Author: Frankie Ward

A big gig

I’m starting to play ‘bonafide gigs’ in London now and all on my lonesome.

It’s a bit harder than I anticipated – first you have to get the gigs, then shamelessly self-promote, go about your day job (mine often involves evenings for recordings or going to comedy gigs) and try and fit in some practice.

At my last gig I was feeling confident after the soundcheck, but then a ten-strong group sat in the front and continued their boisterous conversation as I played – people did ask them to be quiet but they kept talking. Sadly I’m still inexperienced in singing and playing guitar together so it put me off somewhat – I need some mates to come and chuck stuff at me (like in The Runaways movie) while I practice. When you can hear people’s words more clearer than your own, it’s hard to carry on.

The noisy audience members are something I should be used to – every time I do a gig I think ‘if it happens again, I’ll give ’em hell’. Predictably, I never do, not wanting to alienate the more attentive audience members. However, if it’s spoiling the show for them, I owe it to them and myself to sort the situation out – ultimately, however, I think the responsibility is with the promoter to gain control. This is something singer Kal Lavele is the queen of – check out her W.E Love Sundays gigs at World’s End in Finsbury Park. She’s a master curator (and a bloomin’ brilliant songwriter too).

What I figure is, the more people who are there to come and watch and support, the better I’ll be. So, if you’re up for coming along, I’m playing at Rattlesnake on Upper Street in Angel on the 24th June. Doors are at 8pm and it would be lovely to see some people there! I’ve got a couple of new songs for you too…

Disappointed in Me: the video!

I wrote Disappointed in Me back when I was in my second year of uni.

I guess I don’t really need to tell the story behind it as it’s pretty much all in the song (yes, ‘relationship upgrade’ were the words actually said to me, along with ‘well I’m very disappointed in you’).

So why record it now? Well, I might have written it when I was 19, but the situation isn’t uncommon for many women I know. Also, it’s ruddy good fun to play and my friend Reece was looking for something colourful to make a video around.

So here it is, Disappointed in Me on YouTube! (And for those who you who have asked me, it’s an excuse to see the ‘Get Flat’ too.)

You can get the track for free from my Get Frank Soundcloud now.

I was dead lucky to have Reece Lipman make the video for me as part of his new venture, Shimmer-man Productions. I felt really anxious about being in front of the camera again after an extended period of not doing much on You Tube and also because it was someone else filming me, rather than me filming myself, so I had to just trust Reece and make like a op star. Luckily, Reece made me feel really comfortable and I sang along to my own song so many times I got used to it pretty quickly! (I couldn’t properly mime so I quietly sang.)

In other words, I’d thoroughly recommend him if you’re looking for a music video producer/director!

Creating a film about creating The News Quiz

On Thursday I published a short film I made for BBC Radio 4 called Creating The News Quiz.

I was very lucky to have the chance to visit the QI offices (they’re just as cool as you’d imagine – they have a collection knitted QI bobble hats and a wall of fake moustaches) earlier this year to meet with producer, presenter and broadcasting legend, John Lloyd.

John is one of those people who you meet because of one thing – be it because of his role as the founder of QI (so much more than a TV show), producing the radio series of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with his late best friend Douglas Adams or presenting The Museum of Curiosity for Radio 4 – and then go away discovering he’s responsible for more than you could ever have imagined. Occasionally you’ll see him as a talking head on a BBC Two programme talking about some epic advert he made in the eighties, or a classic telly show such as Not the 9 O’Clock News.

John himself isn’t a name dropper, or someone who’d ever assume people would know who he was or what he’s done. He’s just a really brilliant person, basically, so I was dead chuffed that he agreed to chat to me about the early days of his time in BBC Radio. I don’t want to say too much because it’d be great if you watch the film above and see for yourself, but the story involves Nicholas Parsons, former Film [insert date here] presenter Barry Norman and a 13 hour turnaround – from reading the morning papers to broadcast.

The News Quiz airs at 18:30 Fridays and 12:30 Saturdays on BBC Radio 4.

Tedx Bow

The other day, despite suffering a hangover from a late night Mariokart session, I headed to my new favorite cafe Muxima for the first Tedx Bow event.

The theme of the event, which featured a mixture of local speakers and Screen Ted talks, was ‘From the Heart’, and highlights included Amanda Palmer’s honest and eloquently explained ‘Art of Asking’ for funding her music (she compares it to her former vocation as a street statue performer) and Anise Bullimore’s very moving talk, ‘My body of work: an experience of cancer and art therapy’.

A few talks in, Isaak (who programmes Muxima’s upstairs space) came up to my ‘gang’ of Natalie, Elena and Andre (we’ve formed a mini singer-songwriter group and go on outings and stuff) and asked if one of us could fill a slot by playing. I didn’t really hear much of this conversation, so it was a surprise when I was pointed at… an hour later I was on stage with a borrowed guitar, playing the only three capo-free songs I still remember enough to play.

Photo by Antonio Luca www.aellephoto.com
Photo by Antonio Luca
http://www.aellephoto.com

Aside from two people who spoke all the way through my first song (someone told them to stop or leave as everyone in the room could hear every word they were saying… it was weird having just our three voices at counterpoint) everyone was silent and actually listened – it was amazing. It felt like they had more of an effect on me personally than I could ever have had on them. It’s easier to connect with the words you’ve written when you have the space to feel them; to hear yourself perform them.

Now I know this will come across as pretentious, but when you’re playing an open mic or a gig in a bar and it’s noisy and the monitors aren’t helping you like they should, it’s easy to think ‘I need to get through this!’, particularly as I’ve not performed much recently. However, the audience, speakers and audience at Tedx Bow – the community, I should say – has given me more confidence to just flippin’ do it.

I can’t wait for the next one!

I’ve got a gig!

I’m playing a four song set this Easter Sunday (31st March) at All Star Lanes in Holborn.

It’s for the 15 Minute Club and it’s free! So, despite being only a short set, it’s in a cool place where you can eat, drink cocktails and bowl. Plus there’s no work for most the next day so what more excuse do you need? Facebook public event here.

Listen to some demos on Soundcloud now or head to this post for some embedded tracks and a bit more about my recent attempt to play more. 

Bridget Christie Minds the Gap

Earlier this week I met up with comedian Bridget Christie to chat about feminism ahead of her new series, Bridget Christie Minds the Gap, which starts tonight at 23:00 on Radio 4.

We spoke about Mary Wollstonecraft, the British Enlightenment thinker who set up a school for girls in Newington Green and later authored A Vindictation of the Rights of Woman, widely seen as the text that started the modern feminist movement.

Please share if you can and spread the word!

Making music

Inspired by a chat with my songwriting friend Elena Dana, I decided to actually put a new demo online on Sunday.

I probably should have written this song a while ago, but it kind of came lyrically/melodically and then I had to be bothered to actually get my guitar and work out the chords (which as always, aren’t complex, so I have no excuse…) and structure it.

I’ve played two open mic slots in London so far and I have to seek out more and be proactive, but I get so scared about approaching people so only have myself to blame. I always say I want to have a band – which is totally true – but equally, I shouldn’t just lay down my guitar and refuse to play it until I do. If I do.

So, if anyone knows of nights I could play, get in touch.

Here’s the new song, 12 Feet Under.

This set of demos kind of reflects the more recent sound. So Far Away was written when I was 20… it’s a bit scary to think that that was nearly four years ago! Escapology was the only song I wrote while in Newcastle, while Hard Candy is a product of the time I lived in Willesden Green in an odd living arrangement that made me decide it was time to aspire seriously for my own place.

Now firmly settled in the Get Flat, I have no excuse not to write, and so I finally wrote the song I needed to write about some of the things that happened in 2010/11. I kind of wish I could do it semi-acapella with accompaniment from one of those rhythmic cup players you see on YouTube.

12 Feet Under
I’m on a train
I’m gonna give my body to the Tyne and hope my soul
takes flight
‘Cos I’ve got plans to be getting on with

And oh
You laundered marbles ’til you lost control
Oh
Now they’re coming back to trip you, trip you
Oh
Resting on your laurels ’til the branches snapped
And the tree on the ground
How it felled you

They’ll have to bury me 12 feet under
For your six feet on top
cos I am
Taking you with me I am
taking you with me
When my neck’s for that drop

And your mother should have warned you to be superstitious
For you’ll be crying out
For her arms
When I’m gone.

Here’s a song from Elena Dana – I used to play this on my Amazing Radio folk show back in the day…

Finding out about feminism

Next week BBC Radio 4 is doing a bit about feminism, including the start of a new comedy series written and performed by stand-up Bridget Christie.

I’m doing a bit more on the website for it – so it’s not going to be the fairly plain space currently there, but I wanted to post some links here first – BBC Editorial Policy means I can’t publish all the links I want to because most feminist sites are campaign based, or (quite rightly) have a bias towards, well, you know, feminism!

So here’s some ace sites I think are worth checking out:

The Vagenda

From their ‘reasons to be a feminist’ series, to an articles on women in pop culture and the freedom of cutting your hair not having to imply political or social beliefs, the Vagenda is one of the most prolific feminist blogs on the net, while remaining utterly accessible to all. It is edited by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett and Holly Baxter, who also write ‘The V Spot’ for The New Statesman.

The Everyday Sexism Project

Laura Bates set up this pioneering website to give women a platform to discuss their experiences of sexism – from derogatory comments to abuse. The stories now feature in weekly columns on the Huffington Post and the Independent newspaper and a book is on the horizon. Ultimately the project aims to dispel the myth that equality has been gained and ‘the fight is over’.

The F Word

Founded in 2001 by Catherine Redfern, The F Word is a contemporary feminist site, featuring articles and interviews centred around feminist culture and politics. The site welcomes contributions from new writers and does not subscribe to one particular feminist viewpoint.

The Fawcett Society

Leading the lobby for equality in Britain, The Fawcett Society is a charity named after peaceful suffragette Millicent Fawcett. The site features news on their latest campaigns – including equal pay and the impact of austerity measures on women – and how you can get involved.

PinkStinks

PinkStinks is a social enterprise that aims to defeat the ‘culture of pink’ that determines the ‘acceptable’ appearance of girls and replace it with one that motivates children to achieve based on merits that don’t rely on beauty or attractiveness, such as educational ability and effort.

UK Feminista

UK Feminista is a network of campaigners who want to see political, social and economic equality between women and men realised. As well as organising campaigns, they provide support and training to activist groups. It was founded by author Kat Banyard and men are encourage to get involved too.

Feminist Library

This South London library houses an archive of Women’s Liberation Movement Literature, particularly from the ‘second wave feminism’ period between 1960 and 1990. They support feminist networks and research projects, host events and raise awareness of Women’s Studies as an educative subject.

Gender Agenda

Gender Agenda welcomes everyone to submit articles on the subject of ‘feminism, gender, sexuality and anything related’. They host discussions between feminist with the aim that people will work out what their ideas really are if they can share their thoughts with the rest of the feminist community. You can submit a post for publication on the site and, aside from formatting, it will be published unchanged and uncensored.

Bridget Christie Minds the Gap starts at 23:00 on Thursday 7th March. (And it’s really bloody funny.)