The Mandelbrot Set - first demo (1990)

[@ephemerons]

Hey Tim, what's the latest about the Mandies' compilation? I noticed it got airplay on ThreeD recently but can't find out much about it. Is it a thing?

[@aranyawaasii]

Hi there. I don't actually know that much about it, other than it was supposed to be happening. If it's out that's news to me. It's something to do with some Facebook group "Sound as Ever'? i think ... Sorry, can't be of much help ...

[@blairmcquade2477]

This is awesome, thanks for sharing.

[@enzadegennaro9704]

Very cool 😎

[@enzadegennaro9704]

I remember you from work (won't say where) mid 90s, but didn't get to see you play. Enjoying the music now thanks ☺

[@aranyawaasii]

@@enzadegennaro9704 ahh, OK. maybe your name does ring a distant bell now ... thanks for commenting.

[@enzadegennaro9704]

@@aranyawaasii Don't expect you to know me by name. Find your music very calming and diverse! Keep creating ☺

[@aranyawaasii]

@@enzadegennaro9704 Thanks Enza. I only actually had 1 job in Adelaide in the 90s (it was a common place of employment for aspiring musos in Australia ...), so putting 2 & 2 together i do have some vague recollection ... i left the public service & had moved to London by '97. Can't say I look back on that with much fondness, but there were worse ways to pay the bills, & there was a wide mix of people back then, thanks to the entry requirements being simply based on passing the test. & played a lot of table tennis in the cafeteria! I did return to that place in the early 00s on a contract, but the culture was very different & so i didn't stick around ...

[@enzadegennaro9704]

@@aranyawaasii Awwww

[@mozdickson]

JJJ in my Variant breezing down Concord Rd...on way home to Petersham from a Maquarie evening class...next track is......The Cocteau Twins......then Ed Keupper.....then Straightjacket Fits. Life of Riley.

[@aranyawaasii]

well certainly the most evocative comment to date. Straitjacket Fits one of the few bands i do find myself returning to occasionally ...

[@ephemerons]

Awesome :)

[@aranyawaasii]

Thanks man. Hey sorry about the confusion with the comments. I was twiddling my thumbs a few months back thinking it would be good to collaborate with someone on some songs, but of course sod's law i'm quite busy now with a couple of other projects on the go ...

[@ephemerons]

@@aranyawaasii Hey Tim, not a problem. The prospect scared the pants off of me anyway ha ha!

[@aranyawaasii]

@@ephemerons oh god ... heh! I think your demo's are good! The original songs in particular, which is always a good sign ... But mainly i'm so focused on 'music' & arranging these days, it would be great to just hand a large chunk of lyric responsibilities to someone else, & share the playing & production load. I'm not a very good 'producer' ... 'chords' / structures / arrangements is really my number 1 thing ... & the bit i enjoy the most. Anyway, i seem to have drifted into this sort of 'fusion' project with a Sitar player, & i actually want to try & write some 'proper' instrumental music again over the next 6 months (with winds & strings etc ...). I have an occasional 'mentor' for that & he's given me a bit of encouragement so i think i might concentrate on it a bit more again & see if i can push it forward ... Every 'musical' skill i think is a useful one that can ultimately inform other types & styles of music. Anyway, write more songs dude! They're good.

[@ephemerons]

@@aranyawaasii Thanks Tim, just added a new one actually :)

[@jepcy21]

Hey Tim great to hear this again , I used to share house with Libby , we used to live on Stanley Street.

[@aranyawaasii]

In Mile End? think i remember going to a party there once ... probably spent more time with Libby a year or 2 after that ... anyway, glad you enjoyed it.

[@annarks70]

This is a pure gem. Thank you!

[@aranyawaasii]

you're welcome. glad you enjoyed it.

[@markkeller94]

Hi Tim, been a long time, I'm Mark Keller your early live engineer in Adelaide (and that one tour to Sydney supporting Jenny Morris and playing the Annandale, that tour felt like proper rock and roll for about 5 mins). I've stayed in Sydney ever since that tour! Anyway just thought I'd say hello and tell you I have a 4 track demo we recorded in a community studio out at Elizabeth in Feb 1991. I think I paid for the session to get some experience working in a studio and you guys agreed to provide the talent. I've not listened to it since then as it is on 1/4 inch reel to reel (the proper kind with the hubs, stored tail out no less). The songs are "More than Happy" "Joy in Despair", "Something Inside" and "R.E.M" (which I think was a scratch name, not a real name, you used to name your songs after what they sounded like) I will try and de hub onto my old reel to reel and send you the result, or I could just send you the tape if you have access to a player. Cheers Mark.

[@aranyawaasii]

Hi Mark! Had wondered what had become of you. If you can dub that reel I'd be interested to hear it. Adam has been through a process of recovering & converting old demos over the last few years on & off. There is (inexplicably) some interest in releasing some of it. I wondered about this demo you referred to, it never seemed to get mentioned. Although going back a few years nobody seemed to have ANY demos, so I'm not sure how Adam turned anything up in the end. So, by all means, no rush, but if you managed to get the tape digitised let us know. Hope all is well in Sydney. Thanks for getting in touch.

[@markkeller94]

@@aranyawaasii Been having some fun in my basement studio dubbing reel to reel. I've not got the 4 song demo off the big reel yet, still working on that. However it happens I also have a 1/4 inch reel of this 1990 3 song demo. I think I kept a copy when I submitted it to Triple M (I volunteered in the record library for a time). It is certainly the same recording of the same songs, but in a different order for some reason. The funny thing is the speed of this copy is much faster than yours! At first I thought my machine was faulty but the tape has a 1200Hz test tone at the beginning and it is playing back correctly (and no it's not 1000Hz sped up, I went down that rabbit hole for a bit...). My noodling on the guitar suggests this one is a semitone higher. My memory tells me you guys did usually play this song at this speed, but you know 32 years......you will know more than me I'm sure. Anyway enough rambling, its on my Soundcloud soundcloud.com/all74 at the moment (I'll private it after you have a copy) and I've PMed you my email on soundcloud so I can send you the WAV.

[@aranyawaasii]

@@markkeller94 Hi Mark. After a quick listen that sounds too high & too fast. The song was played by me with capo on 2nd fret, so that should start the song in Db (or C# if you prefer ...). Anyway, I think this demo has been subsequently recovered from DAT, so there may be no particular value in this reel to reel for this demo. & I'm happy just hosting this cassette version on YT. Happy to give the other one a listen at some point however, but no rush! (ps. it's been a long time since i signed into Soundcloud, not sure what my passw0rd is just at the moment ...)

[@markkeller94]

@@aranyawaasii Hey Tim, yeah not sure what went on with that reel to reel speed. Cassettes are so much easier and can sound great (like this demo). Anyway after borrowing a neighbors old reel to reel to check out the demo, it was really not playable as the tape was delaminating. I think this tape is the original 2 track for this demo (it has "The Mandelbroot" written on the front!) We then we used the same tape to mix down the last song "REM" recorded at Roughcut Studios Elizabeth. So cassettes to the rescue again as after a bit of searching I have a nice sounding cassette copy on chrome tape! (also contains a practice 4 track recording of the same track, was that in a school?) It's on my soundcloud soundcloud.com/all74. Get in touch...somehow.. it you want a copy (don't think soundcloud does download anymore). Been great getting in touch and remembering that year, going though my diary and remembering all the gigs, fun times. Cheers

[@aranyawaasii]

@@markkeller94 had a quick listen. sounds ok for what it is! Not a world-beater though i must admit. "had potential" ... thanks for digging it out. i'll sing out if i need to grab a copy. but it's pretty rare i ever listen to this stuff, & i can't see that being "in the mix" for any re-release ... i think most of this planned CD is demos for the Kansas ep stuff ...

[@MJT-001]

Joined this to follow up all the songs I didn't have from the album/ep "A place called Kansas". Bought "A place called Kansas" after I saw you support Hamish Cowan (prior to cordrazine)/Nick Batterham at the "Tote"???? in Collingwood about 1991. I have kept this album/ep for all those years and ripped it so many times...hoping to see you all become an awesome indie band I could love...but shit happens and then we all grow up and have kids and stuff....I am now a software developer....go figure!!!

[@MJT-001]

Sorry Tim, not after a reply. Just wanted you to know that I loved all the early music you made... just wanted to say thankyou for the best years of my late teens, early twenties and the band scene in Aus you helped create.

[@aranyawaasii]

@@MJT-001 no worries Michael. Not sure if i remember that gig or not too be honest. So long ago. "wrong place, wrong time" for the Mandies ultimately i think. The early 90s was a very polarising time in music. I think the Zeitgeist was passing us by ... best wishes & thanks for commenting / listening.

[@jasonoreilly1493]

Good times!!!!

[@aranyawaasii]

"ain't we lucky we got 'em ..."

[@467-k1m]

I was so enchanted during that period of music. I do not recall ever hearing of that particular group, but a 78 years old I MUST say, not much in the way of REAL music, these years although brief were the last of the bestest music to date.

[@aranyawaasii]

Thanks Doug. I can pretty much guarantee you'll hate what i'm doing now then! Different styles of music really necessitate different ways of listening, just as they necessitate different approaches to performance & composition. By broadening our listening habits, we broaden our minds & become more tolerant and change & grow in our perspective. I know for myself, the music that has the longest shelf life is the music that i rarely comprehend on first listen, & it's the compulsion to understand that keeps me coming back. When I wrote this material i set out with quite a cynical mindset to create something as easily digestible as possible. Essentially, it's bubblegum. There's a place in the world for this sort of thing, & i acknowledge & very rarely occasionally still enjoy it, but man does not live on bread alone & all that ... This is in no way an affront please understand, simply a word of encouragement from the (now also significantly older) author & co-performer of this music. Best wishes & good health to you.

[@bazzhandler]

Great to hear Tim! Will check all your new stuff - are you on fb / insta? Best way to get in touch outside of a youtube comment?

[@aranyawaasii]

Hi Tim. good to hear from you. had thought of you a few times as i had finally been piecing together some increasingly finished-sounding music. I'm not on Facebook or Insta as it turns out. Perhaps i can find an email from you online & i'll mail you direct. I've just got back from a few days off-grid so i'll check out your stuff over the next few days. p.s. Forgot you were a big Kozelek head!

[@bazzhandler]

@@aranyawaasii yeah I looked for an old email too - I added you on twitter (datadoor is my little label) so can msg you via that if you follow me I think!

[@aranyawaasii]

@@bazzhandler no worries, i followed you on there already.