Where: Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 4th Avenue (btwn Union & President St), R train to Union NYC
When: This Saturday, October 23, 2010
Time: 8pm-9pm (Comedy starts at 10pm and there are local pubs next door to get a drink in between)
Admission: $5 on the door (includes both live music and comedy night)

Artist Notes:
Originally from Park Slope, Amelia Robinson (www.ameliarobinson.co.uk) is a classically trained composer & musician who soothes audiences of all ages with her effortlessly charming voice and charismatic original songs. She is joined by Tim Gill (www.timgillviola.com), a uniquely creative solo violist who is known for moving entire rooms to silence with his utterly captivating and highly emotive performances. Together they perform as Peghouse Rise (peghouserise.wordpress.com) a provocative duet between voice/ukulele & viola that spawned from excessive creative resistance in the soul-wrenching desert of Qatar.

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So, we were driving, and driving, and then we were driving some more and then decided to take a break from all the bloody driving! Conveniently, our good friend Julien had a mother who cooks and a mate with a house nearby in a quaint French village! We overdosed on cheese and enjoyed the delicacies of Julien’s grandmother who spoke little English, but made it quite clear that if we didn’t have a second helping of everything we’d be in big trouble! After dinner, we returned the favor of food by playing some tunes. Peghouse Rise was well received, and we even made a grown man who works with rough underprivileged juveniles cry! We ate consistently for 4 days straight, with the only exercise coming from churning a pedalo through a crystal glass lake. Oh it’s a hard life.

At one point we ventured into the mountains to find the source of France’s finest green liquor – Chartreuse. This concoction is brewed by silent monks who hand pick a specific selection of fresh herbs throughout the year. The recipe is a mystery to us all, but it tastes good and boy, does it have a kick! As we danced the night away, we forgot all about our cheese chins!

A Plate of Peas

It was hard to leave Alicante, but Catalunya was calling! Luis bid us farewell and encouraged us to crash on the beach (it’s free and we had experience). We felt confident until the attack of mosquitos & drunken campers. Three beaches later (and a failed attempt to sleep in the car), we hoisted a white flag and stopped at a hotel conveniently located off the side of a road in some incredibly weird town that boasts a Fender Guitar Bar (?!) and peas!

Yes folks, a “Plate of Peas” was the second course out of five on the hotel’s Menu del Dia. Course one, juice (which was served in conjunction with a bottle of fine wine), was followed by the peas (which looked a tad more beige than Rick Beyer’s above picture suggests), and then a choice of chewy fish or chewy steak slices in a bath of milk (or roquefort, same thing). It was so “good” that we just didn’t have room to finish it all and we rushed out to tell all our friends forgetting to pay the bill! Woooops! (Don’t worry, the waitress with the missing front teeth trapped us later and forced us to cough up €11. . . ).

Leaving that strange town far, far, behind, we popped into Barcelona and stumbled upon the 6th Annual Busker’s Festival! With impeccable timing, we were able to catch a glimpse of a few bands, but were a bit disappointed! We expected more from the infamous busking city, and perhaps the presence of a few stewards could have encouraged the audience to drop a few coins in!

It may be appropriate at this time to repeat Busking Tip #5: Stay out of Spain if you want to make money!

With that in mind, there are exceptions to the rule (or rather, tip). . . Briefly after arriving in Girona, Miguel (an incredibly hospitable couchsurfing friend) used his bad-ass skillz to solidify a performance the very next day at a gorgeous new restaurant (Els Jardins de La Mercè) right in the cobbled heart of Girona’s old town. Miguel and his girlfriend Christina (a PR goddess) got all their friends to come, and we had a ball. Plus, it was PAID! That gig paid for our tolls & diesel right through France! Thank you Miguel & Christina, what a team!!

Watch a few clips from Els Jardins de La Mercè below:

Alicante is HOT! You can try to fight it, but the Spanish Siesta will always win. It sucks you in, spits you out and makes you sleep for days! Thankfully, we had a cool place to rest our heads. Our mate, Luis Giminez welcomed us in his home with fresh oily fish, gazpacho & an endless supply of watermelon. We relaxed and slept on a beach, waking up to proud nudists showing off their of bums & willies on the flat rocks next to the Mediterranean. (see picture).

Luis’s friend, Ferran, had invited us to a jam session one evening, and we went not knowing quite what to expect. It turned out to be one of the most magical evenings of our musical careers! The three of us (Luis, Tim & Amelia) warmed up the crowd and slowly more and more musicians joined us on stage, including a rockin’ rhythm section made up of a small croaky Italian drummer & a robust double bassist, plus a slippery sax player who sang out from the back depths of the venue, and a wailin’ harmonica! And all the while, there was Ferran’s magnetic smile peering up from the mixing desk, encouraging us to play harder so the crowd would dance faster. It was truly an unforgettable evening, and the audience went wild over the “band’s” rendition of “Streets of Cairo” & the interactive “Just Say No”. We hardly realised we’d been playing for 4 hours straight! Thankfully it was recorded, so you can listen to it on our MYSPACE, and also some of Amelia’s tunes with a full band on her website.

Spain was incredible, but it’s not so kind to professional musicians. There is no paid work, which can mean no paid play. But we recommend you go to Alicante anyway!

We last left our story heading out to busk in San Sebastian. Arriving late afternoon (as planned), we scoped out the small streets and hidden churches of Parte Viejo. We asked around and some strangers suggested an art gallery around the corner. Turned out they didn’t open until 10pm and weren’t very convinced that crowds of people would even show up. We thanked them and moved on. The main boulevard seemed to be the place for buskers, but the best spots were taken. We chatted to a German guy singing covers through a very expensive amp. He suggested further up the street, but there was no way we could compete with a massive group of break dancers flying over pieces of string 2 metres high! We turned around and decided the ultimate spot would be Plaza de la Constitución: a very large square in the centre of Parte Viejo hugged by numerous cafes.

It was our toughest crowd to date!! Even more so than in Qatar, believe it or not. We worked hard for our money – three hours straight, filling that large space and maintaining a continuous level of high energy. To be fair, we got quite a good reception – applause and compliments from our white haired friends (Tim prefers to refer to them as a gentle old couple)! But compared to the 1 & 2 euro coins in La Rochelle, we found ourselves juggling a load of 20 cent euro coins. Then, after subtracting what we had to pay in parking (£££!) we were left with mere pennies. As Tim predicted, we’re not breaking even, but “the experience is invaluable!” he says. Amelia, being the dreamer that she is, still believes she can drive 400 miles, find a campsite, pitch a tent, cook dinner, make the bed and lug her gear into town to busk all in the same day! Life’s basic necessities come first sometimes!

Busking Tip #4: Keep off the beaten track. You’ll be more of a commodity in a town where they’re not used to buskers, and your audience may be more willing to give.

Busking Tip #5: Stay out of Spain if you want to make money! Our experience in San Sebastian may be a reflection of the current state of the Spanish economy – unemployment rate is very high and life is tough right now. Go south if you want to relax, play music and have a holiday for yourself (it’s amazing!) but we’ve been advised that if you do go to Spain, stay north in Catalunya.

Our Thoughts on Busking: Busking makes you part of the city in which you play. Instantly you become a link to a place and an imprint of what a tourist remembers of that town. How ironic is that! We may very well have no more a connection to that place than those watching! And they have no idea, ha!

We had every intention of taking our own advice and setting up shop in Mutriku and some of the small coastal towns close to where we camped. But then we found paradise in the form of a beach and got sidetracked. Then we became tired and Amelia’s voice hurt from pushing it too far in San Sebastian. We postponed it a day, but then it was cloudy & rainy so we legged it to Alicante where our mate, Luis, had a spare room for the weekend!

Well, we’ve made it down the west coast of France and are now pitched up in the beautiful seaside town of Motrico (or Mutriku) in Spanish Basque Country. It’s been an intense time so far: finding time to drive, camp, sleep, busk, relax & eat, all the while keeping track of what day it is!

Our first stop: La Rochelle. A quaint cobbled town plop in the middle of France’s west coast with plenty of tourists! Our first day we played in an intersection marked by an anchor along the harbour next to artist stalls. It was good timing – sunset! We entertained a strolling crowd of pedestrians and a generous early bird dinner crowd in surrounding cafes who filled our kitty with golden silvery beautifully crafted 2 euro coins. Our best earnings so far!

The next day we set up down a small street with lots of foot traffic – but we were interrupted by rain and didn’t get the timing right. We can’t seem to wake up early enough to get to the morning markets or catch the lunchtime rush. If we’re too early in the afternoon we find ourselves in that awkward time playing to vacant cafe chairs and only a few meandering penniless tourists.

Busking Tip #1: Busk at Dusk

Posh Camping Sighting #1: Mr & Mrs Anal (he wore tight shorts & she used a pressure cooker)

Next stop: Biarritz! Caught by the police! We got a good hour in before a stern lady cop approached us and shook her finger for us to stop. Some cool kids came up and gave us tips on where to play in the nearby town of Anglet, which we did the next day under a cool gazeebo looking thing. Unfortunately we were up against rain (again!), a neighboring rugby tournament, and a workout class blasting Michael Jackson. How do you compete with Michael? We did manage to make 20 euro in 20 minutes, though. How, you ask? See Busking Tip #2.

Busking Tip #2: KIDS! Parents love to give their kids coins and take photos of them placing dosh in a bucket.

Phrases that should be translated in the Phrasebook: “Can we park here?” & “Can we trade music for food?”

Busking Tip #3: Good places to play in Bayonne? Halles (there is a market daily from 8-12noon), Rue Panecan, the Cathedral. Busking is illegal in Biarritz, why not play in nearby town of Anglet by the Beach (Sable d’or) during the afternoon/sunset from 8-10pm. Hendaye (on the way to San Sebastian right on FR/SP border) is also recommended.

Camping is expensive in Biarritz, so we headed inland and found an absolutely gorgeous town called Hasparren right in the foot of the Pyranees. There is a lovely remote campsite there called Chapital, with a really nice lady running it and very clean/new facilities (altho the shower is a bit cool!). There was a fair in town, so we walked in only to find not many people at all! There was a wedding about to take place, and a priest walked by and told us not to play! So, instead, we made friends with some ladies selling jewelry and they gave us a cup of wonderful coffee.

Stay tuned to see how Busking in San Sebastian pans out! How will the Spaniards react to Peghouse Rise?

After much anticipation, we finally received the right fittings to secure the roofbox on the car! Sadly, this has delayed our trip a few days, but we’ll be off to Paris (hopefully) tomorrow morning!

Watch the incredible ROOFBOX FITTING VIDEO CLIP

Less IS More, and a challenge when you have to go camping for 2 months…
We have a lot of stuff:

Spent this Saturday busking away at Barnes Pond in London, creating the soundtrack for Barnes Farmers Market & Stalls. Might come back next weekend for the big Barnes Fair where they expect 20,000 people?!

by sequinminer.com

Peghouse Rise embarks on The “LESS IS MORE TOUR” July 14th. Cruising down the west coast of France, they’ll hit small coastal towns then aim inland towards Toulouse/Carcassonne. Viola & Uke in hand, they backtrack to Bilbao/San Sebastian and off to meet Luis Giminez in Alicante! Then they move west.

NEW BAND PAGE: GUGUCHU.COM/PEGHOUSERISE