8 years in production, 14 original songs, 60 minutes of music
& over 20 guest artists!
To say recording my first album in 8 years has been a labour of love would be an understatement!
I started recording the demoes 8 years ago, on various devices, and I recently purchased a MacBook Pro which has revolutionised my music practice and meant I was able to bring all the demo stems together in GarageBand - before taking everything into a professional studio to work on live drums and bass and vocal and guitar overdubs.
There have been ups and downs including when I thought I'd lost all the demos when my trusty Zoom (no not that one) hard drive multi track recorded suffered a fatal blow (lesson learnt: don't stack your amps too high). Luckily the hard drive was still intact so I bought an identical device I found on e-bay and transferred all the data. Then I found an amazing piece of software that someone had written and uploaded to the net, which converts the Zoom native files to WAV's - which I was able to drag into GarageBand and continue working on them. My life and work motto : "there are no problems, only solutions.!"
In late 2021 myself and Nick Chadd (drums), Martin Betts (bass guitar) and Richard Smith (also bass guitar) started live rehearsals at my gaff. I went on a steep learning curve of MIDI programming and fleshing out the songs with lush orchestrations.
Then in early 2022 I started working with a brilliant local studio : M2 (previously Mad Mat) in Coven with the great Mark Viner Stuart and the 'Sheenius' Sheena Sear who have taken everything up to whole new level.
The artwork comes from sessions that I've been running with my company Real Arts Workshops. We encourage people of all ages and abilities to engage with making art and the drawings are indigenous style dot paintings made by me, my daughter and my partner. It's a family affair!
Read a review here
Why not make your own dot painting and send it to: alexvanndesign@gmail.com - you could win a prize, see below!!
Order YOU SHINE here
And always remember - #YouShine !
I started recording the demoes 8 years ago, on various devices, and I recently purchased a MacBook Pro which has revolutionised my music practice and meant I was able to bring all the demo stems together in GarageBand - before taking everything into a professional studio to work on live drums and bass and vocal and guitar overdubs.
There have been ups and downs including when I thought I'd lost all the demos when my trusty Zoom (no not that one) hard drive multi track recorded suffered a fatal blow (lesson learnt: don't stack your amps too high). Luckily the hard drive was still intact so I bought an identical device I found on e-bay and transferred all the data. Then I found an amazing piece of software that someone had written and uploaded to the net, which converts the Zoom native files to WAV's - which I was able to drag into GarageBand and continue working on them. My life and work motto : "there are no problems, only solutions.!"
In late 2021 myself and Nick Chadd (drums), Martin Betts (bass guitar) and Richard Smith (also bass guitar) started live rehearsals at my gaff. I went on a steep learning curve of MIDI programming and fleshing out the songs with lush orchestrations.
Then in early 2022 I started working with a brilliant local studio : M2 (previously Mad Mat) in Coven with the great Mark Viner Stuart and the 'Sheenius' Sheena Sear who have taken everything up to whole new level.
The artwork comes from sessions that I've been running with my company Real Arts Workshops. We encourage people of all ages and abilities to engage with making art and the drawings are indigenous style dot paintings made by me, my daughter and my partner. It's a family affair!
Read a review here
Why not make your own dot painting and send it to: alexvanndesign@gmail.com - you could win a prize, see below!!
Order YOU SHINE here
And always remember - #YouShine !
The You Shine Art Challenge
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You may have noticed that the YOU SHINE album includes some dot paintings and drawings on the sleeve artwork (shown here).
Your challenge is to create a ‘dot drawing’ of any subject - there's no restriction on age or ability and if you're stuck for ideas you can download a ‘how to’ guide and some printable templates below. Send a photo /scan of your artwork to: alexvanndesign@gmail.com or via social media or upload my website contact page You can download a ‘how to’ guide and some templates below. All entries will be shared on my social media (unless you tell me not to!) Happy art-making! |
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Watch a video about the Art Challenge
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Printable Downloads
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Click the image to download a
printable templates PDF. Cut out the shape then draw around it. Some are more complex than others. |
The You Shine Art Gallery
A big THANK YOU to everyone who sent in their 'You Shine' inspired dot painting/drawing or who made one on a workshop with me. They all look amazing and a few are shown below:
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From a young age, I have been exposed to a wide range of musical genres, thanks to my parents’ eclectic record collection. It included iconic albums from The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Queen and a whole catalogue of classical recordings.
This exposure allowed me to develop a high interest in music. I started playing brass in the school orchestra from the age of 7. At 14 I picked up the guitar and developed a hybrid picking style after studying people like Ralph McTell. I also play piano and started writing music at 15, usually about the human condition. I categorise these as songs about people, places and perspectives. |
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I don’t shy away from difficult subjects and these have included domestic abuse, mental health, cancer and sudden loss of a loved one.
My music has featured on independent films and numerous radio shows and I have performed at many festivals including Birmingham Songwriters’ Festival held at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, Codfest, The Chainmakers Festival and Birmingham ArtsFest.
I have regularly released albums of my songs throughout my musical career, "YOU SHINE" being my latest.
My music has featured on independent films and numerous radio shows and I have performed at many festivals including Birmingham Songwriters’ Festival held at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, Codfest, The Chainmakers Festival and Birmingham ArtsFest.
I have regularly released albums of my songs throughout my musical career, "YOU SHINE" being my latest.
I perform as a solo act and also front “The Alex Vann Band” (AVB) which features the amazing Martin Betts on bass (ex “Weirds War” and “Rachels Basement”) the incredible Nick Chadd on drums (ex “Epsilon”, “Gridlock” and “Macs Band”) and musical powerhouse Mark Leeson on piano (ex-“Quill”, “The Raymond Froggatt Band”, the UK’s No1 Rod Stewart Tribute and Musical Director of several shows).
Other writers I admire are Cat Stevens, Francis Dunnery, David Bowie, Rufus Wainwright, Glen Tilbrook, Neil Finn, Paul Simon, Roddy Frame and Duke Special to name but a few.
A notable project of mine is a documentary/ music video entitled “TWO WORLDS” written with Gary O’Dowd and presented in British Sign Language. This has been screened at film festivals across the world: UK, Canada, USA and Hong Kong. You can watch the video in the music videos section or by clicking here.
Other writers I admire are Cat Stevens, Francis Dunnery, David Bowie, Rufus Wainwright, Glen Tilbrook, Neil Finn, Paul Simon, Roddy Frame and Duke Special to name but a few.
A notable project of mine is a documentary/ music video entitled “TWO WORLDS” written with Gary O’Dowd and presented in British Sign Language. This has been screened at film festivals across the world: UK, Canada, USA and Hong Kong. You can watch the video in the music videos section or by clicking here.