NEWS BLOG DISCOGRAPHY GIG DIARY PHOTOS SHOP SAMPLES & LYRICS

ANT BLOG

Words and pictures by Antony Harding.

November 2011.

Doing the dishes.

I do the dishes and I quite like it. I also like the fact that there are songs about washing up. One of my  favourites is called Cold And Bitter Tears by Ted Hawkins: "I hate to do the dishes and I know the reason why, putting on your apron makes me want to cry." Many many years ago I used to earn a living doing the dishes, so I thought it was about time I did the dishes in a song of my own.

Kisses On A Plate is the new single and it's out now on We Were Never Being Boring (Italy). You can download it for free here. It comes with an exclusive b-side Up On The Downs (demo). It's taken from the new album The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me (WWNBB) which is due out in March 2012.

September 2011.

Free love.

Imagine if music only existed on the airwaves. Just for the ears. Made just for the love of it. Over the years I have contributed to many cool and free little compilation albums released by cool little labels who ask for nothing more from the listener than to enjoy the listen.

Free Songs contains, amongst others, 8 recordings that have already been given away on other compilations. It's available to download for nothing on my Bandcamp.

01. Loud Off feat. ANT - Crying No Tears. 02. Those Memories (demo) 03. In Your Company (demo) 04. I Couldn't Remember The Dream (acoustic mix) 05. Kisses On A Plate (demo) 06. He's The Bee's Knees (acoustic mix) 07. Wherever You Go (acoustic mix) 08. Smile Your Best Smile ( electric mix) 09. Purple Rain (cover) 10. Home (cover) 11. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (cover) 12. Those Magic Changes (cover) 13. Let It Snow (cover) 14. Ride On (cover)

6th June 2011.

Swans in black and white.

Black Swans On The Water is my first sequel! I'm especially pleased as it's much better than the first song I did about swans, back in 2003, called White Swans On The Water! I would do a third song about swans but I don't think swans come in any other colours. The proper version of this song will appear on the (now finished) new bird themed album The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me due out in the spring of 2012.

You can find the original version of the song as part of a five song exclusive MP3 EP Black Swans On The Water EP containing home recorded out-takes from the new album sessions only available on Bandcamp. The five tracks are: Black Swans On The Water (original version), In Your Company, Blame On Me, Isn't It A Pity We Have To Go Back To The City & Don't Leave It Too Long.

1st March 2011.

Missing a few (heart)beats.

I recently rediscovered some missing tracks that had hidden themselves away in the many cardboard boxes up in the loft. Several demos from the Footprints Through The Snow album but also the odd wee treasure.

I Long To Quicken The Beat Of Your Heart recorded way back in 2002, was originally intended as a vinyl single in Italy. A Soft Place (acoustic mix) is the mix I did for Darren to work on (minus the guide drums) for the split 7" on Black Kitten Records. Magpies (acoustic version) is the mix I gave to Jack to work on for the These Long Dark Country Roads CD. It came out on the now deleted download only album Bird Songs Bee Songs (on Eardrumspop of Norway). In Your Company (demo) is a demo of a track that was on the shortlist for the new album The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me but as it didn't mention birds, it didn't make it.

The above tracks + several others are now available exclusively to download from my Bandcamp.

25th December 2010.

Hitching a ride with AC/DC.

I wonder what it's like to share a tour bus with AC/DC? Plenty of horror stories no doubt!

My version of the AC/DC song Ride On (taken from the soundtrack of the terrible movie Maximum Overdrive) features on the free download compilation album Fight Night 2010 la compilation (featuring songs from horror and action movies) on the cool Italian horror/action movie blog i400calci. Available free here!!!

April 2010.

Turning the tears off.

It isn't easy to add a lyric to a beautiful piece of music, especially if that piece of music belongs to somebody else, somebody else who makes instrumentals! It's far too easy to spoil the feel of it, to drown out all the melodies and clutter up all that lovely space. Well I tried my best to let that lovely music breathe and allow the voice to merely tip toe around it, instead of dancing awkwardly right across the middle of it. Oh and I resisted the urge to sing a chorus!

The collaboration Crying No Tears is between myself and Italian instrumentalists Loud Off. Words and voice by me, music by Loud Off. It's available on volume B of the free compilation album Between Two Waves on the lovely Eardrums Pop from Norway. Available here!!!

(Oh and yes we are working on some more songs together with the aim of releasing an EP sometime next year!)

January 2010.

A plateful of kisses.

As you get older the sense of time running out on you obviously becomes greater. And you realise one day that perhaps there are more important things you could be doing than the dishes! It's high time you hung up the marigolds, unplugged the sink and gave your loved ones a kiss.

Kisses On A Plate is a brand new song. It will feature on my next album which has the working title The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me.

The demo of Kisses On A Plate is given away free as part of the download compilation album Ondadrops Vol.1: Do you know the way to blue? Available now from Onarock.it

1st July 2009.

A Soft Place On Which To Fall.

When you're flying high with your heart in your mouth, watch out! There's only one way to fall. Make sure you're over soft ground when love comes tumbling down.

My song A Soft Place and Darren Hayman's song Bands That Don't Reform are out today on a limited edition split 7" vinyl single on Black Kitten Records of Italy. You can buy the single at the ANT webshop or the Hefnet webshop or the Black Kitten webshop.

15th June 2009.

When The Morning Arrives it brings demos, out-takes, rejected songs and a cover version.

There are always a few songs that get left behind. Usually in my case because they have a clumsy, muddy lyric that I can't seem to clean up. So I turn my back on them and move on. Now once in a blue moon I'll get nostalgic and seek them out, apologise to them and let them come back out to play. Now seems like as good a time as any.

When The Morning Arrives, Cold Feet, The Only Girl, Grace and What A Wonderful View are 5 songs that got left behind.

When The Morning Arrives is a 25 track MP3 album of previously unreleased recordings, demos, out-takes, rejected songs and a cover version, available now ONLY from the Ant webshop!

18th May 2009.

The birds and the bees.

When I first write a song, it sounds like this: just voice and acoustic guitar. Some people are of the opinion that I should leave it like that, in black and white. But I like to add a touch of colour here and there. Appropriately enough the song Magpies started out in black and white before Jack Hayter and his son James coloured it in beautifully, careful not to stay within the lines.

The song Magpies (acoustic version) is now available to download for free on volume D of the Eardrums Pop compilation album Birdsongs and Beesongs from Norway.

16th February 2009.

Walking you down These Long Dark Country Roads and back.

When I lived in South London I spent a lot of time in the kitchen of the small council flat I shared with my big sister, having tea and biscuits, discussing life. One day I realised it was high time I was gone and so I decided to move country.

Now that I have kids I often think back to my own childhood and the many years I spent growing up on the Isle Of Wight, which has a lot of these long dark country roads. They featured a lot in my youth, whether I was running home way past my curfew or sheepishly walking a girlfriend to her gate, who had already decided that the charm of a quiet boy had worn much thinner than his skinny body!

I would always fall for the girls I worked with. One summer I worked with a girl who made me lose all my words. Everyday I would tell myself smile your best smile and something might happen. Of course it didn't, so instead I spent my days throwing bread to the beautiful little songbirds that filled my back garden, most of which have now sadly flown, having been replaced by those big old Magpies. It's not quite the same chucking a slice of white onto the lawn only to see it being carried off in one greedy go.

These days I write a lot of songs about the past maybe because I'm stuck when it comes to writing about the present. I tend to dwell on the break ups too much. I was never much of a talker so you can imagine that the telephone was of no help to me in a relationship. I would call like I promised I would and then hang up real quick before she could come to the phone.

And then you go and meet someone who you will gladly follow wherever they choose to go and in return they agree to follow you wherever you go and you walk in single file no more.

These Long Dark Country Roads is a 6 track mini album featuring guest appearances and help from Darren Hayman, Jack Hayter, James Hayter, James Milne & Tjinder Singh. It's released on Acuarela Discos of Spain on February 28th 2009 and is available from Darla, Emusic, iTunes, Amazon and loads of other cool places.

You can watch: These Long Dark Country Roads - (promo video) by Ant February 2009.

Soft and warm, some lovely vocals and a fragile heart - TERRASCOPIC.   Sun-soaked lo fi lullaby's - ROCKFEEDBACK.

Groovy woodland glade melodicism - MELODY MAKER.