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Mar 02 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Spring arrived all wrong, it was cold down here in Penzance on March 1st and there’s a chill in the air. In ‘winter’ it was warm on the continent, give or take the odd storm, everything’s out of whack. Today it hailed, rained, blew and shined, the planet is very moody these days.

Today has been a day of settling back into the routine of Archive/Studio land. Off to Rowe’s, the local bakers, to book my daily wholemeal vege pasties, pay up front so I can just nip in there and the ladies who work there know me and hand it over whether there’s a queue or not. Today Doreen, Wendy and Theresa greeted me with welcoming smiles. They are so nice in there. They’ve had a bit of a renovation in the shop, too, moved the counters around a bit, put up some historic black and white Cornwall pictures like wallpaper. The greengrocers here is the real deal, nothing wrapped in plastic. There’s something weird about ripping the plastic off a broccoli. Fresh vegetables every day for dinner and today Quorn fillets from Archie Brown’s, the health food store. It is true that I am a slave to Bird’s Eye petit pois, frozen peas. Which reminds me of the line in that song Matrimony by Gilbert O’Sullivan (Ha ha): “When we show up an hour late like two frozen peas”. I bet you never thought you’d hear his name again? He had so many hits, perhaps the unhippest act on the planet, middle of the road doesn’t really cover it. Music that your Gran would like. What a nice boy he is. Still, he had a way of penetrating lounge rooms all over Britain for a while. My friend Rachel is a graphic designer, she did the CD artwork for one of his albums, The Berry Vest of Gilbert O’Sullivan…guess what was on the cover. Whatever you say about old Gilbert, Nothing Rhymed was a bit of a classic. Although he did have a song later on called I Don’t Trust Men With Earrings In Their Ears. Ha ha, nice one, Gilbert.

From the ridiculous to the sublime, I’m listening to Agitation Free live in Cologne in 1974. They were a band I missed in the seventies, but have grown to really like since I discovered them in the nineties. Their first album Malesch (1972) is where you should start. Their original albums are rare, but they’ve all been reissued and I’ve managed to collect most of their vinyl recordings, Malesch, 2nd, Last, Fragments, At The Cliffs Of The River Rhine and the 1994 reunion album River Of Return. The Other Sides Of Agitation Free and Shibuya Nights from 2007 remain elusive. The reissues also become hard to find as they are made in such limited editions. If you don’t snap them up when you see them, you may not see them again. Wikipedia describes them like this:

“Agitation Free’s music is psychedelic, experimental Krautrock with elements of spaced-out ambient, experimental electronic and drone”.

We bought a new sofa for the archive today, the old futon couch has collapsed into broken slats and splinters. I must admit I do like how low it is. There’s something about sitting on the floor, listening to records, incense and lava lamps, even if it’s non incense and lava lamp music. Sex Pistols and Joy Division sound great with the wafting aroma of incense and the globules of hot wax bouncing up and down in their glass tubes. And of course we all know that Van Der Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill had many people sitting on the floor, listening to them with incense and lava lamps and we also know that Pistols’ singer, whass’is name, loved them! I saw the Pistols’ singer at The Mayflower Hotel just off central park in New York when I was staying there in the eighties. Sitting at the bar with Sinead and Paul Brady. Most people don’t seem to know who Paul Brady is (Irish folky singer/songwriter). Dylan has name-checked him, famous people have covered his songs like Santana, Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt. Anyway, that bar was charged with an energy, but I like to stay agitation free.

Tomorrow Dare and I are in the studio for a continuing Noctorum writing session for what would be the fifth album we have done together under that name. We were talking today about the Space Summit project, the MOAT project, The Wild Swans, Anekdoten, sessions, Salim and Noctorum and that elusive Marty and Olivia album. The day was bookmarked with Skype (Stephen sessioneer in Melbourne and Salim in Dallas) – please send me more hours, there’s things I have to do.

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #m Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #moatband #poisonstream 🤘🏰

T-Shirt Design by Reid Wilson
Photo by @oliviaelektra 

#schoolkidsrecords #nikoröhlcke #wellscathedral
Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

📷 by @derektimbrell
Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into their new New Mexico listening space 🌵 #nightjar #schoolkidsrecords
Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵 📷 @oliviaelek Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵

📷 @oliviaelektra 

#danelectro #danelectrobass #redeyerecords #pleasantrylane #pleasantrylanestudio
You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

📷 @drewliophoto 

#galacticheadquarters #happinessarecordlabel #pleasantrylanestudio #salimnourallah #oliviawillsonpiper
TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1045

KEEP IN TOUCH: https://linktr.ee/mwillsonpiper

📷 @salimnourallah 

#markburgess #thechameleons #chameleonsvox #pleasantrylanestudio #happinessarecordlabel #martywillsonpiper #oliviawillsonpiper #moatband
📷 @argirgirl 📷 @argirgirl
TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1032

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📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
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In Deep Music Archive

Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
(Stephen G., VA, USA)

"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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