Many of you already know Uriah from his work with the seminal Rock band, Whitesnake. And, yes, Uriah's toured the world with a truckload of WT800s and D610XLTs. What you may not know is that Uriah also performs with a ton of others, including the Family Stone Experience, Lyrics Born, and the coolest, most unusual Metal band you'll ever hear: Flametal.
Flametal is the brain child of Flamenco guitarist Ben Woods. If you just figured out that Flametal is a combination of Flamenco and Metal, you get two Cool Points. Uriah Duffy and fellow Eden endorser Angeline Saris provide a double dose of bottom for the band as they shred through some of the most difficult and musically challenging lines you'll hear this side of Paganini. The band also includes lead guitar and drums, as well as a few lovely, talented and skimiply-clad flamenco dancers. (OK - now that I've got your attention, try to keep up, ok?)
In addition to the full band shows, Ben and Uriah do duo appreances as Flametal Skeletons. And this is where the story begins. While at the NAMM show in Anaheim this year, Ben and Uriah stopped by the booth to say hello. Several requests for some jamming and slamming led to hooking the pair (and they're drummer on Cohon, a South American rhythm box) into some WTX-260s. Uriah's been wanting one for a while, and Ben flipped when he heard how great his guitar sounded through one. The next thing you know, we set up an order for the band for three units. The band plans to use them for fly dates, promo appearances and rehearsals.
As the weeks and months go by, Uriah (and sometimes Ben) will send us reports and pictures to keep us informed of their travels. More importantly, it's a chance for you to learn first-hand just how much a small amp can do for you. The entries are unedited because we want you to read the same reports we do.
Many thanks to Uriah for accepting this additional task. The guy is already so busy that his sub needs a sub to cover all the gigs coming his way.
February 28, 2007 - somewhere in the San Francisco area
Amps are in!
Opened one up for our duet rehearsal last night- Great!
The aux inputs were instantly useful for playing with our backing tracks. Ben still needs to get a cab to use his. For now, we're rollin' with whatever cabs they get us in Japan- to prove versatility, right?!
My 2 Workingman 10's (that usually power the band) are looking at me from across the room wondering what's going on.
I took pics last night with my bro's camera- I should be able to send the first pics to you tomorrowish.
Uriah Duffy and Ben Woods during their first rehearsal with the WTX260s. The ProTools backing tracks are fed to the AUX Inputs. "Ben writes some difficult stuff for this band," says Uriah. "We have to rehearse!"
You should see my living room: I put the 6x10 on top of the 4x10T so it's in my face for testing this amp- Gotta say I love it! It's definitely different (my guess is I'm noticing no 12ax7 and different EQ) But the sound is so nice and clear and the controls overall are the easiest to use I've ever come across. I love that the knobs all serve a dual purpose as switches to keep this thing small! The footpedal is great too! Go from Jaco to Marcus very easily. I'm into the whole portability thing big time over features, so I probably wont use the pedal- but I'm damn glad I have the option to!
Nice job on the Manual! Two (small) things: 1) it says something about supplied rack ears, and 2) I think I saw the phrase Time Traveler still lingering around. That's all! Very personable and clear.
Someone told me that to play on one of the stages at NAMM we'd have to be recommended by an endorser... hmmm? I wonder if thats true of the hotels too. The Marriot would be great for the Skeletons but the Hilton would fit the whole band- full drums etc. Just a thought.
March is busy!
Tonight: My sole rehearsal with Lyrics Born before our lil Northwest Tour. Gonna try the 260 with the 4x10 at rehearsal, but will bring the big stuff on the road.
March 1st through 5th:
San Fran -Noise Pop Fest
Portland OR
Seattle WA
Vancouver BC
Bellingham WA
7th: Fly to Japan
It turns out this is bigger than we anticipated. We were under the impression of doing it more broken down like at the booth at NAMM. But they want a full show- theatrics and all. But it's acoustic guitar and Bass- not Double bass drums and Lead, or the whole band! So It looks like me and Ben will be Dressing up- makeup- Leather- & Rock Star stuff as the Japanese love the visual element. We made backing tracks of our band and will also be performing a cover of a famous animation theme song that they go FREAKIN NUTS over. They even want the LED's like I had in my bass since it made an impression- but that's moot now. We'd have to send the guitar necks to London and shell out $$$$ and wait a month. Anyways I'm realizing that humble, broken down, acoustic, Candid, backyard style is way cool HERE, but they want the big glitz over there. We'll see what happens!
I get home and pick right back up with lyrics Born.
My other band The Doom Patrol finally released our album. This album is very close and special to me. You may like it on the surface. I guarantee you'll LOVE it if you dig deeper. The disc is like a movie. The subject matter in every song can be related to and felt. And the singer is probably the most talented I've worked with in terms of feel and technicality. Not to mention he's my best friend and wrote/recorded all these songs. We got harmonies, Song-writing, musicianship, and most importantly FEEL. Anyways, stylistically some say it's like Prince or Stevie Wonder singing over an educated Nirvana or Rage. I'll send you one- I need an addy though.
March 7, 2007 - in a car somewhere in San Francisco
Right now, I'm in Ben's lady's car headed to the airport to fly to Japan. I'm actually dictating to Lane so he can write this down for me.
Can't wait to get there. This is going to be a BLAST! First we head to Sapporo, then on to Tokyo, Nagoya and, finally, Osaka.
I don't have any pictures I can send because I'm in a CAR! <laughs> But I do have this link to our newest video. It's for Andajaleo, and features the full band, including Angie [Angeline Saris].
Here, let's have the Big Man say a few words...
Ben says:
We're really looking forward to the whole trip. The Japanese are really into the whole Flamenco thing.
I did the storyboard for the video and it "almost" came out the way it went in my head, so it turned out pretty OK. We shot in three locations, one was the SF beach, which was a challenge! The other two were in Oakland.
The WTX-260s are great! So much tone in such a small package. They sure make these press tours a lot easier! We've got our laptops with us, so hopefully, I'll get a mention on the web site this week.
Back to Uriah:
So, I've been home from the Lyrics Born tour for less than 24 hours. Got in from Seattle, unpacked, ate, rehearsed, and reintroduced myself to Angie. Then, one hour of sleep and back up to head off to the Rising Sun. Please, oh please, let me sleep on the plane!
I'll drop you a line when we land, just so you know the amps are OK! <laughs>
This week we have several entries from Uriah covering March 8 through March 13.
Thursday, March 8
We had a LOOOONNNG day getting to Tokyo, where we caught a flight to Sapporo in northern Japan. An hour's drive and we STILL weren't 'home', but brought to the biggest FM radio station in all of Hokkaido. We recorded a show for Metal Knights, live in the studio. Our new little Eden amps were instantly useful once again as pre-amp/direct boxes for our headphone only mix. Here's a couple of photos from Day 1. This is after being up 24 hours and put straight to work!
Recording live in-studio for Air-G FM.
The Metal Knights Crew.
Friday March 9
Long Post!
We're still tired from the flight. Ben's trying to kick this flu but the travel and TIGHT schedule hasn't made it easy. We are staying in a suburb of Sapporo, with a fellow named Yoshi, who volunteered his home (complete with mom and dad) as a host family for us to stay with. His lovely mom prepeared us a fresh american breakfast before our long day.
Performances Today:
* FM Apple radio show with Yoko
* Soundcheck @ Club Colony
* HMV In-store Appearance
* Headlining Club Gig @ Colony
It's a 1 hour drive into town. It's the only time I have to create our backing disc- editing some drums; mixing levels; balancing tracks. So I awaken my laptop from sleep and try to do as much ProTooling in the car for as long as my battery will allow. I must create a 20min show disk and a 45min disc. We arrive at the Radio Station as the first disc is almost done burning.
The radio show went great. Interviews and performances. The host Yoko is very personable and happy which made it easy for us there. She's a great on-air personality.
Dj Yoko and program director Ms. Mori.
Recording at the FM Apple studio.
We've pretty much got it down now- tell the band story and a little personal history relating to music, then set up our gear. We've been doing the radio shows without backing tracks- just a Guitar/Bass duet. Using the little Eden amps as direct boxes makes it quick and easy to get good sound- no fuss. This time we played "The Elder" from our CD, and then "Yamoto", the title track from Starblazers. The Japanese go NUTZ for that tune! Here the version we learned HERE on YouTube™.
Club Colony. - Off to the venue- a small club inside of an office building. Lots of places seem to be like that here- you can't judge from the outside. Soundcheck was our first time practicing to our backing tracks through a system. So far, so good. Off to HMV, the big music superstore (it's like a Virgin Megastore).
Eden amp in Colony. Small and Powerful.
Thanks for making our life easier.
HMV is in a mall. Load in was us and our crew carrying guitars and such past all the stores, up and down escalators. Soundcheck, lunch (Katsu is THE BOMB!), then a 20min in-store appearance with backing tracks, and "Yamoto" as our finalé. Autograph signing and picture op's followed. All good! The store had an excellent selection of music. While performing I was staring at cd's by my bass hero's Jaco Pastorius and Richard Bona for inspiration. While browsing the store I came across CD's I've played on- Whitesnake; Christina A; Flametal. I also came across lots of California Hip-hop love which included my homies Lyrics Born, Crown City Rockers and Pigeon John. I purchased a 15 CD Django Reinhardt collection for about $15! Someone must have had the price wrong!
Tearing it up at HMV.
HMV was packed up tight!
HOURS to kill before the midnight show at the Colony. We walked around the HUGE electronics store before heading to a bar: Jersey Irish Bar. It was a rock bar with an impressive collection of albums lining the walls. The owner had me sign a Whitesnake Album from 1980! I was only 5 then.
We rocked the show. The other bands were all good- energetic and loud, but all sounded the same- Good Charlotte meets Hoobastank. I liked the drummer from Sons of the New School. They all had cool hair, black button down shirts and thin red neckties. They ALL jummped and moved around A LOT!
KEEP IT LOUUUD event @ Colony
Colony was packed, too!
We experienced our first technical difficulty when it was our turn. The lights on our amps all stayed lit- warning lights and all! Before switching to the Bass amp they had there to use as a backup, I tryed again to get sound anyways and it worked. Ben wasn't so lucky, as his rig had deamons too. The guitar kept shutting off. I made sure it was plugged into the 4ohm (not 16ohm) input on the cab. We'll have to investigate more to isolate the problem. I ended up covering for Ben with a distorted bass solo that blended perfectly into the first song once he was ready.
We gotta pace it though- his voice is getting shot from singing in a metal fashion so soon after being sick.
Well after a long day and even longer night, we finally got back "home" to Yoshi's house. We ended up cancelling the travel and show for tonight in Tokyo so Ben could rest his voice. He was hurtin a little last night, but I'm sure he'll be fine given some much needed rest. Off to Tokyo in the morning- on the Bullet train!
Sunday March 11
So we stayed at the host house for an extra day for rest and acclimation. Upstairs in my room I felt like back in my childhood, with parents and activity going on downstairs. It was very homey and comfortable. With no gigs that day, the whole family and friends crew hung out at the house and drank Asahi and jammed into the night. I was sad saying goodbye to our host family. Here's some pics.
Jamming around the coffee table at our host house.
Shredding with Miura..
PS. I should have a FOOD section of the blog EVERY DAY! I LOVE Japanese food! Once I figure how to organise my thoughts I'll post the goods.
This day alone:
Nato- fermented Soybeans. Most Japanese folks don't even touch this. I ate 2 servings. No one else had any.
Ramen and Gyoza. I love ramen, and had perhaps the best Gyoza (japanese Potstickers) EVER.
Shabu Shabu. Swish the raw meat in the vegetable water until cooked much like meat fondue. 3 dipping sauces!
Want some?
Day 4... 4 trains to Tokyo! 12 Hours of travel. Weekly apartment in the Shinjuku-ko area of Tokyo. Gonna go find coffee and explore until today's obligations.
Tuesday, March 13
Wow! Tokyo! Great stuff here! Gonnna post about it in a bit... Gotta go eat!
Tokyo - it's huge!
end ramble
-Uriah
March 21, 2007
Ben knocks 'em dead in Tokyo. Look on top of the guitar amp. No, that's NOT an FX box. That's Ben's WTX-260!
March 17 - Hittin' home runs in Tokyo!
There are too many pics to post here! You'll find a few below, but click HERE for a thumbnail page of Tokyo Pics.
Uriah cops a pose with and MTV award.
Ben and Uriah rockin' the house in Tokyo.
Radio:
We met with INTER-FM in Tokyo, and 2 other radio stations in Sendai. The various program directors and DJ's and managers liked us right away and started playing Flametal in rotation after meeting with them. Most of our performances were taped to be played later, but FM3 in Sendai- a traditionally more conservative radio station had us Live on the air! This is something I've never seen before, probably because I'm from America where the Radio waves (and everything else) are controlled by the man. Radio DJ's in Japan can actually play the music they
want to! One interesting fact is that there are only THREE FM radio stations that cover all of Tokyo. 2 of them play Japanese Pop; the other (Inter Fm) plays everything else. Flametal is now on air in Japan!
Housing:
We stayed in a little apartment in Shinjuku. This area absolutely ROCKS! A 5 min walk from the train station, our lil area had everything we needed- Tully's coffee, excellent Japanese food, and american burger joint/cafe, McDonalds (I admit to having a breakfast sandwich there), Shinjuku Records (where we scored some wicked DVD Bootlegs), and our new favorite place to drink: The Gravity Bar.
Cd Release Party:
Ben knocks 'em dead in Tokyo. Look on top of the guitar amp. No, that's NOT an FX box. That's Ben's WTX-260!
Ok- taking a blog break!
Can't type. I killed too many brain cells last night (St. Patties Day). Peep the Tokyo Pics in the meantime, and I'll be back soon. Some of the pics are blurry- sorry!
end ramble
--Uriah
April 04, 2007 - We're Home Safe and Sound
Well, as we've now been home for awhile, Ben and I have had time to decompress and reflect on such a wonderful journey. Our highlights in Tokyo were the radio, TV and CD release party performances. We made many friends along the way that were very gracious, like the two Brothers who owned the Gravity Bar. I wish them the best of success! If you ever find yourself in Shinjuku, look up the Gravity Bar and rock out with these guys. The younger of the two brothers, Nobuyoshi is a great guitarist and guitar collector, and has some great stuff on display.
Our trip ended in Osaka where our performances at the Hard Rock Cafe and Disk Pier (in-store event) were both great successes! Lots of autograph signing and photo op's made us and our music feel welcome here. I thank all the Whitesnake fans that came out to support a new act like Flametal.
The boys kick out the jams at Hard Rock Cafe, Osaka.
Like I said, we made a lot of friends on this trip and without them and their interest in this new project, none of this would have been possible. Those of you know who you are! DOMO ARIGATO!!!
OK, one more picture, then I wanna go home!
There are so many great photos. I sent a few with this post, but the rest will be on a thumbnails page, complete with descriptions. A 'photo blog', if you will!
We ended the trip in Osaka. There are now detailed captions for all pics!
Sionara!
-UD
September 26, 2007
Welcome to the unplanned tour blog for the Lyrics Born Parklife Festival Tour in Australia!
I'm just about ready to embark on a 2-week Australian tour with the popular hip-hop artist Lyrics Born! The line up is an MC, a Vocalist and 4 band members. I convinced my Berkeley roommates (hi guys!) to drive me to the airport by taking them out to sushi before the long flight to Sydney. From Sydney we transferred to Melbourne to perform at the first of 5 large festivals across Australia. The event is called Parklife. I had no idea how big this thing really was! Upon arriving at the venue, I realised that this was mostly a DJ/electronica type event, and our band were only 1 of 3 live acts in the 20+ artist lineup. There are 4 main stages: earth, wind, air and fire. The grounds were littered with empty drinks of various types, and of young 20-somethings that have no clue what good music is. In attendance were about 15,000 of them! The act that was on before us (a DJ & 2 MC's) drew a massive crowd, but all they did was play other peoples beats while the MC's jumped around singing their own hooks. Maybe I'm just getting old, or don't fully understand this electronic culture. Then again, folks usually prefer cola at first, before acquiring a taste for finer spirits. Nonetheless, the kids seemed to enjoy themselves dancing to Rage Against the Machine's 'Bull's on parade' while 3 performers that had nothing to do with Rage yelled into the mics for a riviting finale.
We set up behind them during their set to make the changeover easy. The stage staff was surprisingly knowledgeable and helpful when it came to setting up our live gear.
I am however, enduring the worst bass rig known to man... AGAIN! All these festivals are so old school that they are stuck in the mind set that a certain popular bass amp design from the 70's is the only choice these days. Not being overly picky about my tone, it surprises me that this rig can't provide efficient, full-range output for bass guitar. It doesn't sound any better than a cheap guitar amp crumbling under the bass frequencies, only louder. I need my rig!!!
Our set went great, but the maximum capacity of the tent was only 5000- a mere 3rd of the festival. We performed in front of a huge LED screen and complete concert lighting. I got a lot going on performance-wise on this one... Bass, effects pedals, laptop with a 16 pad trigger, vocals and of course dancin around. the show was tight and well received, but I'm sure we'll refine it for tomorrow.
After our set, Darius (drums) and I went for a walk around the other stages before returning to see the show headliner, M.I.A. She's Sri-Lankan but English. Her and her girl sang n danced over their DJ's beats. At least it was original material.
There were 2 official after parties, neither of which we attended, opting to go on a band food quest in downtown Melbourne instead. Goodnight Melly city!
-of note: Earlier in the day, us 4 band members took a cab to the Docklands area to see the traveling exhibit, the Amazing Human Body. This is the one where human bodies and parts are Plasticized so we can see every part in detail. Every crossection and organ is represented- and I mean EVERY! I highly recommend seeing it when it comes to your town!
