I awoke from a dream and although I can’t remember the context, the characters, the story, or any of those bizarre twists and absurd journeys that dreams take you on, I was able to remember a melody that was so clear and strong in my head that it was the power of the tune that was responsible for waking me up. I picked up my guitar and tried to find the key, it was in B. I then found a chord sequence that fitted two defined melodic parts. The chords were simple but the order of them wasn’t obvious at first. I put the idea down onto my phone humming over the chords.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to carry on with working on the song as I had to meet luthier Jorge who was coming down to In Deep to give me my Yamaha NS10M speakers that he’d fixed for me. He was also picking up a pile of chairs that he could use that the lab had left behind. He came with partner Telma and we showed them the progress we’d made and he gave us some advice about fixing up the walls, cracks, and some holes and uneven surfaces. He left us to it, he was going to look at some security cameras for both his new place and ours. We have to make sure we are secure in the premises especially whilst away on tour or working on projects. We have a new security gate being made. The one we have at the moment is difficult to close, rusty, old, awkward, and every time we leave here we go through this frustrating period of trying to lock up. Bring on the new gate.

It’s all about sorting out, fixing up, cleaning, painting, planning, putting furniture together, breaking open the skulls (from the boxes, haha), plaster and primer on the walls, and some point taps. Still no word from the plumber, I guess as it’s double time for emergencies at Easter or there’s some devotion, whatever it is we could do with a sign because allegedly electricity is going on tomorrow and it’s going to be quite frustrating having all that power and yet be scared to turn the water valve on in case one of these ex-laboratory pipes isn’t secure. We want water in the loos and coming out of taps not spurting out of walls.

I left early to go and watch the Liverpool-Arsenal game. It was worth it, a 2-2 draw but a great game. I returned to help Olivia lock up and then went straight back to the hotel for two seshes in a row, one with Jed in Minneapolis and the other in Brooklyn with Rajan. We’re planning to make records so we are discussing the approach, the goals, the aspirations, the material, and who will be playing what. The dates, the budget, the future, there’s a lot to work out, and as Kevin the engineer at Pleasantry Lane Studios always says, “Making records is hard”.

Music today has been Blue Cheer’s noisy and simple chaos on their second album in the same year, Outsideinside (1968). There’s a tendency to play solos in what sounds like the wrong key but there’s a raw energy that somehow reminded me of Nirvana (they were both power trios). I’m not sure those who made Cobain their hero ever considered looking further back and listening to something like this. The album is recorded both outside and inside, this from Wikipedia:

“Outside sessions”

Gate Five, Sausalito, California
Muir Beach, California
Pier 57, New York City

“Inside sessions”

A&R Studio, New York City
Olmstead Studios, New York City
Record Plant, New York City
Pacific Recorders, San Mateo, California

Music Of The Daze