About Betika

The modernday Betika operates in three different configurations; (i) as an acoustic duo consisting of Carolyn and Dave; (ii) as a full band that plays standing up (The Greater Betika); (iii) as a full band that plays sitting down (The Lesser, Seated Betika). This is because they've been going for ages and have a lot of songs, some fast, some slow, some loud, some quiet, and they like to play similar types of songs next to each other. Early in their career they sang slow, sad songs about dead dogs (see "Heads smashed in by the boy/girl thing", Superglider records 2001), later on they started playing upbeat, genitally-fixated songs which all seem to have a worrying pre-occupation with death (see the "Betikassette" series of cassette-only EPs, 2004-present). It's difficult to say exactly which pingeonhole it's easiest to cram Betika into, their music isn't rock, or folk, or country and it definitely isn't "world" music, but it undeniably contains elements of all of those. A French reviewer called them "...for certain the new indie lo-fi Abba". They have a song which apparently sounds like Nick Drake, Can, The B-52s and Queens of the Stoneage all at the same time. And another one that sounds like the soundtrack from "Kes" being played by evil Brazillians. On bikes. Comparisons have been made with The Magnetic Fields, but as the Magnetic Fields play every song in a different style this probably isn't helpful. But nice if you're Betika. Future plans include at least one more cassette-only e.p., and an album is being worked on in the closest thing to a recording studio that the band have ever seen. Completion of this is envisaged in mid-late 2006. Playing gigs everywhere and to everyone is also an aim.

History

The text below dates from a time when we believed ourselves to be defined by the accidents in which we'd been.
It may go some way to explaining a few things.

Dave has been bitten by all kinds of dogs. As a child in a Welsh hill-farming village he was mauled by a border collie. During a short stint as a postman he was bitten by a Husky. Carolyn’s Airedale Fred bit him, and Steve’s jack-russell Tess bit him. He’s also been bitten by two alsatians, a deerhound and a lakeland terrier which latched onto his foot and wouldn’t let go.
A bee stung him in the eye once, requiring a trip to casualty, a place that two broken fingers, two broken toes and one broken collarbone have taken him to. He’s had one nasty car crash, which he was lucky to walk away from, and in the same month avoided being knocked down by a speeding mini by centimeters. He managed to stab a cricket stump into his shin, which was the first and only time he’s seen his own bones, and his elbows are pure scar tissue from his days as an adolescent trick-cyclist.
His nose got broken in a misunderstanding a few years ago. When he was five he fell into the sea and nearly drowned, and around the same time had to be dragged from a burning Ford Cortina. He cut the skin off one of his knuckles once, trying to sharpen a pencil with a Stanley knife, but he taped it all together again and it grew back into place.
In India he was bitten by mosquitoes on both areolas on consecutive nights. They swelled horribly. Malaria has yet to develop... He’s in contention for the world record for the most tetanus shots over a twenty-three year period, and has a thing about nurses.
At All Tomorrows Parties in 2002 he hurt himself quite a bit when trying to impress Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai with his invisible skateboard tricks.
Incidentally, he harbours no ill-feelings towards dogs. The picture on the back of “Weekend” is there because he thought it was really sad…

Carolyn feels her life could include less dentistry. Once, in a drunken stupor, she fell asleep against a radiator which came on in the night which branded her arse with something that looked a bit like the adidas logo. When cycling home from the pub one evening she rode into a horse. They were both okay.

Chris had to be carried from the sea at Biarritz with his knee hanging off once. He fell out of a tree and broke his arm as a child. He woke up in Betika one day. Earlier this year he had to have steroids injected directly into his eyeball. In another hypodermic episode, he was pumped full of flourozine (yellow dye) and had to walk from Westminster to Victoria station all yellow.

Lexi is twenty-six, but a childhood accident means she has a mental age of just twenty-five. The accident in question involved her falling backwards down a staircase while singing Bonnie Tyler's "Holding out for a hero". At All Tomorrow's Parties in 2002 she bounced down the mainstaircase on her bottom and still has a lump to show for it. As

Trivia
We so crazy!

Rich used to be mates with Rick Astley.

Carolyn once played oboe in the Royal Albert Hall with some Youth Orchestra or something,where she got an 'itchy tit' and was filmed scatching it by the BBC. She also played in a giant cave on the rock of Gibraltar or somewhere.

Dave was nearly killed by Esther Rantzen. He was walking along, and she was driving, neither of them looking where they were going.

In 2003 Carolyn sang in front of about 10,000 people at a rave in Holland. The 12" she was promoting got quite high in some dance chart or other. She only knows she was there as people have shown her photos to prove it.

Rich used to play drums in Campag Velocet.

Carolyn has a tennis racket signed by Terry Nutkins. Despite best efforts to remove said signature, it won't come off.

Betika is a popular name for dogs in Romania.

Dave won the "Best Picture" award at the 2000 Landcrab Film Festival with his short "This cup was made by Benders". Dave's Favourite Films include; Tron (1980?); The Lord of the Rings (1978?); Watership Down (1979?); Here we go round the Mulberry Bush (1967?); Jude (1997?); Eraserhead (1980?); Transformers- The Movie (1986?); The Hill (1965?); Duck Soup (1937?); Please Sir!- The Movie (1972?); Lord of the Flies (1963?); Scum (BBC version, 1979?) and Luis Bunuel's last film (1973?), the title of which I can't remember, where the actress playing the female lead keeps changing, a bit like Lost Highway (1991?), and the opposite of Farenheit 451 (1966?), where Julie Christie confusingly plays two completely different characters.

Imogen has thumbs that look like big toes. She has a band named after them- "Imogen's Thumb"

Martin has just had a haircut and now bears a stiking resemblance to early-'90s screen heartthrob Christian Slater