NB due to computer filtration I have sadly had to censor the swear words in this story. Yeah, I'm pi$$ed off about that. In the event of you being consumed with joy that no offensive words are in here... what the f*ck are you listening to our band for?!

London Calling
Had we never attended the school trip to London in 2001, virtualsky would not have existed......as soon as It did. The only recollection I have of that day was the coach journey. There and back, Damo and myself were enveloped in a variety of albums that all shared the same attribute: adrenalin pumping. We had countless peers telling us to, quite frankly, 'turn that fu*king noise down'. We cranked up the volume and pretended not to hear.
It was here, and because of the thumping headache that followed, that on the way back a brainchild was born:
Form our own band.

It was inevitable that it was going to happen eventually. Passionate about our respective bands and about music in general, all that held our two-man duo back was a lack of band mates. And instruments. And a place to practice. And any songs. Overlooking these factors, we were ahead of our time.
Mike, a seasoned lead guitarist and Ian, someone who had harboured his talent for playing the bass were acquired. Damo learned to drum out of nowhere and being the loudest, and cockiest member, I filled the role of lead singer. The band was off its feet. And in the time span we'd assembled it, off it's head. We practiced for the first time in a grotty little room at the top of our schools oldest building. We rocked the foundations and probably gave it the first sign of life it had seen in years. supeRsonic had arrived.

The beginning stages of......
The first months were nothing short of illusion, struggle and electricism. The total lack of cooperation of the school was weighing the band down. We could only practice on certain days so as not to disturb the neighbourhood. F*ck that. Our setlist progressed from a few songs, to more songs, to more. The feeling though was incredible. Friends in a band. In reality though, a rose tinted view, clouded with fondness. The equipment was sh!te. And even though it possessed 'my first instrument' type quality we were still only allowed to touch it with cotton wool hands. 'Can't afford to replace the stuff if it breaks', we were told. 'Where the f*ck are our fees going then?' we replied.
Too many people watching, too many rules and too much red tape. Time to break out.

Headlining the attic.....then front room.
It shows what lay in our minds as far as priorities go. When we were granted use of Ian's attic, as long as we cleaned it out, did we go at the weekend, in our spare time? Ha! No! We went in the revision sessions before our life changing GCSE exams, to help get the band that would change our lives flying again. All worth it. The sound of supeRsonic once again reverberated through Tettenhall and neighbours were once again dumbfounded, and deafened, by a noise that had curiously to them got even closer. We'd moved just down the road from school.
There were flaws and positives. We were good, but had no continuity as far as practices were concerned. We missed a gig in September 2001 as we weren't ready. The next target date was November 14th. The school talent contest. By now we had moved downstairs, ditched the 'supersonic' name tag (it had been so because it was the first song we played amazingly, so it stuck), evolved into virtual sky and were bickering over what songs to play in a 10-minute slot. All amidst being at the practices and playing cover songs of individuality and flare. Like we always had. A covers band? No. Well, yes, but not ultimately.

Hate to Say I told You So.
All the effort paid off. And in the space of a year, four teenagers had achieved what so many people wish to achieve but few rarely do. We formed a band. We played a gig. Or a 'gig', as I call it. Our three-song cameo at the end of painstakingly long (when you're sitting backstage) talent show provided a springboard for our future enthusiasm and a measure of where the band was 'at'. It was much more than a cameo though. To us it was intense, amazing and spontaneous. The description of the night before could take up countless amounts of room.
We had a rehearsal on Tuesday (12th November '01) We played with exuberating confidence.
Things happened on the Monday sham of a 'rehearsal' that will go down in v-sky folklore. My affirmation as a lead singer when I walked off immediately at the end of the only song we did .How the gig was 'off', when the organisers treated us like sh!t. On our Tuesday rehearsal we gave a rip-roaring rendition of Hate to say... and a rousing performance of Cigarettes and Alcohol. We crumbled however during My Generation. No amount of lead singer charisma or drummer defiance could save the song once Mike's lead guitar cut out. We waited 3 hours on the promise that we could return on stage. And were subsequently told we needed supervision and that there was none around. This sparked two band members notoriously short fuses and prompted a 'we're walking' response.
We did the damn thing anyway, thanks mainly to Mike's never say die attitude. We turned the negative energy into positive, 'we're gonna blow you c~nts away' energy.
With a musical intro of T-shirt suntan, me strolling on to pick up my half moon, the opening chords of Cigarettes and Alcohol, the timing going, no-one noticing after a seamless cover up, rapturous applause, Hate to Say even better, crystal clear sound, 160 jaws dropping simultaneously, the future of rock 'n' roll on stage, and Damo's drums falling off the stand on the last stroke of the song to boot. Bedlam backstage. What a night.

How Soon Is Now?
It wasn't the most epic performance ever, and maybe I've devoted too much time to that gig. But this is the story so far. And that's an integral part of the story. We learnt a lot from that night. Composure. What to improve on. What we can do to improve. And adding another friend to the group in Drew at rhythm guitar was a step that extends the bands sound. Our set list is getting more varied, and we're already in the process of writing our own material. The sky ahead is blue. Virtually..........

All that you can leave behind
The bliss shattered, unity prevails. The bandpracticesof2002 section looks sparse to say the least. There is, as ever, a reason. So much has happened since the last entry, and writing another chapter into the history of the band is against all my wishes, at least until our first number 1. It would be best to compress the last few months into this sentence: 'Mike, our lead guitarist, has been sacked', and leave no further explanation.

But 'would' always was my least favourite word.
There is stuff that remains taboo, that should, and will, stay confined within the four walls of our practice facility, and within the heads of the five members. No use dwelling on the past. But the fact is, the reason for his imminent departure is 'priority'. No one, and I mean no one, can question the work ethic of Mike, or any other member of this band. But purely put, when the opportunity of playing gigs was presented to us, the commitment wasn't there. The atmosphere was 'uncomfortable' for him, yet that attitude is ironic considering it was he who carried his moral crusades into the present day instead of leaving them behind. Hands held high, I will emerge from the wreckage and admit some antagonism on my behalf. But this band is bigger than any member, and when any member elevates himself to a position of higher importance, it is time for that member to call it a day. Maybe, just maybe, I am biased. But it is hard to write an unbiased account of an event that incensed you so much. This band is about playing gigs, not about only being the best band in Ian's front room. I don't want to get bogged down in individual events of our month long hiatus from music. Now there is, for now, 4 members. Most people dream of being in a band and playing gigs. Our dream is reality.
To Mike, it was seemingly a nightmare.

The future...
Hindsight. What a wonderful thing. If we knew there were guitarists as good as this out there, we would now be flying instead of being grounded by a school play fog. Rich came to our first practice in over two months and decided to join us, even when we were not at our best. Must be doing something right. He has more experience than Mike thought he had. I mean with the axe, you dirty minded sods. A welcome addition that breathes new life into the band. We're gonna live forever indeed....

Form An Orderly Queue
Neighbours. Love thy. More like sod thy. We've had, for the third time in our lifespan, had to relocate the band due to the amount of noise we were emitting. Re-routed to Wolverhampton, it was the end of an era, but probably for the best and we now start our tenure in Sam Sharps, though worryingly not on a confirmed regular slot. A clutch of forthcoming gigs are at our disposal, and we are on tour for the whole of September of this year. This security in demand helps ease the mind and concentrate on what we are doing in the short term; refining the sound.
We have, for four of the band anyway, a homecoming gig at Tettenhall Prom which serves us as a platform to sound-test and play our setlist that we'll be using to conquer the local pubs with. It should also be a good experience to deal with the hecklers, of which there are bound to be many, and playing under the influence of alcohol, which will undoubtedly be in similar supply. This band will take any negativity with a pinch of salt. After all, those that hate you just wanna be you.

Is this thing on?...
After each step forward, like the leap we took last Monday, all the events of the previous year pale into both insignificance and, maybe more importantly, obscurity. Again I get the feeling that I've devoted too much time to menial events that have little bearing on the current being of the band. Still, on an apocalyptic evening that started off bad, got better and climaxed in finally getting the sound of virtualsky onto tape, we unfurled an awesome force of sound, and at the same time discovered the 'wonders' of technology. The actual quality of the tape is slightly dubious, but by the third or fourth take no one really cared. It was on of those evenings when you sink your head into your hands because the timing, the sound, the volume, the equipment, or all of the above went awry and it was just rough . Still, as soon as the tape started this creative wave washed over the room and everything slotted neatly into place. We recorded Cigarettes and Alcohol and Jumpin Jack Flash. And it sounded fookin awesome. No messing with the sound with technical computer packages, just 'wack it up to ten, start the track and off we go' rock n roll.
The message board is starting to reflect more significance of what goes on daily, like Damo promoing most of our songs acoustically at open mic evenings around the midlands, so this is just here for the big events. The gigs. And we've got a few coming up, but, a sentiment I'm sure would be echoed by the remainder of the band, I'm tired of saying they're coming and would rather be playing them. We are young. But we will learn.....

Some might say
Avoiding a sombre tone, in light of events below, in this little summary of the gigs is my own damn fault for not doing it at the time. We were showered with praise from all three performances, and encouraged by the ranging types of audience (those who had no choice to listen to us, those that were open minded, and music lovers) all giving us glowing responses to our renditions of the set. And the purity of talent radiating from us is not in question, so should seamlessly transpose into any kind of post-covers outfit of the band. Describing each performance is difficult to not give a biased slight on, so to surmise it was fookin awesome and, like a mediocre joke found funny by a room full of drunks, you had to be there to enjoy the full awesome effect.
With every high is attached a low, but our achievements of the last month should not be eclipsed by any individual event. Of course, that is said with hindsight. But virtualsky is a band, has a potential fan base, stage experience, and music industry contacts, not to mention a glut of our own songs. One giant leap for mankind.

Some might stay
There are days that I read this section and contemplate deleting the whole thing. Those are the good days.
I just get bored of the amateur dramatics every time someone breathes and I update it on here. Even this little bit falls foul of being too over the top. Except this time, it's probably worthy of it.
Ian James, bass, and virtualsky, have amicably parted ways. Our search for a replacement is imminent, and the reasons are of a personal nature. We will go ahead with the forthcoming gigs in some way, shape or form, to maintain the professional front of the band. Losing a member has happened before, and that didn't spawn any crisis talks so neither will this. Ian's contribution to what was the furthering of VSky is greatly appreciated, but both parties will now move on.
No fireworks. No sacking in a cloud of controversy. Just a musical divorce. The songs are the future, the children if you like, of this outfit.
virtualsky kept the kids, Ian got the house.
But when a band starts out with little musical direction, like we did in the beginning, then you could excuse Ian leaving, as we never set out with a blueprint of the music we were going to play. But the second departure in 24 hours to rock virtualsky does leave us scratching our heads. Inexplicably, Drew has also jumped ship. He knew exactly what kind of music we were playing, and exactly where we wanted to go, after all, he joined this year. It appears the motives for being in a band for him were material, and that he just wanted to spend time with friends. That's great, but getting some work done is also what it's about. This isn't a bitter tirade, just a bemused second guessing of motive. A six line quit em@il that outlined nothing has left us in the dark, but for the better in the long run. Still, just because we're down to three people, doesn't make us depleted. The show will go on, and now with a more dynamic and committed lineup.

Too long a story in too short a space
New rhythm guitarist, new bassist, four gigs done and a bright future. That kind of analytical, matter-of-factness is what is expected of this section, and I won't disappoint.
Tempting to leave it like that, and it'd probably be for the best as my memory of how what, why and when has been dulled. It's never when you recount the tales of rock n roll mayhem, cesspits of women and waterfalls of alcohol on a cold Thursday night.
Still, in a committed stab at an update, we replaced the deadwood with Alex, our second 'found in a music shop' member and Liam Pritchard, who happened to be in the vicinity when I was in the process of finding one. Condensing their arrivals into a sentence is more a portrayal of how swift the acquisition was, as opposed to the range of their individual talents.
To give some idea of time scale, we lost our members, and then within a week found new ones.
After all, it was hardly Paul leaving the Beatles.
So we had a gig in three weeks and new members. Impossible? Keeping the faith, a rigorous regime and a whole lot of work from the new arrivals got us into a more than adequate state to fulfil our gig promise. World order restored.
Then, in a flurry that spans a month, the songs were unleashed on more venues than ever before. Plunging into individual nights would be too time consuming but that's not to belittle our performances or our achievement. It's just... the need isn't there to justify our ability in few measly words.
We are a far superior band than ever before, and that's not a coaxing self-assurance that masks an insecurity. The reaction we've gotten has been mega. More so.
The last time Sam Sharps was mentioned it was preceded by the word 'worrying'. Ironic really, as the organisational skills of the people who worked there was just that, and so it was full circle and back to obliterating the airwaves of Tettenhall.
Just to keep our feet on the ground, as if it was needed, we were messed around with a date for a forthcoming gig, but we are playing a battle of the bands on a radio station in balance.
The highs, the lows, but at least we can still find the rollercoaster.

Lies, damn lies, and drumsticks.
Yes, Rich has gone.
And if you want to get technical then yes, you can also dump the blame on Damo, but you'd be living in an artificial bubble of misconception.
The way the subject has imploded on the message board is typical of what would happen if we were famous and the press were involved; half-truths and misguided animosity. As a band decision, included in that being Rich, yes, we have parted ways.
And genuinely we are grateful for his services, and this time that is true, not a false 'thanks a lot for what you did' just to close another chapter of the band. Rich bailed us out of a canyon when the future of the band was on a knife-edge, and he truly is a great lead guitarist. We had no personal qualms with his appointment, and he has not left in a shroud of band clique. There'll be an outcry at our downsizing of the group, but no one individual ever makes an executive move like that on their own.
It's progression, that's all, and there's no room for sentiment when you want to move forwards. Not that Rich was holding us back. It's just a choice we needed to make for the next step. If we are okay with it, and Rich is civilised and agrees with the decision, then protest all you like, but this is virtualsky, like it or not.
And we do.

Silence is E's, eh?
Liam has been sacked. A while ago. I'm just fed up at the torrent of 'where's he gone' questions. He cancelled on us two days before our biggest gig ever (on the radio, 40,000 listeners) leaving us no time to find a replacement. He also cancelled for Damo's 18th birthday. So that's our two biggest gigs ever. I'm tired of having to in some way justify other people's screwed up morals, lack of commitment to their friends, and bored of seeing the 'real story' come out on the message board. 'Oh, I left, you didn't push me out'. We kicked him out, another member I hear you sigh, but if your girlfriend can't do what you ask her to do then you dump her and keep dating girls until you find the right one. A girlfriend euphemism. How ironic.
Lets hope everything in your life isn't just a bit of fun and part-time. Oh yeah, we don't get personal on here do we, in case we have to send this off to some record company boss type person as a history off the band. Fook it. I'll delete it when that time comes.
We've decided to stay out the spotlight until the new year, when we can unleash some of our own songs into our set. About bloody time. We should've been here months ago.. No doubt select numbers of you will want to defend Liam's ability and start a misguided argument, because that's not why we sacked him but people only read the words 'Liam' and 'Sacked' when they come on here, so send your complaints in an envelope, accompanied by the worlds smallest violin.
I hate the agenda being things in the past, and only updating to encompass ex members who wouldn't give you the time of day if you passed them in the corridor. I speak from experience. So from now on, back to future.