The Electric Confectionaires are sorry to announce that our bass player of the last two a half years, Hamish Bode, has left the band. Hamish has been invaluable, as a bass player, singer, and generally sweet all round dude! He's left the band to pursue his work in graphic design, with plans to move overseas in the near future. We would like to thank him for his contribution to the band, and helping us to get to where we are now.


This however is not slowing us down, we've been taking a break from gigging to concentrate on writing, arranging, and recording demos for the next album. We don't want to give anything away quite yet. But we're all really excited about how all the new tunes are shaping up, and can't wait to get them to unleash on your eardrums.

Hi everyone,

So the tour is all done now and we're back home safe in Auckland wondering "what next?". Well, since we've been back we've been looking at demoing new songs for the next album. If you came and saw us on tour then you would have heard a few of them (please, if you have feedback on them let us know - because it's always good to have feedback.

I guess after a 3 week tour you would expect us to have some awesome stories about throwing TVs out of windows and such. Alas, most of the places we stayed they were chained to the wall. In fact, most places we stayed didn't have TVs. Nor pools to throw them in.

So now that we're back home Haddon is back to work, Rob and I are back at uni (and trying to make a dollar) and Jaisi is doing a lot of writing which we're molding into some really cool songs.

Here are things I'm excited about:

1. The Olympics
2. Sausage Sizzles
3. WotLK, Diablo3 and SC2.

I don't really know what else to write in this blog.
Maybe ask me some questions so I can talk about more things.

Awesome :)
Hamish

It is 10:52pm on a Sunday night and we've been stuck in Christchurch since Thursday.

We were meant to play in Queenstown as part of the Winter Festival on Friday but ,on the drive down, we were told that we would need to turn around because our sacked out van consisting of 5 ECs and 5 Dukes, a sound guy and our tour manager with a trailer packed full of gear wouldn't make it through the pass to Queenstown.

So, we turned around and headed back to Christchurch to burrow in at Brad's (the guitarist from the Dukes) for the weekend.

Our weekend has consisted of a lot of listening to music, guitar playing, large amounts of cabin fever, and me baking cookies and avidly playing World of Warcraft on my laptop.

Last weekend we were in Ohakune playing at the Mardi Gras which was pretty awesome. Although, being the sheltered townsfolk that we are; the cold really kicked our arse.

Anyway, we're off to Timaru in the morning so hopefully if you're coming along to the show then we'll see you there.

They may have a rather silly name, but don't let that put you off. The music the ELectric Confectionaries produce is anything but silly or tacky. It's pop, but a very sophisticated, quirky brand of it, and one that you are likely to hear quite a lot more of. This is undoubtedly the most interesting release by a kiwi band this year - listen to Sweet Tooth next to the Checks plodding Hunting Whales and you'll find there's no contest. What's even more exciting is that four mates barely out of high school produced this splendid music. The mind boggles as to the kind of stuff they could be capable of once they've matured and developed as musicians. What they've made already is hard enough to comprehended. Songs like 'Mr Whippy', 'Sweet Tooth', 'All My Love', Bucktooth Bill', and 'Piece Of My Heart' are so well-written and perfectly played, they sound like a continuation of where the Beatles left off. That may be high praise indeed, but if you tack side two of Abbey Road onto the front of Sweet Tooth and let the two run seamlessly into each other, I doubt you'll notice the record has changed. Much of this similarity is due to the Electric's preference for using vintage gear to get that retro sound and their unique use of Lennon/McCartneyesque harmonies - the four members all have backgrounds singing barbershop, and put those vocal skills to good use. And as for the lyrics - well, lets just say that songsmith Jaisi Sheehan has an awful lot of Talent and could blossom into something very special indeed. Together he and his band mates have the potential to be the best group out of New Zealand in the past 20 years or so. Whether they have the gumption to follow through on that promise is another story, but this is a great way to start.

Daniel Markham

Yet another bunch of young school pals from the North Shore, The Electric Confectionaries go delightfully against the grain: this is pop music alright, pop that tunes into the delirium of 1960s pop at its most exploratory and spontaneous. More importantly, these guys are clever and they won't be shamed for it. I'm not surprised to read that listening pleasures for the band include Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis and Bartok. Their music, though stylistically primed on psychedelic-era Kinks, Beatles, et al, is far removed from the typical malnourished 1960s revivalists that constantly plague release schedules. The Electric Confectionaries can sing [in harmony, even], play like whippersnappers and their debut album album combines unbridled energy with rare discipline and skill.

Metro - Gary Steel

It's hard to believe this Auckland foursome are only 19 and 20 year olds, so young that their recent history includes winning the Smokefree Rockquest in 2005. There's a confidence in their debut album that you'd expect from decade long veterans of the tour circuit, not relative babes in arms. Cute, quirky, rocky poppy and jazzy, these guys are very hard to box. From 'Silver Silver Moon', a track that is a kinks vocal incarnations, to the barbershop styles of 'Carnival Hymns' the album stays interesting by having no song that echoes its neighbour. The feeling generated by "Sweet Tooth' is reminiscent of when the first work from Nick Hearte of The Shocking Pinks was released. A little clarification here: the two bands have few similarities musically, but like The Shocking Pinks, The Electric Confectionaries are a stunningly original outfit and both are bravely and beautifully swimming against the popular local tide.

Groove Guide - Sharyn Croft

Here's a review that came out in the most recent version of "The Listener".



SUGAR & SPARKS

At their best, the Electric Confectionaires reach giddy musical heights.

It's only two years since the Electric Confectionaires won the national Smokefree Rockquest; less than a year since the youngest member finished high school. Yet already this group from Auckland's North Shore have completed an album more accomplished than most bands twice their age could manage.

Sweet Tooth strains to contain their youthful energy. The opening track and first single, "Late Night Shopping Spree", explodes out of the disc with its furiously funky riff, leader Jaisi Sheehan showering guitar notes like sparks from a welder's torch. And that's just the kickoff for a set that incorporates glorious pop melodies, crazed synthesizers, gorgeous harmonies and fretboard frenzies. Their music makes equal room for prog-rock pyrotechnics and bubblegum hooks, blues licks and barbershop quartet.

The whole disc drips with musicality. "Silver Silver Moon" wraps a minimal lyric around a melody that McCartney would be proud of. The a capella "Carnival Hymns" might be a segment from Brian Wilson's Smile. And if their music recalls such pop heavyweights, it's not because they're making trendy post-modern allusions; it's because, at their best, they really do reach such giddy musical heights.

Yet when they sing "I've got a sweet tooth for you" or invite you to the "land of the lonely souls", it is with the genuine innocence of a band that has not yet learnt to be self-concious, and is all the better for it.

SWEET TOOTH, Electric Confectionaires (Sony/BMG)

7:18pm 22-06-07

Now that I have a little time before we go on stage before our second gig I thought I might spare some time to sit down and ramble a little bit about this tour we're on at the moment. Yesterday was our first day of the tour and we left Auckland around midday to head to Hamilton for our first show.

In Hamilton we had a radio interview before anything else… well, actually… we had Burger Fuel before anything else. Then we went and had a sing in some local toilets so we had some material for the radio interview.

We got to the Clarence St Theatre in Hamilton that afternoon and met the Evermore guys who are real sweet and all the crew as well. The singer from Thirsty Merc is sick at the moment so they've pulled out of the first two shows. The show last night went really well and we were all pretty stoked.

We had a bit of a drive after the show to get to National Park where we stayed last night. The drive was sweet but you can imagine that with five musicians in a car the desire to listen to a new track every 30 seconds becomes very apparent. Haddon had 2 beers and was raucously pissed, what a rockstar.

We drove to Palmy this morning where we've pretty much just hung out and had a soundcheck and just got back from dinner. The arena tonight is MASSIVE and is the biggest venue we've played at (figuring that Rhythm and Vines and the BDO are a little bit different). Apparently we're expecting a lot of people tonight, maybe 1000, maybe 1500. Quite a few.

Anyway, it's pretty bloody cold down these ways and we aren't even in the South Island yet! Heading for Dunedin is going to be super cold. We've also managed to take photos with giant stuff… which I have decided is a new life goal of mine. So far we've hit up a giant carrot in Ohakune and a giant gumboot in Taihape. I wonder how many giant things there are in New Zealand. And what would be the best one? I know of a giant kiwifruit and an assortment of giant fruits outside of Cromwell. But what else is there? What ever happened to that giant kiwi on the top of the bacon place? I think that might be gone now…

Anyway, we're off to Wellington tomorrow morning for another show. Better go warm up now for the show. I'll have to put all the photos up when I get back. I forgot the cord.

Hamish


1:35am 24-06-07

We've just started watching the sailing/rugby at Haddon's uncle's house where we're staying in Wellington. Currently the Boks are winning 6-0 and Alinghi is ahead by 70m (we're on the 2nd leg). The show tonight in Wellington was really good. The theatre we played at was really cool although the whole crowd was seated, which in a way was kind of nice. Thirsty Merc also played their first show of the tour which was awesome; I'd never seen them before. You wouldn't have even known that their singer, Rai, had completely lost his voice over the previous two days.

Whilst I remember, I must apologise on behalf of Rob who last night made extremely bad call. If there is a sweet innocent girl who was at the Palmerston North show last night who's father is now hunting down our drummer… he didn't mean it. It just slipped out of his mouth. Honest.

Before our show tonight we had a radio interview at a local student radio station and we had an interview at a café in Wellington for Jet magazine. The interviewer for the magazine was rad. HOLLAH!

We also managed to catch up with some friends who live in Wellington now. Guy, and old school friend of mine is at drama school down here and is off to Denver to compete in the International Barbershop Convention there of which I am intensely jealous. We also managed to catch up with our mate Lorenzo Pradel who is studying Jazz down here in Wellington, we also went to see him and a few mates play at this awesome bar in Wellington after the show. Callum Martin came along to our show tonight and hung out with us which was nice while he's here visiting his family before he heads back to London with The Checks to conquer things and such.

Wait, its 6-3 to the Boks now with 4 minutes until half time. The ref is having a wee talk to the dirty Springboks… hopefully we'll see a card if they push their luck.

Back to the sailing… and the boats are going back upwind. I wish they'd switch to virtual spectator so we can actually see what the deficit is. Alinghi is definitely ahead (they just tacked in front). Apologies for the commentary, but I feel like writing a whole lot of CRAP.

Oooo! I almost forgot to say. After the show tonight at the Opera House, we had an awesome time out on the street selling merchandise and meeting some rad people. The managers of the venue had some system where they needed an in house person to sell our merchandise and they would take a 15% cut, and they'd have to check all our stock and lots of other ridiculous crap. So we just ended up out on the footpath… I'll have to post some photos when we get back to Auckland.

Team NZ behind by 60m.

Half time in the Rugby.
It's now 1:51am and we have a ferry to catch in the morning. We need to be up in a little over 4 hours ? ROUGH! I've never caught the Interislander but it looks like it's going to be a pretty rough three and a half hours… especially if we stay up watching our fellow countrymen take on the sporting world.

I'm going to go make some toast or something now, hopefully there's some Marmite here. If I have a brainwave about something interesting to write that extends beyond my desires for yeasty spreads, I'll boot this computer up again.

Take it easy,
Hamish.

P.S. NZL behind by 50m
P.P.S. It's late and my syntax and grammar is most likely to be horrible. I have not proof read anything and I can not be screwed. Sorry, surely it will make trying to comprehend my ramblings a little bit more fun.

Hamish xx


11:47pm 26-06-2007

We're just sitting down getting ready to watch the 3rd race in the sailing. A lot has happened since I wrote in Wellington… where to start? Well…

We got up before 7am after the Wellington show to get on the Interislander with all the bands and crew to head to Picton. I'd never been on that ferry before, but it was HUGE. I'm glad I didn't join the others for a dodgy looking cooked breakfast, lots of people looked like it was going to come up again when we got out into the Strait. Anyone who has been on the ferry before will know how windy it gets out on the top deck, so we went up there for a bit of fun. Other than that, we pretty much listened to Bob Dylan on Dan's laptop and watched the most wicked performance of Michael Jackson at the Grammy awards ages ago. It was the one where he did "Man In The Mirror" with the EPIC key change.

When we got in we headed to Nelson where we stayed with Haddon's aunty, Penny. It was so nice staying with Haddon's cousins. The two younger boys were and absolute laugh and we took Jordan's 50cc bike down to the park for a bit of a razz which we filmed so you can look out for that in the video. After we'd had some awesome pumpkin soup we went to the Nelson School of Music for the show.

The crowd that night was AWESOME. The venue was the smallest we had played but it was absolutely packed and everyone who was there was really into it. We decided to sell our merchandise out on the street again which has turned into a lot of fun and people seem to come up and are really keen to talk to us. I think we're all still a bit surprised that people want us to sign their stuff. And not just paper and stuff but odd things… like cellphones, the inside of phones, arms, Evermore undies and other merchandise, a face, in fact… we signed our first bra. As always, Rob is a hit with the teen girls. Haddon's afro is a hit with everyone. The amount of people who ask to touch his afro is ridiculous! So after the Nelson show we headed to a bar down the road where some local musicians were 'jamming' but that didn't really work out so us and the Evermore boys decided it would be better to have a play at a soundcheck or something. Whence we returned home the sailing was on which was brilliant. I decided I would do a lot of things to make my sleep that night awesome. Here is the list:

1. A really warm spa.
2. A sleeping bag on the sofa watching sailing.
3. A milo.

Did you know that there is actually a reaction that happens when you have warm milk that makes you sleepy? I can't remember exactly what it is, but there is an enzyme that is released near the bottom of your brain that makes you tired. I need to read more about it. Which brings me to another point, apparently Asians or people from Eastern descent have a lower tolerance for alcohol because they lack an enzyme (or maybe have less of it) that breaks down alcohol. Anyway, I need to get back on track.

The next day we set off for Christchurch after we had changed our plans of driving down the west coast given that there were a whole lot of problems with road closures and the like. We headed around the coast via Kaikoura which is probably one of the most amazing stretches of road in the country (again, we'll have a bit of that in the video). I can't say I've ever seen a sign with "Seals – next 4km".

We arrived in Christchurch where we were to stay with a mate from school called Chris Reeder who is studying at the Broadcasting school down there. We crashed on some mattresses on his lounge floor.

Today we drove from Christchurch all the way to Dunedin. On the way we found "Giant Thing #3"… a big old Salmon. Definitely the biggest giant thing we've come across yet. We stopped in Oamaru and probably had the funniest hour of the whole tour. We actually found a crazy hermit bootmaker, no lie. We managed to get some stealth footage of him as well. After that we headed out on the breakwater to look at penguins, but that soon turned into a bit of a laugh because there were 5 metre swells coming in which made for some great filming in which you will be able to see Haddon's naked rear end getting cleaned by a natural blowhole. AWESOME.

We're in Dunedin now, and we're staying in this awesome lodge place. We went and played some pool before and these girls came over to us and asked if we wanted to play against them. Fair enough. Bad decision on their part because Haddon was on form and him and Rob actually beat them hands down. Now, anyone will tell you that this means one thing – undie run. Right? Well, they weren't so keen. Rob and Haddon went soft on them and let them run around some dark table in the corner with their tops off and they did an extremely half assed job of it too. As a gesture of kindness we've invited them to the show tomorrow night. Well, we're watching Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" now so I'm gonna get into that before the sailing comes on.

I hope you're all doing well. Apparently it's meant to be the coldest night in NZ History tonight in Dunedin and we just happen to be here. Joy!

Peace,
Hamish

The Final Rant

The last few days of our tour were herendously busy so I didn't have time to update this since Dunedin. We're all finished now though! It's nice to be home, though I do miss the tour.

Our second night in Dunedin was awesome. We played at the Glenroy to an awesome crowd who in fact were one of the best crowds of the tour. Since Wellington, it seemed that selling merchandise was a great idea because it was pretty fun and people seemed to feel sorry for us out in the cold. Dunedin was SO cold though. I was amazed how all the young folks were prancing around in minimal clothing. We met some awesome people after the show in Dunedin including one guy who liked our show so much that he invited us to his flash restaurant to have "anything we want" for breakfast. I definitely recommend the Basque Eggs at The Customhouse in Dunedin. It was the best hangover cure for the big night we ended up having.

After we'd packed up we headed to The Craic, which was some warm little pub in the Octagon. Neil hijacked the music and we cranked dance tunes into the wee hours. Dann from Evermore seemed to think it was a good idea to skull beers with anyone he could find, I don't know how he got up and played the next day.

The aforementioned breakfast at The Customhouse was legendary and set us up for the drive to Timaru after we'd visited a couple of record stores.

The Timaru crowd was awesome and we played one of our best shows of the tour although it was difficult given that it was a seated crowd. There is something nice about playing to a seated crowd however... humbling perhaps? We met heaps of cool people after the Timaru show. One lovely girl called Margot (who was thoroughly impressed I knew how to spell her name) offered me free snowboarding lessons! I haven't been skiing or snowboarding in my life, so I might have to take her up on that.

We drove to Christchurch the next morning to play the last of our South Island shows of the tour. The first stop was RDU (a student radio station down there) for an interview. We then went straight to Dimitri's for some rad Souvlaki. If you've never had it you haven't lived. Neil and I were distraught to find Dimitri's was closed when passed through Christchurch on our way down south so it was good to be able to dominate a souvlaki second time around.

Matthew, the South Island sales rep for Sony BMG, introduced us to the local record stores and even bought us the new Ray Davies CD from a shop called Radar. What a lovely man. Christchurch is turning into a really rad town, there's all these new cool places popping up everywhere.

The show at The Civic that night was PACKED. Thirsty Merc played their final show of the tour and it was phenomenal. Personally, I never though much of them until I saw them live. They're an amazing band and I suggest you buy their album. Not to mention that they are the nicest guys out too, hopefully we'll be able to go play with them in Australia sometime soon.

The flight back up to Auckland the next morning was sweet, I pretty much just read Harry Potter the whole. What is up with no airline food though?! I mean, now it's just tea and coffee. They don't even have the biscuits anymore. That is a poor effort. I know people complain about airline food, but at least give us something. Sheeessshhh...

For us, the Auckland show was a little bit unexciting. For no other reason that it got moved from the St James to the Bruce Mason centre. That place is completely uninspiring. The choir competitions we used to do in there may have also had something to do with it. The show was pretty good though despite some difficulties we had with some different gear we had to use (it was still coming up from Christchurch on the truck). The All Blacks lost and so did our sailors. Bummer.

I guess there isn't really much else to say about the tour. I'll chuck some photos up somewhere when I can, need to get them off the other guys first.

If you read this far, you're truly a champ. A champ, or perhaps someone who is really bored. Or maybe even someone who can do mega speed reading. In any case, I want to meet you.

Peace,
Hamish.

Hi reader,

Thought it might be a good idea to keep a record of just how recording is going and all that. I'll try and update this as often as possible. So check back and have a read, I'll try and throw up some photos too.

Tuesday 16th January 2007 - 7:50pm

Rob and Haddon have just gone to pick up our Indian food for dinner; Jaisi's choice. We started in the studio yesterday, but we mostly just set up gear and got everything sounding lovely. Our producer, Murray Grindley, and our Engineer, Nick, have managed to get in heaps of great gear for us to use:

Some amps
A mic
Some gats

That's just a few of the cool things we have to play with. .

Rob got this new snare yesterday which he was having trouble tuning, so somehow someone made the call and the drummer, Mike, from Pluto came and tuned up his kit really well, and it's sounding really good. That guy has like.... 12 snares or something, and he lent us a couple. What a top dude. So anyway, that was yesterday pretty much.

Today we came in and started work on "Bucktooth Bill". The rhythm track came out really good, we did three takes and ended up using the second take. The recording is coming out sounding really live. Somewhere along the way, it seems Rob learnt to play the drums... I mean, I've never heard him do some of the stuff he did before. It's really rad. So after that, Haddon put down some organ (Hammond) through a nice Leslie (courtesy of the Lynch family; Bruce, Andy, and Susan). As I'm writing this I'm listening to Jaisi recording some guitar solos. The consensus was that he should just "play like Jimi Hendrix" and everything will be fine... and it's coming out really good.

There's also an outdoor chessboard that we've been playing on... Currently Haddon is definitely the champion. Well actually, the owner of the studio, Flea, is - but he's like, a chess tournament champ... so he doesn't really count. But I know exactly where Haddon makes his first 7 moves, so I just need to figure out how to beat him.

Come read back tomorrow. I gots to eat some curries.
Peace,
Hamish.

Wednesday 17th January 2007 - 9:31pm

So since I wrote last we've got a whole lot achieved, and eaten some rad food. Our engineer Nick is the man who knows everything to get about food... nevermind that he's also a ProTools fiend and a top bloke.

Last night Jaisi finished off the vocals on Bucktooth Bill, which included him doing a plethora of vocal backing tracks which sounds really crazy. It's sweet.

I went to pick up Haddon this morning to head over to the studio but he was asleep, so I woke him up. Then he tried to go back to sleep when I walked out of his room. Cheeky. So I left him and he rode his motorbike over.
Jaisi and I headed over and had a sweet dance in the car on the motorway.

We started with some cleaning up of yesterdays track but pretty much got straight into the next song. Which is a new one we've never recorded before. The bassist from Pluto lent me his lovely Diplomat Viola Bass and we used Flea's (The owner of the studio) drum kit which was coated in tea towels and it had a sweet calf skin bass drum. It sounds totally sweet. Haddon played Hammond again on this track and Jaisi played this Monophonic Korg Synth. He's just double tracking some vocals up at the moment, real Lennon like.

Haddon, Hamish, and Jaisi recording.

Anyway, I'm going to cruise, if Rob lets me use his computer in the morning I'll litter this blog with all the photos I've been taking.

Take care people,
Peace,
Hamish.

Thursday 18th January 2007 - 1:41pm

Good afternoon, we're just setting up to record "All My Love" this afternoon which will be fun. Although, kinda weird too, given that we're so used to the old recording. After I finished typing last night we finished off the new track we recorded yesterday and it is sounding FAR better than any of us expected.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007 - 2:21pm

It's been a while since I've written, sorry. Since I last wrote we've gotten heaps done. All My Love is almost finished (bar a couple of extra overdubs that will go on the final recording. We've also, over the past couple of days, been recording "Lady Marianne", which has so far turned out really nice. So that's... track number 5. Almost half way, if you look at it like that.

We've been playing heaps and heaps of chess, and we've also thought of a cool thing that could let you score an EC's t-shirt, which there are pretty much none of in the world - at the moment. So... we're going to play a game of chess and we'll have some kind of question like "find a way Hamish could have checkmated Haddon in three moves" or something along those lines.

We'll write down a few games and think of something for you people to stew over.

We've had a few more cool instruments that we've used on this last track, including an amazing old Gibson archtop and a Wurlitzer electric piano.

Jaisi is about to do a vocal on Lady Marianne, hopefully we can get this track pretty much finised today. We shall see.

I really should get some of the other guys to write something on here... or at least transcribe some of their thoughts.

Haere mai, e hoa ma.

Thursday 25th January 2007 - 1:10pm

Hi again, it's almost lunchtime and I'm pretty hungry. Jaisi is playing guitar. Haddon is swimming, and Rob is listening to Kora... again. I think he might be obsessed with that track "Flow", and for good reason - it's pretty darn cool.

We spent yesterday tidying up "Sweet Tooth" which is sounding really cool. We've never really been able to play it live with the sounds we've always wanted to. I guess that's why you never really hear it at any of our gigs. But Nick and Murray absolutely nailed the sounds for everything. Jaisi and I laid down the rhythm track yesterday afternoon. I played bass, Jaisi played drums. Jaisi and Rob are like polar opposites when it comes to drumming. It's pretty cool to be able to record in different formations and have a quite a bit of variation in the tracks, in terms of feel.

Last night we recorded "Hair Down To Your Boots". The rhythm track was Rob (Drums), Hamish (Bass), Haddon (Ace Tone Organ), Jaisi (Fender Strat). We ended up using the first take to put vocals and solos on top. The only thing left to go on is the guitar solo, and the keyboard solo. Jaisi is doing the guitar now. Haddon did a real sweet harmonica solo last night, and then Jaisi did all the vocals in two takes, and then the rest of us did the backing vocals in two takes as well.

We had a really awesome night last night, just hanging out with Mike (Flea - the studio owner) who had been at the pub and was getting pretty classic. His mate Louis came around and schooled everyone on chess. Mike, Louis and Murray (our producer) all used to play in a band back in the day. Anyway, you've probably noticed that chess is mentioned quite a bit on here. Mike is a chess fanatic and has played something like 11,000 games in the last 4 years. Louis is even more extreme. He is almost classified as a "grand master" which means he is almost in the top 2,200 (approx.) players in the world. Unfortunately, he doesn't really get to attend the ranking tournaments given that many of them don't happen in New Zealand.

So today we're hoping to do a new track, I'll let you know what happens when we start to cut our teeth on it. As yet, I have no idea how it's going to be approached. No doubt Murray and Nick will have some amazing ideas though.

We also have the head honchos from the record company dropping by this afternoon to check out what we've done so far. Hmmmmm.....

Anyway, lunch is almost upon us. I can hear Jaisi playing something on the Hammond which sounds like something from my Sega Master System II. Oh how I loved thee.... it took me most of my youth to clock Alex The Kidd in Miracle World.

Does anyone have a Sega Master System? Mine's broken and I really wanna tear up some Sonic. Let me know!

Peace,
Hamish.

Wednesday 1st February 2007 - 3:04pm

Well, I think it's Wednesday.. forgive me if it's not. But I can only remember 2 episodes of Home and Away this week, so I figure it must be Wednesday.

Anyway, Jaisi has just finished putting guitar on "Silver Silver Moon" which is sounding really cool. The album has taken on an identity that we didn't really think it would have, but it seems to be working.

Rob and Haddon have just gone to get lunch.

I really don't have that much to write today. I can't really be bothered. Sorry! But Haddon will write something this afternoon hopefully.

We've also been working on a new song at the moment which is pretty weird, but it's also sounding really cool. Anyway, I'll get Haddon to write something a bit more concise later.

Peace.

Friday 2nd March - 11:55am

It's been a month since I've last written in this thing, sorry. It may seem slack but we've actually had a three week break in recording and just got back into it at the start of this week. In the three weeks we had off we wrote three new tunes which we've spent these last 5 days recording. It's really cool to hear them coming together because we really had no idea what they were going to sound like.

I won't even bother trying to describe the gist of the songs, you'll have to buy the album for that.

We've almost got all of the tracks down. So far we've done the better part of ten and we still have a couple more to go. Hopefully we'll have finished tracking by the end of this week and we can do all the mixing next week as well as any other little tricks that get put on the tracks.

So most of you people are probably back at school or uni or starting work or something... I wish I could do 6000 degrees by correspondence. That would be cool.

If anyone has spare time I recommend you hunt down a documentary called "Loose Change" by Alex Jones or have a look for "What We Still Don't Know". I've watched those over the last week and they're really heady... but well worth the watch if you're in the mood.

Anyway, leave us a message or something. Or a question about anything, I'm sure there will be something interesting I'm neglecting to tell you.

Churrrrrr,
Hamish.

Thursday 14th March 2007 - 7:35pm

THE ALBUM IS FINISHED! Well, there are a few loose ends to tie up but we finished mixing on saturday last weekend. We're all really stoked with how it came out and we've ended up with 11 raging tracks to put on our first album (hopefully the first of many).

The tracks we've ended up with are all so different but they all sound like us, which is important. Murray and Nick have really done a rad job making us sound like actual professional musicians.

Weird thought though. I know that it only really dawned on me the other day that I'm a "musician". Weird to call yourself that. I had to write it on an orthodontist form (the guy whois fixing my munted jaw... but that's another story). I have to say, I had a wee chuckle to myself about the whole thing.

So now that the album is done we're rehearsing and organising all the artwork and all the other peripheral things that go with making an album. We have our second meeting regarding how we progress with getting all this stuff done. Which for us, involves the novel concept of sitting on swingy chairs in a boardroom.

There may also be a prospect for some vinyl releases for any die hard retro freaks. Exciting times.

Anyway, this blog is about to come to an end. Pity the others were too lazy to help me out with it! Apologies to anyone who read this thing from the start. You can obviously the fervour I started out with has been impossible to maintain...

We'll be launching our own site which will run along side this one sometime in the near future, so you'll be able to see and be involved in all sorts of useless and crazy things no doubt.

Come on back.
Tell your friends.
Buy the album.

Thanks for reading,
Peace!
Hamish.

xOxxxOOXoXXoOoXxx (anyone seen Nacho Libre?)


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, have you guys ever realised that you ever look at the clock at it always seems to be when it's 11:11 or 12:34... Or do unexplainable things happen frequently when you do a certain thing, or don't do it.

Haddon was telling me about this phenomenon that is observed by people who study peoples aura's and stuff (if you believe in that sort of thing)... anyway, I can't explain it all that well. I'm just talking about it because I always seem to look at the clock at 12:34... and when I did today - our friends count was 1234. Hmmm.... anyway, here's an article written by someone about it. It's pretty long, so you probably won't read it.

Crystal Children: Indigo and Crystal Children

By Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

The first thing most people notice about Crystal Children is their eyes large, penetrating, and wise beyond their years. Their eyes lock on and hypnotize you, while you realize your soul is being laid bare for the child to see.

 

Perhaps you've noticed this special new "breed" of children rapidly populating our planet. They are happy, delightful, and forgiving. This generation of new lightworkers, roughly ages 0 through 7, are like no previous generation. Ideal in many ways, they are the pointers for where humanity is headed . . . and it's a good direction!

 

The older children (approximately age 7 through 25), called "Indigo Children," share some characteristics with The Crystal Children. Both generations are highly sensitive and psychic, and have important life purposes. The main difference is their temperament. Indigos have a warrior spirit, because their collective purpose is to mash down old systems that no longer serve us. They are here to quash government, educational, and legal systems that lack integrity. To accomplish this end, they need tempers and firey determination.

 

Those adults who resist change and who value conformity may misunderstand the Indigos. They are often mislabeled with the psychiatric diagnoses of Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Sadly, when they are medicated, The Indigos often lose their beautiful sensitivity, spiritual gifts, and warrior energy. I wrote about the Indigos at length in my book, The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children and in The Indigo Children, written by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober (both published by Hay House).

 

In contrast, The Crystal Children are blissful and even-tempered. Sure, they may have tantrums occasionally, but these children are largely forgiving and easy-going. The Crystals are the generation who benefit from the Indigos' trailblazing. First, The Indigo Children lead with a machete, cutting down anything that lacks integrity. Then The Crystal Children follow the cleared path, into a safer and more secure world.

 

The terms, "Indigo" and "Crystal" were given to these two generations, because they most accurately describe their aura colors and energy patterns. Indigo Children have a lot of indigo blue in their auras. This is the color of the "third eye chakra," which is an energy center inside the head located between the two eyebrows. This chakra regulates clairvoyance, or the ability to see energy, visions, and spirits.

 

Many of the Indigo Children are clairvoyant The Crystal Children have opalescent auras, with beautiful multi-colors in pastel hues. This generation also shows a fascination for crystals and rocks, as you'll read in this book.

 

Indigo Children can sense dishonesty, like a dog can sense fear. Indigos know when they're being lied to, patronized, or manipulated. And since their collective purpose is to usher us into a new world of integrity, the Indigos' inner lie-detectors are integral. As mentioned before, this warrior spirit is threatening to some adults. And the Indigos are unable to conform to dysfunctional situations at home, work, or school. They don't have the ability to dissociate from their feelings and pretend like everything's okay . . . unless they are medicated or sedated.

 

Crystal Children's innate spiritual gifts are also misunderstood. Specifically, their telepathic abilities which lead them to talk later in life.

 

In the new world which the Indigos are ushering in, we will all be much more aware of our intuitive thoughts and feelings. We won't rely so much upon the spoken or written word. Communication will be faster, more direct, and more honest, because it will be mind-to-mind. Already, increasing numbers of us are getting in touch with our psychic abilities. Our interest in the paranormal is at an all-time high, accompanied by books, television shows, and movies on the topic.

 

So, it's not surprising that the generation following the Indigos are incredibly telepathic. Many of the Crystal Children have delayed speech patterns, and it's not uncommon for them to wait until they're 3 or 4 years old to begin speaking. But parents tell me they have no trouble communicating with their silent children. Far from it! The parents engage in mind-to-mind communication with their Crystal Children. And the Crystals use a combination of telepathy, self-fashioned sign language, and sounds (including song) to get their point across.

 

The trouble comes about when the Crystals are judged by medical and educational personnel as having "abnormal" speaking patterns. It's no coincidence that as the number of Crystals are born, that the number of diagnoses for autism is at a record high.

 

It's true that the Crystal Children are different from other generations. But why do we need to pathologize these differences? If the children are successfully communicating at home, and the parents aren't reporting any problems . . . then why try to make a problem?

 

The diagnostic criteria for autism is quite clear. It states that the autistic person lives in his or her own world, and is disconnected from other people. The autistic person doesn't talk because of an indifference to communicating with others.

 

Crystal Children are quite the opposite. They are among the most connected, communicative, caring, and cuddly of any generation. They are also quite philosophical and spiritually gifted. And they display an unprecedented level of kindness and sensitivity to this world. Crystal Children spontaneously hug and care for people in need. An autistic person wouldn't do that!

 

In my book, The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children, I wrote that ADHD should stand for Attention Dialed into a Higher Dimension. This would more accurately describe that generation. In the same vein, Crystal Children don't warrant a label of autism! They aren't autistic they're AWE-tistic!

 

These children are worthy of awe, not labels of dysfunction. If anyone is dysfunctional, it's the systems that aren't accommodating the continuing evolution of the human species. If we shame the children with labels, or medicate them into submission, we will have undermined a heaven-sent gift. We will crush a civilization before it has time to take roots. Fortunately, there are many positive solutions and alternatives. And the same heaven that sent us the Crystal Children can assist those of us who are advocates for the children.

 

I first began noticing the Crystal Children during my travels around the world, giving workshops about the angels. I noticed their eyes and magnetic personalities. I held mental conversations with the children, and could clearly hear them answer my questions in mind. I would watch them smile in response to my mentally sent compliments. These kids hear my thoughts! I realized.

 

Over the next few years, I interviewed children and parents for my book, The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children. I've always been fascinated with finding patterns among human behavior. Although we're all as unique as snowflakes, the snowflakes share commonalities. With the Indigo Children, I found the traits described earlier. With the Crystal Children, my research took even more interesting twists and turns.

 

I found myself falling in love with each young Crystal Child that I met. Their hearts were as open and loving as any angel with whom I'd interacted. I found them unguarded and unpretentious. I'd go to sleep thinking about the children, and wake up with volumes of information given to me by the spirit world perhaps by the Crystal Children themselves? while I slept.

 

Each morning, I'd wake up knowing more about the Crystal Children than I'd previously known the evening before! I began lecturing about the Crystal Children and found my audiences very receptive. Many of them were parents, grandparents, or teachers of these special youngsters. They instantly recognized their child's characteristics as I described them. 

I asked audience members and subscribers of my newsletter to complete a questionnaire about their Crystal Children. Within one day of my putting out that request, I received hundreds of replies. For this book, I reviewed hundreds of pages of stories submitted to me by people who are raising and teaching these remarkable children.

 

As I reviewed the survey results, two things happened. First, I felt my heart swell with love and gratitude. Just reading the stories felt like being in the presence of mighty angels! I felt ecstatically high, and reassured by these amazing youngsters' presence on our planet. I also felt reassured about our collective future. God wouldn't have sent this special breed of humans to earth, were we on our last leg as a civilization or planet. Just like humans have evolved from ape-like postures, the Crystal Children are concrete evidence that we're progressing in evolution.

 

Secondly, I found clear might I say crystal clear? patterns among each survey respondent. I read dozens of similar stories about the Crystals and their relationships to animals, plants, rocks, and the elderly, for instance. I poured over many stories with eerily similar accounts about children telepathically communicating with their parents . . . while eschewing verbal communication.

 

Many parents told me, "I never could relate to the descriptions of Indigo Children. My youngster seemed different. But the Crystal Child description that was one that perfectly described my child!"

 

Most parents reported a happy relationship with their Crystal Child, marked with very few problems. I heard from parents and grandparents around the globe, as they described their Crystal as "an angel," "the love of my life," "a true joy," and so on.

 

I noticed that not only were the Crystal Children highly spiritually

sensitive, but so were their parents. The souls of Crystal Children were obviously selecting parents who could raise them in a spiritually nurturing environment. Occasionally, I met children who came through parents who were spiritually unaware. In these cases, their grandparents were highly evolved lightworkers who helped to protect and hone the child's spiritual knowledge and gifts. Most people told me that their Crystal Child was a profound spiritual teacher, who taught parents a great deal about being an exceptionally loving and kind person. One day, I was lecturing about Crystal Children in Sydney, Australia. At the break, my publisher (who was there selling my books) said to me, "What is this book that everyone's asking me about? They're all asking to buy a Crystal Children book!"

 

I laughed and told him that there was no such book. I was simply reporting the data I'd gathered from interviews and my own channelings. My publisher said, "Well, they obviously want the book. Will you write it?" Without hesitating, I heard myself reply, "Yes, of course I will." My book, "The Crystal Children" will be published by Hay House very soon!

 

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., is the author of "The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children" and "The Crystal Children" (Hay House, Spring 2003)