Sharp Practise
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2/28/2008 12:16:24 PM
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far - a response to what you've said
Hi,
many thanks indeed to all of you who've taken the time and trouble to comment on my blog so far - it's quite humbling to think some people are actually reading it since it really started out as an electronic diary of the making of the new album, which I thought I might refer back to when the time comes to make sleeve notes, or if I have to do interviews on its release etc. Months down the line it's not so easy to remember what you were doing at the time.
Anyway, those of you who know how the eccentric English mind works will realise that (!) means the writer's tongue is in his cheek. I think we'd all agree that any musician making a significant contribution to the creation of a new piece should be credited for it. At best any writer trying to short-change his bandmates would probably end up with no band and at worst he'd probably end up with a string of enemies and a rotten reputation. In any event, credit where credit's due is the right thing to do.
I guess we could have a discussion about what a significant contribution is - I'm thinking of this in terms of the role of a producer or a session musician - maybe that's a topic for a blog entry later when we've all had a think about it?
Someone asked how the band was named. Many years ago, while I was writing the material for our debut album Hiya, I was travelling between the UK and New Zealand quite a lot. Also at that time I had record labels saying they liked my songs; could I come back with a band? Because of all the travelling that wasn't practical, but I did a set of demos where I played everything myself and a friend of mine who's a make-up artist created some different characters and another friend photographed them. These pics went on the demo sleeve.
Of course, when I got my interview with the record label I straight away confessed to this piece of "sharp practice". They must have been impressed by my ingenuity (I suppose) as they took me on anyway and so when it came to putting an actual band together there really was only one name we could give it. So that's the story.
Finally, I'm still learning my way round blogs and computers and think I may have inadvertently deleted someone's comments while trying to read them. I'm sorry for that - if you want to add them again please do so.
I'll get back to the blog about making records in a coupel of weeks when I've more to tell yu about.
Cheers everyone.
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