| Mister Songs (1.05) |
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Andy
Roberts is the friendliest man in town and also, possibly, the hardest-workingest.
A member of the band Linus, he's also RainbowNetwork.com's lesbian
relationship advisor Ask a Geezer, not to mention a cartoonist fellow,
bookseller and all-round GG (Great Guy). Not content with all this, Andy decided to go back to college to do an MA. In order to fund himself he came up with a great idea: Mister Songs. For a minimum donation of £50 Andy will write and record a personalised song just for you, about anything you wish. Last year, when I was at my most miserable, Andy sent me a tape that included a song that me, Simon and Kay asked him to write about Kay's dog. We've been singing Theme from The Bean ever since. Talk about having a ray of joyful light shine on your life. It sounds like a power-pop/70s glam children's TV theme. It sounds as though it should be played over a crudely animated title sequence. It's a hit and his cheque is definitely in the post. The dog loves it when we sing to her too. Even if you haven't got £50 to spare, you could gang up with your friends and commission something. Imagine giving or receiving your very own song! Good for all ages, species and interests. Here's a bit more about it. So how's college going? Fantastic. It's great to be able to study all this stuff I've always been so fascinated by, in a structured way and among other people who are equally motivated. I feel like my brain's been switched back on after years on standby. And my classmates are great - gender students are a diverse, interesting lot. Tell us about your song project OK: the idea is that you think up a subject for a song - anything at all you'd like to hear a song about - and if you donate to my college fees fund (minimum donation fifty quid), I will write it. I make a recording on my trusty but rusty four-track, and send you a cassette. Then, every twelfth song, I make a CDr album of everyone's songs and send one out to each donor. What songs have you written for it so far? Well, for example, I was asked to write about a donor's girlfriend and her cat for the girlfriend's birthday: Love Me, Love My Cat. Pets are popular - there was the dog-themed song for your good self, of course. Bedroom Behemoths was the most involved one so far - the brief for that was "write a song about gin, hair dye, and plastic dinosaurs". I'm working on one about a donor's favourite girls' comic from childhood, and one guy has asked for something about the monkeys taking over the Earth - though he could've meant the Monkees, so I need to ask him whether it's a Planet of the Apes scenario or the benign rule of four loveable Yankee moptops. I know how to write just about anything - except songs. I don't understand the process at all. How do you do it? It's a lot like singing in the bath, which I'm sure most people do. In fact, sometimes I literally do write songs while running a bath, or washing up, or some other menial task which allows your mind to wander happily. Tunes and words just pop into my head. I think of it as stuff that's floating around in the air, and you just have to tune in. A good signal will give you the whole song very quickly. If the reception is bad, you have to reconstruct it as best you can, and work hard on the missing bits. How can people commission you? All the details can be found at http://linusland.co.uk/mrsongs.html How does this project compare with other musical things you've done? I guess it's more frivolous, often more challenging, more varied, and generally as much fun as I can imagine having with clothes on. I've mostly collaborated with other people in the past, in bands and so on, but this is all me, which is nice because I'm seeing each song through from start to finish. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Thanks for telling people about it. So far, I've got enough commissions to get me halfway through next term. My aim is to avoid bank loans and the like entirely, if I can. Give to the needy! Support your local songwriter! |
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