Drugstore - Isabel Monteiro blog

day 140- all change, please

Today, having spent the last few weeks pouring over the portastudio, trying to find that elusive tremolo guitar sound, I'm ready to unleash the gathered fruits of my labour.

The process wasn't without its usual setbacks, mostly resulting from my own impulsive cock-ups. I started off working on an uptempo groovy track. Spent a good week getting it together, when realised the key was too low, so erased the whole lot and started from scratch. Another week, another key, was just about getting it ready when, once again, keen little fingers pressed the 'optimise history' button one time too many, and the whole mix went back to 'zero', I mean, back to pre-ice age Planet. A bloody disaster. Went into foetal position, under the duvet, which I have now discovered to be a great way to cope when things are just a little beyond my limit - a cave within a cave, where I can wallow in my own stupidity, without having to give satisfaction to the rest of the Universe; a handy tool.

Having recovered, and now in considerably better mood, decided against re-starting the same track, and thought it would be best to work with a different song; approaching the 'optimise history' button in the portastudio with utmost care, as if performing minute hole in the heart surgery. Will not make the same mistake again, but if my unreliable memory serves me well, same thing happened on the previous session, didn't it? oh well, this time I really mean it - honestly!

Anyway, from that point onwards things went pretty smoothly, the only difficulty was trying to balance real life demands and the need to spend completely undisturbed time in the Cave.

I had taken quite a bit of time off in September, so October was pay back time, a real drag. But all that commuting time was put to some serious contemplation, and having reflected upon the needs of the band and the music, decided this is the right time to bite the bullet, leave the safe-house, and look for new musicians to collaborate with. It's really no good working with people who live on the other side of the planet, or who'd only wish to get together once a year. That would not do the new material any justice or meet my own desire to go out there and say 'yes' to whatever may come our way. Everyone I have worked with in the past, Mike, Daron, Ian, Matt, Ollie and others, each and every one has left a trail of beauty, each has made a real contribution, made a real difference. I can only wish that their own next chapters will be as exciting as my own. And who knows, one of the 'ol cowboys' may even make a guest appearance at some point in the future.

Although, it would be silly to deny that I'm the eye of Drugstore's hurricane, I truly believe that it is only with the addition of other musicians that we can brew-up the perfect storm. I think my little demos are charming and give some idea where I'm heading, but it's a 2-dimensional picture, only the input of other cool musicians can add depth, colour and dimension, bring the unexpected into the mix.

Someone suggested in that post about the 'State of the Music Industry', that I should grab my guitar and just go gigging/recording on my own. I could do it, and no doubt would probably make more money that way rather than with a full band, but that's hardly the reason why I've opened up the cave windows. I'm here because I believe the music is worth it, and the music can only be fully realised with some great people involved.

Hope you guys will enjoy the new demos, I'm already plotting the next lot, but for now we should concentrate on finding new musicians. I want to gig in early spring, will do it on my own with just an acoustic guitar, if need be, but hoping that by then, we will have a full-house in the deck.

How you can help: I'll be posting an advert (of sorts) about the New Cowboys, just spread the word, copy/paste wherever you can, let your neighbours know about it. Let's go find those cowboys!

----------------------------------------------------------------------