Coby Grant - Journal

		Watch this little space for my updates while I’m on the road...while I’m at home…while I’m in a funny mood…whenever really. I’ll be back. Get to the chopper. Everybody get down. (this is me in a funny mood) :) *“HEARTBEAT” VIDEOCLIP TOUR* 15/12/09 NO! I did NOT see anyone with two heads To all the Tassie haters who make fun of the beautiful people who live down there- don’t knock it until you try it. It’s a stunning place and I love visiting! Once again I had a great time playing my gigs…Tasmanians are possible the most friendly people I have EVER met. To all the people who came and sang along at all the gigs- it was such a buzz to know there are so many out there who can sing the words to my own original songs. I was particularly excited to find that some folk had come along to my support for Bobby Flynn in Burnie and paid A LOT of dollars to get in just to see me. It was absolutely my pleasure to sing for you all, as it always is. A big big thankyou to my Tassie mum Sandie. I met Sandie at a gig last time I was down and she offered to have me stay at her place and drove me around the whole week- we even went on a roadtrip to Burnie together. I don’t think I’ve ever been fed so well and I know that even if I attempted it, my stewed apricots would not be the same. Anyway I stuffed my face with Anna Purna Indian and LOVED it!! Please go there if you ever get the chance. I had a ball promoting the new video and want to thank everyone who came along to the shows or left a comment on my websites about the new clip. Such a positive response I feel really blessed. Christmas is fast approaching so I hope you all have an amazing and safe time with your loved ones- see you on the other side! Love, Coby xxxx 1/12/09 Mullum Memories Mullum Fest was amazing! It was different to any other festival I had ever attended…a really cosy, family orientated vibe. It was SO hot!! I think about 35 degrees one day- mental! I actually took off my shoes and stocking on the first night and played in my bare feet J My performances went really well, great reception. To the locals and visitors, thankyou for listening so attentively! It really was fantastic…gigs like that always leave me with warm fuzzies in my tummy. And last night was one of my favourite Gold Coast venues, The Cavern. Such a great venue- it’s an original music Monday night and they always give new artists a go. I remember when I first played there a couple of years back and nobody knew who I was and I had never played on the Gold Coast but they supported me back then. It was their BIGGEST EVER NIGHT last night…the place was packed out and I had an awesome time playing everyone some new tracks and chatting away afterwards. Big thanks to the Rackley’s for having me stay. It was great to catch up with some of my good mates up that way. I won’t be back on the coast till next year so I’ll see you all then! Now home to Melbourne today before I head to Tassie next week. I’m hanging out for Anna Purna- my FAVOURITE Indian restaurant in the country! Lots of love, Coby x 20/11/09 C’mon Barbie Let’s Go Party! Ok so before I say anything else about the tour I have to mention one of my favourite families- The Crooks. These guys are amazing- I first met Merrill and Steve when they saw me playing a gig about six months ago and they have been such a great support since then. They come to all my QLD shows and they made everyone in their company take tea breaks and vote for my “A Song About Me” video so it would get played on Channel V back in May or whenever it was. So anyway, since then they have introduced their kids, Bec and Alex, to my tunes and Bec decided to have me play at her 18th Barbie Themed party!! Well, I was honoured to come and crash at the Crooks and play my tunes- it was my FIRST EVER 18th Barbie Themed Party so I did that smack bang in the middle of the tour before Byron. It was the BEST…lovehearts and pink and white checked dancefloor, flowing pink material everywhere and a stage for me with a huge wooden loveheart behind me. Pink and white EVERYTHING and an amazing cake to top it off (of which I couldn’t eat, but I did get into that thick icing stuff on top hahaa). I have never eaten so much kabana and cheese…I may have spilt a bit of dip on my very pink outfit. Anyway I had a ball so a special thanks to a special family for your love and support- see you guys at Mullum Fest! So back to the Heartbeat tour- I am in Sydney at the moment, getting ready to head out to the Blue Mountains to play tonight. The show last night at Bar Me was fantastic…it was lovely to see so many smiling faces- and familiar faces!! Those of you who are spreading the word THANKS! It’s a solo tour this time around but I haven’t gotten lonely at all…so many wonderful people in the towns I’m visiting. Gold Coast at the Arts Centre last week was magic and Buddha Bar in Byron was unexpected (in a great way). There were groups of people who had driven from Brisbane and the Gold Coast requesting REALLY old tracks from the acoustic demo. Wow!! I actually had to get some crowd participation happening cause I couldn’t remember the words to some of the old ones haha. But yeah it was great to see the touring and hard yards are starting to pay off and more people are hearing my music! I very VERY randomly bumped into my cuz in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. I was having a cup of tea in the window of a café and BANG! My cousin from Perth, who I haven’t seen in ages, came up and surprised me. Such a pleasant surprise- I miss my family! Anyway just thought I’d share that J After Katoomba tonight I am heading back to Melbourne before going back to QLD next week to play at my first festival of the season- Mullumbimby Music Festival. Should be awesome, see ya there! Coby xx 8/11/09 My Huge Head Hey guys!! Well, I am still smiling from the “Sell Out” show last night!!! Woo hoo!! Thankyou so so much for everyone who came down and supported me and bought lots of friends. It was quite an experience seeing myself (and my head) blown up on a HUGE screen but it was awesome to see everyone stop and watch something I put a lot of effort into. I had been meaning to do another clip for a while but it’s so hard to get the money together and it’s also hard to create something with the small budget. I have so many big ideas and I’m sure one day I will get to explore those with a bigger budget but for now, I’m really proud of what we came up with. A big thanks to Alicia Dunham, Stephen Wools, Tony Ferreiri (who filmed and edited the video), Mark Ipavis (for starring in it!) and to the extras who helped out at Tonik restaurant. I had a great time last night even though I had an awful flu. but I have a couple of days rest before I head up to sunny Queensladn for shows in the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. Bring on the good weather! Coby xx RECORDING IN THE USA- NEW YORK CITY! 26/10/09 So…Van Morrison was last night and he was INCREDIBLE! He sounded just like his CD- his 9 piece band were amazing as well. It was such a wonderful night! One thing I didn’t know about him though was how much of a recluse he is! He didn’t say one single word to the crowd all night- just played song after song after song. Even during the encore song he kind of just slinked off towards the end and left his band to finish the song- CRAZY!! I do wish he said a bit more but I guess that’s just him- I don’t mind anyway, such an amazing opportunity to see an incredible artist. He is one of my idols! Anyway, we are on our way to the airport to face the long long journey back home to Australia. I haven’t heard the final mixes yet, Anthony and Karyadi are still working hard in the studio, but I will have them soon then off to the mastering studio. I’m hoping to release the new EP around Feb next year but I will keep you in the loop of course. Wish me luck on the flight- I think a sleeping tablet or two might be in order!! Lots of love Coby xx 25/10/09 Well we are just about to head to Central Park but I wanted to quickly say how AWESOME “Jersey Boys” was last night. We ended up getting great seats (thanks for taking me ma!) and it was so much fun to be watching the best show on Broadway! I didn’t know the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and I couldn’t believe how many songs I knew!! “Walk Like A Man”, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”, “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “My Eyes Adored You” and the big one “December ’63 (Oh What A Night)”. It was the BEST! The only thing is now mum can’t stop singing those songs and let me just say, I didn’t get my singing voice from her. But I love her….very very much. We also did a tour of Madison Square Gardens yesterday during the day which was something I was really looking forward to as one day I hope to play there (a girl’s gotta dream right??)…well, it’s going on my vision board anyway!! It was an amazing venue and great to see. Ok gotta run…central park today and then, the highlight of the whole trip, seeing VAN MORRISON tonight at Madison Square Gardens- one of my all time idols…a huge influence on me and I am so so excited to be seeing him live. I love this city!!! xxxxxx RECORDING IN THE USA- NEW YORK CITY! 24/10/09 Wow!!! Me and mum have had the best time! This part of my trip has absolutely nothing to do with recording but since I was in Boston and it’s only a 45 minute flight to New York, I couldn’t resist visiting my number one favourite city in the world (number two is Barcelona in Spain). It’s extra special because I’m here with my Mum on our first ever holiday together, just the two of us…and since she lives back home in Perth and I live in Melbourne it’s so great to have some time together! So Thursday we went to Soho and did lots and lots of window shopping…for dinner we went to my fav restaurant in the city (I’ve been there every time I have visited New York), Spicemarket. It’s this AMAZING asian fusion place- the interior design is so beautiful and the food and service is out of this world (we all know how much I love my food so that is a BIG compliment). Friday we were SO lucky in getting tickets to the Laura Marling concert. She is one of my “top friends” on myspace, a UK artist I have been wanting to see for a while but the thing is, she’s not very well known at all in New York, so we were sitting about 10 metres from her and it was in this tiny venue that only held about 200 people. Such an intimate performance! She was beautiful! Thanks to Stephen Hunt for letting me know she was playing… Anyway I better be off- me and mum are going to find out if we can get “Jersey Boys” tickets on broadway for tonight, wish me luck!!! Love Me xxx RECORDING IN THE USA- IN TRANSIT FROM BOSTON TO NYC! 22/10/09 Just a quick note to say I am bloody exhausted! It’s 6:22 and Mum and I are waiting at the airport about to get on the plane to New York (yay!!) but geez I am tired. And there is nothing worse than rude people!! Or maybe I’m just a bit grumpy. I’ll write back when I feel a bit better. xxxx RECORDING IN THE USA- BOSTON 20/10/09 Dear Diary (hahaha haven’t written that in about 15 years!!), It’s only one more day to go here at Studio Bopnique Musique and I have had fantastic time. The tracks are sounding really great and I’m excited to hear the final product. As it turns out, it’ll go a bit over time so two of the three fully produced tracks I won’t hear the final mix of in the studio, I’ll have to listen when the guys send them to me in New York. I leave on Thursday morning and there will still be a bit of mixing to go, but such is life! The one track that is mixed “I Know That I’ll Know” sounds AMAZING! Very different from anything else I have ever done…the other two tracks are shaping up to be really great as well…all three will be very different, which I think is important, I don’t want everyone to get sick of listening to the new EP! And the live acoustic track of “When I Was Young” turned out pretty good- since it was live and all one take I always find the flaws but it’s exactly like how I perform it since that’s what I did- stand there and play and sing. It’s one of my favourite songs and people seem to relate to it so I really want to include it, even though it could only be in this capacity and not a fully produced track. Anyway, besides recording me and Mum went to Harvard on Monday morning before I had to come in to the studio. It was a beautiful day (lucky for us because the day before was windy, raining and SNOWING!!) and it was so interesting to see the place and listen to the history. I have done so much videoing so as soon as I’m back in the country I’m going to put it all together to share my adventures with you! Ok I’m off…very hungry and must find some dinner!! Love Me! xx RECORDING IN THE USA- BOSTON 17/10/09 Ok well I haven’t mentioned this before but I have been sleeping at the studio since Monday night! Tonight and for the rest of my time here I will be staying at a hotel cause my mum gets into Boston J But anyway I have been mostly loving it (freaking out a little bit at night but it’s ok, I put a mic stand right by my couch bed just in case any intruders thought they could get the better of me- they had another think coming!!). I’m really getting into the producer/engineer/artist lifestyle of going to bed at 1am and getting up at 12pm J This is VERY unusual for me…I like to go to bed at 9pm like the nanna that I am and then I get up super early. But anyway, it has been FUN! I wanted to say a huge thankyou to Anthony for driving me everyday to his mum’s place, which is near the studio, to have a shower (thanks Mrs Resta). I don’t know what I would do without him…he’s an angel! And for having me sleep at the studio…accommodation would be too expensive and this leather couch is mighty comfy!! I’ve slept on floors on tour so I’m living the life of luxury actually haha. I did have to skip a shower yesterday though because I was cleaning up and spilt a couple of drops of coffee on Karyadi’s console (UH OH) but it was all ok after we dried it off…no harm done…but the extra two hours meant no time to drive and get a shower…which is why I’m just chilling waiting for Anthony to get here so I can go and have one- I really need one now!!! Ewwww!! Haha please don’t judge me J So back to the recording…since Wednesday I have recorded three out of four vocals and Anthony has done the bass to the three tracks that need it. He is just SO talented it’s out of control. The songs are really starting to shape up and I’m so excited to hear the final product and share it with you all. Anyway, I think I just heard the studio door click…time for a shower! YAY!! Love Coby xxxxx RECORDING IN THE USA- BOSTON 14/10/09 Wow! I am having the best time EVER! Since I walked into the studio I have just been really excited to be back and I am trying to soak it all in and make the most of every moment. It feels like no time has passed since I was here last year! So, I am recording again with Anthony J Resta and Karyadi Sutedja- they are an amazing team and I feel very lucky to be working with them on the second EP. I got in late on Sunday night then had to fork out $115 USD to get to my hotel! Ahhhh! So much money! But on Monday morning Anthony came and collected me and off to the studio we went. I then did a mini concert for him so we could decide on the four songs we were going to record…the choices are: a full production of “Jump”, a full production of “Once Upon A Long Gone Time”, a sparse production of “I Know That I’ll Know” and an acoustic recording of an oldie but a goodie “When I Was Young”. The Acoustic demo album (2008) is almost sold out and I won’t be re printing anymore so “When I Was Young” was going to become extinct which is why I wanted to put it on this EP. Anyway over the last two days we have laid down drums and acoustic guitar and Karyadi has been editing like a maniac (he is seriously amazing to watch- his fingers are blurring he is clicking so fast!). And I’ve also been checking out the beautiful Autumn (or Fall I should say since I’m here in America) countryside of outer Boston. The colours are amazing, I will have the videos up soon! Ok I’m off to bed but I will let you know how it goes during the week! xxxx RECORDING IN THE USA- LAGUNA BEACH 11/10/09 I had an amazing weekend!! On Friday night, my mum came over and surprised Rich and Tracy with a visit of her own (I kept this secret all week- very difficult I tell you!) and we had a big celebration! Then yesterday, Mum and I ventured into LA (with me driving on the other side of the road because Mum kept drifting towards the right hand lane where cars were flashing past at 90 miles an hour). We met with some very dear friends of mine and proceeded to walk into every store on Rodeo drive without actually intending to buy anything. Actually I got busted for even taking some footage inside Cartier…I had to delete the image in front of security…pretty full on! Then we hiked up Runyan Canyon (I think that was the name of it) with a new friend Tommy Kende from the Aussie band Juke Kartel. Tommy has relocated here and was telling me all about it and how there is a new special artist visa that allows you to earn money through your art for a year here in the states…so you never know where I might be in the next couple of years! Anyway once we got up to the top there was an amazing view of the entire city- it seemed to stretch on and on for miles! I got some great footage so as soon as I am back and can edit up my movie montage I will let you know and you can check out my US adventure on the Video page. Right now I am on my way back to LAX where I fly out to Boston- I can’t WAIT to see Anthony and Karyadi and start recording some new stuff! I will write back soon!! xxxx RECORDING IN THE USA- LAGUNA BEACH 7/10/09 Hello again!! It has been a couple of days now and I think I have written a few more songs that I might record but that I will definitely be performing in the East Coast Aussie Tour I have coming up in Nov and Dec. As well as writing however, I am slowly demolishing a 1.1kg pack of m&m’s hahaha. Those of you on my youtube channel already know this but for those who aren’t, I have coeliac’s disease. This means I am allergic to gluten- the main form of which is wheat. So down under, the sweetener that is used in the majority of our lollies and icecream flavours and chip flavours is glucose syrup (derived from wheat) and therefore I can’t eat much of that stuff L BUT…here in America, their “candy” is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (corn being the key word here!!!) so I can eat as much candy as I want…although skittles and m&m’s is pretty much all I go for, the creature of habit that I am J So anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing, living off of m&m’s!! Anyway guys keep a lookout on youtube www.youtube.com/cobygrant for some videos of new tunes- I sat down and recorded some stuff for you to hear, just living room acoustic style but nevertheless I would love your opinion!! Chat soon! RECORDING IN THE USA- LAGUNA BEACH 5/10/09 Hi!! Well I arrived last night into LAX and my wonderful friend Tracy came to collect from the jungle that is Los Angeles Airport. I am so lucky and thankful to be staying in Laguna Beach, California with my family friends Rich and Tracy Secchiaroli and Rich’s son Richie Junior in their beautiful home in this beautiful beachside town. It reminds me so much of home (Perth, Western Australia) and I am very excited about the week ahead- nothing but relaxing, walks along the beach and in the parks and writing writing writing!! It was here in this home that I wrote the majority of the songs from my first EP “Coby Grant is in Full Colour” (See the music page if you’d like to have a listen or a look)- including “A Song About Me” and “Young Love”. So I’m happy to be back somewhere that I feel inspired…and happy just to have the time on my hands to actually do some writing! I have been so crazy busy leading up to this trip with working a day job and gigging four times a week to get the money together that I haven’t had time to do anything! But that’s what happens when you are an independent artist- you work hard for the money and it makes the good stuff (like recording in the states) all the better cause I know I have earned it. Anyway I am going to go and get settled and I will be back later with more!