Mutter's Journal

At long, long last.

Mutter — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:44:05 +0000

Well, well, hello again. The mp3 player is now installed on the home page and you can now feast upon the aural delights on The Mutter Slater Band. There are 3 newish songs to sample which should cover the taste buds of most of you out there. We continue to practice and gig assiduously so that we can deliver the goods on time and in tune whenever called upon to do so. The songs were recorded in Somerset, England at the beginning of December 2010 and I think they sound rather splendid. We hope that you too will wallow in the delights of our profuse, yet homespun talents.

As we play in a very tiny corner of the globe there are so many of you out there who have not heard our music. It will be interesting to hear what you think. Are we venturing in a fruitful direction or are we regurgitating tired cliches? Is the 3rd string on the Strat flat or is Mutter? These are some of the important things to question. Why? maybe another, but I hope not. I hope you enjoy some of it at least. Bye Bye Mutter.

About time two…

Mutter — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:44:43 +0000

Zombies? What zombies?

Hello one and all, I thought a word or several were well overdue in case you were losing the will to log on. MSB and their minions have all been slaving away at the musical grindstone since we last met. I have been writing some rather good stuff, the band members and I have been assiduously rehearsing on a weekly basis and Audiomaster Steve Kitch has been shoehorning some mixing of recorded tracks into his already overladen schedule. Please be patient these things take time, especially when their done on a micro budget. As soon as a song is mastered we will put it out there in Etherland for all to listen and hopefully enjoy. I find this rather exciting because I know from the responses to these blogs that there are people all around the globe who tune in to this site. Our songs will be heard around the world without me leaving the dubious comforts of my fungal bedroom.

For those of you who are able to travel to Bridport in Dorset (England) I must draw your attention to the MSB gig at Bridport Arts Centre on Sat April 30th. It will be the major launch of the new line-up featuring Clive on sax and with quite a lot of new material. There are Andy Grant and Abi Rich supporting for all their might too. Why not spend a Bank holiday weekend in SW Dorset and make a real adventure of it? In the mean time, Pip! Pip! Mutter

You learn something new…

Mutter — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:26:54 +0000

I’m sixty now and I’ve been trying to write songs for at least 45 of those years. The first effort that I recall was called ‘Embyonic Dream’ – the title is thankfully all that remains of that effort. Anyway I’ve prodded and poked, sweet-talked and cajoled, and been downright rude and ungentlemanly to the mule muse since then and have had marginal success on a rare good day. Every now and again along the way you see the flicker of something instructive on a busted finger sign, but otherwise the scenery stays the same; sometimes however you round a bend and a whole panorama of possibilities opens up before you. I’ve just come round such a curve. I’ve just heard the soundtrack to ‘Crazy Heart’ and have glimpsed a new world. A world of song where simplicity of melody and economy of words are more than capable of bearing the entire baggage-car of life. I know it’s been done before by many greats, but this was particularly cogent. The mule and I have been rested, fed and watered. Fresh ventures await.

Shorter days, shorter tempers.

Mutter — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:42:57 +0000

Well hello again, For those of you in the southernmost reaches of the globe,autumn has arrived here in dear old Blighty. Wake up in the dark, come home in the murk – it tests one’s mettle I can tell you. And how should one such as I occupy their precious free daylight hours in such seasons? Why indulge in the lagerish delights of No10 cafe/bar, Bridport and shut oneself in the confines of a recording studio with 3 mates for hours on end, that’s how. MSB will repair to Loudbox Studios the first weekend in December and we will not emerge until we have captured some of the elusive MSB magic. I will post some of the results on some handy interweb location so that you too may share in warm delights of our music – nearly as efficacious as a roaring log fire and an extensive hot toddy. Now there’s an idea…

Better late than never…

Mutter — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:28:08 +0000

Well it’s about time I hear you say, and yes you are right. What news? You then ask. Well, I have agreed to accompany Stackridge on a exploration of the American continent. We are off (all being well) to record one song – yes, you read right, ONE song – for The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson at the end of this month. We hope that this may lead on to world domination and a season ticket to Bridport Football Club games. I have not relinquished my grip on the day job, however. The Mutter Slater Band are to enter the recording studio at the beginning of December to get some newer material down with the new line-up. This gets the old glands a-pumping ‘cos the studio is new to us and I’m hoping that it will sprinkle a handful of magic dust over the Mutter music career. We’ll have some fun anyway. And between these momentous events? I’m glad you aked me that. I am due to become a grandfather for the first time. Life just keeps getting better and better. Pip! Pip! Mutter

Something and Nothing

Mutter — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:50:57 +0000

Well one and all here we are again with nothing , and yet something, of note to report. MSB have been hard at it in the rehearsal room breaking in young Clive Ashley with his bullhorn tenor sax and slinky soprano and I have to say it sounds rather splendid. MSB now moves into another dimension where former sultry, acoustic subtlety has been usurped by slinky electro-soul. We be cookin’. The new songs are shaping up well also. MSB now has a flotilla of material to appear on any forthcoming recordings (should such a thing occur). Here, I maintain, is the crux: what is the best way to get your creations aired? Recording/mastering/pressing is a costly process that never recompenses - I am my own worst salesperson – and cyber publishing is the equivalent to farting in a hurricane. I have a herd of mustang songs in need of breaking in and saddling up but no ramrod to corral the beasts and turn them into prancing fancies. If there’s anyone out there with a bullwhip and a length of macho rope please get in touch.
Mutter

Another Year Older…

Mutter — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:53:12 +0000

Hello there, As one of my heroes Danny Blanchflower used to say. I’m now sixty and if you’re around the same weather spattered landmark, and you’re a bloke, you’ll probably recognise dear old Danny’s name – younger/female/non-soccerphiles yawn and move on. No one, least of all me, can say that reaching this venerable old age can be ascribed to vigilant self-denial, but reach it I have and whoopidee-doo to that!

Some of the more attentive among you will know that I have left the orbit of Stackridge. I thoroughly enjoyed the one and a half hours on stage, but the rest proved to be too much of a burden on my car, my stamina and my pocket. I will miss our post gig tetes-a-tetes with your ‘I last saw you in 1972, don’t you recognise me?’ and such, so if you find yourselves around a Mutter or MSB gig venue please come in, make yourselves at home, and say ‘Hello’ to an old man. Mutter.

Newsflash-a new/old member for MSB

Mutter — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:18:58 +0000

Mean, moody and hungover

Hello fan, The news is that Clive Ashley (tenor and soprano sax god) is to join (or if you’re picky, rejoin) The Mutter Slater Band. Clive was a regular member of our previous beat combo Little Dixie but he left due to other commitments – yes he’s that popular – while we reconfigured into MSB. The band has hardened its edges over the intervening years (I have eschewed the acoustic guitar and have taken up and dusted off the Fender Strat) so now we have a vacancy for some rootsy Stax-like sax and Clive is definitely the man for the job. He only lives a mile or so down the road in West Bay so practise is a doddle (yes reader we practise). All being well the new manifestation will coagulate at the Lulworth Castle gig on May 31st. I’m getting excited already, Mutter

We’re off again

Mutter — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:35:20 +0000

Hello mes braves, The new web site is here thanks to Aaron Slater (my little boy) and Steve Luck (a very talented friend). They have both brought a lot of flair and hard work to beat this web site into its present state of excellence. I hope you are suitably impressed. as time progresses we hope to iron out one or two glitches and add one or two more features, so please revisit me from time to time and see what’s a foot. I will leave you now so that I may update the gig page and keep you in the loop as they say. Pip! Pip! Mutter.

The Damaging Pace of Doing Nothing

Mutter — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:32:00 +0000

You may have read somewhere about the potential injuries that violent exercise may precipitate (muscle strain, joint inflammation, broken bones, death etc). As far as I’m concerned anyone stupid enough to put their bodies through the wrack and mill of strenuous calisthenics deserves all they get, but there are those amongst us (ie doctors) who would have the whole country sweating buckets on a treadmill if they had their vile ways. I am here to offer a plea on behalf of the majority who eschew the way of prescribed health.
We too suffer in the pursuit of our chosen regimen. I haven’t had a gig for over a week (a gig is my equivalent of a 10 mile dash) and now I find myself seriously out of condition – partly because of the lack of exercise but mainly due to the compensatory consumption of Staropramens, Gin and Tonics and sundry accompaniments that a gigless weekend demands. A minor sprain or tear will be healed in a matter of days or weeks and the athlete will be able to resume their chosen mode of torture thereonwards. My return to form is nowhere as certain.