Singer/songwriter Anthony Bautovich from The Orange Humble Band delivers a diverse collection of roots driven pop with his power pop/alt.country outfit The Forresters.
Lovingly mixed by Wayne Connolly, the album 'Skindeep' features a loose assembly of fine Australian players who have all given to the sound of this record including Nick Kennedy (Todd Sparrow, Laura Imbruglia) on drums, Steve Balbi (Noiseworks, Move Trees) on bass, Matt Galvin (Eva Trout) on guitar, Cameron Bruce (Bruce) ..boards, and Charlie Owen (Beasts of Bourbon) on guitar and dobro.
I first met Nick Kennedy (Big Heavy Stuff) when Knievel were the backing band for Ken Stringfellow during his Australian tour. Nick is a great drummer, a great guy and a pleasure to make music with. It's little wonder he's the driving force behind a number of top Sydney outfits including Todd Sparrow, Centipede and Laura Imbruglia's band .
On bass, Steve Balbi (Noiseworks) has recently launched his new group, Move Trees (check out their myspace profile). Steve is a wonderful songwriter with a killer voice. Most of Steve's time is spent producing/engineering at his Green Dragon studio on the northside here in Sydney. Nick, Steve and I only had one rehearsal before we put down the drums and bass in a marathon session at the very luxurious Milk Bar studio. We then moved the caravan to the sadly now defunct Paradise studios. Matt Galvin (The Barbarellas) chimed in with some killer power pop electrics as only he can. Matt played guitar on 'Assorted Creams' and it's was great to get him on board this project. The next day of recording at Paradise we put down the piano and organ with Cameron Bruce (Dave MacCormack & The Polaroids). Cameron was a little hung over from the night before but still managed some stunning performances, mostly one take straight to tape. We then hooked up with Velvet Sound studios…liked it so much we ended up finishing the record there! In-house engineer Daniel Clinch was too good. Great sounds, great attitude & along with Anthony The made recording a bunch of fun.
Guitarist Charlie Owen (The Beasts of Bourbon) plays the dobro and electric guitars on the more rockin' and country flavoured tracks on the record. Charlie flew up from Melbourne for 2 days but remarkably got all his stuff on tape in 1! I picked Charlie up at the airport about midday, drove him to the studio and he plugged straight in. Without a break, 11 hours later, and with some stinging electrics and beautiful dobro playing, he had put his stamp on the record. Like Cameron, the right bits in just the right place. Two other local musicians who played on 'Assorted Creams'also appear on The Forresters album. Peter Cross delivers some beautiful trumpet and flugel horn lines on a number of tracks and Jess Ciampa (Bernie Hayes) dragged in his entire collection of vibes, chimes, bells and whistles for a very fun percussion session. I was extra fortunate to have Wayne 'the fademaster' Connolly come in for the mixing. I love the way Wayne works those sounds and he's a lot of fun to record with. Many thanks to Wayne for some great mixes and also sitting in on the mastering.
The uninformed have asked me why name your band after a pub or a model of a Subaru? Truth is, I've been hooked on the Bold & the Beautiful for a few years now and if I don't get my dose at 4.30, things just don't feel right. I was struggling for a band name when a dear friend and fellow devotee of the show jokingly suggested the name The Forresters.With an appropriate amount of silliness, Ridge, Brooke and the rest of the Forresters happily go about their day-to-day lives trying to deal with their everyday issues of incest, the obligatory switching of paternity tests, as well as the occasional family member returning from the grave. For Sydney viewers, Channel 10, 4.30p.m. You too will love it.
Apart from running Tom Thumb and writing the songs for the next Forresters record, my "real" job, or at least the one that pays my bills is as an Osteopath and Chiropractor. I have my own practice here in beautiful downtown Surry Hills (Bourke Street Chiropractic & Osteopathy) . I deal primarily with musculoskeletal problems…back and neck pain, headaches, sports injuries etc…if you'd like any further info, check the health section at our website.
Independent Sydney label Reverberation, are now distributing 'Skindeep' right across our fair land. Reverberation was originally set up by friends Ian Underwood (Challenger 7) and Russell Hopkinson (You Am I). The good folk at Reverberation have been doing a great job spreading the word on The Forresters and have become a vital part of the independent music scene in this country.
We've just finished a video for the track 'Missing You'. The clip has been produced by Madeleine (check out my top friends) from Preston Media . Hope you'll take a minute to check it out.
The Forresters will be doing some acoustic shows in Sydney over the coming months and looking forward to recording some new material in the near future…Darryl and I have been working on songs for the long awaited third Orange Humble album…stay tuned…ab
