How do I play my music live? That's the question I'm currently grappling with and it may seem an odd one to the many people who have seen me play live over the years. When it comes to live performance I am not backward in coming forwards, I've been playing live for decades either solo or with various bands. I've played covers and my own songs in pubs and clubs all over the country, indeed it's not too much of an exaggeration to say I've performed all over the world. But earlier this year I called time on my solo gigs, I was tired of playing covers with just my voice and an acoustic guitar. I'm confident enough to say I'm good at it, but over the years I've occasionally struggled to enjoy it, no more so than when playing my own songs.

When I write and produce my own songs I hear the full arrangement in my head. I hear the drums, the bass, the backing vocals and all the various bells and whistles (and trumpets) that realise the original idea I had. Trying to replicate that with just my voice and an acoustic guitar is really difficult, and for me, often unfulfilling. Many artists approach this from the other direction, they write and record songs with a band, play them live with that full arrangement then later on in their careers they maybe start doing pared back, acoustic versions (think MTV Unplugged) - I'm moving in the opposite direction, I've played my songs acoustically for years, now I want to create the full sound, live. Now the obvious solution, and one that's been suggested to me more than once when I've raised this issue on social media, is "start a band". I've played in 5 different bands over the years, all covers bands, and I've really enjoyed it. I've played cajon, bass, guitar, ukelele, trumpet and I've sung. As I've got older it's become clear to me that getting enough people together with enough time to practice and play the gigs I'd like to play would be practically impossible at this point. My current band, Echochamber, is a 3-man outfit and we manage 2-3 gigs a year at best. Late middle-age blokes, like me, are busy. We've got jobs and mortgages and chores to do and responsibilities all of which, necessarily, come before the desire to get together and make some noise.

Over the past 7 months I've produced and released a new song every month, it's been loads of fun and I'm really pleased with what I've achieved, but it's taken most of my spare time. There's simply no way I could do that, and get a band together to practice the songs, find gigs and play them live. But I do want to play them live, and that's my conundrum right now. I think there may be an answer - backing tracks! Now before you get all sniffy let's think about this. Most pop artists, indeed the most successful artists in the world right now, perform live to backing tracks, and one of my favourite bands of all time, Carter USM, famously played some of their most iconic gigs to backing tracks. This isn't about miming along to something, this is about playing my songs, with live guitar and live vocals, but with the rest of the backing, drums, bass, backing vocals, on a pre-recorded track. Not forgetting of course that I played and recorded everything on the backing track too. I haven't tried it yet, that's my focus for the next few weeks. Consequently I don't think I'm going to release a new song in November, I did start on something and have a really beautiful little synthy chord progression waiting to be built on, but I think I'd like to work out this new live format first. If I can work out how to do it with a sound that I'm happy with, I might try some live-streamed gigs. I haven't done that since the Covid lockdowns, but it was quite good fun back then. If I can start regular livestreamed gigs on Youtube and Twitch then I can work out how I can take it offline and into the real world.

Hot off my musical press please enjoy Handshakes and Hedgefunds. I am well aware that the wealthy and powerful of this, or any, nation are never held accountable for their actions, but that didn't stop me fantasising about a time when they would be, that's where this came from. Can you imagine a time when the pompous mediocrity of Britain's moneyed classes is finally exposed and their influence consigned to the toilet of history? When the rampant corruption of inherited wealth is finally punished?

Of course it's just a dream, but you've got to have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?

You can listen to Handshakes and Hedgefunds and read the lyrics below. It's available to download from Bandcamp now and will be available on all streaming services from November 8th. No, I don't think "Hedgefund" is actually one word, but I'm an artist, I can do what I like.

[cue id="1232"]

Handshakes and Hedgefunds

After all the rise and fall
The analysis of your hubris
The inquiries and investigations
Redacted reports and indignation Could it be that we will see
These hallowed halls and ancient walls
These gleaming towers invested powers
Are crumbling in your final hours? Basic, is that all you were?
Your best was all but mediocre
And in the end all your friends
Abandoned you to market trends Nobody fears you, your red face and bluster
Your public school tie will no longer pass muster
The accountants are coming, you're facing an audit
The gongs and the knighthoods nepotistic plaudits
It's all ringing hollow and justice will follow
There isn't a handshake or hedge fund to save you now Wave your flag and pack your bags
Protected by hacks as you avoid tax
Your private jet is not fuelled yet
You're held on the runway, with bills that you can't pay This sinking yacht, is all you've got
You're non-domiciled, released to the wild
On the high seas, you stole with ease
But back on dry land you'll pay some steep fees And as the curtain falls
We will hold your calls
The corruption unfettered
Now you're in debt to your shredder
With your many names
You played us for fools
Winning at games
Where you made the rules Nobody fears you, your red face and bluster
Your public school tie will no longer pass muster
The accountants are coming, you're facing an audit
The gongs and the knighthoods nepotistic plaudits
It's all ringing hollow and justice will follow
There isn't a handshake or hedge fund to save you now

I've started compiling a playlist of what I'm calling "undiscovered indie" on Youtube. My criteria is broadly anything with a low play count that I enjoy. It's fun putting it together and I'm finding some fantastic music that appears to be relatively unknown.

I'm doing this on Youtube rather than Spotify simply because Youtube and Youtube Music are what I use to listen to music most of the time.

You can find the playlist here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrVp17ZyaQSGmlGqLsBl0Z12jrbRVj-h8&si=y9lckgcNtPml51RN

A break up song for your boss, a lullaby for your career - this is about leaving your desk and not looking back. Many of us have had jobs that we just tolerated, offices we attended in body but not in spirit, this is for those people, it's about those jobs. This was never going to be triumphalist, it's melancholy, it's not a celebration of quitting, it's coming to terms with it.

This was written many years ago about a long-forgotten office, I've had lots of other jobs since. This turned out to be surprisingly tricky to get right in the recording, my first attempt had a lot more instrumentation, was lots quicker but never felt right. It was when my partner, Dawn, mentioned that she'd always thought of it as a lullaby that I finally got my head round it again and found the original intent, paring back the arrangement and going back to its roots as a simple acoustic song, it's about as close as I'll ever come to folk.

You can listen to Goodbye Working Life and read the lyrics below.

[cue id="1217"]

I'm putting all the hours in but I want to tell you this

That I don't exactly work here no I just attend the office

And I won't let the work delay the messages I send

And the weekday 9-5 is just a countdown to the weekend

So goodbye working life

Goodbye 9-5

Sleeping on my desk

Wake me gently when it's 5'o'clock

I know I'm not the only one who wakes up to that beep 

And makes it through to Friday with a brain that's still asleep

My hair is short my shirt is straight I see and smile and speak

And I don't put off til tomorrow what I can put of til next week

So goodbye working life

Goodbye 9-5

Sleeping on my desk

Wake me when it's 5'o'clock

I really need the rest

I just don't feel the best

And I might not be in tomorrow

So you're gonna have to let go

I know that it won't happen but it's not much to ask I'm sure

So I'm waiting for the day when they just push cheques through my door

I'm going out tonight and I'll be out until the morning

So if I nod off in this meeting it's not my fault it's just you're boring

Come 5'o' clock I spring to life I'm like a different person

But there's no point quitting this job just to go and get a worse one

So goodbye working life

Goodbye 9-5

Sleeping on my desk

Wake me when it's 5'o'clock 

I really need the rest

I just don't feel the best

And I might not be in tomorrow

So you're gonna have to let go

I've been staring at this screen all day

Working out the hours til payday

Nothing's getting done I know

Avoiding work since 9 and so

Can you wake me gently 

When it's 5 'o'clock

Cars are great aren't they? You jump in it, drive wherever you like, it's cosy, you can listen to music, fantastic. Of course now that there are billions of cars in the world and they take up a lot of space we just sort of accept that vast swathes of public space are given over to cars, and that kids can't really play out in the streets anymore. Thousands of people are killed in car accidents every year in the UK but again, we just accept that because, well, cars. Add to that the pollution and strain on earth's resources and this starts to sound like a rant against cars, but it isn't.

The thing is we got used to cars, like we got used to working simply to live, billionaires and corruption in politics. One of the defining attributes of humanity is our adaptability, we've inhabited every part of the world because we can adjust to different environments, and it's made us incredibly successful as a species. But it's a double-edged sword, we accept awful things because we adapted to them, we get used to it. This niggles at me, and so I wrote this song.

Musically this was an interesting one for me, I've listened to EDM since a Damascene moment in a club in Sheffield in the early 2000s, but I've never written anything particularly EDM. I know EDM fans will say this doesn't really count as EDM because there are too many lyrics, and they're probably right, but it's probably as close as I'll ever get.

You can listen to Get Used To It and read the lyrics below. It's available on Bandcamp from today and will be streaming on all available services from 30th August.

[cue id="1207"] The lights are still bright
It's your imagination dear
You might be right
But I doubt it dear
Up is down, left is right
You've nothing left to fear
No right to incite
Disrupt what we're doing here We'll all get used to it
Adjust and fuse to it
Adapt abuse through it
We just get used to it

Frogs in a pan, what's the plan?~Are we moving now?

Do what you can, just a man
Not some sacred cow
Fight for your right
We've forgotten how
Standing in line is just fine
It's what we'll allow Us all the time there's no line
That we will not cross
See as you whine watch us shine
Our gain is your loss
Circus and bread we're well fed
But our portion's small
We never said
We'd just take it all You've not got much
We've got millions and billions
You just adjust
We've got millions and billions

I've been busy recording piano, acoustic guitar and bass in recent days. I'm working on a new song to release in September. I also have another new track coming out at the end of August hot on the heels of Are You Happy Now? . It's called Get Used To It and it's something a little new for me being relatively close to EDM in sound although my purist, dance-music friends will tell me there are too many lyrics for it to really be EDM, and that's probably true. It'll be available on Bandcamp ahead of its general release to streaming services on August 30th.

I'm releasing a song a month at the moment, the gods of the social media algorithms reward consistency apparently. Those in the know will tell you that the Spotifies of this world will look favourably on he who brings offerings regularly, so there's that. The gods must be pacified, as an indie musician I must worship at the altar. If this sounds a little insincere on my part it's because it is. Try as I might I can't muster up enough enthusiasm about streaming services to really care how my songs perform there, nevertheless, I know that if I want people to hear my music, and I do, then that's where they're likely to do so.

This means that I have to be consistently creative, or rather, as I am beginning to think of things, I get to be consistently creative. It's easy to moan about the inequities of modern-day capitalism and the whims of algorithms but the reality is that as an independent musician it's never been easier to write, produce and release your own music. I'm leaning into that, I love writing and producing songs, it's so much fun. A song a month is an arbitrary target, I did it from September to December last year, and have managed it from April to August so far this year. Whether this will please the streaming gods or leave them indifferent on their digital mountain tops, I don't know, I am but a mortal, on this earth to churn out bangers.

There is a strange line of thinking that exists in the world today that says people should "stay out of politics". TV presenters should "stay out of politics", sports people should "stay out of politics", it's even been said to musicians, including those whose music is obviously political. It's an absurd notion for the simple fact that absolutely everything is political. There is nothing we experience on a daily basis that is not in some way impacted by a political decision at some point.

I am very interested in politics and whilst I am not stuck in my ways I have strong political beliefs and convictions. Like roughly 48% of the country (and more now if polls are to be believed) I thought that Brexit was a very bad idea. I believe I've been proved right. 8 years on from the EU referendum I found myself wondering if those who voted for it had got what they wanted. That's not true actually, I know perfectly well that they haven't got what they wanted because what they wanted was a childish fantasy, a return to a world that never existed, a simplistic answer to complex issues, of course they haven't got what they wanted.

This song is an angry, punk-influenced track asking a simple question and not waiting for an answer. I'm still pissed off about being robbed of opportunities, having my world shrunk by the stupidity of others, about the country I call home being made smaller and less significant by self-interest and greed. Are you happy now?

You can read the lyrics and listen to Are You Happy Now? below.

[cue id="1181"]

Are You Happy Now?

52 48 defeated all the things you hate
Are you happy now?
Stop the boats, stop the rot
Say it's better when it's not
Are you happy now?
A final act, a final spit
So full of spite, so full of shit
Are you happy now? So are you H A P P Y?
Now it's nearly time to die
There's no one here to say goodbye
You don't look H A P P Y It's what you want, yeah you got it
Empty promise this is not it
Are you happy now?
Feel the fury, feel the fear
Feel the hand of death so near
Are you happy now?
This is all you leave behind
The filthy rich who lead the blind
Are you happy now? So are you H A P P Y?
Now it's nearly time to die
There's no one here to say goodbye
You don't look H A P P Y

Hot on the heels of The Music Plays On comes my next release, Are You Happy Now?, it's a punk song about Brexit, and right-wing fuckery in general. Clocking in at just 2 minutes 30 seconds, it's interesting releasing it against the background of most of the architects of Brexit finally being removed from power after Labour's landslide election victory just a few days ago. It was written and recorded just before that, but the question posed by the song and the sentiment remain relevant. It'll be on general release from 26th of July but will make an appearance on this website and on my Bandcamp page before that.

Work has already begun on August's release, current working title is "Get Used To It" and it appears to be a dance anthem about gaslighting. Watch this space for more!

A few posts back I alluded to writing a new song that was a re-working of one written a long time ago, well, here it is. The lyrics and tune have changed considerably from the idea that I came up with a whole 27 years ago, but I've tried to remain loyal to the spirit of the original. I realise all this might seem odd given that almost nobody else ever heard that original version, but it's important to me that something of that 19 year old me remains in this song because let's face it, I wouldn't be who I am now without that ridiculous younger me and his full head of hair.

You can listen to it now, here, and it will be available on Bandcamp and across all streaming services by the end of this week.

[cue id="1152"]

I'm in the final stages of tracking (recording the instrumentation) for a new song that I hope to release towards the end of June. I've sworn not to clean and tidy my studio until it's finished. There is a rationale to this, I'm not just a minger. It's easy to get side-tracked and procrastinate when working on something, so instead I'm focussed, I'm dialled in, I'm living in filth! I'm really enjoying recording, I've got piano, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet and lead vocals down now, I've just got some additional harmonies to record then I can start the mixing. Title and artwork to be confirmed soon so watch this space! I promise I'll clean soon.