you were deep inside that thought: July 2013

Thursday, July 25, 2013

then a party deep in the hills!

Jesus! Cold and wet, could see your breath. Headed off to do a gig in a restaurant in the Hills at about 9pm. The bar had been open since 4pm... We expected a harsh time of it! I dressed appropriately. I wuz gonna die in all kindsa patterns and with red strides an' white shoes too

Beats playing to bearded dopes who have just heard Johnny Cash though.
A young trio were playing as we arrived. Very flash and confident guitar player. they all smiled and raved their way through every hit of the 80s and 90s! A cute young jukebox! The dancefloor was full of woman shaking everything they had to all these radio monsters.
We had to follow this.
We set up and the dry ice set the scene and I told 'em the party was over and we were about to ruin their evening. "Go bother the fellow who booked us!" I advised.

We then tore it up for a good hour and three quarters or so.

Yeah we threw in some dynamite disco tunes that night! The party went up another few notches. We drove 'em crazy!

SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS FORUMS appearances....
saturday july 27th - 10am - dave graney and clare moore as part of "women/men of letters" event - reading a 5-10 minute letter 'to the song I wish I'd written.'
sunday july 28th - about midday – a forum aabout drugs and creativity. Featuring ben lee and dave graney…

BYRON BAY WRITERS FESTIVAL APPEARANCES
Friday 2 August Red Marquee -11.45am –1.00pm Rhythm, muse & meaning: the marriage of words & music Gyan Evans, Dave Graney, Craig McGregor
Chair: Simon Marnie

Friday 2 August Pass Cafe 6.00pm You’ve been in my mind
Dave Graney in conversation with Lucky Oceans

Saturday 3 August Macquarie Marquee 1.15pm – 2.15pm So why a book? From performance into print
Dave Graney, Justin Heazlewood Denise Scott, Judith Lucy
Chair: Simon Marnie

Sunday 4th August SCU Marquee 4.00pm – 5.00pm 1001 Australian nights with the bedroom philosopher
Dave Graney, Justin Heazlewood
Chair: Lucky Oceans.

Friday August 30th - dave graney and clare moore will be playing at the Barossa Regional gallery in Tanunda SA

Saturday August 31st and Sunday Sept 1st dave graney and the mistLY will be playing at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide , SA.

Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

what were those recent shows like? POW St Kilda

Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes fought many heroic battles in the smaller upstairs piano bar of this hotel. Friends we knew worked there. The Moodists played there in 1985. I think PBS even started upstairs there in the 80s. It was a fine , dodgy establishment. Much more the home of st Kilda weirdness old school variety than the Esplanade. Though nothing like Joeys and the Linden Tree. You could wander in to that piano bar any time of day or night and slide into a booth and meet some likely types.
The front bar was, and still is, a last bastion of that St Kilda weirdness. (Along with the Bowling club up the road) They have started putting on bands there which is a cool thing.
The upstairs , where that piano bar used to be, is a fancy restaurant and the small front , public bar has had to install noise cancelling stuff in the old disused fireplaces and other parts of the walls to not disturb the fine diners. While bands play, the front door has to be boarded up as well. This is in a pub on the corner of Fitzroy and Acland streets, with trams rattling down there constantly. Why is music so annoying to people?

We played two sets to old friends and the types of blow-ins that St Kilda has always attracted. people from out of town came to see the show. St Kilda is known all over the country as a shady suburb. A couple of streets where people can lose their shame. What is it with these dills who move there for a good nights sleep?

Between sets, three pilled up young dudes walked on to the stage and put our guitars on. Posing silently as if in their own video. The security chased them. One pulled out his cock as he walked off.
Nobody died.

Friday August 30th - dave graney and clare moore will be playing at the Barossa Regional gallery in Tanunda SA

Saturday August 31st and Sunday Sept 1st dave graney and the mistLY will be playing at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide , SA.

Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

what were those recent shows like? DARWIN

I'm connected to these dopey internet music related sites that keep asking as to how shows went. So as I can fill the site with more stuff and act like everythings happening properly. I never do it, so I thought I should. But here instead of there.

Darwin was a lovely, warm place to visit in the midst of a very cold winter. The ABC radio in Darwin, like Hobart, seems so switched ON to music and the experience of it when compared to the local stations in Melbourne and Sydney. In the bigger places they seem so scared of upsetting their audience.

Stayed in an area called PARAP, which is where the gig was as well. The Railway Workers Club. We'd played there in 2011. A great, old school room with a very good sound tech. Old school guy who just knows how to set up stuff with no fuss and GETS it done. Also plays great music over the system. I mean prog and exotica when we were there. Tull and Les Baxter.
Stu Thomas did a solo set there the night before we played. the Stu Thomas Paradox.

The opening act on the night we played was a nice fellow who played acoustic styles in a latin kind of way and who turned out be a religious minister. With dreads. See, its interesting in the North. We played one set. A lot from our new albun, a few older songs, and had a great time. The backline was provided for us and I used a Fender Concert series amp which I didn't really like but coped somehow...

We ate some lovely tropical , northern food and spent a day at Berry Springs, which is a short, 45 minute from Darwin.

There were crocodiles, of course, but only FRESHIES.

On the way to the springs we stopped at the HUMPTY DOO HOTEL, which had been suggested as a joint we could perform in.

I was at the bar (daytime) when Stu Thomas asked what sort of sparkling wine they had. I rolled my eyes at the barmaid so as to suggest that he was not with me as I ordered a refreshing lemonade to go with my barramundi burger. I took a table outside, sharing it with some rugged northerners. Stu sat down and commented loudly that it was great to have a cold sparkling red to go with his steamed vegetables. I had not been as embarrassed since the Coral Snakes tours when Casinader would always ask for a glass of hot water in every country caff we went into.

Clare came back, telling us of the poster she saw for an upcoming performance by JENNY TALIA, a comely looking songstress, as they would no doubt portray her in JJJ UNEARTHED WORLD.

Sadly, we took a flight back to Melbourne at 1am. The airport was packed with people,among them, a drummer who used to be a hairdresser in Syth Melbourne who had just done 11 shows in 12 days in the intererior. And had lived. He and the young guitarist were flying back, the rest of the band were driving to Melbourne. Due to arrive in a week. We had flown up for ONE gig. The young fellow didn't know us from Adam and the Ants but stared at us in awe.

Got back into Melbourne and had breakfast at a super ccool joint we'd always driven past called POPE JOAN and then I did the radio show on RRR.

On the next Friday we did a gig in the front bar of the Prince of Wales in St Kilda....

Friday August 30th - dave graney and clare moore will be playing at the Barossa Regional gallery in Tanunda SA

Saturday August 31st and Sunday Sept 1st dave graney and the mistLY will be playing at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide , SA.

Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

byron bay in july - adelaide in august - melbourne solo shows in september - please advise re euro agent and australian management

I'm heading to Byron Bay for some Splendor in the grass and writers festival appearances in July...

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SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS FORUMS appearances....

saturday july 27th - 10am - dave graney and clare moore as part of "women/men of letters" event - reading a 5-10 minute letter 'to the song I wish I'd written.'

sunday july 28th - about midday – a forum about drugs and creativity. Featuring ben lee and dave graney…

BYRON BAY WRITERS FESTIVAL APPEARANCES

Friday 2 August Red Marquee

11.45am –1.00pm

Rhythm, muse & meaning: the marriage of words & music

Gyan Evans, Dave Graney, Craig McGregor

Chair: Simon Marnie

Friday 2 August Pass Cafe

6.00pm

You’ve been in my mind

Dave Graney in conversation with Lucky Oceans

Saturday 3 August Macquarie Marquee

1.15pm – 2.15pm

So why a book? From performance into print

Dave Graney, Justin Heazlewood Denise Scott, Judith Lucy

Chair: Simon Marnie

Sunday 4th August SCU Marquee

4.00pm – 5.00pm

1001 Australian nights with the bedroom philosopher

Dave Graney, Justin Heazlewood

Chair: Lucky Oceans

I have been publishing a story each month in the Melbourne Review for a while now.

1001 Australian nights came out in 2011. I have been writing a book of fiction called THE FUNG. News soon as to when or if it will be issued.

We play live all the time , I do it solo very occasionally but mostly with the mistLY.

The DAMES album is ready to be issued, Clare is just talking to some labels and distributors now.

WAM and DAZ are still recording, our second gig tomorrow.At a party.

My solo acoustic pop album is probably going to come out next year. Enjoying working on it, slowly.

Thinking of some limited edition cds of the shows I've been doing since 2006. the NARRATIVE SHOWS. Working on sourcing the audio now.

This would be "POINT BLANK/LIVE IN HELL", "MC BITS/EARLY FOLK".

Also, looking for an agent in Europe and a manager for Australia. Any suggestions would be great.

We work all the time but exist , seemingly, in a different universe to the rest of the Australian music scene. I know everybody says shit like that but in our case, its actually TRUE.

Friday August 30th - dave graney and clare moore will be playing at the Barossa Regional gallery in Tanunda SA

Saturday August 31st and Sunday Sept 1st dave graney and the mistLY will be playing at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide , SA.

Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Three Dead passengers in a stolen second hand Ford

There's a story in the latest Melbourne review about a song I wrote called Three dead passengers in a stolen second hand Ford.

Phil Kakoulas writes a regular, and very interesting column each month, focussing on a different track or artist. He sent me some email questions for the article. I thought I'd post the original answers here, just as extra information.

1) How did the collaboration with Stephen come about? Am I right in thinking you were both on Polygram at the time? Had you guys ever written or performed together before?

Stephen was on Polygram. I don't know whether I was. I had recorded a great album in the UK with my band called "I was the hunter and I was the prey" an it was sitting on a shelf somewhere. I was feeling very much at a dead end.in the doldrums. Got to know Stephen and he had a clause in his contract that he could produce another artist and get it released. Very generous of him. I was also trying to get Andrew Duffield to record a song of mine, "night of the wolverine" and make a SUICIDE type electro album. Went to Stephens place to kind of go over some of my songs. Thought I was pretty much washed up as a performer. He came up with the chords of the chorus and the line "easter show". I had the rest. I had a lot of material.

2) The references to Keith and ‘the border’ as well as details like the Serge Gainsbourg picture and miller shirts suggest you may have written the majority of the words. Is that correct? If so, what was Stephen’s contribution to the lyrics?

Yes, he wrote "the easter show". He's a very encouraging and generous person and doesn't get all uptight about putting stuff in just for the sake of it or insisting on equal billing. He's like a BEAT person. He would be a great producer or song mechanic for younger artists in pre production for recording. He was also an education in how to work in (then very expensive) studios quite economically. He showed me ways in how you could operate within an industry and make it work for you. When I eventually recorded the song, i did it for an album where I spent all my own publishing money on the studio. I still own the recordings. I didn't have the money for a big session but I had songs with drama and lyrical fire and thats what we concentrated on.

3) Was there any specific inspiration for the lyrics? Was there a particular event or car accident that inspired it? Or perhaps it was just another of those ‘Mt Gambier Nights’?

I thought I made it up but my brother told me it was real. When we were teens a troupe of speedway hustlers called THE FRENCH HELL DRIVERS came to the Borderline speedway. Next day there were a few accidents as all the teens tried to replicate the tricks. Was one major , multiple death accident , I think. We got our licences to drive at 16 then. I was wanting to write a song about teens and the stuff they fling back at the phoney world they are confronted with. In the song there are 3 strangely dressed corpses by the side of the road. they dressed to put on the world. The car was used, and stolen. Nobody owned anything. It was all a fiction.
I wrote a lot of these songs living in the UK. I left Australia with a one way ticket in '83 and never expected to come back. I thought about the south east where I came from , a lot , and it became exotic and dreamy to me. Coming back was like being transported! We got kicked out and had to scramble a ticket on Aeroflot.

4) Thoughts and themes of escape run through your memoir and a number of your songs. You and Steve got out but I imagine others were less successful. Would it be too much to regard the song as a tribute/metaphor to the dashed hopes/dreams of some of your fellow townsfolk?
Nothing that connected to other people really. I'm a callous person. Everybody else was callous too. Hardcore. I don't see the world in a sentimental way at all. Thats for Bruce Springsteen.

### Later I added - when I said "I was callous" I probably meant that I never thought I was escaping to anywhere ,

5) Can you tell me something of the writing process? Where the song was written and under what circumstances? Did you guys, for example, sit around with acoustic guitars swapping chords? Who wrote what of the music?

I am bad at collaborating, unless someone else does all the music, like in a band situation or they send me a track. I love to do that, to then be able to sing right over the chords and the changes. I can't get loose like that when I'm inside my own changes. Stephen wrote the chords in the chorus.

6) I notice both of you have done versions of it and you’ve sung it together. Was that the idea when it was written? Is the finished song close to how you imagined it when you wrote it?

I re recorded it in 2011 for "rock'n'roll is where I hide" and I like that version better. i don't like the original at all. It has violin on it and I hate the violin. Sounds too earthy and folky when the song is more cerebral and literary. I made the chords more jazz styled. 6ths and major sevenths back in 97 and have played it that way ever since.

7) Was there anything you learned from working with Stephen?

Its a fantasy to co-write stuff like that. I'm better with spontaneous lyrical stuff. So is Stephen. Basically , a performer needs DRAMA. They have to bring it wherever they perform. Its hard when you've suddenly got someone else there with you. I am also obsessed with timing and tempo, not in a musical way but in performance. How you reveal yourself.

8) Did the two of you ever collaborate again?

A few gigs here and there. We're both peculiar. I make music with Clare Moore, I don't hanker to work with a lot of other people. I recently worked on some recordings with Lisa Gerrard, she was more of a vocal producer. That was a life changing encounter. Totally thrilling. I also co-wrote songs with Stu Tomas and Stuart Perera from my band, the mistLY. I'd like to write songs for other people, or other people to write some songs for me. They'd have to be good though!
I am also collaborating with Will Hindmarsh from GoGo Sapien in a hip hop duo called WAM and DAZ. I just roll out some filthy science there. I love it.

Friday August 30th - dave graney and clare moore will be playing at the Barossa Regional gallery in Tanunda SA

Saturday August 31st and Sunday Sept 1st dave graney and the mistLY will be playing at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide , SA.

Every friday evening in september dave graney will be playing an acoustic solo set at the Cornish Arms in Sydney rd Brunswick.