I know, I know. It's been forever right!? I spend more time in hiding than as an active participant in the "music scene" (for the past couple of years at least). Well, these past few weeks I've finally gotten around to putting the necessary wheels in motion, so to speak, regarding my first album (and hopefully not my last!). It's about half way there at this stage. I'm going to give you the tracklist (in no particular order) below, each song is in various stages of completion:

- A Sonnet for a Sunrise
- Tape Loop Blues
- English Literature (A One Night Stand in Stanzas)
- Princess, Please
- My Winter-Veined Blues
- A Sonnet for Insomnia
- To be. To begin. To be free. To be nothing.
- Desert Island Discs (to Die Alone With)
- Charlotte Marianne
- This Love Song it Just Keeps Repeating Over and Over Again
- A Sonnet for the Evening, or: How I Learned to Start Loving and Stop Worrying About What's Gone

Two of the songs cropped up on my EP a couple of years ago but I wasn't really ready to let them go without rejigging and re-recording them.

We've been working with this talented young man, Andrea Adriano:
www.myspace.com/playtime.productions

Obviously, now it's a fully band orientated thing. I enlisted Nick (percussionist) and Dom (multi-instrumentalist) from a now defunct post-rock band who I am very much in love with musically. You can find them here:
www.myspace.com/markapeake

Lizzie has been doing all the string arrangements for the record and playing lots of violins and Brad is playing bass on the record. No doubt, as with the last time around when we're all done tracking I'll make some calls and see who wants to come along and sprinkle some of their musical icing on our long playing cake.

And I've been doing a lion's share of the recording and producing it myself and so far it's been a blast. We have one track 99.9% finished and I hope to play it to you via this page real soon.

Til then. Come along to the Borderline this December 5th for our yearly Christmas party. We've got some amazing support bands and it'll be an awesome night.

Much love, as ever

Kevin xxx

Coldharbour:

A "cold harbour" was an uninhabited shelter for travellers, often along a well-known route, and similar to a modern bothy. Unlike an inn, there was no staff, food or drink to be had. There would be a roof, door and quite possibly a simple hearth, although it was the traveller's responsibility to gather fuel. They were (generally) a little more than open-faced barns or animal shelters.

On Friday the 5th December I will be playing with The Coldharbour Band in London's Borderline. The evening marks the end of my playing acoustic shows/open mic nights etc and our first live show as a band, we could really use your support and feedback on the night to fathom how two months of vigorous writing has worked out.

PLEASE PURCHASE ADV. TICKETS @
seetickets.com

Any past audience member who may read this has probably seen me play on stage with a band before. Tom Parrott who provided all the drums and percussion to my first record has begun a new chapter in his life outside of the hustle, bustle and vomit lined streets of London, he's one of my closest friends and whilst it sucks not having him around to cotch with in the big smoke I wish him all the best and can't wait til the cheeky monkey pops down for an ale. Mark Kozlowski who provided bass guitar on the first record can be found performing with his band Big Truck in and around London and pursuing his career dreams, I can't wait to see all the stuff he's been working on it's gonna kick ass!

We've been in the studio recording a whole heap of new tunes with our good buddy Drew Downing. This Saturday we'll be uploading some demos and we'd love for you guys to take a listen.

Peace and love

Kevin, Lizzie, Dom, Nick, T.J. & Brad
xxxx

My fellow libertarians, existentialists, thinkers, dreamers and friends

How is everybody? I'm not the once responsive chap I was and I apologise for this (moreso to those with whom I used to rally little sessions of bantermaking with)

I hope this finds you well.
I realise I haven't put any new music up on my page in a while, this isn't because I've fallen off the creative plateau, no quite the opposite. 2008 has been my most creative year since 2005 I should think (I wrote a lot of quirky poems back then, noneofwhich have found any sort of output, application or publication and probably never will)

My grand plans is to release an album for late-Winter/early-springtime 2009. It's working title is 'Künstlerroman' (google that, it's a wonderful word, may hint at the album's content) and as soon as it's recorded and mixed I shall release a pre-single from this (hopefully before 2008 becomes but a scruffy looking page of some old calendar discarded on the floor), the song is called 'Tape Loop Blues' there will be a b-side too of course.

Myself and my ever changing merry band have begun working with a most wonderful gentleman called Drew Downing in the studio and he will be helping us put the record together. We did some demos of most of the songs the other day and some of it was sounding really cool (quite the step upwards and onwards from the 'To be. To begin EP' I hope you'll agree upon listening) and we'll be back in next month to continue the tracking process (no this one isn't getting recorded in my bedroom!)

Thank you to everyone who's added over the weekend. those lovely folks at myspace made this a featured profile and i didn't even know!)

Also I've had a few messages asking me 'what I'm into a the moment' and seeing as I'm still a little stoned and I just watched a great movie I'm going to make some tastemaker's tips... here goes:

Movies:
Little Miss Sunshine (just watched now - awesome!)
The Darjeeling Limited

Books:
Ulysses (in the midst of - it's literature at its finest)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
(I'm into James Joyce in a big way right now)

Music:
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism (so so so amazing)
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's (anything you can get your ears to by them is good)
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues - Poguetry in Motion EP
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Nicole Atkins & the Sea - Neptune City
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cold Roses (London show's coming up! :)
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst (he's incapable of making bad music)
Neutral Milk Hotel - In an Aeroplane Over the Sea
The Dresden Dolls (2003 debut album)
The Silver Jews - (again anything you can get your hands on is generally good)
Bob Dylan - highway 61 Revisited (I've listened to Side B of this approximately 50 times this week)

My song's of the moment are:
'Rat is Dead Rage' CSS
'Sequestered in Memphis' The Hold Steady
'Girl Anachronism' Dresden Dolls
'The Weight of Lies' Avett Brothers
'Zurich is Stained' Pavement

TV Shows:
More Family Guy than is healthy
same for Flight of the Conchords

other than that I've been watching lots of Steve Wright stand-up (funniest man alive)
and lots of conspiracy theory videos too

I'll get you new music very soon. Thanks for the continuing support, all the messages and people coming over to chat at shows is really appreciated.

Lastly, the Sway album 'The Signature LP' comes out next week and I'm featured on track 1 'Fit for a King' if you can get your hands on it. Even if you're not into hip-hop it's an incredible album!

Peace & Love

Kevin xxxx

Some of you have noticed, and yes it is me busking in the new Sway video (feat. $tush for 'F Ur X')

It was a real fun day doing it with the cast of 'AdULTHOOD' the new movie sequel to KIdULTHOOD, Bashy (who is fucking awesome) and Chipmunk (who is amazing as well).

It's on rotation on MTV Base at the moment I believe. It's also on YouTube and Facebook and Sway's myspace etc.

It's an amazing song and the video is really crisp (the handywork of the genius that is Mr. Luke Van Boom)

Twin B from MTV gave me a little shout out in the making of video too and bought me a pint on the day, he is so safe and actually well funny all the time in real life like on MTV.

Anyhow, enough bloody name-dropping for one evening.

See you soon peeps.

Let me know how much of a twat you think I look on a scale of 1 to 10 when you seen the vid.

Peace & Love

Kevin
xxxx

Dudes and dudesses,

I have not written one of these in a long time.

It kinda seems like forever since I've recorded anything (of my own writing) and some of you have noticed the dry spell in live shows.

For anyone who was at the most recent shows you will have noticed me playing with my long-standing drummer and bass player (Tom and Mark respectively) and a new addition, Lizzie, playing violin. For the first time in a long time I felt really happy about playing live again. I've written some new stuff this year that I'm pretty chuffed with but recently we've all had commitments outside of this "thing" that have kept us apart (degrees, work etc).

I however am still working in studios learning the traits of the soon-to-be-dead art of the recording engineer. Aside from this I'm putting the finishing touches on the EP I've been producing for The Turncoat which will be out soon on Pacemaker Records. It really is an amazing record that's taken quite some time to get together but that I think I'm more proud of than my own first release.

I'll also be working with Thom Stone (as a producer) in the coming weeks which I'm hugely excited about and I've been in rehearsals with Alessi for some shows in May which it would be lovely to see any of y'all at (I'm playing bass, oh how I missed my old mistress!)

With regards to my own writing and recording I'm going to be beginning working on what will be an album and some one off singles none of which will be available for a while but I kinda feel in a fickle British music industry where everyone is a one-hit wonder and everything is short-lived why would the boy without a record deal or any inky constraints of any kind rush things? I will put something together that I think is really special, whether it is to anyone else or not? Well, that's just subjective opinion....

Has anyone else noticed a lack of amazing records this last couple of months? I've been rinsing out The Shins albums 2 through 4. When you are a musician, listening to the Shins is a a lot like suicide. You know you're never gonna write anything as good and it kinda makes you feel to quit. Well, at least there's a new series of Peep Show next week to cheer me up. The day after mayoral elections infact... There's a good old bunch of arseholes running for that. I kinda feel like I'm gonna go in the booth down the methodist church in Ealing and this ballot paper is gonna ask me: 'Who do you prefer Hitler or Stalin?' Yay for British parliamentary democracy! We've clearly perfected it so well that we should install it in all African countries too!

Anyhow, I digress, I've booked up a show for next month so it'll be nice to see you there...

Thank you to those who've been buying the EP I'm leaving a little note in all the ones I'm sending since I took over from Rough Trade on the mailouts just to say cheers for the support.

Peace & Love as always

Kevin

xxxxx

Yo yo peeps,

I did an hour long radio show with Flash Louis for londonkicks.com go visit the site now if you'd like to hear me talking shit, spinning records and a live session acoustic track of the previously unrecorded 'Nostalgic Nonsense & Pointless Things'.

Peace and love

xxx

Captain K Tuff's Log - 30th October 2007

My lovely sponges,

I have now copies of the EP 'To Be. To Begin...'

We here at Dcypha Productions realise there has been a delay from its original release date of September. It will be available on the Dcypha Productions online PayPal shop (linked from this myspace profile) this week

Rough Trade Records in Portabello and Brick Lane shall be selling copies as of the week following my instore performance (the Talbot Road store) on 23rd November 2007 (@ 6pm)
iTunes will be selling the mp3 EP (i will let you know when it's there)
And i will constantly have copies on me available for £5 (it's a 5 track half an hour ting)

It seems like a long time ago when my bedroom AKA "the love shack" got turned into the room of guitars and amps for recording...


When Laura Marling and Thom Stone came over to sing on 'To Be. To Begin...' and 'Oh Dearest Daughter'. This is our post recording congratulatory Fruuli and a fag in my local The Plough with Will Street who was there for moral support and cracking jokes (oh and stealing my Jeremy Warmsley LP - I'm on to you mate ;-P )...


When Guy Jarman of Legendary band DAMN SLY came to play slide guitar... here's a little pic of my main man Guy...


This was the launch party to celebrate the EP being all finished up in August

Davie said he well liked the flier (Thanks bro!!)

This is myself and the band: Jimmy (come back soon dude we miss you!), Tom and Mark performing Clouds with our bestest buddy Sway Dasafo that very night. BEST GIG EVER by faaaar! i especially liked the freestyle lyric "the EP's gonna be about five pound" factual and witty at the same time... nang


So yeah I hope you buy it and fund my addiction to nicotine and gourmet sandwich and tea lunches...

Look out for the 'Tape Loop Blues/All the Things I Don't Do' 7" coming soon
I'm also in the middle of producing The Turncoat EP check him in my top friends
Sway's dropping The Signature LP next year. I been working on it. It's gonna change the UK urban scene forever... I promise

The Broadways have their first single available for pre-order on PureGroove right now. Hit them up in my top friends they fucking smack it.
Thom Stone has got his album 'Heart & Bones' dropping next month. It's sounding beautiful. The UK's very own Heartbreaker I reckon.
Laura Marling's most recent (and intense) EP 'My Manic & I' is available on 7". I think her debut is album is dropping in 08. It's gonna be amazingggg.
Jay Jay Pistolet's first single 'We Are Free' is sounding ridiculously good it's out on my boys THE CHESS CLUB's label next month. Check him in my top friends.
I will get to work on producing tracks with the mind-bending-ly talented Why Whiskey Why? after The Turncoat's EP is finished. Please find them in my top friends also.

Also look for a collaboration with my favourite folk singer Alessi on my debut album in 2008. Check her in my top friends. Heard some snippets of her debut album and I actually cried... like ACTUALLY.


Intergalactic peace and consensual over-16s only love
Kevin xxxx

Safe peeps

Last week (17th Sept I think?), Ian Brown feat. Sinead O'Connor 'Illegal Attacks' came out. Massive tunes. You gotta love ol king monkey.

On the b-side my friend Sway did a remix of the track with a rap feature as well. It's proper live. I played guitars on the track too and got my first major recording credit which I'm massively hapsed about.
Just thought you'd like to know.

'To Be. To Begin...' Coming soon

Peace and Love

Kevin xxxxxxx

Here is a bad review of me at the GoodBooks show:


'Other support, singer songwriter Kevin Tuffy, would probably call himself an urban poet, I'd call him misguided' - Neil W soundsxp.com

To be honest i find Neil's vocabulary limited at best, the only cultural reference he makes in the rest of the article is to 'Hollyoaks' which says little for his creative intake as a journalist (overlooking his "inspired" comparisons of the GoodBooks to Bloc Party and The Postal Service - the largest indie bands from the UK and the US respectively - so a little obvious, actually). His cross-examination of the GoodBooks set, song-by-song, is confused, complaining about wah-wah pedals (because he knows what they are called, I presume) implicitly unconvinced about the band throughout the analysis of their set only to tag on a short and trite conclusion declaring that, in fact, he likes them after all. The column feels arduous despite totaling only a couple of hundred words. There is a lack of any historical content regarding the band (their mixtape and vinyl releases through Transgressive records, tours, Columbia EP release etc) and colloquial adjectives suggest he may be taking his GCSE in English Language and that I am reading his coursework.

I'm not bitter, I just realised that nobody ever reviews, reviewers. And... HA! Kx

yo yo peeps,

i have been a bit slack with the old myspace as of late. this is because i work too hard and like my local pub too much (see the photo on my page of me cotching with my posse).

it's been a mental year for me, undulating emotionally and in every other way one's life can undulate.

my debut EP is out this August, most likely the 20th (Monday).
It will be called 'To be. To begin. To be free. To be nothing.' and is being released through Dcypha Productions a label run by the UK's number 1 hip-hop artist Sway.

The track-listing looks like it's gonna go something like this
1. To be. to begin. to be free. to be nothing - feat. Thom Stone and Laura Marling
2. Valium-Fuelled Blues
3. Clouds - feat. Sway
4. Oh Dearest Daughter - feat. Laura Marling
5. This love song (it just keeps repeating over and over again)

The EP features the introduction on my amazing band Tom Parrott and Mark Kozlowski and other guest musicians on ALL NEW recordings of these old-time classics.

I've self-produced the record and had tons of help from world-class engineer Joe Fields (Sway, Mystery Jets, Kano, The Doves...)

We're almost ready to mix and master the record to be with you in time for the summer.
The launch party is being held in The Borderline, Soho, London on the 18th of August and will feature performances from my band (obviously) and Laura Marling and Thom Stone. The Chess Club DJs are coming down to work the CD decks or ipods or whatever newfangled inventions these kids have today, i myself like nothing more than popping down to Oxfam to find rare Dylan records for 50p and getting them on the old turntable whilst boiling the kettle for a cuppa.

Howdy Do are curating the event and tickets can be purchased from ticketweb amongst others. Thanks girls!

I'll give you details of itunes/paypal/local record shops purchasing of the EP when I have them.

The show will be Thom Stone's last show. He is my favourite UK based singer/songwriter ever and I am pretty depressed about this so please do come down and the see the legend before it's too late. He is literally like the love child of Springsteen Dylan and Ryan Adams. It's fucking amazing.

If you haven't caught Laura at Glasto or O2 or any of the other festivals/tour dates she's doing catch her in a rare acoustic show before she sells out Wembley Stadium. Her sets are awe-inspiring.

At some point this year I will find some time to write a full record. As always your opinions are much appreciated if they're complimentary. If they're not then I'll probably insult your mother so they're best kept to yourself.

Stay in touch peeps.

World peace (com'on Hamas you violent fuckers) and Channel 5 soft-pornographic but not full full on hard-pornographic love

Kevin Tuffy
xxxxxxxxxx

and Mark
xxxxxxxx

and Tom
xxxxxxxx