Friday 23 March 2012

Hardy Times

Lots of things are starting to come together in the TPB/Martyr's camp. This weekend we film the first Loft Session with a very special guest. We've been preparing for this for a few months and have finally got our asses in gear. The video should be cut and polished within a couple of weeks.

Work on my solo album is going well. Half of it has now been written, including a new song I finished last night about Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I came up with a melody whilst reading the book and waitied till I finished it before writing the song. If you have read the book then you will know how harrowing the story is. I am a big fan of Hardy's novels and actually wrote 'I Stuck it Out' after reading Jude the Obscure last year. I might keep the theme going. So, any ideas of which Hardy novel I should read next? It has been suggested that I should write a whole Hardy EP, called 'Hardy Times,' or 'A Hardy Rain's Gonna Fall..' I think you guys can do better than that. Answers on a postcard please...

The Martyrs start recording next week and, what seemed like an impossible task creeps into the realms of feasibility. We are hoping to start gigging again at some festivals over the Summer period and then, when our album is complete, organinsing the album launch.

Stay tuned for videos and pics of the Loft Session...



Friday 2 March 2012

Albums Galore

It's been too long since I last put mind to screen here and not because I've been lazing around on the couch drinking fizzy pop and munching crisps..oh no! The band have been busy rehearsing and writing. We're going to get into the studio in April to start recording our debut album. This is the first time I've ever been involved in recording an album and I'm really enjoying the process. I especially like jamming the songs and writing new parts. The boys have been flexing their vocal chords too and seem to have formed a kind of ghoulish barber shop trio behind my back. Still a lot to do but we are getting there..

My solo EP 'lover' has had a couple of lovely reviews and Tom (Sharp) and I have been working on this material to form a duo set. I write a lot of songs that would never see the light of day with the Martyrs and so working on both projects has been really fulfilling. You might have heard about my three colour EP series, well, the idea now is to release one of these a year. So it'll all be a bit more spread out than first envisaged. First I'm going to record my debut solo album. It will hopefully be ready in the summer and will feature loads of unheard material and a few other Oxford artists.

If you want to read the reviews that have recently been published about the EP then walk this way.

Get ready for more music soon...