Premiering at 2.00pm AEST is the official video for “Who Could Have Seen?” from the recently released “Chance” EP!!!
Featuring cameos from Steve Triffit, Darren “Mossy” Bleathman, Mathew Szkup, Jake Cowburn, Nathan Adams, Dylan Beast, Matt Perry and Dallas Braddock, and footage from Hobart, Melbourne and Wellington.
The track features Brett Collidge on drums and extra piano, Rick Curran on strings, and myself on guitars, bass, vocals and piano. The “Chance” EP was mixed by Dennis Leeflang at Livelong Productions, mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering, and artwork by Dan Verkys.
It will be arriving in most online digital retailers on September 06, 2021, but is already available at http://cs-songs.bandcamp.com/
Today sees the release of “Chance”, my new EP and first official solo release since 2014!!!
During the writing and recording of two albums with The Feckers during lockdown in 2020, I looked one day and realised that I had even more songs ready to go, and as fun and inspiring as doing The Feckers is, sometimes doing some tunes on a smaller scale is a good “yin” to the “yang” of that crazy but amazing situation we have created. I might not have looked at these songs again seriously for a couple of years, but with the pandemic hitting and so many friends losing months of work instantly, I thought of Brett, and figured that all things considered, that it might be a good “chance” to do some tunes together. Luckily for me he was keen! This whole “lets do this while we can” line of thinking, which is how I try to approach life anyway, was really apparent after something as big as what happened, and became a big theme to the songs, and meaning of the EP.
It was recorded very quickly mostly during July of 2020, with Brett busting out a track or two at a time, and myself chipping away on the remaining tracks over the remaining weekends in July and August with a plan to mix a song here and there for a while, and release it around July of 2021. Just a nice casual thing that wouldn’t interrupt anything else or be too stressful for anyone. When I did revisit things in the leadup to release, I noticed a couple of things I wanted to touch up which happened over the last couple of weeks literally.
One of my favourite moments from the creation of this EP with when the song “Who Could Have Seen” was coming together. It came about from a little idea I captured in my hotel room in Brisbane during a trip there visiting friends and family the previous year, and when it was time to record it for real it was likely going to be a stripped back acoustic song, with maybe a cajon but lots of space. I sent it over to Brett, mentioned this and said “what do you reckon”, and he responded something like “give me a couple of hours”. I had lawns to mow, so figured I would do that and come back and check my emails. Not too long after I had finished I had a version of the song from him with a drum track AND a totally cool orchestral section that he had mapped out on his keyboard. DAMN!!!
When it came down to those beautiful lines appearing on the song, there was no choice but to have real instruments playing them, which is what led me to coming across the amazing Rick Curran, a great person and player from the UK. Boy did he deliver!!!
To listen and / or purchase, check out my Bandcamp Site.
Links to more digital stores will be coming asap!!!
CREDITS:
Words and music by Chris Szkup (Except “Who Could Have Seen” – Words and Music By Chris Szkup and Brett Collidge), mixed by Dennis Leeflang @Livelong Productions, mastered by Joe Carra @ Crystal Mastering, artwork by Dan Verkys.
Chris Szkup – Vocals, guitars, bass, piano Brett Collidge – Drums, extra piano Rick Curran – Strings
Happy to announce that “Chance”, my new EP and my first official solo release since 2014, will be out on August 27, 2021, here and on my Bandcamp Page!!! I hope you enjoy these preview clips!!
It features Brett Collidge Musician on drums and extra piano, Rick Curran on strings and myself on vocals, guitars, bass and piano.
