Retrospective #07

Bill Nelson : Quit Dreaming & Get on the Beam : 1981

Although not a classic album nor one that will be too relevant to people outside of Bill’s small but enthusiastic fan base, this album was a watershed for me. Or should I say the album that was given away with it was. That album was “Sounding the Ritual Echo”. It had been put together on Bill’s simple 8 track set up, in his home & showed me the blue print to the future. A future that did not include bands, rehearsals & playing live.

I soon realized that here was a place I wanted to be, that the creative process for me was more fun than the performance, back then recording equipment & studio’s no matter how small, fell from the sky.
I was determined to have my own, so began the process of scrimping, saving & then acquiring the things I needed. This occupied me all the way through the 80’s to the early 90’s by which time I was playing live again but also had a credible home studio, even if it was analogue.

In 1993 I had a digital epiphany, I knew midi sequencers had been around for a while but I also saw the possibilities of where the recording & production were going. I was lucky to get in at virtually the basement & join the digital revolution. So began the changeover from tape & repeated takes to instant access to any part of a song & editing down the the nth degree. I have been on this road ever since, in fact I don’t think I have ever regretted taking this particular musical path.

Even Bill changed over to a Mac & the digital world in time, but it all started with his sonic experiments in his home. Legendary.