It’s a song that I always mess up the verse order in when I play it live, but at the same time, it’s a song that I tend to pull out a lot when I’m playing live, as it’s just lovely to play to be honest. I might record an instrumental version of this when I work out the rest of the instrumentation. I think that would be lovely.

Maria (demo) by misterebby

Initially I was going for a piano version of a surf-pop kinda song, to counteract the bite in the lyrics, I’m still not sure about what way the arrangement will go: whether to make it poppier and lighter, or to go for a more piano rock sound. I’m still toying with this song in that regards, but I do like playing it solo with just piano.

I’m rather terrible at programming beats, but I just needed something to play off and to start to give myself an idea of how the whole song would sound. So, it’s definitely a demo, and definitely quite rough still, but it’s helped me to see the shape of the song, and what I want to change or alter, and to give me ideas on how I want to flesh out the arrangement more.

Friday Night Friends (demo) by misterebby

I’m happy enough with the piano & vocal combination, and it’s given me the space to listen to it and really hear the other parts that I want on it. As Anna was playing back the demo to me after recording it, I was clearing hearing specific parts in my head that I was humming along. I need to sit down and transcribe the string parts and the like, and see how well I like them when they’re added to the song.

The Best Of Me (demo) by misterebby

I’ve also started using Soundcloud to host and share the tracks I’m working on, which you’ll be able to find here:

http://soundcloud.com/misterebby

I remember the first time I listened to a Tori Amos album – it changed my idea of what a piano could do. It was Under The Pink, which I listened to all the way through a few times alone in my room. Before listening to Tori, my notions of piano music were limited to classical piano or vamped-chords and simple piano riffs of some of the pop music I knew. I’d finished all the classical piano grades with the RIAM, and was feeling a bit frustrated with the limited scope of the piano material I knew. Hearing Tori by chance on the radio, and checking out the piano books in a shop made me decide to get the albums. – yeah, I honestly looked through the piano books for Under The Pink and Little Earthquakes before ever hearing them.

But the opening notes of Pretty Good Year, the first track on the album, still sticks with me as one of my favourite piano lines, probably because it was the first of her songs I really heard at home, but mostly because it showed me that piano accompaniment can be melodic, fluid, and have a life of its own under the vocal melody line of a song. Every piano part on that album is absolutely gorgeous, musically interesting, and completely makes the songs something else.

When I was doing a few rough takes in my home studio, I knocked out two quick cover versions: the Under The Ivy one I posted about before, and a cover of Tori’s Donut Song from the album “Boys For Pele“. I was mostly messing about with my Roland RD 120, exploring the other instrument sounds on it, and certainly it’s not well recorded, played or sung, but it’s there, so I may as well put it out. I actually used one of the bass instrument voices on the digital piano, and added some of the Rhodes voice from it too, to see how they matched. It was mostly an experiment. I’ve dicked about with the song a small bit too, I’m afraid. But still. Oh, and I think I mentioned that it’s a not-great recording with bad mixing, yeah? I’d fix it up a bit, but at the moment I’m in Dublin, dogsitting. No, really.

Download audio file (doughnutsong.mp3)
Donut Song (Tori Amos cover – demo) (right click and download)

It’s not a patch on the original, which you should go and listen to (see the live video below), but it was an interesting experiment for me. It’s actually not one of the Tori songs that I’d usually play at all, but I think I was just in the mood for it that night. There are a few of her songs that I’ve loved and learned over the years, that always pop into sets or sessions every so often, but this is not really one of them. I guess it’s just a good song for a late night, home alone, dark bedroom with a piano.

I’ve had the house to myself again today, so after spending a while in town being sociable I came home and spent the evening playing with the cat, cooking dinner, and demoing a song.

This song is one that popped up in the video clips from a gig I did in January, so I’ve been wanting to start recording it in some way. I never really get to hear the songs until I hear a recording of them, as when you’re playing them it’s hard to be an outside listener too.

Regardless, this demo is scrappy: bum notes on the piano; bum notes in the vocals; rough sketch of the middle bit with the layers. Just generally a bit scrappy all round, but it gives a good idea of the whole song.

I’m not 100% sure of about this song yet – it feels too long, and I’m pondering whether I should cut a section, or merge some parts or something. As it stands, the lyrics were mostly written when I lived in the UK in 2005 or so, and the music was written when I was living in Galway a year ago at this stage. It’s a song that has kinda hung around for a while without really becoming anything until it just popped out while I was playing around with a piano idea one day.

Anyways, here’s the demo I put together this evening.

Download audio file (galwayraindemo.mp3)
Galway Rain (demo) (right-click and save to download)

Lyrics

The umbrellas are at full attack, and the rain falls on South Bank.
But it doesn’t feel the same as I remember Galway’s rain.

London’s become my friend for walks at 4am,
But it doesn’t compare to the line out to Renmore,
Singing “Stand By Me” in harmony,
Preaching the gospel of Kali.
I’ve become so used to London,
that I know my way around
Stuck in the back of my wallet,
is a map of the Underground

The umbrellas are at full attack, and the rain falls on South Bank.

I sometimes go for days without talking to someone,
Except the checkout girl at ASDA or someone on the phone,
In Galway I walk down Shop St
And am stopped by friends to chat.
I hate the crowds of London,
They’re all rushing off to somewhere,
Instead of ambling around Galway,
Eventually you’ll get there.

The umbrellas are at full attack, and the rain falls on South Bank.

In Galway you wait in doorways for the worst of the downpour to pass
Or walk through the lighter rain spotting tourists in plastic macs
You can sit outside Tigh Neachtain’s, and watch the city pass you by.

You’re still the one – I’ve got to get out of this city.
You’re still the one – I’ve got to get out…
I wanted you to call,
I wanted you to…
I wanted you to call.

The umbrellas are at full attack, and the rain falls on South Bank.
But it doesn’t feel the same as I remember Galway’s rain.

It’s been raining so much this week. I’m typing this to avoid actually having to go outside and head to town to meet some friends. But honestly, I’m just gonna let the rain ease off a little.

However, the rain is good for forcing me to stay indoors and work on some music for a while, so today I ended up reworking one of the demos I’d recorded. I moved one of the sections around, and re-recorded piano and vocal parts for it. I’m gonna take a break and listen to it later tonight or tomorrow and see if I like what I’ve done to that particular song. If I do, then I’ll probably upload that rough version here.

Additionally, I did a really rough take of “Galway Rain” too, which I’ve never recorded. There’s a live cut of it, and a live video, but that’s about it. It’s rather apt to be doing a take of that song today.

There’s a section in the demo where I think it’s clear that there’ll be a fuller instrumentation in the song from that point. This is one of those songs where the melody and piano part just came together at the same time. It’s a simple little song and I’ve grown rather fond of it. It’s about someone I know, sort of. But I guess it’s true that any song I write about someone I know, or something I’ve experience, is fictionalised in some way. Most of the elements remain, but altered just enough that I feel more comfortable with them.

Download audio file (rebel.mp3)
Rebel (demo)

Lyrics

Outside the door
she sits and waits
Not wanting to go in at all.

Cropped hair
Leather
Screaming for you

She put your head
under the blade
too many times, too many times

They say she ran away from herself
Too often
But I know,
I know that she’s in training

Running for miles,
She could run
For miles, for her.

But even still, no music ever jumped out at me for it, and then the original idea I had for the song is completely different to what it actually has become. I remember sketching out a vague idea for the lyrics, and having this clear idea of how I wanted the subsequent section to sound – which was going to be completely instrumental.

However, this little piano riff snuck onto the keys one day, and I got completely addicted to it. Any time I’d sit down at the piano it was the first thing I’d play. It’s only a simple little riff, but I loved it. And then the lyrics one day just fitted over it – I could hear how they should go. The song has ended up something completely different from what I thought it was going to be, even after I’d previously thought it would never be an actual song.

This demo version may yet change and develop as I add more instruments to the song. I have a few ideas of what I want to add on – but at this stage, who knows what way it’ll change before I have a final proper recording of it that I like.

Download audio file (blissjandemo.mp3)
The Bliss Returns (demo) (right click and save to download)

Lyrics

devoid of anything
nearing regret
my senses blunted
and out of reach

sprawled over, white cotton
caresses softly remind me

of the world
surrounding

whispers of the cityside
sing to the morning sun

as he, inches
across cotton folds
beauty blinding
as I catch the sight

smiling playfully
the warmth arousing
the smile arrives
the cotton moves
the bliss returns

The demo is just an idea of what it’ll be like – I think this is going to be a very richly arranged song when it is finished, and I hope that the person it is about likes the song. It’s quickly become one of my own personal favourites to sing.

Download audio file (phoenix.mp3)
Water Phoenix (demo) (right click and save to download)

The verses were bits and pieces from various places. Little ideas or leftovers from other songs, so in a way the song itself is a bit of a composite of a few different things.

The piano riff sticks in my head, and was the first part of the song to be written, in terms of the music. Once I’d sat with that for a while the rest of the song just fell into place and I had this little boppy little piano pop song that is great fun for me to play.

Download audio file (romance.mp3)
Is This What They Call Romance? (demo) (right-click and save to download)