Drunks and Plastic Knives

Alright – probably the last post on this here little blog before Saturday, when as we all know there will be a gig at the Grapes in sunny Sheffield, where we will be finally releasing the much anticipated new Pisco CD.

It is called ‘Drunks and Plastic Knives’. It has seven Pisco classics on it – The Canch, Idiot, Clutching at Straws, Weathergirl, Empire, On This Morning, and the discotherapy number, In My Head. It has a lovely cover, which has been meticulously designed by Ed and Pisco-person Leanne. And, hand on heart, it is really rather dead good.

So there’s an air of anticipation in the Pisco camp, and at the moment a sense of a job well done. Admittedly, there’s always bits and bats that were we to have unlimited time and money we would consider doing over again. Andy, only a day after having the completed mixes in his hands, was telling me that he wouldn’t mind re-mastering one or two of the tracks. We were in Tesco at the time, so we shall excuse his addled mind, especially as he and Keano have been working very hard. But to all intents and purposes we now have a finished article…

… but now the really, REALLY scary part begins, for while we think this recording is a fitting tribute to the amount of work we’ve done over the past couple of years, what if nobody else does? What if, say, Shotgun Dave, who has been so looking forward to having a version of ‘Clutching at Straws’ to listen to, doesn’t like what we’ve done? What if we send it to loads of magazines, fanzines, websites, influential people, all of whom toss it straight into that bottomless pit of ‘failed’ music… that edifice of rejection, that pile of crap? And further than that, you have to wonder why on earth we do this to ourselves – why do we put our heart and soul into what we do, only to invite the scorn and rejection of those people we wish to entertain. Why we have played to empty rooms, why we have invested time and money and ourselves into this crazy world of Pisco that we have created, and that seemingly tries to run away with us? What was the point of all that, eh? And why are you reading this endless, paranoid ramble from a 27 year old librarian who still, deep, deep down in his heart, wonders if one day he might get to write ‘musician’ on his passport and actually know that its true?

Many questions and one simple answer. We do it, because we do. The three of us fell into a band together, started making music, and realised that even if no other bugger likes the songs we write, then we do, and we think they’re pretty ace, thank you very much. And it may seem pretty incomprehensible to those around us, spending so much time dedicated to something that may never really prove to amount to more than a hobby, spending an awful lot of money on something with little or no profitable return, missing out on time with loved one and friends because of this band. But I’ll be bollocksed if I’m not going to follow my dreams for as long as I can, and if the music we make causes one person to be happier than they would have been without it, then it’s validated as far as I’m concerned. And I feel that I would be a lesser man if I allowed all those years of learning how to play, and writing lyrics and thinking about music and… excuse my arrogance, talent, to go to waste.

So there we are. ‘Drunks and Plastic Knives’, the accumulation of everything we’ve learnt and done so far. It may mean nothing to 99.99% of the world, but it’s their loss, poor buggers. I hope that you’re going to enjoy it.

Petros Petros Pisco