time, all the long red lines

So my bass playing duties have seen me going back in time. one playing with the ever excellent kevin mathews whose past work included the watchmen and popland. now if you didn't know, Kevin's an accomplished songwriter who was at the forefront of Singapore's english music scene in the nineties, and the best thing is that he still pursues it after all these years.

he currently plays with his band "The Groovy People", of which i share bass duties.. and i think it's a great privilege and honour to be a part of this group, where we get to listen to Kevin's stories about the scene before, and his extensive knowledge of pop culture.

donald so kindly took pictures of the gig we played last saturday, and more can be found at his multiply site.







And since we're on the subject of Singapore music from the nineties. i recently started jamming with a guy called Noel who used to be in a band called Suchness.



We're forming a sort of re-incarnation of that band, and are currently rehearsing a bunch of songs that have not been recorded for more than ten years. it doesn't sound like any of today's music, but probably closer to the alternative music scene of the nineties. it's nice, i grew up listening to such music, and.. i feel like i'm a teenager again, helping to write and arrange songs that are representative of that era.

and so.. some people wonder why i busy myself with playing in so many different projects? do i get paid? where's the reward in pouring yourself into projects like these?

the reward my friends, is meeting and befriending you wouldn't otherwise meet.. speaking a certain musical language and ultimately contributing just a little bit more to history and writing some bits of it.

slow down idiot, slow down

the weekend's finally here! i'm so happy.. perhaps it's got something to do with playing a gig with kevin mathews tomorrow at the Esplanade Outdoor Theater. and although i've played a fair amount of shows and this one should be no more different or special (because they all are), i'm looking forward to it for the simple reason that we've been practicing as a band for about six weeks now, and playing a show is almost like giving birth (or so i imagine).

the birth of ideas, the fruition of your labour.. in a simple life these things do give me some element of joy, and i want to look forward to things like that.

Who: Kevin Mathews and the Groovy People
Where: Esplanade Outdoor Theater
Date: 21 Feb'09
When: 8:45PM

comfort in the sound

i've been playing bass for more than ten years now, and if you know me enough, i've got quite a collection on my hands. none of the rare stuff, but enough to let you know that i take this hobby very seriously.

some of that joy stems from rendering my services to multiple people. whether it's with leeson, my main band, i am involved with church, Kevin Mathews and his groovy people, and quite recently, a power-pop band called 'Shelves'. i think more than ever, in the last 5 years, bassplaying has allowed me to meet some very awesome people, and it doesn't look like it's gonna let up.

a lot of that joy comes from playing with these folks.


Jamie.


Gerald.


Mark.


Thomas.

They're my band mates since 2004, some of them i've known since 1998.

if music defined my life, then these guys have played an integral part in allowing me to express myself.

music is a strange wonderful thing. for some, it's in the background, for others it's identifying with what's coming out through the words and lyrics. for me.. well, it's all that, and more. it's friendship, catharsis and discontent all rolled into one. i won't say it's given me reason and purpose in life, but it's at least offered direction, and a lot of joy. and maybe that's enough.

the little things.

i'm happy. Gundam 00 Season 2, every character is finding more resolve, and by episode 7, Allelujah and Mary.. well.. -)))

I found the Monocle podcast and my iPhone is now pimped for awesome. Feed here

if you were wondering, Monocle is one of the most informative and exciting design publications in these modern times. So if you have an interest in the art, science and business of anything design related, feed your need!

Rolling Stones and The Who have also been added to my iPod. i guess i'm happy with the new "old" music.

oh! and a slew of extra blogging gigs. i'll be posting a regular column over at waking up to... and gonna title it "sporeradic saturdays (or sundays) as a spotlight on local music. my current joy, a vacant affair. loving their new material, and their album launch on 26 December. save the date!

also, my guest post at sisterhoodftw! SisterhoodFTW is a blog that sheds some light on Christian living for women. it's not some self-help guide (heaven forbid), but just some real opinions about the Christian faith in these modern times, and how we're all really struggling with the same themes of acknowledgment, atonement, love, guilt, struggle, mistakes and ultimately, how we make sense of our faith. my guest post was Man-day Mondays: Of Monsters and Men have a read!

till next time, break on through!

My Band Is Playing At The Esplanade Tonight!!!

If you've heard of Baybeats, good for you! It's the region's largest indie rock festival, and my band's playing there tonight!

Where: Esplanade Outdoor Theatre (Nokia Arena)
When: Tonight! 29 August 2008, 8pm
Why: You and Leeson, we make HAPPY FUN TIME!
Web: www.leesonband.com

I've been playing in this band for about four years now, and I'm just really stoked that we're getting a chance to play at Baybeats this year! We're playing a killer set of all originals which you can sample at our myspace, www.myspace.com/leesonsg. It's really easy poppy music, and you can download music there. If not, you can also buy our EP at our show tonight at only $2!!!

It's called Speed Dating:



Here are some pictures from our soundcheck yesterday:


View of the stage


My side of the stage


Kickass drum platform to show the drummer


Some stage banter, telling everyone to come for Baybeats!!


If i looked down, this is what i'd see.. also the most awesome bass pedals in the world!

Hope to see you there, and come say hi! -)))
Peace and Rocks! \m/

We're launching our new EP!

local music fans rejoice!

it is my distinct pleasure to announce that you'll soon be able to take a piece of Leeson home with you!



After two internet-only releases available on our Myspace, we will now be selling a 3-song EP entitled 'Speed Dating' at our live shows! this EP will feature two crowd favourites, 'Absolute Beginners' and 'Some Girls' and also a brand new single, 'Mr & Mrs' that we recorded with the very brilliant Kamal from Sound Advice

i think we've only played 'Mr & Mrs' twice, but people are already starting to like it, and we hope to do a lot more with it.

everything's in it's early stages, but i'm really psyched for baybeats which we're playing next Friday @ The Esplanade and that there'll be more opportunities to share our music with everyone -)

Thanks for all your support thus far! I hope you like the music.

you can listen to it all here: www.mysapce.com/leesonsg, and do check us out next friday!

Local Band Leeson Makes 'Some Girls' More Popular Than Others

Local Singaporean band, Leeson (www.leesonband.com) have been making music since 2004, releasing a critically acclaimed EP 'Hero Music' in 2005 and have continued to wow audiences with grittingly fun pop music playing in venues such as the Esplanade, Stasis and Home Club.

By early 2008, they shifted gears by releasing their first single 'Absolute Beginners' on their myspace (www.myspace.com/leesonsg). This was the first inkling of new material by the band and was praised as wonderfully poppy by fans and would-be passer-bys.

After more than four months, Leeson releases its latest single "Some Girls"



Download the single by clicking here

Already hailed by fans as 'swirling melodies and choppy rhythms with a life of their own' and having evident 'britpop jauntiness', Leeson sets itself apart from her counterparts by writing songs that will only seem to cast the warm sunshine on your carefree face. Yes, all is right with the world when you're bopping along to music like this.

Upcoming Gigs
Leeson will be playing the very splendid Baybeats indie music festival! Catch us on te 29th August from 8pm at the brand new Nokia Arena! Join us and other stalwarts in local and indie music! (www.baybeats.com.sg for more details)

Official 'Making Of' Video


Reviews
Waking Up To by Morgan C. Hoax
Power of Pop by Kevin Matthews

For more information:
www.leesonband.com
www.myspace.com/leesonsg
www.twitter.com/leesonband
Facebook: Leeson Page
Email:info@leesonband.com

Brian Morgan Productions Pilot Vodcast: The Muxtape Episode

without much fanfare, production values and a brand new blackbook, i present brian morgan productions a first look at music you should be listening to and all the other cool DIY things you could be doing.

who we are: brian leery, bassist & inquisitive social media practitioner and morgan c. hoax, indie music guru, photographer & brains behind the skinny fists

why we started vodcasting: we're both recently mac-enabled. i wanted to show how easy it was to begin vodcasting. for content, we both love music a little too much, and we hope that through the use of video, we can share the cool things you ought to be listening to and what's out there in the world of music + intertubes

links mentioned
muxtape
morgan's muxtape
brian's muxtape
pitchfork
morgan's blog
brian's blog: you're reading it now!

songs and/or albums mentioned
1. Follow The Lights (EP) by Ryan Adams
2. The Greatest (LP) by Cat Power
3. He War (Single) by Cat Power

Stasis 10: there is good music in Singapore

firstly, you can read some reviews of Stasis 10 by following these links here:

Review by Kevin Matthews

Review by Visa

All in all, Stasis 10 was a pretty killer gig for Leeson. It was great playing to a crowd that was there to listen to local music, and the reception they gave was very encouraging and made me glad i'm a part of this scene. We played all our songs the way we wanted to play, and i think we pulled off one of the best versions of The Simple Life.. wonder if anyone has a recording of our set.

check out pictures by Ivanified here and snaps by Perplexed here.

and to close this post, check this awesome video of my friends, Mathilda and the Motherfunkees, and tell me they do not deserve to make it big and be up there with some of the music greats internationally as well?

how embedding a Leeson video evolved my videoblogging experience

i used to be a production student, and so i was trained to shoot video in the highest possible format, and also be technical in the way i approached my cinematography, production, what format to shoot on, what format to export to and all the things that go in between. i shan't say i'm very good, but i guess i wasn't too shabby either.

anyway, fast forward a year, i find myself in the PR industry as opposed to production, and i found myself still holding on to those processes. i'd want to edit with professional software like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premeire Pro, but getting my hand on the software and hardware was an issue altogether, i just wasn't earning enough to equip myself with a semi-professional studio.

enter: my epiphany that social media has flourished because processes were simpler.

my ethos now, to borrow Masamune Shirow's Appleseed quote: functional simplicity, structural complexity

i want technology that works. at the push of a button, processes are automated, a product of high quality through the automation process, and then perhaps an improvement of a process when customised by the human touch.

anyway, my point is this, after i decided on this, i ditched trying to get my HD camcorder to work with my offline editing programme, and got a video recording of my band's performance through my point-and-shoot digital camera, which records a compressed .avi file. after which, i edited in Windows Movie Maker, exporting to a .wmv format, and then using a video converter, i converted it into a .mp4 format. Which is now ready to be hosted on youtube.


Absolute Beginners

and the good that came out of this, is that my video converter is my new maxim in wonderful ones and zeros. it converts most formats (.flv .avi .mpg) into .mp4 which seems to be the language of ipods, mobile phones, mobile devices, portable media players and video hosting sites such as youtube.

the complexity of social media, powered by a single "convert now!" button on this beautiful piece of software. i now enjoy videos on the go through my ipod, from stuff i've downloaded off the net. next up, figuring out how video podcasting works in syncing with my ipod, and perhaps starting my own vodcast! we'll see..

primrose, the proper tomato

maybe you know the answer to this, why i haven't been updating of late, but i suppose that the correct answer would be that i haven't the time these days.. which is rather astounding, considering the frequency which i used to post in the past few years.

anyway, my mind's a blank, sorry i can't add much value to this post, but if you must know, my busy-ness has not been in naught. you can find the fruits of a recording session here at www.myspace.com/leesonsg. the new leeson song is called "absolute beginners", you'll love it. i know these things.

one point brilliance has also finished recording another song, so maybe that will be available soon as well -)

i've also been getting into the nextmen's latest single: something's got you





and if you haven't gotten your hands on joe henry's latest album, civilians, check his EPK out here with a stellar performance of "time is a lion"

damn straight it's about the content! and LEESON IS BACK!!!

i should be sleeping. i should have blogged over the past week. i should have done a lot of things.

well, as much as this blog has been a faithful companion to me through the years, it's going to fizzle out if i don't feed it content.

in fact, that's the same thing for almost every other blog, keeping blogging, don't stop, search for your readers and they will come searching for you.

well, it's been pretty busy on my side of the world, i have a press conference tomorrow morning, and i've just finished promoting my band's gig on facebook, and now i'll start with this post

for those of you not on facebook, check out the official leeson website here and sign up for the the mailing list.

we also have a myspace page where we showcase our music. they're all old songs, but they should hook you in to gasp more for our new material. leeson myspace if you're on myspace, do add us as your contact too!

the story so far: Leeson's last gig as a full band was almost two years ago. we're back and are going to concentrate on putting out music that will have your feet undoubtedly shuffling and your hands flailing maniacally. that's usually a good thing

our big comeback show is at the ever awesome Home Club at 1030pm this Friday, 19th October

i couldn't think of a better place than Home, where the drinks are good, the company is better and the live music and DJs are the best! my brightest star in local music, styra spins with Joe Ng for BEAT! every friday night, and its such an honour that they'll be spinning after us!

so come down! tell all your friends! put it on your blogs, Facebooks, Twitters and in your forums!

with all our love,

what in the world brian been keeping up to?
well, i've got about ten more minutes till the lunch hour is up, so i might as well use the given time to actually maintain the sordid purple space.

what has been keeping me busy? a good dose of work during the day time, and quite a fair bit of music related business at night. i just tracked a bass part yesterday for a friend's recording project which involves worship songs he's written a few years back and now, we're finally committing it to tape/hard drive because.. sharing is caring. -)

was also busy last week with the gig that happened on saturday, so that's two nights of practice, plus i had worship practice for sunday, so effectively that was six nights of music related activities after work.

we're playing this saturday again, so it'd be good if you could make it down to cineleisure at 9pm that night, we'll be playing originals as one point brilliance, and well.. catharsis and emoting do usually go hand in hand. expect a brilliant live performance, or at least listen to the lyrics, they get me in a frenzy everytime i hear them.

got a media event tonight, and probably a drinking session tomorrow night for a friend's last day in the office, saturday looks set for rehearsals, soundchecks and gigs. maybe my day of respite will be sunday -)

i've also been listening to a lot of the psotal service lately. there's something about their lyrics, the timbre of his voice and the strange bleeps that they put together to form music and melody. i'm a late bloomer to them, but i can see why the many folk hold them in such high regard. my favourite song right now is nothing better which has been arranged in a way of an arguing couple. the words become song, and a real conversation. sort of heartbreaking, and yet beautiful with it's fragile disposition.

we love you and then you take us away
here's a sneak peak from the Copeland and Anberlin gig. i've got a whole bunch of copeland videos, but they're taking forever to download and i need to sleep because i'm going for reservist tomorrow. so i'll probably upload the rest tomorrow. in the meantime, check out Copeland's rousing edition of their classic "Paula Sparks" leading into "California". truly intense, and it bears testament to why i love them as a band.



updated! 4th June 2007. the next video is "You Have My Attention"
this was the last song in their set. enjoy!



watching all the local scensters and bands today made me wanna play the stage again. -) but we're still lacking a drummer, but the songs sound great, and we're sharper than ever before. here's a huge shout out to all the bands that played tonight! i had fun, and i'm glad to enjoy some of the best and rising talents of our singapore music scene.

vertical rush, the fire fight and march twelve. mad props to y'all -)

indie darlings
did a whole bunch of room packing today. it's been a long-awaited affair and i'm glad to have finally gotten started. the task involves sorting thru years of memorabilia and old clothes, to make room for the future. it is kinda cathartic, throwing away things of the past to see what the future has in store for you. already planning to move the desk and bed around just to free up some creative space that i'll need for any future projects.

woot. gt is back in singapore and it looks like none of leeson will be moving away for the next year at least. what does this hold in store for local music? only time will tell, but i'm already looking toward good things, positive things that things will get better. theoretically speaking, but who's counting?







are we looking at a new image for leeson