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'Song For Fee' (08/12/23 Gelegenheiten, Berlin)
Thoughts and music from last Friday’s Berlin show here.
BIEST LIEST J.G. Ballard
I recently recorded some music for the ‘Biest Liest’ book club - a monthly meetup and audio project, archived on Soundcloud. For their Ballard episode I read from his autobiography and improvised electric guitar and piano - listen to the full show and all the previous editions below:
Feel free to contact and follow ‘Biest Liest’ through their Instagram below:
Villa Müller, Feldkirch
Photos above by Katharina Koutnik from my concert at the beautiful Villa Müller a week or so ago.
I stayed there a few days, played a concert on the Sunday and then recorded most of the next day. I played some old songs but also wrote some new things and played some instrumental ideas. I’ll post the complete set of things I made on my Patreon and Bandcamp sites soon but in the meantime here’s a little idea of what happened.
Julia Laura 'I Lock The Door Upon Myself'
This is my buddy Julia’s second album, which I recorded and put together over the last year or so. I recorded her first album too, a simple acoustic collection that we put down in a few afternoons, but this time Julia had written songs with space and parts for more instrumentation. We set up in three or four houses last summer in between travels and when we were able to meet. Her friend Mark Timmins had some great electric guitar parts so I started with recording the two of them playing the songs together at his place in Nürnberg in the few hours before his girlfriend finished her shift. Later, in Bayreuth, Josua Bauer (Vincent von Flieger / Nick & June) played some horn parts and accordion and later still, at Julia’s parents house in Fürth, Elena Steri sang some backing vocals whilst her folks quietly prepared dinner in the kitchen. I think there’s also a couple of songs that Julia played in my little bedroom in Fürth on there too. I like to record this way, in rooms where there’s a chance for coffee and books, things placed carefully on the wall. Also a window of opportunity whilst the house is quiet, some gentle pressure on things.
Early one morning Julia went out with Mina Reischer and they shot a roll of medium format film by the river in Nürnberg. Mina works on a lot of the artwork for the label and is something of the house portrait maker.
I mixed it in a couple of different places and then a few weeks ago we got together in Stuttgart and cut paper, stamped pictures and made some copies of the physical edition. Julia sang a couple of songs and I filmed them, like this:
It feels a bit like the album started at a gallop and then lost a little wind towards the end as the different elements and people involved were kept apart by distance and the virus. But recently it’s been brilliant to meet and wrap it up and finally make it available for everyone. I know Julia has new songs and new sounds she is hearing and perhaps there’ll be something else coming from her soon.
Anyway, we made this fine thing together and it’s out now.
Stephen
ps - Julia and I are playing in Nürnberg next weekend - 29.08.20 at Luise.
miller
One of six songs I recorded last weekend for subscribers at http://www.thegreatpark.co.uk/bandcamp-subscription
New video recordings and downloads this week for Bandcamp subscribers
Good afternoon everyone.
I sat in an empty room yesterday and recorded six songs in front of a laptop and will be posting the videos (plus download links for mp3 files) each day this week to my Bandcamp subscribers here.
All the reverb, a couple of songs from ‘bottle the grief’, two old ones and a new thing I am writing at the moment that isn’t finished at all but in some sort of shape that it can be played through.
I hope that you consider subscribing as it’s a brilliant way to support me in this time and also a good deal if you’re into my stuff. Nine releases immediately, three exclusive albums so far with more each month and other perks too.
Anyway, hard sell over. Just making things and it’s good to have somewhere to put them and make things for the people that want them. Not shouting blindly into the void but some practice of making things in a more personal and appreciated manner.
Have a lovely Sunday
Stephen
'When I Was Away" in the woods, yesterday
Drove out of the city for a few hours yesterday and recorded some music amongst the trees and the birds and all that good stuff. Played some new songs and also one or two others that felt appropriate - perhaps more to follow.
We have to make our own fun, as ever. Hope you’re all safe and well.
Stephen
Empty Room
Empty room in my flat this weekend so this was my Saturday night. I think it’s a six song EP coming at some point but will have the St Arbogast church recording ready before then. Soon.
'A Day' - new album available now
My latest album ‘A Day’ is now available to listen and buy at https://thegreatpark.bandcamp.com/album/a-day.
‘A Day’ was recorded entirely on the 14th of May in a tiny hut in the countryside near Baach, Germany. I had written a bunch of things that I thought could be put down but when I got there a lot of it changed and I spent an afternoon and most of the evening writing and playing as I went. The album is a loose thing, as most of my things tend to be, and perhaps I’ll get the chance to record some of these songs later and with other people. I suppose I work better when I’m inspired by a place and have a limited amount of time there, so I thank Martina for giving me the chance to hang out in this wonderful little space and wander about in such beautiful surroundings. She also took the photos you see here and the one on the cover, whilst I filmed some for the simple video below:
Of the songs, I think these sit in an in between place for me. I have an album of kind of playful things, light, often saucy text written over the last few years and I’ve recorded some of these songs in different places already without putting them out. But I also had these new ones and it didn’t feel like the right time or place for anything else. At least three of these were written on the day (‘now we know how we won’t’, ‘a kind of dog is not a cat’ and ‘what you fear to be the end comes around’ for sure) whilst the others had melodies and most of the text set beforehand.
I’ve been playing a few of these at the recent shows and they seem to be coming out different already, which perhaps goes to show what a collection of sketches this is.
Anyway, this is what I make.
Thanks for listening,
Stephen
Back to the countryside.
Has been a full and fun weekend in Hannover and last night in Bonn. Not enough sleep but nice concerts and very enjoyable evenings both of them. I’ll probably write more in the next couple of days but mostly big thanks to Ceven and to Timo for the invitations and the good company.
Tomorrow I’ll drive back up the hill to this beautiful little spot and hopefully spend a couple of days finishing the album I started last week. I’ve had a few days to listen to everything and decided to leave the songs as they were written but perhaps just play some more guitar and sing a little on some of them. Wanted to do everything in the same lovely place. Nothing feels in any way clever or too considered, which I like, but I do feel that some of the things could use a little more meat on the bones. Perhaps I pile it on and then take it all off and it comes out as just the recording I made in a day. Let’s see. In any rate, I’ll be here if you need me but the internet is off.
I hope you’ve had a fun weekend too, more soon.
S
New album recorded yesterday.
Photo: @mart.schnieder
I’ve spent the last two days living in this delightful little place on a hill in Esslingen, in the south of Germany. No internet but electricity, a wood oven and fierce running icy cold water. Power socket for the recorder. Surprisingly noisy from local farmers and flight path but a productive time nonetheless. Listen, I just got back to a warm shower and all that goes with it an hour ago so will write more later, but suffice to say I recorded the album of ten songs I wrote last week and will work on putting it together and seeing if I can live with it tomorrow. It might not come out, right now it sounds very intimate and I don’t know who the person singing is.
Oh, I’m playing in Thun this Friday with a drummer, in Ulm this Sunday night and next week in Erlangen at E-Werk. More on those things later, but for now good evening warm, fuzzy glow of the internet.