The Other Side of the Mountain

After nearly 4 months, the video for Mountain Building is finally finished.

Sound and Vision: Mountain Building

... and before I know, these scenarios get inside my head and they take control ...

Read more about the song in The Other Side of the Mountain.

It's been a long journey. At times I wasn't sure that I'd be able to complete this project; it certainly challenged my skills and vision. I'm much more comfortable with sound than I am with visuals, and I recall times of blankness when I wished I was working with audio again in the belief that then I would know what to do. But I persisted and I've learnt so much from the process.

At face value, the music and video for Mountain Building may seem fairly dark and down. But for me the work has a positive, affirming side too. I've learned that self-awareness is important for healing. So, for me, Mountain Building is as much about identifying, acknowledging and owning the issue as it is about the issue itself.

Technical Details

Sound Software: Reaper, Melodyne, instruments from Native Instruments Komplete, effects from iZotope and Fab Filter.
Visual Software: Dragonframe, Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop.

Ink Won't Fade as Fast: Behind the Song

For the last 3 months I've been working on the music and videos for "Ink Won't Fade as Fast". As mentioned in an earlier post, early on I realised the song wasn't heading where I had originally intended so I decided to make two different edits. As I've made the decision to produce videos for all new songs this meant two different videos as well. In this post I want to write a little about the background behind the song, edits and videos and some of the decisions I made along the way. 

This song is not my usual subject matter. The inspiration came from an encounter I experienced in London last year. I'm not familiar with writing about intimacy and I never intended to share the details, but I hoped the song might invoke some of the feelings and help me to remember. For these reasons I've tried hard not to be too narrative with the words and visuals. Instead of writing about the experience, I decided to write in the third person and describe someone remembering the experience. Now it's finished, I've realised that the song doesn't really articulate what made this particular experience so special to me and in some ways that feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. So, although I don't wish to share the details, I might tackle that angle in another project down the track. 

While I'm on the topic of words, I do realise the poor grammar of the title. "Quickly" is probably more grammatically correct but it just didn't have the same rhythm and alliteration as "fast".

Musically, my original intention was for something that had a light feel about it, in sympathy with the experience. I also hoped I could create something that was different, at least for me. But of course, instead I found myself steering towards known territory with familiar styles and sounds. Not bad; just familiar and safe. I didn't want to scrap this version so I decided to call it the "blue ink edit". I actually considered calling it the "blue cliché edit" because, if anything, it feels a little cliché to me.

To create the "ink stain edit" I took the original and stripped away everything but the vocals. Even those I removed the processing from so I could start again. Coming up with new beats was going to be the key and for the first time in a while I really wanted to put the effort into building them from scratch rather than using loops for inspiration or as components. Beats are not my strong point and I don't feel confident working with them.  But I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I think they transformed the feel of the song. Related to the beats was a conscious decision to minimise long chords or notes aligned to the bar which is kind of a feature in the "blue ink edit". The bass line, in particular, was a direct result of that decision. But what I'm most pleased about with this edit is the delicate feel; it really matches my memory of the moment. And I think the koto-esque lead in the final verse helps with that lightness; definitely an example of a lucky fluke, not to mention a rarely taken opportunity to play with pitch bend!

Like the music, the "blue ink edit" video came first. To me the music is a bit smooth and milky so I decided to match it with desaturated visuals and a pale blue tint. Many parts of the song fade to the blue tint at the end of the bar to accentuate the bar aligned beats and chords; kind of a visual beat. Interspersed between the "flowing" sheets I wanted to place images that hint of sensuality. Although they also ended up looking a bit cliché, in line with the alternative title, they were still fun to experiment with, create and film. The idea of writing on the sheet was a nod to the chorus line but I was nervous of being to literal. So I made sure I offset the writing scenes from the choruses to keep them separate. I hope the concept was worth sacrificing the sheet for!

For the "ink stain edit" I wanted to take a different approach. I didn't think the visuals for the first edit would work with this one anyway. I wanted to play with the concept of ink being used to record a memory without using words or pictures. As the rhythm of the edit evolved I thought about animating the artwork to grow with the music. It was a lot of fun to play with the ink and discover what worked; it took quite a few attempts to get the effect I wanted. Animating the ink, especially the dripping colours in the second chorus gave me a great opportunity to learn new techniques. My only reservation about the final product is that maybe it doesn't have the same lightness as the music.

Writing it Down

I'm working on a new project inspired by an experience I had in London. In line with my current ethos I want it to be audio-visual with the words, audio and vision all on equal footing. The challenge is creating each of these elements simultaneously so that any one element isn't compromised by a decision or direction made for one of the other elements. The other challenge is to create something from an intimate memory while avoiding the narrative, the literal or the obvious. For me, the second challenge is probably the biggest.

So far it's been the usual story. I start with nothing and wonder if ideas will ever surface, feeling a little more anxious with each day. Then, inspiration suddenly sparks and before I know it, it's quickly gaining momentum. That's reassuring to experience again.

I'm happy with what I've produced so far, but if I had to make a judgement call I'd say it's sounding safer than I'd hoped it would. I always start with the best of intentions to head towards uncharted territory (for me at least) but invariably I end up instinctively veering back to what feels more familiar. Having said that, I think the results I have at the moment are appropriate for this memory. So I'm thinking I may do something I haven't really done before and create two versions of the song - continue to finish the current "safer" version and then strip it apart to create a more abstract version. We'll see.

Either way, working on this project is reaffirming the benefits of my departure from an "album" mentality. Focussing on one project without the pressure of time or how it will fit into a bigger work is liberating. Less pressure, fewer self-imposed deadlines and limitations. Just allowing myself to take as much time as I need.

Almost Forgotten

The other day I was listening to a track by Lamb when I got a flashback from when I'd seen them play live. But it took me a while to put the thought together and make the connection. I'd completely forgotten that I'd even seen them. So I decided it would be a good idea to remember and write down all the major concerts I've been to over the years. So here are the ones I can remember, in rough reverse chronological order. Concerts were in Adelaide unless otherwise noted.

• Olafur Arnalds
• The Human League
• Moderat (Berlin)
• Sigur Ros (Melbourne)
• New Order (London)
• Andy Bull
• Sarah Blasko (Womadelaide)
• John Grant (Womadelaide)
• Mogwai
• Lamb
• Kate Bush - Before the Dawn (London) 
• Peter Gabriel (London) 
• Unsound (Krakow, Poland)
• Unsound London (London)
• Sigur Ros
• Sia
• Gotye
• Imogen Heap
• Brand New Heavies (Melbourne) 
• Apparat (Melbourne)
• Grafton Primary
• Imogen Heap (Melbourne)
• Sigur Ros (Sydney) 
• Sarah Blasko (Adelaide BDO) 
• Bjork (Adelaide BDO)
• Gotye
• Crazy Penis
• Eskimo Joe
• Lamb (Melbourne) 
• Kylie Minogue
• Genesis
• Divinyls
• Flowers (Icehouse) 
• Simple Minds
• Elton John
• ABBA

Until Kate Bush, it was easy to say that Sigur Ros was the best concert experience. But now that's too tough to call, not because they were close but because they were so different. The climax song of the Sigur Ros concert was totally mind blowing, but the entire Kate Bush show was such an emotional experience. Can't compare them.

Of course, in addition to these specific concerts, Womadelaide and Unsound Adelaide have been regular events. 

The City Skin

While I was overseas I often found myself fixated by the texture and character of battered, weathered walls; particularly in Berlin and Krakow. I took a lot of photographs. As I was looking through them on my return I started to think of walls as the skin of the city. Like human skin, the city skin carries the stories and history of the body it contains.

The City Skin is a small collection of some of those photographs and the thoughts they inspired.

Images and Words: The City Skin

Thinking about walls as the skin of the city.

Berlin and Krakow, October 2013.