LONDON, 9/15
I had my doubts going into this one…I can’t tell you why. Although I thought that entering the lion’s den of Vice Magazine hipsters would result in our non-neon-colored/non-electro-ness being chewed up and spit out with great indifference. But of course, it’s not like the staff of Vice Magazine hangs out at the Old Blue Last. It’s just a pub, but in the hipster quadrant of London…and the people at the show were just…Londoners…and London visitors…anyway, I think I have found, or re-remembered, a real secret about performing—if you just forget about what people * might * think about you, and relax, and enjoy yourself, chances are, the audience will follow suit. And I really enjoyed this show—a lot. I think I have finally learned to stop being inhibited or defensive as a lead singer, and it worked marvelously! People were even jumping up and down a bit, and bless Mina Dulok and her b.f. for singing along really loudly to “Best Mistake”!
The Disciplines vinyl had arrived, and we sold a ton of them after the show—they look cool! They are simple, punky, b&w. Like us, really. You know it’s a good show when things like two songs having a horrifically out of tune guitar (so much that we had to stop once in mid song for a re-tune—I sang “I Gotta Girl in Kalamazoo” to fill the space) JUST DON’T MATTER because everyone is having so much fun.
I spent most of the week kind of stressed out, as I was hired, as I mentioned in the last post, to play keyboards for the Parisian singer Olivia Baum, for her show this week in Paris, and a TV appearance. And guess what: some of the parts are * really hard *. I know I said I had 7 of the songs totally down, but the other ones turned out to be the tough ones! So, we rehearsed a couple more times last week, and I actually went to the venue and rehearsed on my own for an afternoon (my gear was living there in between rehearsals). The benefit is that I think rising to the challenge has been really good for my keyboard skills, and the music has some different styles than I normally play (like jazz/swing, and kind of funk rock—seriously!) and it’s good to be versatile.
Those two things, the Disciplines show and Olivia rehearsals, kind of equaled my whole week. I mixed on my home set up a song for Cheap Star that I produced a few years ago, they are just finishing the rest of their album now (they worked with my bandmate Jon Auer for the second half of the album) and thus I had time to revisit one of the songs whose mix I wasn’t happy with. I think it sounds cool now, I’m ready to mix more…working at home is fun, as you can pick at it and don’t have to worry about the clock/euros ticking away.
Dom & I had dinner with Alex Chilton, as he’s been hanging in Paris for a while (and I haven’t been, so it took this long to catch up). To make a long story weird, I was planning to call him on Thursday to see if he wanted to have dinner before he left town, and on Wednesday after Olivia rehearsals, Dom & I and the lighting guy and his g.f. went to have a drink and ended up in a random Irish pub, packed with viewers watching the Scotland-France football match, just ending when we entered. People started to disperse when the game was over, and Alex hisself walked out of the downstairs room—not 15 minutes after I rounded the corner thinking, “I know I’m going to run into Alex any minute”—not having any idea where he was staying in Paris! Turns out we were 5 blocks from his hotel. Anyway, he and some of his friends from New Orleans who were passing thru town joined Dom & I for a really fine evening. Alex is always fun to talk to, and he even indulged me a few questions about his early days in music, forming the Box Tops, etc. But one of the many things I enjoy about Alex’s company is that unlike many people I know, one of his least favorite subjects of conversation is himself…I know I’m guilty of filling my end of the conversation with recounts of my own experience, and I lack a little the knowledge of relevant examples and accounts of other people’s ideas, accomplishments etc.
Now I’m feeling embarrassed to point out the recent release of “Jardim Electrico—A Tribute to Os Mutantes” by the
Madcap Collective from Italy. The album features artists such as the Wondermints, Tater Totz and White Flag covering the music of the wonderful Brazilian innovators of the 60s/70s, recently reunited. A certain Kim Crimson contributed vocals, guitar, and tambourine to the White Flag track, and rumor has it he/she sounds kind of like me.
This weekend in London, we’ve been staying with my friend Duncan, who housed the Posies when we played London in the summer of 2005—a night that ended up with Jon owing the Islington academy quite a few quid for the destruction of a full length mirror, Matt on an ecstasy binge, and other crimes against nature. In fact, we’re not sure WHAT Jon did in Duncan’s spare bedroom, but Duncan’s KISS Platinum album didn’t survive, and some unknown liquid…was…uh…anyway. You see, when we arrived the night before, Duncan was super disappointed as we were so UN rock and roll—Matt asked about clean towels, and I proceeded to iron my clothes in his kitchen. He accused us of not living up to the standards of true rock and rollers…and then in a classic “Be careful what you wish for” turnaround, the next night after the show we brought beer, wine, uh, upper respiratory comestibles, a Swiss, a German, an employee of Stringfellow’s Club, and our friend Neil from Brighton…and proceeded to tear the joint up and then down…so this time, when Dom & I arrived late last night, he was all about being the perfect host, and asking us if we needed to call, like, drug dealers and stuff. He even invited some friends over, and we were having a nice glass of wine, and watching “Yacht Rock” on his TV (that has a connection to upload stuff straight from YouTube). Just as he hoped that things might get crazy, Dom & I went to bed…once again, he was like…”you are traitors to the cause!” But with love, of course…
Love
KS
London
