pushing and pulling

So the Beatles remasters have come and gone. My verdict ? 'About bloody time'.

Of all the hoo-haa surround the release of these Mono and Stereo discs the BBC produced some excellent radio programmes. The best of which was the continuing series 'The Record Producers'

You can hear the multitrack deconstruction of some songs which reveal individual parts and instruments.

Never mind what I think.... take a listen (follow the link and download the MP3 file, no password required).

Thanks to social networking and a long lost cousin I find myself interviewed in this week's Irish Examiner (USA, Art Section)

Isn't that bizarre ?


Read the online edition by clicking this link here and jump to page 13

or you can grab a .pdf in this link here.


I really am a chancer.... a little exaggeration goes a long way in print.

A few weeks ago I dropped a note to Graham Holland regarding his Podcast "It's a Frog's Life". The podcast features acoustic music from around the British Isles. I guess I snuck in through the back door :-)

There's a real sense of validation when someone you've never met listens to and responds to a song you've written. I was delighted when Graham contacted me and asked if he could include one of my songs in an upcoming podcast.

I also sent in a track to another podcast but really didn't do myself any favours: there's no point in sending in a folk track if the podcast features indie rock music ... is there ? Even if the people running the podcast are predisposed to giving you a listen.

So click on the link and grab the latest edition of the "It's a Frog's Life" podcast.




Or better still: subscribe to it on iTunes and give the podcast a good rating.

The dust has settled and the audience has moved on. Meanwhile I'm coming to terms with a little achievement.

I should be pleased. I am. But shouldn't I be more pleased ?

Last Thursday so many people turned up to the gig I organized. More than I expected. Flattered and touched. Genuinely. However I'm a little pissed off with the venue because the PA system was inadequate. Nobody complained though a couple of people who would know these things did agree with me that it wasn't good enough.

I have to let this go. So many things went well: I didn't fuck up, I'm guessing some folk liked my songs, the video thing was interesting. Most of all: I Did It !!

Next gig there'll be something else I'm not 100% happy with. Is it always going to be this way ? Probably. Better get used to it.

The 'folktronica' thing isn't really happening. I write concise songs and they don't lend themselves to un-natural extension. That's not to say I won't try again with 1 or 2 songs in the future. By the autumn/winter/spring I'll have more gig-ready songs. I think that's the reason why I went for the extended versions this time around: to fill out the gig.

I wonder what people think when they see me play this stuff. Do they really like it or are they being polite ? If they're being polite it's bloody expensive and time consuming for them so I can only guess they really do like what I'm doing. My other fear is that this is not sustainable: will the novelty wear off ? Next spring when I'm trying to get people to go see me in Whelans (large well known Dublin venue) will they show up again or will I be playing to a handful of die-hards ?

I'm still going to do it though. Until someone says I'm biting off more than I can chew I will keep going. I can't not do this.

I heard second hand that one of my songs (Bed For Sale) was praised by another songwriter I admire. So that's two: Dan & Thomas Walsh. Good enough for me. My hunch that there's a rich vein to mine there is right. I should trust myself an little more and use my own voice.

To that end I dug out a song I had been working on titled 'Turning Blue'. It's not a million miles away in tempo and feel from McCartney's "Young Boy" and the colour imagery in the song is probably a bit simple but screw it. While goofing around with the song this evening another song came out. Having had too many glasses of wine to be disciplined about finishing it I might have a bit of a slog to get 2 more verses and a middle 8. Maybe not.

Perhaps when I start demo'ing these two songs with drums & bass & electric guitars the sounds will inspire me to finish the songs. Maybe they're not meant to be finished yet.


Reflecting back on the set I played last Thursday I know what I'm doing right:
- picking a couple of cover versions and making them my own
- keeping the songs concise
- engaging with the audience
- keeping the show going no matter what is happening

Some of the songs just aren't going to be keepers and that's ok. At least I know they're not and as soon as I have better material I'll replace the songs one-by-one. Next time around I want to open with 'Bed For Sale'

So to close, here's a video clip from the gig with that very song. [Yes I know the bloody camera is cutting my head off... I set it up before the gig and didn't have time to deal with the details.]





 

When I was a teenager I dreamt of doing a gig where it was just me. Just me and a guitar and a drum machine. Maybe a synthesizer if I could borrow one.

Tonight I played a gig to launch my first CD. A 4-track EP titled 'Lonely Hearts & Car Parts'

A huge crowd turned out. I say 'huge' because I really though maybe 10 people would show up. I was shocked. Shocked & stunned.

Theres video (not sure what the quality will be like) and lots of photos. This photo is courtesy Eric Paquin.

Tomorrow I'll blog properly. For now I'll put a link to where an interested person could get a copy.