Ryan Calder Band » Roberto Hemmero

Five reasons I would invite Roberto Hemmero to dinner

Ryan — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:12:40 +0000

We often get asked at gigs (mostly by white people) where Roberto comes from. The answers are wide and varied.

Rob, Berto, brother, bass ou, bruin ou… whatever you want to call him, seems to have mystifying power over our audiences.

But besides his ability as a musician, he is also – and this may surprise you – a wonderful human being. Yes. Seriously. So herewith, five reasons I tend to invite him round for dinner as much as possible.

Reason #1: A good excuse for curry
In the Calder household, we don’t really need an excuse for a curry dinner, but it’s always nice when you’ve got guests arriving who you know will be down with a bit of flavour. That said, we usually end up doing chicken (butter or roast) and if it’s ever just Berto and I, we go for french fries on rolls. Okay I’m joking. Just rolls.

Reason #2: There’ll be leftovers
Given the size of his physical frame, there’s usually a bit of extra food. Even when he’s “starving”, his two helpings still don’t deplete the main tray. So there’s always leftovers, which means inviting Berto around for dinner is economical!

This is never the case when Jon “hollow legs” keyboardist comes for dinner.

Reason #3: No-one re-enacts a funny story like a bruin ou
Beneath that mostly quiet exterior is a very perceptive and observant student of human behaviour. On one occasion, I had instructed each of the band mates to get the audience clapping along. After the show, Berto reinacted how one of our fellow bandmates did it. I have never laughed so hard. He exaggerated it EXACTLY. I know few people who can openly make fun of you and make you laugh at yourself. And lets face it, we all need to laugh at ourselves a bit more. Especially Rudi.

Reason #4: Cori
I asked Tam why we would invite Berto to dinner, and her answer was simple: “Cori”. If ever there was a demystifying power to our bassist, it’s his wife. One of the most delightful and fun couples you will ever meet, she keeps his feet on the ground while his head is in the clouds. (Hahahahaha!)

But equally so, Berto married someone who is as adventurous about this life as he is. Ayoba.

Reason #5: You’ll feel better about the world
It has been this way since I’ve known him. Hanging out with Berto and the rest of the band, listening to their ideals, their dreams, their own realities… it all makes me feel a bit better about the world and that someone besides Jesus has a clue about this life. You’ll benefit from hanging around this guy too.

Cape Town shows

Ryan — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:57:49 +0000

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.

For those of you who aren’t as up-to-speed with the RCB, you should know we’re breeding like bunnies here at the moment. The Calders and Hemmeros have produced three new roadies in the past 3 years, and Berto and I are sleep-deprived, cash-strapped daddys.

Jon has gone AWOL to dodge the pursuit of many wild women and has buried himself in a top-secret location to try to finish his Masters thesis.

Rudi, in the meantime, has been delving into the meaning of life on a daily basis while trying to stay warm on the nothern slopes of Maritzburg (where the temperature is -112).

Putting on some acoustic shows in the Mother City.

The good news is some of the RCB will be in Cape Town in August, with a variety of different shows. I’ll be doing some intimate solo and duo shows around town between 9 and 16 August.

I’ll be performing a number of shows with Kenn Gibson, a friend of the RCB who we met last year and have got to know since. I’m looking forward to hustling around Cape Town with him and my other trooper, Matt Allison. You can check out the gigs here: www.ryancalder.co.za/gigs

Hope to see you at the shows!

Behind the Song: Hide Away

Ryan — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:58:58 +0000

It’s not often that I get to just sit and play guitar, but on this particular Saturday afternoon, I was strumming the chords that would become this song when Tam walked into the room and started singing spontaneously.

I remember we’d both been pretty busy and it was nice to just be at home, with no agenda for the day. Tam walked in, heard the chords and said, “Hmmm, that’s nice!” and then proceeded to sing “Run away…”

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

That was the catalyst for this song which found its roots in Psalm 63. I love David’s yearning, his complete desperate dependence in the words “my soul clings to you”. I cohere with that at least three times a week.

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This song was tracked and recorded fairly liberally, and I’m not convinced we got the full measure out of this song, even though I still really like the version on the album. This was the first song Tammy recorded on vocals, and she keeps saying she wasn’t fully warmed up and she can hear it. To be honest I think there’s an authenticity in the vocal tracks of this song which is what I like about it.

On a technical production note, Roberto’s bass solo in this song ended up with a bit too much compression for my liking in hindsight. What makes his bass playing so unique is the raw funk tone he gets when he’s playing live, which isn’t there in this song. Be that as it may, I still think the mood is captured perfectly and the sentiment in this song, with its 6/8 timing and lazy rhythm, aligns quite nicely musically and lyrically.

Newsreader

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:26:04 +0000

It’s a new week, and time for a new round of funnies.

If you don’t know how it works, it’s simple: look at the pic, think of something funny, post it in the comment box below.

Here’s this week’s pic:

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Royal Rock 2010

Ryan — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:50:42 +0000

So there we were. Five against 5000. A freezing cold Friday night in Maritzburg. Thanks to BigBeat, we were given the opportunity to perform at the Royal Rock concert – part of the annual Royal Show. On the line up was the Ryan Calder Band, Watershed, City Bowl Mizers and Wonderboom.

RCB rocking the Royal Show

It was quite a different performance for us. From time to time it happens, but screaming teenage girls in the front row is seldom a Maritzburg feature most days of the year. I had wondered beforehand how quickly news would travel, but we never would have anticipated the response to Jon’s sex appeal.

It was only a week ago that Berto announced at our Hexagon shows that Jon is the only single member of the RCB. And six days later, there they were in their droves: thousands of dizzy teenage admirers, screaming their brains out in love-struck wonder at our 6 foot 4 keyboardist.

I must tell you… some nutter, wearing a gigantic 4-foot, 30kg hat, waltzed up to the front row, obstructing the view of those behind him. So an irate student behind the hat took it upon himself to try and dislodge it from the nutter’s head by chucking his shoe at the sculpture. But he must have had a few pints because he missed by miles and sent the shoe hurtling in the direction of the aforementioned keyboardist.

Jonz9r, being the dynamic stage personality that he is, nimbly ducked the flying shoe (George Bush would have been proud) mid-way through a riff and continued unabashed to rock the bras off the adoring minions.

It’s quite a view from a stage that size as well. Inamongst the screaming teenage girls were a few standout faces like our friends Galen Schultz and Kelly Macbean, Michelle Atagana, Linda, Annie, Debbie, Anthea, Jenette (who took the photo above), as well as hooligan groupies Neil du Plessis and Richard Bleeker. Man, those guys are classic – screaming “I love you Ryan!” in pitch-perfect, maniacal falsetto. Inamongst the noise it sounded just like my mom, which was comforting.

Our music was well received by at least six people, who bought new albums. In fact, one of them – Tim from Kokstad – arrived late and caught the last song, which he enjoyed so much that he decided it was good enough to warrant the purchase of On The Edge. Tim, you’re awesome.

By the way, we’re going to be on radio soon. Watch out groupies! News coming soon.

p.s. A VERY BIG thanks to all of you who continue to support us. We’ve been taking attendance registers behind the scenes and you’ll be rewarded with Jelly Babies. Chat to Rudi, he’ll distribute them.

Planning for the Hexagon Theatre

Ryan — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:32:22 +0000

We had a meeting on Saturday. It was scheduled for 8am. Yes, yes, I know, that’s not very rock ‘n roll. I even baked muffins. Seriously. Burnt them a bit, but insisted that on principle the rest of the band eat them. They politely, if uncomfortably, consumed my first attempt at chocolate muffins.

By 8.40am, we’re ready to begin. In attendance are Rudi, Roberto, Rachel Grace and yours truly. Apologies from Tam, who has work commitments, while Jon, we assume, is still slumbering in CT.

On the agenda for this meeting is what we’re gonna sing at the Hexagon Theatre next week. I hand out the proposed setlist. Rudi is happy to see that we have two acts and substantially more songs than yesteryear’s hour-long Better Days Show, while Berto scrutinizes the order of old, new and cover songs. Rachel, in the meantime, is showing off her colouring book to Rudi and crumbling muffins all over the carpet.

The meeting is brief, but never short, as we gab about everything else other than the task ahead, from advances in technology (such as Project Natal) to work-related stresses and headaches. The RCB get-togethers are a strange mix of group therapy and random banter, but for me it’s refreshing hanging around these hooligans.

But there’s a definite plan, and this is going to be one hot new run of shows from the RCB. Next week’s shows will encompass new songs (from On The Edge), old songs (from Better Days) as well as a number of favourites of ours from the likes of Cole Porter, Ben E. King and Chuck Berry. Yes kids, we’re old school. Even Rachel.

We are very ambitious with this new show, and there are just three nights to catch the fun. Hope to see you there.

Trailer: The Ryan Calder Band at the Hexagon Theatre

The bassist and pianist

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:43:27 +0000

If you don’t know how it works, it’s simple: look at the pic, think of something funny, post it in the comment box below.

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Ryan Calder Band Album Production #5

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:29:19 +0000

Recording more bits and pieces… bass, keyboard and other lesser known evils…

Ryan Calder Band Album Production #1

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:05:55 +0000

The Ryan Calder Band at work on recording the second album, On The Edge.