Ben at Sydney Guitar Setups refurbed the Maton, said it was one of the nicer sounding one's he has heard. More tellingly, Anthony said not to let 'your monkey-boy guitarists touch it'.
As a Harp player, this instrument has more sentimental value than practical use value for me, but all the String Players who have picked it up have remarked on the tonal quality of the instrument.
It's not a super expensive guitar, now, or back then when it was new, but it has a flavour and that's kind of cool. Here's Mr Wizard trying it out. The overtones and lingering harmonics are impressive.
Howdy Folks. It's one of my fave times of Sydney Year. Autumn and the vivid Festival.
We're celebrating by turning YOU into the lights. Local facepaint artist Betty will be joining us to paint Human Art in UV colours and we'll rig up some UV lighting.
PLUS we have special guests Hairpin Culvert and Ms Jo Fitzgerald is joining us! Hurrah!
We're doing this because we're into it. Come join us! We'l test new songs, you can get your warpaint on and dance or chill.
Bill opened the box of 'Stems' for SC8. Contents not quite as advertised.
Fundamentally we have a sonic problem with part of the production chain for these SC8 recordings. It's still fixable but boy it's more work than we'd hoped. Or we can just release it as it is. Meh. Such choices.
Meanwhile, perhaps more importantly, work continues on writing for SC9.
As does testing and rehearsal
Last night saw us entertain yet another 'oddity'.
Long time Cellar Dweller Ms. H commented that she wanted to hear more 'surprising' stuff from us. She likes the weird ones.
Mr Wizard, upon hearing the new song, decreed that we had met that objective.
I know how much of a mirror of our surroundings we are.
Driving down the freeways listening to each others play lists and arguing about it, swapping you tube clips, seeing and playing with other bands. Somehow we've managed to channel Bills love of complexity into a few new songs that are even more complex than Mr Wizards natural inclination.
Bill got me into this stuff. It's a remarkable mix of Digital Scrubbing/Dub Step/Ambient Electronica/Power Rock Metal/omg. The complexity is high and its not for the faint of heart.
Now don't fash yourself, we haven't completely lost our tiny little minds, but I already played Harp on Devine Electric's hard rock song and my mate Gray did some Harp on a Metal track so I want in on that action too! Yep, warned ya a few posts back.
You cant help but be influenced by your surroundings, that what most of our stuff has been about :-)
So this got me to thinking about the arc of what I realize is really a three part project. We've now spanned Tamworth (The Flood) to Bloomington (Bloomington) to Lenexa Kansas (Push Me Away) back to Indianapolis for the next recording.
Stylistically we've covered a lot of ground over the last two recordings, from the identifiable to the..the...whatever.
We're so busted for being Trans-genre I wondered just how much we can push it before we disappear up our own fundament.
Ok that sounded weird but what I meant was...
The writing and testing continues. Come to a show you'll find the live testing lab in full swing.
This is Dad's old guitar. He bought it 40 years ago, would have been a mid range guitar back in the day.
It's sat in the closet for almost two decades. Sam thought it had some issues.
Mr Wizard picked it up, risked snapping the strings by tuning it and then played a bit. of 'Rise' and a few other bits and pieces, settling into a song I thought must have been by Tom Petty. After he'd finished playing it, I asked what song that was. he said he didn't know, that had just come out.
Ok, so that happened.
Even freakin' better I had my freakin' iPhone recording going. yeah baby. I got it and I like it.
Any day you get a new song from an old instrument is a good day.
Well there's a random surprise: a radio (eRadio? ... is that a thing?) show called The Inside Noise Show have chosen us as their band of the week ... referencing our bluegrass phase (it's like Picasso's famed Blue Period ... but perhaps more angular) ... you know like this:
Oh dear. I spent yesterday doing some Significant Life Stuff, taking care of family stuff that was pretty heavy duty.
I'm more confessional within the lyrics than on the blog, even when I don't mean to be, so you'll just have to interpret a song or two to figure out what I'm up to.
Anyway, after dealing with some Heavy Stuff I got home and found a package awaiting me, all the way from KC.
It contains more files from our KC recordings and I haven't been game to open it.
Just when I thought i was out...
There's a great album somewhere in these recordings, but I had promised myself I was off the hook for having to find it.
My last response on the subject had been...PEACE!
Now I have to put on my big boy trousers and return to the subject. Or not.
As fans of Greek Mythology will tell you, sometimes you shouldn't open the box.
Regular 'Cellar Dwellers may be familiar with what I call 'MJEB's Law of Ironic Likelihood'
To whit: 'In any choice from multiple options, the one with the greatest irony or amusement is the likeliest outcome'.
I also have a lesser known 'MJEB's 2nd law of Sphincter Irritation' which is 'in any case of MJEB's first law directly involving MJEB, the outcome that causes the most amusing tantrum from MJEB is more likely.'
(sigh). The funny thing (meta irony?) is that I do find it amusing. Meh.
