Hello everyone, I will be performing music and presenting original art pieces of mine for auction on Saturday 15th of November in Preston at Roper Hall. The event is a benefit for Oxjam. All pieces of art are donated and all money from sale of art goes to the Oxfam cause. For those of you who don't know, I have been a visual artist for a longer time than I have been a musical artist. I have donated 13 pieces and I will be doing a short presentation speaking about the thoughts and stories behind a few of my works, which combine ink and pencil, photography, and digital manipulation and graphics. The pieces can be viewed in my photo album entitled Daniel Orlick Art Collection for Oxjam Auction. This will be at approximately 6:45pm and will be followed by a half hour musical performance where I will be performing live for the first time with some electonic beats from my portable sound system. After my show will be the art auction. There will also be three other live music acts, including my very talented personal friends King Kayak. Hope to see you there as it should be a wonderful experience.

All the best

Daniel Orlick

Hello Everyone,

     In the midst of recording, I've managed to post some photos from Edinburgh and post this blog about the experience. I've now been making an effort to post an artist's perspective blog about every gig or event I perform at, along with some notes from the trip.

     So what can I say, Edinburgh was super (or for all you euro-hipsters shall I say uber) cool. This was my first time in Scotland so what a great way into the country by playing at the world's largest gathering of it's kind, the Edinburgh Fringe. It's estimated that nearly one million people descend upon this modestly sized city for the event, which can make things like finding accommodations rather trying at times (surprisingly I don't believe this is the case with flowing beer taps). So on Thursday, after a few hours through the green countryside blasting some old skool hip-hop and funk from the mobile mp3 into the ghetto-rigged car stereo, we finally pull up to the campsite we were hoping to stay at just outside the city, only to find the pitch was water-logged (big surprise) from all the rain and they were not allowing any more tents to be pitched. We wound up driving around looking for inexpensive accommodations in the city and were unsuccessful, so we spent the night in the back of our trusty Volkswagen at the beach in a place called Portobello. Great to feel like a hippy again. And always happy to see a sandy beach, even if it's not quite as sunny as southern Cali. Anyhow, the next morning we were referred to a guesthouse at the beach called Pearl View and fortunately they had one room available, so our street crashing ended there. A nice place, by the way, we were treated extremely well by the lady of the house, the place was clean, the prices reasonable, and the hot breakfast was a welcomed bonus. Good stuff. Sorted.

     Friday was a long and fun day of taking in the city sites and snapping loads of photos, evidenced in the 100+ collection of pics in the Fringe album. What a cool place to be and what a great thing to be a part of. Loads of interesting people and presentations. I was so buzzing, and I met some awesome people. The Zoo Venues promoters, the ones who booked us for the gig, were extremely hospitable upon first meeting us. We were given passes to attend any of their shows free of charge, and also to get cheap beer from the bar, so after the discount Corona (from Mexico, my favourite) was just over £2, which from my experience, you're lucky if you ever find it under £3 a pop here in the UK at any venue. The staff were uber-cool and were totally supportive. My CD was also on permanent repeat rotation at the bar many times, so they were def' showing some love. The highlight of Saturday, for Joanne and myself both, would have to have been at the Zoo Venues after party where there was a hip-hop dance battle between girls and boys, the girls being represented by a funky troupe of teenage girls from South Africa known as the Cafda Youth Dance Group. Cafda is actually a charity organisation which serves various functions for an underprivileged area of South Africa, but these girls were definitely privileged with the moves to put even some New Yorkers to shame. If you check the photo album, there's several pictures of the girls in black suits, and a few of the boys in their own getups. The boys were represented by various associates of Zoo Venues, either performers or staff who happened to be there and knew how to get down. It's been a while since I've seen a proper hip-hop street dance battle, and this one was cool.

     Anyhow, Saturday obviously revolved around my performance and gearin' up for it. Zoo Venues gave us a few people free of charge to help pass out flyers for the show. Might I also add to the record in showing their good treatment of us that usually performance troupes or companies will pay promoters to have their show at the Fringe, as having a show here is a big deal, but the promoters charged us nothing and let us come as a chance to showcase the music because they liked what we were doing. It's always great when someone gives you that chance and shows respect for your talent, gives you a chance to show what you can do instead of giving you every reason why they can't help you or why you're inappropriate for their event. So lots of respect must go to Zoo Venues. They won't be forgotten by us.

     The show itself was a great success. While not every seat in the house was taken, a good number of them were filled. And most importantly, the audience genuinely gave me an ear. It was a very storytelling atmosphere where I felt compelled to talk with the audience and give a healthy dose of humour, which returned many laughs. I've never considered myself a comedian, in the sense of someone who purposely tries to be funny, but I find life very comical, and I couldn't help but take the piss out of a lot of things whether I tried to or not. Technically, I'm a singer-songwriter, but many people have told me their favourite part of the show is the humour, and several people compared me to Bill Bailey (before I was even familiar with his work. After seeing what he does, I've taken it as a great compliment.) Sometimes I get up and I don't think the audience finds my comments very funny, but at this show, they did seem to get it. It was a very intimate feeling show, where I felt I could open up and talk or joke about anything and I had an understanding ear. To be fair, I believe this was the last gig that was booked as a band show while The Diplomats were together with their consent that they would play it. But when the band split up, I was a bit concerned about how well this one would do with just me as a solo act. I had really wanted to play this one as a group, and was initially very sad that it wouldn't be happening. However, I could never conceive of cancelling it as it is against my ethics. But after playing it, Joanne and I both agreed that this particular venue and audience were more suited to acoustic music anyway, so I believe the best thing was the show to happen the way it did. And to think I was so concerned about something that in the end turned out to be no issue anyway. How many times we do that in life. Sometimes the things that happen to us that we view as unfortunate turn out to bless us in the end.

     The show concluded with a new song I've just written entitled "Meaningless Music is so Last Year." It was the first song I have played live with a drum machine beat while setting my guitar down. I basically rapped and sang over a monotonous but funky old skool hip-hop beat. This is a precursor to what to expect in the near future. No, I will not be ditching my guitar, but I will be accompanied by kickin' electronic beats as the next phase of musical progression gets under way. Acoustic purists and folkie-fascists, you've been warned. Anyhow, the last verse from the song ends with a cheeky line… "Now I'm wrong most of the time but I'm sure I did hear him say that Daniel Orlick is like so this year…" This was followed by a huge round of cheering from the audience (while the 35 minute drum loop was still going), giving me the general feeling that they loved the show and were sold on the music. I was even given a fresh rose in a bottle of Corona with Welsh written all over it by a cool girl named NIki who wouldn't tell me what the Welsh said in English, so I'm still scratching my head as the flower withers away. Anyhow, check out the photos in the photo album, although unfortunately the ones of me on stage didn't turn out well, so they're mostly of me snapping other people and things. For all you bootleggers and trainspotters-in-training, here's the set list from the show:

Suburbia

Devil's Seed

Attention Span

California

Dot Commies

Hyperactive Child

Five Stars

False Gods

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air / Boyz in tha Hood / Freebee (Medley)

Shoot the Breeze

Boredom Nation

Cliché Guevara

Six Shooter

Meaningless Music is so Last Year

Hope you enjoyed this blog and the photos…

Feel free to share your thoughts with me…

All the best…

Daniel Orlick

Hey Everyone,

     So I was in Keighley, West Yorkshire yesterday to play the Worthstock Festival and it was a seriously cool day. So here's my little two cents worth (two pence worth for all you Brits) about the gig…

     First off, the people running the event were super cool. They actually contacted us about playing which is great. A lot of times when you're an up-and-coming artist from a dirty street somewhere in a dirty town working to make a name for yourself, you're doing the dirty work contacting everyone else for a slot, so when it comes your way, good stuff! Anyhow, they were sound people, really friendly and social and made us feel really welcome. The event was originally supposed to be an outdoor event but due to problems with the council it was moved indoors. Respect to them for keeping it alive. The club it was in was called K2, with two different stages. My feelings about the venue were mixed. The good things were that there was good sound separation between the stages, so an acoustic act like myself could be on while a loud proud balls-to-the-wall punk band could be thrashin' out in back without conflict of noise. Also, the staff were really friendly and surprisingly the bouncers and door men were quite cool and chilled. I don't know about you guys but from my experience with door men here in the UK, they seem to like to go out of their way to be the biggest jerks they can be and somehow think you're going to actually be scared of 'em (or think they're badass or something) when I've actually seen tougher turds in my toilet bowl. Testosterone is cool and all, but save it for the mosh pit. Anyhow, these guys were surprisingly cool and I give them respect for that. My complaints would be that the beer was waaaaaaaay overpriced, and the selection was terrible. They had this tap saying Budweiser claiming it was some fancy Czech imported beer (the tap was empty, by the way.) www.What-a-load-of-tosh!.com  My great grandfather's buttocks were imported from Europe to America a few generations ago, but my family's still American. So let me clear the air now. Budweiser is modestly priced Midwestern American redneck beer. Hey, I've got nothing against affordable American redneck beer. I've done plenty of Bud back in the ole US of A, and it does the deed. But it is what it is. You shouldn't have to go into your bank overdraft to pay for it. To all you Brits, when they try to sell you Budweiser like it's some sophisticated middle to upper class import from any part of the world, don't fall for it. You're just as well off hittin' the Carling or Stella. It's not inferior to Bud in any way, will probably cost you less, and it does the same thing.  (So after typing this, I go on to wikipedia to find out that I'm totally wrong and that there is a Czech beer by the same name as the American one, but being as I like the sound of my own typewritten rant, I refuse to delete it out of egotistical pride. I mean, after all, I thought the current Czech country was only invented like five years ago when two dudes agreed to split the name of country, land, and bread loaves down the middle, and call it a tied game, so I can plead ignorance. And it is true they sell Brits American Bud at inflated prices, so there.)

     Okay, so on to the truly important thing…the music. Hey man, I'm a huge music fan, so the chance to check out some new stuff was a great opportunity for me. Three bands in particular made the night for me, and they were, in no order of importance Kid iD, Random Hand, and Sonic Boom Six. I've already seen the Boom before as I've done a support slot for them previously and interviewed them, so I knew they wouldn't disappoint, and my intuition proved correct. Super cool people having a great time on stage and they really know how to work a crowd. What more needs to be said at this point. Random Hand played before them, doing a ska/punk/metal mashup, Keighley locals with a world view, and my first time seeing them. Great show, loads of energy, the mosh pit wasn't pumpin' immediately but by the end of their set it was in a frenzy. Great to see guitarist Matt rockin' a Metal Militia look. Kind of gives you a warm fuzzy feeling if you have long hair like me, like you don't have to sport a mohawk or shaved head to be accepted in their crowd, they'd probably even hang with you if you had a mullet, maybe I should try it. Also, got to speak to singer Robin afterwards and he was a totally cool guy. Last off in my shout outs were the guys who played immediately after me on the same stage, namely Kid iD. Good music, if you gotta label it, don't really know, but I'd say there was definitely folk, funk, and ska vibes goin' on, among other things. One cool thing that stuck out to me was the heavy use of percussion including a slamming cowbell, really funky and rhythm driven. Also, the trombonist brought out a secret part of my past, he was on stage barefoot, which is not something you usually see in the North of England. At the risk of sounding totally hippy to all my UK brethren, when I lived in Southern California, I used to go everywhere without shoes or sandals, and I mean everywhere…beach, bar, supermarket, skateboarding, (of course surfing…duhhhh) but no one really bats an eyelid there, cuz it's like "whatever, this is Cali, people do what they want here…" People actually thought I was cool there for being me…wow…Can't do that here, so I've settled for a pair of turquoise 1987 Vision Street Wear skate shoes, which kind of makes up for it in a funny kind of way.

     So what about my gig? Okay, what can I say. It was kool. Good 45 minute set. The crowd response was good. I didn't really have people talking over me when I played mellower songs, I got good cheers for pretty much everything I played, and people in the audience actually laughed at some of my jokes delivered complete with an over-the-top American sense of humour. Man, it was just a really cool and chilled vibe. I felt like some people there actually got me and what I was about and accepted me for it. Great feeling…I closed with Dot Commies, a new song I've written and recorded, it was only my second time playing it live, and it went down extremely well, so expect to hear more of it, aside from the fact that it is currently the opening track on my myspace profile page. Also, of note again is that the event organizers paid me fairly as agreed and promptly for my performance which is always nice. The amount of times musicians are undervalued and thrown at the bottom of the pile when payday comes is amazing, so it's nice to get the respect. Anyhow, here's the setlist from the show from what I can remember…

Suburbia

Devil's Seed

Attention Span

Attitude

Five Stars

Hyperactive Child

Fresh Prince of Bel Air/Boyz in tha Hood/Freebee (medley)

False Gods

9 to 5 Slave/Sk-8 Boarder (medley)

I Like Short Songs

Hope

Cliché Guevara

Boredom Nation

Six Shooter

Dot Commies

Alrighty, Edinburgh Fringe Festival is this week and I'm working on a new song to debut there called "Meaningless Music is So Last Year." Supposedly, according to "da word on da streetz" there's some record label people coming up from London to see me as they have stated they are total converted fans. Hype? I don't know. Either way, the show's gotta be good, no excuses. Looking forward to it. Record execs or music fans, all the same to me, if you dig the vibes, you can hang with me.

For now, everyone keep it cool, soak up the last bit of UK summer you can get, and look forward to hearing from you all soon…

All the best from the North to the West…

Daniel O.

Well Hello Y'all,

     So I finally got a few minutes aside from my hectic schedule to sort through the photos from the Beat Herder Festival at which I performed just a couple weeks back. In case you're wondering, yeah, I had such a cool weekend and everyone else I talked to who was there said they had an awesome weekend too. So talk to them and you'll see I'm not exaggerating. I definitely look forward to being there next year. Now look, I'm not going to lie to you guys because this is all about being honest and real. So I'll tell you truthfully that there weren't loads of people in front of the Main Stage when I played it. Part of the reason for this was likely due to the rain, the mud, the hangovers, and the fact that it was Sunday afternoon after a long rainy party-filled weekend. However, the people managing the stage and the event organizers were so sound, the audience that was there was very receptive and warm to me. And no, (all you doubters, haters, and last-week's-trash-talkers,)  they weren't all friends and family, many people I've never seen in my life. I got a fair bit of myspace friend requests and supportive messages afterwards so I know the music hit good. I debuted a new song called Dot Commies and just had a great time. But truthfully, I love enjoying other people's music just as much as I like playing my own. And it was a great weekend for music of all sorts and just general all around chillin' like Bob Dylan. Also to be mentioned is that the event organizers were very polite and friendly, paid me fairly in cash for my performance without argument or excuse and were fair with guest passes and generally gave good hospitality which isn't always the case with events such as these. The people I met, the vibes we soaked up, and the tunes so close to home, what more could you ask for in a festival. Next up we'll talk about the photos and videos, but first here's my setlist from the show…

Crazy Beat Rokkers

Devil's Seed

False Gods

Attitude

Five Stars

No Woman No Cry

Rivers of Babylon

Attention Span

Six Shooter

Fresh Prince of Bel Air/Freebee

Dot Commies

Hyperactive Child

Suburbia

I Like Short Songs

Okay, so aside from musical expression, I'm also an artist, writer, boardrider, and a photographer amongst other things….yeah sure, like everyone in this modern age I'm a maniacal mega-multitasker who can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond when it comes to artistic expression. So while I was hangin' tough in the green fields, I was snappin' photos of the going's on around me. A few of these photos were not actually taken by me, but were snapped by Joanne when I was onstage, both of me and the audience, but they're all mixed in for good fun. A lot of these were taken late on Sunday when many people had gone home or were passed out in tents away from the rain, so the audience looks a bit thin in places, but they still capture the moment. I do love people and I am quite fascinated by them, especially the expressions in their faces, so there's a lot of close-ups of faces. With some of these photos, I feel like I could write a whole album or novel on the expressions in their face. I do not know who a lot of these people are and have never met them personally, so if you recognise anyone you know, friends or yourself, feel free to let me know. Also, there's been a few videos uploaded to my youtube account of miscellaneous dancing fun from the event….

Here's a link to Joanne dancing on stage during Andy Weatherall's set. It's sideways and a bit dark but it sums up the night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FuC6LiC21M

Here's a clip from a great DJ set by Will Law/Seamless:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSmx3ycOYrU

Here's a clip of Elijah dancing to My Sharona with a couple girlies in the hookah tent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2x2ZgCGGuM

There's also still a load of older videos to enjoy while you're there. Just go to:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DanielOrlick

 Leave your comments and vote on your favourite pics or vids if you wish. Hope you guys enjoy it and if anyone else was there, feel free to share your photos and videos with me.

All the Best…

Daniel Orlick

Hello Y'all,

     Several things going on which have battled against my blogging. At the moment I'm in the middle of two projects amongst others. Sorting out photos and videos from Beatherder Festival the weekend before last which will be posted along with my artist's review of the event. In case you're wondering, I had an awesome time, a seriously cool weekend. One of the other projects consuming my time at the mo' is a new song I've written called Dot Commies. It's been recorded and I'm in the process of final production and mixing. It will be posted upon completion. Hope you are all well. Keep in touch and remember to www.liv-it-up.com...

Daniel-Oh

Hello All You,

     Thanks for choosing to click on this here blog in your busy busy busy schedules. I'm a bit stoked because today was officially the hottest day of the UK so far this year. Love my hot weather, though you do get a bit ripped off here when it comes to warmth and sunshine. Anyhow, the myspace has received a makeover…..perhaps you can say I got a makeover. The braids and the shades went, the beard's gone, and perhaps my brain too. Apparently now with my new "image" I am more marketable to the youth demographic, whatever that is and if it exists anyway, but in light of this I've picked up a handful of corporate sponsors who want to use me to advertise their products. I was like "Kool!" With all the extra money, now I can get pimped out along with my profile page. Whoever said "selling out" isn't cool has no clue. Go to the photo album entitled corporate sponsors and you'll see all the full versions used to decorate my profile page, and there's also one for social campaigns I endorse, gotsta keep it real!

     Coming up this Sunday  on the 6^th of July I will be playing the Beatherder Festival in Gisburn, Yorkshire, of course solo acoustic. Also, coming shortly will be the Boredom Nation video filmed a few months back and a couple new live acoustic videos of a couple new songs so stay tuned. In the meantime, I am continuing work on my debut album to be released this year currently entitled "Songs from a Suburban Ghetto." Let me know what you guys are up to. I'd love to hear from you…..

All the best…

Daniel-O.

Hello Everyone,

     Gillespie's last night in Blackpool turned out to be a good vibe. First off, I have to say thanks to Glen and Lai for having us, if you ever are thinking about playing their venue, they are two really sound people. Glen, who owns the venue, met me outside with a handshake and insisted he carry my guitar in for me, poured us drinks, and was an all around cool guy. A great start to the night. Great hospitality is always a bonus in the rough and tough world of gigging.

     Due to the fact that I was now playing acoustic and not with the band, Glen had arranged for a couple other local acoustic acts to share the night with me. So I settled in to a nice chair after a glass of wine and soaked in the tunes of Clare Helen, a great start to the night, followed by a man who goes by the name of Ladders, who I am told is half of the duo Steph & Ladders (not sure if that is spelled correct, I still have a tough time deciphering British accents sometimes.) I especially loved his fingerpicked version of Folsom Prison Blues, great guitar work.

     Anyhow, the vibe was great when I got up and it was great to see the faces of the audience all the better since my sunglasses were gone. The audience seemed quite in a dancing mood and I was happy to see the hip swaggers and all. The cheers were quite enthusiastic (you never know with pub crowds) and all in all the vibe was great. There were times when I wanted to play softer songs and there was a bit of audience conversation rising above it, like I said, this is the thing with pub crowds and hence why louder bands are usually the preferred choice. However, I held my ground and kept it chilled and in the end the audience reaction came across really favourable. Not surprisingly, there was one person in the audience a bit disappointed that I didn't look like the braids and shades guy on the poster, so of course I had to tell her to get over it, but all in all I'd say it was a success of a gig. Here's the set list from what I can remember:

No Woman No Cry

Devil's Seed

False Gods

Attitude

Five Stars

Fresh prince of Bel Air

Six Shooter

Suburbia

Hyperactive Child

Crazy Punk Rokkers

9 to 5 Slave

Attention Span

All the best.

Daniel-O.

Here's some photos from before yesterday's gig:

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii287/GhostTownRecords/guitarmirrorjpeg.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii287/GhostTownRecords/cameramirror.jpg

Hello All You,

     It's been a busy time here at the Ghost Town crib. So much so that I've not made as much time as I should have for contact with everyone out there in the virtual world. Hope you are all doing well. In the upcoming months there will be some new things coming to keep the supporters of the music satisfied, from live acoustic videos to monthly podcasts and weekly blogs, and the video to Boredom Nation. We've got some new plans up our sleeves and aim to be more active in our communication efforts.

     Anyhow, in the meantime, for those of you who don't know, Jack and Steffen quit the band maybe about a month and a half ago. If you're going to ask me why, don't bother. I tried to figure that one out too. But you can't make 'em stay and you can't make 'em enjoy it, so thus is life. All the best to the boys in white n' black. Well since they bailed on the remaining gigs we had booked, I've been forced to play many of them acoustic, and I must say that the response has been great. So this will back up my decision for the time being to pursue things as an acoustic artist. For those of you who don't know, I wrote all the songs we played together, even the majority of the drum and bass parts. Now I'm not telling you this to pump my ego up big for taking all the credit, why I am saying this is that when the record is finished, many of the bass lines and beats will still be like what you heard live, just with some minor changes and developments to the songs. So the songs don't die. They'll just be delivered in a slightly adjusted format.

     Also, the braids and shades image has been retired. I simply had enough of it and needed a change, so my hair's a bit shorter and my beard's gone, you might not recognise me on the street. I revealed my secret to the hair onstage at my last Manchester gig supporting Sonic Boom Six, and as the braids were pulled out live, a few loyal supporters in the audience walked away with some souvenir sunglasses and a red tie. They couldn't have gone to better people.

     Okay, last weekend was my first time in mainland Europe, going to play in Holland. Yes we had a greeeeeat time in Amsterdam (finer details withheld…:D…) went to a great koffieshop called The Dolphin, met some kool people, I had my first glass of red wine in like three years (it was nice) at my friend Eugenie's party which I performed at (shout out to café el en ben locals), we went to the beach and it was great to be back with the surf and sun again (went to another cool koffieshop with an American Indian theme called Yanks at the beach in Zandvoort). There were some kool skate and surf shops there, but there did seem to be a lack of skaters on the streets, but loads of bikes. All in all, the Dutch were quite friendly and beautiful people and I look forward to visiting them again.

     Finally back in the UK, while we have sought to keep many gigs going acoustic, there are a few which were cancelled due to various circumstances, some out of our control, a couple of those cancelled being the Derby Arms in Colne and the support for the Dub Pistols at Moho live in Manchester. However, I will be in Blackpool tomorrow night at Gillespie's on Topping Street in Blackpool. The show is at 9pm and it is £1 on the door. Hope to see you there…

Have fun everyone…

Daniel-O

www.myspace.com/danielorlick

Calling all of you unsigned and aspiring musicians and music industry enthusiasts. If there is only one festival you can get to this year, then make sure it is the Hide and Seek in Manchester (see www.myspace.com/hideandseekfestival). Not only is there a great line up of bands (and it is all indoors so know need to worry about the rain), but the organisers are offering a range of seminars that cannot be missed, from topics such as radio plugging, meet the media, insider info from studios, and many more  (plus  an enviable line-up of established speakers and industry professionals). What makes it even more special is that these seminars are free to performers and one day (£10)/weekend  tickets holders.

I have heard some people say that this festival is the new In The City event, aimed totally at grassroots talent, and delivering performances and seminars which all of us struggling musicians can actually afford to go to!

Don't miss this one.

Joanne, our manager, is now a member of the Media Factory, in Preston. She has access to TV studios, equipment, recording studios, photography studios (and equipment) - anything media related, this place has got it.

We are always on the look out for teams to work with us, in ways which harness creative and technical skills. Basically, the sky is the limit with the amount of equipment and rooms that Joanne has access to.

Anybody fancy running a live music TV show - or filming some videos/shows/studio sessions of the band? Anybody want to put some ideas to us for creative projects? Mark emails for the attention of Joanne, and she will get back to you.

See you at The Cornerhouse in Colne on Friday and/or the video shoot on Sunday. If you are not from the East Lancs area, then perhaps you would prefer the Tom Hingley (Inspiral Carpets) support gig on Tuesday, or the good old Daniel Orlick acoustic at the Night and Day on Thursday. (check listings for details)

Whatever your preference, it is all here for you!!