Crossing The Finish Line

I checked this morning, and Gravedigging For Two has hit Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes.  Downloads and physical CDs are also available at CDBaby.com.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/gravedigging-for-two/1321697501

This is a milestone – it’s done.  There’s nothing more I can do on Gravedigging.  The songs have been written, arranged, recorded, mixed, overdubbed, and mastered.  The artwork has been designed.  The thank-you’s said (mostly).

I hope you listen to it.  I hope you like it.

I don’t do this for commercial interests (although a bit of cash is nice once in a while), but I think it’s a good thing.  I write music that I want to hear, combined with what my inner demon wants to say to the world.  With no concession made for what others want.  And that’s what you’ve got in Gravedigging For Two.  Ten songs, ten stories that I needed to tell.  Ten songs that get my groove on.   I wrote this album for me, but I hope you like it too.

The Grave Has Been Dug, Now It's Time For The Headstone.

This weekend I’m back in the studio.  John and I will be tweaking the final mixes for the album, and mastering it.  After that, it's just a matter of sending it out for distribution.

I’ve also finished the cover art.  By which I mean “I took an amazing painting by Jonathan Barrie, and added my name and album title to it.”

The tough part now will be to decide which to release as the “publicity single,” that gets pushed on the free sites.  I’ve got ten children on this album and have to pick one.  Do I pick the most commercial?  Do I pick the one that seems to reflect the album best as a whole?  Or do I pick the weirdest one?  I’m blessed with having too much – whenever I’m listening to a song, that’s the one I want to tell everyone about!

Recalling the Recall

Wow, what a show!  Total Recall 2017

We played around 35 of my favourite songs from the 80s, and raised a good chunk of change for Ovarian Cancer Canada.

Lots of great musicians, and there were a lot of great moments.  “Copperhead Road” with Brad Searl, “Let’s Dance” with Tommy Blacknine, and getting to pound out that amazing “Under Pressure” bass riff while Tommy Blacknine and Darren James Smith covered the Bowie/Mercury vocals…  Of course I couldn’t help but do that ‘Billy Idol snarl’ as we burned through “Rebel Yell.”

Lots of rehearsals, I lost most of August learning all those tracks, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.  I hope I held down the groove well enough to be invited back next time. 

The house band, Karl Anderson (drums), John Jamieson (keys), Aimee O’Connor (guitar), Stephen Varga (guitar), Shaylynn Anderson (sax), and Eric Meloche (stage tech), did a fantastic job.  A dream band for sure!

Total Recall - update

Total Recall is coming up, this Friday night at DSTRCT in Guelph.

So far, we’ve rehearsed with Brad Searl, Darren James Smith, Joe Vilardo, Cyndi Richards, Keegan Chambers, Kevin Reid, Gene Scarpelli, and Tommy Blacknine.  Tonight we’re rehearsing with Anna Cyzon, the final singer and the final rehearsal.

This has been a LOT of fun! 

Last week, before the singers arrived, we ran through a couple of songs.  I was in heaven, especially during Under Pressure.  Along with playing that iconic bass riff, it was a thrill to hear everyone singing (shouting) along with all the words!  And once we had the singers... WOW.  We all love this music, and it shows.

There are so many great songs in the set, and it’s going to be amazing to be on a stage playing these iconic hits with such a great band.

Saxophones!

This weekend we were overdubbing the saxophone on 3 of the upcoming songs.  Kristen Prince did an AMAZING job!

I found her through my engineer, John Jamieson.  John and I had been listening to the demos I recorded for the album, and I had programmed a sampler to play the saxophone lines on Gravedigging, You’re A Star, and My Clown.  There was something ‘strange’ about those tracks, something we couldn’t put our finger on.  John works with Kristen pretty frequently, and recommended her.

She got the lead sheets and a rough-mix MP3 a week beforehand, and then on ‘recording’ day we just went over what worked best for the songs, and hit the RECORD button!  It wasn't quite a "1-take wonder," but she knew what we wanted and laid down some beautiful work.

Our next mixing session is booked for over a month from now, but I’m anxious to get these last songs finished.  I couldn’t be prouder of how this album is coming.  Having another musician play on it is a huge leap for me – even more so because she was a stranger!

Songwriting - Solo or Group?

For the last 15 years, my songwriting has been solo.  The songs (for the most part) have been cohesive, and exactly what I am trying to portray.  Or exactly what my inner demon wants to shout through me... 
Either way, I’m extremely proud of them.  I have written these songs myself.  I have recorded these songs myself.  The real boost has been in the mixing and pre-mixing stage, where the songs are shaped by fresh ears (belonging to John Jamieson) and become what you eventually hear.

Co-songwriting makes sense.  One person has an idea, the other builds on it, the first builds on that, and so forth.  You end up with new and exciting songs that evolved significantly from the basic chords or riff that started the whole thing.

Having four or five songwriters seems to go too far from the original seed that started the entity.  I’ve had that happen once or twice in the past, and you could actually take that seed as it originally existed and it is an entirely different song.  This just seems disappointing.

Here's a BBC article writing about the average number of songwriters in today's hit songs. 

Progress on the Album

It's May 1st, and in the time since my last post, Gravedigging has been moving along well.
It's a pretty slow process, but is having some surprising results.
John Jamieson is mixing the album.  I've been listening to various incarnations of these songs for about 5 years, while he's hearing them for the first time.
This is a huge bonus, because he's not following the assumptions that I've always had about them.  For example, if I've added a trumpet line at the end of a verse that I'm using to help build into the chorus, I might assume that it'll be a subtle thing for texture.  The type of thing that the listener wouldn't focus on, but I'd feel that something was missing if it wasn't there.  John, on the other hand, sees it as a hook and puts it in a prominent place in the mix.
Suddenly it's a part that you're humming when the song is done!  It has changed from being "that acoustic guitar song" to "the one with that Bah-bah-BAAAAH trumpet!"

Gravedigging For Two has been a long time in the making.  I wrote the songs and realized that they should be combined into one project, an album.  But then I spent years trying to make them fit.  it wasn't easy, and I took time away to write and record The Scars That I've Earned as a way to distance myself from Gravedigging, to have a breather.  Not My Song, for example, went from being slow, dark blues, to klezmer, to reggae, to a faster blues...  And now it's a great rocker that disappears into a weird 70s spaced-out thing.  It's a totally different beast than when it first emerged from the black hole of inspiration.

My biggest surprise is how energized and fresh these songs are sounding.
So far we've mixed Little Rose Tattoo, Not My Song, Kill Me, You And Me, and Tonight.  Next up will be recording the saxophones on My Clown, Gravedigging, and You're A Star.  It's still a month away, but I'm really looking forward to that - I don't normally have another person play on my albums, but I'm sure she'll add another spark to it.

That's it for now, thanks for reading.  Thanks for listening.  Thanks for Supporting.
It's a long slog, but I couldn't be happier.

Matt

Rock N Roll Dropout

I finally finished recording my new album, Gravedigging For Two.
Ten songs that I'm really proud of, that have evolved from sketches, through a few different iterations and styles, to a cohesive package.

Now it should be time to mix and master the project, then putting it out in the world for sale/ consumption.  SHOULD...

Along with music and my wife, I have a huge passion for sailing.  And I'm not a rich man.
If I pay to have Gravedigging mixed and mastered, that will take a huge chunk of cash away from my sailboat fund (that will actually come into existence once my credit card debt is paid).
I waver on my choice daily, but for today I'm planning on doing a rough "monitor mix" of Gravedigging For Two.  Something I can listen to on my headphones, but not put out to the world.  Then, I can get closer to buying my sailboat and feeding THAT side of my soul.

I'm also planning to spend the winter re-recording Love Isn't Enough, and possibly Overture and Reflecting The Broken Mirror.  Other albums that I've written and am really proud of, but which had less-than-stellar recordings.

For now, I guess I'm climbing back into the woodshed to be a musical hermit.  But I'll be back!

Crash Course for Performance!

The other day, I was asked to sit in as a bassist for a friend of a friend.

I'd never heard of him, but said "sure, what the hell."  It's always good to get outside your comfort zone, and playing a show 4 days after first hearing the music definitely fits.

Luckily, I'm loving the album.  It's the best new music I've heard in ages:  Sam Taylor & The East End Love.  My wife heard the first couple of tracks, and thought it's "very me."  Great, stripped-down dirty blues-rock.  Just what my soul needs these days...

So I've got the songs down, got my Fender PJ ready, and just have to find a sexy outfit.   Okay, so that last part won't matter - nobody notices the bass player anyway.

Anyway, I'm REALLY excited to be a part of this.  I'm not sure if it's open to the public, it's at Cherry Cola's on Saturday night for Bob Segarini's birthday party.  And it's going to be a lot of fun!



ps.  That "Fender PJ" reference is the style of bass guitar.  I will NOT be wearing my pyjamas.

Recording Blast

Where has the time gone?
I've spent the last 6 months working and re-working Gravedigging For Two (the new album), and finally have arrangements that I can commit to.  The instruments are recorded, I just have to do the vocals now.

Tonight, however, I'm very excited to try something new:
A live-off-the-floor recording.  Just me. One microphone, one guitar, one take.

Here's the planned set list:

Love is the Drug,
Dead Flowers,
Dirty Old Town,
Downtown Train,
Sister Morphine,
Hurt,
Irish Heartbeat,
Romeo & Juliet,
Song To The Siren,
The Harder They Come,
The One I Love,
Play With Fire,
Unchained Melody
Will You Love Me Tomorrow.

Romeo & Juliet

I put my own music on hold for a few days to get ready for a performance last Saturday night.
My wife's choir, Exultate Chamber Singers, had their annual fundraiser.  The theme was right up my alley:  London Calling, celebrating English music.
Most of our favourite music is British, so we spent a lot of time choosing which song we would play.  Both being huge David Bowie fans, we ran through a huge chunk of his catalogue.  Nothing felt right.  What about Pulp?  We tried Common People (my preference) and Disco 2000 (Kate's preference), before deciding on Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits.  The song had a more varied dynamic, and seemed more suitable for the intended audience.  My skills are pretty far behind Mark Knopfler's, so it took some work to get it just right.  But I think we did.
I really enjoyed Andre Heywood's version of Your Song by Elton John.  I wish I could have given it more attention, but I was busy tuning my guitar in the back room as we were following him.

Kate did a fantastic job singing such a beautiful song.  And I had an added bonus:  This was the first time that my classic 1974 Fender Telecaster Custom got stage time.  I don't know why it has always taken second place to my other instruments - it's my favourite, with lots of personality and shaping from it's previous owner touring it for over 30 years.  But it was perfect for Romeo & Juliet, nothing else would give me that pretty, twangy, airy tone...

A few audience members told me afterwards that we should start performing more as a duo.  So that might be a future project...

Here's a photo from the performance:

And just to push it, here's a YouTube link to my favourite version of the song:

Sister Morphine

Sister Morphine has been one of my favourite songs for decades.  Originally an album track from The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album, it was released in 1971.
When I first heard it, I was floored.  Such brilliance, both in composition and sound!
It epitomized the acoustic guitar for me - I've always felt that it is a very raw instrument.  When I pick one up, the acoustic guitar either  becomes angry or lonely.  As such, my acoustic parts are either soft and sparse (Johnny Cash's version of Hurt is a perfect example), or furious (Pinball Wizard by The Who).  I can't bear to play "happy-clappy-singalong" songs with it (think Big Blue Sea or The Barenaked Ladies).
As I've said before, Keith Richards was THE reason I wanted to be a guitarist.  And this song, one of my favourite Stones tracks, shows the moodier, more vunerable side of the band.

The other morning, I was having breakfast when Sister Morphine appeared on my random iTunes playlist.  Love.  Inspiration.
2 hours later, I had recorded a rough cover version of the song.  I know I can't recreate the feel of the original track (linked at the bottom of this post), so I took it in a different route.  More electronic, Depeche Mode-y.  Just a little bit of guitar to really give it a punch.
Almost finished the song, it seemed to lack something.  I had put a delay effect on the snare drum, to carry through the sparse arrangement.  I decided to slow down the decay a little, to pull it out of the tempo.  Now it seems to be limping.  PERFECT.
I'm really proud of this track - I think I very quickly managed to compile my interpretation of the lyrics and give them a "swift touch."

Have a listen to this:
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=208439&html5=yes

And now this:

Action Pants

A new project is starting rehearsals this week!
Three friends and I are putting together a band called Action Pants.  It's a cover band, doing inappropriate versions of songs we all know.  Inappropriate because it'll be a dance/distortion/punk performance of decidedly non-aggressive songs from artists like Gowan, Chris Isaak, The Shirelles, Kylie Minogue, and Petula Clark.  Among others.
I've been in a few bands that take themselves way too seriously.  This one will be FUN.  We're determined to do a good job, and treat the songs with respect, but we're all adults with no sense of shame.  So we're going to do what we want with the stages we're allowed on.

Sorry to keep this short, I have to get down to my studio to figure out how to funk-up Wicked Game...

Watch The Blood Run

This song deals with the troubles I had as a teenager living in a small town.
With the frustration of not feeling "at home," and with no clue on how to obtain a sense of belonging, I would often cut myself.  My left arm, shoulder, and hand are covered in the scars left behind.  I started getting tattoos, and these helped to keep me from cutting as I didn't want to ruin the inked designs that took their place.  Surprising, but it worked.
Cutting was a way to release the frustration and pressure - perhaps it was the adrenaline rush that came with the pain, maybe it was self-punishment for not being able to fit into society like we're "supposed to."  Or maybe it was just the increased stimulation that was intellectually lacking in such a lonely place?  Who knows...

Almost 20 years later, I was sitting in my studio strumming the acoustic guitar part for what would become "Watch The Blood Run."  The first lyric came from nowhere:  "Every time I think of you I find myself just sitting in the dark."  That line brought back memories of a time when I was caught cutting, when my girlfriend walked in on me.  Sitting alone in my darkened bedroom, she initially thought she'd walked in on something else...  haha, nope.  I was digging a sewing needle into my arm and excavating a deep groove.  The rest of the lyrics came quickly, and I was finally able to express what was going on in my head while I cut.
The rest of the song came very quickly, surprisingly including the harmonica melody.  I think it was the first thing I wrote on that instrument, and I can still only play my own songs on it.  I've never learned to actually perform anything but this and "Your Heart And Mine" on a harmonica.

When I mixed the song, I realized the guitar-and-drum-based song needed more.  I asked John (the mixing engineer) to add some keyboards to it.  He created a fantastic, 70s-inspired organ piece.  In turn, that lead to my writing another guitar part in the 5 minutes that John laid down the keys.  Then I asked him to play the new piece on an electric piano.  The song now had a very different feel to what I had originally intended.  Now it needed a tambourine loudly bashing through the song!  Scope Creep ensued...  Finally we had finished it and listened to the mix.  It was done.  Or so we thought.  About to it save, I interrupted with "um, I might have an idea.  I'm not really liking the start.  What if we copy the heavy guitar and drums, and paste them as a 4-bar lead-in to the song?"  We tried it, copy/pasted the bass guitar as well, and ended up with the huge introduction that you now hear.  God I love the rearrangment capabilities of computer-based recording.

And that was how Watch The Blood Run came to be.  And personally it means a lot to have finally been able to express what I was dealing with so long ago.

Wham Bam, Thank You Ma’m!

Last Saturday (the 18th), I woke up early and just a little bit hung over.
I made a pot of coffee and headed downstairs to my studio, where I turned on the computer. Eight hours later, I realized that I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but had instead programmed the drums for eight exciting new songs!
Between Saturday and Sunday I recorded the drums and bass guitars. Monday I recorded all the guitars, keyboards, and percussion. Tuesday I did the vocal tracks for 6 of the songs. Wednesday morning I finished that last two.

That’s it! An 8-song record in 5 days! It’s raw, it’s organic, it’s flawed (a bit), and I love every note!



The Scars That I’ve Earned

One Sin
Judgement Day
Your Heart And Mine
My Revenge
Watch The Blood Run
Promise
Today And Tomorrow
Goodbye


Now I’ve just got to mix and master the project. I can’t wait!

Post-Graffiti's

Thanks to everyone that came to see The Boys From County Hell yesterday!

We had a great time, and it seemed that most of you did too.  I got to meet a few new people, and I really hope to see them all again soon.

To those that weren't there:  You really missed out.  It might have been our best show yet, everything gelled and we were in sync. 

One guy told me that he liked how obvious it was that we were enjoying ourselves.  I'm glad he noticed, and I'm even more glad that he actually told me.  I'm pretty picky about who I play with.  Not that I'm a snob, more because I don't want to do something I'm not 100% proud of and into.  Phoning in a performance happens to everyone occasionally, but it's unfair to the audience that has given time and money to see you.  And it's unfair to the other musicians onstage.
I try to play every show like it's my last.  Give everything I have.  Because you never know - it might be your last show.  And if you don't give your all, your next show just might not have an audience.


Anyway, I'm really happy to be playing with Cliff, Vera, Johnny, and Jonathan.

The Boys From County Hell, Sunday

There's a great band I play guitar with, called The Boys From County Hell.  Even though there's a girl in it, the name is sticking.

We play (mostly) rowdy Irish folk songs, some more 'rock' than others.  And there's a smattering of traditional reels in it to add some fun.  Lots of Pogues and Dubliners songs.

And it's always a DAMN GOOD TIME.

We're playing this Sunday (july 29) at Graffiti's, 170 Baldwin St, Toronto, from 4-7pm.

If you're in the city, come and check it out!


Here's a clip of The Dubliners playing 'Whiskey In The Jar'.

Overload

A couple of weeks ago, I started working on the recordings that will become my next album. For all ten songs, the drum tracks have been programmed. I’ll wait until the actual recordings are complete before running them through the synth (Toontrack’s Superior Drummer) and rendering them to audio. Just in case I want to make changes as the other instruments shape the songs…

I’ve been practicing the bass-lines, as these will be the next parts recorded.

And here lies my dilemma: The new album has been written. They are ten songs, with fully written and edited lyrics, arranged and organized as I want them. But since starting the “final” drum programming, I’ve written another SIX GOOD SONGS! This is unprecedented for me. My normal practice has been to write 10 that I’m proud of, and throw them on a disc. As it stands these should wait for the 2013 project. But I don’t want to put them on the backburner.

Should I:
a) Record the new album with the planned ten songs and leave the new six for later?
b) Record all sixteen songs and choose the best ten?
c) Record all sixteen songs and sell as a sixteen-song album?
d) Put all sixteen on the backburner and work on the album of cover songs that I can’t legally release anyway but has some pretty cool arrangements?

Goodbye

For my mother, who passed away 4 months ago...


Goodbye

The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
Simple words, no room to cry
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.

Wander through the darkness
Clouded memories lifting to fly
So much history, so alive
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.

A young boy, first day of school
Watching his family drive away
Stand alone, young man, stand high
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.

A grown man stands by your side
The same hollow, trying to hide
A strong voice, a tear in the eye
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.

The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
I told you that I loved you
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.



(c) 2012 matt swift - steal this one and you're in for some EVIL karma.

My Clown

Last night I was in the studio, programming MIDI drum tracks for the new album.

This was an enjoyable process – I have basic patterns completed, along with “scratch tracks” for bass, guitar, and keyboards. These are used to guide through the song so you know whether you’re in a verse or chorus, but will be replaced with the real instruments for the final version. A bit like wooden support beams in a building, in place until the concrete sets.

So I had the drums up louder than everything else (I was focusing on them, after all), and had set up a microphone to sing along. I’ve found that this helps to give me a “live” mindset, the ideal I’m going for with this album. So back to the drums, I’d sing along stopping when something needed adjusting – “no, that kick doesn’t work there, it should push the beat a little,” “ouch, that sounds weird,” that sort of thing. And over the course of a few hours, I had the drum tracks programmed for 3 of the 10 songs. And to be honest, I replayed them a few times afterwards just having fun jamming along with myself.

Late in the evening, I was working on ‘My Clown’. It’s a soft, brooding acoustic song. Humming along waiting for the first verse to arrive, I “ahhhh’d” a really cool line. Since my voice isn’t my strongest instrument, I grabbed a nearby guitar and plucked the riff on it. Suddenly a jolt went up my spine – AN IDEA! I saved a backup version of the soft song, and started a new one. A 4-bar aggressive disco/house beat was looped. I copied the organ line from the slow version, sped it up, and added it to the drum loop. I then hit ‘Record’ and laid down the idea with a dirty overdriven guitar. Within 15 minutes I had the new version of ‘My Clown’ laid out. Aggressive and dirty, sexy in a way that didn’t exist before.

My Clown’s an evil clown.

After the adrenaline rush wore off, I went back and listened to the original version. There’s a creepy tension that didn’t translate into the sexy funk version. And I’ll probably stick with the original.
But who knows - this song now has 2 completely different identities that I can get to know.