Welcome one and all! Wherever you're tuning in from, I hope this finds you rosy cheeked and feeling decidedly upbeat as we gently nestle ourselves into the palms of Summer.
Well It's not often that you get to play a gig almost slap bang outside your front door, but that my friends is what we did- as part of the Haslemere Fringe festival we recently played a half hour set of our latest tunes on the opening night and rocked our little sox off!!
As we've been mainly writing as a three piece for a while, we enlisted the ample talents of Mr. Lee Crane and Mr. Martin Luklinski on guitars, with Mr. Jon Wills doing us proud on the drums- thank you guys, you were great to work with and it was fab to hear the songs come alive! xx. I have to say, I loved the whole vibe and the buzz you get from playing live - there was a really good response to the songs too which is what it's all about really. I'd LOVE to do more, but we've still got a lot of recording to do, so need to not get too side tracked just now.
On a personal note ( although I kind of think that most of what I write is personal ), joy upon joy, I 've just become an Auntie to a beautiful baby girl that I will meet for the Ist time next weekend- can't wait xx Apart from that, a spot of house moving is imminent for us, plus a whopper trip to the States in September- Happy days!!
Speak soon with album updates
Peace like a river
Mel, Ian and Lee xxx
Monday, 13 June 2011
Friday, 31 December 2010
FAREWELL FAIR DECADE! ....
Hi all!
How's your Christmases been then? I trust that you have been ever-so nicely swept along in a delicious fur- lined flume of festivities (try saying that with a gut full of egg nog) and are now poised to enter head first into that gleaming pool of opportunity, otherwise known as the Yearus Newbus.
In all honesty, I find this exact point of the year somewhat bewildering- you know exactly what you're supposed to do-strap on all the joviality you can muster, stagger arm in arm with it round the streets only to round it all off with a hearty plunge into that most communal of pastimes -THE BIG COUNTDOWN. But somehow you just don't want to- or want to HAVE to. You don't know what you're supposed to feel, but you know it should be more than you actually do. "Bah humbug! and lighten up while you're at it" I hear you cry! Nay, it's not as bad as I'm making out, and I do enjoy the very fact that a brand New Year means-well, a brand New Year. It was strangely comforting to read that Mr. R Brand also has issues with this area of life- all I know is, I could probably keep an analyst ( of the psycho type ) happily employed for a good few hours.
The latter part of the year has been a largely non-musical affair, mainly due to economics- Ah that old chestnut- the putting of foodstuffs on one's table. I have been working under the guise of Mel- of - all- trades, whilst keeping the Master-of-none firmly hand cuffed at the back of my closet- closet? I've never used that word- why the savage break with tradition now? I have temporarily been operating in what I can only describe as the wrong skin, but have been able to endure this epidermal inapropriation in a semi- optimistic fashion, knowing that the bank would soon become my new best friend and buying loaves with yellow stickers on would soon be a thing of the past. Thankfully there is no law that states one is forbidden to dream whilst wearing such ill fitting attire, so dream I have been. If it all pans out right, I am hoping that this brief separation from all things creative will have worked wonders in the old artistry department. Ah yes, perhaps it's all been part of life's richest of plans- just want to make sure I'm there with a bucket to get some of that nice creamy bit off the top from time to time!
Crikey! I can see I need to wind this up cos my blog is rapidly turning into a blook! Suffice to say that Ian has ended his year recovering from a small op involving a badly behaved Gall Bladder, and Lee has turned into a butterfly! ( more later ). Work on the album starts again in earnest in the next week or two- we'll keep you up to date with our progress.
HAPPY NEW YEAR wherever you are!
Peace like a river
Mel, Ian and butterfly man xxx
How's your Christmases been then? I trust that you have been ever-so nicely swept along in a delicious fur- lined flume of festivities (try saying that with a gut full of egg nog) and are now poised to enter head first into that gleaming pool of opportunity, otherwise known as the Yearus Newbus.
In all honesty, I find this exact point of the year somewhat bewildering- you know exactly what you're supposed to do-strap on all the joviality you can muster, stagger arm in arm with it round the streets only to round it all off with a hearty plunge into that most communal of pastimes -THE BIG COUNTDOWN. But somehow you just don't want to- or want to HAVE to. You don't know what you're supposed to feel, but you know it should be more than you actually do. "Bah humbug! and lighten up while you're at it" I hear you cry! Nay, it's not as bad as I'm making out, and I do enjoy the very fact that a brand New Year means-well, a brand New Year. It was strangely comforting to read that Mr. R Brand also has issues with this area of life- all I know is, I could probably keep an analyst ( of the psycho type ) happily employed for a good few hours.
The latter part of the year has been a largely non-musical affair, mainly due to economics- Ah that old chestnut- the putting of foodstuffs on one's table. I have been working under the guise of Mel- of - all- trades, whilst keeping the Master-of-none firmly hand cuffed at the back of my closet- closet? I've never used that word- why the savage break with tradition now? I have temporarily been operating in what I can only describe as the wrong skin, but have been able to endure this epidermal inapropriation in a semi- optimistic fashion, knowing that the bank would soon become my new best friend and buying loaves with yellow stickers on would soon be a thing of the past. Thankfully there is no law that states one is forbidden to dream whilst wearing such ill fitting attire, so dream I have been. If it all pans out right, I am hoping that this brief separation from all things creative will have worked wonders in the old artistry department. Ah yes, perhaps it's all been part of life's richest of plans- just want to make sure I'm there with a bucket to get some of that nice creamy bit off the top from time to time!
Crikey! I can see I need to wind this up cos my blog is rapidly turning into a blook! Suffice to say that Ian has ended his year recovering from a small op involving a badly behaved Gall Bladder, and Lee has turned into a butterfly! ( more later ). Work on the album starts again in earnest in the next week or two- we'll keep you up to date with our progress.
HAPPY NEW YEAR wherever you are!
Peace like a river
Mel, Ian and butterfly man xxx
Saturday, 11 September 2010
SUMMER'S END.....
Hey troops! Hope this finds you well and in a state of utter perkyness!- just thought a quick catch up from the Sunnies was long overdue, and as I find myself with a few delicious moments to spare, I thought it best to put them to good use.
The Summer of 2010 has been a hugely social affair for us, full to the brim with family gatherings, celebrations, and shindigs of every description!
It all kicked off in a flurry of romance with my bro announcing his engagement and imminent wedding- he's getting hitched next Saturday to the lovely Nita, and I have truly not seen him this settled or happy for years- a definite case of meeting one's match I'd say.
Next my exotic, super charged dynamo of a Mexican cousin pays us a visit with her two equally zesty kids and we hit the tourist scene as if London were the only city still alive. I mean we did the lot- The Changing Of The Guard, London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Harrods, King's road, etc., etc.. A complete whirl wind of culture washed down with a sizeable slurp of materialism- wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Suffice to say, all manner of other interesting bods have crossed our threshold this Summer and its' reminded me just how important friends are- without them you are nowhere.
The upshot of all this gallivanting is that our song writing has slowed up a little during the Summer months, but I'm happy to report that Sunsoma have now reconvened and a vibrant new song entitled 'HEART SPACE' has been written and completed in demo form. This song holds particular significance to me as I've been trying to write it for years!! A number of sincere and heart felt attempts have been previously made to cajole it into something worthy of putting on the album, but to no avail. It was always nearly there but not quite.
Now, at last, I can say it is quite there. I love it, it fulfils me and I am happy-and even if no one else ever got to hear it I would still be happy. What more can I say? You WILL of course get to hear it, I just wrote that for dramatic effect!
We said our farewells to Lee as his train sped away into the dark, Pompey- bound night, and Ian and I are now sitting here in our loft mulling over the day's creative offerings.
This time next week my brother Ru will be married to the girl who stole his heart, Ian will be chilling with a large beer after having successfully delivered his best man speech and I'll be just enjoying every moment of everything with the people I love the most x
Cheers all!
Mel xxx.
The Summer of 2010 has been a hugely social affair for us, full to the brim with family gatherings, celebrations, and shindigs of every description!
It all kicked off in a flurry of romance with my bro announcing his engagement and imminent wedding- he's getting hitched next Saturday to the lovely Nita, and I have truly not seen him this settled or happy for years- a definite case of meeting one's match I'd say.
Next my exotic, super charged dynamo of a Mexican cousin pays us a visit with her two equally zesty kids and we hit the tourist scene as if London were the only city still alive. I mean we did the lot- The Changing Of The Guard, London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Harrods, King's road, etc., etc.. A complete whirl wind of culture washed down with a sizeable slurp of materialism- wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Suffice to say, all manner of other interesting bods have crossed our threshold this Summer and its' reminded me just how important friends are- without them you are nowhere.
The upshot of all this gallivanting is that our song writing has slowed up a little during the Summer months, but I'm happy to report that Sunsoma have now reconvened and a vibrant new song entitled 'HEART SPACE' has been written and completed in demo form. This song holds particular significance to me as I've been trying to write it for years!! A number of sincere and heart felt attempts have been previously made to cajole it into something worthy of putting on the album, but to no avail. It was always nearly there but not quite.
Now, at last, I can say it is quite there. I love it, it fulfils me and I am happy-and even if no one else ever got to hear it I would still be happy. What more can I say? You WILL of course get to hear it, I just wrote that for dramatic effect!
We said our farewells to Lee as his train sped away into the dark, Pompey- bound night, and Ian and I are now sitting here in our loft mulling over the day's creative offerings.
This time next week my brother Ru will be married to the girl who stole his heart, Ian will be chilling with a large beer after having successfully delivered his best man speech and I'll be just enjoying every moment of everything with the people I love the most x
Cheers all!
Mel xxx.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
IT'S GOT LEGS....
Well there we have it, suns have set, moons have waned, volcanos and politicians alike have spewed disruptive matter from their mouths, songs have been finished and wine has very definitely been tasted- yep, recently us three downed tools and zipped off for an afternoon of sampling the delights of the humble grape and supped the lovely stuff it gets transformed into once a bit of squishing and bottling has taken place.
Among other things we learned that when you do the posh bit and swill the wine round in the glass before taking an almighty sniff, if the thin layer of wine that is left around the glass begins to form small drips or tears, these are known as 'legs' which basically means the alcoholic content is more potent and the flavour of the wine will be sweeter- there you go, one of those useful little nuggets of trivia to keep up yer sleeve and fox 'em with at your next pub quiz!!
The band experienced a wee bit of drama recently as quite late one evening, Lee and myself were revelling in the joy of having just finished our latest song SPIN ME FASTER, when our chuffed-ness was swiftly cut short due to Ian needing to get to A and E sooner than, well, immediately.
He was in excruciating pain and I felt utterly powerless to help ease the situation- all I could do was squeeze his arm which he later assured me was a very important thing to have done.
I won't go into heaps of detail, but it appears the poor chap has accrued a substantial but unwelcome gathering of gall stones and his body no longer wishes to house them. Off with their heads I say! A routine op is imminent and Ian will be rid of these crystallised critters in a jiffy. Storing them in a jar as some kind of scientific memento is however, plain wrong- Spicey please note.
Lee has been working hard organising a photo shoot for our album cover, ( legs are involved, but not the alcoholic kind )so looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours, and we have just two more songs to knock into shape before we are ready to record properly... I am seeing that light!
Hope all is well with you good folk
Speak soon
Mel xxx.
Among other things we learned that when you do the posh bit and swill the wine round in the glass before taking an almighty sniff, if the thin layer of wine that is left around the glass begins to form small drips or tears, these are known as 'legs' which basically means the alcoholic content is more potent and the flavour of the wine will be sweeter- there you go, one of those useful little nuggets of trivia to keep up yer sleeve and fox 'em with at your next pub quiz!!
The band experienced a wee bit of drama recently as quite late one evening, Lee and myself were revelling in the joy of having just finished our latest song SPIN ME FASTER, when our chuffed-ness was swiftly cut short due to Ian needing to get to A and E sooner than, well, immediately.
He was in excruciating pain and I felt utterly powerless to help ease the situation- all I could do was squeeze his arm which he later assured me was a very important thing to have done.
I won't go into heaps of detail, but it appears the poor chap has accrued a substantial but unwelcome gathering of gall stones and his body no longer wishes to house them. Off with their heads I say! A routine op is imminent and Ian will be rid of these crystallised critters in a jiffy. Storing them in a jar as some kind of scientific memento is however, plain wrong- Spicey please note.
Lee has been working hard organising a photo shoot for our album cover, ( legs are involved, but not the alcoholic kind )so looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours, and we have just two more songs to knock into shape before we are ready to record properly... I am seeing that light!
Hope all is well with you good folk
Speak soon
Mel xxx.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
CHOCS AWAY!
Hello chaps, hope you're all feeling topped up after the annual Easter break -We have just returned from a welcome stint of house sitting and undoubtedly enjoyed all the benefits that a change of scene brings. This past week saw a satisfying mix of song writing, enjoying simple country pleasures and chilling out with the ones we love- Ah, a little slice of paradise! Talking of slices, I have to mention, Ian utterly excelled himself in the kitchen department to a magnitude previously unexposed, and served up some properly good band nosh to help keep that inspiration flowing- we owe ya! xxx
As is customary and always a profound pleasure, Lee joined us for most of the time and almost from the minute we'd plugged all the gear in and before those peachy little valves had a chance to fully warm up, we found ourselves inspired with a new song- it really was one of those "where did that come from?" moments! The lyrics still need crafting in places, but it's all gloriously there and has a chorus that to my mind does more than it says on the tin! I am discovering, that you must seize inspiration when it strikes and not worry too much about the other song that you're still in the middle of- you can fix that one later! It was a joyous moment when we realised something fresh and unexpected was starting to take shape right before our eyes and as I sit here days later, I am still savouring it. Oh how I love this art form!!
Last week we were finally able to smash open our band piggy bank and splash out on a much needed laptop for our imminent recordings- Oh joy! It is everything that a shiny new piece of technology should be and will give Lee hours of fun!
We have an exciting piece of news as we are on the brink of signing a publishing deal for one of our songs-LITTLE WIRES- and we've also just recently met a top producer and super nice guy who is going to be part of the mixing process, and give us input where he can as we start to properly lay the tracks down-there is now a real sense of this thing gathering momentum and it's all moving in a very likeable direction!
Have a good one!
Laters
Mel xxx
As is customary and always a profound pleasure, Lee joined us for most of the time and almost from the minute we'd plugged all the gear in and before those peachy little valves had a chance to fully warm up, we found ourselves inspired with a new song- it really was one of those "where did that come from?" moments! The lyrics still need crafting in places, but it's all gloriously there and has a chorus that to my mind does more than it says on the tin! I am discovering, that you must seize inspiration when it strikes and not worry too much about the other song that you're still in the middle of- you can fix that one later! It was a joyous moment when we realised something fresh and unexpected was starting to take shape right before our eyes and as I sit here days later, I am still savouring it. Oh how I love this art form!!
Last week we were finally able to smash open our band piggy bank and splash out on a much needed laptop for our imminent recordings- Oh joy! It is everything that a shiny new piece of technology should be and will give Lee hours of fun!
We have an exciting piece of news as we are on the brink of signing a publishing deal for one of our songs-LITTLE WIRES- and we've also just recently met a top producer and super nice guy who is going to be part of the mixing process, and give us input where he can as we start to properly lay the tracks down-there is now a real sense of this thing gathering momentum and it's all moving in a very likeable direction!
Have a good one!
Laters
Mel xxx
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
AM I BARKING???
Hey chaps! Just as the darkness starts to tuck itself into the beady black night sky and I find myself suitably ensconsed on my swivel chair, I thought I'd tune in with a mini mid week muse or two! Hope you geezers and gals are having yourselves a bonnie and rosy-cheeked little week so far.
Where to start then.....I have to say, I find myself to be a curious being at times- I am I believe for the most part, a well adjusted, mild mannered, law abiding, rational-( except when battling that old chestnut-ARTISTICNESS!) I try to be both kind and patient to the young and the not so, I floss, recycle and strive to hit my 5 a day, and yet somehow this week I deleted all the above in one simple act of insanity- For some reason, I thought it would be fine to put a large, highly effervescent vitamin C tablet (having seen the instructions CLEARLY state that it must be dissolved in water) into my mouth and wondered why I was surprised when my head nearly blew off! For those of you who remember space dust, it was like that but times 100. That's one thing not to do again then.
Next day I decide to cycle to a job, off- road- stylee through the woods in an attempt to stay fit and at least make an effort to chip away at my carbon footprint. With a back pack full of " I'm not that heavy, oh yes you are" tins of paint, a boggy terrain that any mud wrestler would have rejoiced over, and break pads that-er-didn't, it was never going to be a breeze. I must have arrived at the job looking like a complete loon. Thankfully, the client was delightfully eccentric herself, and told me that everything was "marvellous darling" several times. Moral? You guessed it, I shall stick to the roads until the earth has had a chance to dry out, and possibly carrying less paint would be a good option too.
The Sunnies had a rare Saturday off last week as Lee had a family Do to attend, so Ian and I took a trip to the movies and saw the new Alice in Wonderland- loved it loved it loved it! So wildly creative and Mr. Depp just keeps notching them up doesn't he!
Go and see it my friends.
However, the band is now back to it and continuing to craft our newest song A MILLION PIECES- at the moment that definitive chorus is still eluding me and I find myself seeing plenty of trees but no wood. This is where I feel least comfortable and have to fight off those irritating little demons that love to perch on my shoulder and whisper dibilitating falsities in my ear. Nah! you can take a running jump the lot of yer- I can and I WILL get there and the song will be the best it was ever meant to be. And when I've got there and it's all sitting pretty, you'll be the first to know! Tomorrow we meet again for another crack at it, so who knows...
Faithful followers I salute you!
Speak soon Mel xxx
Where to start then.....I have to say, I find myself to be a curious being at times- I am I believe for the most part, a well adjusted, mild mannered, law abiding, rational-( except when battling that old chestnut-ARTISTICNESS!) I try to be both kind and patient to the young and the not so, I floss, recycle and strive to hit my 5 a day, and yet somehow this week I deleted all the above in one simple act of insanity- For some reason, I thought it would be fine to put a large, highly effervescent vitamin C tablet (having seen the instructions CLEARLY state that it must be dissolved in water) into my mouth and wondered why I was surprised when my head nearly blew off! For those of you who remember space dust, it was like that but times 100. That's one thing not to do again then.
Next day I decide to cycle to a job, off- road- stylee through the woods in an attempt to stay fit and at least make an effort to chip away at my carbon footprint. With a back pack full of " I'm not that heavy, oh yes you are" tins of paint, a boggy terrain that any mud wrestler would have rejoiced over, and break pads that-er-didn't, it was never going to be a breeze. I must have arrived at the job looking like a complete loon. Thankfully, the client was delightfully eccentric herself, and told me that everything was "marvellous darling" several times. Moral? You guessed it, I shall stick to the roads until the earth has had a chance to dry out, and possibly carrying less paint would be a good option too.
The Sunnies had a rare Saturday off last week as Lee had a family Do to attend, so Ian and I took a trip to the movies and saw the new Alice in Wonderland- loved it loved it loved it! So wildly creative and Mr. Depp just keeps notching them up doesn't he!
Go and see it my friends.
However, the band is now back to it and continuing to craft our newest song A MILLION PIECES- at the moment that definitive chorus is still eluding me and I find myself seeing plenty of trees but no wood. This is where I feel least comfortable and have to fight off those irritating little demons that love to perch on my shoulder and whisper dibilitating falsities in my ear. Nah! you can take a running jump the lot of yer- I can and I WILL get there and the song will be the best it was ever meant to be. And when I've got there and it's all sitting pretty, you'll be the first to know! Tomorrow we meet again for another crack at it, so who knows...
Faithful followers I salute you!
Speak soon Mel xxx
Monday, 22 February 2010
IT'S ALL GOOD.......
Hey chaps happy Feb!
Yep, 2010 is rolling on nicely for us, and in spite of wrestling with a relentless bout of influenza and in poor Lee's case-a stray oyster rearing it's ugly, ugly head and doing it's worst, we're now all fighting fit again and ready for some jollies!
Plans for the album are still as fresh and exciting as ever- we spent some valuable time yesterday trawling through our somewhat eclectic C.D collection, pulling out all the things that grabbed us and we're beginning to formulate some nifty ideas. I have to say coming from an Art and Design background, I've always been a complete sucker for the way things are put together visually-it can say as much as the music and really enhances the whole vibe that you're trying to create. Lee is gonna take most of that under his more than capable wing, and we'll chip in with as much content, brow scratching, 'in- house' nosh and general nodding of heads as we can muster!
What else, what else.. well we have a new song that we're working on called A Million Pieces, we have a very talented drummer lined up for recording, we also have a top notch producer who we're gonna work with to mix and master all the tracks, we just bought a micro Orange crush 3 - ( a mini amp that would comfortably fit on any mantle piece) come on, how could we have stood a hope in the fiery furnace as it fluttered it's pint- sized gorgeousness at us and ensnared our poor, unsuspecting Saturday- shopper- hearts. The softening process having been accomplished, our hard earned cash made a beeline for the comfiest tray in the till and three pairs of socks were suitably blown off! Oh Oh Oh, it is cuteness with a capital C and we are revelling in our love!
We've also been eyeing up a new laptop to start our recording with-now seems like as good a time as any as the one we use has it's quirks and might benefit from being a little less trashed 24/7! I should imagine for Lee that will be one of those deliciously crisp, blank canvas moments- loads of RAM and hard drive space to commune with -a slice of all out techno heaven methinks!
Catch you laters!
speak soon
Mel xxx
Yep, 2010 is rolling on nicely for us, and in spite of wrestling with a relentless bout of influenza and in poor Lee's case-a stray oyster rearing it's ugly, ugly head and doing it's worst, we're now all fighting fit again and ready for some jollies!
Plans for the album are still as fresh and exciting as ever- we spent some valuable time yesterday trawling through our somewhat eclectic C.D collection, pulling out all the things that grabbed us and we're beginning to formulate some nifty ideas. I have to say coming from an Art and Design background, I've always been a complete sucker for the way things are put together visually-it can say as much as the music and really enhances the whole vibe that you're trying to create. Lee is gonna take most of that under his more than capable wing, and we'll chip in with as much content, brow scratching, 'in- house' nosh and general nodding of heads as we can muster!
What else, what else.. well we have a new song that we're working on called A Million Pieces, we have a very talented drummer lined up for recording, we also have a top notch producer who we're gonna work with to mix and master all the tracks, we just bought a micro Orange crush 3 - ( a mini amp that would comfortably fit on any mantle piece) come on, how could we have stood a hope in the fiery furnace as it fluttered it's pint- sized gorgeousness at us and ensnared our poor, unsuspecting Saturday- shopper- hearts. The softening process having been accomplished, our hard earned cash made a beeline for the comfiest tray in the till and three pairs of socks were suitably blown off! Oh Oh Oh, it is cuteness with a capital C and we are revelling in our love!
We've also been eyeing up a new laptop to start our recording with-now seems like as good a time as any as the one we use has it's quirks and might benefit from being a little less trashed 24/7! I should imagine for Lee that will be one of those deliciously crisp, blank canvas moments- loads of RAM and hard drive space to commune with -a slice of all out techno heaven methinks!
Catch you laters!
speak soon
Mel xxx
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