2018 News
Studio stories: The Missing Guitar
I’d just finished a recording session and the producer says “while you’re here can you do a quick guitar track on this song for me?” We listen to the song and decide that a Fender […]
Martin’s Blog
2018 News
Studio stories: The Singer
When you’re booked for a studio session often you don’t meet the featured artist until you arrive at the session. In this case the sessions were over a few days. The first few days were […]
2018 News
Studio stories: The Overdub
Back in the 1990s when I was doing quite a few recording sessions as a guitar player some interesting situations and requests would arise. One day I received a call from a producer who wanted […]
2017 News
About the Makua Beach video
The Makua Beach video was shot on location at Makua Beach (hence the song title) in Hawaii by master underwater videographer Ray Hollowell in 2011. We wanted to capture the feel of Hawaii in both […]
2017 News
New Video: End of Summer from Going to Kaleponi
This is a drive down West Coast Hwy, Perth, Western Australia. Starting just north of Hillarys Boat Harbour and heading south, ending with sunset at Cottesloe Beach. Growing up in Perth, especially in the 80s […]
2016 News
Mentals in New Zealand
Last weekend I travelled with Mental As Anything to New Zealand’s south island to play a gig at the Snapafest Festival. This was in Nelson, which is known for its fishing industry. At Wellington airport […]
2016 News
China, Part 3 – the gig
Read: Part 1 & Part 2 After an afternoon sound check to acclimatize ourselves with the hire gear we would be using that night, it’s back to our hotel room for a little rest before dinner. We […]
2016 News
China, Part 2 – the guitar
Read: Part 1 & Part 3 When I found out that a gig in Beijing, China was in the works I thought, how can I play this gig without taking any music gear at all. No guitar, pedals, […]
2016 News
China, part 1
Four plane flights, one gig. I travelled to Beijing, China with Mental As Anything to play a charity gig. The gig was at The Sofitel, as was our accommodation. It took me a minute to get […]
2016 News
The Original Fender Stratocaster
I’m of the opinion that the design of the Fender Stratocaster guitar was 100% correct from the very first released production models in mid 1954. I have an original ’54 (May) Strat and it sounds […]
2015 News
Guitars and Amps used on the Electric Christmas album – song by song
O Come All Ye Faithful Melody guitar: 1961 (white) Fender Stratocaster, Echolette, 1963 Fender Reverb Tank, 1962 Vox AC30. Microphones Neumann U-87 & Sennheiser 421. Overdrive Guitar: 1961 Fender Stratocaster, 1964 Vox AC30 – U-87. […]
2015 News
Lazybones Lounge
This weekend the Mentals had a break, so I had a gig with my band at Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville. We were supported by the Mighty Surftones. They have a residency at Lazybones on the […]
2015 News
Charters Towers and Noosa
This weekend I had a couple of gigs with the Mentals in Queensland at Charters Towers, outside Townsville, and Noosa at the Sunshine Beach Surf Club. The Charters Towers gig was a festival called Towers Rocks. […]
2015 News
The Gympie Music Muster
Had a great weekend at the Gympie Music Muster. Gympie is located approx. 160 kms north of Brisbane in Queensland. I played 2 gigs with Mental As Anything and also played a few ‘surf’ tunes […]
2014 News
This year so far
I’ve been enjoying traveling around Australia playing guitar with legendary Australian band Mental As Anything. The last few weeks we’ve been in Queensland and Southern NSW. In June we have gigs around New South Wales […]
2014 News
Mrs Moto video featuring Paul Johnson
When I brought my band to California from Australia last year I had plans to record a film clip of Mrs Moto, from my 2013 album “Going to Kaleponi”, hopefully with Paul Johnson. I ran […]
2013 News
Manly Market Place
We recently played at the Manly Market Place in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly. The theme for the night was “retro surf”. There was a surf movie screened before our set. It was a […]
2013 News
The Bridge Hotel, Sydney
Back in Sydney on a great spring evening for our gig at the Bridge Hotel, Rozelle,Sydney. It may appear to be a peaceful evening although the police were right outside with their RBT. […]
2013 News
The Evelyn, Fitzroy
Sunday we played an afternoon gig at the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy. The day started off with the fabulous Ben Rogers Instrumental Asylum. Next the Black Molls (Fred Negro and Dave Moll) took the stage […]
2013 News
The Caravan Club, Melbourne
The day after Basement Discs we played at the Caravan Club in Oakleigh. This is a fabulous old RSL club in the heart of Oakleigh that hosts some of the world’s best musicians. […]
2013 News
Basement Discs
On Friday we played an instore lunchtime gig at legendary Melbourne record shop Basement Discs. They have live music every Friday lunchtime. They’re a great supporter of live music in Melbourne. […]
2013 News
Charles Hotel, Perth
After I got back from the US I flew to Perth, for a gig with Dave Warner at the Charles Hotel. We played here last year to a packed crowd and were looking forward to […]
2013 News
Flying home
On Saturday the 17th we dropped off the tour van at the airport. We’re going to miss our loyal companion. I’d like to thank so many people that made this tour such a […]
2013 News
Napa Valley
On Friday, our second last day in the country, we met with our good friend Ann. She drove us to some of her favourite wineries in Napa Valley. We finished off the day […]
2013 News
Driving to San Francisco
The next day we packed up and left for our drive back to San Francisco. We decided to take the longer scenic way, through Malibu and along the coast. Some amazing houses there. […]
2013 News
Surf Dog Sport’s Grill
On Tuesday we visited the Queen Mary and had lunch in Long Beach. Beautiful detail inside the ship. We did an impromptu photoshoot in a few locations on the ship. Then […]
2013 News
Spikes Bar
On Monday night we played the Annual Summer Tiki Party at Spikes, a Rockabilly venue east of downtown LA. It was an interesting place. You access it through the back door. From the […]