john

half hour is opimistic.... although with the new self tuning guitars that problem would be solved... however $60 for a new set of strings...

Hey Ever exploring the world of instruments, there is always something that catches the eye/ear/mind...

With your memory so effected it sounds suspiciously like you smoked it!

lol Subject for the next lyrics writing challenge?

Out of interest, on the whole Ergot - LSD connection, close but not quite right. Ergot is a natural substance which is created, amongst others, from the alkaloid excretions of a fungus which grows on damp rye. LSD was invented in the 1930s by a Swedish scientist researching a blood and respitory stimulant. They didn't know about it's hallucinagenic qualities until the scientist in question accidentally ingested some in the late 1940s. The scientist was investigating using a mediteranean plant, Squill, and ergot as a source for a cell he thought could be beneficial for breathing and the heart. Ergo ergot poisoning (see what I did there?), ie what happened in that village, was not directly responsible for the recreational drug LSD because what happened was not responsible for the idea of LSD the breathing and heart medication. Hallucination was completely an accidental biproduct. The story you relate about a medieval village actually relates to one specific (but also more generally too the story behind the allegations of witchcraft in Europe and later the Americas) notorious village. The specific case was that of Salem, where there is actually a lot of evidence that ergot was at fault. Ergot is not a recreational drug. It is a poison that can kill you deader than a Salem witch wearing a "I am a witch who dances with the devil" sign around her neck as she dances naked in the town square on a bright moonlit night surrounded by a crowd of puritans with flaming torches standing next to a pile of wood, a stake and some rope. Yes you may hallucinate, but you also convulse and have a very unpleasant time.

Well a while ago I shelved plans for an album due to life getting in the road... but here I am back again, in the early stages of planning an EP and an album with accompanying singles. For now I have a provisional timescale, with the plan to release the single in October, followed by an EP in November. Hopefully then I will release singles and an album to follow in April / May. The tracks are mostly written for both EP and album and recording has begun. Tracks are being selected for EP and album as we speak, though at this point the track allocation is quite fluid. The good thing is that there are loads of tracks to choose from. I have enough written for several albums, and with new tracks being written all the time. I've also re-worked a few older tracks recently, so I may include some of those. I'm looking forward to this!

Hi Tim "Drugs" is a hell of a big, broad topic. It includes alcohol, caffeine, heroin, cocaine, MDMA, marjuanna, skunk (High THC marajuana), speed and much more. I would say that generally the effect is temporary, but sometimes, if not often, the price is permanent. Certainly many drugs will allow a less constrained creativity... meaning more creative ideas, but at the same time the ability to filter is a double edged sword. It means that more ideas are turned into something, but that quality of idea goes out the window, or at least it is measured in a different way. No matter the drug, the benefits are temporary, but all have an instant cost and usually a long term impact. The balance depends on the drug and on the person... and sometimes the circumstance. Peter Green may be a fantastic guitarist, but drugs left his life a waste land. The big problem is that the artist has no way to know what they would have come up with had they not taken drugs. Secondly is that on drugs of any kind (I include alcohol, even cafeine) your perception is altered, so much that you can think something is good, your response can be amplified, such that when you are straight again you can look at it and wonder why on earth you found it so fascinating. Even hash / marajuana has a price. It can make you feel very focused, indeed you can get a lot done, but too many people get lost in the glimmer, the promise. I have many friends who smoke, all of whom had big dreams... musical or business etc. Almost every single one of them set their dreams aside... even the practical ones. Why? Grass might be great for ideas, but it sucks for motivation. If not very careful, it gradually consumes your life and dreams. It can relax, it can stimulate creativity, and that is scientifically proven, BUT it has a price. The trick that is hard to pull off is to enjoy the benefits while avoiding the worst of the cost. the worst thing you can do is be dismissive of the price. It is very, very real. I mentioned earlier that the balance depends on the drug and person and circumstance, but the effect greatly varies too. Cocaine. The bane of the music and movie industries. Why? It's popular because it boosts confidence. That can be great for stage presence etc. It also helps cope with the long hours of tours and the constantly on the go feeling a pro musician can experience... but, it can also make you falsely confident about second rate music. It can make you agressive, so you behave like a complete asshole. It rots you from the inside. Bits of you bleed that you never thought could bleed. It can consume your money way faster than you can make the money. I have known way too many people who lost everything through coke. LSD, mushrooms etc are so dangerous. Dosage is highly unpredictable. Even experienced users can screw it up. They are massive triggers for psychosis based illnesses, even taking once. Take them regularly and your mind can go bye bye. Think Peter Green or Sid Barrett. Alcohol is probably the one most people are familiar with, yet it can give you false confidence, poor judgement. It is an insidious drug. It can turn you into an addict or someone with another drink problem without you noticing. It destroys people, families and friendships. I avoid it at all costs when making or performing music. Afterwards is a different matter! lol More often than not, benefits are an illusion. Caffeine will affect your mix, if nothing else. It tends to make you charge at things head on and bulldose your way through. It is NOT your music making friend.... that said, many is the time I have had a coffee in the morning to get me going, or late at night to keep me going during a long session. Personally I find it more for editing sessions, but avoid it during recording or mixdown time. Heroin. Bad idea on every level. I've lost a few friends through heroin. MDMA. A classic dellusion drug. You think everything is lovely, friendly, and relaxed. You think everyone else perceives it as the same. Sadly, that is all bollocks. LOL To process the benefits of any drug, and to come out unscathed, is a huge gamble. You might think you are unscathed, but I can prettywell guarrantee you wouldn't be unscathed. To be unscathed takes the combination of an exceptional person combined with a lot of luck imho. Cheers John

Hi and welcome to Songstuff Lee!

yes, but, but what about the grapes? Seedless I hope.

Hey I was just watching a program where Michael Caine was interviewed. He was saying how he keeps hearing about becoming famous and making money. Money, money, money. When he was young that thought didn't even enter his head. He just wanted to be a good actor. I've pondered this change in society before... where being famous has become more important than what you are famous for. In fact, for many, they seem to think... "why bother working for ages to develop a skill, when I can just short cut the process and get the resulting money and fame". Some will be happy faking it using some software (for example with music creation or even song writing) but often they just seek a non-skill based fame, such as reality TV, as a means to grab fame through shock or charisma. At the same time, appreciation for skills such as music, acting or writing, is at an all time low. They all want something for nothing. That's it. It seems to be simply that it is too much effort to learn the skills. No one wants to learn because that takes away from having fun. Why work when you don't have to. Aspiration no longer involves ability. It is purely results based. So I thought... how would you sell kids on the idea of learning a skill? What nuggets of wisdom would you inpart to a generation of disinterested, entitled kids? Making it simple, why should kids learn to play music, or write songs, or draw beatiful pictures? Cheers John

Pretty well... a list of poor excuses and contrived messages to get a message in someone's email box. I wrote this article a year or so ago precisely to address the same problem from a different angle: http://www.songstuff.com/music-business/article/bands-give-your-fans-real-news-not-spam/

Exactly. If music is the food of love, who ate all the grapes?

It takes a long time to change public opinion, and there are always going to be those who just think what they think, regardless of any facts. Hence why I think it generally better to keep Songstuff free of religious or political discussion. Both have a tendency of turning to arguments whilst similtaneously being the most unproductive of conversations. At the same time, I think it important that the site is not exclusively about songwriting and making music. After all, music making doesn't exist within a bubble. Certainly discussing music should allow topics to be referred to, but the main function and interest of the site is music. A topic like this does sail close to the wind, it's difficult not to. That we can discuss the rodent fascination of the royals is simply a bonus!

Ok, so the Queen being a reptile.... maybe we should test the hypothesis by tossing mice at her?

As you say there are two sides to any coin... for example the large group of Christians who despise and want to exterminate Muslims, Jews who hate Muslims, Muslims who hate and want to exterminate Humanists, Catholics who hate Protestants, Seikh's who hate Budhists, Communists who hate Capitalists and vice versa... the list goes on. And on. Other than that, we cannot do the topics justice on a Songwriting site. They are topics with no end and no conclusion... often with the result being arguments, as they are topics which stir up much emotion. I think we can all agree that much. I do think we live in dangerous times pulled this way and that by the extremes of opinion. Interesting fodder for songs, as it happens, but often painful for those involved as the extremes fight it out. I have always been more driven by what unites us in our outlook, rather than what divides us. Finding common ground whilst respecting differences is certainly better than extermination of either extreme.

Hi Tim I didn't think the vids were created by Trump supporters to support Trump, more that a bunch of anti Obama people also tend to be republicans, and a chunk of those people are Trump supporters, and that some of those (as evidenced by the threads I read, very conclusively) are racists. that may be 0.0000001% of republicans, or it could be 50%, I have no idea which, though I hope it is closer to the former)... rather than being posted to support Trump, it just happens that Trump supporters tend to post anti democrat messages... it's not a big leap for some of them to draw in their anti Obama messages... That racists should feel emboldened by Trumps messages isn't exactly a news flash. I am sure they feel their message has willing, even understanding ears amongst the supporters of a man who openly condemns some people based on their ethnicity or faith. In truth it was simply an observation of what I saw in those threads. They were Trump threads, and the people who were posting were having an Obama-hate-athon. I really wasn't thinking of your politics at all. I tend to be A-political on Songstuff, the A being for avoiding lol. Indeed discussion of politics is against the rules because of the arguments it causes... but this is not a political discussion... it just happens to touch on that world. Nor do I think republicans or democrats have it right or wrong. It is simply a matter of consequence of some of Trumps statements. I find conspiracy theories interesting. Some very compelling, others just too funny, yet some people take any theory very seriously. Personally I find the Michelle Obama one unbelievable, but then I did encounter it via some very racist threads. That there are some conspiracies is undeniably true. I am sure I believe some of them. Hell I live in the UK, the whole place is a conspiracy waiting for a place to happen. I think it more that the majority of politicians of any shade are by nature often less than honest. I would overhaul the entire system, get rid of party politics altogether. That's just me. Unless there is a conspiracy to do so! Ah ha! Cheers John

Hi Timbre, great to meet you! Welcome to Songstuff... good to see you set the right tone... ahem.

Looks like our posts crossed lol I note the very beginning of that 2011 study, the word "usually" in the first paragraph. No mention of how often "usually" is. As I mentioned, there are also a huge number of chromosomal variations that can cause male/female traits in people who have the opposite genitals. What this publication at the university of Florida doesn't indicate is the acceptance of the study within the academic community, only that some sceintists are speculating and one study suggested there may be a correlation. Sadly there are scientists who provide testimony for even the most disprovable testimony, even at a corporate, religious or political level. A few years ago a single doctor falsely published a study that suggested issues with the MMR inoculation. His corporately sponsored misinformation is estimated to have cost thousands of lives, cases of paralysis, infertility and more. The fact it was a lie has been proven many times over yet still conspiracy theorists regularly restart it. It doesn't matter if a theory is debunked, not proven or blatantly untrue. There are always those who abuse it... as in this case where "usual" became an absolute "is" in the presentation of the video... in other words, even with there being a theory, doesn't make it true until it is provable with many studies and many people looking at it. The minute people have to falsify it, like saying "is" instead of "maybe", "always" instead of "some", then you know their objectivity and impartiality is non-exisitant, For anyone who doesn't think that those qualities matter, how would you like being judged by an entire jury that state that their belief is that people of your gender are all murderers, believe your skin color are not to be trusted, believe your faith mark you as hating them, don't listen to the facts but instead go with their personal prejudices, and they believe in hanging... and there you have a speeding ticket lol Would you want to be judged by them... No sir! That aside, the Queen is an alien lizard, we all know this in the UK.... at least since David Ike (ex UK footballer and sportscaster) told us while on a television interview in the 80s. Of course he also said that the isle of Arran was the centre of the universe, he was chosen by God, the world was going to end and something about an island disappearing beneath the waves... none of which happened (well he could have been chosen by God, kind of hard to dispprove that!)

Oh, and I didn't think you had any hate in mentioning it here. In fact I thought it was more disbelief at what is out there more than anything. It is always worthwhile looking over the edge into the abyss from time to time, even if it is simply to remind us why we have the opinions and feelings we have. I never understand the people who create videos like this, quoting scripture and condemning with such judgemental prejudice. They went to great lengths to establish a lie, whilst proclaiming a moral higher ground. By any measure, that is screwed up.

Hi Tim Just for clarity, I don't think all Trump supporters are racists, let alone all republicans. It just happens that the Trump threads I reda (maybe several hundred entries about 60% of those threads either directly expressed those allegations, or made supporting comments. Only one or two posters tookanyone to task, and all those who did were then lambasted with slurs, accusations and abuse... oh yes and that those defending the President, the consititution, gays, blacks or muslims were amongst others anti-American, muslim loving, gay loving and a world of actual insults. I was disgusted. It was, before now, the only places I had heard this conspiracy theory before. If that was the UK those individuals would face charges of an offence or ten under race/religious/sexual orientation hate laws. I have however encounter finger length theories before... but associated with personality types, not gender specific. For example: A quick google search does however reveal several theories, one of which relates to sexual preference, another that relates expressly to the First Lady. Nothing whatsoever to do with gender. Thinking of chromosomes, the common norms are XX women and XY men... but there are also XXX, XXXX, XXY and XXXY, XYY etc This means that there are women who have certain male traits. Chromosomes vary in number and combination. Not that genetics or chromosomes are my area of understanding. Personally I think anti Obama sentiment amongst some Americans is very strong. Some because he is a democrat, others because he is black. The latter feel empowered by Trump's rhetoric condemning muslims and mexicans, amongst others, and they are speaking out with increasing confidence. Hell they accuse Obama of being a muslim based upon him being part Kenyan but mainly because his name sounds similar to Osama. My guess is they never forgave him for legally being American by birth (remember the whole birth certificate conspiracy allegations? Anything to remove him from office). Luckily this isn't a political website, we're not here to talk politics... we're talking about a Michelle conspiracy... it just seems to be firmly attached to certain sections of American society, who happen to want to discredit and undermine Obama... for motivations unknown, but my guess is racism. For some of those in the threads I read, they openly spoke of "shooting that muslim n*****r dead". They certainly don't respect the office, nor anything else it would seem. I was so angered and I am not American, muslim, or black! The long and short, I think it has no aspect based in reality. It relies upon no understanding of genetics, chromosomal variation etc. For such people it can sound almost believable. For absolute adoption, however, I think it relies upon one simple emotion. Hate. That can make anyone ignore inconvenient facts, and totally blind to the truth.

Interesting that such upstanding people can misrepresent "facts" that are easy to check, such as finger length rubbish, the head proportions and other aspects of "typical" ratios presented as hard rules and facts. It makes it manufactured pseudoscience. Funny if it wasn't for the fact that people do take it seriously... just read any trump supporters threadon Facebook and you see accusations that Michelle is a man, a plenty. I must admit I was shocked at the race hate the same people also spouted. On the religious justification, I wont go there other than to say that I am not so sure Christ would be proud. All this teaches me is that hate has no bounds. What it does prove is small minded prejudice.

Thanks Mike

Ah Mike, the eternal question... motivation. It's also an impossible question to answer unless the artist answers for you, and they are both self aware, honest and believable. Most if not all motivations are complex combinations of different smaller motivations. I have no doubt some aspects of his decisions were commercial in nature. He is a human, and this is his choice of making a living, and in that we all sell out. We have bills to pay, mouths to feed. That does not lessen the importance of artistic control or the strength of our creative muscles. We all work a balance of artistic vision and indulgence, to serve our own needs, but we are lying to ourselves if we think that how it is received by others does not figure in the equation at all. Bowie I think reinvented because he was driven to, but trying to figure out if it was for commercial reasons or for the love of creative expression is a false question... it was both. The exact division no doubt changed album to album, song to song, production decision to production decision, I often think it arises from a false form of musical snobbery, to divide artists along "sell out" lines. I've never met a musician who doesn't care about how their music is received or who doesn't make changes or consider making changes because of listener reaction... even if that is the opinion of respected fellow writers or friends. I tend to think to be too governed by either extreme is a bad idea: Too consumer focused - music feels soulless, unadventurous, functional, programmatic Too self focused - music is self indulgent, unengaging, passive aggressive Just my opinion, but one for me that I have seen borne out too many times. It's a passionate argument I have seen argued both ways too many times by people justifying why their brand of music is more worthwhile, more valid, than someone else's. I don't think you are arguing this Mike... it is just a train of thought I often find prompted by the notion of someone "selling out". That David Bowie should be conning his listeners, or that anyone should be... in an industry that is almost 100% smoke and mirrors I find an amusing thought. His listeners are generally satisfied by an extensive and varied song catalog, with an accompanying varied visual appeal... that at certain points in his career have been trend setting... or to use a modern phrase or two... he is "on point" or "fashion forward". lol We are all victims of the trends of the society we live in. To use our knowledge of that to help guide our creative decisions is no less valid than using a known song form, or musical scale or chord, or chord progression... in my opinion Feel free to disagree... after all, variety keeps it interesting, vital and stimulating

Absolutely Teresa. In the 60s and 70s, record labels were prepared to speculate on the long term. it was higher investment and higher risk, but the payout was potentially huge. It was a successful strategy for long tail sales. It's why we have so many large acts from that period, that created hits taht are still selling. During the 80s they changed their emphasis to shorter and shorter term speculation. From 5 album deals, contracts reduced and reduced until they reached single song deals. It went from an act having potential and some fans with the expertise for even fundamentals being provided by the labels or through the labels, to signing artists with large active fan lists and fully functional business models, processes and mechanisms.# In fact, both labels and publishers have changed from backers and financiers with expertise to service providers. Publishing contracts have generally changed to reflect this, with lower percentages, no copyright ownership transfer with zero tie in. However record companies still want maximum returns for minimum risk. They don't want to speculate any cash if they can avoid it, but they still want ownershipand final say. They are designing themselves an obsolete role. After all, a savvy artist can commission all the services without ceding any ownership or control. All you need is a bit of know how.... something we will be providing more and more of on Songstuff.

Nah. I should point out that I have produced pop music at various times, so I am far from anti-pop :). The fact that there is a declining market is not exactly news. Pop culture targets youth, and I don't know many teenagers that buy music. At the time I wrote that answer rock music was almost non-existant on main stream media... now I am increasingly seeing rock all over the place... though little in the way of a new pop rock... but it will come. Rock fans still buy... that's one reason. As ever pop will reinvent itself... hardly rocket science I know. It is an interesting time. Musically creativity is becoming increasingly important, however creativity in the business side of music is also becoming increasingly inmpotant. No more reguritation of old ideas if you want to stand out from the masses.