Each Walking Hour

The album title Each Waking Hour comes from the first verse of track 9 (Simple Things) –
The simple things in life
Empty time and space
Surround ourselves with things
Fill each waking hour
Wasn’t meant to be this way.

I met with acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer David Hyams in 2012 to plan an album. After working our way through lots of songs, 10 were chosen for Each Waking Hour.

During the course of 2012 and 2013, we worked up arrangements for each of the songs and recorded demos. Some of the arrangements took an unexpected direction; most notably King and Castle, which ended up with a country and western feel, despite the subject matter of the song being decidedly urban!


Once the demos were in place, bass player Roy Martinez and drummer Elliot Smith were recruited, and during rehearsal sessions in David’s lounge room they added their own musical insights and developed the tight, stylish rhythm work heard on the album.

The album was recorded at Crank Studios in Perth by highly respected musician and sound engineer Lee Buddle. Recording went smoothly, apart from a day’s interruption when Justin Bieber (on tour in Australia at the time) decided that Crank was the ideal place to record a song for his next album! Justin was apparently a perfect gentleman and very professional musician ……


Perth singer/songwriter Kris Kingwell provided the backing vocals for the album, as well as the sublime lead vocals for 2 of the verses of Things That Money Just Can’t Buy. She showed just how adaptable she is, providing very different grooves - latin (Wasting Time), folk (Things That Money Just Can’t Buy), country and western (King and Castle) and the high notes of Saving Me, with equal ease and class. I will never tire of listening to Kris’s singing…..


Lee Buddle showed his skill on the saxophone in Wasting Time, with his searing solo answered by the equally great guitar work by David to close out the song.


It was a happy coincidence that cellist Melanie Robinson was in Perth whilst the album was being recorded. Melanie has a diverse musical CV, performing and recording as part of award-winning original duo Mr Sister, APRA/AMC award-winning quartet Overlander, and as arranger, cellist, singer and occasionally co-writer for various Australian artists including Tim Rogers, You Am I, Washington, The Audreys and John Butler Trio. Melanie’s work on One Little Promise and Things That Money Just Can’t Buy adds great depth to those songs.


David Hyam’s multi-instrumental skills shine throughout the album. His well-worn Stratocaster, Louden 6 string, mandolin, Gretch hollow body and dobro were all put to good use in playing a variety of styles including rock, blues, folk and country and western. David’s versatility extends even beyond those instruments – check out his blues harp playing on Simple Things.


Lee Buddle finished mixing and mastering the album in early 2015, and the album was launched to a sellout crowd at the Irish Club in August 2015. Check out some photos of the launch below and under the Gallery tab.


I tried to sum up my thoughts about the recording of Each Waking Hour in the CD sleeve, when I said that –
‘Most people agree that music is one of the graces of life, and the musicians who have worked on this album have embodied that notion ; they have, without exception, been encouraging, great fun to work with and some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.’


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