THE FOG LIVE: TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING.....

I've been absent a while so it is nice to get back on and tell you my news. But first, a happy birthday to my beloved Magpie!

Our story begins in a bedroom with a four track, 10 years ago. 2 young lads decided to record music together, even though we couldn't really play instruments. We called ourselves "The Frequency Of Ghosts" or The FOG, geddit? We found our niche doing short novelty songs and Nirvana covers for our own entertainment. As we mastered our instruments, we actually started writing songs, songs that meant something, at least to us and recorded a number of independent albums for ourselves, friends and family.

Life took over. We've always been close and kept in touch, but the musical collaborations became less and less as education, work and family commitments took over. This was not a bad thing. But it certainly is something we missed.

Recently I planned to surprise my fiancee for her birthday. I wanted to throw a little gig and of course there was a vision. It would be me on guitar with backing tracks. But I needed help to beef it up, so I contacted my old friend and got my sister and little nephew in on the act too. We set up a marquee in the back yard, and after some hard work and stolen moments to rehearse we reached the day. Nerves tattered, a rushed half arsed soundcheck and with some invited friends and family neatly tucked away in the corner, the lady arrived. We opened with the nephew and his version of "All Of Me" by John Legend. He was a little pro and owned it. Then myself and my old friend tore into "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It was confident and assured and one of the better performances. We vibed off each other and he tore into the solo with pure abandon! My sister and I performed a couple of Bryan Adams numbers. She was excellent. I was sub par on the guitar. The nerves took over. Throughout the show I had a ball. It wasn't perfect, warts and all, but it wasn't meant to be. It was a well intentioned gig for my better half and I believe she enjoyed herself. I do believe we peaked with Aslan's "Crazy World". I even got to play an ad hoc version of "Selena's Theme", which was inspired by the woman herself. The FOG playing live, fancy that!

Upon reflection, I believe we've exorcised the demons that taunted us for never performing live before. Ten years is a long time, with exception to a small acoustic set, 9 years ago. We are already planning gig number 2. A live recreation of "Heresy". It wont be until next year but I'm sure as hell looking forward to it!

A PICTURE I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE:

THE FREQUENCY OF GHOSTS LIVE. 

SAY CHEESE!

So as anybody who's anybody will tell you, publicity is an important tool when participating in the commercial arts! So I took a walk near the Slieve Blooms area in sunny Laois yesterday with a very talented photographer and of course "Mrs. Markievicz", my Hagstrom guitar and we proceeded to do a photoshoot in a beautiful forested area. It was peaceful and yet eerie. But the dappled sunlight gave us the opportunity, well Maria (The professional!) to experiment with the contrasting sunlight.

I'm not a "photo" person per se, but Maria put me at ease and made it fun. She's laidback, albeit still very professional, with a sense of humour so where I originally feared feeling like an eejit in a forest devoid of a guitar amp, I actually really enjoyed the shoot. Dare I say, I actually felt like a rockstar!
And the photographs are fantastic! We went back indoors to produce the would be CD cover inlay for "HERESY" and she absolutely blew me away with the designs she is working on. The woman is also a graphic designer par excellence. I originally gave her a semblance of an idea I had and she has taken it to another level altogether. I'm thrilled with the results so far and I can only imagine what she will come up with in the meantime! Here's a couple of tasters:



   And of course, her fantastic graphic design:

 

 

See, bloody brilliant. These photographs are the copyright of María J. Guillén. She can be found on Facebook and she will be getting plenty of well deserved publicity on my new website. 

 

HERESY: The End

I have set up my own website recently, philmccleanmusic.com, so I haven't really found the time to update this blog recently! Apologies for this but I'm back! I'm thrilled with the site itself. I have uploaded the entire "HERESY" e.p. and the first six posts of my blog describe the story that is contained in the six songs.

I've always wanted to create a conceptual piece of music, but when creating the story, there was always a case of too much of an idea, if that's possible, for me to control. My plebeian mind struggled with the massive foundation I had set out with and turned into a mess of ideas that never really meshed together. The intent was there but the talent was not. So I took a simple story idea and incorporated biblical elements and ideas into it, whilst trying to keep the plot small and simple enough to follow whilst trying to balance that with making it big enough to hold someone's attention. It is basically a treatment of a story on the website's blog, contained in the first six posts. I revisited it and completed the ending today. One I'm quite proud of actually.

I don't think the majority of people who've visited the website have actually "GOT" the idea of it. It's just a case of clicking "play" and passing their ears over it, instead of reading the story, which is unfortunate as to truly appreciate the songs, I feel, the story is paramount to them. Either way, thanks for taking the time to read and or listen to my work.   

The Final Furlong.

So, it's just finished. My story, "Heresy", is complete and my grin is wider than it has been for a while. The middle eastern music crossed with the rock music idea has given it an unusual yet not unfamiliar vibe and I'm pleased with the result. There are parts of it I feel I could improve on but when I do try to, the results displease me more. So I am pleased with the finished product to a degree, I'll just have to embrace it's little imperfections. As the creator of the pieces, I of course, would notice them and it's likely that only the most ardent listener would notice them from me apart. But it's an achievement and one I'm proud of. The e.p. tells the simple story of a man who questions his faith and his place in our world so much, he isolates himself from all society and in the process loses his mind. I do plan to write the story to follow the songs and leave it as an insert.

Of course this is all that is left to create and thanks to a gifted and highly visual photographer friend who has a stunning setting idea, we will eventually have the entire package. Work and other obstacles (see "LIFE") have hindered us for the moment but we will eventually get around to it. The recording is done, I have just completed the mastering, in my best amateur capacity and now we look forward to the last step in what's been a trying yet blissful, difficult yet wonderful musical journey for me. Thank you reader for taking it with me.

Hi, I'm Phil. And today I'm going to be Freddie Mercury.

Vocal harmonies. They are fun when executed right but sometimes they can go horribly wrong. Freddie Mercury is a name synonymous with lavish multi layered vocals, not to mention the equally intricate harmonies from Brian May. But as an amateur who was given a workman like voice as opposed to a gift from the heavens, can I really expect to produce anything near the level the likes of Queen could do in their sleep? The answer is a resounding "no". But I do harmonise pretty well and have attempted a pretty lavish arrangement on "At the End of the World". The song itself was initially a minimalistic idea based around a delayed guitar pattern, I composed some years back. I have recorded multiple versions of the song which has gotten more layered every time I record it and true to tradition, the e.p. version is now a full blown rock opera-esque beast.

The chorus is accompanied by multi layered vocals, sung in different pitches and tones by yours truly, to attempt to give it an other worldly atmosphere and now, along with a very sore throat, I can feel a little smug and pleased with myself, that is once I get the thumbs up from my co producer later, who should be receiving a message containing the final master in a few hours......  

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."

The Duduk: First Impressions.

Well, the duduk arrived today! So excitedly, we opened the package and after much effort trying to get the reed to stay open, we succeeded by resting it in a cup containing a quarter odd inch of water. We eventually got down to the nitty gritty and figured out how to make a noise resembling a strangled duck. SUCCESS! Well, not really, but with a few hours of practise and half arsed guess work, I managed to produce a resemblance of the melody I planned to play on "Empty Quarter Pt. I", though not without it's problems.

I was previously a moderate to heavy smoker a couple of years ago, so my lung capacity, though greatly improved, is still a long way off impressive. My better half, The Magpie, was also a big smoker and had a go herself, struggling to produce any noise at all. It took me a bit of work to do the same but slowly and surely I was rocking. I have sore cheek muscles and badly chapped lips but it has been rewarding. I am incapable of producing the cyclical breathing, (drawing air into your cheeks to prolong a note, whilst inhaling) due to my previously mentioned vice, that is generally employed with performing on the instrument but I have figured out the legato technique that makes it so expressive though I am far from being Djivan Gasparyan!.

The other issue I have is the sharp and flat tones are generally effected by how hard you blow or how much you press down on the reed, but I am getting there, albeit full of bum notes. The sound itself is beautiful, there's something very cool about playing an instrument whose very origin pre dates Jesus by about a thousand years. True, I didn't break the bank to get it but I am thrilled with it and am practising hard when I get the chance. At the moment, I'm taking a break as the muscle behind my left jaw is spasming with the pain. Going straight back at it tomorrow and looking forward to recording the intro then. Thanks for reading.