Milky Chance new single ‘Down By The River’, Vicar Street Sold Out & Winners of EBBA!
Down By The River
“Something about that off-the beat rhythm that says summer” Evening Standard
“All about the beautiful acoustic guitar groove” **** Daily StarAlternative electronic sensation Milky Chance announce new single ‘Down By The River’ will be released 5th December through Ignition Records.
After performing to huge crowds at Reading and Leeds Festival (and selling out their first headline show in London at Koko), the band head to Dublin for their debut Irish show at Vicar Street on 5th February, which has just sold out!
Milky Chance’s rise to music’s upper echelons has been unstoppable. Last year in their tiny self-built studio the duo cut their full-length debut ‘Sadnecessary’ and last summer they released it on their own Lichtdicht Records in Europe. Within a few weeks, lead single ‘Stolen Dance’ had reached number one on Hype Machine. To date ‘Stolen Dance’ has received over 84 million Youtube views, and topped the Irish, German, Austrian, Australia, Canadian, Swiss, French and Belgium singles charts. Ireland has been a huge supporter of the band, where as well as having a #1 single, the song was a #1 radio hit and has achieved over gold sales status.
‘Stolen Dance’ continues to build worldwide – particularly in America, where it is currently #1 on the US Alternative radio chart and # 1 on the AAA radio chart.
Milky Chance have won a European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) and are also nominated for the public choice award, you can vote for them here and be in with a chance to win 2 tickets to the EBBA’s and Eurosonic Festival – http://www.rte.ie/2fm/eurosonic/. The EBBAs are about breaking down borders and recognising emerging European rock, pop and dance artists who achieved success in other countries than their own.
New single ‘Down By The River’ will knock you over at first. But when you gather yourself, get back on your feet and listen again, you’ll want to hit the play button a second time. The video for the single has already had over 7.7million views on Youtube and the FlicFlac remix has had over 26 millions views on Youtube.
Live Date: Vicar Street, Dublin on 5th February 2015 – SOLD OUT!
Public Service Broadcasting Share details of 2nd album & Announce Belfast & Dublin dates
Public Service Broadcasting
Share details of second album The Race For Space – due Feb 2015
Belfast & Dublin dates announced as part of UK & Ireland tour
Following the release of a tantalising and atmospheric trailer earlier this month (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udKBXoO2e3U) which quoted John F Kennedy’s famous Rice Stadium address of 1962, Public Service Broadcasting are now excited to reveal full details of The Race For Space LP (Feb 20th 2015 via Test Card Recordings) – as well as their biggest UK & Irish tour to date.
Tickets for the duo’s return at two unique album launch shows at The National Space Centre sold out in under 24 hours, and the band now have their sights set on their biggest tour yet as they jet around the UK & Ireland in April & May 2015. The tour splashes down at the Roundhouse, London on 7 May – all dates listed below.
At Public Service Broadcasting’s uniquely spell-binding live AV ‘Transmissions’ the audience will witness the band weave samples from archive footage around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics as they teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future – beaming our past back at us through vintage TV sets and state of the art modern video projection devices. Granted unique access to historically important films from the BFI, PSB will go back in time and explore the period when the USA and USSR fought to gain the upper hand in a new frontier – space.
Public Service Broadcasting have quickly developed a reputation as one of the most exciting live acts in the country, wowing audiences over the past two festival seasons with major appearances at Glastonbury, Bestival, Green Man and a whole host of others. Support slots with The Rolling Stones & Arcade Fire at Hyde Park plus touring with the Manic Street Preachers across Europe and an upcoming arena tour with the Kaiser Chiefs scheduled for early next year point to a band at the top of their game.
Before their UK & Ireland dates the duo will be embarking on a global tour, starting in Australia and New Zealand, before moving onto North America. The tour will finish with a string of European dates in May / June 2015 before they hurtle straight into another busy festival season. Additionally Public Service Broadcasting have been invited to be the sole support for Kaiser Chiefs on their UK arena tour in early 2015.
The Race For Space follows Inform – Educate – Entertain, Public Service Broadcasting’s debut album which reached #21 in the UK album charts and was nominated for ‘Best Independent Album’ at the AIM Awards 2013, as well as being The Guardian’s Album of the Week and one of BBC 6Music’s Top 10 albums of 2013.
Listeners will be able to choose which front cover they favour as the band release a double-sided sleeve for The Race For Space.
Tracklisting: 1. The Race For Space, 2. Sputnik, 3. Gagarin, 4. Fire In The Cockpit, 5. E.V.A., 6. The Other Side, 7. Valentina, 8. Go!, 9. Tomorrow
See PSB live in Ireland on;
Sunday 3rd May Mandela Hall, Belfast
Tuesday 5th May Button Factory, Dublin
José González will release his first solo album in seven years, Vestiges & Claws on 20 Feb 2015
José González will release his first solo album in seven years, Vestiges & Claws on 20 Feb 2015 via Peacefrog Records.
“Every age has its turn / Every branch of the tree has to learn/ Learn to grow, find its way / Make the best of this short-lived stay” – José González
It’s the quiet ones we should watch, they always say. Which is particularly astute advice right now, when loud, constant self-declaration and saturated “brand” visibility have become the norm. But above the babble and brightness, some voices will always speak quiet volumes – with calm eloquence and the kind of certitude that comes from valuing the playing out, not just the prize.
Sweden’s José González is just such a voice. He first charmed his way into the UK’s & Ireland’s earshot via the murmurous and elegant, classically finger-picked folk pop of his 2005 album, Veneer, which has since sold over a staggering 430, 000 copies in UK alone & went double platinum in Ireland.. Two years later came In Our Nature, a further exploration of José’s influences (Argentinian Folklore, the ’60s US folk tradition and the British pastoral folk-pop style of the same era), on which he resisted the temptation to beef up his alluringly introvert aesthetic. The albums made the UK Top 10 and Top 20 respectively.
It may be seven years since he released a solo record, but José has been anything but idle in that time. He’s delivered two albums with the band Junip, his more fulsome, electronic-edged, pop project and has toured with both the Berlin/Göteborg String Theory orchestra (in 2011), co-performing 11 reworking’s of his songs, Sidi Touré and played with Malian desert blues troupe Tinariwen (both in 2012). In 2013, Hollywood came calling when Ben Stiller commissioned José to work with Theodore Shapiro on the soundtrack to his remake of ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ and most recently, he’s contributed his version of ‘This is How We Walk On the Moon’ to the Red Hot charity compilation honouring Arthur Russell. Community and collaboration are obviously satisfying in their own ways, but now José is again stepping centre stage solo, with Vestiges & Claws.
Conceived as the natural third part in an acoustic trilogy, Vestiges & Claws is a(nother) hushed and delicate solo set that forefronts the artist and guitarist’s compellingly intimate vocal style and intricate playing technique, but it’s often strikingly rhythmic in nature and cohere’s perfectly, with hand claps and taps on the body of his instrument underlining the songs’ mantric rise-and-fall pattern, while elsewhere, over-dubbed guitar parts and multi-tracked vocal harmonies entwine to sweetly immersive effect.
The title refers to both cultural practices and biological features that survive despite having lost their original function, and to currently useful tools, ie the “claws” of modern life.
Vestiges & Claws was recorded almost entirely by José and self-produced, mostly in his Gothenburg home, using computer plug-ins to achieve a warm, analogue sound. He prefers working alone, mainly for artistic reasons. “There were a couple of things that enabled me to complete this record: one was curiosity, to be able to play percussion and do a lot of harmonies and also to produce and mix the album; the other was aesthetics. I love to listen to Arthur Russell and Shuggie Otis, to music that has been done mostly by one person in their solitary state.”
As José sees it, the record is his personal, “zoomed-out eye on humanity on a small, pale blue dot in a cold, sparse and unfriendly space. The amazing fact that we are all here, an attempt at encouraging us to understand ourselves and to make the best of the one life we know we have – after birth and before death.”
Vestiges & Claws Tracklist: With The Ink Of A Ghost / Let It Carry You / Stories We Build. Stories We/ Tell / The Forest / Leaf Off/The Cave / Every Age / What Will / Vissel / Afterglow / Open Book
Vestiges & Claws Pre-order: http://smarturl.it/iTunesVestigesClawsSINÉAD O’CONNOR’s BRAND NEW VIDEO FOR ‘8 GOOD REASONS’
SINÉAD O’CONNOR
BRAND NEW VIDEO FOR
‘8 GOOD REASONS’ – NOVEMBER 14th
Hear ‘8 Good Reasons’: https://soundcloud.com/nettwerkmusicgroup/sinead-oconnor-8-good-reasons/s-5IjCy
Sinéad O’Connor releases her brand new single ‘8 Good Reasons’, the second single to be taken from her acclaimed new album ‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss’. ‘8 Good Reasons’ is released via Nettwerk Records on November 14th 2014.
Today Sinead unveils the brand new video for the track, shot on a bus in her home town of Dublin recently. The video shows Sinead at her most direct and powerful but also shows the redemptive power of the song and the joy of the lyric.
The full video for ‘8 Good Reasons’ can be seen at www.sineadoconnor.com/. ‘8 Good Reasons’ is an emotive and beautiful song that represents the very best of Sinead’s songwriting, her ever-powerful and moving vocal set to a gorgeous and uplifting chorus produced by long term collaborator John Reynolds.
Sinéad’s new album ‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss’ has been her most successful album in recent years both critically and commercially and was her first Irish No 1 album since ‘I Do not Want What I Haven’t Got’ in 1990. Mojo called the album ‘simply a remarkable collection of songs’ in a 4* review, Sunday Times Culture called it ‘excellent’ whilst the Daily Mirror described Sinead as a ‘Celtic queen performing a career high’ in a 5* review.
In addition to headlining Womad and performing at Camp Bestival & Electric Picnic, Sinéad also headlined her own sensational live sold out show at NCH, Dublin which was showered in four star reviews by reviewing media.
‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss’ is the follow up to Sinéad’s acclaimed album ‘How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?’ which was released in 2011. ‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss’ features twelve brand new songs which showcase the very best of Sinéad and what makes her so special, passionate and direct yet with an overarching fragile beauty Sinéad’s voice and lyrics are as powerful as they are tender.
Sinead O’Connor plays Vicar Street, Dublin on 16th December.
Boy & Bear play Whelan’s on 9th Nov and release Southern Sun on 14th Nov
Boy & Bear’s UK & Irish tour kicks off on the 4th November
They play Whelan’s, Dublin on 9 November
New single Southern Sun releases in Ireland on 14th November
Australia’s indie folk darlings Boy & Bear finish their year of consistent touring in Europe, kicking of the run of UK & Irish dates on the 4th of November, in Glasgow. This year will have seen Boy & Bear complete a total of 157 shows across the globe! Have a listen to Southern Sun taken from the critically acclaimed Harlequin Dream, an album that went straight to the no.1 spot in their native Australia, and received widespread critical acclaim in the UK.Currently winning the hearts of the USA’s music loving public whilst on tour, the band performed live on Conan O’Brien’s late night TV show, on the 23rd of July.
Harlequin Dream, the band’s first album since signing to Nettwerk Records was recorded at the legendary Albert’s Studio and mixed by Phil Ek (Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill, The Shins) It follows on from their debut LP, Moonfire, which sold platinum in Australia and earned the Sydney five piece an astonishing five awards in 2011’s ARIA awards.
NOVEMBER 2014
Tuesday- 4th Glasgow -Oran Mor
Wednesday 5th Edinburgh- Electric Circus
Thursday 6th-Manchester- GorillaFriday 7th– Leeds- Brudenell Social Club
Sunday 9th – Dublin- Whelens
Tuesday 11th- Liverpool- Leaf
Wednesday 12th– Bristol – Anson Rooms
Thursday 13th– Cardiff- Clwb lfor Bach
Friday 14th– London- Shepherds Bush Empire
Sunday 16th-Oxford- AcademyTuesday 18th– Portsmouth- The Wedgewood Room
https://www.facebook.com/boyandbear // http://www.boyandbear.com
Toy Soldier Announce New Single & Video for ‘Sugar’ Out 14th November
Toy Soldier
Announce New Single ‘Sugar’ Out 14th November
From their upcoming EP ‘Breathe’
“[A] polished high energy sound that is as unique as it is fresh” – Dwayne Woods, The Irish Daly Star
“Memorable tunes with catchy choruses… Irresistible tune Butterfly has chart topping single written all over it” –
Colm O Hare, Hot Press Magazine – writing about band’s debut album ‘Calling Up The Dusk’ in 2012
Toy Soldier is an Irish based electro-pop trio combining a dance floor groove with rocking riffs. Think of your favourite club night with Nine Inch Nails and Blondie mashing it up on the decks.
They are releasing the first song to be taken from their forthcoming EP ‘Breathe’, which will be released in March 2015. The slick, super catchy ‘Sugar’ will be filling club dance floors both sides of the Atlantic very soon!
Having perfected their live performance in L.A. with early live shows in world renowned venues such as The Viper Room and The Mint, Toy Soldier are now one of the most exciting bands on the live music scene with an unmatched level of showmanship amongst their peers.
Spawning a number of very eye catching videos the band quickly gained a reputation for their sharp image, even being nominated for Sexiest Music Video at the IMTV awards in 2013 for their video ‘Summertime’.
Toy Soldier had a foray into the sporting world when the Munster Rugby team chose the band’s then forthcoming single ‘Animal’ as their official run-on song for the 2013/14 season.
2014 sees the band continue to bring their high octane live show to international audiences. This year saw the trio dent the Irish charts with single ‘Animal’ which was taken from the bands recent ‘Love Buzz’ EP released back in February.
‘Sugar’ is scheduled for release on the 14th November and will be available on iTunes.
Toy Soldier are Fionnuala Curran (lead vocal), Cian Walsh (lead guitar and backing vocals) and Fergal McCarthy (drums and backing vocals)
Live Dates:
Thursday 30 October Dolans, Limerick – https://dolans.ie/
Friday 21 November The Greenroom, Letterkenny, Donegal – www.facebook.com/GreenroomLiveLetterkenny
Sunday 7 December Crane Lane, Cork – http://www.cranelanetheatre.ie/
Sunday 14th December Sunday Roast, The Mercantile, Dublin – http://mercantile.ie/
Monday 15 December Blackbird, Ballycotton, Cork – http://www.blackbirdballycotton.com/
DUKE SPECIAL Announces new single ‘Elephant Graveyard’ Nov 2014 and new album & tour 2015
DUKE SPECIAL
Announces Irish Tour for 2015
New single ‘Elephant Graveyard’ out 21st November,
New album ‘Look Out Machines’ releasing early 2015
Duke Special has just announced his first full Irish Tour in over 5 years! He will be covering every corner of the country in January & February 2015, introducing audiences to the songs of his 4th studio album ‘Look Out Machines!’. which is set for release in 2015! Duke releases the first single from the album, a pulsating 60’s tinged belter entitled ‘Elephant Graveyard’ on November 21st.
This album sees Duke exploring new musical ground with collaborators including Iain Archer, Phil Wilkinson and Gary Clark. It was recorded at Electric Zoo studios in the English seaside town of Eastbourne. For this album Duke teamed up with Pledge Music for a second time to help bring it to life. Back in 2009, Duke Special was one of the first artists to embark upon a Pledge Campaign, raising money for his ambitious “Stage, Book and Silver Screen” project. Within only a week of the new pledge being launched it soared to 55% of reaching its target goal! It is currently at 85% with still some time to go so keep those pledges coming in!
Fans can pre-order the album now via Pledge Music, and can also make pledges for a variety of other exclusive goodies, such as signed CDs, personal house gigs, and loads of other brilliant stuff including the opportunity to join Duke in an attempt to break the world record for the most concerts performed in 24 hours! The record is currently standing at 65 shows.
As part of Duke’s Pledge Campaign, where he is raising money to make and promote the new record, Duke is offering an Irish Tour Gold Ticket giving you access to all shows on this Jan/Feb tour. These tickets are priced €126 and are selling fast so best buy yours ASAP before the rest get snapped up! See www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dukespecial for more details.
Duke has given us a sneak preview of the direction he is taking this time via the video he posted on YouTube of the song ‘Domino’ – http://youtu.be/99ipAv0T5_Y – and he gives us some other clues in the first of many film snippets about the album on the Pledge website – www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dukespecial
Supporting Duke on the tour will be VerseChorusVerse (Jan 15-17), SOAK (Jan 22-24, 29-31 & Feb 5-7) and more support acts are to be announced. All tickets for the Irish tour are €15/ £15 and are on sale from today.
JANUARY 2015
Thursday 15th Market Place Theatre, Armagh – www.marketplacearmagh.com
Friday 16th The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton, Leitrim – www.theglenscentre.com
Saturday 17th Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo – www.hawkswell.com
Thursday 22nd Coughlan’s, Cork – www.coughlans.ie
Friday 23rd De Barras, Clonakilty, Cork – www.debarra.ie
Saturday 24th Garter Lane Arts Theatre, Waterford – www.garterlane.ie
Thursday 29th Arts Centre, Wexford – www.wexfordartscentre.ie
Friday 30th Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Meath – www.solsticeartscentre.com
Saturday 31st Iontas Theatre, Castleblaney, Monaghan – www.iontascastleblayney.ie
FEBRUARY 2015
Thursday 5th McGrory’s, Culdaff, Donegal – www.mcgrorys.ie
Friday 6th Old Courthouse, Antrim – www.antrim.gov.uk/oldcourthouse
Saturday 7th Downs Arts Centre, Downpatrick, Down – www.downartscentre.com
Thursday 12th Cunninghams, Kildare – www.cunninghamskildare.com/cms
Friday 13th The Set Theatre, Kilkenny – www.set.ie
Saturday 14th The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, Wicklow –www.courthousearts.ie
Thursday 19th Boyles of Slane, Meath – www.boylesofslane.com
Friday 20th Spirit Store, Dundalk, Louth –www.spiritstore.ie
Thursday 26th Sol Y Sombra, Killorglin, Kerry – www.solysombra.ie
Friday 27th Roisin Dubh, Galway – www.roisindubh.net
Saturday 28th Dolans (upstairs), Limerick – www.dolans.ie
PHOX Play songs from their self titled debut Album in Sugar Club, Dublin on 9 November
PHOX
Play songs from their self titled debut Album in Sugar Club, Dublin
on Sunday 9 November
“Buoyant African and Caribbean grooves behind sometimes moody reflections.” – New York Times
“Not only does this sextet have abundant energy and a batch of strong songs, but it’s also got Monica Martin, as charismatic a lead singer as I’ve seen in a while.” – NPR
“A pop sensation in waiting” – Clash / “Monica Martin’s honeyed voice; it’s full of soul” – NME
“A triumph” – The 405 / “Monica Martin has a torch singer’s quiet glamour and smoky voice” – Uncut
It’s a rare thrill nowadays, when listening to the opening few bars of a track, to hear a voice that slices its way through such a riot of colour and effortlessly holds your attention. The breathy-yet-powerful intensity of Phox’s Monica Martin’s voice sits somewhere between the evocative agelessness of Christine McVie or Nina Simone with more modern echoes of Chairlift’s Caroline Polacheck. Beneath this, an elegant Lee Hazlewood-meets-Regina Spector arrangement and compressed drums that St Vincent would be envious of. Wisconsin’s Phox straddle the normally shaky boundary between sounding modern and classic, perhaps what Haim would sound like if they were brought up in the South instead of the West Coast.
Phox touch many genres, swimming amidst a heady fill of rock, psychedelia, and soul. ‘Slow Motion’ has the ability to hazily transport you to a summer setting; whilst maintaining an ever-pulling nostalgia, it becomes infectiously heartening. The smoky jazz vocals from Monica Martin provide a heavy, sultry coating to the glittering pop backgrounds that slide into clarinet interludes. The single is out August 29th through Partisan Records which is taken from their self-titled debut album due for release on the same date.
In Baraboo, Wisconsin, six unlikely musicians attended high school together, and after a short stint of separation to pursue careers of their own, their hometown was calling. They rekindled their creative streaks, almost as a family, after moving in together. It was Monica who needed to be convinced of her own talent, set against the soundscape of cups, woodwind, pianos and electric guitars provided by fellow band members Jason Krunnfusz, Matthew Holmen, Zach Johnston, Matteo Roberts and Davey Robert. Through the colourful arrangement of ‘Slow Motion’, Americana influences and Caribbean rhythm can be heard, but it’s with the bare, stripped-back harmonies and subtle melancholy of the lyrics that show Phox has created something totally enchanting and unique, captivating from the first listen.
Ask the band how they would describe themselves and they’d say:
“PHOX is a bunch of friends from the Midwestern circus hamlet Baraboo, Wisc., a place where kids often drink poisoned groundwater and become endowed mutants. They make music that straddles Feist and Monty Python.”
With recent support slots with The Lumineers and Laura Mvula, this Wisconsin sextet are set to cross the pond. Following their debut Irish show at this year’s Electric Picnic, Phox are returning to The Sugar Club on 9 November.
Sunday 9 November The Sugar Club, Lesson Street, Dublin 2 http://www.thesugarclub.com/
CHEVRON’S PRIZED GUITARS DONATED TO THE MUSIC STUDENTS OF MOUNTJOY PRISON BY BILLY BRAGG
CHEVRON’S PRIZED GUITARS DONATED TO THE MUSIC STUDENTS OF
MOUNTJOY PRISON BY BILLY BRAGG IN THE FIRST
‘JAIL GUITAR DOORS’ INITIATIVE IN IRELAND
Three of the most prized guitars from the late Philip Chevron’s collection are to be presented to music students inmates in Mountjoy Prison by Billy Bragg in the first JAIL GUITAR DOORS initiative in the Republic of Ireland on 14th October, 2014.
In keeping with one of Chevron’s final wishes prior to his death in October 2013, the presentation will be made in an intimate ceremony to be held at Mountjoy on October 14th. The ceremony will be attended by former colleagues, friends and family of the late Radiators from Space and Pogues guitarist. The initiative has been warmly welcomed and has the full support of the Director General Irish Prison Service, Mr. Michael Donnellan, the Governer of Mountjoy, Mr. Brian Murphy, both of whom will attend the ceremony, and has also received the personal support of President Michael D. Higgins.
Campus Governor Brian Murphy said that Mountjoy Prison was honored to accept the donation of three of Philip’s guitars on behalf of the Irish Prison Service and for being the first prison in Ireland selected for this ‘Jail Guitar Doors’ initiative . Speaking today Governor Murphy said “Music and the arts play a very important role in the rehabilitation of prisoners and it enables them to address problems in a non-confrontational way. Music, as we know, has a redemptive quality and can act as catalyst for further engagement with the rehabilitative services available for prisoners in all our prison schools. The students in the Mountjoy Prison School have a long history of engagement in music and this donation may serve to inspire more of our offenders to get involved”
Billy Bragg was approached by Chevron weeks before his death with the idea that he would make the donation of the instruments after his passing as part of Bragg’s JAIL GUITAR DOORS initiative which is committed to providing musical instruments and equipment to help rehabilitate inmates serving time across the world. “Jail Guitar Doors believes that music can help offenders on the path to rehabilitation. Phillip and I spoke about how his guitar collection could make a contribution to this process. Thanks to his insightful donation, Jail Guitar Doors is able to take its first steps in Ireland, having provided guitars to over 50 prisons in the UK in the past seven years” Billy Bragg.
Chevron’s sister, Deborah Blacoe, will also be in attendance and has thanked all concerned for their efforts in realising her brother’s final wish.“My brother Philip had many, many talents. He used all of them to the best of his ability during his lifetime. In his inherent sense of inclusivity, he now bequeaths his favourite guitars so that others may develop their talents, perhaps leading to new and rewarding opportunities.”
A evening to celebrate the life and work of Philip Chevron, CHEVRON LIVES, will be held on Sunday 23rd November in The Sugar Club, Dublin and will feature contributions from Roddy Doyle, Joseph O’Connor and The Trouble Pilgrims, doors at 7.30pm, tickets available form www.thesugarclub.com
Duke Special embarks on a 2nd Pledge Campaign for new album due in 2015!
Duke Special embarks on a 2nd Pledge Campaign for new album in 2105
Duke Special is going to have a new album for 2015!!! He has teamed up with Pledge Music for a second time to help bring this new album to life! Duke only released the pledge last week and he is already 55% en route to his target goal! By pre-ordering the album now via Pledge Music fans will receive a variety of other exclusive goodies, such as signed CDs, personal house gigs, and loads of other brilliant stuff including the opportunity to join Duke in an attempt to break the world record for the most concerts performed in 24 hours!
Back in 2009, Duke Special was one of the first artists to embark upon a Pledge Campaign, raising money for his ambitious “Stage, Book and Silver Screen” project.Now after many adventures around the world, he has launched his 2nd campaign. This time it is for his 4th Studio album ‘proper’ as it were. For the last month he has been holed up in Eastbourne with producer Dave Izumi and co-producer/drummer/guitarist/songwriter Phil Wilkinson. Duke has given us a sneak preview of the direction he is taking this time via the video he posted on YouTube of the song “Domino”- http://youtu.be/99ipAv0T5_Y – and he gives us some other clues in the first of many film snippets about the album on the Pledge website – http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dukespecial
And what of the Pledges themselves? Well as always, Duke is not one to do things by halves. Our eyes are drawn firstly to the words “Guinness Book of Records” where Duke is planning to break the record for the most shows in one day, currently standing at 65. He has invited fans to join him for a 24 hour period in March 2015 to break the record!
Historically artists have released their albums on strange formats. 8 track cartridge, anyone? Well Duke and his vaudevillian tendencies have gone back in time again, not to the 78rpm record that he delights in DJ-ing with, but further still to the era of the Wax Cylinder. Fancy his new record on that format? There’s some still available.
See the full list of Pledges here – http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dukespecial
Duke plans to release the first single of his new album later this year.
A full Irish Tour is scheduled for Jan / Feb 2015 so keep an eye and ear out for them!