My studio is a bedroom measuring 3.6 metres by 2 metres. Seven point two square metres in which to write, record, produce and occasionally question a decision I made three minutes earlier.
At six foot four, I account for a…
Read moreLyrics Should Mean Something
I have very little interest in lyrics that sound profound until you ask what they mean.
Words are not decoration.
They can be beautiful. They can be obscure. They can contradict themselves, withhold information and leave questions unanswered.
But they…
Read moreI Was Being Serious. Apparently That Was the Joke.
I have occasionally been accused of having a strange sense of humour.
This seems unfair.
The language was strange first.
I merely noticed.
Most humour appears to involve exaggerating reality until it becomes ridiculous.
I generally find reality capable of…
Read moreModern Pop Music and the Problem of Being Too Perfect
Modern pop music is extremely good at being polished.
That is not the same as being interesting.
A great deal of it is technically immaculate.
Vocals tuned into alignment.
Drums placed exactly where expected.
Low end shaped to survive phone…
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When Is a Mix Finished?
I have spent an unreasonable amount of time adjusting a vocal by an amount most people could not hear.
I could hear it. That was the problem.
A vocal can be technically clear and still sit wrong in a song.…
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Four Songs About Power, Consequence and Who Pays the Price
I did not begin this EP with a concept.
I began with four different stories.
One was about concentrated wealth and political power.
One was about Iago.
One was about two people from the wrong side of the tracks refusing…
Read moreIn Front of the Crowd, Not Inside It
In Front of the Crowd, Not Inside It
I can stand on a stage in front of a large crowd.
Put me in the middle of the same crowd and I will spend most of my time calculating how to…
Read moreThere Are No Actions
There Are No Actions
Suppose there is no such thing as an action.
Only reactions.
Not just the obvious ones.
Not somebody insults you, so you answer.
Not somebody hits you, so you hit back.
Everything.
Every decision.
Every impulse.
…
Read moreHumans are Funny
Governments are very good at simplifying complicated problems.
First they create a department.
Then a committee.
Then a review of the committee.
Then a consultation about the review.
By the time anything happens, the problem has usually changed.
This is…
Read moreComplexity Is Not the Same as Intelligence
Complexity Is Not the Same as Intelligence
Progressive metal has an interesting problem.
It attracts musicians who are extremely good at playing their instruments.
This should be an advantage.
Occasionally, it becomes a medical condition.
There is a point where…
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