Marcel and Yvonne interviewed by Aroha from JuiceTV, around the time ‘The Half-Light Symphony’ was released..


It’s difficult to tell when exactly we first crossed paths with Mr Daniel Bosher.

From what can be pieced together, it was the combination of an ill-fated enterprise he and Ryan were unknowingly roped into, followed closely by a chance encounter at a Fleet FM live-to-air (hosted by the Terry Adams of the Auckland indie music scene, one Mr Benji Jackson – formerly of Bolton, England), closely followed by (chance encounters once again) numerous Scotch-and-Dry’s at Auckland’s (once again, ill-fated) Coco Club on numerous occasions.

Not long after, Battle Circus were invited to tour Australia with art-rock vanguards The Red Paintings, and as it happened, our touring drummer at the time cancelled a little over a week before we were to fly out. And so we phoned a surprised Daniel at twenty to midnight, told him we were coming over with a box of beers, and threw down the idea of him touring Australia with us.

It didn’t take much (well, half-a-dozen Stella’s always helps with the enthusiasm), and before we knew it he’d learned the full Battle Circus live set, and a little over a week (and one very tightly-timed flight) later was opening at the Factory Theatre in Sydney with us, followed by a trail blazing adventure across Australia.

Since then we’ve had the pleasure of playing countless shows alongside Dan’s band Decortica, and those of you who witnessed the epic spectacle that was Karnivool at the King’s Arms would’ve spotted Dan amidst much hair-flailing behind the BC kit when we opened for them earlier in the year.

So following this trail of happy coincidences, we’re all extremely excited to announce that Dan has now joined Battle Circus as an official member – not only is he a phenomenal drummer, but also a long-time friend, and it’s great to have him on board. With the album finished, we’re rehearsing hard and looking forward to bringing the new songs to the stage with Dan’s formidable drumming behind them. Expect the first show with the new line-up early next year.

Photo by James Turnbull (www.gekkoimagery.co.nz)

Photo by James Turnbull (www.gekkoimagery.co.nz)

(Dan also keeps a blog at http://danielbosherdrums.blogspot.com. Want more Dan? Check him out here.)

Ladies and gentlemen, the new (as-yet-untitled) Battle Circus album is finished.

A magnificent round of applause to Mr. David Holmes, who has worked tirelessly throughout the last few months (good thing we kept the scotch in good supply, huh Dave!) and has produced a record that we are all incredibly happy with.

We can’t wait for you to all hear it, but unfortunately it’s likely that you’ll have to. At least until next year.

However, be sure to leave your comments below, and we’ll let you know as soon as the first single is on the horizon…

On Thursday November 26th, Auckland will be treated to a special one-off show care of our good friends Tory ‘Jester’ Staples and Kristie Addison from Transit of Venus, together with our very own Marcel, and Mat Bosher from Decortica. They will be performing a live soundtrack to F.W. Murnau’s legendary silent vampire epic from the ’20s, Nosferatu, at the TAPAC Convention Centre.

For more information, click here to see the Facebook event invitation.

Retraction (26/11)!

The Rock has announced that Battle Circus are playing the Nosferatu show tonight, when in fact it is a Transit of Venus show, with a cameo from Marcel. This is not a Battle Circus show!

What a night. Decortica as Batman, Robin and Catwoman, These Four Walls as Dorothy & Friends from The Wizard of Oz, and of course Battle-Circus-El-Dia-de-Muertos. We had a ball, thanks to everyone for coming down.

Some great shots of the show, care of James Turnbull from Gekko Imagery:

Cheers to everyone who came along to the Armageddon Expo in Melbourne to see the show, as well as Shen from The New Black (for lending us a guitar amp), and Pony Music in Hallam for the great deal on rental gear.

We spent the weekend checking out the exhibits and stalls at Armageddon, especially the sweet replica Back To The Future De Lorean…

Delorean

and of course obligatory afternoon drinks at the Curtin House Rooftop Bar – home of Yvonne’s favourite chili-infused-vodka Bloody Marys…

Bloody Marys at The Rooftop Bar

Look forward to seeing everyone at Armageddon Auckland this weekend!

Following the Armageddon Expo shows in Melbourne and Auckland, we will be playing Jester Underground’s Halloween Blowout on October 31st, along with These Four Walls, Decortica, and Plum Green. This show is free!

Beginning strings

Recording strings at york; Dave took this picture with his cellphone today. Darjia plays Bass (a drop C’d double bass, BAM!) as Yvonne freaks out about something on opposite her. We were unable to get all the string players together at the same time so the mics will need to stay exactly where they are until we are done to create the illusion of a 12 piece ensemble. after each take the player moves back a chair until we have an entire section of each instrument (yes it’s cheating but we’re on a budget here and besides there’s nothing wrong with cheating if you do it well ;-)

Here some other photos from the session:

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Following our show with Karnivool at the King’s Arms in September, we’re pleased to announce three performances at this year’s Armageddon Expo in October. Battle Circus will be playing at the Melbourne Convention Center on Saturday October 17th, and then at the Auckland Showgrounds for both the Masquerade Ball on the evening of Sunday October 25th, and at the expo the following day (Monday October 26th) at around 1.30pm.

We were starting to feel that Jaimz didn’t really have the chops required to lay down the drums on this album, and decided to get a new guy in. He came highly recommended. The consummate professional. Was a hit with the ladies. Bit of a show off if you ask me.


But with moves like those, you can see how he trumps the old guy…