News

3 29 October 2015


I totally forgot to upload this. It's been around for a while now - part of my 'Disco Period'. It's my current favourite Half-arsed Home Recording thanks to the nice new mic and preamp used.

Anyhoo - get your lycra body suit on and get lost!



25 May 2015


There's a nice, civilised, unplugged gig in Crouch End coming up. Details below!





30 April 2015


Did you know that this site is now officially the oldest site on the internet? The design dates way back to 1982 - you know, back in the day, when you had a Commodore 64. And it's remained virtually unchanged ever since.

Well enjoy it while you can! There are rumours around that developers are going to tear this site down. Then they're going to put up some soulless flashy Wordpress monstrosity to take its place. Just like they always do.

But it's not happened yet. So relax. Take a while. Wander though the peaceful, scrolling window-filled halls.

Hear that sound? Smell that smell?

You know what that is? That's history people. Savour it.


3 April 2014



Well you can tell by the way I use my walk just exactly what this cover is. Thanks to Rommy for the percussion. Hope you enjoy it!



3 March 2014



Back again! Been quiet hasn't it? Nice evening coming up somewhere I can walk to from my house. The details are inside the pie:

PIE!

3 June 2013



Imagine if Woodstock had been held in a primary school in Oxfordshire. Picturing that? That is what this festival will be like. Come along!




25 April 2013



Another great product rolls off the Spekki Studio production line. This one's my favourite so far! And this one comes with delay and cardboard box - booom.



5 April 2013



More poorly recorded demos.

I have been busy writing new tunes and casting them out into the wild internet for (literally) DOZENS of people to listen to. Here are the most recent two. The first is called 'The Gyre' and is a nautical tune about the sea of plastic waste in the North Pacific:




And the second is about how terrible the future is probably going to be:



Keep your eyes peeled for more cheery bits of music coming soon!

15 January 2013



Happy new year news!

Recently we have been enjoying putting on occasional gigs at a local bar, which are organised by the bands and generally free. This may mean the atmosphere is a little chaotic, but the quality of the bands is guaranteed, as we only play with people we like. There's another one coming up on Friday 25th January 2013 at Ryan's Bar, 181 Stoke Newington Church St, N16 0UL - which will be the first full, full band gig for over a year!. Rehearsals sounded great and we're looking forward to it.

Also, I've started working on demos in my woefully underequipped home studio. Here's a recent one (a cover of Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting'):



Note! I currently only have limited soundcloud space, so tracks like this may drop off at unpredictable points in the future.

I've also realised that I forgot to link to the spekkichristmas message song at a seasonally appropriate time. Fortunately it is in no way seasonally appropriate anyway. Find it here:



17 September 2012



Another very quiet Softly, Softly gig, this time in Crouch End. Starts at 3. Finishes at 5. Just time for two cocktails (possibly four)...

Sunday 23rd September at Kiss the Sky in Crouch End.

And the Facebook event is here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/413735878691175/




2 July 2012



Last week was International Refugee Week, and to mark this, UK-based Freedom From Torture put out a video that talks a little about their work from the point of view of some of the people that the organisation has helped. Freedom From Torture was originally set up by medical professionals and provides dedicated medical support to people who come to the UK having been tortured.

They also used a Spekki Chris song in the video. Have a watch and see what you think. Then find out more about what they do and get involved!



26 June - UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture from Freedom from Torture on Vimeo.

29 February 2012


First gig of 2012!

Hope to see you all soon...




2 January 2012


Happy New Year!

Here is a free download which will be available for the next 7-8 days. And here's to 2012 as well !
x


3 November 2011



Our glacial promotion efforts continue! This week Now in 3D is album of the week on top fish-themed music site Tuna the Day. Check it out!



Also a nice review from America

And don't forget you can listen to the album for free on SoundCloud! (Links below)

18 August 2011



I heard it on the cloud!

The whole of 'Now in 3D' is now up on Soundcloud (soundcloud.com/spekkichris). So now you can listen to it in all its glory before you decide that you can't live without having an actual 3D CD of your very own...

Now in 3D, 2011 by spekkichris

22nd April 2011



spekki chris is on the Facebook!



L.A.-based Slippery Jim Febreze, our ineffectual manager, has been working the social media sphere for us from the back of his Wagon Queen in a McDonald's car park. As a result you can now �connect� with us on the Facebook. You can befriend Slippery Jim, or search for �spekki chris� and �like� us. There's also a spekki chris Group, although I have no idea what this does.

I can guarantee that in some mysterious way you will feel more 'connected' to us than you were before.



If enough of you go for it I will be able to give you some kind of actual link. The excitement!

21st April 2011



The new album is coming!

After a long, long, long, long, long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely.....time the new spekki chris album is finished. Callum, Al, Rommy and I recorded almost the whole thing live in the legendary portacabins of Mill Hill Studios, in the shadow of the M1 flyover - which very nearly burned down last week. (Fortunately this vital part of our musical heritage has been saved for future generations). It's packed with great performances and guest appearances by super-talented musicians. And Keith More, when not adding scorching guitar solos, has spent an heroic amount of time on mixing the album to make it all sound even better than it really was.

It really is in 3D!



The mastering has just been completed and as we speak, the gleaming presses of one of the largest CD replicating plants in Bradford are warming up to begin the run. For this will be no ordinary CD. For a start, the artwork is in fashionable 3D � and what's more, the first run is a limited edition, which comes with its own pair of 3D spekkicles in a retro-stylee. In fact, it practically jumps out of the case and punches you repeatedly in the face until you buy it.

Check out the gigs page for up date news on the launch party! I can safely say it will be in 3D too...

13th July2010



'What the flinking blip have you been doing Spekki Chris?' you might well have been asking yourself recently. The answer is, since the highly enjoyable Home Service event in May, not much, apart from eating biscuits and listening to the radio. However we have recently finished some recording in the spiritual home of Folk Jazz: Mill Hill - just by the flyover.

The sessions were hot, hot, hot - not least because the air conditioner was broken, but the stuff we recorded there sounds better than the Porn Studio sessions and at the moment I think we have some stuff we can use. So keep an ear open.

To give you a taste of the goodness, I've popped a very/ embarrassingly rough mix of a new song, 'When the Money Runs Out' on the music player. Won't be there for long though!


10th May2010





20th December



A Spekki Chrimbo Message



At this special time of the year, when one's thoughts turn to one's family and loved ones� blah blah blah�My spectacles and I� blah, blah blah� anus horribilis� blah, blah, blah

Ah yes, the enormous turkey that is Christmas is upon us once more, and I have as usual left it far too late to defrost myself. As lurghy and sub zero temperatures have made coherent messages impossible for me, I'll let someone else say it for me � better than I ever could. This is, of course, from back in the day when you could write a song with only 11 words and still get on Top of the Pops:



Happy Christmas and see you in the New Year!



19th December



And while we're at it...



7th December 2009



This month, let's let the pictures (and explanatory words) do the talking...





28th July2009



Sheep! Pigs! Cows! Horses! Spekks! Don't miss it...




18th July2009



Righto - I've done some sweeping, and tidied up a bit. I've put up a couple of new gigs (in particular, don't miss the Annual Barker Band Barndance at Freightliners City Farm, which apparently has a prize for the visitor who gets most drunk) and a couple of new tunes. They are: a live version of Join My Band from the Showcase55 gig at the George and Vulture a couple of months back, and a demo of Dr. Ambekar's Fantastic Formula, from the new album.

How is the new album going? I hear you ask. Slowly, I reply. Veeery slowly.

Meanwhile, I've started playing the flute, astonishingly badly, and am currently battling vermin in the Wastes of Manor House.

More news when it arrives!

17th June 2009



Sorry about the tumbleweed! I'll clear it out soon, I promise.

3rd June 2009





25th February 2009



Monkey madness!

New tracks this month come from our very own Rommy Turtev and Richard Kazakh (aka TK Max), who have delivered a crazy, schizophrenic cover of �Monkeys� with a nu-jazz flava (as I believe it is spelt), possibly for a bet. It's completely unlike any SpekkiChris music � and different is good! To help remind you of the original you'll also find a (very badly mixed at this stage I'm afraid) quiet version of the same song that was recorded live during the porn studio sessions late last year. Just take a look on the
music page.


12th February 2009



Last week John Martyn died. He was a truly great musician and performer and I can honestly say that if I'd never heard his music my own music would be considerably poorer than it is. (Yes that's right. Even poorer!) Anyway, I hope the music's good wherever he is now. The nicest tribute I've seen has been posted by Dave Einstein of the Virtual Open Mic. It's a beautiful clip of John performing a blinder at a time when most people considered him to be past his peak. Here it is - enjoy it:

//www.virtualopenmic.com/jm.html


29th January 2009



Dirty pictures.

Late last year we did a little bit more recording with the wonderful Steve Honest at his new big ole' Surrey studio. We had a wonderful time and I have posted some picures of the experience up on the myspace page (www.myspace.com/spekkichris). The studio is part of a film company and persistent rumour has it that they make films of the more 'adult' variety. I can't possibly comment, but it would explain some of the more interesting objets d'art present. You'll find pics of a couple of those on myspace too. Sadly a couple of the images breached myspace's obscenity policy, so you'll just have to imagine those.

We should be returning later this year for more recording. Obviously the longer we spend in this particular studio, the more the second album will begin to sound like a 70s porn soundtrack. And of course, that's no bad thing...

4th December 2008



Yesterday I signed a petition against Form 696.

This is a form that people who want to stage any musical event in any venue in London (21 boroughs actually - where it is being trialed) are being required to fill in. It asks for names, ages and addresses of performers to be given to the Police two weeks before the event is due to take place. It also contains some vague and disturbing 'racial profiling' questions.

As you know, my age is a closely guarded secret, and there is no way I'm just handing it over to the Police without so much as a by-your-leave. And of course, combined with the insanely complex and expensive new licensing system this just makes it harder to make music for everyone concerned. Obviously, I have yet to hear of any piece of legislation being binned because of a petition sent to No.10 - but there's got to be a first time right?

Anyway, you can learn more about it here


and sign the petition here


20th October 2008



The nights are drawing in, and so we're about the business of recording again to keep us occupied. While we're doing that, as a special autumn treat there's a new live track available for you to download from the music page. Well, it's not really new - more re-animated and somewhat revamped. The recording comes courtesy of the lovely Mark & Chris from Musicborn (visit their website: www.musicborn.com). Recorded at the Zenith Bar in Angel last September. Hopefully that'll keep you occupied for a while (well about 5 minutes and 13 seconds anyway).

3rd September 2008



Well folks, the bad news is: INTERNET THIEVES HAVE STOLEN MY NEWS!

This is actually a lot more serious than it sounds. I now have absolutely no idea what has happened between 2004 and last week. I mean, I can see a couple of guitars lying around my room but I haven't got a clue what to do with them. There appears to be an album out (of which there are still some copies remaining I might add) and a hot (in the musical sense) band hanging around, but to be honest the rest is a big blank.

Quite what they wanted with my news is beyond me, and they didn't even have the decency to leave a rude or frightening message, along the lines of:

"We got ur news, u four-eyed fascist. Stop making ur racket or we'll take ur gig listings 2!"

They just wrote this: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, which is not very illuminating.

The good news is, everything else is intact and backed up, we have new gigs and we're booked in for some new recording in November. Plus we all have our health, and that's the most important thing isn't it?

Meanwhile, if anyone can remember what Spekki Chris has been up to between 2004 and 2008 please let him know. Email info[AT] spekkichris[DOT]com with your memories.


1st September 2008

Where's the news gone? I have no idea. I'll find out...


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