For all your music and artistic needs….the ones i can provide anyway…

Last July i left my job in a coffee shop for my sanity (giving up my all day free addictive indulgent espressos) to be instantly and unbeknownst presented with an opportunity to record my debut acoustic album. This fueled the next 7 months (that and cramming my brain with MCPS, PRS and PPL factoids whilst still topping myself up with some serious caffeine). Recording an independent album is something i’ve been wanting to do for a year or two, and probably since forever as i remember telling my Biology teacher i was going to be a rockstar when i was doing my A-Levels (i used to walk to school listening to Hole, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, wearing a lumber jack shirt and tie-dyed laces in my Docs..:)). Rockin.

A situation of randomness occurred. A friend of my friend Elaine was back in Liverpool before going on a world tour and he was up for recording my tunes.  AMAZING.  We basically recorded the album in a night. I had a REALLY small budget and Danny (Rogers) was doing me a huge favour so i worked. I rehearsed all day, slept for 4 hours, got up, had food and headed to the studio (Highfield St.) for 11pm.  When i got there Danny showed me the amazing acoustic guitar i ended up recording with. This is a rarity, i like my own instruments, but this guitar played itself, like a cliche and like a dream……:)  We got stuck in. Live takes, ambient mics, peanuts and bananas….it was sweet and i loved it.  By the time it hit 4.30am things were getting surreal and sleepy but we’d managed to get 6 songs down in 2 or 3 takes and 1 song in 1 take……..time for bed.  The world was a strange place when i headed home….

The CD process was awesome.  It took from August to December to get the songs onto a full-on audio cd with its own barcode and everything in my hand. In the meantime i’d painted and designed the album cover and sorted out licenses and loads of other bumf.  It was delivered by a man who was REALLY upset that the flats where i live don’t have buzzers.  I smiled a lot at him because it felt like Christmas and carried all 10 boxes up 2 flights of stairs and just sat and stared at them and leaned on them. I took a cd out and looked and looked, got a coffee and looked again….all day.

My debut album. CYCLE GRACE PULSE BREAK. 1000 copies of money saved, nights stayed in, food rations, really really hard work and lots and lots of passion, determination, perseverance…..X-Factor? bah….INTEGRITY 🙂 Love it!  Launched in December (which i’ll write about soon because it’s worth a longer mention) and now i’m ready to set sail and get these babies of mine spread as far and wide as possible. Giggage!

The album is available to buy as a download or physical copy (my favourite).  Have a listen to some tracks/clips and decide if you want to purchase.  (next time you’re considering buying cheap beer and take-away food buy my album instead, it’ll be good for your conscience and your spirit and better than toiletries if it’s a present for someone else :)) There’s only ever going to be 1000 copies.  Priceless.

For the time being there will be a FREE download of the song WAVE from the album with each Mailing List sign-up. Check out the right side of this page. The Mailing List will be a periodically (in my language that means ‘random’) sent email update of gigs, excitement and shenanigans. I uphold a strict promise to not bombard ye! So for the FREE Jo track come and join.

Many thanks for reading the blog, visiting the site.  Its great to have you here. Its been an awesome journey so far and very significant, i’m looking forward to the rest of 2011!

Leave some comments, let me know your thoughts…..on whatever really…i’ll answer

Jo x