Been playing guitar for some twenty odd years now. Nowhere near as good as I should be though have got some reasonable chops. No experience playing live, I just play to chill out and relax. About six years ago I decided I would have a go at producing. I'd already got a number of songs under my belt that I'd written, some with my daughter who is also a budding songwriter. Now after navigating a steep initial learning curve re gear, software and techniques I feel I'm just about starting to get somewhere though still have plenty to learn.
It gives me a way to express my inner workings and feelings like no other medium.
To be able to express my ideas and feelings in a way that will allow others to do the same. To awaken those musical expressions and spiritual confessions that people were unaware of and that may have been holding them down. To give listeners a kind of aural validation of themselves. And of course to have fun in the process.
Money! Get rid of it! It's a terrible way of doing things. It had its place in the past but now it's more trouble than it's worth and is destroying our society. A fairer resource based model is the way to go.
I have a few that stand out. One is Sledge Hammer by Peter Gabriel because it was the first single I bought (and it was a great song) . But it was Moments in Love by The Art of Noise primarily because it was the first time I realised music could be used to tap into us on a deep and raw emotional level and draw those emotions to the surface.
Enigma, Delerium, Nightwish, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Florence and the Machine Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Tears for Fears, Marylin Manson to name a few.
The externalisation of my internal machine gives me great satisfaction.
I want to compell people to break down what they see and take for granted every day. To cut through the gloss and the glamour and see things for what they really are. Some things are still beautiful underneath but there's a lot of abstracts out there which are basically shit with a gold coated veneer designed to fool us into thinking everything's great. It isn't....
I rarely perform and if I do it's so my daughter can sing. Not a fan of it.
I don't see it. I only see my own. It's the one that matters when I'm creating.
I never even knew anything like this existed. It's awesome and inspiring.
The technical challenges especially as I am a man of limited means and have to make do with what I can afford. I've found some aspects of producing have a steeper learning curve than I'd anticipated.
I'm not really an active participant in the local music scene. I mean I know people who are musos but they're on their own musical journey. Sometimes we do intersect though. Having said that I do try to support my daughters musical development.
Talent.
Low Roar, Lykke Li, Coheed and Cambria.