it started with a plectrum

ok the focus is back. my job is slack, and I am here with nothing to do!

to be honest I have been very slack with my hunt for the ultimate starting swap.
the story is long, best to start at the bottom for the whole lot. or for a summary:

I have a moshay plectrum for trade. see below for a lovely picture

Willing to swap for anything of equal or greater value and continue to do so until I have swapped my way all the way to a nice new set of drum shells!

thanks for reading....updates on the bands are below.

both the fins and ipanema have been on tour recently....taking up most of my time.

ipanema tour: USA east coast.
www.whatne.com

fins tour: North england.
fins gallery

my NEW myspace address:
lawrencethedrummer

other than that got some shows coming up. best to keep track of the myspace to see what events are happening.

right. back to finding a new home for this plectrum!

well. a podcast. how amazing.

so not only can you check Ipanema on myspace, garageband, or bebo, but now you can even listen to what I listen to!

amazing :)

its on the left, have a look :)

well today I was called a begger relating to this site.
I do not consider wanting to swap one item for another begging.

Beggers ask for something with nothing in return.
I have a prized posession that I want to swap for another musical item.
hell, I will even throw in a copy of the fins latest CD release. Which infact makes this a good deal.

Nonetheless, appologies to anyone that is offended by this blog, please take the idea in jest and not a personal stab or a weak plea for a free drumkit.
As this is not the case.

Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss this further.
And a gentle reminder, this is the item I wish to start the swap with. A tasty moshay plectrum. ROCK.















Tomorrow afternoon band links and a smarter blog look will arrive.

Laters.
Lawrence.

I have received good feedback form the few places I have posted a link to this blog.
Everyone seems very inviting and supportive of my idea.

Today I spoke to the mechanic. There is talk of engine management and fuel pressure regulators that makes me sweat.
Could start to cost more than I first thought.
And looks like I wont get it back until mid next week. Nightmare.

So today my aim is to get this blog out to the nation by as many channels as possible. Forums, comment boxes, podcasts etc.
If you would like to help by either posting my idea somewhere, or adding it to your website, maybe even to your podcast then feel free to do so.

plectrum??!! what an odd way to start a blog. Soon you will understand.
I need HELP, and hopefully the following text will explain what and why.

It started at about 11am monday morning.
Heres the story.

Lets take a step back a few days. and embark a little into my life.
Bullet point facts:

• My name is Lawrence Arnold
• I was born June 1982 (to save the maths I am 23)
• I live at home with my mother, in Camberley, Surrey
• I am a Piping Designer by profession
• I am a drummer in 2 bands (links below) by night

http://www.myspace.com/ipanemarock (heavy rock with melodical vocals)
http://www.myspace.com/thefins (indie/heavy indie with seriously catchy lyrics)

Life Goals:

• To have a successful career (I love my job)
• To play many many concerts and bring joy to music lovers worldwide
• To buy a house (this year hopefully)
• To own a functioning car (now maybe you can see where this is going)
• To own a drum kit, snare, and cymbals I am happy with (drummers I am sure yuou can sympathise with this)
• To Find something that actually makes me feel like I have a purpose in life (drums is looking to be my favourite here)

Now I am by no means destined to sell a million albums, or to rock the world of piping engineering. However I think that with the amount of effort I put in I deserve some of the smaller things in life to go my way.

So...to the back in time part.
Last week I was on tour with Ipanema. How cool is that. A Band that actually goes on tour. Surely it must be heaven you are all saying right now. Well it is good, and I think I receive more enjoyment playing drums than I would collecting stamps!!
We played wednesday to friday night in Glasgow, falkirk, kirckaldy and finally Edinburgh. Sunday we managed the long haul from Edinburgh to Farnborough in just under 8 hours, in the pouring rain. Result.
Gig in Bracknell sunday night. Nice easy one. only 30mins to play with a good crowd. Rewarding.
Although I did crack a cymbal on the way to the first show. I pulled my 15" a custom out of the bag whilst setting up in glasgow to see a crack in it. cant believe it.
so I had to run to a music shop about a mile away and buy a new one. got a nice k custom 16" fast crash. but oh the cost. will have to worry about that one next month (thanks mr barclays)

Now to monday...Monday, this is where it goes wrong. Not really really wrong, life changing or life threatening. But enough to push me over the edge. Booked the morning off, figured a bit of sleep in my own bed would be good for me. Will reduce this to bullet points for your reading pleasure.

10am: Get up
10:30am: Showered and ready
10:45am: finish cup of tea and jump in the car
11am: Between the bracknell junction and the M25 junction of the M3 break down
11:15am: Police arrive to see what I am doing
11:30am: more police arrive to see why I am on the hard shoulder
12:10pm: Recovery lorry arrives
12:45pm: Arrive at my house with a broken car, and a slightly irrate boss on the phone

Now, this just seems like one of those things that happens to everyone. But I just dont seem to have luck with cars.

My last car (a nice mk2 golf) destroyed a couple of engines, a gearbox, an exhaust, ate plenty of oil. (THANKS GK PERFORMANCE, your engine building skills are second to none, and I really mean your skills are NONE).
Actually I will just quickly link to http://www.thephirm.co.uk/ because they are top guys, who actually know what they are doing.
for your interest, here was my beauty of a golf, in all its glory. I hope your new owner is getting pleasure from the savage corrado 2L 16v lump it now has in it.

But the failure of my current car (ford mondeo) just got to me enough to want to start this.
WHY am I not allowed to own a car that works normally, that gets me to work every day, that carts my drums around, and that doesnt play tapes!!!!
If only I knew what bad karma I had subjected on the motoring world then maybe I could put it right, so for now I guess I just have to put up with it.

This leads me to the point of this blog, and if you have got this far send me a mail with advice please, I am beginning to think I need all the help I can get! mailto:billymuntmuff@phat-gti.com

My current savings to fulfill one of my few menial lifes ambitions now has to be spent on fixing the old man tape playing P reg 100kmiles ford mondeo.

The 2 tasks this year I wanted to complete were purchasing a home, and a decent set of drum shells.
If I fix the car, I cant get new shells, and if I buy a new(ish) ca I eat into the measly deposit I have managed to save.

Here is my current shells, with me playing them like a trojan! at the fibbers in York. Check out the hair!


Pearl Export, late 80's/early 90's. Not a bad sounding kit. gets a right hammering and sees plenty of gigs. But I really want something better, especially with plenty of recording and touring comming up this year.

So My plan is to follow the excellent example that Kyle Mcdonald has set. http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

This chap has a goal to reach. and I really think he will do it. Please go visit his blog and see what he is doing. It is truely amazing! thanks for the inspiration matie.

Now......

My goal is to swap my way from one piece of musical apperatus to another.

I will start with my favourite plectrum. (I also play guitar).
It is a nice piece of nylon even if I do say so myself.
The manufacturer is Moshay, and I believe that the roots of this plectrum started in the United States. It has an excellent hole in the centre which aids the grip, and prevents dropping.
This particular version is as thick as they come, for a good strong powerful strum. Yet it has enough give to be mistaken for a far softer plectrum.
This particular one was purchased from Martin Gale.
Here is a picture.

I would like to swap this plectrum of any other musical goods. This is my goal. To swap up any current item for something better than the last one. This is crazy I know, but I am happy to add any links to bands or artists that participate in this mission. Seeing as all my cash has to go on fixing the car to actually get to the gigs, the least I could ask for in the long run is a kit that makes me smile everytime I hit it, and makes people say "man, that kit sounds great!!"

I am happy to deliver, anywhere within the south east of england.
I am happy to deal with the royal mail.

All I ask is that I can be met with similar enthusiasm to swap musical items, for the good of ROCK!
If you can help, please please contact me. mailto:billymuntmuff@phat-gti.com

And here is an excellent press shot of one of my guitars (purple one)

Thanks for your time, I hope the read was worth it.

Dont forget to email if you want to swap. as soon as I get any info I will update with how the swaps are going.

laters.

Lawrence.

Quick edit. If anyone knows of any tools to help me editing this blog let me know, I am a complete n00b.