Mike O'Brien's Latest Blog Entry :

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Studio bound

The month of May will be a little more laid back for shows, but still very busy. The Ideal Lovers are recording for two different projects, so the bulk of my time will be spent getting a studio tan. I do hope to get some booking done soon, playing will be a priority come summer.

cheers
m.o.

 

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Hour articles

Very nice articles in the Hour this week, check it out. Special thanks to Brendan Murphy for coming out to the show, and saying such nice things about us.

http://hour.ca/music/sevennightstand.aspx?iIDArticle=11883

http://hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=11871

thanks again

mike

 

Monday, April 16, 2007

Post CD Launch

Just wanted to thank everyone who braved the elements the other night to come out for the show, it was a really amazing evening for me. Everything felt good; hearing Brad Barr's killer songs up close again, seeing so many good friends and of course playing the tunes with the boys from Camp Ideal Lovers (with guest appearances by Angela Desveaux and Dara Weiss). Even my Mom and brothers made the trek out from Ottawa to catch the show, purdy cool if you ask me.

Thanks again to everyone who came out for a great night, I'll remember it for a long time.

much love and respect

mike

 

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

BUYING MIKE O'BRIEN CDs

For the time being, if you are interested in getting a copy of the album, you can email me personally and we can make arrangements. I'll eventually set up a better system, but for now that will have to do.

cds are 15$. My email is fretsobrien@hotmail.com

cheers
mike

 

Friday, March 30, 2007

Good News

Brad Barr will do a set on the night of the launch. I'm really looking forward to hearing his songs up close again, this will be a treat for everyone who decides to come out. If you'd like to hear his stuff check out this link:

http://www.myspace.com/bbradish

cheers
m.o.

 

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The album launch April 12th at Divan Orange
Category: Music

So everything is finished. I've sent the master and final artwork to the pressing factory and I'm trying to keep my shit together. They told me that if all goes well, I will pick up the order on the day of the launch, at 4pm. Pretty amazing how stress can affect one's sleep...

I must give a kudos to Dayna Gedney for doing a fantastic job on the artwork, you are amazing Dayna. For all those looking for someone who can come up with the goods in record time, she's the one to call. She also has a fine assortment of T shirts available for sale, check out her myspace page for the links.

The official launch will take place at the Divan Orange on April 12th, and if all goes well, there will be an opening set from a special guest. I won't give it away just yet, as I am still waiting for a final confirmation, but this guy really spun my head round the last couple of times I saw him play. Crossing my fingers.

cheers
mike

 

 

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The album is almost done

Well, I'm getting closer to wrapping up everything, one more evening of mastering and then the songs will be ready. Mastering went down with Ryan Morey, perhaps one of the coolest guys I've had the opportunity to work with; he's like a master-craftsman, absolutely brilliant.

This whole experience has been amazing. I'm very proud of the work that everyone has done on this record, everybody stepped up to the plate and totally knocked it out of the park.

Kees Dekker and Gilles Castilloux at the Treatment Room, you guys are the shit.

Ross Murray at Happyrock, you're amazing. Kudos, "Baltimore" is mad crazy.

Katie Moore, Dara Weiss and Angela Desveaux of Yonder Hill, you blow my mind everytime we hang out. Total pros, you've made me so happy. I've been a fan for a long time, and all the more since we've become friends. "B Movie Red" is one of my favourite tracks on the album thanks to you. Do you ladies have a fan club?

Daniel Noble, minister of good deals; you got the craziest pipes man, I'm so glad you were into singing on "Saccharine". It means a lot to me.

I gotta say that I'm super stoked at having Josh Toal singing on the record. You are so good, it's scary.

David Macleod, the sequencing master. Your input will make the album into a smooth ride, thanks so much.

Warren Spicer, you're a madman and a genius. Thanks for being around for the mixing party, your input helped solidify some key decisions.

there will be more thank yous to come, I just gotta peel out of here.

cheers
mike

 

 

Monday, November 06, 2006

One of my songs is posted on Reuben Ghose's myspace page

If you check out Reuben's page, http://www.myspace.com/reubenghose you can listen to a song that we recorded a couple of years ago. Reuben recorded and co-produced "You Worked So Hard"; he also won an award with the song at a conference for the Audio Engineers Society in Barcelona.

Dave Payant on drums, Darryn Grandbois on mandolin, Yvan Binette on bass and backing vocals, Reuben played celeste and piano (and some other fixins too I'm sure---you would have to ask him).

Reuben has taken his talents to Calgary for the next year working for the CBC.

thanks Reuben

cheers
m.o.

 

Opening for Joel Plaskett on January 20 2007

Totally into the idea of opening the show for Joel Plaskett in the new year. I'll do a solo set to start the evening off at Sala Rosa and hopefully I'll have copies of the new record by then...

cheers
m.o.

 

 

Going on tour in October backing up Orillia Opry

In the last few months some of the members of Ideal Lovers (including yours truly) have had the pleasure of playing a number of shows as the backup band for Daniel Noble and Emma Baxter's Orillia Opry.  David Payant plays drums, Zac DeCamp plays bass and I play electric guitar.

We all feel pretty good about playing music together, and now it looks like we'll be going on tour with them for the month of October.  This is a tour put together by the folks at Ships at Night Records; we'll be joining David McLeod, who releases his new album on September 29th.  The tour will take us from Montreal all the way to Vancouver and back, ending in Orillia. 

things are good. cheers

m.o.

 

RECORDING AT THE TREATMENT ROOM IN MONTREAL

Mixing is underway for the upcoming album. If everything goes according to plan, I'll release the album in the fall.

Tracking for the album was done in two sessions. The first session took place this past June at the Treatment Room in Montreal. I had the pleasure of making some real nice music with the Ideal Lovers for five days; Zac DeCamp on electric guitar and bass, Dave Payant on drums, Josh Toal on bass, Mike Evin on piano and Joe Grass on electric guitar, mandolin, dobro and pedal steel. We would all holler from time to time.

Gilles Castilloux and Kees Dekker were there to be sure that everything got put to tape; their hospitality and working vibe was awesome.

The second session took place at Ross Murray's Happyrock Studios in Wakefield QC. Ross was acting as producer for this session, and we were all really excited to be back working with him again. We had two sunny days out in the woods to lay down some nice takes; amazing vibe. Pierre-Yves Martel was on prepared double bass and electric bass, Jennifer Thiessen on viola, John Carroll on dobro, Zac DeCamp on electric guitar, Dave Payant on drums and percussion and piano, Joe Grass on electric guitar.

Still lots of work to do, and still more fun to be had.