So here’s the next couple of episodes of the podcast.
Episode 3:
Which is about the villain of the piece. Well, one of the villains. More than that, it includes remixed versions of two songs from the ‘Through These Veins’ ep. I was never happy with the mix fo that, so I thought I’d see about fixing it.
And episode 4 which is about a town called Ironbark:
Another review of Black Water…
Tom Slatter’s music can be hard to get into, but he knows his influences of stories and influential backgrounds very well. As I’ve mentioned on the final composition, I can imagine Rod Serling has given the torch to Tom Slatter and for him by writing his own stories to capture and staying true to the late 1950s TV series of The Twilight Zone. What I hope that Slatter does, maybe in the future, is to make a Graphic Novel of the complete story and along with the music telling everything from start to finish.
I would love to make a graphic novel of the Seven Bells John story! Anyone know any comic book artists who work for free.
What I love about this review is that it mentions lots of ‘influences’ I didn’t know I had. I better get listening to them right away…
So I’ve put up the Pay What You Want version of my new EP Black Water.
What’s that then?
It’s Black Water, but without the bonus track or the short story that comes with the £3.00 version.
Pay what you want? Can I get it free?
Absolutely, I would love you to get it for free, but you can pay any price you want. If you can pay great, if you can’t download it anyway.
How are you going to make money with this sort of attitude?
Well most people pay, but plenty don’t and that’s cool. I’m trying to build a sustainable long term audience of people who enjoy my music, so I want people to hear the music and enjoy it most of all.
I want if I can’t pay, what should I do?
Download it for free of course. If you enjoy it, I would appreciate if you told your friends about it. I hope you enjoy.
PS. EXTRA pay-what-you-want news.
My last EP, and The Steam Engine Murders and the Trial of Seven Bells John are both also available pay what you want. YOu have only one week left to get these however. So if you want ’em, get downloading.
Seven Bells John is a character that has been haunting my songs for quite a while. In fact he’s obsessed me so much that he’s spilled out of songs and into short stories as well.
Through These Veins, my first release this year, included a short story and the new one, Black Water does as well.
Who is Seven Bells John?
He’s a criminal, a murderer. He first turned up by name in the perfectly sensible song The Steam Engine Murders and the Trial of Seven Bells John, but his first appearance was in Lines overheard at a Séance on my first solo album Spinning the Compass.
The songs haven’t been released in chronological order however so here’s the low-down on which songs fit where in the saga of Seven Bells John.
Nightfall
Nightfall is chronologically the earliest song. It tells the story of Seven Bells John as he struggles with what Dr Margoyles and her husband did to him. Imagine running through a forest at dusk, craving meat and hating yourself for what you’ve become.
Moon the Water
Moon the Water is a song from Seven Bells John’s point of view. Several years have passed since he escaped from Margoyles. He is once again forced to flee from his home, pursued by people who want him dead, but he does not care because he feels free. He has come to terms with what he is and knows what he must do – kill the doctor.
Lines Overheard at a Séance
Having exhausted the more orthodox methods available to him in his pursuit of Seven Bells John, Detective Coppertree turns to a medium. He and the parents of some of John’s victims ask the spirit world to help. When they ask for information on where the last bodies are buried this is what they hear in reply.
So that’s a guide to the first half of the story. Part two will turn up soon. Ish.
I have a new EP. I’ve written about it in the third person:
Tom Slatter Releases ‘Through These Veins’, the first of 3 releases based on the same concept
What could be more prog rock than a concept album? ‘Two concept EPs and a concept album,’ is Tom Slatter’s answer. In his continuing effort to jump on the prog rock bandwagon, Tom has made the commercially savvy decision to dedicate the next twelve months to composing and recording two EPs and one album about the same story, including a twenty minute epic to crown the whole project off sometime in the Autumn.
The first step in this cynical, conceptual sell out is Through These Veins, an EP that tells the story of a rogue surgeon who starts turning her patients into macabre living sculptures.
‘My songs are usually driven by narrative, and this is no exception. In particular I was thinking about albums like Outside by David Bowie, or Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche.
‘Plus, I saw all these English prog rock guys coining it in with their long songs and concept albums and I thought – I need a piece of that. Matt Stevens drives a limousine you know. Alan Reed takes a private jet to the studio every single day,’ said Tom
Through these Veins will be available in 3 forms:
Tom Explains: Just the 4 tracks, no frills. You’ve got to do pay what you want these days, ever since Radiohead. I hate Radiohead.
Tom explains: This is the one I actually want people to get. You get the four tracks, plus extra artwork and a 2000 word short story that fits in with the EP.
Tom explains: You get a CD with this too, plus all the download stuff. This is the best one, obviously, cos it has the higher profit margin.
Through These Veins is now available for pre-order.
The title track can be heard right now and you get the digital version on 21st Jan. The physical version will ship soon after that and there will be a pay-what-you-want version by then as well. But that version won’t have the extra artwork or the short story that this one does. You should get this one.