#fckyes

I don’t really know how or where to begin this post.  I’ve gone over and over this opening in my head (and over several wasted sheets of paper) but I still can’t seem to find the correct words… I think because maybe, I can’t quite believe I’m writing them. Two weeks ago, myself and many, many others received the utterly devastating news that the world had lost one of its best, and that we had lost one of the most genuinely warm, funny, talented, caring, beautiful souls we will ever have the pleasure of knowing, in the most tragic of circumstances.

Since taking that call from my brother that Saturday night, I’ve really struggled to process the news, it feels like my heart actually aches, and I have felt stuck in a thick fog of sadness thinking about Dan, his family and all of us who will miss him so very dearly.  As it so often is when I’m low, music has been the only medicine for my breaking heart… and as is so often the case when I’m low, I’ve had a particular aural attraction to music which evokes memories I can take comfort in… In fact, I was blasting M&Ms by Blink182 a few days ago, when I suddenly had a flashback to one of the (several hundred) occasions we all hot-boxed the caravan in the back garden of Dan’s Mum & Dad’s house and I smiled for the first time in days!  You see, Dan’s love affair with music would give anyone’s a run for their money; I’m talking multi-talented at playing several instruments, could sing beautifully and would be able to turn his hand to any song you suggest he played from the Everly Brothers to Ellie Goulding, as well as writing his own masterpieces for the numerous bands he played with over the years.  Dan without music would be like macaroni without cheese.  Just not right.  So, I thought, there couldn’t be a more fitting way for me to honour and pay my respects to our pal than by dedicating a blog to him, and by sharing some of our most magical Mackintosh musical memories…

It was 1994 and 2 weeks before my 8th birthday when I first met Daniel James Mackintosh; I’d just moved to Aberdeen (foos yir doos) from Newcastle Upon Tyne (wye aye man) and after a brief spell sitting next to Roisin Barr, Steven Westwood and Stuart Imrie, Mrs Forsyth gave the class a wee shifty about and I landed next to Daniel, Steven Davidson and Julie Main.  And that was that.  After winning me over with his daily countdown to the school bell, (5...4…3…2…1…BEEEEELLLLL…..  Every day the boys tried to time the countdown to the bell perfectly.  The bell never rang when they said bell...) we formed a friendship that lasted longer than my partner in crime, Treacle, has even been on this earth!  Age 9 to 11, we had as complicated a relationship as you can in those days…we held hands at break-times (on the days we weren’t too shy to talk to each other) and we even went to a school disco or two ‘together’ and shared our first slow-dance…  R Kelly, ‘I Believe I Can Fly’… a 90s classic. Ah young love!

Thankfully, our taste in music began to evolve and improve after the Space Jam soundtrack incident; the dawning of the terrible teens bringing with it a need to blast angsty-punky-pop as loud as possible at all times, and it was then that Dan introduced me to Blink182. ALL THE LOVE FOR BLINK.  And Tom in particular.  HUGE MANCRUSH ON TOM.  Dan that is…not me!  I can still picture the posters all over his bedroom wall…COVERED…and literally anything you wanted to know about the band…Dan knew.  One Easter break, when we were avoiding our standard grade exam revision like the plague, Dan invited Jen Fleming (now Mrs. Rennie) & I to a ‘free’ at Mel Quilter’s house (now, Mrs. Thomson)…  Jen & I didn’t really know Mel that well at the time, but she hosted a f*cking good party and by the time my midnight curfew had rolled around, we had all become pretty much inseparable having bonded over a love of Blink and rolling about the floor laughing… As Jen said, literally ANYTHING by Blink182 will forever remind us of Dan, but we’ve gone with Dammit… OH THAT RIFF!  Classic Blink and a fave of our fave... “Well I guess this is growing up…” (Don’t grow up.  It’s a trap!)

Reminiscing about old times with the girls the other night, the caravan got brought up again (Mel pointing out it probably still reeks of weed…) and how our sense of style used to be heavy influenced by bands and music we loved.  Avril Lavigne was top of the list.  Obvs.  Oh yeah, we were so cool it hurts…!  After giggling over a photo of us in our matching t-shirts from her Barrowlands gig (huge deal being allowed to Glasgow for a gig for the first time…on the condition that we stayed at Jen’s gran’s in East Kilbride though, as we were too young to spend a night in a hotel unsupervised…!) Mel suddenly remembered being round the back of the big brown school shed with Dan one day when he had asked her if she had heard of someone called Avril Lavigne because “she has this song called ‘Skater Boi’ and one of the lyrics is ‘he was a punk, she did ballet’ and it makes me think of me and Lucy Cassidy…”  :)  So, rocking my baggy jean/tie/t-shirt/hunners of bracelets combo must have worked somehow…we finally kissed at a school ‘Hotstepper’ disco during the peak of our Tom/Avril phase… Told you we were super cool!

Avril’s real life skater boi was Deryck Whibley of Sum41… Another band we simply cannot listen to without opening the memory vaults. As influential as Ms Levigne was on our wardrobes, DW and his cronies had a similar effect on Dan and the boys…shorts got longer and baggier, ties became belts and hair got spikier!  This list just wouldn’t be complete without something from Sum41 and although ‘Fat Lip’ was a TUNE we had to include ‘Motivation’, as how could we forget Dan and Iain watching the video on repeat, repeat, REPEAT trying to perfect their moves for our school Sync show!  Incredibly, just a few hours after chatting about this at length over the old Whatsapp…Mel was at home surfing music channels when what came on?! MOTIVATION!  Seriously, what are the chances?!  Well, there was no way any other Sum41 song was getting a look in after that…a wee sign our pal is watching over us I think… <3

As much as I hate to leave this on a sombre note, it is impossible not to…  There is only really one piece of music that I can leave you with, and although some may find it a tad cliché, in my opinion it’s really rather perfect.  Although the girls and I had a lovely talk remembering the amazing times together and we will continue to cherish of the millions of happy moments we shared, we cannot escape the overwhelming sense of grief and heartbreak we are united in at this moment.  Dan was a truly, TRULY phenomenal friend, son, brother, nephew, uncle, bandmate, workmate…the list is endless…  He was so many things to so many people and my thoughts are with everyone who has been touched by this tragic loss.  Mel shared a poignant memory from the last time she saw Audio Kicks, one of the bands Dan was part of, play live.  Dan sang one of her all-time favourite songs beautifully on the acoustic guitar and in her own words, she was ‘mesmerised’… Even more poignant was the song itself…Green Day, ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’…  <3

Love always ol’ buddy, ol’ pal… Truly one of the best.

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life…”

Last weekend, F*CK YES were lucky enough to be invited along to check out the mighty Unearthed Festival, the primary music event held by The Playlist; an incredible project created in order to provide unsigned and indie label based Scottish talent with a platform and means to showcase their talent.  Not only do The Playlist host Unearthed and an array of other unique music events (like intimate monthly gigs in flats!) they are also a charitable organisation…  Completely not-for-profit, everything they do is for the benefit of the artists they support and the F*CKING FANTASTIC Nordoff Robbins Scotland (http://www.nordoffrobbinsscotland.org.uk/) Scotland’s only music therapy charity. Exciting entertainment that helps a good cause?  It doesn’t really get much better than that, now does it?  Needless to say, we were there with bells (and a sauv blanc or two) on! Well, I say that…the first venue had not a drop of the F*CK YES tipple of choice in stock…I know right?!  But, the amazing Art School is one of our favourite venues so we can forgive and forget...  Just this once.

A little while back, Phoebe’s Dad was over from sunny España and after a few glasses* (*read bottles…) they had stumbled into Record Factory on Byres Road and were impressed by a three piece band but unfortunately never caught their name…  My partner in crime raved about them for ages but without a clue who they were…so imagine her delight when that very same 3-piece took to the stage at the Art School!  The Rising Souls, we found you!! The trio amazed once again with their infectious tunes, Paolo Nutini-esque vocals and crazy cajon player!  In fact, we were convinced at that point that we’d already found our top act of the day.  You have to check these guys out, seriously…their stripped back, soulful country sound is really quite lovely and it will make your ears very happy!  Promise.

After another couple of great acts, it was onto the second venue of the day, The Drygate Brewery (http://drygate.com/#) for the evening showcase.  The venue couldn’t have been more suited to a sunny day in Glasgow (yes, we get them from time to time…) and we were kept amused in between acts with CHALKBOARD TABLES out on the terrace!!  I’m also very happy to report that we found WINE.  Hoorah!

After being pretty sure no one would be a bigger F*CK YES for the day than The Rising Souls, we were treated to a set from Lewis Capaldi.  OH MY.  A singer-songwriter from West Lothian, his utterly dreamy voice had us, and everyone else I might add, completely captivated and hanging on his every word for the duration of his set.  In fact, it even took me a good few seconds longer than it should have to register that he was playing a cover, when he launched into “Iron Sky” by The Nutini… I think we can agree that anyone who can take that epic on, solo and WIN at it, is quite good.  A lot good. Basically, his voice is F*CKING INSANE and you should listen to him…we’ve had ‘Submarine’ and ‘Cherry’ on repeat here at F*CK YES HQ for a week now and we defy you not to fall a little in love with this boy’s voice… Sit back, maybe have a wee cup of tea and a biscuit, and immerse yourself in his beautiful acoustic vibes…  Where’s the emoji with the hearts for eyes when you need it eh?!

The headliner for the evening was none other than Jim Valentine…  One of our favourite Glasgow bands, and stars of our second ever BAND CRUSH M*NDAY feature… You can find Phoebe’s words about the F*CK YES #fangirl status here http://fckyespromotions.tumblr.com/archive so I shan’t go into all that again…but rest assured, the lads proved once again why they are one of the most talked about local bands of the moment and holders of the prestigious BCM title.  Their blues-y, rock riffs and sexy, bass driven swagger beg to be moved to and they had us, and the rest of the crowd, grooving/rocking along from start to finish.  Tracks from their last release, double A-side ‘Hello’/’Tripetta’, went down a storm, with most of the audience singing every word, confirming the lads already have a solid fan base that is growing fast…  And with live performances like that, there’s no doubt here at F*CK YES HQ that Jim Valentine are going on to BIG things…F*CKING HUGE THINGS.  So catch them live while you can…  Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

 Read about The Playlist and all their wonderful work here:

http://the-playlist.com/index

The Rising Souls, here:

http://www.therisingsouls.com/

LEWIS CAPALDI can be listened to here:

https://soundcloud.com/lewiscapaldi/submarine

And all things Jim Valentine HERE:

Is it technically a ‘flashback’ if the ringing in my ears is still very much present? F*CK YES went to see PAWS play a sold-out show at The Poetry Club (http://www.thepoetryclub.net/) last night; the unassumingly cool venue providing the perfect backdrop for the trio’s ebullient, low-fi, grunge-y, pop/punk brilliantness.

PAWS are a band that MUST be seen live.  There’s just something about their energetic enthusiasm and intensity (and of course their ever on-point, on-stage chat and audience interaction) that just can’t quite be replicated on a record. Don’t get me wrong; their three major offerings, through Brighton/Brooklyn based indie label FatCat Records, have all been released to critical acclaim...  In fact, second album ‘Youth Culture Forever’ was announced as one of the shortlisted names for the Scottish Album of the Year Award 2015 just this week.  And quite rightly so.  But, their thrashy urgency and catchy melodies deserve to be seen, and heard, complete with all the layers of scuzzily perfect imperfections that PAWS’ live energy delivers in bucket-loads.

Blasting through a smorgasbord of tracks old and new, (here at F*CK YES HQ, we were particularly delighted with the inclusion of rarely played ‘Miss American Bookworm’ from debut album ‘Cokefloat!’) the band sounded stronger with every track, and the undeniable urge to head bang along increased exponentially throughout the hour-long show.  Bassist Ryan’s mic, and vocalist Phillip himself, both ending up in the midst of the home-town crowd, before closing the set with ‘Owl Talons Clenching My Heart’ from YCF.

To see PAWS play live, all guns blazing is to be exhilarated, excited and entertained to the nth degree… But even if their songs weren't as damn infectious as they are...how could we not love a band whose fervour for sarcasm and swearing is as great as ours?!

F*CK YES rating 4/5

It seemed perfectly fitting that on my last day in the oil career I hated, F*CK YES celebrated by having our first official team outing to see the delectably, dizzying Drenge at Glasgow’s Classic Grand…

The brothers Loveless (who love the F-word almost as much as we do) and their newly-added, bass-wielding pal, swaggered on stage at 9pm and tore straight into two new album tracks; ‘Undertow’ opener ‘Running Wild’ sounding as riff-heavy & disillusioned as ever, followed by the snarling ‘Side by Side’; prove that the new tracks are instantly firm favourites with F*CK YES and the heaving, chaotic crowd, despite their follow-up effort only being released a little over a week ago.

If the sweaty excitement in the room wasn’t palpable enough already, the venue just about erupted with every drop of a debut album bomb.  ‘I Wanna Break You In Half’ and ‘Face Like A Skull’ inciting the most riotous reactions…and potentially the most humorous yet slightly creepy sing/scream-alongs we’ve witnessed for a while.  F*CK YES maintained a safe vantage point but the near continuous mosh-pit and steady stream of flailing limbs making their way over the front barrier throughout the hour-long set (on a Tuesday no less) speak for themselves…

Drenge are BACK.  More mature and, evidently more confident in their beefed-up, evolving sound and live presence than ever before, but still rocking that unmistakably gritty, grunge-y, gloomy malevolence that made us fall in love with these angsty wee troublemakers in the first place.

The elder Loveless, Eion, spoke only once, letting his spitting, cutting lyrics do the rest of the talking.  Closing their set with the eight minute epic ‘Let’s Pretend’, the boys make it indisputable that the days of seeing them live in smaller venues like this are numbered. Our only complaint?  It just wasn’t quite loud enough. (Oh, and they didn’t play my favourite track ‘Dogmeat’ from ‘Drenge’ but I suppose that can be forgiven while they have a new album to promote…)

So check them out here… http://www.drenge.co.uk/ and give their no-nonsense, caustic grooves a listen.  Your ears will thank you for it.

Just make sure you turn it up to 11.

F*CK YES rating 4/5.

Drenge - We Can Do What We Want

Most people who know me will be very aware that I have a particular penchant for the F-word. (Sorry mum…!)  So I was obviously instantly intrigued when my pal sent me this link… http://markmanson.net/fuck-yes#.mia0bo:xHmT after a spell of dating disasters. (The less said about that the better.)

Mr. Manson’s words immediately struck a chord… Of course! Why should you continue to put in more than you get out?  Why pursue something that isn’t ultimately making you happy?  It was then that I decided that The Law of “Fuck Yes or No” can be applied to pretty much anything and everything.  If it isn’t a “Fuck Yes” then it has to be a “No” mate.

So how does that lead us here?  After meeting while working at the beautiful Belladrum festival, (the best little festival in the world!) Miss Phoebe Ann Treacle Holley and I have become somewhat inseparable.  We soon found we have far too much in common to mention here but first and foremost is our love for music and our shared passion for working within the industry. And wine.  Obvs.

It was discussing The Law of “Fuck Yes or No” over a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc (with ice and soda) one evening that we had our “eureka” moment.  Phoebe needs a creative project for a uni assignment and with our gig addiction at an all-time high, we have decided to turn our passion into something real.  F*CK YES!

And here we are! The name was obvious from the start, as was everything we wanted to do; share with as many people as possible some of the incredible music and talent we are lucky enough to see, hear and, in some cases, are privileged enough to meet through the amazing events we are involved in. We are no writers by any stretch of the imagination but we’re gonna give this blogging malarkey a go anyway.  We just hope that some of you might love some of the marvellous music we discover as much as we do.

Nietzsche got it in one when he said “Without music, life would be a mistake.”  A terrible one.  So if even just a few of you find a song or a band you adore on our wee page, that you might not have stumbled across otherwise, then we’ll consider this little venture a success!

Thank you all massively for your incredible support so far, we couldn’t be more excited to have you on board as we prepare for worldwide domination…one gig (and wine) at a time!

All our love,

Lucy Cassidy & Phoebe Holley.