Hi Everyone,
Hope you’ve all been well. First, I want to say thank you to everyone for writing in and contributing to this site, you all have such valid and interesting things to say and I wish I could answer each and every question individually but obviously that just wouldn’t be realistic.
The Grammy’s were fun yesterday and Charles made it even more fun to hang out. The great thing about these events is that you get to see your peers and friends that you only see at these kind of events, not because you don’t care about them otherwise but more for the reason that everyone’s schedules are so hectic. You also get to meet people who’s music you’ve liked but haven’t had the chance to tell them like ‘James Blunt’. He was a really nice guy and I was disappointed he didn’t win but his time will surely come. There were many highlights to the evening but I thought ‘Miss Mary’ was sensational and also ‘Christina’ sang her beep off
One performance I particularly enjoyed was the ‘Knarls Barkley’ rendition of that song that everyone’s sick to death of. It was highly creative and showed just how good of a song it really is. I also thought he sang great.
So what’s been going on in my life? Well, family, family, family! That’s about it. Of course there’s been the odd show here and there speaking of which, S America was so much fun. I particularly enjoyed ‘Punta del Este’ in Uruguay, which turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. I cannot wait to get back and do a proper tour with the new album.
The new record is really shaping up and is turning out to be much of a dance record. This is something that I’ve always wanted to do seeing as most will say that dance is my background. Over the years I’ve somehow become more known for my ballads which I also love doing but dance music has always been close to my heart. Make no mistake, there will also be a killer ballad or three on this record but at this point in my life I really want to make something that is more dance directed.
So far, the songs that will surely be making it to the record are
‘SWOOSH’
‘SILENT’
‘WEDDING DAY
‘WHEN YOU RUN’
‘IVE BEEN ALMOST EVERYWHERE’
‘YOU AND ME’
I also feel that with the advent of technologies like the various online music stores, the days of listening to 12 track albums are somewhat behind us. That is not to say that no one enjoys this anymore but I’m speaking about the majority. I cannot tell you the last time I sat in front of my superfabuloso hifi and listened to one of my favorite albums in it’s entirety, there simply isn’t the time these days and I feel that this is pretty much the case for a lot of people. Also I believe that for too long, the public has been short changed with substandard albums meaning that too often, a fan has bought an album based on one or two hit singles that he or she has heard on the radio only to find that the album was full of fillers. Now of course, with the ability to preview tracks on ‘iTunes’ and buy them individually, what we are seeing is more and more people making what is essentially a compilation of their favorite tracks a bit like how albums used to be in the 50’s and early 60’s. It was only in the mid to late 60’s that the idea of a ‘concept album’ became popular with bands like ‘Zeppelin, Hendrix etc. In fact, the first and I believe biggest album by the ‘Beatles’ was a collection (compilation) of their hit singles which was pretty much the case with every artist until the concept album was born as I mentioned.
I also feel that it would be easier for me to retain a higher level of quality over lets say six songs as opposed to a twelve song album. I ask you, what would you rather listen to, twelve good songs with one or two of them being great or six great songs? Of course the advantage of putting out six great songs is that it would take me less time to make the record therefore, there would be a lot more offerings from me, consistently great music more frequently. What say you? I would really be interested to hear your thoughts.
Right now we are in the programming stage of the record. Today there is someone called ‘Chris Allen’ arriving from London and he will be adding his flavour to the songs thus far. Brain McCloud (drummer/programmer) has been truly excellent in what he has brought to the table and Bill Bottrell is in my opinion a genius. I am having a really good time making this record, there is an excitement in the studio a bit like the first record I made only this time with a lot more peacefulness.
I will be posting some photographs and flash movies from our sessions in the studio so standby. I am loving my photography more and more these days. Digital is where it’s at and there are so many exciting tools with which to express one’s feelings.
Charles is working hard to try and make the site better and to bring more of an emphasis to the photographic side of things. He’s trying to create a photo gallery that would provide exif data and also have the ability for you to leave comments. It’s the backend that is taking the time but once again, thank you for your patience.
I still have not been able or indeed had the time to look for ‘Togetherland’. If I do find it, it will not be available for download but I promise that I will definitely stream it. As I said before it has some good moments but for the most part it is inconsistent which sort of brings me back to a point I was making earlier.
Okay, that’s it for now guys. I really appreciate the time that everyone takes to contribute, I wish I could thank each and every one of you in person. Perhaps when I tour this summer I will get the chance to do just that with my voice. This is going to be a great year and touring a dance album is something I’m so looking forward to.
As always, ‘Love, Peace and family’
S
