• 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

May 25 2022

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Olivia has gone to Germany, she left at an ungodly hour and flew to Cologne. So it’s weird her not being here tonight. Still, the day unravelled as it usually does, or did it? With Olivia gone I thought the walk to the pool would mean Bellyman is on his bench, Dogman by the fountain, the usual suspects. But Dogman wasn’t there, not so strange, Bellyman wasn’t exposing his belly yet, I guess he waits till high summer, so pretty normal. But then there’s the black dude, groovy guy he is too, I haven’t seen him for a while but today he was out and about being his normal self, gold suit and bow tie, black mask and dark visor over his eyes, wearing a crown, just another normal day in Porto.

All three of us regular swimmers, Francisco, Hugo and me were simultaneous later at the pool today, but it’s actually a good time, with the least amount of people. I swam 64 lengths freestyle non-stop but in the last few lengths felt weak. I made it, but I wondered what was different today, usually, I feel fine. In fact, I was ravenously hungry and then I realised that last night I’d missed dinner and eaten just salads and fruits, and some toast. If you’re going to spend five days a week in the gym and the pool – you need fuel.

Yesterday, I was at the music store where Jorge was helping me wire up my pedalboard. I’m so relieved. It’s just not in my skill set, all the connections, the order of pedals, the power distribution. I need technically-minded people. Olivia’s dad can fix anything, I’m hopeless, barely lightbulb able, plug changing, computer solutions or phone issues. Is it interest or ability? Some people can draw, others can’t, I don’t drive, I’ve never had a license. I wouldn’t feel competent as a driver, one lapse in concentration and you could be in an accident, every driver has to live with that pressure. I suppose it becomes a routine and experience is the key but you can’t protect yourself if someone else is reckless or simply makes a mistake. Then there’s air traffic controllers, one slip.

With Olivia gone already, I am also in preparation for going to Germany and have a suitcase half full in the middle of the kitchen floor. I leave on Saturday. I was telling Filipe, one of the teachers at the pool today about my trip and he said, “You are always travelling, the only travel I do is from the couch to the fridge”.

Two seshes today, one with Matt in Brooklyn. I’m trying to get the backing track down on a song for him to write his cool words and melodies but we’re back to the technical side of things again. I’m not an engineer and I have a long way to go before knowing how to get a decent acoustic guitar sound and find all the right buttons to record it. Later on, I had Rohan in Sydney with his fascinating compositions which come from his abilities as a guitarist, bass player, and keyboardist.

All the sessioneers these days are making private Soundcloud pages. The idea is to have an easily accessible place for all the written pieces. It’s the body of work that you have so far, it gives you perspective on your work and makes you aware of where you are at and what needs work. Every time you write something you add it to the page. You’d be surprised how quickly you have a potential album’s worth of material. You are constantly adding to it, improving it, analysing it, accessing your music in a quick and simple way and seeing where you are at.

Music today has been Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972) because today in the sesh we were talking about songwriting and Matt brought up Five Years, the opening track on the album. I played it for him and showed him how simple it was and how the second part has the same chords and a different melody, how the chorus is at the end of the song and that you don’t need lots of gear, or complex writing, you just need great ideas. Your imagination is your most valuable tool.

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

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
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