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.