and a couple more.

http://www.yeondoojung.com/artworks_view_wonderland.php?no=88

and another.

http://www.ninakatchadourian.com/photography/seatassignment.php

Something we’ve been looking at during the album art process.

I’m back in my room with a slight headache, a stained salmon shirt, and sand all through the carpet from a late night skinny dip, rounding off one of the best weekends of my life.

Time to take the suit to the dry cleaners and start thinking about releasing this album. In the meantime - here’s a taster: this is a song called Skinny Jeans.

I got around to making a soundcloud. http://soundcloud.com/tonoandthefinancecompany

I’ve talked before about how the Golden Dawn is a good place to toughen yourself up as a performer. Well with the Beirut shows coming up next week, a new album coming out and a new member in the wonderful Mimsy Cable, I decided it was time to take the full band to the fiery forge that is the Tavern of Power.

We’ll be playing a set this Friday at The Golden Dawn, for only five bucks. Hayden will be DJ-ing from 8, and we’ll be on around ten. Here’s the event - http://www.facebook.com/events/299071250130033/

I say it’s a hard place to play, but these days there’s a gorgeous stage and great sound. And the Golden Dawn is a magical place - I recommend coming and ordering dinner from the menu while it’s nice and quiet.

I’m used to organising gigs by the seat of my pants in Dunedin, but this may be the craziest thing I’ve ever attempted.

At 1pm today my plans for New Years in the Auckland region changed due to weather. In that time, I’ve convinced a temporary bar to open tomorrow night, and three of my favourite songwriters to play music.

Now I just need to convince people to go… and there’s the small matter of getting a standby flight to Christchurch, and then another standby flight to Dunedin (or hitching to Dunedin if I have to).

It’s all happening at Taste Merchants, which is part of Castle Macadam Wines, on Lower Stuart Street. Starts at 8 - then we all go to Albar after finishing up at 11.

Here’s the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/157095087727068/

I’ll take the risk of repeating myself this once to say how very excited we are to be opening for Beirut next month.

The Rip Tide is a beautiful, restrained album, and it continues to grow on me. Essential listening before the shows.

If anyone missed the info on this, the shows are:

Wellington: The Opera House, January 14th

Auckland: The Powerstation, January 16th

New tickets go on sale for The Opera House on Wednesday. If you missed out on Auckland, you’ll need to make a trip to Wellington. That’s not such a bad thing!

This is going to rule. Shot to Daniel Alexander for an ace of a poster.

We’re a little fresh on our own songs, as we spent our last few practices learning how to play Palm Singing without sounding like a high school RHCP covers band (pretty confident we succeeded), but this line up has just been getting better and better.

We’re even going to have a girl - yes a girl, in the band tomorrow.

Also, Tourettes is amazing. Tigerbelly had some of the best writing I’ve heard all year. It’s really inspiring to come across someone who is in it for the writing. In the 48 minutes of that album you can hear the hundreds of hours Dominic must have spent working on it.

This song, “Songwriters Kill Trees,” didn’t make the album, but looking back, it’s the first song I wrote towards it.

After finishing the EP, I found myself writing this against my will. It was poppy and not at all significant sounding, like the way I was trying to write at the time, and it confused me terribly. Even worse was that I wrote another right afterward, about being 23. When I finally accepted the way I was writing, I assumed that I would end up throwing Twenty Three out, and keeping Songwriters Kill Trees. But by the time it came to recording, this song was too old, too twee, and didn’t feel connected enough to my new writing.

Listening to this funny little recording (Tono and the Finance Company have always specialised in one-mic demos) you can hear how fun it was to play when it was new. You can also hear why I was falling in love with Logan’s guitar playing. He gave me two guitar lessons around this time, which have largely shaped the way I play solo now.

I’ve added the lyrics below, copied from a document last edited 31/07/09, as it’s hard to hear them.

The album goes to mastering this week, and I’m starting to think about singles - which songs, and when.

In that bin on the floor
are a dozen pieces of paper
crumpled into shapes
that look like my heart

But not one of them
could make this pain feel lighter
they could only duplicate it
in a dozen different ways

It would be okay
if I thought this heartache
could make me my first fifty K

Songwriters
kill a lot of trees
and you’re not helping if you won’t
tell me
why you don’t love me baby

I’ve tried everything
I keep refill under my pillow
and Post-It Notes
In my shoes and pockets

but even when I get close
to an angsty break up ballad
I throw it away
afraid you’ll never come back

this would be okay
if i was quasi-famous
and had Kirsten Morrelle waiting in line, well

Songwriters
kill a lot of trees
and you’re not helping if you won’t
tell me
why you don’t love me baby

Every time you click your fingers
the axe comes down
every time you turn down coffee
One less shelter for a monkey
And I’m drinking out of paper cups
until I get a hit out of you

Songwriters
kill a lot of trees
and you’re not helping if you won’t
tell me
you’re part of the problem
do you really want to be part of the problem?