Updated Jan 30th 2008
Chunky Planet at De Barras on 15th Feb 2008
We have squeezed in another date, where we open the night at De barras Folk Club in Clonakilty on February 15th 2008.
This is definitely our very last gig for a while, due to the very near arrival of Chunky Baby no. 3, so would be great to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones if you're around West Cork.
Check out the venue for more details.
"A sub-species of alt.indiefolk that deals with real issues"
(HOTPRESS)
"Get onboard now, before they become too popular to be cool"
( CORK EVENING ECHO)
"Cork 's most likely candidates for better things"
(IRISH TIMES)
You can also check out Carl's solo project Wasps Vs Humans :
WVH combines spoken word with music, sound effects and other such nonsense. Check out the tracks at www.myspace.com/waspsvshumans
Previous Happenings during 2006 and 2005 ....
Updated 8th Jan 2008
Chunky Planet to play the Roundy, Cork
After a layoff of over 12 months, we return to live action with a one off show at The Roundy in Cork , as part of the Roundy Sessions on Thursday 17 th January 2008 .
Special guest for the night will be Annette Buckley. Annette, who is no stranger to the Cork live scene, received rave reviews after releasing her debut album ‘Ever Changing Colours of the Sea', with 8.5/10 in HOTPress. We look forward to playing together again, having previously toured together in Ireland back in 2005.
Updated November 2006
The Kitchen Sessions:
We're recording in our Kitchen, due to its great acoustics and equally importantly easy access to various liquid refreshments and snacks. This is also a great room for use of a variety of sounds such as washing machine, baby alarm and hungry cat, although should be used sparingly depending on required song atmosphere...
Check out our latest snippet offering, ‘Refugee's Lament'. This is one of the songs we've been working on of late, featuring Mairead Kelly on Harp. Although a ‘rough mix', we'll be doing overdub sessions with some other musician friends over the next month or two. Think of it as an exclusive version, a peek at its naked form before the final EP (fingers crossed for early next year).
4,000,000 Telephones Album released:
Carl performed with 4,000,000 telephones recently, at the launch of the band's re-released self titled album, ‘4,000,000 Telephones'. Not only was this the band's first outing in nearly 20 years, but also Carl's first time behind a drum kit again. The album is now available on various sites internationally, including Amazon – For more information contact Summerhouse Records or check out the official 4,000,000 Telephones Website.
No shows until the EP is out:
Sorry if you keep looking out for us...we really do feel without a record to promote, it is not the right time at the moment for us to go out live, so we're holding back and getting the EP right. We'll keep posting out new songs and info on the website. So keep logging on.
Updated October 2006
Flogging a dead horse :
Pensioners Watch TV is now available on over 35 different websites to purchase, including itunes and e music. We plan to never release anything else, but just keep re releasing Pensioners Watch TV until it is the only song left in the world.
Seriously though we're really pleased that Pensioners is out there and working the web, including iTunes, e music, Napster, to name but a few. The exposure of you reading this is better than a gig in a cold back room of a pub, its more warm. So download us, wherever you like, and the EP will be with you before you can say youtube.
Two steps forward, one step back, well all seems quiet... of course it's not, but it's got to be said, the gigs are hard work, and without a record to promote, do they make records these days? it's hard getting them full...
Anyway, the long and short of it is, NO MORE GIGS... this side of Christmas. We're closing the doors, lighting a fire, getting the food and drink in and recording our next release. It's been a while since we had a hard, oohh err, copy release, something you can hold in your hand and throw at people.
An EP, next year, we promise, we're already finishing some tracks and started others, so we'll try and give you little snippets along the way. But seriously, its sounding great, and with the right push, it will be the way forward... we want people singing along, we want rooms full, we want sweat, we want no more wars and free sausages (meat & vegetarian) on sticks for everyone.
In the meantime, bare with us, there will be some more updates in the coming weeks and of course some new tracks & snippets to have a listen to coming shortly....
Updated September 2006
We've recently played 3 shows in art centres and galleries this summer. These were our first outings since the baby. Check out our new BLOG page, where you can read all about the gigs. We hope to have given a very honest and entertaining account of what's been going on with us.
We've extended our two new tracks, Suicide Bomber and Price You Pay to download for FREE until 15th September, so get downloading now! These were recorded on our own home studio and mixed in England by Jack Rabelais, who worked with Carl in 4,000,000 Telephones in the late 80s. He's also added some samples and treatments on Suicide Bomber , giving it that extra edge which we think sounds fab!
The new songs are also available on www.myspace.com/chunkyplanet and why not check us out there. We are slowly getting to grips with it so write to us and we'll be your friend!
More live dates to be announced:
We'll be announcing some more live dates soon. These will be evening shows in and around Nov, so again check HERE for details soon.
4,000,000 Telephones album and website:
As announced last time the band, 4,000,000 Telephones Carl was in back in the late eighties, have confirmed they will be re releasing their first album onto CD at the end of October. This will be on Summer House Records. The band are also putting together a website. This will be up and running in the next two months. The address is www.4000000telephones.com
Updated During August 2006
It's OUT Now! Price You Pay/Suicide Bomber is now available to download HERE for FREE until 31 st August 2006 .
Thank You to all who came to see us at Sirius Arts Centre Cobh last Saturday. We look forward to playing Triskel in Cork at the weekend, where we will be joined by Diane Ward as our very special guest.Diane is no stranger to Cork's live circuit, having also been included amongst the best of the Green Room sessions on Cork's 96FM. The concert again will be the full band line-up and accompanied by contemporary dancers, Inma & Ursula.
...Finally, We're off to Wexford for our 3rd 'live in the afternoon' launch shows. We play Wexford Arts Centre on Sunday 6th August with very special guest Tadhg Cooke, who has been wooing the national music press with his impressive debut album, ‘Wax & Seal'.
We hope to see you at the shows and remember they're all day gigs, so those with little people, bring the kids along!
OTHER NEWS... In 1985 Carl was a member of 4,000,000 Telephones, an avant-garde band championed by UK music legend John Peel. Releasing an album and single on Summerhouse Records, 4,000,000 Telephones received considerable attention from the UK's music press including NME and Melody Maker. There are now plans for the record company to release the first album on CD for the first time as a re-release.
Updated During July 2006
We move ever closer to the release of our double single, ‘Price You Pay'/'Suicide Bomber' with our first launch at Sirius Arts Centre this coming Saturday 22nd July in the afternoon. (see diary)
The full band will be ever present with Carl on guitar & vocals, Linda on vocals, bodhrán and whistles, Mairead on harp & vocals and Raj on percussion. We are also very excited by the latest addition to our set in the form of contemporary dance duo, Inma and Ursula.
As mentioned before, we're delighted to be joined by Gavin Moore as our very special guest for the afternoon. Gavin has carved out a reputation as one of the finest singer/songwriters around Cork and received much acclaim for his debut album ‘Until Today'.
Even though we do say this ourselves, this is going to be one hell of a show and too good to miss. The whole thing is being filmed to be broadcast from the website later on. So BE THERE and be part of it.
Updated May 2006
We are really looking forward to releasing our new tunes this summer, starting (and about time) with our double A side single ‘Price you Pay’ & ‘Suicide Bomber’, to be released on Saturday 22nd July 2006 with a special launch concert on the same day at SIRIUS ARTS CENTRE in Cobh. (More Details)
This is the first of a series of shows forming part of our summer jaunt around art galleries this year. These will all be afternoon ‘all ages’ performances, so you can enjoy the art, the music and hopefully the sunshine...
We can also confirm an appearance at TRISKEL on Saturday 29th July 2006 (More Details) and more gallery performances will be announced shortly... so keep logging back on.
The single will be in downloadable format only and is the first of a number of downloads available to you FOR FREE this year. In keeping with our virtual double A sided single, we will be filming our launch performance at Sirius Arts Centre and making it available to download here on the website following the concerts. There are very limited tickets available, so if you fancy being part of our arty excursion, it is strongly advised to book early.
Updated March 2006:
At last we have invested in our own home recording studio, being one step closer to complete independency. It’s great having the freedom to record when we want and how we want, whether in our underpants or fitting in with football focus (obviously in Carl’s interest) …
Much as our new addition keeps us Chunkys very busy, musical things are very much underway..
The download single has really surprised us, with Pensioners doing really well on other sites as well as here. A large number of you have also downloaded our previously unreleased track, Rising Water, so fair play to you all; the downloadable format gives musicians the opportunity to release music without the big cost, D.IY. Ethos is the new record company, like staying in is the new going out, going to bed at 9 is the new party animal, doing….. ok, you get the idea..
Finally after our enforced sabbatical, Chunky Planet will be making major announcements next month. We will be releasing a double A sided single and a launch concert, (with a difference). We’re putting the final touches to our plans right now, so WATCH THIS SPACE!!.
Updated February 2006:
You can now download a previously unreleased track ‘Rising Water’, featuring Egly Lucas on slide guitar FOR FREE (follow the link above).
Recording will finally begin next month for the album after many weeks of writing, demoing eating bacon sandwiches & drinking tea. Lots of new songs, subjects include; space, traffic, TV, food, babies, and lawnmowers.
Pensioners watch TV has been going really well, so if you haven’t grabbed your free copy yet, please don’t be shy, check out our own Single page or if you fancy a change of scenery, find Chunky Planet & free download on www.download.com
Can’t wait to play live again. As soon as dates are confirmed we’ll post them up.
Updated January 2006:
Now you may be wondering what the hell is Chunky Planet doing… call themselves a band? They don’t gig and we’re still waiting for the follow up single to Pensioners Watch TV…. Or maybe you’re thinking…who the hell is Chunky Planet anyway? I mean come on!! It’s been so long now!!
Last time we reported we had a new arrival to the band in the form of a baby boy, which has taken most of our time up, with all the usual things they do, so we’ve had to put a lot of the musical stuff on hold…
After saying that, there has been quite a bit going on behind the scenes… we have been working on new songs and demoing for the album ‘Kill Money’ We are also in the process of setting up our own home recording studio – long live independence!
We’re itching to get back out there and sing a few tunes, so look out for some live dates around March to wear in some of the new ones before the next single/album release which realistically has been put back to the summer now…
The free downloadable single seems to have gone done very well. In fact we’ve decided for the foreseeable future to continue with ‘Pensioners watch TV’ being freely accessible to the world and his dog either by downloading from our single page or through www.download.com
We’ve also decided that ‘Pensioners watch TV’ is not the only song we care about or want you to hear and so next week we will be giving you ‘Rising Water’ - a previously unreleased track for free download until March 2006.Updated November 2005:
We have a new Chunky addition to announce, Linda gave birth to Thomas Benjamin on 24th July 2005.
Chunky are now back in music land after a sabbatical of four months with plans afoot for recording. Recording sessions have been organised in England and Ireland for December and January. At the moment we are in the process of demoing and arranging the songs for the album, ‘Kill Money’ which we plan for release in April 2006 with a single in March.
Our first single ‘Pensioners Watch TV’ is now available to download from various internet sites. It can also be bought by ordering on-line at American based website cdbaby.com and UK based cdunsigned.com
In the meantime, we will not be taking any gigs until the new single and album are ready for launching. There’s nothing like doing the live thing, so we are certainly looking forward to getting out there again with a tour to coincide with the release next year.Updated June 2005:
After what’s been a busy time for the band, we are finally winding down our live work for at least six months. We’ve had a great time doing some dates around and about with Annette Buckley. If you were at any of the shows, hope you enjoyed them.
Due to health reasons a show had to be cancelled. Doing 6 dates in about 8 days was a little too much for Linda who was 33 weeks pregnant at the time. Apologies if you came to see us at the Arts Centre in Wexford, however we plan to return in the New Year.
We also did our first gig in Northern Ireland in Londonderry, at the Tenants Intro Festival. The response was excellent and we had a great time. Up and coming bands from all over Ireland played over a couple of days.
We plan to release a single ‘Price You Pay’ at Christmas with an album to follow in the New Year entitled ‘Kill Money’ so look out for those. We hope to gain distribution so hopefully our exposure will grow. We shall spend our time writing and recording, that and having a baby, due in July.Updated 21st April 2005:
Those of you who have seen us live over the last twelve months may have noticed we have been joined on many occasions by harp player Mairead Kelly. We are pleased to announce that Mairead has finally become a fully fledged member of Chunky Planet; we are now a three piece! Welcome on board Mairead.
We can finally let you know about our dates for the second leg of shows we are doing with Annette Buckley. We will be playing a series of dates across Ireland with shows at Eamonn Doran’s, Dublin on Sunday 8th May, Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick on Sunday 15th May, Sky Bar (City Limits), Cork on Wednesday 18th May, The Lodge, Mallow on Thursday 19th May, Wexford Arts Centre on Saturday 20th May and De Barras, Clonakilty on Sunday 22nd May. This will be our first time in Dublin, Limerick and Wexford so we are looking forward to them.
Those of you who caught us playing in our shows in March, hope you enjoyed them. The single ‘Pensioners Watch TV’ is selling well. Early this year it was in the best selling section in HMV Cork. So if you haven’t got your copy then buy on line.
The dates in May will be the last shows until Christmas, as we are having time off playing live to write and record new material for an E.P, to be released at Christmas. We are planning a big launch right across Ireland for the E.P, including a tour, press and radio. We will also post on a couple of new tracks for you to listen to over the summer, so look out for those.
We would like to congratulate our friend Annette Buckley on her fabulous new album, ‘The Ever Changing Colours of the Sea’
And last but not least, we will be releasing a baby this summer. And when he arrives we will let you know and post up a picture.
Hope to see you at the gigs!
