Wondered and wandered

I am very happy to report that the Owen & The Eyeballs' world tour was a huge success! Although this world tour consisted of one date in New York, as can be seen above and below and from all the countless photos people took and shared on the internet, the closing gala was a whole lot of fun.

The day after arriving and following a mighty diner breakfast of pancakes and french toast, the band headed to the 'Wondering around Wandering' space to lead a workshop alongside Chrissie Macdonald and Irene Fuga, to create the set and our costumes for the gig. The theme for the creations was SPACE, which soon turned into a ' Sexy Psychedelic Space' theme due to the materials at hand and it being an Owen & The Eyeballs gig.

 

Many a kind fellow came down to help collaborate and oh boy was it fun. Everyone worked hard and late into the night creating some extraordinary creations. Thanks to everyone who came down!

The costumes coming together. Photo by Mr Gildersleeve.

  

The gig itself was a joyous experience with lots of people getting down and dancing their socks off.  

Jim and Andrew discuss the merits of costume changes and whether it's better to have a giant sad face or giant melty hand for a head.

Owen celebrates the fact the gig is over and that he can now drink all the free booze.

The man himself Mike Perry grabs the mic and spits some lyrics / makes a lovely thank you speech,

 

Evidence that the Eyeballs were so loud that even Chrissie had to protect her ears.

The workshop, gala and whole trip was crazy fun. A big thank you to Mike Perry for inviting us and being such a generous host, to Anna Wolf and Josh Cochran for their tremendous hospitality, to Masha, Fiona, Katie and Lee for being so helpful and accommodating to us. Thanks to Hints, Lee and the Menahan Street Band for the lend of their instruments and equipment. And last but not least huge thanks to all the people that came down to the workshop and show.

Photography by Meredith Jenks, Mike Perry, Owen Gildersleeve and Me.

Wondering Around Wandering

This Saturday I am traveling from the big smoke to the big apple to take part in Mike Perry's 'Wondering Around Wandering'. My band 'Owen & The Eyeballs' will be playing the first and last date of our world tour on the closing night of the exhibition / space on Tuesday the 20th Nov. All money from the tickets will be donated to the Hurricane Sandy relief fund. Also part of W.A.W I will be taking part in some workshops with several other great London based Illustrator friends this Sunday. We will be creating space themed sets and costumes and props for our gig on the tuesday. Places are free but limted for the workshop and can be booked here. If you live In New York you should come to both, they will be fun!

In preparation for the gig I wrote a story about how the band was formed. From that Andrew Rae being the talented drawing man that he is, drew a picture based on it. He nailed it. The picture is above, the story is below. From now on I will just write stories in the hope that Andrew will draw them.

The story behind Owen and the Eyeballs:

Owen and the Eyeballs first met on a hill, in the middle of a forest, on an Island surrounded by shark infested waters. Owen Gildersleeve, who had been going for his daily walk to his studio was jumped upon by 3 Eyeballs. These Eyeballs were three times the size of Pierce Brosnan's head (large). Owen ran for his life quickly pursued by his pursuers who rolled towards him, as is the style of travel for Eyeballs. Outsmarting the Eyeballs, Owen climbed a tree at the top of the hill. The Eyeballs, being mostly rotund in shape and lacking the necessary limbs to climb said tree waited for him to come down. Despite not having mouths the Eyeballs started to sing a song. Being a fan of music, as well as one of the top 5 best drummers to come out of Somerset and the fact the song was a 'right belter', Owen couldn't help but grab some branches and tap out a thunderous beat on the tree.
And thus the band was born.

Since that sacred day a lot has happened to the band. For one, the Eyeballs quickly realised that to be a  real band they would need some guitars and the ability to play said guitars and thus evolved into fully formed human beings / internationally acclaimed Illustrators with names like Andrew Rae and Jim Stoten and Nick White. The band wrote some songs and oh what songs they did write. Songs, with names like 'Warm and Gooey' (an instant hit with the ladies), 'Bird Bones' (an instant hit with ornithologists), 'I don't know why?' (an instant hit with the more ponderous members of the audience) and 'Someone, Somewhere' (an instant hit with people who exist in time and space).

Owen & The Eyeballs now have a vimeo page so you can see us in action action as zombie grannies at the recent Halloween gig at Catch.