Happy 4th of July, you ungrateful colonists.

Well life has been doing better since my last post.  I'm heading down to LA for some meetings with smith about finalized album artwork and the like, this basically means we're going to get pissed and do something stupid.  We'll end up going to some party it'll be boring and i'll end up getting plastered and saying "Alright, this place blows.  Let's liven it up, i got this great trick, but i can only do it once, i need a bird-bath, 3 bars of soap, and a ladder so i can get on the roof..."  That usually ends well.  (if you want to know what the trick is, too bad, i can't tell.. i usually have a concussion and can't remember)

Party at my place last night, loads of liquor, got laid, all in all a damn good night.  we played some cards, this texas hold-em business that everyone plays.  I took everyone's money.  they got mad then i told em where the door was.

much love to all of you, hope your lives are smashing.

-billy

www.myspace.com/themeatpackers

well i certainly haven't posted in awhile, lot of shit going on.

well right after my last post smith came into town for a couple of days.  we partied it up, got in a fight, i threatened him with a broken bottle, but everything is fine now.  the second day he was here some friends of ours, a band called EKUK, played a show up here, so they stayed with me too.  so we got drunk after the show and watched zombie flicks while smoking a lotof cigarettes and imitating jamacians.

after that it's been endless drunkeness, mostly alone.  passing out alone is great, puking in an empty house is great.  i hate girls, you know that?  they suck ass.  so now i'm pulling myself out and feeling a long overdue hangover... since i've been drunk for about 4 days straight.  and living off nothing but liquor for 4 days leaves your body a little worn out.  i look and feel like shit, what a wonderful day.

anyways, fuck it, i don't need melodrama.  not for me, i have too much else to do.

hope all is well with all of you,

billy

Ok... I have no desire to rehash my day, so i'll write lyrics instead.  here's a sad song (for ONCE).  it's about a friend of mine, sad story really.  it'll most likely never be made into a meat packers song, but i'll post the lyrics anyways.

So Long San Francisco

Verse 1:
She's packing her things
and listening for the sound of falling rain.
But the cliches, they don't come.
The busy street sings,
and the passing cars used to make her go insane
but now it's the music she's come to love

Pre-Chorus
"Hold me now," she say to a crack in the ground
"Listen to my fond farewell"

Chorus:
"So long San Francisco,
rest easy now that I am gone.
There'll be one less mouth to feed,
And a bed for someone without anyone.
Sleep well my San Francisco,
give my best to SOMA and Van Ness.
You didn't try to dissapoint,
And I know in my heart you gave your best to me."

Verse 2:
She's hailing a cab,
but they pass her by like people do the countless bums.
Makes her wonder if she's got any change
It's her last boarding call,
and she can't find any reason why she should stay.
They were all right, but at least she had the time to waste

Pre-Chorus 2:
"Hold me now," she says to seat 17A.
It's not the city's fault, it's his.

Chorus:
"So long San Francisco,
rest easy now that I am gone.
There'll be one less mouth to feed,
And a bed for someone without anyone.
Sleep well my San Francisco,
give my best to SOMA and Van Ness.
You didn't try to dissapoint,
And I know in my heart you gave your best to me."

©2005 The Meat Packers

Anyways, that's it, hope you enjoy, that poor girl certainly didn't, you tossers.  and if you think this makes me emo understand that it was written for voice and piano, nothin else, not very emo, just sad.

-billy

www.myspace.com/themeatpackers

Ahhh, what kind of music categorizes the Meat Packers?  people have asked me this many times and now for the first time ever i will explain.

The Meat Packers technically began in guildford, england about 6 years ago.  The band began as two friends, smith and myself.  We played terribly and got better as time progressed, and our list of influences is far too long for me to write out.  Let's just say clasic rock, punk, indie, blues, folk, and some country (Johhny Cash is the most bad-ass man to ever walk the earth)

At the center of the Meat Packers is, as it has always been, the guitar.  all songs begin there.  we are in many ways a throw back to good old fashioned riff rock.  riffs come very easily to both of us, and the songwriting process usually goes one of several ways:

1: Smith or myself will come up with a riff while playing alone, take it to the other, we tweak it together and jam through it a few times and if we like it we turn it into a song.

2: One of us will be walking around and suddenly we will start humming (we only really do this while walking alone, it's weird to hum in front of others... weird as hell).  When we get to the nearest guitar we sit down and play what popped out of our head while humming, this is how a good number of songs that i begin writing occur.

3: We'll be jamming for the fun of it and suddenly one of us will start playing something one guitar that the other likes and bam, we have a new riff.

After that we generally record the song and all the instrumental parts.  the last thing to be added are the vocals and lyrics.  The lyrics are usually about something that has just happened to us.  Many people might think that our lyrics are "shallow," however this is not the case.  if one were to purchase the album and hear the track "Loved and Lost" you would see that we're fully capable of writing meaningful lyrics.  The thing is most people don't want to always be challenged, sometimes they just want to sit back with friends and have some fun.  that's what the meat packers are here for.

In answer to the question of how we would describe our music i would say:  Kick you in the Balls rock.  we're here to kick ass, not constantly mope about a girl that left us.  we don't have a problem with people that write music like that, but that's just not us.  if you want a genre to place us in, call us british indie, since that can mean just about anything, but we're really just a conglomeration of all our influences.

if you would like to hear our ungodly noise go to:

www.myspace.com/themeatpackers or

www.purevolume.com/themeatpackers

oh bloody hell, go to both, we'll love you all the more.

-billy

Currently Listening Rock N Roll By Ryan Adams Rock N Roll see related

ahh the 19th of june.... father's day.

what can i say about today?  i don't like father's day.  my father and i haven't seen each other since i was just a little chap so today has little or no value for me.  simply another day, only difference is that most people are busy doing things with their fathers and such.

today has been about several things.  finalizing the artwork for the album, managing emails to the band, smoking cigarettes and eating shitty microwavable food.  The first of these involves phone communication with smith.  it's difficult to finalize artwork when you're in two seperate cities.  we're seeming to manage, and have set a goal to have the album shipped by labour day.  it's a lot of work, but once we get it shipped life will become a little easier.

the other endeavour that is controlling my life is the fruitless search for a new drummer.  our old one fell ill and left us, heading back to england.  now that we have decided to move to san francisco, i've been up here looking for a new drummer.  they're easy enough to find, but it's finding one that suits us.  i get immeasurably tired of equipment whores.  playing with a drummer who feels he needs 8 toms is a waste of my time and energy.  most drummers don't realize this, but it takes them far too long to set up for shows.  and at this level of gigging, we don't get a particularly long set.  as a result, someone with far too much equipment takes up way too much of our time setting up when we could be playing songs.  so i have to keep looking.  if anyone reads this and knows a drummer in the san francisco area who needs a band and is willing to spend a good amount of time on touring then by all means point him in my direction.

what else is going on... ahh.  to quote ryan adams, "there's this girl i can't get out of my head."  ain't that the truth.  i miss her, i want to see her.  life blows in that respect.

anyways, i'll post more tomorrow, love to you all.

-billy

www.myspace.com/themeatpackers