25/02/2008

send in the clowns


i've done some prints of the clowns which i included the file for below. these were done for a print exchange in a run of 17 (most of which you can see if you click on the picture) to see how it goes, but i like them a lot and so am keen to do lots more for the zine/booklet for the album.

gigs to come

well, there's a few gigs lined up for the next couple of months, so we should get a move on with starting to try and put it together and rehearse. so far, there's the one on good friday and paddy macguires with underlapper and sui zhen. i've also booked us in for just like now at mars hill cafe on may 10 - i think it's going to be the last of the regular just like nows, so i thought telafonica could finish it since telafonica started it. we'll be playing with karoshi. there's also a possibility of a gig on april 5 at midi in the city at the loft bar at uts. we played there last year but it's a bit more of a laptop type of thing than a band kind of scene, and there's also the possibility of a clash with another gig with some friends from melbourne called koshowko, so that one's not confirmed yet. and lastly, we've just got another gig on thursday, may 29 at the excelsior hotel in surry hills. again, underlapper look like they'll be on the bill as well as someone else yet to be determined. if everyone could let me know which of these dates they are/aren't available for, that would be excellent.

lastly, are saturdays a good time for a rehearsal or would another time suit more?

21/02/2008

item number on cdr

cdr sydney

i went to cdr sydney last night, which is the thing run by mark pritchard and lorna where artists take a track on cdr and they play them all, through a huge soundsystem, mostly so you can see how they're sounding. i took item number along. it was one of the last tracks they played, so it was fairly late and empty by then, but i got to hear it very very loud. it actually sounded quite good. as was always suspected, there was a little too much bottom end. but i've never actually heard telafonica through a good, loud system - the only time it's normally possible is when we're live at which time we're on stage so it doesn't sound at all the same. so it was great to hear our stuff standing up well next to the other things there. i've also added some textural stuff to it in the way of recordings of people reading extracts from kodwo eshun's more brilliant than the sun. i've effected those so you they are still intelligible but, as i said, work mostly as texture. i'm quite liking it. i also managed to track down kodwo eshun himself and got his approval to use the extracts - he was very friendly. though he did decline the offer to have his own voice reading the extracts as part of the track!

17/02/2008

more ideas

bec and the girls and i spent the weekend at toowoon bay so i had lots of relaxing time to play around, so i did. so here are a bunch more ideas for pages in a zine/booklet. david, i've been thinking, and i have no idea where in the world you are at the moment or your ability to access and download net stuff, but what would you think if i mailed you the .psd files of all of these and then you can play with them and do proper designer things to anything you want to? i kind of am in the mood to make these at the moment, so i'll just keep churning stuff out, but i'd really like it to then get at least quality controlled at your end, if not completely overworked by yourself - design tennis, perhaps? so, here they are, let me know if i can get the full files to you somehow...






14/02/2008

some more booklet ideas

here's a few more booklet ideas i've been working with. the clowns are a 4-colour screen print (cmyk) and the others would be b&w laser print on coloured paper.





13/02/2008

about bloody time

"Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."

Kevin Rudd
13.2.08

04/02/2008

getting into the picture.

steve - how would you feel about making a/some video clip(s) for a/some of the new song(s)? not as in things to project as we play live (though they could theoretically be used for that) but as in things that we try to get played on tv.

03/02/2008

inspired, yes, inspiring, ...??







i've been poring over some of the books and magazines you left and have been rather inspired to do things. so i've been playing around with a few things. i think the booklet idea is going to have to be what we use, just from a cost point of few, thoug we could also have some foldout sections of up to a3 size, but those would have to be greyscale (+ screenprint) - i only have full colour printing up to a4.

on an interesting note - imojjen's best friend gave her a little notepad for christmas. it's of interest to us because it was a personalised notepad with imojjen's name printed on every page. now, obviously, you can't get those in shops (with her name on it). imojjen's friend's dad made it. he works in printing and has the glue to be able to make loose sheets of paper into note pads - you know the type that each sheet tears off really easily? i think it could be a great possibility for the booklet. it also opens out nice and flat so you can see a full page spread as well.

i'm still thinking that lots of pages with relatively random stuff throughout it is what i would most like, particularly with different types of papers and different qualities of print all through it, though all tied to the actual album of course. it's the intial 'zine idea, really - or perhaps kind of like a miniature version of the type of design books i love to flick through.

so anyway, up the top is the original think i've already posted, an alternative take for you to evaluate, plus a first sketch of a possibility for a page spread. i'd love to get a nice collection of things that we both (all?) produce and have them spread through a booklet.

i know you're probably travelling and not much up to critiquing ideas and images, but if you did get some time to kill....

once again, click on the images to get a bigger version.

02/02/2008

fingers and fists

the next big step.

just in time before your imminent departure, we've got a date confirmed for our first hughesless show. it's going to happen on friday, march 21 (good friday) at paddy macguires in haymarket. also on the bill will be underlapper and most probably sui zhen - two of the types of artists i think we most need to be on bills with (i.e. not really rock, not really electronic, but bands for a stage rather than a dancefloor). i think it's a great bill. now we just need to get a telafonica set together!