Bonde De Wolfe - New Acoustic EP

For information on the new EP by Bonde De Wolfe look here.

Low Profile

I'm going to be keeping a low profile for the next few weeks.

Except for Saturday night where I will be taking to the streets dressed in the style of Fame to get my party on.

But from Sunday morning that's it.

I'm taking a few weeks out to concentrate on writing new material and finishing my demo (which has been going excellently)

I have two new song ideas which are almost complete, I just want to develop the structures a little more as I feel this is an area I often overlook in favour of lyrical ideas and general ambiance.

I have also started work on a ballad for a musical which I have been asked to produce for my friend Rob. He has sent me a synopsis and I have already been working hard pulling the plot apart and working on ideas. I am really excited about this project.

I will still be lurking in the shadows of my usual haunts, The Winch on a Wednesday and 5ths on a Sunday, but only to soak up some live music, not to perform.

So It Is Real After All

I didn't even think the 'credit crunch' was real when they first started talking about. Maybe it wasn't back then but after months of them (the media) banging on about it, it definitely seems to be real now and not just affecting over-paid city types.

My simple financial needs haven't been affected so I feel slightly removed from whats actually happening. What I can see though resembles the final epic moments of the last Indiana Jones movie where a massive temple becomes a swirling cloud of debris before disappearing into another dimension. The obvious difference is that the swirling cloud in my mind is not made of an ancient temple, but of major high street stores going bust, friends losing jobs, furniture stores endlessly slashing prices making their products even more worthless, and people on the street window shopping with cold, detached looks in their eyes.

The 'credit crunch' or 'recession' doesn't just have a financial effect on people. Even those who's bank balances have remained stable are being sucked into this swirling vortex of doom because we don't feel relaxed, were not happy with the balance of the country and were simply waiting for everything to go completely wrong.

And when it does, well then we will all be in trouble.

What can I do as an artist? I've come to realise that the country relies on its massively over powerful banks and businesses in order for everything to work. I can't really try and fight that. All I can do is what artists have been doing for centuries and that is to be as vocal as I can about the issues I see. Maybe when enough people are doing it and in the right way, the right people will hear.

Freedom Of Speech - We Don't Want To Hear What You Have To Say!

Open mic gives an opportunity for any artist, of any style and of any ability to step up in front of an audience and perform their music. It's a brilliantly simple and wonderful idea which has been working well across the world for years and years.

I don't like David Gray very much, however, if you get up and play one of his songs, even if you make mistakes, I will give you my attention and applaud you at the end. Similarly if you play one of your own songs, even if its terrible, I will give you the respect as an artist and performer that you deserve.

Open mic brings together like minded artists in a relaxed environment where some of the stresses of a live show are removed and are replaced with an understanding community with development and growth at the heart of it.

The problem with this laid-back, open attitude is that it makes the running of the night very difficult to police. How can you allow one persons form of creativity and expression but not anothers? If you are open to one then you must be open to all and recently, people have started to abuse this privilege.

It is simply unacceptable and offensive to just stroll onstage with some other musicians and shout obscenities and general bullsh!t into the microphone. This guy may think hes being very funny but hes just making a mockery of what the night is about and of all the artists who have something to say and genuinely want to perform their music as best they can. He has nothing to say, no message to spread, he has not rehearsed or developed any musical ideas and he certainly cannot be feeling any emotional connection with the sounds he is producing.

I couldn't stop thinking about this guy last night and it made me think about the ideas of freedom of speech and how some say, not everyone should be entitled to them. I mean, if you want to spread the word of god then that's OK. If you are promoting a charity that helps those affected by poverty then people will probably give you their time. To try and spread racism though is not OK. To thoughtlessly criticise another persons efforts in a particular field is also deemed to be unacceptable, but both parties have the right to voice their opinions whether good or bad. And they should.

Same as man from open mic should have the right to do his shouting thing.

However, as audience members, we also have the right to decide what we want to listen to. He has the right to shout and swear at us but we have the right to shut him out, to tell him we don't want to hear what he has to say and that he is not welcome in our community. Which is a more powerful right? We shouldn't be afraid to exercise this power that we have.

Changing Sounds

I feel my sound may be starting to change. Or perhaps simply developing. It's still sincere, still dark and still has a folk tinge but I'm finding that I'm writing more upbeat, jangly chord arrangements.

I don't really want my sound to change. I like my current sound. However development is always good and I can still see the remains of my previous influences all over my new music. I'd hate to be one of those artists who seems to be heading in a totally new direction every six months, taking nothing of their previous style with them along the way.

What I wonder though is whether I should take this as a sign to try something drastically new. For a while now I have been wishing to expand my performance from a solo artist into a small group of musicians who could create a more diverse, bigger and more atmospheric sound.

I think the folky acoustic sound would have to stay the central focus but I cant help but wonder what else other sounds could bring to the table.

Here is a short list of instruments I would enjoy to play amongst:

• Cello
• Violin
• Flute
• Oboe
• Piano/Organ
• Electric guitar
• Other vocalists

Of course I will make absolutely no effort to link up with any of the above and if any musicians were to approach me with regards to collaboration, I would probably sit on the idea for months until they lose interest and disappear, but these ideas have been floating around my mind for a while now which is kind of telling me I should move out of my comfort zone and try something new. I think it would be worth it.

Perfect

Firstly I have joined a new social networking type site aimed at musician in the South West. You can find my page here. Although there is no music on the site, I hope it will offer me the chance to network with a few more local musicians.

Last night saw the very first Perfect 5th Open Mic Night which was a huge success. Loads of artists turned up including some of Tauntons new young bands which was really good to see. I want to give a special mention to The Darlingtons who just had a really cool stage presence and I hear that their electric sound is excellent. Plus I am told they opened with a Neil Young cover which instantly puts them at the top of my Tauntons young indie bands from college chart. They are playing at The 5th again soon and I will definitely be attending that show.

I was nervous yesterday about how the night would work. would the music be held upstairs in the bar/cafe? would there be a good turn out of artists? would the whole thing be a poor excuse for an event and simply a lazy way to try and attract some drinkers?

We arrived at about 8ish to find the downstairs area pretty full and a singer songwriter already onstage. The room had a really mellow atmosphere and it took no time to get into the open mic vibe and enjoy some really great live music.

As the night went on more and more people started to arrive, the venue filled up and the list of artists grew and grew. It gave me such a buzz to see so many people supporting local original artists and really enjoying what they were hearing. It also seemed that many of the performers had gigs booked at The 5th which they were plugging during their sets. Hopefully a small community will develop where we will be able watch new, young artists perform their first live sets at the open mic and then, as they get more confident and their ability becomes greater, be playing proper booked gigs in the venue.

I was also really enthused by the high standards of performance. There were some great musicians and performers but what really caught my attention was the quality of the songwriting displayed. I struggle to tell how well my sounds and ideas come across when playing live but I definitely know I can improve and came away yesterday feeling inspired to pick up the guitar and get writing and rehearsing for the next show.

I have been attending open mics nights for a while now and I thought I had them sussed. As an original artist trying to forge a sound that is my own I often find it hard to get by on the live circuit and wonder whether to simply drop the idiosyncrasies and join the rest of the pub bands. Last night showed me that there is a thirst for talent, for original artists who have something to say and want to do something different. Also that there are venues willing to take a chance on these artists and who are willing to invest time and money and to mix things up a bit to get things going.

Slow Times For Blogging

I haven't blogged in a while now, however, that's not to say that I haven't been writing. The last few days I have just felt compelled to write both music, lyrics and just words.

After watching some rather interesting films at Martins house last Sunday I then went on to write almost an entire poem on my scooter ride home. Later in the week I developed this into the beginnings of a short song. My writing over the last few months has really developed, especially in my lyrics where I can really visualise particular scenes as I sing them back.

I also wrote a review of my gig at The Brewhouse Theatre Late Lounge event which took place on Friday the 9th. I will soon be blogging this review but after I poured so much energy into writing it, I haven't really felt the urge to sit down and re-draft the piece!

I then went on to start working on a biography to accompany my new demo CD. I have found that writing a biography, just a few lines to talk about my history and my music, is the hardest thing to write. I find myself endlessly writing, re-writing, reading, re-reading and then deleting line after line. Slowly but surely though, with some advice from Martin, the bio is coming together. This is a new age for Bonde De Wolfe. The age of marketing.

So this really is just a post to fill the space between the last one ----- and the next one. No important news, nothing to get off my chest but I just felt the need to write. Again.

Colds

Its now one day until the first gig I've had in months and still my sinuses are clogged with mucus making my voice sound retarded. Any physical activity causes streams of the stuff to run from my nose. Once that's cleared then I become completely bunged up making it impossible to breathe through my nose.

I shall not be defeated though. Am I supposed to cancel every gig I ever have every time I get the sniffles? Am I supposed to give up gigging during the winter months?

I am determined to perform tomorrow night.

Yes my voice wont be at its best and I probably wont be able to enjoy the pre-show drinks that I normally would but I am completely confident that I will still be able to deliver a performance of my work worthy of the gig and its audience.

Plus, I have been researching online and have found loads of great tips for performing with illnesses so will be spending this evening with my head under a towel over a bucket of steaming water. And I have been resting lots and drinking plenty of fluids all week.

Fingers crossed however that the virus doesn't move to my throat during the next 24 hours!

Only here at bondedeblog can you be kept right up to date with the illnesses of Bonde De Wolfe.

Self Satisfaction Vs Audience Admiration

When I begin to write a piece of music, what is the original inspiration for it? What is the driving force that leads me to begin arranging chords and picking out words to fit with them?

I've spoken quite a lot recently about respect for audience, about giving the audience something they can relate to, something they will connect with and something that they will take away with them. My performances revolve around a desire to please the people in the room that are listening to me. If no one is there or no one is paying me any attention then that's OK, I will simply perform for myself, but if people are listening then I feel I need to return that respect and play for them.

I also have a distaste for people who repeatedly break from the above and seem to pay the audience no respect yet expect the audiences ears in return.

However I am starting to rethink this attitude to performance.

When I begin working on a song the only thing I am worried about is expressing whatever ideas or emotions initially inspired me to start writing. The chords I chose are the ones that to my ears sound the best. Same with the lyrics. Whatever words best fit the story I am telling, they're the ones I use.

So why should I suddenly change my attitudes to the production of sound when I am onstage in front of an audience? Why onstage do my motivations now surround satisfying the audience and what they expect from a performance instead of a personal expression of ideas and me playing my music how I want to?

Watching a documentary about the 70s prog rock scene, many of the artists interviewed talked about how their performances were incredibly self indulgent and that the expectations of the audience were totally disregarded. I got the impression that by doing this, the musicians could totally submerge themselves into producing the sounds they had created during writing/rehearsal sessions which then in turn resulted in better performances and a more enjoyable night for the audience.

One of the featured bands talked about their perfect audience being sat down, quietly listening to the music, not jumping about, dancing and rocking out.

It seems a bizarre notion for the artist to have expectations for the audience to fulfill when we are so used to the artist having to fulfill the expectations of the audience. How many times have people left a gig complaining that the band didn't play their favourite song or that they weren't as good as they were on telly. I wonder how many times gig goers have asked themselves, did I pay that act enough attention?

I'm not saying that as an artist I will now totally disregard the notion of audience satisfaction and will purely seek to indulge my own musical fantasies onstage, however, do I need to be busting my balls before every performance, worrying about how the performance is going to sound for those listening? Should I maybe just worry about whats going to make me the happiest when playing the songs I spend so much time working on?