I am guessing most folk get to this point of the year, and wonder if it has lived up to the promises made at the start, and what you will do differently next year. I'm not talking about New Year resolutions, but more about action plans and if you dare, dreams. By that definition I am part of the 'most folk' clan, and I tend to take stock, set out my stall for the coming year, and generally kick back for a couple of weeks.
No doubt, the cool weather will assist my creative plans, though, and I sit here with nearly enough music for the next Cellardoor album (as yet untitled). 'Invitation to the Meltdown Fiasco' and 'The Farmer & The Fisherman's Daughter' are the most recent additions, with finishing touches being put to the latter this week.
2010 has been varied, with some undoubted successes, and a small dose of disillusionment. On the plus side, I have enjoyed creating some distinctly commercial tunes and gaining recognition for their viability - many thanks must go to The Edge (Atomic Yoo Too), Angus Young (Easy DC), Matt Bellamy (The Sound of Muse), Tom Morello (RAT Machine Gun) and Dave Grohl (Mother of Foo) for inspiration on the appropriate pieces.
On the downside, OMO saw it's last days, with an album's worth of material still out there to be saved for another time - maybe.
I have continued to experiment with electronic sounds, and duly delivered some quirky soundtrack / game type numbers (too much Peggle or too much Bladerunner?) I feel sure I will continue to indulge in this field, especially as I don't have the expertise to deliver authenticity. Instead, it allows for more purity (some people call this naivety) than I can get in my comfort zones.
Getting to work with Bat Kinane again has provided a number of highlights: co-writing 'No Turning Back' for his solo abum, playing alongside him at an acoustic gig in Ballyknockan (something of a debut for us both in a number of ways), and of course having the opportunity to play on a few numbers at the album launch in October.
I suppose the surprising thing for me is the recent realisation that I have been working towards a new solo album myself. Though it has been a while since 'The Random Event Factory Demos', those songs were deliberately written, constructed and produced as self expression to go alongside my work in One More Outnumbered. The newest material is a lucky combination of (a) songs that started as library pieces, (b) some unused ideas from the band days, (c) a couple of deliberately elaborate prog rock workouts. The library pieces just got more and more developed, and maybe didn't have the commercial viability I hoped for. The unused band ideas were too good not to be placed, and the proggy stuff? Well, I don't really need to justify that, do I?
All in all, a busy and productive year, covering Classic-, Pop-, Alt- and Prog Rock, as well as Electronica and Americana.
Until Later....Merry Christmas
