Over on Bandcamp right now!!!
This was recorded over the last couple of years, was mixed by Dennis Leeflang, mastered by Joe Carra @ Crystal Mastering and artwork by Dan Verkys.
Ben Todd – Drums
Jose Guia – Piano and Keys (“Not Like Them” and “We Are Strong”)
Richard Curran – Violin (“Final Days” and Strings (“We Are Strong”)
Also some extra cool backing vocal and / or spoken word by these folks:
Bella Szkup, Mathew Szkup, Damon Brown, Gavin Burgess, Kratae, Nigel Cunningham, Richard Anderson, Tony Gilbert, Glen “The General” Parker.
So these are my latest songs which I think came out really good. I let them guide me as I always do, and the result is some of the best stuff I’ve done. Circumstances delayed some parts of it, and cost of living was really a ball kicker, as was the case for all of us.
All of these things and others made it come out probably a year or two later than it was meant to, but I’m happy. The great team of folks I have to help me really do make me sound and look much better than I am every time. Thanks to Dennis Leeflang, Joe Carra, Dan Verkys and not to mention Ben Todd, Jose Guia, Richard Curran, Richard Anderson, Adrian Eyes, Bella Szkup, Mathew Szkup, Gavin Burgess, Kratae and Glen Parker!
And if anyone out there listens to these songs and enjoys them, then I appreciate you doing so! The reason for the title and the album artwork is a bit of a dig on how things are these days but also perhaps intends to shine some light on things as well. There seems to be less patience, less looking out for each other and less regard for whats right in the interest of getting what we want faster. How about lets take our time, think about things and not always take the obvious and easiest route, and who knows what we might find?
It really hit me this time, perhaps things have gotten worse, or I’ve gotten older and finally realised, I’m not sure, but the realisation was that no one is waiting for this album. When you think about the boredom that ensues at your favourite band’s gig when they announce that “this is a new song” and the lines of people that take their bathroom and beer break as a result. Or the endless comments you read on how “this band was good for two albums and then sucked”. I mean, if people don’t care when all those amazing veteran bands are still being creative and making new music, what hope has a little guy like me got? This is the album that no one wanted.
That’s another reason that I called it “Deeper Than The Underground”. When you think of music that’s “part of the underground” and has a cult like following, well, even fewer people are into this, so it goes even deeper. And it also allowed us to do some cool things with the cover art and have most of the main players involved in the creation of the album on there. Dan Verkys did such an amazing job like he always does!
But with all of that, you know what else I realised? There were certainly a few moments this time when I wondered why I’m bothering, but the truth is, if you are a creative person, most people are going to think you’re a weird motherfucker and not get what you are about at all either way, but the thing is, you HAVE to keep going. If you don’t, I dread to think what would happen, but it wouldn’t be good. Can you imagine if every creative person in the world one day just said “whats the point” and stopped – what a horrible world that would be. I think we all feel broken and lost as creatives at one point or another, probably most of the time, but there is a good quote from Ricky Gervais which says “It’s better to create something that others criticise than to create nothing and criticise others”. I like that.
If you are a songwriter, you have to write songs. If you are an artist, you have to paint, draw, whatever it is. If videos are your thing or writing, then do those things. As corny as it might be, it’s really like something as essential as eating or breathing. The song “Not Like Them” talks about this a bit – “Sometimes it would be easier” if I was a regular goofball who was into football or something. That kind of thing. I would have a lot of extra money too, even though Spotify’s CEO thinks it costs nothing to make music.
Anyway, enough of my blabbering. The bottom line is that I’m stoked with what I made here and I’m glad I never gave up. Make sure you never give up with whatever it is you are doing as well. Keep going. Remember, “We Are Strong”!!!
Snippets:
