I wasn't going to post a diary page here at Goodaboom, but Miki persuaded me that I would have other things that I might want to share that would not sit easily with the stories and poems in The Mighty Pen, and , as usual, she was right!
It has been a rainy miserable day here in Albir as we hurtle inevitably towards Christmas, but the weather hasn't really inconvenienced me as I've been somewhat incapacitated by a severe ankle injury sustained whilst running for a plane after a gig in the UK. (Don't ask)
Anyway, today, I dragged myself down to my sound studio and began work on a new project, namely, writing a song for my friend, the 80's soul star Jaki Graham.
I have pretty much always written for myself, be it solo or as a frontman for a band (with the exception of a string of songs for my daughter when she was starting out, co-written with producer Clyde Ward.) So it was a good challenge when Tony, Jaki's manager and husband, said they wanted to hear anything I might have that I thought might suit her.
I started by listening to a lot of Jaki's stuff (mainly from her '94 album, see photo) and immersed myself in the grooves, trying to imagine bringing the feel up to "now". It had to have a dance feel, but I remember her saying to me once, after I had played her some Mothers Finest (U.S. Funk Rockers) that she wouldnt mind doing something a little rockier. So I kind of took that as my starting point. I started the track with a few keyboard chords and a sax line, before the beat kicks in, so that she could use that section to do some trademark ad-lib vocals, and in the chorus, I underpinned it with some guitar powerchords to give it some bite, but set them back in the overall sound picture.
Its worth mentioning here, the similarity between composing and painting. Miki and I have constantly noticed this since we began working together. When you are working on a song, you have to imagine the "picture " in your head, and place all the necessary components in their rightful place, to achieve the correct balance. Different sounds can colour the piece in a variety of ways, and the smallest change, in, say, the level of the rock guitar on the chorus of this song for example, drastically alters how the song is perceived by the listener.
I think this similarity explains why Miki is so invaluable to me as a sounding board for my early mixes. She instinctively knows if I have too much, or not enough, going on at any given point in the song, and it helps me keep my perspective when I am "too close" to the track.
I needed this song to have an almost subliminal rock kick, but carried primarily by a dance groove. So, half a day's good work, and I have the basis of the intro, verses and chorus. The second half of each verse is almost acting as a bridge, so there is no need for a stand alone extra section. With dance tracks, simple is best anyhow. My big tasks now are to layer some more brass and perhaps a hammond organ in there without "muddying" it up too much, and then crucially, getting a nice balance of everything, so the vocal soars above the verse chords, and comes in with a bang on the choruses. I cant say for sure that I'll be doing much in the next few days, as Miki and I will be fully occupied celebrating Christmas(!) but I'm happy to have got the bare bones down, and I now have a solid base to work from.
We both wish you a great Christmas and New Year!
Kev Moore
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