Louis Barabbas

Writer · Performer · Label Director

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Bedlam Six: Open Recording Sessions


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The Bedlam Six recording in their house studio

As is traditional we plan to celebrate the launch of our new album with a bunch of live shows and a lot of drunken dancing. But we’ve been wondering how best to mark the date itself. The record is officially released on Monday 3rd March. As we are all aware, Mondays aren’t the most ideal of gig days – a lot of people tend to have one eye on the clock as they wonder how painful Tuesday morning will be once they’ve dusted the last traces of hedonism from their hats and hips. Also the buses don’t run as late.

So we pondered long and hard. Wondered about early evening acoustic shows (a bit tame), or another Bedlam social event (a bit easy), or an informal Q&A (a bit boring), or maybe even dinner somewhere (a bit… dinnery). Something that wouldn’t go on too late, wouldn’t cost loads, but could still have a certain exclusive (and yet inclusive) vibe.

So we hit on the idea of an open recording session. It seemed apt to launch a new album by starting to record the next one. We have a bunch of new songs no one has ever heard, we have a lot of recording equipment (thanks to WR Audio) and a certain predilection for eschewing the opaque.

So at 7pm on 3rd, 4th and 5th March we are going to hold open recording sessions at secret locations around Greater Manchester. We’ll record for approximately two hours each evening and there will be an opportunity for those present to contribute to backing vocals/percussion/noises once we’ve got the main body of work done. It should all be done by 9.30pm. Everyone in attendance will then be sent the songs once they’re mixed and mastered.

I hope it goes without saying that anyone who doesn’t need to get up too early the next day is also very welcome to stick around for a drink with us afterwards.

If you would like to attend one (or several) of these sessions please send me a message via the contact form with your preferred date. I’ll then send you the relevant address once we’ve finalised all the details. Places will be limited so do get in touch sooner rather than later to reserve a ticket. There will be a small fee to help cover any room hire costs.

As for the live launch parties, they will be held in London, Havant, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester – see the Bedlam Six gig list for details.

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New Music Video: “Waiting For Bad News”


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The second single from The Bedlam Six’s upcoming LP “Youth”

I wrote a little piece about the shooting of this video (and my concerns about being portrayed as a violent man) here.

CREDITS

Directed by Andrew Ab
Assistant Director – Mike Denny
Director Of Photography – Lee Isserow
Make-up – Helen Quinn
Edited by Matilda Smith
Actors – Ellie Cowan, Louis Barabbas
Song written by Louis Barabbas
Performed by The Bedlam Six
Production Assistant – Felix Hagan
Hand Double (card shuffling) – Andrew Ab
Special Thanks to Sammy Deas and Mello Mello Cafe

© Debt Records 2013

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New Music Video: “I Ain’t Done”


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Here is the video for “I Ain’t Done (being young)” directed by Ste Webster.

The video features cameo appearances from some people you may have come across if you’ve ever had any dealings with the North West UK music scene. Here’s a brief commentary of sorts (a kind of DVD special features)…

nickliamIn the final sequence (pre coda) you can just about see Liam Walsh. He’s worked with pretty much everyone, from pressing t-shirts in the early days of Inspiral Carpets in the 80s to doing PR for the fledgling Oasis in the early 90s. He went on to run campaigns for releases by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (remember that single with Kylie Minogue? That was one of Liam’s), The Killers, Bjork, Elbow, Doves, Pulp, Suede, Prince… (the list goes on). He also represented the Mercury Prize for nineteen years.

Next to him is Nick Wright, the man who wrote Bedlam Six live favourite Short Supply (and one of my best and most trusted friends).

chrisChris Bye is the Music Manager for the North West at Arts Council England (ACE), a national organisation responsible for championing, developing and investing in artistic and cultural experiences. Between 2011 and 2015, ACE will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. Chris is heavily involved in support for contemporary, electronic, folk, roots, world and jazz music. He is especially keen on increasing support for emerging talent.

joeJoe Sparrow is better known as A NEW BAND A DAY, a blog he founded in 2008 that has become an influential taste-setter for national radio and press – so much so that this year he was nominated for the Association of Independent Music’s Indie Champion Award. Joe has forged strong links with both major websites and niche blogs – on both sides of the Atlantic and wider internationally. He has also been involved in organizing and operating major events at SXSW,The Great Escape and Berlin Music Week. He also occasionally pops up on national music radio as a guest and commentator, including a half-hour takeover or two of BBC 6 Music, and miscellaneous appearances on Tom Robinson’s BBC 6 Music show, Amazing Radio, Hype Machine Radio, BBC Radio Manchester and others.abAndrew is a video director and photographer. Many of the photos on this website are his. He directed the video for The Bedlam Six’s next single “Waiting For Bad News” (out next month) as well as “My Little Lusitania” by Felix Hagan (also featuring yours truly) and Bridie Jackson & The Arbour’s “Scarecrow” (that also features a cameo from Sal Mitchell, the blonde woman in the photo below).

jeffJeff Thompson works at Fat Northerner Records and is one of the founders of Un-Convention, running events from Africa to South America. He is also now heading up Off Axis, the UK equivalent of Brazil’s Fora do Eixo gigging network.MizRichard

Miz is an event organizer, stage manager, promoter, booking agent, journalist and occasional model. If you’ve ever been to Manchester, chances are you’ve met Miz, she knows everyone!
Richard Barry is a musician, actor, voice-over artist and writer. He is also quiz master at Fuel Cafe, Sandbar and Dulcimer. He was also one of the first artists to join the Debt Records roster. He is the only person I’ve ever met whose name has inspired the prefix “the infamous!”

“I Ain’t Done (being young)” also features appearances from people who joined us in the video for “Woe Betide You” (see if you can spot them).

Thanks to everyone who helped with the shoot, it couldn’t have happened without you!

Credits

Director, camera, editor etc…
Ste Webster
1st Ad-
Stefan Thompson
Camera/lighting/grip assistant-
Simon Whybourne
David Webster
Andrew Sarsfield

CHOREOGRAPHERS
Vikki Earle
Amy Freeman
Rebekah Barry
Rachel Howe

Catering by Karen Macfarlane and Svenja Kunze
Wardrobe by Kelly Joseph

CAST (in order of appearance)
Peter Pan- Louis Barabbas
Casting Directors- Richard Barry, Miz DeShannon
Kid- Tao Wignall
Big Brother- Lee Potts

HARASSED PUBLIC
Rebecca Cope
Tom Lox
Andrew Ab

BAND
Francis Lydiatt
Matthew Cleghorn
Biff Roxby
Dan Watkins
Tom Cleghorn

DANCERS
Liam Ellison, Sal Mitchell, Karen Macfarlane, Alex Williams, Victoria Langford, Quarry Wong, Stephen Fletcher, Philippa Vickers, Jereth Fewings, Ruth Webster, Jessica Shenton, Sara Harris, Lucy Moffitt, Svenja Kunze, Jake Orritt, Patricia Winker, Chris Bye, Liam Walsh, Nick Wright, Robert Yeend, Joe Sparrow, Jeff Thompson, Patricia Winker, Mark Frost, Graeme Kenna, Andrew Kinnear, Sarah Earle, Olivia Thompson, Keira Wignall, Bryony Anderson

Thanks to The Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester
and the City Of Liverpool

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A Weekend With Hope & Social


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I am a suspicious man.
I am suspicious of all sorts of things. Of optimism, of uniforms, of high spirits, of symmetry. If you say the words “music”, “matching outfits” and “audience participation” in the same sentence I’m either going to imagine Butlins or a cult.

But I love Hope & Social. And all my suspicious, cynical, grumpy colleagues in The Bedlam Six are, for once, in complete agreement.

The two bands played a brace of shows together last weekend, with us supporting H&S in Leeds and them supporting us in Manchester. Each event culminating in a moment where we’d all squeeze onto the stage together and play as one supergroup. It was a lot of fun.

We are as similar as we are different. On the one hand we share a lot of attributes: both independent, both largely self-sufficient, both in favour of a certain transparency of operation, of direct interaction with the audience etc. Most importantly, we all like to have a good time doing what we do.

But on the other hand we are thematically very much at odds. The songs Hope & Social write tend to have messages like “it’ll all be ok in the end” whereas I am generally of the opinion that things will get bad before they get worse. Indeed, we joked backstage that the two bands being in the same space at the same time was a bit like that episode of Red Dwarf where the crew encounter their evil and grotesque alter-egos (I’ll let you decide which band member corresponds to which character).

I guess another way of looking at it is to say opposites attract.

Now, there are two courses of action open to anyone sharing the bill with an amazing, accomplished and crowd-friendly band. You can try to outplay them – wage war and see who the audience likes best, make people take sides, maybe try to recreate that ridiculous Blur and Oasis spat from the mid-90s. Then at the end of the night you have one winner and one loser. And nothing changes. No one gets better, the world just keeps turning on its inevitable and insufferable axis.

Or you can enjoy it. Enjoy the company of like-minded souls who believe in putting on a show, who don’t mind looking silly, who are happy to admit their geekiness over the equipment they use or the orchestrations they dream up. And relish that rare occasion: the perfect event – playing with a band you can quite happily watch for an entire set without unpicking the component parts of what they do; being reminded of why you started playing music in the first place. Because we’ve all done this for a long time, we all have extraordinarily powerful bullshit filters in place. Between us we must have played every dive and dump in Britain, with every kind of joker promoter and chancer performer. We’ve got the best part of two hundred years combined gigging experience of just how cheap this country can make a musician feel. And we all still love what we do in spite of it.

I adored these two shows. I loved being a member of the crowd and putting my cynicism on hold for an evening. I loved bypassing the crippling slump in spirits I usually get before going onstage. I loved playing the barely rehearsed covers and looking around my various co-performers to see if anyone had a clue what was going on and witnessing a bunch of people giving themselves up to the enjoyment of jamming.

I just wish the nights could have gone on a bit longer!

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Bedlam Social Club


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Last year a few members of The Bedlam Six and I got together with Leeds band Hope & Social as part of the latter’s Crypt Covers series. The two bands arranged and recorded a version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Keep The Customer Satisfied” over the course of ten coffee-fuelled hours.

We had such a good time that we resolved to get together and play the thing live at a brace of double-headline shows in our respective home towns of Manchester and Leeds (entitled “The Bedlam Social Club” – naturally!) in which the two bands will play a set of their own material and then come together at the end to play some covers suggested by the audience.

If you have any suggestions about what we should play together please write to me via the Contact Section of this website.

Details for the event Hope & Social are hosting at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on Friday 3rd May can be found here: http://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/Event/Details/889
Details for the event we are hosting at The Deaf Institute in Manchester on Saturday 4th May can be found here: http://www.heymanchester.com/bedlam-six-hope-social

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Tour Diary


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vienna

The Bedlam Six and I have returned from our latest tour. Despite the close quarters and punishing schedule we did not murder one another. Not even once.

There is a day by day journal of the European leg of the tour over in the Diary Section of this website if anyone is interested.

Many thanks to Burning Eagle Booking for creating another wonderful adventure for us. We’re looking forward to the next one!

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On Tour


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The Bedlam Six tour is now entering its continental chapter. The UK gigs have been a real joy, wonderful enthusiastic audiences and welcoming venues.

I’ll be keeping a journal of our progress abroad over on the band blog. I’ve archived our tour diaries from 2011 and 2012 over here if you fancy any light reading.

Here’s a video montage from last year’s jaunt with Kirsty Almeida…

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Concert Film


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The Bedlam Six and I will be releasing our very first DVD next month. It is a concert film shot at The Dancehouse Theatre earlier this year. It was a lovely event featuring special guest vocalists and a sold out auditorium. It coincided with my thirtieth birthday and we played thirty songs to celebrate. The ones we own the rights to (or have permission to release) are included on the DVD (unfortunately the duet with John Robb – Bugsy Malone‘s “Bad Guys” – could not be included for this reason).

A handful of songs have just gone up on youtube if you fancy a taster. There’s a playlist here.