Government is a peculiar invention.
We take a collection of ordinary human beings, give them authority over millions of other ordinary human beings, put them inside very expensive buildings, and then act surprised when they begin to believe the building…
Read moreGetting the right guitar tone is mostly an exercise in removing things.
Too much gain removes definition.
Too much bass removes space.
Too much treble removes skin from the listener.
A heavy guitar does not need to sound enormous on…
Read moreFour Songs About Power, Consequence and Who Pays the Price Preview or Pre-order here
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…
Read morePeople keep telling me I should socialise more.
I have considered this.
Socialising appears to involve leaving a perfectly good room, travelling somewhere less comfortable, standing around people I deliberately do not live with, and discussing things neither of us…
Read moreI have never understood why certainty is treated as arrogance when uncertainty is often just fear wearing better manners.
If I believe something, I believe it because I have examined it and found no reason to believe otherwise.
That does…
Read moreThere is a point where mixing stops being improvement and becomes interference.
I am not always very good at recognising that point.
Especially with vocals.
A guitar can be slightly ugly and still feel intentional.
A…
Read moreThe studio is mostly a sequence of small decisions pretending to be one large one.
Move the vocal.
Remove the guitar.
Put the guitar back.
Decide the guitar was not the problem.
Remove something else.
Listen again.
Eventually the song…
Read moreI was told my music needs to be more accessible.
So I moved the distortion pedal closer to the door.
— SHANNOW
People say they want honesty.
Usually they mean they want agreement delivered without sarcasm.
Those are different services.
I provide the first one.
— SHANNOW
Four songs.
Four different forms of pressure.
FAT-CAT DEMOCRACY — power concentrated at the top and dressed up as fairness.
WHITE GLOVES — persuasion used as a weapon, with the fingerprints carefully removed.
TRAMLINES AND TEETH — two people with…
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