'Johnny Red' Single Release

 

Dear Friends,

I am proud to say that I have the opportunity to release a new song with a video.

It is a full band studio single which I recorded in Newcastle Australia at Heavy Feet Studios and Holliday Music, earlier this year. It is apart of a four track concept which I am releasing at the end of the year. The songs have been recorded in all different parts of Newcastle with local musicians.

The song, 'Johnny Red' follows the tale of a 19th Century British convict sent to work in the coal mines near Newcastle, in early European Australia. I wrote this song some years ago, out on my friend's little farm out in the Hunter Valley, where most of the still existing mines are being dug. I was inspired to write and discover the stories and emotions behind why the mines are there today.

The clip, which I acted, directed and edited on my own (with a little help from a couple of very good friends), sees 'Musk' wandering through the streets of the modern day Australian mining town of Newcastle, looking for riches, after being possessed by an old mining axe that he finds on the beach. It took a whole day to film, just before I had to leave for Europe! AND, it almost didn't happen because Karl forgot his camera batteries. Wow. (But we managed to find a new camera in the end.) Here we are. :)

Anyway I'd like to thank you all for supporting Musk thus far. I hope that you can help me out and share this with you friends and on your social networks. I am just running independently at the moment, so that would mean the world. Let's do good and great things.

Listen to the track on Soundcloud.
Watch the clip here on Youtube.

Love.
Musk
x

NEWSLETTER (JUNE 2016)

Dear Friends,

How are we all? 
I am resting in a flat in COLOGNE in Germany,  a little sickly from the sweet travels that I have done over the past weeks in Europe. I thought this would be a nice time to write a little letter to you all and tell you some things that have been happening over the past few months and to thank you for all your support that you continue to show.

---

EP RECORDING
As you may or may not be aware, I have spent the last Australian summer planning and recording a new EP for your kind ears to listen to. It has taken months of love and attention and good will from everybody involved to produce an item that is of genuine quality and I am very excited to share it with you in the next coming months. It is a 4 track concept based on a 19th century english convict coming to Australia. I wrote it some time ago on a farm in NEWCASTLE, Australia, all the way back in 2013, and now it is finally coming to light. If you like, you can PRE-ORDER and exclusive hard copy bundle before I put the thing through the PR factory machine. Just follow the link below. :)

EUROPE 2016
Europe is as spectacular as ever. Truly a haven for musicians around the world. Ed and I got here in the early weeks of may and have been busking and doing shows mainly in GERMANY. My cellist friend and band mate, Stephanie (from Australia) joined us for one month and together we all played maybe five or six shows together, including the Festival of Folk in Teltow where people danced to my music for the very first time.

That was splendid.

We also played some very wonderful shows in Leipzig, organised by some very enthusiastic and kind friends there. There is a beautiful liberal spirit there firmly against the stagnant development in the city and and the growing nazi culture in europe. Thus it harbours some of the most inspirational, down to earth folk you could find.

In other adventures, just recently Ed and I have visited Amsterdam. We camped out in the east with Briar Rose & Sunshine. The city is very beautiful and the busking is good if you can avoid unwanted police behaviour. I cannot wait to go back and play some shows there and hang out with the people I met.

Photo: Svenja Huelsen

In the meantime I am gathering some strength again here in Colonge. I will be playing a house show on Saturday (RSVP: info@musketeermusic.com), learning some new songs, writing, and busking my little heart out before I head back across for more shows in Germany. Perhaps you will see me somewhere out there on the road. If you would like to know more about shows, just check the banner above, or keep tabs on Facebook & Instagram. 

And that is all for now.
Thank you to everyone who has been following me endlessly over the internets and your kind words on the streets. 
Without you guys, I'd be dead.
Love.
Musk
x

New Studio Single 'Fleece'

After recently completing a three month busking tour of Europe, Musketeer has released driving new studio single entitled, 'Fleece'. 

The new, stand-alone single is a metaphor written with the desire to break free of the monotony of society. It calls for others to do the same. The song is a reflective testament of the travels undertaken by Musketeer in recent years and has become a constant companion close to the heart of the folk troubadour himself. 

'Fleece' was mixed and recorded in Newcastle, Australia, in collaboration with Heavy Feet Studios and Holliday Music. Mastered in conjunction with Island Studios and Mixmasters Studios, Adelaide.

'Fleece' was produced independently by Musketeer.

You can listen to the new single below on Soundcloud. Or check out the Official video now on Vimeo & Youtube.

Recorded at Holliday Music. Newcastle. Australia. Engineer. Jacob Graham (Heavy Feet Studios) Mastered by Joseph Cheek & Mick Wordley at Mixmasters Studios, Adelaide. Vocals. Guitar. Musk. Bass. Angus Thomson Drums. Zach Falconer. Joshua Holliday (Extra toms.) Piano. Sebastian Dyer Culhane Trumpet. Tom Prichard (Arr. Colin Prichard) Electric Guitar. Edward Merrell ~ LYRICS stuck in a place where the wolves must face a price for their skin to be left in a circle or a crowd where the sheep are allowed to step on over their souls and I am one of them I am one of them but as soon as you’ve gone and got over the storm the water seeps in it’s sink or swim to the prisoners cage or the bottom again or right on into your grave and I am one of them I am one of them I am one of them I am one of them come my fellow wolves and flee flee from the fleece and don’t let those crooked lands beat you down cos you’re your own soul now. you’re your own soul now

Dear EUROPE,

dear EUROPE,

I miss you already.
I miss the endless stream of beer in Teltow. The Festival of Folk. Falling asleep at 4AM on the rickety trains whilst trying to avoid the ticket inspectors. I don’t miss getting arrested.
I miss the strange cement and plastic of Berlin, falling into strange bars where the folks are high and breathing through an amplifiers in order to express themselves.
I miss the gorgeous Czech girls. I don’t miss those tourists. Or the kebabs.
I miss the sweet night air, busking on a bridges and on cobbled streets in South Germany with dear ol' Ed. I don’t miss the bloody cops.
I miss all the gin consumed in Saarbrücken.
I miss the carousels in Strasbourg and the fine french food and wine. You could grow old in a place like that.
Paris you were chaotic. I miss not knowing what will happen next or who the hell I might bump into. I miss staring at you up on Montmartre. I miss getting high neath the Eiffel and being followed by a strange hooded girl. I don’t miss your taxi strikes (when we had to catch a plane). Nor your 13Euro gins. 
Sweden.
Sweden! I miss you most of all.
Your air.
Your almost summer time. Lying topless in your little green parks, finding lakes and music in the country side, and driving home in the bright night, watching the fog cling to the ground like spiderwebs.
Your bread. 
The hummus and dips we ate. 
The way you dress better then me. 
The way you have interior design sorted.
Oh and I miss the strange divide, the hot and the cold in your personalities. You were never afraid to tell me to shut up or to tell me your opinion. But your policemen never told me to shut up.
Ah.
busking in Götgaten in Stockholm at midnight was a special time. 
But busking in Gothenburg was not. But you guys know how to put on a show and party till time is no more.
I miss Malmö. I didn’t spend enough time in you. Next time I will…
Oh and the living rooms shows we played.
Joy.
AND Leipzig. Back in ol' Germany. You have a special thing going on which I won’t tell anybody about because I want to preserve it. Haha.

Ah but you know who I miss most of all. The people. My friends. New and old. Everyone on the streets throwing coins, smiles, and roses. The friends who just hung out and joined Ed and I on our journey. The people who put Ed and I up for a day. A week. A month. And fed us. Created shows for us and then got people to our shows. You know who you are. And well, we achieved life together. So thank you for that. Thank you for those blessings.

See you next year. Fingers crossed.

Love.
Musk.
x

PS. Don't forget to read what actually happened when I went out and busked. Here is the blog link (Start from post 31) : http://musketeermusic.tumblr.com/

SWEDISH LIVING ROOM TOUR 2015

Dear SWEDEN.

Good news! I am playing a small string of shows in some key cities around your country. Some friends and friends of friends have kindly let me into their homes for some intimate times...

04.07 STOCKHOLM. 8pm. w. I Wish I Was A Fish
12.07 GOTHENBERG w. Castlewoods
14.07 MALMO w. Old Wild

Entry will be FREE on all shows but there are limited spots. Please email the Musketeer "management" here to RSVP you and your friends: uponenglandswinter@gmail.com, or you can send me a message on Facebook, or confirm your spot on the street with me in person. 

Hopefully telling tales to you soon. 
Love. 
Musk.
x