I Was Thinking Of Giving Up

The acoustic, singer/songwriter thing that is.

I guess I was starting to feel that I'd proved to myself that I was capable of doing it, that I could consistently write good songs and that I had the balls and skills as a performer to get up on stage and play them. I had ideas floating around about taking my music into other directions and dropping the acoustic act for a while.

I guess I couldn't really see it going anywhere.

But that forgets my drip drip theory.

When I re asses where I am musically now, I'm actually in a good position.

I have the strongest set of music that I have ever had, I have 4 potential shows lined up for the next two months and, I am actually starting to get some minor recognition through my open mic appearances. It would seem that gradually, things are starting to slip into place. Very gradually mind you, but the foundations are now definitely starting to take shape.

And of course I am still enjoying playing the acoustic shows. There have been several occasions over the last few months where I have been onstage, totally in 'the zone', and what I have been hearing back through the monitors has sounded fantastic. Nothing can beat that feeling.

So I shall not be hanging up my plectrum (?) just yet. I shall not be stepping tentatively into unknown genres. I am going to stick at this, see it through, and the rewards will come. And I don't mean rewards such as fame and money. I mean rewards like I have already been experiencing. Rewards such as being onstage and totally feeling what I am playing.

The Darlingtons At Perfect 5th

They were brilliant. It's easy to forget how young they are when you listen to their songs and watch them perform with such confidence. Yes a few of their songs can pass you by and a few tracks have a bit of a cut and paste feel to them but songs such as 'Into The City' (I believe that's what it's called) more than make up for that.

Their sound is verging on the epic whilst retaining the quirky pop-punk sound of acts such as Maximo Park. It's refreshing to see a band who have chosen to work in a voice that seems naturally their own rather than a cobbling together of other cult indie styles, which so many bands seem to do.

Their debut (I assume) EP should be out soon complete with fantastic artwork from local artist Steve Mahn. I've heard it already - it sounds great. It was recorded by my favourite local producer - Richard Sparkes.

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I spent a great deal of time last night mulling over the possibilities of me starting to write and produce electronica with the intent of performing it live. I haven't really felt motivated to produce much recently and a shift in focus is much needed.

I have been planning for a while now to work on some 'ambient' recordings and to fuse these together with some 'found sounds' to create more textural electronic music. A big focus of this project would be natural builds and developments within particular sounds, for example, the change in texture as water comes to the boil.

This could work well in a live situation, presenting an audience with sounds not normally heard inside a gig venue, and a human element would be added in the form of myself playing electric guitar and possibly manipulating some of the sounds live via my laptop.

But I have to ask myself whether my time would not be better spent developing new material and performance ideas for my existing folk set. Remembering that I refuse to merge my existing sound with an electronic one.

Of course I will continue to work on my electronic music - I enjoy creating it and exploring ideas that are out of reach with only an acoustic guitar, but I wonder whether the stage should be the end goal for my work. I don't think I'm going to rule the possibility out at this moment and I have a lot of ideas floating around which need to be explored before I can make my final decision.

Who knows, perhaps Der Meinhof (a possible stage name I invented last night on my ride home) will be assaulting your audio senses in a new electronic fashion soon.

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

This film is actually fantastic. I recommend you google the title, read up on what it is about and then go buy yourself a copy on DVD.

But after watching it I can't help but ask myself who, in those turbulent, changing times, held the greatest possibility of power.

Was it the RAF with their underground supporters, their bombs and their kidnappings?

Was it the German Government with the full might of the German police force?

Neither. For me the most powerful characters in the story were the writers and the publishers. An explosion means nothing until its story is created, until the beliefs that lead to it are published to the world. It was the writers who could rally up support for the group, who could spread the messages and outline their beliefs.

What incredible powers do writers now hold when publishing is free, easy and uncensored?

I'm Twitchy

I keep fidgeting. I am finding it very hard to concentrate on my work. I also have a horrible feeling deep inside that a part of me is missing - I feel unfulfilled.

The all to frequent power of brilliant live music on my ears is only serving to fuel my longing. The constant talk of new bands and new sounds, again, only serves to send me deeper into a state of obsessive desire.

It feels like forever since I picked up a fresh, exciting new record. I've bought a few bits and pieces - The other day I 'exposed' my ears to The Jesus And Mary Chain but unfortunately, funds would only allow me a 7" taster which simply was not enough of their bassy, grungy new wave sounds to satisfy my needs.

The other month I enjoyed Cabaret Voltaires set recorded live at the Hacienda in the 80s, but, although it grabbed my attention, the heavy kick sounds, ambient sound scapes and hurried vocals failed to carry me away completely.

I have consulted a doctor, a doctor of music, and it seems the only cure for this type of problem is to dig deeper into record collections, to forcibly expose my ears to new music and to leave no cut unplayed and hopefully, for a short while, my sonic needs will be met.

What I've Been Up To

Hope you enjoy reading the post below.

I also thought I would give a little update as to whats been keeping me busy over the last week.

Since the recording of my EP has finished I have been working hard on the artwork for the sleeve. It has a Factory Records feel to it and should hopefully be complete and printed in a few weeks.

On Monday I received my digital field recorder which I am yet to fully explore. I have been thinking hard about some future projects in which I hope to combine ambient sound scapes, location recordings and spoken word. I also have a plan to use some organic recordings in some electronic music to add some new textures and dimensions.

And finally I have just finished writing a new song which I will be performing at both OPM nights in Taunton and also at a few gigs that I am currently confirming. It has a different feel to my other stuff as I have forced myself to explore a different style of songwriting.

Rock Star Credibility

We expect our rock stars to stand apart from the crowd. To have some degree of mystery which draws us towards them with a desire to become involved in their cool, isolated world. We don't really want to see them greeting everyone in the room, shaking their hands and asking them if they enjoyed their performance. They should be skulking around in the shadows, perhaps surrounded by a tight group of friends who shoot daggers at anyone foolish enough to think that they too can become part of their elite circle of chic.

Most artists seem more than happy to play up to this expectation. When you see them at a gig, they don't come off stage and relax in the bar with you. They leave via side of stage, whisked away to a green room or tour bus, perhaps only a few lucky fans (girls) with them. We like this because it allows our imaginations to play. Based on the very little amount of actual knowledge we have on these rock stars, we create entire personalities for them. We can only imagine that after leaving that gig, they threw party in a hotel room, surrounded by models and other socialites. When everyone around them has indulged a little too much, they will probably retire to a quiet balcony where they will woo a young lady, perhaps by playing them song on a beat up acoustic guitar. I can't imagine they turn in for the night as they are driven to the next destination on the tour.

But what about when local musicians start morphing into these mysterious enigmas? When the guy who used to serve you in the local pub and went to school with your younger sister now starts wearing sunglasses and a coat inside. Any attempt to converse with them will be met with some kind of sneer or grunt because they feel now that their status as local band member deems them too cool to share information with you.

You will never see this band of theirs perform and when asked, said band member will probably just tell you they have been in London and are working on their album. Of course everyone you know will have heard of them, but they too will never have seen them play and will struggle to recall listening to a track or two of theirs on myspace.

We don't really like that so much do we.

So when is it OK to become a complete shit? How many records must I sell before I can stop talking to people who aren't as cool as me? When can I wear sunglasses in doors?

Bonde De Wolfe Has A Spring Clean

To celebrate me pretty much finishing my new EP - Locked Away - I have uploaded a track to my mp3 unsigned profile. I've also had a little tidy up of the information on there.

Please enjoy my song, Watch The World Pass Me By.

Hats Off To Tauntons New 'Fanzine', Seen

I certainly applaud those kids for getting off their arses and putting something together. Something professional too.

(I was almost about to twist this post into some kind of backlash against their naivety but have just thought better of it)

You see, This 'fanzine' is written and produced by a group of teenagers with a passion for music, fashion and youth culture. They're producing the 'zine' for other students who want to read the same ill-informed, ill-founded opinions as they want to write about. They simply do not have the maturity to cover some, perhaps any, of the topics they do which makes it almost impossible for anyone outside of their age group to take them or their 'zine' seriously.

For example, if I'm reading an article about DJing, I expect the writer to have experience as a DJ. Somebody who actually has some words of wisdom on the subject which they can share. I get the impression that the writer of that piece has never been record shopping in their life (simply ordering a Justice record or a smiths LP off the net does not mean you are a vinyl junkie)

But so what?!

They aren't writing it for cynical c+nts like me! They care as much about my horrible little opinions as I do about how 'Indie' The Paper Plane Pilots sound. The fact is that they are getting their heads together and putting something out there, who else is doing that around here? And the quality of their writing is actually pretty good - much better than mine. They just need some guidance, to step out of their scene and experience something else, to investigate a little further than The NME and Myspace.

Seen Magazine have thrown down the gauntlet. They have, like many artists/creative types, opened themselves up for attack but the fact that they have and such a bold way fills me with some kind of twisted hope for youth culture in Taunton.

I look forward to the next issue.

Good Songs

I'm going to stop writing good songs. Or I'm going to stop trying to write good songs.

The other Sunday, I briefly explained to local poet Dave Marrow that I was struggling a bit with my new material after attempting to summarise the music I make into a short cohesive sentence. The problem I was facing was that as I was writing, I was constantly asking myself whether this new material matched up with what I had described my music as.

After about a week of pondering over a half finished song, I decided upon two things:

1. Although people say my music is dreary and bleak, they are actually wrong. Yes it's sincere but often the subjects and the chord progressions have a positive feel to them, you just have to listen a little harder to realise. To question my new material as to whether it sounds too happy is the craziest thing I have ever done in my career as a songwriter.
2. It's not important to limit yourself to a style or genre if the songs you are writing are personal to you and you connect with them when you perform. It's probably a good thing to have a range of songs that touch upon different styles and genres in your repertoire. It shows that you are a well rounded musician.

So the new plan for finishing my half written song was:

• Just write good music

Now I am forever evaluating the lines I have written and am discarding verses and chord arrangements like nobodys business. I am becoming an absolute perfectionist and won't allow myself to perform this song until I am happy that it is a better, more developed song then anything I have played before. This is starting to hold me back.

Still, there's a great song lurking amongst those lines, I just need to pick away and find it. And it's good to be critical of yourself yea?