In rockstar news...

Ok so my last post was sooky la-la, this post is going to be happy joy-joy!!

Ready...?


Ok let's go...

Band #1
...is doing swimmingly. We had our Vic & NSW album launches last week. The Melbourne one was amazing - so so much fun! Over 200 people in the room - a sea of faces as far as I could see. And they were screaming at us. And dancing! I felt so much love and warmth in the room.

We had a guest violinist who was awesome, she really helped lift some of the songs to a new place. Unfortunately a few technical hitches occurred... our guitarist had to sit out a song while the fuse in his amp was fixed. I had to ditch one of the oscillators on my vintage analogue synth as it decided to de-tune itself and wouldn't go back in. Not the best gig we've played in the technical sense, but the vibe was amazing and we put everything into it.

The Sydney show brought us back down to earth with a thud. From the beginning Murphy's Law prevailed, causing delayed flights, a lost keyboard stand, the state of origin final being played at the same time as we were on (apparently the equivalent of the AFL grand final in NSW) resulting in a rather lower turnout than we'd hoped, our chief roadie having gastro, one of the support acts picking a huge fight with me and the venue... Yes it wasn't the greatest of gigs. Mind you we played pretty well considering! And props to Virgin Blue for getting the lost keyboard stand to the venue 10 mins before we went onstage. But regardless, we had fun and I'm glad we went.

Oh yeah. The album is onsale here if you are interested.

Band #2
...is absolutely kicking butt!! I'm loving loving loving it!! I couldn't have found 8 better people to join me in musical mayhem - so much enthusiasm, talent and love - already!

We have a huge list of songs developed in such a short space of time... maybe 2-3 months?? And some really fantastic songs in there, not just rubbish. I get to do heaps of singing, playing percussion, guitar, and *gasp* drums!! As well as the usual keyboards. Recently I went shopping for a keyboard case and came home with a digital drumkit so I can practise and feel like Laine from the Gilmore Girls. Righteous!!!!

We are booked in to record a demo in a couple of weeks and have our first 3 gigs booked - two of them next week. I can't can't wait!!!! If you want to check it out you could go here. YAY!!!!!


See? I told you happy joy-joy!

Blues

Despite the fact that it's my own choice, sometimes the fact that I'll never get married or have children fills me with grief.

Wanna be in a band?

Ok, that's it, I'm starting a new band!

Don't worry, I'm not giving up on the old one, in fact the album is being mastered this Wednesday. YAY!

But it's time for me to take control, to find a group of people who are really, really passionate about playing music for a living and are keen to make a go of it. People who are truly excited about the same kind of music I am!

So... here's the job description. Contact me if you're interested.


Do you love Arcade Fire, The Dears, The Frames, Elbow?

I am starting a new originals band inspired by those listed above and more.

I am looking for people who are passionate about playing and keen to try new things. I envisage a band where everybody has a go at singing and takes turns on different instruments. A band where people enjoy performing live and feed off each others’ energy. A band where songwriting is a collaborative effort. A band that attracts a following quickly through its exciting and passionate performances.

I am a 29y/o female keys player who also dabbles in vocals, guitar, drums/perc and I want a chance to improve these skills by using them in a live setting. I would love to find other multi-instrumentalists who are keen to do likewise.

The band will rehearse weekly, probably on weekends so if you’re not willing to give up your Sunday afternoons then please don’t waste my time. It will also gig regularly – through my other band I have plenty of contacts so be ready to hit the ground running. I’m just north of the city so looking to rehearse around the inner Melbourne area.

I don’t care what instrument you play, whether you’re a guy or a girl, age not much of an issue but I need a mature attitude. If you’re excited about putting your heart and soul into a band like those above I want to hear from you.

Post here or email aussierockchick[at]gmail.com.

Ok time for a rant.

So yeah I know I haven't posted for like a million years so I don't even deserve for anybody to read this but I need to get it off my chest and possibly not to the people involved.

Now, just a warning, don't get too attached, this post could be a one-off - I need something to fill the time today and today only so here goes...

To get you up to speed:
Albums recorded = 1
Albums mastered & released = 0
Drummers overseas = 1
Number of months drummer overseas for = 3.5
Number of days since I sent an email to remaining band members and manager calling for a meeting to divvy up the work involved in mastering & releasing the album and booking subsequent tours, as agreed prior to drummer's departure = 8
Number of days before first response = 2.5
Total number of responses received in 8 days = 2
Total number of outstanding responses = 2

So... this is crucial stuff which needs to happen if we EVER want to get this album out. Our ever-reliable bassman replied in a reasonable amount of time. Then after hearing nothing for a few more days I sent a follow up email saying 'i've had no response, what's going on?'. This prompted the guitarist to send through his availability. Still nothing from the two most crucial players, the manager and the lead singer/songwriter. Not to mention the two with the most to gain from making this all happen. It shouldn't have even been me who had to send the email in the first place, it should have been the manager. But I have learned that if I don't get the ball rolling on things they don't happen so I decided to follow through with what we all agreed to last year, which is to not sit on our asses all summer waiting for drummer boy to get back, but to do some work and make this release happen.

I sent a text just now to the two non-responders going "Just wondering if you have been receiving my emails, everything ok?" Serious restraint going on. But if they know about my world of anger they are not going to want to talk to me, are they?

I am seriously this close to cutting my losses and starting a new band with some people who give a crap. Especially after seeing the brilliance of Arcade Fire twice this week - I am totally inspired to hook up with some truly passionate people and get serious about this whole thing.

Phew. Not sure if I feel better or worse now. Never mind.

Still here...

Yes I am still alive. Just.

It has been a shocking few weeks with the incredibly sad death of our good friend Mark following on the heels of the death of our beloved puppy Chester. My friends and I have been deeply affected by Mark's death and words cannot express how emotional the funeral was and the deep sympathy we all feel for his family and his fiancee Jo (or Joey Jo Jo). I cannot comprehend losing my partner at such a young age and was very impressed at her strength and humour on the day. We have now buried one of our own. I think we all aged a little this week.

Moving house from the Secret Suburb to a less secret suburb North of the river has also been somewhat stressful. I LOVE the new place, the location and the actual house are awesome, exactly what we needed. We just need to get past the unpacking stage to really feel settled. Oh and we have 10 days to rid the old house of 3 years of grime... time is ticking away.

Oh, did I also mention I recently started paid work for the first time in almost a year? I decided to start doing temp work and am onto my second assignment. This one should go for about four weeks and is something to do with coordinating cable TV & internet installations. Exactly what I'm yet to find out! First day was today, I spent a lot of it bored watching other people work, but hey, it's money, right?

I have been doing some good rockstar type stuff in between all the sadness & movingness - it does help to take your mind off things. A gig last Friday, another one in a few weeks, recording sessions (according to Tom the album is 86.6% ready) and radio DJ action have meant I've had no spare time whatsoever, which at the moment is probably a very good thing.

Hey something pretty freaky happened on the day of Mark's funeral... it was in Sydney and first we went to the church in some suburb, then drove for some time to the cemetery, and then more driving to a golf club for the wake. I need to explain something here. Mark's running joke was always to ask me and his fiancee Jo when the two of us were going to jelly wrestle. He used to constantly concoct elaborate plans to make it happen (none of them were ever actually put into action, which I'm quite glad about since even though Joey's half my size she'd probably kick my ass). So, anyway, there we were, driving along the M5 or something between the funeral and the cemetery, and along the side of the highway are telegraph poles. Stuck on the poles are posters advertising... jelly wrestling.

Now I don't know about you, but I have never seen a poster for Jelly wrestling in my life. Until Friday. I don't believe in heaven or reincarnation or any of that stuff, but I swear Mark was behind it. WAY too much of a coincidence otherwise.

Anyway it's 12:15am and I might actually have to do some work at work tomorrow so I think I'd better call it stumps. Goodnight!

Goodbye

I just received a very difficult piece of mail.

Now usually I love opening the mail, I have a kickass letter-opener shaped like a little dagger with a huge diamante on the handle. I love it! And the admin chick in me loves reading & sorting the various bills, cards, etc. But as soon as I picked up this envelope, hand addressed, I knew what it was and held my breath.

"Good friends live in our hearts forever" was the message on the card, with a picture of a large dog nuzzling a kitten. Inside was a lovely message of sympathy for the loss of our "much loved little dog, "Chester". The card was from our local vet clinic, who were wonderful with him all the way from removing 7 decayed teeth under general anaesthetic back when he first came to live with us, to treating his heart condition, right through to the very end of his little life. Tucked inside the card was the final invoice for "Consultation/Examination, Frusemide Injection, Oxygen Administration and Burial of Small Dog." That last one made me well up.

I feel a bit bad that we didn't bury him ourselves but we are about to move house and it doesn't make sense to leave him in someone else's backyard. So we asked the vet to take care of it. Besides, I don't think either of us could have handled bringing his body home and burying it. I would rather just hang on to the memories.

Oh god now I am a blubbering mess...

Sorry this has been quite hard for me. Chester was my sole companion for the nine months that Adam was away, and while I did find him annoying at times, and the responsibility of feeding, medicating and walking him did sometimes get in the way of other things, he was the cutest possible dog that ever did live and I loved him very much.

He had been having good days and bad days for a long time, and I am glad that the day before he died was a really good day and we went for a big long walk down at the beach and both Adam and I spent some good quality time with him. The next day he woke up not so good, and had a seizure which was much worse than his previous ones. It was quite scary and I'm so glad Adam was there with me. We rushed him to the vet and they put him on oxygen, and were going to keep him there until they closed at noon (it was a public holiday), when we would have to take him to the animal emergency centre. We had just arrived back home when we got the phone call that his little heart had stopped.

Things we will remember fondly about Chester:

The way his little pink tongue would sit in the gap where his teeth used to be;
The way he would pounce on pieces of raw carrot I "accidentally" dropped while cooking dinner, rush them off to the carpet, and then dissect and/or devour them;
His crazy robot walk, ears back, legs just a blur beneath his body;
His huge big beautiful eyes;
The way he looked in his Superman suit;
The look of humiliation in his eyes while wearing the Superman suit;
His squeaking;
The way he would bark at dogs more than 10 times his size;
The way he would bark excitedly when Adam & I chased him round the house in a rather predictable game of chasey;
The way he never barked at any other time;
The way he would take himself off to his little bed;
The way he loved to curl up in clothes on the floor, particularly mine;
The way he would rest his little head on his paws and sigh as if to say "oh, life's so hard when all you have to do is eat and be patted";
The way he would prance around after doing a wee, so proud and fox-like;
The way he would only poo in the most uncomfortable places, like on a twig or weed or something really scratchy looking. And if he accidentally had to do it inside, he always chose a nice DVD cover or keyboard to do it on instead of the floor.
The way everything disappeared except for his eyes when he was wet.

There are probably a thousand other little memories we will have of Chester but I have gone on long enough. We miss you Chest!!! Have fun in doggy heaven...

I got my boy back!

Yes, the ninja has finally moved back home!! Hooray!!!

It has been an interesting week, with us both adjusting to living with each other again, and cramming two houses worth of stuff into one. We definitely need a bigger place!

For the first few days we were ships passing in the night as I had meetings till midnight (yes its a glamorous life i lead). Adam gets up at 6am so we didn't even see each other in the mornings.

The weekend was a bit more fun, we got to hang out on the couch a bit and go to an engagement party. I know it sounds so boring but I love it!! We are both so 'go go go' all the time that any downtime, especially together, is awesome.

We have started looking for a new place, and let me tell you there is nothing out there! Well no three bedroom places within a cooee of the city anyway. Oh my god, did I just say cooee? Who am I, Alf from Home and Away??? Is that even how you spell cooee??

At least we have plenty of time to find somewhere, our current lease is not running out or anything so there's no deadline. However we are both, particularly Adam, impatient to find something soon and get things set up the way we want, with separate music & ninja studios.

Another thing we have done this week is started the Body For Life 12 week challenge. Now I know this is not very rock n roll, and I promise to not let this become a weight-loss blog, but it is a fairly significant thing to embark on so I thought I'd mention it. Neither of us are particularly overweight, we are more wanting to tone up and build muscle, but it does mean that six days a week we have to eat 6 low fat meals per day and also work out every day. The seventh day is rest day - yay! - when we get to eat whatever the heck we want. How cool is that?!

So... we are adjusting to a new way of eating at the same time as getting used to living together... yes this could be a recipe for disaster, I know. But I'm pretty confident we'll just kick each other's asses and get through it. We're a pretty good team.

What else... oh yeah, my band played on Saturday night. Our current drummer is in Japan so we asked our old drummer Wes if he could play. We had a rehearsal during the day which felt like he had never left, and the gig was heaps of fun. The place was not massively packed but it was respectable. Some new friends I've met in various places came, which was nice, and some old friends of Adam also showed up to welcome him home. The drive home was funny, all my gear was crammed into the Echo meaning only one person could fit. Rather than one of us catch a cab though, Adam drove and I climbed in the passenger seat. The massive keyboard case was where my head should go so I had to squinch down, and if we stopped quickly I had to duck my head into Adam's lap to avoid decapitation. Add to this the fact that Adam may not have been completely under the limit (he was closer than I was though - a slight miscommunication about who was driving home) so he drove very carefully avoiding all possible police hideouts. We were rather relieved to pull up at home!

Better get back to it but if anyone has a 3BR house to rent within a few k's of Melbourne please let me know!!!