Welcome to the Blog and News of Alternative Rock Band OPOSIUM

In partnership with Quaker Homeless Action, Routes To Roots have launched the Befriending Teams Pilot Project in Poole. The project was officially opened on Sunday 1st February at St Peter's Church, Parkstone with a number of VIPs present including the Mayor of Poole Councillor Joyce Lavender and the Sheriff of Poole Councillor Charles Meachin.



The Befriending Scheme is about organising volunteers together to play an important role in helping the people most in need in our community. With volunteers grouped together in teams of 2 or 3, they can literally befriend those people who both charities are helping and provide a support group for that person. The pilot scheme will run over the next 18-24 months in Poole and is seen as a real step forwards in terms of reaching out into the community.

Oposium frontman Richard McLester provided some background entertainment, before the official speeches, performing on piano alongside Jamie from JLR on guitar (whose story was featured on BBC Dorset in November 2008).

"It's a fantastic thing for the two charities to do..." said Richard "...as both charities can pool their expertise and come together to make a difference in our community. Certainly an initiative like this is exciting because of all the different people it will involve."



For more information on the charities, visit www.routestoroots.org and www.qha.org.uk.



Peace always,
The Oposium Admin Team

Labels: befriending teams pilot project, community, homeless, mayor of poole, quaker homeless action, routes to roots

Just a shout to all who were involved one way or another on Saturday for the concert at St Mary's Longfleet; we had an amazing time and were so grateful to everyone who turned out!! So thank you - in particular to Clive Garton who organised so much, John on sound and Tim Piper with the video feeds - but also to everyone who organised the cafe and setting up the stage through the two days! We couldn't have done it without you :)

Also, big thanks to all the bands who supported us - Once October, View 93 and Not About The Heroes !



Pictures from the concert are available here >>

THANK YOU all again!!!

Richard, Sam, Scott and Dave
OPOSIUM

Labels: routes to roots, st mary's longfleet, thank you

All of Oposium would like to thank everyone who came and supported our gig last Saturday - we had an amazing time!! So thanks to the bands; Not About The Heroes, JLR and The Wheat Beans for playing some wicked music. Also a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make the gig happen... So in no particular order; huge thank you to ....

Andy Hancock (for an awesome smoke machine and making things happen technically), Peter Sykes and Dan Harwood (for providing the lighting), Julie Sykes (for the photography), the bad ass media crew Bex Sykes, Tim Hancock and Andrew Walters (also our star all round roadie!!), Elliot and Sarah (for gaffa tape hilarity, awesome hair and filming), Jonathan Martin (for total support and the venue), Pete Foxley (for giving up his Friday evening to set the system up), Penny Sills (for making sure it happened and putting up with our poor organisation!) and Simon and Rob Fish for all the amazing work they do with Routes To Roots.

For all the photos of the gig, follow this link to our flickr account;

29th November 2008 Concert Photos



And we'll leave you with this caption competition;



Peace Always,

Richard, Sam, Scott and Dave
OPOSIUM

Labels: caption competition, JLR, Not About The Heroes, oposium gig, routes to roots, thank you, The Wheat Beans

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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Labels: BBC Dorset, feature, interview, JLR, routes to roots

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

Labels: JLR, Not About The Heroes, routes to roots, support acts, The Wheat Beans

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.

Labels: 29th november, kick start christmas, parkstone united reformed church, rob fish, routes to roots

Oposium are featured in this month's newspaper The Sarum Link which goes out to 31,000 people in and around Salisbury.

The article reads;

"UP AND coming rock band Oposium, from Poole, is set to release its debut album entitled Life Under The Sun. Featuring the band's award winning track Behind The Rain (courtesy of Roland UK), the album encompasses a combination of beautiful piano melodies, catchy guitar riffs and anthemic vocal lines.

Oposium, which is fast becoming known as 'the band that threw its piano in the sea' has been working on the album for the last year and a half.

'The album is based on the Ecclesiastes concept of life under the sun and where we stand with our relationships' explains lead singer and guitarist Richard McLester. The album is really a journey of discovery, moving from the uncertainty of the opening tracks with titles such as This Is Why We Fall and Come Awake to the uplifting praise of the title track Life Under The Sun.

'The album is as lyrically provocative as it is musically challenging,' agrees Sam Hanson, Oposium's piano virtuoso, 'One of the aims of the project is to carve out a genre of our own.'

10% of album sales will be donated to Poole based homelessness charity Routes To Roots. The charity is seeking to develop a much needed resource centre in Poole for people who are 'rootless' and most in need in the community.

Bassist Scott Blandford adds, 'Routes To Roots has this fantastic vision for working with the homeless in Poole.'

Oposium is next performing at Parkstone United Reformed Church raising awareness about Routes To Roots on November 29th.

Life Under The Sun is being released under independent label Conical Sphere Records and is available from the band's official website: www.oposium.com.

For more details on Routes To Roots visit www.routestoroots.org


Oposium has given the Sarum Link two copies of their debut album to give away. To be in with a chance of winning just answer the following question: What's the title of Oposium's award winning track?

Send your answer on a postcard (address page 2), with your name and address to reach us by October 10th.

Labels: cd giveaway, feature, interview, roland, routes to roots, salisbury, The Sarum Link