Originally released on Band Camp as a series of four EPs. The end result of recorded jam sessions in my garage between 2014 - 2019. During this time I was learning to play drums and experimenting with live sound recording techniques. The objective was to create music whereby all the instruments and sounds were recorded live in the garage; acoustic drums, synth, keyboards, guitars and bass were captured live through amps and microphones.

My long-time jamming buddy, Darren Leigh, came along for the ride. He plays guitar and bass on several tracks.

Over 20 songs were jammed, written and recorded. Some are a little rough around the edges and others are quite polished. Because these songs cover a 5 year period, they are quite eclectic.

OverDrive a rockin’ groovy song with Darren playing second rhythm guitar.

GearHead owes its origins to a guitar riff that Darren came up. It’s 80’s rock with power chords!

Rosemary is a spontaneous 1-take improv’ with bass and drums overdubbed later. Darren plays Pink Floyd influenced lead guitar on this - hence the songs title.

Slowburn is one of those songs that was conjured from the ether. It’s foundation is only two chords (A, F) and is played with subtle nuance taking on a seductive hypnotic quality.

Drive is a rough demo with bombastic acoustic drums. The lead guitar played by Darren is a continuous single take. This classic rock style song is a blues as we get. Someday we might record a polished version.

Sunshine is an upbeat and spacious instrumental that is fun to play and makes me feel happy. This song needs lyrics and perhaps one day, I’ll write them.

Coasting, a melodic and intense song in two parts. The second half with it’s distorted synth violin and fast strummed guitar, builds up to return to where it begins. Darren plays a great thumping bass line.

The Winter Son with it’s lush big chords and snare drum roll adheres to pop-song writing conventions and deserves lyrics. Darren plays second rhythm guitar.

South, an acoustic guitar only instrumental that goes back many years (2005) has been revised with up-tempo guitar, bass and drums with accompanying lead guitar.

Theories are for Dreamers began as a piano based piece of music with the intent for it to work as music for film. Like a lot of the songs I write, this one has two distinct parts. The second half breaks into an indie-rock guitar lick.

A song influenced by one of my favourite bands. It Could Be Gremlins is my tongue-in-cheek loving tribute to Mogwai (from Glasgow, Scotland).

The Drop has foundations in an ascending minor chord scale which builds up to a mid-section which catapults into a guitar driven outro. You should definitely hang around for the second half of this song!

Black Light is a deconstructed song put back together in a different key. It was intended to be a mellow instrumental but the song demanded a little heavy chorus.

Shift, this song with it’s staccato rhythm and layered guitar and piano parts builds up to wonderful pause at the apex.

Empty Space is a redux version of The London Room. While jamming out this version in my garage with friends, an open, subdued guitar riff manifested which changed the feel of the song. This recording attempts to capture that feeling.

Slowburn (first degree remix) an alternate take with new drums and synth parts recorded.

Coasting (short trip remix) is an extract from the second part, reworked with some guitar parts removed, showcasing the layered synth parts and ebow.

Credits:
Guitars, bass, keyboards and drums - Damian K. Sheiles. Additional guitars on 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and bass on 7 and 17 - Darren Leigh. Drum loops on Empty Space - Total Drumming Mick Fleetwood. All songs produced by Damian Sheiles.