12 May 2014
Well after that traumatic last week Monday began with the dealing with the fall out.
The single “Blind to the Beautiful” dropped out of the Top 40 Independent charts in the UK which was no surprise considering I lost the principle support mechanism from the media opportunities generated by the lost UK tour and have so far had no support in national media or radio despite my promotions team badgering editors and producers.
Although I was disappointed it didn’t climb a bit higher this week the single and video have been a positive asset to the album promotion with 25 000 views on the video on You Tube and a lot of people visiting this page and the web site for the first time! I never expected in all reality a hit single and I am very proud it made number 36 in the alternative charts which was solely down to your backing. It is obvious however that most of you prefer physical albums and choose not to download. The ratio of orders here for the Deluxe and standard editions easily match the downloads on i tunes for example.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when I launch the promotion campaigns in mainland Europe in the weeks ahead with the German Fishheads Club mail order system coming on line.
fishheadsclub.de will be selling the Deluxe editions and vinyl from Karlsruhe along with other merch including the standard version of “Feast” which will also be available on Amazon DE together with wide availability of the album for downloads across mainland Europe and beyond.!
The German web site will be linked to the official site but will have all pertinent news and information in German. There are plans to expand this in other countries but the mail order shop on the fishheadsclub.de site will be multi lingual and most importantly enable people to buy in Euros and benefit from European postage costs.
In the next 2 months in Netherlands and Germany “Blind to the Beautiful” will be aimed at radio and TV and perhaps there’s a better chance of a bite over there especially at college/ university radio and once again regional stations. I’ll be putting together promo teams for the other countries we are playing in on the “Moveable Feast Tour” later in the year and hopefully I can maximise on the overall profile and really build on the positive vibes around the album that are still buzzing over the water.
The one thing I won’t be expecting are articles such as the one printed in the Scottish Daily Mail today that my Mum called me to tell me about this morning. It was pretty typical of what I’ve come to expect over the years from “mainstream” press in the UK.
The article in question mentioned the single and then went on to mention Tara and her Mother’s involvement under a headline with something to do with the “How Fish filmed his own Generation Game”! It praised the Greenpeace footage and the video in general and had a still from the video with Tara and her Mum and a couple of photos referencing “Kayleigh” etc which was all well and good.
The article then went on to go on about my subsequent divorce, that scurrilous New of the World article about “drug fueled rage” and ” alleged wife beating”, the second marriage and the divorce after “11 months” ( it was 6! ;-0 ) and general negative shit which concluded the article with a quote from me denouncing all the allegations as “rubbish” with no mention of the “Feast of Consequences” album anywhere in the piece! Just what I’ve come to expect from the press especially in Scotland where it seems impossible to get any recognition of a positive nature.
The regional press in England and Wales has been fantastic and it’s a shame I haven’t been able to build on that with the profile from shows. The BBC and other regional stations have also been incredibly supportive and again I wish I had been able to capitalise although the ticket sales across the board for the gigs have been well up on the last UK tour and judging from what I have heard from other bands out there I was making waves where some were only making ripples.I’m sure by the time I get back out there later in the year and do another round of promo we should be close to sell out venues in a number of places in September and December.
The loss of merchandise income and the ability to move old stock combined with the almost £10k on rehearsals that aren’t covered by the insurance claim put a dent in the hull but didn’t hole us.
In order to try and recapture some of these costs I’ve decided to sell the shirts I’d hoped to move on the tour at knockdown prices.
The 2013 dated UK Tour shirts will be going on sale at £9.99 including VAT with all the other shirts that we had intended to sell such as the “Thistle Alley” , “Fish X Ray” and the “White tree ” shirts going up at £14.99 including VAT while stocks last! They are available now on fishheadsclub.com and any support you can give with these is as always appreciated especially given the current circumstances!
As a matter of interest you can now access the website with fishmusic.scot as I am now proud owner of another domain name which makes remembering the site even easier. I just need some Eastern European accented furry animals and a catchy phrase now!
I’m still waiting on the rest of the tour dates for the second half of the European tour and hope to have them soon. There are French, Spanish, Italian, Swiss and other countries on the itinerary as well as more German and possibly Belgian shows. All are being negotiated just now as Yatta threads it all together with the UK section now having morphed into a Christmas tour!
I talked to Robin today who is unable to do anything as he is exhausted after short periods of activity. He’s still in a great deal of discomfort but his skin is starting to clear slowly. We are looking at going back into rehearsals on the 25th May and he’s hopeful he will be ok by then.
The unexpected gap in my calender has given me time to examine other cunning plans and deal with issues such as the replacement Deluxe editions (which I am glad I did not have to deal with on the road!) a set list I wasn’t totally happy with after recent rehearsals, the next batch of downloads that need to follow up on “Feast” and other releases including the live material from the 2013 shows which Steve Vantsis is assembling and mastering in order to put up for sale as downloads on fishmusic.scot.
John Reid will be adding footage shot on the last tour over the coming weeks which was shot from out front on one camera but which has the desk sound added by Steve. They are quite quirky clips as such!
Everyone is trying to keep themselves occupied in one way or another and the next gig we focus on is Rome on the 5th June for which we should have adequate time to prepare for if Robin is fully recovered, as hoped for and expected, in the next 2 weeks.
I’ve not had a break; if you can call it that for me, for quite a while and sitting here in the studio at night I’ve had time to look at things from a different perspective and make some private and personal evaluations of where things should be going in the long term. The space for clarity of thought has been welcomed and I feel a lot more relieved now I have a vision of where I should be heading and the goals I am aiming for.
Despite all that’s happened in the last week or so I’ve found positive things to build on as dwelling on misfortune gets me nowhere. There are reasons why things happened and in the long term I am sure they will all make perfect sense.
Today is a blue sky day with whispery clouds!
This ship sails on!
