My main blog has moved to http://the-other-ebay.blogspot.com - from now all old entries will be on that site, and I'll only post the latest entry here.


My third update of 2010 - more updates (21st November 2010)

A few updates for you: I set up a MySpace page for my music, and thanks to six weeks of hard work spreading the word, I'm currently at 1750 fans – not bad. To keep them better updated of when my EP will be available (at the moment, my best estimate is mid-December), I also set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The links for these are below...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Bay/165776073445947
http://twitter.com/ericbayandersen

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I put these links here – if you're reading my blog, you probably found out about it from one of those sites. Oh well.

The EP is now tantalisingly close to completion. On Tuesday I'm going back to the studio to polish off 'Crazy Like Me' (the final song) and two weeks later I'm going back for the final FINAL production changes. Embarking on an ambitious creative project can be a strange experience - maybe it's my perfectionist nature, but I find myself going back to songs I thought we'd completed months ago and finding more and more things to tweak. I think that's why most artists/bands hire outside producers, even when they're more than capable of producing their own material – sometimes you need an outside perspective to tell you when something is finished. I now understand why George Lucas keeps revisiting and updating his films – sometimes (especially when you have the time and money to do so) the temptation to chase some impossible idea of perfection can be too much to resist. As a better and wiser film-maker once said (I believe it was one of the Pixar founders): “our films don't get finished; they just get released”. Sometimes as soon as you walk away from something and say “that's it – it's finished”, the definitive version is born. It will be a strange feeling when 'Pair Shaped' is a finished article and no longer a work in progress, but I'm very much looking forward to it. And I'll tell you something else – I've had so much fun in the studio making it, that I'm not going to wait very long before going back to record a full album. In fact, I'll probably start right after New Year. And recording ain't cheap ... so please, buy the EP! Buy several for your friends – it'll make a great Christmas present!

I'm proud to say that after almost two years, 'Scroungers' (the project formerly known as 'Untitled Chav Musical') has finally begun filming! I think the reason I've put it off for so long is it's the first film project Josh and I have done which couldn't just be filmed in our houses or on our local high street. A few weeks back I found a flat which was perfect for one of the film's few (music-free) dialogue scenes, and luckily the people who lived there allowed us to film in their living room. I haven't edited the scene yet, but I would like to thank Josh for filming it, and my friend Hannah for doing such a good job in her role - the fact that she is nothing like the chavvy character she played is a testament to her acting skills! There is still a lot more that needs to be filmed (there are still quite a few scenes I need to find locations for) but now that we've started, it's given me the push I needed to get going with it. I doubt I'll finish it by the end of the year (that's not a pessimistic view, just a realistic one), but it will get done, sooner or later. I'm actually looking forward to filming some of the musical numbers – even though I'll be miming to a recording, I bet I'll get some looks from passers by on the street!

Script-wise, I don't really have much to report, I'm afraid. Last January it was my New Year's resolution to write a page of a script a day, and I'm currently 42 days behind - hopefully I'll catch up by the end of the year. I do, however, have one final update – Josh and I met up with that relatively famous British director I mentioned last time, and we told him of an idea we had for a short film idea (not 'Stress', the one we filmed the first scene of – that project has been put on hold, indefinitely). The idea we told him was about a mysterious man who lures broke and desperate young men into a murderous game where the winner is promised a huge cash prize - the short is called 'A Quick Game'. Josh came up with the original idea, and together we wrote the script. The director liked the idea - at some point we'll meet up with him again, discuss any notes or suggestions for improvement he may have, and we'll see if we can move forward with it. Exciting stuff!

Have BUY a MY good EP week (did my subliminal advertising work?)