A multi-faceted instrumental album with a slight prog rock edge.

THRILL RIDE

The opening track wastes no time in getting to the point; an almost live sounding drummer's intro leads instantly into the melody. From there the momentum doesn't let up; the verse is half improvised and half written while the chorus is set in stone, accompanied by hyperactive drums. Experimenting with different guitar tones led to a surprisingly vintage sounding recording; almost as if it was recorded in the 70s but cleaner. The solo shows off the amazing high note range of the Gibson SG; you can hit notes that would be rather uncomfortable on many other guitars. Naturally I like to take advantage of that when the chance arrives!

THE SOUND OF DREAMS

The SG is back again, this time showing its softer side to great effect. Performing ballads for a recording or on stage is probably the hardest thing for an instrumentalist and I'm sure it won't get any easier. They are so touch sensitive; pick too hard in the wrong place and the feel of it is ruined, but judge it right and you will be rewarded with a performance that does the tune justice. The funky Hendrix style section later on allowed me to dig in a bit and go for a more aggressive feel. The solo continues this approach before the track switches back to the delicate approach for the lo-fi wah wah call and response between the left and right speakers. The bass has a lot to say, picking its moments carefully throughout.

CHATTY SCAT

This one was recorded for a laugh in 2007 and stayed hiding on my computer for years, until my uncle asked me why I hadn't put it on any albums. The wonderful thing about recordings like this is that there is no restraint, no voice in your head telling you not to do that, simply because it wasn't planned for public release. The freedom I had is pretty clear as soon as the lead parts kick in and good times ensued with the Ibanez JS1200 and its whammy bar system! The most unusual thing about this tune is the talk box simulator; unlike a genuine talk box it works by mimicking vowels and allows you to choose different options. I had plenty of fun with that! ‘Chatty Scat’ is essentially a giant improvisation with a few varied sections along the way, but I tried to come up with little riffs for the make shift chorus and outro. I hope this one puts a smile on your face!

QUESTIONS

Sticking with the Ibanez for this one, ‘Questions’ is both a ballad and a rock tune at different times. The verses are very much ballad, while the chorus and break sections are full on rock. This allows for some interesting sound and style shifts between sections. The wah effect on the chorus helps with the dark nature of the melody, and the return of the fuzz octave pedal for the solo is always a good thing! The bass is a particular star here; never getting in the way but adding something a little bit extra again. On the right tune, that little bit extra can make an important difference.

PULSE

Relying mainly on one guitar, bass and drums, the Epiphone Nighthawk's extra chunky sound on the low strings seemed the ideal way to fill out the mix. It would be easy to say that the main chorus melody is the centre of attention here, but in reality, all three sections are almost as important as each other. Understandably the harmonised section needs an extra layer of guitar, but the tune still thrives on its bare bones attitude. This allows the bass to take a more prominent position in the mix, which is a nice opportunity to take when the time comes.

KEEP UP!

I seem to remember this being the most challenging track to record. Having done the demo a couple of years back and being disappointed, ‘Keep Up!’ was destined to be another track never to see the light of day, sulking on my studio computer. I could hear that it had potential that simply wasn’t being realised, so I decided to give it another chance. I re-recorded everything again from scratch, tweaked the drum track and the whole thing suddenly worked a treat. It was still mighty tough though, both mentally and physically, but it shows that I don't often write music I find easy to play. Switching back to the Ibanez gave me a nice bright sound and a bit more confidence that this version would be less of a wrestling match. Despite the difficulties this track has ended up as one of my favourites and I'm pleased to include the best take on ‘Solutions of Synergy.’

DOWN TIME

It's time to relax for the next couple of minutes. I wanted to do more improvising on this album and I'm pretty happy with the way ‘Down Time’ turned out. Being a ballad, it was important to choose the right guitar sound and judge that touch sensitivity. The Ibanez was key to achieving that sound. In terms of note choice, improvisations are quite exciting as not even the player knows what is about to happen. Keen to try out different sounds, I managed to sneak in another little nod to Hendrix for a few seconds near the end, helped by the mysterious univibe effect he made famous amongst us electric guitarists a few decades ago. My favourite drum kit makes its first appearance of the album here, providing just the right tone for this track. Combining a ballad with an improvisation can really put the pressure on, but I hope you enjoy the end result.

HIGH FLYING

Time to get the acoustic out for another improvisation. This one is much quicker but still very atmospheric and that mighty guitar gave me a lovely recording, as it always seems to do. The slightly deeper tuning that I use here was originally to make soloing more comfortable on big heavy acoustic strings. In the end though I realised that I preferred the sound of it and have stuck with it ever since (on acoustic at least). To make the backing track less predictable I thought it would be interesting to have a break section, experimenting with some reverb half way through which was far more effective than I expected on both speakers and headphones.

NIGHTHAWK

You can probably work out which guitar was used for this one! ‘Nighthawk’ was recorded in 2011, with a couple of tweaks made to the mix in 2013 and I'm happy that it has finally made its way onto an album. Too many things went right in that recording, so I had no intention of recording it again from scratch and losing the magic. It is probably one of the strongest tracks on the album, with an atmospheric verse, a fat sounding chorus and a couple of surprises. The tune was actually due to be part of an album called ‘Lydian's Mystery’ which was sadly shelved. Knowing it wouldn't fit neatly on ‘The Maxim List’, it found the ideal home on Solutions of Synergy, and quite right too!

STAYING THE COURSE

Back with the Ibanez for the remainder of the album, the chord sequences for this track had been sitting on my phone as a rough recording for over a year before I decided to put the pieces together. I'm glad I did because although I wasn't sure about it for some time it's turned out very well. The chorus is rather dramatic, as is the solo. Talking of the solo I think it might be my favourite on the album, not necessarily because of the note choices but the whole atmosphere and the way it all fits together. The title explains my mindset for these solo projects; stay the course, keep it up and ignore the people that tell me to put lyrics on these instrumentals!

LONG JOURNEY

Having enjoyed my experience with the univibe effect earlier in the album, I thought it would be interesting to use it for a different kind of intro before the drums kick in. It pops up again later for the solo as well. ‘Long Journey’ has an interesting groove to it; my favourite drum kit returns and does a mighty job of accompanying my every move. If it was up to me, everything I record would have that kit on it, but that simply can't happen, at least not yet! The guitar tones are mostly low gain overdrive until the univibe has its second go during the solo, where the gain is more intense. This tune has a very positive attitude all the way through; no complex story, no darkness, just fun!

UNTIL NEXT TIME

The album closes with an improvisation consisting of the acoustic in the background and the Ibanez at the front; pretty minimal! This relaxed ballad was originally double the length, but I carefully cut it down to size to include the best bits and add fades. The usual challenges associated with ballads and improvisations were present again, but this time I didn't have to think about drums and bass, which was another interesting thing to try. I hope you approve!