3 Gigs, 3 Venues, 3 Homes

And we're back! Now that our gigs are finished we're feeling a bit more relaxed and able to devote some attention to blogs, emails, postcards and movies. We saw Iron Man last night. Fun.
 
GIGS
 
Well, there's so much to say. We had our third and final gig on Thursday night - a double header with local singer/songwriter Farrell Spence. She was probably the best thing we've heard since we've been in Canada and she certainly put on a great show. We found her through myspace and she set up the gig and did all the hard booking work (thank you Farrell!) while we did some postering (in the rain, again - it always rains when we're postering). She had a lovely band too - great lead guitarist who really hit the spot with gentle, subtle licks, beautiful viola/violin/banjo player (from Brisbane originally) and lovely backing vocalist providing that lovely americana sound.
 
Our set went well - we pulled an oldie - Back for Good - out of the bag for one of our fans (Pricey) which was fun and had lots of fun with the gypsy-flavoured numbers. And in a pretty sweet turn of events, there was a Ukranian guy there who gave us great props for the eastern european gypsy stylings we were throwing at the crowd. So there you go. Ukranian props. In your face, Russia.
 
Oh and Farrell is playing with the Be Good Tanyas next month. I nearly wet myself. This is Jane by the way. Massive BGT fan. See? I even shorten it to BGT. Classic fan hallmark. We're going to miss them. Apparently they're down south at the moment in the States. You hear that sound? That's the sound of my heart breaking. Maybe I'll write a song about it.
 
The New Music West festival ended pretty well for us - the Australian Export Showcase gig was great - REALLY great sound (it's like a great big hot bubble bath for relaxin') and we got an enthusiastic response from the crowd. We also had various industry folk come down to check us out, some of whom have expressed an interest in talking further so we'll see how that pans out. We were also lucky enough to have friends there who have top shelf photographic equipment and talent to boot so check out the results in our 'Look' section. New Found Frequency put the night together - 6 bands on the bill with a 7th opening the night during the VIP party (Clare Reynolds - mentioned in previous blog - very cool). NFF also recorded the event and had a complete legend called Mark taking care of the recording in a tour-van out the back. Mark has worked with Dido, Avril Lavigne etc so kinda knows what he's doing. So, we snuck back there later in the night for a listen and we're excited - NFF will make it available to stream on their website soon so when it's up you can listen to the entire set, put on a cowboy hat and pretend you were there.
 
The first gig at the Libra Room was really good fun, and it was great as a bit of a warm-up gig for the Australian Export Showcase which was the next night, as we hadn't had a hit out since arriving in this lovely city Vancouver. The line up was great - our new friends from North Fitzroy Osh10, The Tiger and Me, Canadian band Kensington Prairie who were lovely and the super hilarious Icelandic band Sprengjuhollin. We were kind of expecting a Sigur Ros type outfit and well, we were much mistaken. These guys were pop rock harking back to 60s Brit pop. They put on a cracking show and had the most outrageously funny banter. And their bass player, who was awesome, sweated more than a Bikram yogi, i swear to god. He was dripping.
 
So... good gig action.
 
The conference part of the NMW festival was interesting - but merely confirmed our suspicions about the music industry - there's no silver bullet. There's no sure-fire formula to follow for success. There are two constants - you need to have talent (be good) and have a willingness to work hard. Other than that, all the different record labels and industry reps differed on what they're looking for, what's 'hot' right now and what will be the hot trends for the future. So, it seems we're in a very subjective industry. Our approach hasn't really changed - do what you do, do it well, work hard, and enjoy it. It's not rocket surgery.
 
On a less music related topic, without wanting to drive anyone away with excrutiating detail on the minutia of daily events, I will simply say that Vancouver is great and I recommend the pants off it. We don't really feel like something of a foreigner (if I can be so egotistical as to quote myself), and the culture shock has been more a culture gentle tap on the shoulder. Beautiful mountains, great city, lovely people, good good good. Lots of bums, which I think we've touched on (in previous blogs, not physically touched the bums), but everyone seems to get along. We've also been very fortunate to know several generous people who have been very hospitable and let us live in their houses. So thanks to Wendy, Naomi, Roberta, and in future tense, Pricey.
 
That will be all for today. Would love to stick around, but I have to go and make us some coffees in the coffee machine we have at our disposal, in the beautiful mansion that we're currently staying. Hookers and blow later... Is he joking?
 
Good night, and good luck.
 
From both of us, at various stages, in no particular order.
Quality nice.

 

No Beatnicks. We were kicked out. See next photo. Pricey.
 

Wendy! And this is where we stayed for 4 days after moving out of Wendy's sweet apartment - second from the right, complete with Canadian flag.