Without all too much fuss (with plenty of fuzz though), the Radio Action! album was released. It came out nicely, and although we are now busy with a new line-up it's cool to finally have these recordings available. Musicmaker reviewed the album and gave it two stars out of five: after six songs "they can't distinguish [the music] from white noise". No problem: they gave full marks for the Dutch entry for thew Eurovision Song Contest! So if you do not like The Common Linnets... you may like the racket we have put out. Well, maybe. I don't know.

MEANWHILE...
What have we been up to? Gigging (we should put those shows on the 'agenda' here, or skip the 'agenda' page and say 'check facebook' instead), writing new songs, picking some nuggets from the heyday of garage music, enjoying it all at a leisure pace... becoming tighter as a band, for one thing. Working on backing vocals. Trying what set list works best. Playing for Radio Tonka celebrating their 20th anniversary.

Oh and I put a new photo on the website's index page. It's from the album sleeve. I'm sure you'll love it!

- - - - MARCH 2013: - - - -

NEW LINE UP COMPLETE, EP IS THERE...!.

We are happy to announce that The Flying Tygers now are: Tim Herrebrugh (aka Dead Cat Stimpy)- guitar, Sjors van Roosmalen still going strong on bass, Eric Geevers doing lead vocals, organ and some additional guitar, and Remco Cornelissen (ex-Incense, that's right) on drums. This feels good. We have already recorded a track for the upcoming Dutch Garage Explosion vinyl comp (invited by Kizzy and Pieter), and hope to be back on the stages again soon. Looks like this is going to take off, and seriously too. Meanwhilke there's the split EP (Tygers+Manimal) that was recorded with Dorien and Jonathan, it's there, gatefold sleeve and all, so make sure you get your copy soon 'cos it's a limited run.

- - - - SEPTEMBER 2012: - - - -

WE ARE, IN FACT, NOT DEAD YET.

So what happened? Well... first of all, Vanderbuyst made a breakthrough album followed by some extensive touring and yet another album, which meant the Flying Tygers had to take the back seat for a while longer. And when Jochem and Barry announced they couldn't do two fully operational bands any longer, it came as no surprise - so the Flying Tygers had to find a new drummer and a new guitarist. Okay... fine. A great farewell gig, no hard feelings, and see what we're gonna do...
There was an album to finish, new people to find, kids to raise (for Eric - two, by now), a new job (for Sjors)...
So suddenly we find ourselves fast forwarded to the here and now.
Again, what happened?
We have gigged and recorded with Jonathan van der Haak on drums (Dicemen, I-Reject) and Dorien Meijsing on guitar (Tiger String Ensemble, Santa Cruz), did a one-off gig with Rob Louwers on drums (Link Wray, Fuzztones), we had reeled in Bart van Halderen (The Loo, The Faint Lights) for a while, but we're ready to announce a new name soon... another 'name musician' I can tell you, but superstition keeps me from telling just yet.
Lisanne was aboard once more with her sax, as you can see below. (Not right below... that's not her.)We have finished the album and decided to expand it with a shitload of bonus tracks, including Raving Bonkers tracks, demos, everything. Spring cleaning, ladies and gentlemen!

The full title of the album is "RADIO ACTION! - THE EARLY YEARS OF THE FLYING TYGERS" and we're busy with the last details of the sleeve. Meanwhile, we're also working on a split 7" with Manimal (that was going to be mastered by Fred Cole once more, but due to difficulties with the disc cutter it has been postponed) and there's enough songs for a full album of whatever coherent line-up will establish itself.
We are, as you might have gathered, not in a hurry - we want to do it right, not necessarily right now.
Enough talk! Some evidence then! This'll be our side of the Tygers/Manimal split EP:

Snapshots (with Jonathan)...

...and liveshots (with Rob):

Dorien, Sjors, Eric, and Rob

Live photos with kind permission of Guerrillaphotography!
And here's some photos made by John Boshuijer:

- - - - APRIL 2010: - - - -

BACK ON TRACK

With the Vanderbuyst album in the can (well - recorded, that is), maybe we'll get a chance to work on some new Flying Tygers material. As we speak there's another new song fresh from the quilt: Ain't Gonna Listen To You, written and recorded yesterday and today. The demo (a ramshackle recording as usual) features some nice guest vocals by Majka and Daphne who just happened to be rehearsing at SPOD.
"Hi, got a minute?" "Ermmm, yes." "Do you mind doing some backing vocals for me? I'm writing this song, and..." "Sure, that's okay..."
So two nice girls I didn't know before recorded a song they didn't know before - a song that wasn't even finished then.
Came out fine though... thanks Daphne, thanks Majka!

- - - - MARCH 2010: - - - -

AWARD FOR FLYING TYGERS SONG 'NO ALTERNATIVE LEFT' - SAY WHAT?

Would you believe it...! Here's the whole story:
The Dutch 'Fontys' Rock Academy launched a National Song Writing Contest for Dutch musicians writing English lyrics, with two categories: lyrics-only, and lyrics with music. The whole idea started with the book Rock Your English, written by Buffi Duberman. Buffi teaches English at the Rock Academy, and her book is nice and useful for Dutch lyricists who don't want to fall into those darn grammatical manholes when expressing themselves in English. Recommended, especially if you do speak English but need to fine-tune things like your present perfect continuous. (If you don't actually give a crap, well - don't bother, but it's fun to read, and it may save you from some major egg on your face.)
Still, why send in a song, you might wonder. Well... one of the jury members turned out to be Henkjan Smits, who is (or was, anyway) also a member of the Idols jury in Holland. You know... Idols, like American Idol...? Indeed. Furthermore, Buffi works as a coach for Idols, Starmaker, So You Wanna Be a Popstar, X-factor... uh-huh.
So, what better song to give them than 'No Alternative Left?' That would be just the kind of thing tot tell to Rock Academy students, too.
We give you the full lyrics first:

What they tell you is very clear:
All you need is the latest equipment,
Twenty-four tracks, no, make that forty-eight
And your image needs some adjustments...
Today, 'alternative' don't mean a thing
There is no alternative left

Looking back, it's all very clear;
Rock'n'roll was born from rebellion,
So if you want to to be a rebel too, follow the charts
At least, that's what they're trying to sell you...
Today, rebellion is sold by the pound,
But there's only a few rebels left

So get yourself a cheap shit guitar,
Plug it into a cheap shit amp,
Get some friends together, form a band,
Count four and wig out!

What they tell you, yeah that's very clear,
But you've got to figure out your own way,
Today, a new generation plugs in
That shows me there is some hope left...

(Sometimes followed by self-referentially mis-quoting the Byrds: 'and don't forget who you are / you ain't no rock'n'roll star...')

And, would you believe it indeed... first prize, which meant a band of Rock Academy students playing the song on the Main Stage of the 013 venue in Tilburg (pic below), congratulations from Buffi, and Eric (who wrote the song) winning half an hour of private coaching by Mrs Duberman. Winning this national competition... well, that is nice.

However... claiming the microphone for an inpromptu speech, Eric said that first of all the way the band treated his song was "fucking A!", but that he himself would never apply to the Rock Academy: "It may be the right way for you all, I don't know about that, but please consider that there are other ways... and most importantly: whatever you do, find your own way."

With all due respect, and emphasizing that it's nothing personal, Eric has turned down the offer of half an hour of coaching. He was perfectly happy with his signed copy of Rock Your English though, and yes: proud of winning the award, too.

The song will be on the upcoming album, and for the completists: Eric released an early version of it with The Napoleons (split EP with Dr Reverb, Tombstone USA).

- - - - FEBRUARY 2010: - - - -

VANDERBUYST TAKE THE FRONT SEAT FOR A WHILE

Jochem and Barry, together with ex-Bonker Willem, have a power trio named Vanderbuyst, and with Eric being occupied by parenthood (and looking for a bigger house), Vanderbuyst are preparing their first album. No, it's not sloppy garage rock, it's super-tight, loud and proud old-fashioned hard rock; Vanderbuyst are getting some fine reviews on their demo, but when these new recordings are finished, the work on the Tygers album will continue.

- - - - JANUARY 2010: - - - -

HEARTBREAKERS AND ASS-SHAKERS

The brand new 2CD compilation Heartbreakers And Ass Shakers IV is released now, with one song by the Flying Tygers (on CD2). In good company here: Cooper, Elle Bandita, The Death Letters, Deze, Hausmagger... there's The Loo and The Fifth, So What... lots more, lots more - know what, check it out!

- - - - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009: - - - -

PEACE AND QUIET:

To tell you the truth; not much going on, gig-wise. Working on the recordings a bit, on-off, digging up some old songs to try, writing new material, - but at the moment Jochem and Barry focus on the Vanderbuyst recordings.

- - - - OCTOBER 2009: - - - -

JUST A QUICK PHOTO UPDATE:

Playing a gig every now and then, doing some recording inbetween (still no chance of actually having a studio session with the whole band in one room...), and having a look at the photos people send us. Like these ones, (c) Erik Jansen Fotografie (put up here with permission!). Yep, that's Spike joining us, for our little ditty "Ain't That True" - after a quick run-through in the dressing room.

Thanks Erik!
(Visit his website for more: www.erikjansenfotografie.nl)

- - - - SEPTEMBER 2009: - - - -

WEDDINGS, PARTIES, ANYTHING:

Not too much going on at the moment, all busy with other stuff, but we DID play a wedding - as the Flying Tygers in Raving Bonkers suits, with an unexpected encore where we set free the Bonkers spirit after all. Not your average wedding band, indeed. Meanwhile the Westerpop show still gives us some nice echoes, like this blog, with some nice photos.
Speaking of photos...

We got these ones from the NOPF happening. That's 18 strings on one guitar, correct. And Sjors is playing a Vox bass for the occasion...
Thanks Eelco for the photos!

- - - - AUGUST 2009: - - - -

FRONT PAGE NEWS:

Opening a festival can be tough: the first band plays to a crowd that's just beginning to get in the mood - if there's any crowd at all. It doesn't have to be tough, though. Luckily the Flying Tygers drew plenty of fans, and the band just did what they always do, full-throttle (as expected). And hey presto, that worked again. Encore guaranteed!
Above: rhe Flying Tygers made it to the front page of the Algemeen Dagblad's The Hague/Delft newspaper edition. There's also a bunch of photos at the page of Jolanda van Wijhe, and on the Hyves page of René Von Hout.
The 'V score' now comes to a staggering six Flying V guitars, all of them cheap ones with some home-cooked modifications: Jochem plays a red V with trem bar and pick-up replacement, he uses a black V with trem bar and extra humbucker as a backup; Sjors plays a black V bass, and Eric picks and chooses from a black V sitar (debut at Westerpop!), a red V 12-string, and the black V with theremin inside. And a sickening collection of combo organs, of course, although the Farfisa has proven a favourite.

Earlier this month...:
THEREMIN-GUITAR GETS A MAKE-OVER

It was a weird plan from the start, but it worked nevertheless: a theremin built inside a Flying V guitar, with a sitar bridge to make the whole idea complete.
However, although it worked fine, the soldering was a bit of a ramshackle job (it's not one of Eric's major skills...) It was not really 'designed' - it was simply put together, switches and wires added as it grew. All in all, it was due to fall apart any day - in fact, the guitar electronics had given up (at the Primitive festival).
A couple of nights of cursing and it's as good as new, lookin better too - with the name of the theremin's inventor Lev Sergejvich Termen (better known as Léon Theremin) now put proudly on the headstock.

The theremin-guitar can now also serve as a (ho-hum) regular backup guitar again.
The sitar bridge now has a V of its own... that one is under construction. More nights of cursing.
It might be making its debut at Westerpop (Aug 29th).

- - - - JULY 2009: - - - -

PIERCED ARROWS 7" LIMITED EDITION TOUR BOX OUT NOW!

...so hey, what does that have to do with the Flying Tygers? First of all: Fred and Toody of Pierced Arrows (and Dead Moon!) released the Flying Tygers' EP on their Tombstone label. Secondly, Pierced Arrows are coming over to Europe for another tour: go and see them - that's an order. Furthermore, the Flying Tygers frequently play 'You Must Be A Witch' written by Fred Cole, and Fred and Toody are long-time friends of Eric (and Maaike).
But this box set is specifically mentioned here because in one of the booklets you find a photo of the Flying Tygers...! To be precise: a pic of Eric (phone-mic in hand) and Sjors, on stage at the Bazart - indeed, supporting Pierced Arrows. A photo of that evening's poster (with 'V'sticker boldly attached) is in there, too, along with a plethora of other photos, stories (about Pierced Arrows and Dead Moon), interviews with Fred, Toody and drummer Kelly Halliburton, a reproduction of a tour itinerary, a map... and the 7" Paranoia b/w Ain't Life Strange. Take a look here, it's a project by Simone Müller (and hey Simone, you did a fantastic job, it's a real treasure!). If you want to contact her to get your own copy (one of only 300 made!!), please mail to pa-tourbook (at) gmx.de and... be sure to catch Pierced Arrows on one of their shows.

BACK TO BRIENENOORD AND MORLOCK

Remember that the first Raving Bonkers gig was at a squat in The Hague, known as either the SCSI Cell of the Morlock Gallery...? Now the Flying Tygers played there, with electropunk-duo Tiger Counter Of Drog Orkestar and our friends of the Tiger String Ensemble, who presented their CD and put this bill together as a Triple Tiger Thrust! Fast Mike had a camera rolling, in a fixed position (beaming the whole thing on the wall and recording at the same time). The stills below are from that video... nice, thanks!

The Bonkers gig at the NOPF Festival at Brienenoord eiland was another blast, we hope to get some pics up from that one as well...

- - - - JUNE 2009: - - - -

PRIMITIVE #6 CHAOS AND SOME RADIO ACTION

Don't get me wrong: Primitive wasn't a chaos at all, it was another far-out way-cool happening (courtesy of Mr Dandy Dave), but the Flying Tygers' equipment failure made the stage a no.1 disaster area. We stopped counting the broken strings, broken guitarstraps, faulty wires... the audience were very supportive, when guitars were swapped it was like "how many strings has that one left? Four? OK, I'll take that one", Eric quipped "well guys, that's something you won't see at a Bon Jovi gig" - and people loved the band for it. It was blisteringly hot, and all-in-all the band played a good show - considering. There's a cool review on Musicfrom.nl and some photos too. (Billy Childish, Cavestompers, Fleshtones, Flying Tygers... wow!)
The day before Primitive it was Bonkers time; the last show by Delft-based band 4for1 was a blast, and it was a pleasure and an honour to close that night with a Raving Bonkers wig-out. Local newsrag Delft op Zondag has some photos, and there's a heap on the Speakers site...
However the month kicked into gear with a "night of the Delft garage scene" at RTV West; with Rob Louwers (Ace-Tones, Link Wray, Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding, Fuzztones) standing in for Barry, the Flying Tygers played a handful of tunes live at the radio studio. Also present and correct: the Napoleons, the Raving Bonkers (without Barry, but with extra guitar by Willem, with an acoustic set! ...no, really!) and The X-Ray Men. Here's some pics...:

...and click here to listen to the whole Stork On Air radio show on-line. (Choose Stork on Air 05-06-2009, click 'beluister')

- - - - MAY 2009: - - - -

MELKWEG WAS A BLAST!

Too bad if you weren't there, but trust me... it was one hell of a good show supporting the Black Lips:

It's great to hear one of the Melkweg sound crew say "whoa, you guys are motherfucking good!" right after the show.
("zo, wat jullie zijn allejezus goed zeg!") What can one say? Muchos gracias, señor!

Funny thing is, the Flying Tygers can please a crowd but obviously can't please them all: here's a blogger's review that leaves no stone unturned in pointing out how crappy the band was. Wrong ages, wrong guitars, wrong everything. Well... to be honest, it is hilarious, funny, and if that's the man's opinion - he sure knows how to write it down well. The fact that he also says he left after the first notes only to return at the last song's outro means he missed just about all of the show, but who cares. At least one person agrees with the guy, so maybe he's absolutely right. Ermmmm, not about the frontman being rockabilly, though.
Or about the ages, should anyone care.

Here's some more pics, including Sem and Lisanne again...and yes, on the left, that was the damage to Jochem's finger:

Photos taken by Judith, this time!
(The Flying Tygers opening for the Black Lips, Wednesday May 27th, at the Melkweg (aka Milky Way), Amsterdam)

And speaking of photos...:

Meanwhile, this is a great photo taken by Kim at Vredebreuk... no tricks, no wires!

LISANNE HAS JOINED THE RANKS!

At the Speakers gig, May 1st, the Flying Tygers had Lisanne (of Andere Koek!) playing alto sax on stage with us for two songs, together with Sem (on trumpet again). In true Tygers/Bonkers tradition, this was after only two quick rehearsals - and it worked out fine! Hopefully we'll see some more of her in the future (and that is a perfect gentleman-like way of expressing the hope that the Flying Tygers will, indeed, be joined more often by Lisanne and her saxophone, thank you very much...).
Another surprise guest: Spike (The Deaf/Di-Rect) jumped on stage, and plugged in his Phantom to join in with Ain't That True! That was a staggering seven people on stage for one song... phew! Too bad all this didn't get a mention in this review, but then again it's a fine review that captures the atmosphere OK... it was a great night and those who were there know what went down...
(Eric's pants, for one thing. I'm sure it was this lovely young lady who shouted 'broek uit!!' ('take off yer pants!!'), such request being honoured without hesitation.
Be careful what you wish for, as they say...!)
Photos of all this (correction: most of this) will follow soon!