Sometimes when you are in a band it can be a hard slog. But then you get to experience something like Byron Bay’s Bluesfest and you feel like a musical millionaire.

When we saw the first line-up for Bluesfest late in 2012, we all looked at each other and said, “Wouldn’t it be incredible to play that festival? All our favourite artists on one line-up!” When we were offered the chance to play alongside them at Bluesfest, the excitement in camp SGV was overwhelming. Who knew what would happen in the days ahead but there was a lot of excitement in the tour van on the way to Melbourne Airport. Although it was typically raining and windy, there was a full rainbow above us as we walked through the sliding doors to the terminal. A good sign for us to hold on to for the weekend ahead.

Friday 29th March, 2013

When a band enters the artists’ tent at a major festival there is always a quick peruse around the space to find out which other artists have their band room close to yours. Rodriguez, The Break, Glen Hansard & The Frames were close by. We were like kids in a candy store.

Sare and Kelly getting ready for our first show at Bluesfest

Chris changing Mark’s guitar strings. Byron Bay is known for its humidity and heat – not a great combination for an in-tune guitar.

Our first show was at Mojo’s, one of the two main tents of the festival, holding over 10,000 people. It was an honour to play after Leonardo’s Bride, who had reformed especially for Bluesfest. As we set up our gear we could hear the beautiful Abby Dobson serenading us with, “I-I love you. Even when I’m sleeping…” Things were starting to heat up and the humidity was rising. We played to a packed tent and the crowd was amazing.

Courtesy of Swamp House Photography

Courtesy of Swamp House Photography

Courtesy of Swamp House Photography

Halfway through our set the skies opened and the rain started pouring down – a magical moment for us as we watched the crowd dancing and swaying. The rain stopped for our last song, marking our first Byron Bay Bluesfest appearance.

We had met Glen Hansard, one of our favourite songwriters, a few weeks back during the Port Fairy Folk Festival. We were really looking forward to catching his set again with his band The Frames straight after our show. Glen had watched our set from side of the stage, and later told Mark that he loved ‘Castles Full of Storms’ and ‘You Can’. His set with The Frames blew us away again. Glen Hansard believes what he sings and takes you to another place.

That night we got to catch a set from the highly mysterious Rodriguez. He was dressed in black floppy hat, black leather pants, black jacket, black shirt and heavy black boots. In contrast, he was escorted around the backstage area by a lovely lady in the most vibrant canary-yellow dress. It was very hard to chat to him as he mostly stayed in his dressing room but Amanthi did get to congratulate him as he exited his amazing show to which he simply replied, ‘Thank you, dear’. Mysterious and polite.

Sare also caught a bit of Wanda Jackson’s set. Wanda is said to be the ‘Queen of Rockabilly’ but that day she was the ‘Queen of Charisma’, saying to her fans, “The way you clap your hands together sends a sweet breeze my way and I thank you, I thank you”. Nick Huggins (pictured below) our amazing co-producer joined us on the road. A pretty good Friday so far don’t you think?

Saturday 30th March, 2013

Our second show at Bluesfest was in the other main festival tent, Crossroads. So many people had arrived early for our set and the crowds continued to swell as we played to another packed tent. Thank you, Bluesfest.

Our amazing sound guy Scott Mullane

We raced off to our second CD signing but were able to get back to watch Allen Toussaint in his dazzling green suit. He loves interacting with his audience, handing out maracas, tambourines and shakers to his fans so they can join in on the show. If you get a chance, check out his bio for his long list of artist collaborations.

Wilco is Skipping Girl Vinegar’s favourite band so it was awesome to be on the same line-up as them. It was great to meet their frontman, Jeff Tweedy, one of the band’s favourite songwriters. Jeff gave us a Wilco guitar pick and we gave him a Baker the Monkey badge. Fair swap? Wilco’s set and song list was incredible and covered nearly all of their records which is no easy feat. People came from the corners of the festival attracted to the magnet that is Wilco.

That night people were tossing up whether to see Robert Plant or Iggy Pop. We chose Iggy. It was manic from the time he walked onto the stage. The crowd were going insane and he was egging them on with his bare-chested antics and athletic maneuvers. The Stooges are a relentless backing band keeping it solid and rockin’ for the set’s entirety. At one point the crowd were allowed to crash the stage, which they did… Things were reaching further levels of frenzy.

After Iggy’s show we calmed down backstage and Charlie Musselwhite came and chilled at our table. Where were we?

Sunday 31st March, 2013

Happy Easter! We finally had a day off to go and explore the festival, find those famous organic donuts and stop for a band photo.

Monday 1st April, 2013

We had met some incredible people during our time at Bluesfest but had not yet walked down to the beach. Byron Bay’s coastline is just stunning. An incredible part of Australia.

We have all grown up listening to Simon and Garfunkel records during our childhood and their songs are a deep part of our musical history. We got back early from the beach to secure our place to see Paul Simon and his mega band. There was so much anticipation brewing both in the audience and backstage. Paul showed up looking younger than ever. Black jeans, black t-shirt and black NYC baseball cap. His set was mostly Graceland tunes but he did play ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘The Boxer’ on his guitar – solo. Mark had a grin that covered his entire face. Paul Simon did three encores and conducted his band at each point. What a great way to end one of the greatest festivals in the world. It was such an honour to be a part of it.

Mark, Amanthi, Chris, Kelly & Sare xo

SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR

OCTOBER 2012
(Written by Skipping Girl Vinegar for the AU review)

SGV’s U.S. trip was dream-like. It started with a phone call from Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, wishing us well and lining up key industry people in the US to come out to see us play. From this point on it just kept coming… Meeting legendary songstress Emmylou Harris, having our album ‘Keep Calm, Carry the Monkey’ charting at #43 on the main CMJ charts, playing poolside on EG Daily’s balcony in a Hollywood Hills mansion, ripping it up in New York City to music industry heavy hitters at the CMJ Festival, hanging out in NY with Tim Wheeler from legendary Irish rock band Ash who came out see us play cos he’s particularly tight with Baker the monkey and he’s a fan of our album, playing a show with Matt Schultz from US indie rock group Cage The Elephant, recording two brand new singles that we are extremely excited about, and so much more… but let’s start at the beginning.

FRIDAY 12TH OCTOBER

We are finally leaving for the USA today. It’s the first time the whole band has gone to the States together. There’s a lot of anticipation in the van on the way to the airport. There’s also a lot of gaffa being used to hold all our gear together. It was great to leave knowing so many of our fans had helped us get to this point through the International Hobo Philanthropy campaign. We could feel everyone’s well wishes as we boarded that flight. Who knew what this US showcase tour would hold for us? As we sat in our seats, the freezing Melbourne cityscape fell below us and the warm American greeting of the airhostess put us at ease for the 14-hour flight to LA. “What can I get for you, darling? Oh you want hot tea? With cream?”

FRIDAY 12TH OCTOBER

We get two shots at Friday 12th October. Time differences in LA give us one full day off before the showcases begin. We went to a great Mexican restaurant in Venice Beach that our new friend Diego took us to. Diego rides a huge SUV. We thought it was a bit excessive that he had such a huge car for one person but soon came to realize that everyone in LA has these huge cars. The first problem that Melbournians encounter when leaving the motherland is how hard it is to find good coffee. Diego took us to Intelligentsia which had the good stuff. On the way, our car was pulled over by the LA PD. Diego had previously mentioned that if you keep the conversation light and get the police to laugh, you have more chance of getting off lightly. This put Mark in his element. The banter with the police was award winning. They loved us Australians and even posed for a photo with Sare and Kelly. Day one in LA, check.

SATURDAY 13TH OCTOBER

We were invited by Balcony TV in LA to play one of our songs for an upcoming episode. In the contact email we were told that the balcony would be somewhere in the Hollywood Hills and that the balcony was pretty amazing. Amazing was an understatement. It was donated as a filming location by the amazing EG Daily. We didn’t know who EG was before this meeting but it turns out that we have been big fans of her work. She is the voice of Tommy Pickles from Rugrats and also worked on Happy Feet, Babe and The Powerpuff Girls. She was extremely generous with her time and told us stories about life in Hollywood and showed us her beautiful song writing. Her balcony was probably the best view of LA we could’ve seen in our time in Hollywood. Firstly, the balcony was huge – it had a swimming pool on it. It fronted onto a valley and hawks circled the horizon. Amazing. We set up our hobo gear poolside and played Here She Comes. Can’t wait for the footage. Tonight would be our first showcase at Witzend in Venice Beach. Some key LA industry people came out to see us play. We had a ball. First show in LA, check. That night we went to Baby Blues BBQ and lined up patiently for our first Southern American cook-up of pulled pork, brisket, sweet potato mash, corn with cheese, root beer, Kool-Aid, buffalo wings, ribs and on it went. We didn’t even finish it all.

SUNDAY 14TH OCTOBER

Today was a day off in LA for the band. But it was also the beginning of the three-day celebration of Kelly’s birthday. She decided to use the time differences in Australia and LA to ensure that she would be celebrating until Tuesday. We were up for it. The day started with a walk along Venice Beach boardwalk. It’s so cosmopolitan, multicultural, laid back and interesting. We didn’t see any muscle men or Arnold Schwarzenegger but Kelly did have street performer, Dr Geek create the most incredible rap in honour of her birthday. Check it out on our YouTube page. In true Skipping Girl Vinegar style, our next stop was a swim to Malibu beach. Cue a bit of Courtney Love. Local knowledge said to drive 30 minutes out of Malibu because the beaches are less crowded. Chris was in the water first, then Mark, then the rest of us. It was worth it. Our last stop was the beautiful Santa Monica pier. The view from their Ferris wheel was phenomenal as the sun set on our time in LA.

MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER

We leave LA and head to New York City for the CMJ Music Marathon today. We rented an apartment in Brooklyn like something off Sesame Street- a typical Brooklyn Brown-stone. The people of Brooklyn were friendly and gave us the heads up on the local Fish Fry- Bed Stuy. Really good grilled salmon and steamed vegies. Mark was in heaven. This was also the first place that we started to eat the famous American standby- Mac and Cheese. A habit we didn’t kick all tour. This is also the first night we got over 5 hours sleep in New York. After this, sleep was not an option.

TUESDAY 16TH OCTOBER

We caught the subway to Downtown Manhattan to register for CMJ. Cue Downtown by Petula Clark, cue it for the next five days. Timing is something you can’t plan. As Skipping Girl Vinegar entered the Greenwich Village campus of New York University to register, Chase the Sun came over the loud speaker. We all turned and looked at each other with ridiculous grins on our faces. Had CMJ installed security cameras to let them know when each CMJ artist was entering the building to cue their song? Mark was busting out of his socks to take us out for an American pizza slice. John’s on Bleeker St provided us with two enormous thin crust margarita pizzas. Apparently a good NY pizza is all in the tomato base. Our waiter was an actor called Luka. Everyone in America is either a musician or an actor. Or an entrepreneur. People are more optimistic in America, more confident and less likely to tear down a new idea. Australians could learn a lot from this. We sure did. By the end of day one in New York, we had gathered 5 business cards each. This would continue for the rest of the trip. If you want to make money in America, start a business card company. Tonight we would do one of the greatest things we could’ve ever done in America. We ate at Tom’s Restaurant, the diner from Seinfeld and also the famous Suzanne Vega song, Tom’s Diner. This would be the final stop of Kelly’s three-day birthday celebration. Our waiter was a lady called Jerry. No joke. Sare ordered the big salad. Amanthi ordered a bottom-less cup of coffee and eggs, sunny side up. We used only their condiments and preserves. Dreams can come true people. We have never laughed so hard at any meal or eaten as much sugar and salt (fondly referred to as salgar by Scotty our soundman). Jerry even brought out a birthday cake for Kelly. Whipped cream and chocolate topping. An appropriate way to finish off dinner at the diner. It was four am so we thought we’d pop in at Times Square. Walking around there makes you think it’s still the morning as the neon lights are so powerful that there is a glow from blocks away.

WEDNESDAY 17TH OCTOBER

Our first show for CMJ was at Legion in Williamsburg. We whipped the American crowd into a hooligan frenzy. They were punching the air like native Australian bogans. Tim Wheeler from Ash, our favourite Irish rock band, has been living in New York for the past 8 years and said New York audiences are hard to crack. He said we had them in the palm of our hands. Compliment accepted. He also invited us to his studio in NYC tomorrow.

THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER

Over the past few months we have started filming for a new Skipping Girl Vinegar YouTube program called Low Fi Fox. Since we were in New York, we wanted to do an unplugged version of one of our songs in an iconic venue. Here She Comes in Central Park seemed apt. As we started filming the performance a bunch of tourists started filming us for themselves. So we reckon we have done a gig at Central Park. Mark made Tim Wheeler a bottle of rocks from the rocks at Central Park as a gift from SGV. When we visited his studio, Tim was chuffed by the gift and ended up using them on one of the tracks on his new solo record. He gave us a listen to his new stuff. We could’ve stayed all day. Tim is now known as the Chord Master.

FRIDAY 19TH OCTOBER

Our second gig for CMJ saw us play the Planetary Showcase at Piano’s in Manhattan. There was so much energy in this venue. Shows upstairs and downstairs and a fantastic lineup. But more importantly, a generous Australian bartender. This was one of our funnest shows in the US. Skipping Girl Vinegar gig in New York. Bucket list check.

SATURDAY 20TH OCTOBER

Today was our last CMJ showcase- the Aussie BBQ organized by Sounds Australia and Stage Mothers. It started out with one of the greatest BBQ’s we have ever been to. Shrimps on the barbie, lamb cutlets, hamburgers and gourmet salad. We were in heaven. Australians sure know how to do a top BBQ. This was our last show in New York, so we gave it all we had. The crowd were amazing and good vibes all round including a group of new SGV fans who had been following us from show to show around CMJ. We’ve met a whole bunch of industry people across our time here. We’re excited by the potential future partnerships we’ve forged during this trip.

SUNDAY 21ST OCTOBER

Leaving New York to Music City- Nashville, Tennessee. We will be spending this week recording two singles with Brad Jones at Alex the Great. As we arrive at Nashville airport we are greeted with many y’all’s. There are guitars in glass cabinets all throughout this airport, posters of famous country singers and country music blaring through the speakers. We are not in New York anymore. The other way we know we aren’t in New York is that we can smell the fresh southern air. It’s a slower pace here. People are still driving huge cars but they are happy to stop on freeways to let us cross the road. The famous Baja Burrito was closed for dinner on a Sunday, but Applebee’s Diner was open. ‘What would y’all like for dinner tonight? Y’all look pretty hungry. Y’all wanna drink?’ Accent heaven.

MONDAY 22ND OCTOBER

We had always recorded most of our albums in Australia, before getting them mixed by Brad in Nashville. This two-song recording week would be our first go at getting Brad to record the entire songs from start to finish. Brad’s studio is full of old guitars, quirky instruments and character. Our bedroom cupboard is full of old guitars. Brad works mighty fast in the studio. Today’s focus was new song, Making Our Way. By evening we had already written a new bridge, laid down most of the instruments and were making decisions on song structure. At times this can make you feel uneasy. There is so much trust and blind faith when working at this speed. We are used to spending weeks thinking about whether we like the sound of something. This is all new territory for us but we knew that we were in great hands with Brad. Today is also the day our album Keep Calm, Carry the Monkey is released in America. It debuted on the CMJ charts at #86! This included multiple #1 and #2 positions in top 30s across the U.S. When we got home it had climbed to #43 with more #1 and #2 positions and 36 top 10s!

TUESDAY 23RD OCTOBER

Today, we started working on West Coast, a summery pop song with a hobo aesthetic. Again we hit the road running with laying down tracks. When you work at Brad’s studio, bands keep dropping by. MS MR popped in, they were supporting Grouplove at the Cannery tonight in Nashville. They’re coming out to Australia for Laneway next year as well. We walked up to the Laundromat to do our washing. It’s getting pretty intimate on tour when you know who’s jocks belong to which band member. On the way, we asked some locals which way to the nearest Walmart? They said five minutes. We said we were walking. They looked shocked. ‘Y’all walkin????!’ They couldn’t believe we were walking in Nashville. Renegades we are.

WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER

The recording continued today. The songs are sounding dynamite and we are all very happy with the work we’ve been able to achieve in this short period of time. Tonight, we are doing our final showcase show in Nashville at the famous Basement owned by Mike Grimes of Grimey’s Record Store. Five minutes in that record store can ruin your bank account. Our show at the Basement was a longer set and performing here tonight was like performing in Melbourne. We felt at home here and played the best show of our tour. Playing here felt like a little gift that America gave to us. Matt Schultz from Cage the Elephant and our good friend Chung (Jeffery Sweeney) put this show on especially for us. But the gift just kept giving. Matt was joined on stage by six of his closest friends who also played in other big time indie bands in the US like Sleeper Agent and Schools. Each lead singer played a couple of songs. Kind of like Elvis Costello’s Spectacle. We discovered some new songwriters which inspired us greatly, one being Stephen Gordon. With the voice of Chris Martin and he finger picks like Nick Drake. We walked home from the gig.

THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER

Brad was producing another record today so we moved next door into Robin Eaton’s studio, Club Roar. Mark was frantically finishing lyrics to be recorded that day. Robin informed us that some interesting things had happened on the four-poster bed in that studio. We couldn’t believe that this was our last day in Nashville. Nashville felt like home to us. There is an earnestness from the people here. Everyone is a musician. You don’t feel so out of place in this town.

FRIDAY 26^th OCTOBER

Mark and Chris finally get to step out of the recording studio today to head out to see some of Nashville’s finer points. Sare got sick most of this week and was starting to be on the mend. She still hadn’t seen Broadway yet so was dragged out of the studio by the boys. Mark is a huge fan of American Pickersso it was his first stop on the quick tour of Nashville this morning.  As they stepped out onto Broadway, they bumped into Emmylou Harris who was doing a photo shoot at a local record store. Emmylou posed for a photo as she was ‘photo ready’ that day. Stunning as ever. Brad Jones has lived in Nashville his whole life and has never seen Emmylou Harris. On a plane back to Melbourne now. America you have been good to us hobos.

SATURDAY 27TH OCTOBER

This day never happened.

SUNDAY 28TH OCTOBER

It’s sunny and hot in Melbourne as storms steam into America’s east coast. It’s quieter here. Wonder when we’ll be going back to America?

Hi friends,

We have had a number of people asking us how we sent ‘Baker the Hobo Monkey’ to the edge of space. For your curiosity we have put together a behind the scene look at the launch day with the help of our good friend Grant Willis (Filmmaker and member of the Project Horus launch crew) While you are on the page take a wonder through all of  the related Baker clips including his channel 7 Sunrise appearance.

Here’s the making of a MONKEY IN SPACE…

BEHIND THE SCENES -  launch day, making of the film clip

OFFICIAL FILM CLIP – Watch Baker soar to 110,000 ft.

CHANNEL 7 – Baker feature interview on Sunrise post launch

PRE LAUNCH VIDEO – Featuring Dr Karl, Lawrence Leung & Lindsay McDougall

FILM CLIP CONCEPT – the initial concept explanation

Raspberry Blondies – AS SEEN ON TV
Written by Amanthi Lynch (Piano, Keyboards, BV’s, Percussion & SGV cook)

Hi friends,

We gave these out to a very happy studio audience when we appeared on Adam Hills Live in Gordon Street Tonight. This is my most requested recipe, Raspberry Blondies. The white chocolate gives a vanilla-rich gooeyness to the blondies which makes this so extremely moreish. Hope you can have a go at making them.

Raspberry Blondies

Ingredients:

250 grams unsalted butter

375 grams white chocolate buttons

3 free range eggs lightly beaten

250 grams white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

250 grams plain flour (plus 50 grams extra)

300 grams frozen raspberries

Method:

Melt butter and white chocolate in a heavy-based saucepan on a very low heat for around 5-10 minutes.

In a separate large bowl stir eggs, vanilla essence and sugar with a fork until all the sugar lumps have disappeared.

You have to work fast for the next stage to avoid scrambled eggs so have a wooden spoon and the flour ready to go.

Pour the white chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture and stir fast.

Quickly add the flour and stir until you can’t see any flour lumps.

The whole process should take you one minute. (If the mixture looks like runny cream, add more flour so that it looks like a normal cake batter.)

Fold in the frozen raspberries into the batter.

Pour the batter into one large lamington tray or two small ones lined with baking paper.

Bake for 30-40 minutes in 150C oven. (Because of the high sugar content, these can burn, so go low on your oven to avoid disappointment.) The top of the blondies should look glossy and marbled when done but stick a skewer in and if it comes out clean they are ready.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and cut into 24 square pieces.  Store in an airtight container for around 3 days.

Photo of Amanthi Lynch: Courtesy of Olga Bennett

Yours in baking,

Amanthi Lynch
SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR

P.S. Rock’n Roll SGV ELK TEA-TOWELS

Hi friends,

Come backstage with us…

Here’s some pics from our national live ABC TV performances last week on Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight (AHIGST), Episode 6. Photos are by the AHIGST official photographer & Baker the space monkey. If you missed the show last week there are just a few more days to check it out online: ABCiview

Skipping Girl Vinegar played a cover of ‘The More I See You’ which was first performed on Countdown in 1977 (Same studio as AHIGST) by Peter Allen. We ended the night with our latest single ‘Chase The Sun’ & the show exclusively launched our NEW film clip for ‘Chase The Sun’ – Monkey In Space (Check it out on our video page). Oh and Amanthi made sweet Blondies for the audience. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Amanthi, Mark, Chris, Kelly, Sare & Baker the monkey
SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR

Track by Track with Mark Lang
Written by Mark Lang (Songwriter, Singer and Guitarist) for Triple J

Got a compulsive need to twist and turn your thoughts into lyrical phrase? Can live on low Cash Money, guerrilla-style? Want to live large in a shanty town of intellectual real-estate with melodies hunting you down across your day? ‘Keep Calm, Carry the Monkey’- become a songwriter and join an indie band! The new album came like a compulsion that hit harder than my nightly need to look under the bed and unravelled in layers over a 14th-month period of recording.

Read more…