the mg project
MG = Mike and Geert = Mike Monaghan and Geert Ormel. Straightforward enough !
The Project . . . is also straightforward : to make a series of albums over the next 5 years. Geert has the equipment and the attic-studio - I'll provide the songs, and together we'll learn through hands-on experience all we need to know to produce our own quality albums.
Actually, it's not so straightforward, because there's actually a bit more to the project than just making albums. Let's face it, anyone can make an album these days - anyone can build a studio in the attic, anyone can write a song . . .
Geert has been playing music with a variety of people (including me) for years. People with an assortment of talents and passion and ages. In the process, he's grown himself as a musician, inspiring others through his "no-nonsense-no-excuses-just-do-it" attitude and unwavering commitment to routine. He says he has no natural talent . . . and in playing music he is exercising his "right for people without talent to make music".
We discuss often what talent actually is and isn't, but I too am a firm believer in allowing yourself the pleasure of doing whatever you want to do, just because you want to do it . . . regardless of the opinions of others, or whether you think you have enough talent or not.
So we decided to start the project. Start with this one album. It was a return to songwriting for me after a 10 year abstinence. I had to get used to playing the guitar again, and to singing . Geert had to seriously start researching recording techniques instead of just fiddling with the buttons. Together we had to discover the whole song-recording process; the master-cd making process; the album design and production process . . . I even learned to play the mandolin. The first recordings were rough to say the least, but through 6 months of weekly sessions we got to grips with everything - and when we look back on all we've learned - well . . . it's a lot.
And the process continues - Geert is busy applying what he's learned to recording his own songs from past years, with the goal of refining what he now knows. And I am heading out on my travel adventure to "become" a singer, a minstrel, a songwriter, and more so a performer . . . because this is also a process of learning through doing .
So the MG Project will be making more albums over the next few years, with new songs, with more experience, knowledge and skill, promoting the "rights of those without talent to do it anyway". . . and, as with this album, give other "musicians" the opportunity to be part of the project and play on an album . We'll be keeping it all independent - we do it our way. And we hope you like what we do.
BACK
The Project . . . is also straightforward : to make a series of albums over the next 5 years. Geert has the equipment and the attic-studio - I'll provide the songs, and together we'll learn through hands-on experience all we need to know to produce our own quality albums.
Actually, it's not so straightforward, because there's actually a bit more to the project than just making albums. Let's face it, anyone can make an album these days - anyone can build a studio in the attic, anyone can write a song . . .
Geert has been playing music with a variety of people (including me) for years. People with an assortment of talents and passion and ages. In the process, he's grown himself as a musician, inspiring others through his "no-nonsense-no-excuses-just-do-it" attitude and unwavering commitment to routine. He says he has no natural talent . . . and in playing music he is exercising his "right for people without talent to make music".
We discuss often what talent actually is and isn't, but I too am a firm believer in allowing yourself the pleasure of doing whatever you want to do, just because you want to do it . . . regardless of the opinions of others, or whether you think you have enough talent or not.
So we decided to start the project. Start with this one album. It was a return to songwriting for me after a 10 year abstinence. I had to get used to playing the guitar again, and to singing . Geert had to seriously start researching recording techniques instead of just fiddling with the buttons. Together we had to discover the whole song-recording process; the master-cd making process; the album design and production process . . . I even learned to play the mandolin. The first recordings were rough to say the least, but through 6 months of weekly sessions we got to grips with everything - and when we look back on all we've learned - well . . . it's a lot.
And the process continues - Geert is busy applying what he's learned to recording his own songs from past years, with the goal of refining what he now knows. And I am heading out on my travel adventure to "become" a singer, a minstrel, a songwriter, and more so a performer . . . because this is also a process of learning through doing .
So the MG Project will be making more albums over the next few years, with new songs, with more experience, knowledge and skill, promoting the "rights of those without talent to do it anyway". . . and, as with this album, give other "musicians" the opportunity to be part of the project and play on an album . We'll be keeping it all independent - we do it our way. And we hope you like what we do.
BACK