Thought I'd post a blog today and provide a bit of a wrap up to my Sydney trip a week or so ago.
Let me share some highlights - (in order of appearance)
1. Don Bartley (Benchmark Mastering) - I was with Don on Friday at his level 7 studios in Castelreagh St. Don Bartley is widely regarded as Australia's leading mastering engineer and 
his discography (e.g., The Beatles, Metallica, Silverchair, Powderfinger, The Quills haha etc) certainly lends support to that claim. Don was the mastering engineer for our Thought In Your Head Tour DVD. For all of you that don't know what 'mastering' is (not that I really do), the best way I can describe it is the process by which your recorded song/s go from being incomplete to complete - mastering makes the recorded song sound whole and full, balanced and glistening. Think of it la bit like a proof reader of a novel. Anyway, Don is a man of few words but incredible talent and I was fortunate enough at the end of our session to spend some time talking with Don about the evlotuion of recorded music and how different sound waves are cut off in CD and MP3 format and the best thing we could possibly do is return to vinyl! Don really did blow my mind and I was greatly fortunate to be able to spend some one-on-one time talking to a true Australian music legend. Oh yeah, and he did a superb job of the CD/DVD too!
his discography (e.g., The Beatles, Metallica, Silverchair, Powderfinger, The Quills haha etc) certainly lends support to that claim. Don was the mastering engineer for our Thought In Your Head Tour DVD. For all of you that don't know what 'mastering' is (not that I really do), the best way I can describe it is the process by which your recorded song/s go from being incomplete to complete - mastering makes the recorded song sound whole and full, balanced and glistening. Think of it la bit like a proof reader of a novel. Anyway, Don is a man of few words but incredible talent and I was fortunate enough at the end of our session to spend some time talking with Don about the evlotuion of recorded music and how different sound waves are cut off in CD and MP3 format and the best thing we could possibly do is return to vinyl! Don really did blow my mind and I was greatly fortunate to be able to spend some one-on-one time talking to a true Australian music legend. Oh yeah, and he did a superb job of the CD/DVD too!2. Meeting with Sebastian Chase - what can you say about this man? Sebastian essentially founded independent music in this country and is undoubtedly one of the most significant figures in Australian music history (a good friend of Don Bartley's too!). I went to Sebastian's office around midday (had to excuse myself from The Don) and didn't really know what I was getting myself into. Sebastian meets with band and band representatives all the time and it is no wonder why! He is an absolute wealth of knowledge and after an hour of talking with him my head was totally spinning. He offered many great insights into the music business, and important things to note about being successful. But truly, the greatest thing about meeting with Sebastian was that it was even possible in the first place. People like Sebastian are often far too busy or 'important' to meet with people like me and the fact that he was willing to take time out of his day to empart knowledge and share experiences is something that I think means more than anything else. Following my meeting with Sebastian I went back to Don's studio to finish the mastering.
3. Plug in City @ Spectrum, Oxford St - after finishing with the Don at about 5.30pm I went back to the Hotel and met up with Lara. I slept for 15mins (I had been up since 3am) and then got dressed and we went to the sky bar at the Hotel we were staing at and proceeded to take advantage of the free booze that we were offered. Lara and I stayed for 2hrs and had our fair share and then ventured over to Darling Harbour for dinner. This was all a premable to my meeting with Rachael from Hubb management scheduled for later that night. This was a late night meeting at a small smokey bar in Sydney's Oxford St precinct. We arrived and to my absolute aural delight, a band called Plug In City were playing. I had never heard of these guys before but I was so impressed I went and tracked them down on myspace and have been listening to them ever since. I met with Rachael and shortly thereafter we proceeded to Kings Cross to try a few bars out. The night ended with me coming home and ordering room service at about 3am and falling alseep before it arrived. I don't know exactly what happened to the food but I defintely ordered it and it wasn't there when I woke up so who knows!
4. Billy Hyde's Drumcraft - not that this was the highlight of the trip or anything, but...on Saturday morning I ventured overt to Billy Hyde's at Surry Hills (5min from the CBD) and spent the day there with Jonno, Ludwig expert. I have been researching and pondering my 
new drumkit acqusition for about 5 years now and today was the day that I finally got to make it happen. Jonno spent the day with me wondering around the store and trying different drums and cymabls etc out to make sure what i was buying was exactly what I wanted (and as it turned out only about 5% of the gear I ordered was catually in the store - the rest has to be either custom made or ordered in from OS). I have a very clear idea of what sounds I want to be able to create from my kit and although I probably tested Jonno's patience on more than one occasion I am very confident I achieved my goal of getting one awesome sounding setup! Although I could write 27 paragraphs about the gear I got and why, I will make mention of the 4 snare drums I purcahsed (as well as the Ludwig Custom Maple Outfit). The snare drum is the classic drum for me and it is quite incredible just how much different snares can change the overall feel and finish of a song - something I have come to learn from listening very closely to lots of records! To this end, I realised that I need a variety of snares to be able to capture the mood and feel of our songs. So, what did I do? - I bought 4! In fact, my sanre drums are worth more than the rest of the kit put together (except for cymbals, but don't get me started on cymbals because I will go on forever. I am a cymbal enthusiast to say the least!!). Anyway, for the drummers out there a picked up Ludwig 14x7 maple, an OC 14x6.5 vintage 1960's black oyster finish, a Brady (Aus made) 13x4, and a Brady 5x7. This range of snares will really open up my sounds behind the kit and I hope that someone out there other me actually notices! But, the reality is I wont have any of this gear until about April next year because it all had to be ordred in etc. There is so much other gear that I got it's not funny but I will save that for another time and introduce the new setup to you all slowly!
new drumkit acqusition for about 5 years now and today was the day that I finally got to make it happen. Jonno spent the day with me wondering around the store and trying different drums and cymabls etc out to make sure what i was buying was exactly what I wanted (and as it turned out only about 5% of the gear I ordered was catually in the store - the rest has to be either custom made or ordered in from OS). I have a very clear idea of what sounds I want to be able to create from my kit and although I probably tested Jonno's patience on more than one occasion I am very confident I achieved my goal of getting one awesome sounding setup! Although I could write 27 paragraphs about the gear I got and why, I will make mention of the 4 snare drums I purcahsed (as well as the Ludwig Custom Maple Outfit). The snare drum is the classic drum for me and it is quite incredible just how much different snares can change the overall feel and finish of a song - something I have come to learn from listening very closely to lots of records! To this end, I realised that I need a variety of snares to be able to capture the mood and feel of our songs. So, what did I do? - I bought 4! In fact, my sanre drums are worth more than the rest of the kit put together (except for cymbals, but don't get me started on cymbals because I will go on forever. I am a cymbal enthusiast to say the least!!). Anyway, for the drummers out there a picked up Ludwig 14x7 maple, an OC 14x6.5 vintage 1960's black oyster finish, a Brady (Aus made) 13x4, and a Brady 5x7. This range of snares will really open up my sounds behind the kit and I hope that someone out there other me actually notices! But, the reality is I wont have any of this gear until about April next year because it all had to be ordred in etc. There is so much other gear that I got it's not funny but I will save that for another time and introduce the new setup to you all slowly!I think that should do for now.
While writing this I just picked up Coldplay tickets so I am stoked!!!
Also, last night I went to see John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow which was very very cool. Mellencamp is an industry icon and a legend in his own right. His band were on fire and he played a great set. The only dissapointment was that he didn't play 'Cherry Bomb' which, along with 3/4 of the crowd, was my favourite Mellencamp song. But in saying that, the rest of the set was brilliant! Thanks to Lara for buying the tickets.
Cheers
John.
