It’s dark in here…

I have been down the rabbit hole making beats for some songs…I am getting there i swear… 

I can’t believe it’s not butter!

Amazing that this is not headline frontpage news anywhere. I could only find coverage of it here in the guardian

No weapons of mass distraction, no Big Al’s qaida…if it was a package tour you would be asking for your money back.

and the world goes lalalalalalalalalalalaa….

I’ll huff and puff…

It’s pissing down outside and the storm is still raging from last night. The landing in Dublin by the pilot was pure art, german expressionism at it’s best. Violent and magic and breathtaking.

I’m looking forward to the shows this weekend inn Belfast and Dublin. I am trying to figure out the logistics of getting over to sligo straight after my show in Dublin to play another show with Kila. Go on ya good thing…

I have been working on the art work at night for the album little paintings on the pages of old books from around 1900. It should make for interesting booklet. I will be selling the originals when the album is released also.

sing like a 15 year old boy…

The next morning i got up early and headed to Studio de la Reine in Paris. I love this studio and can’t afford it. But it wasn’t my coin today as i was singing on someone project. I got an email a few days before from Olivier of Aaron who was working with Maidi Roth on a main song for a soundtrack to a new french film. They wanted a male voice so i said yes of course.

It was a really new experience for me, singing someone elses melody and lyrics. Taking direction. I was to be the voice of the main actor who is a 15year old singer. So i was told to keep it simple and try to imagine being a 15 year old boy. I have the mindset of a 13 year old so i thought it might be difficult to reach that level of maturity but i tried my best.

I have no idea if they will use it or not. but i will keep you posted if it comes out using my voice as a 15 year old. It was nice singing through a vintage U47 and neve preamp i cannot afford. Silk! Jesus I’d love to record all my vocals that way….prrr.

sleep be damned…just 20 minutes please…just….zzzzzzz

So I have been playing some shows with me friends Kila and having a great laugh. They really are uber nice people and the best fucking musos I have ever seen hit the stage. It is so surreal to sit backstage drinking tea and eating sandwiches while listening to Dee and Eoin warm up before they go on, a small private seisun. When I was touring around oz in rock bands I used to listen to Nick Cave boatman’s call and Kila’s tog e go bog e on repeat as we flew down the highways at a million miles and hour. I was always amazed by their music. Whenever i am down i just have to listen to Kila or Rodrigo y Gabriela and i am smiling again.

Anyway on Saturday i played a show with Kila and watched them play. I got back to my hovel and slept for an hour before getting a lift to the airport to fly to paris. I arrived on the one hour of sleep and went straight to a radio interview. I remember nothing except speaking Franglais and falling asleep in between questions. I got 20 mins sleep at the office of my agent and then headed to soundcheck. I caught another 20 mins sleep as the first band prepared for soundcheck.

I was already exhausted before this and pretty much run down. Now i felt like a zombie out on the lash after 50 pints. I floated onto the stage and started to play…first song fine…second a bit strange…third my hand seemed to have a lag to my brain and i made a few mistakes on guitar.

I then entered the surreal world of out of body playing. I remember trying to get back inside the songs and communicate them as best i could.

The crowd were great and it was nice to see people who had been emailing and people from previous shows. I just hope the show was good, i really can’t remember to much of it. I was a bit down afterwards because i had been practising lots for weeks before and i always get down unless i play brilliant shows. People came up afterwards and said they liked it so hopefully it was just how i was feeling.

Thanks to everyone who came along to the last few shows.

Nina Nastasia was great too and seemed a very nice person. Her guitar playing is great.

Fair play to you Bjork…

This made me smile over the cup of coffee i am not supposed to be having right now…

Right after the previous post this warms my bones…

Can you shit flowers?

I haven’t been sleeping in a while. I turn into a cranky bastard when i have no sleep. Fortunately my social life is zero so no one apart from the plants in me flat can hear me swearing. This morning they curled up after the expletives of frustration erupted from me as I read the articles below.I am in despair at the bullshit going on under the worlds eyes. Idiots from both sides firing rockets. In four days two Israeli soldiers and 96 Palestinians killed, half of them civilians and children included. The UN and Ban Ki-Moon officially condemns Israel’s excessive use of force. The US government regrets the loss of life but says ‘There is a clear distinction between terrorist rocket attacks that target civilians and action in self defence”. Mmmm who should we go with the Un or the US? And the fucked up dance continues. Then i read the article in the Guardian about Palestinians being obstructed from receiving medical treatment and left to die. My blood boils. It is the same story my sister told me after returning from Palestine. Meanwhile the world keeps it’s mouth shut and looks nervously about for a carpet to sweep everything under. So i read on and come to the coverage of the bodies being found in a children’s home in Jersey and the systemic abuse and torture that took place. You ask yourself how could it have continued for so long? Because people kept their mouth shut, the same as they did here in Ireland with the MagdeleneLaundries and children’s homes and systemic abuse and coverup by the church. People scared to speak out because it would make them stand out against the silence. So here I am typing into the digital ether…And i wonder why i cannot write a pop song. Someone came up to me after a show once, really pissed off that i didn’t have any happy songs and told me that i should throw away the songs i have and only write happy songs. I asked her if she could shit flowers.