Thursday, March 4, 2010

Share your 'getting psyched' moments



This one's for ToffeeBoy too. Later today, I will be in the studio again, working on my fabled recordings. So, as you can imagine, the last few days since I made the date have been an anxious wait for the moments of release - hopefully, that's what they'll be anyway. Yesterday, therefore, I was glad to receive this clip from my ex-flatmate Paul. We shared a place when I lived in Poland, when I was a 'failed' musician and he a recently graduated Philosophy student, taking our first steps in the English teaching world. This was 13 years ago. We had a good old time there in Poland, along with many discussions about our aspirations, such as they were. Paul was just 22 and dreamed of making films one day. I had just left behind the only profession i'd ever dreamed of, with a sad resignation. His enthusiasm for film making fired me up and made me want to carry on making and writing music.

So, here we are more than 10 years later. Paul is now a successful film director - he shot this film on the rainy streets of Dublin - and me, I'm finally heading into the studio again. When people talk about receiving inspiration from their friends, I think this might just be a fine example. Cheers Paul. And the best of luck to us all!

9 comments:

tincanman said...

And when do we get to hear any snippets of these fabled songs?

tincanman said...

oh yeah, and the getting psyched part .....
I had a whole string of superstitious stuff I'd do - from how my socks were folded to how the laces in my shoes went. Once ready I would stand rock steady for the national anthem until the last few bars, when my legs would begin the jiggle with excitement. Then I'd thump my chest with clenched fists three times, exhale sharply and dive in.
I said 'had' because after the first time, my wife asked if I was going to do this every time we had sex and something in her expression told me the answer should be ''no hun.''

sourpus said...

Its a fine question to which the limp answer is - when they're done. You cant force craftsmanship, you know.. :)

sourpus said...

Good one tin. Made I larf.

Shoegazer said...

Your mate sets the bar pretty high - that was a lovely film.

sourpus said...

I completely agree with you Shoey. Paul has a lot of keen instinct in general and a great sense of timing and humour. And what a performance from Glen. One of clips were you wish you had been present, but almost feel like you were. A high bar indeed.

ToffeeBoy said...

@ sourpus - what can I say? Great stuff. Glen Hansard's an unrecognised genius. Well perhaps genius is a bit much but ...

Anyway, I would write more but as it's procrastination week ...

ToffeeBoy said...

... look, I'm going to procrastinate tomorrow - I don't have the time today ...

@ sourpus - like tinny said, we really do need to hear the results of your venture into the studio. Let's not be shy, please.

And I get this feeling that we're heading for some sort of Rupert Holmes, Pinacolada moment here - are you sure we don't know each other in the real world? There just seem to be a lot of parallels...

sourpus said...

My fault really all these expressions of disappointment..sorry guys. Its really not a matter of shyness - more a practical issue. Without giving away all the details, Im working in two locations; one, a nice little fully equipped studio belonging to a Hungarian, with two Hungarian musicians who I am hoping to put my ideas across to (although this is not easy, since we dont really share one complete common language) so we can add more musicians as we build it up and two, a country house outside of Buda, using only Q Base and the help of an engineer from the UK who happens to be living here these days.

I am not at all technological, so I depend on my two engineers and have no rough copies or demos which I take home. Everything stays in the studio.

Another thing which is important to me is to take all the time I need, since I am trying for the best possible results and have no deadline to meet. Once upon a time, these luxuries were impossible and im enjoying the freedom to mess around/investigate whatever muse I can still summon.

Ive been trying my song ideas in a variety of different styles, trying for the right balance of forces. Its not an easy task, when your listening features a lot of obscure music (for Hungarians anyway) and a sense of the shambolic which the musicians I have chosen (from a limited pool of availability) have found it hard to relate to. My bass player's favorite music is Jazz Funk for heaven sake! (emits scary cackle in mad professor idiom)

Okay, so there it is. I should have kept my enthusiasm for this under wraps a bit longer maybe, but I figured, if I mentioned it a bit here, it might inspire me to move things along and defeat all my obstacles.. sorry if ive frustrated anyone..

And TB, it could be. Soulmates. Cant guarantee you'll like what I've been trying to create, but happy to share it with you when the time comes. Likewise, all of you. Thanks for the support!