back in circulation!
It seems an age since I’ve posted, for which I apologise. In only a few days I’ll be getting on a plane to Boston for the start of my fall US tour, so it’s high time I updated my blog.
The steamer trip was fantastic. I brought my family across from New York to Southampton on the Queen Mary 2. First time I’ve ever done it by ship, and it was terrific. Instead of arriving jetlagged and losing several days to fatigue (and nights to sleeplessness), we arrived refreshed, entertained and well-fed. My favourite part of the trip was an ancient maritime historian who lectured each morning in the Planetarium on the Golden Age of Ocean Liners. Among the eye-openers was the fact that at the end of the ninettenth century I had an (almost) namesake writer Morgan Robertson, who (a) invented the persicope! and (b) in 1898 wrote a novel about a giant luxury ocean liner which hit an iceberg and sank at great loss of human life, and was named…. HMS Titan!
“Well, that was in Chapter One”, said our lecturer. “In Chapter Two it turned out the iceberg was home to a tribe of neolithic eskimos, and the whole thing went to pot. He was really a dreadful writer.” I accosted him afterwards and told him that my name is Thomas Morgan Robertson, and he immediately got terribly defensive, worrying that I must be descended from said rotten novelist. I reassured him that although I was named after an ancestor called Morgan, he had been dead for many years before this guy got famous.
So. Here we are in England. It’s great here and we’ll be staying for a year. My kids have just started school, and are loving it; California schools being what they are, this is a big step up. The weather’s very warm and pleasant, and our house in the country is surrounded by green fields, marshlands full of migrating birds, and we see more Thames Barges out our window than cars.
I’ve been gearing up to start on my new album. As was ‘leaked’ a few days ago, I have this plan to record it using only solar and wind energy. This will be hard to pull off, but it’ll be the culmination of many years’ ambition. It may be perceived by some as me jumping on the current green bandwagon, but that’s really not the case. For a start my wife and kids have all been passionate about reducing our carbon footprint for many years. We bought our first all-electric car in 1990 and now have two Priuses. The five of us usually generate half a trash bag of rubbish per week, the rest going to compost and recycling. Yet I think the other major part of my contribution is via my music and lyrics. As you recall, I wrote a song in 1980 called ‘Windpower’ and I’ve been interested in alternative energy ever since. Sun spots are also an area of great intrigue for me. Wind and sun can be harnessed not only for energy to power my recording, but also as variables that can affect the music itself. Obviously the seasons, tides and equinoxes will all affect my mood emotionally—but I can also use several parameters as input to the music directly, a form of sonification on a large scale.
This is a long-term project, and I’m planning on documenting the whole process. It will take time to get right, and some outside money to set it up, but I’m fortunate in that the TED Conference community includes many of the most brilliant thinkers, inventors, architects and scientist on the planet, and many are willing to help me with my project.
But first, off on tour. I’m heading to New England for the first leg, with the Jazz Mafia Horns, whom I’ve never brought to the NE USA before. Very much looking forward to jamming with them, and trying out a couple of new songs I’ve been working on. We can work on them on the tour bus and in sound checks, and hopefully work them into the set. I feel kinda guilty that I STILL don’t have a whole new slew of songs to play live—but I don’t feel like I’m retreading old ground, as this month a whole new set of audiences will get to experience the fab Jazz Mafia Horns. And then I’m back off to London for some UK dates. As you know I only played a couple in the UK in 2006, which went very well, so this is a chance for regional audiences to check out my solo one-man show.
It’s nice to be back online!
Was beginning to wonder about you. Though we might see in the news something like “Thomas Dolby, A country western star in the U.S, was rescued today in London when his lawn chair with 300 balloons attached to it landed on top of the Rams Head pub. When overheard being interviewed by local police, he stated that he was trying to fly to Budapest……”
Welcome back to the land of the blogging! We got quite spoiled with you checking in so frequently with news over the past year or two…
The Queen Mary trip sounds like a nice, liesurely way to travel… something most of us don’t do anymore. Flying never really allows us to sense the distance or terrain that we’re travelling, but trains and boats help us to feel how BIG the earth really is (and FLAT, of course!).
I hope the latest leg of your tour will bring you lots of returning and new fans into the fold. And best of luck with the ‘green’ recording project. It’s ambitious and thoughtful.
SO…. what moog instruments will you be playing at MoogFest???
Beech
Great news about the new album and I have much respect on how you plan to do it.
Will you record the new material with the Jazz Mafia Horns live? Since I can’t make it to this fall tour, I’m sure I speak for many of us that we’d like to see you release any new material even as singles on iTunes.
Best wishes for safe travel to/from the UK and for awesome gigs. Cheers!
Brian
Welcome back, Thomas!!
Great story about your almost-namesake. Good luck with the ‘green’ album. I can hardly wait to see you at the Birchmere (with or without new material) again next Saturday!!
Monica
The Morgan Robertson story is quite interesting. Here’s a little more reading for the curious. It seems he was also quite the futurist when it came to the topic of submarines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Robertson
…and it’s nice to have you back online!
Thomas, if you any assistance with the renewables project, let me know. I’m a wind farm designer. It’s kinda cringeworthy to admit it, but your song definitely helped with my career choice.
Glad to have you back!
been counting down the days to the New Hampshire show for months now, Safe Travels!!!
Welcome back. See you at BB King’s on the 17th!
Nice to see you back! Enjoyed reading your blog entry. The new album sounds interesting.
Using only wind and solar is challenging but I’m sure you will find a way to make it happen.
Just bought tickets to your NH show on the 11th.
Looking forward to seeing you again after more than 20 years. And now a new album to look forward in addition!!
Totally awesome!!!
Thomas,
About 20 minutes from where you are playing in Londonderry
NH lives a man called Dean Kamen. He is the inventor of
the Segway. He lives in Bedford NH, on about the highest
hill in town. On top of his property is a giant windmill which
he uses to generate power at his house. Perhaps you could
get into town a bit early, and meet up with him for some tips.
buz
Hope you find your way back to Atlanta. Happy gigging until then.
I second the hope that you’ll make it back to ATL sooner than later… glad to hear the travel went well & that all seem settled in nicely in ‘Ol Blighty….
Looking forward to the “new stuff” no matter how long it takes… we know that when you decide it’s right… it will be…
Sj
Thomas, man, I love the way you write. Your beautiful powers of
description had me right there in the English fields, inhaling the
lovely fresh air and hearing the wind sighing through the tall
grass…. Gad, I’ve always wanted to visit England. Ah well, maybe some day. I’m enjoying it vicariously through your observations!
There’s always been something very fresh-air about you…just a
pleasantness in general. Thanks for popping by!
Thanks also to you and your fam for doing your parts to preserve
the fresh air! Good on ya, and keep up the good work!!
Sometimes I get thinking too much and I wonder if it’s too late to
save the flat Earth, but better, I think, to at least try, than to
throw in the towel. I’m a recycling *maniac*, I tell ya!
I second culo1′s emotion…when it’s the right time for you to turn
your powers of expression to writing new songs, they’ll be
amazing, as they always are. No need to feel bad about taking
your time–it’ll happen when it happens. You need to be ready for
the music, and the music needs to be ready for you. Let it flow.
Oh! I finally saw “Rockula” on TV the other night–I laughed my
a** off! I LOVE that absurdist comedy… “Well, it’s not chopped
liver!” Double entendres, puns galore…hi-freaking-larious.
Peace, hysterical giggling and vaguely mystical paragraphs {yeah,
I’m all over the place},
Kara
I don’t recall if it was you who introduced me to TED, or just a happy coincidence that I found you there, too. Either way, I’m always happy to hear about your involvement there, and would love it if you’d talk about TED more.
Although I would love to attend a TED conference, the cost is somewhat prohibitive for most of us. Site membership is free, though, and it’s awesome! TEDTalks are absolutely inspiring. We get to watch as many of the world’s great thinkers share their ideas with a group that has the means to implement them. Every talk that I watch reminds me to think outside the box, and I move closer to my own ideas for positive change that are at once grandiose, yet achievable.
Thanks, Thomas. Thanks, TED.
Welcome back to the UK for a year.
Real weather…. well almost!
I posted on the forum that I think your recording idea sounds brilliant and I look forward to maybe more podcasts documenting the process. The end product will truly be a work of art and will open up new avenues for you and others.
Good luck and good to see you back on the blog
Cheers!
Scruss,
I envy you. I have a fascination with wind turbines, ask Thomas, everytime we passed one on tour last year my eyes were riveted instead of watching the road while I was driving! I used to drive out to Altamont Pass in CA and take endless photos. I’m probably one of the few people in Oregon who looks forward to more windfarms here!
I don’t think that is cringeworthy in the slightest! I would love to get a close up look at a turbine someday, they are so much larger than you think from far away.
It was fantastic having you at our place while you were here in MA. You and your crew were perfect guests. I hope your stay (outside of those pesky computer issues) was enjoyable. Always welcome. Bob and Amanda
Thomas,my wife & I just saw you last night in Pittsburgh @ the Rex. You & the JMHs put on a fantastic show! We waited after the show for a chance to see you,but you had already boarded your tour bus. Meanwhile,we chatted up your tourmates & found them to be amiable blokes,indeed.They seemed to enjoy our city,& we enjoyed their company. Whilst we were waiting, we struck up a friendship w/your superfan, Rick. Not long after,1 of your roadies took temporary posession of our items & proffered them to you.
Thank you for signing my Retrospectacle liner notes.You made my year! Thanks for coming back to the ‘Burgh!!
I wanted to commend you for your leadership in going green. It’s so nice to see public figures using their notoriety to do good through their actions rather than preaching to us mortal folk. As a small sustainability consultant in the DC Metro area, I am always glad to see others championing the cause. We have a long way to go, and every little bit helps.
FYI, I mentioned your efforts on my own blog at http://agreenfootprint.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/celebrities-going-green/
P.S. I am also a big fan. Have a good concert at the Birchmere. That’s a wonderful venue.
Dear Old Faithful,
Always great to hear the details especially the stories about the cruise liner lectures. hmmm…American schools, I can imagine the sense of improvement. Interesting notes about recording under low impact electrical.
OT took a backing gig with another friend here in Boise one night last week. CW artist with a career in being a studio artist in Nashville releasing his own CD. The venue, “The Big Easy”. Would be great to see Thomas Dolby appear here.
Hoping to sift the Air Waves and get back into the Polar Air studio myself.
All The Best –
Great show in Pittsburgh. There is a picture of you on Wikipedia from 2006 in some studio with a bike frame behind you on the wall. Are you using it to make music or do you plan on building it up? It’s a Seven and they make nice bikes so I presume you ride. The Ventana El Salty I ride is manufactured out in your neck of the woods. If you ride, you should stay in Pgh an extra day next time you are here – great riding, road or mountain. Take care.