Glpguitar releases "an album"

Community Recordings Collaborations-Bands-Projects
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Message for moderators: If this is seen as an annoying attempt at self-promotion, feel free to delete the thread without prior warning.

Some of you are already aware of this, but the parcel finally arrived today and I am able to share it with the community.

I released “an album”. Well, a total of 17 minutes long improvisations pressed on vinyl. Reasons for 17 minutes are mainly due to the physical limitations of the vinyl record and the fact that I am lacking songs that are stylistically coherent to put together on an album. I know we are mainly a bunch of guitar players, but this is piano/synth driven music.

JGC_Artwork
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(I removed all the logos, titles, etc. so you get to enjoy the artwork as much as possible.)

Side A - click to listen
I was collaborating with a choir few years ago and one day, I arrived to the venue about half an hour early. While waiting, I sat down at the piano, pressed record and this improvisation happened. I saved it immediately under the name of a certain river that I saw in my head while playing (this is relevant later in the post). Afterwards, it was collecting digital dust for 2 or 3 years, but somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew it has something special in it. I tried rearranging it for orchestra, rewriting it for piano and even cutting it down to a 3 minute piece for a dance choreography for my friend. But everything I did, made it sound worse. In mid 2022, I gave it another listen and realised that literally one or two seconds after the last note was played, one of the singers entered and slammed the doors behind him. I took this funny coincidence as a “sign” (yeah, I know it sounds a bit esoteric) and finally accepted that it’s the best in its original, purest form.

Side B - click to listen
This one also has a funny story. When my friend and I were preparing for the community open mic, my friend pointed at a synth I received just days before as a gift from another friend. I’ve never used it before properly (with the exception of putting batteries in and checking if it works). I started playing a motif, motioned at my friend (more like annoyingly snap my fingers at him haha) to join in with a guitar part and off we went. I find it fascinating, how we locked on rhythm and “section” changes without any communication or prior arrangement. On the other hand, you can hear that I am not a competent user of a synth, because sometimes turning the knobs randomly caused the sound to disappear.

There is also a bonus track on the B side, which I did not include in this forum post. It is a live version of the song that was performed at the Justinguitar Community Open Mic #10. But if you did not attend the open mic, you will have to purchase the record to experience it :stuck_out_tongue:. It even includes some lyrics (not me singing)! Lyrics also dictated the title of the song. (Again, it becomes relevant later in the post.)

I must thank my friend for not getting too excited and remembering to record the jam on his phone. I must also thank another producer friend, who managed to salvage the phone and Zoom recordings and get them to a decent enough level to be put on vinyl without any (severe) sound issues.

Artwork story:
When I was recruiting artists for the artwork, I decided it to run an experiment (warning: we are getting in the esoteric stuff again). I was curious if themes and ideas can be "channeled " through music. So I removed the titles and sent the songs (without the bonus track) out to artists but not providing any context. I just said: “Here’s a tune I need an artwork for Do whatever you want.”

My sister (who I knew is a great painter) got the side A music and she came up with a painting of a river. My friend, who painted the back-cover related to side B also came back with something water related, but this time a bit darker. If you look closely, you will see a figure sitting next to the “river” and the main motif of this song is being lost.

Experiment result: Success. It is possible to channel ideas through music. However, this also brings a level of responsibility on the artist but this is a debate/theme for an essay for another time.

Bonus story:
My sister admitted that she had a bit of “painters block” while trying to come up with the artwork. She didn’t like anything she came up with (funnily everything was related to water), until she stumbled upon a painting she did years ago and thought it was a perfect fit. So a song I was sitting on for years got an artwork that was shelved somewhere for years.

On the other hand, my friend listened to the Side B track and got to work straight away and came back with the painting in about a week (she spent an additional week or two afterwards doing the flowers and other tiny details). A fresh song got a fresh painting.

Now, that’s what I call a “meant to be”!

In case anyone was wondering what is in the actual package:

  • One numbered black LP (12", 45 RPM) with both songs and a bonus live performance, so 3 tracks in total.
  • One numbered 12" album colour printed sleeve
  • One numbered 12" silk coated colour printed insert with photos of original paintings, additional credits and an essay.
  • Sealed certificate of authenticity.

Philosophy:
I have spent years trying to figure out where exactly I sit on this whole music business thing. And the conclusion was that I do not mind being a hired gun either as a musician or a producer. Or if I am part of the band, of course there are ticket sales, royalties, etc.

But when I am releasing music and performing as me (“the artist”), I’ll do it on my own terms. And this means that everyone can listen to/download my music digitally for free. If someone wants a physical copy, the cost is exactly as much as it costs me to make it + delivery (with complete transperency and breakdown of the costs). Whoever wants to donate can always reach out. For the purposes of this post, I host it on Soundcloud, but eventually I will move to my own website exclusively.

PS:
Apart from the classic credits, there is a special thanks to Justin Sandercoe, Rick Beato and Justinguitar community :slight_smile:. Some of you contributed to my musical journey more directly than others, but all of you make this place whati it really is, a special corner of the internet.

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Hi,
I found the A side very pleasant to listen to :clap::sunglasses: … congratulations on an LP of your own :sunglasses: :partying_face:
Greetings,Rogier

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Congrats Luka really pleased for you. I’ve bookmarked this for a listen this evening, so I can put the cans of and give the attention it deserves. Well done sir !

:sunglasses:

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Message to @glpguitar
Congratz on your release :smiley:

Going to give this a listen without headphones tomorrow; looking forward to that

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@glpguitar I enjoyed that very much! Love the idea of making an album of my own. Of course, I should first actually come up with songs that would go on said album.
Also appreciate the story behind it all.

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Very cool Luka and I will definitely take a listen later.

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Thanks for sharing, Luka … the story, music, and art work.

I enoyed both sides of the EP.

I respect and appreciate your consideration for the Community and sharing music, I don’t see it as any of those things you thought it might be.

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Finally got around to a listen. Well done Luka two very unique pieces and both very enjoyable. The first was reminiscent of a film score or at least gave me that impression when I listened, a recurring but subtly different theme that would appear in various scenes, throughout a movie. The second I found quite meditative with a mellow laid back feel.
Hats off and congratulations. Look forward to future projects.

:sunglasses:

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Thanks guys for listening (and reading through my rambles) and all your kind comments!

@Charlie_James: Go for it, it is a fun creative process with everything from writing and recording music, all the way up to graphic design, etc. The funniest (or the strangest, depends how you look at it) thing that happens is that you spend so much time on it that once it is done, you just move onto the next project. Since it was fully done, I only put it on once and even this was to check if the vinyl came through okay. It’s better this way I think, otherwise everyone would get stuck in the past on their first project ever.

@TheMadman_tobyjenner: Funny that you mentioned the words film and meditative. Another friend of mine said the same thing!

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Well done Luka. You’ve joked with me for a few years that I’ve got enough content for an album. Well there you go you’ve done it yourself, you’ve got yourself on vinyl. Congratulations!

I enjoyed both sides of your album and the production and artwork backstory made fascinating reading.

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That was a really nice listen Luka. Congratulations and good luck with the album.

I found your write up very interesting too.

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Thank you both for listening to my “musical stream of consciousness”, reading about my esoteric experiments and all the good wishes! I hope it provided you with at least a bit of joy!

@sairfingers: Gordon, don’t think I have forgotten about your album! I still think your “iPhone sessions” or “One Take Wednesdays” would make up for a great record. You’ve posted lots of good material over the years.

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Hey Luka, (I know you cherish online anonymity, but the cat seems to be out of the bag in this community anyway :roll_eyes:).
Belated congratulations on this fabulous release. It’s a winner in all aspects.
For me, the standout aspect is the personal meaning it has for you. It’s your creativity- captured in physical form. Your philosophy (which we’ve discussed before) is on point.
Fast forward to the music. Today is the day of ‘atmospheric’ pieces :wink: I just came from listening to Clint’s river and your two pieces are now providing the soundtrack to the movie in my mind. In fact they would have gone well on a couple of my old home movie clips that I shared elsewhere :smiley:
You’re an artist, a gent and a great asset to this community.
Take a bow.

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Thank you very much for your kind words and all private philsophical conversations Brian!

+I am glad I provided you some atmospheric background along with the amazing jam from Clint!

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Hi Luka finally managed to get my headphones on and to listen to your album, well done it is incredibly creative and easy-going to my ears! First recording would go great with some sort of short film Pixar-alike animation movie, I think I reckon there was one with mum and daughter with this sort of music running in the background and that’s what I imagine myself watching while listening to it. (Just googled it, it was called Let’s Eat and this one wasn’t Pixar after all :smiley: ).

Second song was exactly what I though which is a branch off from your OM performance. Loved it then and love it now as it presents some cool lines and melody motifs. Really admirable you are putting this out into the world for free as I am sure some people would be seriously interested to pay for this kind of stuff. Well done Luka what a fine accomplishment!

Hope to enjoy plenty more of your creative outbursts in the future :slight_smile:

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Thanks for listening Adi and also for sharing your thoughts. I always find it interesting what other ideas people get when they listen to music.

Also, I just watched Let’s Eat. What a superb short film, thanks for a great recommendation!

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