Started a new exercise regime today to add to my already fairly reasonably timetable of physical activity. Skipping is a major part of it and it is brutal. Never have my lungs been on fire like this. The only people who skip with skipping ropes seem to be little girls and boxers. Strange. My free weight lifting is improving. My balance feels better. My running still sucks and it is more like jogging anyway. My Karate is notably sloppy but the muscle memory is still there and I am getting back into the swing of it quite quickly. I want to be a contender. Seriously though, it helps my voice no end. Physical fitness is essential for good vocal technique and anyone who says otherwise is either incredibly gifted or just plain retarded.
I woke up today after a late night of UFO hunting to find that another review of Mannhunter had been published. This one is highly accurate, complimentary and dare I say quite brilliant. Needless to say my ego has been massaged and I am thoroughly re-enthused about my music. Starting today I am devoting all my time to getting the next EP finished. I have discovered through this that my ego does not crave attention for attention’s sake but rather understanding. I really do want people to understand my music and to enjoy it. I’m only interested in genuine feedback from genuine fans as it is for these like minded souls that I make my music in the first place. If you are a musical artist then your first fan must be yourself. If you don’t like the music you are making then you are making the wrong music. For the first time in my life I decided to record music that came from my heart and not my head and for the first time in my life someone who is in no way connected to me, my music or my life has properly understood it. If I can touch one soul with every release then my time is not being wasted. You can read the full review here –
I had tentatively planned my next release to be made available this week via bandcamp but I am still waiting on one track being finished and so it will not be available as planned. This is unfortunate but patience is a virtue and there really is no hurry. This is just one of the perks of not having a label or a manger on my back. I get to take my time and like in the metaphorical story of the tortoise and the hare I would much prefer to have a cosy warm shell I could curl up inside of at the end of the day than stupid big feet and ears.
I woke up this morning in the mood to write so I quickly went outside and wrote COOK PASS BABTRIDGE on my car. Then I got my typewriter out and continued with my detective novel. I still have no idea why I am writing a detective novel of all things but I am and I say detective novel but really it’s a crime thriller. Either way it’s a very exciting book to write but I doubt I will ever let anyone actually read it. Maybe I will. It’s quite experimental and I borrow heavily from Dostoevsky. I also managed to write about two good lines of a short story which I’ve just started working on. It is a much more serious work and something I am really going to take my time over. It took me two hours to write two lines so I’m thinking it’s going to be a while before it’s finished.
I write on a silver reed 100 as I feel using a typewriter is much more conducive to my style of narration. I also feel my ideas flow more freely as I clunk away on it. I fear though that I am alienating my neighbours slightly as all they must hear through the wall is the constant banging of my fingers on the keys. I guess a modern, quieter, equivalent would be an iPad but there is just so much satisfaction in bashing the keys as hard as I want.
I should get back to making music but I tend to get easily distracted and this week has been full of distractions. For example I got this today –
Maybe tomorrow I will wake up in the mood to make music.
Lana Del Rey has been on my mind since her abysmal performance on SNL at the weekend. I honestly couldn’t believe how bad it was. She is definitely not a singer and yet at this moment she is probably the most hyped thing since Reebok Pumps.
(If you don’t remember Reebok Pumps then check this out -)
I’m not sure what her game plan is because without her music profile keeping her afloat she will probably lose her modelling contract in time and end up back in this ‘trailer’ she keeps harping on about. If you missed the entire thing then please enjoy this -
and this -
She will doubtlessly put it all down to her nerves but I can’t sympathise with her. I would relish the opportunity to sing on SNL and nerves wouldn’t factor into it. I love to sing and I love to perform. If you are professional then you do your job. If you’re a singer then you sing. I know singers that get paid to sing and yet (in my opinion) they can’t sing at all. Similarly I know plenty of singers with beautiful voices that don’t make a living from it no matter how hard they try.
“If you are great at something but you don’t get paid can you still be considered a professional?” – Carrie Bradshaw (1990s).
I can’t wait to see Lana Del Rey’s next TV performance. Given the amount of negative press she has just scooped I thought she’d be in hiding but alas no, she is doing lots more TV in the coming months. I can’t wait. If you want to see what happens when someone who can sing appears on SNL then watch this -
This is all I’m going to listen to for the foreseeable future.
‘The foreseeable future’ has always seemed a strange phrase to me and yet I use it all the time. I think I took it from my father. It sounds like his kind of phrase. It makes no sense when you analyse it but then again what under analytical scrutiny ever makes any sense. I mean apart from the obvious common notion that we can’t possibly predict the future I know for a fact that the future doesn’t even exist. If you want to know more about why the future does not exist I can point you in the direction of my favourite blog -
http://rebelscience.blogspot.com/
You’ll have to look through the archives but it’s worth it.
(I’m actually writing a short e-book on the subject to help turn the tide of public opinion as I fear that what has become the common human understanding of ‘time’ is basically a lot of nonsense. More on this ‘later’.)
Today I have started laying the foundations for building my very own live room complete with vocal booth. I have my computer set up in the adjacent room and thanks to the kind engineers from Virgin I already have a small hole in the wall through to the room that is going to be my live room. I need to pick up some extra long cables but I have everything else I need. After wiring two mic cables and one really long headphone cable through to the live room I will be able to record both guitar and vocals simultaneously or separately. I am also going to run a midi cable through to connect to my electric piano. This is in preparation for tracking my next EP. I have already done lots of preproduction but now I really need great vocal takes to make the songs come to life. It will be a slow process but once it is all set up I will be a machine at making music and most importantly I will have no excuses for being lazy.
I have decided to document the construction of my vocal booth in the hope that I can inspire others to build similar contraptions. The design of a vocal booth itself is pretty standard but mine is going to be made of cardboard and carpet which makes it cooler than the professional kind. More info on this as it happens. Today was mostly hoovering, tidying, moving things about. Tomorrow I start assembly.
Tonight I am going to make another stab at getting three stars on every cup in Mario Kart 7 while watching E.R. I am now on season 8. It is strange watching a TV show season after season without any ‘time’ delay – next episode – next episode – next episode. I have this sense that eight years in these actor’s and character’s lives have flown by in a matter of weeks and this feeling is not pleasant at all. Then I remember that ‘time’ doesn’t exist and I feel much better.
