Last night, Ross Buckingham played his first ever open mic gig (I hope I’ve got that right). We went down to Station 59 in Richmond where Ross played a 15 minute set, including a cover version of Skeleton – the first time we’ve ever heard someone else do one of our songs live – what a buzz.

Ross Buckingham at Station 59, Richmond Victoria, last night.

Thing was, he gave Skeleton a completely different spin. With a deep timbre in his voice, sounding a little like Leonard Cohen & Cat Stevens, he slowed the song down capturing a melancholy intensity. Fantastic. I took some video of the show to post here shortly. Ross also played guitar with us a few months ago when we recorded The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment’ for our ‘Somewhere In The World’ video series.

Speaking of videos, while I think of it, Friday night’s Rage was awesome, making for a very slow start to Saturday. This clip by The Horrors, ‘I Can See Through You’, still stuck in my head.

For OS viewers, Rage (video show) runs every Friday & Sat night on ABC TV, starts at about midnight & goes til morning.

Checkya later.
Fires out

Sneaky Vader, Missy Daisy:
Love this pic. Got it from Missy Daisy’s official Facebook page.

The traveling roadshow that is Missy Daisy (Clive Dundee & his tour van) will be partying at Victoria Park, Abbotsford on Sat 11 Feb in honour of birthdays for Cujo, Clive & Deano. The van will apparently be open for inspection as we BBQ, kick the footy, & drink beer on the hollowed turf.

Victoria Park is the home of Australia’s most famous (or infamous) football team – Collingwood. A place where legends were born. I remember as a kid, standing with my dad in the outer, watching the Bulldogs play the Pies. Not the safest feeling; a beer-fueled crowd getting more and more out of control as the game went on. Nothing like Missy Daisy’s event in a couple of weeks…

Drums Atlanta:
Kent goes into Open Sky studios in Atlanta on Tuesday to record drums for the next single. We’ll have those drum audio files here by the week’s end to lay the rest of the instruments & vocals down.

Checkya later.
Fires out

Had a great afternoon yesterday at Stalk & Kim’s place, Abbotsford, Melbourne. It was indeed Australia Day – a day off around the country to celebrate white colonial ‘settlement’ – and the beginnings of Australia the country, and a day for Australia’s indigenous people to commiserate the invasion of their ancient land.

Max, Dave (rear facing) and Marty, thumbs up at Stalk & Kim’s, yesterday – pic courtesy of Clive Cooke.

At our small backyard party, the weather was beautiful & the beer was flowing under the warm summer sun. I vaguely remember a deep philosophical conversation at Stalk & Kim’s infamous kitchen table (where the minds meet) before staggering out the door on the walk home at dusk.

Kent records drums in Atlanta, this weekend, for the next single release due out in preparation for the US and China tours, March to May. Tours which are fast approaching.

Checkya later.
Fires out.

Drove out to Melbourne’s far eastern suburbs today to meet with producer David Carr for  pre-production discussions about the coming single release. Had a really cool time out there – he’s a laid back, friendly dude – and an avid collector of antique musical equipment. Much of the next recording will be tracked using some really nice old gear re guitars, amps, keys, mics etc. We’re going for a dirty rocking dance sound; an all-out effort to capture the live vibe.

David Carr & his Ibanez collection.

Early next week the drums will be recorded in Atlanta & sent over the pacific, via the interweb, to Dave’s studio where the fun is set to begin.

David Carr at Sing Sing Melbourne.

Checkya later.
Fires out.

Rehearsed the songs for the next release with Daniel Salazar on drums at Bakehouse yesterday. We had a great time playing & experimenting with the new material.

Just after rehearsal, Marty, Daniel & Max.

Daniel’s our next-door neighbour from Columbia – who happens to be a great drummer. We all loaded into the van, drums coming out from one house, guitars and keys coming from the other (definitely a first). It was a beautiful warm summer day in Melbourne-town. This time last year we were holed up in Boston, in minus 20 degree temps. Very good to be home for summer.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

We’ve been in the throes of pre-production this week – in preparation for recording the next single & b-side, including a couple of days down at Bakehouse studios in Richmond, banging out the new songs at volume. Nothing like hearing them live for the first time. The Bakehouse sessions will continue over the weekend. We’re due in the recording studio, first weekend in Feb with David Carr producing (as mentioned in yesterday’s post).

The On Fires live in Beijing 2011 – pic by Long Truong.

In the mean time, the drums will be recorded in Atlanta, Georgia. Kent goes into the studio there about a week from now. They’ll shoot the audio files across cyberspace to Melbourne, where Dave Carr will take over & weave his magic. Everybody’s excited about making a trans-Pacific recording happen. We’re trying to stay one step ahead in case there’s an unforeseen hitch – so far so good. The theory is sound.

Have a great weekend.
Checkya later,
Fires out.

Renowned producer, David Carr is set to work on our next recording, scheduled for early next month. We’re releasing a single & b-side to vinyl for upcoming tours of the States & China, March through May 2012.

David Carr at his Rangemaster Studio.

David is one of Melbourne’s finest producers, consistently turning out amazing work for a host of local and international acts. Many moons ago, in a previous band called Trace, I worked with Dave at his first Melbourne studio. We ran into him again a few years ago on tour in Berlin. He’s also a great guitarist &, at the time, was doing shows in Europe with his band.

Our paths are set to cross again in a few weeks time.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

China Tour News: We’ve just been confirmed for Strawberry Festival line-ups in Shanghai and Beijing (April/May).

Strawberry Festival Beijing 2011 – pic from festival website.

Strawberry Festival runs from 29 April to 01 May in Beijing and Shanghai. Our shows at these festivals will be part of a 3 week China tour, starting Saturday 21 April in Wuhan – including dates in Hefei, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Dalian and Shenyang. We’ll announce all the China dates & venues here, soon.

Speaking of Shenyang. It was the scene of a guerrilla hit-and-run style show when we toured China last year. We arrived late after a delayed cross-country train – with 45 minutes to set up, play and get back on the next train. It was an intense 25 minute blitz, crowd going nuts. Click the tour documentary video at the top of this page to watch part of the Shenyang show.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Our photographer, Mat Ward, was on official business at the Dresden Dolls show on Sunday night at The Forum in Melbourne. Mat took some great shots of their New Year’s Eve performance – they liked them so much they gave him a photopass (to work in the photo-pit) for Sunday’s show.

Amanda Palmer, Dresden Dolls live at The Forum, Melbourne – pic by Mat Ward.

See more of Mat’s Dresden Doll pics at his eyehunger.com site.

There’s more to the story here too. I do believe Mat jumped up on stage, mid show & snogged Amanda Palmer, The Doll’s lead vocalist. I’m also lead to believe there might have been some tongue action.

Checkya later.
Fires out.

The first proposed US tour dates for March/April landed with us over the weekend. It’ll take us a few weeks to lock everything in. At this stage we’re looking at an extensive east coast tour including Florida, Georgia, North & South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, New York & Connecticut. We’ll announce confirmed dates & venues here soon.

The On Fires live at Midi Festival Beijing 2011.

We’ll be in the studio this month to record a new single & ‘B-side’. The new songs will be released for the USA & China tours (March through May, this year).

The On Fires live at Midi Festival Beijing 2011.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.