So, a record aye?

I'm not a fan of recoring the music I play. Everyone knows I just like to get up on stage and play some music. Recording the songs makes it serious. When all I'm after is a bit of fun.

One of the bands I play in wanted to record. Which, I guess is okay. I mean, I'll do it because I enjoy playing music. However, the weekend (this weekend), is ANZAC Day long weekend and my wife and I wanted to do something else. Especially since we've both been really busy and haven't seen much of each other, other than dinner and bed.

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance for all the Aussie and Kiwi soldiers that fought with us in War. "Diggers" are they were called, helped to keep our country safe. And are more or less the main reason why us youngins' can enjoy the freedoms we have. I turned the TV on for the first time in a while, just to watch some shows that document and illustrate the fine men and women who helped with the War efforts. Lest we forget the tough men and women who fought for one of the best countries in the world. Good on ya', you old digger!

My band mates had other plans. And so yesterday we were recording in the studio for 10 hours straight. We spent the entire time recording the drums. With 45 minutes left on the ticker. I went into the control room and laid down the bass lines. Got half way through the 13 songs and it was time to call it a night. Today, I'll be heading back in, in a couple of hours and laying down the rest of the songs, which I should be done with by about 2:00 pm.

Then I'll be heading over to my mates place just up the road for a BBQ dinner thing that he's put on due to his sisters, hot, French/Canadian friend coming to Australia for a holiday. Her accent melts my innards.

Speaking of hot chicks that melt my innards. My wife will be shopping and joining us later. I think she deserves a pat on the back for putting up with my wannabe rockstardom. She'll probably just roll her eyes at me like she usually does. I wouldn't have got this far in life without her.

The song remains the same

When I think of music. I often think about the bands I perform in. I think about the way I play music. I think about the influences of the music I listen to and how it changes the way I play things.

If you ask any of my band mates and such "Is Steve a music snob?" They will say "Yes" and then also continue calling me other names like "Band Whore" and "Band Slut" because I play music with whoever, and I'm not committed to one band or person. I take every opportunity to perform live on stage, and if I could make a living off it I would. But alas, I'm not good looking and I can't sing very well. So I'll never be a rock star.

If you asked my band mates "What is the most common thing that comes out of Steves mouth?" They would say "Band Suck" and "People are f*@ked."

The latter is true, there's no need to bang on about that much further. We (my readers and friends) all know how people are all idiots, myself included.

However, when I say bands suck. I really mean it. From the politics right up to the music. Whether I'm performing with the band or not. It doesn't matter.

One of the strongest arguements I've always held about music is that most of it is rubbish. I think I'm allowed to say so. I listen to every genre, every type of music there is out there. Even just plain old noise. So when something ordinary comes along, I voice my opinion about how crap it really is.

One of the genre's that always falls in my targets is mainstream pop music. It has to be the most uninspring sound to have come to conception since Metallica recorded Load.

Why so? How can some of the coolest songs in the world be so uninspired? This video sums it up well enough for me to shut up about it.




So, next time Beyonce gets up with her mates Jay Z, Lady Gaga and all the rest of the regurgitating monkeys and puppets of todays music scene. Have a think about how many times the same music has been pumped into your ears before.

I have a theory on all this and why mainstream music is so popular.

A while ago I posted an entry about how AC/DC was the McDonald's of music in my twitter account. I may have said something about it here too, but I can't remember. My theory was that nearly all their songs sound the same. Which is why they're so popular. Every song is familiar. It's like snuggling up to a warm blanket you grew up with. It smells the same, it feels the same, it looks the same. So you love it. And AC/DC is just like that. The same, every album, every song. It's all the same.

People lap up pop music because without them even knowing it, they're listening to the same thing. A new song sounds awesome! Why? Because it sounded just like the last awesome song, which was awesome. But now it's old.

Why does it get so old, so quick?

Compare it to timeless classics, the ones no one buys but everyone will listen to if it's playing, and they'll know all the words. Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, it all sounded diffrent, and they were popular too. I can't explain why apart from the only reason being that people are idiots, which takes me back to my first point. Maybe we're all becoming more and more idiots. Eventually everything will be the same.

Look at kids these days and everything is already the same. "I'm bored" they say. How can you be bored? I had fun with a stick and a couple of marbles when I was a kid.

Yep, overstimulation has caused people, not just kids, to ignore the mundane and look as well as expect the fireworks. We all want the big bang at the beginning. And the middle, and the end. And we want to expect it every time. It has to be the same experience every time, or we'll want our money back.

In the end we'll all just conform, end up robot zombies, all the same. But that's okay, because that's what people like, for the song to remain the same.

Lesson 4 complete

I have been teaching guitar lessons for a month now. I've had a great time doing it and plan on continuing so. I have had two other student enquiries, but they were too far away for me to travel to. So, at the moment it's still just the first student I got from when I first started.

He's been coming along nicely and asks a lot of questions, which I like.

He's also honest and tells me he doesn't practice.

But I think he's going to enjoy playing music once he starts to learn some more. We've already got some of his favourite bands and songs they sing lined up which we'll play in simplified form once he has the basics down.

He's jealous that other people he knows can play effortlessly. But I've been reassuring him that while it looks effortless, a lot of effort went into being able to play like that in the first place.

I can't wait to get a few more customers like him and the Revesby School of Music will open its doors at a new premises.

Return to Acoustic Club

Last night after my guitar lesson I decided I'd go to the Acoustic club that Village Guitar holds. Village Guitar is the guitar lesson place I looked at back in September 09' but didn't work out to well.

The cost of starting up was too high for me. The banks wouldn't give me any money for it and despite the fact that I like the guy who runs the company (franchise), I didn't get a good vibe from the shop I was interested in. I also didn't get a good vibe from the more established shops either.

I guess it's just one of those things.

However, I'm still in contact with Village Guitar even though they are now competition. Hahaha. They say it improves the breed. Truthfully though, I'm not doing any lessons anywhere near the guy. So I doubt there's any competition at all.

But anyway, Acoustic Club is something that Village Guitar runs on the last Wednesday of every month. It's where a bunch of blokes get together, bring their acoustic instruments along and just have a jam, or chat, or do absolutely nothing. We seem to have a tradition where we are all disorganised. The chemistry seems to work, but we don't end up doing much. Disorganised as usual.

It's a fun evening though. Lots of musician jokes and cliché notes and progressions thrown in while we're jamming away.

I left my guitar lesson on a high yesterday and went from passing on my knowledge to a young starter, ending the night having a jam with a bunch of great guys, sitting in a circle and drinking beer. I think the only way to improve this would be a camp fire. Which I did joke about and said we have plenty of wood around. Hahahahaha.

One of the best ways I've found I learn about music is to just jump in there and do it, which is why I've always gone to open mic nights, music clubs like the Acoustic Club and so on. It's where you really learn. A bit like learning a new language. You can learn it properly with tapes and classes. Or you can go to the country and immerse yourself amongst it. I prefer the latter.

I've scored my first guitar student

And I'm bloddy nervous.

I start Wednesday Afternoon and it's only 30 minutes. It will be for every Wednesday for the next 5 weeks, as this is what the client has requested.

Perfect for me because every other day at the moment is booked out with work and music. Soon the lessons will replace the work and I'll eventually open up my guitar school.

The ball is now rolling. :)

Christmas BBQ gig jam session thingy

Friday afternoon was one of those days you live through and look back having no idea how, no idea what happened but all you know is that you never want to live it again.

Between rejecting customers that decided to call me on their last day of work before closing for Christmas and trying to cope with a bit of a stomach bug as well as enduring the abnormally cold weather compared to the day before. I just wanted Friday to end as quickly as possible.

At the same time, while the cooler weather was a welcome change there was also rain and really dark clouds covering the otherwise clear, blue sky. This was bad. It was bad because for the last three weeks I have had a musical BBQ planned where I invited all the people I know who play music to come along, bring their instrument of choice.... acoustic only as there's no power to the backyard and I didn't want loud amps all over the yard sitting in the evening dew.

My main request was that people bring their singing face.

Most did, some didn't. I was hoping that everyone joined in but it appeared that no one really knew what to do. So I played a couple of songs, others joined in and played a couple more. It turned out to be a great evening.

My wife went overboard with all the food. It was suppose to be a basic sausage sizzle. An Aussie tradition, light a fire, cook some good sausages the butcher made fresh that morning. Sit back, drink beer, talk shit and have a right old laugh. The wife made spinach dip, salads, and all that other stuff that men don't think about. Beer and sausages, that's all really... apart from tits and arse, but that's a whole different train of thought that doesn't mix with beer and sausages... will it might come up in conversation.... being male and all, one thing at a time... hahahah.

Despite being under the weather, I really enjoyed myself. I surrounded myself in brilliant company and I loved sitting around talking to people in various conversations. My music night was a great success and I will be doing another one in a few months. If I could afford it, I'd do it every weekend.

Now with more MySpazz

Being an IT geek, people are always surprised to find that I don't follow all the other trends like joining MySpace, FaceBook, etc etc. So it came as a bit of a shock when I joined twitter. I named it after my business in the hope that I'll use it for that purpose. If anything all I've done is cram it with useless nonsense much like every other twit(er) on the planet.

However, working more and more with music, and seeing the benefits of MySpace. I decided I'd get a page up and put some stuff in it. So, I'm now officially on MySpace, or as I like to call it "MySpazz" or alternatively "MyFaceTubeInternets".

Check out this rudimentary setup on MySpace while I work out how to skin it up and add more pics. http://www.myspace.com/soundsaroundme.

I hope you enjoy it. The track was made completely from an acoustic guitar and a bass guitar with some special effects thrown it for a laugh. The track is a soundtrack to an artist friends presentation DVD he put together to show off his sculptures, but he's too shy to do anything further with.

Performance Number Duo update

My friend who got up for the first time in his life, on stage, and performed a few songs all by himself last month called me a couple of weeks ago to play music with him live on stage at a venue where his singing teacher told him to go. Then our drummer cancelled, so my friend cancelled our band's time slot.

He did however have another band to play in which was formed at the music school he goes to. They had a drummer (a young little bird), a guitarist who was pretty impressive for someone who wouldn't even be 15. Another guitarist who's decent at soloing, and my friend of course singing and playing guitar on a few songs.

I told myself "Surprise me mate" as he got up on stage, nervous as usual. For the hour before hand that I was there, he went to check when he's on about 4 or 5 times. He went to the toilet about 15 times and never sat still for more than 3 seconds. As time drew closer, he admitted he was starting to get nervous.

However, when he started to sing to the band's music, he sang. He did well. Admittedly, there were a few flat notes, a few falsettos that were just too high to reach, a few missed lyrics. But so what? He had fun, the crowd mostly enjoyed it. Some people looked on it horror and I heard them comment "Great band, sack the singer" I felt like telling them this was his first time on stage with this band, only his second time singing and only after a few months or singing lessons. But I didn't have to, the MC of the show got up to congratulate them and told the crowd all that anyway.

He did exceptionally well. I'm proud of him. He's becoming a performer, not a bedroom Rock N' Roll star.

Speaking to him afterwards, I told him my honest opinion, the stuff ups, etc. He asked for it. So I was "brutally honest". His words, not mine. But I guess you can't tell him he was the best otherwise he'll never improve. So I gave it to him straight.

Later on, I asked him what's actually happening with "our" band and said our drummer couldn't even make it tonight to drum for us let along come in later on to support you in your performance. So, what are we doing?

Our drummer is also our friend and I feel my mate doesn't want to tell him "You're out of the band" because it may come across harsh. That's fair enough, but when you haven't played for three months then you get together for a couple sessions, then you disappear again. It's never going to happen.

I told my mate, if he was serious, he'd make an effort. No effort, no passion. It's time to find another drummer.... as I motioned to the pretty girl who dropped some beats on his performance.

He looked at me.... "Her?"

"Yep..... her"

He asked. She was happy about it. So I told my mate, "Set up a rehearsal. Email the drummer the songs we'll practice. No originals, just stuff that everyone knows so we can get a groove on. Worry about your originals later."

Meanwhile Val and I are still waiting to hear back from accountants. It turns out his accountant had to leave work for a short time because his son has been hospitalised. I hope he's okay, but we should hear back from Val's accountant next week.

Val called me the other day as I was about to snooze off in front of my computer while I did my accounting for my business. He said that he had a meeting with some people about the music we've been rehearsing as part of this theatre play Val has created.

They (the people Val spoke to) have accepted it and have put us into a festival to give the crowd just a taste (20 minutes) of the play in March next year. This will be followed by a full theatre play in Melbourne for a couple of nights. And then they are considering sending us to Greece to perform the play there.

The great part is, they're planning on covering all our expenses and because the organisation is non-profit, they plan on paying us with what's left over.

I was awake after that phone call. I finished off my accounts, decided to call it a day, went home, prepared dinner for my wife and I and told her the good news. I can't wait to start performing live.

Music that makes you move

Having been playing and performing music since I was 6 years old, I have always been in tune with sounds around me. Sorry about the pun. While I've performed other people's songs and pieces as well as my own personal stuff, I much prefer playing along to other people's music rather than writing my own.

From an early age, I would say that my influences were Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Depeche Mode. Are you starting to see when I grew up?

When I moved to the United States, I met my oldest brother (half brother), which I had not known of before hand. He was an ex-Russian paratrooper, tough as nails, listened to heavy metal. I had not heard metal before. My house was usually full of the mainstream music of the time.

Heavy metal struck a different chord with me... sorry about the pun again. It was different. Obviously, but to me the structure was different, the patterns were different.

I have to explain something weird about me. Music has the same effect as drugs on me. I get taken to another world. I literally see things changing in front of me. I become so immersed in the music that it is truly a trip for me. I absolutely get sucked right into this other place.

Now that I got the weird stuff out of the way.... Metal was something fresh. I had to hear more, learn more about it. And I did, I listened to everything, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer and so on.

When I moved back to Australia, things were different again. Mainstream music here consisted of techno and dance music. It sounded so unimaginative and loopy that I couldn't stand it. So I went on the search for more metal.

I found a shop where they sold nothing but rock and heavy metal music. At this stage I had played a myriad of instruments. Starting off with Piano and Triangle in school where I played in a percussion band at the Sydney Opera House. Moving to the US, I didn't get to play much because there wasn't much music in Primary school in the US... well, not any of the ones I went to. We did have a hippy come in to school once a week back in the year 4 that got us to perform at school. I played the Xylophone.

After not much music at all, I started Junior High. They had music, but the only option was Orchestra and the Orchestra had to play at the football games, it was a marching band really. I guess it was fun. I played Alto Saxophone for 2 and a half years. Got good at it, learn to finally read music (I don't remember or care for it now).

I left America to return to Australia where I left you before I dove into my music history in the US.

I joined the music class in high school here in Australia with everyone playing piano, I wanted to play a guitar. Piano got old for me and I had not touched it since I was in Australia before moving to the US. So I picked up a guitar one day and tried to play it. My science teacher walked past the room and saw me with it and said "You play?" I said no, but I really want to learn. It turned out he was the ex-bass guitarist for Rat Cat, a local Aussie band.

He taught me some chords and away I went.

Meanwhile, what were my musical influences doing? Well, they were a bit all over the place. I still listened to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden but I grew tired of the same old stuff from other metal bands that always sounded the same from one album to the next.

I discovered a whole new set of sub genre's in heavy metal that gave me that trippy feeling again. Something I hadn't experienced for a number of years. Power metal, Gothic Metal, Progressive Rock, Operatic Rock.

Bands like Nightwish, Tristania, Within Temptation, Sonata Arctica, Dungeon, Voyager, Amaranthe are all types of bands I mainly listen to these days.

Why? Because they sound nothing like anything else. They get me moving. They make me feel alive. Some of the sounds, and the combination of notes almost make me blind with visuals in my head and I enter a whole new world.

These aren't your ordinary bands. Their influence on me is huge. They're effect on me is unexplainable.

But their effect is totally different to a band I might enjoy. I might think they rock. I rock on listening to them.

One I found just today on MyfriendFaceBookTubes is Makeshift Innocence from Canada. They sound magnificent. Their first track on their page makes me want to grab my Djembe and shaker and go mental... in fact, just before writing "in fact" I went to their site, had a listen to their song "Your body" and had a beat on my African Drum.............. okay. I'm back. :)

That makes me move. Makes me want to dance. Makes me happy. It's a very different feeling I get from the other songs I first talked about.

I do think I'm crazy though. I don't need drugs to trip out. I just need a damn good piece of music to make me slouch in my chair, start drooling and wake up three days later dehydrated, comatose and in bad need of a bath. Ah the life of a rocker!

Hahahahahahahha.

A friend finally broke his cherry....

A mate of mine who I have motioned towards regarding music in the past has finally broken his stage cherry and got up to perform live, in front of an audience for the first time in his life. I've been telling him it's something he needs to do to overcome his fear of public performance, and if he's serious about his band and his music, he'll have to expose himself to this kind of thing.

For years he's wanted to become a rock star and now his band can finally get out of the back room in his house, onto the serious side of things while hopefully keeping it fun.

He always seems to be amazed that I can just get up and play, impromptu, on-call. In truth, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just good at winging it. However, I've been performing since I was 6 in front of thousands of people, so a cosy open mic night is not only nice, and cosy. But also a better environment. I learnt to play bass guitar from no previous knowledge at open mic nights.

But either way, my mate has finally broken through the void and can now, or I should say should be able to get up on stage with less hesitation to play something he knows how to play like a rock star at home, but now on stage.

Well done mate. Good job!!!