A deep and intriguing rock adventure.

LOADED QUESTION

I could write a chapter on the journey from tribulation to eventual triumph that occurred during the recording of the album opener; mercifully, I'll spare you the long story. It's fair to say this one put me in my place pretty much from the start of recording; I even spent a day wondering if I had lost it out of nowhere. I had worked on ‘Loaded Question’ for some time prior to recording and there was a clear plan in mind; this was to be a heavily atmospheric rock tune loosely inspired by Led Zeppelin. I had big expectations and made the mistake of putting too much pressure on myself. The result was that I struggled for hours on all the improvised parts until I eventually got the kind of takes worthy of a tune like this. Once everything was together it was clear that the struggles were worth it; the drum arrangement was just right and the performance itself was stellar; it actually sounds like it was recorded especially for this track, which is incredible when you consider these are drum loops. I played around with some new guitar sounds, which worked especially well in the chorus and the sci-fi sounding solo. This is undoubtedly the most difficult recording I've ever made, but I couldn't be happier with the end result. Hopefully you will be too.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

The aim here was to do the exact opposite of ‘Loaded Question;’ keep it simple, light-hearted, no heavy atmosphere, just feel-good fun. When you are setting guitar tones for each song, there's no way of knowing if you've got it exactly how you intended until it's fully mixed and mastered. I'm really happy with the tone used on the solo; I always wonder why I can't get the ideal sound every time, but I feel grateful on the occasions it turns out exactly right. The solo itself is full of energy and power, helped by really good drum accompaniment. Talking of drums there are a couple of cool moments where the loops sync up nicely with the phrases I'm playing, again almost as though they were purpose built for the song; another one of those lucky moments. I really enjoyed the writing and recording of the chorus melody because it was one of those rare times where I could play the rhythm and lead simultaneously; that can be handy from an engineering perspective too because you don't need additional tracks of rhythm guitar, leaving the mix less cluttered in the process. ‘Happy-Go-Lucky' was a vitally important track for me; after the confidence issues suffered throughout the recording of the opening tune, this one reassured me that I hadn't lost it and I could finally relax about the future.

PROPAGANDA

Time for a bit of punk! I really like the sound of the rhythm guitars and drums on this one; there's a real aggression to them that suits the demands of the track perfectly. The verse melody was unplanned until the day of recording; the idea was to do an interesting improvisation instead, but as I was experimenting, I came up with a riff which I felt would work much better, and of course a good soaking of wah never does any harm! One of the stand out moments here is the break section that brings everything back under control without losing the momentum and excitement. This then leads onto a two-part solo; part one borrows the same chord sequence as the break, while part two uses the chorus sequence and full-on rock drums. I was careful to adjust my playing to ensure different levels of intensity for each one, leaving the craziest shredding for the latter part.

FROWN UPSIDE DOWN

I was so impressed with the drum sound on ‘Propaganda’ that I used the same kit for ‘Frown Upside Down,’ but in an entirely different style. There is more of a 60s sense of style to this one, including a great Motown groove in the chorus. This song has taken an unusual path since its inception, and ended up right back where it started. The rough recording made on my phone was of the exact style you hear on the final version, but for some reason I put it on hold and forgot about it... Until I was making a series of demos of the Digitech Drop pedal. Looking for ideas, I eventually came across those rough recordings and felt I could make a heavy rock song out of it! It did have some interesting moments and it almost ended up on the album, but I was never really satisfied with it. After being abandoned yet again, it waited patiently on my phone until I got round to it once more. I had absolutely no idea if it was going to work in its original form, but I had a feeling it might. To my great relief, not only did it work, but the end result is even better than I had hoped. The way everything fits together is quite special; the lead guitar sounds great with the drums and bass and I'm glad I gave it a third chance!

CANON AND LORE

It's difficult to pin down a style for 'Canon and Lore,' my guess is electric folk of some description, but I'd like to hear your take on it. This one stands out as the only improvisation on the album, and was initially carried by two instruments; acoustic rhythm guitar and electric lead. I sat and thought for a while about adding bass and drums part way through the song, intrigued to hear whether they would make a worthwhile difference, and it turns out they do! Just to keep you guessing, I chose an unusual spot to bring them in. Interestingly their presence seems to change the mood from slightly sombre to bouncy and bright. Dropping the extra instruments out for the conclusion gives the track a clear beginning, middle and end, therefore making the title seem appropriate.

MISADVENTURE

The Bass sets the tone for our second trip into punk land accompanied by some raw sounding drums. This one is full power from start to finish, with a slightly brash guitar sound in comparison to the rest of the album which seems to suit the mood. Even the break section leading onto the solo keeps the pace up, while the drums get a tad excited underneath. I managed by happy accident to get some additional punch in the chorus at the end of each repeat, thanks to a quirk in the melody. I wasn't sure about it for a while as I felt it sounded a bit '80s video game' but it gradually grew on me and earned its place next to the rest of the songs. The solo is really short and surprisingly understated considering the genre but that's all the part of keeping things interesting and varied, which is something I always aim to achieve.

UNEASY

I've always referred to this tune as 'the creepy one'. I wrote all the bass parts while getting acquainted with a new amp I had ordered for my gigs in a vocal project, coincidently headed by Katie Wainwright; the very person who took the awesome photo you see on this album. Alarm bells rang in my head and I realised I had a potentially interesting song to work on. I was initially keen to have no rhythm guitar at all but there was something lacking in the chorus. This was beginning to get to me, especially since I thought the recording was finished and was already starting the mixing stage. I had a hunch that some additional acoustic rhythm guitar would fill the gap, which in the end proved to be very effective. It's mixed quite low, but there's just the right amount to provide the substance that was previously missing and give the track a bit of a lift. Although ‘Uneasy’ is meant to be a bit edgy and awkward, I did wonder whether it was a bit too weird for its own good. After deliberating with myself the decision was made to go with it, for one simple reason; the audience I'm aiming for don't always want safe, generic music. Let's be honest, there are plenty of people making that very successfully, so I choose to be unusual and maybe even challenge people a tiny bit.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Some rather enthusiastic drumming sets the next song in motion, followed immediately by an interesting but melodic chorus riff. I did think about adding rhythm guitar but it just cluttered up the mix, so I held it back for the verses and solo. The solo itself takes the song somewhere else for a while, offering a little bit of light relief with some funky rhythm guitar backing it up, before the intensity builds back up with another verse. As with the previous song the bass has quite a big responsibility here, especially on the chorus, but it also gets a chance to play around on the solo for some additional fun.

AT LONG LAST

This one has a bit of a back story to it; the plan was to include it on the previous album 'Dorian's Mystery' but at the time I was struggling to find the appropriate drums, and also couldn't find a tempo to suit the entirety of the track. Luckily, I had the presence of mind not to delete the early demo recording that lurked on my phone, and I inevitably came across it again. I still felt just as strongly about it as I did the first time and decided it wasn't going to be wasted again. Still struggling to find the right drums I realised I was going to need two different kits and two different tempos, otherwise the song was never going to work. With year-long drum problems now solved, I realised it was finally time to record this pesky little ballad. In the end it all came together with very little difficulty; I thought the tempo change would be problematic, it wasn’t, I thought the drum kit switching around would be annoying, it wasn't! Interestingly I managed to find a chord shape for the verse that let me play two chords in one without moving my left hand. This wasn't intentional, just something I discovered during composing. As easy as it sounds, holding your hand in one position for multiple takes was... Certainly a new experience! Considering the compromises and restrictions faced during recording, it couldn't really have turned out any better, so needless to say I'm really happy it's finally made it onto an album... At long last!

HYPERBOLE

This was actually the last tune to be recorded for ‘Loaded Question,’ and it's turned out to be one of my favourites. I'm really chuffed with all the different guitar sounds here; there's a real girth to them, but also a smoothness at the same time. For reasons I wish I could understand, 'Hyperbole' seems to stand out a bit as my favourite sounding recording on the album; it must be something to do with the way the guitar tones were set and how the frequencies mesh with the other instruments. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful! Originally, I wanted a different drum groove for the chorus, but I didn't want to lose the sound of that specific kit. In the end I decided to use another groove and adjust my rhythmic approach to suit. Although I was reluctant to start with, it was definitely the right decision as it throws a curve ball and adds a great contrast to the song. I had planned to harmonise the whole chorus melody, but much to my disappointment it didn't work at all well. In the end I went for a partial harmony followed by octave unison, which seemed really effective. I hope you enjoy it! The track goes full circle for the outro, with the addition of another live ending, just for kicks!

MOMENT OF REFLECTION

The album closes with a fairly intense ballad, written to make you feel hopeful rather than down. You have to be really careful with the guitar sound and your sense of touch on tunes like this and I hope I struck a good balance there. I'm very pleased with the chorus melody, but I did give myself some trouble when the time came to record the bass part; I had tried a strange technique which mixes half a chord with another, which worked nicely when playing melodies. The trouble is, it was a nightmare to find bass notes that actually fit half of them; in fact, the last chord in the sequence was impossible to play a specific root note over, so I had to improvise some sort of bass melody that would work with the guitars! The break sections are really important for the track; they offer some effective breathing space that allows the rhythm guitar to take its own understated little solo spot before everything kicks in again. For the solo I decided it was best to go for feeling rather than any sort of perfection. You can probably hear the cogs going round as I pause on occasion to get my bearings. I believe the restraint on these kinds of solos is the right way to go, hopefully you concur. I toyed the idea of putting ‘Hyperbole’ last, but I felt ‘Moment of Reflection’ would be the better choice, with fading rhythm guitars bringing the album to an appropriately atmospheric conclusion.