Sunday Post

Even though I'm only halfway through my so-called "summer hiatus", I thought I'd quickly share the vast array of things that I have in store for my return. 

WIP Artwork

MUSIC BY CHANCE

This is something that I have been working on since I first started 'Wou' two and a bit years ago. A collection of tracks that use a number of homemade chance methods during the writing process. These include tried and test methods like 'The Furry Gamble' (Make It Pretty) and 'Buskers' Bamboozle' (MUSIC BY CHANCE: EP 01 & 02), among new ones, using playing cards and the general public to make music... confused? All will be explained in good time. 

One of the most exciting parts of this project for me is the various artists now involved in it. Finished tracks feature the sounds and talents of Horse Enthusiast, Jonathan Beckenstein, {AN} Eel, Weighty Tree, Spicy Invalid, Ronny The Rocket, Falloon and Janine Levinson (of Janine and the Problem), to name but a handful. 

'MUSIC BY CHANCE: Vol.1' will be released in the new year.

THE AUDIO BIN

I'm pleased to say that a new 'Audio Bin' LP is in the works, and, I'm calling out for new donations. So if you fancy being on the next LP and you've got a few unused recordings kicking around, please send them my way: wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com... anything you've got will be greatly appreciated. 

Here's a playlist of everyone involved with the project so far:

WOU-WOU OPEN COLLAB

The 'Wou-Wou Open Collab' project will be a year old in September, and to celebrate I will be compiling a playlist (surprise, surprise) for every track under this umbrella. The next new 'collab' track will be out in October. 

DEDICATION TO THE HYPOCRITES

I started working on this song with Couch King last September, but I'm happy to say it's sounding pretty finished now! Official release dates are not my forte, but it'll probably be the next thing released with my name attached to it, and I can't wait! It puts the "fun" in "funky" (apologies)... it also features pretzels malone and Jam York. 

ARTWORK FOR SALE

I've reached a point where I am running out of room for all my drawings. So, I've decided everything must go! The usual things apply... first come first served, and so-on. It all begins tomorrow on instagram, twitter and facebook, where I'll be sharing a doodle daily along with a pricetag and the full T&C's... heck, I'll even be throwing out a few freebies too. 

Lastly, prints of my favourite 21 will be made available some time next month. Dates and details to come. 

But for now, happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

March has been a busy month, with remixes and collaborations coming at me from all directions! But however exciting this may be, it's turning out to be a double-edged sword. My 'WRITING BY CHANCE' (which I was planning to have finished for the end of March) has now fallen by the wayside. Although this is probably no loss, as I'm not really much of a writer however enthusiastic I may be. And with the end of winter, I feel that it is time to let go and move on to some new, none-chance-based experiments. That said, my 'Buskers' Bamboozle' inspired 'MUSIC BY CHANCE' series will continue 'till its resolve, many, many months from now.

Speaking of 'MUSIC BY CHANCE', I released the second EP at the beginning of the week. And in a similar fashion to the first release, I'd like to do a brief track-by-track. So if you'll amuse me... 

0201: COME TO FINISH

RESULTS FROM THE BAMBOOZLE:

Chords: Minor (1-♭3-5) only

Tempo: 178BPM

Time Signature: 5/4

No. of Chords: 5

Root of Chord: D♭/C♯, C, B, G♭/F♯, D

I've become increasingly interested in vocal manipulation and I guess that's how this track came to sound like it does, with multiple samples used rhythmically and more obviously in the mangled voice. There's also a lot of other sounds from around and about, including a bathroom pull cord from my old flat.  

0202: START TO GLOSS

RESULTS FROM THE BAMBOOZLE:

Chords: Minor (1-♭3-5) only

Tempo: 135BPM

Time Signature: 5/4

No. of Chords: 4

Root of Chord: D♭/C♯, F, G, B

It's a slight departure from my usual sound. A lot more electronic, and maybe a little game-like, but with a guitar twist. I guess this track comes from my love of electronic music from the 60's/70's. It has a sort of feel to it, to me at least. But then the whole EP does. Strange chords progressions and unfamiliar time-signatures have found me lean more towards an electronic way of doing things. Something I may address in the next 'MBC' release... Is it time to dig out my reel-to-reel?

0302: APOLOGETIC SCREW

RESULTS FROM THE BAMBOOZLE:

Chords: Minor (1-♭3-5) only

Tempo: 128BPM

Time Signature: 4/4

No. of Chords: 6

Root of Chord: B, A♭/G♯, C, B♭/A♯, A♭/G♯, C

I'm not much of a gamer, but I've always enjoyed the music of those old arcade games, and '0302' sees me attempting to mimic it, in a half-arsed kind of fashion. It's not 8-bit, even 16-bit, but it has that vibe to it. A mile away from what I was going to do with it, but once I'd finished the track above, I thought it'd be fun to explore the electronica theme further.

To finish off, two rather exciting chunks of 'Wou-Wou' news. The first 'lil' spaceman's' perfectly suited video for his version of 'Glory Hole'...

... the second is 'E-Ruizzo's' super hot prog-rock release, and the synesthesia artwork that he asked me to do for it.

More daily doodles, paintings and maybe, just maybe, I'll start to work on those collages that I've been teasing for the last few weeks. Also planning to resurrect something from my 'Major Gubbins' archives... I'll keep you "posted".

Happy thoughts,


- The Wormling

Sunday Post

'The Buskers' Bamboozle' strikes again, with three short instrumentals complete with warped vocals, gliding synths and 8-bit blips... It's electronic rock, only odder. 

'MUSIC BY CHANCE: TWO [EP]' is available from the usual haunts, tomorrow... More daily doodles, synesthesia paintings and dabblings with collage to be expected throughout next week as well. 

'Till then, happy thoughts,

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

It started with hands, but now my venture using one continuous line shifts to facial features, in an attempt to evolve my usual style of portrait and character design into something a little odder.

  

(A selection of hands drawn using one continuous line from the last few weeks)

 

By drawing the features separately it leaves the door open for a little horseplay in Photoshop, arranging it altogether to make my very own monster (as above). It also leaves the opportunity to add some of my work with chance into the mix. But I'm getting ahead of myself once again, there's many ears, eyes, noses and mouths to concentrate on before such tomfoolery begins.

Also, throughout next week I plan to finish the first of my music by chance, as well as a few lino prints and possibly one of the aleatoric stories... I'm getting ahead of myself again. So many things to do, so much fun to be had!

Anyway, happy thoughts,

- The Wormling

Resolutions

Traditionally the new year revolves around new beginnings and bettering yourself, and although I don't believe you need a specific date in the calendar to do either of these things it seems that for 'Wou-Wou...', the New Year does mean a fresh start.

I view my work over the last few months more as "building up my chops" than exploring or pushing myself creatively. The 'Daily Doodles' and 'Music Monthly's' have been creative stretches to keep me limber. But I fear that I have reached a point where I keep repeating myself, and aiming for the result instead of enjoying the process; the original essence of 'Wou-Wou & The Wormling'.

With this in mind, my resolution begins with learning new skills and techniques. Things like embroidery, painting, collage, sculpture and mark-making are way up there on the list. I've eased myself in with continuous line work (a welcome detachment from my usual figurative oddballs) which I'll be sharing over the month.

On top of this, I hope to reach some sort of resolve with my creative experiments involving chance. The first of my music by chance will be surfacing around the end of the month, as will the creative writing. And although the chancy music will keep coming way into 2016, I'm giving myself a loose ultimatum of three months to put everything else (chance) to bed, and move on to the other creative experiments and subjects I have lined up.

The usual 'Daily Doodles' and 'Music Monthly' commitments will remain throughout, as I feel it's still important to express, practice and grow in what feels familiar. And with any luck, everything new that I learn will compliment and become familiar in time. So who knows, this time next year I might be sewing nudies instead of sketching them!

Anyway, belated Happy New Year to you and happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

P.S. - I've been playing catch-up on society6, adding a host of last years doodles to the roost. Meaning prints of 'Jack', 'Elysia', 'Robin' and many others are now available. I'm also in the process of setting up an Etsy shop to sell a selection of my originals. More details to come, soonish. 

Sunday Post

On top of giving away one of my illustrations and getting played on the radio for the second time! I have also being delving back into my little red book of chance this week.

Behind its mock leather cover lays a composers nightmare: 45 pieces of music, mapped out by the indifferent hand of fate. A plethora of awkward chord progressions, sewn together by breakneck tempos and irregular time signatures are crying out to be realised. And did I mention that 'The Furry Gamble' gets a look in too!

Thanks to modern music making software, everything is achievable, even if it's not pleasant to listen to. Any composition that isn't too physically demanding will feature at least one live instrument, and all the tracks will manipulate found sounds and ambient recordings, which I will use to craft sample based instruments, broadening my audio palette and grounding these strange tracks in some sort of reality... if reality is needed that is. 

So far I've chipped away at the first 9 tracks, which will make up the first 3 EP's. There will be 15 EP's in total, each housing 3 tracks. 

Each EP focuses on a certain number of rules and restrictions. For example the music in the first EP only uses major chords, the music in the second uses only minor, and by the time I get to the last EP everything from the mood to the number of bars and sections will be decided by chance.

The plan is to release one EP a month starting January 2015, but the exact date hasn't been set yet.

Course, this chance malarky doesn't stop at music... but I'll quit now before I get into detail about my little navy blue book of prompts, for another Sunday maybe.

Happy thoughts,


- The Wormling

Sunday Post

It’s been a balanced old week here at ‘Wou-Wou...’ HQ. On Wednesday (my fun day) nothing seemed to go quite right. I finished the odd job off, but when it came to anything creative I turned to pot. 

Par exemple, top of my list of things to achieve was the fettling of the first instrumental, whose chords, tempo and time-signature were all decided by chance, using a system I’ve coined ‘The Buskers’ Bamboozle’ - an elaborate creative randomiser, that utilises dice, coins, and hats to make those all important creative decisions.

The track in question is called ‘The Moist Go Between’ and is the first of 45 tracks created using ‘The Buskers’ Bamboozle’ to varying degrees. Recording it was a total joy, but mixing it has been a total nightmare, and I don’t feel as if I've got any closer to the sound I want for it. 

Nothing I’m sure a bit of swatting up and time won’t fix, but by the end of Wednesday I was feeling flat and woozy from staring at the computer for hours.

Thursday evening I had the idea to bring back the short-lived Major Gubbins fixture ‘Compact Discovery’ for my latest instrumental ‘King Skirmish’. I’m rather happy with how the paper CD cases look, especially as they're done using my cheap-o printer...

The same can’t be said for the CD’s...

But it’s only meant to be a bit of fun, so until I find a cost-effective way of printing onto CD’s, I’m not going to sweat over it.

Yesterday was possibly the best day in ‘Wou-Wou’s...’ short history, as not only did the ‘Make It Ugly’ paintings go up on the ‘Wou-Wou...’ society6 page, but ‘King Skirmish’ was played on BBC Sheffield Introducing! I’ve never been played on the radio before, so it was a massive high, especially considering that I uploaded the track on a whim.

Well that’s about it. More daily doodles, ‘Compact Discovery’ and society6 uploads over next week.

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

This week I decided enough is enough, it’s time to knuckle down, sit up straight, pull that finger out and wash it in hot soapy water. Cos things have gotten a little slack and stale around here, and so have I. 

I’ve set myself some goals. A little contrived maybe I know, but I’m coming to learn that in my current state of mind I’m more inclined to stare at my guitar instead of play it and chew a pencil instead of running it around a piece of A4. So something had to change, cos not being creative feels so very numbing.

At the beginning of the month I started my "daily doodling" which is slowly helping me and my pencil establish a better, more rounded relationship. And starting tomorrow I’m hoping to rekindle with music in a similar fashion, with ‘Music Monthly’ - a new experimental track using various found sounds, samples, stabs, beats, licks and homemade instruments every first Monday of the month.

Hang on, what about all that stuff to do with chance?...

It’s coming, but I’ve decided not to rush it, so I’ll be working on it regularly and methodically in the background until the new year is upon us. It’s around that time I see the first examples being ready to share. But with that said, I do plan to write a weekly ‘Sunday Post’, much like this one, sharing a little about the week I’ve had and what I've been working on. So I imagine that more light will be shed on my fumbles with chance then.

On top of monthly music and chance based creativity, I’ve also been busy smartening up my ‘Make It Ugly’ cat paintings and a small number of my doodled portraits ready to put up for sale on society6. The upload date is set for Saturday (and continuing most Saturday’s thereafter), but I’ll be sure to do a special post once something’s been added to my shop.

So to recap: new music coming tomorrow, with the first stock going into the ‘Wou-Wou & The Wormling’ society6 store Saturday, and updates of my chance experiments (along with everything else) every Sunday... lets see how long I can keep this up ‘ey!

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Progress

Progress is slow, painfully so, but that’s okay, I didn’t set out to bolt through these experiments at lighting speed, nor was I naive enough to think that there’d be no challenge involved in their execution. So I plod along, doing what I can, when I can, which for the last few weeks hasn’t equated to much. But July’s commitments are behind me now, and my full focus can float back over to chance once again.

I'm now over halfway through the "chance phase" of these experiments, I can say with great hopeful glee, that chancy music, lino-prints, poems, short stories, collages (etc. etc.), are soon to be crafted and fettled.

Till then, I'll do my best to keep this underused space a bit more occupied.


- The Wormling

The Furry Gamble - Part Two

In order for these ramblings to make any sense, you'll probably have to go to the first 'Furry Gamble' post here. But if you've already read that... 

Make it pretty:



I have to admit, I was hoping for make it ugly when it came to this one. I could hear it: detuned guitars and feedback all the way to buggery... But that didn't happen, I got make it pretty instead.

Oof, how was I going to do something interesting with this chord progression, and make it pretty?

I spent hours fiddling around with my delay pedal, hoping there'd be some magic setting that would make the I-V-vi-IV progression twinkly and new, but it was to no avail, it still sounded bland.

Another few hours and a computer malfunction later, I had reached some sort of compromise.  By reversing the chord progression I had this roomy backdrop to work with. It wasn't pretty per-say, but added an eeriness that sounded sort of beautiful, to me at least. And after that was down, I just noodled around with it for a bit, adding things, taking them away. So on and so forth.

Overall, I wouldn't say it turned out that pretty, but it's been a fun challenge, and I learnt a few lessons on the way... most importantly: save, save, save.

Make it ugly:

This had to be easy. Do an ugly portrait of my cats. My inability to paint has that one covered already. It wasn't 'til I sat down and gave it some "proper thought" that I realised that I had absolutely no ideas. Zilch. Nowt... 

Then after a ruminate:

"Oh hang on, I'll just draw my face on my cats bodies. Yeah, that sounds ugly enough. I could have it so I'm licking my arsehole! Hohoho..."

 

 

...Erm, no. 

I have this knack of going with the first, daft idea I have. Take the easy way out for a cheap laugh that never comes. So I pulled myself together and went back to the drawing board, and these are what came out.

These monochrome fighting felines where partly inspired by Georg Baselitz's simple but energetic silhouettes, and 'Two Fighting Insects' by Tadek Beutlich, which we're lucky enough to have in our dining room. The ugly experience of my own brawling moggys also acted as inspiration I'm sure.

Y'know, they're messy, they're inaccurate, some of the cats look like dogs, some like blobs, but the more I live with them the more I enjoy them being stuck on the wall. And it's because of 'The Furry Gamble' that they exist.

All-in-all, 'The Furry Gamble' works! However it still gives me a lot of creative freedom. What if that was diminished, or even removed all together? What if I had no control over the outcome?

Hmmm...

- The Wormling

The Furry Gamble - Part One

Over the coming months I plan to elaborate on a number of experiments that play with the idea of chance (or aleatoricism, if you like) and its role in the creative process. Usually when starting a creative endeavour, be it doing a doodle, writing a story, or putting together a piece of music, I'd begin with a fixed idea on how something is going to be, or a concept in which to work up from, rarely is something left to chance. But what if these decisions were already decided by the throw of a dice or a pick out of a hat?

My first experiment draws from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies - a set of cards with artistic directions, that encourage lateral thinking towards creative dilemmas - and The Wasp Factory from the novel of the same name by Iain Banks - a crude future telling device, in which a wasp is placed and forced to choose one of twelve trapdoors. Behind each trapdoor there's a deadly end for the wasp (fire, spider, being pissed on, etc.) and the way it dies has significant meaning to the Factory's maker, Frank.

Before you start, I don't intend to wizz on any wasps, but the thought of a creature making choices for me, well that could work couldn't it?

So without further ado here are the felines that are going to aid me in my first test, and the undisputed stars of this post: Bootsy Mann (Left) & Mousey Brown (Right)...

Yes they've got surnames, what of it?

Anyway, by merging the theme of the Oblique Strategies and running with the idea of my cats giving me creative direction, I came up with The Furry Gamble: A creative problem solving exercise which puts creative direction in the hands, or should I say, paws, of animals. The process involves placing a handful of treat enclosed envelopes, each with its own creative direction, in front of a co-operative critter and waiting to see which envelope it chooses.

The directions I picked for my first test are: make it ugly, make it pretty, make it simple, and make it complex. Why? Because they feel both broad enough to work with and specific enough to be constrained by.

As for the all important creative "dilemmas":

Dilemma a.) I plumped for the I-V-vi-IV chord progression, in a attempt to do something interesting with a common musical formula.

As my cats are helping me out, I figured for dilemma b.) I'd do a portrait of them. Which if I'm honest, doesn't sit easy as I personally find the idea of it a little too cute, and dare I say it, naff. But "Wou-Wou..." is about pushing myself into uneasy territory, so I guess it's the right thing to do.

And to prove chivalry isn't dead, the direction of dilemma a.) will be determined by Mouse, and dilemma b.) Bootsy. 

Right then, enough blather, it's experimentin' time...

That's that then. Do something pretty with the ol' I-V-vi-IV and do an ugly animal portrait... that shouldn't be too hard. 

Come back next week for the results, if you like.


- The Wormling

P.S. In case you enjoyed it, 'Sassafras' (the track on the vid) is now available as a free download from the 'Wou-Wou & The Wormling' SoundCloud page here, or if you're feeling lazy, at the bottom of this blog.