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Sometimes a Bigger Heart - Glenn's Album Progression Part II Fri 9th Oct 2009 Friday 13, 2009 This is the end of this blog since the album is finished, I will probably start another one later. I got one comment, and it said: ‘Glenn, you’re a cunt’. He he, better than nothing I guess. Cheers
No new developments this week I’m afraid, I’m still in Hull and still looking for PR connections and musicians. So the struggle continues I guess. However, some solo acoustic versions of the songs from the new album, plus some covers that I recorded a little while back should be up on You Tube soon. So stay tuned and watch and listen as this drama from the real world unfolds with spectacular intensity.
Photo Shoot Myself, Jamie Akrill, Kent and Marie went to Flamborough to do the photo shoot for the album Sunday. Jamie is a talented young photographer from East Hull who has previously worked with several bands and artists. I was very happy with his work, so I’m pleased with that. We started up in Hull with the intention of going to Hornsea to do the first shots, but the seawater along the coast was brown and not very appealing. We had almost run out of petrol anyway and there were no petrol stations in Hornsea. So we left and went to Flamborough instead. I’ve never been to Flamborough, all I knew was that Flamborough is north of Bridlington and that Bridlington is south of Flamborough. A quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that Flamborough is best known for its oldest surviving complete lighthouse in England. Great! I like lighthouses and will hopefully go and see it some other time. We found a nice beach there, surrounded by chalky cliffs and the incoming North Sea tide. A perfect setting for the album theme photographs, it just had to be near the sea. Marie stayed in the car, probably exhausted from the somewhat eccentric driving by the king of lunacy, Kent Donaldson, while the rest of us walked down to the beach. After that we drove back to Hull, apparently we drove past a dogging site outside Hull at some point but I wasn’t very excited - I couldn’t see any dogs! Oh well, I’m the ignorant Norwegian I suppose. So we finished the session by doing some shots in a long established pub in Hull’s old town, which is by the way, along with Queens Gardens, Hull’s best feature in my opinion. The narrow cobble stone streets and the old buildings have indeed a different feel to it than the blend of new and old shopping malls and the hideous massive car park building you can’t miss to see if you’re coming in from the north side of the city. It makes you wonder who is pulling the strings in city planning. Got great shots, and I will, if all goes well, stand before Jamie’s camera again at some point, somewhere under a stormy sky. Friday 13, 2009 Lyrics / Song writing I have been asked how songs come about, how they are written, what comes first? Are the words written first and then the melody or the other way round? Songwriters have different approaches I guess, but in my case, to answer that in the simplest manner – it’s usually never the words first. That is, I might have one line and I work it out from there. Sometimes I have a clear cut idea that I will stick to and finish the way I had planned, other times words and lines are just scattered across a sheet of paper and after a while it will start to make sense (to me that is) by having some sort of structure and form. Another category is the one where I sort of have an idea that I’m trying to stick to just to find myself writing about something else – which is a good thing, of course, because I might be fortunate enough to surprise myself. Although the song writing process, and in the end the final song is the result of many lonely hours. It has become a habit of doing it in a certain way, normally with an acoustic guitar, sometimes the piano, and nowadays on simple but effective recording equipment. Still, I feel I really want to break with the traditional way of how I’m dealing with these things and take a different approach to the whole hullabaloo. Something for the future I hope. What is the inspiration and motivation behind it? Big questions, but it is what it is and I do what I do. Human beings are by nature pattern seeking, story telling animals, (look up Michael Shermer, he’s got interesting views on these topics) and I am no different – seeking out patterns of causal relationship to make my world seem orderly and meaningful, and listening and writing stories about what’s going on in this world as I experience it. And the way we do that is to colour our experiences – we don’t use the language of science, we use the language of the imagination, which I guess, stems from our propensity to think magically. I am a sceptic, atheist, you name it, I pretty much don’t believe in anything, but I still use words of stuff and things that do not exist, words and names that can only live in the realm of the imagination – in that world there might be gods, unicorns and talking cats, stuff like that works well to convey some sort of message or idea because we as humans like stories and we have an underlying desire to think magically. In the real world it is, of course, perfectly irrational……………but none the less, a lot more fun. This brings me to another point and one that serves as an example. I’m usually greatly inspired by books I read, and lately there is one in particular that I found very intriguing and I know it will result in a number of songs (in fact I have few on the drawing-board already). It’s The Master and Margarita by Michail Bulgakov. I suggest you read it, there’s a demon cat in it, and with a talking demon cat who can play chess and drinks vodka, you just can’t go wrong – that’s a hit. I love cats. God has no place in this novel, and no wonder. If you know a little bit about the Bible (it’s the only religion I know a little bit about) you’ll see that god is an incredible vicious character, not someone you’ll find very sympathetic – absolutely not someone you’ll go on holiday with. The devil on the other hand is a much more interesting character, and the devil is playing a central part in this novel. God is what we make him/her to be. But that just goes to show doesn’t it, god is man made, people in the Middle East had probably good reasons for depicting god as a hideous creature a few thousands years ago. As for the bible, read The Master and Margarita instead – it is not as long. But, back this album I think the underlying theme is the importance of not giving up (I wish I could and I have tried, but it is seemingly not my nature to do so). I admire so many people in this world for this quality. I think it sneaked into my subconscious and wouldn’t let go and therefore as a result, all the songs sort of repeat that message. There are so many good reasons for giving up, but there is one argument that should strike back harder and that is – life is meaningless, struggling for some goal or achievement is the only way this life can possibly have meaning. Being part of this life means that if what you do and say is shaping you into what you are, you can’t lie back and wait for meaning to come to you because – it just simply won’t. That life is meaningless should be an encouragement to work harder at what you want to do because that’s when you are experiencing what it means to be you. Chances of winning the lottery is slim, that you’ll fly off to heaven (or hell for those who prefer the basement) after this life is also against all odds, and something that serves no purpose in this life. It’s a faint dream, it won’t do you much good here and now. I love making music and have done so from an early age, I have had many more downs than ups, and I have wondered many times why the hell I keep doing what I do – but, I can just guess that it is this will, the only thing that keeps me going for real, it is genuinely meaningful what I do even if I don’t make a penny, in fact I tend to lose a lot of money. Yes, life is meaningless, that’s why I am determined to suck some meaning out of it.
Mixing (London) ………..and so off I went, back to the promised land for a pleasant, creative and meaningful period of knitting the blanket together. This is where the major parts of the mix is shaped, and it is the creative part of doing the mix after the noise reductions, technical issues and so on have been resolved. It’s a good thing I could be part of it, so I can blame no one but myself if it doesn’t sound right. I’ve never been happy with the mix in my previous work so this time I will have my say, and also have the chance to work and gain experience from it. That will be priceless. In music and the recording of music there is just so much to learn, you’ll sort of never be really great at it, I guess that’s why my feet are firmly planted on the ground. Maybe too firmly – I find it hard to move. It was quite a smooth process mixing this album. Steve did the first part of this process and I was happy with it, and we could move on from there. This came as no big surprise as it is not an album where ideas and bits and pieces have been scattered around and where mixing would be essential in order to make it work. All the songs have been recorded with the intention of sounding as it did when we played the thing. There’s none of that ‘we’ll fix it in the mix’ sort of stuff. As a consequence the completion of doing the mix didn’t take that long to do. Of course, some fixing is always needed, but nothing major, that’s my view on it anyway. The process has focused on ‘gluing’ it all together – finding the right balance for the different parts, finding the right brush to colour sections or specific themes. All in all just polish and give it that last touch. So, in conclusion we might say that the mixing process started when we started recording, and this is my way of saying thanks to the musicians who contributed on this album. Music is after all not about pushing the right buttons (although it helps very much). Music starts when sound is produced, and that’s why this album sounds as good as it does. I appreciate everybody’s effort and for leaving behind a part of their soul in these songs.
Horn Section, Flute, Pedal Steel Guitar There were bits and pieces that needed to be done on some of the songs. We had it done over a few days in May in Hoxton and Camden. Steve did his pedal steel guitar layers on two of the songs, which by the way sounds amazing. Jake Painter and Chris Webster (trumpet and trombone) did the horn section for one of the songs and their contribution is highly appreciated as it was done with a very professional and skilful approach. During that session in Camden I also did some minor vocal tracks with Karim Fanous. Karim and Jamie Barclay wrote the string arrangement for one of the songs and Jamie recorded the various instruments in his own home recording studio somewhere in London, it sounded well. I’ve never met the guy though, I tried to express my suggestions for the string parts in a handwritten letter, and it eventually came round quite nicely. Then, in Hoxton we tracked the Irish flute and whistle played by the brilliant Jacqueline Hynes. The interesting thing to mention here is that due to the not very compatible key the song is in (for Irish/Celtic music) it was difficult to find a whistle in that particular key. But Jacqueline got hold of a modified one to fit this key……….. and that was the end of it, and a good ending it was too as the whistle issue seemed a problem that would not be resolved – but it did. I’ll take this as a sign of good fortune as I slip out of the recording phase and into the promotional one. Out on high note of positivity looking for that open door, because I will find it and conquer the monster, whatever it is it represents.
Summary – Two New Songs First of all, I didn’t start this blog/diary up again in February like I said because things have dragged out a bit. But it seems as if it is back now – to the excitement or despair to the few that are following it. I have not yet decided whether I can release this album due to some core practical issues which are of a kind I am unable to control or do anything about. But I have decided - regardless of that, to start up this blog again and try to do what I can about these obstacles. So, I will go on with the intention of releasing it and just hope for the best, pretending that these issues will be resolved. We started recording again in late February but since then the process has been a bit fragmented as my life has not been very settled and structured. Well, my life is quite chaotic, that’s normal – so the whole thing got a bit off and on due to my financial situation and so on. Anyway, I am now pleased to announce that the actual recording of the album is finished. That’s the reason why I want to give a brief summary of what we’ve done since February. First, then, as a continuation from where we’ve ended up, this blog/diary will seek to widen in scope and become broader in relation to topics and themes because most of the time I’m not confined within the four walls of a soundproof room. I do this (for the interested reader), so that you can follow me through the different stages on this journey all the way to the summit (whatever that is) which will - I hope, culminate in the release of an album later this year. This last bit of the whole project is perhaps the most crucial one, and I imagine it must be a bit like the last stages of a Mount Everest expedition. I can just sense that the air is getting thinner, temperatures dropping and the little oxygen there is left is sucked up by the mountain demons. And without your backing I’ll certainly not reach the summit, it’s more likely I’ll get a room in a lunatic asylum (perhaps room 118 - for those of you who get the reference). Still, it’ll be exciting to see what comes up in this blog/diary (please do comment if you feel the need and cannot hold it back, you can teach me something – I have yet a lot to learn), it could be anything from demon cats to religion, pseudo-science, corn circles, architecture, literature, Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Peter Sellers, America, Gambia, Spitsbergen, free market anarchism, communism, the story of John Frum, Fox News, clowns, gambling, Melingology, geography, history, evolutionary psychology, the Kanizsa-square, Time Square ………………. slide show, sea side town, coca-cola, football, radio….radio….radio…..radio….radio…radio. Two New Songs Recorded We got together again to record the last two songs of the album in late February and March. Both songs written in my tiny (and I mean tiny) room in West Ealing with a view to Charlie Chaplin’s old boarding school in Hanwell. Never mind, none of the songs is in anyway influenced or inspired by the view. Although I think Charlie Chaplin (one of the greatest) is absolutely incredible. Two quite simple songs I suppose, although in retrospect the one I thought would be very easy to do turned out to be the most difficult, thank god or someone nothing is easy. Still, no need to get worked up by it, but it’ll be interesting to see how it comes out in the mix. As for musicians, we had Dominic Goundar in again to play the drums (he’s now played on every song of the album), and as always - a pleasure. Got a new guy in to play bass, a great guy from Kent – Daniel Seddon. Again, it was a good experience, and it went pretty much as expected. Many thanks to the girl from Brighton who brought us beer after the drum/ bass session - it was very kind of you and very much needed. And that concludes my Hersham experience as we had to – regrettably, leave that studio – the good thing though, is that we got all the major parts of the record done there. Other News...
09/10/2009 - Sometimes a Bigger Heart - Glenn's Album Progression Part II |