And then it all went a little bit madder...

As I sit here, mid June 2010, 12 months ago holding a mastered and as yet unpressed CD in my hand, ruminating on what may happen this coming year, I'd still say I would have been rather surprised at what has 'gone down' so to speak.

230503, whilst obviously not a 'Dark Side Of The Moon', has done way more than a totally unknown prog band from Western Sydney should have done and gone on to sell in Europe, America, Australia (of course) and Japan. That's just the physical CD. It's stocked by German stores, Japanese stores, CDbaby in the US, another online store in the US, can be ordered into US stores if requested (although who would??) and has been reviewed in French, Italian, and in English on ProgArchives (where as we speak, it's sitting on a 4 star rating and is called 'an excellent addition to any prog-rock collection'. What more can I ask?

Downloads have been gratifying with iTunes having

at least 7 five-star reviews. And with only 6 band members, thats... (just kidding). Torrent downloads, whilst we have absolutely no finite way to determine the actual number is looking extremely high - our strange business model of asking nothing for it in order to get it out there has still paid for our next album, in full, before we even begin making it.

The Annandale show was our best ever live performance and the version of 230503 we played that night is probably as close to the definitive version one is ever likely to hear. I get more pleasure from putting on my dodgy bootleg of it and listening to the sheer energy and wall of noise than I do (at the moment) from the subtleties and delicacies of the studio album. The good thing is that like the Wall show, we recorded the Annandale show to multitrack as well and will hopefully be putting it up for download toward the end of the year when Dean has mixed it. The plan being that that will help keep up some momentum and will see us remain visible as the next album is coming up for release.

Which brings me neatly to the next album.

What has happened is that the six of us had a meeting around the time of the Annandale show to discuss the concept and potential storyline for the second album. As usual Rob and I had a number of grand ideas which were largely embraced by the group, and Dean in particular weighed in with a number of alternative ideas which took what we had already gotten into some very exciting areas. Since then, a whole album took shape out of the early demos and now the group is in rehearsal scraping away at the foundations of the next record.

The difference could not be starker. When we made 230503, Rob and I had barely written a note together, and so the concept came first, and the music was slipped around the guidelines as much as possible. This time, we had a basic idea of what we wanted to submit to the band and a wealth of material that really needed arranging and sewing together. As the concept and mood became clearer, at least two fully formed songs that didn't fit the cut were put on the sideline, as well as about 35 bits that we didn't need or couldn't find a decent home for.

Dougie has also contributed much more in a compositional sense than last time too, which adds some different chord progressions to the mix. He had written pretty much all of one song, (with the middle bit generating from Nick and Steve) and also brought in key parts of another two tracks, several chord progressions and ostinatos that made their way into the pieces becoming verses or choruses or sections in their own right.

The next bit is the development of the existing tracks and recording first band demos... we have three tracks that we will do before moving to the next stage, and learning three more.

Assuming we can all agree on what goes where, what sounds good and what fits, we could be back in the studio proper by November, which would be ideal as Nick will be off learning to be a Dad by that point, and will be able to come as and when he can.

I'm hopping onto eBay to buy some gear. I have my eye on some bass pedals :-)))

And then it all went a little mad....

It's been a hectic couple of weeks.

I have to admit I have had much to detract me from the pleasures of diary writing and the reasons for which will become abundantly clear.

As any straggling remaining readers of my utterances will know, we've just premiered 230503, and as a result, we've acquired some long-dormant momentum.

Firstly, Anubis is now on ProgArchives. That is huge. That site basically forcefeeds overblown music to it's demographic. (Overweight 30 - 40 year old men with egg-encrusted beards, living in a shed on their mother's property, and spending all day on on-line forums debating if Yes is really Yes without Jon Anderson - wait, that almost IS me, isn't it?)

ProgArchives, when you begin to get some reviews trickling in, gives you visability and that said visability gets you an international audience. And it's beginning to have an effect.

The show, whilst I'd love to say went off without a hitch, actually went off with a couple of very big ones. Firstly, one of the support bands exercised musical terrorism and ate away both our soundcheck and line check time. By taking 40 minutes to set up, possibly in protest to the imposing collection of furniture stage left (my keyboards remained set up all night), our set up and sound check time literally disappeared. They effectively hijacked our night. They also had the nerve to make some rather uncomplimentary remarks about us and our 'scale and pretention'. 

It's prog rock, you twat... what the hell did you expect?

Musically, they were supremely gifted musicians, but playing atonal free-improv alienated our audience. They didn't heckle. They just left the room. We stayed to be gracious but as their set cruised ever-closer to our start time, I confess all grace evaporated. And boy, does that put you on edge.

Next, the hammond organ shorted out the stage power. We're on stage, trying to get set up, and I'm already grinning, and then everything dies. My samples....

to re-load them takes 15 mintes. That's WHEN you get the source of the power trip isolated.

Had we had our soundcheck, I could have substituted it for the OB3 which was sitting in my car waiting for such a disaster. With no time to spare, I was forced to pull out the (quite frankly) evil inbuilt organ sounds on my roland synths. And thus became that sort of neo-prog keyboard player I loathe.

With curfew looming 65 minutes into a 70 minute set, we decided to make a go of it and hope the samples came on line before I needed them. The keyboard sounds were totally wrong, and I was constantly editing patches on the fly to make up for what I was missing. A terrible experience and absolutely no fun at all.

The first essential sample is the second half of Breaking Water. Where the sea noises and chords accompany Dean's best seagull impersonations. The samples finished loading about 4 seconds before we got there. Crisis 2 avoided.

The upside was an incendiary performance. I think the aggression, frustration and sheer dark energy surrounding the events fuelled the band, and some of those moments are positively terrifying. Anonymity is purely electric.

The performance isn't great. I wouldn't release it. A few moments are truly breathtaking in their feeling and power and others are truly breathtaking in their horror. Bad stage sound, flustering and tuning errors combined to make it truly awful in a few parts.

Yet a show is judged on it's reaction and this was by far our best. The audience stayed with us for our 65 minute set (Steve played very fast!!!!) and made The Collapse a standout track. 

The benefit as that the success of the show gave us the chance to do it properly at the next gig. We'd already been invited to do FeatherFest when Mike from Birds Robe offered us the chance to perform 230503 again. I jumped at the chance. To do it at, of all places, the Annandale, which has been a venue I have dreamed of playing for years and years, and my preferred venue to launch it anyway, is a wonderful thing and evidence that regardless how unenjoyable The Wall show actually was for me, that it had been artistically successful and resonated with people.

To put the last show into perspective, however, I heard the unmixed multitracks last night and was surprised at how good it actually was. Much of my ire had been at the poor mixing but when put into perspective it was far better that I'd given it credit for. Still no where near our best, but far far better than I'd initially thought.

We look on to the Annandale with cautious enthusiasm.

Possibly as a result of the ProgArchives thing, we found our online sales have picked up. And to an exceedingly unlikely source. Japan.

So far we've sold 31 copies of the physical CD to Japan, and have been paid in full. 

I never expected that people in other parts of the world would be attracted to 230503. I still find it a little unbelievable.

Putting the online store up has been a remarkably good idea.

T-Shirt sales on the show night were gratifyingly robust and people have been spotted in Sydney wearing our beloved Pat on their chest. Lucky Pat.

So with all that happening, it seemed the perfect time to launch www.anubismusic.com. The new site is now up and looks startlingly good in it 230503 inspired theme. You can hear a couple of bits from the album, as well as the live recordings from the Lansdowne last year.

So everything is hurtling forward. 230503 is doing it's job and we're beginning to think about album #2. Demos have been swapped amongst band members and so far we're all pretty up for making something new and exciting.

In the meantime, I'm off to rehearse for the Annandale.

Chocolate and Porn is needed...

As we slide along the highway of life, some things that seem so trivial and are subsequently easily forgotten in the moment, can become such a pivotal and life-defining moment later on.

It's the early hours of March 13th 2004, and I've had too much to drink. With me is a similarly intoxicated 17-year old (I didn't buy the drink, Guv'nor) Robbie and a most gracious host, the just turned 18, keeper of the drink cabinet (yeah, I'll point the finger), Matt.

What I didn't realise at the time, as a 24 year old, was that one (albeit slightly slurred) line from the youngest in our number was to be the catalyst that would trigger the project that would subsequently occupy the next six and a half years of my life.

'Chocolate and Porn is needed'.

On route to the Quix service station, via marshland, mosquitos and unpleasant gradients (I was even less fit back then), we talked and talked. Conversation seemed to hang around the subject of Ev's recent death and more pertinently, writing a concept album based on it. Sure, if it seemed like a good idea when we'd sobered up... why not?

It is interesting to note that in the time it took to finish the record, that marshland had been turned into a fully functional, landscaped housing estate, with lawns, trees and all the trimmings. Suburbs are built quicker than Anubis records.

But this has all been described already, by me, ad nauseam. 

230503 has been downloaded across the globe, has been bought and paid for by people we don't even know, in places like Japan and the UK. This is more than I, more than we, ever dreamed of.

All those feelings, the shows, mastering day, first full playback at Dean's, playing the album in rehearsal, seeing Matt's album cover for the first time, all come flooding back as the countdown to the 230503 show continues at a fearsome pace. We have one more full-band rehearsal to do, and we've recorded the last rehearsal version of 230503 we're likely to, at least this time around. We've elected to, like most gig weeks, not record the final rehearsal.

The idea of doing this gig is something I've had in my head since that night at Matt's. I've never performed an album in it's entirety before (excluding Dark Side Of The Moon). This ticks a big box for me. It also marks the end of the map, in a sense. Everything from here on is uncharted waters, and I have no idea what lies ahead, other than what maybe illuminated by the new songs that Rob, Doug and I have been putting together. But when they become Anubis songs and the next album takes shape, the direction will be largely unfamiliar.

I know Robbie (now nearly 24 and infinitely wiser than his inebriated 17 year old self) sees this show as a means of putting this project to bed in order to get straight on with the next one. Can't pin that boy down for a second...

I, to a certain extent feel the same way, but I find that I'm dwelling more on the journey itself. Every step of the way from planning to writing to recording to rehearsing to performing has seen obstacles conquered, plans made, milestones reached.

It's a given I sometimes over-romanticise about these things, but the honeycombs of my brain are richer for having such a warm view of all these experiences. To me, 230503 cumulatively represents a personal search for what I invisaged my musical life to sound like. It has rewarded me, many times over, for taking on the challenge and when I hit the opening bars of The Deepest Wound next Saturday night, there will not be a more satisfied and proud person on this planet.

My heart has skipped a beat...

Well, I just took a look at the Bald Faced Stag's concert hall, 'The Wall'.

Anubis is playing 230503 here in April.

All I can say is WOW.

The stage is bigger than The Manning Bar, or at the very least, comparable in size. The sound reinforcement is amazing, and the lights are just, well... mindblowing.

The drum riser is about the same size as the stage at the Sando!!! (lol)

This is just perfect in every way for Anubis to launch our baby. Performed beginning to end, the whole story, multimedia. Hell, if we get good enough in rehearsal, I will personally pay to have it pro-shot for DVD. The place is big enough.

Looking at it, it's the perfect venue and I can't believe we never saw it before.

I'm gonna push this on the Yes and Pink Floyd forums too- so many people need to see this show!

I am not going to be able to sleep tonight. Too much planning to do! Too many lists to write.

That will be the last stop on an incredible journey too. To be playing this music, on stage with Steve, and Robbie, Nicko, Dougie and now Dean, the six people who've lived and breathed this album for 4 years is more than a dream come true.

If all this works and comes to plan, it'll be my finest hour.

Do NOT Rest In Peace... The Harp.

I think to most people, when the Hopetoun closed it's doors, and subsequently boarded them up, it was denounced as the beginning of the end of Sydney's live music scene. Since my real introduction to the world of gigging around live music pubs and clubs a decade ago with Department, there have been a number of venues which just gave up the ghost either just to live music, or trading altogether. I was never fortunate to have played the Hopetoun. I was never trendy enough or in a band that was. In fact, there's a school of thought that I am perhaps the reason why any band I'm in isn't trendy, but that's another matter.

I did however, watch my former bandmates go on with the Saturns and make a second home for themselves on that deliciously dishevelled place. It did have the vibe, as the first thing some guy said to me as Rob and I walked in was "Do you want to buy a mellotron?" The omen was a good one.

The venue filled almost shoulder to shoulder, and although the then current Saturns repetoire did absolutely nothing for me in a musical sense, there was still a sense of occasion (It must be said I like the subsequent material much more, and should they ever bother to finish it, it's actually very exciting... and I played on a very small part of it). Quite often this 'occasion' helps a particular gig transcend the treadmill of playing live regularly.

Perhaps more pertinent to me was the closure, in October, of The Harp. This is much more personal. A fairly sophisticated and classy decorated Pub with a big band room at the back and a half-decent sized stage. And awful food.

I have played the Harp with all three major gigging bands I have been in. It was initially 'The Riverview Hotel', and I played it with Adam, Steve and Oli back in 1997, as ELH, Delusion or Altered State or whatever the hell we were at the time. Then I played there in 2001 with Department and that lead to us playing there 6 times over the next three years, including our last ever gig together on January 4th 2004. It was the first place Anubis ever played live together, and the first place that I ever really felt the buzz with this band. I know our peer and sometimes gigging partner Stuart does not share my view on this, having had one dodgy sound guy experience too many.

The sound quite often sucked. I have to say. The guy had no idea how to mix keyboards, and they were seldom loud enough (the Rick Rubin school of mixing?), but the place did have a vibe, and I have had some very happy times on that stage.

If I close my eyes, I really do associate it with Department, even though it's a vital place in Anubis' life. I can see myself crammed into the back corner, with Nathan's ride cymbal practically hitting my keyboards. I see over the top of Chris' head in front of me, Charlie's hair made even more red by the Par Can just to the left of his head, and Nick in his blue lab coat and silly hat directly diagonal to me,

usually stomping around pulling faces.

I hear the last line of vocals in Strange But Strong Believer, The 'La...aaa..ate' 3-part and Chris turning around to beam enthusiastically in my direction (and believe me, you remember something like that because it's not a terribly frequent occurance). Being a spiritual home to that band, and the birthplace of another, I do feel terribly attached to it.

Walking in for the first Anubis show didn't feel really any different. Characters and Script changed, but it was the same show in sprit. I put that down to the harp. I was back up in the corner, having my eardrums blasted by a drummer to my right. This time, Doug blocked my view, the par can was green, as was Robbie's skin, and Nick was coatless. But it was still the Harp.

Many bands got gigs at the Harp even when they couldn't get gigs anywhere else. We shared the stage there with some very odd characters who may have long given up musical aspiration and become a bank teller or something. Perish the thought. But for your 45 minutes, it was a place to communicate with your people, and you got bloody well paid for it too if you brought the numbers. Anubis alone averaged 75 per show. I have no idea what Department in it's prime did.

I can only hope it reopens its doors soon. It was a great place to play and reconnect with old faces and a big big part of my 20s. It would be tragic if others don't get the chance to feel the way I did.

The truth (as well as the album) IS OUT THERE....

So... we've gone and done it. It's out there. 230503 is now out in the hands of the people.

The launch gig went very well, and was filmed. I certainly look forward to seeing it.

The reaction to the music has been overwhelmingly positive. I am humbled.

I had a nice moment with the album where I could go back and relive those moments of creation before I let it go. It was a very special moment.

There is but one stop left aboard the train-journey that has been 230503. And thats the full-album rendition.

I have never done a full album rendition of any of my own music before.

Another Path was played live before Not My Fault was written.

Eponymous was never performed in sequence with segues.

The rehearsals of this album have shown that we can not only play the album very competently, we can blow the studio version out of the water.

What a wonderful thing to do.

So thats the final stop before these parallel steel lines terminate, and we change trains for our next journey.

Right now I'm caught in reverie. This has been so much a part of my life.

I hope it becomes part of yours too.

Shine On's Pink Floyd Woe

Every band has one. That one show where something happens that plunges you into the unenviable position of having to swim, or sink.

All the stars had aligned for the Shine On show at Campbelltown CC's to be a musically spectacular evening. The five appearing musos all confirmed their attendance. We all had decent rigs, the stage space although small, allowed us to use the bulk of what we needed to do a good Floyd show, and we were doing a lot of my favourite material.

I had given Lach his copy of 230503. His reaction was so encouraging.

It was going to be a magic night.

Elle and Kat turned up, as did Becky who used to sing with us. All the stars were aligned.

Then Lachie had a bit of a vomit.

And another one
And another one

Then worse.

Oh dear. Our poster-boy percussionist was in serious gastronomic trouble.

Emergency contingency plans began to be mulled over. Some realistic, others not so....

After eliminating "You'll be OK if you don't think about it" as an option, partially due to a mad dash by the poor boy to the can for another technicolour yawn, we decided to pull out the big guns.

A 72 ltr garbage bin next to Lachie for gastric-juice collection.

An almost fool-proof plan. But we forgot to account for the other end.

As Lachie sat almost motionless behind the kit, a panicked look quickly spread, and he made strides off of the stage through the pub and into the can.

Gravity struck!

The poor guy was totally ensconced in the throne room, as we began to change focus from getting Lach into shape to getting a replacement for the show. With a distinct lack of brotherly presence (the bastard), the job fell to one of us. Not the best candidature from which to pick.

Lex: Never seen to play the drums.

Dean: Plays on some sleepers stuff, but needed for guitar (is frontman, after all), plus timing and consistency have never been his strong point. He's always been better at the after gig parties.

Dave: Not a dreadful drummer. But indispensable as the only person who knows what each of the 6 keyboards do. Plus, I can't play like Mason. At all.

Chris: A good drummer. But only has one arm, and without an elastic strap, or at least a roll of duct tape, stick/knub interface is made less practical given the defecit of fist.

The winner is: Dean.

After a panicked session of brainstorming --
Dave : So what are we doing?
Dean: Only stuff I can play...
Lex: What can you play?
Dean: No fucking idea...

We eliminated the ones that Dean felt were beyond his capabilities.

Goodbye Dogs and Goodbye Astronomy Domine.

Thank fuck we dropped Sheep.

To call the first set a triumph, given the situation that we faced is probably an understatement. At the best, we sounded like Pink floyd. At the worst we sounded like a Pub Rock band covering Pink Floyd. Given the fact we were in a pub, no real problem.

Set structure went out the window. All the big set pieces were in the first half as a result of the ad-hoc set list.

Dean played remarkably well and sang his parts from Lachie's thankfully unsoiled stool.

Lachie heard the whole thing from the Can -where at interval he was still reaching into the china bowl.

Lex and I convened to Cubicle three (Lach being in two) for an emergency conference with our drummer.

Lex stood on the toilet seat and adressed Lachie from above. I chose not to survey the scene of destruction.

Lachie said he was totally unable to even contemplate leaving the loo, other than to leave and follow his missus, who had just been sent to Campbelltown Hospital with much the same thing.

And so with a heavy heart we bid our adolescent skins-man farewell.

The thoughts then spead to the next problem. A second set of pieces Dean hadn't really tried.

Again, for the most part it was surprisingly successful. Kudos to the short man.

I think if the gig hadn't been so much FUN I'd have probably been disappointed with it, but the simple fact was it was just that- fun.

All the pressure of the big gigs, and all the ceremony and trimmings I love so much, removed and replaced with an intimacy and a 'who gives a fuck?' attitude reminded me of Department almost. I felt we did a great job under the circumstances and there was much laughing and smiling.

Dean certainly did the whole Spiderbait bit.

The gig ended with a very sore Dean and Chris and I down in the car-park beneath the pub talking about albums, production and sound. It's been a long long time since the three of us have hung out like that without anyone else or without some sort of agenda to work out. Had I not been working the next morning, some vintage sing-along-a-beatles under a tree in a park may have been in order.

That said, Dean could barely move.

Every band has these shows... I've been lucky. If thats my worse, we handles it fairly adeptly i'd wager...