_ NEW ADDRESS!

Ok, surprise surprise! Ambles & Meanderings has a new URL =] I'm really quite excited about this, as you can probably tell from my latest post on there! It will have a lot more interesting content, slightly less rambling and more audio/photos/videos - I've already uploaded a scrambled snippet of a new song. Update any bookmarks you may have, and farewell Blogger.com.

The address is: http://williamecho.tumblr.com

And check out the integration on http://www.williamecho.com too ;-)

See you on the other side.


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_ twestival

I recently donated That Neon Feeling to Twestival.fm, a great project and online festival, centering around the Twitter community, where bands and artists give away freely downloadable tracks in return for a donation - an amount of your choice - which will go to Charity:Water. Twestival will also be holding events across the world, organised through Twitter, to which you can attend and help funraise for this good cause.

Other artists that have donated to Twestival.fm so far include Imogen Heap, Bloc Party, Mystery Jets, The Rakes and The Young Punx.

Go ahead, visit Twestival.fm, listen to & download some great songs, give some money to a good cause, sit back, relax, and feel good about yourself!


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_ snow, twitter, photos

wow, well isn't the snow just a tad impressive? if you're in the uk that is, which if you're not, you're missing out...unless you're somewhere a lot snowier, which wouldn't be that hard but ANYWAYs...

had fun this morning throwing snowballs in the park nearby, and watching cars still with a thick blanket of snow on their roofs drive past. funny how a little bit (ok, comparatively a lot) of snow brings the whole of the UK to a standstill......

it's been immense fun watching everyone's reaction on Twitter, and discovering Twitterfall last night, which is both scary and mesmerising at the same time, with the amount of chatter and tweets being sent out at an alarming rate..reminds me of that video I posted!

Anyway, here are pictures from this morning.





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_ a big bang

that's the feeling I got after watching this video.



all the information, misinformation, technology, growth, medicine, life expectancies...gets you thinking. and if you're like me, it's pretty scary! I can see us all heading for a big bang, a man-made one. It reminds me of Huxley's Brave New World. And here's my little blog spewing out yet more characters into this pot of digital stew.

bang.

w.x


ps. thanks to my sister for pointing me in the direction of this link, keep them coming =]

_ progress! an exercise in self control.

I'll be the first to admit, my blogging has been rather sparse lately. So I thought, how better to commemorate this momentous day (not least because of the inauguration of an icon but also because of the birthday of a man who writes better blog posts than me) than to write another post.

That isn't to say there's been nothing happening: I've been working on several new songs; I handed in my thesis and await the results (in June/July..); I turned 21; and last night was the first William Echo band practice ever (which went extremely well). A Carnival of Black seems to be the first song with real progress, and I'm looking forward to working on the rest! Turns out I've been extremely lucky and have sourced a brilliant guitarist, brilliant drummer and brilliant live sampler to help me out.

It kills me that everything has been so quiet. My MySpace page looks abandoned, and I just want some more songs to put up on there (god knows I have plenty). But, I'm waiting until this band is sorted and all practiced so I then know what to record - and don't make the mistake I made last year of recording everything myself and then discovering I can't play it live, by myself. So, this is an exercise in self-control, keeping away from the studio.

Still, it helps in getting everything into perspective, looking at my long-term goals and planning out a route. Sounds all very clinical, doesn't it? But I've learnt that to survive in the music industry you need that plan there and to make sure everything falls into place.

Either that or you just get lucky. Which one will it be?




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_ 2009

What a year! Satellites was released, folktronicarock was born, gigs were played and all manner of musical fun was had. As I'm writing this, in a freezing cold flat in London, I'm looking forward to 2009. I have some new songs I can't wait to share. Tonight will be fun too, going to see the fireworks along the Thames. And my New Years resolution? To put my heart and soul into putting together a great band, getting out in London and playing some great gigs.

Have a good night everyone, and good luck with keeping those promises. Let 2009 roll on =]


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_ an eye for an eye

why is it so against human nature not to retaliate? why can't people take the moral high ground and let Energy sort the rest out. Organised religion is man-made and will be the death of us all...along with any number of other man-made things.

On a lighter note, Christmas was good, looking forward to New Year and to practicing with the new band. Rest assured, my sentiments will feature strongly in the new records. Not that they haven't already..


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_ quiet quiet quiet

sorry for being SOOOO quiet recently. I've been holed up working away at my dissertation...which is coming along quite nicely thank you.

as always, I have been writing new material...and the other I started recording something new that sounds really great, got me quite excited about the possibilities of a collaboration. I'm afraid there still won't be new material to hear for a while yet; I paused the recording process to work on a live band, which has been slow to start up. But I have personnel, just no time. So once that is sorted, recording shall commence and I'll return with some demos, methinks, nothing too fancy, just something to whet your appetite and hand to promoters, reviewers and publishers alike.

w.x

_ minilogue

After YouTube started messing around with their embedded videos adding loads of annoying stuff, I went a-hunting for something better, and found Vimeo. Looks great, has a nice community feel to it...and I found this video on there. Brilliant!

Minilogue - Animals from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

ps. this is post 111 - what a momentous occasion. This calls for a celebration!

_ what a night

well, it's never a good sign when you turn up to a venue to perform and there is no-one there. after thinking I was about to have one of those surreal nights I seem to have, turns out things went well after all. Cheers to Adam Baine for inviting me along, and for the impromptu a capella rendition of Noah which he sang so sweetly indeed! lol it made the night worthwhile....no, i joke, there were some really good people there, it was just a shame there wasn't more audience.

Right well, I might be playing on Wednesday too somewhere, I'll shall, as ever, keep *you* posted.


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_ giggity giggity...

hi all, great gigs recently, good fun. Can't wait for this live band to come together. I think I might have my guitarist and drummer, still to meet but things will be a-changin' very very soon. Then I can take over the world.

Queen Boadicea last night was good fun, very last minute but still...really enjoyed mini sets from Andy Flight and Pint Size MC - great stuff. Also enjoyed main set from Bob Dylan guy, didn't catch his name.

I have another last minute gig tonight, it's at Escape Bar - full details to be found at http://www.williamecho.com.

Oh, and I couldn't resist posting a video of this post's namesake....love it. No complaints for my risque humour though or I'll set the comedy police on you. Fawlty Zenophobia one week, Family Satyriasis the next...






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_ new chapters

so after my spate of backing tracked gigs, I came to the conclusion (as did a number of sound-men along the way) that it might make for a more spontaneous live performance if I got in some other musicians. And that's exactly what I've started doing. Things are looking promising, and will hopefully start rehearsing for an EXCITING all NEW LIVE EXTRAVAGANZA performance that will BLOW your PROVERBIAL SOCKS OFF.

Ok, well I don't want to get your hopes up too high, it'll be an alright band...

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime enjoy some classic Cleese.










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_ all quiet...or is it

kinda forgot to post a post saying HURRAH LONG LIVE THE KING, I was too busy being pleased with the result of the election.

things have been quite quiet (don't those two words look good together?) here...apologies for the lack of posting. I have been writing new songs, working on old ones, and generally psyching myself up for live gigs. I'm playing at the Constitution in Camden this Friday, come along and chances are you'll probably hear a new song =] Details on www.williamecho.com

In the meantime, enjoy Ancient of Days by William Blake. Possibly my favourite watercolour relief etching ever.

w.x

_ election day

...nail biting stuff. all I can say is, may the best man win. and we all know it is really only a one-horse race...but then again we all know about rigging and what-not. So good luck mr. B.O (with his unfortunate initials), I hope the system this time is fair.


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_ happy halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone...if you celebrate it that is. If not, have a happy 31st October...for whatever reason it may make you thoroughly happy.

Remember, I'm playing this Sunday at the Cross Kings - in Kings Cross. Well, not in the station, but very very near by.

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_ neeew shooooes?

well no actually, but I do have some new gigs. Well, one confirmed gig and one maybe on the way..

I'll be playing at The Constitution in Camden, which by all accounts is a nice little pub by a river that hosts some great live music. It's on Friday 21st November and it would be great to see lots of people there, as ever. I'll let you know about the other gig once I know more. In the meantime I'll just admire the snow falling outside.


*edit*

I'm playing this Sunday (2nd November) at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross...within walking distance of the station. So, you could even pop over from France on the Eurostar, see me play for FREE and then get a train back to Europe. Or you could just get the Tube there and get in for free...

Did I mention it was free? It's free entry. Get there for 8pm!


























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_ 12 bar

Last night's gig at the 12 Bar Club on Denmark Street was good fun, thanks *you guys* for coming down =] I'll upload some videos from it later on. Got good feedback from the venue too, which I can use as part of my uni course. Now to get some more gigs...

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_ gig rhymes with pig

YES I'm playing at the 12 Bar Club this Sunday (19th), get down there early, apparently I'm on at 5:30 - get there for 5 though and we can have a drink. Oh god, who am I inviting myself to openly online....

12 Bar Club
Denmark Street
London
WC2H 8NL

Map to be found here: http://www.12barclub.com/map.html

I'll also be playing at the Undercroft open mic night next thursday, Westminster Uni. You knows it. It doesn't get cooler than this! Would be great to see some of my avid blog readers down there, like, my mum, and the cat.

w.x

_ new website

Yep that's right, a brand new design for www.williamecho.com. New features include: enhanced gallery, new links page and an all-new FILM section. I hope to keep you updated through YouTube as well in future, so check it out =] At the moment it's showing 'The Making of the New Album' - new videos will be added as I progress!

Any kinks in the website will be ironed out ASAP - but let me know if you find anything unusual...

w.x

_ videos from the studios

Been busy today, recorded guitars and vocals for both Noah and Fear! Fear! Fear! (here on referred to as FFF...sounded like im pissed off trying to swear..FFF)

took some videos of the process too, check them out at www.youtube.com/williamecho

fun times. took some photos too, not sure where they got to...



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