5/19/2012 3:05:33 AM
Hi Everyone, just a thought...have you gone outside lately...

5/15/2012 11:28:44 AM
Heya Everyone, Im Pete and Ive been here but Im finally Back!!!

6/11/2010 1:55:09 PM
Hi Im Pete, Its a pleasure to meet you!!! A SHORT STORY please come by

5/19/2012 3:05:33 AM

Hi Everyone, just a thought...have you gone outside lately...
Hey everyone,

Music these days has become so accessible in all these digital platforms that makes it so easy to spread your own art with the world. I am for freedom of expression in all aspects of music but I also have seen a terrifying craze with so many teenagers these days and synthesized music. No longer do you have to learn the piano or pick up that old guitar and hear those strings sing. No, these days its as easy as 1 2 3 and you have a full song composed and ready to go. While that is ok and it does take some time to learn programming what happened to sitting outside in an open field, green grass, wild flowers, wind blowing gently as you sit alone looking up at the blue sky and play that first note that will be the beginning of something beautiful. What happened to sitting on a porch with an overcast sky and a rainy day to fuel a song full of emotions on the days you felt lost and alone. I am one that remembers those days, and for a while I myself sat behind a computer screen and forgot the love I had for my first instrument. I am 29 now and still as young as I ever was but Ive noticed music come and go and we have all seen the trends come and disappear, so I really just wanted to say thank you to all the people here at IAC for listening and for putting their music out there for the world to listen to. If you feel lost sometimes writing, and I know we all have, take the time to go outside, the next time it rains, take that notepad, take that instrument and use the energy given to fuel something completely beautiful and unique, sometimes when no one is listening and there is not a soul around to talk to, the wind, the rain are always there to listen.

Much Love everyone, come by sometime :)
Pete Majia

5/19/2012 6:29:51 AM

A lovely post and I agree with you entirely. I do use computers in my final productions but most of my music has been inspired by amazing outdoor experiences - mainly African drumming and other extraordinary happenings at music and drumming festivals etc.

We often visit a village in Africa where there's no electricity let alone computer technology and sitting round the fire at night, just strumming a guitar or playing flute (you may have heard my track Alifa Yaya) with my friend playing kora and singing in his unique way is just blissful!

5/19/2012 3:25:20 PM

Hi Pete

in New Zealand we are totally outdoors types,

this music was cooked in our boatshed studios, the filming was done in the native bush in the Marlborough sounds, just for fun
the child is my grand daughter "Phoenix"

5/20/2012 11:35:00 AM

Sometimes I go to Central Park with a laptop and write lyrics or review works in progress. It's so much better than being in the house or at a Starbucks. There is nothing more inspirational and soothing than nature, human nature too.

5/20/2012 4:02:23 PM

hi pete,

very cool post, hope to check out your page.

5/21/2012 5:19:11 AM

I felt the same way about Rap. To me it's just B.S. with a beat.

Anyways, thought you might like this. It falls into this threads catagory.........

Sunday Afternoon

5/24/2012 8:53:44 PM

Every morning, just before the Sun comes up, I take a walk through the Clayton trails. It is beautiful, peaceful and for me "spiritual". I only go 4 miles as my arthritis won't allow much further but it is always the beginning of my musical day. The inspiration I receive from this daily jaunt is invaluable.

I agree that so many musicians and people have lost track of the beauty that surrounds them. so many of today's artists are completely tied into technological stuff and don't know the joy of music in the context in which you write. Sometimes progress is not progress at all. If you take a walk around any town, all you see is people with their heads down. Most are reading or texting on their phones. They don't see the world around them or even each other. They don't even speak to each other. This generation is disconnected from the world as we once knew it. It is no wonder that today's musical artists would be disconnected from the bare roots of music. Playing real instruments and singing without some software that makes you sound like an alien on crack is a foreign option to them. Sign of the times.......

But I dare not become the man that my grand father once was. His words were almost identical to some of the things I say today. He didn't understand long hair, Bell bottoms and wailing guitar music. Just like I don't understand saggy pants, reality shows and most of today's top selling music. He thought it was all junk and that us kids were freaks on our way to hell. He lost track of the one thing that none of us should ever lose track of. What goes around comes around. This is the universal law! Good music with soul eventually came back. He was fortunate enough to witness it's return. I believe that eventually people will get tired of the same old beats and bring back music that kicks you in the back side and makes you stand up and listen. The boring and mundane will once again be replaced by musical excellence inspired by the greatness of creation. It's in our DNA. I dare not be wrong like grandpa. Everything in the universe goes around and around and comes back again. At least that is how I see it. Hope is still alive...........

5/25/2012 7:45:01 AM ---- Updated 5/25/2012 9:47:36 AM

Hi Stoneman ~ insightful observations as always! My concern is that soul and RnB in the great tradition of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Jackson (remember "I Don't Wanna Cry?") might wither on the vine if people don;t support it's comeback. It seems that "modern" RnB is more like pop and doesn't have that grit and pure emotion of the earlier RnB. I was hopeful when Fantasia won American Idol because she can really belt out a song with raspy soul and makes you feel something. But I don't understand why she isn't more popular. Is it bad management or is it that the public isn't ready or willing to bring forth the next Aretha Franklin? Then there's Joshua Ledet who lost to Phillip Phillips on American Idol. I thought Joshua was incredible and definitely someone continuing in the footsteps of the artists I mentioned above. He'll still have a great career but I have to admit that I was shocked he lost. Of course I'm not saying that American Idol is the sole indicator of what is popular but when 132 million people vote, most of them young I presume, that does seem to indicate some kind of trend among the only people buying CD's and apparently the kind of soul Joshua was laying down did not grab them. Perhaps Joshua will go on to do great songs and bring back the soul that is sorely missing today, but will people accept it? People often say rock is dead. Is RnB dead? Has it been replaced by LMFAO?

5/25/2012 12:35:40 PM

Hi Richard,

LMFAO? (Berry Gordy's offspring) Is just another fad group that will be around for a while and then die out like the rest of them. Remember Rockwell? He was also one of Berry Gordy's children. Where is he now? My point exactly!

I am not concerned at all about R&B or Rock & Roll. This music comes from the very core of American music and its influence continues to be a part of today's music scene. I concede that we are getting very watered down versions but the influence is certainly still there. No, it does not show up very much on the top 40 Pop charts but real R&B music continues to do quite well on the R&B charts. Unless you listen to R&B stations (not Hip-Hop) it is invisible to you. But several R&B artists had great years last year. Maxwell had a tremendous come back. R. Kelly's last album sounded like 60's Soul music and was a top seller. Eric Benet came back extremely strong and soulful. Upstarts like Raheem Devauhn and many other young pure "Soul" artists did quite well also. John Legend, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige have been consistently successful. Tyreese, Kem, and Tank are all traditionally Soul/R&B with a bit of today's flare. But they continue to do well and earn gold/platinum records. Did you know that Fantasia has had 3 platinum selling records? Despite the false perception, she continues to do exceptionally well in the urban communities. The problem I see is not that R&B artists aren't being supported. I believe that the labeling of genre has gone off whack as most of the chart toppers that we are calling Soul artists aren't even singing soul. Seems like if something is different from the norm they say it is Soul/R&B. If you are Black and singing something different from Soul they lump you in with the Soul artists anyway. I call it the bastardization of genre. I mean Chris Brown and Usher are definitely not singing R&B even though they top the R&B charts. Being Black does not make you an R&B artist in my book. Even here at IAC there are some chart topping R&B artists (both Black & White) that don't sound anything like Soul artists. Rock maybe? Pop maybe? Blues? Dance/Electronic? But Soul in the guise of those great artists you mentioned? Not even close. Sometimes I feel they are in the genre because there is too much competition in the genre they should really be in. But that's just my opinion and I certainly wouldn't mention any names. True Soul/R&B fans know the difference and that is all that matters.

Phillip Phillips victory on Idol was a disappointment to me also but I certainly understand why he won. It's called American Idol. Not Americas best singer! I believe that America was sold (hook, line, and sinker) on his stance to not compromise. They felt like they could trust him to become the artist he has always been regardless to who picks him up later. To record companies and A&R execs who are use to shaping artists images and styles, he is a nightmare waiting to happen. It was not about the best singer. It was all about the best idol according to America. I think Joshua was too church for most of America. Plus, there are the Gay rumors.......But the history of Idol has proven that the winner often becomes the loser in regards to music career. Who sold more records? Clay Aiken (the loser) or Reuben Studdard (the winner) Clay had way more hits than Reuben. Adam Lambert (the loser) or what's his name? You know, the guy that won? My point exactly. Adam has had way more hit records and is even blazing the charts right now. I believe the only reason he lost on idol was because he is Gay. Yeah, I know, that sucks but it's probably true. Jennifer Hudson didn't even make the top 6 on Idol. But her career has been just as good or better than all the finalists in front of her. This is why I am not concerned about Joshua Ledet. All he needs is the right songs and he will blaze a trail far beyond the rest of them. Hands down, he has the best voice!

In regards to the death of R&B. It is important to examine where most of the great R&B legends came from. Most of them came from the Black church. It is the proving ground for Soul singers because Black Gospel is the core root of soul. The Black church is not going anywhere any time soon so I expect to see many more young soul artists hitting the air waves for many years to come. When the fad groups fade away, the real singers always regain a firm footing on the American music landscape. At least that's how this old fart see's it! I truely hope I am not wrong

Much Respect!
Stoneman

5/28/2012 3:40:10 PM

Song about fantasy going outside .......

Airplane Flying

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