NEWS: Delay on Human Imperfections EP/Future Shows

January 27, 2017 — Leave a comment

Hi all,

So this is a personal note coming directly from yours truly.

I had my EP Release show at Gwdihw in Cardiff this Wednesday gone, and it was amazing. Great to see so many friendly faces there, and more so faces I didn’t recognise that had come especially to see the show. Thank you to all that came.

If you were there, you will have heard my small speech explaining the following…

As you all know Human Imperfections was due to be released today, but unfortunately due to health issues that have cropped up over the past weeks I have been unable to put the final touches on the EP to an extent that I am happy with.

I didn’t want to release an unfinished EP for the sake of a release date, and would prefer that you hear it when it’s ready and polished. The delay shouldn’t be that long (perhaps another week or two), but I hope you understand.

I also had issues with parts of the CD packaging not arriving on time, which also hasn’t helped, but those parts have now been delivered so they’re ready to be pressed packed and sent if you would like to order any.

Thank you all for your understanding…

On a positive note, I’ve been invited down to Bristol to support Pitch Black in March at The Attic Bar. I’ll be posting updates on this soon.

THIS WEEK: New 5th Spear EP Release

January 22, 2017 — Leave a comment

This is just a reminder that my new Human Imperfections EP will be released THIS WEEK alongside my first show of 2017 at Gwdihw. You can grab tickets here

Human Imperfections EP 27/01/17

HOWEVER you will be able to get your hands on first release editions at my show alongside some of my other releases. To celebrate I’ll be offering up the CDs at the show for pennies as a thanks to yourselves for attending, so please come down, say hey and enjoy the show.

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Human Imperfections EP Launch at Gwdihw – 25/01/17

News: January – Happy New Year

January 1, 2017 — Leave a comment

It’s the 1st January 2017, so it’s time for a fresh start, time to turn over a new leaf, time to make new year resolutions, and of course time to crack on with all of the new ideas.

I’m hoping to start this year on the right foot, and this requires some thought and planning. We all feel obligated to do this in some shape or form as it provides an aims for our achievements.

Last month I posted four blogs on Planning Creativity, and through writing these I have essentially made my plans for the year, and have other ideas ready to be planned.

I would like to let you know of a few things happening this Month…

Human Imperfections EP – 27/01/2017

NEW RELEASE – On Friday 27th January 2017 I’ll be releasing my new EP ‘Human Imperfections’. Since performing the live show alongside Matthew Creed (Jammy Custard), I’ve developed a new found love of playing drums, and this EP is about just that. It’s the first time my drums (often only heard live) will be featured on a record, so I decided to take a step back from the electronic sound a little and just play. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. If you would like to hear it first, keep reading, else you will be able to purchase it on my Bandcamp page, and listen to it on Spotify etc…

Human Imperfections EP Launch at Gwdihw – 25/01/17

Independent Venue Week – If you would like a chance to hear the new record live, then come and join me at Gwdihw in Cardiff where I’ll be headlining at Lloyd Griffiths amazing night All My Friends with support from Simeon Smith and Tetrahex. You can buy tickets here

Creativity Blog – This month I’ll be blogging about a constant battle many of us face; Life vs. Creativity. I’ll be introducing the idea of what can stop us from being creative, and the hard/awkward decisions we’re made to make in order to compensate. This is a subject close to my heart as it’s been a constant struggle for me, so please read, comment, and talk to me. I’d like to hear how you deal with the battle yourself.

Future Plans – I have two more releases lined up later in the year and more blogs, so keep your eyes and ears open for news and updates, it’s best to follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more frequent updates @5thspear and Instagram for giggles

Planning Creativity (4/4): Creative Sparks

December 28, 2016 — Leave a comment

Creativity comes as you achieve your goals in new, original and fun ways. Any planning you have made may not seem creative, but the process of planning itself can become creative and lead to the creativity you seek.

Let’s put this into context…

I started the 5th Spear website as an outlet for music, but simply releasing something once or twice a year won’t encourage anyone to come back and visit the site, so I thought that by blogging I could keep you all up to date with what I’m up to.

My new creative goal became – ‘Blog More Throughout 2017′

I planned time to research – I needed to both understand why I wanted to blog and how to do it successfully. This lead to planning subjects to write about, and by planning the subjects I decided that the basis for this blog would be creativity.

Through researching creativity, thinking about my own processes and revising advice I had read in the past, I actually came up with more subjects to write about; which lead to more writing and more research… My creativity had sparked.

Already planning had worked and I was writing blog post after blog post. Within no time I had around a years worth of blog content in drafts and new titles, so I needed to plan when I would publish them…

“Each month there will be four blogs related to a subject within creativity which I will publish once a week”

However…

“Not every month has four weeks within it; some have five”

So I started to think about what I could do with the fifth week…

“Perhaps I could release some new music then?”

Planning blogs had swiftly transformed into planning to write and release new music. I had become more creative by planning to be creative; enabling me to come up with even more new ideas.

You may be wondering however –

“How are you being creative when all you are doing is planning to be creative?”

When you have a plan that is simplified so much that it is easy to achieve, it allows you to be playful again. You are being creative by making that plan, and you are being creative by completing it. The only thing which may stop this process is procrastination and your own discipline. By planning creativity and igniting that spark, you will find discipline to be an old hindrance, as you will be drawn to each simple task or item on the list with excitement; allowing you to easily complete your goal.

Then on to the next.

This is the last of four blogs I have published on the subject of ‘Planning Creativity’ which have been published throughout December. Alongside this I have planned on a new EP to be released in January 2017 (a month with 5 weeks), and will be launching the EP as part of Independent Venue Week at Gwdihw Cafe Bar in Cardiff. Please come along and say hello.

News: Releases and getting onto Spotify… Eventually…

March 5, 2016

I’m getting itchy feet… Is that the expression?

2016 has been very busy. The day job is doing it’s thing, and when I can I sit down in the studio and bash my head against a brick wall to see what comes out (Brains, hair, dust, paint… You know) I will.

So before Christmas I sat down for a week and got a bunch of ideas going. My project was a mess of loops playing over and over again, whilst I drank coffee, nodded along and tried to consider what their end result might sound like.

Well, they were all buried into my hard drive. There’s me thinking “none of this is good enough, I hate it all… blah blah blah”. A few months ago I came across some inspiration sitting in the studio of Nick Harrison (drummer of Sous Les Paves). Nick was wanting to talk about how to play live, and how we both work in the studio. We threw ideas back and forth, and then I though “screw it, the best way for me to show you is this project file with all the new ideas I’m never going to use”. One by one we flicked through each idea “crap… crap… crap… oh wait… I like this”.

So it began. I discovered around 8 out of 20+ ideas that I wanted to work on. Standard. I got rid of all of the junk that was holding me back in the project, and kept the stuff that would keep me sane.

Since then I have been popping into the studio every now and then to sit down and arrange everything. Of course I’m still banging my head against a brick wall, but I’m getting somewhere, and I really like what I’ve got to show you.

To go along side this, I’ve decided to try and push my noise further afield. In this day and age, most people are using streaming services such as Spotify to listen to music, so even with stuff uploaded for free on bandcamp, most people won’t listen to it, others still don’t know what soundcloud is…

So within the next month or so (hopefully), Year One and Imperfections EP should be released on Spotify and other streaming services for you all to enjoy.

There is however a catch.

There is this well known dilemma that the music industry is failing. People aren’t wanting to pay for stuff, I’m exactly the same. It’s why I originally posted my stuff for free. This isn’t good. It’s come to my attention that people like myself, offering stuff for free, essentially means that people might not want to pay for the proper good stuff (I’ve said stuff a lot). I sit and watch interviews with people I aspire to be like, and what they’re saying is true. The internet is full of free stuff, that’s free for a reason. I’m beginning to believe in myself enough to put a price tag on what I create, to set an example and to try and encourage others to do so.

My releases will no longer be free through Bandcamp, but they will be free to stream from services such as Spotify etc, and available for purchase on Itunes, Amazon and Googleplay etc.

Onwards and upwards aye…