storytelling

so let me tell you a tale

it is a tale that you may be familiar with

the young Hunchbakk was a bit of a geek (what do you mean, what's changed?) and used to frequent a couple of local-ish comic book shops, one of which was Krypton Komics in Tottenham, just a stone's throw away from Seven Sisters station, my dad would drive me down there pretty much every weekend so that I could spend my pocket money on the latest Bat-titles that had been released

this must have gone on for perhaps a couple of years, until i reached the age where being more social was becoming more important and me and my friends would be out playing football or going to the cinema or going into Enfield Town and buying extra value meals from McDonalds, I can't remember why exactly, but I was reading comics less, and weaned myself off my weekly fix

i'm not saying that I was solely responsible for a downturn in business, but somewhere in the intervening years Krypton Komics disappeared from the High Road, something I duly noted on one of many nightbus journeys home


as detailed before on this blog, my Dad reawakened my inner geek with a Christmas present a few years back, and in this time comics have become ridiculously expensive and I have to sate my appetite for all things superhero with the occasional bargain graphic novel if I am lucky enough to find such a thing, and whatever Enfield's libraries seem to be carrying (currently a couple of Batman/Superman collections and Superman: Secret Origin).

perhaps finally I am getting closer to the point I am trying to make...

as we return once again to Krypton Komics, that had long since carried on as an Internet mail-order service, and which my little brother reliably informed me had recently relocated to an actual old fashioned physical real-world shop in Walthamstow.

so one sunny afternoon earlier this year I impulsively decided that I needed to make a pilgrimage to this new store in search of a specific back issue, I dragged my brother along for the journey and I walked away contended

in my arms I carried Legends, Millenium and a UK reprint Superman comic that is older than I am (with it's free gift of a postcard still attached) which I had paid a meagre sum for considering

and as my brother walked away from Krypton Komics he noted the imposing and run-down building that dominated the opposite side of the road

he stopped to take a couple of photos of the dilapidated building that appeared to be home to some kind of church network,  and now it's image adorns the very first Giles Babel t-shirt

wear Hunchbakk

Or more accurately, wear Giles Babel.

as anyone that pays any attention to this blog will attest to, I have never ever tried to charge a penny for any of the wonderful and occasionally peculiar sounds that I have constructed and concucted.

and to that end, I would like to introduce something that you can actually shell out for if you so wished.

it is my pleasure to present the very first in a collection of Giles Babel t-shirts that accompany my latest EP, "programmed to prevent war", that is to say that there is one image, one t-shirt, per track, all designed in collaboration with my talented little brother, Ian Byford, who has really outdone himself this time.








I'll let you guys in on a little secret, i've seen the trends in topman/river island/burtons/delete as applicable, you know the type, and witnessing the widespread obsession with instagram, I briefed my brother to produce the artwork in a retro-filtered vein to include in my very own online boutique.

it took a couple of back'n'forths to tweak it, including putting a more psychedelic spin on it rather than just manipulating the image to be a simple faux polaroid, but in no time it was ready, and that is the wonderful image that you see before you right now....

I am afraid that, unlike my music, the t-shirt does require payment if you would like it for yourself, but I think you will find that they are very reasonably priced.... (compare to topman if you must) is available in a wide choice of colours, and if you didn't wanna wear it then it is also available to buy as art prints, canvases and all manner of other things, even as a cheap as chips sticker to stick wherever you wish.

but enough of the hard sell

how about a little bit of storytelling

Or perhaps I'll save the story of the this image until another day (what a tease, i'm sorry)

doing everything and nothing

well, i would like to introduce you all to my very first unemployed blog post...

for just over a week now i have probably been the most active bum on the planet, refusing to let losing my job bring me down too much, so instead i have been trying to fill my usual work hours with as much as possible

this means that i have more time to make sure that the house is always tidy, i have finished checking and editing my NaNoWriMo novel, i've finished reviving and painting the cabinet that i found flytipped and shall now use in my geek room, i've reorganised messy drawers, i've gone out for long-ass bike rides, heck, i've done bloody loads of stuff, including getting my CV up to date and starting applying for new jobs

all in an attempt to not feel mopey and useless and bored, in fact, i'm quite enjoying all this extra time to do things that matter more to me, the only problem is that paying bills and a mortgage are also pretty high up on my list of priorities, but my time as a house-husband is in fact rather liberating, now if only it would stop raining long enough for me to get out and do some gardening!

despite this extra time, there are a handful of things that i haven't spent enough time on yet.

the first is blogging (hey, i've been busy with other stuff!)

the second is my music (hey, i've been busy with other stuff!) but as i was telling my brother the other day, music is a hard beast to tame, a couple of hours sat infront of a machine with the intentions of producing a groundbreaking piece of music will more likely result in being sat infront of a machine for two hours and still not be much further than when you loaded it up, indeed today i have tried to complete the final track of a Giles Babel EP and found myself going almost nowhere with it, and when you are trying to get the most out of every hour it is hard to accept that time can just slip away alongside any further achievement... but i'm sticking with it, don't you worry, maybe i'll have another crack at it after i've put the dishes away...

and the third...  i've done nothing at all to draw your attentions to the t-shirts that accompany my currently worked on EP, four tracks are complete, four t-shirts are complete, and yet, as of typing, i've only loaded one t-shirt up and have not even mentioned it anywhere at all...

in my defence, i had a lot going on. and in my defence, i've still got a lot going on. but getting the Giles Babel collection up to date needs to be another task that i sit myself down to complete


so before i waffle on too much i think i may leave it at that, you've had a little update, and i shall now think about making myself some lunch, putting away the dishes, hoovering the front room, maybe doing a bit of polishing, uploading the next three t-shirts in the collection, tackling that fifth and final track again and then perhaps i shall see you on the other side to discuss the t-shirt in the next couple of days perhaps...

so why don't i leave you with the first track, Poptarts and Battleships, from "programmed to prevent war" and a little subtle link to follow if you'd like to view the tee right now, and i'll be back with more info soooooon