Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of a (slightly smoke damaged) 47, I bring you – summer!
To celebrate its arrival, here is a picture of a man dressed as a tree, taken recently in Whitstable.
New gigs are going up all the time. You'll find details on the gigs page depending on my levels of efficiency.
Also, following our venturings into the Wild West of London to play the Goldhawk Sessions we were recently podcasted by a nice man call Rowley Cutler, aka DarkCompass, who claims to be Britain’s second ever podcaster. He’s certainly got experience, expertly guiding us through a fairly excruciating short interview. He also plays a version of ‘Storm Song’ from the sessions which has a certain charm, despite being recorded straight from the desk. If you'd like to hear me and the Emergency BassMan using the technology they call 'podcast', then click here
Alternatively visit www.darkcompass.com and look for show 312 from Friday, April 25, 2008. While you're there I suggest you listen to a couple more as Mr Cutler seems to find some very weird and interesting music.
Meanwhile, you can check out a new, quiet and slightly ropey version of Monkeys recorded at the very same session on the Music page.
And if all that wasn't enough, there's another very nice review of 'spekki chris is in' loaded up onto the journals page.
Right, I'm hot now. See you soon. Ice creams away!
April, 2008
This month, I am being terse. There's a new track for free download (The Last Time) on the music page. The gig at Gibbo's (14th May) has been sadly cancelled. More gigs will be anounced soon. The sun has come out.
March, 2008
A new song is now available to download for free from the music page. This month, it's 'Storm Song'. A couple of new reviews can be found on the journal page. A slew of new gigs on the gigs page. And Spekki can be found at home, in good health, even allowing for that nasty outbreak of boils and pustules, about which the less said the better...
February 25th, 2008
Spam. No one likes it - especially me. If you have received spam that looks like it came from this site, it didn't. The domain name and IP address have been faked by spammers. It has nothing at all to do with us. If it makes you feel better, consider that I have had to clear out over 30,000 bounced emails from my account as a direct result. And it may also make you feel better to remember that the people who sent you the spam in the first place will burn for all eternity in the scorching fires of Hell. Hopefully.
January 2008
Happeenooyerrtooyer!
Hope you all had a lovely time and that.
Lots of gigs coming up so keep checking the gigs page. We're hoping to do some festivals over the summer, assuming all things go to plan and I don't get a sudden attack of incompeto-laziness.
And what's that Cuzzin Steve? What was my 'best cd of 2007'? Well...I listened to a lot of cds last year, but not many of them came out in 2007. However, I'd say the best one was 'Andorra' by Caribou. So there.
Also, there's a new free download, Car Crash, available on the music page. But remember - it's just for January!
December 2007
Well Nepal was lovely, thankyou very much for asking. But it's time to take away the free download of Kathmandu Kite Flying (booo!) and replace it with Join my Band (yay!)
More gigs are up, and more will be announced soon for January and February. And have a great Christmas - or at least try...
October 2007
I know it's been a bit quiet on the Spekki front lately - especially after the toned and honed folk metal machine that we had turned into following our hugely enjoyable 07 mini-tour of Slovakia. But batteries need to be charged, and new songs need to be written. Plus I'm going to be away in Nepal again for a few weeks until the middle of next month.
Upon my return expect new gigs and lots of other excitement - but until then, in honour of all things Nepali, Kathmandu Kite Flying, from the new album, is available as a FREE DOWNLOAD on the music page. Enjoy and see you soon!
August 2007
'spekki chris is in' strange places
I am reliably informed that you can now download tracks from the new album from:
To be honest, that's all just words to me, but some of you may know what it means. (You can't beat the smell of a shiny, fresh, 6-panel digipak if you ask me *ahem*)
Off on tour to Slovakia now (reasonably up-to-date dates are on the gigs page), so ahoi to all our Slovakian friends, and see ya later to everyone else!
July 2007
Write a review
Have you heard the new album? Do you have strong feelings? Express them! You can buy the new album right now at: CD Baby . (although if you're in the UK or Europe just buy it here - it's easier and cheaper)
More importantly, on CD Baby you can write a review. Just click on the link and do it. Go on! You know you want to...
And you can also write a review at iTunes. Just click here:
Ideally you'll say nice things, but it's really up to you. Feel free to be as lyrical as you like in your praise or contempt. (Although we'll probably delete swear words).
July 2007
spekki chris is in available on iTunes
What’s that you say? CDs are so 1990s? Well if you want to get all iPoddy with spekki chris you can, as the album is now available for download on iTunes. Just click here:
If you don’t really like iTunes, or think it’s too expensive, ‘spekki chris is in’ will be available on a lot of other download sites (eg. Napster) very soon. I’ll let you know when.
July 2007
We've decorated
You want news – I got it! As you can see, the site’s being redecorated in the style of the new album artwork (illustration by Lisa Mendes – please email me if you would like to make use of her considerable talents). It’s not quite finished yet, but it will be soon.
We’ve yet to hear a bad word about the album, which has been described by one listener as her ‘soundtrack to the summer’, although looking at the state of the summer in the UK, this isn’t necessary all good.
Two of the nice new pictures you can see on the site were taken at the recent album launch by the very talented Jonathan (Sam) Samuels. If you would like to know more about his skills as a photographer, again, just email me. To be honest, it’s hard to see them at the moment as they’re so small, but he is currently the only photographer to have taken a ‘good’ photo of the notoriously media-shy Spekki Chris himself, who has been known to smash expensive cameras just by looking full-on into the lens.
There will hopefully soon be a Gallery page for the site, where you’ll be able to peer through the veil at the mysteries. But for now, patience.
June 2007
In is now out!
Here’s a quick word from spekki's manager, ‘Slippery’ Jim Febreze, about the new album:
"Hey you! Yeah you! Stop scratching your goddam ass and look at the screen! I wanna tell you something, and you better listen. In this world, you gotta have product. Sure, you can have all the talent and all the looks in the world. You can write songs that make Ted freakin’ Nugent cry like a little baby girl. You can have Graham Norton’s goddam finger up your ass on primetime TV. You can have the goddam pope and his wife sayin how great you are, but if you ain't got product what do you got? Nothing, that's what! You wanna know something else? This boy - Spikki or Spakki or whatever his goddam name is - this boy's got product. Hell yeah! The boy got so much goddam product he can't fit it in his goddam house! Boxes and boxes of freakin’ product. He's got product on the stairs, under the bed, in his goddam bathroom, next to the goddam john! I tell ya, this boy's got product comin' out of his goddam ass!”
Would you like to buy some? Not the stuff coming out of my ass, obviously – I’m not sure that would even be legal. But product of the cd variety? Visit the music page, check some of the songs out and then buy with PayPal. Other options for buying will soon present themselves too, so watch this space…
May 2007
Crikey, it's exciting! All recording is finished. Mixing is done thanks to some pretty serious effort from Keith More. Mastering is done, thanks to a very generous rate from the master of mastering, Jon Astley (if you're unsigned and have an album or two you want mastering, check out his special offer here: close to the edge ). Brilliant. And the album artwork is also nearly completed thanks to the huge talents of Lisa Mendes and John Harper.
By the end of the month the new album - 'spekki chris is in' - will be firing off the pressing plant conveyor belt like something out of the last day of the world frisbee championships. Obviously I'm sick of the sound of it by now, but it's time to let it go. Now it must make it's own way in the world - to fly free, or possibly just crash into a plate glass window near the top of the NatWest tower.
I'm going to pop a new album track onto the site until the cd's out, so have a listen. Also, the site will hopefully be heading for a complete makeover in the next few weeks, so keep on checking back to see what's up!
March 2007
More songs are now available, including a live version of 'Downhill' from our recent trip to Slovakia, and, for a very, very limited amount of time a rare cover of '1 2 3 4' by the Smurfs! This will be available to listen to until I get the mp3 player fixed in the next couple of days. Then it will be gone forever.
1 2 3 4 is up in honour of some wonderful accordion music from Rommy's friend Richard. Splendid. If you want to hear the original, it's at www.myspace.com/spekkichris, or it'll be here in the next three or four days.
And it will be on the new album in all its glory - set to be released sometime before 2012!
February 2007
Lawks! I’ve been busy. Too busy to update the website. Too busy to even go to work. But at least the cd is now much closer to completion – thanks largely to the enthusiasm, skills and lack of need for payment of some amazing musicians and friends. CD-Day is now likely to be sometime around early April. Thankyou all very much. You know who you are.
New journal entry btw.
And one more thing. If you are thinking of buying any recording equipment, don’t buy anything made by Fostex. Ever.
December 2006
They say that the secret of a successful website is regular updating. I'm wondering if that works even if you actually have nothing to add? I had hoped to add a couple of live tracks from Slovakia, but I've run into some technical difficulties and a great big pile of laziness, so as a Christmas present I've put a version of 'Hammock Time' on the mp3 player. (It's also on myspace: www.myspace.com/spekkichris) Hopefully this should take your mind off the weather for about 4mins and 50 seconds. It's not anything approaching the final version, but it does feature some quality pedal steel from the hardest-working man in studio recording - Steve Honest. He makes groovy valve amps too. Check him out. at new music productions. And have a great Christmas!
Sept/October 2006
Well thanks to our impeccable Eastern European contacts, and the hard work of Rommy and his Dad's cousin, Juraj, we're off to tour Slovakia for one gruelling week. It's gonna be tough, but we're professional enough to handle it. In the meantime, we've prepared a five track sampler for the tour, but it's for Slovak consumption only (as some of the mixes are unfinished and all are unmastered). To our new Slovakian friends, keep visiting the site and don't forget to check out the Spekki Chris myspace profile (www.myspace.com/spekkichris). For everyone else, there are two new tracks on the music page. 'Spaceship' is an almost complete album mix, and there is an almost finished verion of 'Sweet Green' to replace the slightly ropey earlier one (now with vibes!) I hope you like em! We'll be rotating these tracks over the next few weeks, so you should get to hear how far we've got with the difficult second album. See you when we get back.
PS. Some of the tour venues have changed recently, so check out the gigs page to see where we'll be.
August 2006
I've been doing things! Take a look round, and don't forget to check out the nifty little mp3 player on the music page. You'll find a brand new song - one of the current album demos. It's not finished yet, so be gentle, but after about ten months of pessimism it's starting to shape up a little. I'll put a couple more up as and when, over the next couple of months.
June 2006
It's been a bit a bit quiet in Spekki Chris Web World recently, and that's not surprising as I have been wrestling with thorny technical issues whilst recording, and if not doing that I've just been too busy having fun to keep the site properly up to date. I do now have a myspace page (at myspace.com/spekkichris) so you can be my 'friend' without any kind of emotional commitment if you want. And I'm making some slow progress on the album.
You can also see Spekki Chris on TV, although before you get too excited I should point out a couple of things. Firstly it's on something called 'Real TV', which ironically isn't real at all, but Internet TV, and secondly the longsuffering film crew were unlucky enough to capture the worst Spekki Chris gig of 2006 so far (24hrs notice, no rehearsals, drumkit made of biscuit tins and held together with string, guitar pickup battery failing and making guitar sound like someone who's very good at farting). I found watching it fairly excruciating, but if you must you'll find it if you click this link: real TV and then click on 'Underground London Sessions'.
Still - Rommy did well I think, and you'll find some other local bands and artists popping up there over time as well. But I should never have signed that release form...
April 2006
Just one word for you this month, and that's 'stikkers'. Or two words to be more precise - 'Spekki Stikkers!' These come in two designs, (courtesy of 57design.co.uk ) allowing you to choose from the happy-go-lucky Eric, or the slightly sterner Mohandas. "What are they for?' I hear you ask. Well actually they're just to advertise the website, and if you're reading this then you already know about the website - but what the hey! You gotta love those stikkers! You can get hold of some from the next gig, or just ask if you want.
You also gotta love the new album from Rich Barnard, which became my most favourite birthday present when it arrived through the post last week (sorry mum). It's the most beautiful cd to grace my player for a long time. Sounds absolutely amazing - check it out at richbarnard.com ...
March 2006
Look at that! Every single track from Spin Cycle available to download for free on the music page! And none of that lo-fi rubbish either - it's hi-fi or the highway. A certain amount of progress has been made on the new album too, and I've also discovered that 'Specke' is the German word for bacon fat. This is quite a coincidence, as I have recently been considering marketing a new range of promotional snacks called 'Spekki Crisps'. Maybe they should be smokey bacon flavour?
December 2005
There is an old Zen saying - 'What is the sound of one string breaking?'
Well now you can find out the answer by visiting the music page, and scrolling down to 'The sound of one string breaking'. And while you're at it, have a lovely Christmas and New Year - see you 2006!
September 2005
Looks the same doesn't it? But by Jove it isn't!
Just look at these exciting new developments. Now you can get new music from the music page, including three new live tracks. You can add yourself to the mailing list by clicking the word contact and using the power of Internet. You can also take yourself off, although I can't think why you'd want to do that. And just look at all the cool music and other slightly weird stuff you can visit on the links page! And even more stuff to come later, all thanks to our old friend, the computer. Bless them, and those that understand them.
June 2005
Summer's here, I have been handed 'the keys' to the website by Mr. Sherwood, and I'm test driving it now. What that means is that the site will change a lot more in the future. I'll be updating the journal page regularly for a start. Currently the page holds a random selection of badly-written articles from my recent trip to Nepal, but over the next few weeks entries will be more regular. Of course my life is much less interesting than it was then, and so to compensate I will be constructing around 80% of the journal from Outrageous Lies. I'll sprinkle a little Truth in there too, but it will be up to you to spot fact from fiction. Which should make things a little less boring.
Soon I will also be adding more music , in the form of rough demos for the new album. Your comments are always welcome.
And don't forget that this summer's gigs will all be listed. Most are going to be in London, and will feature the full Spekki Beat Combo, including the enigmatic Rommy Turtev on drums and, as always, the mysterious Emergency Bassman at the bottom end.
November 2004
"I'm back now and have started to gain weight again. It's good to be back - although the trip was fantastic. In fact, if you're unlucky enough I might force you to sit through the photos. Now that I'm back in the land of sideways rain and semi-permanent darkness I've started booking gigs again, so have a look at the gigs section. There are plenty of new songs which I'll be bringing out to show soon..."
July 2003
Hi. Welcome to the new website, and thanks for dropping in. I'm not actually here right now. I'm away traveling and I'll be spending much of 2003/2004 helping Nepalese children to learn the Way of Folk Metal. But while you're here you can download a full track from the current EP: Spin Cycle by visiting themusicpage. There you'll also find a link to the ever-wonderful Joan Coffey's website. Joan is very kindly sharing her Paypal link with me, and so if you want to buy a copy of 'Spin Cycle' you can order it there and it will be packed and sent by her own fair hand. (If you ask her nicely she might even sign it for you!) And while you're there you can listen to some brilliant music as well.
I'm also preparing a series of articles, which will be (very loosely) to do with music, traveling and different cultures. If you're interested, take a look at thejournalpage and have a look at them. And please let me know what you think! The first article should appear around the beginning of September 2003.
No gigs now until August 2004 (at the earliest!), but I hope you keep visiting the site anyway as it will be regularly updated with bits of news, new articles and stuff (always more stuff).
See you soon,
Chris