THE SHORTCUTS

Safe Ponty

2008-09-15T10:06:00.002+01:00

Safe Ponty,

We are playing Pontypridd again, and fully expect to see all representatives of the PPM in attendance.

Pontypridd Bar Inc (used to be Angharads)
Friday 26th September
Its right outside Ponty train station.

For all the Cardiff/Radyr/Pentyrch/Proper PPM types the last train details are:

To Cardiff/Treforest/Radyr/Pentyrch etc

22:29
23:09
23:39

Back up to Rhondda etc

22:36
23:15

There is a flyer deal on, if you get a flyer from us you get cheaper entry or something to that effect. Let us know if you want in.

HAPPY ACCIDENTS IS DONE!

2008-09-01T14:10:00.002+01:00

OK, so aside from a re-doing of a cople of vocal tracks along the way, our first album which we have tentatively called "Happy Accidents" is done and dusted. It's 20 tracks long, with the 7 from the "Fuck The Shortcuts" EP re-recorded and 13 brand new tracks. 10 of these tracks we had never even played or practised before recording so it was pretty tough going.

More news on the album and release dates/label news and release parties etc very soon.

For now I think the TCTD split seems to be off as the boys are having difficulty getting their half sorted, so will let you know of any news of that as soon as we know.

Ta.

Recording the album - Day 4.

2008-08-24T22:39:00.004+01:00

So this is how we stand at the end of Day 4.

Slymon from VCR loves Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Lewis at 2.45pm

Boris at 2.46pm

Boris at 2.59pm

When you hear the album you will understand why these are needed so bad.

Recording the album - Day 3

2008-08-24T22:29:00.003+01:00

Boris, chuffed.

Lewis with my producer glasses.

Recording the final few guitar pieces

Ladies and gentlemen, the only non power chord on this album is A Minor, it happens in "Black Kids and White Kids".

A wider view.

Ollie on trampoline.

Kickflip on trampoline.

Lewis setting up.

Cormi drops over for a pizza and to record an Accordian piece for us.

Lewis chuffed that he has finished his drum bits.

Recording diary - Day 2

2008-08-22T07:35:00.007+01:00

Day two of making what will become the biggest selling album since Michael Jackson's "Thriller" begins at about 3pm when I leave work and head down the M4 to the studio. I arrive at 3.30pm to hear some sawing and hammering going on and no Boris present. I use this opportunity to go for a walk to the Tesco down the road.

So I remember then that my girlfriend sent me a pretty good picture message the day before...

This makes me chuckle for a few minutes. Being a vegan and having a Tesco Metro as your only choice means you pretty much have no choice in what you eat, so I go for crumpets.

Lewis is coming a little bit later today as he is at home sorting out some police fine or something so Me and Boris crack on with the bass part to "Weston Terrace", Boris nails it in one.

Our good friend Pete comes over to check how we are doing and attempts some ollies and kickflips on a trampoline.

A couple of hours happen and Lewis does in fact return.

We now have studio nicknames which will last until the album is finished. Nicky is "Johnny Onetake", Boris is "Johnny Nomoan" and Lewis is "Johnny Cotton".

We record 4 songs today, slightly less than yesterday (11) because all of todays songs were completely brand new - in fact it was the first time Boris and Lewis ever heard them, so productivity took a dip today. Songs came out pretty cracking though.

So this is how we stand at the end of Day 2. We have 45 smiley faces, when we get to 88 smiley faces we will have completed the album. I must note after yesterdays confusion... Vocals make up 22 of those potential faces.. and we aren't starting them until all the music is done. So to finish all the music we need 66 faces - and we have 45. Hope this clears it all up.. a couple of you seemed confused by our system.

so tonight (Day 3) we are hopefully going to finish the music ready to start vocals on Saturday and finish them next week.

Recording the album - Day One

2008-08-21T07:28:00.004+01:00

OK, so day one of recording finally comes. Considering we wanted to start recording the album in April we havent done too bad. Anyway yeah, so unless we pull out another one from the bag we are recording 22 or 23 songs, roughly half of them we have either recorded before or played live a fair bit. The other half is a complete mystery as they are all new to us, so new that we literally haven't even practised them.

So heres how recording with The Shortcuts went, the photos aren't in any particular order.

Lewis gets about making some Coffees for the guys. He does make a storming cup.
Not content with making coffee he also gives Boris a few pointers on the bass.

This is the second half of the album, and before anyone thinks anything dodgy.. that top song is actually called "Black Kids and White Kids". Ta.

fIn recording terms, all the smiley faces are awesome. We are 33 smiley faces through an album that needs 88 smiley faces to be complete.

This is what Lewis' drums look like in computer world.

After tracking 11 songs Lewis has a well earned relax while Boris starts.

Lewis' kit.
A piano, Boris' minging old bass and a random Strat
Other random muso stuff
Keep it DIY innitThis was 11/88 smiley faces

The sheer concentration.

Bridgend is mainly shit

2008-08-05T08:35:00.002+01:00

We played Bridgend last week, it was horrendous. Horrific promoter, horrific bands, horrific venue. This is all.

Album starts in a fortnight I believe

21 songs ready to go.

2008-07-24T10:03:00.004+01:00

Hey... we played Newport on Tuesday and Swansea last night. Both gigs were pretty awesome, especially considering I had a fractured jaw and skull and we haven't really played together since the Bridgwater gig back in May.

The split EP with The City That Day has been done and dusted, and is still on track to be ready by the release gig. The next batch of album recording happens for us on August 13th. Safe.

For now, enjoy some photos from last night

THE SHORTCUTS/THE CITY THAT DAY - SPLIT EP DETAILS

2008-07-07T11:50:00.003+01:00

hello, hey... so yeah we can finally confirm we will be releasing a split EP with our good friends THE CITY THAT DAY in August. We recorded "The Bombs of Brixton" and "Weston Terrace" last week in typical Shortcuts ramshackle fashion. You can hear the tracks on our myspace page, which is www.myspace.com/theshortcutsrock.

as with all good releases, there has to be a party.. here are the details.

THE SHORTCUTS/THE CITY THAT DAY - SPLIT EP RELEASE PARTY

THE SHORTCUTS
THE ABORTIONS
THE CITY THAT DAY
SINISTER ROUGE

SWANSEA MILKWOOD JAM, 52 PLYMOUTH STREET, SA1 1AA.
DOORS: 7PM. £3
EP's WILL BE LIKE £1.00 OR SOMETHING.

here are some photos of the recording process for those into that sort of thing..

future plans

2008-06-30T11:58:00.002+01:00

okay, so we haven't really seen much of each other for the last month or so, so it was awesome to bump into each other at the Exist mini ramp jam on Sunday.

we are heading into the studio on Wednesday to record "the bombs of brixton" and "weston terrace" and possibly one more for a potential split EP you may or may not see in the future.

more news then. ta.

Unseen photos from "Caffeine + Alcohol = UK TOUR!!!"

2008-06-26T19:08:00.007+01:00

I don't know whether it was me being picky, or just too drunk at the time but there are a shitload of photos from the tour that never made it onto our myspace or whatever... um, enjoy..

New Website

2008-06-24T16:44:00.000+01:00

Okay, so blates ripping off our friends in The City That Day we have abandoned the old tried and trusted "website" in place of this blog.

Since the tour finished with an amazing lock-in at The Duke in Neath we haven't really appeared to be doing that much. The tour literally killed us, almost.. I developed some kind of throat disorder which stopped me from speaking properly for about a month, Lewis and Boris were ill for weeks afterwards. This is the price you pay for drinking Lambrini until 5am then getting 4 hours sleep every night for a whole tour.

Anyway yeah, so since then I've done an acoustic gig and we did one full lineup gig in Bridgwater with our best friends Fizzy Milk, which was technical problem-central. My guitar literally blew up. How strange.

We are going to start recording an album in July.

See you soon.