Last weekend I managed to find enough time to record a new demo of Horizontal. I have recorded this song a few times already but I feel I’ve really captured the simple arrangement this time. When I record the final version though I will take a lot more time over it.

Anyway, here it is if you want to listen to/download (right click, save as)it;

Horizontal 128mbps mp3

I have to say I’m amazed at Trent Reznor’s productivity lately. Having just released Ghosts I-IV he’s now released a new album called the Slip. On top of that he’s offering it for free in high quality mp3, Flac and High Res Wav formats.

This really is a revolution and it really is fulfilling to see an artist of that calibre and popularity do something on such a major scale without the need for a record label. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a physical CD release later in the year, after all, not everyone has high-speed internet access still. If this happens I would hesitate to call it cashing in (although I’m sure many a cynic will do!). Personally I would still be happy to buy a physical CD due to NIN’s reputation and history of making a worthwhile product.

The fact that Trent managed to get this album out so quickly when he has a history of taking up to 5 years between albums is mind blowing. It really makes you wonder just how much Interscope must have held him back in the past.

Secret albums seem to be the way these days, and I think it’s a fantastic way to keep your fans interested. I’m more inclined to visit nin.com on a regular basis because I know there’s nearly always going to be something happening.

It certainly has taught me a lesson. I talk and talk about my forthcoming EP and it never seems to happen, theres always something going on. I think in future I’m only going to make casual reference to what I’m doing unitl the day it’s ready to be unleashed on the world.

I’ve realised that I really can work at my own pace too. I have no deadlines to meet. All I want to do is write and record the best songs I possibly can. Ideally I’d like to do it all in a day, in reality it will probably take a month or two. It doesn’t matter though. I have no deadlines to meet and I won’t be letting anyone down. It’s far more important to release a high quality record than it is to record hundreds of songs.

I’m going to immerse myself in the Slip now and await inspiration.

Quote:
“On a tiny speck of island just beyond the horizon, a man stands alone next to the ruins of his crashed hanglider and thinks: well, that didn’t last very long.”

Read the full article here.

This will teach all artists something (I hope!).

The biggest problem I’ve had with my music is my lack of confidence in my voice. Most of the time I feel it sounds weak and it doesn’t always seem to record well, and when it does sound good I start to lose my voice soon after.

So, I decided to do something about it. I’ve been taking vocal instruction from the Zen of Screaming DVD and CD by Melissa Cross.

Despite its title its more about maintaining your voice and finding your strengths rather than screaming your heart out (although I believe the second DVD covers that in more detail).

There’s even a section that helps you learn to sing your own songs better. So I’m going to hold out on recording any vocals for a little while until I’ve got my voice in shape, and then I should be able to start putting some music up here.

So, gee-yah, gee-yah, gee-yah! Seriously, get the DVD and you’ll see what I mean!

As I haven’t posted any music this year I thought I’d post what I’m working on at the moment. There are no vocals, just acoustic guitar, drums and bass. I think I might need to reduce the bass slightly though.

Listen to it here

or download 128kps mp3 (right click, save as).

I’ve been planning for a little while now to start writing and releasing a song every week for 3 months, followed up by a gig every month for the next 3 months. This was meant to start yesterday however I couldn’t get the song finished in time because I was sick.

So, I now have to decide when I’m going to resume this project? I’m feeling better now so hopefully I’ll have something up by the end of this week. I still have to write lyrics for the song I was meant to post this week.

So, until next week…

Why does there have to be so many scenes? Can’t you just be an artist or a band? I can imagine that the industry has a monthly meeting where things like “So, whos top of the punk department right now?” and “Who’s indie boy of the week?”

It’s just insane, do we really need to section ourselves so much.  I mean my favourite bands/artists range from Elliott Smith, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, Tool, Dinosaur Jr, Rancid, Social Distortion etc etc.  You get the point, music is music, fashion is fashion, lets not mix the two.

Phew! At last I have my site as I want. Its taken a lot of work, considering I knew absolutely nothing about web design 3 months ago I think I’ve done well.

It appears that this site views best in Firefox in 1024 by 768 resolution. It also appears fine in IE7 which is what I assume a lot of people use.

I’ve tried tweaking it to work in different screen resolutions but I can’t find a solution as yet. If anyone has any ideas then feel free to contact me. I would appreciate it.

In music news I am working on a song with my side project at the moment. The idea is I do the music and Gareth does the lyrics and vocals. I’m hoping to have the music in good shape by Monday.

As for solo music I aim to dedicate some time to it this week as I seem to have neglected it quite a lot recently. I’m also planning something which I won’t reveal just yet in case of … well, you know? … whatever?

So, that’s all for now.

UPDATE:

I finally managed to fix my resolution problem.  I searched for ages and eventually found a piece of code to fix it.  All I had to do was play around with margin widths etc and it was done.  I’m proud to say that this site should work in any browser in any resolution now!

I desperately need to come up with some decent original heavy riffs. I’ve been toying with lower tunings and drop-D etc but to no avail. At one point I thought I was on to something and then I realised that it was a Tool riff.

I think I’m going to make up some drum loops and just jam to them and see if that inspires anything.  It takes me a while to work up a decent arrangement and its strange working without thinking about lyrics at the same time.

I really need to set aside a couple of hours to be with my 8 track, drum machine and play.  Maybe this weekend I’ll make some progress, who knows.

For the past six months I’ve been reading possibly hundreds of blogs and articles on how to use the web as a promotion tool for music. I’ve read detailed strategies on everything from how to set up your Myspace page to writing the perfect press release etc.

It gets to a point where you’re reading the same thing over and over and you suddenly think, “Isn’t this obvious?” Music shoud be about music.  How it sounds!

I’ve even read how you shouldn’t even think about making music away from the computer screen.  Well, for me I can’t be creative in front of a PC.  In fact recording on my digital 8-track in my attic reminds me that the music world is not the internet.  It goes beyond a blog and a myspace page.

Right now I’m happy slowly making music for the fun of it.  I’m not ready to jump back into the live scene and I’m not into recording polished productions.  All my aim is for now is to write great songs and put them on my website for people to hear and if they wish download for free.  One day I will get around to playing live again and selling actual records but it’s just not what I feel I should be doing right now.  After all whats the rush?  I’m 25 and hopefully have enough time to take this at my own pace.  The only reason I would worry about time is if I wanted the major labels to be interested in me, however I have no  interest in being  manipulated and moulded into some mainstream ideal.

So, what does the next few weeks hold for me?  Well, I’ve hit a bit of a dead end with my solo music right now so I’m leaving that to one side.  I’m working on a new project with a friend of mine.  This is a good chance for me to look away from my regular way of doing things and hopefully learn something new.

Until sometime soon, all the best