Song and a Chat Pete Pascoe

Episode #206:  Whirlpool (Song starts at 5:20)

I enjoyed recording a demo for this episode. It’s such good fun when I do this. It occurs to me as I write these show notes, it’s been a great way to archive some old songs (and of course putting them together with a show that gives them a context.

A context? Con : more than one. Text: story.

That’s one of the things that makes a song interesting and engaging. That over used word the ‘back story’… I guess that’s actually a step on from the song itself.

The lyrics, bring so many memories to the surface for me. They become picture and movies. In a sense, I’m putting music to movies, then.

But that’s only one way of looking at it. There are so many things to have under your belt, so many things to look out for as you compose. Yet you’re free, free as a free thing. You’re on the breath. It feels like a short holiday.

Thinking about writing a song feels like when you are anticipating of a short holiday. Pretty good, eh? And when you are composing, you’re definitely ‘away’ somewhere.

That’s how it feels to write a song like Whirlpool.

This song was written in NZ. In 1987, when I was away at the ski fields for a few months. It was a great gig: Lighting the fire In the old fire place in the restaurant in the early evening, then sitting at my keyboard and singing as the guests arrived.

I had the best sound in the house. A huge speaker right behind me. Sound is everything when it comes to confidence for live performance.

The same when you’re recording music - and it really helps to have a nice peaceful environment when you’re composing. There’s nothing like someone coming in and tapping me on the shoulder when I’m composing. I just about jump out of my skin …because I’m really on another planet. Well, part of me is. It’s the coolest feeling, and it’s like I’m engaged in some sort of exchange, some connection that offers fleeting moments of possibilities.

It’s then up to me, with my limitations as a human being to interpret and present the best version of what I’m sensing or hearing in the moment.

Anyway, back in the day, in 1987 I was in my early 20s. I felt like my life was racing me by and I really needed to get cracking,

Which is funny, looking back from 2024. ‘There’s plenty of time, man!’  that’s what I’d like to say to that young fellow.

After those gigs, I’d carry one of my keyboards through the freezing frosty night, back to my room. I’d put pen to paper and quickly write a page of lyrics. The next morning, I’d plug in my relatively new synth (a Roland D50)  and randomly select a patch …(a sound) to compose within away I’d go. Singing and playing. Again, it was so much fun.

So, this song started with the lyrics first, where I observed my thoughts spinning like a whirlpool. Playing with an orchestra strings sound, I sang along with the chords and the song we quickly took shape.

And there in my old green song book it’s lived, awaiting its moment.

So here’s Whirlpool, song #79, from 1987.

I hope you enjoy this episode, once again exploring the songwriting process, with anecdotes and also some new improvised music, enjoy.

www.petepascoe.wordpress.com is my blog. Lots of links to more of my music and art there.

12 albums streaming presently.

Sign up to my email list on my website. www.petepascoe.com

And of course, if you’re new here, there’s another 205 episodes to catch up on - in no particular order (that’s 205 songs + a 100 hours of anecdotes, life observations and songwriting stuff).

Episode #205:  Piece This Star Together (Song starts at 4.45)

I find it endlessly fascinating, thinking about where a song might come from. 'Piece This Star Together' came from something my grandfather, Harry, said. My mum passed it on to me, when I was a youngster (bit of wisdom, I think):

‘We’ve all got a little piece of the star within us all and we’ve just got to piece this star together’.

It resonated in me and it remained in me. Years later, in Melbourne, Australia in 1998, the phrase/ concept popped into my mind, and I thought ‘Aha ! I’ll write a song about this’. It became song #437.

Having fun is such a key to getting into the creative zone. As I record these episodes, I find my ‘entertainer self’ switches on. An ‘up’ sort of a vibe happens. To be creative, you have to believe you can. The key is to have fun and see where the moment takes you. This is ‘being in the moment’.

This is the sort of feeling I had as I let my hands wander on the keys in 1998, As I looked a the lyrics of 'Piece This Star' and composed the music.

I had in mind a sort of ‘up’ acoustic guitar driven band song. It can be a tricky thing to come up with on the piano, but if I get a feeling to go down a certain track along the creative way, I don’t block the idea.

I’m glad I didn’t block it. 'Piece This Star Together' is an up, happy song.

The demo on this episode was 1 of 14 songs, which I recorded with Paul Dredge and Earl Pollard, in Earl’s garage, in NZ one afternoon in 1999. We recorded the songs back to back, using minimal gear.

It was such good fun. We’d never rehearsed these songs together. This demo remains the one and only take. I’m glad we recorded it.

I will release the 14 songs as an ‘archive’ sort of album. (I did a small release of 100 CDs back in 1999, but it ‘wasn’t quite there’, so a few years ago I re-recorded the vocals - there were too many squawks from my mother’s budgies in the original recording. Not that there’s anything wrong with budgies, but they have their place. They can be noisy birds at times! Perhaps, more to the point, your mother’s kitchen may not be quite the place to record vocals for an album!

I’m an optimistic sort of bloke. In my 20s I was hoping to make a positive difference by releasing my art and music into the world.

That basic plan hasn’t changed.

My art and music has helped me so much along the way. In fact it has turned out to be the way.

This podcast is a great vehicle to give some songs a bit of air, it’s an opportunity to talk about how a song might come together - but more than that, it’s turning out to be a lot about: how ideas all seem to come out at once, some seemingly unrelated, but if we I’ve them a voice, a chance, often they’ll turn out to be interrelated and suddenly you discover and underlying theme or purpose and away you go.

The creative process is a mysterious like that. It’s doesn’t necessarily unfold on a timeline as you’d expect.

On this episode you’ll hear me winging the beginning of a song, I didn’t block the feeling. It seemed right. I’ve listened back and I think there’s definitely something there, something to knead like a piece of dough, a bit more, nudge it gently into shape. It’ll be a song - I can tell - if I give it a bit more time and energy.

I can talk. Let’s face it (there is now more than 100 hours of me talking about creativity, the art of song writing, the art of being human on this podcast), but sometimes the best way to illustrate a process or a concept is to just demonstrate it. So having my piano at my finger tips as I chat really works for me.

Ok, here we go: another fully ‘winged’ episode. I never have any show notes and before I push the record button, I have no idea about what I’m going to focus on. The song leads the way. As I’ve mentioned, the entertainer within me comes to the party. Each episode is a half hour performance,

Episode #204:  The Setting Sun. (Song starts at 4:12)

In the studio, I opened the songbook book and thought ‘Hey, why haven’t I featured Setting Sun on on an episode yet? It’s been sitting there since 2013’. So here we go.

I thought I’d have a sing and play through the song, but I did a quick search of my hard drive and found an old piano vocal demo. It’s got lots of energy. A snapshot of a moment in time. That’s what makes demos great.

So where does a song come from? Looking at my song book, I see the songs immediately before and after Setting Sun are quite serious  in a sort of a social conscience/ political style.

I must’ve been reading the news paper too much (something I don’t do much)…there’s a line in the song: This news ain’t news …and it’s driving me to tears.

So there’s been some bad news happening for some time. But there’s been good stuff as well.

Setting sun is about acknowledging the situation and needing/choosing to rebuild - rebuilding society, connection, all the good stuff.

It’s also about going too fast. ‘Been on the run like an Apple stealing boy…’. Speaking of apples, they must’ve been still on my mind on because late in this episode as I relate an anecdote about an airborne apple (perhaps it was me that threw the apple)..I particularly enjoy sharing some of the memories that pop into my mind as I talk about the songs.

This song is also about (potentially) evolving ‘ I’m on the brink of new dimension….(with a dose of reality): : or maybe having a drink ( perhaps not the most helpful coping mechanism), and did I mention….the setting sun.

The setting sun is a fairly cliched (cliched for a reason) image of a rather gloomy view of humanity.

But I’m an optimist. I believe we can turn things around.

People see the world as a storm of threats. If you’ve been watching the news, we’ll you’d  be entitled to think that was the case.

I think the reality is: there’s a lot of good stuff going on in the world too, it just doesn’t make the news very often.

To draw attention to all these ‘heavy’ things, I’ve chosen to deliver ‘the news’ in an up sort of rocking song.

Then, unexpectedly, the chorus drops back into halftime feel to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, and the same for a reflective quiet end, allowing time for reflection on what might be.

This is the power of music and words. Wrapping the heavy news in a somewhat lighter manner makes it more palatable, allowing for the message to get across - like it’s inside some sort of Trojan horse, I suppose.

I haven’t set out to do this consciously. It was more of an automatic decision…my optimistic self appears to be tied closely to my entertainer self: art and music can entertain and inform…

Speaking of which, that’s exactly what I’m setting out to do each week on this podcast…and my weekly blog: lots of good news here folks: art and music on offer here each week. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . Enjoy.

And I hope you enjoy this episode’s song and chat as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. Here we go: Setting Sun.

Episode #203: Count On Love     (Song starts at 3:42)

Welcome to a very relaxed episode. Thanks for tuning in, by the way…it’s great that this podcast is being listened by people all around the world. Music is the international language isn’t, it - or perhaps it’s love?

Song #617, Count On Love, started out life as a piano solo piece. You can hear the original piece on my album 'Peace' (1 hour of peaceful piano solo pieces).

Somewhat bizarrely (and rather unromantically), it was one of 3 pieces I wrote back to back in about 30mins, to use to teach piano.

After a while, it felt like this one was perhaps worth taking a bit further and the phrase ‘count on love’ came to me as I started humming and sounding out syllables as I played through the piece. And all the lyrics came out as fast as I could write them down.

That was the way this song came together. The flow was happening the afternoon I sat at my old upright piano and let my hands find the opening riff and away I went - and it was the same when the lyrics eventually came through. Flow would be the word.

On a whim, I picked up an old diary before I recorded this episode. I flicked open on the page where I was mourning letting go of an old piano - the one I wrote 'Count On Love' on.

We songwriters are a sentimental bunch. I’d have a few pianos now, if I had the choice. But then, I’m glad I’ve passed them on. I hope someone else is still enjoying playing them today.

Also in the Diary, I’d written at the same time about we had to move house unexpectedly, so there was a sense of melancholy about my mood. 'Count On Love' was written about that time, so maybe that’s what was coming through.

(I relate some memories from that time on this episode...I need not have worried as it turns out… the house we moved into had a nice room for a studio - and we are still there after 7 pretty much peaceful years).

Which brings me to this: with the arts, I think it really helps to be living the lifestyle to produce art and music with feeling. I can’t help but have what I’m feeling coming through my work.

The gist of the lyrics is: whenever you’re feeling lost, you can always count on love. I was thinking of the cosmic sort of love that flows all a round and within us, the healing, creative force that whispers to us constantly, the voice that seems to suggests paths to take.

Perhaps by composing and consequently tuning in to this domain so much, this has the effect of honing the ‘muscle’. For want of a better word. There’s nothing like just doing it. Again and again

It’s not something I take for granted. Far from it. It’s a total mystery. It feels great to compose. Sometimes it just feels like you’re being carried along on a breeze.

This sort of mood seems to pervade this episode. I hope you enjoy this one as I gently explore this gentle song with words and with my fingers on the keys.

I particularly enjoy listening to my album 'Peace'. It just seems to flow along the way 'Count On Love'. It’s one of 4 piano solo albums I have currently streaming.

I always find some peace when I play piano.

It’s great to be sharing so much here on this podcast. If you’d like to read about more music, my art, here’s my weekly blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com  Video courses coming up!

Ok here we go. Ready for another song and some chat? Rollin’!

Episode #202:  Sideways From A Paper Bag   (Song starts at 3:55)

On this episode I’m going to take you back in time, with a demo recorded in the year 2000.

Quite a bizarre title, isn’t it. Something I’ve noticed on this podcast is that as lyricist, if I’m not really too sure what to write about, I’ll look around and see what’s happening around me.

My eyes will generally focus on a object and I’ll just go ahead a describe it. This seems to have the effect of grounding the song in something real. And away I go.

In this case I saw a poster sticking out of paper bag, with a face on it. The face seemed to be asking me: “What are you doing? How are your plans going?”

Back in those days, in 1998, when I composed this one (song #450), I was generally a words first, music second sort of a song writer.

My girlfriend (now my wife) and I arrived in Melbourne in 1997, having set out from New Zealand, making a new start. I really wanted a new band, but I didn’t have one yet. I didn't let that stop me.

Sideways was written specifically for a band - a band that was going to sound something like Crowded House, Neil Finn’s great band.

There’s a line in the song ‘You are what you listen to’. Well, I’ve listened to a lot of Crowded House, loved the songs, loved the production. Check the recordings out if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.

Have a listen to the production ( Mitchell Froom on the 1st 3 albums) and hear great band arrangements, - and Neil Finns brilliant song writing).

Neil’s songwriting and recordings and live performances had a marked effect on me, a youngster - also from NZ - trying to make my way in the world with my music.

In those days, moving across to Melbourne was a rite of passage. (the day my band played at The Espy, an iconic hotel in St Kilda, was a fine day. I’d seen the poster of Split Enz (billed as NZ’s greatest rock n roll band, which I’m not sure they would’ve been too happy about, with their wild stage makeup, costumes, art rock sort of performances) of their first appearance there back in the day.

Anyway, we finally got to play there - and it felt good - we also made the top 10 out of 100 bands in a competition, so we got to play The Espy a few times, in the end.

That band is now called Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum. We’ve been going a while now, our 3rd album is nearly finished.

At the time of writing Sideways, I’d just been introduced to Ants Reed. He’s the rhythm guitarist in our band today…so even when it feels like things are really happening, …I think they are.

If you put stuff out, maybe consider slowing down a bit and let the universe deliver a response to what your putting out. Because I believe it does.

The lines ‘Trying to do too much soon, you’ll never see tomorrow trying to fly to the moon’ sort of sum it up.

Steady progress is the key, on which I’ve been focussing: doing all I can to progress with my music and art, here in Melbourne, Australia.

See the blog (lyrics, art and more music - 202 posts) : www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Looking forward to releasing more new music soon…and gigs to that’ll be fun.

I hope you enjoy this episode. It’s all good fun here. Here we go…Sideways From A Paper Bag..  Rollin’ !

Episode #201: Sleeping On A Wish (Song starts at  4:08)

I’m in a fairly relaxed state of mind. I’ve been holidaying, camping beside a stream In Bright, Vic, Australia.

The sound of the stream is what I’ve brought back with me, it just sort of permeates the whole being, the sounds of the stream and birds.

So when I came into my studio, I thought to myself I’m not going to do a rock n roll song…I’m in a cruisey mood.

'Sleeping On A Wish' came from a phrase my daughter said to me when she was very, very young. It’s a nice time, having a wee conversation with your child just before you put the light out. Sometimes there’s a very honest lovely unexpected conversation. It’s from the heart - it’s beautiful.

“Sleeping on a wish” ….I said to my daughter "I think I’m going to write a song with that”...she said “You do that, Dad”.

So I did.

All you need is a start. A start comes from feeling, that’s what I make sure of. It’s art. It’s got to come from the true part of the self.

I went to my studio and wrote the words. Then came the music, the whole song flowed. Each section followed easily, naturally. Like a Goodnight story.

I really enjoyed recording the demo for this song, as part of this episode. 'Sleeping On A Wish' is song # 604, written in 2014. Here we are in 2024 and it’s seeing the light of day.

It nearly ended up on a children’s album, which I recorded back then and inexplicably never released.

Hmmm maybe it’s nearly time to revisit those songs and put them out there. I believe I will enjoy recording this song properly one day.

Who knows, maybe the demo I just recorded will will become the starting point. The great thing about digital recording is: the demo can become the real thing.

This has been an extremely relaxed episode for me to record once again - I even recite the lyrics as poetry.

Why not, I like to have fun and play as I wing these spoken word half hour episodes. I’m very comfortable sitting at my piano as I chat, there is no script.

I’ve discovered by accident, really: since I’m exploring a creative exercise, it’s made sense to have fun and just play as I go.

I’ve  included a recording of the birds and stream from my holiday, here. It made sense, as this is what got me in the mood to look at 'Sleeping On A Wish'.

I hope you enjoy this episode, as I talk about how this song came into being, demonstrating on the piano as I go along.

Here we go, rolling !