spending the day at dianaland

out (just) - the light is a reddish gold - it is a degree or two below freezing but there is no wind which is what makes it really cold - the snow which fell yesterday still covers the paddocks - if the weather is like this next week it will be perfect for travelling

i am going in the opposite direction today so i can see the snow covered roof of the parental home as i am sitting in the train waiting for it to leave - within are the beginnings of symptoms of anxiety and signs of sadness related to my imminent departure : with the week that i will be away in germany and poland it leaves just a week at home before i return to the antipodes - it will be a tense week but i know spending that extra week at home instead would do nothing to make it better - this is the disparate way you live when you have one foot in one hemisphere and the other in another and this too is an aspect of filial love

there are two changes of train before i get to boxmeer where i will be met by marius the club diana bass player and wordsmith and his family from where we will travel by car to wellerlooi : club diana headquarters in the depths of the south east of the netherlands a stone's throw from the german border and home of the inimitable mr.m.brand goalgetter and club diana's eccentric singer songwriter guitarist

on the platform in nijmegen i stand by one of the new smoking poles and smoke - but it is not clear how close to the pole you are supposed to stand

on the last leg (nijmegen - boxmeer) in the seat opposite are a couple of solidly built young dutch women of the kind that give you nightmares in which you are married to one of them and from which you wake up screaming - brought op on milk bread and cheese with muscly legs and dressed in hiking gear they have a lengthy and earnest conversation about the incidence of spelling errors in newspapers - fortunately they get off at cuijk

at club headquarters i am treated to some new songs which have been more or less recorded (using a yamaha AW4416HD - a wonderful piece of equipment) for the forthcoming cd but not finally mixed yet : tribal - a song which dates from before the previous album (but which has been radically altered and will get a new name) is beautiful - the voice is sad fragile almost broken and mixed right to the front - it has an immediate impact : within a few bars the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up and this will be (is!) one of the best club diana songs ever

tuckerbox (yes that tuckerbox) is one i have much looked forward to because the lyrics are taken from i.j.oog's outback babes 2002 tour diary - i really like the song but the band is far from happy with it yet

marcel's son is called maan and his daughter beth

the boys are going to do some recording : a new second (or third? or fourth?) guitar track for one of the songs inspired by the group's 2002 australian tour called two on a hill - this is a very lengthy process - it is a fast song and it is not easy to get the rhythm exactly right

'...two in a house in a home on a hill....'

it is decided to try adding another guitar part to two on a hill - the process is like painting (a new layer of a slight variation on one shade of colour) with notes in time - after recording the new guitar piece is fairly buried in the final (for today) mix

something is being done to the cake show (which will be the final song on the new cd) i am not sure what

bait comes alive (sublime with dobro and harmonica!) was written in bateman's bay when the band was on the road in australia driving from melbourne to newcastle - a tiny sample (a voice) is added : '...you gotta catch em at midnight on a full moon...' - it takes an hour to get it in just the right place

there is some messing with sushi which was supposed to be finished - it rocks

there is apparently a problem with the vocals in foggy frosty morning (a phrase from an i.j.oog email to the dianas) : there are two lead vocal tracks - the question is : use them both or use one and not the other and if so which one? it's a thorny question and after an hour of experimentation it is decided to leave it to simmer for a while

'...on a foggy frosty morning ... we arrive at the airport of our dreams.....'

lone star is a jewel - marcel plays it for me solo on his new dobro as it was recorded but with acoustic guitar

the words of trip what a trip need work and so it is off to the kitchen with the wordsmith and after ten minutes he emerges triumphant - marcel tries it out - maybe more beer will help

an embryonic song is heard on marcel's ancient phillips mono cassette recorder which has had the same tape in it for ten years : greenery - absolute simplicity - letting its beautiful melody do all the work - it is decided to record it properly now - live - no overdubs : the seventh take is perfect except for one vocal pop - the thirteenth take is perfect except for one wrong note on the keyboard - the nineteenth take is perfect

here is ketz! it is good to see him - two minutes earlier and his arrival would have fucked the nineteenth take of greenery

lizette has cooked a wonderful dinner and marcel supplies good wine and cognac and we talk and laugh a lot...

and then it's time for rehearsal : the band plays not waltzing matilda but fernando - i hate to say it but it sounds fucking great - its execution reminds me of what someone wrote about hendrix when he used to do all along the watch tower : with big smiles on their faces the band is free of worrying about whether the song is as it should be like they would if it was one of their own - marcel sings "fernahndo" which makes it sound somehow exotic - the song will appear on a compilation cd of men singing songs usually sung by women put together by michael of king me in february
dandelion dew - the band is not happy the first time - the second time is better - a restart - third time lucky - yay! it is good ... great even...
tribal is is a wonderful song : as of today it is one of my favourite club d. songs - sparse and sad yet with warmth and depth : here be everything that is great about this band in one song - and you could market neef's theme as a mobile ring tone - i would buy it!
bait comes alive is a memorable song and it sounds great the second time when i am standing outside in the cold still night smoking
foggy frosty mornings is the classic diana sound - tougher and meaner live than the recorded version i heard this afternoon
thrifty things is probably the new song i am least enthusiastic about but it has significant energy and i'd like to hear it another 20 times - like other diana songs which didn't grab me the first few times i heard them (like new bus driver) it might be a creeper
cake show is a 'fun' song ("...een knipoog..." according to marius) but i feel that perhaps there is something more than that going on - it contains a sort of sad story about people who belong to cake baking clubs and exchange recipes on the internet and organize a yearly cake show
a very new unfinished song which would have been called shady lane but which might (thanks to pavement) become lady shane but how it is going to end up no one knows yet
there is just time for a few oldies : wrong allright is always a joy ; come to collect is played at a slightly slower pace than the recorded version at least initially and sounds sweeter and spacier than ever before ; like a banana sounds a bit off tonight but i am reminded of how peace love free enterprise is a far superior song live to the one found on match - they finish with the odd drift ; fancy and weight on my chest - it is always interesting to me how the good old songs continue to develop and evolve and can sound so different in different circumstances

what is the title of the fifth album going to be ? they want me to tell them - it has to be one syllable (probably) and something somehow related to the element of fire - spark has been rejected - i like 'light' - or even 'lite' :) send your suggestions to info@clubdiana.com

for the club diana fan curious about the content of the new album : except for the last one on the following list each of these new songs exist - but how many of them will make it onto the album is anyone's guess :

two on a hill, tuckerbox, foggy frosty morning, tribal, cake show, trip what a trip, thrifty things, wow the skies, dandelion dew, lone star, greenery, bait comes alive, virtual me, lady shane

the problem with the dutch - only the words exist at this stage but they promise a lot :) they sound like what an outsider would say about the holland football team but they could be applied to dutch people generally

the album will be out later this year - sadly - despite new efforts to re-record it seems as if do it all over will once again fall by the wayside

by i.j.oog