Modern Life Is Lies - Release date Fri 20th May 2016

NEWS!

My debut EP will be released on Friday 20th May 2016.

It's called 'Modern Life Is Lies' and will be available via iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp / Spotify.

This is the track list:

1. Li(v)es
2. Purple Steeple
3. Summer Storm
4. Memory Of Footsteps
5. Raat Ka Nasha (Feat. Of Embla)

Summer of Music

So my day job is working as an IT Consultant and recently I've been contracting for a few months with this and then returning back to music 100% and switching between the two.

Today I'm very excited as after 9 months contracting, a week on Friday I'll be entering another period totally devoted to my music.

I’m sending off my EP “Modern Life Is Lies” to be mastered today and once it comes back and I’m happy with it, I can set a release date – which is looking like the end of May or early June now.

So what’s the plans for my Summer of Music?  Well I’ve spent a lot of time on collaborations and remixes in the last couple of years and this has often taken priority over releasing my own music. So in June, before I get involved in any other projects, I’ll be recording my second EP that will also be released this year.  Since I will be moving back to London full time, I’ll also be booking some gigs, playing a few open mics here and there with stripped down versions of my EP songs and various covers.

I’m going to try and get an internship in a recording studio over Summer.  These jobs don’t look easy to come by – but most endeavours of value take time and persistence - at least I’ll have more energy for that soon.

On a more personal note, I’ve been exercising 5 times a week and have almost lost my Xmas weight.  Now I’m 34, it’s not quite as easy as it was to lose weight as it was even 3 or 4 years ago.  A few weeks of indulgence in December doesn’t quite seem worth the battle afterwards.

I’ve been meditating most days too and this is coming on in leaps and bounds now. I’m finding it a lot easier to clear/control my mind, to stop it from having a constant whirlwind of thoughts and worries. I saw a video of Jim Carrey the other day talking about how he realised once, that he is NOT his thoughts.  I can understand what he means, although at the moment I only feel this during meditation and not in everyday life.

When I’m meditating, I feel a steady calmness inside, a kind of inner confidence that I’ve never really felt before.  My challenge now is to find opportunities to expand those feelings so I can experience them not only in the moments of meditation but also in everyday life.  This is happening slowly.  So I can sometimes get into this ‘zone’ when I’m exercising (the time passes so quickly when I do this), I’m trying to walk and observe what is around me rather than just rushing to get from one place to another and when I eat, I’m trying to taste every flavour and savour every mouthful.

One of the best challenges for me is to navigate the tube on London Underground and not become caught up in everybody else's urgency.  I am usually the guy who wishes that there was a third lane on the escalator because the people walking in the fast lane aren’t walking fast enough.  So it’s all little things like this.  I guess I feel like I have become a little lost since I moved to London, in various ways, but I think I am finding my way now.

Yoko Ono Cover song Confirmed for new EP

I just got the license through for a Yoko Ono cover on the new EP! Which is great news because the song is already finished so I'd be gutted if I couldn't use it.

It's called 'Memory Of Footsteps'.  The original version is delicate and gentle; mine is going to be a little more upbeat with gritty electronic beats.

Until then, here's the original...

New EP title announced: 'Modern Life Is Lies'

I finished recording my EP last weekend and this week I'm doing the final mixdown on the songs and getting them ready to be mastered.

It's going to be called 'Modern Life Is Lies'.

Release date to be announced in the next couple of weeks.

New Single - Featured on Backseat Mafia

I just realised I've posted this article pretty much everywhere and the moon apart from this blog!

So if you haven't seen it yet, here it is...

Massive thanks to Backseat Mafia for the feature!!

Read original article here

Be Good Cos You're A Good Human Being (Limited Free Download) Electro/Hip Hop

I'm taking part in FAWM this year (February Album Writing Month).  Writing 14 songs in 28 days.

I actually don't have a great track record with this; I did it for the first time in 2012 I finished with about 10 songs and the next year I only made one! haha  I've got a lot of mini music projects on at the moment so I'm not expecting many this year either BUT I have completed my first already!

And I'm pretty excited cos it's an awesome blend of dirty electro and hip hop and it's talking about a lot of things that are important to me at the moment.

It's also available on free download for a few days.  I will be releasing another version with a better mix & master in future but this is the version for now whilst I work to try and get more FAWM songs completed.

Lyrics:

A wise owl man once said this to me

Ask questions; find out your history

Stop repeating and reliving misery

Or others before us suffered for nothing

As a civilisation we’re failing

Jailing addicts, while bankers be staying

In power with a fresh pot of sterling

And if they screw up again, no worries!

It’s not history in school but propaganda

Carefully selected for your nation’s agenda

So you’ll kill any innocent when they send ya

Into the next war, more young defenders

Been talking ‘bout climate change since the sixties

If we wake up, can we still fix this?

American senators still think its fiction

And you can’t argue with fools man, thats a given

I won’t force feed my child religion

Problems are fixed with actions not praying

I think that the paradise is us being alive

Heaven and hell can wait till the afterlife

Be good cos you’re a good human being x3

What’ll ya do when ya gods not watching?

Be good cos you’re a good human being x 3

What’ll ya do when there’s no one watching?

Be good cos you’re a good human being x 3

Not cos heaven or hell might be waiting

Are they watching you now?

Are you checking yourself?

Are you holding it down?

Are you living through living hell?

Everybody's got their own story

I shouldn't criticise how others are coping

If you've seen the light in God and you feel saved

I'll respect your choices to the grave, but

I'm more interested in truth than faith

If there's nothing after we die and I slaved

All those years feeling guilty,

And chipping off bits of myself #to be

Better at some values that i never bought into

To be praying and powerless and waiting

For someone else to sort it all out, i'm just sayin'

I need to make the most of this life

i don't know whats next

So i'm living in this life

On Blyth Valley Radio this afternoon...

Listen to Blyth Valley Radio this afternoon between 1500 and 1600 GMT and you'll hear my new single!

Visit the website below and click on "LISTEN NOW"
http://www.blythvalleycommunityradio.co.uk/index.htm