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Hi all
Recently I’ve been looking at ways of managing all the releases I’m making, thinking of a home for them and the best way to share them with people. I’ve realised that, in some ways, the amount of albums, EPs, live releases and various recordings that I’ve released (and want to release) is a bit overwhelming for some people. Some albums have been given away as free downloads, other things come out in small physical editions and some are digital only things that I want to share but can’t decide how to ‘package’ or put out as a physical CD.
For the last ten years I’ve been putting most of the things I make out through Bandcamp and, whilst there are some niggles and little issues with their service, I do feel like it’s allowed me to make and share much more music that I would have done if it were not there. For a lot of people that listen to my music Bandcamp seems to be where the catalogue is and the place where most of you choose to buy my stuff. It’s not perfect but it’s been very good as an outlet for all the songs.
See the problem here?
Anyhow, a few years ago they made it possible for musicians to have a subscription program there and in much the same way as Patreon and other sites do provide some place for regular work to be made. I think it’s about time I start my own subscription service as a place for regular but special releases. I thought I’d give a heads-up to you and to ask if anyone has any thoughts of suggestions about how this could work best for us.
The main questions I have are:
Firstly, is this something anyone here would be at all interested in?
If I were to release stuff to subscribers on a monthly basis, what would you be comfortable paying? €5 a month? €10?
Would you prefer a yearly fee? One off €50 for everything that year?
As a subscriber you would automatically receive every major release I make plus at least once a month a subscription only thing. Could be a live album, EP, collection of alternative versions, covers, etc. I record almost every concert I play and make things in any room that sounds good so there is a lot to choose from.
I’d also include a bunch of things from my back catalogue for signing up. Perhaps 10 full albums or something like that.
I’d also like to release a few very special, limited edition physical releases from time to time. Ten copies of a single where each copy was a different, unique take of the song for example. I also like sending postcards.
I see no problem at all with making regular monthly releases and in fact am really looking forward to having a small pocket of people that I am making work specifically for. I don’t expect this to affect at all the full albums but would instead be a smaller channel that’ll hopefully feel worthwhile, fair and kind of exciting.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Sound like a terrible idea? Do let me know here or via email. I haven’t fixed anything yet and welcome any feedback.
Thanks a lot, sorry for the wall of text.
Stephen
TLDR: Subscription service coming, thoughts?
Nürnberg, Dresden and Leipzig this week.
I have three concerts this week, starting tomorrow evening in Nürnberg at the Gostner Hoftheater with Johnny Campbell, heading back to the wonderful Hole Of Fame in Dresden and finally in Leipzig at the most beautiful little bar in town, Dankbar. Here’s a NSFW link for the last one.
I’m looking forward to these concerts very much, happy to head out east and hopefully see some familiar faces out there. In ten days I also have a solo show in Nürnberg at the Bernsteinzimmer gallery, for which I am pretty excited about. More on that later.
Good afternoon all
S
Dankbar, Leipzig.
Empty Room
‘Empty Room’ is available now for pre-order and will be released digitally through my Bandcamp page this Thursday. Here’s the link:
‘Empty Room’ was recorded spontaneously over two evenings in my flat when a room was still unoccupied. It’s 12 songs, nothing new and mostly coming out slow and strange. Here’s ‘Lover O Lover’ for example:
I am writing new songs at the moment, with the idea to make a quiet EP of new things when I find an opportunity to record somewhere. In the meantime I have had this set hanging around and wanted to share it with you. Also coming is a second compilation of live recordings just for subscribers to my newsletter that follows the one I made last year, but more on that later.
Thanks for sticking with me, I hope January has been kind to you all.
Stephen
January blues
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet.
My right shoulder hurts a lot when I move my arm and of course when I play guitar so I’ve been writing a lot, putting together the next release (end of the month, more soon) and trying to organise some concerts. I hope to feel a lot better by the time the first comes around at the end of the month. I mean, I can play but it’s uncomfortable.
I also have tennis elbow in my left arm and you can imagine how much tennis I play.
In regards the booking shows thing - I would really appreciate some help or ideas with that.
Anyone else have the January blues heavy as a fucking mountain or is it just me?
Free download - 07/12/19 Rostock
Here’s a quick reminder in case anyone has missed it - the recording of my recent concert up in Rostock in the north of Germany a couple of weeks ago is available as a free download on my Bandcamp page right here.
The concert was a pleasure to play - was very quiet and dark in there and I kept mostly to the heavy stuff, including a cover of ‘Winter’ by The Diamond Family Archive and one or two things I rarely feel like going through.
Thanks to Marv and everyone at the JAZ for the invitation and the hospitality.
More music coming from me after this in between week we have now. Hope you’re all doing well.
Stephen
Last concert of the year and new free download
I’m playing this Saturday evening at the Café Mainheim in Nürnberg - a label night in a way. Vincent von Flieger and special guest cause she’s in town Julia Laura are also there and we want it dark as it gets so please bring candles. It’s free to get in but there’s no entry without a candle and we’ll start early so everyone can play long and slow.
Also, later tonight or tomorrow I’ll release a free download of a recent live album from Rostock recorded two weeks ago. Find that on my Bandcamp here:
Have a lovely weekend
Stephen
'Winter' by The Diamond Family Archive (free download)
At Prinz Willy
Winter is indeed upon most of us and yesterday I slipped and sloshed through the first snow I’ve seen fall. I’m home for a few days and reflecting and listening on what I’ve been making the last weeks. To start with, here’s a couple of things around a song by The Diamond Family Archive that I’ve been playing in the recent concerts.
At Prinz Willy’s wonderful corner bar in Kiel I played a rather quieter concert that was very enjoyable. Held the songs close and tried not to let things get too loud or unhinged. By the end of the night I was fit to burst and sure enough lashed out a bit at some innocent members of the nice audience. Apologies and whiskies went some way to fixing things, as is often the case.
Anyway, here’s from earlier in the set - ‘Winter’ by The Diamond Family Archive played spontaneously and a little wobbly true enough.
And here’s Laurence’s original, spectral version to listen and download:
Years ago in Brighton we even played it together:
I urge you all to go and listen to more music by this band, always so magic.
The Diamond Family Archive on Bandcamp
The Diamond Family Archive on Spotify
Have a nice weekend, speak soon
Stephen
PS
I believe this is @marshasdad_outside, whose point of view you can see here.
UT Connewitz in Leipzig this Saturday (free download)
I’m very happy to be returning to the magnificent UT Connewitz in Leipzig this Saturday night. A big old cinema and home to a great program of musicians over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have played there twice before. This weekend is a Woodland Recordings label night so my dear friends Vivian Void and Geneva are playing too. If you use Facebook the event is here.
The last time I played there was back in 2014 and the recording from my concert that night is currently up as a free download on my Bandcamp page here.
Also, Mina Reischer filmed the whole thing on Hi-8 video tape and that can be watched right below.
The night before, that is tomorrow, I’ll be at Gelegenheiten in Berlin. Also happy to be going back there and if anyone wants to join me there well that’s really brilliant too.
See you soon
Stephen
St Arbogast
The new recording ‘St Arbogast’ is now out as a physical and digital album both here on my site and also on my Bandcamp page. A free 4 song EP exclusive to newsletter subscribers is also available now. Here’s all the links and some words about the heavy thing.
I was invited to participate in the Arbogast folk festival in Austria at the end of June 2019. A three day, two night event in and around the grounds of the St Arbogast church and the different, interesting spaces there.
The weather was incredibly warm, it was the first time the festival had taken place and some scheduling hiccups meant that somehow over the weekend I really didn't get to play to so many people. I think all in all I played four little sets when the plan was for eight or so. At one of the concerts I had one guest.
Anyway, late on Sunday evening, when mostly everyone had left I went into the church to try to make something, or rather, try to give something. If the invitation was to come down and make some work and perform there I was feeling that I hadn't really had the opportunity to fulfil my side of the deal.
I recorded for two hours into a Zoom H5 audio recorder. Very simple, stereo microphones, no headphones, standing in front of the altar. There are fourteen complete songs - these ten that seem to go together and the others anyone can hear online separately.
To begin with I thought I'd get two or three songs. Thought of doing everything in C, church band style. Concept.
I didn't want to put the lights on and make anyone feel that they could come in. I took pictures with my phone of the big dark room, neat rows of white chairs and the big glass doors. Two months later hard drives were stolen so I lost these and actually for a week feared that I had lost the audio too. But I found out it was still on the SD card in the recorder so we have that and one picture I had already uploaded to my blog the morning after recording.
More and more I'm interested not so much in making recordings but in recording performances. Recording rooms and trying to be open to how things come out and can sound. I had a strange couple of hours in this dark space and when I listen now I can hear that feeling somewhere. At first I was scared to make a noise, quickly loved that noise and then later was scared again when I thought I had lost it.
Anyway, just some thoughts about this thing I made.
Many thanks to Johannes for the invitation and to everyone that weekend who made me feel welcome down there.
Stephen
Here’s the Bandcamp release, with immediate download:
As I wrote above also available is the four song EP ‘St Arbogast +’ with songs from the same session that weren’t included on the regular album. This a free download to anyone subscribing to my newsletter, which you can do so here.
Here’s a video Selina and I made in a couple of hours a few weeks ago in the Fürth forest.
I think Spotify and everything like that will come in a week or so, no rush. The last week or so has been very busy and I’m ok with not trying to put new music in every corner of the galaxy right away.
Thanks to everyone who already picked this up - I’ll send the physical copies out in a couple of days. Have a lovely week!
Stephen
Fritzen, Hamburg (free download)
Photos by Jenny.
I recently got invited to play a concert in the wonderful little Fritzen design studio / gallery / shop in Hamburg. Was a real pleasure and a lovely visit and I wanted to share a couple of songs, some photos, brilliant sketches and illustrations from the evening. You can imagine the crowd were all hot creative folks so there was a fair bit of sketching, photographing and that sort of thing going on. Please click through the links, download the songs and share and all that - the people up there make lovely stuff and are incidentally the best hosts. Thanks Kathrin and all fine Fritzen folks.
Photo by Kathrin.
The following illustrations are also by Larissa Bertonasco.
Three songs from Luzern (free download)
I’m slowly getting my shit together after a hectic few weeks of concerts and working on new projects. Just this week we finished the debut album by Geneva, which I recorded and produced and is out now through my label, Woodland Recordings. A lovely little collection of songs in a delightful package - have a listen have a look:
I know, I know - somewhat off topic. Stay on target.
Photo by Neda.
So here’s three songs from a house concert I played at Neda’s lovely place on the hill above Luzern in Switzerland a few weeks ago. Neda takes care of The Phrontistery space in the town but this evening she invited me up to her house to play to a small audience there. Was a wet night, the rain lashing down and I played a collection of slower things, or at least the songs came out in different shapes this night. Here’s three of them edited together - listen separately below or click the button for a free, simple download from Dropbox.
As I said, I’m catching up with things and this weekend my next album ‘St Arbogast’ will be sent out to anyone who pre-ordered it and available to listen in full and buy from my Bandcamp right here.
I’m not lying when I say half of the first edition of 100 are gone so please pick one up kind of quick if you’d like one of those. I’ll write more on that before the weekend I’m sure.
Thanks for sticking with me and please have a lovely week.
Stephen
Free download from Zürich and Hamburg tomorrow.
I got home late Sunday night and will leave for Hamburg tomorrow, so just enough time here to put some washing through, change the guitar strings and import all the recordings from the last 10 days of concerts. I haven’t had a chance to listen to everything properly but here’s a very quickly mixed song from the concert Sophia and I played at the beautiful El Lokal in Zürich on the 27th of October.
We don’t get to play so often and our rehearsal was the 20 minute soundcheck we took. Fine, is what it is.
I may share the rest of this concert when I get the time, so please check back for that.
I have a return to the north and a concert in Hamburg tomorrow night at Fritzen. Wohlwillstrasse 20, free entry from 20:00. Happy to see some familiar faces there!
More later, kind of running…
Stephen
Zürich and Luzern
So I get to El Lokal, a beautiful old bar, restaurant and music venue in a military building in the centre of Zürich, surrounded on both sides by water and busy streets. I’m perfectly in time of course and we start an easy soundcheck. My friend Sophia arrives halfway through to join me on violin and then we sit upstairs and enjoy a fine dinner before the concert.
I’ve played here once before, a couple of years previously and the experience confirmed what I had long suspected - it’s one of the nicest places to play in the country as far as I’m concerned. It’s super friendly, nice and small, sounds brilliant and everyone there seems to do everything right. Their program is imaginative and brave and many people I respect and listen to have played there - Will Oldham, Damien Jurado, Jason Molina, Lambchop... This month Scarlet Rivera will bring her violin to the little stage, C.W. Stoneking is back - it goes on.
Anyway, I’m fortunate enough to have a nice audience this Sunday night and, although Sophia and I don’t play our greatest ever concert, it’s a super warm and friendly time on the island.
Later, I stay at Timo’s house and we sit up talking for a couple of hours before I sleep the sleep of death in a most comfortable bed. Delicious breakfast and then back to the venue for lunch - lunch too! It’s too much. I stagger out of the door to catch my train just as Maclcom Middleton turns up. Wish him a fun evening and then kind of skip down to the station.
I arrived in Luzern as the weather turned dark and the rain came. Opted for a bus ride up and over the hill to Nade’s house for a little Wohnzimmer concert she had arranged for me that night. Normally I’d be at her Phrontistery in town, but we thought we’d try something else and I think it was a change for her to invite people to her beautiful apartment.
We sat and talked before the guests came and then I played a kind of quiet set of songs, not all the usual things I rely on. Was refreshing and enjoyable. My buddy Karl turned up in time and was a fine evening.
Next day a wash out but also a day off so I kept warm and dry for as long as possible before making a dash for the station and a short ride back to Aarau for an evening off. Would be at Garage Bar the next night so this was a chance for stinky raclette and early to bed.
I realise normally I’d be uploading recordings from these shows and sharing them here. I have been taping everything and recordings will come but I haven’t quite managed an easy method to edit live recordings and get them up here without my laptop right now. I have everything I need except the desire to sit at my iPad for an hour importing and learning a good way of managing it. Perhaps tomorrow morning, let’s see what sort of a late night we have here in Bern. I’m at Zar bar, starts in an hour or so. Come quick.
Anyways, be well all, thanks for sticking with this.
Stephen
Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Ulm
Train creeps into Zürich Hbf, people on the platform impatiently pressing the buttons to open the door even before it stops, mild panic on their faces as the carriages crawl to a stop. We have ten minutes before it leaves for Luzern, sure we’ll all make it on.
I left my room in Fürth last Wednesday to spend an in between night in Stuttgart before returning to Heidelberg for a house concert at Sandra’s beautiful loft apartment. Five floors up and a warm welcome at the top of it. This was one of those rare occasions where someone had written to me proposing a concert - an invitation as opposed to a response to my request. It does happen that people somehow come upon my music and think to invite me to their homes. Seldom for sure, but brilliant.
Anyhow, this was one of those happy occasions and soon enough a lovely little audience to play to. Sandra had printed flyers advertising a secret concert with an email address attached and, yep, people she didn’t know had written and come along and seemed to enjoy it. As if by magic.
Photos by Moritz Hettich. His Instagram is here.
We shared a late night and an enormous breakfast and then suddenly my train was leaving for Darmstadt. Packed and noisy carriage, but a short trip and soon enough I walked the mile or so to the Schloss in the centre of town. Endless renovation work still in place but Christian there to meet me and a simple setup at the Keller Klub underneath the old building.
I had played here about ten years previously, with Thirty Pounds Of Bone and I remember a great gig and somehow a tricky audience setup. The room is long and narrow and many people were camped at the bar happy to chat through the evening. This night, many years later was a little better and certainly more people there for the concert. Friends along too and a little bit of work needed but I played what I wanted I think and after the concert slipped into much conversation and drinking at the bar for some hours. Young Orson Welles was there, unbeknownst to himself.
With Thirty Pounds Of Bone in 2011.
Photo by Özlem.
We walked ten minutes after the concert to Christine’s place and her skittish cats and almost dawn before flopping into sleep. A late morning and a sunshine walk back to the station and delayed slow train south to Ulm.
I was a little early in the cathedral town so I dropped the cases off at Volker’s place and did my usual exploring of an unfamiliar town. I’ve played in Ulm a bunch of times but there’s always more to see anywhere if one takes a different route. On this trip I’ve been reading David Byrne’s ‘Bicycle Diaries’ and his bike rides around various cities has been an inspiration and a nice companion whilst I’ve also been making much more modest stops of it. The basic point of the more you look the more you see and a walk, or in his case, a cycle ride, can reveal places in unexpected ways.
Andrea had also proposed this concert to me many months ago so here we were together on a cool rooftop with the long promised view of the cathedral as a backdrop. I usually struggle with playing outside, especially in the colder months, and so it was here. That being said, it was a loose, friendly evening and I think we made the most of it. Fun conversation and brilliant food, courtesy of Hakuna Matata, and again the promise of a late night, early morning. But I kind of lucked out with an opportunity for a relatively early night and got dropped off at Markus’s place around midnight and bedded down in his front room. Naturally he forgot I was there at 5 in the morning when he came back but my objections sent him out quick enough. He did the same again at 7 and alcohol can play devilish games on the short term memory it’s true.
But, nothing to fear - as if by a miracle and like a phoenix from the flames he rose with the birds, drank thirty cups of coffee, smoked a pack of cigarettes and seemed fit enough to drive me to the station, knock my wind out with a bear hug and off I was to Zürich and a run of shows in Switzerland - always a thing to look forward to.
I have a day off today but for the rest of the week it’s concerts in Aarau, Basel and St Gallen. Next week Hamburg, Oberhausen and Essen. More to come then.
Stephen
Into Switzerland
Riding the train down into Switzerland from Germany and every single time this gets me.
Kofferfabrik (free download)
Photo by Mina Reischer.
A lovely evening at the Kofferfabrik here in Fürth this last Saturday night. Geneva started with some sweet songs and then I played a long, slow set to a nice crowd. Some friends in the audience and Stefanie from Vivian Void joining me on stage for a couple too. Of course it turned into a long night so yesterday was lost in a lazy wander around the sunny town, talking and sitting by the riverside whilst the swimming club splashed about.
Anyway, here’s a free download of a song I had never played before but this evening turned up. I might follow with more from the night but right now I’m preparing for the shows and putting something else together for the newsletter exclusive series.
I know I said I would write about the new album yesterday but the simple thing to say is that it’s available for pre-order here and a massive thank you to everyone who has already bought it, especially as I’ve only posted a couple of things and people haven’t had a chance to hear much. Sight unseen, sound unheard or some such. Is very humbling, thank you all. The physical release turned out to be very simple and enjoyable to put together and hopefully I’ll find some more words to share before it comes out properly on the 24th of November.
This week I have concerts in Heidelberg, Darmstadt, Ulm and Zürich. Wowee.
See you soon?
S
El Lokal in Zürich this Sunday night.
Local concert with Geneva this weekend
Just a quick update to let anyone living near my place know that I’m playing a concert tomorrow night (Saturday) at the Kofferfabrik in Fürth. Tickets are here and the selfie poster above will also take you to the Facebook event.
I don’t play so often around here and have never had a concert at this place. We fixed it 18 months ago, let’s see…
Also and anyway, Geneva will be playing some songs before me and recently I’ve been recording and producing her first set of songs for the label. Here’s a video from that.
Lastly, please visit my Bandcamp page later this evening as I’ll have the new St Arbogast church recording available to pre-order. More words on that Sunday.
Have a nice evening,
Stephen
Empty Room
Empty room in my flat this weekend so this was my Saturday night. I think it’s a six song EP coming at some point but will have the St Arbogast church recording ready before then. Soon.
Two songs from VV X this weekend (free download)
Photo: @vincent_von_flieger
Bit of a full weekend down here in the south with a sweet little concert at MUZ in Nürnberg on Friday night and then the main event - Vivian Void’s 10th birthday party concert at the Desi.
VV hadn’t played a concert for over a year (babies, house moves, job changes, concerns and commitments of daily life) but they had been planning this show for a while. After an emotional speech from Stefanie from the band I played a bunch of heavy songs, including this.
She also joined me to sing ‘SUPER GOOD ADVICE’ as she often does but a few days before I’d realised that the rhythm of this was pretty much the same as their ‘STRETCH ACROBATIC’ song.
So, without telling her I stuck it on the end and everything went noisy and fun.
Carsten came down from Berlin for this concert and he uploaded plenty videos of us all too:
Now I get sick and have to make my tax return and try to book concerts. A come down and it goes slowly.
Stephen
Two concerts in Nürnberg this weekend.
Despite living here, I rarely play concerts in Nürnberg or Fürth - usually just if it’s something a friend is organising or a benefit concert or something like that. This is not to suggest that I’m charitable or particularly fussy but I hold to the old adage of not shitting where you eat. It’s also so much more enjoyable and exciting to play in front of strangers and to keep a little distance between the home life and the music life. A splash zone.
That being said this weekend I get to play two concerts 10 minutes from my bed, which is a fine, rare thing at times.
The first thing is tonight at MUZ in Gostenhof, Nürnberg. I’ll play an acoustic set in their tiny studio room (capacity 20?) as part of the city’s Stadtverführungen event - a weekend of walking tours through the town that take in different cultural and historical sites and happenings. I thought it sounded interesting and simple. Naturally as it’s such a small room it’s sold out but let’s see.
Saturday night is a big night in town as the 14 legged monster that is VIVIAN VOID are ten years old and will celebrate with an evening at Desi. I get to play too and part of the deal is everyone has to cover a song of theirs so there’s that as well. Again, let’s see. I am looking forward just the same.
More details about the concert are here and this is from their latest album ‘Rhododendron’ out a couple of years ago. They rehearse every week and have a wealth of material but it seems actually committing things to release comes harder. VV is a slippery beast.
For my part, here’s the only remix I ever made and so much fun with this my word.
Hope to see some familiar faces this weekend then - have fun all and speak soon please.
Stephen