2004

September

Back to the Vine

The band have confirmed they will be playing once more to whoever turns up to The Vine this Saturday. "We look forward to seeing you all!" they said, in unison.

[August]

15,000 entries for Sold on song

Place your bets now!

According to the radio 2 website, around 15,000 entries have been received for their search for a songwriter competition. "Now is clearly the time to place a bet on a surefire win!" beamed Matt the other day whilst entering Ladbrokes with a bulging suitcase. "The bookies are still lining up and can't make their mind up who's the favourite, so nows the time to put your cash down and expect the dividends within a few weeks. I mean I don't want to get anyone's hopes up Dougal, but I think we're definitely gonna win."

Emley Barbecue Gig "A Triumph for Humanity"

World Peace ever closer as a result

In a weather event which can only be described as a thin shaft of light between two infinite stretches of darkness, the gig played at Emley Moor on the 21st of August marked a milestone for the band in both matuirty and variety. A one and a half hour set gave the band time not only to exhaust the majoirty of their own repertoire, but also gave rise to the opportunity to cover the likes of The Travelling Wilburys, Oasis, Radiohead and Blur. "It was a good day:" said Dan, "I didn't have to use my AK...Plus the weather held out, the crowd were friendly and responsive and the PA was superb. it's been a fantastic day for the band, and i think showed people have far we have developed in the last year."

"Who knows what might be achievable within the next 12 months." Dan mused. "Would you like to buy a CD whilst you're here?" he then said, adopting a slightly more intimidating tone of voice...

Vine gig "No Sweat"

Humidity factors in for Leeds gig

On August 3rd Libero announced their arrival on the Leeds music scene with a blistering half hour set at The Vine. The band opened the set with Short Termer before treating the audience to the sounds of Vineeta, Heartbreaker, Valentine, Amber Lane and Afire. "We may have played a little longer" said Tracey, "but in the last song Matt broke a string, and you just can't legislate for a freak ocurrence such as that..."

And would the band be looking to return to The Vine? "It's a possibility" she continued "though we don't want to be drawn on this at such an early stage. What I will say though is that the atmosphere was electric and it's a real pleasure to perform in places such as this. So things are looking good."

[July]

Valentine recording complete

Eleventh hour submission completes the task

After a month of recording at various levels of intensity, the band have completed a demo version of Valentine. A beaming Matt Yates told the gathering mass of press and photographers, "Our work here is done..."

The recording process was undertaken in collaboration with Stewart Parker of Commissar Records fame. "We're really pleased with the end product" Matt continued. "Stewart's in-depth knowledge of recording and mastering have enabled us to generate a far more warm and slick sound than has been our experience with home recording in the past. The gap between the professional  sound and what we can achieve ourselves has been significantly narrowed thanks to this experiment. Now all we have to do is win the competition."

Royal Seal Of Approval?

Her Majesty has an audience with Ian

Libero's sticksman Ian was down at Buckingham Palace the other day, not trying to overthrow the monarchy, or looking for a platform for his unusual brand of  'comedy terrorism', nor posing as a footman in order to highlight issues of security and get exclusive snapshots of the Queen's Tupperware. It was simply in a professional capacity. It was discovered that as yet this is the most famous person anyone within the band has met: The queen easily beating off the competition in the form of 80's swimmer Duncan Goodhew, painter Ashley Jackson, seasonal cheerer Santa Claus (though this may have been a stooge from the Daily Mirror) , Love/Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl and real-life talking marmalade advocate Paddington Bear. It has yet to emerge whether the Queen was given the opportunity to listen to "Defined & Refined", or indeed whether she accepted the complimentary copy on offer.

(An artist's impression of what the Queen might look like listening to Libero on her iPod during a boring bit of the State Opening of Parliament.)

Don't Stop The Beat!

Recording commences at Forest Studios

Libero have been back in the studio preparing a version of Valentine to enter for Radio 2's "Sold on Song" competition. "We're going for a much more raw and earthy sound in comparison with the 'Defined & Refined' cd" explained Matt. "But everybody has to live within the means of a budget."

The drums were recorded earlier this month on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The band have been pioneering a new recording technique, known as 'Quadrasound'. "The hope is just to give a little more depth and a little more life to the overall drum sound - as if the drums were being played in your living room..but quietly" said Ian "two takes" Cawthorne. After an hours' soundproofing the studio, a pannini pizza and some garlic bread, the drums were laid down. Within the space of a week Trace and Dan had laid down their parts as well, leaving Matt's guitar and vocal tracks as the only outstanding parts. "No pressure!" Matt assured the flock of journalists, "As long as I can finish these within the week I'll be a happy bunny. We'll let you know if that comes about."

[June]

Still a 'kid' at 30

The band lined up for another gig to mark the birthday of guitarist Dan Yates the other Saturday. The band played many old standards but also performed some of their newer material including 'Vineeta' and 'Short Termer'. Nige Brook handled the mixing while Tharanga Galappathie took her hands to DJ-ing, kicking off her set with a volley of expletives courtesy of Fatboy Slim, greatly impressing friends, family and grandmothers alike.

The band have confirmed that they will not be playing the Clarence Park festival this year but a spokesman assured punters there are plenty of other irons in the fire. As their car park attendant told us, "Watch this space..." 

Globalibero!

It's official. Libero is now a worldwide brand, and not just for new-borns. The website has now been hit from around the all globe and even the its darkest corners, recently including Canada, New Zealand, and even Lancashire. "It's fabulous news for the band." remarked their spokesman. "We didn't even think some of these places had electricity..." To date, there have yet to be any hits from Addis Ababa or Baffin Island, but apparently the band are "keeping their fingers crossed".

Some Canadians...

Gigs

The band have also announced more live performances scheduled for the near future, with one date in late June and two earmarked for August. Rumours have also been circulating that the band may play Wakefield's Clarence Park Festival 2004, though the promoters have remained tight-lipped as to whether any approach has been made by either party on the matter. 

[For full details of forthcoming gigs click here]

Dan "Staying at home this Summer"

The England squad for Portugal was dealt another blow yesterday as Dan Yates withdrew from the squad due to the re-occurrence of a 'long term injury'. "Of course I'm disappointed not to be joining the lads" he mused, sipping a Pina Colada, "but it was always going to be a gamble". Tensions between Yates and Ericsson may have reached boiling point, with Dan reportedly saying "Look Sven, injury or no injury, admit it, I'd still be a safer bet than Heskey if I'd got two broken legs..."

Dan has also offered to play in goal.

[May]

More Gigs on the way

Steaming their way through the next 100 cds like a kettle in a sauna, but not content to rest on their laurels, Libero have announced they will return to West Bretton on the 28th May to do an acoustic set. Dan put his axe down for five minutes to explain...

"We need to be out on the road promoting whenever we can. Though as we all have other jobs this is trickier than we anticipated - the life of the semi-professional musician isn't all it's cracked up to be. At the end of the day, the goal isn't selling odd copies to friends, colleagues and dentists, satisfying though it is. We need to go global, we want to hear ourselves on the radio, not just when we're over at our mates' houses..."

"Crackin' tunes, man..." - Thaksin waxes lyrical about the CD

Commercial Interest Rumoured

Dan wouldn't be drawn on speculation in the tabloids that commercial interest had been expressed in the band from an outside source. However, the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, seemed to pre-empt this yesterday when he announced that a deal had been struck for him to buy a 30% share in Libero holdings. After complaints that his statement had been misleading, Mr Shinawatra later withdrew his comments, only to add "When I said 'I' am buying a share, I meant as in 'I, the great peoples of the Kingdom of Thailand'. I trust that this clears the air."

Matthews "Still has 100% backing of the board"

The Band moved swiftly to deny rumours that this in any way affected the position of agent-cum-manager Nick Matthews. Though having been linked strongly with Libero in the press over the last few days after being spotted checking out prestigious properties in Wakefield, David Beckham has confirmed he is happy to stay at Real Madrid for the time being.

[April]

First 100 copies of CD sold

It was gags about hot cakes all around as Libero surprised even themselves, having sold the first 100 cds in the space of a week. A spokesman from the UK Office for National Statistics stated "if the trend continues at the current rate, we can project sales of 5,000 in just under a year's time, and anticipate a Gold Disc within a mere 96 years. There's never been a better time to be in Libero" he continued, "though the jury is out one whether any of the current members will survive to witness this momentous future occasion." Record industry insiders have predicted that the Gold Disc will be presented to "Libero Club 6, or some other spin-off".

Defined & Refined, "Definitely, finally released"

They were dancing in the streets of West Bretton the other week as Libero played an acoustic set and eight days later a full gig at the village hall to promote their debut cd and to celebrate drummer Ian's 21st Birthday. On the 17th April, after much frantic to-ing and fro-ing, printing shenanigans and exchanged PA leads the band played an hour long set in front of 100 people. Two of the audience even danced, such was the air of jubilation surrounding the event. Gaz Thomas, friend of Libero and founder member of the band Decoy Stash was on hand to mix the gig ensuring that a good time was had by all.

"Bloody Hell"

'The best-laid schemes o' mice an’ men gang aft agley' mused Robert Burns, and so it seemed as the band stepped up to the seemingly insurmountable deadlines in the run up to the 17th April. Draft after draft of the cover and inlay were produced; numerous types of branded and non branded cd-r's and cd-r audios were purchased in search for the holy grail of a CD which cut the mustard. Set lists were designed, evaluated, rearranged, edited and proof read. In the two days prior to the gig the band had no cds ready, a print run ground to a halt and singer Matt fully aware that two he wasn't 100% on the lyrics for three of the songs on the list. More worryingly, two of these songs were his own. An early start on the Saturday saw the band in the hall setting up the PA, catering and decorations, ably assisted in one of those "above and beyond the call of duty" ways by Leon, Carol, Stacey, Stephanie and Leigh. Not since the Beagles sell out gig had there been such a buzz around the village. Could Libero be the next great hope? Would they be able to deliver on the night? Only time would tell. A collection of hot off the press inlay cards at were collected around 4pm...

"Doh!"

Unfortunately they were wrong, and so it was back to the printers for a last minute re-run. A few lead swaps, dog walks and food collections later the band finally got around to the all important sound check. A smooth 30 minutes later and the band were ready to take the plunge...

CD Proofs now ready

All the colours come in shades of red

It appears there is a lot more to designing a cover than one would first imagine. Spearheaded by Tracey with assistance from Matt, days were spent filled with much deliberation and tea drinking whilst musing upon font sizes and shades, and whether a replication or reflection of the cover was the best way forward for the CD label. After much trifling, deliberation, a ream of A4 and the best part of an ink cartridge the work was complete.

Limited amount of Libero coasters available

"Don't get me started", said Matt

[March]

Rumours abound about warm-up gigs prior to forthcoming world tour of West Yorkshire

Libero are set to begin playing several warm-up dates as a precursor to taking their gospel to the world, it emerged yesterday. The as yet undisclosed dates and venues has not stopped speculation mounting in both tabloid and broadsheet alike. Trace, the girl with bass, confirmed that several birthday gigs were being lined up, as well as a wedding, an acoustic set, and maybe some busking in the centre of Dewsbury "provided we don't get our heads kicked in and instruments stolen in the process". Analysts have indicated financially lucrative hotspots include the bus station, even in light of the fierce economic competition there would be with the local tramps and big issue vendors, and the renowned Mr Sparkles' car wash a little further up the road.

[February]

Libero.org.uk Receives Rave Reviews from Punters

Since it's launch in February of 2004, Libero's flagship website has been given the thumbs up by those who have bothered to respond to the plea for feedback. Such plaudits as "a sense of humour too", "very professional", "I bow down at the feet of the mighty Libero" have been typical of the floods of responses which the band have received. Indeed at time of press there has only been one criticism made of the website, though the individual concerned appeared to be under the misapprehension that the primary purpose of the site was to provide the user with pornographic galleries and links rather than vital information, lyrics and top pop trivia about the band.

Hit Counter

"Don't get me started" said Matt.

Demo

One issue that came to light was that the band could do more to promote it's forthcoming 3-track demo, featuring the classics "Afire", "Heartbreaker" and "Amber Lane", of which currently only 23 white label copies are in circulation throughout the entire universe. Although a release date was still under deliberation, drummer Ian reassured fans yesterday by stating that the release would be "excellent value, regardless of cost, due to the excellence in musical craftsmanship and chemistry, the effortless demonstration of sonic genius, and the cost of going into the studio in the first place..."

Massively Subsidised Product - Can only be good for fans

He continued "It's a massively subsidised product, and we're anticipating making quite a loss in the first few presses, but it's never been about money, or fame, or awards, or power, or influence, or critical acclaim, or multi-platinum selling albums, or trashing hotel rooms, let alone worldwide adulation. It's always been about the fans."

"That sounds great!" said a passer by. "Can you reserve me ten copies at a price of your choosing?"

[January]

Winter Break nears end for band

After taking a break to "get back to their roots" the band are due back in the rehearsal studio at the end of February. Matt filled us in with all the latest: "New material has been written and it's just a matter of getting some sort of cohesion behind things, but the newer stuff is more edgy, uses much more heavy guitars and is less focussed on hope and/or lament and more on aggression, so this should help the overall live sound. When we get around to playing live, of course...No I don't know when that'll be. Next question..."

Website Nears Launch - sources report rumbling in the caucuses

The Libero website will be launched shortly, the band announced. After trialling several different versions of publisher over a rather excessive timeframe and much cursing a format has been settled on. Leaving his Pinder's Heath mansion, Matt said to reporters "We'd have had this up and running ages ago were it not for firewalls at work."

HTML transfer

"Don't get me started" he continued...