Irlande.....12 points!
Are ye well horses?
Im on the bus up to Manchester to play my gig as i write, a few days after the furore that i call the IRISH TOUR!!! It was brilliant! i was thinking about it and realised that every gig i do is different, i never get the same feeling twice, i hope that never ends!
Firstly we arrived in Cork in good old Cyprus Avenue where my last 3 gigs in Cork have been. Lovely venue, nice and cosy and always good for a spontaneous gig. And that it was! twice as many people showed up as last time so i was all set to go mad straight away! My good friend Sarah Horgan gave a great show and went down really well so i have to give her a big pat on the back!! fair play. Thanks Cork I LOVE YOU!!
Then there's Limerick! I had to shittily cancel my last gig here cos my throat gave way, but my god am i delighted they had me back! The sound system was tops the crowd were singing and dancing along (Hi Louise, Gillian and Aoife!). I didn't expect anything to happen like that! SO Dolans was a big surprise for me! i really enjoyed that gig. Thanks Limerick I LOVE YOU!!
G-G-G-GALWAY! You were sweet! we were all in a little living room, sitting on the floor and singing and smiling all the way through! we had a great laugh didn't we? What a gorgeous little venue! i'd love to come back and play that room again, next time ill bring cushions! The Champers, Powels, the music shop, Paul Doyle the Fabulous instrument maker- for giving Aoife one of the most beautiful Violins i have ever heard...Thanks Galway I LOVE YOU!!
Then came Dublin. Roight? Jammed. Parents (hammered!), Sisters, brothers, cousins, Aunties, Uncles, friends friends friends. you made some noise!!! it was cracking! a beautful night for me, i was holding back tears at the end! i loved it, being able to spend my night with you MAD people and dance and hear you sing!!! David Burke,(you remember the great support act? that's him!) you did me proud once again. Thanks to Stephen in Musicians Inc. Brill! Thanks Dublin, yer always mental I LOVE YOU!!
Lastly but not leastly there was Belfast. What can i say? you had me going mad!!! we had such good fun, so many of you turned up and we just took the piss and relaxed and enjoyed each others company!! what a lovely venue, next time i come back you'll be sitting again cos it's so cool to play to you all and feel like you're watching a film!! thanks a million Belfast I LOVE YOU!!!
AIDAN, my Aidan, my lovely guitar tech and wonderful musical companion, to Peter, LIz, everyone at Universal and Flohic, to everyone involved in the tour, the venues for treating us like royalty, thanks for everything I LOVE YOU!!!
Fair play lads, that was a brilliant tour!
see you soon
wallis x
Hello there all you party people!
Just sitting on the bus with the table in the middle that's falling apart, loads of rubbish round our feetsies, the plug that someone spilled a can into, a lovely cotton white and light blue sky to my left, Aoife to my right, Christian, Peter and Sarah sitting opposite me, Michael at the wheel, Timo in the passenger seat.....you may have guessed it, we're in the tour bus! Just on the way home after a long enough tour, it's been 12 days
London
Wolverhampton
Manchester
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Brighton
Nottingham
....not in that order! = 0 seems like only a little tour but we got through alot, i sucessfully ate my weight in food almost every day, drank way more that i should have, spillt way more than i drank probably, met about a thousand people, read at least 20 shit magazines, forgot every article, then read them again without realising, tried to read my book too many times and failed, nursed hangovers, woke up in my clothes (jacket shoes hat and all!) almost fell off two stages, had two hecklers- both blind drunk, have sat down for about 200 hours, will swim for about 200 hours cos i feel like a chair, entered the mens toilet by accident twice, entered another female toilet without a wall, stole 3 rolls of toilet roll from hotels, will Stop talking about toilets now, woke up and didn't know where i was three times, had around 300 interviews, did abuut 5 hours of warm ups, smiled until my cheeks hurted 6 times, have a huge cramp in my left hand since yesterday, told 4 bad jokes on stage, broke 10 strings, split my fingernail twice, forgot to plug my guitar in while i was talking between songs, a blonde amount of times, called my parents while drunk 4 times..........aaaaaah, so much more.
The gigs have been great, if it was 5 or fifty people at the gigs, to see people singing along to my songs was a total joy. This tour was lovely for me, and i've been learning how to protect my voice and keep it fit for tours so im delighted to say that i still have a voice and was still able to sing on the radio at 11 this morning, ok you would have to know what kind of night i had last night to understand that's fairly surprising!!
I dunno what more to say, ill keep it short and sweet
THANK YOU ALL FOR A LOVELY TOUR!!! And also thank you very much for the lovely card i recieved in the Borderline, that was really sweet!
Peoples be lovely!
Wallis x
Hows she cuttin'?
Well i haven't been round for a while, god i can't remember the last time i wrote something, i've been busy (i always say that) so now im just here to shed a few thoughts. Well i had a really fun time at my gig in Mannheim Pop Im Hafen, it was a huge gig and i was a little stunned by the size of the stage cos last year it was on the river...in a boat...so to walk onto this fuckin massive stage that's not on the river was funny. I was expecting to get sea sick while playing, instead i got sea sick from the heat and madness of it all- my face was pink for about an hour after the gig!
i had a good laugh after the gig, sneaking free drinks from backstage out to Bianca and Maurice in the crowd (much to the security fellas annoyance!) really enjoyed the other bands and seeing a big open air concert with good sound.
...later that night i got freaked out. people were taking pictures of me while i was minding my own business, havin fun. That was the first time it happened- pics getting taken of me (while i wasn't on stage). it felt really wierd. Like something was being taken from me. Like i couldn't have a bit of craic cos someone was click click clicking. I was out of sorts about that for a long time. Even now. The minute i realised they were snapping myself and the lads having fun, i just recoiled. I wanted to go home. It wasn't fun anymore. It made me realise that if i ever got into a paparazi situation, i would pull my fucking eyes out. Sounds a bit harsh? Well look at me, im as normal as everyone. I dont act different. And i don't feel different so It's hard being treated different. Just Germany is a little ahead in terms of who knows me and my music. Nobody knows me anywhere else, so im more than happy to blend in with everyone. I just want to make music and live as happily as i can. Being "famous" is not something i aspire to. I have no interest in that lifestyle.
I write these blogs for reasons: My music is so personal that i wish people to feel it. So for people to feel my music, i like to tell people that i truely write it from my heart. I write because i like to write my feelings, just like in my songs. It's also a release of some sort. I think i say everything on my mind cos you're only as sick as the things that you hide. I write so people can better judge what im like and not make up their own ignorant guess. I also write to keep movement on the site, but if i have to write, i want to be able to say what i want to say.
Things are just changing all the time. Im just tryin ta make a little sence of it all! Sometimes i dont feel like writing blogs about myself or doing interviews cos it just gets so soul destroying talking about myself all the fucking time.
Ah jesus, the only way is up!
...Im happy really! (hope you are too!)
Wallis x
Just about to head out the door to a gig tonight, Christian's back is fucked, give him some love, he's been watching 24 all day and i think is going to have a heart attack in his chair!
i don't know where to start,
here's what it's like in my head when i think about it all:
Driving into my old house in wexford. there's my dog Woody, still looks like a pup after 10 years! Mam! Dad! squeezes. the house smells of dinner. we all walk around and are happy to get out of our long trip in the ferry and evil white bus that is so loud i can't read my book! brilliant to not have to do anything. prepare for the gig.
Cork. can't drink cos im on antibiotics for my throat, which is killing me during sound check. fuck. voice holds up but tomorrow's gonna kill me! left there with a huge smile on my face to be able to jam again and come out with things that make my heart swim. looking down on friendly faces, so glad to be back. brilliant gig.
Dublin. Sound check. wow this venue is gorgeous. AND we have a backstage!!! ok, they really want to sing! masses and masses of water and good vibes. smiling heads shouting and laughing up at me. wow, im coming back to this venue! so many friend i haven't seen in ages. god i love being in Ireland again.
Limerick. horrible, voice is gone. cannot bear cancelling any more gigs. just take me back to england to get over this fucking infection. Sorry Limerick
no other words, it's mostly just memory that i don't like to put in words and just enjoy the feeling of them
30,000 people are a lot lot lot of people. i was standing in front of you all, it was i little bit mind blowing!
Karlsruhe was the home of these 30,000 people (i rang up NASA and had them count--funnily enough, and you will never believe this, but it was ACTUALLY 30,000 people. not one more not one less) so, as i speak Aoife is organising pictures of the gig and you can judge for yourself. count them if you will but i know (from NASA) that there were 30,000 of you there.
here's what festival gigs are like: (not all of them have that many people!)
ya go on stage and all ya see is the stage. the lads are here somewhere but they're a little further away than usual. you notice people, a few, you notice a few heads you recognise, then you open your eyes a little bit more and there are people you don't recognise.......fuck....the're a few people here alright!
i strum the first chord and i smile cos there is such a sea of humans that i can't tell one from the other and the whole 30fucking000 of you are just one mass. what do i do???
for about 2 songs you're a little bit lost
after 2 songs you decide you want to tame the tiger (that is you) and say a few words
"eeeeeeeehhhhhhh"
my brain thinks about what the review said "charming and friendly", oh god i better be charming and friendly. so i try. i get lost in expectation. curl into the music again. ok i know where i am again. the band are right there. my guitar is in my hands and there is everyone here and there is no festival review. just me, my knooooochies, Sarah the sound engineer. oh look there's Timo and Peter. Liz would just love this. deadly they're singing along. fuck there's a LOT of them singing along. aaaaaahh this is brilliant, i wish my parents could see this. does anyone have a camcorder? nevermind, just have a goooooood look and don't forget it. it's amazing being able to sing again.
it's amazing to be able to do this
now im gonna stop writing and just enjoy my memories
see ya
wal x
„Le petit mord“ this is what my good friend Fiach told me i had when i was all washed out after a tour! He said it’s like when someone climaxes with something and feels a „little death“ afterwards! Well i have to say that i felt a little like that when we finished the Circle Tour. I was finished and i was a little bit down and out after it all. We all came home and were very quiet, kept to ourselves and kind of shut ourselves from the outside world for about 3 days! And for Liz’s birthday, we were all driving together and were saying „does anyone else realise that we have barely said two words since we got back to London?! And wierd as that may sound, we just finished another Kleines Tour- 3 more deadly dates!!
I’ve been dying to write this diary for a long time now biut i just wasn’t able to cos i had things to do and wasn’t really in the mood until now! But SO good were the last dates of the tour and the three dates the other day, that im absolutely having a sleepy smile marathon! I can’t Stop thinking how well the last 9 dates in Germany were! We had our first „full“ tour of Germany, going from Munich to berlin and every where in between, and so much happened on our travels:
If anyone knows anything about it, please contact my management. Info@karakter-worldwide.com
* someone gave me a lovely bottle of Weinheimer wine...danke, das war lecker!
* alot of letters, CD’s and nice gifts (thank you all so much for your kind words and lovely music)
* Plenty of drinks with cool people.
* Lots of dancing in the clubs afterwards!
If i think of more stuff ill let you know, my brains a mash after it all!
Now im going to bed for a spell, i have the weekend off, so iv’e decided it’s my allocated SICK week. My body just shut down after all the gigs, and im nursin a killer fucking ear-ache and a rank throat....oh wo is me!
I just wanted to express what a fantastic time i had in Germany and thank you to everyone involved in the organising, lads i fit wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have had such fucking good craic eh?! So far ive been lucky enough to have really enjoyed and learned from this experience up to now, and hope that this little spark will never fade (but i know it wont, the fun never ends!)
Love, wallis x
Hiya...very long time no speak
much apologies for the lateness of this blog, my duties had to take a little back seat for a while cos things have been busy.
Firstly, this is long overdue, i posted up some new songs from the album on my myspace site...and i wanna
say These songs, are a moment in time. I spent 4 months working on it, mostly because i couldn't leave the studio, the vibe, the area, the people, i fell in love with it, and to this day i feel that this period in my life in this studio in Heidelburg, Germany was one of my favourite times yet. Studio recordings are a snapshot in time, they are a reflection of my work as someone in a different environment. so if you think there is direct differences between live and studio, then for me i can stand behind that and say:
I fucking love playing live
I fucking love being in the studio, for me, they represent two different head spaces. so naturally they are two different interpretations of my music. but whatever i put out there from my music, there will never be something that i am not proud of.
if you know me live, you know i work as a 4 piece band (Michael, Aoife and Christian)...and i feel as complete with these 3 people as any musician can possibly feel, these people give me so much to live for.
When i finally posted the songs on myspace, my heart was pounding, I was breathing a sigh of relief and satisfaction (and a fucking huge smile!) unfortunately i can't post all the songs from the album cos i wanna share them but 4 will have to do for now!
other news,
THE TOUR!!
did ya see the dates? im delighted! Ireland,
Germany...here i come again!
my god lads, all i wanna do is play, i have lots of
new songs that if you'll allow me (!) i will play them
for yiz all! It's fantastic to do these gigs, and i
would love to have a good night with you all and we
can have chats and drinks after x
well, i have to head out to practice in a little while
so i bid you all adieu, mon petit pois!
hope you are all healthy and happy in your lives
kiss, wallis
Another day,
sometimes another dollar, sometimes another headache....that’s life!
After a looooooong and hard weekend drinking and laughing and dancing and playing twister and drinking some more and chatting, and sleeping, at Peter Putz’s birthday Bash... let me tell you what i have learnt:
Going up 3,000 feet in a ski lift can make a girl cak her kaks
Drinking hard Austrian Stiegel can make you verrrrrry hyper
Eating more than your belly can handle can make you
verrrrrry sleepy
Austria makes you fart
Austria makes you go „ WOOOOOOOOOW“
I Love Austria, it was so beautiful being up in the middle of massive snow covered mountains with no where to go and nothing to do but embrace the scenery, it was absolutely the best food for the soul. Maybe there might be a few compromising photos of me on the web from the Twister fiasco, myself and Konstantin Gropper from „Get Well Soon“, (my favourite musician in Years) were in a showdown and the game went on for what seemed like hours...and it was clear the powers of Joga came into play, but ever the limberness and considerably longer legs of Konstantin beat me fair and square...now i just have to get my legs stretched somehow to beat him in the future! But
then, I couldn’t Even beat Liz Riches to a showdown, and she’s my height!!!
But Happy Birthday to Peter, you dont look a day over 45!!!! Haa haa!
Now im nursing a farty bottom and a slow hangover, mmmmmmmmm nice to know huh?!
Hope you are all healthy and happy and enjoying the spring
Talk again soon, so until then
Wallis x
Hi ho!
The sun is shining, the trees are singing and im getting into a 'spring time' mood. i felt like a bit of a change so i dyed my hair Dolly Parton style, but now the roots are settin in! im feeling so stupid today!
well...boring things and silly little things that have happened to me in the last while
* i ate caviar for the first time (but you will be so proud to know that i was still wearing the same clothes to the restaraunt that i wore the night before in a club, stink stink stink) i had a Dehli Belly hangover though, so i didn't really enjoy it- rock and fucking rollio.
* im moving house, and the pub right next to it stays open till 2am weekdays (4am weekends) and plays absolutely brilliant music, so i reckon im fucked!
eeeeeem, things you never knew about me:
* i always feel a huge urge to say goodbye to the Tube carraige when i get off at a stop
* blue cheese makes me feel sick but i cant stop eating it
* ive found myself really growing to love wine, after years of mixing it with coka cola or 7up in college
* i was a head girl in school (loser) but i loved having a badge that said "HEAD GIRL, WALLIS BIRD"...class!
* i was shit in school (but i loved it)
* ive never broken a bone in my body
* i love the smell of farts, unless they're warm....or when my brother used to pin me down and fart on me....EDGAR AND JOHN, YOU'SE ARE BASTARDS
* the first song "proper" i ever wrote was about a butcher, robocop, the committments, and having a hangover- 6 years old!
look, now that im after telling you wierd stuff about me, you'se have to tell me something about you
ok, go
:) wallis x
27th February...holy shit!
it was sweat, photos and beers!
It's meant to be blood, sweat and tears! i'm
hilarious!
i'm home again in London, after two amazing nights of gigs in Germania! what the fuck can one say about it? sometimes i can write three pages of bullshit about nonsense, then when it comes to writing something meaningful (like the gigs) i don't ever know where to start! they were fantastic! We planned and planned and freaked out about last
minute things...you know the way it always goes: you think you have everything ready then you forget batteries!
The first night...
Aoife spent hours setting up the Photo Exhibition...only to find that the photos wouldn't stay on the wall with the materials that we bought for it....sheisse!! then we found some cool stuff that
would stay....then when Aoife sold her first photo, she got soooo excited that she pulled it off the wall, with half of the wall too! so funny! the first night was seated, only 150 tickets, and it
was lovely. People sitting on the ground, it was so intimate. we were sitting too, which was strange also but deadly. i kept kicking over my beer (isn't it funny how you forget the big thing and only remember stuff like cracks in walls and a flower petals on the floor and such?!) people, it was cool! Aoife thanks you all for spending time with her Photos (they were beautiful weren't they? i'm so proud of her)
the second night....
fuck me! what a night! i almost had to throw my top in the bin it was disgusting! the heat was unreal wasn't it? Guys, i think alot of you were a little bit cranked with lack of space and heat and sound, i have to apologise cos we didn't think that many tickets would sell, if i hada known, i would have booked Wembley (another haa haa, im just hilarious today!) no but seriously, i applaud you for not passing out on me, and for sticking around, and for those of you who got turned away, im sorry :( next time we will make it up to you even more!
it was a cracker of a night
the two nights were extremely fun for us!
what can i say? i need to exhale after the two shows!
the exhibition, the whiskey, the water throwing
incident! everything, it was a time to remember!
thank you all, myself and the crew really hope you had
a good time
love wallis x
Hello there crazy people!
Hows it goin?! Goin good? Gooder? Goodest? Me goes good! I’m just getting over lovely jet lag from a lovely trip to lovely New York to mix my UNBELIEVABLE singles from my never ending album of love….yes you heard it here folks, I’m already practising my damned acceptance speech for my Grammy for the bestest most amaaaaaazing (and coincidently- hottest and tallest) artist of the milennium. Yea, I applied for a boob job, my second one, and my stylist has started stitching my one billion Swarzofskiiiiii embedded diamond spaghetti top and hotpants ’specially for the occasion….nice
New Yoik was great! Hard, but great. We Mixed with legendary Michael Brauer in his savage studio and came away with 3 cracking singles. So im a happy bunny! You may be thinking “what the fuck is happening with this album?” well…it is simply this: timing! We’ve spent a LOT of time recording this album, a LOT of time re
recording and touching up, a LOT of time not listening to it to get fresh ears before we went into mixing for the first time, then mixing, then mixing again, then mastering, then mixing, then adding, then mixing, then mastering, then waiting, listening, waiting some more, making buns (cos they’re niiice!) then gigging, then moving, then signing, then gigging, then then then then then then then….it all sounds very annoying maybe, but everything in it’s own time! All in all, though this may seem a long and drawn out affair, everything is going, as Tony The Tiger would say: “Grrrrrrrreat!” im gonna have an album that im extremely proud of, and I’ve also got some lovely buns to eat and a boob job to get…….i never get a days rest in this darned business!
So tell me, here is your questionnaire (fill it in honestly):
• Should I get another boob job?
• Do I curse too much on stage?
• Have you ever talked to me when I was drunk?
• If so, did I share my drink with you?
• Do you think I am indeed the bestest most
amaaaaaazing and hottest and tallest (with nicest
boobies) artist of the millennium?
• Can you tell me, with accuracy, what time it is on
mars?
And finally
• Does my bum look big in this?
OK, answers on a postcard with a €5 donation to the
Wallis “I Spent Too Much On Beer Again This Week” Fund
It’s for a good cause lads,
Another question: should I get more sleep before
writing new Diary Entries?!
Miles of smiles
Wallis x
NEW YORK PICTURES BY AOIFE O' SULLIVAN
6th Jan 07!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! i hope that Christmas was a time for reflection, family, happiness, copious eating and drinking, excitement and relaxation for you all.
After all the madness that was, lets look forward to a new year of freaking out and living like a mad yolk! well, that's what's lined up for me this year, and i'm thoroughly looking forward to it let me tell you. I finished off this year with a lovely trip to Innsbruck, Austria. what an amazing place, i was surrounded by the breath taking Alps, and drank mulled wine at the Christmas markets till it came out my ears! and went to a deadly health spa 3000 meters in the alps, where i was lavished (is the only word!) with hot tubs outside in the -5 valley, then had big dirty cocktails with the guys and watched people swim nudey in the outdoor swimming pool next to us outside our window.......i'm talking great craic!!! i couldn't resist the temptation and went nudey swimming myself! aaaahhh, i'm so looking forward to making a few new stories this year, already i have a few- but that's for another time!
it's my second day back in London now and i've all settled in, glad to see that i didn't leave my room in a complete mess! I was home for a good turn, and spent a lot of time with my family and rang in the new year with my parents in the local pub, got locked and danced with all my brilliantly mental neighbours, sang drunkenly and got a lovely surprise birthday swiss roll from them all, sure it was only lovely! thank you Lads!
so now i'm waiting for the guys to come home from Germany so that we can rehearse my new songs and get the all set for IRELAND!! i cannot wait im tellin' ya! i was in Whelans for a gig of my friend, anyone who was at some gigs from the German Tour will remember him, FIACH (www.fiach.net) brilliant guy, love him! so being back in Whelans got my heart a fluttering! and i can't wait cos it's the first time I'm going to play a proper gig in Cork as-well, i'm only just really nervous that no one will show!!!
...so that's it for the moment i'm gonna head now, but i just wanted to with you all a happy new year, and may it be your best yet
happy happy
wallis :)
Happy December!
here i am in lovely thick warm socks, a jumper far too small for me, and a little sleepy head from a good (and heavy!) night last night! for the last three days we've been jamming and getting happy, and so far, new songs have been flowing freeeeeely, so i'm a fierce happy gurl at the moment! we're going back into the studio to record on february, just to keep everything business as usual. i was laughing the other day thinking that i'm gonna have my fifth album recorded before the first is even released! so with songs strong in mind and maxxi's powerbook on hand to record jam sessions, you can be assured that you will never run out of new music to aquire! (jesus saying that, i will probably do a 6 year gap between albums....just as a brief spell trying to find myself, where i left me!)
the last few days have been real nice, playing gigs and meeting people. we had a gig in the Borderline on the 14th, which was brill cos it was the first gig where complete strangers paid in for "wallis bird please!".....8 people! deadly, so we were chuffed about that. a good start. you might be laughing about that, but it's a slow process, we didnt suddenly just sell out gigs in Germany, that took a good while to get where we were, so 8 people for us that night was a big success! Hi to Lucas and Marc from Bochum, hope you liked your can of fosters!
Aoife took some fabulous backstage pics of the night, so we'll post those up asap!!!
And also..........I'M COMMING HOOOOOME!
2 shows are booked in IRELAND for the 14th and 15th
January
**** 14th.............CORK, Cyprus Avenue
**** 15th.............DUBLIN, Whelans
YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEY YEY YEY YEY YEY YEY YEY!!!!
I'm really looking forward to that! i'll fill you in
with more as soon as i know, but for now, i gotta go
and drink some mulled wine
ooooooohhhh mulled wine, where would you be without
LIDL???
love wallis x
17th November 2006!
THANK YOU GERMANY!! what a deadly week! it all started when i stepped onto Deutsch soil, it felt different! happy to be back again, and i didn't realise i missed it so much as i did, then the trip back to Mannheim, the scenery, the smell (of Mannheim!!!) how i missed it all, it made me really homesick. Homesick for Germany and Ireland. My old flat, i stepped in the door- a little cleaner than i thought i left it! my old bed, my kitchen wall, covered in peoples messages and trinkets they stuck to it, it felt so homely! i did very little that day, went to my friends gig, and chilled out later that night. great to be back!
the next day was my first gig with 4 other bands (Anna Lena, Momentaufnahme, Sensau and Falk ?) as kind of a Mannheim Showcase in Capitol. this venue is beautiful, kickin sound and gorgeous atmosphere, so it sucked me in immediately. as it got closer to the gig, we got news that it was sold out, and the organisers were so happy, so that heightened the excitement! I have to say it was a fantastic night of great bands, really an entertaining night of just bloody good music.
Whew, i was nervous, i was shittin it! Before the gig we were backstage setting ourselves up, breathing sharply and smiling uncontrollably, more so than ever! We got on stage and the roar of 1,200 almost stopped my blood running...i whispered „holy shit“ to myself, picked up my guitar, looked at the boys...we looked at each other with a wave of „Yeeea ;) “ and freaked the fuck out!
The first song was ridiculously hard to sing, i could barely breathe but we made it through in a blur of screams and smiles and lights...what a gig! People, you were so cool, you were so sweet, thanks you for your madness your love and your energy!
From this gig we drove with tired eyes and hyper bodies to the first of two nights in Cafe Schmitz,Worms. sitting in the backstage room knowing that this was another sold out gig was like a dream come true. At some points i would have to breathe deeply because this was where i had always wanted to be in my life. This IS where I've always wanted to be. How do i tell people that the best way i can? Playing. I used these gigs to personally say thank you. The feeling was immense, being washed over with just good honest well wishes and luck, meeting wonderful people and being able to share it with such great audiences. What am i in for?!! I dunno, I'm just gonna keep doing what i have always done, cos look where it has gotten me- HAPPY!
See you soon my Germies, only love, only love love love :D
Wal x
Pictures? Click here!
24th October 2006
Hello! How are ya? The biggest greetings and
salutations from London! I just moved here a few weeks
ago, and so I’m trying to settle in and be a proper
Londoner! So as you may know by now, the reason why
I’ve just moved here from Mannheim so cos....da da da
daaaaaaaaa..............
I signed to Island Records....cool huh?!!!! I can’t
tell you how excited i am about it! It was a work in
progress for the last 6 months, so now i can finally
say that all the hard work and maddness has paid off,
and a little dream in my heart has come true!
And so i know i always say things like this but,
I’m a happy little bunny, the gaff in London is day by
day looking more and more like a savage, savage home,
all the guys and me haven’t killed eachother yet! So
here i am, moving again, like a drifter or something!
But i love it, it’s a life on the road sometimes and
it’s a life i love! I haven't abandoned my posts in
Ireland or Mannheim at all in case you were thinking,
I’m just away for little bit, then I’ll come and
annoy you all again! You know what i just realised? I
use an awfull lot of exclamations!!!!
I have to say a HUGE Danke Schon from the bottom of my
heart for the German Tour....it was phenomenal!!!
Thank you for everyone that turned up and sang with me
or freaked out and had fun with me, thank you to all
the super groupies, especially FRANZISKA
(Sylvia...Peinlich, es tut mir leid x) and ALEX. You
two are complete sweethearts, thank you for your
religious-like support!
And from me, i want to thank the Tour Team that worked
their holes of for the good cause: Peter, Timo, Paul,
Maxxi, Aoife, Andrea, Connie, Christian, Michael, Get
Well Soon, Fiach, Anna Lena, Ticket To Norway,
Heinrick, and everyone from the venues who were so
fucking good to us, and anyone who did anything, im
sorry if i didnt write your name down, (Im really
sorry, i have a durty hangover, but it doesn’t mean
that i don’t love you!)
T
H
A
N
K
Y
O
U
A
L
L
And so it has been a strange month of new
surroundings, trying to get used to hearing the
english language again, trying to get used to the tube
and not say HELLOOOO to every single person i meet,
sleeping in a real bed, eating cadbury’s chocolate
again (let me tell ya, this is one of the world’s
greatest inventions, it will stop wars i tell ya!),
wearing scarves again, fish and chips, my god you have
to keep an eye out for me, im gonna turn into a little
closed up vein gurl..all this tasty bad-for-you-food
will be the death of me!
What else is new? I’ve got a few new songs in the
pipeline, and i’m hoping to work on them as soon as i
can drag myself away from the computer today. Had a
gig last night and after it, me and a select few of
drunkers drank a bottle of vodka (truth be told,
almost all to myself!), and today i’m dying a thousand
deaths in my poor brain!
So i think that’s all, hope to see you soon at a gig
or somewhere, and stay wrapped up, it’s halloween
weather out there!!!!
All smiles, all sunflowers,
Wallerina Butterfly (aka Wallafull Birdflower!) x
18th 9th 2006
Yo Yo Yo! Hows are ya?! Well this is a belated Diary entry if there ever was one! sorry, i was so busy and caught up in holidays and everything that i lost my diary duties along the way! LOTS has happened! i was recently on a well earned holiday in Thailand (i can hear some people saying "Haa haa...well earned"!!! Shaaaaaaddaaaap!!) so that was amazing, it cleared my head alot, things can get a little bit crazy upstairs if your constantly Music Music Music, so i just chilled out, saw some beautiful nature, swam alot, got seriously burnt (except for an illuminous white triangle on my arse...ragin') and seriously healthy for a little bit, but of course Germania has given me too many deliiiiiious sausages, delictable breads and barbaric beers to chose from!
My Tour is starting very soon, im really excited about that! You can have a look at the dates there on the 'LIVE' button. andf if you are reading this, then you HAVE to come to a gig, you didn't know but this is a subliminal code im sending out, you have to come you have to come youhavetocome!!!
And now i can finally announce IM PLAYING THE NEW POP FESTIVAL!!!!! The New Pop is gonna be amazing! i couldn't believe it but i was told that 600 tickets were sold out in half an hour, so lads, ye can all start calling me BONO now right???! except instead of a giant Lemon, im using something far different.....Lime. i like the shape better.
In other news.....i finished my album, (did you already know that???) so im delighted. blood sweat and tears went into that bloody thing! I'm very happy about it! ooooother news???? jeepers creepers i haven't a clue! im tired, just woke up!!! haa haa! feeling a little bit giddy! i will write more diary entries more frequentlyer, and i will get gooder at my englilish i promise. and after every gig, we'll stick a few poics up and all of that ok?!
well horses, i have to run, can't sit here all day in my pajamas at 1.40 in the afternoon!!!
Many fantastic loves and smiles, talk to you soon, and hope to see you at a gig near you soon (tour diary coming soon too!)
Wallafull Birdflower xxx
Hi again! It’s the next day,
(29th) and i’m loking at the back of a lovely Peter Schmidt!! This place is so beautiful, he lives in his mixing studio here, and i cannot tell you all how damn cool and relaxing this place is.
I have to say that since ive moved to Germany, i have had nothing but great luck. For all the people that said: „Wallis you shouldn’t go, it’s not for you“ or begrudged me to go (and there were a few!!!) i didn’t give a shit. Since last year, this has been my magnetic pull, so despite all the nay sayers, i got up and left- with everything to loose, but i knew something was waiting for me here, and i followed it....and this is me now, more secure, focused and happier than i have ever been. I have amazing people around me, we care strongly about eachother, and we work damn hard, and as respectfully to people in this business as we are in our daily lives. And we won’t have anyone fuck us, and you know why? Cos we don’t do that to anybody either. There is much to be said about how far this „Bird Family“ has come through being who we are, and not lowering ourselves. So this is it now, this, everything around me at this very moment- is my home, and i will fight until my dying breath for this Family
X wallis
28th 7th 2006
Hi there horses! How are you all? My golly gosh ive been a busy bird! There has been alot happening in the last few days! I’m sitting on a comfy bed in WONDERFULL BERLIN!!! We got an apartment here for the next 11 days for the mixing of the album........YEA, YA HEARD RIGHT.........THE ALBUM IS FINISHED!!!! You cant imagine what it was like to sit there in the control room four days before the deadline;, i was really like „ok, we are fucked, we haven’t a hope of finishing this album“ i was a horrible gurl to be around, ask anyone, i was stressed and totally not myself. The last 4 months in the studio have taken over my life, a hibernation isolation! It was my only world. Then 2 days before the deadline, Marcus (my producer extraordinaire!) said „no Wal, we’ll be fine, let’s just listen to the tracks“ Then we (myself, Marcus, Peter, Aoife and Paulo) listened to my song „All For You“ ,and it suddenly hit me....Shite, this is finished, and so i had a big (chubby rain!) tear drop in my eye! The next day, we worked on the last finishing touches, and finished everything...a day before schedule!
So now im in solitary again for another 10 days in Berlin, mixing with the legendary Peter Schmidt (mixed for Beatsteaks and many many more...) not a bad complaint i suppose, but it’s all work and no play im afraid. Then we’re off to Belgium to master with another fantastic horse- Darcy Proper. So I have some nice people lined up to look after my songs, I’m really proud and I’m patiently waiting for it to be finished! Imagine, I’m gonna have my first album ready in twooooooo weeks!!!
It’s been a pretty cool last couple of days, im starting to lose track of time and places, some times i think im in Germany, and then i realise im in London, then im in London and think im in Germay, ive had the embarracment of ordering things Auf Deutsch to the face of a very confused Londoner!
Ooooh, baby cheeses, it’s almost August...or is it August already? Im too lazy to even check! I have to go to bed now and get plenty of sleep for a long day tomorrow, im in the first day of mixing with Peter Schmidt (cannot bleedin’ hide my excitement!)
Well, ill worte again soon, all the best lads and lasses
Wallerina butterfly!
X
27th June
Hi there! hope you are well. things have been mental in the camp for the last week and a half, i went home for my Sister's wedding which was beautiful, i really enjoyed myself and everything went brilliant....i couldn't help but cry my eyes out every 15 second during the wedding, it was so cliche but being a bridesmaid, i was close enough to see right into their eyes and see how much they love eachother and i was like "BABY CHEEEEESES that's sooooo gorgeous!" so congratulations to Mr. and Mrs.Murphy!!!! love ya sis! WEDDINGS FOR PRESIDENT!!!
Great things have happened in the last few days, I PLAYED SOUTHSIDE!!!!
it was fantastic! i know I'm always a majorly happy gurl, and that I'm always like "YEY...IT WAS THE BEST GIG EVER" but it was really great!! REALLY REALLY GREAT! i didn't really expect very many people to be ther, it being a sunday afternoon and I'm a nobody and all that...but there was over a thousand people there! we couldn't believe it! and I've been getting lovely messages on the guestbook from some nice head out there, so thanks so much to everyone for giving us the good vibes! it was hilarious, the heat was unbelievable, and i suppose i didn't account for that, i wore heavy jeans and a t-shirt, and I'm desperately unfit (thanks to Becks for giving us not 1, but 10 CRATES OF BEER!!!!!) so i was jiggling away (Bingo wings) and gasping with the heat, cos it was like 5 million degrees out there, and i could barely sing the songs!!! but i was looking back on the pics that Paulo took (that's the guy in the southside pics with no top on looking very "Rock and Roll...Finished"!) and saw that i was bouncing and doing my bad dancing for the whole gig, so i didn't expect more!
the gig was a right laugh, and then we got to see a few bands backstage (laaa di daaa!) and had some craic....then the thunder storm....WERE YA THERE? wasn't it brilliant?! all the tents started blowing away, it came out of nowhere and everyone was like "ahhh it'l go away" but then it got really powerfull and people started to scream and things started falling over and i was like "WOW". i made some jokes about how all the really skinny gurls were all blowing away and landing on the tops of the tents...."was that just Kate Moss that flew past us?!"
Yup it was great! now im in the studio for 16 hours a day, almost finished, but we still have a bit to do, so im gonna be hermitized for the next few weeks, so i think the only gig ill be playing for this month and next month is Cafe Central...and I'm really looking forward to it horses....hope to see you there!
gotta go....I'm a sleepy gurl, and i need my beauty sleep lord knows!
BOTOX FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
wallis x
10th-15th of May
The past 5 days have been absolutely mind blowing, I bought a really super cool bike direct from the 70’s,
that if it was a person, i think i would be in love cos of how happy it makes me!!! Then the next day we won the Becks competition to play the German festival Southside, and we were really excited about it so that night we went back to my local pub to celebrate and i was sitting there kinda feeling a bit low cos i couldn’t share it with my heads at home....and then who strolls in, normal as you like...only Aoife O’ Sullivan from home!!! Peter my lovely lovely manager flew her over...it was the best surprise ever, i was so happy and shocked that the tears just poured out of my eyes!! How cool eh?! Thank you so much Peter x!
And when i thought it couldn’t get better, the next morning, i went into the Karakter office and THERE WAS MY FANTASTASTIC NEW LAKEWOOD GUITAR!!! I got it only 4 days ago, and i have played it to death already!! It sounds and looks gorgeous, so i have to think of a name for it now! And for the next couple of days i was organinising to go to London, but so much has happened, I’m really such a lucky girl right now, and i don’t know where to start to say thank you, so all i do is smile, i figure that a smile is contageous so maybe i’m shedding a few good vibes in the world!
30th of April 06
Hi there! how are ya? all good i hope? I'm just sitting here in the studio in Heidelberg, killing some studio calories...listening to my brand spanking new mp3 player (thank you Aoife the great!) it's a beautiful day outside and all is good in the world for me today, well, every day really! we had a jam in the studio last night in the small hours and recorded a new song, very feely and sweet, hopefully i will have it up on myspace or something soon, as a little bit of a taster, but it will only be up for a little while..can't give too much away for this album now can i?!
but to talk about the album...it is coming along really well, things are flowing here, i think i've written 5 new songs since the first day i arrived here! ...and falling in love helps too! i am really looking forward to the public hearing this. this is the first time i have really had the chance to do this, make something my own...and being here has made me pensive. i was thinking about how my music comes across to you, the listener, and many thoughts came into my head about the feel of this album, but so far i have made this as 'Me' as possible, and my brain is sometimes a mess of life, so there is alot of different feelings going on here...ultimately, i am very happy so far! we still have a long way to go, but it's getting there!
I'm just about to go in and record on a beautiful concert D-size Bösendorfer (somebody wipe my seat!) and there is a super beautiful Steinway in the corner, but i'm slanting towards the Bösendorfer...ooooh, it's a good sign when you're torn between a Steinway and a Bösendorfer....what a hard life this is!!! so wish me luck, i don't play the piano, and the big strings freak me out when i open the top of the piano up, seriously i can't even look into the thing sometimes, it freaks me out that much! so it should be a funny take...you'll hear me weeping with fear in the background!
gotta go, duty calls, have a lovely day and talk to
you soon. ooooh and thanks to everyone (that is not
us!) that voted on the swr3 listeners chart- keep
voting!!!...DON'T STOP UNTIL WE REACH NO.1!!!!!
10th April 2006
WHAT CAN I SAY???
thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
The Release concert was a huge success, we had a lovely, lovely time. thank you to all of you who turned up and made it one of the best nights in my life! we really had such a good time, i hope you did too! and there was i worrying that no one would come, i was really scared about it....BUT WE PACKED THE HOUSE!!! there were 400 PEOPLE THERE, and it felt like 4,000,000,000,000! thank you so much for coming!
We will hopefully have a video of the night (thanks to Marc!) posted on the website so you can have a look and laugh, learn the songs, do a karaoke night to it with your friends, sit at home with your friends and laugh at my bingo wings when i lift my arms!!! its so funny, i had such a great night!
WOW what a night, i really don't know where to start with it! its an amazing feeling knowing people pay into your gig and listen to the music, and oh my god, there were people that knew the songs!!!!! i was totally blown away! that's the first time that someone other than friends knew the lyrics to my songs! wow whats happening?!
I want to say an extra special thank you to:
AIDAN....what the fuck! thank you for making my night so homely.you radiate goodness
GET WELL SOON...what the fuck! what a gig! Konstantine for president!!!!
PAULO...what the fuck! the suit, the gorgeous Dublin accent- no wonder ya scored!
PETER...i have no words, you make this happen, you make me soar
MARCUS...eeeeeh, you´re amaaaaaazing!
MAXXI...super maxxi, always in awe- you´re the shit!
PAUL....sound man, sound!!! (that's a compliment, in Ireland!)
ANDREA and CONNY...I'm sure that the only reason we sold merchandise that night was because you girls are so HOT HOT HOT! thank you!
THE STRANGER...someone gave me a lovely present of CD´s and i want to thank you for that gesture. STRANGER FOR PRESIDENT!
and a personal thank you to my friends AOIFE ( i looove you shigs!) PAULO (i looove you rowler!) AIDAN (i looove you gicker!) MERCEDES (whack ish oush, no wonder you scored!) MARIE (Gardening with Marie!)
you know whet these guys did for me? when i was away doing my sound check with the boys in the EO, and while we were doing that, they went down town and bought me flowers for my garden!!!! the spent a fortune on me, and when i came back from the gig they had all the flowers there, and candles all over the place and i just cried my eyes out....what a surprise! they are AMAZING! thank you AOIFE, MERCEDES and MARIE... you are reeeeeally reeeeeally good looking!
19th April 2006
Home again home again, jigity jig! well i had a lovely time at home, so good to be there with all the heads again. i really miss it when i go back and see my family again, I'm a little home sick at the moment! and it was a wild house...like 20 people there all the time, that's what you get for having a big family! i have this theory that all Irish families were big families (like 11 or 12 kids or more!) cos we didn´t have electricity until a ridiculously long time, some until the 60´s, so most of Ireland was by candle light........and people ALWAYS look good by candle light....and we had no television, and very little else to do...sooooo......!!!
I can't imagine THESE women being silent when they were having babies.....what the fuck is wrong with Scientoligists? obviously a man made up that rule!!! SCREAMERS FOR PRESIDENT!!!
but in other words, i got the immense pleasure to witness a new wave in GOOD, GOODLY, GOODEST music. the night before i came back to Germany, i went to Aidan´s new project band "THE HAPPY GANG".......please check this out, if i never ask you to check out a website again, just please give time to appreciate this band...they are a group of solo artists living in Dublin, coming together, forgetting their persona´s, and just sitting down for hours on end, just fucking jamming......no boundaries, no leaders, no ego´s...just music from the heart, and all they do is sing and sing and sing, and it was amazing, the vibe was so beautiful, they are totally in tune with eachother and the music the come up with out of the blue in the jams is a reflection of life, strong, spiritual, hilarious, togetherness, spontaneity, love, ups and downs of emotion....god i was so lucky to have shared this night with them. it really hit me hard, please check it out! www.myspace.com/thehappygang but you are best to see them live, they are gonna support me on TUESDAY 30TH MAY IN WHELANS, DUBLIN!!!
GICKER!!!!
YEY the date is confirmed, I'm coming home and playing in WHELANS on WEXFORD STREET!!! good times they are a comin!
more info about that gig soon...wanna keep you in suspense!
(really... does anyone read these things!?...this was the longest diary entry ever!)
love to you all, stay happy,
wallis x
30th March 2006
oooh, it´s getting closer to the EP release concert in Mannheim, I´m bricking it to be honest! i´m a little scared that no one will come to it, well that´s what my dreams keep telling me anyway! bloody dreams!i hope you can come to it. coooooos, there you will get to meet my friends from Ireland. The famous Paulo, Aoife, Sean, with Aidan, and Get Well Soon, who are supporting me that night (check out these websites www.floatinghome.org. and www.get-well-soon.net to see what a treat you´re in for, these guys are brilliant, im really looking forward to it) the "Bird Family" (my manager and the amazing heads!) will all be there.
We´re selling the "Lovely-and-riddled-with-stuff" EP, Bottle openers (essential for any Irish or ´practising´ Irish folks out there!) Badges, Posters, and they´re selling ME at it too......just kidding!!!
so i hope to see a few of you cool heads at the gig (cos these dreams i have of NO ONE coming are horrible, i don´t want them to come true!) so make my dreams come true, i wanna see you (wow that rhymes! i was a poet.. and didn´t realise!)
much love to y'all!!!
wallis xxx
29th March 2006
WE HAVE AIRPLAY! what an exciting time! "Blossoms in The Street" is being played on SWR3 on daily rotation! i don't think i have ever been so excited! hahaha, it was so funny, the other day when it came on i was in the office with my manager Peter and he got a phone call from our producer Marcus´, who got a phone call from his girlfriend (Phew!), who was listening to the radio in her workplace to say "WALLIS IS BEING PLAYED ON THE RADIO......AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" and Peter jumped up and freaked out, and i thought something was wrong so my heart was pounding like mental! he jumped out of the seat and then we were frantically trying to get the radio on in time to hear it...and i was freaking out then....and we were breaking into sweats trying to get this damn radio to work....and it wouldn´t (of course!) so it was like a scene in a horror movie, you know when the girl is trying to run away from the monster chasing her and its getting closer and she´s shaking and screaming, trying to put the keys in the door and her hands are shaking so much that she drops the keys.............god it was hilarious!...but yeah... by the time we got the radio to work, the fuckin song was already over!!!!!!!! so i have yet to hear it on the radio!!! SECONDS, mere seconds late!
"KEEP PLAYING OUR SONG...WE LOVE YOU FOR IT!!!"
Voteforusvoteforusvoteforusvoteforus!!!!! subliminal messages!
talk to you all soon, have fun!
wallerinabutterfly! xxx
21st March 2006
WELLLLLLLLLLL????!!!!
Hows things? all good i hope? did you all have a nice St. Patricks Day? i certainly did! My friends Aoife and Sean were so so so good as to visit me here in Mannheim, they had everything- The big green leprechaun hats, Face paints, Flags, Ireland badges, More flags, Beer, Barrys teabags, Tayto crisps, Blinking Shamrocks.........THE WORKS.........and do you know what i did? i kept them in the studio until 6pm....I felt so bad, i was recording a new song, and i bored them to tears, all they wanted to do was have a normal Paddy's Day- I´m so sorry about it, i can´t apologise about it enough...but you will be happy to know that we made up for it that evening, then all night, then all morning, then the next day, and the next day! i think i got about 6 hours sleep in the whole weekend while they were here! AOIFE AND SEAN FOR PRESIDENT!!! drinking for Ireland!
10th-17th March 2006
I´M IN THE STUDIO!!! Wahey! I´m in a gorgeous studio! the album is well under way and it´s so funny, cos we already have 18 songs to chose from, but since i´ve been in there, i have written 3 more songs and don´t know what to do...i´ve been so inspired these last few days. its going really well. The difference in going to a seriously good studio is enormous. every day i walk in there and the atmosphere makes me want to record and record and record. The acoustically perfect, designed rooms, the thousands of cables on the walls, the endless supply of microphones and different instruments, you can´t beat it. it´s a whole different world. our feelings about the studio are so good, that i think you can hear it in what we have recorded so far.
i was talking to the guys about the future of recording studios, and it´s such a shame that there are alot of studios around the world who have to close down, because the technology is becoming so good now that people no longer need a studio or a record deal to record, we have laptops and the Internet now...i´m a big fan of recording studios, but i´m also all for this. when people have more oppertunity to express what they want in their music at their own levels WHEN they want, with no limitations, no worries like: "...well, i don´t have the money to go into the studio", to be able to sit in your own bedroom, record, mix, master, do it your way... well that is fucking right on- what a cool exciting time we´re living in, don´t you think?
so long for now :)
wallis x
4th March 2006
HAHAHAHAHA!!! what a night last night was! we had so much fun. we played in Murphy´s Law last night and had a scream! cannot wait to go back again, the craic we had was unbelievable! the place was so hot at one point that when i was absolutely sweating to death, i couldn´t even open my eyes--- charming!!! and it was so funny, i was really revved up and having so much fun that when i was singing a really loud bit, i was absolutely screaming from my toes, a big Exorcist belly scream, and i almost got sick on stage.........lads it was so funny!!! so maybe i better have a thing on the posters for gigs that reads: the first 2 front rows stand there at their own risk! oooooh golly gosh, what a night! I´m laughing out loud at the computer, thinking about it!
well, i gotta go, and until next time, have a lovely day
see ya later crocodile
wal x
1st March 2006
My Paulo is gone. My flat mate is no longer with me in Mannheim, he no longer can cook for me and beat me at Street fighter, we can no longer wake up at 2pm in the day and immediately start eating (sometimes drinking!) we no longer can go out in Mannheim and dance crazily in small clubs, we can no longer go for our special walks in Mannheim where we HAVE to cross the road at every green light, just to see where it would take us, i can no longer tell him he can´t cut his hair, go for Irish dinner in the Irish pub on a Sunday...........so long good friend, see you in Dublin (and when you visit me!) that's the end of the 6 month party now.... Dublin, Ireland, He´s all yours- the best guy i ever did know....lucky buggers!
20th February 2006
Ahhh, a little piece of home with me! I had my Sister and her husband over with me for a week, they are so much fun! it´s great to have family visit me, see my terribly messy flat, see what my daily life is like, report all the dirt to the parents.....eek!
Chins up to the funniest heads i have ever met...Tammy and Tom Murphy, I LOVE YOU!!!
Valentines Day 14th February
Hmmmmmmm, I´M ALL ALOOOOOOOONE!!!!!!! kisses to you all, have a nice day, love your lover like you love em!
5th of February 2006
GOOOOODEEEEE !!!
Hi there, hows it goin? all well i hope! i have to tell you i´m holding back an outburst of laughter, i just finished the EP and we are waiting with our legs crossed in excitement for it to return from the printing press, i can´t even begin to tell you how happy i am with it, i don´t want to give too much away, but the artwork is really special, we had our London correspondant (sounds ´news-y´ doesn´t it?!) and resident Man In Black, Simon Pitt say to us when he saw it for the first time: "Eh guys, it´s only an EP" but my resident "Soluuuuuution Man" (and sometimes Babysitter, manager, Peter!) said "No no, but mister Pitt, this is the first BABY, and if we are to do something, we are to do it right, and riddle it with as much stuff as we can possibly fit on this cute digipack..........." seriously, that's how the conversation went, then i burst through the boardroom window, S.W.A.T style and baked them all a cake...........glass and rising agent everywhere, i wish you could have been there......does anyone actually read these things?
yea so, after a long wait- with legs crossed- the cute-and-riddled-with-stuff-digipack EP returns from press in two weeks, and i shall cross my legs no more, and begin to bake more cakes for the release party........with which dates and locations (locations meaning there will be one in Ireland and Germany, and anywhere else that will have us!) will be released soon on the homepage. WOOOOOHHHHOOOOOO!!! i can´t waít till you see it!!!
25th of January 2006
Hi there!
I am a little sad, for today i did a very silly thing, i lost my green and red shoes, amoung other things in Mannheim, so if anyone finds them or knows anyone who might have them (amoung other things!) will you get in touch, there is a contact number with it, and there is a reward should anything be returned, cos the sentimental value of it enormous. So if you have any information, send and email to the contact address on the homepage.....
OR if any of you have shoes you´d like to pass on (currently i am shoeless!) i am a size 5 and a half!!!!
lots of love
wal xxx
10th of January 2006
Hi again!
Wow i can´t believe how fast Christmas went, and now i´m a year older and none the wiser, thinking of joining a gym (isn´t that always the way?!), so i went into a gym here in Mannheim one day to have a look and it was all weights and pictures of steroid ridden men (or women, i can´t be sure!), so when i eventually got the feeling back in my legs from laughing so hard at the thought of me looking like one of them, i decided that i can live with the heartburn from constant Doner Kebap dinners. My flatmate Paulo and i have convinced ourselves that they are healthy ......."Cos it´s just bread, some class of a meat (if we don´t ask what it is, we´ll be ok) and salad". what actually IS doner meat?? send your answers on a stamped address envelope to the nearest hospital.
but all doners aside, we have been practising constantly, working on the EP artwork and finishing touches with Marcus (Ehhhhhhhh Marcus!) on the recording, playing gigs and being happy with everything. sometimes i really miss home though, it´s hard being away from my family and friends, but i have my right hand man and the best spaghetti maker in the land, Paul, to keep me in Ireland in my mind! but at the same time, being here is so good, i am making so much progress, friends, my own family and am constantly writing and partying, so im happy, but i will be making a visit over again soon, and wanna play in Dublin again......I JUST WANNA PLAY!!!´
so friends, i gotta go now cos ´dinner´ is ready...........! take care of yourselves.......and eachother (go Jerry!)!!!
wal xxx
24th of December 2005
HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
OOooOOooh its getting close to that time of year again, getting fat with good Christmas dinners! I´m going back home to chill out and eat and drink myself goodlooking, and i´m really looking forward to it! Christmas at the Bird household is truly something to behold! Get to see all my family and friends again (yes i DO have friends!) and i´m gonna catch a gig my friend FIACH is playing on New Years Eve (my birthday!!) in Vicar street, Dublin, supporting Declan O´Rourke- sure to be an excellent night of great music and fun in a gorgeous venue. tickets are probably sold out at this stage, but if you can ever get a chance to see my friend Fiach (the Mezz, Eustace street, Dublin, every Monday night) please go see him....what a fuckin talent, and what a ride xxx!! then it´s off to London to meet the business people and get stuck into some more work, and then i shall rest no more......next year has a seriously hectic schedule, lots to be done. and i´m going to be a bitch and not tell you what, but it´s all very good! expect to see more of this sillybilly in the next year!
...so for now i shall love you goodly and leave you goodestly with a beautiful thought:
You know you are getting older when you start to appreciate knickers, boxers and socks for Christmas presents, especially the really warm ones!
HAVE A LOVELY HOLIDAY EVERYONE
10th of November 2005
WOW! I got an endorsement with Lakewood Guitars (www.lakewood.de) i couldn´t be happier!!! Ever since i played my first Lakewood, i was totally in love with them, but it is an absolute dream for me to be endorsed by a guitar company, especially a company i feel strongly about! So i get my new guitar in the new year..........YEY!!
The guys were laughing at me, ´cos for the last 2 years, i had been working on a guitar that was the moodiest fucker ever; some days it would work, then other days it wouldn´t, and there were so many close calls to having concerts cancelled because of it, then someone would show up with a guitar that worked, to save me from being murdered by angry punters and club owners alike! so i would like to take this opportunity to thank the following continuous guitar-life-savers!: Cris Cosmo, and Emu and all the other great people i know that offered their guitar to me, i know you all........THANK YOU! And an apologie should also be said, sometimes i hurt my finger during a gig, and bleed all over the guitar...break strings...amoung other things! Charming. So sorry to the blooded guitar owners!
So thank you Lakewood (thank you thank you thank you!!!), and thank you guitar buddies, you are not forgotten!
28th of September - 03th of November 2005
Dear Diary...
Hi everyone again, how have you all been? things have been crazy here, that´s why i have neglected my duties to writing my diary- sorry! So much has happened since i last wrote, funny things mostly......so here is the news!!
I was in LA for recording vocals on my friend JD Thompson´s album. I had the pleasure of singing on his album, which i believe is sure to be a classic, he has a voice like i have never heard, and songs that almost kill me! i will give more information on him, a link and maybe snippets of his album.... So you can see what talent is out there yet to be heard to a large audience, and wow, its gonna be a large audience! And i had the honour to work alongside his Legendary producer Lou Adler who worked on such artists as Mamas and Papas and Carole King, and was the executive producer of `The Rocky Horror Picture Show`...his biography goes on for miles, if i was to write everything he did, i would be here for days- he is truly a legend!
During my time in America, i was totally inspired by the different lifestyles i experienced, and travelling across the desert on route 66 from LA to Oklahoma absolutely inspired me and i wrote 5 new songs!! Everyone thought i was acting so strange ´cos i was so quiet....all i could do was write lyrics and doodle, i was so inspired! So it was amazing for me to be there!
JD´s album is set to be released in spring, so i will keep you updated on that when i know more news!
And now i am back in my second home- Germany. Back practising with my lövely, lövely band with Christian and Michael Vinne. Since i came back, we went straight back into practising like mad, the new songs came like a dream and we´re going back into the studio to do a live recording of the new songs, which will be posted in the next couple of weeks (so you can listen in on what we´re doing, like a fly on the wall. You can post a few notes if you think they´re good or shite!!)
15th of September 2005
I got a few interviews for german TV and radio so maybe you can check them
out on the net if you REALLY want to embarrace me! its a funny thing about
these conference-type gigs, they are quite serious affairs, suits etc., but
i cant help but laugh- at these serious conferences, they ALWAYS have free
beer...watch those ties loosen!
14 th of September 2005
Berlin Berlin Berlin! what can i say, i love Berlin. we had a couple of gigs
there, for the Popkomm also at a European conference for this project called
Mu:zone (check it out if you can, this really is a great platform for european
artist to get a little foothold for their career, www.muzone-europe.com)
they were good fun gigs. i was delighted to stay at a beautiful Berlin apartment
with an old upright piano in it, so i had to be dragged away from it, but
not before i wrote a totally lavish, new song on it!
05th of September 2005
we had total freedom within the time space so we experimented with sounds
and had alot of fun (kicking bass drum hard cases and joking around drinking
a little too much (Ostereich blue eis anyone?!) one night and shamefull jamming
sessions on the recordings, frightening eachother and things like that!) its
all on the EP, its got 5 new songs on it too, so I'm really looking forward
to getting it out there! just gotta finish the mixing and mastering and then
Bob's yer mother's brother!
18th of August 2005
Directly back from Budapest, we went straight into the studio, my favourite
place after the stage! I'm really looking forward to you'se hearing what we
did in there, it's really brought down to basics with guitar, drums, bass,
viola (and trumpets, and rhodes and......!). i was so happy to work for sometimes
16 hours a day cos the atmosphere was special, working with the producer Marcus
Wuest was a dream (this guy is a producer to watch out for, he really has
an excellent vision, and is totally sympathetic) i had an amazing time working
with him and i think it comes across in the record.
14th of August 2005
Hurray for festivals! the Sziget went well, had alot of fun there
and not to mention getting lost the second we went in there, we had some trouble
at the gate and almost didnt get into our tent to play, it could have been
a disaster, there was alot of sweet smiling saying "Pleeeeeease" to get in
without our official pass, but it was all ok in the end! the gig went well,
the crowd were in good spirits and we had a real blast in Hungary, the people
are some of the nicest i have ever met, i will definately be back, if only
to try their crazy homemade spirits again (phew, that's some serious stuff!)
thanks to Egon, Vanessa, Zsolt, His family (thankyouthankyouthankyou!!) and
little Agi for a truely memroable experience.......love you xx
4th
of August, 2005
Wow, I love my life! as I write this we are getting ready to leave for Budapest
in 3 hours, my skin is tingling with anticipation. The Sziget festival is
our first festival as a band and I hope it's one of many to come. We have
worked really hard since January, going from country to country to practise
and play gigs but now that I live in a new country we can put all our hard
work and energy into the music every day. It was a big decision moving here
but I felt I would always be wondering, well so far, it seems like a good
decision 'cos I'M PLAYING IN BUDAPEST IN A FEW DAYS!!!
12th of
August, 2005
Well here I am in Budapest, it is so beautiful here, the people are
gorgeous! It's my first time here, its beautiful, I feel so inspired. Im getting
nervous about the gig