Hi all,A quick note to keep you in touch with what's been happening...
A few weeks ago I played Mojo Acoustic in Wellington and had a great night. Thanks everyone who came along and made it a night to remember! If you've been wondering why Songs From A Chair have been quiet (and who hasn't been wondering?), allow me to break the silence and fill you in on some plans...
First, I have to bring you back to a bit. Nearly two years ago, in December 2007, I wrote a seasonal song that I called "Christmas Bells". It was a mellow, laid back, quirky, acoustic, folksie pop song, but by the time I had finished writing it the season had passed and the song was put aside.
Wind forward a year to 2008 and I was preparing to leave for New Zealand. I wanted to get a few things done before I left and I mentioned Christmas Bells to a friend, Ben, who happens to be an awesome songwriter with a port-a-studio, and Ben volunteered (I might have threatened him, it's hazy now) to help me record it. At the time I was busy packing, saying goodbye to friends, planning my last gig, recording some other songs with Peter (more about that another time), and Ben had been touring in Europe. It was very hectic, but we managed to get a day when we were both in Dublin and I brought my guitar to his house and said hello to Ben (guitar, bass, keys, synth, sound engineer) and Anna (clarinet, vocals, xylophone) and we got to work on the song. A few hours later, and a flying vocal visit from another friend, Aidan, the song was down. And that was where we left it.
I had moved to Wellington, settled down, got a job and a mix of the song sent by Ben, but another Christmas slipped by and nothing much happened. Which brings me back to now and Songs From A Chair. The last few weeks I've been working with a Belgian friend, Nele (pronounced Knee-Lee), on a plan to produce a music video for Christmas Bells. We shoot the film tomorrow and a car-load or two of friends are filling in as a complete production team. We plan to have the video edited, the song mixed and mastered (Peter - please give me a call urgently) and the whole package uploaded to Youtube before Christmas.
So, here's to videos, helpful friends, reasonable rates, technical reliability, threaded tyres and Christmas Bells.
I'll let you know how things go...