turn up in a taxi at the studio

go inside the usual assortment of characters ‘anging about

long hair joints drinks some girls record company geezas

i bought my lunch on the way here

its a veggie burger n chips

i get introduced to some people

the band is all arguing with each other

not like this

not like that

no i played it this way

yes but now i play it that way

in a small courtyard i eat my v burger n chips

yeah good its warm n peaceful out here

i’m working on another record

everyone asks me for my opinion

but no one can follow it

my understanding of music cannot be understood

my explanation cannot be explained

i got a different in n take on music to all of these lot

they all need my songs but they dont respect the process behind them

and i’m always too tired to put up a fight i cant win

and i cant win coz theres no right or wrong

i got my way of doing things that works for me

others ‘ve got theirs n never sometimes the twain will mark

i go inside n tinkle round on the piano

a C chord i start to arpeggiate it

modulating a little out

i start trying out different bass notes

ooh that works

i get a little bass pattern going against that C

when the bass goes to a certain note

the arpeggio needs to change to a slightly different set of notes

i take care of that n begin getting my chord progression sorted out

no ones taking much notice of what i’m doing …good…

no pressure when yer actually composing stuff

it takes only five minutes and i gotta great bunch of chords together

i just keep clunking about n till i find what i want

yeah thats a good chord progression

it has to be unusual it has to be poignant

it has to be at least a little bit strange

the bass notes work against the chords nicely

its quite poppy but in a sad sad way

but then it ends on a triumphant kinda feeling

so its confusing what you feel

and in that confusion lies pleasure

the emotions pulled this way n that

put thru their paces in a  procession of chords

its unusual to feel so many feelings

but thats what it does

good music i mean

the kinda music i myself like

like you cant decide what its made you feel

and in that decision is the magic

so i go on playing the piano

it gets miked up

i record my chord prog against a click track

this is harder than it looks

it takes a while to figure out the real tempo the song should be

and what kinda click i want

even when its sorted the song feels like it wants to race here

and lag there

but the click rightly or wrongly forces the whole thing to be even

eventually i get it all down

my hands like arthritis

my brain is smoking after nailing all that (for me) tricky stuff

i sit back n listen

wow the steinway sounds grande

piano is such a complete instrument in itself

after dinner i pick up the bass

and the part comes naturally to me as expected

my fingers figure it out

i sit there waiting for my fingers to get it

to nail it

the fingers slur n slide about semi-autonomously

the bass riff just appears outta nowhere too

it fits nicely against the piano

as if it was “meant” to be like that….

dear readers

ran out of steam on this one

will put up a new post soon

sk