fleeting poetry

Glasfrosch to open for Damo Suzuki in Melbourne

2010-09-27T16:35:00.002+10:00

Yeah. That's right. We're playing for Damo "Kraut rock legend" Suzuki at Fad Gallery in Chinatown on November 10th. Plus, I'll be playing bass in Damo's put together band for the night.

For those of you who don't know Damo, He was the singer in the seminal kraut rock band Can. Post Can, he has been touring, putting improvised bands together where ever he goes. So who knows what it'll end up like..? One thing is for certain, it's gonna be a great night. I'll supply more info as I get it.
xox

j.

MissPiggyJournalist has a little Glasfrosch interview...

2010-09-10T18:02:00.002+10:00

Check out this first little piece of Glasfrosch press. Short and sweet info about where we're coming from.

http://misspiggyjournalist.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/rolling-stones-gather-no-moss/

Time to make good with this...

Glasfrosch

2010-07-21T18:59:00.000+10:00

I've been looking for a band name for nearly 4 whole years. It's seriously hard work. To find something original, that fits your musical style, your personality, your culture. And on top of all that it needs to sound cool, invoke some kind of mental sonic palate and visual imagery.
I had intended to begin with "Justin Ashworth", eventually adding "and the (something cool)", and then eventually phasing out the "Justin Ashworth" part, leaving the "(something cool)" to remain. Alas, it didn't really happen that way, and I've been stuck with my name for ages. Which is ok when I'm doing guest collaborations or solo things, but when there's a whole band with me, I feel kinda silly.

Glasfrosch is the German word for "glass frog". I needed something Fragile, yet green. I've always been a frog man, and these little critters have semi transparent skin, so you can see their innards (how cool). The fact that it's German stems from the fact that my family background is Austrian, and also that German words are totally cool.

So I'll be phasing in this new moniker over the year. Probably keeping the current album in progress under my real name, and then moving on from there. Solo and band related projects will both take the name. We'll keep some of the older "Justin Ashworth" songs in our live band set while we still like them, but Adam, Ed, and I are focused on creating things more collaboratively now, and I really can't wait to get some new band material happening on stage.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to playing for you all again soon.
xox
j.

New songs... getting out of town...

2010-06-10T16:23:00.003+10:00

Home from touring and full of heaps of new passion for making new music. Been putting together a bunch of things slowly, lots of potential new song sections and sound ideas. So I'm heading out of town to the mountains to record and edit up my sounds and program some ideas, free from the distractions of city livin'.

So far there are 10 potential new songs. I've been putting the ideas into one of two piles, hoping to get enough for two 5 track EP's, with different but connected themes. So far so good. Getting 4 or so of these songs on the stage by the years end is my first point of call. Then following up the album with the 2 EP's as quickly as is creatively (and financially) possible.

The final mix of the album is nearly finished. So once we get that on the shelves, and tour, we can move on to a new, bigger, more eclectic sound. Ed has really changed the live feel of the band, and bringing that to the new recordings is a priority.

Thanks for sticky by us. we'll see you at Revolver, June 24th.

download!

2010-06-06T14:50:00.001+10:00

lastfm emusic amazon

New T-Shirts

2010-05-18T12:47:00.004+10:00

Based around the new album's disc image by Andrea Kang and Nathan Jurevicius, we've designed some new T-shirts (girls and boys colours) that we'll be printing up soon for our future tours.

Requiem now available on itunes.

2010-05-08T14:20:00.003+10:00

Get yourself to the itunes store and download our single and B-side.

CD versions featuring the full film clip as a bonus CDROM enhancement will be available from the 16th of May.

Single launch touring...

2010-05-08T13:32:00.003+10:00

To promote Requiem as our new single, we're hitting the road. So once Melbourne gets the taste of things at the Northcote Social Club on the 16th of May, We're breaking in Ed on the 30th, and then taking Requiem to Canberra (The front gallery & Cafe) and Sydney (Lansdowne Hotel) on the 3rd and 4th of June (respectfully). More details, including supports etc, to come. XOXOX

Welcome Ed Crocker on drums

2010-04-17T11:05:00.002+10:00

Replacing a band member is a painful task most of the time. We've had fairly rough time with drummers over the years. Some not working out, some just not right for the job. Nat Grant has played with us for over 2 years now, and been an invaluable asset to the music. But alas, she's had to move on for her own personal development, and well, good on her. I've left a few bands behind me to focus on my own sounds, it's just gotta be done if you want to be happy in your art.

So, enter Ed Crocker. A young, fiery drummer, full of passion, and solid as fuck. He was so quick to call me when I started looking for a replacement, and he really did tick all the boxes. But yesterday we got him on the kit and my god man, the guy can play. I don't think I've ever felt so good playing these songs.

Ed's debut is the Espy Gershwin room show. I'm looking forward to blowing some heads off there.

Also, we're stripping things down to a trio for a while, changing some sounds and songs around, to make things easier to travel. The new live line-up will be:
Ed: drums/percussion
Adam: keyboards
Me: guitar/vox/electronics.

See you soon.
j.

COMPETITION

2010-04-15T16:02:00.001+10:00

You'll need some kind of camera/iphone etc. There are stickers all around Melbourne and surrounding inner suburbs. Be the first to snap up a pic of a particular location and post it on this facebook page, and you'll receive a prize. Be sure to mention where you took the photo, and to get the sticker in the shot.

Requiem launch date confirmed

2010-03-25T22:10:00.002+11:00

May 16th will be the official launch date for Requiem, the debut single from the forthcoming album. To celebrate the release, we'll be playing at the Northcote Social Club in between Henry Manetta and the Trip, and the Twoks that night. Oh happy days. We'll be selling copies on the night, as well as online (Paypal), and we will be making it available on itunes also (this date may vary). The cd version is strickly limited edition, and I recommend getting your mitts on it for the CDROM video enhancement.

yipee.

Drummer/percussionist wanted

2010-03-19T01:36:00.003+11:00

Nat will be leaving us soon. To focus on her own music, and her masters degree. We'll hopefully get to play some more improvised stuff together in future, and it will be sad to see her go, but alas, nothing's forever. Thanks Nat for all your fine drumming over the past 2 and a half years.

click to read...

Updates.

2010-02-23T15:02:00.002+11:00

The Requiem single is almost upon us, due for CD release shortly (launch show date still TBC). The disc features the latest version of the track, mixed by Masato Higgs and mastered by Jack the Bear. The B side is called Another Nightmare (blues theme for Jack Nance). It will also feature an enhanced component with the single video clip (playable on your computer yo!).

Compositional Processess ess (ess)

2010-01-12T14:51:00.000+11:00

As the finishing touches go on if you go... and the Requiem single is about to be launched. As Absinthe Music sits on the shelf awaiting artwork, it's only natural that I'd begin writing a new project. This new direction was originally going to be a whole new band, but things with Steve didn't work out the way I'd hoped, so I began writing riffs and basslines myself to get things started. And a lot of good has come from this.

Choosing to make an EP has really help to focus things. Needing to move away from the if you go... sound, relying less on electronics and moving towards a more organic, band sound, committing to only 5 tracks is easier than trying to wipe the slate clean and commit to composing an entirely new full length set.

The way things are working thus far is: I begun deconstrution of two of my earlier, ambient works, Like Sunrise, and Taking Photos Of Sunsets (from new music to fall asleep to...), and reconstructed grooves and melody from analysis of their harmonic structure. Using these as starting points for jams with the band, the music can progress towards it's own end result. (At the moment I plan to call this one Just Before The Dawn.

For the title track of the EP, A death in the afternoon, I'm doing the same thing with Absinthe Music. This is proving much trickier, as the original is huge and the harmony is already an experiment of microscopic expansion. So far I have developed about 5 sections, each in a different time signature (something I'm still on the fence about). I plan to base a large chunk of it in 11/8, and have a middle section that uses the reverse vibraphone samples and cymbal wash loops i made for last years spoken word tour as a sonic background texture.

Pluto is an all new track I've written from messing with the baritone guitar and reverse delays. It's getting quite heavy. The title is inspired by Edgar Poe's The Black Cat. The plan is to create a steaming ahead rock jam with a spoken recitation of the story sampled in the background. Henry Manetta has agreed to do the dialogue.

Calaveras is another all new track. I've wanted to try something that focuses on my love of flamenco/tango/mariachi music for a while now. At this stage it is mostly just a pile of rhythmic patterns and a few sketches of melody. I really hope I can get this to work.

So that's 4 of 5 tracks well on the way. There's some other little ideas floating about, and I have an arrangement of Camille Saint-Saens' Le Cygne planned for this same project (probably live only, we'll see), as well as a couple of if you go... tracks that we'll rearrange to suit the new sound.

Later this week I'll be jamming with Adam Spiegl, who plays bass in Adam Rudegeair's Trio, and funk/pop act Neon Bogart (amongst others), to get the ball rolling on band arrangements. Once I feel I have the right bassist, we can start turning these sketches into full blown pieces. I'll definitely write more about this as it comes together.

Until then, thanks for reading.
j.

Sunday evening chillout sessions at Rice Queen

2009-12-29T17:06:00.001+11:00

Fitzroy's Rice Queen Is a gorgeous new modern Asian restaurant and bar, with plenty of comfortable places to chill with your friends and have a drink or sit for dinner.

Sunday's in January, Justin Ashworth will be bringing you something different to usual, performing some mellow tunes to chill to. Justin's original songs remixed live into chilled out beats and soundscapes. With Matt Bush on V Drums, and Justin on guitar, synths and electronics. Expect lush melodies and dreamy atmospheres against mellow grooves.

So bring your friends along for a drink, and feel the summertime weightlessness with Justin and Matto at Rice Queen.

All dates:
January 10th
" 17th
" 24th
" 31st

Vote/Rate/Review Requiem on JJJ Unearthed

2009-12-22T11:49:00.003+11:00

It's up there now, so you can write a review and rate it etc, to help get the song noticed.

click away.

I love you.

j.

fleeting poetry/lullabies 2 for 1 deal!

2009-12-18T10:29:00.003+11:00

Wet your appetite for 2010's new releases - buy the old ones. Special lullabies/fleeting poetry 2 for 1 bargin deal starts now.

Got arty friends or family? Buy them as xmas gifts.

Click the button below and get both new music to fall asleep to... and fleeting poetry delivered to your house for the price of just one.

add your T-shirt size (S/M/L) in the message field, and while stocks last, we're giving away our limited run NMTFAT shirts (pre xmas only).

OR CLICK HERE TO BUY (if above link doesn't work)

Then Get ready, because we're launching the first single from the new album in Feb 2010.

love Justin.

Welcome Steph.

2009-12-16T11:29:00.001+11:00

Steph Dyhin has joined the team as our new band manager. Everyone say "hello Steph"...

Requiem Video

2009-12-07T12:07:00.002+11:00

Well here it is. Directed, produced, and all post fx by Kim Fuhrmann. Starring Adrienne Smith. DOP: Sasha Whitehouse.

The track will be mastered and hopefully released as a single in the new year. Thanks to K-Rudd, this was funded with my stimulus money.

Fear/Politics

2009-12-02T10:27:00.004+11:00

Well I'm not one (usually) to make a bold political statement. Particularly online (where it counts for little), let alone through my art. That's not to say politics doesn't motivate me in any way. Quite the opposite is true. I just hate how musicians whine and rant in their songs to an extreme that renders the point useless. Quite often these individuals (who no doubt mean well) will do something to fuck up during their career making everything they ever stood against irrelevant, and if there is one thing that suffers from that happening more than anything else, it is the heart and essence of protest itself. When someone whose stance on a issue I admire does a back flip, or sells it out for political favour, I feel helpless, like I've lost my voice mid song.

I say all this as preface/disclaimer to the following political rant.

I am afraid of Tony Abbot.

What scares me about him leading the opposition is his fundamentalism, and his method of playing the political game. Tony Abbot wants to win. He doesn't want to lead, just to be the leader. During the Howard years, politics in this country was reduced to a shit slinging contest, where nothing good for the nation ever comes. Tony's opposition tactic is playing this game. Blocking new ideas purely because the opposite team thought of them, when you have zero to offer as alternative. This is disruptive and dangerous.

I am also afraid of peoples apathy. I am afraid that this country will choose to side with a party who wants to do nothing, over a party who wants to create change. I'm afraid of you. I don't think Australians are ignorant, but I do think we like to choose the easy option. I am appalled by the current government and opposition's inability to take action on important environmental issues. Appalled by the smoke and mirrors tactics employed to draw attention away from hard issues, rather than focusing energy upon them and fixing problems.

In news today, as a first point of call as Opposition leader, Tony Abbot points the finger at K-Rudd for being over seas too often. Says that he should be here to tackle things like interest rates. How much longer can we listen to this? Smoke and mirrors people. We know that the government has no control over the reserve bank. Abbot calls action on climate change "crap", and plans to block an ETS in favour of more research and blah, blah, blah. Well what does he want to do instead? No, no policies. It's happening again. In the months ahead, watch the catch phrases and bullshit fly.

I want things to start happening. Who's with me? When our little voices can be heard (seriously, a vote every 3 years..? some voice), demand action. Look beyond the shit slinging major parties, don't waste your vote on their extremes. Put people who care about the country/world in the senate. Make an informed decision. Understand the process. Don't just vote for a major because you want to be on a winning team, otherwise we all lose. Otherwise everything comes grinding to a halt yet again. Otherwise the only other option we've really got for change (real, immediate change) is violent revolution, and who wants all that mess?

End rant.
j.

Blog for blog sake.

2009-11-16T10:55:00.003+11:00

Oh the procrastination. Seriously folks, life is really manic. Full time employment, saving up to master the record, taking on too many projects on the side (short films and dance works and gigs - what am i crazy?).

Today Adam Rudegeair and I are having the first rehearsal for a little live radio experiment for a film music radio show called The Score (106.7PBSFM). It comes as an extension of our set for the Thereminstrosity Festival, this time we're arranging movie themes into psychedelic rock jams, with theremin thrown in for good fun, and we're calling it Theremin Will Be Blood. All things going according to plan, the line up for this show will also mark the beginning of a new (heavier) direction for my music. There's potentially a new EP in the works to follow up if you go (I'm always working ahead of myself), with a more collaborative band feel to it, and I'm hoping to pull some of this out on stage mid way through next year or so.

Besides that, there are a bunch of solo gigs coming up, where I'll be reworking my songs to perform them without the band, which will mean some longer soundscape/beat improvs, live remix style, some songs I've not played live before, and some covers for fun. (For dates check out my myspace gig guide.
I'm also hoping to take these solo renditions on the road very soon to promote the new record, so stay tuned for that too.

That's pretty much the jist of it all for now. Thanks for reading.
j.

Absinthe Music artwork draft preview

2009-10-26T11:36:00.002+11:00

So in the end working with Ben Templesmith didn't happen (hopefully in the future though), so i've resorted to producing Absinthe Music's artwork myself. This kinda means that it's release date is now TBC and probably not for ages due to my slow drawing skills. but hear is a preview of what has come so far.

On another note, if you go... rough mixes are just about done, so mastering etc pending, we should still be looking at a March release.Also, I've started writing some new stuff, probably for an EP to follow the LP up late next year. Expect a heavier sound to hit the stage next year post album release.

thanks for reading
j.

if you go... artwork by nathan j & Andrea Kang

2009-09-20T22:26:00.002+10:00

Here's a little teaser of the album cover art for the up coming record.
Don't get too excited, there's still the absinthe music and requiem single to come first. but i have to share this with you.

new lullabies

2009-09-07T10:40:00.001+10:00

coming soon...

I'll be returning to the "new music to fall asleep to..." project as a live solo performance/installation/exploration.
Using electronics, acoustic guitar, and a mix of other random instruments, and performing a mashup of compositions from the album, plus some lullaby arrangements of new/other compositions, with some themed covers and traditional lullabies from around the world thrown into the mix.

This time around the venue will be your bedroom (or lounge room if you'd prefer).

Invite your friends, get into your pjs, and sip some wine on the bedcovers (or under them), with me and my gear in the corner providing a nice long soundtrack to the evening.

If you're interested, just respond to this message at lullabies@justinashworth.com
My performance is free of charge, so all need to do is pick a date, and organise it with your friends.

So drop me a line and let the (slumber) parties begin (again).

Justin.

rough mix

2009-08-27T11:00:00.002+10:00

Thus far I've been a lazy musician. I took 2 months off. A very much needed break. I've been back at the mixing desk (so to speak) for a bit now, and the rough mixes are coming together really nicely. I'm about halfway. Then I'll be sitting down with various collaborators to do the final mixes. So I'm happy with the pace still.
Also , drafts of the artwork Nathan has done so far are awesome.

So anyways, i thought I should write something about the developing of the project, if anything it keeps me focused.

I'll be composing some new music for contemporary dancer Susan van den Ham later this year, and a new short animation is on the cards too. Some other stuff floating around. i'll post as it comes together.

thank for reading.
j.

more crap about the recording process.

2009-06-15T05:00:00.002+10:00

if you go... is practically tracked and rough mixes in the works. Absinthe Music is finished and mixed and sitting around. Both albums have artwork in production. Both albums are on track for release either later this year or early next (distro pending).

I'm writing new stuff and working on remixes for fun.
There is still a video for Requiem and a single release planned.
all is well.
i'm hungry.

Paintings

2009-05-23T15:29:00.002+10:00

I've been painting lately just for some meditation and sanity. Haven't finished anything in ages, so i'm excited that i "finished" this one.

I hope to finish a few more images over the next few months while i take a break from gigs, in between mixing sessions for the record. Will definately share with you.
j.

The month of May

2009-05-22T15:28:00.002+10:00

So far we've tracked nearly everything except pianos and a sax cameo for if you go...
Bar Mckinnon will be sitting in on saxophone for lip gloss on Tuesday, and we'll have Roni Shewan in studio to do a little guest backing vox on son of man. There's still a couple of little fiddly guitar solo bits to tidy up and then we're done.
Adam will be tracking the pianos on Thursday.

At this stage release dates are getting sketchy. Since the cancellation of the tour, finances are up in the air, but things are still on track for production and artwork.

Also, Absinthe Music is looking like it will get a limited release in August, artwork pending, which i am proud to announce the legendary Ben Templesmith has agreed to create.

So things are going, although, there has been some delays, which is always the case with self funded art.

More news soon.
j.

If you go...

2009-04-16T01:08:00.002+10:00

Update.

The album has been written and pre-production is done. Yesterday we shot a video for the first single, which will be Requiem, a song most people will recognise from gigs. Directed by Kim Fuhrmann, who will also have the monster task of doing all the VFX work (which will be heavy shit) and stars a lovely young redhead girl name Adrienne Smith.
Shout outs to Sasha (DOP), Ian (Gaffer), and Rob (VFX supervisor) (whose last names i didn't get) for a freakin great day of work. Requiem should be around to wet your appetite in june/july when we embark upon a little national tour.

The album is still due late 09.

ps. Nathan J's Scary Girl game is rad, go and play it here.

Short films from 2007/8

2009-04-16T01:04:00.001+10:00

I thought i'd share these here, and you can go to my YouTube page and watch the rest. I did all the music for these films.

LMNPO.com/BabySue review

2009-04-01T10:54:00.002+11:00

This popped up online recently. I'm very proud.

Justin Ashworth - New Music To Fall Asleep To...(Lullabies by Justin Ashworth) (Independently released CD, Instrumental/experimental)
This album apparently achieves its intended function...because by the second spin we found ourselves feeling as if we were, indeed, slowly drifting off to sleep. And its not because the music is boring or unimaginative...it's because the music is strangely peculiar and calming. Melbourne, Australia's Justin Ashworth records music, writes poetry, and composes music for films, dance works, and visual art installations. New Music To Fall Asleep To...(Lullabies by Justin Ashworth) is something like subdued and hypnotic modern classical music. The songs are not particularly melodic as much as they are accidental and slightly perplexing. The titles say it all: "A Little Breeze," "Like Sunrise," "Taking Photos of Sunsets," "More Specifically, Nothing Happened Today"... Strangely surreal and hushed. Really cool stuff from a different universe... (Rating:5/5)

Back to life.

2009-03-07T13:21:00.002+11:00

After an amazing trip, I'm finally back into life mode. This has taken 2 weeks. Kind of feel like a different person, my touring self being the honest to god person I wish I was, immersed in art and expressing who I am to a bunch of strangers, meeting new people all the time. When did I settle down? I never intended to.
Whatever the cause of my earlier settling, I've definitely settled into working towards a good cause this time. I guess work life is like this for everyone. You're never your true self through the general working week/month/year. Who I am when there's work to be done is the opposite of who I am if I'm at a show, on tour, have a Friday off and get to go out with friends. Anyone who knows me through my job only knows a small caricature of my true self, come to a gig and you see.

So to everyone from Montreal/Ottawa/New York, I miss you and will be back to blow your mind with my band in 2010 (insert financial disclaimer).

Now the good cause I mentioned above is the fabled "if you go..." which has been taking up plenty of mental energy for 2 years, and I'm still a little blocked on a tune or 4, but with a National tour in the works for June and the plan to release a limited single of Requiem with an enhanced cd video clip (by Kim Furhman) with the tour, it's time to step it up a gear or 3.

Which means head down and make some freaking money.

I've plenty of local shows before the tour. I've plans for production, artwork (nathan j) and an ambinet cd (Absinthe Music) to release sometime in amongst all this (although it could be May or September before that hurdle is crossed, it's finished, just waiting on artwork from Alice and money).

None the less, and quite possibly the reason I feel compelled to write this self indulgent drivel, I'm gonna be pretty much Polly's bitch for the next 3-4 months. Unless I'm gigging, i'll be working and pre-producing. This is an online affirmation. A promise of sorts, to you, to me, to the music. I'll make it happen.

June.

National tour in support of Requiem- first single from if you go far enough into the sky, you'll come out underwater.

thanks.
j.

On The Road again (part 5)

2009-02-19T01:41:00.003+11:00

New York.
New York feels like Collingwood. The Bowery is like Smith street, killing time, 3 sheets to the wind...
5...
6...
7...
This part of the city isn't really that crazy. Last time i was here I spent alot of time uptown, doing art museums. This time, it's all downtown. Seeing shows, local galleries, shopping, I gave half my money to kidrobot, they had a sale, = sweet $30 hoodies reduced from $175.
I found some excellent sources for good coffee too. Cafe Habana, and Bar Bossa (both places in SoHo i remembered from last time I was here with Alice.
My first night in NYC I spent at The Stone, saw John Zorn's annual Valentines day Improv show. With an array of musicians i'd never heard of, and also Ikue Mori on electronics and Lucas Ligeti on drums.
I spent the next night performing at the Bowery poetry Club. What a sweet gig. Christine and Shappy were delightful hosts, and amazing poets. The crowd loved us too.
I got to check out some great work at MoMA on Monday. I spent hours there. Ate at the fancy resturant, and fell in love with Miro again. there was a Jasper Johns retrospective, and some great contemporary stuff going on.
I pretty much spent each night at the Bowery poetry Club, just to really soke up the poetry experience in NY, I went to an open mic, and the following night, a poetry slam. Man What an inspiration, being here for that has got me really writing again.

And now it's checkout time.
I've managed to cram full my bags with all the cool new shit i bought, and i had to off load all my books and cds to do it, so NYC has some Justin Ashworth floating around.

So , seeya 'round North America, it's been swell, but the swelling's gone down.

On The Road... part 4.

2009-02-15T00:27:00.003+11:00

Montreal.

Alli and Jonathan drove me to Montreal Sunday morning. I went to Victoria Stanton's house, said my goodbyes to the fam, and Victoria and I went off for coffee and lunch, Then did the rounds meeting up with Christian briefly, and then we picked up Alicia and Davey Dreamnation from the train/bus stations. That night Victoria cooked a yum curry and Christian and I sat up til we couldn't anymore, catching up on 2 and a half years, listening to tunes, drinking Quebecois beer (Boreal honey ale).
Monday monring we met Sean and Emily, and the 5 of us checked into a lovely B&B. That night we saw a most amazing show as part of the Festival Voix d'Ameriques (which we perform at the next night). T'was a French, gothic, absurdist cabaret(esque) show. Mind blowing. Called: Le Miracle de Brahmine. No words available.
It was around this time that i realised that not a single unattractive woman exsists in Montreal. Not one. They're gorgeous. I was in love with the city already. Everyone we'd hung out with was beautiful, and the artistic nature of it is so compelling, you really fell like you're a part of something. It's also got the best coffee in North America.

Tuesday.

The mainstage show was incredible. (I will post video/pics later) People loved it. Victoria's band "The Capital Of Plastic Daffodills" were awesome, as was Corey Frost, and David McGimpsey, whose band Puggy Hammer were also awesome.

Things just kept being awesome. We did a show wednesday night that was... With Ian Ferrier's band Pharmakon, with an amazing, beautiful girl named Mo on vocals. We saw a show called Body and Soul, mixing spokenword and contemporary dance, that was a bit hit and miss. 5 sepreate acts. The closing act was my favourite. Clara FUREY. she was fantasitc.

Thursday I headed down to "Old Montreal", which is just a lame name for a corporate district. There' is a sweet as gallery there though, DHC-ART, showing a collection of Christian Marclay works, which was my reason for going there. My mind was totally blown. Standouts for me were Gestures, Telephones, Video Quartet. If you get a chance to experience this mans work, do, you wont regret it.
The Marclay put me in a real punk rock frame of mind, and thinking I was sick of poetry all week, i decided to head back to the Casa del Popolo (our regular hang out, and one of the festival venues, the main stage being across the road at the Sala Rosa) to get a gig guide and find something awesome to go see. But the place was packed, and Victoria and Christian were there, so I got a beer (Griffon Rousse) and it turned out that the band about to play (Geraldine something something) were exactly what i was looking for. Gainsbough/Birkin meets Sonic Youth with ski masks and a cute as hell lead singer with sixty9 on her Tshirt singing "fuckme fuckme fuckme". "GOD that's HOT!" I exclaimed, to Victoria's amusement. In between songs they read relationship want ads, in french so i missed a bit, but the humour seemed to translate.
That night (as all nights) i spent at the Casa's Shift de Nuit, music improv and poetry. I read a poem, and drank some beer. Flirted with the locals and bar staff. I feel like i got to know alot of people here, and i can't wait to come back.

Friday before the bus to New York I got around to checking out some local galleries. Met some more people, chatted away the time, of which was now up. And here i sit, in the lobby of my NY hotel, 9am, after a 9 hour bus ride, lamenting having left Montreal. So to all my new friends, I miss you, and thanks for the most amazing travel/tour experience.

(i'll add links and pics later. Right now, I need coffee)

On The Road... part 3.

2009-02-15T00:17:00.002+11:00

Well, above is snipet of video from the Ottawa show, and some photos Chris Klus took. One from the show, one with the Australian High Commissioner (his name is Justin too).

Leaving Ottawa wasn't such a drag. I loved the people i met. I got to skate down the canal. I saw some great local artists, and fell for nearly all of them. It's just so unfair.

Next stop Montreal.

On The Road... part 2.

2009-02-07T18:38:00.004+11:00

I spent the week in Ottawa with Jonathan and Alli. Just relaxing pretty much. Played some guitar hero, which I didn't suck at, but I'm way better at actual guitar.
On Tuesday, I went for a wander and found a cool toy store called lost marbles. Bought some cool stuff we don't have at home. Tuesday night I hit the bars, first with Max Middle and Kevin Matthews, the organisers of our Ottawa National Arts Center show, drank some delicious $9 for 3 shots Grey Goose martinis. Then I met up with Rahima, she took me to a cute place called The Heart & Crown. Very nice. There was a sweet little acoustic covers duo - guitar & vox / percussion. Amazing. That sort of thing usually sucks, but they ruled. Turns out Rahima's eyes are fake. coloured contacts, but that's ok, there's plenty of real blue eyed brunettes to perv on. She was still very nice, and we ended up pretty drunk (well i did), and the walk home was FREEZING.
I slept all the way through Wednesday. Alli and Jono and I went to a vegetarian place called The Green Door, where they have a buffet, and they weight you plate, and charge accordingly. Gotta say is was delicious and cheap.
Thursday I trecked into town to find a comic book shop. I found two. The second one being Silver Snail (I've been to the Toronto one before). They had Wormwood Gentleman Corpse volume 1, which is unavailable at home, so i got that. I also got a frostbite sensation in my toes, it was minus thirty degrees. Very cold stuff for little Melbourne me. I took some photos of the snow and of the canal (that runs through the city), just for those at home in 46 degrees (think cold thoughts). Chris and Pat (Alli's folks) cooked us a delicious pot roast, and i fell alseep not long after.

Friday. What a day. I've met so many cool and attractive people today. Had lunch at the Australian high commisioners house. met lots of local poets and artists. Went to soundcheck, went to the Ottawa University Radio for an interview, went and ate food, went and did a fantastic gig, went and got drunk.
I'll post photos of the gig another time, and of the high commisioner's luncheon. right now it's bed time.
Tomorrow is pancakes and skating down the canal, and watching the local poetry slam.
j.

On The Road... part 1.

2009-02-03T05:32:00.003+11:00

1.1 (pre flight)

Traveling alone feels weird. I've never done it before. Meeting up with everyone in Ottawa will be a relief, but right now it's a daunting two and a half hour wait to take off, for approx 48 hours travel: LAX-JFK-Greyhound to Montreal, some kind of bus or train to Ottawa.
The airport coffee is better than I expected. I got a cute little oldschool penguin edition of On The Road to read and a couple of ham and cheese croissants to fill my guts. So I'm on my way...

1.2 (written on the bus to Montreal)

The whole trip has been the entirely easy. All the flights and buses were on time, everything took as long as it should have, and so I'm left with nothing to whinge about other than the weight of my bags.
My single serve friend on the flight from Melbourne to LAX was a very attractive blonde named nikki (I'm really not sure how she prefers it spelt). She had the window, i had the isle, but with a stroke of luck, there was an empty seat between us. We chatted about our lives and plans, she was a highschool teacher, about 24 years old, she'd be mistaken for a student alot by the parents of the kids she taught. Sweet girl, she was off to Equador via LA, to set up some school for poor kids there, or something like that, she was a pretty modest country girl, so she seemed to play it down, whereas I know plenty of suburbanite hippy kids that'd play it up to seem more humanitarian. Like I said, sweet girl. Without even really discussing it, we took it in turns stretching out across the empty seat between us, for some more comfortable sleep, not that i really got any, I watched like 6 or 7 movies. Anyway, when we deboarded, and walked the incredible distance it was to customs and baggage claim etc, we went our seperate ways without a word. Shame, I would have liked a goodbye. I guess thats part of the loneliness of traveling alone. No goodbyes.

In a very swell turn of events, on my connection to NYC i was sat in a middle row of 4 seats, all of which were empty. so got to really stretch. And in another slightly less swell but still some none the less, the bus I'm on right now i got a spare seat beside me too. which makes napping and typing easier, although I don't know why no one wanted to sit next to me. Depressingly, there are some gorgeous French Canadian girls on this bus, I love hearing them talk. I can't speak French at all, so it makes it hotter. I would like to have a story about the brunette girl with the glasses watching movies on her mac with cute little sony headphones, . We could struggle with language, and talk about here and there, maybe if she's in town I'd invite her along to my show, go for drinks and build up some incredible sexual tension. Would be nice to get some flirting in here, the nights are gonna get real lonely, and Alice is back home, with our kitten, dealing with peeping toms, and she had to call the cops already. I can't imagine us calling too often, not just cause of the cost, although it's high, but i just hope i have too much fun to call everyday, so i don't run out of stories.

So i'm not sure where we are but we've stopped. Haven't hit Canadian customs yet, but i remember it being pretty easy going last time. Not the grueling attitude of the USA. It's like 2am, and we're moving wheels again. So much snow, I've never seen it like this. It's 6pm Melbourne time. Cute brunettes shut down and sleeping. Might think about doing the same. Got about another 3 or 4 hours on the bus to Montreal, then i gotta find a ride to Ottawa.

1.3 (written in the comfort of Ali & Jonathan's place)

So I make it to Montreal about 5:30am. been sleeping the whole way, apart from the brief little border stop/deboard etc. Last time i caught a bus between NYC and Montreal, it took over 12 hours. I was pretty surprised to make it in under 9, beauty of the overnight bus i guess, fewer people getting on, most people going the whole way, fewer stops. Unfortunately, i had it in my mind that I'd be later than the ticket said and so I had teed it up with Jonathan in Ottawa to meet me after midday. I was so wrong. I got a connecting bus in Montreal pretty much straight away, so i called him whilst on the road to reorganise. This trip was short, about 3 hours, but i still managed to squeeze in a couple hours sleep, not that i needed it, but by forcing it i might be cool with the jet lag. My body clock is backwards in Melbourne anyway, from bar tending, so the transition shouldn't be a problem.
As we pulled out of Montreal, this beautiful young brunette with a cute little nose stud quietly asked if i minded her sitting next to me. Which i was glad, because i hadn't had anyone to talk to for about 30 hours, I never did get up the gumption to chat to headphones girl, and i've been in my own head, thinking of random crap, and writing it all down, feeling very Kerouac in my stream of conciousness. So i tried to start some small talk with her but she seemed a bit tired and didn't respond to my "how are you?" beyond a simple, "I'm fine thanks". I figured that she wanted to be left in peace, and i looked over a little later, she was asleep, with her jacket hood pulled over her face, and i thought, yeah sleep, thats a fine idea.
When I woke I was about half an hour outside of Ottawa city, and I called Jonathan to let him know the score. Talking was weird. Trying to keep my voice down so's not to wake the girl beside me. I arrange some details for Jono's Father in law, Chris, to get me from the downtown bus depot, and drop me at their place. When I hung up, I realised that she was awake, and she asked "oh, are you Australian?". "Yeah, I am", I said, and we got the ball rolling about stuff. Small talk mostly, she has friends staying in Melbourne, we talked about the similarities and differences of the people. She had the most amazingly blue eyes. I love Canadian brunettes. You usually don't get brunettes with blue eyes anywhere else. Her eyes were like deep bright kingfisher blue. I couldn't look away. Her name was Rahima, she works here in Ottawa for the government. She stays in Ottawa during the work week, and then goes home to Montreal on weekends because that's where all her friends are. I told her about the tour, and asked her about bars in the area. Fuck i need a drink. She told me about some cool little places, and then offered to let me know of more if anything came to mind. We exchanged business cards, and agreed to catch up for a drink in the evening. She got off at the stop before me. If i had have known where Jon and Ali lived, i would have got of there too, as it turned out to be right near their place, but i went to the depot to meet Chris, and he dropped me off at the house, where I couldn't figure out the TV, so i made some coffee and got to writing.

Thus ends my first installment of the North American tour diary, which I'm calling On The Road, for obvious reasons to do with travel, and that i'm reading it whilst i travel, so my stories are gonna come off like try hard Paradise anyway.
Burn-burn-burn.
j.

Absinthe Music (update)

2009-01-17T14:39:00.003+11:00

This year's ambient record is Absinthe Music. A 72 minute synth and tuned percussion dreamscape with fender rhodes colourings and blues guitar reminicent of Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

Originally planned for Jan '09, things have been a little out of control with planning the North American tour, and so early March looks more likely.

Some things change. For example, the first time we performed Absinthe Music it was a duet for percussion and guitar with a synth backdrop. The rhodes part was always there in mind, but without access to one, i couldn't allow the parts to come out on something else (thanks to Simon Mavin for the use of his rhodes for the recording). Also, in the past, the guitar was much more slide blues driven, like a pychedellic Ry Cooder, but in the studio it came across much different. That I guess is the nature of what I do. Music has it's own life, and even in composition it can grow, and change over time. It evolves as we do, and restricting it too much kills the music. Allowing it space and freedom to change with each performance keeps it fresh and alive.

Recently I mentioned a cello part and waterphone/ocean drum part in addition to the composition. Unfortunately my regular cello genius, Judith, was unavailable for the session. So adapting the score yet again, the cello parts became open tuned bowed acoustic guitars. The waterphone/oceandrum parts were recorded, but during the mixdown, I feel that they've become too gimmicky, or maybe they just belong in another song more (a living room at the bottom of a lake-stay tuned), either way, I've decided to ditch it.

Alice Palermo is painting the cover again.

We recorded the music at TRS studios in Moorabin (thanks Louis and Antonio).

Performed by
Vibes/glock/cymbals-Nat Grant
Rhodes-Adam Rudegeair
Guitars/synths-Justin Ashworth.

There will be a small launch Marchish, and hopefully a large gala launch in Melbourne Fringe this year.

Stay tuned.

j.

POST
SCRIPT

With this little project I've decided to make an ambient record like this each year (or so). Aside from the regular band/songs/stuff, the collaborations with film and dance, the poetry or whatever, I think making this kind of music makes me most happy.
I think the next one will be Kitten Music... (but that's a year off, lots to do till then).

Parallelism...

2008-12-25T23:10:00.002+11:00

I've remixed a song by my delightful friends A State Of Flux called Parallelism. You can hear it here, or myspace, but the best place to hear it is triplejunearthed.com/justinashworth where you can also review it and hopefully the country will catch on.

Absinthe Music.

2008-11-28T15:06:00.002+11:00

Earlier in the year I composed a piece of ambient music for a show at a venue with massive sound restrictions. Since then the music has kind of been shelved, but in mind, and has grown into something a little richer. Absinthe Music is an open formed composition, roughly an hour in length, oringinally composed for synth, guitar and percussion (vibraphone, glockenspeil, cymbals), and a simple piano part (single notes played 3-5 minutes apart). The new revisions add more depth to the guitar and piano parts, a few more incidental percussion layers (ocean drum and waterphone) and some simple and subtle cello instructions.

Absinthe Music will be recorded later in December, and (all things going to plan) will be available sometime in January. At this stage some specifics are still being worked out, and some cross promo with our friends at Absinthe Salon is on the cards too.

more details to come of course.

j.

Cocktails & Rock Tales

2008-11-12T23:36:00.002+11:00

A new book of cocktails is due on shelves very soon, and will feature a plethora of drinks from Melbourne bar tenders, including several from Polly, a couple of which are my very own design. The book is brought to the world by Jane Rocca. Thanks Jane.

NEW ALBUM

2008-09-20T12:29:00.003+10:00

Well, in amongst all the short films, dance pieces, and photography installations i'm scoring at the moment, i've actually found time to start pre production on a brand new, full length album. This time around we'll be playing the tracks live for a bit before we do the final album sessions, rather than record first and then learn them for the stage.
The tracks so far planned are of a surrealist pop/rock experimental/ambient bent. regulars at gigs will recognise a few.

Working title?
If you go far enough into the sky, you'll come out under water.

Also

Nathan Jurevicius has signed onto the project to design the album art.
checkout some of his awesome stuff at scarygirl.com.

don't forget to breathe, It'll be a while, expect a late '09 release.

In other news, I'm heading O.S. for shows in Feb (NYC, Ottowa, Montreal), reviving some older fleeting poetry era stuf, plus some newer poetry stuff.
yay.

ciao.
j.

For those about to louche, we salute you...

2008-08-03T13:27:00.003+10:00

For those who have contacted me about the whole review from absinthe.com.au, those unwilling to subscribe to the blog (why you wouldn't want to is a mystery to me, but anywho) here is the full thing:

Hush Lil’ Baby, Don’t You Cry…..

Review of “New Music To Fall Asleep To…(Lullabies by Justin Ashworth)”
When new members join the merry band of Absinthe.com.au subscribers, occasionally one observes that the email with which they have subscribed deserves further investigation. It is with no small amount of pleasure that I have discovered that we have a broad church of libertarians under our humble canopy, from visual artists, poets, magicians, distillers, dancers, authors, actors, courtesans, journalists, the odd dominatrix or two, and importantly, musicians.
One such Australian musician, and dedicated absintheur, that I would like to bring to your attention is Melbourne based Justin Ashworth. I have for many years been a devotee of the dark ambient and experimental soundscape genre, and certainly Australia has had no shortage of exponents of this particular craft over the decades. The opportunity then to explore new work by a local artist over a glass of absinthe or two is a welcome one indeed.

Being armed with droning loops, acoustic neo-folk attitudes and unpredictable acts of psychadelia, he is actually a hard artist to buttonhole through comparison. A good thing I say. You can hear a track or two from the following reviewed album on Justin’s MySpace page - maybe pour yourself a glass before you click through.
Subscribe to read more

Tracks
(Prelude) daydream/nightmare
What is a bad dream parading in the waking hour? Is it a daymare? White noise and glockenspiel (a word I don’t get to use nearly enough). A music box refrain, maybe a Pandora’s box masquerading as a music box. Do we lift the lid and peek? I think we shall.
A Little Breeze
I hear the ghost of a French Café musician playing accordian, or is it a harmonica? (No, it’s a melodica according to the sleeve notes). But he is underwater, underground, subterranean tonality, exhalation of vital breath. In this drowning space you hear your heartbeat, fast, irregular, responding to the anticipation of that which you cannot see, and cannot know for sure to be there.
Like Sunrise
Whispered voices promising an illuminatory dawn that can only be imagined, remembered, but not seen. Finger picked guitars moving forward, and then wave-bursts in reverse, regressing in time. Our golden dawn is another’s mauve tinged sunset.
Pavane for the Letter V
Blurred transitions between songs emphasise that dreaming sleep is a continuity, marked by rises and falls in morphean resonance and imagery, spoken through rising and falling drones. The Pavane is a stately dance of Renaissance Courts. Who in this unconscious realm is the King, the Queen? Who is the Fool? The Fool praises and insults in turn without care of consequence, shielded by his psychopompic immunity. What merry dance is he leading us on?
Taking photos of sunsets
The auditory soundscape seems to promise that, amongst the stillness, there is something bigger, more menacing, just over the horizon. Just waiting for the final light to fail. Our fears will make us look away suddenly. Looking behind us we hope of seeing the sun coming back the other way. But the unspoken fear is still there behind us, creeping closer. Our denial providing no shelter from the darkness that eventually envelops us in a stygian embrace.
More specifically, nothing happened today
A light amongst the darkness. Ambient groove, clarinets playing between electronic harmonica-like teases, close harmony vocals – jazzy yet wistful. If nothing happened today, then it is much ado about nothing. Not the isolated lonely nothing. There is stillness, as our final leg of the journey enters minimalist space, but there is movement, a low hum of life, womb like safety. Floating but not sinking. Orbiting in dreams. For eternity.
‘New Music To Fall Asleep To’ is available from Metropolis, and Missing Link .

Absinthe, music, film, and love: a Blog of sorts.

2008-07-29T13:50:00.002+10:00

Firstly, I gotta share this with you: absinthe.com.au... Review of my new music to fall asleep to... album. Couldn't hope for a better understanding of my work if i tried.

As you will notice in the review, I get refered to generously as an "absintheur". Not that I'd give myself the title, but I will admit an obsession with the green mistress, and those who have made it into Polly bar (where I work 5 nights) will have noticed the detailed absinthe menu I had the pleasure to create. With 10 distinctly different quality absinthe on offer and more to come very soon, if you get the chance to see me, i'll give you the full, life changing absinthe treatment.

Music?

yeah, i'm writing alot. I have some wonderful new additions to the live set coming along, a new band member- Judith Hamann, playing miscelleneous debris, melodica/glock and cello. She'll have her debut with us at BAR OPEN, AUGUST 13TH. It's my birthday that night so it'll be a huge party, who knows where you'll end up...

I've been writing some more music for film, and hope to be doing this alot more in the future. So far i've scored 3 quality shorts,
and am working on one as we speak (well as i write), and another in the works straight after that.

Finally, for today, the love of my life left with her cabaret misfits last night to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. All the best miss Alice, love you.

Thanks for reading, today is way better than yesterday, that was shit.
j.

requiem

2008-04-12T00:50:00.001+10:00

Taken from poems by haiku poets on their death beds, a tradition in Japan called jinsei (a farewell poem to life/death poem). In dedication to comrades lost, i have set to music, in this repetative mantra-esque song form, three such poems that i feel comforting and enlightened, unafraid of the travel ahead of us when we depart this life. Such a perspective on death (I feel) is respectful of those who've gone. Be it old age or illness or tragedy that takes us, death is the inevitable, and to be afraid of such an unavoidable end is to disrespect those who may have met their fate sooner than we may have liked. It is out of respect that i plagerise the words:

clear sky
the way I came by once
the way I now go back
(Gitoku, died on the 25th of November 1754 aged 55)

when summoned
i will say farewell:
my house beneath the moon
(Takuchi, died on the 21st of August 1846 aged 79)

from water come
to water gone.

The closing lines are from Raizan, my personal favourite haiku poet, who died 3rd of october 1716 aged 63. The full original verse is:
Farewell, sire-
like snow, from water come
to water gone

Tour Diary part 5.

2008-04-08T13:41:00.001+10:00

Sydney.

Our first stop was Bulkan Hills for a radio interview. Ryan and I had a great time talking it up with the guys about our respective musics. We checked into the Holiday Inn and dropped Natsky with a friend in Surrey Hills, got some sleep and spent the next day wandering around Sydney, which was very nice.

The gig was at a great venue called the Hopetoun. The opening act Space Project were awesome, and really set the mood for our stuff. Lucky for me the band after us (sleepmakeswaves) brought a (metric) shit load of people along and they all loved us. Sydney audiences are different to Melbourne audiences. They stand at the front, they listen to the quiet parts they clap enthusiastically. I really felt loved. Not that i don't feel loved in Melbourne, but it's been a tough process of gaining the love, whereas Sydney took to the material with open hearts. Sleepmakeswaves were fucking rockin', but unfortunately a lot of their crowd left before mousetrapreplica were on so poor ryan didn't get the same love i felt, however those still there did go nuts for him.

Post Script.

As with all first tours, our van broke down on the way home.
Someone thought of getting full RACV insurance, so we were looked after.
We a had a lovely 9 hour tow truck ride back to Melbourne with a guy named Bruce.
I got into my own bed, beside Alice for the first time in a month (she'd been in Canada for 4 weeks before i left for the tour), the tour was a success, his scar hadn't bothered him in 19 years, all was well.

Tour Diary part 4.

2008-04-08T13:40:00.001+10:00

Canberra.

so after a long mountainous drive in a packed van with a little yellow butterfly on the inside door (somehow), we stopped for pancakes, and eventually arrived in Canberra to play at the Front Cafe & Gallery. What a refreshing change from Bega. Completely. It felt like home, a real Melbourne kinda place, complete with cute arty people sitting around out the front, and I knew right away that it was going to be a great night. The venue was tiny, and we played to a very intimate group (intimate is a musical euphemism for tiny), but all was worth it.
The Canberra band that opened for us were Spartak. Fucking awesome stuff. Drums that sounded like Squarepusher's Music Is Rotted One Note album, fucking amazing ambient guitars and vocals, perfect amounts of everything, check em out, they're the best.
We played to a full room (in the Front that's about 20 people), and everything worked and felt awesome. I've never felt more comfortable musically than i did this night.
Canberra, you can have me again anytime.
Big thanks to Nick for putting us up and getting the whole thing organised!!!

We spent the next day with Nick's (mousetrapreplica drummer, not the Nick mentioned above) relative's place, and spent the night there, had a nice relax.
In the morning we headed off to the NGA to see Blue Poles and other such master pieces, which was a beautiful way to spend the morning before another long van trip to Sydney.

Tour Diary part 3.

2008-03-29T02:20:00.001+11:00

Bega.

So what I said before about country towns...

Where do I start with Bega???

Bega is a long haul from Melbourne. The place we played was pretty unlike anywhere I'd ever choose to play in Melbourne, but they booked us, so I guessed things would be ok (I was wrong).
Our set up time was held back largely by the meat raffle, which took up the whole stage. The venue was set up for gambling, horses mostly from what I could tell.
Everything seemed to go pear shaped around the time we loaded in. Nat got some sexist comments, seems they weren't familiar with the concept of a female drummer. Things would have been ok if only my sampler hadn't crashed. This caused me some pain. We couldn't do most of the set. So we winged a few covers, and ended up doing requests to keep some of the more vocal locals happy, Copperhead Road was a favourite, we made it all psyc-drone with military snares. It did feel like my life depended on it though, and as soon as the set finished, i went up stairs and got on the phone to Khalid and Matto to get the problem with the sampler figured out. Eventually all was fixed and the next 2 shows would be fine.

Meanwhile downstairs Ryan (mousetrapreplica) was having his own Bob's Counrty Bunker experience.

Strangely enough, after the gig ended, we met a lot of people who enjoyed it. We seemed to awaken a dormant artistic side in some of the people, and we had a great night drinking with the locals, who were impressed we had the balls to play such arty music in such a hick town (their words not mine).
I don't know if my balls are big enough to try it again...

Tour Diary part 2.

2008-03-29T01:57:00.001+11:00

I had planned to write more on the road, but didn't really get the time. I spent alot of the days outside enjoying the warm sunny northern weather.

So in a nutshell, the tour was great.

Bendigo.

We played at the Golden Vine. Freaking 30 minute sets. Not even foreplay. Country towns are tough, even the big ones. I felt very intimidated, and we didn't really get to build anything up in the short amount of time, just played 3 songs and shazam, it was over.
The place was nice enough though, we were well looked after, and with a longer set time and full band/visual show we could have put on an amazing night.
The finest point in the night was whilst I was getting a beer some guy exclaimed "heeeeeeeyyyyyy, it's the music guy..."
Props to Ryan's Auntie Deb for taking care of us so well.

On the following day (Good Friday) we spent some time roaming Bendigo. Checked out a sweet little Buddhist Temple and found a bakery with half price everything, before driving to Campbells Creek for another gig.

We played the 5 Flags Hotel, and nearly no one came. I did get around to inviting my friend soz's mum and sister, so at least the company was good, but it wasn't a great night for music.
We headed back to Melbourne for a good night's sleep before our 8 hour trek to Bega, where our story gets really interesting... (stay tuned)

Tour Diary part 1.

2008-03-18T03:58:00.002+11:00

Pre Tour shit. The build up has been huge. So many lessons learnt the hard way. I don't mind though, I'm definitely a fan of diving into something and figuring it out on the fly, and Ryan has done a great job organising things and keeping me
sane(ish).
Alice gets home from her Canadian travels just after I leave, so that's got me down a bit. She's straight into comedy festival mode with the cabaret so things'll be busy for us both. I miss her.
I got a free Hammond Organ from a cowboy that drinks at the bar I tend. It's old and broken and clunky and sounds like it's seen some action. It's dusty and smelly but wails where it counts. Been writing some melodies on/for it.
Otherwise, I've found inspiration in an article about an artist named D'holbachie-Yoko. Her work is exactly how i want my next record to sound. In particular, this image gives me great pleasure/ideas.

Considering that I've already written most of the next record, it's definitely put my arrangement brain into overdrive, and it's great to see work so colourful express darkness so well, which is something i've been trying to combine in the newer, post fall asleep to music.

As for the tour. It's looking like it'll have a mix of lullabies and new stuff happening. With Nat Grant on board to play the glock and drums, we will be able to debut a few new little surrealist pop/rock numbers and some all new sound scapes, as well as play the classic n.m.t.f.a.t. stuff that we've been peddling about Melbourne for the last year and a bit. Personally, I'm just keen to play to new people, and keen to get a new sound out into the world.
I will be keeping this little tour diary over the next 10 or so days, and will try to upload as much as possible so check back for more fun and ranting.
j.

Nat Grant...

2008-01-03T01:50:00.000+11:00

I'm very happy to say that Nat Grant has joined the band as the new drummer/percussionist. She plays all manner of tuned and untuned percussion, and is everything i've been looking for to give the new songs the right flavour. New show and new songs should hit the stage late January.

The Red Shore...

2007-12-20T01:54:00.000+11:00

Condolences to The Red Shore, whose singer Damo and good friend Andy died in a tragic accident on tour recently. May their memory make the music stronger than ever before.
R.I.P. gentlemen.
j.

Happy Birthday Alice.

2007-11-29T01:09:00.000+11:00

My beautiful girlfriend celebrates her 26th year and what better way to do it than with two bottles of absinthe. Here's some pics of the night before we were completely off with the fairy...

The elephant is dead.

2007-11-26T13:20:00.000+11:00

(this rant is best read whilst dancing).
John Howard lost. My food tastes sweeter than it has done in 12 years. No more having to look at a lying scumfuck and think that the majority of the population of Australia actually belive him, they don't, and they proved it with their limited democratic voice (I've always said, a vote every three years is not democracy, but the illusion of it).

Fuck you Johny, and all your front bench too.

Cast Anchor/360 degrees/the death of Jim Henson.

2007-11-09T11:37:00.000+11:00

Cast Anchor is a new contemporary dance piece by Susan van den Ham. It's about life, pulling up you anchor and going on the journey, rocking the boat, and having your boat rocked. It's about finding new places to settle down, if only for a moment.
I started the score for this piece two weeks ago. It's a substanial length, a fairly major work. It comes in around 20-25 minutes, and will require some fine tuning over the next week before it is performed. The performances are November 20-23 at VCA.
The music is actually based on a reworking of an old - never really completed - composition of mine called Water Tricks. Taking a few short moments from that and turning them into new things has been fun. Giving it it's own life has been easy. We've chosen to work with acoustic sounds as much as possible, straying away from synths and samples, and making as much of it tangable and musical as possible, which is a real great challenge for me. Instrumentation involved has ended up being guitar - lots of guitar - bowed and stummed and plucked, occasionally drenched in reverb and delay, glockenspeil (forwards and backwards), melodica, piano, and for beats/rhythms I've used castanettes and a triangle, slightly cut up and glitched, and my own voice for a bass/kick sound and choir. The possibility of real drums has just come up too.

360 degrees is a short film by a girl named Johanna. I don't even know this woman. I met her at the bar i work in, I happened to be playing my cd (blatant self promotion) which she asked about, and one thing lead to another and she invited me to score her film. It's heavily inspired by old surrealist films, which I love. It's about living life while you've got it, and it's about sexual frustration. It's got layers of bizzareness and dreamlike confusion. It's almost a silent film, in black and white. I jumped on board the project yesterday, and begin work today on some simple soundscapes.

Jim Henson died (so I've been lead to believe) from over work. This seems to be the way I'm headed.

j.

ps.

on November 24th, lets really, REALLY vote John Howard the fuck out of parliment!

new drummer needed, new guitarist found.

2007-10-24T12:10:00.000+10:00

Matt Bush has finished up playing in the new music to fall asleep to... line up. Stripping back his commitment with 4 bands to just one (which i feel i might have encouraged), that being the fantastic Foreign Birds. Which means 2 things for me. 1) I'll be doing the lullabies solo from now on, or the occasional duo/trio set with Roni and/or Adam. 2) This finds me once again looking for a drummer, and although I have plans for the new material (currently sitting on about 9 new songs) to be recorded by a mix of people, finding someone to play the new set live is my current priority.

The drummer i am looking for is something of a mix between percussionist and kit. With a jazz sensability and a rock attitude. Probably little need for toms, as lots of parts require kick, snare, hats and cymbals. Any other cool percussive sounds you can bring to the table would be cool. Electronic triggers a plus, but not essential, headphones required as some songs will see you playing to a click live.
The drumming on the new stuff is sparse but huge. Lots of time spent not playing, but playing extra hard when you do. Some odd time signatures (7/4, 5/4, 19/8).

In other news, Stella Skinner has jumped on board as my guitarist for the new material. I have been playing guitar myself up till now, but for the new stuff i am looking forward to just rocking out with a microphone.

that is all.
j.

cd launch folklore

2007-10-09T11:49:00.001+10:00

What an amazing night.
I looked up at the end of the first bracket, to a full house and thunderous applause. It was an incredible feeling.
The show was more or less without trouble... until, the very peak of the last song. We played King Crimson's Sleepless as the encore, and right as the 3rd verse peaked, the power to the whole block went. With nothing but the exit signs to light our way and before the audience new what was happening, Adam had got to his feet, melodica in hand, and Matt had brought the drum volume down enought to let the sound of the now acoustic guitar through. Roaring the the final verse at the crowded room to finish the show, i felt cheated, that i wasn't gonna get to hang out afterwards and really meet everyone, but the crowd loved it. It couldn't have been better, we shaved it from dissaster and they responded with what felt like 5 minutes of screams and applause.
Thanks to everyone who came to the show.

new music to fall asleep to OUT NOW, Launch party 7th October @ LOOP (23 meyers place, Melbourne)

2007-09-25T12:29:00.000+10:00

new music to fall asleep to... is available at the following awesome record stores in the Melbourne area

I Dream A Highway (259 High Street, Northcote)
Polyester records (387 Brunswick St, Fitzroy)
Metropolis books and music (Level 3 Curtin House
252 Swanston Street)
Collectors Corner (240 Swanston St)
Missing Link (405 Bourke Street).

or alternatively, you can buy it online.

R.I.P. Joe Zawinul

2007-09-13T02:41:00.000+10:00

I just found out that Joe Zawinul past away, aged 75. He made some of the greatest music the world ever heard.
Congratulations on a sucessful life sir!

new music to fall asleep toUR

2007-08-26T22:49:00.001+10:00

How big is your bedroom?

November's new music to fall asleep to tour will turn your small private space into an audio-visual dreamland.

Minimum of 10 people, $20 per head (or $25 with a cd included).

Gather your friends and book today!

fleetingpoetry@gmail.com
or
myspace.com/fleetingpoetry

new music to fall asleep to will be Launched October 7th at LOOP (23 Meyers place Melbourne).

or buy it online...

of or pertaining to video

2007-08-11T03:14:00.000+10:00

this one is from ages ago, but finally it's online!

For one to deviate successfully

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new exquisite corpses...

2007-07-31T02:56:00.001+10:00

:: I C U/corpse bread/Fade To/those moon blues ::

:: Rachel/beginnings/of the gravity/son of clouds ::

:: I Love Reality/13 uncomfortable glances/PartyTime/THe Missing Linksies :

:: Holocaustic Pop/red subway/skullalicious/candy apple pi ::

checkout an exquisite corpse for details...
(my sections are mentioned in bold/itallics)

bar open pics

2007-07-23T02:48:00.001+10:00

MUNNY- an homage to Magritte

2007-06-17T02:03:00.000+10:00

303, Saturday 23rd of June...

2007-06-12T03:19:00.000+10:00

mandelbrot vid...

2007-05-25T18:41:00.000+10:00

found this on myspace somewhere, and it's pretty cool. Being a big fan of chaotic things, i thought it best to share around.

Experimental Fractal Journey

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Matt Bush, no relation...

2007-05-18T19:29:00.000+10:00

Matt Bush, of, or pertaining to... drummer/synth genius, and the man behind the skins for Foreign Birds, Cue Therapy F, and Tomas Fitzgerald, will replace Scott Hay for the live lullabies... Matt and I have worked together extensively and although there are many options, he is the obvious choice. Rehearsals will start his weekend and so far all gigs will go ahead as planned.

a little late night update.

2007-05-18T02:09:00.000+10:00

I'm very upset to say that I'm looking for a new drummer. Things have happened and Scotty wont be with me anymore. I'm quite distraught. Anyway, this has put the pressure on to find and rehearse a newbie before the next batch of booked shows.
Several friends are on the cards, hopefully someone will be available fulltime.

Speaking of shows, there are heaps, and they will all go ahead!!! Cabaret Diablo will be a duo set with myself and Adam, as will the AfterDark show. The others (see right side bar) will be the usual new music to fall asleep to live lullaby environment you've all come to expenct (haven't you?).

luv j.

alice joins mtr

2007-05-02T01:01:00.000+10:00

The beautiful Alice Palermo has joined avant guitar genius Ryan McRobb aka mousetrapreplica as live visual performance artist (live painting to music). mtr has had live painting in the past by Nella Combe, who also did work for Ryan and my old band of, or pertaining to... Nella being nolonger available/interested and mtr wanting to continue the visual aesthetic produced by improvised painting, has brought this collaboration to happen.
Alice's usual work is as performer/collaborator/costume designer/maker for The Caravan Of Love cabaret group, so this will be a much different outlet. She's also midway through the album cover design for new music to fall asleep to.
Expect greatness.
More stories about Alice and mtr will pop up here or checkout mtr on myspace for stories straight from the horses mouth.

some little videos.

2007-04-29T22:02:00.000+10:00

the first one is an old project I did with Saskia Pandji Sakti, an animator and photographer. It's called Doom to fungi.

doom to fungi

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the second is a little live clip of a new song called Green. Perfomed at Glitch, 22nd April 2007.

green live @ glitch

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compromise

2007-04-23T03:05:00.000+10:00

A very wise person (his name is Ben) said to me tonight, "A gig is worth 10 rehearsals". He also said that my new song (green) is the best thing I have ever written (thanks). It seems to be true (I'm back on the former comment). It seems that no matter how many times we nail something at home, at every gig I learn an invaluable lesson.
Tonight there were 2. Never let stress cause you to rush. Never compromise. Every time I have compromised at a gig, I have walked away feeling like everyone there thought I sucked, and it always contibutes to frustrations that lead to rushing something vital, that halfway through the set comes along and takes a mouthful of my pants. Tonight, because the venue was double booked (long story) the compromise (and in no way a mutual one) was to keep everyone waiting around till way beyond expected, rushing through a sound check and having to break down everything, only to have to set it up again with less space, light, and time, whilst the other show had to make 0 (that's right the number 0) work arounds. Also, my 2 arranged support bands (who were awesome, thanks mousetrapreplica and The Red Tree) both cut their sets practically in half.
Considering the other factors that contributed to my shit day (even week), I let it all get to me and really did rush my setup, and ofcourse it bit me in the arse, hard!
Happily looking back and really thinking about it though, we actually performed well. I felt violently ill throughout the whole ordeal (i mean gig), nearly vommiting twice on stage from frunstration at my own stupid self, but it actually sounded good and we played really well.
The visuals must be mentioned, and RiverRiver excelled tonight, I overheard many words of praise directed at his work after the show ended (thanks mate).
I guess things can only get better and it's only really our 4th or 5th real gig, there's alot of room for improvement, and it will be much more pollished as time goes on. Or maybe I'm just too hard on myself. I should learn to relax.
As for green...
It's not easy bein'...
j.

after each sentence... another beautiful mystery awaits judgement

2007-04-17T03:24:00.000+10:00

Well, it happened. I couldn't resist. I have posted after each sentence... another beautiful mystery awaits judgement on my myspace page and my triple j unearthed profile. Unmastered and still tweaking the mix, but hey, mp3 sounds terrible anyway (and if you disagree, my beyer dynamic headphones will prove it to you) so wait for the album if it's quality you're after...
peace and enjoy!
j.

Caramelized genius #12, or, Portrait of Dali as a cyclops, suspended in the memory of his own filth.

2007-04-16T15:26:00.000+10:00

just thought i'd post this because i drew it ages ago, and well, it's cute.

triple j unearthed dot com

2007-04-13T09:18:00.000+10:00

Vote for me at triple j unearthed. So far I just have an old track up, but It will be the first place you can get after each sentence... another beautiful mystery awaits judgment.
Coming very soon...

daydream/nightmare & little breeze street

2007-04-04T13:15:00.000+10:00

I've chosen to upload the two opening tracks from new music to fall asleep to... on to my myspace. They're not downloadable just now, but take a sneak preview.
enjoy.
j.

Machines and a man...

2007-03-29T23:43:00.000+10:00

I got new toys.

(I took the photo with my other new toy)

Also, I've become addicted to toys of the plastic/vinyl kind, and just blew a wad of bucks on several of the new Nathan J Scary girl figures.
Life is good.
I've done a pretty good first draft mix of after each sentence... using the same new toy I took the photo with. My Opa has to see this.
j.

sleepless and green...

2007-03-15T14:49:00.000+11:00

Some new tunes are making their way into the live set. Stuff that's not on the album, originals and a new cover. Some of these new tracks will probably make up a small EP early next year, all going well, and hopefully a live album of the lullaby material.
There's work at the moment on organising a competition to coincide with the launch of new music to fall asleep to... so stay tuned...
Also, good friend and electronic genius Ben Rejmer has helped me set up my guitar to be in stereo, with an automated sequenced panning program, run by the Nord micro-modular. Which means now After each sentence will have it's full effect live!!!!!
Otherwise it's a pretty normal day in the life.
see ya.
j.

59 seconds...

2007-02-11T13:37:00.000+11:00

A short edit of After each sentence... appears as the soundtrack to a very cool little film by Stefania Mesiti, titled Traffic love, which has just been picked up by a New York based film festival called 59 seconds. The film is 59 seconds long and is about two bicycles who fall in love with a tram, but when they can't have the tram they realise they have each other.

So to celebrate we're screening the film and others by Stef (also featuring my music) and I'll be performing live (with band) some other songs as well. The show is at LOOP (23 Meyers Place Melbourne) on Saturday 24th February, 7pm-8 (then we drink).

hope everyone in the world is there!!!!! see ya.

the new year, and all the goss...

2007-02-08T19:17:00.000+11:00

Well it's my first post for 2007 and what is there to tell (of interest)???? After a great new years at Tasmania's Falls Festival (with lots of crap bands but a Village of fun), I've been back at work and back to work on the music front, with unfortunate delays with the album (pushing it back to September), but also plans for a bonus remix disc of the single (the track i plan to release prior to the album launch on triple j unearthed and myspace) to accompany the album's first 100 copies. Remixes in the works by /Tilter/. (aka Matt Bush from of, or pertaining to...), also mousetrapreplica (Ryan McRobb also of, or pertaining to...), UK based former nextdoor neighbour Nightswimmer, School of Emotional Engineering member Dan Rejmer, his brother and x Grand Silent System keyboardist Ben Rejmer, Melbourne experimentalists Ai Yamamoto and Raceless as Pompo's Paw, Contemporary music's finest local composer Thomas Reiner, Montreal based ambient genius Element Kuuda, Karen Heath (The Grand Silent System, Cue Thearapy F, and new music to fall asleep to bass clarinetist), and Fitzroy's resident New York connection David Shea. So if all goes according to plan there'll be a lot of versions of the track (after each sentence... another beautiful mystery awaits judgment) or there could be a few that don't get finished... who knows?
Otherwise there isn't much to tell. I moved in with my beautiful girlfriend Alice and I discovered the joys and headaches of shopping at Ikea.
peace till later.
j.

live photos

2006-12-14T12:43:00.000+11:00

The new music to fall asleep to... show is up and running and I am happy to announce that I am very happy with it so far indeed (what kind of mad ramble is this?)... Featuring the incredible bass clarinet talents of Karen Heath (x Grand Silent System), Melbourne's finest drummer Scott Haye, and the cat in the hat himself Adam Rudegeair on piano/melodica. With live visuals provided by local legend Ben Mastwyk.
These pics where taken on Tuesday night at Barbukka by the beautiful Alice Palermo.

absinthe genie in progress...

2006-12-14T12:32:00.000+11:00

I've been creating this image for a while now, it started as an A3 ink sketch and then in coloured pencil to get the shading right. The canvas is about the same height as me and is currently looking very cool (i have done more since these pics were taken) the "Munny" (bottom 2 pics) is a "do-it-yourself" toy made by Kidrobot, I bought it in New York and recently decided that it should be a 3D version of the genie, so I'm doing them simultaneously.

an exquisite corpse dot net

2006-12-14T12:26:00.000+11:00

The website anexquisitecorpse.net is a place where you can create these bizarre pieces collaboratively with complete strangers around the world. It's fun and random and this is my first one. The top bit was me.

yet more caravan news

2006-12-01T17:06:00.000+11:00

Check the women of The Caravan Of Love out on myspace...

Also the show that was so highly acclaimed at this years Melbourne Fringe Festival will be performed in Tasmania as part of the Village, at Marion Bay's leg of the Falls Festival this NYE.

And that means I'll be doing some of the music there...

yay.

New gigs...

2006-11-16T15:46:00.000+11:00

part one: Tracking...

2006-11-11T15:17:00.000+11:00

Three weeks ago, I embarked into Roman Koester's Complex Studios to finally and fully track new music to fall asleep to. It's done. 7 wonderous lullabies. I am very happy with it. The album is still yet to be mixed, which will be done at Complex with Roman and guest second opinions by Matt Bush, Ben Rejmer, and Masato Higgs. And then ofcourse mastered, which will be done by Melbourne's finest mastering engineer Jack the Bear. As for stories about the tracking process, lets just say that I was well prepared, and everything ran to schedule. Not that it wasn't a mentally draining three weeks, but I am fully cleansed and ready for action or something...

Stay tuned for more updates on the unfolding of this project.
j.

Poly is back...

2006-10-19T12:38:00.000+10:00

As opposed to Polly, Poly is my favourite little synthesizer. She spent 7 weaks "in hospital" (ie: at the shop) for random repairs, and yesterday we were reunited at last. I am very happy to say that she is good as new (knuckles gently tapping at the jarrah), and that it only took me about 3 hours to remake the sounds for new music... The rest of the sounds (the 61 other patches of random synth noise I don't use on the album) are lost forever, but I'm looking at it as gaining a blank canvas on which to start new work so, bah!

Kunst ist ein spiegel...

2006-10-19T12:12:00.000+10:00

The "Kings and Queens of Wrong Town" -The Six present their cult comedy cabaret
"THE WRONG NIGHT"
ONE NIGHT ONLY AT
The Famous Spiegeltent

Cutting cabaret, kooky characters and vaudevillian vignettes of
deliciously wicked proportions.

Featuring a jam-packed line-up including Green Room Award nominated cabaret diva Wes Snelling as everybody's favourite velvet draped Madame - Tina Del Twiste, Fringe Festival hit Die Roten Punkte, Edinburgh Festival
sell-out success Geraldine Quinn, Jessie Griffin's (4 Noels)
Country Music alter-ego Wilson Dixon (Spicks ' n' Specks), those cheeky ladies from the *Caravan of Love* and the sketch comedy of "Aurora Australis-like" The Six (Josh Cameron, Jon Peck, Mandy Mannion and Kate McLennan with guests Cara Mitchell and Bridget Bantick)

"The Aristocrats of the Comedy Festival" – Beat Magazine

"…entertaining and uproariously funny" – The Pun

"The Kings and Queens of Wrong Town – The Six"…"It was so bizarre
and
chaotic that it was brilliant." – The Groggy Squirrel

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: The Famous Spiegeltent
Date: Monday 23rd October
Tickets: $30.00 Full $25 Concession.
Time: 7pm
Bookings: Ticketmaster on 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au
See www.myspace.thesixcomedy for more details

www.caravanoflove.net

it's that time of year again...

2006-10-15T15:13:00.000+10:00

yes that's me, no hair again... a little earlier than usual, and boy is it chilly, but the hair cut i had was starting to look shiiiiiiiiiiiitehouse.

mathematics and haiku...

2006-10-09T12:04:00.000+10:00

Life is fleeting as a spring dream
What a pity I haven't gone mad!

(Raizan)

So the mathematics of Requiem are proving to be an extreme bitch. Johm Zorn makes an interesting point in "bookshelf on top of the sky", that composition is about problem solving. This piece is the hardest problem I have ever had to solve. I'm no mathematician, and the piece involves a very precise exponential increase of tempo over a precise time span, and manipulated in utero heart beat samples. I've enlisted the help of my two flatmates, Matt and Ben (not the guys from the movie with Mork from Ork), who have quite a firm grasp on maths, but we just don't seem to have the right software to finish the calculation. The track has been on my mind for a couple of years, I've been forming it in my head, waiting for the right time. But, I'm incapable of actually working on one thing at a time so it has to come out now...

The premise for the work is...
My sister's second child was diagnosed with a condition where the kidneys don't develop, and therefore the child has no chance of survial. My sister is christian, and decided that the right thing to do was have the child rather than abort, because she wanted to remember the child as a person not just as that abortion she had once...

The child lived for 55 minutes.
Grace was her name.
My sister and I aren't close.
Requiem for the 55th minute is a dedication to her and her family.

Other things on my mind right now...

The track list for new music to fall asleep to... is nearly complete. What was ten tracks is now only seven. No matter, the other three just didn't work out, or fit in with the theme in the end.
i)... (prelude) daydream/nightmare
ii)... little breeze street
iii)... like sunrise
iv)... pavane for the letter v
v)...
vi)... taking photos of sunsets
vii)... more specifically, nothing happened today

(don't worry, track 5 will have a title, it's the single)

Also, put the 1st of November in your diary, for the first full performance from the new music to fall asleep to band 8:30pm at Bar Open, Brunswick street Fitzroy (November edition of spoken word night BABBLE), featuring Scott Haye on drums, Karen Heath on bass clarinet, and Adam Rudegeair on piano/melodica.

(The above haiku is my favourite as it sums up my point of view of death perfectly).

WANTED: 2 Drummers...

2006-09-27T03:20:00.000+10:00

Looking for 2 fast hard hitters for a new experimental hardcore composition Requiem for the 55th minute. Plans to work on it during late November if the right people are found (so tell your drumming friends), and hopefully debut it on the stage around the time new music to fall asleep to... is launched.

In a last minute attempt to understand why I make music, I have decided to just go with my creative urges and stop trying to rationalise my ideas. so bring on the rock. you know where to email me!!!!

recording soft drink....

2006-09-20T15:58:00.000+10:00

I've been recording some tracks at RMIT with Masato Higgs. This was one of his genius ideas during an improvised track session yesterday. the track in question featured Karen Heath on bass clarinet, and myself on drums and melodica. What this tack will be usd for I'm not sure, but it's very creepy.

like sunrise

2006-09-06T15:34:00.000+10:00

like sunrise,
obsolete remnants of the deceased, an anvil of troubled passengers playing peekaboo with the blind
like sunrise,
always understated, a breath of fresh air climbing free from confines beneath the shadows
like sunrise,
another restless curtain call, shelved horrors, dreaming everywhere, tonight is a week old man counting his losses
like sunrise,
a smile that hides a world of persecution, the anticipation of last resorts, in all its morning glory
like sunrise,
like an exquisit memory, laughing in tongues, arogant warm miracles giving blood
like sunrise,
a tangled mess of summers
(and limes, always something about limes)
like sunrise,
in pursuit of the nevermore...

website of love...

2006-09-01T13:30:00.000+10:00

The Caravan Of Love have launched their own website.
click here to see it.

the answers...

2006-09-01T12:53:00.000+10:00

Got a few random emails asking me about the trip, so i thought i'd post the responses here.

Re: Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod's was a pretty cool bar, they had live music which seems to be rare the world over, we saw a very young rock n roll band who weren't very tight (but charming) and on my birthday we went and saw a dub group who weren't even in the same league as Melbournes dub ledgends The Red Eyes.
As for the pan galactic gargle blasters, they did make one, but it was essentially an illusion shaker, which for those of you lucky enough not to know, is a teenagers nightclub drink, orange juice based with a dash of something to make it blueish green in colour. Terrible. Lavana and I made better gargle blasters at Babel.

re: best espresso.
The best coffee in all of our North American travels was in Montreal, at a place called Olympico, but known by the locals as Open Da Night. The story is that they never had a sign with the cafe name on it, just a sign saying open day and night. But over time the letters fell off, and it became open da night (and then later just as "da night"). Eventually they put up a sign saying olympico, but by then the folk law had sunk in too deep and nobody cared.

Re: other details about the trip I never posted.
Alice and i bought a beautiful art piece from the gallery I mentioned in Ottawa (Jean-Claude-Bergeron galerie d'art), by a Montreal artist named Louis-Pierre Bougie.

The best shop in all of Toronto was Silver Snail, a comic book and action figure store, with a great front window showing the Muppets in a helms deep lord of the rings piss take.

Well that's about it.

There's obviously alot of little stories to tell, but the jist of the trip is all here. I could probably write a book outlining the whole thing and still miss bits.

In other news.

My synth died yesterday. I have started to redesign all my sounds from scratch.
I start tracking on Tuesday with Masato Higgs (doing most of the first 4 tracks for the new album)
I have dropped out of Al Qaeda saves Christmas due to time constraints.
Long time friend and bass clarinet virtuoso Karen Heath has replaced Francesca Mountfort in the new music to fall asleep to band.

that's all for now.
peace.
j.

Kunst Ist Scheisse

2006-08-26T16:42:00.000+10:00

As Melbourne Fringe draws nearer, I'd just like to inform you all of a very special show of the Kunst Ist Scheisse Kaberett, at the Lithuanian Club... Melbourne Fringe Festival 44 Errol st, Norh Melbourne
Sep 29 2006 10:15pm
Sep 30 2006 10:15pm
Oct 1 2006 9:15pm
Oct 3 2006 10:15pm
Oct 4 2006 10:15pm
Oct 5 2006 10:15pm
Oct 6 2006 10:15pm

don't be missing out on this one folks!

Canada photos

2006-08-18T13:14:00.000+10:00

So this is a photo documentation (well sort of) of the first 2 weeks in Canada... Alot of the trip wasn't shot due to flat batteries but we got some fun pics...

The bathroom in the hotel in sydney, first picture with the new camera

out the plane window

vancouver

ottawa canal

ottawa national gallery eyesore (apparently)

alice and i being posers

tourist shot (parliment building)

an afternoon under a tree (???)

lou... at the wedding.

Another reason for the lack of (tourist) pics is that we were too busy doing to bother with the camera...

New York photos

2006-08-18T12:36:00.000+10:00

Just before I get going with the pics, I thought it'd be wise to point out that there was a massively dissapointing error with our camera that meant we lost all the great pics we took on the first couple of days. I have no idea what it was, but here are a few photos that made it home...

New York vs the world...

2006-08-11T12:28:00.000+10:00

There's been so much going on I haven't really had time to write about it. But, Alice and I did spend a few days in New York, what was weird was how without planning it, each day had a theme. Here is the point form version of the trip...

day 1. the day of discomfort.
:>12 hour (+) bus ride (the bus broke down and we waited for a replacement, and US customs took forever)
:>HEATWAVE (we arrived on the hottest day in 70 years)
:>Organic WholeFoods market right near where we stayed (fabulous grapefruit), we pretty much lived off fruit from here.
:>Time Square is full of people (too many)
:>Chelsea has alot of gay bars (we stayed in an ugly hostel in Chelsea)

day 2. modern art day and new york 101
:> Central park is a beautiful thing.
:>The Guggenheim (Jackson Pollock works on paper/ Zaha Hadid architechture/ and just the spiral slope atrium... brilliant)
:> The Metropolitain Museum of Art (2 massive floors of modern art from around the world/ Anglomania, which was a collection of old and new british fashion/ loads more too).
:>we bought a fan (no air conditioning in the hostel)
:>Empire State Building (at night). New York from at that height... that is a beautiful thing.
:>Elitist jazz culture. We went to Birdland, Wednesday night, nobody special, $35 cover and $10 minimum bar spend. each. We said fuck off.

day 3. anatomy day
:>Starting to get used to the heat (and starbucks).
:>CoSM. The gallery of Alex Grey (cover art for Tool's last 2 albums). Lots of great painting of the human body, inside and out, like his work with Tool, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors was an inspired look into the human spirit through physiological, psychological and mythological imagery.
:>Wall Street... haha talk about class divide.
:>The Bodies. An exhibition of real human bodies plastified with silicone and cut up to display how they work. This may come to a city near you soon. It's awesome, go without a doubt go if you can.
:>Soho and the Village. We found a great little bar spot that made fantastic mojitos. KidRobot toy store, John's Pizza, CBGB.
:> Taxi drivers are mad!!!

day 4. dada & surrealism day.
:>MoMa. DADA exhibition. Two more floors of art from1900 to now. Massive.
:>The New york public Library. Exhibition of books showcasing the relationship between poets and artists in France over the last 100 years. Lots of Miro.
:> Street hot dogs aren't that bad.
:> Free performance in Central park by the Limon dance company. Modern dance from the 40's done to music of Bach. not really my thing but still worth seeing.
:> New Yorkers can be jerks... ha, who would have guessed. most of the people were great but this one guy, whilst lining up for the Limon show, we asked if he had the time and his answer was "yeah" and then he just stood there looking smug. When Alice asked him if he could share it with us he said "oh, you want to know what it is do you????" smug fuck. He was one of those uppity "I'm so cultured because I go to artsy things and that makes me a better person" kinda people, wait, um... how many galleries have I said we went to?
:>Tonic. Great little club on the lower east side. Saw a great group called Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territroy Orchestra.

day 5. drum day.
:> Wandered around Greenwitch. Window shopped. Had great caipirinhas.
:>East Village. Flea markets.Found a free performance in a cute little ampitheatre of three jazz drummers (one from tonic the night before). amazing music.
:> The Stone. John Zorn's new music venue. Saw 2 drummers performing on "balloon drums". Made by stretching balloons over anything, plates, bowls, buckets, cans...

then we headed home on a 5am bus.

Toronto.

fun.

Anyway, I could go on for ever, but since I am still on holiday, I think I'll leave it at that.
looking forward to coming home to Melbourne.

j.

week 1 in no particular order

2006-07-28T01:34:00.000+10:00

...what's a Canadian's favourite jazz standard?
take the train eh...
Canadians say "eh" more than Queenslanders and qiwis combined.

It's been an amazing week here. After a horrible ordeal with the flights being booked to close together we finally touched down in Ottawa at about 11pm last Wednesday, and we were greeted with big Canadian smiles, fresh off the Atlantic salmon, shrimp (big ones, not like the little ones we get down under), and the best thing I have eaten so far here, mapel syrup smoked pacific salmon.
Ottawa is a pretty nice city. Chris (now, he is Alice's brother's fiance's father) took us on a wirlwind tour of all the sites, most noteworthy was the national gallery. I never expected to walk so casually into a room of Duchamp ready mades. Other highlights were a huge Mark Rothko, a beautiful Pollock on glass, one fantastic Magritte, and a whole room of Inuit sculpture that made me insanely teary eyed and simultaneously at peace.
My favourite gallery we've stumbled into so far was when Alice and I bummed around the city by ourselves on Thursday. It's called Jean-Claude-Bergeron galerie d'art. A quaint little space. A renovated old terrace house, very loungeroom style gallery space. Lots of great local and international works there.

Toronto was one big hangover. Jonathan's bucks night. Here's what I took from that... Baseball is lame, strip clubs are really lame, and Toronto (or as they call it here "Torana") is like Melbourne only bigger. I had a horrible hangover the following day and it took me 3 hours to eat breakfast (the problem was all the belverder martinis were so cheap and good, and the whiskey and tequila, come to think of it, I had a pint of Rickards red, a local beer made with molasses and then realised the spirits were better value so yeah, written off I think is the expression), and I totally lost a day, because next thing I know I'm in a car for 5 hours to Montreal...

This is where everything gets fun.

Montreal (well, where we stayed) is just like North Fitzroy but with 2 slightly better qualities. 1: It's more beautiful. the terrace houses have 4-6 appartments over 2-3 floors and the stair cases are on the outside of the building, the streets are covered in trees, i cant describe it but the whole look is gorgeous. 2: They speak French. you can get by without it, but it makes the whole place so much more interesting, and cute, and... cute! fuck. We stayed with Victoria and her boyfriend Christian, who is a great experimental electronic music artist, and just walked around Mile End getting coffee and snacks, buying second hand books and cds. Victoria showed us all the best places, like the only place that makes a decent espresso, and where the best chocolate covered blueberries can be bought. It's funny because I don't think we really did anything but I had the most fun there just wandering around saying "bon jour", "je suis desolee", "oui oui", "c'est tout", "merci", etc. Had great tapas at La Sala Rosa on Boul Saint Laurent (the main drag) sat at the base of the mountain, ate fruit, had a very fine pale ale called Saint Ambroise at a sweet spot called Divan Orange, talked crap about learning french and moving there...

Currently back in Ottawa listening to a live King Crimson cd. I'm keen to checkout some local live music tonight, there's a place in town near the market called Zaphod Beebelbrox. I really want to see if they make a decent Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

Batteries in the camera are flat, I'll post pics when i find an adapter for the charger.

peace.
j.

Day 1:

2006-07-18T16:47:00.000+10:00

I haven't even changed time zones and already I'm jetlagged. The plan was to stay awake all day/night (or was that night & day) until I was on the 17 hour flight to Vancouver, so I could just sleep the trip away like an old man, made out of wood, lying in the mud... (what????)

backtrack...

My first ever aeroplane experience. Been awake for 19 hours, hung over, forgot about my vertigo, in one word I would say "terror" (although with todays vanacular that would probably bring the flight down), everytime I looked out my window, or when the plane would move (at all) my stomach sank to the depths of my bowel...
My god this world is beautiful from that distance. The plane was cold and the legroom was nonexsistant and the only song they played on the radio was Simply Red's If you dont know me by now, but fuck. If I were half the poet I aspired to be... I'd compose an ode to the sky so passionate that even god him(or her)self would sleep with me (again, what????)
So to cut to the chase we missed the connecting flight to Vancouver because of bungled flight plans that didn't leave enough time to travel between domestic and international airports and so the flight closed and we had to stay in Sydney over night (by that I wish to inform you that it is still currently 4:56 pm and Alice and her parents are asleep in the hotel while I am wired to the eyeballs)... So while the parental units freaked out I managed to sweet talk the Air Canada lady into helping us book in on the next flight (24 hour wait) and she was very nice, bumping us up to a higher class for free just to fit us on the plane (we'll see how far that bump was tomorrow). While I was the only one with enough calm under pressure to deal with this/ the luggage/ & accomadation (well to be honest Alice, being the experienced traveller of the group did about as much, but whose blog is this...???...that's right...) it is only fitting that once we found ourselves some very modest accommadation I headed straight to the bar for a couple of martinis (which with a little coaching turned out quite exceptional)

and some tasty temura prawns with a heavy rock n roll wasabi mayo.

Not wanting to drink too much too quick, I decided to head to the "business centre" of the hotel to write all this down because quite frankly, if I go to sleep before the plane departs, we'll be watching Alice's brothers wedding via webcam in the back of a Victorian suburbanites 4wheel drive whilst hitchhiking back to Melbourne...

Anyway, i'll probably blog again in a few days, hope that's the last slip up.
Peace til then
j.