I got a new amp. It is pretty big! Turns out, now I have the same set up as Albert Hammond Jr which can’t be a bad thing!

I went off Coldplay for a while, but am glad to say that I am back on the band-wagon (so to speak). Viva La Vida is a great album. It took me a fair few listens to get into it cause I thought some of the songs were a bit obvious, but the more I listen, the more I like it.

Jamie Lidell was a surprise – a good one too! Heard one song on triple j that was rad and then found the album. Turns out it is all good which is rare – usually when that happens I have heard the good song already. JIM is a really fresh album that takes a lot of influence from motown (not in the Human Nature kind of way either). Too much fun.

I heard Damien Rice singing about an Eskimo and I was captivated – not only that, his mother does an operatic burst in the same song. Anyone that can mix loves songs with the word ‘eskimo’ and also have your mother along to supervise and sing is alright with me – in fact, they are amazing.

I went and saw Luke play with in a jazz trio yesterday at Sappho books in Glebe. The place reminded me of Black Books (in a good way). The music was top notch and the bookshop/cafe was really well designed. All the outside walls had been subject to mass scale art; such a great idea. Not too long into the set, they were also subject to a thunderstorm.

I spent this week in the studio with FisherKing. It was a massive week but such a great experience. I have never really been involved in a recording that was this professional. The studio had such a warm vibe with all these rad lamps and low light. Even though it was pretty hectic, when it wasn’t your turn to record it was pretty easy to relax.

Genevieve, who ran the studio and was our producer, was an absolute blast and really brought the songs to life. Since Genevieve is a guitarist as well, it meant that I got to do some cool things; play with a few amps, swap between different guitars, experiment with pedals and different combinations, layer guitar tracks one over the other, plus (my favourite), getting a massive Marshall Stack, turning it right up and getting different feedback sounds for a whole song. Too much fun! I was giggling like a little girl which even came out on the recording.

It was hard to take photos since we didn’t really want to distract people recording and also since we were usually distracted, but I did get a few that I was happy with.

In yesterdays Sutherland Shire Leader FisherKing got a write up about our gig last night. If you missed it (not sure how you could) then dig out your newspaper from the recycling and flick to page 46 … or click on the above headine to read the full article.

Thanks to all who came out last night to the Brass Monkey. We had so much fun – really made the night to have so many friends and family there to support us.