DUKKES play Bristol, with Team Brick and the Defibrillators hoorah - our first gig outta town

we played a gig outside goldsmiths for the first time. in a warehouse in Montpellier, the graffiti-squat party cool area of Bristol. and i broke a plate, 2 glass ashtrays and a really annoying coffee mug with a large hammer. niiiiiiiiiiiice. Team Brick and the defibrillators played too. and they were awesome. and we all got drunk in a jamaican bar to reggae then played guitar hero - world tour after at our mate Josh's extremely messy flat... sweet

Captain Najork's Hired Sportsmen: "post-feminist industrial noise pop"

http://www.gold.ac.uk/news/week-with-the-warden/

"post-feminist industrial noise pop"

Well despite my guitar breaking the night before, having to borrow my mate Blake's "Big Muff" pedal (cue dirty jokes from engineers all round), accidently destroying my bike, and someone unplugging me just before I was about to play - it seems the warden of Goldsmiths himself did actually love Stacey and I's performance. He came to see us on Friday, allegedly loved it (I have to get a CD together) and has even included us in his weekly blog, as "post-feminist industrial noise pop". See http://www.gold.ac.uk/news/week-with-the-warden/ Thanks Geoffrey! Anytime if you want us to play your lounge or any Goldsmiths events - we are ready. All we need is one drumkit, one electric guitar, some crockery and a loud amp! aaaaaah bliss www.myspace.com/DUKKESMUSIC. I think those capitals are vital...

we broke lots of crockery

Staz and myself had our first gig as the newly named DUKKES on Friday as part of the Pure Gold Festival and the glorious Albany, Deptford. And apparently the songs went down rather well.

I took most of the kitchen china with me and a large hammer. We didn't like the idea of doing a big theatrical posh shiny "show" so we decided it was going to be just like a rather chaotic home rehearsal. We brought a carpet and we made a set which looked a bit like a bedroom/lounge (complete with uplighter), broke a lot of crockery, and dismantled the drumkit whilst still playing it.

We got interviewed by a film crew so shortly our loverly mugs will be immortalised somewhat on utube, both jumping around on stage and rabbiting on a bit about the music. We were desperate to get a beer after the show so we are slowly edging towards the bar during the interview.

The warden of Goldsmith's is apparently a fan. If he wants us to play his lounge at home we will, any time. Simon, our mentor and teacher at college, when asked exactly what genre of music we belong to, described us as DIY, post-feminist, noise pop rock. We are not sure about the post-feminist. Maybe post-ironic is more apt? We are thinking of inventing a logo / coat of arms which somehow integrates "By appointment to the Warden of Goldsmith's". It is gonna be awesome...

Band naming headaches

I formed a new band with my mate Staz and we went on myspace www.myspace.com/DUKKESMUSIC along with 3 trillion other bands.

We spent about 3 years trying to work out what to call ourselves. There are some terrible band names out there. Think the worst two I can remember are: Crispy Ambulance; Shitgoblins. Having said that, "The Beatles" doesnt sound like a great name when you think about it. Who wants to be called after a bunch of insects?

We wanted to be called something which wasn't:

- about the fact we are 2 girls (we hate "girly" band names like something -ettes or girls something or pink or any girls names)

- not about the fact we are 2 girls (something really boyish or macho - as if we were a bunch of macho dykes)

- lesbian sounding. We are not lesbians. A fact that apparently is not clear if 2 girls get on stage and play together. Apparently everyone will think we are lesbians. (Or so says our gay mentor, Simon). Why? Do we need to tattoo "we are not lesbians" on our foreheads? Or hand out little flyers to the audience clarifying that we are not lesbians? Or make some kind of announcement? rubbish. Is this because of Tegan and Sara? We don't even have acoustic guitars (just a guitar and drums). Thinking about it, there aren't actually that many lesbian bands. Apparently the original members of 4 non blondes were and of course there is Lesbians on Ecstasy but we hadn't actually heard of them...

Naming is such a nightmare. Weird thing is, after only 4 days on myspace, this really cool DJ guy called Teambrick or team bric (www.myspace.com/teambrick) offered us a gig in Bristol, supporting his album launch. Brilliant. Anyone who says myspace doesn't work is lieing. It is, apart from anything else, a great place to collaborate with other musicians. God I sound like "Tom" the happy virtual myspace welcome bloke (I reckon he doesn't actually exist but has been devised in photoshop from a merge of all the faces of the shady people running myspace).

Hoorah for rock and roll.