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I post updates and new music every few days.
Free 'Autumn 2019' compilation now available
The third in the series of exclusive releases for subscribers to my newsletter is now available here. Recorded over a couple of months at concerts at the end of last year this is a mixed collection of songs in very different rooms. Goes like this:
song for fee
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany.
if you build it they will come
27.10.19 el lokal, zürich, switzerland - with sophia basler.
it don’t stop the bleeding
30.11.19 ut connewitz, leipzig, germany.
suit of stones
28.10.19 house concert, luzern, switzerland.
pure black coal
07.12.19 jaz, rostock, germany.
song for a coalman
28.10.19 house concert, luzern, switzerland.
winter
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany. song by the diamond family archive.
understudy
27.10.19 el lokal, zürich, switzerland.
lover o lover
24.10.19 house concert, heidelberg, germany.
what you fear to be the end comes around
02.11.19 house concert, basel, switzerland.
bad roads ahead
07.12.19 jaz, rostock, germany.
you are more needed here
08.11.19 ruhrwerkstatt, oberhausen, germany.
super good advice / stretch acrobatic
21.09.19 desi, nürnberg, germany - with stefanie vivian void. stretch acrobatic is by vivian void.
we could have, we should have, we didn’t
21.12.19 café mainheim, nürnberg, germany - with stefanie vivian void.
so long song
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany.
And for a taste, here’s the messy surprise VIVIAN VOID mashup at their 10th anniversary back in September:
‘Autumn 2019’ is completely free to download - I put a password in my newsletter and if you’ve signed up but somehow missed it then drop me a line.
As I wrote earlier this week, things will change around here soon but I’ll keep writing the newsletter and making things especially for those people that have signed up for it. Anything to keep me from feeling pressurised to update my Facebook page. My word.
Be well and thanks.
Stephen
Bandcamp subscriptions coming soon.
Hi all
Recently I’ve been looking at ways of managing all the releases I’m making, thinking of a home for them and the best way to share them with people. I’ve realised that, in some ways, the amount of albums, EPs, live releases and various recordings that I’ve released (and want to release) is a bit overwhelming for some people. Some albums have been given away as free downloads, other things come out in small physical editions and some are digital only things that I want to share but can’t decide how to ‘package’ or put out as a physical CD.
For the last ten years I’ve been putting most of the things I make out through Bandcamp and, whilst there are some niggles and little issues with their service, I do feel like it’s allowed me to make and share much more music that I would have done if it were not there. For a lot of people that listen to my music Bandcamp seems to be where the catalogue is and the place where most of you choose to buy my stuff. It’s not perfect but it’s been very good as an outlet for all the songs.
See the problem here?
Anyhow, a few years ago they made it possible for musicians to have a subscription program there and in much the same way as Patreon and other sites do provide some place for regular work to be made. I think it’s about time I start my own subscription service as a place for regular but special releases. I thought I’d give a heads-up to you and to ask if anyone has any thoughts of suggestions about how this could work best for us.
The main questions I have are:
Firstly, is this something anyone here would be at all interested in?
If I were to release stuff to subscribers on a monthly basis, what would you be comfortable paying? €5 a month? €10?
Would you prefer a yearly fee? One off €50 for everything that year?
As a subscriber you would automatically receive every major release I make plus at least once a month a subscription only thing. Could be a live album, EP, collection of alternative versions, covers, etc. I record almost every concert I play and make things in any room that sounds good so there is a lot to choose from.
I’d also include a bunch of things from my back catalogue for signing up. Perhaps 10 full albums or something like that.
I’d also like to release a few very special, limited edition physical releases from time to time. Ten copies of a single where each copy was a different, unique take of the song for example. I also like sending postcards.
I see no problem at all with making regular monthly releases and in fact am really looking forward to having a small pocket of people that I am making work specifically for. I don’t expect this to affect at all the full albums but would instead be a smaller channel that’ll hopefully feel worthwhile, fair and kind of exciting.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Sound like a terrible idea? Do let me know here or via email. I haven’t fixed anything yet and welcome any feedback.
Thanks a lot, sorry for the wall of text.
Stephen
TLDR: Subscription service coming, thoughts?
Empty Room
‘Empty Room’ is available now for pre-order and will be released digitally through my Bandcamp page this Thursday. Here’s the link:
‘Empty Room’ was recorded spontaneously over two evenings in my flat when a room was still unoccupied. It’s 12 songs, nothing new and mostly coming out slow and strange. Here’s ‘Lover O Lover’ for example:
I am writing new songs at the moment, with the idea to make a quiet EP of new things when I find an opportunity to record somewhere. In the meantime I have had this set hanging around and wanted to share it with you. Also coming is a second compilation of live recordings just for subscribers to my newsletter that follows the one I made last year, but more on that later.
Thanks for sticking with me, I hope January has been kind to you all.
Stephen
Free download - 07/12/19 Rostock
Here’s a quick reminder in case anyone has missed it - the recording of my recent concert up in Rostock in the north of Germany a couple of weeks ago is available as a free download on my Bandcamp page right here.
The concert was a pleasure to play - was very quiet and dark in there and I kept mostly to the heavy stuff, including a cover of ‘Winter’ by The Diamond Family Archive and one or two things I rarely feel like going through.
Thanks to Marv and everyone at the JAZ for the invitation and the hospitality.
More music coming from me after this in between week we have now. Hope you’re all doing well.
Stephen
St Arbogast
The new recording ‘St Arbogast’ is now out as a physical and digital album both here on my site and also on my Bandcamp page. A free 4 song EP exclusive to newsletter subscribers is also available now. Here’s all the links and some words about the heavy thing.
I was invited to participate in the Arbogast folk festival in Austria at the end of June 2019. A three day, two night event in and around the grounds of the St Arbogast church and the different, interesting spaces there.
The weather was incredibly warm, it was the first time the festival had taken place and some scheduling hiccups meant that somehow over the weekend I really didn't get to play to so many people. I think all in all I played four little sets when the plan was for eight or so. At one of the concerts I had one guest.
Anyway, late on Sunday evening, when mostly everyone had left I went into the church to try to make something, or rather, try to give something. If the invitation was to come down and make some work and perform there I was feeling that I hadn't really had the opportunity to fulfil my side of the deal.
I recorded for two hours into a Zoom H5 audio recorder. Very simple, stereo microphones, no headphones, standing in front of the altar. There are fourteen complete songs - these ten that seem to go together and the others anyone can hear online separately.
To begin with I thought I'd get two or three songs. Thought of doing everything in C, church band style. Concept.
I didn't want to put the lights on and make anyone feel that they could come in. I took pictures with my phone of the big dark room, neat rows of white chairs and the big glass doors. Two months later hard drives were stolen so I lost these and actually for a week feared that I had lost the audio too. But I found out it was still on the SD card in the recorder so we have that and one picture I had already uploaded to my blog the morning after recording.
More and more I'm interested not so much in making recordings but in recording performances. Recording rooms and trying to be open to how things come out and can sound. I had a strange couple of hours in this dark space and when I listen now I can hear that feeling somewhere. At first I was scared to make a noise, quickly loved that noise and then later was scared again when I thought I had lost it.
Anyway, just some thoughts about this thing I made.
Many thanks to Johannes for the invitation and to everyone that weekend who made me feel welcome down there.
Stephen
Here’s the Bandcamp release, with immediate download:
As I wrote above also available is the four song EP ‘St Arbogast +’ with songs from the same session that weren’t included on the regular album. This a free download to anyone subscribing to my newsletter, which you can do so here.
Here’s a video Selina and I made in a couple of hours a few weeks ago in the Fürth forest.
I think Spotify and everything like that will come in a week or so, no rush. The last week or so has been very busy and I’m ok with not trying to put new music in every corner of the galaxy right away.
Thanks to everyone who already picked this up - I’ll send the physical copies out in a couple of days. Have a lovely week!
Stephen
Kofferfabrik (free download)
Photo by Mina Reischer.
A lovely evening at the Kofferfabrik here in Fürth this last Saturday night. Geneva started with some sweet songs and then I played a long, slow set to a nice crowd. Some friends in the audience and Stefanie from Vivian Void joining me on stage for a couple too. Of course it turned into a long night so yesterday was lost in a lazy wander around the sunny town, talking and sitting by the riverside whilst the swimming club splashed about.
Anyway, here’s a free download of a song I had never played before but this evening turned up. I might follow with more from the night but right now I’m preparing for the shows and putting something else together for the newsletter exclusive series.
I know I said I would write about the new album yesterday but the simple thing to say is that it’s available for pre-order here and a massive thank you to everyone who has already bought it, especially as I’ve only posted a couple of things and people haven’t had a chance to hear much. Sight unseen, sound unheard or some such. Is very humbling, thank you all. The physical release turned out to be very simple and enjoyable to put together and hopefully I’ll find some more words to share before it comes out properly on the 24th of November.
This week I have concerts in Heidelberg, Darmstadt, Ulm and Zürich. Wowee.
See you soon?
S
El Lokal in Zürich this Sunday night.
'It Don't Stop The Bleeding' video
Here’s something Selina and I filmed a couple of days ago for the song ‘It Don’t Stop The Bleeding’ from the new album ‘A Day’. Thanks to her for patience and for understanding something of what I was getting at with this one.
Making things is fun, more coming soon then.
Have a lovely evening,
Stephen
'A Day' - new album available now
My latest album ‘A Day’ is now available to listen and buy at https://thegreatpark.bandcamp.com/album/a-day.
‘A Day’ was recorded entirely on the 14th of May in a tiny hut in the countryside near Baach, Germany. I had written a bunch of things that I thought could be put down but when I got there a lot of it changed and I spent an afternoon and most of the evening writing and playing as I went. The album is a loose thing, as most of my things tend to be, and perhaps I’ll get the chance to record some of these songs later and with other people. I suppose I work better when I’m inspired by a place and have a limited amount of time there, so I thank Martina for giving me the chance to hang out in this wonderful little space and wander about in such beautiful surroundings. She also took the photos you see here and the one on the cover, whilst I filmed some for the simple video below:
Of the songs, I think these sit in an in between place for me. I have an album of kind of playful things, light, often saucy text written over the last few years and I’ve recorded some of these songs in different places already without putting them out. But I also had these new ones and it didn’t feel like the right time or place for anything else. At least three of these were written on the day (‘now we know how we won’t’, ‘a kind of dog is not a cat’ and ‘what you fear to be the end comes around’ for sure) whilst the others had melodies and most of the text set beforehand.
I’ve been playing a few of these at the recent shows and they seem to be coming out different already, which perhaps goes to show what a collection of sketches this is.
Anyway, this is what I make.
Thanks for listening,
Stephen
'Now We Know How We Don't' from 'A Day'
A simple video filmed where I recorded ‘A Day’ which is now available to pre-order here:
I was going to wait a few more weeks before I made this but then I realised that I have a little time right now so it didn’t make sense to sit around looking at the stuff and listening over and over to the thing.
So, you can buy it now and you’ll get a download of the song ‘Now We Know How We Don’t’ today and the rest of the album on the 21st. I’ve made a physical edition too which will be sent out at the same time. I’ll write more about that in a few days but this morning it looks like this:
If you’ve signed up to the newsletter I’ll send you a free download of an exclusive track before the album is released and you can do that here.
Recording this album was an intense, joyful experience. A concentrated but loose 24 hours. Writing fast and seeing how things fell. I really try not to think too much or try to make perfect music but rather keep a record of how things go and this is certainly one of those.
Anyway, more later as ever - have a lovely weekend.
Stephen
UPDATE - Newsletter Exclusive #1 - April 2019
There was an error with this compilation but this is just a quick update to say I got on it and I’ve fixed it and now all songs are where they should be and hopefully working as intended.
Apologies for the break in service and please download again.
That is all, love from the sunny west of Austria where I will have more to share later.
Stephen
Newsletter Exclusive #1 - April 2019
Recently I wanted to put something new together for subscribers of my mailing list so I thought I’d start making regular compilations that will change every couple of months. Exclusive mixtapes, downloadable diary entries, what have you. This here’s the first - a 14 song set of songs played at various concerts in April 2019. I played a bunch of enjoyable shows that month and these recordings are from nice nights in Karlsruhe, Luzern, Bern, Thun and Baden. The track list goes like this:
The River Of Men Flows Without End (Karlsruhe)
The Royal Canal (Luzern)
Boys, I Am Worried (Baden, with Sophia Basler on Violin)
Pretty Peggy-O (Luzern)
Here (Luzern)
Song For Fee (Karlsruhe)
Suit Of Stones (Thun)
If You Build It They Will Come (Baden, with Sophia Basler on Violin)
Make Each Other Anew (Thun)
There Is Joy Yet Between The Pages (Luzern)
Super Good Advice (Luzern)
We Could Have We Should Have We Didn’t (Bern)
Annabel (Bern)
We Swam A Little Song (Karlsruhe)
Whilst there aren’t any train wrecks here I didn’t pick these as any kind of perfect version or anything like that - rather there was something about each one that I liked and felt was worth keeping. Some of them are recorded purely acoustic in the room, whilst others are with a mixing desk and microphones and all. I’ve tried to put it together so it flows but no one’s going to think this is a seamless single concert. It’s a collection of moments I enjoyed at tasty places. Hopefully there’ll be more in the future.
Previously when people subscribe I’ve been giving out download codes for the Stitch compilation, but that feels a little out of date now and not really how things sound these days. My plan is to change it every 3 or 4 months and it will only be available to people on the mailing list. It’s free to sign up and I don’t spam people with emails every week or anything like that. If you like the sound of this the form is below. I’ll send a mail out on Sunday with the password to grab this release.
In other news I hope you’re enjoying the summer and getting out in it as much as you can. Take care and be well,
Stephen
The Woods (free download)
I’ve just released a new EP as a free download over on my Bandcamp site here. ‘The Woods’ was recorded a week or two ago in the forest near Baach, Germany. I set my audio recorder on the Hochsitz you see in the cover photo above and played for fifteen minutes or so. Three songs, including one that I also recorded for the new album coming next month. Much birdsong, a bee on the microphone, a plane overhead - all the good stuff, basically.
Here’s a simple video of the new song for those of you that can only listen whilst watching pictures move:
As with all this stuff, if you enjoy it please think about letting me know and if possible, share it somewhere online. All much appreciated.
That’s it, have a lovely Sunday evening.
Stephen
St Klara CDr now available
The recording of the St Klara church concert is now available as a simple, hand stamped CDr through my Bandcamp page here. Nothing fancy, but for those of you that don’t do the download thing or would rather just have a physical disc this is for you. All Bandcamp sales include an immediate download anyway and I’ll be posting any of these orders out right after the weekend.
Also - 50% of all online sales of this album will go to the Strassenkreuzer charity, for whom this concert was a benefit. For more information about them and how to help please visit https://www.strassenkreuzer.info/foerdern-und-spenden
Also, also - I’ll be at Radio Z for an interview this afternoon. They have this release as their album of the week so I think we’ll be talking about it and who knows what else. You can listen live here from about 15:00 CET.
I’m heading to Hannover tomorrow for an acoustic concert at Dreiunddreißig. The Facebook event is here. I tend to have nice concerts in town so I’m looking forward to that. Saturday I’m in Bonn for a house concert - very rarely there so if you’d like to join that please drop me a line and I’ll send you the details.
Otherwise, have a lovely weekend and more later!
Stephen
New album recorded yesterday.
Photo: @mart.schnieder
I’ve spent the last two days living in this delightful little place on a hill in Esslingen, in the south of Germany. No internet but electricity, a wood oven and fierce running icy cold water. Power socket for the recorder. Surprisingly noisy from local farmers and flight path but a productive time nonetheless. Listen, I just got back to a warm shower and all that goes with it an hour ago so will write more later, but suffice to say I recorded the album of ten songs I wrote last week and will work on putting it together and seeing if I can live with it tomorrow. It might not come out, right now it sounds very intimate and I don’t know who the person singing is.
Oh, I’m playing in Thun this Friday with a drummer, in Ulm this Sunday night and next week in Erlangen at E-Werk. More on those things later, but for now good evening warm, fuzzy glow of the internet.
St Klara now on Spotify, iTunes, etc
The recent live concert I played in the St Klara church in Nuremberg, Germany is now up on most digital services. I trimmed it a little to cut some chatting (me, not the audience) and I think the big echo sound is rather tasty. I would always rather people listen (or better yet, download) through my Bandcamp page but for here it is on the big two and everywhere else soon enough.
iTunes:
St Klara
St Klara is a recording from my recent concert at St Klara church in Nuremberg, Germany available to stream and download on my Bandcamp page now.
Recorded on the 23rd of March 2019, this evening was a benefit concert for Strassenkreuzer magazine and featured The Air We Breathe and nobutthefrog also playing earlier.
Soundcheck was a fairly stressful affair, or at least the sound in the big old room was something we had to work with in a particular way. I love me a bit of echo but I think anything amplified in there struggles a bit. Steffen at the desk did a fine job though, but in fact I ended up playing the start and the end of the concert acoustic in the room, without the microphones, When it came to the recording these were just a weird boomy mess, with people finding their seats or shuffling prayer books about who knows. Suffice to say those songs didn’t make this release. The same has to be said for the two quicker, or at least more rhythmic songs I played - both of these just bounced around on the recording and you’re really not missing anything by not hearing them either.
Setlist with missing songs.
Stefanie from Vivian Void joined me for a beer on stage and a couple of songs. Playing in this space with the audience so far away can make the whole thing feel a bit dry so that certainly helped.
Selina sat in the audience and took some photos and that’s the cover and there it is. I got to play in another church in another country a few weeks later but this is the St Klara recording and go listen to that big mess of echo.
New limited CDr releases
I just made a simple, stamped CDr edition of a recent live recording and it’s available now over at my Bandcamp page here. It’s the complete concert from Aalborg in January with a nice sound and some special guests on a couple of songs.
As with all physical orders on Bandcamp it also comes with an immediate download in a choice of formats so it’s a pretty good deal. I know that some people would like to listen to these recordings but are not that into digital downloads so here it is. I’ll most likely follow with more in the next weeks.
