Turn on, Boot up, Jack in, and new lyrics

Since my last blog entry, I had't actually done much work on music itself. However, I have been writing quite a bit. I have also been working on purely beats and dubstep samples to create the basis for a song that sounds in the same area as 'In the Mix'. However, I will be adding guitar etc to it, which I didn't do to 'In the Mix'.

So anyway, lyrics. I have written 3 new sets, and I am happy with the way they have been written and with the subject matter. They are all about things I didn't know about before at all.

The first set I managed to finish is based around the topic of cyberpunks, and the effects the internet has had on them. To my understanding, in the 90s, cyberpunks were essentially hackers, and would hack into other PCs. However, since the internet became mainstream and secure, it became far more difficult for them to attack others. This generation has slowly dwindled in numbers - apparently, and there are few left. These cyberpunks were/are very left-wing, against the conservative elite and big corporations. So I wrote some lyrics centred around their cyberculture. The song itself is entitled 'Turn on, Boot up, Jack in' which is a quote by a cyberpunk, who originally used a similar term for art, but replaced the end with 'Jack in' in relation to PCs and hacking.

Turn on, Boot up, Jack in

Cyberpunks will graffiti your polluted firewall,
The protagonists of a different era,

Cyberart proclaiming the wired elite's downfall,
Out-of-date post-moderists

Cyberdelica is ruined by the corporations,
The problem people sustain it,

Cyberculture blocked the pc anarchist,
Clinging to the cult of the individualist,

Wriiten in April 2011

As I was writing this set of lyrics, I came across the term 'Dot-com Bubble' and thought it was a cool title. So I read into that, and before I had completed Turn on, Boot up, Jack in, I had finished a set of lyrics for 'Dot-com Bubble'. I am particularly pleased with these lyrics, as they are not only very factual but colourful, but also I'd say well written. This song is all about an ecomonic boom that was created by small web-based companies. It made trillions in a short period of time. However, it didn't last, and many of these companies became bankrupt, etc.

Dot-com Bubble

Stocks, and shares, and shit,
Footsie one hundred and the rest,
Economic prosper from it's popularity,
Peaks and soars, tip of the millennium iceberg,

Nasdaq, rubbed metaphorical hands with glee,
Mosaic, browse and boom, that easy,
You dot-com companies, you rose, you fell,
Growth over profits; a day in the sun, a life in a cell,

By 2000, the bubble burst, pop,
It popped you bad, bankruptcy and fraud,
Warring tycoons and CEOs melting down,
Liquidated and now buried in the ground,

Boohoo, badaboom to the boo.com
Alliteration and onomatopiac companies gone,
No more geocities, no funding for construction,
Goodbye and farewell.com

Written April 2011

I also had started a song, which had changed several times. I wanted to write about cyberbullying. It is a very troubling topic for the internet, and wanted to write about this from a very horrible story, to make the impact greater.

I found a story about a young girl called Megan, who befriended a young man named Josh on myspace. He was very nice to her and said he had just moved to the area. He made her feel wonderful, but then began to turn nasty, insulting her etc. It got to the point where one day, she couldn't take anymore and she hung herself in her closet. What makes this story worse is that the boy was a grown woman, who lived in the same area as the girl. The woman and her daughter didn't like this girl, and so wanted to bully her through a sockpuppet (or fake person on the internet). This woman, Lori Drew, was not imprisoned for this, and that sickens me. It is such a sad story, and I didn't know what angle to write it from. Here is the finished lyrics.

Sockpuppet

A sockpuppet persona,
Under a masquerade of lies,
Her despicable disgrace,
Behind a boy's eyes

The sockpuppet, an alias called josh,
Raised the girl's spirits with gentle words,
Flipped the coin, darkened her esteem,
A joke, a hoax, an online maim,

The victim was at an age
Where her life bloomed and blossomed,
The sockpuppet's evil game,
Left her motionless, wilting, hanging in a cupboard,

Her final words, are of the vulnerable
Strikes a chord, with even the toughest heart,
"You’re the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over."
The sockpuppet took her life, before it could start

I had the music sitting about that I thought 'Turn on, Boot up, Jack in' would suit. So a good bit after writing these lyrics, I got a day to record, and that's what I did. I had the beats sitting about, and wanted to put a good guitar riff to it, but none were working. I left one in, which slowly goes through each verse. Most of the song is made up of keyboard and paino riffs, used with my fx pedals. It has created a very dark, Thom Yorke/NIN/Aphex Twin sounding song. I then put singing to it, and due to environmental constraints and also just because I wanted to try it, I sang the song very quietly with some hugh pitched backing vocals. The singing is again, reminiscent of Thom Yorke. Finished the song, and it sounds great. I may also record a version with screaming singing and see if it sounds better. Turn on, Boot up, Jack in, Generation Z, Clean Slate Program, and cover version of Radiohead's 'Videotape' have all been put up on youtube.

More songs will, undoubtly, be worked on. That's 16 Anonymous songs. All good. Oh, also got a bandcamp page that I am adding to at the moment.

Watch this space,
Wullae

www.youtube.com/wullaewrightmusic
www.wullaewright.bandcamp.com

16th of April 2011 - More Statistics

So, here are some statistics from varies Wullae Wright profiles, and some general information about Anonymous:

Soundcloud -

Between 11 of April - 17 of April, the most popular countries I have been listened to in are:
27% United States
20% United Kingdom
10% Canada
10% Turkey
5% Germany

Overall listens are 1438, downloads stand at 108, favourites are at 1, and comments 4 in total. The largest listens is with my Gnarls Barkley cover of 'Crazy' at 475. Interestingly and a nice surprise is that 'Building a Nest' downloads have increase by 100% due to three downloads on it this week! This delights me.

Youtube -

I have 4 subscribers at this moment in time (most my friends)' the channel has been viewed 255 times; I have a total of 24 videos at the moment, with my most viewed video being 'Operation Payback' at 140 viewings.

Myspace -

I have three pages, and the most interesting information from the pages are the profile views, which are:

Wullae Wright - 12238 profile views
After. The. Rush. Hour's. Gone - 472 profile views
Be Lucky - 461 profile views

Anonymous -

I have put Anonymous songs on soundcloud and youtube at the moment, but I have began to arrange them into an order for an album, which is subject to change as more songs are recorded. However, this is how the album will look:

1. Ctrl+Alt+Del
2. Klez the Conquerer
3. Plum_boy03
4. Troubleshooting
5. Don't Feed the Troll (Pt. 1)
6. Honey-trap
7. Sexploitation
8. Operation Payback
9. Generation Z
10. Hactivists (welcome to the Anonymous)
11. Don't Feed the Troll (Pt. 2)
12. Clean Slate Program
13. Slave Master
14. Video Nasty
15. The Search

There will be more songs added. At the moment I am very very happy with this as an album, and think it is one of the best pieces I have done to date.

Watch this space,
Wullae

Search: wullae wright

Troubleshooting, Generation Z and Clean Slate Program

...I have been busy, and for some reason nowhere near this blog. Many apologises for the huge gap. So what the hell have I been up to.

Well to begin with, I began a new version of Troubleshooting. I liked the original version I recorded, but didn't think it fit with the collection of 'Anonymous'. So I began work on a new version. I had an idea to cut up different beats, and put them as the main beat. So I did that, and added the tune to it. Sounded great. I added vocals, some bass, and two other guitars parts. The end result was a great wee recording.

So after doing all the editing etc to this, I put it up on youtube. A shot time after finishing Troubleshooting, I had the idea to record some video acoustic versions of the songs, and so set about this. I did acoustic versions of: sexploitation, Troubleshooting, The Search, Video Nasty, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Don't Feed the Troll (part 2), and Honey-trap. I have put a few of them up on youtube already. The Search acoustic got a couple of nice comments, which is nice. Even my wife liked it, and she normally refers to this type of music of mine as 'alien music'. I want to record all the songs this way, maybe even make piano versions of the original Anonymous collection. Who knows. Too many ideas, not enough time for them all.

So anyway, days later I was in the livingroom of the flat, playing the guitar and came up with a good riff. Very different from what I'd normally do. It sounded almost Radiohead-ish, from In Rainbows - which isn't much of a surprise considering for weeks I endlessly listened to the album from start to finish over and over again.so managed to come up with a verse and chorus riff, which I was particularluy happy with. Didn't know what lyrics to put to the song. So on the day of the recording that's when I used a set of lyrics I had started entitled 'Generation Z'. I only finished them after I had finished recording the entire track. I had a verse and chorus. Just needed a new verse, and I wrote it on the spot, in a few minutes. I actually quite like the lyrics to the song. It is about the generation between 1990-2000 who became a generation of internet users. There has been studies on kids etc from this time and the negative effects the internet has had on them.

Generation Z

If you were a 90s baby,
You were born to waste,
Friendships blossomed,
Through the digital age,

You digital natives,
Attention deficits,
Attention corruption,
Your computer babysitter,
You are Generation Z,
Unambitious deliquents,

Psychologists exam you,
Qwerty is the only language you understand,
Use your imagination, and go outside,
Speak to real people, not through your ipad,

So before these lyrics were finalised and incorporated into the final song, I had to record it. Started by trying to find a distorted tone that was quite dry, due to the starting and stopping of the riff. Took me quite a while to get this. With age my patience must have improved, because I used to get so frustrated it I couldn't get the correct sound I wanted. Now, with a little maturity, I will search with little irritation. Anyway, I digress. So managed to find one, and recorded it first time to a cool rock drum riff I had. Came up with lead on the spot - for the chorus, which is excellent I must say, and makes the song even better. I recorded another guitar, and bass which follows the main riff. The verse needed a different drum pattern as it didn't quite work very well with a constant beat due to the nature of the riff. So I cut up the drum beat, added a few noises too, and came up with a pretty cool beat for the riff. The song was sounding amazing. I then added a solo at the end, very simple, but sounds amazing. It was intentional to make an easy solo, as the chorus lead is a little complicated, as is the main riff. Another fast-paced, lead solo would have been too much. So the simple solo was much better to go for. Method in the maddness. I then added the vocals to the song, and I went for it, ignoring everyone and everything else. To be honest, I could have went for it more, but it still sounded great by the end. I have now been using fx no. 9 on my zoom pedal. Much better for vocals. Still have to edit out gaps between vocals as there can be hissing, but much better.

So then that leads me up to a closer time, as in, nearer to now than what I have previously written...I don't know why I have made this more complicated when it is fairly simple. Anyway. So days ago, I sat down to the computer again. I had a set of lyrics sitting I had actually forgotten about but had only recently written - I think I'm losing it btw. The lyrics are about a study going on in a University in America called 'Clean Slate Program', which is looking at the internet, and examining things like, what if they started the internet again, what could they improve; and what maistakes are there with the current internet, etc. So writing about this, but also using it as a metaphor for normal life with general mistakes people can make, I wrote 'Clean Slate Program'.

Clean Slate Program

Imagine if you could unplug the world,
Kill everything (it) off, and start again,
Re-write the word of gods, reboot the entire system,
If you could wipe, the slate clean,

Replace vulgar profanities, with humane pleasantries,
Imagine if you could remedy all your mistakes,
Eradicate imperfections, and wastegrounds,
If only, you could wipe that slate clean,

You started and nothing can stop you,
Can only hyopthetically wipe the slate clean,
Where will it go from here, it's direction?
It gets your attention, and sucks you in,

Where will you be in 15 years?
What technologies will you live with?
Where will the real and the virtual world meet?
And what which eventually, kill you?

Written in April 2011

When I sat down to record, I thought about an old riff I have, which is entitled 'Hymns of Democracy' - in my crazy Communist days. However I wanted to update it, and tried to do so in the 'In Cloud Cuckooland' days, however I could never ever get a good recording of it. But today, I would persever. So I did. And it turned out to be a great recording sessions. I even screamed my arse off when singing. Was fucking great. So anyway, I recorded the bass riff. After getting the right effect, it sounded amazing. Deep, bassy, just perfect. The old riff used to be a funky tune, with a wah wah guitar riff. So I considered it for 'Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey' at first, but then came up with a cool guitar riff for it, on the spot. That changed the sound and direction of the tune. I then added another guitar (rhythm based). Had got a good drum beat to put it to, I then added a weird vocal using my echo and zoom pedals, and then recorded the vocals to the lyrics. I did a couple of tries. The last one of great! Lovely screaming. Couple of out of key vocal notes in two lines, but nothing that would ruin the song. What really makes the song great for me is the editing, of the drums, and the way the instruments and their riffs are very loose around one another. It creates a simple, and quiet chaos, which I like. After listening to a song over and over again,you kind of gradually don't realise what it actually sounds like, if that makes sense. It like a painting, you have to go away and when you come back you see it in a totally different way. When I listen to 'Clean Slate Program' on my ipod later, it sounded unbelievably good. It is one of the best recordings I've done in a long time.

And that's that. Up to date and having good times recording. More, will definitely happen, most definitely.

Watch this space,
Wullae

www.youtube.com/wullaewrightmusic
www.soundcloud.com/wullaewright