The online home for Fergus Maximus (both the band and the bloke)
The online home for Fergus Maximus (both the band and the bloke)

News

‘Restless Soles’ is in the wild!

After approximately forever, the debut studio album from Fergus Maximus, Restless Soles, was released on Friday, 13 July 2018 to a sold-out crowd at The Wheatsheaf Hotel in Adelaide as part of Music SA’s Umbrella Winter City Sounds Festival and Adelaide Guitar Festival’s Guitars In Bars, ably supported by the wonderful Alison Coppe.

Restless Soles, recorded at Wizard Tone Studios in Adelaide, is an anthology of melodic short stories about people with itchy feet and the road in their eyes; about love, loss and memory and the things we hold on to.
Musically, the album is really varied. There are bouncy pop things, some soulful tracks with a horn section and gospel-inspired backing vocals, some rowdy pop/rock songs, a couple of sparse ballads and a couple of things with strings including one track simply backed by a string quartet.
But how do you get to hear the album? There are SO many ways!

If you want a physical CD, come to a gig some time!.

If you want a physical CD which includes a download go to the Fergus Maximus BandCamp store.

If you just want a download you can get that at BandCamp too or at Amazon, Google Play or iTunes.

Or you can stream it on Spotify or Deezer or Tidal or Apple Music or iHeartRADIO or Napster (apparently that’s still a thing) or in a whole bunch of other places we don’t even know about (we have people for that). If you can’t find your service of choice, just Google it. It’s probably there. If not, let us know and we’ll see if we can hook them up.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a listen. Everyone on the Fergus Maximus team is delighted with how it has turned out

First official Fergus Maximus music video

2016 is a year of firsts for Fergus Maximus. Our first music video is now live and we’d love for you to see it. “Derek” was the lead single from the debut Fergus Maximus EP “Songs & Stories” (2015). The video was directed by John Chataway and stars the wonderful Lachlan Scown as Derek’s Housemate (alongside Gypsy the Cat as Mr Mittens). The project was part of the Vision and Sound initiative set up by Music SA and the Department of Screen and Media at Flinders University.

Click the link below to check it out on the hhhhappy blog and Like it if you like it. And if you’re willing to share it from the hhhhappy blog (and encourage others to do the same) that would be all kinds of awesome — the more shares it gets, the greater the Like-lihood they’ll do a proper review which will really help get the word out.

Derek on the hhhhappy blog

Speaking of which, please share freely and let’s get Derek out into the wild. As it were.

Derek Official

CREDITS

Cast (in order of appearance)

Derek’s Narrator – Fergus Maximus
Derek’s Housemate – Lachlan Scown
Derek’s Bored Delivery Bloke – Fergus Maximus
Derek’s Cat – Gypsy
Derek’s Friend Jenny – Indianna Bell
Derek’s Mother – Michelle Bell

Crew

Derek’s Camera Operator – Josiah Allen
Derek’s Lighting Operator – Indianna Bell
Derek’s Director & Editor – John Chataway
Derek’s Producer – Kurt Roberts

Shot on location in Adelaide at Julia Kaminski, Rebekah Kraft and Selena Gillard’s place. Thanks for letting us mess it up. And thanks to Nathan Roberts and Liz Phillips for consenting to allow Gypsy the Cat to appear (as if Gypsy pays any attention to anything you say).

No Dereks were harmed during the making of this film.

Songs & Stories in the wild (and in the media)

It’s interesting what people hear. Fergus Maximus has recently evoked a variety of comparisons from listeners.

“A little like a cross between Darren Hanlon and Angus & Julia Stone.” David, Redwood City, CA, USA

“He reminds me of Things Of Stone And Wood or The Whitlams.” Matthew Jolly, BSide Magazine

“Quite Paul Kellyish in terms of sparse phrases evoking a deep story.” Craig, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Ferg was suitably chuffed by that last one in particular, which relates to his latest song, “Where You Need To Be”; a reflection for the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

But whatever people’s individual musical touchstones might be, the response to the debut Fergus Maximus EP/LP “Songs & Stories” has been overwhelmingly positive, with accolades for both the songcraft and the storytelling.

“Songs & Stories” was recorded live at The Austral Hotel, Adelaide in November 2014. As the title suggests, the album includes both songs and Ferg’s between-song stories that provide context for those songs. But don’t take our word for it. Hear what the the reviewers are saying about “Songs & Stories”:

“I enjoyed listening to this record, it really felt like attending a gig. The stories are an important and essential part of the experience.”
Matthew Jolly, BSide Magazine

“Listeners will get a similar experience to those sitting at the front tables on the night in question.”
David Robinson, The Clothesline

Isn’t it about time you booked yourself a front row seat?

Digital downloads and limited edition physical CDs are available at the Fergus Maximus BandCamp store.

 

What happened to January?

Our January has disappeared. We could have sworn we left it lying around here somewhere but it’s gone.

To help identify our January in the event we have to report it to the police as stolen, here are some identifying features:

1. We had our annual gig at the Moana Surf Life Saving Club‘s Wine By The Waves food and wine event on 11 January. How many times have we done that now? Four or five? Something like that. It’s always fun. Great food and wine and the venue is wonderful, right on Moana beach.

2. We kicked off our regular gig calendar at The Artel Lounge Bar and Restaurant on 18 January. Great to get back to where we belong. It’s a terrific venue and has been a regular thing every month or two for a few years now.

3. We got invited to participate in the 2015 Crush Festival (that’s the Adelaide Hills Food & Wine event, not the hardcore moshpit that the name might seem to imply) on 25 January. A great afternoon at The Barker Hotel.

If you happen to find our January somewhere, please send it home. We miss it.

Ferg

What We’ve Been Up To All This Time – Summary

Wow, this turned out to be quite an adventure. For handy reference, here is an overview of things that happened in 2014:

Episode 1—rough recordings, arranging, rehearsing and a handful of gigs

Episode 2—saying goodbye to Mike Stewart

Episode 3—singing with Clare Bowditch

Episode 4—Sri Lanka

Episode 5—Walk Together

Episode 6—East Sumba, Indonesia

Episode 7A—So Many Gigs

Episode 7B—Seriously, SO many gigs

Episode 8—Meeting awesome peoples

Episode 9—Ferg’s first solo show

2014 is over? What the who now?

Apparently 2014 is now over. I’m not entirely sure how that happened. And although there have been lots of things happening behind the scenes, this webspace is like a ghost town.

Ok. Time to do something about that. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll post some, What We’ve Been Up To All This Time posts.

Because, seriously, 2015 already? Wow.

What’s cooking in 2014?

Exciting times ahead: in 2014 we will finally get into the studio to record our debut album. Ferg has been meeting with our producer, Steve Pederson (Producer, Songwriter & Guitarist with Junior, Carla Lippis, Max Savage, Rustflower, Charlie Carroll and … well, lots of people; he gets around), and plans are afoot. Here’s a teaser taste of some of the notes from the first three production meetings.

Notes from first three production meetings for Fergus Maximus' debut album
Notes from first three production meetings for Fergus Maximus’ debut album

Hold on to your hats!
Ferg

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