Don't Bug Me

Just posted what's technically my 9th FAWM song and for a stupid little tune about a flu bug - I'm pretty pleased with it

you can download it here and get all the other FAWM songs here

Even more free songs by Matt Blick

Open Mic: Salutation Inn: 23 Feb 2012

Had a great time tonight at the Open Mic at the Salutation Inn run by the very affable Rich Kirton. Bowman & Hull treated us to some classic rhythm and blues, there was a great Ukelele player whose name I didn't catch and I played the following -

Brother Bull
Let's Build An Airport
The Ballad Of NDC 

(click on the links for free downloads - and leave me a message if you were there!)

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Writing Songs with - Noel Fielding And The Goons

Watching Noel Fielding's new show Luxury Comedy I was blown away by his level of inventiveness, It seemed like every millimetre of the show was packed with originality - sets, dialogue, costumes, characterisation, plot (or lack of) and crazy DIY special effects.

And yet it didn't make me laugh.

When you find yourself desperately trying to like something is a good exercise to ask why. Sometimes it's peer pressure (everyone says Mozart's a genius) sometimes it's a shared history/loyalty with the band (who's gonna carry the grumpy millionaire shoegazer banner now?) sometimes it's financial (I just took out a second mortgage for this Brian Wilson box set).

Luxury Comedy would be the kind of show that The Goons would be making if they were around now. I love the Goons. I LOVE the Goons. Why do I connect with this show that ended before I was even born, but not it's descendant? Am I like some weirdo who prefers hanging out with his schoolmate's dad?

The Goon Show was a bizarre blend of surrealism, subtle anti establishment satire and corny old musical hall jokes. In the midst of the whacked out nonsense there was often a gag with a mental age of 3. And that for me is the key. Because the corny jokes were something to latch onto until you got acclimatised to the surreal atmosphere.

And that's our songwriting lesson.

If you're seeking to go out on a limb in your songwriting make sure there is some familiar landmark that your listeners can grab onto.

Wanna have your song use multiple time signatures? At the same time? Maybe have really simple lyrics that everyone can relate to. Or want to set your thesis about product placement in the history of colonial Nigeria to music? Try using a simple chord progression and melody. Is you medley complex and atonal? Don't play it on a saw.

Or do. If you must.

But whenever you find yourself climbing to the tippy top branch of the crazy tree or falling down the rabbit hole of artistic self indulgence, remember to put in a some familiar little detail, something that reminds your listeners of home. A simple sign that says "You Are Here".

Postscript: At the very do the weird part a couple of times in a row. "Repetition makes the strange familiar" - Nicholas Tozier

Free songs by Matt Blick

Valentine's Day And Holi - Day

If my wife's life was a sitcom, yesterdays episode could have been titled "I bought my husband a DVD and tickets to see Dara O'Briain and all I got was this lousy song".

Today I am full of cold and I've written a song about Holidays (which brings my FAWM total to 5) and a blog post about what Noel Fielding and The Goons can teach us about songwriting.

You can download both songs here.

Other free songs by Matt Blick

That Box

For FAWM song number 3 we have a tune about one young man's obsession with the contents of the sex education teachers resources box at school, played on a box. It's right there on the FAWM download page

But why would you waste time on my meagre offerings when you could download yourself the brilliant Champion Of The Game Of Love by Chris Henson. I cannot describe to you how funny, and how well written it is. So I won't try. Just go get it. Now.

By the way - by the time you read this I will be heavy with Birthday. Yep one year older. And about 45 songs wiser. Hallelujah.

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Monkey Business

FAWM song 2 - I Got The Jungle (Right?) is up on the FAWM page it's a quasi rap from the point of view of an ape built over a sample of my daughter telling me about her school work, so - same old same old...

How could I forget that Let's Build An Airport was featured on one of the FAWM compilation albums 14 Songs in 28 Days Vol. 7.2 - There's 21 other songs on it, including the solid gold classic Hate To Be That Guy by Chris Henson. You can buy it for $5 (about £3:28) here.


Other free songs by Matt Blick

ReFAWMED

Well life's been busy compadres. Being slap bang in the middle of recording my first solo EP, trying to set up websites, and various other sites, keep Beatles Songwriting Academy ticking over, do the odd gig with Aistaguca and work be a dad yadda yadda there was NO WAY I was really going to be able to take part in FAWM this year.

But then I remembered something I had written on Beatles Songwriting Academy

The norm for today’s artists seems to be that they are either writing OR recording OR touring. Letting the studio or the road disrupt the habit of writing is a problem somewhat unique to SONGwriters.


Of course the band stopped touring in ’66 but The Beatles didn’t regard recording as a legitimate reason to take a break from songwriting either (which makes sense as they were always recording). And I’m not referring to the way many successful bands enter the studio with unfinished songs (though they were guilty of that too). I mean continuing to write new songs even as they were laying down songs they’d just finished.


Assistant producer Chris Thomas remembers Harrison playing Something to him on the harpsichord while they were recording Piggies for the White Album. McCartney gave Lennon a preview of MMT’s The Fool On The Hill while writing With A Little Help From My Friends for Sgt Pepper.

So George Harrison shamed encouraged me into it. After all I haven't written a song for a whole month! So I'm using FAWM to keep the wheels turning producing all manner or weird tracks (AKA business as usual) even as I concentrate on the EP. And I'll be gathering all the new tracks on an ultra lofi album called NonconFAWMist Vol.2

Yep that's me being artistic with my first attempt using GIMP (AKA Photoshop for poor people). But that is not me on the cover.

You can check out the first song, a setting of Psalm 22 called Israel's Praise right here

Other free songs by Matt Blick