• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Bands & Projects
    • Marty Willson-Piper
    • Marty & Olivia
    • Noctorum
    • MOAT
    • Atlantæum Flood
    • Anekdoten
      • How I Joined Anekdoten
    • The Church
      • Sleeve Notes
    • All About Eve
  • Discography
  • Gear
  • Talking
  • Lyrics
    • SOLO ALBUMS
      • In Reflection
      • Art Attack
      • Rhyme
      • Spirit Level
      • Hanging Out In Heaven
      • Nightjar
    • NOCTORUM
      • Sparks Lane
      • Offer The Light
      • Honey Mink Forever
      • The Afterlife
    • MOAT
      • Moat
      • Poison Stream
    • Seeing Stars
  • Sleeve Notes
    • Of Skins And Heart
    • The Blurred Crusade
    • Seance
    • Heyday
    • Starfish
    • Gold Afternoon Fix
    • Priest = Aura
  • Bandcamp

Marty Willson-Piper

The official home of Marty Willson-Piper

  • News
  • Blog
  • Shows
  • Songwriting & Guitar Guidance
  • In Deep Music Archive
  • Contact

Jul 07 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

So today England made it to a major tournament final by winning a semi-final for the first time in 55 years and I was thinking how little that means to some and how much it means to others. I was also wondering about the ecstasy of sport versus the ecstasy of music. I like a great football game, an amazing tennis match and a top snooker series but hearing the tone of Paul Kossoff’s guitars and the vibrato in his fingers or one of Jaki Liebezeit’s metronomic drum patterns, perhaps Rimbaud or Lorca’s poetry or one of Akira Kurasawa’s masterpieces – all these things I can associate with satisfaction, stimulation, inspiration and ecstasy but nothing seems to be as visceral as the ecstasy of your team winning in a major competition. It’s so complete, inside and out, roaring at the universe and so totally disappointing, depressing when your team loses. Denmark will be wondering about a controversial penalty that Harry Kane took, Schmeichel saved it and on the rebound, Kane knocked the ball into the net, 2-1, ecstasy.

It was a really beautiful day today, warm in the sun, cool in the shade and whilst I managed another 102 laps in the pool, Olivia went an hour north to check out a vehicle that we need for touring and getting back to England to sort the archive out. We were meaning to get something in Germany but this came up close by and at a great price, a great colour and with a bed in the back as well as space for some gear. So we have agreed a deal and Olivia will pick it up on Tuesday, it will be known as Ariel and is a light blue Nissan camper van from 1993 – now, where do we park it? Of course, it’s left-hand drive which will be fun in England, it has Portuguese plates and with a bed in the back, it means we can save so much money on hotels whether we are on tour or just exploring. It only has two seats in the front so no guests I’m afraid. We’ve been looking at some potential dates in Spain in October, we’ll see and keep you posted as well as posting pix of Ariel when she comes.

We have set a date to move out of the premises in Penzance. It’s the end of an era and in September we will move everything to the storage house in Wells in Somerset and from there, figure out how to take it all to Portugal. The camper van is going to be very handy as we will need days here and there to sort things out and if we can find a campsite we won’t be spending huge amounts of money on accommodation whilst we sort through boxes. I’m going to have to buy about 700 boxes which is going to cost over £1000. I’m sure there will be swimming pools around too to keep up the exercise and get clean. What an adventure. On the subject of swimming pools, I’m not sure what’s going on with the chlorine poisoning but after I’ve washed it out of my head all is well till around midnight. Out of nowhere, my nose runs and I sneeze for about an hour and a half. I’m actually wondering if it’s something else, like dust where my computer is or is it just the irritation takes time to reveal itself? Who knows? One last thing about the move, I’m just hoping that restrictions don’t hinder our progress.

There’s a mosquito in the room which simply is the world’s greatest mosquito escape artist. There are armies of spider detectives and house centipede mercenaries patrolling the shelves and the walls. There’s lavender being sprayed, Nag Champa incense being lit and attempts to lure the little monster towards the light in the hallway, all to no avail. Moments ago with all this going on, it just appeared in front of my computer screen and an attempt to send it to meet its mosquito maker failed. Alas, the hunt goes on.

Music today was some later Focus albums. Focus 11 (2018) and Focus X ( 2012). Focus were playing at the festival where Olivia and I met in 2016, in fact, it’s our five-year (meeting) anniversary next week. One of the first records I ever owned was Moving Waves (1971). I also saw them with my mate Boydy at The Stables in Milton Keynes of all places. But although it’s hard to beat their earlier records including In And Out Of Focus (1970) and Focus 3 (1972), I’m liking these later records a lot. It’s also hard to beat Jan Akkerman as a guitar player but I like Menno Gootjes’ playing and sound (he has no Wikipedia page).

Original member, organist, flautist and yodeller Thijs van Leer is still there, these days he resembles a hobbit. Drummer Pierre van der Linden joined Focus for Moving Waves and has since been backwards and forwards in the lineup but is now it seems a permanent fixture with Udo Pannekeet joining on bass (he also has no Wikipedia page) for their latest album replacing Bobby Jacobs. Great if you like this kind of thing.

Music 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

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

  • spotify
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • youtube

Liking the blog?

Tour Dates

Instagram

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

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

📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Mailing List

In Deep Music Archive

Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
ORDER HERE

"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

MARTY WILLSON-PIPER © 2023 - Front Page Images by Hajo Müller