I’m currently working on my own band or project called Black Hay.
I had a band under this name in 2009, but that didn’t quite go as far as it could have before temporarily falling apart, and in 2010 I’ve been playing with Ghostnotes too much of the time to concentrate on anything else.
I’ve been meaning to revive the beast though. I have an almost album’s worth of songs, along with a clear concept sonically, thematically, artistically. And it won’t go away.
I thought it made more sense to try and get the material recorded (or at least demoed) first instead of trying to put another band together and THEN recording.
I realised it’s not the kind of project where I’m looking for someone else’s input to help me realise its potential, I’m going to be singing these songs, I can play guitar, bass and keys to the sort of level I need to play my music, I just need people with certain skills to do the things I physically cannot.
I’ve been highly inspired by my mate Lee’s DIY approach to this regarding his band Dumbjaw, and getting some great sounding tracks done for very little money with just a bit of grit, persistence and balls.
What I have been doing is looking for:
– A drummer, the right drummer, a groovy, hard-hitting ROCK drummer to help me realise these songs.
– A producer/engineer to help record and get it sounding good.
My plan is to take each song one at a time, rehearse, arrange, demo, and get everything tight and shiny. Then and only then do we go about recording perhaps only bass and drums live with everything else on top.
Once one song is done, repeat the process with the next song, rather than trying to tackle a whole bunch of songs at the same time.
That’s pretty much all I’m focused on at the moment, writing songs for this album idea.
I know a few guys who play bass and guitar that might be able to help out if I need them, and should I require other instruments, I’ll look for them but for now that is all.
Who knows which ones will go into the final thing or what I’ll use it for or do with it once I’m done. All I know is this urge is driving me crazy if I don’t do it.
Do the work, decide what to do with it afterwards.
Crazy? Silly? Moi?
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