I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the biggest resource of Second Life is the people. There's something about SL that seems to be a magnet for the kind of people I enjoy being around. The creative. The weird. The fun-loving. Well, we had all that and more at the 2009 Extreme Reality Halloween party. And even with all the great costumes, decorations and activities there, the main event was the collection of fun and cool people.
Hell, you didn't even have to look past the stage to find the coolness. Two of SL's absolute most talented and fun DJ/remix artists, Slim Warrior and Doubledown Tandino, had the crowd rocking at their respective time slots at 6pm and 7pm. Then at 8pm, I took over the stage to mix things up a bit with my live acoustic set. I decided to actually dress up for the event this year, which is why you see me in my Count Zakula outfit (along with Kat in her excellent Maleficent costume).
The shows were all great. Slim did a very tasty set of mostly her own originals, and Doubledown did his extraordinarily funky mixes on the fly. I would have enjoyed hanging out and dancing all night to their stuff had I not a set to do of my own.
My Halloween set list... You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton) This Afternoon (Zak Claxton) Mary Jane's Last Dance (Tom Petty) Fade Away (Zak Claxton) Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton) Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie) Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton) Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton) Tribute (Tenacious D) Wonderwall (Oasis) Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Huge Halloween thanks to the friends who rocked with me at Extreme Reality! AgileBill Firehawk, Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, Kat Claxton, Slim Warrior, Harrie Skjellerup, Kaklick Martin, jsmn Yao, Jordan Hazlitt, hexx Triskaidekaphobia, Doubledown Tandino, Mystical Demina, and Bevan Whitfield!
I've had a lot of people over the years ask me about my songwriting process, and I never feel like I have a good answer for them. I'm also not at all sure that my process of writing a song is like anyone else's. Songwriting is kind of a private affair, and it seems to me that even in the great collaborative teams (Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Rodgers/Hammerstein and so on), you have one guy who's the lyricist and another guy that does the music. In cases where both people do both jobs, they rarely do them together. I know it's neat to imagine multiple people assembling this audible work of art, but even in those Beatles tunes that John and Paul actually worked on together, almost all of them had Paul writing the verse and chorus, and John contributing the bridge, or vice-versa. It's not like they were sitting together saying, "Ooh, make the next chord a G minor!" and so on. Ultimately, creativity is a solo gig, at least in the initial stage... a one-person deal.
Anyway, since I'm in the process of writing songs for the next album (even though the first one hasn't hit the streets yet), I thought I'd share what my version of songwriting is all about. By the way, while I hate the fact that I have to write this, everything you hear here is copyrighted by me, Zak Claxton. This blog post is date/time stamped, obviously, so don't get any funny ideas about borrowing this little tune. I do like to share; I don't like to get ripped off. Enough said.
1. The Idea Since the beginning of recorded history (and probably long before that), creative people have wondered where their creations come from. While many forms of art and sculpture can be seen to represent something that exists, music is a very nebulous thing, where you find yourself pulling chords and notes and rhythms seemingly out of nowhere. Well, I can tell you, it's not "out of nowhere". Using myself as an example, I've spent years and years being immersed in the music of western civilization that goes back centuries... even millennia. So when I (and most other artists) write a "new" song, what we're often doing is drawing upon the sounds that came before us. There are transitions between chords that sound "right" because they're based on patterns that were developed long ago. Especially in the milieu of pop/rock that comprises my musical output, there are rhythms that have been imprinted in our collective unconsciousness long before we were born. My "new" songs merely reflect everything I've heard over the course of my life. I can't claim it to be any more mystical than that.
Another note on ideas: I've never been successful at forcing myself to write new music. I can't designate a time and sit down and write a song. It's not like, "3:00: do laundry, 4:00: call Joe, 5:00: take out trash, 6:00: write new song." It doesn't happen that way for me. Every time I've successfully written something I feel is worthwhile, it goes more like this.
- I find myself in a creatively open space, where I don't have a lot of other things pulling my attention away. - I pick up a guitar and strum around aimlessly for awhile. - Eventually, I find my hands doing things that I hadn't planned. - At some point, I kind of snap back into regular consciousness, and realize that what I'm playing isn't something that I've done before, nor does it seem to be something that someone else has done. It seems to be something like a new song. Voila.
So at that point, we have an idea. It's not quite a song yet. But maybe it's just a few chords that sound good together, and inspire me to continue on it. Side note: I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to this point, and then decided what I had wasn't that great, or got distracted and did something else for awhile and then forgot what I was doing earlier. You need to make a point to try and get something fleshed out a little more at this point, if it seems worthwhile.
2. The Process I feel a need to once again say that while this is my process, it isn't THE process. Some people go about this an entirely different way. I'm only telling you my way, which may or may not be congruous with your way. Okay. Glad we cleared that up.
As mentioned earlier, I tend to write on an acoustic guitar. Why? First, I'm most comfortable with that instrument, so there's no delays while I try and figure out how to play what I'm hearing in my head. Second, my personal opinion is that if I can play it through on just an acoustic guitar and voice, it has good potential to be a decent song.
So, I have a couple sets of chords, and in typical pop/rock format, one set will end up as the verse, and the other the chorus. Note that in my case, lyrics aren't even in the picture yet. Some writers (Elton John, for instance) take existing lyrics and write music to them. I can't do that. To me, the song is the music, and hopefully my lyrics fit the mood of the music, rather than the other way around. However, part of the music is melody, so at this stage I might start humming along with my verse/chorus chords, seeing what happens. I need to be careful here, because I really don't want to lock myself into a melody. I kind of let it flow, playing through the chords over and over again, trying different variations on the melody.
3. The Addendums Let's say I now have these chords for a verse and chorus, and a rather amorphous melody that I've been humming. Not gonna worry about words for awhile. But I am aware that in most cases, I want something more than these two musical motifs to repeat throughout the song, to avoid repetitive boredom (generally not something good in music, to me anyway). Now, there's no preset template that I fill in here. Sometimes, I do another musical theme and it becomes the song's bridge. Sometimes that bridge is also an area for the instrument solo (which is the case in my songs "This Afternoon", "You're Like a Cloud" and others). Sometimes I add yet another theme which becomes the coda (aka outro) of a song, which you hear in my song "Fade Away", for example. Remember, there are no rules here, okay? I do what I feel like for that song at that time. The next song might be very different.
In the as-yet-untitled song I'm writing now, the first addendum that came to me was the outro. In fact, the very first time I played it all the way through, I found that I just did the outro naturally, without even thinking about it... a good sign. The song also seemed to want a bridge, and I tried a couple of things that were okay, but didn't slay me. But right at the moment I decided to record a quick demo (see below), I just let go and allowed my hands to do as they wanted on the bridge, and I liked what they did.
Anyway, as I just mentioned, the next step is...
4. The Demo People have different meanings for the word "demo" as it relates to songwriting. Some people make their demos very fleshed out, with drum parts and other arranging ideas. For me, there's a simple reason to do a quick demo at this stage; I don't want to forget what I've written! Granted, I do occasionally write music with a pen and paper in front of me, jotting down chord charts and so on. However, there mere act of putting down the guitar pick and picking up the pen can cause me to lose my mojo, or whatever you want to call it. What I prefer doing is playing the song over and over while I write it so the chord changes become internalized. Then, I simply record it live, which I do the very moment I can play it all the way through.
I really don't want anything distracting me at that stage... even the act of recording can interrupt the flow, if it involves a lot of setup. Stopping and setting up mics, prepping the computer to record -- I don't like that stuff at that point. So, I usually grab the closest thing to me that will record audio with one button push. In the case of "Demo Song 10.26.09", it was the digital camera sitting on my desk. I put it on the other chair in my office/studio, pointed it toward me, and hit "record". Is the audio quality great? No. Is the performance perfect? No. Will I use this actual recording on the album? No. Does it suffice to capture the idea immediately so I can start thinking about other stuff without fear of abandoning the song's vibe? Yes!
Sometimes, I hum along while I record the demo, but more often I don't. The melody is often still congealing in my brain at this stage, and the minute I record something, I'm mostly locked into it from that point onward. But even at this very early stage, I can tell you where everything goes... where the verses are, where the choruses are, where the solos will fit and so on.
That's where we're leaving off for now, because that's all I've got. Some songs actually die at this stage. After a few days of listening, I may decide that I'm just not that into it. Or, I may realize that it's too derivative of some other artist's work, and I'm pretty careful about making sure my original music is actually mine. However, in Part 2 of this topic, I'll tell you about the next stage, which will likely be the writing of lyrics.
For the time being, here's the very rough demo of "Song 10.26.09". Enjoy.
A couple of weeks ago, I had kind of an odd experience. A gal I wasn't really familiar with asked if I could perform at a place I'd never been before. Well, that isn't odd in and of itself; that happens all the time. But as I started to talk to her about the details of the show -- where, when, my standard fee and so on -- she became elusive. Asked me to come see the place (I did), told me about it (I listened), but seemed to have trouble committing to hiring me. I came very close to telling her, "Thanks but no thanks."
As it turned out, the reason for her reluctance to give me more details was that it was a show for charity... a very worthwhile charity, "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer". She wanted me to play for free, and was hesitant to ask me to do so. Here's a word of advice for folks: many musicians are happy to be able to help lend a hand for charity shows, but the best way to do it is to come right out and tell them what it is you're doing! You don't need to sell them on the idea. Either they're going to be into it, or not, and it's based on the performer's own priorities as to whether or not they want to donate their time and money to the cause. So, while I probably wouldn't do a free show to "Save the Wombats" or something, there wasn't a moment of hesitation once I understood this was a show to fight breast cancer.
Before I go on to the details of the show, there's no better time than the present to give you a few facts...
• The American Cancer Society says there are 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2009, along with 40,170 deaths.
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.
• The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is a little less 1 in 8.
• As a result of more awareness (leading to earlier discovery) and better treatments, breast cancer death rates have been going down. Right now there are more than 2½ million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
Nearly all of us will know someone who will be affected by breast cancer, either directly or indirectly. It's a cause I certainly believe in, and I was glad to lend a hand in my small way to fight this disease!
So, on to the show.
Glance International Agency is one of SL's premiere fashion and modeling businesses. The show I did on Saturday is at their main headquarters in SL, a kind of mall with a large room for fashion shows. So, there at the head of the runway (cue Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy"), I set up and did my usual Zak Show. As you blog readers know, it's important to me to get new listeners for my music, so performing before a good-sized crowd of folks who'd never heard me before was a good opportunity on a personal basis. And, as I said, all proceeds for the day -- which included a fashion show as well as my gig -- were donated directly to the ACS. There was a large kiosk next to me as opposed to my usual tip jar, and hopefully we raised some good funds during the hour I was onstage doing originals and covers.
The Set List... Wonderwall (Oasis) You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton) This Afternoon (Zak Claxton) Rikki Don't Lose That Number (Steely Dan) Come Around (Zak Claxton) Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton) Falling Down (Zak Claxton) California (Joni Mitchell) Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton) Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton) Fire & Rain (James Taylor) Tea in the Sahara (The Police) Jane (Barenaked Ladies)
Thanks to the folks who came out to the show and helped fight breast cancer! Rhonda Pennell, Veronica Krasner, Herradura Baar, Kat Claxton, Wicca Merlin, Nefertiti Kimagawa, Arisia Ashmoot, ladysunfire Erin, Aurelie Chenaux, Sanders Beaumont, Dunia Moulliez, Trance Mistwallow, Sibilla Peccable, Antuanet Forcella, Triana Caldera, Darzian Silverfall, morgynn Hancroft, Miaa Rebane, nathalie Ember, and GIA owner Patty Cortes!
Sometime last week, my IM box popped up, and it was Ictus Belford. Back when I was first starting out playing in SL, I had a weekly Monday night show at a venue then known as Crystal Sands, and for well over a year, Ictus and I had adjoining time slots there. I'd play at 5:00PM, and Ictus would follow me at 6:00 back then.
Anyway, Ictus rang me up and let me know that for his third rezday, he was having a party at the place now called Crystal Gardens, still run by our pal Sandi Benelli. I told him I'd love to come by. A couple of days later, he told me he needed someone to fill a time slot at the all-day show, and I let him know that I'd be happy to take the space.
That's how I ended up playing at Crystal Gardens today, for a short half-hour show. It was really fun; my spot was toward the end of the show, but everyone there still seemed to be enthusiastic and fun. That is, except the Rezday Boy himself, who may or may not have been passed out on the couch during my set. No matter; the crowd was fun and I had a good time.
Set list... You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton) This Afternoon (Zak Claxton) Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton) Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton) Heart of Gold (Neil Young) Come Around (Zak Claxton) Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
Thanks to Ictus and everyone at Crystal Gardens today! Shannyn Fall, Kim Seifert, Mikal Beaumont, Haroldthe Burrel, Rebel Verrazzano, Amanda Steadham, Gavin MacKay, Gretchen Capalini, Triana Caldera, BuffaloMike Hammerer, Diana Renoir, Aurelie Chenaux, Zed Essex, Gracie Serendipity, Tommy Dannitza, bobby1 Tremor, Leabros Memel, Ashara Arabello, and Sandi Benelli!
I had the realization yesterday that it was no longer summer (despite the recent mini-heat wave we've had in So Cal in the last couple of days), and that my "Summer 2009 Zak Podcast" was getting a bit stale. So, we whipped out a new one, which you can hear by clicking the link above. It's also playing at the parcels Kat and I own in SL.
What's in the Fall 2009 Podcast? Well, you get nine of my rough mixes from the studio, as well as me pretending to be a radio DJ, and informing you about what's happening with the album and so on. I'd recommend clicking the link above and letting it play while you go about your usual activities, much like a little radio show. Enjoy.
I have to say, it's been a sweet series of good shows lately. Perhaps having the album in the can is allowing me to focus more on the music at hand, or maybe it's just been luck of the draw with some great crowds. Today at Rastafairy Beach was most definitely a fun, fun show, so the streak continues.
It had been far too long, since January 3rd of this year, since I last did a show at hexx and jsmn's home venue. Pity, because I've invariably had fun performing at their place. Today, we managed to summon up a good sized, very enthusiastic audience, and one thing stood out for me: they seemed hungry for the originals. I threw in a couple of covers, both for time filler and to keep myself on my toes, but I also did a couple of originals that I don't play very often... "Waiting for This" and "Lines on your Eyes". Why don't I play these songs much? I certainly like both of them a lot, but they involve detuning my guitar, and I only feel comfortable doing that at certain places. The mellow vibe of Rastafairy Beach gave me the motivation to try the quick retune and jump into these songs.
Today's set list... Fade Away (Zak Claxton) Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton) Alabama (Neil Young) This Afternoon (Zak Claxton) Falling Down (Zak Claxton) Waiting for This (Zak Claxton) Lines on your Eyes (Zak Claxton) Time Never Waits for You (Zak Claxton) Peace Song (This Guitar is my Weapon) (Zak Claxton) Ziggy Stardust (Zak Claxton) Come Around (Zak Claxton)
Big thanks to all the folks who came, especially those who supported the show! Sid Slade, Diana Renoir, Alazarin Mondrian, Dewran Wopat, Persia Bravin, Life Charron, RastaMan Sorbet, and today's terrific hosts, jsmn Yao and hexx Triskaidekaphobia!
I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but somehow I ended up having shows scheduled every other day. On 10/12 it was my debut at Z's. Today (10/14) was a show at Fibber Magees. Friday 10/16, I'm rocking over at Rastafairy Beach. Finally, I'll do a half hour set for Ictus Belford's birthday party at Crystal Gardens on Sunday 10/18. Whew! glad I made that commitment to "stop playing so often". I'm glad that's working out for me.
Regardless, I find myself enjoying each show in a different way. Today was at Fibber Magees, and I invariably have such a fun time playing there. For one thing, it was nice to get back to doing some more covers in my set. I know, I'm supposed to be promoting my original music for the pending album release, right? But any musician who plays the same songs over and over -- even his or her own -- will tell you that it's fun to perform something you haven't done in the last few days. Or weeks. Or possibly months.
Another thing that makes Fibber Magees a great place to play is the vibe of the crowd. Maybe it's me, maybe it's them, but in any case, I find myself laughing a lot during my shows there. Today was no exception. Anyway, I'm always glad to have the chance to play at any of the Dublin venues, mostly due to the great efforts of Cher Harrington and the hosting staff. They not only bring in a cool crowd, but make sure everyone (including the artist) feels welcome and enjoys themselves. A lot of places could learn a thing or two from watching Cher in action. Just saying.
Today's set list at Fibber Magees... Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton) Bertha (Grateful Dead) Come Around (Zak Claxton) Just Like Starting Over (John Lennon) Fade Away (Zak Claxton) Rock and Roll Woman (Buffalo Springfield) Falling Down (Zak Claxton) Tea on the Sahara (The Police) Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton) You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton) This Afternoon (Zak Claxton) Soul Kitchen (The Doors)
Thanks to everyone who helped make it a great show! Diana Renoir, Mac McLeod, Steven Hynes, MaryJoanne Sideways, Archangel Maruti, Aurelie Chenaux, hexx Triskaidekaphobia, Isobela Capalini, today's hostess Phooka Heron, and the effervescent Cher Harrington!
