Latest performance of Foreign Land

After more than 15 years since Indigo Rush last performed the original song Foreign Land, I sang and played it at an open mic night last week in Newtown.

Every Wednesday, individual artists and bands head along to the Town Hall Hotel, Newtown to sing for 15 minutes (30 minutes for bands). Last week I played Learning to Fly by Tom Petty; That's the Way by Led Zeppelin; and two original songs, The Storm (written when I was in Shiyan), and Foreign Land.

The set went down well, and it was interesting seeing the crowd reactions to each song. I was first on, playing at 7pm, and so there wasn't much reaction to Learning to Fly. Even though I like the song, in a place like the Town Hall it just didn't have any impact. I was pleased to note that The Storm had a good response, mainly because it calls for some impassioned singing and so shows off my range a bit.

I then played Foreign Land, and there was an even better reaction to that song. The intriguing minor riff, with its Eastern flavour, really comes across well in a pub - mysterious, attention-grabbing. I played the song in a slowed-down arrangement, leaving space in between the verse lyrics while I picked the arpeggio chords. It sounded great on my Ibanez acoustic-electric that was plugged in direct to the sound board. For the choruses I strummed the chords faster and then ad-libbed at the end with a two-string sequence of chords while letting the open D string ring.

After that I still had time left in my 15 minute set, so I quickly decided on a final song. I decided to do a song I knew quite well, That's The Way by Led Zeppelin. Somehow I very quickly re-tuned my guitar to the open-G tuning needed for the song and performed probably 4 out of the 6 verses - an intentionally cut-down version. I was really able to let go on the singing and it came over a real treat. I was gratified to see a member of one of the bands waiting to play, staring at the stage with his jaw dropping! I guess he'd never heard that song performed live before! :)

So it was a fantastic way to return to live performance after 10 years of nothing! I really enjoyed the night and while it was a low key, humble venue it nonetheless re-fired my enthusiasm for performance. I was lined up to play again this week but I just didn't feel up to it, I just went straight home after work, and just as well cause work has been exhausting lately. But hopefully I can do something again in the near future.

And of course it was really great to perform some originals after 15 years, and the reaction that Foreign Land got in particular was really gratifying.

Oh and another thing - the Indigo Rush song, Foreign Land, has absolutely nothing to do with the Eskimo Joe song because it was written in about 1995! Although eerily, that other song also has an Eastern flavour to some of the music, so that's a real trip. I still think our song is the better one ;)

Take care
Anthony

P.S: the last time this song would have been performed to my knowledge would have been around 1996 (or 1997?) at the Workers Club at Warragamba Dam!

Link to my previous post about the song Foreign Land.

Remembering Shiyan...part 2

Once the Shiyan line-up was settled we began rehearsing.

For a new band with cheap equipment, we were pretty damn ambitious. Songs included:

I Remember You - Skid Row

It's So Easy - Guns N Roses

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

...just to name a few of our crazier choices!!

I have really good memories of this time - I remember jamming on drums with Matt Lane to songs like The Song Remains the Same. We had a lot of fun and laughs and even got some gigs.

Places we managed to play included:

Steve Mason's birthday party

The Victoria Hotel (double-bill with legendary Bathurst band, Wicked*)
Kelso Sports Club ??? (I think that was the name!)

Heath Murphy's birthday party at Katoomba Masonic Hall - we slept overnight in Brett's car!!

There may be others but I am having trouble remembering.

The great thing about Shiyan is that we were really into writing original songs. Brett in particular was really good at coming up with really nice chord progressions, and he put lyrics to his own tunes as well. He was a massive inspiration to me in those early days, and we eventually managed to put together a demo of four songs. The names of the tunes were:

Youth Flight - a frantic, metallic rocker

Sunset Masquerade - a whimsical, acoustic & electric fantasy tune

Before the Dawn - from one of Brett's chord progressions with lyrics

...and one other tune the name of which I can't recall off the top of my head.

Listen to 'Sunset Masquerade' here.

The demo was recorded at Chris McCusker's studio in Raglan - which was very convenient for me as all I had to do was walk to the studio! It was such a great experience, being in a proper studio set up, putting down our songs on tape for the first time. Unfortunately I wasn't too impressed with the mix, but still it was a good time had by all.

Shiyan was a really fun band to be in, but as with all my bands, as soon as we recorded our demo we split up! But Brett and I kept the flame alive, and soon we were fortunate enough to get into an even bigger and better band...

Thanks for the memories, guys - it will always be a happy memory for me being in Shiyan.

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* Wicked, later called Black Rain, were a well-known Bathurst band who gigged a lot. Their members were Craig Glawson (bass), Julian Casey (guitar), Damien Casey (drums), and lead singer Kelly Peck.

At one time I was in a band with Jules and Damien, we played songs from the Doors amongst other things. We had one gig at a hotel in Orange which went fairly well, but it didn't last. Jules was an excellent guitarist, though, professional and great to work with, and his brother Damien was one of the best drummers that I knew.

Edit: I actually found a photo of the guys from Black Rain - it seems to be the one and only picture of them out there!!! Features the vocalist, Kelly, and bassist Craig.

With thanks to www.flickr.com/photos/d_neese/. 

Band photos...

Yeah baby.

Thanks to the magic of Facebook, I can finally share some photos of Indigo Rush in action.

These photos would be from about 1995, the first two showing us performing at Canowindra Golf Club, where we had a sort of semi-residency. Actually it was sort of my favourite venue, mainly because the guy kept inviting us back and paying us fairly well!

From left to right: Dap (guitar and vocals - I miss the Strat), Garry (bass, vocals and MIDI), Anthony (vocals and shaggy mop), Cameron (the hidden & glorious drummer) and Brett (guitar, vocals and funky stage moves).

 Below: a silly publicity shot of us ... somewhere in Bathurst.

The Rush begins

I want to look back on how Indigo Rush started, so in this post I will take a stab at detailing how it all began.

Brett Stevens and myself had played in a ramshackle band called Shiyan, in which we had gigged around the Bathurst area, recorded a four-song demo and done surprisingly well in the short time we were together (that's another story). But after some rather odd behaviours from certain members Shiyan broke up, and for a year or so Brett and I continued to hang out socially.

Brett had heard of a guitarist called David Powter (long before that other guy with the same name), so we went to check him out at a gig. I remember we went to his share house in Keppel Street in Bathurst, where he seemed like the most outgoing, affable and fun-loving person I'd ever met. I was pretty uptight at this time in my life, and Dap seemed like the friendliest guy I'd ever seen! So right away the three of us struck up a friendship and soon we were vibing musically as well.

I don't know how two scruffy ex-Shyian members convinced a pro like Dap that we were worth his time and trouble but after a few discussions - where Brett did most of the talking - he was convinced that we could do something together. There was enough musical common ground to go forward, and I think it was mine and Brett's sheer gall and unbridled enthusiasm that sealed the deal.

Dap had played in several bands prior to us and was already something of a seasoned, even cynical, professional. So maybe we were the breath of fresh air he was looking for - and so was he for us. Also, his current band had a female vocalist and while this certainly drew crowds, having me as a male vocal would allow Dap to play more of what he personally liked.

Dap's first genius idea was to recruit Cameron Ashpole - his drummer in Out for the Weekend - for the new band. His second master stroke was to look up a legend, a man and a bass player who in his time had PA'd for The Hoodoo Gurus, had played in many local bands and was an engineering guru and computer whiz. Oh, and he had his own PA - which the rest of us didn't and needed desperately. And while it was not our original intention to be a five-piece, the fact that this guy had all the gear was too much of a necessity to pass up. (Certainly at this time both Brett and myself could not afford the gear!)

We (somehow) managed to convince this mysterious figure from the mists of Bathurst's golden time of rock - Garry Anderson - to come to a meeting at Dap's new digs in Lambert Street. He sat down at the kitchen table, seeming like he was wondering what the heck he was doing there, judging by the smirk on his face. But to our credit we soon won this veteran over. We outlined the kinds of music we were interesting in doing - the best of some of the older stuff (Zeppelin, Van Halen, Queen) and the new stuff (Green Day, Third Eye Blind) and everything in between. Once again it was our enthusiasm and the prospect of being the kind of versatile, kick-ass band not seen in Bathurst since the good ole days that made him come around.

It was agreed that Garry would receive an extra share of the proceeds from gigs for his contribution of PA gear. Garry and Dap would also contribute their knowledge of contacts at local venues, and Brett knew a couple of people as well. Phew - lucky for me as a rank novice that I had all this terrific experience to support me in the new group. It was an exciting time - for the first time I was going to play with guys who actually knew the local area and the local industry, who had played extensively in the past and actually knew their shit - and could get us proper gigs (unlike in my previous band)!!.

I still recall our first gig, at what was then called The Tavern in George Street (now The Waratah Bar & Grill - how fucking tame is that!). Garry had gotten access to begin setting up in the afternoon (it was a Friday), and after finishing my casual shift at Mitre 10, I went to give him a hand. I can't tell you how fucking cool it was for me, as an inexperienced, know-nothing kid, to head in to a venue and see this nice guy Garry smiling over at me as he was setting up the mixing board and the PA in the dim day time lighting of one of the most popular venues in town. The fact that it was for something I was a part of was a feeling I will always cherish.

The gig was a massive hit. People had no idea who we were, but they knew the songs we were playing. And it went off. There had not been a versatile covers band like us in town for a long, long time - the music scene in the country had declined massively since Garry's heyday in the 80's - and the crowd lapped us up. Plus, all my years of bedroom mike and singing practice came to fruition in that moment.

Afterwards I was absolutely drained but the feeling was incredible.

So that's how it began. Four fantastic years of fun, hanging out, meeting girls (but not a lot of "action" I can assure you!), singing my heart (and throat) out and playing around the countryside. Together with my time at uni it was the very best time of my life up to that point.

Deep Inside (a.k.a There's A Way)

This was my favourite song of ours, mainly because it's very personal to me as I wrote the words and the main chords, and because I feel it's the best in our catalogue.

Due to the rise of raunch culture I no longer call it (the quite innocently titled) "Deep Inside", although the guys will still know the song under that name. To me it's better expressed under the title "There's A Way". I think we all need to feel there's a way through our problems, especially at this time in history when so many calamities appear to be occurring and there is so much fear and trepidation about the so-called "end of the world".

My belief is that we are heading toward a new age, that these troubles are just the birth pangs of a new world wanting to come into existence. "Lo, Heaven is laid out all around ye, but yet do no see it", said Jesus Christ. For too long mankind has been focussed on its greed, its avarice, its desire to conquer and possess all that we see. This sickness has its worst expression in how we have treated the Native people of the world. We in the West think we are so enlightened when in fact we are, based on the evidence, quite insane.

I remember a Native American man who said that when he first saw a white, he was immediately struck by the manic look in the white man's eyes; to him it seemed that all white men were possessed by some inexplicable fear which drives them crazy. To the Red Man, life was simply lived, in rhythm with nature and in tune with the Earth; what need do you have for fear when you are living in harmony with All and you desire nothing? Desire breeds fear...and fear drives us mad.

The drive for ownership has gotten out of control in our European culture. We need to return to simple rhythms, not necessary a completely minimalistic life but a life where all things are in their proper persepective. As far as I am concerned, the present tribulations are a gentle reminder to get back in harmony, to reset our values to be in alignment with the gentle rhythms of the earth. To this end we will need new technology, one that instead of being based on the idea of destruction (splitting the atom, the agitation of electricity, the burning of coal), it will be based on the idea of nurturance and creation (the energising power of the Sun, the natural power of the wind, and perhaps also superconductivity).

There's A Way tries to give a beacon of hope; a reminder that although we are all just "flowing with the tide" and "hating what we see", there is something working on all our behalf to push things forward to a better tomorrow. And yes though there is fear and pain, there is also hope, and it is we who need to learn to "see heaven in our midst" so as to make that a reality.

It's all about Mind - how you choose to see things is what becomes your reality.

God bless to all.

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Lyrics (c) Anthony Tobin, 1995 and 2011.

Flowing with the tide

Burning deep inside

Hating what you see

Wanting to be free

There’s a way for you to make it through

People never know

The inside of your soul

They can never see

What you need to be

But there’s a way for you to make it through

And the pain that you feel

You can’t tell if it’s real, yeah

As your life slips away

Hold on to every day

As the world keeps turning

You feel the fire burning

All the sadness you see

Inside of you and me…

As the end draws near

The old things disappear

Have we come so far…?

We don’t know who we are

There’s a way for us to make it through

And through the pages of all time

Comes the rhyme and the song of all mankind

And with the memories of the past

Here at last we can all look back and see

How the war was fought and won

For everyone, the children of the sun

See the light that never ends

Don’t pretend it isn’t burning deep inside...

What was Indigo Rush

From 1994 to 1998, I was lead singer in an Aussie rock outfit called Indigo Rush.

We were based in Bathurst, in country NSW, Australia. We gigged extensively around the local area, playing in surrounding towns like Orange, Blayney, Cowra, and Canowindra.

We were primarily a covers band, but we did put together a demo of 12 songs, one of which - Rushman - made it onto local radio station 2BS, and thanks to helpful family members it reached no. 9 on their Top 40 request charts.

The members of Indigo Rush were:

David Powter - guitar, vocals, songwriter
Brett Stevens - guitar, vocals, songwriter
Garry Anderson - bass, sound & studio wizard extraordinaire
Cameron Ashpole - drums, percussion, wildman
Anthony Tobin - lead vocals, guitar, songwriter (that's my real name by the way)

We were a powerful five piece, and crowds always responded to our balls-out, hard rock style of playing.

Our set consisted of mainstream rock such as Green Day, Led Zeppelin, Third Eye Blind and Van Halen but also quirkier choices such as songs by Edwyn Collins, Faith No More, and our own original tunes. Worked into our set were originals such as Rushman, Deep Inside and Brave New World.

This blog will reminisce about the times and tunes of Indigo Rush. Please enjoy this memorial to a great time in my life and a great band.