DARE5 - The First Podcast

Okay, here it is. Best not to say too much, but let you download and enjoy. Please do leave your comments so I know what you all think. You'll find three songs on this podcast - All I Want Is You, I Need Your Love and Do You Want To Dance?

Enjoy,

Daren
xxx

DARE5 - The First Podcast (9.5Mb) - 13'52

Plan B

It's Sunday today, and it is traditional that I stomp off into the night and play a floorspot at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross or The Horn in St. Albans. Tonight, however, I thought I'd try something different. This time I'm going to bring you my floorspot live on the internet. Well I say "live" but I don't actually know how to do that, so I'm going to record it "as live" and then put the MP3 file up for you to all hear. I kind of PodSpot if you like. This has three advantages for me. Firstly I don't have to venture out on a cold night, secondly I get two of my songs on disc for future usage and thirdly, I get to reach a potentially much wider audience.

So here's how it will happen. At about 8pm I'll set up the microphones and play my two songs into the computer. Once I've had a chance to listen and tidy up the file I'll put a link up here so you can download it. I guess it will be available no later than 10pm, just in time for you to listen before going to bed. So check back later for an update and let me have your comments as always.

Btw, to all my readers without a Blog, you can leave comments too if you wish... just click on the 0 COMMENTS (or it will say 1 COMMENT or the number of current comments) link below and type away. You can leave comments anonymously if you wish.

See you all later!

Daren
xx

Giving Winter The Boot

Great fun at the Boot in St. Albans last night. Sean and I managed to romp our way through It's Summertime, Obsession and Do You Want To Dance. It was great to have Sean's playing and backing vocals again. It makes me hanker for having a proper band again. After the duo stuff I did All I Want Is You and I Need Your Love on my own and all the tunes seemed to go down well.

The super photos on the Blog today are by the wonderful Kris Gruber and are actually from when we played at The Horn the other week. Check out some more here. Oh, and that's Bill Johnson lurking in the background with the tambourine.

I'm looking forward to recording a couple of popular live tunes this week, so stand by for more listening pleasure.

A Good Idea

My friends Peach and Vi (with others) are putting together a book of short stories for charity. I just wanted to lend my support and encourage you to support this too. Click here to see what it's all about and get involved.

Made it to Cross Kings last night, but not early enough to play. Never mind, there were the usual collection of interesting and varied acts. There were Bob Dylan and Neil Young lookalikes, a female pianist, a pair of likely lads (who looked like cockneys, but were from Finchley) and a variety of other talent. Always worth checking out on a Sunday night.

Next gig is at the Boot in St. Albans on Tuesday with Seany Boy again.

DARE2 - More Than Ever

Time for another remix. Today I have the delights of Elite and her tune More Than Ever. This is another great pop tune and at just over 3 minutes it's a great length and I didn't tire of it at all whilst mixing. In a similar way to my first remix I decided to strip things back and really let the vocal come through. The vocal take on this is very good and quite spine-tingling in my opinion. I added a few synths and re did the drum part with extra handclaps for a dancey feel. Anyway, enjoy and let me know know what you think.

More Than Ever - Elite - 3'03

Summertime in St. Albans

Well despite a complicated journey to St. Albans via the Eurostar terminus at St. Pancras International (really), I had a fantastic time at The Horn on Sunday. I once again welcomed in the Summer by playing It's Summertime, but this time accompanied by Sean Watkins on bass, and Bill Johnson on tambourine. I had truly forgotten how wonderful it is to perform live with other musicians (it's been a long, long time) and also to hear the crowd singing along with your song. Nothing much beats that feeling and I think we went down well. Sean and I enjoyed ourselves so much that we've decided to do it all again next Tuesday (12th Feb) at The Boot in St. Albans. So do come along an sing along once more. My friend Kris Gruber took some photographs which I will post when I have them, and thanks again to all those who sang along. I'm also hoping to do a solo performance again this Sunday at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross.

I now have my own Musician page on Facebook, so if you are a Facebook user please do drop by and add yourself as a fan.

I also notice that my plays on Last FM have gone up quite a bit in the last few months, so if you have listened to any of my tracks, and have traced me back here, please make yourself known.

Right off to practice Man In A Suitcase by The Police which is my song du jour.

Extra Fun At The Montague Arms

Someone worked out that January had an extra Thursday, so Frog Morris and the 2nd Thursday's crew trooped down again to run the Unwrong Pub Quiz. This was similar to a normal pub quiz except that there were no wrong or right answers, surrealism and creativity would win prizes! It was also accompanied by some suitably otherworldy music.

I was the light relief whilst the questions were marked. I'd noticed recently that annual events are happening earlier and earlier these days. For example, Christmas starts around the middle of September and Easter eggs often make it into the January sales these days. With that in mind I decided to have a sing-along of my Summer anthem to welcome THE START OF SUMMER!! The weather did it's part too, with the worst weather of the year so far. Perfect English Summer conditions, as if to re-inforce my point. I printed up some lyric sheets and encouraged the (admittedly small) crowd to sing along, which they did with gusto!! So well done to everyone there for a very fun evening. I'm doing the Summertime sing-along again at The Horn this Sunday, so do come along and join in.

As far as the quiz went there were prizes for everyone. I won a laser pointer for my answer to the question "Discuss?" when I drew a picture of a discus. Although co-host Mark though it was a UFO. He had a point. I'm disappointed I didn't win anything for guessing the question to the answer "Norway". I wrote "Complete the well known Frank Sinatra song; I did it _______". Geddit?

I was so enjoying the evening that I forgot to get any pictures. Ah well.

7

My best friend Peach has tagged me to blog a list of seven things of which I approve. Now as she points out this is not the easiest exercise in the world, but I guess the randomness of it is part of the fun. So this is by no means a definitive list but rather the first seven things that came into my head (minus music which since this is really a music blog and not a "personal" blog as such I thought I would have a holiday from).

Did you know that the number seven has ancient and spiritual meaning far beyond its basic value as being one more than six. In the bible it was used on many occasions to signify special meaning. God created the earth in seven days because of this significance (not some literal event), something utterly lost on Creationists. The idea for and length of the week also came from these origins, rather than the other way round, in case you were wondering. The "clean" animals were loaded into the Ark in sevens as opposed to the "unclean" animals that were loaded in twos. Seventy times seven was thought of in much the same way that we think of infinity now, ie the biggest number possible rather than the more prosaic meaning of 490. Anyway, history lesson over, here beginneth the list:

1. Englishness - not some flag-waving nationalism mind you, but the concept of living and being in mainland England and the elements of character this implies. By it's very nature the English are a mongrel race and this is what I whole-heartedly approve of. The Angles after all were Germans and so, for that matter were the Saxons. Along the way we've acquired heritage and genes from the Scandinavians (Vikings, Norsemen), Italians (Romans), Celts and (god forbid) French (Normans) to name but a few. More recently you can add African and Indian influences to the melting pot and you come up with the thing that I call Englishness. I get the feeling that it's all to do with intelligent, itinerant, creative people coming here and then being beaten down by the weather, whilst simultaneously falling in love with the range of natural beauty we have here and creating the slightly curmudgeonly, highly original race that we are now. A land of real diversity.

Did you know that the UK's most popular dish - Chicken Tikka Massala - is an example of this hybrid culture... it's an English invention dontchaknow. Oh and did you also know that the Romans gave the Scots bagpipes and haggis (amongst other things). The less said about the Romans the better though.

2. Football - well actually all sport. It is after all the more civilised version of war and for that alone I endorse it. We cannot survive as humans without tests of strength and tribalism, and since I am utterly opposed to war, sport is the next best thing and should be encouraged as much as possible.

3. Scepticism - I have nothing against other peoples views, and I do not claim to know anything definitively. I cannot disprove the existence of aliens, fairies, the spirit world or god. But I know that I prefer to treat with them with a healthy dose of scepticism and don't believe it makes me any less an interesting person. I'm not even asking anyone else to follow my lead in this, I just know that I approve of that way of viewing the world, and that's about that.

4. Science Fiction - on the other hand I do like to take my brain on journeys through the extraordinary. I like to dream and I like to create worlds and stories in my head. I've read comics for as long as I could read, and now I enjoy Sci-Fi more than any other literature. I still long to climb into my spaceship, pick up my laser gun and crusade across the universe...

...AND BEYOND!

5. BMWs - by which I mean all purveyors of German sports cars.

6. Guns for Kids - at the risk of sounding a bit "they did me no harm" heere I'd like to vote for this one too.

When I was young a company called Airfix produced a small range of 3/4 size guns based on real weapons and quite clearly aimed (ha ha) at kids. They were must have items in my eyes and I spent my childhood running around the garden and the local streets and woods in a variety of para-military outfits shooting anyone that got in the way. Even at home I had a large collection of toy soldiers (from ho/oo & 1/32 scale figures to Action Man) with a bewildering range of authentic weaponary. In 1977 I swapped my lego Sten gun and cap guns for an Imperial Blaster and lightsabre, and carried on doing much the same.

In the Scouts I fired .22 rifles and pistols (real .22 guns, not air rifles mind, although we did shoot them too), I also had a 4 inch sheath knife and at least two other pen knives. I loved war comics and war films and even to this day I dream about stumbling across a new realistic arsenal in some imagined toy shop. In my mind I drove tanks, submarines, warships, jet fighters and death stars. I built forts and emplacements and drew the things I couldn't create on paper. I must have spent hours documenting and inventing these grisly scenarios and you know what...

...it didn't do me any harm.

7. Goths - they have the best clothes, get to wear make-up and bondage gear and listen to better than average music. They are all sweeties too. What's not to like?!


I think everyone I know has already been tagged, but just in case you haven't then I tag Cake and Nobby & Me.

First Gigs Of The Year

Thursday 31st January - The Montague Arms
289 Queens Road, New Cross SE15 2PA

Someone spotted that January has an extra Thursday this year, so the 2nd Thursday's crowd are back with the Unwrong Quiz Night, along with comedy, art and music (not necessarily in that order). Since all the yearly events (e.g. Christmas, Easter, etc...) are happening earlier and earlier every year, I thought I'd welcome the Summer with my summertime smash: It's Summertime


Sunday 3rd February - The Horn, St. Albans

A cheeky floorspot at the popular Sunday night in St. Albans. This time reprising It's Summertime with original bass player - Sean Watkins. Anyone fancy playing drums for us?! Lyric sheets will be available for a mass sing-a-long.

CD Review: Picture Perfect / Vivid (Outfit Records)

I have a strange love/hate relationship with music. None more so than when handed a demo CD to listen too. I find it hard to do. But, of course, I should try to expand my musical vocabulary at all times and expose myself to all kinds of aural stimulation. So to that end I have decided to carefully listen to, and in fact review all the CDs I get given and here's where this will happen. Hopefully this exercise will be good for me and interesting for you... but I'm sure you'll let me know.

First up is Picture Perfect / Vivid. Now I came across this CD in central Croydon where the artist himself was selling his homemade CDs in the street. Now, I'm a sucker for an artist promoting himself so I bought a CD (£2) and vowed to listen. This was no easy task as this self-styled "mix-tape" is a daunting 20 tracks long!! Those who know me will understand that rap is hardly my forte, but I like to think I can enjoy anything good.

So what's good about the CD? Well it's certainly bombastic and in your face. You are never in any doubt who you are listening to as Vivid name-checks himself on almost every track. Actually that's something that other bands should take on board - especially live. I saw a really good Japanese band at the Hope And Anchor the other week, but they never mentioned their name and consequently I can't track their music down. The production is mixed, but mostly good without ever being special. (Btw, if you fancy hearing what I would think of as a special mix then check out Ride by A Mountain Of One - thanks for the tip Robin) It has the usual smattering of samples, some of which I couldn't place - a pitch shifted Elton John sample on Wonderful made me chuckle.

On the downside, it is very long. But I guess this kind of CD is for listening to at a banging house party where Bacardi and Red Stripe are flowing like water, with the bass turned up bowel-shakingly loud and the atmosphere hot and heavy. In which case it would probably go down well. Some of the lyrics are a bit "out there" - my favourite is "She wears my semen like Nivea face cream"!! In the end I've given it 3 out of 5, but really it should be 3.5 'cos there is one track that stuck out for me and that's Salute, which interestingly is the only track produced by Versa. Urgent strings, in your face drums and plaintive rapping make this the top track for me.

Okay, that's it for now, follow the links to check it for yourself:

http://www.myspace.com/absarmi

http://www.myspace.com/vividdonvito



Next up, Rex Kwondo and my own remix of More Than Ever by Elite.

Normal Service Almost Resumed

I went up The Horn again the other night to see the eclectic Astral Gurus play and was happy to bump into Sean and Bill. Sean used to be the bass player in a band called Normal for which I was the second guitarist. When I left, Bill took over. Sometime after this the lead singer and creative driving force behind Normal - Stevie Simmons - died of a brain tumour. It was a sad and traumatic loss at the time and came in the midst of one of the worse periods of my life. Fortunately things have improved since then and I'm glad that Sean and I have stayed in touch. In fact Sean collaborated with me on my summertime anthem - It's Summertime - which failed to trouble the competition judges at XFM, but is now the biggest download from my website!! We have vowed to reprieve it for a live performance at The Horn in the next couple of weeks.

On top of this, Bill has an unfinished Normal song on his multitrack recorder. He's keen to finish it as a tribute to Stevie and this is a great chance for me to wheel out my electric guitar for a change. I'm looking forward to working on that too.

One last piece of news is that I have the next track in my remixing series to work on, and it's a cracker. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with it towards the end of the week. Btw, if you are an artist looking for a re-mix of a demo, please do get in touch.

More very soon,

Dxxx

DARE1 - L'echarpe Perdu

It has long been a desire of mine to enter the world of mixing and production, so to this end I have approached some friends of mine with the offer of a free re-mix for one of their songs. This is to provide me with items for my portfolio and to get valuable experience in a range of music and styles. It also gives me a great opportunity to share some music with you which I am fond of, but which is not mine.

First up is a really charming song by the name of L'echarpe Perdu (I believe it means the lost scarf, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) by Fit and the Conniptions (otherwise known as Wayne Myers. When I listened to his original mix I was really struck by the chorus and even though this is a very short song I felt it had potential. One happy accident is that Wayne forgot to send the drum track through originally, and I realised that it had a really good feel without it. So I left the drums to come in later and let the song build more gradually. I loved the simple harmonies on the chorus and enjoyed layering these up and then adding some 70s style strings to build the end. It's only a mere 2 minutes and 13 seconds, but I believe it's perfectly formed (I mean the song rather than my mix).

Please take a listen and let me have your thoughts. If you know of anyone who would like a track mixing or some help with producing a demo please get in touch. I am looking to do one or more tracks for free, and then a few at reduced rates to help gain experience.

Enjoy!

L'Echarpe Perdu - Fit And The Conniptions - 2'13

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May I wish all my readers and friends a very happy and prosperous 2008! My 40th year, dontcha know?!

Normal service will be resumed next week, but look out for new songs and re-mixes of some of my friends material as I develop my production and re-mixing skills.

Lots of love,

Dxxx

Proper Bo

I'm playing a proper actual gig tonight, at the Cross Kings in King's Cross.

It's a mixed night of floorspots and booked acts so should be pretty entertaining and a great way to kick start the Christmas day festivities, plus if there is any mistletoe I will expect a good luck kiss. From everyone!! Ha ha.

If I don't see you, have a great Christmas and relaxing New Year!

Lots of love,

Daren
xx

Hope & Banker

Phew - I'm back!

I've been moving house, hence the hiatus. Last night I went to the Hope & Anchor in Islington for what turned out to be a very pleasant evening of music. My friend Wayne of Fit And The Conniptions was playing and after a marathon walk to find a working cash machine I was relieved to find he hadn't played yet.

First up was a young guy who seemed to have brought his entire family and church youth group with him. He was a kind of cross between Buddy Holly and Kurt Cobain, if such a thing is possible. Next was a Japanese act with the most amazing sound and a singer who stood stock still nearly all the way through the set. Following this was a singer who looked like the bearded teacher from Grange Hill (what was his name?!) and seemed to have a fanatical following who were actually quiet when he played! Finally Wayne rocked up with a fantastic saxophone player. The whole evening was frankly excellent, and well worth £4.50 to get in.

Another chance to see me play is coming up, if you are around, do venture to Cross Kings on the 23rd December. See you there!

Dxxx

From A All The Way Back To A

Many years ago (1987 ish) I was sitting in a pub in Stanmore with my friend Andy Hewitt. I mention this seemingly banal experience because without this event, and my friend talking loudly about the music industry, I would never have met Mike. Mike overheard Andy talking that day and went on to manage my band. We became good friends too. Because I met Mike that day, it was possible two years ago for Mike to think of me when he needed someone to go out on the road with the Pet Shop Boys.

And so the adventure began.

Because of that day I have travelled to something like 100 cities in 25 countries. I've written songs in the back of trucks in Denver; had close encounters with prostitutes in Montreal, a large snake in Miami, party people and pirates in Salt Lake City, drunk Germans in errrr Germany and Stella Artois in Belgium. I've seen where they make Volkswagens in Germany, where they race horses in England and watched the sun come up over an Austro-Hungarian hill fort in Serbia. I've bought coffee for the England football team doctor in Skojpe and ukuleles from the state fair in Phoenix.

I've had dinner and close encounters with popstars, made new friends and (yikes!) started Blogging. I've pushed scenery around, dressed up in white forensic suits, operated follow-spots and got to travel in a tour bus.

I've sold t-shirts to people of most nationalities (except in Macedonia where I didn't sell a single one!!) in tents, stadia, theatres, foyers, swimming pools, corridors and the plain old open air, all over Europe, Canada and the US - as far west as San Francisco, east as Bucharest, north as Bergen and south as Miami.

It's been a blast, and now it's over.

On the plane back from our last gig in Romania the monitor engineer Seamus passed me his iPod Video and urged me to watch an episode of Pets. I did and it was very good ("So you are saying that Gog is a dog, or a hog and Magog is a fog"). As the credits rolled a name flashed by my eyes. I had to do a double-check, but there it was. Clear as daylight.

Sound by Andy Hewitt.

Of all the things in all the places at all the times.

Surreal.

But then that's me all over.

Whatever next?!

Dxxxx

Me Tube

Back safe from Bucharest, more on that later. In the meantime here is my first ever appearance on YouTube.com

This is a compilation of clips from the SECOND TUESDAY event.

Enjoy.

Dxxx

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

3 New Mixes on MySpace

I've uploaded three new mixes of songs to my MySpace profile, please go and check them out:

www.myspace.com/darencallow

Obsession is a new acoustic arrangement of an old song. Lightkeeper and Vulnerable are remixes of songs I recorded specially for the Guitarist song competition.

Dxxx

Wot A Laugh

I played at the Montague Arms in New Cross on Thursday at a new event of art, music and poetry called SECOND THURSDAYS. It was hosted by Frog Morris and the atmosphere was friendly and eccentric. The bar itself has a plethora of eclectic knick-knacks, mostly of a boating nature. Any place that has a Penny Farthing as a railing and a huge model boat over the bar gets my vote any day.

I did a small set first a the main act had pulled out, playing songs from my Lullabies album.

Next up was Frog Morris doing his excellent stand-up routine, I greatly enjoyed his new take on the Spanish Armada and the poems/songs The Angry Badger and I Was The Pig Semen Delivery Man were familiar favourites.
http://www.frogmorris.net

After Frog we had a debut performance from Fred - Sweden's guitar playing answer to David Beckham. He'd never performed on his own before, and it showed, but he won the audience over with his perseverance and pluck.
http://ateljen.50megs.com/

Then it was the turn of Victor Mount, with his guitars, kick drum and violin!! He kept forgetting the words to the songs and then interrupting his own performance to tell anecdotes. Very funny.

Finally I took the stage again to play a selection of my other songs and the evening was over. It all went very smoothly and the venue is a really fun place to play. Looking forward to the next on on December 13th.

Dxxx