25/1/05 -

               Gah! Ghastly but inevitable news - The Ponies won't be playing on the 3rd, or the 17th, which is what the organisers moved it to. Half of the band can't make the 17th, so those looking forward to it should try and get to one of our others in February (of which some are of-yet-unannounced).

               Slightly better news is that recent jams have been fairly successful, and we're as tight as an elastic band, with a load more in the next week and a bit. Oh, and if anyone has any decent contacts, we're running low on gigs, so any suggestions would be handsome. Bonza!

               Album of the week: Wishbone Ash's Argus - freakin' get it now!

18/1/05 -

               It's been a bit odd these last few weeks. I suppose our excuse for no new news is that we've been revising for our January exams which we're in the thick of at the moment, but we've still managed to squeeze in a couple of jams, and write three new songs. Along with Bright Young Things and Turkish (The Spirit Song) that we've been harking on about for the last month, we've neared I Like Decadence closer to completion, which may well feature in our February tour. Two other songs are extremely promising,  but probably won't be ready in time. Still, look out for them in our new setlist

             Wahey! Those lucky few  going to Oxford's Dragonforce gig can revel in our glory, as we'll be making a delightful appearance, friends. Those that aren't can buy tickets for £12.50 from various ticket offices on the net.

             Finally, there's potentially bad news on the horizon - the fellas organising the gig in Evesham (3rd Feb) may have hit a rut, as the venue's promoters have over-booked. Could be canned/moved, then. Sorry about that.

5/1/06 -

               Happy new year, and all that muck. Yesterday we got word from Battle Of The Bands that we'll be playing with Down in 1980 and Circle3 - nice blokes, but no, we hadn't heard of them either. Down in 1980 are like InFlames/Devil Driver and Circle3 are influenced by Elbow and Damien Rice. That'll be on the 5th April, so gather your motley crews for that evenin' of entertainment.

               In the mean time, you'll be pleased to know we're busy writing new choons, with at least two more in the pipeline (now that Turkish (The Spirit Song) and Bright Young Things are finished), and may well look to record a demo of the new ones in the next month of two. We're aso on the hunt for a proper manager, and are splashing our CD earnings about in order to entice one. On a sidenote, Matt has been made a signature plectrum called "Mother's Favourite" - if you're interested in buying some, they go for £1 and are available through him or Oxford Guitar Gallery (South Parade, Oxford). 

               Keep downloading those free samples. Ta.

27/12/05 -

               Bonza! Matt's got those four sample tracks up for your delectation, as promised. Yeah, 13 days is a long tomorrow, but you won't be whinging once you've got your grubby mitts on these freebies. Enjoy.

              You'll also find a fresh version of Give The People What They Want. No lyrics, but it's got a fab solo and some catchy backing vocals. Matt also cut out a verse & chorus to make it more downloadable.

25/12/05 -

              Merry Christmas from the Ponies, gang. Not much to report, unless you count Matt bitching up his main guitar and getting his 7 year old sister into playing (she got a mini-electric for Christmas and he's teaching her). Nick's getting a FAT drum kit in a week or two, so we've just been beefed up considerably, but are yet to jam this holiday. Happy New Year if we're too lazy to update the site before then!

14/12/05 -

              Honest Blue is getting a bit of airplay over the next few weeks through the DJ El Goorf - I'll tell you how you can hear it when I get better than crap details. I can confirm that the tracks off the CD made available in the Music section are Bones 101, I'd Give It A Two, All This Year and National Hero, along with the internet-only and constantly updated Give The People What They Want. *UPDATE* - no samples yet - we're not allowed. Tomorrow, my dears.

             We had an ace jam this evening, giving us the glorious nigh-on finished versions of Bright Young Things and Turkish (The Spirit Song), and we've decided to make a video for Bones 101, which may well make an appearance here over Christmas. Keep your peepers peeled.

13/12/05 -

              Great news! Our cd (Rule OK)  is out today and is selling like hotcakes for £3. If you want it signed, we'll be more than willing to forge the signatures of the members not present, so long as you're satisfied. At the moment you won't be able to buy the tracks from the internet, but we're looking into it for the near future. We'll have a few sample tracks up on the website tonight so if you haven't seen us live or downloaded the limited-run tracks, then you'll have a chance to savour our choons.

             More news on that postponed gig - we can't do it until February, as the school arranged some turd-burger of an awards ceremony, and we've got exams come January. Be patient and buy the cd. Cos it's cheap.

9/12/05 -

              Bad news, I'm afraid. Due to some legislation, we needed at least four members of staff from Alcester Grammar to attend tonight's gig, which we couldn't manage in time. Therefore we plan to postpone it to 19th December (a week on Monday) providing we can still book it, etc. We're really sorry to those who were planning to come, but we did work as hard as Charlie could to get it done. Look forward to the next one, biz-natches.

             On a far brighter note, our cd (The Ponies Rule OK) is finished, so we'll be launching that over the next week. We'll have a number of copies to sell at our gigs for £3 with a snazzy cover and 11 tracks. We're also entering the main Battle Of The Bands at Cox's Yard in 2006, so we'll be going on that familiar journey all over again. And why not?

6/12/05 -

            AC30! Matt and Charlie bought one, and it's ace (it's also an amp, those not in the know).

29/11/05 -

             Woops! Sorry, I didn't realise it had been so long. Well I've some good news - that gig with NFH and Tractorus should be going ahead on Friday 9th December at Alcester Grammar's fancy hall. Word on the street is that we'll be showcasing one or two new songs, as well as thrashing things up, Ponies-style, so it should be a good one.

             You'll be pleased to note that we're starting to put up the tracks from our recent recording sessions. First up is I'd Give It A Two in it's not quite finished state, just as a teaser. The finished versions will be taking its place in a few days, so this is your only chance to get this limited edition track, so get your sweaty mitts onto your keyboard and mouse and get downloading, you.

19/11/05 -

             The Ponies completed ther first recording of the entire set list last night at Ben's studio. Well, some parts need to re-doing before they're worthy of your ears, and that's been planned for Wednesday, with the mixdown and mastering to follow soon after. Expect the set to be up on the site somehow at the end of the week, I reckon.

             On another good note, erm. I forgot. Oh well.

15/11/05 -

             "Charisma" is the song joining Turkish and Don't Get Caught, and is looking to be a potential crowd favourite, and that gig, yeah, well that's gone back to being unconfirmed, as we need to hassle teachers to overlook the ceremony and whatnot. We've planned a recording session to follow up Sunday's botched attempt at Ben's studio so we can send some demos out to various industry types. They'll also be coming up on the site for your delectation, and should include most of our live set list. Cheers.

29/11/05 -

             Woops! Sorry, I didn't realise it had been so long. Well I've some good news - that gig with NFH and Tractorus should be going ahead on Friday 9th December at Alcester Grammar's fancy hall. Word on the street is that we'll be showcasing one or two new songs, as well as thrashing things up, Ponies-style, so it should be a good one.

             You'll be pleased to note that we're starting to put up the tracks from our recent recording sessions. First up is I'd Give It A Two in it's not quite finished state, just as a teaser. The finished versions will be taking its place in a few days, so this is your only chance to get this limited edition track, so get your sweaty mitts onto your keyboard and mouse and get downloading, you.

19/11/05 -

             The Ponies completed ther first recording of the entire set list last night at Ben's studio. Well, some parts need to re-doing before they're worthy of your ears, and that's been planned for Wednesday, with the mixdown and mastering to follow soon after. Expect the set to be up on the site somehow at the end of the week, I reckon.

             On another good note, erm. I forgot. Oh well.

15/11/05 -

             "Charisma" is the song joining Turkish and Don't Get Caught, and is looking to be a potential crowd favourite, and that gig, yeah, well that's gone back to being unconfirmed, as we need to hassle teachers to overlook the ceremony and whatnot. We've planned a recording session to follow up Sunday's botched attempt at Ben's studio so we can send some demos out to various industry types. They'll also be coming up on the site for your delectation, and should include most of our live set list. Cheers.

9/11/05 -

            Three pieces in the making now: Don't Get Caught, Turkish and yet another untitled one, but Charlie's coming up with the lyrics for that this very minute. Better news, we've aquired a great deal of interest from a Birmingham promoter, who's looking into getting us a bunch of gigs this December (in Brum, we expect). Also, a Vox AC30 amp is about to be purchased following a load of other kit from the NEC's Music Live show that Matt, Charlie and Nick ventured into on Sunday. Oh yeah...

            That 18/11 gig at Alcester Grammar School Hall was been moved forward to Saturday 26th November, 7.30pm,  as it was originally on the same night as the "school play". We'll be playing with the revered Nerds From Hell and their good friends Tractorus - both of whom are ace, despite dubious names. That's a good idea! The "Dubious Namery Tour 2005" it is. Tickets should be in the area of £3 and available on the door or from the sweaty palms of various cloven-hooved animals (i.e. us). Be there, please.

4/11/05 -

            Sorry, it's been a while, but we've been busy, I swear. That untitled song has now become the disgusting Don't Get Caught, and another more adventurous song is getting lyrics put to it this very day.

            We've also made plans for a gig on November 18th, Alcester Grammar Hall, but this hasn't been confirmed yet, so keep coming back here for news on that. Cheers.

11/10/05 -

            But wait, there's more! Our Henley contact for the 20th October gig has said that the band they booked instead of us aren't prepared, so we may be jamming over there after all. So keep that Thursday free, as it's for charity. And if you hadn't noticed, we've got a spankingly-good Gallery for you on the left. Enjoy!

09/10/05 -

            Unfortunately, off the back of BOTBs, we've had both of our gigs coming up over the next week and a bit cancel on us. Boo! On the brightside, the performance due on the 14th was merely postponed to a better venue - Shottery Hall, Stratford - on Halloween (31st October, fact fans). We plan to use the extra time well, with at least two new songs in development currently, and there are rumours of recording plans afoot, so keep your ears peeled, or something. Actually, don't do that, you'll do yourself a nasty.

06/10/05 -

            Hooray! While most of you couldn't get in, we played an excellent set, but lost anyway. Due to Battle Of The Bands'  turning in to basically batle of the fans. And with Fear Of The West having eager fans turning up at 6 they of course won. So hats off to them. Anyway, we're steaming ahead in terms of greatness, with several gigs hitting town over the next two weeks - Greig Hall on the 14th and a charity gig at Henley Scout Hut on the 20th October. "Bit like Live8," according to Parky. Yes.

04/10/05 -

            One day away, ladies and gentlemen, and we're nothing but cool and composed - and you can take that to the bank. Just back from the final band session, and we've come a long way since March - hitting our aim of gigging by October early, which is no mean feat. Hope you're all coming tomorrow, but be warned - if you want to get trebled to death (ie. get tickets) then be queuing from 7pm at the latest. Whoop.

02/10/05 -

            And with a new month comes a new gig - this time in Salford Priors as a warm-up for Wednesday. Those who came enjoyed a rare set featuring the one and only electronic drum kit, aided by a bit of Marshall amplification. Aside from a tuning problem that went down during I'd Give It A Two and Nick thoroughly messing up the encore of Poor Old Harry, there were no noticeable hitches, and once Better Than You kicked in there were people all over the place. Beautiful.

           7pm, Cox's Yard, this Wednesday - see what you missed.

30/09/05 -

            After a successful days gigging, promoting and jamming, we the Ponies would like to inform you that the latest you should arrive at Battle Of The Bands this coming Wednesday(with hopes of getting in) is 7pm, as there's normally about 400 people trying to get in a venue only capable of 220 fans. Do your best, otherwise Charlie'll make you feel like those last 10 years never happened...

26/09/05 -

            For some reason, we seem to be writing quite a few songs in the run up to BOTBs, as we've got a ballsy-rock gush and some good ol' ponies riffs in the pipeline at present. Whether you'll see them on the 5th remains to be seen, but they'll be at a gig within the month, I swear.

           And you can take that to the bank.

23/09/05 -

           This is an announcement regarding upcoming gigs. We've had a slew of invites for the coming month, but only one has been confirmed as of yet, on the 20th October - Henley-In-Arden Scout Hut - for charity. To keep those dates free in your diary, check the On Tour page. Cheers, luv.

22/09/05 -

           Wahey! Charlie and Matt sat and wrote an all new song yesterday - a beautiful waltz - lyrics and all. And we plan to air it in less than two weeks. Called "All This Year" it's a cracker for dancing, so make sure you bring your boots. We've got a jam tomorrow as well and everyone is welcome to a small screening of our set-list as it stands from 4-4.30pm. Ta.

02/10/05 -

            And with a new month comes a new gig - this time in Salford Priors as a warm-up for Wednesday. Those who came enjoyed a rare set featuring the one and only electronic drum kit, aided by a bit of Marshall amplification. Aside from a tuning problem that went down during I'd Give It A Two and Nick thoroughly messing up the encore of Poor Old Harry, there were no noticeable hitches, and once Better Than You kicked in there were people all over the place. Beautiful.

           7pm, Cox's Yard, this Wednesday - see what you missed.

30/09/05 -

            After a successful days gigging, promoting and jamming, we the Ponies would like to inform you that the latest you should arrive at Battle Of The Bands this coming Wednesday(with hopes of getting in) is 7pm, as there's normally about 400 people trying to get in a venue only capable of 220 fans. Do your best, otherwise Charlie'll make you feel like those last 10 years never happened...

26/09/05 -

            For some reason, we seem to be writing quite a few songs in the run up to BOTBs, as we've got a ballsy-rock gush and some good ol' ponies riffs in the pipeline at present. Whether you'll see them on the 5th remains to be seen, but they'll be at a gig within the month, I swear.

           And you can take that to the bank.

23/09/05 -

           This is an announcement regarding upcoming gigs. We've had a slew of invites for the coming month, but only one has been confirmed as of yet, on the 20th October - Henley-In-Arden Scout Hut - for charity. To keep those dates free in your diary, check the On Tour page. Cheers, luv.

22/09/05 -

           Wahey! Charlie and Matt sat and wrote an all new song yesterday - a beautiful waltz - lyrics and all. And we plan to air it in less than two weeks. Called "All This Year" it's a cracker for dancing, so make sure you bring your boots. We've got a jam tomorrow as well and everyone is welcome to a small screening of our set-list as it stands from 4-4.30pm. Ta.

19/09/05 -

           Hello. And  now for some good news. Yesterday we had a private gig in front of a select few, playing hit after hit with new drummer Nick Ross. Yeah, once a couple of hiccups are out of the way, we reckon we'll be a shoo-in by the time BOTBs swings around. We also recieved word yesterday that Ashes of Souls (no, we hadn't heard of them either) wanted us to play with them at the Greig Hall on October 14th, so keep your peepers peeled to see if we confirm.  

          Watch out for a couple more announcements regarding performances soon.

17/09/05 -

           Well we had to have some bad news at some point, so it may as well be now - three weeks until Battle Of The Bands. Unfortunately, the rest of the band feel that Tim is not right for the band at this moment in time, so as of today a replacement drummer has been found in Nick Ross.

           We'd seriously love to keep working with Tim, as he's a great guy, but it looked as though he might hold us back in certain areas (with the deadline fast approaching), and we really don't want to have to blame an unsatisfactory performance on anyone (except maybe Charlie). We've had great fun with him, and while starting the instrument 4 months ago didn't seem like much of a problem back then, pressures have had the better of us, so we'll have to part ways. We'd like to give him a proper send-off, as all Ponies deserve (which you should see in the near-future). Cheers, and we hope you continue your merry drummer-boy march.

12/09/05 -

           A lov-er-ly set list has been displayed for your undeserving eyes, as well as a spritely load of lyrics to bolster Charlie's reputation as a bard. Feast, my children.

10/09/05 -

           Matt just finished work on updating the Too Good For That and Give The People What They want demos, making them nicer and smaller in size (Give The People... anyway). Hope you enjoy!

08/09/05 -

          We took all but Tim to the first Battle Of The Bands meeting last night, turning up a smooth 45 minutes late to a one hour meeting. Baby! The good news is we're pretty sure we're better than most, if not all of the bands there in terms of originality and songs. Hopefully our musical...erm...talents won't let us down. No fear!

          Get your tickets from somewhere! I don't think the cox's yard website is selling them yet, but check anyway. 5th October, £3, vote for us regardless of who's the best!

06/09/05 -

          Charlie, Matt and Ben have been meeting up a fair few times since the last hunk of news, writing further guitar-based material. Have A Dream About Me (which is completely acoustic) is far closer to being finished now, as is What I Used To Do, Ibuprofen, Working Late, National Hero (which has been tweaked a bit) and I'd give it a 2. Running like clockwork, baby.  

03/09/05 -