Chicken or Egg

There are many words that we can use to describe our selves and the things that motivate our actions. From another persons perspective these can sometimes be seen as qualities or flaws. In a more humanitarian and compassionate approach to the human condition I stumbled across describing us as unique eccentricities. I like that. Eccentric no longer means that-old-cat-woman. It’s all of us honing in oh-so-carefully on our own developing world view. Of course the truth is that some of these qualities are self defeating and not exactly ideal. That’s not to say that they don’t serve a purpose for a time, but with some examination, we could probably do better. On a creative front my trust issues have rarely revealed their effects directly*. Okay so these aren’t major, toe curling, fetal position trust issues, but enough to have been self examined and worth adjusting.

The dusting of the proverbial cobwebs initiated two major events which in turn led to the start of a new musical project. They may not be entirely major in everyone’s eyes, but enough to elicit a creative response none the less. Chicken or Egg is an idea that’s been floating around my brain for a couple of years. Why I couldn’t start it was because there were certain areas left unexamined but now, it feels okay and even great to cover some favorite tracks.

Enmore Audio was the second event which has been in the works as a private / commercial recording studio for almost three years. The first stage is complete and I’m faced with the possibility of working with new talent on  fairly regular basis. Amazing. The studio means that Circle can comfortably and in a timely fashion, take on new projects and make new music; the covers being the first off the rank.

So really just a diary update on things and how I’m feeling. Not as cynical as you may enjoy but hey, this is for me after all.

*Though I’m sure they do. Fuck, it’s probably the reason I can’t write a hit song. Either that or I’m just not a hit song kind of guy.

Enmore Audio

I’d like to direct everyone’s attention to the new Enmore Audio blog. The goal is a self contained creative project environment without any specific commercial goals. It will be a project by project based workflow not specifically motivated by cash flow. By association and invitation to the recording studio. We’ll see says the guy who wants another 12 $5000 compressors… and yes it’s another australian studio so there you have it.

Consumed = :) / :(

Monday Records and the Happy gigs are the reason I have been completely and utterly consumed of late. No wit, no humor, no anecdotes or tales of lust, love, loss, et al … So Monday Records can become the subject at hand. Happy. Be there. While in my spare time I have been finding ways of developing the new blog design program, I had to shelve it for the time being. Sad I know.

I should add that this started as my main blog, my launch pad for all other creativity and ingenuity in the blog-o-sphere but necessity rules and it has become an ugly shell and I hate  my recent blogs and I’m tired plus my spelling really sucks when I’m not happy.

I enjoyed Juno recently. I felt cool when they mentioned McSweeney’s. That is all.

Water Sale – 25K Damage at Monday Records

I’m going to hazard a medical analogy. If a flooded house is like a heart attack you survive then rising damp is like a growth you don’t notice until it smells… What the hell am I talking about? Well folks, Monday Records stores it’s CD stock under my house. Opanoni Stamps & Coins, EGBDF, Circle Just Keep Swimming and the Xmas Omas digi-packs and it would seem that over the past few months, they’ve slowly but surely been accumulating moisture, one micro-milliliter at a time and growing very, very slowly. The damage? About 1200 full length CD’s with a retail value of around $25,000. No, they weren’t insured. As if it wasn’t hard enough running an indie label! [long exhale]…

I’ve heard the term fire sale a million times. Signs in windows, ads in the paper, flyers. At least once a month somewhere or other someone is having a fire sale. I always thought it just meant ‘super-urgent-we’re-going-broke’ sale. But no, it actually means ‘we’ve-just-had-a-fire-and-everything-is-shit-or-smells-or-both-so-come-buy-it-cheap’ sale. Wow! I’m so glad I finally worked that one out. Funny how there are all these little bits of info that for one reason or another you never quite learn. Your paths, your millions of decisions in the hundreds of days you’ve been alive have collectively avoided teaching you that one little thing. The meaning of a word, the capital city of a really important country, a person famous for something very important and then less obvious things like a certain author or book, an artist or musician and things like the fire sale. You can’t know it all, but you certainly do come across people from time to time who seem to know a hell of a lot. I have personally never met someone who explained the term fire sale or more importantly rising damp.

Enter my free water sale. For the next few weeks we’ll be putting piles of water logged CD’s out the front of 29 Liberty St Enmore for people to come along and rescue. I think the CD’s inside are okay but I can’t be sure. I can’t really bring myself to open them up. Swing past anytime.

The picture I included is of a pile of about 150 copies of Xmas Omas. They’ve melted into each other and become one large gluey digi-pack brick. I’m trying to eat it to absorb it’s energy and become a superhero.

Anna Ballantine

We’re lucky enough to have found a new helper friend by way of one Anna Ballantine. If there’s one thing I hate more than paying taxes it’s booking gigs. I had this chat with a friend once about people who have it made and get tax returns when they do their tax returns. Yes that does make sense; read it twice. Actually, they’re not called tax returns at all. They’re called Tax Assessments! The language changed because most people who’s bosses are collecting taxes on their behalf actually get a ‘return’ come tax time. The new GST system meant that bosses could now sub contract instead of employing and although this was in effect turning a million working into micro businesses, so few of them actually saw it that way. What does any of this have to do with Monday Records’ newest recruit? Nothing, well except that she doesn’t get paid very much. We do things old school around here. So welcome Anna with warm and open arms. Anna loves new music, design and all things creative so we’re sure we’re giong to get on just fine!

Uke Chords

I’ve owned a Jim Williams Uke for about two years and can probably pull three chords off it. I love this thing. The look, feel and tone are all amazing. I decided last week that list item 42 – PRINT A UKE CHORD CHART – was well overdue. It’s now on my wall and all I’ve to do is sit and play… I do have a lot to say about the ukelele so please consider this post open.

Yellow Sky

About four weeks ago I proposed a creative project between myself and two other Circle band members (Dan and Richard). The idea was to launch a digital three track micro EP around the concept of passing a track between us; several times if need be. The subtle and not so subtle limitations* would be the cornerstone to some very tasty results. That was the idea anyway. I’ve rarely worked with other people’s material and did not foresee being drawn in to the emotional landscape of the work in such a way. Being a producer or engineer of other people’s material is not so different from designing a postcard or catalogue for someone, something I did for many years at work… Yet somehow it feels different. I’m coming up with theories and notions and I’m not sure how real they are or how relevant they are. A song, is an idea. It’s looking for a home. A producer’s role to find it’s home. Bricks, pickets, garden, trees. In order to do that should one be void of all connections or completely immersed in the needs, wants and desires? I was accused recently of not giving the music the same treatment and opportunities I gave my business. I am often found accusing DPM staff of not being connected emotionally or intuitively enough to the work in the building. Enough said. Except that the track I’m working on is called Yellow Sky. It’s way off yet but she did finally reveal herself this evening. Those are the moments I wait for all my life.

*while Richard and I have DAWs, Dan has a glorious 4 track.

Zero Zero One One

Slowly but surely something is emerging from the creative musical vault (or maybe it’s more like a jack-in-the-box). Whether or not a blue print really exists I’m not sure that I can say. But today it doesn’t really matter because I hit a brick wall and maybe only scratched the mortar. Some subconscious ideas came to the fore like a name and a subject matter. Zero Zero One One or 0011 is where I’m starting. I’m almost certain that a finished product is at least a year away unless I go down the route of singles. I’d like a visual diary to be a part of the album’s blog life cycle. Will give that some thought.

Mistakist

I introduced myself to the term mistakist recently. Anyone who’s seen Gummo will be familiar with the work of Harmony Korine (check out Trash Humpers if you can). He’s the boy that seems to have coined the term although it’s also used in conjuction with Japanese artists / director Nagi Noda and several others. EGBDF was an act of true mistakism and coined for me the term accidently on purpose. I think they’re two sides of the same coin because when you sit down and play along to track that you’re playing backward in order to fill a particular range of ambience and atmospherics only to flip the entire track again so that your take’s final imposition is reversed, there is absolutely no way of knowing or planning for the results. Some of the most magical musical moments happen exactly like that. So far I haven’t been able to extend upon that into the realm of collaboration but really look forward to it and while my thoughts bend toward a more celebratory record, I can’t stop thinking about the magic of mistakes. Time to fire up those tubes and get back into the studio.

The Science of Albums

I may have mentioned that a new album is bubbling under the proverbial hood. It’s probably ridiculous and really premature to be talking about a new piece of art before the most recent* is even out there. However such is the path of the artist that the old is so old before it’s even finished that you can’t wait to get to the next piece because of what you’ve learnt during the making of the last piece. It’s true for everyone whether or not they put it that it. The next record is going to be darker. Without losing any of that pop sensibility we can barely avoid, it’s going to have less words and more space for the music. This revelation has come through the last few months worth of live reinterpretations that I’ve been doing. It’s so much harder not to play but now I’m hooked on it and want to extend that process on an entire record. There are already more than enough songs but the songs aren’t quite right and neither is the subject matter completely in focus. I want this album to be like a very shallow depth of field: you can still see and feel everything else however the focus is contained in that cell and furthermore contained in that frame. The cell being the focal point and the frame being the landscape in which it’s set. Xmas Omas hinted strongly at these possibilities and to a certain extent they were realised but in a overly conceptualized manner. I think I had to over compensate in order to make that breakthrough.

Furthermore, in the spirit of working in blocks and expanding the format I can easily see the everyday radi blog being taken over for a spell in the name of the new album’s blog. Every record ever made needs to be documented in more ways than just the finished product. This will do very nicely. More later.

*That would be our album Molasses Sandwiches. We tried to secure a local distributor but I think I’ve pretty much exhausted all the local relationships. We’re not a band that sells records yet so no one really gives a shit. I wouldn’t either.

Next Clip

Like attracts like and in this vein of thought a positive response to a creative endeavor means you really want to do it again. You should do it again! And so… my thoughts now turn to the next Circle video. People really seem to like the clip we did for Into the Sun. Go figure! Utilizing the amazing resources of the DPM Creative Group crew means I can expand on what I thought was possible. I’m thinking simple framed shots with better lighting, colour this time and shorter lengths. The Suffocating delay is a worthy candidate because I already have Geoffrey Legge on tape introducing the song! This will need some sketch book time. Sorry, not much of a blog entry.

Into the Sun

I’m not sure how hard a hard working band works. But Circle are a hard working band. I should know. There are lots of really cool things outside of being famous that being famous lets you do as a musician. The one I’m interested in today is that it allows you to play your music music. Heck, sometimes you even get paid for it! We stretch ourselves to a point beyond imagination to get in just a few rehearsals a month and then work to the point of sheer exhaustion and demoralization to scratch at the barrel of getting a few gigs to play. I’m not sure that we’d have it any other way. Here’s our latest video: Into the Sun.

Bondi Rescue Sync

Circle secured a sync on Bondi Rescue tonight which I’d really like to make an announcement of. It was impossibly difficult and at the same time happened so naturally and had nothing to do with me. Tune in at 8pm EST.

Lost Greyhound Video Teaser

How long do you think a teaser for a 2 minute video clip should be? Well, we figured 25 seconds was about right. Hope you enjoy it. The official single release date is May 12, 2010. For more info and tunes please visit us at www.myspace.com/girlisthenewboy or www.mondayrecords.com

Girl is the New Boy

Lost Greyhound

About 12 months ago we advertised for a new female singer for our band Circle. It really was an amazing experience full of laugh, cry and die moments (think Idol outtakes but much, much worse). We met Iny (who eventually recorded Xmas Omas with us but we also met Sarah Bird. Sarah’s pretty special and her voice… is even more special. We spoke and both realised that she wasn’t quite right for the band. But I wanted to record her. She agreed.

Leading up to the auditions I wrote a song that I thought would be perfect for the girls to learn quickly and be able to sing on the day. Something short and sweet. That song was Lost Greyhound and the idea for Girl is the New Boy was born that afternoon. Nearly 12 months on, I can honestly say that these are some of the best recordings I’ve made.

Girl is the New Boy is kind of a concept as opposed to a band and although I plan to release an EP in May, I’m not sure if it will only be Sarah’s voice (Sarah and I recorded 5 songs together), or whether I’ll extend on the idea and invite other female artists to sing my tunes. Who knows, it might end up being a triple album!

Anyway, here’s the first single Lost Greyhound. I hope you all enjoy it.

BTW this is kind of a soft release and we are taking it in to radio in the next few days and we’ll also be launching a clip for the single next month.

Everyone Keeps Leaving my Band

Everyone Keeps Leaving

Every now and again there’s a small song in my heart and it just needs to get out. Today, it felt like everyone just keeps leaving. I’m sure it’s only to make space for the people that are on their way but it doesn’t make it any easier. Anyway, so here’s a new track that not many people will hear. I think you can click on the link above and have a listen.

Bricks – Part One

The crazy cats at Monday Records decided to make a home video about John Bond and the gigantic brick fence that was going up across the road. Set to the music of Circle’s track Henry James it’s probably as boring as a 3 minute doco could possibly get. You should watch it a few times though, it starts to grow on you. This track is also worth a listen in its own right. The best place is probably on Soundcloud where you can also download it free.

Molasses Sandwiches Pt 2 or Album Number 5 or 4 or 3 or 2

Today Dan and I sat down and played our album Molasses Sandwiches from start to finish (almost) uninterrupted. It was mastered yesterday so it was a pretty big deal to sit down and have a proper listen. Unfortunately it was too early for beer but that’s okay. What’s really interesting about this record for us is that these songs are actually nearly two years old. I know it’s not uncommon for an album to sometimes hang around for a year and half before it’s released* but we actually released an EP** of even newer material in December which does make it a little weird. There’s a relatively new line up and a whole heap of other things going on which make this release*** the most bizarre to date. The good news is that the tracks still sound fucking awesome. And as Dan so eloquently put it, there are moments in nearly every song. I happen to agree with young Daniel on that one.

As we contemplate our futures as musicians and media moguls I can’t help but be struck by the simple recurring themes in our work, the soft undertones of sarcasm and humor (designed purely for our own amusement of course), but also how much actually went into this baby both emotionally and creatively despite the fact that each song was written and recorded in a day.****

Maybe an album is a bit like a good wine? Store it well, keep it on the down low… Maybe we should hang onto it for a few more years Dan?

* Don’t listen to me. I don’t actually think that happens all that often.

** Google Xmas Omas

*** I use the term release loosely folks. Despite the fact that these are awesome tunes with a great mix and now mastered, we don’t know how we’re releasing this baby yet.

****For those who don’t know, these tunes are from Circle’s 2008 Song a Week project. Yes, there are many B sides!

 

Worthy links and so forth include but are not limited to: logo development : logo design : graphic design sydney : logo and brand development : circle : circle band : sydney band : australian band : recording studio : sydney studio

Molasses Sandwiches

At long last Molasses Sandwiches is officially mastered…

Worthy links and so forth include but are not limited to: logo development : logo design : graphic design sydney : logo and brand development : circle : circle band : sydney band : australian band : recording studio : sydney studio

Monday Records

This here is the Monday Records logo. We also have a Monday Records van. Some of you inner west types may have seen it out and about before 7pm. My significant other has hit the van three times and on the third time the logo was scratched. Lucky the van has two sides and therefore two logos. We’re working on a Monday Records website to go with our lovely logo and van. From there, maybe music will eventually follow.

Worthy links and so forth include but are not limited to: logo development : logo design : graphic design sydney : logo and brand development : circle : circle band : sydney band : australian band : recording studio : sydney studio