tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9770556978114624372024-03-08T02:49:17.448-08:00Shut up musicMusings of a half decent musician with no band to play with.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-58303284450215268832012-04-27T06:37:00.000-07:002012-04-27T06:37:02.347-07:00New songhttp://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/sunny-dayKarl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-59178833375054377152012-04-27T06:36:00.001-07:002012-04-27T06:36:41.558-07:00Old punk, new tunesI recently went out to tear it up.<br />
like back when I was Nineteen.<br />
A whooping Ten years ago.<br />
I could have had a Ten year old kid by now.<br />
In fact some of my friends do.<br />
Anyway.<br />
We went to the Cockpit.<br />
A nightclub/venue in Leeds city center.<br />
I've had some great nights there seeing bands,<br />
and drinking the night away.<br />
They have three room.<br />
one plays cheese.<br />
Everything from Prince to Backstreet Boys.<br />
The main room plays whatever is popular.<br />
I'm not sure how they gauge that nowadays.<br />
Whats trending is my guess.<br />
I dont know.<br />
The third plays Indie as far as I can remember.<br />
I didn't get in to the third room.<br />
It was packed.<br />
The whole place was to be honest.<br />
First things first.<br />
Christ was it loud.<br />
It was ear splitting.<br />
The first room you end up in,<br />
the main,<br />
was playing Dub step.<br />
So as you can imagine i was less than pleased.<br />
But fear not.<br />
They played one song in the whole night.<br />
In the main room,<br />
where i spent most of the night,<br />
they played good old rock, punk, ska, etc.<br />
Everything I wanted.<br />
It was like they had read my mind.<br />
Does that mean my mind is on twitter?<br />
...<br />
Anyway,<br />
I'm so glad my Girl Friend had some spare ear plugs.<br />
Jesus it was loud.<br />
I knew I was gonna have a head ache from all the head banging i was doing.<br />
I didn't need the ringing in my ears too go with it.<br />
Secondly.<br />
Has none of the youth of today seen anyone ska dancing?<br />
It was like a bunch of pilgrims watching a heaven try to conjure rain.<br />
They where spell bound.<br />
I soon had a circle round me.<br />
Maybe they all though I'd gone mad,<br />
and felt the need to go for a quick jog,<br />
with out ever moving from the spot I was on.<br />
Thirdly.<br />
Never, never let me drink Newcastle brown again.<br />
I used to have a teenage tradition.<br />
When ever a song of tragic Kingdom by No Doubt came on,<br />
other than Don't speak.<br />
Try not to be shocked but they did have more than one song.<br />
I would buy, drink and dance to the song.<br />
Dont ask why,<br />
I cant remember.<br />
I told my friend this tradition.<br />
And by odd's of odd's just a girl came on.<br />
sure enough he got me a bottle and i danced whilst trying to drink the rancid filth.<br />
I must have truly grown out of it.<br />
Anyway he bumped in to me,<br />
apologised and ran off,<br />
and before you could say just a girl.<br />
He'd bought me a new bottle to replace the one he thought I'd dropped.<br />
So now i had two bottles to neck.<br />
Joy.<br />
After that I was on to the coke.<br />
As in Pepsi not the class A drug.<br />
...<br />
Final note.<br />
Will all you young fellas please, please stop bro hugging in the mens.<br />
Some of us need to piss.<br />
Bro hug outside where passers by can view how your down with your bros.<br />
I dont need it whilst I'm trying to piss.<br />
<br />
<br />Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-46919673063169033772012-04-17T08:37:00.000-07:002012-04-17T08:37:48.300-07:00They did it betterI've spent most of the afternoon making some music on my synth.<br />
Its a K station Bass synth by Novation.<br />
I love it.<br />
Hundreds of pre set effects,<br />
and plenty of space to make your own.<br />
I set it up and played a nice haunting synth sound.<br />
Used my Boss RC-2 to record it.<br />
Put the synth down and picked up my guitar.<br />
Played Deftones's song change.<br />
Great fun.<br />
It got me in the mood to try and write some new music.<br />
Set up my gear and recorded away.<br />
I have a riff I've been playing with for awhile now on my bass.<br />
I recorded that.<br />
Put a haunting synth,<br />
My favourite kind,<br />
underneath.<br />
Put a simple guitar riff on top.<br />
Nothing special.<br />
This was just the intro.<br />
I could see this song stretching up past ten minutes or so.<br />
I sat back to do some basic effects mixing and such.<br />
Thats when it hit me.<br />
It sounded like Tool.<br />
Killer, I love Tool.<br />
Problem is it sounded way to much like Tool.<br />
To the point where I'm sure they've already recorded it.<br />
This happens way to often.<br />
Just when I think I have a killer riff,<br />
something with that x factor that makes a song,<br />
turns out someone has already done it.<br />
Nuts.<br />
I've saved the song till I can find out which one it is.<br />
Though I might just finish it.<br />
Hopefully when its done it wont sound to much like Tool that they'll sue.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-62269043876317351212012-04-14T15:57:00.000-07:002012-04-14T15:57:46.881-07:00Nobody gets out aliveTuesday just gone I was at a gig.<br />
It was Skindred and Therapy?<br />
It was a lot of fun.<br />
I didn't feel to old at this gig.<br />
Though by eleven I really wish I was at home with a cup of tea.<br />
Their was some forgettable band as first support.<br />
I forgot what they sounded like almost instantly.<br />
The second support was Black Spiders.<br />
They where good in a Clutch style texas rock way.<br />
First of the two band I wanted to see was Therapy?<br />
I've been a fan of them since i first got hold of Trouble Gum way back when.<br />
It was great to sing along to their songs with a couple of hundred other people.<br />
The sound man needs a kicking though.<br />
The bass clipped the whole way through the set.<br />
Skindred where ace.<br />
Benji was as always a brilliant front man.<br />
They kept my attention the whole way through.<br />
Even with their goofing around.<br />
A great set from a great band.<br />
As always I had my post gig takeaway.<br />
Chicken Cottage.<br />
Drowned in chllie sauce.<br />
As we sat in the take away a bunch of white, teacher/bank manager types decided to have a argument outside.<br />
Lots of pushing at each other and shouting.<br />
A Jamaican customer in the shop turned to us and said,<br />
in his thick accent.<br />
"the problem with you white boys is dat when you fight you flap like peacocks."<br />
Cracked me up all the way home.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-13521737543858007752012-04-08T15:18:00.000-07:002012-04-08T15:18:16.294-07:00Kick FlipMy home town been the way it was i didn't learn about a lot of bands till I hit college.<br />
It been a small yorkshire town.<br />
At school there was effectively me,<br />
and every body else.<br />
The only outlet at the time I started to discover music was my mums record collection.<br />
Lots of Simon and Garfunckle and Simply Red.<br />
In amongst it all was a lot of good Motown and soul records though.<br />
I learnt about good music from movies.<br />
Soundtracks where the way at the time.<br />
Radio One been filled with shite pop.<br />
I wasn't getting a lot of new music though.<br />
As a child/young teen I watched the same movies over, and over.<br />
Then along came a game that would change all this.<br />
Along came Tony Hawks.<br />
This sound track had it all.<br />
Dead Kennedy's,<br />
Primus,<br />
Goldfinger(A personal fave for years to come),<br />
The Vandals.<br />
I was introduced to punk.<br />
I learnt fast.<br />
From everything from the Descendants to the Offspring, to the Clash and back again.<br />
I was hooked on punk.<br />
Then the sequels came out.<br />
Featured more rock this time.<br />
Fu Manchu,<br />
Rage against the machine.<br />
The third had some classic songs.<br />
As the series progressed it became more about the songs and less about the skating.<br />
I was always frustrated that I could never really skate all that well.<br />
I used it as a way of getting around more than trying tricks.<br />
As I got older it became more of a hassle to have it on me as I went to the bar.<br />
but the music made me keep on buying them.<br />
I cant remember which the last one I bought was.<br />
All I remember that the soundtrack didn't excite me as much as it used to.<br />
There was to much hip hop.<br />
Not that I don't like classic hip hop.<br />
To me being a skater was about punk, pop punk, ska and rock.<br />
It was a different time I guess.<br />
Skaters have changed the music they listen to.<br />
To them I must look like those sixty's skaters with out a clue what was about to happen to the scene when the Z boys showed up.<br />
But then i met a couple of skaters in college a few years back that listened to post rock.<br />
So go figure.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-82145531955338455262012-04-02T15:01:00.000-07:002012-04-02T15:01:05.177-07:00Were on a missionI wouldn't say I was in to musicals.<br />
Of the top of my head I can think of maybe three I like.<br />
3. Moulin Rouge.<br />
I like the plot and the way they use modern songs.<br />
2. South Park the movie.<br />
I dare anyone not to laugh at the songs in that movie.<br />
That brings me to number one,<br />
Blues Brothers.<br />
I know.<br />
Its pretty much everyones favourite musical.<br />
Even if half the fans didn't realise it was a musical.<br />
Its got great tunes.<br />
Everyone a classic in their own right.<br />
Great musicians.<br />
All the top of their game.<br />
Funny as hell.<br />
Slapstick and good set ups.<br />
Instantly quotable.<br />
I could write a whole new blog to fill with quotes from this movie.<br />
Iconic.<br />
The car, the suits.<br />
It's the highest selling blues record of all time.<br />
Which is epic in its own right.<br />
Especially as it has a country song on it.<br />
Its just a great movie all round.<br />
I have spent many an hour learning songs from it.<br />
Dan, the man, Aykroyd is the sole reason I try to play the harmonica.<br />
I love that movie.<br />
The less said about its sequel the better.<br />
Its not that they tried,<br />
because the line up is great,<br />
its that they failed to capture the feel of the first.<br />
I think thats all to do with timing.<br />
The music is of its time.<br />
Still timeless.<br />
but of its time.<br />
You can guarantee if they tried to make a third it would have Sea Sick Steve in it.<br />
Who by they way is great.<br />
...<br />
I think I'll watch it tomorrow.<br />
Its been a while.<br />
But for now I'll listen to the sound track one more time as I dust of my harp and try again to learn this blasted instrument.<br />
Its the bend.<br />
If I can crack that I'm home free.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-24887467856460109852012-03-27T14:43:00.001-07:002012-03-27T14:43:49.684-07:00Sunny day<a href="http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/sunny-day?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=blogger&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/sunny-day">Sunny day</a><br />
A song I wrote sat in the dark about how I should have been doing something in the sun.<br />
Enjoy.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-3842446829378053252012-03-26T15:01:00.000-07:002012-03-26T15:01:54.231-07:00Two times luckyI went to another wedding this weekend.<br />
Im not going to review the music.<br />
Their was more at this one I liked.<br />
Something odd happened the day before.<br />
The bassist from my first band asked me if I want to jam like old times sometime.<br />
In the space of one month.<br />
Both on eves of weddings.<br />
I've been invited to jam with bassists looking to start new projects.<br />
Are weddings good luck for me?<br />
Or is it my suit?<br />
Needless to say I'm excited about it.<br />
By summer,<br />
if I really am lucky,<br />
I could be in two bands.<br />
One goth the other punk.<br />
That would be fantastic.<br />
Im already thinking to far ahead of my self.<br />
What band will play live first?<br />
What will our first set be like?<br />
Where will it be?<br />
...<br />
Will it even happen?<br />
...<br />
I'm going to make it happen.<br />
...<br />
...<br />
...<br />
1. The Clash - Rock the Casbah<br />
2. Journey - Dont stop believing<br />
3. Queen - Its a kinda magic<br />
...<br />
Sorry couldn't help myself.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-63062212458329654272012-03-20T11:34:00.000-07:002012-03-20T11:34:18.969-07:00Jamming, not masturbating, by my selfI have a Boss RC-2<br />
Anyone familiar with this pedal will know what its all about.<br />
If not don't worry.<br />
I'm about to go on about it.<br />
Its a looper pedal.<br />
It records what you play in to it and plays it back to you.<br />
Its great for jamming to yourself.<br />
One of my favourite things to play is Breath by Pink Floyd.<br />
I just have to play the main riff.<br />
Record it.<br />
Then jam over the top of it.<br />
easy as pie.<br />
Though sometimes you can mess up the timing.<br />
For this reason I've not tried been a one man band with it.<br />
in the bed room you can forgive any little mess ups with timing.<br />
Though been me I cant sit with it.<br />
It ruins a perfectly good solo.<br />
Missing a tenth of a beat can really throw you of your stride.<br />
But its great for jamming out new ideas.<br />
Just make sure its last in the effect chain.<br />
Last night I decided to learn the Powerhouse B riff.<br />
You'll know it if you hear it.<br />
Its the theme to Honey I shrunk the kids.<br />
Anyway, I recorded the bass part then jammed the main riff over.<br />
Couldn't stop myself from grinning.<br />
I decided to try it with some delay/reverb,<br />
See how it sounded.<br />
I have a line six Spider.<br />
It added the effects to both the bass and the guitar making the riff sound terrible.<br />
Lesson I learnt last night.<br />
The line six is always number one in the effects chain.<br />
Boss RC-2.<br />
Highly recommended.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-83321369410331103482012-03-17T15:24:00.000-07:002012-03-17T15:24:38.334-07:00The happiest goth in the roomI went to a gig last night despite feeling like death.<br />
My friend plays synth in a goth band I I've not had the chance to see them yet.<br />
It was in a bar in town I like.<br />
Its got an old school vibe to it.<br />
The toilets are filled with graffiti.<br />
The only problems are,<br />
One,<br />
there, for some insane reason, is no heating.<br />
Two,<br />
I am for all intents beyond skint.<br />
Three,<br />
at about nine it fills with hipster's.<br />
My friends band where playing upstairs.<br />
There was some sort of hipster band playing downstairs.<br />
They looked like we owed them something and they sounded terrible.<br />
Everything I hate about modern music.<br />
But i wasn't there to see them.<br />
I was there to see my friends band.<br />
Their called Action Directe.<br />
I'd say their a industrial, goth, punk band.<br />
They where fun.<br />
The only band on, as the other pulled last min.<br />
They played for thirty minutes.<br />
They made me wish I was in a band.<br />
But fear not.<br />
I'm not going to go on about how much I miss it,<br />
even though I do.<br />
My friend in the bands girlfriend wants to jam.<br />
She has even expressed an interest in maybe starting a band with me.<br />
I'm like a kid at christmas.<br />
Even though its nothing in stone the chance that I might get to jam/play in a band again is excellent.<br />
Even if it does end up being angry goth punk with synths in.<br />
Not that thats a bad thing, just not the band I though I'd end up in.<br />
I'll have to try and steer it towards being more like Depech Mode.<br />
The fact that it might happen.<br />
Thats enough for me.<br />
I'll have to get all my demos and stuff in order.<br />
Time to show of my music CV as it where.<br />
I have demos covering a wide range of music styles.<br />
From Chap hop to ISIS style ambient.<br />
Just have to find the right ones.<br />
Or the good ones at least.<br />
Think I'll use the NIN style ones.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-9759754469197048202012-03-12T16:08:00.000-07:002012-03-12T16:08:14.439-07:00You may now kiss the bride.Been a wedding DJ.<br />
Now theres a job I wouldn't like to do.<br />
The problem would be pleasing everybody.<br />
It cant be done.<br />
I was at a wedding this weekend.<br />
Everyone at the wedding could be fitted in to three simple categories.<br />
With the occasional against the curve type.<br />
Category one.<br />
The old folks.<br />
Their going to need lots of seventies music.<br />
Mostly disco,funk and soul.<br />
This I can put up with.<br />
A bit of Motown never did anyone any harm.<br />
The disco has a charm to it, in the fact that we all know the lyrics.<br />
Category Two.<br />
The youngsters.<br />
This is a broad term.<br />
It covers nearly every one between eighteen to thirty.<br />
Its mostly filled with bad pop.<br />
Not even bad euro pop like Aqua.<br />
Nah, I mean bad trend bands like LMFAO.<br />
The only saving grace in this category is Katy Perry.<br />
Category the third.<br />
Everyone sat at my table.<br />
We where all grungers, goths and oddly, obscure funk fanatics.<br />
Now I don't want to come across as to old,<br />
or a music nazi.<br />
But there wasn't much on the playlist for us.<br />
But saying that we comprised a grand total of four people.<br />
The dance floor at anyone time was full to the brim with the hundred other people dancing their socks off.<br />
The DJ did a great job off keeping everyone dancing.<br />
The only time when there was room enough for us to dance was the number one song,<br />
in my opinion.<br />
So the top three songs of the night as voted by me on behalf of everyone else.<br />
In at number 3,<br />
Love shack by the B52's.<br />
Number 2 by a massive lead on number 3,<br />
Lets Dance by David Bowie.<br />
and at number 1 just by a ants hair,<br />
Just cant get enough by Depech Mode.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-51769431834187313772012-03-08T15:36:00.000-08:002012-03-08T15:36:56.456-08:00Were here to sell out and stuffIn movies and TV there are lots of made up bands.<br />
A lot of times their better than most real bands.<br />
Sometimes you get to see them.<br />
Tenacious d, Flight of the Concords.<br />
Sometimes though there are bands we wont/don't/cant get to see live.<br />
Stillwater, Hangmans joke.<br />
Two bands I would love to see live are<br />
Jeffster from Chuck<br />
and,<br />
Sex Bomb Omb from Scot Pilgrim vs the world.<br />
Both great bands from a great show and movie.<br />
Both of which feature great sound tracks.<br />
Jeffster do covers.<br />
Their covers stick in my head better than the originals.<br />
As a group their just so weird.<br />
On vox a awkward sex pest.<br />
On synth/guitar a odd ball sex pest.<br />
They are both unparalleled stalkers.<br />
Their a great comedy duo.<br />
A fifteen minute set would be enough.<br />
I know they've done sets a comic cons.<br />
If I want to see them I'll have to hope they play another comic con,<br />
and that I'm there.<br />
But America is a long way to travel to see a Fifteen minute comedy set that in all probability wont be very good.<br />
Though I could be proven wrong.<br />
Sex Bomb Omb.<br />
The hand full of tracks we have for them are brilliant.<br />
All featured on the fantastic soundtrack CD.<br />
Short, punchy grunge of the college variety.<br />
From the movie we can tell that they go all in for their live performances.<br />
Even if they are cut short for battles with evil ex's.<br />
If we could get the actors together again we could get them to perform a set.<br />
Would they play live?<br />
Probably not.<br />
Not unless we paid them a lot.<br />
Sadly.<br />
But it would rock.<br />
Even if we had just paid through the nose for a five song set.<br />
Would I travel to America to see them?<br />
Only if they played at CBGB's.<br />
And they cant.<br />
Because like the band sadly it doesn't exist.<br />
...<br />
When I went to go guitar browsing,<br />
and came away with my Cobain Jaguar,<br />
and a thousand quid lighter.<br />
Totally worth it though.<br />
I was going to jam out "Garbage Truck" by Sex Bomb Omb.<br />
Been a favourite of mine to play for awhile now.<br />
Good for getting a feel for the guitar.<br />
Easy/sludgy and fun to play.<br />
Someone else testing out guitars started to play it before me.<br />
I smiled and laughed.<br />
Proof that even if a band doesn't technically exist.<br />
Their songs can still be better than half the crap on the radio today.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-64527384383282287812012-03-03T15:47:00.000-08:002012-03-03T15:47:45.032-08:00Fuck my carbon foot printI like the Smiths.<br />
There I said it.<br />
I feel better.<br />
I dont like Morrissey.<br />
As a full time Butcher I cant stand the pillock.<br />
Meat is murder.<br />
Then why are our courts not filled with Butchers?<br />
The man is a tool.<br />
Stoping a gig because someone was eating a bacon sandwich.<br />
Which by the way is a work of genius.<br />
I also like U2.<br />
But not Bono.<br />
If your going to have a go and say that we should all reduce our carbon foot prints,<br />
dont fly your hat around the world just because you forgot it.<br />
It would have been cheaper to buy a new hat.<br />
Let alone the huge fucking hole in the atmosphere.<br />
I havent been abroad in decades.<br />
There are a hand full of Coldplay songs I kinda like.<br />
but,<br />
Chris Martin.<br />
I cant look at him with out bile rising.<br />
Their new video where their dressed as Elephants.<br />
Theres one scene that goes straight through me.<br />
The whole thing it could have been anybody in that suit.<br />
But you know its him.<br />
To prove it,<br />
and show of that he can ride a unicycle,<br />
he takes the head of.<br />
Hey look, its Chris Martin, isn't he smart.<br />
He's the teachers pet of the music world.<br />
Which is funny because he plagiarised some of his songs.<br />
Just ask Joe Satriani.<br />
Normally that would get you fucked by city and guilds.<br />
The reason I love to hate these guys.<br />
Because deep down their better than me.<br />
Their at least trying to save the world.<br />
Their trying to make it a better place.<br />
Problem is their all smug git's.<br />
Also their stinking rich.<br />
Its easy for them to donate money.<br />
They have to much already.<br />
If I was earning thousands in royalties a week I'd donate some too.<br />
They also have the perfect platform to help the world.<br />
Being media darlings and all.<br />
And i hate them for it.<br />
I cant stand seeing them being better than me.<br />
...<br />
But are they.<br />
Are they covering up for something?<br />
Are they over compensating?<br />
I bet they are.<br />
Morrissey.<br />
He kills cows for fun with claw hammers.<br />
Bono.<br />
He had his hat all along. He just wanted to show of how stupidly rich he is by burning another hole in the atmosphere.<br />
And Chris Martin.<br />
I've never seen him and Jack the Ripper in the same room together, have you?<br />
I think the police should look in to it.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-1236003231346485122012-02-29T15:20:00.000-08:002012-02-29T15:20:59.805-08:00Month three of the yearI've decided to stop self pitying.<br />
Next month begins with a week off.<br />
I'm going to spend a day not playing on my Playstation.<br />
Not watching reruns and cartoons.<br />
Not lazing on the sofa.<br />
I'm going to dedicate a few days to recording.<br />
Every little riff that pops in to my head.<br />
I'm gonna record it all.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-88230761026171831902012-02-28T09:07:00.000-08:002012-02-28T09:07:37.822-08:00Lost my Mojo.I've found of late I cant write music anymore.<br />
I cant set my mind to it.<br />
Every time I sit down, and get to it my mind goes blank.<br />
I cant focus.<br />
No matter how hard I try.<br />
Nothing.<br />
I cant seem to get a beat in my head.<br />
No riffs.<br />
Nothing.<br />
I cant seem to make anything.<br />
It sounds self pitying I know.<br />
But it's gone.<br />
This month I haven't really touched my guitars.<br />
I've been dusting therm today.<br />
I picked one up and couldn't think of anything to play.<br />
So back it goes.<br />
Think I need a direction to go in.<br />
But I cant find that either.<br />
I think I want to make some beats.<br />
Something in the vein of Royksopp or Portishead.<br />
They might be a bit out of my league.<br />
But I need a challenge.<br />
Something to get me going.<br />
If it works I'll post the results if their any good.<br />
If their not, they'll get deleted.<br />
Like so many others over the past month.<br />
Not that I'm self pitying or anything.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-25790679144757860042012-02-24T15:23:00.000-08:002012-02-24T15:23:19.543-08:00Whatever their saying their saying it wellI was always told that you should never get a band tattoo.<br />
There are so many in their forties that regret their Iron maiden tats.<br />
There are so many modern metal kids covered in Ollie Sykes tattoos that will live to regret it.<br />
As i was told when I was younger by all the bikers in the bar was,<br />
"Never get a band Tattoo."<br />
The reason is bands can get shit.<br />
When I was seventeen I saw this guy at a Korn gig with a righteous Korn tattoo.<br />
Nowadays, even as a die hard Korn fan,<br />
their work with Skrillix is just plain embarrassing.<br />
If you have a tattoo of Korn,<br />
Their shame is your shame by default.<br />
I digress.<br />
The reason I say this is I have a band Tattoo.<br />
My third favourite band of all time is Sigur Ros.<br />
I love their music.<br />
People always say when you die you hear Enya at the end of the tunnel.<br />
She got bumped.<br />
Heaven is now soundtracked by Sigur Ros.<br />
Their music will always make me smile when ever I feel down.<br />
I had to stop listening to them as I used to walk to work.<br />
It took me to Track four on brackets to get to work,<br />
and just as it started I'd always wonder,<br />
what is down that road?<br />
If I kept on listening on the way to work,<br />
one day I wouldn't make it.<br />
I would have walked down that road.<br />
Seeing them live for the first time was like a religious experience.<br />
They swapped instruments,<br />
The lighting/back drop was just plain brilliant.<br />
They had a marching band come on and a violin section.<br />
They played their music just as it is on the record.<br />
The first time I saw them was the same week I got in to them.<br />
I had brackets before the gig.<br />
I had everything else after.<br />
I've been a die hard fan ever since.<br />
Converting others.<br />
Including my parents.<br />
I even took my Dad to see them.<br />
They released a DVD called Heima.<br />
on the video the same viola section played with them in an abandoned factory.<br />
The same marching band marched through their home town.<br />
Sigur Ros played in a valley that a week later would be flooded for all time.<br />
They played my Favourite song"Hey Satan" in an abandoned fishing village.<br />
The DVD summed up every feeling I have for them and their beautiful, hypnotic music.<br />
I have two tattoos.<br />
One is a skeleton of a frog tattooed on to my back.<br />
The other is the word Heima tattooed on to my left wrist.<br />
Its tattooed so I can read it without having to bend my wrist at a silly angle.<br />
If I'm having a shit time at work.<br />
I just look at my wrist and think of their music.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-43087550651934094542012-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:002012-02-13T14:53:19.967-08:00As February drags onI was watching a count down of Thirty seconds to mars's videos on mtv.<br />
I remember when they used to be cool.<br />
I know a lot of people like to pretend to have been in to a band from the beginning.<br />
But with them I really was.<br />
I first heard about them in a guitrist magazine.<br />
They had an artical about actors in bands.<br />
They had the crap.<br />
Dogstar, thirty odd foot of grunts.<br />
The funny,<br />
Tenacious d<br />
and the interesting,<br />
Thirty seconds to mars.<br />
I got hold of their first album years before they blew up everywhere with their second album.<br />
I used to DJ them when I was playing music to a half empty pub on a Wednesday night.<br />
I went on their website around the same time.<br />
They had a stream of the kill.<br />
It wasn't called that back then.<br />
I cant remember what it was called.<br />
it sounded ace.<br />
finally,<br />
years later the new album came out.<br />
I got it straight away.<br />
it was a crowd pleaser.<br />
I loved it.<br />
Then all the fans came out of the wood work.<br />
God I hate them.<br />
I started to get asked to play them at the night club.<br />
I used to joke that I'd been playing them for years.<br />
They'd just call me sad for pretending to have been a fan from the beginning.<br />
The place was filled with hundreds of them.<br />
Whatever.<br />
At least they got up and danced.<br />
Then the third album came out.<br />
kings and queens.<br />
Great single if a little pompous.<br />
Then I got the joy of hearing the whole album.<br />
God wept.<br />
Firstly.<br />
The whole thing is just one big ego trip for Jared.<br />
Secondly.<br />
That god awful teenage, mega chorus.<br />
Yeah it sounds cool.<br />
Dont put it on every bloody track.<br />
...<br />
I dont think I just spontaneously started to hate them.<br />
I think it started to happen when I saw them live for the first time.<br />
The band came on looking cool.<br />
dressed in faded, worn down black clothes.<br />
very prog/goth/industrial.<br />
Then came Leto.<br />
I guess his mum does use Daz.<br />
head to toe white.<br />
the spotlights shine on him.<br />
"LOOK AT ME, IM GREAT, IM THE CENTRE OF THE FUCKING UNIVERSE..."<br />
I'm not saying they wasn't bad live.<br />
I just couldn't get past Leto.<br />
Well to be fair it was like looking directly at the sun.<br />
It was Leto acting at been the front man of a great band,<br />
as opposed to just been the front man of a great band.<br />
...<br />
I write this as I listen to the first album again.<br />
I just had to listen to it again.<br />
Remember what it was like been the fan of a band that no one else in my dead end town knew.<br />
Though if you ask any of them they where fans from the beginning,<br />
one and all.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-85747932104097832252012-02-04T14:17:00.000-08:002012-02-04T14:17:30.673-08:00When I grow oldI turned Twentynine the other day.<br />
Not one of the land mark ages.<br />
Last chance to be in your twenties before your in you thirties.<br />
I have a plan to go to one last festival this year before I'm thirty.<br />
Anyway,<br />
the new rock sound is out.<br />
I wont go on about how much I hate Skrillix.<br />
I'm pretty sure we all hate him.<br />
I'm almost convinced that people just pretend to like him because someone decided he was hip.<br />
But anyway,<br />
Rock sound is one of my favourite music magazines.<br />
The only other one I read is Stool Pigeon.<br />
But there are less bands in that, that I can relate too.<br />
Rock Sound always has a free cd on the cover.<br />
This is great for discovering new bands.<br />
One of the things I do is that as I listen I cross of the ones that I don't like.<br />
Normally its only one or two.<br />
This months it was more than half.<br />
I picked up the pile,<br />
what do you do with free cd's of the front of magazines you don't want to keep?<br />
and checked.<br />
the number has risen over the past few months or so.<br />
It seems I like less and less new music.<br />
Is this a sign of getting old?<br />
God I hope not.<br />
I need that high of discovering new music.<br />
Or at least new to me.<br />
Which brings me nicely up to the black Keys.<br />
Got there new album El Camino.<br />
Its great.<br />
I love it.<br />
I havent listend to anything else they have done for risk they might ruin it.<br />
Just Like the Editors did by making good singles, boring albums.<br />
I love the production,<br />
I love the sound,<br />
I love the songs.<br />
I would love to be in a band that sounds this good.<br />
Which is my problem.<br />
Yesterday I wanted to be in a band that sounds like Clutch or Sleep.<br />
I just cant make up my mind where I want to be.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-5830579449049109092012-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:002012-01-28T10:20:43.945-08:00Last Sticker standing.I posted recently about the last poster of my band finally getting pulled down.<br />
Well a friend of mine reminded me that there is still a sticker on a condom machine in Huddersfield.<br />
Or at least their was till some drunk wrenched it from a wall the other night.<br />
So thats that as they say.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-37322383594376325002012-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:002012-01-28T10:18:00.443-08:00First Gig of the yearSo last night was the first gig of the year.<br />
Four Year Strong, supported by some forgettable names.<br />
Don Bronco and Marmozets plus someone else.<br />
Don Bronco where alright, but I've heard it better else where.<br />
I've already forgotten who they reminded me off.<br />
The other guys where the same.<br />
Good, but I forgot who they where.<br />
Marmozets where just plain shit.<br />
Melt Banana, Converge and The Locust all do it better.<br />
The funny thing is not one of the other bands thanked them.<br />
"You've all been awesome, stay tuned for Four year strong and whoever the other band where."<br />
"You've been great, thanks to Don Bronco and stay tuned for Four year strong."<br />
"Thank you everybody, we'd like to say thanks to Don Bronco and the other guys."<br />
Shows the impression they left on the bands.<br />
Why where they even on before Don Bronco?<br />
Even the crowd wasn't impressed and normally that Unlistenable for Unlistenable shit really sells to a crowd of hipsters.<br />
If you cant identify any of the bands on the bands t-shirts you know there only in it for the back stage access.<br />
They where at my college at the same time as me.<br />
Someone on another course warned me about them.<br />
Beware their in Rock Sounds bands to watch this year.<br />
Anyway,<br />
Four Year Strong where great.<br />
Its my first time seeing them live.<br />
They had the crowd in their hands the moment they started to play.<br />
Their heavy pop punk sound is great to watch live.<br />
The crowd dancing and singing along.<br />
Sixty minutes was just enough to stop from getting dull,<br />
but long enough to make you want more.<br />
Plus they are proof that beards do make you rock harder.<br />
Was a good start to the year live.<br />
Made me wish I was in a band again.<br />
I just might go on www.joinmyband.co.uk and make a post.<br />
wish me luck.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-66329959074571997072012-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:002012-01-24T09:41:22.775-08:00Number Two in my all time top fiveIn at number Two is Deftones.<br />
I love them.<br />
They have the greatest sound ever.<br />
One of my guitars has been down tuned to drop C ever since the release of white pony.<br />
I almost bought a seven string, then an eight string, just so I could play all their songs.<br />
I love the sound of Stephen Carpenters guitar.<br />
The trip hop drums.<br />
Chinos voice is just amazing.<br />
I have the side projects he's been involved with as well.<br />
The Fantastic Team Sleep and Crosses.<br />
As a band they have a sound that has evolved with my musical tastes.<br />
They always seem to meet my needs musically.<br />
The first two where during the Nu metal craze and broke the mould.<br />
The Deftones wasn't just another dumb nu metal band.<br />
Even though nu metal had its time and place.<br />
The last four are more mature and suit my grown up listening tastes.<br />
lost of epic sounding songs.<br />
They haven't let me down yet.<br />
I have seen them live so many times.<br />
Each show is just wall to wall greats.<br />
I even got to see Team Sleep live at a festival years back.<br />
Most of my wardrobe is Deftones T-shirts or hoodies.<br />
My gig bag used to be covered in Deftones patches till it fell of my back and I had to get rid of it.<br />
The best Deftones song?<br />
Almost anything of the last four albums.<br />
The worst?<br />
I'm not going to say, but its on saturday night wrist.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-74791241130155505952012-01-20T14:43:00.000-08:002012-01-20T14:43:53.325-08:00Last Poster standingMy last bands, last gig was in Leeds Rio's.<br />
We where in support of a local band.<br />
I'm not going to name names, but they where rubbish.<br />
To many divas in that band.<br />
They where like a rubbish Paramore.<br />
But hey, they lasted longer than us.<br />
By that point I'm sure we all wanted to quit.<br />
But the reason I bring this up is that we got on to a big poster.<br />
Massive, with all the bands listed to play.<br />
Our band on the same poster as Skindred.<br />
It was fantastic.<br />
They had posters of all the up and coming gigs inside on a wall you could see through a window.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">So for the months up to the gig there was my bands name.</div>It was quite a buzz.<br />
The venue closed down about a week after our gig.<br />
We split up shortly after the venue closed.<br />
I have to walk past it every day I go to work.<br />
Every day since I have had to walk past our posters.<br />
Hanging in the window of a closed down club.<br />
Collecting dust.<br />
Like a depressing reminder that we fell out.<br />
After so long it stopped meaning anything.<br />
All i wanted was the poster it's self.<br />
It was the only one from all the gigs I've played that I didn't save.<br />
Leeds Rio's has just been bought/rented and the new owners are gutting the place.<br />
They've pulled out the bar,<br />
the sound desk area,<br />
the light rigging,<br />
they even pulled the inside roof out somehow.<br />
For the first time in a year and a half the posters are gone.<br />
So is the wall they where stuck too.<br />
I wish I'd known so I could have grabbed one.<br />
In a way its like saying goodbye.<br />
In another its like saying good riddance.<br />
I'm not sure how to feel about it.<br />
All I do know is that I miss playing live,<br />
But I knew that anyway.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-31562882225438568092012-01-14T15:19:00.000-08:002012-01-14T15:19:20.992-08:00Nirvana colouring bookAs I write this I sit in my mega old, battered, Nirvana hoodie.<br />
My mega old, battered, Nirvana T-shirt.<br />
In my lap is my brand new, battered, kurt Cobain Fender jaguar.<br />
On the book shelf are some old, and battered, specials by Q and Mojo about Nirvana.<br />
I really should take stock of my collection.<br />
Lauren got me a cool new book on Nirvana from the local HMV.<br />
Its bright neon yellow. It has lots of pull out bits and bobs, like old tickets and tour posters.<br />
Its the second Nirvana book like it I own.<br />
The first one been Cobain Unseen.<br />
Books like this are wonderful.<br />
Yeah all the posters and ticket stubs are recreations.<br />
But then so is my guitar and it holds a magic of its own.<br />
Cobain is an icon that has inspired thousands to pick up a guitar.<br />
Grunge as a scene, as well as punk, inspired me to play.<br />
But it was other grunge bands that set me off.<br />
I own more Pearl Jam records than Nirvana ones.<br />
I was a full blown Foo Fighters fan before I eventually bothered with Nirvana.<br />
It was only Dave Grohl's involvement that made me listen.<br />
But the same can be said about Nirvana and the Pixies.<br />
Nirvana and Half Japanese.<br />
Kyuss.<br />
The Melvins.<br />
Tad.<br />
I wouldn't have heard of them if it wasn't for Kurt's need to write lists.<br />
We all have to start somewhere.<br />
Nirvana is as good as any.<br />
I think the point Im getting at is even though I would never claim to be the biggest Nirvana fan.<br />
They did set me off in the right direction for bands I now love.<br />
Their music was there for me when I was having a shit time in school.<br />
Back when I was the only kid in to alternative music in my school,<br />
and all I had was my Dads copy of Nevermind.<br />
They also helped me meet friends in college and clubs.<br />
music means different things to different people.<br />
For me bands mean different things from different times.<br />
for me Nirvana was a beginning of sorts.<br />
An opening dialogue.<br />
Which is why I have so much crap knocking about, about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana,<br />
and the first song I played on my Jaguar at the shop was In bloom.<br />
...<br />
Though maybe I don't know what it means.<br />
...<br />
What ever it was.Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-66724037711582288992012-01-11T15:30:00.000-08:002012-01-11T15:30:24.419-08:00Fossil CollectionHere is a new demo I have just finished. I've been listening to the Daft Punk "Tron Legacy" soundtrack all day and it inspired me to make some music<div><a href="http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/fossil-collection?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=blogger&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/fossil-collection">Fossil Collection</a></div>Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977055697811462437.post-815415836584363572012-01-10T10:47:00.000-08:002012-01-10T10:48:33.619-08:00DustHere is a link to one of my recent trip hop demos<br />
<br />
<a href="http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/dust?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=blogger&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/dust">Dust</a>Karl John Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13779115899205280476noreply@blogger.com0