Welcome to Poor Richard's sketchbook. Yes, It's time to dress in The clothes that suit me. So, here we are....welcome to Poor Richard & the Almanacs.

Sicknote are an explosion of post-punk, techno, breakbeat and thigh slapping hill billy acid punk, or something. Nothing can prepare you for the live show these freaks have in store for you poor bastards. Forget your problems, forget work, forget yourself and GET ON THE BUS……
"they is going one way and they ain't coming back"
5 losers from Cardiff met at the legendary dodgy all night after party spot, Netty's Fancy Dress Shop, a few years back and took to the stage to see what would happen if they just 'winged it', a lightening bolt smashed through the roof and life was breathed into what was immediately named: Sicknote. Fast forward a few years and Sicknote are touring Europe and headlining several underground festivals and punk and dance events…. with no skill between them, with just pure faith some cheap tricks and an 'in the moment' ethos,  Sicknote somehow manage to tap into something and whip their audience into a complete frenzy and leave them gagging for more every single time. Get to a live ceremony now, and witness the Sickness.


Doghouse - Vocals
Dr Conker - Spiritual Guidance
Flapsandwich - Music Production
The Filth - Drums
Johnny No Cash - Visual Jockey

I teach women how to Awaken their Intuition so they can embrace their Wild Self!

We improvise in blues/rock/jazz, playing music in real time. 
Now for some poetry and prose...

*This page also includes music from 2 other bands, Gossamer (from NYC), and North (from Long Island, NY). Of which the reverend Tony Amendolare played bass guitar.

The Brother's Fate includes the esteemed reverend Joseph, and the reverend Tony on bass guitar and sometimes on guitar.
Here comes some poetry:

(LONG ROAD by Rev. Tony 2017)
We play on the side of roads. 
On the shoulder and in rain. 
For the sick and shuttered, dead dogs and opossum. 
We'll pray to the moon, for YOU and the sun. 
For those who crash here, be thy saved!

ANGELS OF DOOM (Ghost Poem by Reverend Joseph 01-11-07)
I ride with ghosts on the road of memory.
Roam the road with spirits of the past.
People, places, purposes, now memory spirits on the road of distant lands tended by ancient Roman hands.

(SUNSET BLVD. by Rev. Joe 2017)
Sunset Blvd
Life is a sad
lonely day out
Here on sunset blvd

Every cause  
a lost cause

Every paradise
a lost paradise

Every dream
a lost dream
Here on Sunset Blvd

Just another one
of the faceless 
nameless walking
dead
 
Here on Sunset Blvd

Insane normalcy
in a dark world
run by cold hearted
Bastards

Insane normalcy
just another loser

Here on sunset blvd
everything happens

People coming and
leaving the world
just another loser.

Here on Sunset Blvd.
(Reverend Joseph 11-15-2015)    

STRANGE LAND (by Rev. Joe)
I'm an old blues man
wandering this strange land
looking for slim Jim dancing in the wind.

Blues man singing about this cruel place.
Looking for the soul of the human race

Pain in an old man's face.
Homeless child walking his last mile. 
Nobody smiles anymore, in a nation run by whores.

Steal everything out the back door
Soulless zombies- pimps - motherfuckers

I'm an old blues man 
just here to sing my song.
Magic strange notes in the air
till I fade away and no longer here.
Because I believe God doesn't really care

Just play my blues
I'm an old blues man
In a strange fucking land.
(December 1, 2012 Reverend Joseph)

Ode To Jim Morrison on his 41st year of his departure from this plane of existence. 
Magic man dancing wild.
Wild child full of grace.
Show the world your honest face.
Poor Otis dead and gone.
Left you here to sing his song.
Love that pretty little gal with the red dress on.
In a Hollywood bungalow, about an hour ago.
Mr. Mojo Rising running wild
Waiting for the sun.
Weird scenes inside the gold mine.
The ministers daughter is in love with a snake.
Come on baby back into my arms.
I hear a sound, a very gentle sound.
Very near,       very far.
We want the world, and we want it now.
They got the guns but we got the numbers.
Five in one, one in five.
But no one gets out here alive.
Keep your hands on the wheel.
And your eyes on the road.
We're going to the road house.
Have a real good time, yeah.
Alright,        come on.

I woke up this morning 
and got myself a beer.
The future's uncertain
and the end is always near.
I I I I love you the best
Indian summer.
The West is the best.
You get him
I'll get the rest.

7/03/11
Inspired by Jim Morrison's Ode to L.A.
 while thinking of Brian Jones, deceased.
(Mostly using Jim Morrison's words and a few of my own to connect them).

Reverent Joeseph 7/03/11

It Ain't about What You listen to,  It's about The Way That You listen to it !!




i don't have a certain style in the way i dress
i don't really care what I eat or drink,
and i don't mind who's behind the wheels and driving the big bus
as long as it feels right i couldn't care less!!
that's the way i make my music.
reckless,style less,careless
and totally without responsibility to the poor ones who have to endure it.
make music without borders,without restrictions,explore and make use of all  the vibrations of sound that the universe provides.



You can try and find a gutsier, harder working, more determined bunch than Toronto’s Poor Young Things. But even if you succeed, it’s doubtful you’ll also find one as clearly positioned for greatness. 

Just two years after collectively relocating from Thunder Bay, the pop-rock quintet has issued a massive, sweat-soaked, insanely confident debut, The Heart. The Head. The End. Not only that, they’ve picked up a record deal, marquee management, a Sirius XM Emerging Artist of the Year nomination and a swelling fan base.  Few can make something as tough as pursuing a dream look so dang easy. 

“Oh man, we are so lucky,” confirms singer/guitarist Matt Fratpietro on behalf of his cohorts. “Touring across Canada is so hard. And there are lots of bands that do that for years and years and don’t get the breaks we’ve had. 

“We came here and were signed within a year to a small, very supportive label, Bumstead Productions. I mean, obviously we sold our souls to the devil,” Fratpietro howls. “But still. What a deal we got!”

Kidding aside, The Heart. The Head. The End. could not have emerged if Poor Young Things – high school pals Fratpietro, guitarists Michael Kondakow and Dave Grant, bassist Scott Burke and drummer Konrad Commisso - had elected to play it safe.
 
“It’s scary to leave your hometown,” Fratpietro admits of the big move south in November 2010. “We had been playing together for about three years at that point in some incarnation or another.  The five of us all agreed to move together, which made it a bit easier though we are all living in the same house now which is… cozy. I mean, we see each other every day.”

That friction is part of what drives the propulsive The Heart. The Head. The End. Equal parts grit and groove, fun and fury, the record is a crisply rendered snapshot of five guys who’ve crisscrossed the country playing anywhere they could to anyone who’d listen just for the privilege of being there, logging 100-plus shows last year alone.

“This record is a reflection of getting older and thinking about that. We are all going to be 27 this year,” Fratpietro says, adding that yes, they’re aware of the infamous 27 Club curse and no, they’re not planning to join though they have had some close calls on the highway.
Fratpietro continues: “’Sign of the Times’” (the album’s scorching first single) is based on what the world is like today. But the over-arching theme is experiences we’ve had – on the road, relationship-y things. There are also songs on there about having a good time and meeting people. ‘Revolver’ is one of those.”

‘Revolver’ is also an example of just how essential Toronto producer/engineer Jon Drew is to Poor Young Things’ lightning-in-a-bottle sound. 
“Originally, the chorus of that song just had me singing ‘revolver.’ Jon suggested we should get a gang of people and blow it up to the next level. So we got (East Coast singer/songwriter and Bumstead label-mate) Tim Chaisson’s cousin and bassist Koady Chaisson and drummer Nat Lamoureux into the studio one night, had a couple of drinks and just sang our hearts out.

“Plus Jon has an ear for percussion,” Fratpietro says of Drew, whose sterling production dossier includes albums by Fucked Up, Tokyo Police Club, Alexisonfire and Matt Mays as well as Poor Young Things’ 2012 EP, Let It Sleep. “And we happen to have a drummer who is as solid and hard-hitting as you can get.”

The new record’s spit-shine polish – it’s melodic but unfussy and clearly made by flesh-and-blood people playing actual instruments together - reflects the swift, organic manner in which it was written and recorded. 

“We toured until the end of summer 2012, then practiced for a while, wrote the songs, went in and did half the record, went on a month-long tour with Tim  Chaisson across Canada in late-fall of 2012, then came back and recorded the other half of the album,” Fratpietro explains.
“We had a chance to play those new songs across the country and that’s where you get to the meat of it. Also, that tour impacted the vocals because when I came back my voice was destroyed. But it sounds awesome on the album and much closer to how we are live.

“I write most of the lyrics,” Fratpietro says, “and usually we’ll get the songs down first and the lyrics will come later. We don’t really demo because we don’t have anything to demo with,” he laughs. “But that’s how we are; we just jam and jam and jam until the song is right. Let’s call it the natural way. But we do capture the vibe of togetherness.”

Asked to cite a song that seemed to write itself, Fratpietro name-checks ‘Black Lightning,’ one of several tracks on the record with a chorus so hooky it double-dog dares you not to holler along. Like ‘Revolver,’ it also features backing vocals by Koady Chaisson and Nat Lamoureux as does ‘Sign of the Times,’ ‘Dress It Up’ and ‘Transformer.’

“‘Black Lightning’ only took a couple of days. And that was typical of most songs on this album. We were actually very surprised how easily everything came out when we finally sat down together. Everything went where we wanted it to go. I honestly can’t think of a song we had to struggle with.”
With the obliging hand of fate pressed firmly on their backs, what now for Poor Young Things? “I really just hope the album does well, that we’re on the road for most of the year and get to go to the States a lot,” Fratpietro says. “I hope people can listen to it and see a little bit of themselves in it.  

“The thing is, we’re a hard-working, 24/7 rock-and-roll band. There are no gimmicks and there are no tricks. We go out there and we play. The shows are fun and they’re real. We’re real. There’s nothing fake about it.”

About me: happy music producer and idiot knobber, death metal bassist, very stressed Software Project Manager, absolutely convinced Vegan: compassionate for poor Aminals used for foods and dress. 
I like music, all music, and all around music. I hear from techno to classic, from jazz to deep metal. In youth I was an angry and agressive punk rocker bassman but meantime I heared also many reggae, electronic and hip hop music. At the end of nineties years I fall into techno, drum & bass music and rave music: so I decided to play the electronic dance music. 

I prefer analog synth of which are vintage and modern. In principle I try not to use the computer and all the cool devices are could be connected to it.
To clarify for me the basic configuration Should Be nostalgic and all dressed Roland TB303, TR808, Juno 106 or SH101.
But hidden dream of having a moog theremin Etherwave, a Doepfer A System, or the series vintage Korg MS-10, 20 etc. ...

Instruments list: Quasimidi Sirius, EMU XK-6, Yamaha DX7 browny fully modded, Access Virus A, Korg Monotribe, Korg MS2000R, 2 x Casio VL1 tone (one ready for circuit bend modify), Yamaha FB01, 2 x Roland MC303, x0xb0x fully modded Atomic Mod 1,  2 x BOSS DR202, Yamaha RX11, 2 x Mutable Instrument Shruthi, Sammich SID,  Korg padKontrol, Roland MC-50 MkII, Speak&Spell (ready for circuit bend modify), EMU esi2000 fully upload, Boss Bass Synthetizer pedal, Fostex DMT-8 multitrack, Akai GD4000 reel to reel, and naturally Mac, yamaha mixer KRK monitor and Koss Headphone, Arturia Minibrute, Korg volca series, Stylophone, Akai Tomcat, Akai Rhytm Wolf, Novation Moredernova.

Dreamlist: Arturia Matrixbrute, Arturia Microfreak, Korg Electribe MKII series, Korg MS-20, Acidlab M1AM1, jomox resonator, Atomosynth, Behringer TD3, TR8, TR6, Model D.

Astralayne is the brain-child of Norwegian sounding, lead singer Pas Democrat.
It is extremely unlikely that you would have heard of Mr Democrat as it is only in recent months that he has been able to obtain (through an administrative blunder) permanent release from a 10 year spell from a secure Mental Health Institution.

Being locked up 24/7 has hardly dented Pas’s appetite for electronic pop beat meets poor vocabulary as he has ideas for a number of tracks that will never see the light of day!

Pas first came to prominence with the completely unknown Punk band the London Gestapo and was credited on their first and only single (unreleased) and unfortunately entitled, Gas die Bastarde!  This would eventually reach thankfully, nowhere in the charts!  

It is widely reported that many of the mid 70’s punk bands were described as three-chord wonders!  This was due to their simplistic sound and ‘go forth and form a band’ attitude.  Gestapo however had a ‘unique take’ on this theme and were subsequently described as the one-chord 'Weirdo’s!'. This was simply due to a lack of any recognisable musical talent on their part and of course their unusual dress sense – although wearing a dress became predominant a short time later with the ‘New Romantic’ movement.  This proved conclusively to many (actually no-one!) that Pas is/was for a time a unique visionary!  Conversely this was prevalent to audience participated gang-rape for a mid-70’s punk band.

A little known fact about Pas is that as well as penning the lyric for the Gestapo song, he was also credited on the single as Percussionist/Programmer.  At the time this consisted of little more than pressing the start button on the bands second-hand Drum Machine.  Unfortunately however  this became a reoccurring theme in Pas’s life; as his total lack of understanding regarding anything electronic would later come to light, ultimately resulting in the ill-fated, tragic death of band member Taz Fazer and which would in turn lead to Pas' eventual incarceration.

This however was not the only near brush with stardom the luckless Pas has encountered.  He was ultimately (partly/not at all) responsible for the success of synth-band, Depeche Mode. Pas regularly rehearsed with the vertically challenged Synth-Meister, Vince Clarke and introduced the reluctant Clarke to the sounds of their one-time Manager/Record Producer Daniel Miller. Much to Pas’s dismay he was the only other person present at their first meeting at the Bridge House, Canning Town in the early 80’s.  Both Miller and Depeche Mode vigorously deny this and subsequently there is no recorded historical account of his participation.  However, Clarke once described Pas’ input to the genre of electronic pop as ‘out of time’ (Some see this comment on Pas’ visionary contribution), but most say that it was due to his inability to sing, play or dance in time.

Not to be disheartened Pas formed his own band, Pas Democrat and the Synfz; this did not go well!  Reez Robot a former member and dyslexic celebrity described the experience in his, ‘yet to sell a copy’ autobiography as ‘Shti!’ The Synfz however did release a track on the ill-fated 101 International, Dream Sequence album entitled, Across the River which was co-written with Pas’ brother Nadz.  Pas was not to be deterred and  toured extensively with the Synthz culminating with legendary 80’s concerts at Tiffany’s, Harlow New Town, Raquels in Basildon and somewhere on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea.

But in the now, Pas is a key member of Astralayne! Astralayne are a three piece Synth band which includes Si Bollik and Jez McVitie (both to be recruited, contacted or met). Their key aim is to make the world a much darker, drearier place, but much more importantly to meet girls with low self-esteem.

Finally, since his rehabilitation and subsequent release Pas is now, once again legally able to acquire a variety of sharp objects and put pen back to paper.  So sit back, pin back your ears and enjoy! You are in for a real treat with Pas's mix of 80's Electronika meets completely unintelligible lyrics. With their first single complete and aptly and imaginatively entitled, ‘Astralayne’ (Yes, it's a made up word) Pas feels that there is a real expectation of success for the band.  The boys are currently working on their second single entitled, 'I.T. Jesus' which will probably raise a few eyebrow and lower the tone on any environment that it is eventually played in. Furthermore, Pas and the boys would especially like to thank musicians, Vic Ticious, Guitars, Froggy, Bass and the indomitable Bennet on Drums for taking time out from their busy drinking schedule to contribute to the track, thanks!

On a cautionary note; I would advise fans of Pas’s work not to, contact, communicate with or at any time send Pas Democrat any of your personal details, thank you – Astralayne!

This was written on behalf of Pas Democrat by Dr Edwin Crow, Senior Psychiatric Consultant at Bradmore Clinic for the Criminally Insane.

Kiera Anson is following