Luke Clarke's World Of Tomorrow!

Welcome To The World Of Tomorrow or 2011, one of the two, you decide... it's all a matter of choice

So, just a very quick post here,

I signed in on the 30th, the anniversary of my Dad's death and HABISKY! we had 1,000 views! fantastic, I don't even know that many people, so thank you all very much for working your way back here, to the Luke Clarke Blog, I appreciate each and every one of you, you're all diamond, if not a more precious material, because it's you that pushes me to keep writing this blog, with the help from my friends creating and suggesting content, we've moved this blog from strength to strength, I'm writing more than ever and I'm enjoying writing each and every one of them. 

So let's keep this train keep on ridin', ridin' on through!

Also, a while back, I entered a competition over on Frampton Central, the main fan page for one of my favorite guitarists, Peter Frampton. The prize was the above pictured Gibson Custom Les Paul Peter Frampton Signature, now this evening, I checked my inbox, and I made a phone call to Simon, the guy who runs the website and when he answered, he told me that I had won that guitar, all of you readers will know of my abysmal bad luck, and this, was the light at the end of a terrible 2010 tunnel, so thank you Frampton Central, from the bottom of my heart. 

"I wonder how you're feeling, there's ringing in my ears"

Longer post coming soon!

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!

Your Pal

Luke Clarke

Yesterday I Spent Asleep

Wotcha Readers!

So were approaching the end of a shitty year, there's no debating it's been terrible, there's nothing left for me to do this evening, so I thought I'd do another blog for ya...

Coming up to the end of 2010, I'm feeling as if I'm just waiting for the new year to come in, kind of lost, finding myself, literally doing nothing, having no effort or motivation to do anything, the band's on a break for now, I'm writing alot of material, I'm taking advantage of Red Dead Redemption's double XP until 2011 thing, gonna try and get to level 50, alas, I just really haven't been feeling all that chirpy this last week or so, overly tired, bloated, drunk are all things I've been feeling, and I don't like it, not one bit...

Now you can probably tell through my writing style here, that I'm not myself, I know I normally have some kind of flow going on through my blogs, but as I say, I'm not feeling myself, but I feel compelled to write here, before I lose all sanity...

Now speaking of losing sanity, I've been doing this thing called "reading", I was bemused by the concept at first, but it's really quite cool, anyhow, I've been reading H.P Lovecraft's Weird Tales, all I can say is wow, I'm not a fan of fiction, I've always been into biographies & fact based books, but this is incredible, and gets the imagination running wild with these images of distorted and creepy images of these worlds he describes, I felt as if I was hanging off every word on the page, it's truly riveting stuff, and it's what has been inspiring some of the creepy sounding work I've been doing musically, if you're not convinced by my comments here, pick the book up for yourself, I warn you, it's intimidating, but you'll never regret buying it, there are 900 pages of sheer awesome weird short stories that will keep you reading...


Linko McLinkerson! £12.19, free delivery, if you're after a good read, go fer it!

But aye, last blog was my 40th post, how about that eh? Just a thanks really, I had alot of really nice feedback from that previous blog, saying some people also were moved to tears reading it, it's touching to get that kind of response, thanks you lot, thanks for sticking with this blog for 40 posts... I also looked at the counter while writing this post... 925 views, that's more people than I've ever met, ever

So thanks, for coming back post after post to read my ramblings about everything, it's nice to see that number shoot up every time I post

Next on my venture for guitar gear, MIDI!





That's Why, watching that, seeing what Robert Fripp does with a MIDI Capable guitar, the possibilities that would bring to the band would be endless...and I really wouldn't mind putting that on the SG to spruce it up a bit, would certainly be something that I'd like to experiment with, weighing in at a hefty £600 though, it's a pricey bit of kit, Imagine being able to create that kind of atmosphere on demand, it's an incredible feat, one that I'd love to do, throw in some soft brushed drums and a tickled bass...

Onto what I mentioned earlier, new material I've been writing, 4 songs in total, some we jammed at practice, but I'm actually arranging as songs now, so far the one I sent to Jay got fantastic feedback, and the others I'm working on require a lot more work, but honestly readers, I've never written or played at this level before, I'm at my peak at the moment, getting more practice in than ever, I'm enjoying how it's all going, here's hoping the band goes from strength to strength in 2011, because right now it's what I need, to gig, to record, to get somewhere, would be awesome...

Now earlier, I had a really strange experience while I was asleep, I had a dream which isn't uncommon, however, I turned over on my sofabed, expecting someone to be lying there next to me, looking back at me, but there was no-one, the house was empty and for about a minute or two I was lodged in a sense of despair, wondering to myself "where is she? she was here, but now she's gone" the thing is, I'm sure I felt her presence, her smell, her voice, I'm sure she was next to me but how, how can anything be so real, yet non-existent?

So weird...

On that note

Catch you later!
Luke Clarke

So, This Is Christmas

Raymond Trevor Clarke

1953-2009

And so, we hit 40 blogs, and probably close 900 views, but right now, I really couldn't give two hoots, today was Christmas, a day that should have been full of merriment, fun and the rest of it, but alas, for us here in the Clarke household, it wasn't, it was the first Christmas without my Dad, I took a walk down to the graveyard earlier, and spent sometime just thinking, just remembering, it saddens me as I write this blog, with tears in my eyes, as a family, we've not had any luck this year, it's been a constant case of two shots of happy, one shot of sad, with all the buggery being committed by bastard families around the world, we get all of this dropped on us, as I sat, the winter sun filtering over nearby houses, the snow untouched except footprints of where I had been, I didn't know what to feel, it seems not long ago that I helped carry his coffin into and out of the church to the sound of The Beatles' 'Let It Be'.

Now my Dad was always superb in supporting me when it came to my ambitions with bands & music, more to the point we used to go on trips to S&J Music in Lichfield, to the now closed Soundcontrol in Birmingham and a few other places, and the sun always seemed to shine on us, while the windows were down, we'd talk non-stop about the songs that came on his CD's or on the radio shows, it's half the reason he was one of the best friends I had, he was always there for me when I woke up dazed from my epileptic seizures, ferrying me around when I needed it, crafting me makeshift pedalboards and stuff, if only he could see what was going on now, throwing his arm around me when my confidence was knocked at every single hospital visit, sure, we've coped without him, but that's not the point, he was the driving force of this family, sure, in the last few years, his drinking and changeable moods were cause for concern, it didn't change who he was...

If you're ever going to take anything I say in this blog onboard, let it be this

smell the flowers while you can, treasure what you have and never forget it

because when it's gone the cruel reality of nature is, theres nothing there to physically remind you of what was there in the beginning, and you'll never be able to tell them what you wanted to

so please, love and value your family and close friends, ignore the world if you must because once they're gone, you'll have nothing left to hold on to, except the "what if's" 

give your time to those who deserve it, and most of all, get to know them

but most of all, be who you are when you look in the mirror

who you're meant to be.

NGD: ISP Decimator

New Gear Day: The ISP Decimator

Hey there!

I had a new pedal arrive today, the chromalicious ISP Decimator, normally retails for £150+, an expensive stompbox, for what it does though, I can see why...

Now, me being the crafty bugger I am, I got it for the fantastic price of £99 on the dot, with free next day delivery, though with the pitiful sprinkling of snow the country has had, it only arrived today, opposed to Tuesday, now onto what the actual thing itself does! It's a noise gate, and a damn good one at that, one of the best I've ever encountered, it's built like a tank, and it weighs quite a lot for a little stomp box, the main reason I brought it, was well, I use alot of distortion for my lead tone nowadays, and that causes alot of unwanted feedback and noise, and I needed something to cut that out, without having to turn my effects off mid song, sure, it might sound like a mild inconvenience to you, however, I'd end up tap-dancing like Bruce Forsyth...

As fun as that sounds, It really isn't...

 

 

Now when I first plugged the thing in, I was kinda doubtful, because it took alot of tweaking, but as soon as I hit the sweet spot, the sound I desired was right there, a dab of reverb & delay and I've got a cracking solo tone, and not only that, the Behringer Leslie Cabinet Simulator is back on the board too now, and I'll be honest, I've rekindled my love for my Vox AC30, because a couple of months ago I was having a case of 'Don't meet your heroes', because this amp to me was the kind of thing that crafted the tones we use now, an icon in the classic rock world, and well, I was starting to find that I couldn't get the right tone out of the thing, which made me sad for a while, but today, tweaking with all these effects, it's back up there, maybe with the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier contesting it, but I don't have £3k to spare...

Honestly though, the ISP Decimator is one of those tools that should be in any guitarists arsenal, especially those that play with high gain, it's a godsend when you want to roll back the volume knob and do some softer playing without having your amp squeal at you, expensive, is what I thought at first, but I see why, it's well worth the wonga, most definitely, because when you're playing live, the last thing you want to do is make peoples ears bleed, without even doing a thing. Now there's still plenty of room on the 2nd pedalboard next to the DL4 & Electric Mistress, so who knows what might come next...

How could I resist a tool I could make use of called "THE DECIMATOR", also, how nifty is that image of the pedal at the top? awesome isn't it, I took that on my iPhone, with this new camera app I purchased called "Hipstamatic" which simulates an old film & lens based camera, adds frame, and corresponding effects, and makes sure all you have to do is take a photo, and it does some superb work with the simplest of shots, as you can see!

Just a shorty this time around!

Stay Cool!

Your guitar slinging pal!

Luke Clarke

Earth Heals Herself

Holla!

Hey readers, How're you doing? I hope you're all well on this nippy December night, because I can't sleep, and I need some open ears, and since you're here, well, you might aswell stick around eh?

So, followers of my Facebook page will know of my feeling of statelessness just recently, and I don't know why, it's a feeling of being somewhat lost in life, longing for a solid purpose, maybe not that far, but it's something that has me staring into nothingness, something that gets me lost in my music, it's that same feeling of statelessness which enables me to put on some music and stream write my entire blog in one go, which some other Bloggers I know find difficult to do, is this a good thing to do? having a feeling of being distant from what you're seeing through your eyes isn't a nice feeling, not a nice one at all, but this feeling of not having a purpose, I hit a nerve towards what it must be, just yesterday, let me elaborate...

Now any songwriter who's worth their salt will tell you for every good idea, theres a shitstack of diabolical ones that will never have any use, now for the last few months, I've had a few diamonds in the rough, purely improvisational riffs though, however yesterday, the strangest thing happened, I was sat with a guitar I've not really had any ideas from, my Gibson Buckethead Les Paul Custom and I had this little three note arpeggio, just a sequence of three notes played over and over, so I tabbed it out on Guitar Pro, put that guitar down, and picked up my Jazz Bass, leaving this arpeggio looped in the background, as soon as i sat down with the bass, I hit dead on, the perfect C, and from that spawned a beautiful chord progression that worked underneath this arpeggio, then I took a break for about an hour, came back, and that spawned another awesome chord progression for a verse, and from that over the space of around four hours on and off, I've written one of my best pieces ever, Guitar, Bass and even Drums this time around, today, I sent it over to my band's bassman Jay, now, using the "Luke Clarke Sod's Law" theory,

"Luke Clarke Sod's Law -"
"The more work you put into a Guitar Pro project, the less it's liked by anyone"


However, this was not the case, fully expecting him to say "I don't like the bass you've written it's a bit boring" but, within seconds of me getting online, an MSN window burst open and I got the message "Luke! You genius f**ker you!" He tells me he thinks every aspect of it is superb. Any songwriter will tell you, THAT is the reaction you want, he also agreed the drums that I wrote were spot on, so it's a case of getting CJ to learn them, which may prove tricky, however, I remain confident...for now

But this brings up something else, have I got to a point where I've worked on technique to a point now where I'm playing better than I ever have, where I can turn thoughts into ideas, and ideas from rough drafts into songs for the band? I really hope this song I've written is the start of a flood of songs for me, it's what we need in this band, I've been putting in the work while just jamming with the guys, but putting songwriting itself on the backburner, so maybe this is the start of something similar to the flood of ideas I had near the start of Crashpoint back in '08.

This ambient music is still continuing the flow of streamwriting, Brian Eno & Robert Fripp are ethereal geniuses, it's something much, much more than music, more akin to an atmosphere, ever developing, constantly populating further on and on, until it just stops,and life continues back at th epace at which it was, I could listen to 'Evening Star' or 'Music For Airports' all day, it's food for the brain is what I would call it, I haven;t stopped typing, not once, there are synth swells that make you feel as if you're being wrapped up in a warm blanket, bellows that will make you look around if you're listening through headphones, it's something else, hence my extensive research into the Frippertronics guitar style, to be able to create that kind of ambience, is something beyond "Four chords and the truth"

Now today, I've done a bit of gaming, I purchased a quirky platformer which harks back to classic days of having to tune in a Nintendo Entertainment System to a big old tube television, On sale on the Xbox Live Marketplace, "Super Meat Boy" is one of the few games that made me smile this year, for about £6, it was a steal, and also, enjoy the menu music, it's bad ass!



Taking up my time too, was Super Street Fighter 4, which I enjoyed sharpening up on with my friends Maccie and Mat Husted, laughs were had, it was all good competitive fun, and extremely loud singing of Guile's Theme... we all won a few times and it was a nice change for me, SSFIV was never something I was any good at, but I managed to beat these guys a few times!

Bit of everything today!
gonna try and get some sleep, notice the 'try' in that line

stay cool, friends

Your pal
Luke Clarke

Back In The Saddle, Baby!

EMPIRE!

After a short break, I return, I needed a bit of time to sit and think through where I'm at in life, and if anything the feedback from this blog, my YouTube channel and other outlets of mine, helped to put things into perspective, I cannot describe the good vibes I've been getting from followers and friends alike, it's helped me gather my thoughts, a break did me well, but in that same sense, I'm glad to be back, which brings me to the next subject...

Mysteriously, whilst I took a break, we gained a catastrophic 100 views, bringing us up to our current standing of just over 800 views, how about that! I'm yet to check the stats as Firefox doesn't really like this website that much, but wherever you are reading from, thanks, it's what encouraged me to jump back in the saddle and run my fingers, albeit very clumsily across these keys, so welcome, one and all, to the latest installment of the Luke Clarke Blog!

Oh hey! have you noticed the new banner? I bet you have haven't you! well, you can see my main man up there, You know who that is? That, my friends, is Dave Wongaman, Want a closer look?

There he is, Drawn by a good friend of mine, a certain Kay Worley took on the challenge of drawing a little character my Mom foun don her way home from work, yes indeedy, Dave Wongaman was a surprise even to me, it was around the time that Call Of Duty: Black Ops came out, Unimpressed, I turned to my Mac, and who do I see, lying there on my keyboard...

This little guy, he was sprawled out, as if he had fallen, I laughed heartily when I saw him, I picked him up and held him in the palm of my hand, I knew from that day, he was destined for stardom, I still look at him, his vacant smile, his tiny yellow rubber body makes me laugh even now, and now Kay has brought him to life in that fantastic image you see in the banner and above, then well I smile every time I blog and I hope you do too, with the vibrant yellow my blog is, and with his cheeky smile I hope he makes you smile no matter how low you're feeling, trust me, when Dave Wongaman is on the scene, everything is that little bit brighter!


I digress however, Dave is now the mascot for this blog o' mine, and that's all well and good, but to answer any questions in advance, the 'Watchmen' font in the banner is called "Futura Condensed Extra" I think, all I did was stretch it upwards a little


So yeah, we had band practice last week, down at Neon again, and man oh man, did they make us feel welcome, just one guy on his stoney lonesome by the looks of things, he put a heater in the room, stocked the in studio bar's fridge up with relentless for us, and was genuinely awesome to us, and we had the same service the week prior, which added to the DAMN awesome practice we had, we've gone from the name 'Cuba?' to 'HAAAABISKY!' and I think they're gradually getting more confused as to who were going to be next week, onto the actual music though, beforehand, I'd done half an hours guitar warming up, tremolo picking practice to a metronome (hitting my fastest ever 155bpm) and doing some general dexterity workouts up and down the neck, and I'm really glad I did, when I got to practice, I was playing at my peak through out, until my asthma and a recurring back-ache I've had for a week or so got the better of me near the end, but were working really well, our sound is thick, and we're bouncing alot of ideas around, and I had a weird feeling, you know on The Sims, when your sim is learning an instrument, and that little blue bar fills up over their head? well, I feel as if my blue bar filled up some at that practice, with Ashes nearly done, and with a very suspicious track with CJ going all Keith Moon, and various other songs going down, and me writing more material based off really oddball sources, were not going for that recording session in January, purely because we want to be the band we can be, and we can only be that band, in time.

On another note, I'm treating myself for Christmas, to... take a guess

a) More Pedals
b) A Luxury Set Of Golf Clubs
c) A Signed Photo of Vernon Wells as Bennett from 'Commando'

Yep, you guessed it, more new pedals on the way, an ISP Decimator, a Fender Volume/Tone pedal, and maybe a Marshall Vibratrem, I have plenty of ideas for sounds, and plenty of room for them, I'll put a new shot of my pedalboard on here as soon as it's all rigged up and good to go, Live Frippertronics? Maybe...maybe...

Also, I've discovered a few albums you really should look into over Christmas!

Jools Holland - Best Of Friends (£4.99 on iTunes)
Johnny Aloha - Lavapalooza
Giant Robot - Giant Robot (NTT) (Free!)
Ted Nugent - The Ultimate Ted Nugent
Montrose - The Very Best Of
Elton John & Leon Russel - The Union
Bang Camaro - Bang Camaro
Buckethead - Electric Tears
Guns n' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Primus - Miscellaneous Debris (£1.99 on iTunes)

And on that note, I hope you enjoyed this blog, should have another soon, you take care now.

Wotcha Empire!
Your Friend
Luke Clarke

"Desperation, is the English way"

Hello Empire!

700 Views, how about that...

I'm finding it very hard to get enthusiastic at the moment, it's coming up to a year since we lost my father, 30th December will be a hard day, to lose my Dad, with him being only in his 50's, and for me to find him, dead, was a sight that I won't forget, ever, it was hard for me, so I apologize now, In advance if I seem to be aggressive or over-sarcastic, it's been a hard year.

My last blog, was one of the rare occurances of me going all lovey-dovey here on the LCB, Jay told me to "follow my heart", but that, my funk-brother readers would give me more trouble than it would be worth, as I said previously, I keep trying to shut love out of my life, and 90% of the time, it kinda works, it's just that 10% where I feel glad to have the friends I do, because they remind me, that , well, I'm awesome

And no, readers, I'm still not giving out the name of the mystery girl, she doesn't need that kind of humiliation, nor burden for that matter, I can live with the dreams, yeah... they'll do.

So I've started putting my plans of getting out of Farmfoods into action, I've re written my CV, after yonks, and I'm filling in a job application, I really want this job, I know it's not out of Brownhills, but at least it's something I'm interested in, so it would be nice to start a new job away from the terribleness that is Farmfoods, however, it's the wonga from that joint that has gotten me everything I have now...

So, we had band practice earlier today, Me, Jay & CJ fired up the gear over at Neon Studios in Burntwood, and had easily our most productive practice, a track me & Jay had been working on working titled "Rollerdisco" still hadn't got me convinced, I'm still not feeling that one, but we finished one of our awesome tracks, the Ashes to Ashes themed one (TV show, not David Bowie song), and it sounds truly bad ass, 5 minutes of pure curb stomping rock! we jammed some pretty awesome funk stuff tonight too, which sounded nice to say the least, then after doing all of this, we burst full on into this manic metal thing, which we might throw in to mix things up, it's heavier than ANYTHING I've ever done, ever...

Now, I'm feeling quite rough, I think I may be hitting one of my rough patches in which case, I'll be ducking out of blogging & vlogging for a bit, keeping myself to myself, I need a break from the world, I'm at a point again, readers, where all my problems, with my medications' side effects wrestle me to the floor, and beat me into submission

for now readers, thanks, and this may be the last blog for a week, maybe more, who knows, I just need a break, but do me a massive favor, and go check out these blogs, they'll keep you ticking over while I'm not here, They assure me

The Indifference Gamer
The World Of Jay
Maccie's Blog
8-Bits Of Retro

and on that note, thanks again, I leave you with this

"Well I Dreamed Of You Last Night..."

Hey Empire

I know what you're thinkin'

"Buggering hell, another blog, what's up with LC?!"

Well, I've had something on my mind today, all day today, so I've thrown on some light jazz, and here I go, just lately, my dreams have been mega vivid, to the point where it's been every night, and I've been remembering every little detail, every scratch, every click, every heartbeat...

What's been eating me today, what's got me feeling raw, is last night, I dreamed of somebody, somebody I really shouldn't have, it was a really nice dream sequence, and I woke up smiling, but she was there, not someone I'd rather forget, more so, someone who I dunno, I'd never thought of, but either way, can't think of in that way if you get me, but why? she's been in dreams every night for the last week or so, and I'm looking into her eyes, she's looking into mine, her lips are moving, I don't hear what she's saying, but her laugh, her innocent smile, it's strictly taboo that I'm dreaming of her but, I sigh because the dream made me smile, what is it with dreams, I keep getting them, of her, so vividly, I've shut love out for so long now, I really don't want it, but were The Beatles right? is All I need, love?

I bloody hope not, I've been hurt once, and I like money too much, I had to get this out of my system, and well, this blog comes in handy for this, I know I shouldn't block love out, but I do, and I'm a better person for doing so, no regrets either, I've been sailing solo for a while now, and I'm enjoying it, but it's just the little things at times...

sorry if I've bored you, but I feel much better for that now!

Thanks for listening

Your Pal
Luke

The Heavenly Music Corporation

Gasp!

It's you...I knew you were coming, I could feel it, your eyes burning into the text...

Alas, I joke, Welcome to another edition of my blog, how about that counter, edging closer to 700 now, I mean, bugger me, what a following, thanks guys, you're the ones I write for every time I fire up the webpage, so keep coming back, and I'll keep writing...

So yeah, yesterday I was sent to the arse end of nowhere, Heath Town, in Wolverhampton, "Not too bad" I hear you mutter from wherever you may be reading this, however, you weren't there for 17 hours, around staff that had as much sense as an egg cup and had seemingly all been in prison some time in their lives, shifting more shit than you could shake a stick at, not that I rant that much on here, but over the usual symptoms, words cannot describe, how cack I feel today!

On that very same subject, that escapade made me miss band practice, the one main highlight of my week, the thing I can constantly work on to get this band closer towards the impossible dream, because I want it, I'm a damn site more than stacking shelves in some dead end freezer shop, sorry fellas, but I promise you, I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve, new tones, I tell you folks, I've never, in the few years I've been at this, I've never been so excited for practices to roll around, 2 a week? I'll see what I can do!

If you want an alternative perspective, check out the blog of the bloke who holds down the lower frequencies in the band, Bassist, Mr. Jay Brunskill!

http://jaybrunskill.blogspot.com/

Go there, and await further instructions!

Now, avid readers will know I attempted to start a video blog, and yoho ahoy! Part 2 is here!




Now onto what I've been doing, crafting new tones, playing games and being a general dogsbody, but I had a revelation while I was blindsided on an idle Tuesday, it's kind of funny, how much respect I seem to have gained by putting in the work I have, Musically, and through this Blog, the few Youtube videos I have and general treating those whom I respect with the same respect that they give me, I personally am humbled every time by the compliments, messages of support and thanks I get, I occasionally dispense advice here and there to those who need it, so it's nice to feel like a guy who has established himself through hard work, this is just the beginning, and it's a refreshing way to be after the last few years I've had...

Now bloggers, I'm REALLY not a Christmas kind of guy, but heres hoping that 2011 is our year, me, you sitting at your computer, or reading frrom your smartphone, or wherever you may be, I think we all need it.

Until next time friends,
Your friend
Ha Bisky!

Luke Clarke

Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall

Hey Empire!

As you've probably heard in me rambling in the above video, we hit 500 views last week, how about that, and now, we are inching gradually closer to 600, it's phenomenal to see that we have readers not only here in the UK, but in the US, Russia, United Arab Emirates, even Vietnam we have a couple of readers! I am truly astounded by how many people have stuck with this blog and continued to read it, so thank you all very very much!

In this blog, I'm gonna tackle an issue I've wanted to tackle, but haven't tackled directly.

Do guitars have their own personalities?

My answer is a solid yes, each of my guitars put's me in a different state of mind, for instance, If I play my Buckethead Les Paul Custom, I'm more ready to do big stretches, multiple finger tapping and make good use of the arcade button killswitches, but then if I play my Epiphone SG400 Custom, I augment my playing to suit it's darker sound, because I find it's more often suited to 70's classic/prog rock, which is great for those vintage tones, so it's all about what you want to play, the way I see it is, If I've hit a wall in terms of coming up with riffs, song ideas etc, then, I whip out another guitar, and suddenly the ideas flow like Niagara Falls, like yesterday, after a long long time, I switched to my Tokai Telecaster, the ruiner of my collection, but I plug it in, the strap low-slung, suddenly I'm whacking out some new riffs and stuff, it's a fantastic thing that, sure physically they are just pieces of wood with bits and pieces attached, but it's more, each makes an impression on the player, and I like that...yeah.

Hey, did y'all catch this week's Black Friday sale on Xbox Live? slam the door and call me Ted! some of the deals on there were a steal! For Around 9 I picked up some great games! GTA: San Andreas, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, 'Splosion Man, were just some of the games on offer, along with Tropico 3 & Silent Hill Homecoming, AND Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit & Assassins Creed: Brotherhood still to complete, I won't be without games for a while! hopefully until Duke Nukem Forever


I can't remember how many of you exactly voted on the Band Name Poll last week but here are the results

Release The Kraken! (50%)
Calculon (40%)
The Walsall Box Company (10%)

Were still discussing options...Alas, I've got alot of bastard-big ideas, I hope with the others' co-operation, I can put them into motion, I want to see this one through, after all these years, I want this one to work, I know music is my calling, because everyday I get in at least an hours guitar practice, It's something that I've put first for a long time, I love music, I hope with JB & CJH's help, I can take this band further than any other, It's when I'm at my happiest, and when I can forget about all my health issues and just let go...

Anyhow, just a shorty this time rabble, I'll write another later in the week!
Ring-A-Ding Baby!
LRC

Mixing the bitter, with the sweet

Wotcha Blog-readers!

Welcome to another edition of my blog, let's try and get back on track here, I've got the night free, and there's alot to fill you all in on, which is a change, life has been somewhat, turbulent for me healthwise, I'm at around 75-80% at the moment, I'm still recovering from a seizure I had a fortnight ago, however, I refuse to let it hold me back, so i've been giving life both barrels, and just doing things the way I want them to be done.

First off, in the last post, I talked about meeting up with some Facebook Friends of mine, Maccie & Kay, and last wednesday, I met up with those two, and two more, Tommy & Husted, we went to see Jackass 3D, and we ended up in The Imperial afterwards, I tell you something, I had a right laugh with these guys, sadly Husted had to leave before we hit the pub, but either way, I really enjoyed just having a laugh with these guys, what really touched me, is that they all said to me, in plain english that they had been wanting to meet me for a long time, and that it was such a pleasure to do so, and at that statement alone, I felt incredibly humbled, that again, with this group of people whom I'd conversed with only on Facebook, Xbox Live & MSN, I'd only really just met in the flesh, I'd gelled with them so well, and we all seemed to laugh and joke as if we'd known each other for a long time, so thank you all for a superb day out, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and we must do it again sometime.

Now at times, my state of mind can really knock my confidence, but when I take a step back and say, "Hang on, look at this, you've got all these friends you had before, you've stumbled upon these equally awesome new friends, and they really like you for who you are (most of the time)". It's a real boost for confidence, and at times it's what I need, I think we all do, It's great to be surrounded my such great people, so I can only hope I can continue to do so!

Onto the next topic my new band, which is yet to be named!

Last night, we had practice, and we whacked out 2 brand new tracks, which quite frankly came from just ideas I had knocking around upstairs, I threw them out, and I'll say this, they really kicked, it's really intense stuff that just grabbed me straight off, and even CJ said to me that he thinks this is some of the best stuff we've ever done, opposed to Crashpoint's Post-Punk/Rock vibe, this is more Avant-Garde/Stoner rock, which is sounding ruddy superb, I'm awfuly glad to say that Crashpoint is well and truly behind us now, I love the vibes of this band, I'm loving the spontaneity of the whole thing, and what were turning into songs seems to be these vast sounding songs for just a 3 piece band...

Alas, we have no singer yet, nor a name, I'm adding a poll to the top of the page this week for the band name choices we have on the cards right now, I think for now, were hoping to god that 2011, could be our year, and the positions that we are all in seem to point in the direction that we can get there, if we really work our arses off for it, and I'm willing to, we've hit that creative nerve, it's converting the blood flow into a listenable structure, and the material is malleable enough to do so, fingers crossed guys!

anyway, I've been doing a lot of chopping & changing this week with my rig, starting by putting some fresh .9 Gauge strings on the Gibson Les Paul Buckethead Signature guitar.

I've been rubbing fast-fret on them (stuff of witchcraft which makes your strings feel like new) before and after I play it, and I'm finding .9's much easier to play, so they may well be my string of choice for the future!

in other news, the EHX Big Muff has been demoted, and the Dunlop Crybaby Wah has been plonked in it's correct place, I'm really loving my tone at the moment, I can't wait for the day I can put recordings on a flash player on here!

On that note, I think that's me about done for now, I'm gonna go and tuck into my lasagna, note for the arseholes who have been hate-mailing me below!

Thanks for reading!
Ring-a-ding, baby!
Luke

NOTICE: On a serious note, that I very rarely take here on LCB, I've been getting a lot of harsh criticisms, in terms of what I write about my gear, claiming that I boast about what I have, that I continue to rub it in and be 'smug' as one reader put it, let it be made perfectly clear right here, for the last 6-7+ years I've been playing guitar, I'll be honest, my family have never been fortunate, it wasn't until I got a job and started earning my own money that I was able to get out there and start upgrading all of my guitar equipment, I've brought everything I own, with my own hard earned wonga and I'll be brutally honest here, I'm very proud of it all, it's all stuff I've worked hard for, that I'm passionate about. When I open up the cases & bags, and plug in, or clap eyes on any of my gear, I'm the happiest man on the planet.

For a second time, I'll be brutally honest, I don't take kindly to being insulted, over what honestly seems to be petty jealousy or general ass-hattery, and 9 times out of 10, I'm bigger than you, and can probably bugger you with a buggering stick, these messages I received not only upset and angered me, but also disappointed me, if you intend to carry on I can go about getting you blocked from this page, and associating with me in every way except from face-to-face, where I prefer to hear my criticisms, got it?

Wotcha!

Hey Empire

Welcome to another edition of my blog. we're nearly at 500 views now, and I'm getting a lot of great feedback, I'm loving it all and I appreciate each one of you that comes back to read my crap!

Now hey hey hey, Pie & Mash, the new band kicked off a week or so ago, and the week just gone, one of my solo pieces made the grade and it's pretty much our first track, but I'm really feeling the vibe, Jay's got a really ferocious playing style, I've sort of moved on to a point where I can do bits and dabs of everything, CJ seems to be in his element too, being able to put drums to nie-on everything we jam, so it's sounding pretty cool, alas, were in need of a name, me & Jay have thought of "Release The Kraken!!" (Exclamation marks COMPLETELY neccesary) or "Calculon!"

"You dig?"

So yeah, great news this week, I did what a few years back society would have classed as taboo, I... "Met someone from the internet."

"NOM"

Yeah, I hooked up in town with Maccie, who I know from Xbox Live, and Kay, a friend from Facebook, laughs were had, and the weather stayed relatively nice for us, it was nice to get out and meet some new people, safe to say, we'll be meeting up again soon, this Wednesday actually, to go and see Jackass 3D, with Maccie, Kay, Tommy & Husted, which should be a laugh! Look forward to it, They're genuinely great people, easy to talk to, easy to get on with, and they're all blog readers! Wotcha!

Onto a revelation I had at last practice when I blew up an all valve 100w Marshall, I REALLY love my current guitar tone, and before I was a tad hesitant to buy the Line 6 DL4 Behemoth, because I heard it really sucked the tone of your rig, but quite opposite, the lush subtle tape delay I have on, that trails away after my notes, or the percussive rhythm delay, all of it sounds utterly brilliant, I love my sound and I think the guys in the band do too, I've certainly evolved as a player, yet I don't forget about the stuff which springboarded me, U2 stuff mainly, because I still to this day love the sounds The Edge gets out of his immense set up, and I'll never forget the hours I spent perfecting his sound with my budget rig, because it's helped me to develop the sound I have now, which I love to bits, onwards and upwards, to 6 finger tapping!

Now you're here, I need you to me and some of my mates a favour, below, I've posted a couple of clickable doowhatsits for you to be clicking, they're links to two of my closest friends blogs', they've just started up, my mate Rob (The Indifference Gamer) and Chris (8-Bits Of Retro) are new to the game, and where as I'm not so much a seasoned veteran of the blogging world, if you follow me, follow them, they're great, and they intend to keep their shit updated!

Just a short blog anyway this time around!

Wotcha!
LRC

Clickety Click! Up high for Rob's Indifferent outlook on today's video game news Below for Chris' Flick through the history books of gaming

30!

Hey Everyone, and welcome to my 30th Blog!

That's right, Thirty blogs ago today, I revived my blog here on Blogger, which was for the best, because MySpace was taking a dive with the uprising of Facebook, it also gave me that sense of a fresh start which I desperately needed, so thanks you lot, thanks readers new and old for sticking with me, for sticking with this Blog, it may not be all bells and whistles, but I try to give you something different to read here and there, so this is essentially a big big thank you to everyone who's followed over the last couple of years, silently sharing my thoughts...

You're diamond, the lot of you...
Keep chasing that dream.


Your Pal
Luke Raymond Clarke

Heartaches By The Numbers

So, it's been a while since I last wrote, it's a lazy Saturday afternoon, what better way to fill my time, than to write to you lot!

So, I hear you ask, "what's gone down in this last month or so Luke, tell us your tales of conquering the music world!"

In a word, nothing, nothing more has happened in the last month, Production on my solo album has stopped, purely because I have no real urge to carry on with it anymore, if I'm to play & write music, the only environment I want to do it in, is within a solid band, which brings us onto my next topic, bands, of course, I told you of how great my previous band "Light & Motion" is/was, from what I can gather, at the moment it's more on hold than over, however there's a new project coming up, which I'm quite looking forward too, it's more of a jam for the time being, but if it works, I'd definitely like to take it further, by looking for a singer, and depending on the sound either a rhythm guitarist or keyboard player, at the moment the lineup is Myself doing lead guitar duties, Jay doing bass duties (lead bass, let's be honest here) and Curt (previously crashpoint) on drums, I'll keep you filled in, empire.

so, what else is going on in the bearded-flannel-habisky-sunglasses-tomahawk slinging-bear hunting world? well me and my mate Maccie are planning to start up, as soon as I can afford a ruddy new camera, with our oddball personalities, talking subjects and answering Q&A's and...well, throwing anything into the videos we can, they'll be a bit more than vlogs, but I'm looking forward to that project, as soon as I get this bloody camera, I have Final Cut Express which is pretty awesome, I just wish Virgin Media would sort out my upload speed, I'd be getting it sooner (the camera), but I need to do some maintenance on my pedalboard, power block, tuner, etc...

My advice? if you like money, don't learn to play the guitar!

Taking up a fair bit of my time just lately has been the new addition to the Fallout franchise 'New Vegas' and the latest addon for Red Dead Redemption 'Undead Nightmare' words fail to describe how good both of them are, there is actually one word...





Do I need to say it?

If you want to follow my mate Maccie, he doesn't blog that much, but he's a hell of a character, go here > http://m4cc13.blogspot.com/


Also my mate Lewis Foster, is doing 2011's photograph-a-day challenge, with him being a photographer, take a look at his blog for obscure ramblings > http://manwithstuff.blogspot.com/

Ring-a-ding, baby!
LC

Sleep will never take me, My mind is stuck on you...

Hey everyone, It's drawing near to 3am of the 2nd of September, so my birthday has been and gone and now, I'm 20...

Yeah, great, only a short blog for now though guys!

Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes on my Facebook wall, in terms of presents I've had but one, a great pair of Elvis shades from my great friend Kate, these will be the shades I'll probably wear throughout band practices from now on, they're very glitzy, and well, I like to make an impression!

Alas, I had a bit of wonga in my cards aswell, I'll put that towards new equipment, so thanks to everyone!

I digress, It's been over 8 months now since the death of my Dad, He's still sorely missed, but were still moving on, as a family, times can be tough, but I've still got a few friends who stick around, even if my behavior just recently has been slightly... erratic, I hate to place the blame, but it's all merely to do with the medication I take, and how often it's changed by my specialists at the hospital, I can only apologize to those of you that haven't really known me for that long, It's not pleasant to be around, but there's nothing I can do about it...


Anyway, NGD!
Eagle eyed readers will notice 3 new additions, the main being that almighty Diago Showman Pedalboard, built like a tank, then the Boss Metal Zone (the black one for you non-guitar savvy), then the Electro Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, a rarity, which I can't seem to find on GAK, but I think it was all a steal for £120, yep, £120 for the lot! you know what I'd say?


Exactly my friends, exactly...




Anyway, on a different note, my state of mind is something I'd like to write about, seen as it's a subject I can never find anyone to talk to about, carrying on has been difficult for me, but what never makes is easier, is mind games and what troubles me is the future, I'm seeing more people in my life come and go, I just hate the feeling of temporary-ness to everything, it's like living on a knife edge all the time, is this what happens? is life just a constant changing cycle of the same things happening over and over with different faces? like the same soppy template for a romantic comedy? I hope not, but I worry, at times I feel so alone in the world, I end up walking aimlessly, so far away from home, searching for something, for what I don't know, I've spent hours just walking around Birmingham, Walsall, anywhere, just doing nothing of any particular interest, just thinking I've had someone on my mind, as you've probably been (sick of) reading for the last few blogs now, but it seems clear enough that maybe our paths weren't meant to cross in that way, one can dream, but she is the dreamer.

anyway, I'd better head off, the moon's playing tricks again, cya ron!

later on...

Your pal, Luke

Lost.

Hey everyone.

Another blog on the cards here, I've got my iTunes set on this new fangle-dangled 'Genius' option which makes an entire playlist based off of one song! bloody witchcraft, what I find strange, is that it does it instantly, and gets it spot on every time!

I started it off with King Crimson's "The Court Of The Crimson King", with stuff like M83, Alan J Lipman, Dire Straits, Buckethead & Joe Satriani piling onto the list, I'm in for a hell of a playlist.

anyhoo, this week, I've treated myself to an iPhone 3GS 16GB, which is really snazzy, my iPod was on the fritz and I didn't have a phone either, which seems to be one of the many things people were nagging me to get, yet it's one of these things, I finally get a phone, that people have been telling me I need because they can't get in touch with me and they still have no reason to get in touch with me even when I have a phone, I'm impressed with the thing though it feel substantial in the hand, and it has alot of uses, I'm liking the clarity of the "Voice Memo" feature, especially when I'm twiddling about on a guitar and I come up with something I might usually forget, I can record it, listen to it back, and build on it, I can see why so many people have them!

I looked at my calendar today, and notice were already into August, I mean, bloody hell, where has this year gone? it's just gone so so fast, I mean this month will mark 8 months since I lost my Dad, I find it incredible how the years are just speeding by, I suppose Pink Floyd were right in "Time" - "Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time", that line itself defines modern life, doesn't it? there's just not enough time to do everything, maybe it's a case of making time, I've started doing so, it's everyone else that matters to me, let's be honest, there's nothing left for me.

For anybody interested, I'm still awaiting results for my MRI & Sleep Deprived EEG scans, i'll be sure to let you all know, but I'll be honest, I'm bricking it!

Now just recently, I've caught up with an old friend of mine, Manpreet Bains, she's pointed me in the direction of her new creative project with her friends Amy & Sam Hudson, entitled PuppetRage, these guys have got alto of potential, at least I think they have, I do say, go and check them out, because later in the year we've got plans to be merging some of my music with their lyrics, which will be a separate project from Archives & Light and Motion, keep your eyes & ears open, trust me on this one

http://puppetrage.wordpress.com/







A bit of a sitrep on my Archives project, works kind of halted for now, I'm awaiting a Boss GT10 so I can continue to record some of this newer material in better quality, with new sounds that I couldn't get with my current set up, expect some different stuff, but for now there are some tasters here!

http://www.last.fm/music/Luke+Clarke/Archives



for now, goodnight!
your pal
Luke

Playing The Bands First Song, From My Perspective

Good Evening,

I'd like to do somewhat of a different blog here, my take on playing music, not just on my own, but with my band "Light & Motion".

In my blogs I've never really spoken directly about my pure passion for music, with what's going on these days, it's always been the thing I've loved doing, plugged in, unplugged, on paper, in my head, music, is what makes me who I am, which sounds cliched I know, however, with the illnesses and side effects I suffer with, its the thing that's ALWAYS been consistent, and with it, I've met some of the best people in the world.

Last night was a stonking practice, beforehand I felt bloody awful and I contemplated not going, alas Kim, the drummer of the outfit coaxed me that it'd be for the best, so I went down and I'm very glad I did...

Me & Fellow guitarist and good friend Jay were the first to arrive, there we were setting up, each of us at polar opposites in terms of tastes and playing styles, I'm plugging in an array of pedals from a Pitch Shifter to a Fuzz, to a Delay pedal and many more, whilst he plugs in the Wah pedal I borrowed him, into a couple of distortion pedals straight into the amp.
I'm a self-confessed effects based player, I don't play in the traditional nature, I use effects alot to create new sound, I've always loved the concept of getting lost in technology and stumbling on something new or beautiful that could be used that no-one has heard before, I'm completely self taught and I don't follow traditional methods, nor inspirations, whereas some may class "Stairway To Heaven" or "November Rain"'s solo's as the best on the face of the earth (not that I'm dissing them, they aren't bad songs!) I class my more inspirational solos as U2's "Love Is Blindness" or Peter Framptons cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", aside from bands, after I dropped guitar duties in Crashpoint, and wasn;t really doing much in a band with guitar, I sat working more on my technique, just working on simple things like hand positioning, feel, vibrato, just general back to the drawing board, take what I've got and improve...

Anyway where was I...

so then Laura, our bass player and Kim, our drummer entered, and promptly, we were all set up, and ready to go, we run through our first full track that we've virtually finished were calling "Croydon" for now, we kicked into it, and for once, I dunno what it was, I stood, with my eyes closed, I could feel everything that was going on musically, like this song that had started off as a sort of rough jingle a month back, has evolved into this beast of a rock song where all of us get to work to our strengths, I stood there eyes closed, which I never do, absolutely still, playing at my best, just feeling the pulsating bass and drums in my feet, everything ringing in my ears.

I closed my eyes, and hit chords that cut like a knife, not thinking of where I wanted to be, but taking in the moment, trying to leave an impression with every single note... when my solo came, I didn't even have to look, I just stepped on the Whammy and in my head I've split my solo like this

Melodic/Bendy/Tappy/R2D2

I loved the fact that right there, everything was where it was meant to be, we were all playing off each other, for the last run of the chorus, I opened my eyes, to see how well we were all doing, and to me, that's what its all about, we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream, the song ended, and a slam of an E minor... Laura's Dad, Roger had popped in aswell and we certainly got the thumbs up off of him aswell, just re-assuring that it isn't just us that thinks we sound great!

with that, keep dreaming

Your pal
Luke

Baby, Something beautiful's dying...

Hola Readers!

It's time again for one of my late night blogs, I've got alot on my mind and I know for a fact alot of people read this, and often don't give a damn, but yesterday it would have been my Dad's 57th, and what happened? all of my effects pedals got fried, yeah, great...

Luckily I salvaged them all except for the bodged Korg, which I was really enjoying using after so long, but on further inspection, it seems some of the soldering on the circuitry has just disintegrated, so I'll give up on that one and look at getting something else, because that unit, really came in handy, I'll be sure to see what the range is, I've tried the Line 6 Pod XT Live, and that really seems to be fitting the bill, at a hefty £269, it's a BIG BILL! (classic line there, hall of fame readers will get that one ;D)

Anyway, onto more pressing issues, mind games, whats going on in my noggin?

Well, Wednesday 28th, I've gotta go in the oven for an MRI scan at the hospital at stupid o'clock in the morning, which I'm dreading, alas, I'll try and keep the chipper attitude, even if things keep going wrong and my colleagues and my mother make me feel utterly useless, I'm finding it increasingly hard to keep a good state of mind...

Also, I think it was a mistake for me to join FormSpring, theres been a series of questions been asked about me, love interests and the special someone who I've mentioned, I can't help but think it may be that someone asking the questions, whoever it is, I'd like to know, but the real thing is, that I just don't want to risk ruining a friendship with the thing called love, nor do I want to hurt/be hurt as much as last time... I just can't get her out of my mind...

Love, eh, it's a fantastic thing when it works...

Post cut short for now, started feeling really ill

Your Pal
Luke

20th Post Playlist!

Laughing In The Face Of Love

Hey Everyone!

The other day, somebody accused me of plagarism in some of my work, when I showed them a coupel of my new riffs, and song ideas, frankly, it's a bold accusation, yes, I do draw inspiration from the artists I listen to, but I would never steal work from them, thats illegal!

However, where we are now, 2010, nothing is original, so I say steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination, when all is said and done, It's not where you take it from, It's where you take it to...

I'm Luke Clarke and welcome to another edition of my blog, it's been a bit of a while since I last wrote, which I apologise for, I've been awfully busy, under the weather, and pre-occupied with a number of things, so I've sat down in order to write, without drafting my blogs like I normally do...

Let me start off by saying these past couple of months have been difficult for me, to say the least, as most of my long term readers and close friends will know, I struggle with photosensitive epilepsy, and I never shut up about it at times, however just lately, the effect the medication is having on me is pretty bad and my Mom let me in on the fact that a couple of years back, my doctors told her the incredible amount of knocks on the head i've taken may be the cause of it, and any further mental problems I may encounter, she let me in on this and it kinda makes sense, yet in another daunts me, mainly because the symptoms i've been experiencing have scared even me, big ol' me who sort of stands up to everything, continually walking on, making what I can of a situation, alas recent symptoms have sort of kicked me back and made me realize that I can't do everything anymore, severe amnesia, extremely deep prolonged periods of sleep, spontaneous blurred vision, slurred speech, depression, the list goes on, and I'm feeling at my lowest, if only 2007 Luke had known what was to come, maybe he wouldn't have taken what he had for granted...

onto lighter news, I'm the proud owner of a Gibson Les Paul Custom Buckethead Signature, one of few it seems, as I'm told they're in limited numbers worldwide, it set me back a hefty £1899, which I'll be paying off for a while to come, but I love the tone of this thing, through my AC30, with all my effects, it sounds great, take a look at my collaboration with a you-tuber below!



3:00 Whammy & Killswitch Ftw!

onto the band, Light & Motion, we ousted Mr. Crap, and replaced him with a good friend of mine Jay on guitar, and we've got alot more energy flowing around now, one song finished, all but lyrics, which I'm working on as we speak, It's sort of a mid paced arena rocker, taken alot of messing about, but it's come together quite nicely.

staying on the musical topic, to guitar playing, I've taken a step back recently and looked at my direction to playing, I'm not that great, but I know and use alot of good techniques, I can't walk into a room and say "Hey, I'm going to be creative." But what can I do to walk into the room so that I might stand a better chance of being in a creative moment? Well, using those four clever but mysterious words, if I walk into a room with my hands functioning automatically, superbly well, efficiently with no energy wasted, with me in a relaxed and alert condition with my attention engaged, something becomes possible. So. That's what we can do. But until we actually experiment with that and work with it and build up information and experience, they're only bright words.

Looking further afield, from my inspiration U2's The Edge, to people such as Peter Frampton, Chris Rea, Robert Fripp & Buckethead, It's obvious that the 6 years i've been playing, isn't a drop in the ocean compared to these guys, sure, I may lack capabilities now, but I do not intend to stop playing any time soon, even if i seem to be having alot of senior moments at age 19!

It's just the quest of looking for my sound, my style, maybe its a hybrid of all of my favourite players? the Percussive Delay of Edge, the melodic works of Peter Frampton, and how he somehow manages to play out of key and it still works, the slide work of Chris Rea, the ambient works of Robert Fripp and the chaotic playing of Buckethead... who knows.

Now, it's been 6 months, already since we lost my Dad, Ray, I miss him like hell, just the little things, recent events he would have loved, the guitar work, the band, my philosophical ramblings, my growing confidence, I still wish he were here, right at my side like he always was, he told me he wanted me to go far with music, and I still intend to do him proud, now I'm writing this with tears in my eyes and I always remember how he would do anything for anyone, I'm trying to do that for the people I know, trying to be the good guy, as crap as I feel, I feel I have some of the best friends and close family members I could ask for, the pub gang, the band, they're all so so close to me, and I thank them all for being so supportive...

I'm just glad I never took anything my Dad did for granted, and glad I appreciate what I have left...

Thanks for reading you lot!

This Is Luke Clarke, out!

Take Today, Make It Tomorrow

Hi Everyone!

It's that time, where I actually take the energy of the day and channel it into a chunk of writing, which most of the time I call my blog!

to start off, me posting links to this on Facebook has really brought in alot of new readers, so welcome! and take a look through the archives, you never know what you might find!

as you all know, this years been absolutely mad! It's flown and alot has been going down, moreso this last month more than ever, I've been to great yarmouth with Scott & Peter Groves, and without THE mardiest, most miserable, awkward nerd you'll ever meet, Dan Hill, was a laugh, for every five minutes the douche didn't moan, not that I'll moan, Scott & Pete were such a laugh, and we were simply ignoring him, which was also, "fun" a term which he hasn't grasped yet...

also! as I mentioned in a previous blog, My new band has kicked off!

Light & Motion is the name we've decided on, and so far, we've had a couple of jams and theres an energy, a flow in the music that I've not felt in a band for bloody yonks, and It's certainly enlightening, that I played an idea that I'd had knocking about for ages, and straight off the bat it worked, I've really had the chance here to just work directly with all the members, last week for example, laughing, joking,Myself, Laura & Dan gathered around the drumkit, where our drummer Kim was, we were working off of each other, making daft faces when making a mistake, it's a band, the true spirit of a band, and after 2 sessions, to have the bare bones of a song down, is cool, I'm over the moon with that!



As you can see above, theres been a noticable addition to my arsenal of effects!
The one..
The only
DIGITECH WHAMMY!

I've been looking at these for years, I took the £160 plunge, and I think it's worth every penny, from RATM, to Buckethead, to U2 this thing is used all over the place, with pitch shifting, lovely chorus effect and intelligent on demand harmonies, it's a lovely toy, and I can see why people have it on their boards!

Now, about now, I'd like to say, I've been spending alot, because, well, I can, I've spent alot of time in my life, contemplating over decisions, and then regretting taking too long and the like, I know "wise men say only fools rush in" however, I've sort of been mulling over the way I do things, and as I just mentioned, I've taken alot of time just thinking and not enough "doing", and well, with what happened with Dad and how fast 2010 is going by, it's times that you realise, you have to think about the important things, and just follow impulse for the little things, remember my old obsession for the "Zoo TV/Achtung" Era of U2's experimental stage, more prominently the phrase "Smell the flowers like you can" now I'm a few years older, and I've experienced more of life, all the bad, all the good, but there's so much to come, but its so true, you have to take what you can, when you can, before its too late.
I know for a fact, I'm not the cleverest, I'm not the best looking and I'm not the most charming or skilled of people, I'll give you that sandwich of info for free, but I dunno, I'm real happy with how things are going, I've got some awesome friends, I enjoy what I do with my life and right now, I don't know where I'd rather be...

I got asked the other day about Love, the truth is I'm not looking for it right now, however, I know the right person is there somewhere, and maybe further on up the line, I'll find her and it'll work, sure, I've got someone in my head right now, but that's for another time!

To Conclude, thanks for reading, I'll put one of my playlists up soon!
Get in touch!
"Somewhere between the Midnight & the Dawning"

Your Pal
Luke

http://www.facebook.com/luke.clarke
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crashpoint-Official-Page/
TankEliminator@live.com (MSN)
tankeliminator (Skype)
Luke_Clarke (Last FM)
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/TheFly_1990/ (Listen To My Music)

70's Playlist

When The Story Ends...

Hello Readers!

Welcome to another edition of my returning blog, it's getting late, I've had a couple, and I thought I'd put out another blog, I'd like to focus on the musical side of my life this time around, so prepare for, what to some may be a bore, I like to write about something.

Now recently, I've had tons and tons of ideas, with being Bass player in Crashpoint now, the final touches going onto my experimental album, which I've mentioned on here many a time, but onto my main subject tonight, it's no secret, that I've slacked off on the old guitar for the last few months, most of my time being eaten up by online gaming and doing absolutely nothing...

And this is the thing, this break, gave me lofty thoughts and made me the harshest of myself, it made me realise that my skill has of deteriorated with my lack of practice (durrr) and with a recent visit to PMT Birmingham bargaining for some good friends, I was looking at new gear, and I've sort of given myself a kick up the arse, and really delved back into the guitar, learning new stuff, from tab and by ear, which, is really rewarding, not only am I hearing the improvement, mentally it's given me a confidence boost, I'm keeping a daily log of my progress, in an old exercise book from school, which was empty when I found it, so far, I've noted down all my ideas, It's the kick up the ass I needed to give myself, and I love what I'm doing!

In regards to me playing Guitar in a band, I'm in the final stages of getting a new band together, with people I would never have dreamed would be in the same band as me, ever. I won't mention any names or anything, because honestly, I'd rather keep this close to my chest for now, but yeah, It will be really interesting, and I'm really hyped about it, plus with it being in the summer (June/July-ish) I can upgrade my rig, and TRY and get my singing voice back, a quest for music, branching out is just what I need!

For now, Thanks for reading, get intouch!

Your Pal!
Luke!


http://www.facebook.com/luke.clarke
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crashpoint-Official-Page/
TankEliminator@live.com (MSN)
tankeliminator (Skype)
Luke_Clarke (Last FM)
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/TheFly_1990/ (Listen To My Music)

Playlist as of 22/03/2010

22nd March 2010: SitRep

Greetings Readers!

I'm not great with intros, so I'll just get straight to the point!

It's been almost three months since I wrote about the passing of my father, how times fly and how things change, at the time, things were going swimmingly musically for me, I had a fair bit of spare cash coming in, Crashpoint was (for the purposes of this blog) ''at it's best".

As the practices and weeks passed, we did a successful show at the Wharf 10 Bar in Walsall, home territory to us all, all of my friends, came along, aswell as a whole bar full of people, we were first up, and we played a very good full band setlist, without our singer Emma, who for a long time had been experiencing the effects of singing full pelt for near on 2 years with the band, and with Richard (Bassist) being constantly told by me to stop telling me when I can and can't play in the songs I helped write back in the day, both members left after this gig, not that I can blame them, but that left us with just 3 members, Myself, Matt Dooner & CJ Hunt, recently I (reluctantly I might add) took over bass, so for the time being we are a three piece, which we were for our last gig mid February, which, believe it or not, we got rave reviews for, as a three piece we sound better, so were gonna run with it...

But Luke! I hear you ask, "what about the mass amount of guitar gear you have? are you quitting guitar?" The answer is no, I'm not giving up guitar for bass, I'm proficient, but not fantastic at both instruments, I'm merely using this as a cool off period while I re-do my guitar rig, after gigging with my pedalboard, seeing some of the other guitar player's pedalboards, and looking and listening to mine, I require some changes on there, I'll try and cut down spending and just build my funds up so I can just go spending, I haven't brought anything guitar related since last November! It's disgusting!

Also, I'll throw in, that I've resumed putting together my solo album, now, renamed "Archives" due to the amount I'm putting onto the thing!

As of recently, I've been back intouch with a dear old friend of mine, we fell out last year, autumn time, and the untimely death of my father, brought her back intouch with me, and it's just like old times, I'd missed her, I've blogged on here about her before, Kate Griffiths she's a great laugh, and it's great to be back in touch with her, which brings me onto something else...

Friends, have become more and more prominent in my life, and I'll tell you now, I have some of the best, and these last few months, they've been great, couldn't ask for any better, thanks guys!

Don't ask about work either....

I'm off on holiday with old freinds Scott Groves, His Brother Pete & Daniel Hill in May, Scott's taking a HD Video Cam, i'll take mine for stills, off to Great Yarmouth, where I'll go remembering alot of stuff me and Dad did on our brilliant holidays, but at the same time, making more memories with the guys!

So, all in all, I'm pretty good, I'll be posting my new Playlist on here for you all to get a look at, plus, I'll try and get a slideshow done of photos from our Gig done, so i can show you all!

Thanks for reading, I'll write again next month or something!


Take Care
Luke Clarke

http://www.facebook.com/luke.clarke
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crashpoint-Official-Page/
TankEliminator@live.com (MSN)
tankeliminator (Skype)
Luke_Clarke (Last FM)
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/TheFly_1990/ (Listen To My Music)

P.S Alot Of People are having trouble accessing my Facebook profile, let me know, I'll try and fix it if you can't

Who'll Stop The Rain?...

Hello Readers.

I'd like to start on a positive note, but that's just not going to happen.

2009 wasn’t a great year for a large number of people, myself included as most of my readers will know, for more reasons than I can shake a stick at, It's a year that as it went on, got worse, with glimmers of hope, promptly pissed all over by bad luck, friends came and disappeared in months, It's a year I was looking forward to the end of...

But I will treasure the memories, for it was the last year I spent with my father, Ray, who tragically died suddenly, at the end of the year where I was at my lowest, on the 30th of December 2009, We found him, he'd passed away of a severe heart attack caused by a blood clot that had gradually built over the week leading up to the day, he went to rest and now he is at rest, just some consolation that he went peacefully

Due to unforeseen events early last year I spent a large majority of it laughing, joking and talking with him, every evening after work, or after he’d picked me up from band practice, we’d sit for hours laughing at the most obscure things anyone could imagine, he was a comedian in disguise, and his eccentric sense of humor gradually rubbed off on me, which made for some of the happiest moments of 2009.

I think most will agree when I say he was always an optimist, he saw the best in people and the world alike, making it obvious by bearing a smile whenever we saw him, helping people out as he went, friends, family and tenants alike.

He was a devout music lover, his tastes spanning more genres than I care to imagine and he introduced me to the majority of the music I listen to today, and from that I took up various musical instruments, and sort of followed his eclectic taste, seeing the best of every genre.

we all knew him for the fantastic person he was, nothing more, nothing less, he was always around when we needed him, a man with a unique perception of life, one of positivity, and he will always be remembered by us all, I just hope I can do him proud and stay strong enough for my Mom & Sister...

There's no reason for me to keep going on about it, I'm at a point where I no longer know what to say to people who stop me in the street to pass on their condolences, though I'm dreading the aftermath of the funeral, it's just picking up the pieces and making a new lifestyle.

At the moment, things are at somewhat of a standstill for me, Work, is on hold until the 24th of January, I hope to be going back to band practice next week, I just owe everything to the amazing support from friends and family, we've all pulled together, and it's the main thing that's helped me stay as strong as I have been.

It's just hard to grasp that he's gone, I'm just glad I spent the time with him I did...

I'll tell you all, right now, smell the flowers while you can.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.


Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.



Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Thank Baz Luhrmann for that, Dad loved the song Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen, It's a great song that makes you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

Thanks For Reading

Luke