On this page is the latest news on my musical and inventor adventures, not to be confused with the Wowtown News. If you want to catch up on the latest goings on in and around Wowtown, click here to visit the Wowtown News archives OR subscribe to the Wowtown News email list via the home page of this site, in which case you will receive those rare but exciting updates plus upcoming show announcements delivered straight to your box in a timely manner!
APRIL 14, 08:
A newly remixed single version of 'Stranger On A Train' from 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon' is released this month on SL Records. It features a slightly more psychedelically-tinged treatment and raucous rockabilly drums racing along with Mary Poppins. The B-Side is a cover of Wayne Kemp's 'One Piece At A Time', a song made famous by Johnny Cash that previously appeared on the VERY limited edition Truax tour CD 'Hornicating With Sister Spinster' in 2004. The single is available as a download from itunes.
NOW AVAILABLE IN PODCASTS: WOWTOWN NEWS RADIO SHOW EPISODES!
Wowtown News Radio Episodes were recorded in 2003 for (and originally broadcast on) Resonance FM in London during the stations Glassshrimp show and also Richard Sanderson's Baggage Reclaim show. Though there were only 10 recorded episodes, they were repeated often and are still broadcast occasionally. They are now being made available for the first time as podcasts. The radio stories are based on written news reports from Wowtown which I started in 1999. Each episode runs an average of 4 to 6 minutes.
You can listen to the episodes on the website itself or subscribe if you have itunes (a new episode will be released appx. once a week) by visiting:
http://www.pmpmusic.co.uk or
http://www.bebo.com/thomastruax
Thanks to James who runs the bebo site for setting this up!
MARCH 10, 08:
NATURE Magazine Feature
I'm lucky to have the bandmates I do. Curiously, somehow my motorized Sister Spinster, the Hornicator and co. have spun their way into the March 6 issue of this prestigious international journal devoted primarily to the natural world.
If you're not near the school library you can check it out here in pdf format here.
ONE MAN IN THE BAND film featuring yours truly has it first screenings in the US next week at the Cleveland Film Festival : http://www.clevelandfilm.org
FEB 20, 08:
KRUGER MAGAZINE FEATURES;
It's 'ONE MAN BAND' month at Kruger Magazine's website, so naturally there's lots of Truax stuff there including a TV interview/instrument demonstration recorded in Cardiff as well as a brand new written interview. There's a great article by Adam Clitheroe 'The Ecstatic Loneliness of the One Man Band' , and lots more, all free to access online now at: krugermagazine.comDirect links to the Q&A and TV show are: Kruger Article
Kruger TV Interview (on youtube)There are also some new live videos posted on youtube.
FEB 5, 08:
JAN 24, 08
I'm flattered to have been nominated for best live act of the year by these fine institutions: Is This Music Magazine, The Indy Music Awards, and Maps Magazine. Up until the end of January you can place your own votes at Is this Music. It's simple and anyone can do it, just go to http://www.isthismusic.com/ if you're so inclined. They've also nominated 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon' for best video.
JAN 10, 08
Happy New Year. Things are going well in the studio, and some very special top secret things are also being grown in the laboratory. I also finished the first of a very limited number of MINI SISTER SPINSTERS that I'm building, which was sold in an online auction. There are more to come, but they will be born gradually one at a time.
I'm looking at them as a small series of art pieces. Meanwhile, spring tours are being organized for Ireland, the UK, and who knows where else. More on this in the near future.Twin London, a spoken word poetry-with-music collective, has voted 'The Butterfly and the Entomologist' feature of the week for the week of January 9th.myspace.com/twinlondon Their goal: "to encourage the development of new genres and hybrid art-forms which incorporate poetry as an essential element."
NOV 11, 07
FILM PREMIERE
'One Man in the Band', Adam Clitheroe's long awaited feature-length documentary featuring Thomas and other one-man (or woman) music makers including Dennis Hopper Choppers, Duracell, Honkeyfinger, Man from Uranus, and others, has been selected for it's world premiere at IDFA (www.idfa.nl), the largest documentary festival in Europe, which takes place in Amsterdam 22 Nov to 2 Dec.
You can view a trailer from the film and find details at:
http://www.myspace.com/onemaninthebandWe had a great week touring in Germany and France last week! We pushed the limits of exhaustion to the final date, and in Cologne last wednesday and the Tsunami club, Sister Spinster popped her rubber belt and the Stringaling had a complete sound and emotional breakdown, so they will both be spending some time in rehab and repair, while the Hornicator goes fishing, and I go songwriting.
SEPT. 18
The second single from 'Why Dogs Howl at the Moon' is 'Like A Fallen Tree', officially released Oct. 22, though both sides have already been garnering a considerable amount of airplay in the UK. The b-side is a dark, spare version of Smiths classic "The Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Tourdates for the UK and Germany are listed on the live page.
There's also a mysterious new tribute site that's been set up for fans on Bebo: http://www.bebo.com/thomastruax
SEPT 1, 07
The new video for 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon Part 1', conceived and directed by Alex Decampi, is now up on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjOu30VUWog
JULY 31, 07
July News: Shot a new video for 'Why Dogs Howl At the Moon' with director Alex DeCampi (who has done fantastic videos for Flipron, amongst others) for which I had to paint my teeth red (I don't reccomend this as a regular practice). It's a surreal still-life come to life, or something like that. The footage was shot on 16mm film and is currently being edited. The late july Irish tour was great. Thanks to all of you who came out for those shows, and to Peter of Duke Special who loaned me his car. I'll be back to Belfast on August 23rd to join DS again on the final night of his five night stint at the Empire Music Hall, the 'Vaudeville Extravaganza' night. Preceeding that, the night before in fact, I'll be in Scotland for my second Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I did three radio sessions on the Ireland tour, one for Edel Coffey's Access All Areas show on PHANTOM 105.2 FM in Dublin, and two at BBC Radio Foyle in Derry, one of which you can listen to online at: "Sessions and Interviews" section of the webpage under 'Summer Sessions 07'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiofoyle/electricmainlineIn other news, dissappointingly, I wont be supporting Richard Hawley on his September UK tour after all. Record label politics are to blame. Hopefully the Truax/Hawley connection will see some form of successful fruition eventually. Meanwhile more headline dates are in the works for October.
JUNE 11, '07
Very positive reviews for the new album have been appearing, see our new 'Why Dogs Howl...' reviews page for the first several of those. New live dates have been announced including Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on June 28th supporting Hanne Hukkelberg and my first headline tour of Ireland in July, see the live details page. Meanwhile I've been locking myself in the laboratory as often as possible to continue work on something new and special...
MAY 15, '07
TRACK OF THE WEEK on Myspace
In conjunction with the current tour and the launch of my new album 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon' (officially released next Monday, the 21st of May on SL Records) I'm going to be running a 'Track of the Week' feature for a while on my myspace. We'll start by previewing some songs from the album, a new one will be rotated weekly in the FOURTH SLOT of the myspace songs list. Down the line I'll upload some things like alternate takes, live, rare or unreleased tracks, possibly some old episodes of the 'Wowtown News' radio show broadcasts and so on. Most will coincide with a written bit of information, recording anecdotes, or a story related to each song. http://www.myspace.com/thomastruaxTo kick off the Scottish tour which begins Saturday 19th May there will be a very intimate in-store performance at: Elvis Shakespeare record store 347 Leith Walk, Edinburgh at 1pm
APRIL 28, 07
PRE TOUR BAND KNIFE FIGHT
During a last minute operation with Mary Poppins late on the night before the tour a knife found it's way through the end of my left indexfinger. Much bleeding, swearing and band 'differences' occurred, but when I calmed down I thought I must think of it as if I were one of my mechanical instruments, what would I do for a temporary fix if one of sister spinster's mallets got hacked off? So, thanks to the wonders of multiple layers of superglue, the crucial guitar playing appendage seems to be functioning acceptably (albeit not without pain and clumsiness) and no shows will be cancelled at this point. When word of this got around to my friend photographer Chris Saunders, he called me a real trouper informing me that Keith Richards once cancelled a show at Wembley Stadium because of a cut finger. Well, maybe he could afford it. It's been almost two weeks now as I write this and it's healing little by little, but my playing is definitely not what it could be. For you gorehounds I put the appendage through the scanner when the bandages and superglue were temporarily removed:I know it's not life threatening, but I think if it weren't for the nail, half the tip of the finger would have just been lopped off .
APRIL 10, '07
The initial "Why Dogs Howl At The Moon" UK Tour dates have been announced. The tour commences the 17th of this month. See live details page. Newest self made mechanical instrument Mary Poppins will be featured along with new songs and surprises as well as old favorites. There will be more dates added on into the summer, so check back here or on the myspace page periodically. The album will be released officially May 21st on SL Records.Several new interviews and features are now posted on the Press pages.
APRIL 05, '07 
New limited edition "Why Dogs.." T-shirts (as pictured above), designed by Hazel Atashroo, will be available only at the shows on the upcoming tour, dates to be announced within the next five days.
FEB 13, '07
At the end of this month I'm happy to announce I'll be joining Duke Special as support act once again for the whole of their upcoming tour of Ireland. Dates are listed on the live details page. All shows are rumored to be already sold out. I coincidentally ran into Duke Special the other day whilst in Leeds, there's more about that and some other anecdotal things in a new blog entry at the myspace/thomastruax page. A headline Truax UK/europe tour is slotted for April and May, details on that later.
MARY POPPINS FINALLY MAKES THE STAGE
After having announced the imminent debut appearance of my latest invented percussion contrivance, Mary Poppins, several times, only to frustratingly find some new mechanical shortcoming that prevented her from joining me on stage, I finally managed to get her into some semblance of dodgy functionality. Having decided to stop making promises about something that I couldn't deliver, Mary finally made her (unannounced) maiden voyage and trial debut last Friday in Gloucester at the Guildhall Acoustica night. She did all right, though several potential shortfalls became evident and she'll need some more time in the lab and at rehearsals before she becomes a reliable regular of the entourage. Its the first time I've experimented with a certain amount of aerodynamics in the equation. Somehow I do often get in over my head. She spins and clacks, a little like her sister, Sister Spinster. But centrifugal force is what lifts her mallets outward, and gravity, a wobbly mike stand (which she is built to be attached to), a wind or air conditioner breeze all have the potential to knock her rhythm off, much like some living drummers I've known. Somewhat fragile for someone who is meant to sound like a train! But she'll do all right.
JAN 16, '07
Recording and mixing of the third full Truax album 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon' is finally complete! Carrier pigeons are working overtime along with moguls of the industry to fluff up the usual legal entanglements so that it can see an official release this spring, we'll keep you posted. As you might suspect, it's got plentiful doses of howling on it.
Meanwhile, on wednesday the 24th tune into Resonance FM 104.4 (in London, or elsewhere on the Internet) for a Truax live appearance on our old favorite, the Glassshrimp show! That runs between 5 and 6:30 pm, london time. (that'd be noon in New York, six pm in western europe, etc.) http://www.resonancefm.com/
First live show of the year kicks off the following night at Rockfeedback's basement night in London. Details for that and other upcoming events are on the live details page.
DEC. 1, '06
I've published some memories, dreams, reflections on some of the touring I did this past year with the Dresden Dolls and Duke Special over on my myspace blogs page. During the final show of the Endless Tour over at Hoxton Square in London last Wednesday I managed not only to inadvertently bash a poor soul in the head with Hank (my guitar) whilst leaping on to the bar during 'Wowtown' but also to accidently punch Mike from Old Street Musical Union in the face whilst putting on my overcoat. Fortunately they both claimed to be all right. This kind of thing happens occasionally in the wild world of live entertainment, there's gotta be an element of danger you know. One time something like this happened in Cambridge when someone got inadvertenly scraped in the face by a moody Hornicator. He later sent me mail saying he'd treasure the scar until it healed! Bless the UK. If this happened in the US I'd certainly have been sued by now!
NOV. 14, '06
END OF THE 'ENDLESS TOUR'
Though I have been touring on and off for about five years with my trusty band mates Sister Spinster and the Hornicator, in September '05 we launched into a mad and nearly constant life on the road, what has officially come to be called 'the Endless Tour'. Though we have no plans to cease this questionable activity permanently, the time has come to call an official end to the Endless tour (before it calls an official end to us). We'll take a little time off to recover from stretched Stringalings and vocal cords, squeaky axles, broken Backbeaters, cables and cases inadvertently burned to a crisp by fire dancers (see my myspace Halloween blog if you want the whole story), the Hornicator's venereal inflictions and odd addictions, etc. The last official date will be Nov. 29th at Hoxton Square in London. Thanks to all of you who came out and supported and encouraged us this past year! I think I may very well have set the world's record for jumping on the most consecutive bars and tables whilst howling.I'll be staying in London with scattered live engagements there and a few out-of-town pickup dates through the end of the year at least, continuing the seemingly never-ending birth process of the new album, and some new instruments and such. I'd been holding some songs to record with Richard Hawley for quite some time, which has been one of my excuses for why the album is yet to be complete, but Richard in his recent ascent to greater (and well deserved) notoriety has been overwhelmed with other non stop obligations; film soundtrack, Mercury Prize nomination, Jarvis Cocker's upcoming tour, etc., which have forced him again to postpone our working together. So unfortunately the new album wont feature any Hawley produced tracks, but hopefully that will come together in the future, and meanwhile the album, tentatively titled 'Why Dogs Howl At The Moon', will sooner see the light of day.
The Rockfeedback TV show featuring a live and interview segment which aired on MTV2 a while back is apparently now airing on saturdays late night on Channel 4 in the UK. I'm not sure whether the episode featuring your's truly has run yet or not.
Earlier this year I did a rare side project, music for an animated television public service announcement by my wonderful friends over at Screen Novelties in Hollywood, a take on Willy Wonka, an anti-smoking ad, which can now be viewed online here (it's the one called 'Candy Factory'). It was strangely satisfying in a way that felt almost subversive somehow, to get sounds of the Hornicator and Stringaling featured in an anti-smoking television jingle. And they even wound up using my dummy vocals for the Oompa Loompa derived singing.
OCT 15 '06
Due to circumstances beyond our control, sorry to announce we've had to postpone some (but not all) of our european dates dates that were scheduled for mid november, including Germany and Italy. These will be rescheduled along with more dates, hopefully, sometime in the early part of next year. Check the live dates page for those that are still on.
SEPT 12 '06
We missed our plane to Munich on our way to support the Dresden Dolls last week, partly due to the confusion and delays caused sadly by someone jumping in front of a train in London and upsetting the entire rail service. However, we did make the show, barely, taking the next flight at huge financial loss (the show must go on!) and hitting the stage within minutes of arriving, without soundcheck and hardly time to catch my breath. To my horror, Sister Spinster had not survived the panic and rough ride in the airplane hold. She sat there looking quietly pretty while the Hornicator and I carried on without her, then she was rushed to emergency surgery after the show. Several operations later, she seems to be clicking and clacking along well, just in time for our new UK Autumn Headline tour which commences this week! New songs and surprises + old favorites promised. Dates are listed on the Live Details page. Some select dates in Europe are also in the works for November.
I've been working away on a new addition to the mechanical menagerie, a rhythm contraption whose name is probably Mary, hoping she'll be ready to join us for the tour, but with Sister Spinster's recent repairs dominating laboratory time, it seems unlikely that Mary will quite be ready in time, but maybe...
Along with the Dolls shows there was some exciting recording done with Markus Jansen and Philip Lethen in Krefeld, Germany which will hopefully be part of the new album.The album is nearing completion but, as is so often the case, must be put off again until those precious pockets of off-road time on the Neverending Tour.
AUGUST 14 '06
MTV Update: The MTV Rockfeedback TV program which will indeed include some Truax portion will air on MTV2 Europe on the 24th or 31st of August (which of these dates it is still tbc)...
Recordings that will be part of album number three are being finished in London.
JULY 26 '06
MTV APPEARANCE:
Last Sunday's Truckfest show along with an interview was filmed by MTV. They seemed very enthusiastic so if the cutting room is kind this will air on MTV2's Rockfeedback TV show in mid August (possibly the 17th in the UK), and repeated in October on Channel 4 in the UK (as well as in 16 other countries). The Stringaling was not interviewed, sadly.
Other substantial rumors include myself and the Hornicator supposedly being featured, in comic form, in an upcoming Jackie Chan comic book (!);
a track on an upcoming Smiths tribute album, and possibly some recordings produced by Richard Hawley. Details later...
WOWTOWN UPDATE
Apologies for the delay in keeping you up on the Wowtown News, temperatures in Wowtown at present have blown the tops off all thermometers and internet access and site updates have suffered due to electrical meltdown. Groundhog Al Camus has shaved off all his hair, it is a striking new look for him. Fortunately Sister Spinster has been chugging away on battery power and we've been recording some sweltering new tracks. Pete the cat is still looking for his missing tail.
MAY-JUNE '06:
"There was a silence with lots of things going on in it." -Dorothy Parker
APRIL 10 '06
Thanks to all of you who've come out for the last month of UK and europe dates! It's only just begun, with new dates including supports for the Dresden Dolls and Duke Special now extending into june. These and upcoming April UK headline dates are listed on the live dates page.
There's a brand new feature in Plan B magazine by Robin Wilks:Read it online here: http://www.planbmag.com
An interview/single preview will be featured in the June issue of Dazed and Confused, the limited edition vinyl-only 7" ('Have We Been Left Behind?' b/w 'Lessons In Art')on Manchester's Akoustik Anarkhy records will be available at upcoming shows and in stores later this month!
A recent live review appears on Drowned In Sound
Thomas is also booked for appearances at this summer's Truckfest and the Secret Garden Festival.on the Up All Night stage. More to be announced later.
And yes, a new album is in the works. It will be a while yet but tracks recently embellished by members of Flipron are sounding very groovy indeed.
FEB 21 '06
Lyrics for the Audio Addiction album have been added to the site.
FEB 13 '06:
A brand new 7" single will be released in March by Manchester's Akoustik Anarkhy label: '"Have We Been Left Behind?" b/w "Lessons In Art" (aA2w/021) After 2 albums & a couple of singles, New York's Thomas Truax is ready to make his debut on aA with 2 exclusive tunes that offer the listener head spinning majesty of the highest order (available in March on ltd 7" vinyl)'
Of course,nothing like a record release for an excuse to tour the UK and Europe again! Stay tuned...
http://www.akoustikanarkhy.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/akoustikanarkhy
JAN 13 '06:
Thanks to all of you out there who've been so supportive over this past year. It's been quite an eventful one: back and forth across the ocean and to the west coast repeatedly, a hundred shows including 4 sets at Glastonbury (part of which was broadcast on TV), a live BBC Radio 1 session, Lincoln Center in NYC, and a lot of smaller shows and events, very few of which were less than very rewarding experiences. I guess it was bound to happen: After the last round of UK/Europe I found myself ill and extremely disoriented and having lost the ability to sleep, sometimes for days on end, so a little time in Wowtown and taking things a little more slowly might be in order... Yeah right. I've got some new songs and don't know whether they're any good or not, but you can bet I'll be out there testing 'em all on you soon enough.
At this point I'm going to make a minor change the way I format these 'news' entries, just adding them when things are happening or when I can manage to rather than doing it by the month, though I'll probably try to get to it roughly monthly at least if possible.
NOV '05:
New europe/UK dates are now posted on the live details page.
A new page has been added to the site for gathering Audio Addiction album reviews.
There's a brand new interview on get underground.com.
My dear friend and theremin player Meredith Yayanos pointed out that yesterday on the Dresden Dolls forum I was brought up as the perfect definition of a sub-genre called 'Steampunk'. Anyone who knows me knows I try to avoid labels and pigeonholes generally but though I'm not entirely sure what steampunk is I love the name! If they were to move my bin at the local Virgin store to the 'Steampunk' section who could fight that!?
Meanwhile it almost seems like hypocrisy to me but I've finally succumbed to the weight from all sides suggesting I'm really missing out not having a 'my space' site (obviously I can hardly keep my official site up to date so where will I find the time?) , but I've finally caved in and started one. There's not much up there yet but to all of you who encouraged me in this don't make me feel like I did as a little squirt back in those lonely alienated days at the orphanage, please come be my friend! http://www.myspace.com/thomastruax
Another radio interview is available to stream online, this was recorded during Tom Schulte's Outsight Radio hours broadcast back in july, and runs about 13 minutes: http://musicsojourn.com/AR/Alt/page/t/TruaxThomas.htm
For all you Ipod hooked audio addicts, both 'Audio Addiction' and 'Full Moon...' are now available for digital download via the apple/itunes site: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=74572162
go to: News Archives years 03-05
for even older 'news' click here
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