Update Time...Again

Hey folks - well 2011 was the last time I posted anything, a lot has happened since!

At the end of 2011, I had the good fortune of shooting some films, the first was a feature film called "The Cure" in which I played the role of a security officer (anybody that knows me will know that this isn't such a huge stretch), for me it was a great opportunity to get back into acting, but also to work with some people that I had watched on TV and in film for a number of years. To be able to mix it with the professionals was pretty amazing stuff. Working on "The Cure" gave me the confidence to seek out other opportunities, I had an extra's role in a short film called "Expressionless" and then a lead role in another short film called "A Dash Of Wine", which I had a lot of fun shooting (it helped that my leading ladies were both amazing actresses') - these roles gave me the hunger to seek out other roles in the future.

2012, I managed to take part in the annual V 48 Hour Film Festival, which is basically a film making competition whereby teams have to write, film and edit a 5 minute short film in the space of 48 Hours. I had the good fortune of working with Kay Fretwell, Alex Plant, Raj Khushal, Bonnie Riley, Connor Rapley, Hannah Paterson, Ryan French, Josh Maessen, Callum Scott, Sanny Orr, Bella Goode & Rachel Roberts on our production of "The Curse Of That Damn Cat", which was all about a guy who had a black cat follow him home and all these bad things start happening in his life...I got to play the part of a bountyhunter/cat exterminator, and I also pop up as waiter (it was fun throwing coffee at Raj & Alex :-)

The rest of 2012 has left me writing up a few of my own ideas - in 2013 we will be shooting 2 short films "Bouncer" (an action/drama), which I will be co-starring with my good friend Lance Louez in and "Sisterhood" (a drama) which will see me once again working with some exceptional young talent (including Bella Goode, who has agreed to co-starring in this one!).

In addition to all these film projects I'll also be working with some directors/casts on some music video ideas for The Feckers that we have had floating around - I am quite excited to see these things come to life in 2013!

Chris Szkup & Richard Anderson - Welcome To Feckerville (The Feckers Interview)

1. How did you two manage to come into contact with one another ?

Richard:
Well firstly I have to say that Chris and I have not yet met in person, most of our dealings with one another has been via email and the occasional chat on the phone over the years - we first came into contact on the Brian May Mailing List (The Mayniacs) in 1998.

Chris:
It was such a long time ago, but it kinda seems like yesterday as well!! I seem to recall liking Richard's quirky humour on that list - it definitely stood out, as I'm the king of quirk!! The first stuff we ever tried writing was in 1998 too, so we probably started talking music, and off it went!!

2. Would you say that you've become friends through "meeting" online ?

Richard:
Most definitely - Chris has become both a loyal friend and also someone who has been a huge influence on me as a songwriter over the years, he's an inspiration realistically and truely - a brother in rock.

Chris:
Likewise to all of the above!! You can definitely tell in the age of spam that we're in who the genuine folks are, and that kiwi bugger over there is one of them!!

3. How did you guys come to writing tunes together ?

Richard:
At the time of our meeting I had been writing a few tunes with various people all over the world, and the initial plan I had was to assemble a group of people to write and record together, over the years we had tried with varying levels of success to put different projects together - the biggest hurdle we had was finding likeminded people who were not only talented but also had the right commitment to the cause, unfortunately it can be more of a hurdle to find the right combination in people - so until GONE WILD came about a lot of those plans to work together sat in waiting.

Chris:
Yeah I guess to a point we were both a little put off with all the flakes we'd dealt with, and that lead to just putting our little thing on hold, even though we didn't really verbalise it so much. Really it felt like we needed to go and do our own thing for a while, and when the time is right we would absolutely revisit our collaborations.

4. What happened with the A.S.A project that you guys were both involved with ?

Richard:
The third member of the team, David Austin had other commitments so we were unable to complete an albums worth of material. Chris and I both felt artistically we were headed in a different direction at any rate, although some good demoes were recorded we felt they weren't quite album quality, but looking back some of the bare bones ideas were pretty good.

Chris:
I guess it wasn't meant to be hey. Sometimes no matter what you do, things just aren't going to align and have everyone end up on the same page. Things were definitely learned during that time though and am glad that we did what we did!

5. Will any of the A.S.A recordings see the light of day or will any of those tunes be revisited ?

Richard:
One tune called "The Keys To The Kingdom" is a track that Chris and I co-wrote, it's seen itself go through several different guises, including being demoed by A.S.A - unfortunately none of the different versions that have been recorded over the years have really had that definitive sound that Chris envisioned - so we've decided to include it on The Feckers album, it's a definite for the album. As for the rest of the songs, I'm not sure - but there's no plans for an A.S.A reunion at this point in time. David Austin has re-recorded some of them old A.S.A songs and released them as part of his latest solo album "Revisions" which sounds pretty good, he did some new versions as well as tweaked some of the older recordings.

Chris:
One thing the last handful of years have been about musically for me is doing everything you possibly can to get out what's in your head with a song and make it the best it can be. Call me a douche, but yeah, I never felt that song was nailed as good as it could be. People might hear this version we do and say it sucks, but at least I'll know we gave it our all!!

6. How has it been revisiting some of the older songs that you both co-wrote ?

Richard:
I'm sure that Chris has had fun demoing the older songs, he must have done as it has inspired him and I to write all new material specifically for The Feckers. Hearing these tunes re-demoed and re-arranged has made me realise not only what a great player Chris is, but also what a good ear he really has for melody...these new arrangements are exactly where I think we both knew these songs could be headed.

Chris:
Thats too kind of you Sir!! Yeah I've had real fun digging them out. It's funny that a lot of the stuff way back then I'd be playing the melodies of the lead vocals on guitar because I was way too shy to try and sing them, and in some cases I tried but couldn't. Coming back to them has been fun to see the growth in confidence and ability I've gained as a singer in that time, but you also forget how good some of the music is too if it sits in the closet for 5 years!! There are some beauties in this bunch for sure!!

7. Are you looking at The Feckers as a "band" project ?

Richard:
In some ways I think it's more of an all-star collaboration as far as the other people we are working with -but essentially the songs are Szkup-Anderson tracks, with the odd exception that may slip in there as well - there is one track that Chris has given to the cause that was initially something he was going to use on his second album. Really The Feckers is our shared baby.

Chris:
Yeah that track Richard mentions is the most out there metal stuff I've ever written, so to say I'm looking forward to doing it is an understatement!!

8. How are you finding it working together to put The Feckers album together ?

Richard:
Chris has been great to work with, he always has been. I really like the fact that no matter how crazy the idea, if we both have ideas we're able to bounce them off one another without worrying about the fact that the other guy might not get it - we're both open to meeting in the middle where arrangements and structures are concerned, we're cool with whatever happens as long as the songs rock and we are true to the songs themselves. Another thing that I have enjoyed about working with Chris over the years is that he has always remained humble and is always the first person to tell someone when they have done good, he's honest and has a huge amount of integrity, which I can tell you I have found a rare thing over the years - the GONE WILD chaps would be the other blokes that I would put in the same category.

Chris:
Wow - what can I add to that?! Haha. Too kind again. I just find the working together on stuff totally natural, a breeze and a pleasure really!! Richard is basically up for anything that doesn't flat out suck, which is how I am as well, so it's a perfect fit.

9. Will The Feckers album sound anything like GONE WILD or Chris Szkup solo ?

Richard:
Obviously with Chris' playing being the thing holding it together musically, it will be closer to sounding like his solo material than it will a GONE WILD album - we're trying our best to make it sound different from GONE WILD in terms of style and production - I like the idea of mixing things up so that we have a unique indentity happening here.

Chris:
I'm excited to hear the answer to that question to be honest!! We shall see. I'm sure all the different musicians will add their bits and put their own slants on things that will give the music it's own identity, even though you will definitely get bits and pieces that will absolutely sound like the us that people might know!

10. You have a singer named Roy Bratbakken onboard for this album, how did you come about his work ?

Richard:
I heard him online and thought what a cool voice he had, his voice reminded me of Sammy Hagar in places...so I simply asked him if he would like to work on something oneday, he said he was up for it so I put the idea to Chris, who thought he would be perfect for "Master Of My Own Destiny" - which has proved to be correct as when we heard his vocal track we both thought "this is it!!!", funnily enough we both immediately thought of asking Roy to sing on a second track called "Under The Gun", the penny dropped at the same time to us that Roy's voice would suit that song.

Chris:
Yeah that was cool how it happened. I was holding off suggesting it until we were able to get a bit closer to working on that second track with Roy, but definitely had it in my mind. When Richard said about us maybe asking him about the 2nd track, I pretty much laughed at how on the same page we are!! Luckily Roy was into it as well. Hearing his vocal track was really something on that first song. Good times!!

Richard:
Needless to say we have a few things in the pipeline with Roy on vocals and are looking forward to working with him more and more in the future.


11. Was it always a given that you'd have Rob Smith (GONE WILD) sing a track ?

Richard:
I don't know about a given, as he is a busy bloke, But he was kind enough to offer his services should we need it....to which Chris had said to me "that's a must!" (laughs). I was really cool with that as long as we threw a song at him that was challenging and different to Rob's solo material and also anything that GONE WILD have done, we like the idea of showing off another facet of Rob's talents. The song that Chris has written that Rob is singing on is a beaut too I have to say!

Chris:
It shall be real interesting hearing a man who has basically done it all over a long time as far as music is concerned getting something new and possibly foreign to him to do!! I'm really excited to hear that one come together as I mention before!

12. Are you guys going to be singing any of The Feckers tracks ?

Richard:
That was something we were always going to do yeah, I liked the idea that we could pick and choose for ourselves what songs we wanted to sing. The thing with demoing things first has been great in that we can tell for ourselves weither something is going to work or weither our voices will suit certain songs. I'll be singing a couple of tracks - one of them has been a bit of a challenge, but it's a real asskicker, so that'll be cool to see what people think of it when it's a done deal. I've put some work into arranging my vocals for it - even Chris isn't 100% in the know yet as to where I am going with that track (laughs). There is another track that we will be sharing the vocal duties on - it's been funny listening to the demoes as my mother and my niece have heard different tracks and thought that Chris' singing was me (laughs), so we should be able to blend together well. I'm mindful that this is a collaborative project so didn't want to have Chris and I singing all of the songs - we'd probably get bored with hearing ourselves too much...besides we can endulge ourselves all we like with solo projects, part of the fun of The Feckers is being able to hear all the songs with their own different voice.

Chris:
People should note that for years there would be ribbing going on between us as far as singing goes too!! This will be cool to finally do some of that stuff on the same album of songs!! Who would have known back then?!

13. You guys are also making The Feckers a bit of a family affair...

Richard:
That we are - Chris' brother Matt has been asked to come onboard, He and Chris work really well together and get on really well. When you have that amount of talent in one family it makes sense to capture it I think, it also helps that Matt is a rocker himself and gets where we are coming from...at least I hope he does (laughs). Chris also came up with the idea of asking my niece Kayla if she would be happy to sing some backing vocals on a song for us - which she was quite honoured to have been asked, as an aspiring singer/songwriter herself, this I think will be her professional debut...Chris and I are all about encouraging other people, which is another reason for having so many friends and family onboard, hopefully this project will inspire everyone involved to continue on with their own endeavours and continue to pursue things with a kick ass attitude.

Chris:
My Bro is just such a great partner to have in your corner when doing music, and he's basically up for anything, so if I'm thinking about doing some music, I immediately think of getting him involved somehow. That's what happened here. Richard knew he played lotsa stuff, and I pretty much knew we'd have him on there somewhere too.

As for Kayla, of course! That's what it's all about. Not that we're over the hill just yet (although in lotsa ways I definitely am haha), but you have to do what you can for the younger folks getting into music. Especially if they're related to your bandmate!! That song we're thinking of for her I always heard a younger voice on there, so it all makes sense! I can't wait to get to it!!

14. What do you most hope to achieve with The Feckers ?

Richard:
Just like with anything I am involved with, I just want to work with cool people on a project that involves some good songwriting, some awesome playing - and to enjoy the processes of it all coming together. Already we have achieved that and it's only really been the demo phase that we've been in, although we do have one or two keepers for parts of songs sitting in the can.

Chris:
I have no expectations other than being satisfied with what we do, and to make sure we do it for the love of doing it. No bollocks allowed!

15. Will you guys be meeting in person ?

Richard:
That is definitely on the agenda, I was hoping to get over to Melbourne to record my vocals for The Feckers with Chris in person - but unfortunately my schedule hasn't allowed for that this year - but next year I am definitely going to head on over to spend some time with him - we'll no doubt have some fun working on some song ideas. I suspect this album will not be the last time we'll work together - actually I know it won't be (laughs).

Chris:
I've tried to get to NZ for the last couple of years, but that has been tough with everything that's been going on. Next year the beers will flow!!

16. Are there any plans for any of your tunes to be performed live ?

Richard:
That is something we will look at down the track, one or two things have been mooted....I am cool with whatever, as long as we get to have a bourbon and meet up with brother Chris!

Chris:
No I don't have any concrete plans, but you never know. I'm not really doing any live stuff as of late, but I'm sure that will change down the track.

Rob Smith & Nils-Ole Finbak - Atmospheres (2009)

Rob Smith & Nils-Ole Finbak - Atmospheres
(Released June 2009)
Released by Polar Music New Zealand
Piano Recorded @ Finbak Music Studio's, Bobo, Norway
Vocals & Guitars Recorded @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Produced by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Mastered by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand

- Rob Smith
- Vocals, Guitars

- Nils-Ole Finbak
- Piano, Programming - "Mother Love" & "...And I Think (Song For Freddie)"

1. Intro + Our Love Will Always Shine (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
2. Sometimes (C.Bosley, R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
3. New Zealand Bound (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
4. It Won't Be Long (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
5. I Wish I Didn't Have To Say Goodbye (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
6. We Will Live (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
7. Michigan (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
8. ...And I Think (Song For Freddie) (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
9. Mother Love (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
10. Winter (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
11. Goodbye (Richard Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
12. Seascape (Instrumental) (R.Smith, N.Finbak)


Notes by Richard Anderson:
This collection has been 2 and a half years in the making (although technically it was only really worked on between other projects). Rob had always wanted to make a stripped back collection of songs with the vocals and piano being the main focus, so it was something special when Nils-Ole (aka Nilsy) came onboard and said he was up for it.

Rob and I had both seperately at different times had visions of working on projects that featured just vocals and piano - stripped back songs in essence, where the vocals and the words did all the talking, and the music sat back and just took the mind to different places. This was what lead to us working on this album with Nilsy, also we wanted to showcase what a remarkable piano player Nilsy is. I am personally rather touched by several of the songs on this album, I think they have shown a whole other side to our abilities as songwriters, working with the likes of Rob and Nilsy is something I never take for granted, so to have been so wonderfully represented here is a blessing.

GONE WILD - GONE WILD II (2009)

GONE WILD - GONE WILD II
Released May 2009
Released by Polar Music New Zealand / GONE WILD Productions
Produced by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Chris Szkup's Guitars on "State Of Euphoria" & "Georgia Peach" Co-Produced by Bill McMartin @ Beyond Therapy Studio's, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Mastered by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand

- Rob Smith (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Programming)
- Richard Anderson (Vocals, Narrations)
- Matt Sturgess (Bass)
- Chris Szkup (Lead Guitars - "State Of Euphoria", "Georgia Peach" & "Bourbon Blues")
- Robin Wellaway (Sax - "Living On The Edge", "Legacy", "Is It Real?" & "In The Year Of The Blues")
- Nils-Ole Finbak (Piano - "Silent Tears", "If Only I Could Find The Words" & "In The Year Of The Blues")
- MC Hizzy (Rap - "Oblivion")
- Madame XXX (Spoken Intro - "Georgia Peach")
- Kenny Killz (Spoken Intro - "Once Bitten")
- Kayla Driskel (Children's Narrations - "Silent Tears")

Disc I:
1. Silent Tears (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
2. Rock This World (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
3. Immortal (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
4. Bitter Sweet (R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
5. Living On The Edge (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
6. Oblivion (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, MC Hizzy)
7. The Living Dead (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
8. Straightjackets (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
9. State Of Euphoria (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
10. Once Bitten (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
11. Legacy (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
12. My Good Addiction (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
13. The Death Of A Hero (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
14. Georgia Peach (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
15. De Ja Vu (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)

Disc II:
16. Thunder & Lightning (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
17. I Caught You Out (R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
18. Thicker (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
19. Is It Real? (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
20. Karma (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
21. Doesn't Really Matter (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
22. Rise Up (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
23. The Way Of The World (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
24. If Only I Could Find The Words (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
25. In The Year Of The Blues (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
26. Where Would We Be? (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
27. Bourbon Blues (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
28. 21st Century Cool (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
29. Wild Boy (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)


Notes by Richard Anderson:
Matt and Nilsy were both pretty fired up after the release of the first GONE WILD album, both of them at different times jokingly said they were looking forward to doubling the efforts (Nilsy had actually mentioned a 3rd and 4th album as well).

Rob and I both took that to mean they were serious about continuing to ply away rocking out together, so we put our heads together and devised a plan to record a double album. Unfortunately during the writing of this album we had several personal upheavals (2 divorces, 1 death of a sister, 1 death of a father, 1 death of a beloved pet - and several musical heroes passing too). Nilsy was unable to direct his energies fulltime into writing and recording for this album, so we decided rather than wait - while the inspiration was running red hot we decided to plow on as a 3 piece. Rob handled the bulk of the musical composition (Matt handled the writing of his basslines, Rob and I teamed up on vocal arrangements on several tracks), and Rob and I both handled the lyrical content. In fact we wrote more songs than wound up on this album, and had dozens of lyrical and musical ideas floating around, some that may find their way to being used in the future.

Inspiration was never a problem when working on this album, but the time it took was something we have agreed we wouldn't want to have to go through again, although looking back personally I feel we have come up with the best set of tracks possible for this follow-up album. We tested ourselves with the production of this album, often coming up with songs in different genres that we hadn't thought we'd travel in - there is some metal, some rap and even some croony blues type things on this album - GONE WILD can never be accused of being one-dimensional that's for real.

I personally like the fact that we were able to put in some of our humour ("Rock This World", "Georgia Peach", "Bourbon Blues") alongside some rather thought provoking songs ("Silent Tears", "Bitter Sweet", "State Of Euphoria", "Legacy", "The Way Of The World"), overall as songwriters I think this album contains not only some of our best hooks and lyrics, but also some outstanding playing, we were motivated enough to try our hand at representing ourselves differently than we had on other projects we had worked on - thus making the 2 years of effort worthwhile in the end.

GONE WILD - Ditto II (Unreleased Track) (2008)

Produced by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Mastered by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand

- Rob Smith (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Programming)
- Nils-Ole Finbak (WILD Guitars)

1. Ditto II (Richard Anderson, Rob Smith, Nils-Ole Finbak)


Notes by Richard Anderson:
Initially recorded during "GONE WILD II" sessions, this song wasn't something that suited where we were as a band at that particular time. But Rob rose to the challenge (after I bet him a bottle of bourbon that he couldn't turn Nilsys guitar track into a legitimate song), and I was then challenged to write a lyric to suit. The finished recording has grown on me.

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Kween - Journey In A Labyrinth

Kween - Journey In A Labyrinth
(Released 1998 - Japan)
Produced by Kween

1. Keeper Of Genesis (Hiroshi Kuribayashi & Yohei Eto)
2. Love Comes, Love Goes (Yohei Eto)
3. The Goddess' Beloved Songs (Richard Anderson, Yohei Eto, Nobuhisa Kihira)
4. I Am Not To Blame (Richard Anderson, Yohei Eto, Kenji Wakibuchi)
5. Make Believe (Darren Liby, Kenji Wakibuchi)
6. Musicman (Yohei Eto)

Notes by Richard Anderson:
I was introduced to the music of Kween by longtime supporter and Queen fan Tim Davis, Tim ran a web-hosting business that housed Kween's and the Mayniac's website (now the official home to Queen's guitarist Brian May).

Lead Vocalist, Piano Player (and sometimes guitarist) Yohei Eto (sometimes referred to by his stage name Annan) corresponded with me and in 1997 I emailed him some lyrics to check out - mostly material I had written as a teenager.

"I Am Not To Blame" lyrically was based around a 3-piece lyrical writing (about a girlfriend named Rebecca who had dumped me to go out with some other guy - at the time I thought was the end of the world) which I had split in 2, but Yohei saw fit to put them together and with some changes, thus my first writing for an official recording was born.

"I Am Not To Blame" was not to be the only song on this album I was involved with however, drummer Nobuhisa Kihira had written a song called "The Goddess' Beloved Songs", he had a concept for what he wanted to say within this song but his English wasn't very good - so Yohei sent me a demo of the song with only humming for vocals in certain parts, to which I set about writing what I thought might work, with some tweaks what I had written was included within the final track which was nice.

Now Is Now

Hopefully I can help to inspire others in their endeavours in some way - as many people have done so with me over the years.

Why the term The Mongrel Breed ? well thats a bit of a kiwi (New Zealander) saying for someone of mixed blood, or otherwise known as a "bitsa" (bits a this, bits a that).

I'm into my genealogy research in a big way (there are loads of personal reasons for this), and also being that I am a songwriter/recording artist, it's a moniker I had set aside for my first solo endeavour - whenever I'll get around to putting it together is beyond me, because quite frankly I am not really in any rush to go down the road to solo album status just yet - I am having far too much fun working with other people.

I have previously encorporated the genealogy theme into my musical endeavours (its nice when one's passions can collide like that) having co-written a song with a distant cousin of mine, which wound up on his and his 2 son's album (which reminds me - where's my copy ??? LOL) - additionally I am currently working with my niece on some material as she is quite the talent and has taken to singing like a duck to water, which makes me proud as it means should I decide to hang my boots up at least I still have someone close to whom I can impart some knowledge and hopefully help out in the longterm.

So what have I been up to???

The last few years I have spent working with a remarkable songwriter, musician and producer named Rob Smith ( www.myspace.com/robsmithmuso/ ), I've learnt a lot about myself through working with Rob, he's always been professional, patient and open to ideas from someone who admittedly is less of a musician than he is (and never could I hope to be as accomplished as he is!) but I am also as passionate about his work as what he is. We make a good team and thats precisely what it's all about - being part of a team, no drama queen antics required thanks :-)

It was at Rob and his lovely wife's suggestion that I get off my own ass and put some of my own material together and do something with it - gee I hadn't thought of that! LOL, I had been so busy concentrating on writing for and with other people that I hadn't any thoughts of stepping behind the mic - actually I didn't really think I would have the confidence - but again a good friend can help you to achieve anything I reckon.

It was quite a blessing to then have had the time and inclination to work with Rob in our band GONE WILD ( www.myspace.com/gonewildnz ) thus releasing our debut album "GONE WILD" in 2007, and then the follow-up (a double album nonetheless) "GONE WILD II" in 2009.

One thing I have learnt through working with Rob is that it is okay to put real and just thoughts and feelings into one's own music weither you think it is something people will relate to or not - if you have something you feel is valid to put out there that you know you can live with in 20 years time - then go for it!!! - at the end of the day it is rather surprising as to what people will be able to relate to - usually it is the things that you're most unsure of that people seem to be attracted to, which is kind of weird really. But all in all the biggest thing I have learnt is to enjoy the experiences of writing and recording and all the other stuff that goes along with running one's own label (we have our own independent label, Polar Music New Zealand - which keeps us rather busy).

Whilst Rob is a solo artist, he has also worked with not only myself but with several other writers and recording artists on collaborative projects in the last few years (and indeed has more in the pipeline as I type this) - which again has offered up allsorts of learning curves, mostly ones without pain ! LOL. I think we can justifiably look back on what we have achieved so far from an artistic perspective and know we have done some cool things, both as co-horts, bandmates and individuals as well.

Another chap that I have had an equal amount of pleasure of working with for a number of years is Chris Szkup ( www.myspace.com/eatpopslop ) or ( http://www.cs-songs.com/ )- Chris is an amazing guitarist, but not only that a superb arranger - and he's become not too shabby in the vocal department either. Chris we would have had as a fulltime member of GONE WILD from the start, but he had a solo album that he was working on, which was his dream - so far be it for us to step on the creation of that masterpiece. But ever the gent, Chris made cameo appearances on both GONE WILD albums - adding something really special to every song that he played on too I might add. Recently his debut album "Pieces Of Eternity" was released and it is everything that Chris (and me too!) had hoped it would be - he's been getting great feedback from people and thankfully it's selling too.

Chris and I are currently hard at work (he's working on his 2nd solo album, which it seems Rob and I may be helping out with on a song or two, sorry Chris, the cats out of the bag LOL) writing and recording with some our friends the world over for our collaborative project The Feckers, essentially how this project came about was that we had previously written and recorded a number of tunes - and testament to Chris' belief in our friendship and our songs, he suggested we get these into ship-shape and record an album. So with that we have got some of our friends and family aboard to help out with some cameo's in both the music and vocal department (although we're pegged to sing some stuff ourselves, we wanted to make this a true team affair and not an ego-driven exercise as for us it is all about the music). Once again working on something like this has brought us some real pleasure - and also into some contact with some amazingly talented individuals - some known, most seemingly unknown - for now, trust me there's some amazing performances already in the can!

I look forward to the continued work with both Rob and Chris in the future - I am sure whatever the future holds our paths will continue to cross (we are as yet undecided as to weither there will be a 3rd GONE WILD album or not - if the timings right and the muse is kind then it shall happen), my ears are always open for their work, weither it's something I have had a hand in or not matters not one iota to me really. It is just an absolute pleasure to know that people blessed with their talents are sharing their gifts with others, hopefully all these proverbial kicks in the right direction all these years have been fully worth it :-)

Aside from these projects, I am also branching out and working with various other artists on solo projects that are in the works, some of them completely different to what people might think I would align myself to - but then again Polar Music New Zealand has never been about pigeon-holing ourselves into one set vibe - hopefully 2010 will be a good year and some of these other people's dreams will become their realities too!

I shall use this blog as a means to keep people posted as to what is going on with the different people that I work with, and also to make some shout outs to some friends - hopefully getting them some people interested in their activities as well. Of course it shall also be a place where I may vent - afterall some good stuff comes out of unleashing ones thoughts and not bottling them up (that is how I came into the realm of writing in the first place...)

Anyway thanks for reading and I hope this has been an okay kick-off !

cheers
Richard