I did a video, for one thing:

So that’s nice. The thing with Lady Gaga songs is that while they’re technically very well written songs (and why wouldn’t they be, she has a team of crack writers behind her at every turn) they tend to be polished down to nothingness, not to mention the fact that they all use the same, salient chord sequence (which is very convenient). So I did a piano cover of all of them at once. Lady Gaga! Pianos! YouTube Success – I am your bitch.

What else? Oh yeah, I’ve been working with the lovely and talented Alex Day producing his new EP, 117% Complete, an EP about video games which I think may well be the most musically accomplished thing we’ve ever done together. It sounds beautiful. Orchestral and 8-bit at the same time. Check it out when it’s released on March 1st. I wanted to make it so that it would be really enjoyable even if the listener had no idea what a video game even was. I think we totally achieved that. I’m psyched, and you should be too. So to summarise this paragraph, CLICK HERE to go to DFTBA Records and check out a magical preview track and pre-order and stuff. You don’t want to miss this.

Things I have been doing in the FUTURE*:

- Producing Alex Day’s NEXT ALBUM ^_______^ which is called The World Is Mine and will be so bloody cool it will make your skin go inside out in pure amazement and joy.
- Producing Eddplant’s FIRST ALBUM ^_________^ upon which production has been started, and which should be out this year fo’ sho, because people are sick of him ONLY EVER RELEASING EPs.
- erm… third album? You’ll be lucky, but it could happen. More in a later blog. Promise. <3

Right, and on that bombshell, back to feverishly refreshing the comments on my new video!

Tom

*things I have been doing in the future? Things I will be doing? Tenses? Wurds? Gramur?

Guess I’m just boring.

So here’s what’s been happening at Tom Milsom HQ recently:

-We’ve been working on the website, doing some things that make it easier to use, some to make it harder*

- We’ve been making a brand new Hexachordal video ready for uploadin’ tomorrow

- We’ve been decorating the Milsom house with trees and sparkle

- We’ve been searching for a cure to Leukemia**

- OH YEAH WE WENT TO AMERICA

On December 10, I set off to New York with Alex Day. Charlie McDonnell and the magnificent Eddplant to meet the one they call Mickeleh in Manhattan***. After two days of professional dicking about, we settled down to play a gig at Gizzi’s Coffee on W 8th Street, and my God what an event. Ed opened superbly. Alex played a blinding set (even if I did forget the words to No Sacrifice again, which I still feel terrible about), and Annie Dinerman, who was the poor lady trapped between us in the set-listing, held her own and kept the audience attentive, no mean feat for someone who wasn’t British, male or cute, when that was what the audience had gathered for.

Still, there was more than enough of that to go around after Annie played. I started my set, and about halfway through, due to overwhelming demand, I let Charlie get up and play a few songs. I am so glad  I did.

Never before have I experienced anything quite as similar to what Beatlemania must’ve been like. I may never again. The audience would not stop screaming. It was hilarious and terrifying in equal measure. It made my trip. I think it made Charlie’s too, after he’d had a while to calm down.

The crowd was ravenous for merch. Did I mention the size? 125 people where 30 were expected. We completely sold out of every single thing we’d brought to sell. We made what the folks in the biz call ‘a killing’.

We dicked around for two more days, met meekakitty, mimsiesky, colormekristen and Liane (as in the Awesome Girl), spent lots of lovely time with Mike and Michael (Aranda – a charming and beautiful fellow who I strongly recommend. Five stars) then went home again. It was great.

We plan to do another bout of US shows in the summer, just before Vidcon. Hope to see you there!

Tom

*only one of these directions is intentional – hindsight is a wonderful thing. Foresight moreso, but it’s a lot scarcer around these parts.

**And it isn’t more cowbell. We’ve tried.

***Mickeleh in Manhattan, as it happens, is the title of my low-budget remake of Sleepless in Seattle

The original plan was to hold it at the Duke of Uke, but when they said they didn’t have the space, and we realised there’d be twice as many people attending as could fit in the Duke, we had to reconsider. I used to do stand-up at the George most weeks back in the mists of time, and so I knew they had a reasonable sized room. It turned out to be perfect.

There were about 100 people in attendance, I think. The audience were receptive and excited, and wonderfully loud and cheery in response to everything played.

The evening started with a full but quick and breezy run-through of most of Awkward Ballads, my first album. I thought it would be interesting to chart the changes I’d undergone between first and second albums, and I think the most interesting highlight was how much easier Awkward Ballads was to sing. A lot of the songs don’t have melodies so much as words strung together in rhythms, so it’s pretty easy to be quite off on a lot of notes and for it to still sound okay. Not so with Painfully Mainstream. A couple of the blogs I’ve read about the evening have said that my voice wasn’t great. One even went so far as to say that they’d have been happier were it just an Alex Day and Eddplant gig. I think this is the fundamental difference between people who hear music casually and are kinda into it and people who genuinely listen to and understand and appreciate it – people who prefer perfectly polished pop to rougher, more interesting things that are open to wider interpretation as art. But that’s another blog entry entirely*.

The next section of the show was dedicated to my good friends Alex and Ed, who both played a number of their songs, and were both excellent. Ed was on top form as a musician and a performer, and Alex did a wonderful rendition of all his greatest songs. I was as proud of them as I could possibly be.

The third part of the evening involved all three of us up on the stage playing through my new album, Painfully Mainstream. The biggest issues here were two-fold – there was a microphone that didn’t work, which I think got a lot of the audience quite impatient after a few minutes, and there were the complex manoeuvres of the piano, which we had to continually shift back and forth on the tiny stage in order for things to work properly. This led to a lot of dead air, often for a good 10 seconds, where we really should’ve been talking to the audience and connecting with them so as not to lose their attention. When it’s just me + uke, the show always bounces along nicely and I can get the atmosphere ever higher – with the constant shifting of equipment, it was hard to get people excited for more than the length of a song. Sad.

Despite this, we sold awesome amounts of merch (I sold more than half of all the copies of my CD I have) and spent an hour after the show signing things that people wanted us to sign. It was a great evening, and one that I’d love to recreate elsewhere in the country – perhaps next time with a backstage area. It was awkward to start the show, because I had to walk through the crowd to do so. What we really needed was somebody to go on and introduce us with, like, a really brief opening act. (Thax – I’m looking at you. Do you have international delegates?)

Alex’s blog on the gig: http://alexdaymusic.com/25/

Ed’s blog on the gig: http://eddplant.com/2009/12/performance-postmortem/

*and oh boy, it’ll be a good one.

Some videos of the evening:

Yeah, that’ll do.

It also features the charming Steve Gillmor, long time tech journalist and all round wonderful person, who will be being his usual self throughout. Don’t miss it. linky: http://www.building43.com/realtime/

That link again: http://www.building43.com/realtime/

http://www.building43.com/realtime/

http://www.building43.com/realtime/

http://www.building43.com/realtime/

Tom

PS: Here, for your enjoyment and sanity, are the lyrics to tonight’s song. A recording may follow if demanded.

Hello Mrs. Palin, what’s the matter here today?
Having those same stomach cramps again?
It says here in your notes that you’ve been quite distressed of late
Did you take your meds and see what happened then?
And how’s your son today, I hear he’s doing very well,
And really thriving in our current scheme,
But in a few months time we’ll have to throw him in a ditch
And laugh as he begins to writhe and scream.

Because we’re going public
With a National Healthcare Reform
We’ve been prescribed a free dose
Of utter degradation
Of every human ever to be born,
Raise your glass, and raise your taxes,
Be happy, and try not to make a fuss,
We’re only following in the footsteps
Of every civilised nation other than us.

So Mrs. Palin, don’t be panicked, don’t be scared,
It isn’t quite like 1984
At least, it won’t be like it in the orwellian sense,
But it’s when Canada got their foot through the door.
But times will be much harder when we must discriminate
Against those disabled sick and elderly,
You’re right, discrimination only works against the poor,
And that’s worked out just great for you and me.

But now we’re going public
With a National Healthcare Reform
Fixing people up, and then making them pay
Is just a calm before the storm.
Raise your glass, and raise your taxes,
Be happy, and try not to make a fuss,
We’re only following in the footsteps
Of every civilised nation other than us.

so Mrs. Palin I appreciate your frets,
But rest assured these new times could be great.
If you lack inspiration, look no further than Bhutan,
They’ve had one there since 1998.
Just sit back and relax, and let the whole thing pass you by,
I’ll tell you now, it’s better off that way.
Then come back here in two weeks time and rest assured you will be fine,
As long as you get someone else to pay.

But now we’re going public
With a National Healthcare Reform
Maybe one day we’ll be vaguely up to date,
And looking after citizens will be the norm.
Raise your glass, and raise your taxes,
Be happy, and try not to make a fuss,
We’re only following in the footsteps
Of every civilised nation other than us.

Going Public
With a National Healthcare Reform
In addition to the people who are missing half a leg
We’ll also treat those who just feel a bit forlorn.
Raise your glass, and raise your taxes,
Be happy, and try not to make a fuss,
We’re only following in the footsteps
Of every civilised nation other than us.

• Seattle, WA: ( Fri. July 17, 1:00 PM) Gas Works Park. Meet near the Sun Dial.
  
• Portland, OR (Sat. July 18, 12:30 PM) Park at SW Main Street and SW Park Ave. (after lunch site for nwytg)
  
• San Francisco, CA: (Wed. July 22, 5:00 PM) Mission Dolores Park (Meet at entrance by 19th and Dolores St.)
  
• Long Beach, CA: (Sun. July 26 1:00 PM) Belmont Pier
  
• Boulder, CO: (2nd August 4:00 PM) Meadow concert at 60 North Cedar Brook Road, Boulder (bring blankets or chairs!)
  
• Chicago, IL: (Thu. August 6, in the evening) Lollapalooza (definite place TBA)
  
• New York, NY (Sat. August 15, 3:00 PM) Strawberry Fields, Central Park – close by W 72nd St entrance to Park.
  

PLEASE leave a comment if you’re planning on coming along to one of these. I want to know how many people are coming to each. Tell me if you’re bringing friends as well, which is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I’ll also be selling CDs and comic books at these so please bring along money!

HERE IS A PHONE NUMBER YOU SHOULD RING ME ON IF YOU GET LOST ON THE WAY TO ANY OF THESE: 626-217 5869 (but bear in mind, I probably won’t pick up once the show starts (lol) so be EARLY <3)

If you are unsure about whether or not you want to come, these aren’t going to be massive gatherings where you’ll get trampled underfoot by hordes of people more famous than you. They’re nice little laid-back get-togethers in parks where I’ll play some songs, talk to some people, and we’ll all wander about and lie in the sunshine. I do so hope to see you there!

Tom

This is my new blog, where everything will happen and can be tracked by RSS and other fancy internet things that would give anybody from 1995 a heart attack. Comment, subscribe, and do all those other things you do.

Tom