• 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

Nov 16 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Out into the town today, things to do, but also determined to get out of the house. Another warm day, quite a few people around, I heard some non-Portuguese language that I didn’t recognise plus some English and some French. I guess people still come here to escape the chill of northern Earth. It’s not summer here, it’s November like it is up there in coat and scarf land but here you can still sit outside at a café. Wandering through the busy town I can only imagine what next summer will be like presuming there is an ease on restrictions during holiday time. I went for a coffee first and then down into the temporary Bolhão market (they are renovating the traditional spot) to see if there was any truth in the Christmas trees rumour – there wasn’t. Where do you buy a small Christmas tree in Porto?

I have a portable cassette player but I needed a 6-Volt power pack as the battery compartment got some acid spillage and who needs to keep on putting batteries in any way. Call me a Luddite, but I hate putting musical ideas down onto my phone. It’s like cooking on the bonnet of your car, that’s not what it’s for. It’s like using a guitar as a paddle. It’s fiddly, it sounds terrible and getting back to that snippet seems rather uninspiring. Everyone has their system, some people write songs on a guitar – can you imagine? I like the clunky buttons on the cassette player, the rewind and the fast forward, the admittedly crappy speaker but at least it doesn’t sound like a micro-screw that’s been dropped into an air conditioning unit. The only problem here is that I can’t find any cassettes to buy. Online they are mainly silly expensive for what they are but they are not in the shops, so that’s why. My plan is to go to the unsuspecting fifty-year-olds for tea and nab their TDK SA60s and 90s that they used to record Van Halen II and their mixtapes of eighties pop metal hits – hm, but could I erase that? What if I get a classic goth compilation, lovingly put together or a compilation of Cocteau Twins EPs, Big Star rarities or Bowie B-sides? Send me your cassettes, you know you’ll only throw them out anyway. I’ll either use them for new song ideas or play your tapes as they are on my stereo because, yes, I have a cassette player in my stereo system, it’s a win-win situation.

From here I went on a hunt for my granddaughter’s third birthday present and found myself at the lovely Porto music box shop. So much to choose from but I think I found the perfect thing, you can’t go wrong with ballerinas. In the shop there were two French girls, loving the place and buying some things. They were from Paris but one of them lived in Lisbon. She told me that she thought that there was magic in Porto. We also laughed about how unfriendly it was in Paris and how anywhere was friendly after France. I told them (in French) I was learning French and as I told them about my discovery that ‘mignon’ meant cute, out of nowhere one of the girls told me that was her surname!

I left for the record store Tubitek, which specialises in all the latest releases and I wanted to buy Lana Del Rey’s latest album Blue Banisters (2021) which I did. They are cool in there, very helpful, Jorge knew my music history but José was most impressed that I play with Anekdoten. I also went into FNAC and looked at The Beatles – Let It Be vinyl box (2021) and the latest Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia double album (2021). After that I went to the music store and asked them if they still had their Orange 15W combo, they didn’t but I enquired about a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4×10 which is what I often use with Anekdoten as one of my amps (and these days, a Les Paul).

I considered taking the train home as I had a sesh with Jeff in Ohio but decided as I had time that I’d first go to Wok to Walk to eat and then walk home (without the wok). I’m glad I did on a lovely night and as I walked home I heard English twice, one a passing foreign girl and one a very Brummie accent, you can take the boy out of Birmingham…

Music today has been that last nineties album by The Cure, Wild Mood Swings (1996). It’s like the others except the hits aren’t quite there and neither is the weird, which means despite it sounding exactly like a quality album by The Cure it doesn’t have the magic dust for the pop converts or the darker crowd.

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