The album Born From Bohemia is a work in progress...
Recording for this began in June of 2009 and will continue until all ten songs are done...
I will be recording one song at a time and posting them on this website as they are completed...
Below you will find my notes on the songs, lyrics, details of the recording process and other info...

Where is Home is the fourth song recorded for Born From Bohemia. I wanted to record this song next because it was written in December 2007 and the lyrics of the song have special meaning at this time of the year...
What it is about...
This is a song about missing home but at the same time not really knowing where home is. At the time that it was written it was December 2007 and I was on tour with Melotia. We had just finished playing a show in Sacramento California and were on route to a diner to get something to eat. The tour life of playing unpredictable shows and sleeping in unpredictable places was getting me down and I was feeling more out of place than usual. Being an Australian living in the US has for the most part been a positive experience for me. But at times I have felt like a foreigner who doesn't belong. I guess I had that feeling on this particular night. At the same time I was feeling down about the struggle of being the leader of an independent band fighting against all odds to "make it". The show we had played that night was a disappointment. The room was relatively empty and the promoter (who hadn't done anything to promote the show) left the venue before we were done and failed to pay us. As we were driving to the diner I started to hear this song in my head. When we got to the diner the boys went inside to eat and I stayed in the van, penned the lyrics and recorded a rough demo of the song using my digital recorder (I still have that demo on my iPod). The verse and chorus lyrics cover the loneliness of being in a foreign place away from my family and friends, yet not really feeling like where I came from is my "home" anymore. The bridge lyrics convey the emotions of being a struggling musician trying to make it...
Recording it...
As usual drums were recorded first. This time around I used what are called "Rute Sticks" on the drums. These are similar to "brushes" and allow for a more gentle attack when hitting the drums. I didn't want the drums to sound to abrasive for this one. With drums complete I recorded the main guitar track. For this I used my Takamine C-132S Nylon String Classical Guitar. I bought this guitar when I was fifteen years old and when I moved to LA back in 2003 I sold it to my sister and brother-in-law. I didn't want to let the guitar out of the family. When I visited Australia in October of this year (2009) I asked my sister and brother-in-law if I could purchase it back from them as I wanted to use it to record. They were kind enough to pass it back to me. Thanks Meaghan and Dion! This is the first time since I have owned the guitar that it has ever been recorded. With the main guitar track done I recorded a clean guitar track using my Fender Custom Stratocaster. I then recorded and acoustic guitar track using my Ibanez Acoustic guitar. That guitar is a $200 piece of crap but for some reason it seems to record really well. Next I recorded bass and once again used a Music Man StingRay bass for that. With bass done I moved on to record the guitar solo/melody using my Gibson Platinum Studio Les Paul. I employed the same technique of using a Zippo Lighter as a "slide", the same as I did for the solo on Feeling Fear. Maybe one of these days I'll actually buy a slide. I then recorded an organ track using the Sample Moog Pro Tools plug-in and a Synthesizer track using the Nexus Pro Tools plug-in. I then recorded various percussion tracks ... a shaker in the first chorus, some "finger clicks" also in the first chorus (snap snap!) and two tambourines that start on the second chorus and remain until the end of the song. With music complete I then moved onto the vocals and got them knocked out over the course of a few days. And there it is... I hope you enjoy it!
The Lyrics...

Now I'm here
I came from nowhere and now I'm back again
No more fear
You've gotta miss something to feel like you are missed
Lost in time
In places where there are words I do not understand
Fractured mind
I've lost it all, I've even lost things you cannot win

Where is home?
Where I chose to do the best I can
I don't know
Where I'll go if this was all to end

One goodbye
And here we are, am I far from where I need to be?
No reprise
I carry on, forever drawn to live what I believe

Sunday I'm going crazy
Monday I'm almost maybe
Today I'm gonna make it

Where is home my friend
Sunday I'm going crazy
Home is where I am
Monday I'm almost maybe
Where is home my friend
Today I'm gonna make it

Where is home?
Where I go
Home is where I am
Leaving You is the third song recorded for Born From Bohemia. I decided to record this song next because it has been a particular favorite of mine since it was written. The vibe of the song is something I've never really produced before.
What it is about...
As the title would suggest the song is about the end of a relationship. I wrote this song some time around the beginning of 2006. At the time I had met a girl and was seeing her casually although we weren't technically in a relationship. After a few weeks it was pretty apparent to both of us that we were complete opposites and that we had very little in common. We mutually agreed to go our separate ways. A few weeks later some Hollywood gossip caught up with me and I heard several different versions of our story (mostly fictional) from people I didn't even know. The superficial nature of the whole ordeal inspired the song. Although the "topic" of the song is "one person leaving another", it is conveyed in a playfully light tone...
Recording it...
Once again, the drums for Leaving You were recorded in the same session as the drums for Feeling Fear and Sunset 101 some time around the middle of 2006. I manipulated the sound of the drums somewhat to vary it from the sound on Sunset 101 (mostly with EQ and compressors). With drums wrapped I recorded the acoustic guitars and then added the bass. I used a Taylor 214-CE acoustic guitar for the acoustic tracks (the same one used on Sunset 101) and used a Music Man StingRay bass for the bass track. Next I recorded the electric guitar tracks with my Fender Custom Stratocaster. I used a variety of digital effects on these tracks (Chorus, Delay, Phaser). Next I threw some tambourine in there for good measure. I then recorded an organ track using the Hammond Organ plug-in in Pro Tools. That thing sounds amazing. And last but not least I recorded the vocals. Vocals for this one took a few days. Behind the main vocal track there are low and high harmonies that come in on the second and third choruses respectively. There is a second main vocal in the third chorus that repeats part of the lyrics. Since this song was written I've had a visual image of the song being performed in a busy cafe/club environment with people dancing and eating, festive almost. To help set the scene for that I added some "busy crowd" samples to the beginning of the song. I hope you like it...
The Lyrics...

I know, I know you want it
Though you said you want it your feelings are falling away
I am pondering on it
Singing up a sonnet so my feelings will fall into place
You said, you said I've got it
And even if I had it you were looking the other way
Now I cannot see beyond it
You cannot conceal it ‘cos it’s written all over your face

I can see it’s true
I am leaving you

I cannot pretend you want it
I’m trying to believe it as your feelings are starting to fade
You said “He said she said it”
We might as well forget it when everything seems so lame
I am looking for a reason
To tell you that I’m leaving but the reason is on my face
She said “She’s gotta feel it”
Yeah she’s gotta mean it but the meaning was stolen away

I am lost in a dream
What I’m not is what you need

You’ve gotta see it
You’ve got to admit it that your feelings have floated away
How the hell can you permit it
I know I’ll be committed but commitment is going to wait
Sunset 101 is the second song recorded for Born From Bohemia. I decided to record this song second because, although it was written some three years ago, the lyrics have significance at this point in my life in 2009...
What it is about...
This song is basically about the fantasy of dropping everything and getting away from it all when things are getting stale. At the time that it was written I had been submerged in the process of recording the first Melotia album (Every Waking Moment) for about eight months. I was in our studio in Silverlake every single night until four or five in the morning and at some point I hit a brick wall. To help alleviate the stress of the studio I started surfing more regularly. I would drive from my house in North Hollywood to Malibu which would require driving down the 101 freeway. And often times I would be doing this towards the end of the day (hence the title Sunset 101) because I don't like getting up early in the morning and the surf would be less crowded in the early evenings. During one of these drives I wrote this song in my mind. It has always been a fantasy of mine to live in a house by the ocean. At the time I was imagining that I was driving down the 101 to my beachfront home and envisioning life by the ocean...
Recording it...
The drums for Sunset 101 were recorded in the same session as the drums for Feeling Fear, around the middle of 2006. I had not listened back to the tracks until July of this year. I recorded the acoustic guitar first and then added the bass. I borrowed a friend's Taylor 214-CE acoustic guitar for this song (thanks Tommy) and used a Music Man StingRay bass for the bass track. With acoustics and bass done I wrote and recorded the piano track and some electric guitar tracks. I used both my Gibson Platinum Studio Les Paul and my Fender Custom Stratocaster for the electric guitar tracks. From there I recorded the vocals over the course of three days. At this point I wrote and recorded an orchestral string arrangement and finished the tracking off with some tambourine.

The Lyrics...

Lonely days that form cold and lonely nights
I'm going crazy as time just passes by
In the City of Angels none reside, I realize

Sunset Maybe I'm leaving you behind
As I'm driving down the 101 tonight
I search for hours and finally I find a beacon of light

I drive all night, I dream tonight
Of an ocean paradise
I try to find a place to hide
From the life I left behind

As I stare at the stars that light the sky
I see myself in another place and time
By the ocean I'd play guitar and write of happier times

I'd spend the summer just breathing in the air
I'd watch the sunset and watch it rise again
Just an omen that one day I'll be there without a care

I left it all behind...
The first song recorded for Born From Bohemia is a song called Feeling Fear. I have no specific reason as to why I chose to record this song first. It just felt like a good one to start off with. Here are some notes on the song...
What it is about...
This song is autobiographical and deals with the somewhat abstract concept of fearing fear itself. The catalyst for this song was the abrupt end of my relationship with a girl back in 2006. The verse and bridge lyrics illustrate the specifics of what I was going through at the time. The chorus speaks for itself. The relationship had provided me with a sense of safety and belonging, feelings I'd not felt for a while at that point in time. When it ended I found myself feeling as though I had to rebuild my strength again and perhaps build some new boundaries. Writing this song helped me to do that...
Recording it...
First, some background... Around the middle of 2006 I was halfway through recording Melotia's first album Every Waking Moment when I hit a brickwall. The recording was dragging on and I needed a break from the monotony. The other guys in the band had gone away for a few weeks on vacation. I decided to take a break from the Melotia recording and spend a few days recording drums for some of my solo songs. Over the course of three days I recorded drums for 9 songs. The song Feeling Fear was one of those songs. The drum tracks were stored on a backup drive and have been sitting idle in my studio for the past 3 years. Thus, when it came time to record this song the drums were already done. I first recorded the guitars, bass, organ and added some percussion. I wanted to go for the "country slide guitar" feel for the guitar solo (after the second chorus) but found that I didn't have a slide handy on that particular day. So I actually played the guitar solo using a Zippo Lighter as the slide! It did the job ... Vocals were recorded next and the last thing I added in was a cello orchestral arrangement.
The Lyrics...

When everyone was gone and I had given up I found you here
And all the words of love that I told you, like winter leaves they fell on deafened ears

And my only fear is
And my only fear is feeling fear
And you left me here with
Yeah you left me here with feeling fear

I'd talk to you for hours, you made me feel like we were meant to be
And as fast as this song it was over, I'm sinking like a stone cast out to sea

Say goodbye, it's forever, I am gone this time
For all your lies it is over, still I question why
Say goodbye, it's forever, I am gone this time
For all your lies it is over...