Update & Plans

2 Foot Moose - (left to right) Chris 'Budgie' Butler, Sam Watts,
Ben Crumpler, Adam 'Cuds' Cudlip & Sam 'Professor' Baillie

We are all very excited about, what we have booked and planned, for 2 Foot Moose in the near future. So we felt it would be good to fill you all in on what's been happening 'behind the scenes'. The band has appeared very quiet and although this is true, from a gigging point of view, this definitely isn't the case, when it comes to a new set list, song writing & recording. All this while getting 'Cuds' and the 'Professor' ready for their first gig.



Past Line Up

The band has always meant a great deal to all the members and has become more to us then an expensive hobby. Its become a place to escape depression, forget our problems and vent out. It sounds so cheesy, especially when written down, but the band feels to me like a family. We see each other all the time, whether its practicing twice a week or just hanging out as friends. So its always hard when the band splits and you find that you're heading in different directions. Bands always go through changes, its how the band finds its sound, its path and makes it who the group is. I loved our last line up with Matt Alford & Scott Mills, we had some amazing gigs and there heavy metal vibe will always be imprinted into 2 Foot Moose's sound.

Before revealing our future plans I just want to reflect back on 3 of the gigs this year that we really enjoyed. On the 5th of April we played at the Horsington Music Festival. We turned up to find the event was practically empty, and just a few OAP's sat in the far corner. The band currently playing was an acoustic duo and their combined age easily totalled 130 years. I remember we all looked at each other with the same thoughts in our head... "this wasn't the venue or audience suitable for our more heavier sound." Regardless of this we set to work lugging all our amps out of the cars, with help from very shocked event organisers. There was some discussion as to whether or not we should take out some of our more heavier songs from our set list. Despite our photographers disapproval we decided to play the lot, we were booked and this was our sound. We decided to start our set playing classic covers such as Sharp Dressed Man and Back in Black. We began to play our set to the few people in the audience. By the looks on their faces they were expecting a metal screamo band. Before we knew it they were tapping their feet and the audience had grown to a fairly decent size. Word had got out to the punters hiding in the pub that we were playing classic rock songs and had come to investigate. Having one over the audience's first impressions of us, it was time to introduce some OAP's to a few covers of Avenged Sevenfold which went down surprisingly well. They were even tapping away and nodding along to our heavier songs. This gig was great fun despite the fairly small audience size. I felt we played very well and we got some great feedback. This video is the last song of the gig, our original 'Left for Dead'.


Photo at 'Party @ the Rec' with our 2 youngest Fans

By far the best gig in my opinion was when we headlined 'Party @ the Rec' on the 1st of June. We spent the entire day at the festival and listened to all the other bands perform. The crowd was large and filled with a mixture of fans and those who had never heard of us before. From the first song we had people jumping about and singing. Not surprisingly our heavier songs went down very well. We were asked to bring our set to a close as the festival was nearly over but were allowed to continue due to the fact the crowd moaned about it. Even after an encore the audience yelled for more. One couple in particular demanded more Metallica. At the end of the gig we had our two youngest fans come up on stage with us and have their photo taken with the group. They were even dressed in Budgie's black & white trousers.

 

The final gig I would like to mention leads us nicely to our future plans. It was this gig at the Hunters Lodge on the 9th of August that we revealed Matt and Scott would be leaving the band and that this was to be the last final time that we were to play alongside them. We turned up at the biker event expecting it to be like the year before, packed out with bikers and loud music but was greeted with a very empty car park and not a single bike to be seen. Apparently the event hadn't been organised very well and bands hadn't turned up, resulting in the event being cancelled. regardless of this we found 'Loose Connections' performing an amazing set to no more than 10 people. We decided despite the awful turn out we were going to play as we had so much gear packed. This gig was both emotional and incredibly fun. The audience loved our set and we had them all singing away to our covers. I remember when it got to our final original song, all of us performing it and looking around knowing it was the last final time with the line up.



2 Foot Moose - Last ever gig along side Matt Alford & Scott Mills.



 

There are no hard feelings at all between any members of 2 Foot Moose, Matt and Scotts departure was purely based on the direction they wanted their music to go in. Writing original material for 2FM had become quite difficult towards the end as there appeared to be 2 different directions we wanted the group to go in. It wasn't easy for any of the members to make the decision to split but we all agreed for us as individuals, as well as a band it was the right path to take. Matt & Scott are starting up a new metal band 'Chapter' so be sure to like and follow them. We wish them the best of luck and thank them for all the hours and devotion they put into 2FM over the years, its been amazing gigging with you guys and you'll always be our band brothers.

 

Now to reveal the plans for 2 Foot Moose. Soon as we had finished our gig at the biker festival a lady came running over to us to book us for next years Calne Bike Meet, The largest free biker event in Europe. Next years crowd is expected to reach a massive 200,000 people over the course of the event. With this gig underway for July 2015 we set to work on getting 2FM back on track. Matt & Scott kindly gave us enough notice to be able to find people to fill their positions. Adam 'Cuds' Cudlip was a former guitarist of 'Arcadium', Sam Watts' early band. With years of history behind them and the same musical taste he was perfect. Not to mention being the older brother of band Photographer Hannah Cudlip. A week after the final gig we were back practicing again.

New Guitarist - Adam 'Cuds' Cudlip

 Trying to find a new bassist wasn't so easy. They had to not only be able to play well, but had to have a decent enough sized amp to be able to compete with ours. Eventually the search ended when we heard good things about a young bassist called 'Sam Baillie'.

After meeting up it wasn't difficult to say that he was perfect. similar music taste and had a very decent 'peavey' bass amp. It was only his second practice with us and he had already learnt our originals and started work on our versions of covers.

 

New Bassist - Sam 'The Professor' Baillie

Our next gig is said to be some time in December so keep an eye out on our page. For now we are quietly disappearing into the shadows (briefly!!!) while we prepare our new members for their first gigs. We are working extra hard to maintain our current set list while working on our new songs.

On top of all this we are also really focusing on our originals and getting a 3 track EP out for you all. With 2 songs finished we are now just working on our 3rd track and then they will be released along with a brand new music video.

 

If brand new members and set wasn't enough we have just bought ourselves brand new equipment. A 24 channel Allen & Heath Mixer, 2 800watt Alto speakers, 2 600watt floor monitors and 2 1200watt subs!! If this doesn't make any sense to you, we have just bought ourselves very large amps which everything runs through. This allows us to control the volumes of everything through out the entire gig, the sound quality is crystal clear and no matter where you stand you should be able to hear everything, rather than the guitar your stood closest too. As well as this, we have a custom made stage being built with all the stage lighting needed. Not only can we be booked as a band to perform, but we now have the equipment to allow us to hire out everything for a large event. Once the band is up and gigging again, we are definitely going to be more professional, clearer and tighter musically.

24 Channel Allen & Heath Mixer

All our band equipment set up at practice

We cant wait to show you all the good changes to 2 Foot Moose. We are really excited for the future of the band. First gig should hopefully be in December so we look forward to coming back with a bang then. Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, keep your eyes peeled on our page for our EP release.