MUSICAL DOLL: My Album has a REMIX!!

 My album Moon Chants is available as a Remix...I have a Remix!  I cannot write, read or say that sentence without grinning.  It makes me feel like Britney Spears :)  I was asked to write and record an album of pagan songs a while back.  Originally this was to be traditional pagan chants such as covens use, but during the initial chat with Llewellyn, the record label owner at Paradise Music,  I suggested I write an album of entirely new material and the suggestion was welcomed with enthusiasm...I was basically given the go-ahead to do what I wanted!

So I decided to write a collection of fresh new pagan melodies that were catchy enough for practitioners to sing along to and to raise power during their rituals - just like in a traditional coven.  At the same time though we wanted to maintain a  traditional feel throughout the album and I think we achieved that.  The Remix has all the same songs and melodies, but the instrumentation has been stripped right back; its really just drums and vocals, but with the nature sounds I wanted kept in place.  This gives the album an earthy heart of beat, which is very evocative...it makes me think of a coven of witches chanting, drumming and dancing around a midnight fire in the woods! Chris Conway is the genius behind the Remixing. I love the red wash over the cover art.

 It does annoy me somewhat when people assume that I simply put my name to someone else's work.  That is not the case at all.  I wrote every word of every song, and I composed each and every melody for the whole of my Moon Chants album.  I recorded my own vocals too; mine is the very first voice you hear on each track, leading the chants throughout the album.  I also wrote all of the magical sleeve notes for the album.  I did need help with the instrumentation as I have neither the knowledge nor the skill to layer instruments and sounds in order to build up a rich, full-bodied track; that was Chris Conway's department and he did a fantastic job. He is super talented! But I did suggest the kinds of instruments I wanted for each of my melodies.

Unlike my career as a writer, where I worked very hard to get to where I am today, suffering through a myriad of rejections, I cannot say I put that amount of effort into gaining a deal with a record label.  The opportunity for Moon Chants just fell into my lap and I ran with it,  I didn't have to send out demo's or audition as such; I did sing for Llewellyn on the phone though, so maybe that was my audition!  And I had always had in the back of my mind 'Wouldn't it be nice to have my poems put to music so I could sing them' but this was more of a pipe dream than an actual goal.  I love writing poetry and I love singing, so it seemed natural to me to want to put the two things together.  I am honoured that Chris, Llewellyn and Juliana liked my songs so much they sang with me on the album; I'm especially thrilled that Juliana agreed to sing her mermaid vocals on Lady of the Sea.

Writing and recording Moon Chants was such a great experience for me and I learnt so much from it.  If you want to hear samples and download the remix check out the links below.   Meantime I am going to keep tinkering away at my piano...as I write this post I am currently working on not one, but two brand new magical albums! Not sure how long it will be before production...all I can say is Watch this Space!

www.paradisemusic.co.uk

www.chrisconway.org