I think honesty is a nice quality in people and musicians and artists alike should just be honest when they fail miserably.

The physical release of 'Swings' will remain in the 'Top 100 stupid things Brian did' for many years to come. Turned off by the unfriendliness of some Irish duplication companies (surely in these recessionary times businesses want to make sales. To make a sale to someone like me, you have to be nice. I am nice and love talking to fellow nice people. These people were not nice) I decided to do a DIY job with this EP.

I bought: 300 blank cd's. 300 empty jewel album cases. 100 professional cd labels. Cost me a fortune but I was stubborn and felt it was the right thing to do. It wasn't.
After the first official 25 copies were made I sent most of these off for reviews (see other blog if you want to look) but also gave a few copies out to free to family members. After 2 days one member of said family informed me that the cd had already stopped working. Then 2 days after that another similar complaint from another person.

So yes.... FAIL...FAILURE.

But it's on ITunes. And it's selling well apparently. Which is so nice to hear because I genuinely didn't think anyone was going to buy it. An ex girlfriend even bought it I think.

REDEEMING MYSELF: I found a fantastic company in the UK who are printing 500 copies of the new cd for me. But it's not an EP. It's a double a-sided single. 'A Poem I'll Sing Out Loud' i.e. that silly cheesy song I wrote that has *your ma will love this but you won't* written all over it and 'Mira' are now getting released as a double single.

off to bedforshire
brian

PS HALLOWEEN WAS AWESOME THIS YEAR


 

'Conjuring up images of youthful spites in the throes of romantic bliss, BriBry is all about the love on his debut EP, Swings. Blending Plain White Tees effortless acoustic with more than a taste of Beach Boys happy-go-lucky cooing, Mira and A Poem I'll Sing Out Loud deign to hypnotise the hordes of teenage girls he will surely soon conquer. Wearing his heart on his sweatband-laced sleeve, each track is a dedication to the teenage infatuation that (let's face it) we've all endured' - Paul Cleary, Totally Dublin Magazine


'He's a swinging acoustic troubadour, swaying a little like Bright Eyes. This is the impression that you get from lead track Mira at least. One Thing To Do Before You Die is a haunting thing, very little backing whatsoever to start with, before some guitar slides gently in. It sounds dead sad, especially with Brian's soft, emotional, vocal styling. Black Magic shakes out the demons in a mannered freak out and finally A Poem I'll Sing Out Loud is a delightfully delicate ditty to conclude the EP, like a musical box bard.' Russell's Music Reviews, UK.


'I thought Star Crossed Enemies had something special which I think Brian will embrace. 'Swings' should be seen as a demo which points to decent exposure in the future. It's impossible not to point to Bright Eyes comparisons on the EP but I can hear similarities to The Arcade Fire and Yo La Tengo.' 2uibestow Music Blog


'This guy has nice jangly indie pop tunes' Fierce Panda Records


'Great voice, shite music' - Near FM