The start of 2014 was nice and tranquil. A detox retreat in the North Wales countryside involving plenty of raw food, clean water, deep sleep, and meditation was just what was needed after a very damaging 2013. After getting the all-clear from the hospital I decided to take a few months out in Mexico to relax and put my feet up. Things didn't quite go to plan there though as I was left to sort out everything for the Alternative 4 album 'The Obscurants' on my own. So my Mexican siesta was disrupted by impending deadlines, finding hotels with fast computers, people with decent audio set-ups to listen to the masters (thanks Oscar!!), and so on, but I got things finished just in time for the deadline. My old bandmates from Anathema had offered us the support slot for the opening gigs of their European tour. So the plan was to have the album released in September, just in time for the gigs, which would be ideal promotion for it. Flights and hotels were booked, session players taught the setlist and that. A lot of planning and money went into it. More about that later. After returning from Mexico I was invited to appear on prime time Irish TV by my good friends from the band Cronin. I had played numerous gigs with them before when they were called The Aftermath and they needed a Hammond player for the show. Why not?
Harry Potter was there as well, and they had free wine and an impressive cheese board backstage. Fame and fortune at last.
Look at them collars
As I was conversing with Danny Cavanagh (Anathema) about the September gigs he came out with the suggestion of doing some kind of Anathema reunion gigs in 2015 and wondered if Darren White and myself would be up for it. Everyone seemed to be into the idea for the right reasons, and in my mind this is our last opportunity to do something like this, so I got enthusiastic about it and I'm glad that it's all going ahead in April 2015. There are a few dates confirmed at the moment, headlining Roadburn Festival on the Sunday is an experience I'm looking forward to. And for the first time in many many years I can simply enjoy playing the music, without having all the other responsibilities on my shoulders. Accusations of "selling out" and doing it for the money couldn't be further from the truth, but that was always going to come our way. This is all in good spirit and that's stronger than anything. Hopefully more confirmed dates will be announced very soon.
Back to Alternative 4 now and it's time to come clean about the situation. Prior to the Anathema gigs (and the album release) I received mails from vocalist Simon Flatley stating he was concerned about playing live. I tried to make things easier for him by simplifying his parts and giving him all the encouragement that I could. Then, after a period of silence, I received another mail saying that he was quitting music for good. This was on the eve of the album release and the gig dates. And we subsequently had to cancel the gigs. Since then he hasn't replied to any emails or phone calls. It resulted in me losing a lot of money on flights and hotels, and also let down a lot of people involved. Plus it took the shine off the album release for us, and it has been difficult to keep quiet about it while trying to promote the album, but this is the situation we were left in. Im sorry that it wasn't mentioned earlier but we really had our hands tied, with a brand new album to promote. At the moment the band is on a hiatus until we get a working line-up together. I'm sick and tired of working with amateurs and opportunists, which has been a consistent theme in my projects. I've been a soft touch for far too long. Time to change the record now.
After all that disappointment I decided to channel my energy into something positive and get my orchestral work into full swing. As I mentioned in 2013, I have been working on orchestral arrangements of picks from my discography. These have been divided into a trilogy of albums, each with a set theme. First up is The Eternity Suite which will contain tracks from the Anathema 'Eternity' album plus similar themes that I have composed over the years. There is also a brand new piece called Into Infinity which fits nicely on the tracklist. For this project I opted to start a PledgeMusic campaign to fund the recordings rather than go through a record label. So far the campaign has been a great success, reaching the target much much quicker than I imagined. As we speak it stands at 121% and there's still time to pre-order the cd and/or go for one of the exclusives that won't be available once the album is released. Check here for details www.pledgemusic.com/projects/duncanpatterson
So a positive end to a year with its ups and downs, and a lot of things to look forward to in 2015. Thanks to everyone who has shown support again this year. And best wishes for the New Year!
Its been a while since I updated this blog. 2013 has been a difficult and quite a tragic year, personally, so it really took a while to find the energy to work on music again. The good news is that the new Alternative 4 album 'The Obscurants' is all finished and mixed.
THE OBSCURANTS tracklisting:-
Theme For The Obscurantist
Chilling Effects
Returning The Screw
Paracosm
Lifeline
Dina
The Tragedy Shield
Mr Black
Closure
A slight continuation from The Brink, our second album deals with the withholding of information, cover-ups, and generally people 'obscuring' the truth for mercenary gain. As always, the lyrics have been rather prophetic, which never ceases to amaze me. Its quite unnerving really, and I know other writers who feel the same way when it happens to them (or at least when they pick up on it). Cosmic. All this will be documented in the liner notes which will accompany the album. Musically, it is not dissimilar to The Brink. A steady base to the songs that can often drift off on genre-eluding tangents, with the bass lines and pianos playing an important role once again. New vocalist Simon Flatley has done himself proud on the record too. A deep interest in the subject matter really comes across in his delivery.
While we are on that note, we are still looking for a 2nd vocalist/guitarist for future recordings and gigs. After some genuine submissions, and plenty of timewasters, we are yet to find someone who ticks all the right boxes. Anyone interested please email info@duncanpatterson.com and we can go through everything.
Looking forward to finally releasing this record. I believe we have created something really special here. And with it being our first fresh release with Prophecy Productions, it will be nice to work with a label who will actually do the album justice and give it its place.
Best wishes!
I promised myself I was going to write one of these yearly reviews every year ;) I may have skipped a couple, for one reason or another, but heres my 2012 review. It was a fairly busy and eclectic year really. All kinds of stuff going on musically with collaborations going from black metal remixes (Eïs - Auf kargen Klippen) to appearing on a record with Shane MacGowan from The Pogues. Record label changes, singer changes, relocating to Liverpool after 16 years absence, owning my first TV since 1984. Its all good.
2012 kicked off with a collaboration with my good friend and great singer/songwriter Pete Courtney. Pete's mother sadly passed away in 2011 and he decided to record her favourite track of his, White Roses, and release it as a charity single. Pete invited me to play bass on the record, and I was made up to be asked. All proceeds went to the Irish Hospice Foundation. I'm proud to be involved with this, a great track and a great cause. Click on the pic for the iTunes page.
Pete Courtney - White Roses
Next up was the completion of the first Alternative 4 art video 'Underlooked', which was directed and shot in Berlin by Nicolas Giraldon and Mehdi Messouci. The lads did a great job, grasping the lyrical concept and using their own creative licence to nail it. The track itself is based on an overrated artist whose career has been built on stealing other peoples work. The unhealthy attention that media hype brings, and the general ugliness of it all. Its rare these days to find people who are sincere when it comes to creativity. The importance of working with people who actually 'get it'. Good stuff.
Alternative 4 - Underlooked
After a few months of little-to-no-news or communication from our (then) record label Avantgarde Music I had to make steps to make sure the Alternative 4 project wasn't going to fizzle out, just months after the release of our debut album The Brink. After some honest dialogue between us, Avantgarde kindly did the decent thing and allowed us to move on to a label with more ambition. Step up Prophecy Productions, the label who contacted me when I was trying to get the Antimatter project off the ground all those years ago. So I ended up signing a long term deal with them. A bit of history repeating in a way.
Speaking of Antimatter, Mick Moss and myself did a charity walk around that time in aid of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. For those of you not aware of this charity; Sophie and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were kicked, stamped on and left unconscious – for nothing more than looking different. Sophie later died from her injuries. Following the horrific murder of Sophie Lancaster, her family wanted to ensure a lasting legacy to their beautiful, bright creative daughter and so The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was established and it became a registered charity in 2009. Anyway, myself and The Boy Moss got our walking boots on and went on a ramble around the Dee Valley in Wales. We got absolutely drenched with the lovely Welsh weather, but it was a worthwhile cause and we had a great night out later with the locals once we dried off.
Onto more charity work now. I was then invited to play on a single with Pogues legend Shane MacGowan called 'The Rockier Road To Poland'. This was to be an unofficial EURO 2012 anthem for the Republic Of Ireland football team, and all proceeds went to the Simon Community of Ireland for the homeless. Another great tune and a great cause, plus on a self-satisfying level it was a huge honour to appear on a song with one of my musical idols. Boss.
Shane MacGowan, The Aftermath & Friends - The Rockier Road To Poland
Back to my own music now. Just before Summer I started sketching out basic ideas for the new Alternative 4 album 'The Obscurants'.
Meanwhile, the second promo video from 'The Brink' was made public to coincide with the re-release of The Brink(which includes the promo videos on a bonus DVD, along with live tracks from Istanbul). False Light was directed by Luis Rolo and Rui Gil in Guarda, Portugal. Again it was a pleasure to work with people who genuinely understood the concept, and contributed their own ideas to it.
The concept behind False Light runs in parallels really. 'False Light' is actually a legal term, not dissimilar to defamation, but more in order to protect the victim's mental and emotional well-being. Ive used it alongside the abuse of power, and people not quite knowing why they follow whoever is in the spotlight. Whether its political, or religious power, or their favourite rock star in the spotlight. The video producers grasped it really well, and I love the way they depicted the lead actor as being 'addicted to light' in a way that bears no common sense if you think about it. Top schedule!
Alternative 4 - False Light
We entered Transmission Rooms Studio, Republic of Ireland in November to record our second album The Obscurants. The same place where we tracked the drums for The Brink. The studio is owned by good friends of mine, and its in a lovely remote and tranquil location. I'd already done a lot of work on the pre-production side of things, so we were prepared well in advance. The recordings went steady with Mark Kelson doing a great job on the engineer's side of the desk. He was working really long hours, with a lot of patience, and a lot of coffee. New singer/guitarist Simon Flatley joined up with us halfway through the session and got to work on his parts. I can honestly say that this lad is the most suitable vocalist I have worked with, when it comes to my own compositions, and I have worked alongside some great singers. Also, we share a lot of common ground when it comes to the conceptual side of things, so he slotted straight in. To me, this album is one of those where things fall into place at the right time. Its not as 'extreme' as The Brink in the sense that its not overly morose and monotonous (which was intentional). And I just think it has that magic touch that happens sometimes, for whatever reason. The balance of the compositions, instrumentation, and Simon's voice just hit the spot. Really looking forward to getting it mixed and putting it out there with a decent label doing their job.
Myself, Mauro Frison, and Simon Flatley @ Transmission Rooms
Less than a week after we finished the recording sessions we started rehearsing in Dublin city centre for the tour. New member Simon didn't join us for this run of dates, as it was all booked before he came onboard. We had the same live line up as in 2011, with Martin Powell and Paulo Basilio as guests. The tour kicked off well with a great night in Dublin. An early flight to Belgium and a bus to Holland just about got us to Helmond the following day. A pleasant Sunday afternoon show at the Baroeg in Rotterdam was probably my favourite date of the tour. Then up north to Leeuwarden for a laid back Monday night show. For the Dutch gigs we were joined by talented cellist Elianne Anemaat, who plays in Celestial Season. She slotted in well and became 'one of the lads' pretty much right away, and was a great help navigating us around her homeland. Yet another early flight, this time to Helsinki, Finland, saw me struck down with some kind of flu virus. I had to skip a record store showcase, while I stayed in bed sweating and drinking Lemsips. I managed to get through the gig though, with the aid of hot whiskey and chilli. Groundhog day again, yes another early flight to Berlin and a long journey through the snow/wind/rain trying to find the venue. As much as I'm into the DIY approach, this was quite testing. Lugging all the instruments and suitcases around on public transport and walking. The gig itself was a special acoustic night in a magical setting called TheArter Gallerie, where we were treated really well by the owners. We were also joined by my good friend and long time collaborator Johnny Cronin, and his mandolinist Brian Murphy. They opened the night with a cracking set and made a big impression on everyone. The intimate setting gave a feeling of 'we're all in this together' kind of thing (or maybe I'd had one hot whiskey too many). Great night nevertheless.
Me in Berlin, full of flu. Live the dream!
Onto Poland then for 3 gigs to wrap up the tour. Johnny and Brian came with us to Poland where we were joined by Italian doom band (EchO). These lads are a cracking live band and I can see only great things coming from them in future, especially having heard some of their new demos. I enjoyed the gigs but all in all it had its ups and downs. Sometimes it felt like a hard slog, it takes a lot of effort to tour in the manner which we do. And when you've got everyone up at 5am to travel and go and play to 30 odd people in a city where tons of people (and 'friends') have emailed or posted on Facebook "Come to Krakow!" or wherever, it gets a bit disheartening. Hopefully with the new album, and decent promotion from the new label, it will make life easier in that respect. If not, then its not meant to be, and energies will be focused on more worthwhile ventures.
This tour turned out to be Mark Kelson's swansong with Alternative 4. In my heart of hearts I think we both knew that we were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, with regards to a lot of things ethical, conceptual, and also on the creative/innovative side. It was getting more and more obvious throughout the recording session and tour, but I guess we needed to go through that to be sure. So Mark has now departed from the Alternative 4 fold. I wish him the best of luck in life, and with his brainchild The Eternal (their new album is due for release this year).
I have a lot of hope for this year, and I think we have created something special with this new album. Things have sorted themselves out, in regards to the balance and chemistry of the band. I'm making plans with other bands/musicians to arrange some special events in 2013.
Time to look to the future, work hard, and put ourselves out there.
A huge thanks to everyone who has supported me during the past year. A lot of favours have been made and returned, and I'm full of gratitude for the fact that I'm around people who like to work that way. Helping each other out and that, like things should be. On that note, I have been working on a track from Iranian post-rockers Across The Waves. These lads are the real deal, and beyond doubt that they're playing for the love of music. We really need more of that kind of thing to balance out the showponies.
This time tomorrow I will be sailing over to Ireland to start work on the new Alternative 4 album 'The Obscurants', then heading straight out on tour at the end of the month. The recording sessions take place at Transmission Rooms studio in County Longford where we recorded the drums for The Brink(which will be re-released by Prophecy Productions on November 23rd). The studio now have the actual Neumann U47 and U87 microphones previously owned by John Lennon, which he used on the Imagine album. We'll keep you updated over on http://alt4.blogspot.com and the Alternative 4 forum, and I'll do an extensive write-up here once the tour is over.
Tracklisting is as follows:-
The Obscurants
Theme For The Obscurantist Chilling Effects Returning The Screw Paracosm Lifeline Dina The Tragedy Shield Mr Black Closure
Winter tour dates
November 30th - The Pint - Dublin, Republic Of Ireland
December 1st - Lakei - Helmond, The Netherlands
December 2nd - Baroeg - Rotterdam, The Netherlands (early show)
December 3rd - Romein - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
December 5th - Bar Loose - Helsinki, Finland
December 6th - TheARTer Galerie - Berlin, Germany (semi-acoustic set)*
December 7th - Pod Minogą - Poznan, Poland *
December 8th - Od zmerzchu do świtu - Wroclaw, Poland *
December 9th - Antycafe - Krakow, Poland *
special guests:-
Lost Paradise (Dublin)
Fourteen Twentysix (Helmond & Rotterdam)
*Johnny Cronin & The Aftermath (Berlin & Poland)
(EchO) - (Poland)
