Mythic

It used to take me nearly a year to chug out a single song in an old solo project of mine. Of that, the lyrics would come last, and they would just erupt in a fit of emotion, then it'd take me a few months to get them to a place I wanted them to be.

Everything matters. It's all colours, they paint a final picture. Simplicity and subtlety can often be the most striking of features in music, for me definitely. It's all context too; what the song is, what you are conveying, who the audience are etc. But hell, even when i've found myself in a room full of sweaty drunk as hell twentysomethings screaming to the most unrefined and raw music out there, they might go bananas on something as simple as a miniscule inflection of the voice that was satisfying etc. So something is always worth something. You gotta be the judge of how much.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Nearly everything in popular music is cliched in one way or another anyway, I guess it's how your personality breathes life and uniqueness into your own music. There are however, alot of ways to turn a extremely cliched sequence into something better sounding, MikeRobinson pretty much nailed it in a simple manner. Messing around with every chord you know is a really good way of getting a feel of how you can change up chords. Take a 5 string chord, and just try and change a note on each string of the chord, see what sounds good while still remaining true to the original chord in some sense, you might only end up with 1 or two note changes but it can make a world of difference, and once you mess around with it enough it becomes intuitive (almost).

1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? Ja. What instruments? I play the electric and acoustic guitar, electric bass, drum kit, djembe/dundun, shakuhachi, dungchen, and bamboo sax (xaphoon). When did you start playing? Guitar when i was 7, bass when I was 10, drumkit at 14, djembe at 14, shakuhachi at 18, dungchen and xaphoon last year. Did you teach yourself? Mainly yes. I had lessons with a blues guitarist for 2 years, and was taught djembe by a specialist at school for 2 years. I had a wonderful shakuhachi teacher very briefly, and I attended a school for drums but didn't finish the year. Other then that, entirely self taught. 2. Are you in a band or bands? Ja, sort of. What is the name of the band? I'm in two hip hop projects currently. I play acoustic guitar for one (more a duo), which is un-named and lowkey, and in an internet based trio called (working title) 'Hip Hopcrates and the Rap Magus Prism Clan'. Other then that, I am the drummer of hiatus prog death metal band Circles of Squares, and am an original member of Gareth Masons Musica Masonica improvisation collective. What do you play? Woops, answered above, sorry. What other instruments are in the band? Circles of Squares consists of two guitarists, an accordion player, keyboardist, bassist and drummer. Musica Masonica is variable and collaborative, but the main body is a loop guitarist and drummer. Do you have a band website? Not currently. Many are work in progress projects. Fine tuning and patience is the key today. 3. Do you write songs? Ja. Do you write lyrics, music or both? Both. Do you have a writing partner? No. 4. Do you record your music? When I can. Do you use a home studio? If so what gear do you use? Sort of. All I have right now is a Pod Studio UX1 thingy, and Pioneer 5000 headphones. Do you use a recording studio? When I can afford it. Which isn't often nowdays. Do you have music available on the web? if so where? Yes. Previous projects of mine are available on the web, but I have reservations sharing them, as I only really got out there when I went through a sort of metal phase. However my personal tastes are so much more then metal, and I dont feel the work I currently have available remotely reflects who I am. Anyone who is interested can ask. 5. What other roles do you perform in the music business? Management? Label owner? Publishing? Promotion? Other? I did some event organisation for a label owned my a friend of mine, called Envenomation Records. 6. Are you a tech head? Can't say I am. I'm useless with that stuff. 7. What country do you live in? England. 8. What are your ambitions? I have alot of them. I'll spare you all for now. 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? Yeah. I've been uninspired for years, but I've drawn most of my life. I love writing too, but again, lack of inspiration for a long time. School sort of forced my escapist tendency so hard that it really brought it out in me, but i'm not there any more. What are your pastimes? Learning. I am fascinated by absolutely everything, and dedicate my existence to self mastery, understanding, for external mastery and understanding. 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? A community that I can contribute to, which can help me improve also. I've never had one that i've felt I belong with in any sense. Whew, that was a mouthful, my apologies.