Tag Archives: videos

on the road again…

the car is (re)packed and i’m on my way to Glen Innes for a gig tomorrow! it’s going to be a busy weekend as i’m back up in brisbane to play at the Lofly Hanger on Friday night supporting Mr Maps, McKisko and Fergus Brown – a last minute addition to the schedule, i know, but it’d be great if you could all make it!

‘busy’ seems to be the catchphrase at the moment which is great – touring, playing, side projects – it’s all happening :) somewhere in there i managed to finish a couple of books including “The Surgeon Of Crowthorne” by Simon Windchester; which was received from Beyond Q books in Canberra. in short, i really enjoyed this book. it’s a true story about the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary; and as dry as that may sound, it’s quite captivating. loved it.

there’s also been time to work on a couple of new videos – one truly brilliant video by Jaymis that will be added shortly; and the Ocean Grove/VIC video. however, i thought since i’m back on the road today it would be more apt to post the video below – a short insight-slash-laugh at myself to summarise the first 5,000km of the trip…

i hope you enjoy it :) as always, remember there’s plenty of music to download free on the ‘music’ link above. checkitout.

thanks, and i hope you’re enjoying your hot november week!

rowley

5000km (Cowper Avid Reader Tour) from Cowper on Vimeo.

Cheer Up! in Canberra

Super Mega Double Video Day!

I thought that seeing as though I’ll be disappearing into the wilderness for a few days I should work extra hard today to get the Canberra video finished and up as well. And by “work extra hard” I mean “Hire a pedal boat and pretend it is a gondola by singing to the locals”. Yay ;) Enjoy. Thanks Beyond Q!

Cheer Up! (Avid Reader Tour – Recorded Live in Canberra) from Cowper on Vimeo.

Howard Hughes in Newcastle

Currently in Canberra getting ready for today’s gig…started and finished the Newcastle vid last night with all its foibles and editing clichés. Still, it’s ok as my one of my first ever video efforts! After the show today I’m heading south south south to Wilson’s Promontory to relax for a few days – should be great.

Howard Hughes (Avid Reader Tour recorded live in Newcastle) from Cowper on Vimeo.

lucky i brought my guitar…

Beautiful Sunrise, Flat Surf ;)

the avid reader tour…music, books, and err…what was that third thing again?  oh that’s right.  surfing.  hmm.  new board?  check. waves? uh…

so it’s been flat, but that’s not bothering me one bit.  new roads, new towns, new beaches…and don’t forget i can always fall back on the guitar.

the next show is coming up, and i’m just about to cover the last 300km between me and the venue in Newcastle.  The gig is 6pm Thursday 5th Nov at Maclean’s Booksellers (69 Beaumont Street, Hamilton Tel: 02 49 692525) in what should be a pretty little early evening gig.  Can’t wait!  Hope to see you there.

There are a few other gigs confirmed  as follows:

1pm Sun 8th Nov – Beyond Q Bookshop (Curtin Shopping Plaza
Curtin, ACT Ph: 02 6162 3999)

1pm Sat 14th Nov – Bookgrove (with Cloudchaser 2 Book Launch! – 2/83 The Parade, Ocean Grove, VIC
Ph: + 61 3 5255 5973)

11am Thu 26 Nov – The Book Market (245 Grey St, Glen Innes, NSW, Ph: (02) 67 326 622 )

Lastly, just before I left Brisneyland Jaymis was nice enough to teach me a few video editing ’skills’ to help me on the tour.  I thought I should try them out before doing something more important ;)

Avid Reader Tour – Is this thing on? from Cowper on Vimeo.

it’s a knock-out (that’s the name of the game)

so it seems that putting me through some bizarre physical endurance test is becoming a common theme for cowper videos. first it was trying to maintain balance and stave off sea sickness whilst being spun on a chair; then it was all about how long i could hold my breath whilst playing guitar under water. this time the challenge was to hang upside down and finish playing a song before the blood rushed to my head and i fell on it. i think at the next gig i’m going to be handcuffed and buried in cement!

Cowper – Don’t Ask Me (Live at the Hills Hoist 2009-08-30) from Jaymis on Vimeo.

anyway, it was a fun afternoon – even the neighbours had a good laugh when they looked over the back fence and saw us filming. i hope you enjoy it too.

the other piece of news i have is the confirmation of an australian tour in november. i’m calling it the “avid reader” tour, and for a very good reason. the tour itself may in fact be thinly veiled guise for what is more likely ‘a bit of a surfing holiday’; but rest assured that when i’m not surfing, camping or driving i will be playing in an independant bookstore near you.

dates are still to be confirmed as i get in contact with more stores, but i’m quietly confident a few will be able to accommodate my large appearance fee – elephants work for peanuts, and gorillas go ape for bananas; but i’ll be paid in books. more specifically, i’m asking that the manager of each store pays me with a copy of their favourite book. it’s a simple ask, just as reading them will be a simple pleasure!

so keep your eyes out for the dates, and if you happen to know a bookstore near you that’d love to have me then let me know – i’ll be on the road between brisbane and adelaide all of november (and hopefully perth not long after that).

thanks!

The Kite Song. Live 18th July 2009.

Cowper – The Kite Song (Live) from Jaymis on Vimeo.

In July at Space Ball at Top Floor in Brisbane, Rowley (gently) exploded the brains of everyone present with a freaking wonderful set. It concluded with this performance of The Kite Song. Wow.

You can download the MP3 (or other digital audio format of your choice) of this song from the music section.

a fence over frosty waters

a farm is a perfect place to unwind after a long time spent rehearsing for a gig. i thoroughly recommend it. even if it does mean standing in a cold creek mending barbed wire fences, getting a nasty cold and then infecting other friendswith it ;)

thanks again to everyone who came to the gig – we’ve now successfully managed to restore the several hundred kilos of gear back to our respective studios from the troubadour – you have no IDEA how many freakin’ stairs that place has!

anyway, whilst we are scrounging up another gig, finishing off a video and hitting the studio for some proper recording, jaymis was nice enough to output a video sampler from the gig for those who missed it. it’s “kite song”, the very very new addition to the cowper family. i hope it is liked. thank you, that is all!

Audio from this video is also available for download.

calendar or calander

when i was a little tyke, i was a pretty good speller of things…but there were always words i got mixed up…and lo, now so many years on i can’t break bad habits. is it calendar, or calander? even when i get them sorted finally, i can’t overpower 27 years of programmed paranoia, and simply must check a dictionary.

i am reminded of this because i am sitting here planning out my diary for the next few weeks. there are only 15 days until the troubadour gig, and there is still so much to do (and see and so on and so forth). real world work gets in the way of fun things like writing, rehearsing and sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool strapped to a 20 kilo weight and pretending to be king neptune. *sigh*.

with my part of the filming out of the way, the real magic happens under the helpful fingers of jaymis, karl & matt. new videos! always exciting! stay tuned…coming sooooon :)

Berlin Four Two – Music Video

The “studio” video for the “demo” of Berlin Four Two.


Cowper – Berlin Four Two from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Video by Jaymis. Chair-spinning and still photography by Rachgirl.

Cowper - Berlin Four Two video shoot.

(Photos from the shoot on Flickr)

Gigustation Videos and Photos

Rowley’s Gigustation Birthday Party was a gig with a difference. He simplified the birthday present process by stipulating that our presents to him would be coming along bringing awesome food, and listening to him play music.

Of course, we couldn’t help but give him a present for all his hard work. So a Novation Remote SL MIDI keyboard was in order.

Novation ReMOTE 37SL! Oh Yeah!

After which, it was music all the way through:
Berlin Four Two.
Howard Hughes.
Song for Laurin and Emma.

Photos on Flickr.