Comings & goings

I've taken a few weeks break from recording/mixing as I was starting to get a bit jaded with the whole process. As it stands I have mixes of every song but there's still work to be done. The volume levels of the tracks aren't all equal, which is going to require re-mixing some tracks in order to get them to the same volume level as the others. There's also some recording to do which I'm putting off until I have good mixes of every song. Still to come is BV's, horns on 'Only a fool' & piano on 'City Streets'. I may also put a lead on 'I'll wait for you' but I'm not 100% on this as it sounds nice just as it is. My friend Shalesh advised not to as he liked the sparceness of the track but I'm not so sure. Best to record a lead then see if it works or not.
To tell the truth I'm really looking forward to this being over as I want to get started on a solo record. I'm looking forward to recording a bunch of songs with just guitar & vocal. I'm even going to attempt the BV's as well which means I'll be harmonising for the first time. I'm actually starting to hear harmonies now, which is a first for me as traditionally I've been a melody only type of singer. I figure learning to harmonise can only be good for me so quite looking forward to that! Anyway, first things first, gotta finish this goddamn record. I really hope this is the longest a record ever takes me to complete. What a mish!

Solo gigs coming up on August the 9th & 21st.

Mojo Cafe - May 23 2012

And so another Mojo cafe gig comes and goes.. This was actually a really fun evening, it started a little worryingly with only a handful of people there. So few in fact that we delayed the show starting to allow more people to arrive. The opening act was someone I'd met a month or so earlier at a friends bbq, he played his own tunes on both ukelele & guitar. Nice thoughtful songs with some intricate playing, particularly on his uke. A good guy to boot, we exchanged details after the show, I'm sure we'll play together again. Next up was Carly & Mark doing some of Mark's own songs & one cover - Adele's 'Someone like you', beautifully sung by Carly. The evening really kicked off once these guys started. The lights got dimmed and they really captured the crowd (which was by now nearly a full house). Again, I'll get them back, there's real potential with these two so it'll be interesting to see them progress. I finished the evening off with a short seven song set:

Relationship Blues

Do it Right

Poison Tree

Portrait

Lullaby

Merry Go Round

Stones In My Passway

It went ok I started badly, 'Relationship Blues' is a new song which I haven't finished yet & I as hoping to wing it & improvise on the spot. I've done it before & had good results, having to make it up as I go has actually made me come up with some good stuff, but not tonight. I leaned in to start singing & completely forgot the few lyrics I actually had written. So I started mumbling instead. Then I couldn't figure out the structure of the song so started playing the same thing over & over again - not cool. Anyway, I mercifully ended the song, by which time all the attention I had after Carly & Mark's set had been lost. I started 'Do it right' & things got worse, I just didn't play it well & I could feel the set slowly slipping from my control. It was threatening to slide into a forgettable evening. By the time I started 'Poison Tree' the crowd was talking over me & I was starting to panic. I decided instead of trying to play over them I'll play quieter and see what happens. Funnily enough, when I settled down, so did the crowd. This was where I pulled the set back around, about half way through this song the crowd went quiet. A small victory! From there, Portrait went well, Lullaby not so much & I finsihed well with another new tune, Merry Go round & Robert Johnson's 'Stones'. 

Overall a good learning experience and good moments but certainly not my best show. I'll give it a 6/10.

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy - Mixing

And the mixing has started.. I now have rough mixes of all 10 tracks, it's pretty amazing to hear songs I've heard in my head for up to 15 years finally starting to take physical form. I had a pretty emotional response the first time I heard the strings on 'Fallen'. I wrote that song in 1997 and always heard the string section you can hear below & to finally actually hear it when my buddy Dylan added them was a pretty intense moment. Anyway below is three more works in progress 'Oh my lover', 'Portrait' & 'Fallen'.

In the studio - A Photographic Essay

Sorry for the lame post title, I couldn't resist.. some shots from in the studio last Wed night, with John putting piano & keys down. The results of which can be heard on the two tracks in my previous post.

Alan & John prep the piano

Feet

Let it be

Paul taking care of the recording

 The fab four looking on making sure we're doing it right

 Looks familiar...

My hero

John & George Bush strike a pose

 Switching to the Rhodes for "Secret Garden"

The drive home

Mojo Acoustic - March 30, 2012

Played Mojo Acoustic again last night with Matt Reading guesting with me for his first full set, bar one track.

This Old House
Do It Right
The Old Man & The Sea
Together, Forever
I Remember
I'll Wait For You
Stones In My Passway (Robert Johnson)
Heaven's Above

This was a tough show. Matt & I practiced pretty extensively leading up to it but unfortunately it just didn't go our way. I had a funny feeling leading up to it that it could turn into a forgettable gig, the setlist I chose was ballad heavy and that's never a good thing. There's only really three tracks of the eight that have any kick: Do it right, I Remember & Stones in my passway but by the time I realised the set was so wussy it was too late, we were too far into practicing for me to throw some new tracks on Matt to learn. I tried to cover it up by pacing the set as best I could, we broke the ballad's up so the tempo of the set never got to dull by always having a slow song followed by something with a bit more kick but in the end none of that mattered because the sound dominated everything.

Unfortunately Alan set up his massive Bose P.A in the tiny mojo acoustic room & it was just too much for the small venue. We had to stop twice mid-song due to feedback, and onstage Matt and I couldn't hear anything at all. We couldn't tell if it was too loud or not loud enough, I could feel the power of the p.a everytime I leaned into the mic so I never felt like I could actually sing with any purpose without completely going over the top. In the end Matt stopped singing and playing his shaker, two things that we had practiced heavily, and resorted to just sitting still and playing guitar on a couple of tracks. Needless to say it was a very frustrating set. As always there were a couple of songs that I thought went well, Stones in my passway, which was my first time playing one of Robert Johnson's songs was pretty awesome to play live (even though most people had given up on us by then), we played 'together, forever' and 'Heaven's above' well too, but by then it was too late. The audience had moved on to their beers and chatting.

Still, there's always good things to come out of these nights. I learned that I need to get bigger, Mojo acoustic is too small & I need the challenge of a bigger stage. Also that I need to control the sound of my shows or find a reliable sound man that I trust.

I give the gig a 3/10. A couple of nice moments for Matt & I personally but overall a forgettable show.

The Old Man & The Sea - Feb 2005

Here's an old live recording of us doing 'the old man & the sea' at Indigo (now San Fran Bathhouse). I came across this while trying to find an example of a harmony for it as Matt is helping out on it for the show on the 30th, and Carly was always the perfect harmonizer for my tunes..

Hello

Lissie covering Lionel. Actually rather awesome.

Lissie from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.