Gavin Dempsey - Far from a stereotype...

I'm writing today about my nephew, Gavin. He has for a long time had an interest in music and singing and it's only recently I've become aware that he was actually writing song lyrics. Apparently he had been waiting to ask me to assist him in producing a number of tracks but he has never been one to abuse familial privileges. No idea why, it's what family is for!

In all seriousness, I was hugely surprised by the lyrics he produced for me. They were honest, sensitive and vulnerable. Not your typical bravado bullshit that you'd expect from a teen. He had a melody too, so I was tasked with helping him realise the vision he had. Every single thing in the recording was his idea, even my little guitar solo dilly dally towards the end was suggested by him. We goofed around a little for the first day and created a skeleton track which we completely tossed on the second day to create a piece from the ground up.

Gavin is clearly influenced by a little bit of everything. From the classic rock and pop sounds of yester year to the latter day sounds of the rap giants and all that falls in between. Initially we were both scratching our heads as my songwriting production experience is pretty much sandwiched in the rock genre and I was expecting to be inundated with requests for an urban, reverb drenched, compressed shit show that is comprised of current sounds. I was prepared to do this if asked, my only rule from the start has always been no autotune. And I could tell that he was nervous about the vocals as Mother Nature herself has decreed his voice make the shaky transition from boy to man.

I was pleasantly surprised by his production choices, which lent me a certain amount of freedom to have a proper go at the song. Not a single decision was made without his agreement and I think we've created a song he can truly be very proud of. We're already looking towards an e.p. such was the fun we had creating "Stereotypical World". The reception has been great, and the song has even been remixed! Not really to my taste, but I'm sure the kids will lap it up.

Expect to hear more music from the man soon. I'm genuinely honoured he thinks I have the chops to do his work justice. But for now, here's his latest work. Enjoy!

MC Dempsey

Had the nephews and sister stay over about a week ago. The house was never quiet but it was a lovely change. We were kept on our toes to say the least! Gavin, the eldest nephew, displayed a huge fascination for my keyboard. I have tried to retire her many times as she has seen a LOT of wear and tear. The touch sensitivity comes and goes and she has more coffee stains than a vintage french living room table. But I guess the fact I've written so many songs on her makes her of high sentimental value. He messed around with the effects whilst I set up the guitar straight in the 8 track and out the monitors.

He was conjuring up bizarre noises so I felt obliged to compete. I settled on an awful, bizarre tone - resembling a bastard creation of a wah pedal and talkbox. Gavin found it hilarious - "It sounds like your guitar is vomiting!" I laughed and messed around, trying to cook up a standard stock riff. The child had gotten hold of the microphone, declared himself 'MC Dempsey' and proceeded to do a little rap. It was very random. I started stamping my foot and playing a standard stop/start macho riff. He got very into it. I stopped and asked "Which Rapper is that?" and he replied "It's me, I just borrowed a couple of words." I said "Wanna make a song....?"

I gave him full creative control and helped him with the timing of the words. The words, I might add, are entirely all his. The chorus was a throwaway thing we made on the spot. He insisted on having a deeper octave effect so he sounded like those "black dudes in America" - Ah, from the mouths of babes. When I'd finished laughing at the child's statement, I had him perform twice as the lower octave made him almost incoherent and I double tracked his normal pitched voice over it. The chorus was fun. I explained it to him and sang it out so he got the gist. I performed a lower second harmony to his to add a bit more drama and we did the cliche rap shouts in and around it. The drums were lazily pre programmed but our young producer wasn't done there. As soon as I'd popped on some bass guitar, he said "We need keyboards too". I let him choose a sound, he chose a distinctly late 70's, bright electric piano sound (think 80's Power Ballad) and hummed to me what he heard in his head. I took it and moulded it into something that pleased us both and added it. The entire process took about 5 hours. It felt like 20 minutes! Looking forward to recording the album, Gav!

 

"SING LIKE YOU'RE WINNING, PHIL."

I took part in "Tesco Got Talent" again this year. I had made up my mind not to. I had my fun in the sun twice and it was only fair to leave it to some younger, hungrier talents whilst I could relax, not worry about soundchecks and enjoy a few nice pints of Guinness without the worry of fluffing my lines on guitar or vocals but....

The show was held in the venerable Kavanagh's venue, in Portlaoise, which has seen some top comedians and bands ply their trade over the years. So how did I end up performing here after all my promises not to? Well, nobody stepped forward, at all. It was frankly embarrassing that there would be absolutely no local representatives in the show, and a charity one at that, (Temple Street Hospital, a GREAT cause) so I said count me in. I had a week or two to prepare, usually I'd have a month or two, but it helped with the song choice. No time to learn anything new, so I decided on an original song "Strong". The song is a very personal one and I enjoy playing it but it sends me to "that place". Everybody has it, a song that makes you sad, gives you goosebumps or simply takes your breath away. But I was confident I could do it justice.

I walked in and was that early, I did my soundcheck straight away. The sound engineer was a nice guy. Had a few interesting stories to tell about musicians he'd met. Who was nice, who was otherwise....
He thought I was a seasoned pro as I'd completed my soundcheck. Quite the compliment! "You seem to know what you're doing, do you play live alot?" I said "Nope, I just get on with it, know what I like and treat the soundman nice." He laughed and said "In case I make you sound like shit?!" Clearly he'd heard that one before. The soundcheck was to my ears fine as regards to my guitar, Selena's tone, maybe a little trebley in hindsight but that was my fault, the settings were mine on the amp simulator. My voice? I started to sing but my voice croaked as soon as I started to sing the piece, my eyes welled too, so I defaulted and half arsed my way through an old Bryan Adams number off key and slightly rattled. 

I left the stage, and sipped a guinness. Keeping to myself and waiting on my posse and wondering how the Hell I could do this. The crew appeared and it calmed me down alot. My better half knew I was nervous but I said it was healthy nerves - The kind that reminds you not to be an arsehole should you ever reach an elevated social standing. Nine acts were scheduled. I was sixth. Just after the raffle break. Time to get the pints in.

I studied each act as they performed. One exception aside, I won't identify as they were brave in the attempt and it was for a great cause, I felt all the other acts brought some real competition. I stood in a toilet cubicle calming myself down. "I can't sing this song, I'll start to cry" or "The crowd need to be perked up and you're gonna depress them." All negative thoughts born from my embarrassing soundcheck. But then, out of nowhere, my favourite Tom Waits quote appeared in my mind - "If you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment." It made sense. Adjust. Play it fast, upbeat."SING LIKE YOU'RE WINNING, PHIL."

The announcer called me up "....to perform a song he wrote, on a guitar he made..." (NO PRESSURE THERE) "....please welcome Phil McClean to the stage!" My wonderful gang erupted, thus forcing the rest of the crowd to comply. I wanted to introduce my song, explain it's genesis, and the people it was written for, may they rest in peace. I wanted to shout "Happy birthday to my little sister tonight" but I felt the more cynical in the crowd would see it as trying to gain favour with the judges. Hands shaking I started to strum slowly, just to calm my nerves. Then my cheeky side came out:

I played with two angels on my shoulders and near a dozen of them in the crowd who came to support me. I played as hard and as fast as I could, I wanted that crowd to have the time of their lives and to my song, not a cover, MY SONG! The first time I played an original song in public.

The raffle was fun and quite a successful one for our tables. The Missus and the birthday girl both getting a prize! I turned to my friend, Jonny beside me and said "I won't win anything here, I'm a cheerleader as always, but damn me I enjoyed that." I always feel I have to engage the crowd. I can't help it. Those people are there to be entertained and I was always conscious, that with some acts, the crowd can lose interest and talk over them. I can't stand it and will always make sure to clap along to those acts and give them their dues. It's not easy up there under those lights.

The lady stepped up on the stage to announce the winners after the raffle buzz had died down. I sipped my pint waiting to applaud the successful act. Silence. A pin drops somewhere. In third place "Phil McClean!" I nearly fell off my chair. I froze. "Do I go up?" I asked the people around me in disbelief. Jonny practically pushed me towards the stage. I stepped up and received my award, feeling like they were going to say it was a joke. The fact of the matter is, I don't generally win anything and I just received an award for performing a song I'd written. One of the judges shook my hand and leaned in "I'm really sorry, it was a split decision." "Fuck that", I thought,still elated. "It feels like I've won an Ivor Novello award."

  
With special thanks and fond memories to the two angels on my shoulders last night:

My beautiful Granny.                                                                   A gentleman, Rorey.

Marriage, Magpies & Rockstars.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Life's been a little crazy lately. I wrote a new piece of music. It's called "Magpies & Rockstars". It's exciting in that we've set a date for our wedding, June, next year (luck be with us) and it will be the piece she walks down the aisle to. It's only a short piece, but I'm happy to share it with you. The opening is a little drawn out, but stick with it and hopefully you'll find the reward in it. I used a nylon string Stagg Angel Lopez concert guitar plugged into a Boss DD3 delay and a Danelectro DC59 guitar plugged into a BOSS CE5 Chorus. Both plugged straight into the board.

Thanks for reading.

Mama

Today was tough. I said goodbye to my grandmother. I hadn't seen her in a long time but she has been on my mind 24/7. As has my own mother. It's always difficult to say goodbye to a family member but God knows how hard it is to lose ones mother. There is of course, a terrible sadness upon losing a family member but my throat tightened upon seeing my mother, who has been a constant and incredible carer for her mother, and upon seeing how difficult the loss is to her and of course to her father and her siblings. I'm done talking about personal stuff. This is dedicated to my mother, who's made me very proud and indeed my grandmother, who's finally resting without pain. It's not perfect, in fact it's very rough but every note is meant.