As You Were Part 2
Brunswick VIC 8 07 2025
And so it goes, back and forth. Still, there’s always the constants, and this is something that has been coming up in many conversations. All manner of things can get thrown your way and make nearly everything unstable and disturbing, yet you can head back to what you know best and make that the objective. “It’s why I’m here on earth”, or “it’s what I’m born to do”, as hackneyed as that sounds, is probably truer than anything else. Of course I’m talking about creating music, be it recordings or performing live. I’ve been lucky enough to land a variety of these activities lately and it’s going to continue at as great a rate knots as I can handle. >>>> I’ve been working through material with a “jam” band that’s been on the cards for a few years, consisting of my brilliant dear friends, Simon Cox and Dave Slezinger, on drums and keys respectively. Just a few weeks back we recorded around 3 hours worth of jams and loose song ideas to a multitrack and have been reviewing the results. We figure there’s an album in it, so there’s something. It’s communion with like-minds and making good with what we have. Also in discussion is a similar trio made up of myself with Nik Rieth, my dear boy, currently drumming with the Hoodoo Gurus and Radio Birdman, together with Scott Saunders, one time keyboardist with D.I.G. (Directions in Groove). We’re throwing the ball up and seeing where it lands. >>>> At last, the covid-crisis drop-boxed album that Inga Liljestrom and I put down over 4 years ago has started inching towards the stage. A few days ago, we played live together for the first time since mid-2016, using a few songs from that album but drawing mostly from Inga’s storied solo career. The show was held at the Paddinton Uniting Church in Sydney, the acoustics lending some considerable dimension to our already ambient flavour. Along with the other artists on the bill, we nearly sold it out and a fine night was had by all. It reminded me that it was worth pursuing these ventures, those of the non-rock ‘n’ roll variety. At this show, I premiered not only my universal 12 string pedal steel, but also the SDR 3.8 resophonic steel guitar, all through a specific stereo digital rig aimed squarely at clean, other worldly ambience and crystaline timbres. It was a challenge to stick to the meter of some of the material in that space, but it’s all a learning curve and we plan to keep it up, doing more experimental works in front of real live people. AI be damned. >>>> I’m currently holed up in Brunswick, VIC, getting ready to play two shows with my dear friend Sarah Carroll. Shannon Bourne and I will once again form the two-headed guitar hydra for Sarah, while her two sons, Feen and George will comprise the best rhythm section in the land. The Big Fuss is a killer group that’s exhiliarating to be part of. >>>> And then, lastly, but not leastly, the blessed Re-mains will come out to play several times before the year is out. In August we have some local shows, our native habitat being the Northern Rivers to Sydney, but as part of the last half of 2025’s activities, in October, Canberra, regional Victoria and finally, after more than a dozen years absence, a return to Melbourne is booked and ready to go. We used to tour to Melbounre routinely, from 2003 to 2012. The may be more moustashes and pedal steels afoot since those days, but it won’t matter one bit as we will set about pointing out what is ours how it is rightly done. >>>> So. The message from on high is; Fill your spaces around with light and sound. Be in your rightful place and do what you are born to do.