Creating "Majik" (The Corona Sessions)

First blog of 2020 and of course, we're all elbow deep in social distancing / isolation. A double edged sword for me as an "essential" worker as shops need to stay open (to prevent riots?) so I have been stuck in a bizarre limbo of work / home / work / home and "Backyard Gothic" is dead in the water on account.

To counteract the boredom, I embarked upon the "Corona Sessions". Creating music is never boring but I do have a very short attention span, so I've had to force myself to concentrate on creating a viable collection of music. It eventually found it's title in "Majik".

Why this title? Because most of these songs were created in a stream of consciousness, particularly the first and third songs which bear the word in their titles. They in many ways wrote themselves, before I realised I was writing them. To anyone who writes books, poetry or music - I'm sure you understand what I mean, but I can't really explain it in words. As the late, great Tom Petty said:

“Music is probably the one real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.”


Amen.

The pictures were taken by my very talented better half and I twisted and distorted them into a cover I thought suited the theme of the EP. The subject matter in the songs is almost nihilist in nature, but I assure you, a pinch of salt is never far from the lyrics I write....

It's currently in the processing stage, en route to spotify / google play / itunes etc courtesy of Distrokid. And the track listing is:

1. Majik, Pt.I: The Man In The Ivory Castle 

2. Throne Ruminations (co - produced by Denika McClean)

3. Majik, Pt.II: The End

4. Who Rules Hollywood?

5. (BANG!) Bombs Are Falling

Stylistically, it's a return to the sound on "Heresy". But with the extra six years experience in the production side (I hope!) It's bigger, more mature and sounds more professional. More importantly, I hope people get a kick out of listening to it, as much as I got creating it. 

Thanks for reading..... and listening. 

TECH NOIR update

                                                                                                                                       

So am currently hard at work on Tech Noir's final track and to say I'm sorry I started it would be a lie but to say I'm sorry I announced it before finishing it, would be the truth! This e.p. is a world away from "Heresy", which was pretty much an all organic musical affair (guitar, bass, mandolin) bar drum machine and a (now defunct / well retired) Yamaha keyboard.

The focus on this was more on technology driven music without losing the human heart of it. Recent listening forays into synthwave and electropop have been a major influence. Also the subject matter ranges from loss of human connection by technology and fun instrumental asides to pure, insane obsession. With a tasty amount of swearing. I'm such a rebel. Looking to having it finished by the end of March. Anybody with a passing interest can send an email to philmcclean@hotmail.com or find me on Facebook and send me a pm. Thanks for reading and more importantly, thanks for listening,

Phil.

Track Listing (subject to change)

I.   WE ARE AT WAR
II.  GOT NO TIME
III. I'VE MET MORE MONSTERS THAN I HAVE MET HEROES
IV. TECH NOIR: A THEME FOR KEN COLTON
V.   LOVE LETTERS FROM A CRAZED EX
VI. PULL ME APART (GENERATION CYBERBULLY)

Tesco's Got Talent Relections

Performed with 3 other colleagues at the now annual "Tesco's got Talent" heats. All for charity and a lot of fun, technical issues and biased judging aside. It got me to thinking how interesting it would be to recreate "HERESY" live.

For anyone new here, "HERESY" is a 6 song concept e.p. I created chronicling the torment of a priest trapped in a mysterious desert who is battling demons both mentally and in reality. A quick tap on "Heresy" in labels should take you there. I really enjoyed jamming with the guys, there was a certain chemistry in our ragtag group, though I was not happy with my own performance in parts. Afterwards, feeling hopeful, I enquired about the possibility of producing the songs in a live setting. The guys seemed open to it and I hope that this comes to fruition. It was truly a labour of love and having waited since 2014 to do this, I am cautiously optimistic about it happening.

Below is the video of our performance from the other night. It is the exclusive property of Ginte Cepaitis. He is the singer of the video playing the Tele, and hopefully he won't mind me sharing it!

HADES THEME Part I: Through The Valley Of The Kings

The sands of Cairo carry a massive host in the distance, which moves forward - as though sailing through the parched earth. The shape grows bigger and bigger as it approaches the pyramids. The behemoth object ceases to be a mirage and reveals itself through the wavering heatwaves as a gigantic schooner ship, but she is no ordinary schooner....

The ship carries the stench of death on her. Made of burnt black wood and rusting steel, she almost resembles a boat built around a gigantic rib cage. But even more curious, is the way she makes her way through the sands....

Thousands of men, or what once were men, carry the ship on their shoulders. They carry the rot of a thousand years and more on their bodies. Each one guilty of crimes against humanity so great, they were personally selected for this particular task. Rapists, murderers, the treasonous, the dictators. Each one retrieved from the darkest, vilest corners of history.

On the deck, stands a tall dark figure. With the horns and face of a goat, leering into the distance. The schooner is flanked by two horses on either side, carrying ghostly riders. These are named Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. The sun seems to grow dimmer, casting a deep orange glow over the procession.

Back on the deck, the goat figure swings a whip towards a captive man on the boat, contained by huge chains. He screams in pain and spreads a blood spattered pair of wings. The captive is Gabriel, who struggles to his feet, lifts a giant golden horn and blows. The noise is both deafening and terrifying. As the boat nears the city boundary, her name comes into view. It reads "Hades".

(THE MUSIC IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE UPLOADED THIS WEEKEND. I WILL NOT UPLOAD IT, UNTIL I AM 100 % HAPPY WITH IT. BUT THE SECOND PART OF THE STORY HAS BEGUN AND "HERESY" WILL FINALLY REACH IT'S CONCLUSION.)

Moonlight, Murder and Roses Part. I: Gypsy's Kiss

A man sits in an old burlesque gentleman's club. He watches a woman perform for him. She has a shock of red hair, pale skin and green eyes. The lingerie she wears is an unusual mix of burgundy red and green.

He knows the woman. Her name is Selena and she is born of a gypsy linage. Unknown to the punters around him, the man is a priest. And he is in love with the gypsy girl. What's more - she is in love with him. The man is drowsy on whiskey. His eyes grow heavy.

Selena leans in for a forbidden kiss when suddenly the priest finds himself awake in a hall of mirrors. Lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, the frame of the hall resembles the inside of an animal's ribcage. Every so often flashes of the dead appear clawing at the mirrors from the opposite side. Then he spots one with Selena. She appears stuck in the very second their lips were about to  meet. He approaches the mirror. Suddenly she begins to move. Her hands reach up to meet her face. She places a finger in either side of her mouth and proceeds to tear her mouth into a grotesque, bloody smile. She then smashes her hands through the mirror, grabbing his face and plunging her thumbs into his eye sockets....

He awakes outside the club. Dazed, soaked, confused and terrified. His only comfort is the sound of the rain in the night as a vixen screams in the distance.

Moonlight, Murder and Roses Part. I: Gypsy's Kiss

Old Path, New Journey.

Wow, been away from here for a while! Well it's been a whirlwind few months with weddings, honeymoons and the like. But this is a music blog and as such, this is my main topic.

A while ago, I announced a sequel / prequel / unsure to "HERESY" and then unceremoniously postponed it on account of being in the wrong frame of mind and so damn busy. The problem was I was also far too happy, I still am by the way. But the world isn't.

 Yesterday I was pottering around with my sitar FX pedal and played around with an old theme that I had come up with about 12 years ago whilst in the young, creative duo (The FOG) who were still learning how to tune a guitar, never mind how to play one. It was called "The Witching Hour". It was essentially me trying to be a guitar hero. Essentially a showpiece for me to show off (to myself, it impressed nobody else) and I recently found The Fog's first CD which contains this treasure. It may sound a little childish and was clearly recorded in our best amateur capacity, but those songs laid the foundations into what I do now. Also, they were a lot of fun to record. But I found this piece on it and thought "This needs an airing."

So recently, I managed to get Quantum Leap "Silk" in working order. This is a collection of studio sampled instruments from the fabled Silk Road (China, India, Persian Empire) which the user can employ to their liking with the aid of a midi keyboard. I love the Persian string orchestra, so imposing and dramatic. And of course, the duduk. It sounds great and I don't have to spend hours positioning a microphone to get the ambiance I want. Don't worry, technology has not completely distracted me. I have created a new piece using both organic and tech driven instruments that will be the opening to "Faith". The title is "END OF DAYS Part I - The Witching Hour". I know, understated as always. I will be uploading it in the next day or so for your critique. I'm genuinely thrilled with it's progress and I hope it's as pleasing to your ears as it is to mine. The above picture hints at what this story will tell so plenty to mull over there. Thanks for reading.

"FAITH" - First Impressions.

I'm currently knee deep in the follow up to Heresy, Faith. And I have been struck by how strikingly different the tone and even the instrument choice is! It was originally an idea that I keep on the pseudo middle eastern slant from the first, but it became quite apparent that I was bored treading the same ground again. And if I was getting bored, then heaven knows how bored the actual listener would be!

So I have embraced, dare I say it, a slightly more embellished, yet mainstream sound, inspired by amongst others, Danny Elfman. It was not so much intentional as accidental. But every little change helps it become a more rounded project. I have even changed drum sounds. It's now gone from a tight punchy rhythm sound to a big resounding stadium drum sound. Big bass, big, snappy, snare.

You can't leave it all behind, lessons learned are in the past, so it's important I revisit them. There will be odes to the original with a flurry of Persian inspired magic. But I view them as I would a set of twins. They may seem very similar but there is a completely different story to both. Chat soon. Thanks for reading.

Evolving Ideas!

First of all a big thank you to The Shape for the shout out. Very much appreciated!

A story is a collection of ideas and when it's coming together in one's head, those ideas evolve.
On reflection of the story behind "Heresy", our priest is pointing the finger of blame at others whilst apart from secretly harbouring love for a women, which is not technically a crime more a symptom of the human condition, he is quite guilt free. Which bothers me so I have remedied this somewhat by adding a sixth song. It's my e.p., I'll do what I wish! I wrote a song recently, sort of a camp ode to the gay community in response to the Russian government's stance on homosexuality, particularly during the Olympics called, in very tongue in cheek fashion "We Ride By Night" and I realised it belongs, sound and mood wise in this story. The e.p. is quite dark, but it's not downbeat, there are going to be some rocking songs on it of which I'm very proud, but this has a delightful wonderfully camp, almost Polka-esque feel to it. Which is at odds with the tone of the entire work and here is the story behind it........

The priest is guilty of disowning his brother, his flesh and blood as he did not, in all his previous catholic piousness and holier than thou attitude he did not want to be associated with a gay drag queen..... Interesting right? But what's even more interesting is that his brother also had an unhealthy heroin habit which eventually killed him. So the priest having spilled his water and having only whiskey to drink, is driven mad through dehydration, having visions of his brother in drag and a host of other drag queens who perform and dance around his tent and slowly but surely start to morph into grinning, gleeful, demons. They are dispersed by the arrival of The Almighty who then proceeds to argue with The Dark One. So this will be just before "At The End Of The World."