Dear friends, here’s another update from my side, most probably the last one this year. The workshop with PAM went all right. Chris F had two songs with him, one that I knew from earlier times and another one that was completely new to me. We did some audio and video recordings, and one of the results can be seen on youtube. The King of Invisible Rain: https://youtu.be/-EoXfkufaAo I myself had no real ambition to record one of my songs this time. I started to sort out fragments and ideas just some days before the workshop and somehow completed one song which we then played and recorded there, but it’s not really ready I think. I chose a tune that seems to be too deep to sing for me, and transforming into another tune would mean to rework the guitar chords and bass lines in a way that I currently don’t see. I’m a bit clueless about this one right now, but at least it was a good test. Some tests deliver negative results, and that’s fine then as well. Just after the workshop I intensified the work on the mentioned fragments and completed two more; I could need just another workshop now…but the next one’s scheduled for April next year, and I don’t want to wait until then. So I think I have to do it on my own again as soon as I find some time. Recording drums is always a huge effort for me, I’m not really good in this. I fell ill for some days two weeks ago and tried to do some drum programming while sitting in bed, but just as I had the first song ready, I forgot to save all the patterns before turning the drum computer off. Four hours of work just blown away. I really hate these digital devices. So I will have to seat myself behind my good old Pearl Drumset and start recording in the good old way again. But that takes time, and December is such a busy month… Next Monday there’ll be a rehearsal session with the ERRATICS again, it’s been postponed twice and will now hopefully take place. I’m prepared. There’s an upcoming gig end of January somewhere in the area of Mellrichstadt if I understood correctly, and they intend to do some new songs there. Country blues stuff. I like it. PLATFORM NO 6 had a strategy discussion two weeks ago, and it was a tough one. I clearly told ‘em that I don’t want to go on like we used to in the last years. We’re hardly making any progress in the quality of our music and performance, on the contrary. A part of us is trying to get better, but some don’t want to follow or can’t keep the pace, for whatever reason. There’s a lot of ideas on what to improve, but in my eyes it all boils down to one simple thing: Passion. For some of my mates, the band is just ranking #4 or #5 or even lower in their personal list of priorities, and this shows in one way or another. We have to get rid of those lead sheets, we have to be able to go on stage without binders and stands and papers, we all have to know our songs by heart and act accordingly. Otherwise we’ll always look like a school orchestra. And some of us have to improve either their equipment or their knowledge about it. Our live sound is horrible, even if there’s a professional mixer and stage crew. We decided to thoroughly review our set list or program which consisted of 59 songs all in all, including sorted out old ones and projected new ones, but anyway way too many to concentrate on something. The aim is to cut it down to some 25 songs plus some new ones then to end up in a range of 30. That’s enough by far, and we’ll be working on these selected songs then to really sing and play them by heart in order to be able to start interacting and really doing music together instead of nine individuals standing on stage, individually concentrating on their parts while reading from lead sheets. That’s the plan now. The HIGH FIELD BAND is currently in a dormant status. The plan to record another album is materializing at least in my head, and I had some first talks with Chris D about it. Maybe that’s the right moment then to complete my unfinished fragments. Whether this band has a real chance to play in public is currently not that clear to me. We’re not a real rock band for evening shows. But we’re good, that’s for sure, and so I hope there’ll be at least one or two occasions next year to step on stage and make ourselves heard. A second album could be another kick… That’s all for the moment. I’ll keep you posted. Keep on rockin’! Yours schnoed