Continued from blog 13 - Homeward Bound...
... Although one of the symbols for Redskin was an Eagle, we could really say we were the legendary Phoenix that is constantly reborn from the flames. Admired by some, annoying in others point of view, we persistently pursued making our music without substituting the band members and being true to our artistic intentions even if we were living in separate countries or had to learn how to play an instrument or sing.
As Redskin we composed a great number of songs, many never got to be recorded, some of my favourites were: Heartbreaker, Psalm, Seedless Grapes in the Morning, Grandfather, Premonitions, What's left to be done, Chart Song, Echoes in a Tunnel, Eerie, The Head that Bangs the Drums, Magdalena, even though none of us can remember now what this song sounded like, The Right Time, Hollow Man, Sugar Cane, Two Reasons, You're like no other, Manor House and Bath Houses.
In 1994 we recorded a demo at KKO studio with Heartbreaker, Psalm and Seedless Grapes in the Morning, this time on a CD instead of a cassette tape, and started contacting again record companies using our old list, now even more out-of-date, and some new contacts that Tayo managed to fish from the slow Internet, by today terms, in his home computer, a luxury at the time, as very few people had them. Many came back as non-existent addresses and the usual sorry-we-are not-hiring-at-the-moment or we-don't-listen-to-demos.
Another Celestine Prophecy moment in my life was when in August 1994 I met my English Husband, Mark Taylor, just by chance, in my own home actually! He had a Passion for everything Brazilian since the 70's, as a DJ and avid record collector of Brazilian Jazz and Bossa Nova, Funk, Soul and new Beats. He hosts today a radio show called Happy Jazz and also has his own work re-editing tracks which is called La Homage. We were originally friends, as he came over my place as the boyfriend of one of the girls who played basketball with my Sister-in-Law, as my house was again, as in old gigging days, the meeting point after practice and matches. Before going to Brazil for the first time in January that year he had got from his Aunt a contact number from an acquaintance of hers, a British woman who now lived in Brazil and had a flat to rent for tourists, which was walking distance from my flat. He then had befriended the Housekeeper's daughter who also played in the basketball team and that's how he got to date one of the girls. For me it was love at first sight, an Englishman, handsome, into music and at my doorstep, could it be the old saying, when you wish so hard for something it does happen? Nothing happened between us and I sadly said goodbye to him thinking I would never see him again. A couple of weeks later I received a postcard thanking my Brother, Sister-in-law and myself for the hospitality, but with a special thanks to myself for helping him finding records and meeting Brazilian musicians. I replied and we started writing to each other regularly. In December 1994, when I announced I was going to spend Xmas and New Year with my Sister-in-Law's family in Spain and visit my friends in London, he invited me to visit him where he lived at the time in Amsterdam, but I couldn't make it and he offered then to meet me in London for a week when he could stay at a friend's house. We started dating in January 1995 here in London and have been together ever since. At the time however, after a week of a dream, I had to go back to Brazil wondering if that is what was going to be, a fleeting dream. I started working like crazy to save money to go back to him and in the meantime kept in touch through letters and once a week phone calls, as it was so expensive in those times. No such a thing as Internet at home or cheap/free phone calls abroad in those days. There was however something very romantic about waiting for the post and opening a letter from your loved one so far away. At difficult times it is looking back at the days when we couldn't be together that our relationship finds its strength from, pretty much like our music work to be honest. I now managed to get myself both a band and a boyfriend no one thought really existed, but meant everything to me.
As Redskin we composed a great number of songs, many never got to be recorded, some of my favourites were: Heartbreaker, Psalm, Seedless Grapes in the Morning, Grandfather, Premonitions, What's left to be done, Chart Song, Echoes in a Tunnel, Eerie, The Head that Bangs the Drums, Magdalena, even though none of us can remember now what this song sounded like, The Right Time, Hollow Man, Sugar Cane, Two Reasons, You're like no other, Manor House and Bath Houses.
In 1994 we recorded a demo at KKO studio with Heartbreaker, Psalm and Seedless Grapes in the Morning, this time on a CD instead of a cassette tape, and started contacting again record companies using our old list, now even more out-of-date, and some new contacts that Tayo managed to fish from the slow Internet, by today terms, in his home computer, a luxury at the time, as very few people had them. Many came back as non-existent addresses and the usual sorry-we-are not-hiring-at-the-moment or we-don't-listen-to-demos.
Another Celestine Prophecy moment in my life was when in August 1994 I met my English Husband, Mark Taylor, just by chance, in my own home actually! He had a Passion for everything Brazilian since the 70's, as a DJ and avid record collector of Brazilian Jazz and Bossa Nova, Funk, Soul and new Beats. He hosts today a radio show called Happy Jazz and also has his own work re-editing tracks which is called La Homage. We were originally friends, as he came over my place as the boyfriend of one of the girls who played basketball with my Sister-in-Law, as my house was again, as in old gigging days, the meeting point after practice and matches. Before going to Brazil for the first time in January that year he had got from his Aunt a contact number from an acquaintance of hers, a British woman who now lived in Brazil and had a flat to rent for tourists, which was walking distance from my flat. He then had befriended the Housekeeper's daughter who also played in the basketball team and that's how he got to date one of the girls. For me it was love at first sight, an Englishman, handsome, into music and at my doorstep, could it be the old saying, when you wish so hard for something it does happen? Nothing happened between us and I sadly said goodbye to him thinking I would never see him again. A couple of weeks later I received a postcard thanking my Brother, Sister-in-law and myself for the hospitality, but with a special thanks to myself for helping him finding records and meeting Brazilian musicians. I replied and we started writing to each other regularly. In December 1994, when I announced I was going to spend Xmas and New Year with my Sister-in-Law's family in Spain and visit my friends in London, he invited me to visit him where he lived at the time in Amsterdam, but I couldn't make it and he offered then to meet me in London for a week when he could stay at a friend's house. We started dating in January 1995 here in London and have been together ever since. At the time however, after a week of a dream, I had to go back to Brazil wondering if that is what was going to be, a fleeting dream. I started working like crazy to save money to go back to him and in the meantime kept in touch through letters and once a week phone calls, as it was so expensive in those times. No such a thing as Internet at home or cheap/free phone calls abroad in those days. There was however something very romantic about waiting for the post and opening a letter from your loved one so far away. At difficult times it is looking back at the days when we couldn't be together that our relationship finds its strength from, pretty much like our music work to be honest. I now managed to get myself both a band and a boyfriend no one thought really existed, but meant everything to me.
In March that year we received a letter from Flat Records , from Surrey, inviting us to be part of their Artist Development Plan, as they had listened to our demo and they thought we had potential. Flat Records was founded and managed by Richard Coppen, who had achieved some success with bands we had never heard about called Tenpole Tudor, Pearl Harbour and King Kurt. The Label profile sounded good, they wanted to find raw talent before anyone else, if it was weird they would sign it! We thought we fit the bill and started to make plans to go back to England to follow their so-called Artist Development Plan, in which they promised a marketing plan, photo sessions and a working demo for a price they claimed to be a real bargain and a promise of being signed by themselves if while working with us they thought we were to their liking. We thought we had nothing to loose as it would give us an opportunity to request an artist visa to go back to England, I would be closer to my boyfriend, and if they didn't like us at least we would have a material of a professional caliber to use to look for other companies. If worst came to the worst it would at least be an excuse to go back to England as there was nothing happening music wise in Brazil for our type of music anyway. Still, it would take another year for Paulo's visa to come through
Paulo left Brazil before me, this time as an EU Member Partner, so much easier visa wise and I stayed behind working 13 hours a day teaching at an English school and 5 hours a night at home doing translations to finance my new venture. In July 1995 I left Brazil again, this time I had no idea it was going to be for good.
In October 1995 Tayo managed to get a transfer to work at Erickson in England and for the first time in nearly six years we were all together in the same country again, but not for long, my visa finished in 1996 and having received an invitation from my boyfriend to live in Amsterdam with him after, although dating for over a year, having been physically together only 8 times, but the thought of being far away from him in Brazil again was unbearable and I accepted it, which turned out to be the right choice as I would in 1998 become Mrs Simone Taylor.
After having been finally all together in one country now Paulo and Tayo were left in England and I was in Holland, but soon we would be each in a different country as Tayo got transferred back to Sweden again before we managed to join Flat Records Development Programme...
...To be continued
Pictures: 1 - Seymour Nurse, 2 - Unknown, 3 - Simone Taylor
foi aqui q simone se casa com piter gabriel!!! ehehehehe ou quase isso!!!! bj bj bj bj bj AMO VCS!!!
ReplyDeleteAmo voce tambem querido, veja la to falando seu nome o tempo todo mostrando suas colaboracoes, o logo maravilhoso para o Seven Miles High, lindo, lindo
ReplyDelete