Easter!!

Well, its easter afternoon, and there is snow falling and snow men being created!

quite odd really...

Well support for THRE3 is now becomeing very strong, its very strange, people who don't actually know you telling you to "keep up the good work" and stuff!
As a band we are becoming quite close off stage which in turn is meaning we are getting better and better on stage, its a nice progression.
We played at a gig called Genex with collective, last saturday, and everyone there was so up for it, was a great night, and (thanks to mark and simon) we got some fantastic live photos out of it.
We are now coming up with more ideas for live sets and planning stuff that we might want to see happening in a worship time, which is very cool, its kinda at the stage where, ok we have led good worship, now we wanna take it a bit further, and really get into seeing God doing amazing amazing things with his people.

We had our first studio photoshoot yesterday! very funny, but some good results, i seem to be able to do the moody look pretty well...

Things to come:
We are leading worship at Clacton Elim in a few weeks, which im looking forward to, they are a great bunch of people and really love worshiping God.

More writing/recording will be happening, and finally getting our EP done!

here comes the photos! (of which more can be found on facebook:

Feb / March

Well things are really really starting to happen!!

As Jason says as a joke after every gig..."another gig, another booking"
But it really feels like that! We (THRE3) are being booked up for all kinds of projects and events all over the place, its totally mental!
Here are some pics of our travels....





The pics are:
saturday night project
hope accademy
feb xalt
cyo open evening with collective

On top of all that, we are now getting down and writing, what i feel are some top quality tunes. Songs like Cant Wait and Greatness Astounds, so full of passion and feeling. Greatness Astounds is prob my fav. you can hear them on the THRE3 facebook music page.

As Arthur Blessitt so rightly put it on Sunday night....one step at a time : )

End of Jan

Almost the end of January!

And i finally got a job! starts on the 4th of Feb, very happy bout that!

2 nights ago was Xalt, in which THRE3 led the worship, and it was good!

We are now focusing on writing and recording our EP, while also planning for events such as the Saturday Night Project (9th Feb) and the CYO Open Evening (3rd March).

More events and bookings keep coming in, which we are just blown away by really haha!

here are some pics from xalt....

since last blog...

hello!
well since i last put those pics up the following things have happened!...


I have been to a Delirious? gig, which was awesome as ever.

Jasons back garden studio has been completed.



The 7 on the end of 2007 has changed to an 8.

I have been writing some new songs for the Thre3 EP.

I have ordered a new drum stool.

Been to Kristian and Sophies wedding (I drummed at it aswell)


thats about it!

Things to come...

Xalt this month on the 26th, which Thre3 are leading worship!!
We are planning songs/sets/tracks as we speak! will be a good one.
There are lots of other things in the pipeline aswell, which is really exciting!

Dec 2

Into December !!

hmm, well some houses seem to have put up thier pathetic christmas lights so it cant be far away now!

I've just had a pretty amazing, challenging, knackering and inspiring weekend...

First of all Friday night, i spent in Bury St Edmunds with my old friend Hannah,
she is an amazing person, used to be a christian but has fallen away, and yet in almost everything she says, its almost like theres still something inside of her clinging onto it. Had many many powerful chats with her over the years. My conclusion with her is that its no longer my job to save her, because only she and God can do that, which is a bit of a relief really, all i can do is be there for her, which i will continue to do.
I trust Gods got it sorted, so its over to Him...

Saturday started poorly with a 7-2 trashing for my football team, but its ok cause its all about the taking part...

Saturday evening was Sophie from Collectives leaving do, in which me, Dad, Jason and Tom performed one of thier dances,

after 2 months practice, my word we were good!


Sunday morning saw the return of the PA guy inside Dan! as David was drumming, enjoyed it alot! gave the skin on my hands a breather as some of it was starting to fall off....opps..

Then Sunday evening Thre3 played at Clacton Elim, quite simply the nicest bunch of people you will ever met, the pastor is a bald scotish bolk called steve, total legend.
It was a baptism service so there were lots of people there.
It was an amazing night, we were blessed, they were blessed, God was blessed, everyone is a winner!
This is a church where a drum kit is a bit of an alian feature in worship, and some of the older members wernt to sure when they walked in to see Jason and Lee's amps stacked as high as the people playing them.
But such was the atmosphere of excitment in that place before we had played one note, that the whole place just went for it, and the singing from the church almost drowned us out, which is a hard thing to do!
Loved it there, cant wait to go back

Playing at Essex Uni this Wed with the Xalt band and next Wed with Thre3,
Drumming tonight, obv Wed, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday morning, Monday night and then Wed again. Thank You God.

Update.

Quite alot has happened since my last blog...

A general update however would be...
Things are going really really well with my new band Thre3, since leading at xalt, we have been busy practicing and writing new songs, which is very exciting!

We spent a weekend at Mill End Baptist church in Rickmansworth on the 17th and 18th of November, hosting a worship training weekend for thier worship team.


The whole weekend was such a blessing, both for them as a team and for us as a band, God broke through some barriers during our time with them and during the Sunday morning worship there was a great sense of freedom. It was a real turning point for their church, and we feel SO blessed that God is using us in this way.

Counting down the days now till we get into Jasons new studio!! which he is building in his garden, as soon as thats ready we will start working and recoring our first EP. Which is very exciting!!!

This sunday night we will be playing at Clacton Elim, for thier baptism service. I cant wait to be there, they are such an awesome bunch of people. Me and Jas went there last Sunday night just to say hello, and everyone seemed so pleased that we were going to be playing there next week, a really humbeling feeling...

Then 2 weeks after that on the 12th of December we are playing at Essex Uni!!
In a bar called Level 2. This is both scary and amazing at the same time!
(If you wanted to come there should be some details on our facebook page)

so yeh thats about it for now, ill let you know how it goes!

Sept blog 2

The last few weeks has been both challenging and rewarding...

As 'Three' we have been meeting up at least twice a week to play through songs and play about with ideas ect its been really cool building up this sound.

We led at xalt with 2 days planning, in which time we wrote and recorded 3 backing tracks, which is if you think about it, pretty darn fast.

The night of Xalt was deff a learning curve! It was the first time we had led at anything that big and the first time we had ever played using backing tracks, so of course it wasnt perfect, but the general sound coming from the band was a very full, whole sound, which is what we had been trying to achive.

Am now very excited about the prospect of us writing some new tunes and playing them around the town, there seems to be a real buzz about what we are doing at the mo.

Who knows what will happen next!!

(and thanks to laura who sung with us)

Sept so far

Right well, lots to say...

Aug was good.
Xalt at the end of it was interesting in parts and good in others!

now for the 'news'
At the end of Aug i went to wales, but we went via Manchester as i was appying for a charity called Innervation Trust as a drummer in a new schools rock band. Which would be based in Manchester, and so would be moving away. I decided not to tell anyone at this point as i had no idea what the outcome would be and i didnt wanna scare people! lol
The interview with Mark Pennells and Zarc Porter went very well, i did a little bit of drumming and a bit of an interview, which both were good.
For the following 2 weeks I was still keeping it quiet, you know, just in case, i really wasnt sure what the chances of me getting it was.

This morning i got a letter telling me i didnt get in.
Which at first was a bit annoying, as im sure you can imagine, but as the day went on i started to think about stuff and maybe this wasnt right for me, and am now quite excited as to what plans God and Colchester has in store for me now as this is where im staying...for now : )

Me Jason and Lee are just starting up a band, we have no idea what we are called, what we are playing and where we will play, but it really has a buzz of possibility to it, so i'm looking forward to seeing what happens there!
Plus i still seem to be getting asked to play in churches all across the town (insaine i know!) which is really rather cool and not something i should be taking for granted.

and finally, I really recommend checking out this band, One Eskimo.
I saw them support Faithless and they are simply fantastic.


so, sorry Colchester, you havent got rid of me yet....

August

So, where is the sun this year??

The end of July was Xalt, which could have been a come down after a massive BeXalted weekend followed by a week of Momentum, but it still had its spark, inculding us doing Shine Jesus Shine, twice!

Infact this Xalt was for me really cool, i was able to just be a bit more free with my playing, and not have to feel like i have to be anyone else behind the kit.
As a result i think it was prob the best drumming i had done in my life lol so thats gotta tell me something!

I turned 21!!! (dosnt feel any differnt haha)

Just to keep you updated, my ride cymbal is now a 22" A Custom, and it sounds awesome!

Xalt in 2 weeks!

July... Continued...

I'm not going to be able to write everything, but I'll give it a go...

After a big faff about with some drum shops, i finally have a new ride cymbal! its a 22" A custom ride, and its emmence haha i love it.

On the 13th,14th and 15th of July was BeXalted in the Arts Centre...

The Xalt band played on the Saturday night and it was a fantastic evening, for the first time, during the sound check, Kristian actually asked for more of me in the foldback!! haha!




It was a fantastic experience to finaly be playing in a venue where im not always being told im too loud, felt alot more able to just do what i wanted and not always be wonderin and I too loud?! so that was good.

Sunday morning we had church there aswell which was good, Jas played bass, hes getting better and better!





This week i have just got back from Momentum, where there was 4 thousand people packed into a warehouse praising God, always a great experience.

Once again after watching Paul Evans (the drummer) i am feeling very inspired and i seem to learn loads after watching him.


im guna stop there cause otherwise what i say wont make sense...

Drumming in the town centre on lion walk this sat afternoon, 1 - 3pm.
then at Elim from 4pm
Xalt starts at 8pm.
bak at Elim Sunday at 9am.

July so far.

man its been busy!

Was drumming last Sunday night at kingsland, went alright.
This morning was good, had full band back at elim, jason is gettin very good now on bass, drums and bass sounding very good together.
Time is limited now with working and doing stuff every night of the week to keep this updated but ill do my best : )
Got a practice for BeXalted on tues, then Friday night is the start of fun!

Xalt night on the Saturday should be good, new ride cymbal arriving this week, you should see the stand its going on! its huge!!

Having church in the arts centre on Sunday morning aswell which should be really good, if your not doing anything Sunday morning i invite you to come and be a part of it!!

will prob hav alot to say after bexalted lol

then its momentum

then Xalt.

24th 25th

Sunday morning saw the return of the drums to Elim!!! yay!!

After our 4 week period of having a 'stripped down' time of worship, last Sunday morning was back to being a little louder.
We had just drums bass and guitar, but we had such freedom during the worship, and it was awesome to see everyone just going for it, felt like we were back.
In the evening me jason and dad helped out joey, who was leading worship, at St Johns church, Jason was playing electric, for one of the first times in a 'proper' service, but the sounds he was creating were just amazing, really does go to show that it dosnt have to be complicated to be effective.

Monday night the Xalt band led at Kingsland for the final night of the Equipping the levites series, again there was an amazing freedom within the band, and in the 2nd set after the talk there was some unreal moments of ppl just shouting out and dancing and all sorts, an amazing energy was in the room ( i was knackered afterwards!! lol) but every member of the band was totally just lost in worship, in fact i think every1 is the room was. An amazing end to an amazing month....xalt on saturday : )

ps book for bexalted!!
www.bexalted.co.uk

Job!

I now have a job! lol which some ppl will be very suprised to hear, but yes its true, workin 8am till 4pm, mon to friday, so all is well in the world!

Monday was once again the levites thing, xalt band led worship which i think went quite well, hope so anyway!

looking forward to sunday, keith is playing his flugal at elim in the morning with kristian and then im drumming with Rob at Kingsland in the evening, so should be good!

now searching for a ride cymbal...i have my sights set on a Z custom 22" rock ride, but havent found any yet, everyone keep your eyes open! prob guna need another boom stand to go with it as it wouldnt hold up on my lil stand that ive got at the moment!

4th 5th June

Last Monday was the event hosted at Kingsland called Equipping the Levites
Which is basicly a worship training evening for anyone involved in worship, the is one every monday night all this month.
Me and Jason were asked to play, Rob Buckingham was leading.
It seems every time we play at Kingsland there is an incredible freedom during the worship, people were really just giving everything they have. Of course when you get a group of 50 people all involved in worship its gonna be quite special anyway.

One of the things i found most amazing was that there were quite a few drummers there, some from that church, and yet, there i was sitting on thier drum kit. Its something im not really sure even now ive got my head round lol
Its such a humbeling experience looking out and seeing other drummers out there watching you, inc some who i remember watching from when i was 6.
I wouldnt say im a great amazing drummer lol i just seem to have an understanding of what makes good worship music, and letting God flow through that, i guess in a way the talent side of it is not that important, there are several musicians i know who as far as talent goes....well, it dosnt go very far lol but they are so switched on with what Gods doing during a worship set and can feel where the song is going, that its just incredible to be able to work with them.

tuesday was a tad random, ended up going to Lincoln with some of the Kingsland bunch to watch a recording at the NewLife church, some dude called Godfrey!

There was about 200 people in this church and he basicly just said at the beggining, forget the mics, this is just an evening to worship God, i really liked that.
There was a full band on stage, they had clearly done thier homework as far as the songs went, and we hardly needed to repeat anything, however the best bits of the night for me was the inbetween bits of songs.
If he needed to tune up or have a drink or whatever, he would just signal to the keys player, and he would put in an epic pad sound, the elec guitarist had an ebow with him, and the percussionist would be almost knocking on the bongo, was an incredible sound,

then people would just start singing out, the whole idea of singing a new song to the Lord, well there was about 150 new songs written that night lol

I love that the best moments in worship are when we are hardly doing anything.

26th 27th

Xalt was good!!





so was Global Day Of Prayer, bit wet though

19th 20th May

Saturday the 19th was Worship Central day!
Me Jason and Adam drove up, and parked next to the church! haha. The day was very good, in the morning Al Gorden led worship which was good, in afternoon we attended talks in 'God in work' and 'The trintiy' both were interesting at times.
Then the evening was Tim Hughes leading with Mark Beswick, which was you can guess was very very good!
One of my fav drummers Paul Evans was playing, there was a short black fella on bass, he had cool writen all over him! But the thing that blow us away was the electric, now this is something that we have struggled with in our church recently, its not just being able to play electric, its having that worship understanding of your instrument, and of course this applys to everything.
There were moments when the strings off the keyboard were playing and the electric was almost singing along, was amazing. Then other moments when everything was really big and all you could hear was this incredible wall of sound off the electric.
Was interesting to see that acc guitars played a very small part of thier arrangments, once the electric was all in then it was pretty much just elec drums bass and keys, which made up the core of the band.

Sunday morning was a bit of a celebration, and for the first time in a long time the whole of our band felt very free in being able to 'go off on one' and in fact at the end of the service we just kept playing as people were being prayed for, and went into this amazing 15 mins of just improv stuff, which was just as powerful, if not more so, than the 'structured' songs.



Xalt next sat which i cant wait for!
and later today im back off to kingsland to do some more recording, in the words of our pastor Keith on sunday morning, "God is Good, ALL THE TIME!!"

The last 7 days

Well i guess the interesting part of the week would be Thursday night.
While playing football i started to feel faint and dizzy and so i sat down. 5 mins later i was throwing up, as you do, and then had to drive home from tiptree feeling like this. Amazingly i made it home (with a stop to throw up into my lap) and then Dad rushed me off to A & E. Everytime i would stand up i would faint, which isnt helpful when going to the toilet...believe me!
Ended up having to stay the night and spent most of Friday there aswell, not really being able to even sit up. But as the evening went on i seemed to perk up, thanks to visits from people and constant prayer from which i found out afterwards from about 200 people. Walked back into my house at 9:30pm on Friday, so was exactly 24 hours. The doctor said it was some kind of blood virus. My aim was to be able to play Sunday morning for our baptism service.

Saturday spent relaxing and drinking pure orange juice.

Then Sunday morning i was feeling fine and drummed at 9:30am at elim!
We had 5 people being baptised, including my friend Cat, which was really good to see, shes had quite a journey in the last 8 months! The place was packed which also was a really good thing to see.


Bank holiday Monday was good fun, me and Jason went round Kristians and did some recording of a song we had writen some time earlyer.
Its not finished yet but its sounding really really nice and am very pleased with it!

28th

This was an insaine weekend.

I arrived at elim at 8am to start setting for the day.
We had a worship training day with Kingsland church, and had about 50 or so people attend.

The day started with some worship
Then various talks and practicle workshops during the day about worship and worship leading etc.





The day finished at 4pm, then we started setting up for Xalt which started at 8pm!
It was just one of those special evenings really, hard to put into words on here.
A very blessed weekend : )



Thanks Jam-es!