TOO MUCH MUSIC?

A great weekend with plenty of recording done, and the start of a collaboration with a fellow music junkie...


Heavy sounds from SUNN O))) and EARTH are grabbing me more and more... it's kinda primordial, and the grooves are really starting to sink into me.  Maybe that's why I recorded a seven minute Harmonica piece last night!  Harmonica with delays, distortion and feedback, mind you...  Personally, I love it, but I'm not sure if the world is ready for freaked out harmonica epics just yet!


It might lead to some rough looping with harmonica and ukulele, but I'm struggling with being a purist, and only wanting one instrument on a piece at the mo... This will probably change though!


All in all, more progression, more music, and more confidence.

UNDER THE SUNN...

This weekend has been a special one for me musically, as I finally feel like I've found my sound and hit my groove all in one…

After a week of musical discovery featuring heavy sounds from SUNN O))) and EARTH, everything seemed to click into place, and the grooves started to spill out of me.  My first recording can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/under-the-sunn

Now that I have my sound, I’m working towards an ep, and feeling very proud of how far I’ve come after picking up a ukulele just over two years ago… Thanks to everyone who’s helped and inspired along the way, especially my fellow FAJ friends... It wouldn’t be the same without you.

PROGRESSION/REGRESSION

I've been off for the last two weeks and have created up a storm!  FOUR new tracks, two of which I recorded yesterday, new kit and a positive attitude! iRig and G7 capo have brought a whole new dimension to my playing... you can hear some of the results here:


http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/undelayed 


http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/delay


I'm planning on putting all of the new ukulele pieces together into an ep soon... I just need to tweak the playing and recording a bit (Cheers Gareth - in advance!), then get them out for you folks to hear!


As a good friend of mine said this morning, when I talk about music, my face lights up.  And that's it... music makes me happy, and making music makes me even happier!

GROWING...

I've already twittered (more than once), about last night's jam, but it was such a great night, I had to write more.


The growth our little band of players in the village has seen over the last year is amazing.  Gareth has set up his studio, and seems to be picking up new instruments on a weekly basis!  He has also become the bedrock of our sessions, laying down bass lines, working out chords, watching sound levels...  Guv'nor!


Dave is on fire as a writer.  Last year, he brought along a few songs he'd written to an acoustic jam... they were brilliant.  And it wasn't a fluke either, each song he comes up with is as good as the last.  Even when some of them just come from jamming and letting a groove grow.


Malc is just lovely.  He's happy to play anywhere, laying down great little licks of blues-inspired rock, which fit into the groove beautifully.  Oh, there are plenty of tricks that this old dog is learning!


And me? I'm happy strumming along on the uke, or adding a bit more depth with harmonica.  My playing has come on in leaps and bounds over the last year, even getting the lead riff to 'Billie Jean' nailed last night, which was great fun to run through.


Onwards and upwards, smiling all the time!

PROG IS NOT A DIRTY WORD...

Great weekend.  Space, DIY, comfort food and Miyazaki... And serious progression playing and recording.


Saturday brought experimentation with keyboard delays and decays on the iPhone, which led to creating a new 5 minute epic (well, to me, anyhow...) with delays, feedback and drone.  I am really pleased with this, and it will lead to yet more freak-outs shortly. http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/decayed


Waking up at 4 on Sunday mornings is usually not good, but it gave me an opportunity to re-watch some classic BBC music documentaries on Prog, Krautrock and the British synth scene... very inspiring


So it was not to be a day of rest, with amplification coming into the picture.  After sketching out a two chord drone on the ukulele acoustically, I played a longer version amplified, with fuzz and hum.  I'm really getting into the rough and ready approach, it seems to suit my playing! Putting these tracks together into Audition lead to an accidental mis-matching of the two, with a lovely discordant groove to it... Well, I like it! http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/a-delayed-accident

CARPENTER...

Colds are good for something after all!


After spending most of yesterday in bed snuffling and catching up with DVDs, I got down to working on a new electronic piece, which can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/carpenter


Inspired by JOHN CARPENTER and LOGAN SEGUIN, it's already had some nice comments, which have shown me that my sounds are moving in the right direction... it's amazing what you can achieve with an iPhone and a Dictaphone.  I plan on more tracks in the coming weeks, now that I'm finding my groove, especially after playing AETHENOR on the drive in this morning...

3RD ANNIVERSARY...

Wednesday just gone (04/01/2012), saw the THIRD anniversary of the Acoustic Jam at our local, THE OLD CROWN in Fleckney... what a great night!


After thinking no-one else was going to show up, we had new faces, old faces and more harmonica players, which is always welcome! Everyone playing was on fine form, with a wonderful mix of covers, original material, and some great improvised jams, which I personally really enjoyed... heck, I even sang!


It's great credit to Gareth for getting the whole show going, that we have such a great group of regular players, and new faces of all ages keep appearing.  There's great hope for the future of local music right here... how's your scene?
Enjoy the pics, I'm off to record!