And She Spelt My Name Right

Someone obviously taken with one of my lyrics! Thanks for the plug Cutienix.

http://cutienix.multiply.com/journal/item/32

If you'd like to hear the song, you can find it here:

I Don't Miss You

Keeping it in the Family

I owe my mum lots of things, and it seems not least amongst these is what little musical talent I have (har, har). My brother and I were reminiscing last week about our childhood, and one overriding memory we have is of forming our own bands as small children and writing songs to perform for each other. In true Spinal Tap style, I can even remember a couple of the songs I wrote way back then and could attempt them for you now (I won't).

It would come as no surprise that as soon as we are able we started playing real instruments. Haydn had always wanted to play the drums, and after an initial experiment with a keyboard (not loud enough), I started playing the guitar (ah, that's better). I've never had a guitar lesson in my life, but almost immediately after acquiring my first one (a white Strat copy, it was pretty bad and was soon traded in for a Candy Apple Red Fender Telecaster) we performed at our local church, playing an original keyboard and drums composition and (somewhat obscurely) Wrapped Around Your Finger by The Police (my all time favourite band, Blog on their reunion to follow soon)!

After this we went on to form Air with a friend called Chris 'Kris'Holdsworth on synthesizers. This was in 1986 and we went on to play with two different bass players (stand up Steve Gent and Andy Philips) for 10 years. This included some fun support slots and even a play on Radio 1 by Steve Wright. Another 10 years later I'm still strumming and Haydn is still playing too, although his tastes have moved into the more muso Jazz world. Check out his new outfit here:

The Haydn Callow Trio

He's also a sight-reading teacher for Drum-Tech and you can see him speak here:

Haydn's Video Profile

So what does this have to do with my mum? Well for many years I have wondered why my brother and I seemed so interested in playing music, but no one else in our extensive collection of cousins and cousin's kids seemed to be following our lead... until now! And, of course, the person in question is on my mum's side of the family, so now we know where the genes came from!! So if you haven't already, please check out my cousin Murray's kid - Tim Pennels and his band Freedom of Expression. As an added bonus, I recorded and mixed all the tunes you can hear.

Freedom of Expression

The Modified Toy Orchestra

On a whim Alex and I went to see the Modified Toy Orchestra supporting Tunng at the Southbank Centre last night. I had no real idea what to expect, but was delighted to see a stage covered in toy robots, speak and spells and a panoply of garishly coloured toy instruments. Then there was the music itself! Invoking the spirit of Kraftwerk, Ultravox and early Depeche Mode, they were truly amazing. I've never heard such good music in a long while, and the video backdrops were excellent too.

Don't just take my word for it though, check them out:

http://www.myspace.com/toyorch

http://www.warmcircuit.com/web/

BTW, Tunng were a kind of trance-folk outfit... I should have been worried when all the guitarists were sitting down! Kinda fun to begin with, but after 3 songs sounding pretty much the same I started to doze off. Needless to say, we left.

Lullabies Finally Finished

I'm really excited to announce that I have actually finished the Lullabies EP and here it is:

Lullabies from the Wheels of the Bus EP

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

LGBT History Poetry Night

Had a thoroughly enjoyable (if slightly unusual) night last night. I was invited by my friend Steve Antoni to contribute a few songs to the LGBT History night at the Poetry Cafe. It's a wonderfully intimate venue, despite having all the ambiance of an AA meeting... the standard for poetry and reading was very high I thought and the evening gelled together well. I played Vulnerable and Tomorrow in the first half and spurred on by a glass or two of wine, added Minneapolis and I Need Your Love in the second. I was sandwiched (metaphorically speaking) between poems about Balls and Gay dating and prose about wistful Lesbian encounters... didn't seem too out of place though, so I suppose that says something in itself.

If anyone from the night stumbles across this Blog, you might like to know that all the songs I performed are available as free MP3 downloads from my homepage, just follow the links on the right hand side.

Sneaky Summertime Smash?

I know it's not Summer yet, but I think it's high time I revived my Summer anthem and had a go and creating a bit of an underground swell to get it in the charts (ha, ha). This song was originally conceived for the Christian O'Connell show on Xfm when he called for a new Summer Anthem. I never even got played, which is a cruel travesty of justice!! So, take a listen, take a download and pass it on to all your friends... let's beat the system!! Failling that I hope it at least gives you a warm glow if the days get cold again.

It's Summertime 2007

Features the excellent Haydn Callow on electronic drums and the majestic and modest Sean 'y boy' Watkins on bass.

77

Just to prove that I can never have less than two projects on the go, I have already started designing the cover for my next solo outing. To be called 77 this will be a collection of radically re-worked old songs (the ones that don't lend themselves to the acoustic treatment, or deserve more atmospheric mixes) and new works, probably about 10 tunes in all. I'll post lyrics and songs as they emerge here first!

Let me know what you think of the cover artwork.

Who's Dumb Now?

Something I thought I'd never see, is one of my CDs on eBay, but hey it actually happened:

Dumb CD on eBay

Correctly labelled as an independent "release" this was the second demo CD I recorded with the band Air (not the French outfit of the same name, note!) It's cool to see that someone still has a copy, although no one actually bid on it... not surprising really. If anyone would like a copy I have about 300 copies in the loft. Ha, ha.

Lullabies Cover

I just wanted to say a big Thank You to Alex Staiger, who designed the cover for my next album project for me. Thanks baby!

As a bonus to anyone who makes it to The Horn in St. Albans tonight, I'll be premiering Minneapolis. Hungover. Tired. Awake. Along with a second track tonight.

I'm Still Here

Well, it's a minor miracle, but I've actually finished all the recordings for I'm Still Here. There are ten tracks in all, and they are all one take, no overdubs, no edits and only a few effects. The songs are a combination of old and new tracks, but all recorded in a stripped down, guitar and voice combination. In the end I sacrificed absolute perfection to get a good performance of each track, and get them all finished. The tracks were all recorded via a Yamaha AW16G and mixed on an Apple Mac G4 running Cubase. To hear all the finished tracks (and the original demos, if you so desire) follow this link:

I'm Still Here

This finally frees me up to get on with producing the final songs for Lullabies. This work will start in the next week, so you should be able to check out new tracks soon. I've even decided what the next project will be, so stand by for more information on that.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

There have been untold diversions to stop me doing music over the festive period, but bizzarely I actually have completed a few things. Firstly I had great fun recording some tracks with young rock band Freedom of Expression. You can check out four tracks at their MySpace site:

Freedom of Expression

I have had fun too setting up my home studio, and I finally have an offering for you, a new recording of Tomorrow, which is the first completed track from I'm Still Here, you can check it out on my MySpace site or via the link to the I'm Still Here homepage:

Daren Callow

I'm Still Here

So it just remains to wish you all a Happy New Year, I may see some of you in Edinburgh with the Pet Shop Boys, but failing that I hope to catch up with you all in 2007. Here's to lots of new tracks and a musical New Year!

Daren
xx

Many thanks to Kris Gruber for the photo: Kris Gruber Photography

Hey Diddle Biddle

Another day, another fun gig. Many thanks first of all to Steve Antoni for inviting me to open for his band at the Biddle Bros bar in Hackney. It was a very laid back affair, with a good crowd (and a couple of dogs, who were determined to upstage us all at any opportunity). I picked a slightly stronger set than for the Pasty Co, and I warmed into it pretty quickly. It was good to get a great response even if there were a few people chatting away. It's hard when you only have a voice and guitar to overcome people chatting... my solution was to play quieter and make it more obvious that they were distracting people... they didn't mean any harm and they even complimented me at the end, so I was pretty chuffed. As far as the actual performance went it was going pretty well until I did the the two tunes from Lullabies, and for some reason the lyrics started to get to me and I started to choke up!! Just about held it together, but it's hard doing these songs that have such emotions for me... still think I got away with it. Ha, ha.

Steve followed with his band the Headonists, and they were excellent. The full band sound definitely suits Steve's songs... shame about the image of the band, but if you shut your eyes, it sounded great.

Pasty Anyone?

So after arriving to find that we were actually playing at 10 instead of 9 things went pretty well. My friend Sarah was there to do her song, which went from being first, to being after one song, to being in the middle.... I was getting confused. "Are the two verses the same length?" I enquired... yes... cool...

So we watched the first funky outfit playing, somewhere between Ben Folds Five and Counting Crows... but where exactly we weren't sure... then I tuned up and got on stage... Sarah appears to check the microphone height... "Let's just do it now" fair enough so we did... cue Sarah's debut performance of her song "Fall"... even managed to survive when it turned out that she fancied cutting the second verse in half and going straight to the chorus... it's not as though I asked or anything... ha, ha. Well done babe, you are a star in the making!!

After that my set went fine, messed up a bit in a couple of tunes, but covered over fairly well I think. Tomorrow was the star song as usual. During Lullabies the sweat started to run down my face and into my eyes, could barely see a thing.

Tim followed with his well crafted tunes, including a couple of Stars in Exile tracks (check out www.starsinexile.com and www.myspace.com/starsinexile ) and a cracking new song, which turned a few heads. Can't wait to get recording some stuff again. In a nice touch I joined him on stage to harmonise "Stone of Resolution"... thanks to Rich, Adge, Sarah, James and Em for coming along to support. Looking forward to doing it all again tonight!!

Dxx

Lullabies Live

So the virus turns out to be a sinus infection, ho hum. Anyway, I'm delighted to announce the first opportunities to hear songs from Lullabies live, I'll be playing on the 12th December at the West Cornwall Pasty co in the Kings Road. I'll be playing a full acoustic set from 9pm - 9.20pm, I'll be followed by Tim Felix of Stars in Exile and there will be another acoustic act from 10 - 11. If you are planning to come please be there by 8.45 or so, as it's a small venue and the best vantage points will go quickly. It will be a great chance to belatedly celebrate my birthday and look forward to Christmas and the New Year. Hope to see lots of you there!

Tuesday 12th December
20:45pm
West Cornwall Pasty Company, 138A King's Road, London, SW3 4XB
Map
Nearest Tube - Sloane Square
Free Entry

Plus, I am also now opening for Steve Antoni and the Headonists at Biddle Bros bar in Hackney on Wednesday 13th Dec...


Wednesday 13th December
20.45pm
Biddle Bros Bar, 88 Lower Clapton Road, London E5
Map
Free Entry

Dxx

When The Snow Fell On Denver

So I finally found a tune for these lyrics, and it turns out that it's one that I've had kicking around for a while. You may have come across it as Actions Speak Louder Than Words, a title I've always been uneasy about as it's plagerised from a Bruce Cockburn song. I always liked the tune though, and I'm really pleased to finally team it up with some strong lyrics. I don't know why, but these words seem to make me almost unbearably sad... still that's music for you.

When The Snow Fell On Denver
===================

When the snow fell on Denver,
I thought about home,
I thought about Christmas long, long ago,
Way up north,
And a lifetime ago.

When the snow fell on Denver,
I thought about love lost,
And friends departed,
And the women that I never married
A lifetime ago.

Last night I dreamt, that I married you,
You didn’t want to, but you saw it through.
So we pledged our lives, until the end.
And somehow we were content.

When the snow fell on Denver,
I felt the passing of time,
I felt the sting of my tears,
I felt empty and hollow.

Chorus

Inst Verse

If contentment is, all that you seek,
Then surely that is all you will find.
Hold me, kiss me and let me explore,
And if that is all that we have,
Somehow we'll need nothing more.

When the snow fell on Denver,
I thought about home,
I thought about Christmas long, long ago,
Way up north,
A lifetime ago.

(Callow - 2006)

A recorded demo of this song will follow as soon as my voice recovers and I figure out how to record in Cubase SL via a Motu 828 MkII that I've borrowed off my mate James.

Okay sussed it... so here you go, have a listen:

When The Snow Fell On Denver - MP3

Famous, but not in that way...

I've been struck down by some sort of virus, and it's curtailed my recording and mixing efforts. (It's hard to sing or play when it feels like someone is hammering on your head!!!) So instead I've had some time to think and put together a few web pages and the like. The first realisation I came to is that the pieces of music that I'm putting together don't form "albums" in the conventional way, as it's rare that they will actually end up on a CD with a printed cover and so forth, but rather they are projects or collections of songs. They have artwork, they have a (suggested) running order, they have lyrics and other information associated with them, but after that the similarities end, and it gets a lot more exciting.

My "album" artwork doesn't need to be CD friendly (although I will always supply something that works in iTunes and would print on a CD cover), I can include demo versions of songs as well as the finished articles. I can also update or change the order at any time that takes my fancy. If you download the songs or images, you can modify them or change the running order, or remix them or anything you like... it's exciting stuff. As technology allows, I will be able to include videos, interactive chat and even live broadcasts of the music.

It occured to me then that I need a home for the album or project, that is the centre for all this creativity. Fortunately the web is perfect for this, so here are the first two project homepages...

I'm Still Here

Lullabies From The Wheels Of The Bus

Please feel free to interact with these projects either via this Blog or email.

Also, I guess I need a name for this new kind of virtual album... any ideas? Webbum? Webdisc? iAlbum? eAlbum? Answers on a ePostcard please.

Who Me?

Another internet site that's caught my eye recently is YouTube (you can't miss it can you?!) and I was facsinated to discover that not only am I on it (sort of), but my guitar is also on it!! So without further ado, here is my Fender Telecaster being played and then used as a demonstration model by Rick Parfitt of Status Quo no less (it's the one with the Union Jack on at the start, he then produces it from behind the flight case for the demo):

My Guitar Being Facelifted

And me onstage with the Pet Shop Boys:

Heart Live

Okay, okay, you can't actually see me... but I am there. I'm behind the white cube on the right hand side holding on to it to prevent the scenery from moving around and running Neil and Chris over. Which all goes to prove that my guitar is a lot more famous than I am.

Sponge Bob In DVD Land

So a good weekend, dinner with good friends on Saturday, chilling out and watching movies on Sunday. Two very different but equally good movies, Team America (seriously considering a cover version of America - Fuck Yeah!), and Walk The Line, the story of Johnny Cash.

So time to start recording some more material. For those who haven't spotted it yet, there is a link two posts below to demo of Lullabies. So now I'm going to start on Minneapolis... got another couple of ideas to come... The 5am Wake-Up Crew (thanks again Alex!!) and All Girls Are Evil (ha, ha...), plus two instrumental pieces that will have some words over them.

So, best get on with it.

Ta, ta, for now.

Dxx

Minneapolis. Hungover. Tired. Awake.

Diet Coke with Cherry, New Edition

So, I sat down today and played through pretty much all of my songs I can remember, about 12 or so songs... actually there are more than that, but I can't play them... ha, ha. And another song started to form, so here is the new song:

Minneapolis, Hungover, Tired, Awake
=============================

I’m tired, so very tired,
Tired of waking up, not knowing where I am.
Is this the north? Is this the south,
the east or did we go west?

Is that girl making eyes at me?
Or am I just out of my tree,
It wouldn’t be the first time.
It wouldn't be the first time.


If the bus has to break too hard,
We’ll all be two inches shorter,
Or crushed in a pile of metal
Somewhere on the road to Omaha.

Strawberries and cream,
And a champagne dream.
It wouldn't be the first time.
It wouldn't be the first time.

And I miss you so much,
And I wish you were here,
So I could touch you… or even hold you.
And we could get drunk all over again.

I was in a city today,
I don’t know which one or what time of day,
The men in white suits,
Are coming for me.

Is that girl making eyes at me?
Or am I barking up the wrong fucking tree.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
It wouldn't be the first time.

Chorus

It wouldn't be the first time,
It wouldn't be the first time.

(Callow - 2006)

Hear this song now:
http://www.darencallow.co.uk/audio/lullaby/minneapolis-01.mp3

It comes from that weird time in between waking and sleeping that I seemed to inhabit a lot of the time whilst I was away. The picture is from the tour bus, somewhere between Minneapolis and Omaha (as mentioned in the song). We (Keano, Monk, Seamus and Jimbo - Holger and yours truly, not pictured) were having a wail of a time listening to Bill Bailey on the CD player and drinking some very fine red wine donated to us by the Pet Shop Boys dressing room... somehow the bus never did crash, although we had two very near misses and two breakdowns. Life can be a balanced on a knife edge, it amazes me sometimes (or maybe all the time) how I'm still here to tell you all about it. Really looking forward to recording these songs and getting them out there... comments?!

BTW, this week I have been mostly watching silent films with improvised music and looking at Da Vinci's notebooks.

Dxx

P.S. Apart from the bus related stuff there are two Pet Shop Boys tour references in the song... 2 points to the first person who spots them both.

London, UK

So I'm finally back in rainy London, for a while anway. Finally had the chance to sit down with my guitar and start to form some ideas, and I've been thinking a lot about travel, and life and the endless journey. So a few chords came along (Am, G, C, F, Dm Bb) the usually sorts of suspects, but with a kinda different feel for me. And the words started to fit, so here is the first semi-complete song, and as luck would have it, it's probably the title track (thanks again Alex).

BTW, the picture is one of the last ones I took in L.A. - it's the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, with the Bel Age hotel in the background.

Lullabies From The Wheels of The Bus
===========================

Hush my baby,
Don't wake yourself yet,
The road is long,
And there is still time to forget.
Don't know when we're arriving,
Don't know how far's to go.
I'll keep you out of trouble,
We'll take it nice and slow.

I'm still wondering why,
Do the wheels keep on turning,
In this lullaby.

I'll listen to the voices,
As they guide me on,
Straight ahead now,
'til all thoughts are gone,
When it's time to stop,
The voices will say,
Arrived at destination,
As you slip away.

I'm still wondering why,
Do the wheels keep on turning,
In this lullaby.

If I can just keep on going,
Maybe this road will never end?
The reason for my travelling,
Always lies just around the bend.
But I have no star to guide me,
I'm lost without a plan,
But I'm still going, I'm driving on,
Catch me if you can.

(Callow/Staiger - 2006)

You can now hear how the melody goes (complete with dodgy vocals) here:

http://www.darencallow.co.uk/audio/lullaby/lullaby_rough.mp3

Bel Age Hotel, Los Angeles

So it's nearly all over... the american adventure. The day after tomorrow I will be back home in the UK... and it's all a bit scary. I've gotten kinda used to this strange nomadic lifestyle... my Day Sheet tells me where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing. My laminate pass gets me in and out of some amazing theatres and buildings. I pick up Diet Coke and doughnuts on a regular basis... all free. Food arrives at the appropriate time. I work in the back of a truck, as a kind of itinerant tinker... selling cloth to the americans. Counting shirts, counting money, counting shirts again. I'm kept awake at night by the rumble of bus tyres on concrete... the sway of the vehicle across the road. When I wake up I often don't know where I am.

It's only been 35 days but it feels like a lot longer... I've changed! Will my friends still know me? I've been through the looking glass, in Narnia, up the far-away tree... time to come back down. I have a beer belly (small) and muscles (a few). I have dirt under my fingernails and calluses on my feet. I've learned some useless new skils:

1) How to open a beer bottle with a cigarette lighter
2) How to tell what size shirt people wear by just looking at them
3) How to tell if a bundle of t-shirts has more or less than 12 in it by, again, just looking at it
4) How to operate a variety of coffee makers
5) How to use a toilet in a moving bus without falling over

So where does this leave me? Certainly a lot happier than I used to be... but I'm still kinda scared to come back to reality. So if I occasionally seem a little weird or distracted when I'm back forgive me... I'm just trying to find my feet again in the real world.

Dxx

p.s. Sent the world's funniest email to my friend Sarah last night before passing out... "...no idea why I mighty be emaily you... but in the ost amazing suite in LA looking over dome of the ost amaring plazce, and I wish you werehere... to tell me to stop being such a sentimatantal twat...ooops bit drunk... "

p.p.s Apologies to anyone who received a strange phonecall at about 10 in the morning last night, I accidently left my phone in another room, and I think some of my esteemed colleagues may have found it amusing to randomly dial a few numbers!