Influences... Morrissey

Morrissey has just turned 50 so it seems appropriate to say a few words, and what better person to kick off an occasional series on musical influences. I should say straight away that I wasn't a big fan of The Smiths, although I do own Big Mouth Strikes Again on 12" I prefer the live Morrissey version... "as her iPod started to melt". Somehow The Smiths were just too depressing in a pretty poor time for rock music in the UK.

Morrissey's solo music started in the same vein and then became more playful (if still willfully at odds with everything). I think the key difference though is the rest of his band, Boz Boorer and, particularly, Alain Whyte are big heros of mine and do, in fact, write most of the tunes on Morrissey's records. Ringleader of the Tormentors and You Are The Quarry are my favourite albums, but his band is also great live so check out the excellent Live At Earl's Court which sees them all at their peak (before Alain Whyte left the band) and includes some rare Morrissey tracks and some of the best Smiths songs too. This last record also includes one track that was never on an album but sums up the best of Morrissey's music for me, if you want one track to check out then listen to Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice - cracking tune, amusing yet caustic lyrics... perfect rock.

Of course I realise that Morrissey is much like that other British tradition that begins with M - Marmite. People tend to either love him or hate him - which is the sign of a truly radical artist, I could never court controversy the way he does, but I do try to be more creative than average in my lyrics. Whichever, it's good to see some real longevity in the UK music scene, so happy birthday you old bugger - I hope you have plenty more!

Some miscellaneous memories relating to Morrissey and (ahem) booze:

1) Drinking my friend Adrian's ENTIRE collection of red wine, whilst alternately playing and arguing for early or late period Morrissey songs as being the best. We agreed, drunkenly, to disagree.

2) Missing Morrissey's appearance at a Paris festival because Peachy and I didn't make it out of the hotel bar. What can I say, I enjoy getting drunk with friends... we did make it to see Radiohead the next day, and they were utterly fantastic.

To hear the Morrissey influence, check out my song: The Fool I Am


In other news, the recording for the charity record is full steam ahead. I'm very pleased that the peerless Haydn Callow and frighteningly brilliant Paul Tkachenko have agreed to play respectively drums and bass for me. I'm very, very excited about this. Now perhaps if I can just get Tony Visconti to produce it... hmmm. Much more news on this to follow.

The recording is leading to a slight lull in gigs, but I will be back stronger than ever with some new arrangements (although no new songs just yet) on the 4th June at the Nine Bar near Tower Bridge.

Full gig list:

4th June 2009, music from 7.30pm
The Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

15th June 2009
RAW Rocks @ The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW1 9QB

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 9pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

1st July 2009
Stripped Bare Acoustic Productions presents:
Wood 'N' Strings @ LOOM featured act
Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB

Best wishes to you all,

Daren
xxx

P.S. Shamefully I have never seen Morrissey live, so the picture above is me and Peachy missing Morrissey in Paris, August 2006.

Music Magic

Last night I was in Alexandra Palace to see a band: majestic soundscape, incomprehensible high-pitched lyrics, a Les Paul played with a violin bow... could it be? No, not an impromptu Led Zeppelin reunion, but those doyens of ambient music and the current coolest Scandinavian band on the planet - Sigur Rós. Of course the lyrics were only incomprehensible as I don't actually speak Icelandic, and I must confess to being pretty much a Sigur Rós virgin.

As mentioned the setting was Alexandra Palace, and it has been a while since I was there last. Considering how cold it was, it was great that they had a continuous loop of courtesy buses to ship the (mostly young and European, if I'm not mistaken) audience to the venue. A couple of queues aside it was a mostly painless process and even the buy-your-tokens-here-swap-them-for-booze-over-there system at the bar was tolerable.

The band themselves arrived unheralded (apart from bi-lingual roadies testing mics in Icelandic - "einn, tveir, einn, tveir anyone?") and the previously described music commenced. The backdrop for the band appeared to be a series of over-sized Chinese lanterns (presumably from Ikea), which glowed ominously in time with the sounds. There was no video screens in the traditional sense but the band and various other images were converted into a kind of pseudo-art and projected from time to time. I have to say the effect was about right, and I imagine if I had been on something stronger than white wine I would have been utterly swept away by it all. The music itself was weird without ever being unbearable, and there were some particularly cinematic moments that had me tapping my feet and nodding in approval. Since I'm not familiar with songs themselves I can't say a lot more, and have no idea what they actually played, but I enjoyed the experience. They also did some unusual things with smoke and lights, and the waterfall and snow effects were quite wonderful and, since I do love a good visual/sound combination, my highlights of the night.

Musical mention this week must also go to Wayne Myers who played at the Blag Club on Wednesday. This Sunday I'm off to see Uriah Heap, now there's a band for ya!

I must also take this opportunity to congratulate Peachy on the birth of her baby boy - Harry Peach (7lbs 12oz) on Tuesday this week. Lots of love and best wishes to you both.

Oh, and while I think of it... stick the date Sunday 1st February in your diary, more details to follow.

Daren
xxx

Here There And Everywhere

This weekend brings an exciting set of gigs, a mini-tour even. It all starts this Thursday 14th when I return to the Montague Arms in New Cross for a brand new Unwrong Quiz night. For those that don't know, the Unwrong Quiz is the invention of Frog Morris and Mark Quinn and involves rounds of questions which have no wrong or right answers! Instead prizes are given for creativity and humour (the more surreal the better) - which invariably means that everyone gets a prize. It's a funny and stimulating night, and what's more you get to see me play too! I will be doing at least two regular sets and then one set of sing-a-long favourites (Angry Badger etc...) to round off the whole evening. It's all good clean fun (mostly), and should be doubly so this time as fellow Blogger - Trixie - will be there with her sisters to celebrate her birthday (perhaps some other Bloggers too). Do come along and be part of it all! The Montague Arms is at 289 Queens Road, New Cross SE15 2PA - it's £3 on the door (£2 Concessions) and entertainment starts about 8.30pm.

After I've recovered from all the mayhem, I'll be catching a train out to the wilds of Blo Norton, near Diss (not dat, diss!) for the remains of Frogstock. Which is not much after the local council got a bit fed up last time, so it's been re-christened Acoustock this year, and apparently I have to play songs in the key of D, although I forget why.

After training it back from Diss, I'll be tubing it down to London Bridge to play 15 Minutes @ Prohibition on Sunday 17th, which is certainly somewhat different from a field in Norfolk. This is a showcase night for the best in acoustic music from the capitol. I will be getting my fifteen minutes, so why not come down and take a listen. I'm taking my VoiceLive box down this time and I promise to make it an unforgettable 900 seconds. Think you've seen singer-songwriters before?! Well if you've never seen a performer play guitar and sing whilst triggering 4 part harmonies from a computer, layering loops from a phrase sampler AND playing tambourine with his foot, then you have not seen this one! Prohibtion is in St. Katherine's docks near Tower Bridge. Be there from 8pm - entry is free, and the food is good too.

As if that were not all enough, I will be capping this mini-tour off by recording it for posterity. Tuesday 19th will see me playing at Monkey Chews in Chalk Farm, where the set will be recorded and videoed, so those that can't make it will have the chance to see me on YouTube and listen on the internet. To be a part of the recording, please be at the venue by 8pm prompt! As an incentive to attend, everyone who comes will get a copy of the set on CD - bargain!

Btw, at all these gigs I will be giving out my CD samplers and taking emails for my mailing list. If you cannot make it, but would like a CD please email me (music @ darencallow . co . uk - remove the spaces!).

Somebody Loves Me

Small things mean so much when you are a musician and songwriter. This morning someone on Last FM clicked a small icon to say that they "loved" one of my tracks. Thank you Samantha829x - you made my day! Btw, the track in question was After All - which in some ways leads me nicely on to...



Farewell Peacharse

My very bestest friend (f) and the reason why I am blogging here at all, is putting down her metaphorical pen for a while. She's soon to become a mother for the very first time and, as I'm sure many of you know, becoming a parent is not easy at the best of times but has been particularly fraught for Peachy, and it's understandable that she might need a break from being the UK's 50th most influential blogger (and as if this sentence wasn't long enough already, she has also had to change job and is currently buying a new place to live - world's three most stressful things anyone?!). She has hinted that she may return with a Baby Blog, but for now farewell. I love you sweetie, thanks for introducing me to this weird and wonderful world of Weblogs - come back soooooooon! Oh, and buy her book!!!!!!

Head here to send her some love of your own: http://peacharse.blogspot.com

That's all (for now) folks!

Daren
xxx

STOP PRESS - As if that were not all enough, I have just found out this morning that on Monday I'll be performing at an ad-hoc Open Mic night for the benefit of Channel 5 cameras!! They are filming a new show called Best Friends Rehab and on the show a girl plays at an open mic night... well you get the drift. Should be on TV next year... HOW EXCITING IS THAT!!!!!!

You're Not The Only One - Charity Book for Warchild

Peachy has finally done it! With fellow bloggers Ariel, Desperate Sarah, Ms Robinson and Vi she has compiled, edited and published a book of short pieces submitted by bloggers from around the world... including one of mine! I'm very excited and pleased to be in the book and am looking forward to getting my copy (or two). If you would like to check out more details then go here.

The book is being sold in aid of the Warchild charity, so please consider buying a copy or a few to give to your friends and support this great project.

Pure Gold (Well Nearly)

Despite what Peach says about the place, I can't seem to keep away from New Cross. Last night we travelled there to catch the end of year show for the music degree students from Goldsmith College. They were performing at the Albany Theatre which is a really nice venue. The music was of a high standard. Hannah was first up with a few nerves, but nice songs, good playing and some super harmonies. Next was Joe Bentley, who confused me somewhat as his singing style was soul, funk, Jamiroquai style - but he and his band appeared to be dressed as posh farmers. Still it was a pretty good show.

Finally Katrina Simon took to the stage and produced the most professional display of the evening. She has a great voice and performed some moving songs.

Live In London

My friend Tudor who came along to last Wednesday's gig had a go at recording the first half of the set, and the results weren't bad at all. So if you missed it, or were there and want to hear some songs again, here you go:

I Need Your Love
When The Snow Fell In Denver
Lightkeeper
Vulnerable

Happy listening, next gig:
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition
15th June, 7.00pm
Prohibition Bar & Grill, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA
15 Minute Club is a bit different. They feature lots of up and coming acoustic acts from London and the surrounding region... everyone get just 15 minutes... and so do I. Come along and check it out.

Dxxx

Blagging It In Notting Hill

The Blag Club was not what I was expecting. I've played at places called the Something Wonderful Club or similar before, and they are not really "clubs" at all, but just a name for a particular booker's night at a pub or venue. But the Blag Club really is a private club! The first clue I got was when I walked past the entrance completely as it was a small nondescript door next to Rymans in Notting Hill Gate. The next clue (and this was kinda the clincher) was the big sign on this door that said Private Member's Club. There was a buzzer, that I duly rang and in turn was duly buzzed in.

It was a super little place actually. Everyone was very friendly and the stage (though small) had a proper monitor and the PA was clear and loud. They operate a system whereby they decide what order the acts play on the night by how many people they get through the door by 9pm. This is all fine and dandy, but of course quite hard to tell people who are eating up the road what time they should arrive by in order to hear my set. I plumped for 8.45 to be on the safe side and then revised to 9.00 when I realised that that was the earliest I would actually be playing.

I ended up in the middle of three excellent acts (Laura & Cornelia were the others), which meant I didn't actually play 'til about 9.40. The set went well, and included a number of firsts: 1) A brand new song 2) My first use of the tambourine (played with my foot) on stage 3) New jeans (H&M - £39) 4) A new haircut (Strandz - £15). Now you don't often get that many premieres for £4!

Here is the set (with links to the songs on my website, so you can click and play the set for yourselves at home):

I Need Your Love
When The Snow Fell In Denver
Lightkeeper
Vulnerable
The End Of The World pt 1 (this recording is just a demo)
The Fool I Am

I just want to add a BIG, BIG THANK YOU to all those who came down and made the evening really fun, most especially Peachy, Alex, Adrian, Tudor and Chris.

I can't wait for the next gig now, see you there!!

Dxxx

P.S. The free CD offer still holds... just drop me a line.

P.P.S. I forgot take any pictures of the venue (oops), so instead I've uploaded a picture of my loft being lagged.

That Was The Week That Was

In no particular order:

1) I was coming off the tube at Aldgate East with Alex when I spotted a familiar face framed by white hair. He was carrying a camera and peering down the Tube tunnel, researching a new book or programme? It was the unmistakable features of Dan Cruickshank, I was almost tempted to ask for an autograph, but decided that TV Presenter-worrying is not really my style. He has the most fantastic voice.

2) I was in the ex-Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street (it's now called something utterly unmemorable) pottering about. I spotted that there was a band setting up in the music store in the basement. I was just pondering sauntering down to check them out when, amidst muted screams they began to play. It was Wet Wet Wet!

I ran out of the store.

3) I went to Paris with Peachy. Despite cold, strikes, a broken train and a very heavy bag (get a wheely case!!!) I had a relaxing and enjoyable time. The champagne was chilled, the hotel trendy, the food wonderful and the company perfect. Paris genuinely feels like a home away from home now, just a small shame that my friend P couldn't join us, despite living in Paris, she was in England for the weekend.

Doh!

4) Went along to the 10th Anniversary of the Blue Acoustic Cafe at The Horn last Wednesday. Strange evening of crazy cheering audience in the first half and crazy cheering table football players in the second half. Had to sneak out early as I didn't feel too good, but great to see Kris, Sean, Bill and plenty of familiar faces in the crowd.

That's the week that was. This weekend features a trip to Bucharest with the Pet Shop Boys. This is definitely, finally, for sure the last gig with them ever. Well alright the last gig this year anyway. I won't be spending my birthday in Moscow after all, so next week there will probably be a big PSB retrospective.

Please check out my tunes (see below) and let me know what you think.

Lots of love,

Dxxx

P.S. Check this out, very silly: http://store.shirtsofhawaii.com/tstefiuk.html