We have begun construction of our next record.  

Don't forget about the Masquerade Ball Launching the new Drawn from Bees Record is coming up very soon...

We have invited Cinderella and she has asked if she can bring her sisters (hope they are cute)

For one night only we will be transforming the Troubadour into a fairy wonderland full of mysterious masks and weird projections of the dreams you are going to have for the rest of the year!

Be there or spend the next day listening to all of your friends who can't stop talking about the life transforming experience they had the night before...

Friday 16th of October That is just ten days away and tickets are selling fast!

Sydney Long Tooth Tour

After traveling over 7000kms, across three capitals, indulging in over 250 standard drinks, losing one wallet and being stranded in a car until 6AM on one of the years coldest nights our Long Tooth Tour finally wound up in the birth place of Raven Jones, smog & insane taxi drivers – Sydney!

Our tour begun with a leisurely over night sojourn, commencing immediately after a Pioneers of Flight gig in Brisbane (departing at: 11:30PM) and arriving refreshed and alive in Sydney 12 hours later.

After an invigorating 2 hour sleep we bundled our selves up against the biting chill of a deep Sydney Winter and scurried across to FBI studio's to do an interview and impromptu performance of Picture Show and a enjoyable chat with the very affable Sweetie & Shag.

Then it was onward to Sydney's hellish Club 77 for lets just say a most “interesting” show of the tour. You will notice my tactful omission of anything “politically” sensitive!

We bolted from the irksome venue and stumbled our way down to Sydney's Gaelic club expecting to catch some tasty local indie music. Ushered in through the door by a friend of ours, we were pummeled by the sonic debauchery of the most glam-a-licious band this side of Motley Crue! Fresh from their stint around Australia supporting titans of shred Whitesnake, these “era challenged” gods of yesteryear tore the stage up with their technically zealous performance of what we all used to loosely label “music” in the 80's! What the fuck were we thinking?

Day 2

Day 2 dawned at about 1:30 when we crawled out from our sleeping bags to enjoy a most tantalising breakfast. Bloated, we then dragged ourselves back to James Manor for a song writing session inspired by a carton of Adelaide's finest ale! (Note to advertiser's I will mention your brand when I see the money your arseholes!)

Time slithered by as it does and soon we packed up and headed out to our show at the Hopetoun with Sydney's infamous Only the Sea Slugs. I hadn't been to the venue for a couple of year however, it still retained the same rustic charm and perilous odor that I remember.

Being a flagship of quality bands (the Hopetoun, not myself) we enjoyed a good line up including, Canvas Kites, Lockwood, Only the Sea Slug's (a great Sydney band with a respectable ability to match our drinking fervor)!

The show was thoroughly enjoyable and it was with great regret that the shackles of our “moonlighting” jobs forced us to return back from our preferred “day” job so early. I would have loved to drink the Slug's under the table and show them how we do it it up North! Next time perhaps? (Throws down the gauntlet!)

Day 3

Delirium, too many energy drinks (again pay me for product placement you arseholes!) and the mad chattering of a sugar charged Raven bird pretty much sum up the adventure of our 12 hour drive home. All in all a very enjoyable tour!

Melbourne Leg of the Long Tooth Tour

Day 1

The Melbourne shows began in true rock n roll style. Having arrived in Melbourne for a fashion shoot with the Melbourne Sunday Age a few days earlier than the rest of my band I was fortunate to have some time to enjoy Melbourne before the other Bee boys stumbled on in...

...and stumbled they certainly did. After numerous phone calls involving Mutley (aka Stew Riddle) barking orders for beer down the phone, I walked downstairs to find the band in complete shambles!

I met the band at the car park to our hotel and my eyes were first to fall upon Bucket (aka “Smokey” Matt Wedmaier) chucking up into a bin outside the Van looking very much worse for ware.

Mutley and his blood shot, hound dog eyes gave no better an indication of our bands capacity to say no to the lure of QANTAS club free booze.

Only Pequito (aka Dan James) and Axe (aka Andrew Troy) our trusted sound guru manage to get out of the car in anything resembling a sober condition!


With our interview with Joy FM was regrettably cancelled due to our interviewers infection of Swine flu ('tis true!) we were free of responsibilities and thus, partying of course, ensued. We crept out in to Melbourne's cold  with the remaining conscious members of our bee crew (and our entourage) with our first adventure being a visit to Melbourne's Pony where we watched 3 men in Greek Toga's play Modal guitar music amongst a sea of suspiciously inebriated Melbournites.

Day 2

Captains log, star date 26.643.002, our ferocious logger head with the Klingon battle ship continues...... (whoops, sorry, my apologies - dork attack)!

Day 2 took us to Melbourne's Pure Pop records run by the affable Dave (rumored to be Bon Scott's son) is he or isn't he (I don't know)? We a played to a couple of handfuls of Melbournites who joined in by sharing a Pilsner or two and kindly volunteering (under force of our coercion) to join us on stage for a percussion jam.

Pure Pop set the mood for the day and soon we ventured onto Public Bar bar to play along side slithering Sydney siders;  Only the Sea Slugs and Melbourne's; The Hovercrafts. The evening frivolities ended in our entourage giving us a few humble lessons in the rock no roll lifestyle? (My lips are sealed) ;-)

The evening was quite enjoyable all in all, a few new bees friends were stung no doubt, and a list of bee related puns as long as my honeyed, antennas buzzed across the mouths of our companions!

We dragged ourselves back to the hotel to once again kindly share the expertise of our musical wisdom and the fine eloquence of our educated tongues with our fellow hotel guests and a trusty bottle of fine port! After hours of ferocious political debate in which we resolved all the problems of the world
the wee hours of morning crept like chilly Iguana's into the morning sun. 

Day 3

Day three we awoke with a firm goal of cooking breakfast for ourselves (yes, seriously our Mum's were not on hand to help!).

Fortunately the culinary genius of Cancer Sticks Wedmaier and our adopted Mexican brother combined forces to cook more eggs than could be laid by even the most ambitious of Chicken's before Christmas!

The heartiness of our stomachs rationalised the clarity of our minds and we knew at once that the great Salvador Dali called out across to us amongst the backdrop of propped up phallus and plethora of melting clocks.

Dali broke my virginity to art many years ago as a humble, Grunger teen and I have been in a relationship of pure awe with the self professed legend ever since!

I nearly wet myself like a puppy at coming home time, casting my eyes across the works of my all time favorite artist.

Such genius, such similarity between the Master of self promotion  and yours truly! Yes, Salvador, I too awake each morning to an indescribable delight......that of being Raven D Jones!

I believe, being a visual person, that there is a close link between the parts of the brain stimulated by great visual art and the part of the brain brought to life by music.

Anyway, forgive my moment of serious introspection.........

Sunday night may have crept up like tax time,  however, the sting of the bee's cannot be stopped by the limitation of the shackles of the weekend's timetable. Bar Open welcomed us with open arms (I think they knew we were there)?

We played along the sultry sounds of Melbounre's illustrious The Bitter Sweet Hearts and the endearing Modular Lounge. The night was made by the mid-set invasion of the Pirate hat people (people wearing pirate hats – author's note). For a Sunday as good as most, we enjoyed a kind turn out to the gig.

Sadly as all great adventures do, the journey came to an end on monday as we returned to the hive!

Raven D Jones (himself)

Little Red / Ground Components / Drawn From Bees

Wednesday, 06 May 2009

The Zoo      Fri May 1

The beginning of the Labour Day weekend also marks my fourth – and best – Drawn From Bees gig. Ripping straight into All This Time, Dan, Raven, Stew, drummer Matt and regular fifth member Phil set the ball rolling further with English Line and Frozen Over Kid. Mini-epics These Philistines and Waiting For The End are followed by a grandiose They Close The Door and sun-dappled Picture Show, but it’s not over until DFB blow this writer’s hat off with a mighty double of Long Tooth Setting Sun and Amelia.

After such a stellar start to the night, Melbourne’s Ground Components have no choice other than cranking their soul-rock up to 10.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

Hi Drones,

The lovley folk at Q Song made us blush by featuring our current single "Long Tooth Setting Sun" on the front page of their Q Song awards. The awards have had the absolute pick of Brisbane talent since its inception in 2006.

Check out the Q Song Aards which have helped expose seom of Brisbane's finest musicians.

http://www.qmusic.com.au/qsong/2009/

And thankyou for your support Q Song!

Raven

Hi Drones,

More good news! Drawn from Bees also landed Album of the week in Brag (Sydney) street Press.

Thanks to the Brag team!

R.

After coming off a film clip shooting last night that started at 6pm and ended at 5:30am this morning with us setting a couch on fire, we're now ready for the intense fun of playing 3 big shows in a 24 hour period.

We'd love to see you at one (or all) of the shows, and let's be honest...what excuse do you have, when we make it this easy for you?!

THURSDAY 30th April
10:30pm @ Ric's Cafe
With the Strange Attractors
This show is Freeeeeeeee!

FRIDAY 1st MAY
6:30pm @ QUT Guild Bar
Acoustic set for the 'Friday Pump' Series
$10 fund raiser for QUT Law Society

FRIDAY 1st May
9:15pm @ The Zoo
Supporting Little Red & Ground Components
$20 at the door

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Drawn From Bees
And The Blind Shall Lead The Way
(Bonefinger Records/MGM)

Drawn From Bees have been garnering an increasing number of plaudits over the past six months. The Brisbane outfit’s debut EP The Boy And The Ocean snared praise from a variety of disparate quarters, while their recent Garage2V success only confirmed their position as one of their city’s most promising acts. It’s a typical career arc for Australian independent bands that almost inevitably leads to over-hyped albums and underwhelming material. Drawn From Bees, however, have managed to break the mould.

And The Blind Shall Lead The Way, the band’s impressively titled debut album, is an absolutely stunning release – overflowing with gorgeous harmonies, psychedelic flourishes and fantastic songs. The swirling harmonies and twanging guitars of ‘Long Tooth Setting Sun’ make for a spine-tingling introduction to the record and, stunningly, Drawn From Bees never let the quality drop. The psychedelic guitar leads of ‘Waiting For The End’ are resplendent with melancholy and ‘These Philistines’, replete with ghostly organ and cascading guitar, captivates the listener for the entirety of its six-minute running time.

And The Blind…’s most pervasive quality is, surprisingly, one of restraint. Drawn From Bees are hardly without ambition but they never over-extend. Each and every song is precisely and meticulously constructed and the album itself only barely breaks the half-hour barrier. The signal lack of indulgence is both the album’s greatest strength and its only shade of weakness. A contained and well-crafted statement of intent, And The Blind Shall Lead The Way establishes Drawn From Bees as a band with boundless talent and promising vision – but one wonders if they’ll have the courage to take true advantage of their own capacity for future offerings.

Matt O’Neill (4 stars)
Timeoff Magazine 08 April 2009