Update Update

The old musical sketch pad has been updated. A bit.

I've uploaded another track from my EP - Locked Away - and have uploaded a new picture.

Some examples of my latest music will be available soon - This should tide you over until then though.

Refreshing

I'm still planning on updating the sketch-pad with new music soon. I haven't forgotten it's existence, just been neglecting it for a while that's all. I also thought I would just link to it in the few words above since someone asked last night where they could find me related material on the web and I pointed them in this direction, this being the central portal of Bonde De Wolfe online.

(OK, plan for this week is to get the sketch-pad updated with current music)

Anyway, last night I performed at open mic for the first time in a couple of weeks and it went really well. It was actually the first time I have picked up the guitar in a few weeks as I felt I needed to give it all a bit of a rest for a while.

I was starting to slip into a few irritating performance habits which were really affecting me psychologically and making me question my development as an acoustic musician. Well let me state right here that giving yourself some time off, shifting your focus whether it be completely off music, into another area of music, for a day of two or for a month or two, really does the trick. Last nights performance was incredibly nerve racking, but also one of my most involved performances in a long time. The reception I received during and after proved this.

I have been contacting various venues in and around Bath this week on the hunt for some proper gigs. Fingers crossed, there will be some on the way very shortly, and I feel confident to say that they will be fantastic - I am so ready for this.

In the meantime, it'll be porters again on Monday, and hopefully some new music uploaded before then.

New Music Is Fun Music

It can be very easy to become bogged down by the serious issues surrounding musical direction and artistic production. These can distract you from the task in hand. I've whiled away many an hour, spent many a sleepless night wondering what direction my music should be taking, and asking myself if I've been making the correct creative decisions whilst writing. However all this serves to do is distract you from what it real and what is important. The fact that experimenting and trying out new musical ideas is fun!

I have just finished the production of my first dedicated sound-scape. Influenced by John Cage, I have disregarded all notion of tempo and time signature and have fused various synths with field recordings to make, what I consider to be, a very beautiful short piece of music.

It's not that I haven't cared about the outcome of this piece, I have put a great amount of emotion into it, but working on this sound-scape has given me a great amount of happiness. No stress, no worries, no sleepless nights. Pure enjoyment from trying out a new way of working and freeing myself from the usual constraints I work under.

This is how creation should be.

I'm not going to say that I will never produce/write music as I have done before, but after experiencing this instinctive way of working, I will never approach production in the same way again.

Structure

Been thinking alot about structure these past few days.

John Cage, what they call an avant garde composer, created his own structures. He rewrote how music should be structured, redefined what structure could be.

I am nowhere near having the slightest incline as to what his structures were really about, but it has made me rethink the way I use structure in my music.

I guess you can think of structure as something entirely flexible. Do we need to keep conforming to the same structures as everybody else? Do we even need a structure? Does nature have a structure? Does the planet really have a structure? I think there are arguments for both sides.

I am wondering whether structure is simply just a 'man made' thing. Something we apply to things to help us understand them better.

Either way, I'm imagining the possibilities for what lies outside of structure. Just think what there could be, unconstrained by time, pitch, formula etc.

Phases

I'm about to enter into another one of my 'get yer ass in gear' type phases. These are periods every 4 - 6 months or so where I re-evaluate my life/music etc and decide to make some changes. Despite the fact I rarely see the changes through, these phases nearly always result in something good - some new music, recordings or a great performance or two.

It's funny actually. Usually these times are proceeded by some kind of negative feeling, but this time, it's entirely positive vibes that are encouraging me to make the changes in my life.

I'm not going to bother detailing anything that I have planned but I will say that a whole bunch of things have started to come together and make sense and I've decided now is the time to start capitalising on my good luck and positive energy.

Expect new projects, exciting, fresh music and beautiful live performances.

Turbinates

I really enjoyed Tuesdays open mic night at The Pig And Fiddle. For some reason I had been looking forward to it all day and then, as the night developed, my expectations were met with an array of brilliant and entertaining acts. Unfortunately I could not name a single one of them but sets ranged from covers to original singer/songwriters and even contemporary and jazz solo guitar pieces.

My set went OK, but was definitely lacking in something. I seem to be getting uptight during my performances at the moment. I'm not concentrating on my breathing and am struggling to complete lines, put power and emotion into phrases and sometimes hit sustained high notes. It's nothing major - I still feel my performances are coming across well but I know I'm not quite hitting the standard I can, and perhaps have done before.

I'm putting this down to three main reasons:

1. I desperately want to start collaborating with some other musicians. My thoughts are no longer consumed with my solo work but with how I can develop my songwriting and performance with others. I think this comes across as me performing in a slightly detached manner, not putting my heart and soul into what I'm playing.


2. I haven't been practising so much recently. When I moved here I was practising all day every day and that resulted in some good performances. Simple - practise = greatness.


3. Hay fever. I think I am starting to suffer with hay fever this summer in that my turbinates inside my nose are swollen making breathing feel restrained. It kinda feels like I have a cold but without the funny voice. I do think it is affecting my technique though and the way that I deliver some of my lines.

So my plan is - Firstly to practise. I need to master performing my songs again. I figure that this will also help reinstate the pride I have in my work when I perform it fantastically. It may even lead to someone wanting to work with me on some wonderful music. And I guess the hay fever thing I will just have to put up with for the rest of the summer. It isn't so bad.

Oliver Owen : Rock Critic!

This Saturday there is a 'battle of the bands' type event happening at The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton. It is run by the good people of Live'N'Up and will also feature guest performances and an open mic event in the bar.

Not only will I be a guest act, performing two songs to open the second half of the evenings show, I have also been asked to sit on the judging panel for the BOTB competition.

I am both extremely excited and terrified about doing this, in equal measures.

It could be great. If there is a good mix of acts which allow me to give genuine positive feedback, maybe offer some advice from my years as a musician type, and maybe even drop in the odd joke or hilarious comment.

But there is a strong chance that many of the acts will be terrible. Coupling this with the probability that the other judges may be, how you say, soft, I could find myself biting my tongue and being 'nice' so as not to send the thirteen year old classic rock covers acts off home in tears.

Of course I don't want to be mean to children! I'm not going to be over critical just to make myself seem interesting. (Although it could lead to a lucrative career with ITV) But similarly, if something is genuinely shit - and is something that I hate - surely I cannot sit there and mumble "Yea guys that was really cool, you're all so young and talented and that guitar solo mid set where you played behind your head was soooo rockin!"

The other option of course is to say nothing, and where I absolutely have to say something, make my response so banal, so indifferent, that people actually forget that I have said anything at all.

but what would be the point in that?