Chandramoon's Blog

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Michael Bassett and more!
2008-03-06 00:00:00
Well what a treat I had on Tuesday night. I went to the usual Miners Arms Open no mic and there was a guest slot from a guy called Michael Basset [URL="http://www.myspace.com/michaelbasse tt"]http://www.myspace.com/michaelbassett [/URL]. and [URL="http://www.eschatone.com/michaelbas sett/"]http://www.eschatone.com/michaelba ssett/[/URL] He had a violinist/viola player with him and a bass player and they played a wonderful set - he plays guitar with a great gift of rhythm which echoes of ancient percussion. He has the most unique voice spanning a great range and marvellous lyrics. I really think he's one of the best things I've seen in a while. He's an American singer songwriter currently living here in the UK. Michael Bassett [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6884.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6887.jpg[/IMG] I feel so privileged to get to see so much live music. The Tuesday sessions are amazing - you see complet...

Pay Pal Clarification - CD
2008-03-06 00:00:00
Hi there - there's been some confusion about paying for my CD by PayPal. Some people think you have to have a Paypal account to pay this way. You don't - you can pay with any credit or debit card without having to register a paypal account by simply clicking the buy now button on the right and follow the instructions. It doesn't matter where you live in the world. It's completely safe and secure and the only details I get sent is the address and name to send the CD. It's a bit cheaper to do that rather than use CDbaby though you can do it that way too. That was just to clarify for those who've asked!

Windy
2008-03-06 00:00:00
It's bloody windy tonight.
More About: Windy

Chandramoon's Monday Blog No 1
2008-03-06 00:00:00
As I'm often too busy to blog on the weekends, I thought I'd start a regular Monday blog to report about whatever gigs, happenings, excitements or trivia that have occurred to me since Friday! Hopefully this will become a regular spot so they may be longer posts than usual! I'll report on Bristol things or festivals if I've been at them. So......where to start? [U]Saturday[/U] Got off to a bad start - I attended a Music Lab, run by one of my drum teachers in the morning only to find it was cancelled due to lack of interest....extraordinary because it was a great opportunity lost to make music with a really talented teacher. In the afternoon I had a practice scheduled with a guy who plays drums and harmonica - cancelled due to his poorly self (mmmmm what's wrong with Saturday so far)! I made a homemade Pear Cake in preparation for Mother's Day on the Sunday but the day didn't start properly till 9pm when I went out to the Kuumba Project in St Pauls to a great Latin night...
More About: Blog

Earthquake
2008-02-28 00:00:00
Well living in safe old England I didn't think I'd be reporting on an earthquake today!! Last night I got back from the Miners Arms open no mic and had a quick catch up on line of various things. It was quite late, sometime after 1am and I was lazily lying on my sofa in my study with my Mac. I was kind of drifty awake/asleep when the whole sofa started vibrating and I thought that maybe the neighbours were shifting furniture or something. But it went on for quite a long time and there was no noise associated. I jolted properly awake and thought I was going a bit mad because we don't have earthquakes here!! Anyway - once it was finished I started wondering if I'd imagined the whole thing then I saw on Wozza's Facebook that he too had felt it in LONDON! I went to bed and this morning on the news it was confirmed that we'd had the strongest earthquake for years reported all over the country with the epicentre in Lincoln - phew - I'm not going mad after all. I wish I was thou...
More About: Earthquake

Shadow Puppets
2008-02-28 00:00:00
Some of you may remember a song I put up here before (lyrics) called Shadow Puppets about insomnia. I've now worked out a melody and rough arrangement with my keyboard player. For those of you interested in hearing the tune for this song click this link: [URL="http://chandramoonsonglyrics.efx2bl ogs.com/30228/Shadow+Puppets.html"]http:/ /chandramoonsonglyrics.efx2blogs.com/3022 8/Shadow+Puppets.html[/URL] I always welcome feedback at this stage before it's finally recorded!

Quickie
2008-02-26 00:00:00
Hi - I thought I'd grab a minute to post something up about this week so far. I've felt quite flat after all the excitement of getting the CD finished and the gig done although I've still got so much to do! The next stage is getting the CD played on local and hopefully national radio and I'm going to start compiling a list of places to send it! Any ideas feel free to suggest them or any contacts any readers have. I had a good meeting with a young website guy whose going to help me build a proper music website as at the moment I have three blogs, a Facebook AND a Myspace. That's not a problem but the boundaries of which is for what is blurred and I don't want friends here for example to feel I'm spamming them to buy my album so the music website will be separate. That doesn't mean I'll stop blogging about songwriting etc here (though I'll move my lyrics to the new website and videos etc) so people who are interested can go and visit there without feeling pressured to buy...

Monday
2008-02-26 00:00:00
I had a good tennis session this morning - I really enjoy playing tennis - it de-stresses me, keeps me fit and is a good social group as well. This evening I'm going to a free gig at The Fleece and Firkin, a songwriters night with at least 3 performers - I'll take my camera and post something tomorrow. I'm looking forward to planning my new proper website - it'll have a forum facility for people to discuss songwriting, lyrics etc etc as well as everything to do with my music - less of the personal stuff more of the music. This blog will then remain mainly personal though of course, music will always be an integral part of the topics as it's what I do! Anyway, hope you've had a good weekend. Good to see Efx back up again - it seems to go on the blink every weekend.
More About: Monday

Fleece and Firkin
2008-02-26 00:00:00
As promised a few words about last night's gig at the Fleece. It was a singer songwriter night so was mainly acoustic songwriter's with their own backing bands. The warm up act was a solo female singer called Lenny Savage. She had a great voice but although I thought she was very good, I can't remember a thing about the actual songs - maybe I'd need to hear them a few more times for them to make more of an impression. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6820.jpg[/IMG] Lenny Savage There was another act then Ryan Inglis who was the main guy I'd gone to see. He writes funky, memorable songs and has a great voice and lots of energy. He has an album coming out soon so we've done a swap! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6830.jpg[/IMG] Ryan Inglis The headline act was a woman called Sally Ann Langton and although she was good, for some reason I'd had enough after a couple of tracks and came home! I went down there on my ow...

Friendship
2008-02-20 00:00:00
Several things have happened recently to make me really think hard about friendship and what it means to me. Who are my REAL friends, who truly cares about me, who do I truly care about etc etc? What would they do for me and what would I do for them? Where do I draw the line in the sand? None of these questions have clear or easy answers. Sometimes, people I don't really think of as close friends (or hadn't) suddenly do the most amazing, kind and thoughtful things and you realise they really care about you and are prepared to put themselves out for you in a surprising and unexpected way! Other times, someone you thought would be there till the end of time, just completely lets you down or worse is cruel and unkind. Other people that I see in real life really often - like my closest couple of girlfriends who I see virtually every week and couldn't imagine not being there are my absolute anchors. My close family are sometimes more like friends than family too and I am so lucky...
More About: Friendship

Strange Week
2008-02-12 00:00:00
Hello again! This week has been good but I felt very strange. Firstly, after all the frantic preparation and nerve wrackingness of last Friday's big gig I felt a bit flat. Don't get me wrong - it went fantastically and I couldn't be happier as to how it went and it was wonderful to have my closest friends, family, neighbours etc at the gig. It just felt strangely quiet afterwards. Also, I was still very upset about something a friend had done and I needed to process those feelings. So I did what I usually do when I need to think - jumped into Moon Palace on a whim and went off for a couple of days! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6733.jpg[/IMG] I went to a small campsite near a bird reserve which I love called Slimbridge. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6742.jpg[/IMG] On Monday, I sat and wrote a song about my feelings (I've posted the words already in my parallel blog here Song Lyrics - see link on right) and worke...
More About: Week , Strange

New Song - No Friend Of Mine
2008-02-12 00:00:00
Here's a little video of the rough idea of my latest song called No Friend Of Mine which I wrote at the beginning of the week. Sorry if you're on dial up! It needs a few more chords and I'd like to record it with bass and simple drums - really bluesy! You can hear the tambourine rhythm which I do with my foot while I'm playing!
More About: Song , New Song

Album Launch Party
2008-02-06 00:00:00
I've finally got some time to sit down and write about the album launch party on Friday. It was FANTASTIC - I couldn't have asked for it to have gone better. I know that I played as well as I could and that the other musicians involved were all BRILLIANT. My son and daughter did an opening set then I performed with the small band I'd put together for the night (keyboard/flute, lead guitar, percussion and backing vocals and me on acoustic guitar/keyboards). Earlier last week, someone I'd considered one of my best friends virtually sabotaged the whole thing by a very unkind act but I was able to get past it and the show went on as planned - I came to the conclusion that he had his own issues rooted in jealousy and envy and that there was nothing I could do about it. It has at least inspired a song though (the lyrics [No Friend of Mine] are on my other blog here - see the link to Songwriting on the right) We had wonderful visuals comprising slide show/movie clips which synced u...
More About: Party , Launch , Album

Weekend So Far
2008-01-31 00:00:00
Last night I played flute and djembe for a friend at a great little gig in Bristol. We were on first and there were a couple more bands then a DJ and I had a great night dancing my head off and it was good as I needed to let off a little steam though I have bad headache this morning - I didn't drink a lot really but it hasn't done me much good - I had two pints of Guinness actually! Today I'm having coffee with a friend then will do some more practice of my songs for Friday ...the days are ticking away now. Tonight I'll do a couple of open mics - that's all I can do now.
More About: Weekend

Blog Holiday
2008-01-31 00:00:00
Don't be surprised if you don't see a post here for a few days - things are hotting up this end with final preparations for Friday's gig plus I'll have a houseful of people for the weekend and I need to do the usual shopping and cleaning stuff too. I went to song writing today and it was just what I needed after a particularly ghastly day yesterday as a result of someone I thought was a very good friend dumping on me from a very great height! Luckily, I have wonderful supportive friends and family and I feel better today - though still very rattled as it made me feel quite ill and I don't need that right now. I wish this person had waited till after Friday to spew vitriol on me. Anyway, enough of negative stuff; last night, after drumming, I met some friends for someone's birthday bash and did a couple of songs at Presence, one of my regular open mic spots - I felt like smashing the guitar up but managed to restrain myself ha ha! So, hopefully people will take lots of pictu...
More About: Holiday , Blog

Quiet Weekend
2008-01-25 00:00:00
Well - unusually for me, I had a really quiet weekend. The weather here in Bristol UK is absolutely foul. We wake up every morning to what feels like the twilight zone - constant grey, grizzly skies and non-stop rain and wind - at least it's not particularly cold. My garden's a bog though. I saw one of my best friends for a proper girly chat yesterday afternoon and another friend in the evening............. This morning I played tennis and I've spent most of the rest of the day parcelling up CDs for CDbaby (the other place I'll be selling the CD), sending copies to various promoters and friends. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/heap.jpg[/IMG] I'm practicing hard for the 1st and in a minute will go and run through my set AGAIN in my studio. I'm looking forward to playing some of my other songs once the gig's over ha ha! I'm very happy that our own Wozza is coming up to Bristol for the gig - hurray! OK that's it for now. *heads off to studio*
More About: Weekend , Quiet

Quote For My Life
2008-01-25 00:00:00
I heard this just now on the radio and thought it could be the quote of my life as it resonated so strongly with me: [SIZE="5"]"When your heart speaks, take good notes......"[/SIZE] This is my take on it: If you see something that really moves you and you feel you might be able to do something about it - then do! If you wake in the night and think it would be a good idea to write down your thoughts - then do! If you think you can make a difference - you can! What does this wonderful quote mean to you?
More About: Life , My Life , Quote

I need a dream by Malusi
2008-01-25 00:00:00
This young poet is called Malusi and he comes to our songwriting group - he's brilliant. Judge for yourself.
More About: Dream

Gigs and Practice
2008-01-25 00:00:00
The last couple of evenings I've gone out with various pals to a couple of gigs. The first, at the Prom, was a folk rock band whose name escapes me. Last night I had a band practice for MY gig then we went to a punk gig at The Croft. Very noisy, so I used earplugs, that way you can actually hear the words surprisingly and not end up deaf for two days. The band was called The Disseminators and are very good though not my favourite kind of music. The drummer was very good (and fit ha ha) and the lead guitarist is a friend from songwriting and is extremely good! The practice went pretty well though it's hard to imagine what it will feel like on the stage as we've never played together before - I think it will be alright - and if it isn't - well all I can say is I couldn't have tried harder to get it the best we can.
More About: Practice

Femmes Fatales
2008-01-19 00:00:00
Just got back from a great gig at The Cube - an old arts cinema in Bristol which also hosts music gigs. I'm not sure of the name of the first performer but after her was Bela Emerson, an amazing cello player who generates extraordinary sounds using loop and effects pedals. Following her was the amazing Emily Breeze who is a very raunchy rock musician and she did a great set despite breaking a bass string and appalling feedback - I'm half deafened and am glad I had some earplugs with me to protect my ears!! A great night all round. Here's a link to some photos of the evening. Gig at the Cube[URL="http://www.facebook.com/album.p hp?aid=27742&l=4fbc3&id=637503707"]http:/ /www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27742&l=4 fbc3&id=637503707[/URL]

Good Day
2008-01-19 00:00:00
I thoroughly enjoyed today. It was the first Songwriting Group day of 2008 after a 6 week break due to the guy who runs it having a big gig before Christmas and not being able to run it, then Christmas and New Year and last week he had a cold. It was a big group today and high energy! Everyone was excited to see each other and hear about each other's gigs and new ideas etc. I then had a practice with the people playing at my gigs (it's a kind of temporary band consisting of a guitarist (my producer), a keyboard player, a couple of backing vocalists and a djembe player). It went pretty well and hopefully will be fine by the 1st - we have two more practices. Here's a copy of the new flier for the gig which the person doing the visuals for the gig designed based on my original idea. I'm hopeless at graphics but good at ideas! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/flier1.jpg[/IMG] After the practice, I came back here with one of the backing vocalists as I'M ...
More About: Good

Need I say More - Postman
2008-01-19 00:00:00
Look what the postman brought today!! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/cds.jpg[/IMG]

Busy Day
2008-01-12 00:00:00
Copy of post from Vox today now that Efx is back on! This is just a quick post as today I have a very, very busy schedule including: Piano tuner coming in a minute Board meeting of an organisation I work with Tea with a friend First rehearsal with other musicians for my Feb 1st gig Friends birthday bash if the rehearsal doesn't end too late In between all that I'm doing paperwork, trying to sort out the *&!!X@**bleeping windows at my rental property, sorting out my own house, making a zillion phone calls etc etc!! So - bye for now folks - see you all soon x
More About: Busy

Thurs/Fri
2008-01-12 00:00:00
Well....where to start! Yesterday was a very busy day, some of it too boring to bother writing about here, such as meeting a builder re the windows and a work meeting - but the evening was great. I had my first proper rehearsal with the other musicians who will play with me at the album launch gig on Feb 1st and it went pretty well! I really enjoyed it and feel that it will sound pretty good by the 1st! Today, I played tennis for the first time this year in the "bubble", had lunch with my mum, then went to the gig venue with R who is going to do the visuals at the gig. Basically she has designed a slide show to go with each track comprising still shots and movie clips which sync up with the music. We met up with the sound man for the night to discuss the stage set up and change overs, how the visuals will work with the tracks and the sound checks etc for the various performers. We also had a look round at the venue to think about how we'll decorate the place to make it look good o...

Windows and More!
2008-01-08 00:00:00
I bet you thought I meant Microsoft Windows - no - I mean Zenith f***ing Staybrite Windows. Last year, I had the windows at my rental property replaced throughout by the above company (who did seem pretty good though EXPENSIVE at the time). Yesterday, one of my tenants contacted me to say their windows were looking grotty and the bay below going all black and condensation everywhere. OK, no probs thought I, they are fully guaranteed and backed by an insurance policy which (naturally grrrr) I've paid for. To cut a long story short, I phoned them today and guess what (the timing of it gnash gnash) the company went into liquidation - yes - you guessed it YESTERDAY!!!! Aggghhhhh - these windows cost thousands and now it's in the hands of the administrators. I can't leave it like it is because it's in their bedroom so it looks like I may have to fork out for the repairs myself. Never mind, one way or another it'll get sorted but I can't believe the timing of it. On a much ni...

Hurray hurray we're back xxxx
2008-01-07 00:00:00
thanks Martin and Keith or whoever got this working again!! I'll double post at Vox as well as I've met some nice new people there too but thank goodness we're on again here. I really am addicted to this place - or to you lot I should say! *skippety skip*
More About: Back

Tail Feather
2008-01-07 00:00:00
Here's a copy of yesterday's post which I put on my back up blog at Vox. Just got back from a great gig at The Prom with a brilliant live band called Tail Feather strutting their stuff. They were an EIGHT piece with drums, guitar and bass, trumpet, trombone, sax, keyboards and a great, very large female singer with a big voice to match. They were playing really old soul tracks like Heard It Through The Grapevine, Preacher Man etc and got everyone dancing their socks off. I don't usually like covers bands but they were great! [IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/C handramoon/1751.jpg[/IMG]

temp blog at http://chandramoon.vox.com/
2008-01-06 00:00:00
I've set up a temp back up blog at [URL="http://chandramoon.vox.com/"]http:/ /chandramoon.vox.com/[/URL] No idea if anyone can read this though!
More About: Blog , Http , Temp

Hush Hush Gig in Weston
2008-01-06 00:00:00
Last night I did a solo gig in Weston (about an hour from Bristol) at the Hush Hush night at the Imperial. It went quite well for a first time, though I wasn't 100% happy with myself - but I suppose I never will be ha ha. [IMG]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi d=552547&id=637503707[/IMG]

Studio for Manon (pd) and anyone else who's interested ha ha!
2008-01-02 00:00:00
As requested by Manon here are a couple of photos of my music studio - it's hard to capture it up there - it's a long and thin converted loft room and is quite big but looks tiny in the photos! [IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/C handramoon/1745.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/C handramoon/1746.jpg[/IMG]
More About: Studio , Eres , Anon