-Sinclair

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:56:44 +0000

I’m doing something a little bit different this weekend (although it is still music related). Basically, in short, I’m playing guitar in the band for a local musical, but there’s a bit more to it than that. They call it the Guernsey Community Theatre Project and it involves pulling together an entire musical in the space of a weekend. Sounds pretty wacko, right? The cast only found out what musical it’s going to be last night and they’re on tomorrow! It’s going to be Thirteen this year by Jason Robert Brown, who’s a brilliant composer, you should definitely check him out. It’s pretty guitar orientated on the most part, so it should be fun for me (apart from all the weird time signatures!) I’m more nervous about playing in this than when I go onstage in front of a couple of thousand people though. That sounds pretty weird, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I’ve literally just been chucked a massive score and I’m going to have to read most of the music rather than learning it. Also there’s nowhere to hide on such a small stage, not there’s really anywhere to hide onstage full stop!! I’m not really much good at reading music, so it’s a bit of a challenge for me and I’m going to have to push myself musically. The project actually has a special little place in my heart too. It’s one of the main reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing today. The very first time I ever sang in public was as the dentist in Little Shop Of Horrors! That was many years ago (I think I was 12). I’d like to think that I’ve come on a bit since then!

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:09:51 +0000

It’s been another busy one. Been down at Terminal Studios today (that’s the place where the latest youtube vids were shot) having another writing session with Joe. It was pretty heartbreaking to be in a windowless room on such a sunny day! Anyway, it’s all gone well and I’m back in with him tomorrow to do some more ‘work’ (it’s far too much fun to really be classed as ‘work’!) and get some new tunes written. It’s all good stuff and it means I’ll be back down in the basement (another windowless room!) recording them all down over over the next couple of weeks. I might as well be nocturnal (or a vampire – take you’re pick)!! Although aren’t vampires nocturnal anyway? In that case, I could be both! Do you feel for me, given that I’m missing the summer sun? Probably not! Oh well.

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:13:46 +0000

Don’t know if you’re aware, but I am a massive Alter Bridge fan. I’ve even got Miles Kennedy (lead singer (plus he’s on tour with Slash!!)) listed among one of my biggest influences. Absolutely love them. Anyway, they just announced the tracklisting for their new album today (I’ve been waiting ages for this) which they are apparently calling ‘Alter Bridge III’. Anyone else loving how utterly Led Zeppelin that is?!! It’s due out in the first couple of weeks of October (they haven’t decided yet!) which also means that it’s feasible for it to be out on my birthday. Could it be more perfect?

Down In The Basement

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:51:24 +0000

I spent yet another day down in the basement today, although I think it was a good day to choose to be down there given that it hammered it down with rain all day. It was still warm though, it was like a tropical storm. I felt like I was on holiday in the Bahamas or somewhere, except there was a massive lack of palm trees!! Anyway, it was pretty productive, despite the sound of rainfall that managed to get on a couple of my vocal tracks (it was that heavy that I could hear it in the basement!). More of the same tomorrow I expect, the plan is to have two or three new tracks by the end of the week.

Studio Sessions

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:54:00 +0000

Spent the day down in the basement studio working on guitar parts with Owen who’s come over to Guernsey for a couple of days. It’s been nicely productive. We had a play with a load of amps and sounds etc and really focused on getting old school, ‘dirty’ tone. We didn’t use any amps from later than the 60s as we were going for a kind of ‘White Stripes’-esque vibe. I think we managed to achieve that on the most part, so I’m pretty happy with the days work. Anyway, we’re off to the pub now for a wind down…

Heaven’s Basement

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:03:18 +0000

I played Sonisphere yesterday on a pretty packed Bohemia stage and it was awesome. The crowd seemed well up for it so thanks to everyone who came along to show their support. However, I am very sad to say that Heaven’s Basement and I have now gone our separate ways. I apologise to all the fans who now have to cope with yet another line up change, but it was becoming an impossible task to juggle both my solo project and HB. I’ve had an amazing time for the last four weeks and will be taking away some amazing experiences. The top and bottom of it now is that I can focus fully on my own album. The decision to part ways was mutual, so there are no hard feelings from either party; we decided when we first sat down together that we’d trial working together for six weeks to see what happened. Thanks to all the fans who embraced me coming in as an unknown replacement, your immediate acceptance, made the task much easier and less daunting for me. Good luck to the HB guys in finding a new front man and starting a new chapter. They’re a great band and will no doubt go on to rock til they drop (and believe me that’s a lot of rocking, they really know how to party). It’s onwards and upwards for me now though, I’m very excited about what’s around the corner for my own record which is moving forward each and every day. I’m hoping to have a new video for you guys in the next week or so.

The Tour

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:31:23 +0000

Apologies for the distinct lack of blogging over the last week or so, as I’m sure you can understand, everything has been pretty busy with the Heaven’s Basement tour etc. Anyway, the headline tour is all but over now, and, for the most part it’s been a success. All that’s left is Sonisphere tomorrow which I’m looking forward to. I feel as though Sheffield was the best gig that we did on this particular tour, although, as a whole the performances got better every night. It was the mixture of the crowd, the performance and the venue at Sheffield that made it probably the most memorable though. Everyone seemed very fired up for it and I could also hear myself onstage, which is something that’s not really possible in some of the smaller venues when all I can hear is the drums!!!

So off up to Knebworth tonight ready to play Sonisphere tomorrow and then I’m heading back to Guernsey for the first time in a while for a few days rest! Fingers crossed for a good show tomorrow…

Europe

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:27:26 +0000

Just got back from Nuremberg and Luxembourg with HB having played two pretty wicked shows with Papa Roach. Was great to watch those guys play as they were awesome, really cool blokes as well. It was so much fun playing in front of such large crowds who were so up for it. We had to play Luxembourg as a four piece rather than a five piece because Jonny managed to dislocate his finger whilst playing football a couple of hours before we went on! The joys of touring! I feel as though we really stepped up to a far from ideal scenario though. The headline tour starts tomorrow in York which should be good, although, naturally it will be nothing like the size of what we’ve just come from in Europe! I always enjoy playing intimate venues though as well. Anyway, we’ll see how it all goes.

All Night Sessions

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:44:03 +0000

So had the recording session with HB on Thursday, and it ended up being a long one. We pulled an all nighter in the studio and I still feel I’m paying the price for it now! We definitely got a couple of quality tracks down though, which was the aim, so it was all worth it. I’m back on Guernsey for a couple of days now, just finishing off some of my own tracks and then, next stop is Germany. Heading off there on Monday ready for a Tuesday gig in Nuremberg with Papa Roach. It’s all pretty exciting! I;m looking forward to it!

Studio With HB

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:28:53 +0000

Off into studio with Heaven’s Basement tomorrow to put down some vocals on a few tracks. Should be fun. Hopefully it’ll all go ok and I’ll be singing reasonably well. I’ll let you know how it goes.