For the last couple of months we've turned our attention from gigging to writing. We want to create a new set that's not limited to the conventions of the rock/indie band setup. The main tool in doing this is my new toy from ebay. It's a novation x-station, and is a midi controller, synth, and audio interface in one keyboard. When plugged into a laptop (running ableton live), it's a recording studio in one box. It means that, in the writing stage, I can record loops and have them play back instantly, build up layers, apply effects, and create new sounds using the hardware synth, or with any virtual synths. I'd also be able to use it live. It removes previous boundaries, and opens up a limitless space in which to be creative. This is a great thing, although having no limits does make finding a starting point harder; when you've got the whole world to explore, how do you choose a place to begin. This is a challenge that I enjoy. In fact, writing music is my favourite part of being in a band. It's starting with a seemingly blank canvas, and building something beautiful, exciting, honest, and expressive. It's an incredibly rewarding process.
We've also changed the way we write music as a band. In the past, we had written most of the songs together. This had worked well to a degree, but had also meant that sometimes the ideas and thoughts behind a song would lose their focus, as more people were interpreting one person's ideas and taking them in different directions. Now, we all work on our own, seperate ideas, and occasionally bounce them off each other. This is the stage that all our new songs are at at the moment. The plan is that when one of us completes a song, it will be shown to the rest of the band for tweaking and developing.
We've probably got about 15 seeds of ideas between us, and we're just starting to see some of them grow into the rough, beautiful forms of songs. It's an exciting time, as our sound is changing and leading us along paths we didn't expect. Such is the exploratory nature of songwriting.
