March 7, 2014 by thefinelineproject

Mayor of Camden Rethink Cheque Handover

We’re still in recovery from the Ralph’s Life CD launch, bowled over by the quality of the artists and their sounds and there are a few standout tunes that keep spinning round in our heads – love that!

Let’s hear it one more time for the launch gig artists: Snippet, Debs McCoy, Ambrose Chappel, Plum, Samuel Simmons, Mono Life, Ded Rabbit, Twin Hidden, Stillia, Titors Insignia, Culann, Elia and The Low Tears and Feral Five. We’re looking forward to reviewing some of their music over the next few weeks and publishing gig photos by Patrick Barthès.

Patrick’s just sent through a couple of shots of the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Jonathan Simpson, handing over the first donation cheque of £2500 to Rethink Mental Illness and with our signed poster in one of Proud Camden’s funked up stables – awesome pic!

Don’t forget that The Ralph’s Life CDs are now available online – wherever you are make sure you buy at least one here – £12 inc UK delivery and tell all your friends! Here’s the full list of artists, all paw picked by Ralph, and their 40 fantastic tracks, with all proceeds going to Rethink Mental Illness:

Ambrose Chappel – Pick It Up ( ft. iKashflo)
Culann – Jerusalem
Debs McCoy – Wendy
Elia and The Low Tears – Sweet Lies
Fat Goth – Creepy Lounge
Feral Five – Skin
Fiona Soe Paing – Daymoon Sun (with thanks to BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s Daphne Oram Trust for permission to use the sample on this track)
Graham Marshall – Freedom Call
Great Reckoning – Bleed For Your Life
Have Mercy Las Vegas – Pappy
Helen McCookerybook – Monday’s Mood
Jess Harwood – Feeling Fine
King And Queen Of Sorry – (Couldn’t Get) High Enough
Matthew Hidden – A Berry Bursts
Mog Stanley – Mind Games
Mono Life – Disco In Paris
Plum – Casting Shadows
Pumajaw – Mask
Robb Murphy – Never Letting You Go
Shiny Rhino – I Love My Radio
Snippet – Celebration
Steve Heron – Eleanor
Stillia – You Only Live Once
Tea Street Band – Push The Feeling On (Tom Eno Remix)
The Bedroom Hour – X Marks The Spot
The Fireflys – Hummingbird
The Folk Remedy – Sirens
The Low Countries – At The End Of The Day
The Mutineers – Tell Me Why
The Ninth Watch – Forever’s a Long Time
The Travelling Band – Took My Soul
The Varese’s – Spotlight
Tingle In The Netherlands – Prostitute’s Handbag
TiTORS iNSiGNia – Beg, Plead And Pray
Tom Robinson – The Mighty Sword Of Justice
Velocets – Secrets
Vukovi – Schwagger
We Came From The Sea – Animalskin
Whispery Club – The Boy
Wullae Wright (prod. by Ambrose Chappel) – Fight Or Flight

Listen to some sample tracks here.

Keep an eye on the Ralph’s Life music blog for further announcements including money raised from the launch gig and future plans.

Let’s keep talking about mental health, and music and creativity. Please follow us here and on Facebook and Twitter and help spread the word. We’ll also be announcing our next event soon!

March 4, 2014 by thefinelineproject

Rethink Mental Illness CD Launch Camden

We enjoyed 12 hours of standout talent at the Ralph’s Life CD launch on Sunday. Hats off to all the artists who performed and a special mention for Samuel Simmons and Sisteray – the former for standing in for a missing band at the last minute and some of the finest singing on the day, and the latter for not getting a chance to sing or play with no thanks to the person who accidentally lifted some vital kit thus preventing them from performing. We were all so looking forward to the headline act but Londoners, you get a second chance – don’t miss Sisteray’s next gig, this Saturday 8th. Check their site for more info and other upcoming events.

Big thanks to the Mayor of Camden, councillor Jonathan Simpson for his pitch perfect speech and safe handover of the £2500 presentation cheque to Rethink Mental Illness – the real funds have been digitally delivered and there will be more from Ralph.

Thanks to Dave at theonlinefestival.com for all his support and the formidable (with a French accent please) RKC team headed by Jérôme who broadcast live from the venue and managed to get the Ralph’s CD aired in between acts – bravo! Three cheers to the Proud Camden team on the day especially the 2 ace multi-tasking sound engineers.

We are grateful to our own little team of volunteers – Grace, Samir, Billy and George – who worked the room for cash donations for Rethink and helped get the longest list of artists we’ve had to date to sign a single poster (2 actually) – we asked the ever generous Fine Art Solutions to print extra large versions for the occasion. The signed posters will be auctioned at a later date.

Here’s a shoutout for everyone who attended, donated and promoted the show in their own way – thank you for your support which is much appreciated.

Last but by no means least, thanks to Mike Lindley aka Ralph and Lynn for pulling the whole show together – crowdfunder, CD and the launch gig – a bit of a roller coaster ride… Keep an eye on the Ralph’s Life blog for an announcement on monies raised and future plans.

Meanwhile we urge you, not for the first time nor the last, to buy one of the brilliant CDs featuring most of the artists from the 2nd March gig and a whole load of other talent, 40 fantastic indie tracks with all proceeds going to Rethink Mental Illness. Find out who donated tracks here

and listen to some sample tracks here.

To follow, with big thanks for his ongoing support for The Fine Line Project, some amazing photos by Patrick Barthès – trust us, they’ll be worth the wait. We’ll also be posting some CD reviews featuring acts from this truly epic day.

One more shoutout for the artists and bands that performed, some seriously great sounds – check them out:

Snippet, Debs McCoy, Ambrose Chappel, Plum, Samuel Simmons, Mono Life, Ded Rabbit, Twin Hidden, Stillia, Titors Insignia, Culann, Elia and The Low Tears and Feral Five.

Thanks again folks and let’s all keep talking about mental health, and music and creativity! Follow us here and on Facebook and Twitter and help spread the word.

February 5, 2014 by thefinelineproject

Ralph’s Life: Donation and Camden Gig News

Here’s the latest news on the Ralph’s Life fundraising campaign and the forthcoming CD launch.

Ralph’s master, music blogger Mike Lindley is poised to present the first donation cheque to Rethink Mental Illness, a massive £2500, part of the funds raised during the crowdfunding campaign which closed on 3rd January. Our friend Patrick has prepared a swishy presentation version of the cheque which features the names of all the artists and bands that donated tracks to the forthcoming Ralph’s Life CD – 40 acts in total. This whole campaign has also been supported by the fabulous team at Radio Kaos Caribou and countless good people from the music community and beyond, both on and offline. We thank you all again. Take a look at our cheque (click on the image below for a full screen view), which also features Wullae Wright’s cute Ralph artwork.

The cheque will be handed over to Rethink Mental Illness at the forthcoming Proud Camden, London fundraising gig on 2nd March. We’re hoping the local mayor will be present along with some other exciting guests.

Order your tickets today!

The all day gig, which will celebrate the launch of the CD, runs from 12 noon to 12 midnight. The line up includes 12 of the acts that feature on the Ralph’s Life CD:

Twin Hidden
Snippet
Debs McCoy
Ambrose Chappel
Mono Life
Plum
Titors Insignia
Stillia
Culann
The Bedroom Hour
Feral Five
Elia and The Low Tears

with new supporters Ded Rabbit, and local band Sisteray in the headline spot.

We’re pretty sure that Radio Kaos Caribou will be over to record and potentially broadcast the show on the day.

This is certainly going to be an unmissable event, so much talent all on one stage and 14 bands for a mere tenner – a total bargain too – with every penny going to a good cause. Needless to say charity CDs will be for sale at the gig. If you can’t make it to Camden, we’ve posted a link to buy the double album below so, wherever you are, you can still help Ralph and us to raise yet more for this crucial cause. Join us in supporting mental health awareness. All proceeds from the gig and the CD are going to Rethink Mental Illness.

Pre-order Ralph’s Life Charity CD – £12 inc UK delivery.

Thanks for spreading the word!

January 16, 2014 by thefinelineproject

Our Very First CD, with Ralph’s Life!

2014 is off to a mighty fine start for The Fine Line Project and friends, in particular Ralph, rock dog supreme. If you’re new to this blog, Ralph is a Jack Russell whose master Mike runs a popular Indie music blog and a weekly show on Radio Kaos Caribou, also a big supporter of ours. Ralph spent his Christmas and New Year leashed to Twitter, Facebook and an online crowdfunding project to raise money for a CD in aid of mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness. You can read more about that in our last blog, including a full track listing – 40 brilliant artists have donated their sounds to the project.

If you haven’t come across a crowdfunder before, it’s basically an all or nothing situation. Either you raise your cash in the allotted time or you don’t get a penny. So things were a wee bit tense down at Ralph’s kennel on 2 January, as the 11^th hour drew in and the money was still short. Thanks to an epic (this is definitely the right word) number of Tweets, including Christmas messages and personal appeals to every single one of some 5000 followers, and a rather sleepless night (we set alarms to follow the action from down South, at least we got some sleep), Mike managed to pull it off at the very last minute, topping his target of £5000 by an extra £120 on 3 January around 9 in the morning.

WOW! £5120 almost all thanks to the power of music and creative people who’ve supported this cause on Twitter, supplemented by a crowd of well wishers from further afield.

Some of that total will be wagging its way straight off to the charity – look out for a swishy presentation cheque, currently being designed – while the rest will fund the CD and a launch gig in London, with ticket sales once again donated to Rethink.

*** We’ve always maintained that it’s not just about the money – awareness goes hand in hand with fundraising and we reckon generates much bigger and better things. The Ralph’s Life CD fundraiser has achieved way more than £5K+ in donations over the last few weeks. Forty fantastic artists have pledged their beautiful music and have lent their voices to a small campaign with a massive impact, hundreds and collectively thousands more have shown their support through Twitter, Facebook and via blogs and radio stations across the land and way beyond – lots of other countries joined in – with everyone united for one cause: talking about and raising money for mental health awareness and helping to counter the stigma which so often accompanies mental illness. ***

A lot of fun was also had along the way, especially in the build up to Christmas and New Year with extra music tracks donated, CDs, downloads, restaurant meals, artwork, T-shirts, cocktail recipes, special cassettes, knitted owls (we so wanted one!), poems, guitars, airtime, blog space, newspaper articles, interviews, RTs, MTs, SOs, future promises of support and so much more – it’s been an incredibly creative campaign all round.

One of our favourite things – listen to the RKC jingle:

Hats off to everyone who supported the cause and made such a big noise helping Ralph to achieve his goal with special thanks to RKC / Radio Kaos Caribou!

This is just the beginning of course… Ralph’s master is now rather busy sorting the 240+ pledges from the crowdfunder, organising production of the 40 track CD and preparing for the London launch, a 14 band all day gig at Proud in Camden. We’re helping as much as we can. Whether you’ve been supporting this campaign all along or have just joined the ride, please help us too – let’s take this to the next level.

Support and Follow:

@fruitbatwalton (that’s Ralph) and @FineLineProject on Twitter, Ralph’s Mental Health Awareness Page on Facebook, The Fine Line Project on Facebook and please spread the word about the launch gig. Here’s the Facebook event page for that and here’s the crucial link:

2 MARCH 2014 – RALPH’S LIFE CD LAUNCH NIGHT TICKET LINK

The Proud Camden gig is due to feature 13 of the bands from the CD and one local guest band –that’s 14 bands, all for a mere £10 and with all proceeds to Rethink:

If you can’t make it to the gig, please keep an eye out for the CD – we’ll need your help to sell all the copies and raise even more money for Rethink.

Once again folks, THANK YOU!

November 11, 2013 by thefinelineproject

Get On The Dog And Bone – We’ve Got News!

Big news at The Fine Line Project and it didn’t come down the phone line, we heard it on Twitter first. The most connected Jack Russell in music, top dog at the Ralph’s Life Music Blog, has decided to crowdfund a charity CD for us and we’re going to donate all the money to Rethink!

It just so happens that it’s a big week for Rethink Mental Illness too. Schizophrenia Awareness Week runs from today until the 17th November. With the tag line Stand Up For Schizophrenia, the campaign focuses on widening understanding about this often shunned and misunderstood illness.

Imagine being bombarded with voices from invisible forces and being stripped of your ability to understand what’s real and what isn’t.

You discover you can’t trust your senses, your mind plays tricks on you, and your family or friends might even appear to be part of a conspiracy to harm you.

This is schizophrenia.

What could be worse than these symptoms?

Sadly, ignorance and fear can be. We can all help improve the lives of people with schizophrenia by standing alongside them and spreading more understanding. Let’s tackle the ignorance, the fear and the stigma together.

The Fine Line Project has raised funds for Rethink before and we’re delighted to support them again, this time with Ralph’s venture. The charity has a national reach and an international impact. They also tackle the harder end of mental health and they run brilliant and inclusive awareness campaigns. We recently delivered a cheque for £1000 to them, raised with multi-media site St Pauls Lifestyle’s support at The Cellar in Southampton. This epic show featured Noah Francis, Where’s Strutter?, Charlotte Campbell and Mog Stanley. We’ve got another live event in the pipeline, but more about that later. Right now we’re pulling out all the stops for Ralph’s fundraising CD – please join us in supporting his efforts and in raising mental health awareness everywhere. Let’s spin this one out, not just this week but all the way to the CD launch and way beyond.

BIG thanks to Ralph’s Life and all the early adopters – we’ve got some brilliant music lined up and this time if you can’t come to the gig you can still support the project by buying a copy of the CD online. Check back soon for a band list and lots more news. You can also get the latest on Twitter and Facebook. We thank you for your support.

September 1, 2013 by thefinelineproject

Where’s Strutter? @ The Fine Line Project, Southampton Cellar

Every so often you come across a band that’s so great live that you’re left utterly speechless – such is Where’s Strutter? It’s almost three months since they performed for The Fine Line Project at The Cellar in Southampton and we’re still in recovery, still searching for the right words to describe the sheer utter awesomness of their performance.

The band travelled from Manchester on the day, had a puncture on the way, thus missing their studio session with multi-media magazine St Pauls Lifestyle (which will come later – meanwhile check out previous sessions on their LISTED ARTIST page) yet arrived perfectly chilled and went on to deliver with complete ease the most blistering, hottest set ever. The stage and the venue vanished altogether into the music and the moment.

From Bones which starts off with a laid back ballady blues vibe, building into an enveloping anthem, peppered by perfect drumming, the signature sound of echoing guitars and utterly confident pitch perfect vocals, and onto other brilliant tracks from their current CD, Where’s Strutter? sure know how to hold their audience’s attention.

Their music seamlessly crosses genres from hard edged rock into clever little strands of pop, atmospheric passages which transport you altogether elsewhere (was that bit of morse code? check the EP…) and stunning blues, blending unusual sounds into beautiful melodies that are at once new and yet strangely familiar. These guys have it just right – catchy guitar riffs, anthemic choruses, perfect timing, neat lyrics and a fantastic stage presence. If the sign of great artists is the apparent ease with which they demonstrate their talent, Where’s Strutter? have it in arena-loads.

We’ve been enjoying their EP, Apollo’s Bloom, ever since we got our hands on a copy at the gig. Here’s the track listing:

Bones
Binded By The Sun
Questions (check out the video here)
Back To The End
See You Around

Get yourself a copy of this little gem while it’s still available – a bargain at £3.99 – and what’s more get down to their next gig and catch them live in a smaller venue before they become massive. In a few days time they’ll be on stage with another epic band, fronted by the great Pete Doherty. Where’s Strutter? are supporting Babyshambles at Manchester Academy on 7th September – so wish we were in town for that one!

Where’s Strutter? features Patrick Neville, Lee Broadbent, Dan Green and Josh Leach. With the biggest thanks for their appearance at The Fine Line Project’s Rethink Benefit. Thanks also to Steve Maynard for all the great photos, St Pauls Lifestyle for their amazing ongoing support – take a look at our LISTED ARTIST pages on their site – and The Cellar Southampton, such a great venue.

July 22, 2013 by thefinelineproject

Charlotte Campbell @ The Fine Line Project, Southampton Cellar

Charlotte Campbell delivered a finely tuned and utterly engaging set for our Rethink Mental Illness Benefit last month. Catchy songs, finely played, interspersed with a perfectly pitched dialogue – the entire audience was enchanted.

Since the gig we’ve been enjoying her album Blue Eyed Soul – thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics, fresh melodies, crystalline voice with a honeyed warmth.

Along with her signature tracks Blue Eyes, Green Eyes, Quiet Nights and Feathers and Wax (more of which below), check Jump, Charlotte’s reflections on the music industry, and On the Southbank dedicated to the famous London riverside where you may yet catch her busking, before she becomes too famous.

We also love Feathers & Wax, with thanks to Charlotte for sharing the lyrics – here’s a little snippet:

We look around for something inviting
For unholy ground, safe from the lightening that singed our wings.
Why are we here, raising our voices?
It seems so unclear, but we all made our choices to sing.
And that’s the main thing.

I’ve found that the meaning of life
Is to do what you love and try to survive
And hope that you don’t fall apart
When you’re finally opening your heart.
And find that the clothes on your back
Are nothing but feathers and wax.

Here’s a link to the full track on Charlotte’s site:

Read some more about this bright young artiste and listen to a couple of completely different tracks on St Pauls Lifestyle’s brilliant multi-media site. Most of all catch her next gigs – Charlotte’s singing in Llanbedrog, Aylesbury and Cambridge so far in August.

Big thanks again to Charlotte, Steve Maynard for some more great photographs, the St Pauls Lifestyle team and The Cellar Southampton for hosting the event.

July 11, 2013 by thefinelineproject

Mog Stanley @ The Fine Line Project, Southampton Cellar

First up and first on stage for our Rethink benefit last month, one man band, blues guitarist and singer Mog Stanley.

Mog drove a heroic number of miles to join us, stopping off on the way to record one of his feature tracks ‘Hands’ at St Pauls Lifestyle’s studio.

We loved Mog’s signature twangy guitar blues sounds, from laid back through to foot stomping, all to the accompaniment of his unique percussion ensemble – a whole box of self-assembled tricks, complete with shaking shoes.

Since the Fine Line Project gig Mog’s been working on some new material and new sounds, including this melodic ballad Moving On:

Mog Stanley Moving On

Keep an eye on his site for more new tracks and news of his forthcoming album.

Big thanks to Steve Maynard who took all The Fine Line Project photos at The Cellar, Southampton including those shown here.

Read more about Mog Stanley and his St Pauls Lifestyle session on their dedicated Fine Line Project pages.

Big thanks again to Mog, the whole team at St Pauls Lifestyle and The Cellar Southampton for hosting the event.

June 15, 2013 by thefinelineproject

Yet Another Grand Night for The Fine Line Project

We’ve had some amazing donations in since the Southampton Cellar gig and third time lucky (with a lot of hard work in between!) we’ve managed to raise another grand total of £1000 for charity. This one’s for Rethink Mental Illness whose front line services and ceaseless campaigning benefit those with mental health issues and their families and carers all over the UK.

We have a lot of people to thank!

First up our fantastic line up of artists who together created an evening of entertainment which will go down in history, as anyone who was there will confirm.

Soul star and outstanding singer, performer and songwriter Noah Francis showcased his new album in the headline slot with an amazingly talented band, Pandit Dinesh, John Robertson, Paddy Milner, Peter Hope-Evans and Nihan Redford; Where’s Strutter?‘s Patrick Neville, Lee Broadbent, Dan Green and Josh Leach were utterly awesome and delivered powerful songs and the kind of blistering set which is bound to hurtle them into the biggest musical arenas before long; local singer songwriter Charlotte Campbell charmed everyone with her crystal voice, intelligent songs and engaging manner; and in the opening slot Mog Stanley warmed up the show with his unique blend of blues powered by dynamic guitar playing and one-man band percussion.

Next up big thanks to our fantastic venue The Cellar in Southampton and their team including manager Joe who also DJ’d later on, soundman Pete, Glynn on lights and a great security guy, whose name is to follow.

Huge thanks to Rethink’s Fiona Magor for taking the trip with us down South and Maria in the press office for sterling support.

We were incredibly lucky to have the services of local Prince’s Trust supported photographer Steve Maynard on the night and will be publishing more of his pictures over the coming days.

Thanks to our own always brilliant team of volunteers and faithful supporters including Patrick, Craig, Grace, James and Sue as well as Liam, Angelica, Alex, Stephanie, Sarah and Adam behind the scenes and long term supporters Gerry, Darren and Joe not forgetting the Armadillo Central team.

Special thanks to the equally brilliant team at St Pauls Lifestyle who worked alongside us on the build up as well as on the day and continue to support The Fine Line Project on their site, where we now have LISTED ARTIST status: Rose, Dominique, Angus, Ben, Jessie, Georgia and Jacques. Check their site for special sessions filmed and recorded just before the gig featuring 3 tracks by Noah Francis and his band and also Mog Stanley. To follow, further recordings with Where’s Strutter? and Charlotte Campbell, all in the name of The Fine Line Project and supporting further awareness for mental health charities.

More thanks to Noah Francis’ team including Poorang, Spider and Paddy and Noah himself for generously donating to the funds raised as well as performing for us.

We’re also incredibly grateful for the support of online music blog Ralph’s Life, local press The Daily Echo and Hampshire Chronicle/7 Days, Solent Mind and The Studio Romsey in particular for amazing last minute help with flyer printing. Many local businesses and organisations, too numerous to mention also helped with publicity, Twitter support, poster display and flyers – we hope to get to know you better on the next one. Southampton is one big friendly city and the sun shone all day! We hope to be back before long…

Check back soon for more photos and some reviews and thank you for your support!