Mark Haze - Where Angels Fear to Fly - Official Music Video

Photo Challenge! - "Cruising"

I've always had an interest in photography, so for my birthday in March, my wife along with a few members of our family chipped in to buy me a decent camera. After buying a book on photography and practicing a bit, she's decided I need a challenge. So, every now and then she thinks up a different style of photo that I should take.

Quite a while back, she suggested I take a photo that shows motion. Although it is long overdue, I finally managed. Yesterday, as it was such a nice day, I took a walk through town at around lunch time and snapped a few photos, amongst which I got this one entitled "Cruising" (Click to enlarge the photo).

I managed to take a few other nice ones, which I'll add soon.

My next photo challenge is to create an interesting landscape/cityscape photo. It should be fun. :)

Blogging like it's going on Twitter

Hi!

Yes, I'm still here.

I've decided as of today to update my blog more frequently, but with shorter posts and hopefully more photos.

I have a decent camera now, so I therefore have no excuse not to take cool photos and share them with the world.

My blog is basically going to be like a Twitter account. Short, to-the-point, and hopefully interesting.

Thanks for your patience during my 6+ months of inactivity.

For your patience, and as part of my promise, here's a photo I took a while back of a rainbow on Table Mountain from my apartment window. No editing done on it as of yet. :)

Back in the studio

I've spent the past few weeks at Bellville Studios recording drums for the upcoming Mark Haze album. It has been a blast working with the legendary Theo Crous, who is not only a fantastic engineer and producer, but also very easy to get along with and lots of fun to work with.

It has been quite a while since I've been in a studio, which proved to be a bit of a hindrance for me. I think I've grown so accustomed to not hearing enough of myself due to poor on-stage monitoring at shows or just the loudness of our rehearsal room, that I actually found that playing in studio is a lot harder than I remembered it to be.

You see, playing drums on a studio recording immediately puts your abilities as a musician under the microscope. If at any point you're slightly out of time with the click track, the engineer's hawk-like vision notices this while he examines the waveforms on the screen, and even though the untrained ear might not notice it, that little error can be catastrophic in the long run. I had to re-play several parts to get them just right, as contrary to my prior knowledge, you can't always fix human error with a Pro Tools plugin.

However, the recordings so far are sounding great and I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it. Bellville Studios is an incredible place to work and this is noticeable just by looking at the equipment on offer. I had the privilege of playing a Yamaha Absolute Maple Custom kit along with a rare Ludwig Black Beauty brass-shell snare. The sound quality and feel of the kit was fantastic and the sound that Theo got out of it is world-class. I cannot wait for you to hear the finished product.

Apart from recording, I have been enjoying life in Cape Town, although I think the wind is about 10km/h stronger outside my apartment than anywhere else in the city. I've discovered a ton of fun places to eat and hang out at, all a few minutes away from home. The joys of living in the city... :)

Although I haven't been blogging as much as I would like to, I hope you've been enjoying my Twitter updates. If you're not already following me, and you're interested, feel free to do so HERE.

Adios, until next time! :)

Begin New Transmission...

I'm not even going to count the number of days/weeks/months since my last post. I've been busy, so here's a quick round-up of everything that's happened in the past few months.

My last post was on 23 September 2011. I got engaged the next day, which was our 7-year anniversary, on top of Table Mountain. I then got married a little over a month later on 11-11-11. It was awesome and being married is fantastic. Nicole and I are very happy. We received a lot of gifts and kind wishes from our friends and family, which are very much appreciated. On that note, we have moved into a new apartment in Cape Town and are enjoying life in the concrete jungle, although we have a great view of Table Mountain, which makes it seem far from the city.

I had a really fun Christmas and New Year and have been enjoying the summer. It is good to be performing again. If you didn't realise, my brother, Mark Haze, came 2nd in the last season of Idols SA, which has helped our band tremendously. We no longer perform as 12th Avenue, but rather as his band. It's basically the same as always, just better shows, and since we are all basically session musicians now, it opens us up a bit more to collaborate with other artists, which is quite cool. Mark also signed to Universal Music, which is pretty awesome. We've been working hard on new material and will be heading into studio in a couple weeks time to record his new album, which Universal will be releasing.

The shows have been very well attended and it's great to see so many new faces in the crowd, as well as everyone else who has stuck with us through thick and thin. It's been good to travel more than usual lately too, even though I miss home during tour.

There it is, the last few months in a nutshell. It doesn't sound all that exciting the way that I'm writing it, but it has been quite a roller coaster of a time. When I have a bit more time and energy to put into my blog, I'll maybe go into more detail. Maybe not, though. Just because I have a blog doesn't mean that I have to share absolutely everything that goes on in my life. That's what Facebook is for, right?

If you're in Cape Town this Friday, 27 January 2012, get down to Mercury Live in De Villiers Street. We'll be performing there and it should be a blast. Get your tickets at Webtickets.co.za

Adios!

Backstage passes

Continuing in showing off my collection of partially focused cellphone photography, I snapped a few pics of some backstage passes I've collected from various shows I've played or been involved in somehow. Check it out!

 

 

Hard Rock Cafe - Cape Town - 1999

I was only 11 when this show happened, but I got this backstage pass when I went to the soundcheck with my uncle, whose band headlined the event. It was the New Year's Eve/Millennium Party and it was also my first visit to the Hard Rock Cafe. 

 

 

 

Lanners Landing - Klapmuts - 2002 or 2003

One of the most intense shows I've been to. This took place before I joined 12th Avenue. I was working as a roadie/lighting technician (underage labour) for the band at the time. The crowd was so crazy that someone picked up a monitor from the front of the stage and passed it around the crowd!

 

 

 

 

 

Southern Exposure Festival - Observatory - 2003

 My first (unofficial) show with 12th Avenue. Their drummer at the time had hurt his hand and I filled in for him.

"Crazy" EP Launch - Mercury Live - Cape Town - 2005

Our first EP launch was a major DIY effort. We had these passes made for the band and crew and spent the entire night before the show inserting the CD sleeves into the cases, as we printed the first set of discs ourselves.

"Crazy" Tour - 2006

My second tour with 12th Avenue, which included my first trip up the Garden Route.

RAMFest - Rawsonville - 2007

We played the opening night of the inaugural RAMFest outdoor festival. It rained really hard for most of the night, but stopped when we hit the stage, and we got the funniest stares ever from the late night staff at the local KFC. I suppose we asked for it showing up in our stage clothes...

"Rock N Roll Circus" Tour - 2007

Much of this tour is a blur to me. I do, however, remember falling asleep for a few seconds on stage in Durban, due to pure exhaustion,  as well as Mark and I having to ice our feet after walking on hot tarmac to the beach.

Seether SA Tour - 2008

Nights 1 & 2 of Seether's "Homecoming" tour. Good times!

Seether SA Tour - 2008

The venue for the Durban show didn't have enough space for dressing rooms for the support acts, so Shaun from Seether was cool enough to share their room (and their food) with everyone. 

Seether SA Tour - 2008

Final night of the Seether tour. What a party!

FIFA World Cup FanFest - 2010

 We were selected to play four shows at the various Cape Town FIFA FanFests. We met some fun football fanatics (alliteration...nice) at those shows.

Random Festival - 2010 or 2011

I don't actually remember what show this is from, but I thought it was cool that the promoter made custom passes for each band.

Busy busy busy!

After a moderately quiet April, touring for 12th Avenue is in full swing again. Already, we have a few battle scars, which are an inevitable part of any tour. I have a few scratches on the back of my hands that I assume are from loading equipment into a vehicle. I've also been dealing with blisters on my fingers from drumming, which are thankfully all calloused now, as well as on one of my toes, as a result of doing a 10km walk the other day. My bassist, Brian, was unfortunate enough to get his thumb caught in a car door at the last show, but thankfully it's just bruised and he can still play bass.

Apart from minor injuries, the shows have been incredible so far, and we have loads more coming up. Thank you to everyone that's come to the shows so far. Your support is greatly appreciated and you really make it that much more meaningful for us.

Make sure you get down to one or more of the following 12th Avenue shows. We'd love to see you there!

12th Avenue upcoming tour dates so far:

6 May - Nameless Pub, Somerset West
10 May - Aandklas, Stellenbosch
21 May - Private Event, Cape Town
26 May - Tings n Times, Pretoria
27 May - Cool Runnings, Fourways, Johannesburg
28 May - Die Mystic Boer, Bloemfontein
3 June - The Grand Daddy Hotel, Cape Town
10 June - Plaasteater, Brackenfell

One of the strangest things to see on a train

I took this photo a few months back and have shared it with a few friends. I decided it's finally time to unleash it upon the internet! It's a little out of focus, but if you look carefully you can make it out.

Finger licking good...well, not exactly.

 
Yes friends, those are indeed chicken bones the floor. Where was this taken? The alley behind the local KFC? A traditional healer's backyard? No, this photo was taken inside one of Cape Town's mind-numbingly awesome Metrorail trains. I know I get hungry when traveling, but whoever devoured this culinary delight must've had some appetite.

This is among one of the many wonders that you can experience on the Metrorail system. I've yet to snap a pic of the shirtless, tattooed ex-prisoner that I once saw. Although, thinking about it now, I don't think he'd appreciated that very much. :)

Don't forget - 12th Avenue live in Durbanville this Saturday! - 30 April, 9pm, at Blizzard (Wellington Rd.) with Silent Side and Save the Ears for Breakfast! See you there!

Something to look forward to

Last Friday, I went to check out U2 at Cape Town Stadium, and what a show it was. It's the biggest show I've attended and I was really impressed by their performance and the over-the-top 360° stage, complete with moving walkways and video screens. We sat far back, but it was still amazing. Here's a photo of the show:

Thankfully, even though U2 have demolished my hopes of ever seeing a concert of such epic proportions again, I still have something to look forward to, and so do you!

I'm talking about my band's album launch show. It's taking place at Mercury Live in Cape Town, SA on Friday, 01 April 2011. (Yes, that is the date. For the last time, it's not an April Fool's joke!)

We're hoping to see lots of people there. There's going to be merchandise on sale and the new album will be sold at a special introductory price. (I know how much you all love sales!) Our good friends, The Undefind, will be opening the show for us, and then we'll be performing. Hooray!

If you want to win tickets to the show as well as a copy of the new album, take a look at 12th Avenue's website - www.12thavenueband.com - where you'll find a link to the competition. Also, don't forget to "like" us on Facebook, as we're running a competition there as well.

Hope to see you there!

U2 tomorrow!

I am officially excited. Tomorrow night, rock legends U2 are performing at Cape Town Stadium! I heard that the show in Johannesburg was excellent and I'm sure this one is going to be as good. Even though I'm in the "cheap seats", I think it'll be epic. It's pretty much the same place I was seated for the FIFA World Cup 2010, and we could see everything on the field quite easily, so I'm sure it'll still be great.

Hopefully I'll get a couple of good photos to share with you.  If not, you can just check out the blurry ones! :)

Tis the Season...

My Google countdown timer shows that, at the moment, it's just more than 4 1/2 days until Christmas, which is my favourite time of year. It's hot and sunny (although really windy in Cape Town), and unless you have air-conditioning, you generally feel kind of sticky, but it's okay, because everyone else feels the same. You eat and drink too much, but that's pretty normal for me, and your skin feels tingly all the time because you're A) sweating, B) sunburnt, or C) both A and B.

Apart from the all-round awesomeness of Summer, Christmas time is just really fun. You meet up with people who you never see on any of the other 364 days of the year. Family members that you usually can't tolerate are nicer because they buy you great gifts. (Thankfully, I get along pretty well with my family, regardless of gift buying skill :) ) You see friends at church on Christmas morning, who are never there on any of the other 51 Sundays of the year. If you're not at the malls, fighting through the masses of annoying shoppers with their 6 children per family all screaming and crying for toys and sweets, life's pretty awesome around Christmas.

I've been staying in Cape Town for the past week, instead of my usual hometown of Bellville. My girlfriend and I are looking after a friend's place and cat while she is away on holiday. It's a nice change from home. We have a partially obstructed view of Table Mountain and are in walking distance of some pretty good restaurants. We've been getting up later than normal and playing stacks of Lego Star Wars on the PC. In other words, living the dream! Hehe!

On the band front, pre-production is in phase 2. We've selected the songs for the new album and are now putting them together with proper lyrics and getting all the parts perfect, so we don't have to do too many retakes in studio.

Here's a sample of some of the demos that we've been working on:

I haven't been listening to all that much new music at the moment, mostly shuffling my music library and listening to whatever my media player decides on. However, I have been listening to Taking Back Sunday's Live from Orensanz album, which is an awesome live acoustic show.

Since I highly doubt I'll even be near a PC, let alone online, on Christmas day, I'm going to wish everyone a Merry Christmas now. I hope it's a great one for you all! :)