Feb 12th,08, Sorry sorry sorry
Those of you who may have read my previous blogs will probably be annoyed that once again I start an entry with an apology for taking so long to do it. "Yeah" I hear you say, "He's such a lazy bugger,!" Well I'll have you know that I've been really busy. Just the other day I checked the mail.

The band's been doing lots since I last wrote. We've been all over Australia of course and met an array of wonderful people everywhere. The band is in very good spirits despite the well publicised legal matter, because we feel we're playing better than ever and we all get on so well. Happy New Year by the way.

We did a gig in Shanghai for a bunch of ex-pats who live there. It was an eighty's theme night so we were perfect for it because we're all approaching our eighties. The city itself was a bit of a culture shock. A few of us took a long walk one day because Greedy wanted to go to a certain area that was famous for selling fabrics and tailor made suits. It was stifling hot that day. I saw a taxi driver screaming at a policeman because he got a fine of some kind. I saw an old lady cooking something in a wok over an open fire in the gutter. I saw an older gentleman having some kind of domestic argument while he was wearing a beautiful pair of pyjamas at noon. If that doesn't sound interesting enough, Shanghai's got a serious shortage of bars. The gig went really well and all had fun. The two suits Greedy had made for him were really crap and three of us were puking on the flight home from what we suspect was dodgy food at a a restaurant in the French concession in the city. Sound bad? Wouldn't change it for the world.

Sometime in the hazy past of the last few months we played a couple of shows for the ABC's anniversary. It was quite a treat for me because I got to meet Graham Bond and Rory O'Donoghue (Aunty Jack and Thin Arthur). Martin went for drinks with Kerry O'Brien and came off a little the worse for wear. Darwin is still the same, as insane as ever. A couple of years ago I was talking to a certain journalist who now lives there and he was asked his opinion about what the NT's logo should be. You know the sort of thing. Victoria- state of gardens or, something NSW state of parking fines. His response was "Northern Territory……Liquorland!".

Again and again I apologise for taking so long to do my homework with this blog but this apology is more sincere because it's been about six months. Again I say Sorry.

Cheers,

Duck

June 2007
Hi folks, it's been a while since my last report from the front, sorry about that. We've just got back from a good week in Queensland with a real variety of gigs ranging from an open air restaurant on Tamborine Mountain with panoramic views and hang-gliders hovering in the background, to the last show at the Coolangatta Hotel which was packed and sweaty. As I've told you before that's just the way I like it.

While we were in Brisbane we also recorded a few things towards finishing our album because in this modern age you can do amazing things with digital recording in a motel room. We're just about there with the album. It's been a long process but we wanted to get it absolutely right and I think we might have just done that. It's a clever bunch of songs and hopefully we'll have it out some time this century.

Next week we're off to what is going to be a freezing Melbourne. We're certainly getting around at the moment. I think in the last six months we've played every state and territory in Oz and we've got a couple of overseas things in the offing too. You've gotta love travel in this job.

That's all for now

Cheers
Duck

May 2007
Hello and welcome at last to the revamped Mentals site. It turns out that I was the cause of the hold-up with the site because they were waiting for this blog, so my apologies to all concerned.

We've busy as usual but not travelling quite so far a field except for that trip to W.A., oh and that one night to the Gold Coast, oh and that one night to Cairns. As usual I can honestly report that the gigs have been lots of fun. One the shows was near Geraldton in W.A. called The Red Rock Festival. We flew from Perth to Geraldton (which was excellent because that drive is a killer) and the show itself was about thirty K away. As we were driving to the site I kept saying "Who's going to come out here?". When we finally turned the corner we were greeted with the sight of over a thousand people in the middle of the desert. The only problem with the gig was that I'd forgotten my belt and the pants of my suit kept slipping down. It's amazing how something so small can pre-occupy you.

Top show at the Sydney Easter show along with Ian Moss. He's a very nice chap and one damn fine musician (somehow I don't think he needs me to tell him that). One of my favourite venues is The Canterbury-Hurlstone Park because I live really close to it. Good acoustics too.

On the 15th April Martin ventured North to open his art exhibition in Mackay. We know the people at the gallery quite well and Marty said the opening was a success with good sales and a street blocked off for it. The theme of this show is cool old cars. He's been stalking his neighbourhood taking shots of old Fords etc then rendering them in his style.

Finally I'll do some unashamed self-promotion to plug my little solo EP which now on sale through our shop. It's four tracks, two of which I recorded ages ago with friends, one new one and one that's mostly the Mentals helping out. Hope you like it and I hope you enjoy my own website (how vain am I?) which my daughter's clever boyfriend did for me. Go to www.quackremedy.com

Talk soon

Duck