PYT meets... Allo, Darlin'

Hello Darling. How are you?

Very well, thanks. Feeling a little worse for wear this morning though. I played a benefit show last night where they were selling gin in teacups. It was lovely but I don’t normally drink that much…but last night I made an exception…

For those who don't know who you are, who are you?!

I’m Elizabeth, and I play under the name Allo, Darlin’. I used to have a band called the Darlings but I was forced to change the name by a Californian pop punk band. Sometimes I play with friends, it just depends who’s available on that day. On record I play with a full band.

Last time we saw you was at the tweepoplove-in that was Indietracks. That place was ace wasn't it? What have you been up to since then?

It was amazing, one of my favourite weekends since I moved to England. Or ever in fact. I’ve been up to lots of things since then. I’ve just come back from 6 weeks in Australia writing and recording my new EP. I’ve also been recording a couple of covers for different compilations that are coming out all over the place, one is a Springsteen record, another is a Ramones one. And there’s a Jonathan Richman one in the works too. Apart from recording I’ve been playing shows in London and I’m just about to go off on mini-tour around England in Scotland.


In the true spirit of Christmas you are releasing a new EP. Have you looked into making it chart eligible? I'm sure we could get you into the top 40 at least!

Ha ha, that’s very sweet but I’m not sure about that. It would be nice though. I do have a soft spot for special Christmas records though, like the Beach Boys one, the Phil Spector one, the Low Christmas album. They’re always a little bit different, a little set apart. I wanted mine to be like that, so I’ve recorded it all on ukulele and just me playing. It’s very simple and lo-fi and imperfect, which is different for me, because I’m normally quite a perfectionist. I think it suits the mood of the songs though. But it means it’s a long way from Christmas Number 1!


Seeing that you recorded said wintery songs whilst back home in Oz, what is the deal with you guys calling flipflops 'thongs'? That is just plain messed up. You don't wear a thong on your feet.

Well, the space between your toes is kind of a crack, isn’t it? You should check out what Aussies call “double pluggers”. They’re really classy thongs, only worn for special occasions. Funerals, weddings, that kind of thing…
What kind of things influence you when song writing? It always feels like there is an honest, natural sense of self in your lyrics. Are you generally singing about yourself/experiences, or are their elements of storytelling in there?

I wish I could say it was storytelling, but that wouldn’t be the truth really. Most of the time I’m writing from my own personal experience, sometimes a little too much so I think. Like my song Emily, I really wish that I hadn’t put her name in the song, because I think she found out about it and was embarrassed. That wasn’t my intention when I was writing it, I just didn’t think that anybody would ever hear it. I guess it’s also because Emily is such a nice word to sing, it just bounces off a melody. My name is rubbish to sing, the only song I know with Elizabeth in the title is a really depressing one by the Eels about his sister who committed suicide. There’s lots of songs called Emily though, and I think it is because it’s so nice to sing.

How did you find working with the lovely folks at WeePop? How important do you think that label is in giving people like yourself and folks like Little My (another PYT bestest friend) an outlet?

WeePop is amazing. Camila and Thor, who run it, are the most enthusiastic and supportive people ever. They’re the best people to have at gigs, especially Camila, because she always stands right down the front and dances, even if nobody else is. The little community that has sprung up around the WeePop bands is really nice too – I think some of the Little My kids will be sleeping at our flat when they come to London soon. There’s so many of them, they don’t all fit at Camila’s house! But things like at Indietracks when Let’s Whisper, The Just Joans and I played a little impromptu show on the train platform – that was a show just for Camila really, but other people found out about it and came down. That’s the kind of nice thing that happens when you have a little community of bands, and WeePop has really fostered that.
As we are dragging you to Manchester, do you have any particular feelings for the city?

I can’t wait to come to Manchester. So many of my favourite bands come from there, and I’m really curious to see what’s in the water. I know things have changed a lot since the 70s and 80s, but I’m still fascinated. It’s going to be super fun.

What other things have you got going on at the moment? Read and good books, seen and good films/tv? Who are you listening to at the moment?

Er, at the moment I’m reading the Bandini Quartet by John Fante. We have a lot of DVDs in our flat, my boyfriend’s collection is pretty intense. Last week I saw the Bergman film Cries and Whispers, the Korean film Old Boy and some surfing movie called Riding Giants. I fell asleep in the surfing movie but it was pretty. I’ve been listening a lot to Taken By Trees lately, that’s Victoria Bergsman’s project, since she left the Concretes. She’s lovely. I think you either love or hate or style of singing, and I can’t get enough of it.

What are you hopes for 2009?

Oh so many! I’m very optimistic about the future. I’m so excited about the election of Obama, although I’m trying not to pin too many hopes on his election. It’s nice to feel that finally change is in the air, and I will allow myself to feel that excitement. In terms of music, I have lots of things coming up that I can’t wait for. I’m recording a new EP for WeePop which will be a 7 inch record, and then I think I’ll be ready to make an album straight after that. I’m not sure if that will be a self-release yet or on a label, I’m just trying to work that out now. I’d like to get together a full band and play some shows in Europe. I just want to keep learning things, more instruments, more about writing songs, more about singing and recording. I’m pretty excited about everything.

myspace.com/allodarlin

PYT meets... Nat Johnson

Hello Nat, how are you?

Fine and dandy thanks

For those people who don't know who you are, who are you?

I used to be in Monkey Swallows the Universe but we broke up at the start of 2008.

How is being a solo artist treating you? Do you miss the dynamics of being in a band full time?

Half the time I’m playing solo but the other half I’m playing with a band again so I’m getting the best of both worlds. Playing solo was scary at first but I enjoy now I’m used to it. It’s always more fun being on stage with a band though.

Has your songwriting taken a different form as opposed to when in MSTU? Are you drawing on any influences which maybe you hadn't touched on before?

It’s hard to say. I haven’t really changed my methods of songwriting but it’s nice to be able to write some louder stuff!

How important has working with Thee SPC been to you? To those of us outside of Sheffield it seems to be a great label, and wonderful at encouraging the music of the city - is this a fair assessment?

They have good taste don’t they, ha ha! Yeah, they’re great at finding the best stuff in Sheffield to let people know about.

Is the Sheffield music scene still on the up? Is everyone still trying to sound like the Monkeys or is the success of people like Richard Hawley encouraging people to craft more well thought out ideas?

There’ll always be someone trying to be the Monkeys but that’s only a small part of it. There’s tons of stuff going on in Sheffield, as always! It’s a great city for music.

Who are the best new acts you've seen/heard recently?

Fight Like Apes are brilliant. I really liked Laura Marling at Green Man. And Caribou. Just discovered Lay Low, a girl from Iceland, too, she’s great. And Thomas Tantrum.

Given that you are coming over to Manchester for us, do you hold any particular fondness for the city?

It’s not somewhere I’ve spent a lot of time to be honest! I use to have friends at uni there but that was a long time ago. I only tend to come over to either watch or play gigs - I’ve seen the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Spinto Band in Manchester in the last few years.

What other things are you up to at the moment? Read any good books/watched good tv/films etc?

I recently read Stephen Fry’s ‘Making History’ which I really enjoyed, and also Nabokov’s ‘Pale Fire’ which is excellent. I’ve been watching a lot of horror films.

What are your hopes for 2009? Both personally and musically.

Well I want to try and get an album finished and released for a start!


Thanks a lot Nat, hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year!!

www.myspace.com/judybeat

PYT meets... Jam on Bread

Hello Jam on Bread. Who are you then?

Hiya! My name's Steve and I make 'ukulele pop,' at least that's what I say when I'm begging people to give me gigs. I've been going for about a year now and have been lucky enough to play gigs with musicians who are much better/more famous than I am, which is nice.

Just you and your Uke is it?

Yeah! It's a lot easier that way. If I want to play a show or go on tour I don't have to mess about making sure the rest of the band are available. Also, the Ukulele is about as portable as it gets so I don't have to lug around heavy bits of equipment. I'm really weak so I'd probably cry if I had to haul a real instrument around on public transport.

Who are the people/bands that have influenced you and convinced you to write popsongs?

Argh! Far too many to mention. Bands like The Middle Ones, The Deirdres, The Empty Set, The Shrieking Violets and songwriters like Pagan Wanderer Lu and Pete Green inspire me. They make me want to write pop songs just so I can get the chance to play gigs with them. I'd be happy if I was half as good as them on that list.

Non band wise, people like John Brainlove from Brainlove Records have influenced me a lot. He's really enthusiastic about everything he does and I'd like to say I have the same enthusiasm for what I do. I'm being a brown nose now aren't I?

Can the term 'pop music' ever be rescued from 'chart music.' Obviously chart music is popular with a lot of people, but surely pop is more like the Labrador stuff which we both love.

I dunno! Maybe there should be a distinction between Pop music and pop music. I'm not sure which one would be which, but I'm not a fan of capital letters so I reckon the good kind would be the all lower case 'pop'. Yeah. One day I'd like to see pop music being Pop music too; have Suburban Kids With Biblical Names selling out the Apollo while The Enemy or some crap like that are playing at Dry Bar. Having said that, The Enemy would probably go down a storm at Dry Bar.

what are you up to at the moment? any plans for a proper jam on bread release? oh, and did the isopods cd ever come to fruition? i totally forgot to finish my song for that before the deadline...

there's supposed to be a 7" coming out at some point but it's a bit up in the air at the moment. i'll probably release it myself. diy by default! i need to get round to recording it first though...

i don't think the isopod compilation ever got finished. i'd say it was a shame but my contribution was awful. genuinely awful. it was the first song i ever wrote and recorded and it was called 'isopod in my bathroom'. i don't think i even have a recording of it anymore!

Seeing that you are just as much a fan of the internet as us, can you suggest some good blogs to be reading? I see we share a love of swedesplease - I love that site.

I really like Vegan Yum Yum, but that isn't a music blog, it just has lots of recipes and stuff on it. It's entertaining even if you can't stand cooking 'cos the photos are so nice. I'm making tofutti cream cheese tomato sauce with spaghetti tonight and it'll look nothing like what it looks like on the internet, but still, yum!

Music-wise I'd go for Death to Music, Skatterbrain, indie mp3. Probably some others I can't think of right now. I have a swedesplease t-shirt! I bet you don't have one of those! I was so happy when they wrote stuff about me on there. I'm not even Swedish!

what other things are you into right now? read any good books, watched any good films/tv?

we don't have a tv but i'm pretty hooked on illegally streamed episodes of gossip girl, embarrassingly enough. house as well, although that's much less embarrassing. i love house so much.

a friend lent me adam gnade's novel. so far i'm about twenty pages in and already we've had a dog chewing on a dead baby and a lorry load of bunnies crashing, leaving a road full of screaming fluff. apparently they scream like babies when they're in pain. the thought of that made me do a sad face for about a whole hour after i read it.

What are your plans for 2009?

There's supposed to be a 7" coming out at some point but it's a bit up in the air at the moment. I'll probably release it myself. DIY by default! I need to get round to recording it first though... I'm also in the middle of arranging a tour with Mat Riviere in February which'll be nice. Mat Riviere's ace. Other than that, I dunno really! Play some more gigs with people I like and meet even more lovely people. Anything else would just be a bonus!

thanks a lot, we hope you have a great christmas and a happy new year!

www.myspace.com/jamonbreadyay

Read all about it...

So this week has been ace. First up we were made CityLife's club of the week, which was amazing. We are so happy that they wanted to write about us, and it makes for rather nice reading. We will probably give you a full taste of our answers at some point in the new year.

Off the back of the CityLife piece we welcomed a lovely audience to Fuel on Monday night for our Rockin' Around The Christmas Twee gig. We had three of our favourite acts playing, who were all brilliant. We had a great time, and it seemed that everyone else did too!

As you may have seen in the current issue of the Pull Yourself Together zine we took some time out to interview Nat Johnson, Allo, Darlin' and Jam on Bread in the lead up to the gig, abridge versions of which are in the zine. Well, starting today we are going to bring you the full versions! Check back soon for the first installment...

This is not my life

It is indeed just my day job, which means there's all sorts of fun to be had in the evenings which is in no way related to my day job. We had a great time putting bands on at the Star and Garter last week, even though it was quieter than we'd hoped! A couple of people have said some kind words, so if you'd like to know how the night went I'd recommend sneaking a peek at Manchester Music and CityLife - Cath and Shaun are both extremely good writers, and tireless invaders of countless gigs, so thank you!

The past week has seen both of team PYT being busier than we have been in a while. Yup, I'm sleepy and work's been a strain, but it's really good to feel enthused again. Nick Cave was immense at the Apollo on Tuesday. I'd always seen him as more Dan's kind of thing, which I picked up on here and there, but honestly the man's a genius. He's utterly terrifying, totally compelling and has a stage presence that I don't think could be surpassed by anyone - certainly not a man who, it has to be said, is getting on a bit (sorry Mr Cave, please don't come and give me nightmares).

Christmas officially started on Wednesday: as we won't be deejaying (in, as the chalkboard at Common states, our 'own unique style') in December, Christmas came early to PYT at Common. We had festive mixtapes to give out, indie Christmas hits galore and Dan even played Paul McCartney whilst wearing a santa hat and watching people punch an inflatable snowman. Then on Thursday it was Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam's EP launch at Sacred Trinity. My, it was beautiful. There was bunting all round the church (I really, really like bunting), beanbags on the floor, a lot of cake and ace music. It was good to see Jamie (Sonic Anaphones, Daggers etc etc) playing his own material, Ed Cottam was haunting as ever, Magic Arm caught everyone's attention...and then there was Tim and Sam. I miss them now they don't play here so much. They still send shivers down my spine. They very nearly reduced me to tears, and not for the first time. Their Put Your Slippers On EP is well worth buying. It's out today. Go buy it!

The coming week looks quieter, but Ben Kweller should be a whole load of fun on Thursday at the Ruby Lounge! x

Pull Yourself Together Presents...

Hey all,

We've been quiet of late, we know. We have in fact been travelling the globe, spending 3 weeks in South America - a wedding in Brazil and trekking in Peru, both stunning in very different ways. But anyway, now we're back, life goes on and we have our very first gig tonight!



We reckon it'll be a whole heap of fun, and we're big fans of all the bands' work. There's even going to be shiny merch from Little My who released their new ep this week on the wonderful WeePOP! records! See you at the Star and Garter from 8. It's a magical place. xx

Shred Yr Fucking Face

Not our words but the words of three shining examples of the finest noises from both sides of the Atlantic. Team PYT took the train to Liverpool last night for the second night of the Shred Yr Face tour, and my, did we have a good time!

Times New Viking must be praised for their loud and hectic take on The Moldy Peaches' chaotic anti-folk. They have also made cassette tapes for the tour, recorded over old mix tapes which you can still hear snatches of between the shouting. Our tape now resides in Arthur, PYT's trusty steed(/Fiesta) and it makes a pretty darn good wake-up call.

It seems impossible that No Age make all that racket with just two people, but a racket they certainly make. All heads are bouncing, and the set seems criminally short. They do offer some suggestions as to what Shredding Yr Face might involve. Something you'd do to a girlfriend didn't sound like a pretty sight...

And of course, there was still Los Campesinos! to come. We do miss them ever so much when they're away (well, they are almost entirely responsible for PYT's existence) and as per usual there's no disappointment. Only dancing, grinning, jumping, screaming and generally annoying the more stationary members of the crowd. Material from new record We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed sounds louder and fiercer, old material sounds rejuvenated. Ah, Campesinos, you've done it again. xx

Dancing Robots

Hey everyone,

If you have seen Issue 2 of the PYT zine then you will have spotted that there are dancing robots all over the shop. Due to a few requests from people, and the fact that we think they are acetastic, we present to you the full set of robots! There are even some which didn't make it into the zine, so consider this bit of blog the DVD extras.

All the robots were produced by Ceri Williams who is a lovely chap. If you want to get in touch with Ceri about his artwork then drop him a line to statemodern@hotmail.com

Band of the Week (or month. Season perhaps?): Prince Edward Island

Firstly, an apology from me to you. Prince Edward Island have been our band of the week since the week following A Certain Education, and that little thing called life has got in the way of my shouting from the rooftops about them.

Prince Edward Island cropped up on the internet, and quite rightly stated that they may be our cup of tea – well, you know how we like tea! It only took a brief listen to fall in love; taking inspiration from the best of mildly melancholic, soft yet often noisy Scottish masters such as The Delgados PEI have forged a number of pieces of beauty. Blips of electronics build with guitars, drums, horns…seemingly everything the five piece can get their hands on, yet everything seems utterly natural. Shortly after discovery we found that tracks were already wholly familiar, it’s as though these folk were simply made to make this music, and we were made to listen to it.

PYT aren’t the only ones who feel this way either, on playing Part-Life to a quietening bar edging up to midnight we found the previously unacquainted barman happily whistling along. These Islanders are probably the best friends you’ve never had – a comfort, a joy, anything you want them to be. They also cause me to sing in a very poor Scottish accent. Bravo

www.myspace.com/princeedwardislandband

www.princeedwardisland.co.uk

http://www.last.fm/music/Prince+Edward+Island?autostart=1

zinefest 2008

last weekend saw the manchester zinefest at urbis. the day was devoted to people who love making fanzines, be they about politics, art, poetry, prose, football or indeed (like us!) music. there was all sort of stuff going on, from workshops on how to introduce interesting styles of folding into your zine production through to a radical history walk around manchester city centre. indeed, pyt's hannah did go on this walk, and discovered all manner of interesting thing about the city we live in. 

whilst hannah was on this walk i was sat in a discussion about the future of music zines. much of this discussion was focused on whether the popularity of the blog as a means of consuming music writing, and the direct access to the subject matter which the internet provides, is killing of the zine. whilst it is true that blogs give both the writer and reader a direct and instant oportunity to check out the music being discussed, which you can see from our own band of the week feature which includes a track by said artist, i personally feel that the fanzine is still a hugely important media - and will continue to be for music fans. this will probably come across as slightly pretentious, but a certain breed of music listeners can really be classed as fans, they actively seek out the music they want to listen too, rather than allowing it be handed to them on a plate and letting it wash over them. it is these people, who are often just as concerned with obtaining a physical representation of the music they love who will continue to pick up zines in record shops, read them on the bus home, and become enthused to check out the bands they have just learned about. taking an example from our last zine, how many people who read this or similar blogs would engage with the kind of music which was suggested by natasha of radio oh-la-la? the fanzine is a place to put forward some more specialist output to an audience who may not normally read it. 

anyway, enough of my ramblings about music zines. the main part of the zinefest was a huge zine marketplace, where some of the country's best zine makers gathered to show of their handiwork, and trade ideas and fanzines. we had a chat with some really great people, on subjects as wide ranging as cctv, literature, twee pop, scary posters and cartoon animals. here is a brief snapshot of the zines we picked up, and where you can find out more!

attack! magazine - wes white was probably one of the nicest people i met all day, and we had a good natter about books and stuff. his zine is a 'call and response' style, with the theme being set down in the previous edition and then responses welcomed. i picked up issue 9, with the accompanying cd. i also grabbed the first chapter of wes' short story labours, which is really well put together. oh, and i also bought his volume the fifty-forth, which is kind of like a catalogue for an invented library. it reminded me a lot of richard brautigan's the abortion: an historical romance 1966

mallard - this is a nice little zine with as yet unpublished comic book art and writing. i grabbed the december 07 issue which has some ace comic strips in it, including one really good one about a pair of chicks deciding to sack their dad when he returns to the nest with worms. this decision had been reached with the help of a faceless squirrel in a near by tree.

the rookie files - really simple collection of interview with people like josie long, christa conner and miss amp. i love the design, really reminds me of hastily put together history handouts at school.

read too much, wrote to little - which i forgot to buy. bad bad me. this zine was put together by a really nice brazilian girl called megssa, who was representing a huge swathe of zines under the collective monkier of brazilian nuts. there seemed to be some really interesting stuff, even if half of it was in portuguese!

you can't say no to hope / drink the sunshine - firstly, two zines in one. read it one way up, you have a punk rock zine, which has some really cool stuff about leaves and bird boxes. flip it over and you get issue 9 of drink the sunshine zine, which is a basically a diary which is presented in a really nice comic-y style.

loiterers resistance movement - hosts of the afore mentioned radical history tour, these folks presented a collection of zine, tea bag and much more, wrapped up in a envelope produced from a road map. brilliantly produced, and hugely interested. hannah is far more qualified to talk about this psychogeography stuff, all i know is that i'm really interested in walking with no aim. the lrm are starting up their walks around manchester again tomorrow, i'm really excited about going on one.

mount pleasant - lucy and david from it's mount pleasant are well known to anyone who has seen an interesting gig poster in manchester. david is probably known well outside of this city for his work which was in the nme, but he's best known in my flat for the terrifying poster he once produced for an answering machine gig i put on. the brief - christmasy please. the poster - a terrifying brian wilson surrounded by three of the most hideous looking women ever. this has pride of place in my living room. the zines we picked up were a collection of artwork on quite beautiful paper, and a wonderful book of short stories of pyt favorite nick ainsworth, illustrated by lucy mount pleasant.

if i've missed anyone out i'm really sorry. the record i'm listening to has just finished, probably a good time to stop writing...

manchesterzinefest.org.uk

Band of the Week - A Classic Education

A Classic Education have the honour of being named Pull Yourself Together's first ever band of the week, and boy do they deserve it. We had the luck to accidentally see them at Indietracks, playing on the Church Stage. This venue turned out to be the perfect venue for this Bologna based dose of epicindiepop. Think Modest Mouse, think Arcade Fire, think Decemberists. The thing that A Classic Education have in common with all of these bands is a commitment to fantastically orchestrated music, there is nothing which doesn't fit in these tracks. Drums build both in terms of tempo and direction; violin lines rise, battles, scratch and fill your head with grandiose ideas; guitars glisten whilst slightly introspective whilst utterly compelling vocals round off the emphatic passion which flows through this band.

The band formed around Christmas 2006 and swiftly set about recording their first wave of tracks in the mountains of centre-north Italy. These first three tracks make up the majority of their first release, the imaginatively titled First EP. The two stand out tracks from this release are the orchestral Stay, Son (on the player above) and the poignant Wartimes. However, that is not to suggest that Stay, Son isn't as lyrically demanding. A running theme through the clutch of songs is the fact that the lyrics contain a somewhat dark, almost ominous, theme - forcing the listener to sit back and think with the elegance of simple one-liners. The prime example of this comes from Wartimes, which closes with the lament of "I know your father's name quite well."

myspace.com/aclassiceducation

aclassiceducation.com

last.fm/music/A+classic+education

indietracks 08

as you may have deduced, pull yourself together are tweeindiepopfans. as such, indietracks is the best festival in the world ever, or at least for the likes of us. we had an amazing time, meeting people, watching ace bands, trying to pet darren hayman's dog, pootling about on steam trains and dancing till the wee small hours to the sound of the 1990s in a locomotive shed.


there are so many things to talk about, and to be honest you would probably be really bored if we told you about all the cool stuff we saw. so we'll just do a few highlights. dan bought a dinosaur badge, hannah got an owl. allo, darling played on a train and was great. the stifling heat of the train was less fun, but then again how often do you see a band play in the engine room of a steam train? huh?!


there was fun to be had on the platform too, with a nighttime medley from many of the lovely folk on wee pop! records - the just joans, allo, darling, let's whisper...at the mention that they should have been at their label's impromptu show, little my hastily arranged a short set the following day, with borrowed instruments and smiles a-plenty - you can watch 'sellotape my hands' here.


without wishing to gloss over anything, a hell of a lot of bands deserve a mention...
*silence at sea did a sterling job of opening the festival, and wearing a cat suit (like a furry one, not a lycra one) is a brave move in the heat of the engine shed!


*esiotrot continue to be 5 parts self depreciating to 5 parts brilliant. these guys and gal seemed to be the band that all the bands wanted to watch with los camp, hayman et al crammed into the church. funpoptastic.


*ballboy left us shocked as to why on earth we don't yet own any of their five long players. gorgeous scottish melancholy which also packs a punch, these guys went down so well that headliners los campesinos! couldn't start until ballboy's outdoor set was finished.


*brontosaurus chorus were loud and fun and hitting different things and generally making sure that everyone was awake and ready to run at sunday full steam. pun intended.


*the smittens leave you feeling just that. sweet as candy tweepop for a sunny sunday afternoon? why yes please! they also have great badges. fact.


*liechtenstein are three swedish girls who make pop music but are not those dancing days. but do make you dance. in the daytime. and at nighttime.


*headline bands. oh yeah, there were a couple of them. punkTV on the outdoor stage are russia's biggest indieband. they sound like a much more accomplished the whip, a bit new order but with dark undertones. everyone turned out for the wedding present - and well deserved the reception was too. sunday night saw los campesinos! turn it up another notch - their show just seems to get better every time, especially when they're so chuffed to be somewhere. seeing gary of twisted by design fame grin so much a tear may have been shed all through you! me! dancing! only served to make the night even better.


so. indietracks was a load of fun. setting a festival in a railway museum - great move. lovely band/fan run merch stand - brilliant. ace bands and great people watching them - our favourite festival of the year! roll on (can i get away with chug on?) indietracks09! choo choo!

Welcome to Pull Yourself Together

Hi there,

We are Pull Yourself Together - A new indiepop fanzine and club night, based at Common in the Northern Quarter. However, this here blog isn't really about that. Well it is, but we want to use this bit of the internet to tell you about bands we love, walks we go on, meals we drink and other bits and bobs of that ilk.

So, that's about it for an introduction. Expect to see our tale of this year's Indietracks festival up here soon!

xx