Tag: music

We got that attitude! – 4th March 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful to be surrounded by all this music. It’s a wonderful collection of my life.

Remember: what gets attention is not always important. And what is important rarely gets attention.

Mark Manson

To-do list

  • Record new TCRAH ✅
  • Clear emails
  • Read more entries for 1994ever
  • More CD organising (complete in 2 weeks?) ✅
  • Complete Coursera course ½

Another lazy yet satisfying day. Tomorrow I want to do some kind of exercise and meditation in the morning. Being at home, unable to go anywhere is an interesting challenge. I feel like this is a great opportunity to get some things done but also that none of it really matters if it does get done or not so there’s no real pressure. I know that if I do a little each day then tasks will get completed.

The dearth of new ideas makes us wallow in our shame (The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #16) – 14th December 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been considering what content I can put here as some of my personal thoughts and feelings about this particular place I am now living (and enjoying) could cause me trouble. It’s funny how Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles but often times it feels like the Land of Fake Smiles. Having a couple of years experience here now, I understand these reasons but cannot fully support a positive attitude towards it. This is the balance I am trying to find in my world.

Perhaps that balance has always been there even in the other places I have lived but I haven’t noticed it so much and oftentimes found myself in difficult or at least odd situations. I don’t ‘play the game’ very well still but I’m getting there. If this sounds like generalised waffle, I apologise. I will try to make an orderly composition of my thoughts at some point.

Out of one of the most difficult times I’ve had in Thailand I found myself keen to focus some energy into something personally (and somewhat selfishly) fulfilling. In what little downtime I had when I was pushing myself too hard preparing lessons for my grade 5 English class I would throw my iTunes playlist on shuffle and found myself quite enthralled at the collection of digital music I collected.

The randomness reminded me of those late school nights furtively listening to John Peel’s radio show under the covers, falling asleep as I lay hoping to hear the latest and greatest punk tunes in amongst all the other genres being pioneered. This exposure to many different styles of music laid the groundwork for events many years in the future when I was organising shows for bands in Sydney and subconsciously decided on mix billed being the best way for people to hear new music. Never a way to a successful financial business model, it kept my brain satisfied and able to calmly appreciate music I didn’t particularly enjoy, anticipating music that I would.

So it was that iTunes on shuffle kept popping up a classic tune (classic to me), a dodgy old punk demo, an experimental noise soundscape and a 60s garage rocker, with many things in between. Nothing really modern mainstream though. It’s amazing some of the music from my youth was considered mainstream back then. It shits all over what is mainstream now.

Anyway, digging this vibe I even ended up downloading a bunch of reggae and African music that Peel always used to play – just to try and get that reminiscence in full force. Things I may not listen to as a full recording of suddenly make a lot of sense squished in between things I was more familiar with. I ended up down many paths of discovery of experimental music from around the world – as opposed to ‘world music.’

With need of some distraction, I decided to put together a ‘radio’ show and upload the result to the Mixcloud platform. I mostly take the tracks as they were shuffled through iTunes and do a bit of back announcing. I also decided to play around a little with some of the songs and introduce some moments where I could read a paragraph or two from books from my shelves.

To give this odd mix a little focus I decided to target my audience to the university students at the local uni which is less than a kilometre away from where I am. I roped in a few of my student friends from there and also from my favourite local coffee shop, to do a bit of speaking and to have their pictures taken. So was born The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour and the push for musical world domination.

The tenzenmen music library
Gus, Mink, Nu and Aing – in the music library.

Understanding that my tastes are almost niche beyond niche I would not expect a huge audience for what I’m doing but really that is not the purpose. I do it for myself. I really enjoy putting it together and messing around with things, trying to come up with some new ideas for presentation. I’m contemplating how to do this mix in a live setting and finding a place to do it but I don’t have much time to practice that part as well as not having a completely reliable equipment setup. A new laptop is a little out of reach at the moment.

So, if you’ve read this far you may be curious to hear what these shows sound like? Or scared to find out. Either way, it seems like this is a good vehicle to post links to each show and also force me to write at least once a week as new episodes appear.

“Remember life on earth is but a flash of dawn
And we’re all part of it as the day rolls on”

Music from Ween, Magic Mushroom Band, No Babies, The Ebonettes, goat, Andy Partridge, Acanthus, Banned, Hebosagil, The Yellow Payges, Bad Brains, Daniel Striped Tiger, Martin Archer, Teenage Depression, Mudhoney and Donovan.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I could do so many things yesterday and keep going even though I was so tired by the end of the evening. I kept a good attitude and wasn’t so anxious about things that I wanted to do compared with some things that I had to do.

Did it list

  • Encouraged Fern to learn to make my coffee at Utopia.
  • Got my haircut.
  • Uploaded TCRAH podcast.
  • Recorded new TCRAH podcast.
  • Prepared and executed a quick fun game for my two students today.
  • Got through a little of the never-ending sorting of music, on computer and CDs.
  • Wrote another blog post and enjoyed the process of writing.
  • Got passport photocopies done.
  • Rosie offered to do quick drawings and send them out as postcards. What an awesome idea so I asked her to do Jochen, Lachlan and Kyaw Kyaw.
  • Finished reading Lonely Boy

I’ve got my own strategies for my life – 6th December 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

What is an unusual habit or absurd thing you love?

I’m not sure that I have an unusual habit – if it’s a habit it would be pretty normal.

Absurd things I love though – that would have to be the music I enjoy. I really enjoy music that is difficult to listen to. Cerebral I guess most would call it. Sometimes it’s not even something I enjoy listening to – well, the music – I enjoy the process – the emotional response – even if it is negative.

Amy would be able to list so many things for me here – she really doesn’t enjoy most of the movies I like either.

Despite years of trying to shut my brain off, it looks like I actually enjoy thinking.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to wake up a little earlier than normal today and walk around my garden as the sun was not yet risen over the mountains. It was cold but peaceful. Kim joined me, running with her little legs as fast as she could.

I’m too uncool – 12th August 2015

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Facebook post:

When I were a lad….as in my profile picture…my best friends were a mod, a new romantic, a greebo (look it up), a skinhead and various other motley crews…we loved each other and hated each other’s musical interests. The first Specials album, the first Jam albums, the first Crass albums, the first Iron Maiden albums, the first Slits, first Cardiacs etcetc – they were “punk rock to me, Mr Narrator”. I sincerely hope that every generation since feels the same whether it is Less Than Jake, Skrillex, Blink 182 or something I’m too uncool to be in the loop for.

Maintaining viable underground performance spaces in Sydney – 17th July 2008

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

On Thu, Jul 17 Dirty Shirlow <dirtys***@gmail.com> wrote:

Shaun,
We had some bad news from the council last night, was wondering if you could urgently post this on the mailing list?

————————————————–

Cut To Bits is looking for a new venue!!!
Can you help?
If you have a space/ warehouse / place to house this awesome gig on Saturday 19th July (i.e. this coming sat) please let us know!
Contact David : d***@****mail.com or phone 041*******

————————————-

Shaun,

Basically the council received 2 cop reports from 2 gigs which went on past midnight. The council and cops were fine with everything it seems until we went past our legal operating hours (10 am to 12 pm).

The letter wasn’t too rough and the warehouse owners live overseas so we should be ok but we have had to slow down all operations and will be applying for an arts licence or venue licence asap.

Do you have a email group for all the warehouses operating around Marrickville? I think we should be keeping everyone in the loop with council and cop struggles so that these places can remain in operation. Perhaps it is something I should start up?

I don’t really want to spread this info too far at the moment, only to people who may jeopardise their space by doing a similar thing. We don’t want that.

I’m going to sit down tonight and formulate a letter type thing to email out to this mailing list once we know more, if that’s ok with you?

Also would it be possible to grab a contact for Red Rattler? I’d like to have a chat to the grrrls about how they made thier space legal, how much it’s costing etc ect and if they were able to strike a deal with the council easliy.

Thanks for all your help!

B***

On Thu, Jul 17, shaun <kb***@**mail.com> wrote:
Hey B*** – that sucks!  Will the July 28th show still be ok (remember we’d like to finish around 10.30 for that one) or should I look for somewhere else?
For the Red Rattler contact P*** on 042***
I don’t have a separate list for warehouse spaces in the area at this stage
Hope we can work it out!
Shaun

On Thu, Jul 17 Dirty Shirlow <dirtys***@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Shaun,

Let me talk to everyone tonight. The other issue is the number of people.

To be honest I think it will be a no but let me confirm this eve with the Shirlows. The plan is to resume gigs in Sept. Might be good to sound other spaces out (should be easy as hell for you to find somewhere else though) now but i’ll let you know tonight anyway.

Thanks for P***’s contact, might have a meeting with her when she’s next available.

On Fri, Jul 18 Dirty Shirlow <dirtys***@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Shaun,

We can’t go ahead with that date I’m afraid. Sorry, would just be stupid under the circumstances.

I’ve got the crappy job of letting whose booked until September slowly know. First preferences for gigs past Sept go to people who we’ve had to cancel on. I’m going to finish this process and then send a Shirlow update to your mailing list and ours if that’s ok.

Also there’s a new venue for Cut to Bits:

Cnr of Lawson street and regent street Redfern.

Thanks for all your help!

B***

On Fri, Jul 18 shaun <kb***@**mail.com> wrote:
Ok no worries – I’ll see what I can do.
What’s the council’s actual beef?  Have there been noise complaints?

On Fri, Jul 18 Dirty Shirlow <dirtys***@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Shaun,
The problem is that the police reported 2 gigs as ‘dance parties’ (utter crap) to the council., mainly concerned about us operating past midnight.

They also had a minor concern about the number of people there but I think we can account for that with ‘industry launches’ and ‘ private parties’.

No noise complaints as far as I’m aware.

Cheers,
B***

On Fri, Jul 18 shaun <kb***@**mail.com> wrote:
Hmm – and what is it they want you to do as such?  Have they threatened anything?
Looks like I can move my show to Louie’s – gets confirmed tomorrow

On Fri, Jul 18 Dirty Shirlow <dirtys***@gmail.com> wrote:
No threats just a letter stating ‘we think that you are doing this and you do not have approval to, we suggest that you apply for something else’…

11th Jul 2021 – The issues in this email were common for the DIY warehouse spaces around Marrickville at the time. It seemed to happen a lot to Dirty Shirlows unfortunately. They soldiered on, like many spaces, for a few years. The shows in these spaces brought lots of artists and fans into the area and with so many rules around entries and exits, toilets per person etc, the council and cops had any number of possibilities to get spaces shut down. It was amazing that so many lasted as long as they did. Eventually, a collective got together to purchase one of the warehouses to make a permanent space available called the Red Rattler. Those folks had to spend a small fortune for compliance but eventually, it got off the ground to provide a legitimate DIY venue in the area. They still constantly got hassled though. The Cut to Bits mentioned I’d never been to and have no memory of at all, so despite having my finger supposedly on the pulse with all things underground in Sydney, there were still lots of other ventures happening around. It was a good time for DIY music scenes in Sydney and it felt like everyone was working together to keep things going.

Before the events discussed above:

I’m uncontrollably happy, drank too much coffee and won’t be able to sleep tonight.

Always keep an open mind – 22nd August 2005

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Here’s a short online interview with a cool webzine, foxy digitalis + there’s a few things in the pipeline release wise so be patient.

Who started the label and why?

I, Shaun, started the label around the end of 2003.

I was working with Jochen as a part of Hinterlandt, which was essentially an anything goes live improv unit of between 3 and 23 musicians (and on recordings just as Jochen solo!). Jochen and I shared some similar musical interests and we were both European immigrants, he from Germany me from England, to Sydney. He was on his way back to Germany and I felt that I couldn’t really contribute much to anything else here not being a particularly talented musician in any shape or form but I still wanted to be involved with music somehow.

Being a big fan of file sharing and always on the lookout for new, interesting and exciting music I decided I could give something back myself and hopefully expose others to some of the music I was discovering.

What’s the story behind the name?

Hmmm…it came about a long time ago – I used to write a lot of lyrics and would enjoy playing with language – it’s really just a by-product of that. tenzenmen also released an extremely rare and sort after piece of vinyl back in the early 90’s.

Unbelievably someone else had come up with this name for an album later in the 90’s too – the way I found this out was that the domain name http://www.tenzenmen.com was already taken, hence my website being http://www.ten-zen-men.com

What keeps you inspired to continue doing the label?

Simply – music. The internet has made it so easy to discover fantastic new exciting underground music from people just strumming guitars in their garages in the USA to whacked out craziness in the colds of Finland and through the usual bizarreness that comes to be expected from Japan.

I wish I had more money and time to get this music that is so exciting to me out to the rest of the world. I know there are people out there craving more than the mainstream provides, even when the mainstream claims to be providing the alternative as well.

What’s the hardest thing about running an independent label these days?

Distribution is my biggest concern at the moment. I’ve been trying to counter this with the Eccentrics series which is basically a 3 band split CD and trying to get bands from different scenes and parts of the world to be involved so that they each get exposed to the others.

I also offer extra discs to the artists at my cost price because I feel that live shows is where a band will sell more CDs these days and they can control the price and distribution themselves. This has had some success but I would still like to get my CDs to more outlets just so people have different options.

If you could work with any one artist, who would it be and why?

Hmm…no – I don’t think there’s an artist in particular that fits this criteria…probably it would be any new musician or group that strikes me as totally original and interesting and to be able to expose them to a wider audience. I’d love to be able to pioneer music in much the same way John Peel did in his time.

What’s your demo policy?

No policy – people should send me their music! You would do well to check out some of the previous tenzenmen releases so see if you might fit the criteria of music that moves me – I mean I’m not into straight forward straight up music. I’ll check out any genre so long as boundaries are being pushed and I don’t expect everyone to enjoy every band that I work with.

What do you have planned for the future?

I’m continuing on with the Eccentrics series and always approaching bands to contribute to that. I have a few other possibilities on the boil too. Not trying to be vague here but plans are always changing. I’m a very patient person and I know good things will come when they’re ready.

What’s the best record you’ve heard in the past year?

There’s just so much! I mean I’m still discovering bands dating back to the sixties. For new-ish bands there seems to be this kinda odd scene on the west coast (I think) of the US with bands like the Mae Shi, Rapider Than Horsepower, Alarmist and 400 Blows.

I’ve been amazed by some of the music on a Japanese label called Usagi-Chang, especially Plus-Tech Squeeze Box and Eel – it’s a perfect example of what I was talking about before about musicians pushing boundaries within a genre. The genre here is electro-pop I guess and these guys are just going nuts with it!

I also actually listened to all my own releases recently (by choice!) which showed me the power of the music that it could still appeal to me even after hearing it so many times in preparation for release.

Any closing advice?

Always keep an open mind whatever you’re doing. Thanks for your time and this opportunity – it’s really appreciated.

I was mad as hell – 20th May 2005

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

 9pm – mandarin club, sydney – midnight special! (now with naked on the vague onstage at 11pm)

we all surfaced late and chilled out. we took to the streets at the absolute worst time traffic wise and by the time we made the city i was mad as hell and the band were getting nauseous with my erratic driving – we loaded the gear into the mandarin club, with the fine help of the pure evil trio who were lending their equipment for the night and i spent the next 20 minutes looking for somewhere to park only to have a parking meter swallow my money for nothing in return! at least things could only get better!

the band ran through soundcheck quickly as chief soundman tobey had to dash off to another venue to play a show. we headed off for food and relaxation before getting back to the club at about 10 or 10.30 just as more people were coming through the door.

the mandarin club room on level 4 is pretty spacious and i’m not sure how many people were there but naked on the vague had done some table rearranging earlier to help push interested spectators closer to the stage and as they played their short 20 minute set there were a few people up close and i think everyone else paying attention pretty much.

naked on the vague is matthew from vincent over the sink playing bass and lucy on keyboards and most of the vocal duties. while i prefer the quirkier tunes of vincent this band was pretty great too – it’s kinda fucked up new wave – almost no-wave. i want to see more of this band.

we had a shortish break in which time more people came in and the merch stall got busy. limited express (has gone?) took the stage at around 1am in the end and there were many people here ready for special show time! and they certainly got a show!

the sound was a little ropey in places due to the small pa (no fault of tobey’s) but that didn’t detract from the power and energy of an up close and personal experience – in which jj decided once again it would be a good idea to get on my shoulders during one song. the crowd seemed into it and when the set finished there were shouts for more but the dj’s took over after a brief silence.

i went to man the merch stall but as i sat down the dj’s stopped and it looked like an encore was coming – we got a bassless mophin’ fellet, crowned off with a full band free style riding. i desperately wanted them to come back for more but the band felt the energy was spent so sydney – you missed out on the limited express (has gone?) version of bad brains ‘i against i’.

when i told my friend this he promised to drive to newcastle on sunday to see it! people partied on some more to the dj’s and most everyone picked up some merchandise on their way out during the night. unfortunately for us and our tired bodies this meant we had to stay til the 3am finish knowing we had to get up at 8am to get to the airport for limited express (has gone?) to fly to brisbane in the morning. not to worry though – everyone was pumped and happy and excited.

load out, drive home and once again i went straight to sleep as the band refuelled and koji watched ping pong club!

Tomato ketchup and mayonnaise – 15th May 2005

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

8pm – bar open, melbourne – with the stabs, twitch of the death nerve and vincent over the sink

everyone stirs themselves slowly and we sort ourselves out with coffee and bread before loading gear out to the car and taking the quick trip to bar open. we’re all a little bit disorgansed and not sure how to arrange tonight’s show – finally we agree to set gold coin donation as entry.

there’s people milling about everywhere and suddenly show time arrives starting with vincent over the sink – these guys are so quirkily cool – their tunes are simple, arrangements odd and style bizarre and uncomfortable – just what interests me in a band. i’m so happy that they had this opportunity to play to a bunch more people than they might usually do and nao-san has tweaked a perfect sound for them.

twitch of the death nerve and the room is getting packed with just a little space in front of stage which singer dan soon takes the opportunity to stomp around. twitch are awesome in their complex and dynamic structure and dan is more than just a capable frontman – he has a great voice too. things get a little bizarre mid way through the set as dan covers himself in tomato ketchup and mayonnaise and then continues to throw himself around the room – crashing into me one time, i give him a big shove which splatters him across the floor but he gets up without missing a beat and continues on his merry way. needless to say the crowd loved the craziness.

next the stabs performed their fucked up aural sonic bliss – they take some standard rock elements and pound them out and the crowd appreciated it greatly. i was kinda distracted trying to organise everything during the stabs set though – hopefully they’ll make it up to sydney one day and i can get a proper dose.

bar open is now packed to the gills and there is anticipation in the air. after a nice introduction from mark (who really does believe limited express (has gone?) are the greatest band in the world!) they unusually kick off the set with tiger rock and we’re treated to yukari bouncing around the stage and floor space and some almost silent subtlety during the bridge section with breathy whispers of tiger rock (supposedly a dedication to yukari’s favourite baseball team).

yukari straps the bass on and here comes special show time in full force with the beginning refrain of aloha! i skip this song on the cd having heard it so many times but there’s something new and fresh about it every time they play it live because the band and audience both respond with big smiles and big bounces and everyone is caught up in the moment – from here on out the audience is captivated – totally sucked in to the experience!

the band are happy enough to play in front of just a few people but when they have the attention of a couple of hundred people up close and personal they turn into pure magic. i’m anticipating jinichiro craziness during stop>go and beckon him into the crowd and he willingly obliges and i soon get the message he wants to go upwards so i squat down and slowly lift jj up on my shoulders, i do my best to stagger and sway to the rhythm! i get a tap on the head and lower jj down and he hops off perfectly in time with the next section of the song. when the song finishes i remind jinichiro that i’m an old man!

the rest of the set maintains the high level of excitement – peaking for me with the new song (possibly titled “ichi ni san shi…”) which is rivetting in it’s typical limited express (has gone?) madness – i’m in heaven right here! talk to me, all right closes out the set with jinichiro throwing his guitar to the audience and performing his almost trademark windmill jump (it’s not like townsend, believe me!). soon the chant of ‘we want more’ is raised and limited express (has gone?) are happy to oblige for a bassless version of mophin’ fellet before finishing off band like with an ass kicking run through free style ridin’ – yukari overcome with emotions and happiness runs up to koji behind the kit and falls forward with her bass flailing and the drum are rendered unusable – this is the end – yukari, not sure what’s going on, goes off to the side and curls into a ball before being beckoned back to the stage for a final bow!

everyone is happy, the room is full of joy. my god – that was special show time all right!

it’s a couple of hours before we manage to get out – the merchandise has halved already – after two days! jj calls japan later to get more sent out! everyone is energised and it takes me an hour or so to count out all the donation coins while the others load out and make a trip back to mark’s with equipment before coming back for us.

i was astounded to find over 500 bucks in donations including a couple of 20 dollar notes! this meant we could pay the support bands a hundred bucks or more! (twitch of the death nerve donating all their share to limited express (has gone?)!)

we find some twitch friends outside trying to get their car started – we can’t help them but as we’re driving away dan appears and races up to the car, dives through the front window and shouts ‘aaallllooohhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!’ much to the amusement of us all!

when we get home mark teaches jj some classical spanish guitar – it’s great to watch mark showing jinichiro the song and see him struggle to play it (it’s pretty complex)! i give in to weariness and fall asleep happy and smiling.


pic: andrew watson

After the gig – 14th May 2005

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

8pm – northcote social club, melbourne – supporting the rogers sisters and love of diagrams

despite numerous phone calls and cat’s crying we wake up well rested and enjoying the sensational sunshine as we, again, lazily head to the city and wander around cafes and stores. there’s a strange tension as i’m sure everyone is thinking about the shows tonight and how important they are.

mark takes us up to the northcote social club and we get acquainted with the setup and introduced to everyone, band members, organisers and staff. limited express (has gone?) do a quick soundcheck and make sure everything is perfect.

the merchandise table is setup and the doors open – it’s great to see a big turn out for a support band – something which has been worrying me about the rogers sisters support slots. it soon becomes obvious that everything will be fine as the band put extra effort into special showtime and the crowd love it. it’s a short fast set and everyone is happy.

the merchandise stall soon becomes very busy and remains that way through the night except when the bands are playing.

love of diagrams, despite worrying about how to follow limited express (has gone?) pull off a nice tight set – the sound in the venue is extremely good.

the rogers sisters put on a good show too and the sold out venue is packed with happy punters. the merchandise stall is still busy for limited express (has gone?) even 30 minutes after the gig has finished and we are trying to pack everything up – occassionally having to run to the car to get more cds for people! amazing!


pic: andrew watson

2am – the pony (late show), melbourne – with the new


but the night is young for us.

mark drives me and the gear to the pony while everyone else gets some food.

at the pony the japanese grind band palm are still playing their show despite it being time for the new to load in and get ready. the pony is packed with people – many who have come from the northcote to see limited express (has gone?) again and after getting all the gear up the stairs and passed all the people myself, dan (singer in twitch) and our friend darius start blowing up balloons in anticipation of extra special show time!

the new play some cool emo punk rock and enjoy themselves in the hot sweaty confines of the pony. a mad scramble to swap out gear ensues and soon people make their way to the front to see what all the fuss is about.

a quiet start with the quirky plinks and plonks of donuts as i hand out party poppers and kick around the balloons before it’s straight ahead into aloha and a set that includes a couple of new songs with yukari taking the mic stand into the crowd to sing right up close and personal. the drunken throng respond and it’s party time at the pony.

yukari finishes off with ‘thank you – i love you’ and dives headfirst into the drumkit while jj’s feedback staggers to a halt. and it’s all smiles for crowd and band. it takes us another hour or so to load out through the mob of drunks – still going at 4am! a few of us wait outside chatting with the new and sipping coffees to keep warm and stay awake.

we eventually get home and to sleep as the sun comes up.


pic: andrew watson