Answers!
People asked a bunch of questions after my last blog, so I’ll attempt to answer as best I can.
1. Live events. Now I am truly in recording mode I ought to keep my nose to the grindstone (is that the expression?!) I’m enjoying it and I don’t want to disrupt the flow. The Sole Inhabitant and Jazz Mafia tours were really my celebration of the old material, and your interest in them is what led directly to EMI re-releasing the back catalog. If you missed those shows, I feel bad for you–but tens of thousands of people didn’t! Much as I would like to do more live shows to mark these re-releases, it’s really not on the cards. And plus, half my gear is dismantled and signal paths re-assigned. And frankly I’m feeling a bit middle aged and unfit! You don’t want another Tony Hadley on your hands now do you?
2. Promotion. I will be doing a small amount, but to a lesser extent the same reservations apply as in 1. I have not hired any independent publicists or marketing folks to work on this, that’s EMI’s responsibility (surely they can pay for it out of their 90% cut of the sales!) But, if you want your local radio station/music rag/web site etc to cover me, write to them and ask.
3. The Nutmeg of Consolation shot in the previous blog: I’m on the roof of my wheelhouse facing out to sea, looking though a pair of antique binoculars I got on eBay for about £15. (The seller said they came from the SS Mauritania. I guess that little statement bumped the price up from about £10? And saying they were from the Titanic, no-one would have believed him.) Below me is a pair of solar panels, 170W. Behind me my turbine, 450W. The coat is by John Galliano! Pic was by Richard Skidmore. Here’s another….
Amazing photography! Very, very cool.
haha Cool pic, I just finished rewatching the old Mad Max Movie “The Road Warrior” in HD . Mot having seen in almost 25 yrs. Your picture reminded me of the “Gyro Captain” even the vintage binocs! well he had a vintage spyglass but close enough. Now all you need is the gyro copter!
Promotion – will your label try and get you interviews/studio guest slots on Radio 2/6 Music? Or doesn’t it work that way these days? Was going to wonder if you did that, whether there’d be a signing in a record shop afterwards, but I’m not sure there are any record shops in London any more…
It’s interesting to compare what you’re doing with what Gary Numan’s up to – in approach, rather than musical style, natch. He’s on record (ahem) as going through various approaches to being someone doing new music today while being best known as “1980s’ Gary Numan”. Currently, he seems to running the two Numans in parallel, even gigging the old stuff separately, but he’s ambivalent about it.
kW!!! A small typo there possibly? -either that or you have just saved the planet completely on your own with small-scale equipment performance like that!
Great news all round I say.
Prof. Higgins: I’m sure they are pitching me to R2/6 etc. though they are generally less interested with re-releases, live albums etc than with new stuff. And rightly so. Otherwise the Gary Numan dilemma becomes an issue. So I’m not really too bothered if they don’t hype the re-releases much, I’d rather wait to ‘pull the trigger’ when my new-new album comes out. Oh, and a record shop signing sounds like a total ‘kick my ass!’ concept. Frankly, I’d rather do a spontaneous gathering somewhere, a ‘flash mob’ as they say?
White City: I can’t imagine WHAT you’re talking about.
Hey, thanks for the answers! Just to repeat someone else’s question – will ‘Singular’ be released in the U.S. with a NTSC DVD?
You could send Simon Mayo a Tweet – he’s back doing Radio 2 stuff quite a bit and you seemed to get on with him last time you were on together. He might have some influence with the producers.
That coat is standing up nicely from the last time I stood in your garage clipping threads with scissors. I want it willed to me as my bonus from 2006.
Hi Thomas,
I can’t help wondering…
Any plans for remasters or at least re-releases of “Aliens Ate My Buick” and “Astronauts & Heretics”?
Is there a reason you’ve only focused on the first 2 albums?
Darren
Dooley: I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what the US schedule is for these releases. I don’t know for a fact that Capitol or EMI in the States is going to release them. However, nowadays it seems to me when people buy stuff online the difference is less marked…. ok you have to pay a bit more and wait maybe 5 days longer. Granted, the NTSC thing is a pitfall. The Flat Earth will have no DVD, FYI.
Darren: 4 albums at once seemed like too much. The ownership is even more complicated because AAMB is owned by an EMI US offshoot called Manhattan, and A+H was on Virgin in the UK and a Warner label called Giant in the US. I guess the answer is, let’s see how my ‘new-new’ album goes, then I’ll revisit those two.
I do own some fantastic never-heard-of tapes of Lost Toy People playing the AAMB stuff live in the studio, taking time out in mid-tour before we recorded them for the album. I’ve also got great live footage of LTP, and I keep meaning to edit it all together and release a package on CDBaby. But it’ll have to wait for a rainy day!
Thomas, thanks for the update; it’s great all your hard work is paying off. I’m really looking forwards to having “definitive” version of GOAW and TFE as they were both musical inspirations to me in the day and pulled me through some really difficult times.
The ol’ appetite is well and truly whet for your new material… thanks again for your perseverance.
Love your microgenerator; there are some really good deals to be had over here on those at the moment, we may take the plunge!
Ahoy, Lunesse: you missed a couple of those threads…kidding!
I snagged a copy of the latest “Wired” yesterday…what a nice boost
Awesome portrait too…now lots of *new* people will
Smart people (and I) hang out here, hee hee…
from J.J.!
realize that you’re cool, Thomas! Eep, gawd knows how many new-
comers will be reading your blogs now…I feel watched…not! Join
the party, everybody!!
Peace and tons of record-label legal tangles, Kara
Desperate to get the first 2 re-release cds. If others come along that would be nice too. (Not desperate for Howard the Duck though.
)
An idea: How about promoting the re-issues with a short live webcast performance from your boat/studio?
Middle aged and unfit?? Thomas, c’mon. Just saw Paul Simon (67) in Feb at the Beacon in NYC and what a wonderful show. Steely Dan is out there every summer doing amazing performances; those two guys are in their early 60′s I believe. You’re a mere lad in this crowd.
I hope you’re not saying there won’t be any more touring EVER!! What about in support of the new materiel – possibly in the States??
Meanwhile, discussion over on the Professional Pilots Rumour network has it that the shot of the flying boat behind Mr Dolby, as twittered, was most likely photoshopped. And they’ve even found the source photo!
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/374268-what-flying-boat.html
There must be a story behind this…
I must say I prefer the sepia toned photo. More explorer than the other, quasi-Sky Captain photo.
Thomas, you’re not unfit. Hey, Bill Nelson has released over 80 solo albums since 1981 and he’s 60 years old.
Of course, Bill does only one live show a year…
.
If Lunesse was trimmng that coat with scissors, and you still are wearing it three years later, then I presume it’s no longer “on loan” from John Galliano?
| Aşk Mesajları