Our greatest fan

Wow, we managed to sneak this picture of one of the greatest fans of ELIXA when she wasn't looking.

She's a sophisticated twenty-something and oh, so cool.

Her favourite hobbies include modelling, spinning and just chilling.

Sorry boys but we can't give you her number...she's ours!! ;-)

Great nite!!

Hey thanks to everyone who came thru to support us last nite at Tanz Cafe.

It was a great gig. Pity about the heat. But thanks for the love.

The setlist looked like this:

• By the way (chilli peppers)
• Shout Hello
• Radiate
• Taxi Receipt (song for john mayer songwriting comp)
• Signs
• Sinatra
• Firelight
• Words escape (new song... we just jammed along)
• Bubbly Toes (Jack J)
• Dakota (Stereophonics)

My favourites were Shout Hello, Sinatra and Dakota.

Solo acoustic act Rowan MacDonald was pretty cool.

The band called Candy Fly were playing some awesome punk rock with an acoustic vibe. They did a killer cover of Jerry Raferty's song "Baker Street" with saxophone. Definitely worth checking out if you dig your punk rock.

We'll be taking a nice long holiday now and will be back in the new year to rock you.
Sign up for gig updates at the bottom right of our webpage.

Christmas blessings and New Year wishes

ian and the ELIXA band

ELIXA saves you money

Hi

Check out the flyer for our upcoming gig in JHB in December. Its at the Tanz Cafe.
We should be playing pretty early in the evening around 8pm. There are also 3 solo acoustic acts on the night.

Print out the flyer, fill in your email address, hand it in at the door and only pay R 20. Normal cover R 30.

Or sign up to our email newsletter on this website (somewhere at the bottom...i think) and get in for free on the VIP guest list.

Things have been pretty quite on our side - exams, project deadlines and construction jobs have been keeping us all busy.

I have been writing a new song. Not sure what its called yet> But its a powerful, "political" song about freedom, justice and the power of a few words. We hope to debut it at Tanz Cafe on the 6th of Dec. I promise you will love it.

keep cool

ian

Gig update

A quick note that ELIXA will be playing at the Tanz Cafe Bryanston on Tuesday the 6th of December. Entrance is R 30 or R 20 if you bring a flyer.

Get in FREE if you sign up for email ELIXA gig updates. The sign up box is on the right of this page (you may have to scroll down to find it ! ). Don't stress we don't send spam and you can unsubscribe if you don't dig our vibe.

On the 6th you can expect some more up-tempo stuff from us and a couple of new ones. Its gonna rock!

more info to follow.

ian

ELIXA is set to gently rock the Tanz Cafe

Click on the flyer for more details of the upcoming gig.

Subscribe to the official ELIXA band newsletter and get on the guest list for the gig at Tanz. See the subscription form to the right - >

Its gonna be a great gig as usual. Expect some chilled vibes, maybe a bit of Maroon 5, some Jack Johnson and one or two new originals.
Two solo acoustic muso's will also be playing on the nite.

Give Tanz Cafe a call if you want to book a table to eat 011 463 5937! The food is good.

Ian

Gimme some of that fat bass guitar!

Here is a pic of Carl our bass guitarist. This was taken at a practice a little while ago. The man is seriously talented and a real expert on the finer details of sound.

Taxi receipt is a rocking song!

Recording the song for the Esquire/John Mayer competition went really well. I was in the studio on Friday morning and Byron I worked non stop till 4:30pm. The man has a great gift for production and arrangement.

We got a really strong groove going. The song is called Taxi Receipt. We played around and added a bit of old school R’n B flavour to keep it going. Also added some “low-fi dirt” sounds. I really loved how it turned out. I hope John likes it. I think there’s a pretty good chance he will. Posted it to the US on Monday. Will keep you posted!


My pre-birthday warm up session
I have such awesome friends!!! Christine gave me a Jack Johnson Limited edition CD and DVD from Switzerland!

Then Caroline gave me a CD by a guy called Marc Broussard. The CD is called Carencro. I had never heard of this guy before. This is some incredible music. Very different from the usual rock/pop diet on radio. Think of powerful vocals, soulful singing, pumping acoustic guitar and superb production. This is definitely my favourite music right now!!
My highlights include the song called “The beauty of who you are” with a line that soars as he sings “baby, I’m so into yoooooo”. So memorable, true magic. And “Saturday” an uber cool catchy groove song of huge proportions. The most sublime thing about this song is the flute that filters in and tickles your consciousness. Cool man.
Check out http://www.marcbroussard.com
I am not sure if the CD is available in SA yet.

Oh and it isn’t even my birthday yet! More presents to come next month.



NB ! Please take careful note that ELIXA is playing at the Tanz café in Bryanston on Tuesday the 11th of October 2005. R 30 at the door or R 20 on the guest list. Sign up for the ELIXA newsletter and gig updates and automatically get on the guest list.

Ian

John Mayer and Ian are writing a song

Tuesday 6 September

Yesterday, John Mayer and I started work on a new song. Yes, I said John Mayer. You know the grammy award winning guitarist… “your body is a wonderland”… “daughters”… “comfortable” etc.

John has posted some lyrics on his website that he says he is not using at the moment and instead of them going to waste, he would like someone to offer his/her interpretation of the music and melody. It for a competition that is being run by Esquire Magazine USA. The winner gets a John Mayer Signature Strat!! Competition details are at www.johnmayer.com

So far the song is coming along nicely. I am usually very fussy when it comes to writing my own lyrics. That's what takes up the bulk of my writing process. So it was really kind of John to put some of his up for me to use. I am really inspired by the lyrics and have come up with something with chilled and interesting chords that still have a strong hook and groove. I plan to record it this Friday at Electrogroove Studios. Will let you know how that goes.

Love/hate thing

"Bono's in love with the world. He wants to embrace it. I want to punch its lights out. We're a psychotic Tweedledum and Tweedledee." - Bob Geldof (Organiser of the Live8 Concerts).

Yes, I totally identify with that. Sometimes you try to help people but they don’t see that you are trying to help. Or you see people doing such stupid things that you want to bash them on the head. Inside my head lives a hugger, a Bono type character who sees good in everyone and next door to him lives a puncher, a Geldof-type. Interestingly these two neighbours of my mind get on with each other pretty well and make a surprisingly good team. The Geldof makes certain that I don't give up too much love. That all the love is genuine and a true sacrifice. The Bono (hugger type) doesn't allow the Geldof mean streak to last, otherwise I'd be no use on earth at all.

If you are totally confused then don't worry, cos the main point of today's post is totally unrelated to the inner workings of love/hate relationships - I am really looking forward to two upcoming gigs. Next week Wednesday the 17th of August at the Tanz Café Bryanston. I am doing a “solo” thing. Well I am actually sneaking in my drummer and bassist cos I don’t really like the emptiness of the solo thing. Maybe I will grow to like it, but right now solo is not good for my mojo. You can get on the guest list and only pay R 20 at the door (normal R 30). Just email me you name and surname to the address on the flyer.

Then on the Friday nite (the 19th) ELIXA is playing at a Youth event at the Bryanston Methodist Church. The event is called Ignite! And should be a blast: Scratch DJ, guest speaker, two bands. Also entrance is free. Hope to see you there.

ian

See it in Black and White

Me jamming (upside down) in the loft - pic by DigitalDynamite.

Being a left-handed guitarist means that you can't just pick up a guitar at a (right-handed) friend's house and easily impress party people with the Darkness, Hendrix or Clapton's Tears in Heaven. Lefties have to turn the guitar upside down. Potentially impressive - but tricky...so it doesn't always sound great. Luckily there are one or two simple songs that work. Keep an eye out for this upside-down "party trick" at future gigs. Next week we will look at how to play a burning guitar with only your nose and toes :-0

"the ELIXA has landed"

Hello and welcome to the ELIXA blog.

Why the name ELIXA you ask? Well an elixir is a potion that was used in days gone by to make people feel better. It was a mixture of sweet sugar water and alcohol if I'm not mistaken.

I think that the salesmen might have mentioned that it had magical powers too.

ELIXA is also the name given to my band. A four piece jazz-rock band. Andrew "Smasha" Sowter on drums, Carl Sandrock on bass guitar, Lindsay Thoresson on vocals and keyboard and me on electric guitar and vocals.

But the ELIXA blog is not just about the band. Its about your heart, the music that stirs it, the good life, relationships, questions, struggles, signs, love and.....*takes a sip*....feeling good!

ian