Nicko

Lets Go Crazy - Prince

The Boys Are Back In Town - Lizzy

I generally eat a lightish meal a few hours before the gig, which plays havoc with my system as my normal evening meal would be at around 8.30pm. If I'm driving I might have one beer at the gig. When I get home I'll have another beer or two and a bag of crisps, or if I'm really hungry a marmite sandwiich.

Supermassive Black Hole - Muse

Here is this month's contribution. Inspired by the Latin name for the daffodil, Narcissus which led me to write something about those people that rate themselves too highly. Technical - I was a bit pushed for time this month after abandoning an all electronic track that started OK and fell off a cliff so I went back to my last song of a similar genre and copied the project for all of the settings. I tweaked them a bit but they suited the song and it saved a heap of time. It's a Fender Tele and Squier PB all via Amplitube 5. MT power drums. I forced myself to be a bit more confident with the vocals - they're still very shaky but I think singing with a bit more effort improves them a little - just a touch of reverb and EQ from Cubase helps polish the turd.

Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf - Killers

I've never played in an originals band but write and record my own stuff at home which virtually no one listens to. I mostly find that I don't push my abilities that much when writing my own stuff. Playing covers forced me to learn to play things that were difficult sometimes and made me a better player. I didn't really enjoy gigging that much - it was a necessary evil of being in a covers band but I enjoyed being in a room with other people just to make music - whether it was someone else's or not was irrelevant, and the reaction of an audience to a song they know is satisfying. The hardest thing about being in a covers band is getting everyone to agree what covers you're going to play, or having to play songs that you simply don't like while pretending that you do. I struggled with the idea of being a musician while not actually creating anything of my own but overcame that very quickly. The vast majority of musicians though history have played other peoples compositions whether that be orchestral, jazz standards, traditional folk songs or whatever.

Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen

Shut Up and Let Me Go - Ting Tings

Party in a Forest - Wombats

Snap

I'm the Urban Spaceman - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band

God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols

Third Stone from the Sun - Jimi

William, It Was Really Nothing - The Smiths

Money - Pink Floyd

Hold on - Plain White T's

Blood - My Chemical Romance

Forbidden Colours -David Sylvian & Ryuchi Sakamoto

Where's me Jumper - Sultans of Ping

Bark at the Moon - Ozzy

Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader

Papa's Gpt a Brand New Bag - James (Godfather of Soul) Brown

Back in Black - AC/DC

Patricia the Stripper - Wombats