BINIC, FRANCE

2018 certainly had a few highlights here at Moldre HQ – particularly our French mini-tour culminating in shows at the Binic Folks Blues Festival. We debuted a handful of new songs over there which will be tickling your ears early next year. More info on a brand new album very soon.

A few live clips have surfaced from the festival in Binic. You can have a squiz at a couple below:

If you missed reading my Tour Diary you can check it out here.

MYAGE PODCAST

I also had the pleasure of having a very long chat with my old friend, Joel Attenborough, who runs a podcast called MYAGE PODCAST – we just about covered most of my musical life and history in an epic (almost) 3 hour chat including songs from Neil Young, Midnight Oil, The Beach Boys, Midnight Oil, Miles Davis and Tom Waits. Listen in below:

THE SUPAHIP: THE TWO SIDED FACE

2018 also saw the release of the long awaited Supahip album – in fact, 12 years since the last. Recently Michael Carpenter and I recorded a clip for our cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy In New York”

You can snag a copy of the album “The Two Sided Face” at Bandcamp.

“Not a single note of filler here, and considering the quality of the tunes it makes my top ten list for 2018. Super Highly Recommended. 9/10” POWERPOPAHOLIC.COM

“The Two Sided Face is easily one of my favourite albums of the year so far.” POWERPOPNEWS.COM

DADDY MOJO GUITARS

One of my favourite guitar luthiers – Lenny P. Roberts at Daddy Mojo Electrics – has recently featured me playing their Rosetta model, which has been my go-to guitar for the past few years. Lenny has created guitars for Jack White, members of Wilco, Band Of Horses and even The Edge. This clip contains a guitar solo from the upcoming new album.

 WIRE BLUTHE

Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting a really interesting gent a couple of years ago and ended up co-producing an album for him with Michael Carpenter. The result is “Stuck In The Songs” – for fans of 70’s AM radio singer/songwriters and lovers of Cat Stevens take note. You can have a listen and show him some support on Bandcamp.

That’s the end of year wrap. Lots of musical plans to be unleashed in 2019. We’ll keep you posted. All the best to everyone over the New Year.

Love Mark x

Pic By Scott Hutchings

Pic By Mark Moldre

Pic By Jared Harrison

Pic By Jared Harrison

Pic By Jared Harrison

Pic By Jared Harrison

Pic By Jared Harrison

What a time was had in France at the Binic Folks Blues Festival. A trip that went way too fast and was cram packed with goodness. If you’d like to hear the whole story – head on over to the Doubtful Sounds website where our good friend Chris Familton has uploaded my Tour Diary. A warning first – grab a cuppa or beverage of your choice, it’s a long read. There’s also loads of great snapshots too, many taken by Infinity Broke drummer Jared Harrison.

DOUBTFUL SOUNDS

Sideshows and Festival dates have been confirmed for our upcoming visit to the north of France for the 10th Binic Folks Blues Festival. This tour will feature my complete band line-up – they’ll be busy bees as they will also be completing the line ups of fellow Oz travellers Infinity Broke and The Tall Grass.

BON VOYAGE SHOW (SYDNEY)

Fri July 13 : The Factory Floor with Infinity Broke + The Tall Grass
8pm $18 pre/ $20 at the door
Tickets HERE 

FRANCE DATES
24th July : Le Galion-Lorient : Infinity Broke + Mark Moldre + The Tall Grass

25th July : Place aux Artistes-Saint-Quay Portrieux : Mark Moldre + The Tall Grass

26th July : Folks Blues 10th Anniversary Party-Binic : Escape-ism + Bench Press + Infinity Broke + Mark Moldre + The Tall Grass

27/28/29th July : Binic Folks Blues Festival-Binic (2 shows) : Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July

For more info on the Binic Folk Blues Festival go to http://www.binic-folks-blues-festival.com

For the first time in a long time my full band line-up will tread the boards in Sydney. So here’s an opportunity to hear a smattering of new/old songs before we head to France.

Infinity Broke, The Tall Grass and myself have all been invited to play the 10th Anniversary of the Binic Folk Blues Festival on the 27th – 29th July. Sideshow dates are also to be confirmed very soon.

So, before we leave, a Bon Voyage Fundraiser of sorts has been confirmed at The Factory Theatre (Marrickville) on Friday July 13th with all 3 groups performing and sharing members. This is the first time Infinity Broke have performed in about 18 months and it’s my first Sydney show in close to a year. So if you grab some tickets now we can all afford our French etiquette/language tutors and sumptuous French cuisine when we arrive.

Tickets available from The Factory Theatre website:

TICKETS

Finally, after 12 years in the making, the new album from my side project, The Supahip, is available for preorder on Big Radio Records. If you order now you’ll receive an immediate digital copy of the album with a CD to follow in June. Score a copy at BANDCAMP.

Here’s my ramble lifted from Facebook about the making of the album:

Well
While I wait for my new solo album
to be mixed n mastered
Other projects are coming to fruition
Sometimes
it can feel like nothing is happening
yet all the while
behind the scenes
wheels are slowly turning
and now,
we ease the handbrake off
and begin to roll
and
first in the queue
is this
The Supahip
A side project with my old compadre
Michael Carpenter
He’s produced things for me in the past
We’ve worked together
co-producing the albums of others
we’ve shared the stage in various guises
and way back in about 2007
we started the 2nd Supahip album
A collection of songs
Taking up
from where we left off on our debut
Writing
Rehearsing
Recording
Mixing
each song
in a single day
Start the day with nothing
Sun goes down
we have…
something
Collaboration
Cooperation
Occasionally disagreeing
no surprises there
that’s always a big part of any joint project
But in the spirit of the project –
more about friendship than anything else –
we quickly move on
….we’re very different
yet we’re much the same….
Collaboration would be pointless
without a little push n pull
And it’s only music, ain’t it?
A mutual love of McCartneys 70’s period
is often the main catalyst of inspiration
and to the naysayers
yeah
even the occasional granny songs
even the eccentric naff songs (especially those)
even the sentimental ballads
his bouncing bass lines
or the cheesy thumbs up pop songs
they all still give me a warm
nostalgic glow
McCartney and Ram
remain in my all time favourite albums list
then
throw in Carpenter’s love
of upbeat power pop
his enthusiastic passion for
Petty, Springsteen, The Beach Boys
alongside Matthew Sweet and Cotton Mather
and my soft spot for melancholy melodies
a Paul Simon inspired lyrical twist
or a Costello-ish musical turn of phrase..
somehow when we get into the same room
a song will arise
summery
naff
sad
upbeat
poppy
retro
humorous
unashamedly upbeat
and we commit it to tape
capturing
the mood of the day
wherever the whim may take us
we’ve laughed a lot making this
we laughed just as hard
making the album art
we laugh at ourselves
and each other
we’re certainly not taking ourselves
too seriously here
I mean it’s only taken 12 years
to complete this musical collection
If you’ve made it this far through
this ramble –
“The Two Sided Face”
Will be available for preorder
at Bandcamp on Big Radio Records
April 2nd (tomorrow)
Head on over to The Supahip FB page
and give us a friendly like
….more details soon
Along with upcoming news on other fronts
love
Mark
x

A few weeks ago we made a start on the follow-up to An Ear To The Earth. I enjoyed making that album so much that I’ve decided to recreate the same atmosphere and record this album in much the same way. So we set up camp in a house at Frenchs Forest for 4 days and captured 10 songs live to an analog tape machine.

Once again Jamie Hutchings (Bluebottle Kiss/Infinity Broke) is sitting in the producers chair and Chris Colquhoun is engineering. The old band members all returned: Scott Hutchings (Drums), Reuben Wills (Bass), Adam Lang (Slide and Banjo) and Jamie Hutchings jumped on his trusty Jazzmaster for electric guitar duties. I’m quietly (super) pleased with the results and will be champing at the bit to share it with you.

It’ll be a while before we’ll have anything to make public – but you should finally see some more activity here at Moldre HQ.  Watch out for my new Recording Diary and Studio Pics.

When I first recorded An Ear To The Earth I set a goal of creating a clip for every song on the album. Finally I’ve reached the target. Last Card marks the 10th clip and the conclusion of my Black and White Western Trilogy that began with “Where Will I Be?” and “Bone Orchard”. Last Card was directed by Ben Jones of Red Bird Films.

Lots of news coming up soon. Watch this space.