Report from Melbourne

Been a while, now seems a natural point to update you all on what I’ve been up to…

As now I have a home, and not only a home, but my first permanent address for nearly a year, which I was quite excited about, but now I also feel a little down as I have commitments again for the first time in nearly a year, it feels like the end of the Holiday.

This is compounded by the fact that I need a little more work, whilst the journo work I have is paying, and it covers rent and bills, it covers little else, I need some part time work, maybe 2 - 3 days a week, so I’m very paranoid about money…

All that sort of negative stuff aside, everything else has been going pretty well, things with ‘Australian Lady’ (don’t know if they want to be named in my public outpourings to the world, yet…) have been strangely easy, all things considered.

I am enjoying Melbourne, it’s a very vibrant city, full of life, variety, character, multiculturalism and culture. The size is still confusing me, one of the things getting me down about London was the nepotistic cliques I kept encountering, to be fair, they were nothing in comparison to here, everyone pretty much knows everyone else on the \Rock” circuit, or knows someone who knows someone else (if that makes sense), the degrees of separation are slight, I’m unsure yet as to whether that’s a good thing or not.

I’m attempting to cause a few crossovers of ‘scenes’, attending gigs and getting involved in quite a lot of social groups and alternative political activities.

Likewise, I don’t know if the move was necessarily the best to further my musical career, whilst it may be easier to be noticed, breaking out of that may be harder, we shall see. On that note I have now started forming a new band and have some solo shows in the pipeline, people are interested in hearing and helping me which is refreshing.

After some technical hitches I have now nearly finished mixing the Macaca Mulatta demos, if anyone cares remains to be seen, but they’re sounding good so far and that makes me happy.

So, I miss people and things, but now the story really starts… Watch this space, will be a little more regular from now on.

Chinch xx

PS… My (now) multinational promotions and label has an event coming up…

Here we go, PR is below

Antescene Present a night of :
Sick Country gypsy blues and perverts
The Cuban Bar, Camden on 28/03/07
Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AH, 0207 424 0692
Featuring : The Urban Voodoo Machine, Captain Blood Blood & The Sea Dogs, Lil lost Lou, Congregation

Antescene promotes promising artists with something new to offer, artists who may not or donít want to belong to any particular genre or scene. From weird outsiders to promising ego maniacs, the decadent, the many and the few, all out there doing their own thing, making music for the sake of it, for the love of it. The event is in association with the ëNational Studentí newspaper, a free and independent newspaper for the UK student body, one of very few surviving in an increasingly commercial Student world (www.national-student.co.uk).

Antescene believe that music can help raise awareness of real world issues so the event will be helping promote Friendís of The Earthís ëBig Askí Campaign (www.thebigask.com), the campaign was launched to lobby for new Climate Change laws, Following huge public support, the majority of UK MPs supported the campaign, and the Government announced it would introduce a Climate Change Bill. The challenge for 2007 is to ensure that this Bill is strong enough, including annual targets for the reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions, and enforcing these targets so they are actually met. Meet with Friends of the Earth on the night, and find out how you can put pressure on your MP to ensure the UK takes a lead in addressing the greatest challenge of our times.

This is Antesceneís second event after a riotous squat party late in 2006 attended by hundreds of people with more events planned for the future as well as forthcoming releases. For March the 28th Antescene is promoting a night of bourbon soaked gypsy blues led by The Urban Voodoo Machine, a band becoming increasingly notorious for their bizarre audience - often including fire breathing dwarves and transvestites, as much as for their dark hypnotic and stomping rhythms played by an ever increasing number of band members. The Urban Voodoo Machine are suave and dress to impress, so get your glad rags on and bring enough money to buy some absinthe.