..when i did my first ever live gig, as a drummer, in Rialto. The gig was memorable, or rather it wasn’t, as we’d bought ourselves a crate of beer, believing, and rightly, that much booze is an integral part of the gigging process, but unfortunately drank it BEFORE the show.

Great days.

Yes, it’s me. Where have i been? I’ve been here, i’ve been there and i’ve been in between. But where i have been is dull, it’s where i’m heading that rocks. Where’s that? Galway. That’s where. Friday the 13th of November to be precise, in the usual place, Rosin Dubh, of Dominck street. Tiny Magnetic Pets are playing with us too. There’s other details, but what am i, the freaking oracle? The flipping ceefax?

Meanwhile i’ll be updating the tour diary, and attendant stories of excess once i get my finger out of me hole and this effing broadband stays connected for more than 2 minutes. never go with the vodafone bb, my children, verily it suckxxx.

Yes, The Jimmy Cake are rocking Crawdaddy this Saturday from about 8.30 or so. We’d like to announce that support will be from Laura Sheeran. Our proposed dj battle afterwards has been canceled however, after it turned out we were all going to bring nothing but tangerine Dream records. A scuffle ensued and Paul’s scratching thumb was injured. We’re all very sorry.

Anyhoo, that’s neither here or there, what is important is that door tax is a recession friendly ten lids. that’s a punk rock price from a band who are currently 50% unemployed. Of course, we are assuming that many thousands of people will avail of this, so we’ll make money hand over fist. Not me though, Mister Social Welfare. Or Parx. Vin takes all the money. He’s got Jon Anderson hidden in his basement and he’ll only eat Farley’s Rusks.

After a blisteringly eclectic, uh, “set” on Sunday night in Hogans, where Vinnie, Paul and myself spun the disks with a blithe indifference for the ears and brains of the ever thinning clientele. Quiet pint you fancied is it? Here, have some Genesis to help that goo go away. Some Tangerine Dream to go with your nuts? Yeah, we basically wrecked heads, not least our own. It’s safe to say that we’re probably barred forever. And with good reason. So it came as a great shock to find out that we’re playing Electric Picnic next weekend. I thought we’d never get arrested in this town again. Lucky for us Stradbally is in in Laois. Or somewhere. Nowhere near Hogans, that’s for sure.

of the last gig here

terrific picture of me too.
although, not from that gig. cheeky.

Mini interview, a minterview if you will, over on the State site.

The last time we saw The Jimmy Cake, they were walking off stage at Vicar Street in Dublin after a triumphant show in support of their fine Spectre and Crown record, a gig that saw them backed on stage by a brass and string section. That, as they say, was then. The now sees them return with a new stripped back sound and a handful of live shows – including a State Presents… gig at the Purty Loft in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday 15th. Dip of the band joined State to fill us in on the latest comings and goings in the Jimmy Cake camp.

What can we expect from you this time around?

Our new sound isn’t that new at all, it’s more akin to the noise we made about 6-7 years ago, when we were mere sprightly youths with enthusiasm to burn. We find that if you stand still in this business you go backwards, so we’ve gone far back as we can with the intention of coming full circle and being avant-garde once again. It’s a plan that’s guaranteed to blow up in our faces, but we’re going to make as much noise as we can in the meantime. So, as to what to expect, expect no banjos, no strings, no extra brass, nien accordion. Expect vintage keys and drum modules and effects and, of course, the loud. Expect the loud. Vincent has 4 distortion pedals these days. That’s dedication to the loud.

Did last year’s Vicar Street show bring the last chapter to a close? Was that always the plan?

Possibly. We knew in advance that, due to various reasons, all far too mundane to go into now, that Jurgen was going to leave, so that was always going to be the end of a significant chapter in our lives. We did Vicar Street as an extravaganza, strings, brass, bells and whistles. The whole bit. That, we felt, was the only way to do the record (Spectre and Crown) the justice it deserved. But that was untenable situation to be, we couldn’t maintain that kind of attention to detail. It was felt that in order to continue doing what we wanted to do, which was play live, we needed strip back. It’s as if we were working for the music, like the tunes were the boss of us. We’re too bolshy for that. So, although it wasn’t implicit at the time, I think we probably realised that would be the last time we tried to do a show like that…for a long time.

The last album was a tough one to make, is the band moving forward more smoothly this time?

Funnily enough, the songwriting process for Spectre and Crown went easily enough, that is to say, we had ideas, loads of them. There’s an album’s worth of material that didn’t make the final record. It was more the humdrumity of life that made the last album the odyssey that it became. That and the elongated recording, mixing, mastering process, and the longer it took, the more pristine it had to sound. This time around ideas are coming back to us, and we have an urgency, a desire to play the stuff once it’s out of our heads and onto our instruments that’ll make the recording process a lot more immediate. It’s never smooth, though. If it were smooth, we’d probably get bored.

Is it nerve wracking to come back after a change of direction?

For the next while we’ll be honing the new stuff on stage, hoping to tweak it, sharpen it, gig it, get it ready for recording. A lot of Spectre and Crown was written in the rehearsal room and finished in the studio and never got to see the stage. So it is, in many ways, like starting over, not least because we’re now a six-piece, a different creature to before. It’s more exciting than nerve wracking, but we’ll see how our fragile egos handle the inevitable obstacles we’ll face. I mean, what if there’s no ice cold Evian backstage? Disaster.

Why did you chose Jogging to support? Tell us about them?

Jogging feature ex members of the Coldspoon Conspiracy who we played with a few times back in the day. They’ve been at this as long as we have so it’s good to have them back.

Are there plans for a new record?

Too fucking right!

The Jimmy Cake play the Purty Loft on Saturday 15th August with Jogging and Vox Populi. We have five pairs of tickets to giveaway. Just email your name and phone number to giveaway@state.ie by 6pm on Friday 14th.

No, we’re not dead, not even half dead. Only decrepit. But hey, we can still play gigs, and we will, we will. Bollocks to the recession we, say, come to our shows, even if it means you have to miss one of biffy clyro’s 14 annual dublin shows. Just one. come on.

Upcoming shows:

8th Aug, Twisted Pepper, Abbey St.
Thumped is 10//2
€10. Doors 11pm

15th Aug, Purty Loft, Monkstown,
State presents…
w/ Jogging
€10. Doors 9. Book tickets here

19th Sept, Crawdaddy, Harcourt St
Guests TBC,
€10. Doors 9pm.

It’s a secret gig! Well, it was going to be, because of the ALT gig, BUT THAT’S CANCELED! What? I’m telling you now, aren’t i?

Anyway for, for what (clearly) ails ye, we’re plying tonight:

“Earthquack” in the Shed. 8A Henrietta Lane this Friday the 19th of June. The Jimmy Cake with a new set. Bring yer own Booze. 8 lids.

There you have it. Why is the ALT gig canceled? well, it’s a long story, and it starts a long, long time ago, the time of the Spanish armada….

the interweb is  a many fangled creature. In order to rein it in we’ve done this, this and this. Obviously it won’t be long before we are lords of this web of lies. Stay twitted for details of secret gigs and new t-shirt designs, how much booze we’ve consumed and whether or not Paul’s baby has been born.

Meanwhile, the uncensored version of Hungry Ghosts has come back to, gulp! haunt us.

Young Dunk, of Sunken Foal fame, what did support for our release gig last year, has made himself some videos. This one is the most mesmerising thing I’ve seen in ages. Helped of course by the actual tune. I think it’s the Dead Zone, but whatever, I’ve watched/listened to it 3 million times already. Do so. Now.