April 25th, 2009

10:18 pm - Puts lead in your pencil... It's back to the old skool time. Using a Pencil in other words. I've decided to sit back and do some sketches for a while. I've had little time to do this for ages so thought I'd get back into it. Current Mood: . Current Music: David Bowie-Low

April 21st, 2009

06:26 pm - Little bit of art news... Phil Thornton's Nexus Tribal album features some of my art. The image used has been asked for many times and strangely enough by many a young lady. What is it about that drawing girls??? I finally let it go to Phil after a few chats on the phone and something about my art on women's Knickers! lol. Also Shisha Sound System's Global Electro comp has finally been put out. It features more shugsy art. Current Mood: . Current Music: Bomb the Bass - Into the Dragon

March 8th, 2009

11:58 am - Sunday... Yesterday I went to so the oldest Church in London and then on to St Paul's Cathedral. To my shame I had never been before. I think you find a lot of people no matter where they live will often not visit places even if they are only a few miles away. Like people going on holiday to another country but seldom see their own. One of the reasons I wanted to go to St Paul's was to see Major-General Charles Gordon's life size effigy. I had no idea where it was in St Paul's but as I stood admiring Wellington's monument, I turned round and almost walked in to old Charley Gordon. I said "look another stubborn short arse who stood his ground!". Then it was pointed out that we both had the same size feet lol. Gordon had been sent to evacuate Khartoum under the orders of the British government and Egyptian Khedive. He refused to leave unless all could be saved at Khartoum which was filled with all manner of nationalities, East and Western. He trusted his Sudanese soldiers more than his Egyptian ones. Most Egyptian soldiers and Officers had been sent to the Sudan for punishment. I have read one of the letters sent from Mohammed Ahmad aka the Mahdi to Gordon while Khartoum was under siege. It's a very interesting read because the Mahdi expresses he has heard good things about Gordon from the natives and says he can either join with him or leave to go home to England. Gordon could not except either proposal. It was said the Mahdi was furious when he learned of Gordon's death when Khartoum fell. No one admitted to killing Gordon out of fear of what the Mahdi would do to them. He had not wanted Gordon Pasha to be killed at all. Gordon had originally been sent to help abolish slavery in the Sudan. He soon realized that Egypt's main income was from Slavery and even the Sudanese depended upon it and were very angry when he started to stop it. The Mahdi's rise was due to years of Turko-Egyptian misrule. Anyone who was lighter skinned was called Turk by the Sudanese. Quote from Michael Ashers "Khartoum": "Gordon was, in a sense a mystic masquerading as a soldier. An individualist ready to die for his principles, he often chose to follow his inner voice rather than the orders of his political masters". Sadly you're not allowed to take pictures inside St Paul's. What a site it is though :O This is St. Bartholomew's church, the oldest in London. Outside the Church is a Memorial to William Wallace (yes Brave heart). He was executed near to that Memorial. View of St Paul's from the Millennium bridge. I'm not moody just bloody cold lol :P This building was close to St Paul's and one of its main Benefactor's was Sir Ralph Sheldon 1623 to 1684. He is the great, great, great..etc Grandfather to one of the Aunts in my extended family. Sir Ralph Sheldon is known as the Great Sheldon because of his contributions to the city in his time. Even the Roundheads left him alone during the civil war. At last I've given in and got a contract phone. For years I've used pay as you go and put off using a mobile much. Everyone knows I am a pain in the neck when it comes to using phones but the time has come I now actually need a contract phone due freelance, contacts , etc. So what I did was give my Itouch away and get an Iphone. I need to check my emails and because the contract allows me to use the internet any time I want without charging extra for it, it was worth getting. It's the same as my Itouch only with a phone and constant internet connection. I have actually used it everyday since getting it a week or so ago. Also people now know I can be contacted anytime...opps :O I had to get it decorated though :P Also Audiorealism has brought out a little app for the Itouch/Iphone and has put it's virtual 303,808 and 909 into a really nice sounding acid box app. Mad lol. Current Music: Black Milk - Tronic

February 12th, 2009

09:18 pm - Where you at Monkey? Well this is the first post of the year :O 2008 was probably the weirdest and in parts the most unpleasant and odd year I have ever had . Thankfully New Years eve was very good. It was the year of the rat and I learnt a lot from it. Rudyard Kipling's "If" is a poem I dedicated to 2008. Anyway we are into 09 and people have been asking "where are you monkey boy?" Well I had got bored on the creative front. I also was not in the right frame of mind for a long time. Things had become stale and I wasn't enjoying things. I let time take it's course knowing at some point my mind would think of something. It took its time but it's started to do its job. On the music front I wanted a whole new rethink. What came from that is a few ideas. I started paying around with my FM synths. DX7, FS1R and TX81Z. Anyone who knows about FM synths know they are a black art to control and work with. They can also be more lethal than Analogue synths if you want them to be. From messing around with them I got back into the ambient side of things but wanted more than the normal approach to get an end result. Watching films got me back into the idea of the surround sound thing. I had tried to find out about a set-up a year or so ago but didn't really have much luck. This time was more of a success. I had some nice freelance work come my way so I put some of the rewards from that into a few new toys. They have now allowed me to set up the Monkey Den in 5.1. Reading up and understanding Logic's surround sound tools I have started to experiment again and get that buzz back. It makes me think what it must have been when people went from mono to stereo all those years ago. Switching back to stereo made me say "God that sounds restricted". I also dug out my old baggy era records which sparked off ideas for vocal stuff again. I get asked to do the vocal stuff again a lot so there is defiantly ideas spinning around my head at the moment. I am also jotting down lyrics in little notepad I carry about with me lately. I did do a track over Christmas but because I had just watched the film Control about Joy Division, it influenced me too much I thought. I got the idea for the lyrics while drunk on New Years Eve. It's about a girl who keeps her happiest memories in a tin like photo's, letters, awards etc from when things were more innocent. The crap of life and passed youth has got to her and a girl I saw at a bus stop who was just staring out into the road looking blank. It made me think of the character. Anyway here it is. I never finished the other lyrics because of the reason I mentioned above. It works as a short track more anyway. You can download it below: shugmonkey-Tiktok MP3 It's probably best I leave all this music chat here and get on and see what I come up with. I will leave it for another post. If anyone doesn't get the point of doing surround sound I guess the best examples to show explaining it are the little docs FSOL made on the subject. Check them out below. It makes sense peeeeeps! FSOL Stereo Sucks Pt:1 FSOL Stereo Sucks Pt:2 Current Mood: . Current Music: B12 RECORDS- ARCHIVE VOL 3

September 21st, 2008

10:10 pm - Belgium... Got back to the Monkey Den just over an hour ago. It's funny to think that this morning I woke up to have breakfast in Bruges, lunch in Bray-Dunes to be now sitting with a coffee back in England. I spent a few days in Bruges in Belgium stopping off in France on the way to and from there. I had never been to Bruges before but was glad I visited. What a lovely, laid back and peaceful city it is. The Hotel staff were very friendly and it was only today that I found out the actual hotel was one of the places featured in the film "In Bruges". There was a small Dali exhibition on which was interesting. Mostly his sketch work. I have been to his house in Spain before with all his mad stuff in but that was almost ten years ago now. I need some sleep but here are some pics from the trip: Current Mood: . Current Music: none, off to bed in a while.

September 11th, 2008

09:50 pm - ohhh... Ahhh not posted for a while. I will be posting a few more things over the next couple of weeks. I'm of to Belgium soon and Tomorrow is Hami's Birthday party which should be a good laugh. For now though here's a link to an article about the Monkey boy: shugmonkey article on Vainzine Current Mood: . Current Music: none I'm of to play on the 360

July 27th, 2008

09:47 pm - F,F,Fresssshhhhhh... Got some CDJ decks at the weekend. I have to wait for the second one to come but Loftie sorted me out a mixer and showed me how to scratch on them. Getting the decks is all part the DJ thing that I will be doing in the future. After Larmer it was clear that I needed to get into it more for other gigs that have been offered. I have a few ideas of upping the creativity with using all my music gear to make stuff for parts of a DJ set. Loftie scratchin'. It's been very hot and Madam keeps running off to hide in the shade. Current Mood: . Current Music: none at the moment

July 22nd, 2008

11:21 pm - Biro funk... I was thinking I don't post on this journal much anymore. Myspace is ok but after blocking 101 adds for peoples CD's, events and promotions, things on there ain't as much fun these days. I've kept off Facebook because it's just full of people I spent my life trying to forget or keep away from and also is frequented by some work people. I'm a strong believer in keeping work and personal life very separate and I'm not keen on rushing back to old "school" memory lane just yet, although I know it's what some people like. What the hell am I going on about? I dunno either but I've been checking out art stuff again. I bought a book a week of so before the festival called "Street sketch book" . I went into the shop to look for other things and it caught my eye straight away. Now it's a bit of an odd one for me but the book made me want to pic it up and has enough varied styles in there to make it interesting. It reminded me of my art school days and the sketch books we had to carry around with us. Check out the website for the book: http://www.streetsketchbook.com/ Current Mood: . Current Music: TGU - International Times

July 21st, 2008

02:46 pm - Larmer Tree 08... Back from the Larmer Tree Festival now. Had a great laugh and it was cool to meet up with Phil, Amar and Yasser again. It was the first time Hami and I met the Belly Dancers Sam and Kim who helped us have a funny first night there along with Kim's chappy James who was a laugh too. Phil brought his Sister, Nikki along with Sarah the other dancer. I did my normal things, met lots of people while mashed up and talked for ages plus messed about. Everyone made the Friday gig work very well. All the sets played got people up and moving. Now time for zzzzzzzzzz. Sadly these are some of the only few pics I took. I kept forgetting the camera and leaving it back at the tent. I missed some funny moments because of that. Nikki, Phil, Sarah, Kim Yasser, Amar and Kemal Kim and Sarah The lad on the left loved the dubstep we were playing so I gave him a CD the next day. The girl in the middle was in a band and asked me if she could sing over some of the dubstep. I said yes if we could find a mic which we did. She went down a treat and added to the tunes. Amar and Hami. Later Amar would be lost in a sea of people who climbed up on stage to dance around while he brought the night to an end in the club. Kim and Sam getting ready to go on to dance. Sam hooked up with me after the festival to talk about working together for some artwork. So that's a new project to be getting on with soon. Kim James. Kims Partner. James was a good laugh as was Kim. We had a funny first night on the Thursday which sadly I didn't take any pics of. It was a very rough night though so maybe it was fate I left the cam back at the tent. This is Chino and Kate who I met at the club. It was a bit like the peeps from last year. Some of them were there again this year as I saw a couple on the Thursday night. I'm sure they had a mad time again lol. Phil after his set. Yasser the Iraqi one man dancing machine. He's a great bloke and well funny. Hami sorting out his cam after his set. Current Location: . Current Mood: . Current Music: Burial - Untrue

July 4th, 2008

11:23 pm - Ohhh... Well I haven't touched this journal much this year have I? Things have come and gone and I never got round to putting them down. I'm not a writer anyway and the thought of writing everything down now doesn't seem like much fun :O I've been taking a break from things and as have most of my friends it seems. I've been messing around with Loftie of an evening on the Xbox360. Not always playing the same games as each other but just chatting while blowing stuff up lol. I do need to start being creative again though. Hami and I have a new track to make for another comp. In a Dubstep vaudeville belly breaks style apparently :P I've met an interesting person who can do regression amongst many other things. He also teaches reiki. He's a spiritual man of course who has spent the last few years in Dubai with his wife. We have become friends which he explains is no accident. There is a lot of stuff I could go into but I won't because it's still all part of a journey I'm going through at the moment. One thing though. Spiritually, I'm surrounded by Knights. He explained that only important people are protected in this way and he wants to help find out the reasons why I am. Some people have a circle of thorns but mine are Knights with a wall of shields and swords pointing outwards. It's an interesting time but one I like to keep to myself really. On a different note! it's almost time for the Larmer Tree festival which I am looking forward to. The next post will be probably about that because it's a bit of a special event. Until then...don't behave ;) Whiskers Boy! Whiskers Girl! Also I found this funny photo in a box while sorting stuff out in my garage. I was about 14 when this was taken lol :P Current Mood: . Current Music: 808 State - EX:EL

March 28th, 2008

06:59 pm - back again... Got back from the Easter break today. Had a great time and good laugh. Need to unpack and settle back down but here are some pics from the holiday. Silly dinner vid. Current Mood: . Current Music: Bent - Ariels

February 3rd, 2008

09:17 pm - r,r,ruff in the jungle.... It's been a bit of a strange time lately. It's one of those times I get when I know change is in progress. I feel odd but know I have to ride it out. Giving up smoking was just one of the new chapters in my life. For a couple of months now I have been experimenting at night with new sounds and approaches to making music. A much more heavy and live orientated sound while hitting the keyboards and jumping around the monkey den like a mad thing. Each morning I get up and go to work. The bike ride to and from work keeps my mind over flowing with ideas of what I want to do next. Well actually it's on my mind all the time. couspuss helped me move stuff out of the studio and rearrange it lol I contacted Loftie and asked if his shop could get in a Roland MV8000. By the time Loftie told me they had one in I had already changed my mind and bought a new laptop. I got it into my head last week to get an applemac. I contacted the shop and asked what sort of deal could they do for a fully kitted out macbook with Logic pro 8. You can get some good deals on things if you just ask. It paid off and I got a good deal on the mac. More so than the poor sod who walked in behind me who paid full whack on his order and got a parking ticket in the process lol :O As for Logic, well what can I say. I've used cubase and reason for so long now I thought I would never change over to anything else. I was wrong. What a god send it is. I stopped doing the hardware sequencing approach because of it also. The old version of Logic I had a go at years go was horrid. This is a different story altogether. Why didn't anyone tell me about it...ok they did and yes I didn't listen lol :D Like I said before I have been reading a lot again and one book stands out. I am still in the process of reading it but already it's worked it's magic. I was advised to read it and glad I listened to the advice. It's a book about the Prodigy. A couple of chats for festival gigs have already been put my way which only helped keep my ideas flowing. I kept thinking of friends like Rossco and Loftie. Reading the Prodigy book had me all the time saying to myself, but that's just like us. It all made sense. How they began, who they are and how they tackled things. I ran a couple of ideas past Rossco and Loftie this weekend and they said cool lets hook up asap. I think Loftie summed it up best when I asked "Any ideas?" His reply was "Ain't got a clue, but lets have an f'in good laugh mate" Very childish but it made us laugh. I hooked up with Rossco on that Ichat thing and messed around with the effects on the cam. Sad yes but it made us laugh :P He also used the name Micky Hammond after that track we did together lol. Going back to the prodigy thing I found this link to an early interview with Liam Howlett. I've got so much respect for the bloke now I actually looked into what he's all about and not just leaving it at the music. Which I've always loved of course. It's just how he locked himself away with his gear and did his own thing which intern brought others together. His influences and equipment upset too. All of it I can relate to. Wish I had looked into the actual bloke long before now. Then again I would say now is the right time. Full interview link below. Liam Howlett - Future Music 1993 link Oh and another thing. I went to an Italian restaurant today. I have never been to this particular one. The food was lovely and it was a real nice place. Two girls came and sat on the table next to me. One of them just sat there on her mobile phone the whole time chatting away while the other messed about with make up etc. I thought ffs don't people talk anymore...as in to the person in front of them? I felt like saying something. They were actually Italian. It goes to show no matter where your from there is always the mobile phone addict. I could see them looking over out of the corner of my eye so I looked the other way. Anyway. Back to the toys and noise! You know that!:D Current Mood: . Current Music: various stuff.

January 27th, 2008

11:42 pm - Sunday... I've packed up smoking. It's not been easy but being a stubborn little sod I have managed to say "pee off" to any cravings that come on. It was a stupid habit to have anyway and I am doing very well. :) To keep my mind of smoking I have been reading, music making and sketching. On the music side of things. The track Hami and I did for the belly dance comp has received great interest even before it's been put out so we decided to do more. I need to put the 303 down for a second and think about that for a bit. Hami has already laid down a rough with some music clips I sent him a while ago :O Speaking of 303's. I have been asked to do a little artist bio for the UK distributor of Future Retro's Revolution. It's like a 303 on drugs lol :P It's funny because a lot of people ask my about the Unit. Most of the time they have no idea what it is but because of how it looks it makes them curious. Ben owns the company that sells the Revolution in the UK and wanted various artists info who use the unit for a website he's sorting out. He wanted some artwork which I will give later and a pic to go with the info. I have no idea when it will be done but he asked me if I could sort some stuff out soon so I agreed. Here is link to Ben's website shop for dealing with the future retro hardware. Analogue Addiction Website This is one of the pics taken. The revolution is the pizza box shaped thing I'm holding and the original Roland 303 is on top. The pic is funny because it almost, for once, lets on what I'm really like. A grinning, laughing idiot. Current Mood: . Current Music: FSOL - Dead Cities

January 20th, 2008

11:15 pm - Acieeed again... I've changed the E.P's artwork. I went for the more sketchy style which reminded me of the early acid house and rave flyers. D.I.Y all the way :P I've been making new tracks for the acid stuff and giving the shugmonkey side of things a rest for now. I decided to leave out the computer completely and go back to the old school way of working. Using the MPC as the main hardware sequencer to run everything. That basically means I have to play everything from the keyboard and the MPC's pads. You get a lot more satisfaction making music this way, plus it has more of the human touch to the tunes. It does take a lot longer to do things though. Trouble is because I have a lot of hardware turned on, the room heats up and things get very hot lol. The Prodigy's Liam Howlett used his Roland W-30 to create and sequence their first album. :O Still need more sleep :P Current Mood: . Current Music: We call it Acieeed! - Various

January 9th, 2008

05:52 pm - Belly Acid... 2008 is here and already showing signs of being a busy and productive one. I was asked end of last year by DJ Phil Meadley if I was interested in making a track for a new modern Belly Dance comp he's putting out. I accepted the offer and then had the idea of joining up with Hamid Mantu from Trans-global Underground. He also accepted which was great. Kath, Master Mantu's wife, came up with the name "Underworld Service" which we are going to be called for the project and also the track name "Oriental Excess". I go to London this weekend to lay down the final mix in the studio with Master Mantu. The comp release is a few months away but I can tell you the tracks a catchy shaker with strong Arabic percussion and strings. I will announce closer to the time the release of the comp. Artwork for a world music tinged Electro House Comp by Phil and Amar (shisha sound system) has been done. It comes out on Wikkid records. Home to bands like the French/Iraqi group Aiwa. Still on the music theme. An independent Canadian label asked me if I would be interested in them releasing an E.P of some of my Acid/Ravey tracks. This is a side line of projects I go under as shugsy. I agreed and the contract is for a number of releases so that shall keep me busy for a while. :) The first release will be the 3OH3 E.P and should be available very soon. Still a tired Gypsy Fingers though. Need more sleeeep!!! Current Mood: . Current Music: The prodigy - Experience

December 16th, 2007

07:40 pm - haha... Was sent an old flyer for the college I went to. I was 17 at the time lol. I remember the day they went round the various courses and departments picking students out to interview and take pics of. They came into our art department and asked our tutor if they could pick a student. Our tutor asked what sort of student were they looking for and they replied "one with character". Everyone laughed and turned and pointed to me. I remember saying "no I don't want to do it" but the bloke took one look at me and said "No your perfect for it, come on it won't take long". So I gave in and as you can see by the pic with my tongue in cheek I didn't take it serious lol. They asked questions like what I thought of the college and what I would lke to do when I leave. There is a second page to this but I am going to have ask around for it. That has the interview and me talking about wanting to go on to art school. It's almost 14 years ago now :O Current Mood: . Current Music: S*M*A*S*H - Icon

December 5th, 2007

12:13 am - Nice!!!... Found the Small Faces documentary on youtube. I watched this first when I must have been 17-18. I remember I forgot it was going to be on then remembered so I phoned my Mum from a phone box to ask her to record it lol. Current Mood: . Current Music: none, off to bed.

December 3rd, 2007

08:56 pm - Not more books!... Two new books arrived today. Yes I bought the Afghan Campaign one lol. And I picked this book up because it sounded interesting with it being a book of old Photographs. Glad I did. Current Mood: . Current Music: Music Of Byzantium 1261-1557

December 1st, 2007

08:09 pm - Ideath... My bloody Ipod died this weekend. It's been used almost every day since I got it a couple of years ago so can't complain. Because I use it on my way to work it also got bashed around in my pocket. I never bought a case so it's my own fault. I can't live without music when moving about/at work etc so went down and checked out one of those new Itouch Ipods. I picked the 16GB version and have spent half the bloody day putting back the mp3's and artwork I had on the old one. The compression is better so although it's only 16GB I can get close to the amount of MP3's that my old 20GB Ipod had. Sounds better too. I think I should buy it a case though :O I came across this vid again today. I'd used it on myspace but because it didn't really go with my page I took it off and forgot about it. I made the vid the week I got back from France this year. I keep messing my lines up lol. Current Mood: . Current Music: FSOL - From the Archives Vol.4

November 30th, 2007

11:40 pm - To see the lights... I love night photo's. Cities lit up, the sea and lonely places. Even a carpark lit up in the early hours of the morning has an atmosphere about it. At night when I'm laying in bed I like to have the window open and I hear in the distance the tearing sound of the motorway. Cars passing through the night. Sometimes it's interrupted with train sounds or back at my parents home you can hear the horses on the night wind which is creepy. There are also windchimes in the garden which like also. I remember many years ago myself and 3 other friends slept in a car near the docks (don't ask why). In the early hours of the morning a big Russian cargo ship came in all lit up. I remember it making it's way into the docks and I was in a trance as it's lights danced across the water. The crew saw us and started waving. We all waved back and shouted out things like "Welcome to Blighty" lol. They shouted back something and carried on waving. Here are some pics I found on the net. I just like them and download lots of pics like these over time. And the famous world map of lights. Current Mood: . Current Music: none im off to snoooooze.

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