Going to the Chapel...

No one likes getting up early on a Saturday. Especially when it is earlier than they would normally get up to go to work.  But this wasn’t any Saturday. This was the Saturday we would record…members of Brasenose College Choir.

My Producer came to pick me up at 8.30am sharp and we headed to Brasenose College. A big thank you must go to Mr David Balch for meeting us there and helping us set up the recording kit in the chapel.  I use the term 'us' very loosley here. I can wind up a cable but I don’t know what the hellah I’m supposed to plug it into. And what does this button do? Oops!

By 10.00am the choir had arrived and we had set up 16 mics and a whole lot of cables and wires. Jonathan Newell, Director of Music at Brasenose, gathered the choir around the piano and they all started humming their parts.  This is the first time I had heard it in person and it was so exciting.  When I thought of recording a choir for the album I imagined making it happen would be very unlikely.  Where am I going to get a choir? Where will we record it? How will I organise this? Who do I think I am? But it did happen and in the most beautiful and authentic setting. 

By 12pm we had managed to record all their parts a number of times so we could layer it on the final recording. This was all captured by Sam King who floated around the room in his socks filming and snapping pictures of the day. You’re going to have to wait a couple of months to hear the full track, but some of the pictures are here and the footage will be up soon to give you a little flavour of the awesomeness that took place that day.  A huge thanks to everyone involved who gave up their time to make this possible, especially the choir who are made up of very busy Brasenose students.







Photographs by Sam King

Tamara and the Martyrs Album Cover Competition

That's right, we are inviting you to design our album cover. The winning designer will receive a free copy of the album, a t-shirt with their design on it and be invited on stage at our album launch gig to be personally serenaded by the band. Tom said he will also buy you a beer. To enter email tparsonsbaker@gmail.com and we will send you more information.

Recording of recording:

Oi oi! Here's a little clip from our weekend's recording. So far we've laid down the drums, bass, guitars and almost all the vocal tracks.  The next two weeks are dedicated to finishing the vocals and getting some "proper musicians" in to record some cello/violin lines. If all goes well we might actually have managed to record an album in 2 months -- something I never thought possible.  Once we have it all mixed up and ready to burn, we aim to celebrate with a big old release knees-up in June. We'll keep you posted!

Tom and I are opening the Punt tomorrow at the Purple Turtle at 7pm! We'll be busting out some FRESH solo numbers, so don't miss it. There are some great bands going, check out more about the line up here.

Rain Schmain!

Happy May Day! Respect to those of you who stayed out all night in the rain. I got caught in a thunderstorm on the way home from the pub and a friendly milkman gave me a lift. A real milkman in a real milkfloat. Soaked in nostalgia I almost starting singing Doris Day into a gold top as the rain poured down.

But not even a bit of rain can break my mood this week. I had a great day in the studio on Sunday recording my guitar parts for the Martyrs' album. Tom came along to spur me on but instead spent the day swimming in tea and lamenting his hangover. We decided to celebrate the day's success by heading down to the O2 to see Blood Red Shoes, who somehow I'd never heard of. I had to slap Tom for not telling me about these guys sooner…AMAZING! 

Their set up is minimal: drums, guitar, and 2 vocals. But their sound is huge. They can really play. And sing. And basically do everything to the point at which, while you’re watching them, you feel sick with wonder and envy and realise that these things might be possible if you just spent a little more time practicing the guitar and a little less time watching Come Dine With Me. Godammit! Then I saw that ‘Lover’ had received a great review in Nightshift and Karma had been playing its part. Last week I fell off my bike, this week I got a good review. The balance is restored. 

 

The Loft Sessions #1 featuring Mark Cope

Here is the first Loft Session with Mr Mark Cope of Candyskins and Nine Stone Cowboy fame. Filmed in front of a very small live audience. Enjoy!


Loft Session #1 : Mark Cope & Tamara Parsons-Baker : Lemonade by Mark Cope from AdamPellinDeeve on Vimeo.

Party Time!

Picture by Pier Corona

Well, what an amazing Easter weekend. Friday night was ‘All Tamara’s Parties’ and the East Oxford Community Centre turned out to be a pretty awesome venue. We set the room up with candles and fairy lights and the audience brought the buzz. The acts were shipped on and off stage by George Chopping, Torquay's answer to Jules Holland, and undoubtedly on a fast-track to 'National Treasure' status. If you missed the party then you missed some great performances from ToLiesel, Ben Walker, Jack Grace and The Old Grinding Young. I also played a few new songs from my soon-to-be –recorded solo album. The next All Tamara’s Parties looks like it's set for Friday 1 June, so stay tuned. A big thanks to all the musicians, everyone who came along, and Pier Corona for catching the night with his magic box. For pics and videos go here.

The first Loft Session has been filmed, and we had a blast! With a small audience and a couple of beers we had a mini-gig in the comfort of our own home. The footage is now being cut up and taped together, and I’ll be able to post the first video soon.  You can view some pics from the night here in the meantime.

The Old Grinding Young pic by Pier Corona

The Martyrs began recording last week. We’ve been in the studio laying down Tommy’s drums and Humphrey’s bass. Now all that’s left is guitars from Tom and me, and then finally the vocals. So…not much then!! I've also been working hard writing the new tracks for my solo album. It’s almost finished though, and I will soon be back in the studio before to long to start recording them.

Hardy Times

Lots of things are starting to come together in the TPB/Martyr's camp. This weekend we film the first Loft Session with a very special guest. We've been preparing for this for a few months and have finally got our asses in gear. The video should be cut and polished within a couple of weeks.

Work on my solo album is going well. Half of it has now been written, including a new song I finished last night about Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I came up with a melody whilst reading the book and waitied till I finished it before writing the song. If you have read the book then you will know how harrowing the story is. I am a big fan of Hardy's novels and actually wrote 'I Stuck it Out' after reading Jude the Obscure last year. I might keep the theme going. So, any ideas of which Hardy novel I should read next? It has been suggested that I should write a whole Hardy EP, called 'Hardy Times,' or 'A Hardy Rain's Gonna Fall..' I think you guys can do better than that. Answers on a postcard please...

The Martyrs start recording next week and, what seemed like an impossible task creeps into the realms of feasibility. We are hoping to start gigging again at some festivals over the Summer period and then, when our album is complete, organinsing the album launch.

Stay tuned for videos and pics of the Loft Session...