Guy Nottage

Live in Chelsea on Sunday 1st April

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:37:36 +0000

Just to let you know I’ll be performing at the Coopers Arms in Chelsea on Sunday 1st April as part of London Songwriters Circle. It should be a great showcase of London songwriting talent, so get on down there. Music starts at 7.30pm, and it’s free entry – see you there!

Nearest tube station is Sloane Square (Circle line / District line):

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Library, London 14/03/2012

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:04:56 +0000

Big thanks to everyone who came down to the Library in Islington last night. It was my first gig in a few months, so was great to see so many familiar faces there. Hopefully see you all at a show soon.

Setlist:
Get Me Out Of Here
Polaroid
Don’t Tell Mary
Same Direction
Let It Burn
Dust On The Shelves

Performing at The Library, London on 14th March 2012

Free EP download

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:54:36 +0000

You can now download the 7-track ‘Carousel’ EP right here

Track listing:
1. Dust On The Shelves
2. Let It Burn
3. Same Direction
4. Nelson Road
5. Get Me Out Of Here
6. Neon Kiss
7. Southeast By Miles (with The Awkward South)

Live in London on 14th March

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:31:05 +0000

My first gig for a few months will be next Wednesday night (14th March) at The Library in Islington. I’ll be playing songs from Carousel (my EP, not the musical – although I could be tempted into an impromptu ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’…). Music starts at 8pm, I’ll be on at 9pm, and it’s free entry, so hopefully see a few of you there.

Nearest tube is Highbury & Islington (Victoria line / Overground / Mainline), and you can find the venue here:

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Carousel EP released!

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:45:08 +0000

I’ve been quiet on here for a few months, but I’m delighted to tell you that my new EP Carousel is out now and available for digital download from iTunes, Bandcamp and Spotify! The EP comprises six brand new tracks of mine, plus a bonus track of my recent collaboration with the brilliant Steve Hatch. I really hope you enjoy them, and I look forward to playing the songs live at a venue near you soon.

Happy new year!

Click on the icons below to download/listen to Carousel from iTunes, Bandcamp or Spotify.

Listen to ‘Dust On The Shelves’ from Carousel:

New EP coming soon….

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:40:28 +0000

My new EP Carousel is coming soon and will be available digitally. Artwork all done, just have to finalise some of the mixes. It does take a while when you’re doing everything yourself… Looking forward to sharing it with you all.

Tracklisting

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:25:12 +0000

Tonight, I finished the final lyric for the album I’ve been working on all summer. All that’s left is to record all the vocals, a few overdubs and to mix it all. Anyway, here’s the tracklisting, in order of conception:

Dust On The Shelves
Little Ealing Lane
Let It Burn
Nelson Road
The Nights We Burned Like Sirius
Polaroid
Westway
Still Your Lover Tonight
Same Direction
Get Me Out Of Here
Neon Kiss

Shedding off our histories

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:36:56 +0000

Played a couple of gigs over the last weekend – Saturday night at O’Grady’s in Great Yarmouth and Sunday afternoon at the Turnstone Charity Day in Hopton-on-Sea. O’Grady’s was where, as a gangly fifteen year old, I played my first ever gig, fronting Allegro (although the pub was then called Casper Jack’s), so it was quite strange to return to that same stage. Maybe more on that when I have more time, but as it is I’m still finishing off the lyrics to my album, which has to be finished in just over two weeks!

It was a very enjoyable weekend, and I haven’t played back to back gigs for a long time…actually, I’ve just checked and I did it in March this year, so not that long ago. Still rare, and a nice way to spend a weekend. Anyway, my personal highlight of the weekend didn’t come from my own performances, but from Distant Sun (who I was supporting on Saturday), who surprised me with a fantastic cover of one of my own songs, ‘Dust On The Shelves’. I’d never been paid the honour of a band I wasn’t in learning, interpreting, rehearsing and then performing a song I’d written, and it really was one of the most amazing feelings. Try it some time! It took me until the second line until I realised they were playing my song, but I got my camera out as quickly as possible to capture the moment. I’ve missed the first verse, and the sound quality doesn’t do the performance justice, but here’s a video of the performance:

After you’ve watched the video, check out Distant Sun’s stuff here.

Setlist:
I’m Looking Through You [Beatles cover]
Slough
The Bends [Radiohead cover]
Get Me Out Of Here
A Case Of You [Joni Mitchell cover]
Dust On The Shelves
Feena Roulette [Turnstone cover]
Let It Burn
The Nights We Burned Like Sirius
Encore: I Will Take You Home Tonight*
*with Lewis Hickin and Rafe Garforth

Recording

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:34:36 +0000

I haven’t been particularly efficient at blogging on here recently, as most of my time has been split between recording and producing my album, and ranting about the appalling reaction from the Conservative Party to the recent rioting in England. I’ve lived in Ealing, which was badly affected by the riots, for four of the last five years, and only moved back there a week or so before parts of it were smashed up and set alight. Thankfully, I missed it all as I’ve been spending August back in my home county of Norfolk, working on a new album of songs, which should be ready by October.

For the musos and geeks, I’m using a very simple home studio set up – Logic Pro on an old 17″ MacBook Pro, 2-input M-Box 2 audio interface, Joe Meek ThreeQ preamp/compressor/EQ, guitars, uke and vocals recorded with a sE4400a condenser mic, and using a MIDI keyboard for everything else. I don’t have any pics at the time of writing, but I’ll post some next week. I haven’t really been recording much, to be honest – most of the time has been spent building up backing tracks by cutting up drum loops and using software instruments. It’s sounding different to my previous stuff – less folky, more polished and, hopefully, more interesting. I’ve got eight backing tracks started so far – I won’t bore you with the titles, but most of them are songs I’ve been gigging recently, and there are a couple that have never been played live.

As much as I’m enjoying the project, I am becoming somewhat obsessed with it – I keep having dreams about the songs, and can’t really turn off at any point. The only reason I’m writing this blog is because I’ve decided that I have mental fatigue from the many hours of staring at the Logic ‘Arrange’ screen with a pair of headphones on, trawling through thousands of drum loops to fit a four-bar fill before the chorus. Anyway, I’m now off to forget all about it by going to watch Jukebox Jonah & The Random Rummies at O’Grady’s in Gt Yarmouth…

Charity Day at the Dock Tavern

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:47:40 +0000

I’ve just checked my “Gig History” Excel spreadsheet (for PRS purposes, of course – nothing to do with me being OCD…) and it turns out that last Sunday’s gig at The Dock Tavern, Gorleston-on-Sea was my first in my hometown of Great Yarmouth for almost five years. Interesting facts aside, I was on the bill there as part of the pub’s annual charity day, raising money for Great Yarmouth Alzheimers Society and Cancer Research UK – all tirelessly organised by my old friend Chris Smalley.

I must admit, I was somewhat nervous about the fact that on the bill I was sandwiched between classic rock bands, and worried that my light acoustic offerings might be a lull in the day’s proceedings. However, a few songs into the set, it became apparent that the audience were one of the most receptive I’ve played to as a solo artist, and it was a real pleasure to entertain them for 45 minutes in the East Coast sun. In keeping with the feel of the day I’d planned a set full of covers, so I was very pleasantly surprised to have some of the audience calling for me to play my own songs, and even more delighted that they went down so well. The highlight for many may have been when I called my friend Steve Dunn up to the stage (he’d forbidden me to do so beforehand, I might add) to join me for a rendition of Take That’s “Patience”, FaKingFuck-stylee (Steve on vocals, me on guitar). It went down so well, I couldn’t get rid of him – the audience called for another song, so we stumbled through another Barlow classic, “Back For Good”. With the cheese dripping down like the Summer sweat on my brow, I remarked that old rockers at the back would probably see to it that I never played the Dock Tavern again…

The audience enjoying the sun and music at the Dock Tavern

Following the set, I manage to sell all of my CDs (wish I’d have brought more along now), with all the money going towards the charities. The CDs raised £31 thanks to a very generous audience, and in total the day raised a fantastic £1200. It was a real pleasure to play the event, along with three excellent bands – Hold Cot Ground, Stealer and Live ‘n’ Loud, and I can’t wait for next year’s Charity Day. Chris Smalley, the staff at the Dock Tavern, all of the bands and everybody who came along deserve a huge pat on the back for putting music to a good cause and creating a really enjoyable day in the process. See you all there next summer.

SETLIST:
Jackie Wilson Said [Van Morrison cover]
Ziggy Stardust [David Bowie cover]
The Bends [Radiohead cover]
Don’t Let Me Down [Beatles cover]
Distant Sun [Crowded House cover]
Dust On The Shelves
You Can Call Me Al [Paul Simon cover]
Patience* [Take That cover]
Back For Good* [Take That cover]
Honky Tonk Women [Rolling Stones cover]
Let It Burn

Encore: By The Time I Pass Through Slough
* Steve Dunn on vocals