Dilemma number 9, 9, 9, 9

Dilemma can come in all shapes and forms. Cheese, no cheese. Mayo, no mayo. What some people call decision making, I turn the simplest of choices into nail biting life or death ordeals. Well, maybe not life or death...

Cheese or no cheese.

The journey of The Light in The Darkness, has seen a number. Not all of which I have written about. Getting to the solution of these dilemmas, for me, often results in celebration - ie not thinking about it any more. Thus, not reflecting or writing about it. But having read out my blog intentions, I will endevour to keep the dilemmas coming - no matter how trival (hmmm - should I change font now... or later).

The Light in the Darkness Saga has seen -
Home or Studio Recording Tragedy.
The Rhythm Episodes.
The Epic When to let fly the songs live? chapter.
Producer or me, me, me opera.
The tale of The Changing of the strings.
Brand or no brand adventures.
Album cover/artwork legends.
To bar code or not to bar code.

Speakers...

And now we are in the midst of the chapter titled - Head Phones or Speakers. Although I have previously mixed and master the album (pre-human drums) I have stummbled across the differences the tracks can sound when mixed solely through the speakers. My bad ass Sony Active Speaker system has been with me every note of the way - but not as a mixing advisor as such. Though it did give me some clues when I layed down one day and notice a bag full of base ruining the overall vibe.

Or headphones...

It feels like a few days having this occupy my mind, but a little reading and thinking about all those days in the studio by the side many a producer and the answer is simple...

Speakers to mix - head phones to fix!

Welcome Brother

.... to The Light in the Darkness.

The man of the moment!

All the way from Melbourne Australia!, through the fabulous world wide web, my bro and I are reunited. While I reach for the Explorers and an extra layer to keep myself from shivering from the damp English darkness, Lorne Chaston has been sweating it out under the hot Aussie sun. He has just completed recording some tasty beats and is helping fend of these winter blues - it's like chocolate to my ears. The perfect way to start the weekend. Right now I am fine tuning the tracks; Thunder Cracks, Without Blood, Burning Lungs, Green Grass and Beyond, in readiness for the independent release of The Light in the Darkness.

The man in action.

The energy and life that he has brought to the recordings is amazing, like twisting a 2D sound into something 3D - more depth, life and human nature. An energy unreplicatable and truly unique. It's great to be reminded of the talent and power the guy posses! The tone of the toms are just something else. Dudes spend years trying to get that.

The man and the machines.

Throughout this journey I have taken all the ideas and possibilities to the end of the road, in aid of getting the best result. Taking the extra time to get to the end of a path only to turn back is worthwhile and has helped me establish how I'll do things in coming albums, recordings and projects. It has help me not only develop a sense of style and technique, but a pedagogy as to why I do things the way I do - not just because this is what others have had success with, or is that cliche bit of knowledge that everyone has, but has no idea why. As time consuming as this "method" seems to have been, it has always worth the wait. I guess, I should say know, this further emphasis the power and possibilities of DIY. Without the clocking ticking and your wallet choking to death - while you pay off some guys condo and Ferrari mortgage.

It is all coming together and I want to say a big thanks a million bro - I am stoked that you are a part of this, the sounds so close yet were on the flip sides of the world!

The Pine Forest that features in

"Into the Darkness" and inspired the lyrics -

"Pine tree dreams escape the broken belief."

Now, how am I ganna get that elusive sister of ours on this?

I can't chat shit that well...

It was a freezing, soaking wet London night. I just found out that my flight to Nice was canceled due to snow and BAA tightarseness on buying de-icer. Whatever that is.

Nonetheless, some die hard friends and fans had made the way down to Camden, and the mood to rock far out weighed the untimely downer.

Proud was host not only to some fine musicians on the night, but also to some industry promoters, the time to strike was upon us. I got a whisper about the event that would be taking place on the night and made sure that my presence was felt. I scrambled together some CD's demoing some tracks from the (soon to be independently released) album The Light in The Darkness and some cool little badges. Like most musician I am terrible at the whole self-promotion side of things (the main reason we get into the arts in general, a lack of people skills - like I can't really chat shit very well. I can do banter with close friends, but cold calling and smoozing- not so good), so I like to speak with actions instead of words. Well, I gave a few to some of the bands I thought were cool on the night and put the packages out on tables and they kept being picked up. Part of me thought that other bands were just nicking them because it is such a great idea, but another part of me hoped they were going to people who thought they'd like a listen or liked what they heard and would tell their friends about the hippest blues guitarist in North London.

The package in question.

With The Sundanze Kid crew in toe, we took up in the stable, ready to spread the good word. Ian had sorted the sound with a quick line check and was interested in the loop pedal. I kicked of the set with Burning Lungs - a bit of slide to set the mood. I have some footage of it, I just need to rotate it so you don't break your neck trying to check me out! The set went well, you should have been there - so I'll be light on the details of it. People liked it though - some people really liked it and were transfixed. It wasn't quite the toe tapping wild break of dawn barn dance vibe that I was hoping for, but I was still turning heads and getting folks to stop in their tracks, stop mid-conversation to give me a chance. I think that's note worthy in today's society. Keeping the blues art form is important to me. Not necessarily in a traditional sense but in essence. There is a lot of competition from all media types so I'll take these small gestures as victories. To those newbies, I hope you enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8mMabtuJck

One thing I know that definately got people listening was the loop - well I just hope it's because of what I was doing with it and not just the magic of one person making so much noise - ya know!?!

That's it for the gigs this year. Maybe I'll slip into a small house party around new years and make some sounds there - and if so, watch out for the footage. Thanks for all the support this year and I can't wait to get the album to you and know your thoughts about it in the new year.

The reflective quality of a badge makes it hard to photograph.

Wild Animals

Wild animals scream at the night, sirens wail and the heaviness of the day begins to fall upon me.

On the 25th of October 2010 I had the good fortune to be apart of Proud Camdens Monday night festival. My old man was in town and in toe we set forth to win fans, play tunes and turn heads. He was over all the way from Australia. Stoked to see him, even if all the ladies chased him instead!

I was suppose to set up stage in one of the rooms out back, which would have been cool. Rammed but cool. But another musician bailed out and the good people offered me the other stage. It looked great with a huge sound system but the room was massive and could have felt empty. But I went for it anyway. Loads of the crew turned up and a few new faces. A good vibe was in the air and the sound check was sorted. One last thing to do...

I got through the first few tracks and after some heavy deja vu was able to relax and stretch out. I started to get lose and my voice felt confident. The crowd continued to grow throughout the set and people returned to the room after filling their glasses. It was a cool vibe. The foot box sounded heavy and got people moving, bottles were being tipped, a few hippy through backs put their "right ons" down, lighters were even being swayed above during some of the tear jerker tunes. I laughed and twisted a line.

It was another step in the right direction for the album that I have spent so long doing. If nights like these are anything to go by, with word of mouth, support and a slice of serendipity, The Light in The Darkness will have some great times ahead.

Check out some live footage of Into the Darkness with a slick first time ever performing with the Loop break out. Big props to everyone who came to the gig, my old man for the first two photos, the video footage and saving me from those crazy girls and to cuzzy Jack for the nice black and white shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR-yMag7vOw

x

The Old Queens Head

The Old Queens Head in Islington is a beautiful old room. A must for all musicians and punters. Returning after a few months I was thinking to myself what I wanted to get out of this gig.

Lots of energy and getting loose and away from the traditional form of the song. For those who saw the gig saw just that. Stoked with the energy and movement and the adventurous carefree attitude to solos. Some really sweet moments throughout. Some - not so sweet.

Thanks to Dead and Alive for the support, The Old Queens Head for supporting live music and my mates and new friends how dug the show. It's feeling alive!

I let everyone beat me at pool...

The second show since completing recording had a more relaxed and confident vibe. Far from running at full throtle but building speed - second gear. The venue was a familiar one - Fibbers in Islington. An earthy bar where the stage is set upstairs. It's small as shit (two couches slightly pushed apart) but perfect for what needed to be done.



The loyal crew were there and provided some much loved support. I let everyone beat me a pool to show my appreciation. Monday night isn't the most rockin' night of the week - but anyone in the know will tell you it "industry night" where all the A&R guys are out and about. But if ya ask me if got a feeling it's a bit of a line to get youngster to pubs on the quiet nights. Just in case A&R's, if ya catch me and want to say hi - I drink double jacks, lots of ice, ginger ale with lime.



Mondays use to drive me insane to play - the feelings hard to pin down. But I dig it now - it feels like skipping out on school. Though - I wont do these too much more as there are bigger fish to fry and once things start to heat up I'll be moving on.




Speaking of which - Monday the 4th of October at The Old Queens Head - 8.30
- Monday the 31st of October at Proud Galleries Camden - 8.30

Details to come.


Thank you to Ivo for the photos - tops mate.

Out of The Shadows

I began writing the album in February 2010 and stopped all live gigs to focus on it. With the final pieces coming into place I thought it important to get some feedback from friends and fans. After not playing to an audience for over 5 months I was feeling rather nervous. Mostly about not knowing the lyrics as confidently as you know you can and as well as all the material being fresh as opposed to one or two tracks in a familiar set. Plus the time and effort that I had already invested. But another part of me was confident that once I'd got these tracks out of the studio things were going to start to roll.



The Old Queens Head is a beautiful saloon style pub with high ceilings, lavishish decore and a good vibes. I couldn't have though of a better venue to give the tunes some air. I figured I would play the track to order, which I concluded a while ago as these fits the story best, especially with the past, present, future structure the album is based upon.



The most nervous part of gigs for me are; is anyone going to show up and can I get a good sound out of the systems the venues have. Things that to an extent are out of my hands. So once my crewed showed up (thank you so much! I can't stress the importance of your support!) and sound check was done (and I was half way through my second JD) things were starting to get more relaxed.

I started the set with Into the Darkness. Fittingly. It has kicked off the album, it's a solid, reliable song that sets the tone and gets the vibe and grooves going. It's a personal song, but as is my style, written to give the audience enough space to add their own thoughts and feelings to it.

The set went off well. A few minor hiccups, a very well received clap along during The Setting Sun, a tribute to my Granddad Elliott during Red Sun Rise as a way of saying goodbye and some sweet sounding slide guitar. Pretty stoked when all was said and done. Like a Phillip Island penguin after feeding time.



Big thanks to Nicholas from Dead or Alive Promotions, The Old Queens Head, Ivo Pauls (photos), and all my friends, fans and new crew who signed onto the email list. You all made the night.