Hello! The n-Somnia EP is now ready to be pre-ordered! No word just yet on the release date, but this should be announced in the next few weeks, hopefully. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, click on the link button below and reserve yourself a copy!
Hello everyone. Just a quick update tonight. It's quite late typing this, so I won't be saying too much (this time).
All is going well in the Plains FM department. In fact, I don't think I've been this productive in quite a while. Let me put it this way - the entire music playlist for my shows in 2015 are all complete. All I need to do now is record my parts of the show for July onwards and everything will be complete. I'm still working on the sponsorship side of things, but there may be some progress there as well... Lastly on the Plains FM front, a reminder that the second show is now less than a week away. Stay tuned - literally! Now for a few things about our YouTube channel. Quite some time ago now, I said that all the videos from our old channel were to be moved to our newer one. This is still happening, however, as so much has been happening along side of this, I've just had little or no time to keep up with the big task. But that may change soon, especially since I've made so much progress with Plains FM lately. You may notice some things changing around the website from time to time as I reshuffle things a little bit. Some videos may find themselves being removed from YouTube altogether so I can start over, while others will remain as they are (mainly the most recent uploads). There is a point to all of this and more will be revealed later on. I apologise in advance if any inconvenience may come as I go through everything. Time for me to head off now. Remember, Plains FM next Saturday evening at 9pm NZ time! Ciao! Hello folks. Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I have a few "Trying Stuff"-related videos to share before giving it the finale it deserves (which is not too far away). Tonight I decided to take some time to push towards the end of the series and edited a video that was made last Christmas. Behold...the Gummy Ghost Pepper! In this episode, I am accompanied by my oldest nephew, Mathew, with Aliesha operating the camera. You might remember Mathew from our Hokitika Wildfoods Festival episode a while back. Is this episode my chance to get back at Mathew for the 'horse milk'? See for yourself! As for future episodes, there was going to be one of just me trying a selection from the Hotlix lollipop range, but I decided to dispose of it as it wasn't really that exciting to watch, to be honest. Long story short, the jalapeño one was nice but not too hot, the cinnamon was quite nice too, but the habanero was quite intense. Also, I hinted towards gifting the Hotlix scorpion lollipop to Mathew, and the possiblility of filming him trying it, but that video was never made. I wasn't able to be around when he tried it, unfortunately.
Apart from that, there will be one more episode to come, and the product in question will be the perfect choice for a finale. Stay tuned. Hello everyone! It's been a while, but I've finally made some time to do an update blog for you all. I will start with an apology for taking so long to do this. As you have probably witnessed, things have been very busy so far this year. With that said, let's get on with the rest of the update! First of all, a HUGE thank you to all who tuned in to Plains FM last Saturday night for my first episode of "Forgotten Favourites". The support is a major boost in confidence, which will no doubt help make the next episode a lot easier. For those who may have forgotten (funny that), the next episode will be on June 27th at the same hour as the previous episode (9pm local NZ time). The first episode is now available as a podcast on the Plains FM website and is free to download, so you might want to head on over there and have a listen if you missed it (or maybe you liked it enough for a Round 2?). While on the subject of "Forgotten Favourites", I must remind you that there is a PledgeMe page for the show. This exists to help fund the show, basically. At the moment it is only for the upcoming June episode, and will be others like it for each month. This month's PledgeMe request has under a week left before it expires, so if you wish to help contribute towards it, please click the link button below this paragraph. Keep in mind, every pledge leads to a reward! Various rewards are listed on the PledgeMe page and I will explain each one after the button appears... The minimum amount to pledge is $5, and anyone who pledges this amount (or more) will get their names mentioned on-air! Basically, anyone who pledges (and the target cost has been reached) will be considered a sponsor and will have the commercial break devoted to thanking them, etc. Next in line is the $10 minimum pledge. If you go for this price or more, you get to choose 1 out of 3 available albums from the Stuffed Duck Productions music archive! The albums in question are "7-Sided Parallel" by Kingrow, "The Awakening" by n-Somnia, or "The End Days" by Gosney. Basically, if you make this pledge and the target cost has been reached, one of these 3 titles will be heading your way. By the way, these won't be just plain copies of what's already on Bandcamp.com either. I will see to it that they're PledgeMe/Plains FM special editions exclusive to this promotion! Pledge #3 is the minimum of $25 or more. What this one will get you is the complete collection of the "Ducksel FM" series! That's right, you will get all 11 available episodes (plus the "Pi-Jack" special) sent to you in a spindle CD pack. The main reason for this product being included is because it's the series that started the whole radio thing in the first place. It is also important to note that this pledge has a limit of 2 packs in total! What this means is if 2 people have pledged $25 or more, any further pledges of $25 or more will have the same reward as the $10 one. To be fair though, if this happens we will give you all 3 albums instead of just 1! Also, along with the "DFM" collection, you are still eligable to get the album of choice from the $10 pledge as well as getting your name mentioned on-air! For all pledges, what comes before is also included further down the line. In saying that, the final pledge is $49 or over. The minimum on this one is actually the total goal. Whoever is generous enough to basically fund the entire episode will get pretty much everything I've already mentioned above! How's that for generosity? To make a pledge, click on the previous link button above this section. For further updates, by all means carry on! Going back to website stuff now, you must be wondering what's going on with all the other projects we're involved with. For starters, I can't speak for Forbes at the moment. He's been very busy, to the point where we haven't been able to have a decent catch-up in a while. It sucks when life gets like that. But never fear! One day we'll be able to get back on track in that department. I'm sure he'll be able to give us an update from his end when possible.
As for me though, apart from all the Plains FM stuff in the background (or as it would seem lately, foreground), I've been on a bit of a stand-still. Plains FM has nothing to do with that. It seems that everything else in life has been wanting my attention when I'm not on-air talking about great music. For the past fortnight, I've actually had some time to myself. The original plan during the last 2 weeks was to get my latest n-Somnia EP finished and ready to release, while at the same time start working on some songs for the Swede Legacy project. Unfortunately though, some things in the offline world took up way too much of my time and I've been unable to deliver. I do apologise for the delay! However, I do plan on doing a big catch-up on my progress very soon. Once the n-Somnia EP is completed, I plan on approaching Pulzar FM about the recap interview that was mentioned to me last year around the time of my initial interview. Once I have a set date for the follow-up, I will announce it on here along with a release date for the EP. What I have planned is to have 1 or 2 songs from the EP played there exclusively before releasing it to the public soon afterwards. Will keep you updated on this one as it progresses. All comedy projects are on hold at this time also, at least until Forbes and I can make some time to work on them more. The last thing we did was a bunch of 'demo' recordings for audio sketches...last year! Chances are, once we're back in business, we may go as far as re-recording them from scratch and work on some other things as well. Video projects are running slow as well. The last major thing I uploaded in this department was a Q&A panel video from this year's Armageddon Expo. Since then, the most I've done is a couple mash-ups of a few YouTube videos. Head on over to our YouTube channel to check those out. You can find a link to this in either the Links page or the small buttons at the top of the website's pages (near the Facebook and Twitter buttons, etc). I wish to also take this time to briefly discuss the future of the ever so quiet series, "Trying Stuff". As much as I enjoy trying random and wacky food/drink products, I don't feel passionate enough to do it on video anymore. If you're a huge fan of that series, I do apologise for that. However, there are a couple more episodes that may appear before I consider canning it altogether. There was an episode I filmed before Christmas last year that I haven't even bothered to edit yet. Once I get around to doing that, it'll go online as soon as possible. Also, we have a couple more drinks that have been sitting in our fridge for months waiting for that moment. One of which I'm not entirely sure if I'll do on camera yet, but the other is more likely to be a product for the series finale. Watch this space. That should do for now with the updates. It may seem like a lot, but if you think about it it isn't really. Just Plains FM, the EP, the Swede album, comedy and video projects. I will try to keep up appearances in the blog department from this moment on. Remember to tune in to Plains FM every last Saturday night at 9pm (NZ local time). The next episode scheduled for June 27. Laters! OK, people! Now's a good time to tune yourselves into Plains FM before my show starts. Those of you in the Canterbury region, your radios must be on 96.9 FM. However, if you prefer to stream online, click the link button below.
See you shortly!!! Well, we're now in the final 2 hours building up to the first ever radio show on Plains FM! Back when I first considered doing this 15 years ago, I didn't think I would actually get this far. A big thank you to those who have supported me so far. Keep in mind though, this is not just a one-time event. This is only the beginning...
I will be back before the show starts to give you all the link to where you can tune in from wherever you are! It's now official, people! My radio show on Plains FM now has its own page on their website. Click on the link below and bookmark it for future reference!
Hello everyone! So sorry I haven't been keeping you up-to-date lately. Needless to say, things have been extremely busy for us. Probably the busiest time we've had since SDP began, to be honest. Not all things taking up our time have been worthwhile, however, but we are indeed making some progress in places.
Most notable in the progress department are my plans for my radio show on Plains FM, which kicks off this month. Almost 2 weeks away, in fact! The short version of the Plains FM update - music is all set to go, as well as the talking parts where I say a thing or 2. The only thing that I'm still behind on is sponsorship. I can confirm that the first 2 shows (May and June) have been financially covered, but not from an outside source. On my current wages, it may be tricky if I were to fund this project out of my own pocket. If you are interested in helping me out, please contact me through the website's e-mail address ([email protected]) and we'll sort something out. I won't need too much for sponsorship of each episode as the cost is just short of $50 NZD. The more sponsors there are, the less they would need to contribute! Last month I started a PledgeMe page for this project, but unfortunately it isn't likely to meet its goal. This is probably because I wanted to cover the entire year's needs for funding. Once it has expired, I will be starting a new one with a more realistic goal of funding a single episode at a time, and I will repeat the process each month until the end of 2015. I may start it again next year if the show continues into 2016. That's all I have to say at the moment. Hopefully in the near future I can update you all on other projects as well as this one, but like I said, things have been hectic to the point where some of the other stuff has been on a bit of a stand-still. But we're nearly there, folks. The first radio show is just around the corner! Ciao! Hello everyone. My new radio project now has a page on PledgeMe.co.nz! I'm doing what I can to help fund this show, so I'll be most grateful for any assistance given. Also, there's a chance you may be rewarded with some free stuff from the Stuffed Duck Productions archive! All money raised goes towards funding for the shows at Plains FM. None of it goes towards resources, etc, to make the products offered. So yes, they are actually freebies! Check it out now, while there's still time! Good evening to all! I hope you're all well and that it's not too cold where you are, unlike New Zealand having an early Winter for some reason. Break out the hot water bottles! I have a special announcement. On Facebook and Twitter I've hinted towards this, and a small handful of my friends and family already know about it. For the rest of you, here's the backstory... It all started as far back as 2001, believe it or not. There was a time in my life where I was listening to the radio a lot. Christchurch's 92 More FM was my station of choice, and I found myself tuning in to the Morning Crew (6am to 10am weekdays), which was then hosted by Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford, and the rush hour slot (roughly 4pm to 6pm), hosted by James Milner and Chris Parkin. It seemed I had a thing for radio shows hosted by a duo of funnymen. While listening to these shows, I would eventually consider a career in radio as an option. However, at this point in my life I was only a few years out of high school and still unemployed. To top it off, I was led to believe that if you ever got a student loan, it would take years to pay it back. This put me off ever getting one. In 1999, I attended a (free) course in audio engineering. After the 6 months of training, each student left with a copy of what the tutor called a "CV CD-ROM", which is basically a CD-ROM disc full of examples of your work, as well as a printable copy of your CV (or résumé for those who prefer to call it that). Fast forward to 2000/01, I decided to use this concept as a possible shortcut into the radio industry by creating a home recording of myself pretending to be a radio DJ talking about random topics, playing great music, fake news stories, etc. But with my love for radio duos (a 'tandem' line-up, by the way), I didn't feel confident enough in recording alone. This is where my long-time buddy, Forbes, stepped in. Together we recorded a show (then called "M.O.S. FM" - short for 'Ministry of Sadness'), which first had low sound quality due to my limited hardware. Because of this, I decided to try another one. This kept going on for a while, leading to the foundation of what would eventually become an online comedy album series, later renamed "Ducksel FM" (Ducksel = Duckman & Weasel, our alter egos). During this time, I paid a visit to a local community radio station called Plains FM. Here I had a bit of a chat with somebody there about the possibility of starting a show (with the same idea behind "Ducksel FM"). Got a grand tour of the station and everything. But because I was unemployed and a beneficiary, I was unable to cover the costs needed to make it happen. However, my plans for radiowave domination were put on hold for a while after I decided to have an application form for the Broadcasting School sent to me. There were 2 things that I wasn't quite ready for - the first being the old student loan issue and being unemployed; the second being the essay they wanted me to write. As mentioned earlier, I was not long out of high school, and was not in the mood for writing stuff. A few years later I continued to work on "Ducksel FM" with Forbes until we put it to rest in 2011. But deep inside of me, I still thought about how much fun it would be to get behind the microphone and talk about the awesome music I wanted to share. Jump to the last few months of 2014. Using the knowledge I've gained since close to 15 years, I decided to pay another visit to Plains FM. It all started with an e-mail asking about how much it costs to do a show (prices may have changed since my first visit), and I also pitched an idea for a show I had up my sleeve. This lead to a few more e-mails and eventually my second visit. From there I got my application forms and information sheets to go over and have a think about. Then Christmas came along and delayed me somewhat. After the Christmas rush (and flying up to see Roxette perform in Auckland in February), I finally got the application forms filled in and paid another visit to the station... You are now looking at one of the newest members of the Canterbury Broadcasters Society (CBS), who happens to be hosting a new once-monthly 55-minute radio show on Plains FM every last Saturday of the month (except December, which will be the last Saturday before Christmas) starting on May 30th!!! Excited yet? I hope so!
This may be a community-based radio station, but that doesn't mean it is limited to just Canterbury. You can listen to them via their website...and eventually, my show as well! The show will be called "Forgotten Favourites", which will play only songs released before the year 2000 (with a few occasional exceptions). The 'forgotten' part leans more towards songs that were big hits in their day, by big music acts or otherwise, but have since been overshadowed by the bigger and more popular songs we all know even today. It'll be loads of fun! I will share more details on the show closer to the first night it goes on-air. Also, I'm looking for sponsors to help cover the costs of the show. More on this in the next few days. So, YAY! Hello everyone. Now that April Fool's Day is over, the final compilation album by Gosney has actually been released this time! Click on the link below to purchase this collection of classic tracks composed by Forbes. It covers all the singles/promos ranging from the first album, "Lineage of the Black Kings", right up to last month's release, "Memory". There are no exclusive tracks on this release as all the Gosney songs ever made have already been released. By the way, it's April Fool's Day today...
No worries though. The Gosney album, "Memory", will be available tomorrow... For real this time, I promise! The final release of new Gosney material shall be available to you tomorrow!
Hello everyone. Long time no see! There's a reason for that...I've been unwell. Sure, I could've used the extra time at home to do more project stuff, but there's only so much you can do when you've come down with something. I'm slowly getting back on track now though. With that said, here's an update on what's been happening since the last blog.
n-Somnia. I'm quite a way into the new EP. Of all the 6 songs you will be hearing in a few months time, 2 are completed, a couple more are almost there, another still has a fair way to go, and finally there's one song I'm due to begin. I would've done some more towards the EP on Monday or Tuesday, but like I said, I've been sick. I think now is a good time to reveal more details on the EP also. So, for the first time on this website, the tracklist for the upcoming n-Somnia EP, "Harbinger"... 1. Turn Off Your Television 2. Truth Be Told 3. National Disaster 4. Snap! (Speed of Sight) 5. The Only Race is 'Human' 6. Midnight Sun The songs that are currently finished are tracks 2 and 4. All other tracks, except "National Disaster", are currently in their 'demo' state. I can't reveal too much about what songs will be the promo(s), but I can tell you that track 4 will be one of them. Will decide on the fate of the other 5 later when I've completed them all. Swede. Nothing much has happened since the last update as I've been focusing on getting n-Somnia out of the way first. My solo project will be put in hiatus mode once "Harbinger" and its follow-up compilation, "n-Somnia 2.0" are both released. However, once the final n-Somnia song for 2015 is completed, recording for Swede shall resume. Comedy. Nothing new since before Christmas, but I am hoping that sometime soon Forbes and I will be able to meet up and work more on the scripts and recordings for the comedy album in question. Podcasts. Same as above, I hope to meet up with Forbes to do a spot of recording these a.s.a.p. I've had some ideas for the podcast reboot series for a while now. Thankfully, they're topics that are still relevant after all the time that has passed! Forbes' Updates. If you're wondering why Forbes has been so quiet on here lately, it's because he's been given a task (from outside the SDP circle) that requires some concentration. Depending on the outside source, we may (or may not) see the result of this once he's finished. We shall (or shall not) see! After the task is complete, I'm sure he'll be blogging again a.s.a.p. That should do for the updates for now. Hopefully we'll get into more of a momentum very soon once I've fully recovered. I feel healthy enough to get back into recording n-Somnia songs in a few days. Ciao! The latest album by Gosney is out! "Memory" is the last batch of PS2 songs by Forbes, which came from his PS2 memory card collection (hence the title).
Click on the button below to order your copy! This past weekend was the Armageddon Expo here in Christchurch. I went on the Sunday and it was much fun, as per usual. Many cool items, great cosplayers, a lot of awesomeness. While I was there, I managed to take the time to film the Q+A panel for the New Zealand-born Hollywood actor, Karl Urban. It almost didn't happen because the camera battery was on 1 bar (of 3) the entire time. I was very nervous that it would die on me like on last year's panel video. The video is now available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube, and can be seen below this blog. It is also important to take note of the music in the intro I've added to it. The upbeat track you hear is actually a sneak peek at one of the songs on my upcoming n-Somnia EP, scheduled for release later in the year... Enjoy! Hello everyone. Time for the once-monthly recap of what's been happening at our end. I was contemplating whether or not it was worth doing so this time because there's so little to talk about this month. But I'll do it anyway for the sake of keeping up appearances. Let us begin.
February started off with an activity update, informing you all of our plans for the immediate future. This was followed by my blogs about the Roxette concert I attended on the 7th. After all of the Roxette hype, it was time for us to focus on Gosney as Forbes and I went over the final batch of songs from his PlayStation 2 memory card collection. In the meantime the Gosney album, "6540" and its one and only single were released while I prepared for this month's release of the songs we'd only just salvaged. ...and that's pretty much it, really. Very little to report as it's been quite busy away from the computer this past month. I will be getting more into it very soon. You will notice that Forbes hasn't posted a blog since December. I can report, however, that he has written one. It should make its way to the website anytime now... Until next time, have fun in the sun while you can (it's now officially a very warm Autumn here). Ciao! The next Gosney album, "6540", is now available for your listening pleasure. Click on the link button below to make your purchase!
Well, the day has finally arrived. Forbes and I were able to salvage the last of the Gosney archive when we met up today. It all started with the infamous "Gosney Tapes", which are still in the middle of being gradually released, but today we were able to lift several tracks straight from Forbes' PlayStation 2 memory cards and record them directly onto disc. This means that the final release (before the compilation album to conclude the project) was the first to be created 100% digitally and without the use of videotapes of any kind.
The tracklist and album title has already been created, and can be found on the Gosney discography page in the Music section of the website. Appropriately, the album will be called "Memory". "Memory" will have a total of 22 tracks and is made up of 2 parts - 1. Previously unreleased material, and 2. Remastered versions of selected Gosney classics from previous albums. More info on this album to come in the near future as it is scheduled for release in March. The next single release by Gosney is up - "Swamp", from the upcoming album, "6540", to be released this Saturday!
Well, it finally happened, folks! The band that gave me my first spark of inspiration in getting into the music scene some 22 years ago has been in my home country for their first ever live performance in this part of the world. Living in Christchurch, I stopped at nothing to grab onto the opportunity to attend this event, which would be a world first for them as well. It was a special night for all of us, you could say. I shall break down as much as I can about how this came about, how it all took place, and my thoughts on it afterwards. I'll try not to go for too long, but no promises though. I've eaten my own words before... Firstly, Roxette were planning on performing in New Zealand during their previous tour. However, due to an illness, that particular concert had to be cancelled. I was unable to afford tickets to that show, so its cancellation gave me mixed feelings. Disappointment, because they weren't coming, and of optimism, because this could mean that there may be a second chance in the future. Thankfully the latter was true, and within minutes of the earlybird sales becoming available, I jumped in and grabbed a couple for my wife and I, risking being late for work in the process (I have priorities). I had to hold back on the excitement though, as I planned on making it 'Facebook official' once the actual physical tickets arrived via snail mail. So, now we had a few months to wait for the big day, and pray no further illnesses would come about! Jumping forward to the beginning of 2015, it was then announced that the tour would be for the band's 30th anniversary, which made it a little extra special...or XXXtra special, in this case. Also, the New Zealand gig was to be the launch of the tour itself. Even better! Then comes February. My wife and I made our way up to Auckland the day before the concert so we could get ourselves settled for 4 nights of leisure time - the second of which included the main event. When the day came, we made our way to Vector Arena by foot as we were staying close by at a hotel in the city centre. As we arrived at the complex around 5-5:30pm (over an hour before the venue doors were open), we went into a nearby bar, The Tuning Fork, to have some food beforehand. While doing so, I had a look around at the people already there and at the ones still arriving. I was very keen on seeing how many Roxette fans like me are actually in this country. The doors were due to open at 6:30pm, but first I decided to invade the merchandise trailer... A little over $280 later (no joke), I walked away with a t-shirt, the "XXX" compilation album, Per Gessle's book, "Songs, Sketches & Reflections" (English version), and "The Per Gessle Archives" box set (1 of 2 available). The most money I'd spent during the entire Auckland trip, but worth it. It was time to go in and grab our seats. My wife and I were seated to the right of the sound desk, which is ideal for me because I know a fair bit about that side of the industry. Felt right at home. The opening act was scheduled to perform at 7:30. They were Auckland's own, Ekko Park. A nice choice, if you ask me. Look them up sometime. They performed for 30 minutes. Following this performance there was a 30-minute intermission...or so we thought. Firstly, I don't think the time by my mobile phone was the same as Vector Arena's. Theirs could've been more correct, for all I know. But by the time I had in front of me, Ekko Park hit the stage about 5-10 minutes late, which lead me to think maybe Roxette would be the same after the intermission. However, they were actually a little later than expected. But then the lights went off and the crowd started to cheer. Then we were greeted by the in-your-face intro of "Sleeping in My Car" as they opened up. We were in for a fun ride, without any doubt! I could go into detail about each song they played that night, but I'd be here forever. Instead, I'll point out a few key moments that are worth taking note of, especially if you're a die-hard fan like me. There were quite a few songs in the first half of the show where the audience sat in their seats a lot. Allow me to explain this from a New Zealander's point of view. A majority of our population that know of Roxette will tell you that they know all of their hits from 1989 to 1992 (1994 if you're lucky). That's songs from "The Look" right up to the likes of "How Do You Do!" and/or "Sleeping in My Car". Much of their releases beyond the "Crash! Boom! Bang!" album (1994) have been released here, but got little or no airplay/promotion in this country. I can't explain why this is the case, and no I don't think it's fair. As for their material released from 1986 to 1987, the only time any of it has been released here is on a music video DVD. So, when it comes to the audience's reaction to the 'unheard' songs, it's not being offensive or anything. It's just a result of poor promotion on NZ media's part. Those who aren't familiar with the other material besides the big hits just need an introduction to the rest of the world of Roxette. Thankfully, I'm not in that category as I'm the type who researches that which interests me. When it comes to Roxette, I've been doing this since I've had Internet, basically. The crowd stood up whenever a familiar song came on, of course. Most of their hits made up the second half of the show, so everyone was on their feet eventually. Judging by the volume of the crowd cheering/screaming, I think the most popular song of the night comes as no surprise, really. After being played more than 4 million times on the radio since 1990, "It Must Have Been Love" is bound to pull on your heartstrings. "Crash! Boom! Bang!" had Per Gessle singing the first verse and chorus before Marie Fredriksson took over. They did this in previous tours too. "Crush on You", "Almost Unreal" and the inclusion of the chorus of "Paint" in this evening's rendition of "Watercolours in the Rain" came as a surprise to the Roxette community tuning in online (I was posting the tracks in real-time on Twitter for the world to see). I was pleased to hear "The Heart Shaped Sea" also. I also noticed that Marie needed some help getting on and off stage, and even to sit in a chair (before performing "Perfect Day"). It can be understood if anyone in the audience were feeling concerned or confused about why this was the case. I think this has something to do with her health scare back in 2002, and any reaction to this can be forgiven if whoever was concerned wasn't aware of what happened back then. Like I said before, much of New Zealand has been in the dark about Roxette's history after the mid-90's. Either way, Marie put on a great performance regardless. I'm going to wrap things up now as I don't want to take too much time blogging. Besides, the tour has only just begun. If you want the full experience of Roxette's 30th anniversary, go grab a ticket for the nearest venue and check them out for yourself! You have my word that you won't be disappointed.
Back in 1993, I could've only dreamt of attending a Roxette concert. The closest they ever came to our shores after I officially became a fan was during their tour for "Crash! Boom! Bang!" Even before then, they only got as far as Australia. But now, 22 years later, I can finally say, "Roxette came to NZ, and I was there with them." Just wanted to correct a minor error in my previous blog mentioning Boom Crash Opera being the opening act for the Roxette concert this Saturday. Apparently it's not them at all, but a band called Ekko Park, for whoever's interested in the details.
Hello everyone. Yes, we're still alive! Just an update on our activity as of late.
Like I mentioned earlier in the year, this month would be a fairly quiet one, and it has been. This is mainly due to the fact that I will be attending a concert in Auckland in less than a week's time, and I've been busy preparing for that (as well as being held up at my day job). The concert, of course, is Roxette and it will be their first ever gig in New Zealand. This will be a special event for me because: 1. Roxette is the band that inspired me back in the early 90's to consider a music career as an option. 2. They are the band that inspired the early days of my first band attempt, Swede. 3. Being their first gig in NZ, this is sort of a historic event for both them, the country and myself. They were supposed to have performed here at an earlier date, but before they could make it into the country last time, there was an illness and the concert had to be cancelled. I was unable to purchase any tickets at the time, so I was relieved that they announced the gig that's coming up. It gave me time to prepare for the day they went on sale. I've been ready for this concert for months now. This may be the only blog entry I post this week because of how much more that needs to be done before heading up there, so I shall go over a few things you should expect from us shortly after I return... 1. There will be a blog review of the concert including the setlist, info on their opening act - Boom Crash Opera (which I find to be an interesting choice considering the name of Roxette's 1994 album, "Crash! Boom! Bang!") - and much more. 2. Just like the early days of Swede, seeing Roxette playing live may give me a strong jolt of inspiration, which will help towards the recording sessions for Swede's album, "Time Traveller", which I intend on releasing before this Christmas. 3. Forbes and I have talked about meeting up after returning to Christchurch to sort out the final batch of Gosney tracks that are stored on his PS2 memory card. 4. I will also resume recording the next EP for n-Somnia. That's about it for now. The next time you see anything new on the website will probably be at least one of the things I've just mentioned. If anything else comes up before the weekend, I'll most likely mention it the first moment I get. Apart from that, stay safe and I'll see you in a little over a week's time! |