Naive

The first week of January 2005 I got dumped. It was actually the only time in 35 years that it's happened to me, and it was crushing.
That first Saturday night, I hid at home alone and got really drunk. I remember waking up Sunday, and opening another bottle of gin.

Wallowing in self-pitty, I sat at my keyboard and started hammering out the notes that made sense at the time. Stopping only to scribble my thoughts, everything melded to be 'Naive'. I think it took about an hour to write.

So drunk that I could barely stand up, I programmed a strange 9-bar drum pattern that would repeat throughout the verses, only omitting the 9th for choruses. I think it accurately portrayed the anger and frustration I felt at the time, while the piano expressed my sorrow and hurt.
The off-kilter guitar line at the end spoke of my disorientation (and tipsiness).

Within about 3 hours, Naive went from being a twinkle in the Bombay Sapphire to a written, arranged, recorded, and produced track already been posted online.
I tried to encompass the only relationship (at that point) that I had believed to potentially last a lifetime. That was the girl that made me realize that I could spend my life with one person. The abrupt end was an experience that I (thankfully) have never had to go through again.

Recreating the song for 'Overture', I felt guilty over-writing the original performances. Unfortunately in my drunken stupor I had deleted the files as soon as i posted, intent on keeping it pure.
So I redid the track, keeping only the original guitar performance that I found somewhere random on my PC. I wasn't able to sign with the same swagger or hurt inflecting, but maybe that's just a sign that I'm much better now. I can't completely reconnect with the Matt that wrote that in a near-suicidal plea to my self-conscious.

Naive
Thought I'd want to spend my life with you
Told me that you felt the same
I let you in, I dropped my guard, tore down my wall
It left me so Naive

Blaming no-one but myself for this
Malice never was your style
Here alone, I'll think about what I gave in
To make me so Naive

Never want to love again
You hurt too much to be my friend
Don't understand, I can't believe
You got this far, I'm so Naive

Faith in no-one but myself from now
Tarnished soul that I'll conceal
Humanity I'll never feel a kinship with
It left me so Naive

Never want to feel this way again
Dead and breathing, just the same
An open sore for all to see, I'll wear with pride
I'll never be Naive

Never want to love again
You hurt too much to be my friend
Don't understand, I can't believe
You got this far, I'm so Naive

Rushing Along on the Current

So "Overture" has started selling fairly well, and thanks to everyone buying.

Recording the album was a great pleasure. I really do love those songs and was happy to strip them down and put them into different poses.
Mixing the album was... interesting. I'm still learning how to do this properly, and in ways that suit me as opposed to "the industry." It took a lot of patience, trial-and-error, and care. I'm happy with the end result, i think I got it to around 95% of what I had wanted. That other 5% would only come from professional assistance, and I am happy to trade that off for the pride in it being a self-produced endeavor.
Mastering the album was more frustrating than interesting. Honestly, it's the part i like least. There's very little creativity, it's just adding that last little "sheen" to the project. Equalizing all the tracks so that they sound like one package (and not 11 isolated, random bits), compressing and controlling the volume, and such. Nitpicky, and not my thing at all.

I was happy to take a little time off after this job, but am now back to work! Aside from the batch of new songs I'm working on (title tbd), I also found a piece that I did a decade ago: I scored a play that ended up falling apart a couple of days prior to opening. A shitty script, but I really enjoyed the musical aspect. Along with writing and arranging the new songs, I am side-tracking to modernize, edit, and re-work this score. Who knows what it will become...

Musical Tangent/ Shameless Plug

My fiancee and I are saving up for our wedding next year, which means no holidays. However, the other day I discovered a contest for Hilton Mexico.

I had a very short time to write a song on why Kate deserves to win a vacation, make a video of it, and submit it to Hilton.

So as of Tuesday, you're able to watch the video, and if you like it
VOTE FOR ME HERE!!!
You can vote again daily, or more often if you run between internet cafes.


Enjoy the video, have a good laugh. it's kinda catchy too...






I'll be taking down loads of Triscuits and maple syrup, and returning with lots of bottles of Mescale, by the looks of it. hahaha

No Fun

Years ago, I played in a truly amazing band. However, like many creative teams, ours fell apart due to conflict within the group. Mainly myself and the drummer.
After a year of arguing, which really escalated in the last month, we went into the studio to record the latest album. Things were said, tempers flared, fists nearly flew.
I quit that night. One does need to put up with a certain amount of BS in life, but when you hit the wall you have to fix it. I remember the singer sitting at the mixing desk, head in hands, wondering what to do. "You learned so much with us," he said wanting me to reconsider. I had learned more with them in 3 years than in the decade prior, but it was irrelevant.
Unfortunately, even with our issues, the drummer and I had a great connection. We grew up with the same musical influences, and could read each other. We knew what the other was about to do, without usually discussing it.

We were a great band, i'm proud of the work we did, and I won't do it again. The weekend after quitting, I wrote No Fun:

No Fun,
I never hurt anybody but you
That’s the price of love
At least a love that’s true

I never used up anybody before
I’m a bastard I know
I never used up anyone
Until they were No Fun

No Fun,
Backed in a corner I let you fall
To your own disgrace
You still don’t see it at all
No Fun,
I didn’t mean it it’s what I do
To hold myself above
To protect me from you

I never used up anybody before
I’m a bastard I know
I never used up anyone
Until they were No Fun

No Fun,
Next to you everything went pale
Your ego ruled your world
Now you’re tired and oh-so stale

I never used up anybody before
I’m a bastard I know
I never used up anyone
Until they were No Fun

History Re-viewed

I don't know when this was - sometime between 2000 and 2003. Canadian Music Week, if I remember correctly.

Damn, I looked cool smoking on stage!
hahaha

Overture: The Greatest Unheard Hits

That's it! It's done!
Overture: The Greatest Unheard Hits is finally complete.
Songs that were written over the last decade, but I was never quite happy with them. Either the arrangement in the original (private) recording wasn't quite up to snuff, or there were a few lines that needed amending...
One morning I got up, and while waiting for the coffee pot to brew I picked up an acoustic guitar. Strumming what had always been a piano-based tune, I suddenly had the idea of recording my favourite songs with a bare-basic acoustic guitar/percussion setup. It obviously didn't stay that way, as Naive only has guitar in the lead while the song exits...
I'm really proud of these songs, and the way that they've evolved since being written. While not a cohesive group of songs like 'Reflecting', which was all about the failure of my marriage, 'Overture' is a handful of snapshots covering the hectic and strange past decade.

I finished mixing the disc on Tuesday, and spent Wednesday and Thursday mastering it. Once all the songs were EQ'd properly, and sounded like a cohesive unit, I burned to a CD.
Listening to the living room stereo, it was a little tinny. Listening on the bedroom stereo, it was a bit bassy (the exact opposite). Listening at my studio was fine - that's where I recorded and mixed the record. Putting it on my iPod, it was a little bassy. Not overpowering, but a little more than I'd wanted. I've left it a little too bassy - most people these days are listening to music on their computers, which cut out the lower frequencies. Hopefully my mix will compensate for that. If you like it, that's great. If it's too much bottom end for you, then shake your own.

So go ahead, and give it a trial here. The songs get clipped after 2 minutes, and to hear the full versions you'll need to buy them. I also have three of the tracks on Reverb Nation, with the full songs, but without download capability (in case you want to hear the surprise endings).

Enjoy!

Canadian Democracy

Did Axl Rose lose all his money along with his hairline (apparently he's got a weave)?
If so, did have to record Chinese Democracy in his home-studio? That album took 10 years to come out - it feels like my record is trudging along at a similar pace.

I've been extremely busy with night-school for the last month or so, so Overture has remained at about 95% complete. The mixes still need a little tweaking, but I haven't had a chance to address them. It's REALLY frustrating.
I'm constantly being asked when it will be completed, and I'm tired of having to say "soon."

I have thought of spending a grand to have a pro mix it, but I'm just worried that it wouldn't come back how I want it. That's why I'm doing this all myself: I write it, I record it, I perform it, I mix it... this way it'll end up what I want. Eventually. Adding another person, no matter how competent, adds another point of (mis)communication and opinion. And that's what I'm trying to avoid.

I've taken the next two weeks off work, and I'm counting on Overture being done by the end of next week.


Oh, and aside from the next album that's mostly written I'm also thinking about a total abberation: a techno project! Just for fun, to see if I can...

PS. I recently re-discovered Pulp's 'Different Class' album. Brilliant!