Fine thanks - the meeting was keeping it LIGHT, so didn't hang around.
MATTERS ARISING
CHRISTMAS MEAL
This would be happening as soon as the meeting closed. Let's ROCK!
AGM ASSESSMENT
A report was attached to the minutes, for The Board to approve. The Board drank some wine, it was dead nice.
ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
WEBPAGES
WONDERFULLY, just as the newsletter had gone out, our providers had shut down our webpage. It was now back online, but there were more problems with FTPing to it - Mr Fleay suggested that Proper Hosting (i.e. paid for) be looked into, and he and Mr Hibbett would indeed do so.
NEWSLETTER
This had GONE, and apart from misspelling the webpage address ("wwww...."), which was Mr Dresden's fault, it was all OK. So far there had only been one entry for the competition, but this would be sorted out next time. Lightness! and WINE!
PLUGGERS
The MJ Hibbett & The Validators campaign was GO! but had not received enough responses to necessitate a report as yet.
DISTRIBUTION
There was some discussion about the prospect of comparing Kraken album sales (with little giggage, no massive previous publicity package) with The Chemistry Experiment (lots of gigs, lots of previous publicity) and see if there was actually any difference. There was discussion about our current distributors, and some about whether in-shop distribution was even suitable for AAS any more, and it was agreed that this would be taken forward for discussion at the Away Day. Where it would be discussed.
FINANCE
Cheques had STILL not been bloody received, and so THE WHITAKER WAS UNLEASHED. OFFICIALLY. Let all beware!
FOOTBALL
The trophy had not been got yet, but this would be done. As to recent performances - Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh DEAR. First place was close, Mr Whitaker and Mr Dresden were tie with 20 points, with Mr Hibbett on 21 and Mr Fleay on 29.
A&R
THE FRIGHTENED PRISONERS OF THE KRAKEN
Mr Hibbett reported that Live and In Concert they were absolutely FCUKING GRATE. He went on about this at some length, stating how AMAZING they had been. Mr Fleay countered by stating that he had a CD of new and other material, and that this too was BLOODY GRATE. He would do a copy for other Board Members. Finally Mr Whitaker casually stated that he might be able to get them onto The Archers, and all were impressed. There was then hefty discussion of how VERY much we liked them, and were GAGGING for more.
THE CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT
Nobody had any idea how the album was going yet, but as the Pretend Release Date wasn't until January 7th this didn't really matter. Mr Hibbett agreed to send a copy to Careless Talk Costs Lives magazine (with whom he had recently had some "discussion"), and Mr Fleay would attempt to get a further 25 copies sent to the band themselves.
JOHNNY DOMINO
There was LENGTHY and at times HEATED arguments about which was the best Johnny Domino album, with Messrs Fleay and Whitaker choosing "Players", whilst Mr Hibbett went for "The First 100 Years". This one will run and run!
FRANKIE MACHINE
Mr Fleay STUNNED the meeting by stating CATEGORICALLY that the Frankie Machine album WOULD most DEFINITELY be finished by the end of THIS year. This meant sequenced, mixed, THE LOT. He planned to finish off and mix at home over the Christmas period, possibly using his Exciting New Digital Piano. He had high hopes of increasing his Live Line-Up so that he could do a LOT of gigs when the album was released.
He then briefly described the Vaguely Planned Frankie Machine/MJ Hibbett collaboration EP, but he and Mr Hibbett would discuss this another time as, goodness knows, everyone was REELING from the apparent imminence of this long awaited long player.
MJ HIBBETT
Bearing in mind the lightness and briefness of this meeting Mr Hibbett tried his best to keep this section to the minimum, but Naughty Other Board members kept asking him for more information, more! So what was he to do? Basically, he'd done 3 gigs recently, all of which had gone jolly well. The "Milk & Baubles" EP had come out, those as yet few people seemed to have noticed, and the album "50,000 Elves Fans Can't Be Wrong" had now come out in the USA, and was, he declared, pretty good. With other Board members almost in tears at the idea that that was ALL the news, he sated their needs by revealing that in the next few weeks he would be recording the THIRD of his almost but not quite legendary Kazoo Magic demo tapes, with at least EIGHT brand new songs for all to hear. And there was much rejoicing.
TERRASHIMA
The band had recorded their two extra songs for the single, but apparently these had not turned out too well. Mr Fleay reported that they were unsure about what they would do next, but would ring when they had more of an idea, and the ROCK would be taken from there.
L CHRISTIAN LUNDHOLM
Mr Hibbett reported that he had had a GRATE conversation with the artist, and all seemed very very GO! and EXCITING. Mr Lundholm was about to start some new recording, and had some ideas about distribution in Scandinavia and the USA, it was all EXCITING! Whoo! A Contract had been emailed to him, as he too preferred to know that everybody understood All The Details. COOL.
ANY OTHER A&R
THE PARENTS
They had recently done some recording, but nothing had been heard yet.
WHITE TOWN
Nothing had really occurred - this should be removed, until something did!
THE PO BOX
A tape had been received from a GOTH band who had managed to wind the tape to the WRONG side - well done everyone! - and hadn't really been worth the rewinding to listen to. A lovely letter and CD had been received from Linda Draper in America, which Mr Fleay stated was OK, but not really us.
CORRESPONDENCE
No.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
CHRISTMAS CARDS
Aaah! The December meeting, when, traditionally, The Board realised it was too late to do this this year, but that they should think about it for next year. It was agreed that it was too late to do this this year, but that we should think about if for next year. With this in mind it was agreed that it be a recurring minute, and be taken forward to the Away Day.
GIG THORT
Mr Hibbett had had an idea, to do a big(ish) gig, with many of our bands playing, as many of our bands had indeed wondered why we weren't doing such a thing. He suggested doing it in Derby on a Sunday afternoon, finishing within good time for people to get trains home, and also making it FREE. All agreed that this would be FUN, and Mr Fleay stated his long held DESIRE to put something on in the Dance Centre, next to The Bless. He also suggested the ACE name "Shabby Park", which was GRATE. This would be thought upon, and discussed further next time.
BADGES
It was agreed that this would be GOOD, having badges with the logo on to inflict upon people. Mr Fleay would see what we could afford.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
This would be decided over e-mail.
Having completed the meeting, The Board drank up the LOVELY wine, and popped down to the Tamarind on Hinckley Road, Leicester, where they had an absolutely DELICIOUS curry. Merry Christmas, one and all!
