I know it’s been a long time since i’ve typed on my blog, but now we have started 2012, the real business of where TPT is going can now begin.  As well as getting on the road and playing some memorable gigs in 2011 (our two London headline  shows being a highlight for me), most of my energy was spent writing what will become TPT9 later this year.  Thankfully, the songs are written and nicely demoed up in my studio.  I’ve never spent so long and put so much energy into the song writing process.

Today we arrived as the Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire to spend 7 days tracking drums and bass (plus anything else we can fit in our 22 hour working days), which will hopefully involve me tracking most of the guitars using Darran’s (from Godsticks) fantastic guitars as well as my old, trusty tele.

Mixing and any overdubs will then continue  in Yeovil, with a quick trip over to Prague to record a 22 piece string section in March.  We’re lucky enough to have Andrew Skeet arranging and conducting the strings for that.  We also have the small issue of tracking a  choir which will feature on two of the new tracks.

It’s going to be very busy, but I will tweet as much as possible (especially this week) to share our progress and the journey.   Nothing has ever been as big as this in the history of TPT.   The plan at the moment is to release in September 2012 with an EP late spring to get things moving.

Follow me on twitter (if you want to really keep up to date).

Thanks as always to all the fans who came out to support us 2011 – from Glasgow to Gdansk your support is inspirational.

Bruce

But i’m also going to bring in a track from Variations on a Dream.  It’s one we’ve never played before and MAY make one or two of you happy.  Nothing concrete yet mind, still in the early planning stages…

After all the years spent labouring over TPT it was a great feeling to perform last night in such a naked way. Even though inexplicably I forgot how to count in 6/8 (!) I will never forget the performance of snowdrops and the warmth through my heart from the crowd.

See some of you again soon in December.

Bruce

Thanks to everyone who took the time to feedback to me (either via our forum, facebook or twitter) regarding the Variations track order.  It was interesting to read people’s opinions.  For instance, ‘it’s you album, do what you like!’ – that’s very true.  But that raised the age old question of why do we create art if not to share it with others?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went with the ‘don’t mess with history‘ philosophy and kept the order as it is.   We’ve already messed with the space time continuum enough by giving it a new look.  Personally,  I can’t imagine it starting without Subside either…

The re-issue is available to pre-order from our shop.   Now it’s time for me to go back to writing the new album, which is going wonderfully well.

Bruce

I’m currently checking through the final re-mixed/re-mastered ‘Variations on a Dream’ masters before sending to Kscope.   One thing is on my mind, I think the original track order is wrong.  The album begins with what should be album ender, Subside.   So, how would people, who are familiar with the original, feel about that?  Should these things be left in their place, or can they be changed?

We are in Portugal at the moment, waiting for our headline slot at 1am. So much time, so many beers.

There is loads to update you on when I get back, but frankly updating this on my phone is rather annoying!

In summary:
UK short tour in December, smaller venues where we will throw in some new stuff to try out. Should be nice and intimate.

New album is progressing nicely with a residential studio booked for January 2012. Allow time for post production and string recording and this should be delivered late spring.

We are planning a full tour for 2012, uk, mainland Europe and beyond…

Thanks for all the kind words about money on the forum by the way. Money may not be the best track on the album but it was the only one I could imagine giving a tpt spin. It was a strange experience and not as easy as I thought it would be. 3 time signature changes and loads of tempo changes. And I thought it was just a simple blues number really…

Right I’m off…

One note – I remember reading a post on the forum where someone said of the 3000 Days compilation that all the tracks sounded much better, apart from the Variations ones, which sounded like they had been sucked through a strainer (or something like that!).  Well, you were right.  This time they are back to their full glory.  The tracks in question were mainly Subside, Part Zero and Remember Us – I made a bit of a cock up with the strings and drums on those.  All fixed for this issue.

A few more days to go and then it’s off to the mastering house so I can focus on the new album.   We should be playing some UK dates in December, where we may well throw 2-3 new tracks into the set.  We’ve been off the road for far too long…

Bruce

We’ve just returned from a very late session at Real World studios (you know, the really big one owned by Peter Gabriel).  It’s for the a Pink Floyd cover, hopefully we can tell you which one soon.

We’ve never done a cover before, but this one has been a lot of fun.  Watch this space!

In the meantime, it’s back to re-mixing Variations on a Dream…

Bruce

I’ve just agreed to play a little acoustic set as part of a ‘Kscope Night’ on Friday 29th September in London.  Anathema are headlining with a 3 piece acoustic show, plus my fellow labellers Engineers and Nosound will also be acousticing.   Should be a great night and what’s more, it’s in an old chapel.  Should be ideal acoustics for a more subtle sound.

Check out ticket links and more info here…

Hopefully see some of you folks there…

Bruce

More info here…

We should be selling the album during our tour of Poland before it’s shipped to the rest of you on June 6th.  Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered on our site, the response so far has been fantastic.

So now I’m free to continue work on the next studio album.  Back in the land of madness….

I’m going to be in Sound Knowledge in Marlborough this Sunday (17th April) to promote ‘Record Store Day’ – all part of promoting our local independent record store industry and prolonging the life of what we lovingly call ‘the physical product’!

I’ll be playing a short (30-40 minutes) acoustic set around 2pm and if I can get Steve out of bed, he’ll be joining me on rhodes and piano. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of other great acts down there too. Apparently there’s a nice cafe attached to the store so it should be a relaxing way to while away a Sunday afternoon. Although strictly speaking I should be in the studio finishing off the 10 Stories re-issue. By the way, I’ve really delved into the mix this time, the album has totally come alive…

cheers

Bruce

We’ve read all the posts on our forum and Facebook – thanks to all of you for all the nice words…

Next up for us is our show in Holland in 2 weeks (with Pure Reason and Sun Domingo), followed shortly afterwards by our week in Poland. Then we have a show in Portugal (TBC) and a planned return to the UK and Europe in the autumn. More on all that soon…

Bruce

Just to make sure anyone who is coming to our show at the Underworld on Sat 19th,  doors are 7pm but the show will start at 7:30 prompt (support) as the venue has a pretty early curfew, so you’ll have plenty of time to catch your tubes.   I don’t want any of you to miss anything, so make sure you get in early!

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be joining our old friends Riverside on their 10th Anniversary tour of Poland in May.  Also joining us will Swedish band Paatos.  Click the links below for details….

24.05 – Łódź – Wytwórnia

25.05 – Wrocław – Eter

26.05 – Kraków – Rotunda

27.05 – Poznań – Eskulap

28.05 – Gdańsk – Centrum Stocznia Gdańska

29.05 – Warszawa – Stodoła

Work on the new album is progressing nicely. To mis-quote some other band or other (how much hype do you read about albums in progress being ‘the greatest ever made by a human being’ – there is a finite amount of BS* in this universe). Anyway, the quote – the heavier sections are heavier and the sweeter sections sweeter. What I’m trying to say is you’ll just have to wait and see – sadly the wait will be until Spring 2012. Still, it feels great to be writing again.

In the meantime, 2011 is still going to be busy. We have some more shows to announce later this spring and throughout the year (just waiting for confirmation on these). 10 Stories Down WILL be re-issued soon with all the usual Kscope bells and whistles, I am planning to remix this over the coming weeks. I am also planning to finish the collaboration project I have been working on (for almost 3 years now) over the coming months. This is a great sounding record, I am really looking forward to seeing that one released. We are hoping this will see the light of day in the autumn.

Right now I am mixing and producing the new album by Sun Domingo. As you may know, we toured with these guys last October. Their new album is a wonderful piece of work and I am enjoying adding my 2 cents into the sound and arrangement and production. I am not sure when this is going to be released but I believe the first copies will be available at the forthcoming Marillion convention where Sun Domingo will be playing. I’ll let you know the details when I get them.

I’ll be back soon when we have more things confirmed.

Bruce

*BS = not bruce soord, the other BS. Although clearly the universe would be a better place with an infinite number of these.

Glasgow show just confirmed – Classic Grand on 21st March. You can get you tickets here….

See you there…

Bruce

Anyway – I’m going to be a bit quiet for a while. I am planning some major things for TPT9. If it works then the album will be a huge step up in many ways. If it doesn’t, it will be an expensive failure. Either way, nothing is going to be released until I am 100% happy with the result. We’re probably looking at the first quarter of 2012 if all goes to plan. And that’s a big if. The risks of being ambitious…

Thanks to everyone who has supported us throughout 2010. We know that not everyone totally ‘got’ our new direction but we also know that a lot of you did. But either way, love us or hate us, it’s great to have such an active bunch following us. I know that no matter what we do, you’ll always stay for the ride. I am well aware there is a lobby of old skool fans who are waiting for ‘Variations Part 2′. And one day soon I plan to make that record (probably as a solo album of some description). But the reason the TPT albums have changed and progressed since then is because I don’t want to re-write the same old formula. Luckily I am more driven and hungry than ever before to create something new, to try out new directions, sounds, ideas and structures. That’s why TPT9 will sound different once more. And that philosophy is the only reason why the thought of writing a new album fills me with so much excitment. 2011 is going to be great for me, but maybe a little quiet for you.

Having said that, we want to ramp up the gigs in 2011. It was wonderful to meet so many of you on the road in 2010. We want to meet more of you in 2011.

Right, now to switch my mind back to song writing mode…

Bruce

Currently backing working on ‘the collaboration’ which we are planning to finish over the Christmas period. Also working on the 10 Stories Down re-issue (now coming WITH the 8 Days Later bonus disc)…

Bruce

We have sorted out a FLAC download and will offer anyone who has paid for an MP3 a voucher to get the FLAC version without paying twice, if they want it.

There have been some issues, especially if you use Internet Explorer. It looks like these have been fixed and details will be included in our mail out, coming over the next 24 hours…

Thanks to all the people who have checked our site and ordered the download already.

thanks

Bruce

We’re just finishing off the live download – it has taken a little longer than expected as making sure nearly 2 hours of music is ‘just right’ is proving quite a task. I wanted to keep the energy of the live room and crowd (which, by the way, makes any ‘cheating’ overdubs impossible (even if I was that way inclined) as they would then clash with the room mics). I just need to tweak these levels once more before mastering and uploading for you all. It should still be this week…

And don’t worry about missing anything – an email will go out as soon as the live show is in our shop.

Mixing of the live download is going to plan for the 29th November release. We will be including a full, uninterrupted MP3/FLAC file of the entire show as well as individual files. Also included will be a PDF booklet containing some great live shots, a few behind the scene images and some in-depth blurb about the songs and the tour (by me). Make sure you are signed up to our mailing list to make sure you get the link when we release it (use link at the top right hand of our website to sign up).

Also, we are preparing a gig & set list archive for this site. I know a few fans have been with us right from the beginning, which officially dates back to our debut show at the Whitchurch festival in 2003. Actually, our FIRST show was a few weeks before in the back room of a pub in Sherborne called the Plume of Feathers, but I don’t think anyone travelled to that. What I am asking is for someone to start a thread on our forum for people to post up memories and photos from our gigging past (so we don’t miss any). I want the archive to not only show our timeline, but also link to photos and fan recollections. I remember we played quite a few acoustic shows at a local bar in Yeovil (Woods). Thinking back, I can’t believe we actually got the band on that tiny stage…

Anyway, if you can help us then hopefully we can get some rich history together…

At the moment, we’re hoping to release the digital download of our recent tour (audio only) on Monday November 29th. We’ll email everyone on our mailing list when it’s ready. There will be a lossless version (probably FLAC) and also a decent quality MP3 version. We haven’t finished mixing yet, but the recording should clock in around 2 hours. Our engineer took direct feeds from every line into the desk, plus audience/ambient mics. So the quality is decent and captures our live energy very nicely. I am planning to make this release ‘true’, so there won’t be any studio overdubs, mark my words. So the few moments where my guitar playing suffers due to it being on top of my head, you’ll just have to trust me that’s the reason…

I know some people are disappointed that there will be no physical release, but the truth is that we are signed to Kscope. They have a tight release schedule planned for all their artists, involving 2 re-issues for us early next year and the official world wide issue of Little Man. To be honest, we are very lucky that Kscope are willing to allow us to provide this special release. Most other labels would have simply said ‘no way’.

More info soon…

Cheers

Bruce

First bit of news is that we will be releasing a digital only live release of the recent tour – this will feature around 2 hours of music with an accompanying digital booklet featuring photos from the tour (live and back stage) and a full tour diary. And we’ll make sure there is a hi-fi FLAC option too. We recorded every show from the European tour and myself, Steve and Mark Bowyer will be mixing the best parts very soon, in time for Christmas, hopefully before the end of November. I know a lot of fans were waiting on a physical live release, but right now this is not an option because…

Kscope are busy preparing their schedules for re-issues of 10 Stories Down and Variations on a Dream – both of which will be released exclusively via our website and Burning Shed, before having a full, world wide release later in the year. And I know what you’re thinking… 8 Days? I think so, at least for a limited run. But I’m not sure. Either way, watch this space and make sure you get your pre-orders in if you want one. I think pre-orders will start at some point in December.

So the release schedule is pretty busy at the moment. I’ll update you when I get some firm news.

Oh and thanks to everyone for the warm words on the forum recently.

Cheers

Bruce

We’ve just returned from the tour – sorry for the lack of blogs but my personal laptop was called into action due to a glitch with our primary live laptop, rendering me blogless.

Thanks to everyone who supported us throughout the tour. I’ll post a full diary soon.

In the meantime, can I state for the record that the ‘Bruce Soord’ on facebook IS NOT ME. Just in case anyone was wondering why my ‘profile’ looked a bit odd. It wasn’t me, I wasn’t there, I didn’t do it.

Cheers

Bruce

3 gigs in, the set is starting to settle down. Just some minor issues to iron out and we’ll be there….

Substage, Karlsruhe

It’s day 4 of our tour and at last I get a chance to sit down with some wi-fi. Today we’re in Aschaffenburg, Germany. In fact, we’ve been here 2 days now as we had an off day yesterday. Not that we deserved one, after only 2 gigs in. All down to vagaries of tour scheduling…

So yesterday we hung out with Sun Domingo and managed to catch the Mike Stern band at Colos Saal (the venue I am typing this in now). It was something else. I’m not a big fan of jazz violin, but watching Didier Lockwood (on violin) dueling with Mike and Lionel Cordew on drums caused all of us to consider throwing our instruments in the river (including Kyle Corbett, the lead guitarist and vocalist from Sun Domingo, who is an utterly exceptional player).

Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. I know our gig on Monday in Switzerland, people travelled from as far as Geneva, others from Zermatt and the Matterhorn. And a few of you had a long drive after the show in Italy too. So thanks to all of you.

Bruce

The view from bruce (sound check Z7)

We’re about to hit the road for our European tour, but wanted to check in first. The EP has arrived and will be ready to ship as soon as we return from the tour. Those of you lucky enough to catch us live can of course buy yours then! I know, it’s a bit mean for all of you who can’t make it but it’s only 2 weeks… If you haven’t already done so, the EP is available in our shop now…

Someone was talking on the forum about the collaboration I mentioned last year. Funnily enough, I’ve been working on this recently in my studio. It will definitely be finished (hopefully this year), but where it will end up is in the lap of the gods at the moment. I have quite a bit more work to do before passing it back to my collaborator to finish.

UK dates – it looks like these will happen early 2011. Live Nation are finalising details so hopefully I will be able to update you soon. Did someone mention Scotland?

I’m planning to update my blog on the road with tales from the tour bus. Watch this space…

cheers

Bruce

I’ve been reading a few things around the WWW (mainly on our lovely forum) so thought I would chat about a few things here…

EP RIP OFF

The new EP is ready to pre-order here in our shop (plus some tour t-shirts). However, due to some gremlins in the communication pipes, we got the price wrong. It’s not £9, it’s £6.99. Anyone who followed my old blog would know that I at least claimed to treat fans fairly. £9 for an EP with only 16 minutes of ‘new’ music (the rest is made of up of acoustic versions plus the amazing Worldengine remix) IS a rip off. £6.99 seems ok to me. Refunds will be going out to all of you who paid the high price.

OPEN WATERS DRAINED

Someone mentioned on the forum about the EP ‘closing the SHIM sessions’, so where is Open Waters? To those of you who don’t know, this track was released as a digital only ‘b-side’ as it was one that didn’t make it to SHIM. The honest truth is that I totally forgot about it. Also, I was instructed not to go above 35 minutes so it wasn’t an option just to add it on. Something to do with the definition of ‘EP’. Anyway, that’s what happened. Isn’t there a FLAC download of it out there?

JOINERS AND LEAVERS

One thing I have noticed time and time again ever since we did Abducting was the number of people who lamented the passing of the ‘old sound’. When I released 137 in 2001 I remember receiving emails telling me off for abandoning the ‘Abducting’ sound. The backlash after releasing Little Man in 2006 almost finished us. And today we read some reviews citing that as our finest. SHIM is a ‘new’ sound for TPT and not all of you are going to share our journey. Yes, it’s heart breaking to lose fans, but that cannot in any way influence the direction of the music, no matter how tempting. One day I may only sell one record. To myself.

I am about to take time off after the tour and reflect on our direction before starting work on the next album. There won’t be a TPT studio album in 2011 (these things take time). I can honestly say that I have no clear idea what the direction will be yet. All I know is that we’ll probably lose more of you. And maybe pick some others up along the way….

Bruce

Bill Kopp’s Musoscribe interview

So what now? We’re just about to pop off to Breda now to play the pop festival tomorrow night. The EP has been sent to pressing and we should have a video ready soon for ‘Show a Little Love’, a controversial favourite of mine. Just a few more shoots to do in London next week for that…

And then it’s 14 men in a tour bus. Imagine that? No, it’s not nice…

Here’s the deal:

EP TITLE: Show A Little Love

Tracklisting:

1 Show a Little Love (single edit) (3.38)
2 To Live and Die to the Familiar Sound of… (16:18)
– I Can Only See the Lights (2.21)
– A Million Miles off Course (5.04)
– Counting the Cost (4.25)
– To Live and Die to… (4.22)
3 Wake Up The Dead (acoustic) (4.03)
4 Someone Here is Missing (acoustic) (3.57)
5 Dead in the Water (Worldengine remix) (5.04)

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 32.57

It’s an EP, but to me it’s more of a mini album and marks the end of the SHIM sessions. I’m now going to take some time off, do the tour and then start thinking about where to take TPT for album number 9.

We’re all off to London now to shoot a video for Show a Little Love, which should be available by the end of this month. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you up to date!

Cheers all

Bruce

We are in the process of editing some video from our weekend in Germany to share with you all. In the meantime, here’s a backstage shot taken by my guitar tech using his iphone:

and another from the crowd:

After our UK show in Bridport, I now have to retire to my studio to prepare the mixes for the upcoming EP which will be available for our European tour and shortly afterwards in the shops. At the moment, although I cannot confirm this, the EP will consist of about 15-17 minutes of new music (4 interlinked tracks), 2 acoustic versions of SHIM numbers plus, maybe, a cover version chosen by you. If this rumour comes to fruition, kscope will sort out a poll on our mini site soon.

One thing I need to make clear – although we have only confirmed mainland Europe gigs so far, we are definitely planning at least 3 UK dates this year. We are currently discussing options with our agent but we’ll update you here as soon as we know.

Thanks to everyone who was at Germany and Bridport for your support – see you next in Breda….

Bruce

Someone Here Is Missing has been available now for nearly a month (officially that is) and already sales have eclipsed those of Tightly Unwound. Rumour has it, Kscope will be releasing a follow up EP late in September 2010. I asked Bruce what would be on it but he wouldn’t divulge, apart from saying ‘it’s going to have some decent stuff on it, I don’t want a filler EP to rip off the fans…’

We’ve heard a rumour that Kscope will be re-issuing ‘10 Stories Down’ at the end of 2010. I know the band are keen for the re-issues to be made available to stop the ebay trading. ‘I know the back cat is pretty rare, I mean I don’t even have a copy of ‘What We Have Sown’. But the amount they are changing hands for on ebay right now is stupid. I hate the thought of people paying so much for a CD.’ exclaimed Bruce. Don’t ask us about the 8 Days and 8 Days Later bonus CDs though. Currently, it looks unlikely they will be included. That’s out of our hands…

We’ll be updating here shortly with some feedback from the EIER MIT SPECK FESTIVAL….

‘I vote 200% for this turn of two hands clapping the butt of the guy’

I’m not exactly sure what he means, but I expect two hands to be clapping my butt at future gigs please.

While you wait for SHIM, here’s an interview for you to have a gander at….

However, this track was a false start that was almost at the finish line. When I played it back, I had no idea why it fell at the last hurdle. A few tweaks here and there and the song came to life and sprinted over the line. Well, at least it will be out there now…

Our first videos for SHIM will be online in a few weeks, but in the meantime, here’s a little teaser of what’s to come…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atfwNeiCFcw

Yeah, it was me….

After 5 years I thought it was time to draw a line under that episode in our lives.  Thanks to everyone who has followed us and me over the last 5 years.   Looking back on some of those old posts, we’ve been through some pretty low times.  But thankfully we’ve made it through to the other side and that wouldn’t have happened without the TPT heads who have supported us.

Talking of which, I’d like to dedicate this new blog to ‘Pugwash’, a fan who has been with us through the lows and subsequent rise, as recently as our last London show a few months ago, but is sadly no longer with us today.