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Monday, August 27, 2012

A letterbox drop

This morning, I walked round to Lachlan's house and popped the rough musical sketches of West Brunswick (The album), the one's you've been listening to, into his letterbox. Nine songs that in a few weeks will be ready to record. Nine songs? There are some I haven't shown you. I thought I'd leave them for a surprise when you finally hear the finished album.

Lachlan is a great sound engineer who co-produced The Bride. He used to be my next door neighbour. I hope he likes the tracks. I felt quite self conscious handing over my inferior recording attempts to an expert, but he's a good fella and won't really care one bit. We've talked about recording the songs straight to tape, like we used to before the advent of digital technology. I like old school ways, they're more familiar. Analogue creates a warmer tone and has some really interesting limitations that I quite like.  It is better suited to a musician that plays the whole song from beginning to end without dropping in than to a musician that likes digital recording because of it allows one to stop and start throughout the song.

The whole idea of recording to tape reconnects me with my younger self going to Bakehouse studios in Richmond in the mid 80's before it was Bakehouse. I recorded a demo of songs straight to tape  One or two takes for each song. 6-10 songs in one session including a mix down. Simple! I like that. I don't know whatever became of the demo. I do know I had no idea what to do with it after I made it.

This was before community radio had really taken a foothold so there weren't a lot of places to send demos to other than 3XY or Michael Gudinski and I didn't believe I was pretty enough or skinny enough to even get a look in. So for a shy, suburban girl like me, it was never going to be sent to anyone, I was too afraid of some sort of perceived cruel rejection. Truth be told, I just didn't have the guts.

So, my adult life has been as much about getting up the guts to do what that 18 year old could'n't.  West Brunswick is the next step along the way. It is as much for that shy girl of 18, who hoped for something wonderful but had no idea where that something wonderful was, as it is for the suburb and my friends who live there. I hope they all like it. Mostly, I hope that by the end of the process, I still do.

Onward and upward as Mr Lewis said.



Sunday, August 19, 2012

Two Ukes, One Song and no rain today....

A Sunday song for you. Originally written for Carl Punnuzzo and performed and recorded by Carl Panuzzo and Penny Larkins.  When I first heard them sing this song, I thought my heart was going to grow so big that it would fall out of my chest and my soul felt like it was actually being sucked out into the universe. Was I experiencing what Mr W. at confirmation class suggested would happen at the second coming when the chosen souls would become light and spirit, enraptured forever? (Mr W. was into end times stuff - if you didn't go to church when you were a kid and you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, ask someone that did)

Not to be. That glimpse of heaven finished with the song. I was still in the pub, the beer was still in my hand and the Gods of Singing, I mean Carl and Penny, were still on stage. Bloody hell!

Well, this mortal, with flawed voice and two ukuleles and a touch of hubris, has had a crack at covering the song that I wrote - can you do that- aiming to pop it on the upcoming album? It's the exception to the "West Brunswick" album rule. Only Albion Street is mentioned, not the suburb.

I hope you like it, Carl and Penny, even though I reckon your version is the definitive one, I kinda like this one too.

The Ukulele Rain Song - Draft Copy
Recorded Sunday Afternoon in my lounge room on garageband.


Friday, August 10, 2012

The business of the build.....


Have you heard of that personality test where you find out if you're a builder or a director or an explorer. Well, turns out I'm more your explorer type, which is great news for a creative type. However, I'd quite like to be a bit more of a builder. Builders make structures that last, that you can live in and touch and walk around.

Being an explorer is a constant frustration to the more practical, builderly types in my life. All I can say in my defence is that I take after my father. Our family would all take a deep breath whenever he promised to fix or build something and prayed that he wouldn't take the end of his thumb off again. My dad was a great thinker and a fiend at cryptic crosswords, he was a brilliant community minded fella and a fine host who loved jazz and red wine. He just couldn't build or fix stuff although he'd sometimes have a crack. However, what was in his head just never quite materialised.

I can't really build stuff either unless you call stacking two desk drawers on top of each other to create a bookshelf, building. I find it hard enough letting my landlord know if there's a problem with my house. The thought of actually owning a house or worse, building a house, sends me running to the kitchen to shove my hyperventilating head into the paper bag I keep in the bottom drawer for just such moments.

It once took me two years to tell a landlord about the blocked shower head. While I was happy enough to "explore" other ways to shower, guests, and my daughter, got a bit pissed off when presented with the bath or bucket option.

At the moment, I am facing the task of building a website. A completely perplexing task that will require a tradesperson of some patience who can not only build the thing, but build it so I can use it without breaking it.

This Website will be an archive, a showcase, a repository, a gallery, a storybook, an album and a movie theatre. An artists space. So I place my ad:

WANTED
Patient, efficient, creative website builder.
Willing to work with a songwriter.
You will be greatly admired for your builder's skills
as you construct a user friendly artist's webspace. 
Must know what you're doing.
 She hasn't got a bloody clue.
 Though, she is pretty good with a blog. 
Website to be up by end of September.

Here's a song from the forthcoming album which is scheduled for recording in September, to whet your whistle while you think about whether you want the job. A taster of an arrangement for the title song, "West Brunswick" featuring ukulele and guitar, recorded on garageband in my lounge room.