SPINNING MAN (EPK)
A SONIC AND SONG JOURNEY BY M.E. BAIRD AND JAMIE TREVASKIS.
M.E. Baird and Jamie Trevaskis have created and recorded an astonishing set of songs and soundscapes comprising this left-of-centre, immersive, cinematic recording. What was initially a solo recording by M.E. Baird quickly morphed into an exploratory lab and more recently, an expanding side project for M.E. Baird and Jamie. Tracks from Spinning Man have already been included for upcoming soundtracks, including requests to produce other artists. Spinning Man has also begun work on a follow-up long player recording.
The name 'Spinning Man' came to M.E. Baird via a paragraph from Dylan Thomas's poem, The Author's 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 Author's Prologue, Dylan Thomas. 1954)
About Jamie Trevaskis
Jamie 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.
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.
About M.E. Baird
M.E. Baird began his musical career in Melbourne in the late 1980s as part of the inner city Melbourne post-punk, rock and folk scene before leaving Australia for the UK and Europe in 1998. He returned home and relocated to Sydney in 2000 to pursue an academic career in art and design. His music career would go on the back burner until 2004, when he returned to Melbourne and began writing songs and recording again with the release of four critically acclaimed solo albums, including numerous recordings with other bands. His only venture into the mainstream would come under the assumed musical nome de plume of 'Lionel Lee', a binge-drinking, substance-fueled bar-brawling wanderer with his band of ravaged vagrants known as the Lionel Lee Three and later Lionel Lee's Curse. Sadly, Lionel's time would come to an abrupt and tragic end. But that is a whole other story. Early in his career, M.E. Baird also had the great fortune to share the stage with some of his favourite and influential Australian musicians, most notably, Roland S Howard, Spencer P Jones, Chris Wilson, Ed Kuepper and Sarah Carrol.
The Writing and Recording of Spinning Man
During the writing and recording of Spinning Man, M.E. Baird was undergoing the final stages of three years' treatment for stage 4 prostate cancer. COVID was also well underway. Between treatments, M.E. Baird would walk most days with his aging kelpie-greyhound to the local cemetery, wandering through the aisles separated by religious domination, he read aloud from various authors and poets to those silently resting in their undercrofts. These walks and readings started as light exercise and respite. But later inspired the songs that would eventually surface in Spinning Man.
Recording started in September 2022 in Jamie's studio, Tape-Land. The recording took place over short but intensive two-day sessions to accommodate M.E. Baird's energy levels. 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 experimentation in complete isolation, free from outside ears and influences. The songs were completed sequentially and mixed on the day to capture and lock in their emotive power. These days of intense creative immersion in the studio would not only be respite but would represent some of the most fulfilling and satisfying sessions for Jamie and M.E. Baird.
