HEADLINES

MARCH 18, 2009
SNOW PATROL STILL HATES ME
Didn't they get the box of chocolates? I actually feel bad for the boys of Snow Patrol; whether or not my little mashup, "Every Car You Chase," is any good, I'm sure they're sick of hearing about it, and on their national holiday even! Yesterday morning on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1, host Mr. Moyles took the opportunity of the band's appearance on his show to ask them about the mashup, and they were, uh, ambivalent at best. I'm not sure which of the two band members present were speaking at each moment, but the conversation went something like this:

MOYLES: You've heard the "Every Car You Chase" mashup of your track and The Police...?
GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: ...Yes.
MOYLES: Do you like that?
GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: Uhhhh....
MOYLES: ...Or is it weird for you?
GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: It's weird.
NATHAN AND/OR GARY SNOW PATROL: Yeah it's weird.
MOYLES: It's great.
GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: (silence) (forced laughter)
MOYLES: (Worried, backpedaling) It is good!
GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: ...

Awwwk-ward. Moyles, who has always been a big supporter of mine, went on to tell them a little about me, and then the band mocked my name, which I suppose is fair game when one has (say it with me now) The Dumbest Name In Showbiz (TM), but honestly, guys, really? Is that all you got? Poor Moylesy was reduced to pleading my case, and invited the band round to his house to listsen to it one more time, which is I'm sure the last thing Snow Patrol wants to do in the entire world, but god bless him.

Listen to the whole bit here:

Chris Moyles asks Snow Patrol about "Every Car You Chase" on BBC Radio 1, 3/17/09

Of course, as regular readers of this web site will know, this isn't the first time a morning radio host grilled Snow Patrol about a mashup. Back in 2007, Nathan was asked about it by Rick O'Shea on Ireland's 2fm (read all about that here) and Mr. Patrol seemed somewhat bemused, at least, but that was before he'd had to endure 18 months of bombardment of the thing. Compare and contrast:

Rick O'Shea asks Nathan Snow Patrol about "Every Car You Chase" on Ireland's 2FM, 7/04/2007

So, Snow Patrol, I know it's weird, and you're of course free to have whatever opinions you have about the little bootleg. but I'd just like to say two things. A) This is basically at the level of someone making their own little YouTube video with your song in it, one that eventually gets a lot of hits for some random reason. Sure you may find it pedestrian or silly, but I fail to see how it's a threat. And B) especially in comparison to my silly mashups like "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" and my obviously-mocking mashups like "Boulevard of Broken Songs," "Every Car You Chase," to my mind, is rather respectful, neither bashing the song with a crazy genre-clash nor implying any musical theft--"Chasing Cars" doesn't really sound at all like "Every Breath You Take." I suppose you might read it as some sort of statement of equivalency--Snow Patrol=Sting?--and perhaps you feel insulted by that, but that's not at all how I see it. I just think it sounds pretty. So I guess what I'm saying is, if Dave Wakeling can handle it (love ya Dave!), then why can't you?

Okay, enough of that Party Ben Special Comment. Interestingly enough, the day before, another morning show gave a track of mine a spin: Woody, morning zoo host on my old alma mater LIVE 105, gave in to Menace's demands I guess and played "Live Your Life, Punk." There was a whiff of "whatever happened to..." in their discussion of me but I suppose that's only natural. Whatever did happen to me? I probably succumbed to the temptations of drugs and fame only to find salvation in helping others. Anyway, thanks for that guys, and Menace your check's in the mail.

I've been taking a few weeks off (thanks, bronchitis!) from the DJing, but now there are some fun events coming up around San Francisco where you can see me play tunes. First up, if you like free drinks, you might like this fun event hosted by the fine folks at MetroWize, happening on Tuesday, March 24 at Slide. Me and Miles will be playing tunes and the "hosted bar" (hint, hint) is from 7-10pm, plus it's free to get in if you RSVP over here. So go do that.

Other upcoming fun time shindigs where I'll be putting in an appearance include good old Bootie, Trash Disko, Eye Candy and Strangelove. See more details at right or on the Events page.

And finally, I know you European-type people are getting antsy about the Europe tour (now looking like it'll be late June through most of July) but I haven't gotten final confirmation on a couple of the gigs and I'm still looking to fill in a few dates. Does it look desperate and pathetic to ask anybody who has a club night in the vicinity of Europe that they might want a guest DJ at around that time to get in touch? I hope so.