December 2011
Stereo freeze
The last
several months have been consumed with
the Hallelujah Picassos retrospective,
called Rewind
The Hateman. I sorted the
remastering, scanned the photos,
designed the artwork and pushed it out
into the world, so to speak. It
dropped on October 31, and has been
getting great reviews. Check it out over here.
But there is some new Dub
Asylum business on the way.
Out December 19, a new digital EP
called Stereo Freeze.
This EP is a
collection of brand new and way old
tunes, pulled together to get them out
into the world, before my hard drive
dies. Oldest tune is Get It Together,
originally recorded in 2002 for the
first Dub Asylum album. Newest tune
(cut earlier this year) is Jumping
Jack Skank, a stomping melodica
groove. Jump and twist came out in May
2009 for NZ Music Month, and has been
remastered for inclusion here.
Available on iTunes,
Amplifier,
Bandcamp, Digirama,
Marbecks
Digital, etc. There's audio
previews below.
MAY 2011
On the remix
The Rescape remix EP
by NSU is out now, with my remix of
West Coast Dub.
To celebrate,
I've got a few remixes I've done up
for
free download over at Bandcamp.
The first remixes I ever did were for
the Midnights (2007) and Kolab (2008)
- I hit them up via Myspace, how old
fashioned is that? Funny thing is, I
did the Kolab remix without ever
talking to the guys - did it all via
email and IM. Even though they live in
the same city as me.
The Kolab
remix (Sideways) is up for free
download, and a previously unreleased
remix I did for Onelung back in 2006
(Devine No 5), for a remix project
that didn't end up happening due to
record company stuff. Go grab em!
APRIL 2011
Escape
The Rescape remix EP
by NSU is being released at the end of
April, with my remix of NSU's tune
West Coast Dub in there too. He's
pulled together a handful of talented
local musicians and producers to remix
his debut ep Escape. You can preview
my remix below. A mate of mine called
my remix "Hawaiian haka step" which I
kinda like... Listen to the whole EP
over at Bandcamp.
March 2011
Freshness
I'm currently
recording a new EP, lots of melodica
all over it. Here's a sneak preview of
what it sounds like so far. Enjoy.
More news soon.
February 2011
Webstock rocks!
Last year I
was lucky enough to be asked to be the
official DJ for Webstock,a conference
held in Wellington, and they invited
me back this year. I had an awesome
time and wrote about it on my
blog. This is an excerpt from
that with a few photos thrown in for
good measure.
"... The
speakers this year ranged in subject
matter from comics to typography to
content to music to infographics to
all different aspects of the web... it
really was quite mindblowing. What
really gets me about Webstock is
everyone who goes to it is totally
engaged with what they're hearing.
It's buzzing with energy from the very
first speaker. It's buzzing even
before the doors open - if the
audience has managed to beat the
queues at the coffee machine that is.
There's so many highlights it's hard
to pull out a few. Some of my favorite
speakers included Merlin Mann who gave
a great talk using slides that were
low-fi photos of index cards he'd
scribbled on (unlike other presenters,
who even had credits for the typeface
in their sumptuously designed slides),
and musician Amanda Palmer, who made
her entrance to Webstock by busking
outside the Town Hall, playing on the
screen inside via video link from an
iPhone. She walked inside the town
hall, belting out Radiohead’s Creep
while playing ukulele. The video link
cut out half way through. Don’t know
if the phone was connected to Vodafone
or XT.
Palmer talked
about her experiences of being signed
to a major label, how that worked
really well for a while, then stopped
working. She said that the major
labels were like the Titanic, and they
were already sinking and yet they were
still in denial they were going down.
Palmer mentioned using Bandcamp as a
great model for distributing music,
and also using Twitter as a way of
organising her tours - finding places
to stay, and staging spontaneous
'ninja gigs' as she calls them.She
talked about staging a ninja gig in
Byron Bay in Australia, which was
great, but all the people who came
were from outside Byron Bay, not
locals as there's no internet coverage
there.
That's
me above - when I wasn't DJing, I
was probably on Twitter.
They best
example she had of using Twitter was
when she was flying from the US to UK
to do some advance press before
starting a tour there. The stopover
was in Iceland, and she landed just
after the volcano blew up. It quickly
became apparent that she wasn't flying
anywhere when the airline started
talking about offering her a hotel to
stay. So she got on Twitter and asked
"Anyone here?"
She knew no one in Iceland, but a
friend in NZ who was originally from
Iceland, called her old schoolfriend
back in Iceland, and they came and
picked Palmer up at the airport and
gave her a place to stay. Within 7
hours of being stranded, Palmer had
sorted accommodation and a gig for
that night, and borrowed a keyboard
for the show.
Palmer said “Free content breeds
success which might not be immediately
visible or measurable”. She said that
giving your music away for free, if
it's good, will make people pay for
more. If it's shitty, they won't give
you a cent."
February 2011
West coast dubbs
Finished a
remix for The Midnights
last month, turned out pretty good -
the band are stoked with it too, which
is always a good thing. It's for their
tune Regeneration, and starts off all
slow then jumps to double tempo in a
dancehall stylee.
I've also
just finished a remix for NSU, who is
putting together a remix collection fo
his recent Escape EP - it's due
to come out in March approx.
Listen below for a sneak
preview.
Next up I'm
working on a melodica EP. Dragged my
melodica out over the holidays and had
a play, thought I must do some more
with this. So... Also got a DJ gig
down in Wellington for Webstock mid Feb
which I'm VERY excited about.
December 2010
Nearly midnight
So, I didn't
win the Hollie Smith remix competition,
winning entry was a House mix.
Got some good feedback on my mix tho -
fave comment was a mate who said "I
don't usually like Hollie Smith, but
that is cool!" And on to the next one!
I've done a remix for the Midnights,
who released their debut album in
December. Got another remix under way
too, for NSU. And a new instrumental
EP in the planning stages, which will
involve lots of melodica.
Choice!
OCTOBER 2010
Hello Hollie
Ms Hollie
Smith has been running a remix competition,
and I've cooked up a reggae-style
remix for it. You can listen to it
below, and if you like it, please
vote for it. I've also been asked to
do another remix for a local reggae
act, more on that soon. There's also a
new Dub Asylum single on the way, a
double-A side split with my mate
Oogun, looking forward to that.
September 2010
Picasso core
I've been
beavering away in the studio on some
Dub Asylum tunes, also knocking
something together for a remix
competiton for Hollie Smith.
One of the
other musical projects I've been
working on this year is a
reissue/remaster project for my old
band, Hallelujah Picassos.
We've been having regular get
togethers, and we've sorted the track
listing, but deciding on the artwork
is taking a little while - that's
typical for us, the way. Same thing
happened back in the day too. Arty
buggers. Just look at the name.
Clap Your Hands was the first release
of ours that came out on vinyl, thanks
to Trevor Reekie at Pagan Records
picking it for his compilation,
Positive Vibrations, in 1989. We
recorded this in a manic one day
session at Airforce studios, along
with a bunch of other tunes, which we
released as a cassette only release
called Taxi Driver.
Bobbylon and Roland had done some work
as painters and plasterers at Airforce
before it opened, and they got paid in
studio time. This song was very
popular on student radio, back in the
day, which how Trevor heard it, I'm
guessing. I've added some pics to go
with the audio, watch out for the band
portraits done by the late Martin
Emond, which came from our second
album, Drinking With Judas. Watch the video here
or below.
April 2010 Tunes
Auckland
reggae outfit The Midnights are about
to drop their debut album very soon. I
did a remix
for them a while back, and they're a
top bunch of fellas. You can grab a
sample of their new album for free,
from Amplifier. Just log in and
you're away. Have a listen and
then get it here
(til April 23). Tour dates here.
I've also got
a few gigs in the wind for May,
including a wild DJ spot for NZ Music
Month alongside Murray Cammick, Trevor
Reekie and more. Should be a hoot.
February 2010 Webstock 2010 - Hey
DJ, what's that sound?
I'm gonna
write this really fast, cos I have a
lot of ideas to compress into this,
and it's all gonna flow into one, so
hold on...
Last Wednesday (17th Feb) I flew down
to Wellington for Webstock.
Surprising lack of turbulence landing
too. Nice. I had scored the gig as
offical Webstock DJ from Jeff and Lisa
of Mukuna, who held down the job last
year but have since moved away from
Welli (thanks guys). So you're going
what is Webstock? It's a two-day
conference featuring web developers,
designers, thinkers and more. 24 guest
speakers, kicking off with Scott
Thomas, the design director for the
Obama campaign. Just got better from
there. I heard some incredible
speakers.
My job was to DJ during the breaks and
lunch. And when everyone was arriving
to register on the first day -
starting from 730am, which is a hell
of a time to get your head around
playing records. I also DJed the
cocktail party on Thursday night, and
after the Onya Awards on Friday night,
from the top of the stage in the
Wellington Town Hall, in front of the
organ pipes. I discovered that night
you can play Good times by Chic
(scored another copy in Slowboat) and
people will always dance. Dead cert.
I also got to hang out with some of
the folks attending the conference,
including some cool Wellington peeps
I'd met on Twitter, who took me to
their fave bars. It was my first time
at Webstock, and other folk that I
know who'd been raved about it, and
now I see why. It's really hard to put
down exactly what it is that makes
Webstock so special, but it's a
non-stop exchange of ideas and
information for 48 hours. And a whole
lot of fun.
On the Saturday night (after chilling
out in Titahi Bay for the day,
escaping the hordes at Homegrown) I
did a Dub Asylum show at Havana Bar,
an absolutely gorgeous little spot,
with the Sounds Almighty crew,
dropping loadsa reggae niceness. All
in all, a fantastic time. Catching up
on sleep is taking time....
Top photo by Anthea Whittle. Slideshow
below by me, shot on my phone.
Ba Ba Boom hits #2
on Serato weekly download
charts!
I recently
put my Ba Ba Boom! single out thru
Serato's Whitelabel.net
service, which goes out to Serato DJs
worldwide. After one week on
there, my single hit number two on
their weekly downloads chart, behind
Basement Jaxx (and ahead of
Timbaland). So stoked!
Also got a gig
in Wellington at Havana Bar on
Saturday February 20, with
Sounds Almighty, some fine reggae
selectors from down that way, kicks
off 10pm, free entry. And I'm
DJing at Webstock. Got
interviewed about it over here. Sweet as.
January 2010 Sunday Star Times
release of the week!
Sunday Star
Times' music reviewer Grant Smithies
named my Ba Ba Boom vinyl
single as his release of the week
today, wicked!
If you want
to get yourself a copy, try Conch Records, Beat
Merchants, Rhythm Discs, DMC
(Auckland), Slowboat Records
(Wellington), Galaxy Records
(Christchurch), or get it via
mailorder from Amplifierwho
will ship anywhere in NZ and around
the world orMighty Ape.
Upcoming gigs...
I've got a
few gigs coming up soon, looking
forward to them...
January 30
I'm DJing at Music
Mountain Matakana Bush Party
- the lineup includes Mad
Professor, Open souls, Rhombus and
Katchafire. More details here. Starts 12
midday.
And on Waitangi
day (Feb 6) I'm DJing at Soul
Sessions, free outdoor
art/music event featuring Cut
Collective, Bobby Brazuka, Peter Mac
(Dub Asylum), Cinzah Merkens + more.
At Little Shoal Bay Reserve,
Northcote, midday til 6pm. Spot ya
there!
I'm also DJing on
Feb 6 from 8pm at Racket Bar down in
Britomart, followed by
Koretake Sound System. That's free
too! I'm working on a Wellington gig
for mid Feb, and will be DJing at Webstock.
I've also
added a heap of music to my Bandcamp page,
and set it up for cheap and easy
purchase. Pay what you want.
Simple as that. There's my very first
EP as Dub Asylum, from 1999 and more -
Jump and Twist is still available for
free download there too.
DECEMBER
2009 Dub Asylum
interview at Laidback Radio.
Cheers to
Jason F at Bluevibe for
hooking this up. Read it here.
Intro snip... "Dub Asylum is one of
those undercover New Zealand artists
who keeps dropping great music and
doesn’t seem to shout too loud about
it, it bubbles away and gets the
respect it deserves from the beat
community. After the release of his Ba
Ba Boom! Digi-EP in August 2008 Peter
McLennan got the nudge from some of
his DJ friends to put out some vinyl
which I’m glad to say he’s just done
with a tasty little 7″ of the title
track with a special dustep/afrobeat
remix on the flip from Oogun."
I've
also
added a bunch of tunes to Dub
Asylum's Bandcamp page,
with downloads available to buy in any
format you want - MP3s, FLACs,
WAVs, etc. Help yourself!
Ba Ba Boom vinyl single
out now...
The
release party for Ba Ba
Boom is happening Sunday
December 13 from 5pm as
part of the Conch Sunday
Grill, at the Ponsonby Social
Club. Dub Asylum VS Oogun DJ Battle,
lotsa organic BBQ treats, and it's
FREE! Copies of the single on sale
too.
You
can
purchase the single from Conch Records,
Beat Merchants, Rhythm Discs, DMC
(Auckland), Slowboat Records (Wgtn),
Galaxy Records (Chch), or get it via
mailorder from Mighty Ape or Amplifier who
will ship anywhere in NZ and around
the world.
Ba
Ba
Boom also shows up on DJ Sirvere's blog,
and also pops up on reggae site Niceup, cheers
folks.
The Ba
Ba-ing of the Boom by Senor Stinky Jim
Big thanks to Stinky Jim for giving
the Oogun remix of Ba Ba Boom a spin
on his mighty radio show Stinky
Grooves. And for showing us some blog
love here, at Stink Inc. Jim,
a tip of the hat in your direction,
fine sir.
"Of articular and particular note this
evening was Oogun giving Dub Asylum a
right smack-up remix for the debut 7"
on Loopy Fruit Records. Props are
properly dispensed to Messrs Mclenners
and Oogoid for their work on this,
it's a scorcher ... I've got
absolutely no truck with music being
bigged and upped on purely
geographical stakes, but this would be
getting a run or three on SG wherever
it came from, top notch!."
Release
date for the single is Monday
December 7, in selected
record stores and can be ordered via
Amplifier too. Conch Records on
Ponsonby Rd will have some exclusive
pre-release copies instore on Friday
Dec 4.
NOVEMBER
2009 Oh, lovely
black vinyl Got
my
test pressing back today (Nov 24) for
my Dub Asylum 7"single, it looks like
this....
and check the audio player
below for a sneak preview of the brand new
remix by Oogun of Ba Ba Boom, it's on the
flip of the vinyl single!
