I recently listened to a Noel Gallagher interview from a few years ago – High Flying Birds era not Oasis. He described how the music industry was evolving. Music was becoming less of a product a consumer owned and more of something that a consumer rented via a streaming service. Jump to today and that is how most of us consume music – Spotify, Amazon, Apple, YouTube etc. – instant! And ‘Yes’, Cloudbase are on all of these. But, as Noel described, he is (and we are) an “album creating live, performance band”. But what does this mean for artists and the listener today? And is there a space for album creating, live performance bands today?
To Nikki, Andy, Carl and I, an album is something that is intrinsic to us. It is a body of musical work that is between forty minutes and an hour long. It is split into two halves and can be one composition per half (Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield) or fourteen songs in total (Ramones, The Ramones). The packaging will have beautiful artwork that is viewed in a square format about twelve inches (thirty centimetres) square. As a minimum, the artwork will be double-sided and there will be a title for the body of work and words on the sleeve and/or on the inner dust sleeve that keeps the vinyl recording (that is usually black) clean and fresh. We will place it on a turntable and listen to one side and then the other – uninterrupted. We will view the album artwork; read the notes; reflect on the comments from the artist and enjoy the experience.
So how do we create an album?
As the musical composition creator for the band, a Cloudbase track usually begins in my head – a simple tune that grips me and needs to come out in an audible form. From there, it is transferred to guitar – sometimes piano – until I have the foundation of a tune in place. I the begin the process of developing the composition into something I can present to Nikki, Andy and Carl. If there is a general agreement by the band that it has legs, Nikki takes over and, with the right to tear it apart or reconfigure it as she thinks fit, she sculpts the melody and lyrics. We then go into the studio and put Nikki’s voice on the track. Finally, we all listen to the track in various ways – in the car, late night listening, through headphones etc. and work out if our virtuosity can improve on the creation. Once we are all happy, the song is made… truly crafted.
Throughout this process, there is never a time limit on the track. We don’t say to ourselves, “it needs to be six minutes”, or “it needs to fit it into a three minute radio slot”. The song is built according to that which the song requires. If that means it is nine minutes and two seconds long (like ‘I want you’), that is how long the track is. There is no compromise.
When we have a body of work that equates between forty minutes and an hour, we reflect on a construct of two halves – and, again, there are no compromises – and the album is created… because we are of the generation that consumed it that way. Because of the construct, the title and album artwork will derive its own brief and almost create itself.
Today, music is a fast moving consumable good – an FMCG that is consumed and disposed of all too quickly. Many artists craft music as individual entities. Music that is one track long. It has a descriptor that is a thumbnail viewed on a mobile phone screen – never held and cherished. Reproduced in a contrived heavily staged format for TV, YouTube and alike.
We think that is a shame – and, whilst Cloudbase will be available on streaming services, we will strive to create music and products you can own and cherish – vinyl albums. We will deliberate over the cover artwork of our albums and songs. We will endeavour to bring our work to life in performances that create memories.
So take the time to sit and relax for an hour with Cloudbase. Hold the artwork. Read the sleeve notes. We hope you will enjoy the experience and come and see us perform the music!!!
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