I'll Take It!
Here we have my entry in the 2012 Baldarchy Prize , it's of Alan Jones Right Wing activist , rugbuy coach , 2GB broadcaster , I called it I'll Take IT , by that I meant the redesigned Wallabies outfit!! , It did not make the Final !
Here we have my entry in the 2012 Baldarchy Prize , it's of Alan Jones Right Wing activist , rugbuy coach , 2GB broadcaster , I called it I'll Take IT , by that I meant the redesigned Wallabies outfit!! , It did not make the Final !
Our first gig since Tamworth, this Saturday night at The Bald Rock Hotel, Mansfield St in Rozelle.
The following day we're off to record the next albu, so get in before we go!
Howdy Folks.
After recovering from our marathon Tamworth trip, what better way to relax than by...running around like a headless chook getting the next album recording sorted out.
Haven't I already sung 'Nobody's Fault But Mine?' on the blog. Oh well. 11 days between the tour date and recording date seemed like a much longer distance on paper.
So what's Happening?
Ok. In 6 days or so, we are packing up the troops, gear, leads, cables and mikes and once more heading off to a remote location...remote? Its not really that far. 4 hours down South from Sydney on on the beautiful Sapphire coast, where we have arranged a location to eat, sleep and work for a week whilst we record the next album, in between the Bald Rock and Oberon RSL gigs. No worries?
This last week has seen me spending time on spreadsheets, lists and diagrams, some of which I will start posting shortly, for the (dubious) benefit of other like minded DIY recording enthusiasts.
My advice? FLEE!!! Run for the hills! Hire that Big Name Producer! Accept the dodgy contract! Go into that shiny studio, with perfect reflection management, great sound absorption, air conditioning and a Foozeball table.
Or, if you are as barking, bat guano bonkers as I fear we might be, read on for what you can glean.
Recording Hired Guns & Borrowed Glory On Location
Our last series of recording adventures are detailed in the Album Blogs, go ahead and click on'em to see how we've made the other albums.
In particular, we had great success (and luck, outrageous, no-way-you'll-get-it-twice luck) with our recordings on the lawn in front of Burgoon for Carl's Chair.
On the Spacejunk EP, my favourite takes were the stuff done live to multitrack tape, on location at the Mangrove Mountain community hall. The atmospheric sound in the recordings is fantastic.
Ditto the stuff from Carl's Chair. If you listen to the album on headphones you can hear birds tweeting, the sound of the wind, the rain and all sorts of stuff thats woven into the fabric of the recording.
From my most recent blog on the subject, here are the objectives I listed:
1. Large room
2. Limited reflective surfaces (drum sound issue)
3. Nice environment (head space issue)
4. Location where the five of us, engineer, roadie and guitar tech (guitar tech??) can sleep
To that, we should add:
5. Acoustic Separation of instruments
6. Ability to play together (where possible)
Some of these objectives are mutually exclusive (?) or are best acheived using well designed, cleverly built studios. That's why they make'em.
However, there's something you can't quite get in a Studio. I dont know what to call it other than maybe, 'being there'.
The sound of Carl's Chair is of a band having a good week. Cold, hard, busy and hectic, but still a good week.
Putting the guys in the right head-space to get the performance is a more subtle and potentially dangerous art. This Is Not For The Faint Hearted.
So we chose to press our luck once more and try an on location recording.
After much chasing around, we found a location.
Here's what it looks like:
This space is around 100SQM.
Here's the proposed recording layout:
You can see that we've got the boys in the main room, with the amps in another room and me out on the porch.
In a way, this recording setup is a combination of the best ideas from Spacejunk and Carl's Chair.
Pete Doherty from Goose Studios will be engineering the session and he's keen on getting Acoustic Separation.
Theo (Drums) is keen on getting a good vibe by playing in the same space.
Geoff C (engineer of Carl's Chair and Patron Saint of the band) says we are a live act and we should try to keep that vibe in the recordings.
Carl's Chair was pretty much a live recording, with a few vocal exceptions (I fixed my stuff ups, I happily admit it), some re-tracking of the Bass, some guitar overdubs for the additional embellishments (slide on Company of a Friend for example) and some backing vocal additions. The rest is pretty much as you had it, there on the porch (or the lawn)
The principal recording for Carl's Chair was done in 4.5 elapsed days, with probably only 5 hours usable on any given day due to light and the winter weather (outside is chilly).
This time we're inside, but we're not as focused on this as a 'Live' album, so we're multitracking and want enough separation between the instruments to allow them to be messed with. On Carl's chair we couldn't alter the individual channels too much because there was spill - that's ok, that what we wanted, but it reduces your ability to treat the sound, as changing the sound of a guitar track starts to effect the sound of the drums, as you have a little of the drums in each instrument channel (those noisy things) due to the proximity of the open instrument mikes.
For this session, we're looking at moving the guitar amps outside the room and running a monitoring source back to the band, as well as shielding the vocals either by doing a Guide take and then repeating the vocal without the band, or by moving it outside.
One of the tricks we're looking at is worth sharing for anyone else considering the same craziness.
I googled sound isolation for guitars and came across a few great threads on Gearsluts about other people have done it. I googled a little further and found DIY'er building small, portable sound isolation booths for guitars, here's a sample.
This is a fantastic looking effort put together by Mike Ralph.
http://www.amptone.com/diyisobox.htm
Props to Mike and also to all the folk that take the time and effort to blog this stuff.
Building our version of a Sound Isolation Box for the Guitar Amps
As we've just come off tour, our finances are pretty tight so we cant go for the cool acoustic foam stuff etc (sigh), but I still need to try and get what I can done.
I started looking around for the materials and found out that to make a single 1m3 cabinet it would cost me $300 in parts (MDF/chipboard, sealant, glue, fabric, staples, soundproofing foam etc), so I started looking for an alternative that fit my (low) budget.
Aha! Shipping crates used for transporting computer server racks! The Ute cost me more to hire than these three boxes. Jeez they were heavy (70Kg), Mr Wizard and I struggled under the dang things.
Unfortunately, they differed a little from the Ebay description, but with a trusty friend (Vicki) wielding a router, I think we can whip something into shape.
Once again, this could be good, or bad. I wont be using Foam as it costs too much, as I need 1 per guitar + a vocal booth, and my rough calcs put it at 15-17 Square Metres of building materials, so I am opting for Earthwool, a woolen fibre insulation that's rated for acoustic dampening.
I have three days left to get these built, with no guarantee that it'll work.
However, good, bad or indifferent, I'll post the results.
meanwhile, it's time to go measure'em up and call Vicki.
More soon!
MJEB
And now the last, brief instalment of the Tour Blog.
Day 11 - Final Gig
Our final show was an evening gig at The Albert, the final act of a big week.
During Scruff of your Neck, which features a line about a country girl coming to a city bar to dance, we had a local girl decide to try a bit of pole dancing around a support column :-)
I also managed to catch another bit of Mr Rix's bass solo during the same song
And a little bit of Mr Wizard on slide guitar
As the night wore on, those people who weren't at the awards ceremony started to filter in, which led to much dancing
We'd divided out set into two sections and dropped out all the gentle songs for this last gig, much as we did on Wednesday, which led me to worry about how long we were going to run for, so I kept a weather eye on the time and as we reached the last 10 minutes I knew there was only one thing left to do; The Boogie.
Our record for the Boogie is 16 minutes and we're hoping eventually for a full 30 minutes, but it was important that we ended our set at the appropriate time to allow the next band to setup (treat other bands how you wish ot be treated yourself).
That was another big night, but thankfully, not quite as loud as the Wednesday and once again, the boys delivered a good, solid performance to an enthusiastic crowd.
Thanks to Gasman for bringing back our plate, Eli for the kind words, the Macon Belles, Ben, Elsa and Louise and all the folks that came to hang out with us for the evening.
After the gig, we were not able to collapse as it was time to head back to the house and pack the gear as Theo and Mr Rix had another gig the next day and needed to proceed early, which they did. Guess who got to sweep the floor and do the laundry at the house before we left? Hmmm.....
Day 12 - Homeward Bound
The Cleaning crew finally departed mid morning for a run home, only to find that the council responsible for the roads down the highway had decided that the busiest traffic day of the year was the right time to shut half the highway off for roadworks.
At least we were'nt in a hurry.
After a long and slightly slow journey home, we arrived exhausted, played out and ready for sleep. the only thing that remained was....the blogging! ARGH!!
Summary
What a great week of playing, only made better by some excellent company. We are indebted to Jo for coming along and making the Wests gigs such a special event.
We could not do this without the help and support of so many people, and our thanks and gratitude go out to Carolyn, Bernie, Val, Kramer, Gasman, Elsa, Louise, Stuart, Grizz, Peter, and all the folks that spent some time up there with us, especially considering how many great acts were playing around town, we were privileged to have such a wonderful turn out to our gigs.
Now we can take a well deserved rest for...hang on....whats that? We're off to record the next album in 10 days? Noooooooo!!!!
:-)
Now where were we?
Day 8
Jo headed home in the morning leaving us glad to have had her company but sad to see her go. Having her along made the trip very special for us folks that like harmony sounds :-)
Our next gig was the late night session at the Albert hotel. The boys were itching to play something electric by this stage, Rosie was even looking forward to Help Me and a 24 bar guitar solo.
But before we could get there, it was time for lunch, and having marinated Lamb overnight in Theo's Red Wine (with Theo looking around going WTF happened to my wine), I realised we needed a barbie. Cooking this on the stove top would have been sacrilege.
Enter the worlds smallest (and cheapest) Hibachi!
Having spent $25 on it I was too cheap to buy firelighters and opted for paper. When I brought the thing home, the boys cheerfully pointed out the error of my thinking and went off in search of the correct way of lighting coals. It was worth the extra effort.
We enjoyed lunch with DJ Grizz, who popped in for Lamb, Couscous and fresh Hummus. Mr Wizard has suggested that we release a cookbook instead of an album. There could be something to that...
Nonetheless, we are not here to cook, although thanks to Costco, Aldi and Moree Meats, we ate rather well and I did receive a Thankyou Card from Mr Wizards Colon, ( Take the Stormcellar Fibre Challenge!), we are here to Rock. (hahaha, I cant even type that with a straight face)
That night we headed into the Albert for the 11pm show, where we planned on playing none of that nice stuff with harmonies in it.
As it was Australia Day Eve, the crowd had already started celebrating and we caught a few minutes of the band.
Meanwhile, out in the street, the boys were getting their stuff together for the gig.
I should make mention of Theo's very happy acquisition. After 28 years of playing the same Brady Snare, Theo picked up a brand new custom Brady dove tailed bamboo-wood snare drum, and this was his first chance to use it, no wonder he's so happy.
While I was standing watch over the gear, I took a couple of snaps of folks wandering along peel st.
I think the Steve Edmonds band was playing across the Street and they were rocking it out.
The it was time for us to go do our late night, all electric, no sweet song gig.
How'd we go?
On more familiar ground, I got some footage of a few moments of the gig:
Mid set, Ben from The Swampers was inspired to give me his Hat, which I was almost reluctant to return, as apparently it was 'Country Couture' :-)
How did Theo go with his new snare? Now I film whenever I can put the harps down and am not required to start singing, so I often get a lot of the boys solos etc, but even after a few years of filming Theo, I am still amazed. Check this out.
OMG.
Not to be outdone, Mike 'Redline Rix' took on the Been-Eating-Beans-All-Week Challenge and, well..
As this was the 11pm slot, we were performing as the clock rolled around to Australia day and the folks were definitely celebrating.
We should also send out a big thanks to Steve and Bernie, who stuck around for an extra day at the Festival just to come to the late night set. Cheers guys, and a shout out to Gasman for doing the Praying To The Lord dance :-)
We were also introduced to some more Southern Belles, including some all the way from Macon, Georgia.
The chap running the sound desk for the evening, who shall only be known by his nickname 'fatman' was enthusiastic to say the least.
To say more, my ears were still ringing from the on stage sound two days later. I may have evidenced a certain grumpiness after the gig due to the fact the sound was so loud they could hear us in other dimensions, but c'est la vie. What? Can you speak up?
After a frenetic, loud and fast paced set, we limped home to recover in time for the next days gig at 2pm.
Day 9...Australia Day .....What?....WHAT?
After a big night, Paul and I headed into town for a quick Radio Spot on Festival FM. Thanks John!
John managed to coax answers from us despite the fact that I felt like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer after the previous gig - and that's after drinking nothing but water and cola...
Luckily, this was in walking distance of the Albert, so duly, off we went for an Australia Day Afternoon gig at the Albert.
As we entered the car park, one of the Security Staff approached and bade me good day, shaking my hand.
'Eh Bro' he said. 'Good set last night'
'Thanks mate" I replied.
He nodded. 'yeah mate, had to replace 5 windows'
Me: 'Huh?" (thinking -'wtf', followed by 'Oh #^&$ are we gonna have to pay a glazing bill?)
'Yeah mate, blew out 5 on the 2nd floor. Glazier said they was too dangerous to leave, ahd to get them replaced this morning'
Me: 'Huh? 2nd floor?' (thinking "I knew it was loud, but that loud? Holy Crap!)
'Yeah' he nodded. 'Good show, but."
Ye Gods.
Fortunately, I was distracted by the excellent sounds coming from the marquee and promptly stopped worrying about calling O'briens Glass.
Wandering inside we caught the last set of Den Hanrahan in the Marquee at the Albert.
One of the great things about doing this stuff is the chance to see great music from other bands, and I loved Den's set. I video'd few moments so you can hear what he sounds like.
As Den finished and cleared stage, we got our stuff together and went up.
Whilst the boys were setting up, I took a couple of snaps some Country Gig Posters :-)
Just before we started our set, there was a noticeable change in the weather.
Typical Bloody Stormcellar Weather! It's almost like clockwork!
Meanwhile, Theo was hurriedly setting up his kit, including the New Brady Snare (drummer drool time)
You can see the dovetailed pieces of bamboo in the construction.
Better get inside guys...here comes the weather
We had a new soundo for the gig, as I think the last guy must have spontaneously combusted after the bass drum mike hit once too often the night before. Cheers Daniel!
As the weather closed in and we were awaiting the final moment to step on stage, I got a great shot of Mike Rix.
As this was an afternoon gig after a Big Night, we started with some of the Material from Carl's Chair and then ramped it up as the afternoon progressed. We were also fortunate to be joined by Steve Passfield on Didgeridoo for a song during the last set, straight after his diggers breakfast and before another gig. 3 for the day? Now that's working hard!
We had some very special folks dancing along during the set , including a Mini-Rosie :-)
The Hay Bales are for the Australia Day Crab Race that we ended our set early to accommodate! Go you good thing.
The downside is that the Winners of the Crab race get eaten first! Being a champion is a tough business.
We had a rousing welcome, considering the Celebrations of the night before were starting to blend in with the celebrations of the current day :-) and a good set was had by all. I could even still feel my face after we finished! (what? Whaaaat??)
As we left, the Rattlesnakes were starting up with some Rockabilly and you just new it was going to be a big night...
Day 11
An 11am start time the day after Australia day...Hmm...Who can back up that quick?
The answer? Den Hanrahan! Stomping it out solo and barefoot in the front bar!
I wonder if it was a Big Night at the Albert...I wonder
But have no fear, the Albert have a solution for your day-after-the-night-before
So sad Poor crabs. Mmm... Crab...
Out the back, Theo had discovered what comes of too much playing...
'Let me go on, like a Blister on the Drum', to badly paraphrase Violent Femmes (aint I a card?)
For the early morning set we opted to start with all the gentle stuff sure to soothe a hung over head and lo and behold, we were visited by the fabulous Mr Michael 'Fettler' Kerin, who came up to play for the show.
Fettler was up for a Golden Guitar on Saturday night, I'll have to check to see whether he won.
Nonetheless, he ably lent his talents to the show, allowing Rosie and I to kick back and let him handle the solo's :-)
This now meant we had 4 Michael's onstage. We've asked Theo and Paul to change their names to Michael to keep it from getting confusing.
We also had our youngest dancing fan yet
By the end of the set, we were out of the Nice Songs so we asked the audience if they felt like hearing some of the Electric stuff and once again to our surprise, the answer was a resounding yes.
By the time we finished with the Boogie, things were just starting to heat up at the Albert as the Hair Of The Dog was providing great comfort to Day-After-Australia-Day revellers.
However, for the illustrious crew, we had another gig, this time a 2 song live set on radio 2TM.
We headed off down Peel St, where I heard at least 5 simultaneous versions of Johnny Cash's Burning Ring Of Fire.
Setting up in the outdoor stage thing.
We did two songs, Lucky Streak and the new one called (tentatively) Road Rise Up. Thanks to Kramer for the interview. I think Louise recorded it so when I get a copy I'll post a link.
This left us only with one more gig to do, an evening session on the Saturday night at the Albert.
But I'll leave that for the last and final blog of the tour, part 4!
As this blog is in Chronological order, go here to read part 1.
And now, after a sleep, financial reconciliation, album pre production phone calls and various other housekeeping duties, here's the 2nd part of the Tamworth Tour Blog!
Day 6
Ah, Day 6 and Breakfast. And what's on the menu? Hi Fibre Cereal. LOL
Mr Wizard had artfully arranged his hair for the morning. I gotta say, I like it, in a Robert Smith kind of way,
We decided to go in for another of Steve Passfields breakfast sessions at the Diggers, which is always a great show, as Steve does his own thing as well as inviting a whole host of guest muso's up for a spot. Rosie and I were particularly taken with the lyrics in a couple of the songs from his guests, and it may have inadvertently led to a new song of our own, but I'll keep that under wraps for the moment.
As we drove into the Diggers, I was chauffeured by the lovely Jo, which suits me just fine. As you may imagine, parking can be at a premium during the festival and I was amused by someones graffiti on the back of a VIP Parking sign :-)
You cant help but smile at the Parking attendant and mention it. Or, should you happen to be the gleefully malevolent person of your present interlocutor (ie: me), you might smile at the Parking Attendant and ask how long the hugs last for.
This will induce an immediate response from the now slightly-anxious young bloke manning the chair who will rush to assure you that No Hugs Are In the Offing, until he realises you're messing with him and grins.
Heh.
Now in a sign that Cafe Culture has spread far and wide, for those who travel to far flung places and are unhappy when the Soy Frappucino Machine is busted, please note that one of the advantages of Breakfast At The Diggers is...
Ahh...wake up and smell the Macchiato.
Mind you, I'm off the coffee, so this was purely an olfactory experience, enjoyed by our resident coffee fiends.
And so with Music in the background in the forecourt (oh, lovely alliteration eh?) thems what opted out from Fibre Plus (TM, 150% of your Fibre needs daily), chose the Country Brekkie..
We enjoyed the sunshine and songs and then retired to our gypsy encampment (ok, it was a house. Thank you Pete) to prepare for the nights gig in the Main Ballroom at the Diggers that night.
Smoky was telling'em whats what.
So to recap, we'd done two sessions int he Legends Bar, 1 in the Courtyard, 1 shopping centre gig.
The audiences were as variable as the venues and the time of day, as the Festival attracts a wide age range of attendees.
We had kept the sets mostly Acoustic, including some acoustic versions of the electric songs, such as 'Can't Tax Love', but for the evening sessions at the Ballroom we figured we'd start to introduce more electric material. Okie doke, ggood to go, lets have a look at the venue..
Yikes. That's a lot of (expletive deleted) chairs.
Here's me sounding a tad worried.
As a band that have done our fair share of Bar work, its a treat to see...
Dressing room? Ohh. Bloody Luxury.
Stage? Full lighting?
Now for some impressive muso reason, Mr Wizard is pointing at this thing. I think its an Amp. I think that's important somehow. If you figure it out, let Mr Wizard know. I am at a loss, but will behave as if suitably impressed Oh. A black box thing.
After that, its a ll a bit of a blur. No, I mean it.
The Lighting dude was enthusiastic. At one point I requested that he turn me over as I was done on that side. Here's what I got on the camera:
No, that's not the surface of the sun. Somewhere out there are People. Some where.
We had an enthusiastic audience who hooted and hollered (at least I think they were out there) and it put all the chaps (and Jo) in an excellent mood by the time we got back to base camp.
Cheers to Steve, Bernie, Val, and all the folks who came along.
Outside, my camera regained consciousness so I got an moment of Retro-Moderno Art Deco at the entrance to Diggers.
Day...whatever the heck is the day..Monday? Thursday? Is this Belgium?
Day 7
The next morning I was off in search of some condiment or other (yes e are a hard charging band that needs Fresh Garlic) and found that Tamworth, you can stand in line at the Supermarket and hear Guitar Legends whilst you shop. After exiting the checkout I stopped to hear a little of Phil Emmanuel playing to a big crowd.
That afternoon, we headed off early for the evening gig. I passed another knockout piece of signage, especially for a city feller like me.
Yep, that's right folks, $2 parking. I'd visit there just t pay that :-)
(sigh)
That night was our last gig at the Diggers, and our last with the lovely Jo Fitzgerald :-(
Boy can she sing.
And so, once more unto the stage as the boys did their setup.
And the artwork on the walls had its appeal.
We had a light crowd at the beginning of the evening, but as the last set rolled through, we suddenly had an influx which put me in a pickle. Do we just do our last few songs? These folks have just arrived.
With the agreement of the band, we went off the reservation, abandoned the set list (nooo!) and just asked them what they felt like hearing, which, surprisingly, turned out to be all the electric stuff!
We ended with Road Rise Up (I think..or was it Swamp Monster), either way, once again we completed our mission, took a long lingering glance at the Special Dressing Room...check the bathroom :-)
(Bravo, Bravo!)
we headed for home, knowing that our next gig was the late night session at the Albert the following evening.
The next day, Jo was due to leave, (bummer) so we enjoyed a last gig late night meal before turning in and awaiting our transition from Nice, Happy, Harmonious songs to the Dark Side as we prepared for the Albert Hotel gigs....
More to follow in Part 3.