Short And Sweet...

HELLO...

It’s been a long, long time since my last blog. Some things haven’t changed much, mind. Middlesbrough FC still remain a Championship club and Britain is still being destroyed by the Cuntservatives, with our future PM being either a greedy, lying buffoon or a cold-hearted cunt. I could talk about football or politics till the cows come home but I haven’t posted on here for a while. The last thing I want to do is bring everyone down by stating the fucking obvious so I’ll stick with music.

My gig tally for 2019 so far is a staggering ONE gig, supporting the excellent Teesside band The Lulas (check out their Facebook page here: The Lulas). To be fair, though, I’ve been really focusing on recording my new album. Last year, I made a conscious decision to read, study and perfect every aspect of my music. I’ve buried my head in book after book, learning to fine tune my song writing, song arrangement, how to make far more polished recordings and now I’m currently swatting up on countless resources on the subject mixing, all the while making notes and gaining practice via trial and error.

My grand plan is to release a new double album in 2020, with one consisting of around twelve new songs and the other made up of ten earlier songs re-recorded. I have already chosen the ten early tracks to record but I have also written thirty new songs to choose from. I’m close to finishing demos of all of them. That’s a collection of FORTY tracks that I hope to pass onto friends and colleagues (poor bastards), who’s opinions I hope will help guide me in choosing the final track listing. I may say this ahead of every new album release but I am over the moon with the new songs. The majority are straight forward three-minute pop songs but they’re easily the strongest songs I’ve written to date, many of which are very upbeat. Obviously, the books have helped and inspired me a great deal.

I am also very close to finishing my second Derek Wafer album ‘Cheese Salad’ (if you don’t know who Derek is by now, read my previous blogs). Ten stylishly arranged and utterly filthy or just plain stupid comedy gems. For your enlightenment, here is the final track listing:

FAT BASTARD

PUBESCENT PETE

GIMME CHEESE

TWISTED WRIST

REDCAR RACES

DEMON SEMEN

SIR (A SORDID TAIL)

CRAMP

TITIES

GINGER CUNT

I can’t wait to release this beast onto an unsuspecting public later this year.

Still with side-projects, I’m currently putting together an anthology of my finest ‘Silent Voice’ work. Ranging from ambient and dance to incidental and classical, this double album will contain much of the music I’m most fond of from my 14 previously released albums and EPs under the Silent Voice name. I’m over the moon with this collection of works. If you enjoy instrumental music that would fit well with movie soundtracks then keep your eyes peeled for an Autumn release.

Finally, since I posted my last blog, I had the pleasure of seeing not only the amazing Gary Numan but also A-ha, OMD and Tom Bailey live in my native Teesside last year, I’m not going to write out a detailed gig review of either but feel both concerts are highly worth a mention.

Gary Numan played Middlesbrough for the first time in over 35 years on a cold wintry night in March. I’ve seen Gary Numan live on many occasions but it’s always special when it’s on your own doorstep. Promoting his excellent album ‘Savage’ (which reached number 2 in the album charts, his highest entry since 1981), he snuck in a few of his early hits to please a jam packed Empire Theatre. As always, Gary doesn’t say a lot, preferring to let his music do the talking, but always puts on a mesmerizing performance and Middlesbrough was no exception. 

It was mid-summer when A-ha performed just down the road at Darlington arena. It’s the third time I’ve seen the headlining act, who I’m proud to say are one of my favourite bands and a far better band than they’re often given credit for. First up on the day was Tom Bailey, former frontman of The Thompson Twins. Although I’ve never been a huge fan of the band, I’ve always liked some of their bigger hits. Backed by a female only band, he delivered all those hits as well as new material and, with some playful interaction with the audience, he proved a worthy start to the evening.

I’ve always been a fan of OMD, mainly through the influence of my brothers but I would consider myself a bigger fan of A-ha. However, I’ll be the first to admit that OMD stole the show on the night. A set-list consisting of hit after hit and more, they were tight and professional. Andy McCluskey was the perfect frontman, getting the crowd going from the off. He had the audience in the palm of his hand with his sheer energy and humorous banter. Even those who usually refrain from joining in couldn’t help being swept up in a wave of euphoria. If you ever get the chance to see OMD live, DO IT. I can’t recommend them enough.

A-ha have always been a more subdued act who, like Gary Numan, prefer to let the music do the talking. Singer Morten Harket says very little and tends to let keyboard player/guitarist Magne Furuholmen to do much of the introductions. Despite their more quiet persona, A-ha still know who to put on show in their own way. Backed by a full band and string section, they belted out many of their eighties hits, along with some of their more recent and much over-looked offerings. The continual technical difficulties they were clearly having did not detract from another excellent performance

I shall leave you with the videos I recorded for my tracks ‘Wait’ and ‘Only For You’ which were released last year but were never included in a blog because I’ve been too lazy to post any since they were made. Hope you enjoy them. Until next time. xxx