I usually turn to Twitter to moan, but right now 140 characters or less won't really cover it for me.
This post is going to be divided into two sections, a quick moan about myself and then a nice vent about how I feel about the current state of the music industry and those involved.
First things first.
So, I go back to University next week, no mean feat, let me tell you that. I finished year one back in late May, where I walked away from my exams with the biggest pair of balls on this lingering scent of arrogance that followed me out of campus, which in the end was all in vain.
The long and short of it is, I came very close to failing my first year due to a lack of effort across the board, at this point I'm still not in the best standing as I believe I'll be resitting ESPL in it's full fucking self along with my year two modules this year, which is really not the best thing ever.
But I guess what I'm getting at is.. work hard, seriously. No matter what you're doing, do a good job first time and life will be easier. It won't leave you with people disappointed in you and you losing every wink of sleep because you're so fucking terrified.
So, anyway.
The music industry, or the vacuous hole that used to be the showcase of the finest talent in the world.
My hobby is recording, I got into it a few years ago with a shitty microphone and Audacity, which over the years has currently reached a Pro Tools based system and some tasty outboard gear that I love to pieces.
Why do I record? Well simply because I write alot of music, but also because it's so much fun! My ethos with recording is the lauding of mine and my band mates ability to do "One take Jakes" where a guitar or bass part is recorded in one shot, no edits, no nothing. Which sounds simple, but when you're layering 6 guitar tracks, 2 bass parts and however many layers of vocals, when you're returning to zero when you make a mistake, it can be frustrating.
Why do it? Well it preserves the performance, sure I might be a second behind a note on track 5, but the fact is, you can hear me play that and you know it's human!
What winds me up is the emergence of the "Sturgis" recording school, a group of engineers and bands who are recording guitars NOTE BY NOTE. Which sounds like an exaggeration, but it's absolutely true.
These people sicken me, watching vids of them performing life is almost as laughable as it is cringeworthy.
I'm not going to moan over and over about this, but god damn. We take our time to provide our fans with the best performance we can, both live and on record, yet theres jokers out there who pull that shit?
This is why I hate the big leagues.
James
Sunday, 18 September 2011
By the seat of my pants..
Hi everyone!
It's been a very long time since I signed into this blog, let alone posted anything on it. So if I come off a little rusty, I can only apologise.
Well, what's been happening over at TAS HQ in recent weeks? It's been a wild one.
After a really successful first show at the Noize Level Critical all day festival, we walked away with heads held high, as we went down a treat by the sound of it. This was great, as it was a first gig for all but myself and the guys did an amazing job! Nothing went wrong and it was just a great maiden voyage.
Shortly after the show we parted ways with our guitarist, Joe, who remains a friend of the band and knows that if we ever need him again, his phone will ring first!
So that's the recent happenings, what about the future?
Because I know that a limited number of people are going to read this, I have no problem announcing anything early, because it won't go 'viral' (in the loosest sense of the word)
The really big news is that Chris and myself are in the VERY early stages of starting an independent record label, I can currently give you no more information than that! There is no name (Aside from my idea of an imprint, Cadaver Avenue.) and nothing to really announce.
The idea of the label, aside to follow in the footsteps of ground breakers such as Asian Man, is to bring the up and coming to the people.
One of the main reasons behind this move is to be able to promote ourselves and our friends in a variety of ways, whether it's recording exclusive song's for label compilations or playing shows as a group, drawing fans of one another together and immersing everyone in everything we can offer, the possibilities are endless right now!
As news on that develops, I'll keep this thing updated.
We're also in the process of writing for our second album! This is particularly exciting as this time it won't just be me behind the helm. Joe has been writing some material that I've been made privy to, which suffice to say.. I am excited as fuck for!
Another big part this time is the addition of LIVE FUCKING DRUMS to the recordings. Chris is off to study Music Tech at University, which means we get access to the studio at reasonable rates, which with enough practise and the work ethic (That alot of bands lack, but I'll save that for another post.) we can track the album (And B sides) in a few days, then bring the sessions back to my home studio (Also in the process of being renamed..) to edit them, track all the guitars / bass. From there, we'll take the sessions across to Chris' to sort out keys and samples where needed, record vocals and then back to mine for the mix!
It's exciting times.
Sorry if this is long and very unstructured, but that's just how I roll.
Regular updates, hopefully.
James
It's been a very long time since I signed into this blog, let alone posted anything on it. So if I come off a little rusty, I can only apologise.
Well, what's been happening over at TAS HQ in recent weeks? It's been a wild one.
After a really successful first show at the Noize Level Critical all day festival, we walked away with heads held high, as we went down a treat by the sound of it. This was great, as it was a first gig for all but myself and the guys did an amazing job! Nothing went wrong and it was just a great maiden voyage.
Shortly after the show we parted ways with our guitarist, Joe, who remains a friend of the band and knows that if we ever need him again, his phone will ring first!
So that's the recent happenings, what about the future?
Because I know that a limited number of people are going to read this, I have no problem announcing anything early, because it won't go 'viral' (in the loosest sense of the word)
The really big news is that Chris and myself are in the VERY early stages of starting an independent record label, I can currently give you no more information than that! There is no name (Aside from my idea of an imprint, Cadaver Avenue.) and nothing to really announce.
The idea of the label, aside to follow in the footsteps of ground breakers such as Asian Man, is to bring the up and coming to the people.
One of the main reasons behind this move is to be able to promote ourselves and our friends in a variety of ways, whether it's recording exclusive song's for label compilations or playing shows as a group, drawing fans of one another together and immersing everyone in everything we can offer, the possibilities are endless right now!
As news on that develops, I'll keep this thing updated.
We're also in the process of writing for our second album! This is particularly exciting as this time it won't just be me behind the helm. Joe has been writing some material that I've been made privy to, which suffice to say.. I am excited as fuck for!
Another big part this time is the addition of LIVE FUCKING DRUMS to the recordings. Chris is off to study Music Tech at University, which means we get access to the studio at reasonable rates, which with enough practise and the work ethic (That alot of bands lack, but I'll save that for another post.) we can track the album (And B sides) in a few days, then bring the sessions back to my home studio (Also in the process of being renamed..) to edit them, track all the guitars / bass. From there, we'll take the sessions across to Chris' to sort out keys and samples where needed, record vocals and then back to mine for the mix!
It's exciting times.
Sorry if this is long and very unstructured, but that's just how I roll.
Regular updates, hopefully.
James
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