Since we arrived home from touring we have somewhat secluded ourselves. There are many a friend and family member that we wished we could catch up with and spend time with. To do nothing at all with. But somehow time has been more elusive than ever.... More stretched and more etched into the forefront of our consciousness.... And, for now, we cant shake it!
The need to write, the need to create is here and it is now but... It is also a strangely difficult balance with this every day life. (Though I am determined to master it!) So I sit here in my studio and chip away and chip away, sometimes the river flows and sometimes the damn holds strong, but always hoping that soon enough we have something new to unveil to this great big world!
Tonight the river has been flowing. I have been working away at home in my little studio with Damian working on some brand new tracks including an absolutely beautiful song brought to us by him. A song that we call "human condition"! I cant wait till we finish it!
I should get back to it now... Its been a while since I last wrote but there you go. Sometimes it ebbs and sometimes it flows!
Sadly, the end of the tour has arrived. At times it seemed like it would never end, in a good way, only to sneak up on us quite suddenly. To see and experience London and the UK in summer has been a treat in itself. The memories of hotel rooms, train journeys and venues will melt into a bit of a blur over time, but we hold on to the memories of great shows, the wonderful people we’ve met, and the amazing places that we’ve visited, however briefly. Our last show was really special, even with Nick breaking two strings mid-set, we managed to get by without resorting to bad new-funk jams, and finish the tour on a high. It's a shame that these things ever have to end, but we look forward to the rest of the year, with a single launch, supporting Powderfinger, and spending time writing for the next album. We can look forward to our next visit to the northern side of the equator, with the knowledge that it will be bigger and better than ever.
A big shout out to all of you that made this tour possible and very memorable. The familiar faces in the crowd that came to support us time and time again (you know who you are! the English, the Spanish, the Australian and the French!) Thank you! Team Blackchords, Mark, Chrissie, Dust Devil & Sasufi! Emms PR, Sue Buckler, Eileen, Gavin, Gaz, Jacqui & Harriet Caroline, Mike, Rachel, Marky, Darren & Sarina (We would be cold & homeless without you!) OZ Council, Sounds Australia, and Stage Mothers! And everybody else that has been an integral part of making Blackchords
From a sunny London morning I voyage alone on the train.Away from the blue skies and the angular walls of central London, into countryside of rolling hills, stone mansions covered in chemically charged green climbing ivy and set against a depressingly dense grey sky.
A misty rain, that looks as though it set in forever ago, hangs between the carriage windows and the horizon slightly distorting the scenery and giving me the desire to rug up and to sit by a lit fire. Not today…
I’m on my way to Sheffield, a city I know virtually nothing about, where tonight we will be playing the Forum. I should be travelling alongside the band, but due to a mixture of losing time, road works and a delayed train I am here by myself. I made it to St Pancras Station this morning puffing and panting rudely and frantically pushing my way past people on the escalators, juggling my guitar and rucksack just in time to watch our train slowly pull away from the platform sans the singer… It’s our last gig outside of London and the beginning of our last week of the U.K tour. It feels as if the end of the tour brings about the end of another chapter. The past 12months has seen us playing many gigs, being on the road and becoming a live band. It has brought us invaluable experience, incredible moments and of course the harsh blows that reality can often dish out. We’ve also been lucky enough to play alongside some great and inspiring musicians and groups including The Church, Tim Rogers, White Rabbits, Dappled Cities, The Wagons, and Jordie Lane.
The return home to Melbourne will be a time to bring out new dimensions. We will be promoting a track “As Night Falls” which was written for “Blame” an Australian feature film which premiers this July. Shortly after we will be taking some time away to begin work on new material for the second Blackchords album. And a very happily accepted invitation to Join Powderfinger and Jet in Powderfinger’s last ever Melbourne show at the end October at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. You can watch our announcement video here.
I know that we have a lot on our plate and a lot ahead of us. The good and the bad, it’s all part of it and I look forward to it.
Travelling through the busy London streets in our Tour bus #63 which looks identical to the big red double decker buses they use for public transport!
Sitting upstairs clinging on for dear life at the front while the bus roars full steam ahead into a narrow funnel of traffic which (I am so sure) we wont fit through!
It reminds me that a week ago I saw the aftermath of terrible road accident where they had cut the roof off one of the cars…. Probably, because some bus driver drove at 50MPH into a gap in the traffic that he was never going to fit into!
I take a deep breath and try and focus on something else…. A beautiful field, with angels feeding me gooseberries…. (whatever the fuck they are?)
This wasn’t exactly how imagined this blog to turn out … But hey?
There has been soo much going on in this tour and in a way I haven’t had a chanceto(or maybe its that I haven’t let myself) step out of it and think about everything that we are doing… Switching off for a while and bringing myself back into the present. It’ll come in time but not today.
We have spent quite a bit of time, travelling. Either crossing the country or just crossing the city. It’s a time I spend scribbling in my note book, thinking about the next thing to come or watching strange interactions (or lack of) between strangers on the street or in the underground..
Its also a time and space when I usually join the millions and plug myself into an mp3 player to get away.
This tour, as all good tours, has been accompanied by a soundtrack. A hand full of albums that I have been listening to on constant repeat. My new favourite right now would have to be Heligoland by Massive Attack. I was walking through the National Portrait gallery when I first put it on and it blew my mind, took me away and wrapped me in its incredible sound scape. I’ve also had revisit from my old hi school days with the best of blur…. I’d forgotten how much I dug them when I was a gangly teen!
Anyways I wanted to make a mix tape and share it with youall…. But I don’t have a tape recorder and nor do I know anyone who has one…. So as nostalgic as that may be physically make a mix tape…. I wont. Because that would be totally useless!
Instead here is picture of what it would look like
Its been a whirlwind of a month since coming to the U.K, with some incredible gigs and moments, hauling our equipment up and down Britain’s train lines and cobbled streets. It began with a trip to Brighton and the Great Escape Festival, sharing the stage with some brilliant fellow Australian bands, including Teenagers In Tokyo and Dappled Cities and some incredible international acts most notably White Rabbits who blew our minds.
Following Brighton came our trip to Liverpool for the Sound City festival and a particularly special acoustic showcase in the John Lennon suite at the Hard Days Night Hotel. We couldn’t pass the chance to jump on the white Grand Piano and try out some new tracks and a cover of Lennon’s Working Class Hero.
Last week we traveled to Birmingham to play a show with the epic Rogue States and work on a demo with producer Gavin Monaghan, known for his work with Editors. This is a track we have been playing live since our arrival in the UK. So it was great to finally record it. We are all excited by the results, definitely a creative departure for us, which will be carried forward on to the next album.
This week has started with a bang with our new single ‘Pretty Little Thing’ officially released and picking up airplay across the country. Today we found out the single has been featured on industry newsletter ‘Record of the Day.’ Tomorrow Friday 18th we headline The Barfly in Camden, (It’s after the football don’t worry!) one of the biggest shows of the tour to date and a great place to launch the single. To celebrate and thank everyone for their support we are going to be giving away two FREE digital downloads including ‘Pretty Little Thing’ and previously unreleased track ‘No Complaints’. If you can’t make the show don’t worry from next week we will also be giving these tracks away to our friends on Facebook and Myspace.
The second half of the tour is already looking busy and no doubt there will be many more adventures and stories. We have more shows in London before heading down to Exeter for a gig in late July. We look forward to meeting you.
So on the eve of ANZAC day comes the realization that this time last year the band and all associated were working feverishly to bring the Australian release of "Blackchords" to the Gershwin room at the Esplanade Hotel . Today a year later Nick is recording with our past producer Nick Batterham on a song for an upcoming feature film to be premiered in July at the Melbourne International Film Festival. I was sitting there the other night with the piano being recorded in the kitchen, echoing through the house.. feeling privileged to be a part of this experience.
We're all still working feverishly for this band.. and its story has revealed people and moments that burn brightly in our creative minds. It good to know a year after our debut release.. these people and moments are widening to across the world. It is one of the most rewarding things I've experienced, to create with a family of musicians and friends whose talents work together as the sum of an awesome whole. It's also just 2 weeks to go until we pack our cases and pile onto a plane heading for our next U.K tour. This, none of us can wait for, cause we know it is another stepping stone along the long journey onwards and upwards for the band and another great experience for a life we want to live. We want to celebrate with you all, but knowing that we have limited time left and a pile of things to do so we thought we'd double up a gig on Wednesday May 5 at the workers club in Fitzroy, Victoria with some drinks and a catch up. So if you are free that night come down for one last show!
....And the countdown to the U.K. is on! If I was told this time last year before the album launch that we would be heading over for the second time to europe in a year it would seem the words of fiction. But alas the Great Escape and all the other gigs along the way will be filling our ears, eyes and minds in less than a month. After a short little 2 week break with the band we're back into rehearsals in which enthusiasm is the captain. It seems with every meeting with Milwright lately there is more new material and buzz in the air. Recently we've played some excellent gigs, with a bit more of an acoustic side with Tristan playing the Double Bass. The Grace Darling is an excellent bandroom that everyone in Melbourne should check out.. and the gig there went well with the venue really looking after us. We also played the 'Between the Bays' festival in Mornington to a great crowd, and Earth Hour, at the zoo, saw the lions roaring next to us as we played on the bill with Australian music legend Tim Rogers.
For me the experience of being in London with its History, Creativity and sheer size and diversity put me in a creative place both artistically and musically that I'd always strived and dreamed to get to. To be playing gigs again in the next few months in Camden and Brixton, and also to experience new places like Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester(most of my favourite bands came from there), I'm counting down the days to my ultimate life on the road.
So make sure those of you in the U.K keep in touch and check the gig listing as we'll be adding new U.K dates to it quite often. And those of you in OZ we have been invited to play 1 last show in the first week of may it is still TBA, but we will be post the confirmation on our facebook page in the next couple of days. Big thanks goes out to Mark and Chrissie as per usual for their hard work in making ideas realities, an everyone else involved in this bands evolution
Since we arrived home from touring we have somewhat secluded ourselves. There are many a friend and family member that we wished we could catch up with and spend time with. To do nothing at all with. But somehow time has been more elusive than ever.... More stretched and more etched into the forefront of our consciousness.... And, for now, we cant shake it! 
