Jay Stapley

The real question is not WHAT music to listen to, or HOW to find it, but WHY listen to it at all? There is so much music out there; finding stuff to listen to is easier than ever. Instead of having to choose which physical product to spend your money on, you now have almost …

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Of all the people to get me out of blogging retirement… The outpouring of bile and venom directed at Margaret Thatcher on the occasion of her death has been shocking and dispiriting. Much of it comes from 20-year-olds who did not have any experience of her reign at all, and the rest comes from those …

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Ok; I did it! A year’s blog! I think I missed no more than a dozen days, some through holidays, and a few towards the end of the year when I found myself working 9-hour days with a 90- minute drive either side! In that year, I’ve been through some interesting transitions: I’ve taken on …

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Great video here from TED: it’s a presentation by Amanda Palmer about her journey from signed artist whose label dropped her because she sold “only” 25,000 to a crowd-financed self-released artist. She ends by saying that as musicians “instead of thinking about how to make people pay for our music, let’s think about how to …

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There is a maxim well-known to yachtsmen: “don’t abandon ship until you have to step UP into the life raft.” The reason for this is that the yacht is a safer place to be than a small rubber life raft and the yacht will usually stay afloat for longer than you think: many of the …

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I’ve started mixing the Will Hudson album: sounding fab (though I say it myself!) and it’s interesting to be having to do so little for a mix on this type of recording. Normally at this point on a “live band” style record I’d be stripping everything down and starting again, but I’ve treated this more …

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During my drive in to London a couple of days ago I listened to Foals (Holy Fire CD,) Peace (1998 Delicious) EP) and Doves (Kingdom of Rust CD.) It set me thinking about the developing vocabulary of the electric guitar, which is the subject of many discussions I’ve been having recently with other tutors and …

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Wow, I can’t believe I’m nearly there! I know I’ve not posted every day over the last week or so: I’ve been so busy I’ve barely had time to think, never mind write my blog, but I’m just 11 days away from having kept a daily blog for a year. I’ve enjoyed it hugely and …

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