March 2014

March 2014

Contents:

Editorial



October 2013

October 2013

Contents:

Editorial

Our 10 October 2013 showcase

10-12 October
Norwich Sound & Vision 2013

DOE

Horse Party

The Mondegreens

Our next full gig –
Friday 13 December 2013

our 13th birthday and Christmas party

Drugstore

She Makes War

BUOYS



June 2013

June 2013

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 7th June 2013

Loom

Die You Now

Darwin & the Dinosaur



April 2013

April 2013

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 26th April 2013

violet violet

Cthru27

Arrows of Love

The Nightingales


Recommended:

April 2013 @ NAC



January 2013

January 2013

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Wednesday 23rd January 2013

The Joy Formidable

WE//ARE//ANIMAL


Recommended:

January 2013 @ NAC

21 January 2013, Blood Red Shoes @ NAC



December 2012

December 2012

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 14th December 2012

Cold In Berlin

Tortoise Family Connections

There's Someone In The Pond


Recommended:

December 2012 @ NAC



October 2012

September 2012

June 2012

June 2012

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 22nd June 2012

Yeti Lane

collider

The Thinking Men


Reccommended:

Norwich Arts Centre selected June 2012 highlights




May 2012

April 2012

April 2012

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 13th April 2012

Drugstore

Fiel Garvie

Port Isla




February 2012

February 2012

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 24th February 2012

Electricity in our Homes

Octagon Court

Invisible Cities




December 2011

December 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 16th December 2011

Magoo

We Can't Dance

Khan

Tim Clare

John Osborne



October 2011

October 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 7th October 2011

The Victorian English Gentlemans Club

Olympians

The Shadow Project



September 2011

September 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 16th September 2011

Sarabeth Tucek

Alloy Ark

Rory McVicar


Reccomended:

BBC Music Video Festival

Norwich Sound & Vision convention



June 2011

June 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 17th June 2011

Underground Railroad

Fever Fever

The Day The Robots Came




April 2011

April 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 8th April 2011

Talons

Deers

Embarrassing Machines




February 2011

February 2011

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Friday 25th February 2011

Blue on Blue

C.O.L.L

Typewriter Radio




December 2010

October 2010

September 2010

August 2010

August 2010

Contents:

Editorial

Our next gig -
Sunday 1st August 2010
Waterloo Park Walkabout Our compere

Black Vox

Blue on Blue

Glory Glory

Hellhound Oconnor and the Winkles

KunK

Olympians

These Ghosts



June 2010


© David Drake: Olympians captured live in rehearsal

Online tickets from the button at the bottom of this linked page.

Olympians headline wombatwombat on Friday 14 September 2012 @ NAC

This gig is the official launch for the third single in your 2012 Book Club series, please tell us more about this latest release…

Dan: The new single is called It Was Words That Sunk Our Ship, and it's the first of the singles written by our very own Benjamin Thompson. It will be available on a CD with two other tracks, or iTunes and stuff, or people that have joined the Book Club will get a copy posted to them before the release. It's a bit of a departure for us, we tried to do something a bit different with this one and base it all round one repeating idea with lots of variation and stuff. Hopefully this means we can open our music to new markets, ie stupid people that can't concentrate on music if it isn't mega repetitive and in 4/4.

Ben: It's a song! You can buy it in book club format and get the other singles with it, or you can buy it on its own as a CD or download. Either way, it comes with two B-sides, one of which is possibly more exciting and incredible than the single itself, and the other of which is the soundtrack to that '80s horror sci-fi film you've been writing about alien robots that come to earth disguised as service station attendants and slowly drink the world's supply of fossil fuels.

…and the accompanying video by Liam Roberts.

Dan: I don't what to tell you about Liam's video, except that it's an explosion of vibes. We're quite happy for Liam to do what he likes with our videos, as he always comes up with something totally nuts. I'm pretty sure there's some footage of an ocean in the new video, and possibly a mushroom cloud, other than that there could be anything going on. Really looking forward to what he comes up for the Arts Centre show as he's planning a whole set of visuals. I'm hoping for a single shot of a decomposing carcass sped up to fit across the entire set.

Ben: Liam spent about three solid days carefully and tirelessly collecting vibes from all over the internet and then weaving them into a rich tapestry of stormy juddering colours. He will be doing a similar thing at the wombat show, but making it all as we go along, which I can only imagine involves somehow capturing the vibes that wombatwombat gigs are so renowned for, sucking them direct from the room, and then magically transcribing them into swirly colour.

And what's the story behind hooking up with Barely Regal rather than doing a DIY release or working with a Norwich-based label?

Dan: We've never really considered it to be shunning Norwich by working with a label from outside of Norfolk, it just seemed to make sense for us to have more than one base to work from. When we go to play in Cardiff now it feels like a second home to us, which is absolutely amazing, and we've got plans to start bringing other bands from the label to play in Norwich in the next year, so expanding the whole family a bit. That said, we have released tracks through Norwich labels – we did a track for the last Bare Feet Records compilation for instance – but nobody from Norwich ever offered to release any more than that so boo to them. We met the Barely Regal guys when we played a show with Among Brothers at the Old Blue Last, this will be the first time we've played a show together since, so it's pretty ace.

Ben: Working with Barely Regal is still very much DIY, it's just that there are more Ys getting involved.

You're playing some festivals this year: tell us more…

Dan: At time of writing this, we've only played Fieldview Festival, and that was last weekend, so that's winning so far. We are going to be playing End Of The Road at the end of August though, and I expect to remember that one best for getting thrown out by security for endlessly harassing Jason Lytle from Grandaddy to be my best friend. Looking forward to that. He's not.

Ben: Fieldview was delightful, run by such competent and lovely fellas, and was twee-er than a tea-maid's button collection, so we felt very at home.

…and which other bands on those bills impressed you or are you most looking forward to?

Dan: We didn't really see many at Fieldview because we had to rush off, but we most gutted about missing Spring Offensive, who on every other occasion we've seen them have blown our fucking minds, so let's presume they would have done so again if we'd seen them that day. At End of the Road I'm looking forward to Grandaddy (if they still let me in the tent), Jeffrey Lewis, Sleep Party People, Zun Zun Egui, Islet and Grizzly Bear.

Ben: Seeing Killamonjambo at Fieldview was a rare treat.

What efforts did you make to be part of the London 2012 opening or closing ceremony – surely, your band would have been ideal: didn't the organisers miss a trick?

Dan: We don't want to talk about the fucking Olympics anymore. It hurts too much. Paul McCartney my arse. We posted Sebastian Coe a picture of us rocking out at the ceremony, but I don't think he got the hint.

Ben: Actually we couldn't be involved in the ceremonies as we were too busy choreographing the entirety of the rest of the Olympics. They asked us, of course, but we just had to say: "No, these stadiums won't build themselves! You'll just have to get Danny Baker to help you instead." They misunderstood us evidently – with disastrous consequences.

Please share your thoughts about Norwich Sound & Vision 2012

Dan: It's fucking great. We're mega stoked about seeing Liars, Tall Ships and Dad Rocks! most of all. My only fault with the event is that they've never booked us. Bastards.

Ben: Excited as always, it's such a great idea to realise the fact that festivals involve so many music related people coming together and to use that opportunity to host some pertinent and useful discussions. Plus their branding is great this year.

What's next on the agenda for Olympians?

Dan: We've already got Book Club #4 pretty much sorted so we're going to spend the rest of 2012 resting on our laurels writing new material. The Barely Regal guys only really let us arse around doing this stupid Book Club thing if in return we made a proper actual record afterwards, so I suppose we should probably get on with making that.

Ben: Item 4) Playing more rock shows.
Item 5) Releasing the final Book Club single (spectacular).
Item 6) Further comments and questions.
MEETING ADJOURNED.

Social media snapshot

Which social media do you use and how do you rate them in terms of the best way to promote your band, with 1 being the best?

Dan: Same as last time probably.

Who are these Olympians?

Dan: I play the guitar and shout a bit. Chris plays the bass. Ed plays the drums. Ben does everything else.


© David Drake