Is it just me or has myspace become full of spammers? I've come to expect every second mail to be spam. And I'm often right! As a musician there's a natural reluctance to decline if someone sends you an add request because you have to presume that like many others they're actually doing it for the right reasons; the music. But I've gotten choosy these days and say no to a lot of people who look like they could turn into spammers. Which is kinda crap!

For years I played and wrote music full time. Then the chicken decided it would rather be doing other things than laying eggs. So I went from omelette's every day to maybe the odd boiled egg. It's strange when something you love so much drifts out of your life. But it's pretty amazing when it comes back. Life is a mad yolk. Ok, I really need to stop mentioning eggs.

So 2007 was all about no longer just peeking over the edge and was all about throwing open the gates and letting the music flood back. I'm pretty much writing everyday, gigging every week and have got a new set of songs now that I'm looking forward to floating into earlobes, heads and hearts. I'm busier with music than I have been in ages. This is a good thing. To paraphrase that great American thinker Forest Gump, "Music is as music does. Now, do you want to invest in a shrimp boat?" Or something like that.

Despite the quiet period during the last year it was great to see my songs getting picked up by various media and radio stations in very different parts of the world. But better than that were all the emails I received from people who downloaded my music. It's really blown me away. The world of the modern independent musician is interesting one. One day you record and put a song on myspace/last.fm etc, the next thing you're getting messages from people on 4 different continents listening to the music telling how it has touched them. Pretty damn cool.

The traditional routes that bands and musicians have used for the last 100 years (record labels etc) are really changing and it's very exciting to be able to connect with listeners so quickly, directly and so honestly. That's what I hope this website and this blog will be all about.

So a big beautiful thanks to everyone who listened, wrote about and played my music in 2007. Check back for more music through 2008 because the chicken is laying fresh eggs.
Cheers!
Hamlet Sweeney

I'm really looking forward to this ongoing blog and hope it will be a space where I can connect with people, talk about music and share other related stuff that floats into my mind. This page is defintely the one to bookmark. Go, do it now! So now you can read what's going on in my head as well hear it and comment along with each blog.

First things first though. Big thanks, small puppies and other happy things to http://www.purrpaganda.com/ and Naoimh Ingram, an amazing designer and the talent behind creating this website. Naoimh designs for big and small fish from individual artists to whole cities. Yes, whole cities. She was brilliant to work with, had great ideas and was totally professional. I can't recommend her highly enough.....

Thanks Purrpaganda & Naoimh! Contact: purrpaganda@gmail.com