LATEST WRITING NEWS

23/5/2012

Hi everyone. I'm still alive! And plugging away at the writing.

I'm in Sydney at the moment, staying in a beautiful old Tudor house right in the heart of the city. And I've set up a mini studio the big front room that has a massive leadlight bay window, just about to get stuck into it after I finish writing up this blog.

Prior to this I've been writing in a couple of different places. One was at a country house in Smith Lake which is on the central coast of New South Wales. Rugged slate blue ocean waters, beautiful green temperate forests, lots of birdlife (sea eagles, wedge tails, kookaburras, parrots), inky black night skies and a lot of rain. This place really gets under your skin. I ended up getting two songs out of it. I like them both. I've already demoed one of them and I'll work on demoing the other today and see how it goes.

Some Lake House photos

After this stint I went back to Melbourne and set up in a friends old tin shed. It's pretty cool. I've got a heater in there. My special cushion that I bought just for the chair, pictures of things on the wall that are inspiring me at the moment or feel like they are informing the artwork for the next album. I've got my pro tools set up with my vocal mic, guitar and also midi keyboard which has been an absolute revelation for me. It's so awesome. I've been programming very basic beats to go with a couple of the
new songs. It's been life changing!

The shed set-up

I was up until about 5am one morning just going over and over this one song. Just jamming it and jamming it, almost falling asleep over my guitar and I didn't really think anything of it except that I wanted to at least get some sort of arrangement so I could record the guitar part and then come back and do the lyrics the next day.

But the next morning I hooked up the midi instead and started messing around with some drum stuff and got this kind of danceable beat. It changed it instantly and took it to a whole other level. I was quite pleased with this new turn of events and just followed it all the way, adding a really melodic bass line and making up some vocals that fit this new sound.
The rest of the time I've been demoing other whole songs. That's been my aim….to try and stick to finishing a whole song rather than just set it aside when I've got the basics of it. I usually do that and then come back to it but this time it's been relieving to have a whole song finished in demo form that I don't have to go back to.

The other thing I've started doing which I usually don't do is to arrange and record a whole song but with just the instrumental part of it and then work out the vocals later. This is a lot of fun. I mostly do this when I collaborate with other musicians who will send me a finished track with no vocals and I'll have to make that part up. Now I'm doing it for myself. It's been a really fresh way to work.

Guitar rig So I've got a few new songs under the belt and most of them are demoed, some needing verses, drum pattern and extra bits. I've also got some very strong ideas for songs sitting around which I need to fashion into whole finished songs. But I also really want to keep writing new stuff. Just keep on letting it flow out. I'll be back and let you all know how my current Sydney jaunt goes. And here's some photos I took too. One of them is the tin shed door. I hang the spotty umbrella to let my friend know I'm in there working.

The Umberella in question...

Oh yeah, where I'm staying, there are stacks of classic books surrounding the dining table, stuff like Name Of The Rose, The Great Gatsby, authors like Kafka, George Orwell, Voltaire, Tim Winton, Foucault. And over breakfast this morning one of the books caught my eye.

A title called The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera who I only know from his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I opened it up to a random page and found a section called What is Litost? And it totally struck something in me. Basically he talks about an emotional condition caused by a deep remorse, pain and longing. He goes on to say, and I quote, '…Litost is a state of torment caused by a sudden insight into one's own miserable self'. Sounds depressing I know but I just love how a legendary writer can articulate these human feelings so precisely that it wakes up your brain like an electric shock.

Ok, so with this inspiration, in I go…...

BLOG

6/3/2012

Hey Cats.
 
I'm writing again. I'm very excited to be too.

In early January of this year, I sequestered myself into the Lola room at Bakehouse. A very cool space that looks out onto a busy road. It was nice at night to look out onto all the cars whizzing past, making streams of colour with their headlights and shadows on the wall. A good backdrop for the sounds I was making.

The Lola room, my January hideaway

I spent about 2 weeks in there writing and got a fair clutch of songs in my pocket. I got round to recording a couple of them in full too on my new ProTools stuff (which I still have so much to learn about!).

Then I ended up in Sydney and spent a couple of weeks writing in a nice little studio right near the heart of the city. There were lots of white walls, warm old brick and wood paneling. I was using a different guitar too, a Telecaster (which is one of the few guitar models I like besides my trusty Gibson SG). I think it's good for me to use other people’s guitars. Sometimes it's good to get out of my comfort zone and not be too attached to doing songwriting only one way or on one type of instrument. Sometimes I even feel like I've sucked my own guitars dry and I need to leave them alone so that they can 'refuel'.

There was piano in the studio too which I used to do some writing on - and a neat little Fender Jazz bass that I used in one session. I did some very late nights in there and got a few full songs and a fair few sketches of ones. Sometimes after a session I'd walk into the city and have a late night snack. That was a nice ritual.

  My favourite green tea before my Sydney sessions

I'm back in Melbourne now, writing in St Kilda. Somehow it's worked out that I've found myself with opportunities to write in different spaces, which is a first for me for a record. It'll be interesting to see what keeps coming out. So far I'm pretty pleased.

So, right now I'm in the process of recording demos for a lot of them and then getting the rest of the sketches and ideas into some sort of shape ready for demoing too. I shall be back with more reportage soon.
Over and out me captains.

Adalita x

ADALITA AT THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT HAS SOLD OUT

Adalita's upcoming Famous Spiegeltent show at the Melbourne Arts Center has sold out! If you got in early and grabbed yourself a ticket, see you there on Thursday March 22!

SHOOTIN' POOL WITH HENRY WAGONS...

Adalita recently stepped into Henry Wagon's lair at the Tote Hotel - for a bit of a chat, but mostly to take him on in a no-holds-barred game of pool. Check it out here! 

AMP SHORTLIST 2012 ANNOUNCED

After pouring through hundreds of entries, the judgest for the 7th Annual Australian Music Prize have shortlisted Adalita!  Her self-titled solo album is among the top 9 entries for the esteemed prize.  The final announcement will be made next Wednesday!

Congratulations to all entrants and finalists!

 The Amp

VOTE FOR ADALITA IN TRIPLE J HOTTEST 100

triple j's Hottest 100 voting closes tonight! This is your last chance to get your shortlist together!

BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUM - JAGERMEISTER INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS 2011

Adalita is incredibly excited to have won this years Jagermeister Independent Music Award for Best Independent Album 2011. Adalita, who was nominated for Best Independent Artist, Best Independent Album, Breakthrough Artist Of The Year and Best Independent Single (Hot Air) attended the ceremony as well as performing her latest single, 'Fool Around', on the night.

Adalita dedicated the award to Dean Turner, her long time friend and collaborator and Magic Dirt band mate, who passed away from cancer in August 2009. Dean co-produced her self-titled solo debut album and was the impetus behind her starting her solo venture. For highlights from the awards night please visit THE MUSIC.COM.AU or click below.

FOOL AROUND - BRAND NEW VIDEO

Bet you didn't see that coming. Here is Adalita's brand new video for Fool Around. Shot, directed and edited by the amazing Adam Harding, with assistance from the lovely Ben Butcher and JP Shilo, this is Adalita's first video as co-producer.

DEAN TURNER HONOURED AT LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2012

My Magic Dirt bandmate, best friend and musical mentor, Dean Turner, is being honoured at the St Jeromes Laneway Festival 2012 by having the Melbourne stage named after him. Dean was an extraordinary person, very involved and passionate about Australian music and the live scene and this is such a great way to honour his amazing legacy.

Dean passed away in August 2009 after a long and courageous battle with a rare form of cancer.

Thank you to to Danny Rogers' and Jerome Borazio's for their beautiful gesture.

For more information please visit MELBOURNE LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2012

7" VINYL - THE REPAIRER / HOT AIR - OUT ON THE PASSPORT LABEL

Adalita is excited to announce that The Repairer and Hot Air (radio edit) has been released on 7" vinyl in the UK on the awesome Passport Label. The Passport Label, founded by native Melbournian, Zoe White, aims to raise the profile of Australian acts in the UK and does great work to expose our amazing music scene overseas. This is a limited edition release so get in early!

Please visit www.passportlabel.com for more info.