Oposium Feature on AR FM Radio

Oposium will be featured on London-based radio station AR FM this coming Sunday by presenter Paul Baker. His show airs from 3pm - 6pm ; details can be found at www.arfm.co.uk

Tune in and catch our tracks played!

JLR and Oposium in BBC feature ahead of Saturday's Concert

Remember we said we would write an article about Jamie from JLR who is performing this Saturday? Well the BBC have beaten us to it as a result of our previous blog posting and featured his story and Oposium ahead of this weekend's concert. After a hastily assembled photoshoot this morning where Richard went down to not only shoot Jamie busking, but also to visit Jamie's tent in Holes Bay, the article is now up on the BBC website.

>> View the article on the BBC website



The article reads;

From a Tent to a Stage

Kevin O'Donovan

A man who used to be homeless and have a drug dependency is saying thanks to the people who helped him find somewhere to live by performing in a fundraising charity gig this weekend.

A man who spent six months living in a tent in Holes Bay, Poole, has managed to not only find somewhere to live and overcome a debilitating drug addiction - but he's appearing in a gig to help raise funds for the charity that helped him.

The concert is in aid of Roots to Routes, an outreach charity that works with homeless people in the Poole area providing soup kitchens and drop-in services to people in need.

Jamie, 33 and originally from Weymouth, found himself homeless after a chain of events which started after a car accident when he was 21.

In trying to cope with his injuries from the crash, he became dependent on over-the-counter painkillers.

Spiraled out of control

His addiction spiraled out of control and at one point he was taking 96 tablets a day.

He says: "I'd get the bus to different chemists so they wouldn't recognise me buying so many. It would have been cheaper to be a heroin addict."

After he was admitted to hospital with a hole in his stomach from over use of painkillers, he moved onto abusing illicit substances.

Despite managing to hide his addiction for a time, his relationship with his partner failed, and his behaviour became erratic - and he began to miss pre-arranged appointments to see his daughter.

Although depressed, he eventually was able to see that he had to take action. He says: "I couldn't hold down a job, I was letting down my daughter, and I knew I had to get away. I sort of had a nervous breakdown."

Manchester

Someone he knew suggested he go with him to Manchester, where Jamie could access help more quickly than he could in Dorset.

Jamie says: "At the time, there was an eight month waiting list to get help in Dorset, but in Manchester I got it more quickly.

"Drug workers there found me sleeping in a disused toilet, and I didn't like Manchester, but I needed to be there to start to get help with my dependency."

Then in January 2008 he got his treatment transferred back to Dorset, but with nowhere to stay, Jamie found himself in a tent in Holes Bay.

Roots to Routes

It was through going to a soup kitchen in Poole, run by Roots to Routes, that led to him finding a place to live, after meeting the charity's Outreach Worker, Rob Fish.

Having proved he was determined to beat his addictions, in July 2008, with Rob's help, Jamie moved into supported housing in Parkstone.

Jamie also has regular voluntary drug tests, which have all been clean.

He hasn't yet seen his daughter, but that's what he's aiming for:

He says: "My main aim is to get a good amount of stability, to take financial responsibility for her. There's not a day goes by when I don't think of her. Addiction is a disease, but I've got clarity now."

Jamie is now volunteering for a furniture reclaim charity, which he hopes will led him back into full time work, when he's ready.

Busking

Jamie would fund his drug habit by busking ("I never burgled because I was scared of going to prison"), and it's this musical talent that's led him to playing at the charity gig, headlined by Dorset band Oposium.

Says Jamie: "I can't wait. I jumped at the chance. Addiction is really hard to crawl out of, and it affects the whole family and not just the addict, so for them to see me playing is a good sign of my progress."

"It's also a chance to say a huge thank you to all the people who have helped me with my recovery."

Rob says: "It can be quite a frustrating job, but it's nice to be in this sort of situation where we can see how the work we do has helped someone, rather than us sitting scratching our heads thinking 'what do we do?'.

"Jamie is a great guy, and this is about moving him on."

The gig is headlined by Oposium, with support by The Wheat Beans, Not About the Heroes, and Jamie as part of an acoustic duo called JLR.
Date: Saturday 29th November 2008
Venue: Parkstone United Reformed Church (opposite Tyreland, Ashley Cross)
Time: 7pm
Entry: £5

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The Wheat Beans, Not About The Heroes and JLR to support OPOSIUM

The Wheat Beans, Not About The Heroes and JLR will all be supporting Oposium this coming Saturday 29th November.

The Wheat Beans are a funky trio with Lewis Ames on bass and vocals, Jo Cheung on guitar and Sam Naylor on drums. The Wheat Beans influences range through Parliament, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sly and the Family Stone to James Brown...

Not About The Heroes are an indie punk band with influences from Blur, The White Stripes and We Are Scientists. Fronted by Josh Alner on Bass and lead vocals, Ben Sykes provides lead guitar and backing vocals while Ben Rabjohns joins them on Drums and additional backing vocals.

JLR are an acoustic duo whose story coming into this gig warrants a whole article in itself (and we will give it one in due course!). Often found busking in Boscombe and Bournemouth, JLR are a real success story of Routes To Roots, whose lead singer Jamie was living in homeless in a tent in Holes Bay only 5 months ago. The very fact that these guys will be playing on stage is a tribute to the fantastic ongoing work of the charity.

So a packed bill all before Oposium will even take to the stage! Join us on November 29th 2008 7pm when it will all kick off! Tickets are on sale at the Oposium box office

boxoffice.oposium.com

Peace always,

Oposium Admin

Oposium enter Bournemouth Daily Echo Battle of the Bands

Oposium are now featured on the Bournemouth Daily Echo Battle of the Bands website. The track we've entered is track 7 'Fallen' from our album 'Life Under The Sun'; you can hear it on our myspace page - and if you like it go and vote for us after 28th December!

Vote for us in the Bournemouth Echo Battle of the Bands
>> here

OPOSIUM Gig Guide: Finding your way on 29th November 2008

The Oposium banner is up! That means only one thing ... gig next Saturday! So if you're coming down next Saturday (29th November 2008) and can't find Parkstone United Reformed Church (also known as PURC), just drive down Commercial Road from Poole Civic Centre (towards Ashley Cross and Bournemouth with Tyreland on your left) and look out on the right for our banner. Hopefully you can't miss it!


View Larger Map



You should also be seeing our official poster up in and around Poole. To download a copy right click the link or the poster below and select '...Save As'.

>> Download Life Under The Sun Concert Poster

OPOSIUM looking to kick start Christmas on the 29th Nov!

As the band prepare for the first of two large concerts this Christmas taking place a week Saturday on the 29th November, there is increasing excitement in the Oposium camp. "The ending to 'I Will Wait For You' is going to be totally kick-ass! I can't wait!" writes Dave Waller. With the organ at the Parkstone United Reformed Church (PURC) being ideally situated on the semi-circular stage Richard couldn't agree more "It's not quite as big as the one we used last year, but it is one of the few of it's kind left in the country - and we're going to rock out with it!".

Richard was out on the road this morning talking to a third support act down at the Routes To Roots office in Poole. "We have some exciting news to announce; one of the busker's whom Routes To Roots have supported will be playing a short set on the 29th as well. This is really important as it shows that our concerts are benefitting the people Routes To Roots are helping as well." Jamie who is as much excited about the concert as we are has gone from sleeping in a tent at Holes Bay five months ago to now joining the list of bands performing on the evening. Routes To Roots outreach worker Rob Fish explained "Together with footage from the concert, we'll talk to Jamie and place the finished short film up on the Routes To Roots website. It's a fantastic way to bring closure to the story and also show how positive the work of our charity can be."

"We can't underestimate the potential of this concert" stresses Richard "To be able to provide a venue for people of all ages to perform original music is surely something worth pursuing".

"It's also a great way to kick start Christmas!" agrees Rob.

We look forward to seeing you there, 7pm on the 29th November at Parkstone United Reformed Church (opposite Tyreland in Ashley Cross).

Peace always.

FutureProof PR & Website Update

Some of you may have noticed that we have updated the look and feel of our blog. Slowly we're updating the whole website (it's taking a while as there is so much on it now!!) - but by the end of next week we hope to have everything up and running. Drop us an email at info@oposium.com   if you have any comments about our new design; we'd appreciate any input!

In other news, Oposium are pleased to announce that they will be working alongside FutureProof PR (an independant London-based PR company) from December to February on regional PR. Everyone at Oposium is excited by this prospect and we're looking forward to a successful campaign!



Yours,

Oposium Admin

OPOSIUM Profile: Mr Brain

Name: Sam "Mr Brain" Hanson

Born: 30/11/1985

Joined Oposium: March 2005

Height: 170cm

Weight: 66kg

Shoe Size: 8

Favorite Food: Toast

Favorite Sport: Frisbee

If you could play another instrument, what would it be? : Guitar

If you could be an animal: A Duck (They have all the fun...)

Someone you aspire to: Pierre Cochereau

If you had two test tubes, a rubber dingy and four ounces of salt, what would you build? : A scale replica of the Titanic

OPOSIUM on Forest FM 92.3 with Tony Warren!

Oposium were presenter Tony Warren's guests last night on the Forest FM Wired Show. If you missed the show, you can listen again to the interview which included everything from influences and the Life Under The Sun release, to the band talking about their upcoming shows.



>> Listen again to the interview

>> Visit Forest FM

Life Under The Sun Unplugged

On Saturday 8th November 2008, Oposium played a small intimate gig at St Peter's Church, Parkstone giving the live world premiere of tracks from Life Under The Sun. "We wanted to run the tracks through with just the bare bones before we go on and tackle our November and January largescale gigs" Richard explains "And it was nice to try some of the tracks in a jazz swing style". Of course, on November 29th Oposium will be back doing their usual anthemic rock act. "I've been itching to just get out and play" says Scott "We're all really excited about the upcoming gigs!".





In other news, Oposium are giving a live interview to Forest FM 92.3's presenter Tony Warren this evening after 8pm. Last week was quite a quiet week for the band as Richard was hospitalised for day with a crazy flu virus and was forced to spend the week off recovering. Dave also spent the week moving house, but that said the band did meet up for rehearsals later in the week and performed this intimate unplugged session.

The Saturday before last also saw the band explode two pianos. We'll get the footage up as soon as possible, but for now here's a taster photo from the what Oposium will remember as one of the wettest days of their lives!



Yours,
OPOSIUM Admin