I got caught with an extremely mean tonsillitis – the kind with the heavy white chunks of white stuff at the back of your throat, all over the back of your throat? Not a very nice sight, and not exactly what you’d call a nice feel either. And that happened exactly one week after our London show – which means that it had been lurking there for a couple of days before. So despite the constant pain and fever and the week spent in bed, let’s call it a relief, or a good timing at least.

My vocal therapist advices to sing carefully with a pharyngitis (what I have now), but not to sing at all with a laryngitis. But when the doctor took a deep look inside my mouth he suggested I should even restrain myself from speaking. I stuck to my moderate relativist principles and chose the path in between: speak carefully, but not sing at all.

Can’t wait to get back in shape, I miss rehearsals.

“[...] A more common type of sore throat that accompanies a cold is pharyngitis.  This means the infection has made a home in the throat just above the larynx. Your throat will be irritated and dry just behind the tongue. The muscles that make up the walls of the throat are so sensitive, an infected area the size of a pinhead will feel more like a gold ball.

You are able to sing in this condition, but you should be careful not to disturb the irritated area. Most singers use the muscles of the throat too much, and pharyngitis will make you very aware of it. If you’re smart you’ll use this opportunity to develop your ability to sing without that additional support. The bottom line is this type of sore throat doesn’t have to dampen your style. [...]

It’s not a good idea to use the type of sprays that numb the throat or drink syrup-type liquors. You need to remain sensitive to the irritation to know if you’re causing damage. “

- Mark Baxter, The Rock N’ Roll Singer Survival Manual, pp.92/93.

After missing my flight to Dubai last November while we were scheduled to play at the Dubai Sound City festival, I managed to miss my Eurostar this morning while we’re scheduled to play in London tonight!

Luckily, the flight to Dubai I had booked was 2 days prior to the gig so getting another flight the next day wasn’t a problem. Today again, I managed to get on the next Eurostar train an hour after the one I missed and I just got to London on time.

As if I was in need of more stress!

Rabih

Slutterhouse on stage is no longer a duo.

Last december, Nabil and I decided that the Slutterhouse live experience should be completely different from the one we have in the studio. We have come to realise that during our Dubai Sound City shows, having noticed that it was very difficult for us to keep the show up to the music on big stages. We also happened to watch some extremely exciting electronic pop bands like Dan Black and We Have Band whom we were sharing the stage with, and their live lineups gave us many interesting ideas about where we could take Slutterhouse next.

Those of you who were at the last gig we did in Beirut last December were surprised by the absence of Nabil. Instead, they saw two extra-musicians/techs George Zouein and Nader Mansour on stage with me; that was only a first step into experimenting how would Slutterhouse look and sound best. This concert lead to a lot of questions from many people about Slutterhouse’s future in terms of lineup, band members, Nabil’s implication, etc.

And the answer is very simple. Slutterhouse is Rabih Salloum and Nabil Saliba, there is no other way around that. We are still writing music together and exchanging samples, demos, and ideas that we shall put down together during our next studio sessions in Beirut for the next album.

However, Slutterhouse’s live shows have developed into something rawer, more energetic, and definitely more exciting.
Today, the Slutterhouse live lineup is Vincent Vargas on synths/machines, Louis de Leusse on bass guitar, Anthony Abi Nader on drums, and me.

The band looks and sounds great live and I can honestly tell you I have never enjoyed being in a band as much as now. Rehearsals have been making me so happy I can’t wait to experience what the live gigs will be like with these new Slutterboys.

Londoners, see you on Tuesday!

Rabih