GET SHIRTY

YORKSHIRE VEGAS DESIGNHome and dry from a truly brilliant little jaunt with The Ginger Wildheart Band. The gigs were magnificent, thanks for coming down.

We’re gearing up for another Pledge campaign starting next week – probably on Thursday 13th November – so save some pennies for that. The first part of this will be that as soon as you Pledge (any amount) you’ll receive a Pledge-exclusive four-track covers EP. We debuted two of the songs from this EP on the tour. The others will be a surprise.

Finally, tickets are now very scarce for the London (14th Nov), Rugby (15th Nov) and Leeds (22nd Nov) gigs. Do get hold of some if you can.

See you all very soon,
EM X

CREST ARTWORK AUCTION

Picture_1More news soon about the next Pledge campaign.  But first…

We’re auctioning the original hand drawn artwork that was the basis for the Eureka Machines crest that you’ve seen behind us at our gigs for the last few years, and even on the telly.  It was created by the genius that is Tony Wilkinson, who also drew the cover of Remain In Hope, and until recently it was hanging on the wall of his local in Darlington.  All of the band have signed it, as well as the artist, and all proceeds from the sale will go to the Stroke Working Age Ashington Group (SWAAG).

Here’s a few words from Chris about the auction:

Eureka Machines played a gig in Darlington and we met a nice bloke called Tony Wilkinson. You know when you meet someone and you think ‘there’s something about him’?

One of his friends was telling us about these amazing paintings he does – I asked to see some, and was absolutely blown away. In particular there was a painting of John Lennon that I felt like I could reach out and touch, and he was just showing me rough shots on his camera phone. Like many a Northern troubadour before him, he’d hidden his not insignificant light beneath a similarly large bushel and I encouraged/badgered him into doing some bits for us, including the amazing artwork for our third album Remain In Hope.

I’d had this idea for a band crest, something which showed a load of stuff that the band stood for – like championing the underdog, Guinness and gallons of tea. I gave him a really basic idea and a week later he came back with exactly the right thing.

This is his first draft of the now-slightly-famous ‘Eureka Machines crest’, which has been behind us at every gig we’ve played for the past four or five years, and featured on Emmerdale Farm as well. It’s been signed by the artist himself, Tony Wilkinson, as well as the four of us.

It’s a total one-off, and we’re auctioning it for the benefit of another total one-off, Mr Ian Tunstall, formerly proprietor of ChangesOne Records in South Shields, and supporter of underground rock music for as long as I’ve been in bands.

Tunny, as he is affectionately known, had a devastating stroke a couple of years ago. Recently, his stroke support group SWAAG was threatened with closure, and so we’re flogging this bit of artwork in an attempt to raise a little cash towards helping them move forward.

More information about the auction, as well as more photographs of the artwork, can be found on the auction page – click here to see it, and maybe even place a bid…

#eureka4

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Hi all,

As the nights are drawing in, we felt it was time to pack away the Bermuda shorts, snorkel and flip flops and get on with some work for a change.

We’ve got some headline gigs which you should know about – London on 14 Nov, Rugby on 15 Nov and Leeds on 22 Nov. Please pick up a ticket, as these are all close to selling out already. All details on the GIGS page. Leeds in particular will be a special one, as we’re filming it for a DVD to be released on the upcoming Pledge campaign – more on this in a minute. These three are with our old sparring partners/lovers The Scaramanga Six.

We’re also doing a handful of support gigs with our pals/bandmates in some cases The Ginger Wildheart Band. That’s York on 30 Oct, Wolverhampton on 31 Oct, Manchester on 1 Nov and Glasgow on 2 Nov. Again, get a ticket, as these are all selling very well.

We’ve also just been announced for the brilliant-looking ‘WinterRocks‘ Festival at Sheffield Corporation on Sat 6 Dec.This will be our last gig of the year and last until at least March or more likely April 2015, when we hope to be doing some tour dates supporting our next album.

Ah, the next album.

We’ve got about 15 songs written and are currently wading through them all to rewrite and refine as much as possible. We’re particularly proud of this next bunch of songs. We’ve said that before, but it remains to be true. They’re a bit louder and more raucous than Remain In Hope, with a bit more of a punk rock edge, while retaining the pop, obviously. You’ll hear some of it soon enough.

We’re aiming to launch a Pledge campaign to help fund this album (and generally fund our band) in early November (which means it’ll inevitably be mid-November). There will be the customary CDs and signed bits, as well as a few new things you might not have seen before.

As I mentioned before, the Leeds Brudenell gig on Nov 22 will be filmed for a DVD which will be on sale through the campaign, which will feature the gig (obviously), as well as a bunch of other live footage (including the live stream of our gig at London Forum, which we’d thought was lost forever), all the videos we’ve done, and a bunch of exclusive interviews and commentaries.

In the meantime, we’re putting the finishing touches to an exclusive covers EP which you guys will receive for download as soon as you pledge. There will be nowhere else you can get these four tracks from, and we think you’re going to love them.

Someone asked why we were choosing to go with Pledge again… I think it’s a good format for a band like us, we have a great relationship with you lot, and we don’t take the piss. I’d like to think that you were well served during the last Eureka Machines Pledge campaign, and that everyone got everything they wanted and more. The aim is to carry this on. Pledge seems like the best way to do this.

We did well on the last campaign, completely thanks to you lot. Your backing meant we could spend a lot more time and money in the studio, and do more with the artwork and so on. It also sustains us at a time that live music is barely covering its overheads. Your money has helped keep us in guitars, drum sticks, strings and the occasional hotel room when we’re not dossing on people’s floors. We appreciate it. And it’s now time to do it all again.

Stay tuned!
EM X

KNEBWORTH. GIGS. PLEDGES. TEA.

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First up, thanks to EVERYONE who turned up to see us at the Sonisphere Festival last weekend. It was a truly monumental occasion, and one we won’t forget… ever. We had a brilliant weekend and hope that you did too. Special thanks to Glenn at the-print-factory.co.uk for his help printing the flyers, and the people who took a bit of time out of your day to help us with the flyering. We think it really made a difference.

Eureka Machines at Sonisphere, picture by Trudi Knight

On the back of this, we’ve put a couple of extra gig dates in. London, Rugby and Leeds to be precise. London is very small, so be quick to make sure you get hold of a ticket. All three dates are with our friends and occasional lovers THE SCARAMANGA SIX, which we’re very pleased about.

We’ve brought the GOLDEN TICKET concept to Leeds this time. For those who missed out last time, for a bit of extra cash, you get early entry to the gig, a half-hour (at least) acoustic set with Chris and Dave, and an exclusive never-to-be repeated PIE CLUB t-shirt. Please send the sizes you want to pieclub[at]eurekamachines.com and we’ll make sure you get that size. This is strictly limited to 75 tickets – please make sure you get in early as last time it sold out in an afternoon.

This stuff is a very big laugh and we love doing it, so we hope you get involved.

In other news, we continue apace writing for the next album, for which we hope to launch a PledgeMusic campaign around the tour dates in November.

Cheers again you lot
EM X

(Picture by Trudi Knight, taken at Sonisphere on 5 July 2014)