Fine Print Pariah

Full Circle...

2009-09-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

It seems a bit strange to finally be at this point. The album is finished and ready to go, release date coming VERY soon, the new website is nearly finished and some other important developments have taken place.

Probably the biggest development in the last week was moving out of the studio. Yes, the space that was my second home for the last 13 months had served its purpose and it was time to move on. It is a bit sad, but I had never intended to stay there too long and although it was fine for getting the album done it was far too small to start working with other people to get the live set ready. So, with a slightly heavy heart, I packed up my things on Monday and handed in the keys. I will not be looking for anything new right away, it is not necessary and I can do most of what I need to do right here for now. When it is time to start the next album - probably next spring - I will definitely be looking for something, hopefully a bit bigger. We'll see how things go...

The new website is nearly ready and will probably be launched late next week, so this will be the last entry on this blog page. From now on the blog will be part of the new homepage which will have all sorts of other treats as well. I will keep this site alive as www.fineprintpariah.blogspot.com with a link on the new site. It will serve as the "Blog Archives". Even if no one else is interested I am sure I will want to go back and read it every once in a while, just to remind me of where I was, where I am and what I did to put myself there.

And that is just what I did this week. I had a look back at the old entries to get a perspective on things. That is why this one is called "Full Circle", it also could have been called "One door closes and another opens - Part 2" because that is just what is happening. One major phase has ended but it is really only the beginning of something which I hope will get much, much bigger. So, 95 blog entries, 33 demos, 10 official releases and some other "works in progress" and "unplugged" goodies later, it is time to say good-bye to blogspot which has served as Fine Print Pariah's online home for quite a while now. But the end is only a beginning as they say...

See you soon...on the other side!

Album Update...the last!

2009-08-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, the album is finished! Just got the master the other day and now it is time to do something with it which means a lot of administrative stuff like registering the songs, getting the artwork finished up and off to have the digipaks printed up, uploading to all the usual outlets...etc... This will all take some time so I still haven't decided on a final release date but I can assure you it will either be very late October or very early November.

So even though the album is now ready it is really only the beginning, kind of a strange way to think of it after all the work that was put in to get to this stage. It was definitely an arduous process, extremely frustrating at times but extremely rewarding in the end. I can finally say that I have got these songs in a form that I am very proud to present to the rest of the world...finally! And although the process was difficult, I learned a lot and all of that experience will make future albums much easier to produce. That is not to say that there won't be frustrations and setbacks, but I have really developed a production style and got pretty comfortable with the technical aspects so that will help a lot in the future.

There are some other things going on here that should be mentioned but can be better explained at a later date. Until then!

Album Update #7...

2009-08-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

Considering that the mixing is basically done, this will probably be the second last of the "album updates". I am heading into the studio today to do some final tweaking and checking and unless I run into problems the mastering can start next week. This process should not take too long as I want to keep it relatively uncomplicated. I have been careful to get the EQ just how I want it in the mix to avoid any further corrections in the mastering phase so a bit of compression (but not too much, don't want to end up with a "Death Magnetic"! ;-), some stereo widening and obviously some limiting should do it. I also have edited the beginnings and endings how I want them so that will save some time as well.

I have a rough idea of the release date but still want to hold back on setting anything solid for a couple of reasons. For one, this whole process has been very time-consuming and has left little time to get the live lineup sorted out. Steps have been taken, but there is a lot more work to be done before these songs will be ready for the stage. So my dilemma now is whether or not to try for a show to coincide with the release or simply to release it and let the live aspect come later. Not an easy decision. Another consideration is leaving enough time between the intial promotional phase, i.e. sending it out for reviews etc. and the actual release to allow interested reviewers to listen to it and get an article written. It is much more appealing to them if they have something that is "exclusive", in other words, not yet available to the public. I am hoping to get everything sent out in the first week or two of September and want to leave at least 6 weeks open for them to get their reviews out. For established acts, this review phase has become obsolete - at least in theory - but for me it is necessary and will hopefully get some positive attention and get the word out.

Anyway, if I want to get this thing done once and for all I should probably not be sitting here writing when I should be in the studio...

Til next time!

Album Update #6...

2009-08-04T00:45:00.000-07:00

The first mix of the album was finished this past weekend and I took a day off to try and get some perspective before listening to it which I did last night. I can generally say that I am happy with the results, at least there were no glaring problems and everything is in the "ballpark" so to speak. As I knew I would, I still found lots of room for improvement and began tweaking a bit right after listening while the ideas were fresh which led to a pretty late night. There is still a lot to do but I already here the difference and will go into the studio tomorrow to make some more adjustments. After that though it is time for a real pause, at least 3 or 4 days to get the songs out of my head so I can come back to them next week with a more objective perspective hopefully.

I made the first mix CD in the running order of the album and I am quite happy with that. It is a bit of a roller-coaster ride going back and forth between slower, more intimate tracks and then back up with some real heavy rockers. All in all a pretty "dark" album, very moody and atmospheric but that is exactly what I was aiming for. Hard for me to imagine any of these songs on the radio but that is not a priority - maybe internet radio but not the dying, commercial-driven dinosaur that is traditional radio. Another thing that struck me is that it is definitely an "album" and not just a collection of songs thrown together - again what I was aiming for. I like to believe that each song is strong enough to stand on its own, but the experience of listening to them all together is definitely more powerful and, in my opinion, makes a lot more sense.

In a couple of weeks I will reveal the track listing and maybe a bit of background about each song and how it came to be what it is today.

All for now.

Album Update #5...

2009-07-25T09:42:00.001-07:00

Oh what a week it has been! My throat is raw and my voice a bit hoarse but it doesn't matter anymore (at least I hope so) because the vocals are finished! I don't want to celebrate too much even though this basically means that the recording phase is over and all that is left to do is mix and master. I know how these things go, especially with vocals, and I have a feeling that during the mixing stage I will probably come across a chorus or two and the odd verse that could be a bit better and if so I will redo them. Good enough is just not good enough this time around. But I might get lucky and this may not be necessary. I was very diligent during the recording of everything and constantly listened back several times right after the take and then again later to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Phrasing was adjusted, and then adjusted again if necessary, lyircs were re-written and takes were redone until that one note particular note was finally hit. So, as far as I can tell, the vocals are "in the can" and all I can say is: Ya-freakin'-Hoooooooooo!

Taking the day off tomorrow, it is Sunday after all, but on Monday I am going to get the studio ready and comfortable for the mixing phase. I have been a bit negligent about keeping the place tidy and am getting a bit sick of tripping over water bottles and food wrappers along with all of the cables, old drum heads and whatever else is scattered all over the place. So I will do a bit of a clean up and bring in a bigger desk. The new monitors finally arrived last week and are a bit too big for the desk that is there now. Once I have all that sorted out I will do a bit of editing, i.e. trimming the dead air out of all the tracks etc. I might also need Tuesday for this considering that each song is running on about 25 tracks right now! I have never used that many before but in the rough mix it sounded pretty good so I might just keep them all. I am planning on having the first mix done by the end of the month and then putting it on the shelf for a week or so and going back to it fresh to see if it needs tweaking. If so I will take another few days for that and then all that is left is the mastering so the finished product should be done by late August. After that there is a lot of administrative stuff to take care of before it can actually be released, but a date sometime near the end of October looks good.

All for now. Have great weekend!

Album Update #4...

2009-07-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

I was back in the studio yesterday working on the vocals after a slight setback. As luck would have it I got a bit of a cold last week and had to take a few days off. Not really surprising considering the dismal weather we have had here this summer. Yesterday was the first day I can remember when it didn't rain! And it's not just the rain, it is constantly cool and windy with short breaks when the sun peaks through and you would actually think it is summer. Oh well, nothing you can do about the weather.

Anyway, feeling better this week and back at it. There is still more soundchecking to do and the final edit on the lyrics isn't quite finished (funny how that works, these lyrics have been around for years but I find now that I have to seriously consider whether they work or not). I have also been concentrating hard on the phrasing to make sure the vocals sit well in the mix and this has meant some pretty major adjustments but I am quite sure they are for the better. I see a lot of potential for backing lines too so once the main lines are in I am going to go through each song and see about putting in some backing lines - probably in the choruses to give them some extra ooomph but maybe in a few other places too.

If all goes well this should all be done by the end of next week and then all that is left to do is the final mixing but I won't rush that. I find the best thing to do is a good, thorough first mix and then put it on the shelf for a week or so and then come back to it fresh to see if there are any adjustments needed.

So as you can see there is still a lot to do. Better get down to the studio and get at it then...all for now!

The Story of Anvil...

2009-07-08T02:15:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard about this film, it is a documentary about a heavy metal band called "Anvil" from my hometown of Toronto. The band hit its peak in about 1983 and toured with all the big rock and metal bands of the time but while almost all the other bands went on to great fame and fortune, for some reason Anvil faded into obscurity. The film was made by a fan who was about 15 years old when they were big and had gone on to a career in film.

I watched this film last night and it touched me on many levels. I wouldn't expect any non-musicians to really "get it" but if you have ever played in a band or tried to "make it" as a musician in any way then I strongly recommend watching this. At its heart it shows what true passion and dedication are necessary to keep at it even if nobody else seems to care and you get stuck playing to 20 or so drunks in a scummy dive in Prague.

But what really stood out for me was the tragic results of bands and musicians living in the past and trying to do things the way they did back in the 80s. Several scenes of the band basically pleading and begging to be signed to a record deal with a major had me squirming in my seat - yes, I was that uncomfortable (kind of the way you would feel if you had to watch somebody being slowly tortured). And I was also angry, not so much about the reactions of the record execs but the fact that nobody had bothered to tell these poor guys that all of that nonsense is absolutely unnecessary these days! There they were with a finished album, a fanbase and the internet! What else did they need? Well, they obviously figured it out in the end and some of those scenes at the record companies could have been a bit staged to show these companies for how useless they really.

So at least they got with the times and are probably doing better than ever before but I had a quick peak at their website and was pretty surprised to find something that looked like a high school computer science project from about 1995 so there is still some work to be done. But at least they have gone from being stuck in the 80s to being stuck in the 90s! ;-) Another couple of years and they might actually make it into the new millenium...

Anyway, good luck to my fellow Canucks with their newfound success. The film will also help a lot with this, another example of just how important the relationship with your fans is!

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to wish all my fellow Canucks a good day. Always get bit homesick today and unfortunately a visit this year is not in the cards but next year for sure.

The true north strong and free...eh!

The week in music...

2009-06-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Finally inspired to write again after a bit of a break from this. Working hard on the recording, long days and sometimes long nights which doesn't leave a lot of time or energy for blogging. But there have been some recent events that got me thinking a bit so I thought I'd share some of those thoughts.

Last Sunday was "Fete de la Musique" here and quite a few other places in Europe. For those of you who have never heard of this it is a day dedicated to live music and the cities that host it relax the usual noise regulations to let all sorts of bands and performers show off their stuff. And in Berlin they most certainly do. In some areas of the city almost every small park or square has a stage and the music goes all day and into the night. The name comes from the fact that it all started in France in the early 80s and has since spread out to other places in Europe and beyond. It's a nice idea but the only catch is that the bands must play for free which in this day and age is a bit much considering that concert revenue is now one of the major (if not only) sources of income for musicians in the digital age. It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact that all the venues have for profit refreshment stands and these people are making a tidy sum while the musicians have to try to compete with the dozens of other bands for attention and maybe sell a few T-shirts or CDs. Anyway, I always think about this when I consider going to any of the shows but I still fully intended to take a walk through the neighbourhood and see what was going on. The only problem was, after a long day of recording and considering the constant rain showers that started in the late afternoon, I decided to give it a pass. Mabe next year.

Then came the news the other day that Michael Jackson had passed away. Somehow not so surprising but kind of sad all the same, not just because he died but because of the tragic existence he had led. Sure he had fame and fortune but I can't imagine that there was any real quality of life there. Not really my music either but I did own a copy of Thriller on vinyl when it first came out and I still think that "Beat It" is pretty rockin' tune.

And last but not least (and I'm not sure if this is really news but I only found out about it this week), the Popkomm Exhibition which normally takes place here in Berlin every September has been cancelled this year due to lack of interest. The Popkomm is a trade fair for the music industry and functions like any trade fair with stands at the exhibition centre where record labels & co. can...well...do whatever it is they actually do. And obviously this year that isn't much. Not surprising when you consider that the concerts and actual music are considered "side programs" with the real focal point being the opportunity for industry suits to get together and pat each other on the back. Not much cause for that these days. Maybe the organizers will smarten up and turn the thing around to be more like SXSW or NXNE where the concerts, bands and musicians are the focal point with conferences and prestentations as side programs. Hmmm...just might work...

So, with that said it's time to get some rest before I head back to the studio tomorrow to get this thing done once and for all. I know I've said this before, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting bigger and brighter each day.

Til next time!

Album Update #3...

2009-06-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

So, finally getting around to this. Been pretty caught up with things, i.e. making music and several other "behind the scenes" things that are also important. One of those things has been the design of a new website, fully-functional with its own blog, store etc., but more about that at a later date. It won't be ready for another month or so anyway. Other routine things have to be taken care of as well. Yesterday, for example, I spent most of the day in the role of guitar tech, cleaning, adjusting and putting new strings on several of my guitars (including some that will not be used for this album, but I can't stand to see the poor things sitting there covered in dust with corroding strings).

As far as the actual music goes, things are taking a bit longer than expected but I am doing some very important refining of the arrangements and have finally established a general production strategy regarding the instrumentation etc. I have to admit that I did get a bit sidetracked for a while with a brand new idea, I won't call it a "song" as such but it is kind of like a spoken word thing with a bit of audio ambience. I wouldn't consider it a waste of time though, this thing might actually make it on to the album but I will wait for the finished product before I decide that. It definitely fits the theme though.

I have to admit that sometimes I look at the calendar and get a bit down that this thing is still not finished and wonder when it ever will be, but I also know that the time I have taken has been necessary and the finished product will be far better than it would have been if I had rushed through like I did with the demo sessions. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Let's hope so! ;-)

All for now...

Thanks djo!

2009-05-29T02:26:00.000-07:00

If you check out the blog list at the bottom of the right column you will see that Fine Print Pariah has been profiled on "Absolute Alternative" a cool blog about alternative music and somewhat dedicated to the grunge era. The site was a bit dormant for a while so it was a nice surprise to get an email from djo asking me to re-upload the tracks. A couple of days later I got an even nicer surprise with this profile. Thanks djo!

Back in the big "B"...

2009-05-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Took a while to get around to this basically because once I got back from vacation, unpacked and got all the sand out of my stuff I dove back into recording mode and have not stopped to take a breath. Had a lot of great ideas during the trip and wanted to get them out. So, it has been a pretty intense week fine-tuning the arrangements for the bass (yes, that was supposed to be finished but as usual things change), guitars and keyboards. Still a lot to do but things are progressing well.

The trip was great and did what I hoped it would do. Had some really nice days on the beach, good food and explored some Minoan ruins. It was short and sweet and good that way because by the last day or two I was getting a bit anxious to get back to the studio. It is not always like that but when you are in the middle of recording sessions it can't be helped. Anyway, I am "rejuvenated" and ready to put things in high gear until this thing is finished.

All for now...

Time for a break...

2009-05-15T02:51:00.001-07:00

So, it was a busy and productive week here and the drums and bass lines are in. Everything is a bit behind the original schedule but I have set a new one and according to that everything is looking good.

Heading off in a few hours to Crete for a week of vacation. It is definitely needed and I am really looking forward to some lazy days on the beach and discovering some ancient Greek history. It will be a good chance to recharge the batteries so when I get back I can put things in high gear and get the guitars, keyboards and vocals done with a renewed energy.

Time to go. I'll check back in a week or so...

Album Update #2...

2009-05-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

I suppose I have been giving updates in almost every post for the past while but this is the second "official" update, hence the title. Things have been going well since getting over the hurdle with the studio equipment. I set everything up on Thursday and spent most of the day Friday soundchecking so everything was ready to go yesterday. Considering how many times I have been through this process with the drums I wasn't too surprised when things flowed well and I got the drums for 5 songs played in. It was more than expected but I decided if I could do 5 in one day then that would be the goal for the next day (today) and then the drums would be finished. Things got off to a shaky start - probably because of the pressure I had put on myself - but once I forgot about all that and just played for the joy of it things began to fall into place and by the end of the session all of the drum tracks were finished. A very nice relief to finally have those in the can. Now for the rest!

I will start the bass lines tomorrow and considering how many times I have played those in it should not take long. The same pretty much goes for everything else except the vocals. I have not been singing and will have to warm up quite a bit before doing those. It will be a few weeks before I get to that stage anyway so I'll cross that proverbial bridge when I come to it. Vocal ideas are constantly popping in to my head and distracting me (a bit embarassing when it happens in the checkout line at the supermarket but who really cares. There are enough freaks in this neighbourhood that I don't really stick out too much ;-) and all of the pieces are falling into place. These songs are becoming something I never really thought possible a year ago. Feels pretty good!

All for now.

Onwards & Upwards...hopefully!

2009-05-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to sugar coat this one and say that everything has been rosy here. The past couple of weeks were very frustrating and there was a major delay with the recording. It all started with my decision to go with the studio upgrade which required a new recording interface. I found one online that was supposedly in stock, ordered it, paid immediately and waited. Normally this kind of transaction takes only a few business days and I get the gear about 3 or 4 days after ordering so when I ordered on the Monday I fully expected to have the damn thing by Friday. But there are some things you just can't predict and the complete incompetence of a supposedly "professional" music store is one of them. It turned out that the unit was NOT in stock and they were waiting for a new shipment...in JULY!!! Now, if they had informed me of this even a couple of days later I could have gone with plan B and paid a little bit more and ordered from another place and this whole mess wouldn't have happened. But after a week of waiting patiently, it was me who had to call (several times!) to finally get a straight answer. Of course I wasn't at all pleased and cancelled the order on the spot. I then ordered from another place after getting confirmation on the phone that they actually had the unit in stock. They were very helpful and shipped as quickly as they could and I finally got the thing yesterday, nearly two weeks later than expected.

The good news is that I tested it with my DAW and it is completely compitable so there will be no need to switch to a different software. I am heading into the studio soon to set up and do some sound checking. If all goes well the drums should be finished by the middle of next week.

So it has been a frustrating time indeed and the album has suffered a great setback but in the end it will all be for the best and the improved sound quality will make a huge difference. Just have to stay positive and motivated and get back on that horse!!!

All for today...time to do some catching up!!!

May Day....Mayday!!!

2009-04-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

Once again it is May Day here, the "Day of the Workers" which is traditionally associated with demonstrations and clashes with the powers that be, in most cases the local police. To make things even more volatile, the night of April 30 here is "Walpurgisnacht" which is something like the equivalent of "Devil's Night" i.e. the night between Oct.30 and Oct.31. So, all put together this basically means the perfect excuse for testosterone-drunk adolescent males (although the girls do get invloved too sometimes) to run wild in the streets and wreak havoc for no particular reason and with no logical target for their aggressions.

I heard the police helicopters circling around last night and in the news today read about some minor incidents in some parts of the city. Basically just random vandalism and fights with the cops, some of whom got pretty badly injured.

Just a thought, but it might be interesting to see what could be achieved if this energy were targetted in some constructive way, even if a bit aggressive. Anyone remember the financial crisis and banking bigwigs that caused it??? Hmmm...I imagine those guys sitting high up in their ivory towers looking down on the rioters clashing with police on the streets and laughing. Just a thought...

The Mission...

2009-04-30T00:29:00.001-07:00

It occurred to me this week that every good project or enterprise tends to have some kind of goal or "mission statement" and there has been something bouncing around in my head for a while now that kind of qualifies as one. Until now, Fine Print Pariah's only goal was to create music and eventually get out there and perform that music live. This is all fine and good, but I think a more specific aim could be very motivating and that is why I have come up with the following mission statement:

Fine Print Pariah: Putting the "Alternative" back in "Alternative Rock"

Short, sweet and to the point and I think that anyone out there who has recently tried to find some real alternative rock will understand it.

I was recently much in need of something new to listen to, the old standards just weren't cutting it. I began searching around on the internet using "alternative rock" as a main search criteria and was really disappointed with what I found. Not to say that some of the music wasn't good, but it was definitely not what I consider
"alternative". In fact, I find it very difficult to tell the bands in this category apart these days. Are they all sharing one singer??? I'm sure there are plenty of really good bands out there that are doing some real alternative stuff but I'd be damned if I could find them. It seems that mainstream has co-opted the genre...yet again!

So Fine Print Pariah is going to raise the flag and hopefully create something truly alternative through diversity, a bit of experimentation without getting carried away, seriousness without self-righteousness. It's not exactly a lofty goal, but when I look around at what is (easily) available, it is clear that it is necessary.

Until next time...

R.I.P. Bruno...

2009-04-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just got some very sad news. One of the great fixtures in the music scene here in Berlin, Bruno Adams, passed away last week after a long struggle with cancer.

I am not going to pretend that I knew Bruno well, but we were in contact quite a bit a few years ago when he had his own club and I will forever be grateful that he allowed me to play there several times. He was a really interesting guy and we had some good chats in those days about his move from Australia to Berlin and how he used to hang around with Nick Cave and how it was a really wild and creative time in the city. I think he missed those days a lot and was disappointed to see the city become more and more gentrified as the years went on. But to his credit he kept at it with his music despite little commercial success and for me is an example of a true musician and music lover. I am sure he would have enjoyed earning a bit more with his music but that wasn't the point. He did it because it was his passion.

I am sure he will be missed by many around here and beyond.

Rest in peace Bruno...or should I say, "Rock On". Yes, I think that would be more appropriate.

All for today...

The Big 360...

2009-04-20T02:30:00.001-07:00

Finally the album update I promised last time. It took a while to get back in the swing of things after the long Easter weekend but once I got going it ended up being a very busy and productive week. So, here's how things stand:

The title has to do with the biggest development recently. I worked on the drums all last week and basically got everything done (although I am not quite sure if I am satisfied with the sound quality but that comes later) and as I was working on one of the songs a little voice in the back of my head kept telling me something was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it and continued with the arrangement idea I had. Once the drums were in I started working on the other instruments but I could not get the guitar sound to work with the arrangement. The whole thing was a mess as far as I was concerned and it got me down for a while until I took a long break and went for a walk to clear my head. Over the course of the walk it occured to me that I had been approaching the song from an old standpoint, but not the "oldest". I will explain. I wrote this song back in 2002 on the acoustic guitar and the original arrangement was slow and ballad-like. I kept it that way for some time and even have an old recording of it somewhere. In 2005, when I presented it to the band I was playing in at the time, the idea came to pep it up a bit and several arrangements were worked out. For some reason (I think I just gave up trying to influence the direction of it after a while) it ended up as a pretty poppy number with a kind of snappy beat that did not fit the lyrics at all. The other guys thought the contrast worked well but I was never really convinced. Anyway, when I demoed it about a year ago I tried to adjust the arrangement to suit the lyrics a bit more but instead of slowing it down I decided to "toughen it up". The beat was slightly adjusted but the tempo remained and the guitars were a bit harder with some distortion etc. Although the demo was a huge improvement over the band version, I was still not that pleased with it and decided to put it back on the shelf. I wanted to include it on the album because I think it fits the overall theme and mood but try as I might I could not get the arrangement to do it any justice at that tempo. So, on the walk it occured to me that I was still thinking like I used to with the band instead of trusting my own instincts and when I got home I began right away to adjust things and after a while it worked. The song has taken a total 360 going from a slow somber ballad to a poppy almost danceable song and right on back to a ballad that is even edgier and more somber that the orginal version. And even though it is a bit melancholy (or depressing depending on your point of view) it makes sense now more than it ever did.

That was the biggest development other than putting in all of the drums (except for the song I just discussed which will need a whole new drum line). I am happy with all of the arrangements but once I started to work the tracks through and do a bit of mixing to improve the sound I noticed how limited my options were. This didn't bother me so much with the demos but considering that these songs are going to be "offical releases" I am seriously debating more technical uprades in the studio to do this right. This will mean more time and expense and may even require a switch to Cubase if I use the system I am looking at right now, but I have a feeling it will be necessary and if I do it right and stay focussed it shouldn't set me back too much in the time department. I still don't want to set a final release date but I can say right now that due to personal obligations etc. I won't be releasing it until the autumn anyway. I know I have gone on about a summer release for ages but this summer is simply going to be too busy for me and I want to do this right.

Until next time...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

I guess the title says it all. Not much else to say at this point. Getting out of the city to enjoy the holiday weekend. Incredible weather, almost like summer!

Album update coming next week...stay tuned!

In defence of the album - Part 2

2009-04-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across yet another article about the "end of the album", it seems this is quite a hot topic on music blogs these days. What occured to me about this article was that many are confusing the concepts of "medium", "content" and "format". It may be true that the CD's days are numbered (although that is another debate altogether) but that is only a "medium" whereas the album is a "format" with the songs being the "content". The "album" is a format which is flexible and only limited to the physical medium if one is applied, e.g. approx. 70 minutes for a CD etc. - although even this can be manipulated with special formats such as "double albums", i.e. two CDs or records). The beauty of the digital medium (e.g. mp3s, WAVs etc.) is that there are no real limits. An "album" could be an E.P. with 5 or 6 songs, or an epic with 20 plus songs or only a few songs that are each epic in length. The possibilities are incredible. But enough with the semantics.

My last entry dealt with the more sentimental aspects of the album but there are some very practical considerations as well. These realities may change, but for now they are very important considerations for independent musicians:

1. Distribution: For independent musicians it is simply far too complicated to make deals with all of the most important digital distributors directly and most will go through a service like Tunecore or Songcast for this. These services need to make a profit too and to do this they often charge a flat rate per "release" to set things up. This "release" can be whatever the band/musician wants, an LP, an EP or a single song. But the catch is that the cost is always the same. The amount of content, i.e. songs, doesn't matter, you pay the same for a release no matter how many songs it has. So, if I can get 10 songs distributed for the same price as one single, which am I going to choose? You do the math.

2. Promotion: Unless you are Trent Reznor or Radiohead you will have to consider some kind of promotion to get your music some attention. This costs money, it doesn't have to be much if you are willing to do the leg-work online and use the social networks and contact popular bloggers, but it is questionable whether that is really enough. I am not talking about "payola" to get radio play, but a few well-targeted banner ads, some posters around the areas where your potential fans live (yes, I still believe that the old-fashioned poster can help get attention), frontpage showcases on sites like Purevolume.com etc. should, at least in theory, get a few more people listening. What these things should do is direct these potential listeners to your homepage (or Myspace or Facebook) where they can at least hear the music in streaming form and decide whether it is worth buying. If you are an established act with a back-catalogue as a foundation then you probably have lots of content there waiting for them, but less-established acts obviously have less. Do you really want to invest in promotion when all that is waiting for people are a few singles? It's a simple matter of probabilities. If you only have one single, you have a 50/50 chance of gaining a fan, but if you have 10 songs (assuming that people still have enough attention span to listen to 10 songs or at least the first 30 seconds of each one) then the odds that one or two or more will get their attention and keep them there or coming back for more have greatly increased. So, considering the investment in promotion and the basic probablities involved, do you want to use your promotion budget for one song or ten? Again, you do the math. Admittedly, once the fan base is there and you are in regular contact through Twitter etc. you won't need to make these kind of investments, but I believe that early on this can be money well spent. Maybe that is a possible strategy, one or two albums at the beginning of a career to make a real "splash" and build up a fan base and then a single every month to keep them satiated? Worth a try anyway.

Another means of promotion is the good old-fashioned review and not because they have to be that good. If people who write about music for a living are willing to take the time to write about your music then, for good or bad, your credibility level will increase. Back in 2005 when my old band released an EP, we sent it out to be reviewed, a standard part of a release strategy that I believe will continue for some time to come. The EP had five songs so for some reviewers this did not qualify as an "album" and their policy was only to review albums because they simply received too many full-length LPs to consider making time for anything less. We did get some reviews (and some pretty good ones at that) but there is no telling how many more we could have got if we had put five more songs on it and called it an album. Admittedly, with the importance of mp3 blogs many reviewers are less strict about this but I think that an album increases the chances of getting some attention by raising the credibility level of an artist. A lot of people can put all their eggs in one basket and create one great song, but a really good musician should be able to this consistently and often. So, as an artist you can ask yourself the question: Do I want to be a "One Hit Wonder" or do I want to create something lasting and sustainable?

3. Practical Creative Aspects: The creative process is different for everyone and there is no real "formula" for writing songs even though some of the record companies and their songwriting teams would like to think so. Some songs take days to finish, others take years, tapes full of riffs get dusty on shelves and lyrics for chourses may have to wait a while even though the rest of the songs is finished. When it is forced it sounds forced, but a bit of incentive and a goal such as the creation of an album can be a great motivator to put the finishing touches on a lot of these things. All of the songs together are more than the sum of their parts. A concept could develop that gives the whole thing a theme and at the very least it represents a period in a band or artist's development which can be referenced with future works, something a true fan will always want to do.

But like I said in Part 1, why not the best of both worlds? Record enough material for an album, release singles every week (through Myspace, Bandcamp or some other system that allows this) and then release the entire thing altogether through a digital distributor as an album. Make it 8 songs long, or why not 30 and a double CD if people really buy those things anymore. The important point is, the digital age should not mean the end of any kind of format if it can take digital form. In fact, it means the exact opposite, the possibilities are almost limitless.

In defence of the album...

2009-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

What I mean by the title here is not a defence of "my album", i.e. the one I am currently recording, but a defence of the album as a musical format. I have addressed this issue before but I recently came across an article advising musicians to give up on this format and focus on singles and it hit a bit of a nerve. I understand the reasoning behind the advice considering how popular iTunes is and the fact that it only really sells singles and the fact that in the modern, high-speed internet world musicians have to keep the content coming in order to satisfy the fans. But I think the argument that the album format is essentially redundant basically misses the point and is a bit like "shooting the messenger" - just because the record industry abused the format for too long and pissed the music buying public off by offering too little quality too infrequently doesn't mean that the album itself is to blame. What real musical artists should be trying to do is create albums the way they were done originally - frequently and with emphasis on musical quality, not just recording quality. I will present a short history here to illustrate my point:

I think most people agree that the Beatles started the album trend in the 60s. I don't know what the reasoning was behind it, but it created a whole new listening experience and took popular music from being simply a form of entertainment to being a new art form (true, music had always been considered a form of art but a lot of people would have argued against this in the case of "pop" music). In those days the albums had around 10 songs and most bands released at least one album a year and toured incessantly for the rest of the year to bring the new songs to the people. If they were lucky, they had a short break after the tour and then were back in the studio to get the next release ready. For a band to be successful it had to keep this routine going for years and even once a band had a hit or two it could only enjoy the benefits for so long before it was time to create a new hit.

This continued on into the 70s, but as production and recording techniques improved the bar was continually set higher forcing bands to take more time in the studio to achieve results that were considered "industry standard". As it became more difficult to keep the albums coming on a regular basis (especially later on in a career when a band loses some of its creative momentum) the record companies came up with the fantastic idea of the "Greatist Hits" or "Best Of" album, essentially taking all of the most popular material the band had already recorded and compiling it on a "new" album. For a true fan these albums were a waste of time, they had all the songs already, but the record companies weren't aiming for true fans - they wanted the casual listener who had heard all of the songs on the radio for years but had never been convinced enough to invest in all the albums. The "Best Of" was the perfect opportunity to get the fence-sitters into the buyers category. Now, I don't want to present this as some kind of sinister plot to sell more records - I am a big believer in "Best Of"s and have a few from bands I otherwise wouldn't spend my money on - but there was a strategy behind it and it helped keep the money rolling in while the bands worked on new stuff.

By the 80s the album had been the standard format for quite a while and every act was putting them out and that is where the problems started. For real bands, i.e. a group of people who write songs and play instruments and if they are good develop a unique sound and basically music with artistic value, the album format made a lot of sense, but when pop stars who sing songs written by teams of songwriters started putting out albums it automatically corrupted the format. All it was for these acts was a collection of singles, essentially more of the same with usually only two or three of them being any good. But by the 80s that was only one of the many problems. Productions costs by this point had risen so much that the record companies had no choice but to flog an album for 2 or 3 years in order to make a profit on the investment and until this was achieved they were not going to shell out any more for the next album. Fair enough from a business perspective, but that was the major problem - it was all just business at that point. It's not like the general public was crying out for better sound quality and higher production values because the listeners were listening to the music, not the recording. But the industry - meaning not just the record companies but also the major recording studios, producers etc. - got self-indulgent, scratching each other's backs with fat paychecks, points, limousines, fancy dinners and champagne.

In the 90s it seemed that everyone in the industry had simply lost the plot and the album as a format was taken for granted. Production values continued to increase and the albums got more and more infrequent - albeit longer with up to 14 or 15 tracks - which wasn't because the bands were any less creative. By this time Soundscan had become the industry's measuring stick and it didn't make sense to have two or three acts on the same label competing on the charts. This led to strict release schedules which essentially meant that only one or two big acts on a label would have a release out at any given time. Only after this release was out for a while and had gone as far up the charts as possible did the record company consider allowing another band to release a new album. And all of this was additional waiting after years of flogging the last one to "recoup" on the insane amount invested in recording and promotion.

And then came the new millenium and mp3s and Napster and high-speed internet etc. The record companies continued - and still continue - to put out over-produced and over-priced albums but only out of habit - I think they don't really know what else to do. Nobody really "knows" where things are going. One result of this new age of digital music, however, is that iTunes has made the single popular again, so popular in fact that many are declaring the poor album dead! So after years of manipulation, abuse, being imprisoned on studio shelves waiting for a release date and changing its "image" (vinyl, tape, cd, mp3) to suit the industry, the album format will simply be put to rest like a tired old dog that can't climb the porch steps anymore?

Well, I for one am taking a stand and will do my best to keep this beautiful format alive. When I think of all the great albums I have owned over the years and the hours of joy they brought me it is the least I can do in return. I think all musicians who consider themselves artists should continue to make albums whenever possible, nothing overblown, 10 songs is enough with some good cover art and maybe a dedication or some interesting liner notes to let the listener in on some of the experiences during the time of recording (ok, this should all be done regularly with blogs etc. but you know what I mean) Admittedly, there are practical considerations, the most important being costs. Studio time is not cheap and time spent in the studio is time away from a paying job if you factor that in. But who says that albums have to be recorded the way the record companies do it? If musicians and bands really want a sustainable career they should invest the money in their own recording gear, take the time to learn how to use it and develop an infrastucture that will allow them to record albums on their own time and own terms and who knows? Why not the odd single every few months as well!? Trust me, people are listening to the music, not the recording. The problem with most musicians is that they hang around with other musicians and sound engineers and djs and these people do not listen to music the way the average person does. If the recording is decent and the performance is good, people will dig it.

And why not have the best of all worlds? You can release an album and all of the tracks as singles. No one is forced to buy all of the songs and if they want to, fine. You can provide two listening experiences at once, one for the casual listener who wants "that" particular song for an iPod mix and one for the true fan who wants to put it on and listen to it from start to finish and experience the emotional roller-coaster it can be. The one thing that this digital age has given us is lots of opportunity. Why should we limit ourselves?

Long live the album!!!

Album Update...

2009-03-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd check in with an update, as much for me as for anyone else. I have been in "offline mode" for a little while and writing this will hopefully help me organize my thoughts a bit. It is pretty easy to get caught up in the recording process and lose sight of the final goal so it is a good idea to take stock once in while.

The recording is going well. For various reasons I have set up shop at home to put in the guitars and keyboards. The studio isn't exactly around the corner so it is nice to have everything here and ready when inspiration kicks in suddenly. These are all just "working tracks" anyway, I might put the final ones in at the studio but we'll see how things go. That is the beauty of working with the effect/preamp, I can just put on the headphones and wail away and the neighbours don't hear a thing. Nearly all the instruments are roughed in now meaning that the actual compositions are finished and the songs look like songs on the DAW. There will be some further minor alterations I am sure, but the framework is there which is a big step. Some of the songs are drastically different from the demo versions which makes me a bit nervous although I am about 90% sure the changes are for the best. I knew that some of them needed it, but it is still a bit nervewracking to head into these new directions.

I originally planned for 12 songs which was quickly dropped to 11 due to one song that just didn't seem to fit the "theme" of the album. I also decided to drop a further one because the demo was quite good but although the song fits lyrically, the composition with acoustic guitar just doesn't seem to fit anymore either and I am not sure how (or if I want to) change that. So it looks like the final album will be 10 songs, a nice round number. This is fewer than typical albums these days but was almost the standard back in the 60s and 70s when bands put albums out more frequently - also part of my plan. If all goes well the second album will be out in 2010. Also, some of the songs are quite long (another bit of a risk I am taking but I refuse to shorten them if the compositions make sense the way they are). This means less "radio-friendliness" but it is more important that the album has a concept and makes sense as a complete work. I am not really banking on much radio play anyway and traditional radio is not that important anymore in my opinion.

It is still too early for a release date but once I enter the mixing phase it should be possible to set this finally. Although a lot of important condsiderations have been taken care of, e.g. digital and physical distribution, promotion, cover art, cd production etc., there are still many other things to consider and the checklist seems to get longer every day. A very important one is the live lineup which is in the works but will not be able to do any intense rehearsing until the final versions of the songs are decided.

Time to get back to the music. More updates coming soon!

Happy Green Beer Day!

2009-03-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is St. Patrick's Day yet again and time for millions of people around the world to go out and get absolutely pissed drunk in honour of good ole St. Patrick even though most of them probably haven't got a clue who the guy was or what he ever did. But this "holiday" is really just an excuse to get drunk and everyone knows this. No harm in it I guess as long as it doesn't get out of control which it almost certainly will for some.

Doesn't really matter to me anyway. My days of getting drunk on green beer or Guinness or whiskey (and most often all three) are all in the past. I do remember some good ones but what I remember more are the screaming hangovers the next day and I certainly don't miss those.

So, to all of you who are still into the St. Patrick's Day thing, have fun and stay safe!

Spontaneous excommunication...

2009-03-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

After about a week with no phone or internet I am finally back in the virtual land of the living! The routing device that controls all the communication lines here kicked the bucket last Sunday morning and I spent the week trying to sort things out with the phone company. In the end they simply sent a new one and everything was sorted out. To be without internet for a while is no big deal for me and there are plenty of internet cafes around here where I can at least check my email, but the lack of a phone really made me feel like I had been swept back to the dark ages. Strange how insidious certain types of technology are to specific generations. I am sure that anyone about 10 years younger than me would have suffered a lot more from the lack of internet. It did frustrate me, but I decided that the break was probably a good thing and I was very productive in other ways not the least of which was recording the debut album.

I got a lot of work done this week and all of the songs are really starting to take shape. They all have the basic bass, guitar and keyboards down but not in any definitive form. Still, they are really coming to life, or taking on a life of their own in some cases. My strategy has not conciously changed but for some reason I am doing things differently than I have on all the demo phases. I knew that I would need to take more time and really be picky about sounds, noise levels, composition etc. but it has come more naturally than I thought. The whole process feels very natural and organic as opposed to some forced formula and the results are even surprising me. There is still a lot of work to do but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and that makes a big difference. Motivation is high, patience is optimal and I am much more optimistic than I have been for a while. Let's just hope it stays that way! ;-)

Some songs are just cursed!!!

2009-03-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

Well, after weeks of intense sessions, arranging, re-arranging, cursing and suffering from aching muscles, the drum tracks are finally down. But there's a catch. I have decided that these tracks are only "provisional" meaning that they will be played in again later. I decided this for two reasons, 1. After being beaten silly for weeks on end, the drum heads were basically shot before I got all the tracks down. I noticed that they were going out of tune more frequently but then it was beyond that. They are dead and will be replaced soon for the next round. I could have done this now and continued putting in final tracks but I decided that the momentum I had with the arranging etc. was too important and changing the heads and tuning will take hours of work. The other reason I will do this later is point 2. Even though I made demos of these songs ages ago they were not all that helpful for this recording process basically because they were done very hastily and not enough thought was put into the arrangements, especially the drums. So even though I have a good idea of what I want the beats to be, it is not really clear if they are going to fit with the other instruments and I would rather put in the bass and guitars at least before I go back and do the final drums. A slight change of strategy but for the best I think.

Anyway, about the cursed song. One of the songs on the debut album will be a song I wrote quite a few years ago which has already been recorded. I recorded it with my old band back in 2005 and in the studio the drummer could not get the beat down. He tried all afternoon to play the thing in the way he had done so many times live but in the end had to give up and try again the next day. Fortunately he got it down in a couple of takes the next day. Well, basically the same thing happened to me yesterday and I tried for hours to get the damn thing recorded properly but had to give up and "sleep on it". Again, it worked! After warming up a bit I got it down it a couple of takes and was able to move on to the rest. It is a slightly challenging beat but not really that complicated. I think the song is just cursed (although it is a pretty cool song if I do say so myself ;-) Hopefully the final version will go in a bit easier.

Later...

Here comes the sun...

2009-03-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

Feeling pretty good today, the sun is shining, it's warm and springlike, maybe the winter is really over. Would be nice but I strongly doubt it. Best thing to do is just enjoy it while it lasts.

But the rest of last week was a bit different and I have to admit that my mood was a bit like the weather which was cold and rainy until yesterday. The sessions in the studio on Wed. and Thurs. were pretty rough and I couldn't seem to find the groove at all. But I perservered and by Fri. things started rolling again and a good bit of progress was made. Yesterday was good too. Taking a day off to digest some of the new ideas that came up and will be back at it tomorrow. I am determined to get the drums in by the end of next week and I think I have to be a bit more disciplined about my deadlines. Excuses for delays are just too easy to find if you need them ;-)

More updates to come...

Where it all happens...

2009-02-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

Things are rockin' again in the studio in preparation for the debut album. I have been hard at work almost every day for the past week on the drums, basically getting the arrangements sorted out and soundchecking. I've needed a while to get used to things again because the studio in the photos is actually new in a way. It's not really so dramatic, but a slightly better room was available in the complex where I had the other room and it was offered to me so I took it. The acoustics are a bit better and it is a very tiny bit bigger (but as you can see, not big enough to get any real good long shots ;-) Yes, I am still tripping over things from time to time but I like to think of it as being "cozy" instead of tiny. Helps me anyway...

Well, it is what I have for now and it will do just fine for the recording of the album. Things have been going well and I hope to have the drums down in the next week or so, then of course on to the bass, then guitars etc. Still holding off on the release date until there are some concrete results but it will be anounced in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!!!

New Facebook Page...

2009-02-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

The Fine Print Pariah page on Facebook has been changed and updated (finally). The link here is the right one. Due to some strange administrative error either here or at Facebook, access to the old page was no longer possible. So, all you Facebookers out there, stop by and check it out!

Time for a bit of housekeeping...

2009-02-20T00:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not spring yet (easy to see here by the amount of snow everywhere) but I decided to do the "spring cleaning" a bit early this year. If you have been here before you will notice a big change and this is all a part of the streamlining of the online presence I wrote about last time. As opposed to "Phase 2.0" - which was not actually web 2.0 - the time has come to properly get up to date and the new format is truly 2.0 i.e. quickly adjustable and interactive so feel free to leave comments. Everything that was on the old fineprintpariah.com is here and a bit more and all in a compact and easy to access format.

In other news, "Normal" was included in Episode 40 of Vindaloo Cocktail (link to the left). Thanks Cousin Creep!

The only other thing I feel I have to comment on is the news this week about an indie band that is actually paying people one dollar to download their album! That's right, not for free, you actually get the music and get paid! Sounds a bit crazier than it actually is because the main option if you download it is to donate the dollar to charity, so kudos to the band for doing something like that. But there has been some pretty vehement criticism of this approach from people who think it (further) devalues independent music and my first reaction was the same. However, after thinking about it for a while I realized that what they are doing is not really that different than investing money in a publicity campaign. They have simply cut out the middle-man i.e. the publicist, and managed to attract loads of attention to their music. Anyway, I have basically stopped analyzing and judging how other musicians do their thing. If it works for them, then fine, to each their own. But please don't expect Fine Print Pariah to be sending monetary handouts along with the debut album! I checked the bank account today and the budget is just not there! ;-)

Until next time!

What a day!

2009-02-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

It has definitely been a long day here at FPP headquarters. Ran into some severe technical difficulties with the launch of the Equinox Sessions but after hours upon hours of re-uploading, re-routing and basically re-everything, most of the links have at least a few new songs and most importantly they are all right here in streaming form.

So the mission is accomplished and further uploading will take place at later dates when there is time and - most importantly - patience for it. This has also led to a few ideas about streamlining the online presence a bit and changes will be happening in the next few weeks which will hopefully make life easier for all those involved.

Enjoy the new songs!

Nearly there...

2009-02-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

So, the Equinox Sessions will be officially "released" this coming weekend but for anyone who is paying attention they can already find the songs. I won't say where, that would spoil all the fun ;-) but there has been a "leak" of sorts and apparently someone caught on to it and has already got one of the new songs on Last.fm before it has even been officially uploaded. I was surprised (and a bit delighted ;-) to notice this as it lets me know that people are taking a real interest.

I have also decided to play along with the whole "Friday the 13th" thing and will post a sneak pre-listen on FPP's Blip.fm page (see WFPP Radio link). Some of these songs are pretty weird so I think the idea kind of fits.

Not much else to say today except a big "Thanks" to the Radio Orphans for playing "Head Full Of Numbers" on their last show. Very nice guys and a very good show, check it out. I have also heard back from two other podcasters who have promised to play some songs on their next shows but no point in counting chickens before they've hatched.

There is actually lots more to tell now that I think about it but I think it is best to stay focussed on the Equinox Sessions for now and get to the rest next week. Stay tuned!!!

A night at the Schokoladen...

2009-02-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

Finally found some motivation to get out of my winter slump and get out on the town for a night out. After a nice dinner at an Italian place we stopped into the Schokoladen in Mitte - not one of my favourite places but a bit of a Berlin landmark that is struggling to survive as the yuppies move in - to see Stephen Brandon and the Revelators. Stephen is from Australia and has been in Berlin for about four years now. We met early on in the old neighbourhood and have kept in touch since. Although our schedules rarely allow it, we were able to get together for a coffee a few weeks ago which was the first time we had seen each other in over a year. We also had a chance to chat before and after the show last night which is always a pleasure.

The show was great! I like Stephen's music but had always considered it more of a Sunday afternoon singer/songwriter kind of thing. I was pleasantly surprised last night to find him rockin' out a bit with a drummer and violin player who does some really interesting stuff including using a wah-wah!!! This lineup had a great chemistry and really brought several new dimensions into the music. A real treat. They plan on doing an EP together soon which is good because although I like the songs, Stephen's latest album with basically him and his acoustic guitar doesn't quite do them justice. There is an intimacy to the album that is undeniable and enjoyable, but for my taste the trio is the best way to convey the music.

Check them out at www.stephenbrandon.com

Later!

It's all about the fans!!!

2009-02-01T05:41:00.001-08:00

This statement is nothing new and has become a bit of a rock 'n' roll cliche by now but it seems to be getting more and more popular or maybe we just hear it more because there are more bands "out there" now. I like the sentiment and agree with it but I also have been thinking quite a bit lately about the term "fan" and what it really means. Somehow, for me the term seems extreme. It is derived from the word "fanatic" which to me implies someone who is basically obsessed or has an irrational adoration for something or someone. There are even two films with the name "The Fan" both of which do not paint a pretty picture of these people, at least the ones who take it too far. And we have all heard of the numerous cases of "stalking" that have plagued very famous people. Some would argue that this is the price of fame and maybe they are right and for a musician or band that wants to take things further than the basement or garage, the fans are absolutely essential.

I myself prefer the term "supporter" which would describe someone who listens to the music, goes to the concerts and maybe buys a bit of merchandise. Basically someone who likes not only the music, but also the band or musician and the entire image surrounding the music. Someone who is "in it for the long haul" and will actually buy entire albums and not just the odd single to bury in some iTunes mix. But the term "fan" is convenient and will remain the standard I guess.

A big question right now is about the "role of the fan" in developing a band or artist. Some people believe that the changing landscape of the music industry and generally how people enjoy entertainment or art has forced a change in the artist-fan relationship. A fan is no longer willing to simply sit back and patiently wait for an album every two or three years and wants constant content and some form of interaction with this content. In other words, signing a few autographs after a show or sending out cut and paste "thank-you notes" in response to fan mail just doesn't cut it anymore. The interaction has to be frequent and genuine, much deeper that it was in the past. But there are some who believe that this interaction should actually involve the fans in the creative process, e.g. allowing fans choose final mixes for albums, write lyrics for songs etc. and for me this is taking it way too far. I can only speak from my personal point of view, but if I got an email from one of my favourite artists asking me to choose one of three bass lines for a song and that the bass line with the most votes would become the album version I think I would instantly lose a lot of respect for the artist. There are numerous ways to involve fans, but getting them involved in the creative process for the music itself seems a bit ridiculous. Would a painter ask which shade of blue to use? Would any writer who takes his/her work seriously provide three possible endings for a novel and publish the one that got the most votes? Who knows, maybe this is where it is all headed, no more individual, just a big, boring mass where the majority rules? Other than the obvious problems with managing a vote for every creative decision - a right mess if taken to its logical extreme - the end result could only become a watered-down version of something that might otherwise have been revolutionary and challenging.

I have been trying to get FPP more active in the fan department and so far it has been very interesting and fun. Interacting with people who enjoy the music is a nice ego boost and getting to know a bit about them has brought a new dimension into the whole thing. It is no longer just about making music, uploading it and hoping people listen. It is about finding out what they like and perhaps don't like and why. Will this information influence how songs are composed in the future? Probably not on a conscious level but maybe in the back of my mind things are at work. I want to get these people involved but I am not going to start running votes to determine how songs are put together. There are plenty of other areas where they can become part of the process. The latest idea is to have some fans in a video for a song and response to this idea has been good so far. Now it is just a matter of keeping ideas like that coming...maybe they can help with that ;-)

All for now.

Another one bites the dust...

2009-01-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

I got an email this week from Fuzz.com telling me that they are closing down on Feb.12 so there will soon be one less link to FPP's music. In a way this is not surprising because I noticed that there was very little activity on the Fuzz.com FPP page for a long time. This is not that strange - other links go for long periods without any hits as well - but considering that Fuzz.com is somewhat connected to Blip.fm - where I do a DJ kind of thing and throw on the odd FPP tune for a little shameless self-promotion - it does make me wonder. The Blip.fm "WFPP Radio" page has been fairly active and people are stopping by to listen but obviously not going further, at least not to Fuzz.com. I thought it was strange that there was no direct link between the two but maybe they are actually two separate companies. Sometimes with these online things it is hard to keep track.

But this is not the first site of its kind to go under and I am sure there will be a fair few more that will not make it in the long run. The problem is, there are simply too many out there and very few have a real niche. Alternative rock or indie rock can no longer be considered a niche. It has to go deeper than that. People are looking for new music but they are completely overwhelmed with the amount of it out there and I think the pendulum is going to start swinging in the other direction where people look for trusted tastemakers to present the best to them like some bloggers are already doing. I think that "social communities" or "social networks" alone are not going to cut it in a few years and there will have to be something to build these communities around, some kind of central focal point that everyone has in common. Like worshippers at an altar or people making a pilgrimage. The focus is the faith or the belief or sacred cow or whatever and the interpersonal relationships that develop between the worshippers is secondary, still very important, but a result rather than a goal.

Anyway, enough with the pop-philosophy for one day. Until next time...

Back to the grind...

2009-01-16T02:07:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Needed to take a couple of weeks to take care of some personal affairs. I guess it is safe to let the cat out of the proverbial bag and announce that I left my mind-numbing, soul-sucking day job and am back on the freelance circuit to help pay the bills. I have worked freelance before so it is not exactly brand new territory but it is still a bit nerve-wracking not to have a steady paycheck coming in. But things are already rolling with a big assignment and some smaller stuff drifting in so I have no need to worry. And the big plus: More time for the music!!!

I had a bit of time the other day and updated the FPP Homepage and set a date for the release of the Equinox Sessions. February 14th will be the big day and there will be a video promotion to go along with one of the songs. More on that on the release date.

I am quite happy with the sound this time. The one weak point was the cymbals in the drum mix. They are pretty basic and came with the kit so this was to be expected. But I have splurged once again and some new ones are on the way which will hopefully ensure a warmer tone on future recordings.

Stay tuned! 2009 is going to be an eventful year!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T05:01:00.000-08:00

Just a short note to wish you all the best in 2009. FPP will be putting things in high gear with the release of a debut album, live shows and more so there is a lot of work to do. On that note, it will probably be a while now before the blogging starts up again but stay tuned. The best is yet to come!!!

Auld Lang Syne...

2008-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

How time flies. It is hard to believe that FPP has been around for nearly a year now and it is time now to look back on 2008 and get some perspective on what has been achieved. So here is a quick inventory:

- The studio started from almost nothing and has grown to become a fully functional digital project studio. All of the components are there and ready for the production of the debut album. The computer still bogs down once in a while and the room acoustics need to be improved a bit, but all in all it is a huge step towards creating the proper infrastructure for FPP.

- Three demo recording phases have been completed, each one showing a marked improvement in the sound quality and playing and arranging capabilities. The first sessions - The Hibernation Demos - were carried out from January to March and included 20 songs. I learned very quickly that this was far too many songs to do in one phase but it was great experience all the same. I was very proud of that when I first finished it (and I still am in a relative way) but when I listen to those songs now I really notice how rough they are.
The next stage was Phase 2.0, a little play on the 2.0 internet thing which actually had nothing to do with computers or the internet or any of that. I did experiment a bit with some synths and "techno" type sounds but it was all pretty straightforward modern rock. These sessions took place from May to July and showed a marked improvement in sound quality but the vocals were still lacking due to the substandard microphone and preamp.
The final phase for 2008 was the Equinox Sessions and was completed yesterday with the final mix. Only 5 songs were done in the phase so I could concentrate on quality instead of quantity and the results are quite remarkable when compared to the Hibernation Demos. This phase started in late Semptember and went longer than the others due to a few setbacks and fewer compromises. I learned a lot about my system during this phase and really improved my mixing skills. My playing has also improved a great deal which probably has a lot to do with having the studio at my disposal 24/7.
So, altogether I got 33 of my songs recorded in various degrees of quality. There are still many more to go but they will have to wait now until later in 2009 when I have finished recording the debut album. I could fool around with more demos for ages but I think it is finally time to make some definitive versions and get FPP established as a real recording act.

- FPP has its own domain and website and is linked into almost all of the most important music-related sites on the net. This is quite an accomplishment and took untold hours to achieve. But when I look at the listener stats on most of the sites I see that this is only a first step. Much more will have to be done to really maximize the potential of these sites in 2009 and get the music to more ears.

- A little pat on the back is also in order for the award in June on Garageband.com for "Best Guitars in Alternative Rock".

- Three songs were played on various podcasts which hopefully got them to a few more people. I was actually a bit disappointed that there were not more plays but I also have not been actively promoting and have not approached any podcasters about this so I guess I should be happy that they got any plays at all considering the amount of competition out there. However, promotion of the music to podcasters will be a big priority in 2009.

- I played one solo gig in May, an all time low since I have been in Berlin. For the most part I was too busy to miss it and I am really not interested in going back to the singer/songwriter in a coffee house routine. These kind of acts are a dime a dozen and nobody - and I mean NOBODY - in Berlin takes you seriously. You might get the odd person listening with one ear and maybe a few kind comments at the end of a set but in the end you will be forgotten very quickly. It is a thankless task and a scene I cannot relate to anymore anyway. Perhaps once FPP is established I will consider doing the occasional "unplugged" gig but not until the music is known for what it should be.

So, I think that pretty much sums up the evolution of FPP in 2008. Now to look to the future. Here is what FPP will be up to in 2009:

- The debut album will be completed. I have considered a few release dates already but have not made a decision yet. I feel it is a bit too early and I probably would have to adjust it anyway. I hope to decide and anounce this around March.

- FPP will play LIVE!!! I actually wanted to get to this in 2008 but it had to take a back seat. This will be a big priority in 2009, however. I do not want FPP to be confined to being a "Webband" or "Netband" or whatever you might call something that has no real life outside of the internet. The internet has been great and will continue to be extremely helpful but I want to develop the organic side of things as well.

- Speaking of the internet, all of these websites and platforms are great but are not worth much if serious relationships are not developed with the listeners. The focus will be on promoting FPP to the "friends" and listeners who are already there and hopefully having more people come to FPP as the word spreads. This will also involve more active promotion to podcasters and bloggers which was very lacking in 2008.

All of this is very general and each aspect will require a lot of time and effort. FPP is still in the gestation phase and the real birth is several months away, but it will be in 2009 that is for certain. And when it happens, this thing will burst forth into the world kicking and screaming. And then the real fun begins!!! ;-)

Have a "good slide" into 2009 as they say here!

See you next year!

Do they know it's...?

2008-12-23T01:26:00.000-08:00

So, before I address the obvious, first a little update on FPP. The last week was very eventful for me personally and for FPP which is why I didn't have time to do any of this kind of stuff. The personal stuff does not need to be revealed point blank, the effects will be evident in the new year. As for FPP, the vocals are finished and that means that the Equinox Sessions are ready for mixing. I will do a bit today and then take a break for the holidays and hopefully come back to it in a more objective way to finish them off before the new year. A tentative release date is still a bit in the future for several reasons and will be early to mid February. And now to the obvious.

I know that it is the "holiday season" and I don't even have to look at a calendar to know this. Besides all of the usual decorations and torturous Christmas Carol Muzak, the fact that everything takes about 3 times as long as normal to achieve is a pretty good indication that everyone is in a mad rush to get those last minute gifts. Fortunately, I got my shopping done relatively early this year and don't have to deal with the shopping mall insanity. But I do have things to do and no matter where you go in this city the traffic is terrible. I also tried to send off a card for a January birthday and gave up after two post offices with line-ups out the doors. Yes, it can be frustrating but there is a bright side.

I am not one of those people who hates Christmas. I don't see the point in that. I do get very fed up when I witness what it has become, but I try to see past that and ignore it as best I can. What I have come to enjoy is the togetherness, visiting family and friends, eating good food, enjoying a bit of "down time" to appreciate the simpler aspects of life and I hope to do just that starting tomorrow until next week. Hope you all find time for this too! Happy Holidays!

Back in action!!!

2008-12-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the studio and it is safe to say that FPP is back in action after a major technical setback last week. The replacement tube pre-amp arrived and I brought it in today to test it out. All I can say is WOW! This is definitely going to make a huge difference to the sound. It will take a while to get used to it and I will have to start by thinking in exactly the other direction than I am used to. What I mean is, the old setup was kind of like an old horse and you had to struggle with it to get something out of it. This new setup is like a young, bucking bronco and I will have to rein it in from time to time. The dynamics are simply incredible which requires a bit of restraint so as not to go overboard and to "take away" little bits here and there so the sound sits into the mix. Ran some tests today and will have lots of time this week to work on it. If all goes well the vocals for the Equinox Sessions should be in by Friday which will allow for a short break before starting the mixing.

Other than that it has been a great weekend. Yesterday was pretty routine and I was kind of lazy but sometimes you figure you deserve to just lounge around, read, eat well and maybe watch a video (which is exactly what I did ;-)
Went to the JUD concert on Friday night at the Red Rooster Backstage (a venue where I have played some of the best concerts of my life - and one concert that easily qualifies as the worst but that is another story). I got there early and as I had hoped, had the opportunity to hang out with the drummer James and the bass player Jan for a bit before the show. It was nice to catch up a bit and find out how the tour had been. I also ran into several other old acquaintances who I hadn't seen for well over a year or so. It was good to see them again too and find out how things have been in the old neighbourhood.

The show was great (and loud!) and seeing the guys on stage in a place where I have played before definitely stirred up the desire to get back out there and perform these songs in front of an audience. It was not a priority in 2008 but it will definitely be at the top of the list for 2009!!!

All for now.

Just checking in...

2008-12-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

I almost want to say that I don't have anything to say, that everything is pretty much routine and fine, but it isn't quite that simple tonight. Not that there have been any great, earth-shattering developments in my life or with FPP but things are stirring and changes are coming, even if sooner than I expected. I don't want to go into it now for several reasons but it will all be clear soon enough. 2009 is going to be a very interesting year indeed!

The Equinox Sessions suffered yet another setback unfortunately but I am not stressed. The songs will be finished when they are finished and I am not planning to release them until February anyway. The problem was, things actually worked out and the budget allowed for an investment in the tube pre-amp and microphone I had my eye on so I ordered them. They arrived on Saturday and I found time to get to the studio on Sunday afternoon to test them out. Well, the pre-amp is a dual channel and only one of the channels worked so instead of using the good channel or simply going through the old pre-amp I decided just to bite the bullet and call it a day. Fortunately the mic works fine (and sounds great!) but I sent the amp back on Monday and will hopefully have a replacement by the middle of next week. Just have to cross my fingers that the next one works properly.

I also have something to look forward to this Friday night. The band JUD that I mentioned months ago is playing their last show for 2009 in Berlin and I am going to go check it out with some new acquaintances from the studio complex. The guys from JUD have been on tour pretty steady since the album release in August so it will be nice if there is an opportunity after the show to catch up with them and find out how they are doing.

So, things are good, change is coming and 2009 looks like it's going to be a pretty eventful year. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Of skateboards and piano lessons...

2008-12-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

I don't really see the point in commenting on the obvious today by which I mean I am not going to pretend to have any kind of opinion or insight into the events in India or the "Black Friday" incidents (shoot-outs in Toys R' Us, tramplings in Wal-Mart, if you haven't heard). All I will say is, judging by the deaths in the U.S. that were brought on not by terrorism but by a consumer culture gone mad, it looks like the terrorists of the world can simply sit back and let America do itself in. I am not trying to be a smart-ass here, this is a serious problem and the innocent victims and their families have my condolences, but when people start dying because other people were in a frenzy to get a 50% rebate on a big screen TV or whatever it makes you wonder how a society could get in such sad shape and whether there is any future for it.

But now to the point and hopefully a bit of levity in these troubled times. This little story kind of ties in to two recent things in my life, one being the completion of the keyboards for the Equinox Sessions (which involved some piano) and the other being a young group of skaters who drove the neighbourhood here crazy for a few days during a school break by practicing their moves in the middle of the sidewalk for hours on end. Both of these events combined brought back a memory which could explain why I ended up doing music instead of becoming a world famous skateboard champion...

I guess I was about twelve at the time and a family friend had cleaned out the attic or the cellar or something and found a bunch of old stuff she thought I might like, one of these things being an old, yellow skateboard. When I say old, I mean real old-school, a 70's model, probably one of the first mass-produced boards around. It was in decent shape though and I started practicing, just up and down the driveway at first and then out on to the street a bit. I never got to the point where I was doing tricks and this was all a few years before ramps and half-pipes became the standard but I could get around pretty well and pretty fast too if I do say so myself ;-) As time went on more and more kids in the neighbourhood started showing up with brand new boards, all modern and wide and with cool graphics and "slime-balls" and the whole deal. I wasn't exactly laughed at because of my "toothpick" retro-board but I felt a distinct jealousy and started looking around to get a new board as soon as I could afford one. For the time being, however, I continued tooling around on my trusty old banana and had actually gotten pretty attached to the thing.

And then came the fateful day. I was on my board on my way to a piano lesson a few blocks away from home. I was rounding a corner at a good clip, flying along without a care in the world (except maybe the fact that I had neglected to practice my scales as usual and would probably receive a reprimand from my old wench of a piano teacher). The streets were mine, I was the king of the board and all those other upstarts with their fancy new boards could kiss my arse as far as I was concerned. But then it happened. I don't know if it was a small stone, a large twig or something else just small enough to escape my view, but I hit it and went flying while the board shot out from under me. I landed on the grass at the side of the road and was unscathed but my skateboard wasn't so lucky. As it rolled out into the middle of the road, an oncoming car drove right over it cracking it right in two. The boom of the crack as it broke was deafening to me and at first I thought that the car tire had blown. And I guess the driver did too. Almost in a state of shock, he got out of the car and examined the wheel. After determining that everything was ok, he picked up the pieces of the board and started walking towards me. I thought he was going to apologize or at least ask if I was ok, but instead the self-righteous prick started yelling at me!!! I can't remember what he actually said but it was pretty inappropriate considering I hadn't actually done anything wrong, that it had been a freak accident and in the end his stupid heap of a car was completely undamaged. But I was too stunned to respond or defend myself and just stood there and took it. After he was done letting his personal frustrations out on me, he drove off leaving me there with a piece of the skateboard in each hand. The only thing left to do was continue on to my piano lesson on foot and deal with the board later.
I didn't know it then, but my skateboarding career had come to an abrupt end. I remember trying to save up for a new board and asking for one for my birthday or Christmas or something but the wish was never fulfilled. I guess my parents figured it was too dangerous. Needless to say, I never did get another board and eventually the idea faded.
The piano lessons, on the other hand, continued for a few years until I finally gave them up. But a few years later I saved up and bought my first guitar and the music lived on.
So every once in while, when I see some kids on skateboards, I think back to that fateful day. If that incident had not happened, would my life be different somehow? Would I have gone on to become a world-famous skateboarding star? Would a skateboard have the same significance in my life as a guitar does now? Somehow I strongly doubt it ;-)

The winter of our discontent...

2008-11-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I'm not really discontented in general but good old Jack Frost certainly decided to pay a surprise vist here (the jerk!) and seems to have caught most of us off guard. But you pull out the hats and gloves and big coats and get on with life I guess. Not that the winters here in Berlin are ever that bad. The snow rarely stays for more than a day or two and most often it is only about five below. But it gets pretty damp and that is what I really hate, it gets right into your bones and sticks there. I thought that I wouldn't need this until the middle of January or so, but to get by on these cold nights I am already thinking back to the summer and the great trip to the east coast (of Canada). Never really did get around to telling much about that. Well, you know what they say...a picture is worth a thousand words...

And the digital debate rages on...

2008-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

I suppose this whole digital debate covers a lot more than music and if you pay attention you can see the changes that computers and digital communication are making in almost every aspect of everyday life. But I'm not in the mood (or maybe just not really capable ;-) of analyzing this whole phenomenon and in keeping with the theme of this blog will stick to its effect on music. That, however, only narrows the whole thing down a bit because there are several different aspects to this depending on your perspective.

As a listener, the digital age means incredibly easy and fast access to what seems like unlimited amounts of music. You can not only find it, but own it too without even having to pay for it. Or you can go the old-fashioned route and buy a good old CD or get really sentimental and go down to the used record store for some vinyl. And it doesn't end there. Not only can you listen to the songs as actual "songs", you can also find a hell of a lot of them as "ringtones" so every time your (digital) mobile phone rings you get to hear the latest hit from your favourite artist.

Then there is the persepective of the "recording industry" which basically considers all these developments to be their undoing and have tried desperately to impede it with "DRM" (digital rights management - kind of a copy protection for mp3s for those of you who haven't heard of it) and litigation i.e. suing teenagers who take a few songs off the internet for free most likely because they can't afford the ridiculously inflated prices of CDs.

And then there are the actual musicians for whom the digital age and the internet are certainly a very mixed blessing. On the one hand, it has enabled the "piracy" of music and made it difficult for musicians working within the old business models to make a living. It is not even clear yet if the musicians who have been on top of things and adjusted to these new develpments will do any better but I believe there is hope. On the other hand, the internet and its multitude of platforms enables the DIY musician to access potential listeners all over the world at little to no cost. Of course, "friending" on Myspace or similar sites will not have the same effect as multi-million dollar promotional campaigns, but at least it is an option. Between this and blogging and podcasts, there has definitely been a dramatic increase in the number of outlets musicians have at their disposal.

But another aspect of the digital age for musicians, which often goes unnoticed, is the simple fact that digital recording has made it possible to decently and affordably create the actual music (and beyond all the promo photos, cool and witty band bios and smart-ass "viral" videos, the music is kind of the point, isn't it?). And this, apparently, is a debate in itself.

I read a commentary lately about the effect of "DAWs" (Digital Audio Workstations - more simply put, recording software) and the author claimed to have found a direct correlation between the creation of ProTools and the steady decline of good recorded music or at least the steady increase of bad music. He wasn't claiming that the recordings were necessarily bad on a technical level (although if you look around Myspace you will definitely find enough of this) but that the "music" was bad in that it was far too much of the same and essentially a bunch of cut and paste jobs of stock guitar riffs etc. Now, he may have a point that there are far too many bands and songs that are extremely difficult to tell apart (most often found in the "pop punk" category as far as I can tell) but to blame this on digital recording is a bit extreme. I think that this has always gone on at some level with cheap four tracks or even simpler, it is just that now the internet allows this stuff to be put "out there" instead of being confined to a small group of friends, family and fans if any. To blame ProTools for the onslaught of run of the mill, "cookie-cutter" songs is like blaming Microsoft Word for the proliferation of bad - but grammatically correct thanks to Spellcheck - writing.

I myself have chosen to use the opportunity that digital recording software offers while trying to retain an "old-fashioned" approach to recording to keep it more organic, real and human. I basically use the software as a digital tape machine or sequencer and do not use loops or MIDI (although my keyboard has several pre-programmed synth sounds etc.). I play every track in from the start of the song to the finish, a very frustrating process indeed when a slight mistake creeps in during the last bar. But it is the method I have chosen and for me it feels more honest even if it is more time consuming. And the end product shows this with the odd sway in the timing, a slightly different strum on the chorus guitars, each of the vocal choruses slightly different despite sharing the same lyrics. From a modern recording perspective they are far from "perfect" but for me they are. They are real and human with the odd mole or blemish or pimple for that matter. I like it that way.

There is a lot of questioning going on which basically boils down to "are these developments in digital technology and communication right or wrong?" and there is no simple answer. Basically the question is rhetorical, it needs no answer because there is no answer. It is the way it is and no amount of resistance is going to change it. You can either go with it and find your own way in the chaos and ideally use it all to your advantage or you can save up your nickels and dimes until you can afford to buy your own island in the middle of the Pacific, pack it all in and turn your back on society. I have to admit that sometimes this idea sounds pretty tempting to me, but for now I will sit tight and deal with the chaos ;-)

Until next time.

The mad scientist returns to his laboratory...

2008-11-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

It occured to me today as I was at the studio that if anyone were to observe this process they would quickly draw comparisons to a "mad scientist" and they wouldn't be far off. The studio is in a former bunker here in Berlin so of course it is in a basement and the whole complex is protected by an iron gate outside, an outer door and then a second steel door, all of which have automatic locks. Once inside, the corridor is dimly lit and narrow giving it an even more ominous and clandestine feel. Then comes my room at the end of the corridor, another locked door and finally I am inside the actual studio. Because of all this there is a definite feeling of isolation and solitude, great for working but kind of spooky when I take the headphones off and realize where I am. And every once in a while I can't help but wondering what this room was used for and who was actually in it 65 years ago when it was a bunker.

But this does not speak against it by any means and actually adds quite an ambience and sense of mystery to everything I do there. Is it inspirational? I probably wouldn't go that far, but I enjoy being there in a strange, reclusive way.

And it is like a laboratory of sorts. I am certainly doing some experimenting but this comes more from the lack of time pressure than anything else. It is nice to be able to do this but I also have to keep myself in check and not let it get too out of hand.

I should maybe set a video camera up there one day during a session, I'm pretty sure the results would be worth a laugh. When the computer doesn't cooperate or I forget to switch the right track into record mode I have a terrible tendency to curse. With headphones on it is difficult to tell if this is actually loud enough for someone passing by in the corridor to hear but I am sure there have been a few abused ears there over the past few months. I am also pretty sure that I have a tendency to talk to myself a bit, a habit I have always had which is further evidence for a mad scientist categorization. I don't worry about that too much even if some people find it strange. One of the best teachers I ever had always said, "it's ok to talk to yourself as long as you don't answer back." So at least by her standards I am still sane. ;-)

So the mad scientist was at it again today and is getting ever closer to his latest "Frankenstein", otherwise known as the Equinox Sessions. The drums, bass and guitars are in now and I will start the keyboards this week hopefully having them finished by this time next week. All that is left then is the vocals which puts me in a tough position. I wanted to have a new mic and tube amplifier for this but other costs have arisen and that will have to wait. I could put the vocals off until early January, by which time I should have the new equipment, but I am not sure if that will be necessary. The new compressor/limiter I got before these sessions has worked wonders on the sound, beefing it up a lot and cutting the noise greatly so I might just try the vocals with what is there and see what happens.

Other than that, the studio is probably going to be re-organized at the end of the year to get ready for recording the album. A bit of re-arranging is in order to get the control desk and other equipment all together on the far wall and then creating a space there which will be comfortable enough to play guitars and keyboards between the desk and the drums. I am not looking forward to doing this in such a confined space and I am sure there will be a fair bit of cursing going on but in the end it will be worth it I am sure. One thing I have learned is not to sacrifice a bit of comfort. It can be the difference between getting a track down in 15 minutes or 2 hours from my experience.

All for today. 'Til next time.

What will they think of next?

2008-11-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that blogging is just not enough anymore and although I have known about this new "phenomenon" for quite some time I resisted it basically because it seemed like "cyber overkill" (cool catch phrase, huh? ;-) Now it seems that even a daily blog just doesn't cut it and to fill in the gaps between those long dreary hours when there is nothing new going on in Blogsville someone came up with the absolutely fantastic idea of "micro-blogging" (I'm being a bit sarcastic here in case you couldn't tell). But whether I think it is a good idea or not, I have given in to this new up-to-the-second updating even if I only use it once a day or less. I have to admit that it is pretty easy and can give people a bit of something to go on if they are really interested in what you are doing. I couldn't imagine using it for me personally, but for FPP it seems like a good thing. Or is it? This is a real question that some music bloggers have been asking lately in different forms e.g. How much information do listeners or potential fans want from musicians anyway? Is it really necessary to give away so much? Isn't the music the point? Shouldn't that be enough?
I think we are all in very new territory here and there just isn't enough evidence to make a verdict and there may never be definitive answers to these questions. Just as music is unique and different artists and bands have different "images" it will probably end up working that way with the information exchange. To be cool and enigmatic may work for an alternative rocker or goth act but for a folk singer or country band this would probably be a shot in the foot.
I think once people are interested not only in one song or one album and come to a point where they find an artist or band has a general appeal (in other words, they are becoming a "fan" whether conciously or not) then there is a natural curiosity that develops and a need to find out a bit more about the people behind the music. I will admit that I do it, not often but there have been musicians and bands that I have read about or "googled" and the information I found definitely enriched my experience in some way or another.
On that note, here is my latest concession to the overpowering force of the cyber revolution! Welcome to my "Twitter" updates!

Twitter Widgetgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Where have all the rock stars gone?

2008-11-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

The other day while taking a rare break to see what was on television (these usually last all of ten minutes before I realize yet again that there is nothing worth watching) I stumbled upon a video on MTV which got me thinking. I don't watch MTV and never did even when it actually had music but I did watch Much Music which is the Canadian equivalent and far better as far as real music content. But anyway, I caught this video for the latest single from a band that will remain nameless (except to say that the lead singer has a terrible "Bono Complex"). I was completely mesmerized and watched it right through but my reason for amazement wasn't what you might think. It was really more like watching that proverbial train wreck, so hard to look at but you can't seem to turn away. I probably do not want to know what the budget was for this over-styled load of nonsense but whatever it was it was too much. The whole thing consisted of melodramatic posing and motions which have become the standard rock-star moves with arms in the air like a general rallying his troops for the last stand. It was embarassing and basically came across as a parody but maybe I missed the point, maybe it was a parody.
Well, somehow I don't think so and maybe I am a bit out of touch but it seems to me that the biggest bands out there at the moment have very little in common with the rock stars of yesteryear. I look around a lot to see what is going on and I have yet to come across anyone with a real edge, who is really pushing the boundaries like they used to. I am sure there are people doing this but the whole big machine called the music industry (even if it is struggling like a big dying elephant) is so well-oiled and finely tuned that even the most rough, hard-edged and "f*** you" rock musicians end up coming out like Beaver Cleaver once they become part of it.
There are still some older musicians who played the part when they were younger and ride along on their laurels now but the new generation coming through seems more similar to the 50 year old versions of these "rock stars".
Ok, maybe I am biased and being "generational" and really, who cares if there are no more rock stars? Did they ever really contribute anything significant to society or humanity? Weren't they just the personification of self-indulgence and ego with no regard for morals or the general good? Simply irresponsible brats who didn't want to grow up? Yes, but that was the point. To allow a few who could play this role really well to actually do it and take it to the extreme was an outlet for a generation which allowed them to live normal lives while catching the feeling of being a rebellious youth vicariously through these "rock stars". Is this necessary? Maybe more than we think if you look at the examples of Graceland and Jim Morisson's grave. Think of it this way. The world is not going to end because the dodo bird is extinct but I am sure there were - and maybe still are - people who really miss having them around.
But I think when it gets to the point that the whole lifestyle, profession or whatever you want to call it becomes the subject of a video game then you can be pretty sure that the writing is on the wall and the end is nigh. Guitar Hero and Rockband have made it possible for everyone to play rock star in the warmth and safety of their own living rooms and to end the whole thing with a flick of a switch when it is time to deal with normal life and responsibilities. Now I have to admit, I have played one of these once (can't remember which one it was) and it was fun and a lot healthier for kids than running around shooting things. Still, I can't help but feeling that this is final nail in the real rock star's coffin. And when I think of that video I watched recently and the wishy-washy posing at music awards ceremonies and MTV shows like "Cribs" where supposed rock stars show off their homes and, for all I know, their favourite cookie recipies, I am pretty sure I am right.
Is all this the whining of a musician who never got to be a rock star? I'll admit that maybe there is a bit of that going on, I did have dreams of rock stardom but I stand by the decisions I have made in my life and can deal with it. I suppose when I was in my teens the idea of living from music, partying all night long, lots of beautiful groupies and general fame appealed to me a great deal. But the real thing I always wanted was the first thing, to make a living from playing music and to share it with as many people as possible. The rest would have been gravy and probably would have been left behind at some point as I aged and matured. I have also come to realize that respect is a lot more important than adoration.
And does it really matter if there are no more rock stars? No, not really but I grew up in the age of the dodo bird and I kind of miss having them around ;-)

Until next time.

Now the real fun begins...

2008-11-05T11:02:00.001-08:00

Well, it only took two years of campaigning, lots of cute catch phrases and promises of "change" and a budget for it all that for the first time in history actually exceeded that of a Republican campaign but in the end it worked. Obama is on his way to the White House.

I will try to stay on the optimistic side and say that I am actually really impressed that Americans went out and voted in record numbers and as a result have their first black President. This definitely shows a general attitude shift and social maturity that I really didn't expect. Congratulations America! Oh yeah, and to Obama too!

But I still can't help thinking that the choice was simply by default. McCain is far too old and his choice of running mate was absolutely ridiculous. The genius of a campaign strategist who made the final decision on that one must surely be out of a job today. In a two-party system it is basically a flip of the coin, or for voters who really take an interest, an "either/or" situation. Not a healthy democracy to say the least although I think the ruling class probably finds it perfectly convenient for their purposes.

All I can say is that I hope Obama lives up to the expectations and not only those of Americans but of the whole world. The influence of the US and its Commander in Chief is global and powerful. I still think back to Obama's visit to Berlin and the footage of the masses that were present for his big speech. Absolute hysteria in some cases. I honestly don't get it but I have to admit that the guy does have charisma. But watching this display of thousands upon thousands of Germans going nuts over a US presidential candidate also brings to mind a little poem I wrote a few years ago:

America...America
You could have been so beautiful
You could have been so brave
Instead you chose to make us all,
To make the world your slave.

Let's hope the new president makes me eat my words... ;-)

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

2008-11-03T10:40:00.001-08:00

This is really just a test to see if this widget from fineprintpariah.com actually works. I tried to get into Myspace but there is definitely a programming error there. Well, it seems to work here and basically wraps up in a "nutshell" (listening to that one by Alice in Chains right now ;-) Oh how I love punny, inside jokes even if I am the only one laughing! But, seriously now, here they are. These are all the sites where FPP is represented and it is not even complete. I will update it again in a few weeks but these should be enough until then. They all have roughly the same information but some have a few surprises as far as songs that are available and photos etc. Check 'em out!

It's only rock'n roll...

2008-10-31T11:30:00.001-07:00

As promised I am back on track with something related to music. As far as FPP goes, the title kind of sums up what I am doing with this at least in the musical direction. I don't mean "rock'n roll" the way the Rolling Stones sang about it with the typical guitar, bass, drums and vocals and 3 or 4 chord melodies or 12 bar progressions. That could be considered "traditional" rock and that is not what FPP is all about. I don't conciously do it, but it ends up that most of my songs go well beyond this traditional style but in the end it is still "rock'n roll" to me, just with a modern touch. Which brings me to my point and that has to do with the use of instruments in modern "popular" or "rock" music.
I have been in the studio putting new recordings together and I have developed a process for this. I use a click track and play a guide track on the acoustic guitar which I find can capture the nuances of the melody as well as providing the rhythm in a slightly percussive way that helps to establish the beat. I then play in the drums, then the bass, then guitars, then keyboards and finally vocals. If all goes well, everything that is necessary is there and the song is finished at least in my opinion. So you can see that the instrument configuration that I use is pretty similar to the traditional rock ensemble. The actual tones and effects on the guitars and keyboards might be quite different but the the basic elements are the same. And I like it that way. I like classic rock and although I have never bought an album I can truly enjoy the old Stones hits when I hear them on the radio. But for me to play something similar just wouldn't cut it and that is why I have developed (and continually develop) the sound FPP now has.
Now to my real point. I received a rather complimentary review for "Loveable and Dangerous" on Garageband.com several months ago but the reviewer had one major problem with the song and that was the guitar tone. He not only did not like the tone but the choice of instrument itself and suggested trying a cello. A freakin' cello? I couldn't really believe it myself at first and tried to imagine what that would do to the song (and I haven't changed it so that will tell you what I thought of this suggestion). I not only disregarded the suggestion, I have to admit I let it irritate me a bit and here is why. There are a lot of new "indie" bands out there doing all sorts of supposedly interesting things with instruments that are otherwise not used in the world of rock music. I am not going to mention any names but some of them are using accordians (joke to come later), horn sections (ok, for R and B maybe but for rock?), kazoos, ukeleles and god knows what else. I have listened to quite a bit of it and can only say that I find basically all of it thoroughly unspectacular and quite often too clever for its own good. Sure, I could throw in a tuba here and a xylophone there and maybe invite a whole encampment of dreadlocked, hacky-sack playing didgeridoo players to the studio but what the hell would that actually achieve? (other than giving me a king-size headache and putting my pacifist tendencies to the test ;-).
I have heard people saying that there is just not enough good, straightforward rock out there at the moment and maybe they are right. I am not the one who is going to change that but I am also not going to get cheeky and self-indulgent by straying too far from the rock that I know and love. People can review and suggest all the instruments they want - I actually get a kick out of it - but don't think that I will even for a second take these suggestions into consideration.

And now the joke:

What is the difference between an onion and an accordion?
No one sheds any tears when they chop up an accordion!

All for now.

The sky is falling!

2008-10-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

Or so you would think if you pay attention to the news these days, at least from the financial sector. Everywhere you look the stock markets are suffering, corporations are being "bailed out" and people are watching their retirement funds go up in smoke. Through all of this it is only the "little guy" I feel sorry for. Average, hard-working people who put their trust in insurance companies and investment groups led essentially by con-men in expensive suits who probably never did an honest days work in their lives. And the real thing that makes me angry is that these guys will never feel the effects of all this and will ride on those fat bail-out plans into their next overpaid position somewhere in some ivory tower down on Wall Street. I honestly cannot believe that there has been not a hint of revolution in the air, especially in the U.S. where so many have the necessary guns already. But I guess those days are long over and all we do now is sit back and let the pundits hash it out on "Meet the Press" while we nurse our hangovers after too much "forgetting" the night before at the local bar.
I myself have not lost anything basically because I have never invested anything. But this is something I have begun to think about because I am not getting any younger and I would like to have something there waiting for me when I get older and slow down and don't have the earning potential that I do now. However, I will certainly not be investing in anything that is connected with the stock market, at least not risky aspects. Perhaps commodities? I think I heard somewhere that these are usually pretty stable but I think I better do a bit more homework before I make any decisions ;-) I find the stock market to be a really strange concept and not because it has to do with "high finance" and "speculation" and all that crap but because it is basically the institutionalization of greed in its most conspicuous and blatantly lazy form. Think about it. What are they actually doing on these trading floors? They create nothing tangible, nothing of any real value. There is no product and no service (in the sense that a service should fulfill an actual need no matter how abstract). One could argue that they fulfill the need for the listed corporations and their stockholders to make money, but this can be achieved by other tangible means. What the buying and selling of stocks does is simply promote unnecessary growth and expansion of corporations which is all based on fictitious numbers streaming by on ticker-tape. The growth is completely "inorganic" meaning that it is not an accurate representation of what the corporation can provide in terms of real "value". It serves itself and the shareholders and the stockbrokers who get their cut and that is it! Society, in other words the "real world", is completely left out of the equation. That is until the bubble bursts and they are caught with their pants down and start crying for a bail-out. Then we find out that the money they were playing with was really meant for a retirement fund or someone's life insurance so the government has no choice but to step in. What in any other context would be considered criminal becomes a well-devised scheme for covering the asses of all these gamblers and their cronies on the trading floor!
To put it in perspective I can say this from personal experience. After watching too much "Family Ties" as a kid and noticing how "Alex Keaton" loved the business world and played the stock market I became infatuated with the idea. I was only about 11 or 12 at the time and I remember buying newspapers with stock market listings (and I think I even had the notion of actually buying some with my paper route money). I poured over those numbers in some hope of finding a real winner but in the end I couldn't make head nor tail of it all and gave up after a couple of weeks. Basically what I did was grow up and start dealing with the real world and real concerns like how I was going to get those papers delivered during a blizzard. I gave up on the stock market and got a "real job" so to speak. I delivered my papers which provided a real thing to the people on my route which brought them information and some kind of real value. I didn't make much money but what I did make was real and earned and respectable.
I am not an economist. I am sure someone who has been to business school will read this and laugh at its "simplicity" and "ignorance" but in the end what does that matter? If that revolution ever does ignite, who will be laughing then?

P.S. This was completely unrelated to music, I know, but I promise I will get back on track next time. I just wanted to get that off my chest ;-)

All's well that ends well...

2008-10-26T01:14:00.000-07:00

It took a while and I lost some precious time but I got the technical problems sorted out and I'm back in business. I went to the studio on Thursday evening and brought the software with me but the re-install there didn't seem to make a difference. I started a re-install on the recording software too but without an internet connection I couldn't complete it as the authorization is carried out by an online verification. So, a bit frustrated, I packed up everything and came home and started the whole process over again here. At first everything seemed fine but then I realized that the recording program was only recognizing the interface in playback mode and I couldn't find it in the recording options. It took a little while to figure out that at some point during all this fooling around, or perhaps during transport, a button on the interface had been hit which had switched the mode. A simple press of the right button and everything seemed fine again. Content with myself I finished for the day and went to bed.
On Friday evening I decided to have another look just to make sure everything was ready for my weekend sessions. I opened the program, set it up to record and checked the settings on the interface. It all looked the way it should until I hit the record button and got an error message. I began to investigate the problem, going as far as re-installing the drivers and recording software (yet again!), double and triple-checking all of the set-up until finally the voice of reason helped me out (the voice of reason being my girlfriend who looked over my shoulder and suggested checking the "Help" section of the recording program). So I did and bit of searching and cursing later I found the configuration panel I needed and adjusted the settings. I then quickly hooked it up to the stereo and hit play on the CD player and record on the program and, voila! It worked! And in some ways better than before.
It was a frustrating few days but in the end the problem was solved and I now know the computer set-up for my recording a lot better than before. A fair trade off I think, lost recording time but gained knowledge of the recording medium which will be very crucial in the future if things like this happen again.
I was in the studio yesterday and will go in today again for a few hours. There is a bit of catching up to be done but the session yesterday was really good and I am optimistic about today too.

Isn't it always the way...

2008-10-21T11:59:00.001-07:00

You know how it is sometimes. You get everything just where you want it and how you want it and running smoothly and something comes along and screws it all up. The proverbial "wrench in the works" if you will. Tonight my wrench was the USB audio interface I have been using (actually only the software I hope). Everything was going fine and I was recording some tracks - thankfully only for soundchecking and not the real deal - and suddenly the computer decided that it wasn't going to accept the software for the audio interface and demanded a re-install. As luck would have it, I didn't have the disc with me (note to self: bring all software, drivers etc. to the studio!) so all I could do was pack up my things and head home. On top of that, for some stupid reason I didn't think to bring the damn interface with me. I thought I could just go home, pop in the disc and re-install. Well, I was wrong and if I had given it about 30 seconds more thought I probably would have realized it before I left. The interface is "hardware" and as any semi-computer-literate person knows, if you are going to install software or drivers for it you need to have the hardware connected!
Yes, I am a bit annoyed with myself but oh well. I will bring all of the software with me next time and install it in the studio. I only hope that is the only problem because if not, it is going to be a real pain in the ass starting from scratch with new recording software.
Just one of those days I guess...

Give it a name!

2008-10-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

It's well underway now so I guess it is about time to give it a name, make it kind of official. Considering that this latest phase of recordings started around the time of the autumnal equinox I have decided to call this phase "The Equinox Sessions". Yeah, first there were the "Hibernation Demos" and now this so you can tell that I am a bit affected by the seasons. Considering how I usually feel in the winter months I sometimes think I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) but that would be greatly exaggerating. I think we all feel it during those deep and dark days in January and Februrary, at least in the northern hemisphere.

So I have been banging away on the skins yet again, coming up with some really fun (and occasionally back-breaking) rhythms and testing out the new set-up. Things are coming along nicely and the drums and bass should be in by the end of Oct. leaving Nov. for guitars and keys and maybe even vocals but I am in no hurry with this one. Five songs this time so I can concentrate even more on the fine points and I think I will be doing some experimentation with vocal overdubs and turning what was intended to be an instrumental into something you might call a "semi-instrumental". It all should be clear once they are done.

Other than that the only other thing to report is that "The Pendulum Swings" was played on a podcast for (of all things) american football fans!!! I find that pretty cool and completely unexpected, thanks Ron! If you are interested and want to find out what Chicago Bears Fans are talking about check out the link to the right.

So that's all for now. 'Til next time!

P.S. The entry from last time refers to making music, not blogging! ;-)

Why I do this...

2008-10-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Begins with strumming
A few chords, perhaps some notes in between
Even I do not know where this is going
But wait! Perhaps I do...
Stop. Start again,
Yes, this time the way is clear
This time I can see
That this canvas I have chosen
Has no edges, no borders...

Landscape set with melody
I continue on leaving all civilization behind
To the primitive realm of beats and rhythms
Catch on a wave, roll with it
Crash for a big finish or accent
To move on further from modern awareness
And pettiness.

I harness the snake, the big old thick snake
That is the bass, and basis of this union.
Old yet strong with age and infinitely agile
It slithers through melody and rhythm
Finding its place, not strangling
For I am its ruler, the beast is my pet.

Then to the keys
The key
To release this all from its earthly chains
Bring new dimensions
Only they and their charmed frequencies can lend.
Etheral, twisted, classic
The mask at the gala costume ball.

And on to the final, crowning release
Where words are unleashed,
Freed, Purged
Demons sent into exile
Messengers sent to potentially hostile embassies
Or welcomed as heroes...
Forgetting that someone might be - or will be
Listening...

That is why I do this.

Time keeps on tickin' tickin'...

2008-10-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

...and if you're a classic rock fan like me you probably know the rest and it leads nicely into the theme of my entry today. I actually sat down at least twice this week and tried to do some blog entries but every time I did I was interrupted by a phone call or something else. I can't even remember what I wanted to write about (except for one development in the music world that I wanted to rant about but I am glad now that I didn't. The "music world" I mean is the big one with the famous millionaire rock stars, not my world at all so why should I waste any mental energy on it). But back to my point.

My last entry was basically two weeks ago, not so good for continuity but I really had no choice. I simply didn't have TIME. This is because I was doing all sorts of other crazy things like working, playing and writing music, researching distribution strategies for FPP and in between all of that trying to have some kind of a personal life. It frustrates me when I don't keep up with this and when I don't meet my self-imposed deadlines for recording projects or FPP administrative things and this is only natural. But I also have realized that patience is important and rushing things through so I can do other things that I want to do or that are expected of me is not going to satisfy anyone, me least of all.
And I have been thinking too about a principle I have come to call the "Gunslinger Effect", my own catch phrase for a tortoise and hare phenomenon but applied to an old west setting in Clint Eastwood's film "Unforgiven". In the film, Eastwood's character discusses the phenomenon that most of the best gunslingers were not necessarily the ones who could draw and shoot the fastest. The more successful gunslingers (and thus the ones who actually survived shootouts) were the ones who could stay calm in a stressful situation and could draw, aim and shoot in a slower but more targeted and effective way. Their opponents might get off one or two shots first but their one quality shot, well-aimed would actually hit its target and they would walk away alive. Of course there were probably the few quick ones who also got lucky once in a while and actually hit what they were shooting at but the odds were low and far from consistent. The basic moral of the story: slow and steady wins the race.
So when I think that I am not making enough progress or not "doing enough" to make FPP a success I try to think of this phenomenon because I know I am doing all I can, that I am like that gunslinger taking that extra breath, that extra few tenths of a second that will make all the difference to the final outcome. I spend as much time as possible on this and a few other things I have going that are music-related but if every now and then these things have to wait and life "gets in the way", well, I think I can live with that ;-)

Until next time.

That time of the year...

2008-09-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is officially over and autumn is here and if it keeps up like it has been it should prove to be another nice one here in Berlin. Today was what I consider a perfect autumn day, about 18 degrees (celsius) sunny and no wind. It is difficult not to consider summer my favourite season but somehow autumn has always had a special meaning for me. I tend to fall into a strange state which combines sentimentality and anticipation, looking back but at the same time forward. And when I say "strange" I mean it in a good way ;-) In all respects autumn should signal the end of things, the leaves die and fall, the beaches and other outdoor areas are deserted, summer houses and cottages are boarded up and other preparations are made for the long winter ahead. But for me the season always has a beginning aspect to it, sort of like "the fun is over, now let's get to work!". Maybe this goes back to my school days. The summer was over, the fun had been had and now it was time to do something productive and meaningful. I was one of those crazy kids who actually enjoyed school I guess, at least until the last few years of high school when it became tiresome.

So, with that said I will get to the point. When I started FPP I set this autumn as my goal for beginning work on a debut album with the hope of actually releasing it before the end of the year. I knew at the time that this was somewhat unrealistic but I wanted to have that target there anyway and putting it in 2009 seemed too far away. I have taken time since then to evalutate the situation and have decided that plans will have to change. I could do what I set out to do but I think it would lead to everything being rushed and a premature release is not going to do FPP any good in the long run. The studio is set up but needs to be "broken in", tested, perhaps the odd component updgraded etc. before I will be able to get the sound quality up to scratch. To do this I am going to do yet another set of demos this autumn. This will achieve a few things at once:

1. It will allow me to test out the studio and make adjustments where necessary to improve the overall sound quality.
2. It will add yet another 5 new songs to my collection of demos thus increasing the overall number of my songs which exist in the recorded form.
3. It will give me a bit more time to organize all of the other things which will be necessary to ensure that the release is done properly.

I have been soundchecking already and I think it won't be long before I have something I am content with. I have also stumbled onto a few new rhythms which will improve some of the older demos when I do proper album versions of them. So things are good and while the leaves die and fall outside and people gaze out at them and sigh with a sense of loss and dread of the coming winter I on the other hand will be hard at work making the most of a season which never fails to fill me with inspiration.

All for today. Til next time.

P.S. Almost forgot. It was pointed out to me that I referred to the podcast plays as "airplay" but they were only online plays. What does this qualify as? Maybe "netplay"? ;-)

FPP 2.0 is official!

2008-09-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy weekend and I am ready for a nice quiet Sunday evening to recuperate and get ready for the next week. Spent quite a while yesterday putting the final touches on the new website and testing all the links. I thought that all the bugs had been worked out but a few little problems arose this morning once I uploaded everything. About half an hour and a bit of cursing later I had all of these sorted out and could enjoy my breakfast knowing that FPP 2.0 was running fine. I then spent a good while this afternoon updating all of the other pages I have and making sure that the announcement was made and all of the graphics etc. were somewhat uniform. So the online package is looking pretty good at the moment.

Then back to the real world and off to the studio to do some more setting up, not an easy task when you are dealing with so much gear in such a confined space - 6 square meters (about 18 square feet) - I probably could make a bid for smallest studio in the world! ;-)...at least with a real drum kit and not a desktop drum machine. I set up the mics on the drums and got the whole deal roughly worked out so I can get at everything without tripping over too much. I will go in some night this week to start sound-checking.

All for now. See ya!

A little airplay can't hurt...

2008-09-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note today to thank the podcasters who have been kind enough to give FPP some airplay recently. I have added them to the blogspot here, another big step for me, reaching out to get a bit more involved in this whole thing instead of just using this as some sort of public diary. "Skunk Smells" played Kill the Spy a week ago and "Radio Orphans" played Greet the Day yesterday. Thanks!

I have another couple of anouncements, the first one being that it looks like the website for FPP 2.O will be ready on schedule and will have its big launch this Sunday, Sept.21...new look, new attitude...you get the idea ;-)

I also just got back from the studio and finished setting up my latest addition, a drum kit - the final piece of the puzzle at least as far as having all of the equipment and instruments I need in my studio. I will be doing some serious soundchecking and experimenting for a while to see what kind of sound quality I can get out of this setup. Some equipment upgrades will probably be necessary but the question really is how urgently they are needed.

Well, I think that should do it for today. Until next time!

The good, the bad and the...

2008-09-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy getting the new songs out there and updating the web presence in preparation for Phase 2.0 so I have not had much time (or inspiration to be honest) for blogging. But one thing struck me today and it goes back to something I mentioned a few months ago. I have several sites that I use and all of them must be maintained which is not an easy task considering how un-user-friendly some of them are. Sure, they look good and seem to get traffic but on the other side of these pretty pages there is sometimes a pretty messy interface. I said a while ago that I would do a kind of review of these if I found time. Well, now is the time, at least for a short blurb about my experiences with each of them. So, here we go!

1. Reverb Nation: I'll start with what I consider the best and work down. Reverb Nation is probably the best site of it's kind out there, easy uploads, decent looking page with room for lots of info and best of all lots of handy tools. It has all sorts of widgets which you can customize and apply to several other sites, some with music, some with gig listings etc. However, it also has stats which are kind of sketchy. I have had an extremely good rating one day only to plummet to the bottome of the "charts" the next. There is no explanation of how these are calculated and frankly I don't care. The site is good and a link to it is a must for me.

2. Myspace: There are a lot of people out there running around bad-mouthing Myspace and some of them have some valid points. But the fact is, I have never had trouble uploading, I have been able to insert all kinds of extra media, I can see the latest happening with my "friends", I can find new friends easily and so on and so on. Maybe it's not so cool anymore to be on Myspace but I find it completely ok for what it is.

3. Youtube: What can I really say here. This is an extremely popular site and the cut and paste applications are great. It took me a while to get used to the interface but after that it was easy.

4. Garageband: This is pretty useful for a lot of reasons. If you want to get some feedback in the form of listener reviews you can earn credits by doing reviews yourself. I put two songs out from the Hibernation Demos and got some useful feedback (and some real smart-ass stuff too but that's to be expected). It has the usual bio, gig listing etc. and even a podcast.

5. Last.fm: A lot of people rave about this site and don't get me wrong, it is good. But is it as good as they all say? Not really. It has a decent user-friendly interface and I have never had uploading problems but I am not sure if it is really the little guy's saviour. I think I a lot of listeners just go for the usual mainstream or big "indie" bands and don't really look around too much. I also know for a fact that some users I know have visited my page and listened and downloaded but for some reason they rarely ever register as "listens" on my profile. Again, like the Reverb Nation stats it really doesn't matter. I have a link to it from my homepage and if people want to find FPP there they will.

6. Fuzz: I stumbled upon this one and thought "what the hell". The profiles aren't so pretty but the uploads work fine and people have come by and listened which is shown on the back end part - kind of nice to see when you log in. I even have a fan there!

7. Imeem: This is something like Myspace but with an even younger demographic perhaps. I have looked around a bit and for the most part I do not understand half of the jargon or crazy abreviations these kids use but I have a few friends there so why not. One major problem is the upload interface. After a week of trying and struggling I finally came up with a trick that worked: I saved the mp3s to the desktop and used Explorer. Fireox doesn't seem to work here.

8. Amie Street: This one is pretty popular but again something like Last.fm. Most people seem to go for the obvious. I have had a few listens there but otherwise it is not very useful. My first round of uploads failed several times but this round went through fine so no complaints there.

9. Virb: This a Myspace-type site designed by the people who do Purevolume. I am new to it and yet to find any friends but I am putting it ahead of Purevolume for the simple reason that I was able to create my profile - uploads included - in about 15 minutes. It looks ok too.

10. Purevolume: This is not actually a bad site and it looks like it has a lot of listeners but it has been the most complicated for uploading. I struggled and cursed and tried again and cursed some more before I considered deleting my profile altogether. That was until I tried on last trick, the same one I used with Imeem. I simply saved the mp3s on my desktop and uploaded them from there using Explorer and bang! it worked! Well, for two songs at least ;-) Otherwise it is generally slow and upredictable and I am still waiting for a response to my help request!

11. Facebook: Ok, this not really fair because I haven't really explored all the possibilities with this one and I have to admit that the uploading is quick and easy. But it seems to me that Facebook is quite a serious site where people go to make "real" connections. I am not saying this is bad thing and I will try to find the time to do it, but that's the problem. the time commitment. I think the people who really like Facebook are dedicated users and would never think of using anything else. I can't limit FPP to that.

12. Bebo: Here the problem is something the same as with Facebook (although with Facebook I have been too lazy to do a personal profile). There is no real way to simply do a band page so you have to do a personal profile and then creating the band page is somewhat complicated (made even more so by some collaboration with Reverb Nation, although I blame Bebo for that). In the end the personal profile and the band profile become hopelessly intertwined until it is hard to tell where you are putting what. Didn't matter much anyway, I never did get any songs uploaded due to their hopeless interface (and trust me, I tried every trick!) Only thanks to a Reverb Nation widget are any songs actually available there. I have one friend who found me and I am in a few music groups but I have looked around and am not really interested in sending out any requests. Most of the profiles are filled with ridiculous superficial nonsense giving the impression that the average user has an IQ of about 20. I will leave my profile there but it will not be linked to fineprintpariah.com in the 2.O version.

13. Beta Records: Don't let the name fool you, this is NOT a record label! (even though they would like to think it is the new way to do things) I knew that from the start but thought a profile couldn't hurt. I got everything uploaded fine but then went a few weeks without logging in. At some point during that time they changed the entire site and now I can't even log in! No big loss, the site design is pretty lame and I didn't expect much from it anyway. Another one that won't be getting a link.

So that's it for now. As you can see I have been concentrating on quantity instead of quality and this strategy will change soon. I think I have as many sites as I can manage and I would like to explore what they can really do for FPP for a while. Maybe once I have done that I will do a revision of this list and some things will change. I didn't include blog sites because that is a different ball game in my opinion. So for anyone in a band or helping a band get some online publicity I hope this helps. Until next time!

Back in the old world!

2008-09-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am back! Made it to the homeland and through 4 provinces and 4 states (that meant a total of 4 border crossings with no problems! ;-) and back to Berlin without a scratch. Had a great time.

During the trip I wanted to get back to nature a bit and do things outside the cities so I spent very little time in Toronto but I was there for one weekend and one particular thing stood out. I figured if I was there I might as well check out some live music so on the Saturday evening I sat down at the computer and started searching the local gig listings. I was quite surprised to find very little and even less of anything that really interested me. There was a record release party for a punk band, some kind of Gypsy Jazz singer/songwriter at another location and yet another location that had several performers starting in the late afternoon and on into the night but neglected to mention in any way shape or form what kind of music it was. At this point I was not optimistic but decided simply to go down to Queen St. and walk around until something caught my eye. Well, to make a long story short, this never happened and in the end all I got out of the experience was aching feet. I know there are other areas in the city that might have had something to offer but I figured Queen St. should be a safe bet when looking for some live music on a Saturday night. I don't want to make any sweeping statements about the live music scene in Toronto based on one fleeting experience but I have to say that it left me a bit cold. I guess Montreal is where all the action is these days, at least for alternative rock.

So after this experience I was glad to come back to Berlin where the situation seems to be the polar opposite. In fact, I think there is almost too much going on in this city sometimes. The number of listings on a typical Saturday night in Berlin makes Toronto look like some one-horse town in the middle of the desert (don't get me wrong, I really love my old hometown but it angers me sometimes to see it not reaching its full potential).

But maybe from a musician's perspective this situation in Toronto is actually advantageous. In Berlin there is cheap to free live music at several locations every night of the week so people don't tend to value it as much. I would even go as far as saying that Berliners are a bit spoiled when it comes to live music and really take it for granted (a problem that finds it roots in state sponsorship of contemporary youth culture and art, but that is a whole other Pandora's Box that I will open at another time). As a musician you are constantly competing for attention and attendance at your gigs. There are simply too many choices.

In Toronto, hoewever, this is obviously not the case. This limits the opportunities for musicians and bands to perform but those who do get gigs have a greater chance of getting people in the door for the simple fact that there are a very limited number of doors to go through. So, getting a gig in Toronto may be harder than in Berlin but if you do manage to it should be much more lucrative (theoretically anyway).

An example from personal experience: After walking up and down Queen St. for over an hour I gave up and went back (literally) to where I had started, the corner of Queen and St.Patrick, and went into The Rex (after paying a cover charge) to listen to a jazz trio from Hungary!!! I don't mind a bit of jazz once in a while but it is really not my thing. But in the end, with so little choice, I ended up there. I wonder how many other people in that almost full venue were there for the same reason.

Is all of this some kind of masked sentimentality for my beloved hometown spurred on by homesickness at coming back to Berlin at exactly that time of year when you know the summer is over and another long, grey winter will soon be here? No, I don't think so and I think I will stay put here in the old world even if it is a bit spoiled culturally. There are far too many benefits to let the odd negative blind your judgement and this city inspires me. Maybe it is the fact that it has a hint of chaos where Toronto is built on order, that it shows its old and tired face where Toronto constantly undergoes beauty surgery, that it yells and bellows where Toronto tends to hold its tongue (like all those polite Canadians). Whatever it is, it is Berlin and for me, for now, it is home.

See you in September...

2008-08-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note before I fly off to the homeland for a few weeks of well-deserved vacation (if I do say so myself ;-). Hopefully I will have some tales to tell when I get back. See you then!

Time to draw the line...

2008-08-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Before I get started on my next rant I will just say that I put a few songs out there as a sneak preview of Phase 2.0 which I will properly launch in September with all 8 songs, new website etc. Comparing the new recordings with the Hibernation sessions I am quite pleased with the improvement in sound quality, not just technically but also with the playing and singing. The one thing that is noticeable, however, is that no matter how good the vocals are and how well they are mixed there is just no chance of getting a better sound with that mic. So for the next phase I have already started looking for a suitable replacement. But all in all I am very pleased and look forward to the next round when I will be able to do everything in my own studio and really bring the level up to scratch.

So now, on to another thing that has been on my mind for a while and this time it kind of connects back to me uploading my songs and making them available for free download. When I do this it is my choice and I do it because they are only demos (but hopefully ejoyable and interesting all the same) and I want them out there to be recommended, exchanged etc. This is a promotional phase for me and the time and money I have invested in these recordings is essentially "start-up" costs. I think of it this way: If my business was a restaurant I would still have to invest capital to pay the first few months rent on the building, buy the equipment for the kitchen, the glasses and tableware etc. so why should this venture be any different. Also, if I were to open a restaurant I would probably offer some good deals on the food for a while to get some attention. Of course I couldn't give it away for free because the ingredients cost money so I have to at least cover my costs. The thing about mp3s is that they themselves do not cost anything. Once I have the songs recorded I can replicate them for free at will. This is like having a restaurant that somehow magically restocks the fridges without me having to actually buy the food.

But anyway, back to my point. I put my songs out there in a lot of places on the web and always downloadable and for free where possible. This is my choice and I hope that it motivates people to come to my sites rather than searching for the songs on a bit torrent site. It is a reward for showing some interest even if it is only fleeting. Some will come by, take the song and never come back, but hopefully a few will continue to come back and eventually become fans who will buy a CD or T-Shirt when I have those things to offer. But when I choose to give away my songs for free I am not including the copyright with them, that remains with me. So officially, a person can visit my site and download the song but if he or she sends that song on to a friend or uploads it to a bit torrent site they have "officially" broken that copyright but as far as I am concerned they can do this all they want. It might officially be "piracy" for the people who get it from another site but what do I care, spread the word and enjoy them!

However, there are two things I have come across recently that make me think that this "revolution" in the approach to music and other intellectual property in the digital age has gone a bit too far. I read an article recently that basically recommended promoting the "piracy" of music on the internet on the basis that it is a good promotional tool for bands and helps get the word out to get people to concerts and buy T-Shirts (and CDs too, if anyone really buys those things anymore). Nice idea and I agree to a point. But why go as far as "promoting" piracy? Isn't tolerating it enough and trying to provide good, legitimate web platforms where people can get high-quality mp3s at a good price? This all sounds as propoganda-like as the record industry side with its scare tactics and doomsday scenarios.
The other thing I came across was the launch of (yet another) website where artists can develop a page, upload their music etc. and get some attention. Again, nice idea but I am not really sure we need another one and I began to look closely to see what made this one different from all the rest. Well, I found it alright and it really got me thinking. They do not try to hide the fact - and make very sure the artists understand - that when they upload a song it is automatically under a "creative commons" license which not only allows the downloading and free distribution of it, but also automatically allows others to take it, alter it, add to it, remix it and, get this, make money from it! Without having to pay you a cent! In other words, as an artist you are instantly giving up your copyright on the work and according to creative commons licensing this can never be revoked. Admittedly, the product they make from it or whatever they include it in also automatically has this status, but come on! I don't mind investing some money and time in creating recordings of my songs but I'll be damned if I am going to let someone come along, remix it and make money from it while I slave away in a dead-end office job for 40 hours a week. I will not mention the name of the site, I am not trying to make enemies here (for some people this might be the best thing since...well, you know the rest) but I myself am taking a stand. As far as I am concerned it's time to draw the line now before this whole "cyber revolution" gets way out of hand. But that's just my opinion.

Until next time.

"Indie" Indeed....

2008-07-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm back to finish what I started in the last post and it deals with something that has been really bugging me for a few years now. This is especially true now considering my present situation and I will explain why shortly. But first, a bit of background.

The term "indie" which is simply short for independent, is a term which became popular in the 80's to describe all those bands and performers who were not signed to a major label but were still doing their best to make a living with music. In the beginning, this involved a lot of underground acts that were considered too risquee for mainstream audiences, so of course it mainly consisted of punk and garage rock bands. During the post-punk era when a new generation came through influenced by the punk sound but also by more mainstream acts and perhaps some early electronic music, the "indie sound" began to develop and became something of an official category by the mid-80s. In the U.S. this included bands like R.E.M and a classic example in the U.K. was The Smiths, both of which left those roots way behind once the indie sound caught on with mainstream audiences. So the irony is pretty obvious. The category had been created on the basis of the bands status, not really the sound. The sound was created after the fact and inevitably counteracted the independence by becoming popular and making it interesting for the record companies that originally wanted nothing to do with it.

So where does that leave "indie rock" today? Some people still believe there is a particular sound that is "indie" but what that sound has in common with the original indie sound is not clear to me. I am not sure I have ever really found a proper definition of this term that musically makes sense. So what happens when the term is applied to a band on the basis of its original meaning, simply being independent, not signed to a label (at least not a major)? Well, here is an example from personal experience.

When I was with my last band we decided to put songs on Garageband.com to get some feedback and maybe make some contacts. When it was time to choose a category for the music we all agreed on "indie rock" because the music was rock and we were completely independent, no label big or small, no manager, no publisher, in other words, on our own. Inevitably some reviews came in that commented on our choice of category saying essentially that our sound was not indie. Well, our sound was rock, and we were independent, so as far as I was concerned we were in the right category. But apparently there is a "sound" and we did not have it. Or did we? Another reviewer went out of her way to make the comment "...very well-done intelligent indie-rock"! So what am I to think? Who is right? Does it make a difference? It only goes to show just how useless this term has become.

I think it is for this reason, and the fact that a band like R.E.M. still gets billed as one of the original indie bands and the fact that in Wikipedia under "indie bands" you will find the likes of Radiohead (ok, I know, they are not with a label anymore, but come on!!!) that I have chosen to avoid this term for the rest of my musical career. Which is pretty ironic considering my current situation.

I am not signed to any label, I am not signed with a publisher, I do not have a manager or agent or anyone else supporting my musical career. I have been recording for the past eight months and have played all the instruments, been my own producer, my own sound engineer, graphic designer, webmaster, PR department....I think you get the point. And all of this is ok for now. FPP is still in its infancy and until a few more things are set up and the ball is really rolling there is no need for me to bring anyone else in. But that does not mean that when the time is right that I won't. I am sure I will welcome the opportunity to include some people I trust to take over some of the administration things so I actually have more time to concentrate on the music. For now, however, it's just me.

Indie? Don't try to tell me what indie is, I live it every day!!! ;-)

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

2008-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

...then it must be "prog metal"?

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a few things on my mind and a few more to get off my chest. One of these is the age-old problem of music classification. This is an issue that has bothered me since I started making music and it has only been exacerbated by the constant creation of new "genres", "sub-genres" and for all I know "micro-super-niche-genres". It has basically gotten to the point of being ridiculous because there are so many genres and categories out there that they have no real meaning anymore. I agree that over-generalization is not good, to simply group all modern popular music in the category "pop" does nobody any favours. To group Britney Spears with Metallica doesn't help either of them. They are both very "popular" but I cannot imagine their listeners have much in common or share the same taste in music no matter how ecclectic it might be. But to over-specifiy (if that is even a word ;-) just takes it to the other extreme. It seems that every band or performer has taken it upon themselves to be that journalist who basically coined the term "heavy metal" while writing a review about Jimi Hendrix. You come up with a new category or catch phrase, it catches on, you and your music get more attention. This might have worked a few years ago but I think it is now to the point of either being laughable or simply annoying.

My opener here was inspired by some of the reviews I have received on Garageband.com. When I put my music on there I simply put it in the "alternative rock" category on the basis that FPP is the sum of its parts and can generally be considered rock but not of the typical 3 or 4 chord variety. A couple of the reviewers mentioned that they would classify the music (or at least a particular song) in a different category, one of which was, you guessed it, "progressive metal". I am not really sure what this is but I think it includes band such as Queensryche and later King Crimson. Ok, not really my cup of tea but good company all the same. But where is the line between metal and rock and when did I cross it? Well, I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over that one. I think I will stick with "Alternative Rock" for now and see what happens.
I have another point to make here but I will do that in a separate post. See you there!

Yeah, I'm still here...

2008-07-28T11:07:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while and I don't really have any excuse other than that I was really busy mixing the new songs (I'll get to that later) and the weather really improved so I have been doing my best to have a real summer this year. I have also basically stumbled upon a whole bunch of new toys and ideas for the online presence and will be taking some time to organize things based on that. I have set Friday Aug.1 as the date for the "Sneak Preview" (or pre-listen) and will upload maybe 3 of the new songs on some of my sites to give people a taste of what is coming in September. I don't want to set any definite dates yet, but the real launch of FPP 2.0 with all the bells and whistles will take place sometime in September, probably close to the end of the month.

So, the mixing. I had some very frustrating evenings with this, not because the material was bad (in fact it was quite a bit better than the Hibernation sessions) but because I wanted to do it properly and not just get a "good" sound. I really focused on the noise levels on tracks and managed to use a dehisser to get that out a lot but I will be more careful in the future to make sure that the noise levels on the original track aren't so high. This should be much easier now with the studio monitors. I also paid a lot more attention to the EQ and used stereo panning to separate tracks to the left or right and get more definition in the sound. I came up with a couple of different finished products that either sounded good in the 2.1 stereosystem or others that sounded good through headphones but I have yet to get the right mix for an average stereo system. I have compromised a bit and basically accepted what I have because I tested the system I have at home with "professional" CDs and the problem is the same. The system just does not have a good bottom end and the bass is always lacking.

So I am happy enough with what I have after all this "tweaking" and frustration and will make a bit of it public soon. Now that this is finished I will also have a bit more time to keep up with this (the blogging I mean). I have some things to write about too! But that will have to wait until next time.

Back in action...

2008-07-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, the break was short but good and I am glad to be back at it in my new studio. I picked up the keys and moved a few things in on July 1st and then brought a bit more there on July 3rd, but as luck would have it things got busy at work and I had to stay late a few times which kind of put a damper on a week that should have been pretty exciting. On top of that, I ordered monitors at the beginning of the week to make sure I had them for this weekend but they only arrived on Saturday afternoon, thus holding up my plans to do the vocals yet again. But I did go in on Saturday for a few hours and set things up and basically did some sound checking. I got things set up quite well and went back in again today for a few hours and did a few songs. They are coming along nicely but everything is a bit behind schedule and I will just have to be patient. I don't want to rush things like I did with the Hibernation Demos. The opportunity for some really good recording is there and I want to use it to the full. One way or the other there will be some new music before I take my real summer break in August.
So if everything works out I will be in the studio almost every evening this week to make up for lost time. I wouldn't usually push it so much but next weekend is booked up for a little getaway, kind of a late birthday thing for my significant other. Which is actually really good because despite having the break we still didn't really have much time toghether except for a few nice dinners out.
Other than that there is not much to say. I got a bit sentimental for some reason and starting looking up music online from the nineties, alternative rock stuff that I used to rock out to at the Zoo Bar in Toronto every weekend. I don't know if it was my subconcious at work but some of this stuff gave me some great ideas for the vocals in Phase 2, basically just inspiring me to really let loose and let out a bit of anger (yes, even at my age I still get irrational bouts of anger except now I can control them much better ;-)
I'll leave it there for today but if I have time I will get to those issues I was talking about last time and do some ranting. Until then.

Phase 2 update...

2008-06-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

It looks like I will have time for a short break before moving into my studio to finish off the songs for Phase 2. I've been hard at work torturing the neighbours with take after take but it appears that all of the instruments are now played in and the only thing left is the vocals. Makes no sense to rush it and do them here when I will have a much better place to do it in a couple of weeks. I suppose I could start doing some mixing and editing but I think a break is a better idea. A little distance will be good to let things sink in and get my ears fresh.
So I only hope that the weather cooperates and I can enjoy the next few weekends (and the evenings during the week) somewhere outside instead of sitting here. I have really enjoyed these sessions and even risked a little experimentation this time (so be prepared for some sonic surprises!) but I also want to enjoy this summer and not be sitting here in October wondering where it went.
I will be working on other things related to the project in the meantime, however. I have already started some graphics to symbolize the new phase and I want to get some new promo photos done, colour this time to match the season. I would also like to do a video of one particular song unplugged. I actually have a recording of it from the Hibernation Demos but have not put it out there because although it is an alright demo I think it can be much, much better. But it is a song that always goes over well when I play it solo and acoustic and therefore I think it deserves a video. My Youtube needs some more content anyway ;-)
Well, all for now. I have had a few more general music things swirling around in my head that I would like to vent about but I think I will collect my thoughts first and leave that for next time.

Oh yeah...it's about music!

2008-06-13T14:34:00.001-07:00

After all this talk/writing about songs and music and recording I guess this kind of makes sense. A little toy I just found on Reverb Nation. Enjoy!

Movin' on up!

2008-06-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to mention before it was official for fear of jinxing it, but the contract is signed and the deal is sealed. As of July 1st I will be moving into my own rehearsal space/studio! I had actually gone to see the place quite a few weeks ago and the decision wasn't difficult considering the price and the location but with such a long waiting time I kind of thought that something might go wrong and I wouldn't get it after all. But in the end it worked out and I am really looking forward to setting things up and getting ready for some intense recording this autumn.

Speaking of recording, I have been working away on phase 2 and things are coming together nicely. I got all the bass lines done in the evenings last week and started the guitars on Saturday. Despite the distraction of a beautiful sunny day I managed to get the guitars done for nearly four songs (one needs a few touch-ups). No time for that tonight but I will get back at it tomorrow.

One downside to the rehearsal room was having to pay two months rent up front as a deposit which kind of put a dent in my budget but I still think I will be getting those studio monitors to mix these new recordings properly. Oh yeah...and a sustain pedal for the keyboard!

Until next time!

One busy day...

2008-06-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

It has been a great weekend. Today I am just relaxing and enjoying the sun which is well-deserved considering yesterday. I spent most of the day at a rehearsal room recording the drum lines for Phase 2. I was there for six hours in a dark basement while the sun beamed down outside, a frustrating situation to say the least. But it was worth it. I got eight tracks down, not the ten I expected originally but I am still content considering the complications I ran into lately. Scheduling rehearsal time was ridiculously complicated due to a combination of a busy work schedule, personal obligations and a rather uncooperative contact person at the rehearsal complex. So what should have been accomplished weeks ago is finally done. I will spend the next few weeks playing in the rest of the intruments and put the vocals in early in July. If all goes well they will be finished by mid July.

But that wasn't all I did yesterday. I got home at about 5:30pm and got my gear packed up, had some dinner and was off again to do my "gig". This was also very good (which surprised me considering the lack of time I had had to practice), a very nice group were there and for the most part they were very attentive and responsive. I played 3 short sets, gave away some CDs and perhaps made a good contact for gigs in the future. All in all a success.

Well, it is far too nice out there today to sit here at the computer so I will wrap it up for now. Above: A photo from the gig. A bit obscure but then again, so was the gig ;-)

From out of the blue...

2008-05-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's strange the way life goes and there are just those times when so many coincidences happen that you can't help but thinking that there is really some higher power up there playing some kind of giant chess game ;-)

I got a strange call on my mobile today from someone at a location where I played one mediocre, badly attended solo gig last year. I had long but given up on the place, even at the time when I was actively looking for gigs. The whole situation was too complicated and getting booked always involved numerous phone calls or drop-in visits until they finally got out the book and wrote you in. So it was quite an irony that they called me today to ask if I could play there on Saturday night for the birthday party of one of their regulars. I had to think about this for a while but once I found out the details (including a nice little bit of pocket money :-) I said "yes". So it is official. This will be the first gig I have done since starting this project and to make it even more ironic, it is essentially a private gig and I am not really supposed to advertise it. I will just say that it is at an "undisclosed location" at the border of Kreuzberg and Mitte.

It is actually quite a nice place with a decent little stage and tastefully decorated, not too pretty and not too trashy. I will play three short sets and a DJ will fill the gaps and keep things going afterwards. Besides the gig it could be a fun night and there should be a good group there. I'll bring some promo CDs and give out "birthday presents" to as many guests as possible. Another great thing is that I don't even have to do any promotion, in fact I'm not supposed to.

So for Fine Print Pariah's real "first gig" the rest of you will have to wait a while longer, but I will get out there and probably bring a band with me and do it right. And don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know all the details and disclose the location long before it happens. ;-)

Testing, testing....

2008-05-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

Fine Print Pariah http://fineprintpariah.bebo.com/

This is actually just a test. I have been messing around with some of my other sites today and found all sorts of neat applicatons (how useful they actually are remains to be seen). So, if you are reading this I guess you get the idea: I have a profile on Bebo and you can check it out or "friend" me or whatever you're supposed to do with these things. The really funny thing is I can't even get my music uploaded to this one so until I figure out what the problem is there I am not using it much. Well, I guess that's it for today. Back to the wild, wild web!

Entering Phase 2...

2008-05-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

So I have begun Phase 2, the next round of demo recordings with the new equipment. The objective here is to get the production level upgraded with special emphasis on the drum and vocal sounds. I am trying this with 10 songs, maybe a bit much but another personal objective is to get as many of my songs recorded as possible (at least decent demos).
I was out twice this week for drum sessions to get the arrangements sorted out. The first session was "ok" (it felt really great to bang those skins again) but the break of a few months showed and it took a while to find the rhythms. Yesterday was much better and I came up with some great ideas for songs which I thought would be really difficult. All in all it is coming together nicely and I think I will be ready to record after another 3 or 4 intense practices.

It was also interesting that at both sessions I ran into an old acquaintance from the music scene here in Berlin and we got to talking a bit about what we both had been up to. He is something like a booker (on a very small scale) and hosts open sessions in various locations around the city. I have done some of these sessions in the past during my "singer/songwriter" phase. These can be very hard gigs, poorly attended and often full of drunk "wannabes" who want to play rock star for night and probably don't remember much of it the next day. But there are usually a few who actually pay attention and show their appreciation as you pour your heart out and every once in a while there is a pleasant surprise when someone comes by to play and shares some beautifully crafted original songs, but for the most part it is an experience that I would rather have sitting around a campfire with some friends instead of in a dark, smelly bar with a bunch of strangers. So when he proposed doing a few sessions I had very mixed feelings and politely replied "we'll see". I suppose if he actually calls with a definite offer I will give it some consideration but he is the kind of guy who says a lot and never follows up on it. Unless you call him you can bet that nothing will come of it. But like I said, if he does call with a definite date I might (and I stress MIGHT) just do it. I haven't played live for a while and I really miss it. I would not do it as Fine Print Pariah as such, but could use the opportunity to promote the project by performing the songs "unplugged" and giving away promo CDs. However, this always sounds good in theory until I get there and realize that nothing has changed and it is going to be another one of "those nights". The beauty of it now is, because I have a steady income from my day job I really do have a choice and do not have to consider the little bit of money that is involved. It is a great feeling to be able to say "no" and save myself the frustration without having to dwell on the possible lost income.

In other words, things are good! Sometimes the day job frustrates me and I really would like to have more time and energy for music but then I just look around me at my "studio" and realize that it is all worth it and I wouldn't have all this gear if it wasn't for that nice paycheck each month. And who knows, maybe someday I can say a friendly "good-bye" to my colleauges and do my own thing but until then I am quite happy to head into the office each day knowing that I have my music (and a loving girlfriend!) waiting for me when I get home. What more could a guy ask for?! Until next time!

The future of popular music (Part II)

2008-05-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

I've been duped! Well, almost anyway. At least I woke up in time and read the writing on the wall clearly instead of just taking a passing glimpse. What I mean is, in Part 1 I began with the idea that there is a crisis in the music industry but this is really not the case. My mistake was in falling prey to the propaganda that is being spread by the recording industry or at the least the giant corporations that have dominated this industry for a long time and are now running scared for reasons I have already mentioned. These corporations would like to have us believe that the digital age with its file-sharing and "pirating" and general disregard for "intellectual property" and copyrights will lead to the end of music as we know it. But the fact is that it will only lead to the end of music as "they" know it and the music will not end just because they don't control it anymore and won't be able to live their fat cat lifestyles by peddling yet another mega pop star or boy band to the masses (but somehow I still think they will manage to continue doing this, just not as much). You only have to look a few inches beyond their propaganda to see that almost the exact opposite of what they are saying is true.
Upon closer inspection we can see that independent artists and labels are doing better than ever with the new distribution and promotion resources available to them through the internet. They may not be living in big houses and driving fancy cars but that's not the point. Some of them are managing to make a decent living exclusively from their music and that is a lot more than they could have expected even 15 years ago. Admittedly, some smaller labels have gone under but if you look carefully at the fine print ;-) you will probably see that most these were not really as independent as they would like us to believe and went under during the first round of cutbacks by the major labels that were bankrolling them. Yet there have also been other genuinely independent labels that have recently gone under but it is a stretch to think that file-sharing etc. are really the cause. Small labels have always been around and some survive while the majority die off and it doesn't always mean some sad ending. Some of these endeavours begin quite whimsically and are not really intended to carry on for the long haul. People get together, put out a few albums, have some fun (and hopefully don't lose too much money in the process) and then call it quits to move on to other things. People change, life goes on.
But for those people who are serious and dedicated to making a living with music the time has never been better. More people have access to music than ever before through the multitude of outlets provided by the internet e.g. internet radio, streaming services, social networks and yes, even P2P no matter how you might feel about it. And more people are making music as well, either together with some friends in a garage somewhere or in their bedroom with a keyboard and computer. In fact, if you look at a site like Myspace you would thing that everyone in the world is in a band. Which raises the question: With all of this music out there won't mine just get lost in the shuffle? Perhaps, but that is just more incentive to work hard and use the means at your disposal to stand out. If you keep working at it and getting the message out in every way possible you will find your listeners (at least I hope so ;-)
And I believe and have heard quite a bit from people who feel that live music has even more appeal in the digital age because of the flood of recorded music that is available. Now that so many people are recording their own music and putting it out there for everyone to hear it has lost a bit of its special quality. The new alternative to this is the old-fashioned concert with people playing real instruments and singing and sweating it up right on stage in front of you. But there are realities for the working musician trying to make a living from this and again we get into economies of scale. A solo performer with an acoustic guitar and maybe a car can, with a bit of hard work, go out on a circuit and if he or she is willing to perform about 4 or 5 times a week can probably make a decent living from this while selling CDs and mp3s on the side. However, once you get more people involved, let's say a 4 piece band, then things get more complicated. Looking at the big acts throughout the world doesn't help in this situation because what the top say 5% can afford to do are not concerts as much as they are "events" which rely on huge promotion budgets and massive production overheads (thus the insane ticket prices). But there are also succesful bands out there in a type of middle-market where the productions are on a decent scale in venues with a capacity of 1000 or 2000 and when they are well-planned and combined with a good merchandise stand can also do quite well. I have worked as a stagehand for some of these productions and they were always the most enjoyable and the intimacy of the whole thing was very appealing for the musicians as well as the audience. But I have also worked on massive super band productions and they often just left me shaking my head and asking: where is the music in all of this?
So I guess my point is, there is no real crisis in the music industry, only for the giant corporations who monopolized things for far too long. Music is not dying, not by a long shot. The way I see it, popular music a.k.a rock or pop, is only reaching its rebellious and volatile adolescence and is going to start kicking and screaming harder than it ever has before and I for one hope it keeps doing so for a long time to come.

Out on the town...

2008-04-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd check in before I head out for the evening to a concert at the Tacheles, one of Berlin's most famous underground venues (but not really so underground anymore). I haven't done this for a while, as I mentioned before I was in a kind of hibernation this winter and focused completely on recording and getting this thing going. So I am really looking forward to this, not only because I haven't done it for while but because it is not just "any" concert. The band is called Jud and is one of the many projects that David Judson Clemmons has going in his very busy musical life. I met David here in Berlin and we are not close but every time we see each other it is always a pleasure. He is one of the most hard-working and humble musicians I know and for me represents the future of music in a certain way. This is not to say that he is a "spring chicken" with tons of blind ambition and some kind of unique idea for how to make it as a musician in the digital age. He is first and foremost a musician and has been writing, recording and performing for a long time but it has only been at rare times that he has been able to completely make his living from this. But instead of giving up and saying "screw it, I want to be a rock star and if I can't have the lavish lifestyle with the big cars and houses then screw music altogether" he has perservered for one simple reason: he loves music! So he is quite content to do his day jobs and be a father AND keep things rocking as much as possible. He is a true role model for the next generation of musicians.
Jud is the reincarnation of a band that David was in while he lived in the U.S. and they will be releasing a new album very soon. I have heard some songs already, it rocks! So, like I said, I am really looking forward to this and I know I won't be disappointed.
Until next time. Rock on!

I predict a Renaissance

2008-04-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you have read through this blog from the start you will have noticed that at the very beginning I listed making an album as a major goal. This seemed at the time to be quite a natural line of thinking. I am a musician. I write music. When possible I perform that music. When the time is right I record that music. I put the songs together into an album, give it a name and artwork and I have a nice little package to offer to my listeners. But the more I read about the "digital revolution" the more this line of thinking has been called into question.
Some comentators have predicted the demise of the album and have likened what is happening now to how things were in the 50s, when albums didn't really exist and singles were the standard form for recorded music. The advantage was that they were affordable for the young people who wanted it but didn't have a lot of disposable income. It also provided the artists with a bit of sustainability because they could release a single every few months, thus continually throwing themselves into the radio spotlight. In other words, they weren't "blowing their load" in one go and frantically trying to ride the wave for as long as possible while at the same time trying to do it all again and produce enough material for another album before that wave crashed.
There is a logic to this line of thinking and it is true that digital singles will definitely put a new spin on things, and probably a good one as far as I can see. But I do not see a reversion back to the singles-only model, at least not for serious musicians who produce music with real artistic value and staying power. I believe that "albums" will beautifully co-exist with digital singles, and by albums here I mean a physical product in the form of a CD, not just a group of singles bundled together. This option will be available, but I think true music lovers will always want the real thing, something that is tangible and has a presence and an identity.
Based on this I predict a renaissance, maybe not tomorrow but in a few years when the digital age is simply accepted as the status quo and no longer debated. At this point the initial novelty will subside and reality will set in. Many people will have most of their music in digital form hidden inside their computers, massive amounts of it to appeal to every mood and whim. But I also believe that a hard core group will not want their collections hidden in a hard drive. I think that true music lovers will continue to buy CDs from bands they truly like and will only use downloaded music as filler or for something to put on as background music. They will be able to have it all, lots of music but more shelf space for the albums that are truly close to their hearts and the artists that really appeal to them. And they will want the CD (or perhaps even the vinyl LP) with the original artwork and credits and photos. They will want that physical thing to hold in their hands and proudly display on their shelves for curious visitors like me who take the opportunity whenever possible to check out someone's album collection. After all, if I am invited into someone's home and the albums are displayed openly I am not hurting anyone's privacy. But imagine going into someone's computer and snooping around at what they have there. Seems a bit strange, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe this will become acceptable. Yeah, right ;-)

Yet CDs will never again be the mass market product that they once were (or should I say, what the major record companies managed to make them) and I have no problem with that. CDs or "physical albums" will again become what they were meant to be, works of art and they will only appeal to a certain few, but those few (or "niche group" if you like) will stay loyal to artists they like as long as those artists stay true to themselves.

And on a last note, I believe that albums will continue to exist because of their inherent nature. When true artists create an album there is a method to the madness and the grouping of the songs, with some playing off others and achieving an identity that they never could as singles. Some things have to be understood in context, and an album allows a diversity in songwriting that gets lost when the songs are separated and left to fend for themselves. I could pick out some songs from some of my favourite bands and truly say that if that had been the only song I had heard from them I would never have become interested. Not that the song was necessarily bad, but it had no context. I might have listened to it for a while and then forgotten about it. But to hear the same song on an album, surrounded by complimentary works, this song can take on a whole new meaning and become a whole new level of artistry. This is especially true of the "concept album" (an almost dead phenomenon, but one that will rise again in my opinion) where the songs intertwine to tell a story, no matter how abstract.
So albums are important and may become even more so in the future. But they will have to be living, breathing, quality art if they are to survive but I believe they will and will lead to a new level of quality in popular music. And I do not believe - like some commentators - that it will be necessary to weigh these albums down with more "content". Videos, interviews etc. are fine and can be very entertaining but there is a place for them and it is called the DVD. Throwing all of this stuff onto an album just clouds the issue and cheapens the whole experience. If I want to hear music, I will listen to an album. If I want to watch interviews, videos or concert footage I will buy (or maybe just rent) a DVD. This is fine, but it is a completely separate thing and should remain that way.
Well, I hope I made sense here. I always get the feeling I should make some notes and plan this out a bit better so it doesn't just become some long-winded, incoherent rant but that would take all the fun out of it, now wouldn't it?! ;-)

Video killed the...

2008-04-20T12:36:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd check in with a spontaneous development. It appears that today was my official "video launch" even though it wasn't really planned and just kind of "happened". I have had the idea for a while but had never got around to actually doing it but today I started fooling around with the digital camera and ended up with two videos. Check them out at:

www.youtube.com/FinePrintPariah

Yeah, they suck, but compared to a lot of the stuff on YouTube they aren't bad and were a lot of fun to make (except for a few bouts of extreme cursing when I ran into a few technical difficulties) ;-)

Enjoy!

The future of popular music...

2008-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a lot lately about the sorry state of the music industry and can't help but develop some of my own opinions on the subject. The scope of the situation is large enough to warrant a treatise the size of War and Peace (and some smart guys have already written books about it) because the example of what is happening in the music industry is just the tip of the iceberg in a very rapidly changing world and "digital economy".
I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about this situation. I myself have never downloaded music from a P2P (or even from a legal service for that matter) but I have listened to a lot of internet radio and enjoyed the instant gratification of on-demand streaming music from services like Deezer. I am still a bit old-fashioned and if I like something I will usually buy the CD. The convenience of the mp3 format is very appealing and I can imagine it is especially appealing for the younger, computer savy generations. I can also understand that the major labels basically shot themselves in the proverbial foot when they saw this development as a threat rather than an opportunity and started this DRM nonsense and even went as far as taking legal action against teenagers who wanted a few songs that otherwise weren't available except on an over-priced CD which probaby only had 2 or 3 good songs anyway.
But even if the major labels are dragging their asses in getting up to speed with this development, the situation is changing and the excuse that the music is otherwise not available in an open format at a reasonable price is rapidly losing its value. I am pretty sure, however, that there will be people out there downloading for free for many years to come on the basis of this argument even though the song is available for legitimate purchase only a few clicks away. I must admit that this situation disturbs me even though I would like to believe that the majority of humankind would have the conscience to respect an artist's work and pay a nominal fee to compensate for long hours of writing, recording, mixing, promotion, distribution etc. if they know that the majority of this money is actually going to the artist. Another incentive would be to provide lots of free content, demos and videos for example, so that paying for high-quality downloads becomes a fair trade-off. This is the principle I am working on now and I have noticed that more and more indie musicians are catching on. It still remains to be seen whether this is an economically viable business model.
But the whole question of just how the digital age will affect popular music has many different sides and one very important one for someone like me. The fact is, I would not have been able to do what I am doing even 10 years ago. Yes, of course digital recording was possible and mp3s existed, but the numerous sites which allow a musician to upload music and gain some kind listener base are all relatively new. Even the process of digital recording itself has only recently become truly affordable for most independent artists because we are not just talking about the programs themselves but all of the equipment needed to actually get the music into the program. So digital recording and distribution have started to level the playing field a bit but we are still talking economies of scale here. I cannot afford to run out and buy city-centre billboard space in all of the world's major cities nor can I afford a half-page full-colour ad in a big glossy music magazine to promote my album when it is ready. As much as we like to pretend this type of thing is simply annoying and does not get our attention, it does work on a major level and will continue to work for the top earning acts around the world for years to come not only because it reaches a lot of people, but also because it has an inherent aspect of "legitimacy" based on the idea that if someone is willing to pay for this kind of advertising, then the "product"must be good.
I could go on like this a lot more but I have the feeling that I am starting to lose the plot a bit so I will wrap it up for today. I originally wanted to write a bit about my thoughts on the future of "albums" but I will get to that next time.

Taking stock of the new and the old...

2008-04-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

I got some new studio gear this week and thought it would be a good idea to reveal the details of the set up for phase 1 so people will have a better understanding of what they are hearing. This was also inspired by some Garageband.com reviews which have been creeping in, generally positive (with a few bible-thumping and "can't be bothered to listen to the whole song" exceptions) with the main complaint being that the production needs work. I completely expected this but did not see it as a reason not to put the songs out there. I mean, I'm not asking anyone to pay for the damn things ;-)

So, for "Phase 1" this is what I worked with:

Drums: As I mentioned, I brought the gear to a rehearsal space rented by the hour and played all the drums in there on a decent Yamaha kit (standard 5 piece). The hi-hat was a bit worn out, but in general the kit was fine. I used an SM58 for the bass drum and 2 Behringer stereo condensers on either side and a large membrane condenser in the middle (see photo below). These went into the board and I mixed them as well as possible and they were recorded onto one stereo track. So you can see, there was really no room for adjustment during the final mixing and I put quite a bit of reverb on it to flatten things out a bit. It is sometimes too much but considering how primitively it was done I am happy enough wih it.

Guitars: For the electric guitars I mostly played my Strat through a Zoom G7 with various amp modellings. The G7 has a tube which I think made a big difference. As you can hear, I used some flange and bend on some of the softer stuff. For the heavier stuff I used a Diezel or Rectifier sound.

Keyboards: I have mentioned before how difficult this was. I played everything through a cheap ProKeys midi board and synchronization (especially piano) was very tricky. The sounds were also limited but I generally found something that fit for each song.

Bass: Ok, here is the big confession. There is no actual bass on these recordings! I cheated here a bit and played the bass lines with the guitar using a cheap Behringer Octaver. I think anyone who is really listening could probably hear this but at least it gave the songs a bit of belly.

Acoustic Guitars: Played in on my Ibanez directly into the interface. I added a lot of reverb not only because the sound was not great but because I did not want a very up-front acoustic sound, more ambient. I hadn't planned on using acoustic at all but somehow certain songs just cried out for it.

Vocals: I recorded these in the bedroom which was the quietest place to do it (although not completely noise-free thanks to my hip-hop loving neighbours downstairs). This was the trickiest part and I knew it would be, even in professional studios getting a good vocal sound is not always easy. I sang through a Behringer C3 large membrane condensor, very low budget. I put this through a mixing board (dry) and adjusted the equalization a bit. Compression and reverb were added digitally. The lack of a pre-amp shows and it was difficult to get the volume and warmth. I compensated by copying all the vocal lines at least three times and used various levels of reverb, equalization and compression on each track until it kind of balanced out to a reasonably good sound (oh the joy of digital recording!)

Interface: Everything went into the computer through a Phase 26 USB interface. Not a bad unit but I never did get it to work with Cubase and that is whay I ended up using Samplitude.

Recording and Mixing: So, as I mentioned, I recorded with Samplitude which at first frustrated me but I can now say that I know the program quite well and will use it again. I mixed through basic Sony computer speakers, a 2.1 system, so I had to use the headphones to get an adequate mix for CD. This was ok, but studio monitors are definitely in order for Phase 2.

Editing (and my poor excuse for mastering): I put the final song Wave files through Wavelab to edit the beginnings and endings, add a touch more compression on the whole deal and a bit of equalization. I used Wavelab for this simply because I have used it a lot before (almost exclusively for this, never for multi-track recording) and I know my way around it better for these kind of things.

So there it is, pretty basic. I picked up a pre-amp this week which I can use for the vocals, acoustic guitars and pretty much anything that needs it in Phase 2. I also shelled out a few bucks for a pop guard for the mic stand so we'll find out if that actually works too. And yes, there will be "real" bass in future recordings thanks to a budget Rockson bass I just picked up. Totally cheap but it plays fine and can only sound better than an Octaver. If all goes according to plan I will have a decent keyboard in a few weeks and a set of drum mics and some studio monitors not long after that

Stay tuned!

D Day!

2008-03-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

It is official...Fine Print Priah lives!

The launch was pretty much a non-event, but for me it was great and I finally let a few friends in on my big secret. I did all of the uploading on MySpace (www.myspace.com/fineprintpariah) in record time and it all went off without a hitch. In addition to that was another pleasant surprise. I contacted by webserver this week and got the problems sorted out and, guess what! The homepage is up and running too! Stop by for a visit at www.fineprintpariah.com.

So today was great and easy, much unlike the rest of the week. I got most of the other sites up and running but Purevolume and Bebo were hopeless and no matter how I tried I couldn't get my songs uploaded. I have contacted their help lines and am waiting patiently for replies. I've read many articles on how these sites are great for music lovers and how they can find all kinds of great stuff and free downloads but maybe somebody should write an article on the pros and cons of some these sites for the actual musicians providing the music. Maybe if I find time.

I am starting plans for phase two and will be posting every now and then when there is something to say, maybe even random thoughts unrelated to music but I don't want to get carried away with that kind of thing. From what I can see while surfing the net there is already more than enough of that out there.

All for now...til next time!

The time has come...

2008-03-24T14:48:00.001-07:00

The preparation has taken longer than expected but I have finally put some songs out there and will officially "launch" the project next Saturday Mar.29, 2008. In the meantime, if you happen to be reading this you can get a sneak pre-listen on the following sites:

Last.fm
imeem.com
garageband.com

I can't remember the exact addresses at the moment but you can just go to the sites and search for "Fine Print Pariah". I have tried it, it works.

The official launch next Saturday will include the full deal with Myspace and Purevolume and maybe a few surprises as well.

Unfortunately there will be no live performance to celebrate this launch, this is still a very virtual affair, but the way I see it that is ok in this day and age. I definitely want to get out there and do this live, that is something I truly miss but I really believe the days of playing every local dive and as often as possible to build up a following are over, and not just for me but in general. I have been through this and from my experience it does not work. Unless people have heard of you somewhere in the media they don't tend to be interested and you get stuck playing for a handful of people most times and 30 or 40 on a "good night". This is fine once in a while but it does take its toll. It is not just the toll on your ego but also the physical toll of hauling gear around, setting up, soundchecking, actually playing your heart out and trying to prove your worth to those listening and then packing it all up and heading home at about 1 or 2 in the morning.

This launch is basically me saying "here I am and here is what I have achieved over the past few months...hope you like it". It is the first small step in what I hope will be a long and enjoyable adventure and I hope to find lots of people to share in it.

Studio D

2008-03-02T12:07:00.001-08:00

"D" for drums.

Studio B

2008-03-02T12:06:00.001-08:00

"B" for bedroom.

Studio A

2008-03-02T12:02:00.001-08:00

"A" for apartment.

Getting ready to come out of hibernation...

2008-03-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

I haven't been keeping up to date with this but things have been pretty busy and I guess you could say I have been in a very active hibernation. My social life has suffered and become almost non-existent but I hope that will change soon now that spring is coming and the days are getting longer.
I finished the vocals for all 20 songs today and will spend the next week or so doing some editing, mixing and if necessary some new vocals next weekend. I will finally post some of them at the end of March when everything is in place. I have designed my homepage and will hopefully have that online soon (if I can get the webhosting service to stop screwing around with the configurations on the FTP server).
I never did find a permanent rehearsal space and stuck to the procedure with hourly rental for this whole phase. The vocals were all done at home and the neighbours haven't complained but I think for the next phase I will definitely need a proper space but that can wait a few months now. I took some pictures of the set-up for this phase, something to look back on and remember...

Songs waiting for ears...

2008-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Had a productive weekend and got most of the vocal tracks done for the songs that are ready but I am still trying to find the perfect setting. It is pretty clear that I should invest in a tube mic preamp but for now what I am getting is acceptable. Tonight I put keyboard lines on 3 songs that I wasn't planning to have keyboards on but I am glad I did. Nothing fancy, just ambient sounds to give them more depth and they make a lot of difference. I guess keyboards will be a standard part of my style from now on.
I suppose I have been writing quite a bit about songs that no one has heard and I have wondered myself when I will consider them ready to put out there. I have to admit that I am becoming a bit obsessed with the recording aspects and I actually enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would but in the end the songs have to be heard. I have scheduled more drum sessions for this weekend and will probably go again the weekend after and if all goes well I will have the basic material for 20 songs. About 10 of those are pretty much finished but I think I will wait until I have the 20 before I put anything out there.
You have to understand that these 20 songs represent all of the songs I have already recorded during other sessions and in other forms and it is somewhat therapeutic for me to finally get them into a form that I can be proud of instead of making comprises. The beginning of March is basically my launch target and most of the internet platforms are ready and waiting for those all important mp3s.
Hopefully by then I will have my hompepage up and running as well. Again, nothing fancy, basically a portal to all of the other sites that I have through the usual suspects, i.e. myspace etc.

Technical problems and how to get around them...

2008-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

I started putting the keyboard lines into a couple of songs on Monday and learned a good lesson about cheap midi keyboards...they suck if you want to use them as a piano! I got around the typical midi delay problems with some program adjustments but the feel of the keys and the reaction of the sound generator was unbelievably strange and it was impossible to achieve any real dynamic. I battled away, take after take and finally got something worth using on one song only to run into a completely different problem on the next. I have come to the conclusion that Samplitude is not the best choice for multi-track recording (but it came free with the keyboard so I shouldn't complain too much). I don't know if it had to do with the number of tracks and the working memory of the computer but for some reason I couldn't record any more tracks on one song and had to improvise. I exported what was already there as a wave for a guide track, started a new multi-track project, recorded the keys as midi in that and then played it back through into another track as a wave. I then deleted everything else so the new project was just a wave file with the keys and then imported that into the original project. I don't know if there is an easier way but it worked and the all the tracks are there.
I fixed up some guitar tracks tonight and had some more difficulties where I ended up losing about an hour's work. The program just gets bogged down and starts processing for no reason and doesn't stop. It happened once before and I let it go hoping it would sort itself out but after a few minutes it was hopeless and I shut down and re-started the computer. This time when I did it I lost quite a bit and was ready to throw the whole deal out the window. Anyway, I got it fixed up and I think all of the songs are ready for the vocals which I will try to get done on the weekend.
P.S. Update on the search for a permanent rehearsal room: called yet another place today on a good lead only to find out that they don't have anything either!

A few more on the way....

2008-02-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week and my back is killing me but it was all worth it. Six hours in the rehearsal room recording drums and about eight hours here at home putting in the bass and guitar lines and six new songs are on the way. I am pretty sure I will redo the drums on one, which is what happened last time and led to getting a few more done along with it and basically putting myself nicely ahead of my personally inflicted schedule.
However, I have to admit that I am already getting weary of this routine with the rehearsal space rented by the hour. It is only worth it if I book long sessions because otherwise it is hardly worth setting up all the mics, mixing board and computer (not to mention adjusting the kit itself) then soundchecking all while keeping one eye on the clock. I started calling around this week in response to ads for permanent space rented monthly but have had no luck so far...either they don't answer my emails or the space is already taken by the time I get them on the phone. Hopefully I can get something arranged for March.
The plan this weekend was to put down some drum tracks on Saturday and do some vocals today for the first four I already have in the can but I decided to put that off for another week. I had a bit of an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and is still a bit sensitive. One more week of rest should do it then I can do a marathon session next weekend and get a bunch done. The ones I recorded this weekend are all nearly finished and ready for vocals except for some keyboard lines which I will put in some time this week.

One door closes and another opens...

2008-01-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

This is my first foray into the art of "blogging" so please bear with me. I am an independent musician from Toronto, Canada but have been living in Berlin, Germany for the past 8 years. I have been active in the music scene there for many years, at least on a local level and have played with a lot of good people here, but at the end of 2007 a major chapter came to an end when I left my band and decided to take a different approach to music. There is nothing sweeter than playing music with a group of people, especially when you can all really find the groove and feel what is coming next. But as sweet as this is, I have also developed strong need to develop my songs into full compositions in the way that I hear them in my head...so I have made a decision to do that.

I have named the new "project" Fine Print Pariah. It is not really a band (although I will be involving people to perform live) and it is also not really a purely solo project in the spirit of a singer/songwriter sitting alone with his steel string. I have begun recording with my basic home set up, recording basic guide tracks and then playing in the drum tracks in a rehearsal room which I rent by the hour. The rest I am doing at home, playing directly through mixing boards or guitar effects modules. I have experimented with the vocals here and it seems ok, I just don't know how the neighbours will feel if this happens too often!

I was not sure how this would work out but I am pleased with the results so far. The quality is obviously not like that of a studio but it definitely does the trick for demos and pre-production, what all of this really is. I want to work this way for a while and for as many songs as possible (my personal repertoire is pretty extensive, over 50 songs and counting). If all goes well I will pick some out and put an album together later this year. This blog will act as a chronicle for this process and I will include much more detail in later postings.