NEW VIDEO, NEW TOUR DATES AND Q&A SESH!!

So we finished the film clip for the new single The Wolf Is At The Door.

So happy and excited about it, you can check the sweet PREMIERE over at the AU Review HERE

Aaand you can watch it direct below via YouTube. Please share it, subscribe, leave comments etc it really does help getting it out there :-)

I have added extra dates to the tour too, it's going to be suuuuch fun, hope to see you all at one of the gigs. Again, please share and invite you friends/bring a date ;-)

I did a Q and A with Footstomp Music about general stuff and the making of the clip, I thought i'd share it with you -

When did you start making music? And Why?

I started making music because I’ve always felt it deeply from young age and I wanted to move people in the same way it moved me. I got my first guitar at 9 and was strumming even before then, wearing out my VHS tapes pausing and rewinding to learn how to play my favourite tunes. I’ve always had a fascination with live music, both as performer and audience, and I’ve always had a strong desire to perform live. Music is the only way I feel I can truly express myself, and truly lose myself. It’s my medium!

Music precedes even language itself, which is why it is so powerful at bringing people together. It’s so universal. As the Cat Empire say ‘Music is the language of us all’ and I truly believe this. It is the language of our soul, and without knowing this at the time, I feel sure it’s what made me begin making music.

Who are your top 5 musical influences?

John Butler Trio

Jeff Lang

The Black Keys

Queens Of The Stone Age

Rage Against The Machine

With your new single out now, what are your goals for the near future?

To finish and release the full album ‘Insofar’ and get out there touring and sharing it, starting with Australia early in the new year, then UK and Europe later in 2018.

What do you love most about performing?

Sharing the euphoria I feel when I’m playing, bringing people into the moment and feeling as good as it makes me feel. I love helping people have a good time, the primal connection I feel and being able to go off on tangents improvising, feeding off the audience.

What is your advice on busking?

Get out there and give it a go! It changed my world musically. You have to leave your ego behind and just focus in on what you’re trying to portray. I was extremely shy about performing my own music and the thought of busking made me incredibly nervous before I did it. The worst part is setting up and launching into the first song. Get over that and you have cracked it, it really brought me out of my shell and solidified my performance.

Do you have any passions other than music?

Yes. Mountain Biking, Reading, Travelling and Exploring, Meditation and Yoga..

What was the first song you fell in love with?

I think ACDC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I loved the rawness of it! I was lucky having my Mum’s great record collection around as I was growing up, this was one of them.

What is your all-time favourite album and why is it so special?

I have definitely more than just one, but the first that comes to mind is Nirvana In Utero, it really helped me through my teens. Oh actually and Rage Against The Machine’s first self-titled album. I wore the cassette of this out completely! It completely changed my perception of how you can approach playing guitar and totally opened my eyes to a whole new style of music. I’d never heard anything like it at the time.

Who would you most love to open for?

John Butler or Jeff Lang..

What advice do you have on songwriting for young upcoming writers?

Have fun with what you are doing, try and express who you are and not what you think people want to hear. Have fun with your ideas and just enjoy yourself!

What is the meaning behind your new single and how does it relate to the music video?

Written about overcoming negative stereotypes and not letting the fear of what others might think hold you back, the single is about breaking away from living a 'normal life'. The video is a visual representation of me and Barnaby my Bass Player being ourselves, having a laugh, free and loving what we are doing, not living a so called ‘normal’ life. Music is the heart of both of our alternative lifestyles and we wanted to share the sheer joy of it in this video, as well as showcasing the musical performance itself.

Describe the filming experience?

My very talented wife Lizz was behind the camera and directing the whole thing. We did the whole thing ourselves in our dining room, which felt right as we wanted a personal, homey and real kinda vibe. Plus it’s a very cool looking vibrant space with our friend’s striking artwork on the wall, where we do rehearsals anyway, so we felt very relaxed. It was tough work getting everything set up just right, lights, room rearranging etc, pre-planning how we wanted the cuts to go, but we have done a few videos together before so we are getting more and more efficient. Once we had everything good to go we were just having fun and enjoying performing the song, while Lizz orchestrated the chaos from behind the camera!

How long did the shoot take?

2 days. We did the bulk on day 1 then the next day I just did a few extra solo shots that needed re-shooting.

Where was the video shot?

My dining room

If any, who and what were there any influences for the music video?

I was watching the PJ Harvey Man Size and Thom York Lotus Flower videos, and wanted to do an up close and personal solo performance of the song in a similar vein. Like most of my creative endeavours its didn’t turn out like either, but I like it when that happens, a project can almost take on a life of its own and you just have to enjoy the ride! The first change was getting Barnaby my bass player involved. He is such a character and is great on camera (he also does acting), and as he is playing bass on the recording it just made sense. Then as there was bass involved, I thought it would be cool to mix that with some drum performances, which I did myself as I’m playing them on the recording as well. So we brought the song to life visually as we brought it to life on the recording, it felt organic and the right thing to do so we rolled with it, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

It looks like it was a fun video to make. Do you have any funny/interesting stories you can tell about the making of it?

It really was fun to make and I think that shows!

Whilst we were filming, our housemates were passing glasses of wine in through the window and having their own party outside on the deck just off screen. Also our cats were very determined to get into the shot for a cameo which kept making us stop as they are very vocal and their meows gave us the giggles!

Having Barnaby involved really added to the fun element and made it a much more natural live performance just like our live gigs, letting loose and improvising, vibing off each other and having a good time with the songs. He also (as he does at our gigs) really went off in the video, applying sunscreen mid shot whilst playing bass, jumping round the dining room just like he does on stage and picking stuff off the shelves and just doing random funny stuff. He has you captivated and cracking up at the same time. This really brought the fun playful side out of me, which is good because while the song does have serious connotations, it is also about not taking things too seriously!

Also there is a cheeky appearance of a ‘the Wolf is at the Door’ CD single in the shot. You can see Barnaby picking it up at one point and it’s strategically placed at different points arounds us through the video. I love finding subtle hidden treasures in a video and wanted to do it in this clip, we only had a limited run of the single printed so it was great to get it in the vid.

Thanks as always for the ongoing support everyone :-)

D