From Scott (Portal):So, this is it. I have it in mind, right now, that this will be the final word on my musical activities under the name Portal. I'm not going to "do a Bowie" and announce my retirement, only to retract it at a later date, but at this point in time, I can't imagine wanting to use the name Portal again. Firstly, I've tired of the name. What first seemed like a word to describe the process of music-making (in the sense of the 'portal' being the creative process through which ideas become music) now seems a bit, well, "Dungeons & Dragons." I didn't really put that much thought into the name, to be honest. If I knew then what I know now, that my music would have been so successful and that I'd still be recording under the same name 13 years later, I'd have chosen a much better name, let me assure you. Secondly, I've grown tired of the associations that go with the name, and the expectations - not least my own - that also go with it. Portal has taken me to many interesting places, musically speaking, and I have achieved far more than I'd have ever dared imagine.
Portal was started out of necessity, I suppose. Having played in a variety of bands from a young age, feeling the need to write and perform my own music, I decided to abandon musical compromise and the company of egotistical musicians in favour of solo "home recordings", using a four-track cassette portastudio that I'd bought using a graduate loan, a cheap guitar, a basic drum machine I'd had since childhood, and a few effects pedals. I didn't want to use my own name for these recordings when it was suggested to me that I should send out some of my music to small indie labels, so I took the name Portal from a chapter in Oliver Sacks' book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat."
Writing and recording music has never been anything other than a hobby for me. As such, it was immensely satisfying that things took off as they did and that people not only chose to release and buy my music, but that I also got to fulfill a lifelong dream of having my music played by the late (and still greatly missed) John Peel, and surpassing all hopes, record a session for his BBC Radio 1 programme in 2000. Although things progressed over the years, with others becoming involved and Portal becoming infinitely more complex in the process, writing and recording music remained a hobby. After the "Waves & Echoes" album in 2005, however, I began to lose my enthusiasm for writing music. Portal had started to feel more like a job than a hobby, and that was the sign that I'd always thought would signal the time to stop.
Eventually, after a break of three years or so, I started to experiment with composing music again, using a laptop and software rather than 'traditional' instruments and recording equipment. With the help of encouraging and cajoling friends, some of these recordings eventually saw the light of day as the "Options" EP, released in March 2009. With this EP, I felt far more of a sense of completion, with Portal ending up in a place that I was far happier with. I knew then that it was time to draw a line under everything that I'd done to date.
This archive brings together almost all of the CD album tracks, EP tracks and compilation appearances from over the years. Although I didn't intend it that way, there are exactly 100 tracks collected together here. It is not a complete archive, however. I have omitted the recordings from our John Peel session because I do not own the rights to these (the BBC does) and I was never happy with most of the versions of the tracks we recorded anyway, to be honest. All of the tracks appear in other versions elsewhere in this archive. Also missing is "Pulse" from the Rocket Racer 7" box set because it is similar to the version on "Tristesse", but far murkier in terms of audio quality. "Closer", an electronic piece from my 7" split with V/Vm isn't here either - I had problems with extraneous noise on this track when it was recorded, which mastering didn't remove. In retrospect, I should have re-recorded it for the 7", but never mind. I have also omitted the track "Hold" from the Split EP with Yellow6 because it is merely an early and inferior mix of the track that appears on the "Promise" album, and "The Sun Will Rise 2", a remix from the "Flow" compilation, again because I was never really happy with the mix. The original album version, although flawed, is much better. My collaborations with Schengen from the "EP" release are also missing - whilst these are excellent tracks, I regard them primarily as Schengen's tracks. I urge you strongly to buy a copy of the CD if you can find one, though. Lastly, my remixes of other artists' tracks also do not appear here, as I do not own the rights to those tracks either.
There are so many people to thank for their help and assistance over the last 13 years. If you feel you should be thanked, please consider yourself thanked. In particular, though, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to: Leyland James Kirby for talking me into doing this in the first place and providing endless and unfailingly enthusiastic support over the years - I owe you a double or three; Dominic Martin for releasing the first Portal track on an Earworm Records 7" and making me realise that perhaps people beyond my immediate friends might actually want to listen to my music; the late and greatly missed John Peel for providing me with so much inspiration and about 90% of my musical education, and for his kind words about Portal - you will never be forgotten; Jon Attwood of Yellow6, and Nick Varney & Ian Mckenzie of Schengen, for their loyal friendship, help and support throughout; Rachel Hughes for her beautiful vocals and her patience with me and my idiosyncrasies; all of the kind souls who remixed Portal tracks for the "Remixes" album; Jan Willem Broek for his many years of friendship, support and musical recommendations - "Perhaps we can go over this bridge together?"; John Banfield of Awkward Silence Recordings for all of his help and support; Andy "Chunky" Smith for his friendship, support and lunchtime cuppas; Darren Crawford at Cargo Records for his encouragement and good humour in the face of regular adversity; Jonathan Leonard for becoming a good friend through our shared love of music and for his many reviews of my music; everyone involved in Make Mine Music for very obvious reasons; Glen Johnson for extending a hand of friendship, his words of encouragement and his many contributions; Lorraine Lelis, Ben Holton and Angèle David-Guillou for making the "Options" EP complete with their wonderful contributions; and my partner Sarah Kennedy and our daughter Anya, for their love, support, encouragement, and for putting up with my occasional grumpiness and all of the other hassles that go with my music-making and the overseeing of a small, but time and energy consuming, record label.
Last but by no means least, I would like to say a special thank you to everyone who has bought and/or said nice things about my music, attended the all-too-rare Portal live performances, or become a friend over the years.
Until we meet again, then...
Scott
Portal was started out of necessity, I suppose. Having played in a variety of bands from a young age, feeling the need to write and perform my own music, I decided to abandon musical compromise and the company of egotistical musicians in favour of solo "home recordings", using a four-track cassette portastudio that I'd bought using a graduate loan, a cheap guitar, a basic drum machine I'd had since childhood, and a few effects pedals. I didn't want to use my own name for these recordings when it was suggested to me that I should send out some of my music to small indie labels, so I took the name Portal from a chapter in Oliver Sacks' book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat."
Writing and recording music has never been anything other than a hobby for me. As such, it was immensely satisfying that things took off as they did and that people not only chose to release and buy my music, but that I also got to fulfill a lifelong dream of having my music played by the late (and still greatly missed) John Peel, and surpassing all hopes, record a session for his BBC Radio 1 programme in 2000. Although things progressed over the years, with others becoming involved and Portal becoming infinitely more complex in the process, writing and recording music remained a hobby. After the "Waves & Echoes" album in 2005, however, I began to lose my enthusiasm for writing music. Portal had started to feel more like a job than a hobby, and that was the sign that I'd always thought would signal the time to stop.
Eventually, after a break of three years or so, I started to experiment with composing music again, using a laptop and software rather than 'traditional' instruments and recording equipment. With the help of encouraging and cajoling friends, some of these recordings eventually saw the light of day as the "Options" EP, released in March 2009. With this EP, I felt far more of a sense of completion, with Portal ending up in a place that I was far happier with. I knew then that it was time to draw a line under everything that I'd done to date.
This archive brings together almost all of the CD album tracks, EP tracks and compilation appearances from over the years. Although I didn't intend it that way, there are exactly 100 tracks collected together here. It is not a complete archive, however. I have omitted the recordings from our John Peel session because I do not own the rights to these (the BBC does) and I was never happy with most of the versions of the tracks we recorded anyway, to be honest. All of the tracks appear in other versions elsewhere in this archive. Also missing is "Pulse" from the Rocket Racer 7" box set because it is similar to the version on "Tristesse", but far murkier in terms of audio quality. "Closer", an electronic piece from my 7" split with V/Vm isn't here either - I had problems with extraneous noise on this track when it was recorded, which mastering didn't remove. In retrospect, I should have re-recorded it for the 7", but never mind. I have also omitted the track "Hold" from the Split EP with Yellow6 because it is merely an early and inferior mix of the track that appears on the "Promise" album, and "The Sun Will Rise 2", a remix from the "Flow" compilation, again because I was never really happy with the mix. The original album version, although flawed, is much better. My collaborations with Schengen from the "EP" release are also missing - whilst these are excellent tracks, I regard them primarily as Schengen's tracks. I urge you strongly to buy a copy of the CD if you can find one, though. Lastly, my remixes of other artists' tracks also do not appear here, as I do not own the rights to those tracks either.
There are so many people to thank for their help and assistance over the last 13 years. If you feel you should be thanked, please consider yourself thanked. In particular, though, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to: Leyland James Kirby for talking me into doing this in the first place and providing endless and unfailingly enthusiastic support over the years - I owe you a double or three; Dominic Martin for releasing the first Portal track on an Earworm Records 7" and making me realise that perhaps people beyond my immediate friends might actually want to listen to my music; the late and greatly missed John Peel for providing me with so much inspiration and about 90% of my musical education, and for his kind words about Portal - you will never be forgotten; Jon Attwood of Yellow6, and Nick Varney & Ian Mckenzie of Schengen, for their loyal friendship, help and support throughout; Rachel Hughes for her beautiful vocals and her patience with me and my idiosyncrasies; all of the kind souls who remixed Portal tracks for the "Remixes" album; Jan Willem Broek for his many years of friendship, support and musical recommendations - "Perhaps we can go over this bridge together?"; John Banfield of Awkward Silence Recordings for all of his help and support; Andy "Chunky" Smith for his friendship, support and lunchtime cuppas; Darren Crawford at Cargo Records for his encouragement and good humour in the face of regular adversity; Jonathan Leonard for becoming a good friend through our shared love of music and for his many reviews of my music; everyone involved in Make Mine Music for very obvious reasons; Glen Johnson for extending a hand of friendship, his words of encouragement and his many contributions; Lorraine Lelis, Ben Holton and Angèle David-Guillou for making the "Options" EP complete with their wonderful contributions; and my partner Sarah Kennedy and our daughter Anya, for their love, support, encouragement, and for putting up with my occasional grumpiness and all of the other hassles that go with my music-making and the overseeing of a small, but time and energy consuming, record label.
Last but by no means least, I would like to say a special thank you to everyone who has bought and/or said nice things about my music, attended the all-too-rare Portal live performances, or become a friend over the years.
Until we meet again, then...
Scott
Wow, free songs/EPs are nice, but an entire FREE DISCOGRAPHY?!?! You're the man Scott.
No comments:
Post a Comment