Powderfinger

All Of The Dreamers video premiere!

2009-10-06T12:11:00.004+11:00

Hi guys

Today is the premiere of our new clip for 'All Of The Dreamers'! As you can see, we're living large in Brisbane.

That was a fun little day out on Friday, wasn't it? When we thought up the idea of playing 3 cities in 1 day, we thought we'd have 100 or so fans in each city watching us, and some passers by. What we didn't expect was thousands of people in each city waiting for us at each location when we got there. The support completely blew us away, not least because we didn't tell anyone about it, apart from those on our Twitter lists, and didn't even get permission to play in these locations! So thanks must also go out to the kindly police in each city who didn't arrest us.

In case you missed it, our first stop was our home town of Brisbane, after a very early start. Here's a shot of us in action:

We made a very quick exit to catch our flight to Sydney, stop #2. We made a spur of the moment decision to play in Martin Place, where about 2000 people were there to greet us. After this awesome reception, it was off to the airport again to our final show in Melbourne, where a 2000-strong crowd were waiting in Federation Square. For a snippet of 'All Of The Dreamers' in Melbourne, click here. Thanks so much to everyone that made it out on Friday, and for those that skipped a day of work or a meeting to make it, we salute you!

Don't forget you can pre-order 'All Of The Dreamers' now and go into the draw to win flights and tickets to see us live in Auckland. I think you might find this coincides with a certain major festival we've just been announced on! To enter, SMS your name and email address to 1999 44 87. SMS cost is $2 incl. GST. Ts & Cs available at www.powderfinger.com. Marketing messages from Powderfinger may be sent via SMS.

'All Of The Dreamers' is available as a digital single from October 16th.

Until next time,

Ms Fanclub xox

We're playing Big Day Out!

2009-09-29T12:00:00.000+10:00

It's a HUGE news week this week, and here's a little more to get you excited. This morning we were announced on the bill for the 2010 Big Day Out! Also on the bill are Muse, The Mars Volta, Lily Allen, Kasabian and loads more. Tickets go on sale in just over a week, and if the last few years are anything to go by, they'll go in a nanosecond, so you'll want to make sure you're ready to buy at 9am. For all the details see www.bigdayout.com.

Friday 15th Jan - Auckland

Sunday 17th Jan - Gold Coast

Friday 22nd Jan - Sydney

Tuesday 26th Jan - Melbourne

Friday 29th Jan - Adelaide

Sunday 31 Jan - Perth

Sydney tickets on sale Wednesday 7th October. Gold Coast tickets on sale Thursday 8th October. All other cities go on sale Friday 9th October.

Q150

2009-09-28T17:44:00.001+10:00

It's a big news week this week, so ready yourself for another info bomb. Allow us to contain our excitement as we announce that we're curating a concert in Brisbane! The Q150 Proclamation Day Concert will take place at The Riverstage on Thursday December 10th, and will celebrate 150 years since the historic reading in Brisbane of the Letters Patent, signed by Queen Victoria, declaring Queensland a separate colony to NSW (there's your history lesson done for today).

We're thrilled to be curating this event, and we've pulled together some of our favourite QLD bands to perform alongside us (in our first home show since the release of Golden Rule!) Also playing will be Custard, who are reforming especially for this show (you can thank us later), local lads Yves Klein Blue, Townsville's The Middle East and up and comers The Cairos.

GET YOUR Q150 CONCERT TICKET AND PRE-ORDER YOUR DOWNLOAD OF THE NEW POWDERFINGER ALBUM – GOLDEN RULE FOR $25 (PLUS HANDLING). ORDER ON 136 246 OR WWW.QTIX.COM.AU, FROM 9AM MONDAY, OCTOBER 12th. THIS IS AN ALL AGES EVENT.

In 2009 Queenslanders have more to celebrate than yet another State Of Origin win, and we're thrilled to be a part of it. See you soon!

We're playing 3 free shows!

2009-09-28T14:03:00.001+10:00

Hi Everyone

Remember how last week we mentioned that we'd have some exciting news via Twitter? Well, we're going to give you a bit of a hint. This Friday October 2nd we're going to be playing 3 free shows in 3 cities around Australia. And yep, we'll be doing them all on the one day. Which cities? Where? When? Oh Ms Fanclub, stop being a tease, I hear you say. Well, the only way to get more details is...you guessed it...Twitter! So if you haven't followed us yet, make sure you do at twitter.com/powderfinger_au.

In other news, we're very pleased to hear that our good mates in Adult Baby have sold out their show at The Zoo in Brisbane on Wednesday in mere minutes. We're very much looking forward to the show and hearing a whole bunch of songs we've never heard before. So if you've managed to get a ticket, see you there!

By now, you've had a few days to have a listen to ALL OF THE DREAMERS. Hit us back on the forum, blog, myspace, facebook or twitter to let us know what you think. If you like the song, we'd be grateful if you could vote for it via the links on the right. We'll have a video in the coming weeks, but to tide you over until then, check out this behind the scenes look at the making of GOLDEN RULE. You'll get a bit more info on the other tracks on the album, including THINK IT OVER, featuring the Splendour People's Choir. More on that in the coming weeks!

Over and out.

Ms Fanclub xox

ALL OF THE DREAMERS PREMIERE!

2009-09-25T07:54:00.002+10:00

We're very excited at the thought of our new single ALL OF THE DREAMERS premiering this morning! Listen out to breakfast radio tomorrow to hear it first, or visit our Myspace page from 9am.

If you like our little slice of rock 'n roll, you'll be able to pre-order the single from 12.01am Friday morning. As a special thanks for getting in early, you'll go into the draw to win:

Flights for one winner and a friend to Auckland

Two night's accommodation in Auckland

Two tickets to see Powderfinger perform live

All you need to do is SMS your name and email to 1999 44 87 to pre-order "ALL OF THE DREAMERS" and go in the draw to win! SMS cost $2 including GST.* You'll receive your single on October 16th. 5th Finger Pty Ltd. Terms and Conditions are available here. Marketing messages from Powderfinger may be sent via SMS.

We're very excited that you'll finally hear ALL OF THE DREAMERS very shortly, and we hope you love it as much as we do!

We’ve got a very special announcement…

2009-09-22T13:19:00.001+10:00

We’ve got a very special announcement…or we will soon! But the only way you’ll be able to find out what this mystery is is through Twitter. So if you haven’t joined Twitter yet, head on over to www.twitter.com to sign up. It’s really easy – all you then have to do is follow us on www.twitter.com/powderfinger_au and listen out for updates. All we can tell you at the moment that Ms Fanclub is in a high state of excitement waiting for this all to be revealed…

Another thing getting her all a-flutter is the thought of the new Powderfinger single ALL OF THE DREAMERS floating across your airwaves from this Friday morning! Of course it will also be streaming on the Myspace page.

Watch out for more exciting news on Friday!

Cheers
Ms Fanclub xox

Hog Blog

2009-09-21T10:34:00.003+10:00

Hi everyone. It seems that my last blog was lost en-route from the netherworld back to reality after we finished mixing. It really was interesting, and funny, but I think Cogs hacked into my system and replaced it with his blog. I must admit…it wasn’t a bad read. You can tell he’s been going to uni, and reading lots of magazines while sitting on public transport on the way to his modelling shoots.

As I sit at my Brisbane abode on Friday night listening to the Eastern Dark, the Scientists, and the Hoodoo Gurus, and having a cup of green tea I wonder what should be the inspiration of this piece I have to write. I have come to the conclusion that I have been set the most difficult task of any of the others. I mean…they could talk about fun stuff like recording, mixing, or even golf or fishing…but me…what can I say?

All we’ve been doing is the TOP 5

1 Making a video which is going to be amazing…(someone nearly let the cat out of the bag re: the premise…but I think we’re safe). No-one will guess that we are all dressed up in drag having a pillow fight. Surely!

The song “Dreamers” is out to the airwaves this Friday, and the video quickly after that. Get ready to see the fancy poo brown g-string Darren is sporting.

2 We have been rehearsing away at all these new songs, and they are sounding great. We have not even had the extra chaps that will be touring with us sometimes come in yet…so it’s gonna be tops when they do. JC is getting really good at the tuba.

3 We have been doing an awful lot of talking about ourselves. Some of us are obviously a lot better at that than others. (It doesn’t take much imagination to work out who the brilliant self promoters are.) In the process of doing that, we have had some listening parties, and we have met some tops people…who seemed sane, and they seemed to really like our new record…so we must be on vaguely the right track. Thanks to all those people.

4 We have been having lots of meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. Did I say lots of meetings? It's all really, really important stuff, so I can't really disclose that kind of information here. It's way too important for me to actually even be able to disclose this. It could cause a security breach, and the general public might end up knowing stuff like where our secret gigs are and stuff and which Wednesday night that it's actually on.

5 I can only speak for myself, but it's nice to be at home catching up with friends and family and going out to see the hometown sights. I even went and saw a rock and roll band last night. The guy had massive curly hair, and sang all about mystical stuff and that. It’s his new band. They were really really good!

Anyhows….I better keep it simple, and sign off, and wish you all of the best. We can't wait to see you at one of our upcoming shows, and we can't wait for you to hear our new record. Lots of love for now.

IAN. xx

GOLDEN RULE - the new album out November!

2009-09-11T10:06:00.002+10:00

Howdy folks,

We’ve been promising you some exciting news, and here it is! We can happily confirm that Powderfinger’s new album will be called GOLDEN RULE, and you’ll be able to get your mitts on it from Friday November 13th!

Your first taste of the new material will be the single ALL OF THE DREAMERS, which you should start hearing on your radio and online from September 25th. From the first upbeat notes, ALL OF THE DREAMERS is a loud and powerful statement, with the lyrics placing it somewhere between On My Mind and Like A Dog.

"All of the Dreamers is the most consistently upbeat song that we have written in our entire career”, says Bernard. “It's a sideways glance at the sometim es redundant nature of party politics. It's not a particularly political song actually, in the sense that it is taking a side, just a general dissatisfaction with the way 'democracy' can be blindsided by the self interest that holding onto power can generate. I suppose in that sense it alludes to any kind of relationship, whether it be political, business or personal".

As those of you who have been following the blog know, the band recorded the new album with good friend and producer extraordinaire Nick DiDia, who aside from producing the band’s previous albums Vulture Street, Odyssey Number Five and Internationalist, has also worked with Neil Young and Pearl Jam. After making all of their previous records far from home, the band elected to record at Studio 301 in Byron Bay and mix at Studio 301 in Sydney. The studio location also allowed the band time to surf, golf and dress up every week for 'Gentleman’s Friday'. The setting was clearly an inspiration for Cogs, who came up with many self-proclaimed "good ideas” and had to be banished from the studio for some time. For more details and some new studio photos, check out www.powderfinger.com.

So what does the rest of the album sound like, you ask? It’s a little bit of a departure from Powderfinger’s signature sound – unusual instrumentation, dramatic angular structures, some strings, experimental harmonies, horns and some hard riffs!

So that’s about all we can tell you at this stage. Make sure you look out for upcoming emails and visit our social networking sites for more info as it comes to hand. There’ll be some big news that will be coming to you via Twitter in the coming weeks, so join up here.

Only 15 days to go until you can hear ALL OF THE DREAMERS!

Cheers
Ms Fanclub xox

Studio photos!

2009-09-09T09:08:00.012+10:00

Taking it easy?

Powderfinger in the studio

Ian Haug

Darren Middleton

Jon Coghill

BF & JC

Bernard Fanning

Let Sleeping Dogs...

2009-09-07T09:51:00.004+10:00

Hi there everybody,

Hope you're all well.

The recording of the album has finished. I'm not sure if I can publish the name of it yet (here's a hint: G... R...). Now see if you can work that out before it comes out. Actually I revealed the title in my last post but the powers that be censored it. "As per usual Cogs," they screamed, "you're ruining the surprise!'' Oh, and how right they were, for I had presumed (in my presumptious manner) that the title was Sleeping Dogs. That was the title we were sitting on for a while, but the more people we told the more we got looks of disbelief. Actually I seem to remember that someone was physically sick when I told them. We must hand it to the Hog though, he never liked that title and although he didn't resort to vomiting on the rest of the band, he was quite forward in his disgust for 'Sleeping (Dirty Filthy, "I think I have the swine flu every time I hear that profanity") Dogs.

So now we all know that the title was, and now isn't. As hard as it is, I must admit, The Hog was right. But please don't tell him. I must also admit that G..... R... is and was my personal favourite. Which begs the question - who was right first? I think we all know the answer to that, don't we?

Anyway, enough bickering. Here's a little insight into our week of preparing for the release of the first single and the album:

Rachael Dixon's (Manager's P.A. or executive producer of meetings) things to do from meeting 2nd September:

1. Decide on artwork from Storm Thorgensen - JC and Hoggy could you please get in contact with Darren, Cogs and PP and make up after the fight you had about this. Hoggy, please take back the comment that the artwork looks like a finger painting your daughter did and Cogs please take back the comment about 'I get better stuff from a night of gastroenteritis than this.'

2. Talk to Head Pictures about their video concept - BF and Darius, this will mean that you will have to swallow your collective pride and forgo your wizard (DZ) fighting the White Knight (BF) concept for a few weeks. I'm sure it'll suit the second single.

3. Please all agree on your outfits for the secret gig and find an appropriate wet nurse to wash and prepare the extra large accessories.

4. Please submit your list of imagined celebrity guests that appeared on the album (for the last time Darius, it's to stimulate sales so please keep Barry Manilow's name off it. I know he's an inspiration, but please). Celebrity chefs and pro surfers may be contentious.

5. For photo shoot - Urgent - please point out which parts of your body the photoshop assistant should concentrate on when touching up the photos, e.g. Double chin, protruding ears, hairy nose, pecs (enlargment of...), eye colour, package (enlargement or reduction thereof) etc...

6. Agree on album sequence.

7. Rock, paper, scissors for who appears first in credits.

So there it is. And you thought we didn't have much to do while we weren't being musicians. Baby, playing is only a fraction of what we've got.

Catch ya,
Cogs

Blue Steel

2009-08-28T17:03:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone,

We kicked this week off with one of our favourite pastimes as a band - photo shoots. As much as we all begrudge having our photo taken I think we brought it, with a few blue steel moments from some of the guys. We started the shoot in a studio in the Valley on Sunday afternoon before going out on location on Monday. We were up bright and early to take in the glorious views at Mt Glorious, followed by other locations at Paddington and the Valley and finished the day with a sunset shot at Nudgee Beach. Monday's shoot was coupled with a record temperature of 36 degrees! Needless to say we weren't really dressed for summer, but comfort must sometimes be sacrificed for style, or so I've been told...

Another thing that has been hard to take this week is being an Aussie Sports Fan, with the simultaneous loss of the Bledisloe and the Ashes. Losers in both hemispheres!

Anyway, we are pretty busy now putting the finishing touches to the album, with the songs being mastered in the US and deciding on final details like artwork and agreeing on an album title. We'll get back into rehearsals soon enough - with the focus on Homebake in December. Hope to catch you there.

Stay Free.
JC

And we're done!

2009-08-20T18:03:00.004+10:00

G'day Good People,

So...a Mexicana, a Jamaican, an Englishwoman, an American, an Irishman and five Australian musicians walk into a bar... sounds like a joke but this is exactly what happened last week when we were 'busy' making our new record in Sydney. And after the splendid hospitality of our new best friends at The Rose in Chippendale, nobody walked out, we crawled. This is nothing to be proud of but definitely a night of note. The only recommendation I have is that if you make your way into the Rose, and George offers you one of his 'hot nuts', don't be tempted to taste them.

I am now on a plane high above the Central Coast, making my way home to sunny Queensland after we put the finishing touches on our new record at 301 in Sydney over the last few weeks. We spent much of the time cheering on Nick DiDia as he put together what I think are the best mixes that we have had so far in our career. We also spent a large amount of the time helping Cogs through his hallucinations that his 'ideas' were the ones that made it on to the record. It really is amazing what vodka, slipped into early morning herbal tea can do can do to facilitate the 'belief' process. If you see him, just smile and wave, so to speak.

To be honest, I am still sporting a hangover after a few of us headed out on Saturday night to celebrate my 40th birthday. That's right. It's hard to believe isn't it? That someone so chiselled, so vibrant, so well... handsome, could have aged so gracefully. I put it down to my Irish ancesters and the beauty secrets I picked up from Leo Sayer at the ACMF Ball in Sydney last week. As far as presents go, I was pretty impressed. Amongst other things... books, a balloon ride, both full sets of original Kiss cards from my oldest friend Foggers (he was living with me at the time when my girlfriend used part of my set to steady an uneven fridge!!!!!), some monkey cuff links and probably the most useful present of all from the Middleton family... a MIRROR. Darius has always been my favourite and will now remain so for a long, long time. As most of you know it will come in for some serious use. And thanks to you all for the wonderful messages of support, congratulation, applause and encouragement that you left on the forum. I feel so blessed to have such genuine, sincere, affectionate and unsarcastic goodwill directed my way.

So, it looks like our new album is pretty much ready to roll. There are a few final mix and mastering type things to take care of, but overall we know what is going to be on there, in what order and what it sounds like. To me, it feels like we have made the record we have been trying to for quite a while. It feels like our most fully realised album since ON5 and I don't remember as much satisfaction amongst the band at the conclusion of an album making process. So now starts the process of working out how to present these songs live. It should be fairly simple as most of them were recorded as live tracks anyway. But it might take us a while to find a Q Chord player who has not only the right chops, but also the right hair and dance moves. Auditions could last for weeks!!

Until then folks, hang in there...we'll see you soon.

Love
BF

Message from the brains of this operation...

2009-08-07T15:24:00.004+10:00

Hi all,

At the moment I'm sitting at home on the Sunshine Coast after being banished from the studio for, from what I can interpret, "having too many good ideas". What really happened was, I stopped letting other people take credit for my ideas (eg. Cogs: "Hey Bern/Dz/Hoggy/JC, can you mention that vocal idea for this song's outro to Nick (producer) when you go into the control room?"...next thing I know Nick says to me, "Hey Cogs, Bern/Dz/Hoggy/JC just had this great idea for the outro") and I started claiming some points. No, it wasn't for the sake of racking up credits on the sleeve of the CD, it was because I'd gone too long without warranted recognition. As a great Australian one-hit-wonder band of the seventies once said, "What about me, it isn't fair, I've had enough now I want my share". But now I stand banished so I've started shooting my new reality show tentatively titled- 'The Amazing Me'. First episode coming soon. You wait til you see the Cogs wakes up and washes his face scene...brilliant television.

But seriously, young Darius, Bern and the Hog are in Sydney mixing the new album at the moment. They started on Monday and yeah baby, I could feel the world lift when the final mixes of the first two tracks were dropped on to quarter inch. JC and I (otherwise known as Australia's finest rhythm section) are home tending to family commitments and trying to reduce the amount of cooks in the control room. We're hoping to get there next Monday. I talked to Bern through his lawyers yesterday and he said that all's going well. The stylish and laid back Daniel Denholm (Composer, Producer, Arranger and Engineer) has arranged strings that will be recorded on Friday. Yes, you may feel the world lift then as well. Bern's main dilemma though was: should his birthday on the 15th be celebrated in pirate fancy dress or 18th century classical composer fancy dress? You may agree, and sorry Bern, but I can't really see the difference. A pirate is an 18th century composer who has lost a leg and an eye from drinking too much. But, let's give him some credit. He is a perfectionist. You'll find out in a few months when the album comes out.

Anyway, hope you're all well out there in non-rock-star world. As Jeff Fenech once said, I (we) luv youse all.

Catch you soon.

P.S. thanks for all the Splendour-goers who sang for us the other night. It sounds amazing in the track. You wait til you hear it, you'll be loving yourselves sick.

Luv,
Cogs

This bird has almost flown

2009-07-30T13:52:00.002+10:00

A warm greeting to you, one and all. It would seem the pages are turning on this record, guitars are spectacular, vocals are stunning, drums and bass are superb, and let me say right now... the Splendor crowd of 2009 were absolutely mind blowing (those who were there will know what I mean).

This album has been a very enjoyable process, from start to where I sit right now.... on the couch listening to some final touches being made to the songs. I have finally got the Hurdy Gurdy onto a song (it really makes it, of course), my dulcet vocals really shine, JC's Chimes tinkle beauty onto a couple of tracks, Cog's orchestral playing is absorbing, and Bern's crooning is.....well....crooning.

We have enjoyed having our studio crew dressed each and every day in their labcoats, and of course Nick continues to set the bar high every Friday (Gentleman's Friday).

Last Friday saw us doing a little busking outside The Great Northern Hotel. Not something we have done in the past, but something we may do again, purely because it was so much bloody fun. Nathan, I've been trying to find you, to give you our earnings... as promised. If I can't find you, I will be swinging the earnings into a charity.

As expected, Hog, Cogs and I tore up the surf out front of where we are staying, myself relishing the 2ft waves on a longboard... to the other guys' envy. Every few day, Bern, JC, Nick and I swing the golf clubs before the studio... and I'm sad to report I have not aquired the winning medal once... not bloody once, though I persist.

We leave this lovely place in a few days with fond memories and a pretty special album. A few of us are heading to Sydney to begin the mixing process, to be joined by the rest shortly after. To be honest, we will have time on our hands... Nick has the project well and truly under control. I think I'm ready to hand over the reins.

So, send me a line, let me know your innermost, darkest secrets, and I'll lend you an ear. I may even offer councel, for a small fee of course. The 'Fingers have often taken my services up, and will be more than happy to offer testimony.

Until next we meet,
Senor Darius El Guapo
Out.

We're playing Homebake!

2009-07-23T09:00:00.003+10:00

We're very excited to announce that we'll be playing at Homebake - the 15th Anniversary edition on 5th December! This is particularly exciting, coming from the depths of the studio, and we can't wait to play our new material live.

Tickets go on sale 9AM Monday August 17th. If it's anything like last year, tickets will sell out in a nanosecond, so you'll want to get in quick!

HOMEBAKE 2009 - The Fifteenth Anniversary Edition
Proudly presented by
triple j, Channel [V], Max, Video Hits, jmag, MySpace and Drum Media.

Saturday December 5th, 2009
The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney City, NSW

TICKETS ON SALE 9.00am MONDAY AUGUST 17TH FROM USUAL OUTLETS

For more details, check out www.homebake.com.au

We are on a schedule!!

2009-07-20T17:19:00.002+10:00

Wow…it's one month into the recording pretty much. We better get started. We have not done a thing at all yet apart from talk about what we are wearing on Fridays, surfing, eating, drinking, sleeping and playing golf.

“Time is money!” I keep saying, but they simply won't listen. I have beaten them black and blue and chased them around the golf course, and soiled their fancy clothes whence I tackled them onto the cold dewy grass. They just won't listen.

“WE ARE ON A SCHEDULE. WE HAVE TO MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER OF ALL TIME!!!!” I shout to Cogsy and DZ when they’re in the green room at Lennox Heads. They just won't listen.

Nick knows it’s all fruitless now, so we will have to employ some locals to do the job for us. We have left it all too late. All applicants please apply to this address.

Actually, whoops, that was just a dream.

It’s actually going really well. BETTER THAN WELL! We’ve done heaps…. A couple more weeks of recording to go, then mixing, then hopefully all of you rabbits can hear something. As long as the powers that be don’t lose the finished product in the mail.

Bernard and I were actually talking about it the other day, and the first thought that came into our mind when we heard about the Tsunami warning was that everything would be washed away. It would be tragic that there was no evidence left of what we have been working hard to complete. It turned out we were safe, and that I needn’t have slept in my wetsuit with a surfboard strapped to my leg.

It seems that we have entered into overdub and credit wars. Everybody wants to be credited for everything. No egos allowed here. Actually they were crushed years ago…. But still, in the current race …Currently JC is Prime Chime Contributer Collins, Bernard is Dr Q Chord, Cogsy is Thelonius Feedback, DZ is Hurdy Gurdy Middleton, and I am the Master of all Sub-harmonic Vocals and just the general wizardry that you all know that I am brilliant at.

It certainly is cold though, so every morning we have our personal hand warming specialist drop through our room, and they nimble up our fingers for the day to get ready for work. Mine just left… so typing is not too hard this morning..

One more week til Splendour…… hopefully we can lure some of the people performing to come and contribute something interesting. Let's say…..Paul Dempsey on spoons, or something like that. There are many options, and we have worked out a secret method of luring them all into our studio. Beer! Amazing huh?

Anyhow, I am off now to do some yoga, and to swim with the dolphins. It truly is a beautiful morning down here.

We are genuinely excited about how this record is coming together, and can't wait to be able to share it with the cosmos.

So for now… I shall stop wasting your precious time. Go and wash your cat or put up your Christmas tree, and hug the person next to you for me and whisper in their ear…..”not long til the new 'Fingers album now”

Over and Out.

Ian

Classy. Stylish. Dignified.

2009-07-16T09:38:00.003+10:00

Surfing, golf...and a little bit of recording

2009-07-13T17:49:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone out there in Fingerland. JC here.

As week 3 in the studio comes to a close the record is really starting to come to life and we are all getting very excited about it. ‘Gentlemen’s Friday’ was another success with some new bags of fruit on display. Hoggie won the day with an army green suit teamed with a wild paisley shirt.

Outside the studio Cogsie, DZ and Hoggie have been harrassing the local surfers (First Light People as some of them liked to be referred...) and with the change in weather the surf is now starting to go fully sick, apparently. The Byron PGA golf championships are well underway, with Australia and the USA the only countries being represented. Nick and I have braved the elements and started the day with an early walk of the course before heading into the studio. Australia is currently slightly ahead on the leaderboard. DZ has been a no-show on our last 3 planned games - so is now being referred to as Pull the Pin Middleton. The other great news for us is that the Ashes have started so we’re looking forward to the Aussies teaching those pommy dudes a lesson.

Until next time - Stay Free.

JC

Little update for the recording:

2009-07-08T10:43:00.000+10:00

A scrabble board was purchased on Monday. The game was hotly contested between JC(55), Hoggy(79), BF(127) and Cogs(207). BF challenged with AWASH on a triple word but couldn't compete with JUNKY from Cogs on a triple. The game was sealed by Cogs with GOVERNS on a triple word also making a plural of FEINT. The studio's really firing at the moment.

Darius and Hoggy have been frequenting the Railway Hotel for their amazing cuisine and brilliant solo performers. Bern's been playing Flashdance and the Chariots of Fire soundtrack and stretching out into a semi-professional gallop along the beach every morning. Blink and you will miss him.

Cogs

SES Emergency

2009-06-25T16:25:00.000+10:00

Troops,

Right, well here we are in Byron Bay. So far it has been raining most of the time so unfortunately, a fair bit of recording and studio time has interrupted what was supposed to be a golf/ surfing holiday. So we are in the studio working hard and waiting for the weather to break.

The most interesting and exciting thing that has happened so far is that our accommodation was 'almost' washed into the ocean. There was talk of SES evacuation plans and all sorts of amazing stuff. There have been excavators blinking, grunting and beeping day and night, filling sand bags and generally making hapless attempts to hold back the king tides that have swamped the coast these last few nights. We have armed ourselves with an EPIRBs and a surf mats in case in case our oceanside mansions are washed away in the dead of night.

Speaking of surf mats......................Cogs, DZ and Hoggy all went for a surf this morning. Cogs reports that he was 'in the green room in a wave of consequence'. He also claimed that he and Hoggy 'dominated Darius "Brizzo" Middleton while they were out there.

The second most interesting thing that happened was that JC and I both wore the same jacket to the studio on the same day. It was SO embarrassing. Luckily the paparazzi were busy shooting Cogs, Darius and Hog waxing their surfmats, to catch us in such a sartorial dilemma.

Tomorrow is "Gentleman's Friday" which is designed to improve our standard of dress, once a week, while we make our record. I will report soon about the outcome. I have especially bought a tartan green number which I am expecting will set a benchmark for the rest of the album session.

Oh yeah, and Nick Didia is back at the helm and doing a fabulous job.

OK, see you all soon.

BF

This is your Captain speaking

2009-06-22T09:01:00.001+10:00

Morning everyone, this is your Captain speaking...

Just wanted to send a quick note, letting everyone know that this very morning...after I finish my breakfast and coffee... once I finish dressing and doing my hair... we are heading into the studio to make album no. 7..!!

We have been busy writing for the last 5 months, and I have to say, we are pretty damn excited heading into the studio with our old friend, producer Nick DiDia. The demos are vibing and full of life, and we hope to carry on from there.

You will be hearing from each of us during the recording via blogs here and there. I look forward to our next little 'chat'.

Captain Darren Middleton.

Day 1

2009-06-22T08:36:00.001+10:00

Into the studio... here we go!