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Profile
Name: Mike Smallbone
Lives: Cheshire
Early influences: The Jam, The Clash, The Stranglers, U2, Big Country, The Smiths, Bryan Adams, Stiff Little Fingers.
Favourite Artists: Too many to mention, although a few noted below, and really most bands or artists.
Ranging from A-Z:
ACDC, China Drum, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Foo Fighters, Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, It Bites, Magnum, Sex Pistols, Simple Minds, Thin Lizzy, Tom Robinson Band and loads of 80’s & 90’s Dance Floor Fillers…!
History
I’ve been into music most of my life, and like most other kids in “those days”, tapped the Top 40 most Sunday’s with a small microphone linked to a tape recorder stuffed in front of a speaker in a radio no larger than a rich tea biscuit! Oh what joy…!
I used to play drums with my mum’s knitting needles on my Dad’s armchair, until the arm started to change shape and in the end didn’t match the other one…! Dad wasn’t impressed but by then it was too late!
I guess I wrote my first song when I was about 14 but it was utter crap and didn’t make any sense, nothing’s changed really…!
Desperately trying not to falter in the early stages, I was determined to try and learn Guitar, and for it not to end up in the wardrobe after 2 weeks which meant, perseverance, had to be the way to go, even if my fingers seemed to be getting shorter every week…!
I used to practise at every opportunity and eventually got to a point when I knew I had to tackle the dreaded “bar chords” if I was to get any better. This may not sound like a challenge but the thought of having to bridge all strings with none sounding dead (is where I believe quite a few “give up”) was a daunting task. A mate of mine gave me 2 lessons which basically taught me again to persevere and after a good few months it finally happened, I could play a good selection of bar chords, and various derivatives with some confidence. I’ve never learnt to read music and probably never will, I’m much more of a “practical type” of person rather than a “theory type”. I have no knowledge of scales or anything detailed as it’s just not my thing.
I guess I “play by ear” and hopefully know when chords sound good together and certainly if something is out of tune.
Following this, I started to write many songs, some of which were totally “bin fodder” and some, in my view, were “not bad” and this carried on for a couple of years until I thought now is the time to find a band.
I played for 20 years or so in numerous bands and had a fantastic time along the way. Nowadays, time is something I’m unfortunately short of so my efforts at this time are being spent on making music at home hence “Bedroom Rock”.
Music has, and always will have, a special place in my heart – the music of my heroes and the music I’ve written has played a huge part in my life and is now something I want to share with anyone that is crazy enough to want to listen, or even purchase!
If so, Enjoy…!
Bedroom Rock… Just an idea
Things have changed dramatically since I was growing up, when I played in a band in my younger years, I, probably like most kids, wanted to be a “Rock Star” (how many songs have been written about that…!) and the process was, and still is to a large degree, play the circuit and then head to a recording studio to record a “Record”. Nothing wrong with that, we did this and recorded a “tape” and then a CD containing 5 songs. Whoopee do…!
Today, with music and recording technology breaking new ground almost daily, this opens up the opportunity for most to get involved. By this I mean writing and recording a song, simple, complex or somewhere in the middle, and publishing it on one’s website and / or through iTunes as just one example.
Nothing new in this I know as actually, “people” have been recording their own music for years, the view I have on this though is to actually give it a “label” and this is where my stance on Bedroom Rock is shaped.
My personal version of “Bedroom Rock” is to simply write and record my own music without massive outlay, have fun, develop new skills, play all or as many of the parts as possible and pop out a finished product at the end.
My songs span many years of my life and gives me a chance to express numerous feelings though my music, my objective is to record these and hopefully make them “worth a listen” and are ultimately something I’m proud to call my own.
BOUT TIME
Bout Time and Bout Time 2 so what’s it all about…
Well, it’s quite simple really, when the band I played in whilst living “down South” disbanded, I decided that my playing days weren’t over and that I’d look for a Home Studio to keep me entertained.
After looking at various options, I settled on a Zoom HD16 Digital Hard Drive Recording set up with a pair of Yamaha powered monitors. Nothing too flash and enough for my basic and limited knowledge of such things.
Looking at my back catalogue of songs that I’d written, I thought I’ll start recording and see what happens.
It was a very slow process as “me time” is something I’m very short of, but, I was determined to get to “first base” with one completed song to see how it sounded.
Music is of course a very personal thing and what’s great to one is “crap” to another, no drama, it’s the way it is. With my first “full song” on the Zoom I felt that it sounded quite good and although nowhere near perfect, represented the early days of my recording all of the song parts and mixing etc. and finishing up with a CD popping out at the end of the process. The first “full recorded song” is Shut My Eyes and this appears as track 8 on the album. John Mendoza a good friend of mine from “way back when” co-wrote the lyrics with me, and the song stems from one of his mates that died on the Windsor relief road on a Scooter (I think I recall that correctly) many years ago. A sad tale for sure…
I’ve had a huge amount of fun (and frustration) learning how to piece everything together and playing all of the parts. The drums tracks are pulled in from the “drum pool” and then the Bass, rhythm guitar and lead guitar parts are then recorded and mixed to an end result. I’ve still much to learn but hey, all good…
This is where the “Bedroom Rock” theme comes in, i.e. not multimillion pound recording studios but to try and demonstrate that “a reasonable sound” can be achieved with some effort and the finished result can be very pleasing, personal view again of course…!
Some of the songs were actually written as far back as 1984 and an example of this is “Leaving Home” track 6 on Bout Time. This track is about as basic as it gets, but again for me, actually sounds “okay” and has a kind of 60’s driving beat with a clean sounding guitar. For those “guitar folk” types, this was recorded on my Japanese Tokai Telecaster and can be seen in the gallery for anyone that is really that interested… 🙂
You said you’d love me (track 2 on Bout Time) is another 1984 “classic” Hmmm… can’t you tell…?!
I hope that the above explains a little about how the albums were born and why their title have come about, i.e. after 30 years + of songs it really was “Bout Time” I got my “crap together” and released something from the personal archives.
In summary, please remember this is Bedroom Rock and recorded on something that requires little outlay in the grand scheme of things, but has delivered much personal pleasure. I subsequently thought it felt time to share it with anyone crazy enough to want to listen.
And finally, my utmost thanks go to Eric Tankard (vocals) Tom Allen (Bass) Andy Rowney (Drums) and Rachael Allen (sanity checking the mixes etc.) as without these friends, Bout Time 2 would certainly not have been possible. Thank you, thank you and again thank you to you all…!