urbantramper

2012-01-08T01:50:00.000+01:00

New website is now up: www.urbantramper.com

Currently recording tunes for new album...

Will be filming video for 'Kate Bush Saved My Life' in early February....

New Website Up Next Week.

2011-12-15T05:22:00.001+01:00

It's true.

Update...

2011-12-04T23:02:00.003+01:00

Hello kind people,

Some things:

1) We are about to launch our new website. Two weeks?

2) We played a duo show at Sanctuary Sounds in the weekend. Photos on the facebook page: Here.

3) We are currently working on a video clip for "Kate Bush Saved My Life"

4) We are also recording our 5th album, which will be released in late April 2012.

Love to you and yours...

Hard Times.

2011-11-28T11:40:00.002+01:00

Havin’ hard times in this crazy town...

But we keep on keeping on...Innit?

In which we attempt to explain some stuff...

2011-11-23T01:10:00.001+01:00

In which we attempt to explain some stuff...

The 'today i voted for a fairer and more democratic future' Show

2011-11-21T02:16:00.003+01:00

We'll be voting to Keep MMP...

Tour!

2011-11-14T12:42:00.003+01:00

We're off on a mish!

Urbantramper is heading to Aotearoa's Great North for a few shows...

We'll be showcasing our experiments with Utopian Music at the following venues:

Wed Nov 16 THE NARK (THIRD AND SOCIAL), Auckland
Thu Nov 17 THE YOT CLUB, Raglan,
Fri Nov 18 MAJOR TOMS, Mt Maunganui
Sat Nov 19 GOLDEN DAWN: TAVERN OF POWER, Auckland

Hooplah!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143962742371047

Jane Eyre - The Movie Soundtrack That Could Have Been...

2011-09-29T05:22:00.004+02:00

We loved the new Jane Eyre film.

A beautiful novel made into an out of control good film...

Best line: Mr Rochester - You transfix me quite...

Gold!

Here's a tune from the soundtrack to Jane Eyre they couldn't afford...From the 2007 album Tokon & the Colours

6. The ballad of Mr Rochester - urbantramper by urbantramper

Kate Bush Saved My Life (New Single)

2011-08-29T01:10:00.000+02:00

artwork by Georgie Flood

Mid-winter. Nantes, France. There's talk of snow but some say the air is too cold. I hope for some white to give life to the grey. I see familiar faces and am mistaken. I am poorly from over-indulgence in the local drink. And my heart is broken. From the nothern entrance of the train station I board the TGV bound for Paris. I'm anxious about changing trains. I take some ibuprofen and await partial relief. My journey will end with good friends across from the SIKA factory outside of Fribourg. Still I'm overcome by fear and there's a heaviness holding me down. I take my faulty mp3 player out of my bag and curse the person who sold it to me. I regard the songs with boredom and disdain. I reach K and choose the album “Hounds of Love”... The train departs...slowly builds up speed.... My head clears...the toms begin pounding the beat to 'Running up that hill'.
On the paper of my pain aux raisins I write...

“Ride this high speed train leave our pain
Tomorrow never came in the Great North
It was nothing like we thought.
Action brings good times and takes lives
The white sky bleached our dreams for that town
we're on a beeline for better days
Plown fields and naked trees pass by me
bid farewell and submit to the spell
feel a holistic human heart
Kate bush guides by thoughts of granduer
She takes her shoes off and throws them in a lake
she saved my life
as I flee on this TGV...
Beeline for Better Days”

Urbantramper - Kate Bush Saved My Life

Kate Bush Saved My Life (Listen and Download above -free for a week) is our latest single. It is part of a collection of work (to be released in early 2012) united by the concept of Utopia.

St Rupertsberg EP release show...

2011-08-23T06:23:00.002+02:00

To whom it may concern,

We're playing our first New Zealand show for while at San Francisco Bathhouse on Saturday September the 3rd...

We're supporting St Rupertsberg and Mount Pleasant. It's a whole new line-up for Urbantramper and our recent experiments with Utopian Music will be on display.

Facebook Event

PS: Our new Single "Kate Bush Saved My Life" will be available for free download from this site next Monday at 11.05am. It'll be free for one week.

And for your listening pleasure: L'été Indien en Anglais...

Everywhere's far away from somewhere...

2011-08-07T15:10:00.003+02:00

Two Kate clips in preparation for our new single that will be released later this month...

I'm huge fan of lyrics that address people by their first names...

DARK

2011-06-19T04:53:00.004+02:00

Urbantramper has made it back to the place of its birth - Wellington, Aotearoa.

They plan to carry out an aural experiment in a controlled environment.

"I recall the brilliant radiance of the sun as I lie silent in moonless night. The white sky bleached our dreams for that time...
...we're on a bee-line for better days"

Friday 15 july 19:00
Russian Frost Farmers
Eva St (the lane off dixon st next to hope brothers)
Wellington.

Start time is 7pm sharp. (you can party afterwards)

Sonic imagery provided by Urbantramper and Hula Hope.

Facebook Event: Here

https://www.facebook.com/urbantramper www.urbantramper.com
https://www.facebook.com/HulaHope www.hula-hope.com

Work and art

2011-05-17T01:47:00.001+02:00

The story

Once upon a time, Lake of Urbantramper went to seek his fortune in Australia. But he was too busy working, in places like sign factories and storage facilities. He had smoko and played games ("Albert Einstein. Engelbert Humperdink. Henry James. Jessie James. JJ... Dammit!"). He went to bed early. He wrote an album about work. There’s a lot to say about work.

You know how it is: liking a co-worker, wanting a different job, maybe even as a public servant, drinking away the boredom, counting the minutes until smoko, the lack of daylight, marching for better conditions, the conditions and possibilities of a thirty hour working week.

Lake recorded these songs, as the Workers' Album.: All that is solid melts into air. We released it on May Day, Workers Day, towards the day where every day is a day for workers. (Not every album. Love songs are good too.) Listen/download for free/donation here.

But this gig was special.

Applying ourselves

Firstly, we incorporated The Urbantramper Company. As the posters stated, the Urbantramper Company was looking for new recruits.

The recession is over and business is booming, hence, due to explosive growth in an exciting new industry this market leading company is looking for admin and sales super stars to join its busy team of willing worker bees.

You will be part of a funky 'go getter' team which is primarily focused on daily operations and processing customer orders by entering data into a complex computer based system.

If you think you have an infectious positive attitude towards work life, are able to supress any desire for individual expression and become subsumed by a company's blind pursuit of profit -then please apply immediately.

Lake then shared his experiences of working in the company for nine years, in a video invitation to our potential worker bees.

Next up we met Thomas, Chief Logistics Support Officer at the Urbantramper company. In an exclusive video interview, he shared his experiences and some of his drive for working there.

Finally, our CEO Dick Avarice took off his sunglasses and addressed his future employees.

Interested parties registered for the group interview - featuring the company band and Ghostplane - by sending in cover letters.

The group interview

Applicants were welcomed at the door by gorgeous receptionists with clipboards who gave them name tags. They were informed that in this, the first stage of the interview process, their interactions over the course of the evening would be observed. They descended awkwardly into rooms where they chatted with our HR team. Sometimes the HR team had to look at their clipboards or take important calls on their cellular phones. The applicants were inspired by motivational slogans on the walls, and then, by the smooth sounds of Ghostplane.

The applicants then gathered in a special room to see CEO Dick Avarice's powerpoint presentation. Dick spoke about the company, what inspires him, and the bright opportunities offered to his employees.

Union representative Andrew Campbell then took to the stage to let the current and potential workers know about their rights, and the benefits to them and their communities in joining their union. He encouraged them to sign the petition for a living wage.

From the other room began the call of Urbantramper's Marching Song "Come join us walk, for a better place to work! Come make a stand, to create a fairer land!" The crowd marched in to dance, dance, dance.

What I loved

The excitement of putting on a production.
Bringing music, film, and theatre together - the forms of art as well as the artists.
Talking politics and loving on unions, but lightheartedly and with dance.
That the show lasted weeks.
The participatory nature. We were all performers, all shaping the evening, all surprised and excited.

This is why I wanted to tell you the story.

The album is available for koha download here.

Applications to the Urbantramper company recruitment evening

2011-05-01T04:48:00.000+02:00

Some of the star cover letters for that special night, one year ago, when we celebrated the release of the Workers' Album with a recruitment drive for the Urbantramper company (names have been deleted to spare the feelings of those who missed out):

From: ---

Date: Sat, May 1, 2010 at 4:35 PM

Subject: job ref # 80085. application

To: urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to register my interest in attending your group interview to be held this evening as advertised on Facebook. I believe that the skills and knowledge that I have acquired through my education and prior employment paired with my "go getter" attitude and love of everything funky would make me a perfect candidate for this position.

I am a corporate climber. I only want to work for the best, and in return can offer you my services as the best at what I do. I follow instructions, love bureaucracy and most of all have no problem in selling aspects and images of my lifestyle and lifestyles that may be considered funky or alternative for money, although only after I have emptied said lifestyles of any political or personal importance.

I look forward to meeting with you and finding out more about the exciting opportunities available at your company.

Yours sincerely

----

Sat 1 May 2010

Dear Sir/Madam,

I was highly aroused to discover that the Urbantramper Company has an opening to be filled. I am extremely excited at the prospect of trying out one - or even multiple - positions at the Urbantramper Company.

I am dextrous and flexible – I am a firm and dominant leader, but I am also comfortable working underneath others in submissive positions. I am more than happy to get my hands dirty, and I have fantastic oral skills too. I always rise to the occasion under pressure, and I really enjoy being pushed hard. I have a warm and vibrant air, and a natural flair for putting people at ease during sticky situations. I am a confident team player, and I have an unwavering desire to achieve results that will satisfy all involved.

I have great assets that the Urbantramper Company can take full advantage of. If my application is successful, the Urbantrmper Company will get to experience a passionate and dedicated new member.

I really really look forward to hearing from you,

Yours faithfully,

----

From: ---

Date: Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 2:52 PM

Subject: Application for position of administration worker bee

To: urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com

My name is ---- and I wish to apply for the advertised position of an administration person for your company Urbantramper. Please find attached my cover letter which details my exceptional qualifications which are perfectly tailored for the position.

30 April 2010

Having considered the skills required for the position I consider myself to be an excellent candidate for the position required. My skills are as follows:

· I am absolutely a “yes” person – I will say yes to anyone.

· I have absolutely no independent thought and therefore will not be required to go to the effort of suppressing an inquiring mind. As a consequence I am able to spend time (which would other wise be wasted by other candidates) mindlessly performing all and any arbitrary requests without question. I believe this skill in and of itself makes me an excellent candidate for the position.

· I am slavish in my attention to detail. Previous employers have praised my attention to detail in glowing terms such as “a pedant to the extreme” and “doctrinaire to the extreme”. Clearly I am not able to see the big picture (an over-rated characteristic in my opinion) and prefer to spend my valuable time on hair-splitting and minor ineffectual detail. Again I think the skill to doggedly persevere despite any reasoned and pragmatic objections to the contrary can only be seen as a positive.

I am looking forward to participating in the group interview and am sure you will find me worthy of such an important role.

Yours, with god

----

From: ---

Date: Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 9:35 AM

Subject: Application for position 80085

To: urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to apply for the advertised position 80085. I believe I am an excellent candidate for this position. I am a dynamic self-starter with excellent time management and organisational skills, who has great written and oral communicator and is ambitious for New Zealand.

I am committed to the ethos of the Urbantramper Company and would relish the opportunity to contribute to the mission of Urbantramper. I believe I have a lot to offer.

I look forward to your prompt response,

Kind regards,

----

From: ---

Date: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 9:27 AM

Subject: Fwd: Job application

To: urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com

Please find attached my CV and application for the advertised position.

I hope to hear from you shortly, if you have any question please feel free to contact me at any time (except after midday weekdays, and before midday weekends).

Sincerely,

----

Tuesday, 10.35am, The Staff Room

2011-04-27T14:09:00.005+02:00

By Thomas Jaunism

Everyone feigned contentment. She stood in the middle of the room and drowned in voices of people she didn't know. She didn't care about them. She'd had enough of this shit. She thought 'those little fuckers' and she felt bad for swearing in her head. A voice told her it was OK to be 'fucked off'. She should give that cheeky one a smack around the ears.

She remembered how much she loved Antoine. She imagined resting her head on his lap in sun. Another voice told her to 'snap out out of it'.

She thought of what she would cook for dinner and how she couldn't be bothered cooking tonight, or tomorrow night...and how she couldn't remember the last time she was happy, or if she'd ever been happy.

She tried to recall how she ended up in this room and why she was always pleasant to everyone. She forgot why she smiled at strangers and made small talk with her colleagues.

Her hands were red, cold and frail. She detested her hands. She felt the mole on the left side of her face and hated her parents. She wished she could go home and watch TV dramas with her mother.

She searched for something to look forward to. She saw days turn into years and all of them lonely. She was completely inside herself now. The sadness turned to sobbing and she did nothing to stop the tears.

Two reasons why I wish I had more hair left...

2011-04-11T19:37:00.003+02:00

Joe Dassin is my hero. Who designs his sets? Who styles his hair? Great chorus.

I saw these guys by the misty sea of Bretagne yesterday. Great tunes. Impeccable style.

Upcoming shows and superlative prose...

2011-04-02T14:44:00.013+02:00

Last night I played a solo show in a large artist space named POL'n, in Nantes. I was to play last in an evening destined to start late. A penchant for beer and precision puts on me on edge at late night gigs. Teachers, Florida played first and I watched as I contemplated Hula Hope's list of things to be nervous about before a gig. I analysed the points that may have been pertinent to my particular predicament.

I found myself a corner and studied the singer sing. I'm frequently confronted by 'amateur musicians' who blow me away with their technical skill and ability to belt out classic hits at the behest of drunks at parties. I'm always awfully envious and often end the night consoling myself in the fact that I could always be a public servant. But as I followed the performance of old guards Baptiste and Cedric I saw a mastery of something more than music. They transcended the mundane facade of the Friday of night and transported us to unfathomed lands of beauty. They unlocked doors that we built with keys forged by song...

Cheesy but true maxim #12: It's not the music, it's what you do with it...

And to quote that drunk guy from the Apollo Bay Festival: "Heart & soul mate, heart & soul..."

So... Urbantramper is playing lots of solo shows in the next month or so. Lake will be trying out new songs from an album to be released at the end 2010. If you're in Nantes, London or New York then come along...

May 23 THE DELANCEY, New York, USA (solo)
info: Here

May 18 GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY, New York, USA (solo)
info: Here

May 06 MELTING POTES, Nantes, France (solo)
-avec: Teachers Florida, Croche Dedans. Details on Facebook

Apr 23 THE SPICE OF LIFE, Soho, London, UK (solo)

Apr 22 WESTBOURNE GROVE CHURCH, London, W11 2RW, UK (solo)
Details on Facebook.

On receiving an email concerning the Canterbury earthquake of 2011

2011-03-10T14:18:00.005+01:00

Urbantramper comes from Aotearoa, New Zealand- a small country in the southern hemisphere consisting of two large islands and numerous smaller ones. Christchurch is the biggest city in the most southern of the two large islands and also the biggest city in the region of Canterbury. It is the second largest New Zealand city in terms of population. On the 4th of September 2010 a large earthquake hit the region. Aftershocks followed. On the 2nd of February 2011 an extremely large aftershock took place. This quake had devastating consequences for the city and its people.

I got an email from my brother in which he recounted his experience of the event's aftermath. I was moved to make some sort of contribution. Since I'm a songwriter, I wrote a song. I thought I could post the song on my website with a link to the Christchurch earthquake appeal. And so...

Download/Listen here

Donate to the Red Cross

Et autre chose...

My friend Nina is organising an event in Paris to raise money for the people of Christchurch. Urbantramper will perform a solo set. Entry is by donation and you must RSVP.

vendredi 18 mars · 18:30 - 23:30
Mathilda's Bar, Australian Embassy, Paris
15 rue de la Federation, 75007
For more info & to RSVP click HERE (you may need to log into facebook)

In times of crisis and suffering...

2011-02-24T13:18:00.002+01:00

What a bitter comfort it is to know that your loved ones are safe from harm...

Love to you and yours...

Samedi Soir à Nantes...

2011-02-14T22:54:00.003+01:00

Tiny scalp (wild folk) / Nantes
Urbantramper (future folk) / Nouvelle-Zélande

samedi 19 février · 20:00 - 23:00
Lieu L'Hurluberlu
36, rue Maréchal Joffre
Nantes, France

Facebook Event.

Definitivement!

2011-02-13T18:28:00.002+01:00

This kept me awake all night. Love the move at 1.23. Merci Erwann.

"You've got to have some sort of a gimmick to make yourself more known...Ya know?"

2011-02-11T12:17:00.004+01:00

What can we learn from Killer Ray?

"How to be a foreign artist in France during the 2010 winter - III" - The online chat edition...

2011-01-28T16:06:00.007+01:00

Thomas: Hey. I've been asked to write a letter for amplifier
Lake: don't they sell our stuff?
Tj: It's there but no one buys it.
L: Should I give up?
Tj: Maybe. Remember what Syd said: “you shouldn't try and be what you can't be”
Or what about trying to sound more like those electronic tunes I see on music blogs.
L: Yeah I love that shit
Tj: are you taking the piss
?
L: No. It seriously makes me feel closer to the future I believed in when I was kid.
I still have a hope for that future.
Tj: You still writing folk/pop tunes?
L: Ostensibly... I just wait for gold to arrive
when it does i'm overwhelmed by the beauty of creation.
You still on that crusade against overwrought prose and banal minimalism?
Tj: Clearly
L: As much as I'm all about electronic 'tricks' and fancy production, I still believe in the power of 'the song' and it's manifestation in 'the sing-along'. We're always going to need songs that sing our stories to a strumable rhythm and a humable tune...
Tj: ok ...
L: As technology begins to permeate every facet of our lives, the way we interact changes. Our personal relationships start and are maintained with digital tools. Interactions with our communities and the world at large are increasingly reliant on new forms of communication. Our lives are spent earning a living, loving each other, and hanging out, in ways that would not have been possible 50 years ago. Thus, as has always been the case, we need songs that draw upon our contemporary lexicon. Songs that soothe pains we have felt. Songs that talk of times we recognise. Songs that sing -not of a future that never came to pass- but of a future we are part of creating.

Here's the letter I wrote.

Urbantramper's song of the day...

2011-01-23T13:28:00.003+01:00

What a smile, what a setting...

"What about if you sing it by a pool and happen upon a woman sunning herself...?"

"Have you ever noticed water? I mean - as if you had never seen it before?"

2011-01-18T19:28:00.006+01:00

Hello...
Here's a couple of random clips we've been liking recently. I'm sure you can guess the theme. One is from Kate Bush who recently saved my life on a train from Heidelberg to Munich: "Take my shoes off, and throw them in a lake!" (unrelated lyric and anecdote).

The other is a song about the Olympics. You might remember that we have one of those as well...(Download/listen here: Olympic Theme 2012)

Be of good comfort...

Ps: header quote from The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

Bonne Année

2011-01-09T19:54:00.002+01:00

Happy new year tous le monde!

The sun came out today.
We shed our melancholy and basked in its warmth.
We thought, 'this year we will face the same problems as last year and the year before...'
But we felt a little more prepared.
We walked with sure steps.
Dodged puddles.

All the best for 2011.
Urbantramper.

What was that thing I was just about to do...?

2010-12-16T16:25:00.005+01:00

By Thomas Jaunism

Jane is a kind woman of about 65 years. I guess that because today is her 'retirement do'. I bet she's a mother. I'd say she has at least two well brought up children.

I watched her clean up after the shared lunch with another woman named Monica. Monica's around 45 years and has never had children. She's slightly less well kempt than Jane. I've never seen her knock something over, but she looks clumsy. I'm yet to warm to her.

Ursula brought a cake peppered with capsicum and cheese. I thought 'what an odd combination for something called cake, I must try it'. I was disappointed because it was dry and tasteless.

I ate quickly and unscrupulously. Then I got a sore mouth because everything was too salty. I'm the young one that no one talks to.

Jack must be older than Jane. He encouraged me to drink more wine so he would feel better about discretely refilling his white plastic cup multiple times. Jack felt the urge to smoke when he saw people switching to coffee. He asked Jane to join him as joke. She laughed. Everyone was in the mood for a chuckle.

Jane and monica started cleaning up. Monica lost interest after she saw that Jane had control of the situation. Jane looked at a paper plate that still had some chips on it. She picked it up, decided against something, and put it back down. She moved a paper towel, decided against something, then turned around and asked the others a question. I forgot what she said because it was of no consequence. She contined cleaning around me as I peeled a mandarin.

I pretended to read my book but secretly watched her tidy. I thought 'You're doing a stunning job Jane, and it's a celebration in your honour'.

The Clown's Smile

2010-12-13T14:41:00.000+01:00

Christmas Again.

2010-12-10T15:12:00.005+01:00

With the news that sow crates will be banned in New Zealand by 2016 (obviously too long), and the coincidence of christmas, we thought we'd post Urbantramper's christmas carol from last year.

The song is about celebrating christmas without celebrating capitalism and having vegetables (and fake meat) on the bbq for the festive season.

Here's the song: A Sifter's Christmas

Here's the chords and lyrics: Lyrics and Chords for A Sifter's Christmas

The Clown's Smile

2010-12-01T17:33:00.003+01:00

Below is a link to two 'b-sides' from the Rise & Ride Toward sessions.

The Clown's Smile

You can download them for free or 'pay what you want'.

Meanwhile: Urbantramper are currently writing songs for a new album to be released in late 2011. Lake, the principal songwriter, is living and performing solo in Nantes, France.

Be of good comfort...

"How to be a foreign artist in France during the 2010 winter - Email II"

2010-11-28T15:29:00.003+01:00

thomas jaunism (tjmusicmanagement@gmail.com) Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 17:15 PM
To: Lake (urbantramper@urbantramper.com)
Subject: Yo!

Hey bro,

Thought I'd give you a summary of my week...

Kate commented on the extraordinary size of the leaves on my street.

I noticed that they'd cleaned the leaves from the yard at my work.

I was nearly hit twice by cars on the way to the organic supermarket near my flat. My anger grew.

I solved the mystery of the open window in my kitchen.

I met a German with a perfect french accent and lost all hope in my ability to speak foreign languages.

I tested a kid on his english. He couldn't speak a word more than hello. “c'est pas mon truc Monsier...” We carried on with the exercise regardless and he told me about his favourite things. He did judo and he loved judo. I couldn't quite grasp what he disliked at first...Then I worked it out and we shared a understanding than was beyond the both of us. “So...What don't you like?”
“ur...the judging... the judgement of people...Me and you... we're the same...”
I wished him good luck for the Judo and basked in a rekindled warmth of what is right and true.

A tragedy occurred down a mine in New Zealand. I watched the Prime Minister make a speech on the internet and was moved to tears.

Regained faith in my aptitude for foreign languages after talking to a woman from the US named Rose.

Love to you and yours...

Thomas

--
***** www.myspace.com/urbantramper *****
*****www.urbantramper.com*****

Hula Hope...

2010-11-26T15:27:00.002+01:00

Stories by Hula Hope (AKA Eli)

Hula Hope

Christmas Show...

2010-11-25T19:11:00.003+01:00

Urbantramper (solo) @ Vilon Dingue, Nantes, France

Come along!

Venez..

"How to be a foreign artist in France during the 2010 winter - One side of the dialogue between Thomas Jaunism and Lake"

2010-11-21T19:30:00.009+01:00

thomas jaunism (tjmusicmanagement@gmail.com) Sun, Nov 20, 2010 at 16:06 PM
To: Lake (urbantramper@urbantramper.com)
Subject: How's it?

Hey bro...

Things are pretty sweet here. I'm still working on my new novel. It's a romance between a struggling writer and the girlfriend of the lead singer of the band he manages. It ends badly. I'm also writing short stories for my blog, slowly learning the art of the blog post. It's a great medium.

Good to hear that you're writing some new songs. Send me an Mp3 or two. I've also tried my hand penning a song. It's called “The theme-song of Thomas Jaunism” and is inspired by actual events.

I live close to a river and it's so fucking vast it buzzes me out. I fight an overwhelming urge to join it's flow with every crossing. Yesterday I traversed this river and remembered what an elder told me when I was a teenager. I currently teach some adolescents to earn my keep in France. Their boredom is contagious and their aversion to learning gets me down. Perhaps it was the observation of such indifference that compelled a kind, middle-aged, family woman to remark to my teenage self, “These are the best years of your life you know?”.

As of this year, I've authored four novels and two novelettes. The TK city council have just finished erecting a statue in my honour. I'm currently in talks with a production company that has agreed to air my sit-com based on a dole office in Wellington. I have regular sex and can afford to buy a six-pack of beer whenever I want.

So as I crossed the river I reflected on what that woman had said. I walked toward a Friday night knowing more than I had ever known. Being more experienced and more complete than I've ever been. We veer from the track but still we advance. To paraphrase the RZA, 'we zig and we zag but we always goin' forward...' I recalled my younger self being so depressed at the fact that high school could be the peak of my existence. I remembered believing in a better future.

I can safely say that adolescence wasn't my best work. And that last Friday night wasn't my best work either. You'll understand this as a songwriter -but we can also apply the logic to our daily lives and our daily selves. We create to find something better, but our previous creations are crucial building blocks for our future. Thus we overcome the problem of disappointment and dissatisfaction, and rejoice in the contentment of progress and its rewards.

We all have our purpose. The masters inspired me to start and the erroneously encouraged inspire me to continue...
On se tien au courant...

TJ

--
***** www.myspace.com/urbantramper *****
*****www.urbantramper.com*****

Another short story featuring a supermarket...

2010-11-17T10:11:00.005+01:00

By Thomas Jaunism

I went to the capital of Spain last week to see a man about a horse. Sage Francis performed at the University bar several weeks prior to this. He was unshaven and balding- two things I relate to well. He appeared on the stage with a flag draped over his head and an insouciant swagger. His I-don't-give-a-fuck manner inspired feelings of loathing, unworthiness and jealousy in equal parts. I forgot that I was about to leave due to anxiety and boredom and was instead welcomed into his exultant realm of certitude. He said “this next song is called ---------. And it's Magnificent.” The sentiment echoed throughout the night.

Madrid was magnificent. The man had lied about the horse so I had time to relax. Each day I made my way to the same small supermarket to buy peach nectar. It was delicious. En route, I always passed the same fast food restaurant whose stoop three men used to drink that extra strong beer one could purchase at the aforementioned store. They seemed to be well content with their haunt and were friendly enough to exclaim a series of words to me as I passed by. But I don't speak Spanish so we didn't get on. There was a gentleman who stood outside the supermarket holding the door open for customers. He had a friendly smile which he used to accompany his softly spoken responses. These consisted of “Hola”or “Buenos dias” and “Gracias” in that order. One would be greeted with a polite 'hola' on entering the building and would receive a gracious 'gracias' after handing the man their surplus coins and continuing their day.

I was going to write about the fact that this dude would be lost if the store installed automatic doors. But I've been overcome with a sinking feeling and what's more I have a peculiar sensation in my stomach. There was a kindness in that man's eyes that one rarely sees near such establishments. I like to think that he has become part of the community and people greet him good humour and lose balance when he's not there. But I'm questioning the morality of adding poetry to poverty.

I saw a collection of short films on some rough neighbourhoods in New York the other day. I thought they were beautifully shot and showed great insight into the people's lives. The directors answered questions afterwards. “So you show us the hardship and all this bad stuff in New York” said one dude, “but what are you doing to help these people?”. I didn't understand their answers as my french is not complete, but they weren't happy and the discomfort weighed heavily on us all...

But this is stuff you already know. All art is shit but some art makes us feel less shit. Because, of course, we need to regard magnificent creations to know that magnificence can be created.

Epilogue

Detachment has prevented me from being injured by sharp attacks on my work and my person and allows me to find beauty in the harshest of truths, but should we dress cold horrors in metaphoric cloaks for the sake of art?

"Almost told my boss to get f*&%ed" - And other great lyrics...

2010-11-14T15:54:00.003+01:00

Our admin team just put up the lyrics and chords for "The Workers' Album"

Check them out here:

The Workers' Album

Some photos from Belgium...

2010-11-10T02:51:00.002+01:00

Some photos from our show at Bar du Matin in Brussels (September 2010)...

Check them out here

The Gravity of the Grève...

2010-10-24T20:04:00.007+02:00

By Thomas Jaunism

A kind and generous young woman from Paris has lent me her appartment in one of Nantes' party quartiers. I share it with a mouse who lives behind the kitchen bench- though we keep to ourselves for the most part. I say to everyone “j'ai mon propre appartement pendant deux semaines”.

I've managed to create two plastic bags of waste in just over a week and I'm not happy about it. Everyone knows I despise waste, but I've been careless and lazy. Today I thought about adding my waste to the piles of other people's waste that are growing throughout the city. The bins have long been filled and now shit's flowing onto the footpaths. It's starting to smell. Some people have taken the initiative to burn the plastic bins. It does minismise the physical size of the problem, but comes short of solving it completely.

There is a certain glory in these mounting dumps. The French Government is introducing new laws around superannuation including raising the age of retirement from 60 to 62. The majority of the French people are against the reforms and there have been weekly demonstrations for a while now. I attended rallies in Toulouse and here in Nantes, joining the hundreds of thousands of people who walked the streets in good spirits. The lycéens (high school kids) have been blocking the entrances to the schools and often lead the demonstrations. For the last couple of Tuesdays there's been no trains and the kids at my collège (junior high school) have been told to stay home due to industrial action. Hundreds of service stations have run out of gasoline as strikers block the refineries. And rubbish collectors are doing their bit by not collecting the rubbish.

It warms my heart to see 16-19 year old kids marching the streets and giving the middle finger to a Government they didn't vote for. Regardless of what these protests achieve, the importance of les jeunes involvement cannot be understated. To be surrounded by hundreds of your peers as your actions lead to the disruption of an institution you are forced to attend is to know the power of collective disent.

I've become enamoured by the waste piles too. It is such a visual reminder of the importance of a functioning community. Normally we just throw our crap in the bin under kitchen sink, then when that's full we take it outside. Then it's taken care of by the people in the hi-vis vests. But what if they don't come? What if the people don't unblock the drain? What if the train drivers don't drive the trains? What if the teachers don't teach the kids? What if they all decide to join together in saying “Actually, we play an important role in this society and we'd like to be fairly renumerated for that...”

Superannuation is a grave problem throughout the world as our people live longer and have less children. I don't know the economics of the problem well enough to say whether it's possible to keep the age at 60 in France. It may seem like a sweet deal as New Zealand's retirement age is 65 and Australia is rising their's to 67- though the way France's pensions are calculated is entirely different. I'm not interested in exploring the numbers here. I just want to highlight the magnificence of uniting in solidarity for a common goal.

I leave this apartment for Paris on Tuesday, the usual day of action. Though the bill has been passed by the upper house, the unions are not giving in. I'm playing a song at Lake's solo gig on Wednesday. It'd suck to miss the show but I'll try and be like the French and treat all disruptions with a fascinating amount of good humour. But first I have to clean up and take out the rubbish...
and bid farewell to my discrete, easy-going room-mate...

An interview in Japan...

2010-10-17T13:12:00.004+02:00

Here's an interview Lake did in Tokyo with Kohei and Sam for RNZ. There's some audio from the show too. It was recorded in July 2010...

Listen Here

A memory from Liverpool St...

2010-10-13T15:14:00.006+02:00

by Thomas Jaunsim

I was in a generic 'city' or 'express' supermarket in London.... I shouldn't have been there, but I was on tour with the band and they travel cheap.

Supermarkets are always cold and I hate that. I like the bright lights and the abundance of shiny food, but the pre-made sandwich displays in the first corridor irk me.

I'd just rounded the first corner when I noticed green slimy water on the floor near the vegetables. An employee of Indian descent was discussing the problem with a West Indian colleague when the owner arrived.
“What the hell is this?”
He was a white Englishman in his late thirties, a big man, slightly overweight.
“Could someone tell me why no one is cleaning this up?”
He was balding, but well kempt. He wore a casual suit that clearly emanated his superior status...
“Um, I was...we were just....”
The employees rushed to the floor in an attempt to placate the fury of their boss. The owner was not not about to let them get away with this shit. He could do it better himself. They were fucking useless and, though his skills were not in cleaning, even he could do a better job. He grabbed a mop from one of the workers and started hastily mopping the leak.
“Could someone tell me why I'm mopping the floor in my own bloody store?”

I looked at Ben and said “Yeah bro, that's mad.... What kind of chump would clean his own store...?

Indietracks festival videos...

2010-10-07T11:49:00.004+02:00

We played in a corrugated iron church in the old railway yards of Derby, in the Midlands of England. It was early in the morning, or at least it seemed that way...

The end of 'A superhero's partner' from Rise & ride toward...

'The ballad of Mr Rochester' from tokon & the colours...

Thank you kindly to whoever filmed these clips...

The 18th...

2010-09-17T23:23:00.009+02:00

by Thomas Jaunism

I'm staying in the 18th Arrondissement. On Rue ---------. I think most people on the street are from the Ivory Coast, but that's an uneducated guess. The motor vehicles and tense conversations can be heard constantly from my 4th floor apartment. Signs are draped from the balconies opposite. They say "Non. Non... Non a la Prostitution...64-65". The women sell a small purple vegetable, not unlike an eggplant, from their trolleys on the footpath. The men deal in counterfeit watches and belts. "la police est proche!" a women warns under her breath. The market recedes and people casually gather around cardboard boxes. The police pass and the boxes are once again adorned with sparkling goods from far away places. There is a steady flow of water on the asphalt, day and night.

I like the day better.
I got mugged in the night and that got me down a little.

"Tu as une cigarette mec?"...
"um...Je ne comprends pas"
"Vas-y!...une cigarette.."
"um.. Je ne..."
Then he offered his hand up for some sort of handshake. I was just returning from a 5 hour train ride and, because it was cheaper, I travelled first class. They gave us wine and terrible food - I indulged.
I took his hand and he started doing some peculiar dance with me. His leg was between my legs and he was sort of grinding me.
I was very calm as he did this. I observed him and noted that he was strange... that this dance he was doing was rather unconventional.
Yet I allowed him to continue.

"Qu'est-ce que tu fait?" - An older guy seemed concerned.
I now noticed that there was about four other guys around. Varying levels of siftiness. The dude that asked the question seemed alright. The faces of the others told me that something was fucked up.
The dancer let me go and I promptly headed for the train. I got on and saw one of the siftier characters sitting at the the end of the carriage. It was like that moment in some American CIA film where the protagonist suddenly realises he's being watched. Hitherto innocent bystanders become undercover agents (His whole life ends up being a complex facade, he doesn't know who to trust, etc...).

That's when I freaked out a bit. 'What the fuck?' Then I checked my pocket and my wallet was gone. I had a fair amount of cash left in it from the tour - and all that other shit people keep in wallets. I showed no emotion as I realised this. I only cared about the sifter at the other end of the carriage. It was still three stops till my station.

This all happened at Gare de l'Est. I feel safe on Rue --------- but I'm still a bit sketch about Gare de l'Est.... and the night.

I rarely leave the neighbourhood. I slept a few days at another apartment up the road, but I'm back opposite the anti-prostitution signs now. I pass my days studying french and reading a hit novel about yoga, and a treatise on the Proust's life.

Today I climbed Montmartre and read about meditation and love in the sun. It's Friday today and I leave for Nantes on Monday.

Saving...

2010-09-04T09:41:00.000+02:00

Sarah interviewed Lake about money for her blog. The result is here on Self conscious posturing

Recording new songs in Rames, France.

Gerardmer: the last show of the tour

2010-09-01T14:20:00.000+02:00

We were delighted with Gerardmer, Alsace, France. We left the highway from Brussels (via a bonus country, Luxembourg, with its lovely park) and were guided down smaller and smaller roads until we reached a beautiful lake, a lovely town, with trees and mountains, all around. We set up at le Grattoir and soundchecked with the wonderful owners Joe and Pascal, and eagerly headed towards the lake.

It was our first swim of the tour, and beautifully warm and still. We returned for dinner at 8.30pm, quiche and chips and salad cooked by the charming Patricia, and in wonderful company. We learned that this is a holiday town, sailing in the summer, skiing and iceskating in the winter. We learned that at the moment, at 18 degrees, everyone thinks the water is freezing cold. We learned that 8,000 people live here, and that the size can triple in the holiday weeks. I felt sad that this was the last show. We played, and talked to the nice people. The bar is the ground floor of an old hotel. We slept in the old rooms upstairs, with a ghostly feel and wonderful decor. Look at the amazing ceiling I got to wake up to:

Now it's the end of the tour. I tried to encourage those men, but in the end these blogs are all by me. Looking back, I think they are fairly accurate. Tour was basically just this with: more frisbee, more games in the car, more waiting, more confusion, more exhiliration. We loved it. Thank you. We wish bliss for you.

Brussels, muscles

2010-08-31T13:21:00.000+02:00

One of these shows that will remain nameless, I was talking about how I would do it in my venue: firstly, I'd welcome the band warmly. Then I'd tell them where to park and where to unload their gear. I'd offer them a drink and maybe some snacks. We'd sit down together and I'd tell them what was happening for the evening, how the sound check would work, when we'd eat, what time we'd play, how long we should play for, how the door would work, what our roles and responsibilities were, how payment would work. As other people arrived, I'd introduce them and tell them their roles. We'd soundcheck, maybe eat together, maybe if there was time I'd tell them where a park was, and then later we'd play, and I'd give them a nice place to sleep. But all this is baubles: the most important thing is to let everyone know what's happening.

So it was wonderful to arrive in Brussels to our warm hosts saying, and I quote, "we will take care of you" - giving us snacks, letting us know what's what. They were lovely people and great dinner table companions. Le Bar du Matin is a really great venue, with free gigs at least every week, and lots of people. It's huge, with the longest continuous bar (circular) in Europe, and tables on the broad, broad pavement. People gathered there, happy for the warmth after weeks of rain. It was a great show, and the fresh mint tea was delicious. We partied on, talking to the people from all over the world that frequent Brussels, or at least this bar. Eventually Angus and Ben led us to the hotel (!) that they had already been to. This took several hours. At first it was because the men were playing frisbee, while I hissed at them not to hit any cars, and I was forced several times to confiscate that frisbee. Secondly it was because we got entirely lost. We walked for hours on the empty streets (sometimes the same ones, several times...), philosphising, disagreeing on the correct direction... We finally arrived and managed to check in. I set off some alarm by not closing the door correctly. High drama. Lake found a cool hair dryer.

The next night there was more frisbee/lying down in the park, and we got our tourist on. We stayed with Halit, a guy from couchsurfing we'd met at the gig the night before. Turkish, he lived in the Turkish part of town, and took us for pide and told us the history of modern Turkey. He took us to drink tea in a local community centre with some kindly old Turkish men. Halit was awesome. The men watched a two week old rugby game on the internet, and we made ourselves comfy on the floor for a good rest.

Clermont-Ferrand: Urbantramper makes it to a hotel room

2010-08-30T12:55:00.000+02:00

Clermont-Ferrand is a lovely city surrounded by forests and volcanoes. We were first here a few weeks ago, staying the night with a couchsurfer on our way from Bordeaux to Prague. That couchsurfer was the lovely Isa, who has since joined us at out gigs in Ulm and Stuttgart. In Clermont she lives in a squat called Hotel de Vils. This was once a youth hostel, and this group of people have occupied it for three years. They run a pay-what-you-want restaurant, put on talks, movies, gigs and art events, have people to stay for free, and have made an abandoned hostel into a thriving and welcoming community complete with vegie garden, bee hives public spaces, private spaces, a cinema, a darkroom, a wood room, a mechanic room, a dance room. The people there are kind took us to "Cafe-Lecteur" and fed us delicious quiche and taught us to juggle. We were delighted to discover that the hotel we were provided with for this time was right next door.

Our hosts at Rat Pack gave us lovely hot bread and cheese and salad and then we played our show. What can I say? We were great and then we got to walk through the old streets to a hotel room!

Paradise: Switzerland

2010-08-30T00:15:00.000+02:00

Our friends Monica and Matt, formerly of Wellington, arranged this gig for us in their pretty home town of Bishopschell. It was so nice! After some delicious pizza, we played at 7pm - what felt like a very dignified hour for a Sunday evening. Paul opened his pub, Jambalaya, especially for us, and Monica and Matt provided the gear and brought all their friends and family along. It was a good show, more chilled out than usual due to the Sundayness, and also the fact it was our fourth show in as many days. Everyone was kind and generous and cool. We wanted to live in the Swiss countryside too.

We stayed at Matt and Monica's that night, a huge former cheese factory for them and their friends, beside a river for swimming when it's not unseasonably cold like it was when we were there. We had tea and slept soundly. In the morning we were awoken by Monica's mum, bearing big bags and talking in Swiss German. She had brought us delicious food – so much food – for our journey. It was like Christmas.

On the journey we talked about how we loved Switzerland, how everyone is so kind and everything is so pretty. We arrived at Fribourg, another beautiful town by the river, to other dear friends. We has last stayed two weeks earlier, as a stop on our long journey from Bordeaux to Prague. Then, they had cooked us a delicious barbeque on the river after a swim, and the heat had suddenly broken in to heavy rain, and we'd walked the streets of the old town with the bells ringing and then the fireworks firing for the Swiss national day.

This time, Miga and Celine made us raclette, and we sat around a high-tech device where you could fry stuff on the grill, and melt cheese in little pans below the grill, and then you poured it all on boiled potatoes.

Ulmighty

2010-08-28T23:42:00.000+02:00

The Hemperium is a hemp themed bar, a sunfilled bar and patio beside the motorway. Herman our host flys gliders for a hobby and has since he was 14 years old. After soundcheck he took us for a walking tour of Ulm. Ulm was heavily bombed during the war but the cathedral was spared. Albert Einstein was born in Ulm. The famous tailor of Ulm built a flying machine and launched himself off a big platform to cross the Danube. He failed but he lived.

Herman seemed to know everyone. We met some ladies on a hens night and the boys had to sing the tune from the A team. Herman our host told us to help ourselves to a buffet of hemp spezler, hemp pesto, salad, falafel and chips, and brought us hemp beer and mate soft drink.

We played well, late. After more party, we retired to camp beds in the restaurant downstairs. Ben, giving up his sleeping bag and campbed for a friend, slept on a bar bench, using his drum mat for a blanket. Noble man.

Berlindo

2010-08-27T20:08:00.000+02:00

We spent a couple of days in Berlin, with dear friends old and new, cooking us delicious curry, drawing maps to 2 euro pizza and falafel, taking us on bike rides on wide streets, leading us to lovely canals.

We left for a night to Hamburg, and for our show Friday night we arrived comfortably, like yes, this is just where we should be.

Madame Claude is a great place, with furniture stuck to the ceiling to make you feel upside down, and people from all over the world conversing together. We were preceded by the soft electronic and heartfelt lyrics of locals Elephant vs Whale. When we played the small cellar room was full with people, and we all sweated together. The venue is strictly drum free: not even tambourines are allowed. Drumless I found it hard to relax into it at first, keeping hearing what was missing. It made for a different show, more quiet, and like we were all listening harder. I shook the egg as hard as I could, Ben and Lake keyboarded and guitared with extra rhythm, and the audience clapped their hands and slapped their thighs. It was a wonderful time.

Thanks Kareen and Christoph, and Annie, for your kind hosting!

Hamburg, porty city!

2010-08-26T14:00:00.000+02:00

In Hamburg it rained. We walked through a ceramic tunnel under the river, and played Frisbee in port places.

After sound check our kind host Zucke (sp?) took us to our apartment.

Our apartment! It was beds on the second floor of a corner building nearby. It was wallpapered with the posters of the bands that had played in the venue, Molotow. I sat in the big windows and looked at the people in the park. All the people were goodlooking and stylish, and the grafitti too. It was hard to leave our Band Apartment, but needs must. We found our way past a glowing carnival back to Die Reeperbahn, a main-drag-feeling kind of street with lots of shops erotisches.

It was a nice little bar called Meanie Bar. Everyone sat down, and listened hard. We sold our CDs and the only ones we have left will be homemade ones artistically decorated with highlighter.

After, a long night which involved a lot of talking, some getting lost and some falafel.

30 x 3 – 5 - 20 x 20 - 10 x = Stuttgart

2010-08-23T18:57:00.000+02:00

It was easy to arrive in Stuttgart, to pull up alongside our host Moritz on his bicycle, to have him unlock the door of his train carriage, the sun streaming in, and offer us the first of many beers. We crossed the tracks to his lovely home, a room set up especially for us with many mattresses and bedding, and dinner waiting: spezler, noodles traditional in these parts that he makes himself, with caramelized onions and a big salad: lecker, lecker, lecker.

It was harder to depart Stuttgart. It was Sunday afternoon, Moritz had slept one hour and now we had to get our gear our of his train carriage bar. There was a code. He scribbled 30 x 3 – 5 - 20 x 20 - 10 x and handed it to us. We found the padlock required 4 numerals. Had he created a riddle for us? We all tried to solve it. The night was only ending around us, people wandering around the old tracks and carriages and new trees, walking off the neighbouring rave dancefloor with dazed eyes, people eating pizza, the debris of the night all around.

Moritz’s bar, Anlage fur brennbare Flussigkeiten, or der Wagon, is an abandoned train carriage. All the people live or run their business their illegally. Mortitz has been there 11 years, bringing beautiful music to the good people of Stuttgart. Some people live there, others make art. Every year he’s thought this will be the one where they’re finally evicted. Recently, Stuttgart has decided to put the train station underground and do a big development where it is and over these disused tracks, so, despite big protests, this good thing may come to an end.

The train carriage was cosy and beautiful we played a good show to great people before sitting out on the deck with its view of the old tracks and the scrap metal, and dipping into the rave, a different style of dance music for every train carriage.

We slept a few hours and returned to der Wagon with the riddle code/equation. Giving up, Angus left for the house and returned and with the numbers 533. No luck. We marched back with purpose. I recalled the movies I’d seen, and shouted to Moritz. “We are Urbantramper. We are a band. Our instruments are locked in der Wagon. You know the code. What is the code?” Eventually, success! He awoke, for real this time, and we got the code and parted with good cheer.

Then the boys ran off excitedly to try it and I got lost trying to find the way back. I ran around abandoned train tracks screaming their names. Just because I go somewhere three times doesn’t mean I know how to get back. Eventually we were all happily reunited and we made it to Berlin by 10.30pm.

Dresden

2010-08-23T18:22:00.001+02:00

It was good to return to Germany. Our approximately 15 German words (collectively) take us much further. It’s just two hours to Dresden from Prague, and we arrived to an apartment of our own, kindly lent to us by our friend Tino while he’s cycling Poland. It was nice to spread out, to clean ourselves and our clothes and cook food.

We met the kind locals lending us gear for night and found Veranderbar.. My favourite place. The warm hosts Anya and Ky gave us tea with knitted cupwarmers (see above). It was furnished with old mismatched and beautiful things and there was a garden. I could have sat there all day. But Dresden was beautiful outside too, with people out everywhere in the sun, looking nice. Then we played and the people were just as great.

I liked everything so much, I started gushing about it all. When banter goes bad. Later, we lit the fire, as we say in our French banter, with the dancy songs. At the end of it all, someone on the dancefloor called the encore for Wishing Bliss, and when we began, people had signs, saying Eating and Brocolli and Eating and Properly and they all lined up with them dancing. Dresden, you are too good! When the venue closed we joined some of the dresdeners on a warm veranda til late, and we thought about how we loved Dresden.

The next day was spent mainly lying around. Too much lighting the fire, no fuel for more. Ben made very peppery soup, and we walked along the lovely river to the old city, small and rebuilt after terrible bombing at the end of the war. There was opera in the old square, and we listened in the mist.

Making Pragueress / Czeching in and czeching out / The Devil wears Praha

2010-08-22T18:13:00.002+02:00

Urbantramper Quiz! Which of Ben, Lake and Eli made up which blog post title?

Ye olde Praha, with your big dogs and strange bars.

We played twice in this fair city, in the underground scene, in bricky cellars, dark and musty.

Once, in a bar called Klub Final.

Our host gave us pasta and beer. The sound guy had a big dog that barked at the noises of sound check, ‘he’s musical’, said his owner, in one of the few exchanges we fully understood, feeling our severe lack of Czech.

We played well, to a varied assortment of people. Some Finns bought some CDs. We were happily reunited with Angus, who will be our secondary driver and primary physics specialist for the rest of the tour.

We were staying with a couchsurfer called Corinne close to this bar. She was kindly having us to stay despite being in the middle of moving house. Her apartment was crowded with belongings, two dogs, three cats, and her high energy.

The next day we walked around the old city putting up posters for the second gig in Prague touched up with artful fluorescent highlighters, liking the city tour with a purpose.

Waiting outside the next venue, Popo cafe in the old city on the other side of the river, I drew a picture!

Others unpacked.

We played beautifully, soberly, and skipped through the beauty home.

Urbantramper in Bordeaux (DJ set)

2010-08-16T23:44:00.000+02:00

We drove South(ish) along with most of the population of Paris. We arrived travel-weary at the end of the long day and Bordeaux revived us, with its cobbled streets and friendly shopkeepers. Marina, El Boqueron’s owner, arrived and gave us cold drinks and we put the tables out on the street with her. The boys tried to figure out the sound desk and I drew a picture. Marina gave us rizoni and the neverending flow of delicious red wine began. Suddenly, the people arrived to fill the small bar. Attentive people who clapped their hands, whooped, and danced.

After the show we began our DJ set with great excitement. Highlights included: The Herbs (French Letter, of course), Animal Collective, Roy Orbison, Serge Gainsbourg, Goeorge Boissons, the Ruby Suns, the Cure, and Tracy Chapman (Fast Car - we won Marina`s heart with this one).

The delightful people who had watched our show became our dancefloor companions and intimate friends for the night, continuing hours after the bar was offically closed and the smoking began at 2am. Our hosts were marvelously attentive, always checking on our thirst: “Vouz avez soif?”, “Oui, un peu...”

We walked home through beautiful streets to Thierry’s apartment, the great man and bassist in such bands as Kiss Kiss Karate Passion and Shunatao, and he gave us delicious breads and cheeses and comfortable mattresses. When we awoke, more.

Bordeaux had been kind to us and it was sad to leave. But we were due in Prague, 17,000 kilometres away, for a gig in three days.

Paris

2010-08-16T23:17:00.000+02:00

We had a good time in Paris. I spent some time thinking about all the things one’s supposed to see in Paris, and a lot of time sitting in a cafe called Assasin.

It was just down the road from our friend Alain’s apartment. The first night we slept on the cold concrete floor, the second two we slept on mattresses that we found on the street, which grossed Alain out a bit, but he accepted us just the same.

It was an exciting place to stay. We witnessed Montmatre, the Eiffel Tower, a fire, and several arguments from Alain’s balcony.

Later, we witnessed wine and cheese on the banks of the nearby canal, along with lots of other drunkards.

I loved our gig. We could walk there from Alain’s apartment. We put the mic stands and the pole-things that keep the drums together in a tartan wheely thing that Alain has, potentially to get things from the market. They gave us pasta, cheese, salad, and three drinks. Friends new and old showed up, along with many other friendly people, who said nice things to us. L’alimentacion Generale has free gigs all the time, what good folks! People watched the show attentively, clapping their hands. We tried out our French banter. I accidentally told people we buy CDs, rather than we sell CDs. People bought them anyway. I told them they were tres cool.

After our show it was straight on to rock and roll and excellent dancing. French people are hot.

Choo choo

2010-08-16T22:03:00.000+02:00

Indietracks is an indiepop festival held at the Midlands Railway Park, near Ripley in Derbyshire, UK. The big names were the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the reunited bands the Primitives and the Pooh Sticks. Instead of the dof-dof music common to festivals when the bands stop for the night, the kids bounced around to Belle and Sebastian and the Beach Boys.

We were joined by our friends Bob and Dermott. They ate burgers for every meal and were consistently entertaining.

Also, Chris, our friend from Nozstock who had us play at his local in Swansea a few weeks ago. He played in the Pooh Sticks with his amazing t-shirt.

The festival was manned by railway enthusiasts.

The event raises money for them to preserve the old trains and stations.

We went on a steam train and also looked at the model railway.

Our gig was in a beautifully peaceful old church, corrugated iron on the outside and wood in the inside.

Together, we walk from campsite to festival, and through the country lanes of life.

Alright mate? (London)

2010-08-11T19:20:00.000+02:00

Finally we were joined by Ben!

We had three gigs around London.

At the Brixton Windmill, with its dog on the roof and Our Lost Infantry, and late for soundcheck carrying all our gear on the airless tube on the hottest of days, but later relieved by red wine and good people.

The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell with the lovely Mary Lane and her Vinyls from Paris and very kind sound-guy. This was my favourite gig, in a great venue with a support band that matched us well, and everyone lounging on black leather couches in the cellar listening, and then standing out on the street in the hot night. We ate half-price chip butties, and talked to our London friends and French people.

The third show was part of the Flea Circus at the Candid Arts Centre in Camden town. This is an evening put on quarterly by our charming former keyboardist George and his friends - the Tea Fuelled Art collective. It is a long evening of entertainment in the form of short films, stand-up comedians, musical comedians, story-telling, art around and in the gallery upstairs. People sit around candle-lit tables. It’s so nice to be comfortable and taking in all these different forms of art in an evening. The Penny Dreadfuls’ sketches were particularly genius to me. Our show was sparse but reasonably genius as well.

We had such kind hosts in and around London. Thanks to Ann, Oly, David, Yael, Alistair, Megan, Bob, George and Jamie and family. Thanks to Cambridge, Maidstone, Camberwell, Hackney, Stockwell, Clapham and Kensington.

You know the cafe from the film Babel?

2010-08-05T15:24:00.001+02:00

I've been asking this question to everyone in the hope that they might say yes, and be impressed by the fact that i played there. It's called J pop cafe and it's a pretty impressive place...

It was the first show of another great mission of a tour. I played solo as the others took alternative routes. When I began packing for the sojourn my old doubts resurfaced...

Why am I leaving New Zealand and potentially (probably) losing a lot of money to play music on the other side of the world to people who may not be interested?
Aren't there enough indie/pop/folk bands around?
Am I not trying to push another product that people do not need?
Am I just contributing to the capitalist machine?

These questions are yet to be resolved fully, though i console myself with the fact that we make no profit; spread peace & love; consider our decisions and their impact on others and the earth; play songs of hope, triumph and rebellion; we must survive somehow and pop music with a political punch is surely better than the other pap...
um...to be continued...

Kohei (friend and promoter depicted above) sorted me out nicely while I was in town. The show was mad... I played first to a very attentive audience. The timing of their clapping during 'data entry daydream' was impeccable and unrelenting...

I was followed by Kohei's cousin GEN and then a traditional Japanese dance outfit called Bugaku.

This is me and Gen playing a cover of 'Not given lightly' by Chris Knox. It was pretty special...

A great evening...

(Thanks to Sam Wicks from Real Groove for the pictures)

Lake.

Taking Nozstock

2010-07-29T12:26:00.000+02:00

Noztock is in Herefordshire in England. This was our first gig of the tour.

Here is the drive there:

I loved the stone walls and green fields and trees and public footpaths through these places.

Here is Lake putting up a tent:

Pre-gig conference: “How are we going to control the Urbantramper fans?”

It was good to be among the free spirits:

Now Lake’s at the Bandstand stage, looking at the friendly sound guy and the man with the vacuum cleaner:

The gig was great. Afterwards we talked to the nice people listening:

Then we went to listen to one of the headline acts, the Blockheads (“Hit me with your rhythm stick, hit me, hit me!”) and met Bob, who loved Lake:

All in all, it was a great day. We were honoured to play at such a festival filled with friendly people.

Just kidding! We came on purpose.

Someone needs to do something (Small Nations Festival, Cilycym, Wales)

2010-07-16T11:02:00.000+02:00

The Small Nations festival, at Glandeswais farm near the village of Cilycym, near Llandovery, is a wonderful thing. It invites bands from small nations like Wales to a green and lovely area, and the farmer thanks everyone gathered at the end. It was nearing the end of the festival when we turned up on Sunday afternoon, and people were glad of the sun that arrived around the same time. We halved a one pound egg butty.

We were taken to a backstage area, a wonderful novelty for us with coffee and tea and fruit in a green and white striped tent decorated with the flags of small nations. The people were kind and friendly and told us stories of Welsh revolutionaries and rude bands and how one comes to organise a festival. When they spoke to each other it was in Welsh. It’s a beautiful sounding language. After our show was the grand finale band, Fernhill, singing in Welsh and English, interpreting songs from different folk traditions around the world. We loved them, their clear voices, the stories they told about the songs. Our show went well, in a huge barn festooned with giant Welsh dragons. People sat listening and then clapping their hands in time.

That night we were put up in an old old pub, the Royal Oak Inn, once a hunting lodge for the Crawly family, in the village of Rhandir-mywn. Mywn means both ‘gentle’ and ‘minerals’ and ‘rhandir’ means area. In the pub there were crisp white sheets and goats milk chocolate on the pillowcase and a variety of 70s-era wildly clashing carpets. Unused to such comfort, "it's so beautiful" I gushed to the owner. She said, “We like it.” I went for a walk and found an old church, a stream, tearooms, the pub, and a board with notices including the minutes of a local group. They were concerned about the lack of jobs in the locality, and the declining population. “The feeling was that someone needed to do something or the area is going to die.” Back at the pub I chose the table beside the elderly gentlemen so I could eavesdrop. Some of the elderly gentlemen were at the bar and speaking Welsh, so that was hard. When they spoke in English it was about bracken. The two men at the table next to me were English walkers. They talked about: the route to take the next day; whether they should have cream or custard on their apple crumble; how one of them had a friend who would embarrass him terribly at restaurants by asking whether the cream provided with the dessert came from a hairspray can (subsequently asking the same question of the Royal Oak’s owner); how the kite has made a comeback through educating the farmers that the kite feeds on carrion, not live sheep; how Shirley is a marvelous walker but she must first take an anti-inflammatory.

That night, with the World Cup final playing in the corner, I read a booklet called “Random Recollections of Rhandir-mwyn”. These included: how a local found a lead seam, but Lord Crawley got 99% of the profits; phantom funeral processions that pull you along the road even though there’s nothing there; Deio Ajax, the legendary sheep-farmer whose bride made him change his name to Jones as a condition of marriage; shearing days of long ago, with the community gathered at a farm for a day of work and eating.

What should be done? Something.
Who should do something? Someone

By Hula Hope

Tour Advertisement...

2010-06-22T23:29:00.000+02:00

This was filmed at Nairn St Park & Hataitai, Wellington, Aotearoa.

As you can see, the training is intense.

Be prepared for some killer shows...

Urbantramper: 'Rise & Ride Toward...' European Tour 2010

2010-06-07T16:04:00.000+02:00

Yes...We're heading to the Northern Hemisphere once again. We leave behind the GST rise, growing inequality and a poor rail network...Fear not, we shall live in solidarity with our fellow New Zealanders and campaign against the smiling assasin, and his 'blind trust', from afar.

We travel to share our hate for borders, our distaste for consumerism, and our love for everyone...

Please contact: tjmusicmanagement@gmail.com if you know any places/parties we can play at...

Jul 07 J POP CAFE, Tokyo, JP (Solo show)
Jul 10 NOZSTOCK FESTIVAL Hereford, UK
Jul 11 SMALL NATIONS FESTIVAL Llandovery, Wales, UK
Jul 15 WINDMILL BRIXTON London, UK
Jul 19 THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB London, UK
Jul 22 FLEA CIRCUS (Candid Arts Centre) London, UK
Jul 23-25 INDIETRACKS FESTIVAL Ripley, UK

Jul 29 L'ALIMENTATION GENERALE, Paris, France
Jul 30 HELL BOQUERON, Bordeaux, France
Aug 03 FINAL KLUB, Prague, Czech Republic
Aug 04 POPO CAFE, Prague, Czech Republic
Aug 05 VERäNDERBAR, Dresden, Germany
Aug 07 FFUS (DER WAGON), Stuttgart, Germany
Aug 12 MEANIE BAR, Hamburg, Germany
Aug 13 MADAME CLAUDE, Berlin, Germany
Aug 14 HEMPERIUM, Ulm, Germany
Aug 19 LE BAR DU MATIN, Brussels, Belgium
Aug 21 LE GRATTOIR, Gerardmer, France

More shows to be confirmed.

Listen to the songs we will play here:
LastFM
Bandcamp

And, if you use it, we're on facebook:
www.facebook.com/urbantramper

Urbantramper - Ode to the Public Servant

2010-05-12T00:52:00.000+02:00

Featuring everyone's favourite public servant: Thomas Jaunism...

The Workers' Album: "All that is solid melts into air"

2010-04-28T23:22:00.000+02:00

Artwork by Josh Morgan (click to view larger image)

This album was written whilst Lake was working in Melbourne circa 2005. The songs were inspired by austere workplaces, meaningless employment, magnanimous workmates and disagreeable employers.

We'll be posting the whole album up here for free download over next while (feel free to donate using the paypal link on the right)...If you'd like, you can order a CD copy by emailing us at: urbantramper@urbantramper.com $5 + p&p

The disk is also available at Slow Boat records in Wellington.

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM BELOW (you can donate us some money using the pay pal button on the right)

Song 1: Marching Song

Song 2: For a 30 hr Working Week

Song 3: A Robot in the Seat

Song 4: Drinking Song

Song 5: Factory Song

Song 6: Ode to the Public Servant

Song 7: When Sarah Smiles...

Our CEO: Dick Avarice...

2010-04-25T15:34:00.001+02:00

Hear him speak at our Recruitment evening...
May 1st, 8.30pm, 39 Dixon St, Wellington, NZ.
email: urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com to register.

THE URBANTRAMPER COMPANY - Recruitment Evening Advertisement No.2

2010-04-22T04:32:00.002+02:00

THE URBANTRAMPER COMPANY - Recruitment Advertisement Episode 1

2010-04-09T03:16:00.001+02:00

This is the first in our series of videos to promote our upcoming recruitment drive.

THE URBANTRAMPER COMPANY - Recruitment Evening

2010-04-07T23:08:00.000+02:00

The recession is over and business is booming, hence, due to explosive growth in an exciting new industry this market leading company is looking for admin and sales super stars to join its busy team of willing worker bees.

You will be part of a funky 'go getter' team which is primarily focused on daily operations and processing customer orders by entering data into a complex computer based system.

If you think you have an infectious positive attitude towards work life, are able to supress any desire for individual expression and become subsumed by a company's blind pursuit of profit -then please apply immediately.

*A group interview will take place at THE URBANTRAMPER COMPANY's offices and will feature performances from the company band and new recruits Ghostplane.

Venue: 39 Dixon St, Wellington, NZ
Time: Doors 8.30pm 9pm start.
Application fee applies. (fee includes company orientation CD)

To register your attendance please email your full name and a cover letter to urbantramperjobs@urbantramper.com Ref No: 80085

NB: Latecomers will not be considered. Registration is essential to guarantee entry to interview.

Facebook event: click here

Urbantramper @ your house party?

2010-03-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

We have no gig in Sydney on Good Friday (2nd April). Also Thursday the 1st of April is free for us...Any ideas in the NSW area...?
We're talking about house parties.

Email: urbantramper@gmail.com

All the best.

I would rather be with you...

2010-03-17T00:18:00.001+01:00

The conclusion's sentiment brings me close to tears...

iNSIDE JAUNISM: part V (The final instalment)

2010-03-11T22:56:00.002+01:00

Thomas on his local throne.

Well the interview series with our manager, Thomas Jaunism from Te Kuiti(TK), has come to an end. We hope you've all enjoyed getting to know the complex and intriguing man who means so much to us. Should you like to learn more about Thomas, do not be afraid to approach him at one our gigs. He will invariably be wearing ripped jeans, an un-ironed 'retro' shirt, stubble, a hat of some description, and a come-hither smile...

Listen to/download the latest installment here: iNSIDE JAUNISM: part V

Update: Thomas is currently in negotiations with at least 5 top publishing houses. They all want to publish his autobiography 'From TK to TJ - Making A Name For Myself In The Big Time'. It's Thomas' inside view of the rise of Urbantramper. From the infamous two day benders to 'that show' at the Tug Boat last year -Thomas tells it like it was. Unforgiving and uncut -just like rock & roll memoirs should be.

Thomas wanted to request that fan mail be sent electronically: tjmusicmanagement@gmail.com

Urbantramper is heading to Australia in March...

2010-02-25T12:21:00.001+01:00

click poster to see shows...

Facebook event links:
Melbourne
Canberra

1)We play our last Wellington show before we depart on March 6th @ the Cross.
2)It is confirmed, Ghostplane will be playing with us at our 'workers ep' release on the 1st of May. It's a Saturday night. It's May Day. We shall unite and celebrate the struggle...

Poster by Josh Morgan.

Always with love...

iNSIDE JAUNISM: part IV

2010-01-11T00:54:00.000+01:00

Thomas talks up the quality of our new cd..

Happy new year...

We trust the festive season went well for you all.

2010 is to be a grand year for urbantramper. We head down south in a couple of weeks and then to Australia in March. We're also in the process of confirming UK/European festivals as well...

We can now confirm the date of the 'workers ep' release. May 1st. May day 2010. Venue is yet to be decided. Rest assured there will be tea, instant coffee and biscuits.

Here's episode 4 of our audio postcard series on our manager Thomas. One more to come...

iNSIDE JAUNISM: Part IV

Merry xmas & a happy new year...

2009-12-21T11:27:00.002+01:00

Aubergines are great at xmas time...

So this is most likely our last post for the year...
We'll be back with a few more postcards in 2010.

We're also playing heaps of shows and will release the much anticipated 'workers album...'.

As a gift to everyone who's been keeping up with us this year, we are posting an xmas carol...It does feature on the 'cheese on toast compilation' so don't worry about downloading it if you already have that...

It's called: 'A Sifter's Christmas'

Enjoy.

2010 will be momentous for us all.

See you then.

iNSIDE JAUNISM: part III

2009-12-14T00:27:00.002+01:00

To whom it may concern,

Here is the third installment of our iNSIDE JAUNISM series. There will probably be one or two more to be released over the coming weeks. There has been conjecture concerning the possibility of a christmas special and a DVD being released...But at this stage we cannot confirm any rumours.

iNSIDE JAUNISM: Part III

Band update: Urbantramper is currently confirming shows for their Australian tour in March 2010 and booking shows for their June/July/August 2010 world tour. Album out now, to get a copy check this: Rise & ride toward...

Always with love...

iNSIDE JAUNISM: part II

2009-12-07T00:20:00.002+01:00

You can take the Thomas out of Te Kuiti, but you can't take the Te Kuiti out of Thomas...

Part two of our 'iNSIDE JAUNISM' series is here. We've commissioned someone to write a theme song for the series as we received some funding from the TK city council. They said the series is increasing Te Kuiti's exposure and the economic benefits are beginning to become apparent. There is talk of a statue being erected for Thomas and sales of his "I can manage, being from TK..." t-shirts are going through the roof. Hope you enjoy this installment. Another one coming very soon.

iNSIDE JAUNSIM II

Inside Jaunism: A series of 'audio postcard' style interviews with Urbantramper's manager

2009-11-30T01:44:00.003+01:00

Thomas insists on having his face blurred.

A couple of months ago we wrote a post about how we were in the process of interviewing our manager Thomas Jaunism. Lake has finally got around to editing the 3 hour interview down to 10 minutes or so of usable audio.

The first installment of the interview is basically a discussion about the press release Urbantramper released a while back about recording under urgency. It seems the New Zealand Government have been using the urgency tactic to pass some more great legislation like allowing private prison management...

More audio with thomas to come.

Response to 15th of October Press Release / iNSIDE JAUNSIM I

Where we're from...

2009-11-12T22:18:00.001+01:00

Ohh..a shot from our tour of this fair land.

We're from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Some people say it's paradise here. The reality is dark and getting darker. We have a government that has no regard for the environment and an economy that relies on industrial dairy. This pains me...
yours sincerly,
Urbantramper - trying to drink less milk, eat more vegies, give more shit to the government and drive less cars... since 2001. (before that, we just did doughnuts and smoked pot)

Here's the Guardian article that encited this riot.

Ben & Tristan taking the piss...

Rise & ride toward...

2009-11-09T00:20:00.000+01:00

To stream the whole tracks head here:
Free preview

To buy MP3s:
Itunes

To buy cds (international and national):
Amplifier

Smokecds

NZ stores stocking the cd:
REAL GROOVY AUCKLAND
REAL GROOVY WELLINGTON
REAL GROOVY CHRISTCHURCH
THE CD STORE
JB HI FI
MY MUSIC
TRACS HAMILTON

Aotearoa tour...

2009-11-02T22:14:00.001+01:00

Dear listeners, hecklers and indifferent spectators...

We would like to thank you all for attending our performances over the past two weeks. If you haven't yet got a copy of the new album 'Rise & ride toward...' it will be available in stores, and online, from the 9th of November. If you have bought the new album and are looking for lyrics and chords, go here. We will be posting some tour pics up over the next few weeks.

One more show to go! This friday @ the tugboat (behind freyberg pool on Oriental Pde). Should be a mean as show. Horns, flutes, mass harmonies, hannah howes.

Our trumpet player, Oliver, called this woman the best MP in NZ Parliament. Here's her parting speech:
Sue Bradford

Urbantramper to write and record their next album "Under urgency".

2009-10-15T22:45:00.000+02:00

Photo by Aaron Burgess.

Press Release: Lake, the lead singer from indie/folk/pop band Urbantramper, has announced today that he is to write and record the band’s new album ‘under urgency’. He says that the rest of the band, along with Urbantramper listeners, will have until tomorrow to give feedback on the songs. Lake will then record them later tomorrow evening.
“I have some important musical ideas that need to be expressed as soon as possible. They are extremely relevant to the present time and need to released by next week.”
When questioned about whether the songs would suffer without the expert opinions of his bandmates Lake said, “They have until tomorrow morning to give feedback. Anyway, what do they know? The bass lines, drum beats and horn lines are easy to write, it’s going to sound f*%cking sweet!”
Lake clearly lacked regard for his listeners too. “They have ‘til tomorrow like everyone else. I mean I hinted at this three months ago. They should be able to infer from my experiences over the last while what I’m going to write about.”
Urbantramper listeners are unhappy about the move, saying Lake is only writing for himself. Fansite spokesperson John Kahu is, however, not surprised, “he’s done it before and he’ll do it again. We’re just sad about the music- which inevitably suffers. And when people listen to crap music they end up having a crap time, which leads to host of other problems.”
Kahu says he will continue to support Urbantramper for now. “I just love Lake’s rat’s tail.”

What is Urgency?

Thomas Jaunism: Our Manager

2009-10-08T23:52:00.000+02:00

Hello All,

Just letting you know that we're going to post an interview with our manager, thomas, up here real soon.

He's an interesting man, and we think people can learn from his attitude to life.

Here's some of his stories... So you can aquaint yourselves with the inner workings of his, slightly odd, mind.

Thomas' blog

Guilt free relationship cheating....

2009-09-22T01:56:00.000+02:00

Offset the unavoidable infidelity here...

The answer is more roads of course!

2009-09-12T06:29:00.000+02:00

road porn

Bigger, better, smoother, beautiful and more convenient roads. Urbantramper currently lives in New Zealand, a place where no matter what the question, the answer is invariably 'more roads'.

The government has just approved an awesome one in Auckland- the biggest city in New Zealand with the shittiest trains. It's going to be sweet, check it out here.

Because Wellington is often jealous of Auckland's mint as roads, they're going to try and out do them with a crazy one that will 'fly over' the Basin Reserve. It's madness, sign the petition to stop it here.

Olympic Theme 2012 (Free Download)

2009-08-07T01:08:00.002+02:00

We were first approached by a certain retired sprinter in 2006. He was the new 'rogue' head of the Olympic artistic strategy team at that time and, needless to say, he has since been made redundant.

He spoke of the Olympics being about winning at any cost. 'The glory of the goal, the devastation of defeat'. I appeared to be listening intently, though verily, I was lost in a deep reverie...I pictured myself running like a Gazelle (I often compare myself to a gazelle) through crowded streets, arms raised to the sky as if to invite exultance.

I left him mid sentence and proceeded to write this song.

It was subsequently recorded in Shoreditch, London. It features: George (piano), Ian (Bass), Joe (Drums) and the usual suspects...

We hope you enjoy it.

Free Download: Olympic Theme 2012

Thank you kindly...

2009-07-17T05:59:00.000+02:00

Hello.

We played our first show for ages last night. The Watusi in Wellington were wonderful hosts and I think everyone had a grand time. yes?

We were a little rusty due to some sound issues, but hopefully made up for it with genuine good looks and effortless charm...

We would like to thank everyone for coming along with extra gratitude to those who bought CDs. That helps us out a lot.

Next show: August 7 @ Happy. (charity show)

Also: The Lake & Eli show play @ the Cross for Womens Refuge on Sat 25th of July...

New single release date...& other news...

2009-07-02T03:40:00.000+02:00

Photo by Aaron Burgess

So...

We will be releasing a new single with a few tracks on it to radio stations on the 20th of July...

It will feature the tracks: Olympic theme 2012, Hot young couples and a track from the yet to be released 'concept' album All that is solid melts into air...

If you would like your own copy then come to our gig on the 16th where we will be selling Urbantramper samplers at "pay what you want" prices...give us whatever you got and we'll give you a CDR...

If you are not in Wellington, NZ then we'll post the new tracks for download on our website on the 27th of July...

All the best...

PS: A new Urbantramper album... will be released in September....

And another in March 2010.

Mc Zealand

2009-06-30T04:19:00.001+02:00

WINZ (the providers of the unemployment benefit) have worked out a sweet deal with that quality family restaurant...It's a win/win!

Click HERE to read more...

Wishing Bliss Single 2008 (Free Downloads)

2009-06-16T05:02:00.000+02:00

As part of our efforts to make Urbantramper music available from this site, here's the MP3s from the 2007 single: "Wishing Bliss". Other downloads are available from the 'free MP3 download' section in the contents tab on the right of the page...

Wishing Bliss (radio edit)

Wishing Bliss (X-rated version)

Can I be Dr Strangelove?

Audio Postcard...The Making of: Episode 2

2009-06-12T05:05:00.000+02:00

Dresden, UT tour 2008

This postcard has taken a while to send, I bought it ages ago because i thought it looked cool. Since then it's just sat in my bag, getting dog-eared and stained...I only just wrote on it and it doesn't portray the vibe as well as i would have hoped. But you get the idea...We're just keeping on, trying not to get lost in the sea of superficiality -whilst still swimming in it when it gets too hot...Whoops, maybe too many metaphors...

There's a sample at the end from a track that will be on the new album. At the moment, it's called 'i live in shoe house'...

All the best.

UT.

The making of: episode 2.mp3

The future of music will be shared: An essay on the hope for a shift in power...

2009-06-02T01:05:00.000+02:00

"The goal is not only better living conditions, a radical change of structures, a social revolution; it is much more: the continuous creation, never ending, of a new way to be a man [or woman], a permanent cultural revolution" -Gustavo Gutiérrez

This essay was written to fulfill requirements for a paper Lake took at school. It suggests that the internet creates the possibility for a shift in power relations away from the corporate record companies and back toward the musicians and the audience. We acknowledge this as a process and not an end.

We are currently experimenting wih websites that share a similar ethos, allowing artists to share their music and providing an opportunity for payment. Basically we are trying to avoid sites that are owned by major corporations who have profit as their only goal, that is: Lastfm.com, myspace.com, itunes.com, napster.com, amazon.com.

Websites that currently seem interesting, both from an audience and artist perspective, are: bandcamp.com and thesixtyone.com which even allows creative commons licensing for posted tracks...
Let us know any others...

Here's the essay, it may not be flawless, but hopefully it provokes thought...

The future of music will be shared

The future of music...

2009-05-28T08:54:00.000+02:00

We are currently re-assessing the global music industry and the concept that is copyright...
We will post our findings on this site next week...
The findings aren't looking good for major record labels and their subsidiaries sorry...

here's a link to get the appetite going:

downhill battle

Tokon & the Colours...

2009-05-06T00:54:00.000+02:00

Released in 2007 with the help of Maiden Records this is Urbantramper's 3rd album.

It can be purchased online at the following places:

CD Baby

Amplifier

Smoke CDs

i-tunes

Audio Postcard...The Making of: Episode 1

2009-04-27T03:28:00.000+02:00

Hello,

This is Episode one in a new series of audio postcards. They will document the making of the new urbantramper album and the 'workers' album...They will be posted weekly and will follow the same rules as before (see http://urbantramper.blogspot.com/2008/04/audio-postcard-number-2.html)

They will also feature an unfinished snippet from the album...

All the best.

The making of: episode 1.mp3

Clip from Soundshell show...

2009-04-07T03:36:00.000+02:00

from urbantramper
The end of Ben's solo during 'Kimberly' @ the Soudshell show, Jan 2009.

Images of the recession...?

2009-03-24T00:11:00.000+01:00

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/scenes_from_the_recession.html

Single Art...

2009-03-20T02:18:00.000+01:00

One thousand thanks to Josh from the creaky drawers for the artwork for our new single...

New single...

2009-03-18T02:09:00.000+01:00

Hello All...

Southern Hemisphere Blues...(download)

The Climate change issue as a social movement is important as it gives rise to
such questions as: Is economic growth a good thing? Should we consume less?
Do we need to produce so much? Is industrialisation and intensive agriculture good for people and the planet? How do our actions affect people and environments far from
ours?

Climate change need not steer effort away from ending poverty, rather, good causes are not mutually exclusive and to address these problems a holistic approach is needed...one is life.

Idealistic or just artistic? (download)

When are you going to grow out of your idealism Lake? It's obvious that idealism drives change and provides us all with a better future...This is a thank you song in a time of crisis. Thank you. Much appreciated.

Urgency triumphs over democracy!

2009-03-17T00:28:00.001+01:00

National is the new government in power in Aoetearoa. They have recently passed a few acts under urgency. The bills below were passed without being sent to Select Committee- where public consultation takes place. The taxation bill was passed without giving anyone a chance to read it before debate took place...

The bills are as follows:

*The Employment Relations Amendment Bill (the one where you have no rights for your first 90 days of employment)

*Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill (building more coal power plants...)

*Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill (Don't worry about supplying Biofuels...)

*Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill (There's no bill digest on this one, so you can see the bill's history here or read the green view here)

keep informed...

there's some old tunes here...

2009-02-23T10:41:00.000+01:00

I forgot all about this site:

some free mp3's