Who/Where/What am I?
Hey world - so yeah I’m in New Zealand. You probably know already, but just in case you didn’t. I came back about a month ago to attend some weddings, say hi to the family, hang out with some mates and renew my visa (not necessarily in that order). In September I fly back to London (after ten days in Japan, woohoo!) to start my guitar course and get back into the swing of things music-wise. I have been busy though, in more ways than one - I’ve almost finished a brand new song just for you so hopefully I’ll be able to record that soon. I’ve also been planning a gig here in Kerikeri where I used to live - It’s on the 20th of August if you’re on this side of the planet, details here or on Facebook.
It’s been great being home - flip, New Zealand is stunning! I had the privilege of taking some photos for my mates wedding recently, and although I’ve seen it all before, the scenery here is crazy-pretty. Seriously. You don’t appreciate it till you leave it and come back. Oh and stars! On a clear night they look incredible.
I want to rant a bit about songwriting, I apologise in advance for the following spiel. I guess I’ve been thinking a lot about my music and where it fits - like if you were to give it a genre or put it in a box, what would it be? I like to think I’m kinda jazz-influenced pop, but there’s bits of funk in there, some kinda-R&B grooves, some soul maybe? What is soul? What is pop? Is pop a dirty word? What is a dirty word? Who am I?!? I’ve been thinking, and probably too much.
It has been interesting analysing some different musical styles, and I’ve learnt a bit - for example, I don’t HAVE to change to chord sequence in the chorus! (or the key signature, but I’ll need some serious rehab to work that one out of my system). Some recent revelations: I don’t HAVE to limit the length of vocal phrases to keep it “catchy”, I don’t HAVE to stick to the ABABCB structure (although I probably will) - in fact I don’t HAVE to do anything! Ah, that feels nice to write.
I think I just matured slightly, artistically speaking. Wow, that sounded vain. Oh well. I’m gonna write music that I like, and if I’m lucky, other people might like it too. Screw genres. Where’s my guitar/notepad? I’m gonna work on this chord progression that changes key twice every bar…
July 8th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
“I don’t HAVE to do anything!” Congratulations, you did mature. The scenery in New Zealand is not only incredible but marvelous!!! I enjoyed it very much and your music too.