Kev's Band

[Kevthedrummer]

The journey of Crave :D
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8637/cravecd8pu.jpgI left my last band "ASPECT OF ONE" (Crap name i know) a few months ago now, it just wasn't working and they weren't playing the style I liked. Although we had some ok songs to be honest. We made a decent demo CD with Alan Leach (Shed Seven drummer) at Studio7 in York.

While I was in the band I began to notice the excellent talent of my younger brother Steve, who was always jamming with his guitar in his room. I am now starting a band with him. There's him, me and another guitarist who left my previous band with me. Were lookin out for a bassist, but theres a certain shortage of them in York so were probably gonna have 2 get one of Steve's school mates to session with us for our first gig supporting local band nevertheless on the 12th November. (my b'day :D) We will be playing Metal/grunge as we like to call it. In this thread I intend to post pics and sound clips from our gigs to see what you guys think.

We need a name ASAP! This is where you guys come in... Name my band! Has to be good tho, don't want silly suggestions.

Steve Craven - lead guitar/vocals
Matt Rowsell - Rhythm guitar
Kev Craven - Drums

I'll try and get some of my Aspect of One demo up see what u think.

Anyway... TOPIC 1: BAND NAME please

[Zoidberg]

Craven Haven.

Oh yes, you know you want it.

[Original?]

We may not be great, but we're better than you!

Bit of a mouth full though.

[Mc Clean]

hey Kev i am trying to start a band, my mate plays bass and sings and i play lead guitar, i see myself as the next Tony Iommi, just kidden, anyway we need a Drummer and Rhythm guitar player any tips??

Cant think of a name! i think thats the hardest part and good luck btw

[uA - 1905]

York Boys

This is a clever technique. If you become famous one day, shop owners in York will recognize you and give you HUGE ASS discounts. Maybe free samples who knows. So it's better you listen to me.

[Mc Clean]

the Yorkers?

[uA - 1905]

anything with york in it would befine

[Kevthedrummer]

there are other bands in york you know guys

[Kevthedrummer]

hey Kev i am trying to start a band, my mate plays bass and sings and i play lead guitar, i see myself as the next Tony Iommi, just kidden, anyway we need a Drummer and Rhythm guitar player any tips??

Cant think of a name! i think thats the hardest part and good luck btw

Don't allow arogant people in your band who want fame. The music is the most important thing. That's all I can offer you! It's hard to find the right people, you have to gel as well.

[Kevthedrummer]

Right, me and Steve have been recording today, I'd like to know what you guys think. It's not a bad recording but certainly not great. We still need a band name to match our style.

This has no bass, no vocal and no guitar solo dubbing yet, but it promises to rock even more when it does, so it may seem long and boring without these elements. I will keep posting as the song develops. :D It's hosted on geocities so the bandwidth is low, if it doesn't work, try again later.

How Long (http://www.geocities.com/aspectofonetest/HowLong.wav)

[o0oGedo0o]

how about Kev's band ?? just kidding
umm try my fantasy league team name the schizophreniacs, i dunno it's just hard choosing a band name

[50!]

What about.....

Craven and Rosewell
Or Double Craven

[Nifty1Pound50]

I know this will probably sound idiotic, but how about "Nameless" ?

To me, it sounds catchy, and relevant.

[nath_scfc]

In a classic Royle Family script thiefing exercise, how about Exit because where ever you play your names up in lights. :)

[Kevthedrummer]

Has anyone heard the track yet? I want feedback, go to my last post and download it. I just thought of the name "Crave" what u think?

[Original?]

Kev the track is good, and you both sound very competent at a high pace. Could be good!

Endless Cravings?

[sheringham316]

Too be honest I think you would have made it big around 1980/1990 as you could have gave your music to WWF and they could have made a wrestling theme for it...

http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1EBC0346D59682DD6942 F466C50C415A

The Rockers ^ back in the day!!! :D

hehe, it is indeed very adictive!! :)

[Lorenzinho]

Man, this is good stuff. You both seem to be able to keep the tempo and not slow down. Some good improvisation there. Well done, Kev!

Anyway as for band names, what about "August 36th"?

[Kevthedrummer]

We're trying to revive grunge and metal, as the only bands around these days are emo or kinda depressing slow stuff. We're daring to be different;) cheers for the feedback guys. Just like to say how talented my little bro steve is, he wrote the track and he's only 15! To look at him he's 21 though ;)

Just dubbing the killer guitar solo as we speak:D I will post soon

[Dundon's]

Hey Kev, like the track, sounds on a bleach buzz, any luck with a vocalist? Might make or break you so don't just let any joe Soap front the band.


P.S. What did you use to record the tune? sterio/4 track/ etc

Edit: just read your the singer there, (my bad) :o

Any tracks with you singing ? :)

[Kevthedrummer]

where did you read that I am singing lol? Steve's singing, he's the man, man! Just used a stereo mic plugged into the pc and put it on the floor in the middle of his room and played it live there and then, we'd just composed it minutes before :D the guitar solo section is done, anyone wanna hear?

[Dundon's]

where did you read that I am singing lol? Steve's singing, he's the man, man! Just used a stereo mic plugged into the pc and put it on the floor in the middle of his room and played it live there and then, we'd just composed it minutes before :D the guitar solo section is done, anyone wanna hear?


My bad again dude, I'm up the walls and only skimmed the thread.But I understand it now.Any tracks with some vocals layed down?

P.S. Swing the axe and break out the solo Dude. :cool:

[Kevthedrummer]

no this is all we've got. He says he'll record the vocals as soon as they're ready, which I'm guessing will be soon. The guitar solo he isn't completely happy with yet, he makes the slightest error (he thought) in the second part of it where he plays a few off notes ;) perfectionism eh, having said that I'm guilty of an error leading into the short break before it kicks in...You'll see, anyhow were gonna record it better when we've completely done it this is rough stuff:)

anyway here it is...[/color]
Guitar Solo (right click save target) (http://www.geocities.com/aspectofonetest/guitar-solo.wav)

I'm off 2 bed now I'm knackered zzzzzzz

[Kevthedrummer]

Thanks for all the band suggestions, the name was there all the time, it just needed an "n" removing from our name :D
http://img13.exs.cx/img13/7015/CRAVE.jpg
Meaning: "have a craving, appetite, or great desire for lust, hunger, thirst, starve, desire, want - feel or have a desire for; want strongly"

What do you think?

[Original?]

Could it be slightly less bright?

[Kevthedrummer]

http://img75.exs.cx/img75/2513/CRAVE2.jpg
Slightly different design colors but I think it's better

[nath_scfc]

i think the 2nd ones much better.

[Original?]

The second is better but it still seems hard to read, at a quick glance it is difficult to make out the name of the band.

[Kevthedrummer]

just a quick update, our gig on my birthday (nov 12th) has been cancelled. Our debut in the world of Rock will be 18th December. It's gonna be class I can't wait. We've written some more songs and have a full band (meeting for the first time next week sometime i hope) ready to kick some candy with a new style...

[Kevthedrummer]

...ok so thats not gonna happen, the band who were headlining the gig on the 18th have split up so the gig is off. We've had one practice, and we now haven't got a bass player. Me and Steve are writin class songs (well, he is) but were just finding it difficult to get together with the others and put it all together. I'll try and post the recording we did last week cos its pretty cool!

[nath_scfc]

...ok so thats not gonna happen, the band who were headlining the gig on the 18th have split up so the gig is off. We've had one practice, and we now haven't got a bass player. Me and Steve are writin class songs (well, he is) but were just finding it difficult to get together with the others and put it all together. I'll try and post the recording we did last week cos its pretty cool!
Sounds like its going well. Good luck to you all. Who's doing the vocals then?

[Kevthedrummer]

Steve is doing the vocals

[Fab]

The music you play aint really my type, but that little taster you uploaded first of all was pretty good.
Nice one Kev, in my opinon you and your bro could go someone if you carry on ;)

[Kevthedrummer]

cheers bud, I thought I'd upload that recording now actually...

The song is called sui-sigh as in suicide but with a sigh. Its dedicated to one of my bros friends who is a little depressed and wants to kill herself or something, he didn't properly tell me. Sorry again but there are no vocals yet. It's a bit sloppy in some of the playing so we're going to record it again soon but here ya go:

http://www.geocities.com/aspectofonetest/crave-suisigh.wav save target

EDIT: Oh dear, because of the compression I have had to use for the web, the overdrive guitar solo at the end crackles really badly sorry bout that

[The-Clash]

I was gonna suggest "Coming in your ears", but i see you've settled on crave.

[Kevthedrummer]

lol good one. Love it at the end of Max & Paddy and in Phoenix Nights when Chorley FM is on

[Original?]

If you want below average guitarist I'm available, but be warned when I say below average, I mean BELOW average ;) :p

[Zoidberg]

EDIT: Oh dear, because of the compression I have had to use for the web, the overdrive guitar solo at the end crackles really badly sorry bout that
Just put it into .mp3 format and you won't have to lose any quality when you compress it, .wav is terrible for internet usage.

[Kevthedrummer]

I believe you

lol

its a bass guitarist we need

[Kevthedrummer]

Just put it into .mp3 format and you won't have to lose any quality when you compress it, .wav is terrible for internet usage.

I know but I only have a limited ammount of mp3's I can produce, u know any decent programs that will do it for free and unlimited?

[Original?]

I'm sure I could play bass as well as I can guitar... :p

[Zoidberg]

http://www.download.com/Free-WAV-to-MP3-Encoder/3000-2140_4-10340591.html?tag=lst-4-5

That's probably the best one.

[Kevthedrummer]

cool! Cheers mate

EDIT: It's a good program, but if anyone else is gonna get it, watch out because the number of viruses that norton brought up was astounding! They aren't in the program but they try and install themself in the background while you install the mp3 program. Beware!

EDIT 2: Since installing it I've just done an spyware & adaware check and theres 201 new critical objects!

EDIT 3: Completely removed the program. Don't even go there, it's installed loads of crap

[Teekay]

Damn, you already got a name, I would have suggested The United.

[Kevthedrummer]

I bet there are other bands called the united.

There are a few bands called Crave actually, ones quite big but they are called Crave NYC, and they aren't really that special.

[Teekay]

I did a search in allmusic.com and I couldn't found a band named The United. Quite suprising.

[Zoidberg]

Hah sorry about that Kev, I installed it on mine and got rid of the spyware and the program continued to work fine even once it had all gone. Ah well, nevermind.

[Kevthedrummer]

Well i was combatting the spyware before I had installed the program so maybe thats where I went wrong. I'll try again, unless u got any other possible programs I can use?

[Kevthedrummer]

heyy, weve been doing a lot of recording around the house, managed to find a bassist called Russel, he's cool, and we are part of http://www.Soundclick.com/craveuk and are currently at number 38 of 227 in the grunge chart which aint bad to say it was recorded in his bedroom :D

[Original?]

The worst part is that you're in the gunge chart ;)

[Kevthedrummer]

The worst part is that you're in the gunge chart ;)
could be worse... we could be in the metal chart ;)

[Kevthedrummer]

I don't think its so wrong to double post after 2 months is it? OK we have our 2nd gig and let me tell you its pretty big for a 2nd gig!

York Opera House! Battle of the Bands 2005... oh yeah! How awesome is that? Could be infront of as many as 1000 people... maybe more or less but its pretty big for gig no2. The song we are entering we recorded at home today and we're pretty proud of it. check out www.soundclick.com/craveuk and listen to Broken Head. Tell us what u think!

I know were moving pretty slowly having only 2 gigs in 3 months but as soon as the summer arrives we'll be getting out there :D

[hitmanuk2k]

That song would be quite good... with a decent singer.

EDIT: Pushed you away is pretty great... you should enter that in the competition instead. The singer sounds a lot better on that one.

[soliloquay]

I don't think its so wrong to double post after 2 months is it? OK we have our 2nd gig and let me tell you its pretty big for a 2nd gig!

York Opera House! Battle of the Bands 2005... oh yeah! How awesome is that? Could be infront of as many as 1000 people... maybe more or less but its pretty big for gig no2. The song we are entering we recorded at home today and we're pretty proud of it. check out www.soundclick.com/craveuk and listen to Broken Head. Tell us what u think!

I know were moving pretty slowly having only 2 gigs in 3 months but as soon as the summer arrives we'll be getting out there :D

once i played a piano piece in front of 1000 people. Is that a great thing? (please it is :blush:)

[Original?]

Soliloquay it depends, if they threw bottles at you and jeered until you left the stage, probably not.

Kev I'll check your tracks out tomorrow, I hope they're not too grungey and there best be a guitar solo!

[hitmanuk2k]

Are the other songs apart from Broken Head actually yours?

If they are, why on earth have you gone down hill so much? Vik-Song and Pushed you Away are great...

[Kevthedrummer]

Are the other songs apart from Broken Head actually yours?

If they are, why on earth have you gone down hill so much? Vik-Song and Pushed you Away are great...

they are all ours... pushed you away is our favourite but we didn't reckon it had the energy for battle of the bands, same with Vik-Song. Wouln't say broken head is downhill though :confused: sure the singing could be better but u got any constructive criticism on the song? :laugh:

[Original?]

Pushed You Away is far better than Broken Head, plus your brother is very, very good on the guitar I think you should make more of this. The solo was brilliant in Pushed You Awy, but for the rest of it he was rather subdued.

[hitmanuk2k]

I think on Broken Head you should strongly think about re-recording the singing. Is it the same guy as on Pushed You Away? Maybe its just a bad recording but he sounds like a much much poorer singer... or maybe its just the style he is trying to sing in, but it sucks. Put it this way when I first heard Broken Head I thought it seemed very amateurish, which sure I know it is... but Pushed You Away sounds much clearer and a much better voice on it and therefore better. So I still maintain that you really should go with Pushed You Away... I don't know what this Battle thing is, but if they have any taste they'd vote for you.

You should really get a proper demo done of Pushed You Away... Radio 1 play stuff thats ten times worse than that on a night when they play the unsigned bands stuff.

[Kevthedrummer]

I think on Broken Head you should strongly think about re-recording the singing. Is it the same guy as on Pushed You Away? Maybe its just a bad recording but he sounds like a much much poorer singer... or maybe its just the style he is trying to sing in, but it sucks. Put it this way when I first heard Broken Head I thought it seemed very amateurish, which sure I know it is... but Pushed You Away sounds much clearer and a much better voice on it and therefore better. So I still maintain that you really should go with Pushed You Away... I don't know what this Battle thing is, but if they have any taste they'd vote for you.

You should really get a proper demo done of Pushed You Away... Radio 1 play stuff thats ten times worse than that on a night when they play the unsigned bands stuff.

Yeah I reckon its probably the quality of the recording (which we do in his room. :tongue: ) I agree that his singing isn't up to scratch but he is a great songwriter and he's only just turned 16 so I'm sure his voice will develop in time. Pushed You Away is one of the first recordings we did! The Broken Head one was rushed and not mixed properly, but we are going into a proper studio today cos we have to record it for the friday night performance (not sure why) so hopefully the studio version will do justice ;)

we are also performing "All My Life" by Foo Fighters as our cover (u have to do 1 cover and 1 original). We'll have to see if we can maybe blag a "Pushed You Away" recording later today instead of recording All My Life (which would be illegal anyway I'm guessing!)

That's more like it hitman :D

[Barry]

Been scrolling through the thread, never seen it before :)
Pushed You Away sounds great, better then Broken Head which sounds very amateurish indeed. So id go with Pushed You Away.
Now hope you dont have a tasteless audience :)
EDIT: Did you guys move up a few places in the Soundclick chart?
:cool:

[Kevthedrummer]

cheers dude!

let me tell you about this battle of the bands thing. It's on Friday night and its between schools :D our music is naturally quite maturely written and appeals to a majority on here because there are mainly students on here (like myself) and its a little deeper. We picked this track because its an upbeat happy song which would be more appealing to younger ones. We know that this isn't our best track and we've been told that none of the other acts are that good so we thought we'd play it down at little :laugh: which sounds big headed, but I'm gonna be the oldest performer there hehe and it's only because I'm in full time education that I am allowed to play because obviously I'm not in school anymore. My brother and the bassist are both in school. Thanks for all your encouragement guys, and if it were a proper battle of the bands that counted for anything we'd get a half hour set and do all of our songs :D

I'll let u know how recording goes later tonight.

[K.1.N.G.]

i must admit, I'm impressed, especially for a bedroom recording! like the kurt cover (to an extent), the singing doesnt quite match up to kurt's (but then, what could ever do that!), but it is a good attempt at it!
as for the others, i agree with the choice for the battle of the bands, a much more commercialised sound - goes down a lot better, even if the other song is, on balance, a better tune!
I look forward to hearing more!!

still gotta listen to the others tho, gonna do that now

a bit dodgy bout the singing tho, good at times, substandard at others; and altho the songs do have a bit behind them it appears that he puts too much effort into rhyming... IMO, that detracts from the overall quality of the tune, just something to think about...

[Original?]

the singing doesnt quite match up to kurt's (but then, what could ever do that!)

An asphyxiated rat?

[hitmanuk2k]

http://www.pesinsight.com/crave/ - Here you go peeps. Studio recorded demo's.

[Kevthedrummer]

Thanks very much to hitman for uploading these demos! We are so honoured to have a really good quality demo for FREE! Here's the story behind the music:

OK so we arrived at the studio, this was the 3rd time I have ever met Russ Carr, our bassist and he was a little nervous having not played with us that often. He did really well and he's a great bassist. We got straight to work on the 2 tracks we had been allocated. The studio guy (Lee) told us that a majority of the bands had been great and there is stiff competition this year unlike previous years. So we sound checked the drums before anything so I got a quick warm up.

Broken Head
We had a quick run through before the recording. It was the first time Russ had ever played it. I was amazed. After the run through we were shocked to hear Lee (the technician) say "I know who's going to win" then there was that awkward silence as we waited for him to say who... Not expecting it to be us... Then he was like "you guys are the best yet!" (hes a geodie) "and if u don't win its a f***ing disgrace) and we just kinda looked at each other in shock. I mean it was an ok take but that was just weird! We then did the recording in one take.

We then did All My life, just the backing tracks so the vocals could be done later. We did one run through and one take. We'd only been in for about half an hour and had completed 2 tracks with only vocals left to do on one of them! Lee then said "I really want to help you and because you've been so quick, I'm gonna record another track so you can have a 3 track demo!" and we were just like "wow! Thanks man!" then we decided by your popular demand to do Pushed You Away! The rest was pretty straight forward, we recoreded it then the last half hour was spent on Steve's vocals. He did Broken Head, then Pushed You Away, then All My Life, which he had to save til last knowing that it would wreck his voice! And it did just that! We got to the recording intending to record a few overdubs like Dave Grohl does (about 5 layers of his voice hehe) but after the first take he refused to do anymore takes for the fear that Steve would seriously damage his voice which was fair enough before the big showdown on Friday!

we were supposed to have 4 hours recording time but Lee had to be somewhere else so we finished after 3 hours ! So it's not been hugely mixed but we're still really happy with it!

I have just exchanged songs with an opposition of ours. Lets just say that Original? would be rooting for them! Metal. Anyway thanks again for your support hitman!

[Original?]

Metal doesn't mean they're good.

[Slash]

Just listened to the songs there... pretty good.. Pushed you away is a great song! As for the singing, it's pretty good but it is a bit dodgy at times. I reckon he has a good enough voice but he should get some kind of voice coaching. It may sound silly to some but my cousin's band was having the same kind of problem and voice coaching sorted it out...

[Kevthedrummer]

Just listened to the songs there... pretty good.. Pushed you away is a great song! As for the singing, it's pretty good but it is a bit dodgy at times. I reckon he has a good enough voice but he should get some kind of voice coaching. It may sound silly to some but my cousin's band was having the same kind of problem and voice coaching sorted it out...

yeah many have said it and we are seriously considering. Voice coaches kinda cost a bomb though....

[Slash]

Thats true.. The singer for my cousin's band didn't get "voice coaching" as such but his sisters music teacher taught him techniques for singing and exercising his voice.. Not sure how much it cost him. Even if there was a good music teacher in your area he might get a few tips off them..

[A Perfect Gary]

Just gave the demos a listen, and they're pretty damn good, just a couple of little things that I'd say on the subject:

Not sure exactly how much coaching is necessary for the voice, just shift the tone of it to something getting a bit further away from someone like Kurt, and more towards someone like Chris Cornell, who seems to have a similar range, but a less raspy quality to his voice. That could probably be done by what I had described to me as singing from closer to the lungs. If you try and imitate the vocals on that track it sounds like sound is being created right at the top of the throat, whereas with someone like Cornell it feels like it's coming from a bit further down.

The other little thing that I picked up was for you Kev, not sure if you asked for it yourself or whether it was put in the mix for you, but there's a touch too much reverb on the drum track in the verses of Pushed You Away for me, but again just a little niggle with me...

Overall very impressive, and I wish you the best of luck over the summer once the gigging gets into full flow.

[Kevthedrummer]

The other little thing that I picked up was for you Kev, not sure if you asked for it yourself or whether it was put in the mix for you, but there's a touch too much reverb on the drum track in the verses of Pushed You Away for me, but again just a little niggle with me...

Overall very impressive, and I wish you the best of luck over the summer once the gigging gets into full flow.
cheers man! :D I agree with the drum reverb comment. We didn't get much say on how it was mixed cos we were very short on time, he said he'd loved to have spent more time mixing it but because we'd used up our time (or most of it) it didn't get done.

[Kevthedrummer]

OK,
Best of Bands 2005
so remember the metal band I mentioned earlier? They won! And deserved it. We shared a dressing room with them and they were really cool and fun rockers, we got on well, I already knew the drummer from the band and they pulled off a great live perfromance.

We got pretty much the second place thing which was awesome, it was actually as good prize as what the winners got, we both won a day in the studio! Ours was for "best recording" but our live performance was truely one of my most buzzing moments. For starters all the other bands brought LOADS of support from school. At my brothers school the event was not even mentioned so all we had were a few friends and family. So we went on stage and fired up the all my life riff and I'm not kidding the place ERRUPTED! I was amazed to see screaming girls and everyone jumping up and down and singing along!! So bizzare. It was totally packed, there were around 2000 people there. We were last on before the interval and we were the first band to really get the crowd going. My brother is a natural in this area I was amazed at how good both he and Russel were out there (I'm pretty limited as to how I can move about on the drums but I pulled it off :tongue: ) there will be a dvd made and a live recording will also be sent to us so I will have to post it here sometime!

Looking forward to getting most of our songs down in the studio now! :D

Thanks for all your support and suggestions, we went with Broken Head and the crowd loved it and it matched the mood of the night better than Pushed You Away ever could have (even though it is a better song)

[Lorenzinho]

Great report mate. I'm pleased for you. Well done...:)

[Original?]

As I said on MSN, nice one mate, well done! :P

I should be following in your footsteps soon enough, all I need to do is get good on the guitar and find a band... :unsure:

[soliloquay]

As I said on MSN, nice one mate, well done! :P

I should be following in your footsteps soon enough, all I need to do is get good on the guitar and find a band... :unsure:

All you need is some initiative man. I haven't played the piano in years now. Last month I just sat in front of it, and now I'm playing Elton John songs perfectly well. As long as you love the guitar, you'll get in touch ;)

[Lorenzinho]

I need to get a band together and all. I'm a drummer and can't find any willing vocalists or guitarists. It'll be a couple of years mind...

[{CAVAGIN}]

you can take my former bands name as we have changed it to kontrast - insert name here

eh eh

BTW : i can sing and i play guitar

[Kevthedrummer]

bugger. Our bassits just quit via text message. No hard feelings but a little brassed off he didn't say anything sooner :(

Here's the text:
Hi I'm real sorry about this, but I've been thinking a lot and I'm afraid I'm quitting the band, it's nothin to dowith you guys you're real talented it's just I'm not interested in the bass anymore and our interests in music are different. I'm sure you guys will find another bassist. Hope there's no hard feelings. Hope ur understanding. Cya!

I tried to persuade him but no. I wish he'd have said something sooner instead of pretending to enjoy himself :(

[Slash]

That sucks! It shouldn't be a problem finding a new basist though.. for an up-and-coming band that by the looks of things could really make it big someday

[Kevthedrummer]

That sucks! It shouldn't be a problem finding a new basist though.. for an up-and-coming band that by the looks of things could really make it big someday
you'd be suprised. You gotta have a bassist who likes the music (difficult to find as most people like either indie or emo these days, something we are not) you gotta have someone who has charisma or you may as well have a vegetable stood up there with you, and they have to have something about them as well as something to offer. We have a few ideas of who we can use

[Ismail]

NIce band KEV:)

[Kevthedrummer]

I have just been designing a design for a website and came up with a possible demo cover. See what you guys think :D

just kinda sketched it all in Photoshop...

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8637/cravecd8pu.jpg

[Original?]

Not too shabby though needs a little refinement as I'm sure you're aware. The back-ground is interesting though I don't really like the demo title.

[Kevthedrummer]

we just went through all of our songs and thought that broken head would be the best thing to do artwork for. It's one of the weakest songs we have now too.

What do you mean by a little refinement?

Cheers

[Abaddon]

Good songs there, again the vocalist is very poor, how long has he been i'll, sounds like hes got a bad cough, do you have the tab foor your All My Life, sounds very different some how, the cords mainly.

[Kevthedrummer]

Good songs there, again the vocalist is very poor, how long has he been i'll, sounds like hes got a bad cough, do you have the tab foor your All My Life, sounds very different some how, the cords mainly.
The chords are the same, but the reason it sounds different is because in the original they have 2 guitar parts, one doing a more discordant part and the other is just the main chord sequence. Obviously because we only have one guitarist, we combined the two in a way.

I'm going to stand by my brothers vocals, I know they are pretty bad and flat in parts but he is always getting better. I'm not making excuses here but Kurt Cobain didn't exactly have a great voice. I am still pushing him to get vocal training and he will with time. The husky voice suits our style and that is his natural voice (honest!) and we will continue to go with that but if it was stronger and more in tune he will sound great I know it.

These demos are quite old now, we are always improving and we have another free demo session which we will be doing before November and we are hoping to do three new tracks and get more input into the production. We will get someone to session on the bass if we do not have anyone to fill Russel's shoes by then!

Cheers guys

[-=[101st]=-]

I have just been designing a design for a website and came up with a possible demo cover. See what you guys think :D

just kinda sketched it all in Photoshop...

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8637/cravecd8pu.jpg

I like it Kev, looks very funky

[w1nky]

Hi Kev,

Just listened to all your stuff and I'm very impressed , I've been playin' in bands for about 15 years now and not all have been anything near as good as you guys are.

If I can offer any advise/constructive criticism is that although musically the songs are really well designed and played, vocally they are let down. By this I'm not having a go at your brothers voice, it's more the tune that your brother is singing to more than the his actual voice. I'm not sure if this makes sense it's quite hard to get across what I'm trying to say......... basically 10 out of 10 bands have an overall sound like yours when the singing starts but only 1 in 10 bands have the musical knack that your brothers possesses, don't get me wrong here it's the hardest thing to do and something that I'm definately guilty of myself !! It's just that if you played the tune to people on the street most ppl would sing the tune that your brother sings to but if it was a little different and therefore more memorable your songs would improve 10 fold....

I hope you don't take this the wrong way and I hope it may be of some use to you...

Cheers

W1nky

[Kevthedrummer]

Hi Kev,

Just listened to all your stuff and I'm very impressed , I've been playin' in bands for about 15 years now and not all have been anything near as good as you guys are.

If I can offer any advise/constructive criticism is that although musically the songs are really well designed and played, vocally they are let down. By this I'm not having a go at your brothers voice, it's more the tune that your brother is singing to more than the his actual voice. I'm not sure if this makes sense it's quite hard to get across what I'm trying to say......... basically 10 out of 10 bands have an overall sound like yours when the singing starts but only 1 in 10 bands have the musical knack that your brothers possesses, don't get me wrong here it's the hardest thing to do and something that I'm definately guilty of myself !! It's just that if you played the tune to people on the street most ppl would sing the tune that your brother sings to but if it was a little different and therefore more memorable your songs would improve 10 fold....

I hope you don't take this the wrong way and I hope it may be of some use to you...

Cheers

W1nky


I kinda get what you mean, so you are saying we need to change the melodies so they aren't as predictable and so that they suit his voice more? Thanks for the feedback guys

[svendust]

Just read the whole thread and listened to all your songs, very impressed.

Like all the songs you've done, although hoW long? was a bit too grungy for my liking. Especially enjoyed the Foos cover although the singer made it obvious he couldn't keep the note going on the line 'weeeeiiiiiight keeping me down' and I agree that although it's not essential to have a singer that can hold a wide range of notes in a grunge band and that you could easily work around that problem a little fine tuning wouldn't go a miss.

Keep up the good work and good luck in finding that star bassist.

PS Can I have your autograph ;)

[Kevthedrummer]

Just read the whole thread and listened to all your songs, very impressed.

Like all the songs you've done, although hoW long? was a bit too grungy for my liking. Especially enjoyed the Foos cover although the singer made it obvious he couldn't keep the note going on the line 'weeeeiiiiiight keeping me down' and I agree that although it's not essential to have a singer that can hold a wide range of notes in a grunge band and that you could easily work around that problem a little fine tuning wouldn't go a miss.

Keep up the good work and good luck in finding that star bassist.

PS Can I have your autograph ;)

He will get some vocal training sometime, I'll force him. He can afford to now like.

oh and since I have it handy... here's my autograph (I put it at the bottom of letters)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8432/signature5yr.jpg

[w1nky]

I kinda get what you mean, so you are saying we need to change the melodies so they aren't as predictable and so that they suit his voice more? Thanks for the feedback guys


In a nutshell mate !! :)

[Kevthedrummer]

OK,
Best of Bands 2005
so remember the metal band I mentioned earlier? They won! And deserved it. We shared a dressing room with them and they were really cool and fun rockers, we got on well, I already knew the drummer from the band and they pulled off a great live perfromance.

We got pretty much the second place thing which was awesome, it was actually as good prize as what the winners got, we both won a day in the studio! Ours was for "best recording" but our live performance was truely one of my most buzzing moments. For starters all the other bands brought LOADS of support from school. At my brothers school the event was not even mentioned so all we had were a few friends and family. So we went on stage and fired up the all my life riff and I'm not kidding the place ERRUPTED! I was amazed to see screaming girls and everyone jumping up and down and singing along!! So bizzare. It was totally packed, there were around 2000 people there. We were last on before the interval and we were the first band to really get the crowd going. My brother is a natural in this area I was amazed at how good both he and Russel were out there (I'm pretty limited as to how I can move about on the drums but I pulled it off :tongue: ) there will be a dvd made and a live recording will also be sent to us so I will have to post it here sometime!

Looking forward to getting most of our songs down in the studio now! :D

Thanks for all your support and suggestions, we went with Broken Head and the crowd loved it and it matched the mood of the night better than Pushed You Away ever could have (even though it is a better song)


right, here it is, the amateurish video as filmed by my father! I also put it in its own thread

http://s30.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3BK65KB53R9I30NCSIFD JLFGOZ

[Kevthedrummer]

wow! Time for an update lol! The latest developments:

Can't remember if I have mentioned in here that for the past couple of years we have had only a few gigs, a new bassist and built a studio at home!

Looks like the vocals were the main issue before, but if you listen now you will hear the improvements. Check out

http://www.myspace.com/wearecrave

[Dmitris]

Good luck with your band, Kev.

[Kevthedrummer]

Someone have a listen to our latest recording, it's on our myspace called "You Can" - just finished recording it today in my brothers bedroom.

http://www.myspace.com/wearecrave

[TH]

Sounds good, you using your Black Beauty?

[Kevthedrummer]

Sounds good, you using your Black Beauty?

yep :) - it required little effort to mix!

still haven't sold chaddy yet, but if you listen to "Feed" that was recorded with that snare.

[TH]

Sounds good aswell, all your recordings done in your brothers bedroom??

Do you use a double bass pedal?

[Kevthedrummer]

Sounds good aswell, all your recordings done in your brothers bedroom??

Do you use a double bass pedal?

all of them are done in his room yeah, it's quite amazing what he can do!

And no. I'm not a double kicker. Feels dirty.

edit: oh actually, "what if" was recorded in a studio at his college (leeds college of music), but ironically it doesn't sound as good!

[TH]

Awesome the quality is really good, is he like a music tech guy?

Yeah same I personally think they're overated.

[Kevthedrummer]

Awesome the quality is really good, is he like a music tech guy?

Yeah same I personally think they're overated.

usually the problem with double kick is that it's often over used and executed sloppily. We've had bands in the studio who just go mad on double kick and usually ruins the recording. I think it can be effective, if used at the right time, but not through a whole song. It gets really boring and exhausted.

[TH]

What make is your kit?
What kind of set-up do you use?
Any pics??

:lol:

[Kevthedrummer]

What make is your kit?
What kind of set-up do you use?
Any pics??

:lol:

It was a cheap bargain Mapex V-Series kit. Toms are massive (how I like them) - 14", 16", 18" (18" not set up at the moment)

Cymbals are also cheap, Zildgian ZHT

The whole kit was £310, but the black beauty alone was £400! The thing is though, the kit looks VERY expensive, it has a very nice matte finish and because I spent a lot on skinning it up properly, it's sounds very good live and recorded. Cmbals are average though, but still sound OK recorded.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2295/dscf9061te4.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7251/dscf9062rd0.jpg

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3670/dscf9063oo8.jpg

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3989/dscf9064ek7.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4341/dscf9065lh6.jpg

all images don't appear to be working at the moment...

[TH]

Looks pretty good, why did you take the front skin off the bass drum?
Any pics of the snare by itself?

[Kevthedrummer]

Looks pretty good, why did you take the front skin off the bass drum?
Any pics of the snare by itself?

just for recording purposes really, it's hard to fiddle about with the mic inside with the front head on.

There is a pic of the snare and an overhead shot but for some reason they aren't showing, they are all in the post though, should be 3/4 other pics I think

[Cookie]

Someone have a listen to our latest recording, it's on our myspace called "You Can" - just finished recording it today in my brothers bedroom.

http://www.myspace.com/wearecrave

Nice one dude. Reminds me of "Outside" by Staind.
It really makes me want to start up a band again too.

[Kevthedrummer]

Nice one dude. Reminds me of "Outside" by Staind.
It really makes me want to start up a band again too.

do it!

edit: oh wow, I've never heard that song by stained, quite similar!

[TH]

What kind of sticks do you use Kev?

[Kevthedrummer]

What kind of sticks do you use Kev?

tree trunks. No really it depends. On this recording I used Tre Cools Zildjian signatures, but they don't specify a size, all I know is they were the phattest sticks ever, very heavy. Impossible to snap. (Though I did, but it took a lot longer than usual) - certainly worthy of being called "tree trunks"

For gigs I generally use Vic Firth 5As and 3As

It's good to practice with larger sticks. I often use 2B's which are ridiculously heavy, but if you practice with them and use lighter sticks for a gig, you'll feel like a king. It's great. I always snap them regardless though. I'm a hard hitter.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2295/dscf9061te4.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7251/dscf9062rd0.jpg

[Cookie]

do it!

edit: oh wow, I've never heard that song by stained, quite similar!

Yah, it is quite similar.
I might start up a band again actually, but I'm too much of a lazy bastard these days. I've got the equipment, I just don't really have the patience to work on songs and that at the moment. I haven't recording anything in a while, but when I do, it's usually just me and my brothers having a mess around jam.

[BarnDoor]

Kev can you play 94 hours by As I lay dying? Probably has the best double bass i have ever heard in a song in the last few years.

[Kevthedrummer]

Kev can you play 94 hours by As I lay dying? Probably has the best double bass i have ever heard in a song in the last few years.

nope. I don't use double kick. But you're right, though it's not my personal taste, it's like a machine gun!

:shocking:

[AgentZero]

Craven Cottage (band name suggestion...or am i 4 years too late?)
We use to have a set of drums in the parents house basement when my cousin lived with us, use to jame everyday of the summer to the extent the police cam a knocking once. Good times.

[TH]

:lol:


Kev when you record do you play to a click or with the other band members?

[Kevthedrummer]

:lol:


Kev when you record do you play to a click or with the other band members?

Click. It's too shabby to do without it. All parts are recorded separately, and it's a bit of a nightmare unless you do it to a click.

Craven Cottage (band name suggestion...or am i 4 years too late?)
We use to have a set of drums in the parents house basement when my cousin lived with us, use to jame everyday of the summer to the extent the police cam a knocking once. Good times.

Sounds like fun! Yeah, you might be a few years too late with the name suggestion! This thread is a bit of a classic isn't it, imagine how famous it could be :blush:

[I.N Extasy]

Some good stuff there Kevin. I find your brother to be a great guitarist. ;)

[Kevthedrummer]

Yeah he's pretty good. The only thing he needs now is a decent amp. He has a keyboard amp at the moment so you can imagine the problems that causes.

[Kevthedrummer]

I am getting rather excited at the demo that Steve's produced as part of his degree. It sounds so unbelievably professional, can't wait to share it with you guys soon!

Just browsing and stumbled across this classic thread...

[L . F . C]

Just had a quick scan through your MySpace Kev. I am impressed.

You can...As soon as I heard that I thought Nirvana. Absolute quality.

[Kevthedrummer]

Just had a quick scan through your MySpace Kev. I am impressed.

You can...As soon as I heard that I thought Nirvana. Absolute quality.

Well that's a kind compliment ;) - Glad you like!

I'd say the newer stuff knocks it out the water... The myspace stuff is really old and in terms of recording we have progressed much more, it will be uploaded there in the next few weeks hopefully.

EDIT: Ah I see my sig link says "new recordings" - best remove that haha, its been there a while

[Kevthedrummer]

Holy Crap, we're on iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Amazon and Rhapsody!

I don't have iTunes, but here's a link to the amazon page
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crave/dp/B002N98M88/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1253788232&sr=301-2

[ads]

Well done Kev, that's a fantastic acheivement.

Keep it up ;)

[Miggy]

How much of the 3 pounds and 16 pence goes to you, Kev?

[Kevthedrummer]

How much of the 3 pounds and 16 pence goes to you, Kev?

a 3rd! We've paid for them to be published for a year apparently, all proceeds go directly to the band. We're a 3 piece. Only 25 quid for the year.

This thread really does document the legacy from its' humble beginnings though!

[Miggy]

You guys need to do a cover of one of the early PES theme songs.

[Kevthedrummer]

You guys need to do a cover of one of the early PES theme songs.

Haha! I'd love to, but the others don't play PES. We totally should though! Just the fat chav tune from PES 2/3 would be cool...

[ads]

You guys need to do a cover of one of the early PES theme songs.

"We're gonna play Football *SOCCER!*, Football *SOCCER!*, Football *SOCCER!* The greatest game of aaaaallll"

How about it Kev?

[Dale C.]

"i want to go, go for the goal!"

:D

[Kevthedrummer]

"We're gonna play Football *SOCCER!*, Football *SOCCER!*, Football *SOCCER!* The greatest game of aaaaallll"

How about it Kev?

haha actually my brother in the band is very fond of that song, he used to laugh when I was playing it, there's a chance I guess ;)

[Dragonfly]

Holy Crap, we're on iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Amazon and Rhapsody!

I don't have iTunes, but here's a link to the amazon page
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crave/dp/B002N98M88/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1253788232&sr=301-2

Nice on Kev. :nath: