bad news
It is with a great deal of sadness and disappointment that we must announce that we’ll no longer be supporting Islet at Clwb Ifor Bach at the end of the month. Holly is still struggling with a vocal injury, which doesn’t seem to want to go away. We’re really gutted to miss out, but it cannot be helped. We’re staying positive, though - writing new tracks, and continuing to make plans for the EP release.
Our replacement will be the wondrous H.Hawkline, so not all bad. I like this track a lot:
We’ll be back soon,
h!tp
islet clwb ifor bach h.hawkline hail! the planes
This is Durdle Door in Dorset, near where Rob and I are from. Must get down there this summer.
I’ve decided to start doing We Heart Records again now I’m in Cornwall. I’m going to think of a new name though. And I’m going to try and persuade the other dudes to let me repress this on 7”. I miss playing in this band alot!
news and that
Hello there,
How’s it going? The weather here in Cardiff is mental: it’s swaying wildly between intense downpours and brilliant sunshine. Be careful not to get your limited edition Record Store Day 7”s soggy.
Anyhoo, it’s been a while since we’ve written a newsy blog, so here is one RIGHT HERE»»»»»»»»>
TRUMPETER WANTED//////////////////
First of all, we’re on the hunt for a second trumpeter. Now this may sound greedy - how many trumpeters does one band need? - but the thing is Fran is a ridiculously busy human being, and as such isn’t always around to rehearse and play shows. Fran has brought something very special to H!TP, and the trumpet has become very much a part of our sound. It’d be great to have a backup for when she’s not free, and to have someone to accompany her when she is.
If you’re interested in getting involved (and are able to play trumpet, ideally) or know anyone that might, send us an email! Here’s our address: hailtheplanes [at] hotmail [dot] com
HOLLY//////////////////
In other news, we’re still waiting to record Holly’s vocals for the new EP. She’s broken her voice good and proper and it’s taking forever to get better. It’s becoming a bit of a downer: she can’t go out to gigs; talk on the phone to family; shout at me etc. She’s having to be strict with herself and avoid using her voice whenever possible and it isn’t easy. We’re really hoping she’s okay in time for the Islet show next month, and that we can get the EP finished before too long. If any of you happen to have any advice on how to take care of a voice, and how to help it mend, it would be much appreciated!
RELEASE & TOUR//////////////////
As a result of this delay in finishing recording (and that we were grossly overambitious with our initial forecasts) we’ll now be looking to release the EP in September. It’ll give us more time to do things properly, in a way we haven’t done before now. We’re already making lots of exciting plans to make this release special. We’ll also be touring around that time, so if you think you might be able to help us out with a show please get in touch!
Think that’ll do for the time being. Apologies for the text heavy blog.
All the very best,
H!TP
cardiff ep h!tp hail the planes islet record store day trumpet player trumpeter weather rsd2012photo shoot
Only about three band photos exist of Hail! The Planes, none of which are very good. Nor do they feature our recent line-up additions. As such we’ve planned a photo shoot for Sunday at Cardiff Bay, where Fran is doing numerous performances as part of Sport Relief. It turns out we only have a half an hour timeslot in which to do the shoot, and our meeting point is a pub. It’s not looking hopeful.
This is how Josef foresees events developing (sent by email):
(26 minutes of chatting….)
David Muller: Shall we try that spot over by there butt or wha? It’s tidy mun.
Holly Muller: Maybe not, because your quadruple denim will clash with the faux-castle feature of the Waterguard dearest…
Faye (the photographer): Hmmmm….. I don’t think David Muller’s excessive denim will be suited to the shutter speed of the lens on this camera (or something technical about photography…)
Josef Prygodzicz: How come no-one else has got their lycra on?
Robbie (crazy time signatures) T: You can wear my cardigan if you want? I’ll give it to you as a present after the photo shoot.
Mark Foley (was right): Let’s just try it.
Fran (bum trumpets): I’ve only got 4 minutes left now… and Josef’s lycra is starting to offend me a bit.
David Muller: Hmmmm….. maybe we can use a Chillipeppers’ photo or something? They’re fkin wkd butt.
(2 mins 30 secs of more chatting…)
Fran (bum trumpets): I’ve got to go to play some bum trumpets now.
Holly Muller: Toodle pip.
Josef Prygodzicz: I’m going to the Waterguard for a Samuel Smiths Organic Wheat Beer.
Faye (the photographer): Jos!!! It’s only 12:30pm!
Mark Foley (was right): I’ll join you.
Rob (crazy time signatures) T: Here’s my awesome cardigan that I promised to give you earlier Josef.
Josef Prygodzicz: Thanks Rob – you’re ace!
That wouldn’t be such a disaster though, would it?
h!tp x
red hot chilli peppers quadruple denim hail the planes h!tp cardiff bay sport relief the waterguard pub mark foley was right lycra awesome cardigan photo shootrecording, new ep, triple denim
Last week we spent two days recording our new ep with Charlie Francis at Music Box Studios. Recording is intense, stressful. exciting, boring, long and short all at the same time. But we had a super-duper time and we’re really pleased with how it was all sounding where we left it.
Unfortunately Holly was unable to record her vocals due to an injured throat. This is the result of too many rehearsals (ha!) and not warming up enough - all made worse by going to too many loud gigs (looking at you, Truckers of Husk). She’ll be spending an afternoon in Charlie’s attic getting things finished once she’s better.
We’re hoping to release the ep June/July time, when we’ll hopefully be doing a little tour too (more on that later). In the mean time here are some photos of us getting all sesh and that:
The live room.
Holly doing her Lamb of God style vocals. Moments later she broke.
Josef shredding, introspectively.
Some distortion pedals I never use.
A thing of beauty.
Triple denim. You thought it couldn’t be done but it could.
Really cannot wait for you to hear it,
h!tp
triple denim h!tp recording hail! the planes charlie francis music box cardiff ep truckers of husk lamb of godislet support 31.05.12
Last week we were extremely pleased to announce that we’ll be supporting Islet on the Cardiff leg of their UK tour. The show is in Clwb Ifor Bach on the 31st May and we can’t wait. Here’s a beautiful poster:
Hope we see you there,
H!TP
islet clwb ifor bach hail the planes mars to stayIn Chapters - Fire
Fire art by Andy Fung
As you may or may not know I have a hand in running a night called in chapters at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff with John Williams, Richard James and the in chapters band. We invite writers, poets and musicians to write a single piece based on a theme and perform it live on stage with the backing of the in chapters house band (should they wish it).
The in chapters band is ace. It has Ed Mugford on the bass, Andy Fung on drums, Eugene Capper on Violin/Viola, Rhodri Viney on Pedal steel/saw/guitar and myself and Richard James on guitars/keys/banjos etc. Playing music with these fine gentlemen is one of my most favourite things to do.
As well as collaborating with the band it is always fascinating to work with the writers and musicians contributing to the night and I have to say that tonight’s event based on the theme ‘Fire’ has produced some inspiring work. There’s a facebook event page here too. Both Rich and myself have contributed new songs and Rhodri wrote a beautiful accompaniment to some prose by Des Barry. Add to that the music of Miss Word Salad, the words of two proper award-winning poets, more prose from Holly Muller and John Williams and the all round meic stevensness of Meic Stevens and you’ve got a very special evening indeed
So, if you’re at a loose end in Cardiff tonight come to the in chapters night and you won’t be disappointed!
recordiau
Next month we’ll be transferring five brand new tracks from our minds onto record. It’s been far too long since our last release, so we’re all very excited about getting in the studio again. We’ll be in the capable hands of Charlie Francis once more, and we can’t blooming wait. I think it’ll sound quite different to anything we’ve done before. Can’t wait for you to hear it.
This seems like an appropriate moment to announce the arrival of some new faces to the H!TP fold over recent months. Here are those faces:
And what wonderful faces they are! Up above is the majestic Francesca Dimech. Francesca has joined us on trumpet. We have persuaded her to make time between playing with The School, Inc.a and Wonderbrass (and probably a load more), as well as performing in a solo capacity as Francesca’s Word Salad. She’s a very busy trumpeter, and for good reason.
The dashing gentleman you see is Josef Prygodzicz. He’ll be playing some guitar, doing some singing and generally helping us make more of a racket. Josef plays in band called Winter Villains who have an album coming out soon and are really rather brilliant. Josef has settled quickly and is already pushing H!TP to places we never dreamed of (as demonstrated in this clip):
Do YOU like pickled stuff?
Exciting times, challenging times.
david!tp x
charlie francis francesca's word salad hail! the planes inc.a music box studios recordiau recording the school winter villains wonderbrass do you like pickled stuff?happy new year
Sorry it’s late. I hope you all had a wonderful festive time. I’ve felt particularly cheery and Christmassy this year (highly unusual) and got right into the spirit of things. That may have been aided by 14 litres of handpressed cider (which we then mulled) that we were given by Holly’s dad. What also helped was numerous Christmas dinners, Wallace and Gromit, homemade mince pies and a stay in a remote cottage with a hot tub.
Because of this, things have been pretty quiet with us over the past few weeks. The plan, though, is to carrying on writing new material and hopefully record a new ep in the next couple of months. It’s been far too long! We can’t wait to get back recording again, and to let you hear what we’ve been up to (albeit rather slowly) over recent months. It’ll be bangin, proms.
In other news, I’ve made a new year’s resolution to record an album of solo material. I have about 15 tracks at various stages of completion at the moment. Some of it might sound like this:
Something Small by David James Neale
Before now I’ve been too much of a scaredy cat to go it alone. I’m currently trying to work out how I’m actually going to go about implementing/affording this. Any tips/money appreciated.
I’ve got a good feeling about 2012,
Dai
happy new year 2012ooooooooooooo little saint nick
Christmas is hurtling towards us so here is a small gift to help get you in the festive spirit. It’s a cover of the The Beach Boys’ Little Saint Nick we recorded at home last December, and it’s free for you to download.
Merry Christmas everybody,
h!tp
free show, WMC 26/11/11
We’re playing a free show in this grand building on Saturday 26th November. We’ll be performing on the Glanfa stage from 7pm. Come along and be scruffy and make us feel at home.
h!tp
hail! the planes wales millennium centre wmc free showOMG FREE BRO RMX EP DWNLD LOL
remix ep
As some of you will know, over the past few weeks we’ve had some talented friends remix our track Brother. It’s been incredible to have people offer to get involved, and with such enthusiasm. We’re so pleased with the tracks this project has yielded. The experience has been an intriguing and fulfilling one and something we’ll definitely do again in the future. It’s great to hear familiar material transformed into something we could never have thought of. Thanks again to those that have got involved for donating their time and headspace. We really appreciate it! The five tracks will be put onto CD and given away for FREE at Swn this coming weekend. Come and grab one!
So, without further ado, here are the five remixes that make up BRO RMX EP:
Hail! The Planes - Brother (Trwbador Re-Mix) by Trwbador
H!TP Brother [the waveform never lies mix] by Zwolf by zwolf
Brother, I’m Syncing pt.1&2 (Hail!ThePlanesRemix) by r.seiliog
Brother (Easy Riffin’ Mix) by AlexanderComana
Brother - Charlie Francis Remix by hailtheplanes
Happy listening!
h!tp
BRO RMX remix trwbador zwolf r.seiliog alexander comana charlie francis swn brother