Solar Bud

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Solar Bud

I am a guitarist originally, of the Gilmour-Page school, I grew up listening to a mixture of heavy rock and folk, and from the age of around 17 I was writing and recording my own songs using old cassette tape 4-track recorders.

I didn't really 'discover' explicitly 'psychedelic' music until I was in my early 20's though - although of course much of the music I had listened to before then had psychedelic influences, it's just that I hadn't really been aware of it as such.

So in my early 20's I went through a phase of psychedelic and spiritual discovery, and although the two were linked they were also definitely distinct, as despite being a massive fan of LSD at the time I discovered that psychedelic drugs were not in fact necessary for my spiritual development. However, the psychedelic experience remains a big influence on my creative output.

Musically, for several years when I lived in Swansea I played, sang and wrote for the "Green Inspiration Band" (www.greeninspirationband.com), which remains some of my best musical output to this day - probably best described as heavy space rock. We still jam and have a gig booked for July 2010 in Cornwall. Our only studio album, "Forward into Beyond", won critical acclaim in Brynmill and the Uplands and is available on iTunes.

After a few years with mixed success putting on trance and techno parties in Manchester, and an unsuccessful attempt to set up an eco-friendly record label, I decided to have a go at producing my own electronic music under the name "Solar Bud".

My first CD, "Lightning Harvest" (Absoluteness 2007) was really a fusion of rock and electronica, and although it doesn't have the professional production polish of mainstream electronic releases, it was generally well received. One satisfied customer who ordered the CD online was kind enough to write this about it:-

"Lightning Harvest arrived in the post yesterday and it's been on loud and constant for at least 12 hours and continues to blow me away! Without a doubt the most original, powerful and surprising piece of music I've heard in a good long while. Keys and guitars on a dance track generally make me nauseous, but when Katharsys came on I'm only half embarrassed to say that I had a wee solo dance aound my living room.

In summation; awesome album, you should be proud and hope to see you soon."

Needless to say, it's comments like this which keep me going and make it all worthwhile!!

I have written enough music now for a second album, which will be released on my internet label. The music shows a definite progression and improvement in production skills, but I hope also shows the same diversity of ideas and styles as the first album, albeit with less of a rock influence and more electro-tech.

I don't play out very often, but my rare appearances in public have included Acid Rain, the Climate Change march afterparty at The Synergy Centre, Misztifiedmind, Thimbleberry Festival, Bearded Theory Festival, Psymusic Camping expedition and Chorlton Green Festival - the last two for which I provided sounds with my wind and solar sound system, which is available for sustainable events in the UK.

I keep a blog of my sustainable activities at http://ourgreencottage.wordpress.com

My CDs are available from my website at www.solarbud.co.uk

In both my main stage and downtempo sets I aim to take the listener on a journey, through different moods and music styles, light and dark, whimsical and intense. Some of the tracks have an Eco-political theme, others just muse on random thoughts about life generally.