RANTINGS and UPDATES
30/12/2010
A long gap and finally updated the logos on the site so they dont look complete bollocks but i'm
definitely not a web designer... new songs are imminent, including a Tom Waits cover.
11/04/2010
Although this site has now been cleaned up a bit this is not the full makeover i'm intending to do.
Time, time, no time for everything. Strangely decided to play football at Roy's barbecue last night
and after a few beers tried to block every attack, thus rendering me unable to walk today. Also forgot
to take a pick along with my acoustic so ended up belting out a few tunes with a ring-pull as plectrum.
Not recommended. Can't stop writing songs at the moment, and as soon as they're arranged i'm starting
recording them, though this will be a long process. I've taken the free tunes down from the music page,
you can still stream them with a little built-in player, though only in Internet Explorer, and there is
still alot of my stuff around on the web somewhere. Happy summer to you.
23/03/2010
This site will be getting a professional makeover in the next couple of weeks, with big thanks to Mark,
the internet guru, who kindly pointed out that it looks crap and I agree.
Busy writing and recording lots of new material - about six new songs and a dozen or so electronic/
instrumental tracks are queueing up, so something new very soon. I'm also going to have it so you can
download tracks directly from this site nice and cheap, cutting out useless robbing middlemen. Also
created my first slideshow video for youtube, so expect more over the coming months, if I can find more
pictures, or maybe a video camera..
04/02/2010
With the time- and energy-consuming necessity of a full-time job to keep the lights on, I have been on
hiatus for a while, but am now working towards completing/ reworking the next tracks. The time off also
gives me some perspective too. I have been tinkering with the first three tracks slightly, and
hopefully have improved the mixes somewhat. Step by step..
30/10/09
I refer the dishonourable gentlemen to the comments I made some days ago. I love not being in politics
and being able to say exactly what I want (even if not many will read it.) "Chief Drugs Adviser sacked
(by politically scared arseholes..)" I think his main thrust was politics vs science. It happened to
come under the scope of drug policy, which is a serious vote-changer in many parts of this
ill-informed, easily-led country (/world.) I'm seriously not that pro-drugs. They can cause serious
harm. I am, however, seriously pro-truth and stopping disguising and misleading those who are
unfortunate enough to not be able to think for themselves - which, let's face it, is most people on
most issues. There is a conspiracy afoot to protect humans from humanity.
I also read today half of some council somewhere have quit because of a blogger in their town pointing
out all their mistakes and indulgences. Good. They couldn't stand the constant harrasment, apparently.
If I knew I was doing my best in a job like that i'd fight back. If I knew I wasn't, i'd do exactly
what these leeches have done, and quit. The internet has brought us a form of Senate at last, and long
may it continue.
Finally, politics, unfortunately, abounds on both sides of the downloading debate, but as a musician, my
policy is simple: You want to own the music, you pay for it. There is a means by which you don't have
to, but just like stealing CD's from a record shop, if you get caught doing it, you get punished. You
can't afford it otherwise? Then you can't have it. Same as Tesco's, right?
27/10/09
Well I feel like an idiot. No wonder the amount I was spending on Adwords was changing weirdly
- it was giving me the spend for the previous 7 days. My total spend is at £144! I was paying about
1.50 per click for a while there. The good news is that I figured this out before it ran into
thousands. The bad news is, as i've suspended the campaign, i'm writing this for noone as visits have
now dried up. Or is this another trick of Google's?
Tom from PreshUrn has emailed me to say he's spinning my track today, so thanks for that and let's hope
I can generate some interest from the music alone. My electronic stuff also seems to be generating some
fans on ReverbNation, which I didn't realise. Now i'm doing a day job too, there really aren't
enough hours in the day..
22/10/09
I find Racism and Immigration issues both laughable and intolerable. Like most things, many people who
are too ignorant to really think about it for themselves simply follow what their friends, parents or
national newspapers say on the subject. I despair every time I hear someone say the word 'paki' or
'nigger' (and I hear it alot living in northern England.) If you think about immigration in the world
as a whole, many are, completely by chance, born in parts of the world with no water, no food, no
industry - very poor places indeed. Wouldn't you want to move to a part of the world where there is at
least food to eat every day, clean water, and half a chance of getting somewhere in life? Almost every
'developed' country in the world has a vocal selfish percentage of its population that wants to shut
the borders to 'more foreigners' coming in. I remember well laughing at an asian man being interviewed
on TV a few years ago, saying they shouldn't let the Poles, Latvians etc. in. Everyone or their
ancestors were once immigrants (we all started out in Africa, remember,) and everyone has a right to
move for a more agreeable life.
15/10/09
Now Google Adwords is pissing me off. 3 days ago i'd spent £32 (of my web host's money) and my ad was
being shown and clicked fairly regularly. Now, all of a sudden, i've only spent £29 - how the hell did
I spend less money than 3 days ago? I'm sure someone who does SEO for a (dull) living would know. More
frustrating, though, is the fact that my ad now no longer has 'keyword relevance!' It says -
[daznez.com original, independent music from Manchester, England.] The keywords i'm using are 'new
music,' 'independent music,' 'new songs' and so on. How are these not relevant? When they were last
week? Do I really give a shit about any of this? A little..
I assume someone has had their nose put out of joint (they should see mine..) and is paying a ton of
money to be seen next to relevant search queries. What another load of crock and way to make a few
people alot of money. I really will end up selling up and travelling the world with a guitar
and a switchblade in the not too distant future..
Still, i'm now getting visitors from all continents which is cool. Interesting to note that the
average time on this site from the US is 41 seconds, and from China it's 2:20. Do the Chinese
really understand English better, or is it the fact that it's largely a buddhist country and they
aren't taught to believe in some overlord deity crap from a small age and can't let it go when they
grow up?
Or do they just know a good tune when they hear one?
11/10/09
Just watched Richard Dawkins' Genius of Charles Darwin on Channel 4. I simply cannot believe there is a
science teacher in a Grammar School in England in 2009 that believes the earth is no more than 10,000
years old. Has anybody checked this man's credentials?
It does show the power of early indoctrination into religious belief - that a grown man who has
(presumably) studied scientific methods chooses to only use the science that fits in with his religious
belief. It is a paradox of the evolution of our minds that our notion of truth is not always as powerful
as our long-held belief systems.
Psychologists would presumably be able to explain our penchant for myths, but for many people I suspect
a belief on a god and an afterlife comes from the fear of death, the fear that our lives as humans are,
on average 60-100 years, and that's it. But as Richard Dawkins pointed out in the program, the joy of
life is in the understanding of evolution, in understanding the history of life on earth, and being
excited that we are part of it.
Looked like the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is evidently a reasonable man, knew where following his
belief in science and evolution was leading. If the interview had carried on, i'm pretty sure he would
have admitted that, yes, the bible stories are quite obviously all made up, now out of date and
unneeded, and on Monday morning he would be applying for a job in the local library.
There is a search for some 'other' meaning life when there doesn't need to be one. Just like there is no
need for a supernatural god of any kind. The world is exactly the same without one. I'm covering alot of
the stuff that i've already written songs for on the forthcoming album. It sounds better with lyrics and
music..
3/10/09
Wow. Google adwords really works. 214% increase in site visits with 6 keywords since yesterday. Very
impressive.
I'm trying to find a way to enable music downloads (and streams) direct from this site and there doesn't
(yet) seem to be a cost-effective solution available to the independent musician. Anything involving
Paypal is 30c + a small percentage, but if I want to offer downloads for around 50p/ 80c, that doesn't
seem practical. Lots of sites/ programs out there require monthly subscriptions of around $25, which
would probably end up costing me money. If there are any fans who are Web developers out there who can
help, or you know of a really good way of doing it, please get in touch.
I
2/10/09
My Web hoster, Streamline.net, has just kindly sent me £75 worth of Google Adwords.
The promotional juggernaut starts here. Ditto music has finally got my tracks on itunes,
though they are currently listed as being by 'Heretic & Proud' with the ep entitled 'daznez.'
Still, a journey of a 1000 miles... (begins in the pub.)
1/10/09
I would vote for and actively support any political party that included these 3 policies:
1) That until proved otherwise by massive, observable and repeatable evidence, there is quite obviously
no God, and despite some people having 'personal experience' of such, in the same way that some people
hear voices telling them to kill all their family, no law or instrument of the state shall be used or
constructed on or for any 'religious' grounds, including the courts, international policy and all public
finances. People are free to pursue any doctrine or dogma they want in their private lives, including
Jedi, if they so desire, but no more rhetoric or deference to something that is clearly all made up, and
a waste of energy and resources. [see - Heretic & Proud..]
2) That all drugs are legalised and available through licensees in the same way as alcohol. Not because
drugs are safe and cause no harm, which they clearly aren't and do, but because human nature is what it
is; people are always going to abuse toxicants wherever they are sourced from, and the massive funds
that are currently channeled into criminal hands would be channeled into the public funds, and we could
do useful things with them for health, education, transport and so on. It would also show an honest,
mature society that wasn't constantly trying to protect humans from humanity.
3) That the focus on consumer capitalism that has grown and grown over the last 200 years should be
replaced with a focus on communal capitalism - the general theory being that businesses are free to
pursue profits and compete, but they exist for the good of all their employees and the citizens of the
countries where they both trade and are based, as opposed to being solely for their owners and
shareholders.
Sweatshops are eradicated. Job security is guaranteed if the employee is productive. If the bosses fuck
up, they lose their millions in wages and 30 staff keep their jobs instead.
Advertising would be radically reformed - companies may only state that a product exists, and the
success of that product would depend on its value and quality through word-of-mouth, rather than on a
marketing department's manipulation of our desires and fears. Imagine no more inane advertising jingles.
We will no longer be encouraged to buy stuff we plainly do not need. [See - Bonfire of the Brands, Neil
Boorman, and No Logo, Naomi Klein]
Does 'communal capitalism' sound a bit like communism? Well politics (and the media) can grow up, and
stop using the same levers business uses to get people to buy crap food, yet another pair of shoes or a
£50,000 car when a £10,000 one would suit just fine. Old-style Russian communism was about as 'communal'
as Middle Ages feudalism. Communal capitalism means being environmentally focussed - not because it's
trendy and will appeal to XYZ demographic, but because if we don't focus on sustainability, we will not
be able to sustain our present comfortable society. Looking after the environment we live in is not
about 'saving the planet' - the planet will survive. We won't.
We have a choice of what we want the world to look like in 30 years' time. Either every man for himself
living in a lawless Mad Max/ Threads type landscape, fighting over the scraps left over from the
'over-production' age, or a communal, less-greedy but perfectly satisfactory way of life.
There's more chance of God appearing on the news than a political party along these lines, but perhaps
the general social conscience can change..
23/9/09
It's late September 2009 and i've just seen another TV ad for Florence & the Machine; they're really
growing on me - i'm almost at the point where i'm going to buy the album. They played the festivals
this summer, they're on XFM and Jools Holland regularly, and this is the 2nd or 3rd time i've seen the
ad, yet only now am I just starting to move towards investing..
So it's also dawned on me what a near-impossible task it is for me to get anywhere as an independent
artist with no backing and no real cash to spend on promotion, other than the 'free' promotion the web
offers.
The promotional push behind Florence puts into perspective what i'm going to be able to achieve
single-handedly. I know that only repeated exposure to an artist gets people to become 'fans' to
any degree. It's frustrating and a bit depressing, but as long as I do the best job I can on
completing the album and i've got something i'm proud of, i'll have achieved what I set out to do
at the start of the summer.
14/08/09
Well i've finally written some songs i'm really proud of. If you're reading this,
you've probably heard them by now ( if not, go to my music page.)
I'm hoping to complete the album ('Heretic & Proud') by the end of the year;
the songs are written, I just have to find the time and money to record them.
In the meantime, i've put the first 3 out as an EP, available to download everywhere, if Ditto Music
ever pull their finger out.
If you want to feedback, feel free to contact me.
1/01/09
I've been making a racket for over 20 years, with guitars, voice, samplers and so on.
I've released 4 records, been name-checked by Nick Warren and Marshall Jefferson, and had about 200 uses
for TV etc. through licensing companies around the world.
Right now I love the mesh of guitars and electronic stuff, there are many bands now starting to do this
and making very exciting music, though the 'mainstream' is still split between either guitar bands or
dance.
Massive attack have probably done it best so far on 'Mezzanine,' a truly timeless, amazing album.