New Poi Dog Pondering 7 song mini album "Audio Love Letter" out now!
Track list: Steve Marriott (PDP) Sweet Thing (Van Morrison)
Jeremy Brett (PDP) Uncertain Smile (The The) Young and Wilde (PDP) Win (David Bowie) Starlight (PDP)
As an Islander, maybe England clicked with me
in a way... Growing up a young musician in the 1970's
/ 80's Hawaii, I got all my rock news from the English
music rags like: the NME & the Melody Maker
I've always liked the way Great Britain has viewed and digested what the States have beamed back over the pond. It has been a good and healthy arm wrestling match between the two countries over the creative ages.
My Sister used to work in a music store in Honolulu called House of Music. I used to love to go in there and listen to records in the listening booths. She would let me hang there all day and spend time with the records.
I heard a lot of albums there for the first time, and
David Bowie's "Young Americans"was one of them. I fuckin'
loved that record, still do... the second track especially; "Win". I used to pull the needle back to
the top again over and over, and let the song take me.
I
still love music the same way. I get obsessed. I let it draw me in and burn me up. I breathe it in
like fire breathes oxygen. I burn it until the wood is gone... then I look for more.
This is a spontanious 7 song mini album A stack of 7 postcards
singing 'thank you' to a few random midnight inspirations.
I was describing this record to a friend of mine as a sort of soul / rock / glam /
un-crystalized audio love letter to something in music between Van and Bowie,
and he recommended the title "Into the Lipstick"
(which I loved instantly, but it would be better
suited for a glam band). Another title was: 'Pocketful of Shrapnel' (English slang for spare coins in one's pocket) but 'Audio Love Letter' fit the bill best because this record is just a loose limbed, spontaneous quick draw salute,
to a few super inspirational folks in no particular order... Steve Marriott, Jeremy Brett, Van Morrison,
Matt Johnson & David Bowie... aw fuck... there's no rhyme or reason to it, it's just a mini album for the pure
fun of it... to send some love up into it all... like hot air into the ballon of love...
... dig?!
We continue to dream... as dandy's and beautiful bitches do,
and we say 'piss off' to the whole bad brew that is weighing the world down,
and we dream the next beautiful thing, and follow our wonder
minds eye,
Produced by Frank Orrall,
Martin Stebbing & Ted Cho Recorded
by Ted Cho and Martin Stebbing Mixed
by Martin Stebbing Recording facility:
4deuces Recording / Clava Studios, Chicago Horns
Arranged by Max Crawford Strings Arranged
by Susan Voelz Drums & Vocals: Frank
Orrall (except "Jeremy Brett"
drums by Dan Leali) Bass: Bruce
Hughes (except "Jeremy Brett" & "Starlight" bass by Ron Hall;
and "Steve Marriott" bass by Frank Orrall) Guitars: Ted Cho, Dag Juhlin & Frank Orrall Organ, Pump Organ, Wurlie & Accordion: Max Crawford Organ: "Uncertain Smile" by Rick Gehrenbeck Piano: “Young & Wilde" by Rick Gehrenbeck Harpsichord: Rick Gehrenbeck Strings & Casio: Susan Voelz Mandolin: Ted Cho Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham Trumpet
& Euphonium: Max Crawford Saxophone:
on "Win" by Paul Mertens Baritone
Saxophone & tenor sax: on "Uncertain Smile" by Dave Smith Omni Chord: on "Starlight" by Martin Stebbing Omni Chord: on "Sweet Thing" by Max Crawford PDP Official site: www.Platetectonicmusic.com PDP Representation: frankie@novo.net
Lyrics
Steve Marriott 1947 - 19991 (1 minute and 45 seconds of pure love for a major Brother!)
Lyrics: When I finally found you, you were
already dead When I finally heard you, this is what you said..., (instrumental break) Steve
Marriott! Burning the house down
P.S. - the reference to 'burning the house down'
has nothing to do with the actual fire he died in,
It has everything to do with the personal fire in his heart &
how passionately he took the stage - total respect! I had one person email saying that this song
was disrespectful because it mentions fire, and that it was insensitive,
but I say Bull Shit, and Steve would too - This song is about the fire of soul,
Steve knows what I'm talking about here, and I have a pretty damn
good idea he is digging this track right now! (the dead have only love left to give the living!)
I never really discovered Steve Marriott 'till he was already dead, Though I loved "Itchycoo
Park" as a kid listening to the radio, it was much later when I actually deeply listened to
the Small Faces, that I fell in love with them (and with Steve's voice and spark). The
basics for this were recorded by Ted Cho and me at Clava during the "7" demo sessions. Ted set the mics and
got a nice booming sound on the drums late one night, I switched from drums, to Bass & guitar...
searching, following Steve's ghost... the lyrics just came in the midnight, and so now it's done. Martin Stebbing
and I love Steve and the Small Faces. They where a great inspiration to us during the 7 sessions because of the raw soul and 'heart on the sleeve' earnesty of every thing they did. Faces Bassist
Ronnie Lane rests solidly in our hearts from the Austin days where he lived and performed quite
a bit with PDP's Susan Voelz and Max Crawford before he died.
Steve died in a house fire at his home
in 91. This song is for him... Total Respect!
F.Q.Orrall
Sweet
Thing
I still remember the first time I heard Van Morrison's album; Astral Weeks, that shit
kept me up all night....
and "Sweet thing"?
...a song of total beauty. The Waterboys were true to the original,
we decided to give it a bit of a Glam up treatment.
Jeremy Brett 1933 to 1995 (Written and recorded as
a pure gesture of love & respect for the late great fantastic Actor... a true Bon Vivant and
fine proper Dandy 'Twinkler' too! Jeremy's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes (in the British Granada
television series) is with out peer - hands down the best ever).
Lyrics: I'm in love
with Jeremy Brett he was the single greatest sherlock holmes yet in a series on the bbc I used to watch
him here on a & e hair slicked back and impecably dressed his only prop could be a single
cigarette he was an actor in the old regaurd who took the stage intent to fully become his
part he was a sort of dandy in the classic tradition, a bon vivant filled with bouts of depression sundown sunday, kensington high street in a cabretta with a floral scarf london's yours,
man you got macbeth tonight a scull in your hands in the fire light tobacco and champagne
and you're feelin alright! a cab across town and a kiss goodnight he played a holmes that was
deep and dark with faults - richly complex & brilliantly detailed a "Damaged penguin" with
genious intuition an animated spider with singular vision who's only need was a case to consume him to stave his addiction to a certain solution David Burke and Edward Hardwicke, played it
perfect as his friend and companion a kind hearted, affable watson everyready with a loyal hand in any case that holmes would command him I always felt holmes couldn't do with out him brett's
wife died back '85 all the grief triggered manic depression could see it in his face - that
he was heavily grieving (his heart grew thin and finally stopped beating) jeremy brett I never knew you OH! Darling! I dedicate this song to you!
F.Q.Orrall
Uncertain
Smile
By Matt Johnson
In
1983 Matt Johnson dropped The The's first record; Soul Mining with it's beautiful & clear poetry of souls
in self examining rumination on isolation & existence...
Young &
Wilde
Lyrics: You were young and wild... had a chip on your
shoulder, I was cocky and awkward in my young man's blues, and you came to me and just
shhhhused my lips... We ran free like the tigers and the birds and the bees, all
I would have to do is think of you, and you would just come to me, but I'm lost tonight on
the bedroom floor, awww you don't come 'round to me in the night time anymore. There was a time when you came to
me, in the deep end of the night. There was a time when you needed me... held me in the moon light. But,
now you just talk to me like you're reasoning with a child in the daylight. Please,
come home to me.
F.Q.Orrall & Paul Mertens
Win
By David Bowie
From his Philly Soul era, near and dear to my heart
Starlight
Lyrics: Starlight...Starlight... shining like a wheel... turning in the night
Sleeping...Dreaming... bathing in the womb's, liquid white light
Falling...Laughing... Drowning in the deep, deep end of night
Falling...Laughing... Drowning in the deep, dark end of night
Shining...Starlight... bathing
in the womb's, liquid white light ...Starlight...
F.Q.Orrall
We continue to follow our wonder
minds eye,
Our
Sword is Sharp and Our Heart is Loud.
.
Win
Sweet Thing
Steve Marriott
Small Faces-Whatcha Gonna Do About It Sung By Steve
- Watch this and understand!
Small Faces - Song Of A Baker
Sung by Bassist Ronnie Lane, Steve on guitar
The raw
power of Steve's guitar playing is something to be reckoned with
"I'm in Love with Jeremy Brett - Happy Birthday Darling!" Video made by 'Jeremy's Darling' using the PDP song "Jeremy Brett"
(we found it on youtube... Thank you for making a beautiful tribute on his b-day!)
Jeremy Brett
1933 to 1995
A fantastic Actor, a true Bon Vivant and fine proper Dandy 'Twinkler' Jeremy's
portrayal of Sherlock Holmes (in the British Granada television series) is with out peer - hands down the best ever. ___________________________________________________________
Critical Praise for "7"
"It's the best album Poi Dog Pondering has yet made..." - AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
"This
is the PDP I first fell in love with and, even though it’s twenty years on, their music takes me to places I never realized
existed." - AUSTIN CHRONICLE
“This record finds the Chicago-based band getting back to basics, performing
14 soulful and neatly arranged pop songs… Orall’s lyrics and musical sensibility have always come directly from
the heart... that peaty poetry continues on “7,” the seventh and latest Poi Dog Pondering record"
– CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
“It's a mighty big, soulful and often dramatic sound” – TUCSON
WEEKLY
"On the band's new album, 7, Frank Orrall and his ever-expanding collective curve toward
classic soul music " - ST. LOUIS RIVERFRONT TIMES
“Guitar, violin, mandolin, keyboards, tambourine,
horns and accordion create a shimmering, fluid, soulful orchestral swell that ebbs and flows as gently as equatorial seas…”
– NEW ORLEANS GAMBIT
Poi dog pondering release their 7th studio recording: "7"
Poi Dog Pondering' is currently recording a follow up 5 song e.p. to the recently
released full length album "7".
BIO:
Poi dog pondering keeps thriving because their ethic has always
been about following their musical heart. Their steadfast independence has allowed them to perennially bloom. Multi Racial,
Omni sexual, and unafraid to be themselves, they prowl the musical landscape with a hungry belly. They seem to live
in a frame of mind more akin to the 30's and 40's Bohemians.
Known as "The little big band with the strong back and supple / stubborn heart", PDP has
been following it's intuition for 25 years now. From bohemian street buskers to impossible to market major label sacrificial
lambs... Poi dog pondering have ripened into staunchly independent musical voyagers. They have let every sound that excited
them flow through their music and flood it with ever changing colors; Rock and soul. Orchestral, acoustic and electronic textures.
Americana, rock band disco and international musics. All threaded along the way with lyrics that embrace the beauty and pain
that life can bring.
Poi dog pondering formed in Hawaii in 1986. The first live performance was at the Honolulu
Arts Academy. Filled with youthful imitative exuberance and inspiration from reading about Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground's
'Exploding Plastic inevitable' projected film and music happenings, PDP projected films of lava eruptions, ocean and other
natural environments over the band as they performed. The tradition of projected imagery along with PDP live performances
developed and matured over the years and continues to this day thanks to long time film and video artist/collaborators Luke
Savisky and Marco Ferrari.
In 1987 PDP's wanderlust drew them to the mainland where they embarked on a year long bohemian travel tour
across the United States and Canada, playing acoustically on street corners for gas and food money, while sleeping outdoors
all along the way. This experience forged Poi dog pondering's self identity & confidence as a "D.I.Y." entity.
PDP was signed to the noble boutique label Texas Hotel who released their
first record in '88.
Sony / Columbia released
the next 2 records "Wishing like a mountain..." & "VoloVolo".
PDP relocated to Chicago in '92 and formed their own label Platetectonic Music and released
the critically acclaimed "Pomegranate" in '95. For the next ten years PDP delved heavily into developing their orchestration
skills, culminating in major collaborations with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta (with PDP's
Susan Voelz, Paul Mertens, Max Crawford & Frank Orrall doing the arrangements). Band leader Frank Orrall's interest in
electronic music garnered him respect from the Chicago House/Electronic music community for his solo project 8fatfat8, and
lead him to become a member of Thievery Corporation as percussionist and vocalist. All
this influenced PDP's next 2 records "Natural Thing" and "In Seed Comes Fruit" which saw the band experimenting
with electronic textures, beautiful lush arrangements and unhurried, sometimes instrumental song structures, letting musicality
determine the song structure, rather than traditional "verse / chorus / bridge" style song writing.
In 2005 PDP combined all of it's experience together and set out to write
and record "a straight up Rock and Soul record", complete with strings and horns. The result is "7". The
band chose this title because it's their 7th record and because "it feels like a benchmark".
20 plus years down the line
there is a bolstered sense of history within the band now. A swagger that comes from having steadfastly carved their own path.
It is quite apparent that PDP has always been, and ever will be in it for the love of it; creating and performing.
Line up changes are par for the course. PDP is an organic
entity, it changes like life does. But there is a core with strong roots, open to new ears and ready to experiment. That's
what keeps it vibrant.
Recent History:
Recently PDP have been working hard on some unique projects
that combine sound and vision:
2005: PDP joined forces with the Chicago
Sinfonietta and composed and performed a "remix" version of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" at the Chicago
Symphony Center and used projected-still and moving imagery with the intent to form a subconscious relationship between the
notion of the hopes of what people associated with starting a new life in the new world and life's passage from birth to death.
(click here to see photo)
2006: PDP began
writing music and lyrics, and recording for what would become the band's 7th full length release due out this Spring. Marco
Ferrari was busy filming the writing and recording process for an upcoming DVD.
Spring 2007:
PDP composed and arranged a re-invention of the music and themes from the opera "Carmen" and performed it live with
the Chicago Sinfonietta. PDP founder Frank Orrall & film maker Marco Ferrari collaborated to make a stream of consciousness
silent film to accompany the performance. The result was a sort impressionistic mini opera. (click here to see photo)
Winter 2007: PDP composed
and performed an original score for the film "Limite" (1930), the preeminent
work of the Brazilian silent era, Directed by Mario Peixoto. This was in conjunction
with the Chicago Cinema Forum & Sonotheque. (click here to see photo)
2008: PDP finish and release the new record "7" & tour North America.
2009: PDP voted "Best Rock / Pop
Act" in the Chicago Reader's 2009 reader's poll. Begin work on up-coming 5 song E.P.
SOME NOTES ON THE RECORDING
AND PRODUCTION OF THE NEW RECORD:
.
.
Every record is a new adventure for us, and on this
outing, we were in the mood to make a 'rock and soul' record. Because
we control the purse strings, we spared no expense. We wanted a warm dynamic sound, so we recorded to analogue tape (when
ever we could) & used old school effects like spring reverb and space echo in place of digital effects. We locked out
the studio and lived in it. We employed every every instrument we had to give each song it's own unique texture. After
having a lot of fun with sequencers and samplers on the last 2 records, we put them aside for this one - we wanted a rougher,
more immediate sound to better serve these new songs. We shied away from click tracks and let the songs speed up if they wanted
to. We wanted a record that would feel good to play live. INSTRUMENTS USED TO MAKE THIS RECORD: 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, vibes, charango, guzheng, ukulele,
tambourine, bandoneon, jaw harp, super tarana, xylophone, violin, cello, casio, vocals, trumpet, melotron, stylophone, electric
mando cello, space echo, fender rhodes, wurlitzer, synth, piano, saxophone, trombone, baritone sax, omni chord, shakers, cow
bells and hand claps. NOTES ON THE ART WORK: In an age where digital
downloads rule, we still care about the art work. We wanted something the listener could hold and read while listening. The
art work for 7 is loaded. The cover art is by the Chicago artist DZINE, The booklet art is comprised of sculptures by the
Italian artist Virginio Ferrari from his 1960's works. To give that large format album artwork feel we added an additional
poster you can unfold which contains Video stills of various works by Chicago artist (and son of Virginio) Marco Ferrari,
cooking recipes from his mother Marisa Ferrari and a prose piece by Frank Orrall. The complete package was designed by Alberto
Ferrari and Frank Orrall. NOTES ON FORMAT: "7" will
be available on L.P., 8 track, cassette, c.d. and digital down load - Cause we're stubborn like
that. NOTES ON THE MASTERING:
You will notice that "7" is a little quieter than most pop recordings these days. That was intentional. There is
a volume war going on in modern music, because everyone wants to appear louder. This has lead to seriously compressed... even
distorted recordings, that frankly sound bad. We put too much into the quality of recording to let this happen at the final
stage, so we found a mastering house (Chicago Mastering Services) who feel the same way and they did a fantastic job preserving
the integrity of the recording and let it blossom.
Produced by: Frank Orrall, Martin Stebbing and Ted Cho Recorded by: Ted Cho and Martin Stebbing Mixed by: Martin Stebbing, Ted Cho and Frank Orrall (assistant at Wall2Wall: Frank Caruso) String arrangements by: Susan Voelz Horn arrangements by: Dave Max Crawford Recorded in Chicago at: Wall2Wall Recording &
4deuces Recording / Clava Studios Mastering
by: Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Services
