Ryan Calder Band » Ryan Calder Band

If Rudi Engelbrecht was my psychiatrist…

Ryan — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:16:20 +0000

As you know, I am intrigued by people’s stories. I much prefer autobiographies over anything else. There’s nothing more interesting, I find, than hearing someone’s story and their own personal journey: what they’ve been through and what are the things that have made them who they are.

And if our drummer Rudi had a biography, it would be well worth the read. But rather than delve into the Benonian’s history (I’ll leave that to him to blog) I’ve once or twice found myself engaged in conversation with aforementioned Roo, and pondered his advisory role, both in my own life and that of the RCB.

If Rudi Engelbrecht was a psychiatrist, Dr Phil would be out of business. If he was MY psychiatrist, there would be drastic changes to certain aspects of my worldview.

For the uninformed, Roo and I agree on the main things: we’re both sinners saved by grace, nothing beats family time, and the answer to most of the world’s problems can be solved around a braai or over a popular Irish stout.

That said, it’s the finer details… and here’s where certain nuances in my value system would be instructed to change with regard to life on earth. For example:

• I’d probably have to trade in my Nikes for Doc Martins. You see, Rudi is fundamentally old school in many ways, and hails from the era where there was nothing more to radio than Barney Simon, and hard-rocking grunge was paramount. Doc Martins were, and still are, par for the course for any self-respecting, anti-establishment rocker.

• The sabbath would be observed concurrently with the broadcasting of F1 Grand Prix. Nothing, and no-one, interferes… no matter how big the crisis is. End of story.

• If the money became available, I would go out and buy a trok (bakkie). ‘Tis the way of the Dutchman.

• While driving my trok, talking to other drivers on the road as if they are a part of the discourse would become a way of life.

• A variety of gadgets are key ingredients to a working day. Keeping up with bits of electronic innovations which make your life easier – like voice-activated GPS for the car, hands-free bluetooth ear-pieces… the list continues to grow.

• Android over iPhone. (Sad, but true.)

• Two staple diets (along with lots of coffee) would be Discovery Channel and Car Magazine. These are modern-day masculinity trademarks for white boys born before Bieber. You watch. You read. You live by.

I really could go on and on… but I’m sure that you get the picture. Rudi brings some fundamentals to the RCB besides solid beats. Where would we be without him?

Forget Chuck Norris… Jon Calder is the man for the job

Ryan — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:05:42 +0000

They say that Chuck Norris grew a beard at the age of 18. Seconds.

Now, I’m not here to diss Chuck (we all know what kind of suicidal mission that would be)… but I just can’t help wondering whether Mr Norris ever considered world domination?

“Stupid question,” you’ll tell me. “World domination considered Chuck Norris.”

But Chuck is kinda old news now, isn’t he? I mean, the world needs a new hero. Chuck’s proven ability shows that there’s zero chance of failure, no suspense, no room for error. It’s all predictable and the hero is – essentially – old and boring.

The RCB is, like most other musicians, out for world domination (of course). And while we could use a skill set like Chuck’s, we figure our story will turn out pretty boring in the end if we employed him.

Besides, that’s the other problem: emplyment. The RCB can hardly employ themselves, let alone Chuck Norris.

But Jon Calder… now THAT’S a different story.

Basically, Jon has no choice. He’s forced into the RCB. And in the absence of Chuck, we needed a more-than-ample, suitably-fresh substitute.

I hope you are appreciating this. Take this website, for example. We like it. And it didn’t happen with Chuck’s help… if you catch my drift. (If not, refer to the paragraph above.)

Another example: if you put sheet music in front of the rest of us, we’d feel flattered and admire the patterns. But we’d go about our business like REAL modern musicians. I mean, who needs sheet music in the modern era? Pffft.

Jon, on the other hand, would not only play whatever was on the score… he’d also run data tests and algorithms to analyze whether it had the making of hit song structure or not. Okay, that’s a bit extreme… he lets uPlaya do that.

But still… in an age of modern rock stars, where all a real band needs is a decent measure of self assurance and – at the MOST – four chords, we’ve got an analytical dot reader. Now, this might be cool in some circles, but you try walking into any popular night club to gig with a sheet-music-reader-keyboardist.

We’re thinking of disguising him with tatoos. Anyway, let’s compare beards…

Every genuine modern musician needs at least one beard going on in a five-piece band. Now, if you’re gonna make us choose between Chuck and Jon based on beards alone, well… there’s no contest.

Look at that picture above. There’s plenty of beard going on there. Jon Calder didn’t need the beard. The beard needed Jon Calder. And in fact, Jon Calder gave some of his beard to Chuck Norris.

So what if Chuck Norris won American Idol using sign language? So what if Chuck Norris died 20 years ago and Death hasn’t built up the courage to tell him yet? Given all of the above, we think it’s a no-brainer. When it comes to RCB, forget Chuck Norris… Jon Calder is the man for the job.

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.

Music industry observations by Niall Doorley (Future Music Forum)

Ryan — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:55:36 +0000

The Future Music Forum, which I attended in September in Barcelona, is the brainchild of events co-ordinator Niall Doorley. Niall is an energetic personality, and has created a important space for the music industry to come together and share ideas.

Niall Doorley.

Niall also very graciously agreed, as part of the RCB winning the We Love Your Songs competition, to allow the band free access to the FMF. I chatted to him following the second annual Future Music Forum.

Ryan Calder: How did the Future Music Forum come about? What was the inspiration behind it?

Niall Doorley: First and foremost I’m an events guy, besides my passion for music I saw an opportunity to host a niche conference on a certain aspect of the music industry that is growing at a mind-boggling pace. Both my professional & academic background in recent times has been focused on the area of social media, digital marketing & online branding.

With this I had been visiting events in the U.S. that were giving much more emphasis to the cutting-edge developments of the music industry rather that the usual bland topics. There are certain events around Europe that do similar things but I thought with a couple of tweaks here and there, and using Barcelona and the Merce festival (held during the event) as the idyllic backdrop, that something could really grow… and here I am, looking forward to the 3rd edition.

What positive feedback did you get from the second annual FMF?

Niall: We have received fantastic feedback, it’s really encouraging as an events producer to have senior bods from the industry come and congratulate you on the event, and actually seem sincere about it. Above all I believe it’s the personable aspect of the event that leaves a lasting effect with people. With the size and the team’s organisation, people really feel comfortable at this event. Apart from this, it’s the cutting-edge topics that really capture people’s enthusiasm… with so much doom and gloom around the industry it’s hard not to be inspired by some of the companies presenting at the FMF and how they trying to add new life to the industry.

The second annual FMF grew from the first one. What plans are on the horizon for 2012 and how will it be different?

Niall: We are already looking at how we can improve for the 3rd edition. Our mission from the start was to put this event firmly on the agenda of the music industry, more for people involved in how the new business models, or new business in general within the industry, is progressing. Personally I feel we still need another year of hitting the right note, tackling the most cutting-edge issues, but we are already looking at doing something like a bootcamp for new music technology and businesses to gain more awareness about their product.

We would also like to continue with support for new upcoming artists. For example, one of our competition winners from this year is now fully enrolled in Berklee College of Music online course, one of the most recognised in the business. With the event taking place during Barcelona’s biggest free music festival The BAM Festival, we already have that live music aspect to the event. What we would like to do now is add our own FMF Music Stage to that festival. Fingers crossed we will have a presence for next year.

What are some of the more innovative music business models you have seen recently?

Niall: For me, I’m really interested in how gaming and music progress together. Not many people are aware, but they have a long history together – stretching back to the late 80s where in Japan video games music was being sold on cassette. Fast forward to 2011, and with the hugely popular games on Facebook now converting into a serious channel for pop stars to reach their audience, PS, Xbox, etc etc are now signing some major deals with record companies for music rights.

I think its a great development for the industry, MXP4, who actually spoke at the 2nd FMF, are well worth checking out to understand where that particular avenue for the industry is going.

How would you go about a career in the music industry at this point? What areas would you focus on?

Niall: Depending on what area exactly you are looking to get into. If I were a musician now I would be either focusing on getting a team around me who are familiar with the power of social media & how to engage with your fan base online or schooling myself on the best practices, there are lots of great examples out there with Ok Go, Bjork, obviously Radiohead and others being great examples.

If I were looking to get into the music business side I think being bang up to date on how Music Synch can develop your catalogues is a must.I think with the industry splintering into so many different avenues right now, it’s wise to look at a certain area and say, ‘yeah, thats me’ and pursue that avenue, music content for mobile, Music Branding, Head of Synch, so many interesting areas to choose from.

* Keep in touch with the Future Music Forum website, as well as links and updates on the Facebook and Twitter pages.

The international doors open

Ryan — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:49:56 +0000

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.

Monday night, 7.30pm, our get-to-Spain graph looked looked like this:

My flight to Cape Town having been booked for Tuesday, Monday night was spent deliberating with Tam on the pros and cons of purchasing a plane ticket to Spain, with no money in the bank account. (Incidentally, KZN residents can only get a Schengan visa in Cape Town – not Pretoria.)

Us being the praying kind, I prayed. Feeling a strange sense of peace, and aided by the symptom of partly-stupid-and-mostly-gung-ho, I booked the plane ticket. The only person who knew I’d done it was Tam, and she promptly went to sleep (probably as a coping mechanism).

Four hours later, having not told a soul, the graph suddenly looked like this:

A couple of anonymous donations made in the space of 4 hours. I have no clue where those donations have come from (if it was you, a very heartfelt and large Thank You!). I have come to the realisation that it’s not actually important. We’re taking it as a sign. The Future Music Forum beckons, and with it, a new future for the RCB.

P.S. For those still following our progress, we still have a way to go, as you’ll see in the graph below.

If you’d like to donate, click on any one of the graphs or click here.

Five dollars, a dream, a journey

Ryan — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:01:00 +0000

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.

For those of you not up to speed, it goes like this… the RCB:

1. Won major competition.
2. Got free ticket to very cool music conference.
3. Conference is in Spain.
4. Have to somehow get to Spain.
5. Gung ho.
6. Asking fans for sponsorship.

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.

You see (and we’ll just talk plain and simple here): the hardest part is getting you to part with your money. You’ve probably stopped reading now already.

But here’s the honest, plain, simple, bottom line: we need you (yes YOU reading this blog) to take out your credit card (I’m sure you’ve stopped reading by now) and slice off $5 (R34,80) into our bank account.

Think about this… that’s the price of a medium KFC or McDonalds meal. Our question is: once you’ve bought the fast food meal and eaten it, what do you have to show for it? Five dollars well spent?

So… *shifts eyes downward to shoes* we think you could invest that money better. Let’s consider what $5 can buy you.

FIVE DOLLARS IS LESS than paying to see a movie and get a medium popcorn.

FIVE DOLLARS ISN’T even a meal at a restaurant.

FIVE DOLLARS WON’T get you from Pietermaritzburg to Durban/Benoni to Pretoria/Paarl to Cape Town.

FIVE DOLLARS WILL GET YOU…

10 songs which will keep you good company for the rest of your life, an allegiance of the RCB to you, and as a genuine altruist you will be helping us on our journey.

A couple of people have told me it can’t be done. Many more say it’s a great opportunity, but that’s where their words (and actions) dry up. We in the RCB, however, are optimistic enough to believe that we have enough believers in this music and in what we do to make this trip to Barcelona possible. We see it as more than a trip to Spain. We see it as the start of a life-long journey between us and you reading this. We’re not going anywhere other than forward.

So if you like anything about what we do, HERE’S THE LINK TO SPONSOR US.

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!

We won! Now what?

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:51:17 +0000

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.

The bad news? We have to find our own way to Spain in September.

It’d be easy to say, “Ag, you know what – we did it, we won… but you know, getting visas is a mission, the Rand isn’t so hot at the moment and unfortunately we’re having friends round for a braai that weekend.”

But you know us better than that. It’ll take a fair amount of work, obviously, but we’re going to get there. We’ve approached a number of companies for sponsorship, but there aren’t too many around here that are particularly interested in the future of the music business (which is what the Future Music Forum is all about). We, however, are very interested.

So here’s what we’re doing: it’s called fan funding. Basically, we’re asking you to sponsor us.

We’re asking anyone who enjoys the RCB’s music, shows, online presence, general vibe or just good intentions, to buy a digital album. For as much as you want.

Yes, you did read correctly. For as much as you want.

We’re asking for sponsorship, and in exchange, you get an album. DON’T BE AFRAID – IT’S SAFE, SECURE AND DEAD SIMPLE. SPONSOR THE RCB HERE.

Here’s the crunch: we need to sell roughly 500 albums. Before the end of August.

Yup. We're partly stupid, mostly gung-ho.

We’ll keep you updated on the graph above each week, so you can all see how progress is going.

P.S. Help us out. Tell your friends.

New album, songwriting and finding inspiration

Ryan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:30:33 +0000

It’s never a perfect science as to what makes a hit song. Some say the key to good songwriting is the melody. Some say good songwriting is the combination of a catchy melody with the right lyrics. Some say songwriting has little to do with it – it all depends on the artist… some artists will sell plenty of copies of a new album no matter how poor the songwriting is.

For me, lyrics are as paramount as the music. A catchy melody is only an inspiration to me if the lyrics convey something meaningful to the listener. In other words, songwriting should make a point. The author should stand for something.

The other important aspect of songwriting is honesty. I will say that I like my private world, because it’s exactly that: it’s a secret place where my frustrations, insecurities and vulnerability are safe from the scrutiny of the world outside.

The conundrum is that inspiration for good songwriting – the deeper truths – are found in that private world. It’s the stuff that we all relate to. And a good song is an honest song. A good album is an honest album.

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If you haven’t already deduced it by now, it’s a time of reflecting on my own inspiration, and thinking about the new album. My life has taken on new meaning in the past 18 months. The band has matured, travelled a bit and we’ve discovered some things about ourselves. I find inspiration and confidence in this.

The other obvious inspiration for a new album is that I’m a father of two now, and I look at everything differently. I find I’m constantly asking questions. Do I practice what I preach? Am I honest enough to say no? What kind of world do I want my kids to grow up in? What makes me angry? Where do I find peace? Is there hope?

Songwriting and inspiration for this new album is wide and varied… I’m intrigued more and more by bible characters. I wonder about God constantly. I’m inspired by living legends. I’m angry and optimistic about the city I live in. I’m more in love with my wife than I was when I fell in love with her. And my kids bring me inexpressable joy and hope for the future.

You know… normal, simple truths.

If anything, the new album will be cranked up. Somehow, I will be able to afford that electric guitar. We’ll get Tammy’s vocals up to full throttle. Rudi will smack his pig skins. Jon will reinvent how a keyboard is played. And we’ll throw Berto out on the audience to crowd surf.

In other words, it might get loud.

Help the RCB’s final effort on We Love Your Songs!

Ryan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:48:20 +0000

For those of you who have been following the RCB for more than a week, you’ll probably know that we’ve been in the running for a top spot for the We Love Your Songs competition. It’s basically an online contest which invites fans of unsigned indie artists to vote for their favourite music on the website in order to give exposure to a worldwide audience. The competition ends on Tuesday!

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We like this idea, not only because we’re unsigned and indie, but also because it’s a great way of getting to know other musicians who we otherwise would not have heard of. Well done, We Love Your Songs! Keep doing good things.

The business end of things for us is that we obviously want to gather up as many votes so that we can secure a top spot in the competition. The prize includes a ticket to a huge music conference in Barcelona, Spain, as well as a number of free printed T-shirts… a merchandise medium we’ve been wanting to get going for a long time.

So here’s the deal:

1. Check out our songs on the WLYS website. Click here.
2. If you like our music, sign up and click on the “Love” button next to the tunes you like.
3. Help us by rallying support and suggesting to your friends who might enjoy our music as well to vote for us.

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WE’RE OFFERING A FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD to the first five friends on Facebook who tag our Facebook page and this link on their status. It’s simple, type in “@Ryan Calder Band” into your sentence, and click on the link button to insert the link to out our page on We Love Your Songs.

And guess what! If we win, we’ll ALSO GIVE THE FIRST 10 FRIENDS TO TAG OUR FB PAGE a free T-shirt! So help us by retweeting and sharing on Facebook. We need all the help we can get!