i often feel like i should be positive here... but the fact is that when i'm hermitted away working on a record, i go through really dark periods. i was in one this week... but i seem to have resurfaced and today definitely hit a stride. hopefully it stays... i'm superstitious about it. lots of movies and break time so i don't burn out. it's hard when it's just me doing it all, holed away here. i went out today and bought some music dvds for inspiration... and it did the trick.

been awhile since an update... i've been up to my elbows in experimentation/reading with synths. i'm determined to learn a bit about subtractive synths, at least enough to know a little about getting my way around them. basically, this is my task this week.... with the end goal of adding some sweet sounds to the record. thankfully during this time of ultimate messiness (squared in by keyboards on all sides and synth manuals and various printouts littering all surfaces) i have the place to myself... marc is on the road with the jon levine band this week, opening for nelly furtado.

...i'm starting to come to the conclusion that there are things i want to do live that would require even more gear onstage... hmmm need roadies and a nice cargo van!

i had a dream last night that i was performing an indigo girls song with marc and denton... in the middle of the tune denton had stop drumming to bend down and tie his shoelace... kind of an interruption but marc and i vamped on a chord for a bit right before the last chorus and we covered up the shoe-tying.... and i was playing acoustic guitar...and while i played i was running all over the stage singing and for some reason i could hear my voice really well even though i was nowhere near a microphone... haha.

it occurs to me that i'm not playing much guitar these days... i picked up one of my electrics the other day and it was sorely out of tune and badly needed a dusting. i'm just heavily into keyboards again... probably because the piano tends to be my first go-to when i'm writing. i just tend to think much quicker on it... (i've been playing keyboards since i was 4, so i guess that kinda goes with the territory). hmm... maybe i should consider trading a couple of guitars for a nice fender rhodes.

k

the good news is that it's a busy week... canadian music week and i'm playing either keyboards or guitar with different artists each night of the festival. i'm playing keys with a new artist named Charlie A'Court and he just won the East Coast Music Award for pop album of the year... http://www.myspace.com/charlieacourt check it out...

the bad news came in the mail today... that i didn't get the album funding i had applied for. damn. ah well. i'm pretty disappointed, cuz i was really thinking i might get something this time around... but there's still the other funding program to hear from... if not, i'm still making this record...

k