12th Avenue MFM Radio Performance and Interview

My band, 12th Avenue, spent some time at MFM 92.6 in Stellenbosch yesterday. If you missed the interview and performance, check out the link below to listen to it.

12th Avenue on MFM - 23 March 2011

Don't forget about our album launch on 1 April 2011, at Mercury Live in Cape Town!

What's been cooking in the kitchen that is my mind.

So it's been a while since my last post. In this time, I've grown a year older (and hopefully wiser), been to the zoo, and watched my girlfriend shave her head to raise money for Cancer research. (She has a good looking head on her shoulders, so I don't mind. hehe! ) The band also collected our first batch of endorsed items from Paul Bothner Music. A huge thank you to them. Their endorsement is a huge help to our band.

As I'm typing this, I'm enjoying an amazing tuna sandwich, and a fairly mediocre cup of coffee, the combination of which is making me feel rather ill. I'm listening to the album "Sci-Fi Crimes" by Chevelle. I've been a fan of Chevelle since I heard "The Red" back in high school. I still really like that song. "Sci-Fi Crimes" is a very cool record. There's a lot of raw emotion in the songs that is often lacking in a lot of today's music (I'm not really a fan of the whole "baby, baby, shake your booty" thing).

I've started reading "Life" by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones (Thanks Nix for this awesome birthday present). It's such an interesting book and he tells his life story in such a way that even ordinary moments seem like an adventure. As little as I have in common with Keith in terms of lifestyle and upbringing, I admire his passion for music. The man truly loves it. I'm not even a quarter way through it, but it's already becoming a favourite for me. I've read "U2 by U2" and Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries", but this seems to take the cake so far.

12th Avenue's new record is being mastered. We've started promo on it already and have also started rehearsing our set for the Cape Town album launch on 1 April at Mercury Live. We have a number of interviews happening on the days leading up to the launch, which is always exciting. Tomorrow, we meet with the TygerBurger, a local newspaper, and in the week of the launch, we have interviews with Bush Radio and MFM. The MFM interview also consists of an on-air acoustic performance, which should be fun.

Alright, I think I've written enough to keep people occupied for a while. Later, alligators! haha! :)

Give a little bit back

I was sitting and staring at my PC screen wondering what I should write for my next blog post, but couldn't think of anything that's really going on that I haven't already mentioned recently. 12th Avenue's new record is just about done (we just have mastering left), and I'm feeling pretty chilled about life (surprisingly). That's when it dawned on me...I've got it pretty good.

In fact, if you're able to read this post, whether on your PC at home, or at work, or on your phone, or if you're really lucky, your iPad, then you've got it a lot better than a large percentage of the world's population. So why not give a little back to those who really need it. There's a line in our song "Insane" that goes "Rock n Roll can save the world", so I figured maybe I could start living that line a little bit, and maybe you could too. So here's a few things that I feel passionate about, that maybe you could try out to make the world a bit of a nicer place to call home.

I love animals. My girlfriend and I occasionally volunteer at our local Animal Anti-Cruelty League branch. It's really easy and they're always looking for people to help out with a few odd jobs, but mostly just to give each of the animals a little bit of love and attention. Check out their website: www.aacl.co.za.

Help a brother out!

If you're not able to get hands-on like that, get clicking instead. Go to www.barkingmad.co.za and click the button on the right-hand side to donate bowls of food for shelter animals all over South Africa. You can do it once a day.

bzzzzz...

If you're feeling charitable and in need of a new hairdo, get down to a CANSA Shavathon in your city, this weekend (5-6 March). All proceeds go towards Cancer research. If you're not feeling up to losing those locks, just get it sprayed a fun colour for the day. Go to www.shavathon.org.za for details.






Then, if you're feeling really brave, you can also donate blood that can save someone else's life. I'm absolutely terrified of needles, so if you're a blood donor, I salute you! www.sanbs.org.za is where you can find info on becoming a donor.

So there you have it. Just a few easy ways of making a difference. :)