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Oct 12 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Up early (for me) today and down in the archive for a sesh with Tim in Sydney starting at 11AM due to daylight saving (also not relevant in WA as well as Queensland I found out yesterday). There’s something about the mornings, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that it’s already the morning when I go to bed, I bet the mornings are amazing if you got to bed at 11PM the night before. What the early to bed people don’t experience is the stillness of 2AM-5AM. I mean, I have seen mornings many times between 7AM and 11AM but I don’t think the early to bed people know much about 2AM-5AM. It’s a wonderful time, it’s so quiet. How is it possible that such a busy world can just switch off completely for these hours? It’s a time of peace, the phone doesn’t ring, the traffic stops, the night is a cosy black blanket that even mutes the sounds of the animals. I realise that I’m talking about a small English town in winter. In the hotter countries, night creatures come out, in cities, clubs are dancing and out on the freeways, some trucks are speeding to avoid the daytime chaos, delivery trucks, garbage trucks are working, road-workers and the sex industry. Well, some of these things are on hold, but in normal times the early mornings have a smaller population and for me it’s a time of creativity, undisturbed by the distractions of the daylight and early evening hours, populated by the masses.

After the sesh, I had to go to the post office to pick up a record. It was a vinyl copy of Teenage Fanclub’s classic Bandwagonesque (1991). I also ordered Grand Prix, cheap at £15 and £12 for these two classic early nineties Brit albums. Inspired by Big Star and collecting old guitars, harmonies and what we used to call Pop songs before the term was hijacked. Although they call Katy Perry types Pop these days, I think it was actually Michael Jackson who hijacked it, calling himself “The King Of Pop”, it always felt like a square peg, round hole for me. He couldn’t call himself “The King Of R’n’R”, Elvis already had that crown but surely “Pop” didn’t accurately describe MJ, nor did R’n’R. He was great, sure, but he wasn’t the king of either Pop or R’n’R.

Outside on the pasty hunt and the package hunt, I swept through the drizzle as fast as possible, umbrellaless but wearing jeans finally on this nippy wet day and grabbing my favourite Italian coat that was soon covered in thousands of small glimmering droplets.

It’s autumn and when Olivia and I went down to see the sea today, the darkness was falling and silhouetted against a winter sky, the leaves were turning brown and were beginning to pile up on the pathways. It was nice to have to wear clothes instead of removing them. In the summer months, I’m always too hot and clothes are suffocating but it is with great joy that I can return to the jackets and the long pants.

By the time we’d reached the beach the distant sun was almost gone, puffs of small black clouds hung in the sky where the light was sinking and we climbed from the tip of the sea over the grinding stones back to the supermarket. Inside we bought our usual list of brie for 2AM snacks, butter for the mushrooms and the peas, muesli, bran, tissues (when it gets soggy, the bran kind of tastes the same as the tissues) and 400 toilet rolls in case the world ends (if that happens won’t the toilets also end, making the 400 toilet rolls redundant?). The supermarket down by the beach is a German company, Lidl, pronounced Liddle in English, pronounced Leedle in German. At this time of year, they start to get German Christmas treats and Olivia’s face lit up as she relived her childhood.

On the way backwards and forwards to the post office, I went past a house that is being renovated and in the front garden there was a cement mixer with a workman mixing the cement. I thought to myself isn’t it fascinating that cement has to keep moving so it doesn’t set? So it’s not just a cement mixer, it’s a cement liquefier. You sometimes see those big cement mixer trucks on the road with their load turning so they can get to their destination and still be carrying liquid cement. But what happens when the mechanism that keeps the load spinning breaks down? Does that mean the cement sets in the truck? If it does, how do you get it out? Do they drill it out? Or do they just throw the truck away?

Music today is the fifth Genesis album and the fourth of their classic run. Selling England By The Pound was released in 1973. Artwork by Betty Swanwick from a painting she had already done called The Dream where she added the lawnmower to connect to the album’s future hit single, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe, No.21 in the UK). The album reached No.3 in the UK charts and yes it’s true I’m always talking about these four classic Genesis records between 1970-1973 but they are so influential to me and I realise that my 12 string thing, which I haven’t really analysed, probably comes from these Genesis albums and of course Jimmy Page’s amazing 12 string playing, not The Byrds’. Of course, there’s other 12 string influencers, Pye Hastings from Caravan and Patrick Mata from Community FK, George Harrison, but apart from Mata and his crazy fuzz 12 string influence, it’s all English.

Concert Of The Daze

Interview Of The Daze

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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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

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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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At last, a proper door stop. 📷 @judgeschamber At last, a proper door stop.

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🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵 31 December - DALL 🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵

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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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