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This news was added in August 2007.
In the immortal words of Gary Glitter: Hello, hello... it's good to be back, it's good to be back, hello, hello...
OK, so here's the gen: Welsh Bands Weekly is undergoing a transformation, like some sort of insect larva. Bubbling away in its little coccoon in North Wales, Welsh Bands Weekly is soon going to emerge as something completely different.
In other words, far from being dead, Welsh Bands Weekly has simply been on a six-year holiday. Overcome with a grown-up job, very little 'mynadd and (as always) dim cash whatsoever, I had to let WBW sleep for a while.
However, like one of those big poos that refuses to flush, WBW is so much a part of my life that it simply won't go away. I always said we were just on a break, so it was always on the cards that Welsh Bands Weekly would be back.
And like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it'll soon be here.
But it's not going to be like it was before (isn't that what happens when you get back together after a break?).
There's not going to be a print magazine any more. Let's face it - it looks nice and it's tangible and collectable, but I can't afford the printing, I can't be arsed hanging around outside gigs with a heavy rucksack full of mags any more (I'm 38 for God's sake), and I have very little interest in reliving the credit control and distribution issues that used to arise when it was all done in print. There are still several shops that owe me money, the bastards.
So, the new Welsh Bands Weekly is all going to be online (I'm working frantically on this as we speak). Every word (and, hopefully, every picture) from every back issue will be there for all to see, plus some other stuff like the missing issue that was written but never printed, which featured exclusive interviews with great Welsh bands like Anweledig and Pep Le Pew. There's going to be collaboration from anyone who wants to get involved; anyone who fancies themselves as a bit of a writer and doesn't mind the fact that we don't pay, will have a fair crack at the whip (with editing by me, natch), so if you can arrange an interview with (or review of) your favourite Welsh band, go for it.
I'm guessing there will be plenty of other stuff, which I've not really thought through in any great detail just yet - but give me a chance and I'm sure I'll come up with something.
Oh, and I'm going to be nagging Loopy Loolie to have some major involvement too. Because she's fucking great, and should be doing this sort of stuff all the time. But that's a whole other story, right Loo? ;)
While I'm getting all this organised, you can still browse the old site by using the links above. Be warned - there's nothing new there; it's the same old crap that's been there since 1999. But when the new site is ready, I'll sing it from the rooftops (OK, I probably won't, but I will make pretty darn sure that plenty of people know about it).
If you want to keep informed of the new site's progress, join the WBW News Yahoo! group and when the new site is live, you'll be one of the first to know. And when the new improved Welsh Bands Weekly site is launched, this Geocities one will be used as an archive, and hopefully people will stop visiting it (it's still getting about 250 visitors a month on average, which is a bit of a shocker).
Anyhoo... I'm boring myself. I'll shut up now.
See you soon,
Debs x
This news was added on 16 April 2001 at 11.55pm
Welsh Bands Weekly-organised charity event Woofstock has received some unexpected but welcome publicity.
Team member Anita Bhagwandas spotted a news article about the gig on the Radio 1 website - click here to read. Then editor Debs got a phone call this morning from a reporter from the Daily Post, who interviewed her for a centre-page spread in this Friday's issue of the popular North Wales newspaper. Woofstock has also been mentioned on the Beks show on BBC Radio Cymru. The Woofstock organising team (Debs, Sunnie Bell and Christine Monks)would like to thank Huw Stephens, Beks and the Daily Post for their support in publicising the gig, and the bands (Anweledig, Nar and 48F) for agreeing to play for no pay.
Tickets for Woofstock are now on sale. If you'd like to buy tickets you can get them direct from Welsh Bands Weekly by sending an email to WBW or you can get them by emailing SARDA. Alternatively, tickets are now on sale at Cob Records in Bangor High Street, at the Beacon Climbing Centre in Llanberis, or can be bought in person at the door of Bangor University on the night of the gig, 16th May 2001. To find out more about the work SARDA is doing and how the gig proceeds will be spent, visit SARDA's website.
Remember, we have reserved ticket numbers 0001 and 0002 to give away in our Woofstock competition - click the link to find out how to win the tickets.
This news was added on 14 April 2001 at 9.15pm
Welsh Bands Weekly's 'proper' site (i.e. designed by a professional web designer instead of someone with only a basic knowledge of web design) is due to go live at the end of April. It will feature an online Inside Emma where visitors get the chance to make their own magnetic fridge poetry and submit their poems to WBW for inclusion on a special noticeboard, plus there's a message board and chat room, MP3s of Welsh Bands and even e-cards to send to your friends. Then there's the news, reviews, some exclusive interviews that won't appear in the magazine, online polls and mini-sites for all your favourite Welsh bands.
When welshbandsweekly.co.uk is ready to go live we'll move the contents of this little site and provide a redirect link - keep checking here for details.
There's plenty of other good stuff happening for WBW at the moment too.
Even though Issue 9 has only just been published, plans are already well underway for our special Issue 10. An interview with Rhodri Viney of Teflon Monkey has already been written by one of our newest team members - the very young and gorgeous Stefan Kubiczyn - and this will appear on welshbandsweekly.co.uk soon, before being included in Issue 10. We also have interviews lined up with Pep Le Pew, Anweledig, Catatonia's unofficial biographer Brian Wright, plus loads of other amazing Welsh bands. Issue 10 is going to be the best yet, the first to utilise a team of more than ten writers whose ages range from 16 to 38 and whose writing skills are just stunning, and will be packed with exclusive interviews and features.
Issue 10 is due for publication at the end of June 2001, so start looking out for it in the shops then. Or beat the rush and subscribe for the next four issues - mail us to find out how.
Welsh Bands Weekly will be helping the University Of Wales, Aberystwyth, to find obscure Welsh words for the next issue of the uni's Welsh dictionary.
Editor Debs has just been interviewed for Big Issue Cymru's weekly Welsh language feature. It's due to go on sale next Monday (16 April) if you want to read it. Don't forget that buying the Big Issue helps homeless people - buy it for that reason if for none other.
Older news
Issue 9 of Welsh Bands Weekly went on sale on 22 March 2001. Priced £2 + 50p postage and packing per copy, the magazine contains exclusive interviews with The Crocketts, Derrero, Pete Fowler, Infinity Chimps, Nar, Maharishi and Supa Myff. It also contains so many reviews, they had to be put into a separate 8-page booklet!
There are also four competitions with some fantastic prizes to be won - for details click here
Click here for WBW covers and contents
Subscriptions to Welsh Bands Weekly are for four issues, inclusive of first class postage and packing, and include newsletters, occasional items of interest through the post, and a card every Christmas. Subscriptions cost £10 UK, £11 Europe, £14 ROW.
If you would like details of how to buy Welsh Bands Weekly through mail order, please send us an email: click here to mail
We also run a mail order music sideline which sells back issues of WBW - if you're interested in ordering try visiting this very groovy website: Clwb Malu Cachu
For a history of Welsh Bands Weekly click here
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