October 2010The writing of our second full-length album is almost complete which means the long, arduous, sometimes frustrating but ultimately satisfying process of recording, mixing and mastering will soon begin in earnest. We are offering you the opportunity to suggest a potential title for album number 2 so start firing in those e-mails please. The album continues in the same musical direction as the heavier elements of ‘Entrance To Core 8’, a logical progression from tracks such as ‘Wax ‘N’ Wane’ and ‘Heinemann’s Gates’. There will be a couple of firsts for the band: a 6+ minute instrumental (‘Parasite’) and a lead vocal performance from Rob (‘Failsafe’). The latest addition to Geiger’s armory is a sludgy, stoner, slab of Sabbath-esque riffage called ‘Blindside Deathride’. We currently have 9 complete songs that will definitely appear on the album but also have a hatful of what we call ‘ditties’ which may or may not see the light of day. We have already begun discussions about album number 3 which will probably be a radical departure from the norm, with a much mellower, melancholic, introspective vibe akin to Alice In Chains’ amazing ‘Jar of Flies’ album. I would like to thank our fans for being patient with us as we have not gigged for quite some time. I promise we will return before the end of the year and are now booking gigs for 2011 too. Keep your eyes on our website! July 2009This latest news feature could carry the moniker ‘The Dying Art of Live Music’ as well as simply the date. Since the turn of the year, 3 of our favourite (and Warrington’s longest serving) live venues have folded: The Barley Mow, WA1 and The White Room. Whilst we still harbour hopes that a change of licensee might save The Barley Mow, we fear the other 2 are permanently no more, a sad reflection of the credit crunch and the difficult financial times we are all currently experiencing. You could be forgiven therefore for thinking that Geiger had also folded, particularly given the length of time since we last posted a news update. Quite the opposite is true despite only 3 live performances in 8 months. We have been rehearsing very hard and now have 4 complete songs ready to record: Unscathed, Decadence Remains, Forever and a Day and Lame God Jesus (Make Me Well), the latter having been successfully re-worked. All feature drop-D tuning and are musically more technical and complex than anything written before. Lyrically the songs cover topics including an unspoken acceptance of manic schizophrenia, coping with bereavement and seeking salvation from an unknown faith. The subject matter is quite deep and dark but suits the greater intensity of the music we are creating at present. We have also added Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ to our repertoire so expect to hear all of these new songs at our gig on the 8th August. We want this gig to kick-start our live performances again, many of which may have to be at new venues, further afield from now on – see you on the road! November 2008The 4 gigs we've played since the last news update have confirmed to us how much you are in the hands/at the mercy of sound engineers, promoters and organizers at venues. The Night & Day Café (Manchester) runs a very slick operation. Our gig there on the 24th October left many of our regulars saying "that was the best we have ever sounded". Contrast that with our gig at Grand Central on the 6th of this month. On-stage levels sounded reasonable and, though we have played much tighter gigs, our musicianship was by no means poor. To be told by members of the public then that the levels were all over the place is extremely frustrating for a band as there's not a damn thing you can do about it! It has always baffled me why some venues insist on positioning their sound desk next to a band, at the side of the stage, where it is almost impossible to get a true perspective of the levels of all members on stage. That said, it is extremely refreshing to be given a contract that insists on all bands on the bill being present throughout the night and the Grand Central team must be commended for that. Many times we have seen bands turn up 10 minutes before they go on stage and leave 10 minutes after – we are proud to say that Geiger have always supported other bands, irrespective of stage time, genre of music, logistics etc... Playing new territories like Grand Central and The Standard Mower and indeed regular haunts such as Night & Day Café and The Barley Mow reaffirms that our music is very cross-genre and is not out of place alongside indie, rock or metal. Our confirmed bookings for 2008 are now complete though we are potentially opening a Greenpeace charity event in Warrington on the 7th December so keep a close eye on our gig listings. Aside from gigs, we have agreed that the benchmark for the standard of any new material we write now is the 10 songs on 'Entrance To Core 8'. We constantly strive to improve musically and lyrically and have set ourselves the unenviable task of not writing (or accepting) anything that does not challenge or stretch us in every aspect of songwriting. We have 2 such songs in the offing - 1 provisionally entitled 'Home Tonight', the other requiring Stu to earn his crust with a 1½ minute guitar solo. We have also taken 'Lame God Jesus (Make Me Well)' back to the drawing board as we are not happy with the intro section of that song. Thanks to all of you for supporting us in 2008 - hopefully 2009 will be just as eventful. August 2008'Entrance To Core 8' is selling well – thank you to everyone who has already bought it and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it. We have made a few changes to the website, most notably adding a Facebook link (so if you haven't become one of Geiger's friends yet – chop, chop!). We have also made it easier and quicker to access all our recorded material on mp3. Our myspace site will be revamped shortly too so keep your eyes peeled! We have got back into a regular routine of rehearsals and this has led to much greater productivity. In the past 3 months we have learned 2 new covers: 'Boys of Summer' (Don Henley) and 'You Held The World In Your Arms' (Idlewild) and have 3 or 4 songs of our own nearly completed. We can confirm that we will be appearing at WA1 on Saturday 30th August alongside Collide (t.b.c.) and are awaiting confirmation of gigs at: Night & Day Café (Manchester), The Wheatsheaf and The Boar's Head (Leigh), The Cavern Club (Liverpool) and The Albert Hotel (Widnes) – we will of course keep you posted! April 2008Thank you to everyone who has confirmed their attendance at our album 'launch night'. The C.D. will be on sale for the very first time on the night - priced £7, together with a whole host of other '...Core 8' merchandise. Special thanks to Top Print, Warrington who have helped us format and configure the artwork for the inlay and who are working hard to complete the print before the May 10th deadline. Dulcie Cooper at Cavalier Studios, Stockport also deserves a mention for the speed at which she completed the first press (210 to be precise) of our C.D. As well as rehearsing hard for the gig, the band have also written a new track – 'Lame God Jesus (Make Me Well)'. The song continues in the same vein and direction as tracks such as 'Wax 'N' Wane' and 'Heinemann’s Gates' from the album with dropped-D tuning and riff-based melodies. Arrangement of the track is almost complete and there is a definite nod towards some of the band's major musical influences: Black Sabbath, The Wildhearts and (more recently) Black Stone Cherry. March 2008Welcome to our new website. We hope you find it simpler to use – we have felt for some time that it needed updating. Entrance to Core 8 is now completely mixed and mastered. By the end of the month, the album artwork will have been sent off to printers and the master C.D. to Cavalier Studios for copying. The album will be on sale at the official 'launch night' – May 10th (Barley Mow) but select friends and fans of the band may receive copies earlier. Note for all Geiger enthusiasts - the album version of 'How Can It Be?' will not contain the bongo track which Simon recorded recently. However a 'bongo mix' does still exist and may appear on a future release. Welcome to the Geiger family: Samuel Keith Leyland born 15/02/08 and Joe William Harding born 18/02/08. |
