Stormcellar Band Home Page

A good day well spent. Our great thanks to Ben. 

We got copies of all the current stuff for SC10 together, did another mix of BWYH (ye gods), fixed and over dubbed harp, fixed and added guitar and did 4 vocals.

The vocals may not be final takes, we're still trying ideas.

Yesterday we paid a visit to Sensei JC to seek influence. Bill took some notes and is now preparing some additional layers, which means a little more time in overdubs for SC10.

Time is with us on this mission, we're ok with letting this sit for a while and then returning to it .

We're close, but there's no hurry.

Well...maybe not sloth speed but maybe a few more weeks than I planned.

SC11 moved forward again as I tried some outlandish ideas. I may have lost it laughing a few times when I got confused about the lyrics.

My temptation to sing some Muppets Sounds was not met with favour by Mr Wizard (awww).

Ma Na Ma No.

On the plus side, we made some efforts towards doing a Japanese Rock version of one of the new songs.

Knowing Mr Wizard's massive Otaku J-Rock Fan and thinking about all the videos he's shown me over the years, we've started looking for a J-Rock singer to have a crack at one of the new songs.

Could be good. Experiments continue.

When opportunity presents itself, when the gap between the whirling blades opens up, we hold on to our hats and take a leap of faith.

Of course there are no whirling blades exactly. In fact, overall, that was a pretty awful set of mixed metaphors. Sorry about that.

Maybe that's just how it feels.

Dr Rock asked me about it the other week, I replied the God Loves The Fool Who Does The Scheduling.

Thank you Mr T.

On the plus side, there's so much to do that we can shift things around to suit.

In my off the blog comments, we talk about the nature and environment of being involved with Music in the early 21st Century.

Here, we focus on our actions. A good way to go.

SC10

Needs art.

Has a working title. Safe Harbour.

Needs thought - we're approaching this in the same manner as EFLH.

I have 5 versions of Brave with your heart, all of which I'd like to release. I'm thinking of naming them Part 1-5.

It's the digital age, the playlist age.

Our guess is most access will be playlists. CD sales and Downloads are fading away, to be replaced by permanent streaming solutions.

Also: performance. Multimedia.

Media type and technology influence the recording process ; singles, vinyl, the cd, each set a boundary.

In the digital age the boundaries are your creativity and your budget to fund it :-)

At present rate, we enjoy cranking out about an album a year. 

In the 20th Century that was considered a no no.

I digress.

Returning to the simple, joyful mundane house keeping of finishing work, there are 13 tracks assembled for SC10.

It's pretty much mixing time, listening time, thinking time.

Any last over dubs? Any tweaks?

SC10 is comprised of the tracks of the 5D project + Beyond 5D. As so much of it was location recording, mixing is simplified - not removed - there's still some listening and frequency tweaking to do.

This weeks proposed tracking session will now be shifted to housekeeping, reviews and over dubs.

SC11

Art: in progress

Working title: Rogue State

1 track has already been released as a single (pirouette) , 10 others tracked, 7 to desk mix, 3 in need of vocals and overdubs, 2 more songs to be tracked.

At this weeks session I'll try adding vocals to two tracks that are already down. Yeah the guys are moving so fast the lyrics and melody are playing catch up, but that's ok.

The recording process for these two albums is another evolution.

I'm starting to see music as collections,. What is the 'album?'

I liked that quote about calling them 'records' is better because it's a 'record' of where you were at, at the time.

I'm also seeing these two collections of work as inter-related.

Production Process, Time and Concept are the defining characteristics.

SC10 and SC11 have had 2 different processes:

SC10 was all about real time, on location (5d) and then Variation on Theme (Beyond 5D).

SC11 was short bursts of tracking and recording (3-4 songs at a time), then slow, incremental mixes and fixes over time.

Each process produces a different sound and style.

The overlap is time and concept. Pirouette is on both albums, in acoustic and then electric. Pirouette as an electric song, as envisaged by Brother Bill, showed us the way forward. In the same way as Better Off Without You led to Defiance.

On SC10 you can hear all the environmental sounds.

On SC11, it's all about the local influences, the local identities.

The Local Influence project continues and will continue as we finish these two albums. Watch for invites.

With some luck, we'll track the last two songs in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, we're still working on the ideas within the songs and what we find within the sounds we record. 

Big feet, small steps, gets you there with a smile.

Good luck to the Blues Exiles who will be launching their CD at the Hawkesbury this Sunday. 

Y'ever had one of those moments watching someone do something and wondering if saying anything is helpful, or simply you feeling the need to narrate the chaos?

Watching this double booking unfold was a little like that.

Thanks to sharp eyed Alex for spotting the conflict before we showed up on the day.

Some necessary Chaos is involved in what we do.

For other times, we may consider attaching electrodes to faulty components in our logistical systems.

Back from a quick run to the foot of the Snowys. Cheers Dinesh. Cheers Gary. Heya Lindsay. Thanks Carlo. Thanks Sue.

I'm still working on a live update option for the website, my work on integrating the sites was hamstrung by recent issues with FB.

I have many nice things to say about this weekends run. I need a little downtime tho'.

Here's what we saw out the window.

How can we be helpful? How can we assist, how can we do anything.

How do we deal with feelings of powerlessness?

Our first duty is non cooperation with evil.

Here, deep in the safety of the stormcellar, we're focusing on giving you a mental respite from the maelstrom.

I think that's something we can do. I think we can show you a small pocket universe, somewhere in the ordinary bits of Oz, where we dodge wildlife, travel, write, work.

There comes a point though, where even as we try to provide that respite, that we understand that we cannot enable evil by staying silent.

We wish our cousins in the US the very best of fortune; we as Aussies, friends and members of the human species, we deeply hope that the Better Angels of your natures will prevail.

Won't be the first time I've said this:

Get well soon Superman, we need you as you were, as the example you've been, and if you've forgotten, try to see yourself the way that we do, still heroic, still inspirational, aspirational.

We need you to be that version of you, the one we want to be, that we criticise and secretly admire, that we emulate, both consciously and unconsciously.

The world needs you as you were and can be again. Get well Superman.