HAPPY UKULELE PLAYER

GROWING...

2012-01-19T12:38:00.002Z

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...

2012-01-16T14:46:00.002Z

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...

2012-01-10T08:46:00.000Z

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...

2012-01-06T11:57:00.001Z

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!

NEW YEAR...

2012-01-03T16:12:00.001Z

After a great year (2011) of discovering wonderful new music, and beginning to create the music that I've always wanted to, I've given the blog a minor facelift. This includes putting myself up front too... it's time to move out of the shadows, and begin to create and perform.

I got a little time to myself over the Festive Season, and am almost done on a John Carpenter inspired track, electronic, beaty and all that, but still me. I'm starting to find my voice at last, and these small steps are moving me into the spotlight.

Here's to a wonderful, creative, musical New Year!

FOLK IT!

2011-12-15T10:42:00.003Z

Well, the plan for writing a blow-by-blow account of the British Folk Festival has gone out of the window...Personally, I blame my Granddaughter, Lily Rose Brooker for turning up 10 days early, and forcing to finish painting the mural in her room!

The festival was amazing, and a big step up from last year, with lots more stalls and performers, and an even better set-up at the open mic... which is why a lot of our group were there. Heck, we want to play too... Early morning jams just don't cut it somehow!

The bar had definitely been lifted from last year, with, we suspect, a few 'ringers' performing live... but, hey, we're not pros!

Sunday saw our little 'family' take to the stage, with me up first, absolutely terrified, having only just worked out how to place my new piece live a few hours previously! Still, I was really pleased with myself having the bottle to play live, especially as it was an instrumental piece, more prog than folk... I played safe on my second number, and went for the Dylan classic 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'... the uke sounded great plugged in, and I even thought my vocals weren't half-bad!

Mighty Malc was up next, with lovely renditions of John Denver classics, amongst others... Malc would take root on the stage if you let him... he loves playing!

My very old friend Gareth was on after Malc, and stormed through three numbers, two of his own, and copied me and went for Heaven's Door as a finale... robbed! I've known Gareth for many years, and it's always a pleasure to see him play. He's set up his own recording studio, so get in touch all you budding musicians. I might be biased, but Gareth takes great pains to capture sound as it should be, and is always open to collaboration, and even playing along if needs be!

Jules finished up our little family gathering with two of his own numbers... I love Jules' playing and songs. He writes big epic folk songs with beautiful guitar work... I hope the recording works out, as it's wonderful stuff. I was collaborating on one of his tunes, providing harmonica to his singing and playing over the weekend, and it's sounding good!

Here's to next year, and more music!

BACK FROM BUTLINS...

2011-12-08T12:48:00.001Z

What a wonderful weekend! The second Great British Folk Festival at Butlins in Skegness was a great event, with lots of amazing performances... even by me!

You could tell that there was a great leap forwards last year, just after walking through the main 'tent', with the amount of music and craft stalls... very tempting just after pay day! I'll try and do a day-by-day account over the next few posts, as there was so much going on, including jamming with other friends until the early hours each night/morning!

Here's a quick snap of Sunday's main draw, SETH LAKEMAN, to wet your appetite for folky goodness!

OFF FOR THE WEEKEND...

2011-12-01T12:04:00.001Z

Me (and many others) are off to Skegness tomorrow for the Great British Folk Festival!

Last year was amazing, and I performed live for the first time, performing one of my own songs... Question is, is Butlins ready for ambient, lo-fi, looped ukuleles and harmonicas? Updates after the weekend folks!

Meanwhile Matt Stevens has been listening in to my new track 'GAIJIN BEATS' on Soundcloud, and is digging it... VERY chuffed! Thanks Matt!

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing... Go out and see live music and support local bands!

FIRST TRACK SORTED!

2011-11-28T10:47:00.001Z

Sorry to shout, but I'm really rather chuffed that I've finished my first track this weekend... you can catch it at: http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/gaijin-beat-mixdown

My first attempt at a full three track recording... inspired by the amazing Matt Stevens. Duff notes, mono recording, and quirky beats, it's all here!

HEAVY PROGRESSION...

2011-11-25T09:58:00.001Z

Another leap forwards this week!

Discovering more about Japanese Rock, with amazing bands like BORIS, has set my playing on fire... heavier, looped and getting groovier each session!

Acoustic folk shoegaze rock anyone?

HALFWAY HOME

2011-11-17T14:10:00.001Z

GOOD week... Spent Monday night getting some parts for a new track recorded, and yesterday starting to put it altogether. It's such a wonderful experience building up a piece of music and learning as you go... Should have the parts finished tonight, then onto the next track. 4 track ep coming your way!

iPLAY...

2011-10-25T10:48:00.002+01:00

It's all changed in the last few weeks... After the demise of my Stylophone Drum Machine, I was without beats and time. Now I have an iPhone and iMASCHINE, it's changed again!

I had a great session playing along with STEREOLAB and MOGWAI last night, using the drum function to match up with Mogwai's mighty beats, and playing 'power chords' on the ukulele... I loved it! I'm not sure where my own tunes will head yet, but this is a massive leap forwards for me musically... I like to rock!

BUSTED BEATS...

2011-10-10T11:42:00.003+01:00

It's busted! Looks like I'll have to get some proper drums now... Still, a great session yesterday, with the seeds for a new tune planted and growing nicely, thenkyew!

FIRST UKE DEMO...

2011-10-06T22:10:00.002+01:00

I got some quick recording done with the new Olympus recorder last night... And after running it through Adobe Audition this morning, I'm really pleased with the outcome. Fitting in nicely with the lo-fi vibe round here...

Check out the sounds here: http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/first-demo-mixdown

SPOTTED THIS TODAY...

2011-10-04T16:48:00.001+01:00

Just put together a new compilation of inspirational sounds today (more of which later...), and pinched this to go on the disc... Tres cool, non?

SHE MAKES WAR: DELETE DEMO

2011-10-04T11:20:00.001+01:00

Gloomy acapella groove from SHE MAKES WAR...

<p>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://shemakeswar.bandcamp.com/track/delete"&amp;amp;gt;Delete by She Makes War&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</p>

WE'RE GOING LO-FI!

2011-10-03T14:29:00.002+01:00

I got my first recording device this weekend... nothing fancy, just a little OLYMPUS digital voice recorder, but it's a start. I've been trawling Amazon and Argos today looking for cheap drums then came across this little beastie... Lo-Fi recording, here we come!

SHE MAKES WAR LIVE!

2011-09-06T12:55:00.000+01:00

Okay, I admit it... I'm a HUGE fan of SHE MAKES WAR (aka Laura Kidd), and have had the début album on heavy rotation sine last December. Laura's sound is a big inspiration for me, so it was a real pleasure to finally meet her in London at the weekend.

SHE MAKES WAR has such a great sound, both live and on CD. I love the way Laura can recreate such amazing music with just a guitar (or ukulele!), mics and loopers when she's live, and the recording stuff is even more amazing. It's sometime disappointing when the recorded sound doesn't match up with the live sound, but Laura never disappoints, in either counts!

I've been creating artwork for Laura's new SMW album over the last few months, but this was the first time we'd met face to face. It was a double whammy of fun for me, as it was my birthday, and Laura dedicated a song to me, wished me happy birthday (man did I blush!), and spent a lot of time afterwards talking to me and my good friend Tex Thayer, about music, art, film making and bike riding.

Admittedly, I've not had any time to play since the weekend, but you can bet when I do, it'll have a heavy, looped element to it... just like SHE MAKES WAR... (I said I was a fan!)

MUSICAL SKETCHES...

2011-08-23T19:07:00.000+01:00

Earlier, I uploaded a small set of musical 'sketches'... I'm just getting used to basic recording to share with other folks and get feedback. Be brutally honest... if they're no good, say so! It'll really help!

http://soundcloud.com/morgan-gleave/sets/musical-sketches-august-2011/

PERFORMANCE: MAY 12 2011

2011-08-23T13:45:00.002+01:00

Shocking filming I know... but this was me at the Y Theatre a while back, bashing out The Clash classic. This is only my second time on stage... terrified!

MUSICAL PROGRESSION...

2011-08-19T00:12:00.003+01:00

So, two years in (this pic was about a year back... ) and the ukulele playing is feeling so much more natural now... I plan on doing some rough recording of tune ideas this weekend and see where I'm heading. Come along for the ride!

NEW BEGINNINGS...

2011-02-17T09:49:00.000Z

I got my new ukulele last night, an OVATION APPLAUSE semi-acoustic... it's WONDERFUL!

Taking a step up with 'kit' in any field makes a HUGE difference, and I could instantly feel the difference in my playing last night. Acoustically, the uke sounds great, and plugged in, even better. It made our first session as a group last night a fantastic experience for me last night, and I'm really looking forwards to playing more and progressing as a musician.

There's more words and pictures from the session over on the FAJ! blog...

FAJ!

2011-02-04T13:56:00.000Z

FAJ! (Fleckney Acoustic Jam) now have a BLOG... There'll be updates of what we're up to, collaborations, and a lot more besides... you can check it all out here: http://fajmusic.wordpress.com/

MUSICAL MEMORIES 2010... PART 2

2011-01-06T09:52:00.000Z

More of my favourite musical moments from last year... there's big things to come this year. Oh yes!

MUSICAL MEMORIES OF 2010...

2011-01-05T15:53:00.000Z

Here's a selection of some of my favourite musical moments with friends old and new from last year... I've grown a lot as a player and performer, and have even written a few tunes myself. Here's to bigger and brighter things this year!

NEW YEAR, NEW DIRECTION...

2011-01-04T12:23:00.000Z

A new year is always a good time to get things running again, and I'll be changing the look and feel of the blog over the next few weeks, to incorporate my art and music. I'll be letting folks know what I'm up to creatively, and hope you enjoy the ride!

A LIFE IN SMALL FILMS…

2009-12-23T10:35:00.002Z

It was the most wonderful hour I ever did spend… But the battle of wanting to create whilst watching beauty created afore you is a hard fought one.

The (small) films of OLIVER POSTGATE and PETER FIRMIN were a HUGE part of my childhood, and are still a huge part of my art today.

Last night’s programme on BBC4 was a reminder of how simple storytelling that takes its time being told can make you smile and feel warm inside. To be a part of that creative world is something that makes me smile too.

RIP, Mr Postgate.