As the launch draws nearer, we’ve been very busy rehearsing with the multitude special guests.

This weekend we caught up with Adrian Hicks from the Oz Big Band and the other guys in the horn section for a run through of the tracks they’ll be joining us on at the launch. Adrian’s been really helpful getting the horn section together and found us our female backing vocalists, too.

The guys in the band proper had been itching to rehearse with the horn section because this would be the first time we’ve actually played live with them. For the album, we recorded the band itself first and then the horn section came in separately, so actually playing all in the same place at the same time was new to us.

Turns out jamming out live with a horn section is heaps of fun! Especially when you’re lucky enough to get to play with pro horn players.

For the launch we’re having the horns on a few extra songs. So, in addition to Talk, If There’s a God Out There, and I Fucked Up, which we recorded with horns, we’re also going to have them play on I Wanna Make A Cuppa Tea and Faces Make Fools.

It was a really cool experience jamming out with the guys. Hearing a sax solo from a few feet away is a pretty awe inspiring thing, and hearing a song you wrote finally come together with all its parts live was a very satisfying moment for me.

I think people are going to be really wow’d by how well these guys play and how much impact it brings to have a horn section on stage.

The only disappointing thing is that we’ll only get to jam with these guys twice more: this coming Saturday, and then at the gig itself. It’s enough to make a bloke want to plan another gig or two!

By the way, I strongly recommend you check out The Oz Big Band any chance you get. They will absolutely blow you away!