"You're too self-critical, you're just gonna scrap it anyway, you never finish anything you start"
said the B.F. With that, he reached over my shoulder and, to my horror, hit 'publish'.
That, Gentle Reader, explains the rather abrupt ending to my last entry.
Further explanation is required regarding my absence from these pages for the better part of a year. I can tell you in one word: fishing.
This Spring I became hooked as they say. I became one of 'those people' for whom fishing is an obsession, an addiction, a neurotic compulsion. From the baking sun of high summer to torrential downpours, I persevered. I fought off all manner of bloodsucking fly. I ventured out at midnight when the catfish were lurking. I studied maps and bicycled for miles to new spots where I heard lucky anglers had caught 'monsters'. I scrimped and saved pennies for new boxes of worms. When I wasn't doing it I was thinking about it. Even in the studio I found my mind wandering back to the ole' fishin' hole at the end of my block. Once at the bait shop, I actually caught myself eyeing an 'I'd Rather Be Fishing' belt-buckle thinking,"I could rock this".
Alone and silent on a rickety dock off a bank edged with reeds and old trees. A mink gambols over the rocks. Above, ospreys and kingfishers circle and dive. A heron gracefully spears a frog. Mallard ducks are gentle and curious. Branches are alive with colour-wild canary yellow, cardinal red and jay blue. I exist in a place of poetry. There is no fishin' kitch here, no plastic singing bass or perch emblazoned suspenders. I ponder the rod in my hand, the line which intrinsically connects me to the possibility of a next meal. Nothing exists but this. I don't even crave a cigarette. The Ego has fallen away. That moment of zen so often aspired to has been achieved at last. Nothing has to happen. I don't even have to catch a fish. But I do, and thrill replaces quietude.
Yee-ha! We're eatin' tonight! I can even tell now by the way it moves whether it's a bass, perch or catfish. It feels like a cat fight. It jumps and sure enough I see the sickly yellow colour of it's belly. Recipe index cards shuffle through my mind. Do I even have any cajun spice mix left? He's wrestling with me-be careful he doesn't spit out the hook. Don't lower the tip of the rod. Don't reel too fast. Don't reel too slow. I land him, finally. As he flops around the dock at my feet I prepare for the next adrenalin pumping adventure-dislodging the hook while avoiding nasty spines that exude a mild electric shock. At last I get him safely on the stringer chain, where he joins two other's I've caught earlier. It's getting dark and cold. The fish was warm to the touch, which means the blood is leaving my hands. I'm really hungry. I have to go. But just one more fish...it'll only take 15 minutes...an even number makes for a better dinner for two anyway...just one more fish...I'm shaking-of course it's the just the cold. Just one more...
The season is over now. I think I got it out of my system; the novelty was bound to wear off sometime. Christmas is coming. I should have kept my predilection for angling to myself, for now I dread finding that plastic singing bass under the tree.
I have just been informed by the B.F. that in his family, ice fishing is a Christmas afternoon tradition...
Saturday 7 December 2013
Wednesday 4 December 2013
...Ok, so I didn't keep a 'Studio Diary' during the recording of my e.p. "Closure".
But DAMMIT! I finished something I started, which is a tremendous accomplishment. So it's just a 5 song e.p. and only 3 of the songs are original, it was a goal achieved and I have every right to be proud. From my first tentative attempts to communicate my ideas to the final realization of my artistic vision-right down to the art and packaging-the experience was immensely empowering. I never lost control of the situation, and rarely was there anything that could have been regarded as an ego clash. In fact the experience was so pleasant that Neil and I are talking about getting back to work as soon as possible on a full length c.d.
In the meantime I've been asked to collaborate with a British techno D.J. on 4 tracks, due this February. He has a deal and distribution with an English label. My name will be bandied about in some new and unexpected circles!
My sister, the artist Melissa Mary Duncan recently published a coffee table book of her paintings. I provided a 5 minute piece of music for her Youtube video. I recommend it highly, her work is remarkable!
But DAMMIT! I finished something I started, which is a tremendous accomplishment. So it's just a 5 song e.p. and only 3 of the songs are original, it was a goal achieved and I have every right to be proud. From my first tentative attempts to communicate my ideas to the final realization of my artistic vision-right down to the art and packaging-the experience was immensely empowering. I never lost control of the situation, and rarely was there anything that could have been regarded as an ego clash. In fact the experience was so pleasant that Neil and I are talking about getting back to work as soon as possible on a full length c.d.
In the meantime I've been asked to collaborate with a British techno D.J. on 4 tracks, due this February. He has a deal and distribution with an English label. My name will be bandied about in some new and unexpected circles!
My sister, the artist Melissa Mary Duncan recently published a coffee table book of her paintings. I provided a 5 minute piece of music for her Youtube video. I recommend it highly, her work is remarkable!
Thursday 10 January 2013
RESTART AND REBOOT YOURSELF-YOU'RE FREE TO GO!!!
While initially I had no intention of keeping a 'studio diary', recording will begin to figure prominently in my future posts, as the studio is where I'll be spending most of my time in the next couple of months.
Yesterday I sat in while producer/engineer Neil Lefaive worked in session with up and coming wunderkind Dylan Locke. I wanted to acquaint myself with the space, the gear and the way Neil works. It was enlightening to say the least! I was pleased to find out that I remembered more than I thought I might, and quickly understood the medium and it's process. I asked the right questions and correctly answered his 'little tests'. While the three of us made and ate lunch, we conversed excitedly about production and recording techniques, and I held my own; accepted and respected.
In two days I go back, to begin my own project. I suggested starting with a cover, being one of the easiest ways to establish a working relationship; musical and technical habits and tastes. I hope to deconstruct the song entirely and re-arrange it into something new and different. While this is a daunting task, it will be easier to get to know each other this way, without the emotional baggage that so often accompanies an artist presenting their own work for the first time. It's a vulnerable moment for any songwriter, and I need to feel the element of trust has been established before I can be truly comfortable. I'm still painfully shy-I am a reluctant diva, after all..!
While initially I had no intention of keeping a 'studio diary', recording will begin to figure prominently in my future posts, as the studio is where I'll be spending most of my time in the next couple of months.
Yesterday I sat in while producer/engineer Neil Lefaive worked in session with up and coming wunderkind Dylan Locke. I wanted to acquaint myself with the space, the gear and the way Neil works. It was enlightening to say the least! I was pleased to find out that I remembered more than I thought I might, and quickly understood the medium and it's process. I asked the right questions and correctly answered his 'little tests'. While the three of us made and ate lunch, we conversed excitedly about production and recording techniques, and I held my own; accepted and respected.
In two days I go back, to begin my own project. I suggested starting with a cover, being one of the easiest ways to establish a working relationship; musical and technical habits and tastes. I hope to deconstruct the song entirely and re-arrange it into something new and different. While this is a daunting task, it will be easier to get to know each other this way, without the emotional baggage that so often accompanies an artist presenting their own work for the first time. It's a vulnerable moment for any songwriter, and I need to feel the element of trust has been established before I can be truly comfortable. I'm still painfully shy-I am a reluctant diva, after all..!
Tuesday 8 January 2013
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
While he begins to bear a striking resemblance to Michael Caine over the years, David Bowie still looks amazing at 66. Being an early riser, today I proudly consider myself among the first 307 elite who have viewed the video for his new single on YouTube.
It's haunting; beautiful and understated. What a wonderful way to start a day-what a wonderful day to start recording...
While he begins to bear a striking resemblance to Michael Caine over the years, David Bowie still looks amazing at 66. Being an early riser, today I proudly consider myself among the first 307 elite who have viewed the video for his new single on YouTube.
It's haunting; beautiful and understated. What a wonderful way to start a day-what a wonderful day to start recording...
Wednesday 2 January 2013
DECEMBER 31st, 2012
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTI SMITH!
Like some heroine, you remain strong and defiant. You honestly believe that Rock and Roll can change the world for the better; it takes more than flashing peace signs and crowing useless platitudes to achieve unity. Like a nurturing matriarch, you give solace and comfort to the Rock and Roll Niggers of the world. You assure us that we can move forward, but only when we continue to take on an establishment of entertainment corporations and wanna-be impresarios who exploit the vulnerable. Outside of society is where you'll find me, with artists, poets and madmen; the brilliant, broken disenfranchised who shred their souls to bring beauty and substance to the world, yet remain vilified as abnormal, indigent, unpleasant eccentrics...
Patti, you've taught me that if our songs are our children, as so many have said, then I must
defend them with the ferocity of Ursula, the mother bear. You've taught me that art is the truncheon with which we will smash the state. You've taught me that tilting at a few windmills is not as futile as it would seem. Most importantly, you've reminded me that art, music, Rock and Roll is indeed a noble vocation, that suffering for art is not a cliche`, and when music and art can teach true understanding, compassion and acceptance, only then will it change the world.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTI SMITH!
Like some heroine, you remain strong and defiant. You honestly believe that Rock and Roll can change the world for the better; it takes more than flashing peace signs and crowing useless platitudes to achieve unity. Like a nurturing matriarch, you give solace and comfort to the Rock and Roll Niggers of the world. You assure us that we can move forward, but only when we continue to take on an establishment of entertainment corporations and wanna-be impresarios who exploit the vulnerable. Outside of society is where you'll find me, with artists, poets and madmen; the brilliant, broken disenfranchised who shred their souls to bring beauty and substance to the world, yet remain vilified as abnormal, indigent, unpleasant eccentrics...
Patti, you've taught me that if our songs are our children, as so many have said, then I must
defend them with the ferocity of Ursula, the mother bear. You've taught me that art is the truncheon with which we will smash the state. You've taught me that tilting at a few windmills is not as futile as it would seem. Most importantly, you've reminded me that art, music, Rock and Roll is indeed a noble vocation, that suffering for art is not a cliche`, and when music and art can teach true understanding, compassion and acceptance, only then will it change the world.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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