Allow me to ramble on for a bit…  A subject close to the hearts of most independent musicians is the state of the ‘new’ music industry in these days of software-based studios and direct-to-fan marketing.  The world of Web 2.0 and so-called Music 3.0 (coined by producer, author and new music industry guru Bobby Owsinksi) is very different to my childhood days of secretly listening to my siblings’ vinyl (gatefold sleeves preferred) and taping the Top 40 countdown off Radio 1 on a Sunday evening (and being annoyed when the DJ spoke over the track I was waiting for).  The record buying public devoured the few morsels tossed in their direction by the taste-makers and the mechanics of recording and releasing songs was held firmly in the fist of the major record companies.

A new album release was a huge event for fans and the vinyl or cassette formats forced start-to-finish listening – the singles as well as the “album tracks”.  I got to know every note and beat on most of my collection and the end of a song would trigger a mental expectation of which track came next.  I loved the game of trying to sing the first note of the next track at exactly the right pich and time as it began.

The limitations of that era are alien to the iTunes, Spotify and YouTube generation.  I guess the demise of the relevance of the album format began when you could program track sequences into CD players and no longer had to endure the songs you didn’t immediately like.  The world had changed for ever and possibly rang the death knell for the “grower” song-type.

Change is good though and having a Spotify night where everyone takes turns to pick the next track to play (from pretty much the entire collection of the world’s recorded music) is a luxury I wouldn’t want to give up.

Why am I rambling about this?  Well the concept of releasing an album is still to an extent what is expected from artists because that is what they’ve always done.  As a fan, waiting a year for a collection of songs may build anticipation but may also result in a loss of interest as modern music “consumers” grow accustomed to continuous stimulation, ideally for free (Spotify – case in point).  So the question is:

- do you prefer to wait for an album (specifically a physical CD) or would you be happier hearing new songs as they are created on a much more frequent basis instead?

Music Think Tank have a great blog post on exactly this argument here.

Me?  I still love albums and I still buy CDs (for the physical object as well as the audio quality) but I immediately rip them to MP3 and listen mostly on my phone these days (though I do still listen to albums from start to finish sometimes).  I also love Soundcloud as a kind of audio-only blog for hearing continuous output from musicians I’m interested in.

With studio recording beginning on my own debut album in less than 2 weeks, I’m thinking about release strategies.  There will definitely be a physical CD – but you’ll probably get to hear some of it much earlier than I had originally planned!

I guess change is the only certainty – exciting times…

This Thursday (April 26th), I’ll be playing double-bass for Andi Neate at the launch of her 6th album that we recorded last year.

I’ll also be doing a set of my own songs, joined by singer Jules Philip.

The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh.  Thursday 26th 9pm £6/5

In other news, I’m excited to be supporting ex-Inspiral Carpets’ frontman Tom Hingley on July 5th!

Details on GIGS PAGE.

I’m particularly excited about finally headlining Acoustic Edinburgh (with my new band) after 10 years of running the club on it’s anniversary.  I’m also very honoured to be supporting the legendary Nick Harper!

MARCH 2012 GIGS

Thursday 1st – Acacity, City Cafe, Edinburgh – 7pm,£3 (solo gig)

Tuesday 6th – Acoustic Edinburgh, The Third Door, Edinburgh – 7:30pm, FREE (band headline gig)

Wednesday 7th – Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh – 7:15pm, £6 (solo gig – supporting Adam Holmes)

Friday 9th – Berits & Brown, Coatbridge – 8pm, £10 (solo gig – supporting Nick Harper)

All gig details, as ever on my Gigs Page…

Since it’s a leap year – here’s a photo of a carp, leaping out of the water at Le Brevedent in France taken during a tour with one of my bands Gecko 3.

OK, so you can’t actually see (Dave) the carp but having stared at the lake for around 3 hours through my camera this was the best I could do…

So I’m working with some talented people:

- Andy Farquhar (drums) who’s a full time drum teacher and has played with some great Edinburgh bands such as Traveler and My Radio.  He’s also a co-collaborator on Alan R Davisons forthcoming White Eagle Lounge album.

Andy likes skiing, cookery, Mexican beer and lumberjack shirts

- John Need (bass) is a professional photographer and a mean bassist having played with the likes of Graeme Mearns Band and Papa Kane.

John likes snowboarding, European lager and beanie hats.  He is not only in the band because I reckon I’ll get free photography and video…

Jules Philip (backing vocals) is a full-time artist and works with me in the Andi Neate band.

Jules likes ice-skating, all kinds of alcohol and rabbits.

So – I have the musicians but there was dissension in the ranks with the feeling that “Paul Gilbody” was too egoistical a band name.  My response is, hey I’ve waited this long to finally have my own band and (let’s face it) it’s all about me so that’s fine in my opinion.

Anyway, as it was coming up to Christmas, I conceded and we did our first gig as The Pee Gees.

Unfortunately, (keen ice-skater) Jules had a nasty fall on the day of the gig and was rushed to hospital so we played as a 3-piece.

The gig went well but it was suggested that The Pee Gees may run in to issues due to it’s similarity to the legendary Bee Gees but it was better than the other suggestions.  i.e. PG and The Tips, Gilbody against the Machine and Paul Gilbody-waddy-waddy.

New year came and went and our first gig as a four piece loomed.  Rehearsals were going well but John announced that he will refuse to go on stage unless the band has a new name.  I’m happy with Paul Gilbody but the guys want a slice of the pie so I came up with: Paul Gilbody and The Gaze.

Bizarrely, John thought this was a good idea and promptly whipped up a flyer (below) – (pictured: drummer Andy)

So there you have it.  Suffice it to say, although it’s good, this is a temporary name for one night only.

I will be having a web-poll on band names soon so please send in any suggestions via the contact form!

There will be a prize if I use your suggestion.

In other news, I’ve almost finished my new solo EP which will be released in the Spring.

It will be released as “Paul Gilbody”…

Happy 2012 everyone!

After a busy summer of gigs & recording I’ve got a couple of amazing dates for your diaries to soften the season’s change…

Monday 3rd October - I’m delighted to be supporting one of Ireland’s most celebrated songwriters Eleanor McEvoy on her UK tour to promote her 9th album “Alone”.  Also billed is Glasgow based gem Maeve O’Boyle.

Venue is Malone’s (Edinburgh) and you can buy tickets here: TICKETS

Doors – 7:30pm – £8

Mon 28th November - I’m supporting (and also playing double-bass for) Alex Cornish in a return to The Bush Hall (London) for a repeat of last year’s stunning full-band with string section gig, only this time there’s a whole new album of songs to from his acclaimed 3rd album No Shore.

Doors 7:30pm – £15 – GET TICKETS HERE

Meanwhile, I’m beavering away on my full length album for planned release early next year.

Hope to see you at a gig soon!

I’ve finally got some of my tunes up on SoundCloud and created a wee player for some of the songs off my debut EP which is released on all digital stores this Thursday!

This’ll be permanently on my MUSIC page but meanwhile – click away and please share on your facebook, twitter etc… if you like.

If any of you fancy a FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL then come down to Peebles in the Scottish Borders this weekend for the inaugural Southern Gatherin’ where I’ll be playing a set at 5pm in The Courthouse.

Over the weekend I’ll also be sitting in on percussion for Ken Barrett (Sat 1pm) and Douglas Kay Band (Sun 7pm)

See you there!

The Edinburgh Festival is upon us and I’m a busy bee with various Fringe gigs playing double-bass for Gecko 3, Alex Cornish and Andi Neate (see the Fringe Guide for details!).

I’ve also got loads of solo gigs over the next few weeks leading up to the official release of my debut EP Eponymoose!  You’ll be able to get this on iTunes and pretty much every digital store from September 1st.

Summer Gigs

• Tuesday 2nd Aug – Acoustic Edinburgh at Medina
• Saturday 6th Aug – Tweedsmuir Music Festival
• Saturday 13th Aug – Fondoo, The Courthouse, Peebles
• Monday 15th Aug – The Lounge, Doublet Bar, Glasgow
• Tuesday 16th Aug – Out of the Bedroom (featured act), Montague Bar, Edinburgh
• Weekend 3/4th Sep – The Southern Gathering Music Festival, Peebles

I use the looper in songs like She Loves Sushi, Quicksand and No Rain and it lets me build up a song bit by bit by recording something like a beat-box rhythm and then making it repeat automatically while I add more layers and play over the top. To see/hear this in action, check me on You Tube here: She Loves Sushi

This hopefully makes my solo gigs sound more interesting than just bloke-with-guitar.

The looper I use now is the Boss RC-50. It’s my 3rd loop pedal and effectively it’s 3 loopers in one so I can create 3 independent loops and use them all at once, any one by itself or any combination of the three which is handy for different sections of a song. I use 2 microphones on stage – the main one is my normal vocal mic (controlled by the sound engineer) and the 2nd one connects straight into the looper. I use an A-B switch on my guitar signal so it either goes straight to the guitar DI box (bypassing the looper) or into the looper when I want to record guitar loops. This means I can record vocal loops while playing the guitar at the same time (without recording the guitar). The looper sends the combined vocal and guitar loops to a second DI box.

In the past I’ve used the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeller and the Digitech Jam Man.

The Line 6 is a brilliant delay pedal that models classic delays like the Roland Space Echo. As a looper it’s a bit limited as it has a feature that dips the volume of previous loops as you overdub new ones. This can be useful but not for the way I want to use it live. They’ve since brought out the JM4 looper but I’ve not tried this out.

The Jam Man was a great pedal (it’s now discontinued) with XLR mic input and an Undo feature that could be used creatively to bring overdubs in and out but ultimately it’s not as versatile as the RC-50 which is why I’ve moved to that.

So there you are!

Tonight is the last night of the tour with our gig at The Portland Arms, Cambridge.

Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s come to the gigs, everyone who’s bought my CD and finally a huge thanks to Alex Cornish for having me as the support act for every show.

If you haven’t bought Alex’s new album “No Shore” yet, you’re missing out as according to yesterday’s Sunday Times four star review it’s a “beautiful album that has Mercury Prize shortlist wild-card written all over it“!)

Buy it here: http://www.alexcornish.com

As well as playing double-bass for Alex, I’m also playing solo as the support act for every show!

Hope to see you at one of them. Tickets from http://www.alexcornish.com/?page_id=33

JULY 2011
6th – 13th Note, Glasgow
7th – The Caves, Edinburgh
8th – The Cockpit, Leeds
9th – The Stables, Milton Keynes
10th – The Cluny, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
11th – Band on the Wall, Manchester
12th – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
13th – Latest Music Bar, Brighton
14th – The Troubador, London
15th – The Railway, Winchester
16th – Louisiana, Bristol
18th – Portland Arms, Cambridge

After an amazing time at Insider Festival playing with Gecko 3 and Glastonbury with Andi Neate, I’m off to Kelburn Garden Party for a Gecko 3 set tonight followed by my first ever solo gig at a summer festival on Sunday as part of the Unpeeled Sessions.

Walk up tickets still available so if you fancy some festival action, you know where to go!

UK tour with Alex Cornish begins next week!  Tickets and details on www.alexcornish.com

A string of lovely gigs in the pipeline – starting tonight where Woosh Entertainments are launching a regular showcase of original music in new venue The One Below.

I’m supporting Edinburgh supergroup The Elements – details on my gigs page but I’m on about 8:30pm

Only £5

June kicks off with 2 very special gigs – 1st June at Edinburgh’s prestigious Secret CDs event where I’m part of an all-Northern Ireland line-up!

June 2nd takes me to Kirkcaldy where I’m very chuffed to be headlining the Acoustic Music in Fife showcase at Eddie’s Bar.

July brings me to a wee slot at one of Scotland’s finest small festivals (The Kelburn Garden Party) and then I’m very excited to be confirmed as the support act for Alex Cornish‘s UK tour in July (as well as playing double-bass for the man himself).

Tour dates and tickets available HERE

On top of all this, I’m running the Edinburgh Marathon this Sunday for SADS UK.

If you’d like to support, my charity giving page is HERE

See you at a gig soon!