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| The Complete History Of:
The Boy Castles
Chapter 1:
From Hell to Somewhere in Between
It is the year 2002, well its coming to it’s end, it is November, the middle of, and it’s been a pretty shit year, part from new albums from reel big fish and goldfinger, and a rise in |
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| Boy Castles @ Harnham Memorial Hall on 09.19.04 | | Venue: | Harnham Memorial Hall | | Date: | 09.19.04 | | Time: | 7:30 pm | | Location: | Salisbury, [GB] | | Price: | TBC |
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| The Complete History Of:
The Boy Castles
Chapter 1:
From Hell to Somewhere in Between
It is the year 2002, well its coming to it’s end, it is November, the middle of, and it’s been a pretty shit year, part from new albums from reel big fish and goldfinger, and a rise in horror movies with resident evil, 28 days later and dog soldiers!! Anyways, three friends by the names of Callum Male, Jack Marteau and Matthew Marsh are sitting on their asses in a crappy chapel in the middle of their secondary school, Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Wiltshire. All in year 9 and all full of beans and spunk!
Somehow after a long discussion they decide they all want to be in a punk rock band, preferably a decent one and do something with their otherwise pretty useless lives. The guys agree their positions in the band within seconds, Jack became the bassist because he’d been playing bass for bout 2 years, Matt remembered his dad had an electric guitar and elected to become the guitarist. Callum always fancied the drums so he thought he’d give them a go!!
They all got to work and each wrote a song or two each, all of pretty low standard! Soon Callum purchased a second hand drum kit, in pretty good nick and Matthew "blagged" his dad’s guitar and amp. They then arranged to join forces on Friday lunchtime later that week.
That Friday came, and sure enough the 3 lads at school gained access to a small music practice room designed to give enough space to a drummer and his drum kit and a tutor!! Somehow the three squeezed in the room and set up the drum kit. They then plugged the bass and the amp into the same amp! Giving the most appalling sound! Which wasn’t aided by the fact that Matt knew about three chords (of which he knew none of the names) and Callum had played the drums bout twice! But eventually without even a mic, they played a few fairly poor punk covers.
Bout 40 mins later the guys were forced to stop because Callum was on chores for a particularly evil R.E. teacher!! Not letting this deter them, the 3 agreed Callum’s house would become the place for future practices.
About a week later the three met at Callum’s house and in his garage they set up their bloody advanced system! This time with another amp (still no fucking mic though!!) and once again they played ‘bout a zillion poorly done covers, but to these guys this is the most fun they had ever had!
Mid way through the practice the guys realized they had become a "real" band, but they had no name! So the guys got brainstorming. They needed something unusual, something different and as you’ll agree what they came up with was pure genius!! Earlier that week in an R.E. lesson the guys had to watch a video hosted by a fairly famous English T.V presenter, Roy Castle, who had sadly died a few years ago of lung cancer, caused by OTHER people’s smoke. Well the boys recognized this mans fight through cancer, and saw his courage as he was killed by other people’s bad habits. So the boys dedicated the band in his honor. Obviously it would be tasteless if they called themselves the Roy Castles so similar to the Dandy Warhols (named after Andy Warhol) The guys invented the name "THE BOY CASTLES"!!!
Quickly Christmas came and New Year came and went, and the guys took a small break through this. They then rejoined in January. Now refreshed the guys decided the best course of action would be to buy a microphone. SO they did. And at £17.99 from a cash converters!
Now they relocated practices to Matthew’s "mansion" in Haxton (Where?!) Now the guys scrapped the shitty covers and decided to have a dabble at their own stuff.
The guys quickly discovered that now they had a mic they would need a vocalist. So because they knew nobody who wanted to sing, they decided that Jack and Matt would share responsibility on this matter. Problems quickly came up, they both couldn’t sing for toffee! So they put up and just did their best and eventually vocals became the sole responsibility of Matt, who decided he wouldn’t "faff" around with trying to tune his voice, so the Boy Castles sound quickly went very punk all of a sudden! It made them sound a bit more unique though!
The First song they played was an all-punk song, with barely any definition between chorus and verses! As well as using just three chords! This song was called "Marshes Song". And eventually a few months later became the song we all know as "How not to be a Punk" (with completely different music!)
They also played 3 others of their own, now these were Nose up Look Down, Pull Over You Bastard and What I Knew!
Months passed and the guys practiced every week tuning up and inventing new songs.
Good friend of the band James Keating became involved in practices, listening to them play and telling them how crap their music was! He also took loads of lovely pictures!
Yep in February or March Callum decided that the Boy Castles needed more exposure! So armed with bugger all Internet experienced he created an angel fire account and made a pretty decent website www.angelfire.com/band2/the_boy_castles/Welcome though I doubt it still exists still! It contained lyrics (which created some disturbance!! Nose up Look Down particularly, because it was apparently written ‘bout some certain girls!) It also had News on the band and some bios!!
A few weeks later a friend of the band, Steven Burr, made a forum on msn, dedicated to the Boy Castles! Well it was originally like an unofficial website but it had forum capabilities so it became the Official forum!!
Over the months it became a big hit with a lot of people, and was very frequently used by friends (and enemies!) of the band, and even had a very long and big argument!!
Eventually the guys scrapped together enough money and took a proper plunge in to the worldwide web and purchased www.theboycastles.co.uk and a proper forum! This site was aided hugely from Johnny Beddoes (young entrepreneur). It contained pictures of the band and even a little bit of music!!
The new forum became as popular and even went on to beat the GOLDFINGER forum, on the amount of users online at one point! To this date there are 80 members on the boy castles forum.
Strangely none of these people had ever seen or heard these guys play! So due to demand the Boy Castles on the 29th of June the guys played in a School assembly, they played What I Knew, and despite poor balance they were praised by friends and teachers alike!
Then on the 18th July the guys did their first full gig at Harnham Memorial Hall, playing first, alongside fellow Salisbury bands, Box Frog, Cheap Regrets and Three Times Over. Attendance was high (well for the Boy Castles at least and the gig was a huge success earning each of them a massive tenner each!! They played a decent 11 songs (even if their were still a few covers!), including an ENCORE! In which they thought it would be sensible to end with local heroes Whitmore’s hit “Alison”. Acting like pros the Boy Castles were praised for their performance on their first gig!
As for the Guys personal lives? Well on the ladies front, yes all the guys are straight, but some are taken (sorry ladies!! Such demand for these 3 guys I know!!). Matt Hooked up with his long term girlfriend and love of his life Alice Pelton (or Ali P to you!) on May the 17th after months of flirting and people telling them they are perfect for each other!! They are currently trying for a baby ;-). Callum is currently dating a girl called Gabby. They have been together for a bit now and seem to be very close to each other and inseparable. Jack is on his lonesome after a few relationships, which have been on and off!
Well it’s the middle of summer and the guys are exhausted! A hectic first year in the music business! They are currently preparing for their next gig with the same bands on the 3rd of October! This time playing 2nd to last and playing at least 11 of their OWN songs and a few covers, but it shows their improvement.
Also they have joined Bass Connections "Breakout" project which will help them polish up, give them more frequent gigs and even a couple of songs on a local music compilation!
Looking back, the Boy Castles have come a long way! They have become far more professional. They have made their OWN distinct sound and have a fairly decent following. Things can only get better from now on and it looks like they will be around for a loooooooooooooooooong time!
(17/12/03)
Chapter 2:
A Prolonged Period Somewhere in Between Hell and Heaven but in a Good Way!
Well EXACTLY 3 months since we last had an update from THE band of the 21st century (well according to the band). Has anything happened? Was Saddam captured? Hell Yeah!!
Where do I start?! It’s been even more exhaustive it’s been painful, it’s been productive and the end result? Pretty damn good. Well during the summer things were put on hold. The band had a well earned rest and kicked back. Quickly near the end though the band became restless and were itching to get back to playing. So with the start of the Breakout! Coming fast they got in shape.
They were at first very nervous entering bass connections but they quickly were made to feel at home by the great staff working there. The awesome equipment would soon start to show a massive effect on The Boy Castles playing.
Practices flew by, and The Boy Castles were helped along the way by the staff at bass connections pointing out their shortcomings and the bits they should improve on. Soon the boys got experimenting and many songs were tried, tested and failed. Up until this point despite a few songs that were touch and go the only strong, funky, kick-ass songs the boys loved were; How Not to be a Punk, What I knew, Pull Over You Bastard, Take the Strain, Nose Up Look Down and Re-Invention of me. The guys needed some new stuff and they needed it now!
Matt and Jack the two main songwriters racked their brains and came up with some good shit. But some ideas just weren’t working like they hoped. Eventually the boys a bit tired, decided to re-work some of their older songs and improve them (pull over…. became quicker/How not to be…. became more urm “bouncier! And (Nose Up) Look Down got a newish name and became shout ridden!)
Jack then created what the lead man Matt Marsh described as “The most accurate representation of what the Boy Castles, sound and are about.” This song was called the Idiot and was dedicated to good friend of the band Steven Burr for all his hard work.
It was now late October and the boys were asked to play the Coffee bar in bass connections basement. This was to be only The Boy Castles’ 3rd public performance, but it went absolutely brilliant. The boys played two classics: How Not To Be a Punk and Pull Over You Bastard. As well as the newest addition The Idiot. They gained a lot of praise and things were going excellently.
Around this time also the boys were offered to play a gig at Laverstock Village hall with Box Frog (or Sweet…..) and Cheap Regrets. They took this as an opportunity to show everyone what the hell they had been doing for the past few months! So they really did spend the next month really banging the songs into shape.
In this space between October and the next gig though, another song that was quickly going to become a true classic was created. This time it came from Matt. The song was called Arrogant Tosser and was a dedication to James Keating another long time friend of the band, who was surprise, surprise very arrogant! It had a ska chorus and a killer riff something the song needed!
It was now time for the boys to hit the stage again though. Butterflies in their stomachs, and a sell out crowd (it was bloody marvelous, loads of promoting!) They kicked into action.
They gave it they’re all and really went for it. They played 12 great songs and really showed a lot of improvement (even if it weren’t as perfect as they might of liked). A pretty good pit got going and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it a lot. They were even called back onto the stage by a lot of loud teenagers to do an encore. With only one band in mind they did a bit of history repeating itself and performed “Alison” by Whitmore once again!
A great night followed and the other bands also were kicking out pretty damn well. It was a truly a great time for the lads.
Very soon after this, Nick Pelton’s (Alice Pelton’s wicked bro) band “Red Yeti” invited the boys to play a gig with them. The boys once again accepted the challenge, and it was planned for the 13th of December and would also feature fellow Salisbury band, the all girl group “Vendetta”.
The guys got back to their rigorous regime of practicing every Thursdays and beat the whole set into a better shape. The songs were together. The guys were loving it. What could stop them?
Now normally something bad would happen, but no. Nothing did! Wahey! What luck! The guys approached the gig with a good balance of confidence and nerves but this balance was perfect it turned out to be.
The boys once again went on first. Despite a much smaller crowd, which became bigger, The Boy Castles put it up a gear and went flat out. The result? A faultless performance. Everything went to plan performance wise and it was nothing but good things.
Another night of fun followed and the other bands played superbly (obviously not as good as the Castles lads) but defiantly worth a mention. Red Yeti are definitely a band to look out for in the future.
A personal update? Well not much can really be said on this side of life. Well the boys seem to be doing as good as possible school wise and none of them have got into any trouble thank God. As for girlfriends. Callum and Gabby broke up. I think there are still some hard feelings, whiles Jack has had some luck, but a few girlfriend’s have come and gone in this period. At this specific moment in time they are both single to my knowledge. Maybe they have got someone in line for each of them who knows!? As for Matt? Of Course him and Alice weren’t trying for a baby! Christ some of you just can’t take a joke! They are still together. 7 Months today! Rather awesome.
Well there you have it. Part Two over. This is defiantly the greatest moment so far in Castle history without a doubt. The guys are in heaven and are simply enjoying it. It’s the Christmas holidays now. I’m sure a bit too much alcohol will be consumed and the guys will pile on the pounds, but once its over, I’m sure the guys will be ready to go straight back to work. No Doubt.
Any other future events lined up? Well there should be one or two gigs in January (we promise!) they are in the final stages of being arranged. Also there is a definite gig on Valentines Day next year (14th of February) with Serendipity and other Salisbury bands. Hopefully another gig with the Yeti boys too.
The guys have expressed a keen interest on hitting the studio but this could be some time away. They think the songs need to be “gigged” a bit more to expose their weaknesses. It shouldn’t be too long. Maybe they will be booking studio time when the Third installment of the Boy Castles saga is added. We’ll See.
Adios.
(17/12/03)
Chapter 3:
Back On A One Way Ticket To Hell!
It’s been a looooong time since there has been an addition to the history and the cycle of having a new one every three months went out the window!! But hey, who cares!! We write the rules here on www.theboycastles.co.uk!! So, what’s new?! Well you may have seen the title already, and I personally believe its very suiting to what’s gone on over this first half of 2004, our supposed “Mighty BC Year”, as I prophesized! Could I have been more wrong……?
Well, after the gig they played in mid December to cap off what was an amazing year for them, the guys sat back and relaxed over Christmas and the New Year in style. They were all as ‘happy as Larry’ and loved how easy things were. I mean not just with the band (its not all they do!!) but everything in general, but since this is a talk on that band, lets limit it to the band for now. They had quite a few people showing up to their shows on a regular basis, cheering them on, and demand for a hard fast debut EP was growing.
As New Year past, they started the rigorous practicing regime they had been under pre-chrimbo, and were eagerly anticipating many gigs they had been offered and were now in the pipe works for January and February. This was where abouts things seemed to go slightly wrong. A gig fell through at the beginning of the year, due to be hosted by Cheap Regrets, and one in mid February seemed to be looking more and more bleak. With many new songs under “The Boy’s” belts and seemingly no venue for anybody to hear them at, so they accepted an offer from the now deceased band, Pickleweasel, to play with them, Rundfunk, Box Frog and previous gig mates, Red Yeti. This took place at a hall in Larkhill.
Needless to say, the venue was tiny, and instead of a hall they were promised they got something that barely resembled a box room! Anyhoo, The Castle Lads played the gig and despite there being a fair few people there and on the whole enjoying the night, it seemed many of the people at that gig were hostile to the band, and without many of their friends there to KICK THEIR ASSES, the guys spoiling it got their way. The Boys felt the full onslaught of their shouts of “wankers” and even a projectile in the shape of a water bottle was lobbed at them at one point! The Boys took this in their stride as “the bad gig” and vowed to bounce back in style.
The problem that then ensured was that yes offers did come in, but at this moment in time, they were all fairly busy. Firstly in mid February, they had to turn down possibly two gigs because Matt and Callum were skiing in the south of France, re-enacting scenes from James Bond movies, and then they had to subsequently turn down yet another gig in March, because Matt was “lapping up rays” somewhere in the middle of Derbyshire at the time.
Any hype that used to be around the name The Boy Castles, had pretty much all died out, and The Boys desperately needed a game plan to fix things.
Easter came fast and they got the chance to record a singular song for some compilation CD they still to this day haven’t seen or had a copy of, with Bass Connection producer guy, Pete Abbott. The recording was fun (despite Matt sleeping in, but luckily missing nothing) and it really gave them an experience of recording. Many mistakes were obviously made for obvious reasons, for example, it sounded rushed as The Boys really wanted it straight away, and they were still making minor errors on the recording. The good thing though that they all still maintain about it is that it was an experience and they all learned many valuable lessons from it, which in turn will help them in my eyes ten fold next time they do hit the recording studio.
After that day they immediately booked more time in the studio and were looking forward to hopefully recording their first record. Unfortunately to this day arrangements were never re-made to record and they are still awaiting someone’s call, so there are probably some hard feelings for whatever reasons, though they wish there weren’t.
Anyways due to the recording they did do not being as good as The Boys had dreamed, it didn’t really motivate people much, and just fueled those who decided to “join the club” of TBC haters.
Many took the time to post on The Boy Castles’ guest book to let them know their place amongst the Salisbury Music Scene, including one person who suggested that a metronome should replace Callum and that Matt compared fairly accurately to what a Dying Rhino sounds like. Many insults were, yes, thrown at the front man especially, and he has said that he hopes that now that person has finally made their peace with him, and he maintains to this day that the comments made have only made the band stronger, no matter how hard they may have been to take.
Then over 5 months later, the Boys accepted a gig. This was thanks to friends of Red Yeti, Second Generation Music, who had just set up a music company that planned to put on shows/review gigs etc, and wanted some bands to play at their opening gig thing in venue of all venues, Laverstock! The line up was set as Sylvester opening (due to their lead singer being away, naturally if she was there they would be above The Castles Boys coz they are pretty damn talented!), then TBC, followed by Vendetta and Red Yeti, who The Boys had both played gigs with in the past and were glad to play with once again after such a long break away.
Well, the guys played a pretty damn solid set to those there, and they were described as a lot tighter and much more angry! Well the tight statement was due to a lot of practicing and perfecting, but the angriness was probably a reflex to those who had flipped them off!
Unfortunately for Red Yeti and Vendetta, the owner came down and due to various reasons I won’t go into, the whole thing was shut down and those two bands didn’t get to or barely played at all. Hopefully someday the bands can re-do that gig and make it a success.
The gig though for The Boy Castles was a fair success and really helped them evaluate the progress they had made. Their next target was the City Hall gig they had been anticipating for some time.
They played the Bass Connection’s poolroom in the run up and got prepared for their biggest gig to date. Eventually the line up was set for Saturday the 12th of June, One Drunk Morning, Sadistic, The Boy Castles, Serendipity, Substance and Red Sauce.
All the bands played at the top of their game and The Boys were pretty successful, with a lot of mates turning up to “cop-an-eyeful”. Some though who hadn’t got to see The Boy Castles live in the past, gave the band some really great positive feedback, and those who had before did say that the band had maintained their rate of improvement.
Hopefully this Thursday (1st of July) a review of this gig will be posted in the Salisbury Journal (maybe the week after). It will be interesting what will be said.
Well we’re nearing the end of this chapter but there is still one last piece of exciting news.
After being a band for nearly 2 years now, The Boy Castles have made their first line up change, but it is most definitely a positive one, as it is more of a member addition. Long time friend of TBC and follower of the band, Rob Maughan, has become the new bassist. They have practiced a few times with him now and he seems to have gotten hold of all the songs almost instantly. He seems to be enjoying himself and he’s bought a lot of energy to the band. Jack is still a member though, but has made a change to Lead Guitarist, to give the band a fuller more powerful sound that they had been looking/aiming for.
Now the three have become 4. The Boys have become a bigger, stronger unit. Yes they may have got the wrong train and ended a few steps back, but they have learnt many valuable lessons and are a far better band as a result of it. If it hadn’t happened, The Boys probably wouldn’t still be a band, as they would have collapsed from a much higher height.
Well they have already started their steady ascent back up and are slowly removing the tag as “Salisbury’s Most Hated Band” day-by-day. Hopefully next time I’ll be writing, I’ll have nothing but good things to say. Here’s to hoping…….
……….i’m sure I shall………
(29/6/04)
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