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Aug 06 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Last night I didn’t get into bed till after 5 AM and it wasn’t long before the high-pitched mini-monster buzz disturbed me, stopping me from dropping off the cliff of wakefulness to oblivious floating sleep. Out of bed, big light on and scouring the room for the culprit, found it, swiped at it, thought I’d missed it but discovered it stuck to my chest, squashed, blood inside it, success, brutal. Off with the light, back into bed, it’s getting light, the seagulls are starting to shriek, the cockerel is relentlessly crowing, the dogs are barking. I try to think of it as ambience rather than disturbance, it’s harder for me to sleep in a completely quiet place than it is in a noisy one. So, mosquito dead, corpse, blood, a merciless killing, no remorse, relax. Five minutes, the high-pitched buzz returns. Oh no, it’s the ghost of the dead mosquito, back to haunt me, never to let me sleep again, revenge not just for the taking of a creature’s life but for the glee in the aftermath. Up again, light on, by now the ghosts of European milkmen are doing their rounds, people are on their way to work. I can’t see the offending beast. Olivia is hiding under the duvet, trying to sleep. I lie in the bed in wait, it appears out of nowhere, heads straight for my leg. I’m patiently stalking its flight path, it hovers over me, I swipe at it, missed. Again, it completely disappears, the bright light is on, the walls and the ceiling are white, the curtains light green, the bottom bed sheet white but it’s gone, disappeared into thin air. I have a bad feeling about this one, it’s aggressive, it’s not the ghostly spirit of the deceased, it’s an angry hungry cousin, looking for blood, willing to take risks, I wait. Then, as if it has materialised from a parallel universe, it’s back, swiftly attacking, staggered flight path, a difficult target. I wait till its arc is smaller as it gets closer, it goes in to land, SPLATT! I got it, full of blood, my blood, two dead in five minutes, both have sucked the blood out of me, no regrets. There’s so much more blood in this beast than the previous one that I have to go and wash my hands. I daren’t look at the clock, I put my head on the pillow, finally. I scratch my hip, I feel where I was bitten, I try to stop myself from scratching, I have to sleep, I have to be up tomorrow to meet Phil and Julian at twoish in town. I must have finally fallen asleep.

Too little sleep, but we were up on time and on the train into town, four stops to São Bento from Marquês. We exited by the wrong exit, walked down towards the meeting place and there was Phil in the street. I went to give him a hug, “Agh, I’ve only had one shot,” he said. I’ve had my full J&J, Olivia has also only had shot one (Moderna). Phil said he wanted to go to the guitar shop up the road to get some guitar fret cleaner so we headed up to Porto Guitarra which is mainly a shop for the famous Portuguese guitar. Nice man, Tico, he runs the place, we played around on this weird instrument with its odd tuning pegs. Olivia was playing a mandolin (tuned the same as a violin). He also had a couple of interesting old guitars, one from 1927, another from the 19th century. We couldn’t stay too long as we had to go and meet Julian at the café. Julian was there with his friend Erin from Canada (she lives in Berlin). So we sat there for hours discussing music, the universe and the foolish. Three hours and Phil had to go, the rest of us headed up towards a place that Julian knew with a garden. We wound our way through the streets and noticed that the real Porto was coming alive. Lotsa tourists, hot day, tables outside, cafes full of bodies, summer vibe.

On the way to Letra, the place with the garden, we swung by a record store where Julian knew the owner, Chico. I bought a Spanish pressing of The Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother in a gatefold and a Spanish copy of Be-Bop Deluxe’s Futurama plus a 12-inch single of Died Pretty’s Whitlam Square. Whilst we were there, Chico told us that there were some shops vacant in this street, we had a quick look and imagined the archive through the window, talked to the man in the shop opposite, me in Spanish, Olivia in Portuguese. We headed to Letra.

Letra was a great place, boutique beers and veggie food, with a lovely big garden, a large wolfhound type dog wandering around. Hummus and pita and a lovely afternoon of chatter, debate, exchanging stories and philosophising about the universe. At 8.30 I had a pre-arranged call with Jerome Froese so I slinked off into the street for an hour to discuss our record and the how and when we were going to release it. More to come on that as it develops. We parted with Erin and Julian and walked home where I had a sesh with Noel in Surrey and here I am.

Music today was Harvey Mandel’s excellent Cristo Redentor (1968). Instrumental sixties guitar brilliance, like nothing you would hear today. Highly recommended, good night.

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

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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
Marty & Pablo! 📷 Rod MacQuarrie Marty & Pablo!

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

📷 @judgeschamber 

#grammysitting 👵
🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵 31 December - DALL 🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵

31 December - DALLAS
7 January - CELINA
12 January - HOUSTON
14 January - AUSTIN
15 January - SAN ANTONIO

With @salimnourallah and @joereyesmusic

More info here: https://mailchi.mp/e47ede06acd6/texas-acoustic-dates
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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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