With the return of the original line-up – Joel Beeson (MC Bad Genius), Simon Berckelman (Berkfinger) and Dan Williams (Dan W Sweat) – Philadelphia Grand Jury are back with their long-awaited second album, ‘Summer Of Doom’.
With a swag of tour dates around the country (with special guests High-tails) starting this weekend in Brisbane, the band want to say hi to you.
The new single, 'Crashing & Burning Pt II', is one of the only songs kept from the original, abandoned, second-album sessions, and was written with hero drummer Calvin Welch in a dingy studio space in South London. The team re-recorded it, jazzed it up a little, fixed the lyrics and it ended up being pretty “banging”.
Now they give you five tips how to write your own song.
1. On the spot
If you have an idea; write it down, record it on something or commit it to memory straight away. The time when you first have that little spark of creativity is very pure, so don't waste it! If you delay looking for the next part or the lyric or whatever, chances are it will never happen. So live dangerous and be in the moment. Force yourself to stop whatever else you are doing and let it all flow out. You'll probably have your best work done in under 20 minutes. Nothing is more important than creating, so pull the car over, sing on the bus. Just make it.2. With a friend
I have spent many an hour convinced that I and only I will ever do my vision justice and have turned-down countless opportunities to make cool music with other people because I couldn't be bothered to explain things or work at things. But like everything else, songwriting is usually best when people come together and the challenge of combining several different visions usually makes it stronger. Plus it gets lonely in the studio... So next time you are in doubt, phone a friend!3. Collaborate without hearing each other
A good friend of mine once showed me how he worked. It involved playing another musician a song he liked, which in this case was Neil Young's 'Walk On', and setting that person to record along with said song. Then he was recording in another room, improvising along with the other person's performance, without hearing the original, inspiration song. The other person could not hear him, only the song. The results were/ are awesome. Hope I don't get in trouble for sharing.4. In the middle of the night
Set the alarm for 4am. Get out of bed and go to your instrument and see what happens. I am often writing songs in my dreams and if I happen to wake up mid-dream and get to the guitar in time, it is always super cool.5. On a full moon
Leading up to a full moon Neil Young had Indigo Ranch in California booked every full moon back in the day. The live takes for our first record, 'Hope Is For Hopers', were only ever recorded at midnight on full moons. I have lost count of the times I have left the studio after recording myself, or someone else, after a particularly good day to look up and see a big, fat, round moon staring down at me. It really works! I like to keep a monthly ritual of recording and writing leading-up to and culminating in a full moon, then spending the week or so after the moon editing, compiling and critiquing. Works for me.Philly Jays Tour Dates
Fri 23 Oct - The Brightside (Brisbane)Sat 24 Oct - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
Thu 29 Oct - Jive (Adelaide)
Sat 31 Oct - Howler (Melbourne)
Fri 6 Nov - The Waratah (Hobart)
Sat 7 Nov - Amplifier (Perth)
