DESIGNING THE BROKEN GODS – PART TWO – CONCEPT TO CREATION

Having a clear idea of what each characters look a feel was gave Darren a solid start and quickly numerous renders of each character started to flow in. I’m quite open in letting an artist interpret my ideas in how they see fit as although I have a good idea of what I want, I don’t want to stunt the collaborative process. I like to keep my working circle small; I tend to work with the same group of creatives as they understand my process and I understand theirs; I also think loyalty goes a long way.
Once we had looked through the concepts, a couple of designs hit straight away, whereas on others it was about choosing parts of one and combining with another to create the direction I wanted the character to go.
The end result of the concept stage was the fully realised characters and very quickly an intergalactic rock band was born.
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THE WRITING PROCESS AND THE POWER OF THE PRODUCER

I work reasonably quickly and have my studio set up to accommodate that necessity and so a demo may be rough around the edges. I rarely write lyrics before I write a melody, I find that the song will dictate the vocal and once the bare bones have been laid down, I will mumble sing until I find the right vocal to fit the melody. I do however have a list of subject matters or keywords or phrases that inspire the core of a song but once I’ve found both the melody and the vocal I then start to fill in the gaps with the actual narrative of the song.
This process isn’t ideal but it works for me at this stage of my writing, I guess it’s what works for you that matters?
One thing I always do is factor in the producer when I write a song, I find that it takes a weight off of my shoulders to create a fully finalised song and focus on the key elements I’m looking to convey. That doesn’t mean that I dumb down; I always try to create a fully formed song and embellish it as much as I can but I feel confident that I can take a half-finished song to pre-production knowing that there might be enough spark in it to add to the new album.
I think it’s integral what the producer thinks about the song, do they hear it in a completely different way, would they re-envision it, leave it as is or just embellish what’s already there, either way, it makes you think, discuss and re-appraise or re-assert your opinion.
You can sit with a song for months and think it’s finished and then with a good producer it jumps to a whole new level.
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LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT, IT’S RELEASE DAY

 
Today is release day for ‘Gonna Be your Man’ across all streaming platforms, so please make sure to have a listen as it would mean a lot. If you like it then please share and if you hate it then that’s cool as well, there’s nothing better than a track that divides opinion!!!!
Recorded at Damage Audio Studios back in March, this was great to me back in the studio again with Faz, Danny and Lucas. A slight break from the usual sound, I wrote the song in mid 2024 as a not too serious, fun track that sat in the Aerosmith, Nickleback vibe that would hopefully get people up and dancing.
It was great to get Heartbreaker in the studio to record her dulcet tones as well, delivering her sultry and sexy voice over.
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DESIGNING THE BROKEN GODS – PART ONE – COLLABORATION ACROSS THE NATION

When I started Broken Gods, I knew that I wanted to work with someone who could not only create characters but also build worlds. I had a very distinct idea of what these characters were, where they were from and the direction they were going in, I just needed somebody to not only visualise and flesh out the look but also develop the brand.
I’ve known Darren Wall from Planet Jump for many years, we’ve worked on numerous animation projects and he’s not only an excellent artist but also collaborator. Being both ‘Geeks’ at heart and sharing numerous pop cultural references, Darren was the ideal choice to bring these characters and their world to life.
I sent over a written description of each character with a back story as well as a mood board, this gave Darren a glimpse into what I was thinking and a solid foundation for us to start from.
I find Mood boards invaluable when it comes to conveying the vibe of what I’m trying to create, they’re not templates but visual representations of what I feel work. Artists are not mind readers, If I can give them as much information as possible then I will.
Occasionally I will use Ai but I’ll cover my thoughts on Ai in another post.
note** these are mood board images not our designs. #designingaband #animatedrockband #BrokenGods #moodboard #artistcollaboration
 
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Back To The Studio

 One of the beauty’s of being back in the studio this week means Ive been able to use my Gibson ES-345 for the first time on a track. I’ve been a huge Back To The Future fan ever since I saw the movie at a Butlins holiday club in the summer of 86. Ive always marvelled at Marty’s Gibson and they way he made Johnny B Goode look so effortless on what I think is the pinnacle of guitar cool. This year I decided I was old enough, mature enough and stupid enough to lay out the umpteen pound notes on a Gibson and in my eyes there was only one. I wanted as close as I could get to Marty’s and when this ES-345 with varitone and Bigbsy turned up, I jumped on it as soon as I could. I’m hoping the new album will feature this marvels magic tones all the way through it. #newrockmusic #gibson345 #backtothefuture #backtothefutureguitar #backtothefuturereplica #BrokenGods
 
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LEARNING TO LOVE LEARNING AGAIN

When it comes to music, I feel like I should always be the least experienced person in the room. That way you always surround yourself with people who are not only great at what they do but they encourage you to raise your game and better yourself. I do find learning new skills harder as I get older; it’s like I have 50tb hard drive for a brain with 128mb of free memory. I wish I could delete some of the old memories I had when I was a young child or filter out the mega amount of time I behaved like a tit and replace them with new knowledge, but that would be far too easy. I find being shown or learning from others far more accessible than learning from Youtube, I just don’t have the mental capacity to relate one to the other very well.
I started taking guitar lessons this year as after 25 years of playing I never really progressed above the basic major chords. It’s been an eye-opening experience and although I struggle to remember things, its gradually going in.
A smart friend said in a blog post at the beginning of year ‘there’s never an excuse to stop learning’ and so I took that advice and if you have the time as well, learn something new, regardless of what it is!!!!
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Back In The Studio

Back in the studio with producer Faz, four months after recording the single and I’m feeling as anxious as I am excited. I really enjoyed the making of the first album; there was no self-imposed weight of expectation as I didn’t even know if anything was going to come out listenable anyway, so that was freeing. This time it’s not only are the songs any good but are they better than the previous album? I’ve heard of difficult second album syndrome but for somebody without a substantial audience, should this really matter? I’m my own worst critic but at the same time my own greatest fan, I suppose this is the mantra of the creative the world over. Its shit, its ok, its mediocre, its amazing, its shit again!!!!
Anyway, time will tell. Day one down and it was a good rolling start into production. Let’s see how the rest of the week turns out.
 
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What Is Broken Gods?

I never really harboured a desire to be a rock star. I was always a behind the camera kind of guy with aspirations to be a movie director. Broken Gods is a way for me to express myself musically without having to be the face of the band which is best for everybody  . Insanely private, you will rarely see me on camera and that’s the way I like it, but by creating Broken Gods, it enables me to scratch two itches at the same time. My desire to write music and my ability to create a cool, intergalactic band as well as work with some incredibly talented people from the world of music, art, animation and film.
A far more intelligent person than me wrote “The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination”, and so this is my journey…. Let’s see where it takes us…..
 
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VINTAGE VIBES AND THE POWER OF THE PLAYLIST :

 
On the precipice of the difficult second album, I’ve been compiling the playlist of inspiration for the studio days. I find that it gives an audible starting point to the kind of sounds that have inspired my writing or the sound I’m trying to emulate across the new tracks. When working with a producer, I can never be too organised and I find a playlist is a super simple way to convey what I’m thinking when I sometimes struggle to relay musically what I’m after. I dug through my shelf of old CD’s, mainly from the late 80’s and early 90’s and found some gems which made the playlist.
The three big UK Rock acts of the time that left a lasting impression with me were Def Leppard, Thunder and Little Angels.
I remember seeing Little Angels at the Hammersmith Apollo in 1993 when the mighty Rodger Daltrey came on for ‘My Generation’, awesome night, awesome band.
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The Original Studio

The original home studio set-up used to record the first batch of demos for the first album. Everything on hand to create as quickly as possible, this little set-up worked really well although unorthodox in its layout. Apple iMac running Logic Pro, Focusrite 18i20, KRK Rokit 5 speakers, Shure 55SH Mic, Behringer XTouch One and an Arturia Keylab 49. Various iPads connected for additional short-cuts and a pair of Beats headphones, this was really at the start of my journey into music. It’s a difficult but exciting process learning something new and not knowing whether you will be any good or not, but Ive learnt to love the journey and just see where it takes you. #homestudio #LoveRockMusic #neverstoplearning #focusrite #shuremicrophones #behringer #krkrokit #arturia

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