Wednesday 26 June 2013

The Story Behind 'Balloon String'


Thanks to everyone who has been watching and sharing 'Balloon String'. I thought I'd write a quick blog about the track and the video. I wrote the song in 2009. I was drifting off to sleep one night and the phrase 'She Got Hold Of My Balloon String' came into my head. I wrote it down quickly incase I forgot it. When I looked at it the next day I thought 'what the hell does that mean?' and decided to put it into a song. I had a bit of a country thing I was playing around with and it seemed to work quite well with that. A lot of the rest of the lyrics 'selling my body parts on ebay', 'where is she, her food is going cold'  etc came from jumbling up various peoples Facebook statuses from the day. Before too long the song was coming together nicely.

To finish the track off I decided to add a big fat guitar solo at the end. Not many people seem that keen on guitar solos these days, but this was my song so I could do as I wanted. Plus, it would save having to think of any more lyrics..... A few months later I went into the studio with the great people at Little Box 9 to record a proper version of the song. 

Three years later (there's no point in rushing these things) I decided to make a music video. I met up with the talented Steve Pycroft, who had the great idea of having a car full of balloons. I suggested that people could hand me these balloons in different ways, and the story for the video was born. The next step was to find some willing balloon holders, a car and some balloons. And then it was time to shoot........



Tuesday 21 May 2013

A mini French Tour with Kristyna Myles





Had a great time in France recently on a mini tour with Kristyna Myles. We arrived in Paris on Wednesday evening and just had enough time for a spot of sight seeing. We had a quick look at Montmarte, one of the oldest churches in Paris, before getting some food and an early night ahead of a busy day.


The next morning we headed to the Eiffel Tower, where Kristyna was filming some footage for an upcoming project. It was great to explore this area. The streets are very wide and there's a lot of space so despite there being a lot of tourists it doesn't feel that busy.



Last time I went to Paris I only saw the Eiffel tower from a distance so it was great to get a bit closer this time. Next time I might even go up it. 

In the afternoon we headed out of Paris to play on LFM, a french radio station. I can't speak a word of french so I didn't really have a clue what was going on, but I think I just about managed to start playing the guitar at the right time. Kristyna is pretty good at french so she was able to understand a lot more. She's even written a song in french called 'Bonne Chance'.

Then it was back to Paris for soundcheck and gig. We played at a great venue called Miz Miz. The gig was loads of fun but for some reason I wasn't feeling nervous at all, and as a result made a few mistakes due to lack of concentration. It's much better to have a healthy dose of nerves to keep focused. The next morning we did a spot of busking by Montmarte before boarding a train to Lyon.

(Click the 'read more' link below to read on....)



Friday 1 February 2013

Recording for Youtube.


I recently filmed four of my tracks for some Youtube videos. I have been writing lots of songs over the last four or five years and have recently been coming up with some that I'm actually happy with.



My voice seems to have improved gradually as I've been doing more writing, although I think I still need a lot of practice in order to be completely comfortable and confident with it. 




The videos were filmed by Little Box 9 who did a great job. Three are just videos of me playing live. The video below, Change It, we had more fun with and tried to make it a bit more quirky. 




I'm hoping to do more solo gigs in the future so will keep you posted. Any feedback on which songs videos you like the best would be greatly appreciated.