every hill looks the same

Spent a very enjoyable evening going through a printed copy of the html code for this page, with a biro, in order to better understand it and to try and look impressive in front of my housemate. I then battled against our increasingly ropey internet connection to tidy up a few things.

Itching to get recording underway; i think we'll be able to tell quite quickly whether it's working or not. I've always been in love with bands who capture a feeling, Peeps into Fairyland for example - their second album would probably attract scorn from most producers but you can really hear that it was inspired by highland walks and mountains and cottages.

It's as if the surroundings and even the recording environment seep into the music; I want to record in as many different places as possible and hopefully capture something.

welcome to your life

A bloody frustrating night by all accounts. First off the broadband in my flat is reminiscent of 56k dial-up, both in terms of speed and reliability, and it was off for most of the night - subsequently I'm still yet to integrate Simon into the blogging process, although he is enthusiastic.

My housemate was out so I took full advantage of the noise-making potential; I'm about a hair's breadth from finishing my first song in months but the bridge is bamboozling me. What normally happens in the "process" is I'll toy with a difficult section for a week or two before dropping it altogether, which explains the haphazard structures of my songs.

Putting that to one side I set about consoling myself by layering kooky harmonies over the top - any kind of layering at this stage is largely futile but it's good practice nonetheless. I was hoping to put some mandolin over it but attempting to tune the E string to an F put a swift end to that.

This whole song started from an 80's-sounding riff and, as is often the case, this has now been removed - a little like stone soup - but I'm determined to use it. The riff itself was a result of repeated listenings of Tears for Fears' 'Everybody wants to Rule the World' - proof that inspiration can come from ANYWHERE.