I learned to play the guitar on a vintage nylon-string that the whole family shared. It wasn’t mine in any official sense. It lived wherever it landed — on the couch in the lounge, leaning against the piano, or resting on its stand like it was waiting for someone to notice it again. That accessibility mattered more than I realised at the time. You could just walk in, pick it up, and make a sound. Continue reading Behind the song: Thanks To You
Some time ago, years in fact, I posted a question on my Facebook page. The question was, “Song title suggestions?” Continue reading Tea bags for tears
ABOUT 36 months ago, I left the shores of South Africa to attend the Future Music Forum in Barcelona, Spain. Thinking back on it all, I am both humbled and awed. Continue reading Behind the Song: Open Air
Crazy World is the oldest song on the album.
I started writing it over two years ago while on holiday in Cape Town. I remember the vast, crazy contrast while I was there: the immense opulence of Camps Bay versus the in-your-face drags of Khayelitsha. I remember how foreign both ways of life were to me. I pondered over it for weeks. In the end, Continue reading Behind the Song: Crazy World
It was inevitable that the engineer who mastered the album – Brent Quintin – would pick out the E9 chord at the beginning of Wide Open World.
“Hey Earle, what does this sound like?” he asks his fellow Sesalos engineer.
“Welcome to the real world!” Earle bursts out, reciting the John Mayer classic. Continue reading Behind the Song: Wide Open World
I’ve long been a fan of Eric Clapton.
Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. This is not a lyrical derivative of Wonderful Tonight, although I sometimes wonder if those kind of songs just lie dormant in our sub-conscience and make their way to the surface in subtle ways. As the band tells me, everything we listen to influences the music we create, some of it is just more dominant.
In actual fact, it was the Continue reading Behind the Song: More Beautiful Tonight
This song was the first one penned for the new album, about four years ago. It was one of those songs which very quickly had a structure, but developed slowly lyrically… so much so that it was only completed last year.
So for those who don’t know, my beautiful wife Tamlyn Mary is the inspiration behind this tune. Without boring you with too many details, Tam and I met at a time when I was fairly rogue. Continue reading Behind the Song: Loving Every Day
This was a song which was birthed out of the music. The songwriting process is a strange one, because there’s never any true way of knowing when and where inspiration will come from. I’ve resolved to follow Bob Dylan’s advice and make a conscientious effort to hang around the ink well.
When I penned this song, it came out of a Continue reading Behind the Song: Leave It Behind
There really is nothing like the sounds of Africa… particularly African rhythm: that lilted 4/4 which most of us wit ous know through the likes of Johnny Clegg.
Yes, he was a big musical influence on this song… rhythmically it was Spirit of the Great Heart and musically it was also Scatterlings of Africa. I thought we only just started to Continue reading Behind the Song: Alive
