Wow (2017 recap)
Wow, it's been an extremely long time since I posted anything to this website, which I admittedly keep forgetting exists xD
I figured I'd let you guys know what went on with Dax in 2017!
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In January Adam Walton played our track 'Hello, Mrs. Entity' on his BBC Introducing show on Radio Wales. To celebrate, we made this video for the song. Adam likened us to "...a super-annuated Steely Dan", and called the recordings he'd heard from The White Room Sessions "astonishing" - a word we were completely humbled and surprised by. This is the second time he's played a song from the album, after 'The Bug' in 2016, whose description as "...singular, idiosyncratic and rather excellent" is one we won't soon forget. Thank you, Adam, we love you.
In February, our video for 'The Changing Man' went viral after being shared on Reddit by a user called Zomeese (thank you, Zomeese). In a couple of days it garnered 100,000 views and currently sits just under 200,000 on YouTube. It was also featured by The Hook on Facebook, getting another 700,000-ish views. This experience taught us that being seen on the internet is stressful af. It's like letting 100,000 people into your house. People on YouTube were generally very kind, but most of the comments on Facebook and Reddit were rude, cynical, impatient, sarcastic, and presumptuous - which was very depressing, and made at least me (Tom) rethink my desire to climb the ladder in this field. Thankfully, though, the many wonderful reactions to the song and video (which I think were the majority) pulled me through, as well as the hope that the people who didn't enjoy it were just more outspoken than those who did.
At the end of February we released a video for the song 'HelloDoctorNameContinueYesterdayTomorrow'.
In April we completed the recording of our 2nd album's title track: 'thisisnotadream'. The song is a 27-minute progressive rock sonata - how pretentious does that sound? -.- Let's just call it a big fat lump of sound, or - as we refer to it - "the big track". We began recording in December 2016. The song is in 8 parts and details the narratives of 6 uncommonly vivid dreams I experienced in the wake of my Dad's suicide. The writing and recording process was a very fun, challenging and productive time, for the most part. The biggest challenge for myself was maintaining a professional distance from the subject matter, which I managed to do most of the time. The veneer slipped at least once, after watching that bloody Fresh Prince episode where Will's Dad comes back. The overarching message of the song came from our own conversations and revelations during recording. Whenever I saw my Dad in a dream, or whenever Bill saw his dog, or whenever anyone sees any lost loved one, we feel an overwhelming happiness or relief for the duration of the experience. For me, my Dad and I had full conversations which I can remember, verbatim. He imparted life-lessons to me, which, I suppose, had to have come from within me, but my subconscious mind used him as the mouthpiece - and it felt remarkably real. I saw him, and we talked, and I felt genuine emotions. It doesn't matter if I was asleep or not - it happened, and it can happen again.
Anyway, I submitted the piece for my 3rd-year university project. We were unsure how a rock piece would fare in a predominantly Classical envinronment, but, unbelievably, it won Bangor University's Parry Williams Prize for Composition, an A+ grade, and the following feedback from composers Pwyll ap Sion and Owain Llwyd (Google them, they're brilliant - and great people too):
"This is a truly astonishing project for a third-year student, unparalleled in its creative ambitions and originality. The eclectic range of musical styles covered here include everything from Genesis and Pink Floyd to Muse, with hints of King Crimson and Allan Holdsworth in between: an intoxicating blend of post-Rock, progressive Rock and electronic experimentation. The manner with which the overall concept is presented is extraordinary. The album would not sound out of place broadcast from beginning to end on one of the Radio 1 programmes that play more experimental post-Rock styles. The level of thematic unity is of a high standard. This is a remarkable project, brilliantly conceived and crafted, and without doubt one of the best pop projects I've seen in the past twenty years. This project from conception to production demonstrates a labour of love. Without a doubt, this should be released. You should consider either setting up your own record label, or reaching out to an independent record label that would support your type of unique sound."
Needless to say, we were stunned.
In May, we were the opening act at the 3rd Mark Sheldon memorial charity event in Air Products Social Club, Acrefair. This was the first time many of our friends and local musicians had seen us perform live, and the warmth of the reception was more than we could have anticipated - with the word "astonishing" being thrown out there for the 3rd time of the year (I know - mad) by the organiser of the event, Stuart Sheldon. We love you, Stuart x
In June we released this rather colourful video for 'The Bug'.
In July, on a very hot day, we headlined Holywell's B-Fest. It was bizarre arriving there and hearing some of our own music playing through the PA between acts. It was a great day. The sound guy said he was having a hard time trying to liken us to anyone else, before naming Prefab Sprout. Anyone who knows me can imagine how excited I was about that. We also went on the bouncy castle and marvelled at some close-up magic from a medieval warlock. It was a very grown-up day. If I manage to figure out how to add photos to this blog entry, or at least this website, check out Chris Noble-Williams' excellent photos of the event.
In August we opened the 4th annual DwellerFest in Bill's rather vast garden. Here's a smattering of our 2016 performance there. A lot of people came, including some old friends from school who had never seen us performing live in any of our incarnations. Some of Bill's friends travelled from Germany, just for the event. Everyone had a great night, which was lovely. A lot of alcohol was consumed.
In September we organised an event in The Boathouse in Chirk, with Colonel Dax, and Droogs - Tom and Bill's cover band. A lot of good friends and family turned up to that as well. It was another great night, and the owner of the venue wishes to have Dax playing there a few more times in 2018.
The rest of the year was spent preparing for the launch of our new album, thisisnotadream, on December 27th in Flexsys, Acrefair (here's a teaser). As well as remastering the big track, we set about recording 6 other songs to accompany it. We also undertook the mammoth task of learning the big track to perform live, including animated visuals, numerous instrument changes and sound effects. I was amazed at how well the band had it by the end - it really was something. Unfortunately, the mad rush of preparing and recording the new material, sending all artwork off to be printed and manufactured, learning the big track, hiring a large PA for the big room we were to perform in, animating the visuals, and suspending a big screen and a projector meant that all did not go to plan. The album wasn't "finished" until 2 o clock on the afternoon of release. Our soundcheck had to be cut short, resulting in a difficult performance (and, as I was informed later, a bad sound), and 10 minutes before the performance of the big track I discovered the projections wouldn't play on my Macbook (damn you, WMV format). All 5 of the cameras we had filming us failed in some way or another - all of them. Nevertheless, more than 100 people turned up, just to see us! Our performance was praised, despite the sound and lack of projections - and, very unexpectedly , the big track reduced a large number of the crowd to tears. A friend later remarked she had to go to the toilet to dry her eyes, only to find the cubicles were all occupied by women doing the same. We were glad the emotion of the piece evidently came across. The owners of Flexsys want us to play the big track there again in 2018, the way it was meant to be - projections and all.
After that night, I realised I'd come to associate that album with all my feelings of stress, disappointment and exhaustion, and have taken a break from it. I wasn't happy with the rushed result - in contrast with the painstaking attention I paid to the completion of The White Room Sessions. Honestly, it's been 3 weeks and I still haven't even listened to the new album (I've been informed that it's good, but I wouldn't be too sure about that). This week I am going to listen to it, iron out the creases, and do a bit of a remix before releasing it online. Roughly 15 physical copies of it were sold on the 27th. All of these people will receive a free copy of the updated version. The rest of the discs are, luckily, still blank, so the improved version will be burned onto these.
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And that was 2017. I hope you enjoyed it, Person-who-is-definitely-reading-this xD We are currently recording our 3rd album, Waiting Room, which is a project of mine that has been in the works for almost 6 years. I'm also writing material for the 4th album '539, due for release next year. The new songs are much more live-friendly, and will be entering our set for this year's gigs. Local pubs are starting to take an interest in us, despite a general reluctance to have non-cover bands. Now that we have enough material for 2 sturdy live sets, we are looking forward to spreading our gig wings, and getting regular bookings. Our next outing is Sunday March 11th at Pubby McPubface in Newbridge, North Wales. After that, Gigfest in Oswestry. Between those, and thereafter, hopefully many more.
If you've got this far, I'd be surpised, but cheers!
TDH x