SPINNING MAN
N EW ALBUM AND SIDE PROJECT BYM.E. BAIRD IN COLLABORATION WITH ACCLAIMED PRODUCER/MUSICIAN/SONGWRITER, JAMIE TREVASKIS.
The digital album is available now—physical release 2024.
Listen to Spinning Man via BANDCAMP
With Jamie Trevaskis, M.E. Baird has created a most astonishing set of songs and soundscapes comprising this left-of-centre, cinematic and immersive recording. M.E. Baird and Jamie have been delivering Spinning Man to live audiences with sell-out shows in Brisbane, Sydney and the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Audiences have been blown away by the sonic immersion of Jamie Trevaskis's highly unusual guitar and saw playing techniques with M.E. Baird's beguiling songs and deep lamenting voice.
The name 'Spinning Man' came to M.E. Baird via a paragraph from Dylan Thoma's poem, The Authors Prologue.
'How I, a spinning man,
Glory also this star, bird
Roared, sea born, man torn, blood blest.
Hark: I trumpet the place,
From fish to jumping hill! Look:
I build my bellowing ark
To the best of my love
As the flood begins,
Out of the fountainhead
Of fear, rage red, manalive,
Molten and mountainous to stream
Over the wound asleep...'
(Extract from The Authors Prologue, Dylan Thomas. 1954)
M.E. Baird was consuming large amounts of English and Russian literature and medicinal weed while he was undergoing treatment for advanced prostate cancer from 2019-2023. It was also the height of COVID lockdowns. During this time he would periodically walk with his elderly kelpie-greyhound dog 'Gracie' to the local cemetery which sits upon the highest hill of the New South Wales historic township of Bangalow. There he would wander through the aisles separated by religious domination and read aloud from various authors and poets to those silently resting in their undercrofts as the evening sun would slide from the distant horizon. These walks and readings would not only become respite but help inspire the writing of what would eventually become, 'Spinning Man'.
About M.E. Baird & Jamie Trevaskis
Jamie Trevaskis is a stalwart of the Brisbane independent music scene. Not only is he an astonishing musician, and producer, but he has also owned two of Brisbane's most iconic venues starting with the Troubadour and later the Junk Bar with his partner in life and music Mia Goodwin. Jamies, iconic studio Tape-Land, nestled in the lush eucalypt forests of Mt Nebo, west of Brisbane has captured (on tape) some truly great Australian musical works. With a recording and producing career spanning more than two decades, his credits include artists such as Robert Forster, Colin Lilly, Hugo Race, Rob Snaski, Ben Salter, Sime Nugent, Leanne Tennant, Halfway, Mexico City, Ghostwoods, Karl S Williams, M.E. Baird and the list goes on. As a musician, songwriter, composer, guitarist and saw player, yes he is a saw player with a highly unique method and approach to his instruments, Jamie has contributed to countless recordings and band lineups including Rob Snaski's Brisbane band. His solo musical projects include the ephemeral 'It's Magnetic' featuring Mia Goodwin on vocals and Ben Ely (Regurgitator) on Bass. His most recent solo project 'Crying' sees Jamie composing immersive and dreamlike soundscapes with spoken word.
M.E. Baird (Matthew Ede Baird) began his musical career in Melbourne in the late 1980's continuing through to 1998 as part of the inner city Melbourne rock and post-punk scene before leaving Australia for the UK and Europe to expand upon his musical and art education. He returned home and relocated to Sydney in 2000 to pursue an academic career in art and design. His music career would take a short break until 2004 when he returned to Melbourne and began writing songs, recording and rereleasing music. Back in Melbourne, he hit the ground running and would go on to write and record five critically acclaimed solo albums including numerous recordings with other bands. During this period he would also get to share the stage, tour with and open for some of his favourite musicians, including, Roland S Howard, Spencer P Jones, Kim Salmon, Ed Keupper, Sarah Caroll, Chris Wilson and Ian Rilen. His biggest accolades, however, would come under the assumed musical nome de plume of 'Lionel Lee', a binge-drinking, bar-brawling gothic country wanderer with his band of ravaged vagrants known as the Lionel Lee Three and Lionel Lee's Curse. Sadly, Lionel's time would come to an abrupt and tragic end. But that is a whole other story. M.E. Baird has also contributed songs and composed original soundtrack work in film and television.
The Recording of Spinning Man
Recording started in September 2022 in Jamie's studio, Tape-Land. The sessions took place in a series of short but intensive two-day sessions beginning on a Friday morning and ending on a Saturday evening. Tracking was done live with virtually no retakes. No other musicians were present or allowed. Jamie and M.E. Baird did all guitars, additional instrumentation, sounds and other obscure sonic gems in complete isolation free from outside ears and influences, with no gimmicks or trickery. The songs were completed sequentially and mixed on the day to capture and lock in their emotive and experimental power. These days of intense creative immersion at Tape-Land upon Mt Nebo would represent some of the most fulfilling and satisfying sessions for Jamie and M.E. Baird.
For all publicity enquiries, in Australia contact Stuart Coupe
Below, M.E. Baird & Jamie Trevaskis. (credit unknown)
