• 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

Sep 23 2022

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Twelve hours and nearly 200€ in fuel later, we made it to the hotel, plus Spain is an hour ahead so that’s 5 AM arrival time after leaving at 4.15 PM. Sure, we got a late start but Ariel can’t swim fast and it’s a long way, three fuel stops, one off the main road somewhere and a food stop. We had a plate of french fries after I chased some sheep through a gate, what? That’s the adventure of being on the road, strange random occurrences, unforeseen and bizarre meetings, in this case with the locals in a little village. Opposite the restaurant, a man and a woman were herding sheep across the road, I had my camera and followed. By the time I got to the gate, the sheep were already gone, scurrying down into the fields. But the couple beckoned to me to come through and started calling the sheep back before emptying a big bag of potato peel on the ground down the pathway away from the road. The sheep were nowhere to be seen, disappearing somewhere down the hill but the potato peel and the calling were impossible for them to resist and they were back in a flash, munching away, friendly sheep, friendly people.

The restaurant had a friendly waitress and a noisy barmaid. She had a really abrasive voice and another older couple was also bothered by her. What an annoying voice she had, shrill, loud, unaware. The customers at the bar were locals, friends I suppose, it’s all fine, have fun, but the place was echoey and we actually ate outside with the chill because inside it was unbearable. Just before we left I thought I’ll bring the plates back, as I did I dropped one of them on the floor and it smashed into pieces, throwing aioli everywhere and echoing around the room. I apologised profusely to everyone, funnily enough, they had also dropped and smashed a bottle just ten minutes before, they all laughed at the mishap, perhaps quieter people would have been more annoyed. No carpets in Spain, you drop something, it’s done.

On the way through the Portuguese countryside into Spain, you could see the devastation of drought and fires, burnt ground and dead trees. Apparently, the ‘needle trees’ (coniferous trees) need a lot of water otherwise they die and the landscape was littered with dead brown bodies, starved to death. It became markedly colder as we drove north, of course, it was also later in the day, but our southern European habit of T-shirts was becoming insufficient as autumn slinked down from the north. But it was great to be heading out for a nearly three-week excursion, starting with the Anekdoten show and travelling through France to England and back again, hopefully with some more things from the storage, we’ll see if we get killed by the customs on the way back.

Today, the day we left, I finally got an email from immigration, telling me I have an appointment to get my residency card, on the day I’m leaving, can you believe it? As it happened I was able to get an appointment for October 14th so we need to be back before then. One of the reasons we are going is because I need a stamp out of the EU, due to Portuguese/German red tape, long story but when I get this residency card, this won’t happen again and I’ll be free to travel through Europe (I think) as an EU resident without restrictions, or at least without stamps.

So here we are hitting the sack at 5.30 AM in Olite in Spain and that will do for tonight, big day tomorrow.

Music today on our new radio/CD/AUX/USB player has been a struggle because Ariel is loud but we managed to fill in the gaps on Revolver (1966), Pet Sounds (1966), Abbey Road (1969), Best Of Bee Gees (1969), The Definitive Monkees (2001), After the Gold Rush and the Best of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (1967), who I realised today are the sixties Duran Duran. But the album of the day was most definitely Badfinger’s Straight Up (1971), I love that record.

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