Hello!

How are you? I thought I’d send a quick update with some JV news, as there’s quite a lot happening in the coming weeks, including a tour, a split EP and new merchandise! Read on for more details…

JOSE VANDERS / LUKE LEIGHFIELD SPLIT EP & TOUR

I am thrilled to announce that I have teamed up with the wonderful Luke Leighfield to release a split EP and embark on a three week tour across the UK and Europe! Luke is a great man who makes great music (think Ben Folds/The Rocket Summer) and it’s been brilliant working with him. Do check him out if you haven’t already, he’s a treat for your ears.

The split EP features us covering two of each other’s songs, and is available either on tour or online now. All orders come with a signed poster too. 

If you head to lukeandjose.com you can also get involved in our remix competition and buy tickets for the shows. The tour dates are on the poster below, hopefully see you at a gig!

I should also add that the wonderful Marcel Legane is joining me on guitar and vocals for the UK dates. He is an outstanding musician in his own right, check out his songs – you won’t regret it!

DOWNLOAD JOSE & LUKE’S FREE SINGLE - A COVER OF BON IVER’S ‘BLINDSIDED’ 

The aforementioned split EP is preceded by a free single of our cover of Bon Iver’s ‘Blindsided’. You can download the free single here and watch the music video by clicking on the picture below. The video was filmed by the marvellous guys at Decode Film alongside Tower Bridge on the night of the London riots. Luckily no one looted our piano…

NEW T-SHIRTS!

I have just made some new limited-edition t-shirts (only 50 of each design!). They are designed by the amazing Matt Withers and are available to buy now in my online shop and also on tour. 

They are £10 each – this is a slightly higher price than usual because they are Fairtrade shirts, which are made from 50% organic cotton and 50% recycled plastic bottles. They are therefore super soft, high quality and a great fit, but most importantly, ensure that our planet and its people are not being exploited. Carbon neutral t-shirts FTW! Check out Get A Grip for all your printing needs. 

The ’100 Things’ t-shirt below is a lyrical reference to my song ‘Man On Wire’. I asked the lovely people on my Facebook and Twitter what they would like to achieve by the age of 67. I got hundreds of brilliant responses and have lovingly compiled my favourite 100 to make this t-shirt. Thanks so much for everyone’s entries, may you all achieve your dreams! Mine is to build up triceps like Michelle Obama… have you SEEN her arms? Not a bingo wing in sight. 

AND FINALLY…

I recently did a session on Camden Roundhouse Radio with the lovely people from Backtracking. You can hear me sing a few songs and have a chat about Kate Bush, saxophones and songwriting here.

A few things I’m loving at the moment are Aravind Adiga’s latest novel Last Man In Tower, these brilliantly outlandish Dr Martens boots and this song by Gotye and Kimbra. Mmmm.

As ever, send me an email at jose@josevanders.com if you have any questions, booking inquiries, or just want to say hello – it’d be lovely to hear from you.

Have a super weekend, and hopefully see you at a show soon!

Lots of love Jose XX

The Luke Leighfield/Jose Vanders Split EP (featuring covers of each other’s songs) is out on 19.09.11 – pre-order now at http://gotgotneed.bigcartel.com.

LUKE LEIGHFIELD & JOSE VANDERS CO-HEADLINE UK/EU TOUR:

20.09 – Bloc – Glasgow
21.09 – The Westgarth Social Club – Middlesbrough
22.09 – The Well – Leeds
23.09 – The Music Cafe – Leicester
24.09 – Escobar – Wakefield
25.09 – Undertone – Cardiff
26.09 – Joiners – Southampton
27.09 – Borderline – London
28.09 – Esquires – Bedford
29.09 – Cavern – Exeter
30.09 – The Zero Lounge – Penzance
–
03.10 – Cafe Video – Gent, BE
04.10 – House Show – Cologne, DE
05.10 – La Parenthese – Nyon, SW
06.10 – Zwoelfzehn – Stuttgart, DE
07.10 – Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
08.10 – Hafen 2 – Offenbach, DE
09.10 – Fachwerk Gievenbeck – Munster, DE
10.10 – White Trash Fastfood – Berlin, DE *
11.10 – Brause – Dusseldorf, DE *
12.10 – Galerie City Art – Solingen, DE *
* = no Jose Vanders

Watch the Recording Diary (Day One) here !

Jose has been asked to compose and perform live an original soundtrack to a production ofMick Gordon’s ‘On Love’. It will be performed 16th-19th June at MR5C at the Bristol University Students’ Union. Details about the play below:

‘A life without love is not fully lived’

On Love is the product of Mick Gordon’s (Artistic Director of On Theatre Company) desire to interrogate two different kinds of love – the ‘gut-wrenching, all-consuming, adrenalin-spurting dis-ease’ and ‘responsible, simple, compassionate love’. The play explores the experiences of 24 characters in a series of interlinked monologues and duologues; the love of a father-to-be for his unborn child, a man’s inexplicable attraction to a 9 year old girl, a young woman’s discovery of love just as death stares her in the face… What defines this from any other love story is that each word is truth – an interwoven tale of love in the 21st century using simply verbatim transcript: the product of a series of interviews with people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds.

Mick Gordon’s intention was to approach this, as he does with all plays associated with On Theatre, as a Theatre Essay formed to address the philosophical question ‘How Does Love Work?’.

“An exhilarating account of love in its many guises. A collection of love stories gathered from friends and strangers, moulded together into an adventure playground of the heart.”

Luke and Jose will be releasing a split EP in September, with each of them reinterpreting two of each other’s songs. Luke and Jose will then be celebrating the release of the split EP by touring the UK and Europe together for a couple of weeks.

Promoters who are interested in booking a date on the tour should email luke@gotgotneedrecords.com. The provisional tour plan is:

Sep 23 – Oct 2: UK

Oct 3 – Oct 10: Europe

More news soon!