As I said in the last post, I’m not very good at January, so it came and went without me raising my head much above the parapet.
But February continues to be busy, with a definite music focus. Even as I draw I play my own music into my ears. Next Saturday we (by which I mean the band, The Sitting Room) will be recording our second EP. We have been selling the first EP with the funds in mind to go towards this, and of course, splitting recording costs between five of us is rather more achievable than the extravaganza I have in mind for my solo recordings.
We have earmarked five songs, hoping to be able to get five done, but with high quality uppermost, it may well turn out to be four. We shall see how it goes.
It is a curious thing… the need to record…
Yes, it’s nice when people ask if we have a cd, it is a tangible way to support a band, but to be honest it isn’t really cost effective. Giving them a tenner for petrol is probably economically more useful. I like to have a “thing”… I like a cd… it’s probably my age. A collection, rather than a playlist. But this band range from their mid fifties to mid sixties, and I’m somewhere in the middle. We are products of our time… the guys like a band t-shirts, we talk of gate-fold vinyl album ritual, record shops… who we saw first, which venues, which songs… Our rehearsals can be a feast of nostalgia. Those who like our music are similar, they like a thing, so we are making a thing. We will also be uploading to the usual digital platforms.
For me, the selected songs as a collection are the thing. I do see this as an important expression, this “thing-making”. I have written the lyrics to all five songs. They’ve come from a deep place. I am attached. I have let them loose, for Andy and Ian and then Lloyd and John… to shape them and turn them into something else. And then we play them. I find it hard to explain… what I write is like Frankenstein’s monster before the electricity. It’s only when they take musical form that I see them differently. When I let someone else read them for the first time I am terrified. I have exposed my deepest thoughts… some of them can be a little twisted, a little morose. They can be observation of, or from, dark corners. But they take them and urge them into life… and then I am able to sing them, once they have been trained (and I have been trained) and can set them out into the world. But to get them down, make them permanent is a vital part of an artist’s way of operating…
When the songs are recorded as an album, they have matured. We’ve chosen our best, the ones that sit well together, and show our range. This can be difficult on an EP – 4 or 5 songs only – but I think we’ve done it. Andy and I are touting for a sixth to be included… but maybe not this time…
And then it is a case of stringing them together, the order is important. The gap between is important… what sits in that gap is important too. I love that bit. It’s stitching, embroidery, drawing. The bits in between hold the story together. This is why I like a thing. The album, presented as the artist wants it presented. I have been working on artwork and layout. This has to be precise too. It’s not just a label of identity… it has to add to the drawing. Who are these five people? What do they sing about? What does it mean to them?
You can’t stream that.
You can’t download that.
…but you can listen to this, from the first EP ‘Studio Sessions’
