Inspiration

As a born 'n bred Australian songwriter I appreciate, above all, lyrics that will compliment a tune by their intelligent use of syllable placement, breaks, rhyme and rhythm, as well as possessing a great story telling capacity. The Old Masters of Australian rock — Cold Chisel's 'Khe Sanh' or Midnight Oil's 'Lucky Country' — are prime examples of such.

Beyond Australian shores I consider Mackelmore a modern-day musical genius; gifted with all the above.

In terms of music, I'm always looking for that 'ambient touch' that will accompany the song's story. My appreciation of Electro, Psychedelic, and House for their ability to transport the listener through a transient cascade of incredible vibes, plays a big part in how I try to structure songs. From Fischerspooner to Dom Dolla, or from Tame Impala to Daft Punk, I love everything about their hammer, anvil and stirrup crushing music.

On the reverse side, I love to also play it simple; Dearest Matilda being a prime example of just going with a strong beat and non-fussed instrumentation.

An invisible partner...

As lead singer for a pop-rock group here in Lyon I soon realised that belting out a
soggy tune didn't do the musicians, our music, or myself, any justice. However,
being on the other side of the mic to concentrate solely on writing and
composing (alone) is now my place-to-be!

And I'm proud to say that I am fully utilising all the benefits that come with
producing my song's vocals through AI.

My track 'Seadogs' is the closest thing you will hear to my real voice. Recorded and edited through Cubase, the voice is around 80% Marco Bing. The additional vocals ('heave ho', and 'oh oh oh oh'... well that's 100% me).

All other tracks — including female vocals in Lest We Forget and Gone — are my own voice recordings that AI (and Cubase) have restructured. My own voice was just not up to the task to hitting the spot for what I imagined accompanying the music.

As a composer, I know exactly what voice I want to hear for my song, and most of the time it’s NOT my voice! Lest We Forget is a prime example of
me wanting rough and raspy vocals to contrast the angelic female voice that kicks off the song. I provide the foundations, AI then reconstructs.

So, with both brain and cloud drive full of lyrics and melodies, I am thrilled as punch to finally to have an AI 'partner' that can really 'listen' to what I want, and then give me studio-quality results.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this is the future of musical composition.