//Old Building Sessions//
Our ongoing series marries musicians with abandoned and derelict locations to perform stripped down versions of their own songs and covers of their choosing. The idea behind OBS is to bring new life and a meshing of emotions to long forgotten places that would otherwise be lying dormant and vacant. Every space creates a very unique and different sound at each new location we film.
Episode Seven - Gretta Ray & Ainslie Wills - Melbourne, Vic. Australia
To coincide with their performance for Melbourne Music Week, the amazing vocal talents of Gretta Ray & Ainslie Wills lent their skills for episode seven of OBS. Located in a long time unused wool factory in Kensington, the natural light and reverberation off the white walls acted as the perfect accompaniment to these talents. Gretta bought a stripped down version of her song “When We’re In Fitzroy” whilst Ainslie absolutely floored us with her cover of Eurythmics “Here Comes The Rain Again”. For the both performances, please watch below.
Episode Six - Ben Salter - Melbourne, Vic. Australia
Before relocating overseas for awhile, the wonderful Ben Salter took some time out to play a few songs for us in an abandoned skate park. Before the closure of "Ring Of Fire" skate park in the late 90's, it was home to a youth of teenagers with too much time and not enough skating reality available. A two story sanctuary of bowls, ramps and the like has since turned to a vacant and echoed hull of what once was. The remaining elements for those days acting as it own unique sound reverberation and mood, which accompanied Ben's bellowed vocals complimentarily well. Playing three stripped down versions of his own songs "End Of Days", "Spitting Imagery" & "Gas Guzzler" as well as a stripped down version of Velvet Undergrounds song "I'm Set Free".
Episode Five - Claire Anne-Taylor - New Norfolk, Tas. Australia
Before heading off on her Festival of Small Halls tour, Claire took some time whilst on holidays to come out to the old nurses quarters in New Norfolk. Being vacated in the mid 80's after a slow decline in funding, the surrounding hospital and quarters had been left to waste and neglect, the remaining fixtures and copper piping all being stripped, leaving the facade and interiors open to vandalism and fires. Marrying Claire's vocals and melancholy songs seemed to just fit. Playing two stripped down versions of her own songs "Rise To Your Door" & "Man Behind The Moon" as well her rendition of Jimmy MacCarthy's "Missing You".
Claire Anne-Taylor - Facebook//Instagram//Soundcloud
Episode Four - Bad Pony - Oshawa, ON Canada
Taking a break from their stint at CMW in Toronto, the Bad Pony lads took some time to head out to Oshawa and play a couple tracks "Deficiency" & "Half Blood" from their latest EP and a cover of Cold War Kids classic "Hang Me Up To Dry". Only having a short time to set up and play, time was tight to get all the tracks done and recorded before attracting any unwanted attention from near by neighbours and security types. Enjoy!
Bad Pony - Facebook//Instagram//Soundcloud
Episode Three - Josh Rennie-Hynes - Wamuran, QLD Australia
A break between shoots, we landed in Wamuran on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. There was tranquil air amidst the shoot with Josh. The sound reverborating in the tiny church on a hill as the setting suns raise leaked through the windows and surrounding srubbery. Have a listen to the stripped down versions of his tracks "I'll Go Home", Richmond and The Replacements cover of "The Regular".
JRH - Facebook//Instagram//Soundcloud
Episode Two - Busker In a Cafe - Varanasi, UP India.
Shot in Varanasi, India in a small rundown chai tea cafe. I was lucky enough to capture this street performer with my minimal camera and audio gear I lugged all over India. We had a few broken conversations and I found out he walked about 2hrs every day in to central Varanasi to busk on the streets and earn money for his wife and new born child, he offered to play for my camera in a very small decaying cafe down a random side street.
Episode One - Whitebrow - Toronto, ON Canada.
This was the first instalment and the episode that started the idea of turning OBS into an ongoing series of performances. Shot in an old church in Toronto Canada during a winter, the refuge and calm that came with this venue, set the pace for Gabe's performances. The first track is titled "A Thousand Steps" with subsequent tracks "Toshomingo Blues" and cover "Me & The Devil Blues"
