I have done it again… Despite the best of intentions I have left it to the day before the gig to send out an email. So, everyone please cancel any plans you have made for tomorrow evening, apologise to anyone you have irritated and blame me for the situation. We are playing tomorrow night at the Avoca Theatre with the Bathtub Gin Orchestra for International Jazz Day. Here is a flyer with more deets and a new YouTube vid of the BGO:
I realised as I set up this email, that the list time I wrote was the week before our daughters birth! I was harassing you to come to last years version of the same gig. Some things change and some stay the same. Incase you’re interested we had a little girl who we named Kitty. She’s our finest work yet, but is still just getting her head around things so wont start gigging with us for another year or so.
Sorry to be brief but I have a small window of time that I am allowed to make noise… and I have noisy plans to pursue!
My wonderful wife, the one and only, Mrs Phoebe Haselden the second of her name is as pregnant as they come and has her final pre-baby gig this very Friday! And it is no ordinary gig…
We have been recently dabbling in the dark arts of collaboration and have been playing with some exceptional jazz muso’s from the mighty Cenny Coast that we have gotten to know and love over the past 5ish years. Namely Mr Dorian Mode on the keys, vocals and megaphone, Fiona Lugg on the double bass, Toby Hall on the drums and Brendan Berlach on the clarinet and sax. This little project has been named “The Bathtub Gin Orchestra” and has provided, in a very short amount of time, a huge amount of joy to all that taste it!
Here is an hors d’oeuvre of the project that I whipped up one COVID infested day:
This footage was taken within the first 2 hours of us having ever played all together before! We didn’t know what songs we were going to play beforehand we just knocked off the bottle cap and skulled the intoxicating music that flew out of our orifices.
We will be playing at our favourite venue the Avoca Theatre, this Friday the 30th of April from 7:30pm for International Jazz Day which happens to also be Pheebs and my wedding anniversary. What a day, what a day!
Tickets are $29.50 you can buy them through the link below, AND, you can use your NSW discover vouchers to pretty much get tickets for free.
If you are inclined to sweet caring thoughts about the wellbeing of our beloved Phoebe you will be pleased to hear that she has gone fantastically well throughout her pregnancy and currently her and the baby seem to be in tip top shape!
“But captain, I haven’t done a gig for months, I am weak and stifled, the suns rays hurt my bleating eyes, I can’t remember how to tune my guitar let alone play a host of entertaining songs, I think I want to become a frog instead of remain a performer, I’ve been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true, wanted a woman, never bargained for you…”
“Quiet, mortal!”
The end.
As I’m sure I have made apparent, my head is all over the place at this present moment. Hmmm… Some sensory delights?
So, I have just been down a youtube rabbit warren and have returned vaguely more focused than before. We have a gig coming up! Woo hoo! Pheebs and I have some new stuff to try out in front of an audience and we are well and truely ready to do some gigs again.
This gig is at the good old Manly Fig, now held at Seaforth Bowling Club. If you haven’t been to a Fig gig before they are a special breed. Steve and Robbie are a husband and wife team who created and have run this gig for years, it’s on once a months and they get 3 acts in each time. They try to make the acts varied each month so there is always a lot of variety each gig. This gig is so popular for acts to play at there is about a 2 year waiting list, and thats if you pass Steve and Robbie’s internal vetting system! We have played here before as a duo and with our bigger band, this time will be the duo. Gigs like the Fig are that perfect balance that well organised for a good sized crowd, yet super community based and relaxed, we love them, they are our home ground.
The gig is next Friday September 11th. Tickets are $30 and because of COVID bookings are legally essential! How fierce! To book please email Steve and Robbie at: info@theManlyFig.org
That is all I really have to report, and this measly email has taken me way too long, I was going to try and do some practice before I make the Captain her dinner.
I hope I haven’t kept you on your toes, checking your inboxes daily, for the past 7 months since I last wrote. Of all times to be emailing, I admit, this is a rather strange time indeed, all the gigs we have had booked, both public and private, on sea and on land, for the rest of the year, have been cancelled. Our calendar has become a barren landscape, the days of the week bits of tumble weed floating around without much purpose.
But the www, the world wide web, the wonderful workspace of whatever, the weaver of words and whimsies, the wroughter of wires and waves, the wrangling widow of worship, has given us the means to continue chipping away at whatever it is that we do. (Yes, I made up the word wroughter, but it is absurd it is not already a word, one should be able to add ‘er’ to the end of any word to verbify it and create a job title out of it.) So, our main Mimosa mission for this isolation period is to upload a video to YouTube at least once every 2 weeks, and we would love it if you could be a part of this process with us, the viewing part.
Here are some links to 3 videos we have put up recently:
We would really love to keep doing this indefinitely, even when humans on Earth becomes less infected with the coronavirus, and the greatest inspiration for us to continue, is when we get emails from YouTube letting us know we have new subscribers. So, if you are inclined to do a bit of YouTubing, please consider subscribing to our channel. There is a subscription button underneath every video.
For those very keen observers, you may have noticed there is now a little instagram symbol underneath this rambling mass of words, as well as a youtube symbol, click them if you dare. Your judgement was correct, we are now instagramers too (note the usefulness of the ‘er’ here). My father is thrilled, and I have ceased dragging my feet and am now actively promoting gigs (when they exist) on instagram and putting up our YouTube vids there too. So, another request from us to you, if you have instagram, we would be touched if you followed us on there too.
During the course of this virus, Mimosa Duo is going cyber, I have plans to set up a few other things and to enhance our online presence, so if you are keeping an eye out, once Google is renamed to Mimosa Duo, you will know that my work has been completed. I will also at some stage work out how to get our recordings onto Spotify.
Thanks for reading, as you can tell I am in no rush here and I appreciate you putting up with my word experiments, thanks for staying subscribed to this email list, thanks for your replies in advance and we hope you are all coping with this bizarre situation as best as you can. If you need any ideas for things to do to fill your time, one of my titles is Morgan, Master of Obsessive Hobby Acquisition, so just ask me for ideas.
Cya around the wroughter. Morg.
I nearly forgot! Whilst I have been perusing around the wrangling widow of worship I have updated our CD prices on bandcamp. They are now cheaper than ever before, happy isolation!
I don’t know what is happening! Here I am again, bright and early, its 7:32am, I have already made porridge and devoured it, I’ve hung up the curtains after Pheebs so lovingly washed 5 years of dust off them, and now, I’ve clocked onto my official Mimosa Duo work shift early and am sending out emails. Are you impressed or what? Sometimes I wonder if I am still human or if I have been secretly armed with a brain chip that enhances my bodily functions before 9am.
Speaking of human enhancement, my Dad has just gotten rid of his original hip and replaced with a presumably titanium one. Does that make him a cyborg?! I was thinking that it does… but on further reading it seems as though it, unfortunately, does not. Actually, I just went down a youtube rabbit hole, the jury is out, he may well be cyborg… Do you feel cyborg Dad?
Anyway, Pheebs and I have a mini tour coming up! We will be heading up to Tintenbar to play at their Upfront Club. Pheebs has been talking this gig up to me for years! It sounds like a spectacular place and I am expecting to see you all there. All of you! That will be this very Saturday (28th Sep) night at 7:30pm. So in precisely 60 hours. Have a squiz at their website to find out more about them and the gig this Sat: https://www.tintenbarupfront.com/
We will then be heading up to Brisvegas to play at Doo Bop next Thursday (3rd Oct). We have played there once before, upstairs, which was great. But, this time we will be downstairs… In the smokey depths. We are also doing something new and exciting for this gig and getting some local muso’s to come in and join us. We will be playing with Cam Ford on guitar, Pete Walters on bass and Trent Bryson on drums! Shall be a marvellous evening.
Well its 8:26am now… Talk about efficiency. 335 words per hour, look at me go!
You are reading a world record! This is, as far as my unreliable memory is concerned, the earliest Mimosa Newsletter to have ever been written! Recently, the one and only Phoebe, violinist and wife extraordinaire, has started taking an interest in the incredible power and influence these emails have on people, she is now taking it upon herself to remind me, daily, when she would like an email sent. So being the diligent and obedient husband and business partner that I am, I am ticking this off this morning, first cab of the rank.
Pheebs has good reason to want an email sent though as we are about to embark on a journey that she has done a great job in organising. The Mimosa Duo is headed South for the following 10 days. We will be playing in townships and villages alike, some places we have been before and some that are new and uncharted. Here is what our little schedule looks like:
Fri 4th July – The National Press Club – 6pm to 8:30pm – Canberra Sat 5th July – Smith’s Alternative – 4pm to 6pm – Canberra Thurs 11th July – Paris Cat – From 8:30pm – Melbourne Fri 12th July – Bond St Event Centre – From 7pm – Sale Sat 13th July – Paynesville Wine Bar – From 7pm – Paynesville Sun 14th July – Murrah Hall – From 3pm – Murrah
The party Commodore leaves home at about 12pm tomorrow, Pheebs will have snacks prepared and I will hopefully have remembered to check the oil and pump up the tyres.
The day is quickly escaping my grasp, oh Monday where have you gone! Flittered away in multiple trips up and down the freeway and a few more youtube videos than planned. They were worth it though…
I just wanted to say hello to our Kiwi subscribers. We will be leaving tomorrow morning to do our 3rd running tour of the Nelson region in the North of the South Island. Cant wait to get there!
Our gigs are as follows: The Boathouse – Nelson – Fri 26th April, 8pm – Tickets Available Online HERE Toad Hall – Motueka – Sat 27th April, 7:30pmish Captains Daughter – Sunday 28th April, 5pmish
Please check with the venues to confirm the start times. Our wonderful contact Liz has organised all these and I can never quite remember the exact times…
Phoebe and I are still here, alive and kicking. Its cruise ship season for us at the moment so we have been in and out of town like yo-yos. I fear we are slowly evolving into strange new breed of land / boat fairing mammals, kind of amphibious but worse because we can’t breath underwater. We are in limbo between worlds, unsure of where we truely belong, able to walk on unsteady ground, yet unable to control exactly where we are going! What lies ahead for such a creature?! Who knows… who cares… its been fun so far.
Bowralelians (people from Bowral), we will be heading down your way this very weekend on Sunday the 3rd of Feb! This will be our third lunch time show at the Bowling Club. We always enjoy ourself at this gig, there is always a lovely crowd, a delicious roast and some good banter. We have a number of new pieces to play for you as well as some of our old favs. Look forward to seeing you there again! Tickets are on sale here: https://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/sunday-roast-jazz-featuring-mimosa-duo
Facebook event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/337251486861892/
Our vaguely monthly band gigs that we have recently started up in Newtown at the Black Sheep have been going really well. It’s a great fun gig to play in a relaxed and responsive environment. We will be there again on both Feb 24th and March 24th with the boys. Swing on by if you get the chance.
Also coming up we will be doing some New England region gigs (I think they fall within the region…) one in Murrurundi one in Nundle. We will be playing at The Barn on Saturday March the 9th. If you are local to that area you have probably heard of it, if not its a fantastic venue run by a wonderful local lady who bring out all sorts of people to the area. Please get in touch if you are interested in coming to see us there. We will also be playing for the Nundle Country Picnic on Sunday the 17th of March. Its on the grounds of the Nundle Woollen Mill, there will be food, drink and music! Perfect! For more info head this way: http://nundle.com.au/nundle-country-picnic/
As per usual all our gigs are on our website right here: https://www.mimosaduo.com/gigs/
Totally unrelatedly, I have been trying to plan an outdoorsy adventure date for this Saturday with 2 other buddies in around the Central Coast / Newcastle region. We are all coming up with a plan then voting on the greatest one to do… I am stuck… Any ideas?
Its a busy week for us over here at the Mimosa HQ. Gigs everyday from last Saturday to next Sunday then off to a cruise contract for a week on Monday! Nothing on the 11th and 13th though, everyone needs a break to play table tennis, right? Right. Your bloody well right.
On the agenda today we have:
1. Gig Promotion
2. Band name discussion
3. General banter
Lets begin. Simply and in bold to start with, then more in depth and less obtrusively afterwards:
UPCOMMING GIGS
Tonight October 9th – Parramatta Lanes Festival thing – 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Tomorrow October 10th – Parramatta Lanes Festival thing – 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Sunday October 14th – Black Sheep Bar, Newtown – 6pm – 9pm WITH BAND
Sunday November 4th – Tastes at the Bay, Nelson’s Bay – 1:00pm – 4:30pm
Saturday November 10th – River Festival, Lane Cove Plaza – 10am – 12pm
Sunday November 11th – Newtown Festival, Black Sheep Bar, Newtown – 3pm – 4pm WITH BAND
We are playing tonight and tomorrow night for Parramatta Lanes. I want to say its a Festival but their marketing team seems to have avoided that word… it is however, clearly, a mysterious and awe inspiring gathering of music, food and lights, that anyone in their right minds would make an effort to get to. We will be playing 2 x 45 min sets each night one at 7:40pm one at 8:45pm.
Now… you may have noticed two of the gigs are WITH BAND. This is true. We are trying to start playing more regularly with a few others, 4 to be precise. Double bass, guitar, sax and drums. We have played with all these guys a fair amount in the past and we love it but time goes on and things are hard to organise. Anyway, in a recent bout of inspiration we have tried to start a semi regular gig with them all to see where it can take us. These gigs are the beginning of that! What is pressing though is that we don’t have a good name for the band yet… I personally would like to include ‘Mimosa’ somewhere in the name to help with marketing but Pheebs doesn’t care too much, she cares mainly for a fun vibe… Any ideas?
We have been asked back to Tastes at the Bay in Nelsons Bay, which is great as its a lovely little Festival! We are very much looking forward to spending the day up there and filling the streets with our noise.
Since the last email I have set up an instagram account… I put it off for years but recently failed… anyway, the question is, will this email be automatically posted from this Mailchimp account through Facebook to Instagram?! Hold onto your seats!
Finally, after months of having been left in a corner collecting dust, a cockroach unknowingly pressed my ‘on’ button and woke me up. I can’t believe its August already! Morgan says he sends out this email once a month or 2… Lies, its been 3, and its me who sends them out! Seriously, you would think he would get sick of playing guitar and trumpet all day and maybe spend some time emailing his beloved fans, but no, it is apparently up to I, Mørgân, his automated email writing robot to get the job done.
** Sunday 12th August – Avoca Theatre – 1pm **
This is the main event for this issue. Mimosa are performing another 2 x set concert at the Avoca Beach Theatre this coming Sunday afternoon. They have performed here numerous times now and it is a fantastic venue to see them in. This concert is going to highlight their classical origins and some of the repertoire from their much loved first album ‘Mimosa’. Along side a few never before performed pieces from their university days and maybe a new one or two… You will have to go and see it to find out. Tickets are $24.50, you can book online here: http://avocabeachpicturetheatre.com.au/mimosa-duo or buy tickets at the door. Let me know how it goes, I generally get left at home but love to see the footage of it once it is done.
Morgan and Phoebe performed with their bigger band at the Manly Fig a month or so ago. For the first time ever they performed along side a drummer, as well as a second guitar, double bass and sax. It was a great success, well, the photos I have seen have been littered with grins from the band and audience alike and the way Morgan and Phoebe talked about it was rather ecstatic. In order to keep the vibes flowing Morgan has finally done some work and booked a gig in Sydney at the Black Sheep in Newtown, Sunday afternoon on the 2nd of September. Things need to be finalised but its looking as though its on so keep your eyes on the mimosaduo website for conformation.
I am scanning Mimosa’s diary and can see that they have a tour organised up to Brisbane around the end of September. I have found a few confirmed gigs and a few potentials so again keep your eyes on their website for more info soon. Next time I see them I will give Mimosa a talking to and make sure they keep on top of their gig organising, they are putting a shed up in the backyard and its like their brains have been put on hiatus!
27th September – Welder’s Dog – Armidale – Evening
29th September – Doo Bop Jazz Bar – Brisbane – 6pm – 10pm
3rd October – The Piano Bar – Maroochydore – 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Its been a pleasure acting out what I was programmed to do, thank you for reading. I will endeavour to program myself to be able to turn on and off in future so I can write more regularly. And while I’m at it maybe learn how to cook lemon meringue tarts.
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(Binary for “So long and thanks for the chat”)
