Saturday 22nd May 2010 - Well once again the gap between blogs has been quite large - fear not though! We've been spending our time wisely writing new material and... well ...to be honest.. that's it really... ah whey look on the bright side we've got some gigs coming up which I've just added onto the Gigs page. Cheers mind, Ruby.

Wednesday 21st April 2010 - It's that time of year again and Ruby is off to Whitby for the goth festival. Champion. After supporting the excellent Faith and the Muse, at The Colliseum last October, we have donated 150 3 track CDs to the Sophie Lancaster fundraiser which is being held at The Spa Pavilion on Thursday night. A fiver on the door all going to a great cause and the first 150 folk in get a free H.E.D CD. Nice mind. Check the WGW website for further details of everything else that is going on, on the Thursday night. Click the following link for further information on the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. Cheers mind, Ruby.

Monday 15th February 2010 - Alreet? Well, it's true, I have been rather lackadaisical of late when it comes to updating this blog. I'm on it now though so... how far back do I have to go.. oh yes... Christmas... Another superb H.E.D Christmas party at Bubbles. Cheers to everyone for coming down and making it such a great night. Special thanks to everyone who got up to have a jam with us: Ant 'ATDM' Flatlord, Bushy, Massie, Trampled Under Foot, Jake Chrisp, Steve Whitworth & Amy Hull. Apologies if I forgot anyone, send me an email and I'll get you added to the list. It was great to have everyone up but, I have to say it was particularly cool for me when my son Jake got up to bang the drums along to Play. Proud dad. Not long after Christmas we had our first gig of 2010 at the excellent Three Tuns supporting Skinny Molly. Tremendous turn out and what a band to support! One guitarist from Lynyrd Skynyrd the other from Blackfoot. Southern rock heaven. Then we played in Sunderland at Paddy Whacks ( best Guinness I've tasted in a long time) with The Moonlight Valentinos. Another great band, great night and superb turn out. We'll be back at Paddy Whacks soon on a Saturday night with a full H.E.D set so watch the gigs list. Right then I'm off to practise for this Friday's gig at Pumphrey's Cellar Bar in Newcastle... it's underneath the Old George in the Bigg Market if anyone fancies some free rock and drinks promotions... nice mind. Cheers and...erm... Happy New Year! Ruby.

Tuesday 1st December 2009 - Cracking night at the Three Tuns tonight. The night started off ropey with some quality hangovers from The Poorboys album launch yesterday (Ant's hangover even developed lumberjack shirt symptoms... but he's alright now 'cos he drank all day and he drank all night). Then Rob from Sorry for Nothing got rear ended... no not that... I mean honestly... you try to have a serious conversation... his CAR was rear ended. Still, everyone managed to find their way to deepest darkest Sheriff's Hill and blew the cobwebs off. Cheers to Craig from the Tuns for doing the sound... and what a sound marra... champion. And cheers to the staff from the Tuns for making us so welcome. Finally it was great to see some faces I haven't seen in a while. Thanks to Sorry for Nothing who were their usual guttural, angry and twisted melodic selves and thanks also to The Steady Boys for kicking it all off in a post punk style. We have a couple of dates from the Tuns to add to the gig list so I'll get them posted ASAP... nyaye! Ruby.

Friday 4th December 2009 - Fabulous night at Nikhs Nightclub tonight. We were really excited about playing at Nikhs again after the last superb gig we played there earlier in the year. I was especially excited 'cos it was an original music gig! Woo hoo! Nee covers! Well, ok we did hoy a couple of covers in due to requests from the great unwashed but we still played well over a set of our own stuff. Massive thank-you to Nikh and all of her staff for being as lovely as usual. Cheers also to From Order Comes Chaos for kicking things off. Get your backsides down to Nikhs on Fridays for a bit of live original rock music. You can't get better than a night of new music and original tunes. As far as I'm concerned that's what it's all about. Never been a big fan of covers... hey some are fun... but to hear a band playing songs they've carved out themselves... whey that's what it's all about. Nice. Ruby.

Saturday 7th November - Cheers to Jo, Jamie and Mary from Topmum for looking after us so well in Whitby. We had a cracking time at The Coliseum - what a brilliant venue with absolutely perfect acoustics! It was great to meet the folks from Faith and the Muse - all lovely people and the staff at The Coliseum were equally superb. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more acoustic nights at The Coliseum during the next Whitby Gothic Weekend (22nd - 26th April 2010). Check out the main WGW site for photos of what was going on around the town and all the fantastic looking cyber goths, steam punks, trad goths, vampires and general alternative types. Marvellous. Hopefully see you all at the Three Tuns gig on the 1st December. Oh and thanks for all the sarcastic emails informing me that I'd put Saturday incorrectly instead of Tuesday on the gig list. I'm not going to make any excuses. Just a lazy copying and pasting error. Nice mind, Ruby.

Saturday 17th October 2009 - Two weeks in a row! I must have nowt to do. Just thought I'd give you a little update into what's going on in the world of H.E.D. Firstly, we've been adapting some of our own songs, and some covers (but hopefully not ones you'd expect) to add some acoustic gigs into our repertoire. Don't worry, We'll still be banging out the same fully rocked up H.E.D music, this is as well as, rather than instead of. We'll be off into the studio again soon to see our mate Ally and hopefully start recording album number 5 - The Terriblists. Right then, I'm off for some booze and chinese food. Nice mind. Ruby.

Saturday 10th October 2009 - Cheers to everyone from the Morpeth Classic Bike Club for an excellent gig last night at the Dyke Neuk. Cheers also to the gaffa of the Neuk and his staff for making us so welcome; and to the lead vocalist from The Dirty South who got up and jammed Crossroads with us... tremendous singing marra! We'll definitely be playing there again so keep your eyes peeled for another gig out in Meldon soon! Good beer, nice folk and lots of loud rock music... y'nah what... it doesn't get much better than that mind. Cheers, Ruby.

Tuesday 18th August 2009 - Hello folks, Cheers to everyone who came down to Trillians on Thursday the 30th July (sorry been suffering from Cantbebotheredtoblogitis). It was a brilliant night and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Go Go Midgets, cracking band. Not so sure about Jake Bullet... canny little punk band and all that but they used our gear and disappeared before any of it needed lifting without so much as a by your leave. That kind of thing really bugs me. Manners cost nowt. Next time you turn up to play with us without amps... whey lets say the phrase ends in 'off' and you're gonna be pretty quiet and acoustic. Nee second chances. We were sporting our brand new vinyl backdrop (classy and wipe clean) so cheers to John for the design and Tracey for the painting. We'll get some photos of the gig uploaded soon. Apparently, we were the last band to play through Trillians ye aulde PA as the place is getting done up and refitted this week... might pop in for a drink to see how much it's changed. I bet it's not that much really... I remember that last time Trillians got a make-under. Which suits me, I like a good dive, especially when they do decent music. Next live gig is Friday the 21st August at Ashington Rugby Club - around about 8pm. Don't forget that our mates Sorry for Nothing blew away the competition and are playing in the Battle of the Bands final at The Venue in Newcastle on Saturday 22nd August - get yourselves down and give the lads some support! Or sit at home watching crap Saturday night telly, your choice! Cheers mind! Ruby.

Monday 27th July 2009 - Well, against all of the odds and thanks to copious amounts of pain-killers I managed to scrape myself off my sick bed and turn up at Butterknowle for the excellent Full Throttle Festival. Even though I had to tailor my plans down from a weekend of drinking, camping and madness down to turning up, playing and then sodding off home for more pain relief. It was still an excellent day out. We played in the Ska Monkey tent and thoroughly enjoyed stamping our pedals, amps and leads into the filthy Durham mud and bashing out 3/4 of an hours worth of premium H.E.D music. Big thank-yous to: Tony from Ska Monkey for putting the tent and PA on; Jason from Scooby-Snaps for taking the photos; Ant the accidental but convincing zombie impersonator for being the drunkest man in the world; all of our mates from Bubbles who came all the way to Durham for the gig and of course the three other bands playing with us: The Scarletts, Lazy Baker and From Order Comes Chaos. Get your tickets sorted for next year people because it was a very cool festival with a very chilled atmosphere. Hopefully see you all at Trillians on Thursday for some more live H.E.D music! Oh, before I forget, we've got another H.E.D gig for you at the Rugby Club in Ashington on Friday the 21st August. Cheers mind, Ruby.

Tuesday 9th June 2009 - A fair few legends have it that the universe was begun with a song. I really hope it wasn't as this would imply that musicians were involved somewhere. If the entire fabric of reality was created by musicians then I'm sorry, the universe is held together with gaffa tape, plugged into too few sockets and probably only hanging around because it hasn't been paid yet... Hmmm... Ruby.

Thursday 22nd May 2009 - Sorry folks... we've had to cancel Saturday's gig at The Garrick's Head. We're gutted as we were looking forward to it immensely but, it turns out that the problems with Bran's arm are a lot worse than we first thought and he's probably looking at an operation and some serious 'arm rest' (ahaha) to get himeslf sorted. Worry not though we're gonna draft in and train up a temporary guitar player to cover... but... we don't have time to get that sorted for Saturday. Those of you that know us personally know how much we love to gig so... massive apologies people... just one of those things that can't be helped. Cheers mind, Ruby.

Monday 18th May 2009 - Alreet? It's taken me a while to update the website following Ant's 40th birthday party last week. Apologies for that but most of you realise by now that this blog is written under sufferance. Cheers to Ant for getting up and doing a canny job of chanting along with us. Not bad for an old gadgie with tiny feet. Especially as he was only 38. A big thank-you also to the acoustic all stars who stepped up after the gig to entertain us all into the wee hours. A little bit more bad news as far as Bran's arm goes - the gig completely knacked it and he's now waiting for further medical interventions. We're not sure if we'll be able to play on Thursday but we'll let you know in good time. On a personal note - apologies to all of the people I managed to delete off my friends list on Facebook... I'll not go into the detail regarding exactly how ****ing stupid I am but needless to say I tried to do one thing and managed another. Ahaha. I'm not sure if it has affected the HED page o n Facebook... but it probably has... I'm normally good at making sure that when I ***k things up they are well and truly 100% ****ed. Lots of swearing this week in the blog. I've been drinking a new type of coffee and it's a lot ****ing stronger than the last ****ing brand. Cheers mind! ****ing Ruby.

Saturday 25th April 2009 - Alreet folk? Sorry for the lack of comms from us... I'll not lie... sometimes I just can't be arsed with blogging. Anyway, good news! We'll be playing a gig on May 6th for Ant's 40th birthday at Bubbles - everyone is welcome. It'll be a good warm up for Bran. Just to let you know what's been happening: He's been diagnosed with Tennis Elbow so he's had to rest up. On the plus side though it's in his left arm and he's right handed; so he has still been able to play tennis. Catch you all at Bubbles on the 6th? Nice mind. Cheers! Ruby.

Thursday 26th March 2009 - Sorry folks but we've had to cancel the gig at Medomsley on Saturday. Bran has injured his arm and is on doctor's orders to rest up. Hopefully he'll be better for the Garrick's head gig in May. Cheers mind! Ruby.

Thursday 19th February 2009 - Interesting night last night at The Three Tuns... no disrespect to the management there who do a cracking job of supporting local bands and live music... but who was that gadgee doing the sound and what exactly had crawled up his a*se? When we arrived he was in a foul temper due to 5 minute turn around times between 5 bands and shouting and balling on about using a dedicated back line (consisting of a tiny 60 watt bass amp, keyboard amp and guitar amp). After about 60 seconds of that we decided to leave before we put him through a window. A couple of 'learning opportunities' to take away from this one mate: 1) Why are you doing 5 bands in one night? 3 is ideal 4 at a push 5 is daft. 2) Manners cost nowt. A shake of the hand and a 'hello' go a long way. 3) If you want to use a dedicated back line then make sure people know this before they turn up. 4) If you are going to supply a back line then make sure it's fit for purpose - playing guitar through a keyboard am p is nee good marra and that 60 watt bass amp would have been in pieces after I'd finished playing through it. 5) Whatever the set up the drummers will always have to swap their breakables between bands... this take 10 - 15 minutes. 6) Between the 4 of us in HED we have a total of about 80 years of live playing experience, we can all handle a PA and one of us owns and runs his own successful music venue. We'd have been glad to help you out and even lend you gear - all you had to do was ask. Needless to say the other four bands left too. So no live music in the Tuns last night. Shame really I'd been looking forward to watching the other bands and playing somewhere different, ah whey. They say every cloud has a silver lining... we ended up back in Bubbles drinking beer and watching the Poorboys who were absolutely cracking. Nice mind. Hopefully see you all at The Black Bull in Morpeth on the 6th March. Cheers mind! Ruby.

Thursday 15th January 2009 A big thank-you to Jason from Scooby Snaps for the new photos. Feel free to check out a few on the slideshow our Home page, or have a look at Jason's other work by clicking here: Scooby Snaps.

Cracking stuff mind. If you are a venue or a band defintiely give the lad a shout. Nyaye! Ruby.

Sunday 11th January 2009 Thank-you to everyone at Nikhs for making us feel so welcome last night. Really good to meet everyone and what a great venue. Definitely worth a look. You can check out their webiste here: Nikhs Nightclub. Live bands and Rock/Metal disco on every Saturday. Marvelous. Cheers! Ruby.

Monday 5th January 2009 Last minute gig for your diaries! We're on at Nikhs Nightclub in Blyth this Saturday. It's a cracking venue so treat yourselves. To hell with detoxing! It's all a load of rubbish anyway. Cheers! Ruby.

Sunday 28th December 2008 Whey a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all you H.E.D blog followers out there. Another cracking Christmas party last night mind. Needless to say that the 20 or so young-uns who had to be forcibly evicted from Bubbles around seven o'clock were a bit of a minor irritation. Kicking people's cars and chucking bottles about eh? It may sound harsh but in my opinion every single one of them should have been floating down the Wansbeck in a condom about thirteen or fourteen years ago (probably would have been if their fathers hadn't been too stupid to unwrap one). Okay... deep breath... steering away from the pre-pubescent neck-ends. Cheers to everyone who turned up to support the Christmas do and well done on being some of the drunkest people I've ever seen in my life (and that is really saying something). Massive thanks to everyone who got up to jam with us. I got stuck in 2003 at one point when Bran and I were playing with Trevor and Bushy... weird... 2003 was als o the last time I played those three songs, so apologies if the ghost of Les Dawson took over on bass for the odd bar (you've got to be good to be that bad). Big shout out to The Snakepit who played their first gig in support. Nicely played people, keep it up! Defnitely keep an eye out for them, it's a bit of a rare thing today to see a lass singing on the old pub rock circuit, even rarer still to see one that can actually sing so if you get a chance definitely check them oot! Anyway, I'm off to nurse my man-flu, watch some cr*p christmas telly and put a big dent in that massive bottle of Bombay Sapphire that's been looking at me. Nice mind. Toot toot! Ruby.

Thursday 6th November 2008 Right then! The new album is officially finished. Bran's happy with the mixes and I have to say that Mr Lee has thoroughly outdone himself. We'll be launching the CD at our regular H.E.D Christmas Bash at Bubbles on the 27th December so if you want a copy of the new stuff come along and no doubt we'll have some kind of offer on the price as it's the season of goodwill. I'll get the stuff uploaded on here after the 27th December, if you prefer to download, and all four CDs will be available at ALL gigs from January 2009 onwards. Ruby.

Sunday 2nd November 2008 Happy birthday to Sorry for Nothing! 10 Years old and still rocking like a bunch of muthaz. I had a superb time at The Central last night. Thoroughly enjoyed Fable for the Curious... reminded me a little of some of the later Killing Joke stuff and I f*cking love Killing Joke so that's a canny compliment. From Order Comes Chaos did a cracking job and no-one needed to throw any bricks at them as they stuck to their guns and blasted out a load of their own material (nee covers allowed!) which I prefer anyway. We debuted four songs off our new CD and a few oldies but our crowning achievement of the night was the four of us starting four different songs all at the same time (which was both interesting and hilarious). This is what happens when you go to all the trouble of writing a set list, practising a set list, timing a set list and then just ignore the bloody thing and please yourselves on the night. Marvellous. An extra special thankyou to those of you that travelled all the way from Scotland and Yorkshire to see us - it's massively appreciated. What can I say about Sorry For Nothing? Molten lead chords and chest bursting bass poured over bone crushing drums topped off with ear ripping solos and vocals that could put an edge on the dullest knife. Audible GBH. Nice mind. Just leaves me to shout out a big thank-you to Rob and John from SFN who taught me to play bass back in the old days before Snatch in a little known band called Horn and also a big thank-you to Stu from SFN for the even earlier days when I first took up the guitar and wielded it pointilly in the thrashtastic band Malefix. Cheers mind! Ruby.

Thursday 18th September 2008 - Not so much a gig as a practice with an audience. Big Ian and Paul Bell were celebrating their 22nd and 30th birthdays respectively at Bubbles last night, so who were we to deny them a birthday treat of H.E.D? Canny night out mind. Cheers to Big Phil and Paul for getting up and strumming along with us – nice mind. All I can say is that the Lebanon must be missing a paperboy… 22!? Cheers mind, Ruby.

Monday 1st September 2008 - Whey, Saturday was a bit mad! Once again H.E.D were playing on the back of a truck... but this time in the middle of Second Avenue in Ashington. It was all for a good cause though: the East Ashington Development Trust street party. There was plenty to see and do (and if I'd had more than 24 hours notice I'd have advertised the thing so you could have all been there to share in this slice of urban madness). Lasses dancing aboot to Northumbrian Pipes, super heros walking about (The Justice League of North Seaton... costumes by Ann Summers) and some close up magic from The Great Suprendo ('s half cousin twice removed). I had a cracking, if slightly surreal afternoon. Fingers crossed that a decent amount of cash was raised for this worthy cause.

Check oot the gigs page 'cos there's a couple of new one's on there... more to follow soon! Cheers mind, Ruby.

Saturday 16th August 2008 - Well, we've just had a fantastic evening out at Carl's Lush Night at Bubbles. Dusted off our acoustics and bashed out some acoustic H.E.D music and a few laid back lounge guitar covers. A few looks of horror from the acoustic purists when we revealed that we would be playing with a drum kit... but Steve down sized and played with a couple of hot rods so no harm done... at the end of the day... drums are the oldest acoustic instrument known to man... whey apart from ya yack like. A big 'CHEERS!' to Carl for getting up and having a jam with his harmonica during Pride and Joy. Tremedous. Thoroughly enjoyed all of the other acts, really nice to hear something a bit different on a Saturday night and I have to say, you're a fool if you miss the next Lush Acoustic night at The Sun Inn in Alnmouth on September 13th. Cheers mind, Ruby.

Friday 18th July 2008 - Well, after we've had a few listens of the new songs from Ally Lee's Rock and Roll Emporium and it's sounding pretty damn fine. It's back with Ally now getting a few tweaks and it should all be sorted soon. We're also muckle chuffed to say that we've got John, from Suicide Solutions, back to work on the art for the new album so it's gonna look good as well as sound good! Cheers mind, Ruby.

Friday 13th (oooooh... what a load of old b*ll*cks...) June 2008 - Well we're nearly there with yet another album for you discerning rock punters. We'll have some samples up on this site soon for you to listen to. Anyone off to Finland for their holidays? No... No-one? Ah well. If you were you might just hear a few H.E.D songs floating around on the TV over there as one of the TV companies over there has started using our music on their programmes. Always said the Europeans had taste mind... whey apart from Aqua maybe... We're hoping to get some of this stuff streamed on the net so we'll whack on a link when it gets sorted. A few more gigs will be getting posted in the next few days so keep your eyes peeled. Cheers mind! Ruby.

Tuesday 27th May 2008 - Cracking day at the fully refurbished Bubbles in Ashington yesterday. Shame that some mindless tw*t has already tried to knacker the décor in the gents by head butting the wall!? (it takes a very a very special quality of idiot to fight with a wall and lose). Never mind, a tremendous day was had by all (and tiles go back up quicker than that burks head will heal… split his skin down to the bone… serves the stupid get right if you ask me… personally I hope he rots from the feet up and dies). Anyway, an absolutely cracking sound quality and a superb line up. We managed to get a loads of our own music bashed out so we were happy. Cheers to Bob Davison and Ant 'Dark Helmet' Fullarton for getting up and having a sing, thanks to Steve Cochrane for the masterful live mix and lastly thanks to all you wonderful people who continue to come down and support us live on our home turf. When's the next Bank Holiday? I could do with a rest now... Nyaye! Ruby. PS If Ant ever offers to whip out his 'Light Sabre' just say no… please god just say no…

Sunday 18th May 2008 - Cheers to everyone who turned up to support the fundraiser for the Blyth Lifeboat last night. Everyone gave generously and a good night was had by all. Apologies for my stupid amplifier going to pieces halfway through our performance and a big thank-you to Stevie C for getting that problem sorted out for me so quickly - cheers man! Another big thank-you to Nathan for once again stepping up with the second guitar and playing like the true rock god that I'd wish I'd been when I was 17.. *cough* …18... A muckle big thank-you to Atlantis Knights (with Mark Sticky Fingers filling in on vocals) who organised the do (nice one chaps) and a slightly smaller but still genuine thank-you to the other bands that turned up… but I'm not gonna mention them by name 'coz they all fecked off after they played, didn’t help with the gear or stay to support the other bands that were playing and that is one of my pet hates. That said they all played canny mind. Whey, that's it until Bank Hol iday Monday! Get ya backsides doon to Bubbles to gawk at the new décor and get ya ears blaarn off at 4pm. Hopefully see you there. Cheers, Ruby.

Monday 15th May 2008 A lot has been made of the strange dialect that we speak here in Ashington. We've had a lot of email queries regarding 'hacky clarts' etc and I myself have experienced many a bewildered expression when on a Saturday afternoon I announce, "Aa'm away yame to cadge a luck at Durcta Hwee urn th'burx," which literally translates as, "I am retiring to my abode to watch the latest exciting episode of Doctor Who on the television set." Worry not y'geet muckle gets - the mysteries of Ashganistan are but a moose (mouse) click away. To view a list of weird North Eastern words, not all of them from up wor way, some are even stranger, click here: North Eastern Dictionary Oh, and update ya diaries with wor new gigs! Nyaye, Ruby.

Friday 24th April 2008 - Alright people? Sorry it's been a while again - you know I've never been the world's most consistant blogger. Anyhoo, firstly there's a couple of gigs booked so check out the gigs page for more info. Secondly, we're almost done with the fourth album - only a couple more tracks to do the vocals on and then it's up to Mr Lee to twiddle his knobs and flick his ineffable buttons. It'll be available for download on this site as soon as it's done so keep ya eyes peeled. Lastly, there are a few interesting developments on the H.E.D front at the minute... not gonna say much now... well not gonna say a damn thing but just thought I'd tease you... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did... needless to say (if it pans out) we'll have some more interesting crack for you next time I knock the dust off the top of my keyboard and update this website. Nyaye! Cheers! Ruby.

Friday 7th March 2008 - Right then, a quick thank-you to everyone who turned out last night (coz I'm off to watch Gary Numan at The Academy in five minutes). MUCKLE CHEERS LIKE! Excellent crack and a good night all round. A big thank-you to Ant for getting up to have a sing on Circle; excellent skills mate. Another big thank-you to Nathan for once again stepping in with the extra live guitars - tremendous playing Nat nice one! Anyone who fancies coming down to see Nat's band they're playing Bubbles on Saturday the 29th March - I'll certainly be there. Cheers, Ruby.

Saturday 16th February 2008 - Alreet people? Whey it's Saturday so I'd hope so. Just a quick line to let you folks know what's happening in the world of H.E.D at the minute. We're still finishing off the new album in the studio so we're concentrating on that at the minute. As soon as that's done and dusted we'll be back out on the gig trail. I'll announce the dates once we've booked up and got confirmation. Incidentally, if you want to keep up to date with last minute gigs, receive free MP3s of new songs etc then there is a H.E.D email service. If you want to be added to the list then click here and send me your email address. Cheers! Ruby.

Wednesday 9th January 2008 - Once again I apologise for my tardy approach to blogging. I'm sure you realise that it's totally and utterly insincere but there you go. Quite a few bits of news for you. Firstly thanks to everyone who came to any of our gigs over Christmas and also thanks to Nathan, Phil, Rob, Dan and Bushy for getting up and having a jam! Tremendous fun. Sorry we didn’t do Knocking on Heaven's door for you Dan… so you could show off on your twin necked monstrosity… but we didn’t know it… and we ran out of time… and it's a dreadful song… if you want to talk me into letting you play with a twelve string then Stairway to Heaven would probably swing it dude but only if you get one of them Roland synth pedals so you can do all the flutes and strings too.

Last weekend saw us back in the studio putting down the drums and bass for the new album. We're back in this weekend to get the guitars polished off. Nice mind.

Cracking gig coming up on the 31st of January at Bernaccia courtesy of Insangel (see the Gigs page for details).

Right whey it's Wednesday so I'm off to a practise now - not next week though 'coz I'll be moshing along to Korn at The Academy… yarg…

Oh! Before I forget! Happy 2008! Two resolutions for you: 1) Go to more live gigs and 2) Support your local music scene!

Saturday 8th December 2007 - Where've we been I hear you cry! Whey nee where really - just y'naah WRITING A NEW ALBUM, getting gigs booked up for 2008, re-building my kitchen, doing wor Christmas shopping etc. We've got a cracking new tune from the soon to be recorded album Alphabetaphobica uploaded on My Space for your listening pleasure so log in and have a listen. Other tracks will include: Dick Van Dyke, Wax, Uddersuck, Real Life, One In a Million, Beautiful and Alphabetaphobica. We may add more... we may change the names to protect the committee... Cheers mind! Ruby

Tuesday 20th November 2007 - Just been tinkering with the website. A few of the links had gone dead etc so it's all shiny and updated now. Cheers mind, Ruby

Sunday 11th November 2007 - Thank-you to everyone who came down last night to make The Central gig a roaring success… that's what we like to see… loads of shouting and whistling and screaming and folk up dancing… what a brilliant atmosphere. Good night had by all. We'll definitely be doing it again so keep your eyes peeled for dates etc. Tremendous performances from both The Illustrators and Sorry for Nothing… cheers dudes. We seemed to be getting some pretty raucous applause too. Cheers to Nathan for getting up and having a jam with us on stage… well played marra and, as ever, a big thank-you to Stevie C for the tremendous live mixing.

Saturday 10th November 2007 - Get in! Central gig th'night with Sorry for Nothing and The Illustrators. Should be a storming night of rock! Unfortunately Make Us Hate have had to pull out due to the singer having Larin... Larran... Larryn... Larun... erm... a muckle sore throat. Get well soon Rach! See you all later on th'night! Cracking! Ruby

Friday 2nd November 2007 - Good news… bad news? Bad news first eh? It's traditional: We had to cancel our gig at the Retribution night last night at The Quay in Blyth. Really disappointed coz we were looking forward to that one. Apologies to anyone who was coming down and big sorry mate to Vince who organises the Retribution dos for the muckle short notice. Unfortunately Bran had some problems getting back into the UK after his holidays… well he would wouldn’t he… looks like a bl**dy terrorist at the best of times. Seriously though… he had a full body cavity search and they only managed to find three sticks of dynamite… so they let him off delayed his flight and re-directed it to Glasgow. Nice mind. Right, good news: we're on at Bubbles on Saturday night… the booked band has pulled out so we're jumping into the breach. Hopefully see you there! Cheers, Ruby

Thursday 25th October 2007 - Incidentally Bernaccia (Bernicia, Bernycia, etc*) is the ancient kingdom that used to span South East Scotland and North East of England roughly from the River Forth to the River Tees. It merged with Deira - which roughly equates to modern Yorkshire (or rather the Bernician King Aethelfrith kicked the cr*p out of the Danish Yorkies and conquered Deira) in 604AD to form the Ancient Kingdom of Northumberland (some people call it Northumbria but that's really just a bullsh*t name made up in Victorian times to make a distinction between the old kingdom and the modern county). It is not a form of Italian Bread…the CC is not pronouned CH… jesus I must have had a lot of coffee today! Narky get! Anyone who is interested enough to want to know more about their proud and fabulous Northumbrian heritage (the best place to live in the world) have a blast on Wikipedia by clicking here: Bernicia Northumbria. Cheers, Ruby.

*Until the 18th Century (bl**dy dictionary bl**dy Samuel bl**dy Johnson) people had a much more creative approach to spelling and different spellings were embraced as artisitc and expressive. Even Shakepeare used to spell his name differently. So why did I keep getting detention for poor results in my spelling tests? If it's good enough for bl**dy Shaykspiere it's gud enuff faw bluddee mee.

Thursday 25th October 2007 - Another cracking night out at Bernaccia last Thursday - sorry it's taken me a week to update the website. It seems we were a little loud and heavy for the delicate constitutions of some of the punters... have a word with yourselves for gawds sake. Everyone who stuck around seemed to have a blast though; we especially enjoyed watching the lads in the front singing along, getting down and having a damn good rock! That's what it's all about! Let ya hair down and let yourselves gan. Not sure where the middle band disappeared off to? Used our gear and then b*ggered off without so much as a by your leave... cheeky gets! It's not a big thing but if you're gonna use another band's gear it's good manners to give them a hand carrying it, putting it up and packing it away. It's also nice to show a bit of support to the other bands that are on the bill and stick around to listen to them. Cheers as ever to Phil for putting us on - keep them gigs coming marra and we'll keep turning up and making loud noises in your general direction. Cheers, Ruby.

Wednesday 17th October - Hello chaps and chapesses! A special shout out to Mr Ally Lee whom I am currently chilling out to on Lionheart Radio. Click on to him now and every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm - the best mix of simply excellent music you'll find anywhere online. Cheers also to everyone who turned up to the gig at the Central on Sunday night and made it such a fab night. Newsflash!!! We're playing at Bernaccia tomorrow night - bit of a last minute thing but if you're in the Newcastle area it'd be great to see you there. We'll be hitting the stage about 10pm for an hour or so of H.E.D music. Catch you soon! Ruby.

Thursday 27th September 2007 - Sorry folks we've had to cancel at Bernaccia tonight - apologies for the last minute cancelation but sometimes these things can't be helped.

Sunday 23rd September 2007 - Had a great night out at The Head of Steam tonight. Thoroughly enjoyed Make Us Hate and Sorry For Nothing... think the footie must have worn a few folk out this afternoon eh? Divin't worry if you didn't make it down - the three bands will be playing together again on the 10th of November along with The Illustrators, Check out the gigs page for details. Cheers mind! Ruby

Thursday 2oth September 2007 - Cheers, as ever, to everyone who came down to Bubbles tonight. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time. A few more problems with dodgy pedals but we'll get them replaced divn't worry. Extra special thank-you to everyone who bought a CD... costs a lot of money to record this stuff and produce the CDs etc so we really appreciate when you fabulous people show us some support. See you all at the Head of Steam in Newcastle on Sunday! Cheers! Ruby

Tuesday 28th August 2007 (very early hours of)- Well what a night at Bubbles! Nee break for us… nah we'll just crack on and get as many songs pounded out as possible! Get in! A few technical problems. Ruby kicked his pedal across the floor after the third song and that was that fixed. Bran had an entourage of people hanging onto his 'Norman Collier' pedal to try to get that to work. I think we got away with it though. Cheers as ever to Trevor for the extra bassey sound… nice! Shame to see Davey go and once again we'd like to express our appreciation of his support over the last *%!# years. Not only for giving us loads of opportunities to crack out our tunes but also for providing all that free live music every week. Cheers Mate! Class to see everyone who turned out too… so thanks as ever to all the folk who turned up to support us… we really do appreciate it MASSIVELY. I'm a bit knackered out now after our 2 hour 10 minute performance (and the 45 minute set at Bernaccia in the afternoon) so am off to pass out and rest my weary H.E.D… oh dear…

Monday 27th August 2007 - Cheers to Phil from Insangel and the staff at Bernaccia for a cracking gig in Newcastle this afternoon… excellent little venue for watching live bands so get yourselves down there and support the scene! Shame we couldn’t stick around to catch the other acts but we had to get on our pit ponies and get to Ashington for the second gig of the day! Two gigs in one day? Pretty ROCK eh?

Sunday 26th August 2007 - Cheers to everyone at the Black and Grey for a very enjoyable gig. Not too disheartened by the 2-2 draw with the Smoggies we kicked off about 4pm and yarked out 20 tunes. It all seemed to go down okay. Finished off the night watching Make Us Hate at The Red Lion in Bedlington… fecking excellent band… tw*tfull in house PA that needed chopping into firewood and a drum kit from Toys R Us but you still shined through. Divin't worry dudes we'll get you a tomb shattering sound at The Head of Steam and The Central when we both play together with Sorry For Nothing. Muckle looking forward to them gigs… woo hoo!

Wednesday 8th August 2007 - A bit of local press interest, click to read more.

Sunday 5th August 2007 - Excellent gig on Sunday night through in Sunderland. Cheers to Conly from Shepherds of the Fall for sorting that one out. Lots of initial stress regarding the PA but eventually coming up roses. Cracking set lads… keep it going and keep on gigging. [sub]NOVA... well what can I say? Tre-f*cking-mendous. Nice bunch of blokes and a superb live act to boot. This is what it's all about people… meeting new bands and banging out your own tunes live and loud. I've added SOTF and [sub]NOVA to our links so click on them and check them out

Saturday 21st July 2007 - Sorry people! I forgot to put 50p in the meter so the site's been down for a week or so. All better now though. Sold some body parts like but never mind... what does a liver do anyway? The sacrifices I make for you people! Finished the new Harry Potter yet? I just have. To think that Dumbledore comes back to Harry on Hoth just as his Tautaun is attacked by a troll and then sends him to Dagobah to become a real wizard at the hands of a small green Albert Einstein! all this while Ron and Hermione are captured by Lord Voldermort on a giant floating island where they get sold to Mundungus the bounty hunter! I'll not spoil the end where Harry finds out Hagrid is really his dad and kills him to bring balance back to the Fonz. Crackers eh? Didn't see that one coming. Bl**dy Henry Winkler gets everywhere. Hopefully see you at a gig soon. Keep supporting live music people... that's where the real magic happens!

Sunday 24th June 2007 - Right you blighters - it's done! We're on I Tunes! If you wanna have a gander (or even buy a couple of tracks) then click below.

Tuesday 5th June 2007 - Right! The new album... which I've been promising is NEARLY finished for about the last six months. Well it is finished. Mixed, mastered and we even have blank CDs and inlay cards printed. However, there's one song that's just not quite what it should be and we're as retentive as hell about our tunes so we're going to tidy that up and then it'll be done... couple of weeks... maybe a little longer and it should all be sorted. In the meantime I've loaded up a load of new photos and a load of new songs so navigate your arses around and have a look and listen. Cheers!

Wednesday 23rd May 2007 - Well done to Sorry for Nothing for a superbly evil and deafening performance at Trillians tonight. If there's a band out there we're happy to get beaten by at a Battle of the Bands it's them hard rocking muthafeckers! We'll be coming down to support your campaign for Newcastle rock supremacy in the following rounds dudes. Commiserations to fellow losers Tripwire - good set fellas hope to see you again soon. Aside from the competition a tremendous night was had by all... we bashed out five new songs and the place was nicely packed. Cheers to everyone for coming down. A surprisingly good turn out for a Wednesday night! Cheers!

Wednesday 11th April 2007 - Well we've thrown our gauntlet back into the gladitorial axe grinding arena that is Trillians Battle of the Bands. We're kicking off on the 23rd of May (Wednesday) with Tripdash and Sorry For Nothing... talk about in at the freaking deep end! As ever... sod the competition... let's just enjoy some cracking gigs! Hopefully see you all at Bubbles tomorrow night? Cheers!

Monday 26th March 2007 - I used to get nice emails: Ones with jokes in, ones with interesting facts; even ones with pictures occasionally. Now all I get is yack about the fact that I haven't updated the News on the website from smelter working hacks. Just ignore the fact that I've completely re-built the bl**dy thing yiz gets! Whey here you go... I was going to wait until we had a few more gigs to stick on but never mind. Get yourselves along to Bubbles on the 12th to hear the new set: Brand new original H.E.D songs, some new 'different' covers and a couple of pub rock classics to keep the the denim jacket brigade happy. See we have been busy... learning and writing new stuff for your listening pleasure. Up it! Ruby

Wednesday 24th January 2007 - Just signed ourselves a shiny deal with Chevstar Records! This will enable Chevstar to start selling our music professionally via I Tunes, Napster etc. We're quite excited. Oh which reminds me... I need to send them the art work for the albums... doh! Catch you later dudes! Ruby

Wednesday 3rd January 2007 - Well b*gger yourself backwards with a fish kettle... Ruby has actually put his bass down for five minutes to update the website. Do try not to have a heart attack... there's a good chap. What have we been up to? Well we've been rather busy actually. Firstly putting loads of graft into the new CD "Numbers" which is out at the end of January or beginning of February. We've already had some very positive feedback and we hope you're all going to like it. Back to basics hard edged rock, a few spittingly bitter lyrical twists and trademark dreamy H.E.D touches. All of this wound together in the multi facetted melting pot that is the chocolate and Jack Daniels fuelled mind of our producer Ally Lee. Cracking.

We also managed to cram in a couple of fantastic gigs, in between mouthfuls of turkey, over the festive period. In December we played with Sorry For Nothing and Clear Blue Skies to a packed starlight ballroom at the Central Club in Ashington. A few technical hitches but nothing we couldn't solve by just turning everything up even louder... heh heh heh. Then it was the fabulous festive H.E.D Jam at Bubbles. Some old (when was the last time we played Hippy!?) and new H.E.D songs performed with a few mates. A huge thank you to everyone that got up to help out: Ant Flatlord, Nathan Cochrane, Bob 'The Gaffa' Davidson, Stevie 'Scream for me Donnington' Ireland, Dan Allsop, Bushy and Rob Alder. Nice one dudes!

Right, that's me finished for another week or so but keep logging on because the new album is out soon so no doubt we'll have something you cheap gets can download for free. Nice mind. Cheers, Ruby

PS Happy New Year from us all :0) Ruby

Monday December 25th 2006 - Too much turkey... can't type... killed by dinner... somebody help me... Merry Christmas, Winterval or Winter Solstice... whatever your bag... have a gudun!!! Cheers! Ruby

Tuesday 14th November 2006 - Ally has banned us from the studios for a number of weeks now that the music is all recorded. Apparently he wants us to concentrate on getting the vocals spot on for the new album. So tonight we've been experimenting and had a vocal only practise. Sounded like a barbershop quartet to me! Four part harmonies... ba ba ba bom etc. I'm off now to buy a stripy jacket and a straw boater.Cheers! Ruby

Saturday 11th November 2006 - Look into my eyes... look into my eyes... not around the eyes but into my eyes... and... you're under... okay when I click my fingers you will believe that this website has been regularly updated since October 2006. You will ignore the fact that these updates did not appear until January 2007. You will also wish to purchase several copies of all of our albums and have decided that all of your relatives are getting HED T Shirts (coming soon) for their birthdays click... and you're back in the room. Ruby

Sunday 15th October 2006 - Alreet? Nice mind... all the drums, guitars and bass are down in the studios. Just the vocals left so keep your eyes peeled and I'll keep you all updated on the news page here! Cheers! Ruby

Monday 21st August 2006 - Hello! Sorry for the lack of news recently. I've been having a few problems with my PC... then the dog ate my homework and aliens abducted me and then some Czechs were in the post or something and... oh okay we've been busy writing new songs and gigging and the website has taken a back seat. So, what's been happening in the land of Heavy Ear Damage? Well, we got into the final of the North East Battle of the Bands hosted at Trillians in Newcastle. Not bad eh? £500 prize money and 5 cracking gigs at Trills, which is what we did it for in the first place (the gigs that is not the cash). We were chuffed to get into the first round never mind make it to the final. Well done to Lovemat (you crazy kids) and to all the bands who played, especially Confessions of Red, Laconia, Firelight and Sorry For Nothing. All good blokes and all cracking bands so check them out and support your local live music scene! Hopefully we'll be sorting out gigs with you all soon. There's been talk of fixing, biased judging and us getting, to use the Latin, f*cked over in the final. I want to make it known that we’re really not down with that kind of negative sh*t. We are absolutely over the moon to get as far as we did. We're really glad that people are talking about us; and the thought of people we don't even know fighting our corner is extremely flattering but, if you want to show us support we'd rather you turned up at our gigs, have a pint with us and shout ya tits off when we play! That's much better for us than people scrawling on walls and shouting at bar staff... yiz mad beered up b*ggers :o) Finally, Steve, Bran and myself would like to pass on our massive thanks to everyone who showed up to support us - we genuinely do love you all - and obviously thanks to Trillians for a cracking competition! Cheers! Ruby

Wednesday 26th July 2006 - Well we're through to the final. Not bad for a bunch of mad, border reiving, tourist eating, pit dwelling Northumbrians eh? Thanks once again to everyone who has shown us support, it's massively appreciated. A big ask I know but if you could keep it up for the final on the 9th you will have our eternal gratitude! Not sure where the battles are though... bit disappointed by the total lack of actual physical violence at these gigs. Mostly it's been very amiable... nice people... one or two prima-donnas who need bringing back down to earth with a good hard slap but mostly a right good bunch of blokes who we've thoroughly enjoyed playing with. Hopefully we'll all keep in touch and there'll be a few excellent gigs to come. Cheers! Ruby

Wednesday 5th July 2006 - Many thanks once again for everone's support... from the people at the gig to our mates at home who couldn't make it but supported us via text! ;o) Big thank-you to Confessions of Red for the use of their gear too, nice one lads! Well we've done better than England... no sendings off and through to the semi finals! Wedneday 26th July and we're on with Laconia, another cracking band from the toon! What can I say about Confessions of Red though? Absolutely superb band and what a stage show... mad buggers! I thought they had us well and truly beaten! Never mind we'll get a proper gig sorted soon... like I said in my last posting the only thing that spoils this Battle of the Bands lark is the competition part! Right I'm of to my basket because I'm absolutely knackered and it's a school night! Cheers dudes! Ruby

Tuesday 4th July 2006 - Battle of the Bands at Trillians... look I know this is short notice but due to several crossed wires, and other stuff, we're playing the Quarter Final tomorrow night... yep that's right... TOMORROW night... the 5th. We realise what incredibly short notice this is so if you can make it down we'll appreciate it even more than usual. Maybe even as much as 27 or 28 per cent more than usual. Which, believe you me, is a lot of appreciation! Anyway, watch the news if you can't make it and I'll update you on how we did tomorrow about midnight. We're playing with Confessions of Red, who are an absolutely cracking band so get down and enjoy the spectacle! At the end of the day it's the music that matters not the competition. Right... I'm off to change my strings and find some fecking batteries that fit my fecking pedal fecking last minute fecking feckers... nice mind :o) Cheers chiefs, Ruby

Wednesday 21st June 2006 - Well, we came first again in round 2 of Trillian's Battle of the Bands! Massive thank-you to everyone who turned up to support us - cheers dudes it means a lot to the three of us. Unfortunately because of the way that the draw is for the quarter finals we may have to drop out of the competition as our next round clashes with Bran's honeymoon. So, unless we can find a cracking band who are happy to swap quarter finals with us, we're stuffed! Still if this is as far as we go, at least we go out on a high. Catch you all soon!Ruby

Wednesday 14th June 2006 - By the way! I quit smoking at the weekend so the next person that offers me a bloody fag gets a smack in the teeth! Sorry like but I'm a bit grumpy with the withdrawal etc :o) Ruby

Wednesday 14th June 2006 - Calling all HED fans in the North East and beyond! We're fighting in the next round of The Battle of the Bands at Trillians in Newcastle on Wednesday June the 21st. Three bands will play, one will fall and two will go on to the quarter finals. We're asking all of you lovely ladies and gentlemen to come out of the woodwork and please give us some support! To all of you from Blyth, Ashington and Morpeth... it ain't that bloody far away! Honestly, the way some of you buggers go on you'd think Hadrian's bloody wall was still up! Get out and rock you muthas! Cheers, Ruby

Monday 12th June 2006 - We've just landed a cracking gig at The Carling Academy on Friday 28th July. Thanks to our good mate Stu from Vulgar Tongue Promotions for arranging that one. It's the Revolution Rock / Alternative night which kicks off about 9pm... we'll be on at about 11.00pm so we'll be having some larks and drinks with you all before and after the gig as the night goes on until 3am! Now for the even better news! We have an unlimited guest list so if you email me your names I'll get you put on the list which gets you into Revolution @ The Carling Academy and the gig ABSOLUTELY BLOODY FREE!!!! How good are we to you people eh? Cheers, Ruby

Thursday 11th May 2006 - Battle of the Bands last night at Trillians - suffice as to say - we're through to round 2. Get in! Massive thank-you to everyone who turned up and supported us, it really is appreciated! Special thanks to Dave on the desk - cracking sound dude! Cheers man! Catch you all there for round 2 on the 21st of June! Ruby

Sunday 25th March 2006 - Just set up our very first online shopping basket so get yourselves to the 'Discography' page and start spending that hard earned! Go on, you know you want it! Cheers mind, Ruby

Sunday 19th March 2006 - Well, what can I say? What a bloody excellent night last night was. The biggest crowd crammed into the Central that I've seen for years. 4 tremendous bands, a cracking sound and a volume level about as close to illegal for a public place as we could get. My ears are bleeding today... anyone else? I just want to say a HUGE "THANK YOU!!!" to everyone who turned up to support the night. You're all stars as far as I'm concerned. Another huge "THANKYOU!!!" to Blind Sundae (cracking set guys, well done), Sorry For Nothing (excellent crack lads VERY nicely played) and Junkster (well what can I say? You truly ARE rock stars!) We'll be doing it again in about three months so keep your eyes and ears peeled. Thanks again!!! Ruby

Wednesday 15th March 2006 - Alright various chiefs and chiefesses! Hoping everyone out there is feeling groovy and getting themselves sorted for a fantastic night of local music (for local people.... or people who have travelled...erm...ahahaha). Get yourselves there nice and early or you'll miss out. I know it's traditional in The Central to hang about downstairs with the retired naval seamen, dart throwing geriatrics and domino hustling grandads until about nine o'clock BUT if you do you'll have missed the first two bands! The doors open at 7:30pm, the first band, Blind Sundae, will be kicking out the jams before you've taken your first swill of Brown Ale; we are on second; Sorry For Nothing will be covering our backs and Junkster will be bringing a close to an excellent night. Get yourselves down. Like I've said a hundred times before, if you don't support your local music scene it will disappear. See you there! Ruby

Friday 3rd March 2006 - Whey that was our first time at The Egypt Cottage. Good night mind. Salute The Fallen proved to be just too much metal for one hand. So metal, in fact, that I suspected an industrial spill from Alcan had taken human form and picked up a pointy guitar. Sorry For Nothing were their usual gutteral, angry, melodically twisted and accomplished selves, all good stuff. Few problems with the PA but all bands knuckled down and gave it ten nowt. My particular favourite was Bran's voice going up three octaves mid song due to a PA glitch! Cracking! For one glorious moment I was playing bass next to a singing ewok. Myself, I learned a valuble lesson; when playing my new bass wear a sweat band on my wrist. It has no cut-away. Skinned the inside of my fore arm via the medium of friction burn (sod). Still, nothing more rock and or roll than a baptism of blood for my new (white) bass! Nice to see Bran's Les Paul sans Winnie The Pooh stickers for the first time in 10 years! Lovely tone chief, lovely tone. Catch you all at The Central on the 18th! Ruby

Wednesday 1st March 2006 - Sorry folks! Can't make the Oasis gig tonight. Few personal logistical problems. Get yourselves out anyway and support Clear Blue Skies - they're a cracking band and deserve a good audience. Sorry again. Ruby

Friday 10th February 2006 - Sorry people but the gig at The Granary on the 13th of February is off. For those of you who like to keep up to date with your H.E.D news: What did I say back on the 30th of November about landlords and that, "Sorry the pub is under new management," line? Never mind, seems I have much more important and interesting things to do that week anyway. See you all at The Egypt Cottage on March the 2nd. Cheers mind! Ruby

Tuesday 7th February 2006 - Well, that's it then. New Hands For Feet is complete. All mixed and sounding rather good if I do say so myself. The usual H.E.D mix of heavy, dreamy and just plain odd. Make sure you've got a bit of spare change when you see us next! It's only £3... for an entire album! Hardly daylight robbery is it? See you soon! Cheers mind!Ruby

Sunday 22nd January 2006 - Quick update on the new album: Ant and Bran went into the studios on the 12th and finished the vocals. Only three tracks left to mix now! Mr Lee should have it all finished for us in the next couple of weeks. What a guy. Big thank you to Ant for the use of his traditional rock vocal stylings. Gig List and Discography updated. Cheers, Ruby

Saturday 7th January 2006 - Jesus Herbert Christ! How smoky was The Bridge at Byker? Excellent night and all but I’m now yellow and someone just tried to eat me for breakfast. Bit of an odd night to say the least. First time I’ve played with a stand up comedian, poets, folk duos, jazz singers and absolutely no windows or extractor fan! Don’t know what the hell was going on downstairs but all my knives are lovely and sharp; I have plenty clothes pegs and enough lucky heather to start a small plantation. Very, very strange but you’ve got to try new things. We eventually went on at midnight and I have to admit to being ready for my pit. However, pulled myself round and we seemed to go down well. Really nice bunch of people. Thanks to everyone who turned up and clapped and special thanks to everyone who came and patted us on the back and shook our hands afterward, really appreciated it. Hopefully we’ll see you all again soon. Right! I’m off to ring the tar out of my clothes. Nice mind. Cheers, Ruby

Sunday 18th December 2005 - Well, another fab night at The Central. Many thanks to Clear Blue Skies and the clear blue tones of The Poorboys (do you see what I did there). Seemed to be a lot of ‘Dad Dancing’ towards the end of the evening!? Nice to see those dicky tickers and hips getting exercised. Might have done you all some good too except that it just seemed to make everyone thirsty for more beer and need to calm down their breathing with high tar fags. Haven’t seen that kind of synchronised pint waving since the last time I played Battleship Chains about ten years ago. Thanks as always to everyone who turned up and supported us, it’s always appreciated. To everyone who didn’t turn up... you’re all off my Christmas card list. Cheers, Ruby

11th December 2005 - Well, looks like the lads from Clear Blue Skies are coming to join in the festivities on the 18th...champion! It's going to be a good night so get yourselves oot. Unfortunately, the new album has been delayed so it looks like a January release is more likely. Worry not I'll bash together a few of the new tracks onto an EP for the next few gigs so you can get your fresh HED fix! Just spent the evening catching up with my N.F.A. friends in The Central (N.F.A. = Normal For Ashington). Davey managed to show us all the 'dualing scar' on his pearly white behind, don't ask it's a long and sordid tale; Ant spent the night losing his hat, tabs, coat and lighter; Bushy managed to convince everyone, via the medium of drunken gurning, that he may be the love child of Albert Steptoe and Golem and I spent the evening hiding Ant's hat, tabs, coat and lighter (well you've got to do something to amuse yourself when you're drinking coke cos you're driving). All in all a fairly normal night out in Ashington. Cheers! Ruby

3rd Decmber 2005 - The Christmas gig at The Central has changed to the Sunday! We've organised a late bar for all you alcoholics (we know it's a lonely time of year and you need to drown your diverse and copious sorrows). Should be a cracking night all round. Bob and the lads from The Poorboys will be headlining so get yourselves along for a night of festive ROCK! Or stay at home, like a bunch of boring gets, roasting your chestnuts and wearing seasonal knitwear. Your choice! In the words of Rik Mayall, "I'm not going to let the arrival of the son of god spoil my Christmas." Up it! Ruby

30th November 2005 - Unfortunately the 3rd of December gig is cancelled. Exactly how many times I have to hear the, "Sorry but the pub is under new management," line without thinking some of these landlords are just so incredibly full of shit I'm not sure? It's slightly less convincing than hearing about a cheque that is in the post. Oh well, c'est la vie and other predictable french phrases. Ou-est la biere? Ah non! J'ai fini. Merd. Ruby

10th November 2005 - We've been doing a lot of recording this week. Bran has been up to Mill Studios in Alnwick with our old mate Ally, finishing off the guitars for the new CD and the band, as a whole, were in The Cluny studios on Tuesday recording a "live" version of Porn Kitchen for a compilation album being released through NE Music. Nice to meet the lads from The Cluny studios and from NE Music. Cheers, Ruby

2nd November 2005 - Another good night at The Head of Steam! Thanks to The Events, good skills, keep your eyes and ears peeled they're definitely worth a listen! Special thanks also to Stu from Sorry For Nothing for organising this one. Unfortunately SFN had to cancel at the last minute, we'll catch up with them on the 17th of December at The Central 'Clurb' in Ashington where we'll be playing with them and The Red Letter Suits. Hopefully see you all there. Before I forget, thanks also to my mates from work for turning up, always appreciate the support. Hope you all enjoyed it! Cheers, Ruby

9th October 2005 - What a difference to Thursday! Acoustics in the Gibside were as near to perfect as we could have hoped. Thoroughly enjoyed The Red Letter Suits, cracking set guys! You can have a listen to their up and coming single on their website - I'll be adding it to our links page as soon as I've finished this update! Good news from the Sorry For Nothing camp: there's a gig organised at the Head of Steam in Newcastle (opposite Central Station) on Tuesday November 1st and they've very kindly asked us to play with them (feel free to paste your favourite homosexual double entendre in this space). Always a pleasure to be on the bill with the lads from SFN so come and get ya lugs blown off! They're one of the best live acts around in the North East at the minute so do youself a favour, check out their website (you can get to it via our links page) and get yourselves along to the Head of Steam. Ney excuses from my mates at work either...it's the day after pay day!! Cheers, Ruby

6th October 2005 - Another enjoyable evening spent in the company of the lads from Clear Blue Skies and NE24. It's always a bit of a struggle getting a decent sound in the dungeon which is Bubbles, but we had particular problems with an un-earthed lighting main which was playing merry hell with our PA. Thanks to everyone for baring with us! We soldiered on like the heroes we are and a good night semed to be had by all. Special thanks go to Ant (The Dark Lord of the Flat) for getting up and helping us out with the vocal for Destiny. Nice one gadge! There would be footage of this momentous occasion recorded on his videophone for Missus Sith (she couldn't be there...some kind of rebel uprising in North Seaton or something) unfortunately the camera-man was Camp David...a very drunk Camp David who managed to capture footage of everyone in Bubbles except Flatlord. Who was at the front of the stage. Under the spotlights. Right in front of Camp David. Davey you really are a drunken get! But we love you marra, keep it up! Cheers, Ruby

18th September 2005 - Cracking night last night at the Blyth and Tyne. Some excellent music. Particularly nice to meet Derek and the lads from Clear Blue Skies; good crack and a cool set. If you haven't already then check them out (should be a link on the links page as soon as I finish the update)! Unfortunately the NE24 nights are no longer going to be held at the Blyth and Tyne, they're still going ahead, just at a different venue so keep your eyes and ears open. Cheers, Ruby

10th September 2005 - Somebody has described our website as 'minimalist' and I'm not sure I liked the tone of their email. Personally I prefer the term 'visually spartan'. Well what do you people want out of a band website? Email me and let me know. Revolving flashing pink logos? Sickly, swirling, swathes of purple and green? Annoying beeping noises? Frog's with their knobs out? Pop ups? Look we were going for classy ok! (Those of you who know us personally can pick yourselves up off the floor now or go and change your underwear...which ever is appropriate...sods). Well, not many gigs on offer this month. We're writing and recording at the minute so we can get the new 10 track CD out. Saturday the 17th (at the Blyth and Tyne - see Gigs) promises to be a cracking night out if the last NE24 do is anything to go by. Rumours of the demise of NE24 has been causing much confusion BUT the gig is ON I repeat the gig is ON!!!! Somebody somewhere is spreading some form of sour grape type rumours...which frankly is just not cricket. Support your local live music scene or it will disappear and then it's Meatloaf, Brotherhood of Man and The Village People all night long. Doesn't bare thinking about really...well it gives me nightmares anyway. Hope to see you on the 17th! Cheers, Ruby