Exclusive to NWN, Willow Caldera covers SL's burgeoning live music scene
They say it's possible to write a song about almost anything - a concept Fyrm Fouroux seems to single-handedly prove. You might hear him sing about jelly moulds and post boxes at one of his shows, or possibly his love for his dentist, Bhuna chicken, central heating or Selotape. No topic is safe from his witty, innovative pen, and the charm of his performances comes as much from his unique take on life as how shockingly easy it turns out to be to get into the groove of a song about Brussels sprouts. Or this one, about mail boxes:
Video shot by Toxic Menges (see her newest machinima here!) featuring the original song "Post Boxes".
Fyrm's music is a little too elusive to describe, taking influences from jazz, acoustic, indie and classical sources. Everyday life, and all the little things within it, whether mundane or amusing, has seldom inspired such a novel, and constantly entertaining, collection of music. As he puts it to me:
"My music falls under the broad banner of contemporary acoustic," says Fyrm. "The style is eclectic with some influences from jazz, classical, folk roots, and conventional popular music. Some of my songs deal with serious topics; others are designed to amuse. At my shows, I play mainly my original songs in the first 30 minutes accompanying on guitar. Then I move to my piano and play mainly a selection of covers for the last 30 minutes."
"This averages at around four shows per week," he says "I find that is about right. I do not like to play more than one show a day. This might sound a bit old-fashioned, but I am emotionally exhausted and drained after a show."
"I trained as a classical singer when I was a teenager, passing the English Associated Board final grade with merit," he goes on. "I also studied theory of music at that time and sang in a very good choir. I started learning guitar when I was 18 and began to compose my own music from that time. My original songs are registered with the London copyright agency and for this purpose I have my own cottage music publishing company, Lewis Music, in RL. I do not publish anyone else through that company. Apart from guitar, I did learn the elements of piano when I was younger but never really persued that. However, I have returned to keyboard seriously once again and have been taking a weekly piano lesson for the past three years."
Fyrm's favourite venue is his own tiny bar, Terra Fyrmusica, which he describes as his musical home.
"Other than that, I really like Cascadia Harmonics where I have played weekly for a couple of years (on a Sunday). I also like the Cup n Spittle at Acheron. I used to perform in real life much more than I do now. In the 1980s I ran an amateur live music club (mainly acoustic music) that met once a week in an upstairs room in a pub, in the Northeast of England. I still play at pub buskers evenings from time to time, but I am finding that less and less attractive a proposition. One of the reasons is that I can't easily play piano when I do that - just the guitar."
He channels all mics and instruments - a voice mic, electro acoustic guitar, Yamaha digital piano, Boss Loop Station and sometimes Roland synthesiser - into an Alesis mixer, which goes into an external Edirol sound box and from there into his laptop and to Second Life. Though Fyrm is a great fan of many of his fellow Second Life artists, the inspiration for his own music comes firmly from his own experiences.
"In Second Life, I very much like Djai Skjellerup and EvaMoon Ember, although I would not say that I was inspired by them," he says. "I have enjoyed listening to Strum Diesel and also Skinny Shepherd (but time zone differences mean I don't catch him very often). This may sound a tad arrogant, but I don't pay an awful lot of attention to other musicians in terms of making my own original music. I like to go and listen to a good performer (both in terms of singing and instrumental skill) but I don't do that in order to get any tips or ideas for making my own music. I mean I like both Nad Gough and Torben Asp in terms of computer arranged music, but they do not influence my own compositions."
More about Fyrm Fouroux:
What
live music groups should Willow Caldera cover for New World Notes?
Suggest groups and performers by contacting her by IM or at [email protected]
Her taste in music is somewhat eclectic, ranging from Kings of Leon to Frou Frou and Disturbed to Lady GaGa and Avenged Sevenfold.
I heard him at one time - great musican! But my favorite sl musican is Lance Windlow
Posted by: Bletaverse | Wednesday, January 06, 2010 at 07:10 AM