Dirty Gav and the Razor Blades, Johannesburg, ZA
"Where to start?
I don't believe in ass-licking bios and trumpet blowing write-ups, so I'll just say it as it is.
I've finally gotten off my lazy ass, and decided I don’t want to die with all my music on my hard-drive with on one having heard it.
So, I’ve uploaded it here, and it’s free for download, so go mad and feel free to copy it all you like and give it away. Just don’t sell it. And if you do sell it, make sure the proceeds go towards something cool, like “Kids with Cancer” or “Dads with Dementia”, or even, “Hippies with Habits”.
Anyway, this is music I’ve recorded over the last few years with good friends, musical acquaintances, musical allies, drunken flings, late night parties, or even just after picnics in the park
It’s fairly honest and at times exaggerated, but pretty much documents the times and trials of an aging rock guitarist whose first love was always music.
This is a world where only the lucky few get to make a living off their passion, and the rest of us have to work for the man and leave passion for our “spare” time.
I say “spare” in quotations, because it isn’t actually spare.
This is the time we interact with our families and friends, and eat and sleep and shit and shower.
So, I guess being a muso with a day job is a pretty big sacrifice, and I guess that’s why so many guys end up with that old Les Paul in the cupboard or the Strat in the attic.
Well, here is proof that I haven’t just sat around doing nothing over the years.
I guess you could say my music is a collection of extracts from the diary of life.
My best friends have helped to record this and shape the songs, and they would never sound the way they ended up if it were not for these amazing people.
My History…
I started playing piano when I was 9, after singing in my school choir.
I couldn’t really sing, but they let me play the rhythm sticks, which somehow led me to piano.
I eventually gave up piano and picked up the guitar. This proved much cooler as girls no longer called me “Twinkle Fingers”
The guitar took me on journeys that I will need volumes of books to document, and this is just a biog.
I moved on to computer music with DOS programs like Impulse Tracker.
Naturally, I got into full on into production software and started recording myself.
I found I was never happy with my voice, so I got a lot of friends to come over to my place and try out their voices.
Some of the parts they have sung have turned into little gems that everyone is very proud of.
All of this was recorded by me in whatever house or flat I was living in at the time.
Some of the stuff you will hear is still work in progress.
So listen to it with an open mind and dirty conscience and know that this is honest music from the heart, and sung with all the good intentions of a young dirty punk hip hop thrash metal trance hippy
I’m tired of typing now, and might update this one day, or continue it on my blog…" -Gav
Members: Gavin Simmonds, Kate Davison, Ryan Tarboton, Chris Webb, Jacqui Van Staden, Victor Lopez, Vinicio Reyes. Photography: Jacqui Van Staden
Download here:
http://www.reverbnation.com/dirtygav
