Durl's Diary

this was hanging up in the studio… Inspiration? Check.

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:31:56 -0400

this was hanging up in the studio… Inspiration? Check.

WTF?? It's Hank Marvin!

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:17:00 -0400

We’ve all been in the UK for a good few weeks now and in-between mammouth curry eating sessions, endless cups of tea and eating my own body weight in Cadbury’s Whole Nut chocolate, we’ve been working hard to finish these new tracks.

It was decided we should rent out a space where we could set up camp and crack on with these songs in peace. After spending weeks thumbing through the rental pages for a gorgeous little cottage with central heating next to a waterfall with lambs skipping merrily across the field and a 5-star restaurant round the corner, we gave up and instead took up residence in a damp room with no windows and a smell not unlike the “Bog of Eternal Stench” from the Labyrinth movie starring David Bowie. A similar smell was noticeable when we made the first album, so maybe we need to consider the notion that the poor odour is actually coming from one of us.

We’ve also been rehearsing some of these new tunes and gave them their first outing in a sold out show in Leeds last friday. I always think you learn a lot about a song when you play it live and feel people’s reactions to it, and luckily, they all felt pretty good. Danny even played an electric guitar on stage for the first time. It was red and he looked a lot like Hank Marvin. We also got a trumpet player on stage for a song. (Now, if that doesn’t confuse you all as to what this new record will sound like, nothing will).

At this point I would like to say a huge and massive thank you to everyone at Paiste for being awesome mo-fo’s and loaning me a lurvely set of cymbals for my time here. At the risk of getting all emotional, I love them and want to have their babies, and that’s just the way it is.

Aside from this I’ve discovered a few new things in my own life…

1. The Marc Maron “WTF” podcast: One of our old tour managers first introduced me to this a year or so ago but having recently downloaded his app for my phone…I’m hooked. Yesterday I went for a run and listened to him talk to Dick Van Dyke for an hour. I’m also really into Craig Ferguson. At the risk of upsetting Uncle Jay (as he likes us to call him), I think Craig is my favourite of the talk show hosts. I am a quarter Scottish though so you gotta keep it in the family.

2. Big Bang Theory: This had completely passed me by until now but I’m now slightly obsessed. I think I identify a bit too closely with all of them for various reasons. (i.e. Being a genius unappreciated in my own time, small in stature, dating a girl way hotter than me etc). I do have one question which if anyone can answer I’d be forever grateful: Why is there a band set up in the Cheesecake Factory? Is this normal?! This potential combination of cheesecake and rock n roll seems like a winner to me. Maybe we should do a tour of Cheesecake Factories for the next album?!

3. Electronic Drums: Ive been staying with my friend Scott in Leeds and he has an electronic drum set. This is amazing as it gives me a chance to practice, but also because they’re way easier to play than real drums. Ergo…I’m awesome.

Tomorrow I’m flying to LA for 3 days before coming home again. This might seem like utter madness but I will get to see the little lady and eat In n Out so it’s ok.

Giddy.Up.

Is that honey in my ears, or just more chicken?

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:08:26 -0400

My last post may have lead some of you to worry I was losing my way a bit. All the talk of Pawn Stars, Price is Right and In n Out Burger was cause for concern amongst various family members (and some band members). However, I’m pleased to announce I’m now out of the woods. Apart from falling off the wagon for a few days with an intense “24: Season 5” addiction, I’m doing well. It’s a 12 step program. Today I even went for a run.

As part of the program it was suggested I play drums. With this in mind we all went to LA and recorded an album…which was nice. Regular readers, (and by this I mean my mum and my girlfriend’s cat) may recall that we went to Pasadena and knocked out 6 or 7 tracks before Christmas. Well, come February it was time to head back to the sunshine state and finish what we began. We’ve found a great studio at the bottom of the mountains where a nice man called Jeff makes every instrument sound like tiny drops of honey being poured in your ears.

Once all the basic tracks had been done we felt we needed some crazy synth sounds and weird and wonderful noises to make the songs come to life. Where better to achieve such musical greatness than (the slightly less sunny) Minneapolis?! Nova had made friends with a lovely bunch of people who had an even lovelier bunch of keyboards. So, for a whole week we strapped on our scarfs and tennis rackets (you know, for the feet) and made sweet sweet cray cray sounds for the album. My personal highlight was playing toy piano on a track. Nova’s personal highlight was eating half a pizza and a whole bucket of chicken wings at 1am after a night out. I wasn’t even mad…it was that impressive.

We’re now back in the UK finishing off some bits and bobs and starting to get the tracks mixed. We’re also doing a show in Leeds as a chance to learn how to play these new tunes live. I don’t think my toy piano skills will be called into action at this point but I’ve been practicing my Bruce Hornsby licks just in case.

Lastly, for any of you Twitterers out there you may have noticed my recent absence from the site. I’m sorry to announce that me and Twitter have decided to part ways. After nearly a year of social networking japes together it seems my wisdom just cannot be contained to a mere 140 characters. However, Twitter’s loss is to be Tumblr’s gain, so now’s the time to; a) sell your shares in Twitter before the inevitable crash my departure will bring, and b) join Tumblr.

Ta ra for now!

Durls

Creepy!

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:32:22 -0500

Creepy!

Recording vocals in Minneapolis! Pic by @aimeescars

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:01:54 -0500

Recording vocals in Minneapolis! Pic by @aimeescars

Dapper dan dot com

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:00:53 -0500

Dapper dan dot com

Sat in the Miami hotel lobby watching the Bradford game before...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:03:46 -0500

Sat in the Miami hotel lobby watching the Bradford game before @therockboat. Come on City!!!

Last day with in the studio @nowaremedia then off to the Bahamas...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:20:32 -0500

Last day with in the studio @nowaremedia then off to the Bahamas for @therockboat #itsahardlife

UK fans…Spread the word!

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:16:31 -0500

UK fans…Spread the word!

I need a dollar, dollar a dollar is all I need…

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:40:10 -0500

I need a dollar, dollar a dollar is all I need…

Cue the cray cray synth sounds!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:07:55 -0500

Cue the cray cray synth sounds!

Everyone’s getting involved on this next record!

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:42:27 -0500

Everyone’s getting involved on this next record!

Country Gent…mmmmm ! (The guitar…not Dan)

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:46:45 -0500

Country Gent…mmmmm ! (The guitar…not Dan)

Nova explains his latest piano take to the group. Producer Jeff...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:40:27 -0500

Nova explains his latest piano take to the group. Producer Jeff watches in confused awe. @novascarson45

For the drum geeks…

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:22:45 -0500

For the drum geeks…

I got craps!

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:14:11 -0500

Sorry it’s been a while dear readers, but we’ve had a bit of time off and not a lot has happened. I didn’t think anyone would be interested to hear about how I watched all the Harry Potter movies in 5 days, my Pawn Stars addiction, or my feelings on capital punishment for people that bid $1 above another contestant on The Price Is Right. (I have strong opinions on the latter. Come see me at a show and we can start a petition…I think Drew would sign it for sure).

As you may have read on all the major news channels, I turned 30 last month. I feel I handled it with my usual poise, dignity and grace. After which I went to Vegas and blew all my money on gambling and alcohol. I’d always previously been a roulette man (me and Nova have a tradition of making $20 last for up to 5 hours whilst we tap the Reno casinos for free drinks while we play), but this time our manager Steve trained me in the Jedi arts of blackjack. Next time I’ll try craps…but seeing as i always thought it was called ‘crabs’ until a few weeks ago, i should probably wait a bit first.

Like I say, its been a bit quiet in the Scars camp. We spent some time recording in LA before Christmas, during which we definitely came out with a few that we’re especially excited about. We’re getting ready to head back in a few weeks and bash out some more and then see where that leaves us. I’ve been staying in Minnesota for the past month so I’m most excited to get out of this fricking snow to be honest! (That and for lots of In n Out Burger). We’re all really pumped up for this album and are determined to make it the best we possibly can. Going on the first bunch of tracks we did it’s looking good. Definitely a step up from our first offering…and recorded in much nicer surroundings. (Less rats, more sun etc).

Anyway, gotta go, Pawn Stars just started. Someone wants $50,000 for a tootsie roll signed by Ghandi.

To celebrate the festive season we’re starting a new video...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:08:52 -0500

To celebrate the festive season we’re starting a new video series called SO45TV. To kick things off here’s some highlights of 2012, including cameos from our friends Ed Sheeran, Jason Mraz and Mackintosh Braun. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you for your support these past 12 months. We’re working hard on a new record and can’t wait to get out on the road and play you some new tunes as soon as its done!

Song of the day

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:21:22 -0500

Decided to start posting a song of the day on my Twitter.

Follow me @chrisscarson45

Never gets old… :-)

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:30:34 -0500

Never gets old… :-)

Scars on 45 : Change My Needs (fan video)

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:16:02 -0500

Scars on 45 : Change My Needs (fan video)