Courtesy of ‘How to Be a Retronaut’
Author Archives: TomSlatter
Why Pay What You Want?
I’ve just made a few changes to my bandcamp.com site.
As well as adding some new quotes from some of the lovely people who’ve reviewed the album, I’ve changed the payment scheme from ‘free’ to ‘pay what you want’.
What does this mean? It means anyone who wants to download my music can choose to pay what they can afford/ judge it to be worth. I’ve left the free option, as I want people to hear the music and to have a copy on their mp3 player of choice, but I’ve also given the option of paying actual real money for people who want to do that.
Why?
I love composing and recording music, and would like to be able to do so full time in a few years time. My bills aren’t going to vanish though, so this is the first step in working towards supporting myself through my art.
Several other artists I admire already do this. There’s the famous Radiohead example, but as well as that Matt Stevens and Steve Lawson also offer their music in the same manner. Amanda Palmer does this too, though I’d be hard pressed to say I admire her.
So it seemed the way to go – we shall see if it works out.
In the meantime, here’s my current favourite song of Spinning the Compass, Lines overheard at a Séance:
It Ain’t Steampunk If There Ain’t No Goggles
The rather talented older Slatter brother who can be found at www.thedarkpower.com has been making some steampunky goggles.
I’m making some steampunk goggles for my brother. This was kind of going to be a secret but the desire to tell people was getting too strong and he emailed me earlier and suggested doing a steampunk music video for one of his songs, so it seemed like a good opportunity to mention it to him.
They’re made of various bits of junk: the main body is a set of plastic welding goggles covered in leather effect material from a table mat that I got from a pound shop. The main eye extension thing is one half of an old set of binoculars that I got off ebay and there’s half a pair of old glasses attached to a medical probe on the other eye…
Gilded Age Records
I am now part of Gilded Age Records, a Steampunk music collective.
How I wrote ‘Lines Overheard at a Séance’
Lines Overheard at a Séance began life as an improvisation for last year’s 50/90 songwriting challenge. I turned on the keyboard, sat down and began to play. The only decision I made beforehand was that I was going to start on a slightly unusual chord: D/C#
Before long I had the rising bassline and out of kilter chords. The lyrics came to me at the same time, exactly as you hear them on the recording – in fact I’ve only ever played and sung this song once: everything you hear from vocals to piano to bass is all one take and semi-improvised.
Lyrically its what the title suggests – I’m not too sure any more explanation is needed.
Here’s the original demo:
There’s a red red room that I can remember
With a clawing branch right outside the window
And I’m not breaking down
On a cold cold night I saw something evil
Turned the red red walls a deep shade of grey
And I’m not breaking down
Won’t you tell me where the last one is?
There are ghosts in my dreams,
But I can’t hear them
Two New Steampunk Songs
I’ve started contributing to the 50/90 songwriting challenge, and already have two new songs. Here are two acoustic demos:
We Sprang into Motion, When they told us the news
Half a herd snared by the beast of the air
Propellers a-whirring, we took to the sky
Off to ensnare the Kraken
And as we rose higher, our engines a-blur
A strange copper tang, filled up our lungs
The scent of the kraken, afloat on the breeze
Grew stronger the closer we flew
The beast of the air wails a song
Wails a song to keep us dreaming
An eye through the clouds
Tentacles reaching
An eye through the clouds
Tentacles bewitching
The beast of the air wails a song
Wails a song to keep us dreaming
If the lights were never switched on
They say history changed that day
When they tried to switch the lights on
Half a thousand dead
When the tried to switch the lights on
Maybe bad luck, maybe poor design
But they changed the law that day
Now we’ll never switch the lights on
A century of mining
Of oil spills, and gas explosions puncturing the earth
A century of digging
Gave us blackened skies and ruined fields and cities filled with smog
And from this balloon we see
The world encased in iron
And from this balloon we see
The world we used to have
And from this balloon we see
The world encased in iron
And from this balloon we see
The world we used to live upon
before we turned her sour
How I Wrote ‘Bad Dreams’
Bad Dreams, the fifth song from Spinning the Compass is one of my favourite of all the songs I’ve written.
It began life as a short song for the 50/90 songwriting challenge, the absurd summer competition where songwriters challenge themselves to compose 50 songs between July 4th and and October 1st. Here’s the original demo:
As well as the production values, there are some obvious differences – I’ve since composed an entire middle section that foreshadows one of the vocal lines from the end of the title track from the album (‘They’ve been spinning the compass again…’).
I’m really happy with the solo section after the second verse, which borrows heavily from Frank Zappa, via all the Steve Vai and Dream Theater songs I’ve listened to. The structure of the song, with it’s three verses portraying various nightmares, was heavily influenced by ‘One More Red Nightmare’ from King Crimson’s ‘Red’.
Does that leave anything original in the song? I don’t know, but I’m still really proud of this one.
The cables break
Car begins to fall down
An electric flash and I’m heading for the ground
All around me people panic and scream the cables break
Another bad dream
Bones begin to fall down
The ashes begin to rain
Red washed cry a strangers cry of pain
Your safe safe world is nothign like it seems
Bones begin tof all down
Another bad dream
They’ve been spinning the compass again
Changing the rules as we play
These Bad dreams are spinning me round
With this compass a way can’t be found
They’ve spinning the compass again.
Spinning the compass again.
Flashing knife broke through my guard
A bolt of light dazzling my eyes
Trip and stumble red water in the stream
A flashing knife
Another bad dream
A Puzzle to Solve.
My first is in steam, but not in engine
My second is in engine but not in trial
My third is in love but not in trust
My fourth is my second come around again
My fifth is in never and not in freedom
My whole is a number to enter in here
Solve the puzzle, figure out the password and you get to hear a new demo song. Fun Eh?
How I Wrote ‘Home’
Home is a song I’ve had hanging around for rather a while. How long? Here’s a really rough ‘first time I’ve ever heard the thing’ run through with a college band. It was recorded in 2002. That’s how old it is.
There’s a violin on this that you can just about hear. Great violin player, but she was standing too far away from the little mini-disc recorder.
Oh, and isn’t it obvious how unprepared the drummer was? I think he was halfway through a residency with a Blues Brothers tribute and was completely dead to the world when attending college…
Anyway, the song itself is about missing the object of one’s affections because you’ve been away from home too long hunting big game from an airship.
Of course.
The lead parts were improvised – I recorded plugged my guitar into my Sonuus G2M midi converter and recorded both original guitar sound and the midi signal through a synth patch. Lots of fun.
I was going for big pop chorus with quirky verses, and personally I think it achieved that. Still, although it gets listened to, Home appears to be the least popular song on Spinning the Compass.
At least I like it.
Leaving the earth was such a thrill
A ship of the sky, lighter that air
At hunting grounds we made our kills
Kings of the great game, on top of the sky
They say we’re took the long way
Say we’ll soon touch down
I don’t see that, I’ve only eyes for home.
Thrill of a lifetime but I’ve been away too long
What I would give, to touch the earth again
They say we took the long way
Say we’ll soon touch down
I don’t see that, I’ve only eyes for home
They say we’re coming home soon
They say the clouds are grey
I don’t see that, I’ve only eyes for home
And all the kills, all the trophies, all the game that we bought down
All the hides, all the skulls, all the savage beast we found
I would give them all, every one if it would bring you close to me
I’d chant your name like spell, reach for you just like a drowning man
They say we took the long way
They say the clouds are grey
They say we’re coming home soon
Say we’ll soon touch down
I don’t see that, I’ve only eyes for home
They say we took the long way
They say the clouds are grey
I don’t see that, I’ve only eyes for home
How I wrote ‘I Still Smile’
I Still Smile was written for FAWM 2008, a month in which I also finished the title track for Spinning the Compass.
In keeping with the themes from Mechanism, it’s about the difficulty of making genuine contact with others.
The lyrics are from the point of view of an inanimate metal and latex figure that the ‘You’ of the song has purchased as a companion.
Here’s the demo:-
I can’t deny the Radiohead influence on this one, particularly in the subject matter, but also in the composition – building up to a climax, in this case the pitch-shifted harmony vocals, is quite a Radioheadesque thing to do. The slow build-up of layers and the high pitched vocals are quite Radiohead as well I suppose.
Do I ever write anything original?
I have all the time you need
I have all you want
My arms are always here
To make you feel complete
Even when you’re crying, I still smile.
My face is fixed in a permanent grin
My latex skin never frowns
You bought me, to make you feel complete
And I’ll always be here
Even when you’re crying, I still smile.
And your last touch of real skin hurt too much.
But I have all the time you need
My love never dies