Posted on September 6, 2011 by Ryan in
Join a band, they said. See the world, they said.
Well, it turns out that five years on and two albums later, that’s beginning to happen.
It’s been quite a process and a learning curve in faith for me, but still the story unfolds. Last week the UK visa was approved (for the journey home) and we are currently awaiting news of the Spain/Schengan. (more…)
Posted on August 18, 2011 by Ryan in
Well, here’s a story you may or may not believe…
I am normally circumspect when it comes to statements such as “living by faith” or “God will provide”. But as I type this, I find myself in the middle of an unfolding miracle. You may or may not believe it, and I am still trying to come to grips with it myself. It all started on Monday. (more…)
Posted on August 17, 2011 by Ryan in
I don’t know how anyone gets any work done here, but anyway…
I’ve spent the past week in Cape Town as travelling salesman for the band, getting to meetings, doing general PR, sorting out Schengan and UK visas… and would you believe, performing a couple of shows. (more…)
Posted on August 5, 2011 by Ryan in
A variety of ways to countering the number one enemy of musicians’ audiences in a post-modern society: apathy.
Author Juan Montalvo puts it best: “There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference.”
Any local bands, artists or any working professionals plying their wares out there, can surely relate. (more…)
Posted on August 2, 2011 by Ryan in
The rocker from Cape Town and Idols finalist shares his thoughts on the music industry and his life in general.
From the outset it was clear a certain Mark Haze wasn’t going to be on the fringes of M-Net Idols. We’ve enjoyed watching his journey so far, but also how well he has engaged with his rapidly-expanding fan base. He’s used the internet to communicate regularly and connect with people while on his Idols journey. We caught up with him to chat about how he views music and life in general. (more…)
Posted on August 1, 2011 by Ryan in
We have every reason to believe that this won’t happen. But as I have mentioned before: we’re partly stupid and mostly gung ho.
So here we are, nearly two weeks into our endeavour to get to Spain, and the graph below resembles two lines. The green line signifies where we should be, and the red line is where we are. (more…)
Posted on July 28, 2011 by Ryan in
It’s that time of year again. Time to throw caution to the wind and bank balance slips out the window, and head off to the Mother City.
Last year’s Cape tour was an incredible experience for me personally. We performed in a packed-out 25m2 café of wine drinkers. We opened for Plush at the Assembly to hundreds of young boozers. We performed a supper-theatre show for an audience where the average age was 65. And we set up on a verandah in Paarl and performed for a group of orphaned children. Six nights out of seven, and Rudi made it through alive.
That seems a lifetime ago. (more…)
Posted on July 25, 2011 by Ryan in
You’re in the final stages of the show, all you have to do is perform well each week. It’s pretty simple actually: everyone loves you, just don’t screw up.
Idols is a brilliant way to fast-track your musical career. Okay, we all know that. Once you get beyond the domain of the cat stranglers and dubious karaoke singers, you have every chance, as one of the finalists, of the being adored nationwide and winning Idols!
And here’s some (invincible) advice for finalists… (more…)
Posted on July 22, 2011 by Ryan in
I recently did a strength finder test, which was introduced to me by some of my close mates. My top five themes were Ideation, Futuristic, Self Assurance, Strategic and Includer.
As I type this, I look over a bed of decaying autumn leaves on the front lawn, and in the distance the brown-speckled hills of the KwaZulu-Natal countryside. There’s something just so intoxicating about winter out here. Blue skies, dry chilly air and the warm mid-day sunshine which lulls one into laziness. The crisp, bitingly cold air at night which chases us towards the fireplace.
It’s a strange season, I find. (more…)
Posted on July 19, 2011 by admin in
Having won the weloveyoursongs.com international competition, you’d think we could now sit back and enjoy world domination. Alas…
There’s good news and there’s bad news, and then there’s the “who knows?”…
The Ryan Calder Band emerged official winners of the WeLoveYourSongs.com international online competition! And first prize includes free access to the super awesome Future Music Forum, held in Barcelona, Spain. That’s the good news. (more…)
