Meow Cafe - 05 November 2011

Played Meow Cafe last night in support of the Rodrigo Brothers. The boys just wanted someone to play some tunes after their gig so they could sit back & relax with their crew so I played a 10 track set that was fairly low key:

It's all just a joke anyway
This old house
Do it right
Only a fool
Poison tree
The old man and the sea
I remember
Trouble
Together, Forever
Let me count the ways I love you

I thought I played alright, my voice was surprisingly sharp considering I haven't gigged in a couple of months. It usually takes a while for my vocals to warm up but I felt good right off the bat. I played alright too, it helped that it wasn't 'my' night so there was nothing to be nervous about, I just jumped up & played. I'm still a few songs short of a good hour long consistantly good set. I have the songs but without help I'm limited with what song choices I can choose. For example I can't play most of the Pisces tunes because they need the full band to flesh them out & a lot of my solo tunes are quite delicate and requires the listener to really be paying attention. I think I need about three really strong solo songs that I can play when my audience starts to drift. At the moment I'm struggling to hold a pub audience for a full set. It's different in a more intimate setting but it's not always going to be like that. It just means I need to go up another level and find some bigger songs.

Overall I give the set a 6/10. Some good moments but it also showed a lack of substance in some of the songs when I'm playing in a louder 'pub' type atmosphere.

It was a fun show

Portrait - 03 Sept 2011

An early mix of 'Portrait of the young man as an artist', there was a 12 string in Allan's studio on the day of the recording which I used, which has added to the track hugely imo. There's about 20 sec of silence before the song actually kicks in. There's only really BV's to add & it's done. I may re-do the harp, but the guts of the track is there.
Portrait3sep11 by Martin Andrews

GG Allin - Carmelita

GG Allin's surprsingly tender take on Warren Zevon's 'Carmelita'.

GG Allin, or Jesus Christ Allin, as he was born, was a.. shit, how do you describe GG?? Calling him a wildman may be a an easy way out, but it's also pretty accurate. He was a true punk rock wild man, defecating, fighting, having sex with men or women, self harming, all on stage. By the end of his life he was barely getting through two or three songs before the show would degenerate into anarchy and either the police would close it down or GG would end up in hospital. He had his arm broken when he was jumped by about 15 fans during one of his last shows. I've actually disabled the links to this video for more sensitive viewers, no one needs to see GG and his one inch penis shitting on stage if they don't choose to see it themselves.

So why the post? Well for one, I think his version of Carmelita is absolutely stunning. A heartfelt take on a heartbreaking song, which could only really be done credit by someone who's lived the lyrics, & if anyone has GG has. Secondly in some weird way I do see some artistic merit to GG's madness. He confronts everything. He makes you feel. Whether that be revulsion, excitement, whatever. One thing that you will not experience with GG is apathy, and that's his lasting artistic legacy in my opinion (he died of a heroin overdose around 1994). Not to say he was misunderstood. He was a genuine mad man, capable of extreme violence and not to be trusted, but there'll always be a place for boundary pushers and he was the most extreme boundary pusher of all.

Enjoy 'Carmelita' it's probably the only chance you'll get to appreciate GG Allin without shit being involved..

Update - 25 Aug 2011

I've started to think about my next show. I was hoping to put together a Pisces gig as well as a smaller solo show. I was eyeing up a fund raiser for the Pisces gig for Pablo's, the outsider art studio. For those not in Wellington it's an art studio for people with mental health issues. It gives them somewhere to go once they get back out in the community, but as with most community based programmes it runs on the smell of an oily rag. Anyway, Mike, my drummer, is still not interested in gigging so the only show I'll be doing before Christmas is another solo show. Which isn't such a bad thing. Ultimately this is my thing, my goals and my future. I can't expect other people to be so passionate about my music as I am so being forced to do solo show's means I'm learning to put show's together with only me in mind. This means a completely different type of set to a band show, with songs specifically written for solo performing.. Anyway, I'm down to just the solo show but I'll make the most of it. I've asked Carly to do a full set, which she's keen on & I've approached the poet I met to open the show. Now I need to find a venue. I'm looking for a smaller show than the Meow one, somewhere that only holds 50-70 people. I want to sell it out and put on a really quiet intimate show. My set I just want to be relaxed and enjoy myself. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself for this show, I want it to be fun. I'd like to get a couple of new tunes to play so will write with that style of show in mind. I'd really like to justsit down with my guitar and play for an hour and put on a really entertaining, engaging set. that's my goal for this show.
Other things to do:
The Pisces EP artwork needs to get completed. I've got days off in September so I'll try to get it done then.
The Pisces LP needs to get finished. Nearly two years on since the first recording and it feels like I'm still miles away from finishing this record... Damn!

Top 10 Movie Tracks

I recently saw Incendies, a devestating Canadian film. In it two scenes are scored by Radiohead's "You and whose army?". It's an odd choice considering both scenes are set in Afghanistan, you wouldn't really expect Radiohead while seeing child soldiers having their head shaved, but it really works. It's one of those rare occasions where you hear a familiar song fresh again, as if for the first time & it reminded me of the power of the soundtrack & if used well how it can muliply the emotional impact of a scene. It's stayed with me since & it got me thinking about other songs that have really had an effect on me either through the use of the song in the narrative, or just an awesome piece of music. So here's my Top 10 movie tracks, in no particular order:

Mad World - Gary Jules - Donnie Darko. For me there's two tracks that have had a lasting effect from Donnie Darko, Echo and the Bunnymens "Killing Moon", which is used to such outstanding effect during that opening sequence and Gary Jules's "Mad World". I chose Mad World because it seems to have carried on and had a life of it's own outside of the movie & I like how it polarises people between whether they like the Tears for Fears original or this excellent cover. Personally I like the original, but I never would've heard it had it not been for this version.

Where is my mind? - The Pixies - Fight Club. Is there any better melding of song to movie? The end sequence of the urban terrorism coming to it's full fruition is perfectly scored by this Pixies tune. Like Mad World, another example of a tune gaining popularity specifically from it's use in a film

Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole e - Meet Joe Black. I think I'm one of only about ten people on the planet that actually enjoyed this movie (or at least admitted to it), but it's the tune that played during the closing credits which really struck me. The beautiful voice, the simplicity of the arrangement, I had no idea who it was but it kept me glued to my seat as the rest of the cinema filed out & that's about the best compliment I could've given.

Goin to Acapulco - Jim James & Calexico - I'm Not There. Not an easy movie to sit through, this Todd Haynes take on Bob Dylan. Particularly in the cheap seats at the Paramount theatre where your knees tend to be up around your chin, except for the three minutes that Jim James hits the screen, all white face paint & pure voice. Stunning version & easily the best thing about the movie. Except maybe for Cate Blanchett.

You and who's army? - Radiohead - Incendies. Radiohead while child soldiers get their heads shaved in Afghanstan? Shouldn't work but it does. Devastatingly so. See for yourself.

Big Sun - Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild. It's hard not to be moved by this film, particularly Emile Hirsch's portrayal of free spirit Chris McCandless. A film full of warmth, humanity and heart which this track by Eddie Vedder seems to capture perfectly. Also recommended from the soundtrack is 'Guaranteed'. "On bended knee/is no way to be free". Indeed.

Life on Mars - Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. David Bowie himself probably put it best: "Had Seu Jorge not recorded my songs in Portugese I would never had heard this new level of beauty which he has imbued them with". Again, don't know why it works but it does.

Fucking in The Bushes - Oasis - Snatch. Oasis were past their best at this point, but the use of this opening track from "Standing on the shoulders of giants" for the final bare knuckle fight scene is perfect. A good example of a tune raising the dramatic level of a scene.

Exile - Enya - L.A Story. One of my favourite movies is this 1991 charmer from Steve Martin. On the surface, the story of wacky weatherman Harry Telemaker trying to find meaning in superficial la la land, Los Angeles. Scratch the surface however & there's a surprising amount of depth & heart. The movie is beautifully littered with classic Enya tunes, the pick of which is "Exile".

You're the best - Joe Esposito - Karate Kid. For the sake of interest, I've tried to avoid cliche or obvious choices (Eye of the tiger, Lose Yourself) but how could I leave this 1984 classic off? Is there any more stirring montage than Daniel working his way through the All Valley Karate Championship on route to a final show down with Johnny? I think not. By the way, the front face kick by Johnny at 0.46 is freakin Kick Ass!

Honorable mentions - Things have changed, Bob Dylan, Wonder Boys & Use me, Bill Withers, American Beauty.

Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy

The stunning video for Boards of Canada's 'Dayvan Cowboy'. Probably my favourite ever video.

It's a beautiful song, stunning really, but the thing that gets me is the shots of the curvature of the earth as the sky diver falls to earth. Then the ocean shots with Laird Hamilton doing his big wave thing. A video of rare excellence from a ground breaking band. Their only official video as far as I'm aware.

ps if you don't know who Laird Hamilton is check him on youtube.

Acoustic Goodness - Meow Cafe - July 13 2011

Meow Cafe - July 13 2011 - Martin Andrews, Roman Birch & The Others

Trouble
Foolish Man
I Remember
Poison Tree
Together, Forever
Let me count the ways (I love you)
I told you brother
Never look Back
You & Me*
Fucked*
Jimmy Jones

*Written by Carly

Trouble

Another first - my first time putting a gig on. I was as nervous about this show as I've ever been & it was as significant to me as the Tugboat gig back in 2009. I'd planned that 2011 would be the year I'd put together my first show & I'm pretty stoked to have gotten it over & done with. I'm hoping to get another one in this year around late Oct/early Nov but for now I'm happy just having a few weeks off. I got pretty stressed there the closer it got so a break is much needed. The first thing was finding a suitable venue & Meow was suggested to me by an old friend & it turned out to be perfect. They were very accommodating, basically allowing us the run of the joint for the whole evening & being completely stress free in the lead up. The manager there, Damian, put his faith in me that I would put a night together that would benefit the bar and that's where the majority of the stress came from, justifying his faith. To help in that respect I advertised in the Capital Times, Under the radar, Eventfinder and Grooveguide. I also put a Facebook invite out, which I'm not really comfortable doing cause I always thought it was a bit needy, but sometimes needs must, as they say.

The Others

Next up was finding performers and my own set. I had originally planned on myself, Roman Birch, and a poet I met a few years back called Saradha Koirala. I thought an evening of singer-songwriter & poetry had potential to be an interesting evening - still do, but in this case I think Meow may be a little too large for that type of evening. A mojo cafe might be a more intimate setting for that type of show. Anyway, Roman confirmed his interest but I didn't hear back from Saradha until well into the planning stage by which time Alan had expressed his interest in playing. That ended up being a blessing as he was able to provide a lot of the gear we ended up using, monitors & mics. He & his drummer, Paul, also ended up helping me out for a couple of tracks. Once I'd confirmed the players for the evening I needed to figure out my own set. I felt I needed to step up again and accept the responsibility of being the main act for the evening and in that sense I wanted to justify people's efforts to come out on a Wed evening to support the show, which I had dubbed 'Acoustic Goodness'. The setlist came fairly quickly with some obvious choices, the uke tracks, a slide track, Poison Tree, opening with a percussion backed 'Trouble' which ended up being the highlight of the set for me. I'd wanted to start my performance without people realising I had started so it was cool to be at the mic introducing myself and conversing and then starting the acapella verses of Trouble. Hopefully it was only when Paul came in with his kick that people realised the set had actually started. we'd practiced the tune about a dozen times all up & it totally came off. The cabasa on the choruses, the snare crack for gunshot & cabasa rolls to imitate the sound of a chaingang all worked & I was stoked to kick the set off with it. Once I finished the song there was complete silence in the bar which is always a good sign for a performer. The only real issue I had with the set was the 2nd & 3rd tracks. I wasn't sure how to get from the opening track through to the uke section without losing the audience. With a stroke of luck a song came to me on the weekend before, which I named 'I remember'. It ended up being heavily influenced lyrically by the situation of another friend who was having trouble with the man in her life:

"I can remember/When you were good to me
But all that's left now/Is a memory
It used to mean something/when you'd look at me
It used to be different/Now you're just a victim to me

You've taken/What you/What you really want
& left me/With nothing/Nothing that I need
I can't/Believe/What you've done to me
So baby just leave me be"

Roman Birch

Carly came up for the final four tracks, starting with 'Never look back' which is the very first tune we started playing together when we first started jamming about a decade ago. We then played two of Carly's own tunes, 'You & Me' & 'Fucked', before finishing with a full band version of Jimmy Jones. For this Paul came back for drums, Alan sat in with a harmonica solo & Graeme did bass. It was a fun way to finish the set & evening, & I give the whole evening a pass mark . I think we ticked all the boxes with what I had hoped to achieve, we got support through the door, we patronised the bar so they were happy, everyone played well & my set came together well. Gotta admit, I was pretty stoked at the end of the evening to feel like I'd pulled the night off.

Finally, I'd originally tossed around the idea of calling the evening 'With a little help from my friends' because so much was riding on their support both through the door and helping out on the night, from Alan & his gear to Matt on the door, Dylan putting a playlist together & doing photography for the night (both his shots above), Andre MC'ing. So it's appropriate that the final word belongs to them because as always, without whom...