Reasons for music, shows, and related decisions

Jon — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:30:49 +0000

Music is brilliant at conveying a `feeling’, creating an atmosphere. It can shape your perception in a powerful way. Imagine a movie without a soundtrack – it just wouldn’t be the same. As a lover of music I continually find myself reminded of the ability that the right kind of music has to put ones thoughts and emotions into perspective. Our recent series of shows at the Hexagon was one of those reminders.

After Saturday night’s show, an RCB fan tweeted:

My spirits are lifted, I have a spring back in my step... thanks to @TheRCB! You guys are absolute legends - what a fantastic show!

June 4, 2011 10:56 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@jess2525

Jess Basson

This kind of response is just so rewarding for us as a band. We strive to make music that leaves the listener with “a spring in their step”. And in so doing, we come away feeling the same. I like to think of The RCB as ‘self-medicating’ in some sense. We hope our music takes on special significance for you as we share it with you but ultimately it serves us too. We all need to be encouraged, to be reminded that the best is yet to come. This was the topic of one of my recent posts on Tumblr.

I too came away from our shows rejuvenated and encouraged. I think there were a few reasons – the nature of our music itself, positive feedback after the shows, interactions with different people who came, and of course the fact that I just love making music and being a part of this band. Three shows was not enough for me – I didn’t want it to end. So when Ryan suggested on Sunday that I delay my flight back to Cape Town by a week in order to stay for the bands gig in Durban the following Friday I decided to give it some serious thought.

Hexagon Dive June 2011

A full days consideration led me to the conclusion that there were multiple reasons I should stick with my Monday flight back to Cape Town and they far outnumbered my reasons to stay for the gig. My head told me the sensible decision was to leave as planned, but my heart was pulling me in the opposite direction. It took a lot of wrestling, but I eventually went with my heart and decided to stay, and I had peace with my decision, despite my doubts.

As it turned out, Friday’s gig in Durban had to be postponed due to a number of cancelled table bookings on account of the weather. Disappointing, because we would have loved to play, but I still know I made the right decision. At the time it felt like I was making a sacrifice, but it turned out well for me in a lot of ways, and I feel I learned more of my own passion in the process.

We still believe ‘the best is yet to come‘. It’s just one of the reasons, but nevertheless a big part of why we do what we do. It can be really tough to get people to come out to your shows, and even though the effects of the recession are still around and the shows weren’t completely sold out, performing to attentive and appreciative audiences in PMB was a wonderful privilege for us, and not something we take for granted. Every person is important, and we hope you were uplifted by our music. Thank you to all of you who were there!

Introducing Marlon Hemmero

Ryan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:54:25 +0000

Marlon runs a studio in Pietermaritzburg where the Ryan Calder Band has put together its second album.

To be honest, it feels like a lifetime ago that I arranged to go and visit Marlon. I feel like I’ve known him for years and years. But I remember that particular night clearly – sitting down talking life and music with him, and how we would go about putting together the new RCB album. I remember his passion, his insight and a quiet awareness in his ability as a creative force.

Marlon Hemmero

The man is a consumate musician. What I enjoy about Marlon is not so much his ability (which needs no mention – he is an unbelievable musician), but his willingness. In my mind, that’s a true mark of a professional right there – someone who will take his level of proficiency, his gifts, abilities and everything else he is good at, and willingly offer them to this project.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that every member of the RCB has this attitude, and I love that about them. They’re all far, far better musicians than I am, and yet they support me and give of themselves easily. We need more people like that in this world.

So you’ll hear a guitar solo or two from Marlon here and there on the new album. But as an engineer he also got stuck into me, encouraging me and showing me how to improve and get better at my craft. I have emerged out the past five weeks more inspired than I’ve ever been at being better. At everything.

I like that Marlon is irritated by untidyness. In an industry where the orderly gives way to the creative, it’s been nice to arrive to a clean studio every night. I joke with Marlon and ask him how he would rate his obsessive compulsive disorder on a scale of 1 to 10. He’s probably around a 7… borderline for an artist!

For this project we used Logic 5.5.1, a RØDE microphone and a few items from his Roland keyboard. What more do you need?

Not much, in my view, but Marlon ordered additional microphones for this project (at his own cost), worked with me until late into the night every night for five weeks, and ordered his younger brother Kyle to make me coffee often. (Kyle is another blog entry all on his own!)

Life has been busy, but it’s so been worth it, just to spend time with this guy.

The album now goes to Brent Quinton at Sesalos Studios where it will go through the final mixing and mastering process. Brent has over a decade of experience as a professional, having worked on many prominent South African artists’ albums – Tree63, The Finkelstiens and Nibs van der Spuy to name a few. I am looking forward to hearing what he does with our humble tunes.

Stay tuned…

Ryan Calder Band » PMB

Reasons for music, shows, and related decisions

Introducing Marlon Hemmero