Bugolgi Apparatus

A new set of songs. I've written 300. Why write more? There are always new thoughts, new travels, new books, new people. I must expunge them from my consciousness. I contrive to write using various tricks: 1. Different chord sequences. 2. Different grooves/rhythms/tempos. 3. No nostalgia. 4. No imaginary romance. Without a theory background, new ideas come from listening to large amounts of music and an active dialogue with other music quacks. Ron Kane, Eric Gregory, or Suely Mesquita in my case. My late father and grumpy older brother, in other ways.  I cheat. I use software and books to tell me what chords fit in a key. I ignore them, then follow what feels rock and roll.  I reverse engineer a punishing melody until it leaves me alone.  When 10-12 of these nightmares are over, I try them in various orders and tempos and occasionally switch keys to suit my voice. I then let them bake for a few months, reappraise the songs. Do I have the u...

I just wrote a completely different set of lyrics to a song that I wrote a dozen years ago. When sequencing the album it was a part of, I realized I had to many of one kind of song- mopey coulda, woulda, shoulda numbers and that this balance didn't reflect the sort of work I wanted to put out. Although I couldn't articulate what was wrong with the mix of songs I had at the time, I knew I experienced an uncertain feeling whenever I listened to the sequence. I thought the problem was my vocal approach. After trying to sing one of the doomed songs a few dozen time, the slow realization that the problem was with the writing took seed. It's impossible to sing a poorly written song well. This also happens when the lyrics don't jive with the tone of the music. Sometimes you write something where the emotional tone is off- Georges Moustaki once write that good songs must feel true emotionally. Something hasn't jived between the lyrics, vocal melody and chords. Perhaps y...