Lyndon Wesley

If eyes are windows to the soul then music is the front door.

Sets

While The World Lay Sleeping
An EP I released in 2006.
3 tracks (12:45)
  • The Shortest Summer
    34 plays
  • Happiness Is Falling Down
    38 plays
  • Salvation Song
    52 plays
My Soundcloud

Updates

Photos

Videos

My Facebook

Posts

January 20, 01:15 PM

Before the Beach (Taken with instagram)

January 20, 05:31 AM

It’s been over an hour already. (Taken with Instagram at Bundoora Tyres)

January 11, 04:01 AM

Jet on rocker (Taken with instagram)

January 11, 03:53 AM

Train to Hardrock Climbing (Taken with instagram)

January 10, 12:08 PM

Speak, Deer (Taken with instagram)

January 08, 01:31 PM
Look Back at 2011: Most Popular Themes

staff:

Tumblr gives you complete control over all aspects of your blog, and once you know some HTML, you can make them look pretty much any way you want! On the other hand, many of us would rather benefit from the skills of the thousands of brilliant designers whose work is featured in the Tumblr Theme Garden.

The top themes of 2011 were…

The Minimalist

Inspire Well

January 07, 05:35 AM

A matter of urgency. (Taken with instagram)

December 25, 01:09 AM

2011 Year in Review: Best of Architecture
Marni, design-milk.com

Our archi­tec­ture posts take us around the world, show­cas­ing fab­u­lous homes that we can only dream of liv­ing in, and treat­ing us to glimpses of fas­ci­nat­ing lifestyles. This year’s high­lights include an über-narrow dwelling in Japan, TWO…

I love great architecture.

December 21, 12:51 PM

DunneFrankowski Transparently Track Sales
bwj, dearcoffeeiloveyou.com

Last week, I wrote about the grand open­ing of the Dun­neFrankows­ki pop-up cof­fee bar in Lon­don. In an effort to fos­ter con­ver­sa­tion around the cul­ture of cof­fee shops and the habits of cus­tomers, they are chart­ing and shar­ing all of…

December 19, 07:25 PM

Jimmy Choo Coffee Sleeves
bwj, dearcoffeeiloveyou.com

Occa­sion­al­ly I come across things that leave me speech­less and I gen­er­al­ly choose not to post about them. But this takes the cake, eats it and pro­ceeds to jump the shark. For $165 you too can “add a touch of style to your morn­ing cof­fee…

December 18, 10:16 AM

minimalmac:

The Buddha Machine is not an iPod. It’s not loaded with features. It’s simply a small plastic box — available in an assortment of colors — that plays nine different loops. The possibilities of how you listen to it, however, are infinite.

I received one of these today, a surprise gift from John Carey of Fifty Foot Shadows (THE place to get beautiful desktops, by the way). I have know about them for quite some time and wanted one but never pulled the trigger. It was incredibly thoughtful of him and it is even better than I imagined it.

My little girl has suffered with a really bad little flu bug that had her over a bucket all of last night. Not wanting to risk the same tonight I was looking for a way to ease her misery and lull her to sleep without her normal bottle of milk. I turned on the Buddha Machine and laid down next to her. She was calmed and asleep within minutes. Magical.

Santa, I want one.

November 27, 12:05 PM

onehelloworld:

How Do I Gain Self-confidence?

I feel like the people who are OK with going into a night and not knowing what’s going happen, and knowing where they’re going to end up, and who they’re going to be with, how they’re getting home, what time they’re going to be home… all those things. I feel like they don’t care about those questions because they just know they’re going to be ok. Because they have self confidence maybe. Now that I know I don’t have self confidence, how do I change that?

Don’t worry about being “normal” - be yourself. Also, know that many people struggle with having confidence in themselves (I know I do sometimes). Thanks for calling.

I’m fundraising for my debut album, “The Listener”.
$1 to be a backer. $10 to pre-order. Contribute now.

Support this. Pre-order the album.

September 14, 03:59 AM
If you’re not embarrassed, you’re taking too long to get it out there.” As Feross puts it, “Done is better than perfect.
The Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerbergs of Tomorrow — New York Magazine (via machinery)

So true, but often hard too stick to!

August 21, 02:12 PM

Ride Into It With Me | SongCity

An idea where one partner causes a mess and the other cleans up afterwards.

August 14, 01:17 PM

Salvation Song | SongCity

From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.

August 14, 01:13 PM

Happiness Is Falling Down | SongCity

From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.

August 14, 01:07 PM

The Shortest Summer | SongCity

From the 2006 EP, While The World Lay Sleeping

August 05, 08:53 AM

About A Boy (Taken with instagram)

July 30, 12:12 PM
Forkbombr — Old Mac of the Month: Performa 578

minimalmac:

I’m starting a new series named “Old Mac of the Month.” To help get things started, my buddy Kevin Lipe wrote up this piece about the Performa 578.

Wholly carp! This is going to be so much fun.

July 30, 12:08 PM
Moving to a much smaller space - Simpler Living - Naomi Seldin Ramirez - timesunion.com - Albany NY

minimalmac:

The good news is that even though we moved to a bigger, more expensive metropolitan area, our cost of living hasn’t risen. We’re saving money by living small — and because we live small, we’re not tempted to buy stuff we don’t have space for.

I’m actually writing an essay similar to some of the ideas in the post linked for the Enough book right now. Here is the basic premise…

If you buy a big house, or a buy a large hard drive for that matter, you will in all likelihood fill it. No matter how much of a “minimalist” you are, you will fill that space. Why? There is no cost to doing so. There is no real hardship for buying that extra couch, assuming you have the money, in the case of the house. With the hard drive, there is no real cost to keeping ten thousand photos all in RAW or having a dozen text editors when you only use or need one. 

Often, it is not enough to embrace limitations. Instead, consider creating limitations. Why? Because it forces one to consider cost. Not just monetary but also spacial, cognitive, and practical as well. It forces one to ask tough questions about real need versus desire. 

For example, though I live in what I consider to be a large house, I keep my clothes in a small wardrobe.  All of them. And within the wardrobe, I have dedicated spaces for certain items. For instance, I have a single drawer for my jeans. It has just enough space for five pair. I really can’t buy another pair of jeans without making a choice between what pair to replace or not being able to fit them in that drawer. Buying a new pair of jeans has enough of a cost beyond money that it keeps me honest about how many pairs of jeans I need. 

One can create such limits and constraints no matter your circumstance. Not just for the sake of doing so, but to discover what your personal center of balance of desire and need is. That is to say, what is enough for you.

Audio

  • onehelloworld: How Do I Gain Self-confidence? I feel like the people who are OK with going into a night and not knowing what’s going happen, and knowing where they’re going to end up, and who they’re going to be with, how they’re getting home, what time they’re going to be home… all those things. I feel like they don’t care about those questions because they just know they’re going to be ok. Because they have self confidence maybe. Now that I know I don’t have self confidence, how do I change that? Don’t worry about being “normal” - be yourself. Also, know that many people struggle with having confidence in themselves (I know I do sometimes). Thanks for calling. I’m fundraising for my debut album, “The Listener”. $1 to be a backer. $10 to pre-order. Contribute now. Support this. Pre-order the album.
    1599 plays
  • Ride Into It With Me | SongCity An idea where one partner causes a mess and the other cleans up afterwards.
    19 plays
  • Salvation Song | SongCity From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.
    52 plays
  • Happiness Is Falling Down | SongCity From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.
    38 plays
  • The Shortest Summer | SongCity From the 2006 EP, While The World Lay Sleeping
    34 plays
My Tumblr Blog

Posts

December 08, 09:30 PM
Free Spirits Allowed But Don't Let The Fumes Go To Your Head
I spent many years intoxicated.  Not by alcohol but by words and melodies swimming through my private moments of inspiration.  I began to believe that reworking the initial inspiration would somehow break the spell, reducing my writing to the everyday. No, I needed to remain a free spirit moving with the flow, pleasantly whimsical and averse to all structure and order.

There's a danger believing that artistic people by default are disorganised and that's how the magic happens! There are no special powers or forces that are summoned through habitual disorganisation and spontaneity. Quite the opposite in fact. It requires great discipline to organise all those amazing moments of inspiration in order to capitalise on work already undertaken, blood already sweated and tears cried. It takes a true understanding of the sometimes complex creative process to complete what began as a good work and make it great.

So embrace the creative process which begins with the often inexplicable inspiration but ends triumphantly after a process of diligence, culling, cropping and pushing through the painful barriers of rebirthing.  It's called rewriting and all great songwriters do it.
July 31, 09:51 AM
How To Lose Listeners In Under 60 Seconds
Here are my Top 5 ways to lose a listener in under 60 Seconds, as posted to Twitter.
Rule #5 - Employ a complicated melody using big interval jumps and awkward phrasing. 
Rule #4 - State lots of facts about yourself one after the other. Ask no questions, make no commands. 
Rule #3 - Be sure you don't include repeatable phrases but if you do, definitely do not repeat them! 
Rule #2 - Go on, use a cliche in the opening line of your first verse.

Click 'read more' for the number one way to ensure your listener switches off.

Rule #1 - Create a long intro that does not pull listener into the song, then repeat.

Want some more practical songwriting tips? Download our free resources here.
July 20, 09:29 PM
Five Secrets To Avoiding Writers Block
The kettle is boiled, our pen is inked and we have plenty of blank pages to fill in our brand new notepad.  We've even cleared our schedule for a couple of hours.  'The world is our oyster', we muse as we stare at a list of possible song titles and wait for inspiration. Inspiration that never comes. Panic slowly seeps in subversively replacing our excitement with dread. 'Is this what writers' block feels like?', we wonder. 

Does this scenario sound familiar?  There are many and varied ways in which we might become afflicted with an inability to write.  It happens from time to time.  Often we're simply distracted by life's pressures. However, there is always something that we can do to either counteract or avoid times of barrenness and despair.
  1. Practice Object Writing - The daily discipline of writing for ten minutes in the morning using sensory bound imagery will keep your writing in good shape. It's a work out for your creative muscle.  Pat Pattison has a lot to say about this subject and I highly recommend his book Writing Better Lyrics. At the very least, if you find yourself drawing a blank on a lyric you can very quickly do a few object writes to loosen up.  You may not get the perfect line, after all, it's an exercise in creative writing but at least you will be writing and pushing your boundaries.  VisitObject Writing for this weeks words.
  2. Write With Others - Co-writing is fun and you'll learn a lot from the process.  Don't worry about someone ripping off your ideas. Meet for coffee first, chat about life and writing, explore some possibilities and if you think it's worth a shot then organise your cowrite session. Just be sure to sign an agreement before you get started.  The more you co-write the sooner you can look for opportunities to write 'up', meaning to write with someone higher up the food chain than yourself. Visit your local NSAI Chapter, scope out local songwriting groups, talk to musos at gigs and start collaborating.  Surround yourself with like minded people.  Find your strengths and discover where others strengths are. Sometimes the sum of many parts is mightier than the individual. 
  3. Write on a Non-Prefered Instrument -  A quick way to get out of old habits is to write on an instrument that you're not totally comfortable on.  Perhaps it's time to ditch the old acoustic for a while and write to a drum beat. Virtuosity is not a pre-requisite for songwriters!  So don't worry if you're not well versed on a jaw harp or glockenspiel, the point is to present your musical imagination with a new point of reference, a surprising new sound, a fresh perspective. Are you tired of the old 1st position chords? Try something new.  Trick your fingers, deny your ears their guilty Minor7 pleasures and carelessly throw your talents at an unsuspecting Casio or drum machine!
  4. Attend a Songwriting Workshop -  Experience has shown me that songwriting workshops can often be a bit hit-and-miss.  Word of mouth will save you from disappointment. The wider your network of songwriting buddies, the greater your chance of attending truly worthwhile seminars and workshops.  Learn from the experience of others.Recommendations give you some kind of surety that your investment will be worth it.  And it is an investment, and one which will pay dividends as your ears and eyes are opened to the craft of writing great songs.  Become a student of songwriting, soak it up and enjoy the journey. Learn something new. There will be many great days of writing ahead. 
  5. Revisit your old recordings/lyrics/demos/scratch tapes.  - This achieves two things; 1) You may find some gems of inspiration. That's generally what you will have captured 'on tape' - the initial inspiration & 2) You'll quickly discover just how far you've come since your early attempts to navigate songwriting. If you're still having trouble joining the dots on an idea consider submitting it for evaluation.  Reviews will prove invaluable as you resurrect songs that deserve a second chance. Rewriting is vital in the song creation process. Professional evaluations are surprisingly affordable and may become your best friend as you tweak and polish your songs. 


May 25, 04:00 AM
Good Things Still Take Time
How often do we want to see results straight away?  I've learnt something while putting this website together.  Good things take time. Truthfully, it's a lesson I've learnt one hundred times over at least, yet here I was learning it again!  If good things take time then the question needs to be asked, 'When do we find the time to create all the good stuff?' 
I've tried finding time before but it always runs away from me. And fast!

I'm lucky.  I have some successful, highly motivated friends who are much wiser than myself.  According to their wisdom there's a big difference between finding time and making time.  It's the 'making' of time that we should be focussing on.

So how do we make time? How does an artistic, spontaneous, highly distracted and slightly disorganised person effectively create more hours in the day?

In theory it's easy.  Simply make appointments with yourself.  Value your dreams and ambitions enough to mark them in the diary, or the iPhone and you're away.  Actually, in practise it's a little more difficult.  And guess what it takes to develop a habit?  You guessed it, time. Six to twelve weeks in fact.  Once again, good things take time. Ouch!

So start valuing your 'me' time.  Make appointments with yourself.  Learn to say 'no' to distractions and 'yes' to your dreams.  In fact there will be times when you need to say 'no' to good things too.  They're not wrong, it might be the timing is wrong.  So knowing what to say no to is as important as saying 'no'. And go easy on yourself, remember it takes 'time' to develop your new habit. 

Good luck and keep writing!
SongCity Blog

Profile

Lyndon Wesley
Director, SongCity - Simply Songwriting! Songwriter & SongCoach
Music | Melbourne Area, Australia, AU

Summary

Studio and touring musician, singer/songwriter, guitar tutor for many years. I have more recently moved into the study and practice of SongCraft and enjoy imparting what I continue to learn.

My involvement with NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) gives me an opportunity to share with songwriters and connect like-minded people together for collaborative and educational purposes.

Besides running SongCity, my weekly endeavours are very much centred around songwriting, whether for myself or others. I spend most of my time at Bounce Recording Studios either writing, knocking up demos or contributing to artist and band recordings predominantly as a guitarist, producer and co-writer.

At a sound level I am very much obsessed with creating rich, organic textures using real instruments wherever possible and software based instruments where suitable.

If eyes are the window to the soul then music is the front door.
Specialties: Songwriter, Songwriting Support and Evaluations, Tuition, Studio Musician, Logic Studio User, Pre-Production Sound Shaping, Guitarist

Experience

  • Present
    Owner / SongCity - Simply Songwriting!

Education

  • 1987 - 1991
    Karingal Secondary College
    English, Music, Art, Biology, Maths

Additional Information

Websites:
Company Website, Company Website, Personal Website
My LinkedIn Profile

Updates

  • Merry Christmas to all! SongCity Relaunch 2012. Watch this space...
    4 weeks ago
  • Christmas Party Tonight
    7 weeks ago
  • NSAI Melbourne Christmas Party
    2 months ago
  • Got my Macbook Pro out. It's like renewing a friendship. AND Tweetdeck is on here...if only iTalk would cooperate I could backup my iPhone.
    2 months ago
  • Melbourne Songwriters - Looking back on 2011
    2 months ago
  • Melbourne Songwriter October Workshop
    4 months ago
  • NSAI Melbourne - Special Guest This Monday Night
    5 months ago
  • A few songs from an EP I released in 2006.
    5 months ago
  • Melbourne Songwriter News from NSAI
    6 months ago
  • View from Production Suite into Live Room, Vocal Booth and Control Room windows.
    6 months ago
  • Front entrance, foyer and doorway into production suite.
    6 months ago

Profile Pictures

Promotions

SongCity Live Recording March 2010

Live Recording

Wall Photos

SongCity

SongCity

Updates

  • K*Set doing some dummy vocals for his album! Great songs!
    12 days ago
  • One of our first clients in the new studio! Vita Muelu recorded a cover of 'Man In The Mirror'. I may as well have been recording Stan Walker! What a voice! Good luck Vita!
    5 weeks ago
  • One of our facilities for our clients to take advantage of... No big deal... ;-)
    8 days ago
  • Factory 7, 121 Miller Street... The official home of Bounce!!!
    7 weeks ago
  • Signs are up! Ready for business!!
    7 weeks ago
  • Christmas Party Tonight
    7 weeks ago
  • My office.
    7 weeks ago
  • The ARIA on display at the studio... Well, the Aria Faith... Close enough... ;-)
    2 months ago
  • Control room up and running!
    2 months ago
  • All the facilities you'd want in a kitchen.. Coffee machine, water cooler, fridge, coffee machine, microwave, coffee machine...
    2 months ago
  • Foyer/Kitchen completed.
    2 months ago

Photos

Bounce Studios

Updates

  • Christmas Party Tonight
    7 weeks ago
  • Melbourne Songwriters - Looking back on 2011
    2 months ago
  • From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.
    5 months ago
  • From the EP, While The World Lay Sleeping.
    5 months ago
  • From the 2006 EP, While The World Lay Sleeping
    5 months ago
  • A demo sung into my phone, on the bed. Brea was watching Midsomer Murders so I was sent to the bedroom!
    6 months ago
  • Recorded this today using Garageband and a Blue Yeti USB mic. Still a long way to go but promising I think :)
    7 months ago
  • New Songs Posted!
    16 months ago
  • Someone Tell The Driver is the working title for a track off the new album. Gonna need some cowriting on this album or I'll never finish it!
    17 months ago
  • Umm Shelley, are we done??
    17 months ago
  • Haven't heard The Dead Weather's new album? I love it. Gritty, swampy, hard edged, trippy, rock n roll'y, guttural, guitar driven, riffy, thumpy, distorted, hooky and brilliant. Jack White's a ripper!
    17 months ago

Profile Pictures

Lyndon Wesley Music

Songwriting Workshops Held Here

46 Leveson St, North Melbourne VIC 3051, Australia
via Google Maps
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz