One of the oldest pubs in London, The Old Queen's Head in Angel is also one of the coolest looking. The current building was erected in 1829, with wooden carvings of Diana and Actaeon above the fireplace, and awesome stuff EVERYWHERE. Upstairs, where the music happens, a combination of old French posters inlaid into the walls and a stage bedecked with a mirror and mantelpiece and lights made out of gramaphone speakers gave it a feel of Louis XIV's living room with a twist. The stage was beautifully placed, and nice and spacious, and we were blessed by the presence of a sizeable crowd, making it one of more memorable concerts.

During the set we 'sailed' round a small model boat, HMS August and After, constructed from a pizza box, some string, a twig, and several types of adhesive, and the crowd filled it with song suggestions for a playlist, as well as some imaginative drawings (you'll never guess of what). Several fans had made a sign saying 'Vedantha's Groupies' (it was very cool), and the crowd were both receptive and respectful, which made us happy.

Thanks also to Jack Nunn who played cello with us, here is the set list we played in case anyone is curious,

1) Elegy

2) [untitled Vedantha song]

3) Sailing Round the Rings of Saturn

4) Chop Suey (System of a Down)

5) Gleam Behind the Ghosts

6) The Prince and the Whisper

7) Getaway

8) Set Sail

9) Tamacun/Plug-in Baby (Rodrigo y Gabriela/Muse)

Ned

09/09/2012 - Wednesday's Show at the Old Queens Head

Vedantha and I, what with our surprisingly non-overlapping music tastes (in terms of bands – there’s a big genre overlap), finally decided to do an album swap, recommending five albums each.

Vedantha’s choices were:

This Desert Life – Counting Crows
Back to the Top – Van Morrison
Away We Go (Soundtrack) – Alexi Murdoch
Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
I Am a Bird Now – Anthony and the Johnsons

My choices were:

Becoming a Jackal – Villagers
Without You I’m Nothing – Placebo
Isla – Portico Quartet
Lateralus – Tool
Asleep at the Back – Elbow

I’ve already really enjoyed the Anthony and the Johnsons, and am now listening to the Alexi Murdoch, which is nice. If you think our choices are stupid, or you like them, or wonder why we do, OR you would to suggest albums for us BOTH to listen to, PLEASE DO SO, on our FACEBOOK WALL or otherwise. We’re trying to broaden our musical horizons, but wanted to start with some of each other’s favourite music, so that we can try to understand each other’s style of song-writing. NEXT time, Vedantha can expect some industrial garage renaissance folk… and acid jazz even.

(Incidentally, the Villagers album is brilliant… just saying…)

Ned

28/08/2012 - Mine and V's album swapping...

It’s been a busy few days, but at last we are proud to announce that we have changed our name to (massive drum roll):

AUGUST AND AFTER

We have chosen the name as a homage to the Counting Crows album ‘August and Everything After’ and because, as everyone knows, August is officially the best month of the year (in case you’re wondering, Ned was born in January and Vedantha in April).

Thank you to our large team of advisors (i.e. YOU guys) and thank you all for liking our new pages (particularly the Facebook page, where you’ll find details of the massively over-hyped picture competition). PLEASE show/tell your friends, and get them to like it and listen/post/suggest ideas.

Finally, we have a NEW RECORDING as a gift to you lovely people for standing by us patiently whilst we changed name. It can be found on our REVERBNATION page, and the music player on our facebook – we hope you like :)

13/08/2012 - August and After

Way back when, before blogging became a 'thing' but after the Dinosaurs had become extinct, Radiohead didn't exist. The same guys, with similar haircuts, and a similar style of music were instead called 'On a Friday' - they rehearsed every Friday. Then they got signed, changed their name and released some of the greatest albums ever INHO (In Ned's Honest Opinion)

Ned had an ingenious idea. If we continued playing a similar style of music, maintained similar haircuts, and changed our name, we too would release some of the greatest albums ever (INHO). So that is what we're about to do. Over the next week we'll be announcing our new band name, and setting up a new page for you all to 'Like'. We'll also be giving everyone who does so a free download of a new recording (of a cover).

Truth be told, the reason for the switchover isn't quite as I've stated....Part of why we want to change is that the name 'Esperada' has proven hard to remember. When event organisers who have booked you 5 or 10 times refer to you as 'Esperando' or 'Desperados' (my personal favourite...) you know there is a problem! More important perhaps is that 'Esperada' doesn't sit as well with the direction that we want to go in. We came up with the name when we were keen on infusing spanish guitar into lots of our music. Just like 'Metallica' suggests a metal band, and 'Sex Pistols' suggests a band that copulates using firearms, 'Esperada' suggests a band that consistently plays spanish or latin-based music. As time has progressed, however, we have realised that the music we write only counts spanish-guitar music as one influence among many. Sometimes the spanish-guitar element is completely absent from our songs. With a new name we won't feel pressure to force spanish-guitar rhythms into our songs and honour the name. Instead a new name will give us a bit more freedom,

Vedantha

06/08/2012 - Name Change

"Surviving…" There is someone we both know who always gives that response to the question "Hows it going?" But its always seemed like a pretty depressing answer - is that all there is to be said?!

After a really great first week or so after having graduated, the weekend saw Ned and I feeling a little overwhelmed by it all - the inevitable highs and lows of trying it alone. Over the last couple weeks we'd received praise by a representative from a REALLY great label, had bumped into First Aid Kit, had a lot of people ask for CD's...Suddenly our expectations for things happening shot up. Rather than mere 'surviving' being a threshold for satisfaction, we expected more and were disappointed when nothing utterly spectacular happened.

But looking back, there have been 'bare' (street for 'lots', for those of you not down with the kIdZ...) positives. The main one being the amount of people that appeared unexpectedly at our gig on Saturday! It was amazing to see so many people come, especially given that it is was in a pretty non-central location. In addition to that we've got some new material in the pipeline that we're excited about, and our 'band manager' Emily has helped out lots on the video-front. We also got to see our friend Sophie Jamieson perform, always a treat :)

Jack Black says in School of Rock, "Today's assignment...kick some ass!" Instead, your assignment, dear reader, is to listen to 'Souls to the Coast' by Joyshop...and then thank me :)

Vedantha

24/07/2012 - High tide and low tide - 'Souls to the Coast'!

Having just finished University, we're now focussing on our music for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, Vedantha and I took a trip last weekend to Suffolk to the lovely Latitude festival for an injection of artistic inspiration.

We were treated to a diverse range of music, comedy and theatre, including the heartfelt Bon Iver, the magnanimous Elbow, the world-class Lang Lang, the unbelievably talented Zun Zun Egui, and the sweetness of First Aid Kit (who we later met in the arena on their way to the kids’ dance area, wearing their beautiful long dresses), as well as a charming performance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Les Enfants Terribles. Particular highlights included a shimmering set in the woods by The Staves, and the honour of seeing Buena Vista Social Club in the flesh – as a band that have actually shaped the history of a country, to actually experience the passion and joy that they pour into their music was intensely poignant. Also, I cried in Scattered Black and Whites by Elbow, I’ll happily admit it,

Ned

 17/07/2012 - August and After go to Latitude Festival

Last night saw a thrilling encounter between the recently graduated Ned and Vedantha of August and After, and the London Music Scene. The battleground was The Abbey, Kentish Town, a delightful place to have a drink, and indeed to play. The presence of huge, almost wall-to-wall, windows made the existence of the outside world glaringly clear, and the wall above the bar was bedecked with We Art Cam artwork up for auction, including a particularly cool skull/rainbow combo picture.

Couched within a series of awesome musicians, August and After were touched by the respect and kindness of the audience, and relished the big stage on which they played. They opened with a Spanish guitar showcase, their cover of Rodrigo y Gabriela segwaying into Plug-in Baby with gratuitous solos and vocal harmonies.

They then played Set Sail, a fan-favourite and the first track on their EP, and Getaway, Ned's tale of his broken heart and subsequent resolve not to be hurt again in the same way (he was actually fine about the whole break-up).

Thanks to everyone who watched - you were lovely - and it was great to meet all of you afterwards; hope to see you all again! And special thanks to Joel for running such a beautiful night...

Ned

11/06/2012 - A delightful night in Kentish Town