How are you feeling, generally?
A mixture of anticipation and relief. The whole project has taken over three years to come to fruition and it will be a relief to finally get it out there. I’m looking forward to finding out what people think.
Why did it take 2 1/2 years to record?
Well, apart from the fact that I have a full-time job and other interests, such as running a football league, I needed what were probably hundreds of hours to write and record the best 10 tracks I could present.
I worked harder on every one of these tracks that I had on anything I’ve written before. I wouldn’t compromise on the quality of the writing and recording. For example, recording one acoustic guitar part would require new strings (and wearing them in for a day or two), a lot of practicing and then great attention to where and how I recorded the part – which room and positioning of the microphone. I would do sometimes dozens of takes until I was satisfied.
Another reason for the length of time was the need to take singing lessons to make my vocals the best that they could be. These lasted six months and the several hours’ preparation for each weekly lesson actually prevented me from having the time to record.
Why has there been a delay since the autumn?
When I thought about, and looked into, how to release the completed album, I came to the conclusion that I needed to (a) get it professionally mixed and mastered and (b) it was a good idea to give my potential audience a couple of taster singles rather than expect them to want to listen to an album not having any idea what my music sounded like.
I also decided I needed to package and present my music as well as possible, by having professional videos for individual tracks and having artwork professionally designed. And I also came to the conclusion that I needed a whole new web and social media presence with a fresh personal image. That all took time.
What have been the highlights and lowlights?
There have been many highlights. That feeling when either my songwriting or recording made me feel I’ve created something really good. Also, the feeling I had that I have an album where every track is strong. Other highlights include working with my ‘team.’ Chris’s mixes improved on my originals significantly and possibly are the making of some of the tracks. All of Adam’s videos have been brilliant and I am proud that they accompany my music. Dalton’s artwork for You Shoot Another Lullaby is so beautiful, I want to hang in on my wall.
Lowlights? Music is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration and that 15th take of a guitar part is a chore until it is the final take! My singing lessons with the wonderful Mags were so challenging. I had hoped she would help me re-find some higher notes I am able to sing. But, alas, it was not to be and that was a frustrating experience. The whole of my singing lessons experience was kind of hard, as Mags pushed me to do better. This was all necessary and important, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Talking about your singing, I understand (being you) that you partly have to write songs you can sing because you can’t sing very high?
Yes, I used to be able to sing as high as G, but I lost four/five semitones – possibly when I was accidentally hit in the throat while playing football. Now I can just about squeak an E. What this does mean, though, is that lots of people should be able to sing along to my songs if they want to. Singing high is not something that most people can do without some amount of practice.
Will you be disappointed if the album doesn’t get a wide audience?
Yes and no. I think it’s a good album and could stand amongst many albums that are successful. Having said that, there is so much great material released all the time and ‘the music industry’ can’t get behind all of it. Some household name artists were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The stories are legion of the person who was making tea at the record company and then someone from A&R hears them sing, and the rest of history. But that is rare. For most artists to break through usually requires a big and sustained PR push and I don’t have that.
I believe that perhaps a small of number of people will really like my album and become kind of fans. That will be great, just in itself. If that number slowly but surely grows, that will be increasingly satisfying. My career as an artist is a marathon, not a sprint. There’s everything to play for.
