AND SYDNEY DEBUT OF NAYLOR’S OTHER NEW BAND ASHLEY NAYLOR’S SPACESHIP, SET FOR APRIL
Monterey Honey sees Naylor in partnership with old friend David Preston, former member of UK band My Drug Hell. The pair’s friendship goes back to when Preston lived in Melbourne. These days Preston is a London-based bootmaker to the stars (Bobby Gillespie, Iggy & The Stooges etc)!
The first result of this new collaboration is a stellar self-titled EP of guitar pop that will be released digitally and as both a strictly limited 12″ vinyl pressing of 100 copies only, and a 100-copies only CD on Naylor’s El Reno Records label!
Monterey Honey‘s EP is available to pre-order on El Reno’s Bandcamp page now.
The first single from the EP is the powerfully jangling “Down To Me”. Check it out here:
Down to Me | Monterey Honey (bandcamp.com)
Naylor has also announced the Sydney debut for his other new outfit Ashley Naylor’s Spaceship. Ashley Naylor’s Spaceship is of course the band that has come together to playing Naylor’s solo instrumental material, following the recent release of his acclaimed Soundtracks Volume 2 album. The group’s mindblowing live performances are not all instrumental though – they include a number of vocal-based surprises.
Ashley Naylor’s Spaceship will play Sydney for the first time on Thursday 4 April at Moshpit Bar. Tickets are available here. Oh, and everyone who buys a ticket gets a FREE Ashley Naylor Soundtracks Volume 2 t-shirt!
Today’s announcements follow the announcement last week that Ashley Naylor is set to join the legendary Allman Betts Family Revival show on stage at the Northcote Theatre in Melbourne on April 1. You can read more about that here.
Naylor has recently released the new single “Les Paul Waltz”, which RocKwiz’s Brian Nankervis has compared to both Duanne Allman and Dickey Betts, and which isNaylor’s ode to one of his favourite guitars, the creamy tones of which are the basis of the track. It is also an elegant and melodic instrumental piece that harkens back to the days when quality instrumental guitar pieces were considered a unique pinnacle of artfulness; when brilliant pieces like “Albatross” by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck’s “Beck’s Bolero” and Love Sculpture’s “Sabre Dance” ruled the airwaves, and more esoteric pieces like Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” blasted through countless headphones.
“Les Paul Waltz” is but one taste of the many-flavoured collection that is Soundtracks Vol.2. It follows the album’s first single “Spaceship”, about which Andrew Stafford wrote in The Guardian: “After the gobsmacking double album triumph of Even’s Reverse Light Years, leader Ashley Naylor has decided to go… further with an all-instrumental album of cosmic guitar-hero jams. It sounds intimidating, except that Naylor is, alongside Ed Kuepper, the only Australian musician who could conceivably pull such a thing off. ‘Spaceship’ (also the name of his new band) is nearly nine minutes of axe-king bliss. Naylor would tell you with a knowing grin that it’s total self-indulgence, but it’s brilliantly arranged and executed, and a joy to listen to.”
Ashley Naylor explains how Monterey Honey came about:
Monterey Honey is a recording project which started in 2020. My friend David Preston who lives in London shared some tunes with me via email and I casually suggested one day about singing over the tracks, which were fully realised tunes at that point.
As I had more spare time in the surreal days of 2020 and 2021 I added some vocals to some of David’s tracks in my home recording set up and over time the stockpile of songs grew.
Graciously, David was ok about me adding drums as well, which were recorded in Melbourne with Craig Pilkington at Audrey Studios.
David and I share a similar taste for all things 60’s and 70’s and the EP which we have assembled from our collaborative recording sessions is a good indicator of our combined musical outlook.
The fact I didn’t touch guitar at all in these recordings is also noteworthy, David has delivered the requisite 6-string fairy dust in need of no further tampering.
It was a relatively effortless project and I think the results reflect that spontaneity between us.
ASHLEY NAYLOR’S SOUNDTRACKS VOLUME 2 IS OUT NOW ON EL RENO MUSIC
El Reno Music Bandcamp
Ashley Naylor – Official | Facebook
elrenomusic.bandcamp.com
