FGH @ Louder Clouds w/ Laps, Quadrilles and Death By Orchestra.

Hello all,


My band 'From Great Height' are playing in Old Street this coming Friday. It would be great to see some faces down there! (click the picture to be directed to the facebook event page)

It's over at 'Roadtrip Bar' at 243 Old Street, N1. Entry is £6/£4 before 8pm 18+ Only (Might be wise to bring I.D.). Closest tube is Old Street. Below is a map of the location.

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Sad scenes in Oslo

Just seeing the news unfold about the explosion in Norway. Very sad/tragic whats happened there, even though little is known about the how's and why's at this moment in time.

I was in Kings Cross on the day of the London Bombings and although i wasn't hurt and no one i knew was hurt it was still horrifying to see with my own eyes the damage and destruction caused. I hope this explosion wasn't a terrorist attack, but either way its terrible that anyone has to lose their lives in such a way.

My thoughts go out to those families effected over there.

Mikey

How are you using Facebook these days?

I have a quick question for you all,

I am using Facebook less and less these days for personal social networking and instead using it mainly for maintaining the 'From Great Height Page'.

I have always previously seen Facebook as my main social network and the one i tried to keep private. But now with the addition of twitter (which i love) and Google+ (which i am fast becoming a big fan of) is it time for me to open up my facebook page a bit and use it more as a marketing tool? I have always kept my 'Friends List' strictly people i know or i have had actually contact with' where as twitter is a different mind set.

Am i going about this wrong? If FB is people main outlet for social network maybe i should be using FB more effectively to try and reach my potential fanbase?

I like the idea of holding something back. Having somewhere i can use just to contact friends and family, Google+ will allow me to do both at the same time leading me to think this is going to be my preference from now on. So is it time for to open the gates? What do you think? How are you using Facebook?

MikeyFGH

Will my music collection die with me?

Hello all,

Just a quick thought I had today. I am quite excited about the prospect of iCloud and can't wait to make use of having my music wherever I want whenever I want without having to worry that my external HD doesn't blow up. Further to that I am quite happy to pay for the privilege.

But I did have a thought. whilst a lot of my music might get lost in time, or perhaps simply go out of fashion. There is also a lot of music by classic artists that one assumes future generations will still want to listen to. Your Black Sabbath's, U2's, Lynyrd Skynyrd's, The Beatles among countless others, will always have appeal because they make genre defining music. Classic sounds that don't get old.

In the past vinyl's and even CD's will have been passed down in the family ( i know that i have a few of my families old vinyl's in the collection, this isn't really feasible with password protected encrypted iTunes accounts that will die with me. Even if I was to back up the music on a hard drive? Do i really expect that drive to have a 20/30 year life? No. I don't even expect it to outlast my life time. I could back them all on to CD. But then with the added cost and time consumption i might as well just buy CD's from now on which completely misses the point the ease digital music allows us.

I suppose that those big marquee artists will be making money for their labels for a long time coming. As far as i can see it's 1 nil to the record labels. Again.

What do you think? Do you think that your children/grandchildren will be missing out by not having your old records. CD's and tapes? Be cool to hear your thoughts on this or any stories about vintage music you 'came in to'.

Mikey

***Opeth @ Brixton Academy***

Could not be more excited to go and see Opeth in November at the Brixton Academy. Saw them at High Voltage last year. Was into them a little before but after that show i really dug in to the back catalogue. This should be a top gig. I can't wait.

If you don't have the 'Live at the Royal Albert Hall' DVD it's definitely worth picking up. it comes with an audio CD too. Well worth the money.

***Follow me over on Google+***

Hello,

So i am fully on Google+ now. I am all familiar with it's features now and enjoying the site. If your a user feel free to follow me by visiting my profile by clicking the picture below.

Have a Google+ profile? What do you think? Like it?

***Google+ initial thoughts***

Been using Google+ for a day now. I am impressed so far. Took a while to "get it" as is to be expected. I am sure i will learn more about using it as the time goes on. But it has a nice feel at the moment. Has a cult-y vibe due to the 'invite only' thing which always helps. I assume thats clever marketing on Googles part there.

I really like the idea of categorizing people you follow. Sort of like having twitter lists on facebook. I like the twitter idea of 'lists' but i rarely use them as i found them to clunky and time consuming. The idea of 'circles' certainly works for me though.

I suppose time will tell if it works out. It has all the open doors it needs to 'work'. i guess it just depends on the uptake once it is open to all.

Two things i hope google realizes -

1. If i want online gaming i will play COD. Not Farmville. Please don't go down that route.

2. Although some sort of music integration would be welcomed please don't take it to far. If you make it too easy for musicians/bands to spam then they will, and thats a sure fire way to kill yourself (Hello MySpace). I like the idea that at the moment it forces you to network online the 'right' way.

Thats my two cents,

MIkeyFGH

***DJ Fresh - Louder (Flyte One Remix)***

Hey everyone.

Some shameless promotion right here on behalf of my good mate. But not without merit. Tim (Flyte One) Storey drummer with 'From Great Height' has produced this awesome remix of DJ fresh's Louder (that one off the Lucazade advert and currently number 1 in the UK iTunes download charts).

Not a Dubstep aficionado or much dance music for that matter. But i know what i like and this is epic and powerful and i know that he creates music for the love of it. And it comes through in spades in most of his music.

If you are a fan of Dubstep or Drum'n'Bass or awesome new music in general then have a listen over at his soundcloud page. And his remix is below.

DJ Fresh - Louder (Flyte One Remix) by Flyte One

Big love for him, and this. Very proud!

Mikey

Some thoughts on the MySpace take-over

The reason MySpace failed is cause musicians do not want to acquire other musicians instead of fans (and let's face it, MySpace did pretty much become BandSpace). They want to acquire like minded music fans willing to listen to new stuff and interact to build an online relationship.

This is why I believe a musician based social network is doomed to fail. Hopefully Justin Timberlake don't take this route.

I think some sort of talent competition could be a great idea though. Perhaps the highest rated people in their chosen genres get tv time? It forces bands to promote to gain fans but still I don't see how that would stop the infinite stream of band spam which almost killed MySpace first time round. It's a tough one. Too tough for me.

I really can't see a happy ending for MySpace at the moment. Hopefully I am wrong. I wish it no harm.

What do you guys think?

Location:London,United Kingdom