Thirdly, I have new music out! Five years ago I recorded an EP with my friend Ben on drums and his friend (and kinda my friend now?) James recording us. Ben and I had been wanting to do a musical collaboration ever since but living in different cities made that difficult ... until now. Our new collaboration is called Spokesmodel and you can find out more about it here. I am the only one who sings and writes lyrics, Ben is the only one who drums, but production and songwriting duties are split between both of us equally. Our first single is called Ceiling Roses and you can see the video on YouTube, listen to it on the streaming service of your choice, or buy it on Bandcamp. We're  on all the main social platforms but are most active on Instagram. This article explains why I'm not so hot on Facebook for this project. 
 

Since we're not living in the same place, it's pretty much impossible for us to play local shows, which is how most small bands keep money trickling in. Plus it's 2018 and we want to do things a little differently to how we've always done them - and how everyone else expects us to do them. Our main points of difference are two-fold: we're drip-feeding out singles rather than hoarding them for an album, and we've started up a Patreon account. Both Ben and I support writers, podcasters, YouTubers and other people using Patreon, and we have figured it makes more sense for us to do this than anything else. 

We're doing it this way for a few reasons which are touched on in the first Patreon post, but the main one is a sense of transparency and a bit of a reality check. Even though recording costs have come down considerably, it's still bloody expensive to make professional recorded music. For example, Ben and I made this song using the gear and software we already had in our own space and time. Ideally we would have sent it off to Studios 301 in Sydney to get a big shiny pop song mix and master by Antonia Gauci and Steve Smart, but I got a quote and it was going to cost us more than a thousand dollars. Ben had just come off tour with his other band, and for our first song it was just not an option. I don't want this to come off as a dig at the prices of Antonia and Steve (they absolutely deserve it) but this is just the reality of it. We shot the video clip on our phones and Ben edited it - another cost saver (sort of).  

We are both huuuuuge nerds when it comes to the process of making things, and we have posts and videos in the works detailing how we made Ceiling Roses and how we are continuing to make the other stuff we're working on - and just how much of the software and tools we use are free or low cost. Really, I guess we're making what we want to make and hoping that people who are similarly into what we're about come and find us. So help us spread the word!

Five years ago I recorded an EP with my friend Ben on drums and his friend (and kinda my friend now?) James recording us. Ben and I had been wanting to do a musical collaboration ever since but living in different cities made that difficult ... until now. Our new collaboration is called Spokesmodel and you can find out more about it here. I am the only one who sings and writes lyrics, Ben is the only one who drums, but production and songwriting duties are split between both of us equally. Our first single is called Ceiling Roses and you can see the video on YouTube, listen to it on the streaming service of your choice, or buy it on Bandcamp. We're  on all the main social platforms but are most active on Instagram. 

Ben in particular is SO talented and modest about said talents. When I sent Carl from Hobbledehoy Records (who have been involved in Ben's other band's activities) links to the audio and visual of Ceiling Roses, he said "does everyone know Ben is good at everything?" and he's right. 

We're doing it this way for a few reasons which are touched on in the first Patreon post, but the main one is a sense of transparency. Even though recording costs have come down considerably, it's still bloody expensive to make professional recorded music. For example, Ben and I made this song using the gear and software we already had in our own space and time and this was a big money saver. Ideally we would have sent it off to Studios 301 in Sydney to get a big shiny pop song mix and master by Antonia Gauci and Steve Smart, but I got a quote and it was going to cost us more than a thousand dollars. Ben had just come off tour with his other band, and for our first song it was just not an option. I don't want this to come off as a dig at the prices of Antonia and Steve (they absolutely deserve it) but this is just the reality of it. We shot the video clip on our phones and Ben edited it - another cost saver (sort of).