Author: Steve

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Black Monday

Today was a very dark day – my D:/ drive on my computer crashed. That’s the one with all my music on it. ALL my music – four new album’s worth of stuff. and numerous other bits ‘n’ bobs. All in all, about eight months of work. And now the drive is dead. Well, currently it’s dead. It’s not powering up at all. My C:/ drive is fine – that’s the one that I’m using at the moment. The D drive was a massive 80Gig monstrousity that was used solely for music stuff. oh bugger.

I’m currently researching data recovery options, which turns out to be VERY expensive. I mean, I’ll have to go that route if I can’t find any other way of getting the info, and I could really do with having the music (especially the stuff for the duo album with Theo which is meant to be out in September/October…)

So, if you work in Data recovery, or know someone who does, or have any ideas on what to do. PLEASE email me with your suggestions – even if you’re in the states – a flight to the US is gonna be cheaper than the quotes I’ve had for data recovery in London! scary stuff. So thoughts and prayers please.

soundtrack – nowt.

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clearing out my closet..

…no, not in the eminem sense! With the impending release of my duo CD with Theo Travis, I need to make some space for the new CDs, hence the ‘special offers’ link now posted in the sales bit of the website front page… if you or any of your chums have been waiting for some reason to get my CDs, now’s the time to do it – cheaper than ever if you buy all three! :o)

Anyway, talking of new releases, I’m just listening through some of my recordings with Patrick Wood, keyboardist and guitarist extraordinaire, with whom I’m playing a duo set at Greenbelt. We’ve been talking about the possibilitiy of doing a limited edition CD for the festival, so I’m listening through the recordings with a view to editing some of it down…

Oh, I’ve just noticed that this is my hundred and first post in this version of the blog! happy birthday for yesterday, I Guess… silly of me not to notice and post something of great pith and moment in my last blog entry, but still, it’s a landmark and must be made mention of somehow. I’ve no idea how many blog entries were in the old version – maybe I’ll go back and read some.

What else? nothing much. Just parcelled up a box-load of CDs to send of the cdbaby.com – cdbaby is an excellent site for independent musicians. The way my cd sales breakdown, the majority are either at gigs or through evinsol.co.uk, but that’s largely because evinsol tends to get them listed before anyone else, and is the place I use for pre-orders of a new CD when it comes out (the usual deal will be available when the CD with theo comes out, with advanced orders getting a very limited edition free extra CD!)

But aside from that, cdbaby has been a really good sales outlet for me, as it’s made my music available to a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise have found it – the search functions there are really intuitive, and it seems like a lot of people shop there as a way of finding new hidden gems, and of supporting independent music – something I obviously endorse wholeheartedly. I’ve bought some great cds from cdbaby – cds by Pamela Sue Mann, Ron Miles and Alex Skolnick, all three of which are Excellent, and highly recommended. click on any of those links to head over to cdbaby and hear samples of their stuff!

…it’s a simple as that, which is the odd thing with the internet – the potential market at any one time is ENOURMOUS. I mean, huge. millions. but it’s the same for any artist, and we’re all vying for people attention. The best we can hope for, being fair and realistic, is that people who connect with what we do can find it. The mainstream industry relies on sensationalism, titilation and crass hype to foist sub-standard music onto the public. The indies having neither the money of a billionaire not the morals of an alleycat can’t really stoop to that, so we’ve got to rely on actually being worth listening to (imagine that!) – so far, it’s working out ok… ;o)

Soundtrack – right now, it’s the duo tracks with patrick wood, before that, Cara Dillon‘s album – she’s a folky singer with a beautiful voice, and some gorgeous songs – well worth investigating.

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Bass overload!

This morning was fun – Victor Nicholls, a very fine looping bassist came round for a jam and to swap a few ideas. He’s a very fine musician, and rather annoying from the point of view of my constant harping on about the need for fretlines on fretless basses in that he plays an unlined fretless with marvellous intonation! Still, that’s one more on the plus side to outweigh the millions of tuneless warblers using excessive vibrato to simulate being ‘in tune’… you’re not fooling anyone!

Anyway, I digress. Victor came round, and made some great noises – he really ought to do a solo album (victor, you really ought to do a solo album). the other projects that he’s been involved with that I’ve heard have been very good – you can check one of them out and find out some more info about Victor at www.big-hair.co.uk.

Yesterday, I hooked up a TL Audio 5051 preamp that I’ve borrowed from student simon into the FX loop on my Lexicon MPX-G2 – it sounds amazing. Really really great tone. I’m going to have to get one of these for the solo rig. On thursday I used it as a mic pre for BJ Cole’s sound, and that’s pretty damn fine too. So it’s going to be time to buy a bigger rack very soon, so I can get my other echoplex and this preamp into the rack. Also time to switch to a stereo set up for live work – powered speakers are on the horizon…

this afternoon I’ve been mocking up some artwork for the me and theo album – we haven’t even got titles for the tracks yet, or even agreed on a final running order, but it’s always nice to have something to work from, so he can come round, have a look at what I’ve done so far and say whether he loves it or hates it! The whole process of putting an album together is so much fun – I could quite easily do it four or five times a year, given the budget (so go and buy some CDs now, as it’s all dependent on how fast the last album sells… ;o)

soundtrack right now, it’s Daft Punk, ‘Homework’; before that Nik Kershaw, ‘To Be Frank’, and lots of me and theo and me and BJ!

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The strange ways people find my music!

as you know, my CDs are on the cdbaby.com site, and one of the things you can get from cdbaby as an artist is a list of where people came from to find your site – and this is one of the links that someone used to find me –

http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=hear+baby+chicken+sounds+&FORM=SMCRT

so, buy my CDs and hear baby chicken sounds – simple as that!

…anyway, this reminds me that I need to send another box of CDs to CDBaby as they’ve just about sold out of Not Dancing CDs… there’s been a mini-rush of sales to Japan, which is rather cool… must get a japanese language page up on this site somewhere… hmmm, time to email Chi, methinks…

Soundtrack – right now, Mary Chapin Carpenter, ‘Time Sex Love’ – one of the most consistently fantastic singer/songwriters around, rarely does anything edgy or groundbreaking, but just focusses on write fantastic songs and using great musicians. Is also blessed with a gorgeous voice… Before that was listening to Ma, ‘Links’ – Ma is a French electronica/dancey stuff artist, who came over the London to buy an Echoplex from me last week (still got a couple left is anyone’s interested – drop me an email…) – she’s just sent me her CDs which are really really good. Great sounds, great voice… ….and before that, Morphine, ‘B-Sides And Otherwise’, which is genius.

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celebrating two old guys…

Yesterday I went to visit my grandparents – my Grandad is 93, and apart from his memory being really unreliable, he’s in remarkable shape for a guy his age. Last week he tripped over some broken tarmac while on holiday in Devon and damaged his hip. Had three days in hospital, couldn’t walk when he came out. Fastforward a week and he’s up and about on a zimmer frame, which is pretty impressive for a 93 year old body. I think part of it is forgetting that he’s ill…!

Anyway, he’s a fantastic old bloke, full of wonderful stories from his youth – I found out not that long ago that he was an avid record collector in his younger days, which must be where I get it from. I’m going to have to visit him soon armed with a minidisc recorder and get some of his great stories down for history. Aural history is an amazing thing… or do I mean Oral history? Do you speak it or listen to it? hmmmm. Anyway, rock on, grandad, you’re a star! Much credit must also go to my step-nan, Margaret, who’s one of the most amazing women I know – she’s well into her 80s, and looks after the old man incredibly well. She’s a retired nurse, and knows loads about most things. She’ll feed you til you burst. I’m very lucky to have two such marvellous grandparents…

Who’s the other old guy? Well, today is the aged feline’s birthday! He’s 18, which is in cat years about the same age as my grandad! He too is in remarkable shape for his age, and seems to be getting fitter over the last year not worse. His old joints are a bit creaky, and lying down is a bit harder than it used to be, but he’s not having any of those fits he was having anymore, and is still the most loveable snuggly little chap in the whole world. If you have a look at the sleeve to Not Dancing For Chicken, there’s a piccie of him inside (which is as good a reason to buy a CD as there has ever been…) Anyway, much birthday snuggling for The Aged Feline today – would love to give him lots of quality snacks, but he’s on a renal diet so we’ve got to be v. careful what we give him… if he’s lucky, he’ll get a few of his faves later – mushroom pate, cucumber and a little bit of red pepper…

What else is going on? ah yes, was recording today with BJ Cole, pedal steel genius – BJ’s a very nice bloke, and an awesome musician. The challenge of combining two such full sounds as my bass sound and BJ’s steel is a fascinating one, and one that we’re getting the hang of – some of the stuff we recorded today is fab!

Also been mixing the tracks for my album with Theo Travis this week. that’s the mixing this week, not the album. that won’t be out til september at the earliest. But it’ll be worth the wait – it’s gonna be fab!

Anything else of note this week? Lunch with Jam on Tuesday was class – he’s a comedy writer, and all round top bloke. Very funny (obviously), and a good friend. Sitting in a cafe in soho in the sunshine with jam is a pretty near perfect way to spend a tuesday afternoon.

soundtrack – right now, James Taylor, ‘October Road’ – this was lent to a friend for MONTHS, but I finally got it back, and it won’t be leaving the CD player for a while. It’s a work of god-like genius. Other than that, Charlie Hunter, ‘Return Of The Candyman’; Daft Punk, ‘Homework’; Simeon Harris, ‘Realms Of Elements’ and lots of me and theo!

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fine indie radio shows…

As Paul hasn’t been broadcasting on G2 Top Banana Radio (“all the crap, all the time!”) for a while, I’ve been listening to Whole Wheat Radio – which is great fun, not just cos they’ve been playing my tunes either…!

Steve

Soundtrack – The Pixies, ‘Doolittle’; David Torn, ‘Tripping Over God’; Cipher, ‘One Who Whispers’; and now, whole wheat radio… check it out!

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amusing article

DIY Glastonbury – it’s not a new article, but I was just emailed it without the credit, but this seems like the source…

Soundtrack – nothing! I haven’t listened to a single piece of music all day, and I think that’s a first for me, for a heck of a long time. I’ve not had the radio on, not put a CD on, or an MP3 or anything. Nothing, nada, nowt, bugger-all. Very bizarre. All I’ve heard is the sweet sound of tennis ball on tennis racket. Ah, wimbledon fortnight – gotta love it!

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Mash It Up!

Mash Ups have made a bit of a splash in the last couple of years, with what were originally bootlegs getting released as singles (the remix of that Sugarbabes single mixed with Cars was the biggest of them), and here’s a site given over to loads of ’em. Some very creative stuff going on here.

Soundtrack – right now, some mash ups, before that, Paul Simon, ‘One Trick Pony’.

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Can't think of an interesting title

So what’s new? Gig at the Klinker on Thursday was a lot of fun, though it was also a bit of a (self-inflicted) hassle, in that I forgot two leads that I needed and had to come back for them, which meant Rick and I had no soundcheck as such, and that I missed a fair bit of his solo set 🙁 Still, the gig went well – I was just using one Echoplex and the Kaoss Pad, and the combination of that with Rick’s arsenal of percussive and ambient sounds was really cool – some very fine moments.

Friday morning, I had to take Andrew to the airport at 6.30, so couldn’t stay late at the Klinker on Thursday, sadly. Hopefully will get to spend more time with Rick and Chris this week, if they make it back to London…

The rest of the weekend has been lovely and relaxing – went to church this morning, and to ikea this afternoon to get a new CD storage thingie, which is v. nice, and also home to my new Bonsai! after the last one died, I wanted a new one, and finally got round to getting one midweek, as mentioned in last blog entry.

Just google-ised my name – not done it for a while, so was checking for new entries and links etc. Found one v. interesting link on wikipedia – not sure who posted it there, but apparently I’m one of the eleven influential bassists… hmmm, v. flattering, not sure it’s true, but I’ll leave it there. I did just add an entry on my own name (or rather, The Captain entered a daft entry, which I replaced with something a little more sensible…)

Soundtrack – right now, Blackstreet, ‘Another Level’; in the last few days – Bruce Cockburn, ‘You’ve Never Seen Everything’; Spearhead, ‘Everyone Deserves Music’; Athlete, ‘Vehicles And Animals; Cocteau Twins, ‘Victorialand’; John Coltrane, ‘Lush Life’; The Sundays, ‘Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’ and in the car (ehem) Cinderella, ‘Long Cold Winter’ (80s metal, sung in the style of miss piggie, for some bizarre reason).

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