February 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm · Filed under General
When I was in the UK I always enjoyed picking up folk / blues / roots magazine, Maverick. And of course I was chuffed when they reciprocated the appreciation in the form of a superb review for ITWBK. Anyways interesting to see they have gone fully digital. Bravo!
“With the February issue 2011 Maverick took a brave step forward by becoming an online and PDF download publication only. Ceasing the printed magazine was a move that allowed savings, to the magazine and to their customers and current readership, who saw a monthly saving of £1.50 and a subscription saving of £15.00 a year. This and the massive cut in publishing costs for the small team at Maverick Towers has enabled them to focus on a very positive future.”
Maverick is currently offering a free sample copy of the new format. Email laurabethell@maverick-country.com for your free copy. Do it.
October 28, 2010 at 10:39 pm · Filed under General
This morning I wrote and work-shopped some songs with Dan over Skype. We both listened to the tracks. We both picked up guitars. We both threw in lyric ideas. I bashed out some quick melody ideas. Everything was recorded so we can mull it over as we get the project rolling. Virtual collaboration is quite something.
I wrapped that up, had some Honey Weets, put my guitars in the car and went to the rehearsal studio with EVVY. Two grubby doods making much too loud music in a much too small room. Big guitars and huge tub thumping drums. Real life collaboration is quite something.
Hey peeps. Haven’t posted here for a long time. Thought I’d write a quick update in case anyone was mildly worried. Thanks so much to everyone that has gotten in touch and asked “What the hell are you doing next?” and “I was listening to your songs again this week and dangit I love that stuff”. That kinda stuff means an awful lot.
Has been a great season for me personally being back in Australia for this past year and half. The basic gist is that I’ve been living by the beach, getting settled into grown up life kinda, busy extremely being design guy for a European based web start up, being a late night hermit, catching up with a few old friends and making a few new ones, watching Ruby get to grips with the wildlife, setting up house and music space, curating a little guitar blog, drinking coffee, watching a red head become Prime Minister and then maybe not etc etc
Music wise I’ve got a few cool things on the go go. One of these projects is very nearly ready to unleash on an unsuspecting public. The band is called Evvy – and the sound is pretty much 70s rock inspired blues carnage. We’ll be recording some stuff soon. You can see some rough clips over here. The other thing I’m excited about is a new project I’m working with my boys back in London. Its shaping up to be a great collaborative effort. The tunes are incredible. The vibe is very different to anything I’ve done before. Hard to explain in words. So I won’t.
Yeah. That’s the update. Hope you are well. Anyone for coffee? Beer? Lipton Ice? Ginger Beer?
Check out a few pics from my recent little trip to the UK. Photos by Dan Weeks.
By means of an update the trip contained:
- Catching up with great friends.
- A few gigs with the greatest band a man could dream for. Great players even better people. Big love to Dan, Matt, Willie, Nicki and Ed.
- Hanging at my old local, Cafe Fredo.
- Swine flu taking down the drummer/manager/force of nature and his family. So nasty.
- Working on my whiskey appreciation.
- Telling the crowd at New Wine B that it would be a shame if some of them would drown in their tents.
- Regretting that last comment a little. Only a little though.
- Some new work done by Valerie Vargas.
- Playing more electric guitar on the gigs. Strat into a Blues Junior turned up very loud. Simple joys.
- Plenty of time and space to think and get some clarity on life and the universe and all that.
- Average flights with Thai Airways.
- Visiting Denmark Street but not buying anything. Good effort.
- Great late night chats with Mr Weeks. Although he called me a lightweight when I went to bed before The Commitments finished.
- Meeting all the new Weeks babies, Mr Amos and Miss Della. So Beautiful.
- My old friend Ben coming to The Halfmoon Putney gig with his little lady and a great camera setup. We should have footage up here shortly.
- Getting home and being so thankful to be back with my girls.
It really was a great little trip. Had a blast. Maybe again next year?
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, until I was 13. I moved to
Northampton after that and stayed there until my 20’s.
Where do you live know?
In London. Brentford…apparently famous for Brentford Nylons? Tights? I don’t own any!
What have you been up to musically?
I have just started recording my third album! I’m working with two great producers in Glasgow. Hoping it will be ready early summer! Woo hoooo! Read the rest of this entry »
Lasse, how are you?
Great thanks, got off a gig late last night into early morning rehearsals, but I’m feeling great!
Where did you grow up?
In a small town called Kerava, about 30 km from the capital of Finland Helsinki. Nice neighbourhood to spend your childhood in. Everything is close and you can get around easily with a bike.
Where do you live now?
In Helsinki. Nice neighbourhood to be a musician. Everything is close and you can get around with a car.
What have you been up to musically? I’ve been preparing music for my own instrumental album, and for my bands album. Also gigs around town live and and in studio. Read the rest of this entry »
I was very privileged to get to the Ryan Adams gig in Newtown last night. I have to admit to being a bit of a half-hearted fan of the guy in the past. I appreciate his way with a song for sure but I find myself skipping through his albums. Maybe I just need to press ‘skip’ less and let it soak in a bit more. In any case I took a night out for him last night and I wasn’t disappointed. It really has to rank up there with the best gigs I’ve been to.
Rough clips are popping up on Youtube but they don’t really do the whole thing justice. Listen here at 0:30 for a very friendly punter asking his buddy “do you wanna get a water?”. Very kind. You’d think he was in the desert or something.
Ryan’s a phenomenal talent. Charisma to burn, great vocals, a really harsh (but funny) sarcastic edge, a beautifully tight but rootsy band, he seemed to be having fun too . . . I really loved the whole thing from the get go. The other thing I think really made it for me was that there was no sign of an acoustic guitar all night (as much as I love the things ). The fact he played electric all night just muscled the whole thing up. It all sounded bigger than I expected – like a proper classic rock band. Tight in some places but perfectly loose in others. I could have imagined them on a bill headlining Kings of Leon and The Raconteurs. Or equally between Lucinda Williams and someone else not as good as her. These Cardinals killed it . . . killed it I tells ya.
January 25, 2009 at 11:54 am · Filed under General
Getting back to Oz I’ve been keen to see whats cooking on the music front. I really haven’t done as much as I would have liked but I have had the chance to catch Mike play in Newcastle, have a coffee with him, and totally fall in love with his album The Harrowing Account of John William Tate. The songs are beautifully crafted and delivered with heart. Its all I’ve been listening too. Buy the CD or find it here on iTunes.
January 25, 2009 at 10:52 am · Filed under General
There’s been lots of movement since my last post. As most of you know we’d been in London for seven years and we were feeling the itch to get home. While we were at it we figured we’d hit the USA on the way – see the sights and delights and make a bit of an adventure of it all. The short version was that we had a crazy time. New York City was mind numbingly out of control and exhausting. We got our butts scammed on an apartment and had one hell of a stressful first night sorting things out but it all came good. After a few nights bunking down in a prison style YHA we ended up in a fantastic apartment right near Central Park. Highlights for me would have to be Dylan’s Candy Bar, Central Park, freezing our parts off, the whole Christmas vibe around the lighting of the tree at the Rockefeller, watching the girls skate (of course I couldn’t take part . . . I had to take photos. . . .). Crazy times. Kinda stressful. Kinda fun. What a place. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi folks. I’ve been a little too quiet on here. We recorded the album back in June and after that life took over and its just taken a bit longer than we expected. Getting the album done too was kinda cathartic in the sense that I felt a real sense of completion and just kinda relaxed in the fact that we’ve achieved something pretty special. No need to stress or strain – just let it happen. The timing feels all good anyways.
The whole story of the recording is amazing and humbling. We recorded it in a special place, a special old Victorian hunting lodge in Northamptonshire, and lots of ridiculously talented folks have contributed to it. Along every step people have been so generous in supporting this project and I’ll let you know all about them in due time. I’ll be able to share a lot of the process with you too – we have lots of videos and pictures from throughout the whole thing. And of course I can’t wait to share the record with you. We’re just thinking through the release plan but it will be early 2009. Below is a shot of the master delivered to my house just yesterday. Yeehah!
In personal news I’m gearing up for a return home to Australia next week. I came to the UK seven years ago with a couple of guitars and not much else. I’m taking home a much nicer bunch of guitars, some great songs, lots of great memories, a handful of friends I’ll cherish forever, some hope and some heartache, a beautiful girl, a gorgeous wife that has cheered me on all the way, and a really special album (not in any order of course). There’s lots to be thankful for.
