There is a pretty cool event happening this Sunday (which just happens to be my 63rd birthday as well) at Whole Lotta Love, which I hope if you’re in Melbourne you’ll consider coming to!! This will be my first time playing a full set at that cool venue, so to say I’m looking forward to it is an understatement.
Since I always kinda go my own way with things too, I promise that if you live somewhere else aside from Melbourne I won’t even spam you with an invite to the event – afterall what would be the point of that?
Haha cheers guys and I hope to see you on Sunday!! 🙂
I proudly own Ponch Satrio’s two previous albums “Get The Vision” (2010) and “Guitarville” (2011) and am a huge fan, but having been lucky enough to work with the man himself over the years, and also having met in Jakarta in 2017, I had occasionally heard bits and pieces of his music that were more vocal oriented (including the 2018 single release “Forever” which also appears here) than those albums, and really liked what I heard and hoped for more. And make no mistake, this isn’t to take anything away from those albums – they are incredible, and as a guitarist Ponch Satrio is one of the modern day greats, but as mentioned, I always hoped to hear more stuff with him lead singing on his music as well. So when I got the news that the new album “Start Again” (released May 2019 on Zoester Records) was going to be a vocal album, that certainly made me very happy.
Pleasingly, he handles this situation extremely well, providing great memorable lead and backing vocals for all 10 songs on the album, as well as playing all of the instruments aside from drums, which are played by Kevin Dwi. The production is crisp and modern but definitely still very real with a rawness to it, self tracked at his own Watermelon Productions, with Angga Irwan handling mixing and mastering.
It could be said that the album shows another side to what we know of Ponch’s music, but it is another side that is completely a part of his overall picture, and feels just as natural as his instrumental guitar work from previous albums. The album is just full of great hooks and melodies, and is very well composed with the song overruling everything else.
The guitar playing while very “hooky” also still has a good amount of heaviness and cool riffs (the intro to “Wicked World” for example) to go along with the great textures and layering in the parts. It also should be noted that while there is some ripping guitar playing (especially the solos of “Tell Me When It’s Over,” “Emptiness” or “Wicked World”) it absolutely never outstays it’s welcome. When you have chops for days and know so many amazing licks that you run your own Guitar Dojo (true story! – Ponch really does run his own school in Jakarta, Guitar Dojo), and I suppose even if you don’t have chops for days, or run your own Guitar Dojo, the secret is knowing when to use those licks, or more importantly knowing when NOT to use those licks. To quote a former teacher of mine and great man, “it’s like sprinkling salt” – too much of it and the whole thing is ruined and there is no going back. None of the songs on “Start Again” have had too much salt added to them. Fans of The Foo Fighters and most definitely the “Normal” album by the great Bumblefoot will definitely find a lot to like about these tunes, as well as rock fans and music lovers in general. Listening to the songs I can feel the soul of the lovely guy who created them, and that is what it’s all about.
Favourite songs – ALL OF THEM!! Perhaps a special mention to “Wicked World” for the heavy intro and ripping solo, but honestly all of these songs are extremely well written and performed, and I feel they are best consumed as part of the overall picture. We may be able to purchase songs as singles very easily nowadays compared to the past, but let’s get back to listening to full albums. Like this one! Crank it!
Been a big couple of months, I figure I will just do a summary of everything here since I didn’t manage to keep up with adding everything along the way!! Hope everyone is well!!
TUNES AND PARMAS WITH FRIENDS:
Early March I was at the Royal Oak Hotel in Fitzroy for the first time, and in the crowd were a few of my good friends from New Zealand!! We closed my acoustic set there with “Slackers and Wankers” and they didn’t throw us out, so that was good!! 😀
Will be back there on May the 8th @ 8.30pm!!
THE ART MASTER BRANCHES OUT:
Next up my mate Dan Verkys who has handled artwork for myself and The Feckers for 10 years and going strong, came to me with the idea of having more articles on his website to go with the amazing artwork that has always been there. He was kind enough to have me as one of the first things he did with the new format of his website. When that guy comes calling, I am THERE – I don’t mind what it is. Thanks so much mate!!!
JAMMING WITH A LEGEND:
Early April, my brother Skube had tagged me in something about local guitar legend Phil Para inviting people to come and jam with him at his gigs. Skube and I have sunk quite a few pints in the crowd at Phil’s gigs before, and I always remembered (despite the pints) how amazing he was – I HAD to do this!!
What a great bunch of guys he and his band are, and the staff at The Fyrefly where the event was held were also very lovely. An amazing night!!
LIVE AT SWAMPLANDS:
Late April I did a solo gig at Swamplands Bar in Thornbury, as part of a night that Dylan Beast runs there every week. Dylan and I used to play in an acoustic duo a year and a half ago, so it was a great excuse to catch up and play some tunes as well. We played solo sets and guested on a song for each other too. Amazing fun!!
THE FECKERS AND WHAT’S NEXT:
The next album from The Feckers is well underway and has actually begun the mixing process with Dennis Leeflang of Livelong Productions handling that stuff. The third song to be mixed is currently underway in his very good and capable hands and it is sounding KILLER.
This coming week I have the live set at The Royal Oak @ 8.30 as mentioned (May 08), as well as a two hour slot on Casey Radio as part of the Casey Beat program (May 11) where we’ll be talking and playing some songs live and studio. Should be great fun.
A little tribute to our boy Keds who left us in December last year at 14 years of age. This was written and recorded during Feb 28, and March 1, 2019. Audio, video and playing on all tracks by me. I hope you enjoy!!
LYRICS:
First thing I see when I get home
The same friendly familiar face I know
Talking before I get indoors
You went next to the tray on the floor
You pissed on me, made me retrieve
You from the neighbours roof next door
Approached every day comically
Fly through the air before chicken hit the floor
You’d run to stay right by my side
The galloping of horses running with such pride
With the choice of an empty queen size bed
You’d stretch out along my ribcage instead
Accepted me, quickly
I guess it was, meant to be
That side of you, many would never see
How they misunderstood you, is how they don’t get me
Don’t worry we won’t tell your brother how you felt
You were always down for it, no matter what you were dealt
Ultimate gangster right til the end
Your territory you’d die to defend
Never back down, if right or wrong
My mate Kedi, I say “so long” (this is your song)
During the making of the second album from The Feckers “Live To Fight Another Day”, we found, as is often the case that we had too much stuff, and somehow this version of the great W.A.S.P. song “Mean Man” happened, which when we decided to throw it out there, also happened to be the first music from The Feckers in five years!!! Hope you enjoy. Head over to the official site to download it for free!!!
“Mean Man” (Written by Steve Edward Duren), originally appears on the W.A.S.P.album “The Headless Children” from 1989. That is a killer song and album, so make sure you check it out and go buy it you bastards!!
Full length video for the song “Following” that I wrote in 2003, when I knew that I had to leave my home town and move away to keep growing. At the time I played in the metal band Jigsore, but was also getting into more melodic things like this and it was coming out in my writing. Wanted to keep both things going, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
Had been pondering whether I should wait til I have the money to give it the full production, or just release it quick, as is. Turns out with the loss of my old mate Keds recently that my soul really needed some healing, so I finished it up on boxing day. Here it is, warts and all. Music purely for the soul.
All vox, guitars, bass, percussion, mixing, mastering and video editing by me, artwork by Dan Verkys. Hope you dig! 😀
FULL LENGTH VIDEO:
LYRICS:
Dreams to follow, yet so bogged down
Nothing more for me in this town
Lands far away, they’re calling me
What they propose, I’d like to see
What exists now, will always be
Around as far as I can see
I will not change, what makes me me
Be back some day you will see
Want to acheive, in myself I believe
Don’t be sorry but, happy when I leave
Following that I dream
Much closer than it seems
Something I, I need to do
How can you know if ya don’t pursue?
And it may prosper, and it may sour
If my way’s had I’ll progress in the hour
I need respect, for what I’ll do
I’d have no problem if I was you
We’ll carry on, do what we do
All the things that get us through
Following that I dream
Much closer than it seems
Still a part of the team
The last of me not yet seen
The fifth in a “once a month or so” series of tracks from TCSO, a mellow acoustic song written by Chris in his Mount Stuart unit up in the hills in 2001 on the old Tascam four track, where he would sometimes write and record three songs in a day. Not having a job had some benefits.
Featuring fellow Fecker Paul Jolley (Piano), and Rob Lundgren (vocals) alongside Chris Szkup (guitars, bass, cajon, shaker, backing vocals).
“It’s a song about being a very single goofy guy that is wondering if there is anyone from the better gender that would even notice any of these things which he thinks he has underneath the long hair and taking the mickey out of himself”, says Chris.
For a long time there wasn’t a title for it, until inspiration came from the Sara Bareilles song “Manhattan” from “The Blessed Unrest” (2013) – killer album by the way!
Once again, mastering on this track was done by Andy VanDette at Engineroom Audio in NYC, while artwork was done by Dan Verkys.
The fourth in a “once a month or so” series of tracks from TCSO, a very personal song, “I Will Wait For You”, and as Chris will tell you, one of his proudest moments as a songwriter.
Featuring TCSO regulars Rob Lundgren (vocals) and Dennis Leeflang (drums and mix) alongside Chris Szkup (guitars and bass), due to the content of this song, Mathew Szkup was high on the list of people that Chris wanted to try and get on the track. While his schedule was tight, he does appear on acoustic guitar which was an awesome touch, and makes the whole thing “complete” in a lot of ways.
“Lyrically the song talks about the whole dealing with losing loved ones, and also what it means for the people left behind, really trying to make sense of everything and offering some thoughts on it all, as well as some personal recollections of people that were close to me who are no longer with us”, says Chris.
Another thing of note with this song is that with the “bridge” of the song, which to me was meant to be a bit of a Beatles esque jammy section, I realised that the lyric “Come Together” was in that section followed by a gap, so I had Rob sing “shoot me” as a little nod to the masters. Great fun to do that, and I think it sets the section offperfectly.
Once again, mastering on this track was done by Andy VanDette at Engineroom Audio in NYC, while artwork was done by Dan Verkys.
A cover of the great David Bowie song, written of course by him, originally appearing on the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars from 1972.
This release is dedicated to Dan Verkys’ father, who is currently recovering from a stroke. It came about when Dan was starting to get the itch for a new exhibition of his amazing works, and mentioned the idea of having some music tied in with it, and this song quickly came up being a favourite of his. He mentioned that as great as the original version is, he could hear a heavier version of it in his head. No blast beats or death metal grunts, but just an overall bigger amount of “grunt”. Neither Chris nor Roy were familiar with the song unfortunately at that time, but definitely up for the challenge, and adding grunt is pretty much what they do in their “Dungeon Sessions” songs, so it was a goer!!
Vocals – Roy Bratbakken
Guitar, Bass, “Drums” – Chris Szkup
“Mixed” by Chris Szkup
“Mastered” by Roy Bratbakken
Artwork by Dan Verkys
Roys vocals recorded at The Dungeon, Skedsmokorset, Norway.
Chris’ guitars, bass and “drums” recorded at CS-Songs, Melbourne, Australia.
Grab it for free right now from The Bandcamp Store (or stream it below, but we reckon you should download it damn ya!!), and make sure if you’re in Victoria you get along to see Dan Verkys’ newest Exhibition “Archipelago”, launching at The Mad Gallery on Sunday June 10th. More info at his site, and the Facebook event is here.
We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording it!!
Cover version of the great Deep Purple mkiii song, written by Richie Blackmore and David Coverdale.
When looking for the next track for their “Dungeon Sessions”, Roy had mentioned that he always had wanted to attempt to sing the song, but he wasn’t sure if it could be done. Afterall, he’s singing the parts of both Coverdale AND Hughes – no easy task, but it sounded like a good reason to make this the next song in those sessions.
Chris liked the challenge of being able to build a track for him to attempt his vocals on, and got to work on things when this came up, while he was probably having some of the same thoughts Roy had along the lines of “holy shit, can I do this”? The results are obviously a new take on things that hopefully pay respects to the original as well. We’re certainly happy with it.
Chris is a guitarist / songwriter from Melbourne, Australia, founding member of The Feckers, currently working on the second album "Live To Fight Another Day", putting out a song "every month or so" with TCSO, as well as occasional gigs with Hobart based Metallica / Maiden tribute band Cunning Stunts / Seventh Sons, and solo acoustic gigs too!!!
