Step into a world where history and art intertwine

Inspired by the laundry billowing from Portuguese balconies, I was thrilled to realise a long-held dream - to create my first public art installation in Portugal. A celebration of the women of the world: mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and daughters.

Raising A Nation ran for a full month at the Malaica Social Art Club in Caldas da Rainha, a UNESCO City of Culture. The process took me deep-diving down some fascinating rabbit holes.

The Ritual of the Everyday

The installation reimagines the daily ritual of hanging washing as a profound act of love and a symbol of care. It transforms a simple domestic task into a testament to the tireless work that builds families and fuels communities—including those whose love now lives only in the wind and memory.

The Alchemy of Creation

Women carry the ancestral power of creation: the gift of growing life, the threshold of birth, and the alchemy of breast milk—the first food of a nation. This is more than sustenance; it is a child’s first connection to the village, a biological transmission of strength, immunity, and love.

To celebrate the female breast and the gift of milk, I created a giant boob out of papier-mâché—a labour of love that took three weeks to complete.

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A journey of sight and sound

Through striking portraits of real women, personal legacies are interwoven with the timeless wisdom of folklore and the traditions they’ve carried forward.

Raising A Nation is an immersive journey—an invitation to connect with the unyielding spirit of the women who shape, feed and fuel a nation.

Language & Lavadouros

Who would have thought there was such a deep connection to washing…

Mexericar - to gossip / to meddle.

Mexeriqueira - a gossip: the term mexerico (gossip) is deeply tied to the “mixing” and “stirring” movements of communal work, like washing or sorting grains. It describes the way a story is “rubbed” and “twisted” until it changes, much like the clothes on the granite.

O Ciclo do Mexerico: the Gossip Cycle, instead of the Wash Cycle: just as the women “stirred” the water and “rubbed” the clothes, they “stirred” the news of the town.

Visit my website to find out more about the inventions that liberated women, the history of public wash houses (lavadouros), the Right To Dry Movement and how AI is affecting our lives - it’s been a truly fascinating discovery.

Read the full story on my website

Make My Fucking Milk

This is the fifth instalment in the White Fire series of poems. I wrote this about breastfeeding as part of the installation. To read others, click the red button below.

Click here to see them all

make my fucking milk

sorry i haven’t seen 
the latest coolest film
cos i’ve been intently busy
trying to make you milk

trying to get my tits working 
human cow - I am your mother  
trying to make you milk

suck on me ‘cos you’re my baby
I will make you milk
just suck
suck 
suck on me
I will make you milk 

suck hard
deliberately 
suck hard on my human teet

suck, suck 
suck me hard
I will make you milk 

suck, suck, suck, me hard 
suck me hard but gently 
suck, suck, create demand 
don’t clamp your gums too tightly 

if you don’t suck 
suck me hard 

I can't 
make 
you 
milk

Inspired by and dedicated to my daughter, Sarah Hicks-Campbell

Listen

Words and voice by Suzy Starlite. Recorded by Simon Campbell and fucked up by the wonderful Filipe Chagas at the Supertone SonicLab. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2026.

It feels a bit surreal writing this note to you with the news that this year I will be releasing my first solo album.

My husband and musical collaborator gave a tantalising glimpse behind the music in our New Year’s article a couple of months ago. You can read it again by clicking the read button below.

Read the backstory

// 1966

Why a solo album, you may ask? It’s all my own work, lyrics and music, plus I’m singing, playing bass, keyboards and acoustic guitar—so it makes perfect sense.

The songs come from a deeply personal place, written when I had lost a sense of myself, in a place I didn’t want to be, struggling on my own with aching self-doubt.

I’m an incredibly private person and from time to time, whether it is chemical or planetary, suffer from debilitating waves of imposter syndrome and sub-zero confidence, where I don’t feel good enough—slowly drowning.

A while back now, I stayed up for a few weeks with my acoustic guitar, a bottle of Jack Daniels and Diet Coke and wrote by candlelight through the night. I was restless, felt like I had lost myself and needed to find my voice and the music inside me.

Drifting, embracing solitude, humming melodies, thinking of nothing, waiting patiently to find a glimpse of my soul. It took a few days until the music started to flow; sometimes I sobbed, sometimes I wrote with angry defiance, other times with gentle wonder.

// Year of the Fire Horse

That journey to find my voice led me back to my roots, and to the symbol that has always defined my spirit: I am a Fire Horse, born on 8th July, 1966.

With its roots in the ancient lunar calendar tradition, the Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle in which each year is represented by an animal sign: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig - attributing certain personality traits to various birth years.

Add to this the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and rotate—creating a 60-year cycle. Each element is believed to influence one’s traits and destiny.

For me, Fire is the element of transformation—the heat that burns away self-doubt to reveal the spirit beneath.

The Fire Horse is a rare, high-energy year. The Horse is a “yang” energy: dynamic, vital, bold. It’s an animal that symbolises strength, freedom, forward motion, courage and power. These characteristics are amplified by Fire, a flamboyant element that represents boldness, passion and action.

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The fire horse reigns. Artist Patti Smith wrote these words about the year of the Fire Horse:

“A foal breaking from his mother flying across a field as children cry keep growing, keep going. And his hooves were fitted in gold forged by the God of flame, tempered by the embers raced upon. Jump through the blazing hoop was the exalted command, yet he suddenly performed the unexpected. Without hesitation he hurdled high above it. No one saw that coming, not the Ringmaster, nor the farrier, nor the giddy children who followed him through time. Laurels were tossed about his neck, bright ribbons tied to the rings of his saddle, a silver saddle, flung from an inferno, not fashioned by the hands of man. You can do anything, they all cried, as he leapt into the maze of the future, in a ring of fire with his hair aflame.” - Patti Smith

And here is a piece written by Jesse Paris Smith, daughter of Patti.

Jesse Paris Smith

Happy Year of the Fire Horse <3

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! The Year of the Fire Horse is upon us. I hope everyone has been doing well. This transition out of the year of the Wood Snake into the Fire Horse year has been intense and life changing, pushing forward into a brave new era, and I am ready. Are you feeling ready…

Read more

2 months ago · 435 likes · 88 comments · Jesse Paris Smith

// 1966 album preview concert

From thoughts on paper and music from the heart under the late-night glow of candlelight, I am thrilled to announce a very special 1966 solo album preview concert on Saturday, 9th May in the beautiful city of Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. Doors open at 1930.

Along with my four-piece band, I will be performing at the Atelier-Museu António Duarte, bringing these new songs to life in a space that celebrates the same creative fire that forged them.

Since the Atelier-Museu is an intimate setting, it’s going to be a rare, “in the room” experience before the rest of the world hears the record.

Due to the intimate size of the space, tickets for the event are limited; I recommend purchasing them in advance. Click the read button below to find out more and book tickets.

See you there!

Much love

Suzy

Buy tickets

We are incredibly excited to share the first single from our new project, VIBRATIONISTS.

While we’ve always pushed boundaries as Starlite & Campbell, VIBRATIONISTS is born from a different spark. When we meet inspirational musicians, we don’t just want them to play on a track; we want to see where a third influence will take us. It’s about stepping onto a path without knowing the destination—and that experience is priceless.

The debut single, a live reimagining of It Ain’t Right, is a true fusion of energies. Produced by Simon Campbell, the track features a deep collaboration between Simon, Suzy Starlite and Northern Irish bodhrán master Dave Boyd.

The Groove of the Unknown

The philosophy is simple: what happens if you take a song and infuse it with a totally different musical DNA? If you recorded with James Gadson on drums or Thom Yorke on loops, the groove would shift in ways you couldn’t predict. That’s the Vibrationist spirit. By bringing Dave’s unique percussive language into the mix, we’ve created a sound and a feel that is fresh, unexpected, and entirely different from the original version released on our second studio album, The Language of Curiosity.

Recorded Raw

To capture that immediate, unrepeatable spark of inspiration, we recorded the track and video LIVE at the Supertone SonicLab. There are no overdubs—just the sound of three musicians inspiring each other in real-time.

VIBRATIONISTS is a wide-open door. We don’t know what will happen next, and that’s exactly why we’re doing it.

The Video

Recorded live at the Supertone SonicLab, the official video edited by Starlite intercuts live footage with vibrant imagery, building on the visuals of the song’s inherent tension to expand the visual and sonic experience.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

It Ain’t Right - Live is available to buy and stream via Bandcamp and all major streaming services. It’s dedicated to the one and only Hummock Campbell, who left us on January 26, 2026.

Watch, buy and stream

Credits

: vocals, acoustic bass | ​⁠: guitars, backing vocals.

Featuring ​⁠Dave Boyd: Bodhrán, loops, keyboards.

Production and engineering: Simon Campbell | Assistant producer/engineer: Suzy Starlite | Music and lyrics: Suzy Starlite & Simon Campbell | Recorded live at the Supertone SonicLab, Foz do Arelho, Portugal | Mastering: Jon Astley, Close to the Edge Mastering, London, England | Photography: Rosivan Morais | Video created, directed and edited: Suzy Starlite | Live direction: Dave Boyd | Live footage shot by Raivis & Veronika Struncens at the Supertone SonicLab, Foz do Arelho, Portugal.

ISRC: GB-D5C-25-00001

℗© 2025 Supertone Records, London, England

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Hello everyone!

We are always keen to make sure you are getting the best experience possible when you’re hanging out with us online. Honestly, keeping on top of everything is tricky, but with it being a brand-new year, we thought it was high time for a bit of a spruce-up.

We have taken a good look at the bits you use most often and added a healthy dose of pizzazz to the whole design. We are chuffed with how it’s looking!

Fancy a peek? Just hit the red button below to see what’s new:

Check out the new design!

// All the tunes in one place

We have given the music page a proper overhaul and wanted to make things as easy as possible, so we’ve embedded our entire discography directly from Bandcamp. This means you can hit play and stream every album and single right there on the site—no hopping around required!

While you’re there, you’ll also find:

• Spotify Discography: Links to our profile on all the major free streaming sites, plus a curated discography of all our music currently streamed on Spotify

• The Merch Stand: Direct links to our shop if you fancy picking up a fresh t-shirt or a vinyl record.

• Digital Collection: Easy links to buy our work on Bandcamp if you want to own the high-res files.

• The Big Screen: We’ve tucked in all our YouTube music videos so you can have a watch while you listen.

It’s all there waiting for you — let us know what you think!

Have a wander through the collection

// Newsletter vs VIBES

We’ve got two different ways for you to stay in the loop, depending on what you’re after. It’s entirely up to you whether you fancy one, both, or neither!

• VIBES: This is the publication you’re reading right now. It’s where we share our latest musings on life, culture, and the geeky side of music tech and art. You’ll also get the odd podcast landing in your inbox whenever we have discovered a new artist to share with you

• The NEWSLETTER: This is the one to join if you want the ‘need to know’ bits. We’ll send you occasional updates on our latest news, merch drops, and tour dates. Plus, as a little thank you for signing up, we’ll send you a free song every day for four days!

Join our newsletter

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// Projects

If you’re a regular here at VIBES, you will know we have a few irons in the fire, and these are now featured in the projects tab of our website. At the moment, we’re busy juggling two rather exciting side projects:

• Vibrationists: This is our collaborative playground with some truly brilliant musicians. We’re actually deep in the middle of writing and recording some new bits for this right now—stay tuned!

• Starlite.One: Our home for all things mixed media. Speaking of which, Suzy has a brand-new art installation popping up next week under the Starlite.One banner. It all kicks off on February 7th at the Malaica Social Art Club in Caldas da Rainha and will be there for a month.

Space is a bit tight, so numbers are limited. The tickets are completely free, but you’ll need to bag one in advance to make sure you get in. It’s going to be a cracking night!

Reserve your place!

And finally…

Thanks for continuing to support us, and we wish you all safe passage through the turbulent waters of 2026.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

This article is dedicated to our wonderful Hummock, the oracle, who yesterday moved on to the next plane.

To read other poems in the series, click the red button below.

Click here to see them all

I could live in your house

If you die before me
I could live in your house.
I could keep it warm
when you move out.  

I could put the kettle on
the inimitable AGA
for random people
who might just stop by 
to celebrate you; 
a memory,
a moment, 
maybe even a laugh,
perhaps even a cry,
maybe even a dance
at the end of the night. 

I’d just stay home
and doss around; 
no need to spend money
when you’re not in town. 

If I ever wanted to live in your house,
I’d sit on the front step
hungry,
like a mouse
watching the wandering walkers stomp by
on their way to the swing bridge, 
’cross the River Wye
just to say
”Alright?”

I’d listen out for voices
carried in the air,
and close my eyes
and imagine you were there
with your half of cider
and my roly cigarette;
the only time
we'd usually connect.

Sat there in silence
that’s never really there.
There’s always a sound, 
a frequency we share.

I could prune your roses
even trim the hedge,
keep a tin of condensed milk
on the larder ledge. 

I could play your music
as well as my own
extremely loud;
like The Twilight Zone. 

There’d be no looking back
and no standing still. 
But there’d be logs on the fire
and the smell of time suspended. 

Cracked carbolic soap resting by the sink,
I’d raise a glass to you with my favourite drink

Petrol on

Switches off

Suck in

Contact

Chocks away…

Listen

Words and voice by Suzy Starlite. Recorded by Simon Campbell at the Supertone SonicLab. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2025.

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This is the third in the White Fire Series of poems. To read more, click the red button below.

Click here to see them all

chips

chips are very social 
you can share them in a room

but only if I offer
it’s not your place to presume 
that i'd even want to proffer
as i could be very hungry
when you reach across and steal a chip 
that makes me rather grumpy

in fact i’m kind of pissed off 
'cos your taking my food
and it puts me in a darkened state 
an extremely bad mood

wondering if i’m selfish
or if i'm making a fuss
about something over nothing
but my prerogative I trust

it may be easy pickings
my potato delights
that come in bite sized pieces 
mighty carbohydrate prize

but didnt give my permission
and i’ll defend my nutrition
with your thoughtless selfish bully tactic 
sycophantic prophylactic

you’re acting like a seagull
with intended robbery 
your satanic eyes
feathered disguise
swooping in 
opportunist sin
you steal from me
and my children

it's true and you know it
and you don't bloody care 
cos you're an evil seagull
hanging in the air
waiting for that moment
when you crap on my head
steal my chips
and fly away
before you go to bed 

it’s my secret ambition 
that you get a blinkin' shock 
next time your hand - reaches out
I'll stab you with my fork   

you didn’t ask 
and i’d say no
so don’t ask
don't say "please"
'cos my food is exactly mine
and doesn't come for free

afterall, 
in the beginning
and at the end 
it’s 
MY 
precious
food.

Listen

Words and voice by Suzy Starlite. Recorded by Simon Campbell at the Supertone SonicLab. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2025.

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Greetings!

As the world inexorably plunges into 2026, we wanted to update you on our journey since June and share our plans for 2026.

It has been six months of intense contrast. We have been working tirelessly on exciting new projects while navigating a serious personal crisis that has challenged our creative output.

To our free and paid subscribers: thank you. Your presence here truly means the world to us.

Currently, we are pouring our energy into new work that is still in development. Because many of our projects—particularly Starlite’s art installations—are created purely out of passion and are entirely non-profit, your support here is what makes this work possible.

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Out and about.

I know, I know, the British are obsessed with the weather and for a very good reason, especially as a Mancunian. There, it’s either raining or about to start…

So, on to the weather.

During August, the weather was uncharacteristically poor, but apart from the occasional day, the rest of the summer was fantastic, and we enjoyed every moment. Starlite and I moved to Foz do Arelho just over a year ago, and November and December were exceptional, with dry, sunny weather. However, this year we have had a lot of rain.

Fucking tourists

We live in a town which borders the Lagoa da Óbidos and the Oceano Atlântico, which during August seems to attract every person from the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Europe. It’s chaos, but wonderful to see, mainly Portuguese families, enjoying nature at its finest.

Squoofers

Hummock is now 14 1/2, has a little dementia, and her back legs are not great, so every morning we take her, with Bob, Edith and Françoise—for those who are reading our missives for the first time, these are our four Labradors, aka hounds of rock, the girls, squoofers—for some hydrotherapy. I carry her the 40m from the van to the lagoon, and albeit with an awkward gait, she walks back unassisted…

During June-September, animals are not allowed on the beach, and although they don’t identify as dogs, many seem to think we are breaking the rules. Not the Portuguese, but the fucking Northern European tourists.

The lifeguard and beach goers start arriving at 0900, and by then, we are long gone.

Every morning, we see the same council workers, Paulo, who blows the sand off the walkway and the lady who empties the multitude of bins along the road adjacent to the lagoon and ocean. They welcome us. We now see Paulo in our local haunt, Cafe Central. We wave, and he waves back, a common courtesy to acknowledge his dedication and service to the community.

We see a lovely Portuguese couple every morning at 0800, who set up their windbreak ready for the day. They wave, say hello and greet us with a smile and a Bom Dia—no sweat. We pick up any plastic rubbish we see and deposits that the girls make, leaving with no trace except happy hounds, our memories and a little sand on our feet.

One day, there was a group of Germans/Dutch setting up at 0800. The male 50+ group leader, sporting a bucket hat, socks and sandals, shouted at us, with some aggression, saying dogs are not allowed on the beach.

I informed him that we live here and they are not dogs. Bob farted, and we carried on.

We trouble no one. Rules can always be interpreted selectively. Hummock is far more important to us…

Here’s a video from when our great drummer, Steve Gibson, who is based in the UK, was with us recording for a week.

Visitors.

As we haven’t been back to our home country for a few years now, it’s great to see family and friends from the UK. However, since we work from home, we try to restrict the numbers, otherwise we wouldn’t get anything done: everyone wants a holiday in the sun.

Rhonda & Jeff Beohlert

This wonderful couple hail from the USA, where a number of years ago they sold everything they owned and upped sticks to Portugal. They are enjoying life touring the world, dog-sitting, running marathons and hanging out at music festivals. Cool ehh…

We first ‘virtually’ met them whilst presenting our livestreams during the pandemic. They tuned in every week and became staunch supporters of the band and our music. We met in person at a wine convention in Lisboa, as Jeff wanted to give us some rare, vintage vinyl which they had recovered from their move.

They came over from Figuera da Foz to watch us play a gig and spent a couple of great nights with us, which overlapped with the visit of our youngest son, Joe, his wife Christina and our grandchildren, Emma and the newly born Finn.

Great times.

They also wrote a guest article for us about their favourite 10 tracks. Check it out.

Pauline & Jez (aka the king of eyewear) Levy

I have known Pauline and Jez for many years, was the joint best man at their wedding, and have seen their kids grow up. As I don’t have a biological brother, he is the closest thing.

Pauline works for Apple, and Jez owns an optician’s, EYES on St. Albans, which, bizarrely enough, is in the historic city of St. Albans.

It’s a treasure trove of optical excellence with customer service to die for, and where Suzy and I have our eye exams and buy all our eyewear. We are massive fans, but it’s not just us; he currently has 526 five-star reviews and counting.

We donated a guitar and also recorded a radio jingle to promote the store.

Spex, hugs and Rock ‘n Roll.

Rock ‘n Roll

We had many wonderful moments, and the day before they left, we threw a party…

The party

Since being in the Foz, we have met loads of people, mostly musicians and artists. We have never hosted a large party before in our home, and thought this would be a perfect location in which to do it.

There was a lot of planning, and it all came together magically on the day with the help of Pauline & Jez, Rhonda & Jeff and a host of Elves who arrived on the day—well, it is that season after all.

It was a musical event with an open stage and a lot of open hearts.

Shaz Bridgens & Mark Cleator

I first met Mark around 2008 when I moved to the Isle of Man. He is a great live/studio sound engineer operating the best recording facility on the Island, Red Lyon Studios.

In 2013, we collaborated on an Electronica project Electrolite, which we love dearly, so much so that I spun in my future wife to our wedding ceremony to the sound of Take Me Now.

Over the years, we have become firm friends, and along with his new partner Shaz they visited us in our old house in Samora Correia and again this year. Shaz is a great singer and front person: together they have a band called Shark.

Mark is a talented multi-instrumentalist and is about to release his latest album—The Listening Device—with another multi-instrumentalist (they are everywhere), James Craig, under the moniker of Cleator Craig. I have heard the final master, and it’s very good.

Whilst he was over, he contributed some crazy Moog Matriarch magic to Stiff, a new track we are currently working on as part of the upcoming VIBRATIONISTS album, which I discuss later in this article.

Jo Somerset & Liz Clarke

Suzy has known this wonderful couple for many years. I first met Liz when she came to stay with us—or rather in her Camper Van—whilst in Samora Correia. We celebrated Liz’s birthday in Lisboa the year after, and this year they came to stay.

Liz, now retired, was a very successful business person in Manchester with her wife Jo, who is also an author with a new children’s book out right now - Mission: Find Mum - which has attracted wide critical acclaim.

Our work.

VIBES

With all the stress we have been under, our written output has been severely restricted, but now we are firmly back in the saddle and publishing regularly.

I am really proud of as she is writing poetry like a demon, recently releasing the White Fire series, which contains a spoken word recording.

Coincidentally, ‘White Fire’ was also the name of my first band, which Starlite hadn’t connected until afterwards…

“White Fire isn't a standard dictionary term, but it usually refers to extremely hot fire (white-hot), early-stage fire producing white smoke, or metaphorically, intense passion/purity. It might also imply something exceptionally powerful or divine.”

Here is the first poem:

‘Raising a Nation’

Starlite has always made artwork, most recently the collage for our latest studio album, Starlite.One, along with DIY Pharma, Klangers and Stayin’ Alive.

On January 14th, [now February 7th due to an administrative cock up] she is presenting her very first art installation, Raising A Nation, at the very cool Malaica Social Club in Caldas da Rainha. Admission is free.

Raising a Nation is a multi-sensory installation dedicated to the matriarchs who define our history.

Inspired by the laundry billowing from Portuguese balconies, this exhibition reimagines the daily ritual of hanging washing as a profound symbol of care. It transforms a simple domestic act into a testament to the tireless love and grit that built families and fueled communities.

Through striking portraits of real women, the installation weaves personal legacies with the timeless wisdom of folklore and the traditions they’ve carried forward. Raising a Nation is an immersive journey of sight, sound, and the comforting aromas of traditional cooking—an invitation to connect with the unyielding spirit of the women who shaped a nation.

Reserve tickets for the opening night

Releases

Our last progress report revealed a few of our new projects, which, now that the studio is fully operational, have started to develop in earnest. Some, which we didn’t even consider back in June, are hugely exciting:

Ramblin’ On My Mind

In December, we released our homage to the roots of most contemporary music.

The track was originally recorded in Germany to be part of a tribute album to Robert Johnson, arguably the father of the blues.

The album hasn’t materialised, and as we loved it so much, we decided to release it as a single with a music video which chronicles our ‘Blues Pilgrimage’ across the American South in 2022.

The video documents our road trip to Memphis, Tupelo, Clarkesdale, Muscle Shoals and Nashville, which included playing at Ground Zero Blues Club, a live session on Radio Memphis, attending the Blues Awards and visiting a load of legendary recording studios, plus all the wonderful people we met along the way.

Enjoy…

It Ain’t Right

VIBRATIONISTS started as a project to reinterpret our Starlite & Campbell material in a totally new way. It Ain’t Right developed into something quite different to the original release, which appeared on our second studio album, The Language Of Curiosity.

The track and accompanying video—created and edited by Suzy (yes, she has been very busy)—is set for release on February 6, 2026 and will be available on Bandcamp, YouTube and all streaming platforms.

New music

VIBRATIONISTS | the album

We love the idea of collaboration, and this new project will be all about working with other artists. As mentioned earlier, our first is with Mark Cleator, and it’s going to be pretty eclectic, as our second is with sound designer and all-around cool guy, Filipe Chegas.

Acoustic album

Since Starlite and I got together, we have been writing acoustic-based music, which, apart from It Started Raining, has not seen the light of day. The music is based around guitars, bass and piano—with drums, percussion and a few synthesisers thrown in for good measure. It’s fun…

If you want to get an idea of where we are going with this, take a listen to:

Electric album

Again, we have a buildup of material which hasn’t yet found its place.

I wrote the riff for Saturday when in France and distinctly remember jumping out of bed, naked, and grabbing my Gibson ES335-12. It was early in our relationship, and Starlite was somewhat startled, not being used to the lack of modesty. She is now…

We recorded the track at the Chairworks studio in Castleford when tracking my second solo album The Knife back in 2013 with Keith Angel on drums and Andy Seward on bass, but replaced the drums (Steve Gibson) and bass (Starlite) when in Germany. The verse was never quite right; we recently fixed it, and it’s now ready to record.

This will be an indie rock-based guitar record. Thunderous bass, powerful drums and layered guitars. Think Suede, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Smiths, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, with a side salad of Led Zeppelin.

Gigs

With all the disruption, we really haven’t focused on live concerts, but that’s likely to change in the new year. As there is a lot of new material in the pipeline, we have plans, and of course, when we know, you will know.

We do have one gig booked for May 2nd at Atelier Museum António Duarte, Caldas Da Rainha, a fantastic and atmospheric venue.

Recording.

Rick Gonzalez

Rick came to us to record four of his songs. He was a full-time musician for many years in Arizona and has a long history of writing and performing his original music, and now lives very close to us in Óbidos with his lovely wife Terri. He sings beautifully, plays bass, guitar and produced/arranged this record.

Recently, we were honoured to be invited to their ring blessing ceremony. Cool and lovely people.

And more…

Since March, we have had a stream of clients from around the area. Meet artist, Fredi V; multi-instrumentalist Joe Mac; songwriter, Oz da Foz and multi-instrumentalist, Steve Taylor.

Production.

Whilst Suzy has been creating art, I have been very busy playing, arranging, recording and producing all this fucking music.

Of course, I have also had to get my guitar chops up to do justice to the pile of material we have started, particularly Trent’s, as being outlaw country requires Albert Lee/Chet Atkins style speed and dexterity—a big ask, but I will do my level best to rock the shit out of those Telecasters and my Gretsch G6120-1960.

STARLITE

Suzy and I first met on the Isle of Man. A meeting was arranged following a call from one of the Island’s top concert promoters, Lenny Conroy, who told me a woman was living in a wooden shack by the sea, with an unusual name and writing great songs. How could I resist?

It was a purely artistic rendezvous, as I was married at the time and Starlite was in a relationship. To cut a long story short, having heard the superb material, I asked her if she had thought of getting a band together to perform and record her music.

Being from the folk-rock world, she had never worked with a drummer, and on broaching the subject, I encountered some resistance—and if you know Starlite, that is diamond hard, and she didn’t speak to me for three weeks—but finally acquiesced, and we found ourselves in my studio—the Gay Bar, a name inspired by the mighty Electric Six—rehearsing and recording.

I was her electric guitarist, occasional bass player and producer, our friend Gypo Buggane was engineering, and Val Nelson accompanied us on bass—yes, this is before Starlite had even picked up a bass—Noah Egelnick on drums, plus myself and Mark Cleator on synthesisers. Starlite was playing acoustic guitar and singing.

We created six demos, and, being the perfectionist that I am, thought the recordings were not commensurate with the quality of the material and Starlite’s voice, so we shelved the project—until now.

Listening back, these songs were the soundtrack to our fledgling romance. We have revisited the demos and are now recording & producing them to the standard they most rightfully deserve. Naturally, Starlite is playing bass on the tracks, sometimes with a pick, which has encountered some resistance (see previous quote)—and I am back being the jobbing guitar player, engineer and co-producer. Fucking wonderful…

Trent Chapa

It’s been several years since I produced a record for someone other than ourselves: it takes a great artist to inspire us to take on such a time-consuming task.

I met Trent in a little bar in Caldas, and we jammed together. He had his songs together, and I held on to the chords the best I could. Later, it dawned on me that the songs were great, memorable, and he had a unique voice.

Hailing from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, he worked as a professional musician for many years, first in a metal band and then as the bass player in a country outfit where he toured extensively. Trent has struggled with addiction, and his lyrics reflect this: authentic, brutal and honest. He is the real deal.

This is a short lyric extract from Give Me Some More.

There’s a fire over Yoakum and I’m pissin’ on the floor
In a run down hotel room, that I did not pay for
God I’m feeling nauseous, lean me against the door
Well life is how I like it, at least awhile more
You tell me that you love me, well I'm just makin’ sure
Oh I’m sweatin’, achin’, spirit breakin’
Give me some more

Many international artists try to sing ‘Americana’, but in my not-so-humble opinion, authenticity can only be derived by living and breathing the music and culture from birth.

He will be the first external artist we have released on our Supertone label, which is a testament to the quality of the artist and material. Both Suzy and I are playing on the record, plus our favourite drummers, Steve Gibson and Hugo Danin, along with a few choice session players.

We are releasing his first single in February 2026. And, don’t bother to look for him on social media—he is not there, yet…

And finally, thanks for buying us a pint or three

We have sincerely appreciated so many of you Buying us a pint! It’s a way of making one-off tips to support our work via the website whilst applying some Northern sense of humour that makes donating a little bit more fun. Timothy Taylor is our favourite English bitter.

Wherever you are in the world, we wish you health, mental clarity and peace, when the world as we know it has changed forever. It’s up to us to keep hold of our humanity, community, friends and family - let’s make 2026 the year we celebrate each other in person and have some great times!

Much love and see you on the other side…

This is the second in the White Fire Series of poems. To read more, click the red button below.

Read the White Fire series

I once wore a mask

I once wore a mask
hell, most of the time
saying "all’s ok"
and "everything is fine"

set the fork to the left
and knife to the right
hold the glass by the stem
keep my words airtight
when just below the surface
I was breaking apart
trying not scream
with a muffle on my heart

I once wore a mask
a shock and a fright,
the black stench of war
twice in one night
the siren had sounded
and told to vacate
to not take the lift
to the fifth floor escape

I remembered to pick up
the box with the strap
that contained a syringe
a survival map
if the warhead was loaded with
chemicals to kill
they gave me a needle
- not even a pill
when they gave us the word
had to puncture my skin
and inject my vein
with some anti-pathogen
of unknown origins
and unknown name

the mask made of rubber
stretched tight on my face
it muted my mouth
metal filter in place
to cleanse the air
of all infection
speaking with eyes
my only connection
the radio babbled hysterically
I hadn’t a clue what to believe
didn’t know the language
like a foreign band
singing with passion
but I didn’t understand
one word they said
not
one
single
word

(all I knew
was how to say
"shut up you worm"
... that’s my mistake)

in a room on the fifth floor full of strangers
and a baby on the carpet in a plastic tent,
wet towels ‘round the door,
sat awkwardly,
thoughts of my life flashing towards the end

listen out for the sound of danger
flying bombs in the midnight sky
was this the end of my adventure
not the way to say goodbye
blown up
smashed up
trapped inside
a broken building
but what would they find
what would they find
would they find me
in time
if,
against my will
I had to meet death
on some unknown hill

Listen

Words and voice by Suzy Starlite. Recorded by Simon Campbell at the Supertone SonicLab. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2025.

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Ramblin’ On My Mind is the powerful new blues-rock single from Starlite & Campbell, paying homage to Robert Johnson. The song was originally recorded in Germany to be part of a tribute album to arguably, the father of the blues. They loved it so much, they decided to release it as a single.

The story

Robert Johnson’s original 1930s recording of Ramblin’ On My Mind speaks to the universal human impulse to escape, seek self-discovery, and hit the road. This theme deeply resonated with us, making the track feel as relevant today as it was nearly a century ago.

Everyone, at some point, has felt the itch to escape... that feeling of having ‘ramblin’ on your mind’ is a fundamental part of the human experience. | Simon Campbell

The video: a blues pilgrimage

The music video chronicles the couple’s ‘Blues Pilgrimage’ across the American South. It’s more than a performance—it’s a visual representation of their ‘ramblin’, featuring incredible, intimate moments like: Playing live at the iconic Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale | Behind-the-scenes tours of Sun Records, FAME Recording Studio, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, plus Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley’s childhood home. | Playing a live session on Radio Memphis

The official music video chronicles their incredible Blues Pilgrimage from Memphis and Clarksdale, to Muscle Shoals, Tupelo and Nashville.

It also includes footage of Simon in full producer mode, recording Johnny Henderson’s Hammond organ part at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales, plus additional recent footage celebrating the origins of the band Mott The Hoople in Starlite’s hometown of Ross-on-Wye with her family, Nick Stephens and Jane Watts.

We believe this track offers a powerful blend of blues history and contemporary analogue rock production.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

Ramblin’ On My Mind is available to buy and stream via Bandcamp and all major streaming services. It’s dedicated to the one and only Nick Stephens. He loved music, especially guitars.

Watch, buy & stream

Credits

: bass guitar | : guitars & vocals.

Featuring: Steve Gibson: drums | Jonny Henderson: Hammond organ

Production and mixing: Simon Campbell | Assistant producer: Suzy Starlite | Recorded and mixed at Supertone Records Studio in Thören, Germany and Samora Correia, Portugal | Additional Recording at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales | Mastering: Jon Astley, Close to the Edge Mastering, London, England | Video creation and editing: Suzy Starlite | Words and music: Robert Johnson

℗© 2025 Supertone Records, London, England

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Like an erupting volcano, a torrent of thoughts and words has compelled me to write these past few weeks. While I am primarily a songwriter, my relationship with poetry dates back to when my years were in single digits. Sometimes, it is the music of the spoken word that best expresses the most potent themes.

The resulting work is a fierce exploration of perspectives spanning the entire human experience:

• A sense of community through music

• Family and a sense of closeness

• Disappointment, betrayal and broken friendships

• Personal connection, and the ache of loneliness

• The complexities of money, having affluent parents, and the isolation of having no one

• Cultural quirks

• The temporary nature of happiness

• The value of curiosity

The series begins with skin, a contemplation of our most vital canvas, and just how important it is to simply have some.

At the foot of this article, you will find an audio file where I present skin as spoken word.

To view the series, click the red button below.

Read the White Fire series

skin

you’re so soft and smooth
a universal protection
you cover my soul
in this earthling suit

you hold me together
keep everything in place
you help me breathe
and let the toxins escape

you come in different colours 
a celebratory affair
no need to keep it boring
with only one to compare 

sometimes you’re rather hairy 
and with the passing of time 
you start to fall apart 
producing wrinkles and lines 

like the circles in trees
reveal you’ve stories to tell
you can moisturise your memories 
or cut with plastic hell

big bum
big boobs
big lips
face 
lift

you’re my biggest organ 
and my greatest protection
i’m growing old gracefully
with no intervention

you’re my biggest defender
my greatest affection
i’m growing old gracefully
i’m not a pretender

Listen

Words and voice by Suzy Starlite. Recorded by Simon Campbell at the Supertone SonicLab. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2025.

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We're thrilled to announce our new band and upcoming album, VIBRATIONISTS.

After three diverse Starlite & Campbell studio albums, we felt the time was right to record an acoustic-based album—something we’ve wanted to do for years.

We’ve already written four songs for the album, some you may have heard during our live streams or duo sets. One of our favourites, It Started Raining, was released as a single way back in 2016—shit, that was almost ten years ago, can you believe it?!

// Get rhythm

We were considering rhythm section collaborators for our new album when we received a serendipitous message from , on the recommendation of our mutual friends and supporters and .

Naturally, we looked him up and arranged a lunch meeting at our favourite regular haunt, Café Central in our home town of Foz do Arelho.

Our shared life feels like an endless corridor lined with doors, each representing a chance encounter or decision. We choose a door and open it, and if we like what's behind it, we step through and spend some time in that place. Inside, we always find another door, which if you choose to walk through, leads to a new corridor and again more doors and more choices. Welcome to our world…

Suzy & Simon

/// Pissing in the park

Musicians can be a bit like dogs when they first meet. There might be a certain amount of speculative sniffing, low growling and the option of a nip on the scruff of the neck to demonstrate dominance, or there can be a joyful dash around the park together, taking turns to piss on everything. It can go either way, but suffice to say, when we met Dave, there was no growling and plenty of pissing.

“One of the things I value deeply in musical collaborations is authenticity. Music is a notoriously tough career choice, and to survive for as long as we all have in the industry involves the tricky balancing act of maintaining enthusiasm, practice, and a kind of critically honed weather eye for bullshit, of which there is a vast amount.

To find folks living just down the road in rural Portugal who do what they say they will do, stick to their artistic guns, write great songs, and groove like fiends, was something of a miracle.”

Dave Boyd

/// The Bodhrán

We decided to get together in the studio the following week and see how we got on musically.

Dave is a master of the Bodhrán (pronounced ‘bow-rawn’), the traditional Irish frame drum, and arrived at the studio with an eclectic selection of these wonderful instruments, plus other drums and lots of other strange-looking things that went, bonk, boom, shick-a-schick and ping.

While frame drums are ancient and widespread globally, Dave has developed his own unique style, utilising delays and digital effects to create impressive sonic landscapes —as we call it —‘fucking up’ the sound—making it far more interesting, especially for us.

This is a short video he sent us early on in our musical relationship—it's truly cool.

What we didn't realise at the time is that Dave also plays a vast array of percussive instruments, fabulous piano, synthesisers, sings backing harmony vocals, and is a wizard at programming, video editing, multimedia design, and arranging. Great!!

Seriously, check him out.

// We don’t do bands

Being in a band can be incredibly rewarding and creatively stimulating, or it can be a huge pain in the arse. Just look at the end stages of groups like The Police, The Beatles, and The Eagles – even they couldn't stand to be in the studio together.

Since the mid-90s, we’ve primarily worked with session musicians. While this approach has its own challenges, it's generally a lot less stressful, and we've continued this modus operandi with Starlite & Campbell.

Our new band will follow our creative ethos which will see us collaborating with a variety of musicians giving space for our individual skills and instruments.

VIBRATIONISTS // It’s all in a name…

One of the biggest challenges when starting a band is finding the perfect name—one that truly captures your sound. Dave's social media profile offered an unexpected solution: ‘Noise and Vibration specialist.’ With little hesitation, the name VIBRATIONISTS was born.

We love it because every atom and subatomic particle in the Universe is always in a state of motion or energetic fluctuation—they are always vibrating. Hence, if you think about it, WE ARE ALL VIBRATIONISTS!

If you've ever shared a stage with Starlite or stood in the front row facing her cabinets, you'll know exactly what we mean by VIBRATION—which can occasionally result in unplanned visits to the bathroom.

/// Design

As you may know from our previous posts, our local city, Caldas da Rainha, is a vibrant hub for musicians, artists, and designers.

We wanted to work with and invest in our Caldas creative community, and following a vivacious and insirational first meeting, we contracted, TURMA Creative design agency to handle the work.

We asked them to develop a design for VIBRATIONISTS, and they subsequently delivered a stunning collection of logos and icons.

Here's what they had to say about the project on Instagram. We like it…

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// Our journey so far

Initially, we envisioned VIBRATIONISTS as a live mixed-media performance. We planned to reimagine select songs from our previous five studio albums, alongside new material, in a duo format featuring guitar, bass, fife, processed bodhrán, and vocals.

But then...

Delving into the full extent of Dave's creative arsenal, and given our love for expansive and emotional soundscapes, our collective vision unexpectedly exploded!

We have now incorporated a plethora of other instruments and sonic delights with guitar/bass effects, percussion, Wurlitzer electric piano, synthesisers, drum machines, Korg Wavedrum, Moog Taurus bass pedals— and a trusty looper pedal to tie it all together.

It's a much bigger setup and we are now writing songs for our debut VIBRATIONISTS album, slated for release early 2026.

/// So, what does it sound like?

We are primarily storytellers and songwriters, and as you will most probably know by now, don't confine ourselves to specific genres. If a song calls for a solo piano or an acoustic guitar, that's what it gets. If it needs frantic arpeggiated sequences? No problem. What about sounds that go ‘boing’ or ‘clang’? Of course. This is all a natural fit for our creative soundscapes, and together, our new band delivers all of it.

Take a look at our new website, where you'll find links to our social media channels and an option to sign up for updates, livestreams, new music and dedicated VIBRATIONISTS emails.

// What’s next

Our VIBRATIONISTS live setup is complex, which significantly increases the chances of monumental cockups, especially when we factor in videos, lighting, and back projection.

We always say that one gig is worth 20 rehearsals—that's when you truly discover what's working and find out what needs more attention. Playing live gives you a real feel for how the songs flow in the set, how the music connects with the audience, and what needs tweaking.

With this in mind, and before we book a full mixed-media tour with production rehearsals, we've decided to play a few low-key warm-up shows with the occasional live stream.

In May, we played our debut gig at Marcianus 3.0 in Foz do Arelho, and in June, played the outdoor stage at Prohibition in Óbidos—it was purely music without visual effectS—taking it slowly.

/// Video

Before we can book any shows, agents need to see our live performance. So, we decided to record a few live tracks in the studio from our back catalogue that truly showcase the new VIBRATIONISTS sound.

For our first video recording session, we reimagined It Ain't Right from our second studio album, The Language Of Curiosity (featuring Suzy on lead vocals) and had incredible help from our brilliant Latvian friends, Raivis Struncens and his wonderful daughter Veronika. They rocked up with their cameras and tripods to capture it all.

Here are three stills Raivis captured during the recording session.

// And finally… Are you a VIBRATIONIST?

Watch out for our new LIVE video released in the next couple of weeks.

Check out, subscribe (and click the bell icon to receive updates)— on our brand new VIBRATIONISTS YouTube channel.

So that’s it—come on board and let’s enjoy the ride together - after all, we are all VIBRATIONISTS.

Much love

Suzy, Simon & Dave

I tried to do my best
I gave you everything
Everything

No one can hurt you
You’ll never die
Hold you forever
Deep in my life

Everything

Everything is the fifth track from STARLITE.ONE which is available to buy on 180g vinyl and Compact Disc with download and streaming via Bandcamp. Words and music by Suzy Starlite - ℗ © Supertone Records, 2023

It’s all about identity

Over the past few weeks, we have been working with ace designers TURMA Creative on the identity for our new band, VIBRATIONISTS.

TURMA. are based in our nearest City, Caldas da Rainha which is packed with artists, musicians and designers. It hosts one of the best Universities of Art & Design in Portugal and has UNESCO Creative City status.

Starlite and I—plus our band member Dave Boyd on the VIBRATIONISTS element—created mood boards for both projects, and I started to delve into what turned me on from a design perspective, which inevitably brought me to the Haçienda, Factory Records and New Order.

Madchester

It was the late 80s, and I was in the thick of the “Madchester” scene and specifically all things Factory Records—from the bands to the legendary Haçienda nightclub—I was part of the team from WIGWAM Acoustics that designed and installed the final sound system.

Mad, mad times. Madchester indeed!

I know many of our subscribers are lovers of music history, so it’s worth delving into this legendary scene.

The Haçienda

The Haçienda was conceived by Tony Wilson and Rob Gretton of Factory Records, along with members of the band New Order. Their vision was to create a cultural hub that went beyond a typical nightclub, encompassing music, art, and fashion.

Ben Kelly's interior design was distinctive and influential. It featured industrial aesthetics with bold stripes, hazard tape, and construction bollards, reflecting Manchester's post-industrial landscape.

The Haçienda played a pivotal role in popularising electronic dance music, acid house, and rave culture in the UK.

It was a platform for international DJs plus emerging local bands like The Stone Roses, The Smiths, Oasis, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, Inspiral Carpets, Pet Shop Boys, The Fall, The Prodigy, New Order, and many more. Even Madonna performed at the venue, recording her first-ever live UK TV appearance of Holiday for Channel 4’s ‘The Tube’.

My band at the time—The Cutting Edge—also played at the Haçienda. It was a great experience and one that I will never forget. We shot a video there which I need to dig out but sadly, there are no photos. I do have the ticket as a memento from the night, framed alongside other memorable gig tickets hanging on the wall in the Engine Room of the new Supertone Sonic Lab.

The Haç, as it was known locally, was a hugely influential venue that not only shaped the Manchester music scene but also had a lasting impact on club culture globally.

Despite its cultural significance, the club was never a financial success and eventually closed due to various factors, including drug gangs, guns, people’s safety, plus financial difficulties.

Even though the physical club is gone (the site is now apartments), the Haçienda remains an iconic symbol of a vibrant era in music history — its name and spirit are kept alive through occasional revival events and merchandise.

Play at Home | New Order (1984).

Released on 19th October 1984 by Channel 4 Television and RPM Media, Play at Home is a fascinating documentary about Factory Records.

The members of New Order interview founders Tony Wilson and ace producer Martin Hannett—oh god, those toms on Atmosphere—who speak on the philosophical and cultural purpose of their label and their associates, who mostly appear frustrated or confused.

Rob Gretton, Factory founder and manager of New Order, interviews himself. The video also includes three live performances of New Order at the Haçienda.

FAC off.

The FAC numbering system was the brainchild of Tony Wilson, one of the co-founders of the Factory record label. He was known for his avant-garde and often unconventional approach to the music industry. He treated Factory Records more like an art project than a traditional business.

It wasn't just for records but used to catalog everything associated with Factory Records, including posters, events, and even the Haçienda—FAC 51. This gave a sense of artistic and historical significance to all aspects of the Factory "factory."

While Tony Wilson conceived the idea, graphic designer Peter Saville played a crucial role in the visual presentation of these catalogue numbers on record sleeves and other Factory designs, contributing to the label's iconic aesthetic.

I love the bands, concept, artwork and design. Classic shit. Great memories.

Moving on.

One of the wonderful things in life is that you never know what will happen next, and this couldn’t be any truer since our last update in January.

The issues with the owners of the house we rent still rumble on, but we are getting somewhere. It’s a war of attrition, but one thing you don’t do is fuck around with Starlite and I—dramatic developments are afoot…

Silver and gold

We now live on the coast in a special place called Foz do Arelho, 96km north of Lisbon and just over an hour’s drive from the airport.

Foz has a very specific microclimate and is located in an area known as the ‘Silver Coast’ or locally as Costa de Prata, which derives its name from the shimmering, silvery reflection of the sun diffused through wispy clouds onto the Atlantic Ocean as it meets the coastline.

The region is known for its extensive shoreline, beautiful beaches, and clear blue sea, making this ‘Silver’ effect quite prominent.

It’s a fantastic location.

Rain, rain, rain

It’s been raining here since February with a few wonderful sunny respites, but now the warmth and the sunshine have arrived, giving us that dreamy holiday feel reminiscent of the four years we spent in Valencia, Spain.

We are used to it and manage to work effectively which for us is six days a week.

The reservoirs in Portugal are full, but the people have been empty, waiting for the summer to begin in earnest.

One thing we have learned is to ignore the weather forecasts, as the maritime climate is unpredictable and fast-moving.

Forecasts of cloud all day usually mean cover in the mornings and broken cloud in the afternoons with sun. Any percentage of rain can mean downpours or a brief spurt sometime during the day or night.

During the week, it’s great to pop down to the beach, which is only a two-minute drive from the studio and hang out in the sunshine with our girls—aka the squoofers two squeakers and two woofers—right next to the Atlantic Ocean - a real tonic for the soul. Weekends are bonkers, so we don’t venture down there and prefer to work.

Apparently, July and August are crazy busy and will report back when we have first hand experience.

Listen to the waves…

The tour is dead. Long live the tour.

As you will recall from our 2023 tour diary, touring is pretty fucked. Costs have gone sky high whilst fees have remained static or lower, and to top it off, audiences are declining.

So, what do we do?

We have formed a new band, VIBRATIONISTS, to experiment, write, record, live-stream, and tour with.

Madness, but that’s what we do.

More on all things that vibrate in the next article…

New material.

After many months focusing on other tasks, we've finally started mixing our next single release.

Hello was born ten years ago, but due to its progressive nature and considerable length of around 17 minutes, it has previously not fit onto any of our albums, making it a perfect standalone single. It's great to be working on it; the studio has never felt better.

We have an album’s worth of new material, which we are introducing into our VIBRATIONISTS live set over the coming months. Some is challenging to say the least, and we are beyond excited to start the recording process and share it with you!

We also planning a sister album which will feature roaring guitars and a lot of very, very cool stuff.

Keep an eye out for news, here and on most social media, except X.

Family.

At the end of May, we were thrilled to host our youngest son, Joe, his supercool German wife, Christina, and our two grandkids, Emma (5) and little Finn (4 months). Our home has been bursting with joy!

We don’t share much private family stuff, but here are some pictures, firstly of Joe and I. The genes are strong in this family—I am sure he was standing on a rock to look taller!

Until next time.

Much love

S&S xxx

The ancient image of the Siren has enchanted seafaring history for centuries. Inspired by Homer's Odyssey - the song tells the story of the Sirens who lure unwitting sailors to their deaths on the rocks.

Song To The Siren is a song of love, hope and loss.

In search of an authentic rendition, Suzy reinstated the original lyrics “I am puzzled as the oyster.”

After all, who hasn’t met an oyster that wasn’t puzzled?

Watch, buy and stream

Enjoy and share.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle

And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me, let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you hared when I was fox?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks

For you sing
Touch me not
Touch me not, come back tomorrow
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Shies from the sorrow

I'm as puzzled as the oyster
I'm as riddled as the tide
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or should I lie with death, my bride?

Hear me sing
Swim to me
Swim to me, let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Song To The Siren is available to buy and stream via Bandcamp. ℗ © Supertone Records, 2024.

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In the Western world, the 31st of December is often seen as a time of celebration and a chance to turn the ideological page - to write the next chapter of our life story in which we are the protagonist—the central character—in our movie.

The build-up to this day is often a time of contemplation where we mentally ‘stop the clock’ and take stock of the past year, looking at both our successes and failures, lessons learned (usually the hard way) and do a little bit of soul searching:

• Are we the best version of the person we want to be?

• Are we being kind to ourselves - being disciplined, eating healthily, exercising?

• What areas of our career should we prioritise spending our time coins on? Writing, music, video, community, touring, recording…

• Why did we break when we used to be so strong?

• What is not working and what do we need to change?

• Do we have good friends and are we being good friends to our friends?

• What do we actually want to experience in this lifetime? Finding out what we really want can be harder than you think with so much distraction and noise constantly filling our minds. There’s always another day and then suddenly you realise ten years have passed like a click of the fingers.

And then one day you find, Ten years have got behind you, No one told you when to run, You missed the starting gun.

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New Year

The earliest recorded New Year’s festival dates back some 4,000 years with the ancient Babylonians of Mesopotamia. The first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of their New Year and represented the rebirth of the natural world, a celebration deeply intertwined with religion and mythology.

Millions of people across China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and other countries celebrate the Chinese New Year on the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The Egyptian New Year is celebrated with a festival known as Wepet Renpet (opening of the year) whose origins began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius after a 70-day absence. This festival typically occurred in mid-July and was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, honoured with feasts and special religious rites.

So what does it mean to us?

Firstly, we are so grateful to have found each other—a little later in life but hey, better late than never. Sharing this world together along with our four hairy beasts Hummock, Bobby, Edith and Françoise gives every breath a deeper meaning in an ever-increasingly lonely and isolated world.

We have wonderful supporters of our work, fabulous new friends, healed family relationships and met some truly ‘interesting’ characters along the way.

We have moved!

Four years ago, just before Brexit, we relocated from Germany to Portugal in a slim window of opportunity between the two major COVID lockdowns. We hadn’t been able to view the house in person, Suzy had never been to Portugal and Simon only once as a child to the Algarve — so we decided to trust the Universe and move in good faith - relocating the Supertone Studio to a small holding in Arados on the outskirts of Samora Correia — half an hour northeast of the capital city of Lisboa.

During our time there we made some great friends and enjoyed an authentic experience of the ‘real’ Portugal, being two of only a handful of English people in the area.

Courtesy of the Portuguese government, we attended evening school twice a week for six months learning Portuguese, along with an extremely friendly group of Indians mainly from Punjab. We managed to pass our Level One certificate which helped unlock some of the mysteries contained in the Portuguese language, its people and culture.

For a few years now we have also been looking to find the optimum place to settle having arrived blindly in the first place, looking for places with a thriving artistic community.

Our house in Samora was single-glazed and poorly constructed - not ideal in the longer term: extremely cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. As we were situated next to the loading bay of a big factory, the view out of our bedroom window was a constant flow of lorries literally three metres away. Recording was also hit and miss as it was unpredictably noisy.

It was time to move.

Through our great friends Dani and Tiago, we met David Mourato and his wife Joanna who live in Caldas da Rainha, a UNESCO City of Culture, situated close to Portugal’s ‘silver coast’ and about an hour north of Lisboa. They are both high-powered film animators and offered to give us a tour of the city.

We immediately fell in love with Caldas and its people and instinctively knew this was the place we had been looking for.

Before meeting them for lunch we went to view a house located on a hillside on the coast in Foz do Arelho, about fifteen minutes west of Caldas. We loved the place but as it had not been lived in for several years, it was in a poor state of repair and needed a lot of work to restore it to its former glory. But the view was magical—a little slice of paradise overlooking the Óbidos Lagoon and the Oceano Atlântico.

Following a series of harrowing, ever-changing and increasingly stressful negotiations, we finally moved house in late November and have begun the start of a new chapter in our wonderful new home, aptly called The Supertone Sonic Laboratory.

2024 in a nutshell

We celebrated Simon’s birthday on January 9th with our friends artist Kaz Hawkins and her husband David on the island of Tenerife. It was the first time we had ever taken a specific week off to go on holiday.

Bergantino artist

Suzy has been using Bergantino bass cabinets for years and this year marked a new chapter as she was invited to become an official Bergantino Audio Systems artist - it was totally unexpected and a wonderful honour.

Sequential artists

We were both featured for the second time in the official artists section on the Sequential website - they are world leaders in the design and production of analogue synthesisers.

The Voting Machine - single

We released The Voting Machine as the second single from our third studio album STARLITE.ONE on all major streaming platforms to coincide with the American elections. The video, which includes HD footage provided directly by NASA, has received over 52k views and counting.

Bass Musician Magazine

Suzy became a writer for Bass Musician Magazine writing a series called ‘Walking the Bass Line’ aimed at new bass layers and people interested in learning more about all things bass, from inspirational players and gear to music.

This is also published on our VIBES blog a week later.

VIBES!

Our VIBES blog is thriving:

• The latest two Supertone Show podcasts feature S P A R K S, who have been a huge influence and inspiration to us this year, especially after watching ‘The Sparks Brothers’ documentary, directed by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho). If you haven’t seen it - it’s a must-see for all artists!!

• The final episode of 'Diary of a Touring Musician: the Aftermath' was released completing the saga - we hope to get it published as a book. If you have any contacts in publishing, please do get in contact!

• Starlite wrote an in-depth article The End of the Line - looking at the concept of legacy through the lens of not having any biological children of your own and asking does it really matter?

  

• Simon wrote an honest and open article about living with ODPD

  

  Top Tracks

  We began a new series of articles featuring the ‘Top Tracks’ from our wonderful supporters:

  • edition #1 - Ian Southall

  • edition #2 - Rhonda & Jeff Boehlert

  If you would like to join in and write about your ten top tracks, please send us an email - we’d love to hear from you.

Live Gigs

We were supposed to have seen our favourite band The Smile in Valencia in August but sadly the gig was cancelled.

However, we did manage to see some cool bands in 2024 including Yard Act, The Frown, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Fontaines D.C., Kim Gordon - The Collective and Zamilska.

When we were in London we also paid a visit to Café Otto - an experimental music venue in Dalston. That night there was an event celebrating the memory of drummer, band leader, educator, artist and free improvising pioneer John Stevens. It featured a talk by David Toop, editor of The Wire magazine and a musical performance featuring Maggie Nichols, member of London's legendary Spontaneous Music Ensemble and co-founder of the Feminist Improvising Group.

We were somewhat out of our comfort zone but wanted to experience new music that challenged us - it certainly did that.

Recording in the Supertone Studio

The new Supertone 2x15 Bass Cabinet

There are not many people making 2x15 cabinets these days, but we love the tone of 15's and decided to produce our own Supertone world-class cabinet optimised for bass valve heads.

The new Supertone 2x15 bass cabinet sounds wonderful and is available to order from our website.

Simon started a series of gear videos which we will be expanding on in 2025 once we have the Sonic Laboratory set up.

Take a look at our recent video on 'How To Record Bass Guitar' below which features this magnificent cabinet.

Ten Years Married

We celebrated our ‘tin/ten’ year wedding anniversary on 12th May.

Edith & Françoise

We welcomed two new labrador puppies into our family - Edith & Françoise from the south of Paris en France.

They have changed our world and can honestly say that have kept us going in more ways than one. They are so full of character and incredibly intelligent - we love them dearly.

We are currently writing a series on The Labrador Retriever and the next one will be out soon!

Reading inspirational books

We started reading hardback books again — both for inspiration and to break our addiction to screens.

Thanks for buying us a pint or three

We have sincerely appreciated so many of you Buying us a pint — our Northern sense of humour making one-off tips to support our work via our website that little bit more fun. Timothy Taylor is also our favourite English bitter.

What to look out for in 2025

Song To The Siren - new single release January

This month we are releasing our new single Song To The Siren written by legendary folk musician Tim Buckley—father of Jeff ‘Hallelujah’ Buckley—featuring Suzy on vocals.

Photo session with Phil Kneen

In January Guardian-published documentary photographer Phil Kneen is travelling to Portugal for a bespoke photoshoot with us.

Phil has provided the artwork for many of our music releases including our new ‘Song to the Siren’ single.

The wedding

Our eldest son James married Sarah, our fabulous new daughter in September 2024. Watch this space for a series of fabulous photographs taken by event photographer Charlotte Macke — she has a knack for capturing those special moments.

Recipes

Simon, our ’Guitar Chef’, will be publishing a series of his tasty recipes throughout the year.

More live streams and gigs

We managed to broadcast a few live streams last year and once up and running will continue in 2025. We are also planning several duo gigs in Portugal and hopefully the rest of Europe. If you want to be notified, follow our page on Bandsintown.

If you are interested in booking us for your festival or venue - please send us an email.

And finally, a musical taster of new music on its way

We are writing two albums simultaneously with different feels and instrumentation. This is part of a new song for the acoustic album — we haven’t tuned the piano for a while so it sounds a bit honky tonk…

Happy 2025 and here’s to health, happiness, love, laughter and great adventures…

Much love

Suzy & Simon, Hummock, Bobby, Edith & Françoise

xxxx

Suzy wrote the lyrics for this song at the beginning of 2023. Now, two weeks before one of the most important elections in history, it’s more relevant than ever. The Voting Machine represents democracy.

The video has had over 52K views on YouTube and today we released the track as a single on all streaming platforms. Enjoy and share - it’s important…

This dirty truth
What do you want to believe?
Out of your hands into the voting machine
Just think about
Think about mmmmm

This filthy truth
What do you want to believe?
Putting your hands into the voting machine
Just think about
Think about mmmmm

You can stick me in the ground
Plant a cross for me
Say that you were lost and found
Save a soul for me
You can try and take the hill
Like a dead man walking
Bribe me with a bill
Keep it all

The voting machine
The voting machine
The voting machine
The voting machine

This burning truth
What do you want to achieve?
Counting your hands into the voting machine
Just think about
Think about mmmmm

Wave your placards in the air
You can march for me
Clap your hands as if you care
Make a fool of me
You can hide behind a wall
Wear a mask for me
You can fight another war
For democracy

Gonna cut you with a tax
Like a razor blade
Keep the corporations fat
Gonna keep you laid
Twist the law and break the strike
Dictator calling
The land of the free
Keep it all

The voting machine...

If you want it then you have to promise me a future

Or perhaps…

Buy us a pint

The Voting Machine is the second track from STARLITE.ONE which is available to buy on 180g vinyl and Compact Disc with download and streaming via Bandcamp. Words and music by Suzy Starlite & Simon Campbell - ℗ © Supertone Records, 2023.

Want more? You can find all our lyric-based posts here.

If this is the first article you have seen in the series and want to put it into context, you can find them all by heading over to:

Diary of a touring musician: the series

THE END

This is a funny way to start the final article in this series but we think it’s most important to begin with the summary of our experience. It may seem a little out of context, so please read on for the whole story.

Here we go…

We nearly gave up…

Apart from our wonderful fans, friends, family and the great gigs, our experience of the whole tour was fucking brutal and didn’t pick up any instruments for three months after returning.

We certainly don’t do this for the money. Few artists do. Writing and playing music is part of our creative heartbeat, vital to our spiritual and mental health just like breathing air.

This diary is not a hard-luck story but a frank and honest view of what happened to truly independent artists with no external support.

There are tens of thousands of us out there but it’s unusual to read a brutal, warts-and-all account of the realities of touring in hard and honest terms. Nobody wants to criticize. Nobody wants to upset the apple cart.

It’s taken us twelve months to recover, if we ever do.

Highlights

• The Met, Bury

• The Corn Exchange, Ross-on-Rye and Mid-Wales R & B Club, Brecon

• Abbey Road and Meeting our friends in Twickenham

• Classic Rock Magazine

• Meeting all our supporters, old and new

• Playing our music to a loving crowd

Lowlights

• The contract disputes

• The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

• The driving and technical shit

• The UK music scene

The future…

It was very, very hard to pull ourselves back from the brink.

Only last Friday, we thought let’s start over and remind ourselves of the project we poured so much energy, love, work, passion and time into. We sat down and played the milky clear vinyl of STARLITE.ONE in its entirety.

It was recorded with vinyl in mind and it sounded magnificent reminding us how much we loved making this album, playing every instrument except for the drums.

There is no doubt that pushing our boundaries as musicians has made our creativity and imagination flourish.

We wrote, recorded and produced the record ourselves in the Supertone Sonic Laboratory, refusing to play to the gallery or play safe - just play.

David Bowie is quoted as saying, “Go a little bit out of your depth and when you don't feel that you're feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place".

Bowie also said, "If you feel safe in the area that you are working in, you're not working in the right area". 

“I think it's terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people's expectations. I think they generally produce their worst work when they do that”

With a glass of wine in hand we went on to listen to everything we had ever recorded. It all sounded great and we are proud parents to our creations.

We have been planning and writing an acoustic album for ages now and this seems like the right time to do it.

Our latest livestream in October contained acoustic-only material which we enjoyed and along with some sexy sonic enhancements can form the basis of a coherent and exciting live set.

The next livestream is on November 6th and tickets are on sale now.

So, the show is still on the road and thanks for sharing in our lives, art and music.

Carpe Diem!

The aftermath

It’s Saturday, October 21st. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of walking through the front door of your home after nearly a month away on the road.

We love the adventure and would go stir-crazy if we were constantly at home as it’s not only the place where we live but also work.

Still, there’s something primaeval about sleeping in your own bed - your own cave: the smell, the familiarity of being surrounded by ‘stuff’ that reflects your taste and creature comforts.

Back to life, back to reality

It’s odd getting back after a very intense experience. You feel a bit lost, wondering what’s next after being thrown back into half-remembered reality.

Wolfgang

Starlite is a washing obsessive and the first thing she does when we get home is sort out all the clothes and put a wash on with Wolfgang, our trusty washing machine which we bought whilst living in Germany. Jah!

The weather took a turn for the worse and started to rain which meant, due to the humidity, we couldn’t dry our clothes inside or out. Starlite was agitated.

Back to reality.

The bin

We installed the IKEA recycling container aka ‘the bin of inconvenience’ (named by Hugo each time he had to move it in the back of the van) back in its rightful place having been on a 5000 Km road trip. It left Portugal filled to the brim with bottles of Portuguese wine and naturally returned empty.

Back to reality.

Pretty Vacant

We were feeling pretty vacant and the following few weeks drifted into a blur as we had a lot of business and creative housekeeping to do.

It’s an odd time as you miss the stimulation of being on the road, meeting new people, rocking out on stage and embracing new experiences.

Back to reality.

We also needed to sleep - a lot. It’s essential to rest up after a tour as there is the potential that your brain can go a bit wonky, especially without the adrenaline and dopamine high from the gigs.

Getting back on the horse

We needed to ask people for pictures from the shows, download and archive the live sound files from The Temperance gig in Leamington Spa plus the multi-media concert at The Met in Bury that had been recorded by the venue and filmed by Dario Leonetti.

There were loads of articles to finish for our blog, plus episodes of The Supertone Show to programme, research and record, which were time sensitive being syndicated to several radio stations in Canada, the USA and Europe.

Back to reality.

Of course, we had the budget to consider—but more of that later.

Laser Red

We had been running some adverts for the tour via the award-winning digital marketing agency Laser Red, based in Grimsby, UK and caught up with the wonderful Rebecca who handled our campaign to tie everything up and discuss the results. They have been fantastic to work with and we learned a lot of cool online marketing shit.

Repairs

Cleaning, getting the studio ship shape and unpacking all the gear takes a lot of time and there was a long list of repairs to be getting on with: the USB B port on our USB distribution unit - a problem which caused some anguish during the tour, a replacement screw for the iPad holder, general servicing plus damage to some of the guitars - which is par for the course when you are playing them in anger.

Oh, and what happened to our fucking nail scissors?

Before leaving, Simon identified a lot of repairs around the place, mostly connected with Betty, our 48-channel CADAC analogue recording console. He does as much of the servicing as he can but sometimes when it becomes too technical he has to send stuff away.

Back to reality.

Shopping

The cupboard was bare and we had to stock up the fridge with fresh goodness.

The produce here in Portugal is fabulous and we eat salads every other day: the taste is so ‘tasty’ which is a strange thing to say but tomatoes and salad vegetables in the UK just don’t have the same rich wholesome flavour - it must be due to the lack of happy sunshine.

Back to reality.

We are full-time artists so whilst we are beavering away, please find the price of a pint to support our work or by subscribing to VIBES and/or Bandcamp.

Buy us a pint

What we learned

Contracts mean nothing

We had a signed contract for the first gig of our tour at The Pioneer Club in St. Albans. The venue had a change of staff and in the process, apart from a single post on Facebook a month before, our concert fell through the promotional cracks. Read days one, two and three to find out the whole story.

We still needed to be paid as per the terms of our contract but sadly The Pioneer did not want to honour their commitment. We were offered studio time in lieu of payment which is useless to us as we have our own studio and live in Portugal.

We kept repeating that we are full-time musicians travelling from Europe and had employed a session musician for the tour.

This went on for weeks which was incredibly stressful and had no choice but to take the matter to court which resulted in a County Court Judgement against them. It’s not something we enjoyed doing at all but we received the money plus the court fees. A very sad business.

We also had a signed contract at the Whitham Arts Centre in Barnard Castle which was negotiated through our UK agent. The venue had approached us a year before asking us to play, a decision that was agreed upon and requested by their committee. As you can imagine, we were delighted.

A week before the gig, the venue controversially bypassed our agent and called us directly.

Cutting a long story short, they cancelled the gig due to a multitude of factors including the booking agent from the venue mysteriously leaving the venue and not notifying us or our agent, very poor promotion and low ticket sales.

We were gutted and asked for payment as per our contract. They couldn’t find it. We asked our agent to send a copy of the signed document to them for payment but he didn’t have a copy.

All this was going on while we were gigging. It was so stressful. Our agent had other acts he had booked into the venue and did not want to go down a legal rabbit hole. We did not want to affect his business either so we ended up with a lesser payment from the venue but our agent waived his fee so it worked out the same.

Shit eh…

We need more rehearsal time

We recently came across the excellent S P A R K S rockumentary - which we urge you to watch. During the course of the video their manager - Sue Harris of Republic Media - mentioned they rehearsed for four months before a series of demanding shows. Four months. We rehearsed for four days. Why? Well, it’s all down to the money honey.

When you are in a band scenario everyone mucks in and does it for free but session musicians need to be paid and their expenses covered.

Once all the songs are together and sounding good additional days are required with the crew in a suitable rehearsal space to emulate a gig - known as production rehearsals. Very fucking expensive.

We need crew

STARLITE.ONE is an ambitious technical undertaking that we wanted to sonically replicate and visually enhance live. Suzy had spent a lot of time creating videos for the whole set which, were technically possible, were to be back projected.

We were inspired by one of our favourite bands of the moment The Smile touring as a three piece. Of course they have a small army of technicians to assist them.

We didn’t realise how much it would take to get it right when you factor in the huge variety of technical gear and competence in the many different venues we played.

This added to the unholy mix of driving and stress factors inherent with being on the road for nearly a month made the experience painful. Simon just took on too much work and suffered from both a performance and a mental point of view.

It’s now clear that we need enough time to rest, be free of business and technical demands - to have the liberty to get into the musical mindset and totally focus on the artistry and performance.

The only way we can tour such an ambitious project is to have the crew set up our gear, mix the front of house, run the in-ear monitoring system and technology, pack up, load up and drive.

An added bonus would be someone to work on the merchandise table as we undoubtedly lost a load of income by not having anyone dedicated to the sales aspect of our tour.

This equates to two or three competent people who need hotels, paying, feeding and watering - costing around £700-1000 per day plus of course the cost of the additional vehicles.

Yes! We have now a template for the future the only snag being we need the money to cover all this additional expense, which brings us to the knotty subject of…

The budget

We do this for a living.

Yes, we have other sources of income: royalties, music sales, equipment sales, subscriptions on Bandcamp and VIBES plus studio bookings, but historically live concerts make us a reasonable percentage of our annual income and try to be super careful about the type of gigs we book.

Even with the lack of crew, on this tour fees were low, and apart from several sold-out shows, attendances were down—the tour was a financial disaster.

The UK music scene has changed

It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happened to the UK music scene. It’s not the place to go into the gory details but every week the press publishes stories of venues closing due to rising costs and a lack of support from the public. Type in your favourite search engine “music venues closing” and witness the horror.

The Music Venue Trust is constantly banging the drum about this subject and if you are interested it may be worth looking them up.

Companies are making vast fortunes from music by selling hugely expensive tickets for established artists and raking in incomes from streaming. Less established artists get virtually nothing.

Of course, this will eventually bite the business in the arse when there are no new artists to exploit as the small venues are where musicians cut their teeth and try out their material. But that’s for future generations to consider.

Our vision

This is what we do…

Take a minute to share this story far and wide. It really helps.

Share

Onwards

One thing we have consciously tried to do this year is go out once a week for lunch or dinner, visit the beach and when we can, hang out with friends. We work too hard which we have found to be counterproductive.

Following the isolation during the Covid pandemic, don’t we all appreciate being surrounded by people, chatting away and feeling a part of the community?

As soon as practicable - which was the Wednesday following our return - we visited our favourite local Europa Restaurante.

In Portugal, Prato do Dia (menu of the day) is 10/12€ per person and you get bread, olives, a main course, half a litre of vinho tinto each and coffee - some places even throw in a dessert. Fucking cool and the same price as a slice of Pizza in London.

Dani & Tiago

Our great friend Tiago Cruz - who did all the graphic design work on STARLITE.ONE - was still away working in Dubai so we arranged to meet up with his wife Dani at the excellent Taverna Ribatejana in Samora Correia.

Dani did a fabulous job filming us on location in Lisbon for The Voting Machine music video. It was such a relief to order a meal and a bottle of wine that didn’t rob you blind! We handed out presents and ended the night next door at Bar do Concelho.

Yes, we were home.

The following week we planned to meet with Dani again to arrange a surprise for the wayward Cruz.

He was due back from Dubai in a few days and we were unexpectedly going to pick him up from the airport as Dani was going to be working. Big surprise!

We turned up at the bar and there he was!! The little bastard had decided to come home a week earlier and surprise everyone!

The Boehlerts

The Friday after returning home we drove to the Porto Drum Show and made a stop halfway up in Figuera da Foz as we had a lunch date with two of our wonderful supporters, Jeff and Rhonda Boehlert.

These guys have been fantastic and are so effusive about our music. It was a real tonic to finally meet up. We love these guys!!

Jeff and Rhonda certainly make us feel loved and supported as artists. This is some artwork Jeff made recently to promote STARLITE.ONE on social media. Great fun!

The Porto Drum Show

Hugo Danin played drums on STARLITE.ONE and accompanied us on our tour. He also runs the Porto Drum Show and invited us as his VIP guests for the weekend.

It was also a handy trip as we could kill two birds with one stone, meet some cool people and drop off his SONOR drum kit that he had used on the tour.

For ease and financial sense, Hugo had flown in and out of the UK for the tour and we had driven with all of the gear.

We had also been invited to see Ricky Gervais in concert in Lisboa that weekend as Starlite’s friend Gordon was the tour manager on that gig but we felt it was important to support Hugo and meet all the musicians in Porto. Next time Ricky.

Of course, we took our hairy beasts with us. We had been too long apart already and there was zero chance that they were going to be left behind.

Sadly, the girls were not allowed into the event so we took turns to walk them but they were more than happy chilling out on the front seats of the Van of Rock which was parked at the back of the venue. The security staff were also keeping an eye on them and visa versa.

We did however sneak into the foyer of the venue for a photo opportunity next to the show banner - oh really - hounds are not allowed?

Michael Lauren

When we first moved to Portugal, Simon had contacted Michael Lauren, an American drummer from New York now living in Lisboa and tried to arrange to get together.

Michael is a renowned educator and has played with loads of great musicians including Chuck Berry and Tom Jones.

He was a founding member of the world-renowned Drummers Collective NYC, Professor of Drum Set Studies and head of the Jazz Department at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo (ESMAE) in Porto.

Michael is currently a Professor of Drum Set Studies at Escuela Superior de Música Jam Session Barcelona, España and is the founder / artistic director of The International Drum Academy Lisboa, Portugal.

Impressive!!

We finally managed to meet up at the Drum Show and what a cool guy. We got on really well, had some dinner together, met some of his friends and said we’d get together soon. A few months later we hooked up in Lisboa and spent a fun day together with his wonderful wife, artist Kathleen Kuchera.

Billy Cobham

We also met a drumming legend - the one and only Billy Cobham. He played the whole of the groundbreaking album STRATUS on Saturday night and you knew you were watching a man that had made history being such a massive musical influence to so many of us. Simon had a great chat with him after the event!!

All the people were so friendly - we had a blast.

It was late Sunday night and asked Hugo for a recommendation of where to eat.

We ended up at Restaurante CUFRA - an old-school diner restaurant like you would find in an Italian American gangster movie. You know those diners where you all sit around the edge and the chefs cook in front of you with a load of tables and booths in the back.

It was surreal and enchanting. The staff were fantastic and very friendly. We had a great laugh with them.

It was late, the doors were locked and the staff were tidying up when some drunk guys started banging on the glass front doors wanting to be served. The staff motioned that they were closed but the drunks were having none of it and started kicking off.

It was a bit hairy as these guys were banging hard on the glass and wouldn't stop shouting. The staff turned the lights off, called the police and, like a scene from a movie, we were ushered out of the restaurant, through a dark kitchen, into a small back room that led to a door at the rear of the building. They let us out. We ran!

And finally…

It doesn’t seem like a year has passed and based on the experience have made positive steps in our career and life plan.

Thanks very much for reading and please feel free to comment on this or any of the series. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive our updates.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

My grandad's suitcase, was brown and tattered
I tried to open, but the locks were knackered
I prised the catch, to peek inside
It started raining

I found a photo and frilly knickers
A tube of glue and a bar of snickers
Ate the candy and chipped a tooth
It started raining

It started raining and tears were shed
It started raining no feather bed
It started raining all down my face
It started raining

I went to see him at the circus
Walked inside with a sense of purpose
A painted smile, a broken heart
It started raining

The caravan door was broken
A second thought, an empty token
We went inside, to talk awhile
It started raining

A shot of whisky, sorrows for drowning
A chunk of ice to sink a ship
A tale or or two about the weather
It’s complicated

We packed a suitcase, his costume hanging
And made our way onto my street
With every footstep, anticipation
It started raining

I pressed the doorbell, the dog was barking
The sound of laughter, big surprise
A family reunited
It started raining

It Started Raining is a single and available to buy as a download with streaming via Bandcamp. Words and music by Suzy Starlite & Simon Campbell - ℗ © Supertone Records, 2017. Photograph © Phil Kneen 2017.

Greetings

We are full-time artists, married for ten years and passionate about living life to the full.

Our sonic laboratory, located near Lisbon, Portugal, is home to us and our four Labrador Retrievers: Hummock, Bob, Françoise and Edith.

Music is our primary form of expression, but we also create a lot of other stuff. This includes writing articles for our blog, creating artwork and videos, designing art installations, experimenting in our sound lab, geeking out over bass and guitar, producing podcasts, trying out new recipes, film photography and anything else that catches our interest.

Read our manifesto

If you'd like to support our work directly, paid subscriptions help keep our creative process flowing and the wheels on the tour bus turning. You can also access exclusive content, videos, discounts, and our regular livestream concerts.

• VIBES offers a thoughtful and (hopefully) amusing blend of articles about life, culture, music technology and our art - plus the occasional podcast

• BANDCAMP hosts our music and merchandise. It gives you unlimited access to all the music we have ever created - both together and individually

• STARLITE.ONE links to our multimedia projects

Visit our about page to discover more about us and what we are up to.

We look forward to sharing our passion with you.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

Greetings!

We hope you are able to join us tonight for our live-stream concert. We'll be rocking out our original tunes, taking special requests, sharing some new songs and throwing in a surprise or two.

Instead of tips, we're keeping it simple with tickets priced at GBP 5.00 each - roughly EU 6.00 / USD 6.60 per household.

The ticket includes a free download/unlimited stream of our version of Can't Find My Way Home.

Just click on the red button below to buy your ticket.

Buy your ticket now!

Remember, if you're a paid subscriber to VIBES or Bandcamp, you can watch the concert as part of your subscription.

No stress if you can't make it live - all tickets let you watch the show for 48 hours after it airs. Drop us an email or chat during the broadcast and we'll give you a shout-out!

Streaming is a good way to stay in touch. We love playing the shows and looking forward to sharing an hour of LIVE! music with you and hopefully making your day that little bit more special.

Much love

Suzy & Simon