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The Monroe Transfer & Her Name Is Calla collaborative recording

August 18, 2010 in Music | 1 comment

If you follow the meandering fortunes of The Monroe Transfer, you’ll probably be aware of our relationship with York/Leeds/Leicester/I’ve-lost-track rockmeisters Her Name Is Calla: we’ve supported them at gigs, they’ve supported us, we’ve played on a couple of their recordings and, for the last couple of years, we’ve been talking about recording a collaborative album with them. Last week, finally, some of us managed to get some time off work and braved the train to York to work on that very project.

Firstly: I am not a camper. My experience that week in a blown-over, rain-filled tent in a field round the back of a pub by a main road have not made me enjoy camping more. I refuse to believe that people would do this for ‘fun’. Incidentally, I believe it’s thanks to telling friends about this camping experience that’s led to my phone putting sarcastic inverted commas around the word ‘fun’ by default now.

Home, sweet-bastard-soaking-wet-overturned home.

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“The heavens sleep, are sleeping still” :: The Monroe Transfer need you!

March 11, 2010 in Music | Please leave a comment

The Monroe Transfer’s new album, Trials, is precariously close to being released (3rd May 2010 if you’re keeping track) and to celebrate it, we’re embarking on another experiment.

We’ve written a new piece of music, entitled The heavens sleep, are sleeping still and we want as many people as possible to join in.  All you need to do is head over to www.theheavenssleep.com, download the demo files & scores, learn your part and get recording!  Here’s Rhiannon to tell you a bit more…

Get everything here!

Silent Night [The Monroe Transfer]

December 16, 2009 in Music | Please leave a comment

A little while ago, I and my excellent group of friends The Monroe Transfer recorded a version of Silent Night to send out to our mailing list.  ’A while ago’ being 2 years, and then again 1 year ago, if you’re being picky.  But, given that we’ve played lots of gigs since then, you might not have heard it.  Be clickington below, and you can listen to and/or download it to your heart’s content.  I wandered around in the first snow and listened to it today.  If you get the chance, I recommend it.

Releasing a new album! Tell me your thoughts!

July 18, 2009 in Music, Printing | 6 comments

Good god.  I’ve been too busy lately even to write about all the stupid things I’m doing.  I’ll do some sort of round-up at some point.

So, here we are.  The Monroe Transfer‘s new album (title to be announced pretty soon, if we’re all happy with it) is approaching the stage where we’re thinking about how to release it.  If you’ve seen or, god forbid, actually bought one of our releases, you’ll know that we do our level best to package our CDs as interestingly as we can- we print all our artwork by hand, using screen printing, letterpress and foil stamping, and we try to make a physical object that’s worth buying.  In this day and age, of course, it’s particularly hard to persuade anyone to buy music, when they can just get it for free, anonymously, on the internet.

The other day I had a think about all this, and an idea occurred; I genuinely don’t know if it’s a good idea, but I’d very much like to hear your opinion, dear reader.

The Idea
If I were in marketing, I suppose I might call this a release strategy, or something. Essentially the plan involves releasing our record in 2 formats:

1.  A CD, which will be housed in a hand-printed sleeve, with lots of nice bits of artwork and pleasingly tactile materials.  You’ll be able to buy it from us over the internet, possibly through a few interested shops, and direct from us at gigs.

2.  An MP3 version, which will be released for free on the internet.  At the beginning of this version will be a little voiceover, to say something along the lines of…

‘Thanks for downloading the free version of our album.  You’re free to distribute it as long as you leave this voiceover at the beginning; if you enjoy listening to the record, and you’d like us to be able to make another one, please consider buying a copy from our website- because we’re self-funded, you’ll be supporting us directly, and we’ll be able to carry on making music.  Thanks for your time.’

…and then the album begins.

So here is where I want your thoughts:

1. Do you think it’s a good idea?
2. Can you think of any problems that I might have missed?
3. Tangentially- how much are you happy to pay for an album these days?

If you, dear reader, can spare the time to leave your thoughts below, I’d really appreciate it.  Don’t worry, the blog will soon be back to my usual blend of narcissism and pedantry.

n xoxox

Let’s get Thom Yorke to record a voiceover for The Monroe Transfer’s album.

May 13, 2009 in Music | 2 comments

Yes.  It’s as simple as it sounds.  The Monroe Transfer are off to the studio next week to begin work on a new album (and you can read a little more about that here).  If you’ve seen us live in the last few months, you’ve probably seen us perform a song called Frozen field, burning field which is about half an hour long, and has a short spoken-word section about three-quarters of the way through.  Now that it comes time to think about recording the song, the question of who should perform the monologue comes to mind.  And the answer, in my mind, is clear:

Thom Yorke.

thom-yorke2

Some things you may not know about Thom Yorke and me:

a) I used to live round the corner from him. As a result of there being few parking spaces in Oxford, I occasionally had to park outside his house, and I may have caught him giving a wry smile at the sight of a very tall man getting out of an old-fashioned Mini. 

b) I’m pretty sure I saw On A Friday perform at The Point in Oxford, when I was at school. I can’t actually remember much about it, though, and no-one else can back me up on this one.

c) I was involved in a sci-fi comedy show on university radio, which featured the entire of Radiohead combining into one, giant monster, firing lasers from its eye. The heroes of the show fled when Matt Bellamy (from Muse) arrived in a spaceship, and did battle with the giant, Mecha Radiohead.

d) Thom Yorke is responsible for two songs on my ‘Music So Beautiful It Makes Me Wonder Whether There’s Any Point Writing More Music’ list. As far as I know, I haven’t written anything that’s on Thom’s list.

e) It’s possible (*just* possible…) that he has a vague idea of who we are. I know he’s a fan of online record store Boomkat and, around the time I found that out, our first album was Boomkat’s album of the week.

If you’re a Facebook person, please join up to our group and submit your suggestions as to how we might get through to him.  If you’re in Oxford, and you happen to see him, give him a cheery wave, and tell him about this really cool band he might like.  If you’re related to him (even distantly) find an excuse to pop round.  If you’re Thom Yorke himself- hello.  

(also- if you happen to be Tom Sheehan, I hope you don’t mind my using your photo.  It’s a great photo.  If I can ever afford your services, I’ll be banging on your door)

Pandora’s Box – rehearsal video

March 6, 2009 in Film, Music | Please leave a comment

Just a tiny one today.  In preparation for Wednesday’s live soundtracking of Georg Pabst’s 1929 classic Pandora’s Box, we’ve made a little video of a rehearsal to give you a little insight into what you might be able to expect.  Probably not a lot of insight, though…

I’m getting pretty shoddy at this.

March 2, 2009 in Film, Misc, Music, Theatre | Please leave a comment

So.  It’s March and I’ve posted, what, 3 things this year?  Not through a fading of interest, mark you- nothing like that.  It’s just that I’ve been too busy.  Yes, yes, I know everyone says ‘I’m really busy at the moment’ and I don’t mean to sound self-important, but I’m definitely busier than you.  In fact, to prove it, I’m going to make a big list of Things I Am Doing That Are Big And Important, and possibly link you to some more information about them so you can see why you and I, dear reader, haven’t been out for a drink for a while.

  1. Devising, writing and rehearsing a brand new soundtrack to the 1929 German silent film Pandora’s Box with The Monroe Transfer for performance at the BFI SouthBank on 11th March.  It’s a 2 hour film, and we’ve only been able to do it since January, so things have been pretty damned hectic.
  2. Sound design for Isfahan Calling, a new play currently showing at the Old Red Lion Theatre in Angel until 14th March.  It’s a play about a military propaganda radio station broadcasting to Iran, and so it’s pretty sound-heavy; I’d heartily recommend you pop along to the theatre to see it.
  3. Working 3-4 days a week at the splendid Hand and Eye Letterpress near Tower Bridge.  Phil runs a blog too, which is more frequently updated with our new projects.  Look out for our new line of posters and other printed materials which will be coming up soon…
  4. Rehearsing and coming up with new Fireworks Night material, as we’re going to be recording a new album in April.  The current plan is that I’m going to be engineering and producing the album as well, which is inordinately exciting, but immensely time-consuming.
  5. Rehearsing new material with The Monroe Transfer, and gearing up for our new release of I dreamt I was a hammer & everything was glass. The Monroe Transfer are also going to be recording a new album, in May, and we’re working on new material for that record.  I’m finding the idea of a full-length record enormously exciting.
  6. Working on my own printing projects at home, and beginning my tiny forays into the world of bookbinding.
  7. Meeting and planning with the inordinately talented Alexander J Hamilton and his newly-founded film production company, for which I will be composing music and sound.
  8. Writing & producing music and sound design for Lizzy Hancock’s short film The way in is the way out.  It’s sounding pretty damned good at the moment, but there’s a long way to go yet, sadly.  Production stills can be seen here, if you’re interested.
  9. Working on another theatre project, Dennis Kelly’s DNA at the New Wimbledon Studio later on this year.

All this, of course, is on top of the Having 7 Full Length Plays Ready For Performance By July plan, the Making Another Electro-Acoustic Album From The Fall Of The House Of Usher plan. the Turning Treatments Into Short Film Scripts plan, the Trying To Find Funding For Existing Shorts plan, the Trying To Get A Production Company Interested In A Feature-Length Script plan and about a million other things that will, doubtless, lead nowhere.  If you, dear reader, have connections in these areas or, god forbid, are actually interested in such things yourself, please do get in touch.

I’m also available for childrens’ parties.

I dreamt I was a hammer & everything was glass – site now up!

February 7, 2009 in Music | 1 comment

Just a quickie today, as I’m off out to rehearse for another Monroe Transfer project (about which more later).

If you’re a follower of my main musical group The Monroe Transfer, you’ll know that we’re about to release a CD & DVD double-pack of our 20 minute piece I dreamt I was a hammer & everything was glass; it’s released on 9th March on Organ Grinder Records, and is bundled with a superb animated film by Gemma Burditt.  It’s packaged in a sleeve that’s been screened, letterpressed and foil-stamped by hand (if you’re interested in reading more about how we did it, have a read here).

I’ve just finished making a little microsite for the record, where you can see a 7 minute sample of the animated film, and find out a little more about it.  Have a look, and look out for launch details later on…

www.idreamtiwasahammer.co.uk

The Monroe Transfer are “A New Band A Day”‘s “New Band Of The Day”.

January 12, 2009 in Music | Please leave a comment

It’s a confusing title, I grant you, but it’s true.  There’s a site called A New Band A Day (which I heartily recommend) and The Monroe Transfer are feature thereon as their Band Of The Day.  I think I can safely say, though, that in the middle of a freezing January, I’ve never felt less new.

A lovely thing, though, and we thank the site for their appreciation.  It can be found below…

http://www.anewbandaday.com/2009/01/todays-new-band-monroe-transfer-plus.html

(and yes, if you happen to be reading this, it’s been a while since I’ve updated anything, but it’s also been a while since I’ve had some quality computer-time.  More news of what’s going on Chez Gill in the very near future…)

Two free downloads by The Monroe Transfer

December 5, 2008 in Music | 2 comments

So, here’s the quick story- we, The Monroe Transfer, were asked to record something for one side of a split 10″ EP; sadly, that’s now not going to happen due to financial horrors. So, with a mastered track and nothing to do with it, we thought we’d give it away, hoping that people might like it and buy something off us in the future. You can download it on our Last.FM page, or you can stream it off MySpace (but, of course, the bitrate’s been compressed to hell). You can listen to nearly all our stuff on Last.FM, come to think of it.

The new thing is called Joy; it’s 12 minutes of strings, bowed & screwdrivered guitars and hefty drums.  For the interested, it wanders through a number of time signatures and keys; if you’re into Arvo Part, Max Richter, Rachel’s, Do Make Say Think, Steve Reich, early Sigur Ros, that sort of thing, you may well like it.  

And, as a special festive thingy, you can also download our downbeat, glacial version of Silent Night; it’s nice to put on your iPod while walking around with your breath hanging in the air of a cold evening. We hope you like them.

We would love it if, assuming you like it, you could tell every music fan you know about it; since we’re giving it away, we’d like as many people as possible to hear it.  There’s a little “Share this” button just below this post, which means you can put this post on your Facebook or MySpace, and hopefully let more people know about it.  Or, of course, you could just email a link to people you know.  We’re very proud of the music, and we’d like people to hear it.  Download, listen, comment and share, if you’d be so very.

Download Joy here by clicking here

Download Silent Night by clicking here

Listen to more streaming music by clicking here