Mount Pleasant – A Track By Track Breakdown

Here is a track-by-track breakdown of the songs on the record, what inspired the band and how I used those ideas to create the narrative of each song for the book.

Listen to the album here: MOUNT PLEASANT

Prologue

I wrote the Prologue as a way of establishing the setting and motifs of the collection, that of deceit, deception and false facades. The setting of Western Sydney was inspired by the origins of the band, and it is the city I live in.

The Prologue is a fictional retelling of the changing of the name of the suburb where three of the band members grew up. There is no music for this piece of flash fiction but it explains the origins of the album’s title and frames the inspiration of each track, and allowed me to explore a set of stories based in Western Sydney in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The title of the album comes from the name of the suburb where three of the band members grew up. As a name it no longer exists. The local council wiped its name to clear itself of the violence and dangerous youths inhabiting the space. Nothing changed except the name.

Track 1 Holding Pattern

This was the first song released off the album and the first story I wrote. The title of the song is an in-joke as a close friend of the band claimed they were being kept in a ‘holding pattern’ due to the band’s lack of decision making. The band describe the song as being a bit all over the place but feeling right.

It was released with the cover art of the album which gave me the idea of a young girl living in an apartment complex, running up and down the stairs as a means of having some form of control in her life. She meets a recently arrived young boy and the story explores the holding pattern each of them lived in based on their suburb and how it affects their lives.

The song is angular and emphatic in the opening before a pause, a held breath leading to a crushing crescendo, and I wanted the narrative to have that same sense of movement. To have the reader imagine what it means to run, to be held within social strictures, and to be left behind.

Track 2 – Potemkin

The song title refers to the Potemkin village. The myth of the term comes from stories of a fake portable village built solely to impress Empress Catherine II by her former lover Grigory Potemkin, during her journey to Crimea in 1787.

I translated the original setting of Crimean Russia to that of a high school student, the pauper queen as she is named in the story, attending a performance of King Lear and explores the artifice of theatre as a metaphor of the schoolgirl’s existence. This existence extends to where she lives and how it defines her life and the life of her younger brother.

For the ending of this story I channelled John Hughes and The Breakfast Club for a monologue that would look great as a short film or a slam poem.

Track 3 – Pendock and Progress

This is my favourite song on the album. It is fast, frenetic, chaotic and triumphant, yet has pauses for breath. And I love the sound of the snare drum; it’s a perfect sonic fit in the track. It is the names of the streets where the band grew up.

It was the second song released and the second story I wrote. Pendock Close became a cul-de-sac, a dead-end street the protagonist rides his second-hand bike around. The cul-de-sac stands as a metaphor for the facades of society we inhabit, those we are forced to live and yet have no understanding there is something other what you consider normal.

Track 4 – Meet Me In The Meadow

This is a softer sounding song, and the narrative follows the burgeoning relationship a girl has with her crush, and the metamorphosis of adolescent sexuality. It is almost romantic in its feel, and the band used a quote from the Wes Anderson film, “Moonlight Sunrise” as the title.

In reading a synopsis of the film, the romantic element stood out. Not wanting to frame a narrative with a Wes Anderson style I diverted it to examine how boys and girls engage with the facades of masculinity and femininity; how they are both forced into frameworks that are detrimental to their developing sense of emotional, sexual and mental identity.

There are echoes and facets of these facades found in other stories in this collection, notably “Potemkin,” “Time Away” and “Gueules Cassees.” We need to interrogate who we are and understand how we have been deceived into accepting less than what we are worth.

Track 5 – Shambles

This story has a lightness in the music and in the content in comparison to the other stories. It is more comic in its approach than the other stories but still reflects the divide we encounter between what we think we are and what we really are. It is tongue in cheek in places, and it was definitely fun to write, and is reflected in the bouncy joyfulness of the music.

The protagonist is in his last year of high school and his academic life is a bit of a shambles. He’s a Western suburbs philosopher who likes grunge, works in a fish’n’chip shop and says there are two types of people in every situation. It even had my editor, Jodi, using “There are two types of people…” in her vernacular after editing this story.

I don’t think we use the word “shambles” enough. Time to bring it back.

Track 6 – Time Away

The band describe the song as an attempt of taking “time away” from all of the pitfalls of life but the escape is never found. Therefore my vision for this story was the father of a family who get to go on a holiday to the Gold Coast only to come home and find out he has been retrenched.

When Jodi sent back her initial edits, the email began with an expletive enhanced exclamation. I know if I get that then the story is working. Ben Hobson, who provided the quote on the cover, also connected with this story. I believe it is the heart of the collection.

The opening of this song has two parts. The first sounds like a demo track, setting up the motif of the track. The second part of the opening is a favourite section of mine as it has the drum track muted, all the top end rolled off so there is no sibilance in the hi hats, and it feels like a heartbeat, which was channelled into the father in the story. When the track kicks in proper, the bass drum is a thumping vibrancy underpinning the remainder of the track. There are so many layers to this track in its construction as it builds and builds in the midsection of the track before pulling back, and it is in this section, the return to the muted drums, that the father in the story wrestles with himeself.

It is perhaps one of the “softest” stories to read but the resonance is unsettling. Stories of masculinity and what that means, are in the forefront of our minds, and how that affects us, our children and families, and the wider community. From that central story, which as Track 6 is like the halfway point, every other story resonates from that point and reflects the broader perspectives and perceptions. One action can have far-reaching consequences.

Track 7 – Summer Sun

This story references the horrendous summer bushfires of 2001/2002 in Sydney where the paradoxical beauty of the world is slowly being destroyed. Our understanding of the macro comes into focus when we see the lives of individuals in the micro.

Bushfires are a constant threat in Australia and in 2019-2020, from September to almost March, significant parts of the country were on fire. This year we have had significant rainfall and lower temperatures.

We will within this dichotomy, between risk and reward, and the story focuses on a young man who observes the destruction of the bushfire even as his own body undergoes chemotherapy treatment.

Track 8 – Well, Go Well

This song serves as an interlude before “Gueules Cassees” and the band was influenced by Boards of Canada in the composition of this track.

I used it as a platform to lead in the final track, and once I knew what the focus was for “Gueules Cassees” I focused on developing a masculine voice for this interlude. A Twitter thread gave this piece its impetus where the user asked people to respond with apologies used by men in situations of domestic violence, sexual assault or manipulative behaviour in relationships. This narrative is a compilation of various apologies which frames the final track on the album.

The opening of the narrative begins, “APOLOGISE LIKE A MAN.” and uses various iterations of this sentence with different punctuation and capitalisation. It is also the final line. I was interested in how punctuation and capitalisation affected the reading experience and the intended meaning.

Track 9 – Gueules Cassees

The band describes this as the most brutal track to close on. “Gueules Cassees” is a French term meaning ‘broken faces’ and refers to ex-servicemen of World War 1 who returned home with disfigured faces due to the war. A Google search will provide you with some horrifying images of the reality of war, and the people who tried to assist them in their return to society where physical disfigurement lead to social ostracism, loss of status, breakdown of relationships or being turned away from jobs.

I needed to find a parallel of broken faces and in choosing the issue of domestic violence, I wanted to engage with the issue and the hiddenness of its impact on women. I was hesitant to write this, wanting to be authentic and truthful without getting it wrong, so I sought the opinion of other readers. Three women volunteered to read for me, to ensure I had the veracity of the story correct. Unfortunately, it rang true for those early readers, and they also offered new insights to develop the narrative further. I hope I have done this narrative justice.

It is a brutal concept, reflected in the music and the language. Seeing this song played live at the end of 2020 was remarkable as I had had the story drafted, and the intensity of the track was palapble to me.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for listening.

Mount Pleasant Cover Reveal

I know I have been banging on about working towards a new project so I am very thankful that today I can reveal the cover for my forthcoming release, Mount Pleasant.

Mount Pleasant is a concept chapbook of 10 short stories based on the music of Solkyri, from Sydney, Australia. Solkyri are a post-rock band, and this is their fourth album, released in February 2020.

Mount Pleasant is inhabited by individuals who experience joy and laughter, doubt and confusion, fear and uncertainty, revelation and resurrection. These stories invite us to reflect on who we are now and ask us to investigate ourselves in relation to the pasts that may or may not have shaped us and the futures we wish to shape for ourselves.

“I am conscious of where I come from and the sadness that grows inside of me. I am curious to know what it means and what it makes me.”

In a Western Sydney suburb that no longer exists, its name erased and replaced with another, a façade is created to mask the truth of its existence.

Behind it is…
a girl who runs
a young woman dreaming beyond her uniform
a boy cycling through his family line
a girl who yearns for metamorphosis
a young man playing with polarities
a father who has lost himself
a young man decaying under the summer sun a man’s apology
a woman who longs to be seen

When the viciousness of hope is a powerful drug,
the inescapability of hopelessness is even more devasting.

What is Post-rock?

Post-rock is a form of experimental rock music characterised by an exploration of textures and timbres, structures and forms, soundscapes and riffs, rather than a verse/chorus, verse/chorus structure typically found in rock music. The music has its own narrative through the rise and fall of sounds, textures, tempos, crescendos and decrescendos, aural assaults and minimalist orchestration.

Who Are Solkyri?

Formed in 2006, Solkyri deliver moments that blend intense vulnerability with pure power built around the interplay of guitars and driving rhythms, with nods to math-rock, shoegaze and ambient music.

‘Mount Pleasant’ strives to push the boundaries of both sides of its personality, its unyielding energy and its tender moments of intimacy. It is the culmination of years of personal reflection and the rediscovery of passion. Prominent radio station Triple J described it as “Beautiful yet precisely chaotic post-rock.”

I encourage you to have a listen to the record (link below) via Bandcamp: Mount Pleasant. I have been to many of their gigs in the past and they are always a great live band.

And check out other great bands on Birds Robe Records.

A huge thanks to Jodi Cleghorn for the design work and layout.

Another thank you goes to Ben Hobson, author of To Become A Whale and Snake Island, who said, “Profound slices of human truth. There is such a clarity in character, and a precision in a lived experience of Australia within these stories. Adam’s skill is in making us remember those small moments in our lives that mean so much to us. Read this to engage your heart.”

In my next post I will explain the inspiration behind each track from the band’s perspective and how it inspired my take on each track.

Links for preorder will be available very soon via The Jar Writers Collective.

Promoting New Art – Helen Perris

I love coming across new music, new books, new artists, and supporting and promoting them however I can.

One way is blogging about their art and material, another by putting links via social media avenues.

Today, local Sydney artist, Helen Perris releases her new song, Mirrors and Windows. I really like this song. Lovely production. It has a pop sensibility with reference to Helen’s influences in cabaret and musical theatre. Think Amanda Palmer, Tori Amos, Kate Bush. All lovely stuff.

Helen is a singer songwriter, musician, promoter of the arts and a generally cool person to know.

Watch the video below.

Check out Helen’s page and bandcamp site for more of her music.

Whenever you can, however you can, support artists. Promote them, buy their products. 

The Parallel Between Writing and Drumming Part 2

A little while ago I wrote about the parallel between drumming and writing and I’d like to extend the idea with a few more examples.

I’ve been having a bit of dig into U2’s back catalogue lately and really enjoying the drumming of Larry Mullen Jnr. He is not touted as one of the world’s best drummers but he has some inventive drum parts that are fundamental to U2’s sound. It’s a unique voice.

The same applies to writing; each writer has their own voice, their own turn of phrase and vision of seeing the world that is evident in their work.

Here are my Top 5 U2 songs where the drum part is an integral feature, a way of finding and expressing voice. For me as a writer and drummer, sometimes the simplest groove can speak volumes but then it’s the little touches and flourishes that make your work stand out from the rest.

5. Pride (In The Name of Love)

There are 2 touches that I love in this song. The first is the floor tom hit just after the snare. The other is the snare roll into the chorus. Nothing flash; just solid and accented beautifully.

4. 40

I’m a sucker for a sixteenth note pattern on the hi hat (played on one hand) and this song delivers. It provides the motor to the song, accompanied with quick, open accents, and 32nd flourishes. Tasty.

3. Sunday Bloody Sunday

A military march played on hi hats and snare. Crisp, focused and aggressive. 

2. Bad

I love this song for its build. The kick drum is the foundation while the snare and hats become layers as the song builds to its climax. There are echoes of Sunday Bloody Sunday (and you can also hear the 16th note pattern feature heavily in other U2 songs like Where The Streets Have No Name, All I Want Is You, Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own. It’s a feature of Larry’s drumming and I love it).

1. With or Without You

The pattern on the floor tom, the snare hit and the open hi hat bark. Simple, elegant and brilliant.

I have my drumming heroes and my literary heroes. I am influenced by what they play, what they write, and through experimentation, amalgamation, inspiration I find my own voice.

How do you find your writing voice? 

What Is the Parallel Between Writing and Drumming?

What is the parallel between writing and drumming?

The TL;DR version: vocabulary is essential for writer and drummer. Read widely, listen carefully, & choose the right word for the sentence.

For a fuller explanation, read on.

The parallels between writing and drumming become clearer each time I pick up a pen or a set of sticks.

Writing fiction consists of ordering letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into a completed narrative, whether it is a short story, novella or novel.

Drumming consists of ordering strokes into patterns, patterns into grooves, and patterns into fills.

Drumming is made up of 3 basic sticking combinations:
– the single stroke roll RLRL RLRL*
* R = right hand L = left hand
– the double stroke roll RRLL RRLL
– flams

Everything is then a combination of these basic sticking patterns. For example, the paradiddle RLRR LRLL combines the single stroke and the double stroke

Other rudiments include the 5-, 7-, 9-, 11- and 13-stroke roll; flam paradiddles, triplets etc. All in all, there are 40 recognised basic rudiments to master. 

This forms the vocabulary of the drumset, starting with the snare drum then expanding the rudiment to be played on other surfaces of the drumset from toms to bass drum to cymbals or other sound sources. 

Knowledge, and mastery, of the rudiments gives a drummer a vocabulary to draw from when playing. At times it can be as simple as this:

to the complexity of this: (it is well worth the time to listen to the introduction to understand why this piece came into being)

And then this because it is just so cool:

Being literate is the fundamental key for both writing and drumming. A limited vocabulary limits the power and extension of what you are trying to say. 

Profound thoughts are often expressed with the simplest of words.

When I was studying New Testament Greek, at the first class, our lecturer had us turn to the Gospel of John and read the first few verses, in Greek. We were novices, had no idea, but with a few helpful hints we garbled our way through. The lecturer’s response was to comment that it was very simple Greek, yet contained much that was deep and profound. 

Similarly, when I was reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” I was struck by the simplicity of the language; very understated without frivolous embellishment. Yet it was in the simplicity of the language that the depths of the horrors of the world he was describing were manifest.

And complex ideas are also expressed in language so dense you need to be initiated to understand it. I have tried to read A.S. Byatt’s “Possession” but couldn’t get past the first page.

The hardest part is knowing when you use the vocabulary you have at hand: either the simple or the complex. Both serve a purpose.

The Takeaway

Mastery of vocabulary is paramount for both writing and drumming. Expanding your own vocabulary and voice is essential to tell the narrative you want to tell, to communicate the emotions you want the reader or listener to engage with.

Master the language by
* Reading widely
* Listening carefully.
* Experimenting with voice.
* Choosing the right word for the sentence.

A Little Prompting #16

Welcome to another week of A Little Prompting.

How has your creative life been travelling? Mine’s doing well. Currently working on a short story with aim to sub it for a comp with a May 31 deadline. I need to get cracking.

THEME	The Persistence of Time
RANDOM LINE PROMPT	“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”  ― Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married
PHOTOGRAPH	Salvador Dali – The Persistence of Time
SONG/MUSIC VIDEO	Anthrax – Got The Time
SENSORY SUGGESTION	Feeling the weight of great-grandfather’s pocket watch in the hand of a six-year-old
QUOTE	“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”  ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

 

Those Who Can, Do AND Teach

There is a saying: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

What a load of bollocks.

It’s said as an insult; a derogatory, snide remark to elevate one person and denigrate another.

As a teacher, it’s particularly insulting because it’s my profession, my career, my calling. To teach is to pass on knowledge, information, insight, technique, skills, habits.

To say those who can’t, teach, is to abrogate responsibility of all people to teach one another. 

Fundamentally, every interaction is teaching. We give it different names or titles like coach, mentor, professor, guru, but the interaction is the dissemination of knowledge and the acquiring of skills.

Teaching is an aspect of our relationships with one another. As parents we teach our children right from wrong, good from bad. We teach them to tie shoelaces, ride bikes, make sandwiches, treat people with dignity and respect, how to make friends. We should also teach them to create. Never let a child feel like creativity is a waste of time.

There are skilled and gifted teachers in every creative endeavour and every profession. While they may not receive the praise and accolades of some of their peers at the higher echelons, or their names are not well known, their work is far more significant. They allow the next generation to stand on their shoulders and see further. In turn, they pass on their skills and knowledge to the next generation, hoist them onto their shoulders and help them see further still.

To teach is to create. It creates interest, passion, wonder, curiosity, desire, engagement, questions. It creates a learner.

A student is never greater than the master. No, a master should ensure that the student IS greater than the master. This is creativity. This is teaching. Equip the student with the necessary skills and understandings to excel.

Explore the “family tree” of an artist in whatever medium. See where they came from, who they learned under, what ideas they developed and passed on. Know the origins of your art. 

Understand you can teach someone. It doesn’t require a degree, time in a classroom. Teaching is done in the quiet moments of conversation, time shared over tea and doughnuts.

Those who can, do AND teach. 

 

The Significance of Creativity

The Significance of Creativity, or to put it another way, creativity creates significance (the noun/verb, subject/verb is a little awkward, not to mention the repetition. Oh, the vagaries of the English language).

Creativity is an act that begins with you, as an internal locus of control. It is inwardly focused, a way of understanding who you are, what you stand for and what you believe in. 

What Does Creativity Create in You?

Whether you’re at the start of your creative journey, been at it for a little while or have carved highways for others to follow, creativity creates four things within an individual: significance, community, conversation and legacy.

Significance

* Creativity creates an understanding of who you are.

Perhaps you started creating to work out the impact of a significantly emotional event in your life or as a way of exploring new ideas. 

Whatever the reason, it forms a significant part of who you are, what you identify with and how it is manifested in your creativity.

It is intensely personal, even private, and may never be shared with anyone else. It does not negate the significance of who you are. As intensely personal as creativity is, when shared with others, it gives them an insight into who you are. You have purpose and meaning, a spiritual dimension to your life.

Community

* Creativity is not a field limited to the individual.

It is often done as an individual but you should not be without a community.

Finding like-minded people as a support helps you continue what you are doing. They are a back up for when life is brutal and you want to chuck it all away. They are your confidantes and encouragers. They are also those who will love you deeply and tell you the truth about your work, especially when it sucks and needs more work.

In turn, you can teach others and expand the creative community.

Conversation

* talk to people about what you do and why.

You have a cause to champion, a positive reason to speak into people’s lives. It’s not all about you, dominating the conversation about your most recent creative project or endeavour. If people are willing to listen, speak. 

However, can you steer the conversation around to what makes your listener creative? Can you open up their mind to the possibilities of a creative project? Can you encourage them to take up an old hobby, long neglected, or aim for something new, something they have always wanted to do?

Legacy

* your work is a testament to others.

It is your character imprinted onto your creative work like children; lived, learned and loved, cherished as valuable and positive traits to have. Your commitment to others as teacher, or encourager, facilitator, supporter, collaborator.

Contribute your verse and know the significance creativity plays in your life and potentially in the life of others.

Teaching Others To Be Powerful

Being creative is a powerful tool for an individual because it releases a person’s sense of actualisation. But I believe there is more power in teaching others to be creative. 

To teach someone is to give the person the knowledge, skills and understanding that they, too, can be a powerful creative person.

I learned this lesson from Benjamin Zander, a classical pianist, and more importantly, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

You can see his TED Talk here: Benjamin Zander – TED Talk

Here’s the takeaways from a delightfully rousing discussion.

• Everyone loves classical music; they just don’t know it yet. You need to teach them the power of the music.
• As the conductor he makes no sound at all, but he can allow the players to know the power within, to be powerful, to play powerfully.
• He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful and to awaken possibility in other people.

When you have mastered your own creative endeavour, even if you haven’t, teach someone else how to do what you do. 

Help the person unlock their own creativity, to realise their own potential as a creative person. 

Creativity is a secret you want someone else to know.

Small Achievements – Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2014

Earlier this year I had a poem, Elihu’s Meditation on Questions Unanswered, published in Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

And now it is being published in the Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

I would encourage you to support small press and publishers as they are pushing boundaries and discovering brilliant new literary voices. This edition is full of remarkable vignettes, poetry and art.

Follow Vine Leaves (@VineLeavesLJ) and its editor-in-chief, Jessica Bell (@MsBessieBell) on Twitter.

Orders can be made directly through the web site. Order HERE. It would make for a wonderful Christmas present for the book lover in your family.