Wales Heatwave '06 / Studio - Day 4

It's another lovely day in Wales! The car is packed and we're heading out, but I wanted to blog one last time. I probably won't have access to a computer for the rest of the trip. We're heading to London today. Going to see a few things first though, including Stonehenge.

Tomorrow is the big video shoot for "A Talent for Loving" at The Bedford in London followed by our final show at 9 PM. If you have any friends in London Town, tell them to come on down. It's Free.

The recording is turning out very well. It's far from finished. Tracking is done, but we have a ton of mixing left to do. I don't know when we'll be able to share the final product with everybody, but hopefully it will be very soon. You wouldn't necessarily think of Wales as the recording mecca of the world, but it's so isolated, I guess a lot of people come here to "Chill-ax" and do their thing. (If it wasn't for the ghosts, I'd love to record a whole record here. Next time I'll have to get a different room : P ) No more than a mile away is another studio...Rockfield Studio. I'm told this is where Queen recorded Bohemian Rhapsody. Hey...how much more historical can you get than that?! We drive right by the place on the way to and from our studio, but it's a private drive and it says they have security cameras. Drat!

Yesterday we went in to the tiny little town of Monmouth. Very tiny and quaint. It's biggest claim to fame is Henry V was born here. There a statue of him in the towne centre. Later on we visited Tintern Abbey, which is simply amazing. Construction started on it in the 1100s and conmennced during the 13th century. Unlike York Minster, which is still in use, Tintern Abbey is a ruin. I guess is just went in to disuse for whatever reason and it deteriorated. Most of it has not roof. There are signs all around with artist renderings of what it used to look like. All of Wales is just indescribably beautiful, but at the same time, not unlike parts of the east coast of the US. Parts of Eastern Pennsylvania and up-state New York. Again, they have shades of green here you would never find in a box of Crayolas. Sometimes the scenes don't seem real. We saw a row of trees yesterday in the distance someone said they thought looked like cardboard standups. While we're on the subject of nature...the animals! I've never seen so many sheep in my life. Up in the hills, along the side of the road. The birds are different, too. They sing many songs I've never heard before. At dinner last night, there was a pen of little guys in the side yard. A bunch of chickens, a duck, a goose, bunnies and even what we think was a boar. He was huge and sort of lumbered around slowly. The chickens circled around him like his posse. Naturally, he was covered with bristles...you know...like the boar bristle hair brushes?! : )

I'm very excited to say we're going to get to take a tour of Abbey Road studios tomorrow! We onle have one day to see everything in London so it's going to be a busy one. Picadilly Circus, the London Eye, Wimbledon (which starts very soon). "Look kids, Big Ben...Paliament." Also, the World Cup starts on Friday! Just like in LA when the Lakers are in the playoffs and everyone has the flags on there cars, tons of people here have England flags on their cars. Very common for shop owners to have "Go England" in their front window along with flags and banners. Most bars and pubs have "Watch It Here" signs outside. They even sell memorabilia at McDonalds! What they call "kits" (uniforms...shirt and shorts). They sell mini kits of all 11 players on the national team with their name and number on the back...complete with suction cup for your car window. Only £1.99! Collect 'em all! : P

Hmm...we're still not quite ready to go. What else can I tell you. Did I tell you about all the Beatles sites we saw in Liverpool? I didn't take the official tour on the Magical Mystery Tour Bus, but we did drive around the city on the way out. John Lennon's childhood home. Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields...these are all real places and we got pictures to proove it! They also have what is called a DUCK tour...they have similar tours in Boston. These DUCKs are converted WWII military vehicles that can drive on the road and then just go right in the water, switch on the motor and curise away. Theirs is painted yellow and dubbed "The Yellow DUCK Marine." Naturally.

What else? In Liverpool we stayed in Albert Dock which is right on the River Mersey. Woo boy, the wind! It just whips though there and right through you. I have not been nearly blown over by wind like this since walking back from class behind Hendricks Chapel in Syracuse.

Alright...gotta go. I guess I'll see and talk to you all again very soon...State-side.

Cheers!

Studio - Day 2 (Sunday)

Hello again,
I'm starting to feel a little spoiled by this easy internet access. I had all but given up on blogging before we got here : )

It's another unbelieveably beautiful day in Rockfield, Monmouth, Wales. This studio and house has an amazing history dating "officially" back to the 17th century. According to the brochure, "records show that the building has occupied this site for much longer." Apart from the studio, the house has nine bedrooms. From the brochure: "A period house with renowned recording studios in delightful riverside setting." Out back and down a little hill runs the River Monnow. At night, it's the only thing you can hear when you're outside.

Depending on who you ask, some might say the house is haunted! I personally don't believe in the supernatural, but unless someone is pulling a little prank, I must admit I'm stumped. Lucky me...all the fun stuff is happening in my room. At least 2 times yesterday (twice discovered by me personally and one other time by another) the bed I'm sleeping in moved about 2 feet away from the wall and diagonally into the room. The first time I discovered it, the wardrobe cabinet was also open. Now, I'm a very logical person, but other than somebody joking around, I have not explanation. The bed is heavy. There's no chance a breeze could have done it and there's certainly no seismic activity here. As we go on about the course of the day, if I run upstairs to grab something, that's when I find it. Broad daylight. Spooky! : )

Now that we're on the topic of daylight, I don't recall if I mentioned this yet, but it doesn't get dark here until after 10PM! It gets light equally early. Certainly not a good thing for the jet lagged, but I think we're all used to it by now.

The studio itself has been host to loads of the biggest and best bands in the world: Black Sabbath, Robert Plant, Glen Tipton (Judas Priest...that's for you Rick) not to mention Oasis. This is the cover of Oasis' first single, "Supersonic". Those huge doors with the x in the circle are part of the main isloation area at Monnow Valley Recording Studios. That's the room we're in:

We pretty much finished drums and bass yesterday. Today, it's on to more guitars and vocals.

Bye for now!

Studio - Day 1 (Saturday)

Hello again! Sorry for such a long absence. Everything is going sooo well, but we have had bad luck finding any internet places. Right now we are in Wales and, omg, it's BEAUTIFUL! It is bright and sunny...not a cloud in the sky! Can you believe it! It's really hot here today...enough to make a couple of blokes from Los Angeles sweat. They say we're in the midst of a heatwave. Very rare to say the least. It's really miraculous, but we have not been hardcore rained on yet and we've been here for over a week now. I have not used my umbrella once. The sun has shone every single day.

Lets back up a few days. After I wrote last on Monday, we had our shows in Liverpool. The first was at a little place called Lennon's Bar. OK, hold on...let me paint the scene a bit first. Liverpool. First of all, know that people here have quite a rivalry...the north and the south. It's pretty much London vs. the rest of the country, which they call "The North." On the road signs, it ever says to " The North". Anyway...Liverpool is a port and it's very looked down upon. When they show the weather on TV, they don't even list the city. A lot of people told us how rough it was, but we loved it! Let much just say, we have been to far rougher places. It's been compared to New Orleans and even Las Vegas. Though I've never been, I'd have to say it's pretty accurate. People come here to have a good time. I can't count how many bachelorette parties I saw. They often had matching shirts they made up for themselves. One afternoon, I order some fish and chips in the hotel bar to take back up to my room and while I was waiting, not one but TWO large bachelorette groups came it, clad in matchin shirts. One was "Jayne's Chocolate Chicks" and the other "Mandy's Hen Party." It was quite a sight. I asked the bartender it if was common and he said it actually was for this time a year. Like I said, it would be like heading to Vegas.

The entire night life center is called "The Cavern Quarter" ( like The French Quarter). This is based entirely around The Cavern Club, home of the Beatles. All these clubs are on Mathew Street which is closed to auto traffic. There are blocks and blocks of shops and clubs. Day or night, the streets are packed and it's really cool. During the day, the shops are packed with folks. It's like the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica on Steroids. At night, The Cavern quarter is brimming with energy. Clubs with the windows wide open and people hanging out. Brilliant! It gets rather cold at night, but for the locals, this is warm! It's their summer time so, naturally, they're wearing next to nothing ; ) The other reason is, even though it's cold outside, it is INTOLLERABLY hot inside the clubs...especially The Cavern Club. Smoking is legal in all clubs, though they say that's coming to an end next year.

OK...so...The Cavern Club...to get in, you have to go down 3 flights of stairs and it's hotter than...well....it's really hot. Plus the smoke...

K...now...the shows. Ou first show on Monday was at Lennon's Bar at 7:15. It went well...had a few friends from My Space there. Next, we walked up the street for our show at The world famous Cavern Club! We were on the large of the two stages in the back. This is not the real, official Cavern Club where the Beatles were discovered (that was torn down), but this is the honorary Mecca. The front stage is recreated to look pretty much exactly as the original did. IT's a long narrow hallway with a stone half dome behind the stage. The are monitors in the front so people can see whats going on on the back stage.

We took the stage at 9:30. The sounds was sooooo great! We have never had a better sounding room. Kudos to the Cavern Staff. From the moment we were announced, it was on. Being able to hear one's self boosts the confidence and moral. We had a few people when we started, but as we played, it got packed! People gradually heard us and saw us rocking away on the monitors and they gradually made their way to the back. It was standing room only. Actually, people were spilling backwards into the hallway. We had people dancing and loving ever minute of it. We did an encore and dedicated it to Mr. David Bash, the CEO of the festival: a very rare beatles song from Rubber Soul called "The Word." Kind of cheesy, but we had to do it! He loved it, naturally ; )

But but but but wait! It gets better! Moments after we got off stage...as we were signing CDs for our new found fans...the organizers came to us with an emergency: a band had not shown up and they were panicing...they asked us to play another set back down the street at Lennon's bar...immeditately! How could we say no?! We grabbed our axes and headed down the street to Lennon's followed not too far behind by a half dozen of our new fans! : ) Good times.

The next morning, we set off for York. We had not planned on going there, but we added a show at the last minute...more on York later. I'll just leave you with this. Breathtaking. The history of York dates back to pre-roman time. Vikings, Edward the 1st...you name it. The city center is completely surround by a huge stone wall! Also among York's main attractions is York Minster. I'm told it's the worlds largest gothic cathedral. We stayed here until yesterday morning (Friday).

Not to skim over them, but here we go: The shows in Barnsley and Huddersfield were brilliant as well. The reaction we get keeps getting better and better at every single show! We're nearly completely out of CDs. Barnsley and Huddersfield are tiny little towns with frantastic people. Enough said. A band from Los Angeles coming to their little nook of the world is news they will be talking about for the months and years to come. No joke. Don't worry...we have EVERYTHING on film. All the shows. All the fan reactions. I don't mean to gloss over those two shows...they were aour best two yet, as far as fan reactions go...I need to run though. Gotta get into the studio and get to work!

How this tides you over for now. We are all so tired, but really energized at the same time. So much to say, so little time. So much more to do in the next few days.

Thank you for reading. Hope you are all as well as we are! : )

Cheers!!

Finally! Ok...I'm in Liverpool and I finally have opportunity to blog. We arrived here on friday. we were told the only place in town with internet access was a mcdonalds. once we got there however, it proved to be quite a challenge to use. you have to purchase prepaid unit cards from the counter...30 minutes for £1. The terminals are not very user friendly though. there are no mice...that is to say there is no mouse at the computer. the keyboard is inside the counter. the keys are metal and they protrude from a flat shelf. since there's no mouse, you have to use your finger on the screen to move the cursor to click on things. You can imagine, at mcdonalds, along with all the greasy food, what the screens must look like. Blech! (we have lots of purell). That was Friday...it's now noon on Monday, the 29th. Memorial day for you, a "
"bank holiday" for the folks over here. I'm on the second floor of a mall outside a Virgin Megastore and across from a "nosh n coffee" coffee stand.

(Before I go on, please forgive me for not using capital letters. the shift key is half the size on this keyboard and many other puctuation marks are in different places than i'm used to. It's a million times better than micky d's, but it's still no treat) Now that i've gotten that out of the way, let's move back a couple of days to when we actually arrived in the UK.

Thursday, 24th May -
Our flight left Newark the night before atabout 7 PM and we were scheduled to land at 7AM. It's 5 hours difference from NY to London. as the sun started to come up, I was looking forward to seeing the isles from the sky. there was little more to see that clouds though, i'm afraid. once we got below the clouds it was quite an amazing sight. everything here is soooo lush and green. it's really indiscribable. i've never seen anything like it. we're told it's because they got so much rain this winter....one of the worst winters in the past 20 years or so. I'm starting to understand why the Brits like "football" so much. It's perfect "pitch" as they say.

I had no problems coming through customs thankfully. we made our way to the rental car place. We have a Peugoet mini van. it's quite spacious, but with 5 people and 5 people's bags, it was already quite full before we left the airport. We had to drive from London/Gatwick Airport into London (at rush hour) to pick up some gear (my guitar amp and a few drums). We got a bit lost. city streets are not labeled very well. there are no street signs as we know them. if streets are labeled at all, they are on the sides of buildings or on fences about waist high. we finally got on the road out of London on our way to Sheffield at at about 2:30 PM. Our sound check was scheduled for 6:00 and we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. A this point, we had been awake since 2:00AM Wednedsay morning and we still had a show to play. we arrived in Sheffield at close to 7PM. We mad a few pit stops along the M1 (highway). The rest stops are immaculate in comparison to the ones in the US. My favorite had a Marks & Spencer in it, where I looked for Jackie's tea! It was only a mini one though so they didn't have a full selection. (Marks & Spencer is like a department store with a whole foods or trader joe's in it as well). Out back of this particular rest stop was a pond full of goldfish. A few people were tossing the bread crumbs. they were zooming around in little schools.

So anyway...the show went quite well, all things considered. Thank you to Hayley for booking us! Cheers to "seaweed biscuit". Th venue was called "D'n'R Live" The ceiling was very low and this would proove to be a hindrence later as I hit the headstock of my guitar on it a few times...can't stop the rock! : P You'd think I would have learned my lesson after a few times, but I didn't and I launched into a jump. I promptly hit my head on the ceiling! Luckily there was some sort of padded sound proofing so it didn't really hurt, it was just surprising. The crowd at the show was interesting. They had a bit of an LA vibe...too cool to have a good time. They were attentive, but not overly boisterous. It was hard to tell if any of our MySpace friends showed up, but I did notice the place cleared out after we finished. It was the most pack it was all night for our set. I took that to be a good sign. I s'pose I could have taken it as they didn't like us, since nobody introduced themselves as knowing us from MySpace, but since they stayed until we were done and didn't file out early, I'll opt for the former assment. At our next show, we're going to ask if anyone knows us from MySpace.

After the show, I stuck around till the night was over. Talked to some of the locals. Even signed an autograph. (Cheers, Tammii ). We became quick friends with the sound guy. he even said he's going to try to come to our show in Barnsley on Wednesday. It's just down the road from Sheffield. At the end of the time, he told me to select my beverage and he was going to teach me to drink like a "northerner." I chose Guiness, foolishly. You see, Northerns chug! I took down 7/8ths of the beer, which I though was admirable, and I only stopped because I saw him stop, thinking there was no WAY he could have consumed a Guiness that quickly, but he had! He was sporting the largest Guiness mustache I've ever seen...way bigger than any "got milk" mustache and he wore it like a badge : P Good guy. Hope to see him on Wednesday. Perhaps a rematch is in order...this time I'll do it with a lighter beer...a Carling perhaps : )

Greetings Blog-ees

Hello everyone,

The purpose of this blog is to share with you what may well be the most exciting and life altering experience of my life. In about 12 hours, I shall depart, along with my Rush Hour Soul band mates, to the land affectionately referred to as "The United Kingdom!" Here, over the course of about 2 1/2 weeks, we will perform 6 shows, record a new and improved version of our track "A Talent For Loving" at a world-class studio, shoot a music video as well as meet with various record exec. types-uh! We're flying into London then treking to places including, but not limited to, Sheffield (home of Arctic Monkeys and Def Leppard), Liverpool (playing at The Cavern Club, where the Beatles were discovered), Huddersfield and Barnsley (both in the Yorkshire/Leeds area) and then back to London.

This is just a teaser blog, if you will. Much more to come. In the meantime, here is our rough itineray:

Wednesday, 24th May - 7:00AM - Depart Los Angeles
Thursday, 25th May - 7:00AM - Arrive London
Thursday, 25th May - Evening - SHOW - Sheffield, UK
Friday, 26th May - Travel to Liverpool
Monday, 29th May - 7:00 PM - SHOW - Lennon's - Liverpool, UK
Monday, 29th May - 9:00 PM - SHOW - The Cavern Club, Liverpool, UK
Wednesday, 31th May - Travel to Leeds/Yorkshire
Wednesday, 31st May - SHOW - Barnsley, UK
Friday, 2nd June - SHOW - Huddersfield, UK
Friday, 2nd June - Travel to Wales
Saturday, 3rd June-Monday, 5th, June - RECORD - www.MonnowValleyStudio.com
Tuesday, 6th June - Travel to London
Wednesday, 7th June - Video Shoot - The Bedford, London, UK
Wednesady, 7th June - SHOW - 9:00 PM - The Bedford (www.thebedford.co.uk)

Check out www.rushhoursoul.com and www.myspace.com/rushhoursoul for updates as well.

Talk to you soon!

Bryan