Mojo Acoustic - August 31 2012

 
Do It Right

Heavy Heart (You Am I)

Heavens Above

Lullaby

Relationship Blues

Kia Tatari Mou

Merry Go Round

Poison Tree

This was a fun set, I got Matt up for the first three tracks. He's really starting to get the harmonies down for 'Do it right' now and we managed to grab the audience right off the bat, which is always good. Next up was a cover of the band You Am I's 'Heavy Heart'

Matt bought his Uke along and played some improvised percussion which was cool & added some nice harmonies on the choruses. 'Heaven's Above' wasn't overly well received but it's really starting to reveal itself. Like 'Do it Right', I think it's going to take a few play through's before the song really reveals it's power, but it's coming. I believe in this track, I look forward to recording it. 'Lullaby' came & went, 'Relationship Blues' started  pulling the audience back into the set but surprisingly it was 'Kia Tatari Mou' which really pulled the crowd in. It was surprising because I've played it before & the Te Reo has completely alienated people. This time however it silenced the room & got the biggest applause of the night. Sometimes I just can't explain people's reaction to songs & this was one of those times. I've played this song many times both in English & Maori but I've never had a reaction like that for it. I kind of like the randomness of people's reactions, it gives things an unpredictable edge. Like when I feel I've played a song really well & it gets completely ignored : )

Merry Go Round is getting more & more fun to play. It has so many little bits & pieces to it it's always a challenge to play, which was kind of the point of writing it. It's a punchy song too so a good way to reach the audience. I finished with 'Poison Tree' which wasn't the finest rendition I've done but things were kind of going so well by this point it didn't really matter, everyone was just enjoying themselves, myself included.

Overall I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Started strongly, faded a little but brought it round & finished well.

I also played my first gig with the Polly Johnson Set but unfortunately with the adrenalin dump after my set I dropped back about three beers (too many!) and got lost at various points during the set, much to my embarrasment. I feel like I let the team down so will be looking to make that up to them. No more drinking until all my commitments are over!

Meow Cafe - Aug 09 2012

Polly Johnson, Ty Butterfield, Myself, Matt Reading

Meow Cafe - 09 August 2012

Relationship Blues

Merry Go Round

Jimmy Jones

Poison Tree

Stones In My Passway

Do It Right

Together, Forever

Let Me Count The Ways (I Love You)

The night kicked off pretty good for me with one of my oldest friends surprising me by dropping in . He was down from Hamilton for work & saw my FB status update so called in. Shot bro! Unfortunately didn't catch a lot of Ruby James' set, but she seemed to be an earnest singer/songwriter (aren't we all!?). Nice voice. Mark & Carls played a good set, unfortuantely it took the sound guy about three tracks before he got them sorted, which I could tell was throwing the guys a little. Once they got going though they settles into their work. Once again Carly mesmerised when she was getting stuck into her tracks, particularly during a nice cover of Duffy's 'Warwick Avenue'. 

My set went well, it started a bit iffy, again with 'Relationship Blues' I blanked on the new lyrics. I finally wrote a third verse the night before so it was always going to be tough remembering the odd structure of the song and all the lyrics, but it was worth the risk as it could've been a nice opening track. Nevermind, it went ok but not spectacular. 'Merry Go Around' didn't really take off either but I wasn't losing the crowd so it was still there to be taken. I got Carly up next to do 'Jimmy' and our lack of practice showed a little. She kept signalling me to slow down & I think I kept speeding up, but we got through ok. Again, gotta be prepared for these things! The set really took off from here with 'Poison Tree' really hooking people in then 'Stones in my passway', which I dedicated to my buddy, keeping things going. It was the best I've played the song so far, it just flowed straight through me, no mistakes & really flew. It was a joy to play. It still amazes me everytime I hear or play a Robert Johnson song, the level of his talent. From there Matt got up & we ran through 'Do it right' which was also the best I/we have played this song, it felt like this is the first time the song has actually come through and been heard. Lastly, another a couple of friends got up, Polly & Ty & we played 'Together, Forever' & 'Let me count the ways' as a Uke four-tet. This was a lot of fun & got the crowd going & was a good way to finish. Overall I give the set a 7/10. Could've been higher if I didn't have the dodgy opening couple of songs but a good set I was happy with & the night really was succesful due to my old mate being there to experience it.

Next up, back at Mojo on the 31st.

Comings & goings

I've taken a few weeks break from recording/mixing as I was starting to get a bit jaded with the whole process. As it stands I have mixes of every song but there's still work to be done. The volume levels of the tracks aren't all equal, which is going to require re-mixing some tracks in order to get them to the same volume level as the others. There's also some recording to do which I'm putting off until I have good mixes of every song. Still to come is BV's, horns on 'Only a fool' & piano on 'City Streets'. I may also put a lead on 'I'll wait for you' but I'm not 100% on this as it sounds nice just as it is. My friend Shalesh advised not to as he liked the sparceness of the track but I'm not so sure. Best to record a lead then see if it works or not.
To tell the truth I'm really looking forward to this being over as I want to get started on a solo record. I'm looking forward to recording a bunch of songs with just guitar & vocal. I'm even going to attempt the BV's as well which means I'll be harmonising for the first time. I'm actually starting to hear harmonies now, which is a first for me as traditionally I've been a melody only type of singer. I figure learning to harmonise can only be good for me so quite looking forward to that! Anyway, first things first, gotta finish this goddamn record. I really hope this is the longest a record ever takes me to complete. What a mish!

Solo gigs coming up on August the 9th & 21st.

Mojo Cafe - May 23 2012

And so another Mojo cafe gig comes and goes.. This was actually a really fun evening, it started a little worryingly with only a handful of people there. So few in fact that we delayed the show starting to allow more people to arrive. The opening act was someone I'd met a month or so earlier at a friends bbq, he played his own tunes on both ukelele & guitar. Nice thoughtful songs with some intricate playing, particularly on his uke. A good guy to boot, we exchanged details after the show, I'm sure we'll play together again. Next up was Carly & Mark doing some of Mark's own songs & one cover - Adele's 'Someone like you', beautifully sung by Carly. The evening really kicked off once these guys started. The lights got dimmed and they really captured the crowd (which was by now nearly a full house). Again, I'll get them back, there's real potential with these two so it'll be interesting to see them progress. I finished the evening off with a short seven song set:

Relationship Blues

Do it Right

Poison Tree

Portrait

Lullaby

Merry Go Round

Stones In My Passway

It went ok I started badly, 'Relationship Blues' is a new song which I haven't finished yet & I as hoping to wing it & improvise on the spot. I've done it before & had good results, having to make it up as I go has actually made me come up with some good stuff, but not tonight. I leaned in to start singing & completely forgot the few lyrics I actually had written. So I started mumbling instead. Then I couldn't figure out the structure of the song so started playing the same thing over & over again - not cool. Anyway, I mercifully ended the song, by which time all the attention I had after Carly & Mark's set had been lost. I started 'Do it right' & things got worse, I just didn't play it well & I could feel the set slowly slipping from my control. It was threatening to slide into a forgettable evening. By the time I started 'Poison Tree' the crowd was talking over me & I was starting to panic. I decided instead of trying to play over them I'll play quieter and see what happens. Funnily enough, when I settled down, so did the crowd. This was where I pulled the set back around, about half way through this song the crowd went quiet. A small victory! From there, Portrait went well, Lullaby not so much & I finsihed well with another new tune, Merry Go round & Robert Johnson's 'Stones'. 

Overall a good learning experience and good moments but certainly not my best show. I'll give it a 6/10.

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy - Mixing

And the mixing has started.. I now have rough mixes of all 10 tracks, it's pretty amazing to hear songs I've heard in my head for up to 15 years finally starting to take physical form. I had a pretty emotional response the first time I heard the strings on 'Fallen'. I wrote that song in 1997 and always heard the string section you can hear below & to finally actually hear it when my buddy Dylan added them was a pretty intense moment. Anyway below is three more works in progress 'Oh my lover', 'Portrait' & 'Fallen'.

In the studio - A Photographic Essay

Sorry for the lame post title, I couldn't resist.. some shots from in the studio last Wed night, with John putting piano & keys down. The results of which can be heard on the two tracks in my previous post.

Alan & John prep the piano

Feet

Let it be

Paul taking care of the recording

 The fab four looking on making sure we're doing it right

 Looks familiar...

My hero

John & George Bush strike a pose

 Switching to the Rhodes for "Secret Garden"

The drive home