Over the last month there have been some seriously, brain meltingly exciting developments concerning the album and its release.
Most of these I will share closer to the time. It is impossible to overstate how excited I am about this.
There are however a few things I can tell you RIGHT NOW… The first is: I will be releasing this album in a way that, (as far as I can tell) has never been tried before. It is a pretty badass and cutting edge concept which we at: ‘JamesRadcliffe Inc’ are very fucking excited about.
And the second is: I have settled on an image for the cover / front art of my album! I’m not including it here yet but, do not fear, you will beholden it soon enough.
All this last week I have been back in the harness.
I work in a very organic way, which keeps the process alive for me. I play the seed parts of the pieces most days, sometimes for hours at a time, and let them develop by themselves. They go wherever they want. I am both led, and ruled by intuition. Arrangements arise naturally and the endpoint is a perpetual mystery to me. I am looking forward to hearing this album as much as anybody.
I have started to isolate again. For me, this seems to go hand in hand with doing good work. Even my cat is banished. There are a bunch of potential pitfalls in working and making your living as an independent artist; the side effects of isolation are one of these. In truth, it doesn’t bother me so much. I was an only child growing up, and it’s part of the price that I pay for doing good work. Connection comes from taking the work out and giving it to people.
I am reading: a bunch of really old Buddhist texts, (You have a lot of time for reading when you see zero people;-), 2 different translations of the Tao Te Ching, (I have read, like, 15 different translations of this book and it remains ever-new) and I am re-reading ‘The Wind Up Bird Chronicle’ by Murakami, (because: fucking Murakami). In other news, I am drinking a lot of coffee, espresso, green tea and Mate (south american green tea) and watching a bunch of cagefighting. And listening to music. Always, always music.
For the moment at least, I have stopped doing live shows. Playing live uses a whole different set of muscles to the ones I am using at the moment. And I work best if I have one primary focus. It’s not totally out of the question but, realistically, the only way I can see me doing more live stuff this year is: if any of the pieces that I am working on need to go out into the world as part of their development.
So, there is my life laid bare: Music, Buddhism, Espresso, Isolation and Cagefighting.
Until next time:
“Go forth, and be an Epic Force of Awesome.”
My name is James Radcliffe and I am a 100% audience supported independent artist. If you like what I do (and can afford it) then please consider buying some of my music. Each purchase really makes a big difference to me and 10% of every sale goes to a charity which: houses, feeds, clothes, and educates orphaned children in Nepal.
Also, every month I send out a newsletter packed with Interesting and Exclusive Things. If you sign up today you’ll also get 3 FREE tracks of my music as a welcome gift.
And lastly, if you’d like to find out what I’m up to on a more day-to-day basis then here is my brain on Twitter:
The juxtaposition of Buddhism and cagefighting just gave me a brain cramp. I need cat drool to counter the effects.
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Really, really love them 😉
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I love this article and your entire site! Looking forward to reading more!
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Thanks a lot, happy to be of service. 😉
– J
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Did these Buddhist texts give you the secret of isolating from one’s cat?
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Haha 😉
I don’t tend to isolate from my cat, she is a good friend. Badass ink by the way 😉
-J
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Thanks for your audience. 🙂
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…altho, she is not allowed in the studio whilst I’m recording, and she’s getting older, so I can hear her snoring in the next room thru the mic 😉
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My black cat snores like a mofo and she is maybe 2.
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That’s crazy. Bean (that’s my cat’s name) is about 8 and she’s just started. I figured she’s hitting middle age 😉
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I still can’t believe sometimes that such a loud sound comes from such little schnozzes.
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😉
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Poor Bean is all I have to say. Maybe as a result, she’s high on caffeine and cage fighting a budda…?!
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Poor Bean is all I have to say. Maybe as a result, she’s high on caffeine and cage fighting a budda…?!
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Potentially….;-)
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