ALAN DAVEY "World of Fear is a typical 70's rock track with a catchy chorus line and a long jam in the middle, driven by a bass chord riff that could go on and on in a live situation. One of the best rock track's I've ever written! When I'm back on the road next year with our band "Artists United" this'll definetly be in the set! "Artists United" will be a mix of my solo music, Bedouin, Pre-med, Gunslinger and featuring Simon House and Sunil Jolly [from the Meads of Asphodel]. It'll kick some bottom I can tell you!" Alan Davey, long-time bass player with legendary space rockers Hawkwind [1984-1996 & 2000 - 10th June 2007] released a new solo album, called "Human on the Outside." Outside of Hawkind, Alan Davey is also known for his former side-project Bedouin ["once described as a psychedelic Motorhead with Arabic overtones"], and his much acclaimed solo-albums like "Captured Rotation" and "Chaos Delight." Davey has also been involved as a producer and bassist for the highly acclaimed Pre-Med album, "Medication Time", and as as member [bassist] of Death Metal outfit The Meads of Asphodel. "Human on the Outside", available from www.alandaveymusic.co.uk, builds on combinations of hard rock and atmospheric ambience that takes the listener on a journey that transcends time and space. Its also a timely reminder of Alan's ability as a multi-talented instrumentalist featuring not only his highly regarded bass playing [Alan describes his style as "playing like a rhythm or lead guitar"] but also his synth and six-string guitar work. The album also includes a vocal contribution [on "Glass Wolves"] by his Meads of Asphodel colleague Metatron. "It's eclectic" notes Alan. "This album is way ahead of anything I've done before. There are deep, atmospheric, sounds and some really unusual rock numbers. It's still clearly me - but it sounds like nothing I've ever done before, it has a real filmic quality to it. I'm always stretching myself as a musician and trying to do something totally different, really experimenting with sounds. This one is really on the button." Words | Alan Davey Three years ago I bought a PC studio loaded with Logic Platinum 5.5.0. What a joy to have all this and the huge amount of FX in one little box! The doors opened and I was now able to do everything I've always wanted to do. I also bought xtra vst synth's such as 'Atmosphere' and 'Mellotron' which are my favourite VST'S and the ones I use the most! Not forgetting my 2 Korg 'Wavestations' EX&SR. I'm still using the 1964 [classic wood year] custom Rickenbaker 4003 Bass [my mistress] and a Gretsch Electromatic 6 string guitar. Now with all this, I can really experiment!! Human on the Outside > Here's a brief breakdown of tracks... Atmosphere Starting with this track it is all about setting the mood to get the listener into a space of their own. I've always thought the start of an album is very important and this was done using the "Atmosphere" vst synth. Hence, the title almost as a tribute to this great synth, with added sound FX and some old korg "wavestation" sounds it sets the mood perfectly. Years ago Miles Away This heavy rock psycedelic track started off as a piano / cello riff which changed every 3 months into something totally different, then with a guitar riff added in the mid8 which i've had since 1990 it took shape. A bass riff was also added which I wrote in 1980 with my first band Gunslinger -it was turning into an epic [lots of careful mixing needed]. The lyrics are about a good / bad girl [she knows who she is!] and how we met somehow!!! Eyes Closed For those who know my music well, they'll know I like a good instrumental. This one features the Mellotron violin sound and a busy bass guitar! With lots of odd synth FX, just close your eyes and off you go, hence the title. The use of an arabic guitar is also featured in this trk. As it turns out, this track reminds me of Simon House's classic, "Spiral Galaxy", from 'The Warrior On The Edge of Time' album -thats just the way it turned out. I rarely have a goal when I record a track, I tend to make it up as I go along and one idea triggers another, and so on! DrumHead This was originally an experiment to see how many drum kits I could mix together until it got too much! I got to 5 kits comprising of rock, jazz and rap. A drum orgy!! There was no intension of writing a song here, just an experiment. The drums themselves made the guitar riff [or so I heard in my head] and so added bass, a sub bass riff and some reversed strings. But there was something missing. I kept hearing a womans voice [in my head, AGAIN!], so I kept an ear out for the right voice. While doing the Hawkwind November '06 tour we had "Bruise" supporting us and Isobel the guitarist / singer's voice was perfect! She was more than happy to try, and she did a perfect job. A drumhead is a way of dismissing an officer on the field of battle, so Isobel wrote the lyrics based on that. Its only a short piece but has lots of impact! Marine Snow This is a keyboard piece like many I've written for Hawkwind and was going for the effect of slowly falling, much like Marine Snow. Once again the Wavestations were employed here along with mellotron flute and trumpet sounds. A nice break from the previous heavy rock start to the CD and a good chance to roll another!! Nothing Is Weird The riff for this track is a typical jazz bass riff converted into an Arabic scale with a bass riff I wrote in 1979 that fits well [lots of old riffs I've had for years turning up here!]. The mid8 part of the song needed to portray that nothing is weird so I used some orchestral samlpes and another bass picking riff I've had since 1980. Never disregard those old riffs!! Again Isobel from 'Bruise'connected with this track and after her great contribution in Drumhead, I was more than happy to let her try this too. She wrote the lyrics and melody line and again it fitted perfectly. So many times we'll all say, "thats weird", but the fact we say it so much surely means "Nothing Is Weird!!!" World of Fear Thanx to the Bush & Blair regime I had to write this one! They made it, so I'm gonna write about it! Imagine a world without them, it was better without them I believe. As the lyrics suggest "I wish they'd fly away to another [un-inhabited] planet and get lost!". Anyway,this is a typical 70's rock track with a catchy chorus line and a long jam in the middle, driven by a bass chord riff that could go on and on in a live situation. One of the best rock track's I've ever written! When I'm back on the road next year with our band "Artists United" this'll definetly be in the set! "Artists United" will be a mix of my solo music, Bedouin, Pre-med, Gunslinger and featuring Simon House and Sunil Jolly [from the Meads of Asphodel]. It'll kick some bottom I can tell you! Ethnic Mosaic Pt. 1 & 2 This was an experiment to see how many instruments from all countries and cultures can be mixed together to make a world sound. From house basses to chinese zithers this was fun to do. I know its not an original idea, others such as Peter Gabriel have done it too, but I'd advise others to try this as it is great fun mixing it all up and seeing that we could all play in a band together no matter what you do or play. The black metal band I play bass for [The Meads of Asphodel] use many ethnic instrumentalists and it works very well, even in Black Metal! These two tracks are like a journey through what ever is in you're head at the time, relaxing easy layed back tunes. The Unseen This is a soundscape & poem track -the poem being performed by Danny Faulkner [Pre-Med]. Its dark and spacious with crazy echo's along the lines of the Moorcock style poems he's done with us [Hawkwind] in the past. Its made up of "Wavestation" sounds [still the most unusual synth in my opinion] and old bits and pieces of experimental synth/guitar work I've had for years, with mellotron and some samples. A scarey filmic piece! Delusions of Ganja One of my fav's on the album as its an unusual track for me, at the start! My rhythm & lead guitar work, I'm most pleased with on this track. Again heavily featuring the mellotron. The vocal melody is a catchy one being copied by the lead guitar giving it a strong harmonic effect. The jam at the end builds to a crescendo with a bass chord assassination and a moog synth hook line. The lyrics promote moderation when it comes to the green stuff, as I know some people that really don't know what's going on anymore. Its a fun thing, not a life wasting habit [ain't that right DICKWICK!]. I'm not against it, be in control and use it! As it happens, this is my mother's fav track on the album, Hee hee!!! Dog Star I wrote this as midi info to start with, using a piano sound trying a dis-chordent piece. It didn't work, but I kept the midi info. I later fed this through the Atmosphere vst and found a sound that made it sound nice! With a few edits to the sound and added FX it turned into a big audio vista that again was unplanned. Experiment is my advise, you never know what will happen, never delete midi info until you've tried it with all the sounds you've got. Its a track that will test the bass end of ya speakers and the windows in ya house! I could have called it "The Shaker!" Glass Wolves This features the famous and dangerous vocalist from The Meads of Asphodel, "Metatron." He wrote the lyrics which are about us having no leaders to believe in anymore, as they're all self serving liars who dont care about us or the society they force us to live in. Again this is an old riff written in 1990 that I`d forgotten about until I found it on an old cassette tape! This is another one like "Years ago Miles Away" that changed all the time, and is very different from the original recording. There are 2 drum kits going on all the way through which makes it swing like a stallion!! I sing along on this one so its a vicious duet and a powerful track to end an album on. Well that's the studio report, many thanx to Roadburn for asking me to do it, and a special thanx to Kevin Sommers for the fantastic arkwork on "Human on the Outside", plus Isobel Morris, Danny Faulkner and Metatron for their contributions. We ["Artists United"] hope to see you on the road in 2008 for a live experience you won't forget!