Chocolate Hostage Online
 


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we've got some older demos on mp3.com...

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news archive

support 'our' troops? err...no 31st march
ok, so i should probably create an anti-war link instead of spamming the news page with it, sorry, but i get more pissed off every day.... here's some quotes from the 'liberators' themselves
""We had a great day," Sergeant Schrumpf said. "We killed a lot of people." ... "We dropped a few civilians," he said, "but what do you do?"... He recalled one incident, in which he and other men in his unit opened fire. He recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down. "I'm sorry," the sergeant said. "But the chick was in the way.""....
on a more musical note, we're playing at the 3b's in reading town hall on thursday, should be a good'un...i'll be in the corner hiding from angry squaddies

kev

scenes from basra 28th march
Seen as the media won't let us see what we're paying for in Iraq, here's some examples...
A middle-aged man is carried into the hospital in pyjamas, soaked head to foot in blood. A little girl of perhaps four is brought into the operating room on a trolley, staring at a heap of her own intestines protruding from the left side of her stomach. A doctor pours water over the little girl's guts and gently applies a bandage. A woman in black with what appears to be a stomach wound cries out as doctors try to strip her for surgery.
Other harrowing scenes show the partially decapitated body of a little girl, her red scarf still wound round her neck. Another small girl was lying on a stretcher with her brain and left ear missing. Another dead child had its feet blown away.

(taken from an article by robert fisk)

kev

saturday night's alright for, well, everything... 24th march
Just a quick note to say thanks to Adam for inviting us to play at the Roebuck on Saturday - we had loads of fun playing and watching some cool bands, including the fabulous Adequate Seven!
Big thanks also go out to the crowd for dancing so well, singing and shouting along and generally making us have a good time by helping you have a good time!

paul

gig tomorrow night 21st march
We're going to be playing tomorrow night at The Roebuck in Tilehurst, covering for The Brass Monkeys, who've unfortunately had to pull out of the memorial gig that's going on. It's all for a good cause, and some other great bands are playing - Adequate 7, CBL and Specific. Get yourself down there!!

paul

chinese whispers... 20th march
well, rumours are that we're going to be spreading the word via some vile implication next month... Yep, we're going to be back at Gossips in Soho on April the 30th, and judging from last time, it's gonna rock big time! It's cheaper to get in if you've got flyers, so I recommend you come to one of our other gigs (check them out on the gigs page) and get some from us!

paul

get your lyrics online... 4th march
yeah, we finally got round to changing the website a bit, we got some new links up, some new pics on the way and lyrics ready for your perusal...to enjoy your lyrical experience, follow the steps below...

1.Go to 'Music' and download some of our songs
2.Go to 'Lyrics'
3.Play songs
4.Raise fist, extend index and little fingers in classic metal salute
5.Softly bang head whilst singing/shouting/mouthing said lyrics in time to the music(and if you can manage that d'u wanna be our singer?)

also, bad news for all the ladies out there, mr.fish is getting married today, so i wanna be the first to give my congratulations to him and natasha..there...

kev

last night a bj stole my wife 27th feb
OK - last night we played at Gossips in Soho, along with a few other bands, Ludes, XwillFix and The White Room. It was a pretty cool gig, with lots of people coming along to support us (thanks everyone - it was much appreciated!) and lots of jumping around... I particularly like Ludes, who played what they described as "Swashbuckling R 'n' B", in the finest tradition of the Stones... I believe they're playing at the Monarch at the start of May, so do yourselves a favour and get along there...
As for us, we're all recovering now from a long day trekking around the hard (but not golden) streets of London, and are going to hit the studio next week to work on a lot of new stuff, so watch out at our next gig for a whole new set of songs, courtesy of mr.fish!
Take care, children...

paul

gigs on the way... 19th feb
Well, we've got some gigs on the way, starting next week at Gossips in Soho. It's at 9 Meard Street, which is just off of Dean Street. We're going to be on stage at 10pm after 3 other corking bands. Should be a great night, so get your asses down there!
Cheers...

All of us except travelling Keef...

Website rejiggy-jigging... 10th feb
After a long time of getting hassle from the other guys, we're going to completely redesign the website over the next few weeks, so that we can turn it into somewhere that you guys actually want to come to! The main reason for the refit is so that we can make it easier for all of us in the band to add stuff, rather than just me, as then we can keep you all up to date with the daily progress of our busy lives and would-be rock and roll stars... Oh, and everyone else thinks my design stinks (in which they may well have a point...).
Catch'ya later, Bill & Ted!

paul

and here we are... 30th jan
Well, it's nearly the end of January, and it'll have been a while since you've seen us out and about... But with good reason! We're currently working on some new songs and trying to make sure we're sounding our best! We're also auditioning for singers (male or female) to boost our sound, as we feel we need a stronger lead singer - but it doesn't mean anyone's leaving the band! If you're interested in trying out, let us know...

paul

christmas is coming!! 18th dec
Apologies to everyone for the lack of updates, but I've been in the USA for three weeks (and am still here!) so have been too busy...
But, we'll be back on Saturday at The Market Tavern in Birmingham along with Born Stupid and some other guys. Get along to see us rock the town!!!

paul

turtle rocks! 19th nov
Just a quick thankyou to everyone at the turtle gig on sunday, we'll hopefully be back there soon... All of us are displeased to be back in England for at least a week or two, but hopefully we'll be able to work on some new tunes, see you all soon...

mr.fish

We're all going on a summer holiday! 11th Nov.
Well, tomorrow night we'll be playing in Bournemouth, and when I found out where, I'll let you know! Should be cool, as we haven't played together since the 3B's gig due to holidays and whatnot, so we'll be in rocking form!

Paul C.

Up up and away! 25th Oct.
Just a quick note to wish Paul H and Kev good journeys on their travels! Paul's off to the Czech Republic for a week or so, and Kev's going back to Belgium, after he kindly came back to the UK for last night gig. Take care, guys!

Paul C.

Fun fun fun! 25th Oct.
Well, we played at the 3B's last night and had a great time! There was a really good (and big!) crowd, and Circus Act and Jokei Ciro turned in wicked sets... Looking forward to playing down there again sometime soon! And thanks to all the people who made my flyer-handing-out more fun than it should have been... If you didn't make it last night, let's hope we see you at the next gig!
It seems we'll be playing the Purple Turtle sometime next month, so watch this space!

Paul C.

Tonight Matthew.... 24th Oct.
3B's - Reading - Tonight - 8pm - Free Entry - Jokei Ciro - Chocolate Hostage - Circus Act! Rah! You're all gonna die! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

mr.fish

Are we nearly there yet? 14th Oct.
Following a bit of a lull of band activity, we're back on track!
We're playing at the 3B's in Reading on the 24th, and have a few more gigs organised around the country. We'll be at the Gander On The Green in Lansdowne, Bournemouth on the 12th of November, then have a Christmas show organised at The Market Tavern in Birmingham on the 21st of December! Get your train tickets now!

Paul C.

Friday Night Line-Down! 26th Sept.
Seems this Friday's gig at The Pondhouse has been cancelled due to a problem with the venue. But we'll be back in a town near you soon!

Paul C.

Friday Night Line-up 24th Sept.
OK, we're playing at The Pond House in Reading this Friday. Also playing will be Red Ded Dog, who we played with at the Skatepunk Battle of The Bands - and they won! Time for a rematch I think! ;-)
Here's some directions to The Pond House!

Paul C.

New Toons Soon! 23rd Sept.
Well, last Monday we went back to Running Frog to add some new parts to our demo, and re-master the original recordings. We've added some nice drums to Prana, a little bit to Lackeys, and removed my dire backing vocals from Lookout! I'll be uploading them to MP3.com this week, and you can download them from there... If you want a copy of the demo on CD, send us an email from the Contact Us page, including your name, address, phone number, email address and favourite root vegetable.

Paul C.

Bye Bye Kevin (*sniff*) 23rd Sept.
Our bass impressario Kev has disappeared off to Belgium now, and won't be back until our gig on the 24th of October. However, we'd like to welcome Rich to the band, filling in temporary bass duties! He's pretty much right into the fire, as we're going to be playing this Friday the 27th of September at the Pondhouse, in Reading! Get your asses along to give the new guy your support!

Paul C.

Saturday Night's Alright! 22nd Sept.
Well, we played at the Roebuck in Reading on Saturday the 21st, and good fun was had by all! We were happy with the set we put in, and we saw some great stuff from Best Before 81 (keep an eye on them - they're fantastic!) and Dr Sid. Jokei Ciro did a short but nice acoustic set to get the evening started, and we were all happy! I even managed to do some serious bleeding and a bit later am in huge amounts of pain...

Paul C.

A Bit Of News! 19th Sept.
Okay ex-monkey bob fans - here's the news: We've been back into the studio and our demo's sounding pretty good now, almost good enough to let the general public hear it so we're thinking about pressing a bunch of them! We're playing the Roebuck on saturday night so if any of you can make it down there then cool, come and tell us how bad we smell... (Unfortunately Jokei Ciro can't make it due to an injured drummer but don't fear, we'll be playing with them at the 3b's next month and that'll be well worth checking out) :o) A big salute goes to our favourate photographer, Kim Ford who's done a load of new photos for us and we'll have some of them on the website soon. Unlucky. ....and coming soon: belgian sharks steal our bass player!?!?!? My god it's a wicked web we weave........

mr.fish

Yeah yeah - I've been lazy! 3rd Sept.
OK, I know I haven't updated this for a week or so, but I've been rather busy with my pet spacehopper, who's currently teething... She's not taking it so well...
But, more importantly, we've got gigs lined up for y'all! We'll be playing at The Roebuck in Tilehurst, Reading on the 21st of September, along with Dr Sid, Jokei Ciro, and Best Before 81. Check out the flyer here.
Also, we've put off going into the studio until the 14th, as we all decided that we'd much rather spend sunny nights in September out in the sunshine. However, we've arranged it to rain that night, so decided we should hit the studio at Running Frog instead!

Paul C.

The Studio Beckons... 21st August
Good day to you Madam/Sir. Here at chocolate hostage we're enjoying blue skies and contemplating a return to the studio on September 4th to finish off the demo of Lookout and spruce up Prana and Lackys a bit. We're also sorting out some gigs!! - Hopefully we'll be playing some dates with Jokei Ciro, Circus Act and Born Stupid pretty soon. We'd like you to be there. You look nice. We have pictures of you.

mr.fish

Another Week Begins... 19th August
Well, another week dawns, and after a great weekend, who could be expected to get on with work?
We finally did play on Friday night at Callaghans with Fuse and the excellent Circus Act, and it was f-u-n! Circus Act put on a storming show, as ever (I know a few people there said "Right, I'm going to buy a Pixies album on Monday, cos this Monkey's Gone To Heaven!"). And we enjoyed ourselves a lot, even though I was perilously close to throwing up after jumping around too much when we played Kyoto Myosis... Not so sure we want synchronised barfing to be part of our stage show!!
We've got no more gigs booked in the immediate future, but we'll get our hands on some! Keep watching this space!

Paul C

Tonight's Gig Is BACK ON!! 16th August
We just got word that the organiser has sorted out his technical difficulties and is looking to still have some bands on tonight. We've had a chat with each other in the band and decided that we'll still play, so get your asses down to Callaghans to see us rock! And then come and get drunk with us afterwards!! Oh yeah, things kick off about half eight with Fuse, we're on at around half nine, and Circus Act will be on after us...

Paul C

Tonight's Gig Is CANCELLED 16th August
Just heard from the organisers of tonight's gig at Callaghans that it has been cancelled. Nothing to do with us, or the main organising bloke apparantly, just a few problems with a third party. While I realise this is awkward for anyone who had plans to come and see us, it does mean I can go out and get horrifically drunk somewhere! Woo-hoo!

Paul C

New songs ahoy! 15th August
Hi! The big news for you today is that we've finally got bored of messing up our old songs so we're writing some new ones!!!! We've got about four that we're working on and at least one is nearing completion - we'll be playing them live sometime soon... :o) Just incase you didn't know, we're playing Callaghans Bar on the Basingstoke Road tomorrow, come down, it's free and there'll be wild boar skateboarding in the streets - see the gig's page for more details...

mr.fish

We're playing this coming weekend! 12th August
the weekend used to be a time for drinking, ironing, drinking and eating respectively for the members of CH, now it seems like we can't get a weekend off..... the results are staggering. Keeth's sweat is no longer as toxic (although Turtle regulars might not agree) my clothes are no longer pressed and Paul and Paul's names are getting ever more similar. In honour of this we are playing a gig at Callaghans this friday with Circus Act....come judge for yourselves...
u can find Callaghans on the Basingstoke Rd, a stone's throw from the Compaq offices (hmmm..tempting..) for a map, click here (disclaimer: in no way were CH insinuating that participating in property crime is legal (!))

Kev

It's Safe To Come Out, The Battle's Over! 12th August
Well, on Saturday night we played in the Battle of the Punk Bands, organised by SkatepunkReading and whilst we didn't win, a great time was had by all! It was cool to see the other bands playing, being Red Dead Dog, CBL and Lower Case J... Personally I was well impressed with them all - especially CBL!
Thanks again to everyone who came along to show their support - people jumping around definitely makes us play better!! ;-)
And also thanks to guys at SkatepunkReading for putting on such a good night - good music, good atmosphere, good people! I'd advise anyone to get along to the next night they do!

Paul C.

The Hectic Weekend Is Over (part two)! 6th August
And from me, I just wanted to re-iterate Paul's thanks to everyone for giving us such good support at both the Rockathon and the Turtle, and to the guys from Sensus for sorting out everything at the Rockathon... We didn't exactly play a vintage set at the Rockathon (sorry about my woeful guitar playing - travelling 4500 miles in the previous 10 hours didn't make life too easy!!), but it was great that we redeemed ourselves at the Turtle!
Since we're going from strength to strength, get yourselves along to the Battle of The Punk Bands on August the 10th for some kick-ass music!!

Paul C

The Hectic Weekend Is Over (part one)! 6th August
Hi everyone, just a quick note to say thanks to everybody that came to our last few gigs. Sorry if you were deafened by feedback at the Rockathon, a bit of technical trouble with my guitar and borrowed fx were to blame....
....all was solved by Sunday night though - we had a fantastic gig at the Purple Turtle in Reading, aided in no small way by a great (beered up) soundman. Nice work fella.
B4 i forget, hi to everyone at Elooporium, nice to see you on Saturday, hope you can hear again back in Dartford :o) Anyway, hopefully we'll see some of you folks again this Saturday at the Roebuck, it's a Battle Of The Bands so we need your support!!! Have a look at the gigs page for further details...

mr.fish

Chocolate Hostage to play the Purple Turtle! 30th July
We're going to be playing at the Purple Turtle in Reading on Sunday the 4th of August, starting at 8pm. For anyone who doesn't know the Turtle, it's a wicked place and well worth coming to. We'll be playing along side Born Stupid, Stig and The Blitzkreigs...
Talk about a hectic weekend! I'm in the USA at the moment, and will fly back in at 9am Saturday morning, then we're on at the Rockathon 2. Then the day after that 12 hour music marathon we're on at the Turtle!

Paul C. (in Minneapolis)

Mystery Gig Went Ahead! 22nd July
Following Friday's running around and general panicking, we eventually found out where we were meant to be playing! We played at a night called "Apocalypse" which was held at the British Legion hall in Andover. There were 4 other bands on the bill, and man, they were H-E-A-V-Y... Made us sound like Steps! Check out the Gigs page for some more info...

And thanks to the cute sounding woman at the Andover Advertiser for helping me out so much in tracking down the event... The same goes for whoever I spoke to at around 25 of Andover's pubs (like the helpful guy at the Merrie Monk).

Paul C.

Chocolate Hostage To Play Mystery Gig! 18th July
We're going to be playing in Andover on Friday the 19th of July (that's tomorrow!) at about 9:15pm... We can't reveal the location quite yet, as to be perfectly honest, we don't know ourselves. But watch this space - we'll let you know as soon as we do!

Paul C.

Chocolate Hostage In A Big Fight! 9th July
We're going to be playing on August 10th in a Battle of the Bands at the Roebuck Hotel in Reading alongside some other great bands, including Brass Monkeys. Check out the gigs section for some more information!!

Paul C.

Photo Gallery Now Online! 9th July
I've finished uploading all of our photos, kindly taken by our friend Kim. You can get to them via the ugly show link on the navigation, or click here!

Paul C.

Chocolate Hostage On The Radio! 8th July
You can now hear Chocolate Hostage on the Internet radio station Tzone courtesy of the guys at Elooporium. The station itself plays loads of local unsigned bands and is well worth a listen... I've had it on all morning!!

Paul C.

Friday Update from Paul C! 5th July
Things are definitely looking up in the Chocolate Hostage stakes, as we've hit our 100th download of our tracks on MP3.com. If you haven't checked them out, get there and get looking! And while you're at it, get on the Sensus message board (click here) and get chatting with other people from around here!

As for what I'm doing - I'm going to be seeing The Flaming Lips next Wednesday (the 10th) at the London Astoria. Anyone else going? If so, get in touch!!

Cheers.
 
Friday Update from Paul H! 5th July
We're psyched about the rockathon, practicing hard and dancing like warriors. At the moment we're trying to organise some more gigs but being hampered by the time it's taking to get our demo sleve sorted out; strange how that seems so necessary to get somerone to listen to you nowadays, i remember when you could use a scabby old tape... anyway, enough bitching, it'll be out really soon and we'll be bouncing around in front of you, bemused by your sensual rhythms, entranced by your amarous scent...
 
Chocolate Hostage Confirmed for the Rockathon 24th June
We've been confirmed for the Rockathon 2002 on August the 3rd at Chalvey Working Men's Club in Slough.
See the Gig Guide for more details.
 
Chocolate Hostage Online goes, erm, Online! 23rd June
Since June 23rd, the site's been live, providing some information for you about the band, what we're trying to achieve, and where we're headed. Why not leave us a message on the Guestbook or send us a mail from the Contact Us page?