UPDATE

Well after a few months off my feet things have been happening behind the scenes. Mark and Jack have been promoting the facebook page whch for those of you that don't know can be found here,

FLASHPOINT On Facebook

Please take the time to check out our new videos being posted there and give the page a like. 

 I'm in hospital on Tuesday 22nd for my back operation so I'l be on the mend real soon and back to ripping my guitar with the band again. We are all looking forward to getting back in the studio for some much needed rehearsal time. We have a few tracks sorted but we'll be getting our shit together real soon. Look out for an E.P that's in the works in the near future. Mark tells me his leg is feeling better and is anxious to get back to jamming and the rest of us feel the same way. Pauls got himself a job with an agency so he's been working, Jack dislocated his thumb a while ago which should be better real soon. We can't wait to get together as a full band for the first time. It's just me holding things up now, Once my operation is out of the way this Tuesday (Which is tommorrow now as I'm typing this at 2AM Monday because I can't sleep because of the pain) The surgeon tells me he's going to try and keep the cut small to decrease recovery time and I should be back on my feet in a few weeks pain free.

4th August 2013 I know I haven't posted anything here in a while but big changes have been happening behind the scenes. Half the band quit on me to pursue other musical ventures and at the time I was feeling a bit depressed about it nursing a one step forward 3 steps back attitude. I also injured my back and an MRI scan showed that I've fractured a disc in my that's pressing on a nerve which has lead to quite a bit of pain & down time. I'm on painkillers and I'm due at Northampton Hospital's Fracture Clinic on the 29th August 2013 and I'll find out if I'm gonna' be needing an operation to put it right. Anyway despite everything threatening to be flushed down the toilet things have turned out amazingly well. I had a reply to the band ad from a guy named Mark Innocent, he sent me links to his old bands material and long story short they needed a drummer and guitarist and we needed a guitarist singer and bassist. And 2 incomplete bands have become one. We've had a tryout jam and it went really well. They're decent determined people and we got along well socially and musically. Paul felt more relaxed with the new members in the band and as a result we all jammed well together last Sunday and it was a fun relaxed atmosphere, How it should be. It's gonna' be a mad scramble for us all to learn each others tracks but we'll have a decent catalog of material to bash you around the head with real soon. We're dabbling in a heavier sound played in drop C tuning something I've not felt the need to do before and even though the sound is heavier it's a bit of work for me re writing the same riffs & solo's to Flashpoint tracks so that they are played in the same key as the recordings but in Drop C tuning. I've considered buying another guitar so that I can switch guitars between tracks without having to re tune or work out my songs again in Drop C but I'm warming to the idea of playing them in drop C but played higher up the fretboard to match the recordings key, I'm still buying another guitar though I've had my eye on a Jackson soloist for a while now and I want it :). Mark had some interesting harmonizing ideas we tried out on existing Flashpoint tracks the sound is bigger and played the way it should have been played all along. We've had a big problem in the past previous guitarists not being able to play the material to a satisfactory standard but I'm pleased to say this wasn't a problem for Mark, I'm really pleased he had no trouble at all getting to grips with the riffs and changes. Scott Litster our vocalist has already began writing new lyrics for So Far To Hell & Back, I'm looking forward to hearing what he's come up with, Judging by the tracks brought over from their previous band I'm sure it'll be great. His vocals are impressive and are far better than any previous vocalist we have had in the band. At our first meet up/Jam we played through a track called "To The Last Man" A track Paul & me really liked and enjoyed playing, I'm looking forward to our next Jam where Paul & me will be meeting Jack Richardson, our new bassist who was also in the previous band with Mark & Scott so is already familiar with their material. We are learning from each other at the moment it's still early days working together but at the minute it's looking good. I'm eager to get things rolling and so are the rest of the band.

Sat 23rd March 2013

Just placed a new Ad for a new bassist and Guitarist http://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/bass-amp-guitarist-wanted-for-northampton-based-metal-band-t483921.html

I really hope we find replacements and quick I just want to finish the songs and get out there and play it. We need fresh heads in the band maybe it'll be the boost we need. At the minute it's hard to get any real practice in because of the Band now only being Vocals Drums And Lead Guitar. I've been ill the past week, had flu, then got a stomach bug and threw up for 2 days but all i've got is a bit of a cold now so that's good. I've been practicing playing guitar the past couple of days and making some progress getting "So Far To Hell & Back" down in Pro Tools. Progress is slow as i'm recording everything exept for vocals on my own. I've multitracked up to the 1 st chorus and i'm now working on completing the rest of the track instrumentally in the next couple of weeks. Then we'll record the vocals. In the meantime i'm placing ad's anywhere that'll let me to find our new Bassist and Guitarist.

Saturday 16th Feb 2013

Well the rhythm guitarist who was supposed to be auditioning Friday didn't turn up. So another strike out there unfortunately. I'm trying to stay positive about the rhythm guitar situation but it's so frustrating. I'm sure Paul would hit his cues better with a rhythm guitarist filling out the sound. As is it's proving to be a bit of a problem. Last practice went quite well considering we had been off since Christmas. Listening back to the session recording there was loads of energy and the pace was just right for So Far To Hell & Back. Coming out of the chorus into the interlude before the 3rd verse is prooving to be a bit of a struggle for Paul. The turnaround is quite fast and there's a lot of changes. I knew it would be a struggle for any drummer to hit it just right because it's quite a technical track. I'm sure that with a rhythm guitarist Paul would play a lot better. It's also difficult for me because i'm constantly switching between the rhythm and lead guitar parts so the others don't miss their cue's. On a positive note Dave's vocals sound better and better all the time This practice i was standing legs apart teeth gritted, mouthing along with the words In a Steve harris from Iron Maiden fashion :) Violently shredding away on my guitar loving every bit of it. It's starting to feel good to play as it's coming together now. All we need is Paul to get his fills and changes perfect then the tracks in the bag. We can then do a multitrack recording, throw it into the pile and on to the next one. We've got piles of ideas but at the same time we don't want to have 2 or three tracks on the go incase one gets rushed or neglected. As time goes by we're definatley learning to take cues from each other and we're slowly becoming a precision machine. The current line up is still relatively new so we are still learning about what makes each of us tick. As we become more familiar with each other, and the material it'll only get better. It's gonna' be awesome when it's done. I said this practice when we finish this track we're gonna' have a party to celebrate our hard work :) It's taking so long to come together but it's quality material and we all want to do our best.

We're Still ALIVE! Sat 19th Jan 2013

Band practice had been non existant for the past couple of weeks and we're not gonna' be able to get back to it until at least the 25th Jan 2013 Illness and lack of money has rendered the band to a dormant state at the moment. It's frustrating but a couple of us hav'nt got the money for the practice room for a little while so unavoidable. Me and Dave met up last Friday and talked over a few ideas and I may have written a verse riff for the new track idea where working on. This new track is bouncy, heavy and a little technical. Pauls got a basic drum beat down and I continue to jam out ideas for riffs. Infact i'm holding my guitar right now. I noticed that what we started doing in the studio towards this new track (as yet untitled) has strayed away from the original idea a little so I've been listening to some early recordings I made when I first stumbled on the riff to refesh the picking pattern in my head. It's gonna' be a good one when it's finished. Once we're able to get into regular practices again We'll be working towards the current tracks we've been working on to complete them and get some new ideas down. I continue to mess around on my guitar and new riffs are being written all the time. Dave continues to put lyrics together and Pauls working on his timing and fills. Can't wait to get things going again now the Christmas and New Year break is over.

Rhythm Guitarist

We are taking auditions for rhythm guitarist, If anyones interested in trying out or knows someone that does message me or call/text 07796024864 You can also contact us through our facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flashpoint-BAND/307971952595964?ref=hl Or by email, flashpointband@hotmail.co.uk

Updated Tracks

I've added some more samples to the MP3 Player on this page there's some more riffs for song parts that are works in progress aswell as a Vocal arrangement sample sent to me by the Singer (Dave Lawrie) we're real close to starting Vocal takes in the studio now i have my Condensor mic connected to my PC it can be used to add vocal takes in Pro Tools Or Cubase.

UPDATE

Well I hav'nt added anything lately because i've been a bit i'll Starting to feel a bit better now but not quite shifted it yet. Last practice went quite well, Paul's been practicing his drum parts but Dave had a bit of a sore throat so he did his best but it'll be better when he is. We ran through So Far and scratched our heads at it for a bit then we quickly ran through Massive Overload a track we hav'nt continued since our Rhythm guitarist left because it's the kind of track that needs a Rhythm guitar to sound whole. Dan did a good job of keeping the rhythm going and we ran over a couple of ideas to improve it in the future. We spent about 15 mins working on Massive Overloads Chorus which has'nt been recorded yet Dave a a bunch of lyric ideas and i arranged them to the chorus riff it's gonna be awesome once we put our full attention on it. FYYT had a breif revival to check that we could remember it mostly because we hav'nt wroked on it in a while. So Far To Hell & Back is getting our full attention until it's tight. It's all written but Paul & myself are working together to get the drum fills written and going over them again and again to tighten things up. We still face the problem of coming out of the chorus. The track proceeds nicely into the chorus but it's proving to be a bit difficult for Paul to change with the riff coming out of the chorus. We'll be working to fix this problem next practice. We should be finishing this track real soon. Also My Blue Icycle adapter came in the post which basically is an adapter that plugs into a computers USB port providing 48v Phantom Power to a Condensor Mic. I tested it with Pro Tools 10 And Cubase 6 I got it working OK in Cubase but to get it working in Pro Tools is gonna' take a bit of research ad clicking around in any case we're setup to begin vocal takes now so we'll be concentrating on that in the new year. For now we're working mostly on getting So Far finished. It's a complicated track with a lot of changes and we all need to be spot on with the changes to make sure the track has the impact we're aiming for. It's coming together & i reckon will have a big impact on people when it's finished i can't wait. We've got a pile of riffs & lyrics to work with to put together 5 more new tracks at least. I've been recording my my guitar practice sessions as well as the bands practice sessions. My own guitar practice to listen back to incase there's something usable in it. And the bands practice's for reflection & correction. I figured it would be good to record each practice and upload then email it to everyone in the band to listen to and think about whats wrong with their performance and correct any problems next practice. Looking forward to this Fridays practice Paul made a real big improvement in his drumming last week and i'm looking forward to hearing if it's any better next week. When he's great we're all great. Keep Practicing Paul.

Band Practice [09.11.2012] Aftermath

Well just got back from Band Practice...YEAH! It went amazingly. The new bass player was really good and has now joined the band. All we need now is a decent Rhythm guitarist. Best practice we've had in a long time i'm really happy with the progress and our tracks are sounding better and better all the time. We came up with a decent new riff aswell so that's another tracks to start working on real soon. Paul played really well tonight he's nailed So Far To Hell And Back and is sounding constant & tighter. I could have played a bit better but i was playing half rhythm guitar and half lead guitar to fill oput the track a little because of the lack of rhythm guitarist. Dave got the beat count and melody spot on tonight on several occations. He's really improving and has taken on the lead vocal role really well. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE makes PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT :) Looking forward to next week and must'nt forget we owe Big Noise £4.67 on top of the bill because we where a little short for the session and it did'nt seem right to ask Dan (Bass) to contribute to cost when it was his audition. We split it equally neext week though now he' a band member. The tracks are progressing well and Dan (Bass) did a good job of contributing some fat bass and it sounded awesome. Can't wait for next practice. Welcome to the band Dan Goodger (Bass)

Band Practice Tonight (09.11.2012)

Band Practice tonight, And it should should be a good one we've got a new bass player auditioning. Lets hope he's a good one and stays. Paul just rang me and he's coming and Dave will be aswell as myself all we need now is a Rhythm guitarist and we're a full band. We're working on "So Far To Hell And Back" Tonight because of a lack of rhythm guitar it's easier to compensate. Massive Overload is a bit more complex and requires 2 guitars to acheive the sound. I think i'll bounce down just the Rhythm guitar from the track in Pro Tools HD10 and use it as a dummy guitarist to jam with like a backing Rhythm guitar. Hopefully it'll work OK for now. We really need a Rhythm Guitarist... If anyone wants to try out please message me or call Phil on 07899042598 FLASHPOINT are a good rhythm guitarist away from completed material and gigs hopefully we'll find the right person real soon.