Mel Wiggins Music

Coffee & Saris

2010-05-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've started drinking coffee.

I'm not sure how it happened, and I'm definitely in the early, insecure, not knowing the status of our relationship phase, but there you have it. Milk and 2 sugars please. (all the proper coffee drinkers can now slag away).

Well, it's Friday and that can only mean one thing. Work is the last place I want to be. Not because I don't love my job...I do. I really do. In fact, it has been really fulfilling this week. Training, interviews, events for mentors, events for young people...all good.

In other news, this weekend I'm heading to my very first Hindu wedding! I've got my sari all ready and I'm off to get some henna done tonight at the brides house. So by all accounts, come Sunday morning, I should basically blend in with the other 600 asian friends and family attending? Regardless, I'm excited for my friend, and I'm excited to see how this culture does things...

Also, my darling mother and auntie moe arrive on Sunday! I haven't seen my mum in 7 whole months, so I plan on smothering her for a few days and doing some fun Londoney things.

All in all, my body is weary but my spirit is happy.

Voting/Responsibilities/Celebrity

2010-04-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's heating up here in the capital! Both outside and in the political arena.

Tonight is the big old, all singing, all dancing, first ever prime minister debate. How very western of us.

Do you care? Will you watch?

I've been keeping a bit of an eye on the campaigns this time round...trying to get some perspective etc., but it's all much of a muchness surely?

David Cameron has the charisma, modern man, heart on sleeve factor. But is there any substance?

Gordon Brown is so boring, that people will probably see him as a safe, easy voting option - not very controversial.

...and Nick Clegg is a bit wet behind the ears - and very defensive.

I watched the interview piece on Gordon Brown last night, and was pretty unenthused.

When asked what he gets most stressed out or worried about in his personal life, his answer alluded to the fact that he doesn't worry about his personal life because his priority is the British public, and the bigger issues...

I don't know about you, but that wasn't what I wanted to hear. It would've been nice to see him be a bit more real and have at least a minor concern or worry about his personal life...

After the interview I skeptically switched over to Lindsay Lohans Journey to India...

I have to say, I was really moved. She went to visit lots of refuge/safe houses for young boys and girls rescued from trafficking, and heard their stories. She seemed genuinely really effected by the experience.

In these situations, with celebrities adopting left and right, visiting war-torn, earth-quake ravaged places, and making these documentaries on really hard hitting relevant issues, it is easy to look at it and give it a great big eye roll.

Is it all about the publicity? Who knows... Would they be interested if they didn't have a persona to keep up? Who knows...

I'm pretty sure Lindsay Lohan is generally a hot mess, but I couldn't help but give her the benefit of the doubt last night.

New Music & Hop Farm Festival

2010-03-30T13:00:00.001-07:00

The best thing about living in London (even as I type that it doesn't seem real still) - is having the option of seeing great live music at any given time of the week.

The worst things about living in London is that I would need to sell my car in order to afford to go to the big ones. I far prefer a nice intimate gig. The difference between seeing John Mayer play Shepherds Bush Empire in 2004, and seeing him play the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan in 2007 was incredible. The first was like a lovely hidden secret. He talked to the crowd, he hadn't yet crossed the line into mega-idiot-star. It was bliss. I even sqeezed up to the front and stood with my arms propped and folded on the stage. The second was so huge, I couldn't even see him. There were so many pre-teen girls screaming because they 'so related' to his music, and he had no rapport with the audience at all. He had turned into a mainstream monster and worst of all - Jessica Simpson was there. That's $60 i'll never bloody see again.

Give me the first any day.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to see Ellie Goulding play at Dingwalls in Camden. Great little venue, and perfect for her. Everyone there was there because they knew they were onto something good. She belted it out with her Bjork/Julia Stone-esque pipes and made the crowd feel like they had got their money's worth. Her album is on constant reply on my iphone at the mo. Boootiful tunes.

My favourite thing is to find out about something good before the masses - which is why I am SO excited about getting some weekend tickets to the Hop Farm Festival!

It seems to be a new-ish festival in Kent, with massive potential to be the 'go-to' festival in the coming years. It's the same feeling I get about the Forfey Festival in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It seems more organic, creative and without all the crazy trimmings of the bigger festivals. This years line up (so far) proves they are onto a good thing:

Bob Dylan
Mumford and Sons
Seasick Steve
Laura Marling
Peter Doherty (bah)
The Magic Numbers
& Foy Vance

FABULOUS!

Get on it, the tickets are gonna go fast...

New Starts

2010-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps,

I know it's been a while - but a lot has happened! With the fabulous trends of twitter and fb taking over our networking time, I realised that good old blogs have been a bit neglected - and that makes me sad. I have had a personal blog for about 6 years, and I can't bring myself to delete it. It would be like chucking my diary in the fire. But, I need a fresh focus.

I also know that stuff on the music front has been really quiet recently, and that's because my husband and I have recently moved to London. This means lots of new things for us: New home, new jobs, new friends, new pace of life. It's taken a good few months to really adjust our lifestyles to the hustle and bustle of the big smoke, but we are loving it.

Now that a routine has clicked in, I've started to feel the pang for that creative outlet again - so here we are! This is my attempt to get back on the music/creative train and throw my thoughts, inspirations and aspirations out there again.

I intend to make this blog a bit more generic, about life in London at the minute, as I collect my ambition and retrack where life is taking me - rather than solely focusing on the music stuff. It will eventually all blend together...

Thank you for sticking with me - for supporting us through this big move - for asking me when I'm coming back with more music, when I'll be gigging in London etc. It means a lot.

FYI - the 'My Brother's Keeper' EP is still available on itunes and CD Baby. If you haven't yet got yourself a copy...

Big London Lovin,

Mx

Viva La London!

2009-08-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Back to the grind after a fabulous long weekend away with the band in London. The sun shone strong and bright, and we were pure roastin the whole time, but it was a welcome change after a very rainy and depression non-summer here in Northern Ireland!

Each of the gigs were really different, all with a brilliant atmosphere and response from the crowds. Sutton was relaxing, a nice way for us to start off, Green Note was buzzing, electric and intimate, and The Prince Albert was really fun and a great way to wind down the weekend.

Big thank you goes out to Sam Thomas who supported us at Sutton, and Emma Pears who supported us at the Green Note in Camden on Sunday night. She powered through the pain of slicing her finger open just 15 mins before going on to play the keys. Big thank you's also go out to Estelle for housing us and being our tour bus driver, to-ing and fro-ing gear to venues, and generally putting up with our banter.

We loved being in London, and hopefully it won't be long before we are back again.

If you were there, I really appreciate you coming. If not, we hope to catch you at the next one.

Check back for pics of the tour on the myspace or facebook site.

Love xo

I'm terrible at this.

2009-08-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

You'll have to forgive me. Time has trickled away and life has an agenda of it's own...to cut a long, excuse-filled story short - I'm forgetful.

Here's a briefing of some of the latest melwigginsmusic news:

* Lots of fun gigs over the summer - highlights include beautiful sing-alongs and good fun at Summer Madness Festival, the beautiful and quirky barnyard gig at The Forfey Festival.

* Gearing up for some banter on the mainland with a couple of gigs and radio interviews in London this coming weekend! Tickets still available (only just!) for the Green Note gig on the 23rd of August - click here to get em!

* Lovely cheeky times with Gerry Anderson, live session and interview at BBC Radio Ulster.

* Planning my first ever single release!!! - 'Heart As Your Home' - revamped and jigged up, coming to a wireless near you soon! Release date TBA.

* Having 'Simplified' included on the brand spankin' new EP for our new friends The Fifty Penny March! Their beautiful little compilation CD is available here!

There are a few more exciting tales to tell, but the powers at be have warned me to keep my lips sealed for the meantime...but I promise you, it'll be worth the wait.

Hope to see you London side, please keep checking the website or myspace for all the up-coming dates! And the EP is still available here, here and here!

Again, thank you for supporting me in this little adventure,
xo

AU Magazine Review!

2009-06-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

The latest edition of AU (Alternative Ulster) Magazine has given a really beautiful review of the EP. In case you've not had your lazer eye surgery yet, here it is in a good big font:

"After 10 years in Canada and London, Mel Wiggins finally relocated to Northern Ireland to pursue her admirable pure goal - to sing songs about the things that matter. Through her lurics, she denounces injustice and seeks to nurture a sense of solidarity. Little surprise, then, that several charity organisations have asked her to write songs for them. But her poignant and stunning lyricism, close in the spirit to that of Foy Vance, is not only the appeal of My Brother's Keeper. Mel's sugar-spun voice kindly strolls you through these narratives and adds a delicious frisson to the stirring subject matter."

People are nice.

Sunshine & Fermanagh TV

2009-06-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Boy oh Boy, it sure is hot.

The weather has taken a turn for the good in this beautiful land of ours, and all over the place you can see the difference it makes to peoples attitudes and wardrobe choices (cropped trousers central!)...

I'm about to skip out to a band rehearsal with the lovely boys and a few extras that are going to be filling in during some of our summer gigs while some of the band goes on holidays, so we're hoping to fling open the windows and let the sound flow out into the streets of Belfast...if you happen to be passing by, call in!

Just wanted to update you with a little video piece we did for Fermanagh TV. They were kind enough to come hang out with us for a morning at Blick, interview us for their new station and record us doing a few tunes...

Don't forget the EP is up on Itunes and all other wonderful media/music outlets (CD Baby, Amazonmp3, Rhapsody, BandCamp etc) so please get yourself a copy, get out your sunnies and relax and bask in the glorious sunshine while it's still here!

What a difference a year makes!

2009-05-19T13:00:00.001-07:00

Apologies apologies apologies to one and all!

As you may see, my last post was one year and 4 days ago...slightly neglected, but I'm back and ready to be on the ball with this whole t
hing again...

So much has happened in the last year with all the music stuff, that it would bore you (and me) to try and condense it into a readable post...but I will tell you this...

Things have been very intense, busy and exciting.

The 'My Brother's Keeper' EP is done and dusted and ready for your ears...you can get it here.

It was such a pleasure to work on this EP with Declan Legge of Big Space Studios. Declan is a top bloke, with so much experience and for someone like me, who gets bored in the studio, he really did make the process much more enjoyable and easy.

I started gigging about 18 months ago with just myself and John on guitar. Not long after, Marty joined us on double bass, and eventually last summer, Pete came on board with the drums. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of guys to gig with. We were also joined by Nathan and Rachael Power on brass for some of the tracks both on the EP and at our launch party, and that has really spiced things up and opened up a whole new sound for us to play with...hopefully there'll be more of that to come...

There has been a lot of press and promotion for the EP, so I'll try to keep everyone up to date on all of that as I take up the reigns of this blog again...

There are many many exciting things on the horizon and I can't wait until the time is right to update you all on them, so please keep coming back!

But for now, I give you my thanks for your support this far on this leg of the journey and ask that you do yourself a favour and grab yourself a copy of the EP and let me know what you think...

Mel x

More Time

2008-05-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

I am loving the process of establishing myself better as an artist/songstress and all that. It is a bit of a haul to get things going in the music direction whilst holding down a full time job, a social life and a marriage!

I wonder to myself if there will ever come a time in the near future when I will be able to focus on this full time? If there will ever be a time when I get to throw my whole self into what I believe is the bigger picture for me? I guess the main thing that holds me back, and probably holds us all back from a full throw down into our passion is the question of money...will it pay the bills? Am I being selfish? I'm usually a bit of a dreamer; an 'anything is possible' type of gal, and I know that I've always been provided for, even when times were tight, but my grown up conscience is now at war with my child-like dreamer conscience and the two won't let each other win...

Maybe it's that 'hell in the hallway' idea that my friend talks about so much...the door closed behind you, and the waiting for another to open period of time.

Either way, I am learning to be content with my lot. All in good time, maybe.

So, my new website is up for your viewing pleasure. My friend Tim McNicol did it for me, and I think it is a beaut. Check it out.

Better

2008-04-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a new song for The Salvation Army's 'Embrace' Campaign. This campaign will be promoting the need for child sponsorship; giving hope and a future to children caught in the trap of poverty and no family.

I love being able to add to the beauty that this campaign is already bringing to kids everywhere. It is once again an honour to use my voice to provoke people, to challenge and hopefully inspire others into action.

Here are the words....the song will be up on my myspace in the next week.

My mammas sittin up in bed with her head held high
She says “I’m leaving you my baby in a little while,
In a little while, it’s gonna be just you.
Well your brothers and your sisters gonna need you now
So be strong my little fella and I’ll tell you how:
Gotta keep on believing, things are gonna get a little better”

A little better is not too much to ask
A little better to see you smile
A little better to watch you walk so tall
A little better to keep your pride
A little better the seed in all of us
A little better we all could be
A little better is not too much to ask
A little better…to set you free

A little time went on and my mammas gone
My little brothers and my sisters think that I’m so strong
I’m so strong, I don’t know what to tell them
And I stay awake at night because they cry so much
And I hear my mammas voice and I feel her touch saying
“Keep on believing child, things’ll get a little better”

And then one morning when the sun was low
And I was getting up to work in the fields below
In the fields below, we gotta live somehow
A good man came to the window and he said “Dear Child
I’ve got a message for you here” and I saw his smile
He said “I think that things are just about to get a little bit better”

2008-04-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Just to update you on all things music...It was a busy lead up but Dave and I are now into our last couple of days in Canada, visiting and relaxing with family and friends.

Before we headed across I had a great couple of gigs around Belfast. Each of those gigs has led to more gigs, which I guess is a great start to what seems like the endless road in self-promotion and booking up places to get myself out there.

I've been so grateful and fortunate to have an amazing team of supporters around me and an equally amazing bunch of people that are helping me make my album. John Ryan, who is a former Dubliner, now residing in Belfast is helping me out by playing guitar and bringing my songs to life. He is an excellent musician and an even better guy. It has been really fun and rewarding to hear what he is bringing to the table and I look forward to more creative input from his side.

Also along for the ride is Marty Timlin, a new friend that has agreed to play upright bass for the live gigs and the recordings as well. Marty is really accomplished a really wise and fun guy to be around. These two have made the prospect of doing gigs more exciting for me, and we click really well.

Another couple of friends, Gus and Eilis, have agreed to plug into what is happening and are on team as my engineers, producers, connecting gurus and general sounding boards for all things technical for the album. I am so so grateful to have them on board and know that their experience, knowledge and support for what I am doing is going to make this record memorable.

As well these guys, I am looking forward to pulling in some really talented folks to contribute their musical skills on the recording. We have brass players, strings and some percussion in the works.

The plan so far is to get us all together a few times when we get back on Northern Irish sod and then head to the studio at the end of April/beginning of May to put the tracks together. I'm so excited for you all to hear these songs in their finest form. It's coming together nicely, but there is plenty of work ahead of us all.

So, thank you again for all your support, and please continue to plug in. I have had a really amazing friend put together a website for me, which is looking pretty fancy. It will be up at www.melwiggins.co.uk in about a week or two and I hope to faithfully update as the recording process goes on. So tune in, wontcha?

Loads of love,
Mel x

Canadia & Chicago Jazz

2008-04-06T09:32:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Right now, Dave and I are in Canada, bringing in the Spring with my family and friends. We've already done a bit of a roadtrip to Chicago and had such a good time seeing the sights, doing a bit of shopping and eating far too much.

One of the nights we were there we went to a jazz club called 'Pops For Champagne', which was uber cool. They have a champagne bar upstairs, and live music in the basement every night. There was a trio playing, and we sat and listened to some of the classics being performed.

I love jazz and blues.

There is something so simple, yet so catchy about that era. It gives me the warm and fuzzy's! I always feel like I'm transported back to the 50's when I hear it.

I think I'm going to try and incorporate a bit of this sound into my album...experiment a little.

Welcome to my new blog! ...

2008-03-30T10:06:00.001-07:00

As part of the launch of my new website, I will be regularly uploading posts here. Please feel free to make any comments and keep checking back soon.

For further information, including gig info, please visit my website at www.melwiggins.co.uk ...