Playing at The Clarendon

The Studio Sessions.... cont.

It's so important to me to feel relaxed and at home when I'm doing a studio session, almost as if I'm in my own lounge room. Big Al who is the owner/producer at the Sonic Kitchen Studios was so great to work with, and creates a chilled vibe which gives the space for creativity to flow.

The musicians who sessioned on 'Earth On An Axis' gave so much of their heart and soul, and together we created an album that I'm really excited about.


I'm looking at releasing early 2010. Will keep you posted.
Andrea.

Me on my trusty old nylon....


Big Al on his Gibson Twin Neck

Big Al on his Fretless Eko Bass.

Dan Baker working his magic on Pedal Steel.

Dan Baker on Pedal Steel.

'Dragonfly' the Film Clip Part 2

I never realised how much goes into shooting a video clip. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this video possible, including all the musicians, Stephanie from IssTV, VOID for the warehouse + frames,Caro and Andre, the gypsy dancers, the horses from the New Forest, the Parisian shadow walkers, and of course Valeria, who made all the props and was so great to work with. She is a visionary and a great director! We are all looking forward to seeing the end result, which will coincide with the release of my debut album 'Earth On An Axis' early 2010.

IssTV came down and interviewed Valeria and myself on location down at the Branksome Chine forest gardens. If you wanna check it out, click on this link: IssTV.




Valeria looking for the right angle.



Gypsies in the forest...........

James Pinnock, Big Al and Dan Baker.

Live on BBC Radio Solent

Yesterday I made a little appearance on Sally Taylor's Show.
Lee Cuff joined me on Cello, and I really enjoyed playing some of my more intimate ballad style tracks, 'Swirl Me Around' and 'The Flowers'.

As I was leaving, and saying goodbye to Sally, we had a bit of a giggle. We talked about the show from last year when Sally came to my campsite at Larmer Tree Festival and we did a live to air interview/ song from my camper van. It was all going well, until the cultural worlds collided....
In Australia 'thong' means the thing you put on your foot. Well in England it means a g-string.
So live on air, as Goba is getting out of the van, and Sally greets him saying "Good morning Goba, are you going to join us out here"... to which he replied "Hang on, I've just to get my thongs on!!."
Just one of those moments in time...
I have enjoyed popping onto Sally's show a few times now, and appreciate her support for my music. Thanks also to Geoff McQueen who is her new producer, who insultingly quoted one of my songs as "Kasabian meets Metallica meets Jay-Z" ..... what's the world coming to, eh?

If you would like to hear the show again, CLICK HERE. and look for Sally On Saturday...

Dragonfly in a Film Clip!

Valeria is a creative film maker who approached me to do a film clip for a song of mine called 'Dragonfly'. We met up at a cafe, and chatted about ideas for the clip. She has by this stage listened to the song a few times. I explained to her that I wrote Dragonfly when I was living in Paris, in my tiny little appartment on the 6th floor, staring out to 'La Tour Eiffel'. I also expressed that it was a song about the frustrations of being a travelling musician, and the highs and lows of trying to find my way.

The next time we met for a coffee, Valeria had a whole story line worked out.
"We are going to build your little appartment in Paris." she exclaimed. Since that day,Valeria
has spent hours making a model of the Eiffel Tower, posters, and designing the set for the film clip to Dragonfly. Last week was the first day of filming, so here are a few snippets below.


Carolina and Valeria setting up the appartment scene.

Valeria and Stephanie discuss the light of the 'moon'
shining on the Eiffel Tower.

Sitting in my 6th floor appartment.

I even hung up a bit of washing in between takes.

Blowing away in the wind. (try standing like that for 40 mins!)

Part Two coming soon.....

Musical moments...

The music world is a small world indeed....
Last year, we played The Social at The Larmer Tree Festival, and jammed with a few other musicians that jumped up on stage with us. Firstly there was Phil Wilcox on accordian, who, (little did we know) was a trained opera singer as well! He learnt to play the accordian at a young age and is truly a brilliant player. It was so much fun jamming with Phil, I asked him to feature on a couple of tracks on my album.

Phil Wilcox on Accordian

Omer Makessa on Mbira.

I thought I first saw Omer playing with his band Mankala at The Square and Compass pub about 2 months ago. When Omer came down to the studio from Bristol for a session a few weeks ago, we all kept thinking where do we know each other from. It wasn't until later on in the day, Omer exclaimed "Oh, I know you guys! I jammed on stage with you at The Larmer Tree Festival last year!" We all had a good laugh about that. A small world, for sure!

Lee Cuff on Cello.

Lee is a well-known instrumentalist throughout the Bournemouth region and has played with many of the local bands down here. The cello is one of my favourite instruments, and Lee has brought out some very rich tones and textures in my songs. Especially in 'Come Back Home' and 'Swirl Me Around'.



.....The album is really starting to take some shape now. I have really enjoyed working with such talented and easy going musicians. More pics to be added soon!

The Sonic Kitchen Studios

I have had the pleasure of working alongside Big Al, who produced my EP 'Better In The Sunshine' mid last year, and is currently producing my first album.
These past few months 'The Sonic Kitchen Studios' in Poole, UK have become my second home.
Al is a source of musical inspiration to me, someone I feel understands my music and where I'm coming from, which is vital in any creative/recording situation...I'd now like to share some history about this talented guitarist/bassist/sound engineer/producer!


Al's Background
Alan (Big Al) Hill formed the Original Sonic Kitchen Studio way back in 1988 with his Brother Dave in Al’s Kitchen. Their first studio was setup in the loft apartment of a Victorian House in Blackheath, South East London. "For about the first year or so, we were writing/producing/mixing some great Acid House and early Techno tracks, then my brother Dave became the mighty "Pure Plastic" label and is to this day regarded as one of the true Godfathers of modern Techno music", says Al.

Big Al was signed up as the now legendary "Mind Over Rhythm", and through producing In-House for Pinnacle & Zomba he secured all of his Mastering with Abbey Road Studios, a strong and fruitful relationship that still continues to this day.
Now based in Poole, Dorset, Big Al is responsible for producing Andrea Soler’s debut EP ‘Better In The Sunshine’, a project he says, ”Is just the tip of the iceberg” for the fresh and inspiring Australian songstress.

The EP was mastered at Abbey Road by Big Al’s good friend Sean Magee, with Al recalling of the time they met, “I first met Sean after a few days working at Abbey Road Studios for Pinnacle/Zomba. Nick Webb was working with me and said, ‘You have to meet Sean from room six Al, he's a bit weird, you'd get along amazingly well.” “I honestly can’t remember even how long ago it was, but from then until now Sean and I have been Soul Brothers. His Mastering/Engineering capabilities are just world class.”

Big Al is a larger than life character with music running deep in his veins, and one would be hard pressed to find a more soulful and passionate musician/producer.

He has a wealth of experience in the Music Industry encompassing Live and Studio Engineering, Production, Writing, Arranging, Session Guitar and Bass Guitar, Keyboards etc. As a Producer/Musician he's worked with such names as Jack DeJohnette (Miles Davis, The Ripple Effect) John and Ben Surman, The Baker Brothers, to name just a few!
Al defines Andrea's music as "Picturesque, atmospheric and thought provoking", and after their first successful collaboration he is extremely excited about getting her debut album underway.

Live @ Larmer Tree on the BBC.

Who would have thought that Sally Taylor (Radio Solent) and Johnny Walker from BBC Radio 2 would join my band...especially at eight o clock in the morning! I turned up at the Social Tent where I found Sally with bongos in hand, and Johnny walker warming up on the tambourine. I was then asked to open up The Larmer Tree Show by announcing they were both in my band.. It was such a fun time!
Here's a photo of Johnny, myself and Sally. I'll be posting the full podcast really soon.
I really enjoyed Larmer Tree. Apart from battling the rain and mud there was some fantastic music. Highlights for me was Rokia Traoré and The Dodge Brothers.
Something else I loved about this festival was all the divine food stalls and finding funky recycled clothes in the Oxfam charity shop.
I also played a slot at The Arc Stage with Elephant Talk. It was quite packed in the tent but it would have been nice to see more dancing! Over all it was a great time with good friends and doing an open mic spot with my little beat boxing mate, Zaq was a load of laughs! Might see you there again next year...

New website up and running!

Hurray! The long awaited website is here!
Many thanks to Kyleigh who designed and built this beautiful website...
I hope you all enjoy the scrolling through the site....thanks to goba for the wicked pics!

check out www.kyleigh.co.uk

So much to do, so little time!

I am sitting here watching the rain fall down the window pane, drinking a cup of tea....
It's summer in England!

I've just played the Larmer Tree Festival, and am right now in the middle of recording my debut album, making a new website, and doing a film clip!!

hang on..one thing at a time!.....

I have returned to the UK work with an amazing producer Alan 'Big Al' Hill from The Sonic Kitchen Studios on my debut album- 'Earth On An Axis'. It's going to be a collection of songs I have written over the past few years and have collaborated with some wonderful musicians who have added many textures and colours to my songs. I am incredibly excited to be independently releasing it later this year when I return to Australia.

I'm also cracking the champagne for the new website layout! Many many thanks to the brains behind it: Kyleigh and many thanks to the fantastic www.gobadirt.com for the great photos!

I've also have Valeria, a film maker creating a quirky film clip for my song 'Dragonfly' in the next month, so I will keep you posted about this mysterious project...and will launch it on youtube.

In the meantime, if you want to hear a funny interview direct from the Larmer Tree Festival with BBC's Sally Taylor and Johnny Walker and myself...just pop on the link below!

Happy Days,
A x