If you’re around Dublin, come check it out. (click the poster for the facebook event page)

After the last two nights of fun this Summer, we couldn’t let August pass without another RIP.

The Button Factory will open it’s doors again for a third installment on Friday 27th August, and to help get us in the mood for Electric Picnic / back to collage / the leaves falling from the trees, DJ Seán John will be back to rock our world with more of his signature beats, and joining him this time will be DJ ebby.

Spinning his own blend of rock, alternative, quirky pop and electro, ebby has been DJing gay alternative nights in Galway since 2006, namely AlternativEden, IQ (IndieQueer) and Smells Like Queen Spirit, while Dublin dwellers may have caught him this year playing at Paddy Monster.

DJ Laura Lovejoy will be on the decks in the Button Factory side bar. Obsessed with 60s pop, as well as girl groups, soul, motown and surf, Laura’s record collection is a treasure trove of the finest pop hits and obscure gems. She’s currently the weekend resident DJ at the Garage Bar in Temple Bar, and before that she played at Antics, Retro Revival at Le Cirk, Shebeen Chic and Dice Bar. She ranks Phil Spector and Joe Meek among her favorite producers, and the multi-talented Laura also plays guitar and sings with the band The Pulpit, who rocked RIP back in June. She’ll be accompanied on the decks by band mate Evan O’Leary.

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’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.

Water Phoenix

It’s two songs I’ve not even demo’d yet, but that I like playing live, but it’s good to actually hear what it sounds like from a listeners point of view, so I can think about whether I need to change the songs, or listen to how I’m playing them so I can make the performances better. I’m never entirely happy with any performance or recording, but that’s just how it is at the moment. :)

Galway Rain

The other songs I have video and mp3s of are “The Bliss Returns”, “Is This What They Call Romance?” and “Re-Run” which I might post up at some point. I never ever play “Re-Run” well though – and the recording is wonderfully scrappy and awful to my ears. So I might just keep that one to myself until I get it recorded properly sometime. Heh.

On a whim while practising piano yesterday, I decided to record a few cover versions as it had been a while since I’d tried using my little home studio setup. I used to play Under The Ivy a lot when I was in university – it’s one the more beautiful piano based Kate Bush songs, and has been one of my favourite of her songs for many years.

I’ve not really done anything major or drastically different to it, although I do sing it in a different key, to try and suit my voice a little better. But, here it is, regardless.

Download audio file (undertheivy.mp3)
Under The Ivy (Kate Bush cover)

Incidentally, I did a cover of “Donut Song” by Tori Amos in the same session, which I may post here later sometime. I’m not very happy with it, but it was an experiment.

I started playing piano quite young, and went through the RIAM classical piano grades. I started to lose interest somewhat at about the age of 15, when I was coming to the end of my grades, and wasn’t really interested in doing a Diploma. But something that reignited my love for playing was the movie “The Piano”, and particularly the beautiful score by Michael Nyman. I saw it on VHS when I was about 13, if I recall correctly, and I remember my parents making a special exception to allow me to watch a movie that was rated 15.

But I was really taken by the soundtrack, and I love the fact that Holly Hunter played the piano parts seen in the movie. Initially, it was the piece “Big My Secret” that I loved and played a lot, but I was won over to all the pieces over time, and they became some of my favourite pieces of music for piano. I spent the rest of my teenage years without going to piano lessons, and discovering pieces of music that I wanted to play, as opposed to just having to learn them for an exam. It’s something that I think was very important in continuing my love for the instrument. That, and discovering artists like Tori Amos and Kate Bush, who used piano in their music in ways that I hadn’t heard before.

The main theme from the piano, “The Heart Asks Pleasure First”, also called “The Sacrifice”, has become one of those standard pieces that piano students all love and learn:

It is a beautiful piece of music, but my favourite is still “Big My Secret”. Some people feel that it’s played too fast in the movie, as the recording by Nyman is much gentler and slower, but I like the flexibility of the piece, and it’s appropriate in the scene, I think:

Holly Hunter in the movie:

(Nyman’s version and some other bits after the cut)

Nyman’s version:

I loved the visuals of the piano on the beach used in the promo shots, and also scenes of the movie itself. Pianos are such beautiful instruments, and they really command your attention in a room. Having one standing proudly on a beach as the waves were coming in was an image that really called to me. You might psychoanalyse it and wonder whether it was about my own waning interest in the instrument at the time, being reignited by a desire to save the piano from the beach and the rising water. Or you might just think that it’s a striking image ;)

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