Ice cream furniture...

Saw this today... Yes it's an ice cream chair lol how cool is that!!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Caledonian Rd,Islington,United Kingdom

First iPhone post

So I am gonna see how this blogging from my iPhone goes... Could be good, could be pants lol

We shall see....

Mikey fgh

Location:Caledonian Rd,Islington,United Kingdom

*The new project*

Today i "gaved birthed" to a new project... won't give too much away... it's a mini concept album, it's going to be 'Atmos-Prog' and will be a 4/5 track mini EP imagine if you will a concept album but the musical equivalent of a novella... making it accessible and easily digestible whilst still in depth and though provoking... i will tackle confusion/darkness/anxiety and Release!

I am hoping this gives me purpose and direction as an artist rather than recording random snippets of nothings to be lost in the vaults of my hard-drive. I may post snippets as the come but i may not.. see how it goes...

i won't say what the actual project revolves around BUT i will say that it is inspired by one of my all time favourite sci-fi books.

With love, L-O-V-E

Mikey

Totalrock.com * Metal Hammer * Terrorizer * Halloween @ Bull & Gate AND Tim's maiden voyage!!!

Interesting couple of weeks. Mainly just regearsing our newly crowned drummer Tim (dragon) Storey. He is a top fella and it's real pedal to the metal time with regards to FGH. Among other things we have made our radio debut on totalrock.com meeting the ever so lovely Tina and Sara. They made us feel so relaxed and so welcome. I can't wait to go back i had the best fun... We also made our debut in metal hammer with thanks to Hal at Eulogy Media. He has been awesome in showing support for us and it is appreciated very much so (incidently he is also a top fella).

We will be in terrorizer mag next month so be sure to pick that up for a bite size interview with the band.......

Gig wise we are supporting our friends in Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster at the unicorn in Camden town. This gig is free so there is no excuse to not go down there. Quick fact... Alex who plays drums for TNBD also played drums for band Ahymsa who were kind enough to give FGH our very first gig back in Dec 2007 at the Fiddlers Elbow... So from old ties to making new ones. His new band are awesome and i genuinely look forward to doing more and more shows with them... (they are main support to us at the progressive music night at the Gaff in November courtesy of Mr Stu).

Also it's that shit time of year again... yep, Halloween. But at least one good thing comes of it. We always play a Halloween show and this year we are honoured enough to be helping see off Enfield scene LEGENDS D.Monic on their last ever show in their spiritual home 'The Bull & Gate'. A band i have always aspired to and a band that truly made me realise, yeah you know what i can be in a band too... It made my dream seem more achievable. Grass roots an all that. So as i say it will be an honour to salute them and join everyone in saying goodbye to this incarnation of D.Monic. I am sure they will all be back in one way or another...

Also don't forget 5th November is Tim's chance to make some fireworks of his own as he takes helm behind the drum kit for the first time at the gaff... They are big shoes to fill but he has big feet trust me... It's gonna be mega... 40 people RSVP'd already so get there early cause i don't know if the gaff will hold us in LoL

More updates soon.........

Mikey

Mihalis

Was up late last night working on a track. I have been really keen to take influence from Justin Broderick Of Jesu (Formally of Godflesh). I love the soundscapes he creates. Initially my idea is to borrow the industrial element of his songs with lush soundscapes and punding drums but i would like to not only Mikeify it but add some electronic Radiohead (Kid A) style beats with a vocal approach more in the direction of those great 80's singers i'e. David Gahan, Robert Smith...

Obviously the music will be pretty downbeat vibe. But Cherie said something to me last week or so ago which i never considered. She said that no matter how gloomy or "goth" sounding i try to go, there is always an element of hope or some kind of release in my songs. I can only assume that this is because music makes me happy so no matter how upset or miserable i feel as soon as i get lost in playing/writing/song i feel the glimmer of hope and i see and end.

Thats what drives me. People may think i am silly for chasing an "unachievable dream". But dreams are there to become reality right?

Anyway i am still thinking of a title for the song. But i think i will brand my solo work under the name 'Mihalis' for obvious reasons. It also happens to be one one of the best tracks (along with no way out of here) off of David Gilmours first solo album.

Progress........

Hey all,

Sorry i completely forgot about the alleged "Monday Blog". Been so busy though work/music it's all been a bit mental.

I finally cracked swallowed my pride and asked my father to loan me some cash... i know i know easy way out but for three or so years i have been "saving" for a macbook and some recording gear, trying to run a house and saving for such luxuries was something i simply could not afford and due to the very real prospect of me loosing my mind i asked my father to loan me the money... He very very kindly (and i am forever indebted to him, financially now too) agreed to loan me the money and i will pay him back... very....very..... very. slowly LoL He helps and supports me a lot through out this silly dream! i probably couldn't ask for better parents. I may not tell him but i look up to him more than i care to admit.

But what all this means is Under Night Sky will FINALLY become a reality... Not only this but i feel that my main project FGH will benefit infinitely from this i will be writing a lot more, a lot more in depth and from personal experience i can have very prolific periods of writing given the correct tools. It's been too long. I know not having equipment is an excuse (Tommy Lee recorded the first Methods of mayhem album from his jail cell using his home answering machine) but we have been writing. It's just been very slow cause between work and rehearsals for gigs we only get a short time together to actually work on things as a full band and as useful as my phone is for capturing melody ideas it's not a viable piece of recording equipment which i can layer over, edit or come back to a day later etc... long story short. Now is my time to prove myself. Now is when i really will do the work that it takes to make a name for myself as a song writer and to be honest i am really rather excited about it.

Finally, i have had some pretty cool developments with regards to From Great Height. There is the usual stuff a few gigs coming up. Looking forward to Halloween still with the legendary D.MONIC which will sadly be their last show in this form. I am sure that individually we will see them about again soon before very long. Also playing the Standard again with our very good friends in 9blind that's always a pleasure. But also rather out of the blue we enjoyed our very first few minutes of airplay on totalrock.com 'New World Order' show which "showcases the best in new and unsigned bands". That'll be us then? to make things sweeter we were sandwiched between Alice in Chains and Rush both being very big influences to various members of FGH in one way or another.

Over all it's all very positive. The ball is rolling, we can only hope it snowballs and continues to grow. Each success is a blessing and i am grateful for it all no matter how big or how small. I think it's important we just keep doing what we do and enjoying it. Stay the band we are cause that's what seems to be working.

Over and out,

Mikey

P.S. Here are some new shots of us we took for our press release. I think we look very moody and band like no??? :D

Featured "track of the day" artists on www.classicrockmagazine.com

I have had quite an exciting few weeks band-wise... what i shall do is make a complete blog on Monday but for now i leave you with perhaps one of my proudest moments so far....

Today we were featured "track of the day" artists on www.classicrockmagazine.com

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/track-of-the-day-from-great-height/

until Monday!!!

Mikey FGH

***update***

Under night sky (working title) is really taking shape. Going to spend tonight really testing out some ideas. I thought i had one track sort of in mind but it's just grown the vibe is getting stronger and i now have several potential tracks. Who knows, if i can get this moving i might have to start looking for band members cause this will be brutal live.

I was looking at apples' 'Logic 9' today. I really like the idea of perhaps using 'Mainstage 2' to double my guitars onstage to beef up my sound. Not replace guitars in anyway but rather than have two live guitarists (which may distort my overall direction, what with different opinions/playing styles) but just beef them up to broaden the sound scape... Who knows.... i can't even afford a computer yet let alone 'Logic' so it's all in the pipeline of life but right now i am enjoying the release of a new direction and it's gathering steam. Get your tickets ready, the train leaves very soon.

Mikey

Under Night Sky

Tis the name of my new project....

Not really sure what it's going to be just yet. it's still very much in the early stages BUT! i am really excited about it and it's given me a complete new lease of life. I have been truly inspired by elements around me.

It's funny what can inspire you sometimes, I was walking to the Chinese at the end of my road to pick up my order (mixed seafood chow mien, should really give 'Oriental Chef' a plug right here). Walking through Enfield town at the right time can be inspiring. Of course i was listening to the sounds of 'Wolves In the Throne Room'. I mean sure suburban shopping town is not the prettiest of places to be but it was at that funny time of Friday night where it's not late enough for everyone to be out yet but all the shops are closed so it's too late for the hustle bustle of shops. simply put it was eerily quiet and it seemed like just me and the lady in the Chinese were the only people for miles.

From afar a constellation of bright flood light light up the town like it is some sort of army camp. I don't know why but there is just something spectacular about it. It excites the small boy in my soul who sees everything 20ft bigger than it really is. And under the night sky this serenity happens, bubbled under a collage of blue/orange clouds threatening to engulf all of Enfield. The moment just carried the perfect ambiance that, as i said, was enough to truly inspire me. it inspired me to capture that moment that feeling that emotion in song because if people could hear it and understand it they might get a little closer to their journey of understanding the art in life... understanding that sometimes just remove yourself from your body look down and realise the grandness of what is going on around you, finding beauty in things that are normally taken for granted or perhaps overlooked altogether.

That's basically what i want to do with my new project. To create an ambiance whilst describing to you what i normally couldn't do with words. Have you ever had anyone say to you "i wish i could spent a day in your head." or perhaps "i can't explain what i am trying to say." even "i wish you could feel how i do right now." Well that's what i am going to attempt to do.... somehow.

As far as genre goes.... i don't want to be over pretentious and say 'oh i don't want to categorize myself with genres *scoff**scoff**scoff*'. I do have a clear idea of what direction i want to go in. But it will not stop there. I have a starting point indeed but this will evolve. I am certain of it. I am hoping it will be a blend of black metal, electronic, ambient, drone, progressive music. I don't necessarily want to reinvent the wheel, i just want to add fuel to the fire. This is something i really need to do myself in order for my message to come across intact. I love collaborating. But that's why i have FGH. This will be a pure expression of what i feel.

all the best,

Mikey

***FGH EP REVIEW***

Hey everyone,

Our latest EP has just had it's first review. Please read it below. If you don't have a copy (why not?) and would like one. Just contact me and i will get that to you by hook or by crook!!!

here's the review:


"The columns of the night advance, infectiously, their cryptic dance gathers converts to the fold - in time the whole raw world will pace these same steps"...VDGG

There will come a time when everybody will catch up with this Enfield quartet, their brand of (Neo) Prog may draw comments of "Intresting" from the curious who see them for the first time to "Amazing" for those of us who have seen them many times, but if their live performances draw such comments can their EP live up to it?

The first thing you notice about 'The Messenger' is the superb basswork, then comes Adams outstanding vocals, keyboards and finally the melody of the guitar.The song itself is moody, anthemic and has some great lyrics.

'From A Great Height' could have been off any Peter Gabriel album in the early eighties but it retains an originality of their own thanks to the guitar sound which hints at some heavy metal influence.

'The Lie Of The Land', well first off great title, the songs has an almost post punk/new romantic feel, i cant quite nail it but it could be covered by Siouxie any day.

Ahh track 4 'Initial' the moody prog masterpiece that gets me headbanging every time and shouting out "Hellbent on both sides".Its on par with any prog rock classic you can name, and i do mean ANY.

Finally 'Split Second' brings the ep to a close with all the style and production of perfection.

An absoloute genius ep that puts this kind of music back into the forefront of the "Rock" scene, this is not some retro or indie band, these guys can stand on any Heavy Metal bill just as Marillion did in their early days.
But unlike That band i believe that FGH can sustain their musical integrity and produce some great albums and tours in the future and may one day find themselves in Terrorizer magazine!

Rating 10/10

----------------------------------------------

The review was given courtesy of Stu who puts on regular shows at the Gaff. He is actively interested in emerging talent throughout London and we are headlining a prog night at the Gaff in Holloway this coming November... Check out his blog. I do regularly and it's a hive of information for bands old and new, big and small....

http://www.mrstu616.blogspot.com

all the best,

HAPPY 25TH MIKEY!!!

hey everyone!!!!

Man what a weekend.... Well i was my birthday so obviously there had to be some cool stuff going on right???

It started with possibly one of my most favorite gigs ever. We played 'the awesome' Gaff in Holloway road with frinds 9blind and dmonic. everything was awesome and went to plan add to that 9blind invited me and Adam onstage to do a cover of Passenger (the deftones track off white pony). It was truly an honour to play with those guys since although our time together has only been short so far i really do feel they are brothers in arms and we are all going to take on the owrld together... Lads it was a pleasure and anytime you want to do that again? The answer is YES! :D

right... onwards. Saturday (my actual birthday, 4th July) started with me waking up next to Cherie (always a bonus) on my mums couch since we was so tired when we got home the night before we couldn't be arsed to walk the three hundred yards to my flat. I don't think it's so much the walk though... it was more the prospect of stairs. Lazy i know but hey... I had beeen rocking out!!! Anyway i digress, Cherie had spent many hourse slaving over what can only be described as THE BEST CAKE EVER!!!!! I have included some pictures here for your viewing pleasure... I don't think you can deny that this is craftsmenship of the highest level. TNA forever eh!



Finally i spent the rest of saturday either running around in circles in my mums swimming pool thing trying to build enough momentum to spin me round (much like a giant cup of tea) or in the pub getting way to drunk...

oh and i have a man period. Tummy pains head aches and mood swings... i am serious about this......

FOREVER NEVER

forever never and counting

forever wanting and doubting

two men missing make a third

left alone and miandering

quiet in shouting

forever never and counting

WOW!!!

This place looks brilliant... if you are into that sort of thing LoL

Mooncalf Recording May 2009

As promised, my band has completed work on our newest three tracks which we shall lump together with Initial and Split Seconds to make our first five track EP/mini album if you like?

As you can see we have been working very hard with Nick Beer at 'mooncalf studios'.

I can't say enough good about Nick he truly understands exactly what we are after and has the know how and speed to get it done. We owe him a lot as i don't think many places would give our songs the beef we feel they require. So thank you and thank you again to Nick.

To hear the tracks listen at http://myspace.com/fromgreatheight we will be giving out free copies at our next gig which is at The Gaff on Holloway road on the 3rd July (night before my birthday!!!)

On a personal level i am really happy with how the tracks came out. My guitars sound pretty just how i imagined they would but there are always a few surprises along the way too. I love the randomness of recording. You never know exactly what you will get. I am proud to put my name to these songs so i hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoyed making them.

Off to Swindon....

.... So i have to pick the guys up but then we drive to Swindon under the cover of night. for tomorrow From Great Height record their second EP. It's going to be epic.

More as it comes....

Mikey

.......and

...just looking forward to new things, trying different stuff with my guitar and a new approach!!!

Picture cheer!!!

I ain't got much to say today but i felt an urge to post... Not much is happening with me right now... less than no money (like that makes a change) can't believe i just got paid and already have paid it all out :( bad times!!!

So to cheer myself up i looked at old photos and found these two which brought a smile to my face. It was quite obviously from when the great snow of 2009 descended upon us (who can forget). In the first picture is the view from my favourite walk spot near my flat. it's round the back of Enfield town park. I like to frequent there and feed the ducks, I did however get told off a fortnight ago by a 6 year old. She quite rightly told me that i would make the ducks fat by feeding them bread. I felt like telling her that she made her mum fat by being born. but it didn't quite seem right.


This second picture is of me and my snowman that i made. i know it's very small but no one would come out and help me and building a snowman seemed a much better idea before i realised that i didn't have any decent gloves. So i stopped short (get it?) of building a proper sized snowman. I think you have to agree he is not without his charm though? Plus he had olives for eyes and scared the crap out of my mum's cats! Also when he melted and all the snow was gone it was quite sad seeing just two olives a bottle top (nose), two twigs and a woolly had lying there in a pile. Was something almost poetic about it.

Anyway they cheered me up a bit so i thought i might share with you.

Speak soon,

Mikey

Oh and i saw this house "looking at me" at the weekend. Amitytille horror much?

***ODD DREAMS***

Hi all,

So i figured i would tell you about the dream i had last night. some of it was very obvious and quite blatantly metaphorical/representative of things going on in my life but some of it was just plain weird. I don't remember all of it but as the morning goes on a am remembering larger chunks. I will describe as much as possible but sorry for the lack of real narrative.

The first thing i remember is i am on some sort of tube train/aeroplane. It's quite dirty and old. It had the feel of an underground train because i was standing, however it was a late eighties early nineties style tube because i remember them looking that was as a kid (you know the ones, lots of brown, orange and greys with those little bobbles to hold on to as opposed to railings). Now this aside it was obvious to me that we was in the sky, i mean why wouldn't we be? We were on our way to Italy. We being me, my girlfriend 'Cherie' and her brother 'Peter Crouch'. Yup you heard me (and yes he is just as tall in dreamland). Apparently this was the first time i had met him (Cherie's brother) and was quite nervous as in real life i quite like ol' Peter and believe him to be a little undervalued in terms of international and club football but i digress. When i approached him to say hello etc... He looked at me with disgust and asked "why are you so poor and..... dirty!?", to which i did not know how to respond... The dream started to fade out abit then.

Next thing i know i am in Italy, Which for the best part was made of cardboard, obviously. It was a fantastic mixture of 'Kodac' shops and religious paraphernalia. I felt that Italy wasn't very big... in fact perhaps only really a market square and a few side streets but there was an ever ominous presence of the Vatican city looming over me. Like a strong force. Anyway beyond that the religious theme started to fizz out because i had more important things to worry about. My cash card had snapped in half and wouldn't work in the cash machines so now i really was 'poor and...dirty'. I had to ask Cherie to borrow money but she didn't have any so i was forced to ask Mr Crouch.... but yet again the dream at that points becomes abit of a blur.

Next time i am aware of anything with any relevance happening i am in a massive indoor complex. It sort of looks like half shopping city and half museum/zoo. Lots of grand features and marble floors vast modern glass structures and extravagant carvings in the ceiling. But sticking with a theme of 'things that make no sense' this grand old building was quite obviously a.............. Water Park YAY!!!! only it was a water park with a difference. It was all very tropical with big trees and lush green forestry circling the many swimming pools (although i must stress that the swimming pools were more like human sized fish tanks that weren't so much as dug into the ground but more held together by giant sheets of glass). Further to this there were Giant Tarantulas everywhere in exhibits, in the walls, swimming in the pools, walking around on the floor... just everywhere. Me and Cherie decided to run off to look at a new part of the water park that no one was allowed in to. It was amazing it was a giant swimming pool (about the size of a football pitch) with grand giant stone steps leading up into it there was a waterfall.... think Willy Wonka's chocolate factory mixed with ancient Greece and you are half there... there were fish in the pool and it was all held together once again by a giant glass structure from which you could see all the fish, and spiders, swimming around (it's worth mentioning that i am petrified of spiders). Me and Cherie got caught by the guard who looked remarkably like 'Stan Collymore' and got a good telling off and thrown out of the complex.....

And that's it. That's all i remember..... Some of it makes sense yet some of it is just plain odd to me. Hope that it makes more sense to you.

Thanks for listening!

MikeyFGH

In the old bell... Roll on the jager!!!

beefcore bassists club...

Today i been reading up on bassists. Because we are recording soon 'Paul FGH' wants to nail his tone this time round. Especially since it changed quite alot since we last recorded. Basically from what i can gather he wants to blend into the mix (obviously) but he wants to also maintain definition. I feel and i know he does, that us playing with only one gutarist that he had to be beefy so's not to make us sound weak. And one thing i hear from alot of people is how large we make ourselves sound (which is a compliment i ALWAYS love getting). Anyway i digress! One person who always gets name checked at rehearsal (apart from Lemmy) is 'Geddy Lee' of 'Rush' so i looked into him and boy did i learn some stuff...

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geddy_Lee

Basically what he done during the 'Moving Pictures' period (arguably their best album) he wired each of his bass pickups to a different amp. So he had one amp covering the big deep bass sound and one amp pushing the gain to get a sort of sharp clarity.

When we recorded our first demo Paul wasn't completely happy with his sound and being happy was sort of a moot point for this recording so we are working together to try and get as awesome as sound as possible... going to play around with my PodX3 (gotta love the X3's ability to run two amps at once) tonight to try and recreate some sort of Geddy Lee'ish sound and blend it with a Lemmy growl.... wish me luck!!! :D

TTFN!!!

Second jobs, clairvoyants ..........

I am seriously considering a second job. Problem is where do i go that allows me the flexibility to still do my music. Obviously i realize that some part of my free time has to be given up. I really don't want it to be the music though. I feel torn between being a good man or a happy man. Should money come first? is it time to grow some balls and become responsible? But what f i don't pursue the music? What if i would have made it had i given it a go. Not like a have any qualifications to fall back on. Maybe i just have to put my heart and soul into it? this is a tough time for me. I am thinking maybe a weekend job? Maybe my sister could get me something in the cinema... I am really desperate even an extra £200-£300 a month would be awesome... food for thought me thinks...

My girlfriends mum went to see a clairvoyant the other night.. I must say i am scepticle of all this hickerypockery. I mean how come some people believe it so firmly yet others disregard it completely. How can we know so much about the human brain and science etc... yet we still ain't figured this one out for good??? I am intregued. I would like to know more... Personally i think alot of it is down to body language. These peolpe whether they kno it or not are extreamely astute to reading peoples body language. And perhaps recieving emotions, brain waves signals from other people. Like a mind reader but not as "mystical" as just looking into your mind i think it's more to do with recieving patterns sent. I sort of have the same belief on ghosts. I believe they images of energy left from the past, flashes of things that have happened before.

And my demo is booked in to be recorded on the 28th & 29th May at mooncolf studios! WELL EXCITED!!!

anyway... thats all i got today... see you later

Just got to rehearsal... Waiting to get axe murdered whilst i sit here supping on a red bull... This place freaks me out...

*New Demo*

Just got booked in to record the next demo.... 28th & 29th May..... Well excited. It's going to sound mint i reckon....

p.s Reading the Bret hart book today!!! AWESOME!!! never liked the hitman as a kid but i do have a new found respect for the guy...

Hey all,

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the brief glimpses of sunlight that we are being graced with by ol' mother nature herself! Today i have some bits and pieces news for you... But defo check out the links if you have the chance.

This is my first blog on here but i figured it would be a good place to keep you all up to date!!!! So here goes....

Our track 'Initial' was featured on Mr Stu's monthly blog/podcast. Have a listen cause apart from us there are some hella' good bands floating around on there...

Here is the link to the blog there you can find a link to download the mp3 and a full track listing. His blog also happens to be awesome and has loads of unsigned london talent that is almost certainly worth your attention. So have a dig and reap the benifits!!!

http://mrstu616.blogspot.com/2009/04/mr-stus-podcast-thing-april-2009-free.html

Also, rather randomly we were featured on an American radio show. The station specializes in rock/prog old and new and they obviously have a keen eye to spot us here all the way in blighty. But it's a massive compliment that they asked to include us in there play list and we are extremely greatful to class X Radio and Bryan B.

I don't have a direct link to the mp3 of the show but if you go to our facebook page you can listen to it right there..........

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2366791873

finally just a quick note to say it looks like we will finally have our new demo sorted by the end of May. it might bot be as long as we hoped but i am sure it will whet your appetites for now!

oh and become my friend on the twitter http://www.twitter.com/MikeyFGH

Love,

Mikey FGH