A rock guitar album focusing on the positive side of life.

SOUNDS LIKE FIRE

The creation of the opening tune was kick started in an unusual way; I was looking through my collection of drum loops and I came across the opening drum groove you hear in the track. I thought to myself: “if I don’t write something around this I will be missing out.” No more encouragement required, I got writing and the result was a fairly complex rock tune full of bouncing, relentless energy, which also has one of the best drum tracks on the album.

MY IDEA OF FUN

A very upbeat and simple tune; this one is in your face from start to finish. The riff you hear at the start is the focus of the track and it returns again for the choruses. After the complex structure of the previous track, the approach here was entirely the opposite; there is more of a sunny punk sound this time. The fast tempo and heavy drums add to the momentum of a track that could be used as a soundtrack to your hobbies.

KEEPING THE FEELING

Musicians often talk about feel, and with a softer track like this it is important to keep a sense of feeling and emotion in your playing. I spent a long time recording this one to try and make sure the atmosphere was right for the song; I was particularly conscious of this during the chorus and solo and there is a degree of restraint there. The title is basically my aim for the song, to keep the feeling, but what does that mean? Well, that’s a hard one to explain but I hope you can hear it.

A THING OF MADNESS

For this one I was thinking: “what if I use shuffle drums (the kind you hear in blues and rock n roll) for a hard rock song?” There is a lot of wah wah in this one which helps emphasise the bridge and chorus melodies and the result is a full attack rock track, the heaviest on the album. Even with all the attitude needed for this kind of track, the melodies and beat are still the priority so once again they take the focus here.

TIGER MOTH

There are a few changes of atmosphere on this album, and this is the biggest change of the lot. ‘Tiger Moth’ is a dreamy acoustic tune. Whether electric or acoustic; guitars are beautiful, quirky sounding instruments and I was glad it recorded the way it did. This helped me get the melody across in exactly the way I wanted. Effects take a back seat here; to me acoustic guitars are at their best when they sound natural. The only effect here is a very minimal (almost unnoticeable) amount of reverb to add ambiance.

DIMENSION MAN

The title for this one came from a vocal song I wrote that never got used, about a rather bemused man who hops between different dimensions and has no idea why or how he is doing it. The verses sound somewhat dramatic in this one and the chorus is probably my favourite on the album; atmospheric and with that sci-fi edge to it. In my mind’s eye, it’s the kind of melody you could fly through space with but you can use it to picture whatever you like, that’s the beauty of instrumental music.

CRUNCH

The chorus and solo of this one has probably my favourite overdrive tone on the whole record. The verses have a charm of their own too, with that lovely fuzz octave effect that creates a particularly cool atmosphere when playing the higher notes. Another special drum track accompanies this one; which is especially effective on the solo and the outro sections.

ON THE EDGE

I decided to dedicate this one to my biggest hero, the late Colin McRae. He is probably the most popular rally driver in the history of the sport because of his flat-out attitude and wild, exciting driving. Whenever I try and write something about someone important to me, I am never satisfied; this means the song never gets finished, so I felt a dedication was the best way to go. It’s the kind of thing I imagined could be used on a rally video clip; something about the energy and atmosphere made me think of Colin. I hope you enjoy it.

FREESTYLE

As the title suggests, this is a big jam! There is no chorus melody, just pure improvisation. This is a big departure from the rest of the album; the rhythm section is made up purely of drums and bass guitar. Even the recording and mixing techniques are different compared to the rest of the tracks, as there is a lot more emphasis on what the bass is doing. I wasn’t entirely sure if a raw jam would fit in with a record full of written melodies, but I’m happy to say I was wrong and it worked out pretty cool in the end!

ECSTATIC!

The closing track on the album explains the feeling I got when I came up with the intro for a song that I was particularly excited about. Later on, though I realised it sounded a bit like another track I wrote; so, with the title already in my mind I started again and set about putting it to music. Parts of this tune demonstrate how you can use bits and pieces of the blues approach while still sounding positive and happy. It sounds like there is a lot going on here, but in the end it’s a bouncy straight forward rocker!