It’s Paul McCartney’s birthday, as he reaches his eighth decade. When I’m 64 was as old as he could imagine when he was in his twenties. Dylan (81), Jagger (78), 79 in July, Richards (78), Ringo (81) and Jerry Lee Lewis (86), Ian Hunter (83), Bill Wyman (85), icons of our era and in their eighties or late seventies and mostly still going strong, 80 is the new 50.

Day off today, so Rory who played drums with me in LA came by. He’s Australian and lives between Sydney and the US. He suggested we go to the Paddington record fair where we met my ex Lucy. I bought David Ackles‘s debut album because it looked in better nick than my copy from Jules Normington who used to run Phantom Records here in Sydney.

We decided to meet Lucy for dinner and the three of us drove to Bondi Beach because Olivia had never been there. It was a cold and cloudy day with rain and wind and standing on the white sand watching the waves come in was inspiring if you were in the mood for dramatic weather. The clouds were black and soon the sky let loose drops of rain. Somehow and despite all the signs, it didn’t turn into much so we drove to all the places I had lived in Bondi all those years ago.

We went back to Paddington and met Lucy and her daughter Tabby and ordered takeaway from the Vietnamese restaurant at Five Ways and went back to her place to eat and discuss the world. Now again I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. I had a sesh with Matt this morning and have another with Space Summit Jed on the morrow. If I wasn’t dying of fatigue I could possibly tell you more about the day but I can’t type with my head resting on the keyboard. I must be missing the energy I get from the swimming and gym.

Music today has been Red Rose Speedway (1971) by Paul McCartney and Wings.

Music Of The Daze

Late-night Friday and the end of the second week in the studio playing guitar on the Arktik Lake project. There’s all kinds of technical sorting out to do next, listening to different takes of guitar solos and considering strings and keyboards and then the following week we’ll get into vocals. But today I’m going to post the details of another sessioneer project that I produced remotely. The band is called By Light Of Day and they are just releasing the second single A State Of Mind. A very limited edition vinyl album (only 100 copies) is out today. The main man is Brian McMurtry and he has sent me the links and details about the project. That’s it for me, snooze you win.

 

Brian has to say this about the track:

During the pandemic, I was thinking how being enclosed in the four walls of our homes was limiting to our human interactions. This song was a reminder to me of the possibilities that exist and can be changed by our state of mind. This is one of our favourite tracks to play live, because it takes such a hard left turn against the traffic, going from mellow to a full-on psychedelic jam.

The album is also out today, titled “Beneath the Starry Skies.” The album is available for digital download or limited edition vinyl on Bandcamp.

You can follow By Light of Day on Facebook.

By Light of Day is an Evansville, Indiana-based Alternative/Indie Rock band with a vintage vibe. 12-string beauty fuses with snarling rock guitars in complex, layered colors on the musical canvas. The music often takes unexpected twists, perhaps starting with a relaxed groove that morphs into a full-on swirling, psychedelic jam. By Light of Day draws inspiration from 80s alternative music made popular on college radio stations, so present and evident in their sonic DNA.

Today I was wringing the neck of Jim Moginie’s Les Paul (thanks Jim for lending us the guitar). It was in answer to an acoustic solo on the J 50 (thanks Mick). Two Gibsons and two different approaches, two loans, two beautiful guitars. I’ve come to Australia to play guitar on the Arktik Lake album but have none of my guitars with me so I’ve been relying on DC and Tony sourcing something good for me to play. The Les Paul was ringing and feeding back and sustaining on tonight’s song. Tony’s Univibe was pulsating – so was the room.

 
It warmed up a bit today. The gusty wind and chill have retreated for now. Olivia got sucked in by a small tick and in the bathroom, a large cockroach was crawling up the glass of the shower cabin – with me inside. The kookaburras were cackling invisible outside, the rainbow lorikeets were screeching in their tree by the bedroom window, it’s wonderful wildlife here.

I’m so tired when I get in after being in the studio all day (plus seshes in the mornings) that I have to cut the blogs short for now. I simply have to sleep before my head falls off my shoulders but not without thanking everybody for the kind words about Spirit Level.

Music today has been Lynyrd Skynyrd as Tony was playing The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd (1998) in his car today.

Music Of The Daze

An intense day in the studio today, figuring out arrangements, style, and execution. Each song has its needs and those needs need to be imagined. Then they need to be tried out, played and analysed. Does the idea work? Are we on the right track? The wonderful thing about making records is that any system of doing things works, you just have to find yours.

Today I was playing the pink Strat that Olivia said is orange until we all agreed that it was actually coral but I started recording with Jim Moginie’s Les Paul, which led to the 1961 Gretsch that we borrowed, the Gibson J 50 acoustic and then the sitar guitar, I think it was a Dan Electro. This range of guitars makes the whole experience of making a record a sonic pleasure.

It’s hard to report on what you are doing because you’re in a room for eleven hours and although a lot is happening with your playing and the song is evolving, everything is internal. It’s coming from inside of you. DC and Tony contribute, play, write, engineer, and co-produce but ultimately you are “locked inside these four walls” until dinner time. This dinner time, I stayed in to do languages on Duolingo, Spanish and Swedish today, I also listened to sessioneer Jeff’s Soundcloud before we speak tomorrow morning. So I didn’t get out to see what the world was doing. I was immersed in the project and happy for it to be that way, concentrated, working with everyone to uncover magic moments that are lurking in the room, invisible but present.

It’s a big week this week, I have sessions every morning till next Monday and studio all weekdays. We are hoping to go on a sightseeing trip one weekend day, there are so many places to see if you haven’t been here before and so many places worth revisiting if you have. Koalas and kangaroos are high on the visiting list as well as echidnas, emus, the legendary duck-billed platypus, bandicoots, and any other fascinating marsupials.

Today I ate dragon fruit. It was there in the shop looking red and exotic, so I had to try it. I bought two so I have another one for tomorrow. They are a beautiful colour inside and you scoop out the middle, seeds and meat. Isn’t it strange to call fruit meat?

I have to go to bed now, long day today, long day tomorrow. Olivia is already in bed as is the rest of the house, even Buddy has turned in. Nelly is on the bed and I’m going to have to move her, it’s so hard, haha.

Music today has been Ride – This Is Not A Safe Place (2019).

Music Of The Daze