Was a great thing to finally get the remainder of the TCSO songs I recorded with Dennis Leeflang, Mathew Szkup and Rob Lundgren finally finished and released, and boy did they come up amazing!!! Listen below – in the process of creating a section of the site for this which will feature all kinds of “making of” and “story behind the song” type of stuff!! More sooooon!! 😀
New TCSO song – “I Will Wait For You”!!!
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.
New TCSO single “Nobody Knows”!!!
The third in a “once a month or so” series of tracks from TCSO, a hard rocker called “Nobody Knows”, which sees the founding members of The Feckers reuniting for the first time since that album’s release in 2013, with lyrics here being written by Richard Anderson, and the music by Chris Szkup.
Featuring Mathew Szkup (guitar), Rob Lundgren (vocals) and Dennis Leeflang (drums and mix) alongside Chris Szkup (guitars and bass), this song was once upon a time going to be included on a 2nd album by The Feckers, however when those plans were halted due to life getting in the way, Chris was very keen to still have the song be heard and released, especially with a new ensemble that he felt could do good justice to the track. The rhythm guitar track on the left hand side is Mathew Szkup, while on the right is Chris, which is “a mark of respect” says Chris – it seemed like when we were growing up that all the great rhythm players in the metal bands we were listening to would usually be panned to the left hand speakers, and anytime a riff would “break down” to introduce a song or so forth, it would always be panned to the left hand side. “As I owe a great deal to my brother in terms of rhythm playing, it felt right to have him panned left on the songs he plays on” says Chris.
Once again, mastering on this track was done by Andy VanDette at Engineroom Audio in NYC, while artwork was done by Dan Verkys.
New TCSO single – “No Way Back For Us”!!
The second in a “once a month or so” series of tracks from TCSO, a cover version of the great song written by New Zealand artist Rob Smith of RPJ called “No Way Back For Us”.
Featuring Mathew Szkup (guitar), Rob Lundgren (vocals) and Dennis Leeflang (drums and mix) alongside Chris Szkup (guitars and bass), this song was originally intended to be used for GONE WILD when a third album was being discussed a few years back. However, when plans changed in regards to that album, Chris obviously had fun on the track and asked the question “can we do the song anyway”!!! Luckily Rob Smith being the great fellow that he is, agreed to it.
Once again, mastering on this track was done by Andy VanDette at Engineroom Audio in NYC, while artwork was done by Dan Verkys.
Check it out right now for free on Bandcamp, and if you feel like purchasing it, then thank you so much but either way, I hope you like it…….especially you Rob Smith!!!
First new music in three years (and more too)!!!
Introducing The Claremont Symphony Orchestra (TCSO), with the new song “Ride”!!!
The first in a “one a month or so” series of tracks from TCSO, or The Claremont Symphony Orchestra – the baby of Australian songwriter Chris Szkup, featuring core members Dennis Leeflang (drums) and Rob Lundgren (vocals) along with himself, as well as guest players on certain tracks, so far including Mathew Szkup (guitar) and Paul Jolley (piano), with possibly more to come. This song, and I hope all of them will be, was mastered by Andy VanDette, while the artwork was done by Dan Verkys.
Due to the geographical distance between the members and the guest players on some songs, Chris felt it necessary to adopt a “collective” type name for the project, and at the same time wanted to use it to pay a little nod to where he grew up in Claremont, Tasmania – it’s meant to indicate in a way that as these songs were for the most part composed by him, these songs were born in Claremont. Some of them literally were.
All of these songs will gradually be revealed as time (and finances) allow, and when complete, will form a “collection” type album which will be available on the usual digital outlets and on the store at www.cs-songs.com however until completion, the best and fastest way to purchase the songs as they are released will be via the bandcamp site. You also have the option to throw in a little tip if you desire and pay more than the listed price for the song. This will help future songs be released faster, however this is completely optional, and you can even just listen to the songs in full for free and not buy at all – up to you!
GIGS:
For a while I’ve been wanting to throw myself in the deep end a little bit and play some piano live. I had done it very briefly one time earlier in the year, but September was the time that it REALLY finally happened. I had two weeks in a row of playing a piano set at Compass Pizza in Brunswick back to back with a guitar set at Whole Lotta Love, just up the road also in Brunswick. Check out some pics and video from both nights below.
(So far three gigs are confirmed for the month of October, solo, duo and band – waiting on the word before I can announce the details on them!)
“Cool Dry Place” (Traveling Wilburys) Sept 13, 2017:
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155695973659921/
Snippets of whole set – Sept 06, 2017:
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155684022689921/
“Lost Soul” (From “Pieces of Eternity“):
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155683908304921/
“Slackers and Wankers” (The Feckers):
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155682023894921/
“Far From Done” (The Feckers):
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155680744469921/
GUEST SOLOS:
Sometimes from time to time I might get asked to play a guitar solo or two on a song that a friend is putting together. I’m always honoured that someone might think of me in this regard, and therefore it’s basically always a “HELL YES” when people do ask. There is no slacking off with any of your “comfort licks” cause a fresh set of ears will always pick up on this, which makes doing guest spots a very cool and fresh thing to do whenever you get the chance. So if anyone ever reads this and thinks I might fit on a song they are doing, please ask! Here’s some vid doing solos for The Calm Before – sometimes you’re lucky enough to just hit record and go for it and something happens, which was the case here.
https://www.facebook.com/cs.songs/videos/10155628502019921/