A = Amp
| The Pocket Gods | The Pocket Gods are the brainchild of singer songwriter Mark C Lee, who plays and sings all the tracks along with help from other guest musicians in his groovy kitchen situated in the Vale of Nub Country - otherwise known as somewhere near St Albans! The Pocket Gods had a track played on the Huw Stephens show on Radio One on 10 May 2006. |
Short for amplifier, which guitars are played through. AAA = Access All Areas Term used at gigs - allows you to go wherever - even backstage! A = A&R Short for Artist & Repertoire 鈥 these are the guys and gals from the record companies who sign up and then look after artists. You want them to come and see your gig and you need to know their names so you can send them a demo CD along with a wacky gift such as 20 left handed drawing pins 鈥 in order to get their attention / annoy them. A = Advance Sounds exciting as it鈥檚 the money the record company 鈥淎dvance鈥 you to record your first album when they sign you up. The hotter you are the bigger the Advance will be. But don鈥檛 get too excited as it鈥檚 only an advance and you have to pay it back to the record company from future royalties and sales - so maybe just go for a crate of lager instead of champagne at the launch party! B = Bottom End Recording/sound term referring to the Bass levels, i.e. the really low frequency notes, and is nothing to with J- Lo. C = Crowd Surfing When someone stage dives into the audience and then 鈥渟urfs鈥 over the crowd below - quite fun but only really suitable at large gigs or festivals 鈥 could be quite dangerous trying it at the Horn Reborn on a wet Tuesday night in December. D = Demo Short for demonstration tape 鈥 will mostly now be recorded onto CD or mp3 file, but is essentially a recording of your band which you will then send out to A & R at record companies and other people in the music biz. Industry types usually say to limit them to two or three of your best songs with the strongest one first and that the quality of the recording doesn鈥檛 matter. Truth is they won鈥檛 listen to them anyway unless they already know you and if it sounded like your mate from the chip shop recorded it in his deep fat fryer they鈥檒l bin it along with the other 6,000 they received that day. However, there is hope as The Pocket Gods found when John Peel from Radio 1 contacted us 18 months after we sent him a demo. Be patient and stick to your guns. D = Died Usually relating to a really bad gig where the band have metaphorically 鈥渄ied鈥 on stage 鈥 happens to us all sometimes - usually in a pub called the
Slaughtered Lamb on the outskirts of nowhere. D = Dressing Room Tis good to dream 鈥 one day you鈥檒l play a gig and there鈥檒l be a proper dressing room with carpet and a fridge full of beer 鈥 but for now you鈥檒l have to share the cubicles with the hoi polloi. E = Encore After a good gig the audience might cheer you to do another song. Resist the power of the encore if you can - it is hard I know but it is always good, and cool, to leave them wanting more. F = Flyers These are bit of paper with details of your bands gig (see below) and usually allow those in possession of one to get in to the gig at a reduced rate. Don鈥檛 spend a lot of money on these as you鈥檒l give out hundreds but only a handful will actually turn up. G = Gig The meat and drink of a band鈥檚 existence. The live performance at a venue is key. It鈥檚 OK playing like a God in the rehearsal studio but you have to be able to cut it live in front of an audience. This is not about musical or technical talent, it鈥檚 about attitude and the desire to make it 鈥 you have to put on a performance and make every one in the audience wish they where like you. G = Groupie Usually sad cases, male or female, who fancy a band member and follow them around cos they haven鈥檛 got anything better to do with their lives G = Gear Not illicit substances but a generic term for all your musical equipment that you鈥檒l be lugging around at rush hour on a tube on a way to a gig with five people there. H = Hangover When on tour you鈥檒l have to learn how to cope and play every night despite having an even worse hangover than the day before. Also not helped by sleeping next to snoring drummer in the back of a 1979 Ford Transit van. I = Image This is important as being in a band you are essentially selling a 鈥減ackage鈥 to the public. Music and fashion have always been linked but the music industry are now putting less emphasis on looks and more on the substance of the music. J = Jombal Another Pocket Gods phrase meaning a crazy weird and totally strange but fun experience 鈥 see PG songs 鈥淛ombal Bells鈥 and 鈥淛ombal Party鈥. K = Kay This is a special magical chord invented by The Pocket Gods. After serving your rock and roll apprenticeship of many years, one day you may be given the secrets to access the chord of K. L = Lip Sync Modern terminology for miming 鈥 still used by boy and girl bands who can鈥檛 sing in tune. They justify the use of it as they say they would be unable to dance and sing at the same time. Muffin the Mule could. M = Manager Sounds a bit scary but at some stage in your burgeoning musical career you will need to get a manager who will represent your commercial and musical interests to the outside world. You鈥檒l need one as hopefully you鈥檒l be too busy writing and recording albums, and touring them around the world, and won鈥檛 have time to be at every record company or business meeting. Don鈥檛 forget that although it's fun at the moment, playing Battle Of the Bands gigs at your local pub to your mates, if you do want to make it in music you have realise that this is a business just like any other and someone will have to do the things that will help you make a living and help maintain all those swimming pools. M = Mosh Also Moshpit and Moshtastic听 - basically a primitive form of dancing for people with long hair. The Moshpit is also one of the most dangerous habitats on
earth 鈥 enter at your own peril and don鈥檛 forget the first rule of听 Moshpit is that there are no rules! M = Mixy Disco This is the bit in the recording studio with the faders and knobs where the engineer / producer will make you sound 鈥淨uite Good鈥. N = Never give up Keep believing in what you do and if you enjoy it don鈥檛 let anyone put you off. You鈥檒l get bad reviews from time to time but don鈥檛 forget that music is a subjective art form and they鈥檒l always be someone out there, apart from your mum, who鈥檒l love what your doing. O = One Louder Rock term first used in the film 鈥淪pinal Tap鈥 [see below] means that when everything鈥檚 at 10 and you need that little extra bite you can always go to 11 鈥 that鈥檚 鈥渙ne louder鈥. P = Primadonna A term relating to female singers who can get a bit stroppy and demanding from time time. Prime example is a certain American diva who for instance insists that any room that she enters must be painted pink three months beforehand. I kid yee not. P = Publishing/PRS The songwriters in the band will earn more money than those that just play in the band - just look at Noel Gallagher from Oasis.听 As well as getting revenue from record sales / downloads the songwriters will get paid royalties from whenever their song is played in public or on radio and TV. A publishing company can collect these royalties for you and promote your songs to TV and film companies, and they may even advance you some money from future royalties. However, they will take a cut, 20 per cent and upwards, and you can always join PRS (Performing Rights Society) who will collect the song writing royalties for you and they only take a small cut for their costs. Q = 鈥淨uite Good鈥 That鈥檚 Pocket Gods speak for fan bloomin tastic! R = Rider A definite must for all touring bands, the Rider contains all the goodies that the band will need to keep them sustained for the evening鈥檚 performance, i.e. lots of beer and junk food and it's also traditional to ask for something quite bizarre like yellow smarties or a Patagonian Sausage Roll. R = Roadie Not to be confused with Groupie, as one is more hygienic than the other. These are the chaps and chapesses who drive you to gigs and set up all your heavy equipment for you. Say thank you nicely and always carry an air freshener. S = Sex Rock and Roll at the end of the day is all about the S word - just don鈥檛 tell your parents who only did it once anyway. S = Spinal Tap The greatest rockumentary ever made and essential viewing for anyone starting out in a band 鈥 will make sure you stay away from the pitfalls of taking yourself too seriously 鈥 to quote: 鈥渢here鈥檚 a fine line between clever and stupid鈥. S = Sound check Scariest part of a gig 鈥 this when you have to get to a venue at a ridiculously early time to set up and check your sound. This is so that all the levels can be set up for you to sound great to all the punters later. Carried out by a Sound Engineer [see below]. Whatever you do it is not cool to say 鈥淭est 1, 2鈥 into the microphone. S = Sound Engineer These are the people at venues who can make or break you. They say you're only as good as your sound and these guys and gals are the ones that twiddle the knobs and faders 鈥 so treat them with respect and maybe even buy them a drink. It will be the best 拢3.00 you鈥檒l ever spend. T = Toppermost of the Poppermost John Lennon used to say to the rest of the Beatles before every gig 鈥淲e鈥檙e we going guys鈥 - they鈥檇 reply 鈥淭o The Toppermost of the Poppermost鈥. T = Transit Traditional mode of transport for Roadie [see above] who will take three days to drive you to gigs in Scotland whilst you're in the back sitting on uncomfortable amps swigging bottles of supermarket cider. U = Unique At the moment there are 200,000 bands are wanting to sound like The Arctic Monkeys. If you want to make it, develop your own unique sound, don鈥檛 imitate and make everyone else want to be the new you. V = Valve Amp 鈥淧roper鈥 guitar amps have old fashioned valves in them which give them a warm fuzzy sound 鈥 as opposed to new 鈥渟olid state鈥 or digital amps - which although are 100 times more reliable, sound a bit plastic. W = Website Now essential for any aspiring band that wants to get its music 鈥渙ut there鈥. Technology has given power back to the creators' of music and has made it possible for you to get fans all over the world. X = Xplicit lyrics I鈥檓 definitely no Puritan when it comes to the colourful use of language in songs, however be warned, as radio stations will still not play any songs with swearing in and as you need as much Xposure as possible, either cut the choice language altogether or do a separate radio friendly mix. It maybe selling out but at the end of the day if you're serious about your music your gonna have to pay the rent somehow. Y= Youth As The Who once sang 鈥 I hope I die before I get old鈥, rock and roll used to be the preserve of the rebellious youth. But with old chaps like Neil Young and Paul Weller still knockin' and rockin' around, this is not the case anymore. Though it still tends to be the young who are at the cutting edge of new music developing and reinventing the existing genres of pop and rock. Z = Zine Independent Music Zines are a good way of getting your band reviewed and gain some exposure. There are many good ones around just have a search on the Internet. Z = ZZZZZ If you鈥檝e made it this far well done! Now be gone and start rockin'! | 
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