MySpace
myspace music my music  featured playlists  top artists  music videos  karaoke  shows  forums 


MySpace.com | rss | sign in
Mike Mc Carthy



Last Updated: 12/21/2009

Send Message
Instant Message
Email to a Friend
Subscribe

Status: Single
City: Central Coast
State: NSW
Country: AU
Signup Date: 5/3/2006

Blog Archive
[Older      Newer]
 /  / 
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 

Category: Music
There has been quite some distance traveled between this blog entry and the last. Between unlocking the mysterious and calamitous life of John William Tate, and creating some harrowing adventures of my own, I have recorded an instrumental album. 

COLOURS started out as a 'creative exercise' and also as an exploration into the moods that certain colours evoke. 
I decided that i would compose and record one song per day over the course of ten consecutive days. The only rules i put on the project was this time restriction. To really capture my own reaction to a certain colour, i felt it best to concentrate within 24 hours for each one. 

To keep a long story short, i became engrossed in the project and by the last day (25th December 2008) i had ten songs that i really...liked. This crazy experiment had worked. Before i got too carried away i decided to record 8 cd's and paint some covers, hand them to 8 friends and gather a response. 
The response was really positive (at this stage i figured i was mental to want to release an instrumental album). Some of my friends were coming back and explaining, in great depth, the images and visions that came to them whilst listening to the colours. Others enjoyed the idea of guessing the colours, a very child-like and beautiful response it was.

So this is COLOURS, the project that took me from Avoca Beach in Australia to Portland, Oregon and back again. After the project was mixed and mastered i realised i had to release this little friend to the world at large. 
Artwork and replication are now in progress and i will release the album at a very special party 1 year (and 2 days) on from when the project was completed. I feel this is another small step forward in my musical adventure and i hope folks will check it out with the open mindedness of a child. - mike

LAUNCH PARTY (with the Vigilantes)

27th DEC 2009;
Lizottes Restaurant, Kincumber NSW

$20 / ph 02 43 682017 - TO BOOK A TABLE!

meolddog@gmail.com

Currently listening:
The BQE
By Sufjan Stevens
Release date: 2009-10-20
10:44 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, August 24, 2009 

Category: Life
A lone man rolls into a town called Santa Barbara, he's just spent the last month meandering down the West Coast of Oregon and Northern California. The 1984 Chev van is tired after another long day on the 101 and grounds to a halt under the shade of a mall tree. 

The man steps out of the blue bonaventure and is greeted by two young mexican gardeners in a golf buggie.
He is perplexed, 'what have i done this time'.

"Sweet Van", says the smaller man.
"Thanks"
"you sell this?"
"yeh"
"how much you asking gringo?"
"a grand i guess"
"hmm" ponders the taller man.
"800!" he suddenly says.
"aww i wanted at least 950 mate"
"hmmm" they ponder in unison.

After lengthy discussions the Mexicans take his number and wish him a good day.
The man decides he needs coffee, though his money is running low he knows he can order an americano on the budget he has. He needs time to think. Some clarity would be good.

'If i sell the van, i have money and my boots. Only LA and the surrounding desert stands between me and a plane flight'.
'If i don't sell the van, yeh, i'll point it toward Mexico and go tonight'...he considers.

The van he acquired in Portland is a dirty shade of blue, no rust but plenty of age within it's mechanics. He had gotten it for a steal from an ex navy man who was tired, just generally tired. Tired in an American sense and done with it. Perhaps some of that feeling was sold with the van as it had crept in to the man's mind at various times. Perhaps.

His journey had been full of interesting folk from many orientations and as he thought back on it he felt thankful and comforted on the journey that lay ahead.
So he sits drinking the 'Americano' in a paper cup thinking faraway thoughts and wandering about the dog with three legs and just how long can one sleep in a shopping mall carpark for.

2:30 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 
The Wild Elk lay like old Italian men at 2pm on a monday afternoon. Redwood forests, full of Giants and Bigfoots, were like a slow blur as Mazzy Star kept the old van running up and down mountain ranges. It had been three and a half hours of mild weather and open road. I pulled over to stretch the legs and buy a beer and chicken sammy. The strawberry blonde behind the counter blew a bubble , chewed and said in her most uninterested tone, "why'd ya choose the one dirty table in the whole place?" I smiled my most uninterested smile and said, "i can move if you'd like", she disappeared. After posting some green form off to the department of border security for a breach of some kind on my last visit to the US i boarded the Bonaventure and pointed south. The sudden change in weather was like a punch in the guts and it was now i knew i was out of Northern California and into the heat of mid Cali coast. Yet there was no coast to welcome me just a group of hippies who wanted to take me, my bus and guitar captive for an unspecified length of time. Instead i chose a comfy cafe, banana smoothie and the modern comfort of typing on my computer. What a cop out, but hell i knew it would turn out better this way. I love hippies but i'm just not that committed to the cause, plus i come from a family with a heightened sense of smell. It's been a steady progression this degradation of beauty. Never has it been so evident than when i drove out of the Giant redwood forests of Oregon/North California and into Civilisation where flat tyres, fuel prices, street beggars, and a Target store stood by a beautiful Salmon river. Here i am, part of the mess, flying by with it all as my oyster.
Currently listening:
So Tonight That I Might See
By Mazzy Star
Release date: 1993-10-05
12:30 AM 
4 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, July 09, 2009 

Category: Music
Sometimes you can't fathom the distance of land and sea, so you choose to live within a 100 Kilometre mindscape...once in awhile you will venture further afield, hence my current situation and whereabouts which calls itself California. More directly i'm in San Diego.

It's like delving into the mind of someone you feel you've met but haven't spent much time with. Suddenly walls are built and knocked over and you inch a little closer to the core truth of this person...perhaps i'm hoping to achieve this with California, perhaps i'm just hoping to enjoy the summertime and meet some characters here and there. You can never be sure.

Before i keep on rambling, here's a poem i wrote on arrival;

Remind me to order 'small'
or (Welcome to Saint Diego)

Remind me to order small
as i cross her summer street
with five pm traffic all a-go-go
Sliding, shimmering creatures of man

The suburban sting of the ground bean
"too much too soon" bellows the cup
still certain to move with tide
'eight am' out and 'five pm' in

"Such a body of water
moving so dangerously quick",
a Storyteller keeps her boys attention
Whilst patient hound waits calm

his is kind love, a sacrificial dog love
a 'waiting in the wings' love
Lord, how did i arrive here?
was it really by a jet plane?

m e mccarthy  
saint diego 6th july

------------

So i will be keeping a little travelogue of songs i am demo(ing) whilst i'm here. I will update the site and you can link to it to Download the latest 'work of progress'.
The site is http://memccarthy.bandcamp.com...look for Album titled Works of Progress! Enjoy your day, 
Mike McCarthy


Currently reading:
Australian Bush Songs and Ballads
By Will Lawson (ed)
9:38 PM 
4 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, May 18, 2009 

Category: Music
The hum of the Cessna had me reminiscing of maths classes in high school. I'd lose my concentration to an audible drone and try to sing up the major scale over it, sure i was a nerd but i wasn't a mathematician...

Flying over billabongs and mountain ranges of red dirt and scattered scrub, the phrase "classic croc country" kept coming into my head and making me giggle to myself. I don't know exactly where i had heard that phrase but it helped me tune out of the reality of my circumstance...that is, being 6,500 ft above the earth in a tin can with wings bolted on the sides. The things we do.

We arrived on the island of Elcho (or Galiwin'ku), it was about lunchtime and the weather had me longing for a swim. They tell me it's not a good idea to swim up this way due to crocs and box jelly fish and the reef tip sharks. So i risked my ankles and walked out to a little sand island and there i was in the 'top end'.

Sons of Korah and i played some music on an outdoor stage that night and the locals came out and sat around campfires. I had a sword fight with a young fella who taught me a few moves and then proceeded to chop off my arms and legs, then send the plastic, flashing sword straight through my gut...no-one could have prepared me for that. 




Currently listening:
Howl
By Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Release date: 2005-08-23
11:09 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, February 19, 2009 

Category: Music
Here's a wee review for the new album from Reverb Mag, thanks Kevin, much appreciated! Mike


The Harrowing Account of John William Tate - ALBUM REVIEW



4/5



“McCarthy’s 4th full length album is a cracker. Superb ballads, inspirational gospel and traditional blues all sit comfortably. Song structures are, very simply, bringing focus to McCarthy’s voice (bittersweet and emotional) and instrumentation (less is more). Standout tracks, the gospel within ‘Waitin’ here for my Lord’, the title track’s cautious hope, the dirty raw blues of ‘2 bent frames and a holy cross’ and the sleezy strut of ‘Head into the fire’. An accomplished release deserves to be heard by anyone who loves a heartfelt journey as part of their music experience.”



Kevin Bull (REVERB MAGAZINE)

Currently reading:
I Heard The Owl Call My Name
By Margaret Craven
Release date: 2005-01-10
2:54 AM 
2 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, February 08, 2009 

Category: Music
This colour was written and recorded on Christmas day 2008. I had an hour and a half left of the day and just snuck it in...it's up now on the music player. Thanks for listening.
11:10 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, February 02, 2009 

Current mood:  calm
It's an instrumental album, i'd start by thinking of a colour and letting that evoke a mood. From the mood would come ideas, dreams, melodies and the like. This happened over the course of ten days resulting in ten songs.
Once i'd finished i showed a few friends and the results were stunning. Each persons reactions differed and it was great to hear the imagery each colour stirred.

So what do i do with this album? i am trying to figure that out. My idea is to do a limited release of 100 albums and release it digitally.
I will be putting up colour number 4 and would love to hear your reaction, positive, neutral or negative.

Many thanks, Mike M
7:25 AM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, January 12, 2009 

Current mood:  artistic
Good question. In a sentence, Birdlife is a 3 piece lo-fi force of nature...basically, we care about the song first and we don't have enough cash to hire an extravagant studio or buy fancy gear. Birdlife is fun though!
We are Ellie Plummer (drums), Jess Locke (bass/vox) and me (guitar/vox). Our single 'What of Past' is being released to radio through Spunk/EMI and will be released as part of Spunks "Singles Club" compilation in March.

We will be on a mini tour with sydney roots/funk outfit GUAVA toward the end of Jan 09. We'll play in Avoca on the 22nd Jan, Melbourne's "Wesley Anne" on the 24th, Newcastle's "View Factory" on the 29th and Sydney's "The Basement" on the 30th, we'd love your support so please check out www.myspace.com/birdlifeband to hear some tunes and become our friend there!!!if you like it that is...thanks, Mike
Currently listening:
Funeral
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 2004-09-14
6:04 AM 
2 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Thursday, January 01, 2009 
Colour #1 is up to listen too. It's a sparse kind of number and is the first colour i recorded over the course of 10 days...therefore over the next 10 weeks there will be a new colour up to check out.
I've decided not to let you know the exact colour i had in mind, better that you listen and decide for yourself!

take it easy, mike
4:58 AM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate