It's time for an update on The AutistiX. Yet again we've been very busy finishing the recordings of our 4 newest songs at Cable Street Studios, with the supremely talented Mr. Gaetano Serra, who recorded our last 2 song  'Double A Side'. We are proud of these four new tracks, each evocative and expressive of our experiences and feelings. Positive. My Future Life. Heaven. Not The Same (and different to our similarly named Just The Same). We'll be planning an EP launch once it's mastered and printed - watch this space. 

In between we have fit in a few gigs:

We played a London based Beatles festival - Beatles 1Day in Chiswick which was great. We played lots of Beatles covers and several of our own. We were approached by a film maker and Beatles mega fan Simon Weitzman of Bad Halo. He is making a Beatles Fan Film to be released in Summer 2018 and wants to include The AutistiX in the film. It's called 'Here, There and Everywhere'. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/the-beatles-herethereandeverywhere.

Latest gigs:
South End Green Festival (after a break last year as we were already playing at another festival). It was a sunny day despite the threat of rain and we had a great 'feel good' crowd watching us and enjoying our performance. This was all the more remarkable as our drummer Saul came direct from hospital after being very ill all week. Despite pale pallor and weakness he was determined to play the gig, played with every ounce of energy he could muster, and then was taken straight home to bed to recuperate. That's dedication for you!

We played a great gig at Britain's at the first ever UK Disability Pride Festival which took place in sunny Brighton, the UK's progressive outpost by the sea. It was a fantastic fun day for everyone, while making an important point about inclusion and the talent of people with disabilities - issues, naturally, very close to our heart.

Togetherfest - a new festival in North London at the amazing Arts Depot performing arts centre. This was a true community event for all ages, all art forms with different types of performances and audiences!

Next week, Simon will be filming us for the film in our last rehearsal before for the film before taking a break in August.

We'll be back in September with new songs already in the pipeline, new gigs, our launch and many more plans underway!

Check out some photos from recent gigs plus a picture of a young fan spotted in the audience!

Wishing you all a great summer!

2017 has got off to a busy start for The AutistiX!

We started recording 4 new songs for our latest EP (watch this space for the EP name and great new songs that will appear on it) Then there will be a launch event (to be arranged).

In the meantime, we performed at Beatles Day in Hastings again - this year was our 6th year in a row! Several people stopped us to tell us that we were their absolute favourite band at Beatles Day and with 95 acts this year that is quite an achievement! Our drummer, Saul received a lot of compliments on his drumming (which he takes totally in his stride!)

Here are the links to this year's songs that we performed (on youtube):
 
https://youtu.be/z5XaD9k3gcE Gimme Some Truth and You Can’t Do That
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF8LPcPEI7A&index=2&list=PLOIj0L4ts3HJlUwnUa5al2JsEauqvJXGA All I’ve Got To Do
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8BcKInzZGs&list=PLOIj0L4ts3HJlUwnUa5al2JsEauqvJXGA&index=5 HELP!
 
https://youtu.be/jBlLnoF7Cos She Said She Said

We were particularly glad to have made it to Beatles Day, as our lead singer's partner is about to have their second child in a matter of days so it was touch and go whether we would be able to play this year!. 

For the past few weeks we have been recording with our previous producer Gaetano Serra in his much nicer new studio at Cable Street Studios in East London. He has a bigger space so it is much more comfortable and great to be able to see the musicians recording through the plate glass window while Gaetano adjusts the recording equipment and edits as he goes along. So far we have laid down drums, bass, harmonica and this week it will be the guitars, followed by lead vocals and then backing vocals. Hopefully the recording will be done by the end of April and the editing after that. So in a few months we should be ready to release and launch our latest EP, the first in over 2 years!

​We wish you all a Happy Easter and will be back in touch again soon!
 

​We are a unique rock band creating our own songs. We have been together since April 2010.
Our 3 youngest members make us particularly original, as they have autism, making our music even more special: 

Jack Beaven Duggan (electric guitar/backing vocals) 
Saul Zur-Szpiro (drums and backing vocals)
Graham Spragg (bass guitar), as they all have autism. 
Jim Connelly (lead singer)
John Duggan, Jack's father, John (electric guitar) 
Michael, Saul's father,  (harmonica) 

‘The AutistiX’ are keen to be recognised for our musical talent, are proud to include musicians with autism and aim to increase the inclusion of musicians with disabilities. 

The band performs at well known London music venues, local festivals, and charity gigs including playing for over 1100 people who gave us a standing ovation, especially following our impromptu performance of the Beatles’ Help!, together with Sir Tom Jones!!! 

The band’s first release was an EP ‘Butterflies and Demons’, followed by a double A side ‘Something Better’ and ‘Just The Same’ which we launched in November 2014. We are currently recording our next EP with 4 of our new songs called 'My Future Life', ‘Heaven’, ‘Positive’ and ‘Not the Same’. 

We have had a very busy few months with a short tour in Switzerland in August which was very successful, followed by recent gigs at the Dugdale Theatre in Enfield, and at VooDoos Lounge in Croydon. Our next gig will be at the beginning of April at Beatles Day in Hastings, a great day out in aid of McMillan Nurses.  It will be our 5th year there! Then we will be arranging gigs to launch our new EP!

Our music video 'Just The Same' is on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilytN26eI1Q
Our minidoc, The AutistiX, is called ‘Autism Rocks - The AutistiX’ is on the Guardian website: http://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/aug/10/autism-rocks-meet-the-boys-from-the-autistix-video or on vimeo, where it is a ‘staff pick’: www.vimeo.com/135851503 
A Munich TV station, Galileo TV/Prosieben TV made a programme about The AutistiX and autism: http://www.galileo.tv/life/the-autistix-eine-rockband-mit-einer-unglaublichen-geschichte/
Shawn Hammond from USA magazine Premier Guitar wrote about The AutistiX: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/23522-the-autistix-butterflies-demons

For more information, contact Susan Zur-Szpiro, Band Manager on 07973835102. Check out our social media: www.theautistix.com, www.facebook.com/theautistix, www.twitter.com/theautistix. 
We’re on itunes, soundcloud, spotify, youtube, vimeo. etc

Getting the decibels up at JW3 

The AutistiX get across the Helvetian Confederation (that's the CH on the back of Swiss cars then)..            12 August, Legna Bar, Flims, FREE; 13 August, Stars in Town, Schaffhausen; 14 August, The Lakeland Festival, Erlach.

Summer in Switzerland. Breaaaathe. The pristine lakes. The sunny meadows,full of wild flowers. The buzzing of the bees and the sweet burbling of the brook….....and the screaming wail of electric guitar, the thump of the bass and the pulsating roll of the drums! What could be better than summer in Switzerland? It’s Summer in Switzerland with The AutistiX.
Save the dates: 12 August, Legna Bar, Flims, FREE; 13 August, Stars in Town, Schaffhausen; 14 August, The Lakeland Festival, Erlach.

Yup. Of the five battle bands selected from the field of applicants, the dads and sons of The AutistiX proved to the foot stomping, body grating, tambourine shattering and wildly clapping crowd -  and the redoubtable Clapometer - that they deserved to win. Feedback was, it's the original songs, the evocative lyrics and the sheer energy of the guys that clinched it. We are happy.