Owen Duff - intoxicated by London

With influences stemming from Rufus Wainwright & Sufjan Stevens and with a vibe reminiscent of Anthony & the Johnsons Owen Duffs new EP, Under, documents his arrival in London and his enamoured view of the city.  Owen has linked his music to interesting concept videos for each of the songs, including one using Google Earth to map out the song's narrative.

I recently got the chance to ask Owen some question and talk about what inspired the new EP:

What inspired the project?
For me songwriting or making anything is often a process of sublimation, whereby whatever I'm writing or creating helps to resolve or at least express thoughts and feelings that I may not be consciously aware of. The songs on the Under EP are a good example of that, I wrote them a long time ago in 2003-4 when I'd just arrived in London.

It seems London was your primary muse for the EP, is that right?
I had all these romantic notions of what it would be like to live here so moved down in a very cavalier way, without knowing anyone or having a steady job to go to.  The reality of it hit me pretty quickly and overwhelmingly, and while I was determined to stay it took me quite a while to find my feet. The song London You're My High is very ambivalent; on the one hand it's sort of a love song to the city but on the other it uses the dark imagery of addiction, which I think expresses how I felt at the time - intoxicated by London but also finding it pretty bleak.
The reason I kept the songs on hold for so long was that I wasn't able to record on a real piano at the time I wrote them. It was only more recently, when I paid to go into a studio and record a whole heap of things on a real piano, that I was able to get versions of the songs that I was happy to release.
 

Owen Duff - Morning Finsbury Park

There was actually a 'twin' EP to Under called 'Over', which was much bigger sounding, and more upbeat, with drums and trumpets and stuff, and then a whole instrumental section where a Steve Reich-esque arrangement of 'London You're My High' plays backwards over an electronic beat. It was quiteinteresting as an experiment but overall it didn't really work. 

Why did you decide to link the songs with videos?
The video aspect is something I've been meaning to get into for a while - I studied TV and Radio Production at university so it's something I've done before and have a long-standing interest in.

How did you come up with the idea of linking the song with google earth?
Because I'd written 'London You're My High' in my first year of living here I wanted to do something that summed up what had happened to me since then. I started drawing up a sort of bullet-point list of the big events in my London life from the past six or seven years, and then I got to thinking about the places those things had happened, which led me to plot out their locations on a map, which is when I had the idea to use Google Earth. I started off with quite specific descriptions but then made them more vague, partly for aesthetic reasons but mostly to make them universal enough that others would be able to identify with them.
 

Owen Duff - London You're My High

What came first the idea for the project or the songs?
Well the gap between the songs and the videos was obviously pretty long, but the ambition to make an EP or album about this city arose at the same time as writing the songs, so those two aspects were of it were simultaneous.  A big influence was New York Tendaberry by Laura Nyro, which I played constantly when I first moved to London. That album is still one of my absolute favourite things to listen to, and I think its central concept of a romantic paean to a big city very much resonated with me in the early days of being here.

 

You can find out more about Owen on his site owenduff.co.uk and you can download the Under EP from his bandcamp page for free.

Review: Colorado Thrift EP by Smokey Mountain English

Kacey Wade Stewart, Will Davis and Pat Loundas in just 5 hours have managed to capture a irresistible lo-fi charm with this brilliantly understated EP. The first thing that draws you in is the warm guitar tone punctuated by the cyclic banjo picking which are prominent through out the EP.  The opening 'Hard To Tell's' uptempo flow is hard to resist, and opens the way for the Guthrieesque 'Train Song' with it's homesick imagery.

Washboard percussion and Will Davis' banjo add to the uplifting 'Grow Old' beautifully, the 4 track EP is rounded out by another undeniably catchy love song 'Pearlsnap button'.

The whole EP captures the good vibe of friends making music together and boasts a charming blend of Folk, Americana and a touch of Bluegrass.  Well worth a listen, and the why not when it's free to download?  It's already on my iPod!

Click Here To Download The EP For Free.

The First Review of 'The Sea'

 The Sea is Matt Moss’ first foray into the solo acoustic world and damn is it a successful one. The EP is short and sweet and contains upbeat songs like “The Sea” and “Love me More” and the darker stuff like “Half Empty Glass.”

The EP builds nicely in excitement and intensity, a rare thing these days, which is hard thing to do. It does have the benefit though of no songs sounding the same as the one it follows. Lyrically the EP is quite impressive, "The Sea" (the song) perfectly seems to convey the emotions of a troubled long distance love affair. Moss played every single instrument on this production and the fact that they all blend well is quite an achievement.

On the other hand, in some tracks the mix feels a bit full which detracts from the emotions in the songs. The final song on the EP also drags a little but oddly didn’t in my first listen and that was when I wasn’t being critical. A great song to get lost in.
I look forward to the debut album.

By James Butler.
More of James' reviews are well worth a look and can be found on his blog here: www.globalripper.tumblr.com

An Interview with... Me

I haven't interviewed myself that would be slightly egocentric! But when my EP was released a couple of days ago the label I'm on asked me some promotional questions here they are in full:

1. When not making music what do you do?

I’m a history student at Liverpool University, UK so that takes up a lot of my time, I also teach people to play the guitar which is pretty satisfying, but not as satisfying as writing music.

2. What was the first album you ever bought?

I’m having to think really hard about this. It might have been an Oasis album? Or it could have been Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, I think it was Oasis, Dylan came later.


3. Who are your biggest influences?

I’ve had so many different phases of influence, when ever I discover new music it seems to spark something new in me when I’m writing songs. I’d have to say the band that made me want to pick up the guitar was Led Zeppelin; Jimmy Page is a brilliant guitarist. Zeppelin’s acoustic stuff like Hats off to Roy Harper, Bron Yr Aur and Battle of Evermore led me to folk music. I found Bob Dylan, he’s probably one of my biggest influences his lyric’s ability to create imagery are incredible. Neil Young too he’s in the same league as Dylan for me.

4. Favourite piece of equipment, software or instrument for getting your
sound?

I’d be lost without my guitar I'm rarely parted from it. Software wise Steinberg’s Cubase 5 is what lets me capture everything I make.

5. What is the biggest challenge you face in getting your music out?

The biggest challenge is getting it to the people who want to hear it, I’m on most of the major social networking sites. For a long time even my friends didn’t know I wrote music. But I found Myspace a few years ago and that changed things. But I think lately Myspace has been in decline so I’m trying to find new ways of making my music available. It’s a matter of the people who are passionate about music, discovering you I have to make it as easy as possible for them.

6. What was the most memorable party you have ever played at or been to?

The most memorable place I ever played was a festival in Liverpool, my band played a set in the pouring rain, in front of maybe a dozen people but that didn’t matter it was probably the first time I enjoyed playing live.

7. What's your opinion on the current copy right system, is it working
or does it need to go?

I think the music industry as a whole is suffering from a lot of problems. The copy right system we have at the moment does need some reform. I think the Creative commons license concept is great though. Things have to be fair, fair to the consumer and the musicians making the music.


8. If you weren't making music what would be your outlet?

I used to like art in high school and I often thought about studying art at college. I like creative writing too, short stories that sort of thing. So maybe I’d try those.

9. Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

Ideally I’d like to be making music, whether it’s paying my bills or not isn’t really important at the moment. I’m studying for a degree so that’s my fall back.

10. Anything else you want to tell people?

Hmm. I guess if you’ve read this you’re interested in my music and who I am so thank you very much.

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My EP is available to preview now along with 2 free downloads.  It's on sale for just £2, please go and download the free tracks!   CLICK HERE NOW