11 July 2009

---------------------------------------------------------------------- day 1 - The mini-studio is up and running. Spaghetti junction worked out and cables are connected. Found a piece of a broken tambourine and a shaker, which I think was given to me by the guys from band Headswim (?) or some other band we toured with. Will spend the afternoon just playing a few songs, and picking out 1 or 2 to start with, work out a rough pace and key. Spent the last couple of days clearing up the mess I'd created while painting the desk with blackboard paint, which sounded like a fxcking great idea at the time, but quickly turned into yet another mini-diy disaster. it looks good though. This is a good spot - huge windows, no neighbours - I feel I could be in the middle of nowhere. Phone's switched off. I've got coffee, bread and wine and 2 extra packets of marlboro lights.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRO - Follow the process from despair to inspiration, as I gather ideas, demo new songs and plot the new Drugstore album. anatomy - from the Oxford Dictionary: • noun (pl. anatomies) 1 the scientific study of bodily structure. 2 the bodily structure of a person, animal, or plant. 3 a detailed examination or analysis.

I have never lost, even in my darkest hour, the sense of absolute awe, the desire to understand everything that surrounds me, and a profound compassion for it all.

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the past 7 years -
Drugstore went into hibernation and I fell into a music-free coma. Within a couple of years I was lost in the mist, stuck right in the middle of a bad script, set in the desolate landscape of a Cormack McCarthy novel, being shot by Polanski on a very tight budget. Scary. Making music was but a fuzzy memory, and I could not imagine ever having the drive or desire to play guitar again. About a year ago, having ridden out the worst of the storms, I unexpectedly started to write, and out came a bunch of songs, then another, and another. By this point, I had long sold my music gear for a few pounds on Gumtree, and all that remained was a cheap'n'nasty acoustic guitar, which is the one you will hear on these demos. At some point I started filing my ideas in a drawer called Anatomy.
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the demos - I moved to Kew at the beginning of the year, and that brought a much needed sense of normality back to my life (just). I was hoping to start demoing the new songs the same way I've done on the previous album (Songs for the Jetset), taking my time and down to the smallest detail and overdub. With the upcoming Drugstore reunion gig at Dingwalls (07/09/09), I've decided to change gear, and just upload some pretty Rough'n'Ready demos. Once the craziness of the gig passes away, I will go back and start over again, with time at hand, to add all the little dubs/sounds I hear in my head. So, please, keep in mind, the stuff I'll be uploading here are PRE-Demos of the Demos, put down very quickly, and will probably sound very rough. I was never very good at recording to start with. I know nothing about equalization and my new portastudio (kindly donated by r.v.m.) has dozens of buttons and knobs that will forever remain a mystery to me.

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5 comments:

Lex said...

It was very nice discovering the first entry of your blog and the prospect of following the evolution of the next album from its very birth is really exciting! Thank you very much for sharing the Drugstory with us, your humble fans. ;) I'm looking forward to listening to the pre-demos!

I've also spent several years in a nearly "music-free coma", as you said, and it's so good when you finally reach the end of the tunnel, back to light or should I say back to sounds!

May the forthcoming months and years and decades be full of inspiration and happy times for you and for Drugstore. :)

Lex x

Anonymous said...

Delighted that you're back writing and I can't wait to hear the demos.
Glad you're back on the coffee, wine and fags diet with bread being an added bonus.
What shape is the shaker? If it's fruit (apple, I think) you were given it at The Square in Harlow.
May a rainbow be wrapped around your shoulders each and every day.
Michael.

Unknown said...

Welcome back. You mean the battered / decorated Gibson bass has gone...?

isabel monteiro said...

note-
ref:previous comment gibson bass:
About 4 years ago I ended-up selling the Gibson to a "friend" for £200! The following week, realising I had made a terrible mistake, I rang the guy back and asked If I could "borrow" it back, just for awhile.. It's been with me ever since and I'm taking it with me when I hit the ground.

Diana said...

benvinda de volta ao mundo da musica, Isabel!!!

saiba que alguns estiveram esperando por você por todos esses anos, pq por melhor que sejam os 3 albums eles deixavam claro que aquilo não era tudo...

é tão bom tê-la de volta!