Epiphany IV

Maybe there was something else that needed to happen in Music. Or at least something different on my behalf. I therefore decided that since rock was going to be my audible delight, pop should be my main area of expertise.

There is reasoning behind this madness. You look at the top 40 singles charts as it stands today. Guitar based bands aren't up there anymore and if there are, there's only a few. I realised that if any money was to be made it would be made in pop. Pop has so much character to it and it can branch off anywhere whilst still being pop. But, I am not saying for one instance that rock doesn't have character. It's a different sort of character compared to modern day pop music. For example, pop can feature the standard band set up such as guitars, bass, vocals and drums. But you can then spread that to include pianos, keyboards, sythesizers, stringed instruments, acoustic guitars, samplers...all laden with effects. Listen to Katy Perry's California Gurls. In there you have the band instruments. The guitars and bass are very funky and very varied throughout. Then you have the synth pads that add another texture. You've then got Snoop rapping in the middle 8. There's a vocoder in there. You've got all these creative elements. You can't have a vocoder in rock band because, although it would be cool, it would have its limits. Pop can then extend into Dance, Trance and House. Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim and certain Lady Gaga songs include these styles. And it's not just pop songs either, there's remixes and club tunes too. When people goes out to paint the town red, the songs that play get them people moving. They either like it a lot or they're very drunk (normally the latter, and yes, I have used this phrase before). But either way, they're enjoying it. It's the atmosphere it creates. It 3 minutes worth of mad dancing, whereas rock could be anything from quick-paced to really moving, depending on the style. I also love remixes too because they may be created from other works but there is still the creativity behind it. A cover can be a different interpretation of a song. A remix is more like a different creation of the same song. Even better if it's a mashup. And the best thing is, some of them seem so easy to create.

After being shown an article in Sound on Sound by my music teacher, I got really interested in becoming a producer. Producers such as StarGate have created songs for Rihanna and this is something I would like to do. This was when I found out that the magic answer was pop music. And the more of the rawkess side of pop, like I say clubtunes and Dance. My next step was to start experimenting with it.

The school had a little analogue USB synthesizer; a Korg MS-20ic. It was a gordy looking synth with huge dials, little keys and button that didn't do anything. It was hooked up to the computer and ran through a music programme called Cubase. The schools version of Cubase had some plug-ins on the soundcard which allowed the synthesizer to act as a USB keyboard so I could essentially play through the computer and changed the sounds on screen as well adjust with dials. I loved playing around with the oscillations to get these 'growing and pulsing' synth sounds. I found a collection of the sounds that I liked and made a note of them. Then, in my own time, I made up a very simple chord line and song structure. Over the next few weeks I worked frantically on this synth driven dance song that could make Cascada run for the hills. The result was fascinating; it sounded so professional and was very surprising that it only took 5 weeks to go from simple idea to a finished track. This was used in my BTEC Music technology course and was probably what got me my high marks. Or so I like to think. I did even write lyrics to this song, which at the moment is called Stop, for intended use on a female vocalist. I asked a few girls I knew to sing over it but sadly I got turned down. Their loss. But this goes to show. In 5 weeks, I got a fully created tune. Albeit, it was an instrumental, but a tune none the less. And I did it all including the drums. I have never been known for my drumming ability, but with a dancey-poppy sort of song, it's easy to make a drum track. All you need is a booming bass drum sound, handclaps, snares and a few cymbals and that is essentially it. Put them into any rhythm and that's that. It's so easy. And, it wasn't the only pop based work I was doing at the time either.

Another song I was creating was a rework of Katy Perry's Hot n Cold using her vocal track and the result was my interpretation of the hit song. It used guitars, basses and a real kit. You could even say that this was essentially a remix. I theory, it is. I know it was a cover but it still had my creative element in there as I had to find certain sounds my Telecaster could create; find a synth line that worked (I ended up using an arpeggiated synth line); and I included a solo, which the original doesn't have. So, yes, it was a cover, but it was my cover. And I got to boast that I was 'working with Katy Perry.' I just wish I knew how lucky I was.

Epiphany V

Finally, the last in the series of The Epiphanies, for now. So, let's look at the options I have and how they weigh up...

Well, firstly, there's the fact that I would like to become a record producer. That way it would give me the freedom of still having knowledge of playing instruments and how they should sound in the studio. Playing live is brilliant fun but I would rather come out of the limelight and let someone else take the glory. That's the thing - I've played as a frontman and as an instrumentalist and both are immense fun with the latter being a lot easier as not all the focus is on the rhythm guitarist; I cannot stress that enough. But with being a producer, there is some responsibility but it's not like they have to be on top of it all and to be always focused on the audience and critiques. It is like it feels a lot better whilst still generating the same sort of buzz. Of course, when the time arises, I can still step back into frontman mode. Another thing is that although I'd be writing songs, I probably won't get all the glory for it and I don't particularly want to become a Mark Ronson or David Guetta (more on him later), because they should really stay behind the scenes. In all honesty, I would like the credit but have the credit anonymously. That may sound silly and somewhat impossible but it's not. The name Jimmi Cottam would be credited as songwriter/composer but the singer wouldn't be. And, I know, I have a thing about artists should write their own songs and not have someone else do it, but really, that sort of thing happens all over the place nowadays. In essence the vocals would be treated as another instrument. Another colour in the palette to work with.
Rock has now become my listening interest. Love the stuff. Always will. But with pop, I can still use parts of rock and fuse it with something else to make it better (or worse).

I'm feeling comfortable with this sort of project though because there is so much to choose from in the area of Popular Music. So comfortable in fact that I have started using my Yamaha PSR-540 keyboard a lot more. With that I wrote a song called Desiderium (Can't Carry On). This is totally different to what I've done ever before; a million miles away from Delayed Finality but still a thousand miles away from my first effort, Stop. I had never wrote a piano ballad before. I hadn't really wrote a ballad before. I had never wrote a piano song before. With it being a ballad, I could use the same customs that I used in my previous songs. And that's not all...Whilst recording a group singing David Guetta and Kid Cudi's terrible song Memories, I decided that the piano motif in that was very simple and I thought to myself "let's totally rip that off." So I did; I used 3 notes just like the bassline of Memories. That's one idea in the pipeline. Another idea is similar to Stop; a heavy grinding synthpop tune. And then there's the song I've had that's been called New One for a while. This was going to be a Delayed Finality song but never really got going. So maybe I could adapt it and create a new song altogether. But wait, there's more! I'm also planning on making a Trance rework of In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. I like classical music, especially the really dark and brooding stuff. Except this is going to be my creation. I could then sell it to Alton Towers or something. And then there's a planned idea for me to remix one of Rowan's songs from his recent album. That's a few projects to keep me active. I've even got a name planned out. Don't laugh. Parallel Dimension Productions - ParaDime for short. So...what could be stopping me? Ah, yes.

As it stands I have 5 guitars and one keyboard. I am currently looking into buying a proper synthsizer to sit on top of my Yamaha; a Korg MicroKorg. And then I would need the various equipment to hook up my instruments to my laptop. And then I need the software. And then I need the laptop. I have a laptop. Well, it resembles a laptop. It's got a massive crack in the back of the screen and as a result, it doesn't stand up properly. I've had to put a pair of comical googly eyes on it to remind myself not to close it, otherwise it would die. 'C' doesn't like working and 'O' likes to jump out of the keyboard. There is no space on the disk drive. I only have 200-odd songs on here and few written documents. I have no idea what's clogging it up. I even had to delete some fabulous parks when I uninstalled Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. So, I'll need a new laptop. BUT, as with most of the things I've done/taken part in over the past 3/4 years, I've remained optimistic. So, when I get these sorted out, I'm going to see what I can offer the world! Who knows? I may become revolutionary. Or even evolutionary. I'm going to stand by my guns though. I'm going to see what I can do. For this is my epiphany - When something else doesn't go to plan or something gets in the way, stop, re-asses, see how it could be tackled or take a different route. You could surprise yourself. And here's another epiphany...That was a really tacky ending! Oh. My...

Epiphany III

The school had given me a fair amount of experience. I could litterally use it for any area of expertise. Engineering; Production; Live Sound; Live Light; Instrumentalist and so on. As with the music, over the year, I became involved in more than just rock. I joined NK's Jazz Band for a bit of fun; to see what it was like. But as the weeks rolled on, I found that the Jazz Band was more than that. I had never played as an ensemble before ever. This was a big band. We played old songs. I had never played a song in that was older than me before in front of an audience. Any songs that I played were either songs I had written or songs that Rowan had written. These songs were Glen Miller hits from the 40's. I loved that Jazz band and wish I had joined earlier. Apparantly, Matt Jackson, a friend of mine who played the bass for the band, asked me to join in year 11. I can't remember any of that...But it showed that I could do something like this. It was a long way from alternative rock band to Big Jazz band. We played at a competition and won and then we did a concert at in the schools Theatre; the Terry O'Toole; the first time I had played to an entirely different audience. The one thing I got from this was that I still wanted to play an instrument. I'm waffling, this isn't where I'm wanting to go with this, but it's still important...

In May, as part of work experience, I got the chance to help out at a prolific recording studio in Lincoln. I was aiding in recording a metal band called Kallous. They were pretty tallented and some of the nicest guys to ever meet; you wouldn't believe they were these hardcore growly metalheads. I did litterally get the chance to record them. Soundcheck and press record and all that. It was brilliant but like I said before, I wanted to also play an instrument which isn't always possible with working in a studio. If you want to play an instrument, you join a band. Hmmm, kinda difficult now...I wanted to work in a studio. But then I had another epiphany. I didn't really want to involved with rock anymore. I love rock music, don't get me wrong. But as a creative element, there's only so far you can go. I realised this whilst recording drums for Kallous. Because there was so many patterns, we had to find where a mistake was and go back to that point and do it all again. I hadn't lost interest in rock, I just couldn't see myself working with it. Rock is about not caring about the rules. Or at the very least, bending them, not being told what to do. It was after this I thought that rock would be a lot happier confined to those who know how to do it and do it well. Delayed Finality could do it well but Lincoln's rock scene is massive. Trying to get noticed in a big pool of rock (Rock pool?) is a lot harder. Yes, there's different styles of rock that were out there but under an umbrella term, they are all rock. Alternative, Heavy, Metal and Indie are all rock. As for everything else, there's nothing. Not saying that rock gets boring after a while but these Lincoln bands are all the same styles. 3/4/5 pieces with vocals, distorted guitars, bass, drums and occasionally keyboards. Rock is big and a lot of people like it but it isn't the only choice. Maybe there was another way? Maybe a breakaway was needed?

Epiphany II

So, the band had stopped but it didn't mean I wasn't going to stop creating music. I love music. Music is awesome. I have since tried to broaden my horizons with music. It's such a good area to be involved in I think. This part of the epiphany started almost a year ago when I was offered a job.

The year was 2009. July, I think. I was a Sixth Former at North Kesteven just finishing my BTEC Music Technology course. One afternoon, I got taken aside by Mr Hird, the head of Music. He offered me a job of becoming the schools Assistant Studio Technician. Out of all the 7 people in the Music Tech group (I know, it was a lot), I got chosen to look after the studio. But that's not all it was. My main role was to make sure everything was working and everything was there. Not particually interesting. However, every Monday after 3 I had the opportunity to use the studio to its full potential. Since I worked until 4:30, I was required to record GCSE students for parts of thier course. And this was what kicked started this part and over the year I recorded many vocalists (good vocalists), electric, acoustic and bass guitarists, a flautist, a trombonist, keys, drums, violins, all sorts. Everyone liked being recorded by Jimmi. The studio's normal soundtech (my employer) had a very different method to me. He wanted it done stupidly quick. I didn't. For example, I brought the guitarists into the studio and let them change certain settings to how they wanted it to sound, rather than them telling me and letting me guess. I gave the instrumentalist an input, which for a studio (academical or otherwise) is essential. I may have engineered certain aspects but the sound is crucial for the performer. A quick soundcheck would be what was normally done and straight into a record. I soundchecked twice; one standard soundcheck and another runthrough soundcheck, because instrumentalists have a habbit of playing louder when being recorded than when they're being checked. I was friendly with everyone and they liked my laid back attitude. I was never really that strict, I kept a stern face and even if the performer wanted the moon, I could only try to work around them. "Thumbs up on record" I would say and they'd be off. I'd always end a recording with "rock n roll" just as a subtle hint of irony, especially if it was a showtune I was recording. It then hit me. "People like me doing this. I like the people. I know what I'm doing. I feel very comfortable. I love this creativity from the Year 11 students. I know I'm doing this as a job, but I could do this as a career..."

Epiphany I

A while ago, I wrote a post about songwriting aptly named 'songwriting.' In it I made reference to my band, Delayed Finality. Well it is now my duty to tell you why I can't carry on with Delayed Finality. It was, as says, all down to an epiphany.

Bands, especially student bands, tend to phase in and out in all matters and styles over years and if your in a town with very little musical input then it's not hard to see why. If I ask you how many famous bands come from my home town, Lincoln, chances are you probably won't be able to list many. I can give one. I Was A Cub Scout were a 2 piece synthrock band from Lincoln that got some decent airplay and even managed to play at Download Festival. Thier drummer is now drumming live for La Roux; pretty good stuff. But that's from a population 85,000. Two people cracked Lincoln and got out. And then only one of them got further. That's another 84,999 people. "What's this gotta do with your band?" I hear you ask. Well, it goes to show nothing is impossible (a personal quote of mine). It may seem that Lincoln is lacking on the entertainment front; a place where nothing's going to get out its Roman walls. We always had that 'what if?' feeling. We tried but I think it was down to one pivotal point, on what I like to call, the LLC - Lincoln Live Circuit - which were mainly pubs. Good pubs.

Our favourites were two venues that were brimming with people back in the 2008: The Travellers Rest and The Duke of Wellington. The Travs (as it was called), under control of Aurora Promotions, was set up in a function room and had a basic but brilliant set up. A stage, 3 microphones, a drumkit, light effects, the works. Del-Fin's first gig was held there with about 5 other bands. I can remember one band was playing rather early on in the evening. It was their last gig and there was about 3 people watching them. Then along came 4 teenagers who didn't know what they were doing and stole the show with over 50 people watching. Us. It was a great feeling. I got the chance to perform with my friends and show these people who turned up what we could create. Rowan a chance to show of his solo stuff too. Everyone was happy.

When we played The Duke of Wellington (fronted by Bivouac Promotions) it wasn't as heaving as the Travellers Rest but it was a nice easy performance. No faults; just kept it real. That was really good too. A few more performances happened after that. But then disaster and what I think was the beginning of the end. Our then drummer called it a day days before we meant to go stage. We had to improvise with our knowledge and so with the help of Rowan, we created some drum tracks to play along to live. It wasn't the best. It was wierd playing without a drummer and lacked the realism. But we soldiered on, despite the fault. It showed us that nothing could keep us down. A few weeks later, the Travellers Rest closed down which meant Aurora didn't have a venue and Delayed Finality had lost thier prime hotspot. We tried to revive ourself with a Jimmi and Rowan acoustic gig at the Millers Arms (Bivouac Promos were kicked out of the Duke of Wellington and resided there) but the venue wasn't cut out for bands. There was people fighting for space to perform in; it was a good job it was just me and Rowan. If we were a full 4 piece, we would have been in the same predicament. Although it was good, it wasn't much compared to our first gig. The end was nigh. And it took me until recently to think that it wasn't going to last much longer. But, since I have called it off, it gives us all a chance to try something different. Since Rowan's off to Uni and I'm not until next year, it cleaned the air a bit for him to focus on what he want's to focus on, especially for his course. The same goes with me. I've got a route that hopefully in time will get clearer and clearer. So in part two, I'm going to give you the second half of my epiphany.

As it lays then, Finality is now not delayed but On Time. I wrote a lot of songs (about 20) in three years (Okay, 19 and bit) which is some feat. Some were recorded. Others never got to see the light of day at all. But the band was something special. We didn't spend hours hidden away in a garage playing only covers to tell people 'we're in a band.' We created our own music. We recorded our own music. We went out to entertain. We were, in essence, a semi-professional band. We were in an ACTIVE band. We didn't take ourself too seriously. One song I wrote called Equilibrium was originally called Donderkoodal which came about when I got bored and started to type random words into Google. We had an instrumental break called Attack of the Killer Tomato, named by Matt. It must have been a good job we didn't act too seriously because if one of us let us down, we'd be even more dissapointed. I think we got it whilst it at this stage because if it was at all any bigger and we realised we wouldn't get any further and dissapoint more, not just ourselves. All the hype, money, amount of people who saw us is just a bi-product. What really counted was the experience and memories that we created ourselves...That's the important thing really.