16/04/07
Hither Green...
Okay, I did not write any regular news as promised, but I do have a good reason for it... The album is going ever so well, and therefore I have been very busy at the studio...
I believe it’s a very good thing to have only a day or two a week to record as it allows you to go home and have the time to listen properly to what we have done during the day of recording. Then if there’s anything you don’t like, you can always leave it aside and do it the following week... I’m very happy that we’re taking our time... but July is our aim and it will be finished by then...
We are on our 9th day already at the studio... When I say "We" I’m talking about Martin Brown, my dearest friend, my musician and my producer... but also Gary Brady the studio man [who I like calling "My Puce"... you will understand when you hear the new album...] he’s brilliant to work with, I love the way he works, he has plenty of good ideas, he’s also really funny and a great worker too... his studio is called Escapade and is based in Greenwich. I have done loads of recording in studios all over the country and Gary’s will always be my favorite, everything about it makes you feel good... even if you had a bad day recording... the positive will always come out of it...
The first 3 days we worked with Les Morgan & Simon Cowderoy, Drums & Bass, I don’t want to sound cheesy, but I have to say it... I love these people, they really are great to work with and they seemed to enjoy themselves... it’s funny to use the word cheesy when you know Les... All I had to do to please him for the 3 days was to bring lots of cheese. .I think that’s all he eats. He even had with him a picture of a man playing with a drum kit made of cheese..... and then Simon was quite happy to have a bite and do the crosswords while waiting for us to get ready... I feel so lucky!
The 4th & 5th day it was Martin and I, I recorded some vocals and guitar... It was a funny session for me as I sold my Guild M20, although I really wanted to sell it, my heart was a little broken to let it go... after all, it did have a name [I’m a girl, what do you expect?] and I had it for 5 years. But my heart fell for another Guild M30 1962, what a beauty... of course I couldn’t afford to have both... But I’m very pleased to say that my guitar will be in good hands, Gwyneth Glyn, lovely songwriter from Wales, came down at the studio while we were recording, she had a little play with it and loved it... I did feel sad but Gwyneth was really nice and like me she likes vintage guitars... I let it go with pleasure...
On the 6th day Martin recorded...
On the 7th day Mick Halewood recorded... I believe he was very nervous, also we‘re so used to playing together live that suddenly you’re in a studio and the great part of it is you can bring something different to the music... and Mick did very well... he’s a very unusual character.....
Last week were the 8th & 9th days, we worked really hard and it was wonderful to listen to what we did during the sessions as suddenly everything made sense, the shape of the songs, and so much more... but wouldn’t it be silly of me to tell you absolutly everything????
To be continued.......
Lo X
14/01/2007
Bonjour tout le monde,
It took a long time but that’s it, the studio has been booked and we will all be recording the new album in a month . We are rehearsing really hard with Les Morgan and Simon Cowderoy [Drum & Bass ] I have stolen them from the great band Shedload of Love, Martin Brown is also in this band but as we are all friends it’s alright to do this kind of thing, I will steal them as well for live shows, but they don’t know yet hihihi! We will also have a brass and string section for the album.
It’s all very exciting, it will be a new experience as the first album was recorded in our kitchen and therefore took us a long time to make, I guess that’s what happens if you decide to do it in your home, cups of teas and cakes were taking a lot of time and then it was dinner time, but still I don’t regret the album and it’s all part of learning and gaining confidence. Now almost 4 years on, so many songs later, it’s the moment I have been waiting for and believe there must have been a reason why we did not make this new album before. We’re ready to go on the road and I’m certainly ready to share my world of little adventures throughout my songs with the world.
I’m also delighted to say that with Fleur de Paris and Circulus we’re still playing, I still enjoy myself performing with these 2 bands. And it is great to be able to do them all. I have also been recording some French songs for children, songs that I have actually forgotten but were great to do, again being a singer sometimes means to be adaptable to a certain style and the children’s songs were in some ways quite hard work as I am a strong singer... I run an amateurs' choir and sometimes I can sing louder than the 14 of them, but I know that songs for little ones have to be sang quietly! It went okay.
Voila, I shall give you more news nearer the time of the recording, I’m thinking writing to you all everyday to share all the great and hard and tense moments of the band... what do you think? Do you want to know about it?
A bientot,
From Hither Green,
Lo X
22/08/2006
Bonjour tout le monde,
This time I feel like talking about the other bands I’m in just for you to understand why it’s taking us so long to make the new Lo polidoro’s album.
Almost 4 years ago a good friend of mine, Michael Tyack asked me to join his band called Circulus, I was rather excited as I have seen them before and they always reminded me of the band my sister Aurelie Polidoro & I created when I was still in France, we were called ‘’legendaieur’’ I saw Circulus as the grown up version of Legendaieur. Anyway, it didn’t happen straight away as the band split up just before I got the chance to be in it, et oui!. Mike & I sang a lot together for months at mine or his place, it was more often at mine because I can cook…he can’t, et non! So he learnt some of my songs, we learnt some medieval tunes and copied a lot of songs by Malicorne [Both of us are fans…] and off we went to do some gigs.
Eventually Michael started the band Circulus again, it’s a very tense band, the 7 of us are so different which makes the music even more interesting, there is one thing we have in common and that ‘s sensitivity, I am glad to know 6 lads with very sensitve little soul…..
Over the last 3 years Circulus as done better and better, now we have our second album out called ‘’Clocks are like people’’ it puts a bit of pressure on all of us, you never know what’s around the corner [gosh! I feel very English by using already made expressions]. I have a great time with Circulus but I can see how much it stops me doing my own recording and doing concerts. I also have the other band called ‘’Fleur de Paris’’ which I love very much, we do songs from the 1920’s to 50’s we also dress up and I love singing the old French songs, it’s a different way to sing for me, the atmosphere in the band is great, maybe I should mention the fact that we are the same musicians as in Lo Polidoro [that explains a few things…] even with Fleur de Paris I can’t do as much because of all the time taken with circulus. I complain but of course I’m delighted to be in Circulus…between us it’s a hate & love relationship…I don’t know if it’s because we are very sensitive or is it just Rock&Roll? Je ne sais pas….
So, after reading my news, just now, I have decided that I will not let another year go by and will no matter how or where make my new album, I always liked listening to little stories and my new songs seem to be very much like ‘’petites histoires‘’…and I think it’s time for me to share my songs with you..
From Hither Green
The end
Lo Polidoro x
17/01/06 Lewisham
Happy New year a tout le monde,
I feel very motivated this year...
My album has been a Christmas present for a few new homes, well...i am presuming of course! it is because i have noticed over Christmas that my album was sold to quite a few people, so therefore it makes me very happy to think it will be played somewhere...Merci.
The band and myself have been very busy for the last 6 months. I would love to say we were busy playing together but it is not quite the case...ohlala! Although we have been talking a lot and had lots of nice meetings over a nice glass of wine [ peut-etre trop]?...
Actually, we have been wanting to play but Moi being in the band Circulus [check it out it is good, she says proudly] doesn't always help. We were doing photoshoots a lot and did a 2 weeks tour which of course takes a lot of preparations, rehearsals, etc...So YES i have neglected my own band Lo Polidoro [ un peu, c'est vrai]
All this didn't stop me writing some new songs [which we have already practised] and now we are ready for a great year. We have all decided to spend time on the new album and have quite few gigs coming up.
Martin Brown [ monsieur Brunion [?] as he was called in a french newspaper while we were playing there] Martin is the guitarist, producer, etc... also my dear friend, says he will concentrate 100 % on the Lo Polidoro band, he is, as well as talented, the technical Master and as i know nothing about technology I will just have to keep on writing songs [c'est tout...mais beaucoup ]. Everyone is well in the band, Kirsten is finally not pregnant anymore [at last!] She is ready to rock with her beautiful fiddle playing, Doc Mick Halewood is never running out of ideas and always has the '' final touche'' and Gilly has been learning the parts on the bass and still makes me laugh so it is a good sign!
The exciting gigs for this year should be next autumn when we will be flying to New York to play....I know, La vie est belle when you have something to look forward to, Non?
A bientôt,
Lo X
20/07/05 Lewisham
Bonjour to you all,
It was just over a year ago that the "Lo Polidoro band'' went on tour in France, I was thinking about it today so I thought I'll share it with you. We had a wonderful time. I was very nervous as the band has never played there before. Although I am French...this is the truth! What would the french think of my lyrics? Well, I can tell you it went really well. Performing my own songs in my own country was more scary than when we played at Glastonbury festival!
We have been spending the last year working on the new songs, and we will be recording the new album very soon.
In the band we have the great Martin Brown, his guitar playing always makes me shiver, when we are on stage I have to concentrate on my playing because if I listen to Martin too much, I make mistakes [I could just sit and listen to him but this is not the point!]. He is also the producer of the album, which I am very pleased with.
As well as mr Brown we have our own philosopher, Dr Mick Halewood who brings the little '' je ne sais quoi '' to the band. I love it when I play him a new song and after thinking about it for few minutes, his beautiful accordeon plays the notes almost without him touching the keys.
And then comes the magical strings played by Kirsten Hammond, I might sound a little soppy talking about them in such a nice way, but it is true! Although Kirsten had missed few concerts due to a bug, It wasn't a bad one but it stopped her playing the fiddle with us for over 9 months.The bug is called...pregnancy!
We also have a new arrival in the band, her name is Gill and she is not afraid to play the bass. I can't wait to do a concert with Gill. She is very funny and a good player too.
We have occasionally Les Morgan on the drums and Florence Maume on backing vocals when we play in France.
Voila for now....
A bientot,
Lo
If you feel like writing to us, please email to