Keep Your Deadbeat Hidden
White Collar Weapons - Videopia in Notting Hill
White Collar Weapons’ Kieran Rafferty talks Newcastle, improv and a growing obsession with video…
So I’ve moved to Newcastle to concentrate on writing music. I can live cheaply here and record at the university, and as such I’m thriving. I’ve been attending improv. groups and songwriter’s groups and have immersed myself in guitar and piano practice, studio work and studying music with great people who are really dedicated explorers. Whilst having my horizons expanded I’ve written lots of new songs and been working on a new three-piece project with Tim and Tom from White Collar Weapons as well.
The band comes up in small teams to record and we’ve got a new definitive studio version of ‘Uni town’ about a week away, and there’s gonna be a little live video for that made by a really good American filmmaker called Rei Vallejo.
Most recently we put together ‘Keep Your Deadbeat Hidden’, and it’s accompanying video. It was just a really simple idea that I’d wanted to do for ages, and in the process of making it, I’ve become addicted to making videos so hopefully there will be more being churned out shortly.
Over the summer WCW has morphed a little bit. We have a new drummer, Merijin, who is a dream and is performing better than you could ask despite the fact that we’re doing a lot of long-distance ‘rehearsing’, and I’m just starting to work with some new brass players too.
Also, we just did a Nokia web advert with ‘sister’ band Summer Holiday, and they’re about to release ‘Drive to China’ as a single. So things are going well for all.
Personally, I feel really dedicated to just making things for people’s iPods, as well as I can, at the moment, and maybe now also Videos for them to watch in the office. We have some really dedicated followers who seem to get a kick out of what we do and they keep the whole show on the road ’cause when you’re a small band and you’re not making money from it, it’s the random messages of appreciation that keep you going.
So I’m riding this purely creative wave, writing and making, discovering and learning as I go. Having said that, we’ve found time to play the odd live show – Redfest in Surrey, Playgroup Festival in Kent, St Andrew’s University, my local pub in Newcastle, Videopia in Notting Hill, Brixton Jamm and Camden Barfly in the last couple of months.
