I'm overwhelmed!

26 Jul 2007. 10 comments

I was in London yesterday filming an EPK (a short informative film for those that don't know) for the release of an album I'm part of by Leo Abrahams called 'The Unrest Cure'... I'll fill you in on this on another post as it's worth a more detailed explanation (I'm listening to it as we speak and it's sounding great).

Being that it was an EPK organised by the record label I was afforded a taxi there and back.  The taxi there was uneventful, I just looked out the window and felt a bit sick.  However, the taxi back was a different thing altogether.  I got into the car not really in the mood for chatting or listening to someone else chatting for that matter....  I looked into my bag to make sure I had not forgotten to lift the album I was given (the unrest cure), and as I searched the driver politely said "have you left something behind sir?" fully intending to stop the car and return to get what I'd left behind... "is it important?" he asked.  I said "well sort of, it's an album I was working on" at which point I found it and announce my relief.

He said "would you like to listen to it?"

I was so tempted to say no because I knew that a conversation would ensue... I know how terrible this is but it's true... anyway, I was overcome by my eagerness to hear the record so I said yes...and left myself open for a pleasant but pointless taxi journey conversation.  You know the sort, after two minutes it a comfortable return to "so have you been busy?"

This was not to be the case...

I found in this man, with a tongue that would cut the nose of a fly from a thousand paces, a deep well... a love of music, art, conversation, family, life... an informed commentator on everything from organised religion to prize fighting -something he was part of in his youth... his hands where like spades - ... a man full of passion yet exuding peace...

The journey should have taken 30 minutes but due to heavy traffic it took the guts of 2 hours.  I wish it had taken longer.  He talked about his tough childhood, his marriage, his children, his repressed anger and his sensitivity to a good song....

As he began to listen to the album I sang on he asked had I produced it.  I said no, I sang the last track on it though.  He instantly went to that track saying with the kindest mischievous eyes I think I've ever encountered "I've give you my honest appraisal whether you want it or not!"

He said he like it, but not before telling me where I'd gone wrong.  I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

He asked if I wrote my own stuff so I handed him a copy of my album, which he instantly unwrapped and put in the player... I was beginning to wince at this point.  After ever track when it was just about to go onto the next one he said "ah, no you don't... one for you and one for me"  and he'd put on the stuff he had in the car.  A bizarre mix of golden oldies and AC/DC !(?)

When he put AC/DC on he clapped his hands and stretched his arms out as wide as he could in the car and mimicked a rock and roll singer, jeering, drinking beer and spraying it from his mouth onto the crowd then laughing hysterically.  A laugh that was entirely infectious. When he put the golden oldies on (complete with MIDI drums and everything) he sang like a lark.  He sang better that the woman on the CD, embellishing the melody as he saw fit then telling the singer on the CD "come on, keep up Rosie" followed by a rye smile.  At one point during one of these songs we sat in traffic, and he sat there singing beautifully, and loud with his eyes shut tight.  The traffic moved on and I knew horns were about to start blasting from behind us... but I couldn't bring myself to cut short the moment.  There was something about this man that had me hanging on his every word.  He sort of reminded me of my father.

For most people this would be a stressful journey with cars pulling out, others being heavy on the horn and pedestrians walking out in the road at the last second, but this huge ex prize fighter with his ferocious tongue never once showed any sign of annoyance towards this stuff!  Not remotely!  He barked about bad music, the church that had mistreated and therefore misguided him but that was it.  He said he has a lot of anger but it's nicely tucked away in a box, never to be released unless someone offends his family.  I instantly sensed his sincerity.  Not a threat.  No pride was taken in the statement.  It wasn't a testosterone based statement of strength.  Just a fact that he passed on among many others.

What blew me away about meeting the man was driving up my road, the last few minutes of my time in his car.  We had come to the last song on my album.  I had asked him to clarify one of the stories he'd begun but not finished from earlier and he was in full flow, bursting with visual language and gestures... at which point my secret track came on (not that it's secret now) which is my daughter singing you are my sunshine...

He stopped in mid sentence, and pulling into the side of the road he turned the volume right up.  And cried.

He sat and cried!  Not a break down cry.  A quite and dignified cry... not attempting for a second to hide it.  It was like he gloried in it.  Even as much as he gloried in the gory details of his past.

The second the song finished he said "is she 3?"

"She was just about to turn 3 when she did that" I replied.

He nodded smiling, turned the CD player off pulled back out onto the road and burst straight back into the story as if he hadn't missed a beat.  Nothing more was said of it.

I wanted to make something of this meeting.  I wanted to get his number or something, but I'm not sure what that would have meant to him.  I get the feeling, he got back into his car and started singing till the next customer got in and I was all but gone from his memory.

In certain situations from now on, I hope to be more like Tony Matthews, the London cab driver.

so what's this exciting news then...?

23 Jul 2007. 13 comments

This Sunday and a few evenings that following week, I'm going into Abbey Road 2 to record...!  Exactly what I'm going to record yet is unknown even to me but when someone calls and says 'Would you like to come and record a few sessions in Abbey Road 2" it's not polite so say "I'm not sure what I would record...let me get back to you".

So far it's looking like me, Jules, Joanne, Jez and possibly a visit from Paul Wilkinson and Duke Special.  I've also asked Conner Reeves to come and do some backing vocals and I'm about to ask another singer (who's out of this world) called Jamie Woon to come down... maybe I should ask him before mentioning his name... what if he's reading this...Jamie? is that you? 

I better go call him now...

One song I know we'll record is a new song called 'Make it Rain' but aside from that, dear knows what'll happen.  Whatever it is, I promise to share the results with you here first.

The other exciting news - as far as I'm concerned - is that I'm back in Belfast in August for 3 nights at the Black Box! 

29th 30th 31st August

We've capped the tickets to 200 per night to retain the intimacy that you'd expect with the Black Box.

You can get tickets here

For those of you that don't know, the Black Box is a theatre type venue in the heart of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter...

I'm really looking forward to it, especially after the Waterfront show on Saturday.  Thanks to those of you that showed up and made it such a great night... don't know about you but we had a ball.

Right, I'm off now.  I'm heading into studio with Jules and Paul Wilkinson for a new project that we're approaching... Jules on anything that makes a noise, Paul on bass and bowed guitar and me on drums and vocals... could end up sounding great or like fighting alley cats....  I'll keep you posted.

I must tell you...

16 Jul 2007. 12 comments

...that I'm just back from Ireland having done a couple of gigs in Dublin and Tipperary.  I can honestly say that I can't remember ever enjoying performing more than I did on those two dates! Maybe I've enjoyed something as much but I can't even think of that now...?

I have to be brief because Dan Dans (my friend and designer of the album) is coming round with a few bottles of Belgian brooksy.

But I simply had to post to say thanks to all that attended the Dublin show...what a night!   It had all the elements eh!  A packed room, no rehearsals, good Guinness, broken strings and sing alongs... not to mention spare improvised songs.  I'm sure you weren't aware (or maybe you were) but the song 'Make it Rain' was one we'd never played before... well, I'd played it, but Jules and Joanne hadn't nor had they ever heard it.  I love times like that, when you commit to a moment knowing full well it could end in a train wreck or intense beauty; blessing or curse... Great.

The gig in Tipperary was out of this world for me.  I didn't at all expect it.  The gig was more of a pub than a music club (Please don't take that the wrong way local Lonegran goers) which didn't bother me any, but did make me think the gig would be more of a pub gig than a music club vibe.  Again please don't take that the wrong way if you work there and are reading this, or if you do, let it be balanced by this.  It turned out to be - for me - the STAND OUT GIG OF THE YEAR!!!

We played for over two and a half hours, laughed, cried, drank Guinness and at one point Jules even left the stage to moonwalk on the little space of floor there was left... it's a strange thing when you pour yourself into a gig like that, because what you intend as a moment primarily for others, ends up being intensely cathartic.

Right enough waffle... Dan Dans has shown up with the Belgian broosk and announced with a smile that he also has Golden Glory, possibly my favourite ale...shlurp shlurp, nyum nyum...

p.s.  The Belfast gig just sold out, sorry to those of you that were planning on getting tickets this week... but well done to those in in time, it always makes the night that bit better when it's sold out eh... on top of that I have the support act to top ALL support acts.  POLAR BEAR POET ...  this guy is a spoken word artist and he's WONDERFUL!!!

trip to the tip...

14 Jul 2007. 2 comments

We're in Tipperary tonight, and Tipperary just beat Cork, judging from the roar of the crowd in the bar beneath it must of been a good game too.  It actually made the lights flicker.

So I had to fly Ryan-DESP-air to Dublin again which fills me with frustration because the keep treating me like an imbecile and breaking my gear! My new Lowden now has black tape holding it's inners in place.  aaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Anyway, just a quick post to say hi!  will again from London with some exciting news...

till then...x

Gig tonight / my melt down!

10 Jul 2007. 14 comments

Well as you read this it's Tuesday (for those of you that are quick off the mark), and I'm probably resting up or getting ready for my gig tonight in the Slaughtered Lamb, London (which is a great and very intimate venue...you should come along and dance/chill/say hi), BUT... as I write this I'm in a ball of stress in Dublin airport...oh, their calling my flight (eventually) so I'll just board then type the rest on the plane...hold on a sec...

aaaaaaand we're back. I'm sure that went quicker for you than it did for me!

So I'm now on the plane, but let me give you a brief run down of the journey to here:

I was doing the RTE Radio1 show in the morning, as you know from my last post, and I'd booked the whole day in Dublin, thinking I would be busy busy busy with a long list of interviews... I couldn't have been more wrong. Being that I'd done the rounds of just about everyone at Oxegen, there wasn't a single radio, TV, paper, mag or webzine in Ireland that was left to do, and even if there was, they were all still at Oxegen.

So I thought to myself... 'Great, I'll shimmy into Dublin for a pint of G and some early dinner then take a leisurely drive out to the airport.

I found a great wee pub, for a rainy day, in Tempelogue. I sat in a dark corner and ordered Guinness and a Hawaiian burger (because I hadn't had one for about 10 years...). The Guinness was delightful obviously. Then came the Hawaiian burger. It's meant to be thousand island dressing and pineapples right? It had pineapples.... and BACON!? BACON! Let's just say that again for clarity's sake... it had Bacon! Then she arrived seconds later with a bowl saying "and here's some spicy chilli sauce".... Not to mention the other unannounced bowl with vinegar, ketchup, mayo and mustard.... what's going on?

Anyway, I eat & drink my fill then hit the road with plenty of time to spare.

"Just one mile up this road, turn right and I'm pretty much there" I say to myself. Then I make the dreaded mistake of turning on the Satellite Navigation ( I can't bear the term 'sat nav'). "Turn around where possible" she announces. I'm guessing she knows some sneaky route so I do as I'm told, then make another fatal mistake, which I've made before and should really have learnt from, but I...........trust her. I go into 'mindless driving, dilly dally daydream' mode and trust her every suggestion. Until that is, I come to my senses in the middle of Dublin city rush hour(s) traffic!!!!! I'm stuck. There's nothing to do but curse profusely at Elaine (the voice directing me) and tell her I'll punch her in the guts if she ever does this to me again (it obviously her fault right!?).

So I sit there moving a meter every few seconds knowing, at this stage, I'm meant to be checking in and deciding where to go and read my book...I'm also fully aware that I've got at least another hour in city traffic before I even hit the motorway. I punch the car doors, shout at Elaine and ask God 'of he loves me why does he let me get caught in traffic?' and occasionally burst into uncontrollable laughter, like some sort of man possessed. Alas, it's all to no avail, I'm still tailgating at 0.3 mph.

By the time I get on the motorway, with a 15 minute drive to the airport, it's 18:10 and my flight closes at 18:35. Bearing in mind I have to return my hire car, but not before refuelling it, otherwise they sting you for serious green! So I'm firing up the M1 and take the airport turn off... no garage....no choice....gonna have to just drop the car off and pay the money.

I can't see any signs for Rental Car Drop Off, so that has me in another bout of shouting at people that can't hear, nor do anything about it. I see Hertz, I drive the wrong way up a one way road to get to the office, and there's a cue of five cars...

FFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE CCCCCCCCCCCAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS!

There's never a five car cue! Well, today there is. I jump out, drag my gear from the (very muddy) boot, barge into the office, disregarding the long cue of people in there, interrupt this guy while he's trying to sort out another woman's rental (which pisses everybody off) and announce "my car may need valeting, and it needs refuelled and I have no time to wait for you to tell me the cost, here are the keys, you have my credit card details".... and I'm out the door. This is very brash for me. I was clearly well wound up.

I make my flight with seconds to spare, after negotiating grannies and slow folk in holiday mode with 50 billion man sized, brightly coloured suitcases.

Turns out the flight's delayed but I don't care now I'm just so happy to be checked in and through security. It's all going good, I'm chilling out nicely thinking 'I'll just head down to the lounge now and get a pint and read my book'. I arrive at the lounge with is a good 17 minute walk (at a good pace) to find I have no money, there's no bank link and nobody takes card payments.... But I'm cool, I don't let it really get to me. It's a tad annoying but I'm dealing with it by swallowing lots and smiling incessantly.

So I kill a lot of time, and then 15 mins before my delayed plane is due to leave the ground, I think to myself...." you know, maybe I'll do a wee post in my journal". I reach into my bag.........


NO LAPTOP!!!!

I make a noise that makes the girl sitting next to me physically jump! My laptop is at security, which although it's a17 minute walk from there, you can't go the way you came. to get back to where my computer is, I have to go out of the airport altogether, and re-enter through the cueing system. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGG! I'm having a melt down at this point running up the corridor with one hand on my trousers which are falling down with every step, sweat lashing off me and a long line of people behind me shouting things like "hey, watch where you're fecking going will ya bud" as I was knocking them out of my way left right and centre....

i sweet talked the security guard, who let me through the quicker way, as long as the customer care guy never left my side (which he didn't). My laptop was there... it was lost but it was found, which is even better than getting it in the first place! I ran back down, to see my flight was delayed further, which would usually be a pain, but not tonight. I was glad of a moments rest....and rest I did, right beside the door to the toilets, the only space left in the hall, which is where I started this post...which has turned out to be more of a journey than a post eh?

Hope to see some of you tonight...x

oh, did I mention RyanDESPAir broke my guitar again!?

Rain-Bowie

09 Jul 2007. 4 comments

I'm in a hotel in Dublin listening to David Bowie...It's a very wet day and I've had an odd morning, so only Bowie will do.

I was on RTE Radio 1 this morning for a quick chat and a song, but I think I really pissed off the girl that was doing the sound.  I arrived late and very tired and confused (it sometimes takes me a bit of time to become coherent in the mornings), and I sound checked with 15, a very chilled out song, then played a bit of Be with me which is quite aggressive, to which she said "Foy, we're about to go on air, so what song are you playing because Be with me is distorting and I'll need to change the set up if you're gonna play that?"

To save any hassle, and being quite indecisive, I said I'd do 15...but then when we went live I changed my mind and played be with me...she wasn't best pleased!  I tried to apologies afterwards, and even hugged her although she was well reluctant.... to no avail.  I love live anything, you can just do whatever and no one can stop you...  I tried to infect her with an excitement for changing plans at the last second, but she wasn't having it... I'm sure she wanted to punch me in the face, as all I could do was laugh...

Anyway, then it was onto a very odd interview with the Belfast Telegraph...very personal, and I wasn't expecting that.  I always clam up a bit when people veer off from talking about music to asking about my personal situation.  We're getting more and more voyeuristic by the minute.  Nobody's happy with the music itself anymore, we all want to know about the cogs...and what the situation was when you wrote it...and while we're at it, what are you wearing, where do you shop and what's your favourite colour...?  Thankfully she didn't ask me those latter questions mind you, and was very understanding when I explained to her my reluctance...in fact we ended up having a good old yarn.

Oxegen was great yesterday, very muddy indeed.  As I started to play, it started to rain! Which was great for me as I was on the New Band Stage in a tent.  So just like last year, the place filled up very quickly.  I'm always conscious of taking myself too seriously at a festival, so I ended up playing some Radiohead followed by Back in Black by AC/DC.... no festival is complete without it surely....  

In fact I always throw a few covers in my set?

Do you know what... I maybe feel like I have to do a few covers as if to prove that  I'm not up myself or something?  It's such a weird thing to do, this whole mixing music with industry.  I essentially write songs for me, and now I’m still writing them for me but then allowing other people to comment on it, whether that be a live audience or journalists.  It can be quite daunting!

Well, enough arty waffle (there I go again...), I'm gonna head into Dublin city and have a walk around...maybe do a bit of people watching; try and figure out what their favourite colour is....

Free Tickets for the O2 gig

06 Jul 2007. 6 comments

well hey there... do you come here often?

If so then you're in for a chance at some free tickets for my show on Saturday at the IndigO2 in the Dome, Greenwich.

I know it's late notice (hence why you probably need to be a regular visitor), so apologies for that.  You'll need to be quick off the mark as I'll need names before the show tomorrow...  I hope I haven't left it too late for you...

I'm giving away two pairs of tickets, I could probably give away more but I'm too tight...

So here's what you gotta do:

Simply add a comment to this site explaining why you should get them.  Fantasy is very welcomed, in the words of Billy Connolly "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

There you go cubs, that's it... get typing!!!

Thanks to those of you who have been out there consuming hope... I really appreciate your support and you comments and emails.

I know some stores have sold out (which has got to be a good thing right?) but remember, you can get them to order it back in for you, (which spreads wurdamouth and in turn helps me).



I'm working on a series of podcasts and various other bits and bobs which I'll keep you posted on.  Some very exciting, but I best not say anything yet...

Speak soon...x

Hope

02 Jul 2007. 21 comments

Debut Album Available now!!!

Well it's finally here.  I've now released my debut album.  After all this time I thought there'd maybe be trumpets waking me this morning, or at least calling at the door around lunch time.  Alas, no trumpets, no drums, no flags... nothing!  Aside from a quite satisfaction and sporadic prolonged smiles.

For those of you that don't go to the shops anymore click the image to get a list of places to order online.

Thanks for your continued support, I promise I'll get it released in other regions as soon as the time's right... hang in there my little foreign cubs!