I watched Oliver Stone's take on the Jim Morrison story last night, for the first time - I can be a bit slow like that! I also watched Tim Minchin do his stuff at the Hammy O via the magic of DVD (yes, I do believe that DVDs are magic, as are CDs!). In different ways, both sets of images and sounds acted as the catalyst for what I've been considering for some time - in spite of my recent release of Cellardoor material.
As a solo artist, and producer of instrumental music, why do I need to have pigeon holes? I'd always hoped for a musical set-up that would allow me to explore sound to the limits of my talent and imagination. Not that either of those qualities are massively in abundance, but I always like to break out of the mold every now and again, and oftentimes the very nature of a band democracy doesn't allow for that. That's why you have solo albums, side projects and so on. Don't get me wrong, bands give you so much more in terms of creative objectivity, specialist skill, collaboration, diversity, team-working and in the social arena, too.
I think it's about time I 'fessed up, and went out on my own, though...time to step out from under the shadow of Cellardoor. What's that all about? All of my output is written and produced by me alone, so I've decided to bring an end the distinction that I make between my so-called PROG and my 'other music'. It's all going to be 'by Shane' from now on: the various types of Rock that I deal in, the Soundscapes, the Electronica, the Folk, the Jazz, the Musak, the Pop, the Dance...and, of course the music that doesn't fit squarely in a square peg.
Oh, and what do Jim & Tim have to do with it? I just felt connected to the versatility displayed by both artists in totally different fields, at different times, with different ambitions, different influences. Purely in terms of the music and the performance.
