Michael Mucklow

Latest Review…

Indie In Tune
Call me a mindless brute, but I’m always a bit unsure when I hear people describing music as “relaxing” or “soothing”. Yes, a lot of great music does indeed have those qualities, but when those are the main ideas that you can throw around about a song, then usually the words “boring” or “hippie” (in a bad, whale-sounds album kinda way) come trailing right behind. Fortunately, in the case of Michael Mucklow, a guitarist from Yucca Valley, California, that association couldn’t be further from the truth. Michael has a background in hard rock and punk bands, where he has perfected his guitar playing, making him a very versatile performer, and the way his solo acoustic songs flow, you can tell that this is a man whose guitar already functions as an extension of himself. Fans are enjoying his CDs and digitally downloading his work from various sites according to their www.o2.co.uk set-ups, and discovering this truly original artist in all his glory. Since he has started to write and record on his own, he has already released two records – “Clearly” and “The View From Here”, and on these releases it’s clear how heartfelt these songs really are.

Each of the songs works as a sort of individual little world, slowly but surely developing and very evocative. More than peaceful, Michael’s songs are inspiring, as it’s easy to close your eyes and imagine the picture that his strings are painting through sound. It’s interesting to note that although Michael does possess a strong religious faith, this notion is not overbearing, and nor does it take place above the music, in his songwriting, which is a very worthy approach. Not only these peaks and valleys of acoustic guitar sound are peaceful, but the feeling that you get when you listen to them is that they are written and played by someone who is very peaceful himself.

Peaceful, yes, delicate, surely, but at the same time not always goody-goody – the world is not just light, and the darkness creeps in sometimes, as does the sadness and every other feeling that is worthy of being represented like this. Take a song like “Tears Of The Wind”, in which Michael’s dabblings in more aggressive music have left him an accurate ear to represent the shadier side of his heart, it’s a brooding song that could well serve as an interlude on a metal band album, for example.

Sit back, relax, and take a look (and a listen) at “The View From Here”. You’ll like it, you’ll see.
~ Review by José Carlos Santos

About the Music…

Inspirations

Pipe’s Canyon Sunset – One of the most beautiful views in the desert where I live is Pipe’s Canyon during sunset … I’m so easily carried away by it.

Phosphor – This word means ‘to bring light’ … the kind that enlightens us. I think this song sounds like enlightenment finding its way to a person.

Mysterium – Life is a mystery.

Released – This song was influenced by the passing of a friend. It’s my expression of what it must feel like to finally be released from the body in which we reside.

Color Of The Morning – The quietness and colorful sky of a desert sunrise.

Balm – A soothing, healing or comforting agent . . . Christ.

Tears Of The Wind – A soft warm breeze sweeps across my face . . . sometimes the natural elements speed to our heart.

The Tenderness Of The Heart – I said hurtful words to someone I love and immediately knew the hurt that person felt . . . this song came to me a few moments later.

The Human Drama – Life is a series of events that seem to contrast one another … as the parts of this song do.

Waterflow – I just thought this song sounded like water in a stream.

Convertible – Driving down a lonely desert road on a wonderfully sunny day … in a convertible!

Instrumentation

Guitars – A Walden G2070 was used on all tracks except for 5, 7 and 10. It’s an all solid wood grand auditorium body style guitar. The woods are Cedar top and Mahogany back & sides. For track 5, ‘Color Of The Morning’, I used a Cort Earth 900 – that’s a 12 fret parlor guitar. Track 6, ‘Tears Of The Wind’, has the G2070 and a Godin Multiac Nylon played in unison then I used the Godin to do the lead melody. For ‘Tenderness’ I used a Tacoma Thunderhawk baritone – a really nice deep voiced sounding guitar – for the fingerstyle rhythm track and the Godin nylon for the lead work. Finaly, on ‘Waterflow’ I used the Thunderhawk solo.

Percussion – It’s used quite sparingly on this project; only on tracks 2, 8 and 11. I created stereo percussion tracks using Acid Music – a lighter version of Acid Pro – then imported them into my Roland VS-2000CD. The loops were purchased from Drums On Demand…they’ve got some really good stuff.