- A busy summer schedule ahead ~ By James Walsh, Thursday 7th February 2008
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Hello All,
It's been a very busy time for us recently. We finally waved goodbye to The Doghouse Studio. We have had a great time living and working there so we were a little sad to leave. Next on the agenda is mixing the album so we are moving into a studio in Chiswick called Sofa Lounge.
I have also been spending a lot of time in Liverpool recently playing first at a Capital Of Culture Party at the Pan Am Club a couple of weeks ago and then at Jamie Carragher's Birthday Party at the weekend. It was a thrill to be able to play in front of Scouse Royalty such as Sue Johnston, Sinbad from Brookie and Phil Redmond at the Capital Of Culture Party.
Of course being a life long red I jumped at the chance to play at Carra's bash! The songs are really taking shape now, my own personal favourites are 'All The Plans We Made' and 'Boy In Waiting'. We should have some new material for you very soon.
It is great to be able to play at the Isle Of Wight again. We have some fantastic memories from the festival not least the time we played just below Paul Weller when the festival was in its infancy. Hyde Park should be good too. There won't be the distraction of the football this year as England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 (every cloud and all that!).
Special thanks to Barriemore Barlow who has been looking after us at the studio (his stories from his Tull days and his regular jokes have kept us entertained) and the chef Jim Hall whose cooking has been superb. We are putting the finishing touches to a busy summer schedule so hopefully we will be coming to a town near you (wherever you are in the world).
See You Soon,
James 
- Finally finished recording our 4th album ~ By James Walsh, Thursday 20th March 2008
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Hello All,
Well it's been a long time in the making but we have finally finished recording our 4th album (hope I haven't spoken too soon!). It's certainly been an adventure! We have been to 4 studios (Real World, The Doghouse, Sofa Sound and Eastcote) and a whole cast of characters have been involved getting to this point.
Undoubtedly the two people who have put the most effort in the studio (apart from the band) are Producer Steve Osborne and Engineer Dan Austin (Who is also working with Doves at the same time! No wonder he looks knackered!). Our A&R man Chris Briggs has been in frequently, regaling us with tales of his life in rock n roll (Chris has been working at EMI for years. What he doesn't know about The Waterboys, Robbie Williams, Jethro Tull and Tottenham Hotspur is not worth knowing!)
We have 16 songs recorded with 12 possible contenders for the album. Regular visitors to the site will be familiar with the titles 'Tell Me Its Not Over', 'Boy In Waiting' and 'All The Plans We Made'. There is also 'The Thames', 'Hurts Too Much', 'You Never Get What You Deserve', 'Listen Up', 'Under A Neon Sky', 'Safe At Home', 'Change My Mind' and 'Stars and Stripes'.
There has been an emphasis on strong melodies and simple arrangements for this album and the guitar playing of Richard Warren has definitely enhanced the sound. I'm not one for slagging off the last album and saying this one is 100 times better because the last album definitely had its merits. However we have spent a lot longer writing and recording this one and the result is the perfect companion to 'Love Is Here.'
On a totally different note I recently devoured 2 series of 'Life On Mars' during a recent bout of illness and was absolutely blown away. I saw Supergrass at The Roundhouse (you forget how good they are) and I have been reading George Orwell 'Down And Out In Paris And London'. Oh and the workmen finally finished the kitchen!
See You Soon,
James
- Those sambucas weren't such a good idea after all! ~
By James Walsh
Wednesday 30th April 2008
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Hello All,
It's been a very busy end to the week for me with a performance at Hard Rock Café on Thursday and The Indy Awards on Friday.
It was great to be asked on the last minute to do a mini-set (3 songs) opening for The Charlatans at the Hard Rock in London. I was there in the afternoon with Tim Burgess to open 'The Vault' which is the room where they keep the most valuable items. My favourite piece of all was definitely John Lennon's US Army jacket, complete with a pair of his sunglasses.
The party later on lasted long into the night and the sambucas I'd had a few hours before didn't seem like such a good idea when I woke up with the mother of all hangovers!
The Charlatans were on fantastic form and they all seemed in fine health. Sometimes 'corporate' dos can be a bit of a nightmare. Usually everyone is there for the free booze and talks through the performance. I'm happy to say this was not the case. The crowd were very responsive during my set and The Charlatans ended the night in spectacular fashion. A good time was had by all.
Friday night I was at The Forum to play a few songs at the INDY Music Awards. The INDY Awards recognise new and unsigned talent giving young bands a great opportunity for publicity and a chance to perform at the prestigious venue. Venues across the country vote for the best unsigned band they have had on. I was pleased to present 'Little Fish' with the award for 'Best Rock Act'. I'm sure you will be hearing a lot about them in the coming months.
On the subject of new bands I was very impressed with Beggars who played at the Soho Arts Club the other night. Their sound is kind of Libertines/Merseybeat and they are great musicians.
I was in town to see another group, those of you on the site will be familiar with, called Scars on 45. They were playing at the 100 club with a South African group called 'The Parlotones'. It was a bit hectic trying to fit both gigs in but I managed to see a bit of all the bands.
See You Soon,
James
p.s. If I read another text about John Arne Riise heading in the wrong direction I will scream!
- What a weekend! ~ By James Walsh, Tuesday 3rd June 2008
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Hello All,
What a weekend! It all started off on Friday with a performance at 'This Feeling' a club night in London that has previously hosted acoustic performances from The Enemy and Kasabian and DJ slots from Oasis and Noel Fielding (Mighty Boosh).
They have been running the night since late 2007 and Friday night was the biggest crowd so far for the acoustic performance (support came from Jersey Budd, Eamonn McNamee and Strawhouses all of whom have MySpace sites worth checking out, as linked).
Then on Saturday it was off to the top of the BT tower to judge a battle of the bands competition. The first prize was a coveted place on the bill at the Isle Of Wight festival. After much deliberating me and the rest of the judging panel decided first prize should go to the Scottish band 'We See Lights'. The runners up were 'The Velcros' and 'The Tempus'. Be sure to check out their MySpace sites, as linked.
Then on Sunday I was invited to perform and do a Q&A at the Oxford Union. It was a great honour to be invited to join the illustrious list of people who have been invited to speak. The list of previous speakers is extremely diverse from the political activist Malcolm X to strange haired comedian/lothario Russell Brand. The person before me was the US secretary of homeland security!
It was a beautiful venue for a gig (the main debating chamber, see right and click for a larger view) and it was great to perform at a place so steeped in history. As someone who left college with no A-levels it was the closest I was ever going to get to going to Oxford. It's just a pity they couldn't have given me an honorary degree!
Thanks for your patience, we hope to have some brand new music for you very soon. In the mean time I hope you like the MySpace covers.
James
- The message board was well represented and made use of the free bar! ~ By James Walsh
Tuesday 24th June 2008
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Hello All,
Another exhausting week in Starsailor world! We were very pleased to be asked to support The Police in Zurich and were even more impressed when the first person we saw as we left the stage was the mighty Sting! He told us he loved the show and was pleased to have us on the tour.
We hardly had time to draw breath and we were at a race track in Le Mans watching the cars go round and round. We all really enjoyed playing a set at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race and we seemed to go down well with the crowd. I'm not the biggest motor racing fan but I was still impressed with some of the vehicles on show.
Then it was overnight to the Isle Of Wight. What can I say? It was fantastic. We played some brilliant gigs when 'Love Is Here' came out but there was something even more satisfying about the Isle Of Wight. 8 years on and we are still here playing to audiences like that. Thanks a lot for coming down if you were there, you really played your part in making it one of the best days we have had in years.
I really enjoyed watching James, The Kooks and of course The Police who played after us. I was also impressed that (according to rumours circulating around the site) the 'Starsailor Sours' were the best selling cocktails in the Hard Rock bar at the festival!
After a short break it was up to Manchester to support The Police at the MEN Arena. Both gigs were brilliant but Wednesday night was a particular highlight for me. I ended up singing along to 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' with Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and family.
We stayed in Manchester on Thursday night for our gig at The Hard Rock Cafe. Thanks a lot to Arno Carstens for providing the support on the evening.
The message board was well represented and I think they made use of the free bar! Thanks for coming down everyone. There were a couple of famous faces dotted about the place including Corrie's Steven Arnold (Ashley), Michelle Keegan (David Platt's girlfriend) and the Lancashire County Cricket Team. Everyone had a good time and I am really suffering today (that last g and t seems like such a good idea at the time!)
Hope you're enjoying the Euros and the weather.
We can't wait for Hyde Park.
See You Soon
James
