Time out

My lovely lovely church just kidnapped me for a long weekend away in beautiful Northumbria, really near the coast. So I got to go to the beach for the first time in a few years, and it was stunning. I had to let go of doing work stuff – there was a blog post that I couldn’t finish as my drafts wouldn’t load – and open myself up to being more spiritual than I normally get from day-to-day.  Aaah, it was lovely to have everyone’s company and to unwind. I was very well taken care of and ate lots of puddingy things!
I did take some photos and video down on the beach, though, and some of it should be useable for music-related stuff later…  when you are in such a stunning place, it would be a waste not to get some photos.

The Big Catch-Up (Part 2)

So, I almost got you up to date in Part 1 of the Big Catch-Up. Here’s the rest:

Cover art for The One Who Got Away, by Stoneygate

The One Who Got Away

In Summer 2018, I met a producer called Rob Hartley on Drooble (a musicians’ collaboration/music sharing platform). He was looking for a singer to topline for a track he’d written and produced. (That’s when you write lyrics and the melody line and then perform and record them). Rob’s guitar playing on this track reminds me a bit of Chris Isaaks or Chris Rea.

We finished writing and recording The One Who Got Away soon afterwards, and I then mastered the track. At this point, however, I got stuck over some admin details for releasing the song, due to it being a collaboration, and I put it on hold. By the time I’d finished the MoonDreams remix, I knew what I had to do, but it got delayed a bit longer because I’ve been so busy. I’m feeling quite excited about getting this one out into the world after such a long incubation!

Dad

The final part of the big catch-up is not music-related. Dad completed and submitted his draft PhD in January (hooray!). This marks a significant milestone in his recovery from his illness a couple of years back. Next step is the Viva exam, which will probably be in early April.

The Big Catch-Up (Part 1)!

Stoneygate Update: Gone AWOL?

As you may have noticed from the long, conspicuous silence, I’ve not posted anything for a while… (SORRY). There’s been a lot going on, though. Here are the highlights – a Great Big Stoneygate Update, if you like…. I’ll warn you this is going to be long, so you might want a cuppa in hand:

Remixes

My remix of Tropical Breeze by MoonDreams Music was released at the end of September last year. (Yes, it really is that long since I posted an update in here about my musical efforts – SORRY AGAIN!)

Before that went live, I’d also finished off an EP of 6 remixes for John Clark at the end of August. (He’d also asked me to sing on them, so not a ‘standard’ set of remixes). Those came out in November, and I made a couple of videos to go with them, which I’ll post separately in the Videos section. These remixes and the MoonDreams one are currently at the top of my ‘Stoneygate – Complete’ playlist if you’d like to check them out:

Right after finishing the audio for these remixes, I started working some part time hours, so that I can keep going with the music. It’s not all that straightforward to juggle everything, but it’s been helping with the bills, and it’s been very flexible. It’s not a permanent arrangement, though, so I will need to find other work very soon.

Nihao China & Hi Pandora

Stoneygate update No.2: my tracks are now available on all the main streaming services in China, and I’ve also managed to get Sleepwalker and Survival onto the USA’s Pandora service 🙂

New YouTube Address

My YouTube channel now has a much easier to remember address (it’s the little things!) – https://www.youtube.com/c/stoneygatesound or https://www.youtube.com/stoneygatesound (This was possible to get because so many of you guys have followed the channel, taking it over 100 subscribers.)

MODWUMP Remix

In December, I got asked to remix a track by a local electronica duo MODWUMP, headed up by Craig Manga. Craig’s been really supportive playing my music on his radio show on Sine FM, so of course I wanted to do the remix, but wouldn’t be able to squeeze it in until the new year. The deadline wasn’t until the end of January, so that was OK, and my version of Nativity Crime Scene had its official release on Friday 14 Feb as part of a whole album of MODWUMP remixes and originals. (N.B. my remix is a ‘clean version’ of the original track; some of the material on this album would be considered ‘Not Safe for Work’ & unsuitable for younger listeners.)

I’ve saved some of the most recent news for another post. Watch out for Part 2, coming up shortly!

POTW (2019/37): Dreamy Cinematic and Ambient

This week’s playlist of the week, Dreamy Cinematic and Ambient, is just what the doctor ordered after a monster-shaped week. It was my first week in a new temporary day-job, trying to learn the ropes. I was not feeling well, and plumbers were replacing the central heating system in the house where I was staying. (Following their work, there is now a working shower as well, which is my favourite part of last week!)

I’ve taken the job because my income as a musician falls woefully short of paying even my basic bills currently. Let me be very clear: I am not giving up making music (I couldn’t if I tried). But it will do wonders for my stress levels to know that I am earning enough to cover my bills.

Our playlist this week is a collection of pieces curated by Andy Salvanos (he of the Chapman Stick). It is one of the most relaxing sets of music I’ve played in a while. It will take best part of a day to play it, so expect to feel really chilled by the end. (That’s always assuming you haven’t dropped off in the meantime). This playlist would actually work quite well for sleeping music. I managed to stay awake all the way through this time, though!

Stand-out tracks

The talent represented in this playlist is phenomenal. Max Richter, Hans Zimmer, Pat Metheny, Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm… Just to mention a few of the best known artists – and the list goes on.

The stand-out tracks for me included Salt of the Sound’s Deep Peace, and Armstrong’s The Noetic Quality. Deep Peace is unusual tracks for this list as it features a female vocal, whereas most tracks are instrumentals. The Noetic Quality is a gentle percussive track with ringing marimba and xylophone over synth washes. It has a repeated theme that slowly morphs into forms that are different, yet the same. Two other tracks that grabbed my attention were Maneli Jamal’s Floating and Kirsten Agresta Copely’s Onde. Floating is a beautifully recorded, layered, echoing guitar piece, and Onde is a lovely harp piece with Celtic vibes. Both fit their names very well.

Dreamy, Cinematic and Ambient playlist, curated by Andy Salvanos

Duration: 6h 38min, 106 songs

Rating: U – nothing to be scared of.

Ideal for: Focussed study, destressing, and/or quiet evenings in.

POTW (2019/36): Acoustic Artists

Jürg Kindle is the curator responsible for this week’s Playlist of the Week, Acoustic Artists. I’m going to be honest with you and admit upfront that I haven’t been able to listen to the whole playlist this time, because it’s 8h long. (I forgot to check the length before I selected it and started listening.) I’m starting writing this at about the half-way point, just after I looked to see if I’d got to the end because the music had stopped and realised the pitfall I’d set for myself!

This is the kind of playlist that your Mum will love. (Assuming your Mum is of a certain age and isn’t a punk-rocker… If she’s more the rock-chic type, you’ll be better to play this one when she’s around, instead!).

There’s a broad range of quite gentle music in this list, from classical pieces and instrumental cover song versions from purely acoustic artists, to soft rock, country and songs with orchestral backings. There are even some tracks that are really electronica, but which fit the soothing acoustic vibe.

The list’s curator, Jürg Kindle, is a musician himself. (If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, that won’t really be a surprise, there’s been a bit of a theme, hasn’t there?) Jürg composes for guitar and mandolin, and for ensembles of the instruments up to guitar or mandolin orchestra size. Some of his pieces are used as compulsory pieces in competitions. There are several pieces that he composed and played in this playlist, so you’ll hear some examples of his work.

Jürg plays an impressive range of chordophones himself, several of which I hadn’t even heard of before, plus drums and percussion. He says that his guitar pieces express his inner drummer because they can be quite percussive. (Ok, so I know you’re curious about the chordophones! Jurg plays saz, chiftelia, bouzouki, mandolin, bandolim, cavaquinho, 12-string guitar, soprano guitar, quint and quart contrabass guitars).

Duration: 8h 35min, 140 songs.

Rating: PG – No songs labelled as ‘explicit’, but some more sensitive parents might consider some lyrics unsuitable.

Ideal for: playing all day in a café setting.

POTW (2019/35): Ambient

Don’t be fooled by the name! This week’s playlist, Ambient, is not strictly an ambient music playlist, although there are some ambient elements to these tracks. It’s nearly all trip-hop favourites, and it’s a gem, thanks to Spotify user Lorien KC.

Trip-hop favourites

This list is packed with trip-hop classics, as well as some live versions. Many of the tracks are trip-hop favourites from the 90’s, like Massive Attack’s Teardrop (which you might know as the theme tune from the early series of House MD) and Moby’s Porcelain (used in various adverts back in the day, including VW Polo). There’s also Six Underground from Sneaker Pimps, Portishead’s tense Glory Box, and a cluster of tracks from Aphex Twin. (One of those is strictly ambient!).

Not just 90s nostalgia

The playlist isn’t just a 90s nostalgia trip, though. The trip-hop genre and related styles didn’t die the moment the millennium bug should have struck; This is reflected in the playlist with the inclusion of more recent tracks from Zero 7, Bonobo, Goldfrapp, Puracane and others.

In addition, there are a few incursions from indie artists, including a lovely downtempo track called Tonight from Shedizer, which is already one of my earworms. Another one to listen out for is Nikki Oniyome’s beautifully understated Drown. (I’m also massively* honoured to be one of the indie artists represented on this list, alongside some of my favourite tracks from artists that inspire me.)

It’s worth noting that some of the best treasures have been kept until the end. Quantic’s almost lofi Time is the Enemy, RJD2’s Ghostwriter**, The Silk Demise’s Wildfire and Maria También from Khruangbin are all treats well worth holding on to the end for. Supreme Beings of Leisure’s Never the Same ends the list on another (metaphorical) high note.

This has been a most satisfying listen! If you love this list too, give my Chilled Trip-hop playlist a spin.

Duration: 3h 19min, 42 songs.

Rating: 12 – There’s one ‘explicit’ track, Morcheeba’s Big Calm, which contains some swearing.

Ideal for: a reunion with friends you haven’t seen since the 90s, or general purpose listening.

*See what I did there?

** As used in feature films Wimbledon and Prime.