13

It's 10 years since the whole Ghosting Season thing, which is very scary, as it definitely only feels like it was 30 minutes since that whole time.

Anyway, I was rifling around on my laptop the other day, looking for some interesting things to put up, or out, or just to have a listen to and get all nostalgic, and I came across the old demo for '13', which was the last track on the album, but (I think) one of the first I sat down and wrote. It came out of a nice little guitar riff I did, based on a very old tune of mine, but with the chords shifted down a step or two (or three). I digress, because the demo still sounded pretty good, if a little empty and a bit all over the place - the mixing was dreadful, because it was only intended as a demo to be worked on later, so there wasn't much effort put in.

I sat and thought 'could I clean this up?' - thinking the original session file would be long gone, I tried my best to add a bit of bass, or master it cleanly, but the wav was too far gone for any of that. I searched my computer, just on the off chance I had the session somewhere, and after some detective work (I'm utterly dreadful at naming things, so they're always a variation of 'idea' or 'thing' or something like that) I found it! There it was, in all its glory, a beautiful session that hadn't been loaded up since 2010! Incredible. So I fixed the mixing a little, and unmuted the bass channel (there was a bassline in there after all) and cleaned it up a bit.

It sounds a lot more hypnotic and trippy than the final version, and I suppose that's what I was aiming for with it - I think the whole Ghosting Season thing was supposed to be an extension of worriedaboutsatan, but just with a different name. In fact, the GS album was basically supposed to be the follow up to Arrivals, and there was artwork, videos and loads more with this album credited to satan instead. I even have the files somewhere with all the ID3 tags as a worriedaboutsatan album. The fact the GS album starts on a lot of digital distortion (it's called 'bitcrushing') and opens out into the first track is a nod to the way Arrivals ends, with the bitcrushing slowly engulfing the last track. Anyway...

I really love these little demo versions - they have a little something about them, which perhaps gets tuned down in the production process on their way to being on a record. The 'Far End Of The Graveyard (3am Version)' is actually just the demo, and there are a few more pinging around somewhere - I'll have to dig them all up. Anyhoo, here's the newly cleaned up '13' demo, with vocals from Birds of Passage:

Hope you enjoy.

Slur They Words track breakdown

If you've ever wondered how to meld a grime acapella with post-rock electronica, fear not! I've done another 'in the studio' type video thing on my youtube here:

0207

Well well well, what a week it's been eh?

At the start of it, I made any record I had any involvement in pay-what-you-want to try and raise some funds to go play a festival next month. But why do that? I hear you cry, well it's sort of complicated, and sort of not at the same time. Y'see, to play festivals (and gigs in general tbh) it costs quite a bit of money - petrol, food, hotels, etc. and normally I'd be ok with shouldering that cost, but this year's been fairly tough financially, and so I had to take a warm-up gig nearby the day before my slot to offset some of the costs involved.

And then you can guess what happend next.

The gig ended up getting pulled, and my fee for it evaporated. It wasn't a lot, but it would've covered a few bits, and I didn't mind singing for my supper. So then what do you do in that situation? For me, I had little option but to do the world's saddest flash sale, which brings us to today.

The bandcamp pages have been mostly free since Monday, and my god have you guys absolutely smashed it out of the park. I was only hoping to cover that small-ish fee, but I've somehow ended up with over 5 times that amount, as you all chipped in and were so generous with your donations. I absolutely, 100% cannot thank you all enough for that, and it's genuinely heartwarming to know that this little community based around my silly little tapes can do something as crazy and as awesome as that. So to show my gratitude, and to say a massive thank you again, today I put together an EP called 0207 and shoved it on my Bandcamp for you all:

It's pay-what-you-want, and will remain so after the flash sale ends on Monday, but please don't feel like you have to pay anything more if you've already chipped in! It's just a simple thank you, and I hope you enjoy it. 

Gavin

Glass Infinites

ALBUM NO. 10 IS OUT NOW!

Glass Infinites, my little modular synth/ ambient baby, is out in the world now:

Very much hope you all enjoy it. Here's some quickfire background on some track titles: 'Choppers' is a nickname I had as a child, as apparently I would make a mad chomping motion with my mouth everytime food was near. Yes, I was a portly child lol. 'Say No To Yes' is from this poster that does the rounds on twitter every now and then. Almost called it 'Say Pizza To Drugs', but thought better of it. 'Öxlinni' is Icelandic for 'shoulder', and I just love how the word looks so used it. 'How Does It Feel, What Do You Think? Are You Happy?' is a line from this HEALTH song. 'Boomkat Industrial Complex' was just a funny phrase to poke fun at their seemingly vice like grip they have on any underground music. I was gonna do a big graph, like the one on the back of Yanqui UXO by Godspeed, with all these labels and blogs pointing to Boomkat, but just couldn't be arsed in the end. 'Zyklus' is perhaps the most badass word in the world, and is German for 'cycle'. 'Rejected Ambient Works' is, obviously, a bit of fun with an Aphex record.

Endless Hum 2 pics

Not often I get nice live photos of me, or reviews for that matter, so here are both from Saturday's exploits in Shipley:

That sea of cables and plugs on the floor was very stressful

Look at that grip! holding onto that keyboard for dear life lol

Looking very serious - probably stressing about pedals

 And there's a great review of the night over at Louder Than War here:

https://louderthanwar.com/the-endless-hum-2-the-kirkgate-centre-shipley-live-review/

Community (it's important)

At the weekend I played for The Endless Hum's night at the Kirkgate Centre in Shipley, and it was really, really nice. I mean, the gig itself was class and the fact there's a cool night like this literally walking distance from my house, is worth shouting about if nothing else, but there's always something very important about getting involved in a community.

Me, onstage in Shipley

Like, when I was young, and growing up next door to Shipley in the Tory toy town of Baildon, I would've laughed if you'd have told me that Saltaire and Shipley were gonna be a hive of musical community, but that's sort of what's happening, and it's really really great. 

In the early satan days, we'd make a habit of turning up to nights we wanted to play, CDs in hand, and collaring the promoter to give us a shot. It didn't always work, but it got us out and about, and we met people in and around the scene in Leeds, which obviously helped get our name out there.

That's a very under-rated and still very important thing to be doing as a band, I think. Find your scene and get into it. The internet is all well and good, but there's still no substitute for turning up to a gig with some like minded people and just enjoying a night of music. 

I'll never understand why people don't do this more. Back in the day, I knew so many bands and artists that ran off down to London only to get swallowed up and they ended up quitting all together. If you live somewhere with a community hall, or a bar that does events, fucking get in there. You aren't retired yet! A community these days is probably the best thing you can wrap your music around.

Öxlinni video

 Hi all, 

Just a quick one... I've unleashed another slice of Glass Infinites for your listening (and in this case, viewing) pleasure. It's a track called Öxlinni, which means 'shoulder' in Icelandic. Just thought the word looked really nice. Anyway, the video is here:

and the album comes out on July 8th. I've also realised I absolutely did not need a 3 week pre-order-to-release window at all, and this will be reflected in up-coming releases lol.