Stormcellar Band Home Page

More moments from gig life

A good Friday at the Townie.

The setlist work paid off, well done Rosie. We matched the vibe of the songs to the variables of the night.

I am one of the variables. Heh.

Spotted this beast at the servo on my way out :-)

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And at the Mixing desk...

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The Townie remains a bastion of Original Music and thanks to Sal, we get to work with some of the most innovative artists in Sydney.

Fair praise to the Cellar Fellers as well. About 6 years ago we began an effort to open up another slot whenever we played.

I think we take it for granted now, but it was a conscious choice. We traded some $ and the band drink rider for it :-) A very good deal indeed, as we have played with some cracker talent.

Community starts with you. If you add a support or a slot at each gig you play, you double the gigs available in town. You give bands a chance to come up.

Just like the slot we got with the mighty Radiators back in the day ;-) (OMG I get to say back in the day now. WOOT. 11 YEARS WOOT.)

If you're out there doing gigs, keep it in mind. Adding a slot for someone else can really add a lot to you, the vibe and your musical community.

Sal has a keen eye for talent. I got a few minutes of Sam Joole's set, both Mr Wizard and I were getting into some of his grooves.

We influence each other. It's completely appropriate.

Busy week coming up.

Our live video project is now called the 'be who you are' project, which is a good sign - in the sense that once something gets a project name 'round here, it tends to take on a life of it's own.

I had a 4K h264/ Da Vinci issue (10 points if that makes sense) but thanks to Dion sticking his dongle in my box, it all worked out. That's way cleaner than it sounds.

Anyway, editing starts this week in earnest. It will likely take the rest of the year to arrange further shoots. I'm planning on putting the vids up on 'unlisted' as we keep getting them, then eventually we'll edit it into a release version.

Bits will be up here and in the newsletter.

2 shows this week, plus other items.

Friend of the band 'X' launches his own youtube channel, 'Ask a SEAL'

Mr 'X', of Roscoe's Boogie fame and long time friend of the band, has launched his own youtube comedy channel.

Of course, he's using the theme song we wrote for him :-)

X has been a great mate to the band and we're very pleased to help promote his latest mission, Comedy!

Stormcellar at Town hall Hotel Newtown late Fri 3 may

Late night, Newtown. Friday. 11pm.

11 years of doing The Thing & The Tale of the fish van

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Guys played well last night. Shout out to Linda :-)

Stage sound was great, we took a trip down memory lane for a few tunes.

Rosie and I were remembering old road stories on the way up to Newcastle.

The Tale Of The Fish Van.

Ahem.

Once Upon a Time my trusty, fully packed with gig gear, Holden Wagon broke down just as we were leaving for a gig.

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Ok, not that bad but not working.

Oh crap. We gotta get to NEWCASTLE!!!

Luckily, Balmain rentals was close. A phone call later, yes! they still had an Automatic Van. 1.

Whew.

Launch into frantic ninja high gear - we gotta go get van, rent van, drive back home, unpack, repack, Go Team!!

Thank you Balmain rentals.

Zap down there. Sweet. Do paperwork. No worries. Grab van.

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Driving van off lot, on a mission.

Sniff.

WTF.

The last people to hire that van had been moving Fish Products.

The Van had not been cleaned.

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There is no alternative. We're due in Newcastle. It's a 2 hour drive.

Bolt back, transfer gear, start driving.

Rosie and I lasted about the first 20 minutes OK.

Then, as the glorious afternoon sunshine baked the non airconditioned, absolutely-no-suspension-left, rattling-can-of-rocks-and-stank, it got Bad.

Realllllly bad.

Rosie and me, windows open, heads out the window, alternately coughing and retching and kvetching as we swore and cussed the smell, hurtling up the highway.

On the one hand, grateful for the van. On the other, welcome to the 15th layer of Hell.

But wait. there's more.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I was coughing and retching. I wanted a gasmask.

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They didn't stock those at the Service Station.

Instead, I pulled the van in, went into the shop and bought 5 of those scented car things and a can of Glen 20.

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I sprayed the van liberally, inside and out, attached all the air fresheners.

Ahhhhh. bliss.

For the first 5 minutes.

The Fish Odor was not giving up. It was still happily there, and as the sun once more toasted the outside of the van, it returned....

now, with 5 added Car Freshener Scents and Glen 20 Original.

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Welcome to the 16th level of hell.

Did I mention we had to drive that van home as well?

Yeah.

Good times :-)

Small movements, little fish

ANZAC day.

May I suggest steering clear of overly nostalgic war shows on Cable, extolling the concept of Australian-ness through death and suffering.

Those that have done it would opt for peace, where possible.

I'm reminded of Owen -

' My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.'

I'll be lighting a candle for Dad.

Small Movements

God bless Rosie for Data Thoroughness. Setlist time. It's a process.

We have data sets. Spreadsheets. Song cards.

It's nerd-a-riffic.

And as we have observed, utterly despatched into chaos by the events of any given evening.

Not Waldorf Salad Without Walnuts

As the mutations have abounded, in order to do all of our songs, as recorded, we now need:

- Fiddle

- Accordion

- Banjo

- Cello

- A small violin section

- Additional acoustic guitar

- A small choir

- Additional Percussion

- Saxophone

- Trumpet

- A Tuba Section

- Piano

- Additional Mandolin

- A Mongolian throat singer

- Duet vocals.

- Backing vocals.

- not to mention all our guest lead vocalists

I look forward to the show where all of that is present :-)

The logistics alone are staggering. The scheduling, impossible.

I love it.

We called the idea 'the show we want to do' which is, if we had our druthers, what we'd do.

Step by step, we're working towards something in the ballpark. Having Michael Hawke and Jo there was just what the doctor ordered.

Now, how do we do more of that? Hmmm...

The Cross Fire Project - Stormcellar & Friends

When we did KC Gold, we wrote songs for Millage, Danny, DC and Ron.

To get Jo out front more, we've been writing for her....well...trying to ;-)

In a way, writing for other folks gives us more options.

After six fallow months, we finally got a new one out, written to suit two of our talented mates.

Now all I gotta do is get a demo together and see if they're up for it.

From there, it's given us the idea to do a little more of this sort of thing.

With luck you may start to see some of the development from this process.

The Songs Leave The Nest

I was stoked to learn that someone down south was covering one of our songs

I still reckon the best version of a song may not be by them's what wrote it :-).

Stormcellar at the Wickham Park Hotel, Fri Nite 26 April

ANZAC Day Long Weekend, Friday Nite we're at the Wicko.