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NEW DEMOS. E.P OUT 1st MAY.

It’s finally done. After being chosen to design the soundtrack to my friend Kate’s latest video ‘Nozzles’ back in November, i’ve finally finished it and it is now up for everyone to see. You can watch the video here but you should definitely also check out Kate Lloyd’s blog (Nozzles is posted up there too!)

Big UP Kate!

It’s been a while. (Too long again)

I’ve been busy working on the Concerto album, it’s coming together really nicely. Had 3 days solid recording this week and did some vocal work which I wasn’t sure I was going to do but the harmonies sound really nice. Also sorted out the ambient surround sound samples and shortlisted the rough phone recordings that i’m going to use on the album.

You can hear some samples of the album on my soundcloud page. I’m still looking to release around June/July but really need everybodys support in spreading the word and having people listen to the demo tracks so please leave comments if you can. If you don’t have a soundcloud account you can always follow me on facebook and leave your comments on there.

Thanks

As part of my efforts to breathe new life into some of my older musical projects, I have now released ‘Trust In The Machine’, an album that I originally made for release back in 2004 but never got round to doing anything with it. It was fairly conceptual and experimental for me at the time, and although I know that a lot of the music I have made since then has been harder hitting, I felt this album still has a lot of merit and i’m really glad i’ve now got over any doubts that I had about it. You can check it out here and it’s for sale for a very fair price so please share with friends.

Also look out for some more older works and of course the ‘Concerto/Thorazine’ crossover project.

Thanks

Now available for download on bandcamp, the ‘Exploding at The Speed Of Light’ E.P.

Full of tasty, chunky electro beats from 2006 (It’s been a long time coming). Some great sci-fi breaks with a little acid lining. Check them out!

 

“.. stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light”. Or not.

You’ll understand the reference onece you’ve listened to my new E.P “Exploding at the Speed of Light” which I will be uploading later on today. Available to buy from my bandcamp page. I’m just finishing off the artwork and it’ll be ready to go.

It contains 4 tracks that I wrote and produced between April and September in 2006. Mainly an Electro/Breaks kinda feel but with some lush synth and trademark CryStar sparkles. Please check it out and spread the word. You can follow me on facebook and add any comments on the blog.

As for album news, not much is happening at the moment as i’m currently very busy with other projects, including a possible true early 70s style jam band (a la early Can days). So look out for that soon and of course i’ll keep y’all updated with album progress.

Peace.

REALLY?! Almost a month since my last entry? This blog was supposed to help me keep pushing my work and to help me get my music out into the open.

But then again, I have been pretty busy.

The Music Box is now closed, the remaining instruments and other musical items are now being sold off cheap in a little shop called This & That on Baker Street in Brighton. The shop is full of spaces rented out by people who sell various things, including collectables, toys, clothes, earthenware, glass, paintings, prints etc etc. You should check it out, you can find it here.

I had chance the other day to do some live recording, putting together tracks that were originally for a project called ‘Concerto’ which started off as a collection of short guitar pieces that were to be woven together seamlessly with all manner of electronic noise and instrumental noodlings. Although now, after realising just how simple it is to sync my electronic stuff with live sound recording, i’ve decided to use pieces from ‘Concerto’ and combine them with the CryStar electronica album I was hoping to release around June/July this year. I’ve found that the combination of electronic sounds and beats from one project, and the free flowing nature of the acoustic project has given rise to a much fuller and more complex sound. I’m really looking forward to recording some more and will probably consider using more musicians as there is now far greater scope with the use of live instruments.

I will try and keep the blog updated and also the soundcloud. I’ll drop a couple of demos on there tonight and you can link to them straight from here. Keep a look out. Please comment, and remember to ‘Like’ the CryStar facebook page.

In the next few weeks, The Music Box will be closing down. For anyone who doesn’t know what The Music Box is, WHY NOT?

I’ve been looking after this little musical instrument store for a while now, it was originally started as Rox Music 3 years ago by my girlfriends Dad as an extension of his market stall, buying cheap electric guitars and making them into usable instruments, as well as selling books and other musical related gifts.

But as his ideas of what the shop should be changed (this happens a lot) the place started to evolve, but bad management and no real accounting system meant that eventually he had to close the business. I started to get involved just before this happened.

In order to make use of the stock leftover from Rox Music and our long-term lease on the building, we re-opened as The Music Box and with input from myself and my girfriend started to sway more toward folk music instruments (Ukuleles, Banjos, Mandolins, Acoustic Guitars etc etc). Within the space of a year we had gained much more interest in our business and seemed to be doing well, until my girlfriends father saw an opportunity to move into a larger shop space across. So without taking into consideration the extra cost of filling the new shop space, paying extra rates and extra rent, we moved.

This lasted 11 months or so and we quickly started to run up late payments with our suppliers. This is how not to run a retail premise. Long story short, we are now selling everything at low prices to recover any costs, pay off suppliers and we’ve done pretty well. I’ve given myself the task of getting everything straight for the last 8 months or so.

Anyway, there is a silver lining to this slowly sinking cloud. There has been no real extra loss on top of the original loan that my girlfriends parents applied for in year one. The same can’t be said for many businesses that have fallen by the wayside. Also, in this time I have learnt some hard lessons about small business, and intend to save up some money in 2012 and come back toward the end of the year with a new, refreshed music shop (we still have the lease on the building and I still want to sell instruments)

Some ideas for the new shop so far: Plenty of Ukuleles, Banjos and other folk instruments from around the world. A workshop for building and fixing electronics (guitar pedals, amps, pickups etc) and more promotion, better use of the resources on the internet and also seeking help from friends (I can’t do it on my own)

So in the meantime, make sure you head down to The Music Box, 16 Baker Street, Brighton, BN1 4JN before we close up and grab yourself a bargain. It’s all going pretty fast so if you need something specific give us a call on 01273 677767. Also look out for the new music store (any suggestions for names welcome) coming, hopefully, at the end of the year at the same address. Also you can find The Music Box online at www.musicboxbrighton.com. This site will have no ties with the new store and doesn’t make enough money to keep the current shop afloat.

Enough ramble.

Peace.

This is just a quick note about some other projects that i’ve been getting involved with recently.

Firstly, just a quick mention of ‘compARTment’ which is a collective of artists/musicians/people in Brighton who are actively encouraging the use of unoccupied spaces (i.e. empty shops, factories, workshop spaces) for artistic and informative projects. I helped them out with their White Night Festival Event which was AMAZING. I also got to DJ and everyone had a great time. Big up to them. HERE is their website.

Kate Lloyd is a friend of mine who, among other things, has asked me to provide the soundtrack for her latest short film ‘Nozzles’. I’ve already done most of the work on it and it just needs finishing up and mastering. The completed film will be posted on her site in the very near future and I hope that we will be able to find some way to exhibit the work on a large scale.

If you like what you hear and would like to work on any collaborations or go through any ideas that you may have for sound, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

You can find me on facebook, soundcloud via email (nick@brightonmusicbox.com) or call me on 01273 677767 between 10am-6pm.

So. Thanks to Elisabeth Oswell, I have made my first sale on Bandcamp. With this in mind, I have started the process of putting together a FULL LENGTH ALBUM that will be available for digital download as well as a limited number of physical copies. I’m yet to work out the logistics of the physical copies but i’ve been working on some of the productions for over 2 years so that part of the process is nearly ready. I’m thinking about either using recycled cardboard sleeves from a printing company or maybe using left over cereal boxes and printing the sleeves myself.

If anyone has had any experience with using cardboard sleeves or any of the processes involved with self-release CDs, please just get in touch with any advise. Thanks.

Peace

(P.S. artwork previews coming soon)