Christian Duell & Michael Phillip Nix (aka Redbeard) with any infinite combination of the following:
Scott Maynard- drums and percussion Matthew Schneider- drums Adam Dargusch- bass guitar and vocals Yuri Johnson- bass guitar, vocals, piano Nathanael Hubbard- keys Dave Macguire- lead guitar Rebecca Karlen- violin Sam Denning- trombone Scott Bignell- trumpet Danny Peel- trumpet Laura Coall- soprano vocals 'Diamond' Doug Wilshire- pedal steel guitar, banjo, mandolin Martin McDonald- known to save the day from time to time on bass and drums
Dheeraj Shrestha- tabala
Influences
Big Star, Bluebottle Kiss, Neil Young, Elliot Smith, Arcade Fire, Simon and Garfunkel, Television, The Shins, The Go Betweens, Band of Horses, the collective unconscious, births, deaths and marriages...et al
Sounds Like
A POCKETFUL OF SMOKE album (2008)
1. Hear My Train A Comin'
2. Let it Roll
3. Drinkin' With The Gentlemen
4. Why Not Me
5. Little Brown Bed
6. Here Comes Winter
7. Funeral Song
8. Ode to Peace
9. Road to the Morning Sun
10. The Tombstone Express
LET IT ROLL single (2008)
1. Let it Roll (single version)
2. Hands Tied (demo)
3. The Schoolyard (demo)
November 2008 was a month to remember for Mr Rascal.
Amidst a canceled wedding, a death in the family and some ridiculously bad luck were a series of sinister and curious tropical storms. In the deep hours of the night the streets of Brisbane became confetti-filled water courses and wind tunnels.
Stumbling through insomnia, sadness and these dream-like weather apparitions Christian Duell accepted the challenge to write and record an album in a month. What resulted was not so much an album but more an explosion of all of these experiences into songs.
Months later, the dust has settled on this memorable and turbulent month and the experience of November has now been revisited with a faithful remixing of the entire recording by renowned engineer Bryce Moorhead. The remixed recordings capture the spontaneity of the songwriting and performances, contained in the natural character of Brisbane's Old Museum Concert Hall.
The experiment of 'My, What a Big Black Cloud' has produced remarkable results. Not only does it have a semblance of album-like coherence, with common themes and sounds, it also hints at the numerous future possibilities for Mr Rascal's sonic direction.
The launch of this release will be celebrated in style at the Brisbane Powerhouse on Sunday 26 July 2009, with dates in Sydney and Melbourne to follow.
'My, What a Big Black Cloud' will be available as a limited hard-copy release from Monday 27 July, 2009 from independent retailers and online. The recording will also be available as a digital download from iTunes, emusic and amazon.
'A Pocketful of Smoke' is the combination of 9 months worth of endeavour, borrowed money and musical friendships.
The result are 10 unique and personal stories; some playful others painful, weaved together by underlying themes of love, loss and generation change
Mr Rascal was formed in late 2006 by a chap named Christian Duell in a treehouse in the inner western suburbs of Brisbane, Australia.
Beginning as a solo pseudonym for the purpose of entertaining friends and the odd stranger, around each corner in the last two and a half years a wind of change has blown Mr Rascal into something much more than a solo project.
Mr Rascal today exists as a revolving lineup containing anywhere from 1 to 16 diversely talented musicians. Having built a strong reputation in Brisbane for ambitious and unique live shows, the band has more recently stretched the concept of 'chance encounters', to enlist bands of various strangers along the interstate road.
In the debut album 'A Pocketful of Smoke', Mr Rascal aim to convey the fine line between joy and pain, ambition and apathy. For no other reason than to strike a chord of commonality with the occasional likeminded soul.
Dude! My mum just called me from China to say that the local tv station is very seriously considering paying for us to go over and play a televised Mr Rascal show!
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