It’s funny how constant exposure to a certain type of music can convert you into a fan.

I was recently speaking to Glynn Davies, the Cellar’s lighting director who was talking about the high quality heavy metal bands gracing their stage.

In fact he said “there have been more tour busses outside the Cellar that at the Guild Hall.”

He wasn’t much of ‘metal’ a fan but he has now seen the light.

So if you are looking for some home grown rock; something from Southampton with a little dirt under its nails then tune into ‘Stone Them Crows’.

They’ll be headlining Lennons this Saturday to launch their EP “Shuffle The Cards”.

Recorded at ‘Sound on Sound’ studios in Romsey by Mike whose 25 years of experience has drawn a great sound out of the band.

“We went to him with an idea of what we wanted it to sound like and basically he said ‘OK’,” guitarist Robin Savage explained. “He beavered around for 20 minutes, set everything up, said play some stuff, asked us how it sounded and we said ‘Brilliant’”

Last Saturday on Voice FM we played the two tracks recorded at that session ‘Romance Is Dead’ and ‘Joker In The Pack!’ and they definitely produced a solid core of grunge.

‘Joker’ has an excellent nodding groove supplied by Onion on bass and Matt Long on drums with Dan Scott’s vocals scathingly corrupt on top.

So if you’re ready to enter rock pool then ‘Stone Them Crows’ could be your temptation.

This Sunday sees a whole day of music, poetry and open mic at the Joiners with the organisers raising money for the music charity Strummerville.

Following the untimely death of The Clash front man Joe Strummer his family set up a charity to help aspiring musicians.

Joe’s attitude and political savvy made him a very well respected spokesperson of his generation and that reputation matures as the years roll on.

One Southampton musician who has already impressed the visitors to
strummerville.com is Sean McGowan.

His observations of society’s current state mirror the attitude that shone from Joe.

Sean spent six weeks at the top of the Strummerville chart – he was at No.9 the last time I looked.

He’ll be playing alongside Doyle and the Fourfathers who are continuing there natural rise in pop’s consciousness.

Their current single is ‘Welcome to Austerity’ which the band suggests “laconically addresses the taut economical situation faced by most.” And holds a barrel load of Strummer attitude.

The benefit has been organised by Marc Blackburn from ‘the lo fi poet band‘ and Flying Alexanders front man Jon Sansom.

Both musicians cite Strummer as a major influence with Marc lucky enough to have met Joe himself.

With a special guest appearance by Attila the Stockbroker and many other performers.

The day should be an inspiration and if you have the urge to perform at the open mic you’ll be able to say you’ve played The Joiners – what a way to make your debut!

Have you ever wanted to manage a band?

Do you have friends who play music that you really enjoyed and want to help them make it?

If the answer is “Yes! There is a band I think are really good” then think again, or at least long and very hard.

So says David Hepworth one of pop’s media moguls.

His latest article for ‘The Word’ magazine (Issue 109) talks about the ruin that has befallen many a brave soul who took on the responsibility of band management.

“In many cases they ended up with extra mortgages on their modest homes, mortgages that had been racked up in order to pay for costs incurred on the band’s nth profitless club tour.”

David also writes about the blind devotion and dedication some fans have for a band or musician.

From Elvis to Depeche Mode you will find these fanatics will take their ‘love’ one giant step further that the causal CD buyer.

This ‘love affair’, he suggests, is based on an emotional hole missing from a person’s life.

I think you can draw parallels between these types of fan and the people who want to become managers.

So if there is a band or singer that has caught your ear can they pass these initial tests:

Do they have more fans than friends? Will people travel far to see them? Do they have more than one memorable song?

If ‘yes’ is the answer then seriously think about it. And then think again.

Most musicians want to you to review their music but this week ‘Blue Screen of Death’ asked me to review their article (Why are bands prostitutes for the promoter pimps?).

Written by guitarist Peter Davis it vents the band’s fury about a London promoter, who expect acts to buy the tickets before they sell them to the fans.

With an upfront fee of £180 Pete is naturally vexed: “We were expected to pay him a huge sum of money for the privilege of doing his job.”

Add another two bands to the bill and the promoter is on to a tidy sum for simply booking a venue and contacting the bands.

In Southampton the onus is still on the band to sell the tickets but although there is no money upfront they only make £1 per fan.

As Pete points out: “When you take into account what we spend on renting rehearsal space, fuel travelling to gigs, even general upkeep for our instruments, £1 pound per ticket shared by four band members doesn’t exactly travel far.”

The answer: become something that promoters can’t resist.

So Blue Screen of Death will be putting on a proper show for their debut headline at The Joiners on Wednesday 29th Feb – leap year day!

Muddy Miles from Bristol are a confirmed support and blue is the night’s theme, with prizes for the bluest outfit.

It should be a great celebration and as BSoD say “Peace, love and death metal”

Pete’s full article will be on the blog at thebluescreenofdeath.co.uk