BELATED BLOG...

I'm going to have to blame Christmas this time... belated blogging is pretty common around the festive period... and mine just lasted until today!
I do actually have lots of reasons for not blogging - all of them are amazingly exciting. It has been so busy at camp GY... busy is an understatement!
I might have to start a new blog to discuss music things - album releases, press features, reviews, writing, gigs etc. as I feel like I shouldn't gabble on about such things on a styleblog.

Instead, today I am going to talk about one night: a night that pretty much changed everything for me, that led me down new, wonderful paths, to a glimpse of what the future may hold.
I am talking of course of my favourite gig of last year:

22nd October - 'Alltogether now' -ALBUM LAUNCH @ BUSH HALL, London
This was a early start to preparing for a gig. Jennifer Nash arrived with makeup and fake hair at around 8am and the fun began! Our little flat was soon brimming with band members, friends and my manager sorting things, unwrapping CDs, decorating dolls houses, making giant butterflies out of tights and wire (Jen was by FAR the best at this!) We loaded into the van with fake plants, grass, flowers, TREES, birds, boxes of our new album and about six of us... was it a squeeze?!! haha... it definitely wasn't legal!!! Luckily the police had better things to do and within 40 mins we pulled up outside Bush Hall to meet the rest of the band and mammoth crew that we pulled together to help us.

Bush Hall is a beautiful venue. You could easily drive past it (I have about 3 times already!) on the Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush (west London) but the moment you get inside you won't forget it! Once you're through the entrance, past the bar into the main hall you can't help but gasp! BEAUTIFUL - It was an Irish Dance Hall built in 1904 (good ole' google!) and has chandeliers and a wonderfully grand and romantic decor. I chose this as my album launch venue very easily after playing there in May.

There were a lot more people to meet when we got there as tonight was something I have been plotting for a very long time - I had invited friends, people I met at fairs and found on the net to come and set up stalls, pop up shops and exhibitions of their work and items for sale - from food to full on dresses! I will be telling you more about them very soon... (in about 5mins reading time!)

We then decorated the hall and turned it into a giant dreamlike garden with fake trees either side of the stage - littered with the giant butterflies (the one I had made was hidden somewhere at the back!!) And brightly coloured feathered birds! We laid down a roll of synthetic grass on the stage and wrapped flower garlands and fairy lights over the mic stands. It looked amazing - the band did a great job at making it look beautiful - I'm admit I was busy at work sitting still whilst having a beautiful bird painted onto my arm...
(Jen's work! Might make it permanant!)
So the stall holders set up, we soundchecked and then I was whisked off upstairs to the lavish balcony for a photo shoot. This was for a project called A-Z London Songwriters being put together by the talented photographer Dylan Walker ... it was FREEZING and I was outside in hotpants and a tiny top - made by the sublime Rosa Bloom but I think it was worth it:


Here are a few choice picks- after I melted back inside we also got these:




As the flash went off for this one I saw a worried looking man in the corner of my eye - it was my manager, Brett informing me that we were about to be open and I cannot be seen before I come on stage... I half like this- on one side I love to make an entrance (who doesn't?!) but on the other it does tend to get quite lonely backstage I wanted to shop at the stalls and mill around meeting people... actually having said that I was WAY too nervous to do that so I think its better I was hidden away this time!!

So I was shuffled back into the 'green room' and the night began. I heard voices- people popped in and out looking happy and excited, especially my dad who had a constant chesire cat all night long! I guessed from the expressions running in and out of the dressing room that things were going well. I got vague responses of 'yeah- all is fine out there' and 'don't worry about anything just relax' ... RELAX????!! I was practically nailess!

Whilst everyone was filtering in they were greeted by the DJ Tricity Vogue and a band of STEEL DRUM players from Battersea Technology College:
(Photos by Joseph Lee)

The support band, Magic Lantern, are friends of ours and sounded amazing through the doors, so did the applause - this was getting exciting.
I did have a panic moment - tears, sweats etc etc. Its a girl thing to do when you have spent so much time on one night and the fear of it not going exactly to plan!!

Soon it was time to go on stage - we were ready, the band was giddy with excitement and after one of those cheesy hands in the middle go team go moment (which of course I lead much to the dismay of some people!!) I had to wait for the band to go out start the first few bars of 'Umm' (we were doing the whole album in order!) then I walked out- parasol in hand, fairy lights in my hair and nearly fainted.... because...
(dun...dun...dunnnn)
the hall was PACKED... I can't describe that feeling but I know that I LOVED it - everyone was screaming and going mad- our band was VERY well received and I could hardly start the song with lack of breath and tears in my eyes! I would describe the gig but I honestly can't... it was a wonderful blur of colours, dancing, wild costumes, the lovely sight of the popup shops surrounding us and people, lots of people- some familiar but most suprisingly not.

I do remember running offstage in the middle whilst the band was still playing... don't worry I wasn't ill I was about to do something I have dreamed off for a very long time:
A MID GIG COSTUME CHANGE!!!
I went from this:


to this:



Both outfits - headpieces & gloves included were bespoke pieces specially for the night made by the beautiful and amazingly talented Miss Rosa Bloom I LOVE THEM! Incredible to wear such beautiful handmade clothes!! Thankyou Rosa!

Needless to say the gig was a success- it was punctuated by one unique special moment where the steel band crept in front of the stage to join us for Lipsink!!



The stalls were a different matter all together...
I loved them all and am so thankful for their time and energy.

HUNGAMUNGA
had a craft table, led by Lloyd Ellis - where you could gather together materials, glitter, glue, paint etc to make your very own mask or whatever you wanted...


ROSA BLOOM
had her own stall of beautiful homemade bloomers, hairclips, jewellery and pasties (these are nipple cups not the cornish steak snack!)


NICKY YOUNG (my sister) and MERCH CORNER
My talented sister was selling her own T-shirts which she designs with amazing abstract prints and postcards - inspired by the supernatural and definitely SUPER!
My parents were heading up the merch area which was not a table but a grand piano!! We had brought along a dolls house complete with furniture and in each room was merchandise - the album won centre stage of course and there were dolls house picture hairclips that I made (with my own bare, gluey hands!) also pocket mirrors, tshirts and posters. The highlight of our merch table was an exclusive sale of collaborative bespoke pieces with Hungamunga's own Vicky Sennett there was a handmade Skirt, shoes, a gorgeous little clutch bag, a fantastic hat and a butterfly encrusted fascinator - I considered buying them all myself but I wasn't allowed to!! All of these items will be on sale online very soon! (I sadly don't have a picture but it looked great!)

SHORTT STITCHES
was a very popular stall run by a friend I met through Twitter! It featured knitted wonders and animal ears!



LAURA MACLENNAN and STEPHANIE LAING
brought their own designs of amazing jackets and dresses all the way from Edinburgh - they were lovely girls and I am in love with their clothes!!


KAREN MORRISON
set up the most professional, spectacular stall of incredible jewelery - I think our audience were maybe feeling the credit crunch a bit that night but everyone walked away from her bedazzled and inspired.


OF CABBAGES AND KINGS
had an awesome collection of pretty brooches, bags and keyrings!


FIDGIT
My lovely friend Alice Hoddell came up from Cornwall with her incredible handknitted hats -perfect for this time of year or just being snuggly - I love my bespoke Fidgit hat!!


PINKWORKS
their fluffy little things were extreeemely tempting and I could easily fill my house with them!


There was also art from Crystal Brook, cakes and headbands from Christie Carter and her friend Amy and facepainting/balloon making by our very own extraordinarily talented Jennifer Nash.

Thankyou to all involved... you all worked so hard and and were so selfless in putting time and energy into this event - you have no idea how much you have been integral part in my life.

Lots has come from this gig- to start with there was a Sunday Times journalist there, David Stubbs who I met with days later for an interview that became my first national press feature and made the FRONT PAGE of the music section in the Culture Magazine in the Christmas Edition...
AGHHHHHHHHH!!! I am still over the moon to see this!! Imagine my face when I first saw this... my jaw was nowhere near the rest of my face!

I leave you with a final selection of photos from the night by our wonderful (yes, really running out of words for 'amazing' now - which apparently I say all the time!!) photographer JOSEPH LEE:




Thankyou Joe and thanks to all that came- what a wonderful lot you are!

a truly magical night.

And MANY more to come...
DATE FOR THE DAIRY - 4th MARCH = Single launch @ Bloomsbury Ballroom
more dates to come - throughout THE WORLD!!! :)

Sooo much more to say...
photo, video shoots, V. exciting collaborations etc etc etc but that will just have to wait until next time!

I love you all my pretties
Fly happy
xoxoxoxoxooxxooxox
gabgab

A Video Message...

Whilst wait for a few free hours to write my next bl0g I thought I'd leave you with a video message I did this week instead.



CORSET by Lee Klabin - http://leeklabin.com/
HAIR & MAKEUP by Jennifer Nash - http://www.jennifernashmakeupartist.co.uk/

A written blog WILL be coming soon. I have nearly done it on paper- I just need more hours in the day!!

Hope all is good in everyone's fur trimmed hood
Xox Gabling xoX

VINTAGE SHOPS TOUR PART II- Beyond Retro

Good day blogglings!
I have started the day the best way- walking in the autumn sun across Hampstead Heath with my lovely, but oh so naughty, jack russell puppy- Hobbes!

This is him:

Yes there is a possibility that
A- he is the cutest dog EVER
B - not entirely jack russell (we like to think he has a bit of Corgi in him too!)

Isn't he adorable?! He is currently sleeping on my knees! Awwww...

ANYWAAAAAY! What am I doing? Gabby! This is not a HobbesBlog... pull yourself together girl.

I have a tour to report and some exciting news.

Last Monday (2/11/09) THE EVENING STANDARD printed this:

(NB, The Standard forgot to credit LEONORA SAUNDERS for this amazing photo)

It was THE MIDDLE PAGE SPREAD and sooooo exciting!!! I thought it was going to be little pic and article I had no idea it would look like that- so yes I was a teensy weensy bit overexcited so much so that Stephen refused to let me drive after nearly crashing in my mental state driving round north London to pick up copies of the paper - sooo didn't realise how hard they are to get hold of after 4pm!!!

What happened the next day managed to top even that as I had an interview with THE SUNDAY TIMES... I won't say anymore but please look out for me in next weeks edition (15th Nov)

eek and eek!

RIGHT now to the VINTAGE SHOPS TOUR:

After Manchester's wonderful Vintage Fair next was a double whammy of BEYOND RETRO gigs...

15th October @ Beyond Retro LAUNCH, Brighton
For those of you that haven't squeezed round the aisles of vintage treats in the London Beyond Retro stores let me just say that you should definately put it on your 'to do before I die' list- its that amazing!!
Whats even more amazing is Brighton's brand spanking new Beyond Retro shop- its BEAUTIFUL!
This time we were a full 8 piece band - yes I had ALL my animals- and I wasn't allowed out of the backstage area (or 'van' as most call it!) until they started playing - yes, I like to make an entrance! So when I walked in to the first bars of 'Umm' I saw the shop in all it's sequinned, striped and frilly glory and I was blown away by it and by the packedness of it- the place was rammed. Beautiful and full- I knew this would be a good gig.
Reports had come back to the van for me and Jen (who was busy drawing a burlesque lady on my chest -see pics!) that the stage was 'above the shop' on a sort of balcony and it was- we played looking over the shop- it was like 'birds eye shopping' for me- I couldn't help but get distracted my the ballgowns hanging on the walls!!
Everyone was vibing in the band and the audience and they even quietened down for the beginning of 'Maybe' which was an unexpected treat - to have a silent busy shop for a few minutes is a rare, wonderful thing! I actually spied some people singing along to my lyrics!!! YEY!
Needless to say I LOVED THIS GIG- I sadly don't have pictures of us on stage (yet?!) but here is what the shop looks like - see the balcony where we played:


Here's some nice pro shots of me and band members:


Me & Rory Shaw (trumpet) and with my lovely man Stephen Ellis (guitarist/multi-instrumentalist)
Photos by www.garage-studios.co.uk

oh and to see a closer view of what Jen did with my hair/ makeup etc...


and these were on my new iphone!!

That was a Thursday- I don't remember what happened on the Friday after- I think I went to work and showed off the pinup girl body art!

But SATURDAY we did it all again... sort of.
17th October @ Beyond Retro, London

London is an all together different kettle of trendy hipsters when it comes to Vintage Shops- this makes it a tougher gig as the people that are there are there to shop and look cool and occasionally glance at the 8 piece band playing their hearts out! I was so happy the the lovely girls from Vintage Secret came as they were a very welcome addition to the little gaggle of people interested in live music gathering around us. I know I seem sarcastic but seriously I always leave East London feeling a little rejected and not cool enough! ANYWAY- we did play our hearts out and get a bag of vintage clothes for free so it was a great gig afterall!!

A selection of pics (one of my favourite costumes to date - including the dress I got FOR FREE at Brighton's store! I think Jen excelled herself!!)




Oh yes that was the BIG bonus of playing Beyond Retro stores - we got paid in CLOTHES- beautiful vintage clothes. So far I have added 2 dresses, a furry hat and scarf to my wardrobe! YEY... A HUGE thankyou to Diana and everyone at both Beyond Retro shops for having us- we hope to see you again soon!

Thats all folks...
NEXT UP....
THE ALBUM LAUNCH @ BUSH HALL

Lots of love and puppy yawns from Hobbes
xoX gabbitha Xox

THE VINTAGE SHOPS TOUR PART I

I know, I know its been a long time since my last blog.
I am guilty of being stupidly busy...
I'm sorry but also I'm excited.

A LOT has happened recently... I can't tell you about all the things yet but I will tell you that we were on BBC RADIO 2 last week which was AMAZING- so exciting to hear our single on the car radio!! And the TOUR BEGAN! Oh and I got a proper job in a beautiful clothes shop - I needed to pay the rent and it seems a fitting place to do so!

Oh oh annnnd THIS:


So yes a busy busy bee.

DAY ONE of VINTAGE SHOPS TOUR:
10th October @ Vintage Fair, Manchester Metropolitan University
Me, Stephen and Jen left London at 8am and tried to stay awake for 4 hours till the 'Manchester Metropolitan University' sign was a few feet in front of us...
What a great fair - amazing stalls of accessories, clothes, cupcakes and incredible fascinators (one of which I now own thankyou to lovely Stephen!)
We set up on a little stage just by the walkway through the fair and our audience including my dad and sister stood the other side of the room which made for an interesting gig!! Jen did her usual magic on my hair and makeup and I wore my mum's old mint dress and Marc Jacobs stilettos that I couldn't walk in!!

After the show we went shopping, of course, well browsing due to lack of funding... it was at this point that I suddenly realised that this vintage tour idea was a dangerous one for my shopping habit!!
Then Jen and Stephen left for London with my guitar in the car... which I later remembered I needed for a radio session in Manchester the next day - WHOOPSADAISY!!
Luckily my sister lives in Manc and has a very talented musician boyfriend who is incredibly generous and owns a beautiful electro-acoustic Tanglewood guitar- PHEW!

We had a family night out at a yummy Italian restaurant with me, dad, sister, her boyfriend and our 2 cousins who happened to be in Manchester that weekend too... what great timing, eh?! The timing was SO good in fact that I managed to blag a bed in the hotel my dad was in, only THE nicest hotel in Manchester- The Palace- HOLEY MOLEY this place was incredible- very art deco and BIG, very big. Somehow we were upgraded to a double suite which meant we both had king sized beds- wow! This amazing luck was slightly dampened at 1am when the fire alarm went off and woke us... I admit dad and I are not good in an emergency... we just sleepily wandered round our room wondering what to do!! When we finally got wrapped up warm and stepped out the door the alarm stopped... apparently it was a false alarm because a customer was (and I quote) "using the shower too hard" !!!!! ?????? !!!!!!

The next day after a yummy "free" cooked breakfast we trundled off with the borrowed guitar to the Lowry theatre where I joined the BBC Manchester crew to read through the Sunday papers live on air with the DJ Andy Crane , Comedian Ruth Cockborn and Politician Matthew (I fully admit I never found out his surname, sorry!) they were all lovely and although I'm not exactly a connoisseur of current affairs- it went well and was good fun. Oh and I played 3 songs- just me and the borrowed guitar...

Our journey home was a long one...traaaaaaaaffic all the way.

So THAT was Manchester!

Xox Gabspell xoX

PS. that lovely photo was by my talented sister NICKY YOUNG

DRESS FOR LESS

I have a new addiction...
EBAY - well, not new, I have had this addiction for a while. It started with Vinyl - I bought a collection of 200+ from The Pixies to Nat King Cole's Christmas Hits - even The Muppets Picture Disc!! Then I got into DVDs... I was very much a gadget girl too and all of which I could find cheaply on EBAY - even my microphones that I used to record my 'bedroom demos' arrived in the mail with a paypal invoice!

Then... one day I needed a smart pair of high heels for a party - I was about 18 and all my 'heels' were disgusting lime green wedges or clumpy Doc Martens - I was a bit grungy, to say the least! So I looked on the internet and discovered a whole new world on there...

Clothes shopping on EBAY!
It started my longest love affair...

Recently I have have an influx of post and its all because of a discovery of an EBAY shop - Dress 4 Less where every item of clothing is £5 each and guess what?... there is some REALLY nice stuff there- I am trying hard not to check everyday for new items.
My best 2 buys from them are these... so far:

£5 each!!!

OK so they were cheap but I have had some amazing luck with FREE CLOTHES recently - which is even better for my (very angry) band manager right now.

YES, more FREECYCLE beauties!! I picked up 3 black bags of clothes last week and there are some real gems in there. The others that I'm not so into/don't fit/suit me aren't going to waste though... I have a new project : GABBY YOUNG MAKES THINGS (working title- *please let me know if you have any ideas for this*)
I have finally started using my sewing machine (another amazing freebie!) to customise lots of great items to be my new merch range... I'm not going to say too much yet but they will be for sale online and at all my gigs- oh and EVERY piece will be a complete one off!

Which ties me in nicely with my exciting news for the week... (seems like a good time for a drumroll!! ;o)
I can finally tell you about something my manager and I have been brewing up - a VINTAGE CLOTHES SHOP TOUR!!

Well we have a album and single coming out and I love to tour, and I'm not such a big fan of a lot of smelly music venues across the country so it makes sense to take this show on the road to my favourite places across the country- shops!

Some of these will be solo, some of them will be with the band but ALL of them will have clothes, lots of clothes, amazing hair and makeup (the lovely Jen is joining me for the whole thing!!) And all of them will be different - I will be asking suggestions for set lists and outfits nearer the time.

I really want lots of people to be involved with this and if you are someone that is reading this thinking - 'I live in Newcastle and would love Gabby to wear to knitted hat and mittens for her gig there' then write to me - gabby@gabbyyoungandotheranimals.com ...although mittens may make guitar playing pretty tricky... but you get the idea!!

So here is the GIG LIST:

SATURDAY 10TH OCTOBER - VINTAGE FAIR @ MANCHESTER MET UNIVERSITY
THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER - *ALBUM LAUNCH* @ BUSH HALL
OK, so it not exactly a shop but I have ways and means... so we have having stalls of fashion, art and crafts (this deserves a blog in itself so watch this space!)
FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER - FLASHBACK BOUTIQUE, LIVERPOOL
SATURDAY 31ST OCTOBER - STYLE AND THE CITY, PORTSMOUTH
FRIDAY 20TH NOVEMBER - BLUE RINSE, LEEDS (TBC)
SATURDAY 21ST NOVEMBER - BLUE RINSE, MANCHESTER (TBC)
SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER, BETWEEN THE BUTTONS, NEWCASTLE
SATURDAY 5TH DECEMBER - MOTEL, BRISTOL
SUNDAY 13TH DECEMBER - BANG BANG VINTAGE, SHEFFIELD

STILL TO COME - BIRMINGHAM, EDINBURGH AND CARDIFF
***If you have any ideas for this tour - ie, other shops that might be happy to have us or designers that may want to lend us a piece or 2 etc etc etc.. you know who to call... GABUSTERS!! aka: gabby@gabbyyoungandotheranimals.com

Now to end with some slightly shaky pictures from our last gig- a very special night @ Monkey Chews. Hair and Make- up by the ever lovely Jen Nash and dress by DRESS 4 LESS (on Ebay!)

(I did say they were shaky!)

Love and customised denim roses
xoxooxo gabalos xoxooxox

I'VE BEEN RANKED!!

So I was going to blog a few hours ago... I was sat down with a cup of Peppermint tea and a re-run of America's Next Top Model and ready to blahblahblah online BUT THEN . . ...... (=dun dun duuuuhn)
I got an email... a FREECYCLE email saying

OFFER: Various vintage clothing items

so naturally I typed quicker than Bolt running and replied that I would love to take these off her asap. In a few minutes I had the reply I prayed for:

"Hi Gabby,

Would love to see the clothes go to a good home - when can you come?"

WOOOOOOOOOH!!

So I decided to go and pick up the bag of FREE VINTAGE CLOTHES before blogging!
They are beautiful!
Looky here:



I feel soooo lucky- I'm doing well with my new wardrobe - FOR FREE!!
YEY!

OK so this might be 'GABBY HAS GOOD NEWS' blog as the next bit was yet again another exciting email that made me literally jump up and scream - " WOWEEE" and " $^*%" and other things (CENSORED)
As last week I got invited to have a photo shoot with none other than RAAAAANKIIIIIN (Rankin) as part of RankinLive - I was over the moon, and the stars, and the sun and the universe to be involved!

Before I teared apart my wardrobe I decided to Facebook and twitter "what should I wear to the Rankin shoot?" and my guardian angels and allround lovely girls from Vintage Secret replied saying they want to help and style me for the shoot so I met up with Naomi outside the Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane with a huge bag of beautiful garments and we went inside to meet the Rankin crew.

I was a little nervous (do you blame me?!) and practically shaking when I was asked- how I wanted to look by the hair and makeup artists- I just mumbled something like "I normally go for edgy and eccentric but I'd love to see what you would like to do with me" then I heard the words "big, messy hair, wind machine and black eyeliner" and I knew I was in great hands!!

After a FREE FRINGE TRIM (bonus!!) and my hair backcombed and my lids swept with pitch black M.A.C fluidline (which I bought for myself hours later) it was time to change into my outfit.

I am no good at decisions and I feel bad for Naomi as she brought along so much to try on but I realised pretty quickly after getting there that I was only allowed one outfit for the shoot and no time to choose or even look at the others, so I went with the tiniest dress in the collection- silly Gabby!!

I don't even think I should tell anyone this but it was hilarious so I will.
The next 10 minutes was spent with me face down on the bathroom floor with both my boyfriend and Naomi on top of me trying to zip me into the dress!! haha- a poor unexpecting lady walked in and looked quite shocked by these odd goings on- who knows how THAT looked!!!
I GOT IN (just)! I was just no longer able to breathe!!
Then I was whisked off for the actual shoot- aghhh
The rest is pretty much a blur- there was Rankin and his crew and bright lights and a lot of Rankin saying "chin down, smile with your eyes, CHIN DOWN, good, CHIIIN DOWN!!" There were lots of people about watching the shoot and all the photos came up on screen straight after each shot- I was spurred on by gasps and oohs and ahhs and suddenly was in my element! All those ANTM watching sessions were paying off and I think I'm at liberty to say that I was FIERCE! It was awesome.
I was extra lucky to be able to have a second shoot with my man, the lovely Stephen (from REVERE) and was even more relaxed... enough to bite his tongue on camera!! (I knew Rankin would want to sex it up so I was expecting that one!)
So needless to say I LOVE the pictures- we were allowed to choose 1 pic from each shoot (bloomin hard choice) and got to have a wander round the exhibition muttering "I can't believe he just photographed US!!" whilst oogling his portraits of so many luminaries including Bowie, Bjork, Tori Amos and Radiohead!!!

Rankin was a lovely guy also- we were lucky enough to have a chat with him and I handed out CDs to him and the crew (it would have been foolish to pass up that opportunity...)

I can't show you the pictures just yet but here is one of Rankin himself, Stephen and I:


Anyway... it was a special week and this one is shaping up to be the same especially as yesterday the doorbell rang, I answered and the man on the other side of the door said: "Are you Gabby Young? I have a delivery of 1000 CDS for you."
YES! MY ALBUM HAS ARRIVED! IT IS HAPPILY SITTING IN MY HALLWAY READY TO GO OFF TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE...
If you want it before the release date (2nd November) please become an animal...

So what am I wearing right now?!
A HUGE SMILE!
and that's the best thing I can suggest everyone to wear as much as possible!!!!

ooodles of love and life's little excitements!
xoxoxoox gabalot xxoxoxooxox

SO MUCH SHOUTING, SO MUCH LAUGHTER...

Woh... festivals seriously take it out of me. I am lying here surrounded by olbas oil tissues, throat sweets and a half full/empty cup of lemsip feeling a bit sorry for myself.
The good news is: it isn't swine flu (though I was worried for a bit there...)
The bad news is: this happens to me everytime I have a bit of time off -I get ill :o(
I am NOT happy bunny!!

What I WAS meant to be doing today was the big wardrobe clearout... the plan is to only keep what I would be happy doing a gig in and give the rest away (to charity and friends) but that will have to wait... and believe me I will be blogging about it...

So I don't want to bore you with my ailments lets focus on the good, the bad and THE FASHION...
I have so much to tell you about, but for now I will recount the recent
FESTIVALS and VIDEO SHOOT

This summer has been MENTAL... I have performed at a different festival every weekend so far including LATITUDE where I wore this:


...mainly to fit in with the locals!!
( NB, This picture was taken before my hair and makeup was done... stars around the eye with silver glitter and butterflies in my hair)

Then we did the video shoot where I got to wear 4 different outfits/ looks - from clown to 70s fairy goddess! The amazing Jennifer Nash did my hair and makeup -she is THE loveliest girl and does wonders!
I will only show you a sneak preview as I want the video to be a surprise!!!

(Thats me & Jen - the 'crime fighting' duo!)

Next was SECRET GARDEN PARTY... We had an amazing time there and I got to wear my FAVOURITE bright stripey boating jacket that I think fitted in very well...
(I was always laughed at for liking this jacket and have had it for years but finally it found it's place! YEY!)
Sadly I don't have a picture of said jacket but I do have one I found on the net of our gig on Sunday night in the Living Room tent complete with a gorgeous pillbox hat I bought that day at the festival ...


This gig ended with a few of our musicians friends joining us onstage with percussion and mayhem conceded! It was great... even if we did have to politely ask the drunk guy who tried to sing the song with me to leave the stage and my mic alone!!

We also played a full band plus Jamie Doe (from Magic Lantern) in the tiniest tent in the festival (apart from Yusufs '2 man tent' cheapy from Tesco- hahahah!) for HUNGAMUNGA, our favourite promoters and arty folk) ... I say TENT , we actually all ended up amongst the crowd gathering outside...


Other highlights included: Seeing Yusuf WIN the dance-off!
(NB, thats our new Trombone player!)
Fiona Bevan (made me weep like a baby)
Magic Lantern
Mark Hole
Rodriguez Y Gabriela

I LOVE SECRET GARDEN PARTY!

Next up was STANDON CALLING where we played on the MAIN STAGE!!
I turned up with my manager at 10am on Sunday (I was too busy with the album artwork to stay this time)
I have never felt so pampered... I was escorted to our OWN backstage cabin where the lovely Jen was waiting to do my hair and makeup...


Then she added some details to every band member and lent me a BEAUTIFUL hat...
It was a great gig and with that huge stage and dry ice smoke- I felt like I got a glimpse of what the future could be like for us (fingers crossed eh?!)

(pic by SAUL ANTHONY)

So that pretty much wraps things up for now...
I think the lemsip is working so I might manage the clear-out afterall... I will also be searching for the best possible outfit for some gypsy madness for our gig at THE LEXINGTON on Saturday night... it's going to be epic!

Oh there was one other thing... I wanted your help...
I have lost my favourite hair accessory - my big beautiful butterfly, that I got in Seattle :(
I don't expect anyone to go 'I FOUND IT' but I thought if I posted a picture than someone might know where I can get one... or, even better, might be able to make me another??!! Its made out of tights and wire but I'm no good with that crafty stuff... I'm all about ideas!

This is the best pic I can find of it (the large one on the top):


Love and lemsip
xoxoxoox gabsniff xoxoxooxox

PS, Next blog won't be all pictures of me me me ... I promise!