Fragment Ten: BackStage...

The Project: 5 Tracks

Bit of History: (It seems like an eternity ago)…
I wrote a bunch of lyrics & came up with some tunes!
I think the original idea was to form a band & tour the world (having a history of already 'been there & done that').
Initially I asked Phil Barker (drummer) to join me… he was having none of it… but I persuaded him to meet me for beers, have a listen, critique what I had.
After a few drinking sessions spread over a few months… his feedback led me into badgering him to have more input…
Phil finally caved in & at the beginning of 2016… We bought an electronic pad Drum Kit (USB/midi) & set up a practice space in the living room.
Over the next few months we formulated the songs into decent demo structures. The drums were recorded straight into the MacBook Pro as were the guide guitars.
It soon became clear we needed a bass player to build with. We had a few characters drop in & offer their crafts…
Emily Flea, Steve Brennan, Vince Learoyd (AKA Vomit-Dirt) & all the way from NYC the legendary Dr Fitzgerald.
Then in Sept 2016 we took a break for another project.

The annual Winter of Discontent Festival was taking place in Feb 2017 and the Sunday was being dedicated to the memory of Vi Subversa (Poison Girls).
Clearly DIRT had not been around for eons… Deno, Phil Barker, Leigh Rocker & yours truly set about the task at hand… All bands were asked to cover a Poison Girls song. So that was our initial focus (not as simple as it sounds)…
With a fixed target date set in Feb 2017 we set about rehearsing in the living room. After working out a set list & a few Poison Girl songs to contend with it was time to escalate into a proper rehearsal space.
Overdrive Studios in Deptford (John Clifford) became our venue of choice & over the next couple of months we would drop in and aquaint ourselves with varying levels of volume.
It was during this time that we would socialise with John after the rehearsals in the Birds Nest.

Once the DIRT project had finished it was time to return to my original plan… Me & Phil booked into Overdrive to carry on where we’d left off.
These rehearsals became more of a social thing - Birds Nest round the corner seemed to be our main focus! It was during these drinking sessions that we started to instill an idea that John should play bass for us (he was at studio anyways)… John - for those that dont know used to be a bass player before switching to Drums. He fancied the idea & we spent a couple of weeks whilst he reaquainted himself with the bass.
Then another 'Spanner In The Works’… A street fight left me with a broken hand so we were forced to take a few months off… the beer sessions continued.
In Nov 2017 we did our 1 & only gig - at Overdrive Studios for a friends (Rhian) birthday. It didnt go according to plan…
The Dream Is Over…

Fast Forward a bit… world went into lockdown. Having a lot of spare time I needed a project.
I ploughed through the demos we made in the living room. They consisted of drums & guitar only. Out of 9/10 tracks I found 5 that had complete drum sections and although they did morph into proper songs at a later date… the drums were good enough for me to use as a foundation to learn LogicPro X.
Initially I set about recording guitars & learning how to use the software. I got so far & then hit a wall - I couldn’t play/create what I heard / imagined in my head.
The Dream Is Over…

Not Quite:
I decided to become a better guitarist. Dabbled in music theory. And over the last few years that has been my focus.
I do intend to finish the demos!