Guitar Inadequacy, or The Ferry Supremacy

Last Saturday I saw Bryan Ferry perform at Casino Rama.
I saw Ferry in 1988 - my first concert and the moment I became a fan. In the last 23 years, I was sure I'd built the memory up into this fantastical, fictional account of what was likely a good concert, but not the "be-all, end-all of live music."

Well, if the 2011 show is any indication, I was wrong. The almost 2-hour performance was the best live concert I have EVER seen. Ever, ever, ever. Better than any of the half-dozen David Bowie performances I've attended (and that says something). Better than The X-Pensive Winos, which previously held either the #1 or #2 slot... Just phenominal.

One surprise was how guitar-oriented the setlist was. Another was how impressive Chris Spedding was as one of Ferry's guitarists. I've seen lots of DVD footage of Spedding, and knew it was good. But the lines he played last night were awe-inspiring. I've never seen such intricate slide-guitar skills, for one. Wow, wow, wow.
Now I feel quite the fool for not seeing his rockabilly performance last year at The Cadillac Lounge. His skills put mine to shame.
In fact, he's inspired me to improve my own guitar technique. I have been playing for 23 years now, and have been pretty confident with my abilities: whatever I want to play, I am able to play. Saturday night I saw lines plucked that I COULD NOT repeat. And I want to.

So now it's Tuesday morning. I am sitting in a hotel room with my wife. We're taking a mid-week holiday to celebrate our first anniversary. And my acoustic guitar is sitting in the corner, waiting for me to lay my hands on it. I'm about 5 minutes from that right now...
I WILL become a fantastic guitarist. I will, I will, I will. My plan had been to take piano lessons to improve that facet, but f**k that - the guitar comes first.

Idol Worship

Tonight I'm heading up to Casino Rama to see Bryan Ferry.

In August 1988, a wee lad of 14, my parents had an extra ticket to his Bete Noire tour in Toronto. I agreed to go simply because there was nothing good on TV that night. I hated Ferry and his Roxy Music cohorts. Ugh, that was music my parents listened to. There weren't nearly enough gritty guitars... But I went.
We got to Exhibition Stadium, and I looked at all the middle-aged, middle-class fans with distaste.

The lights dropped, as the steam rose from the audience. As the curtain dropped, the first notes of Limbo started. 60 seconds in I was hooked. I was dancing on my chair for the entire show, a 100% convert. At the end of the show, I elbowed my way to the front of the queue to buy a t-shirt.
I then spent 10 years obsessively listening to Roxy Music and Ferry's solo material. Weathering the barbs of friends who didn't "get it." It wasn't fashionable to like glitter and glam. In the late 90s, it suddenly became trendy, and fellow musicians were jumping on the bandwagon.
For a laugh, i wore my Bete Noire memento to a rehearsal and my drummer gasped "where did you get that?" At the concert, I glibly replied laughing on the inside.
Around that time, his portrait was tattooed on my left forearm, along with similar icons of David Bowie and Keith Richards.

I have spent the last 23 years trying to see him in concert again, and always in vain. The first tour that hit Toronto after '88 found me broke and unable to afford a ticket. The next couple, including Roxy Music's reunion in 2001 (ish), found me forced to be elsewhere.
A few months ago, he announced a North American tour. I noticed that while there was no Canadian gig listed, there was a suspicious 6-day break between New York and Ohio. That's too long a break... I trolled the internet until discovering a sneaky, not-well-publicized stop in Rama.

So now I've got fantastic seats to tonight's show. Prepare to be bombarded with posts about one of my musical idols and more Ferry-inspired music blasting from my studio in the near future.

Pop Songs, Pop Songwriter

This morning I wrote a new song. So far it's called 'Tonight'.

It occurred to me that this is the socond song I've written that shares a name with an Iggy Pop song. Well really the third - I once wrote a song called "Some Weird Sin," but I intentionally took that name from one of the tracks from his Lust For Life album. How could you not write a song with a catchy line like that?

A few years ago I wrote No Fun. Same name as the old Stooges song, but purely coincidental. And now Tonight...

As long as I don't write a song called I Wanna Be Your Dog, i think I can still claim innocence.

Life After LIE

Love Isn't Enough is selling steadily (thank you!), and i'm quite pleased with that. The reviews and comparisons are surprisingly flattering. So if you haven't bought it yet, join the masses, HERE!
Reverb Nation, my online distributor is selling MP3 downloads as well as physical CDs. I was surprised the other day to see that they also sell hoodies, t-shirts, water bottles, and bags! I'm thinking about branding a few of those too - we'll see how that goes...


I've started writing the next batch of songs, although it's still too early for the next album to have much definition. Still, (tentatively titled) You And Me, Not My Song, You're A Star, Crazy, My Clown, and Your Loving Song are pretty-well flushed out at this stage. Whenever I have free time, my wife can usually find me with my Takamine strapped on, belting out one of these tracks.


I've also been asked to play guitar in a part-time "irish rock" band. They generally get together each February/ March and play a few shows around St. Paddy's Day. There's no committment yet, but I'm interested. It could be a lot of fun, and I miss playing live.

That's it for now. Keep on rockin in the free world (and elsewhere).

First Words

LIE has been online now for a couple of weeks, and the first comparisons are coming in. Quite good, in fact. A surprising number of people have noted a "Mark Knopfler" sound. I really didn't expect this - while I like Dire Straits, i've never thought of them as an influence.
I've heard "Bowie-esque," and that one was quite flattering. I could never hold myself up anywhere near that, but apparently there's an influence showing through.
One or two have mentioned "a stripped-down U2." Another good one.

You know, i don't think there have been any bad comparisons. Apparently i'm not influenced by "a steaming pile of deaf dung."

A couple of reviews have noted that the vocals are a little "pitchy," and i can accept that. I refused to use a pitch-shifter to perfect them, and was happy to get them to the level they attained. They're HUMAN.

This is getting off to a good start.



edit: One flummox - 'Wow' was called "dripping with sarcasm." It was actually expressing my awe of Tim Booth, of James. The man is one of the most eloquent pop stars in action these days. I guess people just assume that I don't give compliments...

Fait Accompli!

It's done! Last night I did the final tweaks to Love Isn't Enough.
When my wife came home, I was busy uploading to ReverbNation.com and setting up the packaging for sales. She saw what I was doing, and got excited. After congratulating me and being very excited, I think she noticed that I was somewhat blasé about the whole thing.

After listening to it literally hundreds (if not thousands) of times, I had to admit that I was in the close-out processes of this project. I don't perform live, so this is the end of LIE as far as my own interaction goes. Now it's just thrown at the Web for listening (and hopefully sales). There's a link on the right side of this blog to either buy or listen.

This morning, I left our apartment with my MP3 player blasting the album. When the first chorus hit in Don't Pity Me, I got chills. I'm excited. I'm proud. I feel like I've raised a child that is now leaving home. I want to see how it is received into the world, and whether it can stand on it's own feet without support.

As it is, I've spent the morning listening to it again and again. I like it.

:)

Cover Art

Jonathan Barrie came up with a fantastic cover for Love Isn't Enough.

While I piece everything together and master the record, feast your eyes on this:

Mixed!

Love Isn't Enough is mixed!
All i need now is a quick mastering job, and the final artwork. The mastering won't be an issue as I have no intention of compressing the life out of my project (unlike the general industry tendency these days).

For now, here are a couple of YouTube clips. At various points, these two tracks show the improvement a year's singing lessons can accomplish (thanks KH!).

Finishing The LIE

It's 10:30 on a Sunday morning.
I'm listening to the final mix of LIE, and can't sit still. I'm pretty anxious to throw this one out to the world.

LIE: Love Isn't Enough has been a long time in the making. Not just the 6 months or so that I've spent recording. The oldest songs, Love Isn't Enough and What To Say might be 18 months old at this point. But then there's the history. I've spent 37 years causing havoc, and it's these memories and experiences that have shaped me and my writing. Loving crazy women, loving one that's crazier than the rest, revenge, bitterness, awe, regret and ambivalence. They're all here. And they're all deeply embedded in my muses.

A year to write, 6 months to record, 47 minutes to air-guitar.



I may have to have a Sunday Morning Beer to calm myself down...

Plans For LIE

I think one more day in the studio should finish mixing Love Isn't Enough.

I have a cunning plan:

LIE: Status: LIE

Oh, are you still here? Wow, thanks. I've had my head stuck up my studio for so long I wasn't sure if anyone would be reading when I returned....

I've got LIE half mixed so far. I posted The Dream and All That Mattered on a production forum to get advice on my mixes. Some of the suggestions I followed, and some I didn't. However, I've now got a baseline set for the 8 others to follow. The really strange thing is that the two songs are very different but both got 'sounds like Pink Floyd' references. Don't get me wrong, I think The Wall is a fantastic album, but I don't get the comparison at all. This isn't as weird as the guy who once wrote "Matt must have a TON of Tom Petty on his iPod."
Then again, my favourite comparison was being called "Bryan Ferry on crack." This was especially flattering since his cocaine-fuelled 'Let's Stick Together' is one of the greatest pop albums of all time.

Anyway, here's the status:
All That Mattered - done
The Dream - done
Love Isn't Enough - done
What To Say - done
Swagger & Twirl - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Welcome To The Nighttime - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Home - tomorrow
Don't Pity Me - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Wow - tomorrow (hopefully - this one will be complicated. I'll be saying 'wow' once it's finished)
Burn - tomorrow

And if you're curious to hear The Dream and All That Mattered, click HERE for a temporary preview.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

When I wrote my last post, I was about to re-record the vocals to my new album. I woke up early on that Saturday morning, blogged while having my coffee, then got to work setting up for a day's recording. Mic set up, levels checked, lyric sheets found (I have a terrible memory), backing tracks levelled…
The upside to singing these songs so often during the 'development' and 'recording' stages is that I'm pretty well rehearsed at this point. I quickly ran through What To Say, All That Mattered, and Wow. Tracking took a few hours, so I stopped to give my voice a break. While resting, I started listening back. I was pretty angry when I heard the same sonic issues that made me re-record in the first place!
Then I randomly spotted a wavy icon in the corner of the monitor. WTF was that???? It turns out that I had a strange filter automatically set on all my vocal tracks! As soon as I clicked that off, the original tracks sounded great. I didn't need to redo all those songs. I guess this is one of those errors that they teach you to avoid if you actually get propper schooling for this task...

So now I'm half-way through the mixes, and getting more and more excited by the day.

More good news: Jonathan Barrie has offered to create the album cover. I've been a big fan (and a close friend) for years now, and I'm flattered that he's interested in this project. He listened to my rough demos for inspiration, and came back with some fantastic ideas! He also had some new questions about my sanity, but that's a whole other story... One sketch was so good that it inspired a name-change. The album will now be titled "LIE: Love Isn't Enough." Once you see the cover, you'll understand the need for change.

Anyway, back into the darkest depths of the studio. See you soon!

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

I made rough mixes of Lies & Speculation. Then I fiddled with the mix. Then I fiddled again. And again.
No matter what i did, I couldn't make the vocals sound the way I want to. They're pitched properly, but have an awful brittleness that I can't get rid of.

I recorded this album with the same microphone I did Overture with: An AKG 2000B condenser mic (nice, fancy). This time, I've also recorded some last-minute clips with my Shure 58 (industry standard, indestructable average mic) and they sounded much better.

So i've realized that I have to re-record almost all the vocal tracks AGAIN. And i have to do it this weekend, as it's the last one i'll have until mid-june at best. This schedule is brutal....

And of course it's the first nice weekend Toronto has had this year and i'd rather be spending it outdoors. But, this is the choice I've got to make.

Dream Analysis

Permit me to be a little self-indulgent here. Because it’s MY blog… haha.

I’m really loving ‘The Dream’ at the moment. It’s the only song with a decent mix, and it’s getting some incredible reviews. I was just out on my balcony smoking a Monte Cristo, and listening to the song again. Suddenly I saw (imagined) it on another level.

The introduction: steady, like a freight train. If you work hard, you’ll get what you want.

The first verse follows suit: Put your nose to the grindstone, slow and steady wins the race.

The first bridge section: a crash, an explosion: Life gets grandiose, but there’s a trip-up, a stagger. Don’t worry, you caught the beat fast enough and kept to the path.

Guitar Riff: Who’s that cocky bastard that jumped the beat, getting in before the starting gun? Flashy, showy SOB aren’t you?

Second Verse: You’re still following the path, the straight and narrow. But that cocky guitar keeps interrupting, jumping in and out, distracting you. Something’s not right. It’s not flowing as simply as it did.

The second bridge section explodes: Similar to the first graduation, but there’s a little more tension in here. Stumbling again, catching yourself and moving on. But you know what’s wrong.

The chorus: That’s right, this is life. Speak your mind, it’s the only way to get what you want. Need help? Ask for it. Wanna barrel through? Try that too.

Afterwards: What’s this? This is weird, and it’s not comfortable. Pretty isolated and lonely huh? Way to go, you’ve really locked yourself into something haven’t you?

Another bridge section: This one’s got a little more struggle in it. You know what you’ve done wrong, now fix it.

Chorus number two: If this song was a Rocky movie, this would be the training montage. Get yourself back into shape. Remember that man you used to be? The one you respected? Let’s get you back there.

Guitar Riff: Yes, that cocky SOB is back. And he’s not deviating this time, he’s unstoppable. You know he’s going to end it with a balls-out bash! When he’s good and ready.

I hope that wasn’t too arrogant, I just really felt the need to express that. It wasn’t too far from my thoughts when I wrote and arranged it, but some introspection came to me tonight. Maybe it’s the beer and cigar, maybe it’s because I just hit a major milestone in my life tonight (finished my university qualification), or maybe I’m just full of it.

Pre-Release

I'm not a patient man. I can't wait to get Lies & Speculation mixed. So here's a rough mix of 'The Dream.' Enjoy!

The Dream

Yesterday I was in the studio, mixing ‘The Dream’.
It’s one of my favourite new tracks at the moment, and changes constantly. I originally wrote it as a swampy slide-guitar song, set incredibly slow and morose. Then, on a whim, I played an upbeat, almost rockabilly, version. That one was a lot more fun, and exciting. I developed both the fast and slow versions at the same time, preferring whichever one I was playing at that moment.
I suddenly had a brainwave – do BOTH in the same song. A little quick math, and a lot of slow practice, and I figured out how to do make it work.
However, recording two different songs as one means a complicated mix. Lots of settings, equalizers, compressors, and even instruments change mid-way through the song. So it took quite a while to get it right.

And here’s the beauty of self-producing: when my wife came home, I was really excited and asked her to critique the track. She made a good suggestion, EQ’ing out some high-end frequencies from the bridge-section acoustic guitars. A couple of quick knob-turns and the result proved her right. After the song ended, she commented that the lead-guitar ending was too long. She might be right, but I can never resist air-guitaring Keith Richards-style when it gets to the end of The Dream. It’s some great playing, and I can’t bear to pare it down.
With nobody to answer to, I get to write, arrange, and produce my songs my way.

This mixing process is really slow and time-intensive. And every once in a while you need something like this to reinvigorate, to give that electrical charge that makes artists do what they do.

Fait Accompli. Nearly.

Like George W. Bush in Iraq, I jumped the gun a little calling the job done. Two months ago, I triumphantly posted that Lies & Speculation was complete. I had tracked all the instruments, and was ready to start mixing.
When I was setting up for the mix, I didn't like the vocal tracks. The benefit of a home-based recording studio is that I can be flexible with my workload. So I quickly changed hats from Mix-Master to Iconic Lead Singer. After setting up the microphones, adjusting everything in the room, I pulled on the headphones and hit RECORD.
This is when I discovered that the cat had chewed through the cable. At this point, I decided to back off for a few weeks. I would spend another $400 replacing the destroyed headphones, and at the same time spend more time rehearsing the songs.

For two weekends in February, I re-recorded the vocal tracks to all ten songs. (I also went to Antigua for a week, but that's a different story. )
Then, this weekend, I restarted the mix. And this time, it's GREAT!
I just did a quick runthrough, setting up a basic structure so I can listen to the tracks on my MP3 player. And with each song that comes on, I think "oooh, this is my favourite!" And then the next one starts and I think "ooooh, that's a sexy slide-guitar line - this is my favourite!" and so forth… Maybe it's like children? You can have a few, and love them all equally. When one shines, you're proud. Then the next one shines and your heart melts.

Recording complete.
Next up: Mix

Cool Again

A couple of weeks ago, I helped out a friend and had a great time doing it.

An extremely talented pianist, he now wants to learn how to play the guitar. He knew enough to spend a reasonable amount of money for a quality instrument, but didn't know what attributes he wanted. So, he asked me to accompany him. Whatever instrument I liked best in his price range, he would buy it. Great for me, I get all the pleasure of shopping but without the cost!

I knew the best options off the bat, so when the salesgirl approached I noted requirements for a built-in preamp and dreadnaught-style body. I played quite a few guitars, and we narrowed the options down to two really nice Tanglewood guitars. I'd never heard of them before, but they're pretty awesome.  My next acoustic might just be the same one we bought for my friend.

Checking the resonance and intonation, I was playing chords that involved droning open strings along with frets up at the high end of the neck. For some reason, I started playing "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by Iggy & The Stooges. An old punk classic.

Suddenly our salesgirl, replete with pompadour and shitty rockabilly tats, got excited. This old fart with grey in his moustache and a Blackberry on his hip… was hip! She gave me "props" for "rocking some acoustic Iggy."

For the brief moment that I held some long-lost cred, I encouraged her to buy "Please Kill Me," by Legs McNeil - a compilation of fantastic interviews with 1970s punk legends.

That "cool" feeling kept me going for a few days.

Temptation

Last month, I triumphantly reported that tracking had been finished for Lies &Speculation. In a whirlwind of joyous noise, I raced through the 10 songs. Then I took a few weeks off to recover from the stresses of wage-earning, school, Christmas, etc , etc, etc.

Last week I returned to the mixing desk and started digging through the tracks. And they were crap! I was really disappointed with the vocals. On takes where the inflection was right, I was usually singing a little sharp. And where the pitch was right I didn’t like the way I was annunciating.

This is where it got weird. To experiment and play (that’s the beauty of artistic pursuits), I brought an auto-tuner into the track. I clicked ‘on’, chose the key of Emajor, and clicked Play. My jaw dropped. Coming from the speakers was exactly what I’d been trying to accomplish! Pitched properly, with just the right amount of attitude, the singing was perfect. In 3 simple mouse-clicks I had rectified what would have been weeks of re-work.
For about 10 seconds, my jaw agape and eyes glazed, I reveled in the finished product. The album that would define the last few years of my life. Suddenly, like coming out of a bad dream, my eyes went wide. “No,” I screamed as my hands slapped the desk. As fast as I could, I deleted the auto-tuner.

You see, the auto-tuner is the biggest detractor to modern music. Anyone who can’t sing can easily run their voice through one of these and sound like a star. Think Paris Hilton, Keisha, Britney Spears… That’s all you need. No musical skills, just a nice rack and cute bum. Or in Hilton’s case, money.
Even talented stars are now auto-tuning everything beyond perfection. I’ve been told that Justin Beiber can actually sing, but everything I’ve ever heard of him is computerized out of reality. There’s no skill or substance needed anymore, just the packaging. And I just saw how easy and cost-efficient it can be. I’ve been taking singing lessons with a great teacher for 8 months now, and spent days trying to accomplish what I could have covered in 2 hours with auto-tune help.

I pride myself on being primarily a musician. I really do. Not a singer, not a guitarist, not a songwriter, or producer. A musician. I’ve been playing the guitar for over 20 years and am able to play the things I want to hear without much effort. Most other instruments I can warble a basic melody from, if you give me a few minutes to figure it out. And I’m happy that I can actually express myself in this way.
And because of that, I’m uninstalling the auto-tuner, reverting back into pre-production mode, and going to practice, practice, practice. And when you hear me sing these songs, it will really be me. I don’t need perfection, just humanty. That’s what life is all about.