Hey, heads up, after a great set of gigs at Under The Bridge in December there’s going to be another chance to catch The Brand New Heavies again live in London Town!  This time we’ll be playing at the After Hours @ The Wintergarden in Canary Wharf on the 15th of March, and on vocal duties will be none other than the incredible Honey Larochelle.

Tickets are only £20 so book early to avoid disappointment. To get them in advance visit ticketweb.co.uk or call 0844 847 2268 (Booking fee applies).

We’re looking forward to seeing you all down there….

Pedigree Cuts make albums that are used by TV and Movie people to add to their programmes and films, to be shown around the world.

They already have albums by people like Goldie and Finley Quaye for example, so it’s great to be a part of it all.

Pedigree Cuts also believe that everyone should be able to hear and enjoy the tracks even though it isn’t put out as a commercial release in shops or iTunes. However if they get a good response they might just put it up on iTunes.

So if you like the tracks, check out the post on the Pedigree Cuts site where you can see lots of photos of us doing the sessions and go to the Soundcloud page where you can hear and download them and add comments and lets make this the best TBNH collectors release ever!

The Brand New heavies by Pedigree Cuts

The 6 days of what can only be described as madness begins with a very long journey on which the in-flight entertainment was broken. Was like flying in the 70′s, b4 there were screens on the back of the seats, so we began exploring the grape growing regions of planet Earth…. 20 hrs later………..

Day 2: We’re playing two shows a night here, but arrive in Tokyo the day before the first. After promising to meet in the lobby in half an hour for food, we convene 5 hours later and eagerly head to favoutite location ‘PISS ALLEY’, for food and refreshment. It’s very busy down there so we end up starting with refreshments at favourite bar, The Albatross. Life is sweet – it’s warm too, so with everyone on excellent form we head up to the tiny roof and don some of the hats hanging on the wall on the way. (See pics at the bottom). Finally get to bed at 6am after Squid Intestines, Lemon Sochi beverages and a €40 cab ride to Roppongi… Late night dodgy Ramen… Found a granny bike with flat tyres…. Claire & Stevie have giant Oysters cooked on an open grill…..

DAY 3: Japanese & western breakfast – Yum!

Honey, our lead vocalist for this stint, arrives from LA and straight onstage. Hardcore and 2 hard rockin’ jaw droppin’ shows. Went to the Stonesthrow records party after. Boogied to Hip Hop then saw the amazing STEPKIDS – Great music with incredible visuals! Very tired now, but it was Ramen O’Clock and accidentally went to the most excellent joint for this possible. D-Licious! It’s 6am again – time for random Karaoke bar- Just crazy in there – some blurry shots to see…..

Day 4: 2 more great shows with great audiences. Dressing room party!

Facebook quotes:

‘Just came back from The Brand Heavies’ !! I have never seen such a funky crazy band! I guess I should have paid for the aftershow party at the dressing room. We had a fabulous DJ with lots of old school FUNK!!

‘YOU GUYS should have been there last night! I’ve seen” the backstage” for years but I couldn’t believe how FUNKY these guys were AFTER the show!!!!’

After the after show….. Too late for The Alley so went into seedy Shinjuku for some food…. Few beers later and more amazing Ramen. On the walk back did a nice photo on a giant sculpture of the word LOVE……

DAY 5: Drowzy flight to Osaka – Out to the shops….. There’s quite a lot of people here!!! Sushi! – Goooood! Some went out for a quiet dinner, but played bar roulette and ended up hanging out with some Yakuza cage fighter and sang them karaoke style Earth Wind & Fire tunes!!! Lived to Tell the tale too!

DAY 6: Once again a great crowd… Of note… 2^nd show, Talao, our Japanese trombone player surprises us all by taking apart his trombone during his solo whilst still playing in different stages dismantling…. Mental… Brilliant….

Andrew finds a tiny bass and decides to come on stage pretending to play it while Stevie guitar tech hides behind his amp really playing it. Laughed? We nearly…..

DAY 7: Are we nearly there yet…. Sleepy flight home…. Ahhhhh your own bed : – )

Next Week……….. Jamming in Secret London Location…..

We’re playing at Billboard Live in Tokyo on the 2nd and 3rd November and in Osaka on 5th. We haven’t been in a while but we always have a blast.

Simon was interviewed for Metropolis on this very subject.

Japan has been a longtime supporter. Tell us about the response you get here and your Japan-only album.

When you begin to travel with music you are very fortunate to get to see places you wouldn’t have otherwise and Japan has always been many things to us: unique, fascinating, friendly, efficient and a great place to party! In a way it’s become a second home. We love the food, which has a palette like no other in the world [and] the shopping, clubbing, bars and the fans at our shows who always make it special with their understanding and enjoyment of our music.

You can read the whole interview on the Metropolis site here and find out more about the shows (and get tickets) here.

It wasn’t just us though as we were joined by Carl Cox on keyboards. Obviously better known for his DJ’ing, he’s no slouch on the keys, and he proved it. We were being filmed for a documentary that Carl is making for Sky and hopefully we’ll get hold of that footage at some point to post here on the site. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime you might want to have a look at this set of photos taken for the White Ibiza website or Check them out on Flickr here.

These shows coincide with the release of ‘The Best Of 20 Years’, a 2 CD compilation documenting our career to date, which we’ve had a lot of fun and a few arguments picking all the tracks for – 38 in all!

Joining us on these dates is Honey Larochelle, who you may well already know as she’s worked with us on many occasions in the past – she’s another Heavies stalwart. We’re really looking forward to these two nights at a great new (well for us at lest!) venue in our hometown, with an excuse to think about all the crazy stuff that’s happened in the 20 years that we’ve been playing together.

We’re doing a bit of an ‘after party’ where we’re going to DJ and get into the festive spirit too.

It’d be great to see you all there – come and have a party.

Tickets from Under the Bridge here.

It’s been a long time coming, but we‘ve finally got a new website. Join us to find out about new releases, upcoming shows and the like.

As a welcome gift, we’ve oput together a 5 track EP of some of our recent personal favourites that you can get for free by signing up to our mailing list in the box on the top right of this page or on our ‘Free Brand New Heavies Music‘ page. Just put your email address in the box and you’ll get a link to download all 5 free tracks.

We also have a fantastic shop full of bargains and there’ll be more information coming as we grow.

It’s your website too, so please tell us if there’s anything you’d like to know or see or hear. We’re drawing the line at recipes for the minute though!

Best for now and see you soon for some funky good times!

Simon and the Boys……