Chris Brooks: confession of a sophomore shredder

News:
24-07-2008:
Chris Brooks posted his diary following the recording of his upcoming CD.
Chris says:

UPDATE 1: APRIL 7, 2008
Hey Friends,

I have precisely 12 minutes 37 seconds spare so I'm starting this blog to update you on the creation of my next solo CD.

In this update: the concept... As much as I adore the complexity of The Master Plan and the intricate nature of some of the unisons and trade-off between guitar and keys, the time sig changes and the orchestrations and layering, the next solo album is shaping up to be one I hope will be effectively and enjoyably recreated in the live setting, and to feature the personalities of 4 individual musicians rather than Chris Brooks on guitar, Chris on bass, Chris on 2nd guitar... you get the idea. When writing I'm trying not to be too detailed in the arrangements as I want the recorded output to serve that very purpose.

I really want to tour the next album on some small level, and better still, try some of the songs that are coming along in the club scene in front of a dozen or so of my favourite people before I even record them. I'm yet to do my solo stuff in this manner where live performance occurs before recording.

After my hard drive crash and loss of many songs ideas, I've used the opportunity to well and truly start again.

Two songs have been completed in the last three weeks: A slow tempo stomper named PULSE that my brother Diem started and brought to me, where we finished it off and sent it in some new directions, and an all-out rock song that will KILL when we gig it. The working title for that one is Traversing The Blue. I'm starting another one this week.

Watch for updates as they occur!

CB

UPDATE 2: MAY 20, 2008

Okay, so onwards the writing goes. I've been listening to quite a bit of fusion this last month and it has brought to the fore a few ideas that,whilst not being fusion, have a certain groove and chordal vibe that I've explored in my own jamming but not really on a CD like "The Master Plan". Chordal exploration and coming up with my own voicing for certain things has been one of the growth areas of writing for me lately and it's nice to learn new stuff as I go through the process of writing this next album. I'm definitely a rock guitarist and not a fusion player, because when I'm writing these kinds of idea my ears are still asking "When does the mega-chunky bridge and ripping solo come in?" :)

So there are two new songs that are almost complete - I'm just tidying up structures and endings, and then I figure it would be best to start getting into some chunky material before I slide into elevatorsville! I'm happy to say though that my writing is a matter of "anything goes as long as it's good" at the moment.

If you want me to explore something for this next album or even re-explore something I've scratched the surface of before .., don't hesitate to post your comments.

Chris

UPDATE - JUNE 14

Well, not a lot to add to previous updates except that I am jumping out of my skin with excitement over a new song I've been working on the last few days. What started as a sequel to one of the already completed songs has taken on a life of it's own and while it's early days yet I think it's gonna be one of the best on the album when recording happens. I don't have a name for either track yet but it will be Something pt1 and Something pt2. I finally feel as though I'm surpassing my previous output rather than trying to live up to it. Yay!

UPDATE - JULY 22

So what's new? I've been spending the last few weeks arranging parts for the live band (see other blog) for some of my new and old material for some live shows. But more of that in another blog.

As as the album goes, I now have 7 songs and a title which I'm pretty confident I'll still like by the time I release it! I'm saving the title for a little later on (oooh.. the suspense I hear you say!), perhaps for when I do the art so that I can share the two with you at once. The title carries the same name as the two-part song I recently finished (part 1 is possibly my favourite CB track ever).

I still feel that musically there's a few places that I wish to go before I set a cut off date for writing (hey, you don't want me to write and write forever!), but I gave myself a loose deadline of the end of this year. At this rate I won't need that long but ultimately the ideas lead the timing. I am (along with a few who've heard some demos) like the way things are going and any concerns of second album anxiety are long gone!

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