Galen Music

Taking and Breaking the Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Galen) — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:58:00 +0000

Busy busy busy - I've got a single week off in August, but otherwise, there's lots of cool recordings happening at the minute! Mostly sessions for various announced and un-announced projects, but also lots of work on Nothing Wheel, the upcoming Diane Galen solo album! It's some of the most statistically dense material I could come up with, so I'm very excited to finish it off and release it! I was aiming for Scott Walker meets Virgil Donati, and I can't wait to see how close I can get it! That'll probably take another year or so to finish off, so no launch date in site yet, but there are odd clips here and there on my social media. Somehow, I managed to survive the crazy heatwave in my studio with nothing but a desk fan - which I had to turn off while I was tracking drums for Eowa, a local death metal band. I've always been a death metal fan, but I don't tend to play it much. It's definitely not the kind of music to play in an enclosed studio during a heatwave! I'm looking forward to hearing that once the full band mix comes back! Speaking of full band mixes, the Great Manta record has gone gold, so we're hoping to get that out circa late 2022, likely with a couple more gigs in tow! Prefers and Chasmhead are still working on material - all slow but sure progress. As always, I have relatively few slots open at the minute - a few lessons will probably shift around circa September as the new term starts, but anyone interested in tuition should message ASAP, since my waiting list is building up again! As for studio sessions and transcription, I've got a lot more time available in the mornings - since if I'm not sleeping in, I'm otherwise just working on the Nothing Wheel album!

Prefers to Sleep on the Train

noreply@blogger.com (Diane Galen) — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 11:12:00 +0000

FINALLY "Boundless Eternity, Hereafter Torment" by Prefers to Hide in the Dark is ~~nearly~~ out: the album comes out on March 11th, and in the mean time, the first of two singles, Torn, is live on Youtube, bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and so on! It's a pretty cool progressive rock album, which I had a lot of fun playing both drums and keys on - I'm already looking forward to the next album! Besides doing "proper" music stuff, I also spend a lot of time mucking around with visual assets - I did a couple of teaser and visualiser-type videos for it, and I also made this spiffy little gif from the album cover!

Besides that, I've also been pretty busy with Prefers working on some other video content that I think you'll enjoy - there's a band cover of Voices by Dream Theater that I played drums on and have been working on the edit for that should come out pretty soon. The drum part is on my Performance page, but the full video will hopefully be out in a month or so, and fingers crossed there'll be more where that came from!

I'd like to spend more time drumming, but since leaving Pirate, I've been pretty crazily exhausted - keeping things running through the pandemic has messed me up something awful, so I'll hopefully get back to doing more peformance work soon, but in the mean time, pretty much all of my work has been at my desk - transcribing, part writing, and so on. Also included in that is the website overhaul that hopefully means everything looks and feels a bit better, especially on mobiles and tablets!

My 4pm-8pm slots for teaching are TOTALLY full up at the minute, as is my entire Sunday - I've got a bit of daytime availability, but I've got a lot of interested students who are getting dumped onto a waiting list until my availability suits their 9-5 job - but for anyone who has their daytime free, I've still got space! That also includes GMT+ timezones - it's been tricky scheduling in my students in North/ South America because the GMT- timezones push late into my evening, but I've got a couple of students in Europe that can get away with their evening but my daytime, so you lose some, but also win some! As always, drop me a message on my Contact page if you're interested, and we can figure something out!

For some reason, this was on my paste clipboard - I think it kind of sums up everything right now. Roll on Summer!

Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:01:00 +0000

Made it through another season - I can't believe I'm about to celebrate 2 years in my studio, it feels like it was only 10 minutes ago I was painting over obscenities that were left on the wall when I moved in! Here's a quick comparison between the day after I moved in and today - no more window, but it's somehow a lot brighter now!

Prefers album 1 should be announced any day now, with Prefers 2 in hot pursuit alongside the Chasmhead album. I expect this year will also see the long awaited Earth Drowning record that I've been putting off until I get a chance to mix it!

I'm still getting a whole load of drum practice in - I feel endlessly frustrated that I have no time to sit down with a camera and track some playing that isn't almost 2 years old, so hopefully this year I'll get around to that and start sounding online like I do in real life! Normally I can just leave a camera rolling at gigs for that, but I'm not expecting the gigging scene to go back to normal until 2023.

I'm leaving Pirate Studios at the end of January so I can focus on teaching and session work instead - which means I'll be getting to the student waiting list at long last! If you've not heard back from me, you're welcome to drop me another email to kick me into action, but fingers crossed I'll clear the backlog over the next few weeks! As always, my 4pm-7pm is usually quite busy, but since I'm teaching in a couple of different timezones at the minute, that might not be an issue for whoever's reading this - so make sure you drop me a message and we'll figure things out from there!

Here's to another year full of music - and hopefully finally a couple of releases since the pandemic has blocked everything up recently!

Surviving Winter 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:32:00 +0000

Time flies when you're having fun! I somehow forgot to update this for 5 months - and you know it's bad, because after my last post about a Radio Eroticism album, this post is about another, totally different Radio Eroticism album I'll be releasing hopefully in the next few months, once I get 60 seconds to finish mixing it! The long-awaited Earth Drowning record with Herian Egan on violin and additional vocals is finally done and sounds very cool - I won't publish an official release date, since the last time I did that was "Spring 2020", which definitely didn't happen, but it definitely shouldn't overrun by another 18 months!

Now that the gigs are starting to come back, I've played a couple of gigs recently with Scriptures, and have a few more upcoming with Great Manta and Heart Beats Funk! It's great to be back on the scene, especially since I've been locked in a rehearsal room for the last 2 years, so I'm able to get away with even more cool stuff to upset other band members with 7:3 polyrhythms and horrible metric modulations, not least since taking a couple of lessons with Virgil Donati and Chad Wackerman over the summer - two of my musical idols, and certainly two of the drummers I've learned the most from, even before taking lessons with them!

I've also started taking vocal lessons with Marianna Zappi, which should make for some significant improvements to the Chasmhead record that's still in-progress! The Prefers to Hide in the Dark EP is pretty much finished, so once that's mixed we'll light the fuse on releasing that pretty soon and start working on even more cool music - on top of the solo material I've been slowly putting together over the last few months! Karate School of Peace and Harmony has asked me to play some keys for an upcoming EP that I've already heard and am very excited to be involved with, but I've no idea when that will come to fruition, nor the Great Manta album I tracked drums for last year. I expect that 2022 will mean an awful lot of projects I've been part of will suddenly all launch at once, so it should make for quite an exciting year!

As always, I'm working a lot and sleeping very little - normally that means I finish off by saying "please contact me so I can fit you in" but I'm starting to run up against the raw limitations of linear time - so if you're interested in hiring me as a teacher, tutor, performer or producer, best hit my Contact page sooner rather than later, because there's a very real chance I'll have to reboot the waiting list. Still, there are worse things to be than busy in a crisis...!

Abysm di Ghonstov, Karateka Wife Lieder

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 May 2021 15:34:00 +0000

Suffice it to say that there have been some structural changes going on at ~~Degan~~ Galen Music! I'm pretty sure all my students know everything now, which means it's back to work as normal, but it's certainly an exciting time - and it's nice to say that in a genuine rather than sarcastic way, given how wild the last year has been!

I've got a couple extra qualifications to add to the CV this month (or rather, next month when the results come back), and a whole host of new projects on the go. The Radio Eroticism - Karateka Wife album and book are now out! The first chapter of the book, "Astepocles' Harness", is available for free, and the rest of the 84-page e-book is for sale at £3.99 - you can contact me for a copy.

I'm singing for a new progressive rock project, Chasmhead, which is an international collaboration with Mucous Lavender - the material is very exciting, and I'm looking forward to releasing more information about that soon! Weirdly enough I'm also collaborating with Mucous on a totally different album as drums for Prefers to Hide in the Dark, which is more of the same but in a slightly more Tool/ Radiohead direction - and with a much better singer. The music is very exciting, and I expect that to be coming out some time later this year.

I'm still teaching a lot, but I've been working for Pirate Studios over the last year, keeping their local Nottingham studio ticking over - it's a very different challenge to keeping my own studio running, but luckily they've just got me in charge of keeping the gear together, after I found the hardest and least efficient methods possible to botch-carpentry my own studio together!

It's a very exciting time to be working - I've got a lot of projects about to conclude in the next year, and I'm finally in a position where I'm not hanging on by the fingernails to keep the studio working! I don't expect to start getting more than 60 seconds of sleep a night again any time soon, but in the mean time, if you're looking for tuition, composition, or transcription, drop me a message on the contact page, because I've always got time for one more thing!

Back in Black (in person)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 12:07:00 +0000

I'm very happy to announce that as of tomorrow, I'll be back to in-person teaching! All of the usual restrictions apply - we'll be keeping social distance, any visitors must wear a mask, and where possible, students/ parents should avoid bringing more than one person to accompany, and I'll be disinfecting everything as before. I've had my first vaccination, but as I understand it, vaccinated people are still consisdered a transmission risk, and so I won't be running any kind of "vaccine passport" scheme, just in case anything could slip through and pose a risk to anyone. As always, if in any doubt, I'm still offering remote teaching as usual - and a lot of my students seem to quite like the convenience of remote teaching, so that won't be changing at all; and I'm picking up a few bits and pieces to make remote drum lessons a little easier moving forward. Better late than never!

Hopefully, once all adults are vaccinated by the end of July, things will cool down a little bit - it's certainly never been a tricker or more interesting time to be a working musician...! That being said, a couple of students have asked me about my prices, and so to confirm, I will not be raising my prices above the current £13/30m rate for the forseeable future. "Forseeable" isn't all that reliable a measurement at the minute, so I can at least confirm that prices will stay the same throughout 2021!

I've got a couple of quick extra qualifications coming up in May - while I had some spare time in lockdown, I thought I'd better brush up on my augmented sixth chords for my grade 8 theory, and dust off the guitar grade 8 I prepped for but didn't get a chance to take during my A-levels... 10 years ago?! What?! Well, at least it'll be one less thing to worry about! I'm still cracking on with the drum LTCL, which I'll hopefully be sitting circa 2022. It's a pretty far cry from Ringo Starr!

Naturally, my schedule has been flipped on it's head twice by all of this, so I've got a few new slots open - drop me a message on the contact page if you're interested in lessons or performance, and we can get something going once everything opens back up properly!

Pondering Sobriety

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:00:00 +0000

The following was a post I made on Facebook to "celebrate" one year of sobriety. It is a hollow celebration, for sure, but this statement won't matter at all to anybody except for any person that could need to see it.

It is no secret that music and substance abuse go hand-in-hand; drug use and alcoholism is glorified in our general perception of musicians, and this archetype filters down through every level of player. The conflation of work with hobby makes for ambiguous modalities where you spend a lot of time “at work” in pubs, clubs, or rehearsal rooms, outflanked by people who are able to drink or use drugs.

It is also well-understood that mental illness is over-represented in creative industries, which offer a different path for people who struggle with a “normal” job. “They’re amazing, but you couldn’t imagine them working in a bank,” is a statement I’ve heard levied at a significant number of the most talented people I’ve worked with – and it certainly matches my experience prior to committing to music work full-time.

The conflation of those two negative elements is equally well-codified within our perception of musicians: “the 27 club,” genre-defining musicians who were killed by substance abuse far too soon, and then celebrated for doing so, musicians crushed underfoot by the pressures of their vulnerability, choosing to take their own life, and so on. These are not mutually exclusive, and one element certainly portends to the others - and this horrid list is hardly even exhaustive.

There are people for whom the above will never be an issue, and then there are people for whom the above will only ever be an issue. It is easy to be in the latter group, hoping to assume the strength of the former – but it is easier to reject the game outright. I’m not particularly happy to celebrate one year of sobriety today, but I would rather publicly stand for that in the hopes that some other person at some time would maybe see it and perhaps be empowered to choose life, than, in my silence, allow this already disparate group of survivors, to which I belong, live in that pressured solitude, which crushes underfoot so quickly and easily.

Philip K. Dick ends “A Scanner Darkly” with a sombre eulogy for “some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did.” The dead should, if possible, be used to serve the purposes of the living, and so for me (and for nobody else, as it is my personal choice relating only to myself, with no judgement upon the way anyone else lives, or chooses to live), with a heart full of dead friends and heroes, it seems better to steer clear outright. When the consequences for losing are so severe, it is better to win; it is easy to win, and anybody can win.

Christmas Presents and Christmas Wishes!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 17:07:00 +0000

It's still November but I'm just about set up for Christmas! I'm currently offering discounted lessons and sessions via my gift cards - if you're buying someone an instrument for Christmas, giving them a 5 week starter course on top can make all the difference. If they're for an already a talented performer or composer struggling with writer's block after this wretched year, then we can get straight to work getting back on track to create some awesome stuff in the new year!

I've been busy as hell through UK Lockdown 2, with lots of remote teaching and a few sessions to keep things interesting: some furtive Radio Eroticism recordings that I need to sift through, as well as laying down drums for a track by SiNic that should be getting released pretty soon! I've got a possible Christmas single to drum for in a week or so - I'm glad I invested in the extra recording gear as an early present for myself! If you're on the hunt for a session player, let me know via my Contact page and I'll book you in in the next 8 weeks!

I was a featured vocalist on an electronic track "Gone" from UKS Records that'll hopefully get released pretty soon so I can tag a link in - I've been trying to up my singing chops for a while, so I've gotten involved with quite a few more vocal sessions recently. I'm pretty happy with my progress (I don't need quite as much autotune as on Gone...!), although some of recordings I'd probably best leave in the private collection unless someone really wants to hear my dodgy Sepultura covers. I'll probably get a few covers in at some point once my beloved Ibanez comes back from re-fretting with Nottingham Guitar Tech.

We all know that this year's been bone-dry for gigs, but it's given me a solid chance to sit in the woodshed and get the practice hours in while watching old silent movies (any recommendations?), so I'm hoping that once rehearsals are able to restart in the new year, I'll have some more flash to show off in my playing. That said, I'm being heartily diverted by the 9-string guitar, and by picking up violin to boot. I'm always up for more challenges, although it'll probably be a while before my violin intonation is worth hearing. At least I got the Christmas decorations up ahead of schedule for remote teaching!

UK COVID Regulations Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 19:11:00 +0000

To all my students,

       An update based on the new COVID regulations released today:

                   For remote students: business as usual!

                    For in-person students: be cautious, but business as usual!

       With Nottinghamshire being placed in "Tier 2", the updated restrictions apply to social gatherings rather than businesses (shops, pubs, restaurants, myself) – and in the higher “Tier 3,” shops and educational facilities would stay open where leisure facilities and hospitality businesses will close. The government is highlighting the importance of maintaining education services through all this, and so I'll be doing everything I can to safely keep things running even if Nottinghamshire or Erewash moved up to “Tier 3” in future.

Although some of my students are Nottinghamshire-based, my studio is located within Erewash, so I'm technically under “Tier 1” restrictions, which is the same 6-person rule as the rest of the country - although I encourage my Nottingham students to take extra care while the virus is at large.

       As such, I will continue business as usual for the foreseeable future – although majority of you are remote students, the minority that wish to come to the studio will still be able to while following the same social distancing guidelines I've had in place the last few weeks. I'm still disinfecting the studio between students, and making sure no in-person student are back-to-back to reduce any risk of transmission. You've all been fantastic at keeping distance, wearing masks, and cancelling lessons if you or somebody close is showing symptoms - although I normally have a late-cancellation fee, I'll be waiving this for any illness-related last-minute cancellations while the virus is looming – better safe than sorry! If I or someone near me starts showing symptoms, I'll immediately cancel all in-person lessons until I've taken a test, and then update from there.

I am confident that there are more curveballs in store, so it's possible that I'll have to post out another update if the guidelines are updated, or we move drastically beyond “Tier 3,” but hopefully this clears the confusion in the mean time. If you have any questions or concerns, you can always let me know.

As always, stay safe, stay indoors, and remember: perfect practice makes perfect!

                       All the best,

                                   Dan

Back to the Grind

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 10:46:00 +0000

In a bit of an anti-twist, my brief foray into game sound design didn't quite pan out, although I'm very happy for the reason: I'd had a few calls, but by the time I was able to get into interviews, I suddenly had too much teaching and technician work come flooding in - so it looks like I'm back to business as usual, although I'm still composing for Inspiratio Studio and for another project that hasn't yet been announced.

The studio is looking good! I've still got a few last bits to do before I can finally end my career as a painter/ decorator, but it certainly feels great to have a musical home! I'm in there every day working on something or other, but not much student footfall - although I'm now teaching in-person again (with masks, disinfectant, and social distancing), a lot of my students have embraced remote teaching from the comfort of their home! It's not quite the same, but it certainly has it's advantages! I've got a narrow few slots open at the minute, so send me a message via the Contact page if you're interested to know more!

I don't have too many upcoming projects to discuss - my production work is functionally on hold while I reground myself with some slightly less bonkers working hours, and that unfortunately means my own music is also on hold - the Radio Eroticism - Earth Drowning record is sounding better and better, but doing a bad job of honoring "Early 2020". There's another Radio Eroticism album on the way too - but I'll talk about that next time (maybe).

It's important to stay humble - what is easy for me can be a nightmare for my students, and "just do this" is never a good enough answer from a teacher. With that in mind, I've decided to tackle a new instrument to remind myself about those grueling beginner practice hours, with a guitar that my students have described as both "awesome" and "totally evil". It's a 9-stringed Ibanez RG9, and it certainly feels both to play... Though having the range of an entire piano (!) on a guitar is quite something! Not that I have the time to play it at the minute...

Everyone told me that after the first few years running a business, you get to start having days off and sleeping more than 60 seconds a night again - I can't wait to find out what that's like...! As per usual, if you're interested to more about my work or availability, you're welcome to get in contact with me. In the mean time, back to the grind!

Through a Door Upwards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 19:20:00 +0000

It feels like I'm starting to arbitrarily begin these posts with a lament about how overdue it is - anyone who tries to keep up with me by email knows what a bad habit I have!

I've contacted all of my current students already, but for anyone who doesn't know yet, this COVID business hasn't meshed with self-employment very well, and so I'm jumping in as a game development gun for hire within the broader Nottingham community! I've been cutting my teeth as an audio over the last 2 years with several projects, most notably with Inspiratio Studio for the last 18 months, but I'm interested in reapplying some of these skills in a larger team. I spent the month of May building a small playable demo I'll hopefully release soon once I've fixed a few minor bugs, but there's a video below!

Playable CV Video

I'm still teaching, but it's moving over to my secondary income stream - my biggest priority is keeping the lights on, and I feel that the best way to secure that in the long run is to admit that life has changed quite dramatically in the short term! I'm not sure quite how it'll all integrate together, but I appreciate you all persevering with me in the mean time - I think we're all struggling with the pervading uncertainty!

The studio (Degan Studios? I should probably christen it with it's own name at some point) is certainly staying open, and slowly getting closer to looking "finished"! It's certainly a space I feel very comfortable and at home in, so as it approaches it's 6-month-iversary, here's to 6 more, hopefully slightly less turbulent months!

Merry Christmas, and a busy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 19:05:00 +0000

Quoth Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast. I blinked for a second, and suddenly everything's turned upsidedown and I'm months behind updating my to-do list, to say nothing of my "done" list! I've just moved to The Loft in Long Eaton, where I'm currently teaching piano, guitar, drums, composition, theory, production, and so on! I'm still pretty much booked out during the "rush hour" hours of 4pm-8pm, but I've got daytime slots left for any adult students who aren't constrained by the usual 9am-5pm shift pattern!

My drumming is on the way up - I finally got around to taking my Grade 8, which I passed with Distinction, so I can finally get to working on my LTCL degree-level drum qualification - which mostly means getting to grips with Gavin Harrison's incredible material with 05Ric! I've only got the one recording session booked in at the minute, as drummer for Kyros alumni Samuel Higgins, for the as-of-yet-unlaunched band The Great Manta. The material is hard as hell, so I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Once I've cleared the immediately pressing to-do list, I'll be releasing Earth Drowning From Soil To Sky, the third Radio Eroticism release, which finally features new players and vocals! I'd previously expected to finish the 2nd Aurigae album this year, but that looks to be a long way off - I may well delay that in the Autumn while life gets in the way.

As always, I'm always up for just one more project, or just one more student, so if you're interested, send me a message and I'll find a way to fit you into my schedule! I'm hoping to get a whole lot more music made in the new decade, so if you can help me toward my goal, I can't wait to get back to work!

Success, Stress and Waiting Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 12:44:00 +0000

Having survived the immediate post-graduation aftermath, I've been operating pretty successfully as a teacher and player! Thanks to a surprisingly overwhelming demand, I've now had to implement a waiting list for new students during the "after-school" hours between 4pm-8pm, since I'm totally booked up! I'm still taking new students during the daytime, but you might want to contact me to find out for sure! Since I don't update this blog very often, you should probably ask away anyway, since it'll surely be out of date by the time you read this!

I've got the occasional live and studio session coming in, and a few other projects on the boil, but have been in the grinder as far as time and energy managing the usual turmoil of life. Once that simmers down, I'll be hitting 2020 pretty hard as I gun for a bit more mixing work and video editing to fill out my daytimes, besides the usual rehearsal time!

There's not much to report at the minute - most of my band work is in stasis while we brew material, and all of the teaching work doesn't leave much to report on, although my FirstTutors reviews suggest my students are pretty happy with me! I'd better keep cracking on with that, but I'm hoping I'll have slightly more to report by the time I check in next!

First Class Degree and Finally Full-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 12:09:00 +0000

After much tribulation, I'll be graduating this month with a 1st class Music degree from the University of Nottingham! On top of that, I'm very happy to have been awarded the Music Technology prize for the year! I'm pretty proud of the whole debacle, even if I'm not that bothered by an expensive piece of paper and swanning around in a goofy dress to graduate. That being said, I'll try and update this post with a picture from the ceremony next week for posterity - whoever she is...

Right: myself, at odds with looking so resplendant.

Left: Richard Needham, shortly before discovering he's a trombonist.

I've been juggling a LOT of teaching work at the minute, and have very few slots left at time of writing! In order to cope, I may have to instigate a waiting list of sorts - although once I'm driving by mid-August, that should give me a few extra hours in the week for stragglers. This may have all changed by the time you're reading this, so make sure to send me a message via my contact page!

I'm overhauling the site at the minute and trying to keep everything updated. I've added one or two more old transcriptions, but will be completely removing my "composition" page, and replacing it with a "portfolio" page which will have a selection of my compositions, my drum performances, and my academic writing on game music, including the dissertation which everyone seems interested in!

I played a great session for Michela Woods' alter-ego Wilted Flower for her upcoming album Grow in the Dark last month, and am really looking forward to hearing the singles as they trickle out in advance of the album release in late September. The material already sounds fantastic, so the finishing touches should really polish it off!

I'm still writing and recording with Koyot (formerly Ambugaton, formerly Huragan, formerly NDK). Once we finally take a name, surely the world will follow - but it's some very nasty, complicated instrumental prog-metal that I'm excited to perform soon! A few clips will ooze out in the next few weeks.

My peers are highly amused that I've been playing with a local Pirate-themed covers band, Pirates Rock, at the minute. A good laugh is nothing to sneeze at - but I unfortunately have no pictures of my outfit yet. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait, arrrrrrrrrrrr!

I've also started rehearsals for two more metal projects - and will be announcing them as they come together a little more, but I'm very excited for the material! Managing all the projects, teaching, making sure I'm above the breadline and generally staying alive is proving as tricky as I expected it would be, but I'm pretty content to say that by sustaining all this, I'm living the dream. I'm a little too antisocial for working in pubs and clubs, but I'm still amazed every time someone gives me money just for rambling about music!

The next 6 months will be the real test of my mettle as a musican - but I'll let you know how it goes! If you want to help out, hire me as a drum, piano, guitar, theory, composition or production tutor - or as a session drummer! I'm always happy to carve out an extra hour in the day if it's fitting in more music work!

Spring, Summer and sooner!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:57:00 +0000

At long last, my music degree is finally drawing to a close: after a very successful winter term, I am on the cusp of submitting the last few bits of music production work and my 12,000 word dissertation on sound design in multiplayer first-person shooters - which will be available to read very shortly! I'll hopefully know my degree classification by July, but I've got a good feeling...!

Teaching has picked up dramatically, so I've only got a handful of afternoon slots left - although plenty of time for morning lessons, for any early risers! My FirstTutors streak of 5-star reviews remains unbroken at time of writing - accusations include 'friendly, approachable, knowledgeable, patient, trustworthy,' and the most damning of all, 'a natural teacher.' I must admit, I do enjoy it - particularly when it means pushing other people toward the music and musicians I admire most!

Gigs and recording work have cleared up a little since Christmas. The upcoming Shadow of Acolyte album is morphing into something strange and new, and while I won't be hitting drums on the album, I can already confirm that the material is excellent - and that there are a few very interesting names attached to the project! The Sakura material has shifted back into the capable hands of the guitarist, and so I'm back on the shelf until the situation moves back toward live performance. It isn't all bad news, though - Ambugaton have been recording some very complex, dark and serious music - as evidenced by a particularly dark and serious photograph below. Some recordings should appear in the coming weeks - hopefully for real, this time.

I'll be taking on a lot more recording and gigging work over the next few months. Thus far, I've been hauling drum gear on the bus, which is NOT FUN AT ALL - and so I'll be very happy to be driving in the next couple of months!

I've got a few more projects up my sleeve, which I'd do better to cryptically keep secret until they're slightly closer to completion - but not all just straight music projects! Watch this space - and my project list - for more information coming soon!

Winter Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 12:02:00 +0000

It's been a fair while since the last update: half a dozen gigs, multiple recording sessions with multiple bands for three upcoming albums, plus the writing for said albums, plus the associated rehearsal time plus preparations for the last year of my music degree plus all the usual teaching work - and that's not including the projects I'm running and skills I'm trying to work on in my time off...!

Besides sleeping around 30 seconds a night to fit all of that in, I've also moved my office into a slightly larger space! This has made my life a lot less stressful, having to haul gear every which way across Nottingham.

Witness the spaciousness of this fully armed and operational battle station

I've also been teaching students internationally, recently - although calling it Skype lessons sounds a little less exciting. If any readers, near or far, are interested in Skype lessons, either contact me, or have a look at the Tutoring page for a little more information!

I'm hoping that by the time I update next, I'll have some exiting new recordings to announce officially, but to keep you busy in the mean time, here's a full concert video of Shadow of Acolyte we released fairly recently. Enjoy!

Music for Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 May 2018 15:28:00 +0000

FINALLY, Music for Sleep has been released, and it is every bit as horrible as I had hoped! 9 songs of not-rock anti-jazz weirdness, mixed by a good friend at Ambugaton Records. More like a horror movie in music than anything radio friendly, but I had a great time writing and recording it all. It is currently available on Amazon and iTunes, as well as all streaming services.

Music work is like a hydra, though: if you cut off one head, two more appear in its place - and so I have several more projects to move onto! Nonetheless, I am taking on several more students, now that summer is here. If you're interested, head over to the Contact page and send me a message!

Radio Eroticism, Music for Sleep, and moving onwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 19:01:00 +0000

I've finally gotten around to uploading Radio Eroticism to online stores - the project is doomy, ambient drone music and soundscaping, with a lot of noise and distortion. It was mainly for fun and psychtherapy, rather than a "serious" release - but it seemed like it'd be interesting to put it out there anyway. There are two releases, Beautiful Casino Foundry, recorded during Summer 2017, and the more recent Tumerous Cloak of My Beloved.

Music for Sleep is well on the way to completion, but a concrete release date is still to be confirmed; either early March, or else late April, at worst.

I've had to leave Scriptures because of schedule clashes - between rehearsals, gigging and teaching, I was finding very little time for sleep! They're on the cusp of announcing my replacement at time of writing, but are continuing business-as-usual.

December Update - Music For Sleep on the way...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 22:54:00 +0000

Been very busy juggling work at the minute, and trying plenty of new things in various departments - teaching my first few students internationally is very exciting, but performing live with a sample-pad may have to go back to the drawing-board... Likewise, performing in a cave was a very exciting first, but live-mixing on just a laptop, maybe not... Live and learn!

I've had to jump ship from some projects recently, but got plenty more on the cusp of fruition: most immediately, I am very excited to release my second solo album, "Music for Sleep", which is my seventh solo project, or fifth public release! Currently slated for March-time, assuming all goes well - most of the instrumental writing is finished, and I'm currently in the process of laying down the vocals on the album. It's currently looking like it may be harder-edged and more oblique than Without Pictures I Understand, but I'm very happy with the material as it stands.

November Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Nov 2017 11:28:00 +0000

Very busy hacking through rehearsals and preparing material for various projects at the minute, including incorporating some fancy new hardware into Scriptures and Shadow of Acolyte's live show! Both bands have upcoming gigs in November and early December, which I've added to the gigs page.

Besides live work, I am also still available for music lessons on piano, guitar and drums in the Nottingham area! My availability is currently a little ambiguous, but I can adapt my schedule if you send me a message via my Contact page!

DBS Checked

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:01:00 +0000

An update for prospective tutees - and the parents thereof - my Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check has finished and cleared. Anybody who would like my certificate number, I can provide it on request.

Playing with Scriptures on October 28th...!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 19:12:00 +0000

Disregard the previous posting: after a particularly headache-inducing conversation about dates, it turns out that I will be free to play the Scriptures gig on Saturday 28th October with Rev Rev Rev after all. As it was a third party who supplied the dodgy information about the 28th, my organisation is vindicated!

Not appearing with Scriptures, October 28th

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:45:00 +0000

Due to a fairly stupid double-booking on my part, I will not be playing with Scriptures during the October 28th gig supporting Rev Rev Rev. The show will go on with another drummer, to be announced further down the line.

September update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 14:48:00 +0000

No big news this month, mostly preparation for the first of two drum sessions with Zohmm. A trickle of gigs have been announced though - particularly:

Shadow of Acolyte @ NEM, Heanor, 8/10/17

Scriptures @ The Chameleon, 1/12/17

The October 8th Shadow of Acolyte gig comes just 2 hours after Scriptures play Hockley Hustle - busy day! Here's a picture from Shadow of Acolyte's recent appearance at Hard Drive Festival, Coalville.

Scriptures October Festival appearances

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:06:00 +0000

Very excited to announce that Scriptures will be hitting:

Nottingham's Hockley Hustle, at Bunker Hill, on October 8th

Oxjam Beeston, at The Greyhound, on October 14th

Both should be a lot of fun with a lot more great bands! More information beyond the links! Potentially some more Scriptures gigs in the pipleline though, keep an ear to the ground and follow them on Twitter at @scripturesuk!