It felt different to other times we had been up to the station. It was a more intense feeling, like we had a mission to do. We dropped 3 live tracks in the studio and there was a good energy about. Tim Johns and the team were really inviting and it was great to show people how far we’ve come since the acoustic Lincoln days all those years ago. Check out the videos below of the session. Good Vibes.

 Over the last year I have written over 500 track ideas, hooks, melodies, and its been building everyday since moving to london. Theres been a momentum about DL HQ and perhaps this is where the track evolved from. I remember getting the initial Beat Idea from Luke and its big. Its James Bond big. Its such an exciting song it had us fighting for lyric space. In the best possible way it is a track  that any lyricist would gladly sit and spit bars to all day. The challenge then was to get the right message across. The track is about gaining speed, how you can get swept away and that the world and the peolpe in it arent going to stop to help you back up. At the same time it also looks at those moments when everything is going good and how that energy and momentum can be all consuming/driving. I am incredibly excited to drop this one on you all, it’s like a cross between Michael Cain and Dr Dre. Dr Cain if you will. Theres plenty more exciting news about this track but we’ll save that for the near future.

JS

The winner as selected by Sennheiser, Labrinth and the marketing/A&R team at Syco Music will attend a studio session with Labrinth to collaborate on the final track.

Last Week Labrinth dubbed “Kings Of Men” by DL his Pick of the week from submissions.

Voting is now open until the 16th April 2012 so VOTE HERE and get Labrinth on Kings of Men.

With the first single from the EP due out in May,  Plenty of hard work is going in now so that we can focus on getting our live shows together in the summer. The new EP is harder, and in places pretty ruthless. There’s a raw power flying around the studio and I personally had some venting to do…the result from the DL team will be with you soon though but it is our best work to date.

Alongside the music is the video work which hopefully will see some exciting developments over the next two weeks. Work has begun on the creation of our Showcase events in London which will be hosting the best acts from around the country that have played with us and that we’ve seen. More on this when everything is finalized. (for those old school fans from lincoln uni, think along the lines of the Pillow Sessions but with more gusto…) So that is where DL is at right now.

On 22nd April we will be at BBC Lincolnshire Introducing for a live session with Tim Johns when you will be able to catch some of the tracks from the new EP.

Track of the week: Team Me – Weathervanes and Chemicals.

JS

Please email luke@dancinglotus.co.uk or jack@dancinglotus.co.uk if you would like to contact us about shows, bookings, big (huge) money contracts, or just to have a chat!

Thanks,

DL

Copyright 2012

Kings of Men – Dancing Lotus & Elliott Morris

——————————————————

As above so below, from the bottoms to the tops

From the heavens to the earth, I say my prayers round the clocks

Tradition from my home, Godfather passed the torch

But I lost my way, hey, and it didn’t take me much

I got drunk from the bottles, and I got with the models

If you eat with the beast, then there’s bound to be trouble

This is bound to resort to, Kneeling down and be humble

I will rest when I’m done, so in this life, i’ll run till I’m gone.

I wont take this lying down

But I’m burning here

I wont take this lying down

But I’m burning here

This is how everything ends

Its no more, no more, no more

For these kings of men,

This is how everything ends

Its no more, no more, no more

For these kings of men.

As above so below, as the old sayings go

That you reap what you sow, so I’m digging me some more

Got my body on the go, so I tick like the clocks

Put my mind in the know, so I’m worth more than a rock

It’s the truth right here that’s more than a line

Heart on my sleeve, my fur is a Lion

Not relying on food from the ground

To live on I put books in the mind, I put dos’ into time, no snoozing in time

It’s all I’ve got, I’m using the time

As above in the skies, not down when it kicks

I’ll bid this life goodbye with a kiss.

I wont take this lying down

But I’m burning here

I wont take this lying down

But I’m burning here

This is how everything ends

Its no more, no more, no more

For these kings of men,

This is how everything ends

Its no more, no more, no more

For these kings of men.

DOWNLOAD THE SINGLE HERE:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/kings-of-men-single/id507210858

Already having received high praise and Airplay from BBC Introducing Shows across the country, Kings of Men could be set to storm into the top 200 UK singles charts! Even BBC’s Today show host Evan Davies was telling the world about it on twitter earlier. You can download the track here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/kings-of-men-single/id507210858
You can watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm7P_a76Tgk&feature=youtu.be

You can let us know what you think right below here:

DL thanks everyone for their continued support.

I’m also pleased to announce our mix engineer on the track is Neal Snyman, an award winning producer from South Africa. Neal is a great friend of ours at Berry Street Studio, having worked with owner Kevin Poree for many years and for many top artists. Having won best rock album at The South Africa Music Awards, and a history of working with stars such as Crowded House, Tom Jones, Gary Glitter and David Bowie, I was more than happy to hand the track over to the multi-talented Ex-Millwall goalkeeper.

The process has taken a long time. Four months ago, the song was a laptop-recorded demo, being passed back and forth by Elliott & Jack and myself here at the studio. In all fairness, for the first month of it’s life it sounded terrible. So many ideas were floating around that it became a mish-mash of sounds and genres, resulting in little more that a dog’s dinner. Over the weeks, we all became a bit more ruthless, cutting out the rubbish & self indulgence, remixing over and over, until I finally sent out a rough mix which everyone agreed on.

I honestly think the track is something else. A brand new sound for us as a band, and by far our best song to date. Working at the studio and seeing tonnes of great music go unnoticed has taught me to be cynical about the industry, but I truly think this will turn some heads. We’re waiting on the final mix from Neal, but already know we’ve created somewhat of a monster!

Buy Kings of Men on 5th March 2012.

Luke

People often ask me, “what, you play violin, that’s so cool!, you don’t look like a violinist though!” The stigma used to be that violin was all about geeky 12 year olds. More recently its moved away from that into a real slick instrument that is now not just scratching on strings (apart from when I’ve had a few beers) to amazing electric violins that look awesome and sound amazing. They can produce incredible sounds and effects that acoustic violins now can’t. This isn’t to say I prefer electric violins, as mine has always been an acoustic violin, and for a very long time I will always use my incredible electric acoustic that my parents got for me when I was only 14 years old.

The first time i started listening to violins, I was amazed by Nigel Kennedy and Vanessa May, who in their own right are incredible at classical music. The fast paced movement in the fingers that create a resonating sound in an orchestra, that can fill an entire room! Other violinists I admire are more modern musicians like Paul Dateh. This man is incredible! he truly brought the violin back into the 21st century. This guy started playing with DJ’s and started featuring in more modern music videos, playing the violin like it was an all in one song and dance!

To me, and popular music track these days that contain strings really fill out a song. Take for example our music, I can quite honestly say playing strings with this band is an amazing feeling, producing riff’s and harmony’s that fill out the tracks. There is nothing better than when we played ‘Summer Sundae’ fest, I remember how people were dancing around to my violin riff to ‘3 kinds of love’ which amazed me, how certain tracks and riffs can truly have an influence for a lifetime if its good enough! KOM with Elliot Morris is another example which is released on the 5th of March. It combines every factor that a song should have. It balances modern beats, with crisp vocals, guitars, and the violin being in there subtly. The violin is here to stay in the 21st century and forever! Ever given it a go?! Try it, and guarantee you’ll love it if you stick with like I did from when I was only 9 years old!
Nick Long over and out!