Being in a band is a lot like a relationship. You can meet your bandmates in any number of situations. You may have known them for years. You may have just been introduced. You may even have answered an advert (most likely placed in a niche magazine or website).

You may or may not get on immediately, and you WILL have your differences. It makes no difference how much you love your band, things will get more serious, the stakes will rise, and rough patches are inevitable.

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You spend a lot of time together. You travel together. You eat, sleep, work...

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I know next to nothing about football.

OK, that's a lie. I know absolutely nothing about football. However like millions of fellow fair-weather sports fans, I'll probably end up watching most of the world cup. I may even shout at referees and claim to have understood why the man in the blue shirt fell over! The interwebs reliably inform me that England's first game is this Saturday (12^th June) against the USA, which strikes me as a little odd as I always assumed the Americans would be too busy for...

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Hello to everyone, welcome to my first blog for The Soviets. I first met these guys after I had played an acoustic gig at the sage in Gateshead and was then invited to see a band playing at The Cluny. Straight away I knew I wanted to be a part of The Soviets and therefore after practising like mad, many drunken nights and persuading the guys it was a good idea here I am, ready, willing and able. I would also like to mention and thank Iain Crummie for giving me the first initial help to get me into the groove and want to wish him all the best with his new wife. Cheers Iain!

I feel...

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 I'm wiped out. The band played Newcastle on Friday night, London's famous Water Rats on Saturday, a money-making covers gig on Sunday, and a unique acoustic set back in Newcastle on Monday.

Two of the gigs were recorded, and will form part of our rewards program for the newly-assembled Street Team. This is open to any RGR fan who wants to take part, and involves a few minutes helping the label out each week. For that little outlay we will give you shiny and exclusive things, including live content and previews of our new material before anyone else gets it. The information page is...

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I love being part of the Soviets, it’s great!
And right now, it feels even better than usual. See, we did a lot last year.  We recorded "Who we are", and shot a video for "The Waitress", and played loads of gigs, and worked on the record label, and... You get the idea.
And I quit my job. Yip, I left the security of the working world to do this full time.  So now I call myself a musician when people ask what I do. I think that’s pretty cool in itself - I like it anway!

So last year was pretty hectic and also pretty good.  But this year? This year looks good to me. I fancy this year....

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