MOOD: Chilling out.
LISTENING TO: Bang Tango - "Midnight Struck"
So it wasn't a bad weekend when all was said and done. Spent a bit more than I'd have liked but then don't I always? National Express tickets will be ordered this Friday and the weekend after next I shall be heading to the smoke to meet fellow SGUK'ers to get drunk, talk bollocks and generally put the world to rights.
Spent most of today talking with my bandmates about our next manoeuvres. General consensus is we're putting things on hold until next month to give us a bit of time to weed through what we've written and get something approaching a set hammered together.
I'll be honest - I'm my own biggest critic when it comes to songwriting. Always have been, always will be. I'm forever convinced that whatever I've jotted down could be better if we just changed this bit or took this bit out or added an extra bit here. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy with what I've written so far but I'd kind of like what we've got to be a bit more...focused I guess is the word I'm looking for. So far I feel as if I've been trying to cover too many bases all at once - song that sounds like Dangerous Toys here, one that sounds like Hanoi Rocks there, one that sounds like the Ramones over there. All of which sound good but it just feels like it's lacking direction a bit right now. Hence why I think going back to the drawing board is a good idea.
Ideally I'd like to get us in a bit of a darker glam direction. While the two younger lads in the band (our singer and lead guitarist) are pretty keen on going for the whole Crue/Ratt sound, I'm a bit more cautious, not least because every other bugger's doing that nowadays. Don't get me wrong, they're all good bands and that but I don't want it to look like we're jumping on a bandwagon. Half the fun of '80s glam is that there were so many different strains to it.
Some stuff I'm listening to right now which should give you an idea of where my head's at sound-wise:
Bang Tango - "Dancin' On Coals"
LA Guns - "Cocked And Loaded"
Dogs D'Amour - "The Hits & Bootleg Album"
Love/Hate - "Blackout In The Red Room"
Quireboys - "Bittersweet & Twisted"
The Cult - "Electric"
Zodiac Mindwarp - "Tattooed Beat Messiah"
Hanoi Rocks - "Oriental Beat"
Lords Of The New Church - "Is Nothing Sacred?"
I've got one song almost finished which I'm really proud of - it's a big, nocturnal sounding epic ballad called "Longest Night". Ideally, I'm hoping we can get a girl singer in and demo it as a duet. I've got someone in mind - if we get it nailed at rehearsals next month hopefully I'll get in touch with her. Fingers crossed.
Ah well, work beckons tomorrow (usually my quiet day but due to meetings being rescheduled it's gonna be stupidly busy. Which sucks.
) so I'd better hit the sacks. Night peeps.
Yorkie
LISTENING TO: Bang Tango - "Midnight Struck"
So it wasn't a bad weekend when all was said and done. Spent a bit more than I'd have liked but then don't I always? National Express tickets will be ordered this Friday and the weekend after next I shall be heading to the smoke to meet fellow SGUK'ers to get drunk, talk bollocks and generally put the world to rights.
Spent most of today talking with my bandmates about our next manoeuvres. General consensus is we're putting things on hold until next month to give us a bit of time to weed through what we've written and get something approaching a set hammered together.
I'll be honest - I'm my own biggest critic when it comes to songwriting. Always have been, always will be. I'm forever convinced that whatever I've jotted down could be better if we just changed this bit or took this bit out or added an extra bit here. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy with what I've written so far but I'd kind of like what we've got to be a bit more...focused I guess is the word I'm looking for. So far I feel as if I've been trying to cover too many bases all at once - song that sounds like Dangerous Toys here, one that sounds like Hanoi Rocks there, one that sounds like the Ramones over there. All of which sound good but it just feels like it's lacking direction a bit right now. Hence why I think going back to the drawing board is a good idea.
Ideally I'd like to get us in a bit of a darker glam direction. While the two younger lads in the band (our singer and lead guitarist) are pretty keen on going for the whole Crue/Ratt sound, I'm a bit more cautious, not least because every other bugger's doing that nowadays. Don't get me wrong, they're all good bands and that but I don't want it to look like we're jumping on a bandwagon. Half the fun of '80s glam is that there were so many different strains to it.
Some stuff I'm listening to right now which should give you an idea of where my head's at sound-wise:
Bang Tango - "Dancin' On Coals"
LA Guns - "Cocked And Loaded"
Dogs D'Amour - "The Hits & Bootleg Album"
Love/Hate - "Blackout In The Red Room"
Quireboys - "Bittersweet & Twisted"
The Cult - "Electric"
Zodiac Mindwarp - "Tattooed Beat Messiah"
Hanoi Rocks - "Oriental Beat"
Lords Of The New Church - "Is Nothing Sacred?"
I've got one song almost finished which I'm really proud of - it's a big, nocturnal sounding epic ballad called "Longest Night". Ideally, I'm hoping we can get a girl singer in and demo it as a duet. I've got someone in mind - if we get it nailed at rehearsals next month hopefully I'll get in touch with her. Fingers crossed.
Ah well, work beckons tomorrow (usually my quiet day but due to meetings being rescheduled it's gonna be stupidly busy. Which sucks.
) so I'd better hit the sacks. Night peeps.Yorkie
Songwriting to me is something I've always enjoyed hearing the product of, but couldn't imagine where to start. I am intrigued at the darker glam direction though.
I now what you mean about worrying about overall direction...
I just want to take all our and rehearse them like fuck so everyone can put their stamp on them.
Good luck anyhow