From Death Comes Inspiration

The 'Man Left in Space' is finally written, 59 minutes of music all present and correct and I now commence the not inconsiderable task of turning the demos into something approaching finished performances.  This requires the help of my wonderful guest musicians in some areas, and as with the previous album I'm thrilled at the sheer musicianship of what is coming back.  The guest list currently stands at Nick D'Virgilio, Lee Abraham, Steve Dunn, Simon Rogers, Matt Stevens, Greg Spawton and Dave Ware.  There are more to come too.  More updates will be appearing regularly as mixing gathers momentum.

During the summer I lost two beacons of my childhood. The first Jon Lord, was my singular inspiration for learning to play the keyboard, and for 27 or so years was credited in my world at least, as the defining keyboard player in rock music.  There are few sounds more emotive to me than a Hammond B3 being wound up through a Leslie speaker.  Jon turned the Hammond into a performance art beyond music, into an adrenaline provoking realm that is akin to the aural delights of an Italian V8 being caned on a mountain pass.  In an opposing vein, his deft touch braking the Leslie and lowering the swell pedal into a barely audible pure tone, in tracks such as 'You Keep on Moving', could bring tears to a grown man.

The second was Neil Armstrong.  My dad recently informed me I'd missed sharing the same christian name by a whisker and it was probably for the best.  He always seemed a constant in my childhood even though he shunned the attention his obvious achievement was destined to produce. The scary thing about Neil's passing in August, was that I'd spent the previous 2 months reading his autobiography as part of my research and part inspiration for 'The Man Left in Space'.  

Despite having a healthy interest in the technical and engineering aspects of the achievement, I think it was the human response to it that fascinated me the most.  It was this theme that was central to the album, 'what price for achievement?'  When I heard the news I was already halfway through Michael Collins 'Carrying the Fire' which proved similarly enlightening about Neil and the negative effects it had on the remaining member of the famous trio, Buzz Aldrin.

They say death comes in threes and sadly this month we lost my dad's sister, who again was a central character in the story of my childhood.  So for the second time in 3 years I find myself being asked to read at a family member's funeral. The first occasion had such a profound effect on me that I ended up writing an entire album about it, 'When Age Has Done It's Duty' was the result.   The preparations for the second one are already starting to reveal those forgotten family secrets.  I knew my late grandmother was something of an amateur poet, but until this evening, I'd not realised the extent of her talent.  It's one of her poems about life in a small village (Hinkshay in Shropshire), during the first world war,  that I will be reading at the funeral of her daughter (my Auntie Glen) next week.

It's sad that extended families only seem to get together at funerals but I somehow think I'll be taking the opportunity to talk to those last remaining living links to the past, and being inspired to tell their stories in words and music.

'When Age Has Done Its Duty, what remains is memory.'

The Man Left in Space

I had an interesting discussion with my brother recently about inspirations for writing albums.  He offered the notion that you need to travel and experience to be inspired to write creatively, otherwise you are creatively trapped in the limits of your own immediate world.  He suggested that prisoners for example would make the worst album writers.  I'm not so sure...  It's an interesting premise but it seems I've taken the opposite route with this album and may explain why it's becoming so difficult to write.

'The Man Left in Space' is very much about insular matters, isolation, boredom, the rewards for aspiration, achievement and whether success makes someone more fulfilled.    The result of success, it seems, is to sometimes collect failure...  As the title suggests, the concept is played out against the backdrop of a futuristic journey into space with many historical references to the race for space in the 60s.  I've been doing a lot of background reading too, and the biographies of some of the protagonists of the golden era of space exploration is providing a rich vein of lyrical inspiration.

 The theme is also providing a rich source of musical influence, including more than a nod and wink to David Bowie's Space Oddity for the title track although uncharacteristically for the prog genre and for me, it's really a love song.  Greg Spawton from Big Big Train has recently provided a stunning bass performance on 'The Vacuum that I Fly Through' which also features the eerie electric guitar work of Matt Stevens and thundering grooves of Nick D'Virgilio.  Steve Dunn and Lee Abraham have also contributed some fine bass noodlings to lift 'Aspire Achieve' and 'Beautiful Treadmill' respectively.

Currently on the go is a collaboration entitled 'The Good Earth Behind Me' with Simon Rogers from Also Eden, and as with our previous collab 'On Which we Stand'  on WAHDID, it is astounding me how creatively you can work with someone in a remote studio with the umbilical link of Dropbox and email.  Musically, the album is nearing completion but there are some decisions to be made lyrically, and performance wise and I suspect unsuspecting musos from far and wide will soon be receiving distress calls to come and assist.   Time is the biggest threat at the moment or more accurately, the lack of it to dedicate to completing the album.  Hopefully having completed the writing this month, mixing will start abound in September.

Curry, Prog and Progress.

Once again I've managed to go months without updating this blog so it's time to redress that.

The new album is going well, and I'm hoping to get it released this year.  It's called 'The Man Left in Space' and in typical Cosmograf fashion is another concept piece.

I've been blessed once again in my quest to work with some fabulous people including Nick D'Virgilio who did a storming drum session for 4 of the tracks.   I've also had the great pleasure of meeting and spending some time with Andy Poole and Greg Spawton of Big Big Train.  They are wonderful guys as well as being obscenely talented and we seem to have found common ground in a number of areas as well as prog, including a shared love of fine Indian cuisine!  Curry and prog seem to be happy bedfellows.   Their work on the forthcoming English Electric album is at times beyond comprehension. The complexity, and macro level of their craft produces the finest audio silk that is so rich and interleaved, it's hard to fathom from what constituent parts it came from.  The wonderful Rob Aubrey is mixing it all at the moment and with reports of 56 tracks of BVs on a single song he has his work cut out.   I have no doubt it will easily be widely considered album of the year when the first volume is released in September 2012.

Guest wise, on the new Cosmograf album there will be some familiar names and some new ones too.  As well as NDV, we have me old mucker Steve Dunn who will be attending to bass duties on 'Aspire,Achieve' and Simon Rogers has agreed once again to co write another track with me.  Lee Abraham will doubtless be lending some input if I can prise him away from recording his much anticipated follow up to 'Black and White' and Matt Stevens is also guesting which I'm thrilled about. Matt is a force to be reckoned with at the moment and really seems to have caught a current wave with his work on The Fierce and the Dead.  He's already recorded some very atmospheric guitar for an as yet unnamed track, which is also currently receiving some bass attention from Greg and Andy.  More news on this soon..

The Mighty NDV

I got an email earlier in the month from Rob Aubrey at Aubitt Studios to say that legendary prog drummer Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard and Big Big Train fame was available on the 30th if I wanted him. YES!! but I'm not ready!!. At the time I had 1 track nearing completion and the rough ideas for two more, so needless to say it was a bit of a battle to get enough material together make the session worthwhile. One of the tracks wasn't quite 'drummer ready' and Rob in his usual inimitable style told me the 'timing sucked'. Thankfully Rob always offers a solution with the 'tell it how it is' criticism and he'd retimed most of the bass track before I'd cursed myself for getting carried away adding bass and guitar parts against my chronologically challenged guide drum track, instead of the click. Schoolboy error! "Nick needs the bass spot on to get the feel of the track", said Rob. OK. Thankfully timing on the other tracks didn't 'suck' quite so badly so we were in business.

Then it goes something like this, Rob plays the track to Nick, who sits there silently, while I suffer and squirm in the studio chair dying of embarrassment at my V-Drum track. The track ends. "Cool" he says and heads off to the drum room. The first take goes off and I'm grinning like an idiot. Now I've studied a lot of drummers; as wannabee rock stars in our teens Steve Dunn (Also Eden) and myself used to Air Drum to the finest, but you can't predict Nick. He never performs the same fill twice, and when you think you have a clue where he is going he pulls of the most audacious fill or venture into a groove which leaves you with jaw firmly open. He's an amazing talent and throughout my session and the one that followed, I witnessed the most diverse and enthralling 'set of chops' I've seen from any drummer. He's also a jolly nice bloke too and it was a thrill just to talk to the guy let alone work with him on my music.

In 4 hours we managed to get 3 tracks completed which will be coming to a Cosmograf album near you soon. Just got to surmount the more than trifling task of writing the rest of it....

In other news, Graeme 'Twig' Bell has once again agreed to reprise his role in 'artwork de cosmograf extraordinaire' and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in with him throwing concepts around. He's also threatening to write an album himself which with his muso contacts should be pretty amazing.

Just like last time I will need the help of the prog community (and maybe musically further afield too) to help deliver the next album. As usual I'm reaching the end of my own talent and inspiration reserves in some areas so will be looking to delegate roles to more talented folk soon. I have however learned to play a stylophone and will be delighting you all with the results on the next record.

As a post script I've developed the smallest Pro Tools mixing suite in the world. It's incorporated into the arm of my sofa, and means I can generally twiddle and experiment with the more obscure editing features in between long sessions at the more amply proportioned, but bloody cold facility at the end of my garden.

Step into Christmas

It's Christmas once again and this time last year I was wading through drum tracks and getting stuck into mixing for WAHDID. An awful lot has happened since then, and there's been some stonking reviews including some great coverage in Classic Rock Presents Prog. Since the release on F2 Records, I've been busy with interviews, articles and radio shows too, and I'm finally getting the feeling the album has really put me on the prog map at last. It's been a stonking year for prog all round with some amazing releases.

It's time to move on though and I've got the urge to write the next one. The ideas are flowing and I've already got the bare bones of about 4 new tracks. I'm already talking to two exciting and well known guest musos in the prog community, and if it comes off it's going to be very exciting.

As well as writing a new album I'm trying to resurrect an old one. Many folk have enquired about my first album 'Freed from the Anguish' and how they can get hold of it. It was never actually released as a CD but sold for a while as a digital download, and the truth is after the mammoth increase in production standard in WAHDID, I wanted to bury it as I didn't feel it was representative of my output anymore. Hence it was made unavailable and can't currently be purchased. The good news is it will return in slightly different form as an EP. I've taken the best tracks and I'm busy re-recording, and remixing, these for a release hopefully in the first quarter of 2012. Included in these will be reworked versions of 'Please Save Me' and 'Falling Down' which will be renamed 'Freed from the Anguish'. The theme of the EP is a characteristically melancholy piece about a man facing battle on D-Day and his thoughts about those he's left behind. Graeme 'Twig' Bell has also kindly agreed to undertake digital scribbling duties for the cover.

Since WAHDID was released I decided to invest in some more studio gear and I'm now the proud owner of a 8 core Mac Pro running ProTools 9. There's also a much needed mic upgrade on the way, although the most essential piece of equipment will be my portable heater which I'm going to have to work remotely if there's any chance of me leaving the warm house for the studio during the winter months.

In the meantime I'm intending to enjoy Christmas and spend some more time with the family. Have a good one folks and here's to another amazing year for prog in 2012.

Will the last recording musician to leave, please turn out the lights

I haven't blogged for a while and have been quite busy with various Cosmograf stuff, interviews press etc. for WAHDID. The album has been very well received by the critics and more importantly prog fans so far and I've been really pleased with the feedback especially some of the European reviews which despite the language difference seem to have nailed the true essence and meaning of the album in a nutshell.

On a less positive note, I was doing my usual tour around Google this morning, searching for Cosmograf related links, and found the album is now littered over just about every single illegal music download site on the internet. I did wonder why CD sales from the website had come to a standstill in the last couple of days and now I know why. The irony of this isn't lost on me, bearing in mind that I have recently been seen on Facebook arguing that download culture may not be all bad for new musicians. Sadly it's looking pretty bad from where I'm standing now, and I may have to concede the point. Time will tell what impact it has on the record company sales long term, but at this stage, it's helping to justify my decision in signing to a record company.

To those of you that actually put your hand in your pocket and bought the CD I truly thank you. Your generosity and moral fortitude means that I actually just about scraped enough to recover the recording costs, which means there's a good chance I can come to terms with writing off financially, the ridiculous amount of time taken to write and record the album. This means there's a good chance there will be another album arriving in the future.

How anybody does this for a living is beyond me but you certainly have my utmost respect. Let's hope there are enough recording musicians left in this genre who can afford to keep making the music. Sadly, I fear many yet, will fall by the wayside.

Selling your CD or your soul

There's been much discussion on the internet in recent times about the merits or otherwise of self-releasing your record or signing with a record company. Most aspiring musicians probably won't have the luxury of that choice, in which case the only way you are going to get your music heard is by self releasing it and either uploading to the likes of Bandcamp or getting the CDs printed and distributing them yourself.

Never believing I'd actually get any record company interest with this album, I initially decided to self release it, inspired in part by the wonderful self promotion, music sharing model that Matt Stevens is currently following to good effect. In order to build an audience for his material, Matt even goes so far as to encourage his listeners to upload his music to torrent sites, the very enemy of the traditionally minded musician. This is a brave new world indeed.

So I printed the CDs for WAHDID, produced audio samplers, put videos on Youtube, free track download on the website, advertised it on Facebook and then sat back and waited to be deluged in the rush by all those prog fans wowed by the prospect of Bob Dalton, Steve Thorne and all the other great guests playing on the album.

Guess what folks?

I barely raised a ripple of interest. So what do we conclude. 1)The album is crap?, 2)Prog fans don't like new acts? or that 3)I didn't spend enough time schmoozing the right people and spreading the word?

Well based on the fact that I ended up with serious interest from 3 record companies, and the great initial feedback, I'm inclined to think the album wasn't a stinker. The jury is still out on point 2), and 3), yep, guilty as charged.

Self release is great, you get no interference, you get full creative control, and you get to keep all the money. The big big problem is you will need to sacrifice every waking hour, sending off promos, posting endless updates on Facebook, Twitter 'till your friends unfriend you for spamming them, not to mention the costs in printing, packing and posting of all those CDs.

But guess what there are tens of thousands in the world doing exactly what you are doing too. You need to know the right people, you need to know how to get them interested in what you have, and you need a whole lot of effort....and that's the reason I've handed the job over to a professional. I've handed over the bulk of the revenue too, but it's not about money for me. I can earn far more for less effort in the day job, but what I really really want is for people to hear my music, just a little recognition, a little virtual pat on the back from as many people as possible to say, 'really enjoyed that album'.

When Age Has Done Its Duty will be out on F2 Records later in August.