Thursday 29 March 2007

The Rain in Spain (stays mainly in Albir)

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Drip, drip, drip...Yes, a little taste of England has been with us here in Spain for a few days now. I refer to the seemingly endless downpour to which we have been subjected. I shouldnt moan, it throws the glorious days of sunshine into sharp relief! Anyway, onto more exciting things! For the second time in a few weeks, I've been lucky enough to become recipient of the Garage Band website's track of the day award for my song "Funkktion". My last funk offering, "A Cat called Caramel" grabbed the award too, so I'm well pleased. Caramel's currently No.33 in their chart, and Funkktion's entered at 44. It's also garnered some good reviews. It's a painful process sometimes, when your songs get slated, but either way, its good to get feedback on your music, and a lot of the comments really do prove useful and constructive. You should be able to check out Funkktion on Goodaboom shortly, as I think we'll be making it track of the month for April! Also, look out for our Easter surprise, coming soon!!

Tuesday 27 March 2007

Purification

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So there we were, Miki and I, enjoying the sunshine, minding the Street gallery on a windy Sunday afternoon, when I hear Miki whisper, terrified, under her breath, "I dont want to talk to that woman!!" Now Miki is normally quite sociable with the passers-by and prospective clients, so I was a little surprised by this outburst, until she told me about the woman purposefully heading our way. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me about her until after the event...

Miki pulled her cap down firmly over her face and did a good imitation of being part of the lamp post against which we were sitting. The woman came to me, pointing at Miki's Bullfight paintings and wailing "No bien, No bien!" I grinned at her. I'm good at that. "Espanol?" she asked, rather desperately for my liking. "No!" I replied quickly, for once relieved to be English. She continued to remonstrate about the paintings, saying they should be destroyed. "They're only paintings," I said helpfully, with another, hopefully annoying, cheery smile. She proceeded to burst into tears and head across the street.

Miki miraculously returned to life. "Her name is Puri, short for Purification" she said, "and she believes she's been sent by God to purify the human race."She went on to tell me that Puri apparently has a relationship with a guy, but he's in heaven. Bummer.She's well-known for scrounging cigarettes and alcohol from people on the basis of being, well, loony I guess. I understand she's had a few one-night purifications, too. Care in the community's a wonderful thing. I guess she's really taken her name to heart, living up to the maxim of ritual cleansing:"To Remove guilt, sin or uncleanliness". Except she seems to have got it confused with tomming around and cadging cigarettes and booze out of people. And she sometimes appears normal if she thinks people suss her out.Dont you just LOVE the holier-than-thou brigade? I know one thing, it's given me fresh impetus to finish The Heretic's Song. Every cloud has a silver lining. I wonder if its the one her fella lives on?

There's another definition for Purification in the dictionary:
The Process of ridding oneself of something, harmful, inferior, or unwanted yes, Puri, I'll remember that next time you approach the street gallery!

Disclaimer: The author of this piece strongly advocates the treatment of mental health within the confines of a secure and stable environment. He performed many free concerts for patients in a Mental Health Hospital in his youth.

Friday 23 March 2007

We're Back!!

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After completing a massive circle around Europe, taking in 3 countries,3 hotels, and every conceivable form of weather from unseasonable 20+ degrees sunshine in Germany to frankly scary -6 degrees snowdrifts in the Pyrenees, we are back in Albir to begin the task of chronicling the journey, and hopefully entertaining you with our words and pictures. Keep checking in to see new stuff, as we'll be adding items daily. My daughter Hollie has just released her first video with her band Theft of a Doll Its called Blood On Powder Blue, and as her Grandad has just come through a serious but successful operation in England, I'll dedicate it to him...

Monday 12 March 2007

Baring your Soul


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I've recently begun publishing some of my music on a site called GarageBand. Its a bona fide site for the promotion of bands and musicians, with an advisory board chaired by Sir George Martin, no less. I've also been fortunate in receiving 2 track of the day awards, and a number of favourable reviews. The review system generates a chart, and its all cleverly set up to encourage you to review other bands material.And thats when things can get a little stickyI've received a couple of killer reviews, likening my music to "swimming around in the contents of someone's gut" and "aw! this is boring!...the band makes me cringe!"
Now, they are small minority, the rest of my reviews, I'm more than flattered by, but why is it that the odd bad one punctures our self esteem so effortlessly, that we deflate in moments?
...
I'll tell you why. Its because as songwriters, we bare our soul. Even if the subject matter is not always drawn from real life experience, the nature of drawing on the depths of your being to create a piece of music leaves us vulnerable and undefended. Then we put our work out there, naked, for the world to gawk and point at. Some would say you need to develop a thick skin to deal with this, but then I think you would lose something essential to the creative process. I need to feel elation when someone gets what Im trying to do, and if the price of that is misery at the few brickbats that come my way, well, I guess I'll pay it.
I've given a few bad reviews on Garage Band. I'm guilty of forgetting there's a human being at the other end of the line who has to read my criticisms. Now, I always make a point of thanking the reviewer if they've given me a good, or even unfavourable yet insightful review.
Today, I got a message from a guy whose song I reviewed a few days ago.

No matter how harsh the comments are, I feel the song is better for it. Thanks again.
Dominik


I had made many suggestions about how he should change the song, I didn't pull too many punches. He wrote to me to tell me he'd acted on a few of my comments prior to putting the song out on a new CD. The CD is to help the children of fallen American Servicemen. Dominik was a big man to take the criticism, and a big man to make this CD. It's worth baring the soul sometimes.

Saturday 10 March 2007

More than a Feeling

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Friday brought the news that one of the most recognisable voices in rock was no longer with us. Brad Delp, Founder member of Boston along with Tom Scholz, was a big part of the soundtrack of my youth, with what many believe to be the "perfect" single, More than a Feeling, released in 1976.


His soaring vocals were almost beyond belief. Possibly only Queen could rival them for the sheer perfection of production and performance, and we listened to the song, in awe, over and over again. The album was not a disappointment. Track after track of classics assailed our ears. Long Time, Peace of Mind. Boston had just raised the bar impossibly high.

Rest in Peace, Brad. The angels have some serious competition.

A Brush with Poetry on the Road

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Yesterday, I headed north up the coast to Denia, where we had been invited to present our "Brush with Poetry" show at The La Sella Golf Resort (see photo)
as part of the International Women in Business Day. I was accompanied by our gallery assistant Stephanie, as Miki was busy finishing a portrait for Dutch clients who have to leave for home some days earlier than originally planned, and we simply didn't have enough hours in the day!

We arrived to a bustling main conference room, with a myriad of stalls and displays, and a large stage in one corner. It's certainly a challenge narrating poetry and displaying the corresponding pictures to a room virtually on the move!
I wandered in wearing my trademark multicolour print silk shirt, skull head T shirt, bleached jeans and red timberlands. I stood out a bit. Most of the women, dressed in evening wear, looked at me like I had two heads! Nevertheless, my fashion statements notwithstanding, the paintings and their accompanying music and poetry were very well received.

Back on planet Goodaboom today, we were re-visited by our Norwegian friends, collecting the CD of Faerie Tale. Needless to say, they were unable to resist buying yet another of Miki's paintings, and, although their walls are full, they have now begun to plan where to hang it in their SUMMER house! They have a name for their summer residence; "Blahuset" which means "The Blue House" in Norwegian. I think this painting will fit very well!

Tuesday 6 March 2007

A Faerie flies to Trondheim

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Finally recovering from our Sunday Street Gallery exertions (it normally takes a couple of days) I began the day catching up on my laptop jobs whilst having breakfast. I'd barely got the spoon in my mouth, when were visited by a lovely Norwegian couple who'd bought a miniature at the previous weeks exhibition, and also called in this Sunday to reserve a painting. Today, they were determined to "stock up" on works of art, as they are soon leaving Albir to spend the summer back in Norway. They are quite astute in their appreciation of art, and are rarely captivated, but the woman in particular was in turmoil as she found so many of Miki's paintings she loved, she was struggling to make a choice! In the event they left us with four paintings under their arms, one of which is "Faerie Tale". When told it was inspiration for one of my songs, they asked if they might have that as well, and in keeping with our "Brush with Poetry" series, they are purchasing an exclusive "one-off CD of the song to accompany the painting, but you can listen to it here by clicking on the player!



It's quite dissimilar to my usual song output, being a very basic guitar and vocal, with a little bell percussion and some harmonies, but it doesnt need anything else. As the musician of this outfit, I always love it when we sell one of our "joint" pieces, it's a wonderful feeling. They collect the CD on Friday, which will have a full set of lyrics printed inside. Then I guess, a few short days later, our Faerie will spread her gossamer wings for her flight to her new home in Trondheim, Norway!

Saturday 3 March 2007

Trips, Tracks and Thai


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Well, yesterday proved to be somewhat eventful. Miki and I took a trip out to Villajoyosa on a beautiful sunny day, and strolled around its quaint, multicoloured streets, grabbed a coffee and generally chilled out. Its a wonderful little village on the coast,and, whilst its undergoing a massive new promenade development, it seems, in keeping with the more forward thinking Spanish nowadays, that its trademark pastel coloured houses are protected by a preservation order. Its nice to know, because its a great, unique little place, albeit strewn with fascinating examples of Spanish workmanship!!(See The Mighty Pen)




Yesterday also found me, or rather A Cat called Caramel, voted track of the day on GarageBand an online music collective with an advisory board chaired by Sir George Martin. At the time of writing, Caramel has climbed to 29 in their chart, so fingers crossed it will go a little higher! Just click on the icon to access the Garage band page and read some of the reviews I've received.



An exciting new project is underway, which I will tell you all about in good time, suffice to say I will probably be going into the studios in May to begin work on an album with some musical friends! So its getting hectic around here, what with Miki's burgeoning Portrait collection. There are so many kiddies, I think we should open a nursery!

What with all this activity, Miki and I took time out to enjoy a nice Thai meal at Sands in Altea last night. Its the cool bar/music venue/restaurant where I caught Frans De Wijs performing last Sunday, and I liked the look of the menu.We don't get out often , so it was nice to chill with good food and a bottle of wine.
By the way, don't forget to check out the new song of the month for March: Strawberry House!