Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Carmelita Street





Carmelita Street

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Monday, February 05, 2007


Another song



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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

What's The Story Frank ?

I spent a lot of time recording over the last five years. At the end of it all, I have nine songs. It might not seem like a very productive five years, but the process was somewhat interrupted by having 3 children, buying and renovating a house, and starting a new and demanding job. There is also the fact that the limited time I have for music is split between occasionally playing live shows, guitar lessons and the practice time that involves, and jamming with other musicians.

I had planned on releasing an album, putting it up on itunes and CDbaby, and playing some shows around it, but the energy required for getting and keeping a band together, rehearsing and finding shows is just too much at the moment. In fact,if it wasn't for the getting gigs part, I'd probably give it a go. That takes considerable time and effort when you are performing original material.

I joined the online A&R organisation Taxi. They let members know of opportunities: movies and TV shows that need music, performers looking for songs, labels looking for artists, publishers looking for music etc. One of the great and humbling benefits of this is that you get feedback from industry professionals. They don't hold back, so it can be fatal to the fragile artist's ego, but if you can handle it, and incorporate it, it's incredibly helpful. I have gotten generally positive feedback, but mostly I am told that my songs are not suitable for any given opportunity, or are not commercial enough, or don't fit any genre easily. The latter is a common theme. That's fair enough, they are looking for commercial music, (that doesn't necessarily mean Britney type pop, they look for a very wide variety of stuff), and I understand if I want to follow this route I need to tailor towards it. Also my music was recorded over a long period during which I was learning the recording process, so it's stylistically inconsistent. The way I look at it, it's 90% of the way there. I have already started a new project, and I am really working on making the quality 100%. The one thing I will do differently this time, is have it mixed by someone else. I love mixing, but I am too close to my own work to be subjective. I have noticed when I have mixed other peoples music, I do a better job.

I have decided to post some of my songs on the blog. The first one is called "Whats The Story Frank?" You can listen to it by clicking here, or right click and "save as" if you want to download it. The title comes from a saying a college friend had. We were both from Limerick, and we had this theory that most Limerick males were either named, Ger, or Frank. Every time I would meet my friend, he would put on a thick Limerick accent and say "Whats the story, Frank?" I always thought it would be a good title for a song. That said, the song has nothing to do with this story. Have a listen, tell me what you think.

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