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Tom · McShane
New Adventures in Lo~Fi
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So that’s that then; home again. But what an experience. Six cities, four aeroplanes, five Greyhound buses and two trains. I saw more live shows than I can put a figure on and I performed six times myself (with a further two shows falling through) which isn’t bad going considering I arrived in the US with nothing booked and was flying by the seat of my pants. There were quite a few hairy moments, and on occasion I felt very alone, very far from home and completely out of my depth. But for every low moment five utterly amazing things would happen. I must thank all the folks who helped me along the way, friends old and new. Your kindness and generosity will never be forgotten. You know who you are. So, did I find what I was looking for? Honestly, I don’t remember what it was I was missing. I arrived back unconcerned with whatever issues I was having before I left, with a renewed sense of vigour, with new ideas for how to approach and further my music. So did I find the answers to my questions? Who cares? Let’s get to work.
Current Location: |
Dundrum |
Current Music: |
Help Stamp Out Loneliness "Torvill and Dean" | |
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So, where to begin? Much has happen since my last entry and while I think it improper, inappropriate and entirely unnecessary to go into detail, I think it’s fair to say that 2008 didn’t turn out to be one of my happiest years. One of many results of this was my brief but total disaffection, and indeed disconnection with my music. In the latter months of the year I played several shows with great people and bands and even attempted an abortive studio venture. But despite my excitement about them and my high hopes I came away from each feeling deeply unhappy. Please don’t misunderstand me though, I’m in no way implying that there was anything bad about the shows or the studio sessions; far from it, I was working with the same bunch of highly talented folks I’ve been working with for a long time and it was great in that sense, yet for other reasons it was joyless for me. And it was for that reason that what was to be a UK tour was truncated to a single London performance. If I’m honest, I was reluctant to play even that one show, but I also hate to let people down so in January I set off, London bound, with the old classical guitar on which I learned to play in tow. And I’m so glad I did. I enjoyed it so much. Removed from whatever unpleasant factors back home, playing to a room full of strangers, it was a joyous experience. A simple pleasure. It’s the most I’d enjoyed playing live since my Portland OR show in November ’07. And with that experience came the understanding that given the right circumstances, on my own terms, I could once again be happy making music. And right now I’m in the process of determining what those terms are to be… As I write this I’m sitting on train, travelling through swampy Louisiana on my way from New Orleans to Memphis. It’s a tour of sorts, a little bit of a pilgrimage too. My route will take me through some cities of magnificent musical heritage; New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Chicago and New York. I say tour of sorts because I have booked no shows. I’m exploring with my guitar, playing singer/songwriter and open mic nights when I can find them, attending gigs to listen to other people’s music but most importantly, meeting other musicians, broadening my horizons and having fun. I don’t mean to sound self-obsessed or overly serious. The bottom line is this: I wasn’t enjoying it but I’m taking steps to fix that. I love making music. I wish to continue to do so in a way I can enjoy. If I can’t accomplish that it won’t be the end of the world but I’m going to try my best to find the path that works for me. |
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So, as I said in the last post, I was off to Dublin yesterday to perform a session for Muzu TV. Some of you may be asking what Muzu TV is, though possibly not as I’m usually the last to catch on to these things. Anyway, I found a good description on Crunchbase.com which may or may not tell you something you didn't already know: MUZU TV is a interactive music only platform website for artists and fans. It offers personal profiles, photos, personal channels, music videos, and FAN TV upload for free. MUZU TV protects the rights of music on the site and generates income by a shared advertising revenue with the music content owners including unsigned artists. Check out the site and see what you think for yourself. The folks at Muzu TV are recording live performances of all the acts performing at this year’s Hard Working Class Heroes festival in Dublin. They were really nice people, very dedicated to making Muzu TV a success. The session went off without a hitch. I played a solo version of Fighter which we did in one take. I’m becoming a big believer in the power of the first take! I’ve done so many sessions and what-not now and I’m starting to feel like a bit of a hack. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy doing them and I’m always grateful for the opportunity to perform my music to a wider audience but there’s definitely a loss of naivety about how these things work. I used to get so nervous about performing in front of cameras but now it’s more a case of “Okay, where do you want me to stand?”. The important thing is that when you go for a take you’re not going through the motions. I hope that day never comes for me but I see a lot of band s on TV who are clearly there already. And not just old bands either. That’s kind of depressing. This probably isn’t making any sense. I put that down to the Porterhouse cocktails. Go Dublin: we love you! Some photographs: 
In the Muzu TV beer garden. 
Me and the hands of Muzu TV's Marina Kenny. 
Marina Kenny & I.
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Hello all, I just wanted to give a little update on the recording. We went into Start Together last Sunday as planned and laid down the drums and bass for “Private Rooms”, “The End of the Summer” and the new track I rehearsed with Nick a couple of days before the session. It’s provisionally titled, “Love is Hard on the Heart”. I’m so happy with how it’s all sounding so far. Nick nailed the first two tracks in the first take. The man is a drumming legend. We took a bit of time with the new track, trying different approaches but in the end the take we used was very close to how Nick and I were playing it at our pre-recording practice. The recording has a great moody quality to it. I’m going to keep the arrangement sparse but I have a few ideas for some subtle additional instrumentation. I’m already planning ahead to getting the next bunch of songs recorded. I guess I should finish these first though! Exciting times! Here are a few more snaps:
Rocky O'Reilly
Nick Fitzsimons
Ben McAuley
Conor Scullion Tomorrow I’m off to Muzu TV in Dublin to record a live acoustic session. I’ll let y’all know how I get on! Tom |
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I’m going into the studio with Rocky today. The plan is to begin recording two or perhaps three new songs. This recording session isn’t going to be very intensive, my plan is to take a relaxed approach where I record for a day, take the rough mixes away and see what ideas come in between sessions. With the fighter sessions I had a very fixed idea of how I wanted things to sound from the outset, this time I’m not making any decisions until I get into the studio. When I record at home, how I worked on the Songs Are Sad stuff and other home recordings, I would invent and arrange as part of the recording process. Now I want to see if I can get that sense of spontaneity with a studio recording. Working with Rocky is great. It’s important to record with someone who gets what your music is about. It makes recording so much more fun. I guess you need to trust the person you’re working with, trust their ideas. Nick came over to my house on Friday night and we worked on drums for a new song he hadn’t heard before. It was really good fun and I recorded a rough version of the song. It’s the first time I’ve ever had anyone come and recorded with me on my eight track. Actually no, my friend Rigsy Recorded piano on a few songs for Songs Are Sad back in 2003, but apart from that! It was great anyway, I’d like to do more of that! Here are a couple of shots. 
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There are a couple of things I’d like to write about quickly while I have the chance. I’ve been totally swamped over the last few weeks and I’ve not been very successful at finding the time to get caught up with emails, blogging etc. I’m playing a show in Belfast tonight so my usual two hour drive home from work is not required, creating a neat little pre-sound check window. So we concluded our tour the weekend before last, with two great shows in Cork and Limerick. I love Cork (city and county) so much. I first visited there in 1995. I went to the Feile Festival there when I was 15. It was an amazing experience. I think Cork has to be the prettiest county in Ireland, though that whole south west coast seems pretty spectacular. Anyways, we played in a great bar called the Quad. It was a strange show though as they have an open door policy. The lack of cover charge meant the bar was consistently busy but on the flipside most of the punters weren’t there for the music. The contrast between this and our experience of Baker Place in Limerick could hardly be more stark. There, punters paid in gladly with the understanding that they were going to hear new music and were respectful throughout. Both shows were great though. I was glad Escape Act were headlining Cork though, as they stood a better chance with that crowd. Originally in fact, I hadn’t wanted to headline either of these shows as my band was stripped down to a three piece. Conor was unavailable so Ross provided the bass duties for the entirety of both shows. I had wanted Rich to join us on bass at the end of the Limerick set and for Ross to play guitar for a song but that wasn’t to be. I thought it would’ve been a good note on which to end the tour and I was a little sad it didn’t come to pass. I digress. As it turned out, my worries about headling in Limerick were without merit. We rocked things up a little for both shows but especially in Limerick. I think it was my favourite performance of the tour. I wish Conor could’ve been there too though, that would’ve made it complete.
Some snaps from The Quad:
And some from Bakers Place:
 My very good friend, Maria, who lives in Cork really helped us out by getting loads of her pals down to the Quad show. We’re all in her debt! She then joined our road trip and came to party with us in Limerick. I’m glad she came along, it was great to see her. Our friends Amberlea and Suzanne were also along for the ride and helped keep the party ship afloat! As well being joined by old friends we had the pleasure of making some new ones. Tim and Brian of Vertigo Smith opened both the Cork and the Limerick show. Tim is an awesome songwriter, and if he wasn’t clearly going to be and international rockstar (which he so obviously is) he would still have an extremely promising career as a professional songwriter. His songs are so smart, witty and intelligently constructed that he’d have no difficulty securing success in that field. Brian, his bass player is as pleasant a person as I’ve encountered in a long time; he simply exuded friendliness. They both made us feel so welcome. I look forward to playing more shows with these folks in future.
Vertigo Smith:
Tim:
Brian:
 So that’s it. The tour is over. A mixture of highs and lows but thankfully, mostly highs. I’ve received a lot of great feedback about our shows which is always welcome. Maybe some negative feedback would’ve been useful too, to help improve things for the next tour but then again, I’ll not complain too much about the lack of negative comments. For now I’ll take all the positivity I can get; my confidence needs the boost! Now I’m heading to the Limelight. I’m playing there tonight with Driving By Night who are launching their new single, Departure. It’ll let you know how we get on! Tom
PS: As always, more pictures can be found on my flickr! |
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I’ve been in the car almost all day. My job involves much driving at the moment and the advantage of this is that I get to listen to the radio loads. Usually I listen almost exclusively to the BBC’s Radios 3 & 4 but today I branched out into “popular” radio. At one point this evening I flicked on to Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show. He was playing something that sounded a lot like it might be The Hold Steady. Nick brought me to see the aforementioned Boss-obsessed, pub-rockers in the Spring and Airbrake a few months ago. It was my first experience of the band and I have to say, after all the hype I was so stunned by how unimpressive they were that we had to leave. I felt bad about that because Nick had obviously wanted to see them but leaving was actually his idea and he seemed genuinely underwhelmed himself.
Many friends have since assured me that had I been familiar with the band and the charm of their lyrics (which in fairness were totally inaudible when I saw them) that the show would’ve been a wholly different experience and the track I heard tonight, “Sequestered in Memphis” went a long way to convincing me of this argument. I got to thinking maybe I missed a great opportunity by leaving that show. A short time later though, I flicked on to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s Radio 2 show. They played another track from the new album, “Stay Positive”. The track was called “Lord, I’m Discouraged” and I could barely believe it was by the same band. The term “power ballad” springs to mind. Now I don’t know what to think. Any fans of the band out there, please feel free to explain to me what it is I’m not getting, because all of you can’t be wrong, and I think I’m the only person I know who doesn’t like them. “Sequestered in Memphis” is definitely enough for me to want to give them another chance. I also had the misfortune of hearing the new track by The Feeling twice. Okay, so, I’ve never liked this band so that’s nothing new, but the fact that they appear to have ditched their Bowie facsimile approach to making music in favour of some sort of Queen template got me thinking. There are an awful lot of bands out there at the moment heavily indebted to Messrs Mercury, May, Deacon and Taylor. Can this be a good thing? When did sounding like Queen become cool? I must have missed that memo. By the way, I fully admit to judging The Feeling entirely on their singles output which is something I don’t like to do. However, if you want your albums to appear even remotely credible and if you’d like folks to investigate beyond your singles you could at least try to make them less… risible. Now I feel bad. They’re probably nice lads. What do I know anyway? Besides, I get the feeling that complaining that The Feeling aren’t a very good band is a little like complaining that The Sun isn’t a very good newspaper. The highlight of my radio odyssey was catching the last 20 minutes of Electric Mainline on Radio Ulster. Stephen McCauley is a man who knows how to find good music. Perhaps I’m just grumpy because I’ve come crashing back to earth after a weekend of playing shows. I guess I’d like to fill y’all in on our second trip to Dublin. Fighter/God Says Tour Date 3 // Whelan’s, Dublin // 6th July I don’t know why, but I was really nervous about this show, almost to the point of distraction. The following conversation might give you some idea how scatty I became. Just after we arrived at the venue I exclaimed, “I’m really excited about this show!” “Why this show in particular?” I was asked. “It’s the first time I’ve played in Dublin” I replied. “What about when you supported Gomez in the Ambassador?” “Oh I was just playing guitar in that band, I mean with my own band.” “What about Friday in Tower Records?” “Oh yeah...” So clearly, I was not, shall we say, entirely focused. I guess it was a combination of factors. The worry that no one would turn up, the worry that folks would turn up and that I’d lose my nerves and have a repeat of the Holly Golightly show. Also, I was headlining this show, and I always worry about going on after bands who are considerably more up tempo than me. I guess I feel that maybe my music is an acquired taste and following a band as instant and accessible (in the best possible way) as Escape Act can be tough. My nerves gradually passed though. Watching the opening act, Dublin’s Mumblin’ Deaf Ro was enough to put me back on an even keel: he has a voice that would calm a ragging sea. We booked him for the show on Nick’s recommendation. Well, Nick and our friend Andy McMillan suggested him and Nick gave me his album, which is awesome. The man is not only an amazing musician but a storyteller par excellence. His stage presence is strangely spellbinding. Other worldly almost. The man has star quality, that’s the only way to put it, I think.
 Once again, Escape Act lifted the roof off the joint. The band just keep getting stronger and stronger live. Oh, and remember that new song I mentioned in the last post? It’s called “Well Rehearsed”.
 We opened with “The End of the Summer”, followed by a new song we’ve been playing on the tour, “Private Rooms”. We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback about those two tracks which is promising, because neither of them have been recorded yet. The rest of the show was a selection from the “Fighter” tracks, Departures and even one from Songs Are Sad, for good measure. Turned up loud, we rocked out and I really got lost in the music. I think it’s most relaxed I’ve been on stage since the Spring and Airbrake show I did a few months ago. Except here it wasn’t a reaction to an audience who I thought weren’t interested; here the audience were extremely attentive. The turn out on the night wasn’t massive, but it was better than I could have hoped for for our first Dublin show and as I said, they were very attentive. It was so good. I’m glad I got a chance to improve on my Tower Records performance, which if I’m honest, was sub par.
 After the show I got to meet a lot of nice folks as well as a few familiar faces. Ali Donnelly, who drummed for me for some shows last year came down. He’s living in Dublin now. It was great to see him. BalconyTV.com // Dublin // 6th July Between sound-check and getting dinner, I ran around to Balcony TV to record a session for them. It was a bit of a rush job as I was late (sound-check ran over). I kind of made an hilarious gaff too which wasn’t great. Okay, so I’ve seen loads of episodes of Balcony TV and I know the format so I only have myself to blame for the following. The presenter, Tom Millett conducted the pre-song introduction/interview, then left the balcony leaving me to play a song. I played “Fighter” what with it being the single an’ all. I nailed it in one, then Tom returned to the balcony to do his outro. We exchanged a few words then he said something like, “Well Tom, thanks for coming in…” and left a long pause. A really long pause. So I, thinking the interview was over but not being 100% sure sought clarification, “Is that us then?” I asked. “Yes”, Tom confirmed. So I stood up and walked off NOT REALISING THE CAMERA WAS STILL RUNNING and that Tom had still to do his to-camera conclusion of interview. “He just couldn’t wait to get out of here” Tom quipped. I’m such a fucking clown! It’s funny though. Slightly embarrassing, but still funny. So next weekend we'll be off to Cork and Limerick and that’ll finish the tour. I’m looking forward to it obviously but I’m sad it’s coming to an end so soon. Still, it’s an incentive to get back out there again soon. I really can’t wait!
'Til next time!
Tom
Current Location: |
Bed |
Current Music: |
Mumblin' Deaf Ro | |
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It’s been pretty busy in the run up to the release. Rich at Volver and Nick at Penny have both put in a lot of man-hours to getting coverage for the single. Now their hard work is paying off. We’ve been getting some great media coverage and some good feedback from bloggers. Last weekend Nick took a trip to London to meet with buyers from Rough Trade East & West and Sister Ray. The single is now available in all these stores. I tagged along for the ride and we made a bit of a weekend out of it. We stayed with Nick’s sister, Judith and her boyfriend Giovanni. They were hospitable to the max and showed us a great time. They have the most fun friends too. Also I got the opportunity to meet up with a very old friend who I hadn’t seen in the longest time. The trip was quite literally, all good.
So this weekend the tour rolls on. We played two shows on Friday, an afternoon show in Dublin and an evening show in Belfast: Fighter/God Says Tour Date 2a // Tower Records, Dublin // 4th July On Friday we played another in-store, this time a full band set in Dublin’s Tower Records with Escape Act. When we arrived Yo La Tengo’s “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out” was playing over the tannoy. A good omen and no mistake. James and Neassa at Tower were really nice too. Escape Act were up first and played a blinder. It was very fun to watch the shoppers, pulled away from their browsing, foot-tapping appreciatively. They have a new song, I must find out what it’s called, but it really slays me. Our set seemed to go down well, but none of us could hear each other on stage which made things a little tough. Playing at low volume can be a bit restrictive. The simple fact is amps just don’t sound right when turned down low, or at least I’ve never managed to make that work. But we played are hearts out none the less and folks seemed to, as they say, “dig”. We ended with “Guide” and as the last chord hung in the air, the music from the store PA faded in once again. But no Yo La Tengo this time. “This sounds terribly familiar” we thought the opening notes of my “Departures” mini album began to emanate from the speakers. Amusingly, the first track from “Departures” is “Guide”. Still, we played it well so at least it wasn’t a “now here’s how that should’ve sounded” Shooting Stars moment! Escape Act, Conor and Ross loaded their gear out and hit the road straight away in order to reach Belfast in time for sound-check. Nick left to retrieve his car from the carpark leaving me to mind our equipment. Standing in the shop, the only remaining member of our party while the entirety of my last release blasted across the store made me feel more than a little self-conscious. I buried myself in vinyl browsing!
 Fighter/God Says Tour Date 2b // Lavery’s Attic, Belfast // 4th July Back on the road again and the race was on to get back to Belfast in time for sound-check. However, us being a bit smart, or so we thought, we’d arranged for our Belfast support, Serpentine Smile to be at the venue from 18.00 so that load in and sound-check could commence in our absence. However, when we arrived at 19.30, we found them waiting patiently to get on with this, as they had been since their arrival at 18.00. You see, we had originally booked to play the Pavilion but as the Pavilion is currently being renovated, the management shifted us to the Attic in Lavery’s. This is a new venue in Belfast of which we had no previous experience. As it turned out, by day it is a pool room, part of the larger pool area on the top floor of Lavery’s. In the evening the tables are moved, the hanging lights are taken down and the room becomes what is actually a really great venue. It’s a great shape/layout and it’s got a great PA. The stage is strange, dangerously high (they store the pool tables beneath it) and it runs the width of the venue. It’s not terribly deep, so there’s always a fear that one might fall off it, also there’s a rather large gap between the stage and the wall right behind the drumkit which struck fear into the hearts of our percussive contingent. Anyway, the problem was that sound-check couldn’t commence until that section of the pool room closed (the main pool area remained open for the duration of the show). This was not explained to us when we made arrangements for the two obliging chaps from Serpentine Smile to waste a large part of their evening sitting about:
 The show was great though. There was a great turnout and we shifted some vinyl too, which was very encouraging. There was one, to use the Belfast vernacular, “Spide Ballbag” who watched almost the entire show from the door to the main pool room, his trusty pint of Harp in hand. I asked him if he would like to come in. He said, “Fack aff, why the fuck would I pay in when I can watch the whole thing for free from here, like?”. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Belfast. We’re heading back to Dublin in an hour to play our Whelan’s show. Also we’ll be doing a spot for Balcony TV too! Can’t wait! Road trip!
Tom
Current Location: |
Dundrum |
Current Music: |
Cat Power: Moon Pix | |
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To support the release for the Fighter/God Says single, Escape Act and my band have embarked on a series of shows around Ireland. It’s a sort of joint headline tour, though the dates are spread out over several weekends so that those of us who work don’t have to exhaust the all important good-will of our employers! The full tour dates are as follows (though we’ve been playing a few additional dates separately as well): Here’s a little rundown of the shows I played last week. Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs // Auntie Annies Porter House Belfast // 19th June Last Thursday I had the extreme pleasure of supporting Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs. I’m a huge Holly Golightly fan so this was a really big deal for me. I saw her play live once before, back in 2003 I think when Fortune Cookie put her and the Chalets on in the Pavilion. That was a great show. Happy times. She was due to play here again last year or the year before with the Brokeoffs but when I arrived at the venue myself and a good few other disappointed punters were told the show had been cancelled due to a sewage leak or something. This time around the show went off without a hitch. It was my first experience of her two piece line up with Lawyer Dave aka the Brokeoffs. It’s awesomely compelling. They both play guitar and he operates a dismantled drum kit via a variety of foot pedals. After the show they gave me a copy of a bootleg album called “Nobody Will Be There” which they’re only selling on the tour. It’s fantastic and very much captures the live experience. They have a huge sound for a two-man band. We also traded vinyl; I gave them Fighter/God Says and they gave me a split 7” they’ve done with The Stratford Sparrows.
 It was a great night and we managed to sell quite a few pre-release copies of the single as well as some copies of Departures and a couple of t-shirts too. As for our performance my band played a faultless set but I was very uncomfortable on stage. It’s the worst case of stage fright I’ve had in a long time. I really don’t know where it came from but I could barely open my eyes on stage and any hope of having a witty repartee with the audience went out the window. Plus Conor was unavailable on the night so we played a bit of a rock set with Ross on Guitar and a Rich redrafted on bass and Nick on drums. It was good fun but slightly compromised in terms of the songs I could play. Also, I opened the set with a few solo numbers. I really doing like doing that, I think solo numbers are okay within a set, it allows to work with the dynamic of the set, but just to start solo, then bring a band on… it’s bullshit. It lacks imagination and it’s confusing for an audience. Fighter/God Says Tour Date 1 // Mason’s Derry // 20th June This was great fun; a real road trip. Nick, Conor and myself headed up together to the soundtrack American Graffiti. Sweet! I didn’t quite know what to make of Mason’s at first. Within minutes of our arrival two boyos were ejected when a drunken argument graduated into a full-on fist fight and a short time later some young lady threw a strop and started throwing stuff about the bar. To be fair, the atmosphere at that point was akin to a saloon in the Wild West. But things improved and by the time we took to the stage everything was great. The sound engineer and the staff were very helpful, friendly people and the clientele were good old fashioned, good natured revellers. The bouncers did good work keeping the spide-riot out on the street and not in the bar. A local woman took quite a shine to Rich too. Here is a short extract from their discourse: Enamoured lady: Hey, has anyone ever told you that you look like Louis Theroux? Rich: Er… no. Enamoured lady: You do. I love Louis Theroux. I watch a lot of documentaries, so I do. Rich: Really? Enamoured lady: Can I buy you a drink? Let me get you a Jägerbomb Rich: No thanks, I wouldn’t drink that stuff: my body is a temple. Enamoured lady: I worship at your temple. Rich: *gulp*
Rich Dale:
Rich Dale lookalike, Louis Theroux:
 Both bands played excellent shows and I got to meet the legendary Stephen McAuley. He’s a really great guy and we got on very well. If he were eligible to run and I were eligible to vote in the presidential elections, he could most certainly count on my support! After much vodka was disposed of we hit the road back to Belfast. I think we got in at about 4am. Anyways: here are a few snaps:
Nick & Conor on Derry's walls:
Me:
Chris Heaney, Escape Act:
Me & Ross:
 In-Store Show // Back Beat Records Belfast // 21st June Back Beat Records is, unless I’m very much mistaken, one of only two remaining independent record shops in Belfast. It’s recently changed hands and the new proprietor, Robert Holmes has big ideas for the place. He and his pal, Marty Neill are certainly to be admired for attempting to reverse the trend closure after closure. I wish them the best of luck. Each Saturday they’ll be putting on a series of acoustic In-Store shows. I played the first of these last weekend. It was great and I would recommend any local bands/musicians to contact the guys about playing there. The atmosphere was really warm and welcoming and the turn out was good, especially considering it was the first one. Robert, himself a singer/songwriter, played a set too. The star of the show though was without a doubt Robert’s four year old daughter, Katie who sang a song she wrote about her baby sister, entitled “I Love You, Evie”. It was a lovely day...
Me:
Robert Holmes:
Katie:
Back Beat Records:
Team Back Beat:
Current Music: |
If You’re Feeling Sinister by Belle & Sebastian | |
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I got a call on Friday inviting me in to do a full band session for BBC Radio One NI today. Rich and Ross are currently boozing in Barcelona but Nick, Conor and Dave came through for me at very short notice. Thanks guys! Conor and Nick met me last night and we assessed which songs would work best with a line up of a single guitar, bass and drums. We tried a few different ideas but eventually settled on “Fighter”, “The End of the Summer” and “Guide”. Guide posed an interesting problem as it requires both keyboards and bass, an issue which Conor neatly sidestepped by playing both at the same time. No, really. The man’s unbelievable. The session itself was great fun and the folks at the Beeb were supper helpful. Recording on the soundstage at Blackstaff House was pretty neat! Though in the end time got away from us and though I’m happy with our takes of “Guide” and “The End of the Summer” we had to settle for a take of Fighter that I feel could’ve been better. Still, it’s a live session so that’s all part of the fun. It’s scheduled for broadcast on BBC Introducing with Rory McConnell on Wednesday night. In the mean time, here are some candid snaps…
    
Current Mood: |
 contemplative |
Current Music: |
Miles Davis: Porgy and Bess | |
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As some of you may be aware my new single, “Fighter” will be released next month (have I mentioned that already?). As it will be my first release on vinyl I thought I might write a little about some other nice pieces of vinyl I picked up recently. Nothing too formal or structured, no top tens or anything! First off I’d just like to say that I’m not a total vinyl junkie; it’s definitely my favourite format for listening to music but my record collection is modest. Someday I hope to have a vast library of twelve, seven and yes, even ten inch vinyl but alas, that day is far off! My girlfriend, Laura gave me a beautiful new turntable for Christmas a few years ago to indulge my obsession. She’s very understanding about these things! I guess it would be very poor form for me not to start with the latest release from my pals, Oppenheimer. It’s a double A side seven inch single featuring “Look Up” and “The Never Never”, two tracks from their forthcoming album. I picked up a copy a few weeks ago and it’s a real killer. The A side, “Look Up” is perhaps the quintessential Oppenheimer pop song, perfectly distilled and refined. It’s almost too catchy, but in the best possible way. I performed with them for a couple of shows at Christmas and having heard the song a few times then it was lodged firmly in my head until some time in mid-march. Seriously. The AA track is an awesome change of direction. It’s a riff heavy, brain twisting collaboration with Matt from The Bronx. The rock anger of his verses side by side with Shaun’s sweet vocals on the choruses probably shouldn’t work but it really does. When I saw the band play a few weeks ago, Hornby from We Are Knives (who’s touring with Oppenheimer on guitar duties) sang Matt’s parts. It was fucking awesome; a real aural onslaught. I love bands who aren’t afraid to mix things up and confound people’s expectations. I guess this single gives the best of both worlds; it’ll be interesting to hear where the album goes.
 I should mention that the single features the wonderful art work of the extremely talented Beth Van Sistine who, as frequent readers of this blog will already know, has designed the cover for “Fighter”. Onward! Last weekend I went to Paris to visit Laura (who lives in Paris and is, as we speak, at Oppenheimer’s show there … ooh, the synchronicity). In between the romance and cafes and museums we found time to check out a few independent record stores… like I said, Laura is very understanding! Anyways, I picked up two of my all time favourite Charles Mingus albums, “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” and “The Clown”. I’m listening to the latter as I type. It’s so good, though there was a wee sticker on the cover which stated the enclosed record was a “high-definition premium virgin vinyl pressing for super fidelity” and immodestly claimed that buying a record of this supreme audio quality is “the nicest thing you can do for your stylus and your ears”. Yes, well… steady on there, old bean. Still, however overblown and pompous the marketing, the record does sound great. I’ve never heard the bass solo in “Haitian Fight Song” sound so warm and deep before. I haven’t listened to Black Saint yet… I’m pacing myself!
 Buying these albums highlights the lost art of liner notes. Back in the day, record companies would draft in some learned fellow to write pretentiously about the music, comparing the artist to heroes from antiquity, romantic poets or somesuch. Nowadays what do you get? Some arty photography. What a rip off. In five years you’ll be lucky to even get that. I blame the internets. Or something. :p Finally I’ll mention two records I picked up at a Dirty Projectors show in Belfast recently. I was totally blown away by their live show. I hadn’t heard their music before but it’s head-fryingly good. The two records I bought were “Rise Above” and the “New Attitudes EP”. I have to say, I haven’t listened to either half as much as I’d like yet but on initial impressions I think they’re going to be lasting favourites. The recorded versions are a totally different beast to live performance but both are engaging in their own way.
 The show was put on by Fortune Cookie who have put on and continue to book some of the best shows that take place in these parts. Much respect is due. Well, there you go… that’s what’s been on my turntable for the last month or so. If anyone out there has their own favourites they’d like to share please come forward! :) Tom
Current Mood: |
awake |
Current Music: |
Charles Mingus: The Clown | |
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I played a show on Friday evening in the Spring & Airbrake on Ormeau Avenue. It was a fund raiser for the Niall Mellon Township Trust organised by a young lady named Angela McIlveen. She’s raising money to become one of the Trust’s volunteers. She’ll be travelling South Africa and aiding their mission to build sustainable communities and eradicate urban poverty there. Inspirational stuff! We all wish her and the Trust the best of luck! The show itself was great. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself on stage so much. I was joined by Nick on drums, Ross and Conor shared bass duties as well as guitar and keyboards respectively and for the first time by David Bennington on trumpet. David played on the “Fighter” recording sessions and with only one rehearsal this was his live debut. He played a great show enriching “Fighter”, “Scene at the Citadel” and “Guide”. I hope he’ll be up for playing some more shows for me in the future. The crowd were a little reserved on the whole, but that’s to be expected given the nature of the show. They were responsive and seemed to be enjoying the show but for the most part they stayed back from the stage. Many thanks to my friend Andy McMillan for braving the front all alone for most of the show and encouraging us with supportive whoops and cheers! After sticking around to watch Superfreakz we headed to Blackout at McHughs, only to be denied entrance by some job’s-worth doorman. Andy tried reasoning with the guy, but as we all know reason means nothing to these people. Back to Nick’s then, for some vodka. And some gin. And some more gin. ‘Til some time after 6am. This pretty much put pay to Saturday’s plans for all concerned. ;) Though Rich and I did manage to make it to Radio K for a while. It’s great club but on Saturday it smelled suspiciously like "toilet". On Sunday night Nick, Rich and I headed to see Oppenheimer when their tour stopped off at the Empire. They were previewing tracks from their new album, “Take the Whole Mid-Range and Boost It”. I really can’t wait to hear that record, there are so many awesome tracks on it. Judging from the last few times I’ve seen the band live I’m thinking, “Major Television Events”, “I Don’t Care What Anyone Says About You, I Think You’re Alright” and the title tracks are new favourites. Adding to this, live favourite “Stephen McAuley for President”, and awesome single, “Look Up” and it’s looking like the new album could be even better than their eponymous debut. And given the quality of that record, that’s a considerable achievement. Also I note from the track listing that there’s a song called “The Blue Rose” on there too. Yay for Twin Peaks references in songs!
 Anyway, it was an awesome show, performance wise. The turnout wasn’t what you’d usually expect from an Oppenheimer show. No reflection on the band though, I met a lot of folks at No Dancing after the show who would’ve gone had they known about it. I don’t know who was promoting it but it seems they could’ve done a better job getting the word out. A minor quibble about an otherwise great show. :)
Current Location: |
A Sofa Facing Speakers |
Current Mood: |
contemplative |
Current Music: |
Oppenheimer: Look Up/The Never Never | |
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So, here’s a wee update on my musical stuffs. At last we’re gearing up for the release of my “Fighter” single. It’s one of the tracks we recorded with Rocky at Start Together in February. Penny Distribution is releasing it as a split 7” in the very near future. It’ll be a double A side with Escape Act’s “God Says” on the flipside. We’ve been working on a joint tour of Ireland for the summer to promote the release. It’s a work in progress but you can see the dates confirmed so far over at my myspace. It’s all quite exciting. At this very moment the vinyl is being pressed at a plant somewhere in the Czech Republic. The artwork for my side was designed by the extremely talented Beth Van Sistine. Some of you will have seen her work adorning the covers of the Oppenheimer albums and singles and various associated promotional paraphernalia. She also did the cover for Pixie Saytar’s “The White Book” album. It’s always great to collaborate with talented and creative people and Beth is the most recent of many inspiring artistic people I’ve had the extreme good fortune to work with over the past few years. I guess it would be nice to mention some by name: Amberlea Trainer, Richard Dale, Brian Philip Davis, Anna Fitzsimons and Richard Davis to name but a few. I’ve been trying to get things organised and get stuff together ahead of the tour. I have a show coming up on Friday and I was due to begin rehearsals last week. However, a combination of factors, both good and bad prevented us from getting started. The most mundane of these is the difficulty of getting rehearsal space in Belfast these days. There is no shortage of facilities but the sheer number of bands in Belfast means getting a free slot can be difficult. My pal James Heaney form the band Saint Dude's has sorted us out with some time for this week. So, while I was enjoying the May bank holiday Monday in the glorious sunshine at Castlewellan Forest Park, mostly playing rounders with my two year old nephew’s elder brothers and playing fetch with my sisters dogs, I got a call from David Jardine from NVTV's Kick Out the Jams show. NVTV had several shows last week as part of the 9th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and the first was scheduled for Tuesday evening. Three bands, And So I Watch You From Afar, Three Tales and Pixie Saytar were due to perform in front of a studio audience and the show would be filmed for future broadcast. However, two of the acts had pulled out at the last minute and David wanted to know if I could stand in. I called my pal Nick and asked him if he’d be interested in joining me on drums to do a similar performance to the two-piece shows we did in the states. He said he could do the show but wasn’t available to rehearse. So we decided to wing it. On Tuesday, I called by Rich’s house to go over some stuff and he volunteered to join us on bass too. So there we were on Tuesday night; three guys, one television studio audience and zero rehearsal. Not really the best way to approach something like that. But I think we acquitted ourselves admirably in the circumstances. Rich and Nick played well as always. I was told to bring a CD of about five songs by artists who influenced me to play between the acts. Of course, I totally forgot about that, so between soundcheck and our stage time, while Rich and I headed to get some dinner, Nick nipped home and burned some appropriate songs from his itunes. What I hadn’t been told was that the event was being organised in association with AU Magazine and that after our performance AU Editor in Chief, Jonny Tiernan would be interviewing each act on the topic of their selection! Thankfully Nick knows my taste well enough to come up with a decent list. Though it did feel a little like one of those school days when you’d sit down at your desk and the person next to you says something like, “Did you do much revision for this test?” and as you feel your heart rate speed up and your palms go sweaty you cry “What test?” It was good fun though. We learned that Three Tales had broken up the previous weekend and consequently were no longer available for that, or any gigs. I really recommend any readers of this page to check out their myspace and if you like what you hear (which I bet you will) send them a wee message of support telling them to wise up and get back to work. Three Tales album #2 isn’t going to write and record itself. Three Tales are the second of my favourite bands form Ireland to break up this year. In February, The Chalets called it a day too. That was also a real shame. Come back, The Chalets, we still love you. As it turned out Pixie Saytar was unable to play due to reasons of ill health. Hope you’re doing better, Pixie; get well soon!
On the plus side though, the other band who filled in on the night, The Benjamins have long been a favourite band of mine, at least in cyberspace. It was great to see them live at long last. They really didn't disappoint. On Saturday I headed to the Feile FM studios at the Conway Mill on the Falls Rd in Belfast to do a live radio session and an interview for the LiveWire show. It was great fun. Andy, Chris and Brenda are a lovely team and made me feel very relaxed and welcome. Andy, the presenter, asked some pretty tricky questions too. It’s a great show; their entire play list consists of local music and they do a live session every week. It’s really encouraging to see more and more stuff like this happening in Belfast. I love it. Anyway, they played two of my new recordings, “Fighter” and “Promise Me”, and I performed a three song session, two new tracks, “The End of the Summer” and “Ghost Story” as well as “The Fall of Burning Leaves” from Departures. You can hear the two new songs from the session over at their myspace. That’s all for now, I’ll write again soon… er, maybe... Tom
Current Location: |
Belfast |
Current Mood: |
busy |
Current Music: |
Sparklehorse Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot | |
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Hello again, Last weekend recording commenced for my next project. The work took place in the new Start Together studio, which has been set up by my good friends Rocky O’Reilly and Ben McAuley and my new friend Barrett Lahey. It's based in the Oh Yeah Building which was formally home to Belfast’s Outlet Records. The basic layout of the Outlet studio is still there and the Start Together team have hired the space and kitted it out with their own equipment. They've really knocked the place into shape. So with not very much time to prepare for this session, less than a week in fact, I asked some of my friends down to help out. Rich Dale joined me once again on bass, Conor Scullion provided keys and amiable axeman, Ross Neely signed up too. Ben McAuley himself, who has played drums for me many times in the past, returned to the fold for this session. All these guys have played in my band in various stages of its development so things came together quickly and Ben and Rich, who were the rhythm section on all my previous studio recordings, just fell into their old roles as if no time at all had passed. I organised one rehearsal with them, one each with Conor and Ross, then one full band practice. It’s the fastest turnaround period I’ve ever had for a recording. I quite enjoyed working that way; it was pretty intense. Conor and I also worked on a brass arrangement which was perhaps a little ambitious considering and the time factor. It would’ve been grand as I had a pretty clear of what I wanted and Conor is an exceptionally talented fellow. Where we did run into trouble, however, was finding the brass personnel in the time available. Conor lined us up with a great guy called Paul Elliot on sax. He was a super-nice chap; a total gent. He plays in a great band called Black Eye Friday. Laura, who’s currently living in Paris, heroically managed to sort us out with a trumpet player by remote control at the 11th hour, after our own leads here all lead to dead ends. David Bennington, the man in question, came into the studio on Sunday despite that fact that he had a molecular physics exam the following day. And he was a complete star. He approached the project with so much enthusiasm, it was very refreshing. Our trombonist, a mutual friend of Conor and I of some 10 years, disappeared mysteriously which left us a bit stuck. But we improvised by scoring a new trumpet line which worked just as well. Perhaps even better. The sessions themselves were great. Rocky and co. worked tirelessly to make sure all the sounds were just right for the song. The bass and drum sounds in particular are really something else. Angie McCrisken, erstwhile of the Cutaways, did some backing vocals on one of the songs which was great. I’m going back to the studio tomorrow evening to do a bit of mixing with Rocky. I can’t wait to have the tracks finished. It’s frustrating to be so close yet so far. I’m sure any musicians reading this will be able to identify with that feeling. Here are some photos from the sessions.
Me, so it is.
Ross "Fingers" Neely
Rich "Paparazzo" Dale
Ben McAuley
Conor Scullion
Barret Lahey & Rocky O'Reilly
David Bennington, Paul Elliot & Conor
Yours truly.
There are more over on my Flickr. Check ‘em out! :)
Anyways, sorry I've not been keeping the old LJ up to date. I'll write again soon, I promise (no promises :p).
Tom
Current Location: |
Dundrum |
Current Mood: |
creative |
Current Music: |
The Hope "Keep this Safe for Me" | |
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Hello all, I suppose it was rather remiss of me not have let you know sooner, but I recorded a live session for BBC Radio Ulster's Across the Line show on Monday. Of course, the show was broadcast on Monday evening but you can go to their website ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/atl ) and use the listen again function until next Monday!
If you're a fan of brevity you can download or subscribe to the ATL Podcast. One of my session tracks in on there along with several other interesting aural trinkets including the pop majesty of AJ Suzuki. I literally cannot recommend this band highly enough.
By the way, one of my session tracks was a cover of Nina Nastasia's "That's All There Is" from the album, "The Blackened Air". It really is beautiful song and certainly my favourite by Ms. Nastasia, though I've yet to hear her produce anything short of wonderful. That's all for now folks.
Tom |
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… Those ever vigilant folks at Penny spied this rather positive article about the US tour and Departures release in the Irish News before Christmas and emailed me the text. Thanks guys, and thank you Mr Roy! "There could be no better start to the final Noise Annoy of the year than a quick catch-up with our good friend Tom McShane, one of Belfast’s top musical troubadours. Earlier this month, Dundrum based Tom took himself off to America for a short tour of the West Coast, in support of a re-jigged version of his Departures E.P. from last year that’s been released stateside by the good folks at Penny Distribution. In typically self-effacing fashion, he describes both the tour and release as “small-scale indie, of course” but by the sound of his blog at http://tommcshane.livejournal.com he managed to make a big impression on a lot of people. As evidenced on both Departures and his first album, Songs are Sad from 2003, Tom’s stripped-down slow burning tunes reach out from the heart, driven by the kind of hopes and fears anyone who’s ever fallen in or out of love will readily identify with. He’s downbeat for sure, but without being so much of a bummer that you’ll want to throw in the towel and take to your bed. You’ll usually find a good dose of soothing catharsis to counterpoint the painful capitulation evident in his work. The new version of Departures has been fleshed out into a six-track mini-album, with trumpet enhanced tune “Guide” now thrust into pole position just ahead of two bonus tracks, the moody “Scene at the Citadel” and “Lullaby”. The latter pair were self-released back in 2005 to the great acclaim of just about everyone who laid ears on them and don’t sound out of place in the context of the newer material surrounding them. Basically, the newly expanded Departures is the perfect introduction to one of our most promising and painfully unassuming musical talents. You can buy it now on CD from www.tommcshane.co.uk, where you can also download the long out-of-print and frankly excellent Songs are Sad in it’s entirety for absolutely nowt. Lovers of lo-fi laments will be in their element." Dave Roy, Irish News, 21/12/2007 |
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I hope y’all had a great Christmas! Apologies for the lack of updates over the past few weeks but the holiday period was especially hectic this year. Over the next few days I’m hoping to write a little about two very special shows I was very happy to be involved with recently. Until then a very Happy New Year to you all! Take care, Tom |
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Colin Carberry's "Hit the North" feature (this fortnight, seasonaly renamed, "Hit the North Pole") in Hotpress magazine is a rundown of Northern Irish music for your Christmas stocking. The artcile, which is flatteringly entitled, "No McShane, No Gain" reviews Departures as well as new releases by Canizares and Olympic Lifts. Mr Carberry writes, "Any excuse to big up Tom McShane is welcome around these parts. We've been fans for many years of his low-lit and gently moving take on the teary-eyed smog blueprint. Mainly because, where so many who share his record collection sometimes tend towards minimalism and miserablism, Tom's songs have always striven for scope and understanding... Departures gives a gentle reminder of Tom's ability to balance tender introspection with choruses that look sunnily outward." Thank you, sir, thank you kindly! Tom |
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So, after three weeks of the funnest times ever I’m back in good old Norn Iron. It’s dark, cold and rainy, but you know it’s true what they say: there really is no place like home. It’s great to come back to family & friends! I think my cat is huffing with me though. She’s definitely giving me the cold shoulder. Oh, also good is sleeping in one’s own bed. Well, when I say “sleeping” I am greatly exaggerating. I have super-jetlag and at this point I’ve been awake for 28 hours. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck! It was so much easier when I flew to the US because although I was on the go for 24 hours straight, all I had to do to get into the new sleep cycle was stay awake until a proper bed time in local California time. The next morning I woke up fully rested at 7am. On the return journey it wasn’t so easy; it’s a lot harder to go to sleep when you’re not tired than it is to force yourself to stay awake when you want to go to sleep. I tried former on Sunday night, after I got home form the airport but to avail. I didn’t get to sleep ‘til about 6.30am and didn’t wake until 4.30pm. So instead today I’ve elected to stay awake until at least 9.30pm tonight even though it means staying awake for nearly 30 hours. But I’ll have this jetlag licked by morning! I suppose I ought to stop jibbering about my sleeping patterns and tell you about my last show in Café Revolution. Café Revolution is great coffee shop in San Francisco’s Mission District. It’s a beautiful venue with such warm atmosphere and bohemian clientele. The show was booked by a chap called Mark Matos who’s band, Campo Bravo played with me on the bill. They were one of the finest bands I’ve seen to date. Mark is an inspired songwriter and the band are explosive! After the show our party retired to a nearby bar for an end of tour blowout. It was without doubt the best night of my stay in the US. And believe me, that’s a tall order, for there have been many great nights. I can honestly say that this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I owe so much to my good friend and boss, Nick for making this happen. You’re a legend, Nicholas! The best rock tour ever! :) I’m so tired right now, but on a much more fundamental level I feel reinvigorated. I just can’t wait to go back, can’t wait for the new project. Okay, that’s that. What’s next?
Current Location: |
Dundrum |
Current Mood: |
 exhausted |
Current Music: |
Campo Bravo | |
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I love it when expectations are confounded. The taste of a good show is always so much sweeter when the odds seemed against you. Triumph over adversity an’ all that! But I was going to be playing San Francisco's awesome Hemlock Tavern with, for the first and only time this tour, a full band consisting of drums, bass, keys and trumpet and we would be performing with the wonderful Sonny Smith and Michael Zapruder; so why on earth the low expectations, you might ask? Well it was just one of those days, I think. As mentioned in the last post, I had travelled on the overnight train from LA and had almost no sleep (ad I never did get that nap!). My reason for taking the train at this ungodly hour was to allow us time to rehearse on last time before the show and to allow us to rehearse for the first time with Russ, a friend of Nick’s who’d be joining us on trumpet. Unfortunately when I got to Sausalito things started to unravel. To begin with it was raining heavy in the bay. Traffic was at a standstill all over the city and it soon became clear that any hope of rehearsing with, or even meeting Russ prior to the show was out the window. He was stuck in gridlock somewhere on the wrong side of Golden Gate Bridge. Nick and Hugh, our bass player for the evening went ahead without him but spirits were strangely low and each of us had our own reasons for our lack of enthusiasm. Practice quickly descended into train-wreck territory. In the end we had to call it to an end as we simply ran out of time. To add to this, Nick informed me that my scheduled KALX session had been pulled at the last minute. To make matters worse, when we arrived at the venue we discovered that the aforementioned rain had turned the hilly streets of San Francisco into something resembling a complex network of rivers, and we guessed that wouldn't help turn out. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about tonight” confessed Nick. But as I said, our expectations were confounded. In fact, even had our hopes been high they would have been surpassed. Melanie and I opened with Don’t Call Me which sounded super pretty with her piano. Then the rest of the guys joined us for Scene at the Citadel which has seldom sounded as good as it did with Russ’ trumpet. The whole thing just lifted off! Everyone played really well and I felt the songs really connected. It was great. We finished on Guide and again, Russ joined us on trumpet. It was great to hear the horn parts from the recorded version. There was a great crowd there and they seemed really into it! It was the most fun I’ve had so far on the tour! We also made a new friend, Elise, another friend of Rocky’s who came to the show! Another great, great night. Tonight’s show at Café Revolution will bring the tour to a close. One more night, the end should be a good one…
Current Location: |
Sausalito CA |
Current Mood: |
 excited |
Current Music: |
Sonny Smith | |
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tommcshane's journal
