United Kingdom

Mark Phillips
Greetings from across the pond!
I have stumbled on your profile by reading posts in US section. Naturally I've listened to everything you have on your page.

Feed back? - Since you ask:

Right away the first impression is that you must be a very kind man. It seeps through the melodies and through the words. Second - you are very good with words. This is coming from a guy who speaks three languages and attempts (against all hopes of success) to write lyrics in two of them. (English being my third)

Overall it made me think of Roger Waters, the times of "The pros and cons of hitchhiking" solo album rather then Piper. Also the storytelling style - reminiscing of Mark Knopfler.

I enjoyed it very much.
Yes the things to work on are the production, the instrumentation arrangements, blah blah blah. But I was not listening to that. I was listening to the idea as a whole and I like it.

...but in England the more we love someone the more we insult them... if you meet someone and dislike them you are very polite to them!

Errr - I am not English. I am Russian living in US. In Russia we just insult everyone without reason, than we drink a lot of vodka and make friends.

Cheers, To your health!

Hello Alexander,
Nice of you to describe me as kind: I am a bit of a git really!
Mark Knopfler is a bit of a hero of mine I confess; I admire the way he pulls a song out of something he passes on the street, or seems to be even just out of the atmosphere of something that has happened on the street.
I hardly know the Floyd stuff at all as I grew up on everything my older brother bought, which was Hendrix and Cream, and Genesis and Vandergraff Generator, and he hated Pink Floyd and we never went to their gigs or had their records.

I too would love to write songs in another language Alexander; I speak a little Deutsch and have that in some songs; and Tagalog (Philippino) crops up in two or three of my songs because my wife is a Philippina.

I feel almost resentful not to have been born with more of a voice; I can sing enough to lay a track that shows where the words come and more or less how they go, but my songs wait for the right singer to come along and record them for me, and I haven't found, and cannot afford to hire this right person... so for now I just do what I can.

So Alexander: assuming Russian to be your first language, and you say English is your third... can I assume American is your second!
Now I am just having a dig at our touchy cousins across the pond!
Sorry guys!
And sorry Alexander, but I like English ale and Chilean red wine much more than Russian vodka, though if I was with Russians I would happily raise a glass!

Two days before Christmas I wrote a song for a nun called Sister Stella who I am friendly with; she lives and works at the priory of nuns where my wife is a care nurse; I recorded the song on Christmas eve and the CD was delivered to Sister Stella on Christmas day... I shall put it on my profile now if I can master the technology!
It is slightly slower than I want it to be, because having just written it I was struggling to get the chords right... the chords and melody should sound cold and snow laden, like a deep Russian winter.

Maz drovi Alexander,
Mark.............

Hello Alexander,
I can't add that Christmas song to my profile because the site no longer recognises my email address!
Maybe it will later on.
Maz drovi,
Mark..............

Hey Mark, your stuff (as already mentioned) has an amazing very early Pink FLoyd sound. It's among my favorite music styles. I think it's fantastic that you naturally generate that feel.

Sure, it needs work, but overall, I think you have really great potential. Feel free to come hang out in the general chat forum !

Hello Alexander,
Just to say that the track I mentioned earlier about the nun in the snow locked priory is on my profile now.

I forgot to ask you what type of music you play Alexander? I have the vague impression Russia is quite into heavy metal; but perhaps you went to America to get away from it?

I will check out your profile now.
Maz drovia,
Mark................

Hello Kramerguy,
I appologise for skipping your posting to me... I think I thought it was from Alexander too and answered it in with his; I am frequently a bit dim with these things.

I must get myself up to speed with some Pink Floyd as I really have nothing more than a vague awareness of their stuff... or maybe I shouldn't check them out, or I might just start ripping them off bigtime!
I have a strong feeling of wanting to create music that is me first and foremost, but if there are identifiable influences that have coloured my style I feel it will be someone like Peter Hammill, though I think my heroes are Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler, and Len Cohen too.

And thanks Kramerguy... I assumed this was the chat forum being dim; I will go and take a look!
Cheers,
Mark.......................

Greetings Mark Phillips

Your assumption is correct. American is my third. I learned British English from a native Israeli first and failed it miserably. Then I learned Hebrew followed by American version of English mostly from Police Academy movies. So including Russian does that make 4?

I agree with you on the wine thing. I live in California, we have a lot of wine here. Red, old, dark, dry. I do not drink vodka - it gives me the hibbie-gibbies and the hangover in the morning. I like very old, red and very dry wine. I want to see the dust at the bottom of the glass when I am done. Pan Galactic Gurgle Blaster is not my thing.

What sort of music do I play. From Santana Cover band to HardRock. I am influenced mostly by British hard rock 70 and 80. (you most likely hate that stuff) I do not care much about Metallica and Slayer (American) Too heavy and not melodic enough for me. So Melodic HardRock is what I like. Perhaps for you this statement is an oxymoron. There are some samples on my profile, but they are not what I am working on right now. And all missing the vocal line, which drive the melody. Unlike you I can't sing at all. That stuff most likely will not soothe your soul. Perhaps the very last track and the ballad thing (second track I think)...

No. Russians not into Heavy Metal, they are in to a single guy singing ballads with an acoustic 7 string guitar for the most part. They like Jazz, Bosanova and pop music.

Here is one for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI7KrmTYUwM a one-man-band.

I grew up with huge variety of music from all over the world. But mostly British and German, then American and Australian. From BB King to Floyd and from Stray cats to Iron Maiden. I am a "melomaniac".

Other then in Russian I write in English, or be it American English if you must. I can give you one text to tear apart if you like. I've been working on it since 1988 (lord help me!) Not all texts take 20 years though. It is a story telling ballad in Lord Of The Rings style. (Was written years before the movie, for I did read all of those books)

You did achieve the coldness.
I enjoy the accent. Oops forgive me, that is not accent. That is English, I am the one who speaks with the accent!

I find it hard to come to terms with the fact that you do not like Roger Waters. You seem to remind me him in his the solo album era.

Keep up the good work!

On a misty morning in Sussex England,
Hello Alexander,
I am sorry but the only Hebrew I know is shalom.
I have decided that with all the time I am spending on this site it is about time I started learning to speak proper American!

California does some great wines... reds I mean as that is really all I drink much of, though a nice oaky chardonay can go down very nicely.
Spirits are not my thing at all as I like to quaff not sip daintily!

You write in BBC English just as much as I do! Except you know longer words than I do, like oxymoron; I recognise the moron bit because people are always using it on me!

The American rock I like is Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams... oops, sorry you Canadians, as I think Bryan might be Canadian? Anyway, it is that rock with good guitars and drums but still melody too that appeals to me.
I am still in love with Hendrix and his guitar overtures I call them... I mean those phrases of guitar melody that lead in on so many of his songs; I think that was his great gift to the musical world, the notion of telling you something about the song that is coming, but through a passage of guitar that can stand completely independently of the song that follows... yet becomes for all time a vital component of it.
I don't think anyone did those guitar intros before jimi, and I cannot think of anyone since.
About 99% of songs seem to start with the first line of verse chords being played four times to get everyone fused, then the singing comes in to tell you the song starts here!

I tried to listen to your music Alexander, but nothing worked for me... I mean in that the site rejected all my advances!
I will check out your ballad as soon as I make it work again.
My own guitar ballad 'They Came', was I think the first one I have written; it felt different as I wrote it because I had this little action going in my head of the guy feeling some connection with the woman and boy but not enough to focus on, and as I wrote the music and chords just followed along... I don't know if that is a stricked definition of the word balled, but it seems like the kind of thing to me.

I probably got my false impression of Russians liking heavy metal, from last year's Russian entry in the Eurovision song contest!

And melomaniac is another English word I don't know... we have the problem here that when German and Dutch people visit the UK they use much longer words than we know... it is very embarrassing.
We have many Dutch, German and French footballers in the big English clubs like ManU and Chelsea, and they speak far more eloquent English that the English team mates, who are always very working class.
In England, working class play football and upper class play rugby.

I too have tried writing books Alexander, but I am known to be a rubbish writer and even my own mum couldn't get through my novels!

Of the coldness? Did you mean the coldness in the snowy song? 'Christmas at the Priory'.

I would probably love Roger Waters Alexander, but I just cannot ever remember hearing him sing... now I will go and seek him out on Utube!
Shalom and Maz drovia,
Mark.....................

Sorry to follow up my own letter!
I found Roger Waters.
I like him and I remember his long face on LP covers (albums) in the seventies at a friend's house.
I cannot remember hearing him before though it is possible I have.
What does strike me though, is his young guitarist who is playing a Strat, but a left handed one, and it's strung right handed, but he plays it left handed... so all his chords are inverted.
I played lead in a covers band in the seventies, and our other guitarist was left handed but played a right handed guitar upside down... very strange it seemed, but I got used to the sight.

I would like to be as famous as Roger Waters, just so I too could have three soft dusky maidens up there singing beside me... the lucky git!
Mark......................

Hey Mark, just had a listen to christmas at the priory. Nice one mate, intriguing style. Tis a touch floydy but I would take that as a very high compliment.. Regards Ian

Hello Ian,
Thanks for your kind reaction to 'Christmas at the Priory'; it was a funny little idea that came to me a day before I made that recording, so it began and was finished within 48 hours.
You see there is this nun called Sister Stella who is Indian and 33 years old that my wife and I have befriended a bit in the past couple of years at the priory... and she cannot leave the Priory for fifty weeks of the year.
I had this image of her rather confined life as being represented by the priory shrouded in snow as it sometimes is in the winter.
My wife is a care nurse on the nursing unit at the priory, so we get to know some of the nuns quite well... Sister Kiruba (also in the song and just 27) is another Indian Nurse who was Stella's close friend till she was sent back to India; Bincie and Helena (Indian) are a nurse 30 and her daughter 2 who were here with us for dinner the night before last.
So it is all just a little snap-shot of our life here in Sussex.
Cheers,
Mark...............

Hello again Ian,
Just found and listened to your three tunes on site.
I love the clean rolling sound you produce... my quaint songs must seem very peculiar and bity to you, so even kinder of you to make comparisons with Floyd etc.
Cheers,
Mark...................

Hello Ian, and hello Alexander,
Hey Alexander,
You look Russian... I mean in the photo on your profile; no surprise I guess as that's what you are, but I just wanted to mention it!

I was enjoying your songs which I were able to open this time.
Your ballad had a very nice string melody line which sounds to me like it should be played on a balaleica... or was it?

The speed and timing sounds so perfect of all your pieces; were the drums and speed, computer controlled? my drums go all over the place!

I enjoyed it all,
Thanks,
Mark.......................

Greetings Mark Phillips
Yes I sort of do look Russian, now that you've mention it... It is a family tradition you know.

Balalaika? Now you must like me because it is sort of insult . No never held one in my hands. Have no idea how to play it. I am not comfortable with anything that is triangular and has three strings, two of which are tuned to the same note.

Though I confess I did plaid the third track as a parody on power metal giving it a Russian sort of dance flavor. I have a grin from ear to ear every time I play that one. No one notices though.

The drums on first and third tune are recorded on a Roland electric drum kit and I am drumming it. (many many takes and punch-ins!). I am a guitarist, not a drummer, so I had to cheat. The rest is boring computer controlled square beats with no time changes.

The guitar however is controlled by my hands only. I do not have a mechanical guitar. Just a good ole customized Fender Strat

If you feel adventurous search for "FL Studio" they have a demo version. There you will find drum kits under "Packs". It is a sequencer. You can lay out your drums and rolls in a sequence, then export that in to a sound file and import that in to your recording software. Takes a bit of giggery-pockery but can be done. Equalizers will make the drums sound better. Have to tweak everything. Nothing comes good straight out of the box.

The Roger Waters you got, is it a video? In The Flash - Live? If so I was there. It is was filmed in Portland Oregon, USA. Was an awesome gig. And yes he got some cute mommas on stage with him.

Greeting Alexander,
From across the pond on a dark grey misty morning as I arrive back on my wet motorbike and sidecar from taking Roseanne to school.
You looking Russian isn't any sort of an insult, as Russians generally have a more heroic appearance than English people... in the war the Germans said we looked like a nation of shopkeepers, but we still whipped their arses, with your help, and much later on the Americans!!!!

The Balalaika has a beautiful sound, and even if that was a guitar in your ballad, the style of the melodic line was very much like written for a Russian Balalaika to my ear.

Putting percussion on tracks is a problem if you are not a drummer; I have resorted to hand drumming on the back of an acoustic guitar on most of the tracks on my profile, but 'Money Gone' I was finger drumming on the strings of a bass guitar, and doing cymbals by going 'tissssh' into a microphone!
Desperate measures indeed!
I now have a Trapps electric drum kit in my growing studio: has mesh heads, I am just starting to play it but my feet seem more creative, having a quite different interpretation of the speed and time signature of the song!

Like you my guitar is a Strat at present, but it's a squier Strat (profile photo) VII 7 string that I have converted to a wide necked six string.

I am a computer dunce Alexander, so sadly would never master 'FL Studio'.

That sounds like the same Roger Waters gig... he had at least two good young lead guitarists popping up here and there, and yes three very pleasantly acomodating looking women singers, though that is a very sexist observation I know!

I think you should add your vocals to your tracks; I know you said you cannot sing at all, but I could say the same.
What I do is sing the vocal as what you might call a template... it places the sung words where they are going to be in the song, and tells generally what the words will be doing.
The idea being that one day some excellent singer will wander past, and I will lure or trick them in to sing over what I have laid, and if their track is better I will delete my template track.
A track without singing sounds to me like an empty track where either the ideas ran out or didn't arrive to start with... I say sounds like that, and of course is not like that, but all of us whether 'Country' 'Blues' 'Metal' or whatever, are in the song game; not brilliant jazz-rock instrumentals that strive to entertain without words.

If someone hates writing words, or feels they cannot write words, then this site is the place where you can seek out someone to colaborate with.

What do you feel about that Alexander? A load of bollocks... maybe true it is, but I throw the idea in for general discussion by anyone with thoughts on the matter.
Cheers Alaxander and all,
Mark............