Category Archives: Inspiration

FAWM 2011 Is Just Around The Corner

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Today is the last day of January which means tomorrow, being the first day of February is the start of FAWM 2011.

For those who don’t know, FAWM stands for February Album Writing Month and the deal is, to write an albums worth of material in the month of February, which is set at 14 songs in 28 days. You can find out more about this brilliant songwriting concept by going to www.fawm.org.

On the FAWM website it describes the concept in this way:

“This is the club. Each February, FAWM.ORG forges a collaborative community where thousands of musicians of all walks and skill levels write an album’s worth of material in the shortest month of the year. That’s roughly one tune every other day. “Fawmers” are a mix of music professionals, students, homemakers, and folks who work dayjobs but rock nightclubs.”

In theory, the idea of FAWM being the kick-up-the-arse to my songwriting process holds true but in reality it hasn’t been that way which is my fault totally but this year I’m hoping that my songwriting output for FAWM 2011 will be much better than in previous years.

Later on in the year the guys at FAWM also run something called 50/90 (50 Songs In 90 Days) which will run from July to October 2011 but I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.

I must keep telling myself that FAWM is not a contest and no-one gets judged, it’s a concept which is designed to test my songwriting process.

Am I ready to tackle inspiration, the muse head-on?

I’m going to give it a go this year, are you? Let me know if you do too.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Gary Numan Coming To Australia

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In 1992 I was turned onto Gary Numan through one of my supervisors of where I was working at the time, and I’ve been a fan ever since.

In fact, it was through repeated listening to Numan’s 1978 “Replica’s” album (that he did with Tubeway Army) that inspired me to form a 3 piece band called “Big Bang Theory”.

We wore black despotic costumes and played 4-to-the-floor punk liberally tinged with Sci-Fi themes, just like what Gary Numan was doing.

The band only lasted one gig however, the experience was enough to give me the courage to move to Sydney in 1994 and the rest is history…

I never realised how much of an influence Gary Numan’s music had on my life until I saw an advertisement for Gary Numan’s Pleasure Principle tour of Australia (due in May 2011) which inspired this post.

Numan’s music and his dystopic imagery dared me to listen to music in a different way and to consider my role in it. I lost my way musically a little bit at that time which turned me into an angry soul but Gary Numan was the light I needed to find my way again.

Numan and his band will be performing at HQ on Monday May 16th, I’ll be getting my ticket. It’s my way of thanking an artist that has influenced me in ways I hadn’t imagined.

Below is my favourite Gary Numan song “We Are Glass.” For me, this song clearly shows how far ahead of his time Gary Numan was.

Enjoy!

Peace,

Corey :)

Sting’s Songwriting Process – A Video Insight

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I stumbled across this old video of Jools Holland interviewing Sting (circa mid 80′s) recently and it gives a brilliant insight into the way that Sting gathers, processes and demos his songwriting ideas before introducing it to the rest of the Police band members

Even though the video primarily focuses on how he come up with “Message In A Bottle” (one of my all time favourite songs) there are plenty of pearls of wisdom to be had if you listen for it.

Look out for the introduction of Dennis as one of the central characters in his songwriting process.

I loved every minute of this video especially the old recording technology I mean, I used to have one of those Tascam 4 track machines (ahh, the memories of it all). I hope you enjoyed it too, let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Catching Up With Old Friends

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Recently I caught up with an old friend of mine Jeff Smith whom I had lost contact with for about 8 years.

When we finally caught up it was lovely to discover that there was none of the awkwardness or guilt that sometimes comes with a reconnection with a good friend after a long time apart, we just picked up where we left off and interacted as if we saw each other yesterday.

Besides fulfilling a need to reconnect with an old friend, I contacted Jeff to let him know that a song we wrote together way back when called “Billboard Angel” was going to be part of the next SCALA CD release.

I can’t remember how Jeff and I first met but what I do know is that he’s an amazing guitarist, studio engineer and an all round nice guy with unique perspectives on life which make for great conversation and for writing really good songs.

It’s through reconnecting with Jeff that I’ve become really inspired to get stuck into my home studio setup and start recording my songwriting ideas again, something I very thankful for.

I want to finish this post today with another example of a song that Jeff and I wrote. It’s called “Groove With You” and it touches on the concept of two people who just can’t seem to connect fully even though they adore each other. I just love the funkiness of the song.

Enjoy!

Groove With You
© 2001 (C. Stewart / J. Smith)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Peace,

Corey :)

My First Concert – Sting, Memorial Drive 1985

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The Dream of the Blue Turtles
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I remember the Dream Of The Blue Turtles concert as it was yesterday.

A group of about 5 of us stayed over a friends place who lived close to the venue the night before to ensure that we got a good position in the lineup. As it turned out, at 8am the next day we were the second group in the line.

The whole day was full of taking in turns going into the city and hanging out listening to music on a cassette player (now I’m showing my age here). The air of anticipation became thicker and thicker the closer we got to showtime.

When the gates eventually opened there was a mad rush to the front. I managed to position myself front and centre of the stage… It couldn’t get any better than that.

Hunters and Collectors were the support band for that night and they had just released their landmark album “Human Frailty” that same year. They were fantastic but of course all eyes and ears were waiting for the main act. Sting and his band of Jazzmen.

When it was time for Sting to start there was a roar of applause from the capacity crowd and by this time anyone who was sitting on the ground were standing.

First to appear on stage was drummer Omar Hakim who kicked things off with an incredible drum solo that seemed to last forever but it was probably around 10 minutes at the most. WOW!

Then, Sting and the rest of band graced the Memorial Drive stage and proceeded to blow everybody away for the next 2 hours. At this stage any thoughts I had in my mind that music wasn’t going to be a permanent part of my life were gone.

For me this concert represented the closest thing I have come to a religious experience and after the final note was played I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and today I’m still doing that.

Peace,

Corey :)

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My First Record – Jeff Wayne’s “War Of The Worlds”

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Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the...

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I don’t watch that much television but one of my favourite TV programs going around at the moment is RockWiz on SBS.

On the show, every participant on the program is asked one of two questions as part of their introduction.

1. What was the first record you ever bought (or was bought for you)?
2. What was the first concert you ever went to?

Today I’m going to deal with my first record… It was Jeff Wayne’s “War Of The Worlds”

My Auntie (Mum’s sister) got the double LP for me for my 9th or 10th birthday because every time I went over to her place I would take her copy of War Of The Worlds and put on some headphones and spend all night night listening to it over and over and over again while looking through the extensive album notes and pictures.

I still have the album even now, it’s a treasured part of my music collection.

The War Of The Worlds album captured my imagination and it really influenced my musical leanings as the album turned me on to the concept of orchestral music (I didn’t start studying music until I got into high school).

I found this video of the introduction and the first piece of music (The Coming Of The Martians) performed live and conducted by the composer himself, Jeff Wayne

Man, what a gig to be part of.

I must say… Richard Burton still has the best speaking voice EVER.

Peace,

Corey :)

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The Ultimate Reality Check – Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot”

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At the moment we in Australia are in the grips of a Federal Election Campaign which concludes this Saturday when we all do our duty as citizens and vote.

No, this is not a post on how to vote, who to vote for or the reasons why you should or shouldn’t vote, I wanted to provide an oasis from all of the farcical chest beating, truth bending and self serving rhetoric that we, in Australia have been inundated with over the past 6 weeks or so since the election was called.

If you’re reading this from somewhere outside of Australia then consider this a gift from me to you because for me, this video is the ultimate reality check, a brilliant exercise in demonstrating what’s really important.

It’s one of the most beautifully eloquent monologues I’ve ever heard, read by one of the most brilliant minds of our time, Carl Sagan.

Peace,

Corey :)

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