A bit of suspense

I have been waiting with baited breath for my new Adam A7 studio monitor speakers to come from Germany. I could have got them from Sydney but they would have cost me even more, so I am getting them direct from the distributor with a studio friends who is getting five (surround setup for film composition), this way we can get them for a few hundred dollars less.
I am also mixing a heap of Cloud Kollektiv stuff for our gig on the 8th. So that we have an EP for people to take away. We have heaps of grooves but most are only a minute or two long. So I am working these tracks into a extended mix of cloudiness. It's sounding great but I wish I was mixing on the Adam A7's not my old Tannoy speakers.

Here's some new/old Hitchcock, directed by Martin Scorsese. Great stuff. Pity he doesn't go with it and make the full film. Very stylish. Note the Australian lead role.

Groovy Gig & Google Gives

Preperation for the next Cloud Kollektiv gig on December the 8th is accelerating. I'm mixing Cle's tracks and have all the singers signed on for the gig. We hace Cleonie Wootton (soul), Simon Kelly (warm folk) and Amit Diwadkar (traditional Indian). Now we just have to jam the grooves.


Here is what the iPhone should have been. Google rocks! It's open source all the way and Google are putting up $10million for anyone to write an innovative app for a phone running Googles Android operating system. This is going to be interesting.



Post gig Trilby and David Scharpf

You call that a GUI

I have to admit for some reason I have a bit of a GUI fetish. That's Graphical User Interface. So this is seriously hot. I want one on every wall. Touch surround vision.

Along with my deep jazz crew the Cloud Kollektiv getting into the WAMi Song Of The Year Finals and playing the awards on the 31st of Oct, my collaboration 'She Selexx' with Jasmin Yee and Frans (of Halogen fame) have just got into the top ten of the MusicOz awards.

You can download a mix of the current tracks we are working on HERE

Enjoy.

Crazy Jammin'

Sig and I had a ball at the Italian Film Festival opening night at Paradiso Cinema and the Bakery. We heard live opera in the cinema then saw a hot flick called 'The Manual Of Love 2' and received a little show bag (with a bottle of Frangelico) and went on to the Bakery and drank ourselves silly, Great people, great night.The vibes are happening in the Cloud Kollektiv. The first jam with Cle was great fun. We will be performing the track for the first time at the WAMI Song of the Year Awards
Finally for this rather visual post is a brilliant Ad. So COOOOL!



T

First night in the Clouds

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death."

James F. Byrnes (1879 - 1972)

Well, we did it. The first gig for the Cloud Kollektiv was a great success. The Velvet Lounge was jam packed and the applause was awesome. Sound was great, the Deuce crew were totally happening and the unexpected video art really worked with the show. Big thanks to Simon Kelly for doing the Cloud dub mix of his track 'Cloud On The Corner'.

Our next gig is at the WAMI Song Of The Year on October the 31st at the Fly-By night club. A very prestigious night indeed for a second gig.

The Soul Has Not Gone

This is a modern soul classic. It just doesn't give up. Every time I hear it. You can hear the hair.

PS. The Cloud Kollektiv track 'Weight Of The World' featuring Jono McNeil has got into the finals of the WAMI Song of the year. Cool, huh.

Just in.. She Selexx track 'Coo Coo Coo' has got into the finals of the WAMI Song of the year also. It's all go!

Art from the cloud

This is some great precision graphitti from Japan.
..and click here if you want a little cry. A happy one

Also The Cloud Kollektiv now have a happening MySpace. So if you want a quick listen to what I have been doing musically or want to mySpace befriend us then get over there.


Don't forget our gig on the 4th of October at the Velvet Lounge in MtLawley, W.Australia.

Latest Trilby Mixes

Here is a 7 minute MP4/AAC mix of a few of the more finished tracks I'm writing/producing at the moment. None of them have been properly mastered (just my vague mastering). They are works in progress...excuses, excuses, yadda yadda..

1. Simon Kelly's - Cloud On The Corner
2. Cloud Kollektiv feat. Jono McNeil - Weight Of The World
3. She Selexx - Coo Coo Coo
4. She Selexx - Terrible Romance

I just wrote the beat for Simon's track and am really happy with it. I got that compressed BOOM BAP! sound. I layered snare sounds and grabbed the feel from a fusion drum solo for the high hats. It's simple, but finely sculpted. It's important to write tracks for mastering. If you have an idea of what will happen to the track in the mastering process then it will come out sweeter in the end and not need much.
SheSelexx's tracks are a whole more complex beast, layers of subtle guitars. I'm slowly working out how to keep the mix simple from the start so my head doesn't iexplode at the end of the mix. So many guitars, vocals and drum layers make things rich, but are hard to balance.

Cloud Kollektiv stuff is just indulgent. This groove evolved from a jam and I have kept it as crazy jazzy shit. Good shit. The next track I think will be one of our more solid club grooves. Now that we are working with singers, we will have to start structuring. Hopefully we can keep it free and groovy.Here are some pics of me with friends at a dub gig at The Bakery

If you are digging these tracks make sure you make it to my gig at the Velvet Lounge in MtLawley on Thursday October the 4th for the Cloud Kollektiv gig. Simon Kelly will be doing a dubby version of 'Cloud On The Corner' with us, Jono will be jamming too and hopefully we will get some stuff together with Cle.

Cool

GOD, well not so much

This debate had me enthralled and laughing. Hitchens is so scathing and Sharpton is so cool and caring. I would definitely prefer to have a beer with Sharpton even though he is made to look a bit of a fool. It'll definitely get you thinking which ever side you sway to.



The Cloud Kollektiv is going guns with it's own web domain cloudkollektiv.com (and cloudcollective.com, just in case). The first cloud gig is on Thursday October the 4th at the Velvet Lounge.

Here are some shots from our industrial writing sessions preparing tracks for gigs and singers.

More soon

Method Acting

I know I should be blogging about all the creative projects I'm working on and my life, but I saw this and I was in awe. It's like a massive historic battle being reinacted by buffalo and lion actors (with a cameo from an alligator). I suppose it's inspiring in a sense. I love it when the cavalry turn up.