Spring Forward and Fall Back - II

Things have been otherwise good though for the last couple of weeks.  It was just yesterday hit me from nowhere, and I had no guard against it.  This last week especially I have refound myself acoustically.  After busking with a PA system and virtuoso trumpet player at all the top spots with a permit.  Riding this huge Bakfiets around and spending good days smoking and drinkin, busking inside central station in the snow and sleet.  But it is a LONG story, so I suppose I better start from the start......

It all started when I met Dominik, I was playing one morning at Waterlooplein and it was goin slow, but I was stickin through.  He rolled up pushing a scooter and says he has a busking band, I should come meet up with them the next day.  He was eager for me to, so I went along to the coffeeshop Siberia the next day, and I met with a homeless polish guy who played bass, a German who played slide guitar, and Dominik on Trumpet.  They were waiting on their Cajon player.  It was drizzling rain, so instead of them playing, we smoked a joint and I made lots of sense to them about the process of recording, and busking the certain circuit.  I said I would record them, just give me a call when you are ready.

It was while I was at Rons that he called about ten days later, and said he will pass me on to his manager.  I spoke to this 'Gabriel' and he said how much would I charge for coming down and recording, I said Ahh hundred euroes.  He tells me he is starting a new record label called 'One Root Records' and would I be the producer.  I said sure, I will come down and record.  I had just finished recording my album at Jaspers, so the next day I picked up my 16 track and got a ride to Ganzenhoef in The Bijlmer.  It is on the outskirts of Amsterdam and it is 99% black.  We get there, and there is a strange vibe, this Garbriel who is in bed when we arrive comes upstairs ten minutes later holding his video phone and talking all this smarmy shit about this film he is making about Gabriel Cage and how he got some hotties to come down for an audition the next day.  There was also an Italian drummer called Virgilio, an absolutely brilliant natural musician and traveller.  And then the Reggae singer 'One Root Freeman' came later.  We set about recording, and I did a really great job of capturing and building an idea into a song.  There was a great vibe, and they loved how I was producing the music, Gabriel would go and constantly buy lots of weed, alcohol, beers on these credit cards, and at the end of the day he tells me that he cant get no more money out of the bank, but he can buy stuff.  So if he buys me a mac computer, will I record the album.  I say, sure, still unsure exactly what to make of the situation.


All 5 of us take the metro to Amsterdam and it's still all a bit weird on the way, Gabriel is speaking to random girls trying to get them to audition for his 'movie'.  We get to this second hand shop and they have 2 macs in one Macbook air for 750e or a big one for 1700.  He says he will take the Macbook Air, and then he also buys a pair of sunglasses for 80 euroes.  I think he must be a credit card fraudster.  I was watching his face as he was trying to buy the mac, and his first card refused, and then I watched his face as the second one was tried.......His relief when it went through showed.  He handed me this macbook air.  After a day of drinking so much black label vodka and whisky and beer and weed, and recording a  great reggae track, I headed home with a smile, laughing at the craziness of life.

The next day, I said I would go back there and we would record another session.  I thought I could ride it, but ended up getting lost and riding for hours, nearly 40 km I rode.  I finally bunked the Metro and got there.We recorded Virgilio playing his percussion set with Didgeredoo, but since One Root wasnt there, we didn't get nothing finished.  Isaid I would come back later with my girl to the party.  Gabriel is saying only girls get in free, and men pay 30e to get in, this is after he has auditioned the girls.  It hit me, that he is just like Johnson from Peep Show.


I returned later, and he tells me the girls have just gone, infact they never turned up. Noone turned up except us. We went in and drunk some nice whisky and smoked some nice joints.  It was a good night, we had some good discussions, and then me and Virgilio jammed, and I really connected with the songs.and felt good about the whole project.  I thought yeah, good musicians to make music with.  I said give me a couple of days to set the mac up as a studio and on Tuesday I will come down and get started.  I was in such good spirits about it all, telling everyone about this great experience and great musicians.

I got there on Tuesday and it was just Dominik there, he had just spent 1500 euroes on a portable PA system and a Roland loop station.  I was set up to record, but Dominik just wanted to play with his loops.  Virgilio was out busking, and One Root was just out doin his business.  When Virgilio returned at 11 he had his 2 friends from Italy with him.  One was an amazing guitar player, and the other just a bright eyed  young lad.  It had all just changed atmosphere, I was asking Virgilio if he wants to lay some drums down, and he kept putting it off, and saying his friend will do the computer ableton.  The next day we managed to get some things layed down, but it was hard work.  Everyone was just pulling in differerent directions.  Domink doing his trumpet loops, Virgilio doing Meditaranean grooves and One Root just wanting to do Reggae.  I was just left recording bits an pieces, then their live jams.  There was a seediness about the place.  I didn't know who was sleeping with who, or what the fuck was going on.  I just kept my guard up and slept with one eye open.

The next few days were still very weird and seedy, I just didn't know what was going there, but I felt bound there as I had just been bought a macbook!  But I just wanted to get away from there.  By Friday, I was fed up of being in the middle of 4 musicians who all wanted to do different things, there was nothing worthy coming through in the recordings, and my friend Jasper phoned me and told me about this 'Foreign Legion' Meal gathering at his.  It sounded perfect so I left the flat and went to Jaspers.

It was a great party that I will never forget, watching a sticky sunrise melt through the windows.  I said I would go and do some more recording on Sunday, but I was still so tired and effected from the party, after a strange twist of emotions I just couldnt get there, and ended up not showing up.  I went the next day, and now the atmosphere and attitude had gotten even worser towards me.  There was this guy 'Raffa' who was dying of Cancer (but I think he is just a conman myself) Said he did the drums for Seal and all other types of mainstream artists because his dad was 'a very powerful man'.  He didn't like me from the start, and he was posion to the others.  I just couldnt win this battle.  I was getting the blame for their not being no results to show.  They called me round and said they wanted to take the computer back.  I took that as an insult for what I had had to sit through this last week.  I started to lose my temper when the Rasta was screaming at me that I had to do his vocal in a certain way. I was screaming back that I aint gonna be fucked over, when I have wasted my time coming and sitting through all these different people coming in and all wanting to do different things, fuck that, I aint no miracle worker.   I can't make magic appear out of the egos of four musicians.  I felt it was right I should keep the laptop, as my time is what they hired me for.  I said I would spend a week with them recording, and I did.  But if all they make is disagreements, what can I do?  I felt like they were conning me, but I stood up for myself and screamed even angrier at them. 

Ok, there will be a 3rd part of this, but for now let's just leave it there.

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