It’s a been a few months of clicking around with my good pal John Aliaga on this one, but it’s finally done. May I present to you, the finished video clip for my collab with Ze!, ‘Til Death Do Us Part…
This was a blast to work on - following an enjoyably chaotic shoot that incorporated an op-shop shopping spree, we ran around my managers’ house following a heavily improvised shooting script. It was almost as fun as playing the song live with Ze when we toured a few months back; by the end of the tour we were really bouncing off each others’ energy on stage, which is not something I get to do a lot of.
I produced this track at home and spent a lot of time getting all the floating layers and hooks in it to sit in the wierd-pop space I had in mind. We wrote our own lyrics; I remember getting Ze’s initial vocal contribution and being pleasantly shocked by it. Far from the glam electroclash of her other stuff, she slammed a disco murder ballad on me. As you can imagine, I was a little excited. A thousand mix-revisions later, we ended up with this thing.
It was avaliable as a free download a few months ago to coincide with our tour and picked up a stack of downloads; we’re re-releasing it commercially now, so you can get it at my Bandcamp site or on iTunes.
If you missed all the Ze!-related tour crazy crazy awesome funtimes, you can find out more about her at http://ze.com.my - this is what she does when she’s not trying to kill me:
Sep 21
Because He Didn’t Want Anybody To See This
This is my manager and soul boy Turin Robinson. Late at night, drunk, hammering out one of Turin’s songs on guitar and piano. It’s kind of nice. But really, the real reason I’m posting it here is that he probably doesn’t want me to post it here. I bet he gets me to delete it. But it will amuse me either way.
If anyone should feel shame about this video it’s me, with my thought-it-was-hilarious-when-I-was-drunk Will.I.Am-style backing vocals on the chorus. So if you’re reading this, Aaron, please think apon that and high five yourself for your mad keys skillz.
Sep 20
Big Sound, Bigger Hangovers
I’m back home from tour and slowly sorting through a million e-mails and art-type-deadlines. I’m writing a big blog on the whole tour but this weeks’ Drum Media Perth already features a full tour diary, so I figured rather than repeating myself, you can check it out here.
HANGOVER #1: WEDNESDAY I arrived in Brisbane last night to play a pre-conference showcase with Queensland cabaret artist Ghostboy, which turned into a bit of a party, so I start the conference with a hangover. The aftershow ended up at a showcase by Brisbane indie label Plus One Records, featuring mostly fairly generic Brisbane bands before a performance from Graveyard Train, whose distinctive horror-country pose and masculine harmonies sound a likely fit for early afternoon festival stages next year.
Wednesday starts with an overly-conversational-for-this-time-of-morning call from my pal Belowsky, telling me to get my arse to Judith Wright for Alan McGee’s opening talk so he can introduce us. His onstage interview is from the perspective of a man who achieved all he set out to do in the music industry and now has the audacity to be honest about wanting no part in it. It’s amusing to watch an entire room take offence to his nonchalance but the reality is that he’s more grounded than you would expect the former manager of Oasis to be, though he clearly has no patience for the industry hussle everyone at the conference was poised to lay on him. Then it’s onto other panels; learning about sync placement in TV is way more fun than expected and a panel on New Zealand music becomes a fascinating dissection of their industry.
I’ve had enough of schmoozing for now, so I dodge the early parties for some bad Chinese food and a beery catchup chat with Sean from Perth band The Spitfires. We head out together. Melbourne’s Brous are first up, coming off entirely like Kate Bush fronting a generic indie band, they are lucky that their frontwoman is so beguiling. Sean drags me to Boy In A Box, who proceed to play what sound like the boring songs off Living End albums while clad in matching white T-shirts like an early ‘90s boy band. Perth’s Split Seconds are pure class, and it’s a pleasure to see them nail a packed set for hypnotised delegates. I don’t quite make it to the shows by Perth acts The Novocaines and The Chemist in the midst of the multi-venue madness, but reports are that they pick up a lot of industry interest and play to heaving crowds. Closing out the night, The Vasco Era absolutely tear up The Aviary. It’s honest, raw and powerful rock and roll that makes almost everything else at the conference seem artificial by comparison. Then it’s somebody’s birthday, the party rolls on and I find myself ranting to Central TAFE students in the stairwell of the backpackers at 2am.
HANGOVER #2: THURSDAY Nobody looks very cheery this morning, but I’ve got a day of meetings and industry hussling planned, so it’s down for an un-hearty $4 breakfast at Ric’s where I find the WA delegates huddled together. It’s nice how the Perth industry stick together at these things. Today is an absolute smorgasbord of conference treats; I pick up some useful ideas for structuring national tours, before taking in a surprisingly entertaining and relevant interview with Robbie Williams’ management team IE: Music. My meetings generally go splendidly; it’s amazing how willing some usually quite unapproachable people are to have a chat in a conference setting.
The early evening party thrown by Oztix has coincidentally become a WA showcase; Split Seconds, Boom! Bap! Pow! and The Chemist all put in worthy sets to an impressed crowd. There’s a palpable buzz around the WA music scene, I’ve heard it mentioned quite a few times on panels and in conversation this week. Later in the evening, hype band DZ Deathrays fail to bring their usual punk basement intensity to bear on an outdoor stage. Jon Toogood from Shihad’s new act The Adults starts out in lame pop territory but halfway through the set transforms into a perfect update of the sound of weird New Zealand in the ‘90s – think Headless Chickens and Straightjacket Fits. San Cisco impress at Woodland before Trial Kennedy and City Riots show there is still life and fun left in Australian alt-rock. Closing out is King KSSR, who everyone says are “like Empire Of The Sun but good,” which is really code for the fact that they are musically almost identical to Empire Of The Sun, it’s just they haven’t been hijacked by commercial radio yet. In any case, they are enjoyable enough and we head over to the epic joint Dew Process/Street Press Australia afterparty. Everyone drinks a lot and it’s so much fun that we all agree we won’t regret our hangovers in the morning.
HANGOVER #3: FRIDAY Everyone regrets drinking so much last night. An international record label has emailed me to request a meeting with them today. This is enjoyably scary and exciting and I spend the day sweating on this. A lot of people have gone home following the showcases and the panels today reflect the winding down feel of the day; it’s all fluffy industry stories and not much important information. There’s still a buzz in the air; people are packing in their final meetings and there’s an air of a lot of business getting done. I have my scary meeting and do rather well. I drag myself up the street to my hotel, collapse in a heap and sleep righteously for sixteen hours.
Sep 04
Weird Open Road
The tour is ridiculously close now. I’ve just had a pre-tour holiday in sunny Indonesia (in case you’ve been wondering why I’ve gone all quiet all of a sudden) and I’m heading to Brisbane early on Tuesday morning for a show and “artist interview” that night going vs with Brisbane cabaret superstar Ghostboy at Room 50, before an epic music-industry-drink-and-hussle-a-thon at the Big Sound conference. Then I’m doing my strange thing in every capital in the country except Darwin. Check out the “live” section for full details or this event invite on Facebook.
Here’s an interview I did just before I left for my wee holiday with Brisbane’s Time Off. It was one of the more enjoyable chats I’ve had with an interviewer for a while.
Aug 23
Tomás Ford Makes The Entire Country Feel Dirty
I’m touring! We kind of announced this alongside the single a couple of weeks back, but 1:22am this morning seems as good a time as any to call the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. I’M COMING TO WHERE YOU PROBABLY ARE UNLESS WHERE YOU ARE IS NOT IN AUSTRALIA (in which case, seriously, hit me up on facebook or twitter or something, I would love to chat about where I could play in your town ESPECIALLY if you think “it would never work”).
Perth’s electro cabaret touring machine Tomás Ford is hitting the road to pimp his brand new single I FEEL DIRTY around the nation.
It’s time to allow yourself to feel excited; I need you to do something VERY QUICKLY… Watch this. I know you’re busy and you have ten thousand groups to join, but this will shape your day. Your LIFE. Trust me:
I FEEL DIRTY is a pop-sized blast of sweaty, intense punk disco. It came out of Tomás’ early shows; he’d play a full-on set and then bundle his equipment into suitcases and run with them to make it to the last train home. The song revels in that feeling of being a sweaty mess, covered in fading makeup, bruises, a ridiculous costume and glitter.
You might have seen Tomás sometime over the last few years, creating magic in your favourite dive bar or festival, whether touring with the likes of Birds Of Tokyo or The Big Day Out’s Lilyworld. His last tour saw him stage-married to Malaysian pop princess ZE!. Now he has itchy feet again.
Joining him on selected dates will be beatmakers NAIK and DOS4GW. Other local supports will be announced in a separate press release in the days to come.
Perth-based NAIK (Sam Price) creates psychedelic, progressive and unique experiments in instrumental hip hop music. His debut album In the Shadow of Thunder Mountain (2009) received critical acclaim throughout Australia.
DOS4GW is one of Perth’s bass music experts. His laptop-hopping live show packs a seriously bassy punch and his idiosyncratic stage presence makes it a must see.
And of course Tomás will be bringing his unpredictable combination of live beats, film projection, punk rock audience-baiting, costume changes and partystarting showmanship to every show for a run of dates that will scar their way into the minds of anyone who attends. In a fun way. Mental scarring is fun, yeah?
ENTERTAINMENT FROM ALL ANGLES. IF YOU WANT TO GET DIRTY WE’VE GOT THE MUD.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 BRISBANE Tomás Ford vs Ghostboy Room 60
Saturday, September 10, 2011 CANBERRA Tomás Ford & DOS4GW plus special guests The Front
Sunday, September 11, 2011 SYDNEY Tomás Ford plus special guests Valve Bar & Venue
Friday, September 16, 2011 HOBART Tomás Ford & DOS4GW plus special guests The Alley Cat Saturday, September 17, 2011 MELBOURNE Tomas Ford, NAIK & DOS4GW plus special guests Yah Yahs
Sunday, September 18, 2011 ADELAIDE Tomas Ford, NAIK & DOS4GW plus special guests The Promethean
Saturday, September 24, 2011 PERTH Tomas Ford, NAIK & Mulder plus special guests Mojo’s Bar
I posted the streaming version of this single a few posts back, but given how flat out amazing it is, I really have to post this video now that it’s out. It’s too good. This is my Perth electro home-people the Voltaire Twins’ new thing, Animalia.
Aug 20
Je ne sais pas ce que je ferais sans Sébastien Tellier
Since seeing on Eurovision this a few years ago, I have been deeply in love with Sébastien Tellier’s ouvre, in particular the record this song is from, Sexuality. Yesterday I finally got a physical copy of the LP and it arrived on beautiful, appropriately ludicrous white vynil.
It’s an amazing record, the kind you can put on and nobody hates. I love how it approaches the idea of making a sex-oriented record with a large dose of self awareness but still manages to be actually sexy. These songs might poke fun of the tropes of 80’s saucy slow jamz, but the irony never gets in the way of them being actual saucy slow jamz. I prefer this approach to actual comedy records like Flight Of The Conchord’s Business Time, which you could never get busy to.
I guess I like that he uses comedy the way I do; I always think of myself a musician first and any jokes or self-aware musical touches are always there in service of the song.
All of his records are up on his Bandcamp, which is rad as you can stream them there, and he’s coming to Perth as part of the Parklife lineup soon. But here’s Sexuality.
If you listen to it right now, we’ll be listening to it at the same time.
Aug 19
While We Are Rolling Like That
I just realised after I posted about two of my favourite spoken word types yesterday that something else rad is happening in that side of things, the astounding Belowsky has himself a Downstairs At The Maj season coming up from wed-sat next week that if you’re in Perth, I thoroughly suggest you go check out. This guy is the kind of performer who appeals to all kinds of people - his spoken word crosses over into standup comedy, music and theatre and is the kind of stuff that I would reccomend to you if you aren’t really sure about this whole spoken word thing or think it’s for wankers.
This video contains additional musical awesomeness from I Feel Dirty remixer Obscotch. Check it out:
Aug 18
Spoken Word Awesomenitude
Long term Fordwatchers will know I’m a sucker for spoken word, having had my solo start in it myself. I’m still very committed to it as an artform, helping co-promote and MC the monthly Cottonmouth gigs and the odd one-off like the superspecial Spokenworld gig I put on a while ago.
Australia has a great scene for this stuff, that functions in the kind of truly underground way that I wish the music scene rolled with. People hit each other on Twitter and Facebook for shows and it’s possible to tour pretty much anywhere with it - you might be playing to small crowds but it’s a great feeling of community at those shows. I love hearing people’s unique voices; it’s the kind of artform where you get a real sense of who people are through their work.
Anyway, I thought I’d share a couple of my favourites from that scene as they’ve come to my attention today.
First off, I’m playing a show with Ghostboy on Tuesday September 6 at Brisbane’s suburban home of artistic awesomeness, Room 60. If you’re in Brisbane, you need to come to this. Ghostboy and I will be having a bit of an “artist talk”, which I’m excited about because we’ve mutually admired each other from afar for a while so it should be a juice conversation. Following that we’ll be trading tracks on a one-off “vs” show.
I’m pretty sure if you’re from Brisbane you’ve probably heard of Ghostboy; with his band Golden Virtues or as a solo spoken word provocateur, he’s got streetcred for miles. Watching him scare the living shit out the “pleasant” crowd at the Dan O’Connell’s weekly spoken word gigs in Melbourne a few years ago with audience interaction led me to see him as a bit of a kindred spirit. Here’s something from his band:
Fresh out of the creative oven, one of my Perth favourites Dosh Luckwell has released the first video from his debut LP Sex Poems. If you were at my single launch karaoke-fest, you might recognise him as the crossdressing Tom Jones singer. His descriptions of gay sex dissect the wierd things about it even as they revel in them. This track sees him in the aftermath of a bit of nasty streetside love:
His album is amazing, there’s stuff on there that is even better than this. Track it down (it’s on iTunes and at Perth indie record stores).
Aug 15
Hard Work
I’m working on a remix of Injured Ninja’s Our Bodies as I type this. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard work. That band straddles a very fine line, managing to stay on the awesome/avant-garde tip, but if the elements are mixed together in the wrong way, you end up with Linkin Park.
Which is where I’m at right now.
Being as though the guys in the band are pretty much my homeboys (and a couple of them are responsible for my pretty gobsmacking I Feel Dirty clip), I’ve gotta do better than that. It’ll come. It’s going to be a long night of programming though.
This is their video for a song from the same album, Fallopian Tube Screamer, which they finished up around the same time. It is also a little amazing.
HANGOVER #1: WEDNESDAY
First off, I’m playing a show with Ghostboy on Tuesday September 6 at Brisbane’s suburban home of artistic awesomeness,