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Ok, so here’s week four. By the way, you can jump into any week - 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 - there are no rules...

Sunday April 19 2020
Last day of Week 4 - it’s been a blast. Not entirely sure who’s out there reading/listening/looking but it would be nice if you could drop me a line and let me know. I take requests. To close off the month, I’d like to share a story. In the winter of 1997, I was living in Dublin, and decided to start recording the songs I’d been writing here and there. I walked into a music store (on South Great George’s Street, from memory) a bought a Tascam Portastudio 414. This same one I still use to this day... And so, I did record, and record, and record.  I had no effects, so what you’re hearing in the first track, below, is my real voice through a cheap microphone (for better or for worse) and an Alesis drum machine, and a Yamaha bass, and a Gibson 335 (with the gain cranked to fuzz things up). Lyrically unsophisticated, sure, and here I am, 23 years later, still using the same device, as demonstrated on the second track (sans vox, to avert lyrical unsophistication).


See?! 2020, still going strong..
Saturday April 18 2020
Many years ago, I aspired to musical greatness. I’m so thankful this has been realised. As a reward to my millions of followers, I’m sharing, for the first time, one of my earliest recordings, made in 1997, in Sydney. Recorded, mixed, produced by my old chum Casey Hilliard (who also plays drums). Casey’s brother, Bailey, is on lead guitar. Here’s some trivia for you - Bailey played backing guitar for Silverchair on a number of their tours, and appeared with them on Letterman, apparently. It’s not unreasonable, therefore, to state that this song changed the course of Australian musical history. 

For those of you tiring of my output, might I recommend this album to you? It’s magical, and it seems that barely anyone much knows about it, which surprises me.

Friday April 17 2020

A highlight, no, wait...THE highlight of the day was Arky’s debut as a celebrity chef streaming star, cooking an amazing mushroom + sage gnocchi (home-made gnocchi and all...). 

Watch Cookin up some gnocchi from rkeywear on www.twitch.t
I get the feeling this will be the start of something, and I don’t mean me as his dishwasher. The meal not only looked amazing, it was delicious, truly.
As for me? More drawing, sorry.

  




Thursday April 16 2020Drawing, drawing, drawing...

Wednesday April 15 2020
How are we all? I’m so-so. Cosi-cosi.
Tuesday April 14 2020
Fessing up here. This was the result of a one-hour lunch break, so nothing too flash, but I think the song speaks (?) for itself. The original probably wins (for being the original), but I have a soft spot for the Fun Boy Three version I must say. Something I didn’t know is that Terry Hall (lead singer of Fun Boy Three and, previously, The Specials) actually wrote the original with Jane Weidlin (guitarist for The Go-Gos). You just have to be impressed by an 80s pop song with a chorus progression of F, D, A#, E (all majors).

Both included for your listening pleasure. You can see I’m channeling Terry Hall’s delivery, rather than Belinda Carlisle’s. Granted, no-one is going to rate mine (miffed I didn’t work on that bassline...), but I felt obliged to get something fresh on the deck.
Another aside: I saw Belinda Carlisle at a festival in Braśov, Romania, in 1995. It was quite the line up - as well as BC, you had Kenny Rogers (R.I.P.), Status Quo and MC Hammer. Beat that.



Monday April 13 2020

Took a day off the keys, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve an Easter treat...Here’s a second video from the JNAW catalogue. Unmastered, unpasteurised, unhomogenised.