ADAM Masterson

Recorded last week at my managements new studio in olympia, with Peter Mayes engineering the session.

Laid down demo’s of new stuff, want to put these up online for you later in the week. Great working with Peter Mayes, he’s one half of the Australian band Pnau. I’d lived earlier in the year at their house on Loftus Road but we’d never actually met until now.

We went out for lunch Tuesday, Peter told me about working with Ladyhawk, and recording the Empire of the sun hit ‘Walking On A Dream’ at his studio in sydney. We found out we both had a thing about Fleetwood Mac, and Pete found out I was the english guy who’d crashed at his Shepherds bush pile when he was in Oz. I took this opportunity to say my thank yous..

Wednesday a grand piano was hired in, I was tinkling along on it when Peter told me it was one of Elton’s- ‘pretty cool’ I thought. Started trying to figure out ‘Your song’ while he was putting up the sounds, I got the intro note for note but kept getting lost at the verse -I’ll have to work on it.

Peter’s just been writing with Elton in Atlanta, he says he works super fast, great at top-line, all you got to do is put the words up on the piano and he rattles off a tune in less than 10mins. Then he wants to hang out- doesn’t like spending too much time in studios.

It got me thinking, people always think I write the words first, but i never do it’s always the music.

The music creates the atmosphere, the atmosphere creates the vision and the vision creates the words.

What would happen if I were to do this backwards… Would the words create the vision, the vision create the atmosphere and the atmosphere create the music?

They say music comes from the spirit of intoxication and the godhead of Dionysus, and words come from the spirit of clarity and the godhead of Apollo, of the two Apollo is the tougher taskmaster.

Old Apollo grows so used to the young songstrell tapping on his door, all exalted with their latest composition- only for the dismal old bird to beat them back down, out of the skyways, with his great grey wings and tell them to try harder on the words. Ask Leonard Cohen he’d tell you.

What if i were to break the ritual routine? Catch apollo out when he least expects, raid a few lines from his secret treasure trove, put them on top of the piano, then hop over to the happier plains of Dionysus where all work is done before opening time, wine is full to overflowing and loose women fill the gambling houses.

Of course, I’ve thought this thought, before but It never felt like something i’d be entirely comfortable with until now… like hopping mountain tops or sorcery or something?

You gotta go through so much back-to-front, inside-out, upside-down Alice-In-Wondelandness before you earn the right to give it a try.

Maybe I’m primed, I’ll turn my attention to this in New York City.

The recording session was cut short abruptly. I was putting down this sort of Ennio Morricone choral thing at the end of the song ‘Changeling’ I started hitting this falsetto note at the top of my register, but it was obviously way out of my register coz my voice box had a spasm, i knew i’d done something, and stopped right away.

Never since i started singing had I done something like this before… it fills you with a weird kind of terror.

We tried to continue the session with me playing piano for stuff i’d sing on later, but i was in a world where i couldn’t sing, my hands went to jelly and we had to stop.

Maybe it was Apollo scorning me for thinking such thoughts (Dearest Apollo you are the secret to my integrity).

Got to use piano on ‘Backstage’ which was cool, I’m sure you’ll here it all pretty soon on myspace or something.

Spent the next two days drinking hot honey and vinegar trying to revive myself for the gig at the mitre. Whether wise or not I did the gig and the voice sounded fine. My Mum got to see me play for the first time in ages which was cool. Thanks to Pat and Simona for having me play and everyone who came out to wish me well in the states.

Next stop New York.

Adam