Kadir

Everyone - please meet Kadir (the man with the mo). He's pleased to meet you too!

We met him not long after our move to Berlin. The apartment we moved into, lucky for us, is above a cafe and Kadir was, and still is, working behind the counter serving up food with his charm and smile.

Our grasp on the German language was limited at the time (an understatement) and he quickly realised we weren't exactly from around town and started speaking to us in English. Since then, we've become great friends with him. He is much like an older brother to us. Always making sure we're healthy and asking if 'everything is ok'?

Here is a man that has led a very interesting life indeed. I don't want to go into too many specifics but in the last ten or so years his life has dramatically changed. Years ago he was helping manage construction works in northern Africa and was surrounded by family. Lets just say he's had to start again.

Kadir is Turkish and when we mentioned we were playing a show in Istanbul, back in June, his eyes lit up and it became his mission to join us. He hadn't been back there for fifteen years and had lost touch with many of his friends.

It turned out he couldn't afford a flight and was going to drive all the way there! I had a friend who worked at an airline and upon enquiring if there was anything she could do for him, replied she could get him a return flight from Berlin to Istanbul - for free! It was a gracious gesture, to say the least, from her end - she had never even met him but still made the effort.

So our big bro joined us in Istanbul for our show with Placebo, held at a beautiful venue on the Bosphorus Sea. The night before the show we went out for a big dinner and was shown around by a wonderful host (Ziya - also in the shots) who is Kadir's friend from childhood - hadn't seen eachother for fifteen years. The next night, after the show, Ziya organised for us and Placebo to be taken out on a boat for two hours around a most stunning harbour that is Istanbul at night. We then docked at a club with an entrance off the water and went clubbing - with Kadir!

It was quite surreal being there with him and seeing the affect this trip has had on him since - he's a different man. There is a belief in him that life, no matter how old you are, will always have something to offer. Perseverence and belief in the human spirit will keep you going.

More shots from Istanbul...

Hanging out by the side of the venue waiting for all the equipment to arrive.

The view from a bar we took to for a couple of hours

Entrance to one of the Sultans' Palace

Down to our last rehearsals before touring begins next week. The Siesta Festival is first up on May 29th. All our dates (confirmed thus far) are up on our Myspace page.

Mayness is madness...

Mayness is the start of madness because we are back on the walkabout - trailing through the bushes & the rivers - with the animals of old.

Are you kidding?

This really takes the cake doesn't it?

To award the Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honour in the US) to Australia's ex Prime-Minister, John Howard, is a farce is it not?

Stephen Kenny who was David Hick's lawyer summed it up by saying Howard was the only world leader outside the US who supported the imprisonment of people at Guantanamo Bay and failed in ensuring David Hicks received a fair trial.

"I think in view of what's happened at Guantanamo Bay and John Howard's involvement in it, I think that it is extremely regrettable and clearly devalues the Medal of Freedom," he said.

Washington Post article

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B K

Tour Diary - Deus Tour Nov/Dev '08

Goodbye Berlin - hello to the autobahn. After not more than two weeks of putting down roots in Berlin we were bounding out the door of our apartment and into the van. Our first foray into the venues of Europe was beginning under the guise of support act to Belgium band, Deus. Five records in and they have a devoted fan-base throughout this part of the world and, in particular, the cities we visited.

Our mode of transport was a 'splitter-van'. Nothing new to the already touring musician of Europe, no doubt, but a world away from the unrivaled shite of the Australian Tarago. Allow me to indulge. Driver and navigator up front, band animals in the middle compartment and the instruments packed into the rear. Sounds simple - well it is. You're saying 'yeah so what'. I'm saying 'no...you really don't understand - trust me!' A thin mattress was even there to be slept on, though, the fact I mentioned Cliff Burton (Metallica's first bassist) was killed whilst sleeping in their tour bus, when it hit another car, sort of turned people off using it.

First up was two nights in Luxembourg. A drop-zone for the world's lucre, its inhabitants are bankers par for the course and really friendly bankers at that. But it must be said, Luxembourg dangles like a charm on the bracelet of cities that is central Europe - dressed for winter in yellow lights and Christmas delights, all tucked under a blanket of cloud and cold air.

One never ever knows what to expect from the first night of a tour - but that's point really. You just pray all those not-stepping-on-all-the-cracks-in-the-pavement moments are about to pay off. Luckily, we were indulged a lengthy sound-check which fought the nerves and actually led to a first night that left us in a celebratory mood. In fact, we celebrated with wine and sandwiches post-show. So rock n roll. If you think that's bad, our pre show dressing room tends to resemble a LAN party these days; coffee and laptops abound. The second night was another sound accomplishment and so we all went off to a bar next door to the venue to drink after the show. The crowd response over-all was some of the best of the tour so we sincerely thank Luxembourg and we'll back your way soon hopefully.

Two shows down and three to go - back to back in Amsterdam. A mere two hour drive in the 'Highway Tiger' and the land of Holland rolled into our eyes. I did take this time to think further about the upcoming shows. Any time (especially a singer) spots five shows in a row on a tour itinerary you imagine having to move around that week in a cage. In fact, not unlike the one you see on TV when a lone diver swims with the white pointer sharks in a cold southern ocean. So much to keep out until you can come up for air after the last performance. At least thats how I see it - the croak in the throat brings a level of paranoia to my experience of touring. And, like I just said, we were on our way to Amsterdamage.

Damian, in fact, came up with the word Amsterdamage. And, by the time we finished the third show certain things were falling apart. Humans first then a machine or two. Man overboard. It's all The Paradisos' fault - the venue for the shows and an amazing institution. After the band finishes of a night, it turns in on itself and puts on a three-level party, each room a pilgrimage to a world of sweat and dance. The building itself is a converted church and some three-hundred years of age. It has a colossal presence in the history of live acts and European venues. No religious veneration going on here though - that IS for sure.

We had a day off in Amsterdam after our gigs and attempted to find some peace and quite - that rare space on tour. Bunkered in our tiny hotel rooms we drew ourselves back into the world outside by watching BBC and CNN. Learning that Bangkok airport had become an occupied territory and the world was ending, beginning with Mumbai, was I must say, nothing short of captivating.

It was hard to leave Amsterdam though - very hard. To start with, the beautiful girls on their bikes, traveling toward unknown destinations and leaving fairy-trails of perfume everywhere. The Van Gough museum and his oeuvre of terrifying talent and beauty was unbelievable. The bar at the American Hotel with its leather seats and chandeliers. The offer of a spliff from the five-am taxi driver taking us back to the hotel - as he's driving.

The time did come to move on and onwards we went to Tilburg, still in Holland and a couple of hours east. The smallest city on the tour but one of the best venues (013) and crowd reactions for us. We actually sold some merchandise and had people asking to buy our record. Alas, the latter isn't for sale...just yet.

Brussels was the last stop of the tour - sadly, as we didn't want it to end. A sprawling city with marvelous night-lighting of its old churches, steeples.. and.. well, other old buildings that look beautiful with great lighting at night. Two nights in a big arena - 16,000 tickets all up. There you go. Over and out. Much love. Glass of wine please.

B K

B.E.R.L.I.N.

Where does one start? It has been a while, to say the least, since we last spoke our from our rented piece of the blogoshpere. But, sitting around idle we have not. We’ve been penning new songs, growing into old haircuts, dancing in the discothèques of Sydney and enjoying the clatter of one’s own pots and pans.

All that has well and truly come to an end though. We have thrown ourselves around the bend and heaved our collections to St.Elsewhere, across the globe. We are fresh again; fresh meat.

As it is, and what I’m getting at, is that we’ve just swapped sand for snow, an iconic bridge for an iconic radio tower – the city of Sydney for Berlin. The German capital is our new home for a time as we tour the continent. And the first tour for us is the opening slot for Beligium mega-stars, dEUS. This sort of thing is meant to happen to other bands?!?! More on that tour a little later.

Firstly, to Berlin we go. It must be said, and it has been, the city is a toast to diversity. The ghosts of the old world giving way to the new. You have grime and beauty hugging each other, in the same street, one street after another. In particular, where we are in the east, the slow but steady beautifying of ex-communist blocks of apartments and cobbled streets has taken hold. Still, all you seem to hear is that the city is just about bankrupt. But hey…who isn’t these days?!

And what would a description of Berlin be without its characters. Solid as gold is the fact that everyday, a new character and experience leaps out of the marrow of the metropolis to take you in. And, as you do when one unpacks and settles for tenure in another city, the mind and memory expand and in rushes a blank space for these new sights, smells, sounds and people to enter and take up residence within you.

In our first week, a man like no other, Dirk - the café owner - has won us over with his (in)sanity and good food. Down the road is the corner bottle-shop with a most graceful Iraqi man working his customers and til. Andreaus, our bank manager (he came to our first Berlin club show last week - surely a good sign) is ‘The Dude’ and, of course, the wonderfully hospitable German family that invited us to a dinner party in their beautiful home. They have a son, Gedeon Burkard, who is a big film star here in Germany. He took us out one night to a club that resembled something out of ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ – so many masks on beautiful lithe bodies I tell you. He’s playing a part in Tarantino’s new flim being shot right here in Berlin until January. Oh and I mustn’t forget the wonderful English bookstore in Prenzlauberger. Run by an American and an English chap - they stock old and new books of first rate. I think I spent half my monthly wage in there upon arriving – alas, we had to leave most of our belongings back in Sydney. Every Tuesday night they host a cinémathèque and you hand over a couple of euros for a free drink and a double feature.

So there you have it. Considering we actually haven't been there much (we've been on tour) you can probably tell it isn't - ahhh...boring! More and more to follow but I'd like to finally say that travel, as does music, truly allows you to realise the possibilities of your life. I know that sounds corny but fuck it, its true. It's such a gift to be alive and living free when so many aren't.

Selamat malam.

B.K.