getting prepared...

songs for crow - the story of the album

hey kites.

we're nearing the pledge campaign release date, we hope you're all as excited as we are. there'll be a full release in the summer through itunes and independent record shops, but the pledge campaign is your chance to get hold of the album before anyone else does, so be sure to put your name down before the 29th april or you'll have to wait even longer to wrap your ears around it.

i figured i'd spend a little time here explaining how the album came about, what it's about, and what you guys can expect.

in doing a few interviews with various people discussing the subject matter and the album's genesis, i was struck by a strange feeling. the album is extremely personal and tackles some pretty heavy stuff. however, whenever i was asked about the exact nature of said 'stuff', i instantly and instinctively clammed up. it wasn't out of cowardice, or the desire to seem enigmatic, or anything like that. instead, i found that i was avoiding talking about the subject matter of the album because to do so seemed disingenuous, and too much like trading in pain and suffering (and the suffering of those closest to me) for press exposure and publicity. i just couldn't do it. and the thought of explaining this story over and over again in the future filled me with a very distinct kind of dread.

my stock answer was always '...and then a bunch of stuff happened and i started making music again...'.

but this isn't enough. it doesn't do the album, and the pride i take in its quality, justice.

so...

i'm going to tell you guys here what happened, just so it's done. then i'll leave it alone. if the press want to know the backstory to the album then they can come and read it here, if not then so be it, no skin off mine. chances are, no-one will give a monkey's anyway, so it may prove to be of little consequence all the same.

this is songs for crow.

six years ago i left the cooper temple clause. some of you may know that already. i won't go into it in any detail as that is all in the past, but suffice to say it was a huge decision. that band and the music industry (horrid as it was/is) was all i'd known.

now i wanted nothing more to do with it.

i got a job in a library. i started writing fiction. i wanted nothing more to do with music and i swore i'd never go back to it.

this carried on for about four years. the great novel never came (evidence of why can be found here in some of my aborted attempts at fiction).

then the relationship i'd been in for nine years came to an end. another huge break. i found myself alone and living in my mum's spare room at thirty years of age, trying and repeatedly failing to get more than halfway through a novel.

not a great situation.

out of desperation, and no doubt too out of boredom, i went to the garage and picked up my guitar for the first time in four years. it was rusted and in pieces. i took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together again. it felt like a ritual.

i started strumming, playing the same old things i would always play whenever i picked up a guitar (biffy's 'stress on the sky', johnny kidd and the pirates' 'shakin all over', lots of rage against the machine), nothing inspired, just anything to distract me from the shambles my life had become.

then i wrote a song.

i wrote the first song i'd written in over four years. it wasn't any good, but it was a song. and i'd written it quickly too, something i had never previously been in the habit of doing, save for the rarest of occasions.

the first thing i did was send it to tom bellamy. his reply was something along the line of 'you dickhead, i've been waiting four years for you to do this. come down (to london) in a couple of weeks and let's do some recording.'

the next day i wrote another song. and the next day another. in that initial first spree i wrote twenty five songs in three months, a level of prolificacy heretofore unknown. i went to see tom and we laid down the bare bones of some tracks (including 'calliope', 'gathering storm' and 'give old fat fish a chance'). it sounded great, this was actually happening, who cares what comes of it, it just feels good to be doing it again.

then my father died.

he died suddenly of a heart attack. i don't want to go into much detail, just to say that it happens to everyone, if you're lucky. it's right that a child should bury their parent, rather than the other way around (something my mother had to do, hence the support of fsid, now called the lullaby foundation, through the pledge campaign).

naturally, i wrote about it ('saddle up, son', 'spanish courtyard'), and then i felt guilty about using my father's death to write rock and roll songs, so i wrote about that too (dance with crow). it all helped, of course.

then i found love again, in the most unexpected of places (you're not getting that story, it's all very soppy and wonderful and no doubt repugnant to read about). and i wrote some songs about that.

and lo and behold, we had an album. i owe a lot to a lot of people, none more so than tom bellamy, without whose dedication, talent and support this would not have seen the light of day. and thanks to the marvellous folks known as paul, jon, jim, nick and laura, we can even play it live.

so that's it. the album is done, and we're about to release it. i never thought this would happen, but it seems as though it has. the album track listing is finished, but if anyone is interested, a rough chronological running order (lyrically, at least) is as follows:

red blooded males

streetlights

calliope

no painter of note

the gathering storm

saddle up, son

spanish courtyard

dance with crow

montreal

poltergeist

no idea what that would sound like as a running order, but there it is.

it's been good writing this. hope it hasn't been too turgid for you guys.

hope you are all well.

take care of yourselves and those closest to you.

dx

are you listening?

i'll be playing an acoustic set at milk in reading on april 27th as part of the 'are you listening' festival, organised in support of reading mencap.

music's great at this kind of thing. musical communities are fairly unique in their ability to lend their support to charities and causes in such a positive and celebratory fashion. tickets are ten pounds and a wristband gets you access to all of the venues on the day, so it's a great opportunity to see lots of fantastic music and help out a great charity.

links for the tickets and facebook and twitter are included below, so get yourselves down there and share the heck out of the links.

 www.twitter.com/aylfestival
 www.bwmusic.co.uk/upcoming-shows/
www.facebook.com/AreYouListeningFestival

new live shows, building stories

hey kites.

some new live dates for you:

saturday 11th may - the abbot cook, reading
saturday 25th may - lexington, angel, london

i'll also be playing an acoustic show in reading on saturday 27th april, more details to come.

the pledge campaign is flying along, hovering just shy of 140%. the more we raise, the more we can put back into the band, so keep up the hard work spreading the word, guys, it's much appreciated. we also donate 5% of everything raised over 100% to the foundation for the study of infant deaths. this is no random charity, but one that affected my family a while back, so something very close to my heart.

the pledge album drops (digitally, at least) on april 29th, so time's running out to get your hands on it before anyone else.

to further pile on the good news, my copy of building stories has finally arrived:

for anyone who doesn't know chris ware (you are genuinely missing out), a good place to start would be any of the acme novelty datebooks. the collected quimby the mouse is great too, and they are all glorious to behold. go on, treat yourself.

rk x

bsl sign language alphabet. of course.

thanks kites

well done kites!!!
thank you so much, guys, from the bottom of our hearts. your support has been truly touching, you are an amazing bunch of folks.
we'll be in touch soon with news on where next for the project.
congratulations to kevin allen for getting us over the line!

head over to the pledge website once you've helped us out to check out the exclusive updates just for pledgers:

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/redkite/updates

alt-rock is the winner.

so, so, so much love,

rk x

pledge goes live

so the pledge campaign has gone live.

those of you following on facebook may have noticed the countdown [the pictures have been printed below in full for those of you who wanted them].

thank you so much for the support, it is truly heart-warming to see.

remember, if you commit as a pledger then you get access to lots of exclusive content at the pledge site such as pictures, videos, news and, most importantly, free music downloads of exclusive non-album material.

you can keep track of the campaign with the button inserted below.

don't forget that 5% of everything we raise goes to the charity fsid, the foundation for the study of infant deaths. this charity specialises in research and help for families affected by cot-death, something that affected my family many years ago and as such is very close to my heart.

not to mention the fact that anything over the 100% helps us with marketing, touring, and merch, not to mention taking us a step closer to our dream of owning our very own tour-chinook.

once again, thank you for your support, and don't forget to op here for other news for all of you, not just the pledgers.

alt-rock love,

rk x

the countdown pics in full

track listing?

news coming soon

the album is finished.

there are ten songs on it.

it is called songs for crow.

it is about love, death and ornithology.

we will soon have some very exciting news regarding the release.

we may even be giving you some free non-album tracks. 

i know, fantastic, isn't it.

in the meantime, be sure to put your email address in the bit on the left in order to hear all the news first [ie before it goes on facebook and twitter].

much love,

rk

lofi dogma

here's the finished recording from the lofi dogma session. all six of us in one room, one live take, no overdubs, and it sounds pretty damn good. just click on the picture above to take a listen at the lofi dogma site.

here's the video interview as well:

lofi dogma is all about minimalism. they've been doing these projects in europe for a while now, but now they've decided to bring the experiment to the uk and red kite were lucky enough to be asked to do it. for anyone who doesn't know about the lofi dogma manifesto, here it is again:

click on the manifesto and it will take you to the facebook site, go ahead and give it a like.

a huge thank you to ben williams for his patience amidst the racket, to marc and daniel for looking after us all day and plying us with food and beer upon musical victory, and to elliott for taking pictures of us looking strange and awkward.

the track, calliope, will be on the album, news of which shall be imminently forthcoming. stay tuned, kites.

until then, here are some lovely pictures:

red kite associates.

red kite will be back in 2013 with the album release, but until then, get down to king jim's bandcamp site and get a load of the two free albums he's letting you all have:

http://kingjim.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-play

http://kingjim.bandcamp.com/album/oh-great-captain

he's our guitarist and a genuine country troubadour, and his lilting country ballads are the perfect antidote to all theose festive hangovers.

also out is the new album by an escape plan, featuring red kite multi-instrumentalist nick willes, as well as ex medium 21 member and longtime friend arge brown. this album is special, and something of a sister album to the red kite album out next year. treat yourselves:

http://www.anescapeplan.co.uk/aepshop/

we'll be back soon with exciting news on red kite in 2013.

enjoy the rest of 2012; next year's going to be a belter.

needle in the hay acoustic suzy radio

needle in the hay acoustic suzy radio

calliope acoustic suzy radio

calliope acoustic suzy radio

montreal acoustic suzy radio

montreal acoustic suzy radio