Govinder The Holy Ukulele profile picture

Govinder The Holy Ukulele

Made in India

About Me

To make this album, you will need:1 Stagg Ukulele + Case 1 harmonica (diatonic in D) 2 drumsticks 1 foam matress 1 empty plastic bottle 1 Lonely Planet guide to India 1 tambourine 1 Shikara of small boat 1 metal guitar slide 1 pair of Buddhist prayer bells 5 packs of Mrs Bector's Cremica (approx) 1 bottle of Sikkimese XXX rum 9 grams of facial hair 20 packs of Win (approx) 8 bottles of Hit (approx) 23 stickers depicting Hindu Gods, religious icons and elephants 1 Audiotechnica ATR25 stereo microphone + cable + pop filter 1 minature tripod 1 Sony MZ-N910 MiniDisc recorder 5 Blank MiniDiscs 2 months of time between April and June 2007AD Flights to and from Indira Ghandi airport, Delhi 70kg of Joe Lewis 6'2" of Nick Trepka 2 Tholas of Charas 3000 miles of sideways (approx)'Govinder The Holy Ukulele' is the first album by Slowly Slowly Fast, and is due for release on CD and download in May 2008. It was made in India and assembled in London by Nick Trepka and Joe Lewis. Thank you.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/1/2007
Band Website: this Website is
Band Members: Nick Trepka (ukulele, 1st vocals, recordings) Joe Lewis (percussion, 2nd vocals) Govinder (the holy ukulele) Neville (spiritual leader)
Influences: Win, Hit, Godfather 50000, Charas, Kingfisher, Sikkimese XXX rum, Chung, Bhang lassi, Neville
Sounds Like: THE TRACKLIST1. Whiskey Delhi Ukulele Recorded in a hotel room in Delhi This is the first song we wrote on our travels soon after arriving in Delhi, as we drank Royal Stag whiskey and mused on our predicament for the next couple of months. If anyone has previously heard slide blues played on a Ukulele, Nick would love to know about it.2. Shivganga Express Recorded at Sandhya Guest House, Varanasi Glimpses of a fifteen hour journey on a standard class overnight sleeper train and the colourful company we kept. Joe plays the Lonely Planet guidebook on this one.3. Gangtok Procession Recorded in Gangtok This Buddhist procession passed us as we had our breakfast of porridge and chai, horns blaring and drums throbbing and rattling.4. One Last Kiss Recorded in a hotel room in Yuksom Nick wrote and recorded this song very quietly in the space of 30 minutes and euphamises his intention to stop smoking the following day, when we would embark on a trek to the base of third highest mountain in the world. We proceeded to smoke the highest altitude cigarettes we will probably ever smoke, Nick at one point lighting up at 5433m above sea level.5. Goechi-La Recorded on a Shikara on Dal Lake, Srinagar Goechi-La is the pass at 4500m that we were trekking to; the chorus lists the other camps that we passed through on the way. So this song is about the mountains, although Nick again manages to word it as though it's about a girl. Sexy, sexy mountains.6. Flies (With Your Compound Eyes) No idea where we recorded this. Possibly Delhi The mountain air was too thin and too fast to support a great number of flies. This was written when we got back down again.7. Let Your Beard Grow Recorded on a roof in Vashisht Vashist. Some people go there for the alpine scenery, the peace, the orchards and the hot springs. Most people go for the Charas, and the rest is a bonus. Joe wrote most of this one.8. The Song Has Ended (But The Melody Lingers On) Recorded in a hotel room in Delhi We love this song, written by Irving Berlin and beautifully rendered by Louis Armstrong and many others. The first song Joe learned on the Uke, it quickly became part of our soundtrack.9. Wedding Party Recorded in Srinagar This was nuts. We were out on a boat ride to see the floating vegetable gardens on Dal Lake when we heard music emanating from a marquee, and we had to investigate. The music was live and raucous, it was five in the morning, and the stunning Kashmiri girls who took a shine to Nick failed to be wooed by his attempts to count to ten in Kashmiri.10. Road To Kashmir Recorded in a hotel room in Delhi The jeep takes eighteen hours to get to Srinagar from Leh, and there can't be many journeys to top it. Driving through serious Himalayas, sheer drops to the side, shouting at the driver to keep him awake, vomit on the headrest, all the time feeling pretty apprehensive about our decision to visit this troubled area. It was completely worth it. Joe plays tambourine and foam mattress.11. When I Return Recorded in a houseboat on Dal Lake, Srinagar Nick wrote this in Leh while Joe slept. After a while, traveling becomes as normal as a nine-to-five, and your life back home starts to seem a little alien, and the mundane a little exotic. Everything changes with and without you. Time is passing everywhere around the world.12. Azan Recorded from the roof of a houseboat on Dal Lake, Srinagar Kashmir is predominantly Muslim, and five times a day the air in Srinagar is heavy with the aching prayers of a thousand muezzins. From the tranquil lake, you can hear them all. This is what it sounds like. Headphones recommended.13. Holiday Snaps Recorded on a Shikara on Dal Lake, Srinagar, and various locations in Delhi This is a montage of conversations we gathered as we went about our way, and the album closes with a special rendition of Flies (With Your Compound Eyes) recorded on the back of a cycle rickshaw as it silently shuddered its way through the chaos between New Delhi railway station and our hotel in Paharganj.
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None

My Blog

9. Kashmir to Delhi

Hello all,This last installment of my journal is regrettably very late. My excuses for this are excellent and you can read them further down. For the sake of completeness, here's what I can remember o...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:06:00 PST

8. Srinagar continued

Hello all,Our stay in Srinagar continued to be nothing but idyllic and the town was quiet the whole time we were there, at least in the areas we frequented. From our houseboat on Nageen Lake we did he...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:03:00 PST

7. Going out on a high

Hello friends,The journey to Leh, and the journey to where we are now (wait for it, wait for it) are worth a full session of internet cafe time in themselves, by far the two most extreme and exhillara...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:59:00 PST

6. Pearl of the Himalayas

Hello,We've been exploring the Kullu valley for a week and a bit now. It's been a relief to settle in one area and relax for a short while after the gruelling schedule we set ourselves earlier in our ...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:56:00 PST

4. Trekking in Sikkim

Yowzer,It was only when I called my parents to tell them about the trek we were about to do that I realised that it was still unclear how we were going to complete a nine day trek in just six days - w...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:50:00 PST

3. Gangtok

Alright,I'm writing from Gangtok (alt 1600m, pop 35,000), the capital of Sikkim; a tiny little state in north-west India which hovers in a little gooseneck of land between Assam and the rest of the su...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:48:00 PST

2. Varanasi and Darjeeling

Hello all,A great deal has happened since Delhi, it's hard to know where to start. Yes, we took a 12 hour sleeper train to Varanasi, one of Hinduism's holiest, draped along the west bank of the most h...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:44:00 PST

1. Greetings from Delhi

Hello all,Welcome to the first edition of my travel journals to home. So here I am in Delhi, safe and sound. This is me and Joe's third day here, traversing the bustling bazaars of this awesome, spraw...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:42:00 PST

5. Rishikesh to Vashisht

Hello you lot,Shortly after I wrote the last mass email from Delhi, I emerged from the internet cafe to witness the first hailstorm to hit Delhi in living memory. Balls of ice the size of grapes, golf...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:54:00 PST

5. Rishikesh to Vashisht

Hello you lot,Shortly after I wrote the last mass email from Delhi, I emerged from the internet cafe to witness the first hailstorm to hit Delhi in living memory. Balls of ice the size of grapes, golf...
Posted by Govinder The Holy Ukulele on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:55:00 PST