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.

So on the weekend my wallet went missing. Turned everything over in the house. Couldn’t find it, lost sometime on Sunday arvo – not on a drunken night out or leaping around at the footy. Gone in broad, sober daylight. Very disconcerting. During the afternoon, I’d driven down to Vic St and then to Vic Gardens in search of a Skype phone – out for about 40 mins. When I went to pay, wallet was gone.

Monday morning – canceled all the cards, applied for re-issue, went down to Vic Roads – new license, etc etc.

Fast forward, today: Envelope shows up in the letterbox, addressed to me. Inside – all the cards that were in the wallet, including business cards, receipts, credit cards and license. No note, just the contents.

So, my first thought – thanks. Second thought – OK you kept the cash ($200)… and the wallet. Third thought – Is this honour amongst thieves? Fourth thought – Are they lulling me into a false sense of security for impending identity theft? Fifth thought – I’m lucky I got anything back at all. Sixth thought – what actually happened? Did they break into my car (did I leave the wallet in the centre console), did I drop it in the street (feasible) or did someone lift it from me when they bumped into me?

Who knows. Whaddaya do? More care next time, better vigilance. One thing for sure, I’ve got this creepy kinda feeling…

Checkya later.
Fires out.

This video was downloaded from a Chinese TV website – filmed at Midi Festival May of this year, in Beijing. Audio cuts in and out a little…

It was show number 3 of a 16 date tour of China (the documentary film at the very top of the home page). The whole tour was an incredible experience, one of the most amazing tours we’ve done – and we murdered ourselves on Chinese chili for the whole month. The food there was insane – like nothing we expected (re Chinese food at home).

Final show for the year.
(18th Nov – Cherry Bar Melbourne)

Checkya later,
Fires out.