I had the privilege of seeing the "King's Speech" this afternoon. The movie is directed by Tom Hooper and stars Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. It was incredible. It was a simple idea and story delivered perfectly. The direction was superb, and the visuals were stunning. I found myself in tears in moments from the sheer power and sincerity of the movie. The performances were incredible. Please, if you love Cinema see this movie.
But why i wanted to bring it up in this forum is that the power of voice, whether singing or speaking has defined many aspects of human history. There was a line in the movie that shows this- 'The Prime Minister and Cabinet govern and make the decisions, however, the King is the voice of the people, when he speaks, he speaks as the people for the people'. It is in his words that people can find hope and strength. It has been the same for the last century. Hitler captivated his audience with the power in his voice and conviction, those alive probably know where they were when Martin Luther King delivered his 'i have a dream speech', when Neil Armstrong said 'One small step for man'. These pieces of audio stay with us and remind us and connect us with so much. Music is the same. Music like a King's speech in how it connects with the people. But unlike a King's speech the great thing about music is it's made by the people and spread to the people through each other.
Bob Dylan and the Beatles music helped define the 60s. Even the when the crazy gay men in the club i play in go CRAZY for Lady Gaga, she is lifting their spirits and taking them to a place of happiness. And hopefully when i play i am doing the same. All musicians have an obligation to their craft to be great and persevere and to speak clearly with a message. It doesn't matter what that message is- it can be fuck you or fuck that, but be clear of who you're fucking or what you're fucking.
Sounds shape us, voices speak to us. I still remember OutKast's 'Hey Ya' from when i finished High School and it always takes me in my mind back to that happy place of completing something huge and accomplishment and peace. There are many other songs, speeches, and sounds that connect me to the world and people around me.
Another thing that the King's Speech reminded me is that you have to have confidence in yourself to deliver what you want to say and what you've got to say, and that if you can't do it alone, seek out the help of those wonderful spirits that can help give you your voice. I was never one for training or advice, i thought i knew it all- but i know shit all, and there are many people out there who you can learn from. Lionel doesn't tell the KING WHAT TO SAY (someone else kind of does i guess.. but you get my drift, the King is theoretically saying his own speech) but tries to give the King HIS OWN voice to say his words.
Don't take advice from people who tell you what to do or how to do something, but always be open to advice to those who try to bring out the YOU in YOU!
That's what i learned today.
Go see the movie!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Recording update!
There hasn't been a blog for a while with Xmas festivities.
What a great Canadian Christmas i had. They really know how to do xmas over here- so joyous and giving. Joyous- that is a word that you don't hear too much these days, but should be felt and used way more!
We've been back in the studio this week, and now have roughly five songs mapped out in their most basic form. Still a long way to go and many finishing touches and vocals and orchestrations to put on, but now we have 5 of the 10 songs down it is now seeming not an impossible task to finish! Just recorded 'Mine'. Absolutely adore this song and would play it over and over and over again if i could. Just love it. Guess Who's right again became a little more structured and now feels like a really catchy pop song. Looking forward to what a 'gang vocal' will sound like in the choruses.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I am off to a gig tonight starting at 11pm. News Years Eve!
Happy New Years Everyone!
What a great Canadian Christmas i had. They really know how to do xmas over here- so joyous and giving. Joyous- that is a word that you don't hear too much these days, but should be felt and used way more!
We've been back in the studio this week, and now have roughly five songs mapped out in their most basic form. Still a long way to go and many finishing touches and vocals and orchestrations to put on, but now we have 5 of the 10 songs down it is now seeming not an impossible task to finish! Just recorded 'Mine'. Absolutely adore this song and would play it over and over and over again if i could. Just love it. Guess Who's right again became a little more structured and now feels like a really catchy pop song. Looking forward to what a 'gang vocal' will sound like in the choruses.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I am off to a gig tonight starting at 11pm. News Years Eve!
Happy New Years Everyone!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
In Search of Truth
As i sit here at 9pm on a Sunday evening, about to consume a Banana prior to a long night gigging (yes i said prior.. my gig starts at 10pm!) i wanted to reflect on some discussions i have had with my producer lately.
Dave Thompson is a very insightful man, and very much has become a mentor to me. I am blessed i have a few mentors in my life that i trust and listen to- not always agree with, however always process their opinions, taking the time to consider them thoughtfully. We have been talking very much about discovering truth in music, quite specifically 'your' truth in music. And for me this is a process of discovery every time i sit down to write, and especially in the studio. I think back to all the covers gigs i have done and although i impart a sense of me in to those gigs (the show man) i am merely portraying like an actor my interpretation of someone's writing. The real question lies in, how do i portray my own writing. This is something i am still coming to terms with. It is also important to consider how you portray your own writing in a commercial medium that requires a deal of specificity and stylistic confinement. There is a beat- it must be kept not changed, you would think this is indeed the essence as Dave would say to all music, Rhythm, but in covers gigs one can vary this from phrase to phrase, chorus to chorus, verse to verse depending on what you are trying to achieve- usually some form of drunken engagement to lonely souls, or souls out to have fun with their friends with what you are doing not foremost in their minds. But pop/rock music has a specific rhythm- it must be felt in the bones and kept. The melody has to sit on top of this rhythm, to serve the rhythm, in fact i think it is a mutual kind of respect for each other.. they serve each other and no one else. When the melody and rhythm serve each other that is where the feeling, the idea, the message, the magic comes from. If you have killer lyrics as well then maybe you might just change the world, or change people's hearts with that philosophy. Will Smith's daughter's ridiculous new song 'i throw my hair all around' is a prime example of a catchy catchy melody on a stringent powerful groove... for me it still gets me and is swimming around in my head.. unfortunately i think it's for the worse as the lyrical content doesn't connect. But this great book i am reading about Bob Dylan raises a great point on this subject. Dylan was asked about his change from folk to rock music (although he doesn't define either, or doesn't feel he belongs or ever has belonged to either). He said that rock music is different than folk music in the sense that rock music let's you escape for 2-3 minutes on a groove into another place, with catchy rhythm, you are not faced with any world changing message, you are just implanted with enjoyment. I guess Lil' Smith's song is what this is. Pure escapism. Maybe Lady Gaga as well- but its still great music, don't get me wrong, it's just not necessarily the sort of music i want to create. Traditional Folk music however is a thinking constant engagement. You can't just chill out like you can to Bob Seeger's Old Time Rock n Roll, or Chuck Berry's Johnny Be Goode.
So this is what i am learning. I don't want to be Lil' Smith and create catchy rhythmic melody trash to sell records. But i need to take some tips from this music, and harness the energy of rhythm and melody together to create strong phrasing in my writing and especially my delivery to connect with the heart and soul of each song i write. And this is where i believe that truth is found. Its not a huge high kick or spirit fingers done in a lounge to backgroundingly entertain drunk people.
Dave explained that modern pop/rock music by songwriters is effective when the performance is more introverted. It's not just about show. Its about giving one's soul simply through the song. Think of Radiohead, Oasis, and any great singer songwriter. There are show elements between songs, in some solos, but when they step up to the mic (even Bono and Freddie Mercury who are very much show men) they fucking give it right down that cord and into your heart. You are drawn in to their truth and the world of their song.
For an extrovert, hooked on over playing in lounges, this perhaps is going to be the greatest challenge, yet most rewarding in my artistic career.
Always search for truth. Inwardly then give it Outwardly from that place.
Dave Thompson is a very insightful man, and very much has become a mentor to me. I am blessed i have a few mentors in my life that i trust and listen to- not always agree with, however always process their opinions, taking the time to consider them thoughtfully. We have been talking very much about discovering truth in music, quite specifically 'your' truth in music. And for me this is a process of discovery every time i sit down to write, and especially in the studio. I think back to all the covers gigs i have done and although i impart a sense of me in to those gigs (the show man) i am merely portraying like an actor my interpretation of someone's writing. The real question lies in, how do i portray my own writing. This is something i am still coming to terms with. It is also important to consider how you portray your own writing in a commercial medium that requires a deal of specificity and stylistic confinement. There is a beat- it must be kept not changed, you would think this is indeed the essence as Dave would say to all music, Rhythm, but in covers gigs one can vary this from phrase to phrase, chorus to chorus, verse to verse depending on what you are trying to achieve- usually some form of drunken engagement to lonely souls, or souls out to have fun with their friends with what you are doing not foremost in their minds. But pop/rock music has a specific rhythm- it must be felt in the bones and kept. The melody has to sit on top of this rhythm, to serve the rhythm, in fact i think it is a mutual kind of respect for each other.. they serve each other and no one else. When the melody and rhythm serve each other that is where the feeling, the idea, the message, the magic comes from. If you have killer lyrics as well then maybe you might just change the world, or change people's hearts with that philosophy. Will Smith's daughter's ridiculous new song 'i throw my hair all around' is a prime example of a catchy catchy melody on a stringent powerful groove... for me it still gets me and is swimming around in my head.. unfortunately i think it's for the worse as the lyrical content doesn't connect. But this great book i am reading about Bob Dylan raises a great point on this subject. Dylan was asked about his change from folk to rock music (although he doesn't define either, or doesn't feel he belongs or ever has belonged to either). He said that rock music is different than folk music in the sense that rock music let's you escape for 2-3 minutes on a groove into another place, with catchy rhythm, you are not faced with any world changing message, you are just implanted with enjoyment. I guess Lil' Smith's song is what this is. Pure escapism. Maybe Lady Gaga as well- but its still great music, don't get me wrong, it's just not necessarily the sort of music i want to create. Traditional Folk music however is a thinking constant engagement. You can't just chill out like you can to Bob Seeger's Old Time Rock n Roll, or Chuck Berry's Johnny Be Goode.
So this is what i am learning. I don't want to be Lil' Smith and create catchy rhythmic melody trash to sell records. But i need to take some tips from this music, and harness the energy of rhythm and melody together to create strong phrasing in my writing and especially my delivery to connect with the heart and soul of each song i write. And this is where i believe that truth is found. Its not a huge high kick or spirit fingers done in a lounge to backgroundingly entertain drunk people.
Dave explained that modern pop/rock music by songwriters is effective when the performance is more introverted. It's not just about show. Its about giving one's soul simply through the song. Think of Radiohead, Oasis, and any great singer songwriter. There are show elements between songs, in some solos, but when they step up to the mic (even Bono and Freddie Mercury who are very much show men) they fucking give it right down that cord and into your heart. You are drawn in to their truth and the world of their song.
For an extrovert, hooked on over playing in lounges, this perhaps is going to be the greatest challenge, yet most rewarding in my artistic career.
Always search for truth. Inwardly then give it Outwardly from that place.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Idea Bank
Every artist has their book don't they? I am not sure in what forms their books come. They probably come in all sorts of different types and shapes and sizes and binds. I think some these days keep it purely electronic. I can never write romantically or ideally on a computer. Blogs and anecdotes for sure, but pieces from the heart like songs or poetry need a hand written authenticity for me to deliver the right message. Plus i think my hand writing is so bad that it is not a bad way of keeping my ideas mine as well- no one else can read them.
My mum gave me a book while i was in Hong Kong when i first departed Australia on this long journey. The first entry was a list of all these great bands and albums on the Air New Zealand in flight library- it was hugely comprehensive. I look back at the list now and some of those bands that were really indie at the time have risen to be huge. But the book has served me through many acting workshops, dialect training workshops, gym workouts, records of note and anything personal to me. The back of the book is where all my song ideas are.
This is my book, just so you know where the songs are written down in their roughest, un-neatest, rough, honest form.
My mum gave me a book while i was in Hong Kong when i first departed Australia on this long journey. The first entry was a list of all these great bands and albums on the Air New Zealand in flight library- it was hugely comprehensive. I look back at the list now and some of those bands that were really indie at the time have risen to be huge. But the book has served me through many acting workshops, dialect training workshops, gym workouts, records of note and anything personal to me. The back of the book is where all my song ideas are.
This is my book, just so you know where the songs are written down in their roughest, un-neatest, rough, honest form.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Mine
Mine is a place where we can go together
To keep warm and escape the stormy weather
A place to hold you close for all of time,
A place where Rhythm backs the Rhyme
Hold on my love,
Your head on my chest close enough,
I'll stand by you when seas get rough,
Can't you feel that you'll be fine,
Just cling to mine...
Mine is a place where our thoughts can meander
Far from fear to places where light dances
Amid our hopes and dreams of yesterday,
Guiding us together on our way
Hold on my love,
Your head on my chest close enough,
I'll stand by you when seas get rough,
Can't you feel that you'll be fine,
Just cling to mine...
Alex Hopkins (6pm, 11th December, 2010)
To keep warm and escape the stormy weather
A place to hold you close for all of time,
A place where Rhythm backs the Rhyme
Hold on my love,
Your head on my chest close enough,
I'll stand by you when seas get rough,
Can't you feel that you'll be fine,
Just cling to mine...
Mine is a place where our thoughts can meander
Far from fear to places where light dances
Amid our hopes and dreams of yesterday,
Guiding us together on our way
Hold on my love,
Your head on my chest close enough,
I'll stand by you when seas get rough,
Can't you feel that you'll be fine,
Just cling to mine...
Alex Hopkins (6pm, 11th December, 2010)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Laying Down Good Vibrations
Well, i just joined Twitter. My social networking guru (who shall remain nameless for his privacy, people would swamp him with requests for representation!) tells me that tweeting is the new fad. I have noticed that some of my old friends are on it, and now i can follow them too!! LOVING IT already. Just have to set the Do Not Disturb hours for the night (or early morning and mid morning as my sleeping patterns dictate) otherwise i will be getting bombarded with people's tweet's in two different timezones! Hopefully this can be a new brief way of updating people simple ideas... and when i update the more emphatic, long winded blogs i put out there, i can tweet that they are ready to read. I am going to try and make the blog more enjoyable... less texty and more sexy. I will try and post some photos and video and music, and that kind of stuff to make it interesting for everyone to follow. Perhaps when i get to designing the Album artwork people can even suggest the kind of things they like. I am hoping to employ my great friend Laurie Assender back home in Oz to design the cover and inserts for me- she is so great at that kind of stuff, would be very interested to see what she can do.
We are now into week 4. Recording for a month. We do only get in there 3 days a week, the other 4 days are let the stuff sink in. It's a really involving process, i can't of ever imagined how involving it is. I am staring down the barrel at the start of Song #3 thinking god, we have another 7 to do after this. Let alone record final vocals and mixes and write further parts for the first two songs. Building an album and an original artist from scratch is an intense project, but one that will change my life forever i am sure. It's like everything in life where its about taking everything one step at a time and deal with the small pictures first then the big pictures will come later- in fact the small pictures are almost like little pixel squares that eventually make up the large multi mega pixelled final sensational breathtaking image.
I have heard so many break up stories from back home that i have not been there for. I haven't been able to support my friends over coffees and big breakfasts. This is still one of my fav things in life- being positive and when my friends are down trying to give them as many perspectives as possible to look at a situation so they can be happy and start moving on and having fun. I am not a preacher and i didn't write the gospel of go get em', but i am positive and its good giving that positivity to people. In the end, it's only women, or only men- it's not everything- there are still amazing Latte's out there to be had. So this next song i decided is perhaps melody wise the strongest i have ever written.. it really does sore over a big vocal range. I want it to drive and inspire and make you feel the wind in your hair as you drive along the coast down for your surfing trip or across the Harbor Bridge as your heart bleeds and mends.
The chorus goes something like this..
'Hey I'm On Your Side...
Let your Spirit Dance..
Feel the Wind at your back..
There's more to life than just romance'
Because there is more to life than just romance, its a huge part of it for all of us. It's in nearly every song, its on nearly every billboard, it is in every movie- even in Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger (i google-d the spelling!) has a love interest with that woman (the only woman, so i refer to as 'that woman'). I'm not sure if anything actually happened between those two in the plot, but the movie seemed to suggest some kind of romantic/sexual tension. But seriously, romance is fed to us like baby mash and breast milk from the time we can't even get an erection. The media latches onto it, hell i spent the first 3 years of song writing, writing ONLY love songs, with words such as heart and soul and heart and soul and in your eyes etc. etc. etc- and probably will still write these kind of songs forever more. WHY! Because romance is driven into us, we look for it everywhere, and we often tell ourselves we need it when we don't. And it when it leaves us, it leaves us hurting like hell. Then we go 'oh, i'm never going to find another person like that again', 'it's so hard being single', 'how could she cheat on me, i am an ugly worthless piece of shit'- the truth is, you won't find another person like that again, but you might find someone better for you or different in a great way. It's not that hard being single, go to Amazon.com and buy a book on a topic you like and throw yourself into it- you'll save money on booze and learn something about something you like or are interested in and then you'll bring it up in conversation one day with a beautiful person that shares your knowledge that you then connect with, and that simple thing of getting out of the doldrums and not becoming an alcoholic or a druggo to supress your problems, is the very thing that leads you onto the next stage of happiness and fulfillment (and WAY BETTER SEX!). And you know what, the cycle might happen all over again, but at least then you can go buy a book on a new topic! This song really is about that. Buying a book, then buying another one on a new topic. There seriously is more to life than just romance.
Hope everyone is having a great time. It's now snowing in Toronto, i will take some pics and post them to show all your Aussies back home how lucky you are right now.
We are now into week 4. Recording for a month. We do only get in there 3 days a week, the other 4 days are let the stuff sink in. It's a really involving process, i can't of ever imagined how involving it is. I am staring down the barrel at the start of Song #3 thinking god, we have another 7 to do after this. Let alone record final vocals and mixes and write further parts for the first two songs. Building an album and an original artist from scratch is an intense project, but one that will change my life forever i am sure. It's like everything in life where its about taking everything one step at a time and deal with the small pictures first then the big pictures will come later- in fact the small pictures are almost like little pixel squares that eventually make up the large multi mega pixelled final sensational breathtaking image.
I have heard so many break up stories from back home that i have not been there for. I haven't been able to support my friends over coffees and big breakfasts. This is still one of my fav things in life- being positive and when my friends are down trying to give them as many perspectives as possible to look at a situation so they can be happy and start moving on and having fun. I am not a preacher and i didn't write the gospel of go get em', but i am positive and its good giving that positivity to people. In the end, it's only women, or only men- it's not everything- there are still amazing Latte's out there to be had. So this next song i decided is perhaps melody wise the strongest i have ever written.. it really does sore over a big vocal range. I want it to drive and inspire and make you feel the wind in your hair as you drive along the coast down for your surfing trip or across the Harbor Bridge as your heart bleeds and mends.
The chorus goes something like this..
'Hey I'm On Your Side...
Let your Spirit Dance..
Feel the Wind at your back..
There's more to life than just romance'
Because there is more to life than just romance, its a huge part of it for all of us. It's in nearly every song, its on nearly every billboard, it is in every movie- even in Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger (i google-d the spelling!) has a love interest with that woman (the only woman, so i refer to as 'that woman'). I'm not sure if anything actually happened between those two in the plot, but the movie seemed to suggest some kind of romantic/sexual tension. But seriously, romance is fed to us like baby mash and breast milk from the time we can't even get an erection. The media latches onto it, hell i spent the first 3 years of song writing, writing ONLY love songs, with words such as heart and soul and heart and soul and in your eyes etc. etc. etc- and probably will still write these kind of songs forever more. WHY! Because romance is driven into us, we look for it everywhere, and we often tell ourselves we need it when we don't. And it when it leaves us, it leaves us hurting like hell. Then we go 'oh, i'm never going to find another person like that again', 'it's so hard being single', 'how could she cheat on me, i am an ugly worthless piece of shit'- the truth is, you won't find another person like that again, but you might find someone better for you or different in a great way. It's not that hard being single, go to Amazon.com and buy a book on a topic you like and throw yourself into it- you'll save money on booze and learn something about something you like or are interested in and then you'll bring it up in conversation one day with a beautiful person that shares your knowledge that you then connect with, and that simple thing of getting out of the doldrums and not becoming an alcoholic or a druggo to supress your problems, is the very thing that leads you onto the next stage of happiness and fulfillment (and WAY BETTER SEX!). And you know what, the cycle might happen all over again, but at least then you can go buy a book on a new topic! This song really is about that. Buying a book, then buying another one on a new topic. There seriously is more to life than just romance.
Hope everyone is having a great time. It's now snowing in Toronto, i will take some pics and post them to show all your Aussies back home how lucky you are right now.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thought i would post a headshot!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A Few Pics of the Studio!
Here are some pics of Digital Underdog.. not too revealing.. i am sure there will be more to come and some video in due course!!!
Educated Woman guide vocal done. Still a bit of arrangement to be done and parts to be considered. But a great day. I learned alot!
I am learning about Rhythm. Funny that!
I am learning about Rhythm. Funny that!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A Song for You by Leon Russell (performed by Ray Charles is my fav)
CHECK OUT THIS SONG!
I can't believe i have never heard it before. Ray Charles i think does the definitive version. Seriously close your eyes, block your world out, and listen to the passion, amazing lyrical content, and heartfelt soul. I cannot stop playing it. I just can't stop playing it. I just want to sing like that.
I can't believe i have never heard it before. Ray Charles i think does the definitive version. Seriously close your eyes, block your world out, and listen to the passion, amazing lyrical content, and heartfelt soul. I cannot stop playing it. I just can't stop playing it. I just want to sing like that.
Red Tape got Redder... and it started pretty red
Hey everyone (implying a substantial number of people reading this),
I am hoping his blog will become some light office reading for those sitting at desks crunching out numbers and working out risk and dividends franked or not franked (i.e. probably my brother!).
This week has been one of the most challenging of my international career- i guess i can call it that. Anyone knows what it's like crossing a border or getting on an airplane these days. Those who have traveled for extended stays to work or study know the visa process is even harder. And once your at your destination you are at the mercy of every little administrative difference. It sucks. It's not that you can't do something, it's that you can't do it because of some superficial legality or provision in an agreement that was put there generally (and generally does make sense), but of course scenarios arise when there are a specific set of circumstances (haha, usually to do with you!) that should make you an exception or you feel wasn't considered in writing the rules. Then there are the lackeys/minnows in lower ranks that you have to deal with who to the 'non pain in the ass' can ruin their chances at everything. If you just take a minnows word as gospel you are fucked before you start. One thing i have learned here is NEVER EVER GO TO THE BOTTOM EVEN THOUGH IT MIGHT BE EASIER! Go as high and tall and high and tall as you can- even if it's the fucking C.E.O- make sure you talk to person as close to where the buck stops as possible. Anyone back in Australia just think of having to deal with the R.T.A (Roads and Traffic Authority- DMV equivalent) on a daily basis and that is what i am getting at. Nightmare. Just let me DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST WANT TO DANCE!!!!!!!!
NOW! In album news. Been listening alot to our first track and it is getting in my veins- love it, but the more you listen the more ideas you come up with about the mix, instruments, backing parts. It's really great. We are now onto guide vocals for song number 2- TODAY actually, i am writing this blog in the 'am' over a triple espresso i made myself in my new Bialetti espresso percolator. I have the new Elton John and Leon Russell album on in the background called the 'union'. Remind of Songs from the West Coast- which is one of my ALL TIME favorite Elton Albums. Now to my album: The second song is 'Educated Woman', and Dave was writing a guitar rhythm part and a great string line came to me from what he was doing, and we put it down and it sounds epic! It's actually really great fun building a song, writing parts, finding the groove- really finding the soul of the song. I think the song is universal. I was having coffee in the freezing cold at Starbucks after our session and was saying the lyrics to Dave and some old guy goes
'did you just come up with all that on the spot' and i said, nah its a song, have you ever met a woman like that.. and the old dude goes.. 'every woman i've ever met is like that'.. so i think we are onto a universal theme which is what i like!!!!! Not sure if it can be universal if it can only be applied to men's experience. Let's just say its a Universally Male Experience.
Thanks for reading. And may you all see the red tape early, and find the cheapest way to avoid it. I think it's more expensive because its Red. If it was just black or grey tape then it would be so cheap and easy to get around it.
Lots of Love
Alex
I am hoping his blog will become some light office reading for those sitting at desks crunching out numbers and working out risk and dividends franked or not franked (i.e. probably my brother!).
This week has been one of the most challenging of my international career- i guess i can call it that. Anyone knows what it's like crossing a border or getting on an airplane these days. Those who have traveled for extended stays to work or study know the visa process is even harder. And once your at your destination you are at the mercy of every little administrative difference. It sucks. It's not that you can't do something, it's that you can't do it because of some superficial legality or provision in an agreement that was put there generally (and generally does make sense), but of course scenarios arise when there are a specific set of circumstances (haha, usually to do with you!) that should make you an exception or you feel wasn't considered in writing the rules. Then there are the lackeys/minnows in lower ranks that you have to deal with who to the 'non pain in the ass' can ruin their chances at everything. If you just take a minnows word as gospel you are fucked before you start. One thing i have learned here is NEVER EVER GO TO THE BOTTOM EVEN THOUGH IT MIGHT BE EASIER! Go as high and tall and high and tall as you can- even if it's the fucking C.E.O- make sure you talk to person as close to where the buck stops as possible. Anyone back in Australia just think of having to deal with the R.T.A (Roads and Traffic Authority- DMV equivalent) on a daily basis and that is what i am getting at. Nightmare. Just let me DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST WANT TO DANCE!!!!!!!!
NOW! In album news. Been listening alot to our first track and it is getting in my veins- love it, but the more you listen the more ideas you come up with about the mix, instruments, backing parts. It's really great. We are now onto guide vocals for song number 2- TODAY actually, i am writing this blog in the 'am' over a triple espresso i made myself in my new Bialetti espresso percolator. I have the new Elton John and Leon Russell album on in the background called the 'union'. Remind of Songs from the West Coast- which is one of my ALL TIME favorite Elton Albums. Now to my album: The second song is 'Educated Woman', and Dave was writing a guitar rhythm part and a great string line came to me from what he was doing, and we put it down and it sounds epic! It's actually really great fun building a song, writing parts, finding the groove- really finding the soul of the song. I think the song is universal. I was having coffee in the freezing cold at Starbucks after our session and was saying the lyrics to Dave and some old guy goes
'did you just come up with all that on the spot' and i said, nah its a song, have you ever met a woman like that.. and the old dude goes.. 'every woman i've ever met is like that'.. so i think we are onto a universal theme which is what i like!!!!! Not sure if it can be universal if it can only be applied to men's experience. Let's just say its a Universally Male Experience.
Thanks for reading. And may you all see the red tape early, and find the cheapest way to avoid it. I think it's more expensive because its Red. If it was just black or grey tape then it would be so cheap and easy to get around it.
Lots of Love
Alex
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Guide Tracks, Great Advances and Red Tape
What a week. Learn to channel excitement, because if you get too excited life has a funny way of throwing it back in your face.
In any career in the arts you have weeks like mine. You finalize a guide for your first produced original song ever and you are proud of it. You feel you like you are made for this. You have had self belief for two years living away from home and get a great agent and start looking to a big hardworking creative future. You are in negotiations for a crazy 'big brother' type Xmas gig living in a makeshift house outside the biggest sport arena in Toronto, you are about to change agents and then your last agent all of a sudden has 3 auditions for you in one week, and you call to tell him, sorry i need to move on because its best for my career. All good. THEN, you find out that there is certain amount of ridiculous red tape that may prevent you from chasing your dreams which you think with a week like this, they are starting to be realized. WAKE UP CALL. Nothing is certain in life, and luck and love and even life itself can be taken away from you as quickly as you are given it. Unbelievable. Let's hope there is some common sense in this world that will prevail.
The first guide track i am not completely satisfied with- the me part. The production is top notch and i have to say, Dave (my producer) really is a genius when it comes to compiling and channeling great ideas into a great usable product. What he has done with my first song is nothing short of amazing and its only a guide. My vocals still need some establishing. In that i mean, i can sing, but i feel i am still 'putting on' certain phrasing, long habits from playing in lounges, and crooning to guests around the piano. There is nothing wrong with this in its own environment, and its a skill in itself, but when you hear it on a powerful recording, its just not honest and doesn't give that message and melody the punch and feeling it needs. This is the process for me in becoming an original artist, not a cover artist. But i am learning to let go in the studio alot more, and just give over to the process. Simplify and build. Simplify and build. Simplify and build, build, build, build. I think i am making huge progress artistically, and i am sure the results are going to show long term, not only in my song writing and vocals, but in the finished spirit of the album. Bring it on. Its a consuming and emotional experience, but fucking fabulous.
Hope everyone in America has a great Thanksgiving. Although i don't celebrate it, i have alot to be thankful for, even if Red Tape is hurting my positive spirit today. Tomorrow's a new day, and who knows, maybe some good news.
The next song we are recording is a song i wrote called 'Educated Woman'- its about those woman among us who appear sweet and kind, 'the girl next door', the real heartbreakers- blonde tight bodied girls with big tits and tight butts and slutty clothes make men excited, but they don't break the heart like a brunette with blue eyes and soft skin and sweet voice, and artistic charm- they take your heart and run away with it, and they sit with you at coffee and go 'boys don't like me, what do you mean i'm beautiful'... BULLSHIT. You know it and you make it work for you every subtle way you know how. Daddy's girls break little boys hearts.
Lots of Love
Alex
In any career in the arts you have weeks like mine. You finalize a guide for your first produced original song ever and you are proud of it. You feel you like you are made for this. You have had self belief for two years living away from home and get a great agent and start looking to a big hardworking creative future. You are in negotiations for a crazy 'big brother' type Xmas gig living in a makeshift house outside the biggest sport arena in Toronto, you are about to change agents and then your last agent all of a sudden has 3 auditions for you in one week, and you call to tell him, sorry i need to move on because its best for my career. All good. THEN, you find out that there is certain amount of ridiculous red tape that may prevent you from chasing your dreams which you think with a week like this, they are starting to be realized. WAKE UP CALL. Nothing is certain in life, and luck and love and even life itself can be taken away from you as quickly as you are given it. Unbelievable. Let's hope there is some common sense in this world that will prevail.
The first guide track i am not completely satisfied with- the me part. The production is top notch and i have to say, Dave (my producer) really is a genius when it comes to compiling and channeling great ideas into a great usable product. What he has done with my first song is nothing short of amazing and its only a guide. My vocals still need some establishing. In that i mean, i can sing, but i feel i am still 'putting on' certain phrasing, long habits from playing in lounges, and crooning to guests around the piano. There is nothing wrong with this in its own environment, and its a skill in itself, but when you hear it on a powerful recording, its just not honest and doesn't give that message and melody the punch and feeling it needs. This is the process for me in becoming an original artist, not a cover artist. But i am learning to let go in the studio alot more, and just give over to the process. Simplify and build. Simplify and build. Simplify and build, build, build, build. I think i am making huge progress artistically, and i am sure the results are going to show long term, not only in my song writing and vocals, but in the finished spirit of the album. Bring it on. Its a consuming and emotional experience, but fucking fabulous.
Hope everyone in America has a great Thanksgiving. Although i don't celebrate it, i have alot to be thankful for, even if Red Tape is hurting my positive spirit today. Tomorrow's a new day, and who knows, maybe some good news.
The next song we are recording is a song i wrote called 'Educated Woman'- its about those woman among us who appear sweet and kind, 'the girl next door', the real heartbreakers- blonde tight bodied girls with big tits and tight butts and slutty clothes make men excited, but they don't break the heart like a brunette with blue eyes and soft skin and sweet voice, and artistic charm- they take your heart and run away with it, and they sit with you at coffee and go 'boys don't like me, what do you mean i'm beautiful'... BULLSHIT. You know it and you make it work for you every subtle way you know how. Daddy's girls break little boys hearts.
Lots of Love
Alex
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Into Week 2, and Into my mid 20s
What a week! Huge week in my life really. I used to hate birthdays, thinking they were overrated, walking along with the mantra 'live everyday as if it's your birthday'. But i have been schooled once again by the world into the simple truth that Birthdays when you have great friends are great. People from all over the world were great to me. I am very lucky to have met so many people from so many different places, industries and cultures. It's nice to know that it doesn't matter about differences, and that it is possible to get along and be great friends with people from all over the place. There is a universality to being open and friendly that creates alot of love.
We have got alot down for a song i wrote last week that we are calling 'in my hands'- about controlling and accepting destiny and having the freedom to do so. Will put down a guide vocal this week so i can let the song sink in. Recording was tiring but a really involving experience. I learned alot about myself in just a couple of days. I heard some great news out of Vancouver yesterday. I spoke with my great friend Colin Bullock (www.colinbullock.com- check him out) who is a great singer songwriter from Byron Bay Australia who has just finished his latest album which will arrive in his hands in proper CD cases next week. Can't wait to hear his progress and his new songs. He let me know that another musician friend Andrew Allen (out of Vernon BC) has just signed with Epic Records. This guy has worked so hard and toured and toured and toured and poured everything he has ever earned into being better and better and getting more attention. I am so glad that he is not only in the Canadian Charts (top 20) but that Epic are throwing a heap of cash behind him to get his career going in the states. He is recording an album for them now and then goes on tour with JOSHUA RADIN across the states. So very very very cool- can't wait to see how big he becomes.
Went out to a Drag Bar called Zippers in Toronto and auditioned for a piano bar gig (same cover type gig i have been doing for years) and got the job. So i have a regular Friday and Sunday gig now. Hopefully can throw some of my new writing in and start building a fan base in Toronto. For those of you who know me they know i am an actor as well, and got some big news signing with a big new Agent in Toronto that will hopefully open some huge doors for me in the North American industry. All my hard work on American Dialect over the last year paid off (although i still need ALOT more work always) and the meeting went great. So it was a great week. Isn't funny that when you let yourself go and take chances, like recording an album, investing money, writing an email to 1000 immigration employees to find that girl at the xmas party (i have been reading the Sydney Morning Herald), that energy seems to follow you and drive you further and further. I definitely have opened my arms to Toronto (even though they are starting to get frostbite on them) and it is starting to breathe me in. That is not a bad lyric eh "Breathe me In"- its mine, i said it!!!! Unless you write it better than me...
Felt inspired and wrote almost a complete song (minus a short bridge, but have some ideas for it) last night. Love it, just not sure what theme i want the lyrics on. I could go two ways.. romance or anti-romance, i want to write a song for the broken hearted to pick them up, not to dwell too much on romance and that there are lots of other things out there. I have had a few friends with broken hearts in the last few years.. so i might write it for them.
Much Love
Alex
We have got alot down for a song i wrote last week that we are calling 'in my hands'- about controlling and accepting destiny and having the freedom to do so. Will put down a guide vocal this week so i can let the song sink in. Recording was tiring but a really involving experience. I learned alot about myself in just a couple of days. I heard some great news out of Vancouver yesterday. I spoke with my great friend Colin Bullock (www.colinbullock.com- check him out) who is a great singer songwriter from Byron Bay Australia who has just finished his latest album which will arrive in his hands in proper CD cases next week. Can't wait to hear his progress and his new songs. He let me know that another musician friend Andrew Allen (out of Vernon BC) has just signed with Epic Records. This guy has worked so hard and toured and toured and toured and poured everything he has ever earned into being better and better and getting more attention. I am so glad that he is not only in the Canadian Charts (top 20) but that Epic are throwing a heap of cash behind him to get his career going in the states. He is recording an album for them now and then goes on tour with JOSHUA RADIN across the states. So very very very cool- can't wait to see how big he becomes.
Went out to a Drag Bar called Zippers in Toronto and auditioned for a piano bar gig (same cover type gig i have been doing for years) and got the job. So i have a regular Friday and Sunday gig now. Hopefully can throw some of my new writing in and start building a fan base in Toronto. For those of you who know me they know i am an actor as well, and got some big news signing with a big new Agent in Toronto that will hopefully open some huge doors for me in the North American industry. All my hard work on American Dialect over the last year paid off (although i still need ALOT more work always) and the meeting went great. So it was a great week. Isn't funny that when you let yourself go and take chances, like recording an album, investing money, writing an email to 1000 immigration employees to find that girl at the xmas party (i have been reading the Sydney Morning Herald), that energy seems to follow you and drive you further and further. I definitely have opened my arms to Toronto (even though they are starting to get frostbite on them) and it is starting to breathe me in. That is not a bad lyric eh "Breathe me In"- its mine, i said it!!!! Unless you write it better than me...
Felt inspired and wrote almost a complete song (minus a short bridge, but have some ideas for it) last night. Love it, just not sure what theme i want the lyrics on. I could go two ways.. romance or anti-romance, i want to write a song for the broken hearted to pick them up, not to dwell too much on romance and that there are lots of other things out there. I have had a few friends with broken hearts in the last few years.. so i might write it for them.
Much Love
Alex
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Day 2
Recording is emotionally and physically tiring. I am discovering this. That is all i have to say. And also that peak hour traffic and rain adds almost double the journey time to anywhere. But you probably already knew that.
Monday, November 15, 2010
First Day of Recording 15th November 2010
Ok. I had some complaints- man you write so much, you write like you have A.D.D, write less. So i will endeavor to write a bit less. But i write how i write, so if you need to take a coffee break then Starbucks (or preferably your local indie coffee house) will be happy to accommodate.
Met with Dave out at Digital Underdog HQ at 2pm this afternoon for our first 'proper' session. I had written a song over the weekend that i was keen to show him- good news is that he loved it and we spent the afternoon honing in on it to find the right groove, right tempo and right soul to the song- as well as a Chorus. We were certainly both on the same page. The guy is a freakin' genius. I give him a solid piano riff of the basic chords and he goes into the zone and sits the song in his head coming up with idea after idea about instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel. Dave breathes a great creative energy and focus (something that i need more of). We laid down a basic tempo, i laid down the verse chords, pre chorus chords and the chorus chords. We spent the rest of the session trying to nail the feel of the verse. We played around with classic 'cock' rock (Dave's example was Oasis and Creed like) beats, and then some more driving soulful grooves. Then the genius goes to work with his multi-instrumental talents, and brainstorms bass lines and guitar leads and drum additions. What we came up with is a real song about exploring the freedom of creativity and the power to follow your own journey- an anthem for the people-this is what i want the song to be. There is so many places it can go.
The most interesting part of the day was laying down some basic vocals. I am so glad we did this- i have SO MUCH TO LEARN. Dave will not let me get away with staccato 'speak singing' (as i call it) that alot of crooning in lounges has created in me. Let the voice hang behind the groove slightly and feel the song, feel the soul of the idea, let it come out honestly, smoothly and directly to the audience. Playing back some of my takes, it is clear that i have developed some habits (i hesitate to use the word bad, because they were habits i developed as a cover lounge act) that just don't really cut it truthfully. It walked in after a bathroom break and said to dave 'I don't believe what i am saying' after hearing him replaying my take over and over. So this is going to be a work in progress learning to do lead vocals in a commercial style.
I love the process we have undertaken. We will record all the final vocals at the end of the album process. So we will develop the songs, then let them sit and breathe within me and let the grow, and the let the honesty of the stories in the song and the messages grow over a few months, then come to lay out the 'gold' at the end. I think this is a great idea, and a process that will benefit the final product greatly.
That is all i am going to write today, and i won't write everyday, but today was a great learning day, and on learning days that is when i want to write to constantly be growing.
'only time knows where i'm going to lie.. and so it goes, i'm writing my own life'
Alex.
Met with Dave out at Digital Underdog HQ at 2pm this afternoon for our first 'proper' session. I had written a song over the weekend that i was keen to show him- good news is that he loved it and we spent the afternoon honing in on it to find the right groove, right tempo and right soul to the song- as well as a Chorus. We were certainly both on the same page. The guy is a freakin' genius. I give him a solid piano riff of the basic chords and he goes into the zone and sits the song in his head coming up with idea after idea about instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel and instrumentation and feel. Dave breathes a great creative energy and focus (something that i need more of). We laid down a basic tempo, i laid down the verse chords, pre chorus chords and the chorus chords. We spent the rest of the session trying to nail the feel of the verse. We played around with classic 'cock' rock (Dave's example was Oasis and Creed like) beats, and then some more driving soulful grooves. Then the genius goes to work with his multi-instrumental talents, and brainstorms bass lines and guitar leads and drum additions. What we came up with is a real song about exploring the freedom of creativity and the power to follow your own journey- an anthem for the people-this is what i want the song to be. There is so many places it can go.
The most interesting part of the day was laying down some basic vocals. I am so glad we did this- i have SO MUCH TO LEARN. Dave will not let me get away with staccato 'speak singing' (as i call it) that alot of crooning in lounges has created in me. Let the voice hang behind the groove slightly and feel the song, feel the soul of the idea, let it come out honestly, smoothly and directly to the audience. Playing back some of my takes, it is clear that i have developed some habits (i hesitate to use the word bad, because they were habits i developed as a cover lounge act) that just don't really cut it truthfully. It walked in after a bathroom break and said to dave 'I don't believe what i am saying' after hearing him replaying my take over and over. So this is going to be a work in progress learning to do lead vocals in a commercial style.
I love the process we have undertaken. We will record all the final vocals at the end of the album process. So we will develop the songs, then let them sit and breathe within me and let the grow, and the let the honesty of the stories in the song and the messages grow over a few months, then come to lay out the 'gold' at the end. I think this is a great idea, and a process that will benefit the final product greatly.
That is all i am going to write today, and i won't write everyday, but today was a great learning day, and on learning days that is when i want to write to constantly be growing.
'only time knows where i'm going to lie.. and so it goes, i'm writing my own life'
Alex.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
New Ideas
With the direction we are taking with the album for a more commercial less lounge sound i am liking the idea of real profound anthem type songs- the songs that you want to listen to when you are down, or you would see on the montage of gray's anatomy. I know they are the sequences that get me, and probably get you to, putting beautiful powerful music to powerful images- that's kind of how i have always written. Come up with a few ideas over the last day and some nice simple honest progressions. I have found a nice riff to support the idea of making big decisions in your life such as creating the album.. the words are something like this scribbled down on my pad..
'Please, give me a sign, show me the light to guide my path.. I feel out of mind, cause i'm out of my skin, trying to begin. Only time knows where i'm going to lie. And so it goes, i'm writing my own life'
I like this theme of trying to find answers. I wrote some lyrics while still at school when dealing with religion and its effects and its truths and its practices. Mmmm. I wanted answers, i wanted to know why this was so, why my school would openly tell thirty 14 yearold kids that homosexuality is evil and that you will burn in hell if your practice it. I know now for a fact that two kids in that class are now openly gay, and i can only imagine what was going through their minds at that time. I liked the idea of a song that challenged religion, or this god or jesus we grew up being saturated with to come up with answers and prove himself in an honest, tangible form. I wrote these lyrics back then, and i think they still have soul to them now..
'Bread of Heaven, sing hallelujah's, now turn my water into wine.. there are answers to all your questions lying waiting to be found. Somewhere, Sometime, Some feeling waiting to unwind. What you don't know won't hurt you. What you don't know might set you free. What you don't know might save your soul for redemption at the end of the road. What you can't see can't tempt you, where you don't go might ease your mind, what you can't feel aint ridicule, its just a lesson, apparent in time'
I think these are just ideas and outlooks that lots of young people like me go through- and as you get older, Dave and i were discussing the other day, you become far more aware of your mortality. I have flown in planes for years now, hundreds of hours especially in the last few, and all of a sudden i have developed a fear of flying- i had to ask the air canada stewardess last trip to Disney to sit next to me talk me through what she described as only light turbulence. But i think that a huge part of growing up is learning about your mortality and coming to grips with it. Tony (an old friend!) used to always ease my mind by saying 'Alex, you aint going before i go, so don't even start worrying about till i do'.. that helps you for a while, but the more you learn the more you learn to question.. especially now Qantas engines are blowin' up??
'Please, give me a sign, show me the light to guide my path.. I feel out of mind, cause i'm out of my skin, trying to begin. Only time knows where i'm going to lie. And so it goes, i'm writing my own life'
I like this theme of trying to find answers. I wrote some lyrics while still at school when dealing with religion and its effects and its truths and its practices. Mmmm. I wanted answers, i wanted to know why this was so, why my school would openly tell thirty 14 yearold kids that homosexuality is evil and that you will burn in hell if your practice it. I know now for a fact that two kids in that class are now openly gay, and i can only imagine what was going through their minds at that time. I liked the idea of a song that challenged religion, or this god or jesus we grew up being saturated with to come up with answers and prove himself in an honest, tangible form. I wrote these lyrics back then, and i think they still have soul to them now..
'Bread of Heaven, sing hallelujah's, now turn my water into wine.. there are answers to all your questions lying waiting to be found. Somewhere, Sometime, Some feeling waiting to unwind. What you don't know won't hurt you. What you don't know might set you free. What you don't know might save your soul for redemption at the end of the road. What you can't see can't tempt you, where you don't go might ease your mind, what you can't feel aint ridicule, its just a lesson, apparent in time'
I think these are just ideas and outlooks that lots of young people like me go through- and as you get older, Dave and i were discussing the other day, you become far more aware of your mortality. I have flown in planes for years now, hundreds of hours especially in the last few, and all of a sudden i have developed a fear of flying- i had to ask the air canada stewardess last trip to Disney to sit next to me talk me through what she described as only light turbulence. But i think that a huge part of growing up is learning about your mortality and coming to grips with it. Tony (an old friend!) used to always ease my mind by saying 'Alex, you aint going before i go, so don't even start worrying about till i do'.. that helps you for a while, but the more you learn the more you learn to question.. especially now Qantas engines are blowin' up??
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Process Begins
Welcome friends, music lovers, and those just wondering what i'm up to having been away from Australia for so long.
As the description above says, this is a blog/journal of the making of my first studio album that has been a long time coming. There have been so many adventures that i have experienced over the last 2 years living overseas that i regret not documenting. I have learned that any artist should write as much as possible, it doesn't matter what form it takes, or how public that writing becomes, but writing (or i guess any type of active documentation) is part of expressing what is going on in your world, your observations about what is going on in you and around you, and increasing that ever so important (but often lacking in society) quality of self awareness. You can only grow as an artist (and person) if you are self aware. But there is a huge difference between being self aware, and serving yourself- hopefully this blog and this album will not be to serve me and my ego, but to be truthful and create something greater, and more profound and lasting than aimless self promotion and ego chasing (which i undoubtedly have been guilty of at times, and still am, probably more than i'd like to be).
My journey over the last two years has taken me from the end of my Law Degree in Ottawa, Canada (on exchange), to Vancouver where i thought i was going to get into film and television again, however that was put on hold when i got a great contract working for Disney Cruise Line out of Orlando Florida. I've never worked harder as a musician. Those long Friday nights since i was 19 years old driving in peak hour traffic to Wenty Leagues Club and Castle Hill RSL in Sydney, Australia, seemed alot easier than playing 4 hours a night 6 nights a week (and then seven nights a week and more in Europe) for month and months on end. A great training ground, but as a singer not sustainable for the rest of my life. Lounges, pubs and clubs are great, they in many ways have made me the performer that i am today and have led me to so many great friendships and connections all over the world. I feel so privileged at my age to have played some of the places and for some of the people that i have. But this album is about taking a new creative step- not just playing and interpreting other people's music, but creating something from me entirely (with the help of a good producer). I can say at the outset i am not super confident, when you spend so long learning other people's songs and stories (albeit interpreted in my own way) its scary thinking of seeing how your stuff can measure up- your ideas, your melodies and i guess your artistic soul which is at the essence of it all. But a sayings i haven't heard over in Canada, but used to love in Australia is 'we're not here to fuck spiders', and 'have a concrete milkshake and harden the fuck up'. I am not here to fuck spiders and i have taken that concrete milkshake and am ready to just dive into it. That's the only way you move forward. I dived into the overseas adventure, dived into American Dialect training, voice lessons, dived into Disney not knowing what to expect, fell into a long term relationship for the first time at the time i perhaps shouldn't have, dived into the Larry Moss workshop in NYC- there is alot of diving going on, but although there is probably a better metaphor than diving in, that's what you got to do to keep growing as an artist and a person. I am fully expecting that no record company will like my sound, or my voice, or my ideas, or my writing- but you never know what could happen if they do or more importantly the people at large do. At worst, my kids one day can go, 'my daddy tried to be a rock star once' and i am sure they will have a good laugh at my Tim Bowrey inspired Skinny Jeans and Designer stubble.
Welcome to the next few months of my life. Welcome to my artistic process, i will try and be as honest as possible. I really hope friends i haven't seen for a while will enjoy reading this blog and coming on this journey with me from start to finish.
So much love to everyone and send me creative genius vibes
Alex
As the description above says, this is a blog/journal of the making of my first studio album that has been a long time coming. There have been so many adventures that i have experienced over the last 2 years living overseas that i regret not documenting. I have learned that any artist should write as much as possible, it doesn't matter what form it takes, or how public that writing becomes, but writing (or i guess any type of active documentation) is part of expressing what is going on in your world, your observations about what is going on in you and around you, and increasing that ever so important (but often lacking in society) quality of self awareness. You can only grow as an artist (and person) if you are self aware. But there is a huge difference between being self aware, and serving yourself- hopefully this blog and this album will not be to serve me and my ego, but to be truthful and create something greater, and more profound and lasting than aimless self promotion and ego chasing (which i undoubtedly have been guilty of at times, and still am, probably more than i'd like to be).
My journey over the last two years has taken me from the end of my Law Degree in Ottawa, Canada (on exchange), to Vancouver where i thought i was going to get into film and television again, however that was put on hold when i got a great contract working for Disney Cruise Line out of Orlando Florida. I've never worked harder as a musician. Those long Friday nights since i was 19 years old driving in peak hour traffic to Wenty Leagues Club and Castle Hill RSL in Sydney, Australia, seemed alot easier than playing 4 hours a night 6 nights a week (and then seven nights a week and more in Europe) for month and months on end. A great training ground, but as a singer not sustainable for the rest of my life. Lounges, pubs and clubs are great, they in many ways have made me the performer that i am today and have led me to so many great friendships and connections all over the world. I feel so privileged at my age to have played some of the places and for some of the people that i have. But this album is about taking a new creative step- not just playing and interpreting other people's music, but creating something from me entirely (with the help of a good producer). I can say at the outset i am not super confident, when you spend so long learning other people's songs and stories (albeit interpreted in my own way) its scary thinking of seeing how your stuff can measure up- your ideas, your melodies and i guess your artistic soul which is at the essence of it all. But a sayings i haven't heard over in Canada, but used to love in Australia is 'we're not here to fuck spiders', and 'have a concrete milkshake and harden the fuck up'. I am not here to fuck spiders and i have taken that concrete milkshake and am ready to just dive into it. That's the only way you move forward. I dived into the overseas adventure, dived into American Dialect training, voice lessons, dived into Disney not knowing what to expect, fell into a long term relationship for the first time at the time i perhaps shouldn't have, dived into the Larry Moss workshop in NYC- there is alot of diving going on, but although there is probably a better metaphor than diving in, that's what you got to do to keep growing as an artist and a person. I am fully expecting that no record company will like my sound, or my voice, or my ideas, or my writing- but you never know what could happen if they do or more importantly the people at large do. At worst, my kids one day can go, 'my daddy tried to be a rock star once' and i am sure they will have a good laugh at my Tim Bowrey inspired Skinny Jeans and Designer stubble.
Welcome to the next few months of my life. Welcome to my artistic process, i will try and be as honest as possible. I really hope friends i haven't seen for a while will enjoy reading this blog and coming on this journey with me from start to finish.
So much love to everyone and send me creative genius vibes
Alex
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