|
|
WEB
JOURNAL #7 - December 2005 |
|||
Since Trish last wrote, we have had a crazy, crazy time (luckily the good kind of crazy). That may not come as a surprise to many of you, although somehow it continues to be a surprise to us. We're just continually grateful for our full calendar and fantastic ongoing support from all of our fans. Thanks! I think I'll do this chronologically; it's confusing enough already... July: perhaps our craziest month to date. After a much needed two week holiday in June we had 28 performances and workshops throughout July, and only 6 days at home. Our travels took us to Tasmania for the Hobart Winter Choral Festival and some other gigs around the isle, then a quick stop in Melbourne on the way home before shooting up to Mackay for their annual Arts Festival. Once again we took advantage of geography and stopped off in Brisbane on the way back to Sydney. A mere two days later we were en route to Perth for a week, doing a series of workshops and concerts with high schools as well as our own gigs. It was a miracle that none of us got sick, although we may have been just a little sick of each other... |
|||
|
|
 Stockholm in Summer. |
||
August: Well, it did calm down somewhat after July, but we did manage to squeeze two overseas trips into August. The first was to Stockholm to perform and continue study with our friends and mentors, The Real Group. We were lucky enough to become privy to their studio recording techniques which was a real eye (and ear) opener. TRG have the same sound engineer for live performances and studio recordings, so their consistency of sound is phenomenal. It also saves them a whole lot of time having their own studio; something we are hoping will be possible for us in the future! Anyone with a spare garage they'd like to donate to our cause, please let us know. Later in the month we also revisited Taiwan for the Summer Jazz Festival, this time with James Morrison and band. It adds a whole new dynamic when touring with a) other people and b) non-singers. It was a very quick tour, only three days and only one performance, but it was a fantastic experience and a wonderful breath of fresh air for us to sing with a band. We also had to learn quite a few new charts that James whipped up especially for the occasion which had us in a learning frenzy for the week preceding the tour. Never before have we been on the plane on our way to a gig with our headphones on and our charts out, still learning the songs we are to perform the next day! Ah James, spontaneity is your blessing and your curse. Hopefully we will get the chance to perform that program again in Australia...let's see what 2006 brings. |
|||
The rest of September was filled with gigs that could be driven to from Sydney; an amazing night in Newcastle at The Dungeon (our first ever Newcastle gig! Shame on us!), a Basement gig, a new venue in Chatswood, the Zenith Theatre, which we liked so much we booked for an end-of-year show, and a lot of writing and arranging for our new album! More on that later. |
|||
|
|
 The house before the show, Taipei. |
|
October: We returned to Brisbane and Adelaide in October, both with sellout performances which always thrills us! In Adelaide we were part of the Elder Hall Lunchhour Concert series; an institution in Adelaide. It's a fantastic atmosphere; ticket prices are very low so as to open it to all members of the public, it's a daytime performance in a huge hall with windows that let natural light stream through the room enabling us to see the faces of our audience (usually we are blinded by cruel spotlights and we are simply guessing that you are out there), and a lot of children and schools attend which always livens things up. We are somewhat of an anomaly in the program, it being filled mainly with classical music, and we are very pleased that the organisers chose to include us again. October ended with a fantastic Blue Mountains experience; an outdoor jazz festival in Glenbrook on a perfect night, once again with James Morrison and the band. It was to raise funds for tsunami rebuilding effort through the TEAR fund, and judging from the amount of people who came along it was very successful. Thanks also goes to the ladies who provided the huge trays of home baked goods for us; the best caramel slice I've ever had in my life! |
|||
|
|
 More workshops in Northwest NSW... |
|
November: A lovely month of local gigs and a LOT of writing and rehearsing for the new album. We were featured artists in the Musica Viva Coffee Concert program; a daytime concert in both Melbourne and Sydney where coffee and cake is included in the ticket price. What more could you ask for? It was also time for another visit to Canberra where we tried out our request show format on an enthusiastic crowd at the Southern Cross Club. It's a great way for us to be surprised at our own gigs and to keep it fresh. It also gives audiences some semblance of control...this is yet to be decided whether that is a positive or a negative component... We also had our staff Christmas party at a beautiful restaurant on Woolloomooloo Wharf. Photos will speak louder than words for his event. |
|||
|
|
 Christmas cheeriest... |
|
December: And somehow we're here again. This month started with a whirlwind trip to Singapore (the first time I've ever been out of the airport) for a huge Christmas concert in a 1700 seat hall. It was a sellout, which is both thrilling and surprising as we have never been to Singapore. But hey, we're not complaining! Our hosts were wonderful; they took us out for some of the spiciest and some of the nicest food I've ever eaten, and their parting gift was a cookbook written by a Singaporean woman who had collected her Grandmother's traditional recipes. The squabbling over who gets to keep it has already begun; I think it will have to be a rotational gift. We also ran a day of workshops for Camp A Cappella (one of these days Australia will have something like this); a weekend program open to people aged 8-80 in three levels of experience. It was a very interesting day; even our sound engineer Dave conducted a workshop entitled 'Sound Engineering for A Cappella Groups'. We also had a very vocal vocal group from the workshops at attendance at the evening concert; it almost felt like home! |
|||
Upcoming news: The rest of December and January (apart from our Christmas break), is dedicated to preparing ourselves for the studio. We are recording a new album in February next year, due for release a few months later. It is all new material, most of it never performed, none of it ever recorded. How exciting! Watch this space. Also, 2006 will kick off with a Basement show on the 18th - we hope you Sydneysiders can make it. |
|||
We'd like to finish by saying an enormous thankyou for all of your support this year. Have a well-earned break, drive safely, celebrate joyfully, and hope to see you soon. Love and best wishes, Naomi and the Gang. xx |
|||
 |
|
best viewed when listening
to 'the idea of north'... | ||
Christmas cheer...