If there is one thing that is cool about being respected in the music industry, it’s how you get asked to do things for upstarts and established companies alike. To use their product and give your feedback or provide your words to help them (if you love the product). Such is the case right now with something I’ve been asked to beta test. It’s an online file system. I don’t wish to give too much away about it yet. I’m still getting my feet wet with it. When I was initially asked to try it out and was told what it would be about I was all over it. Finally a system that could really help with getting files around the globe – hopefully with ease and with protection for the rights holder.
I have already provided feedback on the system based on my initial usage. However, I don’t wish to make any public statement about it until I’ve had at least a month of time with it.
Yesterday was a day of working with files. Tweaking a mix for a co-writer. Uploading files to previously mentioned service. Also a day of writing. Seven songs down in a high energy progressive style rock project for Dancin Deer Audio. It will eventually make it’s way to all kinds of uses. In listening back last night to some of the songs we had already created it was a bit of awe at ourselves as we were really digging the songs we had come up with. It’s always a surprise to listen back to music you’ve created and think wow, that’s quite cool. It’s also a surprise when you’re listening and you’re hearing parts that you know you wrote and played and realize, wait, I did that? I don’t remember. Yikes.
This morning also had me getting some feedback from my body. In a somewhat delayed reaction, I have picked up some poison oak in very random spots. A spot on my forehead and a spot behind and below my right ear. I went hiking last Saturday and there was tons of poison oak all around. What makes it odd is that I had a hat on. Thus I shouldn’t have it on my forehead. No place that was actually exposed, like legs and arms got it. Yet two spots on my head (one that had a hat on) did. Weird. Weird. Weird.
Ok, music time as I have to get creating other music myself…
I’m gonna roll with a slightly mellow tune by a band called Mindil Beach Markets. They’re from Canada. One thing I like about them is there range of doing different music from hard core rock to more acoustic stuff. While I can appreciate it as a musician, I also know it makes it harder to break into the business in a commercial sense because marketing peeps have a difficult time attempting to explain to the consumer what it is.
Either way, I like this song that is called Mindil Beach. Funny that they have a song named pretty much after themselves. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a band doing that before. I highly doubt Dave Matthews would write a song called Dave Matthews. Maybe Rush might write Rush or something. But it’s not something I can recall.
Opening with a simple acoustic guitar to a vocal and guitar thing it’s got a little bit of an Americana vibe. The flowing vibe cruises along and eventually there’s a cello that rings in with an electric piano. It’s got a great sense of arrangement. There’s dynamics where the intensity builds and then drums kick in. That helps to take it across the finish-line.
I could easily hear this song as the ending song to an indie movie between a father/son type thing or possibly two lovers as the lyrics are just a little vague enough to work either way. I would certainly hear it helping to close the movie and the story.
Go forth and make your day happen. Then add this to your soundtrack.