A Quick Update.

Been a long time since I've posted here, a hell of a long time, over two years in fact. Wow doesn't time get away.

Now the massive task of bringing the blog up to date... wow where do I start.

Firstly the bands: 

The Jitterbuggers are still going strong doing their swing, jazz,rock and roll and general dance music. Still pulling in a small dance crowd, just finishing off a 7 month residency at a local club, which follows a 9 month residancy at a previous club. Looks like the cold winter weather is our worst enemy when it comes to an audience.

The covers rock / blues band 'Only Human' is still going strong with one less band member. We have a few local shows coming up before the end of the year, still always good fun playing with these guys, always pulling a decent fun loving crowd.

Been involved with a new band over the last year or so called 'Vinyl' on a part time / substitute basis. A great bunch of friends doing 70's 80's rock from the Vinyl era. Great musicians getting some regular shows. Once again real fun playing with these blokes, and tackling some great songs which other cover bands leave well alone.

I am also still playing regularly with the 'Amigos' in the oldies homes enjoying this immensly.

Whilst enjoying performing, I am also still doing studio stuff at home, recording my material, other peoples material etc.

Consequently the song posted on this site over two years ago was on a CD I submitted to a prouction company, and a section of it was used in a Australian series called "Housos" which screened on commercial TV. The production company were kind enough to also use a few of my other compositions on the series as soundtrack music as well, so I was quite excited about that.

I have also been dabbling in a bit of DJ work, running a retro music video night called 'Retro A Go Go' monthly at a local club and now also starting a Dance Club at an old local pub, which should be a monthly success. As a result, I have been trying my hand at producing some dance music after having to familiarize myself with such a range of dance genres. Nothing like shifting out of your comfort zone.  Might post some original dance tunes up here shortly.

That just about brings me up to date musically, take care till next time. (I will try not make it so long).

Cheers
Eric.

Quickie

Just a very quick one... here are two new songs.
Hope you enjoy them.

Cheers.
White Lines.

Cookies and Lemonade.

First for 2010

My goodness, I looked at the date on my last post the other day and thought, Crikey ! was it really that long ago that I rambled on this old dusty digital chalkboard. Sure its been Holidays and New years and all, but it's already February, and I haven't posted a single thing... shame.

I guess it might have something to do with being struck down by hooping cough or bronchitis or something similar for the last month or so, not pleasant, getting very staggered sleep and constantly feeling light headed, but the worst of it is the passing out, the coughs get so severe as to at times cause me to pass out resulting in coming to finding yourself slumped on the floor without having any idea how you got there, very weird sensation indeed. The last passing out incident must have been quite severe as I broke a rib and was left with a fat lip and face that looked like I was involved in a brawl.

Anyways, the result is feeling quite sore whilst having to take numerous medication for the cough and now also for the pain.

Ok enough about my injuries.

Have not been doing much over the last month writing music, though have played a few gigs with various bands. A new band called the Jitterbuggers have had their debut show which went down real well, we mainly do swing and dance numbers which seems to have quite a following especially with beginners and professional dancers.

I have also been doing a Johnny O'Keefe and Elvis show which once again draws quite an audience.

The cover band Only Human is also gearing up with gigs and such with a new website which I threw together (very basic,nothing flash) which can be seen at http://www.onlyhumanlive.com/ The main improvement is that it now has a decent sound sample available for streaming which we recorded in the studio here one afternoon a week or two back.

Apart from music, After having experienced the magic of Avatar and its 3D effects, I have been chasing up 3D movies to watch, needless to say that none have come up to par. though I have become a somewhat 3D addict.

As the doc has ordered me to take it easy for this rib to heal up, i will be spending some major time in the studio doing some recording, so maybe expect something new soon.

Cheers.

Where's ya funny bone Harry?

Seems like when it rains it pours, lately i have been kept busy with a number of old time music gigs in nursing homes, Hell you don't get young screamers moshing and running the stage but hell these guys appreciate their hour of entertainment.

Barry and Speedy are guitarists, great blokes, who dress up in Mexican gear and play the oldies their favorite tunes whilst I follow along on the keys. In addition to this, they add a touch of corny humour to the act with jokes and witty interchange between members.

One show last Friday gave me a moment of joy as I saw a elderly lady holding on to her walker, and dancing along to the music. It's so good to see an audience enjoying what you have to offer.

Just before the show, I got a call from an old drummer mate, who was asking whether I was interested in joining a swing / jazz band. The word Jazz always fills me with fear, though I thought it would be a good opportunity to improve my technique and learn some songs that I would otherwise shy away from, we have had one rehearsal since then, and the band made me feel real comfortable, and there was really no problem, I coped well (jazzphobia and all).

Last Saturday night was Johnny O'Keefe night at Fingle Bay RSL on the North Coast of NSW, and I got a call late Friday afternoon as to whether I would be interested in joining the band for the night on Keys, though it was a 4 hour trip there and back, I agreed, and enjoyed a night of playing 50's-60's rock for a appreciative audience, once again it was great to see people dancing and enjoying the music.

I was outside in the beer garden having a drink before the show dressed in full black attire, and one of the patrons asked me if I was part of the band. I replied no, and that I was a member of a cult called the "Connicks" who went around in all black except for our faces. Not sure if she got the joke or thought I was serious.

The year is quickly filling up with gig bookings, as it usually does around this time, so I will be quite busy performing, and probably will not have much time to compose stuff, but then again, I
might just surprise you all.

Cheers

Ecca

Club Silencio

A few months ago, I was privileged to be invited to a friend's birthday, it was a huge event with great people, food and music. One particular artist that played was a friend of mine, who has a mutual interest in songwriting and recording his original material. He was keen to pull me aside and play me some of his latest songs.

After having played a few of his songs to me in a quiet spare room of the host's house, he began to explain some of the spiritual aspects of his songs. He began by explaining to me that he often felt threatened to expose real meaning of his songs for fear of ridicule, and felt that he had to be somewhat cryptic in his lyrics to hide their true message.

He continued to explain how his belief had changed his life dramatically and how he felt so strongly about this truth he had discovered, yet felt uncomfortable in openly displaying in his songs. Whilst feeling somewhat empathetic to his situation, I also felt somewhat the opposite as often I would try and delve deep into my musical innards to express my beliefs yet all that would come out was dark brooding music.

The reason I mention this at this stage is that I have just had a listen to the new Mountain Goats release "The Life Of The World To Come" which is a collection of songs based on biblical verses. There is no hiding this fact, as each song is titled after the verse which it is inspired by.

Though the Mountain Goats are not a Christian band and have never presented themselves as such in their earlier 13 or so recordings, they have obviously taken a risk with their fan base to release a collection of songs based on biblical verses, yet must have felt the impulse to do so openly and beautifully.

I have provided a download link for the album below which isn't something I normally do in this blog, so if you do download the album and like it , I'd encourage you to go out and buy it.

Cheers,

Ecca.

The Life of the World To Come

Primeval Instinct

Been a while since I have posted any new tunes to this space, so I thought I would add something recent. When I say recent, I have been steadily getting back into the recording process after a major computer malfunction and restoring my Virtual instruments, This has taken time.

I have been completed a few tunes, one which I cannot post here due to copyright issues using unauthorised sample (hopefully these will be cleared), and the others still in refining stages (which isn't quite like me, I normally won't spent too long on the refining process, more of a spontaneous hit and run with it style so you may actually see it posted here soon).

I have been listening to a long awaited new release and have been inspired by some of the sounds of the new Flaming Lipps CD - Embryonic, so if some of the new stuff sounds rather psychedelic and experimental, that's probably the reason. Having been listening to the Lipps, I am currently experimenting with delay effects on distorted drum loops to get a raw industrial type of rhythm section happening, whilst also playing around with unconventional bass sounds, so ready your ears for some new sounds.

Meanwhile, I have attached below a soundtrack style tune I called "Creature Journey". Reminds me of the birth of some massive prehistoric creature and it's steps toward discovery of its leafy surroundings.

Would love to hear what imagery it concocts in your little twisted minds :)

Creature Journey

Enjoy.
Ecca.

Time Sponges

My, computers are time sponges. My main system started toying with me a few weeks ago doing all sorts of strange stuff acting like it was possessed by some evil code which pulls its heads in on the slightest sniff of a virus scan. First my cd rom began to play up, only writing to a disk if a written disk was previously inserted (what the?), then my secondary hard drive packed it it, my ethernet card decided to start hanging up my system, and then as if to taunt me where it would injure me the most, my audio drivers refused to load on start up intermittently.

Now I'm one for a good puzzle, and a bit of problem solving, otherwise every computer I've ever owned would meet it's timely end traveling through a pane of glass to a resting place outside my window, but alas I am overall a patient man with enough spare time, and a yearning for discovery.

I managed to solve all these issues, but lost track of how much time this has taken. As soon as I tackle another quirk, as soon as the (permanently unscrewed) side panel is removed from the computer case, time seems to accelerate beyond belief. Note that this acceleration is exponentially multiplied during the hours of 9pm and 6am often only to be pulled into reality by the appearance of daylight though the aforementioned window.

Apart from the trouble shooting and quirk eliminating, the amount time spent downloading current software and updates to keep the systems running smoothly ironically devours time which would rather be spent utilizing the very same applications, how much music making time has been spent installing drivers, updating recording software, gathering samples, setting up hardware devices etc. We all need the right tools to work with, though a line needs to be drawn where we say, 'lets work with what we got' otherwise end up spending three days sharpening the axe to chop down a tree.

Cheers.
Ecca.