There’s a new 6 track EP on the way titled ‘Morning Star’ which is now up for Bandcamp Pre-Order (the Vinyl should ship 3rd July). This is my first release since 2022’s ‘Return to the Island’ and was quite a tricky one!
In all honesty i sent myself crazy with this release and the final 4 originals (with 2 Dubs) were picked from around 25 completed tracks from the last few years. I’m quite a slow producer so this was a lot of work. The original idea was another LP, but it never felt finished so i kept ploughing on trying to make very specific tracks. In hindsight this is not a great way to produce (for me anyway) and i was definitely getting in the way of the creative process. So in Jan of this year i totally stopped making any new music and also stopped listening to the tracks. With a 2 month total break, this EP revealed itself in about 5 minutes, it just wasn’t the right time for another album.
It can be hard when you’re the artist and label, I was basically A&Ring myself in the studio which is a recipe for disaster. Music making needs to be fun with a sense of freedom and i slowly ended up doing the opposite. When you’re also making the decision about what to release, it’s hard not to get caught in the over thinking trap, but its a killer when it comes to creativity, breeding self doubt and insecurity about the work. The focus becomes the outcome which definitely affects the magic of the creative process. Time away restored some perspective and put me firmly back in touch with my creative intuition. The break from hearing them was key as i’d reached the stage where my ears were playing tricks on me and I’d also exhausted the dopamine i was getting from checking them too frequently. So for the next batch, note to self………
1. identify the vibe for this period of music creation
2. 100% finish each track and move onto the next one
3. do not succumb to the dopamine pull of listening to finished tracks
4. when the folder has 15-20 tunes take an ice bath
5. brew some strong coffee
6. pick the release
I’m now back to jamming out ideas and enjoying getting into the flow state, one of the reasons I love producing. I’m trying to be a bit more disciplined with my time and do short bursts of work, rather than allocating days to the studio where it’s easy to overwork things. What i’ve been doing is writing on the move with my Groovebox (the brilliant Roland MC101) when visiting the UK recently and on a week away in Port Elliot (a beautiful spot on the coast in SA) and also whilst just lounging around on the sofa at home. This is a very relaxed way to work with no pressure. The Groovebox only has 4 channels so thats usually drums, chords, bass and one lead, so at most they are sketches, but there’s enough there to know if the idea is worth pursuing.
I just got myself the MC707 for the studio, so i’m now completing the tracks on the big brother machine that has a lot more capabilities and 8 channels. I’m also just using these 2 machines, minimising the stress of too much choice. It’s great owning a bunch of synths, but the choice is overwhelming at times so right now my approach is a lot more stripped back. I packed all the other toys away, so I’m also learning the MC707 inside out, and using one bit of kit also helps when it comes to musical consistency.
This EP being another 6 tracker feels like the final part of the trilogy alongside ‘Monster Skies’ and ‘With You’ on Temples of Jura and i feel proud of it. I’ve been doing the Jura Soundsystem project for nearly 10 years now and this does feel like the end of something, certainly when it comes to my approach so we’ll see what comes next 😀.