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luke’s blog

Information Station and Levin

Information Station and Levin

Just had 5 weeks in Hokitika which was very calming; now in Wellington and on the way North again.

A lot of time spent in that buzzy little town called Hoki. I gotta write about the tour.

Finally can write another blog to you my friends who like me are interested in the state of the heart of our vanishing world of convivial places to meet and talk and play. It’s been a long time away.

The tour started with one gig in Christchurch and then just a case of going where invited. It’s a real eye opener seeing in real life the state of your own country.

Everywhere there are small enterprises closing.

Dunedin lost in the space of a few weeks three key watering holes. Nova. Dog with Two Tails and the Zuccini Brothers* and most likely more have closed their doors since. Meanwhile the corporate food giants feed on our addiction to the familiar. Don’t matter if it’s crappy just so long as it’s the same crappy. (* Eds note. Zucchini owners retired after 28 years)

Kids in our time probably don’t know the sheer joy of visiting places where the sole owner went to great lengths to create (key word there) a convivial civilised space for us to meet and greet and find true nourishment for body and soul. Real venues like Arc in Dunedin. Like The Island Of Real in Auckland.

There are still good places and I’m on a mission to find them so please if you know of such let us know.

What is going on though really?one can understand poorly patronized places going under but in the case of those Dunedin venues they were in fact thriving.

How can this be?

Could it be that the allurement of a keyboard and a screen has made the great unwashed happy to stay home on a government recreation scholarship rather than mix with our own flesh and blood Brothers and sisters in little ol real world ?

It’s astonishing.

At least my loafing experience involved something real with a box and vibrating strings and a mouth that could express my deepest longings. It involves reaching into the soul and finding your own unique take on things and not being at the mercy of an algorithm and simulations and titillating from the information stations.

I leave you with the lyrics of a song called Information Station. It’s on an album called Reha which is on www.bandcamp.com. look it up we wanna see you support this great facility and busy it up ok? Listen to Information Station – embedded below.

Anyway here’s a few key lines.i wrote this song 32 years ago and released it in 1994. It’s a sleeper. Wake it up ok?

“Meanwhile try to work at home
With a keyboard and this honky phone
Where is it written – Creation groans
Computer bureau bound to know”.

(i.e. what became Google and such)

i think I was bang on.

We really do have this option of vegetating in a simulation.i call it once removed living.
Do this or just get out more. Go to concerts. Go to the mountain. To the sea. Anything but tippy tippy and watching the devils eyeball .

Anything but tippy tappy and mesmerisation at a hopeless little screen……..to quote the late uncle Lenny

Real life is always gonna surpass these imaginings on a screen. We gotta support the watering holes that remain.

By the way I am playing at Firebird again. It’s in Levin. Saturday 7pm

The acoustics are great. Food is wonderful and it’s not only pizza…the kitchen is being renovated and extended significantly.

Support anywhere that encourages live music. Such places are very rare.

I should give up but I simply cannot do that. There is still too much to say and it’s gotta be said. Come and join in. Door charge 20. Call me if ya want a ticket and just have a chat…otherwise doorsales is fine. The good thing about being a little guy is you get to talk to all your supporters. 021 0259 2919.

Call me if I can help or if you want to chew the fat. It’s a dying art…talking on the phone.corporates hate it. They prefer you use the tippy tippy and don’t engage at all at all.
@#%÷ them.

God bless.keep us posted.communication is love. Love is in short supply in the world of humans .

By the way. A new album or four is waiting to be posted up .help the cause. It is costly to make album.very costly.

Just to give you a glimpse of how impossible it is to recover the cost of making an album. 20,000 listens on Spotikleptofy realises 20 bucks for the artist.

It takes YEARS to get that many listens for tiny acts like this. We ain’t going broke coz we got your support right?

Tiny town

Gold Streets In Tiny Town

It was great to visit Dunedin and play at the K&Q. Lovely venue.  Made me realise that it’s important to have a place that’s purpose built for a show. Not a venue that’s purpose built to sell grog. Ha ha.

All you performers out there and this includes anyone with a message of any kind to deliver. My unsolicited advice to you is this.  If you gonna do an event then put yourself and the people you invite in a place free of  distractions.

Another venue of note was Players Theatre in Marton.  Pleeeeeeease if you are in the game of putting it out there…..please do a gig there.   Fantastic room and pa /lights and top notch  management    They put the word out and made me feel totally at ease.

Barrytown Hall.  Soooooooooooooo Cool. They totally care for the performer and their audience. It’s like coming home to family for Christmas.  And if you do a show there be sure to have a very long interval.  People like to catch up. They yak and yak and yak.  Let them. And don’t play canned music in the breaks. That’s why it’s called a break.  You have a break from any distractions and let people convivialise.

No such word ay? not in big cities anyway.

Invers has great venues.  The back packers on the Main Street.  Try that.  Ok there are the usual distractions of alcohol and food but they are smart.  They allow for this by getting a great sound system and put the word out real well.  Puts to shame the venues of the big smoke.

It has one of the worlds best transport museums and a super successful company called Richardson.  3000 trucks and 7000 employees and a very generous community spirit. i.e. their wealth gets shared with the town of origin.  If Fletchers did this in it’s town of origin South Dunedin’s streets would  be paved with gold. Family business any day.

And that’s the essence of it. Think family.  You do a show with people who treat you and your audience like family.   That’s the way of the past and that’s gonna be the way of the future ay brothers and sisters?

Happiness is more important than 💰 and fame but being happy won’t necessarily exclude them either.

More to come about venues in NZ but enough said for this blog except to say please support the cause and get me to play at yours or something. Phone me now 02102592919.  I promise to play like a bastard.

Coming up. If you are in Auckland there is a showing of the short movie mentioned a few weeks back.

Lopdell House Titirangi Flicks

Robin has the movie ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ and it’s screening on the 12th. He runs the cinema In Titirangi. He is a serious film maker and he wants to screen it.

Robin


Wednesday 12th September, a series of short films including two from this year’s Doc Edge Festival, details of all films out soon already booked ‘To Be or Not To Be’ a short film about musician.songwriter Luke Hurley and ‘In Search of the Bone People’ ‘Sailing Away’ and others. Showing at 10-30am / 6pm / 8-pm Lopdell Theatre .

There is a very high chance that I will be at one or more of those screenings (TBC) to support Jing Chen so come along and say hi. More details here

Adult: morning screenings $12 Senior/Student: $10 includes Tea/Coffee/Biscuits 10-30am
Evening Screenings Adult: $14 Senior/Student $12  5-30pm or 6pm depending on film duration and 8-15pm
14 years old and under $7 (with an adult) dependent on film rating.

Flicks at Lopdell says: Text bookings to 0210 222 5558 (they text back to confirm)
Telephone bookings 09 818 2489
They take EFTPOS on tickets sales as well as bar sales… (finally !!) at the venue

Where are the best live music venues in Auckland?

My friend Ulrik the guy who hired me to play in Denmark is coming to visit next month. He wants me to show him any clubs in Auckland where live music happens. Anyone out there know of any? One 2 One is a possible…if you can get in the door. It’s always packed. But where else is there? I am out a touch.

If you are reading this blog could you do me a favour? Write in and share your thoughts. It seems people read the blog but there don’t seem to be much response. I know its not that exciting but it would be a lot better if there was dialogue.

We need dialogue…

What would you like to see on the site? Please let me know. One idea is if I post up lyrics to my songs> Would that be of interest to anyone? Hands up?

Been following the advise of my Irish friend he advised me to “PLAY LIKE A BASTARD” he recommended I forget selling anything and just play.

Phone got stolen so no pics this time. Boo Hoo!

Check out my albums on bandcamp.com best way to support my cause is to buy my albums. When you do that it makes the running of this site for sore ears possible.

Have to give Jason a plug for making this site work. Check out his site also (dialogcrm.com) and if you need help setting one up let him know.

So please let me know what you are into. What books films etc you like fav venues insights anything post it all in and we will post it up. Lets get this circus on the road.

Words to live by

My friend Brazier with his baby.  He can sometimes be found in his bookshop in Dominion Rd.  Graham was a founding member of legendary NZ band Hello Sailor.

Somehow it is no surprise to find the songwriter of “Billy Bold” and many other songs at home with books and words.

GrahamB_resized

The shop abounds with interesting things.

store_resized

20140825_034121

Here is a note Graham’s mum typed out many years ago. There are a few differences but most of this comes from a very famous poem.

notesfrommum

It turns out that the original was written by Samuel Ullman. We found a more complete version over here.

Here are a couple of verses from that poem called “Youth”.

“Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.”