Week 136: Plan B

Hi Guys!

And now for my next gig... Yes, It's free! 

It's a tiny place in Gracia. It can probably fit a maximum of 38 people. There is no P.A. system, mic or even an amp, so it will be completely unplugged! It's a chance for me to play in an intimate space and invite some friends to perform some of the songs with me. I hope that some members of the BAMM covers jam can also take part and help with the singing. 

An informal evening of original music. Come and have a drink with us, a great excuse to catch up with old friends and invite new ones too!!  See Facebook Event

I actually accidentally erased my complete YouTube account of 24 videos for RedEyeZack!!!! Shit can happen with technology, so always have a plan B (and a plan C if you live in Spain;) I've switched over to Vimeo until I find a solution: https://vimeo.com/user18740133

PLJ

Zack aka RedEyeZack

Week 123: Covers Progress

Hi Guys!

I was at the Nike FlyKnit product launch this week. It was a beautiful structure and a great piece of engineering. Looks like a great place for a private party. I gonna get me one for my garden! Very interesting promotion, great branding and lots of money to do things properly :)!

It was a productive week for the Pop/Rock CoversBand Project

Songs Practiced:

One Key: C (Original)

Wonderful Life: (Original Em), key Gm (Play Em on 3rd fret)

Mad World: (Original Fm), key of Gm (Play Em on 3rd fret)

Light my fire: In original Key of Am.

We arrived at El Patio Studio at 9.15pm. It was the first time I had seen Luis and we went down to the basement. There were 2 small rooms, a medium sized room and a larger room with a sofa.

The studio was well equipped with amps, cables, mics and mixer.

We set up the mics and positioned the instruments in a circle. By 9.30pm the others were arriving and we began with our first song- One by U2. We played round and round with chords to the verse, Am D F G for 10-15 minutes taking it in turns to enter. I started with the acoustic guitar for 4 bars, then Sheera entered with Ukulele, 4 bars later Luis started with Clean Electric guitar. Then Gustavo came in on the drums, Dom added more rhythm on acoustic guitar 2, Carolyn created bass notes on her trombone, Miquel entered with Acoustic guitar 3 and finally Narani began with the first verse.

We then worked on the chorus C Am F C & finally put the whole song together. It was great because everyone was listening to each other and playing steadily.

2 hours went really quickly and we also did; Light my fire (the doors), Mad World ( Tears for fears), Wonderful Life (Black).

We shared the cost of the large room which was 17e/hour, so it worked out about 3euros each. Much better than going to play in the music bar, cheaper and more productive. We are planning to put a set of 15 songs together then start looking for small venues to make some fun gigs. Great way to join in, sing in English and learn words to great songs.

We look forward to seeing you at our first concert!

Zack & Members of Pop/Rock Coversband at BAMM

Miquel - piano/guitar

Narani - vox

Gustavo - drums

Luis - Electric gtr w/effects

Dom - Rhythmn Gtr

Carolyn - Trombone

Sheera - Ukulele

Tony - Guitar/Vox

Manel M - Acoustic Guitar 2

Guests Singers: Ester Galeote & Elena Mendez  Jose Galeote

Other songs: (Click o song for YouTube video link)

Wicked game (Chris Isaak)

1. Mad World Tears for fears

2. My Immortal Evanescence

3. One U2

4. Stand By Me Ben E. King

5. Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay Otis Redding

6. Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd

7. Wonderful Life Black

8. Wonderwall Oasis

9. Light My Fire The Doors

10. Another Brick in a Wall Pt2 Pink Floyd

11. Hey Jude The Beatles

12. Fields of Gold Sting

13. California Dreaming

14. Angie

15. Mrs. Robinson/ The sound of silence

16. Every Breath You Take Sting

Source

Week 122: Setting up a Pop/Rock Coversband at BAMM II

Hi Music Lovers!

We had a fantastic evening of live music at El Nostre Raco, (C/ Boria 22, Barcelona, ES) the other week! There was a surprise in store for us too... It made the evening an experience & surprisingly more interesting as well.

Making A Pop/Rock Covers Band

We were about 12 people, 6 musicians and 6 listeners who doubled as our audience & singers. They helped us to select 15 songs from a list of around 50.

We separated into 2 groups. Musicians and audience. We made 2 seperate

lists and then compared them.

Here are the songs the musicians collectively selected: (Click on song for YouTube link)

Another Brick in a Wall Pt2 Pink Floyd

Light My Fire The Doors

Mad World Tears for fears

One U2

Stand By Me Ben E. King

Wonderful Life Black

Wonderwall Oasis

So we started by giving a preview of some of the songs by singing

them. After about 3 songs, a party of about 15-20 people arrived with

5 or 6 classical guitars!

They were a flamenco group called Tuna! Apparently it was their 20

year anniversary party of when they first started the group when they

were jamming  in El Nostre Raco.

They were very loud so we couldn't hear ourselves play. We quickly

selected the next song and began as soon as they had finished. Then

when we finished, they began... It was very funny and like a battle of

the bands! They joined in with our songs and we joined in with theirs.

People have been playing at el Nostre Raco for 37 years.

Related article: Week 118: Setting up a Covers Band

Source

Week 119: Technology as an Accelerator

Hi Guys!

I wanted to do something simple like a slideshow with all those lovely photos that I´m taking. So I uploaded to FLICKR and embedded to my website and blog. Only problem is that people on mobile devices couldn´t see the slideshows! Then I tried with HTML5 but it didn´t work.

Finally good old YouTube and movie maker (free in windows) gave me this result. I played around a little more and added my guitar audio tracks as background music as well as effects and cool transitions between the pictures. I could also add text to some of the pictures. Finally add intro title and credits at the end and voila! You have a more interesting way of looking at photos.

I'm also preparing some Pink Floyd songs for our Jam session this coming Friday 15th Feb. We are planning some gigs and recordings in the coming months.

Look forward to seeing you there and streaming online in the near future.

Zack a.k.a. RedeyeZack

Here's an interesting reference to technology in music:

David Byrne, founding member of the Talking Heads, label owner, Byrne makes the point that while technological innovation creates efficiency for the savvy artist, technology alone cannot enable you to have a successful career. 

Source

Week 117: Playing Covers - Beatles Night at BAMM

I joined the Barcelona Amateur Music Makers for their Beatles night. Miquel had printed sheetmusic copies of 6 or 7 songs. Were were a small group of musicians around a piano. It was great to hear the saxophone. We also had guitars, vocals and two ukulele's.

It was fun to sing together. I've always been a big Beatles fan. Here are some pictures and a slideshow of the event. Doing cover versions is a great way to collaborate with other musicians.

It's possible to connect and find common ground when you play songs that you love.

So I've decided to put a covers band together. I'm looking for a core of musicians; Bass, Guitar, piano, percussion. The idea will be to introduce other members of our BAMM community into the coverband to perform in front of friends at small event and house parties.

If you would like to join us then please drop me a line at zackqureshi@gmail.com

Checkout my cover of One featuring Albert Greenlight.

Source

Week 115: Seeking Small Venues to Perform In

Hi Music Lovers! On Tuesday Jan 8th, I went to check out a bar in Gracia called 'Alfa‎ Bar'.

C/ Gran De Gràcia, 36. 08012 Barcelona. Tel: 934 15 18 24

The Band Out of Water formed by guitarist Gustavo Aguado (from the BAMM meetup group last week) had a gig and I decided to go and support him while checking out the venue. It was a curious mix of influences with a strong vocal performance coming from their female Jazz style vocalist (reminded me a bit of Alanis Morisett). Los pianistas Ariana Carreras y Toni del Amo y la cantante Itziar Sánchez.

The band members had their own influences with Piano and keyboard players. The venue was a good size to play for 50-80 people. The stage is lifted, so there is a distance between the audience and the performers onstage. I loved the lighting and decor, looks like a really cool place to take pics!

 As you can see, the entrance there is a bar for those who want to chat and the stage is further into the bar. There was a medium to large size mixing desk and engineer on hand.

 It was quite a dazzling looking set, maybe an idea to take live video promotion in future for one of my tracks.Love the old records on the ceiling!

Its been a busy week and I've been to 4 venues. I'm checking out the local music scene and looking for places to play. I'm in the process of also meeting the local music talent and getting to know some great bands.

Gracia seems to be the place that has a lot of small places I could play an intimate set. Informal and laid back. On Friday I decided to get fit again but avoid the gym, so I went dancing! Salsa. In fact there was a Cuban live band "Habana con Kola" Meetup event. It was nice to be able to have a social evening, let off steam and get into the latin rhythm, great fitness solution:))

On Saturday evening I ventured into a bar called L'Astrolabi in Gracia (Carrer Martinez de la Rosa 14, Bcn, Spain). It was a curious place, with a small room at the back for Unplugged performances.

Lidia Uve played unplugged in Gracia. When I say unplugged, I mean really unplugged, no speakers, no microphone, a tiny room with people sitting on the floor at the feet of the artists in the corner of the room. Standing room near the entrance from the bar and seating against the wall. I hadn't seen this since the last home party with my flatmate Moez in Brighton.

Have a great week!

PLJ

Zack a.k.a. RedEyeZack 

TOP 5 PREVIEWS:

Choose your Top 5 from my list of song demos: Previews on Artist website

Week 114: Barcelona Music Community

Hi Guys!

Welcome to 2013!

After flying in directly from my Xmas holidays in the UK, I freshened up and went on my way to join group of music lovers at a bar near the center. It was a MEETUP group called Barcelona Amateur Music Makers (BAMM)

"El Nostre Racó"

• Saturday 5th Jan at 9:00 PM
• El Nostre Racó

New year, new place!

Any nou, lloc nou! Año nuevo, lugar nuevo!

37 years of spontaneous music in Barcelona. Essential place to go!

37 anys de música espontània a Barcelona. Un lloc imprescindible!

They've had a few meeting already and it was my chance to meet the group and their organiser Miquel Ferrer (Piano/Guitar) Although they call themselves amateurs, I've seen the profiles of some of the members and some of them have galactic credentials! 

Where to park?

As you can see, it's a pretty cozy and rustic bar. There's an upstairs area for about another 10 people. I could hear 2 or 3 other groups jamming at the same time. Notice the 'guitars on the ceiling'. There was a constant flow of non-musicians too. Always ready to start a surprised clapping after hearing a 'Golden Oldie' or Beatles song.

It was good for learners of all levels. Here's me and Manel Munoz tuning up (top photo). It was also a great opportunity to sing harmonies, something that doesn't happen very often. 

I enjoyed singing without having to play the guitar too. I sang Rolling Stones 'ANGIE' with Miquel on guitar, the group did a version of HOTEL CALIFORNIA in Am. We played MAD WORLD by Tears for Fears.

 

There were 3 guitars, acoustic and classical, one flute, a ukelele, piano and some pleasing listeners who sang along. There was some improvising too. It started with BossaNova but ended up with a Beatles songbook.

 

 I know the group are practicing for a Beatles night. Whats your favorite Beatles song? Come on down and 

join us sometime.

  

Miquel and I are very willing to help you get to a level where you can perform and enjoy these songs. Gustav (Above) has a band that are performing at ALFA bar in Gracia. Join the group and let our musical spirit out. Singers and music lovers who are non-musicians are welcome to participate. It's a great night out!! Barcelona Amateur Music Makers (BAMM)

Is that Fmaj7 aug or dim??