Posts
...and turned the rain on. I like this time of year though, looking outside through a window into the rain, feeling warm and cosy inside, listening to music, dreaming, reading, going from cold outside into warm places. I was born in the desert, but I'll always like something about Winter in England... Although a blue skied chilly Autumn day is what I like the most, probably.
Found myself in Proud Galleries Camden on Friday night celebrating a mate's birthday. Interesting place always, in fact Camden is a distinct and separate territory... you're either a Camden local or not. There was a pole in the stable next to us, and about three people... that was odd. Good DJ and it's always nice to hear an Oasis B side that isn't Acquiesce over the PA, mixed in with hip hop, soul and indie cuts it was a good vibe.
It takes me about two days to get over hangovers at the moment... that's not so good. Spent Sunday mixing Pussycat tracks, couple of remixes, they're starting to kick which is good...
Reading alot at the moment, I'm not writing so that makes sense. In crime caper mode, 52 Pick Up first and then an Ellroy novel... time to read him considering the press about his new book. Crime writing in their style is interesting, different. Very filmic and stop/start narrative. Good for painting quick, gritty pictures.
Possibly my last set ever at The Half Moon tonight, if the rumours are true and it is set to close soon. Sad, considering the acts that have played there over time, but I've got used to these things. One closes and another one pops up.
I'm cranky at the moment, don't come too close. It's that tired part of the year, creeping to the finish. Would like to finish the Wounded cuts and Dandelion, then the Pussycat stuff but who knows, I'm just looking forward to hitting the beach. Peace, K
... is going on right now it's been hard to keep up.
It took a lot to jump into my next set of recordings after having just finished the Mad Masters EP. I knew I wanted to get a new set of songs down, but I was devastated emotionally, running on empty and I never gave myself a chance to recover. I suppose there is no point in complaining about it though, it's what we do, it's what I choose to do and the minute I stop looking forward or stop thinking creatively I cease to become what I want to be. 'Comes with the territory' some would say, but with that territory comes a deep restlessness, something that never seems be at peace. I just needed time, or at least I told myself that, but actually I just needed to move forward and get on with it. It's just so hard to explain, what it's like to finish a record, especially one that you have invested so much in emotionally, and then to have to jettison that attachment and get on with the next one. It's confusing, because you are living in two states of mind, more than two states of mind actually, because I am also doing all the promotion myself, lining things up, spending ages figuring out how to work web things, program myspace, update sites etc. So what am I doing? Releasing the Mad Masters EP? Starting the next one? Playing the Mad Masters EP live? Previewing the new songs? Recording the new EP? Lining up a tour or dates to support the last one? Looking for managers? Looking for publishing deals? Looking for people to work with? Looking for people to love what I do and give themselves to me and my music? Yearning?
In fact it's all of the above. The important thing is to never think I can stop, to never look forward to 'stopping' or giving myself a 'break', because there is no break.
I also just made a video for Mad Masters with the wonderful creative visual talent of Galen Wainright : http://ping.fm/ZQ8uq
I like it, it captures the feeling of the song. The hellhound is a new friend.
So what's in store? Well, promoting the Mad Masters EP, playing and producing records for the other bands that I have found myself in at the moment, carrying on live and finishing my next set of recordings.... Two weeks ago I went back into the studio with Thomas Juth and played him the new songs. 'Wounded', 'Dandelion' and 'Lady And I' amongst others. We discussed the recordings and takes I had already done in my studio and he agreed that they were of a good enough quality to mix, while I was happy with the takes. We also jumped on the moment and tracked a great line on Wounded with a now vintage Synth (Korg MS 20), Thomas suggested it and it was great... it was fun too, us sitting around this little keyboard playing around, looking for sounds and twiddling nobs and buttons, finding new territory. Then we both recorded some lines in. The same on Dandelion and Lady And I. I then took the tracks home and have been working on them. Wounded is close to being ready for mix I think.
So much, so little time, so many things, so fulfilled, so tired, so alive.
Peace,
K
Rather than it being the other way around, have you ever considered that I believe you need to earn my respect as a listener?
...when I wrote my last entry. I was referring to something I had felt a couple of weeks before, hoping I could feel it again if I wrote about it, hoping that writing about it could bring it back to me and make it sincere. The truth is that I just didn't feel that way when I wrote it, I was too tired and worn out. I was hungry for it, greedy perhaps, but couldn't reach it. That's the way it is sometimes...
Weeks spent in front of vibrating metal. 10 inch woofers and metal dome tweeters. Vibrations instigated by a computer and audio to digital converter. Electric current transformed into sound. Then to wood and string. So fresh, so pure and innocent. Synthesis of fingers and instrument into sound. Vibrations against my stomach and resonance through my body.
You love London. London loves you. You've lived in London for a while now. London knows you. You know London. London tires you out. London is beautiful. London is impossible. London is your home. London is your love. Sometimes you hate your love. London Loves You Through The Years And The Centuries.
And Your Bird Can Sing has always been my favourite, but She Said Blew My Mind. Typical. There we were during the Mad Masters mixing sessions, at the end of a long day's mixing. There we were sat behind the API desk and ProAc monitors, listening to Beatles records. Typical. Typical but transcendental : the euphoria of it, hearing that sound in that listening environment. Hearing the songs working at their deepest levels : mecahnical, structural, melodic, semantic, instrumental. Performance, recording, mixing all blending into one. Intent and purpose revealed on every level. She Said blew my mind. Time and space didn't matter anymore. And Your Bird Can Sing has always been my favourite. She Said blew my mind.
