My first retail release "Childhood E.P." is now available from http://www.leonlive.co.uk/store.php
For local Aberdare people you can get it from 'Red House Music' in Aberdare Market.
The beginning of a long journey has begun!
Monday 22 December 2008
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Summertime Records Press Release
Aberdare Singer/Songwriter Leon Evans (who performs under the artist name 'Leon Live') is releasing his début EP entitled 'Childhood E.P.' on the 22nd December 2008.
Best described as 'Acoustic Rock' the EP combines rock sensibilities with an acoustic based sound scape with beautiful melodies and harmonies and incredibly infectious and hook laden choruses and lyrics.
The EP is available from 22nd December on CD (£3 + P&P) from the official Leon Live website –
www.leonlive.co.uk
The EP will soon be available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, eMusic and Napster.
It will also be available at all Leon Live performances.
The entire EP was created by Leon in his small flat in the town of Aberdare. Leon wrote, performed, produced, mixed and recorded all the material for the EP (and the upcoming album slated for release in Q2 2009) by himself. He also created the logo's and printed all the artwork for the CD. Chris Summerill of Summertime Records helped achieve a retail release by releasing under his Summertime Records label.
The 'Childhood E.P.' consists of 5 songs taken from the 14 that will appear on the full album next year. Each song(except 'Blinded') is a diary entry in Leon's life from May to October 2008 as he struggled to come to terms with an abusive and neglected childhood and the unfortunate emotional damage that left him with
as an adult.
Each songs lyrics were written in one day as a diary entry about the emotion and feelings he felt on that very day. These words are unedited, they are not revised or changed to 'improve' them as some form of song writing exercise. They are the honest, raw emotional content of one man's journey of self discovery.
Leon currently has work in progress mixes of all 14 songs from the album available on his website as free mp3 downloads so that listeners and fans can get a taste of the songs this talented songwriter is to release next year. It also gives Leon the opportunity to gain valuable feedback on his music from a worldwide audience.
END
Additional Info
Leon Evans is a 34yr old who has been playing guitar and writing his own songs since the age of 16. He joined his first band and started performing live at the age of 17.
Originally from the Fernhill Estate in Mountain Ash, Leon's disjointed and unsettled childhood saw him move 7 times (along with stays with other families at various times) until the age of 16 when he was unsympathetically kicked out by his mother.
He bought his first guitar for £40 from a second hand shop in Aberdare (a pink Honer stratocaster) and learnt to play from magazines and guitar tab books and a few lessons from a local Aberdare guitarist John Jones.
Music was the norm during his childhood and was a bigger part of his home environment than television. Raised on 70's rock such as Journey, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Pink Floyd and AC/DC.
He then developed his own musical identity from the age of 11 onwards with his first musical purchase, Iron Maidens Live After Death double cassette.
Along with Maiden came Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and a multitude of classic 80's metal, along with a more classic rock side with bands like Cinderella, Danger Danger, Firehouse, Tesla.
Leon cites his 4 most influential albums as:
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Journey – Escape
Tesla – Five Man Acoustic Jam.
Tesla's 'Five Man Acoustic Jam' introduced him to the 'unplugged' sound. Many people find it strange and almost contradictory that a man so entrenched in metal and heavy rock can write acoustically with such subtlety and melody.
Best described as 'Acoustic Rock' the EP combines rock sensibilities with an acoustic based sound scape with beautiful melodies and harmonies and incredibly infectious and hook laden choruses and lyrics.
The EP is available from 22nd December on CD (£3 + P&P) from the official Leon Live website –
www.leonlive.co.uk
The EP will soon be available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, eMusic and Napster.
It will also be available at all Leon Live performances.
The entire EP was created by Leon in his small flat in the town of Aberdare. Leon wrote, performed, produced, mixed and recorded all the material for the EP (and the upcoming album slated for release in Q2 2009) by himself. He also created the logo's and printed all the artwork for the CD. Chris Summerill of Summertime Records helped achieve a retail release by releasing under his Summertime Records label.
The 'Childhood E.P.' consists of 5 songs taken from the 14 that will appear on the full album next year. Each song(except 'Blinded') is a diary entry in Leon's life from May to October 2008 as he struggled to come to terms with an abusive and neglected childhood and the unfortunate emotional damage that left him with
as an adult.
Each songs lyrics were written in one day as a diary entry about the emotion and feelings he felt on that very day. These words are unedited, they are not revised or changed to 'improve' them as some form of song writing exercise. They are the honest, raw emotional content of one man's journey of self discovery.
Leon currently has work in progress mixes of all 14 songs from the album available on his website as free mp3 downloads so that listeners and fans can get a taste of the songs this talented songwriter is to release next year. It also gives Leon the opportunity to gain valuable feedback on his music from a worldwide audience.
END
Additional Info
Leon Evans is a 34yr old who has been playing guitar and writing his own songs since the age of 16. He joined his first band and started performing live at the age of 17.
Originally from the Fernhill Estate in Mountain Ash, Leon's disjointed and unsettled childhood saw him move 7 times (along with stays with other families at various times) until the age of 16 when he was unsympathetically kicked out by his mother.
He bought his first guitar for £40 from a second hand shop in Aberdare (a pink Honer stratocaster) and learnt to play from magazines and guitar tab books and a few lessons from a local Aberdare guitarist John Jones.
Music was the norm during his childhood and was a bigger part of his home environment than television. Raised on 70's rock such as Journey, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Pink Floyd and AC/DC.
He then developed his own musical identity from the age of 11 onwards with his first musical purchase, Iron Maidens Live After Death double cassette.
Along with Maiden came Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and a multitude of classic 80's metal, along with a more classic rock side with bands like Cinderella, Danger Danger, Firehouse, Tesla.
Leon cites his 4 most influential albums as:
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Journey – Escape
Tesla – Five Man Acoustic Jam.
Tesla's 'Five Man Acoustic Jam' introduced him to the 'unplugged' sound. Many people find it strange and almost contradictory that a man so entrenched in metal and heavy rock can write acoustically with such subtlety and melody.
Sunday 14 December 2008
Childhood E.P. release date set
My debut retail release "Childhood E.P." is confirmed for the 22nd December 2008.
The EP will be available globally, direct from my offical website - www.leonlive.co.uk for £3 +p&p via Paypal.
I am currently also trying to get it available in some local shops in Aberdare for the Aberdare local peeps.
Digital distribution has already been sorted, but I am waiting for the live date (this can take upto 6 weeks depending on the website).
But the EP will be available on the following music stores(prices set by the digital stores):
iTunes
Amazon
Napster
eMusic
Rhapsody
The EP will also be available at all my gigs
The first 50 copies are going to be signed so make sure you grab a copy!
The EP will be available globally, direct from my offical website - www.leonlive.co.uk for £3 +p&p via Paypal.
I am currently also trying to get it available in some local shops in Aberdare for the Aberdare local peeps.
Digital distribution has already been sorted, but I am waiting for the live date (this can take upto 6 weeks depending on the website).
But the EP will be available on the following music stores(prices set by the digital stores):
iTunes
Amazon
Napster
eMusic
Rhapsody
The EP will also be available at all my gigs
The first 50 copies are going to be signed so make sure you grab a copy!
Saturday 6 December 2008
EP imminent!
Ok so I'm currently hard at work finishing off 5 tracks for my EP called 'Childhood' which I'm gonna get out in time for christmas. The track listing will be as follows:
1. Child of Hell
2. Blinded
3. Your Tears are Mine
4. Memoirs of a Dreamer
5. Home
I recently bought a bass guitar so I can lay down all the bass lines, I've re-recorded 2 songs as they are sounding too slow compared to how i play them live.
Bass lines have been added, guitar solo's and guitar melodies/lead lines have been done, some vocals have been re-done (becasue of tempo changes) some vocal harmonies are going to be added tomorrow or monday. Then its a day of mixing ready for the mix down to stereo .wav files to be handed over to Chris Summerill for mastering.
As a taster/teaser heres the front cover*(click to see full size):
The cover mirrors my lyrical content, my own personal childhood trauma's in what should have been an innocent time. It also symbolises 'the beginning', the beginning of my music career and also the beginning of my journey of change, to let go of my childhood baggage and not let it affect where I'm going anymore.
Anyway, time to crack on with the recording, idle hands and all that.....
*The EP artwork, 'Leon Live' Logo and 'Double L' © Leon Evans 2008, all rights reserved
1. Child of Hell
2. Blinded
3. Your Tears are Mine
4. Memoirs of a Dreamer
5. Home
I recently bought a bass guitar so I can lay down all the bass lines, I've re-recorded 2 songs as they are sounding too slow compared to how i play them live.
Bass lines have been added, guitar solo's and guitar melodies/lead lines have been done, some vocals have been re-done (becasue of tempo changes) some vocal harmonies are going to be added tomorrow or monday. Then its a day of mixing ready for the mix down to stereo .wav files to be handed over to Chris Summerill for mastering.
As a taster/teaser heres the front cover*(click to see full size):
The cover mirrors my lyrical content, my own personal childhood trauma's in what should have been an innocent time. It also symbolises 'the beginning', the beginning of my music career and also the beginning of my journey of change, to let go of my childhood baggage and not let it affect where I'm going anymore.
Anyway, time to crack on with the recording, idle hands and all that.....
*The EP artwork, 'Leon Live' Logo and 'Double L' © Leon Evans 2008, all rights reserved
Sunday 9 November 2008
New song
I have a new test mix available of a new song called "Letting Go".
Its available as a fan exclusive on ReverbNation for the next week. After that it'll go on the media downloads same as the other Beta2 mixes.
http://www.reverbnation.com/leonlive
This song is my diary entry for 16th October 2008. I wrote these words on that day and its still affecting me deeply. Grieving is often only asscociated with death. Sadly grief can be just as painful when circumstance can take away someone you love. I am still grieving for the loss of someone I love not due to death, but due to circumstance and who I am.
It is unbearably difficult sometimes to cope with being alone when someone is so ingrained and imprinted into your soul and psyche.
I feel truely alone in this world.
Its available as a fan exclusive on ReverbNation for the next week. After that it'll go on the media downloads same as the other Beta2 mixes.
http://www.reverbnation.com/leonlive
This song is my diary entry for 16th October 2008. I wrote these words on that day and its still affecting me deeply. Grieving is often only asscociated with death. Sadly grief can be just as painful when circumstance can take away someone you love. I am still grieving for the loss of someone I love not due to death, but due to circumstance and who I am.
It is unbearably difficult sometimes to cope with being alone when someone is so ingrained and imprinted into your soul and psyche.
I feel truely alone in this world.
Sunday 2 November 2008
Airourne live in Cardiff last night!!!!
pardon my language!!
FUCKING ROCKED SO HARD!!!!!!!!
I mean seriously, as much as i love and grew up with AC/DC these guys take AC/DC and kick their fucking asses so hard!!!!!
i was right on the barrier, front and center and i was just sheer energy.
Support acts
Sound and Fury - http://www.supernova.com/soundandfuryrocks
Very energetic guys, bass player had a nightmare gig with a dodgy guitar lead (thoguht it was the bass at first which meant it took longer to fix).
Stone Gods - http://www.myspace.com/thestonegods
FUCKING AWSOME!!!!
Never heard of them, walk onstage and its the remaining member of The Darkness!!!!
Ritchie has gone from darkness bass player to a front man/guitarist of just awesome stage presence!!! I mean i was blown away! This guy was strutting and mincing better than Justing Hawkins ever did!!!
And fuck me were they heavy!! I mean rock heavy not metal heavy, soem of their riffs were like some bastard child of Angus young spliced with Hetfield!!!
Bought their album as I left I was that impressed.
Airbourne...
FUCK ME!!!
Joel walks on with a full 24 pack box of Stella, and proceeds to douse us all with tasty beverage, and they just fucking explode into Stand up for Rock & rock and dont let up for their entire set.
Joel is just fucking mesmerising, he definately IS Ted Nugents bastard child!!! He's got the Ted 'GLARE'!!!!
I mean these guys just rocked fucking non stop for their enitre set, all of em, Blown away.
I'd go again tonight and tomorrow and for the rest of the goddamn week!!
LOVE FUCKING LIVE ROCK AND FUCKING ROLL!!!!
Thursday 30 October 2008
money or cultural expansion
"Is it more important that music businesses make money, or is it more important that culture expands, innovates and grows?"
Another question posed by Andrew Dubber over at http://newmusicstrategies.com/2008/10/30/heres-a-question-nobody-ever-asks
My initial thoughts:
They are both of equal importance.
BUT, record companies need to stop trying to 'make as much money as possible' mindset and change their goals to work FOR and WITH an artist in both an artistic sense AND a financial sense.
They need to start realising that they can make money from the long tail with new artists as well as established back catalogues.
Businesses need to reduce costs and become more efficient. when the business streamlines and reduces costs and accepts the new digital world, then they will be themselves opening up to a much more diverse cultural catalogue of music and then maybe, just maybe the radio stations will play more than the same 20 bland 'manufactured' trash songs 20 times a day, day in day out.
Case in point.
Wedding photographers.
They now have Digital Camera's and Photoshop. Yet they still charge the huge prices they did when they were still doing all the manual processing and darkroom work......I know a few friends who are great photographers who've capitalised on this and are now doing weddings for £150 - £200
You cant charge for what you don't do anymore because of a fundamental shift in technology.
The problem is the 'pro' wedding guys are stuck in a situation where they live their day to day lives based on their 'old' earnings, so they have a mortgage and a car that's based on £600-£1000 a wedding.
Technology has come in and said...'err no, you can now do that same job for £150-£300'
change or die as a new group of people come in and do your job for less.
I think far too many albums are recorded at far to much cost because the record companies are still stuck in a mindset that the more money it costs to record the better it will sound therefore the more it will sell.
And Producers/Record company executives are still living like the wedding photographers.........
Another question posed by Andrew Dubber over at http://newmusicstrategies.com/2008/10/30/heres-a-question-nobody-ever-asks
My initial thoughts:
They are both of equal importance.
BUT, record companies need to stop trying to 'make as much money as possible' mindset and change their goals to work FOR and WITH an artist in both an artistic sense AND a financial sense.
They need to start realising that they can make money from the long tail with new artists as well as established back catalogues.
Businesses need to reduce costs and become more efficient. when the business streamlines and reduces costs and accepts the new digital world, then they will be themselves opening up to a much more diverse cultural catalogue of music and then maybe, just maybe the radio stations will play more than the same 20 bland 'manufactured' trash songs 20 times a day, day in day out.
Case in point.
Wedding photographers.
They now have Digital Camera's and Photoshop. Yet they still charge the huge prices they did when they were still doing all the manual processing and darkroom work......I know a few friends who are great photographers who've capitalised on this and are now doing weddings for £150 - £200
You cant charge for what you don't do anymore because of a fundamental shift in technology.
The problem is the 'pro' wedding guys are stuck in a situation where they live their day to day lives based on their 'old' earnings, so they have a mortgage and a car that's based on £600-£1000 a wedding.
Technology has come in and said...'err no, you can now do that same job for £150-£300'
change or die as a new group of people come in and do your job for less.
I think far too many albums are recorded at far to much cost because the record companies are still stuck in a mindset that the more money it costs to record the better it will sound therefore the more it will sell.
And Producers/Record company executives are still living like the wedding photographers.........
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Enigmatic.....
This blog post is brought to you by proxy of another excellent post by Andrew Dubber over at NewMusicStratergies
enigma
/inigm/
• noun a mysterious or puzzling person or thing.
— DERIVATIVES enigmatic adjective enigmatical adjective enigmatically adverb.
— ORIGIN Greek ainigma ‘riddle’.
I think any person who isnt shallow can remain an enigma even to their closest friends and family.
The only time i ever feel like i've truely expressed my inner pain or most difficult emotional feelings is through my lyrics when i song write.
I just cannot verbally express in conversation my feelings/anxieties/fears, i get frustrated because the words just arent there to convey whats in my head.
When i write/compose there is no pressure of time, i can dissapear into my own head while strumming chords and leet my mind form the words in its own time.
When i converse with my partner or friends or family members, a conversation requires a constant flows of words, there is a pressure of time. Feelings dont care for time, and when time forces me to try and find words for my feelings, my feelings get pissed off and frustrated!
Blogging is currently hit or miss for me, I dont read many, and I still havent found my own ryhtym and subject matter for my own, so its currently disjointed.
Like all things in life its a learning process, but just like real life, you'll only give as much away in a blog as you would to people you just met in a pub (unless you create a genuine alter ego and remain anonymous)
I am me, this text is me, text can be more widely misinterpreted than talking face to face but that is beyond my control, i write as me, not as anything else.
enigma
/inigm/
• noun a mysterious or puzzling person or thing.
— DERIVATIVES enigmatic adjective enigmatical adjective enigmatically adverb.
— ORIGIN Greek ainigma ‘riddle’.
I think any person who isnt shallow can remain an enigma even to their closest friends and family.
The only time i ever feel like i've truely expressed my inner pain or most difficult emotional feelings is through my lyrics when i song write.
I just cannot verbally express in conversation my feelings/anxieties/fears, i get frustrated because the words just arent there to convey whats in my head.
When i write/compose there is no pressure of time, i can dissapear into my own head while strumming chords and leet my mind form the words in its own time.
When i converse with my partner or friends or family members, a conversation requires a constant flows of words, there is a pressure of time. Feelings dont care for time, and when time forces me to try and find words for my feelings, my feelings get pissed off and frustrated!
Blogging is currently hit or miss for me, I dont read many, and I still havent found my own ryhtym and subject matter for my own, so its currently disjointed.
Like all things in life its a learning process, but just like real life, you'll only give as much away in a blog as you would to people you just met in a pub (unless you create a genuine alter ego and remain anonymous)
I am me, this text is me, text can be more widely misinterpreted than talking face to face but that is beyond my control, i write as me, not as anything else.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Music as a money making 'device'
I've had my pre-conceptions about the music industry shattered over the last few months. Old idea's about how you should go about certain things, how to make money, how much money etc etc.
Its all down to pretty much one guy and his deeply thought provoking websites.
The gentleman in question is a Mr. Andrew Dubber and his main website is here - www.newmusicstrategies.com
He has a new blog item up currently regarding pirated downloads and a response he got from a reader who was furious that her music was being 'stolen'.
It struck a very dissonant chord within me. So much so that I had to relpy in the comments.
I copy the reply here in full and with an additional note, As much as I would LOVE to become very wealthy from my music, it is not the reason i create it. I do not create living on a dream it is to become rich from. Money is a bonus, an added extra, money should never be the reason to create, to create purely for financial gains means the very thing you create is contrived and dishonest.
Anyway, heres my unedited reply:
" It cost me huge amounts of time and my hard earned money to create this music. This is a business. For profit."
This is where you fail. in my honest opinion.
That one statement stuck out like a massive sore thumb for me when reading this article.
Is this the only reason you write and create music? Simply to make money? As a business woman I'd say you;ve failed from the very start then, becasue anyone with any business sense would realise that music is the LAST place you start a business to make money!!
Music is not a business, period. It has 'become' a business for many corporations and compaines, but music is not, in and of itself a business.
Music is about emoting, about expression, about conveying to others a feeling, a thought, a memory.
Music for me personally is like therapy, its cathartic. Each song i write is a diary entry in my life. I cant talk about my feelings, I cant express how i'm feeling to people who care about me, the only way i can get my pain/joy out is in song format. I need to play and write music to satisfy my own emotional needs. I play my music in front of other people at gigs becasue i feel I have something valid to offer others, either to say 'your not alone in how you feel' or as my way of asking 'does anyone else feel like this? I am not alone in this?'
I currently give all my music away for free, I'm currently recordign my first album, and so far i've given away 2 lots of beta mixes, actual 'as its being recorded' mp3's so if anyone out there is interested in seeing how an album is created and progressed then they can download it all, and see each itteration of each song as it grows and develops.
It also means that people can hear my music NOW and I can actually develop a fan base rigth now instead of waiting another 6-10 months until the album is finally released.
When it is released I'll probably do a physical release, maybe a full retail release, thats way down the line right now, but i know i have plenty of good info to help me make the right choice.
Money from my music is a bonus, what drives me is making an emotional connection with people. What gives me the greatest sense of comfort and satisfaction is someone telling me that my music moved them, connected with their own experiences and vocalised their own feelings/pain/joy that they couldn't vocalise themselves.
And for me that is more valuable than any amount of money.
Leon.
Sunday 28 September 2008
Cwmaman music festival and a new song
Well I had the pleasure in taking part in the Cwmwman Music festival this weekend. I did an hour set in the Shepherds Arms in Cwmaman along with 3 other superb local artists. The festival so far has been a tremendous success with lots of local support and so much great talent from the surrounding area. Looking forward to next year!
I have a new 'Beta2' work in progress song uploaded called 'Your Tears Are Mine". You can listen to it on my ReverbNation page
Its a Fan only exclusive at the moment, sign up as a fan to listen or wait around for a week or so when it becomes a free download from my website the chorus of this song was written way back in 1994 and recorded onto one of my various ideas tapes and promptly forgotten about for 14 years until i was digitising all my old tapes into mp3 format to store on my PC. I came across the original chorus recording and it just jumped out at me from the speakers. The emotion still spoke to me after these years and connected with alot of things I'm currently going through. I had another chord progression I'd been humming over and the lyrics just came for that which ended up being the 3 verses. So a song of 2 separate halves separated by 14 years and 2 different emotional situations coming together... song writing is such a wonderful thing!
Monday 22 September 2008
Windows Live
I've started up a new Windows Live account for my music based side of life. I'm trying out the new windows live 'wave 3' beta software.
So far so good, i like it, the interface is nice and stylish.
you can grab hold of me on Messenger by adding me - info@leonlive.co.uk
Friday 19 September 2008
New blog for a seasoned Welsh songwriter/musician
Gonna try my hand at blogging! :O
just a short test as a first blog, see how it goes.
This is my website - www.leonlive.co.uk
and this is what i do(taken from my website):
"Leon Live is an extremely talented welsh Songwriter, singer and guitarist from the Welsh valley’s town of Aberdare. Leon Live is raw, emotional, powerful songs straight from the soul, This guy wears his heart proudly on his sleeve and his deeply personal, moving lyrics cant help but touch the emotional heart strings as you listen to a beautifully melodic soundscape of breathtakingly simple yet inspiring songwriting.
Now 34, Leon has been writing his own material since he was 17 and has been performing live from the same age.Originally writing and playing a mix of melodic rock/metal which culminated in his self produced and self recorded home demo in 1998, which got positive reviews and praise from various rock websites.After a few years hiatus from music due to real life events, Leon is back writing but has moved to a more acoustic based writing environment along the lines of James blunt, Travis ,David Gray, Richard Marx but still trying to capture the ‘rock!’ essence of say Tenacious D
Leon is offering something different and possibly unique, he is uploading his songs as he writes and records them so that people can actually see the writing and recording process as it happens and see its progress from rough mixes through to finished product. This gives listeners a unique opportunity to follow an artist during the actual creative process.
All of Leon Live's music is FREE, download his stuff, listen to it as much as you want, keep coming back for more if you like it. Invlove yourself on this musical journey and if you want to support his efforts, then please add yourself as a fan or friend on his profiles, and when the final official release comes out, then show your support by buying a single or even the album on i-tunes or wherever else it will be available.
Leon is currently writing and recording guitar/vocal mixes on Pro tools and is seeking a drummer, bassists and piano/keyboard player to add the additional parts to the tracks to fill them out so that they can be sent off to various people.
Leon is also looking to then tour and gig this material and produce a full studio album for official release.To that end, Leon is looking for professional management to help further his career and help seek out either or both recording and publishing contracts and to help with direction and career goals.
Please feel free to contact him if you are interested or would be interested in more information."
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