Song and a Chat: Recent Episodes

Pete Pascoe

Be entertained with a song and an extended chat, ranging from off the cuff banter/ humour to life observations and song analysis.

Episode #220: A Quiet Moment (Song starts at 3:31)

This episode features the song ‘A Quiet Moment’, composed by Paul Dredge and myself.

It’s a song about reflecting back on the history of a friendship, so it’s a quite a personal document, in a way.

On that intimate sort of a note, you’ll get to listen to some audio of Paul and I composing and arranging the vocals for this song. So you get hear some of the actual process of a song coming together.

The style of ‘2 voices to the fore’ appeals to Paul and I. It’s something that comes to us easily. We were inspired by the Finn Brothers (NZ), Simon and Garfunkel, the Everly brothers.

I think ‘A Quiet Moment’ is a very nice album track. Its the 3rd song on our new album ‘River Walking’ (folkrock, streaming now) – great to unwind with listening with headphones on – or in the car perhaps).

It’s a really good example of Paul and I almost in a live performance mode with the singing when the chorus hits, after a more conversational verses.

Listening to the audio of us composing together, you can hear us sort of kneading the song into shape, almost like 2 potters working on a piece of clay as it becomes art.

I’m glad we took the time to bring this song together. We’ve had it in the vault for a few years. Once we decided it needed to fleshed out and lengthened with a guitar solo it was ready. Sometimes you have to be patient. Songs seem to have a mind of their own sometimes as to when they are released out into the world.

The guitar solo was a good idea …it lead into a high lead line over the 2nd chorus that really added to the drama l – and made the recording, I think. Paul wasn’t expecting to do this …he got to the end of the solo and just ‘winged it into – and along with – the vocals on the chorus.

This sort of thing is what we really enjoy when we record. The magic of being completely in the moment, in performance mode, responding intuitively with the right notes and lines to embellish what’s already been recorded, without taking over, or getting in the way.

I’m glad I took a quiet moment to write the lyrics in the first place.

OK, join us in the songwriting session…this is one of those songs where we were in the room together. Paul had a quick read of the lyrics and kicked in on the guitar with some chords, playing with muted strings. I like winging the vocals over the top so away we went.

Hope you enjoy some more music and chat.

The River Walking album is brand new, recorded in 2 countries Australia and NZ . It’s streaming on all the usual platforms – also available for steaming and downloading from www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Enjoy ‘A Quiet Moment’ with us.

Episode #219: I’ve Loved Life (Song starts at 6:52)

On this episode, I’ve featured a song which is track number 2 on the album ‘River Walking’, which I’ve written and recorded with Paul Dredge.

The gist of the meaning of I’ve Loved Life is: there’s lots of ups and downs – that’s the way it is. But we’ve got the choice to try to enjoy ourselves along the way. I think we might as well. The rough bits are going be there anyway. The world seems to reflect back what put out there.

You take the ups with the downs, the smiles with the frowns.

I’ve loved life and it’s loved me…

I relate a relate a couple of anecdotes, which I found in an old diary entry, which I’d written around the time I wrote I’ve Loved Life. The ups and downs of being an Artist …

I’ve been so lost. And still I’ve found lots of hurt but much love all around

I been under the stars, worries run rife

There’s what I think is a misconception / misunderstanding that you have to be poor and starving to produce serious art and music. I don’t think you do. I do think you need to live honestly, be true to yourself, etc – but you don’t need to be broke ( I think perhaps that idea has contributed to the idea art and music doesn’t really have financial worth…..streaming, anyone? Anyhow…

I’ve had Money and I’ve gone broke

I’ve loved life, song #664, was fun to write. The Lyrics came quickly, (I enjoy analysing the lyrics) the music pretty much wrote itself – it’s a very ‘up’ happy country rock song. I think you can hear this in the finished track, which I’m very pleased about. It sounds like a live band having fun.

There’s an art to getting to this point, when you’re starting with piano vocal and click track..

I’ve included a snippet of the demo I sent to Paul (in New Zealand) so you can hear how the arrangement came together: Paul did his thing, sent back drums, bass, guitar and harmonica.

I re-recorded the piano, sang it again and there it was, finished in no time.

The recording sounds like a live band having fun. Which is great. This was the plan.

I’ve performed this song a few times live since it wrote it, this gave me a chance to work on the phrasing of the lyrics, which is a good thing.

If you’d like to read more about this song after you’ve listened to this episode, visit www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com (my blog – search I’ve Loved Life). I’m going to feature a few songs off the album here.

The album ‘River Walking’ can be found on all the usual platforms (It’s under my artist name Pete Pascoe on Spotify and Bandcamp, Apple music etc..) We are stoked with the album. Released under the folk rock genre, it encompasses country rock, rock – a fair bit of variety…

Enjoy!

I’ve loved life,. Rollin’!

Episode #218: All Through The Years (Song starts at 4:05)

I’m really enjoying recording these episodes (obviously I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t). It’s my online weekly gig.

The song ‘All Through The Years’ ( #541) was written in 2007. To be honest I haven’t thought about it too much through the years. Ha..so many songs, you get busy. Keep composing. So it’s been sitting in my purple book til now. Handwritten in my handwriting – a code most people wouldn’t be able to decipher. Until now.

Anyway, I’ve given this song a bit of a run through occasionally perhaps. I never felt comfortable with the chorus for some reason. Thought it too simple in terms of the small amount of different chords used. Now I can see that that might actually be a strength.

Tonight – and it is tonight, here in Melbourne, I set up a gentle tempo with a click track and just played and sang it through, winging parts here and there, imagining other instruments carrying sections.

The outcome is: I’m pleased I’ve rediscovered ‘All Through The Years’. And I’m glad I chose to record an episode about it.

The song started as a ‘words first’ effort. One of my children had a bad dream, so I got up to settle her, calm her down.

It’s a special time when you go back in the room as a parent, just to make sure they’ve gone to sleep again, taking care not to boot a child’s toy on the ground in the dark, you creep in watch for a moment in the moonlight, see their peaceful face as they softly breathe. You might whisper an ‘I love you / Goodnight’ and retrace your steps back out the door.

On this occasion, I didn’t go straight back to bed. I went into the lounge, picked up and pen and paper and wrote the words. Then I went to bed (jumping on the piano at 2am wouldn’t have made me overly popular with anyone in our household).

6 months later, I found the lyrics, found the same mood (important) and just played through a few chords. The music seems to match the lyrics and a melody came to me as I floated my voice over the top and away I went.

It’s a magic feeling – still magic after all these years…Paul Dredge and I have just released another folkrock album, by the way. Streaming on the the usual services. River Walking.

I bring it up because it’s an example of songs taken to the next stage. Arranged and recorded. So much fun.

I’d like to do something with All Through The Years, now that I’ve finally recorded a demo ( didn’t take me long: 20 odd years after the song was composed. Oh well).

I also mention my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read the lyrics there and check out more of my music and art each week, including some writing about the first song on the River Walking album, Waiting.

I hope you enjoy hearing a little bit about how this song came together, as I sit and demonstrate parts on the piano singing away in between the chat,

Ok here we go. All through the years,‘Rollin!’’.

Episode #217: Sunset Swim (Song starts at 5:27)

Going back to March 1997, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I had just arrived from New Zealand to settle into the big city of Melbourne, Australia.

This was the first song I wrote since we’d left NZ.

As the title suggests, this song is inspired by a sunset we experienced in an incredibly beautiful place called Sprits Bay, in the far north of New Zealand.

I feel we were so lucky to have stayed there when we did. There was an old camp (just a couple of cold showers and a toilet), a long long golden beach, no cars, no shops, miles away from any flight paths.

We lived by the tides, catching our dinner from the beach in the morning and then off the rocks in the after noon and evenings.

When you do this for 2 weeks, your brain is somewhere else. You are really lost in nature. imagine it: not going to the shop, not getting petrol, not putting the radio on. Just the sound of the waves day and night.

Anyway, one evening we had a swim in a spectacular sunset, I say ‘in’ the sunset because the ocean was as red as the sky and you couldn’t really tell where the sky finished and sky began. Bliss.

Contrast that, then, with the big city 2 months later: tangled tongues, everyone out to convince someone else they need to buy something, do something, experience this, that – the trams, the cars…yes, it was somewhat of a shock.

When the day came we finally had found somewhere to live, got jobs (which all happened on the same day , after a few weeks). We had $10 left to our names after we’d paid the bond. We had a a couple of pots and pans, some crockery, a mattress – all very romantic and somewhat intense.

So the first time I had a couple of hours to myself, with my keyboard set up, I pulled out the words I’d written and decided to to write a song,

And what I wrote was a rocking sort of an up pop song.

Because I’d come ‘across the ditch’, as they say, from NZ, to start all over again: find a new band and see where it would take us.

I was determined to create the band, asap. At 30, I felt like my was racing by, to a degree. Here we are in 2024, and I’m still a driven artist, songwriter, musician and painter.

This podcast is part of the big picture, the backstory to some songs. If you will. It’s been such good fun exploring the songwriting process by looking at how my songs were composed, what inspired them.

But more than that it’s been fantastic to hear back from listeners that my podcast and blog has inspired them to get creative (again) , getting into songwriting and recording, etc.

Each week it’s my ‘online gig’. Thanks for tuning in for this episode. It’s such good fun to produce these episodes. I fly by the seat of my pants, there is no script. It’s creative, energised, relaxed …I’m basically entertaining, I guess. That’s what I do.

Ok here we go. Join us in the great outdoors….and the in the studio. Great to be in nature and it’s great to be in the studio writing songs about it. Sunset swim….rolling!

Here’s where you can find the lyrics www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (search for Sunset Swim).There’s links to lots of my music and art here. Enjoy.

Episode #216: Autumn Evenings (Song starts at 5:33)

It was a pleasure to rediscover song #261, Autumn Evenings for this episode. I wrote it in 1993.

Here we are now, in 2023 – I’ve written about 800 songs now.

At the market this week, people were asking me how on earth I managed to do this (not to mention the 1000s of cartoons & hundreds of seascapes).

I’ve found having a peaceful space it really helps me to create. I make sure I’m in the mood before I even pick up the brush, the pen, or let my hands near the keys of the piano.

Because emotion gives you the push, the momentum and focus – in fact, almost everything you need.

The other thing you need is to have some sort of art ‘down’. For me I can let my fingers just play on the keys of my piano and they seem to find endless combinations of notes that really appeal to me.

The opening chords of autumn evenings are emotive to me. They take me right back to the day I wrote the lyrics for this one. I was sitting in my old van, having taken a drive to see the view over Lake Taupo, NZ (quite incredible: a vast inland lake with the volcanic back drop of 3 huge mountains).

Beautiful. And the power of the beauty of your surroundings has a big say on what we create in our lives.

So I choose to lead a peaceful life. It’s a life of some solitude…more than I thought might have been the case.

You can’t pick the future, I never dreamt I’d become a seascape painter, for instance.

Back in 1993, I was a piano man, spending some time by myself. Sitting in the van, I let my thoughts drift back to the sunset of the evening before. And then, looking south, beyond the mountains, in my mind, to a person, well, ok, a love interest, who was never to far from my thoughts. She popped into my mind and that gave me the idea to bring her into the song about the sunset of the previous evening

And with just a few lines, it all came together. The idea of somehow sharing watching the sunset, although we were in two different parts of the country…in a sense we’d be together.

Ha- the desperate sensitive mind of the artist, eh. Oh well, you sort of let it out now and then… actually there’s not too much of it ( ‘it’ being overly romantic mush) in the song.. for that reason, I think it works well.

Singing and playing the song for this episode was fun (I’ve no idea when the last time I played it was – years ago). Flying by the seat of my pants, I made a couple of changes in the moment.

This is an example of what I get up to, when I’m in the mood: I get into ‘performance mode’ and sing and play one song after the other. And as I go along, I make little changes. Changes I wouldn’t have been able to make if I wasn’t in the performance mode. Because those changes might not make artistic sense – and it’s all about the art.

Ok..I hope you enjoy this half hour chat as I sit at the piano – and the song, of course, too. I’ll also take you to the arts market on this episode (some audio I recorded at my stall).

I’ve written another 9 songs this week. It’s so nice when they come tumbling out.

Plenty on my blog including the lyrics of this song and this weeks painting, go here: www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. and search for autumn evenings.

Enjoy.

Episode #215: Righto (Song starts at 4:10)

It struck me tonight as I recorded this episode, how grateful I am to be doing this. It is such a buzz, letting the song lead the way as I look at the creative process of how a song comes together.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to have any musical theory up your sleeve to enjoy the show.
I believe the creative domain is an inclusive one. The more the merrier.

Ok Righto, song #262 was written in 1993. The recording you’ll hear on this episode became the title track for the album Righto. You can find it here www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

We wrote it in a beautiful place called the Bay of Islands – we being Paul Dredge and myself. We had a van, we were on the road, on holiday – and we were making some music, as usual. Paul had an old ovation guitar. It had a broken neck from memory. Someone had glued back together. He picked up for next to nothing so it became his ‘on the road’ knock about instrument.

I’d written the words first. There’s a very up sort of vibe about this song. Before I’d finished saying to Paul “I have in mind, a some sort of Dave Dobbyn ish ‘up’ song”, away he went, strumming away with serious energy on his guitar. Going with moment – when energy flows like this, you go with it – I opened my mouth an winged the melody.

And very quickly we had another new song.

Being Grateful became a bit of theme on this episode.

I’m extremely for grateful for the longevity of the song writing relationship and friendship I have with Paul dredge. We are putting the finishing touches to our next album right now, in 2024. Righto was written 30 odd years ago. That amazes me.

What amazes me about this demo is the very up, fresh energy. Much like the country I wrote the lyrics about : New Zealand. The lyrics are a series of observations about what made the country I was born and raised in a great place to be.

This song is not a piano vocal ballad. It wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Paul. But then it wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t sung it …or written the lyrics in the first place.
It’s great thing to write songs with someone. Well, in my experience, it is. Paul and I have a very easy going manner when it comes to creating a song together. It comes from, I think, perhaps, hours and hours of flying hours, spent gigging.Thousands of gigs. Which we loved.

So we’ve carried on writing songs and recording them together after all these years. It’s something we both love. Arranging songs is such fun. And we mage it, even though we are in different countries.

Righto is an interesting one. You wouldn’t put much piano on it. So in the studio, I played sparsely, the odd sort of a piano lick, around Paul’s harmonica and a few chords in the choruses.

So it’s good to be aware of what to leave out. It’s the same with sing writing: often, less is more. This song doesn’t have a bridge. It didn’t need one. It would have just got in the way of the straight forward presentation.

Ok , hope you enjoy hearing about how Righto came together.

Very grateful to have you reading this, and having a listen . Enjoy.

You can find the lyrics here www.petepascoe.wordpress.com search for righto.

Pete

Episode #214: Trust To Receive. (Song starts at 7:12)

Hi there & welcome to another episode. Here we are, looking at another song again, in a ‘songwriter speaks’ style – inclusive, casual fun, entertaining.… this time it’s Trust To Receive, song #105. Composed in 1989!

Again this week, this song popped into my mind. I knew it was in the ‘green book’ (my 1st old book of handwritten songs)…as an experiment, I held the book upside down and back to front, flicked the pages once – and it opened, sure enough – on Trust To Receive. Amazing, to me. Go figure. I take it as a ‘nod that I’m heading in the right direction’ when this sort of coincidence happens.

Then I opened the cupboard, dug up the cassette (which I knew the song was on, in this case). And it was all but teed up – just the end of a nice song by my co-songwriting buddy, Paul Dredge, to listen to (I’m loving producing this podcast. I’m rediscovering more music each week). The cassette was a recording of an album Paul and I wrote and recorded way back in the the early 1990s.

And here I am, in 2024, finishing our 6th ‘proper’ album which will be steaming shortly.

Determination would be the key.

The demo you’ll hear was recorded on a 4 track machine. It’s fair to say I was really just finding my way as a song writer, with 105 songs under my belt.

There’s something about Trust To Receive that I really like. It’s different. Sort of a reggae influenced song – unusual for a pianist to write this sort of song, but immediately you can hear I was hearing in my head more than just the piano and voice, as I wrote this one.

The whole band arrangement came along as I wrote the music to the lyrics for the first verse.

From there, it really is about following the feeling, the story, if you like.

Each musical phrase is related to the preceding and the one that follows.

Just like each line of the lyrics.

I can’t tell you where this snap shot of series of images came from: ‘silent stare, a motionless vigil.’… a dream? Set against a cold city, a feminine character emerges. Obviously having been through some trials, the narrator sees beauty, sees fragility but also senses underlying strength ..potential. Trust is required for love to be received and that’s the message of the song. I would say for the both the character in the song – and the narrator (and of course the listener).

It was fun to listen back to this old demo. What would I go back and do differently? …well, pretty much everything. But it remains a document of it’s day. It captured a feeling, a groove, with the gear I had. And if I hadn’t recorded that, the song would’ve disappeared.

I’m glad I recorded it and I’m glad I thought to feature it this week.

I hope you enjoy hearing a bit about how Trust To Receive came together,

On this episode I’ll also take you for a walk down to the beach, as I take photos to use for references for a seascape painting which is going to an exhibition this week. I’m busy…..

2 new albums so close to being finished now. I really enjoyed doing some mixing last week (lots to listen to online streaming on the usual platform.

blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Ok, on with the show…hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed recording this episode.

‘Trust To Receive, rollin’!…’

Episode #213: Revolving Door (Song starts at 5:42)

I’d completely forgotten about song #453, from 1999, Revolving Door. Well, it isn’t 1999 now! The years have certainly whizzed by.

The great thing about being a songwriter (or doing any creative activity) is, it gets you ‘in the moment’ – the moment where your sense of self is put a side somehow. You are so focussed on your art, you’ve let go completely. In that moment you’re inspired.

A song becomes a document of a series of moments like this, it’s a magic, slightly altered state to be in, if you will.

That sort of energy seems to come down through the years, listening back to a recording like the demo you’ll hear on this episode, which I recorded in 2000.

It’s only piano vocal, but you’ll feel the energy I was feeling at the time, I was hearing guitars, bass, drums, orchestra, the whole works.

That’s what often happens when I play the piano. An arrangement begins to take shape, right from the beginning of the writing process, for me.

So what’s ‘Revolving Door’ about ? My girlfriend at the time (now my lovely wife), was a Gemini. The twins is the astrological star sign childlike and playful one minute, measured older, wiser view the next. A certain style of jewellery and clothing one day, the next a total different style. It’s fun, it’s ‘up’ and keeps things interesting.

So this was my initial idea fro writing a song.

And then the lyrics move on to asking a question of the listener …how many people speak through you? Explores the idea that we all change and grow and evolve constantly.

The energy of the lyrics inspired me to cut loose on the piano. The result is a song that’s written to be performed by a full band. It’d would require a few different guitar parts to create the arrangement I hear in my head.

The bridge monetarily becomes reflective but soon explode with a ’thunderstorm of anger’ and then back into the song, which becomes ‘a summer holiday’.

It’s a happy thing to find an old demo like this. This one sounds like a real celebration of love, of life – and it is.

It’s fun to think back to what I was up at the time I wrote it….I was a pianoman, here in Melbourne. We’d recently moved over from New Zealand. There were sacrifices to make. It was hard. It still is, at times. But it’s also a joy.

As a song writer, you’ve got to keep moving on.

On my podcast I encourage listeners to do something creative regularly – or carry on on this path if they’re already underway.

I’m keeping on moving on all these years later, painting and writing songs, blogging podcasting, gigging, doing markets (where I sell my art), working on sheet music and video courses behind the scenes – and 5 new albums.

So plenty happening, I’ve put a lot of my art and music online you can find it via my blog ( lots of links here on 200 odd posts, which you can browse through, it’ll take you to al sorts of platforms to listen to musicians and view my art) www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Enjoy.

Episode #212: New World Dawning (Song starts at 6:22)

I really enjoyed writing song #207, New World Dawning, back in 1992.

The lines ‘I never thought I’d cry tears You can buy at the chemist’ Were never going to shake the foundations of anyone’s world, but that was my opening gambit (I was talking about the saline solution I used with my contact lenses). Undeterred, I carried on.

The words came and they lead on to an expansive sort of a world view. A world that felt like it was yet to exist: a world of golden opportunities, communication and love – that’s one description of this world. Perhaps that was an artists vision. I was inspired at the time and I still am today.

You are what you listen to, what you eat, etc. I see at the top of my page in the songbook, there’s a wee sentence scrawled…’it’s amazing what a Crowded House video can do’, so thank you Neil Finn, and the guys, you really inspired me.

The demo was recorded in 1996. I remember the afternoon. It was a spur of the moment decision to record one of my piano vocal sessions. What I did – and still do – is this: I flick open my songbooks (all handwritten, the 800) ..and I find myself in a very free performance mode.

I play random songs one after the other, and I keep my ears open for new hooks, harmonies, and lines, as I sing and play. I make mental notes and sometimes quickly note a key line.or new melody to sing for a line.

I think as songwriter, you need to be open to editing and rewriting again and again. A song isn’t cast in stone – even when it’s recorded you can always record a new version.

So New World comes from an honest place, I think. After walking home from the piano bar, in the early hours of the morning, back in 1992, I opened the door at home. I was living in a converted garage. A single room abode, I gratefully climbed into my waterbed, enjoying the warmth.And I picked up my pen (my habit, my ritual) and began writing.

And I’m pleased I did. What made me write all these songs ? ( and there’s also stacks of unused pages of lyrics and poems somewhere around here) Passion. I loved it. And I still do. That’s why I still write.

In my studio tonight when I went to record a podcast episode, New World Dawning came to mind. I put my hand in a box of cassettes of random recordings and put the cassette I pulled out on the tape deck. And there it was, all cued up ready to roll.

That amazes me. Because it’s not the first time it’s happened for these episodes.

I take note of these things. I find coincidences like this all very mystical and reassuring. I do operate on another planet a lot. It’s who I am – I’m an out and out artist. Perhaps this is the new world dawning…the time of the arts…

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this demo – and and the chat about how the song came to be. I enjoyed recording the episode, as always.

If you want to hear more , you can stream lots of my music on the usual platforms (eg Spotify)

I have a music website: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com (You can my hear my music; with Paul Dredge; and with the Patient Hum band). Folk rock, rock , solo piano and singer songwriter. I love the variety.

On that note you’ll see on my blog I’m also a cartoonist and seascape painter. I’m working on tuition videos to present everything I’ve learned and am still learning. See www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

If you’d like to get onboard on my email list, I’d love that (via www.petepascoe.com)

I’m into sharing creative uplifting art and music. And I encourage others to get creative.

Here we go. A new world dawning…rolling!

Episode #211: Got Away On Me Again (song starts at 4:02).

Welcome to another episode. Picture me sitting at my piano, with the microphone on. Before me I have my songbooks. I’ve picked out a song Got Away On Me Again (Song # 663, written in 2017).

Yes, I have a song to sing, which is nice to be able to present and talk about. I’ve written quite a few over the years. It’s nice to have them up my sleeve. The real pleasure has been the time spent creating them.

There’s a line in the this song. Time, time, time’s got away on me again. It’s funny, after last week’s song, written in my twenties, the same theme has popped up again.

Although with this song, it’s more just an observation, rather than sort of fretting about the years passing by a too quickly.

I really think one way to alleviate the worries of getting older is to immerse ourselves totally in some sort of artistic process.

If I ever feel a sense of regret about anything in my life, one things for sure: I’ve never regretted time spent writing songs, painting pictures or writing lyrics, etc.

This week I performed Got Away On Me live this week at the Mornington Winter Music Festival, here on the Mornington peninsula, part of greater Melbourne, Australia.

I included a snippet of this live performance on this episode. On the street, it’s incredibly noisy. There’s an art to performing in that sort of an environment . What happens is: you’re nipping in and out of ‘the zone’, as such. People walking by smile and nod and you reciprocate, perhaps say thanks for a dollar tossed into the briefcase with the CDs and sign. The cars, crows, the seagulls all catch your ear.

When I’m songwriting , I’ve been extremely lucky to have a very peaceful environment, for the most part. I think that’s really important …not essential, but it sure helps if you can really focus on what you’re doing without any distractions. Fairly obvious, right?

The thing is, the longer I’m in the moment, the deeper in I get. It’s definitely a shift in consciousness. You’re gone. It’s such a pleasure to be a songwriter. If you’re thinking about getting into it, I say: go for it.

Got Away On Me Again is about catching those moments in your hands…sure the years are passing by, but they’re always going to be doing that.

So we may as well be free and do things that we love doing – as much as possible. Personal freedom is the key,

And how do we create time to do this in our busy lives? I think by committing to a definitive amount of time each week. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, even 10mins. But if you do that you can up the ante to 20mins..and so on.

Pretty soon, hopefully you’ll be looking back on 6 months where it’s become a habit, and you’re enjoying it som much, it’s something you really don’t want to let go of.

That’s where I find myself: 200 odd podcast episodes, 200 odd blog posts, 800 songs, a dozen albums (soon to be 17).

Looking forward to releasing some albums shorty. And finishing those video courses… yep time got away on me again.

I hope you enjoy having listen to this song …and the chat

Here we go, rollin’!

Lyrics here (+ links to more art and music): www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #210: Forever (Song starts at 4:20)

I went outside tonight, just before I recorded this episode. The stars are incredible aren’t they? Infinite. Makes you realise how insignificant we are, really.

I like to think we all count. We all made up part of the universe.

Those sorts of big thoughts are the sorts of things I was thinking when I wrote Forever, song#85.

It was 1988. I had a gig at the ski fields in New Zealand. I was playing the piano and singing in the evenings. Apart from this, my time was my own. So I skied. And when it rained I wrote songs,

When you’re up the mountain, your mind can really wander. It was a moody place. Often serene, some days the wind was really howling.

Also what was inspiring me was Crowded House’s 2nd album, Temple Of Low Men. I listened to it every night as I went to sleep. So 80s music was the style I was listening to.

Also what had a big say on how Forever came together, style wise was: everything night after the gig , I’d walk back to my room, feet crunching on the frosty gravel. Under my was my Roland D50 synth.

Before I listened to the Crowded House album, I’d pick up my pen and write a page or 2 of lyrics.

The next day, I’d fire up the synth. And randomly select a patch (a different sound).

It’s quite different to composing on the piano, writing on the synth. A breath of fresh air. And it suited the style I was writing.

I enjoyed recording the demo for this episode. I fired up the drum machine for a bit of fun. It was nice to finally record the demo, it’s been a wee while since 1988.

The lyrics are about sitting back in the evening, considering the bigger picture, how the years are nipping by. ( the pinch of the years) and the the little dreams that eat away. Endless evenings of different plans.

What’s this all about? For me, it’s about the fact that I’m a very driven person when it comes to the arts.

Something made me write 800 songs, and I’m still going. I’m loving recoding them – I’m working on wrapping up another 5 albums presently,

The 6th folk rock album, with Paul Dredge is finally done. Whoo!

It’s is nice to complete a creative project. But then what happens? The next thing suddenly becomes the new focus, us creative people need to keep moving on.

It’s never about the destination. It’s about the process.

I wonder whether I’ll record Forever one day? Perhaps. It strikes me as a sort of an album track.

Ive been toying with recording an 80s sort of a synth driven album. I imagine Forever might fit on that sort of an album .

It’s good to have variety in my life. I’ve composed all sorts of songs from quiet piano solo pieces to rock songs. I paint and sell seascapes, cartoons of animals and teach piano. I enjoy making the videos for my music. And I’m working on video courses for the piano, seascapes and cartoon drawing

Today was one of those days where I felt like my plans were getting away on me. So made a new plan, came up with a timeline, some deadlines. We’ll see how it goes.

Anyhow, I was still in a bit of a reflective mind when I came in to my studio tonight to record this episode. Forever had been floating around in my mind these last few weeks.

I flicked open the 1st book and there it was, song #85. There are 154 songs in the first book

Look at yourself in the mirror is there a stranger staring back?

The years pass by and it seems some days you have a realisation you’ve got a bit older. It’s not something you think of each day (well, I don’t). It just catches up on you now and then.

Ok come back in time with me to 1988. It was a most enjoyable gig, the ski gig. I’m glad I wrote songs like Forever. Here we go (lyrics here: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (The Bounce/Forever)

Episode #209: A Certain Kind Of (Song starts at 4:41 )

This song, #213, is in a different style to the piano vocal ones that have made up the bulk of the songs featured on this podcast. It was written in 1992 by myself and with Paul Dredge on guitar. So it’s a guitar + voices song.

Writing with Paul, when we are in the same room, is great fun. Having had a brief chat about the lyrics, what sort of mood style might suit, Paul will start playing a riff or some chords on his acoustic guitar. I have the prewritten lyrics draft in hand.

It’s completely liberating for me to wing a melody over the top of what Paul is playing. I have no idea what chords he’s playing (I don’t play guitar). His fingers moving easily on the fretboard, his eyes are shut for the most part. Me, I’m alternatively looking into space, or projecting some sort of energy back to Paul as we write together. He’ll look up now and then and we just click together.

There’s been a fair few songs written like this by us now. We are about to release our 6th folk rock album. Our last one was called The Untrodden Track (It’s streaming on all the usual platforms).

Being able to write songs so easily and quickly together is something we certainly don’t take for granted. It’s a joy.

The words include Tip toeing on broken glass. It was an emotional time for me when I write the lyrics (a love interest, things not running all that smoothly).

t’s a good idea as a song writer to keep an eye on yourself in terms of maybe keeping a diary. You can then. glean some truths, what’s true to you. When you do this sort of work on the self, I think you’re more likely to write songs that ring true. Because they come from a place of some clarity. That’s the idea, anyway.

You may choose to tuck of that truth into some arty sort of lyric writing, obtuse, if you will.. there’s some interesting lines in this song that’s for sure: communicating in a chamber

One of the great things about emotional upheavals is they can be great experiences to draw on to put into art. Affairs of the heart.

When Paul and I write, we are completely on the same page. We communicate without talking as we improvise our parts. You have to listen very closely to what the other person is doing, when you’re in the moment, composing together.

A Certain Kind Of was one of 17 songs we recorded and mixed in 3 days (!), our first time in a real studio. With Earl Pollard on drums and Michelle Pickett on vocal harmonies, it all came together really well. Everything was one take – including the vocals. All sung live together, with some tight harmonies.

Performing music like this in the studio is a blast. I was as high as kite at the time of – and for days after – the recording sessions. It was like we managed to produce the paintings which I always imagined we could, after having working drawings and sketches for so long.

Composing and recording is still where it’s at for me after all these years. I’m putting the finishing touches to 5 albums at the moment, in different genres – and I intend to release them all this year.

This podcast is such good fun, creatively, it’s a great release for me to me to be doing what amounts to a songwriter speaks sort of online gig each week. It’s nice to be sharing the music, the stories, some songs writing ideas.

By the way, you certainly don’t need any musical theory up your sleeve to enjoy this podcast. It’s inclusive, each week, while I’m inviting you into my songs (which at times are very personal), once they are complete , recorded even a demo, means they are outside of me, so I’m comfortable sharing.

Each listener is going to hear the song differently. Some will hear the beat, others the melody, others the mood, others the lyrics.

Arranging a song is great fun as well. So it’s a multifaceted thing, this song writing..there’s the lyrics, the music to compose, the demo to record, the finished arrangement. The live performance.

And then there the performances I do for myself at home. As I flick through my songbooks, singing 20 or so songs in a row, I can’t help but get into a performance mode. I’m also listening closely: to edit, arrange, add some hooks, rewrite lyrics, etc.

I hope you enjoy hearing where a certain kind of came from. The demos a cool one, too.

Lyrics can be found on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com .(lots of music and art here, including 13 albums online).

Enjoy.

Episode #208:Country Gentleman Jack (song starts at 4:30)

Back in 1993, I was the piano man at Wairakei resort, in New Zealand’s north island, near Taupo – beautiful place.

Outside of my regular entertainment in the restaurant hours, I wrote songs like this one: Country Gentleman Jack, song #319.

As part of the contract, I was also hired to play piano vocal music for conventions. One particular calm winters evening, I found myself in the scene, playing away, equal parts lost in the music and also keeping an eye the patrons, making sure what I’m doing suited the moment. It’s an art.

I happened to glance up mid song and noticed an older chap at the bar. He seemed like a fish out of water, amongst all the city types, the suits and Shiraz and scotches, He really looked like he was from the country with his quiet expression and quiet beer. So much so, it looked like he’d beamed in from another age.

He wasn’t awkward though, he nodded with social grace, a gentleman. But I could see he wasn’t exactly tied up in any conversations with everyone. Perhaps he was watching the piano man for a moment and that’s what caused me to look up.

I took a break, wandered over to the bar and without great emphasis quietly said gidday. Code for ‘you know I’m from the country, too, or part of me is. I think I can see you might be feeling a bit uncomfortable there…’

So we wandered outside for a yarn.

Just this week at the market someone asked me what’s the best thing about making a living from my art and music. I replied with just a slight breath in and out, the people. It’s what is all about.

Like any calling, any business, any life we are all designed to cross paths with people, exchange information, learn stuff (or not) and carry on.

Some people really stay in your mind. Jack was one of those characters that pretty much ended up writing a song for me.

Writing the lyrics was easy. Back in my hotel room, in a somewhat reflective mood, it was just a matter of letting my mind flick back through scenes of the evening.

Some of the lines were were pretty much just reporting. What I thought Jack might be thinking, his actions, where we went, outside into the crisp evening to catch some air. And this:

The look on his face when it came to when we had to go back into the room. Unfamiliar ground, for Jack. For me, it was back to the piano.

At the end of the bracket, I couldn’t see Jack in the crowd. So I wandered back outside. It really was a stunning place, in the country. The stars were always crystal clear, bright and close.

As I walked out the door, a truck trundled by. It was Jack. He wound down the window , smiled and wished me luck. And with that he trundled up the driveway and headed off down the highway, into the night, leaving the bright shiny scene behind him…and none too soon, I suspect.

So the lyrics came together quickly for me, as they often do. We had some common ground. I’d spent a lot of my childhood school holidays on farms, with my dad, hunting and fishing. You learn the ropes. There is no rush in the country. Unless stock ( the animals) need urgent attention – or the rain was about to hit with the hay on the ground… Then it’s all go. Other than that there’s all the time in the world. Because you’re in touch with the land , the seasons, the language of the weather …etc. it appeals to me.

So it was a chance for me to dip into these sorts of feelings and experiences- while relating a tale like a country yarn (and it’s a cardinal sin to rush a country person’s yarn). It’s connection, self worth, reflection. It’s a rite not to be dismissed.

To catch some of those feelings in the words was fun.

When I sat at the piano the next day, I had a gentle smile on my face. I knew I had a story, some feeling, all of which was a natural fit for me.

When the words feel that way, it seems the music flows easily. And that’s just what happened.

There were quite a few words…as you can see on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. I knew I’d be wanting to get them out in good time, so the song would have to get along at a reasonable clip,

Style wise, it really picked itself. It’s a mid tempo ballad, almost like a travelling song of old. It’d sit well on finger picked guitar, with some vocal harmony.

Being an independent artist all these years, it’s been brilliant, bring completely free to compose what ever I’ve felt inspired about, style wise. No record company breathing down my neck, waiting for a formulaic specific single to match my brand. Having said that, I’m certainly not adverse to contracts of some sort for my music (and back in the day an advance to live off sure would’ve perhaps meant I could breathe easier along the way, financially speaking, perhaps).

Anyway, here I am, sharing my songs on this podcast . And I’m glad I am. Some will end up on albums, some already have. Perhaps some songs will end up on other artists albums, that’d be nice too.

So the past is what it is. The future will be what it’ll be. For now, here we are.

Join me now for a yarn. There’s no rush. We head off down unexpected tangents on my show. But it’s all related to the song. I’m an entertainer at heart. It’s the way I roll. It gives me energy. So the stories take on a life of their own, they’re all interwoven.

My podcast is turning out to be partly the story of a songwriter’s life, looking back on the 200 + episodes. And I’m happy bout that. Of course that means 200 songs here, too.

And there’s plenty more to come. We’re all moving on, I’ll take you down to the beach for a yarn on this episode, too. Change is is in the air, but I’m planning on carrying on with this podcast for as long as it takes. It’s great to be doing a regular songwriter speaks weekly gig online.

Here we go, come on and find about Country Gentleman Jack.

Episode #207: Better Late Than Never (Song starts at 4:30)

This song (#659), came about back in 2017. I was on my way to work and there was a bit of difficulty getting there, due to the public transport not exactly running smoothly.

I was off to teach piano for the day ( I’ve been a piano teacher now for probably about 15 years. I teach as a contractor in a primary school. I teach 24 private lessons in 2 fairly intense days (I’m working steadily on video courses. More on this later).

Anyway, on this particular cold winters morning, the bus had been late and then the train was really late.

When it did finally arrive, a lady turned to me and said “Better late than never”. Indeed, I thought: Aha that’ll be a good phrase to write a song around.

So that’s what I did at the school. As luck would have it, my first student was absent. I wrote this one ‘backwards’, from the main phrase

It’s funny, I remember a teacher passing by my door…”What are you doing there Peter?” “Writing a song,.” “Hmm,” she said a little doubtfully. And said “Oh well, fortune favours those with determination”, …haha thanks very much..

And Aha .. another line was given to me: “fortunes favours those as determined as can be”.

I find once I’ve written one section of lyrics, it naturally flows on to the next. When the flow stops momentarily, I’ll often cast my mind over what I’ve already written and this often inspires the next angle.

It’s fascinating to me how much I can remember about how a song like this was written. I think it’s because I’m so passionate about it.

You know, how you remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch say World Cup soccer… the anticipation, the alarm going off, putting the heater on, all the details around the actual event remain in your mind.

Having lead a creative for so long, I now have the pleasure of being able to be cast my mind back and recall so many happy memories. And I wonder what lies ahead. Who knows.. all you’ve got is now – and right now, I’m listening back to this episode, reviewing it as I write this. It’s such good fun.

And I’m finding I’m loving recording these episodes. It’s an weekly online gig for me. Thanks so much for those of you who are tuning in regularly, if that’s what you’re doing. If you’re new here, I hope these show notes have piqued your curiosity and you go on to have a listen.

If you like what you hear, we’ll there’s another previous 200 odd episodes waiting for you, It’s a relaxed listen, because it’s recorded and produced that way. it’s all just ‘winged’ – there is no script. I let the song lead the way. II’ve discovered approaching each episode like this is a good idea, as it’s a fun way to explore what is an extremely complicated process. Apparently.

For me, I write and compose quickly an instinctively. It’s just the way I roll. And I paint and draw the same way,,,

If you’d like to hear and see more, here’s my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com . Lots of links to art and music here.

Please do sign up to my email list, I’d love that. Weekly art and music would be heading your way in an email.

There’s plenty more coming up.

Ok, on with the show. Picture me, sitting at my piano in my studio, with the mic in font of me. And away we go “ Welcome to another episode of Song and A Chat…”

Episode #206: Whirlpool (Song starts at 5:20)

I enjoyed recording a demo for this episode. It’s such good fun when I do this. It occurs to me as I write these show notes, it’s been a great way to archive some old songs (and of course putting them together with a show that gives them a context.

A context? Con : more than one. Text: story.

That’s one of the things that makes a song interesting and engaging. That over used word the ‘back story’… I guess that’s actually a step on from the song itself.

The lyrics, bring so many memories to the surface for me. They become picture and movies. In a sense, I’m putting music to movies, then.

But that’s only one way of looking at it. There are so many things to have under your belt, so many things to look out for as you compose. Yet you’re free, free as a free thing. You’re on the breath. It feels like a short holiday.

Thinking about writing a song feels like when you are anticipating of a short holiday. Pretty good, eh? And when you are composing, you’re definitely ‘away’ somewhere.

That’s how it feels to write a song like Whirlpool.

This song was written in NZ. In 1987, when I was away at the ski fields for a few months. It was a great gig: Lighting the fire In the old fire place in the restaurant in the early evening, then sitting at my keyboard and singing as the guests arrived.

I had the best sound in the house. A huge speaker right behind me. Sound is everything when it comes to confidence for live performance.

The same when you’re recording music – and it really helps to have a nice peaceful environment when you’re composing. There’s nothing like someone coming in and tapping me on the shoulder when I’m composing. I just about jump out of my skin …because I’m really on another planet. Well, part of me is. It’s the coolest feeling, and it’s like I’m engaged in some sort of exchange, some connection that offers fleeting moments of possibilities.

It’s then up to me, with my limitations as a human being to interpret and present the best version of what I’m sensing or hearing in the moment.

Anyway, back in the day, in 1987 I was in my early 20s. I felt like my life was racing me by and I really needed to get cracking,

Which is funny, looking back from 2024. ‘There’s plenty of time, man!’ that’s what I’d like to say to that young fellow.

After those gigs, I’d carry one of my keyboards through the freezing frosty night, back to my room. I’d put pen to paper and quickly write a page of lyrics. The next morning, I’d plug in my relatively new synth (a Roland D50) and randomly select a patch …(a sound) to compose within away I’d go. Singing and playing. Again, it was so much fun.

So, this song started with the lyrics first, where I observed my thoughts spinning like a whirlpool. Playing with an orchestra strings sound, I sang along with the chords and the song we quickly took shape.

And there in my old green song book it’s lived, awaiting its moment.

So here’s Whirlpool, song #79, from 1987.

I hope you enjoy this episode, once again exploring the songwriting process, with anecdotes and also some new improvised music, enjoy.

www.petepascoe.wordpress.com is my blog. Lots of links to more of my music and art there.

12 albums streaming presently.

Sign up to my email list on my website. www.petepascoe.com

And of course, if you’re new here, there’s another 205 episodes to catch up on – in no particular order (that’s 205 songs + a 100 hours of anecdotes, life observations and songwriting stuff).

Episode #205: Piece This Star Together (Song starts at 4.45)

I find it endlessly fascinating, thinking about where a song might come from. ‘Piece This Star Together’ came from something my grandfather, Harry, said. My mum passed it on to me, when I was a youngster (bit of wisdom, I think):

‘We’ve all got a little piece of the star within us all and we’ve just got to piece this star together’.

It resonated in me and it remained in me. Years later, in Melbourne, Australia in 1998, the phrase/ concept popped into my mind, and I thought ‘Aha ! I’ll write a song about this’. It became song #437.

Having fun is such a key to getting into the creative zone. As I record these episodes, I find my ‘entertainer self’ switches on. An ‘up’ sort of a vibe happens. To be creative, you have to believe you can. The key is to have fun and see where the moment takes you. This is ‘being in the moment’.

This is the sort of feeling I had as I let my hands wander on the keys in 1998, As I looked a the lyrics of ‘Piece This Star’ and composed the music.

I had in mind a sort of ‘up’ acoustic guitar driven band song. It can be a tricky thing to come up with on the piano, but if I get a feeling to go down a certain track along the creative way, I don’t block the idea.

I’m glad I didn’t block it. ‘Piece This Star Together’ is an up, happy song.

The demo on this episode was 1 of 14 songs, which I recorded with Paul Dredge and Earl Pollard, in Earl’s garage, in NZ one afternoon in 1999. We recorded the songs back to back, using minimal gear.

It was such good fun. We’d never rehearsed these songs together. This demo remains the one and only take. I’m glad we recorded it.

I will release the 14 songs as an ‘archive’ sort of album. (I did a small release of 100 CDs back in 1999, but it ‘wasn’t quite there’, so a few years ago I re-recorded the vocals – there were too many squawks from my mother’s budgies in the original recording. Not that there’s anything wrong with budgies, but they have their place. They can be noisy birds at times! Perhaps, more to the point, your mother’s kitchen may not be quite the place to record vocals for an album!

I’m an optimistic sort of bloke. In my 20s I was hoping to make a positive difference by releasing my art and music into the world.

That basic plan hasn’t changed.

My art and music has helped me so much along the way. In fact it has turned out to be the way.

This podcast is a great vehicle to give some songs a bit of air, it’s an opportunity to talk about how a song might come together – but more than that, it’s turning out to be a lot about: how ideas all seem to come out at once, some seemingly unrelated, but if we I’ve them a voice, a chance, often they’ll turn out to be interrelated and suddenly you discover and underlying theme or purpose and away you go.

The creative process is a mysterious like that. It’s doesn’t necessarily unfold on a timeline as you’d expect.

On this episode you’ll hear me winging the beginning of a song, I didn’t block the feeling. It seemed right. I’ve listened back and I think there’s definitely something there, something to knead like a piece of dough, a bit more, nudge it gently into shape. It’ll be a song – I can tell – if I give it a bit more time and energy.

I can talk. Let’s face it (there is now more than 100 hours of me talking about creativity, the art of song writing, the art of being human on this podcast), but sometimes the best way to illustrate a process or a concept is to just demonstrate it. So having my piano at my finger tips as I chat really works for me.

Ok, here we go: another fully ‘winged’ episode. I never have any show notes and before I push the record button, I have no idea about what I’m going to focus on. The song leads the way. As I’ve mentioned, the entertainer within me comes to the party. Each episode is a half hour performance, like an online ‘songwriter speaks’ sort of gig,

Ok, let’s have look at how ‘Piece This Star ‘ came together (and I came together by: just playing, being open minded, having fun and looking to connect…not a bad general plan, perhaps!).

Enjoy.

Episode #204: The Setting Sun. (Song starts at 4:12)

In the studio, I opened the songbook book and thought ‘Hey, why haven’t I featured Setting Sun on on an episode yet? It’s been sitting there since 2013’. So here we go.

I thought I’d have a sing and play through the song, but I did a quick search of my hard drive and found an old piano vocal demo. It’s got lots of energy. A snapshot of a moment in time. That’s what makes demos great.

So where does a song come from? Looking at my song book, I see the songs immediately before and after Setting Sun are quite serious in a sort of a social conscience/ political style.

I must’ve been reading the news paper too much (something I don’t do much)…there’s a line in the song: This news ain’t news …and it’s driving me to tears.

So there’s been some bad news happening for some time. But there’s been good stuff as well.

Setting sun is about acknowledging the situation and needing/choosing to rebuild – rebuilding society, connection, all the good stuff.

It’s also about going too fast. ‘Been on the run like an Apple stealing boy…’. Speaking of apples, they must’ve been still on my mind on because late in this episode as I relate an anecdote about an airborne apple (perhaps it was me that threw the apple)..I particularly enjoy sharing some of the memories that pop into my mind as I talk about the songs.

This song is also about (potentially) evolving ‘ I’m on the brink of new dimension….(with a dose of reality): : or maybe having a drink ( perhaps not the most helpful coping mechanism), and did I mention….the setting sun.

The setting sun is a fairly cliched (cliched for a reason) image of a rather gloomy view of humanity.

But I’m an optimist. I believe we can turn things around.

People see the world as a storm of threats. If you’ve been watching the news, we’ll you’d be entitled to think that was the case.

I think the reality is: there’s a lot of good stuff going on in the world too, it just doesn’t make the news very often.

To draw attention to all these ‘heavy’ things, I’ve chosen to deliver ‘the news’ in an up sort of rocking song.

Then, unexpectedly, the chorus drops back into halftime feel to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, and the same for a reflective quiet end, allowing time for reflection on what might be.

This is the power of music and words. Wrapping the heavy news in a somewhat lighter manner makes it more palatable, allowing for the message to get across – like it’s inside some sort of Trojan horse, I suppose.

I haven’t set out to do this consciously. It was more of an automatic decision…my optimistic self appears to be tied closely to my entertainer self: art and music can entertain and inform…

Speaking of which, that’s exactly what I’m setting out to do each week on this podcast…and my weekly blog: lots of good news here folks: art and music on offer here each week. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . Enjoy.

And I hope you enjoy this episode’s song and chat as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. Here we go: Setting Sun.

Episode #203: Count On Love (Song starts at 3:42)

Welcome to a very relaxed episode. Thanks for tuning in, by the way…it’s great that this podcast is being listened by people all around the world. Music is the international language isn’t, it – or perhaps it’s love?

Song #617, Count On Love, started out life as a piano solo piece. You can hear the original piece on my album ‘Peace’ (1 hour of peaceful piano solo pieces).

Somewhat bizarrely (and rather unromantically), it was one of 3 pieces I wrote back to back in about 30mins, to use to teach piano.

After a while, it felt like this one was perhaps worth taking a bit further and the phrase ‘count on love’ came to me as I started humming and sounding out syllables as I played through the piece. And all the lyrics came out as fast as I could write them down.

That was the way this song came together. The flow was happening the afternoon I sat at my old upright piano and let my hands find the opening riff and away I went – and it was the same when the lyrics eventually came through. Flow would be the word.

On a whim, I picked up an old diary before I recorded this episode. I flicked open on the page where I was mourning letting go of an old piano – the one I wrote ‘Count On Love’ on.

We songwriters are a sentimental bunch. I’d have a few pianos now, if I had the choice. But then, I’m glad I’ve passed them on. I hope someone else is still enjoying playing them today.

Also in the Diary, I’d written at the same time about we had to move house unexpectedly, so there was a sense of melancholy about my mood. ‘Count On Love’ was written about that time, so maybe that’s what was coming through.

(I relate some memories from that time on this episode…I need not have worried as it turns out… the house we moved into had a nice room for a studio – and we are still there after 7 pretty much peaceful years).

Which brings me to this: with the arts, I think it really helps to be living the lifestyle to produce art and music with feeling. I can’t help but have what I’m feeling coming through my work.

The gist of the lyrics is: whenever you’re feeling lost, you can always count on love. I was thinking of the cosmic sort of love that flows all a round and within us, the healing, creative force that whispers to us constantly, the voice that seems to suggests paths to take.

Perhaps by composing and consequently tuning in to this domain so much, this has the effect of honing the ‘muscle’. For want of a better word. There’s nothing like just doing it. Again and again

It’s not something I take for granted. Far from it. It’s a total mystery. It feels great to compose. Sometimes it just feels like you’re being carried along on a breeze.

This sort of mood seems to pervade this episode. I hope you enjoy this one as I gently explore this gentle song with words and with my fingers on the keys.

I particularly enjoy listening to my album ‘Peace’. It just seems to flow along the way ‘Count On Love’. It’s one of 4 piano solo albums I have currently streaming.

I always find some peace when I play piano.

It’s great to be sharing so much here on this podcast. If you’d like to read about more music, my art, here’s my weekly blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com Video courses coming up!

Ok here we go. Ready for another song and some chat? Rollin’!

Episode #202: Sideways From A Paper Bag (Song starts at 3:55)

On this episode I’m going to take you back in time, with a demo recorded in the year 2000.

Quite a bizarre title, isn’t it. Something I’ve noticed on this podcast is that as lyricist, if I’m not really too sure what to write about, I’ll look around and see what’s happening around me.

My eyes will generally focus on a object and I’ll just go ahead a describe it. This seems to have the effect of grounding the song in something real. And away I go.

In this case I saw a poster sticking out of paper bag, with a face on it. The face seemed to be asking me: “What are you doing? How are your plans going?”

Back in those days, in 1998, when I composed this one (song #450), I was generally a words first, music second sort of a song writer.

My girlfriend (now my wife) and I arrived in Melbourne in 1997, having set out from New Zealand, making a new start. I really wanted a new band, but I didn’t have one yet. I didn’t let that stop me.

Sideways was written specifically for a band – a band that was going to sound something like Crowded House, Neil Finn’s great band.

There’s a line in the song ‘You are what you listen to’. Well, I’ve listened to a lot of Crowded House, loved the songs, loved the production. Check the recordings out if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.

Have a listen to the production ( Mitchell Froom on the 1st 3 albums) and hear great band arrangements, – and Neil Finns brilliant song writing).

Neil’s songwriting and recordings and live performances had a marked effect on me, a youngster – also from NZ – trying to make my way in the world with my music.

In those days, moving across to Melbourne was a rite of passage. (the day my band played at The Espy, an iconic hotel in St Kilda, was a fine day. I’d seen the poster of Split Enz (billed as NZ’s greatest rock n roll band, which I’m not sure they would’ve been too happy about, with their wild stage makeup, costumes, art rock sort of performances) of their first appearance there back in the day.

Anyway, we finally got to play there – and it felt good – we also made the top 10 out of 100 bands in a competition, so we got to play The Espy a few times, in the end.

That band is now called Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum. We’ve been going a while now, our 3rd album is nearly finished.

At the time of writing Sideways, I’d just been introduced to Ants Reed. He’s the rhythm guitarist in our band today…so even when it feels like things are really happening, …I think they are.

If you put stuff out, maybe consider slowing down a bit and let the universe deliver a response to what your putting out. Because I believe it does.

The lines ‘Trying to do too much soon, you’ll never see tomorrow trying to fly to the moon’ sort of sum it up.

Steady progress is the key, on which I’ve been focussing: doing all I can to progress with my music and art, here in Melbourne, Australia.

See the blog (lyrics, art and more music – 202 posts) : www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Looking forward to releasing more new music soon…and gigs to that’ll be fun.

I hope you enjoy this episode. It’s all good fun here. Here we go…Sideways From A Paper Bag.. Rollin’ !

Episode #201: Sleeping On A Wish (Song starts at 4:08)

I’m in a fairly relaxed state of mind. I’ve been holidaying, camping beside a stream In Bright, Vic, Australia.

The sound of the stream is what I’ve brought back with me, it just sort of permeates the whole being, the sounds of the stream and birds.

So when I came into my studio, I thought to myself I’m not going to do a rock n roll song…I’m in a cruisey mood.

‘Sleeping On A Wish’ came from a phrase my daughter said to me when she was very, very young. It’s a nice time, having a wee conversation with your child just before you put the light out. Sometimes there’s a very honest lovely unexpected conversation. It’s from the heart – it’s beautiful.

“Sleeping on a wish” ….I said to my daughter “I think I’m going to write a song with that”…she said “You do that, Dad”.

So I did.

All you need is a start. A start comes from feeling, that’s what I make sure of. It’s art. It’s got to come from the true part of the self.

I went to my studio and wrote the words. Then came the music, the whole song flowed. Each section followed easily, naturally. Like a Goodnight story.

I really enjoyed recording the demo for this song, as part of this episode. ‘Sleeping On A Wish’ is song # 604, written in 2014. Here we are in 2024 and it’s seeing the light of day.

It nearly ended up on a children’s album, which I recorded back then and inexplicably never released.

Hmmm maybe it’s nearly time to revisit those songs and put them out there. I believe I will enjoy recording this song properly one day.

Who knows, maybe the demo I just recorded will will become the starting point. The great thing about digital recording is: the demo can become the real thing.

This has been an extremely relaxed episode for me to record once again – I even recite the lyrics as poetry.

Why not, I like to have fun and play as I wing these spoken word half hour episodes. I’m very comfortable sitting at my piano as I chat, there is no script.

I’ve discovered by accident, really: since I’m exploring a creative exercise, it’s made sense to have fun and just play as I go.

I’ve included a recording of the birds and stream from my holiday, here. It made sense, as this is what got me in the mood to look at ‘Sleeping On A Wish’.

I hope you enjoy this episode, as I talk about how this song came into being, demonstrating on the piano as I go along.

Here we go, rolling !

Episode #200 : One Thing We Know. (Song starts at 4:26)

Welcome to episode #200! It’s such a great feeling, because I honestly wasn’t sure I’d get past episode #1. It’s become like a ‘Songwriter Speaks’ sort of an online gig for me – something I really look forward to each week.

Whether you’ve been here from the start with me, or a new arrival, or perhaps you pop in from time to time, regardless, thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you’re enjoying this podcast as much as I am.

I wrote this song back in 2009. I was at a school where I was a piano teacher, as a contractor. In between lessons, I found myself thinking about my own young family – and I was thinking about the school kids racing around outside at lunchtime.

The feeling came to me really strongly to write some words.

I can’t believe you’re growing so fast, eyes on the future , you’re free from the past

Loving your life is the thing you do best, doing what’s right and forgetting the rest

Those are the words I started out with.

I recorded a piano vocal version as part of this episode., which was fun. At the end I’ve included a produced version which appeared as track #4 on my self-recorded album The Man In Blue (2014).

As usual, on this episode, I let the song lead the way – and the little mistakes: sometimes just playing and having fun allows me to get near to the mystery that songwriting is. And a mystery it is – the creative force, whatever you want to call it, the muse…

As I compose, a gentle give and take sort a process seems to happen. I stay ‘on the breath’, certainly not over-thinking things, but my logical self is across all the theory. My hands are on the keys, and my voice floats above the chords on the piano. The feeling never ceases to amaze me.

To demonstrate this process, I end up improvising the beginning of a new piece on this episode.

One Thing We Know, song #552, came together easily, once again. It’s concise and is an easily understood song.

Of all the things I’ve talked about on this podcast, perhaps the main thing has been the idea of making the commitment to catch the little bits and pieces as they come through, writing it down in a note book and and away you g, .creating and composing. Personal freedom would be the key.

If I hadn’t made that commitment years ago I wouldn’t have 800 songs up my sleeve here in 2024.

Thanks so much for having read. I hope you enjoy the 200th show.

Here’s the blog which I mention www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. The last 200 posts will give you an idea of not only what I’ve been up to these last 200 weeks, ( painting, drawing, composing, writing, etc), but it shows what I’ve been up to in my life on this artists path. It’s a joy.

Ok here we go. One thing we know….episode#200 – Rollin’ !

Episode #199: Song For August (Song starts at 3:08)

Welcome to another song – and another 30 mins of observations, humour, with a particular focus on songwriting.

For this episode, as it happens, I found a couple of different of versions of Song #396, Song For August, using the same lyrics. Both done in 1994. One was written on the piano by myself. The version we went with ( and quite rightly) is the one Paul Dredge and myself wrote on guitar (Paul) and voice (me).

This was one of 12 songs which Paul and I decided to record one weekend, years later in Melbourne Australia. We were joined my the marvellous Earl Pollard. We’ll always miss his great drumming, as sadly he’s no longer with us.

It was another person passing over that gave me the motivation to write these lyrics. His death had a profound effect on me. Not long after I found myself out on the road by myself. I was a bit thin, struggling a bit really.

Hanging on in there was the only choice to make. But sometimes it’s a rough road, isn’t. There’s a line in the song ‘standing on my own two feet’. It’s about surviving then, hanging in there against the odds, perhaps. The lyrics came quite quickly, as they tend to.

When it came to writing the song with Paul on guitar, the song pretty much came in one take – definitely one fast burst of continuous creativity.

I include the demo, which was recorded immediately after we wrote it, so basically we wrote it then recorded it in no time. Great fun, when you’ve got two minds, two artists working together, communicating without speaking, trusting each other, it really is gold.

Towards the end of this episode, I decided to compare the two different versions of the song. It’s fascinating , vocal phrasing. Groups of words seem to really dictate the rhythmical aspect of a phrase, for sure…

I hope you enjoy hearing how this song came about. It was good fun, finding these old demos and bringing this episode together.

If you do find someone to write with, and it goes well, hang on to that relationship. Paul and I have just about wrapped up what will be our 6th folk rock album.

You can find ‘Song For August’ on our album (appropriately named) Lost In Time ( the recording session was in 2012, I think (18 years after we wrote the song!) The album is currently only on Bandcamp. www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com.

The whole album was recorded and mixed in two studio sessions, somewhat crazily, but that’s all the time we had.

I still have the masters for this album, I think it’s nearly time to revisit some of the recordings and make a few changes here and there – just a few.

So with songs, I think it’s really important not to be afraid to discard parts, even whole versions of songs as we did in this case. I’m wondering whether I just plain forgot I wrote the song on the piano piano fist. Regardless, I’m glad it was forgotten. There’s something about the song Paul and I wrote, the number one thing would be feeling, there’s lots of that here…see what you think,

Here we go, Song For August.

Episode #198: Only Love Is Real (Song starts at 4:29)

This one, Song #660, popped up in amongst a dozen or so songs I had a sing and play through, earlier today. I thought ‘Aha!’ this would be a good one to have a look at for the podcast.

It’s a seemingly simple song. A ‘big day’ was the topic of my blog this week. And it was a big day, the day I took the hand of the person who turned out to be my wife…

‘When you took my hand, helped me to understand

Worked out how I felt, The turning of the wheel, Only love is real ‘

At the time it felt momentous. Ii felt like everything that had seemed so important, everything that had a hold on me, just sort of fell away.

‘When you caught my eye, we gave this dance a try…’

I’ve been thinking a lot and reading a lot through the years. The title of this song is also about how: before the Big Bang, all the way through since, underlying all, is love.

We perceive only a fraction of whats going on. And that’s just fine. I think it’s good to keep your feet on the ground, have fun and enjoy yourself along the way.

I tell my piano students, having a laugh is a not a bad idea when we make a mistake – it keeps the door of creativity open, keeps the energy flowing. We’d be a grumpy old lot otherwise, wouldn’t we?

The great thing about a song is: it goes on. It comes through, on the ether (love) and as a song writer, you do your best to interpret and represent what is coming through, to the best of your ability. Then you arrange and record it and send it out into the world.

On this podcast you get the experience of listening to a song for the first time. I love doing that, I’m a real album person. The first thing I used to do was turn the album cover over and read the lyrics, while listening to the songs. I get lost in a song that way.

Sure you can have background music on, why not? But I’m talking about listening closely, here. It’s so good for us. I’m always doing it..

I’m also a painter. I enjoy painting in my studio and also I particularly like to paint ‘en plein air’ ( French for on the spot out in nature).

I get lost in the scene when I’m painting. I lose the sense of self. The separation to nature is no longer there and I’m part of the scene.

It happens when I go fly fishing on a river. And it happens when I write a song,

It can also happen when you hold the hand of someone …you realise the potential of what may be ahead, it can be a transformational moment And love is what can be expressed.

In this song, the lyrics are reflective, looking back, acknowledging how good it is, how amazing it is.

There is also the bridge….a chance for another view point, in this case it’s an acknowledgement that there may be a listener (in the future, perhaps) who isn’t exactly on top of the world and is not in love with someone, not in a relationship. So there’s a line there that basically is saying: ‘hang on… things will improve..The new dawn will come’.

This is the way I roll. I like to offer help – there’s an uplifting aspect to my lyrics and I’m very happy about that. And apparently my piano playing does the same thing, so I’m happy about that too.

I also happen to like talking, particularly ‘off the cuff’ – there’s no script & I have no idea what I’m about to say as I record these 30 minute episodes.

A bit of humour keeps it real. And only love is real.

Here we go. I hope you enjoy this episode…

Episode #197: Let Her Know (Song starts at 5:19)

Song #156, Let Her Know, was composed in 1990. Back then, I was starting to think that’s a reasonable amount of songs.

The demo on this episode was recorded a decade later. And here we are in 2024. Wow. 34 years later, I find myself with 800 songs. It was fun, as always, listening to the demo, playing parts of ‘Let Her Know’, talking about where it came from, how it came together, what inspired the song.

What inspired the song were a series of episodes that obviously happened years ago. But the thing about art is: in brings memories to the surface, very strongly – so strongly, it feels like yesterday.

The arts are a means to exercise the grey matter, there’s no doubt about that! But more than that, it really gives us an opportunity to explore more of ourselves than is perhaps immediately apparent. You can go deep within, rediscovering old memories.

Each song is a complete surprise to me during the composing process. As you wade in and make a start, so much happens. You establish the mood. In no time, a band is playing in my mind – perhaps an orchestra, backing vocals, everything including the kitchen sink. That amazes me.

And yet it all comes down to the honest feeling, the feeling that caused me to pick up a pen and write an A4 page of lyrics.

Then the morning comes, when the mood hits me, I remember the words. I grab a coffee and a pen and take a seat at the piano.

For me it’s like a performance, writing a song, I’m in my skin, in the room with the piano of course, but part of me has gone somewhere else – many places: I’m on stage in an imagined future, I’m back in time, recalling those strong feelings, how the events unfolded. It’s like a start stop movie, for me.

It has the effect of making you feel really alive, your mind goes over and over a scene, replaying what happened, and you provide the sound track to the movie in your head.

At least, that’s how it is for me. It’s the most natural process for me. It’s a total joy, there’s no struggle, no frustration, and for that I feel incredibly grateful.

Let her know is about a young fellow struggling with something: he’s met someone that’s hit him right between the eyes. Should he let her know? What would happen? How would that feel? What subsequent events would that set in motion?

Putting big feelings like this into music is a great move. It gets it off your shoulders and it might turn out to be exactly what someone needs to hear somewhere down the track – even 34 years later!

I have a seascape exhibition on presently (I’m also an artist). Outcomes will be what they’ll be… will I sell the paintings? I don’t know. I hope so!

But what counts for me at least is: each painting is an expression of joy. It wasn’t a fight to get the paint to flow, to mix the right colours – the colours I could see in my mind (like the sounds I hear).

It’s so like the songwriting process.

I hope you enjoy this weeks episode, recording them is a real pleasure each week – an online performance of spoken word and music, with plenty of humour and entertainment.

I’m glad I took the time to write some words down and then added a music accompaniment as I winged the melody. Back in 1990. It’s such a great feeling, and it’s also incredibly good fun and endlessly fascination to be exploring the creative process of songwriting here on this podcast.

Here we go again: Let Her Know. Enjoy!

Episode #196: Home Straight (Song starts at 2:40)

This episode’s song would be a ‘protest song’ about the way we are not looking after the world & how out of touch with nature we have become.

Every now and then a song like this sneaks up on me. When it happens, I just go with the flow. It’s a great way to let off some steam. It’s also a very creative & effective way of dealing with some big feelings.

The trick is, it doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s a great place to put anger, the arts – because we can harness all that sometimes explosive energy and release it very quickly, rather than doing something pointless and destructive like booting a washing basket or something, you end up creating a piece of art.

The handy thing is, the resulting piece of art/music can then be a very positive thing to have brought into the world. It might be song with legs – a song that might resonate with others who’ve felt the same big feelings about a certain issue.

In this case, what inspired me to put pen to paper initially was this: those of you that have been following my podcast know that I get out in nature to reset. Particularly, I find being by the water does it for me.

Yes, I’m a fisherman, but a successful trip out for me might be 2 caught and released wee ones. It’s really about observing nature. More than that, I’ve discovered it’s about being connected to the bigger picture. A feeling of connectedness and optimism and energy are often the things I return home with – the catch – hey, maybe that’s an idea for a song.

That’s how creativity works. Once you makes a start, you’re in the flow and one creative idea leads to another.

Anyway back to what inspired this song, I looked up from my favourite fishing spot to see what appeared to be an oil rig of some description in the Port Phillip Bay (here in Melbourne, Australia). Alarm bells. But then it turns out apparently it was just ‘resting there’, hmm…

That got me on to thinking about all the ways we are not doing great things to this beautiful world we live in.

All the lyrics just came through my pen, a strong meter helped. It gave me the momentum & helped with the flow, the phrasing. In no time at all I’d filled 2 A4 pages with verses and choruses.

When it came to writing the music a couple of days later, it was the feeling that came through the words that reignited the energy, the passion to get the job done.

The melody and chords and song structure all came with a rush, very naturally. I had to force myself to stop and jot down my ideas then carry on, back in the flow.

The result is: song #628 fits me like a glove. In terms of the vocal range, the style ( the words are very ‘me’), the melody has natural highs and lows, the chords and the bass line all make sense.

I think that’s the best sort of song: the most ‘natural’. You can chip away and construct from bits and pieces , but quite often, the end result can be a song that sounds a little contrived. In my experience, these songs can be frustrating to record, as the energy doesn’t seem to flow.

It’s an endlessly fascinating process to be talking about each week.

I’ve just been away camping at the beach for a week. It was bliss, just letting the somewhat unseasonable sort of changeable weather roll around me (and ‘through’ me, it seemed, eg: the night I tried 2 casts in a howling 70km wind that got up from nowhere).

I include a couple of minutes of chat, which I recorded back home at my local beach the other night. On the spur of the moment, I added some piano music as I listened back to it.

I find it very relaxing to listen to these podcast episodes. I have a Seascape exhibition opening shortly, so I’ve been up til 3am painting. I like to review my work, so as I painted, I listened to 3 randomly selected podcast episodes in a row: Crossroads, In The Scheme Of Things and I wish. I found them to be interesting, and informative, funny and entertaining.

If you find you’ve enjoyed this episode, there’s another 195 episodes waiting for you.

If you’d like to hear more of my music, check out www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. There’s piano solo, folkrock (with Paul Dredge) ; rock with The Patient Hum guys – and other solo albums (also on Spotify, AppleMusic and YouTube).

A good place to start to get an overview of my work is my blog: there are 190 odd posts which document a lot of my work done to date. It leads you to more art and music. www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

I’m planning on finishing those video courses, too, this year ( cartoon drawing, seascape painting and piano playing – to begin with).

Ok on with the show. Home straight . Enjoy!

Episode #195: White Angels (Song starts at 5:51)On this episode we are looking at the 2nd song I wrote after I arrived in Melbourne in 1997. I'd already written 385 songs in New Zealand before this one. I came to Melbourne as it was a rite of passage, of sorts, for kiwi songwriters to jump the ditch.I was here to set up camp, to be here for some time, to continue on - or perhaps more accurately start again - on my creative path. I needed to find some more band players, and I really wanted to get cracking again, here, in a new country.Songwriting is something has pretty much always ticked along for me. In 1997 once I’d settled in to life in the city, I picked up a newspaper and there was a headline that really hit me between the eyes: 17 young people had overdosed in 3/4 hour in Melbourne's cbd.It struck me what an awful time that must have been for those involved - the young people themselves, their families, the ambulance drivers.A scene unfolded in my minds eye and I didn’t shut it down. It became a movie. This in turn inspired the lyrics. Improvising music to words (or while watching images) is something that I find comes to easily to me. I think it’s because all the emotion is already there.I’ve always had the ability to ‘roll a film’ in my mind. I think we all do, don’t we? (I draw cartoon animals. So if I think of say, a llama playing saxophone, there he is, moving around, eyes shut wailing away..hmm, maybe I shouldn’t mention that publicly.)Anyway, as I read the newspaper article, a really strong feeling took hold of me and the words streamed off my pen.When it came time for the music, a gospel sounding riff came through my finger tips on the piano keys. It set up the first verse and there I was: well underway, again, with another song.Over the intervening years, I think I was perhaps a little bit hard on myself, in terms of whether I thought this song was good enough to release.Us artists can be too tough on ourselves. Sometimes nothing we’ve produced ever seems good enough, which is strange, really.Pieces of art & songs, are all like stepping stones along the way for the artist. I think: if the art or music is of a certain standard (it ‘passes the muster’), put it out there and move on.That’s what I’ve been doing with this podcast - and my blog: 195 weeks of sharing what I’m up to, some of the how to. I'm looking to share and help people along the way. Encouraging people along a creative path is the idea.Because it can’t help to be a healing path. You learn about yourself - like the line in white angels: 'the past clears, the path clears and today is much less blurred.'As I’ve recorded these episodes, I’ve realised even more just how powerful it is to write a song. A song brings back so many memories. It's got be good for your brain to be used like that. The very same song is going to have different connotations, bring to mind different memories, for different people. That’s powerful.The listener has an emotional response and again, this can also be a healing thing. So feels really, really good to be a songwriter.It’s nice to be sharing some of my processes here on this podcast. In this case, I’ve rediscovered a sort of a gospel ballad. I’m so pleased I wrote it - and I’m pleased that I recorded the demo back in 2000. I have played this song in restaurants as a piano solo piece, but I’ve never sung it live.I hope you enjoy another song and chat, here we go,More here: Lyrics, links to music and art www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #194: Parachutes (Song starts at 4:40)Back in 1993, I had a residency as a pianist at a resort in Wairakei, near Taupo, in New Zealand. To rejuvenate myself - and lift my spirits - while I know I was very lucky to have this sort of gig, being a pianoman has it’s ups and downs. During the daytime, I’d often get out into nature. I’d play golf or go trout fishing.I wrote the words for song #303, Parachutes, as I sat in my old van Hercules one late morning. I’d taken a drive to a vantage point where I knew there was a fantastic view of Lake Taupo, with the volcanic plateau as a back drop. It was a pristine early winter’s morning of blue sky and water.It had a been a big night, the night before. After some persuasion (a conversation in a bar after the gig), I’d finally been convinced to go parachuting the next day. I woke in the morning with a bad hangover and a sinking feeling of doom - which was quickly alleviated by a phone call “ It’s too breezy, we’ll have to skip it this morning”.I got away with it.As I wrote the lyrics, the winter breeze had chosen to be kind - kind to me, by blowing early, then calming down for some other parachutists, who were now hanging against the distant storm clouds in the distance. Although I wouldn’t have minded their view, I certainly wasn’t wishing I was up there.Comfortable in my van, I imagined their view. It reminded me how free I was. Young, single, on the road - the future was wide open.I was missing my co-songwriter buddy, Paul Dredge. He’d recently left - onto other things - so I was licking my wounds a bit, determined to carry on.So when it came to writing the music, back in the incredibly peaceful Kuratau, where I was based at the time, I had a go at writing an ‘up’ sort of song that Paul and I might have written together, with Paul on guitar.Fast forward to 2023, I found my self recording a demo midway through this episode. Something was missing, and then it hit me. Another voice!So I went back and recorded another vocal part (in the style of Finn brothers, Every brothers, etc) and I think Parachutes finally came together. Paul and I still enjoy singing together like this.Another year is coming to close. It’s been a goodie for me: I’ve chosen to spend lots of time creating music and art. It’s a timeless time. I’m in another world. I leave all my worries, all the ‘goings on’ behind and I’m completely in the zone when I write words, music and paint pictures.Paul and I are close to finishing our 6th Folk Rock album . The rock band PP and the Patient Hum are closing in on another one. You can find my music here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com (also streaming on the usual platforms).Looking forward producing to a stack more music and ain 2024.Ok join me in Hercules the van, over looking the lake, back in 1993:Church bells are ringing from somewhere afarTimes gliding by, day by day, I’m biding time and I gazeAt the parachutes in the sky…Enjoy.Lyrics and more art and music here on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

Episode #193: Soul Yo-Yo (Song starts at 5:08)Ever wondered about all the personal ups and downs we have and how - in some of the more extreme moments - we seem to bring to light aspects of ourselves we perhaps don’t regularly access? I wonder why we wait for those times of crises to express and act on more of our potential?That was the inspiration for the words of song #43 Soul Yo-Yo, Written in 1998. ‘We’re barely in touch with our souls, closest to them in our pain’When I arrived in Melbourne (from NZ, back in 1997), it was quite an adjustment to make, living in the big city.The normal ensuing ups and downs of settling into somewhere new resulted in me writing a lot in a diary - some of which, in turn, found it’s way into lyrics for my songs as I found my way along.I was lucky. I found gigs relatively straightaway and, after a while, I started a stall at the arts market selling my CDs and art (which I still do today).In between gigs and markets, sometimes life in the city was quite challenging. Seeing people who were homeless as I took the tram to a gig (where I entertained in the shiny environment, performing for clientele with plenty of money to buy dinner) played on my mind.Also, I missed the easily accessible NZ outdoors, where I was used to heading for several times a week to help cope with city life: ‘The country feeds my soul’.Looking at the bigger picture, the lyrics touch on the idea of perhaps doing a bit of work on the self regularly: ‘It’s soul money in the bank’I was without a band at the time & I was in the process of trying to find some players for a rock band (And I did - Pete Pascoe and the Patient Hum - I’m busy finishing our 3rd album, presently).So I wrote Soul Yo-Yo for a non existent band, planning to present it sometime in the future (it’s in the genre of a lively crowded house song).I was determined to be making progress in some way. By doing this, I was sort of laying down stepping stones for a possible future. An exercise in self belief, determination - in effect, acting in faith, that it would all come together, somehow.The demo on this episode was recorded back in 2000. I’d gone into a studio with my electric piano and my voice, and recorded the current group of song (I’d completely forgotten about this recording session until I put my hand in a box of old recordings and pulled out a CD…this is song number 5 row 14 recorded ‘on the trot’ one afternoon).On the recording, you can hear a younger me, playing and singing in a style that would suit a band arrangement.I think perhaps I’ll present this one to the band in the new year and see how it goes. If it doesn’t suit us, I’ll might put it on a sort of ‘80s synth rock’ album, which I have brewing.With this sort of back story as a kind of a backdrop, I hope you enjoy the show, listening as I analyse the lyrics and look at how the music came together for 'Soul Yo-Yo'.The creative process of songwriting is such a joy. Exploring 'Soul Yo-Yo' has brought more of that to the surface again on this episode.It’s such good fun to be producing the episodes for this podcast. It’s my online ‘songwriter speaks’ sort of a presentation.So here’s another song, several interrelated stories and concepts - all delivered with a liberal dose of humour and with some piano accompaniment.Enjoy (and by the way, if you’re new here, welcome! If you enjoy this episode, there’s another 192 listen to!)Blog: www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

Episode #192: When I Was Young (Song starts at 4:52 )When I Was Young is song #554, composed in 2010. I remember it was a fun piece to write.Lyrically, as the title suggests, it’s an older me, looking back at my youth. It’s a reflective lyric. It’s about hanging on to the childhood optimism, the magic that can be found in life.I strive to hang on to those sorts of feelings. I think because I’m so involved in the arts, it’s kept me awake, alive, optimistic and passionate about life.The music came together quickly. The words (which came first) dictated the rhythmical aspect of each vocal phrase, to a degree.I float a vocal melody above the improvised chords and each section leads naturally into the next. It’s like opening a series of presents.It’s an incredibly enjoyable thing to do, composing. Actually, that doesn’t cut it. It’s a total joy.I chose to compose quite ‘up’ music to go with these lyrics. I’ve got a tendency to do that reasonably often. I think it comes from my history of being a live performer. The quieter songs have their place, for sure. But there’s nothing quite like having some more up songs up your sleeve when you’re under the pump on the gig.Speaking of gigs, on this episode, I take you back in time when I was cutting my teeth on my first gigs, playing piano in restaurants. I was learning so much by creating arrangements in the moment. I was playing songs by great song writers. I had books of sheet music: Great Songs of the 70s and the Beatles complete. They got me through, to begin with.Back when I was growing up on a small Pacific island like New Zealand, the music coming from the USA and England was ‘the business’. That’s what everyone listened to. It took courage and a lot of self belief to have a go at songwriting. Great NZ songwriters like Neil and Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn showed us we could - thanks so much to those wonderful artists.I’m so pleased I did have a go at song writing, and I’m pleased I haven’t stopped.I have 5 albums nearing completion at the moment and I have another 20 new songs waiting to be written into my song books.If you’re thinking about getting into songwriting, I say: go for it! And when you start, don’t stop.This podcast is about rediscovering older songs and finding out where they came from, how they came to be - the composition process. I’m not going to presume to be able to tell you how to write a song, but I’m endeavouring to describe and demonstrate the way I do it.it’s fun sitting at my piano each week. The moment the mic is ready and I hit record, I go into performance mode. The podcasting is something I’m really enjoying.The initial songwriting often happens in a burst of activity for me. They seem to come through very quickly for me. So when I feel the urge, I put everything aside for a moment and see what comes through.Once the songs are written, I open my songbooks, and perform a few, maybe on a rainy day, when the mood strikes me. Often I randomly pick songs that seems to fit together. I get lost in the performance and 2 hours later I’ve come up with a song list for a couple of new albums. And this:I’d constantly edit and arrange the songs. Just like those days of arranging in the moment as I performed on those restaurants all those years ago. It really was a great training ground in so many ways..Join me now as I take you though some of my processes again this week - And I talk about whatever else comes to mind along the way. It all a bit of fun. It’s a creative way to share a creative process.Picture me on an intimate stage. You’re my audience - thank you! Here we go…The lyrics for this song (plus paintings and more music) are on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. (perhaps open another window and read them as I sing the song).

Episode #191: Goodnight (Song starts at 4:20)Here’s another half an hour of music and gentle chat. This isn’t a left brained sort of dry presentation eg: “ and here we have the verse, you'll note… blah blah”.No, it’s more relaxed. I’m on stage - in my mind. Well, I’m sitting at my piano, in my a studio in Melbourne, Australia, and you are my audience and I’m here to entertain and inform you.So I’m an entertainer. I enjoy relating events from my past that help paint the picture of where the song of the episode came to mind.On that note, this week, I delivered a large seascape painting to the Bayside Art Show in Brighton, Melbourne.As I sat in the car park and observed the scene, lots of memories came back to me.Back when I wrote 'Goodnight', I was a busy chap, as I am still now. I’d been part of another exhibition here… I ended up winning the People's Choice award, as it turned out, in the morning, I painted a plein air seascape and framed it.Then I painted a picture of the statue (a feminine figure in a pond just to my right), and I painted the church behind me. All 3 paintings sold in an auction on the day. I did a cartoon session with kids. I also did a gig & I played my songs in the garden. Big day, eh?'Goodnight', the song, is about that moment where you finally rest your head on the pillow when you’ve had a big day.It might have been an extremely busy, satisfying day… like the day of that exhibition (I went out like a light when I finally hit the hay that evening), or a completely different sort of day.The main message that came across as the lyrics came through, was ‘Goodnight', you know you’re loved’.That very reassuring statement came through loud and clear. And I think it’s true. It’s just the way it is.The words came first. When I compose this way, I do find it very easy to add the music afterwards.Words bring pictures to mind, the pictures become a movie and then it becomes clear to me what sort of music is required.With the limitations of my abilities, such as they are, I perform my version of what I’ve an hear in my mind as I play.All I need is the start. Then a riff happens, then perhaps a section that builds. In this case, when that happened, I could hear the band arrangement clearly in my head, so I knew then what sort of animal I was dealing with.A mellow dynamic dreamy ‘end of album’ sort of a song, which it ended up becoming: the final track on the album 'The Man In Blue'. I loved wiring and recording this album. The version on this podcast episode is the recording from the album.It was my first effort at recording a full band album with acoustic drums and everything, it was fun. It was so much fun I’m still recording today, I’d be in the studio 7 days a week if I could.That’s partly what this podcast is about, I have 800 songs, so it’s nice to bring them out into the light online, sure some are on albums already (like 'Goodnight'). But other aren’t and may never be.And still others, because I’ve rediscovered and added bits to on an episode, They are now ready to record.Anyway, on this episode…you’ll get to hear how the song came together. It’s fun playing the piano, singing and talking through each section as they happened,If you like this episode there another 190 to listened to when you feel like it. I enjoy listening back these episodes and reviewing my work in the car. I end up just really relaxing and enjoying the 30minutes each time.I hope you do too.The lyrics for this song (and the paintings and more music) are on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com each week too.The Man In Blue is streaming now on all the usual platforms, including my Bandcamp website www.petepascoe.bandcamp.comYou might like to check out my video for 'At What Cost', track 2 of the album on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music.For now, it’s Goodnight from me. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Episode #190: Driving Home Blues (Song starts at 3:00)I’m really enjoying producing these episodes - it’s a live online gig, really. That’s what it feels like. Thanks so much to those of you who are tuning in regularly. If you’re new here:I’m looking to shine a light on some aspects of how I compose a song. I’m certainly not to looking take away the mystery - as if I could do that. The mystery is half of what makes song writing intriguing.In 1991, when I wrote song #190, 'Driving Home Blues', I was working in a piano bar with Paul Dredge, my song writing buddy and great friend. We played 5 nights per week for 3 years at this residency. We learned so much. We are still writing and recording today - our 6th album is nearing completion.I was single at the time. A brief stormy sort of a relationship had snuck up on me. It made me feel stuff. It made me grow up in a hurry. I had to toughen up, look after myself.Then it was all over before it started. At the time I decided to go out and buy a sheet music book, of Bob Dylan’s songs, with the purpose of analysing Bobs songs - his Melodies and chords, etc.Paul, and I were already playing lots of Bob Dylan (and Neil young). We’d worked out there songs by ear, but something made me buy this book and study the notation.After 30mins browsing the book, I was sort of in the mood. I thought: “I’ll have a go at writing a Bob Dylan sort of song” and I wrote 'These Bills Blues' (featured on an earlier episode)…. and then about 5 nights later I wrote 'Driving Home Blues'.Writing ‘in the style of’ isn’t something I’d done before or since, to be honest. But I’m glad I gave it a go.We can learn so much by following in the steps of the masters. So it’s not plagiarism, nothing like that. It was more noticing how few chords you could work with, how few words you sometimes need. And how simple a melody can be for it to work.Both Bob Dylan and Neil Young have at times written some very, very clever simple songs that say so much, which ultimately was enhanced by the way they were so brilliantly sung and produced.As a piano player, you tend at times to use a lot of chords. So this was something that pushed me in a slightly different direction, and it’s something I never forgot.I’m not afraid to write simple songs.On that note, I’ve never been afraid when composing. You can’t be afraid of making mistakes. Being aware, now I think that’s super important, being aware…( eg how original is this song I’m writing?)… a sense of honesty and originality. It can take a while to find your own style.It’s a such a pleasure to be writing songs, still, after all these years.Because I’ve been so busy doing this podcast and my blog, teaching 24 kids piano each week, painting seascapes and cartoons, - and selling them - it’s all been ‘go’ around here, for years.I’ve written 800 songs, have 12 albums out & have 5 albums nearing completion - plus I’m working on tuition videos (music and art). These video courses have taken me far longer than I thought it might. Oh well.It’s important not to be to hard on yourself if you’re on the creative path. It’s like a river sometimes you’re in a holding pool, other times you’re in the rapids and away you go.When writing the music, it seems like you can somehow ‘hear’ the beginning of the next phrase ‘ahead of time’. It is fascinating, and it’s fun to be in the flow, like this.I’m grateful I took the time to sit down and write Driving Home Blues. I could've just sat round licking my wounds. Instead, I got stuff off my chest and into my diary. Then I used those feelings and experiences to push me on and turn a murky feeling into a piece of art.Here we go. I hope you enjoy hearing new music ..and another chat.Thanks for having a read, I hope you enjoy the listen. If so, there’s another 180 odd episodes waiting for you. They’re not in an particular order, although I’ve enjoyed the way this podcast continues to evolve.

Episode #189: Finding This City. (Song starts at 3:42 )Hi there, this episode was a fun one to put together. To start with, Finding This City came into my mind as I went into my studio. I went over to a large box of old cassettes and selected one completely randomly. Amazingly, the tape that said Peter ’94, was teed up and ready to play the uptempo rocker that is: 'Finding This City'.That sort of thing really appeals to me. It feels very close to the sort of magic feeling that can happen when I pick up a pen to write lyrics, or when I let my hands just play some bits and pieces on the keys of the piano.That’s what I was doing back in 1994. I’ll put you in the picture: I was new to a city called Hamilton, in New Zealand’s North Island. I had a lot of hair, in my mid 20s. I had an old van that smoked like ‘billy-o’ but it got me around the country from gig to gig.A few things hadn’t exactly gone to plan musically - and personally - at this stage. But a new chapter beckoned in Hamilton and I was determined to carry on and create some new opportunities.I met up with an old friend, Mr Grant Hislop, again. He offered me a couple of weeks employment, recording voice overs for radio commercials (which I’d never done). It was a big step up from home recording on 4 tracks. But I took on the challenge. I learned on the fly, recording these radio ads.And over the course of 5 nights, working from 9pm til dawn, I put together an album of demos. It was initially all done on the keyboard (drums and bass included) except for the guitar.‘Brendon’, a guitarist, heard me recording one night around midnight. About then I’d been thinking ‘Man, I wish I had a guitarist for these songs’ and lo and behold, Brendon knocked on the door and introduced himself. 6 hours later, as the sun came up, we were putting the finishing touches to the last song.So, lots of energy - the energy of a driven artist in his mid 20s.Fast forward now, to 2023. And the energy still flows. I’m starting to figure out I better let those 3am finishes go. Especially when I do 3 in a row.I’ve worked extremely hard on my song writing over the years. It’s my passion. It’s easy - I’ve never sat down and just slogged away for hours. It’s never been that way. For that, I’m extremely grateful. It’s a total joy.Im Working on 5 albums presently, in various genres. I’ll let you know when they’re up and streaming.So it does take a lot of hours and work to write songs. I think it’s worth every minute. I recommend it, for sure.In fact, if you’re thinking about getting busy on a creative path, I say go for it. It’s such a rich life to be living in so many respects.I get energy by walking in the outdoors, by water. It’s pretty easy to explain, I guess. It literally fills the well, gives me what I need to carry on.This is song number 323 out of 800. Sandwiched between two mellow songs, Balcony and Post The Picture…gentle songs I’ve already featured on this podcast.Also, I mention a chap I met in a restaurant one night..which ended up being a song, I Wish (also on this podcast).Ok, It was fun rediscovering this song. Here we go…let’s find this city.Enjoy.

Episode #188: Weather Girl (Song starts at 3:48)Back in the day, when I wrote this one, there used to be a weather girl on TV after the news. She used to have a stick and point out the highs and the lows on a weather map.Also back in the day I was getting to know a young lady. It was a little bit of an up and down time. I wasn’t sure quite how a lunch date was going to go, from day to day.I guess looking back, we just weren’t cut out to be together too easily. I found all the ups and downs and mood changes a handful. So I came up with the idea for a song: a weather girl - with all the highs and the lows.In August, 1991, when I wrote this one, I was living in New Zealand. Maybe it’s to do with living on a small pacific island, looking back, the subject weather always came up quickly in conversation: “Nice day today..” “Yes, but it’s going to rain later this week” , etc. Perhaps in the old days, with lots of living being done outdoors and near the ocean, one used to have a closer eye once weather.As a kid, I remember when I stayed with my Dad, the silence required when the news came on…and then even more so when the weather report came on. He used to be a farmer…Other New Zealanders have written a song about the weather. Neil Finns Weather With You, Dave Dobbyns Outlook For Tuesday are great examples.As I chat about where the song came from, I relate an account of me cycling into the winter weather …and so on. Yep, weather had quite an effect on us New Zealanders.Anyway. Weather Girl turned out to be a nice gentle gentle pop song. It was a pleasure to record a version as part of this podcast episode. I think I’ll take it further and produce a finished version of it.I wrote the words first, as I often did then. These days words and music often comes through at the same time. I’ve started to become quite a handy secretary - it’s part of the songwriting gig: catching the words and the music as they come through together.It’s like the phrases are instantly recorded in my mind and I’m able to rewind and play the section in my mind as I play and sing along, writing the words and the melody.The natural rhythms of the syllables of the words really dictate proceedings when it comes to the phrasing of the melody.And likewise, natural seems to be the key, keeping in the flow, when I let my fingers wander on the keys.I keep all the theory in mind and just play. It really is like having all the colours at hand and combining them as I paint a picture.With the words already written, it’s like the picture is half done. Well, there’s plenty of other elements, bass melody, rhythm, etc. but the main thing is there: the feeling.A bit of background /behind the scenes news: I have 5 albums coming along nicely, presently. Including the first ‘songs from the podcast ‘ album, #1. It’s all coming together well.I am juggling a lot of other things on a weekly basis: 24 piano students in 2 days, arts markets, seascape painting, producing prints, my blog, and this podcast. I also have a YouTube channel, but I’ve been a bit quiet there lately. More coming soon.I hope you enjoy this episodes song, 'Weather Girl'. It’s a warm sounding wee song.It was fun having a look at how this song came together.Here we go. I hope you enjoy another song and some relaxed chat.

Episode #187: Not Here At All (Song starts at 4:42 )People ask me: “why do you do a podcast, Peter?” and I just say well I really, really enjoy it. Life is to be enjoyed.Plus, I’m really enjoying rediscovering songs which I’ve written a while ago - like this episode’s song, 'Not Here At All'. It was written in the year 2000.It’s fun to sit behind my piano and entertain as I speak. I did it for a living for years. This has more of a songwriter speaks sort of angle. It’s fun and informative, is the idea.So what inspired this song? You know when you’re talking to someone, having a nice conversation and you suddenly realise the person you’re talking to has drifted away? This happened to me. So, ignoring passing moment of frustration, I thought: ‘Aha, here’s a song lyric idea. So I made a mental note.I think at times we are all perhaps guilty of formulating our answer, rather than just purely listening.There’s an art to truly listening. In fact I find that sort of focus is precisely what it takes to compose a song,You’re listening - intently, but not like a rabbit on alert, it’s more like you’re listening to a conversation for interesting snippets that sound original,I say listening, because even though I’m the one making all the noise on the piano and singing, you sort almost listen and you can almost hear the next bit just before you need it. It certainly is a fascinating process.Getting back now, to ‘not really listening’, the lyrics move on and settle on the theme I wonder if one day we’ll hear the call ..sort of a mystical awakening, through listening and observing on a deeper level, I suppose. So from someone not listening , that brought me to: are we listening on a whole other level? We all have the potential to wake up, start living in the moment, be gentle with each other and get along.I like to think we will. I bought a paper the other day. Talk about a grim document. Yes, it may be factual, but it was so imbalanced in its views and presentation. So much good stuff is going on in the world. It just doesn’t make the news.So that’s why I create my own news. Like this broadcast: analysing the creative process by demonstrating and asking a series of questions, of myself, of the songs. I keep the humour close to the surface. For me I find that keeps the creative process moving on.I obviously love writing song. I’m really enjoying sharing them in this manner. If you enjoy this week’s episode - and you’re new here - thanks for dropping by. There’s another 180 odd episodes waiting for you,I do intend to repurpose some of the content at some point ( including finishing the piano/vocal versions of the unreleased ones in upcoming albums). For now, I’m satisfied with the form it’s in. I’m receiving some great feedback, so it’s nice to be making connections like this.Positive, entertaining creative communication is what I’m . And there’s plenty more on the way, including video courses for the piano playing, cartoon drawing, pairing seascapes + and lots more music on the way (5 ambles nearly finished in different genres)..All we have is here and now. Life’s a series of moments. I want to look back on a series of excellent moments.Each 30 minute podcast episode has been that for me. After all these episodes, it’s still a surprising and fun process for me.Here we go…some new music, some chat and piano. Enjoy!Here’s the blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (links to more music and art and writing).

Episode #186: Song For You. (Song starts at 3:38)This is a love song. Just words and a simple tune. It can be a powerful combination.Written in 2000, song #475 sums up the grateful feeling I’d found by deciding to commit to my girlfriend who became my wife. Lucky me.It’s been an incredibly enjoyable process - our relationship - and rediscovering songs over these last 180 odd weeks. I let the song lead the way for each episode and endeavour to try and keep out of the way of the emerging story.I like to walk in nature (on this episode, there’s a brief recording of me talking as I go out on twilight walk). I like to see detail. And conversely, the big picture, too. Just nothing in particular. I let the scene just wash over me -and through me, somehow.And that is the feeling that I try to take with me into the studio. I keep my mind as clear as possible and away I go, fingers on the keys, composing.I honestly can’t remember the last time I played and sang ‘Song For You’. There’s something about recording the take of me rediscovering the song that seems to work for these episodes.I’m big on trying to catch feeling and a bit of magic, in the studio (instead of looking try an catch the perfect take, where you risk losing the feeling and story).It’s all about the story - both the songs and the podcast episode. That’s what makes it interesting and not just some dry sort of dialogue about how I compose.I’m very pleased I’ve found this song again, I must record it sometime. It’s a romantic honest sort of a ballad.There’s a line in the song…cos you call me home with your warm warm heart and like a gentle wind you set me free. That suits me.You need a certain sort of freedom to be a songwriter. And you need to feel supported. It sure helps. Because it’s huge commitment, being on this creative path. All the ups and downs that it entails…ditto with a relationship - all of those things are crucial: Freedom, support, commitment.Perhaps that helps illustrate how writing song feels like I’m writing with something outside/within myself. The muse..I wrote the words first. After I’d written 4 verses, and read back through them, I realised this would be a simple love song.That’s when I came up with the line with my words and a simple tune, which became the hook.I’m pleased with the way the music has come up for this song - it’s a good fit with the lyrics.. Between a nice couple of bookends start and finish, there’s a pleasant melody and chords that roll along, with just enough interesting changes to catch the ear and keep it interesting. It flows along nicely.It’s incredibly good for you to compose, you use so many different parts of brain.I don’t just knock out a song for the heck of it, I’m a firm believer that any song, any style of art that is worthwhile has to start with feeling. Which this song did…I hope you enjoy this gentle episode. It’s an absolute pleasure to be presenting a song and a chat each week.I include an anecdote about one of the first time we ventured into the true outback of Victoria, Australia - and we sure found it…Here’s my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com and here’s my bandcamp www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Episode #185: Lonely Tune (Chase Those Blues Away). (Song starts at 3:20)It’s been a nice few days. Yesterday was a cracking ‘blue sky day’. I was sitting outside and I decided to go inside and sit at the piano and sing a song. I picked up the old purple book, flicked it open and there it was: Lonely Tune. I thought ‘why not…’I enjoyed singing it so much I thought I’d choose it for this week’s episode. It was also relaxing and fun to record it as I recorded the episode.Where did Lonely Tune come from? I remember I played a song to a friend. They said “well, it sounds a bit…lonely".So I took the constructive criticism on the chin, picked up my pen and turned the ‘lonely’ idea into a lyric.The first verse talks about how it can be tough going: When night falls, you’re lonely and it’s all….hard.The second verse was an opportunity to address all those lines and flip things around to the positive. Here’s some examples:Vs 1: When day turns to night. Vs2: when nay turns to mightVs 1: When starlight fills the sky. Vs2: When Aha replaces why?Vs1:When you can’t bear the wait. Vs2: When you enjoy the wait.It was fun fro go back through and bring a positive sort of twist to the lines from the first verse. There are two sort of approaches to life: half empty vs half fullIt’s interesting how a quiet, somewhat sad song can lift your spirits.With the music, the melody unfolded quite naturally, along with the improvised chords, as I played the piano. I gave the lyrics a gentle lilt - In fact it just happened. A sort of quiet jazz ballad feel kicked in. It happens to me now and then. I certainly wouldn’t say it’s something I specialise in, but when it comes along, I don’t block that voice.That’s what makes songwriting so enjoyable for me: I aim to enjoy myself. I improvise, listening for whatever is next. Being right ‘in the moment’ is the key - both with the pen in hand for the lyrics, my fingers on the keys and voice ready for the music.As I write, as well as enjoying the relaxing performance aspect, I keep an ear out for the story as it reveals itself. It’s fascinating how the various sentences come together, where they come from, what they end up leading to.It’s all a mystery, to be honest, after all these years. I’ve composed about 800 songs now. This one is song #573, from 2011. It’s a joy to be writing songs.I’ve remembered: the song that my friend thought was ‘lonely’ was Lone Tree (from the Tasman Bridge album)…maybe I’ll feature it in a podcast episode soon.As the weeks go by, I enjoy grabbing ideas and phrases and turning them into something new. Songwriting (and art in general) is great like that. It can be a very healing process.Speaking of art, I’m working on another seascape painting. If you’d like to see it, check out my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. There are also some ‘work in progress’ pics.Eventually, I’ll finish my video courses I’m working on (piano, seascape painting, cartoon drawing,. etc). All in good time.For now, it’s nice to be sharing lots of positive art and music online each week - including this podcast, it’s such a pleasure to be doing this.I hope you enjoy 'Lonely Tune' - and the chat.

Episode #184: Strange Town (Song starts at 4:41 & 26:00 )If it’s your first time here, thanks for dropping by. You’ve picked an interesting one - this is a bit of a wild and whacky episode.I’ve picked on an old song from 1987. I was a ‘piano man’ back then, Paul Dredge ( co-writer / long time buddy ) and I were performing as a duo in the evenings, presenting dining music.But we were ready to rock out… in some sort of inner David Byrne (from Talking Heads), style - a zany sort of rock (Now it’s 2023, I still feel the same way - maybe that 80s synth rock album needs to be prioritised..)Back in 1998, we borrowed some 4 tracking (early multi tracking) recording gear. And away we went.We picked song #38 (I’ve now gone on to composed 800+). You’ll get to hear the piano vocal version I recorded as part of this episode - and you’ll also hear the old 4 tracked version as well. It’s pretty lively, I can’t quite believe where we got to, given it was our first effort at producing a multi tracked recording of a song.When you consider the lyrics..’oh steel blue eyes, see painted city scapes’, they sound pretty mellow, right?Well, there are no rules when it comes to creating music. That’s part of the joy. You have total freedom. It’s like going on a holiday, when there are no firm plans. You roll with what ever comes along.To be honest, the 4 tracked version from April ’98 is pretty rough and ready. We had no idea how to make the borrowed gear ‘go’. But we were determined to do it - and we were going to have some fun.So am I embarrassed to share this in 2023?. The answer is: not even close. What you’ll hear are two enthusiastic, inspired young people. And what we caught on tape really has some merit still, today, I think.I composed the music for this song on the piano (lyrics were written first). As the song took shape, I started to hear a band arrangement in my mind straight away. This became the vision I started with when we recorded.Poor old Paul… he was in charge of the drum machine. I was thumping out a guide track on the old acoustic piano, calling out to Paul speed up & slow down the tempo, repeatedly. To Paul’s credit he didn’t block me and we carried on.I glad we recorded it the way we did it. There is nothing quite like realising a vision, something you have in mind.Here’s my blog with the lyrics, etc www.petepascoe.wordpress.com .Here we go.. ‘from TV to office, rat race to numbness ‘, ..leave it all behind for a while - it’s time for a song and some chat - including the 80s synth rock guitar band recording - all fun here.

Episode #183: Brilliant Sunshine (Song starts at 4:43)I started this song as I was travelling to piano teaching one morning. I was sitting at the bus stop on the busy road. The sun was so hot and bright I could barely read the words on my page. That is literally what the first few sentences of the lyrics say.So pretty much, no matter where you are, or what you’re up to, it can be done. We all have the choice to focus on something creative to lift out mood.I could’ve been sitting at that bus stop stewing about the fact that my previous train was canceled & I was a bit tired - I could’ve got scratchy about it all.Instead, I picked a pen and got something off my shoulders by starting with some real things that are happening around me. Then I reflected on the images and feelings. And I came up with something new, a step on: some art.It feels good to do this in the moment, and then it feels doubly good to look back and think hey I’ve got great memories of feeling good because I chose to focus and get creative.On that note, I could be licking my wounds because of the last few years of Covid and the consequent pretty much non-recovery of the arts (as yet), here in Melbourne. Instead I’m looking back at 3 years of a heap of music and art, chat and writing on the internet which I’ve produced. It feels good.Putting music to these lyrics felt really good too. The demo version on this episode is piano/vocal. I can really hear a full band arrangement - including and extended guitar solo ending. That’d be fun.I’ll take you down to the beach again this week. This time I’m doing a spot of fishing. I’m glad I did. I’ve had a couple of weeks break from teaching (school holidays here) so I’m amongst the usual painting, podcast recording and blog writing, I made a point of taking some time out.In this city of a million stories, here’s another one. Mine. I also then turn it around at the end of the singing with …let me hear your story.Because it’s not all about me. As a lyricist, I’m inviting the listener to choose to do some work, go through some similar thought processes by following along with my lyrics, and then reflecting on how those ideas might pertain to themselves.That’s sometimes what happens with art. It offers a tangible place for some sort of reflection and personal transformation/ growth to take place. Or - at the very least - perhaps the listener might think: ‘Hey, that songs got a nice beat. It’s lifted my mood’. The lyrics might not even be delved into to any degree - and that’s fine.That’s the beauty of songwriting, I think it’s an inclusive domain - both for the listener and for the songwriters.That’s why I’m sharing how I write a song. I’m not telling anyone how to write a song.. on these episodes, I’m just sharing some ideas about how I do it.I’m finding sitting at the piano as I chat is working well, because I can demonstrate something musically, easily. Then go back to the chat.Or I can take off on musical tangents….eg a new bridge for a song like last episode, or perhaps an improvised piece, as I did towards the end of this week’s episode.I hope you some new music. Perhaps Paul Dredge and I might include this one on a folk rock album. We are 9 songs into our new folk rock album. You’ll hear more about that (here) soon.To keep up with my art and music ( and two read the lyrics of the songs on this podcast, check out my blog. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com there are a 180 odd posts there now, including lots of cartoons, seascape paintings, creative ideas, photos and links to lots more music.This podcast is such a pleasure to produce. Thanks for the great feedback, folks.Here we go… enjoy ( the) brilliant sunshine.

Episode #182: Hit The Sun (Song starts at 6:00)Where did 'Hit The Sun' come from? Well, as soon as I read through the lyrics, like a poem, it took me right back to the day I composed it.It was a beautiful Spring day. I went outside to hang out some washing ( my cat followed me, waiting for his customary ride in the washing basket, back inside).Then I sat on the front porch and started writing about what was around me. Lines like: ‘Ice blue sky, pastel neon sphere, riding high ….Black birds fly, concrete lies grey and old and pitted’.Then I went back inside, sat at the piano and composed the music.It’s very satisfying thing to write a song. I make the time to write when those ‘moments’ come along.I’ve learned to sense them. It’s a feeling that comes over me, a gentle nudge, to pick up the pen and paper or to sit at the piano and let my hands fall on the keys.When I write the words, I work one sentence at a time, this leads naturally on to the next as the story unfolds. When I pause, I’ll read back through the last couple of lines. Sometimes, while thinking of a word to rhyme the last word of a sentence, a new series of images and thoughts come to mind - and away I go again.With the music, it’s largely the same process. When I pause, I go back and play a few lines to get back in the flow, so whatever I write next fits with what’s just been written. Sometimes it comes with a rush. Other times it’s a bit more stop/start, as I experiment with different chords and melody ideas for a line. When it just feels right, away I go again.In terms of images and feelings, One song can be like a photo album to me. You don’t get many words in a song lyric, so you’ve got to pack a lot in - layers are the key. Otherwise you can get wordy pretty quickly.So I find myself in 2023 with 800 songs, which Is like 800 photo albums. It’s nice to be sharing them here on this podcast, offering insight into what the lyrics are about, what I was thinking.But often it doesn’t matter too much what the lyricist had in mind. The words can bring different ideas to the listener. The song might come to mean something completely different to what the composer originally had in mind - and that’s all good.So a song has legs, that’s the beauty of art. It carries on of its own accord, it has momentum.After all these years, I ‘winged’ a new bridge for this song as I recorded this episode. A song is wide open until it’s recorded (and you can always reinterpret it again later on).I hope you enjoy this gentle song, it’s an old demo, recorded in 1991, in the piano bar, after hours.I’m glad I picked up a pen on that beautiful spring day all those years ago. It was fun to take a look at it on this episode.On reflection, 'Hit The Sun' is a strange sort of name, really. I was thinking about hitting the beach I suppose. Can you hit the sun? Written in 1987, this is song #57.Spring sure is here. I include a recording of me, down at the beach. So you can join me beside the waves on this episode. I get out into nature to fill the well. It’s an essential part of the creative process. Taking time out and forgetting all about it from time to time.You can find the lyrics (and the skiing frog I mention on this episode ) on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.comThis has links to www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com where I have 12 albums solo and recorded with others. Plus there’s my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music. Enjoy.

Episode #181: Gone Too Soon (Song starts at 4:12)Here’s one from 2014: song # 620, 'Gone Too Soon'It was inspired by a neighbour who lived across the street from us. She always had just the right amount of time to chat. She wasn’t one of those you’d have to duck and run from, (through the fear of losing 15mins). Nope. She was positive & interested in what you were up to, bright in the eye and in voice and spirits.Consequently, I chose to write this song for her in an up sort of manner, which I think is a reflection of her character.The version on this episode is somewhere between a ballad and something more (Piano vocals). If it were played in a band, you could push it along with a bit more energy and groove.It’s interesting to me how these sort of songs about mortality all seem to be coming to the surface for me right now. Perhaps it’s like when you buy a certain brand of car with the right colour and then you start seeing them everywhere…or maybe it’s something I write about more than I perhaps imagined.It’s not a subject I’m going to shirk away from. It’s as much part of life as anything. And lives need to be celebrated - the good bits carried on with.I think that’s a great way to help make sense of someone close to you passing away.I think a song like this can be a comfort someone. It was for me this week. I’m glad I found it in my songbook.This was another ‘words first, music second’ sort of song. When I composed the music, it was fun singing along to the chords that came through as I sat at the piano.The opening line of the song is:Summers come early, it’s that time of year… the temperatures rising with the early birds tune.It’s a great way to wake up, listening to the dawn chorus.Speaking of birds, I sat outside having breakfast a the table in my back yard. It was so peaceful…except for the lorikeets ( mall Australian parrot) I include a snippet of audio, so you’ll join me at the table.Then we see where the song 'Gone Too Soon' is going to take us.I’m looking forward to recording this one properly one day.‘Why wait for tomorrow? do it today'. Is another line in the song. I can still hear my neighbour saying this. I’m glad it’s in this song.. her voice, in a sense.As I look at how the song came together, sitting at the piano with the mic, I really enjoy demonstrating the changes, the bits of melodies and talking about the way they came through. All you need is the feeling and a start, really - and away you go.And away we go…so here’s another song & lots of chat. I hope you enjoy this episode.You can read the lyrics on my blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com, plus there’s links to more music and my art. Enjoy.

Episode #180: Crossroads (Song starts at 4:04)I wrote crossroads, Song #119, in 1989. When I saw the title of the song in my old green songbook, I remembered it was based on an old memory.Reading through the first verse, a vivid scene sort of played out in my mind, like recalling a dream:I was I about 3 or 4. My mother and I had gone to visit an old lady. We sat in her lounge, and cups of tea were served (not for me).My eyes wandered along the old mantelpiece, past the old ticking clock which occasionally chimed. My gaze fixed on a toy car sitting there.got to play with these cars as the adults talked. The old lady kindly gave me the car to take home.All the details are clear as if it were yesterday. That’s the power of art. It can convey so much.The first verse was about the old lady and her room. So for the 2nd verse, I moved on to an (imagined) old man carrying his bags home.That’s when the word crossroads came through my pen, and I thought Aha - that’s what this song is about.The 3rd verse was like an imagined scene from the distant future: the bright sun sinking behind the darkened sign posts, the road disappearing into the fast approaching night.Yep, the cross roads.This was a ‘words first , music second’ song. It’s often a surprise to me, when I analyse the chords and melodies of these older songs. They quite often appear to break all the rules of theory, the harmonic changes, the way the melody dips to unexpected slightly unsettling notes and then back to more expected ones.Shooting from the hip like this with the words and music (which both come through very quickly) is fun and natural for me. I think the result is something almost disarmingly real at times.It’s based on something real, then it becomes something more, ultimately returning to the image of the dark unknown of the crossroads. Which road is right?And creatively speaking, which road is right? You just go with instinct. I let the fingers fall on the keys and the I float your voice up to wherever the feeling takes me.It’s like being in a woken dream, writing a song. It was fun to rediscover this one, as I ‘winged’ the version on this episode. I improvised a piano instrumental section on the fly.It was definitely the feeling from that afternoon that came to me all those years later.Join me now and we’ll find out where crossroads came from . Perhaps you’ve got a cup of tea handy? A mantlepiece? ….Here’s my blog. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com You can read the lyrics there + there’s lots more music and art to be found here.Enjoy.

Episode #179: Can’t Sing You A Song (Song starts at 3:38)

I had a bit of fun with the demo on this episode. Earlier today, I was supposed to be recording some piano for a song. The session got cancelled at the last minute.

Turns out I was really in the mood to record, so what started out as a piano/vocal take ended up having the kitchen sink thrown in ( strings, guitars, bass, Rhodes – all done on the keyboards. Good fun.

Can’t Sing You A Song is a different style for me. Every now and then I write something left of field. I never block ‘the voice’.

Songs do come along that I can’t ever see myself singing – perhaps this is one of them (on the other hand, now the demo has been completed, maybe it could end up on a solo album of mine).

It was fun to compose in this sort of groove based song. It did write it on the piano, but after just a few bars,I realised the sort of song it was going to be.

So I kept the beat firmly in mind and I phrased the vocals accordingly, emphasising certain syllables. Also, I didn’t introduce any unusual chord changes, in fact I did some repetition 2 chords, three times in a row, this would generally suit a guitar/ band more than just the piano.

So I wrote this song with a certain intention – that was suggested very early on. I didn’t fight it.

I wrote the words first, then the music just flowed easily, around the feel and the chords that came through.

The gist of the lyrics is: I can’t sing you a song or paint a picture without the feeling being there in the first place.

And the song is saying: I can show you I’m having fun – and I hope you do, too – but it’s not my place to tell you how:

Can’t make you laugh, it’s not up to me

But I’ll show you a path where there’s loving free

Everyone’s on their own journey, so it’d be wrong of the lyricist to try and twist the listeners arm.

This song is about love, first and foremost – the idea that we’ve really just started on this next phase of humanity: connectedness as a species, to proceed.

We’ve analysed things so much over the centuries and as a result, we’ve dis – integrated.

So I think art and music are the key…laughter, connectedness and healing and that’s what this song is about. It’s a happy song.

As a songwriter There’s a real joy when the full circle happens and an audience responds positively .

On the episode, I didn’t end up talking about how I produced the demo too much. To create an arrangement like the demo (full band sort of sound), I started with a basic piano track and guide vocal, recorded to the drum beat. Then I added bass on the keys, muted the original piano and replayed a more precise simplified piano part, leaving room for the other instruments (recorded in this order):

Rhodes piano, guitar pad L, guitar pad R , nylon string guitar, lead vocal, 2 backing vocals and then the strings, which I added afterwards to bring it all together. I thought the strings would suit the song.

So this is the very first demo. Eventually, the parts would be recorded on real instruments, dropping elements in to give the arrangement some space.

Perhaps the tempo is a bit quick. If it were just a bit slower, there’d be more groove and that would also make it easier to get a few of those lyrics out.

I describe how I came to play the blues in a piano bar. Then it occurs to me this song might work in that sort of style , so I demonstrate that, on the spur of the moment.

Picking a style and arranging a song..it’s actually a big part of the process. But most often I think it helps to have the song finished in it’s own right. If you’re recording it, you’re going to be listening to it a lot.

Also, as this song says, there has to be feeling and message in my art and music. Our days are few, when also said and done – and we need to have fun along the way.

Here we go…let’s find out where and how can’t sing you a song came from…

Episode #178: Inside (Song starts at 4:21) This episode’s song is #630, written in August, 2015. It was one of those ‘words first, music second’ sort of songs. It’s interesting this song should float to the surface for this episode…this week I had a bit of a wobbly moment, we all have them: I was wondering how much would it really have changed things, had I stayed in NZ (at 30 I moved to Melbourne and started again). Self doubt was the feeling that caused me to pick up a pen in 2015. A couple of things happen when you’re in the creative flow. The worries fall away, any murky worrying feelings seem to lift. On this occasion, an answer appeared on the ether, ‘inside’. So the answer can be found within - that’s been said many times. I was just thinking of the great movie Shawshank Redemption, how the small rock pick was hidden inside the bible. Brilliant ..freedom lies within. I’m not one to jump on a soapbox and speak my mind to one and all. I’m far more inclined to drop big themes into my lyrics in a more laidback manner. Which is why, for these words, I thought I’d pick a key that would suit a quietly finger picked guitar. Mid way through, t sort of came the full circle, back to piano, when I improvised a far more keyboard sort of a bridge, with counter bass. Notes with strong harmonies…perhaps they’ll be vocal harmonies Most often the chords come to me intuitively. I was doing my usual thing, when I came to the point where the chorus needed to happen. I’m very pleased I stopped and checked my ‘relative chords’, which I’d written down before I started the music. The chord G# minor had net been used yet. So I stopped and matched a melody note with the chord and put the sung note right on the first count of the bar. It’s all a learning curve, life. We are all going to have our doubts, this song is suggesting the listener might consider go ing within to find some answers. When I was a youngster, I took a less trodden path. A creative one. And I’m pleased I did. I’m still on it. If I’d taken a more expected path, (There’s a line in the song:) ‘would the lone cry of nature still call to me?’ Leading a creative lifestyle, being fully reliant on the arts to make a living, sure has its uncertain moments. It keeps you on your toes. You’re effectively ‘living in faith’, I would say. So I find peace when I go out in nature - and when I go within. So that’s the quiet message in this song… you know, so if you’re in pain, life’s not going great for a moment, go for walk at the beach or sit down and just breathe easily, freedom awaits… I hope you enjoy this episode. I certainly enjoyed recording my thoughts and I had fun rediscovering ‘Inside’, as I recorded the piano vocal demo. Here’s my blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read the lyrics here, plus there’s lots of art -and way more music, each week…. Enjoy!

Episode #177: Evening Hours (Song starts at 3:34 &16:22) 'Evening hours' starts out with a slightly unsettling discordant bell (sounds like the end something) set against a quiet piano riff. This particular introduction has always brought to mind a potential rough story and an opening scene in a play or possibly a movie or stage show, for me. The bell represents ‘the end’ (also the start) and the arpeggio is like a child music box dancer - ‘the beginning’. A music box is also something that may be equally enjoyed by a young person or an older person…perhaps it’s a keepsake, a childhood memory. And now this older person can’t quite believe the years have passed by - but passed by they have and now it’s time…. Yes, 'Evening Hours' is a deep song, about the end of life. We don’t talk about death much here in ‘the West’, at least. I think we need to. Perhaps a song is a good place to start. It’s not a morbid song, to me. Spooky, sure, but there’s a couple of uplifting lines that say ‘Why not reach a highlight here tonight?’. Life is to be lived, regardless of one’s age. This song was really determined to get a voice tonight, when I came out to my studio to record another episode. It popped into my mind as a contender and that’s generally the moment I go “ok, let’s do it”… I picked up an old cassette from the stack and there it was, the title track from an old 4 tracked home recorded album by Paul Dredge and myself. I recognised the art work on the cassette. Beneath it was another cassette. The 3rd song in my handwriting on the inner jacket that caught my eye straight away was …'Evening Hours'. I thought: ‘Ok, it’s a sign’.. ha. Evening hours was written in 1987. It’s song number 18. Now in 2023, as I find myself writing about the song, I’ve written 800. Bizarre. It’s great yo be rediscovering the old songs - and sharing them - on the podcast. I’ve chosen to include both versions of the song. You get to hear the piano vocal version. And then the other more involved arrangement. I wanted to show what I hear in my head as I play ‘ just ‘ the piano and sing. I was using very basic gear in 1989 and 1991 when these 2 versions were recorded. We are so lucky in this day and age to have wonderful recording gear at our fingertips in our homes. I say: go for it, make the most of it and see what you come up with - if you’re so inclined. Recording is so much like the songwriting process. One happy accident leads to the next. I think the opening riff was due to me pacing my left hand in the wrong position on the piano keys, for instance. What composing Evening Hours did for me was: it made me feel like i could do this thing. I could write songs with feeling and mystery and I could record a version of something that was in my mind. 1987 was a big year for me. It was when I began writing at least a song a week, which I then continued to do for many years. It’s like discovering you can draw. I’ve been lucky to do be doing that in my life as well. I hope you enjoy this episode. You can touch on deep themes with music and somehow ‘get away with it’. I think that’s perhaps what’s happened with 'Evening Hours'. I’d sure like to perform it one day on a stage. It’d have to be the right setting! And I’d like to record it properly. That’d be fun. You can find the lyrics, more music - and art here on my blog www.petepascoe.worpress.com. I have 12 albums online (solo, and with others), www.petepascoe.com Here we go….

Episode #176: Just Can't Keep It Inside After writing it, I played the song from time to time over the next decade, but I just sort of didn’t have a use for it. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do with it. It didn’t fit in with 80s music for a live gig, that’s for sure.

Also, this: there was one line that I didn’t like. One line and I let the song get buried for what 36 years. Ha. Oh dear.

Many times on this podcast I’ve spoken of the need to be free enough to let go of certain parts of a song and rewrite. For some reason, I never did with this line.

The line that didn’t sit with me was: ‘while you step on my broken heart and grind it In The ground.’ Yeek ! A little bit gruesome, wouldn’t you say.. and the words just don’t fit the gentle ballad. They might be at home in the middle of a ( really) angry rocker, but not here.

As I recorded the song for this episode, an answer floated in on the breeze: ‘while you step on my heart. And that all just reminds me.how I can’t expect you…’

And just like that, like the wave of a magic wand, it was fixed.

I’m only partly joking about the magic wand. This creative realm comes up with some amazing stuff in the twinkling of an eye. What was broken is now fixed…and I can share this song now.

Recording these episodes has been a really good thing for me to do (that’s what I think right now). Why not put these songs here? Sure, they could be making me some money streaming online…on a paid service. I’m thinking eventually some well. Actually, a lot already are streaming, I’ve featured songs that I’ve previously recorded and released.

It just struck me a s thing to do, a few years a go - and here we are.

I mention something at the beginning of this episode, something along the lines of: ‘you imagine something and you create a version of it’ That is the creative process.

I couldn’t help myself when I recorded the version as part of this episode, I stopped and added bass with a ride cymbal, Rhodes and a very rudimentary strings sketch - suggested orchestration.

What happens when you give something form is: you create momentum…and that leads on to the next bit ( eg verse to chorus, and so on, with the actual writing process).

With the recording process, you start to hear other possible elements. A low subtle trio of horns interjecting the vocals would be nice…. maybe one day.

For now, you have the sketch that I winged as I sat at the mic and piano in my home studio, where I record these podcast episodes.

It’s such good fun, and I’m discovering it’s been very helpful to have my piano at the ready, to demonstrate what I’m trying to put into words.

Just Can’t Keep It Inside came about when I was younger. My first big romantic relationship had just ended. I was casting about at the time for different songs styles. I did have a style, but at this stage I guess I was fairly unsettled and it took me a while to calm down.

Music is such a healing force. Putting ego aside and letting the creativity lead the way is such a healing thing to do, potentially.

And the rewards keep growing. Sure, it’s great to write a song like this. But it’s even better when you keep rediscovering it, performing it slightly differently and then you think of more you could add…

Ok hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Here’s my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com with lots of links to my music and art, lyrics to the songs on this podcast, etc. I’m a painter as well. I’m about to paint a seascape as I listen back to this episode and master it ready to put online.

It’s a rich and rewarding path, this artist way. I recommend it. It’s not for the feint hearted, but there was never really another path for me.

It’s even more rewarding to be sharing how I go about something like songwriting.

Here we go…

Episode #175: All Comes Back (Song starts at 4:09) Isn’t it great to receive an unexpected present. You know that feeling. That’s what it feels like to write a song. So for that to happen, it does feel like it comes from somewhere else. It’s a gift then, to pass on, a gift that you had a hand in bringing into being. It sure feels like a joint effort. This episode features yet another song I’d forgotten I’d written. For me, that’s one of the nice things about recording these episodes. Recalling this song as I performed for the episode was so much like recalling a dream. I had a look at the intro, and the song started coming back to me. I have my songs all written in books, sequentially. Just old fashioned scrawled handwriting and chords with the melody above each syllable in lower case. This is the 2nd draft. The initial draft is written on a piece of A4 paper. The words and music came at the same time with 'All Comes Back' (song #625, written in 2015). As I wrote the words down, although they came through my brain and hand, they definitively seemed to be not only from somewhere else, but it was like they’re from someone else. So. What is this? Tuning into ‘all that is’? Perhaps. Focussing and becoming the person that you can be for a few minutes? Perhaps. Realising your potential? Maybe. Imagination? It seems more than that. It’s definitely a mystery. And it’s a warm, reassuring mystery. This song is about memories coming back, unbidden, recurring memories. Where are they all stashed? And why does one memory in particular come through at a certain time? I like to think it’s the universe drawing your attention to something that’s going on in the moment. Perhaps with a repeated sort of cyclical pattern, something unconscious is triggering us to act out, yet again, the same way. Yet in that moment, if we can stop, tune in and reflect, we have a chance to rise above the situation, and choose a more evolved reaction to what is going on - and grow. I think this sort of thing goes on all the time for all of us. Life offers us constant opportunities to grow. This song is a peaceful reflection about all of that, how it feels for me. The singer is suggesting it’s all coming back. For all of us. So perhaps it’s written and delivered in the hope that it might remind the listener to the possibility of that there’s ‘more’… It’s a wonderful feeling writing a song like this. And it’s great to be able to feel that same sense of wonder and excitement when you rediscover it - as I have - on this podcast. Thank you for listening to my episodes. An audience really lifts the performer. That’s no secret. For me, when I sit behind the mic, at the piano and push record, the energy just flows and the ideas come through. Just like writing a song. At the end of this episode I draw attention to something really special that happened to me last week: a listener sent me a CD out of the blue, with an accompanying letter, saying that my podcast and blog had inspired this person to write songs with someone else, then take the step of recording them and making the CD. Brilliant. If nothing else comes out of recording these episodes, that is more than enough reward. Thank you so much to that person for letting me know. Happy unexpected surprises - that’d be the creative path. It’s been very interesting and fun producing this his podcast & my blog, for 170 odd weeks now. I’m glad it’s giving pleasure to people. Here we go. Let’s see where All Comes Back came from…and where it leads us to on this episode. Another song and some more chat - enjoy! (Lyrics, more music & art here on my blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com)

Episode #174: Falter (Song starts at 3.35) I had a conversation yesterday with Paul Dredge, my co songwriter, long time buddy and sounding board (always good to have one or a few of these that you can trust just to listen or offer sound measured advice). We had a laugh together about how a lot of my first 50 or 100 songs were pretty much ‘ baby I love you’. Baby I’ll miss you, or howling at the moon …yep. Love songs. Nothing wrong with that. (Song# 637, Falter, featured on this episode. It’s a love song). Except maybe it’s a good idea to try different subjects, perhaps imagining yourself further down the track, effectively creating a character, a new outlook, a new dialogue. So the very act of the creative work can help us learn, get outside of ourselves and grow. The flip side of that is writing about ‘the now’. It can be fall into the category of therapy/diary writing. As a performer, if your songs are not overly engaging an audience, perhaps this is something to look out for. I tend to start a song with a very basic sentence about something real I can see in the room or some thought that pops into my mind that feels truthful. Generally this will then lead on to the bigger picture, as I step back and consider my position. At this point in time, the listener has had a dose of both views. The bigger view may cause the listener to engage and perhaps become emotionally attached to some concept, perhaps one of the personal confessions of the earlier sentences in the first verse. This is a trick stand up comedians often use. When they first get on stage and open their mouth they’ll often confess something deeply personal… it might be trauma, something embarrassing, etc. the audience is engaged. They feel something, they put themselves in that person's shoes and think wow, that poor person. And wow, how brave are they to get up there and talk about it. Ok. I’m ready to be entertained. That is what a song can do, the entertainment on offer is a story - and a story is pretty much all, as I touched on last week. It needs to be going somewhere. And where it goes is from an island of now, (an island of certainty), then a question is posed, perhaps in the lyrics, or just in the lyricist’s mind for the next ‘island’. Falter begins with observations: how the writer ( myself ) feels about a person, the relationship, how the days flow easily.. love. Then drawing attention to how unconditionally pure the love is that is being felt by the writer. The step from there is the statement, perhaps the realisation: hmm, I think I’d falter without you in my life. The idea that two people have built a relationship like a structure and if 50% of that input and commitment were suddenly to be taken away, the structure would collapse. Note that it’s not: ‘Oh baby I’d die without you… or I can’t live without you’. This is the voice of an older writer. A few years have passed and a few songs have been written since those first 50 (when a few of these sort of songs may have been written. The message here is: you’re wonderful, I’d miss you. Yes I’d fall apart, but I’d rebuild and carry on. It’s not what I’d choose. The idea being is it’s a song about love freely received and freely given, rather than a codependent struggle of wills. Something like that. The music came at the same time as the words for this one. The melody of the first verse came to me on the breeze as I walked a long. I whistled it to memorise the intervals, the meter , the feeling, then noted it down as I picked the notes out on the piano. From there, the beginning, the feeling, it all came into being by asking a series of gentle questions about where the story was going, the music follows like a movie the song grows and a series of intuitive decisions are made - some logical, others not so much. It all builds to a tapestry, something cohesive, hopefully an honest piece of work that’s a little different to anything that already exists.

Episode #173: Can’t Wait That Long (Song starts at 3:55) Now and then a peaceful sort of feeling will - I was going to say descend on me - but that’s not quite right. A peaceful feeling will arrive quietly and I’ll find my mood has gently been lifted. When this happens, I’ll see if there’s some lyrics waiting on the piano, or perhaps in my folder of new words… I’ll look through a few and generally there’ll be a feeling of ‘ Aha yes, these words fit the bill, that’s what I’m feeling’… From there, it’s a matter of matching some music to the words. Straight away you get the vibe… For a song like 'Can’t Wait That Long' (which is song #640, composed in 2016), it quickly became apparent that it was going to be a quietly sung song with a gentle lilt. For a ‘words first, music 2nd’ song, this Is the sort of decision that’s already been made by the words. It almost takes any sort of heat off the situation - after all, the song’s already half written. This song has a summery afternoon relaxed sort of vibe. In some respects it’s a ‘smaller’ song… not trumpeting it’s message, like a single of an album. But then, sometimes the quieter songs also have a big message. It’s starts out from a place of frustration, with the lyrics: ‘Got all these song birds that yearn to fly’…they’re caged up in my songbooks. This image leads onto wondering at the ups and the downs of the human race through history. So quickly we move on to a big concept, outside of my personal view of the world. It’s written and sung in a quiet manner, just observing, rather than pushing any agenda - other than: how long have we got? Have we got time in the day to listen to a whole song, and album, someone’s story? I wrote this song a long time before I even knew what a podcast was. It was at a time when I was frustrated that I’d released so few albums. The years tick by and when you’ve got several hundred songs in the bag, it can start to weigh a little heavy on your mind at times. Since then, of course, I made the decision to get on an record more music myself - not wait for anyone else to wave a magic wand and make it happen. 'Can’t Wait That Long' might just end up on an album sooner, now that I’ve given it some air on this episode. That’s one of the nice things about this podcast. I’m rediscovering songs I’d forgotten I’d even written. This is a song that I have played live a bit, particularly when I’ve been doing a solo show and I just want to settle the energy, reconnect with the performer within, deliver the song as an artist. It’s a good one to settle the nerves. And I think it’s that for the listener too. Somehow everything seems to settle down, worries fall away and your mind wanders with the music. I think this might be because the words come from a honest place. They’re true. Consequently, when it came to adding the melody and the chords, it came together very quickly indeed. But It’s a peaceful thing writing a song. There is no rush. I wish more people would take the time to listen to entire songs, whole albums more. Everyone’s streaming sort of unrelated songs that sort of blend into a background sound. Me, I like putting an album on and taking the time to listen closely from go to woah. I hope you enjoy this gentle episode. There’s a bit more piano solo improvisation just at the end, too, to demonstrate how a feeling can provide the start. And a start is all you need. Here we go…'Can’t Wait That Long'. I enjoyed singing and playing this one and then it was fun looking into why I like it so much. It’s a joy being songwriter. You have the pleasure of writing it, then there’s even more pleasure rediscovering it whenever you perform it for someone - this time, it's for you. Thanks for tuning in this week. Enjoy! Lyrics at: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com music www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com www.petepascoe.com

Episode #172: Cry Your Eyes Out (Song starts at Song #88 was written in New Zealand in 1988. I was up a mountain. I had a ski gig.. playing and singing in the evenings. In the daytime I was skiing. When it rained I either went trout fishing or wrote songs. I also drew 50 cartoon strips about my dog. Pretty much a blissful time. However… I was lonely, for sure. This song is about missing someone. How crying your eyes out can somehow perhaps be good for you. 'Cry Your Eyes Out' is a snapshot of young fellow finding his way in life, being driven on by a passion ( that still drives me on). It’s not the easiest path, you feel stuff and other people around you feel stuff too. I think maybe my Melbourne band 'Pete Pascoe and the Patient Hum' might have another look at this song, after tonight’s episode. You’ll get to hear a piano/vocal take (recorded as part of the episode, on the fly) ..and a version that was recorded on an old 4 track, 2 months after the song was written, in 1988. Paul Dredge - my great friend and songwriting buddy - valiantly play a drum machine live, playing the tiny pads with his fingers, keeping up with me on the keyboards, back in the day. We didn’t have a drum kit. Paul plays some funky bass too. In 1988, we were finding our way with both songwriting and recording. We still are, all these up years later. It’s the best feeling, composing -the sense of mystery and discovery kicks I each time. (If you want to hear our most recent album, you’ll find it online streaming: The Untrodden Track). I made a lyric video for 'Too Dark To See', which is the 3rd song on the album today. I matched the lyrics with simple cartoons which I draw. I love all the music and art I’m doing - and I really enjoy recording these podcast episodes. Now I’m starting to get back into my skin, feet back on the ground, after recording this episode. It’s a winter's night here in Melbourne Australia. I could have done with keeping the heater on, but I turned it off because I was recording and I didn’t want the background noise. Why mention the heater? Because it’s taken until now, after 30 minutes of recording, talking, singing and playing the piano, to realise I’m actually freezing. You’re so focused when you do something creative. I really feel like I’m in another world. This is the state of mind I’ve endeavouring to throw some light on here on this podcast. Not to try to take any of the mystery away - as if I could do that - but just by talking in layman’s terms (with plenty of humour) about how I write a song. I hope you enjoy hearing about 'Cry Your Eyes Out'. There’s also an improvised piano solo piece near the end of the episode, which demonstrates how I go about composing. It’s all part of the show. Enjoy.

Episode #171: Rainy Night (Song starts at 2:48) This song was written by myself & Paul Dredge (It appears on our recent folkrock album, 'The Untrodden Track' - streaming now). Rainy Night was inspired by a night spent in a house bus, at a beach, as a youngster. A storm was hitting the bus all night. It was really being rocked around. It felt like the full force of nature was doing its thing. It was an emotional time for me, at 5 years old and I found myself questioning pretty much everything - big thoughts for a youngster. Fast forward to a few years ago. Paul and I are sitting in the sun in my backyard in Melbourne. Paul is over from New Zealand for a week of songwriting, recording demos and some time at the beach. Paul is sitting playing his guitar and is coming up with something. He’s looking at the lyrics, which I have ready, of rainy night. I join him and start singing along. In about 20 minutes the song is complete. On this episode, I’ve isolated Paul’s guitar from the album track mix to help illustrate how the song came together. The lyrics are sparse. They could apply to anyone’s experience of a lonely stormy night when your mind gets busy and you can’t sleep. Recently I watched the great Forrest Gump movie again. There’s so many great lines - like when leads are all pulled out and the microphone doesn’t work at the protest gathering and the hippie MC says to Forrest “You said it all, maaaan!“ . Sometimes less is more and I think by not delving into the backstory in the lyrics of this song, it’s all the stronger for that. Plus it suits the simpler harmonic changes that Paul has come up with on the guitar, coupled with a strong riff ( simpler than the chord sequences of a song written on the piano- which can often get a little involved at times). It’s great to have our songwriting partnership alive and well after all these years. We are midway through our next folk rock album, which will be our 6th. When you write like this with someone, in the moment, there’s complete trust in each other - I’ve mentioned this before, here. Also, there’s a sort of an unspoken agreement happening all the way along. When things feel like they’re ‘on’ …there might be a quick glance and a mutual nod…and then you’re both back in ‘creative world’, bringing ideas into being and combining them in the moment. It really is a brilliant feeling, producing (what I think is) an uplifting, beautiful song from the memory of what was transformative, if somewhat murky, experience from long ago. That’s the beauty and the power of art. It’s healing for the creator(s) and it can lift others. Ok here we go… I hope you enjoy hearing how Rainy Night came together. The album track is the version featured on this episode. You can stream the album on most platforms, including www.bandcamp.com

Episode #170: You’re Mine (sSong starts at 2:25)

Song #112, You’re Mine, was written 1988. That sounds like a long time ago.

I remember a time when 1988 was the future. When I was an exchange student in the USA in 1984, Michael J Fox was starring in Back To The Future, the first of those brilliant movies.

Now it seems I’ve had a quick trip in a DeLorean to find myself in 2023 - the years have whizzed by.

I’ve just found an old cassette tape of a live gig by my songwriting buddy and great friend Paul Dredge and myself. I see we recorded this on the night of 8th July, 1992. Almost 31 years ago to the day. 3rd song up: You’re Mine.

It was a great gig, as it most often was with Paul. I’m at the baby grand, singing. Paul’s playing guitar and harmonising. Welcome to our gig.

Having found this old version of You’re Mine on this tape, I decided to feature it on this episode…

And now, welcome back now to 1998 - for a while - when I wrote this song. I’d just come back into town after 3 months away at a gig at a ski resort.

I got offered a place to stay, sharing a house with a nurse friend of mine. There was someone else in town who thought perhaps it could’ve been her, I was moving in with. But I was far to young for that - just a pup. So this song began as effort to sort of smooth things over, reassure, etc. that was the starting point.

Then the lyrics sort of become more expansive - and inclusive - as I take a step back. So initially, I invite the listener in, saying: ‘Look, this was what was happening in this relationship to me’ and then I look at the bigger picture - sort of a ‘couldn’t this apply to us all - this experience, these feelings…’ sort of an angle.

My friend, the nurse, moved out and Paul Dredge then moved in. Brilliant: 4 nights a week gigging in a rock band, with darts afterwards til all hours. Daytimes spent writing quiet songs & learning to record together, with a 4 track recorder of Paul’s. Formative times, looking back.

We were learning on the gig - and we were learning at home: we were learning to write songs.

So, sitting at the piano, I had the lyrics in front of me. Scanning through, I realised they could become mawkish very quickly, so I decided a medium tempo sort a song was in order.

The live version (1992), which you’ll get to hear on this episode, is a work in progress. You knock some edges off songs when you play them love. They fall into shape. That’s why gigs are so, so important. - there’s an opportunity for new songs to get some ‘air’.

We were lucky, if you like. Our songs fitted in with Paul Simon’s, Elton John’s, Mark Knopfler’s, etc, at the gig. Actually, we were brave, more like it.

I’m still ‘brave' now, in 2023: after my recent performance at the Mornington Winter Music Festival, I ended up being asked to play a set of songs for a theatre group (a bunch of creatives - play writers, etc). It was fun & well received. But then I found myself playing the character of a play, having a live read through a script with other actors - a bit outside my comfort zone, but brilliant!

Also, I took a phone call early on in the recording of this episode. It was the guitarist/vocalist I met at the same music festival. He’s asked me to play a gig with him this Friday. So history is repeating itself: He and I will be playing each other’s songs, playing background music - just like Paul and I did for so many nights, all those years ago.

I love moments like this, especially when they happen live on the podcast.

There’s a phrase I came up with in the moment on this episode: ‘purely playing’. That’s songwriting. You have your theory & your ‘chops’. In the moment, you’re totally improvising, offering something up into the air and -out of the ether- it’s seems. You’re met, somehow. The muse? Whatever you want to call it, it’s the best feeling. You have faith in yourself and you have faith that there’s more to the picture…

Want to hear more? Here we go,

Episode #169: Just About Enough (song starts at 3:47 ) Today was a wintery day. I went outside and there wasn’t even a ‘hint of a breeze’. That phrase appears in verse one of this episodes featured song. Then I heard a ‘muted bird call’. Those words are also in lyrics , so I thought hey, that’ll do for this week’s episode. I wrote ‘Just ‘About Enough’ for my wife, as an anniversary present. This is song #585, which was written in 2012. The scene that sets the mood for the song - and our relationship, as it turns out - was very peaceful: In the early stages of our relationship, in NZ, we snuck out for a very early morning dip in a hot pool. Bush and mist surrounded us, rabbits hopped by, quail pecked at the grass. There was a vague hint of a breeze and muted bird calls. Pretty peaceful, eh? It’s nice to have a chance to reflect on memories like these as I record my podcast episodes. It’s like a weekly performance for me. I sit at my piano as I talk, demonstrating ideas on the keyboard and or singing, to illustrate what I’m talking about. I have a released delivery. The plan is for it to be entertaining and informative. Thanks for all the great feedback, folks. Thanks for tuning in again this week. If this is your first listen, thanks for tuning in, I hope you enjoy the song, the lyrics, the music, the chat about how the song came together, what inspired it. Memories come through as I talk, which I’m happy to share as well, so you get a real ‘behind the scenes’ sort of a ‘songwriter speaks’ kind of a presentation. I hope you enjoy hearing about what is a love song I wrote for my wife - the great thing about a song is the listener can glean what they will and take ownership, to a degree. Music sure does trigger emotional reactions. It’s a great thing. It’s a pleasure to be a composer. It’s also great to be sharing the songs and talking about them here. Now, back to that opening line: I let my pen wander as I recalled memories of the years we’d spent together since that day - including starting a family and all that entails. Lots of joy and lots of work. But with the lyrics, I kept steering it back to the story of a romance. 2 lives intertwined. The music happened easily, as is often the case for me, for which I’m very grateful. Before I started playing, I thought I’d try and write a medium tempo flowing sort of a song. So I let my fingers play on the keys as if I was finger picking a guitar. That gave me the momentum and away I went, improvising a melody over the changing chords. Chords are like colours. Some are more related than others and become logical choices to string together. In theory terms, what makes them logical choices is that they are related chords, they all came from the scale of the song - literally the key: do re mi fa so la ti do….the chords , the melody, the bass notes are all from the scale….. Here and there, I decided it would be a good idea to modulate briefly to another key, using a semi related chord. It catches the ear. Was it a consciously ‘clever’ choice? Most of the time, my choice of chords is an instinctive thing. The theory Is underlying. The thing is, when you’ve done something often enough, a lot of the technical stuff comes through naturally. And that’s what you want. Because then the music sounds like a natural flowing melody and arrangement. This was a ‘words first, music second’ song. As I improvised the melody, I instinctively and quickly edited the words. I dropped words and syllables to make it fit the melody. It’s a fun process. Again it happens quickly for me. I mention this not because it’s a ‘clever’ thing to do, it’s because I stay inspired as I write this way. If I had to thrash away for days on a song I don’t think I would’ve written many at all. Because I’m a busy person, in the arts. I teach piano, paint seascapes, cartoons, record albums, make videos, blog my work and week.. You can read the lyrics to the featured song of each episode here on my weekly b...

Episode #168: Life In One Day (Song starts at: 3:20) I did a gig this week. On the spur of the moment, for my last song, I decided to play 'Life In One Day'. The gig was part of the Mornington Winter Music Festival, here on the Mornington Peninsula. I was playing on the street (It went really well. Met some nice people, enjoyed seeing the way music brings people together). My gig was rescheduled at the last moment. I did let my email list know, but sure enough a lady and her daughter happened to come by, on their way to see me perform, just as I was packing up. I felt really bad that they'd missed the gig and I tried to think of what I could do to make up for it. Then tonight I had the brainwave that I might have a go a recording what was the last song of the gig just for these people (well it’s for you as well) So that’s what you’ll hear on this episode. You’ll also hear the version from the podcast episode 'Old Hat In The Sun'. https://song-and-a-chat.blubrry.net/2021/10/11/527/ I composed the song completely in the moment- lyrics included, on the spur of the moment on that episode. I was writing a song for a younger myself. I was imagining I’d gone back in time to address this younger version of myself …and say: ‘Don’t try to live your life in one day, there’s plenty of time’. It was an emotional and dare I say, a healing thing to happen. I’m glad I happened to record the whole event. On this episode, I provide a commentary on where each part came from, what I was thinking, etc. I’ve also included some relevant audio snippets from earlier this week. About where a song comes from…feeling, etc. Which then leads on to how feelings can give you a story. There’s a lot of discussion going on at the moment about what effect AI ( artificial intelligence) will have on music. My initial question is: why the heck are we teaching computers to compose? Shouldn’t this be a sort of almost sacred human experience: going within, communing with ‘all that is’, the muse - spirit, if you will. With this subject in mind, I demonstrate by composing a quick piece of music (like movie music), to underscore a scenario I suggest of a girl looking across a frozen lake on a cold winter's day. I’m wondering how AI would go with that sort of an assignment . So there’s a lot packed in one episode here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed recording it. Here’s my blog where you can find the lyrics…and more music and art: Www.Petepascoe.bandcamp.com The song lyric itself is fairly self explanatory in the title. Almost a cliche, really - it’s been done. But this is my version, a twist on a classic theme. I’m glad the tape was rolling as I composed 'Life In One Day' - and I’m glad the tape has been rolling again here in my studio in Melbourne, tonight. Recording these episodes is such pleasure. Ok here we go. A song and some relaxed chat, yet again. Enjoy.

Episode #167: The Same Game (Song starts at: 3:50) After focusing on the lyrics for the majority of last week’s episode, as it turns out, here, we are mostly looking at the music composition of song # 672, 'The Same Game'. The lyrics are about that moment when you finally arrive home after a long day out and about. Maybe a candle is lit, some relaxing music is put on, then you sit back and think about everything that happened in the day. We go through a lot each day, us humans - with our interactions and commitments, the unexpected things that happen. Ultimately as we go through our lives, we are all doing and learning as we go along ~ playing the same game, in effect. I found some video of Paul Dredge and I constructing the music together from scratch. I’ve edited the audio from the video into sections and offer insights into what’s happening at each stage of the co-songwriting process. So on this episode, you get to be in the room with us back in 2017, as we work together, composing what turned out to be the 2nd song on the album 'The Untrodden Track' (folk rock). Listening back, this is actually a great example of how Paul and I write together. It’s fascinating to listen to how a song can take shape and transform in such a short time. It’s takes a lot of trust and mutual respect to write a song with another person. It’s one thing to let go and ‘play’ when you’re in a room by yourself. You allow each other the freedom to make the mistakes, laugh and then carry on.You also have to have absolute faith in the other person’s ability and freedom in the moment. A feature of working together is: there is a performance element that comes into play. Well, there is for Paul and I, having played 1000s of gigs together, we push each other on as we go along and this lifts the whole energy. There’s a natural give and take between us as we allow time and space for each other’s strengths to come into play - and the unexpected turns one might take is supported by the other, much like theatre sports. It may turn out to be cul de sac, but worth exploring nonetheless. It may turn out to be the whole chorus, or an apparent dead end moment may end up leading us on to a whole unthought of arrangement idea. We did eventually come to a full stop the original title, which was 'Second Chance'. We completely discarded lines like these: it’s never too late to turn around in the dance Haven’t we all got a second chance? On reflection, perhaps these lines are a little cliched, clumsy and trite, so editing them out in the moment was the right thing to do, Or… maybe it’s not such a full stop - I could now choose to write another song, 'Second Chance', with and edited version of these lyrics - and maybe I will. That’s the nature of the creative flow: you just keep on moving along and go with the flow. Which is really a case of just constantly learning by making mistakes and moving on - again, it’s a lot like life, then: 'The Same Game' we are all playing. So the title and the lyrics ring true, then. It all comes down to the story… just like making a movie, story is number #1. This is the most ‘pop rock- ish’ sort of song on the album, 'The Untrodden Track'. The album cut is the version you’ll here on this episode - plus you’ll hear the audio of pretty much the whole song improvised live, in pieces, as it’s taking shape. Ok , welcome to the songwriting room. Grab a coffee. It’s mid-morning in Melbourne in 2017 and we’ve just had some breakfast. Paul has picked up his guitar and I have a page of lyrics in my hand, ready to ‘wing’ a melody along with his music. Here we go. Enjoy!

Episode #166: Between You and Me (Song starts at 6:25)

I’m going to take you back to 1994 on this episode, literally.

This week my wife said to me ‘maybe we should have gone on to England ( we’d moved here – Melbourne – in 1997, originally we are from New Zealand. I think we just might get to the UK sometime…).

This made think of the song ‘Between You and Me’. So I thought aha! That’ll do for this week’s podcast episode.

Then I remembered and old cassette tape of me talking in my van at the time I wrote and recorded the demo. Lo and behold I found it straight away in a box in my studio.

So I’ve put together some bits and pieces this week, as I set up the song..and it was fun

As i let the song lead the way, I found myself talking about some of the deeper aspects of life, how there’s so many parallels between learning an art and making it your life and figuring out stuff along the way.

It amazes me what comes off my tongue as I sit at the piano, with the mic on, just going with stream of consciousness.

You build up momentum over the years, when you’re committed to the arts. I am. I wrote 6 songs the day I wrote ‘Between You and Me’…

I think this one’s a good one. I think I might put it on the songs from the podcast album #1. We’ll see.

Of course after the song plays, as usual, I dive into the lyrics, see what’s behind them.

Then I’ll take you through some of the songwriting process – explain some of the steps as we go along.

As I’ve gone along on this podcasting business, it’s amazed me how complicated writing a song really is – the creative process is very involved. And yet it’s simple really.

You just need a good foundation (theory) put into practice (practice), go forward, expect the best – and enjoy yourself along the way.

Being free to create and let go all the way. It’s bit like a recipe for life, really.

It’s a joy, songwriting. And it’s a pleasure to be recording an episode about it each week.

I hope you’re enjoying listening. You’re my audience and I’m so grateful to each and everyone of you for tuning in.

I hope you like this week’s song.

By the way, I’ve got 5 new albums coming along nicely. You’ll get to hear about them of course.

If you’re new hear and you like what you hear on this episode and want to hear more music, I have a dozen albums out solo; and with Paul Dredge (folk rock); and with the Patient Hum band (rock).
You can stream my music on all the usual platforms (Spotify Apple) here’s my bandcamp site — where you can stream, purchase and buy as a gift.

www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com.

And here’s my weekly blog where you can read the song of the weeks lyrics and view my art, if you like,
www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Ok. Buckle up and come along for a ride.

Enjoy

Episode #165: Bigger (Song starts at 4:52)

The lyrics for ‘Bigger’ (song #689) were written in 2015. I remember having them squirrelled away, waiting for the mood to hit me to sit down and write the music – which I did in 2016.

This song has a strong rhythmical element, but it’s absolutely folkrock.

The lyrics all stemmed from the brain wave. ‘It’s bigger than you . . . .and it’s bigger than me’. The pause was always there whenever I thought of the line, before I wrote the music.

While it’s not spoon fed, the gist of the lyrics is this: yes, there are a lot of problems in the world, from personal relationships right through to international relationships between countries. But we’ve just gotta have faith that it will all work out.

How do we find that strength, find that faith? By following our passions, working constantly, which ends up being self therapy, so in effect, we have the power to heal ourselves and that’s the way we are going to heal the world.

So the lyrics are certainly about the bigger picture, then…

The inspiration for this song most likely would have been a news bulletin. I always find them extreme and confronting, when they beam in, as someone’s radio report comes within ear shot.

I tend not to listen to the news reports much. I do keep my ear to the ground – it seems you can read and hear most of which you need to hear about, very quickly, online or via TV, the newspaper, etc.

If we keep an open mind, we can hold a broad, measured view and navigate our way through the world. Everything will turn out ok. That’s what I wanted to say in this song,

In my early 20s, I wanted my music to have healed the world by the time I was, oh, 27… feet not really on the ground, then!

This song comes from an older set of eyes, someone who’s had a bit of experience, has a different view of a similar set of parameters.

The effect of the song, with the strong beat and slide guitar is: there’s a lot of heavy subjects covered here, but it’s delivered in foot tapping way that makes it palatable. Most of the lyrics won’t be caught 1st time around, and that’s just fine by me, as the song writer.

When I did eventually write the music, it came very, very quickly. I recorded a quick demo of one of the verses (which includes the main hook – chorus line, if you like – must be one of the quickest choruses in history, if that’s the case. I include that demo verse in this episode.

The full version on this episode is track# 4 on the album ‘The Untrodden Track’, by myself and Paul Dredge – which I am unashamedly plugging here. In this day and age it falls to the artist to also provide the ‘bark’ and the ‘vehicle for the bark’, in terms of getting the song heard and noticed. There’s a lot of traffic on that internet.

I’m stoked with the album. I have faith in the songs and I love the arrangements. I think it’s a great listen.

Lookout for more lyric videos for songs from this album on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music.

It’s streaming now, all over the place (ad break over).

Ok, relax and let me entertain you as I sit at my piano and tell you all about Bigger

Enjoy!

Episode #164: Destiny (Song starts at 4:31)

Today has been a beautiful, pristine autumn day. The sort of day where you breathe the air in and think ‘Yes, it’s good to be alive’.

On that note, that’s what I was thinking back in 1991, when I wrote song #198.

But I was also considering the big picture…some things were coming through on the news about conflicts between people and between countries.

I’m pretty much a pacifist, I think. The thought of violence is abhorrent to me.

So I wrote this song, thinking about my future…what sort a future awaited me/us.

Back then I was very keen on sharing my music and art. On reflection, I’m not too sure how successful I was at that. I did gig a lot – and record, but the internet wasn’t there to help back then.

I have been working hard these last 164 weeks, sharing a song on this podcast and sharing paintings, cartoons and writing on my blog, videos on YouTube (my channel is Pete Pascoe Art Music), etc..

Songs sometimes appear to come along ‘out of time’… in 1991, I was asking some big questions about humanity – questions that were equally apt for now – I suppose the lyrics could suit any age, really.

Back then, to a degree, I didn’t really have the language for some of it, given I’d been lucky to grow up in New Zealand, in the relatively peaceful South Pacific. But what I really felt was: it was definitely time for creative endeavours to take centre stage and lift us in a positive manner, leading on into a positive future.

This was a lyrics first, music second song. This was the way I worked back then.

These days, it’s often both music and words at the same time, but I still do write lyrics when I feel inclined – perhaps when I might be away from the piano, and the mood hits me.

It is nice to sit at the piano a few days later, leaf through a few pages and see what’s on offer.

One set of lyrics will often catch my eye and away I go.

What happens? I play, for want of a better word. I allow instinct to take the wheel. All the theory is there as a support, something to draw on. I know how chords interact, what melody notes will fit where.

However, when I’m ‘winging’ a melody, the technical aspects drop to the background. I allow things like emotion to lead the way.

It’s a balance. The theory, as it were, is there like a massive support network.

Anyway, back in 1991, the news came on. Reports about conflicts between people, between countries…. And thought to myself why? Why would we do this? This is what inspired ‘Destiny’.

And I also thought: what do I want to do with my life?… and that pretty much became a line in the chorus.

But I turned it around and asked a question: ‘What do you want to do with your life?’

Looking at the song today, I realised, as an artist, I was directly asking a question of my audience. Interesting..

I’m not sure how often I’ve done this.. I think it’s quite an effective thing to do, engaging the audience (the song Secret Lullabies comes to mind).

I think this song is going to appear on the first ‘Songs from the Song and a Chat Podcast’ album – I’m planning to record piano vocal albums of songs from this podcast. That’ll be fun.

Even with songs that I might have already released on a band album, a piano vocal take and can be a good creative thing to record.

So, back to the beautiful day today, which is was in my neck of the woods.

Right now as ever, there is conflict in the world. But in my day, my surroundings, its was all beaches and sunshine, for which I feel very grateful, indeed.

The way I handle it is: I put as much time and energy as I can muster into producing more music and art – and I’m working equally hard at sharing it each week.

I hope you enjoy the old demo of ‘Destiny’ (piano/vocal). It was fascinating for me to ‘roll’ the old tape and listen back to a much a younger me asking some questions and making some statements.

After you’ve perhaps listened to this episode, if you want to hear more, there’s another 160 odd episodes + I have 12 albums streaming, in a variety of genres, with different people and solo, plus I’m producing a lot of art. So I have a fair bit online for you to look at and listen to. I’m big on lyrics, so I’ve started making lyric videos again, which I allude to on this episode as my song ‘Time Won’t Wait ‘(new lyric video up now) has perhaps a similar message to ‘Destiny’.

You can check lots out each week at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. There are always links to my work on different platforms here. It’s not a bad place to start, if you’re reading about my music (and art) for the first time, here.

Speaking of which, thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy having a listen to the ‘Destiny’ episode. Here we go….

Episode #163: Living In The Movies (Song starts at 3:28)

Ever feel like you’re living in a movie? – you know, when things just seem to go weird and you think “You couldn’t write this stuff…”.

That’s how I felt back in 1992, when I composed ‘Living In The Movies’. At the time I was playing 5 nights a week in a piano bar, with Paul Dredge, my longtime friend and co composer.

It’s funny, earlier tonight, my wife and I visited our neighbour, who had some friends over. Long story short, I ended up on the piano, being ‘Mr Pianoman’. It was a great night & brought back memories of the residency with Paul, back in NZ.

It lead on to me playing my songs, talking about the paintings and the podcast.

At the end of the evening, someone asked me what I was about to do.I said I’d finish a painting then record a podcast episode. They couldn’t believe it. But that’s me, I’m a night owl – and I’ve got a ‘bit on’, you might say.

And I was a night owl, back in 1992, performing in the evenings.

When you hold down a successful residency, you’re sticking your neck out a bit.

Which can be very good. Or not so good.

There’s a thing called the tall poppy syndrome. I think society can be pretty good at supporting an artist as they grow, then waiting for a moment or an episode where the artist might record a less than great song, or perhaps a dramatic event that may be magnified/distorted by the media.

For me, in the piano bar, it was like being under a microscope: there was no stage line, as such. Complete strangers could come and talk in my ear and tell me their deepest secrets as I played and sang a song (much to Paul’s amusement, as sat next to me playing bass or guitar). What could be a simple conversation could be misconstrued by an observer…

The piano bar – the music – was my ‘rock’, so to speak. Something I could rely on, in amongst all the ups and downs of growing up and performing every night (and it still is a ‘rock’ for me).

About this time, I started to see some synchronicity in the movies, a parallel (to me at least), of what was happening in my life and what was happening on the screen…

And I thought.. hmm, yes I think that’s a good idea for a song.

So I picked up my pen at about 4am, after walking home on an early spring morning after the gig and a spot of night clubbing.

It’s a great way to get things off your shoulders. Apart from that, as I wrote, I started to think about how hard it would to be a popular movie star. Then the next day, the press leap on some rumour, or the movie star appears in a movie that bombs at the box office.

Sometimes a pack mentality sort of kicks in and the tide rapidly turns on the artist.

So I introduced more about that aspect with the lyrics, rather than what may or may not having been going on in my life at the time.

I think the result is the lyrics might have a wider, more global appeal.

On this episode, I talk about how I brought the song together, composing each section & what spurred me on to the next part.

I really enjoyed recording a quick piano/ vocal demo as part of the show. I stopped and overdubbed some strings and vocal harmony…

Now I’m thinking song #240, which was just languishing in the shadows of my a page in my songbook, could become an ‘up’ guitar driven rock song, to present to the band (P.P. & The Patient Hum) to perform and record. That’d be fun.

So it’s a good idea as an artist not to give up on something that’s ‘not quite there’. The same thing happened with the sunset painting which I’d left it unfinished when I started recording the podcast episode. I‘d been painting in circles, not progressing, unsatisfied with it.

Afterward, just as I was leaving the studio, I picked up the brush and lo and behold, with a few brush strokes, the sunset sky came together quickly.

It can be the same with a song: a few tweaks and the whole feeling of the song can be transformed.

As I share my processes and thoughts on the art of songwriting, one of the benefits of this podcast: I’m effectively on an ‘online’ stage here, so there’s a need to ‘knock of the rough edges’, to present a song that’s finished enough to appeal to the ear in the moment.

On that note, if you’re enjoying this podcast (and thanks so much for those of you who’ve been along for the ride for some time now), please do feel free to contact me to let me know perhaps what you’d like to hear more of on the episodes.

It’s an evolving podcast. I’m just following my nose, having fun, allowing the song and the creativity to lead the way..

Ok here we go – off to the movies. Let’s see where we end up…

Episode #162: Ready (Song starts at 4.55)

On these episodes, I’ve often talked about the peace you can find in the outdoors, preferably near water for me.

I’ve found by getting outdoors, I manage to still my mind and quickly get into the creative state, the zone required to write a song.

This episode pretty much shatters that peace, in a good way (I think).

Looking back, the song ‘Ready’ was probably the result of a build up of tension for me, in my mid to late 20s. It’s a guitar/band driven rocker.

I was so ready… ready to make some major changes in my life. I was ready to record, ready for a major romance, ready for …life.

So I was ready to sort of cut loose in some way.

I was ready to do that again this week, when the band (Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum) played an outdoor gig. I ‘cut loose’ and unleashed a lot of energy, as the front man. It’s fun, that’s for sure.

A lot of positive energy can come through from somewhere when you perform, compose and record.

Back in 1994, in NZ, my band weren’t with me at the time I wrote ‘Ready’. I was out there, on my own and I was determined not to give in.

In fact, I was just getting started.

So I wrote the words as I sat in my van, overlooking the ocean. Then I drove home and composed what turned out to be a 3 or 4 chord guitar based rock song – on the piano.

The old demo I found is on a tape that’s seen better days, so the sound quality is a bit ‘iffy’, this time. But the recording has a certain sort of feeling about it.

When I recorded this demo, it was my first time that I had a real studio all to myself. I was given permission to use it between 10pm and dawn for a couple of weeks.

I didn’t really know how to work much of the gear, but I set myself of completing an albums worth of recordings in the fortnight – and I did.

I realised I had an opportunity to put on tape what was on my mind, without any input for anyone else.

No band? No problem… I programmed some drums and played some drum fills live, played keyboard bass, piano and organ.

One evening as I was recording the vocals a guitarist knocked on the studio door. He liked what he heard, went home, grabbed his gear and recorded all the guitars in one night. So much fun.

All this from came about by writing about an experience ‘I’d rather forget’. Some things that don’t appear to be so great at the time can actually be the catalyst to get you moving.

And I did.

And I haven’t stopped.

Right now, I’ve never been busier as a creative person. The new Patient Hum band album is really taking shape. I’m producing that, painting big seascapes, blogging, making videos, half way through more albums. Making sheet music, video courses. It’s all ‘go’.

With 800 songs up my sleeve, I’m enjoying this way of sharing them.

By the way, I mention these 2 on this episode: Zed Brookes and Andrew Johnstone. Their latest album is here: www.brookesjohnstone.bandcamp.com

You can check out 12 of my albums on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com, or they’re streaming on Spotify, etc.

Or… there’s the 160 songs on this podcast of course (you can scoot straight to the song on each episode if you wish. I mention the time it plays, as above).

This week’s blog post has the lyrics, more music and art – including this weeks seascape painting. It’s all go around here. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

And I’m ready – for more.

Hope you enjoy Ready. It was a fun episode to record.

Ready? Here we go…. back to 1994! Let’s look at song #343.

Episode #161: Low Tide (Song starts at 4:23)

Welcome to another episode. Today we are looking at the song #556, ‘Low Tide’.

Last night I was out fishing. I did a quick recording while I was there, rod in hand at the beach at night. You can hear it on this episode.

Being out in nature really blows the cobwebs away. It clears my mind, it seems brings in energy. When I return home, I’m rejuvenated. The world seems to be an even better place.

So head out to my studio and get stuck into some seascape painting or some song writing…

…like the morning, in 2011, when I sat at my piano and looked at some handwritten lyrics. I came up with some chords and a riff straight away.

Earlier that day, I’d had pretty dark bad dream, right before I’d woken up. So I’d been moved to pick up my pen. The words that I’d written turned out to be the lyrics

On the episode, I mention the book The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. One of the great things Julia suggests is morning pages. The idea is you wake up and write down whatever comes through.

Most often you are just clearing your thoughts. Sometimes snippets of ideas seem to come through that seem to come from somewhere else.

That’s the moment you sit up and take notice. A couple of things seem to be happening. You are inspired, dipping into somewhere within and from somewhere else. The other thing that is happening is you’re discovering your own voice.

It’s a long road, the unfolding process that is a life in the arts. There is no ‘getting there’ – and if you do, it’s a fleeting moment of (perhaps) success before you go “well, that was good. What’s next”?

For me, composing a song like ‘Low Tide’ moment like that.

Generally, I come up with some chords and perhaps a riff, and then you sing over the top of it, and then you realise you’ve come up with something you like.

So you then become secretary. And write down what you’ve just composed. It can be a bit like recalling a dream. You can’t force it, but if you just sort of wait, the music comes back to you. Then you write it down.

So, back to this morning in 2011, ‘bad dream’. . I’m glad I wrote the words down when I woke up, caught my thoughts as they came through, I turned a murky feeling (which stayed with me for a few hours) into something good.

The title low tide only came to me after I’d written 12 lines. That’s the way I work: I often just start writing and something almost always come through

‘Low Tide’ became a song I like to listen to – and I like to perform it with my band.

On this episode, the version you’ll get to hear the album cut from the album ‘This World Offers You’ – by ‘Pascoe’, as we were known back then ( it’s now Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum.)

You can check it out on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

There’s a live version on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music

Here’s my blog. The lyrics from Low Tide are here ( + other music and art): www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy hearing more about how the song came together. I also draw attention to the underlying themes that are woven into the lyrics. As I sit at my piano, it’s fun, demonstrating the songwriting process.

Enjoy.

Episode #160: Maybe Sunday (Song starts at 4:45)

During the recording of an episode a few weeks back, the lyrics to ‘Maybe Sunday’ fell out of my song book. I said at the time “Hmmm maybe I should do an episode about writing that song.”

Today I picked up an old cassette tape an I discovered an old demo of ‘Maybe Sunday’. That clinched it.

This episode has turned into a quite a light and breezy episode, which is probably a reflection of this song.

While it’s a song of perhaps longing, wondering and dreaming, the style I wrote in was really a mid tempo sort of song with acoustic guitar strumming in mind.

Creating a song is an exercise in being lost in the moment. Well, lost to the world around me, but for me, it’s not a case of being lost. Every action and thought is quite a decisive thing.

It’s like ‘playing with a purpose’- and letting go of the outcome. It’s a great of example of just enjoying the ‘doing’. Perhaps that’s a big key of songwriting.

There’s an element of performance, I think, too. You lift yourself, you trust yourself: that your fingers on the keys are going to do good things, as you improvise and accompaniment for an as yet imagined melody – which you then ‘wing’ over the top.

It’s a fascinating process. It’s fun analysing aspects of what is really quite a complicated thing. For me it’s instinctive. How can that be?

Having the theory and playing chops under your belt certainly gives you confidence – and this: freedom. You’re free to have fun. I think having fun is huge part of the songwriting process.

So I wrote the lyrics one evening, back in 1993. Wow, I’ve just realised that was 30 years ago (goes silent for a moment) … time passing is not something I dwell on too often.

That’s one of the great things about being a very active creative person, fully engaged in a number of disciplines. You are so often fully engaging so much of yourself in the moment, the past and future are forgotten about for the moment.

This amount of focus is the key. But for me, it’s not sort of furiously involved, it’s a gentle engagement, it’s free feeling and – again – it’s fun. A joy, if you well.

At the time I wrote ‘Maybe Sunday’, I was alone, thinking about someone – a potential romance, wondering whether it was going to happen.

At the same time my life was rapidly changing. I’d left town, was as free as I’d ever been. I was gigging when I could, fishing when I felt like it and… songwriting.

This sense of personal freedom is something that I constant allude to in my blog writing, as it turns out.

On that note, I’m very grateful I’ve chosen this creative path. Yes it has its challenges, but it is just so rewarding.

I enjoy composing in different genres. On this episode I mention and play a bit of Albertine for the album ‘The Unfolding’ – Gentle piano solo.

Then there’s ‘Mobile Phone’…from the album ‘The Roughest Cut’ – total rock.

I also paint seascapes, and draw cartoons animals …yes, there’s variety in my days.

I mention these other things as I did say I’d put my blog in the show notes: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy hearing about how ‘Maybe Sunday’ came together.

Here we go…

Episode #159: Nowhere Now here (Song starts at 5:21 & 25:51)

There was a bit of rain on the roof tonight as I recorded this podcast. It was a nice morning, but it turned into a really ‘steel grey sky’ sort of day, which is the opening gambit for the lyrics of ‘Nowhere Now Here’.

This week’s blog post (which I wrote earlier today) took on a theme of rain, & I also painted a squally looking seascape. So it’s been a nice creative sort of a day.

Before I started, I sat at my table in the backyard, with my cat. I recorded a quick spoken observation about how important it is for me to sit quietly in nature to get myself into the creative zone, open those creative thoughts (which you’ll hear on this episode).

‘Nowhere Now Here’ started out life at a Melbourne beach (in Sandringham). My children were playing in a boat shape we dug out of the sand. It amazes me how quickly and completely children disappear into another world.

It’s not unlike the songwriting state, come to think of it. Very much like it, actually. The whole imaginary world, it’s so real. You go there, leaving behind what’s going on in the moment.

I do it so often, it comes very naturally to me, for me. It’s such a joy and it’s certainly not something I take for granted.

So I wrote the page of lyrics and then joined my children in the imaginary sandy boat.

The music for ‘Nowhere Now Here’ is co written by Paul Dredge (NZ). It is from an album of ours called Tasman Bridge, which includes songs we co-wrote in different countries.

In this case, I wrote the verse and mid sections. Paul answered with the chorus and bridge.

It is such good fun, sharing the process with Paul. We have done thousands of gigs together, so we know each other’s musical styles very well.

But there was something there straight away. The first gig Paul & I did, we harmonised on Homeward Bound by Paul Simon. The voices blended so well, it was so easy – and that’s the way it’s remained. The same with the songwriting: we’re ‘on the same page’.

On this episode, I perform a piano vocal version, which was fun – I can’t remember the last time I played it.

I also include the album track which clearly shows the different sections (written by each person). We sang lead on the sections we wrote. As we had 5 evenings to learn each other’s songs and record them, we quickly realised it would make sense to do this.

I have a video for this song up on YouTube my channel is Pete Pascoe Art and Music. Here’s the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM919PyLzgo&list=PL5WTg3pdJlzj1fmDMsW6BZophZfXu4QiC&index=4

And you can find the lyrics & the painting I did today on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Thanks for checking out my podcast. If you’re new here, my plan is to put you in the shoes of a songwriter, looking at the process. But this is no dry tutorial sort of podcast. Yes, I do analyse the music and words, but it’s a very relaxed and inclusive vibe, with an emphasis on entertainment.

Enjoy.

Episode #158: Halfway There (Song starts at 4:06)

The song ‘Halfway There’ was written in a place called Kuratau, New Zealand. It’s a beautiful peaceful place, situated by Lake Taupo. A river runs silently below the bluff which is covered in the dark green of New Zealand bush and it flows into the majestic Lake Taupo. The tuis and bellbirds calls float on the semi alpine air.

We (we being myself and Paul Dredge, my great friend and co-composer) had decided we needed to hit the road, get outta town and have a break – for as long as it took.…

We’d been playing 5 nights at a great gig for a few years, in a piano bar, playing as a duo. We’d loved it, but we just felt like it was time for a change.

The emphatic peace of Taupo called to us. It had a profound effect on us. Soothed the nerves, and we settled into some song writing – and some tennis, fishing, darts, etc ,which I talk about on this episode.

The riff to ‘Halfway There’ (song #249), came to me as I quietly played my electric piano one evening. We had the big floor to ceiling glass doors rolled back, so the sound of the summer evening floated in.

Our surroundings really do have an effect on what we get up to. The riff just sounds like the country, somehow.

Then I opened my mouth and sang. What were the words about?

Well, there was another person whom we both thought would fit in with our music very nicely – a 3rd voice, as it were.

The lyrics are really just floating images and thoughts about this Idea, how it might be if it happened. So I ended up with another song.

Eventually, Paul and I found another residency which I also I talk about this on this episode. It did involve a gorilla suit and a lion suit, one evening! The things you find yourself getting up to when you perform a living.

Our van Hercules was so reliable, all the miles we covered, the hours spent driving along with the windows open, the signs and the smells of the New Zealand countryside – all very soothing.

This is the mood that came through really strongly in ‘Halfway There’.

I really enjoyed singing and playing this for the episode. It was also fun. Looking at the lyrics afterwards, seeing how the words came to be & what each line pertains to.

Composing music, it’s like you’re walking 2 paths (or more) at the same time, letting your mind be free, creatively speaking – at the same time, you keep your mind on the theory, what notes might be a logical choice to sing next, what chord or bass note, the tempo, etc. It all happens so naturally for me and it happens very quickly, for which I’m extremely grateful.

It’s a real pleasure to be sharing the songs and having a chat each week on this podcast. I hope you enjoy what’s turned out to be another very relaxed episode.

Here we go, join me in the country in New Zealand, in 1993. Let’s see what happened…

Episode #157: Never Throw A Day Away (Song starts at 4:27)

Featuring a song from the recent album The Untrodden Track by myself and Paul Dredge. I include the album track on this episode.

I never throw a day away. I can’t afford to. I’m really committed to this artistic path. It’s my passion, it’s the way I make a living. So I’m busy.

‘Never Throw A Day Away’ began at a bus shelter. I was on my way home, after a long day. It was the end of a changeable day, weather wise. It was a bit chilly, but there was a hint of spring in the air. I’d just missed my bus, after I got off my train and ran..but off my bus went.

What did I do? I picked my pen up, looked around me and started writing about what I was looking at: a seagull approached me like a soul out of the night, gleaming white; the hint of spring in the air; the dulcet tones of the city; the dark cloud, like a hanging shroud…

It went on .. the puddles were a reminder of a changeable day…. Which lead, finally to the line: ‘Still, I’ve never known one you’d ever throw away’.

I’m an optimist. That’s my approach, for some reason. As a youngster we didn’t have much, growing up (I don’t feel like I ‘missed out’. I was loved, we had fun).

But my soccer boots were second hand… and different to all the other kids. No matter. When I tied those old puma boots on, the pliable leather spoke to me, told me I could do great things.

When I perform, I put on an imaginary superman sort of suit …when I compose, I get into my ‘can do’ mindset. It’s not arrogance, or being overconfident…it’s just getting yourself into the zone where you know you can do it. It’s a quiet confidence, based on work done.

Like when you address a golf ball and get into the ‘now’ – it’s the same at the piano, with lyrics in front of me, away I go. There’s also this: I plan to have fun, whatever happens…

When you start writing, you have no idea how the song is going to go. Sometimes it all comes together.

I’m pleased I’ve committed to writing songs for so long. I’m passionate..this one is song #661. It’s just what I do.

I love arranging and recording my songs,. This one worked really well for Paul Dredge and I. I love his lead guitar at the end. It really got the build up I wanted and I enjoyed arranging (keyboard) strings too. I had Dire Straits and Supertramp in mind… I love the dynamics of their recordings.

It’s important to have role models. It’s equally important to take the time to find your own original voice.

I’m glad I picked up my pen, and started writing what turned out to be another song. I’m also glad I recorded this episode, too. I hope you enjoy hearing how the song came together.

Here’s my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. (Creations in music and art ) ..you can read the lyrics of this song here, and view this week’s seascape painting, which I painted earlier today.

It’s great to be on this creative path. If you’d like to sign up for my email list, that’d also be great: info@petepascoe.com. You won’t miss a thing that way: new albums, podcast episodes, sheet music, paintings, gigs, etc. …there’s plenty more coming up,

Ok, on with the show… enjoy!

Episode #156: The Silent Stream (Song starts at 27:16)

I was sitting at the piano and found myself starting to compose a song.

Then I had the idea to stop, head into my studio and write the song, while recording the process. I’m glad I did.

Earlier in the week, I was sitting beside a stream, where I was camping. You’ll get to hear the sound of the stream bubbling along. For this episode, I read a piece of writing which I wrote when I was sitting in the sun. I Describe the process of walking up a stream, trout fishing:

‘Fishing a stretch of river that might take 5 minutes to walk beside can take an hour to fish properly. It’s seemingly timeless time, a meditation for the senses. The quiet music of the river and the bird calls, the dusty green of the bush against a powder blue sky. It’s a great way to start the day…’

The point of sharing this writing with you is to try to show how being out in nature really relaxes me. It gets me into the relaxed meditative state required to write a song. It fills the well.

I mention the song ‘Timeless Time’ by Paul Dredge and myself. It’s about this (from the album ‘Walking Through A Dream’ – streaming now on: Spotify, Apple Music, etc. here it is on bandcamp https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/track/timeless-time ).

Back at home, the lyrics came along unexpectedly, as a result of me sitting outside, listening to nature – but there’s no stream in my backyard.. so I thought… sitting by the silent stream… hmm, the creative realm? Watching the clouds drifting by?…so I wrote the lines that came to mind.

Then the next day, I sat at the piano and just let a riff happen. It had the peace of a river sort of feeling. So I had a sing. Then I paused the process to setup the studio to record this episode.

There’s a line ‘til the minutes have no meaning’. While finding the river audio, I stumbled across some audio of myself talking about this idea, the week before I went camping. That surprised me as a couple of weeks later, the concept came through clearly and ended up in the song.

So songs can begin with ideas that sort of just pop into your mind, out of sequence on a timeline. As a creative person, you sense it’s one of those moments, so you record it or write it down somehow.

The beginning of this song was a series of moments like that. Then I got into the studio and steered it through to a point of being a good demo.

Join me on this podcast …fishing, at a stream; at the table in my backyard; in the piano room where I teach; at the piano in my lounge…. and in the studio as I write a song this week.

Eventually, at the end I sing the finished song (and play it on the piano).

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording basically how I write a song from ‘go to whoa’.

It’s a relaxed, entertaining 30 minutes of chat, with lots of piano,

The lyrics to ‘Silent Stream’, the painting I mention and more writing from the morning spent beside the stream are all on my my blog this week. Here’s the link.

Creations in music and art https://petepascoe.wordpress.com/

Enjoy.

Episode #155: Share The Blues (Song starts at 3:25 & 26:46)

I’ve had an interesting time recording this episode: I got into my studio early, thinking I’d be clever, get the job done and get an early night. …yeh, right! Not.

I ended up recording a ‘produced’/arranged demo, with some different sounds, which took me a while. Consequently, it was a very late bedtime. It was recorded pretty late at night.

What inspired this song was the feeling of waking up at dawn. This is actually the song I was thinking of when I picked out ‘Drift Away’ for last week’s episode.

A similar mood, but different melodies.

There’s a bit more of me in this song (perhaps more personal than ‘Drift Away’) …there’s a line “ there’s a personal limit in us all ”. Yep, we all go through stuff, it’s great to be able to get things off the shoulders and put it into art.

As it turns out, I recorded another version of ‘Share the Blues’ – a piano vocal take – at the end of the episode. It happened on the spur of the moment. Listening back now, I think the piano/vocal version is stronger. The melody changed in the chorus. Oh well, it was fun recording the other earlier take and there’s some interesting ideas on it. Perhaps it would be interesting to turn this into a duet sometime.

All songs are a work in progress until they’re released.

Variety with my songwriting has been a real key for me. I’ve been very lucky with some long term residencies … actually I mention ‘Loves Me Like A Rock’ by Paul Simon. Paul Dredge (long term songwriting buddy) and I were singing and playing it live one night – after a huge day of trout fishing and driving. We got to the gig. Someone turned the lights up and then the next thing we knew, the camera was rolling.

Here’s the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG6Fsw_ssAg

The residencies were so much fun. They also gave me time to get to know myself as a songwriter. This process takes time and it requires freedom, which is precisely what I’ve had plenty of for so many years.

Yep, I’d say I’ve been lucky, but I continue to strive to hang on to my freedom. It’s a challenge and there are sacrifices along the way. But for me it’s a rich path, creatively speaking.

I think perhaps I wrote the lyrics for ‘Share The Blues’ immediately after ‘Drift Away’. I often used to write in bunch in bunches of 2 or 3. Writing one lot would awaken my pen (my voice), so I would make the most of being ‘in the zone’.

Being in this creative state, it feels like a slightly altered reality, come to think it. You’re a time traveller; an observer; you get to sort of view things from another person’s view point at times. It really does have the effect of opening your mind to new possibilities.

Perhaps that’s why I love composing songs so much.

It continues to be a pleasure to be sharing them and talking about the songs/ the creative process in general, here.

I hope you enjoy ‘Share The Blues’. I enjoyed singing the 2nd version (look out for it at the end of this episode.

Episode #154: Drift Away (Song starts at 3:03)

I took a drive this evening. I live on the outskirts of Melbourne, on the Mornington Peninsula, out in the country. I wasn’t sure where I was going… just following my nose. As it turns out, it lead to a nice quiet beach where gentle waves were lapping. I took a walk and when I got back to my car, I was thinking about a song… ‘Drift Away’.

Well, I was remembering the melody, not the words. I thought ‘Drift Away’ (which I later found in my song book – song #157, written in 1991)) was going to be the melody I was hearing in my head at the beach.

But no! It was another song, completely. So I thought what the heck. Let’s do this one…

When you’re on a trip like that, not sure of where you’re going, that’s how it feels when you’re composing a song: there’s a sense of adventure & quite often a peaceful feeling – at least there is for me.

You’re on the breath, you’ve got some momentum. In fact, that’s all you really need to start: a feeling, a mood…and away you go.

As I had a quick try at singing the song before I recorded this episode, as usual, I could ‘hear’ other musical elements (besides the piano & voice). So I couldn’t resist it, I recorded a quick arrangement.

That’s been one of the pleasures, recording these episodes: discovering songs I’d forgotten about, or just reworking a line or two on a song that I thought perhaps wasn’t really up to scratch. Fixing one or 2 words can make all the difference.

‘Drift Away’ was inspired by a morning I can clearly remember.

I woke just as dawn was breaking. The light drifted across the slate grey sky. It was a quiet moody morning. I’d pulled the curtains back to watch the sunrise.

It was so nice to be awake. I had no place to be that day, so there wasn’t that feeling of “Oh no, what am I doing awake? I’ve gotta get back to sleep”. No, this was the opposite of that of that feeling.

There’s one line ‘ take the time to send your fears away’ that catches the ear. I underlined it with a slight harmonic change in the music.

How do you send fears away? By doing the opposite: visualising positive scenarios & outcomes. So I was setting myself up for the day..

Catching that sort of feeling was easy enough in the lyrics. The words came quickly. When it came to the music, the first couple of chords set the mood and away I went.

I haven’t looked at ‘Drift Away’ for years. It was a pleasure to rediscover this song. As I say, it’s a peaceful one.

In fact, the feeling of the song rolled over into the entire episode & I found myself I reciting the words as a bit of spoken poetry on the spur of the moment.

Later on the episode, I recount the drive in the country I had this evening, as I improvise some piano music.

It all leads me to a mistake on the keys of my piano. So using this unexpected note, I demonstrate how I then might compose another song..one song can lead so easily to the next.

The first couple of chords were like that, notes that I hadn’t played like that before quickly lead me into the song,

Drift Away came together quite quickly, then. this is the way it seems to work for me, particularly when I’m writing music to lyrics which have been rewritten,

I do mention a song which did take me a couple of hours to finish: ‘Molly Brown’. This one came to me as a fully formed melody and chords – a piano piece – except I called it someone ( blank) ‘Brown’, definitely a female energy. And I also knew it would be a song about a historical event.

Then it came to me to write about theTitanic. I resisted the idea because it’s certainly already been done.

But the next day, on the internet a story came up unexpectedly about Molly Brown, who survived the sinking of the titanic. Amazing. Ok. I wasn’t going to fight that. So I found a dry account of her quite remarkable life, found there was a story to tell or retell… I created lyrics, imagining scenes based on the online account of her life. Here’s the link…Molly Brown podcast episode #76

So that way a completely different approach to songwriting to how ‘Drift Away’ came about.

I guess it’s a matter of just being open to possibilities, not ‘blocking’ any ideas. You learn a whole lot of theory, have it up your sleeve and just let go. Most importantly, think: ..play – with feeling. That would be the key I think, when you are engaged in a creative process.

Ok, would you like to hear more? Sit back and drift away with me for half an hour.

Lyrics are on my blog (petepascoe.wordpress.com), as usual, plus the painting I did of the the beach where I walked in the late afternoon sun.

Enjoy!

Episode #153: Work Song (Song starts at 2:24)

We are heading back in time on this episode, way back to 1986 when I wrote ‘Work Song’. This was song #11.

At the time. I was working in a music shop – a short stint, as it turned out. I really wasn’t cut out to do the 9 to 5 thing. ‘Work Song’ is a statement to that effect.

I recorded a version live for this episode. It was nice to sing and play this one, after all these years. It brought back so many memories.

I was young then. Determined to take my music somewhere, already committed to living a creative life.

In the lyrics there’s a line: ‘If you choose to live by the clock, it gives you no time for love’ . It pretty much summed up the idea that we’ll miss all the special moments & life will just pass us by if we get lost in some pastime (a job) that we are not passionate about.

This thought came to me loud and clear back then. I thought ‘Hey, I think I’ll write a song about this idea, and so the the lyrics took shape.

A few Weeks later, I was trying out a brand new keyboard (one of the perks of the job). It was a Korg DW8000. It was a beautiful sounding keyboard, with lots of inspiring sounds.

As I pushed the buttons, selecting the preset sounds, I improvised little pieces . One of these riffs struck me as quite strong, so when I got home that night, I sat at my piano, recalled the riff and wrote it down.

Then I remembered the lyrics I had written recently. They were sitting on the piano, waiting.

As usual, it all came together quickly. Before I knew it another song was born.

So I duly wrote into my exercise book. Little did I know one day I’d be recording a podcast episode about it, having now written 800+ songs.

The songwriting is driven by passion. Well, it is for me. Songwriting is not something I wonder whether or not I’ll carry on with. It’s part of each week. It sneaks up on me after a few days and a melody comes through my fingers from somewhere.

I spent a lot of my life being a piano man at night, and a songwriter in the day time. I don’t regret a minute of it.

I wrote my memoirs of my piano man days and I have a work in progress version up on a blog, which I stumbled across today (I mention this on the episode, so, as promised, here’s the link.The Hazy Line – Memoirs of a Piano Man

I also mention the songs ‘Old Hat in The Sun’ and ‘Don’t Live Your Life In One Day’ (a song completely improvised/composed live a previous episode): Old Hat In The Sun

Here’s my weekly blog with the lyrics and the painting of the week too. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

It’s a creative life. It’s a rich life. I really enjoy sitting at my piano, with the mic, talking about the creative process.

I love entertaining, it’s what I do. So this podcast is an entertaining weekly look at how it feels, how I go about writing a song – and you get to hear a new song each week. …. like ‘Work Song’.

Hope you enjoy the episode. Here we go…

Episode #152: Diamond Of A Moment (Song plays at 3:15)

Before I recorded this episode, I had a fairly raucous, loud band practice for a couple of hours,

In contrast, Diamond Of A Moment is a very gentle ballad. This turned out to be a very relaxed episode.

It was pleasure to sing and play the song. I hadn’t sung it for years. I decided to add a vocal harmony, a cello/bass string sound and another string part.

Song #466, Diamond Of A Moment was written back in 1998. I enjoyed rediscovering this song, delving into the lyrics and music, recalling what inspired it.

When I wrote the lyrics, initially I let my pen have it’s say. Just whatever pops into mind/whatever comes through my pen is where I start. In this case: ‘Some of my favourite diamonds are the dew drops on leaves. They last but a few moments, or hours, depending on the day.’

Sure it’s a little ‘woofy’, perhaps, but I didn’t dismiss my work and it lead on to something more substantial.

There’s a risk you might never finish anything when you’re a creative person. The key is to put aside the judgement, just enjoy the process.

Usually when I do this I end up looking back at my work, perhaps waking up the next day, sitting at the piano and rediscovering the song and generally I think “Well, I’m glad I took the time to do this.”

These are the moments. We have the option whether or not to catch thoughts, the melodies. No one’s making me do this. I’ve composed 800 songs purely because of the joy it gives me (and of course for the pleasure it gives others).

I have a blog. Like this podcast, I publish a post weekly. This week’s blog post is called ‘Those Little Moments’ (www.petepascoe.wordpress.com)

So I thought that was a nice ‘tie-in’ with the essence of what this song is about: sort of distilling all the complicated twists and turns of life down into an observation that eventually our tears become the dewdrops.

As I look into how the music came together, I demonstrate on the piano and I interject with spoken word observations in between singing the lines.

It’s fun to go between the analytical thinking and the creative thinking,

It’s a very gentle process, songwriting – at least it is for me. It’s complicated..all the music theory is like a support network underlying every musical idea. But I go about intuitively, in a very quick, free manner.

Where do melodies come from? It sure is a mystery, which I’m sure not looking to take away..as if I could. Chords dictate which notes are good to sing, and a melody can dictate which harmonic options are going to work, in terms of accompaniment.

It’s like in the moment you’re the director of the whole band. At least that’s the way I think. I can hear the strings, the bass guitar, the guitars, the backing vocals, the drums, the whole arrangement.

It comes in ‘fully arranged’ sounding phrases to me, as I build the sections of songs and put them together.

It’s a bit like you’re waiting for a story to come through and I’m telling my version.

Ok, here we go, hear how the song came together, some anecdotes, etc. and of course you’ll get to hear a new song.

Also on my blog you can read the lyrics, view my painting of the week which I mentioned on this episode. My writing, art and music are an evolving interrelated series of processes. It’s all a joy to me and it’s great to share some spoken word, singing and piano playing here on this podcast.

If you’re tuning in to listen each week, thank you so much. I hope you’re enjoying the podcast as much as I enjoy recording the episodes.

Enjoy!

Episode #151: Mystery (Song starts at 3:24 )

This song (#499) was originally titled ‘The Medium’ I wrote it about the time I went to visit a clairvoyant person for the 1st time.

I decided to change it to ‘Mystery’ at a later date. I guess I thought the new title might get the song listened to more.

Crash Test Dummies had a song about this subject, on a great album of theirs God Shuffled His Feet. I suppose that sort of gave me permission to write something similar.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what I would talk about when this song popped this week. It’s a very personal thing to experience and I think it pays to be discerning in terms of what you choose to share at times.

As it turns out, it was easy to talk about the experience I had.

The crux of this song is in the chorus where I sing ‘ I want to say thank you’ – because that’s precisely what I wanted to say to this person who helped at a time when I really needed a hand.

It was a nice feeling, singing and playing this gentle song as part of this episode. It flowed easily.

That’s my memory of how the song came through, to. The words came easily, first. The last couple of verses came to me as a reflection of this time later in my life. It was such an interesting experience.

We tend to view ourselves a certain way for part of our life, then something happens and we unfold a little more and our perspective changes.

This song is about a time of some personal transformation in my twenties. I was searching, really – finding my own path.

The music came very quickly, as easily as the words.

The two parts sound very natural, then. Not forced. Which I think is a big part of what could be deemed to be a successful bit of songwriting.

I’m pleased I shared this song. It’s been tucked away for years, although, I did sell about 30 copies of an album I called ‘12 Quiet Songs’ in 2005. Back then, I’d recently found a great Jimmy Webb album, ‘10 Easy Pieces’. I can really relate to Jimmy Webb’s song writing style. He sang his songs on this album himself ( his songs have been recorded and released by all sorts of wonderful artists such as Glen Campbell).

Maybe I’ll re-record this album again, one day. That’d be fun.

This is one of the things about recording the episodes for this podcast. It’s all a work in progress. I’m enjoying the complete unknown aspect about each episode, as I’m talking and playing without a script or more than a general plan of having a chat and sharing a song.

It is indeed a mystery how the episodes come together, much like songwriting.

I’m looking to bring some light to the songwriting process. I’m not looking to take away the mystery, though – as if I could.

It does surprise me how complicated the process is. For me, it’s something that’s been self taught, really. After singing lots of Elton John and Paul Simon, etc, I felt like I’d like to give this songwriting thing a go back in my teens.

Which is just what I did …and here I am years down the track, having composed about 800 songs.

It’s nice to be sharing and taking about the songs here.

I hope you enjoy hearing about the song Mystery as much as I enjoyed recording the episode.

Here we go….

Episode #150: Carry Me On (Song starts at 3:13)

Hi, on this episode we are looking at Carry Me On, song #237, composed 1992 (you can find it online as part of the album ‘Righto’, on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. I will remix it one day and it put it on the other streaming platforms).

I’ll also take you underwater with some snapper. I live on the Mornington peninsula, Melbourne, Australia and take a dip in the Port Phillip bay quite often.

Most of all though, I’ve looked at where the song came from, how it was composed.

In this case it was a ‘words first, music 2nd’ sort of song. Co-written by myself and mr Paul Dredge, great friend and longtime co-songwriter.

Picture Paul and I having a cuppa, In Paul’s lounge, back in 1992 in NZ. Paul, having had a brief look at the lyrics, leaps into the opening riff on his acoustic guitar. I ‘wing’ a melody as I hold the lyrics sheet, watching Paul play.

In this moment we are totally free, tuning into what the other is offering. It’s a bit like like ‘theatre sports’, where neither actor blocks the other. The idea then is: the story evolves naturally, being plucked out of thin air by two creative souls.

We are communicating fully in the moment without speaking, while listening closely to the music that the other person is producing. We are both improvising in the moment, based on knowledge of the theory of music & visual clues – but most of all, we are just following ‘the feeling’ – where the melody, chords and dynamics appear to be guiding us.

It’s a fascinating process to delve into. I do it on this podcast in a very relaxed, inclusive manner. This is no dry tutorial. I’m not here to tell you how to write as song. But I do share some ideas on how I do compose.

I asked Paul to share his memories about the song, so I’ve included some audio from him (by the way we are 8 songs into our new Folk Rock album. Although he lives in another country, we still write and record, via the internet. Check out ‘The Untrodden Track’, our last album.).

You’ll also hear about our 1996 mountain rock performance. An outdoor festival in Manawatu, NZ. Joe Satriani was the headline act – heady stuff for a relatively young band.

I start to compose another song on this episode, again (I must go back through the episodes and finish some of these off). I find myself demonstrating on the keys and this leads naturally into the composing process, so I go with it when it happens on this podcast.

Here’s my weekly blog, where you can find the lyrics to ‘Carry Me On’, my new seascape painting which I touch on, plus lots of other goodies. www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

If all this sounds pretty good to you, please do email me (info@petepascoe.com) to join my email list. You won’t miss a thing that way.

Also, if you do enjoy this episode, there’s another 149 episodes to discover. Please do leave a favourable review and share this with people whom you think may be interested. Thank you in advance.

Ok , without further ado let’s get into Carry Me On. Sit back, relax and allow me to entertain you!

Episode #149: Hope and Forgiveness (song starts at 8:44 & 28:28)

As I recorded this episode, I was feeling so energised. The creative flow was happening. I’ve just been away camping for 2 weeks. Being out in nature really does it for me. 2 weeks was a complete reset.

I take you to my campsite, sitting outside my tent as I talk about the Australian animals that we were surrounded by, the peace, the sound of the ocean.

Then, in contrast, I take you on the train in the city, where people’s faces had ‘barren fixed stares’ … because this is when I wrote the lyrics to ‘Hope and Forgiveness’.

I talk about the scenes and the people I was looking at as I was writing the lyrics & then we look at how the music came together.

This podcast is about creativity, in general. But it’s also turning out to be a podcast about living positively & enjoying life. That’s what I do.

I recorded piano solo album #5 the other night, (a version of ‘Hope and Forgiveness’ will be on it – just piano, no singing). I’m working on the sheet music too, so that will be available online later this year.

I also talk about one of my seascape paintings that sold last week, and one I did on the spot while camping, while simultaneously whacking huge Australian horseflies that chose to chomp into my back and legs as I painted. Yep, you’ve got to be determined and focussed and passionate to be on the creative path – which I am

It’s one of the reasons I enjoy recording these episodes each week, sitting in my studio with my piano and chatting about what springs to mind. It gets me into performance mode – and that’s a big part of song writing mode.

There’s plenty on offer this week. Wallabies, tiger snakes, melody, humour… look out!

This week’s episode is a 2 for 1 deal: You’ll hear the audio from a YouTube video of me singing at the piano, (part of a Live From The Lounge online concert from during covid lockdowns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnzXPzljm3s),

At the end you’ll hear the album cut: track 2 from the album ‘Walking Through A Dream’ – streaming now. (Featuring Mr Paul Dredge on guitars, bass and vocal harmony. This was our 4th album).

On Bandcamp you can see photos, lyrics, stream music and buy songs for yourself or send it as a gift… https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/

Here’s my blog too www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (lyrics to the song here, art, links to much more online – which I hope you’ll enjoy as much as listening to this episode.

Here we go, ‘Hope and Forgiveness’…rolling!

Episode #148: Man In The Mountain (Song starts at 5:06 & 7:36)

Welcome to a time travelling adventure. On this episode, we’re going back to 1988. That’s one of the great things about being a songwriter. You get to move about in time within a song. You get to act, imagine, be emotional and tell stories. It’s a blast.

I enjoy composing a variety of music. I’ve sold 5000 CDs of mellow piano solo pieces, I enjoy singer songwriter, rock, folk rock genres and so on…

‘Man In The Mountain’ is a wild old song which I composed one rainy day. At the time, I was mid way through an entertaining stint at a restaurant at the Whakapapa ski fields at Mt Ruapehu, in New Zealand.

I took my keyboard back to my cabin each night. It was great synthesiser (Roland D50) which had marvellous sounds on it.

If I’d written this song on the piano I imagine it would’ve turned out quite differently.

For this episode, I recorded a mellow piano/vocal version. I followed it immediately with the old demo I recorded on 4 tracks – lifted from an album by Paul Dredge and myself ( ‘What It Is’. The total release was about 20 cassettes. Probably just as well, as we were finding our way, teaching ourselves how to record, how to arrange songs, but we had fun – and we were learning).

You’ll hear that the old demo could do with a remix. Oh well. Again, it was fun, it had a certain sort of manic energy, which suited the lyrics.

The piano vocal version is more understated affair. It’s a little more haunting and mellow, which I enjoyed recording.

I keep a diary. It ‘clears the slate’, keeps my pen free and ready to write song lyrics. I catch what comes through and really just ‘get to get out of the way’, doing my best to be a secretary as the words tumble in. I’m really in the flow when this is happening.

Fast forward a few days and I’ll have a stack of lyrics awaiting my attention. like back in 1988: “Hmm, man in the mountain.. oh that’s right… this is a bit whacky ‘ a thousand animals crawl at night like thoughts in my mind..’ obviously a love song. I’ll pick this synth sound and see where I can take it”…

So you bring energy and intention with you as you compose.

The words suggest a musical style, but a lot has to do with how you are feeling as to what sort of song you end up with.

It’s also not a bad idea to try writing with different sounding keyboards (or guitars, or different instruments if you’ve got them up your sleeve).

‘The Man In The Mountain’ (song #76), was fun to write and fun to record. This episode was fun as well. The energy of the old demo spilled over into proceedings – and I’m glad it did.

As usual, there’s humour here – and lots of observations.

Have a listen and step into the shoes of a creative songwriter for 30 minutes. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Here’s my blog : www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can contact me at info@petepascoe.com. I welcome your feedback. If you do enjoy this episode, please be sure to leave a favourable review -and tell your friends about it – thank you in advance!

Pete.

Episode #147: Where Lovers Part (Song starts at 4:24)

On the last episode (Sure Does Fly), I mentioned a riff reminded me of another song. As it turns out, that song, Where Lovers Part, Song #30, was written the same year (1987).

It came about when I felt the need to get some feelings out. It’s about the ending of a relationship, the emotional reactions needed an outlet.

You feel stuff. By putting it into a diary, you get things off the your shoulders and it clears the slate. Then by putting them into art, it can be a healing thing – for the writer and the listener.

Sometimes songs are almost a very straightforward account of actual events in the writer’s life. Some songs are pure fiction. A lot of songs are a mixture of the 2.

This allows the writer to get the emotion out, some facts are stated about what’s happened, then things can change: you get to play with words, it’s like being the director of a movie. The thing to keep firmly in mind is, it must read true.

I would say that’s #1, well actually, I think feeling is #1, then the story.

There’s nothing quite like a singer/songwriter getting it right. It doesn’t have to be over the top, in terms of emotions with the delivery. You can say so much by understating what’s going on. In fact, particularly in performance, if you give it 85%, it seems the audience will supply the other 15.

If you start out at 100%, it gives you nowhere to go, with a recording. So it pays to reel it in a bit at least to start with.

Having said that, this ballad does get bigger in the choruses. But not too big.

I was a lot younger when I wrote this song. I’m surprised now that I never released it (other than it appeared on a very small run of cassettes – an album featuring songs by Paul Dredge and myself. It was our 4th ‘4 tracked’ album, ‘Give You A Call’. We were very much finding our way with the production thing. Lots of fun and a valuable learning experience).

I read the lyrics as a poem this episode. I just had a feeling to do it.

I also compose music for a new song at the end of this episode. It was a complete surprise to me – it wasn’t planned at all. It’s an example of how the emotion of one song can quickly inspire another.

I hope you enjoy the song – and the chat. Thanks so much for following my podcast. For those of you that are new here, having a look, this is the songwriter talking about creativity, life, in the moment. It’s as honest as it gets – and it’s fun. Enjoy

Here’s my blog, by the way. It’ll lead you to more of my art and music: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Pete.

Episode #146: Sure Does Fly (Song starts at 5:22)

Relationships are often the catalyst for spot of songwriting.

Going way back to to 1987 now. I wrote this song for my brother.

It’s quite a personal song, focussing on old memories – particularly an image of a summer evening in New Zealand from my childhood. The blackbirds were singing, the colours were starting to drift toward the purple spectrum as the sun set. I was outside, playing sport with my elder brother (as we did, right up til darkness fell).

It’s a poignant memory for me, of seemingly never ending years of a largely happy childhood.

Siblings play a key role in our development. We share traits, we are bonded and we learn about our differences as the years go by.

I enjoyed singing and playing the song for this episode. It’s been years since I tried to play it.

The song came to mind when the blackbirds song floated across the beach to me from the bush on the bluff. There are pockets of blackbirds here in this part of Melbourne. An introduced species (from the UK) to both New Zealand and Australia. They bring back memories of my childhood. I can understand why our ancestors chose to introduce animals from their homeland, unfortunately at the expense of local species).

The blackbird call is soothing to listen to. The males sing at the change of light, the magic time. They float tunes and experiment with different notes and phrases, much like a songwriter does.

Back in 1987, I sat at the piano and as I looked at the words I’d already written, I let my fingers wander on the keys as I floated a melody, experimenting. With notes and phrasing, much like the blackbird.

It does take time to build up the theory. It gives you confidence to play intuitively. The notes find the ‘right’ keys and your voice does likewise.

The listener picks up on the feelings in the song that may awaken memories. An attachment forms and those memories are recalled whenever the song is heard.

That’s the magic of a song.

It’s also a magic feeling playing and singing a song you’ve written down through the years. It’s a step on, to listen to a recorded version of one of your songs. This is the way other people hear the song. You are no longer involved in the performance, so your mind is free to focus on the overall sound, and also the details.

As I’ve said a few times, it’s a real pleasure to be recording these episodes. It gets me into a creative state of mind. I enjoy finding out more about the songs, more about the songwriting process as ideas pop into my mind while I’m charting and playing the piano.

Sit back and have a listen as I sing and explore ‘Sure Does Fly’ bringing old memories to the surface.

Enjoy.

Episode #145: Natural Rhythms (Song starts at 4:44)

I was fishing at the beach, chatting about things that came to mind – including the song featured on this episode – ‘Natural Rhythms’. I recorded these bits and pieces of me talking and have included them on this episode.

I mention the tides. I guess it was the peaceful feeling of being by the ocean. This brought the song to mind.

The beach made think back to when I was sitting in the old van Hercules, in Mt Maunganui, New Zealand. Norfolk pines have been planted there long ago. They stand about 30m apart, like sentries lined up along the beach.

That was pretty much the opening line of the song.

This was a lyrics first, music second song. I like just looking around me, starting writing and eventually a theme comes through (much like how I record podcast episode, by the way). In this case, Natural Rhythms – inspired by the waves and the tides before me.

The tides have a profound effect on us. That’s why I love camping at the beach.

At the beach the other evening, I also thought about Christmas. I hope your Christmas was a great one: perhaps time to slow down, have nice conversations and fun with people you like being around.

‘Natural Rhythms’ is song #300 (out of about 800). I wrote it a while back – 1993. It’s been sitting there waiting in the songbook for it’s day.

This brings to mind my plan to record a series of piano vocal albums of songs featured on this podcast – and I will. I’ll publish the sheet music too. Then some songs will go on to be more fully arranged and released on other albums.

So there is an intention about what I’m doing as an artist.

I mention the word intention in this episode. When I sit at the piano to compose, there is definitely an intention to create. The songs won’t just appear by themselves.

Songwriting is a delicate art, it relies on a lot of theory having being learned and your chops on the keys being up to scratch (if you’re a pianist -which I am).

I think the arts should be rewarded as such. Not everyone can write a good song. Most people can learn to fix a pipe or a window… anyway..

I love what I do – I’m an artist and a songwriter. I’ve put out a mountain of content online over the last few years. You can find it by googling my name…or here’s my blog – it’s a good place to start: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . There’s lots of links here each week.

In 2022, I’ve created and published 52 blog posts, 52 podcast episodes ( including 52 songs), about 35 small seascapes, 10 1.5m seascapes, 150 cartoon roughs, some videos, etc.

In addition, I’ve taught 2500 private piano lessons on Mondays and Tuesdays.

All of this has been an absolute pleasure to put together and ‘do’.

Recording these episodes is like a performance each week. It’s all off the cuff, there’s humour here. This is not a dry presentation of ‘ how to write a song’ along the way, I look to impart how I write a song, but I present in a relaxing, entertaining manner. I’m pretty comfortable in front of the mic.

I’m also pretty comfortable at the piano. This week again, I begin another song.. so you can hear how I do it.

As I mentioned, it was a while ago that I composed Natural Rhythms. I was much younger then, finding my way along. An ‘almost’ sort of a relationship was providing some pretty steep learning curves. It’s seems we are given plenty of life experiences just when we need, if we go forth into our day with intention to live well and learn.

It’s with some peace that I look back on a time for me that had some heartache (1993) – the peaceful feeling of having ‘let it go’ is possibly because I made time to relax by the ocean and put my feelings into an art – the song of the day.

Songwriting has been an extremely rewarding thing to have done with my life. And it continues to give me pleasure.I hope Natural Rhythms does the same for you, along with the chat.

So here’s another 30 minutes of relaxing chat, fun, observations and music for you.

If it’s your first time here, I encourage you to give it a go. I talk for the layman – you won’t need any musical training to enjoy this podcast.

If you like this episode there’s another 140 odd for you.

I’ll repurpose some of this content in the future – probably into and ebook or a listening book on songwriting (perhaps) and maybe memoirs of a songwriter, or observations on life..

So, have I piqued your curiosity? I hope so.

If you’ve been with me for a while, tuning in to my podcast, thank you so much. I love the fact that music engages us and connects us in a positive manner.

Merry Christmas to you all.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

Pete

Episode #144: Pigs Flying (Song starts at 5:00)

On this episode, I take you down to the beach. It’s the place I go to relax, before I head home and do something creative – like composing a song.

I also love being beside rivers, but since I’m lucky enough to live the near the ocean, that’s where I head.

When I come home, I feel the creative mood come over me.

Back in 1997, when I recorded the demo that you’ll hear on this episode, I was living not far from Melbourne’s CBD, a long way from the water. We did have a park nearby, so we were lucky.

I mention the feeling that comes upon me when I realise I’m in the mood to compose: It’s a bit like when you’re catching a train at an underground station in Melbourne, you feel the rush of air that the train is pushing before it. Then the train comes out of the tunnel and pulls up at the platform and away you go.

It’s a bit like that when I’m composing, there’s the feeling, then it’s almost like I get to sense the melody and chords that are coming through. The momentum is there – and away I go.

Like when I wrote ‘Pigs Flying’, for instance. Back in 1992 I was often getting home at about 3am from a piano bar gig and some night clubbing. I’d get into my nice warm water bed… yep they were popular, back then(very welcome warmth if it had been a long wintery frost walk home in the night).

I’d often pick up my pen and paper and write a few pages of lyrics. They were often complete, not requiring too much editing.

A day or two later, the feeling of songwriting would hit me, so I’d sit at my old upright piano, pull out a page of lyrics and see what chords and melody came through.

It’s a habit – a positive, creative one. I’ve never been one to just whack out a song for the heck of it. I only compose when I feel I’m really in the zone – and I write for the pleasure of writing.

There’s an element of performance when you’re writing a song, the words and music seem to put something in motion and you pick up on the energy and steer it through to the end. It’s a real pleasure.

It’s also a pleasure talking about this sort of process on these episodes – there’s a few online now (144!).

I hope you enjoy hearing about how this song came together, what inspired it, plus the song itself – and a visit to the beach.

Sound good? Here we go….

Episode #143: I Can See Your Eyes (Song starts at 3.39)

A demo of ‘I Can See Your Eyes’ (Song #551) popped up unexpectedly on my iPad as I drove along to my teaching job the other morning (I may have got up a bit to watch some World Cup soccer). As I was driving, I thought wow, that’d be a great song to feature on an episode. So here it is.

Back about a decade ago, I was recording ‘The Man In Blue’ album. (streaming now) …coincidentally, I just flicked open a random diary and saw that I was watching World Cup soccer back when I was recording this demo. Bizarre.

Dan Dew, the drummer for the Patient Hum ( my current band), had just laid down all the drum tracks for ‘The Man In Blue’. I then asked him if he felt like having a hit through another 12 songs I had lined up to try with the band. With a twinkle in his eye, Dan said “Sure, why not”. I do like to be in the studio…

Then our lead guitarist, Neil Sims, got involved by recording some acoustic guitar and we went straight on into recording a solo.

I mention all of this recording/ production work, because of the way one unexpected moment leads onto the next.

It’s the same with song writing.

When I wrote the first line “When the sleep has washed me under”, this almost nonsensical line was the beginning of a whole series of events which became a fully formed song – and then a quite produced demo.

(In case you’re wondering why we’ve never finished this….and why hasn’t it turned up on an album? Well, the multitrack recording is on a portable hard drive, which I think has died. Yep. The only copy. Ahh well. I’ll take it in to a computer place and see if it really is a goner. Regardless, We’ll revisit this song some time. Sure would be nice to start with this session, though).

Anyway, back to the song.’The sleep that washed me under’ lead me straight into the dream state, where I started seeing a sort of a movie, which was part ‘me’, I think. I could read the thoughts of the couple…it was just an early morning scene, the sun coming up.

Then a few words sort of tumbled out of the mouth of one of the ‘characters’, which became the crux of the song.

It’s fun, writing and following a story like this, it’s like you’re a secretary, jotting down the words that pop into mind, as you are describing the action.

I don’t necessarily begin at the beginning of the story when I write the lyrics.The imagery, the story, appear like a layers of an onion.

It’s a bit like a person’s life: more and more layers become apparent as time goes by.

The music came from the same warm, subconscious dreamy sort of realm. I take notes, playing the music that I can ‘hear’, somehow a moment before it is required.

I guess it’s ‘being in the zone’, which I spoke about on a recent blog.

Ok, I hope you enjoy the chat this week – and this particularly sort of well fleshed out / more arranged demo.

By the way , the Lyrics will be on the blog, as usual: www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com ( plus cartoons, seascapes, writing and links to lots more creative stuff). Enjoy.

Episode #142: Give It Back (Song starts at 3:29)

Welcome to a very relaxed episode. I was in a mellow mood, the evening I recorded it. I’d just finished a commissioned painting – predictably, it took me a bit longer than I thought it might. So it was after midnight when I started recording.

As a creative person, something I really keep an eye on is: I like to get things done. Finished. Sooner than later. Then I can move on.

That’s the creative way. It’s in the process, where the action happens. Speaking of which…

As I talk about how I composed ‘Give It Back’, I draw attention to the need to be your own secretary, somehow, & yet remain in the flow.

In these days of phones and recording devices, that’s a simple matter. Back in 1987, when I wrote ‘Give It Back’, I was sitting at the piano with the handwritten lyrics, pen in hand.

I came up with music for the verse, scrawled a very loose bunch of chords and a hurriedly notated melody (just a few lower case notes – letters above the syllable).

The next part of the process is (and was) I’d re-sing and play the part and aim to flow directly on into the next the next section, and so on.

Staying in the mood is crucial. It’s fascinating that it is possible to start and stop and stay ‘in the zone’. It’s a necessary skill to develop early on, in any creative activity.

I wrote ‘Give It Back’ for my grandparents. I was lucky to have grown up with 4 grandparents around me.

It struck me then that my grandparents wouldn’t be around forever, so I thought I’d write this song for them. I also wrote it to share, in the hope that others might pick up on the idea that at we should make the most of our time with our grandparents while they are around.

Before I composed the music, I wrote the lyrics. The first verse came to me first:

The words ‘He’s sitting alone, in his chair, wondering where all the years have gone. There’s nothing like a visit from a friend’.

Through writing this, I found myself way into a possible future, in the shoes of an older version of myself and it really brought home to me how it might feel to be older, reflective – and to be alone.

That gave me ‘the feeling’, so that’s all I really need. A feeling and a start, and away I go.

It’s a warm, fuzzy subject, and it became that sort of a song,

Hope you enjoy having a listen to the song – and the chat again this week. I enjoy playing my piano as I talk. It’s great for demonstrating what I’m talking about… and it takes me places. It certainly seems to help with the creative flow, which I enjoy so much.

This is my blog which I mention: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. Each week I write and upload a blog post. I generally include a new seascape, the lyrics to the song featured on the weeks podcast episode. There’s also s cartoons – and writing, of course – and links to lots more music and art. Enjoy.

OK, here we go, come back to 1987 with me – and hear a younger me singing an older demo.

Episode #140: Some Freedom (Song starts at 5:38)

Welcome to a fairly zany sort of an episode. The song freedom came about when I showed my co songwriter Mr Paul Dredge with some lyrics, back in 1996. Paul had his guitar in hand. He looked at the words:

I’ve stepped into a normal space

I’m sniffing out the rat race

It ain’t so bad, I know I’ve had

Some freedom

Paul jumped straight into a really up sort of interesting/unusual guitar strumming pattern over 3 chords. So I leapt in there and just sang a melody that came to mind.

It’s like theatre sports, where one actor comes up with an idea, floats the beginning of a story. The key is, the other actor doesn’t block what the person has just said,…they go with and build on it, and so the sum of the parts becomes something more.

This is precisely what can happen when you have an instrument and some lyrics…and some freedom.

The freedom of spirit, I guess is what I’m talking about.

When we recorded the version you’ll hear on this episode, we sure had some freedom of spirit. 12 songs in 2 days was what we recorded it became the album ‘Lost In Time’, which is presently on my bandcamp site here…. It’ll be streaming on Spotify, etc soon. I’ll just master it – recently I remembered this hadn’t been done.

Our great friend Earl Pollard played the drums on the album. He kicks off proceeding with a cool drum fill. It’s a nice moment on the album really kicks things into gear.

The song ended up being a song for 2 voices… you hear the give and take, who leads the way… it’s so much fun to arrange the vocals this way. It happens quickly for Paul and I actually, we work quickly, full stop.

I believe we wrote this song in about 10 minutes.

You embrace the feeling and see where it takes you.

As usual I talk about where the lyrics came from… the gist of which is: we can find freedom – regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in.

It’s one of my ongoing themes, I’m finding out as I record these episodes. Wow amazing 140 episodes. Cool – I’d just like to celebrate this for a moment. Who knew it’s go on like this. I mean, that was my intention when I started out, but I didn’t really know how it’d go.

As it turns out, it’s going great. Recording the episode, writing the show notes, creating the episode artwork is something I really forward to each week.

Because it’s a very free process. There are no ones for these episodes. I just open my mouth and mind, and see where the songs takes me.

See where some lyrics took Paul and I this week. Enjoy some freedom!

Here we go…

Episode #140: Leaving Song (Song starts at 3:36)

“I’m amazed it’s 2022”! That’s what I said - and how I felt - for a moment, when I’d been chatting about this week’s featured song on this episode. I was lost in the song. It took me back to 1992, when I wrote 'Leaving Song' (Song #242). Bizarre. Those 30 years have passed by so quickly. Actually, I’m not sure whether quickly is the right word… they’ve snuck by, somehow.

By writing songs continually all these years, I’m finding that I’ve documented (emotional) episodes in my life. Singing & playing the song brings back vivid memories from the time I wrote it.

When I look closely at a song like 'Leaving Song', I find part of me lives in it. That part of me is still somehow at the age I was when I wrote it, as I read it.

I find it interesting that I can do clearly see a younger me in the song. Is that why we love old classic songs? They remind of a younger version of ourselves, perhaps.

A romantic interest was the inspiration for this song. Looking back, she seemed just out of reach somehow, and now, I’d found out she was heading overseas.

So what did I do? I picked up a pen and wrote some words that came to mind.

I talk about commitment a bit on this episode. Commitment to the arts. Back in 1992, there was something wrong if I didn’t manage to write 5 lots of lyrics each week. I did it because I was passionate about it (I still am today, by the way).

I still have so many songs coming through. At the moment I have 12 or 15 waiting in a file, which I look at each week - and ‘nibble’ at, waiting for a free day to do some more editing and ‘finish’ them..

Back in the day, I could sit down and write all day. These days I’m a busy man. I’m still committed to beginning a song if the feeling hits me. But as I have a lot on, sometimes I don’t finish them as quickly as I might once have.

'Leaving Song' is like an old travelling song, the music came to me quickly. It’s a simple song. It really wrote itself, to be honest. And yes, I can remember writing it - in fact, it seems like yesterday.

There’s a line in the song that says ‘life is strange and full of strange twists’. Ain’t that the truth.

I start each day with as much positivity as I can muster. As I go through my day I hang onto that outlook as best I can. Ups and downs are going to happen, so you may as well enjoy the ride as much as possible.

Vehicle troubles struck this week. My printer gave me printer troubles. Usual stuff - ahh, ‘life’.

That’s what came through in the lyrics of leaving song: ‘Hey, that’s life - sure I’ll miss you - but get out there and kick up your heels. Maybe I’ll catch up with you again sometime’.

That’s the gist of the song. So there’s a sense of freedom about the lyric.

Writing songs like this is a way for me to get to my myself on a deeper level. Words can be a revelation when they roll off your pen.

Songwriting is a joy. It’s always a journey into the great unknown.

Speaking of which, each of my podcast episodes are exactly like that. It’s a creative process, I talk completely ‘off the cuff’ - there’s no plan.

I’m enjoying it so much because this is a great way to share my songwriting ideas. It’s also a great way to share perhaps more general creative concepts... it’s so much fun.

Ok here we go. Let’s get into 'Leaving Song', enjoy.

Episode #139: Burdens (Song starts at 7:16) Looking at another original song on this episode: Song #238. ‘Burdens’ came about when a friend passed away, back when I was 24 or so. Us songwriters are lucky. We can get a mountain off our shoulders from time to time, by putting our feelings down in words and music. It releases tension, allows for healing - and it becomes more than therapy in the process: it becomes art. Something about the feeling of the song touches us and we find meaning in the lyrics and music - which, by the way, may mean something else completely to another listener. Walking out and about in nature soothes me. I like to do this. This episode, I’ll take you for a gentle walk down a bush track, here on the outskirts of Melbourne. The bird calls, the vibe, ‘fills the well’ for the artist side of me. I get out in nature so I can go deep within easily later, get into ‘the zone’, that dreamlike state, where you almost observe yourself in the process of writing a song. You kind of have to do this, because in the moment that you’re composing, you are also being your own secretary and you catch, to the best of your ability, everything that happened in the moment and archive it. This song started when I picked up a pen and just jotted down a few free sentences. The gist of what I wanted to say Is: life is a gift, a joy. We need to make the most of each and every moment. If we feel like things are getting on too much for us (our burdens), it can be a good idea to share our worries…share the load, if you like. When you write from a deep place, you bring strong feelings to the surface and they can become a tangible touchstone for yourself and others to reflect on. Other strong feelings can come through pretty quickly and pretty soon you find your mind has been taken somewhere else completely. This is the transformational, magic quality of the arts. It’s great to be in the arts. The record which 'Burdens' is on (Lost In Time - on Bandcamp) happened over 2 days. Paul Dredge, Earl Pollard and myself recorded 12 songs in 2 days in a studio. This included a quick mix, which became ‘the’ mix.These were songs we’d not played for 20 years in some cases - some barely played at all & a lot we’d never played with Earl. So we were flying by the seat of our pants, collectively arranging the music on the fly. I love doing this. It sure is a joy being a songwriter. I hope you’re enjoying hearing a new song each week. It’s such a pleasure looking back at these songs. I mention my blog again here it is www.petepascoe.wordpress.com …lots of music and art here. More at: www.petepascoe.com (Seascapes, Cartoons, all sorts of Music). Ok, Here we go. On with the chat - and the music, enjoy.

Episode #137: Patchwork Of Promises (song starts at 3:40) Back in 1999, a black and white photo was sitting near my piano. There’s something about a black and white image - it seems to capture and convey emotion almost more than full colour. Emotion is what I need to begin writing a song. It provides the impetus, the inclination to bother to pick up a pen. You just need to make a start and the rest generally follows. I’m glad I did. The photo was of my girlfriend (now wife) and I, which was taken at a resort where I was playing as part of a trio (piano bass and drums). The photo appeared to paint us as one..was this a formative moment in our new relationship? That’s what I was thinking as I let my pen flow across the page, not editing, just letting it go. And where it came to was the line: ‘like a patchwork of promises to our soul’. And that became the title. The music came next. I like to let my hands just wander instinctively on the keys of my piano and see what happens. I demonstrate this process on this episode, by using the lyrics to this song and composing new music - winging chords, bass line and melody. I like going off on unexpected tangents on this podcast. It’s all improvised. I talk and play, as if I’m sitting on a stage, demonstrating the songwriting process by looking at a song I’ve written. The patchwork of promises lyrics are about the new conversations, the letters written, the moment you find you’re involved with someone..you’re in a relationship.. it’s about looking at the whole falling in love process, recognising this is what has happened. I think I’ll record piano vocal albums of the songs on this podcast- perhaps even use the demos I record ( like the version of 'Patchwork Of Promises' on this episode) as a starting point. That’d be fun. Ok, sit back. Let me entertain you. My delivery is relaxed, inclusive…humour is a big part of the creative process and it’s a big part of my podcast episodes. I’m having so much fun recording and presenting these episodes. Here we go..let’s see where 'Patchwork Of Promises' takes us this week. Enjoy.

Episode #137: Dawn Chorus (song starts at 3:45 & 27:57) I had a busy today. For a while there, though, I was sitting in my car. So listened to some music. One of the albums that came on was Tasman Bridge. Written and recorded by myself with Paul Dredge, it’s an album that’s close to our hearts - it was the first time we’d tried to write songs together internationally. Paul lives in New Zealand, where I’m originally from. I’ve been living in Melbourne, Australia for 20 odd years now. After having played live together for years - thousands of gigs - and having written lots of songs, I thought it would be an idea if I moved to Australia. We really missed writing and performing music together. Eventually we hit on the idea of writing a section of a song and sending it to the other person so he could ‘answer’ with the music for the next section of the song. To date I’ve been the lyricist for this sort of arrangement. Sometimes with lyrics I’ve written, I just know they would really suit Paul. It’s instinct, really. I’ve never been disappointed with what Paul’s come up with, we seem to so much on the same page, it's amazing. In this case, Paul wrote the music ( riff / chords and melody) for a verse and middle section, which he sent to me. I put the headphones on and listened, piano and mic ready to go..and I just ‘winged’ what came to me - which turned out to be the choruses and bridge. I’ve included a piano vocal version of Dawn chorus, which I recorded as part of this episode. At the end of the episode, you can hear the album cut. You’ll hear Paul singing his parts and then I take over lead for the parts I wrote. It came about that way, as when it came time to record, we only had about 6 evenings to learn and record each other’s parts. In fact, it was really as we were recorded that we learned how the songs were going to go, so it made sense to sing our own parts. Dawn chorus is an inspiring, brief part of the day where all the birds seem to decide to sing with one voice, seemingly just to ‘greet the magic day’ in celebration. I love being out in nature. It inspires and energises me. As usual, on this episode, I talk about how the words came together, and then on to the music. It’s fascinating for me to be talking like this. In the process, I’m discovering wha sort of things make me click as a songwriter. I write for the joy of songwriting. So does Paul. We have a few albums you can find online at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com and most are now on Spotify and Apple Music, etc We have a new album The Untrodden Track out now. I listened to this again today and messaged Paul to say how entertaining and relaxing I found it to be - again… I’ve been listening on the headphones, often in the evening before bed, it’s a pretty chilled listen. Anyway if you’d like to hear how we write a song together. Sit back and have a listen. I hope you enjoy the song Dawn Chorus (both versions) - and the chat.

Episode #136: The Roughest Cut (song starts 5:30 & 27:57) It’s been a beautiful, pristine, blue sky, early spring day today. But as dusk happened, the night fell, the wind started to get up. I don’t mind that. In fact, listening to the wind when you’re safely indoors is pretty relaxing, Music has the power to lift your spirits. The same with lyrics. The combined force of music and lyrics really has the power to dramatically change our mood for the better. We always have the choice to focus on the good stuff. I include some audio I recorded as I sat in my car today…on my right was the grey city. On the left was a grassy section, the light catching the seed heads, & the shadows. Through the grass wound a path. I chose to ignore the passing cars, the city and focussed on the sound of the wind in the grass, the way the grass moved in the late afternoon clear spring sunlight. I planned to bring that sound of the field, well at least the mood, into my song this evening. At that stage, I didn’t realise I’d be talking about 'The Roughest Cut'. It’s a bit of a rocker. But when I opened my song book tonight, it just seemed to be the one. When that happens, I don’t question it. So I recorded a quieter version, then couldn’t help myself…I started to dress it up a little with a vibraphone, a synth and some strings. It’s amazing how an arrangement can come together so quickly. On this episode, I also include the version recorded by PP and The Patient Hum. This was the title track - the song that finishes a recent album of ours. I talk about dynamics on this episode. Everything natural in life has its ups and downs. We all do. So by bringing the volume up and down as you perform a song, it’s going to be more engaging for the listener and it’ll have more emotion. And emotion would be number one, in my opinion. The words came first with this song. I just wrote it from top to bottom (you can read the lyrics on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ) Eventually the line ‘even the roughest cut becomes a diamond’ came through. That’s when I knew this would be the title, the main message of the song. It’s a fascinating process. After all these episodes, I really feel like there’s still so much to discover and talk about… The creative realm, it sure is a great way to get into the now. Ok sit back and have a listen, I hope you enjoy the chat and the music, it’s all pretty relaxed around here. I present as if I’m on a small stage, sitting at my piano, addressing an intimate audience - that would be your good selves. Ok, on with the show. Away we go. Enjoy!

Episode #135: Everybody’s Sleeping (Song starts at 5:02) Hi there & welcome. I’ll tell you what, I was really relaxed when I recorded this episode. I’ve been doing a bit of exercise... I mowed the lawns today. But apart from that, I went for a bit of a bush walk. I’ve included some audio which I recorded as I walked. So you can come for a walk with me on a peaceful track. It’s good to get out of the studio sometimes. We have a 2 for 1 deal on this episode. You’ll hear me improvising a mellow version of the song, then towards the end I’ve included the PP and the Patient Hum version of 'Everybody’s Sleeping' ( from the album The Roughest Cut). It’s fascinating to me, how much a song can change, depending on how you choose to arrange it. I’m a painter. I’ve painted a lot of seascapes over the last decade (you can view plenty here : www.petepascoe.com). I mention this, because when you exhibit your painting, that’s it. It’s done. The thing I love about songwriting/recording (and performing, live) is: you can present a different version each time if you like. For instance, I’ve never sung such a ‘dreamy’ sounding version of 'Everybody’s Sleeping' before. I really enjoyed it. It’s fun winging a version of my songs on this podcast. Everybody’s sleeping is song 593 in my purple book. That’s a lot of songs, isn’t it. I’d like to say there was never a day when I sat down and thought to myself I am now going to write 800 songs. It’s happened because of..passion . It’s a calling. It’s something I do for the love of it. As a singer, I enjoy playing. The same with songwriting. This sense of play is, I think an essential part of the creative process. To play, you need to be relaxed. Hence the bush walk… or a bit of lawn mowing ( not quite so relaxing, but it sure feels good afterwards, to know you’ve used your muscles and have done a bit of breathing outdoors). It blows a few cobwebs away. It clears your head. As a songwriter, snippets of sentences can drift in on the ether. These are gold, in my opinion. I gather them together and see where they take me. This happened with the lyrics of everybody’s Sleeping. Some seemingly random lines fell together and slowly a song started to take shape. This one was a ‘words first music second song’. The piano riff (that I use with the band version ) came along and I ‘winged’ the melody. I work quickly - there’s certainly no rush. Like my walking style -there’s definitely no rush! I pretty much sort of lope along. I like to walk at a pace that allows me to take in some details of the scene that I’m walking through. Like the tiny bird that ‘pipes up’ as I was walking on the track. You’ll hear me take the time to really enjoy his song- the moment. It’s that same sort of enjoying the moment that happens when you’re lost, writing a song. Ok here we go, hope you enjoy the chat, both versions of the song - and the bush walk. By the way, the lyrics will be on my blog as usual. www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. You can find my music (14 albums in a variety of styles, including piano solo) on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp, YouTube , etc.

Episode #134: Alien Song (Song starts at 5:00) The rain came down gently as I hit record for this episode. I have a corrugated iron roof on my studio. I don’t mind that, as it keeps me in touch with nature… I get to hear the odd parrot squark - or the wind …or the rain. It’s pretty relaxing, isn’t it. What’s that got to do with songwriting, I hear you ask? I find the quiet - and the occasional sound of nature - allows me to rediscover the sense of peace required to create. You tune in naturally to the essence, the true self…the ‘honest’ voice that you write with. On this episode, I take you outside at sunset in the Australian outdoors to look for bats (!). Very peaceful, indeed. Some people find bats creepy. I generally don’t. But thinking about what a lot of people think about bats brought Alien Song to mind..as it’s kind of creepy. I’ve written a lot of different sorts of songs over the years. This song is definitely not a piano/vocal ballad. The piano and vocal is actually is in the mix, but it’s presented here with the band Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum….it’s a guitar driven rock song. Alien Song was composed by the whole band. It came as a surprise to us when it starting taking shape. I’ll talk you through how it happened. Neil Sims started a guitar riff and away we went. The lyrics were 90% stream of consciousness. I just started winging lyrics as I talked and sung & a story started to develop. As I sang ( and played piano and bass keys left hand), I shut my eyes and saw myself in a movie. So the lyrics are that of a commentator, sometimes with a sort of birds-eye view, looking down. Other ‘camera angles’ would be close ups, some scenes viewed as the main character viewed the scene, etc. Yes, I can see the whole music video for this song. Although the album The Roughest Cut (which has Alien Song on it & which is streaming now) was released a couple of years ago now, I never made the video. I think I still will one day. I’ll include the green alien I drew and painted when I was 17, as an exchange student in Cheyenne Wyoming,. now that was a great experience. I stayed with a wonderful family. From a creative point of view, I think the overall effect was: it sort of tipped me on my head and really set me free to follow this creative path - and this is what happened to the character in this particular song. He heads west (because he thought it might be for best) and he has some life changing experiences during his travels. These Wyoming connections are very timely indeed - my host sister from my American family is coming to visit this week! Looking forward to this. I love how art and life are so entwined. That’s the beauty of art and music. You begin with something real and present it as something completely new - with the same essence. The essence of the self…listeners are letting me know they are getting to know the artist, the composer as well as find out more about the songs and that’s all part of podcasting. In this episode I think that is perhaps Alien Song has revealed a bit more of me - in a story. Everyone loves a good story. Ok, I hope you enjoy the song and story on this week's episode. I did enjoy rediscovering alien song. Got a cuppa? Sit back and have a listen…here we go…

Episode# 133: I Wonder (Song starts at 4:34) I finished a nice gig outside this week with the song featured on this week's podcast episode. I Wonder, song #689, came up as I flicked the pages of my repertoire book. A very generous fellow, who I’d noticed was sitting listening and relaxing had just come up to the piano, gave me a nice tip and said “one more song please?“ I include some audio again on this episode. This time I made a quick recording when I got back into the car after his gig- to try and catch the sense of…. satisfaction. That's what I get from performing my songs live for people. It’s blissful - especially playing outdoors… Bliss would be a good word to use to describe how it feels to be lost in the middle of composing a song like 'I Wonder'. With this song, the words and music came at the same time. Sometimes I’ll just have "blah blah mumble mumble" for a line, but if I don’t dismiss this (and lose the energy and flow), a strong clear image might come to me for the next line….like “like a crystal slipper from a scene of a movie” - which was the first phrase that gave me an idea as to where the song lyrics were heading. Quite often it's not a linear process, as the words and music come into being. It’s a mystery… almost like how Michelangelo said "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to release it" It’s a bit like that, it’s almost like listening to a conversation in the next room, you feel like you’re being delivered a movie, snippets of scenes at a time. And it’s up to you as an editor as to how you put it all together...which elements you choose to emphasise, which then leads on to other decisions about where the song may go… There’s lots of information here, about how I write a song, sure, but also on offer is the essence of a songwriter, me as a person, I guess. While I analyse the lyrics, I find deeper meanings. A sense of myself, my thoughts and feelings come through. It’s all good fun. No it’s not, it’s great fun. There's plenty of humour here again on this episode. Enjoy.

Episode #132: Sand In My Socks (Song starts at 8:22) For this episode, I have included some audio from the actual songwriting session of this song: Paul Dredge on his acoustic guitar, me ‘winging’ a melody, then us harmonising together. So you’ll get to really hear how this song came together. I wrote the lyrics first: ‘Got sand in my socks, reminds me of yesterdays walk by the ocean, my shocked soul is soothed by the water’s talk’ … sounds pretty cruisey, right? Yes. To get into that state of mind, I got myself down to the beach. I’ve included a recording of me, talking at the beach, observing the scene. Even more relaxing, right? But… Before we go to the beach, I take you shopping with me - a couple of humorous observations about how things in the city can really wind you up if you let them.. And that’s the crux of sand in my socks. It’s about feeling the sand between your toes which reminds you of the feeling of walking beside the ocean, leaving the city behind - the mediation, the battery charging. I love recording the music & I love sharing the ‘behind the scenes’ sort of stories. 'Sand In My Socks' is track number 1 from our new album, 'The Untrodden Track' (streaming now). It’s a medium tempo easy shuffle. Sounds like a walk on the beach, doesn’t it? In fact, the music is a great fit for the lyrics - free, toe-tapping and uplifting. On the songwriting session audio, You get to hear the laughter, the easy friendship that Paul Dredge and I have. It’s a vibe we bring into our music together. The co-composing is a very easy & natural process for us. Paul gave the song a really nice mood with his acoustic guitar. As I ‘wing’ a melody over the top of the guitar, you can almost hear Paul thinking ahead, instinctively going for the next chord. Instinct would be the key word here. Yes, we both have a handle on music theory, and we enjoy singing and playing our instruments. But overall, you just go with ‘feeling’ in the moment. As we compose, we are drawing on the theory, for sure, but we also drawing on thousands of gigs we have done together. There is nothing quite like performing ‘live’ with someone to get things like vocal harmony locking in together. This sort of ‘flying time’ together is invaluable. You learn about how the other person plays his instrument, see how they fit together. When you have this sort of history together, it feels relaxed and exciting when you’re about to compose some music. This gives the process energy before we start. There’s a sort of energy, an electricity you can feel and away you go - and it gets better and better. My blog is: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read more / read the lyrics / view my art here. I hope you enjoy hearing Paul and I compose this song, the conversation and the observations. Here we go….

Episode#131: The Flow (Song starts at 3:28 ) So where does a song come from? Well, it comes from…being in the flow. The morning I wrote the lyrics, I’d just woken up and I was still half asleep. Snippets of dreams were floating around. So it’s a creative sort of flow I’m alluding to here. But the dreams were not what I wrote about. I looked around the room and started with: ‘When you pull the curtains back and the gentle morning light is shining, true…’ and from that line, which was really a simple statement, it lead to the last line of what became the chorus : 'and there’s no one can avoid the flow’. I went on, finished off the lyrics and sent them off to Paul Dredge in New Zealand. Paul wrote the music to the verse. Then he stopped and sent it back to me. I then came up with the chorus and sent it back to Paul and he came up with the bridge. I’ve included a phone conversation with Paul that I recorded this week. I thought it’d be nice to get some of Paul’s thoughts on the episode. You’ll hear it’s a very easy relationship that we are lucky enough to have. It’s incredibly rewarding to compose a song. It’s even more rewarding to co write a song with someone. Paul and I have written a good few together now. The flow can be found on our 5th album, 'The Untrodden Track'. If you like the sound of this song, there’s a whole album of songs like this, with this sound waiting for you. On this episode I recount an old memory that popped up recently (you can find an extended written version on my blog this week) it was a surreal sort of memory of imaginary crocodiles which was triggered by a photograph…back when I was a very young child. This sense of childlike play is an essential ingredient with song writing, I think. You just throw caution to the wind, keep in mind your music theory (which is like an underlying supportive net) and just have fun. The Flow has a nice vibe.. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you enjoy hearing about how the song came together. By the way, the folkrock album 'The Untrodden Track' is streaming now on all the usual platforms. You can also hear it on bandcamp, where you can read the lyrics as you listen. (incidentally, you can purchase the album / send a digital copy a a gift on bandcamp), My blog is: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read more / read the lyrics / view art here.

Episode#129: The Long Haul (Song starts at 5:05)

It’s been a long time since I wrote the song Secret Lullabies. I use the riff as my theme music for these episodes. That particular song was song number 3. The long haul is song number 614. I wrote it in 2014. Yes, there’s been a few years & a fair bit of water under the bridge. It’s been a long haul.

What inspired this song?… yep, you guessed, it: a feeling. And the feeling was: I’d realised I was in for the long haul for the relationship I found myself in.

I like to add lines of character. ‘Old dog, new trick’ is, I believe, exactly that - a good way to start a song. Something that catches the ear. Unexpected, perhaps a bit humorous - nothing wrong with that.

So with a song, you’ve only got about 3mins each word counts. And so it moves on. ‘You can count on me ….for the weekend…. In about 20 years’. Yes, the songwriter is initially pulling his lovers leg - and then he’s finally admitting it. Ok I’m in for the long haul.

I think it was a nice concept for a song. I felt it needed some of the leg pulling, to come across as real, not gushy, something worth listening to.

And it was written with the idea that perhaps someone (like me, back then) who found the words didn’t come easy, might be able to play this song to someone whom they thought might be ‘the one’.

It’s a nice feeling, just cruising out, playing an instrumental section of a song you’ve written. There’s time for reflection, it’s good fun… as a painter, you get to present the painting once, really. With a song, each time you perform it, you might find something else in there to feature. It might be melodic phrase, a particular group of chords that you just feature a bit more.

It’s also nice to write a song about a subject that you feel so strongly about, but by talking about old dogs, the wind blowing, the dawn, the story can be delivered in a relaxing, yet entertaining manner, without getting too worked up about it all.

This isn’t a power ballad. I’m not that sort of writer - or singer. I’m more your understated sort of gentle presentation sort of songwriter, generally speaking. Well, there’s a variety check out 14 albums here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com - 7 of these albums are streaming on other platforms like Spotify, etc.

In amongst talking about the song, you’ll get to hear about a old house I lived in; owls, possums, carting a table home with car and no trailer; my cats waking me up way too early, etc. all sorts of things pop into my mind as I talk. It’s all pretty relaxed.

I do like having a yarn and I do like letting the song lead the way as I record each episode. It’s all off the cuff - no notes or prep. So its relaxed and fun.

It’s also fun for me to read through the lyrics, analyse where they’ve come from, the underlying meaning, what may make the odd line comes across a little stronger than some others, etc.

The music always amazes me, where it comes from, how it comes through,. At the end of this episode, to demonstrate this, I describe the scene I was part of, fishing at sunset the other night. The feeling that I felt that evening, I talk myself into that state again and allow it to sort of move my fingers on the piano keys and improvise a piano piece - which could easily become a song.

I hope you enjoy this episode, if you do, and you’re new here, there’s plenty more episodes…120 odd waiting for you.

Then there’s the 14 albums ( currently ) online, videos, lots of paintings, cartoons, etc. I’d love you to sign up to my email list. You won’t miss a thing that way. Info@petepascoe.com

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Pete

Episode#129: You’re Going To Be OK (Song starts at 3:06)

Welcome to another episode, I hope you’re having a great day wherever you are n the world.

I am, living here on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne Australia - it’s a busy day, plenty on.

I mention this because no matter how busy I get, I have a sort of a pact with myself that whenever a feeling that a song may be coming through, I’ll stop whatever I’m up to, go to the piano and see what’s on offer.

I had the feeling a song was ‘coming through’ the day I wrote the lyrics for ‘You’re Going To Be Ok’. The image of ‘running along a beach, pretending for a moment you’re a bird’ came to mind as I picked up my pen. ‘Fair enough’, I thought. I’ve learned not to edit what comes through, initially, just go with the flow and see where it takes me. Often it’s not evident for a few lines, or even halfway through the song as to what a song might be about.

The words came quickly, as they do for me. The same with the music - for myself - and for Paul Dredge, the co-songwriter of what turned out to be track number 6, the first single of our new folk rock album 'The Untrodden Track'.

On this episode I look at the way 'You’re going To Be Ok' came together. I’ve included snippets of recordings to illustrate the process, isolating my parts and Paul’s and then showing how they came together.

In a nutshell, I came up with the lyrics. Then I composed the music to the verse and mid-section. I stopped there and, as planned, didn’t continue, because I’d earmarked this particular lyric for a co-write with Paul.

I sent the lyrics and an mp3 of the verse and chorus (piano / vocal) to Paul. He then came up with the chorus guitar and vocal, and sent that back to me. One Sunday evening the bridge came through and it seemed to me the song was going to work.

It was great to be able to write and arrange this song by sending wavs back and forth via Dropbox on the internet. I cover some of this on the episode.

It is such good fun. The instruments are arranged in a way that’s best for the song. It seems an obvious thing to point out, but with songwriting, it’s really about finding Melody and chords and instrumentation that gets across the feeling and the message of the song, best (rather than any tacky /flash playing or complicated chord changes for the sake of it, which can get in the road of the song)..

You’ll hear how the harmonies were added in the chorus, how the song takes shape.

The whole album, The Untrodden Track (streaming now - including on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com - where you can stream it for free, and download tracks, read lyrics, read about the album., and hear another 13 albums) was recorded in this manner, bouncing tracks back and forth between Australia and New Zealand, where Paul lives.

It works for us, I think, partly -or mostly - because we’ve played thousands of gigs together. We’re on the same page, in many respects..

Ok if you’d like to get more of an insight into our songwriting relationship, sit back. Grab a cuppa and have a listen to see how You’re Going To Be Ok came together.

Enjoy.

Episode #128: Goodbye To Say Hello (Song starts at 4:46) Welcome to another episode. Where does a song come from? It’s something I’m fascinated by. This has lead me to producing 120-something episodes. That amazes me. I wasn’t sure I’d get past my first one. But all we need is a start. And away we go. Isn’t that like just being human… we make a start and…. we make it up. The great songwriter Jimmy Webb inspired the style of song that this is. I’d been to his concert here in Melbourne, back in the year 2000. I remember he was talking about Simon and Garfunkel. This lead me to thinking about how relationships can be so strong, so passionate. I thought more specifically about events and people in my life, how they come and go. So I just started writing from that honest place within, the words just rolled out line after line and then I hit on the chorus goodbye to say hello. It came to me that with forgiveness and understanding, a relationship that has come to a crisis point, feeling like it’s the end, perhaps that’s when a new start can happen.. and a friendship or relationship can become something even stronger - if both parties choose to make it happen. Ahh, the rich tapestry of life. The artistic path has all sorts of twists and turns. It’s important to keep up with friendships. It can be a lonely path, otherwise. The bonus is: you come up with art and music that gives you and others and pleasure. I’d like to record this song one day soon. I’m glad I stumbled across it in my song book for this episode. The music comes together pretty quickly for me. The feeling guides the choice of key, the fingers play on the key and a melody is sung. It amazes me when this happens. It’s an absolute joy. It was a pleasure to sing this demo while recording this episode. I hope you enjoy Goodbye To Say Hello - and hearing about how it came together. It’s a complicated business, but it’s instinctive for me and that’s what makes it fun… Here we go enjoy Here’s the links I mention: Blog with the lyrics and music and art www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. www.petepascoe.com Lots of music: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. YouTube : Pete Pascoe Art and Music 'The Untrodden Track' album ( Pascoe / Dredge)

Episode #127: Wide Open (Wings Of Grace) (Song starts at 5:48 & 27:46) It's a rainy night here in Melbourne as I write these show notes. As usual, I enjoyed recording this episode. I had no idea what song I was going to pick until I saw the title on an old cassette tape cover and I thought... why not. It's a moody sort a song, suits the wintery evening - and suits the day I've had. Software problems.. Sigh. I was about to do some editing of some videos I'm working on (a seascape painting course) and I realised that my Mac can no longer play the updated videos off my phone... argh. It took the wind out of my sails..and I thought back on the last couple of weeks. Sometimes it seems things are sent to try you out. On my blog post this week I mention how I nearly fall over as I marched quickly down a muddy slippery path to catch my bus. As it turned out, I kept my feet - just. And I did today, I carried on with some other work, including recording this episode. Back in 1998, the day I wrote this (song # 405), it was a somber sort of an afternoon. It was overcast and drizzly. The sort of day where you know twilight has come early. The bird calls change, as they get ready to go to their nest for the night. I looked at the trees in the rain through the window and my eyes focused on a angel, stencilled on the window pane with white frosted paint. A leftover Christmas decoration my girlfriend (now wife) had created. Hmm, I thought.. that's an image: an angel against the trees. And that was the beginning. The more I do this songwriting, the more I realise all you really need is a start: an image and a feeling. All the rest just sort of unfolds - if you give it some energy and attention. It's amazing what comes through. Some of what I write is 'mine' and some of it comes from somewhere else. It's fascinating. So I was struggling with everything a bit that grey rainy day. The words " fear not and rest thee" came through very clearly, followed by "feel strong and lift thee" These are words from another age, in keeping with the image on the window. That impressed me. So by the time I sat down at the piano to compose the music, 3 months later, I had an idea that this would be a song of some feeling. On this episode you'll hear the original piano vocal demo. And at the end, the version recorded by myself with Paul Dredge, and Earl Pollard on drums. We recorded 14 songs in an afternoon, all first take, crazy stuff. I pressed 100 CDs of this session, back in the day. I think I'll maybe remix it and release it again as an archive sort of album and put it on my bandcamp site. www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. My blog is www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read the lyrics of wide open here, view paintings, cartoons, etc.

Ok . Lots of feeling in this week's song...I hope you enjoy listening to some chat as well.

Episode#126: Too Dark To See (Song starts at 3:33) Hi, for this episode I recorded a conversation with Paul Dredge, the co-composer of 'Too Dark Too See'. Although the audio quality isn’t quite up to scratch, I think this was a well worth while exercise. The resulting candid conversation offers an insight into our songwriting style/relationship (and friendship) in an engaging and entertaining manner. 'Too Dark To See' is track number 3 off our new folk-rock album, The Untrodden Track. It’s one of my favourites on the album. Where did this song spring from? I remember I worked backwards from the title - which may or may not have come from this (not sure if I’m making it up - perhaps the similarity struck me later): I’m a big fan of Bob Dylan. His (brilliant) song Not Dark Yet from the album Time Out Of Mind may just have inspired me… what if it was ‘too dark’ ? How would that work as a song idea? … Us songwriters are magpies for sure. We are what we listen to, that’s for sure. Music inspires more music, art inspires more art, life inspires art..and ..art inspires life. I think it's a cyclical evolving scenario. You’ll get to hear (including some actual audio) about how Paul provided the chords and feel as I improvised the melody over the top. This is the way we do it when we write in the same room together. We stumbled across this process and discovered it works really well for us when we were on the road together. I write the lyrics before hand and we take it from there together, in the moment. We work quickly together. It’s great fun to write songs like this with Paul. You have to be very supportive of each other. It comes down to mutual respect. A healthy dose of humour appears to be a key when mistakes are made. It’s a great way to diffuse any potential tension and keep the ball rolling.. I also think any hints of frustration or manipulation during the process shuts the muse down. I’m particularly happy with the arrangement of this song. You’ll get to hear it on this episode, of course. The interplay between the guitar and piano underpinning the vocal harmony, etc (If you like it, please do check out the album). Here’s the link to all 12 songs - 30 sec samples - and links to streaming for the full album on your favourite platform. I ran out of time to talk about the lyrics of Too Dark To See (You can read the finished lyrics on my blog post), as usual www.petepascoe.wordpress.com I found the original draft today and discovered a few of the edits that were made. This is part of the usual practice of writing a song... One step at a time. Never lose sight of the goal I keep reminding myself as I follow the winding path, became One step at a time. Never lose sight of the goal I keep reminding myself as I fall I think this is much stronger. The word fall is so unexpected. The black humour here allows for a more digestible semi- tragic image of ...hopelessness in the moment. Straight away this opening statement establishes the tone and sets the scene in terms of the narrator not making any headway at all on the path for the moment. I think we can all relate to that. It's a bit like the stand up comedian making a personal confession - it's a way of drawing the audience in, gaining their trust by divulging something quite personal about themselves. You don't get much time in a 3 minute song. Every word has to count & perhaps match the syllable count of the line in the previous verse so: I see Too dark to see, And There's nothing to hear Just a high ringing in my ear became Too dark to see, And There's nothing to fear Just a ring in my ear Again, I think this is much stronger: acknowledging it'll probably all work out on the end one way or another , while the ring in the ear alludes to the strange thing that can happen at times of a total awareness of an acute emotional response. At the time, everything else seems to diminish except the extreme moment at hand. There's no escape. eg,

Episode #124: The Test Of Man (Song starts at 7:20 & 28:35) ‘A trail of mystery’ is one of the phrases in this week's song. That pretty much sums up what I’m up to each week, as I record the ideas that pop into my mind and roll off my tongue for these episodes. I endeavour to put you in the shoes of a songwriter - how it feels. I like to allow the song to lead the way...the lyrics bring up memories, ideas spring to mind as I chat. This is not a highbrow presentation. This a ‘singer / songwriter speaks’ sort of yarn. It's an inclusive, relaxed vibe and I thoroughly enjoy recording these episodes each week. The ‘largely untrodden track’ is another line from this song. It's these words that my co-songwriter and long time friend, Paul Dredge suggested we use for the title of our new folk rock album. I'm very pleased to announce The Untrodden Track is now streaming online (Folk Rock, 12 songs). The Test Of Man (song #646) is track #8 on the album. I'm very pleased with what Paul Dredge and I have produced. I've been alluding to the forthcoming album in previous episodes, so now it's here! I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we do. On this episode I include a live piano vocal version - and also the album track. Where did this song come from? All you need is a feeling and then all you need to do is...start. Honestly. It's that easy - and that complicated. Because what kicks in straight away is like wave of energy, knowledge, emotion, new thoughts, old thoughts, music theory, the muscle memory of all those hours spent playing an instrument, on top of which you float your voice, not being afraid to make a goose of yourself, and then language comes through. Not to mention, song style, tempo, harmony,…the list goes on. And it's a joy. How can this be fun? When it happens instinctively, naturally & quickly. It's a process that constantly amazes me. I'm very grateful to have composed about 800 songs and it's great to be able to share some of the processes - and the songs - here. The Test Of Man is about the possibility of doing some work on the self while we are having this human experience. We are complex, us humans. I find it really interesting how we present a certain version of ourselves and then suddenly another layer of a person can present itself. Here's the book I talk about on the episode, an inspiring story of personal survival: Surviving year Zero by Sovannora Leng with Greg Hill. I feel so privileged to be living the way I am in a peaceful part of the world. It's nice to be sharing positive creative content online. I have the opportunity, so I’m taking it. If you’re enjoying this podcast, you might like more…I have a blog here: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com; a YouTube channel: pete pascoe Music and art; website: www.petepascoe.com; paintings, cartoons; 13 albums: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com (7 of which are on other platforms like spotify)…yes, I've been busy creatively for some time now. Ultimately it's leading to some instructional video courses and ebooks. - the 'how to' . These will be further down the track (they're underway now). Back to the song The Test Of Man ..One of the challenges of life is to have the courage to go back over stuff and find healing as a result... and we can then go forth wiser and stronger for the experience, despite - or perhaps because of - the pain. Just keeping on moving... All of which is the test of man...at least, that's what I've presented in this gentle song. I'm so pleased with how it's come up for the album, it has remained a gentle track. Paul embellished my piano and vocal with his finger picking guitar, vocal harmonies and harmonica. Like the sound of this? Sit back, relax and be entertained and informed. And you can check out the rest of the album next if you like. I'm an album man. I like to put the headphones on and lie down for 45 minutes and really focus on the musical arrangements. Equally, as it turns out,

Episode #124: Innocent (Song starts at 4:17 & 28:14) Where did Innocent, song #465, come from? It came from a dream. The finished lyrics were pretty much what I wrote down as I recalled a dream which I had, just before I woke up. I recommend trying this...often what comes though is more than you bargained for. Sometimes you end up remembering more than you thought would about the dream. I've had fully formed songs come to me in dreams - music and lyrics. In this case though, after casting my mind back to the dream, the images and feeling remained with me (no music). So. Feeling: that's the key. In my book, a song must start with feeling. At least that's the way I roll. Sometimes faces, entities, if you like, come to me in my dreams. It feels like a real connection, a ‘step on’ from just a regular dream. I find it all fascinating. Music is a great place to put this sort of thing for me. The music came to me very quickly - at least I thought I'd finished writing it at the time. But I'm very open to writing and rewriting my songs, open to editing & seeing where feelings take me further down the track. On this episode, there are 2 versions of Innocent. The first is a piano/vocal a version I sang during the recording of this episode. The second version at the end, is the track which my Melbourne band, Pete Pascoe and the Patient Hum, recorded for the album 'This World Offers You' (which you can hear at www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com). The band (Ants Reed, Neil Sims and Dan Dew and I) convened last night for a band practice... It was really great. You can hear it in my voice on this episode... Perhaps it was a little bit too good..anyhow.. The music and lyrics of 'Innocent' evolved along the way. I play keyboard bass in the band (as well as piano) and that puts me in a position where I can really drive things along and change the music by changing bass notes. It's like letting the paint lead the way when I'm painting a picture (by the way, I visited my seascape exhibition tonight with my family, you can check out some paintings on recent posts on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com.) Eventually I'll have seascape painting, cartoon drawing, songwriting & piano instruction video courses available online. Where will you hear about this? Insta, my blog, here, youtube, etc. You can sign up to my email list - I'd love that. Email me at info@petepascoe.com You won’t miss a thing that way. A new album will be dropping very soon - folk rock, with Paul Dredge (NZ), whom I mention a lot on this podcast. We wrote and recorded the album in two countries (I'm in Melbourne, Australia) That's determination for you…in fact, that's another key factor in songwriting: I think you’ve got to be committed and let nothing get in the way of the inspiration when it comes through. It's lead to around 800 songs for me. There's also a new video up for the first single from the upcoming album (Paul and I) The video includes the lyrics and stick figure cartoons I keep coming up with ...there's about 1000 of these around too.. You can view the video here: YouTube Pete Pascoe Art and Music. You’re Going To Be OK (Do Do Do). Yes, I’m busy & yes, I'm committed. I’m loving every minute of this creative path & I’m particularly enjoying recording these podcast episodes. Join me now for another one.. Here we go…Innocent - let's see where the song takes us..

Episode #123: Someone To Lean On (Song starts at 3:02 ) Hi there. Welcome to the podcast where the plan is : you’ll get to understand how it feels to be in the shoes of a songwriter. So how does it feel? It feels completely free to let your hands wander on the keys (if you play piano, like me). It's like the ignition is there waiting for you. And... it's like the sense of excitement you had when you were a child and you have some presents to open. When you're have some lyrics ready, it's a great fun to think about adding the music - the anticipation. Someone to lean on, song #143, was written in 1989. Maybe it's time to give it some air again ...Maybe I'll run it by the band (my Melbourne band - Pete Pascoe and the Patient hum) This song is about the importance of having friends around. Sometimes it’s better to ask for help, rather than trying to do it all yourself. Which brings to mind..I think we are here to have fun and sure, I think we are here to learn stuff. There's nothing like having some friends around to have fun with. Friends are great for offering some reflection, too. That’s the sort of thinking that inspired 'Someone To Lean On'. I was alone at home on the piano (with just my flatmate’s tabby kitten to keep me company - and she made it into the lyrics).. the songs weren’t flowing this particular month.. but I kept at it and I kept having fun. It's a good idea just to keep writing. There's a line in the song 'when the blank walls cease to reflect your great ideas and inspiration'. Just keep on moving. Sure, have a break, get out in nature perhaps, and come back refreshed. If you just make a start with your pen, some interesting and unexpected words will start to appear. You'll tune in to something. Perhaps your own voice. Perhaps something else comes through. Same on an instrument. We all have our style, I own processes. It's fine - embrace your songs, your style, but I think a key thing is : To be free. Just enjoy the process, have fun as you do it. Have fun in life. Then you'll be inspired and have energy when your you do your art. Ok 'Someone To Lean On', here we go.

Episode #122: All We Need (A Little Bit Of Peace) (Song starts at 3:02) Hi there. All We Need, song #46, was one of those songs that's been sitting in my songbook, doing nothing. Why? The chorus wasn’t up to scratch. The lyrics were just not right. So I decided to rewrite the lyrics for the chorus. Then, just before I recorded this podcast episode, I thought I’d have some fun and record a demo of 'All We Need'. I think this sort of ‘ahh, what the heck!’ / free sort of feeling I have presently, is partly to do with the fact that I have just opened my Seascape Exhibition (you can view paintings on my recent blog posts: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). It feels like my every woken moment for the last few months has been spent with a paintbrush in hand. I think this sense of freedom and ‘play’ is so important when it comes to writing a song. How does it feel to write a song? It feels free - or that's the way it feels to me. I'm not one of those ‘creatives’ that spends hours and hours agonising over the details. I like the initial magic - both at the composition stage and during a recording session. I am big, however, on constantly editing - in a free manner. How it works for me is: I regularly sit at the piano and flick the pages of my song books randomly, picking out songs to sing and play. As I perform the song (and it does feel more like a performance than a rehearsal), I’m completely open to changing the song…the lyrics, the riff, the melody, the chords, the structure & the feel (rhythm / tempo) - and I do. A tweak here and there… I seem to have the ability to remember the most recent version, too, which is handy. I hear the whole band arrangement - including string arrangements - even though I'm playing it on the piano. So with this episode’s song, 'All We Need', I've reworked the chorus. The words: 'if we could have a little bit of peace today’’ popped into my mind. So I went with them. I can always change them again. Nothing is cast in stone - until the song has been recorded and released (and even then you can record another version). I'd just like to add here: I think it's also really important to set yourself a deadline to finish creative work by. Otherwise the years can whizz by quietly and you might find yourself with a pile of unreleased songs (or art). Go for excellence. If you go for perfection, you'll suck the creativity - the magic - out of the process. I'm looking forward to recording 'All We Need'. Guitars would be great - and real drums. Also, at the end of this episode, a piece came to me on the piano. As I improvised/composed the song, it sounded like it could do with some lyrics. I’ll finish this song off one day. So, on this episode you'll get to hear me in the moment, ‘catching’ a melody and some chords for a song as they ‘came through’ for the first time (happens at 29: 26 , just as I was about to sign out). All of this is an endlessly fascinating & rewarding process. If you'd like to hear more about it, sit back and enjoy the show. Here we go.

Episode #121: Miles and Messages (Song starts at 2:33) Carrying on from the last episode, this song, #256, was written a short time after Fairy Tale. While Fairy Tale (as it's title suggests), is mostly an imagined scenario with a projected happy ending with a moral, Miles and Messages is where the songwriter (yours truly) came back to earth with a thump and faced up to the reality of what was really happening at the time. Yes, this one shoots straight from the hip - the reality of the situation brought out some pain and with it, some clarity of thought - and what's this situation? Well, at the time of writing this song, there was someone Paul and I knew that we thought would really add to our music, if she got onboard… …and longer term, if it came to be one day, this was someone whom I had a soft spot for. But truth be known, I was beginning to realise this might not ever eventuate. This was what inspired the lyrics - and the words then inspired the music. There's a couple of readings from my diaries again, this time. I'm enjoying bringing this aspect into play. A couple of years ago, I visited Kuratau, New Zealand (where I wrote this song ) again. It was the place where I wrote the song on the previous episode (plus a bunch more) all those years ago. I described the beautiful outdoor scene in my diary I wrote about how it felt to be back there again. I also share a long forgotten poem which I found in my diary today, written back in 1993 (when this song was written). Again, it describes the scene ( the beautiful Kuratau river mouth leading into a majestic lake Taupo ) - and there's some of how I was feeling at the time, woven in. Words are powerful things, when written honestly from the heart. You can say the same about music - and together they are a potent force. Have a listen and hear how Miles and Messages came together...from its inspiration to demo stage (also recorded in 1993, this arrangement is piano and vocal - arranged for 3 voices, funnily enough). I'm really going to enjoy reworking the songs on this podcast. I’ll do some piano /vocal albums; some songs with Paul Dredge ( check out our new single, folks: You're Going To Be Ok ( Do Do Do). The album will be out shortly) & I think I’ll also end up recording some of these songs with my Melbourne based band: the Patient Hum guys. So these episodes are about rediscovery - and it’s about sharing the art of songwriting. If you’re thinking about writing a song or a poem, I say: go for it! I write all the time. It’s given myself and others so much pleasure along the way. A few things came to me, while listening back to Miles and Messages -and Fairy Tale - after all these years: people come and go in our lives. I think it pays to treat each other gently along the way. A hug can go a long way. Outcomes are outcomes - they’ll be what they will. The journeys the thing - that’s where we do our learning. And maybe sometimes it's a good idea to write things down, in a diary, or in song lyric.. Or in a letter. But as a line suggest in this song, sometimes the written lines in a letter can get tangled up and perhaps misconstrued… Right - piqued your curiosity? Us creatives - we are full of emotion, aren’t we. Ok hope you enjoy Miles and Messages. It was an emotional thing to write the song and it’s been an enjoyable experience reflecting on that time and talking about how the song came tougher musically. On with the show!

Episode #120 Fairy Tale (song starts at 3:46) We are going back in time again - with some help from this week's song. Fairytale, song #252, was written in 1993. The demo was recorded then, too. On this episode, I touch on how much our surroundings affect us. Nature is my thing, particularly being next to a river or the ocean . I was living in Kuratau, NZ when this song came to me - and the song for the next episode popped up at the same time. They seem to belong together, somehow. Kuratau is a serene, ‘deep’ place in the winter. It’s a time & place for some quiet reflection. - a great place to find some solitude (in the winter months). That’s what I found. Fairytale is a song about Paul Dredge and myself. I've cast us as jesters, back in time- sort of medieval times (Paul is my long time co-songwriter from NZ. We have a single out currently: https://petepascoe.hearnow.com/youre-going-to-be-ok-do-do-do . Album coming up soon (folk rock). Back to the song. The person the jesters are entertaining is someone whom they thought would sing well with them and be part of proceedings. So it's a fictional tale, with seeds of truth, complete with an imagined outcome. That’s art. On reflection, perhaps a better title would be Fairy Tale (The Jesters and The Queen). It was fun to write in this ‘fairy tale’ manner, presenting ourselves ‘in character’. It’s something I hadn't done before- and haven't done since. The serene lake Taupo is in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. To visit the area is to lift your senses . To reside there is potentially transformative. It's a place of awesome peace and beauty. I recommend a visit if you’ve never been. It was against this backdrop that I wrote lots in my diaries (I share some of that on this episode) and I came up with some songs, like this one. Fairytale is an allegorical tale. It all comes together at the end with a statement along the lines of: perhaps it might be an idea to follow our dreams and put them before all else. The title came to me later. It seemed apt, considering the fact that the happy ending was illusionary. Which is fine. In life you're going to have your hopes and plans and no matter what you're doing, you're going to have ups and downs. Some things will ‘work out’ and somethings won’t (apparently). So you might as well pick something you love to spend your time on. I'm lucky. I chose an artistic path. Yes, in some respects, it's a challenging path. But I've learned and consequently, I’ve grown and I think that's what we’re here to do. The characters, in this medieval sort of guise, in this tale, existed in my mind for the duration of the lyric writing time. I let the pen the lead the way. It was surprising to see where it took me. I like the line: ’ A message from the queen that was sent y's ( which I rhymed with 'adventures' ). The lyrics are in this week’s blog post. Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com It pays to sit back and go with the flow and generally I’ve found it doesn't often pay to try and twist people's arms (If it's meant to be…). The upshot is: ultimately I took what was really a personal song to a place where I’ve ended on a more global sort of theme, to bring the listener in. So, I think the question this song is asking is: are you free to go with the flow? Let outcomes be what they will. .. Perhaps that's easier said than done at times... The bongos and guitar on this old demo were played by Paul Dredge (again, stand by for the new album- and we’re already along way down the path towards producing another). It's an ongoing unfolding sort of process, being a songwriter. Having an long term musical relationship with another person is great. It takes you places. Along the way, I've created songs at nearly every twist and turn in my life, which I'm very grateful to have done. It's so nice to be sharing the songs and more importantly here, sharing how they came to be. By the way,

Episode#119: This Is How It Goes (Song starts at 4:28)

The evening I recorded this episode, I went outside because I heard a strange song.

A chorus of hundreds of frogs could be heard on the wind. Talk about nature’s tune. These frogs were really making a racket.

As it turned out, this fitted in nicely with the song featured on this week's episode. ‘This Is How It Goes’ talks about getting in touch with nature’s tune.

Also, following on from the essence of last week's podcast: as we are all in a state of constant change, we might as well do it in conjunction with nature - it just might be a smoother path.

What inspired me to write this song? Well, to answer that, I'd like to share this: a reader of my blog posts contacted me recently to let me know she enjoyed me sharing the 'how I paint a seascape foreground’. This sort of showing the ‘step by step process’ is much like how I share how I write a song here. She was amazed I was self taught as a painter (as I am, as a songwriter)..

I replied, quoting something I read about: if you put 10,000 hours into something , you're going to come up with something...substantial.

I think for a few reasons.You’re not going to do anything by choice for 10000 hours unless it's something you're passionate about. So it's likely to be something that comes naturally to you.

Also, you're going to make 10,000 mistakes along the way, as you figure out your style. You figure out which mistakes you're going to keep as you find your own voice.

Your natural, original voice. It’s something that you’ll know when you find it- and others will know, too.

Everybody enjoys different sorts of voices. I'm a big fan of Bob Dylan. I love the way he sings Make You Feel My Love. There’s so much felling and experience in his voice.

I think if you find your own voice in life, regardless of what you get up to, it’ll all come together for you, somehow. That's the essence of this song.

I'm pleased I chose to share this song in this episode, following on from last week's Patient Hum from 1998 . You can hear the evolution of a songwriter. This one was written in 2016. 18 years are going to bring about some changes.

And that is the path of the artist & the songwriter; it’s a slowly changing mysterious path.

This podcast is slowly evolving. Each episode unfolds in a very free manner. I record these episodes without any sort of script or forethought. I let the song, the music and the lyrics lead the way - and I make sure I’m having fun.

Eventually I'll produce a video course based on aspects of this podcast. I'm looking forward to that ( I've already done a lot of work towards my ebooks and video courses. How I: play piano; paint seascapes; draw cartoons, etc).

You can keep up with me by joining my email list. That way you won't miss a thing. My blog has the lyrics to this song ( I include the lyrics each week) on www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy hearing about the song This Is How It Goes. It's always a surprise to me where these episodes get to - and this one is no exception.

Enjoy.

Episode #118: The Patient Hum (Song starts at 4:58 & 24:38) Song #436, The Patient Hum was written in 1998. Back then, there was a sense of peace about what I was up to (and I'm happy to say there's a sense of peace about what I'm up to today). So the song came from a peaceful place. The lyrics talk about how everything is in a state of constant change - including us, as people. The arts offer a place of reflection where we can see ourselves for who we truly are. It's also a 'safe place' where suggested ways forward can be presented. Yes, I believe music and art has the power to lead the way, to change us. There's 2 versions of The Patient Hum on this episode. The first is piano/vocal, the version I performed as I recorded this episode. The second is the pop rock treatment with my old buddies Paul Dredge (guitar & bass) and Earl Pollard (drums). In 1998, I had recently relocated to Melbourne. When I went back to New Zealand for a music tour that didn't happen, I ended up recording 16 songs which became a short run of 100 CDs. Patient Hum was one of those songs. I also got 500 CDs pressed of my first piano album, Eridanus / River Music. So it was a big chapter in my life. Being a songwriter gives you a way to express big feelings in a 'safe' environment - and they then (hopefully) become art that we can listen back to and reflect on. At the time (also, back in 1998), it appeared my gig was on the way out. I'd been working as a piano man at The Holiday Inn. A new GM had arrived and decided a change was in order - namely introducing 'happening jazz' into the recently renovated bar where I'd been the resident pianist for a while. And so I moved on- it was time. Behind the scenes, I was beavering away, writing songs, patiently doing my thing - and I still am today. Paul Dredge and I have the new album dropping shortly. Looking forward to this being available online for streaming very soon. I was just working a video for a single. Maybe The Patient Hum might need to be reworked by Paul and I. But then, there's so many other songs that we haven't looked yet - and then there's the songs we have yet to write. Yep, it’s all a slowly changing plan. That's the nature of the arts. It keeps us moving on. Ok I hope you enjoy some of the life observations that pop into my mind as I chat. The Patient Hum lead me to a peaceful, thoughtful state on this episode - a place of balance. And that would be the place where the art of songwriting can happen. It's would also be the state where we can best unfold as we grow in this life. The Patient Hum, on reflection, would be about being open to the concept of constant change. If we keep working at it steadily, I believe this can happen peacefully. You can find the lyrics on this week's blog ( lots of art and more music and writing here. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com )

Episode #117: No Crime To Stay (Song starts at 10:00) This week's song (#263) was written in 1993, when I was living in a very beautiful & peaceful spot in New Zealand: Kuratau, on the shores of lake Taupo. The meditative pastime of fly fishing for trout really relaxes me. I find that once I've been out in nature, all my worries have drifted away and I'm ready to create. As a songwriter, I really think it's important to get away from it and do some other activity that takes your mind completely away from songwriting. Reading from pages of an old diary, I found out what I was up to the week I wrote the song…I wrote the words to No Crime To Stay one night when I meant to get an early night. I ended up writing the lyrics for 5 songs and going to bed at 1am. The next morning I got up at noon, surprise, surprise. I then wrote songs all day, went to bed at 1am - then got up at 4:45am to go fishing! I was a determined young chap, keen to write & perform songs and share them with the world - keen about fishing too! - and I still am, here in 2022. I'm really enjoying recording these podcast episodes. I haven't played this song in years, so it was nice to rediscover it, as I sang and played the piano. It was, of course, a much younger me when I wrote the lyrics. They can provide fascinating insights into the writer as a person. This song was written when I was feeling a bit lonely. On this episode I also compose a piano piece. It happened on the spur of the moment. That's what I love about this podcast: the natural flow & the consequent surprises. It's all totally unscripted. When I go into my studio I often don't even know what song I'm going to look at. But each week it all seems to come together, as I draw attention to various aspects of songwriting. I have a chat about all sorts of other things that pop into my mind as I go along... fingers on the keys of the piano, my mind free to roam where it well. I hope you enjoy hearing how this song came together, as we look at the lyrics, the music - and also the background : what I was up to at the time. I think it's a great idea to keep a diary. It becomes a ‘time machine’, much like a song can be. As a creative person, I think it's a good idea to write in a diary regularly. It sort of clears the mind and makes room for creativity. Ok here we go. Ready for a song and some chat? Enjoy. By the way here's my blog- you read the song lyrics here + view my art (I’ve been flat out painting for an upcoming exhibition of my seascapes), plus there's links to more music. www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Episode #116: Still Crazy Here (Song starts at 3:43) Hi there, For this episode, I dug up a box of old diaries and found the year/week where I wrote this song. I read through some passages. It turns out I'd left my stage piano at the gig. So I wasn’t able to write songs… and I wrote: 'If I'm not being creative, I feel terrible!’. I was flat. Didn't see the point in watching TV, I was disgruntled to to say the least. Then something happened. I tidied up my desk, found 15 lots of lyrics, went for a run, had some vivid dreams and then....got my piano back and started getting creative. Song # 459 from July 1999, came from cutting out pictures from magazines and sticking them into a collage - pictures of Elvis next to the dolphins and Star Wars characters. Yes, there's nothing like cutting out pictures and making a collage to just play, and see where it takes you. In this case, I mention it in my lyrics and away I go. The lyrics observe quite openly and partly tongue in cheek : ‘I'm still crazy here, still crazy now.’ It’s a description of how it feels to be a creative soul. Cutting pictures out of magazines smacks of therapy, doesn't it? Perhaps it was.. perhaps I was just gently getting in touch with the creative side of myself again. Currently (back here in 2022) I'm flat out painting seascapes for an exhibition which opens in July. I'm mixing a solo album, recording these episodes, I publish a blog post each week, teach 22 students how to play the piano Monday's and Tuesday's.. and that's just part of it. Yes, here in 2022, I'm flat out. Back in 1999, I was trying to get busy, here in Melbourne, 2 years into the new adventure, having moved from New Zealand (the lyrics say I 'jumped the river to start again'). I'd managed to sell my first 70 piano solo CDs (Eridanus River Music (streaming now - CDs available). I was making a living from being a piano man a few times a week. I was spending my daytimes writing songs. So things were slowly starting to happen for me. And when I was writing songs I was happy again. It's the same for me now, after all these years. I've written another song this week, and started another couple. I'll send them to my song writer buddy in New Zealand, Paul Dredge. We have a new album dropping in about 3 weeks. Very excited about this. "Melody, melody melody, where do you come from?" I say this in this episode. It's a mystery and I'm very content to leave it that way. In amongst the analysing and exploring of the songwriting process, which I'm really enjoying on these episodes, so much comes to the surface to be discussed. And then there's a this underlying beautiful mysterious energy that underlies it all. Dipping into this realm is such a pleasure. By the way, I think anyone can develop the knack to a degree... Keeping a diary, learning an art (like songwriting) helps. Yep, it's the ‘doing’ that counts. Ok, join me back in time, now. You'll hear about how it feels to be a songwriter and you'll hear how ‘Still Crazy Here’ came together. And you'll get to have a read through a couple of diary excerpts with me. It’s all good fun here, this podcast is constantly evolving.. (Still crazy here!) This is the blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com where you can see photos of the painting and cartoons I mention, plus the seascape I've just started. You can also read the lyrics to 'Still Crazy Here'. I publish the lyrics here each week. There's 116 blogs to look back through if you feel like it!.That'll lead you on to 13 albums of mine in different genres (solo and with others).Enjoy! Here we go, I hope you enjoy this episode.

Episode #115: Winter’s Song (Song starts at 4:57) It was a cold day, back in 1999. I looked around the flat, saw and heard the rain in the trees outside the window. We had a heater like a back handed compliment: it blew air out, not nearly as warm as what was required.. So I started by writing: ‘Raining in the trees, winters song….' Song #454 presented itself this week when I opened one of my song books. 'Winters Song'. I haven't thought of this one for years. But I like a bit of fun and thought: why not? For this episode I sang and played it - recalling the sections as I went along. I also relate thoughts and things that were going on back when I wrote this song. The memories were awoken by music and lyrics. It was a big thing to ‘jump the ditch’ (leave New Zealand and settle in Melbourne, Australia), back in 1997. I remember being on the plane as we flew in over Melbourne. All those orange tiled roofs, industrial areas, more housing ..on and on. It seemed to be a huge place to someone from a small place like Palmerston North, New Zealand. I remember thinking ‘How the heck are we going to find somewhere to live, a job, etc?’… Anyhow, we'd been in Melbourne for a couple of years when I wrote this song. On that winters day, my girlfriend (now wife) was at work. I was at home writing yet another song. You've just got to make a start. You'll see just by writing the first verse, the whole song really got set up. The subject? Sometimes you get frustrated along the way. For me in this case, I wasn't frustrated about songwriting. It was getting to me that I just didn't seem to have what it takes to share my music to a wider audience. I remember I was waiting on a call from an agent that never came & I’d heard nothing back from some record companies I'd sent some demos to.. So I was questioning the whole thing - what use is it, being given the gift of lyric writing, music composition, piano playing, singing.. If I don't have the business sense to take care of that side of things. The great thing about art and music, I turned those frustrations into another song, one that could be applied to anyone trying to find some deeper meaning to their life. I rewrote some lyrics on the song again this episode. You can follow the flow, as I just ‘play’, trying out different words...and playing the piano. A couple of new lines come in and somehow transform the song into something better. It's a good thing, being open to editing. It's never too late to rewrite a song, even just a line or two. So even though this song was written at a time of self reflection - wondering what it's all about - ultimately it’s lead to some fun. As a songwriter, like any path in life, there are going to be some ups and downs. I'm glad I've shared this song on this episode. Now I’m looking forward to recording 'Winter’s Song'. By the way, you can read the lyrics on this week’s blog post, here: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com It'd be great to record piano/vocal albums of the songs that have appeared on this podcast. I think I'll do that one day. I'll add it to the list! Ok, I hope you enjoy listening to how this song came together, plus some observations on life in general. It's all put across in a relaxed, entertaining manner. I enjoy playing the piano as I speak. Here we go...

Episode #114: In Your Mind (Song starts at 4:19) Hi there, In this episode, we are going back to 1987! We are looking at song #24 from my song books… As I walked into my studio to record this episode, a little voice suggested this song. I haven't thought of ‘In Your Mind’ for years. I wasn't sure about it. But when my fingers opened the song book straight to the correct page, I knew this was the one - and I thought: it’s all good fun, so why not? One of things that come through time and time again on this songwriting podcast is: ‘remain the player’. Just have fun and play- with a purpose. I think ‘just playing’ is a great way to engage the muse. Another thing that comes up is rewriting/editing. Keeping an open mind about how the song might be able to be improved. To do allow this to happen, you have to be free. I like to have a quick look at the song I'm about to play and sing (when I do this on an episode - sometimes I'll use recorded demos, versions, etc.) This time I read it though. A couple of lines stood out because they really need to be rewritten. So I did. So by recording this episode, I've effectively edited a song to the point where I think it's now closer to be ready to be recorded. It's been sitting in the song book all these years, just waiting to be finished. As a songwriter, having songbooks like I do, it feels like I have some sort of treasure trove. A savings bank, a book of memories. It’s been time well spent, writing these songs. That's how it feels to be a songwriter: to create so much music is such good way to spend some time. I have a busy life, I'm lucky to have a family, I'm an artist, I teach piano, I do this podcast, make videos, record and produce my albums (in different genres), I'm currently making video courses on painting, cartooning, piano playing, composing..... And ebooks. In short, I have a lot on. To get on board and keep up with what I’m up to, please do email me at info@petepascoe.com and request to be on my email list. I’d love that - and you won’t miss a thing that way. 2 things: I always make time for songwriting. Everything stops when I get the feeling a song is coming through. The other is: yes, my life is a juggling exercise. - and truth be known, it probably always has been. In this episode, I recount a tale that came to mind today about a fellow that asked me to do an illustration for an advertisement... It was pretty funny - he announced that he wanted to come over and see how it was going. When he heard what I was up to at the time (we had a new baby, washing (clean) was everywhere in the lounge, drying (it was a rainy day), the dinner was being made... His reaction has stayed in my mind… I think he found it difficult to believe I could be creative in with everything I had happening in my life at that time. I guess that's what I've managed to do over the years. Kept that sense of freedom in my life so that I can do these creative things when I feel the urge.. It's been a creative life, that's for sure. Here’s some relevant links - there’s plenty here, including the lyrics to this song: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com videos on youtube: Pete Pascoe Art and music Website www.petepascoe.com 13 albums here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com So what's ’In Your Mind’ about ? Well, the lyrics delve into the idea that you can go within into that dream state within and ... find answers. And it's natural. That would be it, in a nutshell. It's been said we don't realise the potential of our minds. Yes, I like to go deep in my thoughts. But I like to keep things light as well. I’ve always made a point of doing both in my life. The muse, spirit - whatever you want to call it - seems to like humour. Maybe humour just sort of keeps the slate keen in the moment, allowing the creative connection to take place... Anyway, these are the sort of thoughts I was having when I wrote ' in Your Mind’, all those years ago.

Episode #113: Tenderness (Strongest Memories) (Song starts at 5:17 ) This song came along when I was sitting at the piano, letting my hands wander on the keys. Some nice chords came through. I opened my eyes, looked up and saw the seascape painting hanging above the piano. On this episode, I read an excerpt from an old diary. I thought for a change I'd try it. The very page I opened to happened to be the week I recorded my first podcast episode. Bizarre. And it includes my statement where I say I’m going to be publishing my how I paint, write songs, play piano, draw cartoons, compose videos and ebook, etc... And I will. I have these things underway. It’s just taking me a while. I also recorded myself having a chat as I sat outside having breakfast with my cat... A bit of fun. It's all a work in progress. There's a lyric in this songs 'Loves roulette wheel has no favourites', which I like. Speaking of 'Strong Memories’, the roulette wheel reminded me of an evening some years ago, when I took my daughter into the big city for the evening. That's the beauty of art and music - all sorts of me memories are brought to the surface. The strongest memories - and they're the ones that seem to get stronger over time, each time they are recalled. By the way, my daughter wanted to see the city lights, see fireworks. And meet the queen! How did We get on? Check out the podcast to find out...ha The lyrics come to me very quickly. I have to scribble them down very quickly. Sometime the next line comes to me before I've finished the one I'm writing. But most often I have time to pause briefly and the next line then comes through. As I write, I look for cues from the previous line or lines.. Keys words that will need to be rhymed, or concepts that need further discussion, etc. it's a fascinating process. With the music, there's a lot going on. Muscle memory is guiding my fingers. The theory of what I'm doing is coming through like a horse race commentary, I guess...although it's very subtle. But it must be there.. " ok I'm in C, I can see it's going up to C# now and into G with a D bass..." All the while, you've got this ...door open to ..the muse or whatever wherever it is.. the source of ..unlimited beauty... It's a privilege to be a songwriter, it really is. Had I managed to write 20 songs in my life that would've been great. As I happens, I now composed about 800 - all done for the pure pleasure of writing them. This song can be found on my piano vocal album 'The Long Haul'. You can stream it at www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com The painting can be found on this week's blog post, along with the lyrics to Tenderness (on my blog, I include the lyrics to the song featured on this podcast every week). It all ties in together. I do have sheet music for this song. It's not online yet but it will be. My students enjoy playing this song as a piano solo piece. I have a stack of sheet music of my compositions in various stages of completion. About 12 songs are available online, I hope that figure is in the hundreds within a year or two. Ok. In the meantime, join me for breakfast and then: back in time, in the CBD of Melbourne. And oh yeah, well dive right into having a look at the lyrics and the music of Tenderness (Strongest Memories). Here we go....

Episode #112: Made It Through (Song starts at 7:31) This song caught my eye to feature in this week’s episode. Each week when it comes time to record another episode, I enjoy just going with the flow. I leap in there and see what happens. The threads appear as I go along and we just sort of see where chatting about the song takes us each week. It's always a fun and there are always pleasant surprises. Sometimes my songs are based on reality, sometimes they're sort of ‘made up’. The lyrics of today's song just started out as a mystery. There was just a feeling I had..a bit of an Autumn/sad feeling. Once I'd sung a couple of verses of things that sprung to mind (about an imaginary person who (apparently) was going through a rough time, with a relationship), a musical interlude gave me time to reflect on my relationship with my now wife and I thought how bad it would feel if we sailed into (imaginary) troubled waters...and it lead me to the title... Made It Through. As I record this episode, a bit of weather kicks in and you can hear it on the microphone. Most recording sessions would be cancelled as I have a tin roof and it's not a soundproof room. But what the heck. I kept the tape rolling. And I'm glad I did. We made it through. This song #623, started with a nice piano riff that came through my fingers one autumn afternoon, as I sat at the piano, waiting to teach an adult student. It really pays to write these things down. Not rocket science, but then... I've learned through experience. I've composed something and then a week later, I've looked blankly at a page of nonsensical minimal squiggles that meant absolutely nothing to me. As a songwriter, I’ve been prolific over the years - just because I really love the process of writing a song - and I've been good at writing them down too. It's nice to be introducing some songs here....sharing them in a very raw form, with a backstory and lots of other chat. Tonight I had the idea I'd record albums of songs from this podcast. Piano/vocal versions. That'd be fun. And produce the sheet music, etc... I love how creative projects can lead on unexpectedly to another one. That's how songs like 'Made It Through' happen. Each section leads to another that wouldn't have came to be, if it hadn't been for the first bit. Once I had the riff together, and sat with it.. Words started to come through. So sang and wrote them down and sang some more, and so on… It's a fascinating process. Want to join me for more? Like to hear the piano/vocal version of this song, sung live in the studio? Here we go... By the way you can read the lyrics in this week's blog post, and see the podcast episode art, if it doesn't appear on the platform where you listen to your podcasts. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. Also I mention my paintings. You can view lots of seascapes here: www.petepascoe.com. I have an exhibition coming up later this year. So I'm painting flat out, presently. I put my brush down to record this episode. I'm glad I did. It's always very much a pleasure to record episodes for this podcast. It's been a very positive addition to weekly proceedings for me, I hope it is for you, too. I hope you're enjoying tuning in each week.

Episode #111: With You (song starts at 2:45) This episode features a song I wrote in 1993. Song #309 jumped out of my song book this week. I haven't played this - or thought about it for that matter - for years, for some reason. Perhaps this is a 'universal' love song for someone....for someone (if that makes sense). It also talks about a higher love that I think can be found (rediscovered - a bit like me rediscovering this song) during our time on earth. I had to make sure I could still play it before I hit record. A quick play of the fingers on the keys and it all came to back to me. It really has been a journey of discovery on this podcast, picking out old songs that I've written and delving into them to see 'what lies beneath the surface'. I think this particular song is a good match of music and lyrics. There is river imagery in this song ( just for a change, for me) so, like a river, I've come up with chords and melody that flow along, with subtle changes m like a peaceful ever. I mention Roger from Adelaide in this episode. He wrote to me recently, drawing my attention to the water imagery I use in my songs and musing on that to a degree. Roger wrote the initial lyrics to A Tincture Of Time (Episode #63, which I really enjoyed - both writing the song with Roger - & recording the process). I said in this episode that's not something I often do (write song with others…). I should said ‘other than with Paul Dredge from New Zealand’. We've written easily 100 songs together. The songs come with in a rush, generally. Both the words and the music. I edit these songs in a fun, creative manner. Each time I play my songs, I'm open to editing them - right up to the moment the tape rolls during recording. ‘With You’ has a gentle rolling lilt. A country sort of feel. It's probably one of the more honest love songs I've written. I guess that's what brings in the ‘higher love’ element. I mention the laughter of children in the lyrics. The pure joy of a child's laughter is amazing. As an adult, when we rediscover that aspect of ourselves - and it's often when it bubbles up by itself - it's a surprise. Art and music can be a way to find that same sort of 'simple' joy. Looking at these songs and sharing what comes to mind gives me so much pleasure. It's so nice to know these episodes are streaming for people all around the world. I'm doing my bit to contribute something positive online. If you want to find more of my music and art, you can find plenty online. 13 albums (thus far), hundreds of paintings and cartoons, videos and writing. There's plenty more to publish. I have composed 800+ songs. There's a new album 'The Untrodden Track' that will be out shortly (folk rock, with Paul Dredge). Ok here we go ... Grab a cuppa maybe and sit back, relax, let me entertain you. Lyrics are on this week’s Blog post www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #110: Lonely Path (Song starts at 7:03)

I enjoyed singing and playing Lonely Path live for today's episode. I do this sometimes. Other times I'll select an old demo or maybe an album track. It adds variety along the way. It's all a work in progress. I played a gig today - and yesterday - at the village green. It's a small village. A very nice community farmers market was on today. I'd shut my eyes as I started off singing and opened them after a couple of songs. I found myself pretty much surrounded by a decent crowd. They’d materialised very quietly, drawn by the music and were listening very closely. It's the most rewarding thing when you get that response as a songwriter. What it means is: because these people don't know the song they're listening too, it had better be engaging emotionally and have whatever it takes as a performance to draw the listener in… and that’s what happened. Yesterday, on the green, the same thing happened but on a smaller scale. This time when I shut my eyes to start it was just myself, a few sculptors, a human performance artist coloured gold, being a statue. Interesting gig! I was hired to attract attention to this public art demonstration/event. And... The ‘extra’ listener I drew in first was a fellow who had obviously had a big night out and hadn't gone home. He came right into my personal space...I sensed him before I opened my eyes.. When I did he looked at me menacingly and said " do I look angry to you? " I said "No, man, you look like you could do with a lie down.” Which he did. He promptly lay down and appeared to pass out. After that, during the gig, every now and then he'd wake up appreciatively declare " %}^% ing brilliant", "Beautiful music”. The sun shone and we looked after him. He was safe with us, the artists. So I played music rather like a soundscape for what was going on around me. I mention all this because the subject of today's song. Lonely path. The fellow asleep next to me on the green yesterday was alone. I was alone playing. We are all alone, in a sense. The song came about when one of my students asked me what it's like to be a songwriter. I told him the usual stuff (rewarding, exhilarating, hard at times, a joy, etc). Immediately after he left, with a quiet laugh, I said to myself "It's a lonely path.” So that's where the song started. As an artist, there is a sort of a price to pay, somehow. It's well worth it. But it does require long periods of contemplation, which requires solitude. A lonely word in itself, yet there is solace here. Times of regular reflection sure has its rewards. So here we go, with a ‘heart my sleeve’ episode... here's how I feel, being a songwriter, painter and poet. And.. of course, on this episode you'll get to find out about more about how a song comes together. Here we go… As usual, the lyrics are on this week’s blog post : www.petepascoe.worpress.com (plus Seascapes, Cartoons and more).

Episode #109: You Can Hurt Them Worse (by leaving things unsaid) (song starts at 6:37)

There are so many different places to start writing a song. Number one would be feeling, I would say. You can find it in a space within in yourself where you can be completely honest. That doesn't mean you have to wear your heart on your sleeve or hit prospective listeners over the head with the wet bus ticket of your therapy... But I find that if I write from a place of honesty..the result is: the lyrics and the music are going to ring true. This song was written back in 1986. It is song #12 in my song book. Yes, that's going back a wee way. The melody has stayed with me. Why ? It came from that honest place, from somewhere else (and from somewhere within…) That process is somehow hard to pin down in words. But as I do my best to do that on this podcast, the thing that gets concepts across is....feeling. What I say (and sing) between the words helps to tell the story. Which brings me to the lyrics of the song....You can hurt them worse by leaving things…unsaid. That’s the whole chorus! As I recorded this episode, my eyes flicked onto the next page, and so I I've sung this one as well (shall we call it): ‘Are we in love’? I find a similarity between the opening riffs of both songs. Then I discover this song somehow answers the feature song. Ah the creative force. It's a healing one, that's for sure. By the way, I’d like to suggest a new genre for music: ‘P.S.’ (petrol station). This relates to something that happened when I filled the car's tank up recently. I also talk about a gig I did back in 1986. Because this song took me right back in time. Want to join me? Here we go…. Lyrics are on my blog: www.petepascoe.worpress.com (plus seascapes. Cartoons and more).

Episode #108: St Kilda (Song starts at 7:42) The Autumn weather has turned a little wintery here in Melbourne. I played 6 gigs in 7 days last week, which was pretty major after no gigs in 2 years, with the Covid lockdowns going on. The last 2 gigs I played were over the weekend and that was when the wintery breeze got up. These were outdoor gigs, so it was a bit nippy in the outdoor seated area. It reminded me of the time I was in St Kilda years ago, sitting in a bar after doing an acting and singing class. It was a cold, late Autumn rainy evening. What did I do? Jumped on the tram & headed home. As the the tram rocked away in the night, I put pen to paper and wrote down the lyrics to the song featured on this episode. There has never been a time where I have regretted having a go at writing some lyrics. Or poetry. Or music. Or painted a seascape or drawing a cartoon. I do a fair bit of that as well...you can check out my seascapes and cartoons here: www.petepascoe.com I often start by writing down what is around me. So I observed the scene and made some mental notes... Us songwriters are constantly aware of our surroundings. My life is my art. It's a big commitment, I can tell you that. Looking back, it's turned out to be great way to archive experiences I've had, in a way where the memories are accessible for others to appreciate. I do think being alive on planet earth is an amazing opportunity. Each day is a gift. Sure I have my ups and downs - we all do, but being so far down the artists path, I've noticed that all the music and art helps me.... while I create it, I'm completely in the moment. I don't have time for all the little worries and concerns that can creep up on you over time when I'm doing art or music. So for a good chunk of my woken hours, as I'm fully engaged in the arts, I'm in the moment. And that's where you need to be as a songwriter. Just creating. Not judging - but definitely keeping an eye on what is coming through, editing as you go. There's are some funny anecdotes again this week - including the short time in my life when I became a thespian. I scored the lead in JC Superstar, back in the day... Ok, join me me now in St Kilda, Melbourne. As I sit at my piano and chat, I'll tell you a few stories and along the way I'll show you how the song came together. The version of St Kilda on this episode was recorded by Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum. It's on the album 'This World Offers You'. You can check it out on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com Enjoy.

Episode #107: Yesterday’s Race (Song starts 2:48) Hi there. This is the podcast where you can sit back, be entertained and informed and - learn a little about the art of songwriting. I make a point of saying I'm not here to tell you how to write a song- but I am going to share how I write a song. I think it's important to keep an eye on your surroundings. Relaxing, subdued lighting, maybe ‘shining up’ your creative space is a good idea. I have a collection of all sorts of knick- knacks in my studio. Bits of driftwood, ceramic flying pigs & art on the walls. The thing that brings the room together is: all these odds and ends and art all speak to me emotionally. So therefore, if I'm sitting in an environment like that, there's a good chance that my mood is going to be affected by some of my surroundings... Creative and relaxed. It's a great combination, in fact, I'd say these two elements are crucial when it comes to trying to come up with something that’s original. Yesterday's Race is song #611. I enjoyed singing this song at a gig this week. It's a relatively brief understated sort of song with a big message. I wrote it - and I deliver it - in an understated manner. Sometimes quietly spoken words can be more effective than raising your voice. In fact most often, I think. On that note, this song sort of paints a picture of hope. The lyrics ‘tell it like it is’, the state of the world, the fact that we need to change. Back in my 20s I read a book that crystallised for me the thought that if change is to take place - real change - it'll have to come from the young people coming through. And we'll have to educate them early on before on repeated patterns take a hold. These days, I’m enjoying teaching young people how to play the piano. I've been doing that for about 19 years now. I'm working away on producing educational video courses and ebooks on piano, composition, (and seascape painting and cartooning by the way). So in my own quiet way, I'm bringing a lot of music and art into the world. And I'm well on my way to sharing my creative processes. Along the way, I'm trying to do my bit to make the world a better (more peaceful) place. I'm really pleased with the way this podcast has developed. I hope you enjoy this gentle episode. My blog that in mention is www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . I have 13 albums streaming now including www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. Yesterday's Race is from the piano vocal album The Long Haul.

Episode #106: Fingers In The Trees (Song starts at 5:52 & 26:00) Autumn is a great time of year. It's a season which really resonates with me for some reason. I was camping in Bright, Victoria recently, camping by a stream (which you'll get to listen to in this episode). The trees were all losing their leaves, the birds singing. The bare fingered trees are the image I had in mind when I wrote the song 'Fingers In The Trees'. The sort of fingers that reach out against the twilight sky, the sunset. It's quite an evocative image. Who's fingers are they? Who am I thinking of? Friends who are perhaps in another country, friends and family who perhaps may no longer be with me. Incidentally, the night I recorded this episode was exactly 24 years after I composed the song. I just noticed that as I read the lyrics and analysed the meaning of some of the lines. I love that about the creative realm, It constantly speaks to us, surprises is & plays with us - if we are open to tuning in. And that's exactly what you do as a songwriter. You open yourself up to another realm. It's within us all, like a muscle, which gets stronger the more you use it. To have a song like this one in the song books, it sort of makes all those years of work,all the ups and downs so worth it. Well, they were worth it anyway...but now and then it seems you catch a special fish. I'm reminded of another memory as I wrote. My very young daughter caught the tiniest, most delicate, beautiful golden fish when we were fishing together off a pier, a long time ago. I can see that fish, see the expression of wonder on her face (mine too, I sure). I remember the weather, the temperature, the season. It was Autumn. The thing about a song like 'Fingers', it brings back so many memories when I sing it. The hope is that listeners will have their own memories reawakened when they (you) listen to it. As a songwriter, you create a touchstone of sorts, I guess. It’s a great feeling. Words and music are such a potent force, a powerful combination. So is the spoken word, especially when you speak from the heart, when your in the moment, just allowing want ever thoughts come to mind. That's what I do each week here. Then all the images and ideas seem come together and theme emerges for each episode. I hope you enjoy this week's episode. There are two versions of the song this week. A piano/local version and a band version too. Blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. The Hazy Line - Tales Of A Pianoman is a memoirs ‘work in progress’ sort of blog. The Roughest Cut by Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum has Fingers In The Trees on it. Streaming now. Correction: The Untrodden Track is the name of the upcoming album by Paul Dredge and myself (not the Roughest Track, which I mistakenly called it in this episode).

Episode #105: What's True To You (Song starts at 7:00 ) This is the podcast where you're going to get to hear how it feels to be a songwriter, where the featured song of the week came from, some funny stories, etc. The idea being: to entertain and inform - and along the way hopefully shed some light on what is a very interesting creative process. Mistakes are a necessary part of learning. That's what came to me, as I was listening back to the this song, reading through the lyrics. In this episode, I relate some mistakes I made in my life, including falling into a very cold lake, jumping a cliff unintentionally while skiing... And a ‘run in’ with a billy goat. The thing that linked these events was: I didn't 'listen to those who went before', which is a line in the lyrics. Experience tells you that's not a bad idea. We can look at other’s experiences to find out what's true to us. Somehow, though there’s nothing like experiencing a few ups and downs along the way to early learn something. When engaging with the creative realm, I think you’ve gotta be free and allow yourself to make mistakes. Keep everything you've learned firmly in hand...Then, as a composer, keep an open ear and an open mind for when a ‘good mistake' happens. It could be a unexpected melody note, a strange bass note , chord, etc. Ok, sometimes it's like going off a cliff, completely out of control, like goofy - in mid air…(like my skiing accident) Sure. Other times it's going to be something that catches your ear, your heart. At that moment it becomes a point of difference in your current music phrase - and may prove to be the beginning of the path toward a big chorus melody - which you never would have hit on if you hadn't been free enough in the first place to allow yourself to make mistakes. Time and again, as I draw comparisons to events in my life with this creative process, it's easy to see being human is a creative process. That's why I've opted for a very inclusive tone and manner in this podcast. You don’t have to be ‘musically inclined’ to understand what I’m talking about here. Music and art should definitely be an inclusive realm. 99% of us have a voice, whether that's singing, playing piano, knitting, counselling, whatever it may be. I really find keeping a diary to be so helpful to sort out ...what's true to me. It's a gradual unfolding, a gradual understand of the self as you grow up. You learn to accept different facets of your personality as they appear. The thing about mistakes... it’s a good idea to keep an eye on yourself if you keep repeating the same mistakes. In my diary, things become clear to me somehow, over time. A great way to collect and arrange these diary entries in a concise form is by turning them into art - like songwriting. 'What’s True To You' is song # 585 in my song book. It was written in 2013. You can hear it on the album Don’t Miss The Bus at www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. The lyrics are on this week’s blog post at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. By asking a question in the lyrics, 'what's true to you?' It’s a way to get things across without sounding like you’re on some ‘holier than thou’ sort of soapbox. That is something I'd never want to be doing. The bridge lyrics are: ‘one step forward, a start it seems, two steps forward, one back it seems...on toward your art….' And that in a nutshell is the creative process. It'll take you somewhere, that's for sure. So in this episode, come for a wander. I'll take to a New Zealand ski field, a field in the middle of nowhere and a lake in the winter. Oh, and there's some piano here as I chat. I let my hands wander on the piano keys as I talk. Fingers ever at the ready to illustrate a point or ...just create. I hope you enjoy this week's episode. Pete.

Episode #104: As Far As I Can Tell (Song starts at 4:50) Welcome. I love writing songs. There's a 100-odd songs on this podcast, 13 albums on bandcamp, a selection on all the streaming platforms and YouTube channel, etc. One of the reasons I'm these producing these episodes is to help people. I teach, as it turns out. I'm also an artist. The blank canvas can be so confronting...I tell people to just throw some paint on that canvas. Just make a start. That's what I do with songwriting. I never question what comes up. I just try to catch what comes through - and get out of the way. As soon as I've started, I'm ‘on the breath’ - fully alert, waiting and ready for whatever else comes through. I’m prepared for any changes that happen and I'm free enough to give the new ideas a go. It's not a bad analogy for being free, to roll with the changes in life.. That's what this song is about. It's a love song. About the early days when you're head over heels. There's a line 'the world's got brighter colours' - it’s like you've got a filter on your vision, the magic of life somehow seems more tangible... Ahh new love. This song is a concise, gentle ballad that explores this phenomenon of realising you're in love. It's an intimate song, I wrote it for my (now) wife back in 2012. When you pen a song like this, and share it to an audience, the great thing is: other people 'get' the emotion of the song. It speaks to them and they somehow take ownership of the song to a degree. The more I write about songwriting, the more I realise how good it is for me. It sure feels good to compose the songs and release them out in the world. It's a path I'm very grateful to be on. I hope you enjoy the chat and the song. It’s a great way to share so much. Here we go...

Episode #103: Life’s A Show (song starts at 2:48)

On this podcast, I talk a lot about where a song comes from - the beginning. What about the end..where do you draw the line? When is something creative done? When is it finished? Which brings us nicely to the crux of the meaning of 'Life's A Show'. There's a line in the song that says "There's no end" Well, obviously, there comes the day when our number comes up and we check out. That's part of life. Whereas, the great thing about creating something and publishing it is it takes on a life of its own. It carries on. When I wrote this song, images came through thick and fast. That's the way it is for me: words and music with moving pictures. What came to mind was the idea that this song would make a good big final ‘everyone in’ type of song for a stage show. I could write the musical backwards from this song. (perhaps I've already written it..) This is song #549, so there's plenty of songs to choose from. I do notice sometimes when I'm randomly picking out songs of mine from my songbooks, having a bit of a sing and play through, some songs which I thought were unrelated turn out to be part of the same story. With 'Life’s A Show', the lyrics came first. Then I came up with the music. At the start of the song, it's like the singer could be talking to himself. As it goes on it becomes apparent he's addressing another - and they have a history. Then things sort of grow like a river, and a ‘higher view' kicks in...and the main theme appears.... do we all have a dream? ‘Life’s an art’ is a line in the chorus of 'Life’s A Show'.

Sometimes it seems an art can somehow guide you through some rocky moments in life. I really enjoyed working this song. You can hear a piano/vocal version on this podcast. You can also hear a produced version on my album 'The Man In Blue' ( streaming now). https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/music Maybe one day I'll look back, having selected a bunch of my songs and put them forward to be used in a stage show - who knows?

Have a listen and see where the song 'Life’s A Show' takes us on this episode. Here's my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. & YouTube : Pete Pascoe Art and Music. I mention these links in the episode. I'm a creative soul, fully immersed in the flow, on the path. I have a lot of creative stuff online. You could also Google Pete Pascoe images and see what comes up, if you're curious and want to see and hear more. Enjoy. Pete.

Episode #102: Lead The Way (Song starts at 3:40)

This week’s featured song, Lead The Way, is song #693. There wasn’t a day where I decided I was going to write so many songs. I just committed to composing because I love it. There’s a line in the song that sort of sums it up: 'Like a story that's been written by an artists loving hand’. While the song comes through me, it comes from somewhere else - and this ‘somewhere else’ has energy and intention. That’s the way it feels. I just get the message across to the best of my ability and try and stay out of the way of what’s coming through. It’s a fascinating process. When you are on the creative path, as I am, it's such a commitment to doing it 'properly' as it were (freely), it's almost really hard to think negative thoughts. Perhaps that's why the creative way is so healing for all involved - the composer, the performer and the listener.

This song came from a simple bluesy riff which I played with my right hand. I thought I was going to play some blues. But my left hand went to an unexpected bass note and that took things in another direction. An image came to me of a couple lying in a bed, in the night. One has woken to sound of the other talking in their sleep ...and that was enough to get me started. The words, melody and the rest of the chords all just came together. It flowed in a free and easy manner. Much like a river. ... I like to go out into nature, near water, to restore a sense of peace within. It's then that new thoughts come to me. They can be brand new ideas about what to do next, they can talk about letting go, moving on into a new chapter. I take those feelings home, let my hands fall on the keys and songs happen. It's a joy. I think the creative process is pretty much all about being free enough to let change happen...in a positive manner. It’s another piano vocal version of the song on this episode. I'm enjoying presenting the song by recording it mid way through the episode, as opposed to playing an old recording as I have done on a lot of previous episodes 9again, I’m open to change - and this Podcast is definitely fun, free and it’s evolving each week.. Lead The Way will appear an upcoming solo album. All the songs have been recorded. I just need to make the time to do a final mix. Really looking forward . It's a very mellow album. I've enjoyed playing on the headphones at night before I go to sleep Ok join me again - or if it's your first time here, welcome. I hope you enjoy this mellow episode of chat and music. My blog I mention is www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. I have lots of music streaming, including 13 albums (in a variety of genres) on bandcamp. Www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Episode #101: Thin Air (Song starts at 4.18) Welcome to a bit of chat and some music. As usual I'm sitting at the piano, hands on the keys, at the ready to accompany myself as I talk about whatever comes to mind. I imagine it's a bit like playing piano along to a silent movie like they used to... or perhaps like adding music to a movie. It's really good fun. Fun seems to be a big key to unlocking the creative process. I think it does us all good to listen to new music or maybe go to a gallery and let other people’s creative works just flow over you. Likewise, I think getting out & just having a chat with people we meet along the way is really important. The lyrics to 'Thin Air' were written in 2007 and the music a year later. It's interesting how art and music can be relevant or even strike more of a chord ( ha) - resonate more strongly, if you will - years after the works were initially conceived of. I guess maybe it’s because universal truth doesn't have a use by date. So as songwriters, if we write songs that are true to ourselves , that'll then mean hopefully that sense of truth will come through and convince the listener to come along for the ride and see where the song takes them. Like this podcast - each week I just start talking and ideas start to flow and soon a theme becomes apparent and away we go. It's a fascinating process for me to go through as I analyse my song writing process. In dry words (like ‘analyse’), it sounds dreadfully boring, doesn't it? Fear not, this is a very relaxed, inclusive podcast. Picture yourself sitting back in an intimate audience having a listen to a bloke talk and play the piano. OK, what’s the song about? Why is it relevant now? In the lyrics, I've written about how disconnected and fearful we can be. That rings true for right now, as we are starting to emerge from lockdowns. Work is starting to come back, it's understandable we are anxious as we adjust, yet again, to our new set of circumstances. Speaking of opening up, gigs are coming back ...I've got some gigs booked in! Whoo! If you live in Melbourne and want to come along, that'd be great. Email me at Info@petepascoe.com . Or join my email list - I'd love that. Ok, on with the show. For the last 101 weeks, each episode has been a performance for me and I'm continuing to love recording them. Here we go. Rollin'

Episode #100: Stop (Song stars at 7:19) Hi there and ...( cue fanfare) welcome to episode #100! Thank you for coming along with me on this journey. If it's your first time here, you can just leap straight in - the episodes are not sequential. Although if you were to listen back, you'd see that there's been a series of changes as I've gone along. It's all happened naturally. In I think they are the best kind of changes to make. I think it's necessary to stop and reflect in order to make the best changes we can. This episode's song, Stop is about exactly that. Written in 2015, song #632 appeared on the album The Roughest Cut (streaming now) by Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum. I include a piano vocal version on this episode. To make positive changes in our life I think we really need to stop for a moment, take stock of where we are at. Maybe look back, consider what we've been up to. Do we need to change tack? Maybe take the untrodden track... Y gotta be brave sometimes to change. So folks around you won't like it. By the way, Paul Dredge (my co-songwriter for a lot of songs) and I have finished the mix of a new folk rock album. We are thinking of calling it The Untrodden Track....) I think we are here to 'go' and grow, then 'stop' and consider - then go and some more. I also think if we do the same old schedule each week (as we are constantly encouraged to do), pretty soon our free life can start to feel like a self imposed jail term. Freedom. It's turning out to be what my podcast, my blog posts are about, more and more. As I've talked and written online over this last 100 weeks, it's become apparent to me that my songs and art are focussed on: freedom. Hope you enjoy this episode. Here are the links (as mentioned in the show). If you'd like to sign up to my email list, that would be fantastic. You'll be first to hear about new albums, sheet music, art exhibitions, etc. - please do visit my website below.

You can find the song lyrics on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Art here: www.petepascoe.com Music some albums streaming on the usual platforms, 13 albums here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Episode #99: Family Photo (song starts at 2:37)

When I went to record this episode, I actually had another song in mind as went into my studio. But then my hands opened up the book on song #622.. Family Photo. This then lead on to my recording a version of this song, for the 2nd time, as part of the episode. Hey, it keeps it interesting, trying different things. I touched on this in the last episode. In fact I'm really aware of how the creative process is just an ongoing series of changes. When you pick up a pen and start sketching, you may end turning it into an album cover or a 3 dimensional piece of art. Or it may remain a sketch. It's the same with as song. Some songs seem destined to remain ‘album tracks’, as opposed to perhaps being released as a single. I particularly enjoy writing and recording these ‘album tracks’. When you start recording, it's amazing how quickly things can progress, if you give yourself the freedom to do so. And freedom is almost everything, when it come to getting yourself into the songwriting zone. Freedom is something I've really strived for in my life. I think so many songs have come about as a result of this. ( I'm up about to 800 presently ). The inspiration was...yep, a family photo. I was thinking back to a morning when I was with my family, looking at photos of a family trip to New Zealand. I remember at the time, imagining my young children having grown up and looking back through these photos again, perhaps feeling some of these same feelings. So a photo is a bit like a painting. Well, any art worth its salt will draw an emotional reaction - and that's what you want from your audience, as an artist (and as a podcaster!). One of the keys to writing a 'good' song, is that I believe you must feel something. That's my basic premise. Anyway, it works for me On this episode I read the words as a poem. I also start to arrange this song, with some other sounds to show how songs can quickly transform in a studio. There's some anecdotes about being on holiday in New Zealand, too. Here I am writing these show notes, in Melbourne, years later. It's such a great feeling having composed so many songs. It's great to share them. - and I'm finding I'm really enjoying sharing how I wrote them. I hope you enjoy this episode. Here we go...

Episode #98: This Story (Golden Times) (Song starts at 5:14)

Hi there, I see this week's song was written in January 2012. That amazes me. At the time of recording this podcast episode, that is a decade ago. Wow! I think the thing is, when you create something, you are so far 'in there', in the creative zone, it seems you etch this time into your mind the memory. I think this might be because (in my opinion ), if you're doing it 'right', you're basing so much of what you’re doing on….feeling. The purpose of this podcast is to hopefully entertain, while throwing light on the incredibly interesting process of songwriting.

Before we go on, during this episode, I refer to how good Sting looks on a recent interview I enjoyed. He looks in great shape, physically. Unfortunately, I inadvertently added another 10 years to what I think his age might be. Sorry, Sting! A slip of the tongue/ brain fade there. At least my intentions were good... Ok, If it's your first time here, welcome. You can jump right onboard. Even though this episode is episode 98, it is, of course, a 'standalone experience’. If you enjoy it, there's a stack ready awaiting your listening pleasure. You'll get to see how this podcast has evolved, how it's unfolded since I recorded the first episode. That fits with this episode’s theme. The gist of the lyrics is: things evolve over time...and perhaps history's altered as it's recorded and handed down. Personally I think we need to keep everything we've learned. We can understand more about ourselves by studying our true history, warts and all. We tend to airbrush out what we perceive to be blemishes on our character, maybe to our detriment. Perhaps it's not a bad idea to look ourselves squarely in the mirror and set about changing some of the things we are maybe not too happy with... Pretty heavy scene for a song, eh? Yes, this is a song that holds some weight for me. I recorded the piano/vocal of today’s song as I recorded the episode. This is a new development. Up until now I’ve included old demos. It was fun to do it this way.

You get a ‘2 for 1 deal’ today. The piano/vocal version and a band recording: track 3 from the album The Roughest Cut, by Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum (comprising of Ants Reed, guitar; Neil sims Lead guitar; Dan Dew, drums). This is 'my' Melbourne based rock band (I use inverted commas on the word my, because it's really our band. We generally arrange and present songs by me. I'm the driving force, but we all contribute. Great fun). Also, speaking of great fun, back to the subject at hand, by choosing to record this podcast in a free, creative. improvised manner, I'm having a blast doing this each week, I hope that's coming across. The opening lyrics take me right back in time to medieval times. I wonder what would be for dinner, if we were around back then. It constantly surprises me and amuses me where this podcast takes me. Come on a trip with me today to find out what lies behind - and within - the song This Story ( Golden Times) . It's a big ongoing story... Here we go. Picture me at the piano as I chat and sing. “Rollin' ...." Pete

Episode #97: This Dream Will Do (Song starts at 5:24)

Hi there, this episode is packed with all sorts. I've been on a holiday, camping beside the ocean for a couple of weeks. It was brilliant. I include some voice recordings I did while I was there. So you get to come on holiday with me on this episode. How does that pertain to songwriting? (I hear you ask). Well, when I go away and have a break, every time I come home and rest my fingers on the keys of my piano it seems there are songs waiting in line to come through. You build up momentum, it seems, on this creative path. Along the way you are rewarded with songs (if you commit to being a songwriter). About 1 in 5 sort of seem to be a bit ‘better'. It's a bit like fishing. If you're lucky, you catch a few small ones. But now and then you catch a beauty. So those are possible outcomes. Of course, the journey is the thing. I believe the process of writing a song should be a joy. That's how it feels to be a songwriter. I don't think this is some sort of exclusive domain for the chosen few. I’d like to see more people doing it.. One of my aims of this podcast to hopefully encourage/ inspire other songwriters - or anyone who might tune in to see what's going on. What's going on, on this episode is: Song #614, This Dream Will Do. A sense of acceptance came through loud and clear, about where I was at, at the stage of my life when I wrote this song: I was grateful, for how things were. This rings true for how I feel this week too. Art and music is an amazing place of timeless reflection, to me. It's a pleasure to be exploring the songwriting process here. I enjoy having a chat, playing the piano as I go along. I also improvise a piece on the piano, then look at where each section came from. I’m finding recording these episodes a fascinating creative process. I’ enjoying it so much. I hope you enjoy This Dream Will Do. You can find it on the album Walking Through A Dream ( streaming now) which features songs co-written by myself and Paul Dredge. We have all but finished a new album, by the way. The 3rd mix is done. ..very excited about this, because I'm passionate about what I'm up to. And that includes putting these podcast episodes together each week. It's fun and it's inspiring for me. I hope it is for you, too. You can see the painting I talk about, the lyrics to This Dream + other art and music on this week’s blog post, The Prom (part 1). here: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #96: I’ll Tell You What (Song starts at 3:38 )

Sometimes you can really tell nature is talking to you. Birds tell you off for being too close to their nest. I think perhaps nature is talking to us constantly on a more subtle level. That's the crux of today's song. Here's what inspired it: My concern for how out of touch we are with nature. It's a wake up call sort of song. Almost in the mode of a protest song from the 60s, I suppose. On this episode, you'll hear a couple of bird calls, and these weave their way into the conversation. I also improvise a piece and look at that, see what was in my mind as I played the piano.

This podcast is several things. I aim for it to be : light entertainment; informative, there's songwriting tips; I looking at the lyrics, see where each line came from, the underlying meanings and then I explore the music , see how that came to be. You can read the lyrics on my blog each week. Also you can see the artwork I create for each episode here (along with seascapes, cartoons, more music, etc) . I'll tell you what appeared on my piano vocal album The Long Haul. In this episode, I do question the digital age we live in, the Internet. What sort of effect it's having on us. There is much that is extremely helpful about it. Paul Dredge and I have a new album nearly completed. 2nd mix is done. All composed and recorded by bouncing wavs of music back and forth on the Internet. I do so much on the computer. I'm mastering this episode Windows computer as I type this on my iPad. I'll do the artwork on the Mac. And get it all online from there. I use the computers all the time with my music and art. My concern is about the negative aspects of the online business is voiced in the song too.

So there's a lot in each episode. It's all off the cuff, as if I'm performing at a songwriter speaks sort of gig. You are my intimate audience. I'm loving recording these episodes each week, recalling old memories, relating current events and discovering more each week about this marvellous art of songwriting. I hope you enjoy this week's episode. If you do, there's 90 odd more waiting for you. If you like my music check out www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com for all my album titles, a selection of which can be stream do all the usual platforms. Ok, on with the show.

Episode #95: Plain Sailing (Song starts at 5:58)

Hi there, If it's your first time here, thanks for having a look at my podcast. What will you gain by listening to an episode? My goal is to put you in the shoes of a songwriter. Why would I do that? Well, for a lot of people it seems it's only for the chosen few. At the risk of sounding like I'm attempting to demystify and simplify (which I'm not) what happens to be an extremely subtle art, what I'm doing here is showing some of the ' tricks' I use to compose a song. It turns out a music composition is an incredibly complicated thing. I can say that now because over the course of 90-odd episodes, I'm constantly surprised as I discover new aspects to an art I thought to be so simple. It's something that comes naturally to me. It's extremely satisfying. Am I any good? Fair enough question. Check out today's song plain sailing and see what you think If you like it and want more go here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com Or there's selection of music on Spotify, etc, including piano/ solo; Folk rock with Paul Dredge & Rock with the Patient Hum.

Today's song, Plain Sailing (song #615) was going to be heartfelt song, so I picked a 3 4 meter ( boom Chuck chuck, boom chuck chuck ) and went for a vulnerable sounding higher register and the melody just came in on the ether. How does that feel? It felt great! On this episode you'll hear a bit of my day, what I've been up to - a bit of yarn, essentially. This is a lo-fi relaxed entertaining podcast. I hope you enjoy hearing me rediscover Plain Sailing. It's from the album The Long Haul ( piano vocal).

Episode #94: Full Moon (Song starts at 6:18) Here we are again, having a chat & allowing the conversation - the content - to be guided by the song of the week, which in this case is Full Moon, song #353. I wrote the song back in 1995. How does it feel to be a songwriter? It’s a joy. Have a listen again and find out more. I do my best to put the listener into the shoes of a songwriter. I look at the lyrics. There's one line 'justice now sits beneath the microscope'. The strange thing is: I wrote this quite distinctive line and then it appeared prominently on the front of the local paper at a later date. I love that about songwriting, the arts, in general. The synchronicity, the feeling that you are on some sort of gentle assertive path looking to grow and reach some new peaceful outcomes song the way. On this episode, there's a few recordings of nature that surrounds us. You observe a lot when you are on a creative path. Having said that, I can't recall the colour of the horse across the road which unfortunately passed away this week. I remembered, however that I'd written some words for him a while back so I've put that in my blog post this week. I mention it on the podcast episode here's the link: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . The post is 'old horse, grey'. I wrote Full Moon on the piano. One day I would like to record this accompanied by acoustic guitar driven band ( with some piano weaving in and out). I really enjoy examining the lyrics and music each week. It's all presented in a relaxed 'fireside chat' sort of style. It's inclusive, fun and there's lots of ideas on songwriting which seem to keep coming to the surface as I continue on my way, producing these episodes. I hope you enjoy this week's episode. If you do, and would like to subscribe to my podcast I'd love that. Also, I'm a painter you can see my work on line, the blogs not a bad place to start . Or my website : www.petepascoe.com. Or YouTube Pete Pascoe Art and Music. I also mention my sheet music here's the link: Sheet Music plus Pete Pascoe I'm loving it all, as I publish my work each week online. I really enjoyed recording this Full Moon episode. I hope you enjoy it too - & I hope you pick up something about the process of songwriting too. Full Moon did appear in an album 'Cant See The Words For The Trees' of which I did small run of CDs. These CDs were accompanied by a book of poetry ( the lyrics ) which included a painting inspired by each song. I plan to re-record this album and make it available digitally with an ebook of the lyrics and art

Episode #93: Summer Sun (Song starts at 8:25 ) Welcome to an ‘End Of Year’ / Christmas special. Summer Sun (song # 576), was inspired by a memory of being the waves at the beach - the joy of being in the water, feeling completely free. I've really enjoyed this year of podcasting. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it really helped me during these Covid times. That's the power of the art. I love how I'm connecting with so many people. I've always wanted to bring good stuff into the world and share it, this podcast is really doing it for me. I hope you're enjoying tuning in each week. I have so much recorded music to share - and lots more composed to share in the future. Composing 'Summer Sun' was a pleasure. It happens quickly for me. Have a listen and see how it came together. You can hear the band demo of it too. I really think access to the creative domain is for everyone. I would hasten to add: Practice is a fine and necessary thing in order so to find that more easily. Being at the beach inspires my creativity. On this podcast there's a recording of me talking at the beach. I actually mention the song title as I speak. That was the moment that I thought. Hey, why don't I feature this song this week? So I did. I also include a short recording of me talking, sitting in the backyard this morning with a few magpies. Listening back, I speak with a very low morning voice. I'm definitely a night owl, which is when I record these episodes. Being relaxed is a big part of songwriting. I would say it's absolutely necessary, in fact, so you can ‘be in the moment’ / be in the zone & open up to whatever is waiting. The more you do something, the easier it seems to get, right? It's like building up muscles - use them or lose them...as they say. If it's your first visit here, come on, join me now for an entertaining yarn - and some music. It's all very relaxed and inclusive here. As usual, there’s more songwriting tips here ( although I'd never presume to say this is ‘how you should’ do it - I'm just sharing my processes. By having fun and following my nose. Like a dog on the beach, I'm lost in the joy of the moment). It's so good to be recording these podcast episodes. Thanks again for tuning in. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy the song. I'll be recording the finished version of this with the Patient Hum in the not too distant future. Pete. Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. Blog. Pete Pascoe and the Patient Hum. Band (link to bandcamp - the roughest cut) Pete Pascoe and Paul Dredge. Folk rock (link to bandcamp walking through a dream).

Episode #92: Foggy morning (Song starts at 4:47) Hi there, This week's episode features my song 'Foggy Morning (Not A Bird Call)'. This is song #680. I love composing songs. I like talking about the process and enjoy letting each episode wander just where it will, allowing the song to lead the way. It's keeps things interesting and natural. Talking as much about anecdotes, ideas related to the song as I talk about the song writing makes this podcast relaxing and fun - a bit of a ‘chat over a cup of tea’ in a way. This podcast is definitely a platform to present in a playful relaxed manner all kind of concepts and observations. Songwriters like me observe a lot of details. And yes I can be the classic ‘absent minded professor’. I actually got a bit lost, walking down some different streets where I live, today. I was busy having a chat on the phone with the headphones on when I suddenly realised I had no idea where I was. I don't mind that. I found my way to some tall trees and found my way home. That's a bit like how some of these episodes go, really. Something springs to mind, which leads on to something else and away we go. It’s a very satisfying process. The lyrics of foggy morning came about when I picked up my pen waiting for a bus and described the scene around me. Come and join me... maybe it's a bit like a Forrest Gump scene where I'm sitting waiting. Have a look at what I'm writing.... and perhaps then it's like time’s been ‘fast forwarded’ and ..here’s how the song turned out - at least up to the demo stage. This song will transform with guitars, someone else playing the drums (I played the drums on this demo - and the keys bass, singing, strings, piano…everything). It's great fun arranging music and I'm finding it's a blast to touch on all of these processes, on this podcast. Ok here we go.. Foggy morning. See what you think. Let me entertain you. Pete

Episode #91: Pictures Falling This has been so much fun, recording these episodes. Long may it continue. This is a pretty peaceful episode…before recording this, I was recording keyboards and mixing 3 songs. Paul Dredge (NZ co-songwriter) and I have another album well on the way. We are bouncing parts back and forth online. This week's song appeared on the album 'Walking Through A Dream'. It's streaming now, a very relaxed listen. If you like guitar, piano, vocal harmony.... Check it out. 'Pictures Falling' is about dreams. This week's blog post is about transformation. Thinking back, when you wake up in the morning, snippets of dreams can sort of come through. Maybe there's messages, something to glean from our dreams. Something transformative, perhaps. I think so. I've dreamed of new paintings, complete song all sorts of creative ideas have come through I dreams over the years. The songwriting state of mind is so much like dreaming. Last night an older gentleman asked me " at which point do you become an artist, a songwriter, a writer?" My instinctive ‘shoot from the hip’ response was: " the moment you pick up a pen, a brush.” It's what I say to my piano students. I believe it. However this very nice chap wasn't so sure. I thought a bit more and came up with this…perhaps you become a true songwriter when you can: recall all the theory instinctively; and with your hands the technique happens instinctively; you need to be open to listening for something outside of ourselves & something within, perhaps; and we also need to be our own secretary, too. It's an art, going between the creative thinking and the analytical sort of thinking required to be your own secretary. You go back and forth and I'm sure it must be really good for us to think like this. It’s a great feeling, writing songs. I feel completely energised after writing a song, I feel the same after I've recorded a podcast episode. I really think it transforms my mood. I guess I'm ‘entertaining’, which I love. I love performing and also I'm analysing something I love - & I'm playing the piano. All of which is great, but the best thing about this podcast is that I'm make contact with people, sharing the love, the passion. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it, Pete.

Episode #90: Lost and Won (Song starts at 3:12) I composed the song Lost and Won in 2013. You can find it on the piano/vocal album 'Don't Miss The Bus', on my bandcamp website: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com I like to get to the beach as often as I can. The sounds of nature wash over me when I'm there. It helps to get me into a peaceful state so I'm able to tune into ‘something’ & get creative. You'll hear that process on this episode. I share some of the sounds that came into my day yesterday. I go from pre-recorded sounds of the city to the sound of birds and the beach. It amazes me how much noise is going on around us. It was a bit of fun to record the sounds and weave them into this episode. I think we should really be aware of the noises that surround us, particularly in the city. It does affects us. A way for me to counter city noise is to compose & play music. I become (nearly) oblivious to the noises around me. As a songwriter, instinct plays a huge role. When I analyse why I've chosen one note over another, it can complicated pretty quickly. That's why, on this podcast, l like to ‘play’ with words and ideas and share what comes to mind in the moment. As I talk, I also let my fingers just wander on the keys of the piano. It’s certainly fun. This time again, I talk myself into a creative state of mind and start composing yet another song. It's a great feeling. If you're curious to see how this all plays out, sit back, tune in and have a listen. I hope you'll find it interesting, entertaining, and relaxing. I always feel great at the end of each 30 minute episode. I'm performing, in a way - I'm comfortable in my ‘songwriting and performing shoes’. It's great to have this way of sharing some of my ideas and processes here in this manner. I hope you enjoy this episode. Enjoy

Episode #89 Queen St (Song starts at 6;58) This is the podcast where you get to hear how it feels to be a songwriter. How do I do this? What I do I talk about? The answers seem to come as I follow my nose, as I record what comes into my mind in the moment. As a songwriter, you instinctively know when to jot notes down, when a phrase catches your ear in a certain way. It might be something that someone says in passing, or a sentence or two that just pop into your mind.. For that to happen, I find I need to make room for those sort of moments. To make room, in my head, to clear the slate a bit, I like getting out into nature. On this week's episode, I take you with me down at the beach to catch that bit of fresh air. The song Queen St came about after I jotted down the sights I could recall from earlier in the day: at lunchtime on a Friday, Paul Dredge and I set up to busk rather hopefully - outside a bank. In Queens St, the main Street of Auckland’s CBD, in New Zealand, Later on, as soon as I sang and played the first line, that's when I knew I had a song. All you really need to do is make a start. Songwriting is so much like painting (which I do as well - you can check out a painting I did today of Sorrento, via, Australia, here: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). The start gives you the feeling. That's number one. It gives you energy and a reason to write the next line, which leads on to the next ...and ... pretty soon you've got a whole page of lyrics to work with. This song was one of those ‘words first, music second’ songs. I always used to write songs like that. These days I mainly find myself writing the music & words at the same time, which is fun. As I recorded this episode, I was trying to recall what age I was when I wrote the song, I said 19 or 20, but it was more like 27. Paul Dredge and I were on the road. It was a free, fun time in our lives. I think that sense of freedom comes through in this song. Ok, join me now for a half hour chat, with some music and some new music for you to listen to. There's some very nice vocal harmonies on this recording. Here we go...

Episode #88: Life Is (Song starts at 4:27) Welcome to another episode. It's great that this podcast is being listened to and enjoyed by listeners around the world. I'm very grateful to you all for tuning in each week. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I guess that's the power of music, the intrigue... The interest in ‘where the heck does a song come from? This week again, we set out to come up with some more ideas about that. It's certainly a journey of rediscovery for me as I look back on these songs. Interestingly, I seldom forget a melody, or the feel of a song that I've written ( and there are 800 + ). The subject of this week's song, ‘Life is’, certainly could have been a slow ballad. I opted for a medium tempo piano version of a guitar ‘finger picking’ style of delivery. I'm pleased I did. Part of keeping the creative flow happening is having a laugh. As the years go by, I'm surer than ever that's true. Songwriter can tend to be introspective serious loners, at times.. Me, I like to think I'm gregarious. I love having a good laugh. Obviously, it lifts your spirits - and so can music and words. I hope you enjoy this episode. I did. It's so much fun, just 'winging it’. There's no script. I like to let the music and words, memories and observations that pop up ‘in the moment’ lead the way: I describe how it feels to walk up a river fishing, imagining what it's like down in the depths.. I also recount some happy memories I have, as a youngster, spending some time with my grandparents. This is because I see in my songbook I've dedicated this song to my grandparents. The song finishes with the lines: ‘Life is short, life is long, play your life like a happy song’ - and I am. Welcome to another slice of the life of a songwriter, as I share my thoughts with you.. Here we go.. Enjoy!

Episode #87: The Drum (Song starts 5.14) Where did this song come from? The first line is: 'The rocking train challenges my pen to stay upon the page'. Yep, I was on the train when I wrote these lyrics. It feels great to be a songwriter, to close my eyes and just write whatever pops into my mind. I don't question it, I'll just write something, knowing (and it definitely is a 'knowing) that something will 'answer' me. It's exactly like this. It feels like a sense of ‘give and take’, as you float ideas freely. A sense of play and some positive energy goes a long way. .. Before we get to the train, I take you for the walk I follow when I catch the bus and train to get to a piano teaching job I have - when it's happening. We're opening up again here in Melbourne, after 86 weeks of extended lockdowns. Starting again from next week, I'll be back on the train twice a week - and most likely, I'll be sitting there with a pen and paper. I'll be miles away, somewhere in my mind. Being a songwriter is a fine thing, for a number of reasons. One great thing is: all I need is a pen and paper and I'm away. You don't need much gear. It's such a pleasure. I had a band practice before I recorded this episode. Performing music is also a great thing. So is recording music, both of which I enjoy doing. On that note, If you'd like to hear more of some of the music I've recorded, I have albums streaming on most platforms - solo and with others. ( www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com has 13 albums). As a songwriter, it's like you're always just a breath away from a new idea - and one new idea is all it takes to get a new song really underway. The song seems to take on its own energy, and you just kind of try to get out of the road of your pen. Or you let your fingers just wander on the keys of the piano. It really is the best feeling. Ok, join me today, as we look at ‘The Drum’. This song explores the idea of us all be interconnected - a timely theme, as we reconnect after the Covid lockdowns. If you're new here, welcome. I hope you enjoy today's episode. If you do - and want to hear more - there's another 86 Episodes waiting for you. And there'll be another episode next week. Here we go… The Drum.....Rollin' !

Episode #86: The Best Story (Song starts at 4:38) Hi there. Join me this week, as I go back in time again, to a wooden table and chairs at the local park. This is where I wrote the lyrics for this week's featured song. I break a few songwriting rules with this song. Originally, there was no structure to the sentences - not one rhyme either. It could've remained a poem (I include a reading of the lyrics as a poem on this episode), but something enticed me - against all odds, really - to turn these words into lyrics and marry them to a melody. As is most often the case, I'm glad I did. Every now and then, you'll notice, as we look at the lyrics, that I look up and take in my surroundings. Being out in nature is good for the soul. I enjoy writing outdoors occasionally. On this episode, I talk about 'writing on the breath' - it's something I think I do naturally, to tell the truth. It’s just one facet of this whole songwriting process that I’d never considered, before I started recording these podcast episodes. I'm so pleased I did. This podcast has become more than just a collection of songwriting ideas and tips. I always knew it would. But it's surprised me, the amount of information, and sense of excitement that awaits me each week. This week is no exception. Come and see where the 'afternoon clouds, drifting like a watercolour' take us. A few dogs and birds (from the park) get a mention - and the gum trees - they’re so beautiful here in Melbourne, Australia where I reside. It was good to be out and about - and I’m glad I wrote some lyrics when I was at the park, in Sandringham, about 7 years ago. The Mornington Peninsula is where I continue to write my story, these days. This podcast is becoming part of it. So, in a sense, you’re part of my story too, because that's the nature of storytelling: you (hopefully) engage the listeners emotions, something rings true. So you listen closer to see what going to be said next. Each week we (all) have to wait to find out where the story is going to take us, as each episode is completely unscripted. I have fun using this process of exploration, following the feelings and images that come to mind as I l talk about the featured song of the week. Ok, I hope now you're ready to dive in and have listen to this episode. If it's your first time here, a very warm welcome to you - and you are welcome here. This is not some exclusive group. I firmly believe the arts should be an inclusive domain. So I talk in a relaxed manner, not dwelling overly on the theory, the ‘nuts and bolts’. I do get these concepts across, but I manage to convey the information in a manner that does not alienate a listener that is not into music theory. These ‘technical’ moments come and go. A healthy dose of humour helps. These episodes are more a celebration of songwriting, of life (I guess my version of life), really. It’s part of my story. It’s the artist's way: to observe, reflect, then create and share. Ok, join me now. Here we go…."Rollin'...welcome to another episode of Song and A Chat ..." Enjoy!

Episode #85: Made Me Realise (Song starts 7:20)

This week's episode has a nice laid back mood again. This is how I felt when I wrote Made Me Realise (song #41) back in 1987. I can still till remember the evening this song came to me as I let my fingers wander on the keys where they would and let my voice float where it chose to go.

This is the podcast where one of my aims is to give you the feeling of how it feels to be in the shoes of a songwriter. I try to give you an insight as to where the featured song of the week came from (I've composed 800 or so, so it's fun dipping into the pool and see which one comes up each week). There was a thunderstorm passing by as I recorded this episode. My studio isn't exactly sound proof. You hear the wind and the rain on the roof. I don't mind that. It certainly added to proceedings..with a bit of atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere. You'll get to hear the call of the black cockatoo ! Unexpected? Yeah, but I love being out in nature. It sort of wipes the slate clean.

Being in the outdoors brings me clarity of thought - and that is exactly what you need, as a songwriter. In the moment, you're being: your own secretary; rhythm maker; tempo keeper; melody writer; lyricist; the list goes on...not to mention you're accessing all the theory you've learned as you play in the moment and attempt to follow the feeling of where the song is taking you as it slowly presents itself. Paul and I talked about this the other week on the BP Diner episode…the mystique of songwriting. It's a fine art. I feel lucky to be a songwriter.

I also have been thinking of introducing some other writing here and there (as spoken word), eg :some diary entries that are relative to proceedings. So I do that on this episode, describing the Dawn at a beautiful river mouth at lake Taupo, New Zealand. You'll also get to visit the (Espy) Esplanade hotel in St Kilda, in Melbourne Australia, where I now reside ( I'm an ex kiwi). The version you hear of Made Me Realise is our band, Pete Pascoe and the Patient hum, playing the song live for the very first time, about 7 years ago at this great venue. Given that the song was written in 1987, that's a long time to wait, as a song writer. We finally recorded a version of the song recently, as a band (all instruments live, together, plus overdubs of strings and Organ, etc. on the album The Roughest Cut. Streaming now. Made Me realise is track number one. Y’gotta be patient some times... That's 33 years after I wrote the song! Ok for now, sit back, enjoy the show. I did, even if my 'magic lamp' when out twice - of its own accord - when I was recording. Bizarre. It was one of those evenings. Anyhow, join me now... Here we go ....enjoy! Pete Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com is my blog, which I mention (lots of art and more music here - the lyrics are here too). Enjoy!

Episode #84: At What Cost (Song starts at 4:38) Welcome. This week's episode has very peaceful feeling about it. The 30 minutes or so just floated by for me, as I recorded it. I'm really enjoying myself as I talk, no notes, no pre-production. Tonight I just walked into my studio, thinking "What song shall I talk about.." And this one jumped out at me. I let the song lead the way each week. I've found over the weeks that by having fun, ‘playing’, if you will, it leads my thoughts to some concepts that perhaps I never would have got to as I analyse the songwriting process. Even the word analysing seems too cold to use as a description of what I'm up to here. It's 30 minutes of relaxed chat. I'm not trying to twist any arms. There's no underlying persuasive subtext here. What you hear is what you get. I'm an honest, creative songwriter, writing songs for the love of it after all these years. At What Cost (song #548, written in 2010), came through when I was just noodling on the piano. A nice peaceful little riff happened. The light goes on. The thoughts are focussed, the potential of the music is considered, a decision is made : the intention to carry it through to a finished song is made. With this song, I put myself somehow inside the mind of my friend as he was observing what was turning out to be the end of a major romantic relationship in his life. There’s a sense of recognising this during the course of the song, with another realisation of more at the end (I love my ‘punchlines’). There's definitely a commitment when you decide you are in the process of writing a song - and it seems like some sort of 'agreement' to work together with the creative muse happens. It's not a ‘contract’, that's too harsh, But it did feel this: from the word go, the first song, all those years ago...it felt like: “Yes, you will be helped to create this music - on the condition you do your best to share it and put it out in the world”. Since that day, many years ago, that's what I've tried to do: keep writing, recording and sharing it. I hope you enjoy getting ‘inside a song’ & stepping into the shoes of a songwriter, again, this week - more than that, I hope you enjoy the sound of my voice as I speak, too - people have let me know they find me relaxing and entertaining to listen to. Great! I really like this recording, too. This is such good fun, please do join me now for half an hour of creative exploration (and if this is your first time here, welcome, again. There are 80-odd previous episodes to listen to…). If you like the song, check out the album: The Man In Blue (streaming now). Sign up to my email list: info@petepascoe.com - each week you'll get the links and a bit of inside information about: A new painting, a blog post, a podcast episode and YouTube video. Blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com YouTube: Pete Pascoe Art and Music Website: www.petepascoe.com Music on: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com and Streaming everywhere Enjoy!

Episode #83: BP Diner (Song starts at 8:38) On this episode I have Mr Paul Dredge (from New Zealand), along with me. We wrote this song about (surprise) the BP Diner…it was a petrol and food place, which was opposite a resort I worked at with Paul Dredge. To get the full picture (and more stories), have a look at this blog post from a while back: The Hazy Line /Wairakei Resort. https://thehazyline.wordpress.com/2020/12/22/the-wairakei-resort-gig/ One grey rainy morning we were sitting in the hotel room. It was the night after a gig. We decided to write a song, as it was too wet for golf. Paul started strumming and after a short while we came up with BP Diner together. This episode touches on the friendship I have with Paul. Having someone you can really trust is a great - and necessary - thing, when it comes to co-writing songs. It's a subtle dance, nudging a feeling into an idea, as you start to give it form, not getting too far ahead, not getting bogged down as you go along. Paul and I didn’t. We were lost in the ‘now’. We really enjoyed bringing the song together that morning. Join us at Wairakei Resort, as we reminisce on what was a pretty special time. The recording on this podcast is from the album ‘Lost In Time’ (bandcamp link). It counts as demo, really, by today's standards...it was one of 12 songs recorded and mixed in 2 days. One take for drums, piano and guitar. Then Over dubs ( one take) lead guitar & bass. Then one for vocals recorded at the same time. Great fun and I’m so pleased with the result. I made a video which you can view on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pZ6bLf2Vc0 ..It was one of my first efforts, actually. You can see some of the scenes we talk about on this episode. For now, sit back and enjoy a relaxed tale of how a song came together and gain some insights into this fascinating process. You'll also get to hear anecdotes & memories of the musical past of 2 songwriters. Enjoy. ‘Paul’s poetic ramblings’ https://paulspoeticramblings.wordpress.com/author/pfdredge/ Slippery Slope - Jazz album (Paul Dredge on Spotify) ‘BP Diner’ Lyrics on www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Don't Miss The Bus (piano/vocal album) band camp link www.petepascoe.com

Episode #82: Old Hat In The Sun / Life In One Day (Songs start at 6:18 & 22:07) Hi there. I'm writing these show notes immediately after recording this episode (which is what I normally do) ... Although I also normally listen back through as the recording 'bounces', ready to be put online as a stereo file. This time, I've stopped the tape. Just wanting to really soak up this moment and try to tell you how I'm feeling. I'm feeling pretty good. Unexpectedly, I ended up writing a full song, in the moment (words and music) in this episode. The song Old Hat In The Sun was written by a younger me. At 21, the lyrics are about wanting to get it ‘all sorted out’, ( my life, the world ) by … oh, by the time I turned 22. Ha. I wrote this song in 1986, it's song #6 in my songbook. Fast forward now to 2021 and I feel like over these last few years I've been letting go of some old dreams, redefining some new ones. Ahh, the voice of experience (and I'm sure if I'm around in my 90s and look back I'll have a chuckle about me writing this, making plans, now)... Anyhow, this letting go was the subject of this week's blog post if you would like to check it out, the lyrics to this week's song - and this brand new song are there: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com I'm as passionate about my music as I ever was. I hope to still be singing and playing my songs in my 80s. Why not. In this episode, as I say, I ended up writing a song as if I've travelled back in time, with a message for my younger self: something along the lines of: ‘slowing down a bit might not be a bad idea’ It's been so busy again this week, creatively, maybe that's something I still haven't learned. I just feel so strongly that each day, each week, that I’m alive and breathing, I want to create good stuff. So while I’m on here earth, that’s what I’m doing. That's what I'm up to here: fun, entertainment and information. Ok, so it’s a ‘two for one’ deal this week. Also, join me in my primary school class. Then, at 17, in UCLA as an exchange student (Akio was the trumpeter from Japan, by the way) & then as a 21 year old thinking about ‘it all’ - including the old man with an old hat in the sun. Hope you enjoy this one episode much as I enjoyed recording it.

Episode #81: Remote (Song starts at 7:02) I’ve changed things up a bit this week: here’s a lively, slightly edgy sort of a pop song from a while back. The word ‘remote’ is a bit of a pun in this song. There's a line about me not having a remote to turn off the incoming creative inspirational visions that are pretty much constant for me. Best I can do is get out into remote nature, away from things made by humans. I did that by going fishing this week. I recount a misadventure I had with a beautiful gannet. He got a bit tied up with my fishing lure and I had to do a bit of a catch and release. Poor old bird (by the way, it seemed completely unharmed and immediately resumed his patrolling up and down the beach, looking for his dinner). My hands were a bit pecked. Not too badly though, as I still manage to play the piano on this episode, demonstrating aspects of the song musically. It always amazes me, where the songs come from. In this case, back in 1998, I was lying in bed, thinking about buying a ticket to a Bob Dylan concert ticket. Good old Bob - even when I'm not listening to his music he inspires me. I’m a big, big fan. It was a fun song to dig up today. One of 14 songs which we (Paul Dredge, Earl Pollard and myself) recorded in an afternoon. In the recording studio, I love working quickly. I get inspired and it all a happens. I like to keep moving. It's the same with songwriting. I to make a start and just carry on with it there and then and finish it - quickly. I write my songs diligently in my song books and then I flick through them randomly from time to time playing and singing at the piano. When I do this I honour what's been done so far, go what comes to me naturally, and I'll edit them, add riffs, alter the melody, etc. So there’s, in effect, 700 odd songs with a lot of pre-production thinking and work already done. Incidentally, Remote will be released later this year on an album of 14 songs. I've re-recorded the vocals and remixed the songs we recorded back in 1998 . Ok. sit back, I'll talk you through where the lyrics came from, talk about the music - and a couple of excursions at the beach. Enjoy.

Episode #80: Everything Comes To An End (Song starts 4:16) Hi there, thanks for stopping by and checking out the show notes for today's episode. This podcast is where you'll get to hear a how a song comes together and gain an insight into what makes a songwriter tick. It's proving to be an ongoing exploration. I never realised it was so complicated. Writing songs is something I've never taken for granted. It's hugely rewarding. I find songwriting to be a very quick and enjoyable process... A couple of things I've picked up from these episodes: How definitely it feels like you leave the room, you go into another world - it's like being in a movie, when you're in the creative act of writing a song. You feel like you're casting around, somewhere deep within, waiting for an idea to pop up. What pops up is a feeling. An emotion. Sometimes it comes complete with whole sentences. Sometimes you see characters acting out a scene that somehow makes sense to you. It rings true. That's the key (or one of them), as a songwriter, I would say this is pretty much number one: it must ring true to you. If you're going to expect the audience to buy it. People instinctively know when something doesn't feel right. It's like trying to pull the wool over a two year old's eyes when you say " no there's no ice cream left" and they look you in the eye with that look. Yep. Fail. So feeling is the key. Back in 2014, I wrote this one (song #602) in the middle of a busy day at a primary school where I teach piano. You'll see it took a huge sense of focus to get a song written that day. That's another big thing. You gotta have tenacity - stick with it and believe in yourself. In fact, I think you get beyond that whole ‘believing in yourself or not’ as an artist ... It's part of the journey. Yes, you do doubt your work (after all these years I do, from time to time - both the paintings I do and the songs I write). It can be a mood thing. So it pays to watch yourself - don't be too hard on a creative project you've got underway. If you've hit a rough patch maybe just go get some sunshine, have a rest and come back to it and perhaps you'll see it doesn't have to be thrown out after all. Ok on with the show. I hope you enjoy today's song and I hope you enjoy the chat. Recording these podcasts episodes each week is a rock solid part of my schedule. It's a most enjoyable thing to be doing. Each episode flows for me. I generally record the 30 minutes without stopping. It's all off the cuff. Before I hit the record button, I have very little idea about what I'm going to talk about each time. I always have a feeling it's going to be fun and entertaining. At a time of such unknowns, it's particularly nice to have this time waiting for me. It's waiting for you too. See you when you hit play. Pete

Episode #79: It's True (Song at 6.25) Welcome to a very mellow, slightly mysterious sounding episode. This week's featured song has that sort of a vibe about it. Song #60, written in 2014, came about a few days after a fishing expedition. It was a moonlit evening and I set off after sunset. In fact, we going to set off together. Yep, on this episode I'll take you with me to spend a bit of a peaceful time down by the water. The waves are lapping, the moon is shining on the water... Why would we do this? To set the mood. It's all about the feeling, this creative business of songwriting. This is where the song had its beginnings. Standing out on the breakwater, next to the deep water, deep thoughts sometimes come floating through. A beautiful fish came to me on the tides. I did feel bad that it had come to the end of the days, but a family needs to eat. A few days later, a couple of mysterious, peaceful melodies came through my fingers on the keys. Words came to me. It's the wildest thing to admit that a song or 2 could come about after landing a fish, but that's what happened in this case. At the beginning of this episode, you'll see I haven't hit on that idea yet. In fact I admit I'm casting about (pun unintended), but that's what I was doing, looking for the next thread...something 'true' to shed light on this creative exercise. Then I saw the line ‘silver fish from deep blue sea’ in the song book and that was it. I picked up the thread, got in to the flow....then as the song played, it came to me to take you, the listener, fishing with me. Come on now, grab the other bike, don't worry, I'll carry the fishing gear. It's only a five minute ride and we'll be there. Let's see where this song came from, shall we? But the way, if you like the sound of of this song, you can hear 9 more like it, on the album The Long Haul, on bandcamp ( Pete Pascoe and co)…it’s all piano / vocal, with some subtle keyboard strings. One day I'll release the album with full band arrangement. Back to this episode... Here, hold this fishing rod, let's see if we're going to catch a fish… Enjoy!

Episode #78: Secret Lullabies (Song at 3.36) Hi there and welcome to another episode. For the next 30 minutes or so, I'll be guided by my feelings as to what's interesting to talk about about with this song. It's the way I roll, here on this podcast - it's a fun way to go about it. I end up in places I never guessed I would've, when I hit the record button at the start. This week I've chosen to finally unveil the song I use to kick off each episode. The music at the start of each episode is the intro of this week's song, Secret Lullabies. This song asks some big questions, lyrically. I'm not sure whether it has any answers other than to delivering a soothing 'lullaby'. Old memories are brought to mind by old songs. The cat I had at the time came purring into my mind. It's funny - I have 2 very mischievous black and white cats in my life now, one of whom is very like the cat I had all those years ago. Maybe there's a sense of things coming to some point of arrival, like some sort of platform of sorts. I'm not sure why I would say that, other than its just a feeling that struck me. The creative flow is a mysterious thing. Being a songwriter can be like creating a bunch of documents that catch a moment in time. More accurately, they catch feelings from the time. These are the sorts of songs I write. It's such an enjoyable thing to be doing. One of the big questions the song asks is: 'How many friends last the distance?' A friend who I've been lucky to have in my life for a long time is Paul Dredge, my old co-songwriting mate. Paul featured in last week's podcast. He popped up again, a bit unexpectedly, when I hit play on the old demo this week. It somehow seemed poetic (wow, auto correct leapt ahead with the word destined, there. Hmm, no doubt). The realm of dreams often comes up, with songwriting. That seems to be where the creative realm is somehow 'reachable' - the subconscious, the collective consciousness... Being a songwriter means you're going to experience a series of constant surprises.Being a creative person and being fully committed on this path is incredibly rewarding. As I describe aspects of this wonderfully complicated, simple, mystical art each week, I'm constantly surprised by what comes into my mind and out of my mouth. I find recording these podcasts an entertaining and peaceful process. There's lots of fun to be had here. Ok on that note, sit back, relax and let me entertain you.... Here we go again! Here's the links to my music and art. www.petepascoe.com www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ( blog with lots of links) YouTube: Pete Pascoe Art and Music Enjoy.

Episode# 77: Anticipation and Longing (Song starts at 7:00) Welcome to another episode, packed with humour, chat & music. This week I interview my old mate, and co songwriter, Mr Paul Dredge. I also videoed proceedings. So you have the option to watch and listen this week, if you’d like to: https://youtu.be/0cc4r1SVz80 Paul and I ended up talking about all sorts...from All Blacks, to bird calls. Sit back and enjoy this easy conversation between 2 songwriters, as we endeavour to shed some light on how this song came together - and the songwriting process, in more general terms. We wrote Anticipation and Longing some years ago... It's one of the songs we wrote when we were at the height of our gigging years together. As Paul pointed out, 5 gigs a week for a couple of years is a lot - lots of musos manage one a week...we were busy! We were in tune with one another. It's a brilliant thing to have the amount of mutual understanding and trust you need in order to write a song together. It's like theatre sports...it's a subtle dance - you can't block the other person, and yet you feel completely free to ‘pipe up’ where you both feel inclined, to steer the creative project through to its best possible conclusion. It's all about the song, the feeling. When 2 voices are singing together (people who are comfortable with their individual voices) sometimes seems there's more than just the 2 voices ...the sum of the parts add up to something more. In this case, on this recording there is another (great) voice : Michelle Pickett on vocals too...and the brilliant Earl Pollard on drums. You can check out the song 7 minutes in, and also on the album Righto here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com The sound quality of this episode isn’t as good as usual, due to the nature of the live in interview recording - Paul was talking on a mobile phone. But it was fun and I’m glad we videoed it too, although the video only lasts 10 minutes. After that I’ve added edited photos. It was fun to put together. This fits the bill, then: a relaxed, inclusive delivery & a song. Good times. I hope enjoy the episode. Enjoy! Also, you might like to check out these links: Here’s my blog with the lyrics of this week’s song + more music and art: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. I’ve also written about last week’s featured song, Molly Brown - I’ll have to rewrite one of the lines. Here’s Paul’s Youtube channel and poetry blog: Youtube: Paul Dredge Music Poetry: https://paulspoeticramblings.wordpress.com/

Episode #76: Molly Brown (Song starts at 5:28) This week's song is a brand new one, so it's very fresh in my mind, as to how it came together. I wrote the lyrics and recorded the demo recording 2 nights ago. Tonight I’ve been a bit busy. I’ve just done online live concert for 90minutes, where I premiered this song. Then I videoed myself recording piano and vocals in my studio, playing along to some instrumentation which I'd already created. This song, 'Lead The Way' will be on an upcoming yet to be titled solo album. After all that, I recorded this podcast episode. I mention these things here because that's how it is to be a creative person (like a songwriter). When inspiration strikes, you go with it - and I do.... So, as I had my iPad set up in the studio, I decided to make video of tonight's show, for the first time. Here it is ( I got video of 1st 20mins. The last 10 mins is audios and photos) Ok. Back to our song… I had the melody and and chords all finished, a while ago. It'll work as a piano solo piece. In fact I'll put it on my next piano album I think, and produce sheet music. Back when the first melody snippet came, a woman's name came through: ‘Someone Brown’- definitely two syllables. So I called it ‘Lucy Brown’ (thinking of the Charlie Brown cartoons) as a working title. Also, I had a strong feeling I'd be writing lyrics, telling this ‘Ms Brown’s’ story and also felt that it would be a historical story of note. It was that clear, like receiving instructions. So I put the piece aside and waited… Earlier this week, it came to me: ‘The Titanic’. I thought ‘Really? But it's been done (so well, too)’. I didn't dismiss the idea, just considered the possibility.. The next morning I flicked on the computer and there was a post with the heading along the lines of: ‘Molly Brown and the Titanic’. Wow. Really? Really... So that was the clincher. It's been a great creative week. I love composing and writing lyrics and I love performing - the online concert was a blast. I think that's why I love recording a podcast episode each week - it’s like a performing, to a degree, but I feel like I’m in some sort of ‘inclusive’ (rather one-sided) conversation as well, as I speak. On this episode, as usual, I play my piano - for fun - and to demonstrate ideas. There's humour here, too. This podcast definitely has a relaxed vibe. I talk through the lyrics, where they came from. It wasn’t hard to find some information online, to gain an overview of Molly Brown's life. I just needed some quick facts to create something from, tell a story, so that got me started (I see there's a biography to read as well, so I will, one day). So this was a different sort of song for me. I really enjoyed the creative process of turning ‘dry’ facts into a descriptive story. If you'd like to find out more about how the song came to be - and hear a demo recording - sit back, perhaps grab a cuppa, and here we go... Thanks so much for stopping by and having a read. I hope you enjoy having a listen (or a view and a listen if you’d like to view the Youtube version. Pete www.petepascoe.com Blog (with the paintings I mention on this episode + lyrics, more music and art): www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #75: Harbour Lights (Song starts at 7.35) Hi there. If this is your first time here, what can you expect from having a listen? You'll find a show packed with music, humour, anecdotes..even the odd bird call. (!) I'm here to entertain you by providing a relaxed 30 minutes of conversation. Sure it's a pretty one sided conversation, but thanks so much for those of you tuning in each week. I feel like I'm in your company... plus you'll get to hear some new music - well, it'll be new to you, but each week I select a song from the 800 or so I've composed over the years - and I'm still going (last week's episode featured the most recent song I've written). Harbour lights was composed in 2011. It's a description of tough period in someone's life (there's a bit of me in it - it was one of my shakier chapters). But I got through it. As they say, the darkest hour is just before dawn. There’s an uplifting chorus and finish with this song. So, ultimately, it’s got an ‘up’ sort of feeling about it. On that note, judging by recent feedback, it seems this podcast is lifting spirits, that is fantastic. This is one of the reasons I started this podcast. We could all do with a lift in these uncertain times. Another reason I'm doing this is to share my song working tips (by the way, I'm not going to tell you how to write a song, but I'm going to share with you how I do it). I'm loving recording these episodes, it's a fun, fluid process each week. It's all ‘off the cuff’ - as I walk in to the studio each time, I have no idea what I going to talk about. I allow the mood, the music, etc to lead the way..... As usual, I had some fun on this episode... Given the dramatic nature of the song, I just felt the need, as an entertainer, to lighten the mood. Ok I hope this one lifts your spirits. Enjoy ! By the way, here's my blog. This is where you’ll find the lyrics, the painting and photos I mention - and more: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com / the ‘Black Cockatoos’ post.

Episode #74: I Can't Call You (Song starts at 12.58) Hi there. Come along with me for another ‘wander’ and a chat. I'm looking to entertain and relax the listener (you). I'm also looking to shed some light on the mystery of a creative process: Songwriting. As I write these show notes, 'I Can't Call You' is the most recent song I've written. The version on this episode is the live version, taken from my recent live online performance, (you can view some on YouTube Pete Pascoe Art and Music or the whole concert via my Insta (Pete Pascoe Art and Music) or Facebook (Pete Pascoe Songwriter). Often when I'm writing a song it really feels like it's a co-write with 'another' - somewhere on the ether, ideas float in on the breeze. It came to me in this episode that perhaps composing means exactly that....'com'( communicating - so inferring more than one entity is involved - and 'pose' ...ask a questions. So with that information, it seems a like reasonable description of proceedings…asking a series of questions together, as the song unfolds/ takes form. Nothing is cast in stone with the creative process. Everything is suggested. Sometimes you get a feeling that an element of a song is a instantly a strong element - in which case, you think ok, that's 'in' ....by constantly asking questions and being open to change (which, incidentally, I talk about in his weeks blog post), you are open to the possibility that things can become stronger and stronger as the process goes on. The elements build on what just happened. I think that's why the feeling is so important...it's the start, it's the 'voice' that talks and leads me on. I'm a cartoonist as well. Early on in a cartoon drawing I'll want to get the feeling, the emotion, across… so I'll scoot straight to putting the eyes in - finding the personality of the character. That's what drives me as I compose. The feeling. It lifts me. The beauty is: once a piece of art or a song has been completed it can be presented and performed and others can be affected by the emotion. The listener or the observer perceives the art or song as it pertains to them - almost taking ownership of the art or music. Ok...Yes, this is a big subject we tackle here on this podcast, but there's humour here, light hearted banter & anecdotes - including an unfortunate encounter I had with an old lawn mower.... By the way, if you'd like to hear what I'm up to each week, maybe you’d like to view a new painting, hear about a gig, a new video, etc. please do sign up to my email list: info@petepascoe.com And if you are enjoying this podcast, please do leave a favourable review / share it far and wide. Thank you so much in advance. You can read the lyrics of this weeks song on my blogpost - and view the painting I mention in this episode at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Ok. Here we go. Join me now....I hope you relax and enjoy a song and a chat

Episode #73: Long, Long Road (Song at 5.34)

Talk about a long, long road...it's currently lockdown here in Melbourne - Again! That's 6 times! Happy to do my bit, stay home and do what's right. One of the things I've enjoyed over the last 15 months has been recording podcast episodes. It's been my one of my ‘islands of certainty’ each week, in these uncertain times. I have a few things I'm committed to doing each week, including a music video and painting, a blog etc. But the focus of what you're tuning into here today is another episode of my podcast. This week, as usual, I talk about whatever pops into my mind. It's all free flow. Consequently, it's a relaxed 30minutes you're in for. But I pack plenty in - you'll find out. And you'll get a song - this one is from my piano vocal album 'The Long Haul' (which you can find on www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). I talk in layman’s terms, when it comes to the theory of what goes on with the songwriting. So no prior knowledge of music theory is needed to enjoy this podcast. It's a very nice feeling casting my mind back to how the song came together each week, recalling old memories & relating things that have happened to me during the week. The Long, Long Road awaits us all. It’s about the idea of self development, responsibility of the self to take each step along the way, unlock a door...and find...it’s a long, long road ahead. A series of ‘nows’, in effect, with no actual final destination…then we move on again. Yes, it’s a big subject but the beauty of combining the words with music means the melody and chords can transform deep words into an uplifting experience. Apparently, the overall effect of of this podcast is: it's informative, engaging, relaxing and inspiring! How's that? Thanks so much for the feedback, folks! Thanks so much for stopping by and having a read. If you want to find out more about the art I mention in this episode, here’s my blog, where you can find out more...www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Being an active, creative person has really helped me - particularly over this last year. I'm so pleased that the music, art, writing and talking I've shared online has helped others. Fantastic. That's the power of the arts. Enjoy the Long Long Road. If you like this one there's another 70-odd episodes waiting!

Episode #72: Gratitude (Song at 4.22) An interesting one this week. I stumbled across this old demo when I was going through some files on the computer. I've already presented this one to the band (myself and the Patient Hum) - would’ve been handy to have had this demo around on the evening I sang it through with the guys. Or maybe not...sometimes it's fun to see what other musicians come up with, without them being steered in a certain direction. As it turns out, on the evening I played it to the band, I managed to convey the sensitive mellow sort of vocal take I had in mind... I was singing lightly, playing keys bass left hand and piano right hand. It's certainly fun and it allows me to give some cues along the way by pushing the bass here and there and ‘easing back’ sometimes. This demo fits the bill for this podcast. It's got ‘something' about it.- and that something is: feeling. It's not the most accurately played demo - that's me on the drums, having a play through for the first time. The piano is improvised. I threw some quick strings, synth and vocal harmonies tonight, before I recorded the podcast episode. It needs a mix and some fixes, but it was fun. It's pretty late now...Oh well, you've gotta go wild occasionally when you're a muso! Song number 655, Gratitude came in on the breeze as I sat at the piano, in between teaching students, back in 2017. I'm grateful for much about my life. I've chosen the creative path and I’m grateful for the fact that I chose to commit to this path early on in life. This song started with a simple riff on the piano, which caught my ear, so I recorded it quickly using my iPad, shooting a video. Then I taught some more lessons. After a while I had another break. I played back the riff .. Aha ! It's a great feeling, knowing you've squirrelled something away that makes you feel ...good. Actually I wrote about this idea on my blog post this week. The idea of quickly writing just the skeleton of the creative idea, so it's there for you to come back to. If we don't take this step, all this energy - and the seeds of an idea - are lost like dry sand between fingers. It is such good fun playing the piano and singing. I did enjoy having a hit on the drums - just to get the ‘mood ‘across to another drummer. And that drummer will be, in this case, Dan Dew, the drummer from our band. On this episode, I also recount a humorous episode of myself chasing a couple of rock wallabies on a very steep slope here in the Australian outback.., piqued your curiosity? I hope so. Also my blog is petepascoe.wordpress.com . This is where you can view the painting I mention in this episode, plus there's links to all sorts - including me recent live online concert -the video is up online too. Here's another 30 minutes of song and a chat. Relax and enjoy the music and conversation....

Episode #71 The Man In Blue (Song at 11.02) Hi there and welcome to another 30 minutes of relaxed chat - and some music. If you're back here for another dose, thank you! If it’s your 1st time here, welcome. As you listen, I hope you're feeling like you're almost ‘in conversation’ with me, as an audience when I'm talking away. Recording the episodes about songwriting, life observations, anecdotes, etc is an intimate thing. It’s a rewarding process, looking into songwriting - it’s a gentle and revealing art. I keep my delivery relaxed with humour never far away… it’s gotta be fun. By its very nature, when you engage in songwriting, you open yourself up. You make yourself vulnerable. So there's a lot of trust required when it comes to exploring this art... whether you’re doing some co songwriting, or sharing your music. Anyway, this is what we are up to here, each week. - and there is a 'we' in this equation: ‘me’ and ‘you’...thanks so much for tuning in and listening. I hope you enjoy today's episode. The Man In Blue, like most of my songs, just came out of thin air. Incidentally, this song is the title track of an album of mine. You can find it streaming a lover the place on all the normal streaming platforms (and Thin Air is the opening track…hmm maybe there's something in that. I used to love trying to read something into the song titles of my favourite albums). Anyway. The Man In Blue talks about about a time in my life where I was looking back on my life, acknowledging parts of my life were a bit ‘hairy’. Ahh the ups and downs of the artist, I hear you say. Yes, but it's the ups and downs of everyone's life. That's the beauty of a song. The mix of the music and the words can grab you emotionally and take you places you maybe didn't realise you're ready to go to... Again, some marvellous musicals played on this track. I hope you enjoy the song and the story behind The Man In Blue. I'm starting to get into performing music live, online, by the way. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in being part of, send me an email & I’ll send you the link - in fact, if you'd like to get on my email list, that’d be great. That way you won’t miss a thing. I'm very busy online, each week: YouTube videos, new paintings and songs, etc. Here's my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com - lots here each week. I committed to blogging weekly in the same week I published my first episode here, so there's 70 consecutive weeks of paintings, music, cartoons, & writing to look back on. Eventually I'm going to be producing e books and video courses which will be of an educational nature.... Painting, cartooning, songwriting, etc.. Coming up. Now, on with the show. Enjoy....

Episode #70: Help Me (Song starts at 7:24 ) Hi there, from Melbourne. Once again, here I am behind the mic, at the piano, looking at another song from a while ago - or that was what I thought. But…I pushed a button without realising it. An 80s synth sound came through loud and clear, when I was expecting a piano sound. I let this take me somewhere and I leapt in and started composing an ...80s rock song. So this may well become a song which I'll finish and release at some point in the future - and you heard it first on this podcast! Now, back to the song at hand, Help Me, after all these years, is topical this week (I wrote it in 1998! ). It's lockdown here, again, in Melbourne. Man, it's been really, really challenging as a musician artist, these last 15 months. But the art and music have kept my wheels on - I've loved sharing so many songs and creative ideas, anecdotes and observations on this podcast so far. I've also been panting seascapes flat out. So with gigs and arts markets being cancelled ( and most my piano teaching ), I've been emailing and following up seascape commission enquires, doing all sorts.. As well, I've been doing my blog (www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). .....and some music - and this (mainly) what we are here to talk about. With everything going on, it is with a sense of relief and excitement when I go into my studio, select and old demo and create a show around the song. I really like today's song. It's a bluesy number with a strong groove, some excellent lead guitar from Paul Dredge (NZ), my song writing buddy. So if you want to escape off into songwriting land with me, come on... Let's see where it takes us. Help me is basically a cry for help. With lyrics like these, it's tempting (and logical ) to write a ballad, especially when your writing on the piano. I'm pleased with this song: I think it really sounds like it's been written on guitar, with a band. So today's song is a bit different from some of my piano / vocal songs ... Ok grab a cuppa, here we go - here's 30 minutes of creativity, fun and exploration. Enjoy!

Episode #69: Where The Days All Went (Song starts at 5.50)

Hi and welcome to another episode. As usual, we are travelling back in time to the day I wrote this one - song #446. If you're thinking ‘that's a while ago’! That's what I'm thinking too. But the strange thing is, it doesn't feel so long ago, to me... And now I'm thinking ‘where did all those days go?’ It's been years since I moved to Melbourne from New Zealand. I miss walking beside the rivers in NZ. It was a beautiful calm winters day, the day I recorded this episode here in Melbourne. You can hear 'my' magpies in our backyard...you'll also get to hear a few moments of a New Zealand Tui (bird) call and the sound of one of my favourite rivers, courtesy of my co-songwriting mate, Paul Dredge - who just happens to play guitars and bass on today’s song. He sent me the recording via his phone. cool, eh? You’ll also get to hear about me racing out to get the bins out to the rubbish truck in time - on a cold winters early morning..ha. Back in 1998, I remember the inspiration was “what the...where do all those days get to? I'm a little bit older, and I feel like I'm just getting started ..." In many ways, in 2021, I feel exactly the same.. Here I am, 69 episodes in, on a relatively new podcast. I’m about to produce a bunch of e-books and video courses…and this is something that I've wanted to do for years. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned along the way - creative processes : How to paint, how to write a song, how to draw cartoons, etc... Really looking forward to getting these products online, ready for people to download. I've spent all this time learning, developing a style, in a few different arts. I've been teaching one on one lessons for years. I want to share the teaching to more people - why wouldn't you...so, yep, I'm just getting started here. Also, I have more albums on the way and there’s lots of sheet music to produce, too. So I'm going to busy for some time yet! In the 1990s, I was gigging and writing songs. That was about it - oh, and fishing and playing some cricket. So I wrote plenty of songs - and I'm glad I did. In these episodes on this podcast, There's a big emphasis on 'nature healing us’ in my songs. It's big part of who I am. I didn't realise there was so much of that aspect in my songs. I'm glad there is. The lyrics are one of 3 sets of lyrics I wrote on my birthday (happening social life back then, obviously...). So the first line is "with every song I'm older...." So that obviously came from it being my birthday. And away we go. There's a line in the song ' the world begs no difference to how we may remember' ...how nature helps to find our place in the scheme of things…there are so many people and it’s a big world. It's a great feeling to write lyrics. It's also great fun to read back through them, without singing or playing music. It allows me to focus on the deeper meaning in the sentences. I'm really enjoying just playing, having fun as I talk and I'm finding this is really taking me places I might not otherwise get to, in terms of understanding some of my ‘trick’s I use as a songwriter..and consequently, Im sharing them in the moment I'm discovering them . Which is really interesting to me. Join me this week as I experiment, turning a rock song into a piano vocal version...and I compose some new parts as I ...play ..rewriting. It's always an option as a songwriter. There's a balance between being open to changes and hanging on to that which you believe to be right the way it is already. Ultimately, it's about what's right for the Song. (and sometimes more than one arrangement is the right call) Enjoy a relaxed 30 mins of chat and step in the shoes of a songwriter. Hope you enjoy the music , too. You can read the lyrics in this week’s blog post at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com - plus there’s lots more music and art there too.

Episode #68: Time Wheels (Song starts at 4:26) Welcome to another episode. I like the way this podcast is developing. Casting my mind back, it's hard to believe more than a year has gone by since I recorded my 1st episode. Those time wheels keep on turning. Written in 1991 ( yes, that is some time ago, and it's a surprise to me that so many years have passed since I wrote this one).The lyrics of Time Wheels are a collection of seemingly random images from my past. The reflective mood of these words were then given a context, a suitable musical bed and a melody to then take flight and become.... a song. It's a seemingly magical thing…come along with me in this episode and I'll take you inside the songwriting process once again. By the way, if this is your first time here, be not afraid: this podcast is not a dry ‘how to text book’ on songwriting. It includes songwriting tips on how I go about it, but it's more about sharing the feelings and my experiences along the way, sort of looking to shed light on the process without ever looking to try and demystify the process - as if I could do that. Time is obviously a universal theme. It means something different to everyone and what it means to an individual changes...over time. Our perception of time changes in relation to our state of mind: being immersed in a passion can mean a long period of time can flash by in an instant. Conversely, if you’re not enjoying what you're up to, 30minutes can seem to take an eternity. (Perhaps this is a bit like quantum physics, how the observer can influence the outcome of experiments simply by observing (?) or not… anyhow…back to songwriting…) I talk about the recording process here, too, in general terms. Again, how magical it is - how it feels to sing together in harmony with 2 other people. We recorded all the vocals on this demo in one take. In fact the whole album, Righto, (which I have on bandcamp here : www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com) was recorded like that. From memory there was perhaps only one false take. We did the 17 songs in 3 days. Who does that? Well, we were well rehearsed and we were passionate and we were used to making music together ...we played five nights a week together. That's a lot over three years. I was younger when I wrote this song. But I'm not sure if written many better ones than this. It’s got ‘a feeling’ about it.… Here’s the story behind time wheels. Enjoy just sitting back and enjoy the chat -and some music. You can find the lyrics at the end of this week's blog post www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (resilience and self belief post)

Episode #67: Huckleberry Man (Song starts at 7.54) Hi there & welcome! This week's episode features a song that came out of thin air - a collaboration between myself and my friend Jo Kinniburgh. The evening it happened, we didn't set out to write a song - it was completely unexpected. It was at the time I composed my very mellow 1st solo piano ‘River Music' album. There were 3 of us living in the house at the time, reading Tolkien by candle light, going fly fishing... Sounds pretty tranquil doesn't it? It was. But, In contrast to all this, ‘Huckleberry’ came through like a shot in the arm - a song with a sense of humour and message too, I think. Jo started the guitar riff and I piped up with ‘Pascoe speak’ -half ‘gobbledegook’- sung 'lyrics'. Huckleberry and the other character, Miss Merry Meadow arrived from the ether, as did Jo’s chord changes. I edited the lyrics and it all came together in no time at all. Great fun. Over this past 15 months or so, as I've archived and examined my creative work (music and art), the elements of humour keep arising. I would venture to say this humour helps to keep energy flowing, keeps you on the breath, ready to receive whatever comes through from the muse - or whatever you'd like to label this ' thing' To me, it’s more than a thing. 'It' feels like an ever changing ...entity ...is the wrong word ...force ? Wrong, again. Ahh my coarse brush of my language fails me. I'm comfortable with that. It's a mystery. Perhaps we can agree to that ? The lyrics came from somewhere ‘deeper’. As usual, I did weave universal themes into what (on the surface) was a light hearted song. There's s little bit of me in Huckleberry. And perhaps there's some of of Huckleberry Finn here as well. Maybe that's an example of the power and the uniting force of the arts. Here I am, living in the South Pacific , channeling something written by a novelist from the northern hemisphere, in another century.. ..And there's a little bit of someone else I know in Miss Merry Meadow. But there's more … Huckleberry represents male energy in general and Miss Merry, the female energy. So this song is about that dance. In this episode , I imagine Beethoven composing in a castle, talk about my imaginary dog...yep, we get all over the place, again. The sense of play as I speak helps me to uncover and explain some of the processes I go through to come up with these songs.. So thanks, Jo. I loved writing this with you. And thanks to you, I'm presenting another ( hopefully ) entertaining and informative episode - that's the aim. Enjoy that sense of fun and the 'up' country type of song as well... Yeeharrr...... Lyrics here : www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ( plus a stack of art and more music).

Episode #66: King Edward's Park ( Song starts at: 6.44 ) This song (# 380 ) reminds me of how it felt to be sitting in King Edwards Park all those years ago, back in New Plymouth, NZ. I can recall the mood, the sounds of ' the ducks chattering in love', the sights ... just a few people strolling by, a monarch ( butterfly) floating by on the breeze... the most peaceful kind of scenes: late Autumn & the seasons seemed to have been paused. I was sitting on the old wooden park chair, writing the words that turned out to be the lyrics for this song. It brought out some emotions as I listened back to this song. I starting thinking about how I moved to Melbourne ( from NZ). Looking back, There's been a lot of sacrifices I've made, to live this life as a songwriter. I think, to a degree, it's necessary to really commit to an artist's path, to come up with art or music that is really ‘honest' You've got to live a little and 'find your voice' - the voice that is yours and yours only. That's why my lyrics stand out to me. They ring true and I'm not trying to write like anyone else. I feel the same about my music. To begin with, you start out by emulating the music and songwriters you admire. Then you sort of step out in faith and have a lash at writing something of your own. I think you get lucky initially, then you basically just work really, really hard at what you do, chipping away, being honest to yourself while playing and keeping all the theory in mind. Then one day you wake up and find you're consistently writing songs you really enjoy. And other people do too. I love how you sort of get to dip into another world ( or different worlds ), constantly, as you close your eyes and wait for the next flash of inspiration to come through. This is the way the words and the music comes through. Eg a monarch ( butterfly) floated by and I thought of a monarch as in a queen . So in the next line I cast myself as a jester - an entertainer- observing the day. I really enjoy analysing the lyrics, recalling how they unfolded. I find it amazing how much I can recall. For something different, as a songwriter, it can be a good idea to sort of not divulge everything -leave a sense of mystery. I did this in the bridge, talking about the night air so cool.... So join me today as I retrace the steps, looking at how the music & words came into being. It really is all a bout the feeling . That's number one. See if this song makes you feel anything in particular.... It's great fun to be a songwriter & It's nice to be sharing how I go about it. You can check out the lyrics on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Enjoy

Episode #65: Visions Of Sleep (Song starts at 5.48) Hi and welcome to another episode of fun, exploration and ...intrigue. Where did this song (song # 406) come from? It came from a dream. There you go. It was early (ish) in the morning, after all, I'm a musician. It would've been sometime before 11am. Probably. Anyhow, I woke from this dream as if someone lightly shook me. So I wrote those words in my diary and then they became lyrics. The rest of the lyrics came from my casting my mind back into a dream like state, sifting for feelings and trying to recall as much as I could. A figure, away in the distance, slowly came into view, he came closer and closer and..... This demo of the song was actually the first time it was ever played. Actually, on the day, three of us recorded 14 songs (first take), and this became an album of which I released 100 CDs. I've since recorded the vocals, added some strings and I think I'll re-release it on bandcamp later this year. This is very much 'information' outlining the process. But an episode of Song and A Chat is more than that.... So how does an episode roll? What's the format? Well, I start out with some sort of ‘off the cuff’ sort of opening gambit about what's been happening - in fact , whatever pops into my mind. So it's a relaxed chat. Eventually, I bring the conversation around to the song. I muse and chat, quite often I come up with something unexpected that ends up being related to the song. The apparently initially unrelated subject material quite often seems to shine a light on some aspect of the week's song in a way that might never have happened had I not just chatted and had some fun. I play the demo, then I read the lyrics, analysing them in an relaxed manner. I don't take myself overly seriously - when it comes down to it, art and music has to be fun ( yes, there's a recurring theme here). I do enjoy looking at the words. Then I look at the music and demonstrate bits and pieces on my piano as I speak. I hope you enjoy the song - and the chat. Sit back and enjoy having a listen. By the way, while there's lots of songwriting tips here, they are delivered in terms that the layman can understand. It all inclusive, as if I'm addressing an intimate crowd at a 'songwriter speaks' sort of gig - no prior music theory knowledge is required. Join me in the dreamy realm of the state I get into, as a songwriter, like this : "Hi there! Welcome to another episode of Song and Chat ! - with your host, Pete Pascoe - that would be me. Man, the howling winds really blew last night here in Melbourne ....." and on we go. The howling winds brought to mind an old episode of the TV show 'The Young Ones' , so I talk about that for a while…etc. You can check out the lyrics of the featured song ( and some art and more music ) on my blog each week: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . Maybe Visions Of Sleep might work with my current band, Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum. Hmm…I’ll put it to the guys. Maybe one day we'll release a new version and you'll be able to say "I heard the demo - and got the back story " here. By the way, you'll hear about my little dog that I used to have and what happened when my brother and I let the budgie out for a fly around the kitchen one day..... How's that for unexpected. That's just what you can expect. C’mon & join me now as I get right inside the one of my real passions in life . Songwriting. ....

Episode #64: Memory Of The Day (Song starts at 7:28) This episode’s song was fully inspired by some words that came to me out of thin air. Actually, it was like it was whispered to me somehow…in my mind. That’s quite an admission to make publicly, but, as a creative, these things seem to happen. Maybe it comes through your DNA, something from your past or ancestors....or maybe there's more. I think there's more to it - and as a matter of fact I'm pretty comfortable with that. I'm open to possibilities. Anyway, The line that ‘came through’ was: 'Imagine ears and eyes of ages drifting down through time'. So that's all it takes to make a start. It sort of asks some questions …and away you go. I released this song on an album (just a small run of home burned CDs) and I published a small book of the lyrics presented as poetry + some paintings, back when I had my first exhibition some years ago. I intend to re-record and re-release this album with an ebook of the poetry and the paintings that accompanied each song. There is also a small watercolour/pen working painting for each song too. It’ll be fun to bring all together. You can check out my blog - see this week's post to see some of the art from that time. Anyway, back to those couple of sentences, they were just words until I came up with a piano riff early on in the songwriting process. You can hear that riff as I talk and play my piano again this week. Want to get behind the scenes, see where a song comes from, find out more about the process? Come on and join me for a relaxed chat - with humour and observations + some piano. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com lyrics + art here. Enjoy Pete

Episode #63: A Tincture of Time (Song at 26.58) (Song plays at 26.58 - you can scroll easily. Each episode is approx 30mins long). Hi there and welcome! This episode, we have a have a different sort of a format: I'm looking closely at how this song came together, rather than what inspired it. On that note I can you tell exactly what inspired this song… I've been receiving some very nice, ongoing, positive feedback regarding my Song and a Chat podcast, courtesy of Roger from Adelaide, Australia. In an email, Roger used the phrase ‘A tincture of time’. I said that I thought it was a great line...and that I thought perhaps Roger might be a poet. This week Roger sent me the sheet of lyrics based on this key phrase (thanks, Roger!) So I thought: well Roger's been great, reaching out and giving me this feedback, so I'm going to leap straight in and put some music to this (he'd asked me if perhaps I'd be interested in doing this), which I did. The demo of the song is presented in this week's podcast. I also videoed myself during the entire song writing session - in between teaching piano students at a Primary school, where I teach as a contractor. So I have included some of the audio from that day and interspersed it with my usual commentary and observations. Today's song is about the idea of getting out into nature and letting a bit a of fresh air and a bit of time take care of all your worries....and how it all seems to work out... Ok. Fancy a tincture of time, and hearing how the writing of this song unfolded? Here we go… Read both Roger’s original lyrics and my amended lyrics on my blog post ‘Why Theory?’ (June 2021) @ www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Contact info@petepascoe.com.

Episode #62: Close To Me (Song at 4.43)

It was a bit chilly in the studio tonight.. Winter seems to have arrived. Don't you love the change in seasons? I took a walk today down the road. Where I live, I'm close to nature and for that, I'm very thankful. It's great to get out and get a breath of fresh air. Today's song, Close To Me, talks about the beginning of a relationship. Then it talks about how naturally the two peoples lives combine like the currents of a river - and the currents (and the relationship) continue to grow....and then onto the statement that it feels like 'this love will stay close to me'. I posted a video of me singing this song last week, on YouTube. This episode's song is the audio from that video. Pete Pascoe Art and Music is my YouTube channel with lots of songs on there now. And art... This song, like most of my songs started with a feeling. Letting my hands fall on the keys and form chords is very much like how it feels to put some paint on a canvas and just play. It fascinates me how such a complicated process can happen so naturally and quickly. ...that's how I work. Then I perform the songs and edit them from time to time. I suppose it takes faith to compose instinctively, like this. You need faith in your theory, your assuredness on the keys, and once you've got all that together, you've got to be pretty much free: Free in your thoughts, free to feel ok about making mistakes and then maybe coming up with nothing of note. A certain sort of confidence, I guess you could call it professionalism - slowly starts to develop, over time - much like when you're a gigging musician, you know you’re going to ( hopefully) reach a certain standard with what you're presenting. So as a songwriter, I don't expect a song of note to take form, it's more you anticipate the magic to be there...because you're feeling in the mood. Yep, it's a mood thing. Ahh the life of the fickle artist... The ups and the downs of the path….it is blog where you can read the lyrics each week - and look at some art… Ok, got time for a chat? Grab a cuppa, and sit back or perhaps turn on the ignition and start driving. Here's how this song came together.....

Episdoe #61: With the Flow (Song at 5.22) Welcome along to another episode. This week we are looking at a song I wrote back in 2016. The day I wrote this one, I was teaching piano. In fact, I was teaching 17 students on a Monday - followed by another 15 on Tuesday! I've ‘reeled it in a bit’ now to 26 students. Either way, that's a lot of private lessons in one day. As I teach these lessons, I aim to entertain the students & make it as much as fun as I can - yes, I'm in a creative state. As I walk around the school to collect the next student, often I whistle, just to sort of switch off and relax. Snippets of melody come out of thin air as I just relax and play as I whistle. The opening notes of 'With The Flow' came whistling from my lips. So I headed back to the Piano room and wrote those notes down. 'With The Flow' is Song number 643. That seems pretty bizarre to me. There was never a time when I sat down and said to myself ... now I'm going to write 800 songs. They just came - because I made a start and I committed to carrying on... …and carry on have - learning each time, going with little mistakes, being free, tuning into something - it's like being a secretary: playing a few notes writing them down, then rewinding the song a little in my head, then starting off again and see what comes out next. The title song of the song says it all. With the flow ...it's like swimming with the current of the river - or nature in general. How does it feel? It doesn't feel like hard work. Perhaps it should sometimes... in truth, I have worked and I continue to work extremely hard at this. The thing is, because I enjoy the process so much, it really doesn’t feel like work. I'm playing with the a purpose and I'm in the flow. These are the things I talk about on these episodes - plus life observations, anecdotes, etc. I really enjoy exploring, going back in my memory remembering things that were happening at the time I write these songs. Taking a moment to get in the flow and just go with it. That kind of sums songwriting - or any art for that matter. Perhaps the art of being human. I mention that I went to the beach to paint, again, this week. You can see today's painting and read the lyrics on my blog post this week. Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it. It's all off the cuff, I don't have any notes. As long as I just start, everything comes together. It's all a work in progress - and it's fun along the way. Here we go…with the flow. Enjoy.

Episode #60: I'd Do It Again (Song at 6.44sec) As usual, this week I examine a song I've written, I endeavour to put you in the shoes of a songwriter. I'm looking to entertain and inform on this podcast (6.44 is the time where the songs kicks in). I can't believe I'm up to episode number 60. Here's a shout out to Brent Vaarstra https://www.brentvaartstra.com/passive-income-musician for his podcast that got me cracking on my path of sharing all of this online content on a weekly basis...he shares the how to and the why you'd do it.. I really recommend tuning into what Brent has to say if you feel like you'd like to let people know what you're up to...and perhaps you've got something people might like to invest in...(in the future I'll have ebooks and video courses on song composition available on my website). Anyhow, Wow 60 episodes.....that's 60 songs to have a listen to, 30 hours of me talking about songwriting, the experiences I've had, the things that have lead me to be being a songwriter, the sort of life events that have inspired songs. And that's the only time I'll write a song - when I'm inspired. If I get the feeling something is 'coming through', I drop everything and embrace the moment. It's a total joy. It's something I'm extremely thankful for, for a number I reasons, which I talk about on this episode… Today I talk about how I sang in a choral group in Wyoming. I was reminded of this while sitting on a seat overlooking the ocean today. I had some great conversations with passers by. One conversation has lead to me saying I'll rock up to audition for a choir next week! Why not? - who knows where it might lead. It seems to fit right in with my philosophy that the universe throws up opportunities all the time for us to learn and and have experiences that have the effect of pushing on and give us a deeper understanding of our lives. Today's song, ‘I'd Do It Again’ (song #581), looks back at a creative life lived so far, the ups and the downs....and was it worth it? All those trials of being a songwriter all these years..and the statement in the title says it all: I'd do it again.. So join me join me again for a chat and some piano and a song. I’ll take you on a NZ trout stream too.. It's a very much a pleasure to be recording these episodes. I hope you enjoy it. My blog which I mention in this episode is www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. You can find the lyrics of the song featured on this podcast each week on my blog. I used to love reading the lyrics of the record sleeve as I listened to a new album. I think it helps you ' get' a song quicker... plus you can see the painting of the seat overlooking the bay that I painted today. The book I'm reading is Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - Dave Stewart's memoirs. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics fame. It's a hilarious read. His story really resonated with me. The creative path. It's a blast and songwriting is a fine art to be involved in. Curious ? Join me now.... Lots of songwriting tips here too.

Episode #59: Ghosts and Lamp Posts (Song at 5.45) Welcome to another episode packed with information, humour and mystery! I actually said something like that as I introduced this week's podcast episode and as I said those words, the lamp I picked up from the side of the road ( someone was throwing it out) recently went out. It's one of those ones you tap 3 times to get different levels of light. Anyhow, given the subject matter of ghosts, that was quite a moment, here in the middle of the night in Melbourne in my studio all by myself. Not spooked at all! I tapped it and away it went again. It’s never happened before… Here I am, talking all around the subject, this week's song. Sometimes by doing that you come up with a more ‘real’, fuller picture with depth. More of the story. That's the way I roll: I see art as life and life as art. A painting I did today (of Olivers Hill in Melbourne), sitting beside the water, caught my eye as I recorded this episode. Painting outside sets my mind free. And that is a necessary part of the equation when it comes to songwriting. Today’s song, song # 312, Ghosts and Lamp Posts, was written on the 3 /12 in 1991 The moment that inspired this song is etched in my memory. I was driving home from a gig at a resort in the middle of a rainy night when a large milk truck ( and trailer ) came around the corner, just on the wrong side of the road. It was one of those moments. He corrected his course. I veered to the left, just hanging on the road and in an instant the moment was gone & I carried on home. It was an inspired patch for me in my twenties. Nearly everything inspired me. I was writing about 5 or 6 songs a week. My diary entries each night always finished with a lyric writing effort - and I finished the lyric. It wasn't just a line or two. I wrote the whole lyric quickly, there and then. So what does it really take to be a songwriter? I would say it takes dedication. You've gotta stick with it. Just start writing. Write around the subject and if you're not sure what the song’s about, sometimes that's all the better. Ghosts and Lamp Posts sure took me somewhere again as I listened midway through recording this podcast episode. It’s got ‘a feeling’ about it. I hope it takes you somewhere and I hope you enjoy the chat about it - and around it. Plus there’s some intermittent piano playing as I talk. Thanks for dropping by. Enjoy! Here's the blog post I mention in todays episode ( you can read the lyrics to this song and view the painting I painted earlier today -a seascape. It's a great creative life). www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Pete

Episode #58: These Bills (Song at 5.35) This is the podcast where each week I'll put you on the shoes of being a songwriter as I attempt to figure out where/ how a song came to be...so Let’s find out what the inspiration for this week's song These Bills (written in 1991) was... It's a great idea to study other songwriters. So, although I’d already written 190 songs, I decided to buy a Bob Dylan sheet music book and analyse and emulate his style for a song or two. Great move. You learn so much by analysing others works - especially those whom you admire. For the lyrical content, I always go with what is it in my life that I'm feeling right now....I was much younger then and when I received a phone message with the words young males often dread from the opposite sex: " we need to talk" came through I thought: "Uh oh". Alarm bells went off. I reflected on what’d happened to this point in the relationship - especially events of late - to try and get a handle on what was coming up. Then I looked around the room for a comforting distraction. Great. I saw pile of bills waiting to be paid. Something else 'not fun'. But at least it served to be a distraction ..... The trick is, just writing your feelings down is therapy. A diary is a big help, personally - and for your keeping a free creative state of mind. It gets stuff off your shoulders and you can reflect on it, see things in a different light and you turn it into art (this is the essence of this week's blog post, by the way. Plus I talk about a painting I did this week on this episode - you can see the painting and read the words to 'These Bills' on the blog post: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). The more you do something, the more natural it becomes, right? So it is with song writing. Just write and write. Then go write some more. And record versions of what you're up to, so you can step outside your work and clearly see/ hear what the listener will be receiving. It's different to listening while you're performing the song. Juggling so many different artistic endeavours, I do get a chance to reflect on work done. By nibbling away and coming back, I get to see things from another angle. So that's one positive thing about being involved in a few different artistic areas. Probably my favourite thing to do is write songs - and make sure I really enjoy each moment of my life as much as possible. Easy words to write, but it's something I think we need to keep reminding ourselves about. I do this, generally. I had a Fractured skull in my 20s. I got a second chance. That was when I decided to commit to the creative path I was already on - and to make sure I lived each day. Because each day lived since was (and still is) a bonus for me. So on this podcast each week, I'm really enjoying chatting about what I've been up to as an artist and musician & observations about life in general... It's all put across in a laid back, natural flowing manner. By the way, this demo version ended up on the album Tasman Bridge. You can listen to it here: https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/album/tasman-bridge Entertainment and songwriting tips. Thanks for tuning in again this week. Enjoy These Bills! Pete.

Episode #57: Post The Picture (Song at 6.58)

Where does a song come from? It's a bit like how long is a piece of string… For me, my songwriting (and my painting) comes from a combination of what is happening in the moment around me - and within - and memories. My lyrics lead me across time, like a time traveller. How does that feel? It makes me feel free - free to express whatever I'm feeling. When you're writing a song it doesn't feel like you're doing it alone. There some sort of cool cosmic agreement going on, a meeting of energies ...that's one way of trying to explain inspiration. So you tune into something…it’s like theatre sports, or arranging songs with your band. You can't block other people's energies /input. The creative flow just stops. So you just ‘play’ with the ideas that flow. When I wrote this song - song # 324 - I was well along my creative path. I was on the road a lot. I worked 3 nights a week at a resort as a piano man. Come Sunday afternoon, I was off in my van, free as the breeze. And I had my ears open. And my heart... I could've played my cards a little more guardedly, looking back. Yep, my heart was open at this point, as it was pretty much broken, but I was hopeful that a relationship that hadn't even really been allowed to start might somehow come to light.... What I gained personally by putting myself out there - and vulnerable - was personal growth. I think the true artists path and the path of work on the self is completely intertwined. After all these years I still absolutely love just letting my hands play on the keys with a bit of feeling.... And like a trout nibbling at the end of a hopefully cast fishing line, there's an answer - more often than not - and were in business. That's how it feels to be a songwriter. This week I'll take you from a winter's evening in central New Zealand where the newspaper selling man’s call floated across the city square. I'll we’ll go to a camping ground next to a stream, in the warm summer of the North. I'll explain how a feeling became a painting instead of a letter, which in turn became a song, then turned into another working painting and then became another finished painting (which will become part of a music video). You can view a painting on this weeks blog at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Entertainment and information - that's what's on offer here again this week. I hope you enjoy the episode. Don't forget you can sign up to my email list at info@petepascoe.com ...eventually I'll have ebooks and video courses on how to write songs ... In the meantime there's a stack of music (13 albums) and art waiting for you online. Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy the show.

Episode #56: A Little Light (Song at 4.56) Hi there, welcome to another episode packed with anecdotes, songwriting insights & humour. Even if you're not overly into songwriting, you might enjoy this - the focus is on information and entertainment! So sit back and have a listen as I chat, touch briefly on concepts, before moving on to the next thought. I record these episodes without any notes. As soon as I settle on the song and flick the mic on, all sorts of possibilities come into my mind..memories, and those invariably leads to some peoples faces, which brings up different emotions. I would say emotion is the big driver of song composition. This week’s song is about how there’s always ways to bring a little light into your life - no matter how dark it gets. You can view me singing this episode’s song on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Music Art (lots of music videos here) It's so nice to shut my eyes and have a sing (as I play the piano) through some songs from my songbooks. There’s often a series of pleasant surprises for me, as I recall old melodies & sections of songs I’d forgotten I’d composed. The songs are all written in my songbooks in a shorthand form - just enough to remind me of the crucial information. I’ve begun creating lead sheets and piano arrangements of all these songs - they’ll be up online before long. It's nice to bring these songs out into the light - shed a little light on how they came to be, what there about,,.. Right. I've been out fishing: yesterday until 11pm, then I was up at dawn this morning at 5.45am ….last night it was great to see the sunset, then the starlight. Then seeing dawn this morning..all these different times of day have a slightly different light. I talk about these scenes, the things I saw when I was fishing on the rocks and at the beach. And I think I'm going to head out tonight... yep, I’m a bit keen on fishing - it’s my ‘time out’. I hope you enjoy this episode. I feel inspired each time I start talking about the music. I enjoy adding some piano here and there, as I speak, too. Do look up my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . You can read the lyrics of each episode’s song, see a painting & some cartoons (& this week, you can have read about how I feel about what's on TV and commercial radio these days - not my personal cup of tea….). Thanks so much for dropping by. If you know of someone whom you think might enjoy this podcast, please feel free to share it far and wide. Thank you in advance. Eventually I’m going to be producing video courses and ebooks on songwriting. I’m really looking forward to that. If that sounds like you, please do sign up to my email list. info@petepascoe.com (you’ll get a free album of music and a weekly email so you won’t miss a thing). I have 13 albums @ www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com and about 6 of those albums are streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. I produce music in different genres.... 4 piano solo albums that play for an hour,more, piano vocal albums, rock band music & folk rock.. I love it all. Ok. I hope you enjoy ‘A Little Light’ Pete.

Episode #55: Don't Miss The Bus (Song at 7.22) Written in 2013, this one came to me in a series of verses... ‘on the ether’, as it were. It really felt like I was just sitting, taking notes. Words - lots of words - kept on coming through. When I thought it was finished, more words kept on coming through. The mystery of where these songs come from is something that comes up often in these podcast episodes. You can read the lyrics on my blog here (each week the lyrics to the featured songs are here). www.petepascoe.wordpress.com There's plenty of songwriting tips. One of them is: I think it's really important to have something different completely different up your sleeve that you can immerse yourself in, from time to time. Something that is not related to whatever you spend most of your time on. It’s good to ‘unplug’. Today I talk about how it felt to be out fishing on the rocks beside the calm Port Phillip Bay, here in Melbourne. That’s my ‘thing’ : time out in nature, beside the water. It still amazes me after all these years when these songs come along. It's been a full life so far, committed to the creative processes. I'm really enjoying having a go at explaining the songwriting process, how it happens differently with some songs.’’eg: what was the inspiration? Etc. In this case, the words are about the different forms love can take in this woken life. Talking about this sort of thing could quickly get out of hand and pretty much…boring. But I do my best to keep it free, fun and entertaining. I don't use show notes when I record these episodes. It's all off the cuff. And I think that helps when you're attempting to analyse a creative process. It helps to be free & it helps if you're having fun. It turns out, I'm noticing after 50 odd episodes, I end up in the ‘songwriting state of mind’ as I record whatever comes to mind. It gives me energy, I find it all fascinating. Ok, I hope you do too. I hope you enjoy today's song and hope you enjoy the chat. Thanks so much for tuning in. By the way, I'd love you to sign up to my email list. That way, you won't miss a thing.. New albums, songs, videos, paintings, cartoons, gigs, exhibitions, blogs.... Thanks again, Pete

Episode #54: Falling (Out The Back Of My Mind) (Song at 5:50 and 28:28) Last week I touched on the idea that the most important thing about songwriting is that you want to convey feeling. I do think it's actually more important than the message. 'Falling' is a song that fits that description to a 't'. A friend of mine listened to the song the other week. She got back to me, said it made it her cry. She wasn't sure what the song was about.....but it got to her - she really liked it. Job done! As an artist you are looking for an emotional reaction. That's number one…so, mission achieved. You'll get to hear two versions of the song on this episode - a piano vocal version which has an air of fragility about the performance. Then at the end of the episode, you can hear the band version of the song. It's interesting how you can start with the same melancholy feeling, but then you can take it all to another level with the right instrumentation - and the right band. Anyway. My plan each week is to put you in the shoes of a songwriter, give you an insight into where a song comes from. If this is your first visit here, thanks for dropping by. I aim for these episodes to be informative, relaxing and entertaining. I deliver the information in a manner that is hopefully appealing to both musicians versed in theory - and the layman, equally. You need no musical knowledge to follow the majority of what I'm talking about. Notice I haven't mentioned much about what today's song is about ... It's a mystery! But it was somehow 'pressing', insistent that I do my best to interpret some of the sounds, the images, the feelings that were coming through. Piqued your curiosity? I hope so. With the help of my piano, I play it live as I talk, I hope to shed some light on what's going on with the song Falling. Join me now for song and a chat. Enjoy! As usual, I have really enjoyed recording this episode. Once again the sense of mystery - the unquantifiable elements - of the creative domain take me on a merry dance. And it's all good fun. YouTube Pete Pascoe Art and Music The Roughest Cut by Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum (this is the Bandcamp link, but it's streaming on all the usual platforms..Spotify, etc. Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com this is my blog, where you can view this week's seascape painting, plus there's lots more music and art here each week. The book I mention in this episode is : by the Pixar boss, great piece of extremely clear writing, describing how people can communicate extremely clearly and powerfully and productive lay in the right group of supportive, open people. It's like being in a band...

Episode #53: Everlasting (Song at 5.48) Hi there, Welcome to another episode. If it's your first time here, thanks for stopping by. My plan is to try and put you in the shoes of a songwriter - both in general terms and also what I was thinking and feeling when I wrote the song featured in each episode. I'm having a fun week. I inherited a very nice old writing desk. Being a writer, I am stoked with this. I also picked up a cool lamp for my studio (from the grass verge). I actually talked to the guy as he was returning home from a jog. The lamp had belonged to his mum. I said to him it's going to be put to good use in my studio. I bring these things up because it is good to create a space that makes you feel good in a creative sense. Makes sense, right? Ok, Everlasting, song # 519 ...this one was inspired by the bird chorus - both the dawn chorus and the evening song. It can't help but give us a lift if we stop and listen. Which I do. The kookaburras did their thing this morning at 5.30 am, waking me from a deep sleep. It didn't worry me. It's a great sound - and they know when to shut up, which is a good thing. Birdsong is so peaceful, it inspires a bigger picture / underlying, deeper themes and I attempted to put some of those feelings and ideas in the lyrics for a short simple song. Every time I write a song it fills me with so much energy. And something happens when I turn the mic on and record these podcast episodes… the same energy fills me. A lot of the songwriting process is a complete mystery and it'll remain that way. There is an awful lot that you can analyse and I do talk about it....like the importance of catching ‘feeling’. That's so important...probably even before ‘a message’…in terms of what a song should have. I hope you enjoy this episode. As usual there’s some pretty deep concepts, but it's all presented in a relaxed manner. I'm enjoying this so much. Thanks again for stopping by. In this episode, I do mention the painting I did today while sitting at the beach. You can see the painting, the writing desk, the everlasting painting and the lamp + the lyrics to everlasting on this week's blog....it's on. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Enjoy.

Episode #52: Talk In Riddles

It's an interesting thing for me to consider how I came to be a songwriter. It's not something I really set out to be, but listening to the likes of Elton John, Neil Young and Neil Finn, something sparked in me. And it burst into flame and its still burning strong after all this time. 800 songs later and I'm still enjoying the whole process very, very much. This is song #283, from 1993. I see I wrote the lyrics in Auckland, NZ. This was the week I went to see Suzanne Vega in concert.The producer of her great album, 99.9 Fahrenheit, Mitchell Froom, was on keyboards. He produced crowded houses first 3 albums. He is now the keyboard player for Crowded House - they are on tour in New Zealand currently. Playing Palmerston North soon at the beautiful Regent Theatre. Today I listened online to an interview with Mitchell Froom, who was talking about his role as keyboard player for Crowded House. I find that on the same day I pick a out the song I wrote the week I saw him perform in NZ to be a cool coincidence. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018786468/crowded-house-keyboardist-s-arrival-35-years-in-the-making Incidentally, I was lucky enough to play keyboards in concert with Neil Finn for a show on one of his solo tours...it was by invitation ....at the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North, New Zealand years ago....a great experience. These last few weeks, I've been listening to Crowded House on Neil Finn’s online fang radio show. They've been presenting unplugged versions of the songs on their albums to date and talking about how the recordings happened. It’s been great. https://www.fangradio.com/ But I digress - quite decidedly so. That's a little bit how I roll on these episodes. The more I talk instinctively, the more the mysterious threads all fall together and ( mostly) crystallise into something quite clear. Any how, I'm talking in riddles here.... The song was a reaction to unclear communication between myself and a potential romantic interest. It was a growing time for me. Songwriting is a really therapeutic thing. But you want it to be more than just therapy... It's gotta be a step on from that, so it's art. So today, as usual, I look at the lyrics and the music and talk about how the song came together. I'll also take you fishing on a small stream in Victoria, Australia. I've just returned from a camping trip at the foot of the mountains and it was bliss. I painted a picture of the stream - it's on my blog - so are the lyrics to today’s song. You can find them here each week: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Have I piqued your curiosity? I hope so. Sit back and have a listen. I hope you enjoy today's episode. More here: www.petepascoe.com , www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com Youtube: Pete Pascoe Art and Music + spotify, apple music, insta, etc

Episode #51: Unzipped Heads (Song at 5.40) Hi there, welcome to another episode! This week's song is a bit 'mad' in a slightly wild sort of way. It came from looking at a picture of a pig which my wife had put on the fridge door. I thought I'd have a bit of fun. So straight away I felt like I'd give it an up sort of swung feel in the chorus... It's a great idea to try different styles - and we can open our minds by listening to all sorts of songs (being guided by artificial intelligence as to what we might like to listen to on streaming services really concerns me, but that's another subject. Songs and art in general are about something much more subtle than what ( I hope) a computer algorithm could ever perceive). Each week when I flick the mic on, I explain some of the steps I take as a songwriter as I compose - without attempting to sort of take away the mystery about the process. There are simple steps to take along the way to writing a song, but there's certainly no 'one' path. If this is your first time here, thinking about having a listen, I hope you enjoy listening to some new music and chat that goes on around it. In the past, I have presented these sorts of episodes with a live audience and it's been great fun doing that. I'm looking forward to doing more over those sort of gigs, once we get back out gigging again, here in Melbourne. In my studio, as I talk about whatever comes into my mind, I've got my audience firmly in mind. I keep it light, entertaining and informative. Lots of casual asides, anecdotes, life observations, etc... This podcast is something that's really 'clicked' for me, personally. Over time I may refine what I'm up to here, but for I'm enjoying the whole process. I also play some piano as I talk, to demonstrate what I talking about. If you enjoy this episode, there plenty more where this came from. If you'd like to see more about what I'm up to as a song-writer and artist...( seascapes and cartoons), check out my blog petepascoe.wordpress.com .Each week there's a new painting and cartoons, etc there. Plus links to more of my music. I have 13 albums up online - solo and with others. .. Please do sign up to my email list- email me at info@petepascoe.com ...what do you get ? You'll get to hear about new albums, videos, paintings, exhibitions and gigs...and you'll receive a free sampler album from my www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com ( 13 albums here). I also have about 6 albums on Spotify, Apple, etc... Anyway, today let's see where that pig on the fridge took me. Thanks for having a listen.

Episode #50: Climbing Mountains (Song at 6.08)

Welcome to another 'songwriter speaks' episode. In fact, (Ta dah!!! ) this is my 50th episode. I really look forward to turning the mic on, having a chat and sharing a song (a demo) each week.

You can check out this week's song on YouTube ( Pete Pascoe Art and Music ) too - I videoed myself singing and playing 14 songs on Valentine's Day ( I went 'live' for the 1st 5 songs on Instagram). I particularly liked the version of this song. So I thought I'd look it at it for this episode.

The lyrics are about someone who's doing it tough. The title came from a book about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing Mt Everest. I started with that title, then the thought of this person came strongly to me. Empathy appears to be a big part of being songwriter, if you are looking to engage a listener.

As I say, this person was really struggling, so: climbing a mountain? How about actually making to the kitchen table, for a start. The result is a supportive sort of a lyric, 'we are there for you' sort of tone, while hopefully being in encouraging in a 'You've got this, you'll get through it' sort of way - 'but I want you to know, you're not alone'. I wrote this song in 2016. It seems apt for now with so many people struggling around the world with covid -19 The music is slightly unsettling (intentionally so in the verses). It gets moving in the mid sections, then it's warm and predictable in the choruses - and ultimately reflective at the end. It is such good fun writing songs. You really tune into a creative realm and it seems to be collaborative effort. It's fascinating to me. Anyway, if I've piqued your curiosity, grab a cuppa, sit back and and I'll guide you through the process in a relaxed, inclusive manner including a look at the lyrics. If you like new music, check this episode out - and then there's another 49 to go back and listen too! Or if you've been with me for a while now, thanks for tuning in each week. I hope you enjoy today's podcast. Don't forget, the lyrics are on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Episode #49: Original (Song at 6.24) Hi, I'm Pete Pascoe. I'm a songwriter (800+songs), a painter, a pianist, cartoonist and a writer. I'm enjoying recording these episodes, talking about the creative song writing process that goes on...amongst other things. Welcome to another episode of exploration, experimentation, information and fun... This is the podcast where I feature a demo of a song I've composed. Each week, I endeavour to shed some light on where these songs come from. It's a fascinating thing for me, analysing the process. It's often surprising to me just how much I can remember about how the lyrics and the music came together. I just follow my nose on these episodes, there's very little structure and I think this allows for freedom of thought - creative thought- which is exactly what's required to explain some of this business. In this week's episode, I touch on self development, how that process can be enhanced, helped, etc by following a creative path. I'm fully on that path. I'm very grateful that I've managed to hang onto the freedom I had as a child - freedom of thought and freedom in terms of what I choose to get up to with my life. In this week's blog post, I've written about it. The importance of getting outside, away from the Internet, etc. The song Original (song# 291) returns to that theme. In amongst some big picture sort of global conflicts/events It talks about the importance of finding your own path - it certainly doesn't have to be at odds with society, but I think ideally we need to live a life that is...an honest one. An original one. As we grow, our world view grows and we change our views. This song was written by a relatively young person, finding his way in his twenties. There's lots of songwriting tips, there's humour, life observations....you get the picture. Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoy the music and I hope you enjoy the chat. Here’s the link to my blog post which has the lyrics from Original and this week’s painting on it, plus a bit more. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com enjoy

Episode#48: In My Own Time - (Song at 7.38 & 20.35) Sometimes the cliche of ‘a dark time in a life being the time where seeds can be planted and eventually grow into something new’....happens. This is what happened with In My Own Time. One dark night long ago, I wrote down exactly the thoughts that came into to my mind- stream of consciousness style. The music does reflect the mood of those words. But there's an underlying sort of uplifting lilt that comes through, almost despite myself. It seems to be an ongoing theme in my at and music - I will generally offer something that is ultimately uplifting. But it's true. The artist's pain can become something that gives people pleasure, that's just one of the great things about the arts. In this episode, I also include some of the version the band eventually recorded. It's quite ‘up’. So much so, it became the song we played first at all our gigs for a few years. Here's where you can hear the whole song ( and the album ‘This World Offers You) https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/music So from the dark night of the soul, something has grown and it has lasted. No matter what you're up to, if you're on a path, following a passion, never give up. Just keep moving and you’ll get through. In this episode, I also play a quick snippet of a song ‘Unwind’. I recorded an instrumental version of it today. You can see the video on YouTube at Pete Pascoe Art and Music Any artistic path has its rocky parts. You've just got to be determined - and perhaps a little mad - to see it through at times. When I wrote these lyrics, I wasn’t exactly on top of the world….and this week, on Sunday, I painted a picture at the beach. It was a really rough day. Very moody colours, but I had a job just hanging onto my canvas, let alone getting paint in the right places. But I got there! I'm loving sharing my songwriting tips, ideas, etc... Each week, I look forward to recording an episode for this podcast. I record my spoken voice the way I rewrite my lyrics: I shoot from the hip, go with instinct and sense of exploration - and I have fun. Actually that's not a bad recipe to keep in mind when you're trying to get into the creative zone required to do anything in the arts. Ok, I hope you enjoy this episode as much a I enjoyed recording it. If you do enjoy it, there's 40 odd episodes to discover. Please do follow me here..and spread the word! See more on petepascoe.wordpress.com. Links to art and music there. Enjoy!

Episode #47: I Wish (Song at 5.44) If you had one thing you could wish for, what would it be? There are people that come into your life, sometimes very briefly, who just seem to have the words to say that are exactly what you need to hear at that time of your life. It's a knack these people have. They are generally great listeners. They don't say much, but what they do say is worth listening to. I think they are generally very empathetic people, they keep an eye open where they can help out quietly, without making a song and dance about it. Years a ago, I met a bloke briefly at a restaurant where I was the piano man. At the end of the evening, he waved me over to his table and we had a great conversation. I think he could tell I was driven, passionate and finding my way as a young fella. At the concierge, he left me a list of books he'd read and enjoyed, with some comments. But that evening, he looked me straight in the eye and said " If there was one thing in the world you could wish for, what would it be?” I went back to my hotel room and wrote this song, based on his words. Looking back, I think he was giving me a gentle nudge to keep me on track, to support me as I followed my dream of being a songwriter and performer. I'm still on that path today. Today was a great day, peaceful, and beautiful by the water. I painted a picture of the pier at Mornington - you can see it on this week's post my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com -lots of art and music on this blog - and you can find the lyrics to 'I Wish' at the end of the blog post. Each week I put the lyrics to the podcast song of the week on my blog post. So if you like reading along, maybe open up the blog before you start listening and read along once I start singing. You could also follow my blog! Or sign up to my email list - I'd love that - write to me at info@petepascoe.com What would I wish for? Tune in and find out....enjoy!

Episode #46: To The Sea (Song at 8.15) In each episode, I attempt to give you an insight as to where the featured song came from, what it's about, etc. This episode’s song, however, is an elusive fish. It's more about the feeling. It's an 'observation' sort of a lyric, delving into deep archetypal sort of undercurrents that go on between male and female energies. It talks about the dance and dramas that seem to happen to most of us as we find way along in our lives, while keeping an eye out for a potential long term relationship.... I guess it's about how things tend to sort of come together naturally if we allow them to. That said, it's a complex business and has been studied - and agonised over - since forever. Perhaps I've just caught a feeling, managed to weave that into some lyrics and floated them on a tune without really answering any questions. An image that comes to me each time in the third verse is: looking in a window at a brightly lit old inn, somewhere near the sea. It's late in the evening, and there are reflective men in there, perhaps catching their reflections in the window as they cast their thoughts back over the years... If all this sounds sort of mysterious, well, it is. And that's the essence of any art. The thing is, if it rings true as you are writing, then it's worth completing because if it's true to you as a composer, it will ring true to the listener. See if this song stirs any feelings for you (It starts at 8min 15seconds in). Before and after the song rolls, in amongst the serious business of analysing a craft, I talk about the week I'm having, some of the things that are going on. Plus there's a memory here of a gig I played in a restaurant where some bread rolls became airborne... All good fun. It's great to be able to relate some of these funny things that have happened to me on gigs and otherwise. Enjoy.

Episode #45: Girl Called Insomnia (Song at 7.45) Hi there and welcome to another episode. This week I’ve done something different: I’ve found an episode I recorded quite early on in proceedings, which I forgot about. It was fascinating for me to listen back to an ‘old’ episode - there’s been much that I’ve changed, interns of presentation, energy, etc. But the thing is, the idea, the premise of providing entertainment, song analysis and funny stories was there at the start - and those key elements are still the focus as we are up to the mid 40 episodes published now. It would’ve been a shame had I not published this episode. There’s a lot of information here… When songwriting being determined is so important. Sticking with it, learning as you go along, asking questions to find your path. There’ll be false starts… I think you can apply this to pretty much anything in life. On this episode I talk about brief jobs I had (in a pet shop & a piano shop). I can certainly apply this concept to my ‘evolution’ as I’ve gone along, recording these episodes. I also talk about arranging a song, multi tracking, making intuitive decisions as questions come up. The main thing is: is it good for the song? If so, it’s in. If not, it’s ‘outta there’! The important thing is songwriting is a mysterious process. I won't tell you how to write a song - but I'll tell you how I write a song. I hope you enjoy this week’s episode as much as I did, listening back today. It features song #17, from 1987! By the way, I relate the time I auditioned for my 2nd (ever) piano man gig with Funeral For A Friend some years ago. Here I am on this video, playing it all these years down the track.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WXhcZa2tgs Thanks for tuning in. Catch you next week.

Episode #44: The View (Song at 9:42sec) This week's song 'The View', is song #428 from my songbooks. It's one of 16 songs which were recorded in an afternoon. You would have to call them demos, but I called it an album and released 100 CDs once upon a time. Doing this episode now will push me on to re-releasing these songs on bandcamp as an 'archive' release. I've had a brief holiday but now I'm back and I'm juggling a fair bit. I'm Back into Gigging, painting a seascape, drawing a cartoon, making videos, writing - plus lots more. Yep, I'm busy. So I have to consciously put a hat on for each task. in this case: my songwriting hat... I compose a piece of piano music as I'm recording this episode. That was unexpected! Each week I'm surprised as to what comes up as I chat. Songwriting's a big subject & while it means an awful lot to me, my delivery on this podcast is laidback. I take the art of composing very seriously, but I've got my feet on the ground. I'm having some fun here each week. I'm having fun sharing some ideas. I keep it entertaining, informative...you get the idea. It's like you're in an intimate audience, I'm the singer songwriter at the piano, sharing with you where the song came from, what it's about. Why am I doing this? I think it's a good thing to pass things on once you've learned them. I like trying to make a positive difference to someone's day. If that's you, and you've found you've enjoyed this episode, please do leave a positive rating, a kind review - thank you in advance. Also, perhaps If you'd like to subscribe - that way you won't miss an episode! Where I'm heading with this podcast is very fluid... this may be 'it' - or I may distill this series into a more compact form and present a songwriting series of videos or ebooks or... We'll see. For now, I'm loving putting each show together. I hope you enjoy hearing about where the lyrics came from, how the music came together ....it's all so fascinating to me.

Episode #43: Explain the Night (Song at 4:40sec)

Welcome along to another episode... Mr Piano Man here. I'm sitting at the piano (well it's hardly likely to be as sewing machine for a musical presentation) chatting as if to an intimate audience.

This week we’re looking at a song called Explain The Night. I tell you exactly what inspired this song, I take you through the process, where the words come from, etc. I look at: each sentence, how it flowed on to the next; how the music came to be; how the choice of chords, accompaniments unfolded & how that compliments the words, the melody. This aurally so complicated, it would be easy to fall into a monotone sort of bore of a teacher (ala the teacher from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when he's struggling to get any response from his students,," anyone? Anyone?" )…but I like to think my delivery is far from that. In a laid back, inclusive and humorous manner, I'll quickly lead you through the different concepts and there are constant complete departures from the subject, to break it up. For example: completely spontaneously, I begin proceedings by talking on the topic of snorkelling. Have you ever been snorkelling? It's another world under water. All the unknown and the fear is taken away by being able to see underwater with a face mask… That's precisely my intention in these episodes...if you’re a budding songwriter I endeavour to take away the Unknown, make things just a little clearer, taking way the fear factor, because if I can encourage just one more person to write a song (or if you’re not a songwriter - interested listener - if I can help you to appreciate listening to (new) music then my job is done….

But what I won't - and can’t - do is take away the mystery. I can't Explain The Night, but I will explain some bits and pieces along the way as I ask the question. Bob the musketeer makes a random sudden appearance in the 'audience' this week - now there's another surprise ( the 'audience' pops into my mind, from time to time, as I imagine myself addressing a group of people from a stage). Doing this helps me get into performance/entertainer mode for 'winging' and recording each episode. Sure this character is a weird 'thing', but it was funny - and it helps to keep the channel open, I believe: humour defuses tension ( obviously), rejuvenates flagging energy levels... I view this character as just another example of my being helped to keep the creativity flowing.

Dive in with me now, I'll hold your hand. Let me lead the way for an entertaining informative 30 minutes… and if you enjoy today, there's plenty more where this came from.,. 40 odd episodes await. Please sign if up, follow me here and you won't miss out on a single episode. Here we go….

Episode #42: Still the Same (Lucky Man) (Song at 4:22sec) Hi Folks, welcome to episode #42. The song kicks in at the 4mins-22seconds mark - but first…today I'll take you down to a Summer Music Festival in Mornington (Vic, Australia). I was hired to perform on the street. The first song I played, I made up on the spot, especially for a dachshund who was sitting nearby....as you do. Still The Same (Lucky Man) was written in late Dec, 2017 - a time of year when we often reflect on the things that were (during the year) and what might be next year). I wrote this song for my wife. I talk about things like where the song came from: in the opening lyrics you go from ‘walking at sunset’ and the next line it's a close up of the 'light in her eye'. All you need is a start. As a songwriter, you’re like a director, imagining a movie. When you're in this creative state and its all unfolding naturally. It's really like you're being you're own secretary, trying to keep up with the action, one line leads quickly to the next and then another entirely different (but still related) scene unfolds. It's an endlessly fascinating business analysing the process. I’m having fun as I play the piano here and there, to demonstrate what I'm talking about. ..and there is plenty of fun along the way. This week I relate a yarn about me dressing up rather scarily at Halloween to drop one off my kids at some new friends of ours house. This is a love song - but it's more of a reflective 'mature' type of song rather than 'oh baby I love you' type of ‘early days declaration of love’ type of song. Often it's only as a song unfolds that you find out truly what it's about…and then when you have a dig, there’s often more layers. So join in now, pull up chair and have a listen to a songwriter speaking - and having fun. Enjoy!

Episode #41: Favourite Time (Song at 7:50) Hi there. Welcome to the last podcast episode for 2020. This time, I'm not only talking about the song Favourite Time ( the 4th song I wrote ), but I'm also focussing on one of my favourite times in my life: whenever I find myself in the act of writing a song. It's like this: It sneaks up on me. One moment I'm just playing on the keys, the next I find something's come through my finger tips that something... that sounds like a song. It sounds...different somehow. Even though there's only 7 notes in a scale and only so many chords, the possibilities seem endless. As I was recording this episode, sitting at the piano, this is exactly what happened. Over the course of the 30 minutes, the song I started composing keeps playing in my mind. So I pick it up intermittently - in between talking about the song Favourite Time - and eventually I take you through the moments where the chorus and the bridge come... It seems a completely fascinating process to me. How can it be that each time it happens it's a surprise, like somewhere I've never been before, when I've actually composed about 800 songs, now? I think the answer is: it's the whole 'feeling like a child' each time.... The feeling of excitement and mystery is how it feels. On that note, we have 2 new kittens. I nearly stepped on them as I walked out the door. Their eyes followed me and I saw their eyes open as they took in the bright colours of the trees and the sky as they watched me through the glass in the door as I walked to my studio to finish work on this episode. Aren't kittens great - full fun and curiosity - now there's 2 key words to keep in mind if you're song writing: have fun, keep an open mind. Speaking of new beginnings, 2021 is nearly upon us. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you so much for tuning in this year. It's certainly been a year of upheaval, a tragic year. In amongst all of this, I hope you managed some times of joy. I have, it's mainly come about with my being so committed to my art and music ( new album out this week! The Roughest Cut, with the band - very excited. Streaming now!!!). You get so lost in the moment, you forget about everything else that's going on. The other times have been mainly due to my being lucky enough to have family and close friends to help me through and share some laughs with. I hope you've managed some of the same. All the best for 2021..... See you then. I hope you enjoy this highly creative episode. Oh yeah, the song ? An early relationship was the inspiration.....have a listen and find out more. Welcome, again ....step into the shoes of a composer... Here we go.

Episode #40: Mobile Phone (Song at 9:07) This week's song, song #520 was written in 2002 ! It's now 2020... And this is the year that Mobile Phone has finally been released! Same numbers in the year, just switched around a little… This is a social comment song. Generally I'm a glass half full sort of bloke, but I haven't got my head in the sand. As a songwriter, you are by nature an observer of human spirit. And this is topical this week, being nearly Christmas. I wish some of the positivity, giving, 'thinking of others' that we claim to feel and act on during this festive season.. I really wish we'd act in this manner on the other 364 days of the year, too.., that'd be good. We could do with it! Mobile phone paints a pretty grim picture of society / humans in general and it's written from the point of view of a youngster, a father, a wife and then from a bigger...sort of spiritual angle. So maybe it's not such a bad song to bring up and mention at Christmas. This demo is a piano groove with keys bass and drums. This is markedly different from the version which appears on the band album which will be out on Christmas Eve! The single Mobile Phone is out now. You can check that out next if you like. The lyrics came like a stream of consciousness. There is a natural sort of a flow. The music came quickly too, very much flowed. It's a guitar riff song that came naturally - on the piano ! One of today's tips from a songwriting point of view touches on this natural flow....plus there's plenty more. There's also a couple of Christmas memories in there too: I recall my brother and I sneaking into the lounge before dawn to feel the Christmas presents, see if we can glean anything...and the second memory involved my sisters rather large Great Dane cross dog and our cat, providing some Christmas lunch entertainment !! So. Sit back and enjoy a 30 min chat with some piano here and there… be informed, entertained, uplifted and transported to another world. If you like this demo, please do check out the single.... And the album when it's out on the 24th. If you like to listen to an actual band, interacting with each other... that's what's on this album - dropping in time for Christmas ! Enjoy !

Episode #39: Heart In The Distance (Face To Face) - (Song at 5:35) Thanks for tuning in for a listen. If this is your first time here, sit back, relax & be entertained. I enjoy having a yarn, letting the words and music take me where they will. This song is about the idea - the feeling - that sometimes when you're a long way away from someone you know well, sometimes it feels like they're right beside you. I had this feeling when I was in NZ, camping away from my now wife, who was back in Melbourne. I'd gone over to New Zealand for a music tour and tacked on a fishing trip. I remember clear as day the feeling when I woke up in the sand, where I'd fallen asleep when I was fishing.... The moment is etched in my mind. I'll take you on that fishing trip with me up to Spirits bay in New Zealand. It's beautiful remote beach. Really inspired. I couple of stories about the magnificent nature that can be found up there… A song can be an emotional book marker in time. Heart in the distance, Song # 451, was written in 1999. As soon as the demo starts, I'm back there. I talk about imagination - where the song fragments first appear. It's a process that never ceases to amaze me. The words I sing when I start writing a song lead me to what the song is about (often I have no idea what the song is about until I'm a fair way through it). This song has become a real ‘marker’ of a very happy part of my life, I was thinking about my future in that moment on the sand. All kinds of thoughts flowed in, with a rush, as I came back into my skin on the beach. The ocean somehow cleanses our minds. I love being at the beach. Lots of songwriting tips here again this episode, I talk in an inclusive language, in easy to understand concepts that is appealing to both those versed in musical theory and equally with those that haven't got the foggiest about this. Anyway, you'll get a slice of life again, lots of life observations and asides. All here for your listening pleasure. I hope you enjoy this week's episode.

Episode #38: Missed Me (Song at 5:21) Wow! Episode #38 of my ‘song writer speaks’ series. I can’t believe there’s been that many already. It all seems so new and exciting each week when I hit the record button. I’ve had fun today, been out to the beach a couple of times today... (might’ve had a birthday, so I allowed myself sometime out - just a bit). While I was at the beach I painted a picture of the scene. This evening I made a video of ‘step by step’ cartoon pig on a bike (part 2) for YouTube. I've written a blog post and started adding photos, etc. Now it's 1am and I'm listening back to the episode I've just recorded as I'm writing this. I mention all of that because when you're busy like I am , you've just got to grab the moments you have to create. That's where this song came from. Song number 5, out of about 700 songs now... next page…. If I hadn't recorded a demo of those early efforts, I may never have carried on writing and recording my songs. I'm so pleased I have. In this episode, as usual, I talk about where this song came from. I look at the song from a musical view point, the lyrics, etc. In this case it’s an early effort, so looking back I can see my lyric writing style has developed. This song is about the perspective that can be gained you get some time to yourself. Be entertained & informed as you join me on a journey of discussion and discovery looking at the song 'Missed Me'. Recorded by myself, Paul Dredge and Earl Pollard (R.I.P), Missed Me finally got recorded (in one take) in a studio in Melbourne quite a number of years later. In this episode I also talk about how I got to the point where I started writing lyrics, then got my piano playing up to the point where my hands would just natural flow from one chord to the next confidently, in a musically confident way...and a song took shape. It’s fun playing the piano in between my talking. I sing and play parts of the song to draw attention to certain aspects of songwriting. So, ever wondered where a song comes from? It’s really just a bunch of simple steps. Along the way, intuitive decisions are made as it’s moulded into a form. That's the complicated part, when you analyse the process. But it’s so much fun at the time because it’s all done with a sense of play and exploration - much like podcast episodes! Sit back and enjoy. You can stream my music on your favourite streaming service. Or you can find a dozen albums at : petepascoe.bandcamp.com ... And see my art at www.petepascoe.com You can sign up to my email list to hear about new albums, exhibitions, etc. My weekly blog (magazine style: art & music ) can be found here petepascoe.wordpress.com And my new YouTube channel (new since March 2020) has 60 odd music and art videos on it now.

Episode #37: Serene Room (Song at 6:37) Hi there, welcome to another episode. This week, once again, I look at a song I've written... This song is about the lounge in my house. As the title states, it's got a serene sort of vibe. As I look into the lyrics, we discover the words have had the effect of taking me back in time to when I was a child. Then the view out the window gets me out of my skin...and my thoughts take me to the beach... (You can see the ocean in the distance from my window). Earlier today I was painting at the beach and I might just have got a bit wetter than I was planning.. I talk about that wee adventure - and another story about someone else involving a wave. From a songwriting point view, each week I draw attention to aspects of songwriting. If you're not overly into that, don’t worry, I don't waffle on for long periods about theory. Yes, I talk about it, but I talk in layman a terms, in an entertaining manner. I enjoy taking as I sit at my piano. My fingers play some keys absentmindedly at times, almost like a soundtrack. I also use the piano to demonstrate the musical songwriting processes that go on, most often intuitively. It’s a complex business, but I do my best to make it simple as I explain my thought process…what inspired the song, how it evolved.. Sit back, grab a cuppa and I'll tell you about my lounge, some songwriting and a couple of stories about waves at the beach. You’ll get to step in to the shoes of a songwriter. Ever wondered how it feels to write a song? Now’s your chance to find out… Enjoy. Incidentally, if you'd like to hear more of my music you can stream my music on your favourite streaming service.. Or you can find a dozen albums at : petepascoe.bandcamp.com See my art at www.petepascoe.com You can sign up to my email list to hear about new albums, exhibitions, etc.. My weekly blog can be found here petepascoe.wordpress.com And my new YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music ( new since March 2020 has 60 odd videos on it now.

Episode #36: Enjoy the Ride (Song at 5:50) A demo like this song is interesting..sometimes you catch a little more emotion than a studio cut, maybe there’s somethings that get edited out… maybe demos are on the way out! In these days of the digital age, a quick sketch in a home studio can become the finished recording. Anyway, I’ve got a stack of recordings around. Old and new. This is podcast a great way for me to talk about these songs from a songwriting point of view. Equally importantly, you get a slice of life of- yes, the life of a songwriter, but really, I’m just like any other person (we don’t beam in from mars…). I happen to enjoy painting, cartooning, I love writing songs, all sorts. .. As an artist you can't help but become an observer. It's part of the role. You observe and reflect. Actually, I was being observed today. A big kookaburra was eyeballing me from the hand rail of our steps, just outside the window, a beautiful bold Australian bird. Todays song , #621 is about the concept of a journey. This week , I’m going to take you on a ride. As usual, there’s a sense of discovery here, as I completely ‘wing’ what I'm talking about -there is no script. The song came about when one of my children was going away on a school camp. I put myself in their shoes and imagined what they were thinking as the bus drove off. That lead me putting my thoughts down, how I was feeling… and this whole somewhat personal scenario lead to a more broader subject, with universal message.. enjoy the ride as I take you through the process.. I also take you on the road for a few gigs which I did back in NZ a while back, when I was on tour with 'The Sound of the Supremes'. That was fun.... So this is stream of consciousness...where the song came from, what I was feeling, some life observations, all delivered in a laid back manner with a decent dose of humour. I hope you'll find it entertaining and illuminating. Each week there some tips for song writers here -and you get to a song! Curious? If this sounds like you, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Episode #35: Pot of Gold (Song at 5:38) Here's a slice of life, another 30 minute ‘yarn with a songwriter’. Once again this week, I'm delivering a song, and lots of chat. In a relaxed manner, as if you're in a intimate audience and I'm the piano man introducing a song. I take it a step further on these episodes, analysing the lyrics, talking about where the song came from, looking at musical aspects... What makes a song special. Pot of Gold is really about some of the big aspects of life. ...death for instance! I manage to get these heavier concepts across with a deliberate choice of a gentle ballad, with a swung rhythm. The vocal is gentle, yet forthright. There's a bit of dark humour in there (which never hurts, in my opinion) and above all else, it's an honest delivery. That's what makes this demo stand out to me. All the boxes are ticked. The song rings true. It has already appeared on my album 'Don't Miss the Bus' - which is a collection of my songs, in a piano / vocal style - very stripped back arrangement style. I would like to a range this song with other instruments. But it's got a nice feeling, just the way it is. So, ready for a half yarn with a songwriter? Sit back and have a listen, I'll tell you a bit about my week, random thoughts that pop into my head. , plus there song writing tips. ..on that note, I'm not going to tell you how to write a song, but I am going to tell you how I write a song. I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Episode #34: (There’ll Always Be) Another Day - (Song at 9:10) Hi there, welcome! How would you like to sit back and have a listen to a songwriter speak? Now's your opportunity. I'm sitting at my piano - which I noodle away on - sometimes a little absently, as I speak. I also use the piano to demonstrate aspects of what I'm talking about. And what I'm talking about this week Is song #584: Another day.. Where did it come from? Neil the lead guitarist in our band suggested it: “Pete, there's so many songs about winning... What about one about ...losing. I think it'd be a winner!" Ha. He's got a dry sense of humour, has Neil. I also talk about the idea of participation being the important thing. Success is.. what it is.. along the way. I like to turn things around to the positive, best I can, so I couldn't help myself: I gave it an uplifting twist at the end. Perhaps I failed at writing a song about failure! The demo itself has a good feeling about it. The band have had a dabble with this song here. It hasn't made it on an album yet, but I think it will not far away. It's been another episode of exploration, opening up... As an artist, you can come across as sounding a bit .. Vulnerable. And I think that's important. You're honest about your feelings, you're inviting the listener in. Which is precisely what I'm doing here. Tune in now, hear some new music... ( I’m loving sharing my music this way and talking about it ). I hope you enjoy this week's episode... And if you do, there's another 30 odd episodes here..that means 30 odd new songs.. Please leave a favourable comment / tell your friends / share this far and wide - thank you in advance! Enjoy. By the way, If you'd like to find out more about my art and music, there's quite a bit online, including: www.petepascoe.com website Blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ( creations in music and art) - not a bad place to start- it's a weekly blog (which you can sign up to). You'll hear about a new music, videos, recordings, a how to draw a Cartoon video, a Seascape painting ( I paint one each week) ... Plus lots more….

Episode #33: Time Won't Wait - (Song at 7:55sec) Where does a song come from, where does it start, how does it build? These are some of things I talk about and demonstrate, as I chat and play my piano each week. Music plays such a big role in our life. I remember hearing John Lennon’s Imagine for the first time, on the radio. What a recording (what song, of course).. but there was something about the actual recording. Very cool. So I enjoy songs and recordings that have a certain feeling. Because songs have the power to take you back in time in the blink of an eye. It can reawaken old memories you forgotten you had. I talk about some things in my past, including a plum fight we had once... In fact the plums were from the tree I used to sit in that I mentioned last week... Anyway, back to the song, Time Won't Wait is song #582. It reflects on the passing of time, the slowly changing dream that unfolds and becomes our life. It also touches on the fact that being a human is a complicated business.... In these episodes, I do look to entertain, and inform...there's songwriting tips..it's all delivered in a relaxed, informal manner. I hope you enjoy this episode. I play the piano and sing a bit again on this episode, again, to demonstrate aspects of this song. Grab a cuppa, put your feet up and have a listen, I'll take you on a trip back in time and inside a song. If you'd like to find out more about my art and music, there's quite a bit online. www.petepascoe.com website Blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ( creations in music and art) - not a bad place to start it's a weekly blog which you can sign up to. You'll hear about a new music, videos, recordings, a how to draw a cartoon video, a seascape painting ( I paint one each week) ... Plus lots more. If this sounds like you, there's plenty on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music. Social media Facebook, Instagram, etc And a dozen albums on bandcamp ( Pete Pascoe and co) ….www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com I love feedback. Please don't hesitate to flick me an email…and If you've enjoyed this episode, please do leave a positive review, etc. that would help me so much ..thank you in advance

Episode #32: Madman’s Preoccupation - (Song at 7:48sec) Welcome to another episode. Hi there, my name is Pete, I'm a songwriter. I'm enjoying introducing a song I've written each week. I also talk about where the song came from, the lyrics, the music. So you might like to tune in to pick up some song writing tips. Or you might like to just hear a songwriter speak about a song his life, observations. Information and entertainment - that’s what I’m offering. It's as if I'm on a stage, talking in between songs. Only here on this podcast, I have the license to get carried away, and go where my thoughts take me as I talk. This is all 'ad libbed’. I don’t use notes - mad, right? Yep., it's a Madman's Preoccupation, alright, being a musician and artist... I picked this song (#683) out because right now, I don’t think I've ever been so busy …” You have to be mad to be doing this!”, I say to myself at times... This song looks back on 3 different stages of life: being your, adolescence and being a parent. It talks about taking time out in nature, the all persuasive addictive power of the internet, the possibility that right now might be a golden age of freedom for the world, in amongst all the ups and downs… Since we've been locked down here in Melbourne, I've been producing lots of positive creative content and posting it online, the timing has been great. There's so much that's grim on the Internet, I thought I'd do my bit, sharing some happy stuff. I'd actually committed to posting weekly content, the week we got locked down.... Since then it's been ‘all go’ (as usual) In that time I've produced and posted 32 How to Draw Cartoon Animals , 30 odd Music videos (YouTube - Pete Pascoe Art and Music), 32 Podcast episodes, 32 blogposts ...www.petepascoe.wordpress.com ...32 pairings on the blog, on my website.... www.petepascoe.com Kind of mad, in a way? It's been a busy, busy, life. An enjoyable life. Come along with me now and I'll share some insights about song writing, in an inclusive, relaxed manner, with plenty of humour. Enjoy.

Episode #31: End The Game - (Song at 8:42sec) Where did this song come from? What caused me to write these lyrics? Without giving too much away, sometimes the world can seem a bit too ...intense. The news can be a bit grim. ...that's what can cause artists to sit down and create something that hopefully lifts their spirits - and the great thing is, it has the potential to lift other people too. That's the power of the arts. Today the weather report would had you believe a deluge was imminent. I ignored it, grabbed my fishing gear, painting gear and iPad to write my blog post. And ...it was beautiful... Does this seem off topic? Well, it's in keeping with my style on this podcast. We get to where we need to, but there's no rush. There's plenty of humour, observations.. Each episode holds surprises for me as I delve in and explore about The song.. Join me this week, grab a cuppa. Gain an insight into songwriting.. And have a listen to a song as well. I mention an old house I lived in for a number of years...here's a poem I wrote about it: Peaceful House By the way, I do say in this episode that it's November. I do know it's October..... Sometimes being an artist, it's like being on another planet... Also here's my blog ..www.petepascoe.wordpress.com . You can view the painting I painted this week. Plus there's links to lots of other art ..including how to draw a Cartoon Poodle playing double bass, if you will.. It's a varied life, being an artist and musician... I'm fully committed to this songwriting. There's plenty more here. Www.petepascoe.com As always, the the song start time is in the title. Enjoy!

Episode #30: Game Plan - (Song at 2.58) We all have Rough days. The cat in the first line of the song in this episode was having a rough day...a cat left out in the rain can look so abandoned and bereft. When I wrote these lyrics, that was exactly how I felt. What I thought was starting to look like a very promising romantic relationship suddenly took a sudden turn for the worse, from my point of view.... Lost and lonely alright... Oh well, at least these sorts of feelings can be the reason a song like this one can come to be. On this episode, I interview the fellow that wrote the music to this one, Mr Paul Dredge, from New Zealand. Paul talks about how he came up with the music, the process, etc. So on this episode you get to hear about it from another songwriter. There's also a couple of funny yarns in there... It's a joy to write lyrics and music. It's also a joy when you find someone you can trust - someone you get on well with, musically, to do the job together. This is one of many songs Paul and I have co-written. I hope you enjoy this episode. And If you're having a rough kind of day, like that cat in the rain, maybe this will cheer you up. There's lots of songwriting tips here, again, if that's what you're tuning in for. If you're back because you just like hearing someone having a chat., with a song thrown in as well, you've come to the right place. So, Welcome / Welcome back ...here we go... Enjoy.

Episode #29: Breathe and Realise - ( Song at 10:04) This week in my blog and this podcast, Im drawing attention to - and celebrating - the sense of freedom that can be found by going out for a walk in nature. Song number 442 from 1998, Breathe and Realise is about taking that Moment to realise how free we really are. In Melbourne, the lockdown has been slightly changed - I'm now allowed to go.... Fishing. And fishing is my way of letting go of my worries, particularly when I do a cast with my rod. I cast my worries away to the horizon. I love just being beside the water. Catching a fish - or not - is completely by the way. This week I take you down to my local beach a couple of times, and to another local beach here in where I painted a plein air picture today. I mention my buddy and co-songwriter on this episode again, this time as a poet. You can read his poems at paulspoeticramblings.wordpress.com I picked up his book this week and really enjoyed it. On my blog, petepascoe.wordpress.com, I have a link to poem he wrote ‘the fisherman’ . There's a photo of me fishing which Paul took while he was writing the poem. In it, Paul really catches what my whole theme is about this week on both my blog post and this podcast. Getting out and being free. Fishing may not be your thing. Perhaps you just like walking, sitting on the beach - all good. You'll get a few tips on songwriting again on this episode. Both the words and music. It's something I really love. The act of composing really sets me free, just about the same way it feels when I walk by the water. I painted a seascape today, on the spot. Had another walk by the ocean later on, made a how to draw a duck playing piano video tonight and 5 other small duck cartoons... You can see the painting on my blog and the ducks on YouTube now. I'm really enjoying how my weekly online content is all tying together. eg, Paul the poet played on the song this week. Ok I hope you're experiencing some sort of freedom and peace of mind. If you'd like some more of that, sit back and I'll let you know how I found that freedom this week. Enjoy. www.petepascoe.com Website www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (creations in Music and Art ) Blog Hazy line (memoirs of a Piano Man)Blog

Episode #28: My Picture - (Song at 9:22) Welcome to another episode. Time is whizzing by in lockdown, here in Melbourne, it's been about 28 weeks (with a brief respite mid way). And it's been about 24 years since I wrote the song 'My Picture'. This song is about a breath you take as you go within and allow room for some self reflection. Speaking of stopping, the world used to stop for me whenever Elton John came on the radio. Elton John and Bernie Taupin were a huge influence on my music - and my life, as it turns out . I wrote a poem about the first time I wrote a song, here it is. The Christmas Present - Peace Pesto Elton gets a mention in that poem. On this episode, as I'm talking about Elton, my hands wander on the keys of my piano and I start a song, unintentionally. I then analyse what I was up to, what I was thinking about, some of the theory, etc.... so that was a nice unexpected detour. And that's what this podcast is about ...going with the moment. It makes it interesting, keeps it creative, keeps me in the flow. You get to hear about how it is to be a songwriter. Back to the song Page number 364 of you song books, Ladies and Gentlemen.I wrote it the year before I left NZ to come and live in Melbourne. Again, taking a breath before the next big adventure. And it's been a brilliant adventure of many chapters, in the years since. Ok, want some music? You get that - a piano/ vocal demo. Want some chat? You've come to the right place.. Eg: There a was a fellow that came into the bar/restaurant where I was playing piano. This chap demanded Cold Chisel....anyhow... Sit back, grab a cuppa and let me entertain and hopefully inform you.. More (related) music and art here ; petepascoe.wordpress.com weekly blog Pete Pascoe Art and Music Youtube channel (link) www.petepascoe.com

Episode #27: In The Scheme Of Things - (Song at 7:35) Welcome back again to another episode. I'm going to endeavour to give you an insight into how it feels to write a song, the sort of thoughts a songwriter has. It was peaceful this morning, here in Melbourne - just little light drizzle, no wind. I found I’d woken in quite reflective state of mind. This particular song came to me as I thought about my place in the scheme of things. This time last year I was on the Pohangina river in the Manawatu in New Zealand ( beautiful language, isn't it - the way Maori words roll off the tongue - I do my best). I took a photo of a pool on the river that day - place that has so many memories for me. You can see the photo in my blog post this week. petepascoe.wordpress.com The lyrics are there too each week, by the way - in case you’re like me and you like to read along while the song is playing. It's a beautiful river, a very gentle paced flow. Not fast, not sluggish. Just right for a relaxed walk /wade A bit later on, back in Melbourne, at the school where I teach piano, the first bit of melody came with a whistle as I walked between students.. I got the melody first. Then back in my piano room, I flicked open my iPad, came across the photo of the river and the words just started to come to me. So I sat at the piano, played quietly stopping now and then to write down each line as it came in. It's such a great feeling. It's something I never take for granted. It's great to have this platform to share the process. There's something here for everyone..perhaps you’re a lyricist, maybe looking to pick up an idea or two, or a songwriter? Or ‘just’ someone - it could be you- curious to see what goes on. You'll get a heartfelt song into the bargain, plus some life observations and humour. Also I’ll take you with me back in time for a peaceful walk on the river.. If you like my music, there’s plenty more we this came from. You can stream it, view videos, I’m also a seascape painter and cartoonist. www.petepascoe.com website Youtube Channel: Pete Pascoe Art and Music ( link this to): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrHYCpWbGGaBQr8ukxASVnw petepascoe.bandcamp.com 12 albums here. Enjoy.

Episode #26: Fair New Day - (Song at 6:33) It’s springtime here in Melbourne. Today was indeed a fair new day. Tune in again this week and catch another song. If it's your first time here, welcome! You are now part of an intimate listening audience. Let me entertain and inform you. I want to give you an insight as to where this song came from, how it came into being. This one started to come through on the night of a big rock roll band gig, featuring yours truly on lead vocals. This particular day I'd woken up with an horrendously sore throat. I was about to head out to the gig, where I'd be basically screaming my head off, getting above drums and guitars... Lots of energy. So I thought I better have a very gentle vocal warm up on my piano before I left home for the gig. The warm up chords and gentle humming straight away sounded like a song... You'll also hear about a rather annoying neighbours dog that woke me up very early one morning.. (not being a morning person, myself)... I love writing lyrics. It amazes me how the words seem to come through if their own accord 'on the ether'. The same with the music: the melodies, the chords, all the ideas.. It's as much a mystery to me now as it was the day it first happened for me. Join me on a journey of discovery as I delve into what it's like to be a songwriter. I 'wing it' and have fun as I roll - while I enjoy sharing some of the nuances of songwriting and share some observations on life in general, I like to keep the tone lighthearted - we are here to be entertained. Grab a cuppa, put your feet up. Like a yarn or three and some new music ? You've come to the right place. Enjoy. (By the way, the time where the song kicks in is in the title each week).

Episode #25: Run Away (It’s Never Easy) - (Song at 8:10 & 25:00) Songs take you right back to what you were up to at the time when they came into your life, don't they? When you write a song, a heartfelt song, it seems the effect increases tenfold. Particularly if you are writing from the heart. And that's what I do... Listening to today's song Run Away (I.N.E.), song number #176, it took me right back in time to when I wrote it. It's a song about a relationship....if you like lyrics, we dip into the words and see how they came together, what they're about... I introduce: 'Mr piano man, Pete Pascoe' ...I touch on how it is to be a piano man & more than that... You'll get to step into the shoes of a song writer - literally, this time: I demonstrate how I start writing the beginning of a song, As I talk, my fingers rest on the keys and I bring the piano in and out of proceedings. Also you'll get to come on a fishing adventure in the waves at the beach in New Zealand.. Hopefully you'll be entertained , you'll feel informed. And you'll get two versions of the song today! Grab a cuppa, sit back and come on a trip into another world. The world of a songwriter. It's my passion, it's who I am. You can find more of my music and art here ...plus the usual streaming services. Www.petepascoe,com Www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. Blog magazine style of art and music posts Pete Pascoe art and music YouTube. Art and music videos, funnily enough. Enjoy.

Episode #24: Walk By The River - (Song at 6.14) Welcome to another podcast episode - a big show again, this week! Picture me on a stage, with my piano. You're the intimate audience. Yes, you're going to a get a song- song# 385 as matter of fact. But that's far from all you'll be hearing about. Come back in time with me and we'll see where the song came from. At the time I composed this song, I was reading Tolkien by candlelight, listening to De Ja vu by Crosby Stills Nash and Young. It was a peaceful time for me. I walked by the river a lot, fly fishing and letting my worries go. Just as my father did before me and his father did before him, on that same river. This song was the last one I wrote before I left New Zealand to come to live in Australia. As well as looking at the lyrics and the music, you'll get to hear about a (humorous) unfortunate episode involving me by the river in NZ on a very dark night, finding my way back to my car. And another yarn about a quiet stream, years later, in Victoria, Australia. Along with life observations, insights to the song writing process, a yarn or two about gigs I've played and some other surprises ....enjoy some music and a chat. Sit back , grab a cuppa and put your feet up for 30 minutes. Let me entertain you!

Episode #23: Winter Blue - (Song at 11.43) Hi there, Welcome to another episode of Song and a Chat. If it's your first time here, well, I hope you're in for a treat. You'll get to step into the shoes of a songwriter. You'll hear a bit about how the song came together. I had ski gig - playing piano in an old restaurant in the evenings, skiing all day when it was fine. When it rained I wrote songs, drew cartoons ....and I went trout fishing. I tell a yarn about the time I was asked to take a party of people white water rafting.... If this sounds a long way away from songwriting, well, it is. I'm enjoying just following my nose and relating memories like this adventure... Winter Blue is today's song. What's this one about? Once I'd taken up the gig and got there, I realised I was going to miss ...a lot... and ...someone in particular. This is a gentle ballad, with a lilting melody. I will record it with an orchestra one day. So in amongst stories, of fishing, and white water rafting (I take you on the river with me that winter's afternoon...) plus we have some music. I'll examine the lyrics, and the music of the song, from a songwriting point of view. If you've never heard a songwriter speak about this sort of thing, hopefully you'll find this interesting. Ok, buckle up for the ride. Here we go off to New Zealand high country in 1988, where there's a young fella waiting to tell a yarn or two, and sing you a song.

Episode #22: Everyone Falls - (Song at 1:40) This podcast is a bit like a songwriter speaks type of gig. I'll talk about an old demo, well look at it from a songwriting point view. Plus - and perhaps more so - I'm talking about episodes from my past - you'll get a slice of the life of a songwriter. Recording these episodes, I fly by the seat of my pants. It's a casual presentation each week. I talk honestly about my work. I also talk the featured song of the week - what I was feeling at the time wrote it. I talk about the lyrics & the music. Everyone Falls is this week's song. It's from an old album called the Patient Hum - this is the 21st year (!) since I released 100 CDs of it (yep, back in the day). I have recently re-recorded the vocals. I've nearly finished remixing this album. It'll be online soon.. When I composed this, in 1998, I was 2 years into a 'new start' in Melbourne, after leaving New Zealand. I went back to NZ for a music tour that didn't happen. So I decided to record instead. In one afternoon we recorded 14 songs. This was one of them. I released the album as I said, and at the time I also released my Eridanus /River Music album. It turns out (in my opinion) the song Everyone Falls also reads well as a piece of poetry. On the spur of the moment, I give it a reading ...this was a surprise. I think it goes well. The lyrics came about reflecting on the fact that I'd gone from playing the lead role of JC Superstar, and playing with the band in a rock festival to suddenly singing covers in a Holiday Inn and starting all over again. You gotta have humility, a thick skin, a good sense of humour and a mountain of determination to do this 'artist' thing... So this song could be about the ups and downs (and resurrecting ) an existing path, it could be about something that urges us on, rescues us, the natural essence.. call it what you will. I hope you enjoy this song and I hope you enjoy the chat. Thanks for tuning in.

Episode #21: Don't You Ever Give In - (Song at 12:03 & 28:51) If you streamed this episode, what would you hear about? Well... Hi, my name's Pete Pascoe, I'm a songwriter with a lot of songs. Each week I talk about a song I've written & what I was thinking when I wrote the song. I relate anecdotes from around time as well & include observations about life in general - all delivered in a laid back manner with a dose of humour. So this week, song number 368, 'Don't You Ever Give In' ... the title says it all: it's been a challenging time..but I won't give in. So this song came from 1996 which was the year before I left New Zealand and I headed off to Melbourne to start all over again, With all the ups and downs that happened in the years that followed, this song was a bit of a touchstone for me just to keep going - and I still am. I'm pretty determined. In between talking about the song, I'll take you on an audition I undertook once trying out for the role of JC in J C Superstar… This was also the year I wrote and recorded my first piano music album, River Music. And the band played a huge outdoor rock concert .... It was big year, looking back. It's been an interesting ride. Come along with me on a journey back in time and hear some tales, we'll look at the song lyrics, and there's two versions of the song to boot! I'm also sharing lots of art and music each week. I'm a cartoonist and a seascape painter along with making the music if you'd like to see some of this check out my blog. Petepascoecom.wordpress.com Enjoy.

Episode #20: Photograph - (Song at 5:40) Welcome back to to another episode of Song and a Chat. This week’s song talks about the idea of how a photograph - or a single memory can then bring into your mind a bunch of memories from the same time, and then you discover you’ve actually remembered much more from that particular time than you thought you had. Music has a way of bringing back memories, doesn’t it. The song Photograph also explores how we ’cast a line’ into our possible future. ..and that gives me a nice segue into letting you know in this episode I talk about a fly fishing afternoon I shared with a couple of friends. In the high country in New Zealand. So this podcast is turning out to be part ‘travel magazine’ too! Recording these podcast episodes is taking me into some unexpected and often surprising (to me) concepts and avenues. It’s really great fun. Photograph is also about those few special teachers that come into your life for just the right amount of time to show you something and set you on a course where you’re going to see it through. As I chat, I sit at my piano and talk about the song from a musical/songwriting angle and also analyse the lyrics. It's all done in a laid-back ‘light’, inclusive manner … I’ve said it before ; I’m not going to tell you how to write a song, but I am going to tell you how I write a song. Ok Curious? Want to hear more? I hope so ! Grab a cup, put your feet up and be entertained. Thanks for tuning in. By the way, each week, you can find the song lyrics on my blog post of the week - in amongst all the art and other music …I paint seascapes and draw cartoons - that’s what I’ve been up to today, as well as writing a blog, making videos and recording this episode. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com is my blog. Website: www.petepascoe.com Also, if you are enjoying my podcast, please do spread the word… this is only my 20th episode - I’m brand new to this and I’m loving it. There’s plenty more to come!

Episode #19: A Moment In Time - (Song at 7:10) Hi, Welcome to another Song and a Chat episode. Before we shut down with Covid 19, I used to commute on the train. I can't say I miss the commute, but I did make the most of the time on the train. Sometimes I wrote lyrics. The words to this song were written on the train. Of course it wasn't always as productive on my commutes. I used to ride my bike part the way. I won't give it away, but often on a commute, weather plays a part in proceedings. And it helps if you actually stay on your bike as you're pedalling. What's this all about, I hear you say. Isn't this a podcast about a song. Well, it is, The song, song # 679, is a reflection on our perception of time. Sometimes a length of time can seem to go by in a blink of an eye. I touch on our disconnection, but as I tend to do, there's and uplifting optimistic angle where I suggest we might make the world a better place... I talk about the song writing - there's some song writing tips here again. I actually drum on this song! This is a first - Pete Pascoe playing drums publicly. I learned to play the drums a little the same year I recorded this. During assembly, I used to jump on the drums in the music room at the Primary School where I teach piano. I'd put the headphones on and have a lash. " right, it's basically what to whack when" ... Ha. I know it's a lot more than that, but it gave me some pleasure and I learned enough to be able to sketch out my ideas musically. Like this demo. Sometimes words sit around for a while and then one day they just seem to leap out at you and you put them to music. I hope you enjoy this week's chat - and here's some more new music for you. Looking forward to recording this one properly one day...maybe this demo is the start... Since we record digitally, often a demo can become the actual recording. We'll see. Enjoy.

Episode #18: Cathedral - (Song at 6:08 & 28:50) Hi, If you've been here before, welcome back for another dose! If you're here for the first time, thanks for having a listen. What I'm doing is offering you an insight into the song, where it came from, how it came together - plus of course you get to hear a demo of the song. I particularly enjoy looking back at the time I when I wrote the song, seeing what springs to mind... It's amazing how a song is like a bookmark in time, for your memory. This week's song is Song# 357. Cathedral is a song I wrote when I needed to dig deep to get through a tough time. Writing this song was therapeutic, but art is great because it can become something else, something better than a dark piece of therapy. It can become something uplifting, something that might mean one thing to one person and mean something else to another listener. A song can be transformative for both the writer and the listener. I think the arts are so important. It's getting us through these covid weeks - it's getting our minds off what is a very difficult and tragic time If you want 30 minutes in another world, step into the shoes of this songwriter and I'll take you somewhere else. I'll take you the place where I go, the place I discovered as a kid, the place I take stock, regain my balance and get a fresh perspective. 2 for 1 again this week: first up, a piano /vocal demo and then a band version of this week's cathedral to finish. Enjoy!

Episode #17: God's Wish - (Song at 11:32 & 29:40) In this episode, I recount a couple of slices of my life back when I first came to Australia to live - including an exchange during evening in a bar, outdoors in St Kilda, Melbourne. Right then I discovered I was in a big city - a big change for someone who from New Zealand. I also talk about what I've been up to during the week I record the podcast episode. This week, I'll take you on a walk in a coastal national park, you'll join the band in a recording session and you'll get some insight into the lyrics - and song arranging in general. Song #435 was inspired by a fellow I met on a tram. Melbourne is renown for its trams. It's a very relaxing way to travel. I found I could read and write on the tram, much like I can on trains. I expect it's because you're on ' train tracks' and I don't get car sick there... Woah, I've got off subject here. Actually this would serve to give you an idea of how I roll when I record a podcast episode. A theme develops, but I keep it free and go with ideas that pop into my mind - it's relaxed style of delivery...it's (hopefully) humorous, entertaining and informative By the way, if you'd like to read the lyrics at the point of the episode, you can find them. On this week's blog post. www.petepascoe.wordpress…./ If I've piqued your curiosity, great. Join me on a 30 minute trip into another world-some past, some present, all of it being the world of a songwriter. Enjoy 'Gods Wish'.

Episode #16: Balcony - (Song at 4:03) A demo from my past - Feb 1994, written in Hamilton NZ, you’ll hear some anecdotes from my time there. As I describe these experiences, you’ll get an insight into places I’ve been and people I’ve met and you’ll also see how they find their way into song lyrics and music. I also talk about the song in terms of what it means to me today. If you like the idea of stepping into the shoes of a songwriter for half an hour, you’re in the right place. These episodes are all an evolving work in progress. I’ve decided I’m going to go back and collect all the song writing tips and examples and publish them in a concise form at some point in the future. So it’s a case of art inspiring more art. Or speaking or writing or…story telling. Balcony is song number 322 in my song book I wrote it as I sat on the balcony - it was an early autumn evening, the bright sun was descending behind the neighbours trees and I really felt like I was flying through space in time as the words came to me through the ether ..or where ever they come from. These podcast episodes are proving to be enlightening to me as I reflect on the songwriting process - I’m collecting tips on songwriting and sharing them in the same moment of discovery. Tune in and enjoy the chat - personal (almost confessions) and broader observations on life. Grab a cuppa or close your eyes if you’re on a train, do not close your eyes if you are driving. Enjoy 30 mins of a slice of life. Well, several slices - a healthy serving again this week. Somewhat bizarrely, wolves make a (humorous) appearance twice in the episode. I bet you weren’t expecting that! Neither was I… Thanks for tuning in.

Episode #15: This World Offers You - (Song at 5:24, 19:36, 28:47) A bit of fun this week, a departure in music style… I won’t give too much away. Go behind the scenes, get the inside ‘goss’ on how the song came to be, how it got recorded, what it’s about. This song, number 34, written in 1998, is from the first ever album by myself and Paul Dredge (NZ) - an independent release of about 20 cassettes! This was the 1st time we got to use a 4 track recorder, a drum machine and reverb FX. It was a very exciting time for us. We set up the studio in the house I was sharing, and taught ourselves how to record a song. It was the beginning of the path for me of learning how arrange songs. This has lead to solo piano, piano/vocal, folk rock and rock being my favourite genres. This World Is …. something else. There are actually 3 versions of the song on this episode (well, one full and 2 abbreviated versions). I don’t think this is the end of the road for this song - the Pascoe band played a very ‘up’ rock version earlier this year. I think we’ll have to record another version sometime. This show is not a high brow ‘exclusive’ sort of presentation. This is a show for anyone. You don’t need to know anything about music theory. But if you like music - here's another new song - and there’s one every week. So if you’re up for bit of entertainment and information, tune in, sit back and hear a little bit about how a song-writer / arranger thinks. Also, if you know someone who might be interested - this episode, like every episode - has tips on songwriting and arranging - tips from someone who’s learnt by making a lot of mistakes and someone who’s still learning. There’s the usual humour, it’s delivered in a relaxed manner, with a sense of discovery, as I look back through the years and the memories come to mind as I talk. I explore the lyrics - a bit of analysis and some of the musical aspects of the arrangements. Also there’s anecdotes from my past - in this case I recount a visit (as a youngster) to a club to play snooker… Enjoy

Episode #14: How You Mend A Broken Heart - (Song at 15:55) Welcome back! If you’ve come back again this week, if you’re new here, welcome along! Be entertained, informed and you get a song to listen to part way through - another demo this week. Written in 2000, It was a time in my life when things were fairly settled. My song writing perhaps wasn’t in a golden sort of patch, but you keep going (I’m passionate) and songs like this one seem to come along. You get the background of what I was up to at the time… I used to wander down to pier to fish, to give my mind some space and get some energy, to work on my creative work: filling the well. Equally importantly, I’ve worked really hard over the years, making a living from the arts. There are some anecdotes about my life, my neighbours, etc. a real slice of life, and this is what this podcast is all about - you get to step into my shoes for a while. I was a Pianoman back then - there’s an art to it. I describe how it feels to play background music. It was a busy fun time, balancing it with developing my art. I was flat out - and when you’re busy, you’ve got to look after yourself - and you’ve got to keep an eye on your relationships. This song is about.. healing, coming out the otherside a relationship ending...you can bounce back and on reflection you can see that the experience has lead to a deeper understanding of yourself. All presented in an old laid back jazzy sort of ballad. It takes determination to write songs, get them recorded, etc. If you’d like to read the lyrics as I sing, you can find them here, on my blog (along with paintings, cartoons, more music and writing) www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Thanks for tuning in, Enjoy!

Episode #13: Sunset Journey - (Song at 9:43 & 22:55) I’m really enjoying recording these episodes. This song came about after a drive down to the beach with friends. We wanted to catch the sunset. It was early winter. As it turned out, we timed it really well. The tide was out, the sun was about to dip over the horizon. The sky was reflected in the wet sand. A black swan appeared out of the deepening dusk, flying - a silhouette against the stars as they started to appear. I was completely lost in the beauty of the scene, lost in the moment. It was a moment where it really crystallised for me that this was the end of a chapter - and the beginning of the next. It’s great to have friends around, full stop - but it’s great to have friends around when you need a bit of support to get you through. This was one of those times. Sunset Journey appeared on an album ‘Can’t See The Words For The Trees’, some years go. I’ll be re-recording this album in the future, as the old gear I recorded on wasn’t the best, sound quality wise. Join us on the beach as you listen to the song. Enjoy. By the way, there’s a surprise in the 2nd half of this episode.

Episode #12: Who'll Forget - (Song at 4:10) A political song this week. I wrote this one back in 2002. It’s popped up again now. It was released once as 100 CDs, a booklet with lyrics and watercolour / pen paintings. But it always felt like a demo. I’m going to re-record this album. I have repainted the original watercolour / pen sketches in acrylic and developed them some more. I’ll include these with the new release. In the intervening years since I wrote the song, it only seems to have become more prescient - and pertinent. These are worrying times. The more art and music that draws our attention to matters that (in my opinion) need urgent attention and addressing, the better. So, I’ll make no apologies for the serious mood that pervades this episode. There is an element of hope. There’s always hope. But it’ll take action to turn things around. This about the danger of where things might get to if there is capitalism with no controls/limits in place. As usual, I analyse the lyrics - at the risk of coming across as special, or conceited - I step outside the song, forget for a moment that I was the writer and look at the words as they are. There’s a line that's very pertinent to these present uncertain times with Covid-19: Where’s all your berries, stick them all here - next to your dead buried, without even a care. It hit me between the eyes when I read it this week. I’m an optimist, I hope for great things in the future. There are great people doing great things today leading to this possibility. For today, here’s a snapshot of our times, written 18 years ago. Its a bit grim - I lost most of my income overnight as an artist / musician entertainer. But quite amazingly, this was the very week I’d committed to publishing the podcast, a new start to this blog and a new Youtube channel. The time to publish is now.

Episode #11: Tomorrow - Today - (Song at 9:36 & 23:10) I committed to writing a song each week years ago. There wasn't ‘that moment’ where you go: "right I'm now going to start writing 700 songs. Nope. It was start-stop. 'The dabble', as it were... I just had feeling, had a go. Then it becomes something more - it gains it's own momentum. I think you get lucky early - often - when you take a leap of faith, trust and just have a go. For example, Tomorrow Today is a song that came through very early on…in fact it’s song number one in my songbooks! As I sat in the airport with pretty much a broken heart - and the plane delayed - I could've got pretty worked up. Instead, I got my feelings out by writing the lyrics on the back of my plane ticket. I'm glad I did. The result was less of a ‘broken heart’ type song and more of a ‘it can be what you want it to be - reflective’ sort of lyric. You can read the lyrics here, on my (weekly) blog post: https://petepascoe.wordpress.com/ There are 2 versions on this episode. The original demo and a studio track. This song appears on the album 'Righto' (https://petepascoe.bandcamp.com/track/tomorrow-today) A sense of discovery and love pretty much sums up song writing. I keep my podcast episode recordings very ‘free’ - no written notes, the idea being that’ll keep me free, ‘on the breath’. As a result, the things I end up talking about are often a surprise to me. Each song is like a ticket back to the feelings, the dreams I had at the time I wrote the song. Towards the end of each episode, I look at the song from a songwriting point of view. So each week you’ll get to step into the shoes of a songwriter. Back to Tomorrow Today: When I eventually arrived home, my black and white cat (see last weeks’ blog post), sat on my piano. Both seemed to be waiting for me. I had a feeling something special was about to happen as I let my hands fall on the piano. The opening riff is what happened. Hear this - and a very young me singing, sitting at my old piano playing this one. Enjoy!

Episode #10: The Main Thing - (Song at 7:35) This song, number 515, traces the trajectory of a (musician’s) life and marks the points where he prioritises his goals as he goes through a series of transitions - which pretty much sums up a lifetime. Along the way, his definition of the main thing keeps changing. I’m loving archiving these songs and I hope you’re enjoying them too. Alfred, the Labrador, makes another appearance this week - the Labrador we were looking after kept me company as I wrote the song, 19 years ago. As a lyricist, I generally write from an ‘I’ perspective. In this case, I wrote the song as a ‘storyteller, this time in 3rd person. It started off with a true episode that happened when a girl was young and moves on through her life, then it becomes equally - or more so - about the man she eventually meets - and their relationship down through the years. There’s a saying ‘being in the zone’ …not blowing my trumpet here, but there was something about the songs, the demos from this particular fortnight of house sitting. Writing lyrics really flows for me. I don’t work on these lyrics for months. These generally come together in about 20mins - and the music generally happens in about the same amount of time. I’m looking forward to recording an album of these ‘demos’. Recording these podcast episodes is proving to be a useful sorting process for me. Also, it’s very much a time of discovery, as I discover things about the songwriting process as I talk about this. I welcome your feedback about what I’m up to on this podcast. I’m very much finding my way. I’m enjoying analysing the lyrics and exploring the song from more of a composing point of view towards the end. I find these episodes entertaining and informative. I hope you do too. There’s nothing like some new music, too. I hope after listening to this episode, you feel a bit like you’ve been to gig, heard the story of the song and maybe even picked up thing or two about songwriting and arranging - which is certainly an ongoing learning process. If you’re tuning in and finding you’re enjoying these episodes, you might like to hear more at www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. There are a selection of my albums here, including 2 piano/vocal singer/songwriter style, along the lines of the songs on this podcast. Also you’ll discover my other albums and styles there - which I’ve touched on in previous episodes: Piano solo, Rock, Folk rock, etc. Other links for you to explore: www.petepascoe.com www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (blog - art and music with links to more) Youtube: Pete Pascoe Art and Music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrHYCpWbGGaBQr8ukxASVnw Enjoy.

Episode #9: Second Story - (Song at 7:32 & 24:47) This podcast is evolving. It's becoming a collection of songwriting tips, concepts. It's also bringing anecdotes to the surface - stories I'd forgotten about, that had their origins at the time the song was written. Plus there are observations on the complexity of the human condition, the evolving self & the opportunity for growth - by working through the challenges that life presents as we push on. Art and Music are great mediums to document these events, as there's a lot of emotion and not everything that happens to us during our time on earth is easily summed up with spoken/written language by itself. On that note, Second Story is a song that describes a process: how it feels to sort of disappear into another world which can happen during writing a song. Transcending time and space, it really gets you out of the skin. Maybe if you're lucky, when you come back to your sense of self that you're normally accustomed to, you'll have some echoes of what you've experienced - like memories, somehow in the present. And these can become the building blocks for a song. I was house sitting at the time, there was a baby grand beneath an arched window, in a sun drenched room. Brilliant for song writing. I recorded an albums worth of songs in the 10 days or s that I was in this house, Alfred the dog kept me company as I noodled away on the keys and waited to see where the piano would take me. Two versions here. The original demo. And the finished album cut The demo is quite ethereal somehow, which suits the subject material. I describe in some depth this pretty much transcendent type of experience here. It blew me away and it seems like yesterday. I enjoyed taking myself back in time as a part of re-experiencing this. Another journey of discovery. Enjoy.

Episode #8: Fall Asleep - (Song at 5:52) Continuing on with another song this week. I explore the songwriting, using pretty much 'layman' inclusive language. So non-musicians, non-songwriters that know nothing about the theory of music can enjoy hearing how the song came together. A song is like an emotional book marker in time. When I listen to an old demo like this, it takes me right back to when the song was composed, which was in 1988 (!) This 'Fall Asleep' demo was recorded in 2004. It's what I came to Melbourne for, from New Zealand, so it was very exciting to get some basic recording software, courtesy of Anthony Reed - he plays guitar on this track - and we still record and perform together today in the (previously mentioned) band, Pascoe. The amazing Mr Earl Pollard (sadly no longer with us) is on the drums - we recorded these in his garage, this take is the first time he'd heard the song. I've been lucky to have these marvellous musicians coming into my life... and my wife, Marie, is on backing vocals - and Tamborine, I see, too. I wrote the song years ago, I was on a 2 month job, it was a gig on an NZ mountain, playing music in a restaurant during a skiing season. I got to ski all day and sing all night. Perfect. Plus if it rained I'd go trout fishing of write songs or draw cartoons. Pretty much sublime. Except I broke my right thumb on the afternoon of the first gig. Youch! This made for an interesting performance on the keys that night, I can tell you (you can hear more about it on this episode). In 'Fall Asleep', there's a sense of loneliness and loving for what - and whom - I'm missing, but there is also a peacefulness, plus an 'other worldly' sort of outro that lifts the whole thing into something else.

Episode #7: Culture To The Bone - (Song at 4:35 & 18:30) This song is about the concept of us all being swamped, almost overwhelmed by art, music and media from all around the world - at the expense of losing our own arts, and culture. My song writing buddy, Paul Dredge and I wrote this one. It came about after a mornings fishing. We were feeling very beach-y, by the sound of the groove of the guitar riff and this is one of the most relaxed melodies and vocals I've recorded. So the whole thing is natural. That's what I like about it. You want to hear my kiwi accent coming through, I'm not trying to be anyone else. The song talks about the desensitising effect of violent images and themes that are frequently on tv - the media setting up stereotypes and reinforcing the idea, time again, that there is an us and them ... The fear. But 90 percent of folks around the world are on the same page: I think We all want to be happy healthy and want to live in peace. These are things I was thinking of, what inspired this song. The song was written in about 5 minutes. It was an absolute pleasure. Also this week, the studio version! More polished in some respects, but here's a pearler : Paul Dredge was using a vegemite jar as a slide for his guitar! How that for real local culture (for folks from o’seas, vegemite is a yeast based sort of protein type spread for toast that divides folks on whether it's a good thing or just wrong - it ain't jam! ) It's very New Zealand and Australian, perfect for the song. Enjoy.

Episode #6: Bindless Captive - (Song at 10:30) It’s 1982. I'm in my science class at school, being lectured on the names of cows stomachs. Predictably, as a young man, keen on the outdoors, the hunting and fishing, my mind started to drift. Out the window, the hills in the distance beckoned me. In my mind I flew over the city, over the river, over the hills to the farms and beaches where I'd spent so many hours observing nature: In silence, I'd stood, listening to all the sounds, recognising all the bird calls, the sound of the rushing river and the wind in the pines. Back in the class, as the teacher spoke, I drew a cartoon of a ' farmhand ‘- a possible future for myself (not that I was seriously considering it, but the idea of being in the country appealed), and I wrote the lyrics there and then. The lyrics are about a life yet to be lived. I'm 15. I want to do it, and I want to do it now! The outdoors awaited me - as did the future. I wrote the music to this this song a few years later, in 1985. I find it’s a good idea to stow your writing, art and music (that you may not have a current use for) away for another day. In this case, I’m glad I kept that particular page of my school exercise book. Lots of insights to songwriting here today, folks. I'm not going to tell you how to write a song. But I am going to tell you how I write a song . Enjoy!

Episode #5: Lifetimes - (Song at 4:26 & 14:08) This week I'm presenting an instrumental solo piano song, 'Lifetimes', written in 1987. There's 2 versions here : The original demo and also the track released on my first piano album Eridanus / River Music. On the demo, this is my first effort at arranging strings - an orchestral type of arrangement using my keyboard, which I added after recording the initial piano on my upright acoustic piano. Lifetimes started out as chords and melodies scrawled onto different bits of paper - very basic notation written at the various times I composed each part. One winter's evening after playing a gig with a covers band, I sat down at my old upright piano back home around midnight and brought all the sections together. I also composed joining phrases, new movements, etc. Fortunately everyone was out for the night and I could play the piano without disturbing anyone. Some day I'll hire an orchestra and record it again. Nonetheless, for now, here's how it sounds. As a creative person, it pays to enjoy your art in the form it is in presently, while keeping it in mind to perhaps rework in the future. Have a listen and I'll talk you through how it all came together, then I segue into the songwriting angle. Enjoy.

Episode #4: I'm On My Way - (Song at 4:24) Episode number four: I’m on my way, Song #341 written in1994. I wrote the lyrics sitting at the beach, in New Zealand. I used to stockpile these.I loved having a stack of lyrics waiting for whenever the mood hit me to compose a song. When I recorded this demo it was my first time using 16 tracks. Thanks to a friend, I was fortunate enough to be given access to a ‘B studio’ at night.. I ended up producing a solo album’s worth of demos, over a few weeks. I loved it. I programmed the drums, played piano, keys fretless bass, strings, and sang it. Thanks to Brendon (I’m pretty sure that was his name), who happened by the studio one evening and put some guitars down for the entire album for me. He had some great ‘chops’, was an instinctive player, who played for the song. He took direction well. It was a spontaneous creative outpouring, with easy communication for us both. It was big night. We finished at dawn. The song is about nearing the end of a relationship, trying to let go. There is a sense of freedom about the music, it's got a nice vibe. This is the first time I got to fully direct an arrangement in a professional studio.I loved the experience. Hear more about how the song came to be, the lyrics and at the end there's some songwriting / arranging tips. I do talk in a way that is inclusive of the layman/ non songwriter. So if you hang around to the end you might gain some insights into the creative process. Enjoy.

Episode #3: You’ll Remain In Me - (Song at 3:53) Welcome to Episode 3, this week we have : You'll Remain In Me, song #170, written in 1991. Here I am in my studio in Melbourne. It’s midnight and you're my intimate listening audience. I'm pretending I'm on a stage, doing a gig. I have license to talk. Which I do, presenting the usual back story to the song, the actual demo recording, then lyric analysis and some songwriting tips to follow. I enjoy talking about the songwriting process. Hopefully my laidback & inclusive style will appeal to the layman, as well as aspiring songwriters… In this episode, ‘You’ll Remain In Me’ is a statement, in effect, about my ending a personal relationship. Each relationship we experience has the power to transform us - and they will, whether we are aware of this or not. Letting go is a delicate process. You do consider the long term implications. Here I’m singing with Paul Dredge who’s doing the harmonies and Earl Pollard on drums - a great guy & a wonderful musician, who is sadly no longer with us. We recorded this after a gig at a piano bar we used to work at 5 nights a week. I loved this baby grand. Join us here - pull up a chair for a listen, see where it takes you. In these podcasts, as I record them, memories float in from the time I wrote the song. So you'll get it straight from the songwriter. It's confessional, not over serious though - I like having a laugh as well as getting all arty in my reflections. So I'm enjoying the whole podcast recording process.

Episode #2: That's Alright With Me - (Song at 4:17 & 16:35) We're back!…my second podcast, ever: That's Alright With Me, Babe, From 1993. Song #347. Written by myself with Paul Dredge (NZ) . This episode includes the demo version and the album cut - 2 for the price of 1 ! Here we have the result of two minds meeting & writing intuitively together, in the moment. I had the lyrics in hand. I’m winging the melody, looking at Paul's fingers on the guitar neck - not sure why, they mean nothing to me, cos I play piano. I said " ok, it's sort of an uptempo kind of Bob Dylan song" and Paul leaped in with the chords and groove. Fuelled by the heady cocktail of coffee and biscuits, this song encapsulates the free, stream of consciousness type of creative, approach to co songwriting that we had - and still have today. I explain how the song came together, a bit of background, the usual lyric analysis. Then you can hear the finished cut, after that I offer a few tips on songwriting and arranging to finish. Enjoy

Episode #1: Chocolate Biscuit Princess - (Song at 7:58) Welcome to my first podcast - ever! Hi there, my name is Pete Pascoe I’m a songwriter. I've written 800 songs. I had the idea that an ongoing series of podcasts would be a great place to present demos of songs - old and new - that might not otherwise get out there in the world. Each week, I'll present another a song ( if you want to only listen to the song , the time where the song plays will be in each title). First of all, I'll give you the backstory, where the song came from, perhaps what I was up to at the time….what inspired the song, (yep, you'll get the inside info). Having set the scene, the tape hiss kicks in and…the demo plays. Sometimes on the original demo, you catch some sort of magic that you don't then manage to find in the studio when re-recording the song later. It's this sort of...indefinable feeling that we all strive for in art and music. I'll then do some lyric analysis, and finish up with the songwriting tips. I plan for this to go on..well, for quite some time - there are 800 songs to choose from! Ok , on with the show : Chocolate Biscuit Princess. Song # 171. Written in 1991 and demoed the same year. The title? A good friend of mine shared a house with a young lady who somehow reminded me of what I thought an English princess from a couple of centuries ago might look like. Some of her mannerisms seemed quite…royal too. Apparently her food intake was minimal. The bulk of her diet being chocolate biscuits. The song writer in me said "aha!" surely there's a song to be had here. The recording : piano/vocals (as most of my offerings on this podcast will be), in one take, playing a baby grand late one evening, in a piano bar where I used to work. One day I'll record this with a small string section - a suitable arrangement for a royal performance! Then I segue into the songwriting segment. On this first podcast, there's a sense of exploration happening as I'm deciding on how to present these podcasts. I’m finding my way along. I did consider re-recording it, but I like the spontaneity and honesty that often happens in the first take. I hope you enjoy it. www.petepascoe.com