broadcasting from Scandiano in Northern Italy to Parma, Reggio nell'Emilia, Modena, Bologna and beyond. Tune in at www.krock.it and listen to one of the most eclectic stations we've ever heard on the European airwaves. From Korn to Franz Ferdinand and anything you can think of in between - woooahh!! and why not. Mille grazie to you, Alessandro.
DCOD Radio Italia has playlisted OTR, and there are four more tracks available on their jukebox. The boys are in the "Discovery" section of DCOD's magazine too. Go to www.dcod.it and check out this really great web site.
Out And About
Many thanks to Sam Vangeen of Reading 107FM for a most enjoyable interview on 12th October, the OTR boys enjoyed your hospitality, and the tea... And a few cheeky beers are definitely on the cards! Sam, we'll see you at the bar very soon.
Meanwhile, our favourite photographer, Ian Manson, has been at work again...check out the latest live photos from Poptoys at www.m-reading.co.uk
More OTR on the Airwaves
Tune in on Wednesday 12th October to Reading 107FM for a live interview and tracks from the album with Sam Wangeen www.reading107fm.com
And thanks to Planet Claire/Radio Aligre 93.1FM in France for playlisting OTR...merci beaucoup.... www.aligrefm.org or www.planet-claire.org for more info...
OTR Art Rock Shock!
A big "thank you!" to Art Rocker magazine who printed a very lovely review of "Seen From Space" you can see it by clicking here.
Mudbath At Moth... But OTR Brings The Sun Out
This year's MOTH festival was once again a blinder, with OTR opening the main stage and blasting away the clouds, at least for a little while! Let loose from the usual confines of "being indoors", the boys let rip with a choice set of tunes from the album, before heading off to the beer tent quick-smart for a few cheeky ones. Later on that evening they also stepped in on the second stage to stand in for a band that we were quite looking forward to, seeing as it's fronted by ex-Candyskins front man Nick Cope, but instead we got two sets from OTR for the price of one, and it was gooood.
For live pics from both stages go to photos .
Fopp Photos
Photos of the Fopp in-store appearance have surfaced, courtesy of two very fine local photographers. Check the photos out here.
Many thanks to Alex Flahive, who donated some of his shots from the day to us... to see more of Alex's work, go to www.alexf.net - if you like the shots, it's a "look but don't touch" thing, copyright applies, so if you want to use Alex's pics elsewhere, contact him direct!
Thanks again to Ian Manson of m-reading.co.uk, who has taken many great photos of the boys now - click here to see more. The crowd shots that aren't nearly so good?...well, they are a point & click effort from Radar Control!
Release Of The Month...
OTR are Release of The Month in Sid Abuse's latest monthly report on the goings-on round these parts, in the fab webzine SHOOT FROM THE LIP, which is run by the lovely Becky from We Start Fires...
Come And Get It!
"Seen From Space" is now in the shops people... you can get it from Amazon in the UK and on Amazon in the U.S. on import... Tower Records... HMV... Woolies (fancy an album with yer pick 'n' mix???).... MVC
Look, need we go on, it's available EVERYWHERE now!
Locally... pop in and see Rich at the Music Box, 13 Market Place, Wallingford, Oxon; the people at The Record House,12 High Street, Thame, Oxon; or Fopp on West Street Reading, as we have spoken to all these great people about taking stocks of the album. And thanks to all of them.
SICH AMÜSIEREN IN DEUTSCHLAND!
seen from space" and is blasting it out of the car windows everywhere between Tempelhof airport and the Brandenburg Gate - "Dankeschön" to you too, Walter, keep it fresh for us out there on the streets of Berlin, we hope the punters like it as much as you do...Jahwol!
In-Store at Fopp - thanks
Thanks to everyone who showed up to the in-store gig on July 17th for the album launch - especially Matt from Access All Areas, and Chris Earl for being out there on the street, tempting in the punters with a promise of "36 MINUTES OF POWER POP-SOUL PUNCHING GUITAR SEX!" And thanks to Ewan from Fopp for arranging it with Head Office - he hopes to make it a regular thing, and if the crowds are anything like you lot, they may do it nationwide across the chain. Could be the start of something beautiful....
Stop Press!...
OFFTHERADAR to play Fopp in Reading - check out the BBC Berkshire preview here. Come down and join in the fun! It all kicks off at 13:00.
Josaka review here.
OffTheRadar have had tracks from the album played on The Download on BBC Radio Oxford... listen to a download of the show, broadcast on 26th June, at www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/music
OFFTHERADAR's downloadable single is now on-line here.
Tracks: V838Mono and For What It's Worth. Price £1.50.
OTR's 'Right On It' from the album has been played on MOC VESTICA on 94.9FM Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro. Many thanks (or should we say 'HVALA!') to Slobodan in Belgrade for doing the business!...hvala lijepo
Ja Baby...
They said "NEE" to that European constitution malarkey, but they are saying "JA!" to OTR! Seen From Space is CD of the week on The Overflow, broadcasting from Harlingen, Holland, on 1602AM, and via the Overflow Music Network on Sky Digital Channel 913 every weekend. "Pure energy... This is power-pop at it's very best! 12 great songs to jump about to. Remove all ornaments & PLAY LOUD!" Ja, indeed. Bedankt!
OTR have a full page interview in the June edition of Blah Blah magazine - click here to see it...
Out And About...
Thanks also to James for hosting OTR at the 10th anniversary party of the Cowboy Mod Emporium in Oxford - lots of wine flowing freely, and loud sounds for all the passers-by on Walton Street! - and in James' own words - "last saturday, OFFTHERADAR played in the emporium, wow, what a cool gig. I opened for them, nice, but when they kicked in, BOOM!!! amazing, had people both sides of the street, all just getting off on the vibe. they finished at 11, but everybody just hung out till 12.30? Just so cool. A beach was all that was needed." ... more details about the Emporium at www.cowboymod.com
On The Air...
OTR have been played on PopScene, OK Radio Bremen (Germany) on Jalal's show every Friday - 18:00hrs to 19:00hrs CET (that's 4pm to 5pm to you lot in the UK, and lunch time-ish to everyone on EST the other side of the pond). You can listen live via streaming download, request tracks, or talk to Jalal live during the show on MSN Messenger. click here
SPREAD THE WORD...
OTR have had a great time invading the local airwaves with two shows in one week - an interview on Wolfie's Guano Sessions, then a 'dressing down' from LINDA THE SCHOOLMISTRESS...both on Blast 1386am.
Yet more photos of the album launch party have come to light, this time courtesy of Ian Manson of www.m-reading.co.uk - have a butchers!
Read the OTR interview (it's all voodoo, you know) with BBC Berkshire
Big thanks to Gian Maria and the Martini Bros for the airplay in Treviso, Italy!
More gigs coming up through May & June....check Dates for details.
WE HAVE LIFT OFF...
The "Seen from Space" album launch party went off with a bang, with the venue packed to bursting, and the champagne and tequila flowing nicely. Thanks to everyone who came down to party with the boys - go to Photos for pics of OTR and some very 'dazed and confused' guests!
Meanwhile, word about the album is spreading fast, with reviews and airplay coming through already - go to Reviews & Press for the latest. Listen out for live sets from the boys on Reading's Blast1386am over the next couple of weeks, and word is coming through of airplay in Italy. And, for the latest on upcoming shows, go to Dates.
Mission Control
Here at Radar Control things are hotting up for take-off, with the album launch party coming up soon on 29th April - be sure to turn up in time for the free bubbly! Kicks off at 7.30pm at the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading.
The boys are out and about already on a round of gigs, interviews and radio sessions to promote "Seen from Space". See Dates for details of the gigs coming up for the rest of April and May. And keep your eyes peeled for more news, reviews and interviews through May and June.
The first airing of the album has been on The Derelict Sessions on 107.3FM in Reading - the best guerilla radio show to hit the airwaves in a long, long time! The show on 30th March featured some of the tracks from the album, plus a chat with the boys that did get quite surreal at times (favourite fish, anyone?!) Thanks to DJs Frankie Fernandez and Furious D for inviting the boys on to the show; for more info about the Derelict Sessions go to www.derelictsessions.com.
Meanwhile, the album is now available to pre-order from the Velocity Recordings web shop - www.vrmerchandise.co.uk - the official release date isn't for another few weeks in the shops but if you order from the website now, you'll get your copy delivered to your door a week or so before the shops get their hands on it. How easy is that?
Velocity label-mates Aluminum Babe hosted their album launch party at the Water Rats Theatre in London, which also featured storming live sets from OTR, 100 Bullets Back & Bidgie Reef with No Gas. It turned into a bit of a lost weekend, with an after-show party at the 12 Bar Club, where the Hot Silk Pockets were playing to a packed crowd, and a dawn taxi ride back to Reading, before the Velocity Hardcore disappeared to another pub with Tim Radar and were still missing in action by Sunday night...
And finally...Radar Control and Velocity Recordings sent a forward party to New York City in March to prepare for the next mission in September...watch this space.
Seen From Space
The album is in the bag, and is out on Velocity Recordings at the end of April - the launch party will be hosted by Club Velocity at the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading on Friday April 29th, so get yourselves down there for some cheeky beers with the boys and another night of "pure punching power guitar pop sex!!!" (Sid Abuse).
Support comes from The Race and Turncoat.
The Velocity boys already have a preview page with some OTR photos up on their website - go to www.velocityrecordings.com for all the latest.
Before that, the boys are back at the Kings Cross Water Rats in London on Saturday April 2nd, supporting Aluminum Babe at their album launch party, which is free, yes FREE! to get in. With The Souls and Bidgie Reef & the Gas also on the bill, you better get there early, first come first served. It's going to be class!
And, for a review and photos (courtesy of the lovely Linda of the BBC) from the boys' recent gig at Colorz, Reading, go to Reviews.
See you at the bar!
Rounding off 2004 in Style!
2004 closed with the usual round of parties and drinking, with a class gig or two thrown in for good measure. The Oxfordshire posse celebrated Panda's birthday in style upstairs at a suave drinking establishment on New Oxford Street called "The Old Crown". The boys played an explosive set at the Pop! Bar in Soho and then supported The Souls at the Club Velocity Christmas party in the Water Rats Theatre, King's Cross.
We do like partying in London... we just wish we could remember more about it afterwards...
2005 promises to be pretty sweet too. The boys are due to finish mixing their debut album, due out on Velocity Recordings in March. Blast 1386am has already previewed a couple of tracks (cheers, Wolfie!)
Rumour has it that the album will also be released in the U.S. later on in the year, with the boys playing a few more choice dates in NYC and beyond. A PR promo night for Velocity Recordings may also be on the cards - so if you are up for watching some of the best underground UK bands in the heart of downtown New York while mingling with some of the "beautiful people", watch this space! Come on, the flights are so cheap you've got no excuse. We'll see you there.
In the meantime, for pics of the partying and general mayhem that finished off 2004, click here.
Mixed Up?
So, a day after the single was mixed it was blasting out of the PA at Acme Underground in NYC! Yes, the boys are back in the studio mixing songs from the TPot studio sessions recorded earlier in the year. There are fifteen tracks recorded live over five days at TPot in Path of Condi, Scotland.
It's rumoured that ten tracks will be chosen for an album to be released early in the new year. Two songs, "V838Mono and "2A", are currently being passed around on white label and will probably be the single.
Listen out for a sneaky preview on Blast FM - we'll keep you posted!
Gigs
Wondering how to keep warm now those winter evenings are drawing in? Well, why not get yourself down to an OTR gig in your area? You can find the boys in Reading at Colorz (formerly bar Oz) with The SNaGs on 4th November and in London at PoP on Soho Street 22nd November.
News also just in: the boys will be opening for The Souls on 11th December in London, at The Water Rats, Kings Cross.
For the latest on OFFTHERADAR gigs head for the dates page.
Music On The Hill
The 10th (and sadly, maybe the final) MOTH was as excellent as ever, with the boys playing to a capacity crowd in the Cabaret Tent, and getting to see some of their favourite bands debut at MOTH, including Yumi Yumi and The Souls.
Everyone had a great time, the weather was perfect, and quite a few of the OTR crew stayed up with the boys in the VIP tent to drink champagne through the night, followed by a hangover-busting fry-up the next morning. Click here for photos.
(Photos courtesy of Emzie, Access All Areas)
ABYF#4
You can now buy the awesome 'Abuse Your Friends #4' compilation by credit card from Velocity Recordings' new website - and there's a live recording of the boys' Club Velocity show on 28th May for sale as well. Go to www.vrmerchandise.co.uk and flash your cash!
OTR's next gigs will be in the Autumn, as the boys take some time off to mix the album, chill out, have a few beers (as usual!) and enjoy the rest of the summer. In the meantime, they'll be propping up the bar at Club Fandango at the Dublin Castle on August 17th for The Souls' single launch party. See you there!
