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The Original Songwriters @ The Fym Fyg Bar (Bethnal Green) WITH STRING QUARTET!!! | London, South | ||
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The Bedford - With STRINGS - Live Webcast... | London, South | ||
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Chinawhite - FULL 10-PIECE BAND!!! | London, London and South East | ||
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London Unplugged@ Blagclub Notting Hill Gate | London, South | ||
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Soho Revue Bar - London Unplugged | London, London and South East |
So! Gigs coming up are above. Come see us at some nice little swanky venues. Full band chinawhites will be fit. As will the show with the fabidosi string quartet at fym fyg bar in bethnal green. Alternatively come see me as a loner struttin my thang :)
Since our big EMI Publishing signing party gig at pigalle, it's been meeting after meeting, from visionary a n r, to songwriting collab opportunities, to our boys at EMI publishing UK, to non-visionary a n r! Ha! We've been offered an amazing record deal from german partners for the GAS region (germany, austria, switzerland), a major distributor and some major european marketing companies and venue owners. It guarantees us a 50 date tour for 2009, an amazing marketing budget, our own tour bus and our own apartment in hamburg. It also pays for us to finish the record with a great budget, which means we are defo getting my favorite orchestra in on the job! Eeeeeeeeek! Get in. Woop woop!
However, now it would seem that the majors in the UK also want to get involved. If they don't make offers before we sign the german deal in december then all that's left for them is licensing our project out at a later date for a much higher cost to them, territory by territory. Roll on december...
Tomorrow we're heading off to Berlin for the EMI song-writing camp. There are twelve songwriters from around the world and I am the only UK representative! Well excited. Many thanks to Peter Ende and the chaps at EMI Berlin for giving me this amazing opportunity to collaborate with some of the world's top writers. The event is taking place at the Gibson Guitar Showroom in Berlin, so no doubt I will be playing on some pretty swish geeee-tars! Yay!
After the EMI Camp, we have also been invited to attend Popkomm which is a fantastic world music and entertainment business international conference and festival. There will be a lot of music industry bods and up-and-coming musos there, so i'm gonna get my finest glad rags on! Ha! We've also been invited to Midem in Cannes which is another music conference(January 2009). Woop woop!
Just got back from an amazing few days in Hamburg. We have been offered a Major European Record Deal which is stupendously good news. It's a new model deal based around some great international partners, including a great distribution network, some amazing venues/stadiums across europe, a kick-ass marketing company and some incredibly successful directors / producers. I'm not really allowed to say anymore until the negotiations are well under way, but I will keep you all updated - it's all massively bonza and very artist friendly! To be honest, i'm pretty bowled over that all this is happening so quickly. Our management KRMB have done so so much for us in such a short period of time, and we're all incredibly grateful. Thanku kindly :)
We are finishing our debut album "Parrysland" in "Home Studios" (Hamburg - www.home-studios.com) with throughout December 2008. I recorded a handy-cam perspective of our first visit to check out this amazing studio complex, graced by the likes of One Republic, Lauryn Hill and Mariah Carey in recent months. One Republic were recording new material as we arrived. Scary! Acclaimed producer "Franz Plasa" will be working with us, as well as the "National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Germany" on string duties! Ahhhhhhhhhh, so excited. The desks were something else, and apparantly they will have the new hybrid SSL desks by december so we will be the first to use them! They also had the coolest gibson robot guitars and a gorgeous Taylor Acoustic that fell in love with. My heart aches. Watch the video and check out the chipmunk voice at the end - priceless:
Being on the road all the time has meant that i've had loads of time to get some really cool lyrics and melodies down, so there are lots of new songs in the pipe-line, and i'm really pleased with them. More to come in due course. Off to Berlin now, will blog upon my return!
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaar!
We've just come back from "the" most productive trip to Hamburg, EVER, having signed a 3 year WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING DEAL with EMI. Get in!
Our management KRMB set up a meeting with the head of EMI Europe, Peter Ende (a very powerful but very down-to-earth chap). It was important for us to go straight to the top of EMI with this project and get the backing of someone with some balls and vision. This is our man - what a visionary, inspirational character! The recent EMI troubles do not bother me one bit in the german office; Peter Ende runs a solid office like a bulldog meeting targets etc. I'm confident they will be really good for us.
We sat and listened to the album in his office with him (on a beastly sound system). I was bricking it, sweaty palms and all that, but apparently I acted as "cool as a cucumber!" Haha!
He absolutely loved it. Said he hadn't heard anything like it in months! Oh my word, I was sat there laughing! I couldn't believe what this powerful man was saying to us:
"You're an exceptional talent he said, we're going to have a lot of fun working with you"
We discussed what we wanted finance for, and Peter offered us a deal on the spot as a 'song-writer', and a very good deal at that. A great advance (according to our lawyer Adam Van Straten - http://www.vanstraten.co.uk), tour support, help with demos / our album, placement opportunities (movies, tv, video games, ringtones), co-write opportunities around the world, collection of my royalties and a host of other exciting ideas. There's been talk of our debut album "Parrysland" being placed with a number of different producers, namely Will Jackson of Pigeon Detectives fame (who we've been working with recently), Franz Plasa (50 cents, Mariah Carey etc.), and also Jeff Lynne (the lead singer of ELO and one of my all-time heros). I really want someone who is really up on their strings so I have a lot of listening to do.
I never thought i'd have such amazing opportunities, so I am grately thankful to everyone around me who has been busting their ass, mainly the band, producers and my management KRMB who have achieved so much for me in such a short period of time (three months!!!) Crazy shizzle! You all rock my little world!
However, this is just the beginning for us. We have a lot of hard-work to do now. The record needs finishing, and we also want to look to secure a record deal and some further finance now, as well as lots of fun gigs with cool bands and such.
The news stories of our deal have started already. The deals not even signed yet! We are signing in Berlin once our bulldog lawyer has done the do:
http://www.lcm.ac.uk/news/ashley-hicklin-emi.htm
EMI have booked me into a massive songwriting camp in Berlin already! I only met them yesterday! They don't mess around in Germany. If they like something, they go with it is what my management told me. They weren't half right! Get in!
I love hamburg as a city (Stumbled upon the red light district which was a scary experience! Never seen anything like it! It's all legal out there. Madness! And no we certainly did not induldge! Cultural experience only!)
Gigs recently have been ace, Carling Academy and Pigalle were unreal. Great venues and amazing response, thanks for all those who came down to support us. Videos of Hamburg / Gigs will all appear on line in the next week or so!
Woooohoooooo! I've only waited ten years for this moment to come, and now i've eventually found it; an acoustic guitar that meets all of my very picky requirements! I'm so fussy when it comes to guitars, but I actually think i've fallen in love. It's a hand-made custom little beauty, really unique and really quirky, and it sounds the shizzle!
A chap from Wembley made it for us called 'Brandoni', little Italian man that has bought out all the old parts from italian king's of cool 'eko' and also 'vox'. He's just made a guitar for Chris Martin from Coldplay so I feel quite priveliged to be playing this guitar! Brandoni's warehouse is just full of bits of boddies and necks everywhere, so he's wanged together the body of a gorgeous little vintage classical guitar (a Rio 6) with a flying bridge and an electric guitar neck off of an old 60's vox. I'm having a few issues with the pickup not giving enough signal onstage but he's gonna sort it out swiftish before our big gig at the Carling Academy which you can win tickets for. Click here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19780163411&ref=ts
Massive massive massive shout out to my management for sorting me out with this little beast of a guitar. I haven't been able to afford one for ten years (no joke) so they have really made me smile!
In other news, KRMB Management have also arranged for me to go over to Germany with them to meet some very important industry folk (namely the CEO of EMI Europe Peter Ende and also Franz Plaza, who's produced the 'Fugees', 'Mariah Carey' and another of KRMB's acts 'Bora'). Check out the size of the desks in Franz's studio:
We are going over to discuss the release of a single in Germany, a market we that we feel fits our demographic pretty darn well. I've been looking into this carefully, and it seems that Germany are ahead of us here in the Uk, especially on the subject of harnessing new technologies. The labels in the uk can't seem to get their little brains around how to combat mp3 piracy, or at least how to subsidise the loss of sales due to such piracy. They tie themselves up in legislation. Germany (and Canada for that matter) however, are really on the ball and have just tried to deal with it, at least in the short term; they have implemented a system where the record companies are taxing the technological companies that mass produce mp3 players / cd burners / blank cd-rs and computers with cd burners, and they are then dividing this tax equally between themselves and the artist. 50/50 basis I believe as well. Pretty nifty eh? Why can't the uk do that? Because the labels refuse to give the artist a 50/50 split? Or because they can't get their little heads out of a dated business model? Thoughts opinions?...
One more thing while i'm at it, just got home tonight from mixing with WILL FREAKIN JACKSON! Oh my good lord! What a historical legend! This guy has A LOT of disks on his walls, he was the man behind the "Pigeon Detectives" first album, "the Music's" first album, and in excess of 1 MILLION COPIES of the Smurfs Christmas No.1 album / single! Haha! He was Mr Friggin Smurf! Crazy! I loved his approach to mixing; he's very like me in the fact he's so anal about his mixes being polished but still sounding live and with energy. Everything has to sit just right in the mix. Everything has to have just enough space to breath. Just enough reverb. Inspirational chap. Can't wait to hear the final mix of our single "Home". It's being released on November 3rd! Go buy it!
Oh, and come to a gig and say hello - We'd like that a lot! This is a live video we just got back from City Showcase 2008, taken in a shop window on Regent's Street London:
This last week or so has been mental. Gigs nearly every night of the week, radio interview slots, and lots of industry interest.
We've been asked to perform at not one, but TWO of this year's London "City Showcase" Events. This event showcases up-and-coming musical talent and has unearthed the likes of Newton Faulkner, Bens Brother, David Ford and Amy Winehouse in recent years. If you can come down then please do!
June 3rd 2008 1:30PM -
Timberland Store - Regents Street - LONDON, South
June 6th 2008 3:45PM -
Ben Sherman Store - Carnaby Street - LONDON, South
There has been quite a bit of publishing interest in our album "Parrysland" which we have literally only just finished, from some massive publishers and some smaller ones two.
We have also had some quite exciting news regarding a clothing sponsorship deal, some massive brands being talked about, and a lot of money being talked about. Scary shizzle. Guitar endorsement is also on the cards, but I don't wana jinx that one coz I really want some new toys to play with. Ha! I've been playing the same Eko acoustic for ten years! No joke! A hand-me-down from my dad. If anyone can pull-off a guitar endorsement, it's our manager Kevin Reynolds who is working his little cotton socks off for us. Big respect :)
Hear some of the new tracks in our new widget below. These are early mixes and still unmastered but you get the picture:
So! The time has come - The big move to London, we've been putting it off for a while, but now it seems we have no choice - it's all quite exciting really. Debut Album 'Parrysland' is now (more-or-less) finished! Just tweaks now... Massive shout out to producer Bruce Woods for all his help (and patience) with us. We're picky bastards, but it sounds sweet! :)
We officially have a new management team and are proud to be working (very hard) with Kevin Reynolds and Tony Patrick of KRMB Management, alongside all their associates. Contracts are currently being checked over by solicitors, but i'm pretty confident that i'm 100% behind these guys coz they're amazing chaps, work really freakin hard, genuine to the core (and i'm not being naive i've worked with crappy management before), oodles and oodles of faith in our project and most of all, these guys have been there (toured the world) and really really have our artistic interests at heart. Of course there's financial incentives, but who the frell doesn't have financial incentives in this business? Anyways, they have already booked us a blitz of London shows at some swanky-ass venues and showcase nights with some top promoters. If you can come, then do chat to us and i'll get u a drink - tap water anyone? :)
KRMB have already had some rave responses from some top industry people about our material. They've been looking to get us a good agent and are in talks with Kevin Moss from http://www.formula13.co.uk/artistbooking/ . All good shizz-ma-dizzle. They are also sorting our new website which is in the pipe-line, www.ashleyhicklin.com - watch that space! There is lots planned for us over the next few months, and i'm feeling pretty good about it all! Wooohoo!
Album art is an on-going process, but we've been working and planning for quite a while with an absolute legend called Simon Heaton (who really is the absolute shizzle dizzle). The guy's work blows me away. This is his initial mock designs - it's like a ye olde book cover - looks phit:
We've got a meeting with photographers tomorrow to discuss plans for our shoot. We pretty much know what we want, but i'm sure our management and the photographer / stylist people have ideas of their own too. It's gonna be BBC Radio 2 all over. Haha! i'm such a geek, but frankly I don't give a shizzle, Radio 2 is where the money's at...
Quite a few people are asking to hear the new album tracks, but i'm gonna resist until it's been mastered i'm afraid, sorry folks. It shouldn't be more than a few weeks now I reckon, promise ;)
What a sad day it was to hear about the death of the superb sax player Jason Rae. Seriously, if you ever saw the Leeds-based Haggis Horns play live you'd know what I mean. This guy was something else on a baritone sax. My thoughts go out to the Rae family and friends. It sure makes you think twice about dabbling in drugs and who you trust for that matter. The world lost a good guy on saturday, but I hope the Haggis Horns battle on coz they rule.
Apparantly we were played on BBC Radio Leeds on Saturday Night, but we didn't know anything about it! They got hold of our Live session we did for BBC 1 Look North and played it on the Graham Liver show.
We also had a good feature in the local Yorkshire Evening News Paper with a nice big picture overlooking Leeds with Christine Boothroyd who has sponsored a CD of Leeds hottest musical exports! And we're on it! Woo!
The lovely Troubadour Quartet layed down some strings for the album this past week. It was a barrel of giggles! Henry, first fiddle, thought it would be funny to perform in just his boxers for the duration of the session. It was pretty funny, until he nearly got caught by someone that co-owns / runs the studio we've been recording in. JD drummer maestro also layed down some drums in the studio (check out his guns and his Zildjan K cymbals - very nice indeed):
We played a really good busy London gig in the Wilmington Arms in Angel a cupla weeks back. A few managers from Supervision Managment Group (who look after Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand etc.) were there scouting and one of them (Dan Moore) approached me afterwards. He liked the set and had some good pointers for future reference. Top bloke. Big shout to Kevin from KRMB management who came down and is subsequently booking us for a load of showcases, absolute legend. The chaps from Underdog management & PR also deserve a big pat on the back for putting on such a good night. Mega success all round i'd say :)
Bob Miller (Corinne Bailey Rae's manager) rang me having watched our live video for BBC1 this week. He reckons we shoud all stay away from the major labels at the moment... He's not the first to mention such. Then a manager friend of mine sent me this:
Interesting stuff - Thoughts anyone?
Anyways, Bob Miller is busy in the US at the moment with Corinne, but he sent down a few industry types to see me playing to an absolutely rammed little venue in Huddersfield the other night - "Zephyr"? Megatron gig. One of the industry people was the lead guitarist from SMOKIE! Crazy! He co-runs a management company and they are taking me for dinner next week which is cool. I don't often get chance to sit and enjoy food for free :)
Leeds College of Music have released their first CD featuring 6 of their best exports - They featured our track "Memories & Faces" - I got sent for a photo shoot with this director woman (who was quite hot may I add - hope to god she doesn't read this) of a big company "The Chambers" who are sponsoring the CD. They are putting the CD in posh hotel rooms all across Leeds... Check out my picture in the cover art - It's in Leeds Town Hall in front of the big Organ! :)
Our Live session for BBC 1 is going to be aired on the Main "Big Screens" in Leeds & Bradford everyday for a few weeks every night - I'm hoping bigger screens don't stretch your face or belly or else we could all look like rite fatties :)
Looks like our single "Home" could be distributed by local Leeds label IVOLV.
In other news, i've been asked to arrange strings for a cool new band on Heavenly (Scar on 45), had 3 wicked gigs this week and a stupid amount of studio sessions (album is starting to sound polished), been teaching ignorant shitty kids how to sing opera?!"$, rehearsing, texting, calling and now i'm blogging. I seriously need to kip and take a dump :)
Until next time, adios!
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