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Dec 19 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

We’ve approached the 400€ heating hell problem with blankets and candles and it’s working because it’s not freezing in the house here in December in Portugal but you do need something to take the edge off. The atmosphere is a great side-effect and we can thank IKEA for having decent candles at a reasonable price. Christmas is supposed to be cosy so I settled in to watch the snooker final and to my amazement, Ronnie actually won, beating Aussie Neil Robertson 10-8. He’s been so successful that he’s decided that competing and winning isn’t the thing, it’s just enjoying your life, so being so talented at the game sometimes isn’t enough if you don’t have the mad desire to win anymore, don’t need the money and already have the fame, the reputation as well as being perhaps the greatest ever. Sporty Sunday had an amazing match between Spurs and Liverpool 2-2 and Man City beat Newcastle 0-4. Covid has had so many of this weekend’s games postponed and it looks like we could be on the way to another lockdown with games played with no crowd or not at all as the squads are thinning out with infected players. Loads of people sick, oh no, not another Christmas like this.

I had a sesh with Abby and Nick in Philadelphia and spent the rest of my time finishing off this week’s French lessons although the first five days I did Swedish instead. Then it was email catch-up time. You have to be careful with replying to emails because when everyone responds you’re back where you started. I have a notebook by my side, foolscap pages, and today I thought, I’m actually going to write something in it. I’m always writing onto screens but I have developed a longing for ink. Somewhere in the storage, I thought I had a Montblanc fountain pen but I couldn’t find it, I haven’t seen it in years but I used to use it all the time. Can you imagine writing with a fountain pen these days, it’s worth doing just for the pure aesthetic value. I’m sure you would write different things with such a beautiful object.

I saw today that Chile has elected a leftist president who is just 35 years old. He beat off the far-right candidate with 55% of the vote. It wasn’t just that Olivia and I had spent some time in Chile that attracted me to the story but more about how thin the margins are and the difference it makes between leftist and far-right. People say they’re all the same but I don’t think so, not in this case.

I’m always thinking about margins, the difference between first and second, fractions of seconds in motor racing and a fluke goal in football wins the cup, the win on a tie-breaker in tennis. The difference between winner/champion and second/loser is so publicly vast. Who knows who lost against Björn Borg those five times at Wimbledon or who did Federer beat or Djokovic or Nadal in all those finals (apart from each other), we just remember them. But imagine what it took to reach that final to play them for the unknown loser, to even be there, to lose and scuttle off into the shadows of history.

Music today was that rather special album from Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden (1988), produced by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene. The dynamics alone are spectacular, the guitar solos, the tunes, the vocals, the rhythms (Lee Harris, drums, Paul Webb, bass), the sprawling intensity of it all. If you don’t know this album, drop everything and find 40 minutes of silence to fill it up with. Singer Mark Hollis retired from the music business after one more Talk Talk album (Laughing Stock, 1991) and a self-titled solo album (1998), he was occasionally heard of here and there but never again made a solo record or did anything else with Talk Talk. Sadly missed, he died in 2019 at the age of 64.

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.

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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

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

📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
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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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