My first departure into electronic music proper. Constructed with drum loops and some basic synths I think this has elements of what I like to hear in house music. There are also some cringe inducing bits, but I can’t bear to move them now they’re there.

I think this track was trying to do something kinetic, but in a way it fizzles into something quite sweet and euphoric in the middle, so who knows. I liked the idea of the lyric coming into join the accented lead string section, which acts as a nice motif when we join the main section again.

Maybe I don’t have a future in EDM, but I might have some fun with this stuff. I’m away to fiddle with my LFO for a bit!

Tx

Another oldie that I thought would be worth adding up here. I have wanted to re-record this for years but somehow always seem to get distracted by new things. However, I still think this might be the best song I have written, just for overall feel and the way it sounds…..eerie or something.

The sentiment is meant to be…if I remember correctly….about the way we choose a path and really have no idea whether its the right/wrong way. I always had a vision of doing a video for this with someone running down the street, in a suit, in the pouring rain. Slo-mo, the whole thing. It never happened and this has stayed in the dark, missing a last verse. Also, the crazy vocals near the final chorus where an experiment…I kind of like them now, but they may seem a bit full on to new ears….don’t judge!

Weird and strained, written on the end of a bed, worrying about what was coming, and a little about what had gone before.

Tx

Click here to go to song page

Written and recorded in 2005, this is an old one, but still has something buried in it for me. Like everyone, I have seen some highs and I’ve seen some lows and this was written as an optimistic, yet pragmatic view of a low point.

Over sung, scrappy solos and sounds exactly as it was, recorded in a garage with almost zero real knowledge of how to record audio. Again, despite that, I think the song is genuine and I enjoyed digging it out and having a listen.

Also, a very young Russell Keeble on the drums

Have a listen and abort if it all gets too much 🙂

Tx

An experiment with some electronics now. Not convinced I have the hang of this yet, but a chance to layer up some guitars and try and get a wall of sound.

I actually really like how the chorus comes in on this one. The dynamics are strong and it does stand out from the verses/bridge sections.

I have tried to put lyrics on this, but have failed on every occasion to find something that fits. Maybe I’ll have a go with fresh ears soon.

In the meantime….enjoy this instrumental!

Tx

In 2013 I enrolled in  a song-writing course at the ICMP in North London. The idea was that we all sat around and talked about the songs we liked, songs we didn’t like, the common ways songs were constructed and some of the nuances you could employ.

The best thing that came out of it for me, was the suggestion that you could write songs from different angles. I always started with the guitar and worked my lyrics around the rhythm/melody. ‘Sometimes’ was created with a basic shape and lyric structure before the guitar was picked up. The assignment was ‘Identity’ and I wanted to explore the feeling of being an outsider. I moved around a lot when I was little, from Ireland to Scotland and then onto London….the notion of identity has always been something I have found fascinating as my own is not entirely clear.

Another one in open D, recorded on my little Zoom personal recorder, in my bedroom with my buddy Russell manning the acoustic bass. I really like this one and think it has an authenticity that is hard to recreate.

As always….enjoy.

Tx

Ok, so the plan was to finish this one in the studio and release it to critical acclaim. As things go, it may never see the light of day, so here you go….in the flurry of my inter-xmas/new year sharing fest, here is One In The Ground. I love the way this song changes and the driven bass-line that came from messing with my acoustic bass one evening.

The thought was to try and write something that was in the vein of some of my more electronic influences. This didn’t really work, except this sort of weird droning baseline and melancholic vocal were born. The verse jars a little, but awesome drumming and some nice licks from my buddy Russell Keeble.

Enjoy.

Tx

So I spent a day in my parent’s basement, a Takamine tuned to open D, played through a Fishman Aura 16, an SM57 and Native Instruments Komplete and tried to record something that has been in my head for a few weeks.

Not sure about all of it. It is definitely a rough cut, but some ideas are  nice. My flatmate Russell suggested trying to get a mandolin feel into the middle 8/16, not sure I managed to pull it off, but the over laying of the guitars hopefully makes this bit sparkle…..it is meant to get over a feeling of pervasive optimism and excitement that you can feel when you’re in the chase.

There is something distinctly cliche about it all, but I’m not sure how else to go about this one…may need to start from a different angle….

Enjoy!

Tx

So…..sitting out in Portugal, nursing a piercing hangover and wondering if I’ll ever feel normal again….I had the idea to take things into my own hands. I have a mountain of musical ideas to get out there and I intend to do it!

So here is one of the half baked ideas I have been working with. It’s a bit soppy and sentimental, but I like it for some reason. Written on a rainy early afternoon when my flatmate Rose asked me to ‘write something….right now!’, this is (with some extra tweaks) what came out. Going to try and finish this before returning to work.

Enjoy.

Tx