North Sea Jazz festival is big, and grown up....we rocked up and line checked a pretty fat gig - after our friend Laura Izibor had tore up the tent with a wonderfully heavy gig......the next day i was having a ciggy outside the hotel and who should sit down next to me !! - only Chaka Khan.....such a beautiful woman, so we had a nice ciggy and a chat, it was pretty surreal.....i got pretty buzzed about it actually as i'ma huge fan of her Rufus stuff....Roy Hargrove came up as well (amazing jazz player) to hang.....surreal.....we jammed a load of the set (hey - it is a jazz festival) - so we toook that to this wicked beach cub, timbuktoe, the next day - literally like a surf gig - a beach bar on the beach full of kite surfers and water hippies - it was awesome - had a proper gig there, totally loved it - then we did a festie in nijmegen, and stayed on a big boat moored within walking distance of the tent we were playing in - too easy - Holland has got to be one of our favorite places to gig no question..... still in recovery......we just got word This Is The Thing in on like a new artists Starbucks comp....with Bon Iver and Liam Finn and Fleet Foxes - we're feeling pretty nice about the company we're keeping on this one.....the track list is great too - maybe check it . if you aren;t totally folked out by all the festies.... next stop - supporting Massive Attack in Arles France...we're thinking of trying to do like a cover of their first track "Any Love" if we have time.....see you there.... Fin Touring is heavy - and much of it is a blur - all the different kinds of gigs, solo, band, full, empty, big, small, important, fun - the whole 9 yards in a three week maelstrom of excess baggage, airmiles, rubbish coffee and occasionally applause ! - i recomend it.....i ran to Paris for a few days off straight after to recover from the jetlag and detox from the road junk food and life on an itinery....all good - thanks to everyone who came down - and to lucky peeps in New York - we reckon as a band that was definitely in the top3 fink gigs of all time - our first, kinda, standing ovation kinda thing (blush...) - it was awesome....philly is great, portland is actually wonderful too - the doug fir is a great venue, great peeps, and the most tattoos i'v ever seen on everyone ! it's nice to be back, but also, a bit weird.....the lack of constant movement and input and stimulus is bizarre.... here's a link of me in LA - for current tv - playing "This Is The Thing" is in dis-used bowling alley that's been turned into a punk venue ! - retro.... http://current.com/items/89048042_fix_ep_music_show_6_24 Just finishing a Nina Simone remix for Verve right now, which is a LCD meets Metro Area delight so far upstairs in the loft....and also - just mastered yesterday the new SIDESHOW album - so i'll post something as soon as it's complete....what a joy - heavy dub - so nice to master.... all good- next stop the infamous North Sea Jazz festival next weekend - i went to this as a punter many many years ago to see The Blackbyrds (they cancelled), but ended up seeing a 17year old Joshua Redman absolutely blow them away, and a yawntastic John McGlaughlin and a stupor inducing Pat Metheny wear suits and play Goatee Guitar - so wrong, so very wrong - we're on after Laura Izabor (who supported us on some uk dates last year) - so it'll be a group hug - if you're in the Hague, join us for extended solo's and jazz faces.... fin We’re getting ready for the usa tour now – heads still spinning from playing San Siro – the crowd, seriously fanatical Negramaro fans, were very polite – the randomest thing is the sound of your voice reverberating around the san siro pa – like a second later it hits the back – such a big gig…..we kinda sat around afterwards, in the sun in Milan, and just thought – wow – what an intense experience……thanks to Juliano from Negramaro for putting us on the bill…although the difference between the support acts volume (capped at 92 db) and the main band was shocking – really shocking – we have the proof – and I guess for us it was cool – but a band like the Fratellis needs power, and they were criminally denied power – we could whisper to each other in front of the stacks at the gig – and you couldn't hear yourself think during the main act – it was easily more than double the volume – I mean – everybody does it – it’s fair enough – but to hear it that extreme was amazing – the Infadels fought through it with their GENIUS sound girl Beth and rocked the place, but The Fashion and The Fratellis really suffered……. The gig before really kinda sucked big time, we were expecting a radio session in Switzerland and staying in a castle – actually turned out to be a free gig in a noisy bar on a Thursday night, and the “castle” was really a building site – me and Tim were woken up at 7am through the smell of paint by a crane powering up at a million decibels and Swiss builders drilling the walls – coupled with losing a guitar to Terminal 5’s Black Hole – trust me when I say THAT day really friggin sucked balls Big Time- Shame coz everyone was lovely – but hey – as the jonny rotten said -“ever get the feeling……..” – and we got It a lot that night….sorry to everyone in switzerland who tuned in….we’re gonna do a gig / session with Couleur 3 later this year that will be SICK so we’ll let you know when that pans out..…. Meanwhile – USA tour – man – got the visa’s / new guitar finished and ready for pick up from BRADY / rehearsing like hell to knacker the voice – come join us if you’re around – should be a blast… To Read the archives, visit the Diary → page.		Little Blue Mailbox Released: 05.11.2007 Available on: 7" (ZEN7199) - BUY Digital (ZENDLS199) - BUY Distance and Time Released: 01.10.2007 Available on: LP (ZEN136) - BUY CD (ZENCD136) - BUY Digital (ZENDL136) - BUY This Is The Thing Released: 13.08.2007 Available on: Digital (ZENDLS198) - BUY Fink - Distance & Time (White) Available as: White/Large (TS106L) White/Large (TS106M) BUY Fink - Distance & Time (White) Available as: White/Medium (TS107M) BUY