Be Like Water Media

Short post today!

Film by George Greengough!

What a total waste – when is the world going to wake up?




The shift is happening…

Whilst we’re on the Oz vibe…

Yeah, today’s post is about a band called the “22-20′s”, which in my opinion is one of the best bands in the world.

I used to book 22-20′s back in early 2000. Watching Martin Trimble’s (lead guitarist) hands literally and more to the point – effortlessly dance upon the strings was nothing short of watching an alchemist at work. Glen would sit at the side of the small stage, himself an awesome talent, and he would look to Martin and follow him, I used to think to myself, how on earth does anyone do that?

In the DJ world, it would be like watching QBert jamming with Mixmaster Mike before anyone knew who they were. I mean man, I felt blessed, and to be honest, seeing the guys play in such an intimate setting (where I used to DJ in between sets), I STILL DO feel totally blessed.

It was like having someone with the technical ability of Santana or SRV, with the rawness and self-belief-on-stage of Hendrix, and I’m being serious here…

Don’t just take my word for it, here is what Alexis Petridis said from The Guardian, (UK National Newspaper) Friday 24 October 2003.

The next next big thing

They had A&R men promising them fortunes, flying over on Concorde for their gigs, telling them Dylan would call. Yet all they had made was a demo. Alexis Petridis asks the 22-20s what it’s like to start a bidding war.

22-20s ‘We’ve only got seven songs, and five of those are shit’: from left, Martin Trimble, Glen Bartup and James Irving of 22-20s.

As he sits quietly in a central London pub, it is hard to remain unimpressed by Martin Trimble’s calm demeanour. He looks remarkably unruffled for a man who, barely out of his teens, recently caused an astonishing bidding war among record companies.

The desperation to uncover the next big thing means that such wars over new artists are an everyday occurrence. However, the fight over Trimble’s band, the 22-20s, gave even jaded observers pause for thought. One dubbed it “the A&R scramble of the century”. Jeff Barrett, the man who eventually signed the band to his label Heavenly, remembers one gig where the bosses of every major American record label turned up: “People were flying over on Concorde to see them, twice. I’ve been in this game 15 years, and they gave me more sleepless nights and grey hairs than any other band I’ve worked with.” This is a remark that should not be taken lightly, given that Barrett spent part of the 1980s working with the heroin-sodden Happy Mondays.

Anyone requiring further evidence that the 22-20s are destined for great things should note that Kate Moss has graced their live performances with her presence, a turn of events that seems to have become as essential to a hotly tipped band’s rise as the obligatory string of demented music press reviews. They have had those, too: in the past nine months, their gutsy, blues-influenced rock has been favourably compared to everyone from Oasis to Hendrix. They have been variously described as the best British band in years and the sound of cutting-edge England 2003 – all on the basis of a four-track demo, one single and a handful of gigs.

Given this insane level of hyperbole, you would forgive Trimble if he possessed megalomaniac tendencies or a nervous twitch. Quite the opposite. He’s making the effort to look like a rock god – skintight denim flares, leather jacket, long hair and mid-afternoon glass of Southern Comfort – but that’s about as far as it goes. His conversation offers neither the standard swaggering self-belief of the star-in-waiting nor the angst of a sensitive songwriter troubled by the music industry’s machinations. Instead, he offers a kind of polite indifference, which occasionally seems like a defence mechanism against the sort of pressure that might otherwise have sent a 20-year-old barmy. Asked how he feels about one hack’s overwrought description of him as “the feathercut prince of the blues”, Trimble frowns, repeats the phrase slowly and inquisitively as if trying it on for size, then quickly changes the subject.

Similarly, the bidding war apparently left him “a bit miffed”: “It just started to explode before we’d really had a chance to find out what sound we wanted to get. We were being taken to lunch every day, meeting lawyers, being told about these ridiculous sums of money. We heard a rumour that one label was going to get Bob Dylan to ring us and convince us to sign with them. It was absurd.”

It must have seemed even more absurd given the 22-20s’ background. Trimble and 19-year-old bass player Glen Bartup are from Sleaford, a Lincolnshire market town where the previous star attraction was Cogglesford watermill and its ingenious labour-saving sack hoist. As Trimble gently points out, “It’s not very cosmopolitan.” His musical education was equally arcane. While his school mates were listening to Britpop, Trimble favoured the blues records his uncle brought round at Christmas. “Blues became this thing that me and Glen were into. We’ve never really got involved in anything else.”

Even today, his attitude to music is so reactionary that your average trad-jazz fan would consider it a tad fusty. Technology is out, “mainly because I don’t know how any of it works”. Artists who “wave the flag for African awareness or the Iraq thing” get similarly short shrift: “I feel like it comes across a lot of the time as patronising.”

By the time they were 15, the duo were playing on the wildly unfashionable European blues circuit. (Drummer James Irving is a more recent recruit.) Trimble remembers the gigs as “better than getting a paper round”, but not much. “It was just cabaret, people who thought the blues was about the Blues Brothers, porkpie hats and shades. We were playing this Stones kind of thing and it was going down like a cup of cold sick.”

This odd apprenticeship left Trimble with an admirably surly onstage manner (“I never wanted to talk to the crowd”) and enough money to record their demo. That fell into Jeff Barrett’s hands via his Nottingham bar, The Social, where the band had hoped to secure a gig.

Barrett, more effusive than his charges, recalls his initial reaction: “Holy shit almighty, fuck, this is great.” He says: “It’s a rare thing to get a demo that gives you that holy shiver. This one did. You could go round the pubs in London in the 18 months after the White Stripes and hear a lot of blues-influenced bands, but it was very rare to hear one and think, ‘Shit, you’re not just copying them, you’ve got some devil dust in you.’

“I went to see them play a gig the next night. I walked into this empty cellar and I couldn’t see anybody in there apart from these three kids. I thought, surely not – I was expecting blokes. They told me they’d known each other since they were nippers, about the uncle with a blues collection and playing all these terrible blues festivals in Holland. I’m an old romantic – stories like that send me fluttering. At the time, they were still living with their mums and dads. I took them to the pub and said, ‘You realise that your lives are about to change? Your demo is really good, even some dumb-ass motherfucker is going to sign you because of the White Stripes. Have you thought of what you’re going to do?’ Martin turned around and said, ‘Jeff, we’ve only got seven songs and five of those are shit.’”

Nevertheless, Barrett was right. The pressure of record company and press interest was only heightened by the band’s refusal to sign a deal until they had written more songs. They eventually signed with Barrett – “Some people we met knew nothing about music, but he kept playing us loads of great soul records” – and with high-powered management company ATC Management, whose roster also includes Radiohead.

ATC initially chose not to promote them, but to try to calm the hype by refusing interviews. They packed the band off on a tour of unlikely provincial venues. While one reviewer was describing their limited-edition debut single, Such a Fool, as the work of “the most important Brit rock band of the century”, the said band were to be found playing in rock’n'roll haunts such as Southend Chinnerys. Trimble describes this experience as “awful – when we’re playing to 20 people it doesn’t work”, but it appeared to have the desired effect. The press’s attention shifted elsewhere, at least temporarily.

The band emerged from the tumult apparently unscathed. “I’m pretty comfortable with it all now,” says Trimble. “I did feel the weight of expectation on my shoulders, but that’s because we didn’t have the songs. If I like what we do, then I’m pretty happy.”

The future is a matter of some conjecture. Their current live mini-album roars from the speakers, appealingly tough and cocky, but it is impossible to tell whether the band’s career can match the expectations fostered over the past nine months. For the time being, however, the 22-20s find themselves in a unique position: they seem like survivors before even releasing their debut album. They have moved from Sleaford, to an Oxfordshire village called Milton. “It’s just a little cottage in the middle of nowhere. It suits us really well,” grins Trimble. “We like being away from things.”

Fast Forward a decade and here’s a clip of the uber-talented band, so glad they got back together!



And another!



If I ever get chance to find my ‘lost tapes’ (and Martin says it’s ok) I may just post some clips of those early blues sessions, they will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, jump off and run straight back to Parchman Farm.

A play on words of course on survival of the fittest.

Here is a poem I wrote years and years ago, it refers to colonialism, a word which today I would replace with corporate greed and a desire for some people to dominate because they fear losing the grip on the non-reality they believe in.

Colonialism

Across the seas we sailed to lands we thought we had unveiled. Seeing riches, we dictated, bossed, Cast aside and tossed. Ourselves, we did not care. Took their land and stripped them bare.

Owned and disowned, constantly changing our tones. We are still so lost, still too many pay the cost, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Lawrence This is not a game of tolerance, this is about the tower, of money, greed and power. Those who follow these false idols, will be smashed by a wave, far beyond tidal, or tribal. Set the captives free, are there no bounds, musically…

Other evils will come, some have tried before, but… no one escapes the natural laws.

And now a film from those good folks at ‘Survival’

Have a look at this inspiring video clip I found whilst taking a break from shaping my own dreams!

Here’s some photos from our afternoon at the beach.

Brilliant clip from Vimeo…

A timeless movie…

Click the squares to make the sounds!

http://safe.tumblr.com/safe/video/2509512839/500

WTF has this to do with surf?

I cannot stand these crappy adverts that promise that their products ‘care for the environment’ or are ‘kind to the planet’

What a load of bullshit…especially with the images of fresh fields, flowers and all that rubbish – the reality is that the major chemical companies that produce these products all pollute the seas that we surf in…get real, and don’t get me started on Monsanto and the other chemical warfare supporting companies.

That is why here at Be Like Water Media, there is a lack of advertising from the likes of ‘google ads’ as I really do not believe that the average surfer is looking for a Russian bride, or myriad of other shite that is sold via those type of ads…

No, here at BLWM, a less environmentally damaging (LED) approach is taken. In addition, there is no interest in ‘big’ name interviews, that said you’ll find some tasty information on people or organisations that inspire me for whatever reason that may be…so read on and make up your own mind. Surfing is a personal journey, whilst sponsorship and support is important, I believe that most companies have a long way to go, even surf companies.

The latest Pipe results or ASP tour dates have no major interest for me, in fact as I write this now the slant will lean further towards more LED products being featured on the site and more earthy / thrifty / soulful threads and posts.

For now, enjoy your surf and as an alternative, get a second hand copy of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha

In Hawaiʻi someone can be said to have or show aloha in the way they treat others; whether family, friend, neighbor or stranger.

Aloha to you all from me, today! Enjoy your surfing, it’s big and messy over here – just right for a rinsing!

Reading this at the mo’ = great book! Surfing’s Greatest Misadventures: Dropping In on the Unexpected Edited By Paul Diamond and Tyler McMahon



The true stories in this one-of-a-kind collection cross the spectrum from terrifying to comical to downright bizarre. Prepare yourself for the most gripping and unbelievable stories about big waves, shark attacks, tsunamis, boating disasters, devastating wipeouts, pranks, and bad judgment calls. These thirty tales, by surf journalists, filmmakers, magazine editors, watermen, and everyday surfers, illuminate the less enchanting aspects of a life committed to surf.

With stories about Laird Hamilton, Greg Noll, Ken Bradshaw, Tubesteak, Miki Dora, Buzzy Kerbox, Brad Gerlach and many other big name surfers.

I find it unbelievable that this video has ten hits on youtube (at the time of writing) yet some fat kid doing something stupid gets a trillion hits! CRAZY!



Here’s some facts and figures about water and sanitation, please follow the link below to do your bit!



http://www.waterworks.me/



And P.S. all, I posted some time ago about not buying any more plastic drinking bottles, ever and to this date, I have been using my SIGG bottles and refilling old [cleaned out] bottles. In total, I have bought only 1 bottle and that was for the dog! Good going for what must be three months now!

Do your bit, don’t buy plastic and don’t buy the shite water you get in bottles either…

“being captain Zero” is a movie about two friends from very different backgrounds who grew up surfing together in 1950′s Montauk, New York. Allan Weisbecker and Patrick Abrams.

In the 1970′s, their friendship turned to criminal enterprise. They began transporting multi ton shipments of Marijuana from Columbia & Jamaica into the United States by both sea and air. The violence of the emerging cocaine trade and the threat of the DEA, forced them to separate. They made a pact to keep their destinations secret, even from each other.

Allan moved to Hollywood and cashed in on his marijuana running experiences by writing for “Miami Vice”. Patrick moved to Puerto Viejo, a town along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, in search of the fastest and most dangerous wave in Central America. Salsa Brava.

After 20 years Allan sold his home and bought a truck with a camper and went looking for his old friend Patrick in Costa Rica. On this trip Allan wrote “In Search of Captain Zero”. It is a memoir combining their drug running exploits with the adventure of looking for his old partner. Patrick. Upon his arrival in Puerto Viejo Allan was shocked to see what had become of his old friend. What Allan saw would shake the very foundation of their friendship.

  Filmmaker:Ama MacDonald is a world travelled big wave surfer who has been working succesfully in Hollywood for the past 13 years.

http://www.beingcaptainzero.com/

http://banditobooks.com/

http://www.WA2S.org The VISION of the World Animal Awareness Society (WA2S.org) is to focus a lens on a wide spectrum of interactions at the human-animal intersection and curate a detailed filmed archive of behaviors in expectation of observing human evolution.

The moving image is arguably the rawest, most powerful educational tool we have to witness our behavioral patterns, attitudes and interactions and aid us in our continued growth.

Please visit our website and click on the donate button. Join the WA2S.org today!

from last nights’ surf

http://eurosurfbundoran.com/ click the beezlebub off this link to open the door to this years fantastic looking Eurosurf, right in the heart of Irish surfing and stupendously friendly Bundoran.

Cheap flights from Europe and guaranteed a good vibe – get yourself along if ya can!

Picture below taken from http://eurosurfbundoran.com/