Accidentally Like A Martyr: 2009

Have you ever been in that hideously frustrating situation where you have everything at your disposal to record a song or piece of music but you don't have a song to write? The general reaction of most songwriters is to sit with pen and paper or at their computer 'willing' a song to emerge. This has such a low success rate that it's barely worth mentioning.

To my way of thinking every songwriter, or every person for that matter, is but a mode of transport for a sequence of lyrics, chords, emotions and arrangements to present themselves in the form of what we term a 'song.'

I have no way of proving this but it is my firm belief that everyone has at least one song in them. Some people have such a passion for creating a song that they go 'the extra hard yard,'....and then some....to make this happen.

Others, on the other hand, for whatever reason do not pursue this aspect of their psyche. I view this a a shame in many ways as so many people have so many songs or stories that come their way but are left to wander off, hopefully to some place where they can be transformed into a musical piece.

A song can be 'sparked' by the most unlikely source. It may be a transient image that becomes so firmly entrenched in the writers' mind that it will eventually come to fruition. It may come from a remark made by a friend, stranger, newsreader, etc. This doesn't necessarily that the writer will write word for word what they have heard. More often than not it is just enough to ignite what is already within the writer.

As writers continue pursue their craft they become more open to external forces and more flexible in adapting their internal notions.

When I first began writing professionally in the late 1980s I had a wealth of poetry stemming back to my days as a kid at school back in Scotland. I found this easy. All that was required was a few

tweaks here and there and finding the best key for our vocalist. This 'easy' phase soon became serious basically through life experience. As serious as it became I still found it easy. My songwriting only became serious in the sense that I was ever-conscious that my 'fresh' material was going to be heard by large audiences.

By the early 1990s my songs became, deliberately, highly politicised as there were some pretty heavy political issues going down in Tasmania at the time. They continued to be well received so I kept my technique the same. As time progressed and the political situation in Tasmania had pretty-well resolved itself I had no 'ignition.' I believe that it was around this time that I really began to fully learn about songwriting for a rock band.

From this point on I maintained my previous attitude to songwriting. I have never written for a target audience or written a song with the aim of pleasing listeners. If I like a song then I'm more than happy enough. The only obstacle that I encountered was getting the band to play a particular track exactly the way that I wanted it to be played, hence the fact that I write, record and mix all tracks myself these days.

Having a multitude of ideas thrown around about regarding how my song should turn out doesn't sit well with me. I've been accused of being stubborn and difficult to work with. I can wear that because such comments usually come from drugged-out 'try-hards' who can barely put pen to paper. I have also been accuse of staying in my 'comfort zone.' I see nothing wrong with being in my comfort-zone. Why leave it if I'm happy being there? Who knows that I may leave it tomorrow if I have an 'ignition' that calls for such a move.

At the risk of sounding patronising, which I'm not (I save that for 'real life'), most people who listen to music and have no connection with musicians don't give any thought as to how a song actually comes to fruition. I certainly didn't until my early teens. I am speaking mainly of my own recording experience over the last two or so years.

I have been asked by countless people where a song comes from plenty of times & it's such a broad question that any number of perfectly reasonable answers could be given. My answer has been the same ever since I began writing. It usually stems from a line of an overheard conversation or, more commonly, when I'm sitting out the back thinking of nothing in particular.

This is the embryo of the song. It may only be a few seconds in length but it's more than enough to run with. I get particularly enthused if a part of a bass-line enters me. It's a cakewalk once that foundation is there. Words have always come easily to me, infact I've never spent more than 20 minutes sitting with a pen & paper writing lyrics.

This doesn't mean that they come instantly. I may have been sitting on a notion for days, weeks or months. Finding words to rhyme & make sense have never been much trouble either. I DO pay particular attention to phrasing, emphasising particular words & even half-speaking some. Let's face it, a song is a story put to music. Bob Dylan & the late Warren Zevon are the best two for this by light years that I have encountered.

Sometimes my songs are from personal experience but I often swap from singing in the first person to singing in the second person. I often swap the gender of the subject of a song. Why? I have no idea. I guess it's just how a song was meant to leave me. I'm rather fond of the notion that pieces of music are floating around everywhere and every now & again 'converge' within someone who is able to convey them.

Once written and firmly entrenched in my head, the next step is to record it. To do so, one must have instruments, recording equipment, a place to record & the time to do it. I've had a small mixing desk & all of the necessary instruments for many years. One also has to know how to operate the recording equipment. Initially this is very time-consuming but after a while one gets the hang of what frequency will suit what vocal best or what guitar effect will suit a particular song best. My effects are very limited as I prefer that 'pub sound' so I can literally mix blindfolded....but not quite.

Once the song is recorded to the standard that I'm happy enough with, the next thing to do is to get it onto the internet. One needs a computer for this and some know-how about converting sound files. Again, more expense and time.

I've heard many songwriters prattle on about the weeks of torment & anguish that they subjected themselves to in order to 'capture' a song. Firstly, a song isn't there to be captured. It's either there or it isn't. Deliberately subjecting oneself to torment and anguish for the sake of a 3 or 4 minute song is either lunacy or a lie.

Due to the life that I've led I have plenty of horrific memories to draw on if I wanted to go down that road. I do throw snippets in now & again but always ensure the song has an upbeat & though-provoking message.

So, to the casual listener, every song that you hear on the radio or on your iPod or wherever has an awful lot more go into it than the few minutes that you hear.

Every single song can't possibly have a price put on it. One download of 99c nowhere NEAR reflects the time and money spent on even making that song available to you to purchase. The fact that it has been made available for you to purchase instantly would have been laughed at not so long ago.

Irrespective of how quickly the internet can make this option possible, the fact remains that the songwriter & recording artist still has to put the same amount of time, money & effort in to getting their songs to the public. Google has recently made this process even faster for the listener to access music. I have a very wary eye on this 'revelation' and where it's going to leave the small-time independent artists.

This leaves many a musician the dilemma of how to price their music. Had my surname been Dylan I imagine I'd be selling an unfathomable amount of material at much higher prices. As it stands my surname is Findlay & I make every effort possible to make my material not only easily accessible but also as affordable as possible. Only recently I have made my commercial releases available as physical downloads at 'audiolife' at more than competitive prices.

Gone are the days of me making many every single song streamable or free to download. Stats showed that people were streaming my material....a lot...which I was for quite some time more than pleased about, but the spiel by the distributors that this leads to sales never rang true to me. I was right and I'm not the only independent musician to have gone through these motions. I have no qualms with my material being streamed....but only to a point.

My songs are as important & as personal to me as any 'major' musician. I may not recall the entire lyrics of all of my songs but I can give you an in-depth description of what each song is about, why it was written & what it means to me.

Accidentally Like A Martyr

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

"...And The Sun Refused To Shine...."

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Phone Don't Ring....