Some sad news this week, as Cardiff indiepop institution Little My waves goodbye with their 55th and last gig on Tuesday March 9th at 10 Feet Tall.
Little My’s Wake will see them open their own gig with a short acoustic set to placate the complaint-happy Italian restaurant next door (the band are a lot louder than legend might have it), before The Gentle Good and Threatmantics offer top-drawer support to the farewell headline set. Just £5 in, with proceeds to the African Childrens’ Fund. Wear black, but wear a smile. And animal ears.
We asked the core Little Mys (and a few helpers) about what being in the band meant to them. We unleashed a lovely tidal wave of memories, nicely bookended by Graf and Harri’s slightly longer meditations. Caution: Contains moving material.
Graf: Well, here we are: 4 years, 55 gigs, 10 EPs, (with 2 LPs to follow), 52 songs (26 originals and 26 covers), 4 record labels, 30+ performers, 60+ animal ears and countless shattered wooden spoons down the line, Cardiff’s biggest littlest band has, like all good things, come to an end.
It all started more years ago than I care to remember (OK, about eight) when mine and Harri’s previous band (Star-Shaped Creatures, for the terminally curious) collapsed in on itself. Although we continued to be friends neither of us played music (together or separately) for a couple of years until I stumbled into forming Gindrinker (via a failed Sammo Hung audition, but that’s a different story) and got the taste and desire back for making music. It was shortly after this that Harri revealed he’d never stopped writing music or lyrics and had an idea where it wouldn’t be a band as such but he’d need people to play his songs live so planned on borrowing folk we knew from other Cardiff based bands (amongst other friends) on a voluntary and part time basis. Mostly it’ll be fun and would I like to hear some songs and learn them and is it OK if we get everyone to practice in our living room, oh and by the way I want everyone to wear animal ears when we play, is that OK maybe? Yes Harri, of course it is.
If I’d have had any idea how far this (obviously far fetched, ludicrously over-simplified and clearly impractical) idea would run I’m not sure if I would have said no in order to concentrate more on my own band rather than spread my time between the two (and promoting and having the all important day job to not give up) but then I would have missed out on so much fun, excitement, entertainment and fantastic opportunities on the way. For example, there’s no other way I would have been asked to play live on the radio as part of a 19-piece band for Bethan Elfyn’s Christmas show, I would still yet to have gone on a proper tour (in a van and everything) like a proper band or have been invited to play at an outdoor festival (well, twice actually, if you count the time we stormed the tea tent at Indietracks by sheer weight of numbers and borrowed instruments). These were all important parts of the list-of-things-I-had-decided-I-had-to-do-before-I-die which would still be resolutely not crossed off and beginning to depress me if I hadn’t said yes.
The other great thing about being part of such a large and loose collective is the huge number of friends I’ve gained, re-gained and/or got to know better both within and around the actual group of performers. Without meaning to make it sound like Fleetwood Abba or anything like that I can’t think of any other bands in the world where the cat that plays guitar ends up marrying the mouse that sings, the reindeer that sang has a baby with the no-eared drummer and the lion that plays guitar is happily shacked up with the cat the plays keyboards, most of whom had barely met each other before the band began.
What’s next? Who knows. Obviously, those who were “borrowed” can return to (and finally concentrate properly on) their original bands but I also predict there will be many further cross-pollinations of ex-Little Mys grouping and re-grouping to create a fresh and wide array of sights and sounds for many years to come. Nobody is giving up; this project being completed (one song written beginning with each letter of the alphabet) doesn’t mean the end of any of us making music, so watch this space.
All in all, it just remains for me to say a huge thanks to everyone who has been involved in helping to make the last four and a half years or so the best times of my life and especially thanks to Harri for having this crazy idea in the first place AND being brave/stubborn enough to make it work and see it through. Lastly, but by no means leastly, extra-special props to Mel who I probably wouldn’t have even met properly if this hadn’t have happened.
Thank you, and goodbye! But not for long.
Gareth: For my Little My magical musical memory moments can I pick:
* Riding the plastic horse at Indietracks (not a drug reference)
* Gigbus in general but including the trips to motorway service stations in the middle of the night (bouncy ball fun) and taking pictures of funny looking old people
* And er… meeting my wife? Yeah, that or dressing as the Pet Shop Boys in Somerfield in Wolverhampton. That was the day the BNP membership was leaked and me and Ollie had white pointy hats on and were doing ‘Go West’ in the car park with Ben filming. It was ace. It’s all been ace.
Charlie: In Wolverhampton the B&W camera didn’t pick up the stripes on the hats and without the music the “dance” looked more like a salute… So yes you looked like the KKK.
Early days practice at Harri & Graf’s house, I’d make everyone dinner before practice (a highlight for me) and then we’d try to play in the living room without getting them evicted. The drumkit was made out of boxes on a clothes horse and often DC Gates would be in the cupboard. He said that we were the only band who practiced louder than we played gigs.
Fulfilling a long ambition and getting to co-own a van. Serge Vansbourg. Before we get rid of Serge I am going to take her away for a long drive. Just me & her. I will also sleep in her.
Trying to squeeze too many people into my parents’ “modest” flat in Wolverhampton and possibly not ever seeing my mother so happy.
Indietracks ’08 – playing impromptu in the tea tent with borrowed instruments arriving throughout the set. This festival also saw Bien being the best drunk person the world has ever seen.
Playing in the back of a van.
Hiding people in the back of a van to get to Bethan Elfyn’s Xmas show.
Hiring a van to go on tour.
Taking a van to Manchester and accidentally finding where we were meant to be.
Taking a van to Hereford.
Having my own van.
The van has a shark in it.
Anyone looking for a poor bass player or quiet singer?
Mel: My highlights, of which there are many, include: Being asked to join in the first place and my first ever gig supporting Los Campesinos! in Solus (scary!). Fulfilling a teenage ambition by playing a gig in Camden and technically playing opposite My Bloody Valentine who were playing in the Roundhouse across the road…both exciting and frustrating! Playing at Indietracks ’08 and ’09 and Graf nearly blinding several indie kids by getting over excited with his wooden spoon bashing during Cute Guts. Meeting Graf McGraf (and many other people who I wouldn’t have got to know otherwise…you know who you are). Thank you everyone!
Rich: My best things about Little My…
1. Being able to wear my fox hat for a legitimate reason
2. Being a drummer and not being in charge of the speed of songs (G……)
3. Watching Harri getting genuinely scared of drunken people in our infamous Zync gigs.
4. ‘You’re Told You Are’
Worst things…
Only one: The drummer-hater sound/bar man in Mother’s Ruin in Bristol. “Will you shut the fuck up? I fucking hate drummers” (actual quote). That upset me.
It’s all been good though, so thanks for having me be part of it.
Charlie: Brizzle, supporting Los Camp – giving out sweets in one song that I didn’t play on and being unable to get back to stage because of all the peeps there (for Los Camp, but still…).
Nic: My favourite Little My moments:
1. Early practises at Canton Court. Meeting G my husband-to-be (Harri=Cilla Black).
2. Indietracks 2009 – we practised for ages for this gig and when we started ‘Grandstand’ the audience were singing along and it felt amazing.
3. The first night of our tour in Bristol – the easiest soundcheck ever (just plug in and play) and Bristol Geoff was there. We had truly made it.
4. The Wolverhampton Morrisons “Pet Shop Boys incident”: something so innocent coming across as so racist on film. But seriously – they went to the deli counter whilst wearing homemade Pet Shop Boys hats. I’m full of admiration.
5. Our song structures (other bit, other other bit etc). Learning songs became so much easier when I moved from keyboards to vocals!
6. ‘Little Donkey’ at Buffalo Xmas 2006. Harri had never heard the original. G was allowed to play drums. We only played this once and no one in the audience could tell it was meant to be ‘Little Donkey’.
Like all the other Little My-ers I just want to say a huge thanks to Harri for starting it all and giving us a reason for meeting up every week. We’ve played some amazing gigs, met some lovely people and had loads of fun. R.I.P Little My x
Oli: ‘Little Donkey’! Ha ha. I can remember hearing from the stage after playing that:
Adam Chard: That was the best version of ‘Little Donkey’ I’ve ever heard.
Dafydd: THAT WAS ‘LITTLE DONKEY’?!
Laura: Ummm…Little My Was ace….Ears, LeNays yummy food at our early practices, the fact that no matter how hard I tried I could never sing exactly what Harri wanted me to, and so made it up….I never managed to get some of the songs right no matter how many times we played them. Stupid me!
Harri is amazing and Little My will always be the reason I know lots of cool people in Cardiff. Thanks Harri! xxx
Graf: I would like to add an open letter of apology to the sound persons of various small scale venues around South Wales and the rest of the UK. Although it was fun watching the colour drain out of someone’s face while Harri, Bien, myself or whoever reeled off the lengthy and varied list of tech specs to them, I realise it’s the equivalent of turning up to the office and finding out you have to fax that report to China whilst e-mailing Belgium and filing seven seperate tax returns at the same time. So for this, I’m sorry and thank you to those who handled it and actually (against all our own odds) made us sound good to people.
Liz (The School): During my time in Little My I’ve shaken many eggs, sung a few songs, had a small child’s pipe thrown at me, had a loud speaker squawk in my ear, recorded a Bethan Elfyn session and got to be on stage with them at IndieTracks. They have the best merch and van. And their songs are very lovely but sad and difficult to learn. I’ve always admired the dedication of all the Little Mys and love how every set is different, confusing and fun. Rest in peace Little My x
Simon: Of the two or three gigs I helped with I particularly enjoyed the Manchester In The City gig, topped off nicely with my bum note and a tray of curry and chips. And the Christmas session with Bethan Elfyn: a logistical nightmare of epic proportions, but a great night nonetheless, with 18 of us tripping over each other. I started to listen to it again but got so embarrassed just as the false start to ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ happened I had to switch it off. Never at any other point in my life have I been so embarrassed when nobody else was around.
Playing with Little My was probably the most stress free and fun filled time I’ve had, probably because I didn’t take it anywhere near as seriously as I should have. Don’t tell Harri.
Bien: Highlights:
1. The merchandise indie sweatshops (t-shirts, bags and animals).
2. Getting to hear the ever increasing drums-bass-guitar showdown that is the live version of ‘You’re Told You Are’.
3. Having to say dick, cunnilingus and fellatio on stage in front of my mum.
4. Learning the F chord.
5. The three horror show gigs where everything went wrong (Hereford, Hoxton and Solus ’07 I’m looking at you)
6. Any time I turned round and found 3 (or more) extra people on stage that Harri had organised but hadn’t bothered warning us about.
Oli: Being interviewed by Bethan Elfyn outside a sexshop after playing In The City! Also I bought a second hand jumper on Oldham St and owned it for about an hour before leaving it at the venue. The promoters posted it back to Cardiff, probably costing more than the three pounds I paid for it.
Indietracks last year was amazing as was the impromptu tea tent gig. I remember running around asking anyone I could see with instruments if we could borrow them. Ha ha.
The “O-Beans Where Are You” sign at the Unsigned filming. We exploited our university positions to take band photos in a library and a lab. That was fun. Getting a vinyl copy of Little My’s ‘7th’ was pretty awesome. Seeing it in Rough Trade was nice. Well done Harri, these achievements should mean a lot to you.
Charlie: At the same Unsigned shoot, Steve Baboo (who was there helping out) was so impressed with Harri’s direction of the band that he christened him Twitler (twee Hitler).
Harri: If I was to recount all my favourite bits then I would end up recounting the whole of the last four years!
In the recording studio ‘doing’ ‘Monsterpuss(y)’ with everyone gathered around the mic singing “me-ow!” and then a few years later more or less the same thing but screaming ‘CHIEN!!!’ for ‘Debaser’ instead!
Spending a 13 hr video shoot in the middle of a wood, in slight drizzle, dressed as animals, playing the same some over and over… next to an asylum. Band members wandering in to use their toilet in full animal costume. Brilliant!
Playing at Indietracks festival, twice! The first impromptu tea tent set when we had 3 borrowed instruments when we started the first song and a full band’s worth by the time we finished – with thanks to the unsuspecting bands that so kindly sent theirs to us (being passed through the audience as we were playing and people just plugging in and joining in as we went!). Graf ploughing through innumerable spoons as they shattered to pieces into the audience with every beat!
Fantastic week long road trip for our Nov ’08 tour – sharing various floors with 15 people tessellating is always a treat. Doing a live Radio 1 Christmas session with Bethan Elfyn on my (and Steph’s) birthday in 2007 with a 20-piece band. Excellent chaos.
Getting a Little My baby blue 7″ heavy-weight vinyl released and in Rough Trade shops – Little My’s Sixth getting an American release is pretty cool too. Having not one, but four fantastic record labels’ support is amazing – Weepop!, Little Pocket, Businessman and Bubblewrap records – I owe you one (or two).
I’m extremely grateful to the people who stuck with us from the very shambolic mess and probably awful noise we were when we first crept onto the stage (barely being able to scrape together a 12 minute set!) on 10th March 2006, all the way up to the fairly shambolic mess and hopefully awesome noise we became, and all the people that joined us on the way.
Going from recording in a cupboard by myself when I had the house to myself, to playing with 12+ other people on stage is an amazing feeling. Gradually absorbing my best friends into the band and making them play instruments they hadn’t touched before, and then having an excuse to spend lots of time with the best people in the world. Perfect.
I still can’t really believe people actually seem to like it all, and how much time and dedication everyone in the band has given up – it means the world to me. Seeing friendships form and grow, wedding bells and the occasional baby popping out is always cool. Every moment I had a chance to spend time with the people in the band will be my most treasured moments for ever more.
Thank you to absolutely everyone that has supported us, put us on, put us up, put up with us, said nice things and refrained from saying not so nice things. Little My RIP- we didn’t lose a friend – we made loads. x
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Little My’s Eighth and Ninth EPs are out now and available from Businessman Records and The Bubblewrap Collective respectively. Their Tenth and final EP, with covers of the Pixies, Grandaddy, the Ramones and Keith Mansfield, will be available from Tuesday’s gig onwards.
LITTLE MY
THREATMANTICS
THE GENTLE GOOD
& Little My acoustic opening set
followed by guest DJs until lateTuesday 9th March
8pm-3am
£5 entry
All proceeds go to the African Children’s Fund.
Little My MySpace
Threatmantics MySpace
The Gentle Good MySpace
