|
| |
Preface (an explanation of what this page is
all about).
Highlights
Ashlee Simpson
Rant (and videos!)
The Rolling Stones
opened for me ;-)
February
27, 2007
"If one gains victory in battle and is successful in attacks, but
does not exploit those achievements, it is disastrous." - Sun Tzu,
The Art of War
Discussion
forum
The short version:
New album for sale
/ Videos on YouTube / MySpace
The long version:
The question that's been on my mind for a while is what to call this
article. I've been writing these 'Chronicles' on occasion for about
five years now. It's been a year since my last one. Far too long for
a writer, but writing articles isn't really what I'm supposed to be
doing, unless I'm looking for a career change. Besides, I'd have to
find someone to pay me ;-) It has been suggested, in a new age, power
of thought, creating your own destiny kind of way, that I should choose
a more positive title. As well, what kind of impression does the present
title leave with people. Should I call it 'Chronicles of a Successful
Musician'? That seems a little pompous. Certainly I have been successful
though at one of my goals though. Playing for a living is a rare thing
these days. I remember way back, when I felt so lost, wondering how
on earth to even find venues that would pay me. How would I promote
and sell myself? Then, the years I avoided pub gigs but went busking
instead, just to get away from the smoke. This was before non-smoking
laws were so prevalent. Then years of playing pubs again. Many of the
musicians I've met who play for a living stated that it's all they've
ever done. I am envious of them. They just found themselves doing it,
and continued doing it. I sometimes think of myself a seed that was
planted in the wrong soil. So I struggled. I struggled to uproot myself
and crawl over to a life that agreed more with my soul.
So now I'm here, this place of playing music for a living. I've been
here for a while. I could just comfortably continue singing for my supper.
In fact by moving to the right places in the world I could be assured
of lucrative lifestyle. Some believe however that comfort can be a bad.
Kahlil Gibran said "The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that
enters the house as a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master".
You see, growth is usually uncomfortable. Struggling is what I do, have
always done and will always do. Of course, sometimes, when I'm smart
enough, I take breaks to recover and have fun. I struggle to maintain
what I am, and to be more than I was. To be honest, I'm struggling to
write this article. I really need to get to a beach ;-) "Struggle"
to me is not a bad or negative word. To me "struggle" means
life. The kind of life that moves forward. I don't live for the struggle
itself. That would be silly. I just know it's something that usually
comes with leading a good and happy existence.
So, on we go. Chronicles of a Struggling Musician!!!
Next:
"If one gains victory in battle and is successful in attacks, but
does not exploit those achievements, it is disastrous." - Sun Tzu,
The Art of War
I have a new struggle. Actually it's really just the same one I've been
on for a very long time. It's all coming full circle to writing and
recording. I want to graduate! It's time to graduate. While I may want
to focus primarily on writing and recording, of course that means I
have to sell what I'm producing. I learned to play cover songs to pay
the bills. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting to do way back when.
My interest was in song writing. I learned to play an instrument because
of the songs in my head, needing a way to pull them out. Before I get
on with the incredible backlog of half finished songs that I've have,
I want to close a chapter, or at least review it. I am capitalizing
on my achievements. Sun Tzu was a smart guy! I have an new album. 'Recovery'.
It's been for sale for months from iTunes and countless other download
sites. About time I mentioned it, huh ;-) Although I was having fun
with the title, it's amazing how many people think it has something
to do with drug addiction and a rehab clinic ;-) I hope I don't have
to explain to anyone else what I really meant. There was only one way
that seemed appropriate to produce the album, and the one I'm working
on now (yes, another one). One voice, one instrument, live recordings.
After all these years of playing these songs, I wanted the album to
sound something like seeing me play a solo show. The reviews I've been
getting so far have been very positive. So, now, in very clear words,
using an hypnotic tone, "Buy my album! Tell your friends to buy
my album! Tell everyone you meet during the course of your day to buy
David Ellul's new album 'Recovery'" ;-)
I'm starting to wonder, by the way, if winks and smiley faces have been
officially accepted as punctuation ;-)
I'm not sure what I'd do without them.
What I'm up to now and miscellaneous other things:
I'm recording another album of cover songs. Maybe even two. I had very
little time to record either of my first two albums, and did so in rooms
that I wasn't at all happy with. This limited my options considerably.
This time, for the first time ever, I am actually in a position to take
some time, and I also have the space to play around a bit. I'm extremely
grateful for the people responsible and would like to say thank you
yet again. I've got some test recordings done, and may in fact even
use some for the next album. I have some cleaver titles in mind such
as 'Recovery 2' and 'Recovery 3'. I do envision that I may continue
with this theme on occasion, in between my super over produced, many
textured layers albums full of original material ;-)
On a previous note, I'm trying to record with an injured finger. I've
kept fairly quiet about it, but it's just another reminder of to me
of how important it is that I do graduate (I love calling it that).
You see, I love playing for a living. Seriously, think about it. I get
to go out at night, do what I love, host a party, have a lot of fun
and encourage others to do the same. I get paid for this!? There is
one problem though. Actually, there are dozens, but only one that I
can't abide. If I can't sing, and I can't play, I'm shit out of luck.
So, again I say, time to graduate. I will always love playing live,
and intend to do much more of it, but right now there is something else
that needs to be done.
YouTube
While I've been recording I have been leaving a video camera running.
Actually, it's the iSight camera from my new Mac, a 17 inch MacBook
Pro. Is it actually possible to love a computer? Apple isn't paying
me for that statement, but if they'd like to, I suggest they email me
soon ;-) I've decided to put up some of these videos on YouTube.
You know, that thing that's replacing television. Pick your favourites
and trade them with your friends like hockey cards ;-)
I've been included on somebody's selection of the best
Canadian cover songs on iTunes. Cool!
MySpace
I've finally succumbed to the cult of MySpace and whipped up a rudimentary
page... Blah blah blah blah blah. I don't get it. Kids, go outside and
play! Ok, now that I've said that... I don't have any friends on MySpace
yet... Please come inside to cyberspace and be my friend... :P
Gotta love those emoticons! ;-)
Photos are finally
up from the XFM Music Festival I played at, headlined by Bob
Sinclar last summer. Thanks to Sven
Farrugia for the pics. It was a very strange gig for me. I had two
15 minute slots, scheduled hours apart. During the second one, Bob was
busy in a different area, pumping out so much volume that I couldn't
actually be heard. Still it was a lot of fun and the biggest gig I've
been part of since the
Rolling Stones opened for me ;-)
Well, that's it for now. Back to my reclusive, creative life.
Hmmm.. life without emoticons... NAH! :D
Cheers,
:David
Discussion
forum
------------------------------------------------------------------
February 22, 2006
Back in Malta. A blast of staccato thoughts.
Discussion
forum
Just a quick little hello as I've got too many things on the go at once
again. I've actually been back in Malta for close to a month now, and
I think an email announcement is far overdue. There was a brief stay
in London (on the house boat of a gracious friend). I might post some
pictures soon, of the view and various other things. Of course, if I
could just tap into the FIVE MILLION CAMERAS covering every square inch
of the city I'd have no problem finding tons of pictures to show you.
Everybody there must feel like they are famous ;-) London was interesting
and I certainly earn a lot more per gig, but I'm addicted to sunlight,
and found myself wishing to be back on 'The Rock'. Besides, I have a
band to put together in Malta for a very cool gig a few months from
now (more on that later when things are confirmed, shhhh, fingers crossed).
I'm still trying to plan some time in London soon to explore things
there.
Other stuff:
I've been working (at least trying to) on a little recording project
that I hope to have done and available before the summer. It's going
to take some time, and I have way too many distractions, but it's something
that's been on hold for quite a while and I want to finish it before
I move on to the next 5 projects ;-) All of this travelling really is
work, and I feel like I haven't been getting as much accomplished as
I often do. Of course I have been getting a lot done, it's just not
of the usual sort so I feel as though I'm spinning my wheels. I've decided
I really don't (and never have) liked being my own booking agent, especially
when moving around from country to country. I have made some connections
with various agencies, and have more to explore. I hope it will prove
fruitful. Wish me luck. I've never personally found it much of an option
in Toronto as there really aren't any booking agents or managers (in
my humble opinion) that deal with musicians who make money at it, but
aren't already making millions. I've actually been told "We only
deal with acts with record label interest". Umm.. last thing for
today. I seem to be spending a lot of time with Ozzy Lino at Fat Harry's
on Sunday afternoons. He's been hosting an open jam, and it's been a
lot of fun so far. I highly recommend it, unless of course I have a
conflicting gig. Then you should ignore Lino and come and see me somewhere
else ;-) It's a hell of a lot of fun and he's been pulling in some talented
musicians, most importantly me (it's called a sense of humour folks).
Most of you probably aren't aware of how much I enjoy playing electric
guitar. Improvising some hot lead lines through a good amp was really
the focus of my early studies and it's mostly what I've been doing at
the jam. I'm brushing off the rust... so much rust! ;-)
Oh, I almost forgot. After years of complaining that I can't keep up
with my emails I realized that much of it has to do with the spam that
still manages to get through. I've decided to kill a half dozen or so
of my email addresses. If you've been having trouble reaching me, just
go to the contact page and click on a new one. I've finally gotten around
to hiding them from email harvesters with a bit of javascript. For those
of you who have my personal address, even that one is now receiving
spam (the last straw that encouraged me to finally deal with this).
I'm considering killing that address too. If I do, I will create a very
obvious variant of it.
Until next time,
Cheers,
David
Discussion
forum
------------------------------------------------------------------
December
12, 2005
Leaving on a jet plane, again.
Discussion
forum
I really thought this instalment was going to be long and take forever
to write. I seem to prefer just getting to the point today, so I'll
forgo most of my witty banter and colourful story telling. This may
in part have to do with the fact that I started writing this over a
week ago, I was in Gatwick airport during a much longer than expected
stopover. Mmmm, airplane food ;-) Hmmm.. now that it's done, I guess
it is long and took me forever to write...
What kind of a knob goes to Canada in the middle of winter?
Well, I guess a Canadian would ;-) I'm back in Toronto (Mississauga
actually) for a few months. I'm here to visit my family and friends
and deal with a million little things. As much as I love everyone here,
I had trouble dragging myself onto the plane. Something about leaving
20 degree weather... hmm... It's funny, but before I left I actually
thought of snow in the winter as a good thing, because that meant at
least it was actually warm enough to snow. Now somehow, -3c seems kind
of cold. Of course there will be some shows. I'm still busy booking
them, so expect some updates to the showdates
page. Things are loosely planned for the the return to Malta. I'm expecting
to head back in mid January, with a possible short stay in England.
Sunday Circle article.
This is cool. From my understanding it's one of the most widely read
local publications in Malta. Thank you Nanette! I haven't found a link
on the net yet so I can only offer these jpgs. It's a bit of a download
for those of you on slower connections. I feel I should write more to
try and draw your attention, but what else is there to say. Hmm... maybe...
READ
THIS (part 1) and this THIS!!!
(part 2) ;-)
New
song demo.
Just a quick demo of a new song folks, "Since
You've Been Gone". It's actually the second rough demo, for
those of you who heard the first. Anyway, why wait until it's produced
(lot's of instruments for this one soon), released by a record company
and accompanied by my half million dollar music video ;-) Let it be
heard!! :-) As usual, it's just a live, off the floor take. These things
are surprisingly difficult to do I find, but I seem to have gotten better
since my album. Mic placement, good take, blah blah. You see, although
it's less work and equipment and knowledge needed, if you screw up at
all, you can't fix it after the fact. There is no other way to catch
the subtle interplay that happens live between a voice and guitar though.
I'll be the first to state that at this point I'm a musician, not a
producer. In time, in due time, or maybe I should just stop being stubborn,
save some money and pay a studio!! In the mean time, tell the world,
share the song. Maybe you can even trade it with your friends for another
one like hockey cards ;-)
More thank you's and why I don't mention the people that matter
most.
I'm often thanking people for various things on this website. There
are many that I never mention though. I realized long ago that pursuing
this business might mean giving up a great deal of my privacy. I came
to terms with this long ago. There is a real downside to fame, or so
I've heard. I'll let you know when I get there ;-) That's a price I've
chosen to pay, but the people close to me have had no such say in the
matter. It's been a policy of mine to avoid talking about my personal
life here, or at least not in a way that would affect them greatly.
I don't think they should be burdened with the downside when they don't
get the upside to go with it. While on that topic though, have you ever
noticed that often the more talented an artist, the less they seem to
get mentioned on TV or in certain tabloids? Seriously, if you hear all
about what brand of cereal SoAndSo likes and who they ate it with that
morning, after whatever wild drunken Hollywood party, then I think it's
because their lack of talent requires all the attention seeking, media
leaking promotions necessary to keep them in the spotlight. Just a thought.
Anyway, back to the real point of this section. To the those of you
close to me, for all of the wonderful things you've done and the love
we share, THANK YOU. You know who you are. I'm publicly apologizing
to any of you who may have misunderstood.
So they say it's your birthday.
Speaking of those people. I was thrown the most surprising birthday
party, more than a full week before my birthday. It was completely unexpected
and perfectly executed. To pull it off, hell, to even get me there,
involved a fairly deep understanding of human nature and my personality.
I am thoroughly impressed!! I make this sound like an episode of Mission
Impossible. Mission Impossible is child's play!! ;-) I had a fantastic
time and you really brightened up my week. Thank you. I've thought about
re-growing my hair lately. This is one the possible new hairstyles (I
couldn't resist putting up this pick)
Surprised!?
Birthday part deux.
So, what would a guy, who loves to play music more than just about anything,
like to do for his birthday? You guessed it. I played! If you got pics,
please send them. I just managed to grab a couple with my phone's camera.
Cheers! Happy Birthday to me. Aww.. shucks :-)
At Labyrinth in Valletta
Ira Losco incident.
It was a couple of months ago. I was woken late one Sunday morning (which
was about 5 hours after I went to sleep) by the sound of music coming
from the Westin Dragonara Resort, which I could view from my living
room window. Not being able to rest, I decided to go over and investigate.
I was drawn in particular to a girl singing with the accompaniment of
one guitarist. Her voice reminded me of another musician and friend
of mine, Dawn, of Ophelia's
Mirror. More on Dawn later. I was only there for a few minutes before
I was asked if I'd like to buy some raffle tickets. It turns out that
the whole event was a charity drive for UNICEF.
While buying a few tickets I joked that it was too bad I wasn't playing
as well. To my surprise the response was to call the general manager
of the hotel over to discuss this. Half an hour later I
was on stage. So, back to Ira. I obviously meet a lot of musicians
in the course of my journeys. I often try to help other musicians when
I can. It's just my way of trying to be a good human being, and to pass
on the help I've received from others. It was in this spirit that I
approached Ira. I also thought she might be interested in contributing
some vocals here or there to some future recording projects. Coming
from Toronto, a place where extremely talented musicians are barely
noticed, and always working a day job to support their musical addiction,
and can never afford more than a small budget for recording, I assumed
that Ira's circumstances were no better than mine, and probably much
worse. You know what they say about assuming ;-) It was weeks later
before I stumbled across her website
and found myself feeling a little foolish. Ira's career hardly needs
my help! And now more about Dawn.
Accolades to the deserving.
It seems a lot of the people I've shared a stage with are making quite
an impression. That, of course, only encourages me more. These mentions
aren't in any particular order.
Ophelia's Mirror
The first award goes to Dawn, and to the other half of Ophelia's
Mirror, Shawn. Shawn is an outstanding guitarist, and Dawn is an
outstanding singer. I've caught them live many times and they are the
real deal. I go out of my way to hear them play. If want to hear more
I've included a few links (link
1, link 2).
I first heard "Casual Goodbye" years ago, and I'm still shocked
at how good a song it is. Right now they are busy working on their first
album. Dawn has also been really busy doing something much more important
than the usual trivial feat of making millions and being famous. She
is a truly remarkable person and I'm proud to know her. More
of what she's been up to.
Juan Coronado
Once long ago, when I dreamed of being a rock star, I thought if there
was one guitarist that I'd love to have play in my band it would be
Joe Satriani. Years later, while
at an audition for a house band I met Juan. I felt that same feeling
of awe, but on top of that Juan is a great, friendly and easy to get
along with guy. Oh, and here's Juan
hanging with Joe and a half dozen other famous guitarists!! You
see, Juan was one of ten finalists in a competition run by Guitar
Player magazine. Way to go Juan!!
Dream Aria
I met Anne at that same house band audition years ago. It's interesting
how talent pools in the same ponds. Wow, does this woman work. I don't
know how she gets so much accomplished! Umm.. in a nutshell, Dream
Aria is getting airplay and great reviews all over the planet. Congratulations
to Anne and the band!!
Timothy Cameron
Tim is someone else I'm proud to know. A breath of fresh clear insight
in a very clouded world. Especially in this country, which seems to
have so many clouded (snowy?) minds. Tim has managed to snag the top
spot on MP3tunes
in the angry folk category. Congratulations Tim!!
Does this mean I have to get some award trophies made? Maybe a statue
of a bald guy. I wonder if they'll settle for a snowman? ;-)
Cheers,
David
Discussion
forum
------------------------------------------------------------------
September
28, 2005
Wow, that was a blast at Labyrinth! :-)
Discussion
forum
Well, I'm sure you've heard this before. I'm supposed to be finishing
a song and not writing another 'Chronicles'. I'll try and keep it brief,
to the musical point, and avoid any of my usual ranting about politics,
the music industry or whatever else has ticked me off lately. This is
so unnatural for me ;-)
The blast!
First of all, the launch of the acoustic jam night at Labyrinth
was a huge success! The turnout was incredible and the crowd was amazing.
Thanks to request after request, I ended up playing an hour past when
I'd planned (my third set was an hour and a half long!), but luckily
the crowd was doing half the singing for me. My voice by that point
wasn't entirely under my control. Not unexpectedly I ended up playing
the whole night myself, but I'm sure word will spread soon enough and
we'll see some other great musicians there to do my job for me ;-)
I am starting to believe that these shows at Labyrinth (other nights,
other themes coming soon) just may become the most important regular
musical event on the Island. It's really cool to be part of it and be
lucky enough to be the host of it's first night. To all of the local
musicians on my mailing list, come down! Spread the word! As well, the
theme for Friday may be acoustic, but that's more about volume levels
and having some play room for dynamics. Electric instruments aren't
being ruled out.
Big thank you's
Thank you number one
First and foremost I'd like to thank Francesca Vincenti. I'm sure most
of the Maltese readers out there are already familiar with her. I don't
think I've ever met someone so accomplished and capable in so many different
areas. She is truly an amazing person. For you non-Maltese readers,
Francesca is a world wide recognized wind surfing champion, sailing
champion, has been voted Malta's best athlete a few times over, is a
singer, an actress, a database programmer to boot (appealing to the
geek in me), and presently works for the Maltese government in a not
too shabby position! Whew!! She's become quite a friend in a relatively
short period of time. It usually takes a decade before I bestow that
exalted title on anyone. Why am I thanking her? Well, over the last
few months she's been incredibly helpful in a dozen ways and hundreds
of times. I don't know how I could ever repay her (although a yacht
comes to mind). This time though, along with the help of Marc Muscat,
the owner of Labyrinth, I have to state that she is probably most responsible
for the success of the launch night. I'm strongly suggesting it and
I hope that Francesca considers a career change. She'd make an outstanding
manager and/or promoter. Thank you Francesca!
Thank you number two
I don't know how much more I can say about this guy. It's starting to
seem like I mention him each article or that he's paying me by the word,
so this time I'll keep it brief. Another couple of thank you's and compliments
to Ozzy Lino.
I've had a blast jamming with Lino a couple of times at Fat
Harry's. It's no secret that Lino is a great singer, but I had no
idea that Lino's voice was that powerful until I was right beside him,
singing into the same mic, generally being drowned out and losing my
hearing in one ear. Wow! He is also an outstanding showman and entertainer.
An expert at whipping up a crowd and getting them involved. I just sat
back at certain points and tried to learn everything I could. Thank
you again Lino for introducing me to a few people and setting me up
with a few gigs. It is very much appreciated.
Thank you number three.
This one goes out to Phillip Fenech. Phillip is the owner of BJ's, where
I've played numerous times. Thank you Phillip for giving me my first
shot at it on this Island. Phillip is a really cool guy who has done,
and still is doing, quite a bit to improve things in Malta. I'm sure
if you punch his name into a search engine you'll come up with a pile
of links relating to a certain airline and a tourism issue presently
being debated. I'm not playing at BJ's as much, but I kind of consider
it one of my many homes.
What am I in trouble for now
It seems my joke about rap music in my last article stirred up a little
controversy and a few questions. Here we go. I don't dislike any musical
genre. Really I don't. I love listening to anything if it's good. The
problem is that rap is currently very popular, and whenever any musical
style is popular, the usual filters that would help screen out the crap
get loosened in the quest for a profit. It's happened before with other
styles and it will happen again. Secondly, when a particular style or
genre is popular, there tends to arise a much greater proportion of
copy cats and pretenders who are doing it more for reasons of profit,
cool factor or whatever else, instead of a true love for the style or
need for artistic expression. A lot of early rap (and all of it's sub
genres) was an artistic outlet for people in some pretty rough situations,
who weren't too likely to have access to quality instruments or training
to use them. I see that as one of the beauties of it; that humans will
find artistic outlets no matter what their circumstances. When I hear
some kid from suburbia regurgitating stuff that he's never experienced
because that's the excepted thing to rap about, I just have to laugh
and shake my head. Thirdly, last but certainly not least, I have no
tolerance for raping over someone else's music!! Write your own damn
music for it!! Actually, now and then it can be kind of cool, but it's
just been over done lately. What amazes me more is that some times,
some people aren't aware that the music underneath, which conveys most
of the feeling for me, is actually someone else's song.
Oops... I guess I was ranting again ;-)
My apartment
I just couldn't help but include a few pics of the view I sit in front
of everyday. the largest wall in my living room is just made of 3 large
windows. No wonder I finally find myself writing again. I just couldn't
seem to do it in Toronto. I'm having a few issues with the agency I
rented it from though. I hope they can be resolved or I just may have
to find another big beautiful view somewhere else. It shouldn't be too
hard though, and besides, it will give me something else to rant about
;-)
Yes, that's the moon in the first two shots!
I just came back from swimming. I think I'm just going to sit on my
couch, which is where I'm presently writing this, and look at the sea
some more. Ahhh... my life is so rough lately ;-p
Cheers,
David
Discussion
forum
------------------------------------------------------------------
September 22, 2005
Just a quick hello :-)
I haven't had time to write a "Chronicles" in ages, despite
the wealth of material I have for it. Oh the stories on this Island!
It's been very interesting here in Malta. I'm trying to finish a song
instead.
In the meantime, I just thought this was cool
enough to mention. It's actually hitting a lot of the newspapers
here, but this was the only one I've found referenced by Google yet.
It's about two thirds of the way down the page. Look for the mention
of The Labyrinth Bistro.
On another note, as I listen to crap in the background in this internet
cafe (no net at home yet), what are all the rappers going to do after
they run out of other peoples songs to rap over? Ahhh... pondering the
mysteries of the universe ;-)
Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
August 4, 2005
My first five weeks in Malta
(Discussion
forum for anything in this outrageously long 'Chronicles')
I guess the best way to finish writing something is to make sure I actually
start. ;-) For weeks I have just been adding to a list all of the things
I thought I should write about.
Well, let's start with the plane flight! It was a plane flight. What
else could there be to say about it ;-) I do have a few pics. In fact
almost all of the pictures I've been taking have been with a camera
phone, so don't expect too much.
Very exciting!
Malta is hot! The most amusing thing for me is that you poor Torontonians
have actually been having warmer weather, but while I get the sea air,
you get smog. Part of me wants to laugh in a most sinister way about
my good fortune. Another part of me truly feels sorry for what you are
enduring. I've dealt with it enough myself.
Of course, within a couple of days of landing, despite having about
7 hours sleep over the previous 4 days, I went out and tried to kill
myself with a sunburn. I was out on a catamaran for 8 hours, but wisely
slathered with some spf40 lotion. Since then, I've been without a drop
of lotion for hours at a time without a sign of any burn at all. Hurray
for genetics!! I was worried that with my years in Toronto, with it's
smog filtered sun, and the constant shade from buildings taller than
mountains, I had reduced my ability to endure the mid-day sun here,
but I seem to be fine. I am a little concerned with my butt being such
a different colour than the rest of me that it seems to glow in the
dark. I'll just have to 'hang' out at a nude beach to 'rectify' that
;-)
A few first impressions
Well, I haven't seen or heard a single thing about Paris Hilton, anywhere!
I can't tell you how soothing that is. I feel like my soul can breath
a bit. In fact, there is very little advertising anywhere, which is
such a blessing. I was a little tired of billboards in Toronto, larger
than movie screens, or for that matter outdoor video displays larger
than movie screens, constantly informing me of what piece of bullshit
I have to buy next just so I can be one of the cool kids. Unfortunately,
there are still girls here wearing pants that are cut way to low for
their particular body types (silly), but they make up for it with tops
which are also cut a little too low ;-) There are also guys here who
wear their pants too low for either fight or flight, which I feel is
a very important test of an animal's suitability for survival. You can
also hear some of the same crappy pieces of corporate, shoved down your
throat by a million in marketing money songs played mindlessly in some
clubs and on certain radio stations. Cars still pollute here. All in
all though, I'm happier than a kid in a candy store. I love this place.
No place is perfect, but, well, did you look at the pictures above?!!
I can do something like that any day of the week!!
The Maltese have to be just about the most genuinely helpful people
in existence. Canadians (and yes, even Torontonians) are known for that,
and for good reason, but they are being upstaged by the Maltese. I will
admit that Canadians (and yes, even Torontonians) are more polite, maybe
the most polite people on the planet, but I'll take the extra human
warmth and care that I sense here instead.
Malta feels very multicultural to me, but that isn't too surprising
considering their geographical location. The flood of tourists might
also have something to do with that impression. As for some (just some)
of the young students (learning English), I do have to say that their
favourite pastime of breaking bottles and throwing garbage on the beaches
is a little disappointing. Luckily there is a new law coming into effect
soon which will involve a fine great enough to buy a luxury car with.
With an Island this small, I think it's a wonder that there isn't a
universal 24 hour public transit system. Not that I'm a transit planner,
but I think I picked up a little bit while playing in the subways in
Toronto over the years, and I've certainly spent enough time on the
busses there as well. Because of it's size I would think that Malta
would be a transit planners dream! If they had four times as many busses
with good off peak service, I think people here could easily give up
their cars. What would be the point in driving and parking when you
could just hop an a bus and be at any point on the island in less than
an hour. Maybe even quicker once traffic was reduced as the cars were
abandoned. I certainly wouldn't choose to drive then. It's not like
you can drive off the Island. Perhaps even make it a free service (meaning
taxes). The air would be even cleaner. The tourists would love it!!
I bet the busses would pay for themselves within a few years just from
the extra tourist dollars.
On to playing (my favourite part of course)
First, I want to thank Ozzy
Lino for letting me play a few songs at one of his shows. It was
also my first chance to hear him live. The guy has an outstanding voice
with an incredibly relaxed and natural approach. Exactly the kind of
singer I respect most. Not lost in imitation or affectation. Just being
himself and singing a song.
A big nod to Drunken Munky.
They play regularly at Huggins
Pub. These guys have a lot of raw talent and I can't believe they've
been together for as short a time as they have (someone correct me if
I'm wrong).
Recently at BJ's I saw Bomba.
To be blunt, I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor. They
were so tight, so energetic, so playful, so skilled that I've been left
with a sense of awe.
As for me, well, considering that I had a week long, lie on my back
and cough up lung type flu (which has come back to haunt me twice),
an amp that was busted for a week, a broken handle on my (new) guitar
case, a cable that crapped out on me and now a broken (new) microphone
stand, I think it's amazing that I've accomplished anything, besides
fix my gear. I guess Murphy
is still trying to get back at me. Silly Murphy will never learn. He
might as well try and stop time. I'm playing here and there, but of
course you can see that from my showdates page.
What you can't see there are the pictures, or read about how amazing
it is to go busking here. It's warm. The humidity is perfect for my
guitar (certain people might want to kill me for busking with this guitar,
but it's being treated with the utmost care). I'm making a pile of cash
playing on the street (with CD sales I've made as much a paying pub
gig). The people are extremely friendly and appreciative. I basically
am not too concerned about playing the bars and hotels here from a financial
standpoint. It's more about respect. I still fail to understand why
some people see a difference. I guess it's because they are looking
instead of listening ;-) Video killed the radio star. Of course this
may all change by the time the tourist season ends, but by then I should
be a household name here (fingers crossed). Word spreads very quickly
on this Island.
My favourite spot so far
Ahmed, my biggest fan
Some shots from BJs (damn camera phone)
Miscellaneous
I was walking down the beach, late for something, when I came across
a group of people. They were playing a most
beautiful song. I asked about it and they said it was a traditional
Christian worship piece from their home country (which I've forgotten).
I wasn't carrying any kind of professional gear with me, but I did manage
to capture it on a PDA. If anyone can help me identify the song, country,
language, I'd be most grateful.
Unfinished business
A BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Angel, Kevin, and Dawn and
Shawn for playing a few songs for me at my farewell gig. You don't know
how much that meant to me. As for the guy I didn't know, but took a
risk on, who I also let play a few songs, well, you'll be glad to know
that I finally cleaned out all of the cheese you spit into my microphone
(eewww)!
Radio interview
Jess from UMFM was
kind enough to interview me a few months back. The audio isn't great,
which is my fault as I suggested a favourite but noisy coffee shop for
a venue. I'm sure it is buried somewhere on UMFM's
website, but I've left a copy of the interview
here as well. Thank you Jessica :-)
Something I was involved with
At the end of January I was lucky enough and honoured to be asked to
record a live performance by Vanessa
Gunter accompanied by pianist Cecile Desrosiers. The program was
entitled "Around the World in 80 Minutes". The calibre of
these musicians is beyond my humble measuring stick. The depth, breadth
and beauty of the selected compositions is outstanding. Vanessa has
given me permission to leave a copy of those recordings here. Thank
you Vanessa.
1, 2,
3, 4,
5, 6,
7, 8,
9, 10,
11, 12,
13, 14,
15
I've said quite enough in this instalment, so now, with no further delay,
I bid you farewell.
Cheers,
David
(Discussion
forum)
------------------------------------------------------------------
June 21, 2005
Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again.
Although my bags aren't packed, I'm almost ready to go. "Go
where!?" you may ask. To Malta I will answer! I have been putting
off this email for the longest time now. I didn't want to write it until
my newly acquired Maltese passport was in hand (which it is, finally).
Murphy, you see, seems to have been doing his best to enforce his law.
Murphy, however, doesn't ever seem to remember that I am a recidivist
and I am used to circumventing his laws ;-) I had originally planned
to leave for Malta in the middle of May, but delayed and delayed again
I have been.
"Why am I going?" you may ask. I'm off to ply my trade in
another country for a while; in fact I'm considering several other countries.
It's part of the reason for finally affirming my right to Maltese citizenship.
Malta has recently joined the E.U. and I thought it might make work
and travel a little easier. While my intention is to make a pile of
money with my musical skills, music is hardly a steady trade in my experience.
I think it's a good idea to be able to use my myriad of other skills
legally. Hopefully an acquaintance of mine, Lino Busuttil (Ozzy
Lino), will help point me in the right direction while I'm there.
Lino has been very helpful and I'm taking this opportunity to thank
him. Thank you Lino! :-)
"When will I be back?" you may ask. Listen you; I'm getting
tired of all these questions ;-). I'm going for at least a couple of
months. It's more an exploratory trip than anything. No matter what
(Murphy!!), I'll be back sooner or later to visit family and friends,
and of course to play some shows. Who knows? Maybe I'll miss the weather
in Toronto, and all of the beautiful concrete, and the wonderful yellow
air here ;-) Maybe living in a country without snow, surrounded by the
Mediterranean will grate on me ;-)
Last but not least, of course I'm having a farewell gig. Just check
the showdates page for the when and where.
It's being thrown together in a last minute haphazard way, and hopefully
I'll be able to convince a few guest performers to play a song or 4.
There are many of you out there who have shared a stage or barstool
with me over the years. Consider this an open invitation to do so again.
Discuss
this topic
On to other news:
I'm on iTunes!!
Yes folks, you can now buy (download) individual tracks from iTunes,
or for that matter a dozen or more other sites. I may have to take down
some of the downloads from my site soon. Here's a direct
link for those of you that already have iTunes installed.
Discuss
this topic
Goodbye old friend (sniff, sniff). Hello new hot thing :-)
I've been hunting for a new guitar for years. I've finally found one.
Actually, I needed a new one before I recorded my CD as my Ovation was
in need of at least a re-fret at that time. I thought it was going to
be much harder to retire that old beat up Ovation. It has been a true
workhorse and has developed a unique sound and much character over the
14 or so years I've playing it. It now sits in its case, happily resting
for the first time. I think it's earned its retirement. Of course the
real reason I'm not playing it very much (or at all) is because I am
absolutely in love with my new Larrivee!
Some of you have seen me playing it at a show or two. It's an L-03 model
with koa wood on the back and sides. It has the most incredibly pleasing
tone and is so easy to play that I still find myself adjusting to it.
I swear I'm even singing better because of it. Who knew? After all of
these years I thought I had to practice to get better. Apparently I
just needed to buy a new guitar ;-)
The long and laborious process of choosing it began at Long
&Mcquade one day when Mike
and Paul pointed it out to me and stated that they were trying to make
sure it went to a good home. They were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable
and I can't thank them enough. I loved the guitar immediately, but being
my usual meticulous (anal?) self, I spent somewhere between 10 and 20
hours, over several days, trying out nearly every high end guitar in
the store. Some of these guitars were priced over $3000 and I was prepared
to pay (on Long and Mcquade credit of course) whatever amount was necessary
to satisfy me. That sweet new guitar of mine, however, was the best
sounding guitar in the store (to my humble ears). After I tried everything
else I came full circle back to it. Considering the extreme environments
I'm used to playing in I thought a Rainsong
would be my next guitar, but I've never heard or seen one in person.
They are impervious to heat and humidity. I guess I'll just have to
baby my new Larrivee instead. Luckily that's something I'll enjoy doing.
I've borrowed (stolen) some pics of the new guitar from Auggy's
website. I got a chance to jam with Auggy last week, for what is
probably the last time before I go. It's always a blast Auggy :-)
Discuss
this topic
What's with all the "Discuss this topic" stuff?
Well, I went to the trouble of creating a discussion section on my website.
I've noticed that there really hasn't been a whole of discussion going
on there though. So, I thought I'd do the obvious and try to spark up
a topic or three. I love audience participation.
Well folks, until... well very soon actually
Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
February 8, 2005
New pics are up!
You can find them in the Photo
Gallery. That's it. That is sum total of my post today :-)
------------------------------------------------------------------
January 12, 2005
Thick Skin and Self Indulgence
As usual, I have a lot to say but little time to write it. So, three
quick things first and then on to the rest of this instalment. The coolest
thing for me is that I didn't write much of this one. In fact, some
of you did ;-)
I'm playing this Friday (Jan 14) at the Slippery Boot.
It's at 1552 Avenue Road, just north of Lawrence
My album has been reviewed
by Earshot. There will
be a bit more on that below.
I'd like to make a quick mention about a local musician I had the pleasure
of jamming with a few weeks back. Auggy
has been hosting an open mic at the Wolf
and Firkin, which just happens to be around the corner from where
I live. He's fantastic and we had a blast tearing songs apart and improvising
for hours. I love communicating with another musician on that level.
It's inspiring, humbling, taxing and just about the most fun a person
can have with an instrument. Thanks for the night Auggy!
That's it for the three quick things, so now on to the longer thing.
Sometimes when you play music on the street (or in a subway station)
unpleasant things happen. Actually, perhaps unpleasant things happen
all the time, but I think I'm numb to a lot of it now ;-) To keep the
story brief, I had my playing/singing directly insulted, not once but
twice in December. That brings the total number of times that I can
recall this happening since I've been busking to a grand total of 5.
The two recent times that this happened I may not have sounded my absolute
best, but I think I was doing a pretty good job. This led to some thought
over the next few weeks. I estimated the number of compliments versus
insults I've received over the years. I think the math works out to
a ratio of about 300 to 1. Yes, this is a number I've actually thought
about and not just made up to add some colour to my writing. The reason
I thought about it is because there is a certain amount of self reflection
that happens when someone tells you that you suck (even if 5 people
turn around immediately after and tell you that you sound great and
that the woman must be crazy). I'll admit it though; as much as my usual
attitude involves a "Damn it, I'm doing it anyway!" approach,
sometimes I notice my ego, and I noticed it was a little bruised. While
going through this little self indulgent re-assessment phase I thought
it would be a good idea to re-read some of the nice things that have
been said about me. So, with no further adieu, I'll let some of you
write the rest of this article and soothe my ego ;-)
REVIEWS AND COMMENTS:
Earshot
http://www.earshot-online.com/
Independent singer-songwriter David Ellul has put a living room session
to CD and the resulting tossed salad of tunes is an impressive no frills
mod-folk recording that reeks of Bruce Cockburn, 3-chord Gord, Greg
MacPherson and "the answer is blowing in the wind". The Unplugged
Living Room Session is a pretty, honest and bare bones recording. Ellul's
talent is held up to the light as he plays a set of original tunes mixed
in with a couple of well chose covers: the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes",
Mr. Young's "Keep on Rocking" and BB King's classic "The
Thrill is Gone". Ellul's sound in that of the invisible downtown
subway and street corner acoustic guitar singer/songwriter busker. His
playing is plain, well thought out and his song writing is clever. On
this recording's opening track, "Shine On" Ellul introspectively
moans "Again I stare / Into the gem of fate / Facets reflect my
state / The future's vain / The past is gone / In the center I remain"
By L Pounds
Dec 23, 2004
-------------------------------------
Hey Dave,
I'll keep this short and sweet.
I picked up your album last week and gave it a listen.
Two words:
Fxxxxn SWEET man
Fxxxxn sweet.
Catch yah later.
Ben
-------------------------------------
I saw you on speakers corner man, you rock.
Navrax
-------------------------------------
I know that you sound good - don't need a newspaper to tell me that.
I knew you sounded good when I first caught your voice. That was why
I wanted to do a duet.
Keep on it - it's going to happen for you!
:-)
Bronwen
-------------------------------------
I directed a couple of my friends to your website, and more recently
(took a trip to sam the record man yesterday) have been playing your
cd to a few who swooned at the media clips on the site. And as good
as your cd sounds (I Loved it, frankly) you are infinitely better now;
whether that is because you've two years more refined a sound now, or
because you enchant better live, I'll never know. But I really wanted
a couple of my nearest and dearest to get an earful.
So I wait eagerly for notice on your next gig.
Angel
-------------------------------------
hi, my name is sharon. i just wanted to know if the guy i saw in city
tv (speaker's corner) was you. If it was it was you i want you to know
that i love the way you sang.
Sharon
-------------------------------------
Heya,
I'd like to be kept posted about your performance times/dates.
I saw you on Speaker's Corner(a repeat I'm sure) and it's been a while
since I was impressed with such raw talent. So naturally I tracked down
any info about when and where you play on Google(thank god for google).
If you find time, let me know where I can grab an album. I'm a few hours
from Toronto, but I promise we'll make it down for a show-I know we
won't be dissapointed.
Anyhoo, Keep it up, and your head looks great shaved = )
One more thing- When(i said when not if)you make it big, don't forget
who you are and where you're from.
Thanx for makin' this gal smile tonight = )
Brandi
-------------------------------------
"Hi David,
just wanted to say that I'm really impressed by your music. I'm one
of the watchers of Speakers Corners that actually did follow up on going
on your page... by the way, the shaved head is much better :-)"
"Just wanted to you encourage you and let you know that you are
doing it the right way. You've got a lot of talent and hopefully many
more people will recognize it in the future... That's all I wanted to
let you know."
Hans
-------------------------------------
A big THANK YOU to all of you!
Over and out,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
October 24, 2004
An overdue 'Chronicles' / Saturday Night (mostly) Live ;-)
This is another long one, and I'm still leaving out the bit
about panhandlers in this city. I've had so many things to write about
but I've been putting it off for weeks. Last night though, something
happened that compelled me to finally get around to it.
Ashlee Simpson / Saturday Night (mostly) Live ;-)
Video A
/ Video
B
I came home after a night of busking, reached for a bucket of ice cream
and flicked on the evil idiot box. I don't watch too much of it and
I don't have cable. Perhaps if my I.Q. dropped by 50 points I might
find more of it intriguing, and don't even get me started about reality
TV. Anyway, the last season of Saturday Night Live was particularly
good and this season so far has also been entertaining. That was my
reason for turning on the television. So I'm sitting there, eating ice
cream, being amused and entertained. The musical guest for the night
just happens to be Ashlee Simpson (who?). I caught part of a music video
a week ago and despite all of the money and polish thrown at her I thought
that she sounded bloody awful. Of course that's just my opinion. The
problem for me is that because I sing, play an instrument and have a
little experience with recording techniques and effects, I usually hear
through the smoke and mirrors. All I tend to hear is the original performance.
It's what I'm trained to do. Ashlee started singing and I wasn't really
paying attention at first. Something quickly caught my attention though.
It became apparent that she was lip synching. She was a bit behind the
audio and her body motions, especially what was going on with her facial
muscles just didn't fit. Whatever, here we go again. Of course a little
voice in my head was going on about what the hell was someone thinking
when they threw money behind this, and I wondered if the apparently
competent musicians playing with her felt a little embarrassed, and
how did she land a spot on SNL anyway? The comedy resumed, but of course
it wasn't too long before Ashlee was to be performing again. Then
a miracle happened. Just after the band started playing someone
cued the wrong audio track. Ashlee was dancing(?) around and her voice
could be heard loud and clear, but her mouth was no where near her microphone!
Within about twenty seconds she just walked off the stage. Her singing
could be heard again as she disappeared from sight. The show then cut
to a commercial. This all happened within one minute of the last commercial
ending. Can you say Millie Vanilli ;-)
Imagine that poor girl. Is it too much to expect her to able to sing
live (as if there were any other way) before she records an album and
shoots a video and has a million bucks of marketing money spent on her?
Ashlee then did something unfathomable, unconscionable and downright
stupid. She
blamed her band! She said they started playing the wrong song and
she didn't know what else to do. She blamed her band! (Yes, I know I
wrote that twice.)
I've been wondering over the last few years what would happen if musicians
would simply band together and stop playing for these people. If people
knew how little money that the backing band is usually paid, in comparison
to the 'Star', they'd be shocked. Please tell me though, how well received
would a Britney Spears or Madonna concert be if they were singing along
to a recording, without a live band. Wait, that sounds like certain
hip hop acts (sorry, I couldn't resist). Let's think about this for
a moment. People pay $100 to see a concert, but it's ok if the singer(?)
mouths along to an ultra engineered recording of themselves. Why do
people do it? I don't understand it. Is it really so hard to get live
musicians and live singers all performing together at the same time?
I do it everyday. I listen to great musicians do it every week. By the
way, and just for the record, I find it significantly more difficult
to play and sing at the same time than to do either alone. It took me
years to get good at it. So, what if musicians simply said no? What
if they simply refused to back somebody up unless they were worthy of
it? Food for thought? Perhaps we need a new kind of musician's union,
or a guild. What if this became a new rule? Back up a lip syncher and
be thrown out, forbidden from playing with other guild members. I hate
rules though. They never work for long. People inevitably find a new
way to subvert or pervert them. Perhaps my idea will spread. Perhaps
a new attitude will emerge.
Now, let's get on to personal stuff with a few quick notes.
I finally picked up my Speakers Corner prize. Paula Virany handed it
to me in person. Paula is the producer of the show. She is very personable
(and quite attractive, which of course has nothing to do with anything,
but I felt like mentioning it anyway). I was flattered. For those of
you that have no clue what prize I'm talking about, just read the last
few 'Chronicles'.
I've had some interesting conversations, either via email or in person
with Adam from the Beggarz and
Marshall Dane. I can't fully
express how impressed I am with their knowledge of the music industry
and their integrity. Maybe if the music business was run by musicians
and music lovers instead of people worried about quarterly profits,
the quality of what we have slammed into our ears would improve a bit.
I had a brief mention in the Toronto Sun newspaper a little while back.
Here's
the full article. I've clipped the picture and a little of the text
from Joe
Warmington's 'Night Scrawler' column.
"You know what's really good here, though, and full credit to the
mayor on this one. Our buskers. Top notch, and the TTC does a nice job
of selecting talented ones to license on the subway. At Queen Station,
David Ellul and Larry Grimes have been teaming up and, man, are they
good. I like how I have seen the same street musicians for years --
like Mike Gauvreau on the drums at Yonge and Dundas or Rudolf on the
violin at Yonge and Bloor."
There it is in print folks! "man, are they good". It must
be true since it was in a newspaper ;-) I finally have outside proof
that I sound good. I'm being a little playful here. I really mean it
though when I say "Thank you Joe for the kind compliment and for
writing about the things that happen in the day to day life of this
city". Keep up the good work!
Well, that's it for now. Until later (when I finally get around to that
article about panhandlers in this city)...
Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
September 13, 2004
Oh the Irony! / Speakers Corner Part 2 / The
Video (Giant Robot did it)!
I finally saw the Speakers
Corner episode I was in; a few days after it was first aired. It
was a bit weird but kind of cool seeing myself on TV. I remember spouting
off a little more, but someone was kind with the editing. It's too bad
that the bit with the girls jumping into the booth and singing along
with me didn't make the final cut. The biggest shock for me was finding
out I'd won a prize! I was watching the episode from the beginning of
course, and it started to look as though I wasn't going to be on TV
that night. I was worrying that it was a new episode and not the re-run
I was expecting. When I found out I was the winner for the week I couldn't
contain myself. I did a ridiculous victory dance in the middle of my
apartment! Here's
the video (no, not of me dancing). I apologize to anyone
that doesn't like to use Windows Media Player. Unfortunately the only
tool I had for editing the video would only allow me to export the video
as a .wmv file. I'll repost it when I find a solution.
What's ironic?
1. While in the Speakers Corner booth I suggested that a community should
support its local artists. I said "Why not spend ten bucks with
them instead of ten bucks seeing a movie". I had to laugh when
I found out part of my prize from City TV involved movie passes for
the Toronto Film Festival. Sigh...
2. As for that prize, I still haven't received it. I'd like to thank
the City TV staff for their valiant efforts to help me. I finally received
a reply to the numerous messages I had left on their answering machine.
It seems someone had broken in to the building and lit several fires
the previous week. The poor crew were still cleaning up the place. I'll
have to collect my prize next week as their prize certificates went
up in smoke. :-(
3. After getting my 15 minutes of fame I've found myself being recognized
everyday by someone, somewhere. This doesn't seem to have been considered
a good thing by whoever makes decisions at Modesto, a regular place
I've been playing. Of course, I'm not sure that anyone at Modesto even
knows about the City TV thing. Anyway, the regular Tuesday gig there
has been cancelled. Poetic justice involved me making about twice as
much playing on the street Saturday night :-)
4. A friend of mine was burglarized recently. Luckily not too much was
taken. A bunch of empty CD jewel cases were amongst the loot. My friend
tends to take the CDs out of their original jewel cases and put them
into a separate carrying case. The silly thief made off with a bunch
of booklets and empty plastic cases but not the actual CDs. What's hilarious
is that my CD was one of the few exceptions. I hope the burglar is enjoying
listening to it. It feels kind of nice to know that my album was worth
stealing ;-)
All in all, it was an interesting and slightly weird week. Such is life.
Change of topics
I need pictures. I've had my head shaved for a year now. I think I'm
going to keep it this way a bit longer. The problem is that I don't
have many recent pics of myself playing (with a shaved head) and I can
hardly take them myself. I know some of them exist out there, so send
em if ya got em, and please bring a camera next time.
Until next time
One for the money... Two for the show...
Till later,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
September 6, 2004
Ups and Downs / Speakers
Corner / City TV
I've heard it said often that manic depressives are attracted
to artistic expression. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the lifestyle
required is what turns us into manic depressives. It's been suggested
that perhaps no one will really want to read a 'Chronicles'
instalment on this subject. I remembered however that the purpose of
the whole 'Chronicles' thing was to let people peek into the inner sanctum/hell
of an artist's progression from obscurity to... well... a little less
obscurity ;-)
My last couple of weeks
August 17
Up / Modesto Gig
Both of the bartenders came up to me several times during the night
and let me know that I was doing a great job. They both indicated that
the wanted me there for Tuesdays from now on and that they would like
me to consider Sunday afternoons. Several patrons informed me that they
had purchased my CD from Sam
the Record Man and that they loved it. As well, I sold a couple
of CDs while playing
August 20
Up / TTC
Audition
It was that time of year again. For those of you that don't know, I
actually have to audition to be licensed to play in the Subway system
in Toronto. The competition can be really tough as only 75 people get
a licence each year. I played for the 7 minutes allotted. It seems I
made quite an impression. When I was done, one of the judges came up
to me and stated that I was amazing and needed to be recorded. What
I found amazing was that I'd never seen a judge even talk to an auditioner
before, let alone compliment one. I won't find out for a couple of weeks,
but I'm pretty sure I've got my licence this year.
When I was done, the TTC staff in charge asked me if I would be so kind
as to play for the audience during the judging break. The audition is
at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition)
and chairs are left out for those interested. I agreed and managed to
double the crowd despite the slight rain. I was also asked by the TTC
staff if I'd like to be interviewed by CFRB
radio the following day. It's not hard to guess my answer to that.
August 21
Up / The radio interview
I show up a bit early, as I'm prone to doing in situations like this.
I am informed that I won't be needed for an hour. I wander back to the
TTC auditions and I'm asked yet again to play during the judging break.
This time it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and the crowd was very appreciative.
A child of about 3 years of age decided that dancing along in front
of the stage for about half an hour was a good way to spend her time.
She was great for the overall mood and had the crowd laughing at times.
Of course I hammed it up a bit.
I made it back over to the CFRB booth and I was asked to be ready in
another half hour. Everything was moving at a very quick pace. I was
asked to play a bit of music while they faded in from a commercial.
SNAFU! They're having sound problems and my mic was dead. They quickly
switch topics. About 15 minutes later they manage to find a 2 minute
spot for me. I think this was about half of what was originally planned
and the quick pace was now feeling even faster. Those of you who know
me already know that I tend to speak very quickly. This time I sounded
like someone has sped up the turntable ;-) Here's
an mp3 of it. All in all though, it was fun and a good learning
experience.
August 24
Down / Modesto gig
That time of year. All the bars are dead. The bar staff doesn't seem
very happy. The place is empty. There are gear problems. I start playing
an hour late and end up leaving early.
August 26
Down / Holy Joe's gig
And I thought my last gig was dead! ;-) It was a pleasant performance
though. Most importantly I got to listen to the beautiful, powerful
and haunting voice of Shauna Major.
Thank you Shauna.
August 27
Down and Up / Busking / Speaker Corner
I went busking at Osgoode station Friday night, trying to catch the
bar crowd. I was amazed to get the spot as a few other buskers and I
know that it can be quite lucrative as long as your repertoire is appropriate.
$25 an hour is common and these days that's rare in the Subway. After
an hour I looked in my case to see a grand total of $4. I decided to
go home and catch up on some rest. To tell the truth though, after the
last few days this really didn't have much of an effect on my mood.
I was actually feeling fairly positive. Let's face it, being a musician
for the money isn't exactly very bright. I do it for the love of it,
and because I'm miserable when I don't. While skating home (on rollerblades
not ice skates) I decided on a whim to go over to City
TV and put some money into the Speakers
Corner booth. I complained about the lack of support for artists
in this city, pointing out that Steven Spielberg has enough money and
that if people didn't spend a little time and money on their local culture,
then their local culture would cease to exist and there would be nothing
for history to remember us by. Then I played some songs :-) Soon a couple
of girls decided to join me in the booth and sing along. Now we're back
to the other reason I play (besides just loving music). Making people
happy and having fun!
September 5
Up / Speakers Corner part 2 / The broadcast
I got home after a day with some family members. As I tend to do about
39 times a day, I checked my email. It seems I was aired on Speakers
Corner that night and made quite an impression. I received a request
to audition for a songwriter's project and sold some CDs online. The
first person to order, Liam, left me a nice compliment. He wrote "Saw
you on Speakers Corner. Well done!" Thank you Liam. You are getting
an autographed CD for that. I still haven't seen the episode and I hope
I wasn't being too silly in whatever way. I am prone to silliness. I
think it's being aired again Monday night at 11:30. Hopefully someone
(myself?) will tape it. If I get a copy, I'll
post a link right here
Conclusion
What have I learned from all of this? Simply, that letting this business
affect my ego or having an ego at all is just silly. All I can do is
just keep on playing, try to get a little better each time, and most
importantly remember why I do it. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Till later, Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
August 11, 2004
Facelift
New colours.
Well, it's hardly a complete redesign of my site but it's still a breath
of fresh air to me. I guess I was tired of purple. What do you think?
You can easily tell me and everyone else because....
I've opened up the forum section.
I'd originally required registration so as to keep some kind of eye
on things. My friends can be quite mischievous you see. That however,
seems to have limited the participation level so I'm going to take a
chance. Anyone can post now, whether you have registered or not. Have
at it you maniacs.
Advertising?
Something has occurred to me recently. I'm not sure how I feel about
this but maybe I should allow some sort of advertising on my site. It's
hasn't been something to consider before, but since the whole Behind
Blue Eyes / Fred Durst thing I've been averaging about 1500 visits
(and 4GB of downloads) per month. Not that I'm breaking any world records
but it's still enough to think about. Mmmmm...
Paycheque!
I got my first cheque from 'Sam
the Record Man'!! To those of you that purchased it from there,
THANK YOU! Now all I have to do is get my album into 99 more stores
and I should be doing just fine ;-)
More Band Links
Last but certainly not least, I've added some new band links. I've caught
all of these people live (except for Melissa, from whom I'm expecting
great things). I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm truly
amazed that some of the musicians I've heard aren't famous. Maybe it's
because I've heard them play live and ultimately for me songwriting
and the ability to play live are what matter most. By the way, I'm not
just saying all of this in the hopes that they will link back to my
site. None the less, I certainly wouldn't mind if they did. So if any
of you are reading this... :-)
New acts on the links page
Melissa Rebronja
Nathan Caswell
Tenth Planet
Trevor Mills
I'm going to leave off on a very sage note. Something that was recently
said to me by a certain art student, who some of you know and love,
and who is widely regarded as being wise far beyond her years. She said
"Being a great artist requires that you know everything, and that
costs you your life".
Cheers to that!
Later,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
July 25, 2004
Time to get back to work.
I think I've had enough of a rest, barely. It's time to start banging
my head against a wall again ;-)
First and foremost, I'm playing this Tuesday.
Where:
Modesto
482 Queen Street W.
Tuesday July 27, 8:00 PM
PWYC
I have so many stories to tell. In fact, so many that I guess I'll just
have to try and remember them all and relay them to you gradually over
the course of the next few instalments. Stories about the pan handlers
I've run into. Tales about the people I invariably run into that claim
that they want to and are capable of making me famous. Stories about
strange corporate gigs for gas stations that pay me well and treat me
better than bar gigs. Much to tell about some of the great musicians
I've been running into lately. But first.....
Radio airplay!
I'm catalogued for play at CIUT FM.
At this point I have no idea of what number to call to make a request.
I certainly wouldn't mind if anyone out there would do so. Feel free
to email me if you have any suggestions. Radio stations that are approachable
or any other info is appreciated. Uhhh... and just in case you didn't
read one of those earlier sentences, call CIUT during a show where it's
appropriate and request a song.
Well, now that Toronto is non-smoking I've decided to start looking
for bar gigs again. Some of you may know that a developing case of asthma
was a big part of the reason I stopped working as a bartender and that
cigarette smoke was the thing I hated most about singing in a bar. I'm
hoping there will still be a bar scene lucrative enough to afford to
pay me. Many have argued that once the patios close for the summer and
smoking isn't allowed inside that the patrons will disappear. On the
other hand, I've also heard from many about how they intend to go out
more and that it's so nice to not have their clothes smell of smoke
the next day. Now if only we could do something about quality of the
air in this city.
It's funny how my hiatus from the scene seems to have affected my reputation
with some. Busking over the last couple of years really toughened me
up and made me a much better player overall. Musicians respect it, industry
idiots do not, and there are many idiots in this industry and quite
a few sharks. In fact, after a recent request I sent to about a dozen
booking/management agencies I only received one reply. I was told that
I didn't have enough touring experience or record label interest. Silly
rabbit! Of course I absolutely despise the record company / radio station
promotion monopoly that exists in North America and that might be part
of the reason I don't have any label interest at this point. I don't
look for any. I keep ducking lest someone notice me. As sad as it is
I make more money as an unknown musician than some with contracts make.
Despite how bad the busking has been in Toronto for the last couple
of years, I made more in 4 hours on the street on Saturday than some
bar gigs I've played. I only wanted to play for three hours but I kept
getting requests for another song. Imagine, busking encores ;-) I guess
I'm hoping to be one of those rare musicians that succeed on their own
just by word of mouth. That doesn't change my need for help though.
This has simply outgrown my abilities. I need help. I'm always behind
on all of the non musical stuff and none of it is up to what I consider
acceptable standards. Booking, the website (wow, does it need to be
redesigned) promotional materials, industry contacts, events, radio
play, review submission, writing these silly chronicles; the myriad
of little things that need attention. I really should be writing some
new songs instead. It would be a little easier if I had a band to spread
these tasks around to but that's obviously not the case at present.
So....
A call for volunteers!!! Let the trumpets sound!!
If you have any skills that might be of help and you are willing to
donate a little time, all in exchange for little or no money at first
but lots of praise and a glowing recommendation, then please just drop
me an email. Who knows, maybe, eventually, we'll get rich. The only
reason I say "little or no money" at this point is because
there is little to go around. If more can be made, and I'm sure that
it can, then people can be paid. I believe strongly in sharing the wealth.
That's it for now.
Keep on Rocking,
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
May 10, 2004
I should have done this sooner.
To keep it short, a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that made it out
the the show. I had a great time and I'm honoured to have had the response
I did and to have shared the stage with such great talent. An extra
special thanks Tim Cameron, and
also to Dawn and Shawn from Ophelia's
Mirror. Hey Tim. I just caught your interview on CIUT.
Great job.
I think it's time for a well earned nap and maybe even a short vacation.
Well, until later, cheers!
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
April 18, 2004
Well it's about damn time!
Short, quick and to the point.
I'm having a CD release party!
Tuesday May 4th at Holy Joe's
Timothy Cameron
and Ophelia's Mirror
will be opening.
$5 Cover or $10 gets you a CD and admission!
Doors open at 8:30
------------------------------------------------------------------
April 8 2004
What The !!!! / and a new section
Well, my website traffic went through the roof this week. I haven't
had time to check my website logs in a while but when I did, low and
behold, suddenly I was seeing ten times the bandwidth! Of course I had
to track down the reason for this. Could it be aliens? A government
conspiracy? One of the last signs before the apocalypse! No... It was
Limp Bizkit?... sigh...
It seems Fred Durst / Limp Bizkit has done a cover of 'Behind Blue Eyes',
an old 'Who' song. Coincidentally, so did I. Now, as many of you know,
I don't listen to the radio. I barely watch TV. Of course, that means
I don't tend to see a lot of music videos. You could say that I'm generally
out of touch with the silliness of current pop culture or what I prefer
to think of as targeted marketing, so the Limp Bizkit cover of 'Behind
Blue Eyes' was a totally new revelation to me.
Needless to say, I had to dig a little further to see what all the excitement
was about. Some of the reviews weren't overly flattering. I soon (LEGALLY?!)
downloaded a copy using my present favourite file trading program, Ares.
I certainly don't mean to bad mouth Fred or whoever produced this, but
I will say that I prefer the original 'Who' recording, Pete Townshend's
acoustic version, Sheryl Crow's cover, and believe it or not (I'm very
self critical) even my own cover of 'Behind
Blue eyes'. It's even more apparent when I use my $400 headphones
instead of my laptop speakers. By the way, for the record, I like a
lot of what Fred Durst has done. I'm not saying that my recording is
great, just that I honestly do like it better.
So, let's tally this up.
His tools: Essentially unlimited
My tools: My apartment with mattresses on the walls, 3 days with my
girlfriend out of town to record, a Pentium 2 desktop, an ok soundcard,
2 good microphones, the previously mentioned $400 headphones, and no
training or previous experience recording, mixing, mastering, producing
blah blah blah...You've heard this before..
I win ;-P
What
do you think?
In
The Trenches
Hey!! What's with that link above!! Yes, I've been busy.
A few weeks ago I emailed a few of the local musicians a couple of questions
relating to the industry. The responses were so cool that I decided
to find a way for us to share info more easily. So I set up a forum
page. Of course, like most of my projects, this started off with me
not having a clue ;-) I'm using a wonderful bit of freeware called YaBB
(Yet another Bulletin Board). I can now officially state that I have
a clue. Perhaps one day I'll actually have an answer as well ;-)
Anyone can participate. There is a section for musicians and one for
listeners. Like most forums, anyone can read but only members can post
messages. This is standard with most boards. It's so that you can't
cause too much trouble and still be completely anonymous. On that note,
no one but me ever need see your email address on the message board
unless you choose so. In fact, I'd prefer it that way. It's all in the
profile settings. Sign
up is easy.
I'd like to leave all of you with an email I was recently sent by a
great guy who used to make it out to an open mic I used to host. How
could he not be great, he's flattering me! He had just picked up my
album from Sam the Record
Man.
"Hey Dave,
I'll keep this short and sweet.
I picked up your album last week and gave it a listen.
Two words:
F**k*n SWEET man
F**k*n sweet.
Catch yah later.
Ben"
Thanks Ben. That really hit the spot.
Until later ;-)
David
------------------------------------------------------------------
March 16 2004
Well, I certainly had a full weekend!
I was invited along to see 'The
Australian Pink Floyd Show' and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely.
Enough so, that I found myself aching to be in a band again. Now, as
if that wasn't enough, when I showed up at a pub for a friends stag
party (a bit late I might add), I found myself completely floored by
the artist that was there performing solo. His name is Marshall
Dane. I felt humbled, inspired and challenged at the same time.
More or less, I think I just sat there with my jaw open for a while.
Anyway it wasn't too long before a conversation began between Chelly,
Austin and myself. They were here in Toronto from Texas for business
reasons. Hey! No jokes. I'm sure Austin has heard them all anyway ;-)
They are both very charming people. The conversation more or less started
off with our amazement of Marshall's talent. It quickly moved on to
the question of why he wasn't receiving more recognition. I was reminded
of the Canadian Idol
thing. Apparently there was a discussion on television (Studio
2, TVO) between one of the judges and someone else that was critical
of the whole thing. She was pointing out how unfair it was that so much
attention was being paid to these few contestants when there is an incredible
amount of talent being mostly ignored in Toronto / Ontario / Canada;
dedicated, hardworking musicians who are out there slogging it out everyday
paying their dues and making sacrifices for their art. I have to agree.
There are so many fantastically talented musicians in this city. 20
years ago it would have been easy for many of them to make a decent
living just playing. The truth is, I can go out any night of the week
and see, for free or just a few dollars, a show that easily equals or
surpasses what people will often pay $50 or more for. What I really
wonder is how much better some of this talent would be if they had more
time to dedicate to their craft, instead of busting their butts at day
jobs to pay the bills. Toronto used to have a such a supportive environment
for it's artists. So, what's the point of all my rambling? Is this posting
bouncing around like a Simpsons episode without a reason or cause? No!
I've added a links page to my website. It's just starting out for now
so I've only included the few links that came to immediately mind. Not
all of the links will necessarily be to musicians. They may be just
something I find particularly interesting or useful. This idea is nothing
new of course. Still, if I can do just one little thing to help bring
a little recognition some of the talent in this city, then so be it.
Another thing I can do is encourage all of you to go out to see someone
play just 1 more time a month than you presently do. Vote with your
dollars, and certainly with your encouragement. It can be lonely out
there.
Now, all of |
