This is it.

So then.

Here it is.

10 years ago I came up with an idea having been asked to see about doing a solo project following my previous band Psalmistry coming to a close. I remember sitting with our drummer Matt and chatting about what we were going to do next. Neither of us had a clue,but I'd already spoken to Piers, and so I knew i was going to go to a different studio to record some songs. That was al it was though, just some songs - there was no live show even thought of. So the person to blame is actually K-Os

(www.k-osmusic.com)

who was supporting The Roots when I saw them in Bristol. He came on with a drink, sat on a stool centre stage with a guitarist & tabla player and rapped tunes with sung choruses. It made me think about getting on stage again with a couple of others & doing something chilled and easily organised!...

So following on from the start, umpteen gigs later, we come to the end. And it's an emotional time really. Me & Mark have been chatting about what happens next!

Hobbit's got an awesome solo career ahead of him and we're so proud that he's been a part of the group and that we've been able to play a part in developing his stage confidence & presence to what he is now. make sure you check out beatboxhobbit.com and also thebeatboxcollective.com

I don't know what happens next... maybe I need to take some time away from any idea of performing, and maybe think about what kind of songs I might want to make next? or maybe ignore music for a while? The hardest thing to think about is that The AFC became more than just a bunch of daft songs - we'd kind of got to a point where we'd really worked out how to put things across on stage and how we wanted to do things! And not only had we started to write good songs and perform them well, but people had begun to latch onto it and kind of get into what we were doing too. Hobbit put it best when he said that it was a shame that we couldn't all commit 100% to the band and go full on for it, but with families and jobs that needed doing, we were never really in that place... it's a shame we never got to do Edinburgh or Glastonbury or to go overseas, but we had a great shout anyways...

So once it's all done, who knows... But I'm sure it won't be the last of me!... I've been performing in a band since I was 17, so I can't believe I won't be doing nothing

I'll let you know

 Edi

The End is Nigh...

The Austin Francis Connection was first conceived in 2003. That seems an awfully long time ago, and now that we're here in 2013, the trio have decided that enough's enough and to call time on their time together.

There are many reasons for this - Edi's work, Mark's new family commitments, Hobbit's solo career... But when it all boils down to it - it's just the right time. Finishing at the end of the summer, The AFC have gone on longer than they ever previously considered (much like Edi's song introductions!) and are truly grateful to all those who've been to shows, bought mugs & CDs, or just laughed along with their tunes. The boys will continue to play a variety of shows throughout the spring & summer, but will be finishing off with a bang at the end of summer 2013 – 10 years after they first got together. So if you get the chance to see them live? Catch them while you still can! 

From gigs to 5 people, all the way to capacity crowds, from gigs on a bus to festival main stages – it’s been quite a journey, and one that never seemed thinkable when they first got together in a box room at Hobbit’s house to go through some ideas for a couple of songs to play at an open mic night. There have been far too many people who have been important and indeed crucial in The AFC getting where they got....our families are far too obvious and they have been massive supporters for us all, but here’s a few other key people and the reasons why.

 1. Piers Williamson – The man who started this whole thing going. He asked Edi to record a solo EP having seen something positive in him when they met at a recording studio in Bristol when Edi was still in his previous band. Piers ended up hosting all three of the band at his home while they recorded with him their first set of songs which eventually became their first EP “A Bit of a Shambles” as well as helping record “All At The Same Time” – their 2007 live recording. One of the nicest, loveliest men you could ever wish to meet, Piers has since moved back down south where they understand a bit more his “hot water” drink of choice a whole lot more than we ever did.

 2. Anthony Harper – A name that not many know. But someone whose friendship, stewardship, and encouragement for The AFC has always been there and has always been appreciated by the guys. Anthony was the manager of SomethingAboutNothing and is currently managing Superhero. A Giant amongst men -Anthony H.... We Salute You!!

 

3. Dweeb – OK, not strictly one person, but 4 fabulous people : Matt, Tim, BMan &; Dave. They have 4 lovely other halves; Sarah, Jo, Jen & Jacqui. Every single one of them has been nice to us every time we’ve ever met up! They’ve been a group we’ve seen in various different places as gigging bands who bump into one another in different locations, and we’ve always had great fun together. They’ve asked us to play their events which have always been a pleasure, and we’ve had both Bman and Dave step in & play when Mark & Hobbit have been unavailable!... Such genuine people – we’ll really miss crossing paths with you.

4. Gavin Tyte – Another man without whom this Shambles would not have existed. If Tyte had not been beatboxing at the school assembly I was in (as a teacher – not THAT long ago!) then I would never have got into beatboxing, never have thought of getting beatboxers to the Hiphop night at Greenbelt, and would have never have met Hobbit. A legend in UK Beatbox, he was a huge supporter of the band in the early days and is a role model for anyone involved in music and how to carry themselves – a true gent.

5. Rich Green – Many people have claimed to be The AFC’s biggest fan.... I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re not.....Rich is. Rich has spent more time helping us hand out flyers, put up posters, sell cds, organise signings, even find stools to sit on at gigs than anyone else (and I include members of the actual band in that statement!!) and deserves his title. Yet again, he will no doubt work out his work shifts at Greenbelt according to when we’re playing, and we will miss such dedication and devotion from people who we acknowledge are the truest of true fans.


So many many many people we could talk about, but safe to say that you will be missed within our lives and we will look back with huge fondness over the last 10 years as we move on & elsewhere. We are grateful to have been able to play gigs for this long and have people still like us. We are proud to have done everything through ourselves rather than meeting other people’s ideas & plans. And ultimately? We’re going out while we’re still good – with a bang!!

We Love You All – stick the kettle on, we’ll be round for a brew soon!! 
 xThe AFC

final edit of the video this weekend... v.excited! trying to now work out how best to use it for our promo... ideas?

Happy New Year!!

Welcome to the New Year. It's been a bit boring so far hasn't it?

Check the message below as a way to brighten your day

Meanwhile, let us take a little look back at the last 12 months and see how it's all been shall we?

Looking back to last January and our visit to Leicester to The Musician - doing well at the audition gained us a spot at the Summer Sundae Festival which was a corker.... so that was good!

February, and the Artwork for the album was finished and a trip down to Bristol to ensure the mastering of "The Album" was all good... me & James took a trip to the NGM studios... turns out it was mastered just great thanks! Send it all off to get pressed & printed...

March... can't really remember! probably a bunch of gigs and trying to get people to turn upto the album launch which was at Taylor John's in Coventry on...

April 1st (the date seemed to fit ideally if I'm honest!)

We had a great night, had a bunch of our mates watching, and also managed to present my Mum with her mother's day flowers too!

April & May was then just filled with trying to tell people about the newly released album really...

June & July meant trips to Festival in Coventry (love them Scouts!) Brightlights in Kent and Solid in Essex as well as a tiny tea tent in Leamington (which was in the end actually dope!)

It also brought us to the attention of Nottingham through the Future Sound of Nottingham competition and we played in the open air of Nottingham city centre on a stage in front of my own children, and a bunch of my school pupils too. Went well in the end, and a vote online put us through to that final in Rock City in Nottingham in July.

We had fun in the final too, but ultimately should have played "Dave" which was the track that got us noticed, instead of trying to show too much of what we can do too early on... in the end, an enjoyable show, but just missed out on the podium... but at least more people knew who we were after it.

Following that, we supported my childhood heroes Fat & Frantic in Leicester which was a huge honour for me - especially as some people travelled down from Nottingham just to see us play there! (Lynsey, Kirsty, Steve - you're bonkers, but we think you're ace!)

Summer brought a show at Summer Sundae (which was mint) Momentum (which was mint) Harvest (which was a long way away, but was mint) Shambala (which was double mint) just before Greenbelt and a weekend which will remain long in the memory of the AFC.

Hobbit blew his throat out via snoring in a tent & playing the mainstage with Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.... which left me & Mark to play our Underground Stage show on the Sunday + the Last Orders show that evening too. We messed up our original set list, brought in RJ on drums, Adapt on beatbox along with various people to sing along on stage with us!... Thankfully, it seems that the songs are halfway decent and that we were at capacity in the venue throughout the gig so that Luke Leighfield told us he couldn't actually get in!

He saw us later though as we played at Last Orders, went down really well and made some new friends to come and play the show in the shop the next day...

Check the flickr set of our last show that weekend...http://www.flickr.com/photos/64351847@N02/sets/72157627430893347/

September, October, all involving bar gigs in Cov & Notts, with an interview with Notts music paper LeftLion to boot - http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/the-austin-francis-connection/id/3970

which leads us to November.

The Bodega Social is a great venue in Nottingham. It was made greater on the 2nd November by the fact that we got to support the Long Beach CA hiphop legends, Ugly Duckling. Not only are they a brilliant Old School hiphop crew, but they're some of the nicest guys around. And we got to play to a hiphop crowd....which was interesting... I wasn't sure how it would go down - but it was wicked! And to get some of your heroes turning round to tell you that they think you went really well as their opening act? Trust me - it's great!

Following that, a weekend filming for our first video for "Everybody Knows Dave" rounded off a great and eventful year....

Here's to another one - Cheers!!

COMPETITION TIME!

Now then!!...

We have a very special limited edition, one off prize that I thought we'd give to a competition winner (not something we've done before, but let's give it a shout shall we??!)

It's going to be a photo competition.

Here are the rules.

1.) The photo must be posted on our facebook page before the 1st November.

2.) The photo MUST have been taken at an AFC show. But it does also include any part or element of the show and the gig itself. That does also include on the way to, and on the way back from...

3.) The photo doesn't have to be high res & glossy to impress us... sometimes, less is more!

4.) The photo does NOT have to include any of the band, but it could if you wanted.

5.) The winner will be decided by Hobbit & the winning entry will be acclaimed from the rooftops and championed across the world!! (or at least, we'll tweet it!)

There it is!! if you've got a good shot of something, why not send it in now to www.facebook.com/theafc and start the ball rolling!

Much Love,

Edi, Mark & Hobbit

Want an AFC TeaBag??

All you need to do is message me at theafc@hotmail.co.uk with the message line - "I need a cuppa" and then I'll give you an address to send a SAE to, which will then be dispatched forthwith containing the very finest blend of leaves to be enjoyed alongside hot water, milk and mebbe a couple of sugars (if it's evening particularly)

The AFC, with a cup of tea - it's almost like it's made for one another!!

The Weekend that just was!... Shambala, Greenbelt and all of that...

Well then!

what a strange up and down weekend that was!!

Just remembered....

...that I had this blog and hadn't written anything on it in ages!...

SO! a bit of an update really... what have we been upto?! Well... where to start?

we got an album ready & available and have been slowly selling them at gigs and shows... never going to be a massive seller like that! so we've set up a bandcamp account where people can download the album, as well as a bigcartel account to buy our album, other CDs and mugs from!

We played one of our best shows in ages at Festival - which is a weekend for ex scouts, adult scouts and scout leaders... I know sounds a riot eh?! well actually Yes!! they were boisterous when we played at their weekend last year and this year? they were off the chain! We got a little bit giddy and had a right giggle onstage (including me playing Connect 4 against one of the crowd during HobbitSkit)... here's a couple of photos and a link to some Youtube clips....

So after the heckling and hilarity of Festival, we took a bit of a break whilst Hobbit went and battled in the UK Beatbox Championships Finals at the O2 in London. He went through the first bit, but battled Ballzee in the semi final, and held back a bit in reserve - which ended up as a mistake! The problem with battling is always, when do you give everything? when do you hold back? do you save your best stuff for later rounds? or give it all to make sure you get through? In the end, the pintsized dynamo was beaten in the Semis but beat one of the qualifiers, Beatfox to assure 3rd place. In the last 2 years, he's had a silver and a bronze so I KNOW that next year he'll be gunning for that top spot again!

On top of that, an elusive TV appearance for the man from the shire resulting in this!...

Click the link to see Hobbit on Blue Peter! (from about 6 mins onwards)...

And following that brush with stardom? what next? Why... a set in a tiny tea tent at Leamington Peace Festival of course!!...
As always seems the way, what began with a less that salubrious setting with the prospect of an audience of a couple of grannies having a cuppa, turned into a great little gig that we all really enjoyed! couple of pictures to follow....

You've never seen Hobbit so up for a gig! He did a solo section and a new loopstation tune which went on for nearly 20 mins on his own! The people of Leamington certainly seemed to enjoy themselves, and we could get Tea on tap as and when we wanted it - what a great show!!....

enough of an update for now - there'll be more of the same in the next 24 hours to catch up with the rest of our goings on..... promise!!....

Want to buy an album anyone?!

If you want an album from the AFC at the minute there are 4 ways do do it.

1. buy the album at a live show - really good cause there's no postage or waiting time

2. get in touch with the band direct at theafc@hotmail.co.uk

3. Order it via BigCartel.com ( https://theafc.bigcartel.com)

4. download online from bandcamp.com (http://theafc.bandcamp.com/)

These are all set up, run & manned by ourselves. We'll try to organise things as well as we can to ensure safe and quick delivery to anyone who orders something...

How to make an album pt 2 - The Artwork

So....

Once we'd sorted the Music, it's time to sort out the Artwork right?! well.... no, not really!

Actually, before we'd got any of our songs finished, I already knew what the artwork was going to look like well before that, and all thanks to a young lady from Coventry called Sammy.

It all started with some sketches that were drawn after we played at Godiva Festival in Coventry that then found their way onto Facebook... having seen them, I got in touch with the artist who turned out to be young artist Sammy Borras who, at the time, was working on internet based comics at http://www.mangazebra.co.uk ...

After having seen those sketches and suggesting the idea of working together, it was kind of forgotten about until September ish 2009, straight after Greenbelt - when these arrived on FB as well

...and ideas of properly trying to get something together entered my head. I got back in touch and asked Sammy to do some cartoons for us. She asked for some photos to work from - so I sent some and awaited the results...

You can see why we were impressed right?! And as well as this, we came up with the idea of using cartoon strips as The AFC is a little bit like "Life in Cartoon" (a potential album title at one stage!!), and used the idea of 3 of our songs - Marmite, Everybody knows Dave, and Alan - as a basis for the 4 panel strips.

on top of all that, the picture on the front cover sums up exactly The AFC in a one shot panel

which, along with a few photos & lyrics etc. gives you a very lovely bit of artwork all wrapped around a lovely bunch of songs from The Austin Francis Connection.

for more details of Sammy Borras' latest plans and ideas, check http://giantrhinos.blogspot.com/

How to make an album pt 1 - The Music

Now then.... how are you? you look great - did you do something different today? your hair right? you look amazing - you should have it like that all the time!!

Anyways... I thought I'd give you a little bit of an extra something to give you some insight into what we've done to make this album. In a couple of blogs (which I'm going to try to get into the hang of doing more often) I wanted to just document the trials and tribulations of putting our album "The Album" together.

We started the band around 6 years ago and recording was not something we really thought too much about. Our first EP "A Bit of a Shambles" (http://theafc.bandcamp.com/album/a-bit-of-a-shambles) was put together in 3 or 4 weekends up in Yorkshire, holed up & working Saturdays & Sundays with the awesomely talented and gracious Piers Williamson. Then, the recording that followed that was a Live album "All at the same time" which was recorded by Piers at the Hope & Anchor in Coventry & pressed up ourselves.

After both of these, we needed to look at alternative recording arrangements and stumbled into The Chairworks - again in Yorkshire - which was an expensive studio on a cheap rate. We recorded a rough version of a Pilot for a radio show....which never got put together properly!...

Just after we'd worked there, the studio was taken over by other people who wanted more money from us and in the end, we never got most of our script back...

That section in Yorkshire took away a lot of our energy, but we found a studio via some friends of ours called OneNation & began working with James - who we'd gigged for in the past.

First thing to do was to get all the files from our previous recording spots. One of the advantages of One Nation was that it used Protools, Cubase AND Logic, so we could work with all the platforms we'd used in the past.

Once we cobbled together the initial bits, the plan was explained to James about us wanting to record an album where the tracks stood up on their own, but the main focus was our sound we get live and slightly augmenting that rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel. We also had some writing still to do, as We Are The AFC, Drop That Beat, Can you See The Stars were all written and partly recorded, but Dave, Alan, Ginger Pride were not even properly written, let alone recorded!

I will however say, that my regular pilgrammages down to Leamington to hook up with James for evenings throughout the last 18 months have been great, fruitful and also a great learning experience. He really does know all elements of the studio and learning things like vocal mic position and use of reverb to create a dry sounding vocal has been excellent.

I'm also pleased that even after listening to tracks 30 or 40 times whilst recording & mixing it all, he still giggles and snickers at some of the jokes in the vocals - that means I gotta be doing something right yeah?!

The biggest headache with all the tracks & skits has been attempting to get the levels of everything consistent from the first track all the way through to the last. You will also be able to listen out for - the chime bells on Jobcentre which are actually from an electric drum kit and the use of a Rhodes piano in one of the skits (good job it wasnt in the studio all of the time else it'd be heard on every single track throughout the album!!)

We deliberately wanted an album though that was dominated by the three of us. it was always intended to be a reflection of both the live and studio sides of The AFC. There will be a couple of tracks on there which we probably won't play live - Black Day & Hope this is a rehearsal to name a couple - because they'd be too out of place at a live show in comparison with Ginger Pride which will slot in quite nicely. Also look out for the sub bass on most tracks - it's actually Hobbit! as is the shaker you hear throughout the tracks. I can also tell you, that if you hear organ or keyboards anywhere - that was me!...

Does sound good though.

NEXT TIME: Pt 2 - The Artwork

Congrats to Hobbit @hobbitbeats fo the victory in the SW heat for the BBox champs... here's to success for 2011 eh bud?!

Looking forward to gigging this week, catching up with the band, planning stuff for our Album Release on 1st April - can't wait!!

Finally it's here!!...

Ladies & Gentlemen... we know it's been a while, and some of you have been incredibly patient as you've awaited the arrival for many years now, but The Album is here.

Artwork by Sammy Borras

We struggled over the idea of titles, and one or two people gave some interesting ideas ("Straight Outta Gloucester" etc) but seeing as we kept calling it The Album and people kept saying "When's The Album coming out?" it seemed to make sense, as well as the fact that we've been cobbling it together and have got 2 EPs and a Live Recording to our name... so this one now fits as the culmination of all those other songs we've written & discarded or lost, and is a volume of songs & skits hich kind of add together with the other recordings as a full picture of what we're like & how we've developed from a little trio playing a couple of songs I'd written on my own to a fully rounded live act with a full peformance to grace the biggest stage or the smallest living room!...

So these songs cover topics from funerals to imaginary friends, from superheroes to trying to get things right, from failed relationships to Gingers... and we've taken care to make them a bit fuller than we might on stage, but not wanted to overproduce stuff too much... we wanted it to be a bit of a mirror to what we're like really. Also we wanted to ensure that the artwork was as good as the songs - huge thanks to Ben who took some live photos of us which look great, as well as Sammy Borras (www.mangazebra.co.uk) who drew some ace cartoons a whole year ago and that I genuinely love!

Tracklist

So that's the plan - great tunes that we hope you'll love in a package that we hope we'll love too!

if you want one? you'll have to either get a CD at a show (including the album launch on 1st April) or download it from our bandcamp site (i'll send more details as soon as I can)

Keep your peepers peepin and we'll let you know what's happening

Much Love & Excitement

x The AFC

check this! http://tinyurl.com/6csw43b Video of Hobbit's solo section from Leicester last Weds...

Back in the game! Charity gig in Coventry at Inspire... we're on late Tues night, bout 10.30/11 ish?! Be great to see some friendly faces!?

just arrived at the studio via train (stupid knee injury) so final Album mixing has begun!! Lots of sitting around listening to hihats!....

Back from gb10... Highlights? Ugly Duckling, @extracurricular, @lukeleighfield, bacon barn, Milton jones, compering mainstage, my kids loving it all!!

Tent Up.... Chilling at Hobbit's place before heading back onto site, then out for Indian later on hopefully!.... quality.

at Momentum in the lounge after Soundchecking... Mark on the way to join us... here's to a good show eh?!...