Monday, 21 September 2015

Vintage Guitars #2 ; The Ballad of the Gibson EBS 1250 & Elvis Presley

I think anyone who knows me knows I love nothing more than the sound of Rockabilly or any of it's sub or fusion genres, but it goes beyond that. In around 2009/10 I developed a fascination with the scene and it's musicians to the extent that I watched almost every Elvis Presley documentary going.
Its no mystery that as the King of Rock n Roll, Elvis is one of the most intriguing and fascinating things about the Rockabilly era and I just love Elvis trivia.

I could happily hold a lecture on the most unknown things about Elvis Presley's life as a musician. and I plan to someday. But i'm just going to keep this as short as possible and specific to what I want to cover.

Elvis' impeccable taste in vintage guitars.

The Ballad of the Gibson EBS 1250 & Elvis Presley

I know what you're thinking. "Eh, haven't you like, written about this like, before like, a million years ago? duh?" (well, if your internal monologue is a 14 year old Wisconsin girl from 1998) and yes, I have written about vintage guitars before, and you can read that article right here.
Last time though, my urge to write said article was centred around my fascination with the Gibson EB-1 but now I've got something even more exciting and wacky to share. For the sake of climax though, like all good writers i'm going to save that bit until last and start with Elvis' Olympic White Fender Precision Bass and get progressively more 'out there'.

Elvis playing his Fender Precision Bass at home in Graceland
What everybody who plays or listens to rock music should know is that standard arrangement consists of Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums.
Everyone following so far? Good.
Buddy Holly was instrumental and often horrendously underrated as a musical arranger for constructing what we all know and love as the standard rock band setup. A Vocalist, who is also playing rhythm guitar. a Lead guitarist, a Drummer and a Bass player. It's so common and so simple that no one stops to think "So, someone actually labored away in a studio and thought this one size fits all arrangement up? He must have been some kind of genius" and he was; he started a trend that caught on so well a lot of airheads don't know where it came from anymore.
But i've gotten side tracked. The Point i'm making is, Buddy Holly played with the Crickets, the bass player of said band, the fantastic Joe Mauldin played an upright bass.
Somewhere along the line, Elvis Presley hit mainstream success and began to experiment with his other band members and further developed the template set by Buddy Holly. The most significant of which is Bill Black's decision to start playing an electric solid body Bass Guitar in 1957, 6 years after the instrument had been invented.
Now, at which point it comes to an interesting question.
Who's decision was this to ultimately replace upright Basses in commercial rock music?

1962 Precision Bass in action. The same model as the one owned by Elvis,
just finished in Blonde instead of Olympic White


Bill Black was well respected by Elvis, his decision would have been openly embraced by Elvis even if it was outside the widely accepted norm. Which would make it fair to assume, the reason bass guitar is the standard low end in any rock band is because of the influence of Bill Black.
However, Elvis was a performance visionary and it's often overlooked. This here, is a man who had the nerve to popularize black urban music in a time where a white majority wanted nothing to do with black people. He also invented pole dancing.

Elvis was a leading man and called all the shots in his band, and given that he had a 1956 Precision bass delivered to his house for Bill Black to use on his record, and at a later stage owned his own Olympic white Sid Vicious style Precision bass (Yes, Elvis was a massive Pistols fan. you heard it first here.) and had an impeccable taste in often radical and unusual guitars. I also think it's noteably fair to assume the decision was that of the King's himself.
Either way, one of if not both of these men are the reason I don't have to carry a gigantic violin on my back to and from college for which I am eternally grateful.

I felt that important to note. Next up, Anyone here a fan of Burns guitars?


Elvis' Burns Double Six 12 string electric guitar
Burns are one of my favourite guitar manufacturers these days, they're amazing in their own right, yet aren't as widely popular as Gibson or Fender. Which I really don't understand, perhaps American commercial giants just simply tend to do the whole commercialism thing significantly better than anyone else. I think if I were to buy myself a new 6 string guitar in the Gibson/Fender price range, it'd be Burns Cobra or Gretsch Double Jet.

Someone do me a favor and check back here in a few years and let me know if I've bought either guitars I just said I would.

Burns are a London based early Rockabilly/Spaghetti western style guitar manufacturer, a lot of their models such as the Double Six have been made famous by the likes of Hank Marvin and the Shadows.
Also, the pickups on Brian May's red special are Burns Trisonic pickups, I do believe he originally wired his own but Burns pickups were a little more desirable.
I first heard of Burns as a brand through Ian Hanmore (Yes, the actor) I interviewed him a few years ago now, and we ended up chatting endlessly about Bass Guitar because we're both Bass players and that's what we Bass players do. For the record, Ian plays a Burns Barracuda bass VI; an unusual Burns version of a Fender Bass VI which is effectively a longer scaled 6 string guitar that is tuned an octave lower so it's in bass register, which is strung by custom tape wound strings that i'm told are self consciously expensive. For an example of the Barracuda, click here, I'm not going to talk about it much because that's tangenting off in a strange and dangerous place I like to call early 70's London.

This is how the Burns Double six sounds in action.
Note the Trisonic Pickups are the same mentioned above.


Elvis played a Burns Double Six in the 1966 movie 'Spinout' in which he plays the part of a Racing driver and plays an array of flashy and wacky looking guitars and a song that teaches you how to safely cross the road.
See, dodgy movies like this are probably the reason his genius is often overlooked.
The Burns Double Six was one of Elvis' own finds for the movie, having become acquainted with the shadows since the late 50s but prior to the making of 'Spinout' the colonel located an even more jaw dropping find. He had a knack for that.

Elvis and his 1965 Gibson EBS 1250
At this point in the article I now want to formally introduce you to my new favourite thing; The Gibson Custom Shop EBS 1250 "Double Bass".
In the 60s, Gibson and Fender dove to excessive measures to try and outdo eachother, one of the things Gibson did was try and expand the possibility of potential uses of a solid body electric guitar, and somewhere along the way, They started experimenting with making siamese or double neck guitars. I'm not sure if double necks was his idea originally, it very possibly could have been, but the genius behind the EBS 1250 was a virtual unknown from Indiana called Jim Ramage.

The Original Jim Ramage EBS 1250 "Double Bass"

in 1964, as a musical experiment, Ramage, who worked for/with Gibson had this monstrosity made for whatever reason we may never know. One of the main reasons a lot of people, myself included find this piece of guitar music history so intriguing is there are very few sources of information on this bass or of Jim Ramage
Being the first of very few made before the custom model was discontinued, the Ramage Double bass is possibly the most expensive of the lot, retailing at 15, 478.99 euro from Chicago Music exchange.

It's got Free Delivery though, so everyone's a winner at the end of the day

In '65, Jim Ramage's obscurity starts to become dangerously interesting: The Colonel, Elvis' own manager of all people somehow became aware of the existence of Ramage, a complete unknown, and his Gibson Double Bass and asked for one to be made for Elvis for 'Spinout'. Taking this on board, Ramage designed an even more special design, because how often as a Luthier do you get to design an original Guitar, based on your own for Elvis Fucking Presley? (Elvis' real middle name is actually Aaron).
The New EBS 1250 Ramage built had a 6 string guitar neck and a six string 'Bass VI' style neck.
Judging from the fact that in his lifetime, Elvis bought the Gibson custom after the movie, which was the only solid body electric guitar Elvis owned in his lifetime, it's safe to assume he loved it.

"There was a period of time when Elvis used to play that red double neck at Graceland a lot. He would sit on the arm of the couch in what is now known as the Jungle Room, which we referred to as the Den, and play. Usually Red (West) would play another guitar along with him. Sometimes it would be plugged in but most time's it wouldn't be. He loved the line,"Goin' Up,Goin' down," in "Baby What You Want Me To Do."
- Marty Lacker, Memphis Mafia

The EBS 1250 owned by Elvis currently resides in the museum part of Graceland.

How could you not? It's effectively all you could possibly need, and here are the videos to prove it:

Chicago Music Exchange Demo of the Original Jim Ramage Bass.



Fretted Americana Demo of a later version of the EBS 1250 made in (the Summer of) '69

(Yes, I went there.)

I wonder if Jim knew at the time of creating the EBS 1250 that he had created a Grunge/Metal/Ambient/Shoegaze/one-man-band instrument. The range of the instrument is notably bizarrely vast, which can be seen from how the same instrument is played by two completely different musicians with completely different inspiration, backgrounds and playing styles. Not even bearing in mind it's got two necks.


The above Picture is a Gibson Custom Catalogue description of the EBS 1250. The Updated versions called simply the EBSF 1250 in '67 and '69 had the additional feature of a built in Fuzz effect. Which I seriously wonder why more guitars don't have. As of this point in time I have only ever seen two guitars that have this feature, the EBSF 1250 and those Ibanez SRKP4 (Bass) and RGKP6 (Guitar) models with the Kaoss Pads.
It's a seriously useful feature, I don't know why It isn't a thing. I will definitely do some more research on this for future articles.

To bring this article to a close, enjoy this Blues gem from 'King Creole'.
Until Next time.


Also, I did mention he invented pole dancing, right?


Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Solo musicians and solo Bass players - The debate in favour


Amidst online topical discussions based around solo artist Zol Balint the earthy, Australian based, acoustic-electronic-hybrid-scape sound master, the question was raised about solo musicians as a whole.
Is it not better to breathe your own musicality as part of a group?
If the best thing a musician can do or be measured by is their ability to effectively accompany and blend in with other musicians who are in turn responsible for their own instruments, are solo artists or 'loners' therefore limiting their own musical education?

For the sake of a bit of background, and for those who may be intrigued by experimental electronic-hybrid music but who do not know Zol or his stuff;
Zoltan Frecso, who goes by the name Zol Balint as an artist, is a solo multi instrumentalist from Melbourne Australia. Although having as few as 600 subscribers on his Youtube Channel, his videos have clocked over 54,000 views.
Personally considered one of the most experimental and outrageously underrated musicians on Youtube, Balint plays Piano, a range of raga and aboriginal percussion instruments which gives his experimental music an earthy yet psychedelic feel, but is doubltessly most importantly known for his custom acoustic guitar built by luthier Ian Noyce.

A completely original design, the Noyce/Frecso acoustic guitar aims to combine instrumental guitar music with the modern electronic scene and 'controllerism' by adding MIDI capabilities (MIDI Pickups) and a fixed Novation Launchpad Pro to the guitar body itself.
The Launchpad as stated earlier is fixed to the guitar body and is loaded to the max with samples from Balint's own limitless imagination and ranging from electronic synths to acoustic percussion instruments to just about any sample of sounds that can be discovered in the great outdoors.
I would recommend and encourage anyone who considers themselves serious about or a fan of music to check out the short 8 minute documentary 'Inside Organic Music' in which Zol Balint talks about his inspiration, his artisty and his progressive work with Ian Noyce.

'Inside Organic Music'

For more examples of Zol Balint's material see below:
Scribbles 1-10
Detritus
One Year
Zedeppelin EP

This now brings me on to the main part of this article.....


Are solo artists or 'loners' limiting their own musical education?



The answer of the above question is completely debatable, and the answer will vary from person to person. Personally, I feel a good musician should be capable of doing both. It is a great feeling as a person and as a musician to be part of something big, a collaborative art if you will, and music is undisputably the most collaborative of art forms but it is also nothing less to be able to create music on your own by emulating the parts of other musicians.

As a Bass player in the early years I found it difficult to practice on my own as I had been used to accompanying a track or other musicians and saw the instrument overall  as an accompaniment but not as a lead or even a solo instrument. This is a very restricting mindset and I often found myself (and still do) in extensive and frustrating bouts of writer's (musician's) block.

It was through college and studying music formally and actively practicing the instrument without any accompaniment that I began to find ways of and pushing for new ways of the instrument accompanying itself which opened my eyes to a lot of potential and completely changed my style of playing.
For example, playing by myself allowed me to discover Diads and Triads, which then progressed to 4 note chords and opened a whole new box of musical potential and changed the way I play with other musicians.
If the guitarist or pianist plays an A chord, by playing an A on the Bass, the chord remains solid and indisputably an A. right? ok.
If the guitarist or pianist plays an A chord and I play a C with a minor 3rd and 7th it completely changes the shape of the chord and leaves a lot of room for a brass player to enter with a G minor lick and that shit you got right there is Jazz, my brothers and sisters.

Which leads me to conclude that both is best for me.

There is also the argument that many have that using one instrument is restricting, and that an instrument traditionally seen as an accompaniment instrument is limited in it's own capability.
There are many artists who i've become inspired by in recent months to be able to conclude that that statement is complete and utter bollocks.
There are nothing short of hundreds of classical pieces that use Bass register as the lead, who ever said it had to have another instument to hold it's hand? who ever said it had to stay at the bottom?
you guys are confusing Bass with Base.
Not the same fucking thing!!

In order of how long ago I discovered them, here is my list of the 6 best Solo/Lead Bass players and musicians who you should know. 

  • Mark Sandman (Morphine)


I discovered Morphine in the summer of 2013 in the midst of being intrigued by artists such as Seasick Steve and Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America. Upon doing research into Ballew's equipment as well as his inspiration for sporting a modified Gibson SG, I discovered Mark Sandman of late 80s band Morphine was the sole if not only inspiration for the 2 string guitar filling in for the band's absence of Bass player.Sandman was a foundational inspiration for me as a Bass player, he managed to combine a lot of skills of an experimental musician, songwriter and band leader and is probably the most important name in this list.Sandman plays a 2 string Premier Bass which he plays with a plectrum and slide. It's gritty and murky tone is the most prominent sound of Morphine despite also playing alongside baritone saxophonist Dana Colley and drummer Jerome Deupree.


'You Speak my Language' - MorphineMorphine - Cure for Pain (1993)

  • Aaron Gibson


The Oregon based, Aaron Gibson has quickly become one of my more favourite musicians, a relative unknown, any follower of No Treble can be assured of hearing his music before since the nice folks of No Treble are just as much Gibson fans as I am.As well as being a gifted Bass player and an exceptional vocalist, Gibson is also a humble, nice guy and a loving family man.

  • Brian Gibson (Lightning Bolt)

The appeal of Rhode Island's Lightning Bolt as a duo is less so much the Bass player but moreso the level of Noise rock capacity that two people can create. Using a wide range of octave harmony, pitch shifter and distortion/Fuzz pedals Gibson's bass creates a wall of sound which packs a thundering blow with Brian Chipendale's Drums and vocals.
The experimental edge of this band is sharper than any other on this list, being primarily a jam band during the groups conception and early days, working from non-rehearsed material when playing live, and also the deliberate absence of lyrical content in the majority of their work.
Vocal noises through Chipendale's mask based microphone and for the latter part, techno chanting provide the additional voice to Lightning Bolt's sound, often being reminiscent of an Adebisi Shank, Die Antwoord and Buckethead lovechild.

  • Mike Kerr (Royal Blood)


Like Lightning Bolt, Royal Blood are an alternative rock duo, and such it is impossible to assess Mike Kerr as an individual based on the importance Ben Thatcher also has in the unit that is Royal Blood.2014 was a great year for Royal Blood, with the release of their debut album which went to number 1 in the UK album charts, making them probably the most well known artists in this list.Using only a Garage Drum kit and a Gretsch Electromatic solid body Bass, Royal Blood create a sound that is much bigger than most 4 or 5 piece rock bands and are sure to appeal to a lot of Queens of the stone age fans.

  • Sneaks


I've only really heard of Sneaks recently through an article (below) about black artists in Punk, and since there is very little material online that I can get my hands on (I have only found a photoless Facebook page and an EP on bandcamp) I have ended up repeatedly playing her Album until my housemates hate me for it.I do not know what equipment Sneaks is using, but i'd presume that's an Alesis drum machine of some description. It has a sort of early 90s hip hop sampler style and feel to it, yet remains youthful and relevant. As well as this, the lyrical spoken word style is prominent and meaningful and works well to accompany the repetitive looping Bassline, a minimalist but nonetheless complete style that really gives Sneaks' music a lot of simplistic vibe and richness in character.

  • Remco Hendrix

Remco Hendrix is fast becoming my favourite funk Bass player on youtube, his channel; Hendrix on Bass has over 18,000 subscribers and over 2,680,000 views and he is regularly endorsed by the brilliant folks at basstheworld.com.
Hendrix plays a blend of experimental Funk bass solo pieces as well as a collection of riffs, licks and Jams and largely avoids everything I find boring about Victor Wooten and other Bass players solo funk pieces. He even has dreadlocks and despite being white, doesn't look like a fool.
All can be found on his channel.

Overdriven Fretless Bass Grooves


**There seems to be a technical glitch in the font of the paragraphs on the musicians making it very small and almost unreadable.
I will try and fix this ASAP. In the mean time, please revert to using the zoom function on your browser window.
We apologize for any inconvenience.

Friday, 29 May 2015

The Kids are Alright - The Unpopular opinion

Open Letter to those who think 'Real rock bands' are dying out

Dear Reader,

I have no intention of making this a regular thing, but I felt this issue is one I really need to address. I decided to write an open letter of sorts, if you like, having recently got all wound up by two of the most persistent bigoted snobs in music history and none other than the much glorified Noel Gallagher and Gene Simmons.
Now, I know all too well that a lot of people would hate my guts for even putting those two in the same sentence, but given the specifics, they are both guilty of the same crime.

Firstly, Gene Simmons himself by this point in time has probably accepted his own peak of human arsehollery status. Being someone who suggests that people suffering from depression are either just faking it or should probably kill themselves has bound to have discovered for himself by now.
But i'm not going to address how much of a shitebag Gene Simmons is, and instead direct this letter towards how much of a shitebag he is.

What I mean is, his comments specifically and explicitly stating "Rock is finally dead".
Blaming the millenials and the progression of technology for the destruction of rock music, insisting that reality TV has sent the future of music down a dark path.
"where's the next Bob Dylan? Where's the next Beatles? Where are the songwriters?" Simmons asks in an interview in 2014 “What is the next Dark Side of the Moon? Now that the record industry barely exists, they wouldn't have a chance to make something like that.”
Such a statement, I feel, and speaking as a musician and a follower of new music and artists, depreciates the efforts of others by comparing them to the iconic artists and albums of old.
Now, this is a widely unpopular opinion, but there is a very strong chance a band like Haim could ultimately go on to outlast the Beatles, if you are shocked and appalled at the thought, I’m afraid a lot of that is due to the fact that we as humans tend to unfairly glorify the past, since we view it through rose tinted glasses.
Iconic as the Beatles were, a lot of their albums can be incredibly half drawn and a bit sloppy, whereas given how vast the competition is these days, artists don’t get the chance or even dare to release an album that is “all filler”. The sheer level of stress and pressure that acts are put under knowing that their label can quickly drop them and hire another trend setter the next minute from a mere youtube search is more than enough to keep people on their toes.

Claiming the record industry barely exists is an insult to anyone who is presently pulling an all-nighter finalising their home studio recordings of their own original material, and depreciates the efforts of new musicians just because their methods are different from those of 1983.
But that’s what music does, it’s ever changing. You either flow with it, or fail miserably.
Or look like a barking mad old dinosaur.


Secondly, Noel Gallagher’s outspoken dig towards chart music. Claiming without prior thought it’d seem that if your music is in the top 10, it’s probably shit. “You only have to look at the charts, what happened at the end of the 90s, all those bands used to be in the top 10, like us, Manics, Pulp, The Verve, Suede and Blur, and I think bands like that have been marginalised and sidelined,”.
Personally, I don’t agree with going by chart music as a judgement, since as a whole, less people are buying singles and instead listening to songs on other media such as Spotify and youtube. On the other hand; Oasis, The Verve, Manics, Suede and Blur probably have less memorable top ten hits than I have fingers. Lest we forget the 90s were mostly ruled by Dance pop groups such as Boyzone, Westlife, East 17, Spice girls, S club 7,  Sugababes etc. etc. as well as more electronic dance sounds as sampling became a widely used technique, bringing acts such as Daft Punk, Eifel 64, Vengaboys etc.


And as for what happened?
I think people got sick of Jarvis Cocker and ‘Wonderwall’.


The most annoying thing for Gallagher to suggest is, aside from the bubble gum pop of chart music, which is standard for music bigots to casually dismiss, that he’d “have eaten Bastille alive in an afternoon in the 90s, one interview, destroyed, gone, never to be heard of again. Easy, had ’em for breakfast.”
This links back to what I said about Simmons, it’s effectively knocking a new artist because they are doing things differently from what you did. As an artist I find it difficult not to constantly compare my chapter one to the chapter five of others, but here we have Gallagher explicitly doing the opposite and comparing his almost closed book to the first pages of Bastille’s story.
I want to take the time and explain properly why I find it most annoying.

Bastille formed in around May/June 2010 to record songs written by Dan Smith and had signed to Virgin/EMI by December the same year. Achieving such a level of success in little over 9 months is more than commendable, something not many have achieved certainly nothing Gallagher should dare snipe. Even if I’m not their biggest fan, I can still give credit when it’s due.


In conclusion, it may seem like rock is dying to some. It is normal for someone to become rooted in a time that is also defined by its sound, such as why my dad can’t tolerate Biffy Clyro because they’re quite simply not Dire straits. There is nothing wrong with holding a preference, but it doesn’t give you the right to look down on others because they like something different, or are going about their own path a different way. There is no definitive rule or hierarchy of music, such is the beauty of art; it’s entirely open to interpretation of the individual.
Maybe it’s about time Gallagher, Simmons and others learned to respect that.



Now, HMV are running a raffle wherein the winner gets an Epiphone Casino signed by Noel Gallagher and I need help thinking what colour to re-paint it, just in case I win.


Perhaps when this blog gets off the ground I’ll have my own raffle with an Epiphone Casino signed “FUCK NOEL GALLAGHER” by yours truly.

Until next time,
Shine on you crazy diamonds!!



Gig Review; Featuring X


Whelans (Upstairs) 28/05/2015

Although rock music in it's purest form has existed as many and more than 60 years, and the fact that countless rock bands have existed, formed, bloomed, flourished, dissolved, faded, reformed, rebooted etc. etc. on an endless loop; it still remains my opinion that even consisting of all the right nuts and bolts in all the appropriate places, it's very difficult to do right.
Featuring X are one of those bands that do it very right.
Realistically speaking, with an undisputable back bone of rock in it's purest and most tonically pleasant form, Featuring X is one of those fresh new, swiftly and steadily progressing acts that like all great laser weapons from 1950s sci fi movies comes with 2 settings: Stun, and Kill.
The most amazing point to address being the fact that they freely transition between both stunning the audience and absolutely killing it.

Ok, i'm going to let that pun burn itself to redemption in purgatory and get on to the actual important bit.

It's worth noting people of the internet, that I know lead guitarist Dara Farrelly personally; facebook tells me we've been friends since june 2011 so i'd hazard a guess this was around the time we became aware of eachothers existence. From then to now it's been eventful to say the least, and knowing someone like Dara Farrelly is great for any musician mostly because they unintentionally remind you that you actually are one of those musiciany people and should probably music soon; mostly in moments of artists block or lack of motivation.
Seeing Featuring X on a Guinness Amplify poster sometime last year when casually waiting on a bus was one of those times.
Seeing Featuring X play live in HMV Grafton street was another one of those times.
Hearing their EP was one of those times (and is whenever I listen to it).
As was seeing them live last night when they headlined Whelans.

yes, Whelans.

Me right now.
This is actually the first gig i've been to in whelans and will not be the last. the acoustics were bloody brilliant and really allowed a lot of room for a fantastic band like Featuring X to blossom. Right from the get-go they hit hard and reminded all mere mortals in their presence why theyre headlining and not supporting someone else's Whelan's gig; setting the ball rolling with a heavy bass driven sound that shows no fear of letting open bass notes ring loud and prominent.
Which by the way, since bass players are often horrendously underrated in bands, can we just take a moment to appreciate how Featuring X does this bit very right and puts Sarah McLaughlin, an immensely competent musician on bass?

Dat Bass tho, Lads
Not the Sarah McLaughlin that sings Jessie's backstory in Toy Story 2 though. Sorry if this fact disappointed you in any way.

The Whelans version of Featuring X does sound remarkably more polished than the version that played HMV almost a year ago, it shows a natural progression of a band and one of the most interesting things to note is how The Boat has changed from the time of recording their debut EP and now. The intro has changed. It begins with palm muted picking guitar that given the songs title really connects to the sound of morse code. This really suprised me, and I dont know if Featuring X realise it or not but grounding a theme of a song with a motif reminiscent of something else relating to that same theme is what i'd really consider class A musicianship, heavyweight musicianship; The platinum membership of rock music that people love acts like the Beatles for.
That, I loved most of all.

The Boat - Featuring X


Jekyll & Hyde is a personal favourite. Not only because I love that book more than life itself but also because it's just an amazing song. The intro is striking and full with a snarly guitar riff that just aint afraid to swagger. The rhythm guitar parts of Eleanor Rogers are both sharp and guick to remind me why I like Hollow body guitars so much. And there's no chorus, such to speak at least; The chorus part is filled by a recurring instrumental break, which is lead into by a pre-chorus. A shameless breaking the unwritten rules of pop music that often only Mark Ronson is brave enough to do.
Brownie points for that. (Brownie not included)
It's, odd for one to admit, a song that I wish I wrote and recorded myself, perhaps somewhere in the multiverse there exists a reality wherein I do not suffer writers block all the fridging time and wrote this song and am very content with doing so.
But, I didnt write it and Featuring X did.
I am very content with them doing so also.

Jekyll & Hyde - Featuring X

They're quite simply put; one of those bands that you should know and are more than worth the growing recognition they are recieving. If you havent done so already, and have read this far, it'd be sinful to not check out their EP and give their Facebook page a like and show your support.

And don't stop at that.
College is over for the summer which means Niamh Sharkey, Jenny McKeown, Eleanor Rogers, Sarah McLaughlin and Dara Farrelly are in touring season. Keep your ear to the ground and definitely don't miss Featuring X when they are playing near you.
And when they do, you know the drill; tell all of your friends and family, your friends' friends, your friends' family, your family's friends, far away neighbours, next door neighbour, tell your granny, tell the parish priest to give a shout out during his sermon and get the word out on the street.
Featuring X are fucking Fresh!

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

My Musical Journey so far; UCD year 1

Years ago in a galaxy far far way......

To set the scene, basic background:
I took up Bass towards the later end of 5th year, and didnt do music for the leaving cert, so I couldnt go for any course that had an entrance exam for theory. I studied music as a joint honours in UCD along with 2 boring subjects which i dont need to go into :3

In first year.. you do a varied kinda thing... they dont usually get you into the choir or orchestra as a credit until 2nd or 3rd year so the modules i did was theory and analysis of tonality; everything theory that ABRSM requires you to know (ABRSM being the folks who set the standard of western classical music grades. I'm sure theyre all great craic on a night out)
also... Musicianship... heavily based around theory, but also goes into things like artform and repertory and stuff like that which is also an important part of being a musician. I learned the most from the lecturer in that class because everything he said made sense. he's also one of the worlds most leading scholars on medieval chant which is pretty impressive to say the least given that it delves further than most standard teachings of western music does (usually the Baroque is as far back as they go... people hadnt even invented scales with more than 5 notes.. and the Renaissance, which is rare because it's so old no one knows what instruments they used and really struggle to give a fuck anymore)
the last module was Music Culture and society. fuck all theory.. but again .. important aspects of music that just sticking to ABRSM will not teach you. it's kinda like a beginner level ethnomusicology, which is a scientific discipline which really goes into the nuts and bolts of the fact that humans even have a music in the first fucking place. the lecturer was Dr.Jones (not Indiana) and she (she was a lady, so definitely not Indiana) is now the head of the music department in UCD as far as I know. that module went into a kind of understanding element of music... taking things like Raga Megh (which is a piece of indian ritual music) The Goldberg variations (a piece by Bach) and the album 'Theres a Riot Goin on' by Sly and the Family stone (an amazingly progressive funk album from 1971)
She even introduced us to really experimental musicians like Wilco.
and one excercise we did for example was comparing the similarities and differences between Bob Dylan's  and Jimi Hendrix' respective versions of All along the watchtower.
Bob Dylan - All along the Watchtower
The Jimi Hendrix experience - All along the watchtower

The last was the module I did best on.. it was also probably the most interesting for me, I felt more motivated because I didnt feel miles behind on theory than everyone else in the room since it was new to all of us, and between it and musicianship, really changed my mind in vast ways about a lot of other music genres (I liked rock and pop and had listened to Jazz from working in my uncle's shop... I knew a lot, but it was early days. I never intended or thought i would get into classical music, world music or even Irish traditional... but.. yeah!!)
In turn, I became very experimental... That hasnt gathered any moss just yet.
I really guickly got into really old delta blues like robert johnson and son house and stuff, and developed more of an understanding to what exactly the function of classical music was.... how imagery is used through sound and such.. which is more useful than you may think... imagine from a production end of things. the stuff you could learn from classical arrangements would be gold dust when it comes to producing an album...

The best, and most unforgettable part of my short stint in college was actually sharing the same course and space with a lot of people who i'd consider to be the best in the country (at the very least) at what they do. You really felt like it was the pinnacle of something, like the people around you would one day be names that prick ears and turn heads. It also had the sense of camaraderie... like we were all individual yet similar stones rolling on different paths but in the same direction...
to start making waves.

Some of my former classmates have begun making such waves already;

Moxie on Fox 17 morning News
(Jos Kelly; Keys and Accordion)

Just No - Where you come from
(Graham McCartin; Lead Guitar)



UCD Gamelan undergraduates - The River {original composition}
(Tadhg Kelleher)


Tuesday, 13 January 2015

13/01/15 - Maneli Jamal & New Years Resolutions

For those of you who are like me from about 15 hours ago and have never heard of Maneli Jamal before in their lives.... you're welcome. Consider it a veeeery belated Christmas present!!

An acoustic tribute that is not a medley, a mimic, a remix or anything like you'll have heard before; Jamal succeeds in tying together a lot of fundamentals of the Daft Punk idea and synonymous grooves to the French duo known the world over.

New Years Resolutions


I have been very neglecting of this blog over the past few months. This is bugging me for many reasons, the main one being the fact I set up this music blog so that I could continue on the track I began in college through my deferral year (when I say year I mean.. 2 years!!) in order to retain and even expand the acquired knowledge.

But in my defense, I have been neglectful for all the right reasons, being exams, Christmas shopping, renewing old friendships, making new ones, being properly employed for the first time ever in probably the best place ever to begin working properly for the first time ever.
but after the hype that is Christmas in a 5 star hotel, I'm beginning to revert back into a routine wherein I actually have some free time.

So i'm going to make my new years resolutions now:


Johnny Cash - Thirteen
  • Numero Uno.. I'll have a typical essay-type post on whichsoe'er topic pleaseth me once a month.
    I've chosen the 13th to be this day, No better number, eh?
  • Zwei .. I am going to set up a soundcloud account so I can move my blog into a second medium and begin making occasional podcasts with interviews, discussions and music, obviously. I have wanted to get other musicians involved in this project, since one of the best ways i've always learned about music is through topical discussions with like-minded individuals, and often starkly contrasting opinions from my own peer group and those who slink within the same field of discipline.

    Hopefully, A Study in Audiosynthesis will become bigger and better, moving into new media and really becoming something worth writing and studying endlessly for.
  • I plan to return to college in September and am already negotiating possible course options in DIT Conservatory.
  • and finally; I've adopted a new official slogan; 'Exspiro Musica Sensational' a self-concieved latin metaphor which translates as "Exhale sensational music".

    the reason for this is to boost my own productivity; I don't know how many brilliant projects I have thought of and experimented with over the years I've been both an artist and a musician. But, nothing succeeds like procrastination, eh?
    This little phrase is to remind me that some of them are worthy to be followed through and completed.
    In 2015, I hope to have completed or nearly completed at least a demo CD or EP of 5-7 tracks from any of my projects and project ideas which I often jot down ideas for in a little black notebook that never leaves the pocket of my greatcoat; Ellery Sperro (Power Duo), Borgianni (Instrumental progressive punk), as well as further unnamed hillbilly blues and skip rhythm grunge/math rock groups and a full 6 piece Jazz accompaniment to advance the experimental nature of Ellery Sperro.
So, with that, Happy New Year everyone.
Hopefully 2015 will be my year, and all continues to fall into place like it so perfectly did in the end of 2014.

Live long and Prosper
Shine on you crazy diamonds

#ExspiroMusicaSensational #Thirteen