January 15th 2006
Hi everyone,
Hope you all had a fantastic, festive season, and have a happy 2006. Yes, I’ve been back in Melbourne for a few months now, after a four-month trip to Europe and the States, which was an absolute blast. I’ve been meaning to tell you all about it, but it seemed such a daunting task to attempt to write about all the amazing adventures I had, and to chose photos from the thousands I took. Finally here’s some sort of recount of what I’ve been up to. Somehow I don’t know if 2006 can top my 2005, but here’s hoping.
1st May 2005 the Spencer P Jones and the Escape Committee crew (the band I play bass in) packed up and flew to Madrid for a short tour of Spain, Holland, and France. To do a tour in Europe with a band has been a dream of mine for a long time, and now it was happening.
The tour with went something like this:
May 4th Our first gig at Grutta 77 in Madrid, Spain. We met up with our Spanish tour management team, Imanol and Juan Luis. They were so nice and took care of everything during the tour in Spain. We were still all a bit shell shocked from the flight for the gig, and a bit trashed from afternoon drinks. Spencer broke a string mid set and spent a good 10 minutes changing it whilst talking English to a whole crowd of Spanish people - I wondered if anyone understood a word. They seemed to like it!
May 5th Volladolid, Spain, gig at Mal Bicho Bar. It was a pretty quiet, but after the show we went to a cool bar called Fuzztone and made some new Spanish friends. It was funny trying to communicate; us speaking broken Spanish and they speaking broken English, but somehow it worked. After that, we checked out a Jazz bar, then finished off the night dancing like crazy at a Latino discotheque. It was lots of fun.
May 6th We played at an Irish Bar of all things, in San Sebastian, a beautiful little city right in Basque country. It was our biggest crowd so far. The support band, Basque Country Pharaohs were really great. Afterwards we all went to the Bukowski Bar (now closed down unfortunately), and met some really cool people and listened to great music. By this time our Spanish is starting to improve!
May 7th Amsterdam. After only a couple of hour’s sleep, we drove to Bilbao Airport, and flew to England then Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, still speaking with Spanish accents, we caught up with a girl called Claudia who gave us lots of coffee and helped us organise some back line equipment. She’s a fantastic painter and a drummer in a band called Los Looches. We played at a bar called ‘Diepter Bar.’ It was really tiny, but had loads of characters. We even saw photos of fellow Aussie bands, Digger and the Pussycats, and The Sailors who had played there before us. In the wee small hours, the place was rocking, and girls were literally hanging from the rafters. Come 6am, the owner literally had to set firecrackers off in the place to get people to leave. Phil, our guitar player, and I were staying with the bargirl, Maria, so we had to hang out till stumps before we went back to her house. I was so tired, but when we left in the morning light I realised how beautiful Amsterdam was, with all it’s canals and all the spring pollen floating through the air. It was incredible, and I fell in love with the place. When we got to Maria’s, she played us her favourite band, AC/DC, and showed us her amazing fashion creations for rock stars. I love Amsterdam. Pity I only spent one day there. I’ll have to back one day.
May 8th After an hour or two of sleep, Maria offered to take Phil and I back to the bar to meet up with the others but we didn’t walk. Instead we went on her boat through the canals. What a treat! I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I didn’t want to leave Amsterdam but we had to drive to Utrecht to play another show.
The gig was at a place called DB’s. We played with a couple of other bands but the one I remember was a young band called Leslie Grows. I really enjoyed their set. It was nice and mellow, something different to our raucous rock. Check out their website, www.lesliegrows.com Db’s was actually a rehearsal studio that had it’s own venue to showcase all the bands that rehearse there who supported other bands that travel through. It was a bit quiet but still lots of fun, though I was absolutely exhausted.
May 9th Today we had a day off in Utrecht, thank-god. Most of the band hung out and went record shopping. A guy opened up his record shop especially for us. It was full of rare old vinyl, heaps of stuff from Australian bands in the 80’s too. I wanted to buy everything.
May 10th Long drive to Gronegun. We actually played at a venue that was part of a commune in an old hospital. Not many people turned up tonight. Myself, being all rested up, accidentally drank way too much vodka. Mind you, this was the only time I threw up for the entirety of my trip, so that’s not bad…maybe I learnt my lesson early…well, maybe I built up my tolerance!
May 11th I didn’t feel too bad the next morning, but we had a long drive to get to Rotterdam. I definitely didn’t drink any alcohol today, but I was feeling kind of flat. Even the American headline act didn’t get me going. I was happy to get to the hotel and sleep.
May 12th Long drive again to Rennes, France. This gig was an absolute ball, and the other three bands we played with were fantastic. All these French guys were playing in each other’s bands; Born In Flames, Orville Brody & The Goodfellas, and I can’t remember the other band’s name. We had a great show, and then partied the night away at Seb’s house, from Born In Flames, in the beautiful French countryside. Again, only a couple hours of sleep, but I had such a great time with these people that I got a little teary at having to leave in the morning.
May 13th Another long drive to Paris. I must say poor Andy, our drummer, was pretty tired, because he had to do all the driving. We arrive at the Gambetta Club a bit late because we got lost. The Paris traffic was insane! Tonight was a great closing gig of the tour. Lots of people, and even people we knew from Australia were there! I was pretty ecstatic to meet up with ‘my man’ in the city of Romance!!! Ooh la lah! After the show, the crew went back to Lou’s house, who organised the gig, for some serious after tour partying.
May 14th Next morning it was sad but glad goodbyes as the Escape Committee parted ways for what would be some time. Spencer was going back to Melbourne, Andy was to go to Germany to tour with Digger & The Pussycats and Phil was going to Italy. Me, I was staying for a week in Paris, then back to Spain for a while. I must say to all those that looked after us, partied with us and fed us on tour, a huge thank-you. XXXX’s I will never forget my first tour to Europe.
One week in Paris….
No more touring, I was now on holiday. Ahhh Paris… Paris was mind blowing! Everyday, I tried to see & do everything I possibly could. Of course I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, even though I suffered serious vertigo, and the Arc de Triomph. Went to the Pantheon, and spent a whole day in the Louvre. My legs were killing me after that, but it was worth every minute. Saw Notre Dam, Sainte Chappell, The Concierge, Moulin Rouge. There was so much to see, it was impossible to do Paris in only a week. I’ll have to go back there one day. It really was like a fairy tale city.
Back to Spain for 2 and a half months
Fast train back to Spain and the beautiful city, San Sebastian. I pretty much relaxed for a couple of days without trying to do too much, because I needed it.
For the next few weeks, I spent visiting my Spanish lover’s relatives. They couldn’t speak any English and nor I Spanish, but I still had a great time with them. Went to such little towns like; Longrono, Lodosa, Borgus, Sartaguda and Peralta in the North. Boy, did I eat! The food in Spain is sensational. I must say the pinchos (the Basque version of tappas) and Sangria in San Sebastian are to die for.
I was lucky enough to visit Pamplona for the ‘Running of The Bulls,’ the 2-week ‘San Fermin Festival’ where the whole city is out and partying, all dressed in white, with red sashes and kerchiefs around their necks. It was an unbelievable spectacle. I didn’t run with the bulls (I ran with the cows in Peralta though), but I was lucky enough to go to a bullfight though. WOW!!!. A couple of the matadors copped a few blows by the bulls, but alas, those poor, noble, beautiful beasts were slaughtered in the end, as always. As much as I loved the experience and appreciate the skill, beauty and tradition, I still wished the bulls didn’t have to die - the vegetarian in me! As for the rest of the festival….drink, boy did I drink, even had one in Hemingway’s favourite bar! This must be the most amazing festival I have ever seen. The Spanish really know how to party!!
In Barcelona, I went to the Primavera Festival to see Iggy Pop & The Stooges, New Order and Mercury Rev, which was soooo good. Lots of cool Spanish bands too, one I really like was called Humbert Humbert. What a great music festival, so much better than The Big Day Out in Melbourne. It was so free and relaxed, I mean I was almost up the very front to see Iggy and never got crushed once by the crowd. Saw the famous Gaudi Cathedral; that guy must have been on acid!!
The last of my travels in Spain took me down the South, places like the famous Seville; Granada, Cadiz & Cordoba. It was almost like another country down there. There were olive trees everywhere! You could see in the architecture, the clash of Arabic, Jewish and Roman Catholic cultures. I saw plenty of mosques and cathedrals, notably the Alhambra and the Cathedral of Seville, where Christopher Columbus remains are claimed to be. I saw a plenty of flamenco spectaculars here too. It was hot too, phew; it was the height of summer.
I went back to Madrid for a few days, and did the art galleries, parks, shopping, and bars. Seeing the Goya and Bosch paintings was amazing. I even caught up with some good friends from Melbourne there, Jade & Spencer.
Sadly it was time to leave Spain.
July 29th From Madrid to New York.
Well hello hot August nights in New York City. WOW. At last! Stayed with some friends from Melbourne, great to see them in their new adopted city. What did I do? Well, I went to Coney Island, saw Olivia Tremor Control play, walked across the Brooklyn bridge, looked at the hole where the World Trade Centre was, went to the Natural History Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, walked through Harlem and Central Park, drank in old Speakeasy’s and countless other bars including the infamous CBGB’s, went shopping on Broadway, saw the Apollo theatre, took the ferry to Staten Island to look at the Statue of Liberty. I even met up with our very own coolgrrrl, Miss Kitty Koswalski. Kitty and I saw some bands play, and got in her groovy convertible car. She drove us back to her apartment to drink Moet champagne and try her most excellent home made spicy salsa with corn chips. Thanks Kitty, you really are cool! Needless to say, I had an absolute ball in New York.
August 13th From New York to LA.
Our very own Frank from Coolgrrrls took me straight to a Coolgrrrl’s Party in Huntington Beach. We missed the Angora’s because my luggage took forever to arrive, but got to see (OC Coolgrrrl’s band) Frankie’s Broken Toys, who were most excellent. I also met up with some old friends from last time I was in LA. What a spin out! I never thought I’d make it back to LA! Stayed at Frank coolgrrrl’s pad for a week, who cooked excellent BBQ’s and lent his beach cruiser bikes to my boy and me! I did the Sunset Strip, LA thing. Thanks Frank, for your brilliant hospitality, and the copy of ‘Team America’ on DVD. “F**k yeah”!
August 20th From LA to San Francisco
Drove from Huntington Beach to San Francisco listening to an Iggy Pop compilation CD, ‘A Million In Prizes- Iggy Pop anthology’ (Virgin, EMI), reminiscing about how good it was to see him and the Stooges. He’s actually coming to Australia to play the Big Day Out now…rats, now I can’t brag any more to all my friends. I stayed with friends who live on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets. Saw Shellac play and a few other bands. Went through an old submarine. Visited Alcatraz, which I didn’t get to do last time I was there. I did lots of walking through those amazing San Francisco hills. My legs got a good workout! It was kind of chilly in San Fran, it was weird foggy weather there after the sweltering heat in New York and Spain, and I had to buy a jacket!
August 28th San Francisco to LA to Melbourne
I’m home again. I had mixed feelings. While I couldn’t wait to see all my friends and family, sleep in my own bed, and get stuck into playing some music, part of me wanted to keep travelling. I didn’t want to go back to normality.
Sometime in November
Well I’m pretty much back in the swing of normality again now, planning a new recording, looking for jobs and doing gigs, but it still feels strange going back to my old haunts. Got to start planning for the next adventure overseas but meanwhile I’ll enjoy the ones I have at home.
January 2006
Got a job looking after kids. They are sooooo cute and I love it. There’s been plenty of gigs too. It was good to play with Spencer and Los Dominados again. Los Dominados are recording another album at the moment.
I hade a great X-mas bash with my family and friends and saw the fireworks on New Year’s Eve with my mother and sister on the banks of the Yarra river in Melbourne. The rest of the night I caught up with friends at a warehouse party.
You know, I think I’m ready for the New Year now. First gig of the year? Los Dominados at the Pony on Friday night. Another job interview tomorrow!
Well cool ones, that’s about it for now….take care. Happy New Year!
love
Helcat
Xxxxxxxxxx
PS. You know what? Melbourne still rocks!!
3rd May 2005
Hi everyone,
It’s Goodbye Aussie Summer, - Hello Spanish Summer!
For the next 3 months, I’m off on a trip around the world!
It’s been a great start to the year for me so far, but not so good for the people who suffered the Tsunami Disaster. What an unbelievable tragedy. It was heartbreaking and extremely humbling. I was glad to take part in one of many, many, benefits to raise money for aid.
January saw Spencer P Jones and the Escape Committee perform at ‘The Big Day Out in Melbourne,’ Australia’s biggest music extravaganza. It was absolutely packed with people. I think it was the loudest gig I’ve played in a while. It took a few days for my ears to stop ringing, and my bass fell off its strap like twice… how embarrassing!
I was rapt to see one of my favourite (at the moment) bands in the world, The Hives, who were FANTASTIC. The Blues Explosion and The Beastie Boys were highlights too. I tried to take a peek at Slipknot, but they freaked me out too much. They must get really sore necks from head banging so much - ouch. Check out the pictures. They are from the backstage area behind the Local Produce Stage at the Big Day Out- a giant commercial, stainless steel kitchen -very glamorous!
Remember how I was telling you all how excited I was that Mudhoney were coming to town? Well, a couple of weeks later, I was informed that we, SPJ & EC, were supporting them at the Corner Hotel in Richmond. Andy, Phil, & I were jumping out of our skins with excitement. So the gig comes, and I get my Mudhoney vinyl and CD signed. They were such nice guys to chat with. Well, I’m sure I just gushed. Andy & I danced our butts off, side stage. It was a brilliant show, but I wished they played my favourite song, ‘If I Think.’ A day or so later, I ended up hanging out at a recording studio with them. Spencer & Phil were recording a few songs with them. I was asked if I wanted to play bass on a song, but I chickened out ---d’oh, idiot!!!! Double, triple, d’oh! Oh well, it was a thrill enough just to hang out with them for a while, but in hindsight, it would have been great to add a recording with Mudhoney to my credit! I was just in star struck awe!
Los Dominados have officially released our album ‘Basura Blanca Y Oro Negro’ (White Trash & Black Gold). We even made it interstate to play in Sydney for the first time at Spectrum nightclub, which was loads of fun. It’s really been a successful month for us, playing more shows, and getting some airplay and media exposure. A big thank-you to Dario for releasing our CD on the Australian Records label. If you want to get your hands on a copy of our album, you can order it by going to www.australianrecords.com.au. I can’t wait to finish off the next one.
Another awesome gig I saw this year, kind of by accident, was none other than The Doors Of The Twenty-First Century with Blondie. I was lucky enough to score a couple of freebie tickets, originally I wasn’t going to go because I thought The Doors would be lame without Jim Morrison, and I had seen Blondie before. Boy, was I wrong about The Doors. As soon as the opening riff of Roadhouse Blues started up, I was mesmerized. The crowd went ape. It was mind blowing! Everything about it was brilliant. Now I know why these guys are absolute legends. Ian Astbury (of The Cult) did a fantastic job, and it would be no easy task to fill Jim’s shoes and cop the critics. The Doors must have been so awesome in their heyday. I was so glad to witness this amazing, once in my lifetime show. Blondie, who I worship, didn’t have a great sound mix for the first half of their set, which was disappointing; but the second half improved. Especially when Debbie took the hideous wig she was wearing off- what was she thinking? Her own hair was so much better.
Today I am a bit of a nervous wreck! It is only one more sleep before I fly to Madrid to begin a tour with Spencer P Jones & The Escape Committee. Spain, here I come! At Last!! I can’t believe it’s happening. If you happen to be in the following places, come and check us out!
Spencer P Jones & The Escape Committee
European Tour Dates May 4 Madrid, Spain May 5 Valladolid, Spain May 6 San Sebastian, Spain May 7 TBA, Holland* May 8 Utrecht, Holland May 9 TBA, Holland* May 10 Groningen, Holland May 11 Rotterdam, Holland May 12 Rennes, France May 13 Paris, France
After these shows, I am going to travel around Spain for a couple of months. I will try and learn the language, see a bullfight, try flamenco guitar and dancing, eat tapas, promote Los Dominados, see old buildings, & ponder art. After that, I’m going to New York for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I am sooooooo excited. I will try to bring you some stories of my travels along the way.
Wish me luck.
Hasta lluego! Helcatxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi everyone,
What a year! I’ve been incredibly busy this past six months. The ‘Diploma of Education’ I’ve been doing at Melbourne
University was so challenging but I’m happy to say I’ve completed it at last, at least I think I have. I’m just awaiting the results of my last essays! If I pass, I’ll be a qualified high school teacher!! Still can’t believe I got through it. It’s been the toughest thing I’ve ever done, especially when touring and playing gigs at the same time. Teaching kids I must say is hard work but very rewarding. But now I can relax and catch up with all those things I’ve put on the backburner, like writing an update!!
As you can see from the ticket stubs, I’ve managed to check out International gigs, go to the theatre and see some incredible art exhibitions. How cultured am I!?!! (Actually I didn’t go to PJ Harvey I have to admit but it looks good!) And there’s been many gigs and events I’ve had to skip for this update.
You know, I don’t know if it’s me getting old or if all the muso’s I like are getting old, maybe its both, but I call this year ‘The Year of the Old Rockers’. Old rockers just seem to keep on rocking and they’re everywhere, local and international. Well, it gives me hope anyway; I’m turning into one myself I guess, just not famous!! Don’t get me wrong there’s heaps of fresh, young talent out there, I’ve just noticed a lot of older talent too. Actually, The Eagles have just been here, some old talent you just wish would retire!
Last night I spent ‘An evening with Brian Wilson’, with a thousand other spectators and his incredible band. This time last year I saw him in Melbourne doing the ‘Pet Sounds’ tour, which I must say was the best gig I’ve ever seen. Last night he did the ‘Smile’ album and although incredible, it wasn’t as brilliant as last year (I just love Pet Sounds) but still up there, with the all time best. Perhaps it was because I was sitting way, way down the back. Highlights, ‘California Girls’, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’, ‘At the Drive-in’ and ‘Vegetables’.
I’m happy to say I have finally witnessed the legendary Sonic Youth play at the Forum in Melbourne. What a perfect venue to see them in as well. The only thing wrong with the night was the opening act, Bucketrider. These guys were an experimental noise band but were the worst noise band I have ever seen. The drums were continuously jazzy, guitars were droning and a god -awful saxophonist randomly spurted squeaks over the top. (Sorry guys, not my cuppa tea) How on earth did these guys score the support slot? It was pure relief when they left the stage and J Mascis (with grey hair!!) plugged in his acoustic guitar. It was sublime pleasure to hear that man’s voice come through the speakers. Even though he was playing acoustic you could close your eyes and imagine your own backing band behind him. Every now and then he’d hit a distortion pedal and a wall of warm fuzz would give you that sonic reminder of Dinosaur Jnr. His performance reminded me a bit of Neil Young too. He seemed so relaxed, even as he began a song, he would stop to retune the guitar, it didn’t matter. One man, one guitar, brilliant; I wish I could do that.
As Sonic Youth hit the stage one by one, Kim Gordon (goddess) received the loudest applause. How I envied her job in the band, she got the best of all worlds, alternating between playing guitar, bass guitar and singing. The last song she sang she didn’t even play a guitar but enthralled us with some very groovy dance moves. I don’t know how she didn’t fall over while she was jumping and spinning at the same time, I would’ve fallen on my ass for sure! I didn’t know most of the songs they played, they must have been mostly from their new album, ‘Nurse’ which I haven’t got yet but that didn’t diminish the listening pleasure. In fact I liked it that way because it was all new and fresh! They did play a couple of classics. One thing I did notice about their new songs is how mellow and almost dance orientated they were, reminding me a bit of Air’s album, ‘Walkie Talkie’, except that they had the sonic youth feedback noise trademark at the end of each song leading to the next. During a couple of songs, I got a bit bored but then they would redeem themselves with sheer musical brilliance. The sound mix was awesome, I was pretty close to the front too and I have to admit I took earplugs along with me in case my ears started bleeding (how embarrassing, what a thing to do at a Sonic Youth gig) but there was none of the ear piercingly harsh sounds that I expected, in a strange way, I was longing for that sound. The bass was so warm, fat, low and round you could barely even hear it was there! By the end of the set, the tempo picked up a little, and the guitar sounds did start to become a little more threatening but not enough to warrant the earplugs to go in. I loved Kim and Thurston’s singing but I must say that the two songs that Lea sang were the highlights of the night for me. Brilliant, masterful, I loved it. Some people were saying they were a little disappointed, I think a lot of people wanted the ‘greatest hits’ show or the music to be more up-tempo. I don’t understand that kind of attitude. If only I could see more, more, more.
Speaking of more I wish the goddamn Pixies would come here, pleeeeaaaassssee!
International old rockers, what about local?
A special treat was had at a tiny little pub called The Vic, situated in Brunswick, seemingly miles away from my part of the city. Two Aussie, 80’s rock legends have collaborated on a new batch of songs, that is Ron Peno of Died Pretty fame and Kim Salmon of The Scientists, Surrealists, Beasts of Bourbon and countless other musical formations. Their new acoustic duo is called The Darling Downs, an apt title for the lilting, forlorn love songs they play. Peno sang all of the songs while Kim strummed the acoustic guitar. I was hoping that Kim would sing a few himself but he only did a few backing vocals. It took a couple of songs for Peno’s voice to warm up. Kim’s guitar playing was quite simplistic, knowing what Kim is capable of, but the result was a soothing and inspiring set of songs. (I actually kept thinking of lyrics of my own and wished I had a pen to write them down …. rude I know, but that’s inspiration for ya) It seemed strange that these two men who once prowled the stage with bands of such force, power and energy were now playing such soft and gentle songs but still powerful just the same. It never ceases to amaze me to see the feminine, ‘sensitive’ side of men’s song writing. Although a little worn and grey round the edges, it’s great to see them in an intimate venue, still doing great music.
Culture!!
Been to a few art exhibitions lately, the best was Edvard Munch’s, ‘The Frieze of Life’. My favourite artist of all time. I could hardly believe his works were coming here, to Melbourne. I couldn’t wait to see ‘The Scream’, ‘The Madonna’ and ‘The Sick Child’. It was funny though when I read in the papers that ‘The Scream’ had been stolen, again, before I got to see it! I was right pissed off!! I was hoping there’d be at least one of his Scream’s left to see! There was, it was the lithograph version. Sublime, but I wish the painted version were included. The lithograph version of ‘The Madonna’ was there, no painting, and no ‘The Sick Child’. It was a bit disappointing but everything else to see was a pure pleasure.
Another brilliant exhibition I saw was, ‘The Impressionists’, a collection of paintings from the Musee D’Orsay, France. I literally got so excited to see Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’. Unbelievable. The other painting that I loved was Monet’s, ‘Haystacks, Midday’. When I used to see it in books I thought, "why would anyone paint boring old haystacks" but when I saw how big it was and the colour so luminescent, I understood what made it so great. Mind you some of the paintings were a little boring by today’s standards. I called them, ‘The Jigsaw Paintings’; you know the type of paintings you get on 2000 piece jigsaws! Hee hee…..
Every time I see great art, I want to be a painter too!!
Moving right along, from art to, the theatre!
I haven’t been to the theatre since, since ‘Cats’ was first around! The shame!! Anyway, (same theatre, The Princess) I tagged along with my mum, her friends - the ‘quilting group’ of ladies and my lil’ sister, Linda, to see Mel Brooks’, ‘The Producers’. Wow! It was actually really, really, really good! It had everything; song and dance, gay jokes, a love story, from rags to riches, dancing little old ladies, Bert Newton, show girls with giant pretzels on their heads, Nazi’s and Jews. What more could you want?
I want to be in the theatre now too, cabaret….ahhh, to sing and dance and wear all those great costumes. I wonder when the next time will be when I go to the theatre, 2020?
Well, I did go again, with my sister, not to see a play but a dance troupe!!! Wow!! Dance!! Not ballet, but Flamenco! It was ‘Bolero Flamenco’ by the ‘Ballet Teatro Espanol’, choreographed by De Rafael Aguilar. I haven’t been to see ‘dance’ for years either! (I used to be a classical ballet dancer once upon a time) It was pretty impressive. I love the music of ‘Bolero’ and was looking forward to seeing an orchestra play it but unfortunately it was a recording only, rats! Afterwards, some real musicians graced the stage and played traditional flamenco music along with some singers, which was much better. The only thing was that it would have been so much better to be actually in Spain, seeing this type of dance and music in a small bar somewhere, to watch some old senors and senoras get up and do it impromptu and improvised after a few too many vinos on a stinking hot evening. Now that would be something I’d like to see!! Hey, I’d even get up and try to learn by copying them!!! Olay!!
Well, you know, I just might get a chance to do just that, if that kind of thing does happen
in Spain because I’m going to Spain in April 2005!! I can hardly wait! Looks like Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee are doing a short tour of Spain, and a quick visit to France and Holland. I have been wondering if I would ever get to Europe and now it looks like I’m going to. How exciting!! After Spencer’s tour, I’m staying on to meet up with my other band mates from Los Dominados and hopefully play a few shows as well.
Meanwhile, time to enjoy the summer, Xmas holidays, and the last days of 2004, the year of the old rockers.
Catch Los Dominados at The Victoria Hotel in Brunswick on Friday December 17th supporting Sons of Lee Marvin and punk rockers The Mystaken. (Night of young rockers)
Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee, 2005
8th January at the Elsternwick Hotel
21st January, Ballarat, somewhere…
22nd January, Adelaide, somewhere…
and
26th January, The Big Day Out, Melbourne Showgrounds. What a score!! Looking forward to seeing The Hives there.. YES!!!
Oh and Mudhoney are coming next year. I am seriously loving them at the moment.
Ok lovelies, if you got to this point of my update, I am very impressed!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all the Coolgrrrls of the world who write and the very cool boy, Frank Davern, who has kept the site going and who puts out those way cool skateboards! Also to all you people out there who read this stuff.
As Brian Wilson says, "Smile"!
It makes you feel good.
Love
Helcat
xxxxxxxxxxxx
19th June, 2004
Hey there everyone,
You know the best thing about having a Queen of Australia? We get a holiday for her birthday! I wonder how old she is? It’s Monday morning, and Melbourne town is very quiet on the streets. The wind is howling and the rain is pelting down. After a HUGE weekend, it’s nice to be indoors, chillin’ out but wishing I had an open fire to toast marshmallows. Ahhhh…
I had such a great weekend. Friday night my band Los Dominados worked on new tracks for our second album at Subverse Studios. We’ve just finished our first album a few weeks ago. It hasn’t been released yet; we’re in the process of shopping it around to labels and the like. I’m so proud of it and the next one is almost half way there already! Our next gig is on the 17th of July at ‘The Pony’ with Bam Bam. Check it out Bam Bam are great too, guaranteed to make ya wanna dance!
Saturday night Moler played at The Pony with Slinkee, Sneeze and The Fireflies. Our set had to be cut short unfortunately cos the first two bands went like an hour and a half overtime!! Whoops! Oh well, short but sweet. It was a fun night. Moler’s playing next on July 3rd at The Greyhound Hotel with The Short Poppies. Why is it that whenever I go to Pony, I’m always there until the sun comes up and when everyone’s finally kicked out and blinded by the light, it’s freezing cold, I have a huge Marshall quad box, guitars, drums and there’s never any damn station wagon taxi’s around? Oh, the glamour of Rock!! Another reason why winter is no friend of mine!
Sunday night, was a huge day of mighty fine rock’n’roll at The Greyhound Hotel! It was a special benefit for the amazing Mr. Brian Hooper, one of Melbourne’s finest, legendary musicians. Brian is famous for his bass playing in the Beasts of Bourbon and The Surrealists, not to mention - sexy stage presence - the guy just oozes style and sends all the girls crazy!! If only I could play and look as cool as him! Brian recently has been working on his own solo project, The Voyeurs, where he has picked up the guitar and the microphone with some very funky, soulful results. He’s also been doing some reunion gigs with The Beasts which had been going very well but Melbourne was shocked with horror a couple of months ago, to learn that Brian had fallen from a balcony, broken his back and may never walk again. Thus the benefit this weekend was organized to help Brian get back on his feet – no pun intended! Twenty or so bands played on the day. There was; Maurice Frawley, Steve Prictor and his Violent Mood Swings, The Short Poppies, Shonkytonk, Rebecca Barnard and Lisa Miller, The Virgins, The Drivers Eyes, Birdblobs, The Bankers, Gut, Ian Rilen & The Love Addicts, Womnal, Billy Miller, Sean Kelly & Rosie Westbrook, Basketcase, Penny Ikinger, Conway Savage, Lobby Lloyd, Spencer P Jones & The Escape Committee (which I play bass in) with special guest Renee Geyer, The Cants, The Morning After Girls, The Sailors and the band too famous to advertise….THE BEASTS OF BOURBON. Yes, a special treat indeed, Brian was back on bass and STANDING!!!! Brian has been very strong, positive and determined to overcome this obstacle. Now he can walk with the aid of walking sticks but it is still an ongoing battle for him. Go Brian!! It was so great to see the Greyhound absolutely packed with people, it was a bit like a rock’n’roll family reunion; it seemed like just about everyone was there! By the end of the evening I was absolutely exhausted but Ian Rilen’s Love Addicts capped off the night with such a blistering set, I couldn’t help but push my way to the front to soak it up. What a day, what a weekend. Brian Hooper, we love you!! Check out Brian’s website, www.briansway.com.
What else? Oh yeah, I’m on holidays from Uni. What a relief, I have been so stressed, all the studying I have to do to become a media/art teacher has been incredibly difficult hence no update again for such a long time, sorry. I’m not sure if I have what it takes to see it through but I’m trying my hardest. Maybe I’m just too wrapped up in music to focus on it like I should. It’s fun teaching though, fingers crossed for the rest of the year.
 The boys from Digger and The Pussycats have gone O/S, I wonder how Sam and Andy are going over there! I wonder if they’ll return? Hello guys! Meanwhile back in Melbourne, Spencer has recruited a temporary drummer, Blake, formerly from the band Riff Random. Earlier this year Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee toured with Tony Joe White around Australia, which was fun. Unfortunately I don’t think the crowd liked us too much, we weren’t traditional blues enough but oh well. The highlight gig for us was at Rick’s Bar in Brisbane with Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side.
Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, from Brisbane, have released their debut album, ’The Beginning of The End’ and I must say it is my favourite release of this year so far and has been on high rotation on my stereo. Superbly produced, catchy as hell, it’s like The Pixies meets a ‘Latino Western’. Speaking of the Pixies, I hear that they are doing some gigs in Europe, oh I wish, wish, wish they would come to Melbourne. Meanwhile, Sonic Youth and J. Mascis ARE coming to town in a couple of weeks, I’ve got a ticket and I can’t wait! But hey, have you seen that painting of the nurse on the cover of their new album? Do you think it looks a bit suspiciously like ME!!???!! Hmmmm!
Well that’s about it for now, I’m going to my hometown to see my family and relax for a couple of days far, far away from the city.
till next time
love to all you cool ones
Helcat
30th January, 2004
HI there everyone,
HAPPY NEW 2004
It’s me, Helcat, back in action after a YEAR in the wilderness; I’m getting worse. It was such a hectic year for me; I didn’t get a chance to let you all know what was happening in my world. Not having easy access to the Internet was a major problem but hey, I just got reconnected. Now I’m so excited, I’ll be able to keep in touch and update more easily and regularly in 2004. Yeah!! Did you miss me?? I missed you.
My year…OK…the ultra condensed update!
I finished a postgraduate diploma in Visual and Performing Arts at RMIT, which had me working on countless essays and artistic projects in dance, performance art, visual art, music, drama and media but being the girly swat that I am, I earned high distinctions in nearly every subject! Woohoo! This year I’m now enrolled at Melbourne University to do my Diploma of Education so I can teach media and visual arts to secondary students. I’m kinda nervous about it. Hopefully it will go well. Fingers crossed!
I just got back from holidaying in Noosa, Queensland. Lots of bush walks, fishing, swimming and BBQ’s, even went to Dreamworld and went on all the scary roller coaster rides even though I thought I’d lost the nerve to do that sort of thing. Saw the Big Brother house too, which was kinda weird. Hey, I nearly even got a tan for the first time in years. Special love and thanks to my brother, Justin and his girl Angela for having us! xxxxxx
Also big love and thanks to the Sydney crew who threw a wicked party on NYE. We partied in a presidential suite that overlooked Sydney Harbour’s jaw dropping fireworks display. Unbelievable fun, a night I’ll never forget!
On the music front, here’s an update on my bands in case you forgot!!
Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee
Line up
Spencer P Jones vocals, guitar (chief songwriter)
Phil Gionfriddo guitar, vocals (also plays in Dynamo)
Andy Moore drums (also plays in Kamikaze Trio and Digger and the Pussycats)
Helcat bass
‘Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee’ have had a busy year touring the country and recording. We’ve just released an album ‘Fait Accompli’ through
Spooky Records. I reckon it sounds fantastic and has received rave reviews in the local press here! I am very proud of it. We toured with ‘The Violent Femmes’ a few months ago which saw us playing in some bigger venues. I even got to play ‘Blister in the Sun’ on the bass guitar of Brian Ritchie’s at sound check, sssshhhh! Spencer has also been playing some shows with the recently reformed and legendary ‘Beasts of Bourbon’. I was lucky enough to see their second show at The Tote, which was mind blowingly fantastic. In a couple of weeks The Escape Committee will be on tour with Tony Joe White. The dates are:
Fri 13th Feb @ the Tivoli in Brisbane
Sat 14th Feb @ Rick’s Bar in Brisbane (afternoon show)
Sat 14th Feb @The Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay
Sun 15th Feb @ The Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay
Wed 25th Feb @ The Prince of Wales in Melbourne
We’ll also be playing our own shows.
Fri 30th Jan @ The Hopetoun Hotel in Sydney with guests Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males
Sat 7th Feb @ The Elsternwick Hotel in Melbourne
Sat 21st Feb @ Rundle Park in Adelaide
Sun 22nd Feb @ The Grace Emily Hotel in Adelaide
Fri 19th March @ The Rob Roy Hotel in Melbourne with new label mates Jape Squad
See you there!!! ?
Los Dominados
Line up
Helcat vocals, guitar
Michael Alonso vocals, guitar (also plays in Jape Squad)
Harold Fisher vocals, drums
Los Dominados have just played a super gig at the Greyhound Hotel in St.Kilda supporting The Sailors which was so much fun. Sailors just got back from a world tour those lucky, lucky bastards!!! We’re just putting some finishing touches on our new album, tentatively titled ‘White Trash and Black Gold’ or ‘Los Tres Negros Cisnes’- meaning ‘The Three Black Swans’. Hopefully it’ll come out later this year. We haven’t got any gigs coming up as yet but we’re working on it.
Moler
Line up
Helcat vocals, bass
Julien Poulson guitar, vocals (also plays with Jen Cloer)
Geoff Dunbar drums, vocals (also plays with Jen Cloer, The Hekawis and heaps of others)
Moler has only played a couple of shows this year but we have been working on an album as well, ‘Submergency’, it’s getting there.
Sass
Line up
Steve Thomas vocals, guitar
Helcat vocals, guitar
Spot vocals, bass (also plays in Jape Squad)
David Peacock vocals, drums
Sass just keeps on writing and playing regular shows but we need to record something soon!
I’m lucky enough to be invited to record some bass lines on Jen Cloer’s new album which I’m sure is going to be a huge success. She is one talented woman, a voice to die for and I’m sure the rest of the country…and hopefully the world, is gonna know about her real soon. As you might be able to tell, it’s a bit of a tight knit group of muso friends, everyone seems to be playing in each other’s bands and making music and having fun.
Ok the Melbourne music scene is alive and well. Who’s H*O*T from Melbourne for 2004, you might ask? My picks are
Digger and the Pussycats: a wicked 2-piece band (and I might be biased a little I guess to fellow Spooky bands) in the vein of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion meets the White Stripes. They have released an album ‘Young, Tight and Alright’ on Spooky Records which is absolutely rocking AND rolling!
Jape Squad has also joined the Spooky family and are about to release their second album. They are already currently working on their third! These guys are like a six or seven piece band, it’s a wall of noise all right and they just keep evolving and getting better and better. I think it’s going to be a good year for them.
On that note I must thank Loki and Jas from Spooky Records who are like the independent lifesavers of Melbourne Rock. They truly believe in their bands, have impeccable taste and work their butts off to bring YOU new music. Check out their website cos they have quite a catalogue of cool music now. THANKS GUYS you are legends! Check it out, www.spookyrecords.com
The Drones had released their first album, Here Comes the Lies, on Spooky and are soon to release their highly anticipated second album, on what label I am not sure but they are kicking serious sonic ass!
Riff Random have some hot songs out that I’ve heard on the radio but have yet to see them live they remind me a little of The Strokes and Sonic Youth. Very, very cool!
The Morning After Girls remind me of The Warlocks, Brian Jones Town Massacre, The Birds, The Velvet Underground and The Dandy Warhols. Live they are awesome, love their single too.
The Cants, I haven’t seen them live yet but saw their music video on TV and love what I heard.
The Tremors aren’t from Melbourne but come from Brisbane I think. They feature members from Six Foot Hick and a very hot chick. Good fun, rockin’ live band.
Honourablest mentions go to all my other favourite hotties: The Surrogate, The New Season, The Spazzy’s, The Sailors, The Anyones, Run on One, Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males, The Bites, The Devastations, Bam Bam, Low Dorados (from Sydney), Hugo Race and the True Spirits, Jen Cloer, The Gammarays, Bejesus Belt, The T-Bones
Highlight Concerts
The Rolling Stones, ‘The Let it Bleed’ night in Feb 27th wicked …but not as good as Brian Wilson..
Neil Young, the Greendale Tour, fantastic new record, great show…I cried..
Beasts of Bourbon cos they ROCK
On Australia Day, January 26th, I went along to the ‘Big Day Out’ music fest, which lived up to its name. I saw in this order: Architecture in Helsinki (melb based), The Darkness, The Datsuns, The Anyones (melb based), The Dandy Warhols, Muse – who blew my mind and are now my new favourite band, Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Magic Dirt (melb based), Metallica. However I missed out on seeing Riff Random, Flaming Lips, Kamahl, Gerling and Basement Jaxx. Of course it was great to see so many bands in one hit, but I’d still prefer to see these bands doing their own shows in smaller indoor venues to get the best sound quality, view and time to fully digest the show. But oh what a great day and stellar line up.
Just today I went to an exhibition, ‘Transfigure’, at ACMI (Australian Centre of the Moving Image) situated in our new
‘Federation Square’- check out www.acmi.net.au It’s a really cool and quite unique ‘screen’ gallery that displays all sorts of media/screen-based art, definitely worth whiling away an afternoon or two in…and it’s free to boot. I was lucky enough to have my first ‘virtual reality’ space experience; you know where you get your body hooked up to a computer and wear a helmet that displays a 3D virtual space. Artist, Char Davies, called the piece I experienced ‘Osmosis’ and although not as ‘full-on’ as I expected, it really was quite amazing. Somehow you controlled your movement through this space with slight movements of your body and breath. I found myself staring at texts floating through space that seemed to go into infinite depths, widths and heights, I felt like I could reach out and touch things as I glided past. You go through clouds and strange universes of grids and star like formations. At the centre of it all was a large tree. You could travel underneath its root system and then fly high over it’s branches. I really felt like this is really the beginning of strange new future…maybe it’s all the science fiction stories I’m reading at the moment too! WOW!!
Also worth seeing is Stelarc’s, ‘Prosthetic Head’. You walk into a room and there’s a huge computer generated floating head, in Stelarc’s image, on a wall. In the centre of the room there is a keyboard where you can type in questions and the head will actually have a weird conversation with you. It’s quite intimidating at first, I must say, it really does seem to have a weird life of it’s own.
The other piece that was fascinating was ‘Rapt’ by Justine Cooper; this consisted of images of the artist’s body that had been constructed from Magnetic Resonance Imaging, which displayed all sorts of layers of the internal structure of the body.
If in Melbourne, I highly recommend you check this gallery out, it really is FANTASTIC!!!! Next I want to see the cinematic sensation, Mathew Barney’s ‘The Cremaster Cycle’. The images look amazing in the flyer.
Well me lovelies I shall leave it there. This year, I pledge, that I will bring you more tastier and juicier gossip and rumours than you can possibly bear on a pre-menstrual tension rock basis. Got any complaints, send it to me! Got any praise, send it to me too!
Until next time, stay cool.
Helcat
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
|
