Go here to listen to my interview with Silke at 95bFM. We talk about the recent E.P and touring the States, disagree about the ease with which strangers can be approached at local bus stops, and I play 2 tracks solo acoustic. See you next year!
Footage of Twin Insomniacs being performed in Wellington – shot by the delightful Brooke Singer (one half of French For Rabbits)
Had a great time with my bandmates Stu Harwood and Thomas Healy on the North Island leg of the tour. In an unprecented display of good will, the bartender at the Bay Bar and Brasserie in Acacia Bay got this bottle down from the top shelf for us once the punters had cleared out, and playing at Space Monster in Whanganui with The Blue Onesies was a blast.
Big thanks to Bryan at Bitter FM and Jack at Space Monster for showing us a great time!
Can’t wait for South Island shows. Pretty damn psyched to be at the Dunedin celebration of the new Haunties album too. Christchurch and Dunedin- it has been too long!
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See you there!
The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire – as asked by prolific local blogger Graham Reid.
Smithies vs. Hill - 2 prominent N.Z media personalities attempt to pronounce my surname and argue about The Right to Talk to Strangers.
Sunday Star Times - September 11, 2011 (click on the image for "readability" )
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You can now order physical copies of the new E.P,
The Right to Talk to Strangers, online from Amplifier - or if you’d prefer, you can just message me for a copy. A limited edition of 200 copies, many of which have already found homes in The States. The super-cool artwork was done by Vivien Masters, and it also has the added bonus of indulgent liner notes that I spent far too much time on. Some N.Z show dates coming ASAP! As always, you can name your price for the digital files on bancdamp, or if you’re that way inclined, let Apple name the price for you on iTunes. Righto – think that about covers it (for now).
Ps. Really excited for this movie to be in the works!
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Andrew Scott is Un Ciego
Helga Fassonaki is Yek Koo
( Andrew + Helga = Metal Rouge )
A house party in L.A performing with my generous L.A hosts was a great way to end my first U.S tour. I learnt a lot on my travels.
To wit:
- Pack as little as possible. This cannot be overstated. When you have an early flight a long time spent rearranging the increasingly futile logistics of your suitcase is simply not cool.
-Pedal chains seem to hate those power converters which allow you to plug your adaptor into a U.S socket . Use batteries.
-Just because you get a few drink tickets for some terrible lager on tap at the venue doesn’t mean you have to use them all just because it’s free. It may well be better “value” to not be hungover whilst waiting for the following morning’s delayed flight. (No offence intended to those people who actually consider PBR drinkable.)
- If a soundcheck is even remotely an option then bloody-well insist on one. Don’t let an apathetic sound guy talk you out of it. I let the dude behind the controls in San Fran talk me out of having one on the grounds that he thought we’d “be o.k.” I’m sure HE was, but playing borrowed gear on a new stage was hard going, and not familiarising myself with the gear and monitors didn’t make things any easier. Next time I will insist.
Photo of a sign at Nashville Airport (go figure) which seems a fitting final U.S tour photo.
-Going on tour is a great way to see America. You meet people you’d never meet if you were simply visiting a city; more often than not you get some cash for your performances; you spend less on accommodation because performers on the same bill will often let you crash on their floors; you spend less on transport because people you’ve never met will pick you up from airports and train stations because they value music and appreciate you having come all that way to perform – etc etc. I feel more blessed than I did before the tour to be a songwriter with an original repertoire I can take on the road. It’s as a good a gateway as any to new people and places.
-I can’t wait to make a new album and have an excuse to book another U.S tour, but for now it’s time to book some shows that require a little less flight time. An Auckland City gig or two coming soon!
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One of Hank Williams' suits. I also took a photo of his star on the Nashville Walk of Fame (seriously boring photo), and just as I was framing the shot, a man beside me said: "Yer gunna wanna be takin' yer hat off before ya take that photo." I like to think the light at the top of this photo is somewhat divine.
Kelly (Punches) & Matt (Crowded House) Sherrod on bass and drums respectively, together with their canadian pal Irwin performing as Pinky Gray at Betty's Bar and Grill.
The super-cool RIght to Talk to Strangers tour poster designed by Sophie Watson, and placed with utmost care and promotional savvy above the mens toilet at Betty's by waitress/show booker Leslie Keffer. (I'm told one was placed in the women's toilet too.) Yep - I've made it!
Isaiah Zagar's incredible mosaic art makes some of the walls around South St, Philly more than just walls.
Poster by Jeremy from the Swivel Chairs - attached to lamppost by Jim Moran, righteous show-booking dude.
Barbara Manning fan and Barbara Manning with matching VU satchel and cellphone cover respectively - I love this photo!
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This photo is for my pals Rainy McMaster and Anji Sami - we all heart Mirah!!
Sunshine and Irony feeling it at The Northern. They were a rugged Americana band with true heart. They took me to the Artesian well to drink water too. Apparently this means I am cursed to return. I hope so! Olympia rules!
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The Whole Wide World playing at Langano Lounge. Josh Kalberg's shoegazey/hazey guitar/vocal stylings and Charlotte Engler's amazing high-pitch-perfect ethereal voice seem to have combined with the night flash on my camera to set the bass player's head on some kinda neon-drenched fire. Yes, they've got that vibe!
Listen to The Whole Wide World here .
Ah me, the unseen pains of the middle-class white-boy on tour: all those books at Powell’s and out-of-print zines at Exiled Records I didn’t buy will haunt me for a long time. Sniff sniff. But seriously – meeting so many welcoming talented kind-hearted people and leaving so quickly is the strangest thing about being On the Road. “Like an arrow I was only passing through.” Onwards to Olympia!
p.s. Disclosure: I DID buy a used hardcover copy of Ciardi’s Divine Comedy translation (with Gustave Dore’s illustrations) at Powell’s. Yep – just what my suitcase needed. . .
p.p.s. I am on a train. Amtrak wi-fi = tu meke!
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