When Orangutan Rings

An album of animal & related songs and one poem, for little kids, medium kids and big kids too.

All the tracks on this album except No 7 The Mouse ate the Cheese (which is a re-mix from my very first album “ Where’s The History” from 2002) were recorded between the Spring of 2022 and the Spring of 2024 with Richard Kilner at Canterbury Sound Studio’s , a collaboration that came out of a reaction to the Covid epidemic and Lockdown we all experienced during 2020 to 2021. “How do you fancy a fun music project with kids in mind” I had a few animal songs already formed and a handful of ideas and notes all ready to be developed. Be playful was our goal. All tracks were written by me and all instruments were played by myself and Richard Kilner. All Mixing and Mastering was by Richard Kilner at Canterbury Sound Studio’s in the summer of 2024. All cover artwork by myself. Layout and Templates thanks to Paul Elliot.

Julie Wasmer interviews Nigel Hobbins about his new CD album for kids aged 1 to 100

I sat down with Nigel to learn more about When Orangutan Rings…

Nigel, you’re best-known for performing traditional English folk ballads as well as contemporary songs which are also steeped in the past and inspired by the local landscape. One of my favourites of these is These Simple Ways (2004), a paean to your rural upbringing in Challock on the North Downs, but also a lament to lives which have become overcomplicated by those who “govern” us. Such songs have given us food for thought over the years but the cleverly crafted numbers on your new CD, When Orangutan Rings have a glorious innocence about them as they’ve been composed for chiIdren. I wondered what inspired you to write them?

Well, there are twelve different animals featured and various ideas came when I was out in the countryside, observing local species or watching more exotic animals on nature TV programmes, but the ideas for some of these songs (The Giraffe, Sammy the Spider and The Flying Fox) were bubbling around in my head when my son, James, was born 35 years ago. Others developed out of our kids’ birthday parties when we were inventing stories to entertain them. The rest were either developed from notes I had made, or were written when I began recording with Richard Kilner in Spring 2022.

The CD is credited jointly to you and Richard Kilner, who has a recording studio in Canterbury. How did you come to collaborate on this?

I first met Richard when I played for Whitstable Labour Club’s cricket team. Richard had got roped into arranging fixtures for a team he played with occasionally (we liked to play for fun and always tried to find teams with a similar attitude because it wasn’t always about winning.) Richard had set up Canterbury Sound Studio and he plays and creates music too, but we didn’t actually do anything together until our paths crossed again over the last couple of years. Richard is a gentle man and creates a really good atmosphere for anyone recording in his studio.

Full interview can be found here: https://whitstableviews.com/2024/11/27/when-orangutan-rings/

Tracks:

1. Giraffe 3:08 (Hobbins)
2. Mozie Mosquito 03:50 (Hobbins)
3. Blackbird Bundle 02:31 (Hobbins)
4. The Flying Fox 04:01 (Hobbins)
5. When Orangutan Rings 04:28 (Hobbins)
6. Sammy The Spider 02:14 (Hobbins)
7. The Mouse Ate The Cheese 01:23 (Hobbins)
8. Slippy Sloppy Slidey Slinky Shiny Sealion 03:30 (Hobbins)
9. Rain Rain Rain (Hobbins)
10. Glow Worm 02:26 (Hobbins)
11. On My Dad's Shoulders 04:43 (Hobbins)
12. The Man Who Just Stopped and Sat Down Very Still 03:13 (Hobbins)