wow my blog is so good

The last post on my blog was almost exactly one year ago. I didn't even finish telling the stories of my international tour. The last bit wasn't that exciting anyway. It just involved hurriedly taking an expensive train up to Stockholm, playing a gig in a shop that had no sound system, flying to London for christmas day alone and running out of money there, then flying to Bangkok and meeting an old friend and feeling hot and weird in Bangkok, meeting some family members and having a relaxing holiday in the paradise of southern Thailand's islands, with a bit of weird family drama thrown in too for good measure, then flying back to Australia on a flight that was so cheap I didn't get any food for 8 hours.

Then after that another year of life passed by here in Hobart. Whatever I did in that year isn't too important, the main thing is that my lovely girlfriend Helen (who is now my fiancee!) came to Australia, and she is finding her feet here, and we are working on how to be together. Yep.

Malmö, Dec 20-21 '07

In Malmö, Matt and I stayed with Petter Herbertsson from Testbild! (the exclamation mark is part of the band's name, but I could also use an exclamation mark because it was good to see him again and Testbild! are a great band). We were in Malmö for a few days. We found a mysterious handle on the wall in the foyer area of the apartment building.

We spent a fair bit of time at Douglas's place. He's also in Testbild! I'm not showing any photos of any Testbild! members because they have a funny non-image policy. At Douglas's place we rehearsed some songs that we would all play together at the gig. Both Matt's and mine. And we did some recording, working on a song Matt wrote. The nicest sounds were the amazing vibraphonette and the polysix synth.
Look, there's Matt and Ellen! The exclamation mark is not part of Ellen's name, it was cool to see them because they're from Hobart. Only the day after we left Copenhagen and spent a lot of money on a hotel there did I learn that Matt and Ellen are living in Copenhagen.. We all went out and had delicious mexican food or something.
There's Mattias Nilssen who runs the great kning disk label in gothenburg and put on the festival there.
There's a guy called Dan Park who loves music and apparently goes to every gig in Sweden and gets very drunk (yes he was, but he was a lot of fun).
There's Matt and Katja and another guy. Katja has done some vocals for Testbild!
And then we went to some place which seemed far away, we were walking around the streets for ages, and Katja had her bicycle. Matt and I both had a go on it, and I started getting clever and showing how I can ride backwards and stuff. But it soon turned to injury and embarrassment when I crashed into a parked car, cutting my face and bending my glasses. Again.
Then the next morning Matt and I were up early to get on the train to Stockholm. The only seats left were expensive first class ones. Anyway it was a pleasant journey. This photo is in Malmö train station, after I'd knocked my coffee cup on the ground, breaking it and spilling coffee everywhere, then with embarrassment asking if they'd give me a new one, and they did. I needed the coffee.

Copenhagen 19/12/07

I thought I should include the dates I went to these places, because I'm writing this blog in retrospect. I've been back home for over 2 weeks now.

So, after Matt and I finished our sightseeing duties in Göteborg, we had a couple of days free before we were due in Malmö so we thought we'd pop over and check out Copenhagen. So we went there on the train. There's a bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen that is partially a tunnel. I thought it'd be really exciting to go over but it wasn't really.. Being in Copenhagen, we felt more like we were on continental Europe, probably because we were. And it looked a lot like Amsterdam. We opted to stay in a real hotel, which was pretty expensive, but nice to do once in a while. One can only stand so many days sleeping on other people's couches and stuff. As we were retiring to our respective rooms that night, I challenged Matt to a challenge. The challenge was to write a song in the hotel room that night. The person who wrote the better song got to be the winner. We were both up till really late, trying to write a song. They turned out very different, but both about our travels. The winner has to this day not yet been decided, but Matt thought mine was better than his, and I didn't argue - his song was kind of silly..

look, its someone who fell over and looks like he's in the same position he'd be in if he were standing up. That's cos he's made of plastic, I think.

There's Matt, wishing he could ice-skate.

There's me next to a famous sculpture, wishing I could be more classy.


There's an amusement ride that didn't appeal to us at all..

Gothenburg

In Gothenburg, it was quite a different place compared to all other places, as far as music goes. Or at least that's what it seemed like because of the festival that was going on. We played at a thing called Preview, which went for 4 days, and it was in a theatre that's usually for plays and stuff.

The festival was designed to get indie pop and experimental performers who usually play in little clubs and stuff onto a stage where people could watch and listen to them properly, in a different kind of environment. It was pretty unusual, because it was a big stage with bright lights, and tiered seating, and everyone sat down and gave their full silent attention. It was pretty unnerving but also quite nice. We saw the Embassy play on the Saturday night, and the place was packed. Jens Lekman was there and I caught up with him a bit. On Sunday Matt and I played. There weren't quite so many people, but there were certainly enough to make us feel well appreciated. I don't have any photos from there, but there's video you can watch here:
http://www.uppvind.se/preview/dayfour.html
Unfortunately I left my guitar tuner in my suitcase..

The best thing about it was that indie music was given a real stage, and there was a real audience, and they came for 4 days, and they were really listening and enjoying, and buying CDs and the music was all pretty good.

Matt and I hung around in Gothenburg for another day and a half or so after that. There's Matt on the hill.

There's Matt and I with Sabina, who was one of the helpers at the festival and was friendly and showed us around the town a bit and stuff.

There's Sabina's cat with me putting a mug on his head. I think he liked it.

That's what Gothenburg looks like in the city, there's a river.

There's me in a cafe with a tea strainer.

There's Matt in the city near a tram in the afternoon.

There's me in front of the big gallery building at the top of the avenue (like in the jens lekman song) and they were projecting stuff onto it with sound too, it was a big show.

And people were frozen in the street, all looking at it. I like this photo.

That's what the street looks like.

Fredrikstad

In Fredrikstad, it was good. It was the first place of the tour where I had been less than a year earlier, and knew people. So I suddenly felt a bit more comfortable because it was all more familiar. And also its actually a nice place with people that like music. I found out that yes, it is a bit nicer playing somewhere when you've been there before, because some people know the songs and know what its all about. Our host and great pop friend Christoffer Schou from Remington Super 60, pictured above with Matt and I, was feeling a bit ill.

That night (we were only there for 1 night) Matt and I started the evening with our usual combination of Matt's set with me playing guitar with him, then my ipod karaoke set, with Matt joining me for a couple of songs. But it was actually another Frode Fivel gig, and they sounded fantastic. I was really impressed at the sound system for the size of the club. Well it wasn't that small, but the stage was. It was kind of weird. Pictured above are the girls from Elak Bingo (who didn't officially perform, but were dressed up in their performance clothes, and jumped up on the front of the stage during my song mathematics (which they insisted that I had to play - I wasn't originally intending to, I don't like the song all that much anymore) and danced around in front of me, which was great, because they took all the attention away from me) and a film director who's name I've forgotten. He was cool.

Then everyone went to this party at this other place, and I was there for a while but I'm not much of a party person and felt a bit bored. Then we went back to that venue again, which had started playing loud rock music, which apparently is more normal for that place. I didn't like it and I was feeling tired, so I went back to Christoffer's place while the others partied till very late and then Christoffer, Elisabeth and Matt came home and kept talking for ages while I didn't sleep.


The next day Christoffer was feeling quite unwell. I was cold outside so I didn't go out there.. Matt and I worked on writing a song together. And then we went to the train station to get a train to Gothenburg, Sweden. We met the same film director guy and talked to him on the train until he got off. He was allright.

Oslo

Matt and I had a discussion about our experience in Oslo. Should we tell the truth? Should we be selective in the truths we tell so as to lead readers into getting a skewed idea of what happened? I'll be pretty truthful.


This was our official gig in Oslo. It was a really nice small venue. We played some songs and finished quickly then left, because.. unfortunately, there were only about 2 people and all the people who would have been at our gig were at this one:

Frode Fivel and other bands. We stayed with Frode Fivel, and he was a really great host. We enjoyed his band too. We ended up playing 2 other gigs with them and some of the songs got stuck in my head many days later.

At this gig, in the breaks between bands, Elak Bingo performed. They were awesome! Who they are will become more clear in the next entry about Fredrikstad, hopefully, but they had 3 different costumes, and performed with dancing and props to their own pre-recorded silly/awesome tunes.

And then the night after, Frode's band was set to play at this other gig, which was apparently a party for someome, but I never discovered who it was. They said Matt and I could play too. There were some fantastic acts that night, including a bosnian folk/prog rock band that got the whole place pumping, I think. The funniest one was called the great gods of power. I needn't explain their music. I don't think its worth it. It was all very Oslo. In Oslo, people like rock, and they aren't really into quiet sophisticated pop. So Matt and I played last, when there were about 4 people left in the place. They liked it though.

But really, Oslo wasn't the best place for us. I had to explain to Matt that all the things I told him about Scandinavian people being into sophisticated pop music are true for Sweden, but not so much Norway. Except maybe for Fredrikstad.. (up next)

Wales

After Nottingham, I went back to Wales with the Hepburns for a few days. It felt kind of strange because it was like a new country for me, but to the others it was completely normal.

There's Mike explaining something to William and Molly, his 2 crazy kids, in sign language (they're both deaf)

That's somewhere around the bay south of Swansea, when Matt's parents took me on a nice little excursion.

This is apparently the second best icecream in the world. I'd believe it.

Apparently this is where Matt writes most of the songs for the Hepburns.

..and this is the shed in Mike's backyard where they have been rehearsing all these years.

gosh, wales, eh? Who would've thought?
and what does that even mean?
next up, Oslo!

Nottingham

The next morning, after breakfasting with Gareth's wife and children in Leeds, I got 3 trains to Nottingham. Trains in the UK are pretty good, but a little expensive and sometimes late. When I got to Nottingham, I had lots of time to kill until the gig because the Hepburns (who were travelling from Wales to play there) weren't arriving until the evening.

Gosh this is a boring blog. Why should I say everything that happened, its not even very interesting. I'm also feeling frustrated about the space bar on this keyboard that I'm using (typing from here in Llanelli, Wales). Lets cut out the boring bits.

Nottingham has a bad reputation for crime but to me it looked beautiful. That doesn't rule out the possibility of it being dangerous. I guess if I'm going to get robbed, I'd rather have it done in a beautiful city. Like how Pat wishes he could have got mugged in New York. Or not..

Everyone had a hard time getting around nottingham and finding the venue, but in the end, we played a gig and it was good. My set went over well, and the Hepburns set was plagued with technical problems. Matt's guitar was falling apart, then he fixed it with blu-tack, and the amp was buzzing really badly and sometimes not working, then he broke a string, so I lent him mine (it's happened a couple of times before), so I borrowed a guitar from the band rudolf rocker when I joined the Hepburns. Then it was funny cos my guitar (or the lead) wasn't working, so Matt abandoned it and I was playing guitar and he was just the lead singer, which was funny. See below.

This picture taken by my parents, who were in attendance, and enjoyed the gig. (They live in the UK these days, near Cambridge).
Gosh, this blog is still boring.
Anyway, next up is my visit in Wales.

Leeds

After I spent 2 weeks in and around Toronto (which was very nice and I had a good time, except that it was really cold), I went to England, on another aeroplane. Aeroplanes are not that fun, but this journey was 6 hours of sitting in a chair, not 12 or anything. I've also got used to emptying my mind of all thought, it makes the time pass quicker. It also makes me a more dull person, which is an unwelcome side-effect of doing boring things.


I stayed with my parents just outside Cambridge for a night, and I slept from about 7pm until noon the next day. partly because of jetlag and that travelling makes you feel tired, but also because the sun in England in the winter doesn't rise high enough for you to really realise that it is daytime.


Then I caught a train or 2 to get to Leeds. I found my way to the venue called the Packhorse, and met Gareth Cavill there, who is a very lovely guy. His musical project is called Cavil (with one 'l') which is a word that means to raise petty objections. Cavil and the other local group called 'at swim two birds' both play music which is both miserable and beautiful, which is not too surprising, since Leeds is the home of goth. It was a really nice gig. There weren't too many people, but the people that were there were very friendly and were really into the music.
During my set, a couple of drunken girls, drunkenly shouting how fabulous I am, tried to get in the room, but the door man didn't let them in, but I was saying that they could come in if they payed the 4 pounds door fee.
I really enjoyed Gareth's set because I knew (almost) all the songs really well, because I mixed his forthcoming album. But it was great to hear them stripped back to their essentials.

There's Gareth a.k.a. Cavil, playing and singing a nice song.

There's at swim two birds.

During their set, a guy dressed as santa claus opened the door, with a look on his face as if to ask if we want him to come in and spread some christmas cheer. The guy on the door shook his head significantly, as if to say that no, we're not really into your christmas cheer in here..