MrBiffo

BYAMPOD EPISODE 82 - UK Marillion Weekend Review

Sorry this is so late. It was always going to be late, but then... I got a horrible stomach bug the last couple of days. See if you can guess who I got it from by listening to this episode...! The clues are there.

Anyhow... some of this ep was recorded in a cafe - the slightly noisy full version for that will be up as a bonus ep imminently - and some of it focuses on the latest Fish-related drama, and we also mention the new Record Collector Marillion special. It's a real grab-bag of Ma...

DELAYS!

Blueeeeeeergh. Got an upset stomach. Been in bed all day feeling like death. BYAMPOD, Digi etc... will be delayed. 

QUICK UPDATE

Morning Patrons! We're back from the Marillion Weekend, somewhat 'weathered' and achey, but it was very good fun. Aiming to get you BYAMPOD today, hopefully... plus a very noisy bonus ep... live (not live) from Leicester!

We've a Digi in the can, which is partly edited... but I've not yet finished it. This one might just be for Patrons, but we'll see what I end up doing with it. Bear with me! Before you get that, the Upper Tiers will get the outtakes from Piccalilli Willy.

Writer'...

DIGI LEVEL 2 WORK-IN-PROGRESS

...the proper sound isn't in yet, but this made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it.

UPPER TIER EXCLUSIVE: FAT SOW - THE SCRIPT!

Hello, upper tier chums! I thought you might like to see this that I found while looking for something for Writer's Club. Basically, it's a list of lines for Eli to use when he's being Fat Sow. Some of these are from Digi Level 2, some are from Digi Live 2... and most of them have never actually been said aloud, so I don't mind sharing them with you.

Basically, the way it works with Fat Sow is that Eli benefits from having some guidelines. He tends to make up most of the insults/comment...

EARLY ACCESS: NEVER COMBINE THESE FLAVOURS!

New video time! We've got another one in the bag already, but I was oddly drained after filming this one... so it's possibly going to end up as an exclusive for the upper tiers... Who will also be getting some outtakes, hopefully this week. 

It's nonsense and chaos. As usual. 

Tonight... it's Biffo's Brain Chat 2 for those of you in the very top tier. If you want to get in on it... you've got until 7.30pm to upgrade. Tonight, I'm going to be doing some live teletext art....

EXCLUSIVE BYAMPOD BONUS EP: THE 2003 MARILLION WEEKEND...!

As promised, here's a bonus BYAMPOD! We're looking at some of the early Marillion Weekend setlists.

The rest of you... there's a manic new Digi on the way, a load of outtakes for the upper tiers, hopefully something for Writer's Club, and Biffo's Brain gang will get a new live chat on Thursday night. That's it bye!

EDIT: BIFFO'S BRAIN live chat changed to tomorrow (Wednesday).

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD Ep 81 - Marillion's Least-Played!

This week we begin our look at every single song Marillion has ever played live, and nominate our choices for the ones they should play more... and the ones they should never play again ever! Also: you'll learn what Sanja calls me when she forgets she's on mic!

We've got a bonus ep recorded for you which will put up on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

THE CONTENTS OF BIFFO'S BRAIN - REVEALED TONIGHT!

Hi all,

Tonight is the night of the first Biffo's Brain live stream, in which I'll be sharing my screen with those in the new tier.

We're going to be chatting and taking a look at some very old Digitiser pages - which I'll give my commentary on - and I've a couple of very special never-before-seen treats, including some animation, and the work-in-progress Digi Level 2 title sequence. I may even show a bit more of Digi Level 2, and talk through the set design etc. It'll be a very e...

UPPER TIERS EXCLUSIVE: SHOW & TELL WITH LARRY BUNDY JR

Right, Upper Tier gang... this is properly exclusive: it's a whole bit of Digi Level 2 that I'm not even sharing with all the Kickstarter backers. This is pretty much as it'll be in the finished show (the sound is a touch peak-y, so I need to have a look at that), but's it's otherwise done. The first finished section! Please keep it to yourselves.

EARLY ACCESS: DIGI LEVEL 2 BEHIND-THE-SCENES

New Digi! We're still in lo-fi mode, but this video is full of behind-the-scenes stuff from Digi Level 2's first filming block - including videos, photos, and exclusive info!

Things should be back to normal next week. Enjoy!

UPPER TIER EXCLUSIVE: DIGI LEVEL 2 SNEAK PEEK

Hello, you lot. There WILL be a new Digi for you tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy this very early edit of a teeny bit of Digi Level 2. Obviously, this is a long way from finished, but I've thrown it together to give you an idea of how things will (might) look... 

NEW MUSIC: CUT & PASTE

Hello, upper tiers. It has been a while since I shared any music with you... so here's some new music. It's a bit of an experiment this one; an attempt at a prog-ish suite, that goes on a bit of a journey. I tried some new things, and then tried doing a Marillion-esque cut-and-paste job. Not sure if it hangs together, but I do like the individual sections. I would wager that this isn't its final form. The last section isn't really finished for a start.

But anyway, see what you think. I'...

DIGICAST: A QUICK HELLO!

Here's Sanja and I - and we're alive - saying hello for ten whole minutes. Not really. We also say goodbye.

Writer's Club... there's a podcast imminent... Biffo's Brain gang... the first Zoom will probably be Thursday evening about 8pm. Details to follow! 

BYAMPOD: Ep 80!

Sorry this is so late. We're back to a regular schedule this week, and should have the next ep up before the weekend. Plus, hopefully, a wee bonus ep.

In the second and final part of our Marbles postbag, we discuss bands who have just one great album (and ask if Marillion could be one of them), talk about the forthcoming Marillion Weekend 2019 DVDs and CDs (and the stolen tapes), and of course tackle the thorny issues of Whigfield, and whether the hypnotist Paul McKenna is still alive o...

DIGI LEVEL 2 FILMING PICS - DAY 3

We didn't take as many photos today, primarily because I finally managed to coax Sanja in front of the camera - along with Steve and Quang - and she's been the one taking most of the pics all week.

But today was really lovely. Joined by so many of my favourite people - including Tim "Mr Hairs" Moore, Violet Berlin, Octav1us, and Chris Bell who runs Superpage 58. My throat is raw from laughing. Mainly at my own jokes, but still... 

We've hired the studio for an extra day tomor...

DIGI LEVEL 2 - DAY 2

LOTS of good stuff happened today...

DIGI LEVEL 2 - PHOTOS!

Well, this is what we were doing today... Thought you might like to see.

PATREON EXCLUSIVE: TOMB RAIDER LIVE DELETED SCENE

So... I put together a whole load of outtakes from the latest video that I planned to share with you... and then my hard drive got full... and I tried to delete space... and I deleted the video. Because I am an idiot.

However, I've salvaged this one part from the end of the night when a) The lighting was terrible, and b) I was a little bit drunk. Enjoy!

UPPER TIERS EXCLUSIVE: QUICK LIFE UPDATE

Sorry again for not getting you this week's video on time. Here's a little something to make up for it. 

BARELY EARLY ACCESS: WE SAVE THE WORLD

Hello gang. Sorry this is so late. To make it up to you, we've got a little bonus video that'll be going up for everyone tomorrow, along with some outtakes for the Upper Tiers, and - hopefully - BYAMPOD and a new Writer's Club pod.

This is once again kind of a lo-fi video with minimal editing, but with some outdoor bits dropped in. I think it actually worked out alright. Certainly better than expected, given the relentless Digi Level 2 schedule. And everything.

Next week will be a...

WE'VE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU!

Hello, gang.

All things Digi will be late this week, I'm afraid. We should have a video for you, but it'll be another lo-fi one, because we're so caught up in Digi Level 2 prep. Upper Tier did get a length and miserable blog post yesterday which I hope tides you over a bit. 

This week's vid will be a review of our Tomb Raider Live experience from last week, so there's a bit of on-location stuff too. Next week, I suspect we'll have to skip a week as we're filming, but we're go...

SO, I'M DEALING WITH SOME THINGS...

I’ve probably let a lot of my life leak through to blog posts, and videos or podcasts, in recent months. It’s something I wish I could keep contained, but the fact is that we’ve been putting out our content while dealing with a lot. Sanja and I laugh when we bring it up, but we’ve not really had a lot to laugh about of late.

I’ve always tried to be honest and open with all of you, and I’ve often found it helpful to write about things that have been bothering me. So… while ...

BYAMPOD - EP 79: MARBLES POSTBG

Sorry this is late. Bonus ep should go some way to making up for it, I hope.

This episode we delve into our postbag to talk about everything from Marbles, to former Marillion manager John Arnison, to Steve Hogarth's lyrics compared to Fish's lyrics, to John Cooper-Clarke, and that hoary old favourite... the things that are considered cool. It's a ramshackle ramble of a episode, with a massive rant at the end!

EXCLUSIVE: BYAMPOD BONUS EP - FISH'S MENTAL HEALTH TALK

As promised, here's a bonus BYAMPOD, in which we look at the talk Fish recently gave at a mental wellness conference in Malta. It's all over the place. Also: we discuss Fish bursting one of his haemorrhoids. 

APOLOGIES...

Sorry we've once again failed to get BYAMPOD to you early. We'll make it up to you next week with another bonus ep.

The schedule will probably continue to be a bit all-over-the-place for the next couple of weeks until we've filmed Digi Level 2. 

But... we do have a rather different and interesting Digitiser ep for you next week. 

Also! Once this month's pledges have processed, I'll get a date in for the first Zoom session for those on the new tier (as well as sort ...

UPPER TIER EXCLUSIVE: MORE Q&A!

Here you are, gang: another hour's worth of Sanja and I answering your questions. We cover everything from Digi, to our relationship, to Marillion. Not bad for a fiver a month, eh? EH??!

EARLY ACCESS: PATREON Q & A

Remember those questions you asked us weeks ago? We've finally answered them! 

The cosy chat covers our plans for Digi Level 2, my opinion on emulator systems (wot?), James Bond, Doctor Who, and Star Wars. Plus: pizza!

Part two of this epic Q&A will be up for the £5 Patrons later today. 

BYAMPOD BONUS Ep - Marillion's New Video!

Because we didn't get you this week's main episode early we've recorded you a special bonus episode in which we discuss the new Marillion video released for last week's Earth Day. Among assorted tangents...

BYAMPOD EP 78 - Marbles Part 5: Angelina, Drilling Holes, Neverland

Sorry this is late. We explain why in the ep. The good news it... to make it up to you, we've recorded a bonus episode, which will be up soon.

But first! We wrap up our look at the tracks on Marbles with the final three songs on Disc 2 - Angelina, Drilling Holes, and Neverland. At least two of these songs we don't entirely agree on.

Also: we look at this year's Cruise To The Edge line-up... and Sanja fails to be impressed by Peter Pan.