Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Paul Leal The spanish-Jim Morrison Young Lion

Sometime in 1967 a young photographer who worked for Elektra Records in NY city called Joel Brodsky  did a photo session for the singer of the band The Doors. This iconic pictures later became the most widely and well known photos from the bare chested iconic singer.
The first photo shoot was the Grammy nominated back cover photograph that is used on the 60's american band’s self titled debut album. The second gave birth to the Lizard King. 
In this second session its well known the fact that Morrison was highly inebriated (Why he doesn't looks to me?). The famous photos are known as ‘The Young Lion’.
Is that Morrison? I don't think so!
Its funny because being a massive Doors fan as I am, I always thought that this photos never portrayed the real Jim Morrison. I mean, on his short career with the band (barely 4-5 years) Morrison changed his appearance and physical features and personally I think he never looked again like he did in that day anymore. He went through different periods with his image: short and long hair, with and without a beard, the leather trousers years and also due to his well known drinking habits he did gain more and more weight over the years. But like I said he never had the same look again like he did on The Young Lion photo session. That was not Jim Morrison. Funnily enough it became the most iconic photo from the lead singer.

A few years ago while I was living in Madrid, me and my good friend Pedro Leal and his wife Laura Beatriz Suela, we had the idea to do a kind of Young Lion photo Session but this time we will do it to their eldest son Pau Leal. The idea was basically to replicate the original Morrison’s ‘Young Lion’ photo session and Pau would be our best model.
Just for fun! and (Who Knows?) give something original to remember when the lad grows old.
Paul Leal-The Young Lion © Pedro Vila
It was a project we had in mind for a little while so we waited a few months for when the kid’s hair had a similar length like the legendary Doors singer.
I also supplied a necklace I bought in Venice Beach on my first trip to Los Angeles in the early 90's to try to make Pau look even more like Jim Morrison in the original poster.
We were unsure what the outcome was going to be like…but we had to give it a go!
At first it was not easy (It is never easy when you do this kind of things with kids) but I have to say Pau acted like a real professional Model. Nice one lad.
My photo session lasted almost a whole morning and we took loads and loads of photos to be able to choose only the best ones for our poster. I also thought to let the parents choose the photos they thought that would be the best ones so we could all have our share in the project.
The second stage would be to edit the photos and make them look as much as possible as if they were original from the 60s. We had a great fun and also a good laugh mainly because the kid didn’t know what he was doing. But I have to say Pau seemed enjoying it too.
At the end we were pretty pleased with the results and Im honoured to say that the poster hangs framed in the lads bedroom.
The first one is obviously the original Jim Morrison one and the second our very own ‘Young Lion’ replica.
I hope you like it.

Thank you Pau! and Thank you Pedrote Leal and Beatriz Suela.

See also in my Profesional Portfolio

Monday, July 14, 2014

Two Skies and Model Morning gigs London 11th-12th July 2014

Rob Mc Cleary Model Morning


Friday 11th July 2014 Sheffield finest Two Skies was playing in the Hope and Anchor in Islington London.
It was my first visit to this place. I was told The Sex Pistols played in that venue The Stranglers, U2, Stray Cats and many many punk acts of the 70s and early 80s. Even Ian Curtis of Joy Division had a fit there. A place with an strong vibration indeed.

Video of last saturday gig

Apparently the pub had for a while the shitty policy of pay to play but good news is new management doesn't do it anymore. Its a small downstairs club so you can be literally inches from the stage. So pretty intimate and good if its not too crowded.
Nice to see in first hand London music history. More interesting than visit boring museums and shitty art galleries to be honest.
Each to their own.

Two Skies played new songs. 'Ocean', 'Stay', 'Arrows' and 'Drone Att'.

Two Skies

There is a 7 inch vinyl release in September 2014 and probably more Two Skies live dates for this autumn, which is fantastic news! New t-shirts are ace by the way. Got one mesen. 
Bring on Tramlines 2014!

Two Skies

The opener act was an acoustic set from Sterling Gloswell the bloke from Spacemen 3 and the last band was 'One Unique Signal' with members from the Telescopes which I saw in Cosmosis festival in Manchester last March. Rosco (Gloswell) said there was a party in Hackney Wick later but we somehow forgot about that.

Saturday was Model Morning and 93millionmilesfrommthesun at the Victoria in Dalston. 

The Victoria in dalston, Hackney London


The Victoria its an old traditional english pub in Hackney London,  usually frequented by old Jamaicans clients. Some nice fellas there. And the venue is pretty decent. If only we could bring Sheffield pint prices over to London with us ;-)

93millionmilesfromthesun was a good find! And as a headlining act they were loud! Always good to support the south Yorkshire music scene anywhere in England.

93 Million Miles From The sun Limited edition 200 copies


Viva Doncaster!

Model Morning Victoria Dalston 12th July 2014

And then were Model Morning which was the reason we were this weekend in London for.
There was a bit of buzz with this gig.
Model Morning did split a few years ago and some members moved on to different projects like the band Spotlight Kid. So there was only a couple of live dates announced.

Model Morning Victoria Dalston 12th July 2014


Since they are one of my favourite bands from Nottingham, their self titled album its on my ipod top plays ever and I had never the chance to see them before, it was a show not to miss!
Their last gigs were 6 or 7 years ago when they played live shows with Exit Calm, The Boxer Rebellion, Daniel land and The Domino state (now that would be a good night!).

Model Morning Victoria Dalston 12th July 2014


While we were chatting in the beer garden I could hear from the soundcheck inside the venue the ebow intro of 'We go all night' and I had goosebumps already!
I also had the chance (finally) to meet and talk with Model Morning guitarist Chris Moore (Who used to play also with Echoboy) I haven't spoke with him since the (long gone) days when bands used to upload their music in myspace. Nice one Chris!

Rob Mc Cleary Model Morning


Sometime through their set I closed my eyes for a moment and I swear It was like watch Dave Fielding&Reg Smithies play on the old days. They were only bits and hints obviously but the feeling was there. Nice to hear Chris Moore is a Chameleons&Reegs fan by the way. Thumbs up to the man who can play an ebow without actually having one!
And the drummer (Peter Moorley) is the lead singer! Now thats cool, and he is good!
I think the only time I ve seen something like this before was when I saw Soulwax in Madrid about 6 or 7 years ago.

Brilliant night like I said. Pure Magic.



I dont know Model Morning will play live again. Fingers crossed. But if they do, I will be there.

Massive respect to Goodsoul Promotions for their priceless hard work to promote and put on every week the best and most genuine shoegaze and psychedelic alternative acts in London.
Keep the good work lads.


Model Morning 6 track release



Tuesday, May 20, 2014

John Lever and The Red Sided Garter Snakes

Guitarist Dave Fielding and legendary drummer John Lever (both original Chameleons members) are back in the studio this week in the little town of Ashton under Lyne in Manchester for the recording of their upcoming new release 'Wishville'.
This musical project will go under the name of 'John Lever and The Red Sided Garter Snakes' and Dave will play guitar in all the tracks.

John and Dave in the studio 20th May 2014

I really hope he plays the beautiful 12 string I brought for him from Minnesota that I gave to him last weekend in Lincoln.
Dave and John haven't been together in a recording studio since the Chameleons reunion in early 2000, so pretty exciting news for all school fans of the original band.
There is one thing for sure, both playing together again only means MAGIC!


Dave ready for take off

Friday, April 04, 2014

Prong@Sound Control Manchester. 3rd April 2014




Always been a big PRONG fan since the 80s (I own lots of their vinyl and other rarities, etc...).

PRONG is one of those bands I have never the chance to see live...I don't think they ever played in Spain before (Thats another reason why I love England!). I got into them because a friend brought us a cassette tape from the US when I was a teenager and it was the hit of the summer for us. Lost and Found and For Dear Life kicked in our wild teenage adrenaline...and still does! Also I always had some sort of admiration for singers who are also Lead guitars which sometimes it can be a busy multitask job which can only be full filed with talent. And Tommy has it.



Tommy Victor singer and lead guitarist was a well known and respected roadie in CBGB in NY back at the time.
They definitely are the gateway for old school metal heads like me to get into bands like Godflesh, Killing Joke, NIN etc..(sorry not into Marilyn Manson crap here). Paul Raven (Rip) from Killing Joke plays the bass in some albums.


PRONG started playing hard core-crossover on the mid 80s and later moved to the thrash metal scene when they signed with a major label in the early 90s and then finally changed to a more industrial sound on the 90s with their classic Cleansing album.

'Beg To differ' has to be my all time favourite Prog thrash Metal album (the only time you will see me quoting 'prog' in music i like  ).
Why this album wasn't bigger? I have no idea, maybe because it was released the very same day like Nirvana never mind....who knows? (A good example of the 'dont's' for a record label certainly). The drummer in Prove you wrong LP and beg to Differ is amazing, so so good and very technical.


PRONG are still touring and they managed to survive all the up and downs of the metal scene on the last 20 years. And they never sold out.

They were last night in Manchester very very good so was the sound. They played on the upstairs room. Broken Piece, Lost and found, Who's fist is it anyway?, Snap your fingers, Snap your neck and a few other new songs from their last albums were amongst the set.

Brilliant vibes for classic thrash metal reunion in Manchester. Got an ace t- shirt and also some goodies signed. 


Top people and a great night!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Koh Rong Samloem (Cambodia). The lost Paradise?



M' Pai Bay

After our frustrating experience with the little (or none) interest from the Koh Rong Diving center for our waste management (and very much needed) volunteer offer it was time to go to the 2nd island Koh Rong Sanloem.
We were hoping this time to be a bit more successful.

The Marine conservation Cambodia has the same meeting point to go to the boat in Seahoukville city center  than the Koh Rong one, in order to go to the island (They are one in front of the other). 

This time it was just a tuk tuk who gave us the lift to the 6 of us, unlike the last time when we went to Koh wrong which it was a rammed little bus.
The guy who was supposed to come with us from the conservation center wasn't coming on the last minute (I think I realized pretty soon why) so we were on our own with the staff of the boat who were a couple of Cambodian kids and the captain, a very gentle Cambodian man with a huge smile on his face (No one spoke any english).

A soon as we got on the docks I could see that it was a very windy day, and that wasn't a good sign.
And how right I was!

And that was only the start!

Once we left  Sihanoukville harbor the waves were getting bigger and bigger and I could tell by the faces of the staff there (even being locals) that things were not looking good.
Our little boat was going up and down like in a sea roller coster and things were falling all over inside the boat, and the waves were getting higher!

It was a hell of a trip and to be honest the only comfort I could find was when things were really nasty I looked at the captain to see what were his reactions and the only thing I could  see every time was a big smile….like if he was enjoying it !…or maybe he was trying to keep us calm and make us feel like everything was under control?
(you can see the waves as we got in the island in a video I edited below)

I will never really know!

The thing is that after the 3 hours trip (with a similar route we did before to go to the other Island) we managed somehow to get to the closer to the shore….well, not really. 

The waves were so big that there was no way we would be able to get close to the pier, let alone jump out the boat.
So there we were stuck, about 500 or 600 meters with the shelter of another small island nearby (Ko Khong) waiting for the weather to change or at least for the waves to be a bit smaller.
As time passed by and things didn't seem to change the management of the Marine conservation center decided to send a smaller boat to pick us up and so we would be able to get to the shore. What an odyssey.

M' Pay Bay Beach

It wasn't easy I have to say as the boat was going up and down like mad and things got a bit dangerous to be honest but finally the nightmare was over and we could get out safe in the pier.  And intense arrival for sure! ….and not recommended for those who get a bit sea sick.

Cambodian girls

Paul (the owner of the cambodian conservation center) came to welcome us and he proceed to show us the bungalows were we were supposed to stay and also showed us the Conservation center premises.

Our hut
  
The place was ace! Literally a few yards from the sea and all surrounded by jungle. And i could see Koh Rong on the distance. The huts were small but very comfy. They had a double bed with mosquito nets. That was all we needed after such an intense (and scaring) day.
Look at that little boat. Pure recycling!

I had the best sleeps in all my travels in Asia while we were there, with the gently sea breeze coming in every night (Which it means no mosquitoes btw). What a fantastic place.

M' Pay Bai village

I have to say that the attitude from Paul and all the staff in the island from the very first minute we arrived was completely different from our previous experience in Koh Rong. 
It was far more positive and they proved us a more honest an altruistic interest in the conservation of the island.

M' Pai Bai beach

Paul told us us how he arrived to the island a few years back, broken and with barely no possessions with him. 
Local kids

The local fisherman's gave him a very warm welcome and he is been living there since, helping the community and trying to manage the Conservation center and organizing and programming activities for all the young volunteers. He even married a local woman and had a child with her. 

Hua and locals

You can tell Paul has put a lot of soul, time and love in there.

The first days we were hanging around and exploring the island. It was very easy to fit on the place. People was so over friendly.
We also went fishing with the local kids. God they were good…and we were crap!

The kids were pros fishing!

They fish just with a string and an empty can of soda but when we gave them the fishing rod they were total pros.


So how could we give Paul a way to thank him his hospitality in Koh Rong Samloem?
Coincidentally walking to the recently build local school my friend Joel saw some big puddles of mud in the way . 

Mud for our bricks

He thought the mud was brilliant to make bricks (old style) so we  suggested that we could build a playground for the kids on the school yard with the sun dried bricks. 
It sounded good to everyone and Paul agreed!


So on the next days we spent the early mornings and late afternoons (Don't forget is a tropical island and it gets very hot there) making the bricks with some molds we previously made with pieces of wasted wood.
Other days we did clean the beach as sometimes depending the sea streams you get some plastic tossed on the beach from the mainland.

Buddy

It was fun!

At night there isn't much to do in the island. Power generators work from 6 to 12 am so the best recommendation is to pay a visit to Hua`s Bar. She is a vietnamese woman who owns a little bar near the beach in the center of the village. 
Hua is a local legend although I was told the locals don't like her very much and try to boycott her due to Cambodian-Vietnamese local issues.

 Hua's bar. Check that pool table!

Hua is really funny, she speaks very little english but she seems to get more fluent as soon as she drinks some of the local rice liquor that she offers for free to every on the bar. It was pretty strong I have to say! So you are warned!
On her behalf I have to say that she spoke Vietnamese with his husband ( The man was always sleeping in a hammock) and also perfect Cambodian with the locals. She also speaks chinese as seems her daughter lives in China. Wow!

Hua spoiling me with vietnamese coffee style….in cambodia!

Hoa will cook nice local meals for us every night…there is no menu though so you have to eat whatever she has. But everything was so fresh and delicious, but the best of it…dead cheap! There is also a pool table and sometimes parties last there until silly hours in the morning with the locals.

Kids

There are a couple of places more to eat in the village. Paul has shown the locals how to set a little bar, with a menu with prices, a few chairs and tables, etc…
He even keeps the prices from the conservation center restaurant a bit higher to encourage the visitors to go to the local places. I thought was a nice and very convenient idea.

Jam with a Vietnamese straw hat in Cambodia. Something you don't do! but we were fine

Also needs to be mentioned the beach in m' Pai Bay. 

Its a beautiful little secret spot and i have to say it does beats hands down the beaches in Koh Rong. It had a unique kind of beauty. 


They were building another wooden pier on the beach and also some new huts. Seems another eco resort is on the cards

M' Pay bei beach. you can see at the bottom the new pier

Unfortunately this is going to change the view from the beach for ever. I really hope they stop building there so the place doesn't gets too spoiled.

Cleanest waters i ve ever seen

An important warning though, don't stay in M Pai Bay Beach after 4 pm when the sun starts to go down as its sand flies O clock (Thats why you don't see locals at this time), and they seem to be pretty vicious . We were fine but I saw other western volunteers badly bitten. One girl had to go back to the mainland for medicines as she seemed pretty bad. 
Nature can be pretty tough in the tropics. No shit.



You have to act as locals do!
But like I said you do as told and you will be fine.

My friend Joel doing some repairs on the bridge that leads to the school

It was a fantastic experience to chill out on the island with the so nice and humble locals and also going fishing with the kids. We also did some great snorkeling. 

One day we did an excursion all around the island in a small boat. What an exciting day it was.

Our taxi driver. Nice lad

The beaches are stunning, no one to be seen around and the waters were clean as crystal glass. The whole island its surrounded by deep jungle.

 More fishing. give them a fishing rod. you wouldn't believe it!

We even saw monkeys!

Monkeys. Thats the closer I could get

At some point you pass by near Lazy Beach which is another eco resort. And also there is a light house once you turn round half the island perimeter.

Lazy Beach. As the name says: Stoner paradise

At some point we pulled over in Saracen Bay on the other side of the island. Despite i was told its a destination for some diving tours, there was barely no one that day. The place was pretty quiet.

Arriving at Saracen Beach

Saracen beach has one of the most beautiful sea colors i ve seen in my entire life (and I ve been in the caribbean and other tropical countries before!). 
The sand looked like snow….and it felt the same way when you stepped on it.

Saracen Beach

We finally got something to eat (Delicious Pasta with seafood) and after playing some pool we went back to M' Pai Bay. The sunset was amazing.

The last days we were there we didn't see much of Paul as he was busy in the capital Phnom Pen dealing with some government issues. 

Pool O' Clock!

Things aren't easy for him nowadays as he faces the possible closure of the place due to some building plans of real state investors on the place. 



But I really hope he manages to carry on with his project as he looked to me as a good and man with a lot of love to the place. He didn't seem to lack of the energy to me. So all the best Paul!
Koh Rong Samloem was, as he told us, his life.

Vietnam: Straw hats. Kampuchea: man on turbants and kilts!

After a month our visas were almost expired so sadly we had to return to Viet Nam, where more exciting things were awaiting to happen. But that belongs to another chapter.

I really hope to go back one day to Koh Rong Saloem. I truly had one of the best days of my entire life in there which allowed me to meet amazing people and some other mad Cambodian locals.

Goodbye Koh Romg Saloem!

Here is a short video I edited with some footage from my days with my friends Joel and Ari in Phu Quoc (Viet Nam), Otres Beach and Koh Rong Saloem in Cambodia.