Thursday 21 May 2009

Song

Singing and songwriting are on hold at the moment while I move house. But I'm still constantly thinking about it...

I went to an Ane Brun gig that was part of the Great Escape Festival in Brighton last weekend. She was amazing; like the last time I saw her at the Duke of Yorks in last year's Great Escape. And also like the last time I saw her I had to sit through two fucking awful bands before she came on.

It comes back to me over and over again that in music, it's all about the song. It doesn't matter if you've got an amazing voice, or if you've got virtuoso musicians around you, or a band with cool guitar sounds, or a fashionable 'name' singing with you. You can have all these things and more but if the song's shit it's always going to sound shit.

I'm also noticing how musicians present their songs. It just seems slightly arrogant when people don't introduce their songs; when they don't even say a word and try to look all gloomy. Ane Brun was warm with the audience and humbly introduced her songs and you instantly liked her.

But, more than anything, her songs are just brilliant.

Friday 15 May 2009

Relief

I had my gig in the studio where I work last night. It was great! Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and said what a nice atmosphere it was. That was what I was hoping for.

I went on first. I was nervous as always and my fingers were like jelly when I was trying to pick the guitar. But I thought my voice wasn't too bad. It wasn't wobbling everywhere like it used to. I did start to feel sick half way through my set. It just seemed to be taking ages! Anyway, I got through it and got a good old round of applause.

Most people in the studio don't really know that I write songs and play guitar. I think they just see me as Simon-who-disappears-into-his-office. So I found it quite difficult to suddenly stand up and sing songs in front of these people. And I think they were quite surprised. Hopefully in a good way!

Anyway, Annie played afterwards and I played guitar with her. Her two violinists played too and they sounded great. Her first number was quite atmospheric and there was a huge downpour outside which mingled perfectly with the song as it bashed against the metal roof above us. It was one of those never-to-be-repeated moments.

But best of the night was definitely The Great Indoors, the band that I used to be in. Brendan's songs are just brilliant. The Great Indoors are Brendan singing and playing guitar, Anjuli on backing vocals and sax and Dan on double bass. Together they had a really warm, rich sound. Like a dark, mature, red wine. Delicious! I thought I would be a tad jealous seeing them with a different bass player but I wasn't at all. It was just really good to hear them play again. They very graciously let me play bass for their last song, Working Overtime.

So overall, a success! The audience enjoyed the music, the musicians enjoyed playing.

Here's me on my last song, Indian Summer. You can almost hear the relief in my voice!

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Hastings

I was recording my EP/LP in Hastings on Sunday at Blue Eyed Sounds. I had such a great day! Six songs in one day! Adam & Jayne always make me feel welcome and are always enthusiastic about music and that makes for such a good atmosphere for recording songs. Thanks guys!

We spent the morning recording the guitar parts and then the afternoon doing vocals. I did a couple of the songs live which was a new experience for me. Doing songs live you can really get into the feel of it and hopefully that comes across in the recordings. I might wait a bit to reveal the recordings to the public. I've got other parts to write for them and I'd like them to be really finished before I put them out there.

At the end of the recording session Adam took some photos of me at a local crack-park. When we got over there there happened to be some kids' paintings of butterflies on the wall! Perfect! We'd just been talking about the meaning of my song The Lepidopterist too (it's about a butterfly collector).

For more of Adam's gorgeous photos have a look at his photography site.

Friday 1 May 2009

Change

My Portland dream moves away from me like the door at the end of the corridor in Poltergeist.

The recession is hitting my business as my main client is making drastic cutbacks and I'm losing loads of my regular work.

And now my landlord (and friend) wants to move back into his flat so me and my girlfriend need to find somewhere else to live.

And my neck's fucked again.

What a shit week.

It means I can't afford flights to Portland in the near future. And now my parents have bought a caravan in Wales where I can go on holidays. Not exactly Portland I know but a much cheaper way of spending my hard-earned spare time. And I'd be spending it with the girl (and dog) that I love. Funny how ambitions change.

And the good news:
It's two weeks to my Studio 106 private house-gig!
I'm starting to record my EP/LP in Hastings on Sunday!