Just A Blog - Just A Band News and Rants

Moving House...

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:44:04 +1500

Hello everyone,

In an effort to streamline our content (much clearing of throat), we've moved this blog and all the site content into one location:

http://blog.just-a-band.com

We're hoping y'all will find it easier to access information if everything's in one place (plus, it kinda looks better, we think). We've managed to move the contents of this blog to the new location, so you can find all the archives there.

We've also disabled comments on this blog, so as to discourage the manufacturers of Viagra and other oddities from using our blog as a marketplace. :)

Feedback, as always, would be exhilarating!

Love, peace.
The Band.

Sightings

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 04:51:04 +1500

The band has been sighted in the press a couple more times this month: a review of Scratch To Reveal in Adam Magazine...

Y'all are way too kind!

...and in the society pages (!) of Drum Magazine. Here's the whole piece, that details Kwani's event.

Blinky is quite the eager beaver, isn't he?

Another review of that night can be found here, where we are described as "not just a band but practically a football team of dj�s, instrumentalists, and Erykah Badu-esque sirens."

Wambura (one of our soulful sirens) actually made two appearances in this moth's DRUM, the other one being in the piece on Idols winner Eric Moyo...

Eric slays the ladies.

Meanwhile, our big announcement is still on its way... (Nope, it wasn't that S2R is in the shops now, cool as that was...)

In Stores Now (Honest)

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 10:44:01 +1500

Finally!

Scratch To Reveal is really, truly at the Nu Metro stores at Westgate and Junction. Now you don't have to hunt us down to get copies. The batch at the store comes in standard CD packaging, so everyone who got the larger cases might have a rarity on their hands. Might.

All of nature's goodness in a handy pack - revitalize your man*.

* = Terms and condition apply.

Yesterday...

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:35:20 +1500

...we came across another review! This one is even more hyped than the last one!

Five sparks!This was in the August 2008 edition of WAPI Times. We found it as we went to perform at WAPI yesterday. As opposed to the football team vibe at Acapulco, it was just Blinky and Daniel up on stage, with acoustic guitars. We played Hey and then called Wakamba Wawili up on stage to do a song called Never Knew, an older Just A Band jam.

The crowd and vibe and setup and everything, basically, was worlds apart from the night of our first performance, which was cool for us to see how our stuff works in a different setting. It'll probably come in handy when we finally do our own show.

In the meantime, there'll be some big news soon, stay tuned.

It's One Thing

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:21:08 +1500

...to make music in the comfort of a studio, and quite another to gather people round and make music on stage. We had our first ever gig on August 1st, 2008 at Acapulco for the opening party of the Kwani? Literature Festival. It was great, we learnt a lot of lessons...

BLINKY.

To be honest�I must say Friday was a mixed bag for me.

It is one thing to make beats in the house and it�s a totally different ball game performing that music in front of people. First of all, I must say thanks to everyone who gave honest critiques on how we can improve the show, make it better and stuff.

A first gig is always tricky business for any band, anything that can go wrong will highly likely go wrong - in my case forgetting my lyrics at some point (which when I look back at is highly amusing now); though it wasn�t very funny at that point in time.

I now look at performing in a whole different light. It is not just grabbing the microphone and jumping around. I like learning from some of those things though, that�s the only way to make subsequent gigs better. That�s not to say that we didn�t have fun though; just looking out for the stuff that we can do to make future performances much more solid.

DANIEL.

Confessions: The last time I was on a stage to perform, I was in High School, and it was a solo verse at Drama Fests, and I forgot my lines. Twice. Stage Fright has forever haunted me...

But this time, I was there as part of this band, and with a whole squad of cool, mad friends (referred to by one commentator as a football team! Ha...) So I was more optimistic, and much as it was our first show ever, featuring glitches and hitches aplenty, it went aiight.

After interacting with everyone online and through the one-way medium of TV interviews, we got to actually meet you guys! Thank you for coming out to see us! We make jams in the house for geeky laughs and cheap thrills, but when we take them out there it�s all about you guys. Ma-lurvings. 

JIM

Someone stole my hat. It was new, and I was hiding under it the whole time.

Since no one else has said it, big thanks to everyone who helped this thing happen. Wambu and Njoki, our fabulous backing singers (who were in front, nevertheless). KD, Andrew, and Lance-olina, our Funkstar Deluxe Band. Mbithi, our transport guy and general what-the-hell-are-we-going-to-do man. Eddie Grey, for helping us with complicated chords that we forgot on stage (the thought counts, Eddie). Liz Ogumbo and Sarah Mitaru for joining us on stage.

Boogie-Monster, our sound guy. K1 for the photos, K2 for dancing on stage and keeping us company during rehearsals. Dipesh for screaming at us when we were setting up. Ugomatic, for just being cool (he�s generally cool). Most of these guys just helped us out for free (Lance carried his drum kit down three sets of stairs just to get the kit to our home).

Big thanks to Kwani Trust for trusting us with their launch, even though we�d never gigged anywhere. Tommy of Acapulco, for keeping calm even when the place got really crowded. And finally, to all of you for showing up (and singing along! Goodness, even I don�t know all the words...).

Mic check, 1, 2...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:46:26 +1500

Rehearsals for the August 1st show continue in earnest (here's proof - ye non-believers). In the meantime, bookworms can find the program for the Kwani? Literature Festival here.

Bill and Andrew jamming

Liz Ogumbo in the house!

We may have this backwards...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:32:07 +1500

Just A Band in concert!

A friend let us know that we are doing things in reverse of how most bands get their stuff out: Just A Band did the videos first, made an album a while after that, and now...you may have guessed it...we go LIVE and all up in your face! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The awesome people at Kwani Trust decided to let us loose at their Literature Festival's Opening Night Party at Electropulco! August 1st, 2008 at Acapulco, Muthithi Road from 8.30pm onwards. Entrance is 200 bob.

The night will be a crazy three-part event: the Kwani Literary Festival Opening Night, which will lead into the band's first ever performance, which will lead into Electropulco, an electronic music event with DJ sets by Jean-Marie & Ugomatic. It'll be mad.

We'll carry a box of CDs, so if you want to get a copy, meet the band, or just find out how the band kicks it live (let alone all the other cool stuff that will be happening that night) then clear your diaries...

200! A Mushy Thank You...

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:00:26 +1500

200 Facebook Fans!

Hello everyone!

We recently hit the 200 fan mark on our Facebook Page, which is a big deal for us. 200 is a big number, you know:

There are only 200 people that are responsible for most of the spam in the world, it takes 200 gallons of fresh water to create 1 gallon of fresh milk, and it takes 200 flight hours to get a commercial pilot license. You get the drift.

So, we'll use this occasion to say THANK YOU ALL!

To all 200+ of you, and to everyone who's talked about us, shared our music, bought the album, said hello on the street, called us whenever they hear our songs on radio or see us on TV, criticized us constructively, endured hours of slow Internet to catch the videos on YouTube, acted in the videos for free, brought cake and Alvaro to the house, shared ideas with us and generally unleashed positive vibrations our way.

Thank you all!

Just A Band.

How Was It For You?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:26:59 +1500

Scratch to Reveal was reviewed in this month's issue of Drum Magazine, the one with Ajuma on the cover. It's quite complimentary.

We didn't pay her.

In the interests of being fair, we'll put up the bad reviews, as well... So let us know if you come across any. (So we can send Dark Ninja Assassins after the writers...)

Getting The Word Out II: The Takeover

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:13:17 +1500

Hey people,

It's been a while since we blogged last, but just in case y'all forgot about us, we're about to continue with our "Poor Man's Media Blitz"...

Check us out on Capital FM Radio tomorrow night, the 20th, from 7pm!

And then tune in to KTN on Monday night, the 23rd, and visit the Just A Band house with the Artscene crew.

Yeah, we're also surprised by all the attention...

UPDATE: The Artscene interview got pushed back to their next episode (there was a piece on Jimmy's photography, though; one-third of the band is better than none, isn't it?) and then on the 30th, there was a Tourism Board special airing so (hopefully) our interview will go out on the 7th of July.

In other news, we got Wiki-ed! Read about us on Wikipedia.

And, finally, as we hustle on getting the CDs in the outlets, if you have to have your fix now, drop us a line and we'll direct you to a friend who's kindly agreed to let us use her establishment , which is situated in the heart of Nairobi city, to hawk CDs... :)

UPDATED UPDATE: Would you believe that we got pushed back ANOTHER week??? The Standard was launching their new look and KTN was covering the event live.

So... the 14th? We wait with bated breath.

Just A Band on Afromusing!

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:02:59 +1500

Hello everyone,

We recently did a nice, long interview with the with the pleasant folks at Afromusing. Of all the interviews we've done so far (admittedly, not that many), it's one of the more interesting ones.
Due to its length, the resulting interview was split into two parts. The first part of is here and the second part is here.

Check them out!

We'll concatenate the entire thing and put it in the Interview section in a bit.

Getting The Word Out

Sat, 24 May 2008 06:33:10 +1500

After we finished the album, we thought we could take some time to just laze around the house and all, decompress and catch our collective breath. But things didn't exactly go according to plan, because this week we've ended up peddling CDs, trying to pay them bills that had stacked up, and, cooler still, doing some Interviews!

And we have some good news! You can catch the first one tomorrow, the 24th! (We know that's pretty short notice; we actually did it yesterday, it kinda caught us unawares, too...) So check out NTV's N Sync programme with Tim Njiru at 7:30 pm, and "meet the band." I just saw a little bit of the programme and I was so jazzed that there's music from the album here and there in the programme, including our remake of Five Alive's "Oh Ndio." So you get to sample the album, too.

Next week, more interviews, and our post(s) about the experience.

Pamoja.

The Landing...

Sun, 18 May 2008 11:40:38 +1500

Pack shots?

After months of running around, IT�S DONE! The album droppeth, y�all! Now, we know there was some slight confusion regarding the �album launch�. We got many �So, where�s the launch?� and �When is the party starting?� calls � HOWEVER, by �launch� we simply meant we�d have lots of copies of the album in a couple of boxes. As it is, we hardly have the energy to do parties; mental, physical and financial fuel tanks are at zero (the satisfied kind of zero, though).

Issues of distribution arise. We�re trying to get the album onto iTunes for those who are far away, and we�re working on getting copies into music stores � we�ll let you know as soon as that�s done. In the meantime we�ll be hawking the album personally, and we have people like Mbithi who are happy to carry copies of the album around on our behalf (THANK YOU, GUYS!). Drop us a line if you want us to hook you up with copies � just because we�re a band don�t mean we can�t do deliveries too.

Thank you all for waiting, and for being so enthusiastic with your feedback. We really hope you like the whole package. We�re not sure if the party�s ended or if it�s just beginning � so we�ll catch up on some sleep, just in case.

With love,
Just A Band.

Shall We Dance?

Sun, 18 May 2008 11:36:29 +1500

We were so happy to finally be through with the album, we indulged in a little �pack-dance� we�ve been working on�it�s like the Macarena, with the slight exception of holding copies of the album instead of beer bottles (or spectacularly fat joints).

Think it'll catch on?

Just A Band at the BBC

Thu, 15 May 2008 01:04:57 +1500

The Beeb have ways to make you talk...

This actually happened late last year, and the interview may not have even aired yet, but yup, Just A Band dropped science at the BBC. And so, forthwith, some very cheesy photos...Jim is a spokesdrinker for Dasani

Blinky takes some time out to ponder the meaning of existence...

Looks like they let some random clown in as well!

Tomi was da man with da plan

Poor Tomi. (He put the whole interview together.) People were emphatically banging on tables after he asked us not to. Editing must have been quite an adventure... (We're sorry, dude!)

The piece was to air on one of the Beeb's shows on Africa. If you happened to have caught the interview, let us know!

Meanwhile... S2R comes out this weekend! (For real!)

"Fly" - S2R's first video single...

Fri, 9 May 2008 07:40:46 +1500

Screengrabs from the "Fly" video.

...will be out on the 10th of this month. Starring K2 as an astronaut with issues, "Fly" is the first video single on S2R (and the first track on the album). It was shot in our sitting room and someplace in Kitengela.

We'll do our best to put it up on our YouTube channel on that Saturday.

Feedback would be way cool!

Cover Artwork and Tracklisting

Fri, 9 May 2008 07:38:23 +1500

In other good news, we're proud to release the cover artwork for the album, which stars our good friend Lenny revealed for the android he really is.

Cover artwork - photo/artwork by that Jim Chuchu dude

And a final tracklist for the album:

1. Fly
2. Oh Ndio
3. Yamo Pa More (with Liz Ogumbo)
4. FunkyFineBeautiful
5. Do You Mind?
6. Hey!
7. Bye Bye (with Blaise)
8. If I Could
9. Twende Kazi (No Jokes)
10. Have You Seen Her? (with Dee and Sarah Mitaru)
11. Lights*Music*Stars
12. Iwinyo Piny (Bonus Track)

We�re excited about the music � it feels like a solidification of our sound, if we ever had one (we actually sing on some of the songs).

Attack of the Murphy!

Fri, 9 May 2008 07:32:18 +1500

Hello everyone,

We know we promised that Scratch to Reveal would be available on the 10th of this month (which is in two days time). HOWEVER, after sustaining numerous attacks of Murphy�s Law ("Anything that can go wrong, will � at the worst possible moment") � we�ve had to push the release forward by a week; to the 17th of May.

Murphy�s Law, you ask? Yes. A computer monitor blew, wallets were stolen, cheques bounced, payments were not cleared, ATM cards expired (?), bad haircuts; frightful stuff. Geeky joke enthusiasts would do well to check out this collection of proofs of Murphy's Law.

Till the 17th, then.
The Band.

Spot The Band

Sun, 4 May 2008 00:03:05 +1500

In your copy of the Phat! Buzz this month...

One mad, manic Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, three young men found out that they had only hours left to send in their KORA entry...
Our first print appearance!

We finally managed to make it, but before this "classy" photo was taken (and I think this was the best of the lot!) we almost lost it! If you happened to see some random dudes frantically running up and down Nai, yelling on their phones, or turning the sidewalk into a Graphic Design workshop, yeah, that was us. Sigh.

Andrew was very cool about carting us from place to place, and the Phat guys, Mike Strano and Harry, were also really helpful, thank you guys! We sent in Iwinyo Piny for the Awards. Fingers, toes and other danglies crossed!

Meanwhile, 7 days to go till Scratch To Reveal...

Band Update

Thu, 1 May 2008 11:29:39 +1500

10 DAYS TO GO!

Feverish work continues in the camp. This album business is NOT easy. Just to prove that we're not lying around smoking weed, I thought I'd share photos from the past few weeks (including video shoots for songs that will appear in the S2R album.

Dan, looking all artsy...
A session with Blaise (who doesn't like being photographed)
Our to-do lists Bill and Dan on the "Hey" set, slipper in background
Boflo at work
Boflo flubbing his lines, to the general amusement of all
Boflo hogging the limelight

The ever-helpful Mr. K2 stars in the "Fly" video as an astronaut with issues - and I'd like to thank him here for being game for wearing strange clothes and running around. THANKS, K2!

K2 on the "Fly" set
K2 on location, somewhere in Kitengela
K2 and some dorky paparazzi

Many thanks also go to the also-ever-helpful Mr. Mbithi for being around and resourceful. THANKS, MBITHI!

Mbithi grabbing his left breast, for no apparent reason

Tech-geeks like me may be interested in the DIY lights we're using to light the videos this time. You can read more about them here.

Casting Calls...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:08:00 +1500

Wilberforce 'Boflo' Kangwana is slated to play a character in an upcoming Just A Band promo for "Hey", a song from the new album, Scratch To Reveal.

Sources reveal that "Boflo" will play a lovesick man who visits the zone where normal things don't happen very often. Coming from a theatre background, Boflo says he's very excited to make the jump from the stage to the screen.

Wilberforce "Boflo" Kangwana
Speculation is also rife about the appearance of Upper Matasian beauty Betty Katunge in the promo as a "love interest". Tongues started wagging when she was recently seen talking with the Just A Band crew.

Betty Katunge - Upper Matasian beauty

Behind The Scenes

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:33:56 +1500

Hey people!

We're just a few weeks from the release of Scratch To Reveal, and all three of us are bonded to our computers. Ideas and images, tunes and lyrics are all up in the air, it's a heady atmosphere.

We're making new videos for the songs, too, they'll come out one by one after the album does. One of them is another fully animated 3 minutes, and this time we have the good sir Ahmed Deen doing some 3D to complement the 2D vibes. We're going where these guys went, but in a JAB-stylee. (You might just have to wait and see what I mean...)

Here's a look at some of the "props" we're making for the video: LP covers for imaginary bands! (Yeah, we do seem to have a thing for vinyl...)

And...

My favourite! We should do the Sinister Synthesizer album for real! Creepy Afro Disco Funk... Yum Yum...

There are some stories from behind the scenes of the previous videos to be found here for Mena's Maisha and here for Iwinyo.

In the meantime, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who's linked to us and/or the videos, hyped the work, sent us comments, joined the Facebook page, played our stuff and helped us out! I really don't know what to say! It's like, we used to talk about doing all sorts of stuff with visuals and music, but now, to be actually making it and better yet to get all this positive feedback... Thank you guys.

Random...

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:00:05 +1500

It�s been an interesting four months; moving out, making art a lifestyle plus source of livelihood, realizing that getting old is somewhat scary (particularly when you�ve always been good at being young).

One of the highlights has been moving in with the rest of the gang, (although one Dan has been M.I.A for a huge chunk of that time due to er... technical difficulties). It�s a really cool pad, conducive for creativity.

In January, I met the producer of a local TV music show to ask him to play a Just A Band video. It was a succinct meeting, he explained that the song was ahead of its time and he wasn�t going to lower his ratings playing something that his target market wouldn�t appreciate. And that was that.

Another TV station lost their copies of the video twice, so I begun to get the hint. A lot of questions ran through my mind at the time.

What role do we as artists play towards advancing music in general, or whichever art it is in the broader sense? Do we have to make stuff that people are familiar with to find a sense of belonging? How do you handle critics who don�t understand where you are coming from? Do you as an artist have to put into consideration what you are feeling at the time, or does it have to be diluted (again for lack of a better word, I need to play scrabble soon�) to suit the masses?

Anyhoo, it came as quite a surprise when my kid brother came running to tell me that one of our videos was playing on channel O. It may not be a big deal to anyone else, but it is to me, after months of trying to get someone (anyone!) to play the video. It was nice to have a station with a much wider reach play it.

Iwinyo Piny on the Hit Train!

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:00:00 +1500

Viewers of Channel O may have spotted Iwinyo Piny
playing on Hit Train. We were very excited until we
noticed it was credited to Just A Band in Nigeria!

We're still excited, though.

In case you haven't seen it, it's up now on our Facebook
and page and our YouTube channel (for real, this time):

http://www.youtube.com/justabandwidth

or see Iwinyo Piny directly at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3FIpWxUqXA

Thanks for the support, everyone!

Maisha (Just A Band Mix)

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 09:55:07 +1500

Music video for "Maisha", a remix we did sometime
in 2006.

Iwinyo Piny!

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 09:52:36 +1500

Music video for Iwinyo Piny - a track we did
sometime in 2005, and our very first music
video as well.

Greetings, Earthlings!

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:18:05 +1500

Hello everyone,

Welcome to our little space on the Net. We'll use
this particular section to keep you updated with
what's going on in our little world, and we'll probably
use this space to rant about random things.

Bear with us.

We're always happy to hear from all of you, so
feel free to send us a line at jab@just-a-band.com

Thanks for visiting!

Peace, love...
The Band