Melbourne Zombie Walk

Yesterday, TOF reporter Mat Ward, partook in the annual Melbourne Zombie walk. He’d been at us on Facebook to get down there. It certainly would have made some great film clip material.

Alas, we were scared off by the weather & stayed home to set up the studio. So, instead of adorning ourselves in fake blood & undead attire, we were rehearsing (3 weeks til the Cherry Bar show in Melbourne).

Comfortably Numb, Queensryche & Dream Theatre

TC sent me this video link on Facebook yesterday. He’s a man who likes his rock old school and, knowing I’m a massive Floyd fan, couldn’t resist giving me a heads up on this. Gotta say, the lead break at the end doesn’t disappoint.

Melbourne Cup Day tomorrow.

The Australian nation stops for a horse race – and if you live in Victoria, it’s a public holiday.

Hi Mum – I don’t know why the video from China in yesterday’s post doesn’t play for you. Is anybody else having the same problem?

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Illness Sickness Live From Mao Livehouse, Beijing.

Our China tour Manager Tom & his band, Illness Sickness, played Mao Livehouse in Beijing recently.

He sent me this video on Friday. Really cool stuff. And not the style I’d been expecting. I’d had many a beer with Tom on tour earlier this year & I got the impression he was well into hard-core punk with a leaning toward ‘angry’ music. As you’ll find in the video, the band’s style is progressive, dynamic & pretty experimental – with a powerful and melodic sound.

Steve Lane and The Autocrats – Friday 28 Oct at Northcote Social Club

I was a bit under the weather by the time I got to the show on Friday night. In fact, I nearly got kicked out of the venue before Steve’s band even hit the stage. Somehow, I managed to accidentally walk behind the bar at some point before the show. By the time I’d become aware of what I’d done, I was standing in the ‘sacred zone’, surrounded by puzzled looking bar staff. I quickly got the hell outa there, apologising profusely (just enough to be allowed to stay)…

I had a great night after that. There were moments where I felt really proud of Steve for sticking at it & fronting such a fantastic line-up. His band, The Autocrats consist of Augie March’s rhythm section & the Paul Kelly’s guitarist – so you can imagine how tight they were. On stage too, was Steve’s long-time close friend Pete Slater on guitar – another high school friend. We hung out before & after the show, catching up with a few more school buddies I hadn’t seen for years. Steve Land and The Autocrats are winding up a pretty solid Aussie tour, just a couple more dates to go. Awesome work guys.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

An old buddy of mine, Steve Lane, launches his brand new album tonight at the Northcote Social Club with his band The Autocrats. The band features some of Australia’s most talented players including the rhythm section from Augie March and musicians who’ve performed with Paul Kelly and Maurice Frawley.
Steve Lane and The Autocrats hit the stage tonight at 11pm.

Steve Lane & The Autocrats

Steve and I went to the same high school & played in bands together some years ago. Back then, he was a bass guitarist doing backing vocals. These days, he’s the guitarist front-man. Apparently, some old school friends will be at the show tonight – I’m definitely getting down there.

Demos Keep A Comin…
It’s an obsessive time for me right now. Just finished the third new demo song last night. These things are gripping me like a bad cold, not letting me stop until they finally drop down into a mix. I’ve gotta say, there are big changes afoot for our sound. We’re planning to release a new demo song in each monthly Hose Down eNews – sign up at the top right of this page.

Checkya later.
Fires out

About an hour ago, the old drum kit (we think it came from the sixties) which has been living above the bathroom ceiling, finally found a new home. Last week I met the next door neighbour, Daniel.

Above: Daniel & kick drum.

He used to play with a band in Ecuador called Utero – but recently moved to Australia to study. So the old kit which has seen much action and slightly better days (used at several drunken gig parties), now lives at Daniel’s place, passed piece by piece over the fence.

Last show for the year – November 18th at Cherry Bar with The Resignators (a blistering Ska/Punk band).

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Today we’ve added archival access and an easy search function to the site. At the bottom of this page get access to every post since August last year. Select a particular month & go back in time to see what we were doing and where. And on the right (below the Hose Down sign up box) type in anything you like & hit the ‘Go fetch!’ button to search the Daily Hose Down Blog archives – or anything else on the site.

Today is exactly 4 weeks til the final show for the year. Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane, Melbourne – 18th Nov.

Have a great weekend.
Checkya later,
Fires out

Bumpskey Radio, New Jersey USA, is the first radio station in the world to play our latest demo, Perfect Day. Good on ya Jerry and Bumpskey! The brand new song went to air Tuesday this week.

Above: The Bumpskey crew at The Saint, New Jersey.

We dropped in to Bumpskey Radio on our way down to Asbury Park, New Jersey, for a show at The Saint earlier this year. We played a few songs live-to-air and had a great fun interview with the guys. Awesome folks. They put us up for some much needed sleep at The Sheraton down the road – how cool was that!

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Videoed another ‘Somewhere In The World’ yesterday, with Ross Buckingham – a sterling effort on guitar.

Just finished cutting the video together with some footage of us later on in the night wandering around Abbotsford (Melbourne Australia). The song we recorded was ‘That’s Entertainment’ by The Jam. Ross won a competition in our Hose Down eNewsletter by suggesting the song & then offered to play it with us. We had a great night, Chris & Ross’s partner Nicole came over. Mike (who played bass on an Aussie tour with us last year), dropped in later – which was awesome. At some point I remember jamming, bongos, tambourine, shakers, & Mike on guitar.

Sign up for our monthly Hose Down eNews at the top right of this page & get the video we shot with Ross yesterday. The latest Hose Down is due out this week – direct to your inbox. I’ve mentioned this before, but every Hose Down has gig news, tour tales (when we’re on tour), Max’s food diaries & more…

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Yesterday, the guys came and took the house piano away. We’d run out of room so the beast had to go. 300 kilos of piano lifted up onto the back of a brick truck, complete with crane.

We’d wrestled it out of the lounge, down the side & out the gate onto the footpath. Plenty of neighbours out to spectate as the crane took the heavy lifting.

About a month to go til our only Melbourne show for the year, and the last for 2011. Friday, Nov 18 at Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane Melbourne.

Checkya later  (have a good weekend).
Fires out.

Life back to ‘normal’ as Baz (the offending Staffy dog who bit Mojo in the unholiest of places) was taken home by Al who arrived back in town last night. Oh, how they played (24/7). Baz is about a year old, 7 years Mojo’s junior. As a result Mo is comatose today (the bleeding stopped late Monday night).

Just finished a mix on the first brand new demo. I think it’ll be published here shortly. We’ll be playing it at the Cherry Bar show next month. We’re calling the song ‘Perfect Day’.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

We’re looking after another Staffy called Baz. Baz belongs to Al, who’s out of town for a few days. Mojo (our dog) & Baz get along like a house on fire. They play all day, til they drop. But yesterday was different. There was an uncharacteristic yelp from Mojo followed by a halt in proceedings.

When Max went to investigate, Mojo was standing statue-still. On closer inspection, his penis had swollen to the size of a small pup, completely protruding from the ‘sleeve’ – and bleeding. Baz had bitten Mo right on the bippy apparently when Mo had been humping Baz’s face.

Seriously, that thing was protruding so badly, we wondered whether Baz had ripped off & eaten the foreskin. We separated the feisty pair and eventually, the swelling went down. Mojo spent the evening in quiet recovery – he’s almost back to normal this morning.

And now, as I look out at the backyard on this fine Monday morning, both dogs are at it again – and unbelievably, Mojo is back face-humping again. What did we learn?

Above: Mojo yesterday, as the monster retracts…

Checkya later,
Fires out.