New beginnings

It's been sometime since my last blog update so apologies for the mammoth post. I thought it was about time to release a few more details about the new album and some of the guests that will be playing.


To bring you up to date, 'End of Ecclesia' has slowly been tickling the prog world's conscisousness since it's release in November last year. Have to say I haven't been killed in the rush sales wise and I think I learned a hard lesson about publicity.


There were some great reviews from the press and those that really matter went out of their way to tell me how good they thought it was. I must admit though I hit a bad patch earlier in the year and actually considered giving up recording. I couldn't get my head around the sheer number of man hours putting an album together and the tiny reward and recognition that comes at the end of it.

After I'd thrown my toys out of the pram, and received much support from fellow progheads, I realised I was looking at things the wrong way. Making music and albums is a joyous experience, and ultimately it's should be for yourself. You have to be selfish about it. It's for you, it's prog, and 90% of the population (including my wife) think it's self indulgent, too long, too complicated and a bit up itself.

Thankfully the last 10% of the sane ones are some of the nicest people I've met and do incredible things for their music, as well as having some of the most unrecognised blinding talents. It's these folk that convinced me to 'Keep calm and carry on'.

One such inspiration is Lee Abraham. A big man in Prog in more than one sense and an absolute gent. I've been spending a bit of time with Lee over the last 6 months and he's been more than generous in sharing his prodigious knowledge of high end production as well as his rather exceptional contacts list. It was Lee who provided constructive inspiration for my own garden studio, just like his but more than that he's taken great interest in my music and in particular allowing me to steal some of his production secrets. His album Black and White lays testament to what an armed and dangerous low budget producer can pull together in terms of top drawer talent, songwriting skill and the sort of production values that Sony would pay millions for.


When you sit at the helm with Lee he hears stuff that I can't. Timing errors, pitch problems etc. It's like Jedi training.


The biggest lesson Lee taught me was 'Don't try and do it all yourself'. I was on a mission with 'End of Ecclesia '. Apart from the excellent contribution on 'The Dark that follows the Light' from my long time friend Steve Dunn, I'd decided early on that I would write, play every instrument including drums, sing and produce the whole thing even doing the artwork myself. I managed it, but ultimately things could have been better in a number of areas. I learned at this point that sometimes you have to step back , recognise your limitations and 'phone a friend'. This has been the new approach for the latest album and it's already paying dividends.


When Age has Done it's Duty


I really like the idea of concept albums and the freedom they give writing wise. You don't even have to keep the music in the same genre because somehow that common thread is keeping it all together.


The original idea for the new album was in fact to make a 3 track EP. Talking to both Steve Thorne and Graeme Bell I realised that it made more sense to push for a whole album's worth of material in order to do both the concept justice and to make enough impact.


The first track I worked on was 'When Age has Done it's duty'. The inspiration came from a recent death in the family which caused some rather interesting family history to be unearthed as well as a visit back to a tiny village called Cleobury North in Shropshire where I spent a lot of time with Great Uncles and Aunties as a kid. The central theme of the Ageing process dominates the album, Birth, youth, trials of adulthood, then ageing, frailty and ultimately death. Cheery stuff eh? Dark themes produce wonderful albums, ask Roger Waters.

Mixed in with this lot are some childhood memories of the area and the people. Lee suggested hiring Steve Thorne for some vocal work as he'd made a great contribution to Black &White. Steve is a real character whose previous collabs read like a who's who of rock and prog. He was rather flatteringly, hugely impressed with the demo I sent him. His resulting vocals are amazing, totally bringing the track to life. This one had to be big and dramatic being the title track. I also contacted a Voice artist in the form of Tom O Bedlam who allowed me to use his dramatic reading of the famous poem 'Growing Old' by Matthew Arnold which provides the chilling introductory monologue.

At this point my good friend Steve Dunn pointed me in the rather artistic direction of Graeme Bell also known as 'Twig'. Graeme had been working on the rather incredible artwork and concept of Also Eden's new EP, 'Differences as Light' , and was incredibly generous in offering to assist with my album. Talking with Graeme helped to cement the concept. We agonised for a while over names but it was staring us in the face. Graeme liked the title track idea of 'when Age has done it s duty' (WAHDID ) and it's stuck. When you get Graeme to do your artwork, he doesn't just disappear then come back with a design, he wants to see the lyrics, hear the music, interview and generally immerse himself in what you are trying to say. It works so well. Just take a look at Differences as Light, there's a whole raft of hidden meaning, connection to the lyrics etc. etc. This is what Prog art is about. I'm really looking forward to seeing the final results of his labours on WAHDID but from what I've seen so far I'm going to have no worries.


Next up is 'White Light Awaits' . I'd long been hankering to do a heavy guitar track with dropped tuning. This is what happens when you spend too long listening to Porcupine Tree!

I'd experimented quite a bit with Drop C but was having all sorts of issues with tuning stability and getting a good sound with my gear. Enter Mr Abraham again who came round one evening armed with 6 string bass, Drop C tuned guitar and Line 6 pod. He then proceeded to despatch 2 pristine Drop C guitar tracks and a bass line to boot, all in under an hour. He even had time to set up a draft mix. True Pro! So Lee guests on this track which concludes the album.

Also featuring on this track is an old friend from college days, Dave Ware. Dave was a top metal drummer and used to be in the Portsmouth based band Tarrasque, who managed to get quite a bit of airplay on MTV in the early 90s. They almost made the big time while the rest of us were struggling to find our creative grooves. These days Dave can be found recording in his own studio where he's managed to fit in a very well equipped live drum recording facility. He's also become a very capable multi-instrumentalist and superb song writer. Check out his work on www.daveware.co.uk and his new Facebook page.

Next up is my oldest friend, Steve Dunn. I've known Steve now for about 26 years and it was he who got me listening to Hendrix and Purple in the school breaks while the music of the day was supposed to be Culture Club, and Duran Duran. Steve always had my recommended listening list ready. Hendrix, then Purps, Sabbath, Gary Moore, then UFO, Yngwie, Satch and a host of others. Post 16 I can't remember a time being with Steve where he either wasn't either playing guitar or listening to it. We were in three bands together, the last one 'Cry of Love' reached the heady heights of a few Porstmouth pub gigs before we retreated into obscurity. Steve had some wilderness years like myself where we did careers, kids etc. but he came back to music with avengence. I was thrilled when I caught up with him again thanks to Facebook and found him bassing for Also Eden and teaching guitar for a living. A lifelong learning advocate, when he has a spare 5mins he's also found studying for his next qualification!

Steve did an amazing co writing job on 'The Dark the Follows the Light' on End of Ecclesia also playing all guitars and bass on the track. This time round he's added his bass rumblings to 'Blacksmith's Hammer' where he took the track and gave it a completely different feel which I couldn't get to with my own attempts.

Then we have 'On Which we Stand'. I'd almost abandoned this track because I couldn't link the beginning and end section with anything creative. Enter Simon Rogers, Also Eden's guitarist. I gave Simon virtually nothing to work with and said 'Be as creative as you want'. I wasn't expecting the results. With nothing more than a couple of emails he'd written a staggering 12 string guitar ensemble that was very reminiscent of early Genesis. A few emails later and I'd added 3 vocal parts, keyboards, and Simon and contributed a very unique 'Ebow' ensemble. This is going to be a very special track for vintage Prog fans and I'm very happy to share writing credits with Si on this one.

I'm currently in the midst of completing writing on 'Into this World' which opens the album and also have one more new track to write. Watch out for a few more special guests which I hope I can sign up soon!

Expected release will be early December, hopefully.

Released into the wilderness

Well the release day is finally here, 19th November 2009. The CD has just come back from the duplicators, not without a bit of drama either. The master got lost in the post, then was found, then the CDs arrived here only to find that 22 of them had no music on them!!

As a result I've got very limited quantities to sell currently, not that I'm expecting to be killed in the rush.
It's just a great feeling to finally get it out there. 8 months in the making, blood sweat and tears and all that.

Big thanks for all the help and encouragement along the way, particularly to my good mate, Steve Dunn whose constant words of encouragement and musical talents on 'The Dark that follows the Light' have made this all happen.

The CD is available for sale on www.cosmograf.co.uk and will be available for Preview and MP3 download very soon!!.

Mix, master, mix, master!

Well lots has been happening this month, not least of which some serious upset on the day job front which has thrown me into a bit of a spin. Big life changing decisions afoot but hopefully all for the good in the long term.


I've been busy on the CD artwork and have managed to complete everything for the 4 page cover. The original front cover design was tweaked a little as it occurred to me that lush green fields looked more akin to Daniel O' Donnell's latest release than something from a progressive rock artist.
It's now much more Black Sabbath than Danny Boy which is where it should be to match the music.

At the beginning of the month I got to finally spend some time with my old friend Steve Dunn as he kindly invited me up to Gloucester for the Summers End prog festival, with no less than Steve Hackett headlining. We were both a bit dazed when at the end of his incredible set, he hung around and chatted to us. We got some great photos, one even sneaked on to the back cover of the album.

Music wise it's been a bit of battle in the mixing and mastering department. Lee Abraham was very kind in offering some very good advice in the use of filters. "Filters, filters and more filters" he said. It was a bit of revelation last weekend when I realised that the resonant bass freqencies were stopping the other instruments being clear in the mix. Some filtering tamed the bass and allowed the other frequencies some more space. Certainly works, and you can now hear the individal bass notes being played rather than the continuous drone of low frequency.

Unfortunately it's been a real back and forth act between mixing and mastering. You mix it all up, but mastering reveals some problems you couldn't hear before so you have to go back. Worse still is when mastering reveals some playing errors or vocal problem that you have no option to go back and re-record.

It's all there though I think. I've been listening on as many different systems and headphones as I can. The Master CD was burned last night and I'll be critically listening to this over the next few days to make sure everything is A OK. Fingers crossed.

Next Step, Duplication and Release!

I'm King Hennery the 8th I am

I can sort of see the chink of light at the end of the album producing tunnel. I very nearly have 10 finished tracks. It was 9 last week, but I had an unexpected flash of inspiration whilst laid up with the flu.

Whilst messing around with the most excellent Spotify, I found myself checking out a certain Mr Blackmore's Renaissance widdlings on 'Under a Violet Moon'. A seed was sown, so to speak and I found myself spending the next 10hours going Renaissance minstrel crazy.





By the end of the evening I'd not only taught myself to play a scale on my daughter's long discarded Descant recorder, I'd recorded my own version of Pastimes with Good Company complete with haunting cathedral rhubarb, recorder harmony, and blackmore'esqe nylon strung tinkerings. He was a good writer, that Henry VIII, it's a banging toon, and also serves as the perfect preamble to In the Sea as it also starts off in Dm. So there we have it. In the Sea, now becomes 'Return to the Sea' Part 1 and 2.

Here's the running order:

1. Who will you Serve
2. Sins of the Father
3. Evolution Railroad
4. A Day on the Moon
5. Return to the Sea -Part.1 (Pastime with Good Company)
6. Return to the Sea -Part.2 (Forget the Earth)
7. Flowers in my Hair
8. La Iglesia
9. Ministry of Failure
10. The Dark that Follows the Light

I'm hoping to finish recording tonight then onto mixing. Maybe I'll be ready for release end of October?

Long time no Recording

Well it's been over a month since my last update.

I'd like to say a lot has been happening on the album front but it hasn't. Holidays, a mega DIY project , and general malaise has resulted in slow progress.

Tools were picked up again last Sunday where I got to spend a whole day recording and mixing. Loads got done, a lot of stuff that was looking impossible to finish like the stringing together of the 10min prog rock epic ' The Dark that follows the Light' into a coherent track. The fine guitar work of my good friend Steve Dunn (Also Eden) is sounding fabulous, the vocals are larely done bar a short phrase and we are nearly there with this one.

Some drumming problems were fixed on 'Heard you were going' and I even managed to get 'Who will you serve' in the bag, after a titanic battle with a mix of 4/4 5/4 and 6/8 time in the same track.

The good news is I'm done writing for this album!! 9 tracks written and recorded. On now to last few overdubs and mixing.


Oh and the DIY project is going to be a brand new sound proof recording studio, at the bottom of the garden.

Work in progress (left).

It's going to cost a small fortune and hopefully be done by Xmas.

Artwork, and CD distribution options also to be explored next


So much to do, so little time.

P.S. Almost forgot to say 'A Day on the Moon' was broadcast on Radio Caroline on the 20th August 2009 on Tim Charles Magic Carpet Ride show. What a thrill getting airplay alongside one my great guitar heroes Ritchie Blackmore with a Blackmore's Night track being played just before mine!.

One step forward and two back

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks. 'A Day on the Moon' was released on YouTube a few weeks ago.

I also got to spend some time mixing in the studio with Lee Abraham, formerly bassman with Galahad and producer of prog rock material including his own acclaimed album 'Black and White' www.leeabraham.co.uk .

The short time spent with Lee was very educational and he certainly added some smoothness and commercial perzazz to 'A Day on the Moon' which was sadly lacking. You can listen to both versions at www.cosmograf.co.uk/music.php . Lee commented that I should really consider getting some real drum tracks done rather than using my trusty Roland TD20 kit. This has caused much thinking. In real terms, if I was making a commercial record with the budget that goes with it then it wouldn't be an issue to a hire a real drummer in, but I think much of the enjoyment I get from doing the drums myself would be lost. I think I'm probably prepared to sacrifice some of the sound quality to maintain that control over the music , just on this album anyway. Ultimately, it's the way to go for sure and I need to find a drummer who'd like to take this stuff on, maybe even to a few live gigs.

As an interim measure I've revised the drum setup to output 8 discrete channels so it at least gives you more to play with EQ and timing wise in the mixing process.

Our time spent mixing also highlighted a number of issues for improvement including recording vocals with way too much gain and perhaps using mic'd up guitars rather than DI to the recording interface. All this of course has caused a major issue though in that, it's highly likely I'm going to have to re-record a lot of stuff I've already done. We'll have to see whether the results justify the extra hassle. I'm looking forward to working with Lee again soon but need to spend a little time practising what I've learned.

I was thrilled when my good mate Steve Dunn (Also Eden) agreed to guest on one of the tracks, 'The Dark that follows the Light'. I've not worked with Steve for about 18 years and it's great to kick off the songwriting partnership again, if only remotely across the internet.

I threw a few keyboard tracks together and emailed them into the ether, and Steve weaved some prog magic across the top. It's sounding very dark, like a John Carpenter soundtrack. Lots still to do but I think it's going to be good.

Another track written in a day last week was 'Ministry of Failure'. Simple Piano and a few nice harmonies with a characteristically dour theme.

I reckon I have 50mins of music written now so enough for the album.


Overall recording progress so far:

- La Iglesia - Done
- Sins of the Father - Done
- In the Sea - Done
- Evolution Railroad - Done
- A Day on the Moon - Done
- Ministry of Failure -Done
- Heard you were Going (San Francisco) (WORKING TITLE)
- Who will you serve - More song writing/recording to do on this
- The Dark that follows the Light - More song writing/recording to do on this

To the Moon and Back

Time for another update.

The new album is shaping up in odd directions. I had planned this to be another concept album but I'm finding my current inspiration for tunesmithery is taking me all over the place. In the last couple of weeks, I've also managed to pen two fairly commercial sounding tracks which are really on the boundaries of what can be considered Prog. For one they are both too short at a radio friendly 3minutes each. Rather than try and remain a purist I think it's better to get this stuff out there.

'To the Moon and Back' was one of those magical song writing moments where you get hit by a chord phrase in your head. An hour later and I'd worked the whole song out. 8 hours later and it was recorded. I wish they could all be this quick.! I also got to borrow a gorgeous Ovation 12 string electroacoustic which sounds fabulous and takes centre stage on the track. The original idea came out of watching all the media coverage on the 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landings. I saw a piece on Neil Armstrong and how the vision of the earth from the moon had altered his life completely, maybe not necessarily in a good way.

'Heard you were going' is a bit of a dour pastiche of 'San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)' by Scott McKenzie written by John Phillips of The Mamas and Papas fame. Again I'm not sure it should be on this album, on account it sounds a little too 'Country Rock ' but it's cynicism should be fitting with the album's dark theme.

'The Dark that follows the Light' is going to be a full on Prog epic . I've promised myself it must be at least 15min long and will have some wierd and wonderful Jon Anderson 'lyrical nonsense' themes. Much work to do here.

Overall recording progress so far:

- La Iglesia - Done
- Sins of the Father - Done
- In the Sea - Done
- Evolution Railroad - Done
- To the Moon and Back - Done
- Heard you were Going (San Francisco) (WORKING TITLE)
- Who will you serve - More song writing/recording to do on this
- The Dark that follows the Light - More song writing/recording to do on this