Shows

Yes, we are working here as well as having a ball. The Sao Paulo show was great, I never thought we would put 300 people in a room in Brasil, but we did. Johnny Flynn is doing solo stuff in support and he was really good, he is just such a frikkin' good guitar player it makes me want to cry.

Last night was the Buenos Aires show at 2.30 am. Holy moly that is a late one. Luckily the crowd are like the Spanish crowds and only finished their tea at 1am so were just warming up nicely when we went on. The reception for us and Johnny was amazing, just a really friendly bunch of people. It was really busy and we got treated like kings. The meat here is just the nuts by the way. If you want a cheap and awesome trip then I would recommend this city. Listen to me, I'm like Bill Bryson.

Motley Cru are in the hotel, fuck yeah! I saw Vince Neal last night and we had a set to on the steps of the hotel. Suffice it to say I kicked his ass. Unfortunately they are on tonight and we are off to Chile today, I would have liked to have seen that.

Henry

Funny story

Just remembered. We did a session for some Brazilian tv thing yesterday and they brought a double bass for House of Lords. I did a bit of wee at the look on his face and his subsequent efforts to play it.
Henry

South America

I managed 4 films on the flight: Hancock, Hallam Foe, Kung fu Panda and Indiana Jones 4. Classics all of them. Actually I just couldn't focus on Indi by the end. Despite my impressive figure Oliver actually busted 5 films which i think takes some beating.

We are in Sau Paulo, its big and fun. I like Cachassa a lot, it makes me all warm. House and I did some sight seeing this morningm, we visited a cemetary with the most amazing mausoleums. It is spring here and the water goes down the plug hole the other way. Skill. There are a lot of junk shops and second hand shops in this city so we have been trying to spend money on rubbish and not succeeding. There is still time.

We went to a restaurant today where they have a small disc at each table that is divided into two colours; red and green. When green is facing up the waiters bring meat, when you feel like you are going to die from meat you have to turn the card over to red. Red means "Please, no more meat, I can't eat any more of your damn meat!" Salad is also available.

We also did another acoustic session today, but it was good fun and got our voices warmed up for tomorrow. House has a sore throat from 13 hours of airoplane air con.

We are supposed to be going to Iceland next week but apparently the whole country has become poor in the last 24 hours. This may jeopordise the trip. I hope not for purely selfish reasons.

Here are some sexy photos.

OK so I got distracted...

And didn't post anything new here. But I make amends today. It's quiet for us at the moment, we are just beavering away on new material and planning the new world order, which looks pretty funny so far. The songs are coming slowly but surely and we have a lot of frikking crazy ideas to choose from. It's the prog third album where we all grow our hair long and do a shit load of acid. The studio is getting very warm and manly and the coffee intake has gone sky high, so much so that my joints are drying up, the joints in my wrists, not my doobie joints, they are fine.

We came up with a title for album 3 "Royal Daylight", but we may find that giving an album a name before it is written is a massive mistake. Any way, we are rejecting all songs that sound like just another Young Knives song, and trying to make something jolly and scary and odd. Let's see if you can tell the difference when, and of course "if" it comes out.

Off to South America next Saturday, which will be fun. I'll make sure there are photos, sexy comments and a phat blog of antics for you to read.

I love you

Henry x

Brooklyn

Yes, we are in NY doing some super shows. I am not normally a big fan of this city as the people are rude bu we are staying in Brooklyn and the people are so much more relaxed. I did brunch today with some NY ladies, it was fully sex in the city but there were some english girls there too so it was really crude. I love it when english people shout with laughter in public places about nobs and arseholes, it's the best. Having said that the Yanks are pretty much as rude when you get them going.
We played the official MIA after party last night at Studio B. It was actually pretty good, people seemed really open to us. Tonight is Union Hall which is a small but cool venue. Although I mean cool as in trendy. It's 35 degrees here, I am a fatty, it doesn't mix well. We are going to do the gig in shorts tonight, but still keep it civilised. Maybe we'll go for full gym whites.
see ya.
Henry

Brighton Great Escape

Alright loves,

Been a while. I bust my laptop, honest. Thought I would just let you know about the show we did last night at the great escape. It was pretty special. I don't think I have seen a crowd go so completely bananas for a while and we fed hungrily on it. You can never put your finger on what makes a special show and I am sure there is a lot of luck involved but our lines converged last night. So that was nice.

In other news and stuff we are playing with our heroes Sparks on Saturday. I can't wait. How in God's name they are managing to play all 21 albums in as many nights I will never know. It is certainly a feat. We will be there for the album "A woofer in tweeters clothing", isn't that an amazing album title, I wish I had thought of that. Me and Tom hope that we are still writing together when we are 60 odd. I imagine we will be as we will not be able to think of anything better to do.


Did a nice session with Mark Riley last week, he's one of the only truly music fans in the dj business in my mind. Maybe thats just because he likes music that I like.

This is sounding a bit like a news update, sorry, but Turn tail single is out on Monday 19th. I am excited. I think it's one of the best songs we have ever released as a single.

Saw Ungdomskulen last night, that was a real treat.

see you
Henry

Italia

Hello Dudes and dudettes,

Italy is not proving to be the most reliable place for working internet so I am reduced to sitting on some steps in Bologna and bumming a connection of some office or other. It is however, one smashing place to be doing gigs. The days are long and warm, the Wisteria is in full bloom and stinks of summer and the band and it's associated employ are in high and gushing spirits. Oooh, it gets me all poetic you see. I spent some time sitting in an ancient hillside garden yesterday, Mr Lizard was basking on the worn red bricks and I drank 4000 bottles of Peroni. The gig was in a scout hut and there was at least 80 people in there, but it was really quite good fun. The adience did this thing where they looked really excited but didn't say very much at all. When we left the stage they fell silent very quickly after a short burst of rapturous applause. I looked at them and they at me, they just looked and smiled. Then I realised that they did really want an encore, they just didn't quite know how to say it. One guy just walked over to me and said "look, they want more, you must play more". Tom had already gone back to the dressing room so Jimmy went of to get him. I think we should call Norris and see if we have an official entry for the Guiness book of records for the longest gap between the main show and the Encore. I think Norris would only alow it with an invigilator present but we can dream.

We also made up a new game last night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NaHNFTX0I

"The most dangerous thing in the world is bored people."
Henry Dartnall (his blog, 24th April 2008).

I am going to make some more proper video soon too. I never have the camera on me when good stuff happens.

European tour 2

It's pretty good touring Europe. They feed you like a king and give you showers and apartments and all sorts. On Friday we played Zürich. Zürich is a quiet town but at night people seem to go Bananas. The club after the gig stayed open until 5, and a lot of people (including me) made it to the end. I slept in for a while the next day, but when I woke up and pulled back the curtain of my bunk I got the best view of the tour so far. We were parked in an Alpine foot hill about a mile out of the Austrian town of Dornbirn. There was an amazing river rushing through the pine trees and we were soaked in dappled sunlight. Then i looked up and saw the snow capped mountains. I can honestly say that i liked it more than waking up in a disused building plot in Crewe. Not to dis Crewe too much but a view like the one I had on Saturday takes some beating.

I didn't really get how you can have a gig that far from town, but the people came. The hilight of the night was our own beer tap and the support band nicking an entirely full barrel of beer. The venue guy didn't even seem to care. Cool.

We were supposed to be driving to Rome the next day (day off) and then playing in Rome today, but the water pipes burst in the Rome venue (that's exactly how the Italians roll, nothing ever works). So we blagged our way into a gig in Innsbruck (which is where I am now). It looks like a really cool little club and they gave us an apartment for 2 days. sweet.

We have done some extreme tourism yesterday and today, including Alp climbing in trainers a cable car, a couple of museums and a Zoo. Pics and vid to follow.

Byesy bye
Henry

On the road again. Moscow and Paris

Hey sexy,

Well I had 10 days off and they didn't seem eventful enough to warrant blogspace. I guess there was a bit to tell though. As soon as we stopped touring, and I mean the day after, I got the lergie. BASTARD. We had one day off and then we went into the studio. We did this stripped down recording of Turn tail at Westbourne studios in London. It was cut straight to Vinyl. We just stood inf ront of two mics and the cutting machine sat next to us, we played and the record was cut in the room. You can hear the machine on the recording. It was quite cool. The problem was that I had developed a cough and every time I coughed we had to start again and it cost £40. Still, it worked out OK in the end but I felt terrible.

Then we went straight to Bristol for the two day Turn tail video shoot. At this point i was shivering and could have definitely done with a day off or four. It was a hard shoot, but luckily it was inside and involved sitting down, so it could have been worse. I watched the almost final version last night and it's a cool looking video. It reminds me a bit of She's attracted to but I think it's even better. It's also the first YK video with CGI in it - Futurismo.

So after lying in bed for a few days after that and then just fixing guitars and amps and stuff, we are back on the road. We flew to Norway on Thursday and did a day of strange TV programs. The gig was cool it was. I love Norway.

Then we went to Moscow on Saturday and Played a gig on Sunday night. It is a strange place. Here is my breakfast:

That's right, it was weird. The pink cakes were my least favorite food I have ever eaten I think.

I was reasonably wary of wandering the streets on my own. Ed (Tour manager) had stories of being "done over" by bent cops, where they take all your money and perhaps your passport. He does exaggerate but I guess it's better to be safe. Luckily because we are an international jet setting bunch, we had a guide. Her name was Eugenie, but I couldn't remember it. We did a good 4 mile walk around the grey blocks of Moscow. It is quite grey, but it also has a strange but not unpleasant atmosphere. I was particularly taken with the packs of stray dogs giving you the "I'm really hungry" eyes. Of course we did the whole tourist thing. Here is a picture to back that up.

I guess it's probably a good time to do an introduction to the people in the picture.
standing from left to right; Me, House of Lords, Jimmy Curry the tech, Ed Hutchinson the Tour Manager. Kneeling from left to right; Martin O'Grady the sound engineer; Oliver.

Jimmy is the guitar tech and we normally have Alex Baker with us for drums. Sometimes, however it gets a bit too expensive to have both so they have to have a brawl and whoever wins gets to go. Al is off with the Courteeners at the moment. Hope it's going well.

So the gig in Moscow was very cool. Lots of people came and laughed at us. There also seemed to be loads of people that knew the words. So that was nice.

Then we did Paris and I finally got my computer back so I could write to you. Then of course I didn't get internet until today. So, sorry about that. Paris was a co-headliner with Gravenhurst. Gravenhurst were really nice and played some good stuff. We got drunk on red wine and ate nice cheese. The audience were a bit dry. I think that is the Paris way though.

I have brought the video camera in case there is something funny to film. I doubt it, but if there is I will post it. MINT.

Lille tonight. The food is once again, amazing.

See ya

Off the beaten track tour 3 - End of Tour

Last 2 nights were pretty mental. Chatham Tap n Tin is a sweet venue. It reminded me of a bar in Austin with free burgers but loads of rain. Never been to the Medway towns and some friends gave me a guided tour of Rochester Castle. Sweet culture.
The gig was a sweat box and I deffo nearly died twice.
Lost the bus today, went into a van for the last 2 days to save money. I have aquired too much shit on this tour to stick in a van. I have been to charity shops in loads of the towns we have visited and got some pretty swish old men clothes, but my luggage is now massive.

We rocked up to Southend and the sun came out. I don't remember ever having been to Southend but I like it. Frode said it reminded him of The Lost Boys. I can see what he means. As it is the last day of the tour I buy Ungdomskulen some rude lollies which I subsequently forget to give them and still have in my bag. I considered buying them "Shit in a can" and "Small pecker condoms" but couldn't muster the courage to ask the shop vendor.
Tonight's show is extra special. Ungdomskulen do a sweet set which is probably their best of the whole tour. The we have them join us at the end of the show and give them our instruments during an extended version of The decision. This has been captured on film and is going to appear on Youtube soon.

I wake up on Monday morning at home and I immediately have the lergie. That's what happens when you stop after 3 weeks of continuous rocking. I am now at the video shoot for Turn tail which is looking amazing to me. It looks a bit like Steptoe and son.

Yesterday was a bit special. Despite my raging cough and aches we go to Westbourne studios in west london and cut acoustic versions of Turn tail and Mummy light the fire, directly to record. Apparently this hasn't been done commercially since the mid 70's. I think it sounded good. We recorded it in a very dry way and we were suffering a bit from the tour but it was definitley an interesting thing to do. Obviously it is also double geeky, but then that's The Young Knives for you - massive geeks.

Still feeling shit today but have eaten all of the flu drugs in the world. One more day of shooting tomorrow here in sunny Bristol and them I am going home to see my wife and have a play on Guitar hero 3. Sad I know. I don't do gaming much but The HMV in Cardiff sorted me out with a sweet discount and I buckled under the "thing of the moment" pressure of it all. The cynic of everything comercial goes capitalist crazy, next thing you know I'll have an iphone.

Love
Henry

Off the beaten track tour 5 - Leicester

I didn't get a chance to do an entry for Wrexham's show. It was good. There you go, a resounding success.

Leicester was a nice trip home. Mum and Dad came to watch and they even enjoyed Undgomskulen, although Dad said that it made his teeth loose! Mum brought flapjack for the bus, she makes good flapjack.

I went for a wander round Leicester too. I got accosted by a fan who was also a charity mugger. I can't deal with that, that's too many conflicting feelings. Yes, I want to be nice to a fan of the band but no, I do not want to be engaged in conversation about signing something to give money every month. Not that I have anything against the principle, I just don't like the approach. Any way, I dealt with it in my own very special brand of bumbling englishness.
I am a fan of charity but I am suspicious of charities, if you know what I mean.

Today I am in Crewe. Wow! It's a bit like Didcot, and Wrexham. It is also raining which doesn't help the ambiance. One good thing is that there are loads of Charity shops here, and we need charity shops. We went shopping for clothes this morning, they are for the turn tail video shoot. I don't want to give too much away but we will be eating each other's clothes in this one. That's it, that's all I'm saying.

The m club in Crewe is big, and as I sit here in the sound check I can confirm that it is probably the best sounding gig we have been in. I hope that the ticket sales for tonight are good, we haven't heard what they are yet. Could this be the town that lets us down. I'll let you know.

Henry x

Off the beaten track tour 4 - Day off

All I did on my day off was went to a weatherspoons and went on the ferry. Ferrys are horrid, they bore me. I played deer hunter which is amazing but cost me £5. I beat Ollie and Ed (Tour manager), even though they are more macho.

I m in Wrexham today. I lived here 10 years ago and worked in a mobile phone shop. I revisited it today and it made me grateful for what has happened to me since. Wrexham really depressed me at the time I lived here, mainly because I didn't know anyone, but it looked nicer today. They have a Maplin's now so I was happy. Has anyone bought one of those R/C helicopters from there? I know that the £40 one only goes up and down and side to side, but is the one that goes forwards and backwards any good? I wanna get one.

Five gigs left on this tour. Phewsh. Home straight. Then we get straight onto the video shoot for Turn tail. More of that later.

Henry

Off the beaten track tour 3 - Dublin

Dublin is always a great place to be. And Whelan's is just a brilliant venue. I managed to stay the whole nine yards and get pretty smashed on Bulmers. I threw some dance floor moved with Kristian, Øyvind and Frode from Ungdomskulen. It's amazing how long I can dance for after 3 pints and a full hour and twenty minute rock show.

No real time to see anything of the city today, the curse of the touring band. I did get to watch 300 on the bus as we were driving in. Thats a funny film.

Had the most revolting Jury's inn breakfast this morning and then headed to Belfast. Day off tomorrow so I might have a couple of Margaritas tonight, then again.

Oh, and the Dublin show was good too - might get a bit sick of saying what the show was like every day, but every good one is a steop towards rock Nirvana. I read the BBC review of Superabundance today and it annoyed me, even though it said we were good it sounded sarcastic. I normally don't read our press but I had a lapse.

Tom and I have been thinking about the next album and we had an acoustic Jam on the bus today. Yes we just love to jam man. We are definitley veering towards less pop songs, but knowing us we will make it poppy, even if we think we are being Beefheart. When we finish the tour we are going to have a couple of weeks in our studio before we go to europe. It will be nice to mess about for a while without practicing songs etc. Its funny that our way of relaxing is to play music too, I think I need a new hobby.

Laters yeah.
Henry

Off the beaten track tour 2 - Swansea

Swansea is a nice place. I always think of it as being a bit grim and there being loads of council estates with horses being kept in back gardens. I guess that there is some of that, and even thats quite cool. I am learning on this tour that there is a lot about these islands that i don't really know about. Of course we are seeing loads of clubs and the same high street in every town, but there is some good shit out there. One thing is definitely true, there isn't a lot of glamour. But then who gives a monkeys about that. I am in danger of saying something middle class and awful about it being "real" out there, so I won't.

Any way, the Swansea gig was awesome. We had a brilliant band first on called Blue Wall: www.myspace.com/bluewallmusic.
Check them out, lots of good tunes and a really interesting down beat sort of delivery, a bit Lloyd Cole or Talking heads I thought.

Ungdomskulen where a bit angry today - they had received bad service in a restaurant in Swansea. I think they looked like the kind of people that the restaurateur definitely didn't want in his establishment. It made for an intense and exciting set. I got over excited.

I am writing this from Whelan's in Dublin - A very rapid ferry journey from Pembroke last night which I didn't even notice asleep in my bunk. I think it's technically illegal to stay in your vehicle in a ferry but I am a rebel.

Whelan's is an amazing place (as is Dublin), not very off the beaten track but there are some exceptions on this tour.

I will try to get Tom and Ollie to contribute to this too but I can't promise anything.
Henry

Off the beaten track tour 1 - Tamworth

Well into the tour named above and I thought I would say a few words. The provinces have not let us down, there is truly an audience for live music in every town on these fair isles. Things are looking up.

It is always hard to know how your band is doing until you get on the road and start talking to people and see the looks on their faces. It has been fully worth while leaving the metropolitan centers of the UK and trying some new places out.

Last night was Tamworth and it was eventful. During an awkward silence on stage due to some bass problems I was left with the daunting task of time filling. I started with a half arsed attempt to engage the audience in a conversation about Tamworth, then I resorted to my favorite "slag off the house of Lords" technique. Tom was pretty frustrated by the technical issues he was having and I just kept ripping into him. It was a first for the Young knives; Tom chucked his bass on the floor and left the stage. Ollie and me looked at each other in horror and i had to chase him off and apologise for the ribbing. He gave me a verbal wrning and we got on with the show. Apparently this was quite good to watch but at the time I thought that we had properly screwed it up.

So drama averted and we are all friends again.

I wanted to add a quick "big up" for the support act "Ungdomskulen". They have been so on form and are one of the best live acts around so check them.

Today is Swansea. I will report later.

Henry