Space And Time

Well well - here we are, in a space and time called 2010.

That used to sound like such a far off place. A befitting title for a god-awful and beastly sci-fi movie surely. Can you believe its nearly the end of January already?! We can't.It must be said, having a purpose to your location makes a hell of a difference to your head-space wouldn't you say? The exception to this rule is when you just want to chill-the-fuck out and go on a holiday. And that's exactly what we've been doing. Myself and Dave returned to Sydney while Damian and Cristo stayed in Berlin.

Now, after that well-deserved hiatus, we are back at headquarters with the map out on the table so to speak.What's animating our week you might ask? Well, we begin our first ever national headline tour of Germany next Monday. Hamburg is first up on the 25th of January. After that, we assign ourselves to the venues of the UK in February.

We're also swimming in a sea of new songs; going out with the tide and loving it.At the start of a new year, whether you like it or not you can't really help but to look back over the previous one. So, like a computer dealing with a thundering volume of data it must spit out and process into an experience for its user, so too have we. Looking back over our collective shoulders, we had an amazing year in 2009, to say the least. It was bold and magnificent and had us out of our comfort-zone. But that's what you're meant to do isn't it.

The death of any artist (and human-being) is to stay in the coccoon of what you already know for too long. A slow death anyone?And so it is, that 2009 shall be illuminated in our minds as a mega combination of virgin-like experiences. The people we met, the sights and sounds from the window of our tour bus, the bands we supported right through to the police-on-bicycles-escort at a certain Belgium festival whose name escapes me at the moment! Jet-lag = memory fail so I apologise dear reader. Anyway, we thank you for being part of any of those experiences we had. Let's do it again in 2010. See you out there in this big wide world.On behalf of all of us - peace and love.

BK


P.S. We get told we don't do this enough - posting messages and blogging. So - it is here and now we say we'll try to do more. Please tell us if we get slack. We have a lot to give in the right way.

End of Summer

Well here we are and its all about where we've been on this one.

Yes - the end of our first European summer of touring is just about upon us. I guess I'm writing this because it has been nothing less than amazing - oh, and hard work too of course! A range of experiences have been had. A drop of sweat into the mechanics of the pedals leading to everything going astray, a police escort on bikes through to people singing songs not even released yet. Rock n roll...sweet rock n roll.

Many things still to look forward to nevertheless. A couple of small events on the horizon...you know like our record coming out in October followed by us supporting Placebo on over twenty dates throughout Europa in Oct/Nov.

So, thank you to all over here who've come to see us play.

Power to the music.

- BKx

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