The Loss of Milo and the Passion of Creation (June 2009)
Hello! It’s been too long, I promise to do better! I have a new mid-year resolution to write more blogs so hopefully a few more will be forthcoming!
The Loss of Milo It is only right that I start with the news that Milo Bird has decided to leave these shores and go travelling for at least a year. So it is with deep regret that I have to embark on a musical life beyond Milo and rebuild a new band line-up without him. Milo has not only been an extraordinary cellist who plays his instrument in such a fantastic manner, but through his sensitive treatment of my songs and his ability to embellish upon even the most basic of ideas, he has been a great creative influence. I think the whole band will miss his calm, likeable and somewhat mildly weird personality around the place and I know we have shared some great musical experiences. He will be playing with us on Wed 8th July (The Fly) and Tue 28th July (The Troubadour) before making his final appearance at The Bedford on Tue 18th August. If you want to see him perform with us one more time, make sure you catch one of these shows! The Future Band Line-Up and the Desire For a Second Album Even before Milo’s announcement I had been thinking about how the band should evolve in terms of band members and instruments. Whilst he would naturally have been a part of that, it means I now have a big change and a big challenge ahead of me. While labels, radio stations and booking agents are approached in the background the only certain thing I have the potential to control is the creation of the songs and how they are played. I think about 3 days after the completion of Until The Morning Light I was thinking about the next album. I would never want to create a UTML Mk II so I suppose it’s natural to think about the sound and any potential change in style or instrumentation. When you start thinking about trying to find the right band member you realise there are many considerations – what they play, their personality, where they live, are they full-time/part-time musicians? (If you think you are well-suited – get in touch....) The Passion of Creation You tend to go through phases of when you are really enjoying rehearsals and gigs and when you are a little jaded but the one thing I never lose is the drive to write music. The idea of attending lots of gigs in addition to all this can sometimes feel a bit like overkill, but I had a superhuman effort last week and after my Monday gig at the 12 Bar I went on to watch other artists play on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. I was rewarded not only with some good live music but the visible passion when you see artists perform new songs. One of the artists that seem to have been teetering on the brink of obscurity and stardom for a long time is Nerina Pallot. Her gigs over the years have varied in terms of standard and line-up but she keeps writing great songs and gave a fantastic performance on Wednesday at Scala. Someone of comparable natural ability who has gone back to cutting her teeth as a solo artist on the London circuit is Julia Johnson. Currently just playing alone at a piano she is writing some incredible music and has got that spark back. She is creating great songs and as ever has excellent delivery and thought provoking lyrics. The Circuit Is Full of Rich Kids From the time when I first started playing the London circuit many moons ago, to the present day, there have been many constants. Soundchecks are still late, musicians’ egos are still large and venue walls are still graffiti’d. Venues have always changed hands and promoters have always come and gone but the new people have always seemed similar to the old. So what’s changed? Well over recent years it has struck me that most of the people in their late twenties/thirties – especially the solo artists – all seem to be fairly affluent with either rich parents or a big bank account covering all the gigging/promotional/touring costs. Now this observation is not part of some socialist political monologue (some of my biggest musical friends have a fair few pounds in the bank) but it makes me sad to think of all those that are missing. Many will have had to turn their back on their dreams, faced the fact that making music break even only comes with wedding bands, successfully playing lots of sessions for others and/or achieving a high level of success as an artist. It is true many of these people will not have deserved to ‘make it’ and many will have just been along for the ride and have a few memorable nights – but among these will be people whose incredible talent and songs won’t be heard. I have often looked at people and wondered how they logistically manage to do what they do. Another artist (which many of you may know) who is in a similar musical situation to myself in terms of progression and the stage we are at, contacted me a few months ago and said ‘how do you manage to pay for the rehearsals, the band costs and the other gig costs?’. ‘I don’t really’ was my reply, ‘it’s a completely unsustainable situation.’ You could hear his heart sinking at the other end of the phone, he wanted what I had wanted months before – someone to simply tell you a magic formula so that the logistical and financial stuff can just go away and you can be left to think about creating and playing music. DWM SongPoint Speaking of creation, here are some amazing songs that have really hit a chord with me. Samson – Regina Spektor Who Will Sing Me Lullabies – Kate Rusby Awkward Annie – Kate Rusby Poor Man’s Heaven – Seth Lakeman Flavor – Tori Amos Self Help (live) – Julia Johnson Gold – Jamie Scott & The Town Two thorns amongst many roses in this selection. I know some of you take the time to listen to the inspiring songs that are on my playlist. You should be able to hear these on Spotify with the exception of Julia’s at http://www.myspace.com/juliajohnsonmusic (I think) and maybe Jamie Scott’s (his is definitely on his myspace page ....). These would be 25 minutes well spent in my eyes. Holiday then Many Shows It’s 1.53am. I am finally getting to take a little break and go on holiday for a week – a much much needed recharge – and then after that I have a very busy couple of months with many different shows. I am trying to get this blog posted before I go away and then I just have to pack and then get some sleep before getting up at 7am to make an airport run. So with that mind, please let me go now! Keep an eye out for the new shows and stay in touch! Cheers! DWM The Effort, The Frustration, The Video and The Sidelines
I’m currently sitting on a train with snow covered fields all around me, listening to Ray Lamontagne’s excellent Till The Sun Turns Black album. I am on my way back to London and I get in 11 minutes before I have an interview for an online music site. The guy has asked me if I can kind of review my own album (hmmm track 1 brilliant, track 2 brilliant, track 3 brilliant...) so I am re-thinking about the songs that have become very well known to me. It is something I find myself doing a bit these days when I am on the way to gigs as I never want to appear to be going through the motions when I am performing them.
I had a secret showcase last night at the 12 Bar. It was rearranged gig after the evil snow god sabotaged the one that was supposed to be 7 days earlier and a tiny crowd as I couldn’t promote it with my Borderline gig coming up on Friday. It was rescheduled so that a few industry people could see me play and hopefully some good will come of the good reaction on the night. It was a good gig with Pravin playing Cajon instead of drums and my voice felt nice and free from tiredness or viral attack! After this interview I just need to get back to my house and, besides rehearsing two songs in preparation for my gig on Friday, I have a free evening! I may go to the gym actually as I have just joined one I can’t really afford and I have just succumbed to one of the flapjacks that keep getting wheeled past me. Grrr evil metal wheeling food machine – nice flapjack though –just don’t come back three more times or I may crack again. I always thought ‘Donkey Oaty’ would be a good name for a flapjack..... (get it?...good yeah? No? Ahhh whatever) ------- I have done the interview now – really nice guy – I didn’t really have to review the album much but he enjoyed the 12 Bar gig and he loves the album so I don’t have to worry about him stitching me up! Anyway, tube then gym now... ------- The Borderline gig comes and goes – a fantastic crowd turned up for us and the gig itself was great but 10 minutes after our departure our loyal following are treated to 2 heavy rock acts - which kinda kills the mood a bit in there. It was great to be back on the Borderline stage – several of my musical heroes have played there – Counting Crows, The Stones, Nerina Pallot plus people like Blur, Oasis, and Kravitz. I enjoy a few post-gig drinks but I have stupidly agreed to play football the next day - ouch. One of my believers from the Netherlands has combined a trip to London with attending the gig but he only introduces himself as I am leaving the venue. He doesn’t mind that I haven’t had time to chat much but I am anxious I don’t appear ungrateful for his fantastic support. I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew right now as straight after a 2-gig week I need to do much more organising and shot-writing for my video to be filmed in a few days time. The make-up artist drops out and one of the three models drop out – luckily they both suggest good replacements – but there are so many things to organise....insurance....tapes.....food/drink.....checking all the models and dancers know when to arrive and what to bring.....oh and write some of the shots so we know what we are filming. Arrrrrrrrrrrgggghhh.... ------- It’s now 11.09pm on Sunday 22nd February. I open my front door and almost collapse in the hall. I left the house at 9.10am carrying a massive rucksack that is 2/3rds the size of me. The whole day has been like the last 30 minutes of an exam but the people on the shoot were great – the crew, all 3 models and all 3 male dancers were patient and talented, and Pravin, Milo and Jennifer were on great form. We struggled a bit for time and some were suggesting the shoot should run into a second day but that would be a £700 decision, create a logistic nightmare and muck up the timing of getting the complete video – so we pushed on and hopefully got what we need. We have definitely got some great moments in there... I felt a bit punch-drunk the next day but it was nice to get messages from crew, dancers and models (hey it’s always nice to get messages from models) saying how much they enjoyed the whole day. ------- The next few days I can honestly say have been tough. I have been working hard on my day job and then trying to organise rehearsals, handing over the tapes from the ‘making of’, getting subscriber mails/messages from different profiles out to people to let them know about what is coming up and re-building the background/look of my MySpace profile (which one day just disappeared!? Did the company I used just succumb to the credit crunch?). In the middle of this period I met Adam Sieff from Sellaband for a pizza, a catch-up and a chat. It is always good to come into contact with Adam’s positivity and he always talks about and gives feedback on my actual music rather than all the other stuff. There are lots of things to get frustrated and angry about if you let yourself but keeping the whole thing afloat has to be the priority for me. I have been thinking a lot about the next musical stage for me. I have new songs of various stages of completion, I want to take the live show onto the next level but the tasks and frustrations above combined with 4 band members who all have other commitments makes this a hard task. When I checked my e-mails this morning I saw a message which means I have to cancel a rehearsal and try and slot one in the next day (but I don’t know if they have a space and one band member can’t get there until 1 ½ hours in – so it will be a long one if we have one at all!) Writing this blog has been quite easy and therapeutic really as I have done it in a few chunks, listened to good music while I have done it and just tapped away. The down side is that your tone is polluted by your troubles! I also decided in the week that even though I haven’t got much time, I am going to try and find time to do my portrait photography a bit more seriously and a few more simple landscape paintings. The photography is something I really enjoy and the beauty is that I can do it on my own terms and whilst it won’t make me money it won’t cost me much either! That seems like a result compared with my music costs...! I am going to concentrate on shooting up and coming bands, artists, models and maybe actresses, but if I don’t think they are good enough, pretty enough, talented enough or simply annoy me once I won’t work with them... – maybe it is just a position of choice I am craving! ------ So anyway, I only have about 5 stops left of this tube journey so before I sign off I will share with you what I am listening to at the moment. Some of you actively hunt out these songs and enjoy this part so I have carried on doing it. I also get to write two words with no space in between and a couple of random capital letters – so here goes... DWM SongPoint Diamonds & Rust – Joan Baez Fountain of Sorrow – Joan Baez Fountain of Sorrow – Jackson Browne A Falling Through – Ray Lamontagne The Entertainer – Billy Joel If you don’t know any of them the look ‘em up – they are all great and kind of relaxing in their own way! That’s all for now folks and thank you for reading... DWM The Sinking Or The Swimming
Happy new year to you all!! Christmas and New Year has been and gone and the mildly depressing shadow of January is for me, etched with both hope and trepidation. Rehearsals and gigs are booked and I am ready for what I see as my ‘sink-or-swim’ time. The regular version of my CD is released on January 12th alongside press, online and radio promotion and I know that after years and years of trying, this is the critical and defining period.
Call To Arms Well good luck to you Dan, but what can I do to affect the result? Well the honest answer is plenty. I would urge you to join the e-team by going here http://www.danielwm.com/eteam.cfm and entering your e-mail address. There will be organised activity that can really help and there is no obligation for you to take part in every initiative if you are too busy one time. It may be as simple as sending an e-mail to an address or asking people you know to vote on a link. Outside of that, you can always leave an album review at Amazon, iTunes or any of the hundreds of places where the album is available digitally. I never like asking for help but at this crucial time it may be the difference between a lengthy career and fading into the twilight. DWM MediaWatch If you are interested to know where and when coverage appears I will be pointing this out in blogs as well as hosting details on my website. There have been a couple so far: - RADIO - On December 20th I appeared with Jennifer Delaney on South FM in London for an interview and played 3 live songs. It was a fairly last minute thing so I had no time to let people know about it... - PRESS/ONLINE - A 2/3 page article (next to Elbow and Nick Cave) appeared in the Bournemouth Echo. The onlive version can be seen here - http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/search/4010532.Thank_you_for_the_music____and_cash/ - INTERNET RADIO – Two phone interviews were conducted for Talentcast/Radio Sunshine in November. I will let you know when there are more...! Gigs Live shows are an important part of promoting the album. Five shows have been booked for early 2009 so far and 3 are fully confirmed, please go to http://www.danielwm.com/gigs.cfm to see details... Photos and Videos New photos from recent live shows are now up at http://www.danielwm.com/pics.cfm and some very average videos are up from a small gig we did at the Cavendish Arms. They are not great but one features my brand new song The Liberation of the Female Kind and the other features an incredible dancing man about 2 min 40 in! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jBeZJYdk9Rw&feature=channel_page http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JXZaIWCxAZY&feature=channel Open to Offers and Guest Appearances.... Talking a good game is something a lot of musicians do. I have auditioned a singer who cannot sing and a guitarist that made me look like Van Halen before. So I am relieved that those awkward moments seem to be behind me but I do wish I had more offers to play more music and have more musicians play with me and my band. I would welcome the addition of a fantastic guitarist to the live line-up, or even better someone who can play both guitar and keyboard - but short of that a guest banjo, mandolin or trumpet player would be fantastic. I am lucky that my band consists of fantastic musicians but I quite like the New Orleans music-led approach where musicians will turn up, guest on a song or two and then go home again or on to the next club. With great players money is of course a consideration, and doing paying gigs is the goal, but at the same time I would be happy to guest on live or recorded work as long as the music is good and it’s enjoyable, whatever the genre. The fact it would give me a bit of extra exposure is a bonus. The Shame in Asking Advice? We had a great, creative environment over the summer with recording and mixing sessions where ideas were voiced and considered. Before that many decisions have to be made with the planning of rehearsals, studio bookings and studio schedules. It was great to draw on (producer) Tony Platt’s experience and you could see, particularly with me and Pravin (drummer), the desire to tap into this and simply ask his advice from time to time. If he has done something several times before why not ask about the best way to do it, or just understand why certain things don’t tend to work so well. With all that in mind, I find it a bit strange that 50k artists on Sellaband haven’t asked me for advice at all about the recording process - and Sellaband haven’t asked me for any feedback either. I don’t know whether it’s the prevalent ‘I know best’ attitude that seems to exist in the music world, but in the business world this would be a must-do. DWM SongPoint These are the songs that are on my playlist at the moment: Masterplan – My Morning Jacket Fallen – Sarah McLachlan Late For The Sky – Jackson Browne Close to the Borderline – Billy Joel Take the time to look them up online and have a listen! So that’s all for now folks – speak soon! DWM The Learning, The Writing and The Inexplicable Sound
I am now officially off the leash! Now I won’t just be updating you and bending your ear about all things musical, but also forcing general ramblings and thoughts on the general world upon you. I probably won’t even structure my thoughts that well as some kind of mini-rebellion against the organised world, but hey, I’ll try to at least make them semi-entertaining for you in return. Ok, let’s give you the update...
The long wait is nearly over. I started writing songs when I was 13 and in a few days time I will finally have a collection of my songs on a professionally produced CD. At the moment that is only really a big deal for me and a few people around me, but hopefully in a couple of weeks time it will be a big deal for some of you as well! You Gotta Walk Before You Can Run In some ways I am patient, in others I am not. I would like to tour across many countries playing gigs with my fantastic band and have a bass player, a guitarist, a mandolin player and piano/keyboard player guest throughout the shows. Well that is something that could happen, but at the moment I have face up to the fact that it has to be a slow, feasible transition that deals with the reality of my day job, my musicians day jobs and the fact there are no gig fees for the band (or me) at the moment. Someone these days has decided that you don’t make money from selling CDs, which means you have to get to the next phase of either having your music appearing in films/adverts/TV shows or selling out lots of shows – so that you can get some money and perhaps make this transition a reality. For me, playing big shows, small shows, working hard, promoting, interviewing etc – none of that is scary, but the transition is. I hope I have done the first part in creating a good album but the rest will require a couple of breaks and great fans showing me great support. ‘Fan’ is a strange word. Some artists tend to collect them like scalps, but for me it is simply people who like your music enough to do something about it – whether that is tell lots of people about it, buy a t-shirt, or buy your next album. These people are special and make such a difference. I think sometimes people under-estimate the power of people power.... You Gotta Keep Something for Yourself Everyone who makes music tends to be a bit different. Some are in-your-face and self-confident, some are shy, retiring types and some are very sensitive and a bit fragile. I don’t think any of those really apply to me but I would say I don’t feel the cathartic need to lyrically express myself. This means I don’t need to ‘let it all out’ (visions of someone patting a sobbing DWM on the back) and that after I have written a song I don’t need to walk up to a friend and say ‘hey, that line was about you’. My songs tend to: - be about the past, the present and the future - talk about things that have happened to me and as well as things that haven’t - use loads of metaphors - be about several things in one song Throw all that together and it is a wonder people ever say ‘I know exactly what you mean there..’. If I was trying to describe something in the simplest terms, I would be disappointed if I couldn’t get my meanings across – but I am not trying to do that. As a singer/songwriter growing up in late 90s/00s London, you don’t get a great deal really. You work hard, you rehearse hard, you don’t get paid for your musical endeavours and you can generally get treated like a disposable rag doll – so for me, this is the one thing I keep some of just for myself. It has no cash value, but I suppose it is worth something to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a closed shop, when asked in interviews about particular songs I will give an answer that reveals half the truth, but I will just keep the other half for myself. Learning Things and Writing More Songs Making Until The Morning Light was a great experience. Contrary to popular belief it doesn’t take too long to actually record, mix and master the album, but ignoring for now the years it took to write the songs, it does take a lot of work and planning to make it all come together and get the results you wanted. I feel I have learned a lot throughout the process and to be honest I can’t wait to do it again. Tony Platt filled in some of these gaps for me this time around but I think I have learned a lot about how I like to schedule recordings and creatively, what input gets what results. I wasn’t new to recording studios, not at all, but I was new to recording a lot of songs in one go. Anyway, let’s hope I get the opportunity to use these experiences again sometime! My album isn’t quite out yet but already, instead of just playing and promoting these songs, I am writing new songs! I have almost completed a brand new song called The Liberation of the Female Kind. It’s simple, country/folky and hopefully a real foot-tapper! Just needs a little refining before I perform it for the first time! Ghost? Does not compute... In other news, I was staying in an old, grand hotel by the coast. It had a snooker room so I ventured down by myself to grace the green baize, but as I approached I heard the unmistakeable sound of a snooker ball hitting another snooker ball at pace. Cursing my luck that someone was in there and hoping there might be a second table, I walked into an empty room 3 seconds later to find no one in there and two tables completely motionless. I was standing by the only entrance/exit. Weird. Obama or McCain? Well in one word, Obama – but I find it a bit weird that while the half of the world that was sitting fairly pretty is in the middle of a financial crisis (and the other half still struggles to survive) that these two are spanking the kind of money that could actually fix things, on getting elected. On top of that, the big oil/petrol companies are posting amazingly big profits. Something went wrong somewhere methinks... Miscellaneous I respect the nation of China, but the Chinese leaf lettuce was a big error. It tastes bad. DWM SongPoint Man to Man – Lily Fraser Weak – Lily Fraser Someday Soon – The Matthew Bennett Band Night of the Living Dead – Julia Marcell Sophia – Nerina Pallot Some of you have been enjoying listening to the stuff I am inserting into my brain. The songs above are all by bands who have are not really seeing commercial success at the moment. These are five fantastic songs which for me typifies the talent that is out there but not getting play-listed. Lily’s album is worth a purchase (make sure you tell ‘em I sent you!) and Sophia is stunningly beautiful. ‘Someday Soon’ is a favourite of mine from this great (as far as I know) unsigned band. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! It has just hit midnight and I want to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs! Cheers DWM The Last Recording, The Mixing and The Magic
Things seem to be moving pretty fast now. When I last wrote we had nearly completed all the recording. The next task caused a few days delay as were trying to book a different studio for one extra recording day (as we couldn’t get back into the studio we used for all the other recording days), but fortunately another great studio was available and we had a really productive and enjoyable day.
The Last Recording There were quite a few guitar parts still left to record, a couple of backing vocals and the lead vocal for Act of Defiance. I laid down the remaining acoustic guitar parts first and then I got to play an amazing Fender Telecaster through a good-sounding Vox AC30 amp, which was a real treat for me. I live in a flat with thin walls and I have never had the money or space to own and play these amazing things - so to be in a soundproof room and told to turn it up loud and play was great. I laid down a bit of electric guitar on Act of Defiance that in truth I had never previously envisaged being on the song, but I tried to make the guitar confidently call out the same way the vocals do and we will see how it sounds in the mix! From a vocal perspective I felt good throughout recording this album, as I finally felt like I knew how bits would turn out if I did them in certain ways. The last bit of the day, and indeed the final thing I had to record on the album was singing Act of Defiance. It was quite fitting really as this is often the final song in my live sets and I really have to, well, kind of trash my voice at the end of the song. Singing in a recording studio is a bit different to singing live – there is no sizeable audience, the microphone technique is a bit different and of course you know you can do most bits again if need be. When you combine all this with the fact you are surrounded by great equipment and a talented producer, it can sometimes make you feel too safe and lead to less-emotional delivery. I forced myself to be aware of that throughout the sessions and get myself up for every take – not like Rocky pacing up and down in the corner but just by remembering why each lyric was written and delivering the right emotion. You can sometimes forget that in the cold light of day, when someone plays it on their car stereo or a kitchen radio, it is only as good as the performance you give. In the last song, as my torn vocal chords delivered the last chorus, I remember thinking that I had given it all I had. I had only ever done 3 day recording sessions before and I was determined that I was going to enjoy the whole experience. Many people would wish to record an album of their own material and to work with Tony Platt and the musicians I had around me. When I write my songs, I have always thought about what would be suitable for second and third albums but the honest truth is that you never know if this is the last time I would get to do this, or if it would be the first album of many. It will all be tied to how this album does and who shows faith in me. The next day, Allan Burls, who some of you may know as the bass guitarist from Francis Rodino's band, came to the studio in Old Street. Happily for me, he had agreed to guest on three tracks where we wanted bass guitar to accompany the cello. He experty laid down the basslines and the final note on 'Until The Morning Light' had been struck. The Album Title The album will be called ‘Until The Morning Light’. It’s a lyric from Act of Defiance – which as the name suggests is a pretty defiant song born out of listening to a lot of opinions and also enjoying being a bit reckless and breaking the routine from time to time. I thought the name was fitting as I have kept on going through the night when I thought I would either get there or give up by nightfall. There is no rock ‘n roll story here, but I feel like I have lived, I have written, I have persevered and I have created. People have helped me to get it all put down on an album and I hope you can be the last part and enjoy the listening. The Mixing As I write this, I am listening to some clanging guitars on Flame. The mixing is going well. It is a process for the patient and part of the danger is that you just have so many choices you can make. There has probably never been a mixing session where every decision made were the right ones but you have just got to get as many right as you can, and make sure you get all the big ones right! I have had many users of Sellaband asking me about (and fascinated by) the process of recording the music. Many don’t understand what happens and many don’t understand what takes the time. All I can say is that even if you are trying, like we are, to capture performances rather than meticulously de-construct and re-construct songs, there is still a lot of stuff that happens between the recording and getting it on your mp3 player. Even altering the levels on one song can take a fair while... Anyway, I don’t want to take away any of the magic – as I don’t think we have. Paintings can be quite quick to paint at the beginning but the final detail can take a while. I don’t think we have replaced or detracted from what has been important from the start – the songs, the musicians and the performances. It is not too long now until you can judge for yourself! DWM SongPoint Empty – Ray LaMontagne Barfly – Ray LaMontagne Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel Elliot’s Song – Alex Joe Marczak Go listen! So anyway folks, that’s me for the day! I’ll be honest, I am shattered. It is 21.41 now, I am on a tube on the way home and I have to post this, listen to today’s a mix and do 45 mins of rehearsing (Jen is singing some of my songs at a private members club on Thursday – may be a weird gig) before sleep! I am not complaining by the way but you do get tough, tiring days! Take Care DWM Recording Nearly Done & The Performances
The whirlwind continues and after the initial 5 recording days, another 3 days in the studio have now come and gone. The first day of the three was a lot of fun as (after laying down some acoustic guitar) I got to play the amazing vintage guitars and amps in the studio on a couple of tracks where we have elected for a bit of electric guitar. My previous band had a specialist electric guitarist, so it really was a special for me to get a chance to play them and although there was a definite ‘less is more’ approach, it has really added to the songs.
The next day saw Milo, Helen and Pravin back in the studio. First of all, the most prominent violin/viola/cello parts on the album were recorded, as Milo and Helen sat side by side and filled the big live room with their beautiful playing. There is a definite grass-roots sound in the music that has been important to me from the start. I love some electronic stuff but you sometimes get a good feeling when you have a set of musicians who are playing age-old instruments, unamplified and captured simply by microphones. You can call it what you want, but at times I definitely get a sitting-round-a-campfire feeling or a travelling-from-town-to-town-wandering-minstrels feeling, and even sometimes a playing for an ancient royal court feeling! It’s not the most complicated stuff in the world, but it just kind of feels like music to me. After the string parts were all performed, Helen and Milo had finished their recording on the album and after the farewell Pravin set about recording his remaining percussion parts. Speaking to Pravin, you get the feeling he has enjoyed the freedom of playing in an unconventional way. Throughout the sessions he has used a mixture of sticks, brushes and hot rods (kind of half way in between sticks). On In This Fair City he plays the drum kit with his hands for part of the song and then in this session, he played an udu (an ancient clay drum) on another track. I think people associate rock and funk albums as those that are constantly built on rhythm, but even though there isn’t percussion of any kind on two of the album tracks, this album has so much rhythmic variety that listening to it in public without walking a bit erratically will be very hard! If the first two days were days of recording rhythmic and slightly more complicated string parts, day 3 was a day of simple musical beauty. The morning saw Rosabella Gregory come into the studio and guest on two songs. A bit of funky Wurlitzer was laid down on the first take for one song, but the main event was listening to Rosie caress the piano keys for of the more poignant songs. With all the best planning in the world (and believe me I have done more planning for this adventure than I have for most!) sometimes you can’t get everything in place and you need a good break. The one person I had in mind to play this piano part couldn’t do it and it needed a speculative message to a promoter I know, a recommendation and a brief meeting in a piano rehearsal room in North-West London before the session itself. I can get bored of my own voice but I think it will take me a million listens to get bored of the playing on this song. The afternoon was Delaney-time, as Jennifer sung one of her lead vocal parts and then sung some harmonies on a few tracks. Everyone picks out certain things in songs - for me there is nothing worse than a badly out of tune vocal harmony, and nothing better than an in tune vocal harmony performed with feeling. A couple of the latter sounded beautiful to me and I hope you all appreciate them when the album is out. So after these three days there is now just one more recording session required and then the mixing can commence! I hope the album updates hit the spot for you - I will sign out for now, but only after my song recommendations for those of you that enjoy them! DWM SongPoint 1000 Oceans – Tori Amos Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) – Billy Joel 1492 – Counting Crows Happy Listening! DWM Studio Video Diary, Recording Progress and the Artistic Choices
I have just completed 5 full days in the studio which has gone fantastically well. I wanted everyone to be able to share the experience a little, so I took a video camera along and have just uploaded the studio diary to my website. Go to http://www.danielwm.com to see it and you can even learn a little about what tracks will be included…
So the foundation of the album is there now. We have developed a few of the tracks in our rehearsal sessions and we have now virtually recorded the main parts. It was never going to be a synthetic layer-by-layer recording and it was important that some great performances were captured. In some ways many of the more difficult decisions start now, as the little things are like the icing on the cake and can really make a positive or negative difference. I have to decide if some songs need to deviate a little from the live sound to be at their best in the recorded format - and then just what this should sound like. As I am writing this, it is 12.16am and this evening I travelled across London to meet a pianist who is probably going to guest on a song. When I wrote it I wanted piano to be a main component of the song and I think it is going to turn out to be one of my favourites. I have only performed the song once in public (at Songs from Soho) as it is the kind of song that needs an attentive crowd. In many ways the studio gives you the opportunity to do these sort of songs how you see fit and then when played aloud they can be just as powerful as the toe-tapping catchy tunes – they also normally stand up to many repeat listens. All this talk of alterations and the piano may scare some of you but don’t worry, I am not deviating too much from my sound. I said I would create an album that is real and true to my style but I also promised variety. Variety is part of our thing – different lead vocalists, different tempos, interesting and different fusions of genres and songs that feature different instruments. So anyway, more announcements will be coming soon – the name of the album, the number of tracks and the front cover – but for now, go and watch the video diary and we’ll catch up again later. I have 3 more days in the studio starting on Sunday and I have more work to do! Cheers DWM Recording Begins, Rehearsal Photos, Gig Cancelled and Other Thoughts - July 2008
Hi folks – I hope you are well. It’s great to see more and more people subscribing to the website on a regular basis, especially as in this pre-recording phase I have had to be quieter than normal! Here’s a new update for you all.
Recording Started! We have now completed 8 full-length rehearsals - a few of them were attended by producer Tony Platt - and we hit the recording studio on Monday (7th) to make the album. A lot of you have expressed interest in the logistics and the process so I will try and explain a bit about it.... We have 8 full days booked (split into 5 and 3) in our main studio and then will use a smaller studio for the rest of the time we require. The cost of a recording studio can vary according to equipment, the location, the quality of the live room, the reputation and to some extent who you know. So to make this budget stretch we will be using a great studio with a big live space for only the days we need it. Drums, cello and violin will only sound really nice reverberating around a nice, big live space, whereas acoustic guitar, vocals and any keys can be recorded just as well in a smaller studio space. People have asked if I am excited about the actual recording days. I definitely am, I always enjoy it a lot as long as good progress is made on the first couple of days and that nasty thing called time doesn’t keep showing its face... I feel at home in the studio and working on a long session with Tony and my band is an experience I am looking forward to and I am thankful to those who have put me there. Most band members will be present for about 5 full days of those 8 days. Long-time supporter Andy Wood won the competition to attend a studio session and he will be present on Thursday 10th July, which is unbelievably the only day when all 5 of the band will be there on the same day! Rehearsals As I mentioned in a previous blog, we held our rehearsals in Whitechapel with a fairly humble setup. They all went well, have hopefully stood us in good stead and you can see brand new photos from them by going to http://www.danielwm.com/pics.cfm Studio Updates I will be taking a video camera and stills camera to the studio, and competition winner Andy Wood will be interviewing the band when he is there, so I hope to be able to provide you with some updates after the first block of dates...! Gig Cancelled Unfortunately our drummer, Pravin, has to fly to India at fairly late notice, so we have had to cancel our gig that was scheduled for 29th July at the Bedford. It is disappointing and we have all missed playing live, but we couldn’t let any re-arrangements interfere with the recording and that has to take priority. Apologies for any inconvenience this causes anyone and we will be back on the stage in the not-too-distant future! Sellabration I have received many messages from people before and after the line-up was announced for the big annual Sellaband party in Amsterdam, so I didn’t feel I could avoid the subject (!). First of all thank you to all those who wished that I was playing, that is always nice to hear, especially from so many - so thanks. Many asked if I was bitter or disappointed not to be playing..... Well, I knew there were (at the time) 21 recording artists and not everyone could play. Sellaband came up with a set of criteria and selected the line up so I suppose that is fair enough. On the other hand though, with 23 artists now having reached $50k, Sellaband do have to start cherry-picking and you could argue that at present, I am not seen as one of the cherries. I would like to be a flagship Sellaband artist in the same way an artist would want to be a flagship artist of a major label, but more so because this would mean greater reward and vindication for my believers. So, on my part, I just have to work hard, make a great album and let the album sales make everyone sit up and take notice. On a purely personal level, I am very happy that Kane Sole is playing as I think his song-writing is fantastic and I am delighted for him to get the opportunity. I am disappointed not to be there in any capacity but I will be paying a bit on top of the $50,000 and I just can’t justify the flights/hotel expense. I have a ticket for a festival that weekend, so I will be thinking of all those there as I slowly get drunk in a field... ------------------------------------------------------- DWM Songpoint I know some of you like to listen to these songs, so I will let you know what songs are constantly playing on my iPod right now: Country Boy/City Boy - Chatham County Line Funnyman - KT Tunstall Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Sandy Denny Omaha - Counting Crows Code Red - Tori Amos Side Effects of Growing Up - Julia Marcell -------------------------------------------------------- Cheers and bye for now! DWM Recording Studio Chosen, New Gig Announced and Exclusive Album Track News
Hi - I just wanted to announce a couple of things as well as give you some insight into how preparations for the album are moving along.
Rehearsals & Preparation The band and I have now had three rehearsals at our underground den in Whitechapel, London. We rehearsed there for our last couple of live gigs and I thought it make sense to rehearse for the album there. It's a bit of a 'tough-love' way to rehearse as the set up is pretty basic and the mixer can't even put reverb on the voices, but it gives us what we need and if you can make things sound really good in there then you know you are ready. Over the past few months I have been selecting a shortlist of songs, my thoughts of what should be on my debut album, but I wanted my producer to be at the first album rehearsal so we could hear all the material, select the songs and shape the songs together. Without sounding too much like a hippy, making the album is a journey that started when I wrote the first song but the band became involved when they played their first note in rehearsal and Tony became involved when we first planned the recording of the 3 tracks we did in the summer of 2006. Songs on the Album I announced a while back that I was going to put all of my best material on the album and make a commercially viable album., but I did take a bit of stick from some people for not confirming particular favourite tracks at that stage. I love the fact that Sellaband has enabled people to be involved in the process and be an active and appreciated part of my work - but I fought hard to keep the artistic process as I thought it should be. However, now this phase has been completed I am pleased to announce that She's a Knockout, Act of Defiance, The Queen of Something New and My Beautiful Predicament will all be on the album (unless things go drastically wrong in the studio!). I have been lucky enough to record in a few good studios in my time but I was happy to concentrate on the music and let Tony put what he saw as the studio options in front of me. He records the sound and knows all about equipment and after a bit of exploration and a short discussion, we have decided to record the album at Westpoint Recording Studios in West London. There will be then some final recording sessions and the mixing of the album at The Strongroom in East London. Back on the Stage It has been bit of a whirlwind since hitting the $50,000 and outside of the work that currently pays the bills, I have been working hard to get everything in place. My band members are busy people and I didn't want live rehearsals/live gigs getting in the way of the preparation for the recording, so we put that as a sole focus. However, I am pleased to announce that we will all be taking to the stage again, to properly celebrate the $50,000 and the end of our main recording sessions, with a full set at The Bedford, London, on Tuesday 29th July. This gig will be webcast live so those outside of London can see how the setlist and our playing emerges on the other side. Jennifer Delaney Last night, Jennifer played a short set at the Dex Club, Brixton, London. I played guitar/BVs as Jennifer performed stripped down versions of In This Fair City, The Sun Is In Your Eyes, Act of Defiance and the first live performance of The End of My Summers. It was a great performance from a great vocalist and you can keep in touch with all her future activity on http://www.myspace.com/jenniferdelaneymusic DWM SongPoint I received enough feedback to suggest some people were listening to my musical suggestions, so I will carry on! I am often diappointed with some of the performances on Jools Holland (a British live music show) but I was thrilled I managed to catch the fantastic Chatham County Line, a bluegrass act from America. Well 2 albums later I am loving it.. I am still listening to the excellent album Alas I Cannot Swim by Laura Marling so these two artists dominate it this time - invest your time! The Carolinian - Chatham County Line Sweet Eviction - Chatham County Line Old Stone - Laura Marling Tap At My Window - Laura Marling Birmingham Jail - Chatham County Line Well, happy listening and I will sign off for now - I need some zzzzzzzs. Cheers DWM $50,000 and beyond....
Hi folks - I was asked the other day 'So how is life as a 50k artist??' (Note: For those of you who have been hiding under a rock, I hit $50,000 on Sellaband and now get to make my album). Well... first of all it's been a bit weird as a lot of my friends, who aren't that much live music/music type people have been congratulating me and seem genuinely pleased. I went out on the night the total was reached with a few friends (band members Jen and Helen could come out at late notice as well) and had a fair few drinks... - and then on Friday a fairly big gathering surprised me by all turning up in a local pub, which was nice. I have been a little uncomfortable with it all as I don't think I have achieved anything too great yet, and I have always been ambitious with how high I aim... - people have been asking about when a CD will be out though so I suppose it is all promotion!
My drummer (Pravin) was in NYC for a bit and my violinist (Helen) had a couple of gigs, so I couldn't get cracking too much straight away, but it's been quite a useful bit of time - as I have been working on my most recent track The End Of My Summers, which is one I have shoehorned into the shortlist. The band haven't really heard it yet but its my latest baby and it's given me time to work on it a bit and I think it sounds good! I need to write some strings for it and I am giving it the thought and attention it deserves. Regardless of whether or not it makes it, it will be another song, developed and up my sleeve! So the end of May is when things will really kick off - the first couple of sessions will see the decisions on the tracks we will record and then there will be a period of writing any unwritten strings parts and intensively rehearsing the tracks. We need to be really tight musically when we go into the studio as this means we can make the budget stretch to record the number of tracks we want to. The performance standard will also mean we have the option to use some live recordings if we wish (rather than layering one instrument at a time)... So there are songs I'd love to record that I won't get to record this time around but its a good situation to be in - I am really looking forward to working with Tony, really looking forward to working with Jen in the vocal booth, and looking forward to seeing Pravin, Milo and Helen knitting together even tighter. The communication frenzy continues. Keeping in touch with believers, fans, general music lovers and friends of friends and all the time gearing up the PR drive to kick in when there is an album to promote.... Well anyway, I am off to work on The End Of My Summers again now.... Cheers and have a good day! DWM 
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