Temposhark - Blog


NAVIGATION		Home » Blog		Tuesday 13, May 2008

Temposhark Today:

13th May 2008 - Meeting Slice The Pie's team outside London today.... We won their £15,000 for our second album campaign! THANK YOU FOR VOTING! LOVE YA! Our album is just out in USA and Canada on CD! Woohoo! THE ALBUM IS ON SALE NOW AT iTUNES WORLDWIDE! R.x

New York, Fearless Music for Fox TV, Philadelphia, Conneticut and Justine's video for IBTHL! - 06 May '08

Hi gang,

I just realised I'd not said THANK YOU to all of you who came see us play live in the USA last week! We really enjoyed the trip to the East Coast and it was fun to get to chat to you after the shows... New York was as buzzing as ever, we did a gig at Crash Mansion which is a great club as well as filming our first ever TV show for Fox TV called Fearless Music. We recorded 4 songs for them so we'll let you know what the air date is! Check out the photo with this blog of me at their studios...

Conneticut was great, we did the gig with Ben Jelen who is such a cool guy, and a great singer/songwriter. We also went over the campus of a student radio show and sang 'Blame' live with Mark on acoustic guitar and then an interview.

The next show in Philadelphia was A LOT of fun too. I'd not been to either places before so it was nice to discover some new towns! It was the best sound we'd ever had for a show and we stayed out for most of the night with a group of new friends who'd come to watch the show. We finished the night at an amazing roof top bar looking out over the city!

Some of you have been asking about the video I made in 2005 with the wonderful artist Justine Pearsall. Well Justine has managed to kindly upload it onto YouTube for you to see. The video was made for the single version of 'It's Better To Have Loved' which is the Guy Sigsworth Mix. It's slightly different to the final album version but every bit as beautiful. We first screened this video in an amazing art space in Bexhill-on-Sea in early 2006 at the De La Warr Pavilion on the same night of our live show at the venue. If you ever get a chance to visit De La Warr, do! Bexhill is a really magical seaside town and the architecture of the De La Warr is second to none, totally restored to how it would've been originally. An inspiring place that will always hold a very special place in my heart. Their website is: http://www.dlwp.com/

This week I'm working on some new songs in London, including one for another artist's album who has asked me to collaborate with him. It's the first time I will have been a proper guest vocalist I think! Fun!

I'll write soon, love loads, R.xx

Vote for Temposhark at SliceThePie.com - 27 Apr '08

Good news! Temposhark have got through to the final round showcase at SliceThePie.com and can win £15,000 (GPB) to record a new album.

Temposhark are one of the top rated artists in the scout room.

The purpose of the Showcase is to get YOU to vote for US – the artist with the most support is guaranteed £15,000 to record and release an album.

Voting is easy. Start by logging on and enter our showcase then vote for Temposhark! It's just a quick sign up process then one click!

The link to our showcase is at www.slicethepie.com

Cut and paste the following URL to vote for us directly: http://www.slicethepie.com/Showcase/ShowcaseDetail.aspx?SCN=124

There is lots of information in the SliceThePie.com faq's http://www.slicethepie.com/About/FAQ.aspx if you read them, then you should get a better understanding of the process as a whole!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Temposhark xxx

So much to catch up on: Rehearsals, NYC, Brighton, Art, Blame Video, Album Out Now... - 07 Apr '08

Right Now I'm Listening To: Camille 'Music Hole' new album out now on Virgin Records.

Hi gang,

I started writing this blog last week but have been so manic since that I never go around to completing it!

We spent a week or so at Sean's studio in London for rehearsals with our awesome new live keyboard player Luke Juby. Luke is in pop star Mika's band and they've been touring for the last 19 months. But he's very kindly agreed to come on to the East Coast with us during April for some live shows and our first ever TV performance for Fox TV… it's gonna be a lot of fun!

Thursday this week sees us play live in London at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. Then we fly off to the USA to film a 3 song live performance on the TV show 'Fearless Music' and also to play three lives concerts – New York, Hartford and Philadelphia. We were hoping to visit Buffalo but are no longer going to be able to fit it in due to commitments in Manhatten. We'll be doing a full all-city-US-tour later in the year... not too long to wait!

So the album FINALLY out in shops on CD and on iTunes all over the world. I hear Best Buy is a good place to find it. Or Amazon.com of course, so no excuses! You can get your hands on the music at last. Some new songs, some old but revamped! Hope you enjoy it… We heard that it's going down well at College Radio in the USA too, we're in the chart this week and it's only been up for a few days! Yay! Thanks also to everyone who bought it at iTunes as we got to number 20 in the electronic album chart and one of the songs was number 65 in the electronic top 100… yeeehaaah!!!

The last time I wrote I was in New York. My last day in New York it SNOWED! And I put my foot in the largest puddle I've ever seen and felt like a real New Yorker as it was a puddle that looked like pavement! So it was tricking me! I hear everyone in New York has had this experience where they step onto the street, and end up under water up to their ankles! Very funny, but very cold. And not the best way to start your final day in the big apple. So I turned up to my business meeting with the whole US team – radio, press, agent and label crew – with wet feet.

I did some cool interviews in New York including BPM magazine which is out now in shops, I was on a panel with the likes of Moby, Larry Tee, MSTRKRFT and some other cool people. Pink Rock Candy blog's Chelsea Rae as well as the awesome Uncensored Interview video website, I got very passionate about stuff! That'll be live in the next 2 weeks. Also did I tell you that I did a great interview, with very good questions, for ireallylovemusic.co.uk? Check it out - that website has supported us since the very first EP.

When I got home to the UK, I went almost immediately down to Brighton to hang out with some friends and soak up the sun (yes sun!) by the seaside. I love Brighton so much, it's where Temposhark originally started and one day I'd love to buy a house there overlooking the sea. It's so close to London on the train, but it feels a million miles away, it's so laid back and inspiring.

What else? I got to see Laura Marling live at a tiny showcase at the Union Chapel which was wonderful. I hung out with my dear friend Phillipa Horan at her studio and she showed me all of her new paintings, which are the most beautiful, wonderful paintings I've seen in a long time. I really click with her work. My other dear friends Lady Caroline Butler and Emiliana Torrini came over for Easter Sunday to my flat and we had a grown ups lunch – was so so so much fun!

I've been to lots of art galleries recently in my spare moments. It was a sad week as Angus Fairhurst passed away but it was nice that everyone was together for these two evenings, there was a definite sense of togetherness and reflection. Times like these always remind me how important friends and family are, and also how important music and art are to us all.

I enjoyed the Simon Popper exhibition in the George & Dragon pub's White Cubicle, the Isa Genzken show at Hauser & Wirth and the new John Currin show at Sadie Coles – it was a mad evening - the art was amazing as was the crowd there - stars like Hugh Grant, Mick Jagger and Neil Tennant from the ever-wonderful Pet Shop Boys. The new White Cube show is also amazing, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe – and curated by my hero Harland Miller. I met Cerith Wyn Evans for the first time that night, who I adore.

Talking of art, our animated video for 'Blame' is now finished. I commissioned my Japanese artist friend Motomichi Nakamura to direct the video, which is an extention of his own art. Check it out now at YouTube and look out for it coming on sale at iTunes in the next month or so… I'm very proud of it. It's just the first of many exciting videos to come. (By the way, a mate just emailed me this cool video for It's Better To Have Loved, it's amazing what people can do these days!)

For the past week we've been in a rehearsal room in West London working our asses off during the daytimes getting everything ready for the upcoming live shows. It's gonna be great… it's been so fun to work with Luke Juby for the first time and to hang out with Mathis and Mark again… I'd missed them.

We heard that Walmart.com has made us artist of the week this week, giving away our song 'Blame' as a free download! How cool is that? I never thought I'd be in Walmart, let alone their artist of the week! Mad the things that can happen… onwards!!!

See you all very soon, make sure you say hello at the gigs!

Love R.xx

St Louis, NACA, NYC, Tegan & Sara, Diving Bell, Motomichi - 20 Feb '08

Hi gang,

I'm writing to you from my friend's New York apartment, looking out at the amazing lit-up skyscrapers. We're in uptown West, near the Lincoln Centre. I've never stayed round here before and it's a nice experience as I usually stay in the East side in hotels. I'm overtired and feel a bit like a cold is coming on, but I had to write to you as I can't sleep.

I went out tonight on my own in NYC. I went shopping at Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Borders to stock up on CDs I've been meaning to get for ages but never had the time to buy. I got all of Tegan & Sara's back catalogue including their DVD. I LOVE TEGAN & SARA. LIKE SERIOUSLY LOVE THEM. Their music has rekindled something inside me. I feel energised when I hear their music. REALLY good feeling.

I also got new albums by people including Radiohead, M.I.A., KD Lang, SIA, Ingrid Michaelson and Kate Nash to check out what they've all been up to. Nice to have some new music.

I had dinner in a tiny café and then went to the cinema on Broadway. It was such a cute cinema. Really small and old school… I saw the Julian Schanbel film 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly' which is the best film I've seen in ages. I laughed. I cried. I feel renewed. It was a deep, deep emotional journey watching the film but it's moments like these that make me feel so good. These kind of films are why people make films or paint or write songs. It's why people are creative. So, so powerful. SEE IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. It's in French but with very easy to follow subtitles. It inspired me so much, I was writing lyrics in my head the whole way through so I had to frantically type them up into my mobile phone as the credits rolled.

I can't recommend it enough. I even bought the original book which the film is based on straight afterwards. I'm going to read it on the plane back. My favourite shots were of country and seaside scenes which reminded me of Tracey Emin's 'Top Spot' movie in Margate.

I've also been reading a great book called Passenger by Billy Cowie, that my friend has just published. It's a very cool book so check it out.

Our Temposhark trip to St Louis, Missouri this week was a big success. I REALLY enjoyed myself, I don't think I've laughed that much in ages. My super-heroes Vera and Marc, who are working with us in the USA on all things Temposhark, and I set up our own Temposhark booth/stand at the NACA conference.

For those who don't know, it's a big yearly conference for students/colleges and universities to choose new talent for their universities. As we're a new band we wanted to introduce ourselves because we're planning a US college tour soon, later this year. We gave out free CDs, mp3 drop cards, button badges, Tshirts – all kinds of fun stuff. But the funniest part was a photo booth we had - we took photos and they're put online in a Temposhark frame (see photo with this blog!).

And on the last day we gave away an iPod which brought a big smile to the winner! We met some awesome people including the MTV U team who had a stand opposite us, we're planning on doing some cool stuff together including getting the upcoming video for 'Blame' screened with them. I meant to say that I met Motomichi Nakamura last week in NY, who is directing it, creating a whole animated world for us. Enjoyed finally meeting him in person and all the storyboards he's done ROCK!

St Louis is a wonderful place. In the centre of St Louis stands a massive monument, a large man-made metal arch. It's really beautiful and I loved the way it changed appearance throughout the day depending on the light…

If you met us at NACA, thanks for a great time! We really enjoyed meeting you all and hope to see you in April & May when we come out on our US tour.

On a totally other tangent, I was really angry today because I read two articles in the newspaper flying to NY from St Louis. One was about the paparazzi stalking Britney Spears. WHY CAN'T EVERYONE LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's just sick. It's like animals going in for the kill, the photo of the hundreds of cameramen outside her car was just like dogs going in for a fox. It makes me feel sick. No one deserves to be treated like that. It's WRONG.

And the other article was about a university student who killed himself and his friends at school. It's so sad.

All the things I've mentioned above - that I've read, listened to and watched in the last week have reminded me how important it is to stay positive, hopeful and creative. We can do anything we want. It's in our hands. Be kind. Be there for you friends and family. And most of all - listen to some good music and smile!

I'm feeling very lucky and excited about the coming year. My album is coming out in the shops at last next month and I can't wait for more people to hear it and to play the songs live.

Much love to you all. Goodnight.

R.xx

p.s. big thanks to the team at USA MySpace for featuring us this week on their Music page. SO cool!!! We've had over 42,000 listens in a few days... incredible. :)

On my way to New York... - 14 Feb '08

Hi gang,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE! :)

I'm about to head out to the airport for my 10 day USA trip... not sure I've told you about it yet. Doing some interviews in New York then heading over to St Louis for the NACA conference which is where the colleges and Universities get to hear about new music and entertainment for the coming year! And we have a Temposhark stand there which I'll be at with my awesome US team... if you're going make sure you come say hello as there will be lots of free Temposhark goodies!

If my flight arrives on time tonight, I might just make it to Madison Square Garden to see Alanis perform live... hope I make it, as it'll be nice to see her sing all the new songs I heard at Guy's a few months ago... she has a great voice live too.

At the end of next week I'll be in New York again and am meeting up with Motomichi Nakamura who is currently making our FIRST EVER official Temposhark music video. It's going to be an animation and I'm VERY excited about the storyboards that he sent me yesterday. It's really cool. You might know him from his recent work with Swedish band The Knife.

We also have a radio edit now for 'Blame' which is much shorter than the album version. The awesome Andy Bradfield mixed it for us. It's up on Last.fm if you'd like to hear it! Andy's got a wicked new recording studio so it was great getting to see him and hang out at his new place...

Talking of 'Blame', it was nice to hear we'd reached the final for the International Songwriting Competition in the US! I hear the judges were amazing artists like Nelly Furtado, Robert Smith from The Cure and Julian from The Strokes amongst others. Cool!

Sean and I have written LOADS of new songs over the last month for album number 2. I even have a potential album title! Hoping to record it at the end of this year, it's going to be a love more live than before, with Mark and Mathis performing on all the tracks, so it should feel rockier whilst still keeping electronic elements tied in.

Got in touch with hip hop artist Akira The Don this week too, and he's updated the remix he did for us years ago of 'Bang'. It's the new 2008 version, very HOT! We did it for US magazine XLR8R and their new compilation CD. You can check out the remix now at our Temposhark Remixes page on MySpace.

Caught up with some friends - saw Phillipa Horan for her friends gig, a band called The Rebel. REALLY good gig!

I did some more interviews including a long one for Redefine magazine in the US where I will be guest commentator in the new issue... it's a great magazine focused on music and art, so be sure to pick it up.

I had two photoshoots with Stephen Dupont (see photo with this blog). He's a new photographer I love. We did some around where I live and in my flat, and yesterday we did a second shoot around Waterloo and the South Bank.

I was also at the South Bank last week, Sophie Solomon and Marius De Vries did a wicked gig in the South Bank Centre last week with the awesome choreographer Rafael Bonachela (who is most famous for his work with Kylie). It was an hour long modern dance production with the guys performing live music over the top. It was seriously powerful and really nice to see them up there doing their thing! We had fun afterwards in the middle of St James' park, in a wood cabin restaurant! A good place to party...

Plus, good news! We're just confirming out USA tour dates (looks like it'll start April 16th and finish sometime around 18th May). They'll be announced very soon. Also, we have a competition coming up on MySpace where you can win one of three different iPods (the grand prize is an 80GB iPod, so make sure you enter!!!)

Lots of love, R.xx

OLDER»

RELEASES

The Invisible Line (2008 debut album) - 25 Mar '08

XLR8R Magazine Compilation CD - 02 Mar '08

Robopop 'The Return' 2CD Compilation - 20 Nov '06