The Sounds of Sheffield

A little inspiration and creativeness has returned so here goes… 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of  helping to do sound for 2 live sessions run by Forge Radio (Sheffield University Radio Station) There are some people in the city with real talent. I'll keep this short and just highlight 2 but I'm sure there are many more. (Click on the links and give them a listen,  that should make this post seem a little longer.)

First though,  a little warning to anyone coming to university…  From my experience I would say that you become much more open-minded, personally I have found a new love for 'house' music which if I'm honest, I didn't think much of a few weeks ago. A second warning is that if you are behind a sound desk you are likely to see a lot of red lights.

Anyway,  the first of the two artists I want to mention is 'Growlin' Al Gordon'.

This man has one of the deepest and strongest voices that I have ever heard. His grasp of older style folk and country music is brilliant but don't think that makes him boring,  his variation of speed and style is wonderful and it will probably make you tap your foot along with him.

The second,  but by no means second in sound is 'The Half Earth'.

I think Connor may well be one of my favourite artists at the moment, I don't know how to describe the sound of his music, but it was very powerful to listen to live. I guess that one thing I could say is that I couldn't work out whether it was feedback or his voice at times but we both seemed to agree that that just adds to the amazing sound of his guitar.
I guess as a way of explaining why I like him so much is my comment on his track 'End',  if you listen to it then this will make more sense but this is what I said: "If there's 8 minutes before the world ends then I know the background music I'll put on! If there's 15 I'll listen to slow dancing in a burning room first :-)". There is a little bit of a story behind that but it's not really necessary. 

I said I'd keep it short so there it is. I highly recommend the following tracks:

Growlin' Al Gordon
- Lonesome Valley
- Friend of mine

The half earth
- End
- Fox
- Final Cheer

The Perfect Words

Seen as I haven’t done one yet I thought that I would do a post on music. Anyone that knows me well will know that music is a huge part of my life. Not necessarily playing music as I don’t get the chance to play too much anymore, but occasionally it’s nice to sit on my Cajon for half an hour and tap along to something on iTunes or YouTube. Mainly what I enjoy is listening to music and using it to understand or manipulate how I’m feeling. 

As a start I shall let you know about my taste in music. Favourite artist or band? Not a clue. It’s one of those things that very much depends on my mood, in my favourites there is everything from reggae to rock and country to classical (admittedly the amount of classical is limited but here is some there none the less). Some of my more favoured Artists/Bands are; Newton Faulkner, The Killers, The Who, AC/DC, Bastille, The Weatherfolk, Train, Fall Out Boy, The All American Rejects, Rascal Flatts, Royal Republic, Owl City, Ansell Brown, John Mayer, Brad Paisley. 

That’s just a short list of people I like, but to me music is a lot more than just enjoying the sound, it’s much more about the connection I make with the song or music which is why my preferred listening varies so much. Of course I do like some things simply for how they sound, but depending on my mood or how I want to feel there are many different things that I like sometimes and yet immediately skip at other times. One song can make you feel incredibly sad one day and yet the day after it can fill you with joy or make you thinks about things. I find it amazing how we can all interpret music differently and how songs can mean so many things to so many people.

Personally, I find music is a great way to express or understand my emotions, or a good way to overpower them (usually involving rock music played rather loudly). An example of expressing emotion or a thought through music is a book that has been sat on top of my bongos and was only an arm’s reach away. (Now you may be questioning why I am picking up a book in order to write about music but just go with it...) This book was given to me by my girlfriend; clearly she loves me seen as it’s made from recycled elephant poo. Her message on the front page makes slightly more sense for the choice of notebook, but it isn’t the notebook that’s important, it’s what’s written inside it. I’ll put a few pictures below of what’s inside, but the general idea was that I sent her a song each day and she sent me a quote. This was a way by which we could both express how we felt without having to find our own words to explain, and it also gave us a reason to say something more than the norm.

I called the post ‘The Perfect Words’ which is a song quote that I was certain should be in the book but isn’t, it’s from the song ‘Signal Fire’ by Snow Patrol, the words mean a lot to me but I’ll let you make your own mind up. It seemed appropriate as a title as I’m sure what I’ve written probably isn’t the best way of saying things, but also because it’s not difficult to find a song that has the perfect words to explain how you feel.

I’m going to leave this post there and let you browse through the pictures and listen to any of the mentioned music as you please, I’m sure you’ll probably interpret some of it differently to how I do, or you’ll have a story that relates to one of the songs, but hey... that’s music. Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment, share and subscribe.

If you need a link to any of the music then give me a shout and I shall try to find one.