Dining Room Studios

Dining Room Studios came to life in 1999 when Peter Shout, out of the blue, (or was it the pub?) turned up one day at practice with a Roland VS-1680 recording unit under his arm.
We gingerly placed it upon the closest table, sprayed it with insecticide to remove the guff from Pete's armpits, and stood around it in a circle, lost in rapture at this "Gift from the God's" that had suddenly entered our empty and unfulfilled lives.
The band had been talking for ages about doing some recording, but cost's and logistics kept on rearing their ugly heads.
Great excitement was produced with this unexpected event, and an immediate start was made to record something (anything!) on the unit. Fingers poked, buttons were pressed and curses were thrown around until eventually, we got the thing working. We were in business!!!
"Let's make a CD." was the immediate common consensus. So guitars in hand, drums set up and with vocal chords warmed up, we proceeded to do just that. We hadn't even read the bloody manual yet!!
The result of this first recording project was BedRocks debut CD "La Cantina in March 2000."
We still class this project as a minor miracle 'cos none of us knew what the hell we were doing AND we recorded the thing back to front! Charles was leaving for Germany and Ken and Jen were in the process of being transferred to Jo'burg. So, guess what we did? We recorded the lead vocals first and then the backing tracks!!! (Stop laughing.)
But it worked and BedRock was now a fully fledged member of the recording fraternity.

Pete's Baby!! The Roland VS-1680.

After the successful release of "La Cantina" and realising that they needed a bit of improvement regarding the technical side of recording, (that's an understatement) the lad's decided to do something about it. Whilst Eddie, Pete and Mike disappeared on holiday, Kenny was locked in his bedroom with only four items : the VS-1680, a set of headphones, the VS-1680 Manual and a weeks supply of Tafel lager.
A week later, Kenny was let out and immediately booked into the Betty Ford clinic to be treated for acute alcohol poisoning, muttering strange and weird things about Japanese instruction manuals.
Armed now with a better understanding of how the Japanese brain works, (???) BedRock recorded 4 "demo" tracks which they subsequencially (and sneakily) released in tape format as the "BedRock Bootleg Tape" during December 2000.

Monday the 18th June. Urgent e-mail from Pete. "Emergency Band Meeting - tonight - my house." Like police on a drug bust, with engines racing and wheels squealing, Eddie, Mike and Kenny converged on Pete's place of residence expecting something terrible. What did they find? The CD covers had arrived!!!
On a table in his lounge was heaped a pile of CD's and CD covers. "Right lad's," said Pete in his best drill masters voice, "These are advanced mail order copies. Get packing." Trembling with fear, and with bowed heads, the three (3) of them got stuck in whilst Pete, laying back comfortably in his "Lazy Boy" chair, proceeded to sip at his beer, every now and again barking an order at one of the unfortunate packers.
Eight (8) hours later, the lad's were finished. Dripping with sweat and with hands covered in blisters the three (3) workers lifted their weary bodies and said goodnight to Pete. He, though, didn't hear a word they said as he was fast asleep in his easy chair. Slowly they made their way home, thankful that they had managed to prevent Pete from having to indulge in any form of physical activity.

The Recovery CD Launch - 29th June 2001

The long-awaited day finally arrived and Shout & Ramage (sounds like a type of bottled sauce, doesn't it?) took a day's leave - with alacrity - and took up position at the Bowling Club awaiting the arrival of the stage. (Stage? What's that I hear you say. Ah-hah...this time Bedrock would literally be "head and shoulders" above the rest!).
Almost to the minute the truck arrived and Ramage leapt into foreman mode, gesticulating here, there and everywhere, all the while barking (he is a bit of a dog!) directions. The lack of authority in his manner and voice immediately manifested themselves, the truck's crew contemptuously tossing the stage overboard and driving off! The duo looked at the expansive pieces of wood rather forlornly wondering how they would get from where they lay, to where they would be of some use. Once again Ramage took charge, bristling with authority as he press-ganged a group of bemused onlookers into helping. With a few heaves and ho's (plus many "Ouch my back" please) the stages were carefully eased into the clubhouse, positioned, carpeted and declared open for business.
All morning the duo toiled away until joined by Mike & Eddie after lunch. Soundcheck time! All went well. Then it was time for a short break before the festivities began. Pete & Eddie headed for the Hockey Club to be present at their Big Raffle Draw, hoping to come away with a trolley-full of cash. No chance. Still, they rationalised, you can't have everything...I mean, being in Bedrock surely has no value anyway? Or should that be "No price"? Ag, who cares.

Back at the Bowling Club an expectant crowd was rapidly building and the CD sales were surging. After playing the cool rock star geriatrics for a while it was time to play. Up Eddie went and opened the set on the drums with the start to Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of Wonderful". Soon the whole band was up there, rocking into the evening. Also new were the band's newly acquired lighting "trees", including a mirror ball, strobe and a few other "tricks". The audience were clearly on their way to being inebriated as they immediately filled the dance floor, determined to make the most of the night. Tirelessly the band ran through the play list, past the first set and into the second.
Then the really big moment arrived - the German television crew made their entrance. Yes, folks, Bedrock will be appearing in a German-French television documentary which is presently being shot - on location, you understand - and which features our little community and its mining activities. Seemingly mesmerised by Bedrock's uniqueness, the television crew were leaden-footed when it came to moving away from the stage. Shout & Ramage reveled in the opportunity to perform in front of the cameras, duly attracting the producer's rebuke for going "over the top". (Sorry boss - shall we...err...shoot that scene again?).
As a result, the whole of Europe will be left with the totally false impression that Bedrock act their age. What an appalling notion!

At 01:00 the band ended their final set, beating the local Constabulary at their own game. You see when the "Quick Response" unit of the Cops arrived at the Club two hours later the noise levels were perfect. But we have a fairly intrepid bunch of local Coppers and, having spoilt their night's sleep getting up so early anyway, they positioned themselves in the shadows outside the club to see if they could get themselves a drunken driver or two. Sorry Officers, Bedrock don't have those kinds of supporters - they're actually wiser than that. Our mob just stay safely tucked away inside the clubhouse and carry on drinking until they fall over where they stand, or the Cops go to bed again! Needless to say, Pete, Mike & Eddie, being the ages they are, retired to bed before the night got any later, leaving Kenny to "carry the flag" for the band. That was extremely noble of him but he stuck to the task manfully until well after dawn. Kenny, you see, has very poor night vision so he couldn't strike for home because he couldn't see his way without daylight. Good on yer, Kennuf. Anyway, another glorious night in the band's history passed by.