A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Tony Fitz

From the Forest - Route One

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.


 

First, listen to this.

 

 

Now imagine being part of the first group of people to hear that song. And imagine that group of people is hearing that song in the middle of a Scottish forest. That’s what happened last month when the song played in the Galloway Forest as a part of the Dark Outside music festival. Described as “24 hours of music nobody has heard, in a place where nobody might be listening”, the event, which started in 2012, instantly captures the imagination, and our idea-fuelled friend Tony Fitz – you might know him as the organizer of the annual Irish Showcase at Couch by Couchwest – along with Jason Maher and Ruairi Lynch, took part with the project you heard above.

Tony calls the project From the Forest and describes it thus: “From The Forest captures what happens when random bunches of musicians come together for one-off sessions in an old house surrounded by trees. Inspired by Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions, this project is a way for the musicians involved to play and collaborate with no expectations or pressures.” You could hardly think of a better match for the Dark Outside.

Since the last time I wrote about Tony here, he has also released another project that I was in love with immediately: an album with an accompanying comic book. The western-themed work, Just Another Day, tells a story of loss and vengeance, rendered in a beautiful way. The music itself is gorgeous (Tony shared a song from the EP, “The Murder”, at CXCW 2014), and when experienced in tandem with the comic, with art by Tommie Kelly, it proves a genuinely affecting punch to the emotional gut.

Today, we are happy to have Tony join us to share some brilliant recommendations.

 

Book:
It absolutely fascinates me to see how someone else’s brain chews on ideas, working them over until something artistic gets spit out. Not just because it’s interesting, but you end up grabbing little pearls of wisdom, little workflow quirks or tricks that can try out and use yourself. I love when artists share how they approach and realise their work – not just because I learn a shit-ton from it, but because I feel more attached to the artist and their work as a result. Everyone wins. Austin Kleon’s “Show Your Work” is a brilliant book that really crystallises that ethos of sharing what you’re doing as you’re doing it, not just the end product. It will change how you think about showing off what you’re working on.

Grab a copy from http://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/

Album:
Conal McIntyre is one of my favourite songwriters, and I was a huge fan of his former band, Heritage Centre. His latest work is a collaboration with another huge talent, Joey Edwards, under the name “We, The Oceanographers”. They released their debut record earlier this year and it’s a triumph. The lads might refer to themselves as a “DIY bedroom rock band” in their bio, but that really doesn’t sum up the understated beauty of the songwriting, arrangement and production on this album. It’s witty, lo-fi pop at it’s absolute finest.

 
“Same Old Story”

We, the Oceanographers - Same Old Story

 

Their official site, with brilliantly entertaining and insightful blog posts and news updates is over at http://wetheoceanographers.tk, and you can find the album on https://wetheoceanographers.bandcamp.com

Drink:
Last weekend I found myself in a speakeasy style bar in Paris, ordering an Old Fashioned made with bacon-infused Bourbon. To be fair, you’d have to, wouldn’t you?
Apparently they’d robbed the recipe from infamous “secret” New York bar, PDT.
It was so damn good I scoured the internet to find out how to make it, and found this recipe:
http://nymag.com/listings/recipe/bacon-old-fashioned/
I’ve got some really nice bacon in the fridge and I suddenly know exactly what I’m going to do with it.

 

Festival Alert: Couch x CouchWest 2015

Now in its fifth year (!!!) Couch x CouchWest is once again coming to a screen near you. Very near you. Like, in your hand right now, if you’re reading this on your phone. Though if you want to make a YouTube playlist of the videos and project them on the nearest wall-like surface, YOU CAN. Such is the beauty of Couch x CouchWest!

Lineup: Anyone who sends in a video. Are you a musician? In a band? You should sit down on your couch / favorite chair / front porch / elevator shaft / etc and sing a song for in the internet. It will be awesome. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOON EASTERN MARCH 21st.

Dates: March 15-21

Location: Anywhere you want. In bed, in the bath (Carefully! Make sure your device is well protected from the water!), on a train, on a plane, on the bus, you are all welcome, come join us, where-ever you are.

Survival guide: As with That Other Festival, you will probably want snacks and cold beverages and comfortable clothes. The major differences: Pants are optional, pets are encouraged, there are no lines, you’ll never be shut out of a show unless your internet falls apart, and the only hipster is you. Plus the beer is way cheaper and the odds of people talking through/over music you are trying to listen to are WAY lower.

Highlights: The entire festival is a special experience, and I urge all y’all to catch as many sets as you can. The following are some things I personally am looking forward to:

1) The Irish Showcase. Tony Fitz has once again rounded up some luminaries and persuaded them to record some videos, and I can’t wait to see them.

Here’s one he recorded last year, featuring Rónán Ó Snodaigh (Kila) & Kristina Aspeqvist (Stockholm Vodou Orchestra), who literally met 10 minutes before this was filmed and did not discuss or rehearse their performance:

Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Kristina Aspeqvist | Cara Liom (CXCW 2014)

2) Unexpected gems of cover songs. There were thirty-four last year, and this one, a wholesale reinvention of NIN’s Closer by The Tonk Honkys quite justifiably got Best In Show. Not going to lie, I dolphin-clapped and squeaked with joy.

The Tonk Honkys cover Closer by Nine Inch Nails - CXCW2014

3) Surprise special guests. Last year, Rosanne Cash (!!) joined in the fun. This year Glen Hansard is going to be part of the Irish Showcase. (Okay, that kind of ruins the surprise, but – there might be more. ONE NEVER KNOWS.)

Here’s Roseanne Cash and The Thread from last year:

Rosanne Cash & The Thread - A Feather's Not A Bird (CXCW2014)

4) Finding out what Two Mule Blues will blow up this year. Spoiler alert: it will probably be a couch. Last year it was a white couch, neatly matching the snow on the mountains behind them:

Two Mule Blues - Old Vinyl and Innocence CXCW 2014

To attend the festival, click here, starting on March 15!

CXCW Highlights: The Irish Showcase 2014

I cannot think of a better way to observe St. Patrick’s Day then cutting myself a slice of soda bread, making a large cup of tea, putting my feet up, and settling in with the CXCW’s second annual Irish Showcase.

You can find the whole thing here; below are a few videos to give you a taste of the excellence to be had:

First, the incomparable Tony Fitz, producer and front of house manager for Homebeat, who organized the first seven videos in the showcase, with The Murder, the first track from his upcoming record. Joining him are Gráinne Hunt and members of Red Sail.

Tony Fitz | The Murder (CXCW 2014)

I don’t know if there’s a CXCW record for “Most Dogs Per Video” but if not, Carriages may have set one, with four, count them, FOUR happily wagging tails in this video for Pale Face which they wrote special for CXCW:

Carriages | Pale Face (CXCW 2014)

Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kíla and Kristina Aspeqvist, director of the Stockholm Vodou Orchestra met ten minutes before this video was recorded. The song is called Cara Liom:

Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Kristina Aspeqvist | Cara Liom (CXCW 2014)

Sleep Thieves, of Dublin, met on Twitter and bonded over synths and movie soundtracks. Here they are with French Kiss from their upcoming album You Want The Night, coming soon from Minty Fresh Records:

Sleep Thieves | French Kiss (CXCW 2014)

These next two videos are not Tony Fitz productions, but they are still great stuff.

Representing the West: Willow Sea (Will O’Connor), from Galway, with instrumental-in-progress Dying Starts:

Dying Stars, Instrumental in progress

And finally, last but never least, CXCW’s first participant from Northern Ireland, songwriter Rowena Cairns with You Could Break My Heart

http://youtu.be/DnRbDnqhFV4

Tony Fitz: Cut Me Up

Tony Fitz

 

Face front, true believers! I’m back in action! At least for the time being… As I’m on seasonal layoff from my day job through January, I’ll have enough time and brain power to contribute to the blog again, instead of just harassing you all on Twitter.

The NTSIB crew (can it be called a crew when there are just two of us?) love taking part in the Couch by Couchwest festivities every year, not least because we always manage together some new friends who also happen to be very talented. This past CXCW got us acquainted with Tony Fitz when he organized a very lovely Irish showcase.

Aside from all the behind-the-scenes work Tony does in production, recording, and sound engineering, he also makes music with his band Susie Soho. And in between everything else, he has began recording solo songs, releasing them on an as-ready basis, the first of which is “Cut Me Up”, which includes Ciaran Brady from Heritage Centre on drums, along with Jason Maher and Niall Campion on bass and guitar. Breaking my own rule of never comparing musicians, this song does slot easily beside Tony’s fellow countrymen the Frames in its laying bare the raw emotions of disappointment and anger while making you want to stomp, head bang, and fist pump to the jagged blasts of guitar and drums.

 


 

To check out Tony’s work on the technical side of things, you can listen to his production work for Red Sails on their EP We Still Build Forts, his live recordings for the Chapters, and his sound work for Homebeat.

 

Tony Fitz Official Website
Tony Fitz @ Twitter
Tony Fitz @ Facebook