Crossfade (Released 16th Oct 2025):

Please join us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/macandgarsongs/ And Crossfade - NOW available FREE to all Ehnocloud members on Bandcamp - https://garyhurlstoneakasmilingknives1.bandcamp.com/track/crossfade

When you arrive at our Bandcamp page click on: Buy Digital Track and you will see there is no charge. If you want to support us then publicise/share if you can otherwise just enjoy.

Crossfade, as against crossfaded (something entirely different apparently) is based upon the process of creating a song which timelines a series of connected/unconnected events. Originally the intention was to try to knit together the various strands or events suggested by the words into what was intended to be a tangible, holistic, seamless story. Later we both began to recognise that this takes away some of the mystery of what might be happening and thus robs anyone listening of the fun of creating their own story with its own ending.

But … I must admit that I was not sure myself what was going on as words appeared on my desktop screen, dropping like idea-pebbles onto my word document bucket, then disappearing just as quickly as new pebbles dropped in.

The basic plot is centered around a real relationship that is taking place off-screen between two actors who are also playing the scripted parts of two people in a romantic relationship. The backdrop to the drama is set in London in locations such as St Pauls Cathedral (Then she waves, from the shadows of St Paul’s) which is in London’s north bank, a short walk over the Millenium Bridge to the south bank and the Tate Modern. The reference to the incoming tide (So stay awhile our tide’s incoming) is thus that of the Thames. 'The cut of rain, the skirls, the drumming'is a reference to the tradition of trying to unsettle the mind of an adversary and create fear through the playing of pipes (the skirl of bagpipes) and drums i.e. 'Is all I hear - is all I fear.' The song dives in and out of both realities, staged and real - onstage and off - but the overarching themes are those of hope, understanding and recociliation.

Our attempt to create a parallel between the drama of real life and that of a scripted film or play is sadly not new. We cannot claim to be the originator of the idea. Shakespear put forward a similar proposition back in the 16/17th Century with his play, ‘As you Like It.’

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

Whatever, films, plays and songs have many possible goals but amongst them, in pole positions I would argue, are storytelling and emotional connection. Our new song, Cross Fade, will attempt to explore both. The opening song passage was inspired by the work of György Ligeti (Hungary). We are experimenting using one of Ligeti's most famous pieces,'Hungarian Rock'1978 as our reference, a maelstrom of rhythm and sound-textures in which a chord pattern is repeated while variations on it are developed. Thus far we are very happy with the way this is shaping up, delighted actually.

UPDATE: Work began on the 11th September with our trusty engineer, producer, drummer and provider of tea and coffee, Basher. The first session turned into a 'where's this going' maze of possibilities after Steve, (who plays on all of our work) tracked his keys and piano parts. After this we threw away our preconceptions and just let things happen organically. The result: a total playing and production, makeover and a lot of fun as well.

The 25th Sept session pulled all the different strands together with bass and additional guitar parts added by myself. The song has moved a long way from it's original conception, the one guitar and slower tempo version, it now cruises at around 95 BPM. With hand drums, incidentals, shakers and anything else we have been able to lay our hands on added to the mix, its also quite danceable.

3rd October: Mac added vocals, we added harmonies then set to work on the first mix, agreeing what we wanted to happen and the sound we were after with producer, Basher. There will now follow a week or so of toing and froing as we agree final mix changes before the final step of mastering brings this particular musical journey to a close. We are very happy with the way things have turned out but of course it will be up to you to judge whether it has all been worthwhile, we hope so anyway. The song will be ready and released on the 16th Oct and available on Ethnocloud as well as all the other normal streaming suspects and Bandcamp by the 20th.

https://garyhurlstoneakasmilingknives1.bandcamp.com

If you are reading this then a thumbs-up and ‘cheers’ to ya from the UK.

Mac & Gar

Cross-Fade ©

‘Crossfade, cue light' - someone says, ‘we’re live’
But I know that smile, and all that it implies

Still, I’m not sure where we’re going
We walk? - Can mystery be knowing?

CH But through my shame and doubt
I will shout it out
I won’t let you down
I won’t let you down
Tonight, Tonight

We’re Freeze-framed
By the traffic and the queues
As she says
Tonight, we’ll make the news
We cannot hear and cannot see
Drowning in uncertainty
As I wonder - why - it has-to-be this way

Could seeds of hope be growing?
Let’s talk? - Is silence just our knowing?

We’re Freeze-framed
With our backs against the wall
Then she waves,
From the shadows of St Paul’s
As birds fly and birds sing
They slow dive at everything –
As I wonder – why – it-has-to-be this way

So, stay awhile our tide’s incoming
The cut of rain
The skirls, the drumming
Is all I hear - is all I fear

CH But through my shame and doubt
I will shout it out
I won’t let you down
I won’t let you down
I Won’t let you down

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
We crossfade, we crossfade – tonight.

The Story of ‘This Fairground Night’ recording/production will be regularly updated.

This song was released on March 16th 2025 on Ethnocloud - the end of the journey :)

Jan 9th 2025 Part 1: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Tao Te Ching.

By way of introduction, I (the Gar part of Mac & Gar) decided to keep a blog/diary of the song recording journey from inception to launch, a light-hearted poke at some of the absurdities/challenges of the process. You are invited to come along for the ride if you like, it’s not meant to be instructive, merely entertaining. So, here we go …

It’s early January, fridge cold, gritters (winter service vehicles, according to the local Council) are moving around outside shifting snow like motorised, prehistoric Formula 1 shovels. British humour, a mix of the absurd and surreal mixed with a sprinkle of stoicism and self-deprecation, results in some gritters having names: Spready Mercury, Taylor Drift, Skate Bush – Miserable Bastard seems to have just passed me, covering my amiable, ageing but reliable gig mobile, with a shower of the white stuff. I’m on my way to the studio, listening to the weather forecast on the radio and sighing; glad I brought a flask of coffee in case my chariot breaks down.

I have already sent the demo stems (pre-recorded electronically stored musical parts) of our new work, ‘This Fairground Night’ to our amiable producer, affectionately known as ‘Basher’ by his friends for reasons I am not about to explain, his real moniker being, Bishop henceforth named, Mr B. Mr B is a man of talent, creativity and immense skill. In a fair world he would be named as the third member of our fusion ‘beat combo’ although ‘Mac, Gar & Basher’ sounds more like a litter of Rottweilers than an aspiring indie/fusion outfit.

The recording studio is in the UK countryside, beautiful in the summer but possibly inaccessible on this temperature challenged winter day. Weather is a major topic in the UK, the lubricating go-to social additive to conversation that compels total strangers to exchange words. ‘Cold out…’. ‘Bit nippy this morning. ‘Looks like snow …’ ‘Ooh, look at those clouds, Armageddon is …’ By a pure miracle, I manage to arrive at the studio by dexterously dodging the snow ploughs that have been trying to harvest me. The local, ‘Miserable Bastards’ have done their job.

It's 9:30am. As I walk into the recording room, a warren of instruments including an upright piano, zither and a gaggle of sleeping guitars are strategically placed amongst the soft chairs and screens – a work room where dreams are realised, boundaries challenged, anecdotes shared and … Mr B already has the coffee brewing. Desk lights are blinking, heaters cranked to max as I start to unpack my guitar, a Taylor 314ce Grand Auditorium, the musical workhorse for today’s session. A streak of light traces across the room as dawn finally gets its pyjamas off and milk is poured into bucket sized cups.


Part 2: “Organisation is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.” Winnie-the-Pooh – A. A. Milne

10:00 am. The day is about to begin and with it our customary conversation about the engaging music we have been listening to, or in Tom’s case, help produce. Bon Iver gets a mention as does Jacob Collier, ridiculously talented guy that he is. Then we cover local musicians, the weather (again) more coffee and finally … the new song!

Tom is a natural when it comes to motivation. ‘Great track,’ he opines with a beaming smile, ‘I think there are lots of ways to go with this …’ probing his way to clarifying what sound we are after, a critical consideration otherwise time is wasted diddling about, navel gazing, the classic idiom – ‘headless chicken’, routine. Tom’s a people person. His interpersonal skills match his technical/creative skills – all are important to get the best out of a song. No one likes to work with a grizzly producer.

Luckily, I already have an idea; this happens sometimes! The blessed thing has been running around inside my head for weeks. Of course, imagination and reality often share little likeness when trying to explain to a 3rd party what goes on inside your head. How to articulate that syncopated abstract electronica I feel might be ideal before the first verse when it bears little resemblance to anything? I try. 'Er, imagine sounds produced by a musical box played at half speed with some of the notes missing.' It’s a bit like trying to describe darkness. What would Bon Iver do? What would Jacob do? Well, maybe not Jacob – he is in a different orbit altogether being the master of polyrhythms and microtones, that he is. So, what are we going to do? The answer of course will be revealed when we finally arrive at a solution, we don't have one yet!

Once upon a time some bands had the recording budget to almost camp out in recording studios, some did, indulging in blue sky experimentation some of which led to groundbreaking albums. Not so for many indie artists who either fund their own work (us) or get just enough finance from Record Companies to do the job, quickly. Speed is all.

On the screen in front of me there are 8 tracks, my home studio stuff, acoustic guitar, a main vocal; the rest are first-take harmonies. All vocals will shift when Mac comes in to do his parts and make creative changes as he will interpret the song differently from my original vocal melody. This means all the harmonies will need to be redone – mostly my responsibility, but a job I love as I try to ring falsetto and bass parts out of my rather surprised vocal chords, who, if they had an independent voice (which paradoxically they do although not one which can self-determine their actions), would be declaring ‘you cannot be serious.’ Just as well really, sullen pair of organs that they are!’Mac's singing in the key of F# - I top out in E.

Part 3: “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” — Herman Melville
14th Jan: 9:30am

Mm, not sure about this Mr Melville. It is hard to be truly original, I buy this but … as much as we rely on our past/present influences, there is always room to create discernible differences I think, and anyway the way music is now made constantly evolves thanks to advances in technology. Who knows, in the future we might be able to transmit thought directly onto a music production processor – bit sad I think, no coffee time with mates, dodgy equipment to coax back to life, guitars going out of tune – all of this will seem a bit analogue in another 20 years! For the present, being original is still a high order goal and a tactile experience with instruments very much the raison d'être of making music to achieve originality.

Mr B loads the ‘work in progress.' I settle back into my seat. Time to let my ears and eyes start feeding information back to my brain, a short journey perhaps but hopefully one packed with a few musical ideas. Creativity, I understand (From Google search) is a complex activity that requires different parts of our brain to all play nicely together. The prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, parietal lobes, amygdala, and limbic system thus, allegedly, create momentary firework displays in our heads as they do their bit in this unseen cerebral division of labour. The result: an idea.

The green, blue and white lines of my stems unfold across the screen monitor in playful randomness, quick adjustments are made to stem positions, volumes and placing of the tracks. Mr B presses the play button, the studio desk speakers spring to life. The clarity and depth of sound is quite startling after only hearing my own mixes on modest equipment. Work starts as we hear the final bar. Again, I attempt to explain to Mr B what is happening in my imaginary introduction – abstract – playful – somewhat random, a sound still not fully formed or tangible in my imagination. We experiment with a smorgasbord of possibilities, both of us picking out random sounds that we might be able to knit into the abstraction I am looking for.

Two hours later we surface having rejected 95% of the possibilities and then … by stretching a ‘tinkling’ sample to fit my 4/4 guitar pattern and key, thus distorting the notes, we have something. The ‘stretch’ is to make it fit into the time signature of the guitar parts, a 4/4 played in triplets. Some experimentation later we arrive at a somewhat disjointed, playful 16 bars which we gleefully add notes to and take notes from, we form the introduction. The fairground. The original acoustic fingerpicked parts sit beneath this. Tom mirrors the melodic theme we have created with a Fender bass part. We play the section back. Both of us start to laugh, rocking in our chairs as we listen to the work unfold. ‘It’s perfect” I enthuse ‘but nothing at all like the sound I imagined.”

Next, I pick up a Gretch G5230T Electromatic and add the electric guitar parts, a splash of distortion added for the power chords during the chorus. Percussion parts are added but these are programmed initially to give us a solid structure to work to. Later real drums will replace them. Final task for today will be to add a bass part to the song. Mr B is an accomplished bass player, I take him through the chords, make suggestions and he then interprets and plays his lines back to me. The bass part goes down but later it will be revisited when we have more of a final mix. It’s coffee time again, time for discussion.

For the discerning you might notice a small slide guitar part in the lead into the 2nd chorus. This idea happened during the coffee break. I saw a slide guitar parked up on a table and asked Mr B if he knew someone who could play it. He just smiled. We worked out suitable places for it to be added, plugged it in and a new, discreet part was created 'on the fly.'

Fast forward 3 hrs, late afternoon, we call a halt to proceeding – the ‘kitchen sink and all mix’ is well under way – raw and edgy but dripping with potential. A week will elapse before we get to work on this track again, a time to listen and to start to make decisions. By 6pm I have a copy of our day’s work. I send it over to Mac so he can give his opinions. He will soon add vocals; we need to reach agreement about the direction the work is taking. He is also creating the artwork we will use when we release the track.


Part 4: “You can’t wait for inspiration; you have to go after it with a club.” —Jack London

Wed 22nd Jan 9:30am

Another early start this time with violin player, Jamie, in tow. Mac's unable to make it so we have the whole session to record new violin parts plus work on the production. Jamie's a pleasure to work with, talented and so laid back he is almost horizontal. He layers a lot of material, creates on the fly or to arranged parts and generally gets things done quickly - his day job is working as a peripatetic violin teacher.

By 11:30 am we have enough parts to consider - once finished Jamie must make a swift exit to get to his first school for the day. I have worked with Jamie for many years so it's big hug time before he heads for the door with his violin case clutched tight. In his dark winter coat, he looks more like a doctor off to see a patient! We now have 5 violin parts added to the mix. We need to find homes for some of them. Listen and you will hear his contribution, we are not quite sure what that will eventually turn out to be, depends upon Mac’s vocals.

There are two different atmospheres we are trying to create. The first is the ambience of the fairground, the childlike quality it has and the memories it evokes. The second (the chorus) is the thrill of the ride, that moment when the music gets turned up as you spin, twist or turn. The chorus still needs a little something else to achieve this transition - not sure what, a guitar part, I think. Mr B and I break into the stack of electric guitars and try and create a part that works. Twenty minutes later, I lose that contest as Mr B intricately whacks out the beginning of a new part, a sort of retro jangly sound, with open strings ringing out.

Now here's the thing, the chorus that emerges has lost any resemblance it had to last week's chorus - it's morphing into something quite different; we seem driven to chase it there but... we no longer know where we are going and are guided by the pleasure, and it is pleasure, of not having a clue about the final destination. Time always stops when this happens, it becomes irrelevant, hours happen, they do not have beginning or endings - they no longer measure anything that we want to know about. And the result? Out of this we identify chords that we don't fully understand, juxtapositions that are full of potential but not fully realised. The studio clock beckons us back to reality - children to pick up from school, meals to prepare, domesticity to tame.

Part 5:“The only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability” Ratatouille. ‘Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?’ Bob Dylan

Thursday 30th Jan to Feb 14th

For the time being work in the studio has ground to a bit of a halt – day-jobs and illness preventing further recording and production work. Instead, I have decided to work on the final ‘tag’ a part that I have already written but not fully realised. Currently it has a two-part harmony running through the whole of its 50+ seconds. I want to hear what it sounds like with a fuller, choir type part. I am trying to create an emotional ending because the words suggest this, I need a few extra parts, a different voice to swell out the sound, I have just the person in mind.

My partner in musical crime, Mac, has a long-standing commitment to the group I started out with as a bass player, a well-known and loved local band, Grace. Recently some of the children of current band members are being encouraged to get involved to help keep the lineup fresh and evolving. Thus, teenage performers are being given a chance to perform and develop stage craft. This has been very successful; the young musicians have brought something new, have huge enthusiasm and boundless energy. The gambol paid off. Maybe one day the musical baton might be passed on for a new generation to continue the musical legacy.

I have encouraged my daughter to be involved in music and performance pretty much since she was a young child with varying degrees of success. She knows about the music industry though. When she was barely a toddler, she came out on the road with me and her mom and was present at all the festivals where I performed with my former band, Smiling Knives. In Mongolia she playfully crawled around on the grasslands whilst I rehearsed in a Yurt with my fellow ‘Knives’ in readiness to take the stage. She has been developing her singing skills for the last three years. I ask the question. ‘Would you like to sing on my new composition?’ To my surprise (delight) she agrees to sing.

Over several evenings in early February, I get her to practice her parts – harmony and melody. We attempt the recording – these last for three short separate sessions. I rough mix the parts to check I have what I need. I create the new stems which I send to Mr B. The choir part is taking shape and I'm delighted. I just need to coax my reluctant teenager to join me in the studio, with enthusiasm, she agrees.

Now I need to work with Mac to get the final arrangements, harmonies and 'who does what' agreement. Mac will work on the final designs for the covers of Facebook, You Tube, CD Baby (Distribution) and a temporary website where everything will be available. We want to try and have everything together in March, maybe even release the song then if we can. Experience tells me that things rarely work out the way planned, that applies to everything, including the song!

The next available studio space is at the end of February (27th) – this is the date slated for Mac to record his vocals, Steve to add his already charted, piano/Wurlitzer parts and … my daughter to add her vocal parts as well. It’s going to be a busy one!


Part 6: “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” Maya Angelou, Poet and activist

25/02/2025

And, a little personal refection to bring this blog journey to an end. I think the creative process can sometimes be a lonely road to travel but for me it lifts my spirit in a way that few other activities can, that's my experience anyway. Music has been a life-long friend, comforting when I needed lifting and exhilarating when excitement needs a backdrop of auditory enhancement. Over the last 20 years, between day jobs and the serious stuff of life, I have travelled the world with a guitar for company. In China I played the bars and clubs with Xinjian, Uyghur musicians, a Chinese/Turkish ethnic group, earning a living by playing 4 gigs a night, 5 songs a set, repeated until dawn broke over the coastal city of Xiamen. It taught me something about myself. It helped me survive for sure. Loneliness was never an issue. Exhaustion was though! That, said I think we all find solace in music sometimes, an escape from ourselves – a place to drift to and become someone else for a while. Maybe this was my escape- it still is.

I learned a lot from the Uyghur guys and their flamenco inspired musical style, oddball time signatures, their determination and drive but mostly from their acceptance and friendship. True to their culture, they shared their skills and talents with me. It saddens me that the Uyghurs are now persecuted. I wonder sometimes what happened to my hard-working talented friends. In the spirit of this experience, and the Uyghur tradition of sharing, for those of you that might be interested: the song, when it eventually appears, is recorded in the key of F# although originally written in E because that is the key Mac likes to sing in. In guitarist speak that simply means I use a capo at the 2nd fret to accommodate Mac’s preferred key. The song speed is currently 90 BPM which means it is moderately fast.

My guitar is open tuned. Introductory chords are formed at the 7th fret (when a capo is fixed) with the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings left open to ring. The chord is formed on the 5th, 4th and 3rd strings only, at the 7th 9th and 9th and then 8th frets (alternating). The picking style has a shifting bass line plucked out on the guitar that alternates between the bass notes of F# - C# - D# and open B. There are a couple of key changes. So now you know.

We have received requests for a trailer, a sneak-peak/listen so there will be a 20/30 second taster available sometime in the week 3rd to 9th March after we get Mac’s new vocal takes down in two days from now (25th Feb) and Steve adds his part. This will be made available on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/macandgarsongs/

‘This Fairground Night’ will be available on all platforms by the end of March at the latest (most probably) and released on Ethnocloud as soon as it becomes available. For those of you who have followed this small blog journey we send our thanks – we hope you enjoy the new song and a big 'thumbs-up' to you all for your support. Gar

The story of the song: This Fairground Night

Fairgrounds represent powerful reminders of my childhood. Memories of cold Autumn evenings - moments filled with anticipation, excitement pulsating through my young boy body as I walked towards the bright lights and sounds of a Fairground Night. I well remember the shadows of stark industrial wastelands, desolation made cinematic by the luminous circles of Ferris wheels and busy candy-floss stalls. To me as a young boy, this landscape represented joy. In reality, it was just a little bit of temporary urban wonderland created upon a ‘cheap to rent,’ inner city rejuvenation site.

But, that robber of ‘devil may care’ pleasure - the effluxion of time - seems to steal some of our ability to recognise and enjoy such simple experiences. Maybe it is the weight of responsibility we bear, the daily toil that numbs our childhood energies and ability to absorb simple moments in their entirety. This ability seems to get lost somehow, the price we pay, part of life’s paradox: it’s power to excite and reward whilst at the same time, disappoint. But can life ever be stripped of spontaneity? I don’t believe so, it’s part of what makes us human, our unpredictability.

Maturity, that bringer of new perspectives and responsibilities, forces change upon us, not least being that one overriding, compelling, mysterious, unfathomable animal instinct that drives us towards intimacy and partnership and the complexity of relationship:love. And, for all its pleasure it is somehow flawed, abstract, mercurial - labyrinths of emotion where people hurt, cry, laugh but also fly on the wings of passion into the arms of contentment and bliss … and then (sometimes) fly back out again! A rollercoaster, big dipper, swing-boat ride – all the fun of the fair, the excitement, elation and release captured in the confines of our own personal travelling show story of relationships lost and found – and it must be a travelling show because that is the nature of life.

So, it was in such a moment this song was crafted, its narrative arc unfolding as I attempted to bring together: the simplicity of childhood experience, the complexity of adulthood relationship and (for good measure) a little sprinkle of fairground make believe. These are the essential ingredients of a world I like to return to sometimes, to live in for a while, the little cave between my ears where I can experience splendid isolation in my quest for inspiration.

But the story needed a context, a city landscape, somewhere, a bit detached, a place that might provide somewhere to live but not necessarily to like. I guess we could all bring such a place to mind. There are of course great city exceptions … but they are harder to create a thematic counterpoint with – I wanted contrast so, ‘as city sirens call …’ it’s chaos and crime I want to spring to mind not fountains and beautifully manicured lawns! Perhaps a visiting Fairground might be an attractive spot for those needing distraction from the density of a busy, no-nonsense city. A place where childhood memories might be rekindled, a place to remind emotionally confused adults that solutions exist if seen through a different lens. Well, it might!

Thus, I imagined a trip to a Fairground, a place I associate with laughter and spontaneity, somewhere to have fun, forget troubles. Such a spot could be somewhere to rekindle friendship and love, a place of excitement which offers a temporary return to the world of our childhood and with it endless possibilities.

‘This Fairground Night’ is thus the location where love in need of repair spends ‘time out’ and recalibrates itself. It’s a space we sometimes need to spend time in, an imaginary, chimerical 'somewhere' to remember our beginnings, rejuvenate our emotions and reconcile our differences. ‘This Fairground Night’ is where this happens (well, in my head anyway).

My experience, for what this is worth, brings me to the conclusion that a lot of what we search for e.g. " ... all that I want, is all I can see, come spend this fairground night - with me," is often much closer to us than we imagine. This is what the song is about.

'This Fairground Night' is due for release in March 2025.

VERSE 1
Tonight - as city sirens call
I fear I’ll see it all- come true
For two lives -in their blood red autumn down
Lovers dressed as clowns
Going round and round and round and so…

CHORUS
Walk into this fairground night –
Here with me.
Ride upon our old ghost train
Let the clowns collide all tears and smiles
I think you’ll understand

VERSE 2
Tonight - we’ll tumble-down or bow
Get lost in the why? and how?
Of what’s right, and then, I smile
There’s new life in a dream
A message on my screen
“Let’s stop going round and round and so…”

CHORUS
Walk into this fairground night –
Here with me.
Ride upon our old ghost train
Let the clowns collide all tears and smiles
I hope you’ll understand

Middle
All the things we’ve done
I’m glad, glad we made it
Twists and sound - the fear of falling
Make this dark the best light of our lives
And so - on and on we’ll go let’s ride

Chorus
Walk into this fairground night –
Here with me.
Ride upon our old ghost train
Let’s make swing-boat smiles
Kiss dark-star eyes
Then I know you’ll understand

Tag
That all that I want, is all I can see
Come spend this fairground night - with me

It must. Music is too important to our wellbeing, our rituals, ceremonies, celebrations as well as providing a bespoke soundtrack to our individual passage through time. Music, in all its forms, brings joy, reflection, meaning and excitement to our lives– a sort of magical ingredient that we can add to our daily routines either as a player or listener. Music helps satisfy our spiritual, emotional and creative hunger excites or calms our moods through a somewhat esoteric process to which we all have access. Having a large recipe-book of different musical dishes from which to choose is therefore to be encouraged; we don’t all share the same tastes or have the same needs! To do this musicians/songwriters need to receive recognition for their work, encouragement and financial reward.

Musicians, particularly indie artists, rely on the effective distribution of their work, the marketplace for their artistic produce – the place where buyers and sellers come together in time honoured fashion to exchange money for goods. This process is now almost exclusively in the form of downloads /streaming services. This marketplace is controlled by big corporate distributors mostly, such as Spotify, Apple, Deezer, Tidal etc. Their current business model appears to have shifted towards maximising corporate wealth by rewarding artists as little as possible for their skill, creativity, time and hard work. A few artists get good rewards for sure, mostly the mainstream pop music target group providers who may well enjoy corporate funded airplay as well - for a while – if they stay on product – are in fashion. For the rest it can be a tough old world with royalties from the sale of their art controlled by the distribution cartels. In a recent interview (2024) Rick Wakeman, a highly successful veteran of the UK music scence, referenced payments by Spotify, or 'Shitify' as he refers to it, as a 'pittance.'

For illustration, the below examples are taken from my own royalty/download returns but are fairly representative based upon industry averages – the figures will vary though depending upon distributor, artist and and demand:

Example of payments made to creators per download:

What many artists get paid by the distributors (Spotify,Apple, Netease, Amazon, Pandora etc etc): An average, from a sample of my own returns from distributors, works out at (sample of four different platforms) $0.00632 per download. An artist would therefore need to have 1580 downloads to make $10 or 15,852 to make a $100.

Streaming songs also attracts royalties but again, if we base it upon Spotify’s standard payments (and Spotify is one of the best) amount to between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream.

Artists used to be recognised financially to a much larger extent (everything is relative though) and creative diversity was tolerated/encouraged to a much higher degree. The reason for this, many argue, was due to the fact that many of the executives responsible for decision making were also lovers of music, they championed the cause! This, I feel, was a much healthier situation. Such risk taking was however, also often rewarded: artists that would now be deemed a commercial liability, found audiences, and some then went on to become mainstream successful.

Without some corporate risk taking the scope for musicians to experiment is minimised, well if they have families/commitments or a life they wish not to condemn to poverty, it does! Thus, musical conformity is the safe option. Result: society ends up with ‘more of the same’, a kind of dumbing down of our auditory senses. And yet we seem to like artistic surprises, the leftfield approach that sometimes challenges but also rewards. It’s a relief that some still get through but a disappointment that many do not, the victims of ‘target group focus’ thinking, shareholder wealth creation imperatives and strategic blandness.

Music industry financial executives seem increasingly profit focussed and I feel, are no longer on the side of creativity. Perhaps they never have been? Profit figures now seem to drive all boardroom thinking. In an industry historically populated by those who are no strangers to the exploitation of the weak (musicians desperate to find an outlet for their talents) they have fine-tuned their game. As a result, musicians (the non-mainstream bunch – the wonderful creators on this site for example) could well be on a future artistic ‘endangered species’ list! Who will want to try to come into and industry where so many produce so much for so little? My guess would be a lot of musicians will continue, myself included, despite the poor financial prospects. Why? Well we simply would not contemplate abandoning that activity that we love most: to make music. Businesses understand this. They use this knowledge as leverage. They have the strength, and they mostly control who gets the opportunities and the rewards. But what about the rest?

Who are the rest?

Well, a quick scan across the artist roster on this site probably represents a good cross section of niche group creators, none particularly mainstream, but a vital culturally/creatively important group for sure with a huge wealth of skill, tradition and performance experience. For such creators, it’s a somewhat challenging outlook in my view unless they have a busy performance schedule and in-demand merchandise. Returns from the sale of music seem increasingly being marginalised, thus payments to artists, in terms of royalties, end up being derisory, difficult to track and, with some distribution platforms, payments are not made at all.

So, are things getting worse?

In a recent article on VIRPP (a distribution platform) the current equivalency rating for streams/albums is around 1500 streams equal to one album sale in terms of the financial return to the artist. This seems to represent a substantial diminution in reward. Coupled with this is the spawning of a whole new raft of industry which is currently emerging to ‘support’ the artist to get airplay or get onto playlists. These new ‘services’ - some of which seem to be making somewhat dubious claims about their success rates, must also be paid for, thus additional costs for musicians.

In summary:

The future of music making now seems to be based upon paying creatives as little as possible for their important contribution to the quality of our lives. This trend is a more recent development as albums/cassettes/discs are replaced by music on demand streaming and downloading services. There are a few notable distribution alternatives emerging though, Bandcamp being one. Can non-mainstream music survive though? Well, musicians made music long before there was any financial incentive to do so. My view is that this will continue to be the case, payment or not. In terms of the contribution music makes to the quality of all our lives, its overall value, as an artform, seems to be being manipulated downwards. Imagine for a second, a world without it. Quite!

Just my Heart and Soul (Hurlstone/Austin Oct 2024)

Trying to untangle the existential experience we call ‘love’ is not easy! Artists, be they writers’ poets, painters’ dancers or musicians have been attempting to capture the essence of this complex, mercurial, shape shifting emotion since we first became aware that it even existed.

‘Just my Heart and Soul’ is a celebration of this state of being, a condition that can sometimes bring us overwhelming joy but also crushing emotional pain. We all have our own experiences.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his (Canto 27 of In Memoriam 1850) expressed the potential trade-off, the emotional for and against arguments of being in love, succinctly: ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’ The pain of loss does not outweigh the pleasure brought through love is his conclusion. Love, in this interpretation, is always worth the price we sometimes must pay.

Philosophers such as Jean Paul Satre saw love as something of an illusion. He postulated that the essence and pleasure of love is achieved when we truly possess the other person and find our meaning through this secure bond of control, so much so that we live our life through the security of this bond. But control has significant drawbacks, not least the fact that it tends to impact negatively on relationship. Commitment might provide us with a degree of security but further down the road eyes that once looked at us lovingly might now flash with anger. Birds find little pleasure in being caged.

We might hope that love will last, for some it surely does, but for many it is a hopeless dance, a beautiful one perhaps, but one doomed for many to lie on the cutting room floor like a film remake of ‘Romeo and Julie’. Romantic love can be powerful, passionate, all consuming, but it does not come with any guarantees. We choose to be with or without someone, partners, lovers are free to stay or leave, the future is not known. When in love we are vulnerable and this drives our behaviour, argues Satre, as we attempt to close the padlock on our partners freedom. The consequence of this is often conflict. The beginning of the end.
So, does love always force us to make deals about our freedom? Jean-Paul Sartre felt this to be the case, a struggle between submission or dominance, an emotional, sometimes coercive power brokerage where freedom, perhaps unintentionally, becomes the ultimate loser.

Way back in 1985 Sting was advocating ‘If you love somebody set them free’ on his first album ‘The Dream of the Blue Turtles.’ His 27yr marriage to Trudy Tyler has been a happy one and, based upon his public reflections, it has steadily morphed from the passion of the early years to a relationship of friends, confidants. “We’re friends too – we love each other but we actually like each other…” He seems to be suggesting that long commitments are indeed quite possible, but expectations, in his view, need to change and close friendship is a vitally important ingredient of any long-term commitment.

Sting’s views, and the title of his song seem to have been influenced by the writing of Nietzche, who suggested that lovers often act like “the dragon guarding his golden hoard” and treat a loved one like an exotic bird - “as something also which must be cooped up to prevent it flying away.”

The words of ‘Just my Heart and Soul’- based upon a poem written by Amanda Austin, explore both sides of the divide. The song though is meant as a celebration, love as a journey not a destination and the universal language spoken and understood by us all.

'Just my Heart and Soul' will be released in October.

Aliens (Don’t Belong)

It’s a song that explores the disconnect felt by people when they feel excluded – green people from outer space unfortunately don’t play a big part of the song’s dialogue although we will try and slip a few musical beeps and parps into the mix for those expecting an extraterrestrial odyssey.

"Houston, we have a problem" is popularly quoted as a phrase spoken during the Apollo 13, NASA space mission. That will, in addition, go into the mix somewhere now I have sourced it from the NASA website. It seems appropriate. The song has its roots embedded in the time I lived and toured in China where I landed, having travelled from the planet England. In identity terms though, ‘alien’ is still quite a universal nomenclature; many countries continue to apply it to anyone viewed as an outsider; someone belonging to a foreign country or nation.

There is also a sense of isolation for individuals who do not want or who cannot develop relationship, people who fear the strangeness of strangers, people that ‘don’t belong’ to borrow a phrase from the song. Isolation has many faces: none of them seem to wear a smile though. Franz Kafka, no stranger to the theme of alienation himself, described it as a process, an opportunity. ‘Isolation is a way to know ourselves.’ Ha, always the optimist.

This is what, Aliens (Don’t Belong) is about: the strangeness of strangers and the longing of most people to be a part of the bigger picture and the inability of some to do so.


Words:

Aliens Don’t Belong
Verse 1

In a bar town, zoo night we’re turning our backs on our own.
Like a cartoon, soon it’s over, suddenly we’re all alone,
Chorus
And then we cry we break - what is there to understand?
That when we give, we take.
We don’t belong, don’t belong.

Verse 2
Tomorrow at daylight, shadowing backwards in time.
Where I soft you and pull you closer, suddenly it’s alright.
Chorus
And, all the love we make,
Maybe tonight we will kiss the moon.
For when we give, we take.
We don’t belong.

Ꚛ PT 2
And no matter how wide, how big, or how strong
How right, you’re all wrong
We are learning to breathe.
We don’t belong.

PT 3
But we’re coming through,
We’re aliens like you; we are aliens like you.
All that I seem isn’t all that is real,
I’m trapped in a world of my own.
PT 4
So hey, get me out of here,
There’s more of them moving,
Slithering and gooving,
Dancing like ants in the sun,
Aliens just having fun (repeat)
Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun

One World


Mac & Gar

Writing a song about the place where you live can be a bit of a challenge I found: it has to be clear to the intended local audience so that they feel they are in on the 'secret' but also vague enough so other people don't feel excluded from the musical conversation. Places that are nowhere can be anywhere. Many references were made to things perhaps best understood by locals but in a way disguised as word play or metaphor. We ran a local quiz to see if people could work out the landmarks, history and events in the song's narrative and used this in our publicity material. Why? well we were looking for a new angle, a new way of engaging with a potential audience, a way onto local radio and copy for the platforms we were trying to keep fed. This is what we ended up with:

HYDUC STREET: The Quiz!

1 Which city in in the UK does ‘Hyduc Street’ portray?
2 The ‘Hyduc Street’ name has replaced the original street name in the opening shot of the video, a well-known street. What, is the real name of this street and (clue) why did it rise from the ashes?
3 Which general area of the city can be seen in the first black and white aerial drone footage at the beginning of the song?
4 What does the line, ‘Circles of braids and knots’ refer to?
5 Where was the black and white photograph of the now derelict kiln, taken?
6 The ballet dancer represents china figurines made by which Royal company?
7 What does ‘Hyduc’ mean when used as a local colloquialism.
8 ‘This old town remains.’ Arnold Bennet’s book ‘Anna of the Five Towns’ missed out a sixth town. Which town was this?
9 ‘All the Monkey Heads are singing, la la-la la la.’ What is this a reference to?
10 If you took a ‘walk along our Nile’ which part of the city would you be in?
11 What is ‘a proper cup of tea’?
12 ‘A cut is more our style.’ What is a ‘cut’?
13 On the video, which village (in the foreground) does the main road pass through when the words, ‘hold a lock of gold, a sin kissed trinket,’ are sung?
14 ‘And we don’t let go or say goodbye.’ Which personal/social quality has traditionally kept people from leaving the area?
15 At the end of the video there is a stencilled badge on the wall. What genre of music does it celebrate?
16 What was the name of the club where this celebration used to take place?
17 The introductory piano passage of the song is a homage to the style of hymn sung in a church referred to locally as a, ‘cathedral’ Where is this ‘cathedral?’
18 During the closing credits, immediately after the words, ‘let it break free tonight.’ there is a background shot of a local motorway. Which motorway is this?

Thus the lyrics took time to prepare and many photographs were taken to support the video that we eventually put together. So, 'was it worth it?' Did this marketing work? Well it was certainly a lot of fun. I learned a lot about my City from historians and talking to the many people that responded to the questions we asked (and the corrections received where some issue or event was hotly debated - and there were many such debates!) Overall, despite its quirky approach, I believe it worked well. We have received a large increase in engagement, grown our online presence and received much needed support, encouragement and praise. Listens to our song and watches of our video has dramatically improved.

Through ethnocloud our music has also reached a global audience - people from at least 15 different countries have been in touch, it's really quite uplifting to have your work appreciated it's motivational, encouraging, it drives the creative juices. I guess we,like many musicians, love the creative process but recognise that commercial success is a long shot. Its people and communication that have made this work worthwhile for us. Ultimately, our real reward has been through getting into the fray of dialogue, talking to people and learning from this. Downloads on the music streaming services don't offer most of us much reward or encouragement (unless you happen to have 6 noughts after your monthly stats) but there is a huge amount of richness derived from the friendships forged and the words exchanged during the process of what most of us enjoy best: making music. In honesty, we ended up getting a different response than the one we planned but in the end it sure feels like the one we needed! Gar