Following The Signs

It's been another hectic and busy year so far (well that's my excuse or not Blogging and I'm stickig to it). I've already had trips to Mexico, Nashville and the top of Mount Snowdon. On the music side we played a 40 minute set at Tootsies in Nashville (more on that later). To top it all off we have created a fabulous new promo video for Charlie's new song: Following The Signs which we recorded and mixed ourselves.

This was a real labour of love and took several months to get everything together. We needed a large number of props, including a book (lovingly produced by myself with Victoria and Frog Morris), costumes for all the band and four different outfits for Charlie. After the problems with rain on the last video shoot we decided to do everything indoors. The only real option for this was to convert out house into a studio. This meant costumes in the dining room, make-up in the conservatory and film sets in the living room and front bedroom. The house was crammed with equipment and people! The illustrations in the book (see above) were created by the highly talented - Frog Morris - and he even came down to lend a hand on the day too. Alongside the band and Frog we also had a make-up artist, Maximilian White the director and Rob Macfarlane on second camera - quite a house full. To cap it all a Virgin Media engineer turned up halfway through to fix the phone - what he made of it all I don't know.

Many of the scenes were to be filmed in front of a big green screen to allow us to shoot the various locations that were in the book. This meant hanging a big green sheet up (there's a great pic of Frog ironing this flat - check out the Behind The Scenes page for this and loads more) in the spare bedroom. I soon realised though that the door was going to be in the way, so this had to come off! Somehow we also managed to get a wind blower in on the landing to create a blizzard at the end of shooting. Filming kicked off in the Living Room with Charlie and our severely jet-lagged director - Max. To give you a flavour of this, here is video clip of him explaining to Charlie what she needs to do...



I think she got it!! After the living room scenes we had to shoot all the other "locations" in the bedroom. This created a headache for Max and Rob as there was very little room and for the most part they had to shoot everyone separately and then edit them all together in post production. After lots of takes and various reactions from all the guys (and four costume changes for Charlie) - everything ended in a huge snowball fight and blizzard!! Charlie even managed to throw one snowball right at the camera lens, but fortunately she didn't break it. After the wrap it was time for Max to do his magic, we were just hoping that we'd got all the shots we needed.

Well we needn't have worried, once the video arrived we absolutely loved it! We were relieved and happy as so much time and money (about £1200 in total) had gone it to it and it came ou looking like the budget was much, much higher. So here it is, do enjoy watching (make it full screen and turn up the sound if you can, it is HD after all) and make sure you give us some feedback... oh and pass it on to anyone who might enjoy it:



Many thanks to everyone who helped getting the video together...

Video director / editor: Maximilian White
Second Camera: Robert Macfarlane
Make-up: Mallzii MUA

Following The Signs recorded and mixed by Daren Callow.
With many thanks to Ville Leppenan

Thanks also to Frog Morris, Victoria Morris, Alan and Lorraine.

Long Long Long Way Home

What an incredible few months I've had! The Katie Melua tour has finally finished but not before covering over 10,000 miles across mainland Europe and the UK. I've had some wonderful experiences in Germany, Austria, Portugal and Poland to name just a few. Including driving at madcap speed along rainy autobahns, diversions into the Czech Republic and meeting a whole bunch of very friendly and interesting people. It would make a whole Blog of it's own and I can only apologise for not writing up more of it. Unfortunately this was a self-drive tour, and time was at a premium. I'm sure I'll share a few tales now I'm back and have some more time.

On top of all of this I came back to the UK in mid-tour to take part in two special events in my role as guitarist and backing singer for Charlie Savigar. Firstly we trooped off to Monmouth in Wales to perform on the Sunday at the Rockfield Country Music Festival. This was a great event to be part of and the band really rose to the occasion. At the end of the day we certainly weren't everybody's can of beans, but the response we got was great and we'd love to play there again.

Following on swiftly from that we dodged showers in Harrow to film a new video. It was an all day event including shots of us in the van, driving up and down the road (many times) and miming in front of a green screen. We were working with a young director called Maximilian White and he did us and himself proud with a really fun video. Enough talk - check it out here:



It was an incredibly long day of filming considering that it's a 2 minutes 40 seconds pop song, but the result was worth all the effort. Many thanks go out to Max and second cameraman Rob along with Michelle who did Charlie's make-up. We also should thank my dad Alan and step-mum Lorraine who lent us their house and Autocruise Pace mobile home for the day!! It was particularly poignant day for my brother (drums) and myself as we filmed the vast majority of it at the house where we used to live, and also practice with our first band. The ending was particularly serendipitous as we had originally planned to venture out to Chesham and film us arriving at the Elgiva Theatre, but rain delays thwarted us and so we opted to try filming at Brent Town Hall instead. As we drove over the hill towards the venue we had a vision of the white arch through the showers. It seemed like the perfect ending and indeed it was.

To check out a little more of what went on behind the scenes then check out this link. We'll be adding more to coincide with the official launch gig/party next week, details below (do come along and party with us). Btw, if you like the video when please do pass the link on to your friends, we need all the publicity for the band we can get - thanks guys!!

In other news Charlie is now a Rotosound Strings endorsee and we're really looking forward to an article they are preparing on her. Please do check out all her Summer gigs here and come along if you can.

Have fun! Daren xxx

OFFICIAL VIDEO LAUNCH PARTY

27th July 2011 - 8.30pm
CAMDEN ROCK
18 Kentish Town Road, London, NW1 9NX

Daring To Be Live (On Video)

The last month has seen me and Charlie play some fab gigs. We made our way up to Bristol to play on the same bill as the amazing Less Than Me and awesome The New Root (Kate Bush meets Radiohead - my current favourite band!) at The Croft, we rocked The Montague Arms with Charlie's band as Cowboys and popped up in The Ritzy in Brixton to recreate the sound of AM radio (we had a crackly mic lead... still played a great set though, even if we say so ourselves). It's been fun and exciting, we really feel like there is a momentum building up behind our music and we're looking forward to all the gigs coming up. We've even found time to get on the radio (Charlie's been on practically every internet show you can imagine - and I've been on Radio Sydenham) and we've got a fab show coming up on the 15th October on Resonance FM. We've also started recording some new tracks with the mighty Haydn Callow on drums and Alex Lofoco on bass, look out for those in about two months.

For those of you who haven't been able to make it to a show we have been videoing our sets and it's time to share a few of those with you. Charlie and my shows are not just about the songs, we also like to think that we have a bit of a stage presence and our on-stage banter can sometimes be very amusing in itself. So I thought I'd start to include a bit of our chat so you can get the full Dare To Be gig experience! We do hope you get to see us live very soon, as that's the best experience of all!

Let's kick off the videos with the song that starts our set - Dance. These are all from our gig at The Elixir Bar on the 29th September.



Technical notes (for those that love that sort of thing): Charlie's guitar is a Martin Alternative XT played through a collection of effects including a Boss Flanger that you can hear at the start. My guitar is a Taylor 314ce played directly into the desk. Charlie's auto-tune effect is a Boss VE-20 and all my voice effects (delay, harmonies, doubling and flanging to name but a few) come from a TC Helicon VoiceLive 2. Last, but by no means least, the tambourine is played with my foot! Check it out.



This one features another of Charlie's songs - No Good For Me, this time complete with her intro explaining what the song is about. Excitingly for us we got a spontaneous round of applause before we'd even finished the song, love it when that happens. Also listen out for the coffee machine trying to join in towards the end!

That's all for now on the video front, more songs to follow.

If that's whetted your appetite then do come and see us live, check out our live dates here:

http://www.daretobecharlie.com/

or tune in to Resonance FM (on FM and over the internet) on the 15th October at 10pm (BST / GMT+1) to hear us play live.

Daren
xxx

Callow Youth - 21st January

Farewell Prohibition

Andy Warhol said that in the future we will all be famous for fifteen minutes. It was way back in June of 2008 that I first played an acoustic set for the 15 Minute Club at Prohibition near Tower Bridge in London. Since that first 15 Minute Club appearance I've gone on to play at their venues in Islington, Birmingham and Oxford and the night's have always been excellent. They must have liked me too, as this year they asked me to take over the regular hosting of the Prohibition night. This was something that I was very happy to do, but it took a while to find my feet. The biggest problem was thinking what to say as I introduced the acts... I finally got the hang of it after a few weeks.

So it was with some sadness that I was there for the last 15 Minute Club of the year, and possibly the last one ever! If it does turn out to be the end of their nights there then it really is the end of an era. Mind you we went out in some style. We had nine live acts on the last night, including myself and everyone played really well. We even finished with the traditional 15 Minute Club jam (one of the things that make it very special and fun for musicians and audience alike), when both Laurence and Rae performed too. It was probably one of the most successful nights that I've been involved in there, and we can only hope that they are back next year. In the meantime though they have a new night kicking off at the Hoxton Pony on December 2nd... I won't be at that one though, 'cos it's my birthday and I'll be celebrating elsewhere!!

I certainly enjoyed my time working there, all the acts were great (thank you!) and the jams were always entertaining. It was interesting to see the difference in the way the acts treated me when I was just another performer and when I was the host! They tend to look up to the host a lot more, but it was fun to have that extra responsibility. It was a really good experience.

In other news, I've posted one more video from the gig at the Power's Bar... here it is:



I'm currently working on trying to book a few more band gigs, with some really strong line-ups, including Luke Jackson and Charlie Savigar, so stay tuned for more news on that.

Daren
xxx

More Power

The gig on the 11th went very well. Many thanks to all those who came to support us.





Next two Callow Youth gigs are:

15th December 2009
LIQUID NATION, LADBROKE GROVE
161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

21st January 2010
THE WHITE HART, WHITECHAPEL
1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London, E1 4TP

Bookmark our homepage and join the mailing list here:
http://www.callowyouth.com/

My next solo gigs start tonight at Prohibition, St. Katharine's docks then:

1st December 2009, 8pm (solo)
Liquid Nation, 161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

9th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

17th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
The Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

27th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

See you very soon!

Daren
xxx

Somewhere

It's been another busy week, but very enjoyable and it has brought some great experiences. Last week on Monday I travelled up to Birmingham to play the 15 Minute Club @ The Living Room. It was one of those evenings where everybody was on top form, all the acts played well and the sound and atmosphere was great. I used the loop pedal for my set and was very pleased with the reaction. It was also great to see Johnny Ryder again, that lad has talent.

On Tuesday I was in Portsmouth, playing the Shrek Rap (by Casdok) again for the Portsmouth Autism Support Network. It was a very enjoyable evening and it was great the DJ Kirkby and Chris King were there to talk about DJ's book. It was interesting to increase my knowledge of the real world aspects of living with Autism and there is talk of another performance of the 'Rap soon.

Thursday I was playing at the Edinburgh Cellars and again it was an excellent night. I met the splendid Peter Paul Parker, and also a lady who sang about her sex doll (amongst other things).

Sunday night and I was back at Prohibition near Tower Bridge and actually witnessed the bridge opening to let a tall masted boat pass by on my way there. The show was, again, of a really high standard and Rae really gets the evening going with her compering. The highlight for me was jamming at the end with all the acts, but especially Tres Womack, who was over from Texas, USA to promote an Americana CD that he's on. He very kindly swapped his CD for mine and I have been enjoying playing it ever since. The track "Gather Round" which he wrote with his brother (I believe) is my favourite cut.

I have a small treat for you which I shot on my mobile phone on the way back home from Prohibition, but before that just time to plug my next gig:

13th May 2009, doors 7.30pm onstage after 9.00pm
Stripped Bare @ The Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

Hope to see you there, for a full electro-acoustic set, loops, voices and new versions of songs for your delight.

Meantime, enjoy this rough and ready video shot on my phone on Sunday night.



Daren
xx

La La LA

More travels beckon as this week I'm off to LA and then it looks like I'm going back on the road as a roadie, but more news on that later.

First a round up of the last few gigs (mine for a change) which have all gone really well: last Wednesday I was in Guildford at a great bar called Fahrenheit 55 that has a great viewing area upstairs and I made full use of all my TC Helicon VoiceLive box and looper pedal during the set.

On Thursday I was up in Islington at the Edinburgh Cellars. Daniel, who promotes the Stripped Bare nights, had been let down by a couple of artists, and then on the night another had to pull out due to a death in the family! In the end there was just myself, Andy Page and my good friend CT, but we played our hearts out for the whole evening. I did two half hour sets and made use of the looper pedal again (despite a slightly dodgy PA) to entertain an increasingly enthusiastic crowd. The feedback from the evening was all really positive and I'm looking forward to getting back there soon. When I left Andy was still singing away with most of the audience joining in with his set of well performed covers!

Easter Sunday night brought me back to St. Albans were I first started out on the acoustic open mic scene. The Horn pub has just won an award as the Best Music Pub in the UK and it was fantastic to be able to use all my effects pedals with their excellent sounding PA and powerful monitors (the bits that let the artist onstage hear themselves... very important when you are building loops). The Sunday night crowd is very knowledgeable as most of them are veteran performers themselves, so it was particularly pleasing to have a good number of them come over to let me know they had enjoyed the set. Can't wait to get back there either!

Fancy hearing what everybody is talking about? Well you can tomorrow night, when I'm doing the full looping/VoiceLive show at the Powers Bar in Kilburn (332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN), I'll be on around 8.30pm. Alternatively you can check out my videos on YouTube:

Daren's YouTube Channel

There are new videos from an exclusive Whitechapel gig going up this week and next week.

You might also be interested to know that a written piece of mine has recently been published in A3 magazine. This is available free from many London galleries, plus I have a few copies that I can post to you if you'd like one. Leave me a comment if you are interested.

Right, better get rehearsing for tomorrow!

Daren
xxx

P.S. Heading to see Fit & the Conniptions at the Abbey in Kentish Town tonight, do come along if you fancy it.

The Prophet / Lightkeeper

This is the last video from the Monkey Chews gig and features a medley of The Prophet and Lightkeeper. The former features the harmony vocals of my TC Helicon VoiceLive box, and again it was all created live with a Boss LoopStation pedal.

Although I didn't know it at the time the line "Where did all the money go?" now does seem rather chillingly prophetic!

Daren
xxx

When The Snow Fell In Denver - video

As promised here is the third of the four videos from the Monkey Chews gig. It's the full live version of When The Snow Fell In Denver, complete with false ending and the big electronic finish! It's worth pointing out that everything you hear on the track is created live (and has been mixed pretty much straight off the desk) - there are no overdubs or extra parts added. The looped guitars and kick drum are via a Boss LoopStation RC-20 and the infinite echo and "girl" harmony parts are via a TC Helicon VoiceLive box. You can just about see it at the end when the camera pans down to show me on the floor.

It's a pretty tricky song to play (and create, if you like) and it shows as I'm a little nervous at the start and very relieved at the end. Anyway, enough words - enjoy!

There is one more pair of songs to come and another creative use of electronics, so look out for that towards the end of the week.

More news to come soon about Surface Unsigned and other gigs, but for now I just thought I'd mention that I'm heading to the CD launch for Fit & The Conniptions tonight at the Blag Club in Notting Hill Gate, in case anyone else fancies coming along.

Daren
xx

Until We Pass This Way Again (Video)

The End Of The Video Quest

It's taken me nearly a month and a lot of false starts, but yesterday I finally got my first proper clip up on YouTube! You'd think it would be quite easy these days, but no! Either the video was too dark, or the music unintelligible, or the picture was the wrong format, it just seemed to be one problem after another. Yesterday I finally cracked it though, and the first of four videos from my Monkey Chews gig went on-line. Enough talking, here it is:



There will be three more videos to come, so look out for them!



Okay, I promised not to mention it again, but there are only two more days of voting left for Orange Unsigned - so please pop over and give me two more votes (one each day) - if you haven't signed up yet, it's never too late!!

http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/daren-callow



Lot's of great gigs coming up, including some out of town (Ely, St. Albans - and I'm hoping to get down to Brighton to play soon too) - for the full list go here. One in particular I'd like to draw your attention to is Thursday 25th September at the White Hart in Whitechapel (1 Mile End Road) - I played there a couple of months back and despite being hard to find (the stairs are behind two closed doors, one of which is marked Private!!!) boasts a great PA and a musician friendly atmosphere. I'm taking all my kit (weird voice box and looper included) to this one to create a big sound... hoping to video it too, so look out for that.


That's it for now,

Daren
xxx