Expertise:Fun music founded on acoustic guitar and harmony vocals, full of strange and funny lyrics, played with enjoyment and energy. Occupation:Artist Industry:Entertainment
Here we are back in May, in the recording booth we built in our space in Kitchener. Though this time around we're recording to a laptop rather than a 4-track, the extra tech doesn't mean that we've changed our sound philosophy. We're still not interested in producing something bleached and shiny.
This is the view from the top of the fire escape, down the hall from our space. It was about 6am, and we were heading out from a long session. Because the rest of the building is rented to an assortment of business and industrial interests, we worked from roughly 11pm-6am, when all was quiet.
It's been quite a while since we last updated here, but that doesn't mean that nothing has been happening. Though we've been plagued by gremlins in many of our attempts to get the new album recorded, it seems that significant progress is finally being made! Byron came to Ontario for a couple of weeks, we rented a hilarious room in a semi-abandoned former warehouse/factory, and recorded like mad. We're extremely excited about the results, as we managed to capture foundational material for pretty much the entire album. What remains is mostly sweetening with a wide range of sounds, and hopefully some contributions from a number of top-notch Special Guests. This puts us well on track for a release some time during the fall or winter!
As the release date gets closer, look for all sorts of exciting bits and pieces. We'll be revamping the website, posting new songs and video, and generally folking the place up! Watch this space!
Here's the music video we made this week. It's for a new Ticklish Brother song called Close To You, and it shows what is perhaps not the ideal way to demonstrate your infatuation with someone. Byron was the main force behind the video, though a large chunk was also contributed to by the wonderful young people (Haley Battcock, Trent Davis, Lucy Niles, Michelle Saunders, and Curtis Williams) who came to our workshop on Sunday at the Labrador Creative Arts Festival here in Happy Valley - Goose Bay. They learned how to use the cameras, lights and sound equipment, then worked their butts off to help us capture several crucial scenes. In addition to Byron and I, the video also features the awesome Stephanie Flowers and Fran the dog, with a very special cameo by Byron's father, Melvin. The whole process took roughly 4 jam-packed days.
So Byron and I are in the middle of our very busy visit. I've been up here in beautiful Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador for a few days, and we've been working steadily on music and video projects. On Sunday, we're running a workshop at the wonderful Labrador Creative Arts Festival (in its 32nd year!). We'll be teaching youths from all over Labrador how to use the various camera, sound, lighting and effects equipment, and work with them to film a music video for a new Ticklish Brother song called Close To You. I'm loving it up here, and I can easily understand why Byron makes this his home base. The people and the landscape are great, and the festival is a gem. Kids come from communities all over Labrador to perform original plays, and visiting guest artists travel to these same communities to do workshops. It's a blast! I'll hopefully have some pictures and video for you soon.
Well, We're gearing up for another round of face-to-face recording, this time in Goose Bay, Labrador, where Byron lives. I'll be flying up there for a couple of weeks in November. We'll be working non-stop on audio and video projects, doing various things at the Creative Arts Festival, and playing a show. I'm very excited to be visiting Labrador, as I've always wanted to but have never had the chance.
The gears are spinning in overdrive as we prepare. Songs are being finished and fine tuned and arranged, video concepts are being honed and brainstormed, and we're each preparing some terrible movies to watch. Ticklish Brother is on the move and getting ready for some videoandmusicmadnessaction!
