Daniel Ward-Murphy supports Kane Sole_

Hello!!! – I hope you are all well.  Please find a long overdue update and stream of consciousness!

The biggest development for me by far in recent months has been the introduction of Pravin Mukhi on drums.  Finding a new band member can be a very hard process and regardless of who comes in, it changes the whole dynamic of the band.  For us, it meant moving rehearsals to far-flung Whitechapel (in East London) and a significant change in our live sound.  The new person has to buy-in to the songs, the way you play them, the live gig strategy, the long term strategy etc – so you can see it is not that easy to find the right person….   Luckily for us, Pravin has fitted in perfectly from a musical and social perspective and has really added to the sound – giving us many more options on stage.  He gets a kick out of playing the songs (I think!) and he is a great player who I enjoy listening to both in rehearsals and on stage.

The plan for me was always to put together a band capable of recording my songs in a great way, once I reach that $50,000 milestone.  Pravin is a session musician and music has to provide him with his income, so it was important I didn’t try to assemble this line-up too early, as I appreciate I am only ever one phone call away from losing a band member.  It is unrealistic to ask full-time musicians to play for you, unpaid, for a really long period of time.  With the spiralling cost of living, the romantic image of a group of musicians just getting together to create carefree music is consigned to the past.  Most of the people who stick at it in London tend to be in fairly privileged financial situations and I hate to think of the talent lost due to people realising they can’t afford to continue and need to get that all-encompassing day job.  Anyway…. – it is great to play alongside four great, talented musicians and long may it continue!

Since my last blog, my progress on Sellaband has been really encouraging and hopefully it will not be too long now until I get the chance I have been waiting for.  Having a healthy number of ‘believers’ means there will be less limited edition CDs to sell before earning believers some real money through the sale of regular CDs.  I am thinking big, I am getting a strategy together to try and deliver visibility to as many people as possible and fly the flag for my songs, the Sellaband concept and my believers.

I don’t want to count any chickens before they have hatched but I am currently trying to secure my #1 choice producer for my 50k album and then will let you know the blueprint for the recording strategy and subsequent success!  I have taken some criticism for not making this plan available sooner but I don’t really see the point of releasing a vague plan before a producer is on board to endorse from a musical and budgetary perspective…. – it IS coming soon though so please be patient!

Alongside this, I have been busy developing a new, fit-for-purpose website.  This will feature the normal listen to the music, gigs, pictures, interviews, biogs, blogs, guestbook, contact and links pages but also have the facility for Store and Forum sections to cater for future growth.  This is just one vital part in the plan going forward….

Since the last blog my band and I have played three London gigs – the Sellaband Orchard gig, the Bedford and Storm.  All 3 of these were good experiences and allowed contact with new people who now believe in the music we are creating.  The Bedford allows people to watch the webcast and see/hear new material, which is really important and one of the reasons, apart from the fact it has the best sound, that I keep going back there.  Pravin debuted at the Orchard gig and it stands to reason that we will get better with each gig, so everything is encouraging from that point of view….

The conundrum now is whether or not to pause or simply reduce the live appearances to concentrate on rehearsing previously unrehearsed (with drums) material that will be considered for the album.  The introduction of The Queen of Something New and My Beautiful Predicament has been pleasing.  They are both catchy, have commercial appeal and have a good energy when played live.  I think they will balance well with the slower and softer songs I have, but their existence makes the song selection even harder.  Another track, The End of My Summers, is a bit more poignant and being kept up my sleeve for now – although this is another song I am itching to play.

When I go and see a live show, I quite like to see a bit of variety in the songs and the performances, and the ethos behind my solo live shows was always to try and provide this.  Having a talented collective of musicians and songs that feature different members of the bad was always in the blueprint, and I have never been afraid to let Jen take the microphone for a few songs.  I am a songwriter first and foremost and love watching her perform and interpret my songs.  This variety seems to go down well at live shows and I think it will lend itself to the recorded form as well.

On a personal level, I got a break from the day-to-day struggle (!) and was privileged to see New York City for the first time.  I had the offer of some free accommodation so I felt I could justify it and although it was only a few days I had there, I loved it.  It was the playground for many of my favourite artists and I enjoyed walking around with my iPod on, noticing the landmarks and road names featured in the songs.

On a sadder note, in recent weeks the name David Hamilton has dropped off the list of my bigger believers shown on my profile.  Until his untimely death last year David was a great supporter of what I was trying to do and had a great faith in the music I was creating.  I used to like seeing his name there and I sent a thought to the sky when I saw it was gone from view.  In many ways the creation of this album will be for some people who are not here as well as those who can listen to it.  It has been a long road, and I suppose it is inevitable that bad things will happen along the way, but I have not lost sight of inspiration and those that have kept me persevering when ceasing to persevere has been the easier option.

You naturally go through patches when listening to music is simply enjoyable and when it is brilliant.  I am currently still so in love with my iPod and my new headphones that I was thinking about something else and realised I had just got my iPod out of my pocket and given it a little peck (on the iPod cheek) before putting it on.  I was a bit freaked out by this!  Er… anyway….. at the moment I have particularly been listening to Ray Lamontagne, Laura Marling and Duffy as well as more upbeat stuff.  If you want some recommendations then these three tracks should hit the spot!:

Jolene – Ray Lamontagne

Night Terror – Laura Marling

Stepping Stone – Duffy

Well I will sign off now so happy listening, keep in touch, look out for news, spread the word, believe I am going to make a great album and keep the faith!

Cheers

DWM

AN HONEST NEW BLOG - January 2008

A sincere happy to new year to you all!  The grey overcast new year's day in the UK pointed out that it is in fact just another normal day - but you do tend to look ahead to what might happen in 2008.

In terms of personal aspirations, every new year since 1996 has been one where I think 'maybe this is the year where I get to do what I think I should be doing'.  There is genuine optimism that this year I may get to make  those who believe in me (and myself) a great album......

(Warning: I am in a no-nonsense Monday morning mood so may shoot from the hip today)  .... but I have not progressed on Sellaband as quickly as I would like.  By saying this it does not mean I take for granted any of my believers, quite the opposite, I value every single one and want to reward their backing.... but compared to artists around me I haven't progressed very quickly and I want to address everything I can in remedying this. 

So what am I doing about it to make it happen then!!??  Well in truth, every little thing is constantly being geared up towards it.  What jobs I apply for, my geographical whereabouts, what days off I take etc...but the bigger things are moving along nicely. 

- Musician line-up/sound - I am trying to get together the line-up/sound I want for my 50k recording.  I am trying out a recommended drummer who loves the music in late Jan/early Feb.  This will involve extensively rehearsing all the material alongside Milo , Helen and Jen.  There is a lot of pre-planning work for me to do in terms of working out what rhythmic patterns I want for each song and which material best suits this approach.

- New material - I have been writing a lot of new songs/new song ideas over the last couple of months.  I think it is some of the strongest material I have ever written and I am excited about it.  There is a track called The End Of My Summers which will be very challenging (but enjoyable) to put together live, but the one which will probably be performed live first is a song called The Queen Of Something New.  In the same vein as She's a Knockout, I think this is quite instant, but this song has been a long time coming as one part of the song existed about 18 months ago.  I have been so protective of it I decided it had to stay on the shelf until the rest of the song around it was of a similar standard.  I look forward to working on it with the band and then playing it to you! 

- New Recorded Live Material - Songs from Soho - 13 songs

The three tracks we recorded with Tony Platt - She's a Knockout, The City Inside and The Most Important Thing - were a step beyond what I had recorded before.  They were done on a small, tight budget on a strict, short timescale - but they were recorded with a great producer/engineer and they were better than demo standard recordings.  So I wanted to show more of my material but I didn't want to go into the studio with meagre funds and record lower standard studio tracks - when hopefully my 50k album was not too far in the future.  So Songs from Soho was a way to show some of the material I have without compromising anything else.

As I write this the 13th of 13 mixed tracks is 24 hours away from going on my profile - I hope you have enjoyed listening to a new track each week and I hope they have galvanised your belief in my music and the great musicians I have around me.  The songs and song ideas I have had since Songs from Soho mean I will have a hell of a choice when it comes to choosing the tracks for my 50k album, but it's a good position to be in.

Some have suggested that I offer these tracks as part incentives or release a podcast of them - but I have plans for these tracks in a way that will reward my believers.  The way I see it - there are about 2800 limited edition albums still up for grabs and I plan to really make these 5000 CDs a limited edition.

- Gigs and Musician Holidays

We played a good gig in December in a new venue in Brixton.  The evening was nice as Jennifer Delaney opened the night performing 4 of my songs - and then after 2 more acts, my band and I played an 8 song set to close the evening.  It went well but then came a period where Jen and Milo were/are taking a couple of holidays and we will now concentrate on hopefully adding a drummer to the line up.  I will provide more news on this as the weeks go by...

The plan then is to develop as a band and play an exciting live schedule in 2008...

- Social Networking - SAB, Hyves and Amazon

I spend a huge amount of time on Sellaband and other social networking sites (Facebook, myspace, Hyves etc) for many reasons.  First of all I want and enjoy communication with my believers and I always try to respond to any messages or posts - I think this is only polite as  people have invested in me and I like to know what they are thinking!  I have set myself up on Hyves and really hope that the partnerships with Hyves and Amazon can help me and other Sellaband artists.  The stronger the partnerships, hopefully the more important the music will become over things like staying verbally active on Sellaband for the sake of being active - but we will see!  That would be a situation I would be more comfortable with.  I did get some criticism for not sending believers a daily message asking them to vote for me - but I don't want to get involved with things where the focus on music becomes marginalised.  I hope I get selected but I have to keep things real and be true to my self along the way.  I am confident those that keep the faith with me will not be disappointed to have done so.

- Appearance

With music such as mine, appearance is not quite as key as in the pop world, but I am not naive enough to think that it doesn't matter.  In my early days I always planned to get myself into shape upon getting signed by a major label - but in this brave new world of Sellaband, the equivalent is when approaching the 50k.  Well perhaps I have got ahead of myself but I have had a huge health drive to lose over 2 stone in the last 5 months.  I want to do every little thing to help myself and repay the faith of my believers - and making myself better visually and more marketable is all part of that.

- Listening to music

I always try to listen to a varied set of musicians so I don't get too few single influences on my music.  My listening does tend to go in phases and at the moment I am appreciating the genius of Ryan Adams.  I have been listening to him for years but having another run on him now.  If you like to discover new music, go and listen to Sweet Illiusion and  (from Cold Roses and Easy Tiger) - I think some of the best songwriting and performances you are likely to hear...

So there you go - a lengthy and honest blog - maybe too honest?? - I don't know - but I am always happy to communicate with believers and positive community members of Sellaband and please don't hesitate to drop me a line with any questions.

Cheers, keep the faith and don't be a stranger!

DWM 

New Blog - end October 2007

So it's the 2nd DWM Wednesday and for the first time I get to put up a song where the lead vocals are sung by Jennifer Delaney.  The ethos in our live act is that we all give up our time to rehearse and perform and I want to make sure we all step off stage happy with our contributions.  I want to do what is best for the songs that I write - and if that means female vocals then I am more than happy to swap our traditional lead/backing vocal roles.  Besides, I don't see Jen as just a backing singer and neithe rdo the people who get to see her sing live.  I think it provides some variety for the audience and it kind of sums up the 'family' band we have set up - we all get on and I think we all get a kick out of seeing each other do their thing on stage.

I first met Jen in a nightclub - she was a friend of a friend - and she was singing along to some dance tune.  I immediately thought I heard some raw brilliance in her voice and we arranged a time for a first rehearsal to see what happened.  A couple of years later one of my musical highlights was watching her perform on the stage at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.  All three of the current band are supremely talented, I hope you enjoy listening to their parts and I hope you enjoy listening to the songs with Jen on lead vocals as much as I do.

In other news, I will be getting more songs from Songs from Soho mixed for your listening pleasure and I hope to be able to announce some exciting gigs in the new year soon - so watch this space. 

It has been great watching Francis steam towards his 50k and I was happy that Julia Marcell got there in record time.  I can't really claim to understand the investment patterns on SellaBand but I know they will make a good album for their believers.  Musically, I suppose I sit fairly close to both of them, so I hope that I can see a boost once both of them have got there - but we will see.  I am convinced everything is in place to make a great album for my believers.  The problem I have is not writing more material but choosing from a list of about 50 songs - but having said that, I have just written the most radio-friendly song since She's a Knockout which I am mega-excited about, it is called The Queen of Something New but more on that in due course....  Anyway - I'll sign off now - many thanks for reading and believe believe believe!

DWM   

Blog - thoughts after Songs from Soho - October 2007

For those that came to Songs from Soho and for those that were unable to attend I thought I would post a new blog.

The build-up to the event was difficult with illness and trying to teach the band new songs with limited time.  To be honest I couldn't really sing for the last two practices and we all made way too many mistakes in our last one.. - but luckily on the night everything went well.    

I wont bore you with the organisation of the chairs, food/drink, badges, welcome packs, lights etc... or the overnight ramming of our car which meant a hasty taxi call was needed - but when we all got there in the afternoon there were no problems and Tony Platt, Ben and Olly quickly got the sound down to perfection.  We rehearsed a couple of songs and then relaxed until people got there.

The talented Mark Maclaine kindly agreed to film the event - I don't know quite what will happen with this footage but it does provide a few options.

So onto the show and playing the longest setlist I have performed.  For one night only I was playing more numbers than most headline acts do at Brixton Academy and thankfully my voice held up ok. 

Set List

Shirt & Tie

The City Inside

You Live Up In The Stars

She's A Knockout

I Think I Made You Smile

Life In The Fold

Under The Wire

Flame

In This Fair City

I N T E R L U D E

White Decay

The Genius Of Myra

The Sun Is In Your Eyes

Soldier's Song

S.O.S.

The Most Important Thing

Heart On My Sleeve

Act Of Defiance

I enjoyed playing a longer set and whilst I think my songs vary a lot, I was pleased to read that attendees recognised them as very different.  It was always going to be interesting for me because people were voting for their favourites/the ones they wanted to own on MP3 and I haven't had this kind of feedback on my material before.

One of the questions I got on the night a few times - after making these people vote - was which ones I rate the highest.  It's always a difficult one to answer but you do enjoy playing some songs more than others.  I get a real kick out of listening to my band so I always enjoy their performances on Life in the Fold (particularly Jen and Helen on that one) and The Sun Is In Your Eyes (particularly Jen and Milo) - but I probably most enjoyed playing I Think I Made You Smile the most, as it is one of the two brand new ones and I think its a good simple song.  Shirt & Tie was another song I brought back from a fair old time ago and it was nice to see it again.  My band were almost flawless thoughout and apart from their personalities it is why they are so enjoyable to play with.

So the votes are in now, a few rogue off the wall voting methods threw me for a bit (!), but I will announce the results soon.  I get to listen to the recording on Thursday and I need to check everything recorded ok before I promise certain songs to those who attended.  Some songs came a bit higher than I expected and some (of my favourites!) came lower - so it was a useful exercise in song testing as well. 

I have thanked all the relevant people already but it should be apparent that a lot of people help to bring these sort of events together and deep down I am pretty proud that we pulled off an ambitious event in terms of both effectively recording material whilst putting on a behind the scenes show.

So in the interval, after the studio session and at the aftershow drinks, I got to chat to the believers who had travelled and paid to see me play - which was great.  I met a few new people I hadn't properly met before and saw some great old friends.  All in all a great evening and I am looking forward to being able to put some of the live recordings up on SellaBand.

Cheers!

DWM

September 2007

It's the Monday after London Rising and I am reflecting on a great weekend.  I have just gone back on page 2 of SellaBand which is obviously disappointing but I have my 'Songs from Soho' session 4 weeks away and I hope this will provide me with some new songs for people to listen to.

Reflecting on London Rising, it was a great night for many reasons.  As a spectator, I got to see Sunsoma, Trail and Francis Rodino Band play for the first time and as a performer I got to play to a good crowd.  I think the lasting memory that will stay with me is the amazing effort of a few believers to be there in the crowd.  They may not have all been there specifically for me but travelling from around the UK and Europe shows amazing passion for music and SellaBand.  That is why I get up on stage in the first place and it gives me great pleasure to play to people like that.

On the gig itself, the sound on stage was pretty bad for me so it is hard to judge how it went.  I knew before I played it was an electric venue and there would be a lot of background noise for my set and although it wasn't the ideal way to showcase my band and material, I think a lot of good stuff came across!  There was a nice vibe while we were on I thought...

I am flying to Rotterdam with my band to play a few songs at a conference/exhibition to promote SellaBand on Thursday which will be strange (!) but I hope shows how serious I am about my music, SellaBand and music in general.

I am in love with music again at the moment.  I am writing lyrics like there is no tomorrow and I am really enjoying some of my favourite artists.  I am (somewhat naughtily listening to Tori Amos, Jackson Browne and John Mayer at my desk right now..)  If you get a chance to ever watch/listen to 1000 Oceans (Tori Amos) in a quiet moment - take it (headphones better)!  I think it is on Yahoo Videos... - beautiful.  When you have been trying so hard for so long, sometimes going to gigs and thinking about music all the time can be a bit of a soul destroying thing so it tends to go in peaks and troughs...

I am not sure I ever really talked about the Paradiso gig (hey if you have got down this far you must be interested!).  It was an amazing experience and great to share a night with like minded individuals.  To be honest I felt quite comfortable up there and would love to do it again with a longer set.  I was very grateful to be asked and very happy to be able to contribute to SellaBand's big night.  Nothing seems to faze me too much and it makes me want more - not the on stage look at me type of more - but just entertaining and playing my songs to bigger audiences.

After Rotterdam, the next few weeks include 4 rehearsals to hopefully make a successful recording session and 25 happy believers....!  I am hoping other believers will be happy too when they see shortly afterwards there is some new material for you to listen to...!

That's all for now - cheers!
DWM

July 2007 - Update

Hi folks, its been a fairly strange month for me so far packed with the great and the tragic. 

The month started with a text from Francis Rodino congratulating me on Amsterdam.  Now when I received this I was sitting on a terrace, sipping a glass of Morellino di Scansano, overlooking the rolling Tuscan hills of Italy.  'Congratulations on Amsterdam' hmmmm - I was pretty sure I hadn't built Amsterdam (at least I couldn't remember doing so) and then my phone started working and the words 'playing' and 'Amsterdam' were revealed in close proximity.  So anyway, a few texts and an internet cafe in Siena later revealed all and I am still thrilled to be able to play a few songs to a big crowd in Amsterdam (which will include several of my believers).

My good mood was ruined by the tragic news that David Hamilton, an ex-colleague of mine, died suddenly at his family home.  David was always a gentleman to me and after working with him for a few months we went for the odd drink from time to time, kept in touch via e-mail and (despite the fact he lived a long way away) he got a babysitter in and made an appearance with his wife at a gig of mine at the 12 Bar.  He subsequently made a very generous offer to finance some recordings (which I turned down for various reasons) and then invested the parts in me that you can still see in the list below.  My thoughts go out to his wife and his children in this difficult time and I will pay my respects at a memorial service on Monday.

(sigh) Anyway...... back to the music, I had a great gig at the Bedford in Balham the other day with my talented band (who just get better and better) and I signed up to play at London Rising with Francis Rodino, Trail and Sunsoma.  I am looking forward to that and getting the opportunity to see the other three acts live for the first time.

There seem to be more quality acts on SellaBand these days.  I often come to work with a Ryan Adams or Tori Amos CD to sneak a listen to on headphones but recently I have been listening to many SellaBand artists instead.  I love Julia Marcell - especially loving Accordion Player, Thom Cross is great, Aaron Owen Smith, The Balducci Lift - all brilliant.  Bim has been the one I have been listening to the most though and 'The Battle' is one of my favourite tracks of the year, and that includes all recording artists.

I would like to collaborate with one or two UK artists if possible, so watch this space....

That's all for now folks- stay in touch and speak soon.

DWM

May 2007 - Update

Ok, so what's new?  Well I did an interview for a leading UK independent radio station the other week which was a good but strange experience.  I didn't really know what was going on and just when I was expecting a bit of a briefing...the interview started.  I played one song (Soldier's Song) half way through and it was lucky I had tuned my guitar!  My talented band were by my side and performed brilliantly as ever...  The good news is that they liked us and want us back at some point soon!  So watch this space...

I have a new song I am excited about which is 90% written.  It's going to be called 'Flame', 'A New Flame' or something else (!) but I will let you know once it is up and running.  I need to write one more section and define the lyrics for the second verse but I think it could be a winner.  Jen will have fairly prominent backing vocals on it and maybe some of the lead if the key is right, but either way I am looking forward to getting it up and running soon - maybe for the next gig.

On the subject of songwriting it is a bit of weird process for me these days as I have quite a lot of songs now (sadly unrecorded in the main) and am not that interested in being really prolific.  I like to write as much as I can in my head before I pick up a guitar these days as I find  I come up with better vocal melodies this way, as the notes of the guitar stings don't push me in certain directions... - oh dear, I think I just bored myself there.

Moving on, Ms Jennifer Delaney has been a joy to play with over the last two years and she has already done a couple of solo shows, singing my songs with me on guitar.  This is set to continue and I expect her coverage to grow over the coming months/years.  I think she may try to take a more conventional (non-SellaBand) route as she is younger, more marketable and potentially more mainstream, but we will see...

The SellaBand roadshow comes to my city at the beginning of June and 4 SellaBand artists have the chance to play to an attentive crowd in London.  I am very disappointed not to be playing in my hometown and it will be very tough to watch, but I think I have a ticket and I will take the opportunity to meet some of my believers and potential new ones.  It is a weird feeling for a musician to promote yourself on the internet and by talking to people, when really all you want to do is pick up a guitar and play to them but I suppose it is the 21st century and this is how it is done these days.  It is good that this fantastic concept gets more coverage and I just hope the way it proceeds forward is a way that can allow artists such as myself to ride the wave.

... and finally, a blog seems as good a place as any to mention those artists on SellaBand that I find myself listening to in my spare time.  I would highly recommend the amazingly gifted Kane Sole as someone who is not a million miles away from myself in terms of genre, as well as the awesome David Migden, sparkling Jenae Johnson and powerful Francis Rodino.  There are of course many other great artists on here as well as ones that are not really to my taste, but music is subjective so go and enjoy being subjective!  Outside of SellaBand, there is obviously some great British talent that is not on here, so my advice for starters would be to check out the Matthew Bennett Band on myspace...  - brilliant.

That's all for now!

Daniel