The Movement's next move

What was cool? ... What's cool?

Thu, 17 May 2012 02:35:00 GMT

This is a retrovisit - through time. May be fun to do yourself ...

Looking back at past years, and remembering what bands were your "top dog" or "dawg" at the time ... the results may be based on foggy memories, but I'm sure they can still be both nostalgic and embarrassing in nature.

Usually to pull a band for that year I need to remember who's songs I covered a lot, or when there were albums or live DVDs that I totally killed again and again and again.

Musical top dogs ... at the time:

Early Years get called: The Beatles, John Prine, Johnny Horton and whatever else was on the vinyl shelf - or cassettes in the car for long family car rides.

1993: Spin Doctors, Simon & Garfunkel, AC/DC
1994: The Offspring, Guns 'n' Roses, Eric Clapton
1995: Aerosmith, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden
1996: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Live
1997: The Tragically Hip, The Odds, The Wallflowers
1998: Third Eye Blind, Foo Fighters, Sugar Ray
1999: Metallica, Korn, Limp Bizkit
2000: Linkin Park, Creed (ouch), A Perfect Circle
2001: Eve 6, Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World
2002: Incubus, Radiohead, Sevendust
2003: Stone Temple Pilots, Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine
2004: System of a Down, Tool, Mastadon
2005: Tool, Pantera, Nirvana
2007: Feist, Queens of the Stone Age, Wintersleep
2008: Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, James Morrison
2009: The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Queen
2010: Pete Yorn, Wilco, Simon & Garfunkel
2011: Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Ray LaMontagne
2012: Fleet Foxes, Ron Sexsmith ... And ... we'll see. Excited to find out!

Kind of an odd list ... and kind of a sore brain from digging that deep without Google help.
There are some subtle trends, and total curveballs ... Buuut hey, I went for it ... ringing any bells for you?

Peace out
MP

Show Tonight! And more recordings soon ... yes

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:15:57 GMT

I will be playing an acoustic set tonight, closing down the night at the Company House in Halifax. My good friend, and sometimes co-writer, Tom (Rich) MacGillivray will also be showing off some new tunes; there will also be sets from Noel Taussig and Michael Toner. I'm hitting the stage from 10:30pm-11pm ...

Also, MPATM are the proud new owner of some factor recording grantage ... this means we'll be hopping into the studio over the coming months to do some recording at Omniart studios. I always throw my name into the factor hat for demo recording support, and i'm always very happy to have the support.

Not sure if we'll just go for a solid EP with the funds, or get crazy and see hpw far it will stretch ... history says I will stretch, logic says I should beef up a nice 5-6 track EP.

We shall see ... but either way, it shall be grand.
MP

So you had an idea ... now what?

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:50:00 GMT

Last time, I spent a little time urging the 'idea monster' inside you to come out and play.
To take a step out towards nurturing some brain children, lest they become orphaned.

Easy to say ... Yet doesn't happen.

Does that mean it is incredibly difficult? Not necessarily. Just reeeeal easy to blow off.

So, from one scatter brain to another, here are some tips to chase that carrot, "Ideas to help the idea seed grow".

#1 - Write it down

Seems SO straight forward, but how many times have you said, "Oh and I had this awesome idea yesterday ... it was like ... a giant ... dragon ... laser ... I think". "Okay, i've got my notes here ... Ok, no ... the idea was a chocolate guitar - scratch the dragon laser, for now."

I had a former employer who handed out mini booklets, and urged everyone to keep them in their coats at all times ... this way if they had an awesome idea at the pub, they could just scratch it down and move on!

Nowadays, my 'booklet' is my blackberry ... it is flush with dozens of notes about song ideas, album concepts, photo shoot ideas ... and many of these ideas may in fact be 'flush' worthy, but at least I have that option ... unlike forgetting ... which leaves few options, beyond convincing yourself it must have been a sucky idea or you would have remembered!

#2 - Tell someone

... accountability can embarass you into completing some idea, simply because you said you would do it. "Hey, did you do that thing you said you were gonna do?" ... "No." ... "That's hella lame, I thought you were the type of guy who ... does stuff ... that he says he will." That's a hurtful burn - and you want to avoid that.

So, if you want your task to have a better chance of success, just tell a bunch of people that you plan on doing it. Don't be so specific with details that it restricts you, because then you'll be a liar again. ("I mentioned that I was to coat the CDs in gold ... I guess that's not in the budget. Ditto, for the free iPods for each mp3 download. Too pricey".

In the spirit of tip #2, I have a declaration ... I'm putting out 2 more releases in 2012; one is the third MPATM album, and the other is a benefit CD of originals to support a local religious community. The MPATM album with have no less than 14 songs on it ... maybe 17? Declaration complete. (See how many details I left out? Lots of wiggle room).

This is easy, and fun for all. Any more declarations out there??? Tell someone.

#3 - review, rethink, revise ... repeat

You've got some ideas invested in the creative bank account do you? Nice. Now start to paint the bigger picture.
Look back over the initial ideas and concepts, and gather the direction you want to go. This stage can be as long or as short as you make it. Some people do quadruple the work on revisions and planning - others breeze through, with the finish line in sight.

As much as you may be tempted to fly through, make sure you're not moving on just for the 'Halibut' - just trying to be fast, for fast's sake. Maybe time is an issue. Maybe budget. Try not to let that dictate how you view the form that your brain child is taking.

I think i've given myself a headache today, and may be suffering from the effects of a shining light in the sky ... could it be the sun?

I wrote some stuff ... I declared things.

Check that off the list. Done

MP

Just do that

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:01:51 GMT

"Just do ... that"
Due to similarities to a popular sneaker company's slogan, I had to watch out for copyright reasons ... Because this ain't China ... People follow that stuff here!

Anyhow ... Do that! ... Do what? ... Well that's easy ... Whatever 'that' or 'it' is.

I would classify myself as an 'ideas guy', always pondering future things ... And although this can be an exciting way to pass minutes, it can also be looked upon as many fruitless minutes if the pondering never amounts to jack squat!

So friggin' do it.

"I should setup that little corner of the room for me to do some painting"

"Man, I really would love to try some fiddle lessons"

"How did that song go, that I used to play on the piano?"

... "Wonder if I should feed my cat"

"The doctor said a simple shower would eliminate a lot of the smell"

Getting off base, but one of my ideas was "write about following through on ideas", so no matter how much of a pile of heated crap this is ... It's also a 'check' on the idea list.

If I may be direct, all I really care to discuss is music ideas ... Because otherwise I'll cross the borders of healthy eating and fitness - and that will not receive a 'check' from me.

Musical ideas. You've had 'em. You've bailed on your fair share.

And, what of the ones you pursued? Probably didn't lead to the apocalypse ... Even if not executed exactly as planned; so, go chase some more.

Maybe now you know a few chords, or have a little demo recorded, or love song written, or youtube video circulating, or website up and live ... And so on ... And so on ... it can often be so rewarding to take the time to dedicate yourself to something beyond the daily grind of paying bills, punching the clock, watching television, etc. I know for me I rarely (if ever) regret taking that time to dive into a passion project, and see if it ever brings something close to the idea it started with in my head. In the process of many twists and turns, maybe the song you wrote, or painting you started goes somewhere far from what you envisioned ... but is even cooler!

Seems weird to tell people, "go do stuff that you like, or wish to do" ... But I know sometimes I need that littlie kick, or how hearing others thoughts can be a catalyst. Who knows, maybe you'll dust off that guitar and look up the chords to an old Beatles favourite tonight, or fire up iMovie and get started on that conspiracy movie for YouTube :)

I'm gonna wrap up for a moment, but this is of interest ... I want to do this again, maybe break it down further. Stay tuned for part 2 of ... At least 2 ... "So you had an idea ... Now what?"

In the meantime, go do something ... If you have the stones ... Or something ... Or not.

But go feed that cat.
MP

Onward ...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:00:00 GMT

February ... tad bit of a drag ... no holidays ... winter won't go away - but the Moncton show was a nice highlight!

Bring on the snow ... we piled a few carloads full from Halifax and headed to Moncton, despite the call for 30cm.

Was a Children's Wish benefit, and lots of Monctoners braved the elements to come out and make it a great success. Thanks so much!

The theme since then? 3 words: song ... writing ... monster.
-Seems as soon as there is a new CD to push, there are so many of the 'next best thing' songs that pop up in the old skull ... we've already started debuting a few new tunes at shows, and this week alone has produced 5 new fancy tunes that will fight for a spot on the 3rd release from MPATM - coming out in 2012. (No, I will not get trapped into any estimated release dates yet ... we just put one out a few months ago!) ... but sometimes you just can't stop the juice from running ... in a white bronco.

MP

Forecasts for the doomsday of the CD ...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:45:00 GMT

Usually the headlines about the pending end of the earth don't bother me - doesn't quite stir anything in me ... but helps me remember that, yes, it will end some day.

Now, a recent headline about some kind "experts" stating that soon many record labels will stop producing physical CDs, as early as the next 1-2 years ... upsetting, and I hope they're wrong.

Sure it doesn't make logical sense, but I just enjoy listening to my favourite albums when I am putting in the physical CD ... not clicking a digital file with a mouse. I am not a caveman, I still like to put tunes on my iPod for times on the go - and I love how easy it makes showing your music to people via internet ... but I like to load those digital files FROM the actual CD which I own, and put on my shelf at home.

Even if the future is to have digital music take over a huge, dominant portion of the market - I still want to print CDs ... if Vinyl is any indication, people can keep certain forms of music recordings alive long after they are bumped from the top of the mountain. There will always be hard cores I suppose.

Time to get onboard with lots of online cloud spaces ... Buuuut keep buying (and printing) new CDs!

Stay Classy, Movember men (great work with the staches)
MP