RELEASED TODAY
SHREDZ AT AN EXHIBITION
and is on sale now

Shredz at an Exhibition:
After around 5 years of work that had suffered numerous interruptions and delays, Friday, 8th of December 2006 is a truly momentous day for me to remember.
This is the release date of my first ever solo album - “Shredz at an Exhibition” - and is therefore a tremendous milestone in my life as a musician and composer.
I feel the need at this point therefore to say a special thanks to:

Ube [Ayub Razvi] ube01@hotmail.com
Maria and Huib Wennekes of ArtnoiZe
Remco Bouwens of Rusty Cage Records
Neil Morgan of Morgan Custom Guitars
Ronnie Anderson my legal advisor

These guys have been simply wonderful to me – I know I’m a pretty lucky guy.

And a special thanks to all you guys out there that have been encouraging me along the way. Your support has meant so much to me for so long. Well, having waited all this time, I really hope you like it.. lol..

This is such an emotional moment for me that I simply don’t have the words with which to fully express it.

Buzzards:
Work outstanding:
Lead guitars – the first 2/3 of the lead guitars are complete.
Mixing.

David Cross live in Rome, Italy:
I’ve been sent the set for the concert in Rome, Feb 22nd 2007.
Time to get practicing.

Tutorials:
All of you that have been following the tutorials would have noticed that since October they’ve stopped. Sorry guys. Don’t worry though, I’ve not run out of ideas or reached the limit of my knowledge. I’ve simply not had enough time to devote to their creation. Having been working in the USA for all of October and then working on the release of Shredz from the moment I got home, something had to give. Once things have settled down a little I’ll resume this little activity.
And I have lots of cool subject in the pipeline too.

Bulldog Pickups:
Hayden [of Bulldog Pickups] and I have had several lengthy talks about my tonal needs, how my guitars interact with my Digitech 2120 processors etc, is he is now in the process of winding me some sets of pickups to test and experiment with.

Rusty Cage Records [RCR]:
As of this week, my relationship with RCR has taken a step closer.
I am now listed on their website as a supported artist.
Remco – thanks, you’ve been awesome.

Cheers

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Time for another news letter.

My broken finger:
Last Friday I went to hospital to have the dressing removed from my finger.
The specialist took a look and seemed to be happy with the way it healed.
At first I couldn’t bend it at all, but that’s largely because it has not moved at all for several weeks. Now a few days on, I can just about – but not quite – make a fist.
The finger is a little swollen, very stiff, still painful and the skin is very dry.
This coming Friday I’m set to begin physiotherapy to get it all moving properly again.
I still can’t use it to play guitar with yet as I can’t apply much pressure on it.
So I guess I just have to give it time and let nature do her thing.
In the mean time, I can still play to some extent with the remaining fingers. It’s limiting, but at least I can still work on riffs, ideas and some lead licks.

Shredz at an Exhibition:
Mastering – Remco at Autumn Music has sent me the final results of his magic.
I have to say that I’m extremely pleased and enormously thankful.
This means that I now have in my possession, the final master that is ready for production. A significant “tick in the box”.
Artwork – ArtnoiZe have finally completed all of the CD artwork having put the finishing touches to the front cover, completed the rest of the booklet and the tray card. Looking back at my original concept, this artwork is nothing like my original ideas. It is far better, I think it’s looking superb.
I owe a huge thanks to Maria and Ube for all the hard and creative work they’ve done.
Production – This is my first ever solo project. Working with David Cross as a guitarist means that I appear on a few CD’s of his. I’ve never had anything to do with the actual CD production though as it’s always been handled by others.
I never realised how much work there is involved in all of this.
All of these background tasks appear to be going ok.
So far so good - the November release date is therefore still the target
Fingers and toes still crossed!!

Buzzards:
Well given that I’ve broken one of my fingers, you’d have think I’d had to put this on hold until I’ve fully recovered. Naah!!!
I may not be able to cut a solo on the same scale as I’m used to, but I can still riff with the fingers that are working.
I decided therefore to rerecord all of the riffs and experiment with some new rhythm tones. So far, the first three rhythm tracks are cut, two remain.
And I have to say, it’s sounding much better.
Fred – Bro, did you really think that broken fingers would stop me playing??
Work outstanding:
Complete the new rhythm guitar parts
Lead guitars
Mixing

David Cross:
My studio work with David is still postponed until October / November [depending upon how the recovery is going].
David’s music is far too difficult for just three functional fingers, so unfortunately I’ll need to be in top shape before I’ll feel confident enough to take on his recording session.
David – I can’t apologise enough, but I am however healing pretty well.

So what’s new?
Well given the current situation there is some surprising news.

The Band:
It’s all well and good in the comfort of a studio creating music and having a situation whereby you can say “nah, I didn’t like that take, let’s run it again.” But the real aim is to take this music out of the studio and perform it live.
For me personally this is quite daunting as this album contains some of the most demanding lead guitar work that I’ve ever recorded.
I am now in the process of talking to some extremely talented musicians with a view to forming a band.
I’ve thought about this on and off for some time, but now I’ve decided upon a line-up.

So fingers crossed that I’ll have the line-up sorted out soon and I can aim for playing concerts in the spring.

The next album:
Given that Shredz is just about ready for production, it’s just about time to start thinking about the next project.
So, having had plenty of time to think – as opposed to spending it all playing – I’ve started contemplating the concepts upon which to create the next album.
I’ll not say too much about it at this point because I like surprises.

What I will say though is:

• The principle concept is now very solid in my head.
• It has a working title.
• The sub-themes are beginning to take shape.
• One song is already loosely written.
• I am extremely excited about this and looking forward to getting my teeth into it.

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In this news letter we have some great news and some not so great news.

Let’s get the ‘not so great news’ out of the way first:

As some of you guys may know already, I have many interests other than music one of which happens to be football [soccer to you guys from North America]. I am a goal keeper. I coach two local youth teams, one is in the Under-12 age group and the other is in the Under-14 age group. I also play myself from time to time. A few weeks ago I played in a match and made a save which has broken one of my fingers. The piece of bone that has broken off was part of the socket joint to the outermost bone in the little finger of my right hand. And most of you guys may say “that’s ok, at least you can still play cos that’s your picking hand right??” Erm…. No, cos I’m a leftie.
I’ve seen the specialist, stressing that I’m a pro guitarist and therefore my fingers mean a great deal to me, and he assured me that everything should be ok – despite the initial shock and distress I was in when I realised that it was broken.
So now my finger is in a special dressing to keep it straight until September 8th. Then I’ll be starting a month or more of physiotherapy to get everything working nice again.
Will this effect my playing?.... Yes it will.
I am going to use this time to work on my other hand with the intent of improving my picking technique.
I am determined to emerge a better player than before.
Hopefully, with effort, I can make this happen.
I’ll let you all know how things go when the dressing comes off.

So now onto the great news:

Shredz at an Exhibition:
Mastering – The Beheading of John the Baptist has now been remixed and sent to Remco at Autumn Music for mastering. So from here I simply have to wait for him to do his magic and then check out the final results.
Artwork – Ayub ‘Ube’ Razvi, has completed the graffiti part of the artwork and sent it to ArtnoiZe. This means that we have the front cover completed.
I must take this moment to thanks Ube for his work because it looks absolutely fantastic.
When ArtnoiZe have finally completed all of the rest of the cover and put on the finishing touches to the front cover, I’m convinced that this is going to look fabulous.
Makes me feel so lucky to be surrounded by so many very talented people.

So far, the November release date is looking good.
Fingers still crossed eh!!

Buzzards:
Well given that I’ve broken one of my fingers, I’ve had to put this on hold until I’ve fully recovered.
Fred – thanks for being so understanding and supportive.
Work outstanding:
Lead guitars
Mixing

David Cross:
My studio work with David was unfortunately postponed too. We are looking at re-scheduling this work for October / November [depending upon how the recovery is going].

What now?
Whilst I’m waiting for my finger to mend, I still have to work with ArtnoiZe on the CD cover art. Things like the inner pages, special thanks list etc. And I still have the misc tasks to perform with Autumn Music like getting the ISRC code for the master etc.
And the fun bit is that I’m using some of this time to start writing music for the next album.
This of course is something I’m looking forward to greatly.

Quite a lot of interesting things have happened over the last few weeks that I thought I’d like to share with you.
I’ve just returned home from Holland having spent almost a week there working with ArtnoiZe and Autumn Music.
So I’d like to take this opportunity to say a special thanks to Maria and Huib Wennekes from ArtnoiZe, and Remco Bouwens from Autumn Music.

Shredz at an Exhibition:
Mastering – This took place at Autumn Music’s studio in Holland with Remco as the mastering engineer. Overall the mastering went much better than I would ever have imagined. The music sounds it has so much more depth, definition and power. One evening I was listening to the masters at Huib and Maria’s place on their hi-fi. Huib just gave me a little smile at the end and said simply “yeah..” I was speechless – a rare thing for a Clarky.
During mastering we found that the rhythm guitars in track 7 [The Beheading of John the Baptist] are a touch low. All I need to do is strip a tiny bit of bass, and give them a gentle nudge higher in the mix. Then I’ll send the song back to Remco to re-master this song.
But that aside, Shredz at an Exhibition has been mastered.

Clarky and Remco Bouwens at Autumn Music mastering Shredz at an Exhibition. more pictures

Artwork:
Yesterday and Sunday, Maria [ArtnoiZe] and I spent many hours deliberating over the album cover. So finally after two days of sketching, talking and research we have finally come up with the look we are after.
The outcome is that Maria will create draft cover artwork to check out and we have also recruited Ayub ‘Ube’ Razvi, an infamous graffiti artist and sprayer of skate parks to contribute.
The artwork is expected to be completed in around three weeks.
Then ArtnoiZe and I will begin to prepare the press package for the record label and distribution Co shopping spree I have to do prior to release.

We have tentatively set a release date around late October / early November.
Fingers crossed eh!!

These are very exciting times and things are starting to heat up further.

Buzzards:
Given that all of the main work over the last few weeks has centred around Shredz, this song is in the same state as before. Once I’ve remixed The Baptist, I’ll be able to focus a little more studio time into completing this song.
Work outstanding:
Lead guitars
Mixing

David Cross:
Next weekend I’m scheduled to do a little studio work with David.
It looks like David is working on another album. I’ll know more about this in a few days time.

Envy:
The nice people at Morgan Custom Guitars have sent me some cool photos of the woods that the neck will be made from.
The 'equipment' page contains the photos of Envy being rebuilt.
Picture 7 - The blonde wood on the left is Birdseye Maple for the neck. The dark wood on the right is Ziricote for the fingerboard.
Picture 8 - The two pieces of Birdseye Maple that will be used to construct the neck and the Ziricote for the fingerbord.
Upon completion, Envy will be a truly beautiful guitar.

Time for another news letter.

Shredz at an Exhibition:
Mastering -
The next step towards completing my first solo album is mastering.
I’ve arranged time in Autumn Music Studios in Holland, so by the end of the month Shredz at an Exhibition will be fully mastered and will have taken a significant step closer to it’s release.
Artwork -
Whilst I’m in Holland mastering, I’ll also have a chance to spend some time with Maria from ArtnoiZe to work on the artwork. This is another significant step towards completion too.

The album is very close to completion.
Not long to go now – and for me personally these are very exciting times.

Buzzards:
The latest song that I’m working on – Buzzards – is almost complete.
Over these last two weeks I’ve managed to record the drums, bass guitar, strings, brass, clean rhythm guitars, dirty rhythm guitars.
Work outstanding:
Lead guitars.
Mixing.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a special thanks to:
Robert Lawrence Jolliffe – the National Chaos bassist.

He was visiting last weekend and just happened to have his 5-string Yamaha bass with him. Funnily enough, the next track to cut on Buzzards was bass, and sitting on the sofa, right in front of me, there in my lounge was his bass.
So of course I had to ask. Almost rude not to.
Now I’m a left handed guitarist, and this bass is right handed 5-string.
Playing it took a bit of getting used to, but I had a great time.
Playing bass is just so much fun.
Maybe I need to invest in a 5-string bass for myself – but I think it’ll be a leftie.

Thanks for all your great comments both here and on www.myspace.com/clarkymusic.

They are all just so encouraging and supportive.
Makes me feel as though I can achieve anything.

Before I continue with the latest news, I’d like to convey my deepest thanks to all of you that have signed my guestbook and made such great comments.
This is hugely encouraging for me.

On to the news:
The “tutorial” section within the site is now being created and the first few music theory items will appear soon.
The topics are numbered so they it can be studied sequentially, each tutorial building upon the last. This is ideal for those that are new to music theory.
Hopefully, I can help lay the foundations for a good solid understanding of the basic principles and mechanics of music.
Remember – music theory does not make you a better player, playing does that. Music theory will however allow you to better understand what is happening and why, which can open many new compositional and improvisational avenues.
The outcome is therefore greater choice and a wider range of options.

My own music:
Whilst I’m making preparations for the mastering of my own - and first - solo album, I have also made a start on a new composition.
This is a work entitled “Buzzards” and was commissioned by a friend of mine Frédéric Bau – who is putting together a collection of musical pieces by various artists called The Symphony of Birds.
This piece is currently in a compositional “sketch” state.
For those of you that are interested in following the progress of this work, I’ll make comments in subsequent news letters.

Once again, thanks guys for your support and encouragement.

Hi everyone and welcome to my new website with this first news letter.
I hope you all find this site as exciting as I do.

– special thanks to Maria at ArtnoiZe for the fabulous work on this site.

This site is new and currently under development so over the next few months it should hopefully grow into something very cool and interesting. I’d like to think that this site will continuously evolve and develop so your feedback and comments are always welcome.

The purpose of this site is obviously to promote me and my music both as a solo artist and as a member of the other projects with which I am involved.

This being the case, it will be here that I’ll advertise concerts with anything I’m involved with such as The David Cross Band, my own band [which is being formed right now] and pretty much anything else I do.

This will also be the website where my solo CD’s and official merchandise will become available for purchase.

Here is a little glimpse of my additional plans for this place.

I plan to create an area in this site devoted to music theory, guitar technique, studio and FX tutorials etc.
From time to time I may also post up the occasional “free” song or backing track for a little fun.
I also plan keep a concert, tour and studio diary.
And then….. well let’s just see how things pan out…..

So here goes with my first every diary entry,

Solo album: Shreds at an Exhibition.
This project has been a huge undertaking for me and has been an on going “stop start” project for the last 4 years.
Currently, all songs have been recorded and mixed.

The next step is to master the final mix’s of all the songs and sort out the CD artwork with Artnoize.

Thanks for coming to visit my site and I hope to have more news for you guys soon…