MrBiffo

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: SOME NEW MUSIC

Prefacing this, as always, with the disclaimer that I know not all of you are here for the odd bit of music I do (by the same token, not all of you are here for Digitiser or BYAMPOD either). 

Nevertheless, here's something I've been tinkering with for... probably the past couple of months. It doesn't even have a proper title. It began as something completely different, and then I discovered this synth guitar sound, which  took it off in a completely different direction. It pro...

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD Ep71 - AHBID Launch Special

We always wanted to put out a special episode of Between You And Me to mark the launch  of the new Marillion album. Of course, world events in the past week or two have rather overshadowed what should've been an exciting time for both band and fans.

So, what should've been a celebration of a great album instead becomes a rather freewheeling chat about the state of the world, releasing new music at such a portentous time, whether AHBID has broken beyond prog listeners, and the impac...

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: PANCAKE OUTTAKES

Just a short behind-the-scenes compilation this week. Somehow, most of the outtakes were of us staring at pancakes cooking, and not particularly interesting. 

Hopefully should be some more exclusive stuff with you later this week.

EARLY ACCESS TAKE 2: PANCAKE DAY SPECIAL

Okay! I've not watched it all the way through yet, but hopefully this now works properly. Those of you who've watched it already... there's only a tiny bit that has changed, but it'd be lovely if you could just let it run in the background while you're doing something else, so we don't lose the views we'd racked up on the previous version. Thanking you! 

More views from subscribers helps in terms of getting a video pushed out to YouTube's recommendations... which helps us grow.&nbs...

VIDEO: DOWN

Morning! Just discovered there's a bit of the latest video where the video effect didn't render properly. I've set it to private for now - so all you get is a didgeridoo noise without the accompanying clip - but will get a new version up tomorrow with the offending clip properly rendered. Hopefully.

Annoying!!! 

Sorry for those of you who were hoping to watch it today, but I won't be able to get it done until Sunday morning. 

EARLY ACCESS: PANCAKE DAY SPECIAL

Hello gang. Here's next week's video early for you. I think it'll be going out Sunday or Monday for the hoi polloi. We think it's a cracker, so expect many more visits to the Digi Kitchen. What you expect to happen pretty much does happen.

Top Tier will be getting 15 mins of outtakes early next week. 

Also on the cards for next week... possibly some Gannon filming, hopefully a new album launch day special of BYAMPOD, probably a new Digicast/exclusive ep thing for Top Tier, an...

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD Ep 70 - You're Gone & The Making of Marbles

New ep! This is the first of two you're going to be getting over the next week. In order to feel like part of the excitement around the new album, we're going to - hopefully - be doing a launch day special for An Hour Before It's Dark. 

In this one, we unearth some very telling bits and pieces to do with the making of Marbles - an unusually stressful and frustrating process, apparently - dig up the original crowdfunding campaign plans, and talk about the excitement around the relea...

TOP TIER BONUS PODCAST - CRINGING AND AUTHENTICITY

Back when I was training to be a counsellor, we went on a couple of experiential residential trips. Basically, these were intensive two-day workshops, which would often be very, very full on. It’s fair to say that first one I went to changed my life for the better, and the last one I went to made me realise I no longer wanted to become a therapist.

Throughout them we’d do exercises, and occ...

BYAMPOD EARLY ACCESS: An Hour Before It's Dark - REVIEWED!

Beware spoilers. You won't want to listen to this if you prefer to hear to the new album without any preconceived notions. We go in-depth with many of the lyrics... and get completely out of our depth in trying to describe the music. 

Warning: it gets VERY emotional. But then, so does the absolutely amazing album that we're talking about.

If you would prefer to hear me embarrassing my wife over her farting, just listen to the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes. 

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: CHEMISTRY SET OUTTAKES and BEHIND THE SCENES

Here you are! Almost another 15 minutes of Gannon and I being chaotic and silly. 

EARLY ACCESS: 80-YEAR-OLD CHEMISTRY SET!

New video! New video! New video! Modern chemistry sets versus vintage ones - which are the most dangerous?!

Top Tier and Writer's Club: you'll have some exclusive stuff in the next few days. 

EXCLUSIVE: BYAMPOD BONUS EP - NOTHING FILLS THE HOLE

Here's a special bonus ep of BYAMPOD featuring some deleted audio from the main episode... and a specially recorded bonus ep. Now, we liked the bonus ep so much that the plan had been to incorporate some of it into the main episode... but when I listened to it back, somehow Sanja's mic had gotten switched off. So, you can hear exclusively our alternate scenarios for that time Steve Hogarth fell down a hole.

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD EP 68 - THE ROAD TO MARBLES

Happy Saturday! Here's next week's Between You And Me, in which my mate Anthony makes a re-appearance, so that we can discuss with him the best era to be a Marillion fan... and the buzz surrounding the lead-up to Marbles.

Sit tight, because there's a bonus ep - with deleted clips - coming your way too, imminently.

DIGI LEVEL 2 PRODUCTION UPDATE

I wasn't going to do a video this week, but then I thought I should put out this Digi Level 2 production update for everyone, given that - hopefully - you'll all watch it when it arrives. Sorry I didn't get this to you early. But hey - my grandson is in it, briefly, because I can't help but want to show him off...!

Also, thank you for the feedback to my post the other day. The overwhelming response was... for us to basically just keep doing what we're doing. So we'll do that then! To be...

THIS WEEK AND BEYOND ON DIGI & BYAMPOD

Hi all.

I’m skipping getting a Digi out this week. As I think I mentioned at the start of the year, I need to relieve myself of the pressure of getting videos out weekly. I want to know we’ve really had time to think about them, and make them feel special, and an event.

After we filmed last week’s pirate-themed Slush Puppie taste test, both Sanja and I felt it wasn’t out best work. We were down on it, because something felt like it was missing. It wasn’t that it was bad ...

NEW MUSIC WORK-IN-PROGRESS.

Here's some new music I'm currently working on. Very much a work-in-progress. I'm not 100% satisfied with this yet. I like sections of it, but... it's still lacking something. 

I'll crack it, mind. 

Also, it's more on a par with the sort of thing I did on the album I put out last year, rather than the way I kind of want to go. However, I started playing around with some chords, and it took on a life of its own. Given that, I have a feeling this will never be released pro...

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: CREAMY ERIC OUTTAKES

Hello, gang. I got a bit behind with everything this week, and I'm sitting on a pile of bonus Patreon stuff for you all. But here's some of it at least... it's some extra Creamy Eric! Including my aborted attempts at alternate voices, prior to recording... 

(SLIGHTLY) EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD BONUS EP - MURDER MACHINES

There's a new Marillion single out today... so we recorded a special episode to discuss it. And here it is...! Warning: goes VERY off-topic about 5 minutes before the end, and we basically just discuss my new haircut...

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD Ep66 FISH POSTSCRIPT

We're not quite done with Fish solo yet, as this week's letters bag proved - there are still a few things we (and Sanja in particular) need to get out of our system. Along the way, we discuss Marillion's more 'feminine' energy vs Fish's 'masculine' energy, and his approach to writing songs of heartbreak vs the way Steve Hogarth writes them. 

AAAAARLY ACCESS: PIRATE TASTE TEST

This is a ridiculous video. An actual pirate joins Sanja to discuss his new career, and sample some new Slush Puppie products. Expect the worst pirate comedy/accent of all time - guaranteed! 

Yes: an actual pirate.

There should be various exclusive bits and bobs coming the way of Writer's Club and Top Tier tomorrow, and possibly something extra for the regular £1 tier, as I didn't get this to you as early as I'd have liked.

In the meantime... enjoy this.

FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS & REQUEST FOR HELP

Hello, y'aaaaall.

Another quick update for everyone. Fingers crossed, you should get brand new Digi this week... but it might be early next week. Either way, you'll get it at least a few days early. 

My ear is still playing up, but it shouldn't slow me down too much.

In fact, Sanja and I are filming today, and we still have another Gannon ep in the bag (we look at vintage science kits for kids, and... it gets messy, inevitably). We're trying to stockpile as much regular...

I'M A GRANDAD!

You quite possibly saw this on Twitter... but this is Bruce, my first grandchild! Yes - Bruce! Which is an excellent name for a baby.  

I've been broody for grandchildren for *ages*. Weird as it might sound, my whole life I've always looked forward to being a grandparent. I've loved being a dad, but I had such a special relationship with my maternal grandad that I've longed for this day. I'm glad Sanja and I are young enough that we'll (hopefully) be around to see our grandchildren...

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD - Mark Kelly Interview!

Here we go. It finally happened. And... it was a lot of fun. Some real juicy bits of info in here - especially about Sugar Mice - as well as lots of exclusive stuff about the new album.

I hope it sounds alright, and the levels aren't too out-of-whack. Oddly appropriately - give Mark's own hearing problems - I've had some sort of ear infection, and I'm currently deaf in my right ear. With the audio distortion that there already is from Zoom call recordings, the added distortion from only...

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: SHAVING OUTTAKES

Hello, you lot. Here's another ten mins of me and Gannon shaving and waxing and chewing on condoms. Please be aware that - as far as I recall - most of this was removed due to Gannon's more x-rated comments! So, definitely not safe for... anywhere, really.

We've got some other bits and bobs heading your way in the coming week; a new Digicast audio-only update from Sanja and I, a missing ep from the end of last year - that I thought was lost forever - and the Writer's Club gang should be...

EARLY ACCESS: BODY HAIR REMOVAL SPECIAL

I'm sorry, everyone... I'm so, so sorry... This just gets worse and worse and worse...

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: THE FULL COHEN

You asked for it, so here it is: all 7-and-a-bit minutes of it. 

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: DIGITISER HISTORY REDISCOVERED!

I thought about sharing this in the new Writer's Club tier, but this is as much a part of Digitiser history as anything. Basically, we've hired a skip and are having a clear out to make way for the inevitable stuff we'll accrue for Digi Level 2. In the process, Sanja found a bunch of my old scripts and whatnot, which I'll be sharing with the Writer's Club members (just a tenner a month, if you want to upgrade your sub!) over the coming weeks and months, along with my thoughts. 

But...

EARLY ACCESS: BYAMPOD Ep64 - Fish Solo Part 3

Blimey. This is probably our heaviest ep to date. I'm letting you all hear this now, but there's a chance I may yet edit some more of it out before it goes on general release next Monday. You'll probably be able to guess which sections once you've listened to it. 

Next week... hopefully something a bit lighter, and a LOT cheerier. 

TOP TIER EXCLUSIVE: DELETED TONY

A lot got cut out of this week's Digi. Some of it might've been good enough to keep in, but I was aware that little Tony goes a long way. 

Also... a bit of a weird opening to this video where you see BEHIND THE MAGIC...! 

Anyway, here's an extra 30 minutes of Tony Harris and Sanja. 

NEW £10 PATREON TIER - WRITER'S CLUB!

Well, we've finally gone and done it. After so many of you have told us we were underselling ourselves... we've changed the Patreon tiers to British pounds, and added a brand new tier, at £10 (10% discount if you pay annually).

If you don't want to upgrade from where you're at... it's all good. And the lower tiers will stay the same. You'll still get what you always got... and the £5 level will continue to be called Top Tier! 

Now, if you want to join a new tier from a lowe...