Julian Coryell: Blog

Greetings everyone. I hope you're doing great. I wanted to let you know... I was supposed to go to Japan for a four month tour on March 13th of this year. I was shocked when the twin natural disasters struck to say the least. In the aftermath, as things started to unfold, it became clear that all of us were going to have to alter our plans. Ironically I had just completed a Japanese rock opera concept record intended for Japan only. When I realized I wasn't able to physically go to Japan, I felt frustrated and very sad. I wanted to be there to help somehow. I wanted to do something, anything, to reach out, connect and lessen the blow in some small way. I took an informal F.B poll asking people for their thoughts. Every response suggested getting the music out there for people to hear. After meditating on it, I decided to do an internet release of the Japanese record. It's called "Gaijin" and 50% of all proceeds will go to Japan disaster relief. This tragedy has been devastating [...]

 
Well... It's just before 7 am on January 1st, 2010.
I sit alone in my little living room, with only the ticking of the clock to keep me company.
Writing somehow soothes me. That's why I still do it I guess.
I've been thinking a-lot about today. About the time we're living in. 
I don't like it one bit.
I see so many troubling things. 
Not the least of which is the current state of the music business. It is so odd to me at present.
It really seems as if no one can be bothered to dig deep anymore... 
Did you know that music has become an ancillary art form? Merely an audio accoutrement to accompany more important technological breakthroughs like social networking and gaming? Well it has!
Seriously, when was the last time you bought a new collection of an artist's songs, sat in front of a pair of speakers (not your laptop!) and did nothing but listen to their music? Can you still do it? Or do you have to do it in conjunction with updating your Face-book [...]

I'll tell you what really troubles me these days, Pop music lyrics. 
 In the past, I might have listened to a slew of popular songs and shown you guys how they're all ripped off from songs that preceded them, a neat little parlor trick indeed. But when I sat down recently and listened to a cross-section of current chart toppers, I was kinda shocked. 
 Some lyrical samples-


 Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
'Cause when I leave for the night, I ain't coming back


 What the F is this? Is this supposed to be empowering to young women? You start your morning drinking and you stay out all night?
 How does that support your self-esteem? 
 BTW, there's nothing in the rest of this lyric that tells me why she has to behave this way. Did she have a bad childhood? Is she from an alcoholic family? Is she mentally handicapped? We'll never know.
 In the rest of the lyric, she talks about partying, [...]

I think I officially gave up on the music biz as I knew it about a year ago.

I'd been hired to play guitar on the recording of a very successful artist's CD. This artist's prior CD had done very well, selling in excess of millions. Being asked to participate in the follow up was an honor to say the least. Not just because of the predecessor's stellar sales, but because the other people involved in the new record, namely the producer, engineer and other musicians, were among the best in the industry.

I arrived at the studio the first day of tracking, full of excitement at the prospect of making music. I made sure to be there with plenty of time to be set up and ready to go when the down beat came. The other musicians were also arriving when I got there. After saying our hellos, we all loaded our gear into the live room and made small talk while getting ready. I finished setting up with plenty of time before our 11 a.m start, so I double checked my equipment, and mentally prepared myself [...]