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1. I want to improve my lyrical capabilities

Strengths:

I believe that when I put my mind to it I can write some fairly intelligent lyrics that all work well together in context, and I'd say I'm fairly good with some wordplay.

Weaknesses:

I think some of my rhymes are a little weak at times and there are points where I have to rely on Rhymezone or similar websites to inform my next line, which is something I don't want to have to do in the future.

Opportunities: I think that the more people take in and listen to my lyrics, the more inclined they are to listen to what I have to say in my music, especially if the lyrics are good enough.

Threats:

A threat to my lyrical capabilities would be if I simply just get lazy and don’t want to write anything more substantial than very simple lyrics. Improvement in my eyes is something I can only do myself through my own means.

2. I want to improve my singing voice

Strengths:

I see that I definitely have a decent ear for pitch in general and I have a fairly decent range from low to high when I sing. I can also control how much grit is in my singing voice, depending on what the song needs.

Weaknesses:

I would say that I don’t have very good control over some of my pitch at times, especially while playing an instrument, as I’m focusing on doing two things at once, and I also think I need to improve my actual vocal technique, more so using my diaphragm rather than my head voice.

Opportunities:

Improving my singing voice will, overtime give me the opportunity to experiment in different ranges, will help me become more comfortable with singing live, and will stop me from straining once I discover how to utilise my grit properly.

Threat:

If I got ill with something that affected my throat or voice that also affected how I sing. I also have a fear of not projecting my voice enough, which could also be a reason for why I’ve never been confident about my voice in the past - This is something that can be changed for the future. I could also possibly damage my voice by using it wrong and may cause me to do permanent damage.

3. To improve my instrument playing, such as guitar and bass

Strengths:

On bass, I would say I have a very good ear for a good bassline - I tend to create more of a counter melody than just simply following the guitar, and emphasising different beats that the guitar doesn’t fall on to distinguish it more.

Weaknesses:

On guitar I would say I want to improve on my lead playing, as I don’t really practice scales and see my lead playing as very sloppy. I also can’t play very fast or precise when I play live and I think that is something that needs improving. I also think that I don’t practice bass nearly enough as I should and that is down to the fact that guitar is my primary instrument and was the first thing I started playing, but I also play bass in The Straightjakkets so I see it as necessary that I improve.

Opportunity:

The opportunity that this will give me will be to open my horizons in playing with other musicians who are more well versed musically, and will also give people more of an incentive to watch me play. I also think it will improve my confidence so much more and will make me want to play music far more than I already do.

Threat:

There’s always the possibility of damaging or breaking an arm or hand, which could mean I won’t be able to play my instrument the same way for a long time. Alternatively, my friend Harley had Golfer’s elbow from strumming Guitar too heavily. If I don’t figure out a good strumming technique I could injure myself.

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These are some of the ideas written down for Twisted Fantasy on how to improve the song. I really like the idea of the backing vocal harmonies that were done by Christian, they really elevated the song and made it sound a lot more full.

I also have realised that I do seem to have very poor mic technique, and I’ll be taking that into account for my next performance of the song. What I’m missing is that I’m not getting very up close to the microphone, so some of my words tend to get lost, especially when I look down at the guitar to see what I’m playing, that and the fact that the microphone stand is too high.

I also like the way that the intro sounds like a “calling” in a way, and makes me think that the ominous descending line along with atmospheric keys can make the song sound a lot more haunting and inviting almost.

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Nirvana - Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam (Live At The Paramount, Seattle / 1991)

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David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)

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This is a stripped demo of Spaceman Song where I play it on Piano, and I changed the structure so there are more than just the four chords the entire song. This version is also in a different key.

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This is when I was just coming up with the basic ideas for the song and also the day I came up with the riff. As you can hear, at this time the song was in a different key, which I’m not sure why I changed, perhaps just because I preferred the sound of it?

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The cadence of how the vocals are sung and a little bit of the melody here is present in Twisted Fantasy, but the way I sing it is very different from this song. You can also hear this in the track “UV Ray” from the same album.

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The Jesus And Mary Chain - Blues From A Gun (Official Music Video)

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My targets for this term are

1. To Improve my lyrical capabilities

Specific: I plan to improve my lyrical capabilities simply by practicing more and experimenting with different wordplay.

Measurable: I plan to improve my capabilities by continuing to write my lyrics down, and learning from cliches that I see pop up every now and then.

Achievable: I see myself as being able to achieve this through just continuing to write more and learning what works and what doesn’t.

Relevant: The reason this is relevant is because being a songwriter requires me to excel not only as an instrumentalist, but a poet too.

Time-bound: By the beginning of next year I hope to have improved my lyrical capabilities so I can be completely happy with them, and I also plan to release music in the new year.

2. To improve my singing voice

Specific: I plan to attend my performance workshop and receive feedback on my voice so that I know some techniques and what not to do when singing

Measurable: I plan to measure this by continuing to record demos of my voice and recognise when I’m doing something that might not be so good for my voice, and when I’m doing something well.

Achievable: This can be achieved if I continue to use good technique when I sing and just practicing more.

Relevant: This is relevant because I don't want to damage my voice due to poor technique and I also just want to make sure I get the most out of my singing voice.

Time-bound: This is important as I plan to record with The Straightjakkets soon and I need to make sure my backing vocals for the studio recordings are up to par with Eddie's lead vocal, so they sound good together on the recording.

3. To improve my instrument playing, primarily guitar and bass

Specific: I plan to keep practicing at home and listening to more music to take from other influences as I go along. I don't really enjoy learning guitar and bass techniques from others, so I see this as the most viable option, and because I've been self taught since I was 14 so it feels more natural.

Measurable: I can measure this by continuing to do recordings of basslines and practicing different guitar techniques. Also by listening to other basslines that do something different from the guitar to inform my playing style in a sense.

Achievable: I can achieve this simply by practicing and continuing to learn what makes certain techniques poor.

Relevant: This is relevant because I want to excel in songwriting and find interesting new techniques as I continue to play, that will influence the future of how I play and practice music.

Time-bound: As I continue playing my own music I will also be recording and playing gigs, which is why I feel like I need to improve within a certain time period, as I want to play tight as a band without having to think about it so much, and I can be more free in my playing.

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Week 10 is the final week everyone was in together and all in all it was good. Mostly it was uneventful but I did get a chance to work on my DAW track for my summative assignment which I recorded the week before and continue work on my strategy which I had to hand in. My DAW track was shaping up to be good, and I ended up recording most of it live, but when we recorded it, most of the effects were stripped, so almost every effect you hear is all done during the process of mixing and mastering.

In general I think that I’ve changed a lot as a musician even since September. My approach at the beginning was a lot softer, with a lot more focus on acoustic instruments and gentler melodies, through songs like "Aimless" and "Spaceman Song". Now I see that I have started to make a move to heavier music, with "Twisted Fantasy" and "Bobby Peru" being great examples of this. The stuff I'm writing is incredibly different to the stuff I was back then and I feel like I’m improving greatly. Of course there are many things that need work but I see that as due in course, and I’m aiming higher for the next academic year!

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Now that the Prince Albert gig has passed, I feel relieved in a way because now creatively we can work at our own pace for the band. The gigs for us are dying down at the moment so I’ve got to working on my own music, writing some new songs, most notably a new one called “Bobby Peru” which I based the lyrics off the film Wild at Heart by David Lynch. The song in itself reminds me of a Mudhoney song, with the grit of the vocals, and the instrumental to me is quite similar to the band Wipers, with the chord changes and the drum groove being very similar to some of their songs. With the lyrics I also repurposed one of my opening lines from an older song I scrapped, being a song called "Gates of Hell" with the line "Staring down the barrel of your loaded gun, was searching for a thrill now I've come undone". I think it's important for any artist to repurpose their work in creative ways, because even if it doesn't work for one song it may work for another.

I have also started to crack down more on my work and working on my strategy. Not only that but I’ve been playing my songs in my CPW class recently, mostly Twisted Fantasy and I think it’ll definitely be the song I’m going to use for my summative assignment submission.

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This was the week of our Prince Albert gig, which meant we had to prepare a lot by rehearsing. This was also the first gig we had ever put on ourselves meaning there were issues. The first issue was that we did not have a drum kit, as we thought the venue would provide this. Unfortunately this was not true and meant that we had to put the bits of the kit into trolleys and wheel it through the Brighton streets. After we got everything there, there was a massive weight lifted off our chest, but problems would arise as we started to play.

The main problem was the sound. The sound was a lot quieter than I wanted it to be and at times my microphone cut out and there were also points where my bass would start cutting out, too. This was extremely frustrating and led me to be annoyed at the engineer and the venue itself. Reflecting on that gig, it could have gone a lot worse and I'm just grateful that it went ahead in the first place, but it's also a testament to how unprepared we truly were. I also believe that I should have handled the sound a lot better and made more of a deal about it to the engineer so the problems could have been rectified.

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This week was the week of our Wedgewood Rooms gig, and it went extremely well! There were so many people in the crowd and the turnout was far bigger than I expected. Despite us playing on the big stage, too, the chemistry between us as a band was still pretty solid, we felt extremely tight all together and we managed to gain a lot of energy from seeing people dance more. We had a technical complication at the beginning, being that my bass broke during soundcheck and I had to use one of the other band's to play the gig. I went to go get it fixed a day later but unfortunately the preamp died, which means that I would either have to get a new bass or a new preamp.

For a few days I was without a bass, so my friend Drew lended me his Hofner bass that he had. It didn't exactly sound how I wanted it too but it was a great bass to play nonetheless. Using this, We started rehearsing for our next gig at The Prince Albert!

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This week we continued rehearsing, and got a setlist for the Wedgewood Rooms gig, being:

Leaving My Old Life Behind (Cover)
Black Sheep God
Sonic Bombast
Burnout Boy
Twisted Fantasy
Whipped by the Drug
Wasted Day
Strung Out
Kick Out The Jams (Cover)

The first song is a cover of a song that was in the 1966 edit of a 1949 short film by Kenneth Anger called "Puce Moment". The song is by a musician named Jonathan Halper, who has essentially nothing known about him except for this song which is his only music credit in a film. The song was previously covered by popular band Franz Ferdinand, but our cover does not take influence from that one OR the Jonathan Halper version, but rather the arrangement will be similar to how Nirvana opened their famous Paramount show with their cover of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam" by The Vaselines.

We also got photos with our friend Ashton at our flat and around Brighton and they all came out very well! We plan to use them for promotion in the coming future. We usually get a vintage camera or film camera, but as Ashton had a digital camera, he threw some interesting filters on to the photos, which gave them a more vintage look.

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This week we went to see a Waterbear band called Fat Lloyd who are friends of ours. The gig was at The Prince Albert and they got us up on stage to play one of the songs with them, which was a cover of “The Money Will Roll Right In” by Fang. Playing the song was very fun, and it was good to be able to see their set as well.

At that gig, I spoke to someone named Will Moore, who happened to be the event organiser at The Prince Albert. I spoke to him and he said he could organise a headline gig for us. I emailed him the next day to figure out the details, I got 2 other bands to play, being Sierpinski and another band called “Insectus” (also a Waterbear band).

We also recorded our song “Black Sheep God” at BIMM studios with a producer. He seemed to really enjoy our sound and handed us contracts to sign to his label, called Maxxx Headroom Records. We thought it over for a while since this was a big deal, but we decided we had nothing to lose and decided to do it. I’m very excited now for what the future will bring and I hope everything goes well with it.

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This week was the week of our Hope & Ruin gig. We decided to add another song on the fly, being a cover of Kick Out The Jams by the MC5, which was requested by our friend Alex.

We rehearsed earlier in the day before the gig began and ran through the set a number of times. We played fairly well for the first half of the set, but there weren’t many people and the energy was very low, so I think it caused us to be less energetic in the second half, and play less tight. Not to mention that we played the songs many times, but despite this, we still needed a lot of practice.

I also played my song Twisted Fantasy at this gig, and being my first time playing it, I thought it went fairly well. The only problems I had was first the fact that I still need to get used to using the Wah pedal, and I think I need to work on my vocals a lot more, as I'm having a hard time playing guitar and hitting the notes. I see myself sounding fairly unnatural when I sing, like I'm always trying to find the note, but that could be down to the fact that Eddie's guitar strap is very low and the microphone is too high.

The gig was more of a learning experience for us and we think that the Sierpinski gig will be the actual introduction of our sound with Ryan on the drums. I want to try to get as tight as possible and play as much as possible before the gig but not to the point where we burn ourselves out. Te ones that need the most work are definitely Kick Out The Jams and Sonic Bombast, and the plan is to practice at least twice a week.

This week me and Ryan also played in Eddie’s LPW class to perform our song “Whipped by the Drug”. The performance went well, but Ryan was frustrated with the dampeners on the cymbals and Kieron made note that the sound was a little too much and a bit too overwhelming. Eddie's guitar tone was a point of unease, as Kieron seemed to think that it was too fuzzy and distorted from the clean tone.

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This week we continued to rehearse with Ryan and started to get to know him a bit better. I also decided to play my new song, “Spaceman”, in my LPW class. The song is about my dad who passed away 2 years ago and the song is supposed to be a tribute to him. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the song and appreciated its sentiment very much. It was very emotional to perform that song but I’m very glad I did. It's a massive departure from many of the songs that have already been written for The Straightjakkets, taking more of a "singer-songwriter" type approach.

Kenzie and Daniel added backing vocals to the song and it really worked for the song. Funnily enough though it wasn't how I envisioned the song being. My whole idea for the song originally was very stripped down in instrumentation, with just Acoustic Guitar, Stylophone, Bass, Simple Tambourine and Vocals. The instrumentation for the CPW version ended up being Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Bass with a Phaser and drums. It's very interesting how my vision of the song is stylistically so different to the version that is done when with the house band but it's not such a bad thing, and actually worked fairly well.

Attached is the CPW performance for Spaceman Song.

We continued to rehearse with Ryan and Eddie in The Straightjakkets and continued to work on different songs that we had in our back pockets, most notably:

Black Sheep God

Strung Out

Wasted Day

Whipped by the Drug

Sonic Bombast

Twisted Fantasy

Burnout Boy

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This week we continued to play with Ryan, and I put down our name for The Hope & Ruin, since they said they needed support slots. They asked if we were definitely interest and we thought that we might as well, and it would be good for us if we have something to aim for. The gig is set for the 13th February, which means we don't have very long to prepare, but it'll be a good challenge!

At this gig I'm also planning to debut my new song I've written, titled "Twisted Fantasy", which I wrote in October of last year but hasn't had time to be fully fleshed out. I started out with the riff, which is essentially just descending and ascending up and down the neck in the key of A minor (in the demo the guitar is tuned to D Standard so its G minor), from then on, I wrote a chord progression for the verse, chords for the chorus and then I started writing lyrics, which were about as general and not really about anything as I could make them.

We rehearsed it with Ryan this week and it sounded exactly how I imagined it sounding in my head. The song is very much inspired by Automatic-Era Jesus and Mary Chain, with the song being similar to "Blues From A Gun" and "UV Ray". I'm very much looking forward to performing it, since I'm playing guitar on it as well as singing, and the fact that it's also a much rockier song than my last song I wrote for The Straightjakkets, which was more of a droney Donovan-inspired number.

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Unfortunately, our original drummer for The Straightjakkets, Alex Voros left due to personal issues, so we had to look elsewhere for someone new. I put a notice up on the Waterbear page asking if anyone knew any drummers that would be interested in playing, and someone named Ryan Cooper on the performance course replied, saying that he would be interested.

We met him a few times before auditioning to get to know him, and for him to understand how we do things and our ethics. We finally played with him and he was truly something else! We played through a few songs, notably "Sister Ray" by The Velvet Underground, and our set opener "Black Sheep God", written by Eddie. He picked up everything so fast and added some really interesting dynamic changes that made it sound brilliant, along with going into a halftime groove right during the second chorus.

Even before we auditioned Ryan, we got a gig in Portsmouth supporting our friend's band Sierpinski at The Wedgewood Rooms on the big stage. This is a big deal for us, because despite playing The Wedge before, we have never been up on the big stage and only played the Edge ever. We are greatly anticipating this gig and think it'll be our biggest yet.

Linked is the poster for the gig!

I also started work on a new song about my late father, called "Spaceman Song", which is a very Bowie-Esque song, with lyrics and themes that elude to my connection with him and how that relates into my relationship with music. The song currently is only 4 chords, and reminds me a lot of the song "Space Oddity". My goal with this song is to experiment with different structures and arrangements to make it sound a little more interesting, and see what can be done with it to push boundaries.