"This guy is a blast, simple hooks with a powerpop touch that embeds humor catchy turnarounds and a sense of the 60's with a bit of the 80's. This is a fun guy you should check out." - Protectomatic
"He writes from the heart in the same way as Neil Young and applies similar poetic humour to Ray Davies. There ain't a bad song on this album... ''Way With Words'' is overflowing with damn good songs that Cardwell could publish and earn a good income from." - Toxic Pete Brown
"Now it's time for the world to discover his exceptional songwriting/performing gifts." - Paul Freeman, Palo Alto Daily News
"DC Cardwell's sedate cover of 'I Wanna Stay Home' is the [Jellyfish] tribute's most understated – and accomplished – track." - David A. Cobb, Envy magazine (Dallas/Houston)
"Occasionally you find something so awesome that you have to put it up.
Browsing through the MySpace universe I happened to come across a Melbourne artist by the name of DC Cardwell. It's my first taste of his music and it's really really good" - Baron von Hutch, Sandwich Club
"Pure genius. That [Tom Song] will be blasting on every radio in the world in six months" - Spanner, Sandwich Club
"What went wrong?" - DC Cardwell
OH YES, I FORGOT... THIS SECTION IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT BAND MEMBERS? THAT WOULD MOSTLY BE ME, THEN.
Yes, I'm one of those unsociable types - I do almost everything on my recordings - guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, tambourines, shakers, handclaps, all vocals, all writing, recording and mastering. Occasionally I'm helped out by Samuel Cardwell on drums.
See down below the fun stuff for more details on my instruments and recording gear, such as they are...
Influences
SOME MUSICIANS THAT I LOVE AND THAT HAVE INFLUENCED ME IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER:
NEW! I've added links for all the artists - click, explore and enjoy!
Let's face it, there are too many great artists, writers and producers to list but I especially like to listen to a lot of soul music including music from the Stax and Atlantic labels, Motown, 70s soul, doo-wop, be-bop, early rock and roll, ska, reggae and New Orleans R&B. Listen to my favourite radio program, Mohair Slim
's "Blue Juice" on Melbourne's PBS 106.7 FM (www.pbsfm.org.au) and you'll get a pretty good idea!
NEW! Turn off my music, click twice on the FineTune widget and... gasp... you can hear 45 of my favourite tracks - a good time guaranteed for all!
...AND CHECK OUT MY "TOP TEN ALBUMS" GROUP
Here you'll find a lot of inspiring lists written by many of my friends, and I'd love you to join (just click "JOIN") and add your own Top Ten. Or your Top Ten Singles, Top Ten Psychedelic Albums, Top Ten Polka 78's, Top Ten Bass Players, Top Ten Producers... whatever musical lists you want.
You can find my top ten albums of al time there. You can also find the post later on where I admitted that I had completely forgotten to include anything by a certain Mr. Neil Young who some might say has had a perceptible influence on my guitar playing.
SOME LESS WELL-KNOWN MYSPACE ARTISTS THAT I LIKE:
Again, this list could be a mile long. I've been really enthralled by a lot of beautiful music on myspace over the last year or so. I'll try to keep adding to (or amending) this list, but it's like "top friends", it's impossible to truly represent my feelings! Tell you what, though - these artists are all well worth listening to so why don't you click on a few and tell them I sent you!
Don McGlashan
(Former leader of the wonderful Mutton Birds and certified National Treasure in New Zealand - unquestionably a genius, and one of the best singers you'll ever hear)
The Desert Downtown and Marshmallow
(One of the secret weapons of The Mutton Birds was their bass player/occasional songwriter and singer, Alan Gregg, and these are two of his projects, both achingly tuneful in nature)
Maxi Dunn
(One of the few women on the Jellyfish Tribute album. She's just so good. I don't know what it is about her songs - I can't analyse why I like them so much. On the surface they sound a little 80s-ish for my taste, but I just want to play them over and over again, so she's doing something that moves me!)
Martin Okasili
(He's from my hometown of Portadown, Northern Ireland, but I never met him. I read a rave review of him in Mojo once and eventually found him here on myspace, and, would you believe it, it turns out he is brilliant!)
The Electrolites
(Don't miss them)
Darren Sheppard
(Clever guy from England who still knows how to write and play songs like the British bands of the 60s - many try but few succeed)
The Taters
(Actually, this band from Virginia do a pretty good job at capturing that 60s sound, too! And I've heard first hand that they're one of the greatest live acts on the planet!)
Lazy Susan
(Very effective Australian pop songs)
Steve Singh
(Like the Beatles, but not like The Beatles. You know what I mean, even the Beatles were "like the Beatles, but not like the Beatles", in that they never did what anyone expected)
Linda Draper
(I love this music deeply)
Tender Slider
(Brilliant music from my good friend Achim Degen in Germany)
The Aloha Mountain Groove Band
(The name says it all! Features Renn Tiki)
Mike Dees
(Rootsy pop songs from Memphis)
Crab Bubbles
(Infinitely enjoyable pure pop from Japan)
Peter Farnan
(This guy from Melbourne is a treasure - spends a lot of time working in various projects but is working towards a solo album which I'm looking forward to)
Jane Bayley
(Partner of Mr. Farnan and equally wonderful - check out her Blossom Dearie-esque "Lovely Wife")
Darren Keith
(Amazing range and depth of material)
Jenny Queen
(You'll fall in love with her Americana!)
Alyanya
(Young Irish singer of some not inconsiderable ability)
Teri LaBrecque
(Writes and records all her stuff at home by herself, just like myself, but she's a better singer plays a more interesting range of instruments!)
Honest John
(Sydney band - just got their new EP and it's as good as anything new I've heard this year!)
Marty Williams
(Marty is kind of a perfect singer and a great supporter of local music round here on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, and he's also in this band with his brother...)
Cousin Leonard
(You'll never see a happier crowd than those at their regular Sunday afternoon gigs at the Heritage in Balnarring!)
President Roots
(Another excellent band from here on the Mornington Peninsula - their leader, Simon has a new song about Professor Longhair that I heard him play recently, and it's an instant classic.)
David Rice
(Folksy yet Beatle-tinged and eclectic Swedish artist.)
themillionstars
(I've just discovered this duo, Rose and Malcolm Moore and I fell in love instantly. They make tough music.)
Father Bloopy
(Quite a few people have likened me to Ray Davies and the Kinks, but this band's singer deserves the comparison. Even better, the band have brilliantly strong songs and sound.)
The Medallions
(50s doowop outfit who have reformed - real early rock'n'roll sounds but recorded with today's technology - marvelous!)
Hugh Hamilton
(Never mind his beautifully accomplished guitar playing and crafty songwriting, check out that wonderful Claptonesque voice of his!)
Ernie Dufour
(This guy's singing really affects me - you know how singers used to be back in the good old days of the 60s and 70s?)
Richard Cummins
(Richard lives very near where I used to live in Canada, but we never met each other back then. He's very accomplished and makes beautifully Beatlesque music in an effortless manner.)
WHAT DO I READ?
Well, some of you are probably looking at my bookcase in the video and thinking, what a pretentious git, I bet he hasn't read half of them. And you'd be right! But I do read a fair bit, and here is some stuff that as influenced me greatly over the years:
The Beano, The Dandy, Mojo Magazine, 4-4-2 Magazine, any Chesterton (but a good place to start is "The Bodley Head G.K. Chesterton"), Isaac Asimov, Charles Dickens, Ogden Nash, "The Beatles Recording Sessions", "The Expert Encyclopedia Of Recording by Rick Clark", "How To Lie With Statistics", P.G. Wodehouse, Log Tables, C.S. Lewis' fiction and non-fiction, "One, Two Three, Infinity" by George Gamow, Delia Smith's "Complete Cookery Course" (the old one), Russian Literature (in English) especially Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, "Written In My Soul: Conversations With Rock's Great Songwriters" by Bill Flanagan, "Theory & Practice Of Histological Techniques"... and then there's that old classic, The Bible
AND HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE GROOVY RADIO SHOWS THAT PLAY MY MUSIC!
THINGS I THINK I SOUND LIKE (JUST A LITTLE BIT... PERHAPS...ON A GOOD DAY...IF YOU'VE GOT COTTON WOOL IN YOUR EARS...):
Neil Young, The Beatles, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Kinks, Jules Shear, Crowded House, Neil Finn, T-Bone Burnett, Sam Phillips, Iron And Wine, Dave Dobbyn, Alpha Band, Richard Thompson, Kelley Stoltz, Edwyn Collins, The Mutton Birds, The Next-door Neighbour - yes, that one, The Byrds, Roger McGuinn, Jonathan Richman, Abba, David Bowie, Elliott Smith, Nick Lowe, Johnny Cash, Ron Sexsmith, Bob Dylan, Ray Davies, World Party, Glenn Tilbrook, Sonic Youth
A REALLY HOKEY VIDEO OF ME SINGING ONE OF MY NEWEST SONGS, "TAKE ME TO TASK":
SAMUEL & DAVID CARDWELL (that's my son and me) PLAYING SOME GYPSY SWING:
SAMUEL AND ME PLAYING IN A YOUTH SWING BAND WITH THE GREAT GIL ASKEY (GOOGLE HIM, AND YES, I KNOW I'M NOT A YOUTH!):
(Samuel's on guitar and I'm on bass.)
VIRTUAL TOUR OF MY HOME STUDIO:
If you sign up for my mailing list you'll get an invite to come on a VIRTUAL 3D TOUR OF MY NEW HOME STUDIO! There'll be a 360° movable panoramic view of the studio and you'll be able to click on various instruments and other items and find out all about them. Plus... other photos and stuff! And videos of me playing music in there.
On Amie Street the songs start out free and then increase in price (up to a maximum of 98c a song) as more people download them. So get in quick!
ALSO: " I Wanna Stay Home", my contribution to "Sensory Lullabies: The Ultimate Tribute To Jellyfish", is now available on i-Tunes and also on Amazon. (click here!)
So download my track for only 99c, or better still, the whole album if you're a Jellyfish fan. Even if you're not, it's a cracker!
Thanks - DC
COME ON A VIRTUAL 3D TOUR OF MY HOME STUDIO!
Fill out your e-mail address here to subscribe to my newsletter if you want to come on the virtual 3D tour of my new home studio. It's a little voyeuristic so I don't want to throw it open to the public at large. You can move around my studio and see close-ups of my guitars and other gear and I'll tell you a bit about them and about my recordings. It should be up and running soon so be on my mailing list to get your invitation!
Subscribers will also receive an occasional newsletter about, well, about, let's see, about my CD if it ever comes out. Or my world tour. And free downloads of rare DC mp3s.
I NOW HAVE A FACEBOOK ARTIST PAGE!
Click here to visit my Facebook Page... and please add me there!
SHARE ME AROUND (please!)
I don't have any marketing budget, or, let's face it, any budget at all, for this. So far I've just been doing it for fun.
There are any number of ways you can spread my music around. Give my mp3s to your friends, for example. Or burn them to a CD and pass them around.
Tell your friends to visit this page and say hello. Post bulletins. Write blogs. If every one of you sent a bulletin with a widget (copy and paste the code from the ReverbNation one below) or just a few words about me I would be famous overnight! Whoops, maybe not such a good idea!
Visit me on my other pages (Youtube, Facebook, Reverbnation, Amie Stree, Last.fm etc) and add me there, or subscribe, or whatever is relevent to the site in question. Write comments or tell people about me. Add me to your top friends for a short while.
If you'd prefer to post a small widget (for example, tucked into a small corner of your profile), use this one:
It'd also be cool if you'd subscribe to my blog by clicking HERE!
Add me to all kinds of bookmarking sites (del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Yahoo, Digg etc) by clicking on this icon:
OTHER SITES WITH MY MUSIC
JELLYFISH TRIBUTE ALBUM AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW!
"Sensory Lullabies" is an amazing 2-CD set that features amazing covers of both Jellyfish albums by a lot of great artists (and me) in their entirety along with a lot of rare Jellyfish songs!
Here's a video of me singing "I Wanna Stay Home", the Jellyfish song. That's me in my rec room at home where I do all my recording. Not much to look at - me or the room, but you get to see my guitars and some of my books. And the shirt... the shirt, which actually has a number of fans of its own! I shot this on a sub-$400 Samsung mini-DV camcorder.
The song is featured on this album which you can NOW! As well as my track there are two whole CDs containing versions of both Jellyfish albums in their entirety, along with covers of numerous other obscure JF songs! Click on the snazzy album cover icon below to order the CD from Burning Sky Records, or you can buy it from www.notlame.com, www.koolkatmusik.com or just search for it on Amazon (where it's number 27 on the Music Compilations List as of Sept 22!).
DC Cardwell grew up in Portadown, Northern Ireland and spent some years in Vancouver, Canada, before moving to Melbourne, Austral... hold on, this is actually me running this profile, not some hired PR person. I'm a one-man-guy, to quote Loudon Wainwright III, so I do everything myself: writing, singing, playing, recording and myspacing. And I can't bring myself to write in third person promo-speak. But Paul Freeman wrote something pithy (I said pithy) about me in the Palo Alto Daily News recently, and he's given me permission to quote it, so here it is:
"Irish-born, Australia-based artist DC Cardwell is a late bloomer. Now it's time for the world to discover his exceptional songwriting/performing gifts. Cardwell plays all the parts on his brilliantly conceived songs. "Peace and Love" is a pop-folk-rocker you'll immediately embrace. It's been a favorite on Neil Young's Web site showcase (neilyoung.com). Also impressive are the beautiful "The First Time," the Dylan-esque "A Way with Words" and the witty "Tom is Everybody's Friend" (which should amuse all MySpace afficionados). Cardwell is featured on two new tribute CDs, one dedicated to Ricky Nelson, the other to Jellyfish."
FREE SONG LYRICS AND CHORDS!
Apparently lyrics are one of the most searched for items on the internet, so, you won't find the Beatles lyrics you're after, but if you click HERE you can read my lyrics and play along with my guitar chord charts! Cover one of my songs, have a big hit with it and earn me loads of dosh!
I'd like to be able to supply free guitar tabs for my songs, but I don't have the patience to make such things, so all you get is the chord charts!
ARE YOU A FILM MAKER?
To learn more about using my music in an indie film, visit HDFEST by clicking on this banner:
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