Pheroze

Dang, we doin’ it up right.

Just a bit over half-way done recording guitars for my next album. Things are sounding great! We wrapped up the drums two weeks ago and started the guitars earlier this week.

10 songs total for this album. And we are giving the utmost care to these songs – making sure the tones and performances are just right. Each song has a unique vibe so each song gets a unique sound. Clay Holley’s been working the board and making everything sound just right. He’s also been great and coaxing exceptional performances out of me. So it’s been a pleasure working on this so far.

We’ll wrap up the guitars this week, then we’ll fly Shane in to lay down some bass next weekend (or maybe he’ll just drive over). After that, it’s time for vocals. Then we’ll sit back and see if we need to add anything else – like sousaphone, saxophone, telephone, gramophone. Then das mix. Then das remix. Then das mastering. Then das remastering. Then das boot.

I took some time this year to explore what’s out there in the rock scene and listen to albums, see some bands, pay attention to what people are doing. I didn’t like much of what I heard. Bands have gotten fucking lazy. Song-writing, tone, performance – it’s by the numbers and it seems people pay absolutely no heed to the actual creation of music. I have made it a point to stay out of the music scenes for a long time now. Scenes never seemed to be about music – just about being part of something. I’m confident enough in my “belonging” that I’d rather just make music.

Everyone is an amateur musician these days – I don’t mean amateur as in “indie” or “undiscovered”; I mean amateur in terms of musicianship and attitude. Fuck these amateurs. Time for the real deal.

I am going to enjoy changing that mindset over the course of my career. Let’s bring it back to the music.

Don’t forget the Oil Spill Benefit show next week.

love

-pheroze

It’s been a whirlwind my friends-  a jumbo kong-sized cyclone of frenzied EVERYTHING! I’ve been working, writing, smiling, moping, playing, obsessing and dismissing.
That said, I’m so sorry to have ignored you for over a month. You see, I’m starting to record my next album at the end of this month.
And I am super mega fucking HAPPY to announce that the writing is (pretty much) done. All songs are written, demoed and I’m almost done with pre-production.
It’s also been a reflective period for me. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had a surplus of songs and ideas to choose from. When I recorded “Driftwood” it was like I was exorcising my evolutionary demons. Purging and expelling the material I had carried with me through previous bands, old journals, demolished 4-tracks- all that kept me in a certain time and space. “Driftwood” was a labor of love and letting go. I wanted to escape my past with that album- the limitations in expression, the lack of joy I experienced in trying to drag people up to meet my vision, the cliche’s and trappings of all the previous bands I was in. I wanted it out. And I set it free with “Driftwood”; an album written and produced solely by faith in myself and wanting to hear my older material played the way I desired.
I had the luxury of starting from scratch with this album. No older songs. No baggage. In fact I had about 30 new songs and ideas to work with, so I’ve challenged myself to focus and create the album that hones right in on where I am right now. And it’s beautiful.
About 4 years ago, when I started to work on my solo music career, I had nothing but the wreckage of the past. A good friend of mine asked me what kind of music I wanted to make. Being the arrogant bastard I am, all I said is that it not only needs to be the music I want to hear – but it needs to change people’s lives. It needs to be pivotal.
I think I’m about to record that pivotal album. And I have you to thank for it. I look forward to sharing it with you this fall.
More news coming soon – very soon.
with love
-pheroze

The only thing that I “wrote” are the main melodic line and the simple thumping rhythm that make up the core of the song – Joe Renaud added his spice to the rhythm while keeping the simple pulsation cemented. We would play off of each other for the dynamics and the changes, and we would get fed the rest of the song from the audience at shows.

Hopefully, if you came to a show in 2008, you remember the song (for it had no name at the time). I’d start by asking the audience to think of one word or concept, and then tap into the collectively focused energy of the room and channel the lyrics and song structure from there. For me it was a public marriage of my spirit and music connections – and I’d like to think that for you it was, at the very least, moving.

In short, people loved it – and when it came time to record a demo of new songs last year, I really wanted to record this one. Capturing the same feel and intensity of a life improvisation, let alone one that was channeled through the audience’s energy, was a challenge to put together- and when the time came I just had to say “fuck it, it’s a demo”.

Well I think we fucking nailed it. And when I say we, I truly mean the big whole fat mass of collective “WE” (that includes you bucko). I’m just your medium on this one. It’s simple, haunting and beautiful.

If you came to a show in 2008, you wrote this with me. Your thoughts, energy, and feelings are in it. And for that I thank you. And, no, it doesn’t mean you’re getting any of the royalties so suck it.

Thanks again, and I’m looking forward to collaborating more with ya. Make sure to go to the music page to stream or download Conversations With A Knife, or just right click here and save it to your computer.

I straddle a borderline obsession with exploring the creative process on both a grand and minuscule scale. This often leads me to pour through writings by artists, scientists, authors and musicians who share their creative rituals, habits, and techniques. Everyone who creates seems to have their methods (predominantly of madness I like to think) of bringing their creations to life- meditation, obsession, objects they keep around, binging, purging, dipping their genitals in sparrow feces.

I recently had a quite a few of my own observations and explorations of my creative process confirmed and thrown back my way as not just being central to my own purpose, but as general guidelines applicable to all.

My good friend Asa invited me to a lecture by noted Theoretical Quantum Physicist and Nuclear Physicist, Amit Goswami. To anyone who has a chance to hear him speak, do so. He has a great ability to convey topics based on quantum physics to a broader audience. I was first introduced to quantum physics in high school – so hearing Dr. Goswami speak was a real treat.

Dr. Amit Goswami

Quantum physics, for those asking, is essentially the study of the mechanics of things at the atomic level. It’s controversial because many of the resulting discoveries and theories fly in the face of widely accepted classical physics like Newton’s laws of motion. It also spurs controversy because there are intrinsic interpretative ties between what quantum mechanics shows and what mystics throughout the ages have described as a “universal consciousness”; fundamentally dismissing the classic science versus religion argument by doing away with the duality of what both sides try to explain. But fuck, that’s all shit to discuss another time when you can all throw your crosses/beakers/jelly beans my way at will.

Back to topic! The creative process is the concern here and Dr. Goswami had a section of his lecture where he outlined what quantum mechanics means for that process. Here are the steps he discussed:

1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Sudden Insight
4. Manifestation

Damn, he had just described what I’ve observed over the past 12 years about how I write music.

Over the weekend, I’ll post about each of those steps and how they relate to music writing.

Have a happy snuggly Friday the 13th and a hauntingly cursed Valentine’s day.