hi everybody,
Gosh, it's been ages since i wrote a blog on here! A lot of stuff has been developing too since i last gave any sort of update so i thought it might be good to share some of these things with all you myspacers...
The past few months have been really mental. I have been experiencing quite a bit of laptop trouble since the end of the summer which has really been limiting my ability to work... the most frustrating couple of months i've had in a while. With funds forever in the minus and not very much potential to develop any sort of good live show without a functioning laptop, it was beginning to seem like i would never be able to get past the technical problems and just be able to make music ever again! sounds dramatic i know.. but help was on the way!! in the from of the amazing 'Business to Arts' company, who contacted me about playing some improvised music at a reception they were holding. Not only did i get to improvise and play freely for 2 and a bit hours (and meet Gabriel Byrne!) but I GOT PAID!! Wonderful! At last I was able to pay for laptop screen (number 2) to be replaced and so as of yesterday i have been literally glued to it!!

With things finally moving again i decided that today I'd put up 4 new preview pieces which i have edited for use on myspace, i picked my favourite little bits just to shorten them and not give the whole thing away at this early stage. They are mainly unmixed and of course the sound quality is very poor on these myspace players so don't expect too much along those lines!

The 4 pieces are taken from my debut album "lust of pig and the fresh blood" which i'm delighted to announce will be released early next year on double vinyl, CD and download (hopefully FLAC and MP3)

I have been really really lucky to receive lots of help from friends, some of whom are scattered throughout the record but who also helped me learn a billion and one things about recording, writing, working.... all the stuff i didn't have a clue about when i started!!

Some people featuring on the album include Cora Venus Lunny (yurodny, Fovea Hex), Kate Ellis (Yurodny, Crash Ensemble), Clodagh Simonds (Fovea Hex), Michael Begg (Human Greed, Fovea Hex), basically the whole of fovea hex! hahahaa.... Diarmuid MacDiarmuida (United Bible Studies, The Jimmy Cake, Zorilla), Sarah Lynch (Ham Sandwich), Marc Aubele (PIG) and Cicely Irvine (Small Booby Band) who is also responsible for the beautiful cover image!






I'll let you know when i have chosen the release date, or when i have made any further plans for it...
chat soon amigos!

L

hey

just put up a new track, spent a couple of days recording it at home after only ever playing it live before.. i was thinking of only putting it up for a few days and now that i hear the quality of the mp3 i think i will definitely not be keeping it up for very long!
anyways, this is little tiny taster from the work i have been working on for the second record. i'm still mixing record 1, but i cant help working on the new stuff recently so i'm going with it and seeing what happens. so far i'm very happy with how things are going!
best,
Lx

hello,

just a little note to mention about the gig I will be doing on Sunday in the Joinery Gallery (arbour hill, stoneybatter) with three wonderful wonderful acts

hey all,

just to mention i'll be in galway playing the roisin dubh this tuesday... it's a free gig so anyone thinking they might like to come has no excuse not to!

havent played in galway since june or something so i'm looking forward to it.
and to any of my friends i havent seen since then, please do come and say hello!

apart from that.........

i have been finishing the last bits and pieces of my record, things are coming along nicely and i'm really excited with the way it seems to be coming out!
i just had a wonderful week long visit from dear freind Cicely Irvine which proved to be just as educational as it was fun, and also super inspiring. it's amazing how much you can learn from the people you spend time with when you're willing to!
we spent 7 days eating amazing food, terrible food, creating things, breaking things, talking, being silent, sleeping too late, filming, photographing, recording, telling stories, contemplating the nature of love and all the forms it takes..... and just generally getting to know eachother!
before this we had never met - so it was incredible to actually be like, seeing her standing in the kitchen.... or eh... i dunno, just being there i guess.

it was such a great week, i am already longing for the next time!
i will keep you posted about the music we made and stuff, we made a page but we haven uploaded the stuff yet.

anyways, thats all for now i think
later
Lx

hey all,

just writing to let people know that i'll be playin in the button factory tomorrow night, thursday.. i'm really really looking forward to it, havent played in dublin since JUNE! havent played anywhere fullstop in about 5 months so i'm delighted to be giggin again...
please do come along if you're around, this time round i'll be using voice, saw, accordian, ukulele and possibly violin... oh, and also maybe keyboard and/or guitar.... but i will decide that when i'm up there, depends on my mood at the time. i never use them anymore live, and i dont really know why.. so i think i might re-visit some of my old ways - maybe in a new way..
how i wish i wish i had like, 20 musicians at my disposal to play everything i wanted to be played! so annoying having to try and do everything the way you want it yourself.. soon though, i will be able to beef up the live sound a bit more.. with some new equipment and also some more players. i will have a real rhythm section! and real string players! and a real computer guy! hahaaaa...
ok, i'm totally rambling! sorry....
anways, hopefully see ye there, shout up and say hello!

all the best
Laura xx

halloo,

such a shame but the gig that was planned for friday in de burgos has been cancelled due to an issue with the venue being closed down or something to that effect.. no more live gigs as far as i know.
i won't be playin in galway again until jan 13th, roisin dubh.. not too lang away i guess!
i will however be playin in the button factory dec 18th, supporting one day international. all this info is on my page, not much point in my posting it here... but anyways, there you go!
really looking forward to live gigs again! woohoo...

hopefully see you there...

Laura x

the line up for the night includes Blind Cave Salamander, a solo set from Colin Potter, collaborative works of Michael Begg and Paul Beauchapm.. and of course Fovea Hex.

on this occasion Fovea Hex will be Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Cora Venus Lunny, Colin Potter, Julia Kent, Bue (rhythm section!) and me...
we will also be accompanied by a maderately sized choir...

i am so so so looking forward to this!

all the best,
Laura xx

hey all, just for anybody interested in seeing Fovea Hex perform in Ireland for the first time this friday (tomorrow! can you believe it?) at the electric picnic festival, here are the details you might be looking for.... we will be playing on the IMC stage, which is a new stage dedicated to Jazz, Experimental and World Music. we are on second, which means the super early time of 4.30pm. since the traffic on the first day is always so crazy and hectic (and bottleknecked!) it is advised (if you want to catch our set) that you aim to get there pretty early.. i just know from my own experience of last year of sitting in a car for three hours just inching our way down the only road leading to the place that you will NOT get there at the time you think you will! i think we will be playing for approx 45 mins or so - and included in our set will be some relatively new material which is always exciting! we really hope ye can make it! so excited about finally playing in Ireland!! WOOHOO! have a great picnic! Laura xxx

A short interview with Clodagh Simonds, and an excerpt from newly-minted Hymn To Sulphur, recorded live last week in the Italian Alps, will be featured on The Arts Show, RTE Radio 1, next Tuesday, July 29, at 8:00pm.

please do listen in!

best,
Laura x

wow,

so i am back from my trip to Italy with Fovea Hex for our gig high in the Alps with Blind Cave Salamander as part of the Sound Threshold project

"Sound Threshold explores the relationships between site and sound. It commissions
and produces cross-disciplinary projects and partnerships with research organizations
working beyond conventional gallery and museum contexts.
Sound Threshold investigates the idea of threshold as an extended metaphor of
boundary, frontier, track, border and difference - not only visual traces but also natural
elements, literary references, acoustic phenomena.
Sound Threshold was established in 2007 by Daniela Cascella (music critic, Rome) and
Lucia Farinati (curator, London)."

.... and it was AMAAAAAZZZING!
What a place! i just dont even know where to start really... but the land, the people, the FOOD, the smells, the weather, the birds, fabrizio's pond! :)
it was all just so spectacular! we were performing outdoors at around 1660m altitude, surrounded my mountains, valleys and endless skyscapes. i have never had the experience before of singing out into the land and feeling like your voice is being carried outwards and onwards forever and ever, out into the world, never coming back! it was such an amazing place to play. It really puts into perspective how tiny we are! and how insignificant... but i guess coming from Galway, or even Ireland doesnt really ever allow you to get an idea of how colossal an experience it can be to stand on top of or under a "real" mountain..
not only did we get to absorb the beauty of the land we were surrounded by, we also got the chance to look through the massive telescope the use at the observatory and see all the way out into space! I got to see JUPITER! and four of its moons, and our own moon too.... what an experience!
it was so much fun to play with everybody too, BCS were wonderful and it was such a joy to perform with them! The wonderful Julia Kent who was cello-ing with us was increadible, as always.. and i cant wait until we next get to play together!

It was also a real treat to get to spend some time with Chris Watson. Chris started out as a founding member of 'Cabaret Voltaire' the Sheffield-based experimental music group.. but now he specialises in field recordings and has recorded some of the most incredible recordings i've ever heard! he has released a super limited edition CD in connection with the Sound Threshold project, 'CIMA VERDE'.... you should check him out.
oh yeah! and we got to see real vultures up close! four of them.. that was totally mad.. even madder at night in the dark on our 'midnight nature trail pond adventure' after a bizzillion glasses of wine and grappa..... woah....

i think i also managed to fit in more costume changes on this trip than any other.. why, i have no idea. but that seemed to be the general theme this time round!

the only thing i wish a had sorted out better was the whole camera thing.....? no camera this time. but i took some with my phone, which i guess i will share