Hey Friends, it's been a long time! It's been a really heavy year so far with so much happening in my life and career, and I really wanted to catch you all up.
iwantmycoffee
Near the end of last year I was sitting in Cape Town after a show, with my girlfriend Deborah. We had an amazing Cortado from the Espresso Lab at the Old Biscuit Mill before we left, and the next morning she woke up and said 'I want my coffee'. I knew immediately what she talking about and the concept was born. A short 6 months later we opened up the doors to 'iwantmycoffee' in Umhlanga, Durban. A labour of love and a beautiful journey so far, we have managed to source an amazing coffee bean called "The Bluff Bru" from coffee legend Peter Winter, owner of Bean Green Roastery.
Along with 2 world class Baristas, Sam and Sipho, we have also sourced one of the world's only naturally occurring de-caf coffees, called the Racemosa bean, as well as the most ridiculous sandwich maker who supplies us with fresh 70mm thick organic sarmies. If you're ever in the area, please stop in to say hello and try out some of what we have on offer there. The shop is located above Chris Saunders Park, opposite the Gateway Shopping Centre. You can check out a map on http://www.iwmc.co as well as a menu of what we have going on. Make sure you follow us on twitter as well - we keep it interesting! @IWMCoffee
iwantmyradio
As I'm sure many of you know by now, I have started my own online radio station as well - based inside iwantmycoffee. It's called... iwantmyradio :-) Sneaky huh?
We broadcast 24 hours a day at www.iwantmyradio.com with yours truly doing live broadcasts most days from about 9am SA time. It's a mix of old and new tunes you may not have ever heard before, so tune in and have a listen - and make sure you let us know what you think by tweeting us at @IWMRadio
Tuesday Music Sessions
I started a weekly music series at the awesome Cool Runnings in Durban city centre a few months ago. The whole vibe was to give bands an opportunity to try to out new songs and work on their performance in a small live setting with an appreciative audience. So far we have had an amazing collection of artists such as Gangs of Ballet, Coals of Juniper, Nje, Lieutenant Vinyl, and The Accidentals. Still to come are Catlike Thieves, The Hinds Brothers, Red Light Stereo, and The Gus Brown band. Many thanks to my support partners Marshall Music, Line 6, and The Bomb Surf mag. Check out the event page on Facebook for more info
Providence
And lastly, here's a video from my recent performance at Kirstenbosch Gardens for the Cape Town Folk and Acoustic Festival. Hope you enjoy.
Peace, Ard.
It's sometimes easier to explain something with pictures and sounds, and a good person called Sean from Solo Media made this video from footage taken on the night of the Ard Matthews & Friends charity show that was in aid of my charity trust, We The Good People.
Take a look and get a better understanding of what the good people are all about, and feel free to have a look at our first of it's kind transparent income and expenditure section we lovingly refer to as "In/Out" on the site at www.wethegoodpeople.org
It's been an amazing couple of days down here in Cape Town, firstly with my Ard Matthews and Friends charity show at The Upper East Side Hotel in Woodstock and then with Symphonic Rocks at the Grand West Arena on Saturday night.
AM & Friends
A huge thank you to the amazing artists, sponsors, and people behind the scenes that made the charity event such a success, it was truly humbling to see people giving up their time so graciously for a good cause.
To the artists:
Arno Carstens
Ross Learmonth
Zolani Mahola
Dan Patlansky
Louise Day
Jack Mantis and Domenice Benigno
Jeremy Olivier
D-Seven
DJ Sox
The Sponsors and Auction partners:
Prosound
Upper East Side Hotel
Wings Group
Kitchen Aid
Good Fellas
ProSport International
Scheckter's Organic Energy
Olympic Cycles
Ariella Kuper from Clear Asset Auctions
The behind the scenes:
Marina and Jules from The Little Black Book
Liny Kruger from Mediabook
Without all of you working tirelessly and giving up so much of your time, this event would not have been possible. We will have a little video coming out later this week with some highlights and interviews from the night, so look out for that on www.wethegoodpeople.org.
Heineken Symphonic Rocks
Saturday night saw the Cape Town leg of the Heineken Symphonic Rocks happening at Grand West Arena - It was my 3rd year at this amazing event and it was mind blowing to say the least, with a fantastic array of artists in attendance this year, and 1 incredible 65 piece symphonic orchestra backing them all. I performed 2 new tracks on the album, 'Bolder' and 'That's Love', and then closed off with 'What He Means'. If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for coming through! If you are in the Johannesburg area this Saturday, make sure you grab your tickets at Computicket and head down to Carnival City for this spectacular!
Got Time music video
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of going to visiting Obertauern in Austria, and armed only with a GoPro HD Hero 2 and iPhone 4S I decided that it would be a great place to make a music video for the track 'Got Time'. Big thanks to Richard Hughs at Popcorn Post Production for piecing all the bits for me!
Check it out at the link below and be sure to comment and share if you dig it!
Happy Monday people!
Hope your day has gone better than you expected :-)
It's a HUGE month coming up with some amazing shows and exciting things on the go which I thought I would chat about in a bit more detail so you have the low down…
Firstly, I can finally confirm the complete line-up of the Ard Matthews & Friends charity show happening on the 27th of September in Cape Town.
We have none other than Ross Learmonth (Prime Circle), Arno Carstens, Zolani (Freshly Ground) & Nick Turner, Dan Patlansky, Louise Day, Jack Mantis & Domenico Benigno, and D-Seven, joining us for this unbelievably special night of music and general awesomeness. Tickets are going fast and we are hoping to be sold out before the event with all money going to my newly formed charity trust called We The Good People (www.wethegoodpeople.org).
Tickets are on sale at Webtickets - http://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=379993823
Then on the 29th of September we have the incredible Symphonic Rocks going down in Cape Town at the Grand West Arena, where I will join the likes of Ed Roland from Collective Soul, Zahara, aKING, Chiano Sky, Toya Delazy, Tumi & The Volume, Fokofpolisiekar, Van Coke Cartel, and MacStanley. Oh… and a 65 piece symphonic orchestra. No biggie. More information at www.symphonicrocks.co.za (Johannesburg is the following Saturday).
If you are in the Joburg area this weekend - I have two very cool shows happening showcasing the opposite ends of my current live music spectrum - the full Ard Matthews Affair band will be live at the Jozi Tens Rugby tournament on Friday night with Gareth Cliff and Me & Mr Brown taking the party into early hours - more info HERE. And then on Sunday I'm doing an acoustic show with my brother in arms John Ellis at The Venue in Melrose Arch - more info HERE
And then finally, I have something quite special going out to people that have either my iPhone or Android app on their phones, and will have the opportunity to unlock an exclusive acoustic version of one of my album songs.
All you have to do is download the app for free by searching either the Apple App Store or the Android/Google Play Market for "Ard Matthews". Leave me a comment in the music section to let me know what you think? Your opinion is worth a lot to me.
Peace.
Ard.
It's been a bit of a bittersweet week - I've have had a whole bunch of really cool reviews come in from the album launch in Cape Town and a really fun charity show on Thursday night, but in the midst of all of this, and being super inspired to write and record some new tracks, my recording system went belly up during the week and I've been struggling for the last 5 days to get in running again. Sad face. It's amazing how much we rely on technology these days, not just for music recordings, but in all facets of life.
Onto some good news, the annual Ard Matthews and Friends charity show is coming up again shortly, and we've had some amazing artists confirm their support and performances in the last few weeks! Ross Learmonth from Prime Circle, Arno Carstens, and blues master Dan Patlansky will all be joining us on the 27th of September at the Upper East Side hotel. Proceeds from the night will be going to my newly formed charity trust I've set up with Al Hargreaves and Sean Temple called We The Good People. You can read up about what the trust stands for and our ethos going forward at www.wethegoodpeople.org . You can also follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with all the info - @wethegoodpeople
Tickets for the charity show are available from www.webtickets.co.za and will cost you a conscience-cleansing R150.
Other shows that are coming up in the next few weeks are:
8th September - Acoustic Show - The Other Side, Monaghan Farm, Johannesburg - INFO
14th September - Jozi Tens Rugby Tournament - Pirates Rugby Club, Johannesburg - INFO
16th September - Acoustic Show - The Venue, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg - INFO
29th September - Symphonic Rocks - Grand West Arena, Cape Town - INFO
6th October - Symphonic Rocks - Carnival City, Johannesburg - INFO
That's it for now, hope to see you guys at a show near you soon!
Peace,
Ard
