Seasons Greetings Ladies and Germs
Having had a glass of Sherry and reflecting back upon this year, I am still amazed at the turnaround in my Musical fortunes. After having spent the past Seven years or so in a covers band, I felt drained and barely had enough inspiration to pick up the guitar, let alone write a song. Then, a few serendipitous happenings took place and all of a sudden the Creative Juices were flowing again.
The first was going to see Danny George Wilson play a solo gig in March, now having watched his career from the early days I was blown away by how far he come on his musical journey and also by how much he had matured as both a Songwriter and a Performer. After many pints of Guinness that night, I returned home and, very drunkenly, began writing "Ringing like a Bell". This was the first song I had written in almost 6 years! It took about 3 weeks in total to complete, tweaking here and (Not Concert Pitch) tuning there, but, finally, I actually had a finished tune. It may not be a "Straight in at No.1" song, but, to me it was like pure audible gold.
The second happening came by way of MySpace. I decided to post some old demos on to the site for no better reason than boredom and, also, to see how easy/difficult it could be. Now, although I had known Danny for a few years, it was merely the "see each other at gigs and a have a pint" kind of relationship, but, I decided to email him the link to my MySpace page. He wrote back with some really encouraging comments and ended by saying "You should make a record, Go for it". The seed was, indeed, firmly planted.
The third and, probably most important, event was, again, through MySpace. One of the first people I became "Friends" (I still only have 18 Friends!) with was Jim Boggia. Now, for those of you who have never heard of Jim, he is, quite simply a Pop Genius. Not only is he a disgustingly talented and successful musician, but, he is a real FAN of music too. When he ok'd my Friend request, he also answered the little question about "After the Gold Rush" at the end of my "influences" section on the MySpace page. Wow, he had actually read my Blurb!!! We traded a few mails back and forth and, as mentioned in a previous post, one of my songs is now with Jim in Philadelphia awaiting his magic touch.
What I have come to learn over the last 12 months is that there are no barriers, only the ones that you, yourself, put up. Whilst discussing the events of the last year with a good friend over a few glasses of mulled wine (I don't have a problem, honest), he told me that Napoleon was once quoted as saying "There are no obstacles, only the objective". Now, even if the little Corsican fellow never uttered these words, I think they sum up my new attitude perfectly. Besides, any 5ft 2in dude who can wear one of those Tricorn hats and get away with it, must be worth listening to....
Peas 'n' Fluff and a Hippy New Year to all.
Mick
Wednesday 24 December 2008
Sunday 21 December 2008
"Put it away, Plectrum"
Seasons Greeetings Ladies and Germs
This week I took a train down to the coast. A very rare occurrence for me, in that I am seldom tempted out from "behind the wheel of a large automobile" (Talking Heads anyone?), but, as I was going to have a small glass of sherry at my destination I decided to let the train take the strain.
For the journey I took along my trusty iPod and having recently loaded the L.E.O. Alpacas Orgling album (check it out here http://www.myspace.com/bleuleo) I thought this would be a serious opportunity to geek out on all things related to the Stereo field. For the Non- musos out there this relates to the "Eureka" moment of my childhood when I first placed a a pair of ridiculously large Headphones atop of my tiny swede and realised that some instruments/voices seemed to be kind of off centre or, even stranger, moving from one side of my head to the other. To simplify, imagine you have on a pair of the previously mentioned, "Tony Blackburn", style, large Heaphones (curly lead optional). Basically, after all the parts of a song are recorded they are placed (or Panned, if you're Bob Clearmountain) either in the centre (top of your head or 12 o'clock ), Hard Left (your left Ear or 9 o'clock) or Hard Right (your Right Ear or 3 o'clock). This is how the Stereo field is created. If you are really geeky you will realise that some parts are actually panned in between these points and this is where my childhood Archimedes moment kicked in.
Ever since I first got a multitrack recorder, I have always been blown away by how much you can change the dynamic of a song by moving one instrument from the centre of the mix to the left or right side of the mix. All this just by twisting the mixing desk pan control from one side to the other. This is also probably the main reason I have never finished recording an album and why, realising that I am entering into the world of double entendres, Knob Twiddling is my downfall. I can see why Brian Wilson made everyone in the studio wear Firemens Helmets while they recorded "Mrs O'Learys Cow (Fire)" - the Studio is just one great, big adventure playground for Musicians.
Coming back in where this thread started, The L.E.O. record is a kind of tribute to Jeff Lynne's mighty E.L.O., but, more songs written and recorded in the style of ELO, rather than a straight a cover version tribute. Over the course of a 1.5 hour train journey, I blissed out to the fantastic songs and over obsessed to the clever tricks in the Stereo mix. My fellow passengers were completely unaware that, all the while, I had been sitting there with one thing on my mind - "Twiddling my Knob".
Peas and Fluff 'n' Christmas stuff
Mick
This week I took a train down to the coast. A very rare occurrence for me, in that I am seldom tempted out from "behind the wheel of a large automobile" (Talking Heads anyone?), but, as I was going to have a small glass of sherry at my destination I decided to let the train take the strain.
For the journey I took along my trusty iPod and having recently loaded the L.E.O. Alpacas Orgling album (check it out here http://www.myspace.com/bleuleo) I thought this would be a serious opportunity to geek out on all things related to the Stereo field. For the Non- musos out there this relates to the "Eureka" moment of my childhood when I first placed a a pair of ridiculously large Headphones atop of my tiny swede and realised that some instruments/voices seemed to be kind of off centre or, even stranger, moving from one side of my head to the other. To simplify, imagine you have on a pair of the previously mentioned, "Tony Blackburn", style, large Heaphones (curly lead optional). Basically, after all the parts of a song are recorded they are placed (or Panned, if you're Bob Clearmountain) either in the centre (top of your head or 12 o'clock ), Hard Left (your left Ear or 9 o'clock) or Hard Right (your Right Ear or 3 o'clock). This is how the Stereo field is created. If you are really geeky you will realise that some parts are actually panned in between these points and this is where my childhood Archimedes moment kicked in.
Ever since I first got a multitrack recorder, I have always been blown away by how much you can change the dynamic of a song by moving one instrument from the centre of the mix to the left or right side of the mix. All this just by twisting the mixing desk pan control from one side to the other. This is also probably the main reason I have never finished recording an album and why, realising that I am entering into the world of double entendres, Knob Twiddling is my downfall. I can see why Brian Wilson made everyone in the studio wear Firemens Helmets while they recorded "Mrs O'Learys Cow (Fire)" - the Studio is just one great, big adventure playground for Musicians.
Coming back in where this thread started, The L.E.O. record is a kind of tribute to Jeff Lynne's mighty E.L.O., but, more songs written and recorded in the style of ELO, rather than a straight a cover version tribute. Over the course of a 1.5 hour train journey, I blissed out to the fantastic songs and over obsessed to the clever tricks in the Stereo mix. My fellow passengers were completely unaware that, all the while, I had been sitting there with one thing on my mind - "Twiddling my Knob".
Peas and Fluff 'n' Christmas stuff
Mick
Friday 5 December 2008
Never a Dull Moment
Greetings Ladies and Germs
Well, I am about to embark upon a Atlantic Crossing. Well, not me actually, but, rather one of my songs. For said song, or at least the makings of, will be Sailing across stormy waters bound for Philadelphia. The recipient will be a fantastically talented individual (let's just call him Winnie Cooper for now) who has agreed to play a few games of Pro Tools chess. For the non Muso's this translates as I send him a rough demo of my song, he pours magic "Phil Spector" fairy dust over it, sends it back to me and I try to outdo him knowing all the while that I'm gonna get four-move checkmated by him every time.
Now, being honest, I am both excited and worried in equal measures regarding this new venture. I have never been one of those "Songwriters workshop" type of writers, so this is a real departure for me, but, this guy has given me a Reason to Believe. And if Winnie really can turn my pile of musical Debris into a Long player, then this should really be the First Step towards the Shape of Things to come.
I should really apologise for the lame-ass attempt at humour, but, it's Friday, the eggnog has been flowing and any excuse to get Rod Stewart references into a post works for me. I was only Joking, Ahem............
Peas and Fluff
Mick
Well, I am about to embark upon a Atlantic Crossing. Well, not me actually, but, rather one of my songs. For said song, or at least the makings of, will be Sailing across stormy waters bound for Philadelphia. The recipient will be a fantastically talented individual (let's just call him Winnie Cooper for now) who has agreed to play a few games of Pro Tools chess. For the non Muso's this translates as I send him a rough demo of my song, he pours magic "Phil Spector" fairy dust over it, sends it back to me and I try to outdo him knowing all the while that I'm gonna get four-move checkmated by him every time.
Now, being honest, I am both excited and worried in equal measures regarding this new venture. I have never been one of those "Songwriters workshop" type of writers, so this is a real departure for me, but, this guy has given me a Reason to Believe. And if Winnie really can turn my pile of musical Debris into a Long player, then this should really be the First Step towards the Shape of Things to come.
I should really apologise for the lame-ass attempt at humour, but, it's Friday, the eggnog has been flowing and any excuse to get Rod Stewart references into a post works for me. I was only Joking, Ahem............
Peas and Fluff
Mick
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