Dutch Lawn

I have always been interested in music, I remember getting bought a tiny Casio VL-Tone when they came out and thinking I was the fifth member of Kraftwerk or John Foxx Junior. My musical career however was never meant to be, even though I wrote plenty of songs and even did a couple of gigs which were thankfully in the days before people could film things and put them online for everyone to see – for eternity.

I think that the process for writing music is very similar to designing something and I approach both in the same way. Now they’re both 100% Mac-based activities so that’s the first big thing they have in common, but the creative process is also very similar. They’re both about adding and subtracting different elements in order to see what works, what is harmonious, what feels right, what is odd and shouldn’t work, but does, and perhaps most importantly, what can be left out.

I wanted 2012 to be the year that I got back into music so have made it so. Over Christmas I worked on a track with the working title of ‘Brittle’. It’s about 25 layers of music at the moment but it’s lacking lyrics and some vocals. That’s where the wonderful internet comes in and I can call upon the support of pop chums around the world! First up, Peter Coyle of The Lotus Eaters has sent over vocals by email from his home studio in France that I can cut up and drop in. This collaboration will be under the moniker of ‘Dutch Lawn’ which shall be explained to those wanting to know

I have no plans to do anything serious with this, but it’s a lovely diversion and the results will eventually make it to the public domain via a video that is being planned with brilliant film maker and co-conspirator John Scotland. Who knows where it will go, but I’m happy I’ve stuck to one of my new year’s resolutions at the very least.